Light of Day

Fan Fiction
1

Not sure if anybody will remember this - first posted on Eyeboards nearly 12 years ago! - but this is my AU S6, picking up from just after Mega’s death at the end of S5 and tweaking events after that. Unedited, but I’m still really proud of later chapters. :slight_smile:

Chapter 1: What If?

‘Slade’, Amber said softly as she put her hand on the young man’s shoulder. ‘He’s gone, Slade. We have to go now’.

Slade opened his eyes and saw the face looking down at him, then quickly looked around at the rest of the room, unable to take the sympathy in those blue eyes. His own eyes found no comfort, however, as the empathy on Amber’s face was echoed even in the faces of Lex, standing by the doorway, and Ram, who was sitting against one of the red-painted walls of the Technos’ control room. Ram was recovering from the shock to his mind and body caused by his forced removal from the computer programme he had created to build a perfect world, after it had developed its own agenda. That same programme had now claimed the life of Slade’s brother, Josh - he refused to call him Mega, even in his own head. Worst of all, both had failed in their attempts to stop the computerised version of Zoot from continuing with its plan to eradicate humanity, and soon a virus more deadly than the one that killed all the adults would be unleashed on the city; a virus, Slade knew, that Josh had been manufacturing in a secret lab here in the hotel. Most of the population were now fleeing for their lives, and hopefully spreading the word as they ran. Even the rest of the Mallrats were being forced to leave their homes, unable to find a way to stop this latest threat to the city.

Only Jack, standing at the other side of the door from Lex, appeared not to be paying any attention to Slade. He stood staring at the ceiling and muttering to himself, as if thinking of something else. Slade suspected the computer buff often looked that way. His eyes came to rest on Josh once again; he looked so peaceful lying there, but he knew there was nothing more he could do for him, as much as he wished he could. He had wanted to help Josh, to save him from what he had become, but instead he had only managed to get him killed. The way things were going, perhaps that was the best for him.

It must have only been a few seconds since Amber had spoken to him, but his thoughts were racing around his head so quickly that it felt as though it had been hours. He was both physically and mentally drained.

‘Alright, let’s go’, he finally said, not realising how tense everyone had been until he felt the room relax. Their faces now showed how anxious they all were to leave the hotel before the computer released the virus. Every second counted, but Slade had been selfishly staying by his brother’s side, delaying the others, when he knew that nothing could be done. Standing up, he released the grip he hadn’t realised he held on his brother’s lifeless hand, before turning to the others. Amber had left his side, unnoticed, and was now helping Ram slowly to his feet at the other end of the room. The former leader of the Technos was obviously still in a lot of pain, but at least he was alive. As he clung to Amber’s arm he took one last, respectful look in Josh’s direction. As Lex opened the door, Slade silently fell in behind Amber and Ram and headed out.

The sudden movement had jolted Jack out of his thoughts. He looked around to see the others heading towards the door. Mega still lay slumped on the chair, the headset he had been using dangling halfway to the floor. Slade wore an understandably pained expression, while Amber looked tired from the day’s events and the weight of Ram on her arm. Ram himself seemed to be gaining strength, his steps becoming easier as they approached the door. Lex had already left the room.

‘Guys, wait!’ He pleaded. ‘We can’t just leave now, we have to do something!’

‘We’ve already tried everything, Jack.’ Amber said regretfully. ‘There’s nothing more we can do, apart from get away from here as fast as we can.’

‘But I think I might have a solution!’

‘Jack! We don’t have time for this!’ Amber really did sound tired.

'Just hear me out, ok? There are sprinklers in every room, right Ram?’

‘I…I think so’ Ram pondered, ‘But I don’t see…’

‘All we need to do is turn on the one in Mega’s lab. It should short-circuit the machine making the virus.’

‘It’ll never work, the computer has the power to override the sprinkler system in the hotel, so it’s not just a case of lighting a fire underneath it!’

‘I figured as much. Just give me a few minutes connected with that thing, I’m sure I can find a way to switch it on, just long enough to stop the virus then I’ll be out.’

‘Jack, no!’ Amber cried. ‘Are you insane? Didn’t you see what it did to Mega, and to Ram? You wouldn’t last five minutes in there!’

‘What’s stopping you guys in here?’ Lex re-entered the room, looking anxious. ‘We have to get out of here! Slade, tell them!’

‘He’s right. You can’t win them all, Jack. There’s nothing more we can do here.’

Jack held out his hands in exasperation, a frustrated expression on his face. ‘I know I can do it! Just a few minutes, that’s all I…’

‘Jack, if I thought it would do any good, I’d be the first to agree but we might not have those few minutes! Think about Ellie! She needs you alive, Jack.’ Amber took his hands in hers, willing him to drop the idea and get out of the hotel, but he shook them loose, clenching his fists in his hair.’

‘You don’t understand! I can do this! There isn’t enough time to argue about it! Please, just trust me on this one. If that thing gets out…’ He unclenched his fists and put his hands by his sides, closing his eyes and taking a breath to compose himself. When he opened his eyes his voice was calm once more. ‘Amber, if this gets out, people are going to die. You remember how bad things were the first time, there‘s no way the whole city can be evacuated, even with the CityNet broadcasts we’ve put out and word-of-mouth. If we got out of this alive, I couldn’t spend the rest of my life wondering how many people died because I valued my own life over theirs, or feeling guilty knowing that I could have at least tried something!’

The emotion in Jack’s voice told Amber that he was speaking the desperate truth. She knew it because she would have felt the same way herself, if she was convinced she could save all those lives if only she would take a risk.

‘Amber, just let him do it, or none of us will get out of here!’

‘Lex is right. You’re right, Jack. Do what you have to do. Just…be careful, ok?’

‘I will, Amber. Just trust me. Ram, can you connect me up to this thing?’

As Jack and Ram made their way over to the laptop that was the source of all the trouble, Amber turned to the other two men. ‘Lex. Slade. You don’t have to be a part of this. You can go now, while there’s still some time left. You could head…’

‘I can’t desert you guys now.’ Slade cut in. ‘Especially since you wouldn’t be in this mess without me.’ He glanced over to where his brother’s body lay, next to where Jack was being hooked up to the computer.

‘Besides,’ shrugged Lex, ‘I wouldn’t want to miss out on any of the glory, would I?’

Amber smiled and touched his arm. ‘Thanks, Lex’ she said. ‘And thanks, Slade. This isn’t your mess, it’s our mess. We’ll fix it together.

‘So,’ Lex sighed, ‘What do you want us to do?’

‘Could you come with me to the lab, so we can see when the sprinklers come on and get Jack out of there as quickly as possible?’

‘Sure. If they come on.’

‘Nice attitude, Lex.’ Amber rolled her eyes. ‘Slade, can you stay here with Ram and watch over Jack?’

‘Actually, can I go to the lab? I can’t stand it in here. I just need to get out.’

‘Oh, yes. I’m sorry, Slade, I wasn’t thinking. You go with Lex, I’ll stay here.’

Slade and Lex nodded at each other then left the room. ‘Good luck, buddy!’ Lex called to Jack on his way out.’

‘See you later’ Amber whispered to them as they left.

‘He’s ready’ Ram said. Amber turned round, her hands smoothing her coat out of nervousness.

‘Do it’ she replied.

Ram leaned over the computer and pushed a few keys. The LEDs on Jack’s headset flickered then stayed on. The monitor on the laptop also flickered into life, showing the face of the computer Zoot. It grinned inanely before simply saying ‘Jack.’ Suddenly all the monitors in the room showed the face of Zoot, grinning and repeating over and over what the first had said. ‘Jack.’

‘Jack.’

‘Jack.’

‘Jack.’

‘Jack.’

Amber looked at Ram. ‘What have I done?’ she breathed.

4 Likes
2

Great so far., Cant wait for more! Excited for more!

3

Thanks littlezandra! By the way, were you on Eyeboards? I remember the name. Here’s chapter 2!

Chapter 2: Systems

‘Jack…Jack…Jack…’ The room echoed with the sound of dozens of computer Zoots saying the intruder’s name.

‘Can’t you make it stop?’ Amber pleaded with Ram, her hands placed over her ears in a desperate attempt to cut off the relentless drone of those computerised voices.

‘There’s nothing I can do from here. I suppose I could patch myself in again. If I told you what to do…’

‘Never mind’ Amber replied. ‘That would be dangerous enough even if you were fully recovered from the last time you were in that thing, which I doubt.’

‘I am still a little sore.’ Ram admitted.

‘Thanks for the offer, though’ Amber said, surprised by her former foe’s generosity. He just shrugged in reply. Amber thought he was still upset that he hadn’t been able to beat the programme himself, especially since it was supposed to obey him, its creator, in the first place. She decided not to say anything, and just watched Jack instead. Her friend just sat there, still completely calm and motionless. She wished she could see his eyes behind that headset, just to make sure everything was alright. Whatever he was facing in there - wherever there was - he was showing no signs of any struggle. No signs of anything, in fact. Amber wondered how he could concentrate with the voices repeating over and over. Could he even hear them? Did he know what was going on in the real world? She remembered that Mega - she had to stop herself from looking over at the body - had known what was going on around him when he had been hooked up; he had asked for the headset to be left on after Ram had been removed by the programme. That memory only increased her fears for Jack. ‘If he can hear what’s going on,’ she thought to herself, ‘how can he be so calm?’

‘He must have found something.’ Ram said, obviously thinking the same as Amber. ‘That’s the only reason I can think of - the only one I want to think of - as to how he can just sit like that. He must be concentrating so hard that he’s blocking out the sound.’

‘I hope you’re right.’

‘He’s…he’s our only chance now, isn’t he?’

‘If anyone can do it, Jack can. Let’s just concentrate on keeping him safe. We can worry about the rest later if we have to.’

The pair stood, helpless, watching a motionless Jack, the occasional blinking of the lights on the headset the only indication that anything at all was happening. Amber made herself concentrate on Jack, however difficult it was seeing him like that. If she didn’t, the only other option would have been to look at the seemingly never-ending wall of Zoot faces, staring and grinning, and she thought that if she did that, she would go mad for sure. All the while, the voices continued their hypnotic mantra.

‘Jack…Jack…Jack…’

Frantically running through the busy city streets, Jay had no time to apologise to anyone he pushed past in the throng of city dwellers. Neither did they. They were all moving in the opposite direction, trying to escape the city and not caring about some fool Techno trying to go the other way. It was all Jay could do to keep moving against the tide of people. Twice now he had nearly been knocked to his feet and trampled by the crowd, after a particularly burly citizen had run into him. He had heard the screams of the unlucky few who had not kept their balance, but he knew that by the time he got to them there would be nothing he could do, and so kept running. He had to reach the hotel. He had to find Amber and bring her back to the boat. The others too, of course, but her most of all. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the girl running straight towards him until it was too late. They collided, but thinking quickly Jay dragged her into a nearby alley before they both ended up dead. The girl let out a high-pitched squeal as they careered into the alley, and only then did Jay realise who it was he held in his arms.

‘Gel?!’ he panted, half surprised, half glad to have run into someone he recognised. ‘I thought you were with the others?’

‘I went to pack a few more things, and when I came downstairs everybody had gone!’ Her voice became more and more shrill, until finally the young girl broke down in tears. ‘Oh, Jay! I thought I was going to be on my own again!’ she sobbed.

‘Hey, hey! Shh! It’s alright!’ Jay tried to comfort her, lifting her chin up so she could see the sincerity in his eyes. ‘Now listen, do you know the way to the quayside?’

‘Mmhmm’ she nodded, sniffing. ‘I think so.’

‘Then go there. That’s where the others were heading when I left them, they should still be there. May said she had a friend with a boat. It’ll be the quickest way out of here.’

‘What about you? Aren’t you coming?’

‘I’ll be there’, he reassured her. ‘I just have to find Amber and the others at the hotel first. I promise I’ll be there as soon as I can, ok?’

Gel nodded again, drying her eyes with a handkerchief. ‘Good luck’, she said, as Jay led her out of the alley. He watched her trailing her packed suitcase behind her, then continued on his way to the hotel. Exhausted though he was, he had to make it.

If it wasn’t for the headset he was wearing, Jack felt as though his eyes would pop out of their sockets. Being a part of the Technos’ computer network was exhilarating. From the moment Ram had patched him in, he had felt like he was on a speeding roller coaster, zipping thousands of miles in a heartbeat as he desperately trawled through the computer’s systems, trying to find the information he wanted, the right path to go down. Physically, he saw nothing at all, but in his mind’s eye he was floating above a highway of pure light, blazing bright in the darkness and stretching out beyond the horizon. He imagined paths leading out from the main highway in all directions, but he couldn’t see where any of them were leading to. The whole thing seemed to pass by underneath him so quickly that his brain didn’t have time to process the information. His inability to keep up with the speed things were going at inside the system was one of the only things that reminded him that he was himself, a human, not just another part of the network. It was one of the only things keeping him sane; that, and the sound of his own name reverberating inside his head. Jack. He thought that was his name, anyway. Vaguely, he remembered thinking that the noise was coming from outside. Outside where? There is no outside. Consciousness is all. He had to concentrate. The information was passing by too quickly, slipping out of his grasp. He had to forget himself. He had to be assimilated fully into the systems. My systems. The thought flickered through his mind, barely noticed, before being stored away. The voices. The only thing keeping him from being complete. The only way he could find what he wanted in time. What do I want? Have to be complete! Concentrate. Forget himself. Get rid of the voices. Concentrate. The light shifted. He was following one of the paths, or rather what he wanted started moving towards him. He was sure he stayed in the same place, despite being nowhere at all. Things made no sense, then they made perfect sense. He couldn’t have made the paths move, could he? Of course he could, they were his systems. He could do anything. He felt the end of the path approaching. Information washed over him, his mind processing it all and discarding what was useless, until he finally found what he had been searching for. There! Stop the voices! Be complete! Everything fell silent.

Walking down the corridor, the only sound Lex heard was the clump, clump of his and Slade’s boots on the floor. Since the two of them had left Amber and Ram looking after Jack, it had been one of those awkward silent times. Whenever he tried to start a conversation with Slade all he got was a nod or perhaps a grunt if he was lucky. This is doing my head in, he thought to himself. Can’t he just talk about something? Anything, so I don’t have to think about what’s going to happen to us. Thinking of another random question, he opened his mouth to ask it.

The short trip with Lex had been a nightmare for Slade. The guy just wouldn’t stop talking! He was obviously freaking out about the whole situation, and wanted to take his mind off things. Slade was trying to keep a clear head, thinking of how they could escape if Jack was unsuccessful. So far he had come up with nothing. As Lex opened his mouth to speak again he ground his teeth in frustration, before interrupting.

‘Lex, just shut up!’ Lex’s mouth worked, probably partly out of both surprise and anger, Slade thought. Slade mentally berated himself for letting his temper get the better of him like that, no matter how much stress he was under. He decided to try again, a gentler approach this time. ‘Look Lex, I know you’re just trying to get me to stop thinking about Josh, and I thank you for that, but I’m fine, really!’

More surprise, and confusion, appeared on Lex’s face for an instant. ‘Um, yeah. Right, ok.’ he replied.

That should give him something else to think about, Slade thought. And hopefully calm him down. His thoughts were distracted as they approached the last turn before the lab by a whirring noise. The lights flickered momentarily, then everything was back to normal again. I guess I spoke too soon, he thought.

Both men had stopped in their tracks when the noise started. Now they just stood looking at each other, bodies braced to spring into action if any was necessary.

‘What just happened there?’ Lex asked, looking slightly worried.

‘I don’t know,’ Slade answered him. ‘But we’d better be ready for anything around that corner.’ With that they ran into the corridor leading to the lab.

3 Likes
4

Chapter 3: Warnings

Amber stood in the middle of the room, directly opposite Jack. Her hands were clasped together by her stomach to keep herself from fidgeting, but occasionally she found herself repeatedly smoothing her coat and had to force her hands back into position. From time to time she watched Jack’s chest, to make sure he was still breathing, then realised she was holding her own breath. It was at these times, when she had to remind herself to do as simple a thing as breathe, that she once again became aware of what else was going on in the room around her. It wasn’t comforting. The first thing she noticed of course was the awful sound of those Zoot voices; they were enough to drive someone insane. She had managed to block them out eventually, each time she became aware of them, but they were still giving her a headache. She turned around, so she wouldn’t see the monitors out of the corner of her eye, turning away from Jack at the same time - she felt guilty but there wasn’t much she could do for him right now - and saw Ram. He was vigorously pacing the floor in front of her, from wall to wall, apparently lost in his own thoughts, as she had been. Amber wondered how long he had been doing that, how long they had both been doing that. Neither of them had spoken since they had both been concerned about how calm Jack appeared, but she didn’t know how long ago that was. It seemed like hours had passed but it must only have been a matter of minutes. Still, it was a wonder they were here at all - she had expected the computer to have finished making the virus by now. Hopefully the fact that it hadn’t was down to Jack. That would mean that he was doing something, that he was still there and not trapped in cyberspace somewhere. She turned her head to check on Jack, hoping for even the smallest sign of activity, but he was still the same.

As she turned back, she noticed that Ram had stopped pacing and was now looking at her. ‘Any change?’ he asked. She shook her head, and Ram went back to pacing the floor. Thinking he had finished, Amber started to turn back to Jack, but the Techno still had more to say. ‘I don’t like this!’ he snapped, still pacing and making angry gestures with his hands. ‘Something’s not right! I just…there’s nothing I can do!’ Clearly frustrated, he stopped pacing, coming to a halt by a desk. He banged both of his fists down on the desk and then just stood there, leaning against it, with his head down.

Amber jumped at the sudden violent outburst. ‘Keep quiet, you might disturb Jack!’ she said irritably. ‘Besides, violence isn’t going to solve anything here!’

‘No?’ Ram replied, dragging a swivel chair out from under the desk and sending it careering into the wall as hard as he could. ‘It seems to be working pretty well for me right now!’ The chair bounced off the wall and rolled back towards him, toppling over at his feet. He stood staring at it for a moment, then picked it up and sat down in it. ‘I’m sorry’ he said, pushing his palms against his knees and closing his eyes in an effort to remain calm. ‘You’re right, I shouldn’t have done that. I just can’t stand all this waiting, you know?’

‘I know’ Amber said. ‘It’s getting to me too. We just have to try and stay calm.’

‘Like Jack?’ Ram quipped. Neither of them laughed.

Just then, Amber caught something moving out of the corner of her eye. Looking towards the door, she saw through the small glass panel that the lights in the corridor outside were flickering, just for an instant then it was as if nothing had happened.

‘What is it?’ Ram asked, noticing the look on Amber’s face. ‘Are Lex and Slade back?’

‘No, nothing like that. It was just the lights outside flickering. Do you think it means anything?’

Ram opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out, as the lights in the room they were in suddenly went out. The monitors on the wall crackled and went dead one by one, silencing the Zoot voices and plunging the room into darkness apart from the light from the corridor coming through the glass panel, and the computer Jack was hooked up to - the only one still working. That monitor too had lost its Zoot face, and its blank screen created an eerie pool of light, with Jack in the middle, the flickering red lights on the headset increasing the creepy effect. Worse, Jack was now smiling. Amber felt butterflies in her stomach when she saw that smile. It reminded her of the grins on the Zoot faces. She felt Ram rising out of the chair and looked up into his face, just about noticeable in the poor light. He looked worried.

‘I, er, I think this means something’ he said.

‘Yeah, I can see that, but is it good or bad?’ Amber mused.

‘I wish I knew.’

At that moment, the lights in the room came back on. Amber and Ram both blinked, adjusting to the light. The monitors on the wall flickered back into life, but now showed only a fuzzy grey screen, not the Zoot faces.

‘Did Jack do all that?’ Amber asked incredulously.

‘It certainly seems that way.’

‘So…that’s a good thing, right? He’s got control of the system, he can activate the sprinkler in the lab now.’

‘Perhaps’ was all Ram would say.

Amber went over to her friend sitting in the chair and knelt in front of him, taking one of his hands in hers. ‘Come on Jack’ she smiled, her eyes tearing up. ‘You can do it.’

‘Look!’ Ram said, pointing at the wall of monitors, where a picture had appeared on each of the screens. Amber got up from where she was kneeling and went to stand next to Ram, blinking away the tears so she could see more clearly what was going on.

‘At least it isn’t the Zoot faces again’ she said, as her vision returned to normal. ‘But what is it?’ The screens seemed to show another part of the hotel, an empty corridor.

‘Usually these monitors would show images from the security cameras. Maybe they’re just starting up again now that the programme is no longer in control’ Ram said, sounding doubtful.

‘Wait, there’s something there!’ Amber exclaimed, as a figure made its way unsteadily halfway along the corridor before collapsing on the floor.

‘It’s Lex!’ Ram sounded shocked.

‘Something must have happened in the lab!’ Amber cried. ‘Jack’s trying to warn us, he must be!’

‘Maybe. Listen, I’ll go check it out, you stay here and keep an eye on Jack.’

‘But I don’t know what to do!’

‘You don’t have to do anything. I didn’t want to tell you this before but, if he fails, there’s not much point taking that headset off. If it looks like he’s in trouble you can take it off if you really want to, but it’ll be kinder to let him go the way Mega did than to let the virus get him.’

‘Well, in that case, it’s a good job he’s not going to fail, isn’t it?’ Amber stood looking at him defiantly.

‘Yeah, whatever, look I’ll be back soon. Just don’t touch anything, ok?’

Amber watched Ram leave the room, and waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps running down the corridor, before sitting down at one of the desks with her head in her hands, and beginning to cry.

Neither of them had noticed that Jack’s smile had softened since Amber had touched his hand.

Since shutting down the voices, Jack no longer felt that everything was passing by him too quickly. It had taken several tries, searching for the right room, and then locating the source of the voices, but now he felt as if he could do anything. There was still a part of him, tucked away somewhere, that kept telling him that something was wrong, that he should be concentrating on finding…something, but he ignored it. There was also something else. Something that felt like him, but somehow wasn’t. Every now and then, this third part kept blocking him, whenever he tried to follow a path. Sometimes he could force his way through, but increasingly he found that he had to find an alternative route. It was as though he was somehow fighting against himself, but he kept sensing anger from the other part, as if he was somehow intruding, but that couldn’t be possible, could it? Every time he felt something, whether doubt from himself or anger from the other, the second part of himself - the part that was tucked away so he could be free to explore his systems - seemed to grow stronger. Whatever it wanted, it seemed important, but he didn’t take orders.

Suddenly, he saw something, like a window to somewhere else. A corridor. About to discard the image, he paused, as a figure started moving in from one edge of his vision. Intrigued, he continued watching. The figure had long, dark hair and seemed vaguely familiar, even though that couldn’t be possible. As the figure fell to the ground, he prepared once more to delete the image. All of a sudden he felt a connection with something else and everything changed. Startled, he could no longer hold on to the image and it disappeared. He remembered everything. He was Jack, and he was inside Ram’s computer programme. The connection he had felt was Amber. She was holding his hand and talking to him, but he couldn’t speak; he felt trapped within his own mind. The image! That was Lex! He was in trouble, somewhere in the hotel. Somehow, Jack realised he must have stumbled across the hotel’s surveillance system. Now, if only he could find that image again. Concentrating, he trawled through the files until he found what he was searching for. He hoped it wasn’t too late. He sent the image to the screens in the room he sat in, outside wherever he was now. That was all he could do for Lex, but hopefully the others could still help him.

It was then that Jack realised that Slade had been with Lex. Where was he? He knew he didn’t have much time. He still had to find the sprinkler system, and turn on the one in the lab, but first he had to check on Slade. He began to search through the files in the surveillance system once more.

3 Likes
5

Nice to see this has a place some where on the web to call home. Still love it!:slight_smile: And yes I was on eye boards with the same name by the way!:slight_smile:

1 Like
6

Chapter 4: Visions

A pale light came from somewhere, yet there were no lights on in the red-painted corridors. Amber stood at the centre of a crossroads, with each of the four routes before her stretching into darkness. The light didn’t penetrate everywhere, it seemed. She turned to look back down the corridor she must have come down, brushing the leaves of a potted plant on her left as she did so, but it looked identical to the other pathways. She hoped she would be able to find her way back, in case Jack needed her. Not yet though, she had to keep running. As she began to search the corridors once more the light seemed to move with her, but she didn’t notice; she had more important things to concentrate on, like finding Jay. She had first heard his calls for her, sounding far away, what seemed a long time ago, and he still wasn’t getting any closer. He wasn’t going to find her at this rate, so she would have to find him instead. Stopping again to listen for his call, she realised she was at a crossroads once more. Behind her and to her left was a tall potted plant, and in each direction the corridor stretched ahead into darkness. Had she been here before, or were all the corridors like this? Taking a right turn, she found herself at yet another crossroads, with all four paths leading into the darkness. This was impossible! Where was the turning she had just taken? Panicking, she headed back the way she thought she had come, passing another potted plant. Nothing. In desperation she ran her hands along the walls, but they were solid. This couldn’t be happening.

‘Amber! Where are you?’

‘Jay!’ Amber half screamed. ‘Jay, I’m here!’ As fast as she could, she ran in the direction of where she thought Jay’s voice was coming from. She turned countless corners at the same crossroads, tears streaming down her face, but Jay’s voice never got any louder. She screamed his name until she was hoarse, and had almost given up all hope of ever seeing him again when at last she turned a final corner and there he was.

‘Jay! I thought I’d never find you! We have to help Jack!’

‘Amber! Where are you?’ Jay’s lips moved but the voice still sounded like he was in the distance somewhere. His eyes looked straight through her, looking for her but not seeing that she was standing right in front of him.

‘Jay?’ she asked tentatively, taking a step backwards. As she did so, something got in her way and she fell to the ground, grasping for whatever she could in a vain effort to steady herself. Something broke off in her hands. Leaves. They, and the crash of pottery she had heard as she hit the ground told her what she had tripped over. The potted plant. Jay still stood in front of her; her eyes moved back up from shin level to his face. With a gasp she crawled backwards, scratching her palms on the broken bits of pot on the floor. It wasn’t Jay’s face she was looking at, it was Zoot’s, and he was no longer looking through her but straight at her, and grinning.

‘Here, let me help you up’ a familiar voice said, as she felt herself being dragged to her feet. She looked around to see who had aided her, not expecting to see the face she saw.

‘Pride!?’ she whispered, then felt the presence of others around her. She was still standing at the intersection of the corridors, facing Pride and with her back to Jay. At the mouth of the corridor to her left was Sasha, and on her right, Bray. Suddenly all three of the newcomers also wore Zoot’s face. She was trapped, and they were moving towards her, grinning like the monitors in the control room. Walking backwards, she felt Jay’s arms around her.

‘Amber! Where are you?’ That distant voice again. There was nothing she could do. She screamed.

‘Amber! Where are you?’

‘Amber! Where are you?’

Amber woke with a start, her head shooting up and hands spreading out on the desk in front of her, not knowing where she was. Wide eyes, red-rimmed from crying, surveyed the room around her and soon everything fell into place once more. Her exhaustion had caught up with her and she had fallen asleep, but it had not been restful. At least it had only been a dream, if a bad one. She was still in the control room with Jack, who thankfully was no longer grinning like a Cheshire cat. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stood up and moved away from the desk, leaving behind sweaty handprints that at once began to evaporate. She had never thought of herself as a fragile person before, but now she was a wreck. Everything seemed to be getting on top of her, and she felt helpless. Serious rest would be needed if she ever got back to the mall.

‘Amber? Jack? Is anyone still here?’

Amber froze in panic. Jay’s voice from her dream. She was awake, wasn’t she? A flicker of motion caught her eye and she looked towards the wall of monitors. It was Jay, running through the hotel corridors. She wasn’t trapped in her dream still; this must have been what had made her dream about Jay in the first place, that and the growing feeling of hopelessness inside her. She wondered how long he had been here.

‘Amber!’

‘I’m here, Jay!’ she shouted, then laughed at her silliness. She was talking to television screens now. On closer inspection, however, Jay had now stopped and was looking around him as if trying to listen for something. Had he heard her? He must be closer than she thought. She beamed at Jack, to thank him for showing this to her, even though she knew he couldn’t see her.

‘We’ll be right back, I promise.’ she said, before dashing out of the room, calling for Jay.

Ram slowed to a walk as he approached Mega’s lab. He grudgingly admitted to himself that the whole thing was very impressive, especially when you considered how short a time he must have managed to set it up in. The room had been a lowly storage cupboard when Ram had been leader of the Technos, and that equipment was not easy to come by. Ram had been thinking about it a lot, and had come up with only two possible explanations. The first was that Mega had brought it all with him during the initial invasion, in which case he had planned to overthrow Ram from the start. Had Java been in on it the whole time as well? Ram made himself move on from that thought. It wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on. If Mega had planned this all along, he would have had to hide all the equipment somewhere in the hotel, which just wasn’t possible. Jay was in charge of checking the storeroom inventories at first, and he had definitely not been in league with Mega. This made the second explanation much more likely. Mega must have had the equipment shipped in from headquarters sometime after Jay had left the Technos. That was the earliest he could have hidden something without Ram knowing. Both explanations, however, led to one undeniable fact - at least one high-ranking Techno back home was against him. As much as he hated to admit it, he was safer here, with the Mallrats. There was no way he could ever go back.

Stalking quietly along the last corridor, he listened out for any signs of danger, but he heard nothing, nothing at all. He turned into the lab corridor, unsure of what he would find there. What he saw was the last thing he expected. Slade and Lex whirled around, startled, from looking through the panel in the lab’s door. Neither of them had as much as a scratch. Ram’s brain worked to find an explanation.

‘Ram?’ they both said in unison.

‘What are you doing here?’ Slade asked. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘Lex, are you alright? We saw you on the screens in the control room. You were virtually at death’s door.’ Both Ram and Lex realised at the same time what Ram had just said.

‘“Virtually” at death’s door’ said Lex, knowingly. ‘Now why does that sound all too familiar?’

‘I don’t get it’ said Slade, confused. ‘What’s going on?’

‘The reality space programme Mega used on me, to make me think the Mallrats had been deleted.’ The lights flickered again.

‘That’s the second time that’s happened. What does it mean, Ram?’

‘It means Jack’s in trouble. We have to get back there quickly, I’ll explain everything on the way.’

Slade watched Ram disappear around the corner, still unsure as to what exactly was going on. He nodded to Lex and the two men set off after Ram, slowing a little when they had caught up to him. Ram had a determined look on his face, he wasn’t going to be beaten on this one if he could possibly help it. Slade couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for what was going on. If only he had not taken Ram to Liberty. If only he hadn’t left Josh. Shaking his head he reminded himself that what was done was done and it was what he did now that mattered.

‘So let me get this straight’ he spoke up. ‘This computer programme, it used some sort of… virtual Lex, to trick you into thinking the real Lex was in trouble? Why would it do that?’

‘Well, first of all’ Ram replied. ‘We don’t know that it was the computer programme.’

‘Jack?’ questioned Lex, incredulously. ‘Baloney! Jack wouldn’t do that.’

‘Ordinarily, no, but how much of Jack is actually left?’

‘Stop being cryptic, Ram! What has your programme done to him?’

‘But we don’t know that it was Jack either?’ Slade said, changing the subject. Lex looked furious.

‘That’s right’ Ram said, waving his finger to note Slade’s point. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before, it’s fascinating!’ he laughed.

‘Jack isn’t one of your twisted science experiments, you know!’ Lex grabbed Ram’s arm, twisting him round to face him and bringing the group to a halt.

‘Look, the only person who knows…possibly…is Jack himself. My guess though,’ Ram said, going back into lecture mode and showing no sign that Lex was restraining him, ‘is that the programme is trying to trick him.’

‘Why would it do that?’ Slade asked, repeating his earlier question.

‘Who can say? I’d like to talk to Jack about all this once we get out. The most likely reason is to get him alone so we can’t help him, which is why,’ Ram said, narrowing his eyes at Lex, ‘we have to move quickly!’

‘Amber.’ Slade said.

Lex grunted and released his grip. Ram rubbed his arm and the three continued their journey in silence, the tension between Lex and Ram still evident.

As they reached the control room, Slade saw what looked like a sack of something on the floor, leaning against the wall opposite the door. As they got closer he realised it was wearing Amber’s coat.

‘We’re too late.’ he said softly.

‘Amber!’ Lex shouted at the same time, dashing towards his fellow tribe member. Ram and Slade increased their speed to reach her soon after him.

‘Is she alright?’ Slade asked.

‘She’s not hurt’ Lex replied after checking her over ‘but she’s in a right state.’

Amber lay slumped against Lex, sobbing. Her hand reached up to grip on his shirt, while she lifted her head up to say something. Nothing came out but more sobs. She shook her head and tried to wipe away some of her tears with her free hand. Slade had never seen her like this before. From what he’d heard about Amber, she’d been through so much and still remained strong, but whatever had happened while they had been away had obviously been the last straw for the girl.

‘It’s going to be alright’ he told her, hoping that he was right.

While Lex and Slade were fussing over Amber, Ram was observing the scene inside the control room through the glass panel. It had come as no surprise upon trying the door to find that it was locked. Finding Amber outside had confirmed his suspicions that Jack did not have as much control over the system as they had first thought, and that the programme wanted him alone. Inside the room, Ram could see that the Zoot faces had returned and were laughing wildly, while Jack writhed in his chair, gritting his teeth and gripping the arms so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. That programme was the best thing he had ever written - he felt a mixture of pride and guilt at that thought - but it had to be stopped, and he would be the one to do it.

2 Likes
7

OOOOH thank you for reposting this! :purple_heart::purple_heart::purple_heart:

1 Like
8

One day I might even finish writing it, haha.

9

Chapter 5: Light of Day

Lex was bent down on one knee holding Amber, who continued to cry softly against his chest. Feeling uncomfortable, especially with Slade standing there watching him, he addressed the two men standing in the corridor. ‘So does anyone have any bright ideas as to how we’re going to get Jack out of there?’ Slade shrugged unhelpfully, while Ram just stared into the control room. ‘Ram? Hello? Earth to planet Ram!’

‘I heard you the first time, Lex’ came the reply.

‘Could’ve fooled me. So what are we going to do?’

‘If I head back to the generator room, I might be able to find a way to turn on the sprinklers manually.’

‘But what about Jack?’ Lex asked again.

‘We leave Jack where he is. I need the programme to be distracted if this is going to work.’

‘No way!’ Lex argued, extricating himself from Amber, who had stopped crying and was now listening intently to what Ram was saying. He stood opposite the Techno with one hand on his hip and the other making a jabbing motion with his finger in Ram’s direction to emphasise the rest of his words. ‘There is no way we’re leaving him in there like THAT,’ his finger jabbed further right this time, in the direction of the door, before returning to Ram again, ‘while you waltz off to the other end of the hotel, trying out some half-baked scheme that might not even work!’

‘Oh, and Jack’s idea was foolproof?’ Lex lunged at Ram, but Slade had anticipated this moment and swiftly moved in between the two, flinging his arms out so that they both got a chestful of fingers. Lex grunted and Ram rubbed his chest where it hurt, shooting an accusatory look at Slade. ‘Come on Slade, surely you can see that Jack’s as good as dead anyway?’ He staggered back into the door as he received the full-armed slap of Amber, who had risen unnoticed during the argument.

‘Nice shot, babe.’ Lex said, looking at Amber admiringly.

‘Oh, grow up Lex, or you’re next’ Amber snapped in reply, soon wiping the smile off Lex’s face. ‘I’ve had enough of this, Ram!’ she said, before turning to Slade, who had not yet answered Ram’s question. ‘Well?’ she asked angrily. ‘Do you agree with him? Do you think we should just leave him in there?’

‘I think we all need to calm down. Fighting with each other won’t get us anywhere. Of course I don’t think we should give up on Jack’ he added, noticing Amber’s open hand.

‘I’m surrounded by…’ Ram broke off as Amber’s arm twitched. ‘Can’t you see this could be our only chance?’ he cried.

‘We’re not leaving him!’ Lex stated firmly.

‘Then you’re all fools!’

‘Look Ram’ said Slade. ‘I know how much beating this thing means to you, but from what I’ve seen of it so far, I don’t think Jack would be enough of a distraction for you to do anything anyway. That laser didn’t stop when you and Josh were in there did it?’ Lex looked at Ram triumphantly. Ram just scowled at everybody.

‘Now can you three wait here a bit without killing each other? I’ve got a plan to get Jack out of there. Amazing what you can do when you give your mouth a rest and let your brain get some of the oxygen.’ And with that, he walked off.

‘Hey! Where are you going?’ Lex called, but got no reply. He stood there in silence with Ram and Amber, all three united in that they resented Slade’s last comment, but none of them willing to admit to any sort of common ground at that time. By the time Slade returned, wielding a metal stand that had once held an ashtray, the animosity in the room had mellowed, although there was still silence. The silence was broken when Slade hefted the stand like a javelin and rammed it as hard as he could into the glass panel in the door of the control room. This sent shards of broken glass flying out and Ram, who had been standing next to the door, fleeing to the other side of the corridor.

‘I don’t think this is a very good idea.’ Ram said as Slade shoved his arm through the newly-formed hole and attempted to reach the handle on the other side of the door.

‘We all know what you think about rescuing Jack, Ram. There’s no need to tell us again’ said Lex.

‘No, I mean…’

‘ARGH!’ Slade cried, jerking his arm out of the door and cutting his hand on the remnants of the window as he did so. ‘Stupid thing shocked me’ he said, shaking his arm out and flexing his fingers.

‘Here, let me have a look at that.’ Amber said to him, taking his hand and trying to extract the fragments of glass while dabbing away as much of the blood as she could with her handkerchief. ‘Don’t worry’ she said, smiling. ‘It’s clean.’ She shook her head at his winces. ‘And don’t be such a baby! There, that’s the best I can do for now. A dressing would help but I don’t have anything on me, sorry.’

‘That’s fine, thanks for this.’

‘No problem. So what just happened there?’ Slipping back into her mother hen role had given Amber back some of the strength she had lost during the day.

‘The lock is computerised, controlled by a keypad and swipe card system’ Ram explained. ‘So the programme has access to it.’

‘Which is why the door locked behind me and how Slade got the electric shock.’ finished Amber.

‘That’s correct. By the way, you never told us what made you leave the room.’

‘Monitors again’ was all Amber would say, while looking at the floor.

‘Don’t you have a swipe card?’ Lex asked Ram.

‘Yes, but the computer’s hardly going to let me in now, is it?’

‘It’s worth a try’ said Slade. Ram shrugged, dug out his card and slid it into the reader, punching in a code at the same time. Nothing happened.

‘I still say we try and get to the generator again’ he said.

‘And you’re still outvoted’ said Amber.

‘Then the only thing left is to break down the door’ said Lex, a touch of pleasure in his voice. Just then, there was a loud hissing noise and the four people standing in the corridor suddenly found themselves getting very wet. A look of recognition dawned on all of their faces, and it was as if a red alert had gone off in their heads. Jack had done it, the sprinklers were on. It was time for action.

‘Slade, go to the lab and make sure that equipment isn’t working.’ Slade nodded and left at Amber’s command. ‘Ram, I thought he was only turning on the one in the lab?’

‘It’s probably all he can do to get them on at all,’ Ram replied, sounding impressed. ‘It would take more concentration to specify which room to activate the sprinklers in, which would leave him open to attack from the programme. I doubt he’ll have much time though, so we need to be ready to get him out of there once Slade brings us the all clear.’

‘So you want to rescue him now, do you?’ snorted Lex, gaining him a reproachful look from Amber.

‘Now that we’re safe…hopefully, anyway…then yes.’ Ram said, in a tone that seemed to dare Lex to threaten him. As if to prove his point, he was the first to throw himself at the locked door between the three of them and Jack, with Lex close behind.

As Lex moved out of the way, Ram threw himself at the door once more, grunting as he hit it. Maybe he hadn’t shown enough faith in Jack at the beginning, but perhaps there was still a chance for him to redeem himself, by helping to rescue him. If he was going to find a home with the Mallrats he didn’t want to start with them all hating him; plus, it would be a shame if Jack died in there, he didn’t see any of the other Mallrats being great company for him. They were going to have to work fast, though. If the sprinklers caused the headset to short-circuit while Jack was wearing it…well, it wouldn’t be good that was for sure. They had been designed to repel a little water but soon it was going to be drenched. Hearing Jack’s groans from inside the room, he moved aside to let Lex have another go at trying to get through. Amber was alternately watching them and keeping a lookout for Slade. Lex fell upon the door with a thud and a creak of wood, before moving out of the way for Ram. Putting himself into position, he paused when the sprinklers in the corridor, and more than likely everywhere else as well, suddenly spluttered and died.

‘What’s happening Ram? Has he done it do you think?’ asked Amber, wringing out the hem of her coat.

‘It’s more likely that he’s lost control of the sprinkler system. He might be able to get it back but he won’t be getting any stronger. It’s only a matter of time before the programme gets the better of him. He’s only human, after all.’

‘Very optimistic, Ram.’

‘You did ask.’ He charged at the door again, banging his elbow in the process but otherwise having little effect. He and Lex continued to throw themselves at the door unsuccessfully, with the sprinklers occasionally coming back on for a few seconds, until finally a loud snap was heard. Lex, who had produced the breakthrough, stepped back for one final effort. Putting all of his weight behind him, he launched himself at the door, which came right off its hinges and fell flat on the floor inside the control room, taking Lex with it.

‘Slade’s back!’ cried Amber, pointing. Looking down the corridor, Ram saw that Slade was indeed on his way back, with his thumbs up, giving them the all clear. He noticed that Slade’s right hand was now bandaged; he had probably picked up something from the storeroom next to the lab. Seeing the signal that Jack had accomplished his task, Ram instinctively ran into the control room, past Lex who was just attempting to get back up. Some of the monitors were already flickering dangerously; he had to get Jack out of there now. Running towards the central table, in front of which Jack was sitting, he reached out and yanked off the headset the Mallrat was wearing. He had done it! He had proven himself.

Suddenly he felt a tingle in his fingers as he held the headset. Knowing what was about to come he simultaneously tried to let go and shout for help, but his mind was working much faster than his body and his reactions were not quick enough. A massive surge of electricity flowed through the headset and into him, causing him to drop it and at the same time emit a sort of gasping noise. The pain of the electric shock caused him to stumble backwards clumsily and he lost his footing on the now wet floor. As he fell, the back of his head collided so hard with the corner of a table that it rebounded with a loud crack. He finally came to rest with his back against the table leg, his own legs sprawled out in front of him and his head on his chest. Darkness enveloped him.

In the middle of standing up, Lex had missed the whole incident, but Amber had seen everything. It must have taken only a few moments, as Slade was still only halfway down the corridor. She rushed into the room, heading straight for Ram. At the same time, Lex finished staggering to his feet and went to check on Jack. She noticed a smear of blood on the corner of the table and noted that he must have hit his head with quite a force. Kneeling down beside him on the wet floor she saw more clearly the wound on the back of his head. Blood was matting his dark hair and dripping onto his black uniform. Carefully, she lifted his head up to try and rouse him, and gasped in shock at the wide, lifeless eyes that stared back at her.

‘He’s…he’s dead, Lex!’

The little strength she had managed to gather out in the corridor suddenly shattered like glass and she found herself desperately trying to fight back the unbidden tears.

‘Amber! AMBER!’ Lex called to her, trying to support Jack’s limp form on his shoulder. ‘There’s nothing you can do. Come and give me a hand with Jack.’

‘What happened?’ Slade asked as he came into the room. ‘I heard something.’ Amber watched him through her own shining eyes surveying the room before he rushed to help Lex with Jack. ‘Amber…we have to leave him for now. We need to come back later anyway, to get rid of the stuff in the lab. And for Josh.’ he said.

With a sigh, Amber ran her hand over Ram’s eyes, closing them, and stood up. She let Slade and Lex through the empty doorway first, each with one of Jack’s arms around their shoulders, before following them out, taking a last look back at the chaotic scene that was the control room.

It was soon after that the four figures made their way tentatively out of the old hotel, blinking as their eyes adjusted to the bright light of day they never thought they would see again, and that not all of them had. Even after all they had been through with Ram, Amber hated leaving him in there after what he had done for them in the end. She knew it wasn’t over though, as she walked down the steps into the street; Slade had been right. They would have to come back to dispose of the virus, only then would the city be safe. The end was in sight at least, and the city might finally have some peace.

Jay was within sight of the hotel when he finally saw them approaching. Slade and Lex were supporting someone, probably Jack judging by the jacket, between them. He wondered how he had been injured, and pretty badly by the look of things, inside the hotel. Had they been attacked? Amber was walking alongside them looking very upset, and he couldn’t see Ram or Mega anywhere. Slowing to a walk he waved at his friends and called out to Amber. Her head shot up to look in his direction and he was sure he had seen a look of pure terror on her face before it softened and she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. Instinctively he spread his own arms protectively around her.

‘It’s alright’ he told her. ‘You did your best. Let’s just get out of here as quickly as possible, ok? The others are on a boat but it won’t wait forever.’

‘No Jay, we’re safe. The city’s safe. I’m just…being silly, that’s all.’

‘Did something happen in there?’ he asked her. ‘Where are Ram and Mega?’

‘They didn’t make it’ Slade said, looking at the floor. ‘But the rest of us are going to be fine.’ Jay caught Lex giving Slade a look that suggested that his statement was perhaps a tad optimistic.

‘But…’

‘Jay, there’ll be time to explain everything when we’re back at the mall. First you need to go and make sure that boat doesn’t leave. We’ll take Jack home.’

Amber immediately pulled away from him. ‘Slade’s right. There’s no time. We’ll meet you all back at the mall, ok?’

He nodded. ‘Be careful.’

‘You too. Oh, and if you see anybody, spread the word. The city’s safe.’

They moved apart until only their fingers were touching, then Jay turned and headed back the way he had come as fast as he could. He had so many questions buzzing in his head. What had happened to Mega, Ram and Jack? Why had Amber looked so afraid when she first saw him? He would have to wait a little longer for the answers, but at least she was safe. He only hoped that, tired as he was, he could get to the quayside in time to stop the others from leaving.

2 Likes
10

That was really interesting to read :smiley:

11

So, it’s been a while. But when I was tidying my flat recently I found all my old notes for this story so I thought I’d have a go at reposting it again, reading along as I go and then maybe seeing if I can pick up where I left off when I get to the end of what I’d already written.

To recap (hidden for spoilers if you’d rather read chapters 1-5 above), at this point I’ve altered the ending of S5 and the Mallrats have saved the city from Mega’s virus, but in the process Ram has died and Jack has been paralysed after being hooked up to the Zoot computer. Jay has reached the hotel and is now on his way to the docks to try and stop the rest of the Mallrats from leaving on the boat.

We now join the rest of the Mallrats to see what they’re up to. I’ll be honest, it’s more of a re-introduction to the group and nothing much happens here. I promise the next chapter is better!

Chapter 6: Meanwhile

A refreshingly cool but gentle breeze was blowing in from the sea, bringing with it the salty tang of the open water. Seagulls screeched at each other overhead as they soared on its currents, hoping to scavenge their lunch from the fruits of the fishermen’s nets as they were hauled up a little further offshore. One bird came to settle on the prow of one of the boats still moored on the quayside. It perched there, cleaning itself, only for a short while before it was disturbed by a flailing arm and sent squawking back into the air to join the rest of its kind.

‘Get outta here!’ grunted the owner of the arm, a tall broad-shouldered man with a permanently sour look. ‘Big dumb bird!’ He shook his head and took a generous swig from a fancily-engraved silver-plated hip flask that he always carried with him. He had had to haggle hard for that pretty little piece, and it had still cost him an arm and a leg, but it was worth it to steady his legs and calm his nerves when he was at sea. He hated being on the boat. He had never been comfortable too far away from dry land, but trading between the coastal tribes was becoming an increasingly profitable business venture, and too good an opportunity to pass up for the sake of comfort. He had inherited the boat and the trade routes he used from a former partner, who had taken the insane decision one day to retire to a farm outside the city, and he had claimed that nobody else traded with the coastal tribes. Some of the stock he was bringing back couldn’t be found anywhere else, and since he was the only market for the goods he could charge whatever he liked. Throw in a couple of stories about the perils of the sea and how rare this stuff was and people would pay anything! Never mind comfort. Soon he would be able to buy all the comfort he wanted! Smiling, he took another swig from the flask, tucked it behind his belt and started to plan his next trip along the coast in his head.

Banging on the planks of the wooden jetty announced the arrival of his employee, Arto, so he headed to the gangplank to meet him. Shorter than him, but still fairly tall, and with dark, curly hair, Arto was built like a rhino. He had substantial layers of both fat and muscle and virtually no neck, so his already small head looked even more out of proportion with the rest of his body. He had not been employed for his brains, which was just as well, as he seemed to have very little to offer in that department, but he was good at scaring away unwanted visitors and protecting the stock.

‘What do you want, Arto? I’m busy.’

‘That chick’s here again. Wants to see you. Says it’s urgent.’ Arto was a master at saying as little as he could get away with. Fishing for details from Arto was like trying to get blood out of a stone, and often as successful. It came in useful sometimes, for instance when rival traders tried to interrogate or bribe him, but now was not one of those times. At least it was clear who he was talking about this time. May was the only ‘chick’ who came to visit him on anything like a regular basis, but why was she here now?

‘What’s it about?’

‘Didn’t say. Looked worried though.’

The pregnancy test. It had to be that. She said it wasn’t his, but how could she be so sure? For a moment he considered telling Arto just to get rid of her, but he didn’t think May was the kind of girl to let something like that go so easily. He would have to tell her face to face that he wasn’t going to have anything to do with either of them, and that if she wanted to continue their little arrangement then she was just going to have to get rid of the thing, end of story. And the day had looked so promising too. He tried not to think about how much money he would be losing while he was talking to May.

‘What do you want me to tell her?’

Sighing, he decided that he couldn’t put this off any longer. He had to tell her. ‘Alright then, Arto, let her through. And you take the rest of the day off.’ This was not something he wanted Arto to know about. Just because he hadn’t squealed to the other traders so far, it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t next time.

‘Yes sir’ Arto replied, barely bowing his head in acknowledgement of the other man’s superiority. Looking pleased with himself he walked back along the jetty, the creaking of the wooden boards under his considerable weight fading as he got further away. The trader took another swig from his hip flask and wondered whether maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to retire to the country after all.

May stood outside what had once been a rough, fisherman’s hut, at the landward end of the jetty. Still rough, it was now the home and office of one of her many ‘acquaintances’ around the city. She was here today because he was the only person she knew who had what she needed - a boat. It was the only way the Mallrats were going to be saved from the new virus; it would be too late now to find another way out of the city. She hoped after all this that they would be allowed to use the boat, otherwise she would be leading the Mallrats to their deaths. She turned her head to see the crowd behind her. Trudy was trying to explain to Brady why they couldn’t go back to the mall to fetch something or other, and next to them Salene was talking to Ellie, who was trying to comfort a crying baby Bray. He was probably missing his mother. Ruby, still sore from her run-in with the truck a little earlier, was being supported by Darryl, who didn’t notice the looks she was giving Ebony, shooting daggers from her eyes. Something was definitely going on there, but May didn‘t know what it was, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Ebony herself was also oblivious to the whole thing, which didn’t seem to be helping Ruby’s mood. She was just sitting there on a barrel, swinging her legs and looking bored. Sammy stood on another barrel, looking back towards the city, waiting for the arrival, hopefully any minute now, of the rest of the tribe. Her tribe. They had taken her back after she had spied on them for Mega. She had lied to them all, especially to Salene, out of her own selfishness and jealousy; yet they still considered her as much a part of the tribe as anybody else, and as a friend, Salene most of all. She knew she didn’t deserve it, and she was determined to make it up to them, if only they got out of this alive.

The sea breeze blew strands of her hair across her face, and she turned back to look towards where the boat would have been, if it wasn’t blocked from her view by a number of buildings similar to the one she and her friends stood outside. She unfolded her arms to brush her hair back behind her ear but continued to tap her foot impatiently on the ground. That Harpo or whatever his name was had taken his time going to ask his boss if they could be let through. May had thought he was just going to send them away at first, despite the fact that he clearly recognised her from the many times she had been here before, but he finally agreed to ask. He was probably just being difficult. He seemed to enjoy being like that. She hoped he wasn’t trying to convince his boss that she didn’t want anything important. Would he go that far just to be difficult? A hand on her shoulder made her look up. Salene’s smiling face was a little comforting, but not much. She smiled back weakly, hoping Salene wouldn’t see through her.

‘Don’t worry, May. Once he finds out what’s going on he’s bound to let us use the boat. I mean, he can’t just abandon us all, especially the little ones, however unsavoury a character he is.’

‘You read my mind.’ May replied. ‘You’re probably right, Salene. I just can’t help wondering what he’ll want as payment for escorting the whole of the ‘mighty Mallrat tribe’ out of danger.’

‘Well, we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.’ Salene said confidently. ‘The most important thing right now is just to get out of the city as fast as possible.’ She cast a sad glance at the city that had been their home for as long as they could remember, stopping to look in the direction of the hotel. ‘I hope they make it’ she said quietly, looking at May, needing reassurance herself this time.

‘If I know Lex’, said May, ‘he’ll want to save his own neck. He’ll have them all out in time.’

Salene laughed, seeming happy with the answer. ‘That sounds like Lex alright!’

I just hope they don’t try anything stupid. May thought to herself.

‘Mr. Sociable’s back’ Ebony called, sarcastically, from behind. May looked along the jetty and, sure enough, that Arlo guy was casually strolling back towards the hut, clad all in black apart from a ridiculous silver triangle on his shirt, tapering from his belt to a point at the collar, and red bands across his shoulders, copied in the tribal markings on his cheeks. He had a smug look on his face. May’s heart sank with every step he made. By the time he reached them she had butterflies in her stomach. She was glad Salene was standing next to her for moral support.

‘You can go through’ was all he said, as he walked past the group of Mallrats and went into the hut, leaving the waiting tribe members feeling stunned and a little cheated, having expected more. Ebony looked like she was spoiling for a fight, which she might have got if she had been looking at Ruby, while Darryl just looked confused. Noticing for the first time the looks Ruby was giving to Ebony, his confusion was replaced by unease. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but holding onto Ruby’s arm. Coming straight out of the hut again, a rucksack on his back, the burly man looked a little surprised to see everybody still standing there.

‘Is that it?’ May asked. The guy just shrugged, seemingly confused as to how there could possibly be any more to say. ‘Oh, never mind!’ May said, shaking her head. She watched as Wino turned and headed away from the quayside.

‘Where’s he going?’ asked Sammy.

‘Who knows?’ May said. ‘Come on then, before he changes his mind.’ She didn’t wait to see if her friends were following her before stepping onto the wooden boards that would hopefully lead to their escape.

2 Likes
12

Uhhhh :heart_eyes:a story for me to read… Yay​:heart: Good start… Like the insights of Slade! When I joined the board I didn’t read the stories where I saw that the posting stopped at a part. I hate not to finish reading… So I rather don’t start if I see a story isn’t continued. Nice that you posted on now… Read all in one go :heart:

13

And a lot of tragic in the start already😭

14

Thanks for reading! Yeah, I seem to make my characters upset quite a lot… Oops.

Will try and post the next chapter later tonight. I remember the story and where I was going with it but I’ve forgotten some of the finer details (it must be nearly 8 years since the last update) so I’m re-reading as I post.

1 Like
15

Oh I like sad parts a lot… Actually I never cried do much while writing like I do with my new story… All those melancholic Bramber scenes :sob::sob::sob: Poor Bray suffers usually a lot in my stories… But somehow I think the sadder some parts are, the more joyful the others seem. If you went through sorrows with the characters, you’re even more happy when they are happy!

16

That’s true!

Ok so this is a little later than planned but here is chapter 7.

Chapter 7: An Adventure for Gel

Gel wandered aimlessly through the industrial sector of the city, where all the warehouses and factories were located. She had made it this far alright, but now she was hopelessly lost. She knew the quayside couldn’t be much further away, she just didn’t know exactly which direction it was in. It didn’t help that all the buildings around here looked the same either. If she had her way, they would all have been colour-coded according to what was inside them, then people would know where they were going. It was only common sense. She was sure she had passed this way before. There was nobody around to ask for directions either, the streets had been deserted for a while now. Most people were probably heading for the hills, in the other direction. She decided to stop and take a look around, hoping she would remember the way. Now that she was no longer wheeling her noisy suitcase along behind her, she could hear the sounds of the sea birds in the distance. They sounded like they were laughing at her. Spotting an empty storage crate up ahead, she decided that she would take a rest and see if she could remember which way to go. Approaching the crate, she took out a plain pink handkerchief from her jacket pocket and spread it out carefully over the wooden surface so that when she sat down she wouldn’t dirty her skirt. Producing a small make-up kit and compact mirror from another pocket she started checking how her face had fared on the journey so far. She let out a small shriek when she saw herself, mascara trailing down her cheeks from when she had been crying.

‘Ugh, no wonder there’s nobody around anymore’ she muttered to herself angrily. ‘They probably took one look at me and ran off. There, that’s better.’ She finished fixing herself up and was about to put her things away when she saw something moving behind her reflection in the mirror. Two men were making their way towards her. Ooh, it’s working already! she thought happily, as she slipped down from the crate, pocketed the handkerchief and smoothed her skirt, before standing on tiptoes to wave to the men.

‘Yoo-hoo boys!’ she called out, her hand high in the air. ‘Care to rescue a damsel in distress?’ The pair looked at each other and grinned. One of them was short and bald, but looked very strong. Both of his ears were pierced, as was his nose, which looked as though it had been broken on a number of occasions. He wore a dirty worker’s vest in bands of red and green, and beige cargo pants rolled halfway up to his knees above bare feet. His companion was slightly taller and a lot weedier, with almost shoulder-length hair that was dark and greasy. He wore the same as the bald man, as well as a truly awful yellow and blue flowery shirt that should never have been allowed to be made. She didn’t think that either of the men was particularly attractive, but there was nobody else around and she was desperate to find the rest of the Mallrats, so she smiled sweetly at them and began to twirl her hair around her fingers.

‘I’m a teensy bit lost,’ she told the men as they drew nearer. ‘Could you point me in the direction of the quayside?’

‘Where’s the rest of your tribe?’ asked the greasy-haired guy. ‘How come you’re down here on your own?’

‘They all left without me,’ she pouted. ‘I ran into one of them earlier on and he told me where everyone was going, but he wanted to go to the hotel to rescue his girlfriend. Bit of a lost cause if you ask me, but still, it’s kind of romantic, don’t you think? Anyway, I must have taken a wrong turning somewhere, because, well, this isn’t the quayside is it? I mean, duh, there’s no boats or anything. It smells a bit fishy here though, so it can’t be too far away. I just hope the smell doesn’t get into my clothes.’ She trailed off, thinking of ways to get the smell out. The two men must have been thinking the same thing, she thought, because their eyes were slightly glazed over, as if their minds were on something else. ‘It’s alright’ she told them. ‘I don’t expect you to worry about that.’ Poor guys. They obviously had no fashion sense, and the blank looks they gave her only confirmed their ignorance to her. ‘Anyway, the quayside. Do you know the way?’

‘We can take you there.’ said the taller man. The shorter, bald-headed man just grinned at her, showing crooked teeth that made her wince.

‘An escort as well? Aren’t I the lucky girl!’ The pair looked at each other and laughed. Holding her head high, she grabbed hold of her suitcase and pulled it along, the two men separating so that she was walking between them. They seemed to be making a beeline for one of the warehouses.

‘Are you sure this is the right way?’ she asked.

‘There’s something we want to show you first,’ said the guy with the flowery shirt. They came to a halt outside a warehouse, where the strong-looking guy proceeded to unlock a heavy looking padlock.

‘Oh, well that’s very nice of you, but I really don’t have much time. There’s this virus, you see, and…’

‘You’ll find lots of pretty clothes in here,’ the bald guy said, pushing open the door.

‘That’s really very tempting but I need to get to the quayside.’ Judging by what the two were wearing, she didn’t think anything they considered ‘pretty’ would interest her in the slightest, and keeping them in a smelly warehouse surely wouldn’t do the clothes any good either.

‘Well, this is a short cut,’ said the first guy, shooting his burly friend an angry look. ‘The quayside is just out through the back there.’ He pointed into the dark warehouse.

This was too much of a coincidence, even for Gel. Suddenly wary, she tried to think of an excuse to leave. ‘You know, I’m really claustrophobic. Why don’t you guys go on ahead and I’ll take the scenic route. I think I remember the way now. Yes, it’s all coming back to me now.’

‘Nice try, girly.’ The dark-haired man nodded to his companion and she was pushed squealing into the darkness. The pair followed her in, locking the door behind them and turning on a row of strip lights that illuminated the central of three aisles of shelving units towards the back of the warehouse. Gel stood behind her suitcase, her hands gripped protectively onto the handle. As her captors began to walk towards her, she started taking steps backwards, further into the warehouse, becoming trapped between two sets of shelves.

‘What do you want from me?’ she cried. ‘I don’t have anything valuable.’

‘You think so, eh?’ the taller one smirked. ‘Well, it’s you we’re after. Someone’ll fork out a tidy sum for a pretty slave girl like you.’ They both suddenly started laughing like cartoon villains.

Gel snorted. ‘Listen, Dumb and Dumber, the slave trade is, like, so over. Just get out of here before the new virus gets you.’

‘We ain’t heard nothing about no new virus.’ said the muscly guy.

‘Yeah, you’re just bluffing, and it’s not going to work,’ said the other.

Gel found herself standing with her back against the wall. There was nowhere left to go.

‘We’ve wasted enough time already. Go get her, Butch.’ the thinner of the two clicked his fingers and the bald guy, apparently named Butch for obvious reasons, cracked his knuckles and came towards her. Before she knew it, he had taken hold of her, wrapping his large arms around her chest from behind. This made it difficult, but not impossible, for her to breathe, while her pitiful efforts to struggle free only seemed to amuse him. Anger welled up inside of her and she stamped down hard on Butch’s bare foot. This loosened his hold on her just long enough for her to grab one of his arms and sink her teeth into it. He gave a yelp of pain and staggered back into the shelving unit, knocking down a few dusty boxes, while Gel started to make a run for it. Before she could get anywhere, though, the second man tried to grab her. She balled up her fist and tried to punch him in the face, missing but managing to poke him in the eye with her thumb instead. He let out a yell that turned into a scream as she ran over his feet with her suitcase on her way past.

‘Butch! She’s getting away!’

Gel raced towards the large double doors at the front of the building, through which she had been forced only a short while before, but the door had been locked. Pulling feebly at the padlock did nothing. Terrified, she looked around and spotted a smaller door at the back of the building. In a desperate attempt to escape, she abandoned her precious suitcase and ran as fast as she could towards the exit, but it was no good; Butch cut her off halfway there and forced her, face down, onto the ground, pinning her arms behind her back and sitting on her legs to stop her escaping, no matter how hard she tried to wriggle free.

‘Good work Butch,’ said the other man. ‘So the girl has spirit. That’s good.’ he crouched down beside Gel and jerked her head around painfully, so she had no choice but to look at him. His left eye was bloodshot from where she had poked him. ‘It’ll be more fun to break her.’ She tried to struggle free again but the pair only laughed at her vain attempts.

‘Is there a problem here, gentlemen?’

At the sound of the male voice, Gel felt the two men tense up, but she herself felt a tiny spark of hope. Suddenly she found herself being pulled to her feet by Butch, who retained a firm grip on her neck. ‘One wrong word and I’ll snap it,’ he growled quietly. ‘You understand?’ She nodded as much as Butch’s hand would allow. She could now see the source of the mystery voice, an extremely good-looking young man a few years older than herself; in his late teens she thought, but she couldn’t be sure. He was clean-shaven with clear, blue eyes and spiky blond hair. He wore a tight fitting, sleeveless blue top that showed off his muscles, a pair of red-brown leather trousers and black army-style boots. Around his left eye was painted a stylised sunburst, in black, running from his temple to his cheekbone. She drank him in from head to toe, heart fluttering, almost forgetting where she was until Butch’s friend spoke up, snapping her out of her own thoughts like a popped bubble.

‘There’s no problem here, isn’t that right Suzy?’ He gave her a menacing look, and Butch’s grip on her neck tightened momentarily. Realising they meant her, she gave the barest of nods, the best she could manage, but her eyes pleaded with the newcomer, desperate to be rescued.

Butch squeezed her neck again, apparently wanting more. She resisted the urge to kick him in the shin; she wasn’t in a position to risk angering him. Instead she smiled weakly and said ‘there’s no problem,’ hoping the handsome guy was smart enough to detect the lie.

‘See? Nothing to worry about. Now if you’ll just…’

‘Come off it, guys. That girl clearly isn’t here because she wants to be. Just let her go.’

‘Listen, pretty boy. This is none of your business. How did you get in here anyway? This is private property, and you’re trespassing! Now get out of here, or else…’

‘Or else what? You’ll call the police?’ Gel suppressed a snigger.

‘Butch! Teach this guy a lesson!’

Butch roughly pushed Gel out of the way and she fell to the ground. ‘With pleasure,’ he snarled, pummelling his fist into his hand as he walked towards the intruder. Gel crawled over to hide behind one of the shelving units. She pushed aside some of the junk, clearing a space so that she could watch what was happening between two of the metal shelves. She knew she should be using the opportunity to escape out of the back door, but she was transfixed. Fortunately for her, so was Butch’s friend. The two men were now circling each other, waiting for the right time to strike. Butch took the initiative, charging at his opponent with a roar. The other guy had plenty of time to react, though, and easily jumped out of the way, throwing a punch as the larger man turned round. Butch caught the fist in one hand and with his free hand grabbed the other man by the neck and slammed him against the wall. Gel rubbed her own neck unconsciously, then raised both hands to her mouth in terror as Butch’s fist sailed towards the other man’s head. Somehow, though, the guy managed to duck and throw his own punch. Butch, still following through from his own attack, had no time to do anything and was hit squarely between the eyes. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground with a crash, lying there motionless.

Gel looked round at Butch’s companion. He stood staring at his fallen comrade, eyes wide with shock. The blond-haired guy started walking towards him and he immediately ran for the back door, not looking back once on his way out. When he had gone she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

‘Are you alright?’ her rescuer asked, coming over to her and helping her up.

‘I am now’ she giggled, letting him pull her to her feet, her heart skipping a beat as she stared into his eyes. For a moment they both stood there looking at each other, with him still holding onto her arms, then he must have realised what he was doing because he let her go. Both of them looked away awkwardly and Gel felt a small pang of disappointment now that he was no longer touching her. After a few moments she cleared her throat to speak. ‘Um, thanks for rescuing me. You were very brave.’

‘I was in the back of the warehouse when you all came in,’ he replied. ‘I couldn’t just leave you, I’m just sorry I didn’t do anything sooner.’

‘What were you doing in a place like this?’ she asked, curious. ‘It’s all dark and smelly.’

‘I was supposed to be meeting somebody,’ he said, sadly. ‘They didn’t show.’

‘Oh. Girlfriend?’ she said, and immediately regretted it. ‘I’m sorry! I wasn’t…I mean…’

‘It’s ok,’ he said. ‘And no, it wasn’t a girlfriend. I don’t have one.’ For a moment he looked sad again, but she thought she might have imagined it.

‘Are you hurt at all?’ she asked, trying to change the subject.

‘I’m just a little sore,’ he said. ‘You should have seen the other guy!’ They both laughed, then Gel caught a sight of the motionless Butch again and fell silent.

‘Is he…’

‘No, he’s not dead, just out cold.’

‘You’re very brave.’ she said.

‘I think you mentioned that already!’

She blushed and tried to change the subject again. ‘Hey, do you know the way to the quayside from here?’

‘Erm, yeah,’ he said, looking slightly taken aback. ‘You need to take a right once you head out of that door, then the fastest way is to cut between…’ he carried on but she wasn’t listening. She just stood there watching his mouth move. He had such a beautiful mouth.

‘Did you get all that?’

‘Huh?’

‘The directions?’

‘Oh. Yeah, I take a left, then… I have no idea,’ she admitted.

‘Hmm, maybe it would be easier if I wrote them down,’ he said, his lips twitching towards a smile. He hunted around in the boxes of junk on the shelves and pulled out a wooden board. ‘Do you have a pencil or something?’

‘I have lipstick,’ she said, pulling out her make-up kit. ‘Will that do?’

‘I suppose so.’ He took the lipstick she offered him and started to write on the board with it.

‘Careful with it, that’s my favourite shade of red!’ He smiled and handed over the board and the lipstick. Her stomach churned and she tried to hide her blushes behind the board.

‘Well, I guess this is goodbye then.’

‘Aren’t you coming with me?’ she cried. Way to go, Gel. That didn’t sound desperate at all , she thought to herself. Besides, he wouldn’t have written down the directions if he was coming, would he? She tried a different approach. ‘It’s just that, there’s a new virus, and it’ll be quicker to leave by boat with us,’ she told him.

‘I know. I’ve heard the broadcasts.’ Again, that sad look. ‘That’s why I have to take our friend here to safety. I can’t just leave him here to die, not when I knocked him out in the first place.’

‘That’s very…’ she had been about to say brave again. ‘You know.’ He just shrugged.

‘You could always…come with me. I mean, if you wanted to.’ She was very tempted to take him up on the offer. At the very least the boat trip would surely be no good for her skin, what with all the salt and everything. And he was very good looking. She couldn’t just leave the Mallrats, though. What if they waited for her and caught the virus? She wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even Lex. There was no time to go and tell them she was leaving either, and what if, after all this, the guy standing in front of her was as bad as those other two? She couldn’t believe that that was true, but she had to convince herself to go to the quayside somehow.

‘I can’t,’ she said sadly. Her rescuer nodded.

‘It’s probably for the best,’ he said.

‘Bye then,’ she told him.

‘Bye.’

They both stood there. Gel wondered what he was waiting for, then realised. ‘Oh, right. Yeah,’ she babbled, remembering that she was supposed to be leaving. ‘Thanks again,’ she said, holding up the board. ‘For everything.’ Without waiting for a reply, she walked quickly out through the back door, flustered. Looking at the board, she began to follow the directions written on it. She knew she would have to hurry if she wanted to make it to the boat in time.

It was only after she had lost sight of the warehouse that she realised, with regret, that she hadn’t even asked her rescuer for his name.

2 Likes
17

Uhhhh… You got Gel exactly! Now I want to know who the new hottie is​:thinking::joy:(and that when I don’t like blonde men​:joy:)

1 Like
18

Oh I’m glad you think I got Gel right! I always try to get the character right, even if it means they end up doing something I didn’t want them to do… But Gel is fun to write.

19

I try that too. I always speak while writing "Ah no Bray…Again simply trusting… Stupid to do. " :joy:

I like Gel somehow… It’s nice to write about someone who sees the world in a different light. Though I let her grow in my last story and on the new too. But she still keeps her focus on looks and dresses😁 I mean… Girl got it right, or? In the tribe world your look and dress is important!

1 Like
20

Chapter 8: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat

The inside of the boat was small: a row of benching at each end, with space below to store the few belongings they had been able to bring with them, and portholes above that were too dirty to see through. Two closed doors at opposite ends of the cabin, one leading out onto the deck, the other to the even smaller front compartment, where all the controls were, only made the space feel more enclosed. Despite all this, conditions in the cabin were not as cramped as Ebony had expected them to be when she had first seen it. Of course, that was partly due to the fact that only around half the tribe were on the boat - she counted herself as part of the tribe, at least for the time being - and partly because not everyone who was on the boat was in the cabin. Trudy and Salene were outside waiting for anyone else to show up, although that was looking increasingly unlikely as time went on, and May was out front with the boat’s owner. From what Ebony had figured out, this was the same guy that May had come to for Ruby’s pregnancy testing kit, and he thought at first that she had come back to tell him she was pregnant. Once he realised that that wasn’t the case, though, he had been only too happy to let them use the boat, even before May had explained about the virus. Once his initial relief wore off, he probably wouldn’t be too happy about it, but by then they would hopefully have set off, and it would be too late for him to change his mind.

That left six people in the cabin, besides Ebony, and two of those were Brady and Bray, who didn’t take up much room but made up for it with their sheer annoyance. The fact that they were directly opposite her as she sat there, arms folded and one leg over the other, didn’t help matters. Bray wouldn’t stop crying and Brady had the nerve to stand there pulling faces at her. ‘Can’t you do anything about those two?’ she asked Ellie, who was sitting with Bray held in one arm and holding onto Brady with the other.

‘Can’t you see I’ve got my hands full here?’ she snapped back. ‘If you could watch Brady for a while I could try and get Bray back to sleep.’ Ebony snorted in reply. ‘Didn’t think so.’

‘Get one of the others to do it, I don’t do babies.’

Ellie sighed. ‘Look around you Ebony!’ She did so. Darryl gave a pathetic little wave from the far end of the bench opposite her and she rolled her eyes. He had his arm around Ruby who had somehow, despite all the noise the baby was making, managed to fall asleep on his shoulder. Sammy was in no position to help out either. He sat on the same bench as Ebony, but further down, which was probably just as well. Despite not being at sea, Sammy’s face looked decidedly pale, and his hands were clenched tightly to his stomach. She put her bag between the two of them in an effort to block him from her view, but she could still hear his quiet groans, even over Bray’s crying. She didn’t have the strongest of stomachs herself; she just hoped that Sammy wouldn’t set her off, and that she could at least hold out until they started moving.

Darryl cleared his throat to speak, and she looked over to him. ‘I’d offer to help with the kids but, erm…’ he pointed at Ruby with his free hand.

‘Don’t worry about it Darryl,’ said Ellie, desperately trying to hold onto Brady, who was attempting to struggle out of her hold, and at the same time rocking Bray in her other arm. ‘There’s no need to wake her, she’s been through enough today.’

‘Oh come on! The truck didn’t even hit her that hard!’ Ebony cried out. Ellie screwed up her face in disgust.

‘You should know better than that Ebony!’

‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ Darryl looked like he wanted to slip away quietly, but he was unable to do so without waking Ruby so he just stared intently at the floor instead, refusing to get involved in the argument, while Sammy got up and made a hasty exit, whether to throw up or just to get away, Ebony didn’t know.

‘I just mean that you were with her when it happened, so you should have seen everything.’

‘Well if I had, don’t you think I would have warned her?’ She noticed that Ruby was stirring and took the opportunity to change the subject. ‘Now look what you’ve done.’

‘Hey guys,’ Ruby said sleepily. ‘What’s all the racket? Oh, hi Darryl.’ She hastily took her hand away from his chest, at the same time that he removed his arm from around her shoulder. Both of them sat with their hands in their laps, not looking at each other, with colour blooming in their cheeks. Ellie chuckled quietly.

‘I didn’t…You fell asleep.’ Darryl told Ruby, stumbling over his words. Ruby laughed then clutched her stomach. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked her.

‘Yeah, don’t worry about me. I guess getting run over by a truck wasn’t just a bad dream after all.’ She looked over to where Ebony was sitting. Ebony refused to flinch or look away, but matched her gaze, trying to look innocent. She was interrupted with a start, however, as at that moment the door to the boat’s controls swung open violently and May stormed out, with her trader friend hot on her heels. Ebony couldn’t resist the small smile that appeared on her face. Finally some entertainment on this miserable boat! She loved a good argument, and this one looked like it might be interesting.

Ellie jumped in surprise when the door sprang open and Bray, who had been showing signs of calming down, started crying again. She gave an exasperated sigh and began to rock him once more. Normally she would have been able to handle both of the kids easily, but today, as much as she felt guilty for it, her heart just didn’t seem to be in it. She couldn’t stop thinking about Jack. Why wasn’t he here yet? What if Jay hadn’t found them and they had fled somewhere else? She might never see him again.

She watched May walk into the cabin, closely followed by the owner of the boat; she hadn’t caught his name. They both looked in a mood to tear strips off each other. When she was halfway across the floor, May suddenly rounded on him, causing him to take a step backwards to stop himself from walking into her.

‘Look, I’ve already told you. We’re not leaving until we’re all here.’

‘And I’ve told you, I’m supposed to be meeting tribe leaders further down the coast. My schedule…’

‘I don’t care about your schedule! It doesn’t really figure very highly in the grand scheme of things right now, does it?’

‘It does to me! That’s my livelihood you’ll be ruining! If I lose those contacts I’ll go out of business.’

‘Are you blind? The city’s a ghost town! Who are you going to sell to?’ The trader scratched his head and Ellie supposed that he hadn’t thought about that.

At that moment, Trudy and Salene rushed in from the deck, with Sammy following behind them, looking rather ill. Trudy went straight to Brady, and Ellie handed her over happily.

‘Hey there sweetie, were you good for Aunt Ellie? Thanks for looking after her.’

‘No problem.’

‘Has anyone else arrived?’ May asked the newcomers.

‘No,’ answered Salene. ‘We just heard the shouting, that’s all. What’s going on?’

‘This creep wants to leave!’ Darryl said angrily, standing up and pointing at the trader.

‘Hey! Who are you calling a creep?’

Ellie saw Ruby pulling on Darryl’s arm, trying to get him to sit back down. ‘What’s got into you Darryl? Calm down!’ she heard her tell him, but he didn’t appear to be listening.

‘Just let it go,’ May was begging the trader.

‘Stay out of this May! I won’t take insults on my own boat!’

‘Don’t talk to her like that!’ Darryl shouted at him.

‘Very protective aren’t you? I wonder why that is!’ sneered the trader.

‘Why you…’

‘DARRYL!’ May snapped. ‘That’s enough! You’re really not helping! Just sit down, will you?’ She waited for him to do as she said before turning back to the trader. ‘Sorry about him. Everyone’s a bit tense right now, that’s all.’ She got a grunt in reply. ‘Look, I’m not trying to ruin your business,’ she said in a softer tone, putting her hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘That’s the last thing I want to happen. I’m sure the coastal tribes will understand, and it’s not like they trade with anyone else, is it?’

‘Maybe. Still, I’m not hanging around forever if this virus is as bad as you say it is.’

‘Just a little more time, that’s all were asking for. They shouldn’t be too much longer now.’

‘You’d better hope they’re not. I won’t wait long.’

‘Thanks. We appreciate it, don’t we everyone?’ Everyone murmured their agreement, apart from Sammy, who looked unable to say anything, and Darryl, who sat sulking.

‘And there is, of course, the pressing matter of payment.’

‘I’ve told you, we can sort that out once we’re moving.’

‘Good. We wouldn’t want there to be any ‘accidents’ at sea, would we?’

‘No, we wouldn’t want that, would we Ebony?’ said Ruby. Ellie’s eyes widened in shock. Did Ebony push her? She looked for a reaction on Ebony’s face but saw nothing.

‘You’ll get your payment,’ May said. ‘But…we don’t have very much.’

‘I wouldn’t worry about that,’ the trader said, raising a hand to her face. ‘I’m sure we can work out a deal that leaves everyone…satisfied.’

‘Darryl, no!’ Ellie managed to scream as she saw the look on his face, but it was too late. Darryl had jumped out of his seat and now had the trader up against the side of the boat. The whole vessel rocked about dangerously, and she held little Bray close to protect him. Trudy was doing the same with Brady, and both of the children were now crying, while everyone else was shouting at the two men to stop. That is, everyone except for Sammy, who had gone out to be sick when the boat started rocking. The trader had been initially surprised by Darryl’s attack, but he was more than a match for the Mallrat and quickly won the upper hand. He gave Darryl a shove, which sent him flying, landing in a heap in the middle of the cabin. After that, a swift kick in the ribs sent him crawling out onto the deck, but the guy still hadn’t finished with him. Brushing off attempts to hold him back from Salene and May, he followed him out, slamming the door behind him. Everyone in the cabin looked at each other uneasily but nobody said a word. A few moments later he came back in, without Darryl, brandishing a knife.

‘Enough is enough!’ he shouted at them all. ‘We’re leaving now! Does anyone have a problem with that?’ Again nobody said anything. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Now if you don’t mind I’ve got some final preparations to make before we can set off.’ He went back to the front of the boat, closing the door behind him.

‘Good job Darryl,’ May said to herself, folding her arms crossly.

‘He sort of meant well,’ said Ellie. May just rolled her eyes and went after the trader. At the same time, Sammy rushed in from the deck, wide-eyed and apparently shocked out of his sea-sickness.

‘What happened out there Sammy?’ Trudy asked.

Sammy looked around nervously, making sure the trader wasn’t around, before answering. ‘That guy hoisted Darryl half over the railings and told him never to lay a finger on him again, or else!’

‘Or else what?’ asked Ellie.

‘He didn’t say anything. He just got out this knife from his belt - you should have seen the look on Darryl’s face! Anyway, he just let him go after that, and came back inside.’

‘Poor Darryl!’ exclaimed Salene. ‘How is he?’

‘He’s really shaken up.’

‘I’m going to check on him,’ said Ellie. ‘Sal, can you take Bray for a while?’

‘Sure.’ She handed over Amber’s son to Salene and went out onto the deck, passing Ebony on the way. It looked as if Sammy’s sea-sickness had passed to her. Serve her right, too. She had been enjoying watching the argument unfold, at least until the boat started rocking.

When she got outside she saw Darryl sitting against the railings with his head in his hands. She sat down beside him. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘How are you doing?’ Darryl lifted his head up and looked at her, his face a little paler than usual.

‘I just did something really dumb, didn’t I?’

‘You could say that.’ She put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Hey, it’s ok. None of us are thinking straight right now.’

‘He’s not going to wait anymore is he?’ She shook her head. ‘Great. Thanks to me the others might not make it out alive.’

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ she told him. ‘You only did what the rest of us were thinking, and you can’t help how you feel about May.’

He flinched. ‘I don’t have feelings for May.’ he said, obviously lying.

‘Anyway,’ she continued. ‘For what it’s worth, I reckon the fight actually bought us some time. It’s not going to make him any more pleasant to travel with, though.’ They sat for a while in silence before Darryl finally spoke up again.

‘Thanks Ellie.’ he said.

‘What for?’

He shrugged. ‘Just for being here, I guess.’

‘Don’t worry about it. You’re a Mallrat now, and Mallrats stick together. Are you coming back inside?’

‘No. I think I’ll stay out here a little bit longer. You go in though. I’m alright.’

She patted his knee before getting up and smoothing her skirt. ‘See you in a bit then.’ she said, before leaving him alone with his thoughts, and the sound of the water lapping against the side of the boat. She wiped away a tear as she thought of Jack, hoping he was safe, wherever he was, and wondering if he was thinking of her too.

2 Likes