Re: JR’s Characters

[JR19759]

Thanks Kaylin

Night Streamer

Chapter 5

The morning was very bright. We woke up at the crack of dawn but the sun rises fast in the zones as there are no clouds to obscure the sun’s rays. We packed the Charger in silence. The less noise we made the less likely we were to be caught. The faceless are changing over around about dawn so it is the perfect time to get out of town. The journey its self was easy, we didn’t see anyone around. Of course it is understandable; now-a-day’s no-one goes out anywhere. They’re too sacred. Within the hour we were back at base. Venus was waiting outside for us.
“What happened?” She asked as we got out the car. “We expected you back yesterday…. Hang on.”
Her expression became more worried. “Where’s Doc Dread?”
She looked between me and Sparrow expectantly. I shook my head and I could see her heart sink.
“How’s Night-Streamer?” Sparrow asked in a vain attempt to try and cheer her up.
“She’s fine,” Venus said gloomily. “She’s in her room.”
I looked back at Ruby-Star who was standing next to the car, obviously unsure of what to do.
“Venus, this is Ruby-Star.” I said beckoning Ruby-Star forward. “She’s going to be with us for a while. I want you to take her inside, sort her out in one of the disused rooms and show her around.”
Venus nodded and walked off inside with Ruby-Star in tow.
With Venus and Ruby-Star gone I turned to Sparrow. He was looking out over the wasteland. I walked over to him.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Something big is about to happen,” he said without looking at me. “I can feel it.”
I didn’t reply. Instead I just stared out into the distance. There was a definite strange air around today. I don’t know if it was because of everything that had happened over the last couple of days or if it was something else, something bigger. But this wasn’t really the time. There were other things that needed to be done.
“Well we can worry about that later,” I said as I turned back towards the base. “If I’m needed I’ll be with Night-streamer.”
The door to Night-streamer’s room was open. She was sitting on the bed looking at an old photo album. She had found an old pre-war camera and developing fluid a couple of years ago and she took it upon herself to photograph everything we did. She must have at least a few hundred photos knocking around. She glanced up as I entered and smiled.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, sitting down on the end of the bed. She didn’t answer she just grimaced. “That good, huh.” I said looking down at the photo she was currently looking at. It was an old photo of her and Crash, I think I was the one who took it. It was taken when we all went out to the white area to meet up with a Renegade team from Zone 5. It must have been one of the few times we’d gone out and not had some Faceless come along and try to kill us. It was also one of the last times we’d truly had fun. Crash and Night-streamer where good friends and you didn’t need to be one of those drug doctors to figure out what was going through her head.
“It wasn’t your fault, what happened to Crash” I said. “You were lucky to get out of there alive yourself.”
She shook her head. She was starting to well up.
“Come here,” I said holding my arms out. She lent her head on my shoulder. “There was nothing you could have done. Crash wouldn’t want you to be feeling bad over him; he’d want you to be strong. Ok.”
She nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Just then Sparrow stuck his head round the door.
“Hey X, Arcade Angel is on the transmitter. She says it’s urgent.”
Arcade Angel is one of the few Renegades from other Zones that we ever get transmissions from. Though getting transmissions from her is not usually good news. She usually has come up with a new and exciting way for us to get our brains fried.
“Ok” I said as I got up. “Tell her I’ll be there in a minute.”
Sparrow nodded and disappeared back into the corridor.
“Are you going to be alright?” I asked Night-streamer.
“Yeah, I should be.” She said. “Thank you.”
“That’s ok,” I said as I walked towards the door. “That’s what friends are for.”