Josh went from 0 to 100.

Literally.

His foot was pressing down on the gas pedal so hard he was slowly losing feeling in his leg. He drove faster than he ever had before, hands gripping the steering wheel for dear life.

It was the middle of the night, so the only source of light provided were the headlights on Tyler's car, which weren't even that bright.

Nonetheless, there were no other cars on the road, so Josh drove as fast as Tyler's little Chevy could possibly go.

The boy didn't even bother staying in his lane.

He flew straight down the Interstate, right down the middle. His squealing tires left trails of dust and gravel flying up in his wake. There was nothing but trees on either side of the highway, creating an eerie, haunting atmosphere.

Josh could barely see through the pitch black darkness of night, the dim yellow headlights not offering much light. The only thing he could see was the yellow line on the road.

In all honesty, he had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that as long as headquarters and the Killjoys was behind him, he was going in the opposite direction.

"Anyone behind us?" Josh murmured, risking a glance over at Tyler in the passenger seat. He didn't dare take his eyes off the road for long. One wrong move would send them speeding headfirst into the woods.

Tyler didn't answer him. He had his eyes squeezed closed, and his chest was rising and falling with his heavy breathing. He was clutching onto anything his hands could find-the door handle, the seat, the center console, even Josh's arm.

"Tyler," Josh hissed, his anxiety rising even higher than it already was. "Tyler."

"I'm gonna be sick, Josh," he choked out. He gulped and shifted in his seat. His eyes were still closed, and his eyebrows were drawn together in a painful wince. "P-Pull over."

Josh bit his lip and glanced over at Tyler again. He looked even worse than he did before. His face was a pale, unnatural white. The entire right side of his sweatpants clung to his leg, completely soaked in blood.

Josh let out a sigh. Tyler wounds still hadn't stopped bleeding? They should've been a bit better by now. At least they shouldn't have bled through the bandages.

"What hurts, Tyler?" He asked, taking one hand off the wheel and grabbing Tyler's hand. The car swerved a bit as he did, and Tyler squeezed Josh tighter.

"Everything," he breathed. He cleared his throat and tried to steady his voice. "My stomach. L-Legs. My head. Fuck, Josh. I-I think it's the drugs-"

Something between a squeak and a sob escaped Tyler's lips, and he slumped down in his seat.

Josh didn't waste anymore time. He slowed down the car as much as he could without slamming on the brakes and skidding down the road.

He pulled completely off the road, losing control of the car a bit at the end, and parked in the grass on the edge of the forest.

As soon as the car was stopped, Josh pushed open the door and practically leapt out of the driver's seat. He rushed around the front of the car, green hair dimly glowing in the shine of the headlights.

Tyler winced when Josh yanked his door open. He was sitting there, beads of sweat running down his forehead, body twitching every so often in pain.

"Wh-Why am I j-just now f-feeling this?" He stuttered out between breaths.

"It's probably withdrawal, Tyler," Josh replied, kneeling down in the grass next to the car. He gently wiped away the blood and sweat running into Tyler's eyes with his hand.

Tyler chewed on his bottom lip so hard he drew blood.

"You're gonna have to throw up whatever they gave you, Ty," Josh said, running his fingers through Tyler's hair. Tyler sighed and relaxed ever so slightly as he did.

"What did the pills look like?" Josh continued. "It's gotta be some kind of sedative, but I don't know-"

"No, Josh," Tyler shook his head. "It w-wasn't pills."

Josh stared at Tyler for a moment, mouth slightly agape. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head in confusion.

Then he looked down. About three or four skinny red tracks marked Tyler's left arm, along with a blue-purple-black bruise right in the crevice of his elbow.

"Tyler!" Josh exclaimed, his angry voice making Tyler wince. "Fucking injection? Why the fuck didn't you tell me?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Josh," Tyler whispered. "But I-"

"You idiot! Fucking hell, Tyler, why didn't you tell me?!" Josh yelled, grabbing Tyler's arm. "I could've done something back in the infirmary! You could be dying, Tyler!"

Tyler turned his head away from Josh so he didn't see the tears pooling in the corner of his eyes.

"What if it's the three drug cocktail? Lethal injection?" Josh continued, tightening his grip around Tyler's arm. His fingernails dug into his skin as his anger grew. "What if it's fucking Pavulon? O-Or potassium chloride? I can't fucking believe you, Tyler!"

"Please, Josh, s-stop it," Tyler cried. He yanked his arm out of Josh's grasp. "It c-couldn't be, I'd al-already be dead."

"Un-fucking-believable," replied Josh. He hung his head in his hands and looked down at the ground. He tried to lower his voice, but his anxiety was just too controlling. "I can't let you die on me, Ty. You should've told me."

"D-Don't worry, Josh," Tyler said. He tried to sound optimistic and light. "It...It's not lethal. J-Just a se-sedative, like you said. Don't w-w-worry about me, Josh."

Josh lifted his head and looked up at his Tyler. The twitching and sweating had stopped, but his small frame was still trembling. There was a small, sad smile on his face. Tears were glistening on his cheeks.

Josh's hands balled into fists. Anger burned in his chest. He stood up, practically yanked Tyler over to him, and smashed his lips against his.

Tyler melted under Josh's touch. He fell completely into Josh's arms, finally feeling safe and secure for the first time that night. Josh's lips warmed him to his very core, and he let out a soft whine when he finally pulled away.

"Tyler?" Josh murmured against his lips. "Where are the guns?"

"Th-There..." Tyler replied, his voice shaking. He was still breathless and a little dazed from the kiss. "There's s-some in the...in the trunk."

Tyler tried to lean up for another kiss, but Josh was already gone.

Squinting his eyes to see through the darkness, Josh threw open the trunk of the car. He had expected a few guns here and there, maybe a knife or two-but what he got was something completely different.

There was a miniature armory in the back of Tyler's car. An entire stockpile of pistols lay in one corner, four or five rifles were lined up neatly on the other side, knives scattered the floor-there was even a bag of what looked like explosives.

"The fuck, Ty?" Josh half-laughed to himself and shook his head.

He grabbed as many semi-automatics as he could hold in his two hands, slammed the trunk shut, and got back in the car.

"Here," Josh said abruptly, tossing the pile of guns into Tyler's lap as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Wha-?" Tyler sounded. He looked from the guns to Josh, to the guns again.

Josh slammed the car door shut so loudly it made Tyler wince.

He turned the keys, started the car, and hit the gas.

But this time, he turned the car around in the grass and followed his tire tracks back the way he came.

Josh was going to make them pay for what they did.

✗✗✗✗✗

When Tyler saw the familiar outline of the Clique's headquarters looming in the distance, he knew what was going on.

"Josh, turn around," Tyler said, his voice low and serious. "We're not going back in there. I'm not going back in there."

Josh didn't answer. He kept his eyes on the road, his hands on the wheel, and his foot on the gas.

"Josh," Tyler said, more urgently this time. He shot him a glare. "I'm serious. Turn around."

Josh set his jaw and shook his head. "Nope," he said. "Not until I'm done."

Tyler cleared his throat and mustered up all the courage he could. He tried desperately to act like Mad Gear again, but it was so hard when he was in so much pain.

"Whatever you're going to do is not important, Josh," he said through gritted teeth. "Turn the fuck around. Josh, now."

Josh suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing both him and Tyler to hold onto each other to steady themselves.

"We're here," Josh smirked when the tires stopped squealing and the smoky dust cleared.

He grabbed two semi-automatics off of Tyler's lap, shoving one in his belt and holding the other in his hand.

Josh turned off the ignition, but still left the keys in the car. He kicked the car door open and jumped out into the night.

"This is still my car, Josh!" Tyler argued as he watched Josh slam the door behind him. "I paid for this!"

"Yeah, with money you stole," Josh shot back, twirling his gun around his finger.

Tyler ignored him, even though he was right. "You don't expect me to stay here, do you?" He asked through the open car window.

"That's exactly what I expect, actually," Josh replied, turning away from Tyler and facing the Clique headquarters. He looked up at building with nothing but anger boiling inside him.

"Josh!" Tyler called, his breath quickening. His eyes widened at Josh's silhouette standing there in the darkness. "Yo-You can't-"

Tyler turned and hastily opened the car door. As soon as his feet were on the ground, his knees gave out, and he fell right onto the pavement.

Josh was at his side immediately, wrapping his arms around him and helping him up.

"You...You can't leave me out h-here," Tyler said in between gasps for air. He winced as Josh help him sit back on the passenger seat. "Alone. I'm s-scared, Josh. I'm fucking scared."

Josh leaned down and planted a quick kiss on Tyler's bloody lips before shoving him all the way into the car and closing the door on him.

"You don't have to be fucking scared, Tyler," Josh said with a smirk. "Lock the doors, roll up the windows, grab a gun-you're going to be okay. No one is coming out here."

"J-Josh, no. Don't leave me alone-" Tyler pleaded, but it was no use.

Josh leaned through the window and kissed Tyler again.

"Trust me, Tyler," Josh said when he pulled away. "You don't have to be scared."

He set his jaw and turned back to Clique headquarters. The look in his eye was enough to make even Tyler afraid of him.

"After tonight, no one's going to lay a finger on you," Josh said. He smirked and cocked his gun with that familiar click. "Ever. Again."

✗✗✗✗✗

Tyler cried.

He had no idea what was going on in there. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going on in there.

He closed his eyes and cried.

He had done exactly what Josh commanded; he locked the doors, rolled up all the windows, and held a semi-automatic tightly in his right hand.

Every time he heard the distant blast of a gun being fired, he sunk further down into his seat and allowed a quiet whimper to escape his lips.

Tyler was sad. Pathetic. A Crybaby.

He figured he might as well cry until he couldn't cry any more, just to get all the tears out.

He was embarrassed to cry in front of Josh, and even that was an understatement.

He of course loved the attention, the protection, the safe feeling he had whenever Josh was next to him. Who wouldn't?

But it somehow made him feel even worse. Powerless. Weak. Definitely not the person he was yesterday. He was soft. Broken.

If he wasn't Mad Gear, who was he?

Tyler didn't have much time to think about it.

Before he knew it, he heard footsteps piercing the silence of night. And they were getting louder.

Tyler quickly dried his tears and sat up straighter. The headlights were off. He couldn't even see two feet in front of him, let alone a person running towards the car.

His anxiety was at it again.

He gripped his gun so tightly his knuckles turned white. For an agonizing moment he held his breath and listened.

The footsteps stopped, and everything was silent. Tyler slowly exhaled his held breath.

A fist suddenly banged violently against the driver's window.

Tyler let out a small scream and pushed himself back against the passenger side door, trying to get as far away from the person banging on the window as possible. He struggled to load his gun with his shaking hands, but something made him stop short.

"Tyler! Open! Fucking open it!"

It was Josh.

Every single nerve in Tyler's body relaxed as he lunged across the console and pushed the driver's side door open.

Josh was bleeding.

He was bleeding right from a gash in his head.

"Josh-" Tyler began, his eyes widening. He reached out for the wound on Josh's head, but Josh slapped him away.

"Shut up and strap yourself in," Josh command as he started the car.

Tyler didn't listen. He continued leaning towards Josh, even when he was trying to back the car up. "Tell me what's going on!"

Josh groaned in annoyance and put his hand on Tyler's chest, shoving him harshly back against his seat.

"Josh, let go!" Tyler argued. "I told you to tell me what's-"

But as soon as Tyler turned his head away from Josh and looked out the front windshield, he shut up.

Some of the Killjoys were still alive.

And they were in a car of their own.

✗✗✗✗✗

Tyler's little black Chevy was back on the Interstate, this time with Killjoys in tow.

Josh had nothing but straight road in front of him, so he didn't have an twists and turns to worry about.

But behind him, that was a different story.

The Killjoys were much further back, but they were gaining speed, and gaining fast.

Josh couldn't press the pedal down any more. It was already hitting the floorboard. He couldn't tell exactly how fast they were going, but by the sickly look on Tyler's face, he betted at least 90.

"Tyler? How we doing?" Josh asked through gritted teeth as he snuck a glance in the rear view mirror.

"I-I'm okay," Tyler replied. "But they're closer. D-Don't let them get any c-closer, Josh. Please. They...They can't g-get me."

"Get ahold of yourself, Tyler. It's gonna be okay," Josh said, taking another look in the mirror. "I'm not letting them get you."

Though his voice sounded confident, his words were laced with worry. The Killjoys used to be just a tiny speck of light behind him. Now, they were close enough that Josh could actually make out the shape of the car.

A loud BANG made Josh suddenly swerve sharply from the middle of the road over to the right lane, then back to the middle again.

"What are they doing?!" Tyler exclaimed as the blasts continued. He squeezed his eyes shut as Josh kept swerving back and forth, back and forth.

"They're shooting at us," Josh replied simply. He tried keeping his voice level and firm. Panic and anxiety was the last thing they needed right now.

Tyler muttered a soft "Fuck" under his breath.

Josh gripped the wheel with one hand as he took the gun out of his belt. "Tyler," he said, "you're either driving, or shooting. Your choice."

Tyler looked at Josh with wide eyes before biting his lips and setting his jaw.

This was it. Mad Gear's chance at a comeback.

"I choose shooting," Tyler replied, yanking the gun out of Josh's hand. He swiftly cocked it and pulled it, then unbuckled his goddamn seatbelt.

He pressed the button on the side of the door and rolled the window all the way down, closing his eyes as the cold wind stung his face.

Gripping his gun tightly, Tyler got out of his seat and climbed out the window as much as he could. He forced himself to ignore the blinding pain in his legs as he awkwardly stood up, half in the car and half out.

Josh nervously chewed on his bottom lip as he watched Tyler climb out of the window. One wrong move, and he would be sent flying out of the car at a speed of over 90 miles an hour.

One wrong move, and he would be dead.

The freezing wind whipped back Tyler's wild brunette hair as the car continued speeding down the highway, at a speed so fast Tyler struggled to even stay upright. He clung tightly on to the roof of the car.

BANG.

Josh swerved again, this time to the left, throwing Tyler's body against the roof of the car. He caught his breath and regained his composure.

The Killjoys' car was now only a few meters back. If they shot out one of their tires, Tyler and Josh would be goners. Tyler had to shoot them before they shot him.

He fought against the force and the speed and the wind as he turned his body to face the Killjoys.

His heart was beating so fast, he was surprised it was still in his chest. Adrenaline pulsed through his veins, mixed with another feeling he hadn't felt in a while: The desire to kill.

Tyler screamed into the darkness, simply because he could. His voice was completely drowned out by the wind.

His lips tugged up into a smirk as he turned back to the Killjoys. He dragged his tongue across the front of his teeth and cocked his gun.

Tyler extended his arm, closed one eye, and pulled the trigger.

Josh swerved again, not knowing the bullet belonged to Tyler this time. Better safe than sorry, he figured.

Tyler grabbed the roof to steady himself as Josh sped the car up.

He missed.

But that didn't matter.

He had plenty of bullets left.

For a while the Killjoys ceased fire, and Tyler was left to just revel in the feeling of the wind surrounding him-whipping through his hair, blowing up his shirt, making his eyes water. He loved it.

A sudden BANG snapped him out of his thoughts, but he still didn't miss a beat. Josh swerved, and Tyler straightened and cocked his gun again.

This time, as he was aiming, he saw a figure standing out of the Killjoys' car, just like him. He squinted through the darkness to see if he could make out who it was.

Through the dim light of headlights, he saw a familiar, glowing stripe of red makeup slashed across the person's face.

Tyler scoffed. The Young Vein. The kid actually made it.

The Killjoys were now so close that Tyler could make out the rest of them-Kat and Melanie sat in the back with Halsey driving, her neon blue blowing around her like a tornado.

BANG.

The Young Vein shot again. And again. And again.

Josh kept swerving, back and forth, back and forth, left lane, right lane.

Tyler had almost fallen out a few times, but luckily he had Josh inside to grab his legs and hold him steady if he needed him.

But Tyler didn't need him. Not anymore.

Tilting his head back, Tyler slowly ran his tongue across his top lip, then the bottom one. His breath hitched in his throat when he tasted his salty blood.

He reached up, cocked his gun one final time, and closed one eye.

BANG.

This time, Josh didn't swerve. It was almost as though he just knew.

Tyler had hit his target.

The small bullet pierced the front tire of the Killjoys' car, flying at such a force that it came right through the other side.

Tyler's wicked smile grew as he watched what he had done.

The tire blew, sending bits of rubber flying up into The Young Vein's face and onto the windshield. The car began swerving wildly around the road, even more than Josh had.

The wheel with no tire made an awful, nails-on-a-chalkboard screeching sound as the metal scraped against the blacktop. Bright orange sparks lit up the darkness around them.

Tyler's psychotic eyes widened as he watched the Killjoy's car spin completely out of control.

His bit his lip to stifle whatever sound was threatening to escape his lips. It was something between a moan and a low growl. His toes curled inside of his shoes. His breaths became quick and sharp.

The Killjoys' car stopped its swerving. It finally drove straight again.

Straight into a tree.

The car sped up, as if it had a final burst of energy before it gave out. It zoomed diagonally across the highway, actually lifting off the ground a few feet as it flew off the road and into the grass. It crashed through the forest for a few measly seconds before slamming headfirst into the trunk of a thick black tree.

An explosion followed.

It was so loud, so ginormous it shook the entire ground, the entire car. It lit up the night like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

The explosion shot clear about the trees, blasting away and completely destroying all the forest around it.

Left in its wake was a fire.

A huge, smoky, red-orange-yellow fire that was so bright and so hot it made Tyler's skin and eyes burn, even from how far away he was. And he loved it.

The enormous cloud of smoke made Tyler start to choke, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful fire. The cracking, burning flames were impossible to resist. They almost tempted him.

Tyler threw his head back and laughed, half out of joyous celebration, the other half complete and utter insanity.

He grinned from ear to ear as he took one last look at that beautiful, beautiful fire. Even when he climbed back into the car, he was still smiling.

Josh was smiling too. His grip on the steering wheel had loosened, and he was now only holding it with one hand. With the other, he reached over and helped Tyler into the car again.

As soon as Tyler was safely inside, he lunged over the console and kissed Josh, right on the lips.

"Ty, I'm driving-" Josh murmured against Tyler's lips, but Tyler didn't care. And honestly, neither did he.

Tyler just laughed and kissed him over and over again, each kiss more forceful and passionate than the one before.

When Tyler finally pulled away and sat back in his seat, he was still smiling. All of his pain had melted away, along with his sanity.

"Mad Gear and Missile Kid are back!" Tyler laughed. "And we're not fucking going anywhere!"

This time, Josh was the one that leaned over and kissed Tyler, smearing blood all over both of their lips.

"Cause tonight, you need us to stay!"

✗✗✗✗✗
✗✗✗✗✗

End of Act 3.

God, I wrote my heart out on this one.

I really, really, really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and this entire act. I worked so hard on all of these, and it would mean so much to me if you left a comment and vote if you liked them. ♡

Thank you for being just about the nicest people I've met. You and your comments make me so happy and wowza I'm just really happy.

And thank you for all your loving support for me and this book along the way. You're the absolute best my lovelies.

Bonus chapters will be up tomorrow !!!

Yes, bonus chapters.

I love you all kiddos ♡

Your mom,

-Liz.