Alice
Oh lush!
It was Salene. Don’t get me wrong I was thrilled but slightly awkward considering I felt responsible for the past.
I wobble my way to my feet and stumble in the dark, and throw my arms around her. "Salene!"
It was nice to get a hug back where they were into it as much as I was.
Still holding her, my mouth close to her ear says gently, "What are you doing here? You should not be here …"
Salene
The person in front of me suddenly call out my name and i feel two arms arround me. Alice !!!
I wrap my arms arround her too and bury my face into her shoulder for a moment. Even when we haven’t been friends in the past… she was a mall rat and she was alive.
I hear her question and do a little step back to face her. " We found this island by accident? What are you doing here?"
Alice
Moving from our embrace, Salene answers me, and then throws it back.
"Whose we?" I wonder if she found Ryan.
Flashback
SALENE: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
[ Salene leaves ]
ALICE: No.
[ Alice follows Salene ]
ALICE: You’re gonna hear more.
[ Salene runs up the stairs ]
ALICE: You’re gonna hear it all.
[ Salene reaches the Cafe and she slips on Ned’s food mess ]
ALICE: Salene!
[ Salene falls down the stairs ]
ALICE: Salene!
[ Salene falls down the rest of the stairs and she lands on the floor ]
[ Alice kneels down beside Salene ]
ALICE: Salene.
[ Alice lifts Salene’s head up ]
ALICE: Salene.
Flashback over
If she is here with Ryan I have seen his temper. He has not forgiven me for what happened.
"Sal, did you ever make it back to the city? If you did your be familiar with the Techno’s … they are the reason I am here."
I had so much I wanted to say but I could not bombard Salene. I do not know what she has been through …
Salene
Alice starts bubbeling with any break and i take her hands in mine, squeezing them carefully. " Alice stop…" i interrupt her and as she looks at me i go on." Yes, i came back to the mall. The thing with the Technos is a long story. I can bring you to the others and we will fill you in. " i suggested her, still a bit taken by surprise.
Alice
She grabs my hands. It felt so incredible being close to her again. But then doubt took over …
"The others??? Your with THEM!" My voice raises. "First you join the looney tunes and now your with the whizz kids! Salene please forget you saw me here, and let KC and I be free!"
I release my hands from her’s, and screw up my face.
Salene
I look at Alice in confusion. " What are you talking about? I am here with the others, the mall rats?"
Alice
"I knew that. I was just messing with you." I firstly grab her hands again, and then before she knew it I was holding her again in an embrace.
I acted like I believed her, but I still had some doubt in my mind. I knew how quick she obeyed The Chosen in the past … She may not even be with The Techno’s she could be with The Chosen again? Maybe she broke out The Guardian?
My head once again is doing overtime.
"ELLIE!" I scream in her ear. Oops! "Take me to her."
If necessary I could take Salene … but if there was Chosen or Techno’s outside I will be screwed. Thinking of the word screwed it makes me think of just … you know … being …
Salene
“Of course, follow me.” i answer Alice, still a bit confused. But i keep my mouth shout. She looks like she has gone throught much in the last time, maybe more then we did…
I lead her the few meters throught the bush, till we reach the beach and the others.
" Hey guys, look who i have found!"
Zak
I had smirked when Lex had mentioned about Gel resting, I was pretty sure I wasn’t the other one who gathered what he was on about. The chick with the red hair wondered off to go get her though she wasn’t missing much being gone apart from the bickering. This is why it was easier to be by yourself.
The red head returned but she didn’t have Gel, I smirked at Lex and said low enough for him to hear “Looks like Gel isn’t the one girl on this Island who’s had a good seeing to” I could spot the signs a mile off “Didn’t do them both did ya?” I laughed quietly “Lets hope some more girls start showing up”.
Alice
Following Salene out of the darkness into the light with so much doubt I dread to think how my day was now going to pan out. I was really thinking the worse, she never reacted when I mentioned KC. It’s because she knows he escaped, she is a Techno …
Coming out from the shadow, and feeling that sun on my face was unreal. Now I’m bathed in light and no enemy in sight, (I think), I felt a glint of hope inside.
Salene leads me down the beach. On route I say to Salene, "If anyone asks you found me anywhere bar that hellmouth. I was worried that if she said where she did find me one of the MallRats may of been close by and heard me sounding like a seal.
We walked a bit down the beach and golly I was then completely overwhelmed … standing in front of me was the MallRats. I was shaking all over and could not believe after so long I was back with my family.
I was lost for words and hugs. It seemed they were having some tribal meeting as they were all gathered together. Looking around I recognised Jack, Lex, Ebony, Trudy and Brady. The rest I did not recognise. So many faces missing. I could not see Ellie. Had Salene kept something from me? Has my sister perished under the ruling of the enemy?
It’s hug time!!! “LEXIE BABEY!” I squeeze the little beauty.
Even though it’s been years since I last saw her, I recognize that voice. She’s perhaps a little more gaunt, but yes, that’s defintely Zandra.
“Likewise,” I reply, extending my hand to help her stand, all the while trying to wrap my mind around how it’s even a possibility she’s alive and well. What else happened up on that mountain? “Although I can’t imagine why Ebony would have wanted you out of the picture.” I shake the thought off, still slightly puzzled.
“So, this place… any idea if there’s a five star hotel with hot showers nearby?” It’s a joke, but obviously she could use one, covered in leaves and dirt and I definitely don’t look any better. I can only hope she won’t mind giving me any pointers about the island.
“Thanks” I said as she helps me stand “What about Ebony?” I looked at her confused “She wasn’t the one who burried me is she?” I asked with a slow rise of angry, I suppose that has been one of the things I hadn’t tried to put too much thought into, why had actually put me in the grave.
“I sat by your grave for a while just incase you were alive and stuck like I was but after a while I had to leave, I just assumed you were gone” I said “Was there someone there to help you out?” I asked curiously, this wasn’t something I usually spoke about but considering her grave was right next to mine it felt fitting.
“I actually haven’t been to this part before, I don’t recognise anything here anyway” I tell her and give her a small shrugg and pointed up at the cave “I fell from the cave wall up there, I’d found the tunnel by a waterful but it might be close by because there are a lot more plants here then the part of the Island I am usually on where its thick trees and the beach” I pause for a moment “How long have you been here, I never saw you in the cages? KC and whatever her name is never mentioned that you were here too”
I feel like I have loads of questions though now probably isn’t the time to start firing them all at her.
HAWK -
Listening to the sound of the wind in between the trees, all I could hear was nature and sound silence.
I was wondering how long this fortune would last, I’d heard news that something big had happened in the city, I was hoping & praying that whatever war their at now did not make it’s way to us, our home is our safe haven & I expected it too stay that way.
I’d made sure my people were safe from the negative energy that surrounded the city, to keep them from harm, but something in my gut was telling me this may not be for long.
We’d become very accustomed to the island and it’s ways, we’d finally found the perfect place to call home.
The island offered so much, the food and the animals were aplenty, we’d never felt so secure, it had taken us a while to get ourselves over here and to build from scratch but every bit of effort had been worth it, I’d think occasionally about being found, if not by the Technos then by Amber, the agreement we had was set in stone, I just didn’t know if I could find it in myself to forgive her for the loss and heartbreak she had caused our people.
Mouse had settled in with our tribe in the best way possible, there is such reward in helping a young child like herself grow spiritually and emotionally, the city had damaged her so much and had shown her no good innings, now she can live in peace and have the life she always dreamed off, now off to round up the others and get some fishing done, dinner isn’t going to catch itself.
Cloe -
“That’s it!” I screamed as I stormed out of the kitchen “I can’t do this no more! A girl needs freedom!” I was staring at a kitchen full of people, mouths open wide, absolutely gobsmacked by my epic meltdown.
I suddenly heard voices and feet banging on the floor…”what is this noise about!” a scrawny looking techno came over to me, his eyes bulging wide, I thought they were going to pop out of his head, I wouldn’t have even cared to be honest, would have been abit of entertainment I suppose.
“Nothing, nothing at all” I just looked at him sheepishly hoping my feminine charm might work for once, I’d not exactly had much experience in my young age.
“Just saw a rat that’s all” I was fed up and bored but I wasn’t stupid, even I knew deep down there’s no point winding them up because let’s face it, we all know who’s going to come off worse, “bullies” I whispered under my breath as they walked away pounding their feet on the floor trying their best to look masculine.
I had to go look for Sasha, I needed a familiar face and some kind of positive conversation.
Now where exactly will he be…
I roll my eyes in not in the habit of repeating myself. I’ve explained where Gel is end of discussion, but Salene insists and marches off to find her. Oh the campfire stories I could tell Zak about Gel just thinking about it makes me wonder if I could somehow sneak back to the cave for round 2.
I’m about to try when Salene comes back and walking with her is Alice who looks like she’s been through it. Zak asks me if I’ve done her as well and I roll my eyes again hoping Alice has gotten over her crush on me. “She’s probably just been sleeping rough.” I don’t remember the last time The Tribe had seen her.
In one swoop all of my answers are answered as Alice quite literally swoops me up into a giant hug. ”Put me down!” I struggle against her I highly doubt she had a romp with Salene, but a musty smell hangs around her.
“She certainly had no problem building my grave,” I reply shortly.
Zandra tells me how she kept watch by the burial site and my stomach twists at the realization. What if she had still been in that grave when I walked past after regaining consciousnes, stunned as I was to see my name engraved in the wood. At the time I’d had no idea whom the other grave belonged to, but never could I have imagined someome being buried there alive, under a pile of rocks. “Oh, god.”
So her story is a little different. I feel like we should compare notes, odd as this is, but the whole ordeal was certainly life-changing and I didn’t think anyone could really understand what it’s like. Now here she is. While I process this, I’m being asked if I had help and manage a nod. Pride’s death is still fresh on my mind so I’m glad when she keeps talking and I don’t need to say his name out loud.
“We only reached this island yesterday, ran out of fuel - and food.”
The rustle and demonstrative coughing behind me reminds me I’m not alone. Darryl emerges and bows demonstratively.
“Don’t mind Darryl, he has a flair of theatrics in him,” I explain while the rest of the Mall Rats make themselves known. “There are a few more of us left at the beach. We came out here, looking for supplies - and a place to stay.”
My brain is running on parallel tracks; she mentioned KC. Salene had told me he went missing when the Technos invaded the city, so now there’s alarm in my voice. “Zandra, what… what cages?”
I give a small nod to Darryl and the other Mallrats, the group had definitely grown. Amber asks about the cages and I freeze for a moment “I don’t know if you have heard of them but this Island… The techno’s are here, a while ago they went around kidnapping people and making them work in different places… I was in the mines until I was brought here” I paused and pushed from hair from my face “They kept us in cages, I escaped a couple of weeks ago… Kc and his friend must of been put in there after I left but they managed to escape as well”
“I was with him yesterday on an old shipwreck but saw a Techno closing in and I had a better idea of Island so I led the techno away from them, although the techno’s are on a big hunt for them, like I haven’t seen before so I think whoever was after them has some kind of vendetta against them or the Mallrats” I looked at her “Sorry, I haven’t really spoken to another girl much for quite a while, the one with Kc was rather huggy and liked Lex so my estimations in girl talk went down” I said rambling a little bit more.
It was weird, it was almost like being 14 again with how easy it came to speaking to Amber, it was like having a friend again.
Alice
If KC was here he would realise he got off lightly with the hugging. Lex muffled to put him down. I wanted to continue squeezing him but I thought I best let go.
"Lexie, that’s not a way to talk to a woman now is it? But why change a habit of a lifetime hey!"
I punch him on the top of his arm.
"For old times sake. Last time I saw you I knocked you out, sorry lover." I give him a wink.
I turn my attention to the other MallRats. Next is Ebony, who gets just a nod. Whose next to be popped like a grape?!?!
"JACK!" I decided to take a different approach with him. I grabbed his cheeks and squeezed just those. His cheeks on his face, not his bum cheeks if you were wondering!
"As much as I want too Einstein I best not. You actually have brain cells to pop." I look back at Lex, "Sorry buddy."
My last MallRat I did know was Trudy. I stood in front beaming at her. "Your call fragile goods? Hug, or not to hug that is the question?"
“The Technos?” I groan audibly. "They turned the whole city into an uninhabitable wasteland and now you’re telling me they are here, too?’
I feel my initial optimism about this island dwindling away. Even with Jay and Ram with us, how can I be sure it’s enough persuasion for the Technos not to put us all into those cages Zandra was talking about?
I will never become their test subject again, I’d rather die.
But going back onto the boat would be a death sentence for more people than just myself, without any fuel there is currently no way to steer it. I swallow hard. Just means we all need to be more careful and stay hidden.
“We have to keep moving. Find shelter.” I throw a nervous look around, what if soneone is watching us already?
SLADE
After successfully setting up camp last night with the help of only Salene and at the last minute, Lottie who’d constructed herself an impressive shelter, I’d tried to rest. But resting in an unknown place is always easier said than done. No sooner had I fallen asleep, had Ebony’s voice called to me, not not to me, but to us all. I’d like for it to have been solely me, for her to have been waking up in my arms, but things were different now. And she’s frozen me out, not that I haven’t given her a reason to. It’s been hard to digest what she’s done.
As she talks, she gets a challenge from several but our eyes lock and I know the truth they all don’t: she’s really scared. I’ve learned as an unofficial Mallrat to just roll with the punches, so I let them bicker until there’s another distraction. A scream which is invested and found to be a long, lost Mallrat or some other. The reunion seems more awkward than heart warming coming from a stranger on the outside looking in.
Although I love a good adventure, I can tell now that there is a reason to fear being trapped on this island.
