A New Hope - retired

A New Hope
,
62

Watching Zandra head off towards the larger cages I pick up the buckets and head in the direction of the other, smaller ones, doubting any of the people I’d known would have ended up there.

As I walk I look around trying to work out what was going on. The first cage I reach I quickly fill up the individual bowl on the outside before putting it through the hatch, not looking at the prisoner or even noticing their existence. Maybe this was a test, maybe we were in virtual reality being watched to see how we responded? But if that was the case were we doing the wrong thing? No, letting people die wasn’t the wrong thing. The Technos weren’t monsters, they were working towards a better world… closing my eyes I repeat that to myself. It was about creating order, a better future.

Moving further down the path I keep trying to justify the situation, although Zandra’s words are resonating in my head, keeping people in cages wasn’t right. Filling up another bowl I try and keep my eyes away from the prisoner, this was a test… that had to be it. We were in virtual reality and they were monitoring our reactions, maybe this was how people rose up the ranks? Were promotions even a thing now?

Sighing I use the last of the water to fill up the bowl in the final cage. I’m sure this prisoner is talking to himself but I’m trying to ignore it, trying to convince myself this is just a test. Pushing the bowl through I do my best to keep my gaze anywhere but on the prisoner, “here, have some water.”

63

I distanced myself from the group almost the instant we hit shore. After two weeks at sea in close quarters with Mall Rats and Co., I’d have enough of them for a lifetime. Several, in fact. I swear I came this close to murder and this close to being murdered… It seemed the feeling was mutual since no one tried to stop me when I promptly made tracks up the beach, seeking isolation with my own thoughts.

I found my solitude about a mile from our landing point and settled atop a rock to practice my fully-clothed impersonation of The Thinker. Soon enough, however, I need a physical visual representation of my thoughts and I crouch on the sand, using a stick I’d picked up to draw in it. I sketch a map of the coast from memory and begin calculating our journey.

“… So, if we started here…” I murmur to myself, pressing the end of a stick into the sand, “… travel at an approximate trajectory of…” The stick is dragged over the ground in a straight line, leaving a long furrow in its wake. “… that’d put us… riiiiight about…”

I exhale, sitting back on my heels to gaze at rough little map of the coast I’d drawn in the sand and at the line now etched through it. “Oh man…” I toss the stick aside and stand up, eyes darting left and right as I consider possibilities. I press my fingers to my temples and take a deep breath to cool my nerves. If I’m right, this could be really bad for Ram. I bite my lip, giving a little shrug. Or… really good…?

It’s now that I turn and catch sight of a figure moving about on the rocks a little way away. Squinting my eyes, I recognise Slade, toting a bucket and what I can only assume to be a crudely-crafted crab pot. He doesn’t seem to see me, and I watch him briefly, taking quiet delight in my secret observation.

Spying on Slade becomes a drag pretty fast – All he’s doing is messing around in the tide pools – and I decide to make my presence known. After all, we’d barely had a chance to talk on the boat without my hellcat of an ex-wife, Ebony, leering over us. She’d get her comeuppance…

I scuff away the lines in the sand with the side of my boot and head back down the beach. “Slade!” I call across the shore with a wave, striding up to meet him. I eye the crude crustacean trap he carries and draw an obviously conclusion. “Hmm… Looking to catch crabs?” I ask with a smirk, barely holding back a snicker at the double entendre.

1 Like
64

OOC: I can not for the life of me remember if Amber’s last name was ever mentioned in the show - if it was please let me know. Also, I hope this is ok, I can make changes if needed.

BASIC INFORMATION
BIRTH NAME: Amber Peterson.
DATE OF BIRTH: 11th June 1999
AGE: 17
AGE AT THE TIME OF VIRUS: 14
FAMILY (any siblings, cousins etc): Solaris (Sister)
HAIR COLOUR: Blonde.
EYE COLOUR: Blue.
TRIBE: Mallrats.
RELATIONSHIP STATUS:
PAST RELATIONSHIPS: Bray, Sasha, Jay.
CHILDREN: Bray Jr.
PLAY-BY (your username here): Lou4Bray

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
TALENTS:
HABITS: Rubbing the back of her neck when she’s anxious.
SECRET(S):
DISLIKES:
FEARS: Anything happening to her son, losing her family - even Lex.
STRENGTHS: Loyalty, protectiveness of others, sense of morality.
WEAKNESSES: Her son and Bray - although she is under the impression Bray is dead.
PERSONALITY: Amber is sincere, friendly, gentle, honest, smart, witty and at times sarcastic; she has always been a headstrong individual - at a young age she learnt that you have to stand up for what you believe in and not allow anyone to bully you into anything you don’t want to do, if people try to push her or her friends around they usually realise pretty quickly that it was a mistake; because of this she has often been called upon for her leadership qualities, not that she minds, but the pressure sometimes makes her just want to hide from the world for a while - her one exception is her son.
BACKGROUND: Amber discovered earlier than most what heartbreak felt like, she watched as her mum’s life deteriorated before her very eyes, rather than allow this to break her Amber clung to the happy memories. Instead of wallowing in self pity she chose to live by the the words her mum had said to her before she died - that life was worth living. The words gave Amber the strength to form a strong relationship with her stepmother Lucy - although Lucy would never take their mums place, Lucy had no desire to and both Amber and her sister Solaris knew this. Popular at school, Amber’s grades were always well above average and she enjoyed both her home and school life. Amber always tried to be a friend to all, she didn’t treat anyone differently and attempted to include as many people as possible whenever possible - whether it was a day trip to the Mall or a movie night at her house, nobody was secluded if Amber could help it - yes Amber came from a well off family, but she never let that go to her head.

Amber learnt about the virus by watching the news, she was a smart kid and she knew what this meant; she knew that this was an epidemic - one that was going to wipe out the adults, as did her friend Dal - he’d told her about the long hours his parents had been spending at the hospital attempting to save the lives of many people who had already contracted the virus. An assembly held at school one day only confirmed what Amber and Dal already knew, but how could children survive without adults?

As the virus spread like wildfire, Amber’s sister left home and went to work as a nursing assistant, Amber knew that she may never see Solaris again and although it broke her heart, she knew she couldn’t ask her sister to stay. Homes started to get broken into as the virus spread, families moved to the city limits hoping that fresh air would help, but the virus kept spreading, kept taking people. Amber’s parents put plans in motion, they were to set sail and find somewhere safe; they loaded the boat with supplies. During the packing and moving of supplies Lucy began to grow sick, so Amber’s father Jim made her stay home and rest while he finished preparations for the departure the next morning - Lucy sadly slipped away before the departure happened. Jim was of course devastated and feeling ill himself - Amber wasn’t blind, she knew, but that didn’t mean she wanted to accept it. Helping her dad bury Lucy, they said their goodbyes and it was at that moment Jim realised how strong Amber was, she wasn’t a child any more she was a capable, strong and beautiful spirited young lady and he knew she would be fine.

Amber understood that her dad didn’t want her to witness his final days, he explained he wanted her to remember him like this and Amber wanted that as well. After an emotional goodbye she and Dal departed the place she’d always called home and headed into the sunset to begin their new adventure together, not looking back just as they had promised Amber’s dad.
(Series 1-5 )

1 Like
65

The days on the boat had been tough, living in such close proximity with everyone had been difficult; it had been fine at first, but as the hours turned to days and then into a week it started to feel like we were sardines crammed into a undersized can; peoples usual habits were turning into annoyances, even the sound of people breathing was slowly becoming bothersome. Relief had filled my body when the whispers of land being spotted up ahead reached me - could it really be that after two weeks stuck on this damn boat, we’d finally discovered a place to finally escape the confines of the boat?

I’d had to see it with my own eyes to believe it, it had been impossible to stop the smile spreading across my face as I’d cradled my son against my body - I knew land meant we needed to put our guard up, none of us knew what could be lurking or waiting for us; the mere thought of getting back on solid ground though made the dangers less troubling, at least for now. I could tell most shared in my excitement.

“Never thought I’d be so happy to see land.” I’d commented to nobody in particular as we’d all hurried off the boat, passing my son to Salene I’d glanced around and listened for a moment to the conversations people were starting up. “I’m going to go take a look around with Lex and Trudy.” I’d informed Salene and the others. “We need to hide the boat, somewhere in case we need to make a fast evacuation. It’s probably a good idea not to leave it in plain sight, we don’t know if we’re alone here.” I didn’t want to start giving orders, not after weeks stuck on a boat, I was on edge and I knew others were feeling similar, I just didn’t want us getting too comfortable until we knew if this was a safe place to be.

Following silently behind Trudy, Brady and Lex I peer around as we walk, keeping quiet as my eyes scan for anything out of the ordinary, but so far the Island appeared abandoned, which in itself arose suspicion in my mind; why would a place like this be abandoned? Trailing slightly behind the others I pause as we approach the building, watching Lex as he picks the lock on the door and motions for Trudy to go in first “Be careful.” I say before I can stop myself, “Just because it appears empty, doesn’t mean it is.” I add in a calmer tone - ok I was definitely a lot edgier than I liked, I knew I should probably have stayed with Salene and the others, but the truth was this had given me some time to just breathe and be at least more alone than I had been on the boat.

1 Like
66

I hear someone at my cage but I don’t look up from my fingernails. My head is tilted to the side and I’m just examining them like it was the most normal thing to do in the world. “Everything is going to be okay.” I am continuing to talk to myself. “Everything always works itself out in the end.” I nod my head to myself and then I hear the person’s voice. ‘Here, have some water.’ The familiarity of the voice was scary to say the least and I lift my gaze from my hands then, to stare at the Techno in front of me. Do I know this person? I feel like I should know this person, but I do I even really know myself anymore? I don’t know. I don’t know anything. “Water is good.” I tell her as I continue to stare at her, not moving to take a drink or anything. I couldn’t.

67

“That’s impossible,” I shake my head, wondering if dehydration really has set in and if KC was beginning to hallucinate. Perhaps we both were. Was the Guardian even real?

Glancing at the beautiful woman standing outside the cage, I try to get my thoughts together. I had never met her before, never even seen her face, but Lex had spoken about her often enough, including that fateful day up on Eagle Mountain. Zandra was dead. This person - this Techno - standing before them could not be her.

“This must be some trick! Another way to just mess with our minds! KC, don’t let them in! Don’t let them break you!”

68

I hear 2 female guards talking and handing out water, I sit still facing away from the cage door, I can still hear Zandra’s voice…

“Go away, go away” I mutter under my breath “I won’t let you in, this is a game, I won’t give in to your games”

I hit myself in the head with my fist, trying to make the voices go away… I sit wrangling my hands together, wanting everything to go away…

“Its a game, its a test” …

Dehydration and fatigue leaves me muttering incoherently but I refuse to get water, every time I was given water before it was knocked from my hands after 1 mouthful under the chosen and the Technos stun gunned me if I drank too much, I have learnt to survive as best I could without it, I shut every thing out and close my eyes trying to ignore the voices…

69

This wasn’t real, the feeling of certainty hits me as soon as the prisoner moves. His eyes… shaking my head I try and dislodge the feeling. His voice, no this was all in my head. He wasn’t who I thought he was, he was just someone who had done something to end up in solitary. This was just a test, and I didn’t want to fail. “You need to drink.” I wasn’t sure why it suddenly felt so important for him to drink, he wasn’t… no, I wasn’t even going to think his name.

I knew I should keep moving, needed to get back to Zandra and tell her my theory, but instead I find myself moving around the cage, closer to where he’s sat as if my feet have a mind of their own. “You need to drink.” I repeat, it wasn’t him… it wasn’t. And even if it was, I shouldn’t care, they abandoned me… all of them. They left me alone… and yet… seeing Patsy, knowing there was a chance other Mall Rats were here, maybe it was? No, it was a test. They knew your fears, this was just a fear. One I’d had since before the Techno’s, one Trudy created when she told me Bray would give himself up for me, for any woman in distress… squeezing my eyes shut I shake my head, I’d done it now, thought his name. But it wasn’t him, it couldn’t be.

70

Amber and Trudy walk into the building and I follow. Last time we were in a government facility it didn’t end well, comparing the two makes the hair on the back of my neck stand straight. I try to hide it, but I’m on heightened alert.

I reach into my pocket and pull out a small torch. Clicking it on. We are in hall with doors on either side, some of the doors are left open either someone left in a hurry or looters. The hall makes an sharp turn to the left. I can’t tell from here but I’m assuming it opens up into a larger area. Currently we are in a bottle neck. If anything were to go wrong this is not the place I’d want to be.

Lucky it’s just the few of us, not like on Eagle Mountain, where the whole Tribe was trapped and scared. Alarms going off the scramble to make it out. My mad dash to look out for myself reaching the fresh air first.

I take a slight glance of Amber trying to judge if she’s thinking the same thing. If she is she’s hiding it well. I move out ahead of Trudy and Amber. You can’t change the past. “There’s a turn up ahead.” I mumble and start walking off peering into the open rooms.

71

I grumble as I hear my name being called. Can’t even be alone for five minutes. You’d think we’d all be sick of one another’s company by now.

I look up briefly from my task at hand to see the carrier of the voice, not that I hadn’t already recognised it. Ram’s was a voice you couldn’t miss nor ignore. His innuendo is not lost on me, the corner of my mouth upturning only slighty.

“Yeah, well if you want to eat tonight you could do with catching a few too.”

72

I’m glad Amber is with us as well, cause I have to admit I’m a tad scared to go in first. Clearly so is Gel, as she refused to enter the building until I point out she could always stand guard… alone… with all the insects and snakes outside…

‘come on brady’ I say as I lift up my daughter and follow the others.
Inside the building I get a strange feeling I’ve been here before, but that can’t be…can it?

73

Stepping inside I blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the sudden change; extremely grateful Lex was carrying a torch, in my haste to get off the boat I hadn’t even thought about grabbing one myself. Double checking everyone is close by I watch as Trudy lifts Brady; offering her a reassuring smile. “Stay close and try to keep quiet.” I murmur as we make our way through the abandoned building. I wasn’t sure this was such a great idea, what if we were walking in to a trap, but nobody knew we were here, did they? Well the truth was we didn’t know that for sure.

Peering in to the open rooms as we pass by them, I make sure to stick close to the others and not linger behind. I was attempting to keep my calm, yet somehow something about being here just didn’t feel right; perhaps it was fearing the unknown, but fearing the unknown was normal - we’d walked into dangerous situations before and even as I tried to stop myself, I found myself comparing this to the day we’d discovered Eagle Mountain. History wouldn’t repeat itself though, it couldn’t. As Lex announces the turn ahead I reach out and place my hand on Trudy’s back, it’s a brief yet friendly gesture to remind her she’s not alone.

“Looks like this place was abandoned in a hurry, can’t help wondering why.” I say quietly.

74

Sitting at the beach i let my eyes wander to the other prisoners. I can’t blame Danni for not wanting to know of me. It was my fault she was taken away, all of this had started because I lost Brady, because the choosen took her. I had been so happy when we got brady back, i had wanted to do everything in my power to earn Trudys trust again.

How stupid I had been. The tears are treatening to come, so i close my eyes and place my head on my knees. I dont want to cry, crying wont help at all

75

BASIC INFORMATION
BIRTH NAME: Ellie Stuart
DATE OF BIRTH: 25th July
AGE: 16
AGE AT THE TIME OF VIRUS: 13
FAMILY (any siblings, cousins etc): Alice (older sister)
HAIR COLOR: Blonde
EYE COLOR: Hazel
TRIBE: Mallrats
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: with Jack
PAST RELATIONSHIPS: Jack, Luke
CHILDREN: N/A
PLAY-BY (your username here): raindrop

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
TALENTS: truth seeking, believing in people
HABITS: Talking to people like she’s the Spanish inquisition
SECRET(S): She misses people she shouldn’t…
DISLIKES: Liars, capitalists, selfish people, people who try to stop her doing what she thinks is right.
FEARS: Never seeing her sister again, that she’s made the wrong decision.
STRENGTHS: Integrity, determination
WEAKNESSES: Stubborn and tempestuous
PERSONALITY: Hot headed, Fearless, Caring, Passionate. When she believes in something or someone she commits whole heartedly. She believes that everyone has the right to know the truth and make their own decisions about the current issues of the day.
BACKGROUND:
Growing up in the middle of the countryside never really suited Ellie, she was a City girl at heart, even though she’d never actually lived in one. Schooled at home, she was exceptionally close to her parents, and her older sister Alice, who always filled the gap of best friend. When the Virus claimed the lives of their parents, Ellie looked to her older sister for support, relying on Alice, the bond between these two sisters grew even stronger. Despite this, and her new friends The Farm Girls (a collection of girls who gravitated to the Farm), Ellie always hungered for more.

Fate works in mysterious ways, a brush with death (when she became ill from The Virus) lead Ellie and her sister into The City and to the Mall of the Mall Rats. An instant hit with The Mall Rats, Ellie managed to turn some heads, with both Jack and Dal fighting for her attention. In the end she chose Jack, and the pair began a highly emotional and slightly complicated relationship. Ellie blossomed with The Mall Rats and fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer, establishing the first newspaper in The City The Amulet.

Who knows what might have become of Ellie’s life if The Chosen hadn’t invaded The City. Ellie seemed to lose almost everything in that first occupation, not only her freedom, but also her best friend Dal and her boyfriend Jack, the only person who had remained was Alice.

And then Ellie met Luke.

It was an unconventional beginning to a relationship, she was a slave, he was her jailer. Ellie fanned his interested because her sister told her to and they needed information to mount their rebellion and make it a success. Against all odds, and even Ellie’s better judgement she found herself falling in love with the man she had once considered distant and cruel, she found he wasn’t that he cared and his vision of the chosen was different to the organisation he had found himself in. She was in love, and so was he, enough so that he left the chosen to be with her, only everything fell apart when the Technos arrived and he left with the Guardian.

Jack returned to the mall and Ellie kept him at a distance, feeling guilty about having pursued and fallen for Luke in his absence, but when Jack was taken away by Mega Ellie went into a deep depression to the point of nearly committing suicide, only saved because she couldn’t let Mouse and Charlie watch her jump to her death.

Her feelings for Jack led her to do some terrible things, like trying to blow up Ebony and the Technos, and then she got shipped off, only to lose her memory be manipulated and finally end up back at the mall with Jack. Then things went even more crazy and they ended up on a boat in the middle of the sea. Needless to say, Ellie is glad to be back on dry land and hopeful that they can find some kind of balance between the ways of life they all want to lead. One day she wants to find her sister, but for now she’ll settle for making things work for them, even if that means small scale farming.

76

After lying on the beach for a few minutes, silently staring at the sky, I sigh and stand up.
“I guess it’s time to start doing things, I’ll see ya later.” I say as I smile to Salene.

In the distance I see Slade, who appears to be trying to catch some food, and Ram, who’s probably annoying him.
“Bugging Slade again?” I ask Ram with a raised eyebrow.
I look down at Slade’s trap then back up to face him; “Can I help you with anything?” I ask with a flirtatious smile.

77

I watch the others walk off to go and investigate the island, I didn’t fancy it and Jack had said he wanted to hang around here. He’s taken his shoes off and I find myself doing the same thing before walking in his direction. I walk along the edge of the water, ripples of waves curling over my toes. For the first time in a couple of weeks I don’t mind being in such close proximity to the sea.

I walk up to him, but don’t get too close, I feel like all of us are more than thankful for having a little more space to breathe and she didn’t want to crowd anyone, let alone him. She’d kinda enjoyed being able to be that close to him without it being awkward. It would be nice to have a conversation without feeling like they were being watched though.

"Hey," she said with a smile. “Got your land legs back yet?” she asked.

78

I watch May and and turn my head back to the sky. Of course she is right, there is enough work to do, but the wamr sand feels so good. I close my eyes for a few minutues, just a few minutes of peace, who knows when the next adventure will be on.
" Salene?" someone shouts at me and it gives me a little fright. " what?" i stand up and watch the kids. Sammy is running towards me, his hand in the air. " i wanted to collect some shells, and i cut myself by accident" Sammy explains, while standing in front of me and and staring at the ground.
" It will be fine, come with me" i answer and place my hand on his back to lead him to the fire

79

I place the trap with it’s dead fish in the center and hope for the best. I still intend to check the spaces in the rocks, a prime hiding spot for the creatures, but first there’s @Ram .

“What do you suppose they’ll accomplish roaming about this place?” I question him though I’m looking away from him, hearing the approach of someone else?

May isn’t exactly who I expected but I return her smile. “I was just telling Ram here we’re gonna need to eat tonight. You want to help in the foraging?”

This place has to produce something, right? Something edible?

80

I push myself up and walk over to Zandra, Alice tells me not to believe her, that it can’t be her and deep down I am doubting her as well but there is another part that tells me it really is Zandra and that she really is alive.

I put my hand up agains the face and smile, “If you can get us out…me and Alice, you can come with us and find the Mallrats again…find Lex” I suddenly get a sickening feeling, back at Eagle Mountain, she was pregnant, do I dare question her about a child when she could be our only escape.

81

I shook my head lightly “I wont be going back to the Mall Kc, I dont belong there anymore and I am a completely different person now” I said and paused “I will get you guys out of here, we just need to find the safest way to do it, not only get you out the cage but away from and guards patrolling around”

I push myself away from the cage “I need to get the other bucket of water to the rest of the cages, make sure you and your friend get as hydrated as you can because if we can get you out, you need to be able to move” I said and gave him a small smile.

“I will tell Patsy I’ve seen you and your ok” I say before heading away from the cage though pausing for a moment “It’s nice to see you Kc” I added before continuing to walk away from the cage.