This is a long chapter, but we find out a lot more about what’s happening on the island. Lots of info and new characters but there’s no test at the end so don’t worry too much about remembering everything for now. 
Chapter 34: The Pursuit of Freedom
From her vantage point sitting on the cliff top, Ebony smiled. Below her, a path led down to a road - a proper, tarmac road - which snaked its way downhill, its destination obscured by the crags that made up what she thought must be the southern tip of the island. On top of one of those outcrops, just before the land fell away to the sea, was a tall structure, a wooden frame supporting a large wheel with spokes radiating from its edge. Some of the spokes appeared to have some sort of material hanging limply down from them. Northwards, the road ran back inland, growing wider as the terrain became easier, but it was the mysterious structure - built since the Virus judging by its crude design - that held her attention and decided which direction she would take.
But it wasn’t the road or the structure, or even the evidence for habitation to the south that they appeared to give, that made her smile. No, hers was a different kind of smile, one that told anyone who had any sense that she was in control, and that she knew it. It was a smile that had unsettled many of her enemies over the years, one that had them nervously wondering what she was planning for them or, worse still, what she had already planned, watching them with amusement as they walked unawares into her trap.
She was being watched. She had realised some time ago; after hours traipsing around the island on her own, the presence of another person stuck out like a sore thumb. She almost welcomed it, actually. After so long alone with her own thoughts, and dark thoughts at that - of Slade and the storm, and the Mallrats laughing as they ate her share of the rations - it was a little like travelling with a companion, and one that wouldn’t slow her down or annoy her with small talk to boot, though admittedly on the flip side there was the possibility of being killed or captured. Either way, at least it gave her something else to focus her mind on, and one other thing was clear; whoever he or she was, they weren’t doing a very good job. That was why she smiled. She was being followed, but she knew it, and that meant that she had the upper hand. Standing, she had to stop herself from shaking her head as the bushes behind her rustled loudly. She was no Gaian herself, but this was ridiculous! Fighting back dizziness - she still had had nothing to eat or drink since breakfast at some pokey fishing village the previous day - she began to make her way down to the road below. What awaited her at the end of it, below that strange contraption, she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had to keep going, and to stay one step ahead of her unseen stalker, all the while trying to fight the hunger and exhaustion that kept creeping up on her. If that wasn’t enough to stop her thinking about Slade, nothing would be.
Swallowing her last piece of bread, Salene rested her head in her hands to think, her elbows propped on the picnic table the four Mallrats were sitting at, alongside a bark chip path that marked a tourist trail through the forest. Although they had made a good distance since setting off this morning, they still had no idea where they were going, and had come across no sign of the Techno prison camps Lex assured them would be here. She didn’t dare voice the inevitable thought that this may be the wrong island, or that Mega had lied for his freedom, but from the group’s silence over their meal she knew she wasn’t the only one to be thinking such things. To top everything off, when they had stopped here they discovered that their provisions had not been as watertight as they had thought. Although they had managed to supplement what they had on the journey today with some wild mushrooms she had recognised as being edible and a couple of bunches of bananas from a plantation they had passed through, they still had only enough food and water for a few days at the rate they were going. That might be plenty, but with no way of knowing she couldn’t help but worry about it.
Lex stood up. ‘We’ve wasted enough time here,’ he said irritably, clearly sensing the mood and the air of doubt. ‘Let’s get going.’ Jay, who had been in a quiet mood since they had left the beach, simply stood up and pulled on his pack, while Sammy made a point of licking the crumbs off his fingers before slowly following. Lex looked at her and she opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. They may be wandering around aimlessly, but what other choice did they have? Without a map or someone to ask, they would just have to keep going.
‘This path must lead somewhere,’ she said instead, with a forced smile.
A couple of unseen birds chirruped to each other as the group gathered their things and left the picnic area, following the bark path, which wound itself through the forest giving no clue as to how far off its final destination was. She was glad to hear signs of life again. The forest had grown silent during their meal, as if it had sensed the group’s dark thoughts, but now at least the birds had returned, singing as they followed the Mallrats along the path. That, along with the dappled light making patterns on the ground and the smell of the bark, still damp from all the rain during the night, meant that Salene soon found herself smiling again. It was quite a pleasant walk really, if she ignored the fact that they were lost, tired and dirty. Jay couldn’t, if his slumped shoulders and dour expression were anything to go by. As understandable as that was, given the events of the previous night, she still felt so much pity for him. There was nothing he could have done to save Slade and the trader, but the guilt was still there, and Ebony’s stinging words hadn’t helped matters. Catching up to him, Salene lightly placed a hand on his arm to pull him back out of earshot of the other two, who were walking further ahead.
‘What is it?’ he asked, a look of concern on his face. ‘Is everything ok?’
‘That’s what I was about to ask you,’ she replied. ‘Jay, you’ve hardly spoken all day, and you didn’t eat much at the picnic site. I’m worried about you. Since Slade…’
‘I’m fine,’ Jay interrupted tersely, and picked up his pace until he had overtaken Sammy and was walking alongside Lex, who looked at him and then back at her, but said nothing. Glancing around into the forest, she decided to pick up her own pace too. It might be pretty, but it still wasn’t the kind of place to be separated from the group.
As if on cue, birdcalls suddenly sounded from every direction and two figures hopped out of the forest ahead of Lex and Jay - two young women dressed in grey, their faces painted white and blue and their hair held up in identical buns with long pins. They carried long fighting sticks and had determined expressions on their faces. Another two jumped out right in front of her and grabbed both her and Sammy. She tried to struggle free but to no avail. She was held too securely. Suddenly the increasing number of birds she had heard on their journey took on new meaning.
‘There’s more of them in the forest, Lex,’ she warned softly. ‘I think they’ve been tracking us since we left the picnic site, maybe longer.’
Lex turned his head to address her. ‘Don’t you think I knew that?’ he said in an overly confident tone that told her he knew no such thing. She could have slapped him! ‘I was wondering when you lot would show yourselves,’ he continued, turning back to the two women in front of him. His posture switched to an arrogant swagger as he approached them, getting dangerously close. Her heart sank as she imagined the smile that must be on his face, the one he always thought was so charming.
‘So…ladies,’ he said flirtatiously. ‘Exactly how can I be of service to you?’
The two strangers shared a quick disgusted glance before one swung the end of her stick into Lex’s head, while the other used hers to sweep his legs out from under him. Their silence throughout only made them seem all the more threatening. An instant was all it took, and Lex lay sprawled on the bark path, unconscious. Jay, meanwhile, forcibly pulled out of his introspection, was now taking hesitant steps forward, his hands raised in an appeal for calm. Strangely it was now the attackers’ turn to look worried - afraid, even - and both took an unconscious step backwards before tightening their grips on their weapons as if to anchor themselves in place. Salene felt a flutter of hope; if these women recognised Jay’s Techno uniform, then perhaps Lex was on to something after all. Maybe their missing friends really were on this island. If only Jay could get the women on their side, this could be their best chance to find the rest of the Mallrats.
‘We don’t mean you any harm,’ he told them, lowering his hands slowly. ‘Please, we’re just looking for some friends of ours. We think they might be being held prisoner here.’
One of the girls blinked in confusion and looked to her fellow tribe member, who shrugged. The first girl paused for a moment before nodding decisively. The other grinned and nodded back, lowering her stick, but instead of dropping it she grabbed it all the more tightly and rammed the end of it into Jay’s middle. Salene gasped in shock and was restrained as she tried to take a step towards him. Winded, Jay dropped to his knees, whereupon the girl who had apparently given the order clubbed him over the head and he collapsed to the ground alongside Lex.
‘Sammy, no!’ Salene cried as the youngster managed to wriggle free of his captor’s grasp and fled back the way they had come. He didn’t get far, however, before more of the unfriendly tribe - four of them - appeared from the forest to block his path. They were a mixed bunch in terms of age, size and sex, but they all wore the same grey uniform and tribal markings, and the girls had those long pins in their hair. The largest boy grabbed Sammy and hoisted him over his shoulder before leading the others to where Salene and the four girls stood.
‘Let me go!’ Sammy yelled, pummelling his captor’s back uselessly with his fists. The boy just laughed. ‘Let me…’ he cut off with a shout as he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Scrambling to his feet, he clenched his fists but wisely stayed quiet.
‘It’s alright Sammy,’ Salene said. ‘Everything’s going to be alright.’ She hoped it would be, anyway.
‘You should have listened to your friend Sammy,’ the girl who had knocked out Jay announced, the first time any of their ambushers had spoken. ‘I wouldn’t advise either of you to try anything like that again,’ she added, with a twirl of her stick for emphasis. She paused to make sure they both understood before motioning for Salene’s captor to let her go. Startled, she hurried over to Sammy and pulled him close. He didn’t complain.
‘What do you want from us?’ she demanded of the girl who had spoken. She seemed to be in charge here.
‘Me?’ the girl laughed. ‘Nothing at all. But our Queen is very interested in you, stranger. Very interested indeed.’ Salene shivered. That didn’t sound good. ‘Bring them to the holding area,’ the girl ordered. ‘Then we’ll report back to the palace.’ There was a burst of activity at the command, with some of the tribe gathering up Lex and Jay, and others ushering Salene and Sammy forward. As they progressed along the path they were joined by more tribe members, eventually bringing their escort up to a dozen. Salene grabbed Sammy’s hand. There was no escape, even had she been willing to leave Lex and Jay behind. All she could do was use this time to think, and to wonder why on earth the leader of this tribe thought them so important.
Crouching low in the long grass by the roadside - she knew how to hide, unlike her stalker, who still trailed her - Ebony studied the open gate on the other side of the stretch of tarmac. Like the structure she had seen earlier, still just visible poking up behind the cliffs beyond the gate, it had been made recently, after the Virus. Made from sections of tree trunks lashed together, it spanned the road where it curved downhill to pass between two cliffs, making it the only entrance to whatever lay beyond. Some sort of village, clearly. Defendable, but not expecting attack - she didn’t think those gates had even been closed, and the two small children standing guard didn’t strike her as particularly menacing gatekeepers. She thought the pair of them, a boy and a girl, couldn’t be any older than five or six, though admittedly she knew very little about children. She had been horrified at the thought of sharing Slade with one, though fortunately that had been a false alarm on Ruby’s part. Not that any of that mattered anymore of course, she realised sadly.
A rustle and the snap of twigs behind her served as a welcome distraction. Perhaps it was time to play her trump card and give her stalker a taste of his own medicine. If this person had followed her all the way to the gate without being scared off by the presence of others or leaving her as somebody else’s problem, then it stood to reason that he was associated with the village, and the open gate and baby-faced guards told her that they certainly weren’t a threat to her. In fact, if everyone in the village was as incompetent as her stalker then she was probably more of a threat to them! Confident of her advantage, she stepped out onto the road.
Immediately the two children at the gate sprang to attention and one of them, the boy, ran inside, shouting. She didn’t pay them any more attention, however, instead marching straight over to where the rustling had come from. The clump of bushes shook in panic, the guy desperately trying to find a way out of her path without blowing his cover, until finally he conceded there was no escape and stood up. She had been only a couple of metres away from trampling over him. Now that they were face to face, she could finally get a look at the man who had been following her. He was only of average height, but quite broad, not that that intimidated her at all, of course. What surprised her, however, was that apart from one yellow chevron on his right cheek, his clothes of blue, black and grey, and his white-painted forehead clearly identified him as a Gull, one of the city tribes. What was he doing all the way out here?
‘A little friendly advice,’ she said, addressing her stalker. ‘If you’re going to follow someone, do it quietly.’ She folded her arms and tilted her head back slightly so that she could look down her nose at him, despite his extra height. The look on his face should have been priceless, but instead he only looked mildly uncomfortable. She soon realised why.
‘Thanks,’ a female voice called out triumphantly from the other side of the road. ‘We’ll make sure he works on that next time.’
Ebony whipped her head around, wide-eyed, to gape at the second tracker. She had been infinitely more successful than the first - more so than her tall, gangly frame suggested she was capable of - but the surprises didn’t stop there.
‘Next time?’ a gruff male voice answered derisively from behind her, causing her to jump and spin around defensively. Behind her! She must have walked right past him on her way to confront the Gull, and hadn’t noticed a thing! She cringed inside; not only had she lost the upper hand, she was also acting like a spooked child. Not that anybody seemed to have noticed. For all they had tailed her for most of her journey here, and now surrounded her like three points of an uneven triangle, they were no longer paying her any attention, instead glaring at each other. Or rather the Gull and the other male - even more heavily built, and taller with it, with a shaved head - glared at each other, while the girl frowned at them both, her brunette ponytail swaying as she shook her head.
‘There won’t be a next time,’ the young man continued. ‘Not after this shambles of a performance! And he can wipe that off too!’ He gestured towards the Gull’s face with a disgusted sneer. ‘He doesn’t deserve it.’
‘Flint…’
‘No, Jade!’ the shaven-headed youth argued, interrupting the girl. ‘You can stick up for this lot all you like on your own time, but I’m not having any of them on my team again - especially him! - it’s too dangerous.’
Ebony smiled inwardly. These two might be good at keeping themselves hidden in bushes and rocks, but they had already told her more about themselves and what she was walking into than the Gull ever had. Whoever they were, their plain garb - Flint in a grey t-shirt and beige combat trousers, Jade in a brown high-collared jacket over a pale cream vest top and wearing dark green combats - clearly marked them as being from the same tribe, as much as it differed from what the Gull was wearing, or indeed what anyone back in the City would have worn, herself included. Their tribal markings, too, were the same - a column of chevrons running up their right cheeks, Flint’s in light blue, Jade’s in green, just like the single chevron on the Gull’s. From what Flint had said, those markings must indicate some sort of hierarchy, with more chevrons signifying a person of greater importance. Interestingly, although Flint was the leader of this group, Jade had an equal number of markings. Ebony suspected that the tall girl got her way more often than Flint liked. She had been the first of the two to announce themselves to her, after all. Hardly her place, if Flint was supposed to be in charge. This was something Ebony could take advantage of if it came to it. And who were these others Flint wanted nothing to do with? More Gulls? That was something else he and Jade appeared to disagree over.
‘Knowing he was following her took her off guard,’ Jade was saying now. ‘She didn’t even suspect the two of us were here as well. That has to count for something.’
‘Are you kidding?!’ Flint asked incredulously. ‘You’re actually saying his uselessness is a good thing? Would that work if we’d come across a group of Islanders? Or…’
‘What’s going on here?’ an authoritative voice commanded, causing everyone to look towards the village gates, where a small procession of about half a dozen people was coming out. Apart from one tall boy of about sixteen, dressed in animal furs and skins and with a brown triangle above his nose, from their dress they were all clearly part of the same tribe as Flint and Jade. She saw as many different marking styles as she did faces, but always in that same repetitive pattern, and judging by the numbers on show these were all important people. All except for the woman at the head of the procession, that is. With one black vertical line running halfway up her right cheek and a single red cross on her left temple, hers was the least decorated face there, but she was clearly the leader. Tall and slim, and slightly older than Ebony herself, she wore a white sleeveless ruffle top nearly obscured by layer upon layer of shell necklaces, and a high-waisted grey skirt that clung to her figure. Not a single strand of her blonde hair, taken up and held precisely in place at the back of her head, and threaded with white flowers, was out of place. In short, she oozed beauty and power. In the few moments it took for her and her entourage to join the four standing in the road, her high heels sounding noisily on the tarmac, Ebony decided that she hated the woman.
Feelings seemed mixed among the trackers, too. Jade seemed to gain confidence, while Flint appeared to grow wary. Perhaps he felt he had something to prove. Only the Gull seemed unfazed by the appearance of the newcomers, and that told her nothing.
‘Well?’ the woman demanded. ‘Who is she?’ Ebony prickled at the address, but said nothing. Jade opened her mouth, but was silenced by a cough and a furious look from Flint.
‘Blossom,’ he interjected, with a nod of respect for the well-dressed woman. A small nod. ‘We came across her on the road during our patrol. It was obvious she’d seen that blasted turbine and was heading straight here, so we followed her.’
‘If she was on the road, she’d have ended up here anyway,’ the boy in the furs said flatly.
‘Kwarli’s right,’ snapped another girl. She was short, with dark curly hair, and carried a large cloth bag on her shoulder. A line of red crosses ran down the left side of her face. ‘We all voted on it at the time, so just give it a rest about the turbine already, Flint!’
The woman in charge, Blossom, raised her hands and everyone fell silent. ‘What have you learned so far?’ she asked the trackers, ignoring the argument.
To everyone’s surprise, including Ebony’s, it was the Gull who answered. ‘This is Ebony, from the City,’ he reported.
Blossom gave him an appraising look. ‘You’ve come across her before?’ she asked.
‘Who hasn’t?’ he replied. ‘Whenever anything went down in the city you could bet she’d be right at the heart of it, and then somehow, when it all died down and the dust cleared she’d be there, at the top. Even got herself elected City Leader at one time, until the Technos showed up and put her back in her place. Last I knew she was running around with a rag-tag army, terrorising the city and calling herself the Bride of Zoot.’
Ebony scoffed at the superior look he flashed her when he had finished. Did he think that her turning up here, away from the City, somehow made them equals? The Gulls were a worthless tribe; the only reason they had any clout was because their leader, Jet, had been able to talk the talk, and loudly. She herself had given in to demands from the Gulls purely to shut Jet up, and this man was no Jet. Like he’d ever achieved anything in his life! He couldn’t even track her properly! She scowled back at him.
‘Bride of Zoot?’ Blossom asked, narrowing her eyes at Ebony. Snapped out of mentally abusing the Gull, she suddenly noticed that the rest of the villagers who were standing there were casting nervous, even horrified looks in her direction, in between talking animatedly among themselves. Good that they were wary of her, but some of those looks were starting to turn to anger, and scared and angry could be a lethal combination, especially when she was so dangerously outnumbered. Only the strangely dressed boy, Kwarli, observed her calmly, and even then she didn’t think he’d step in if the others decided to lynch her. He’d probably just keep standing there, watching. She folded her arms and forced herself to meet those stares while frantically trying to work out an escape plan. In the end it was the Gull who saved her.
‘She fought the Chosen as hard as anyone,’ he admitted. ‘Harder than most. Rumour is the Guardian even tried to kill her.’ The tension instantly lifted, though some of the villagers still looked uneasy.
‘Someone who can rattle the Guardian,’ Blossom murmured, almost in awe. ‘Thank you, Gar, you’ve done well.’
‘Well enough to keep his first mark, wouldn’t you say?’ Jade asked.
‘Absolutely!’ the other girl agreed. ‘And give him a second while you’re at it!’ Jade’s smug smile fell. Whatever her views on Gar and the ‘others’, she didn’t think he deserved a second chevron. Needless to say, neither did Flint; his face contorted in silent rage at the order, and he stormed off up the road, back the way Ebony had come. Oh yes, this was all information she could make use of.
‘Well, Flint’s got the right idea there,’ Blossom said, oblivious to his reasoning, then clapped her hands together. ‘Excitement over, everybody,’ she announced. ‘Back to work.’ One by one, the villagers tramped back through the gates, Jade casting an abashed look in the direction Flint had gone before returning, all seemingly forgetting about Ebony.
She shook herself. ‘And what about me?’ she called to their retreating backs. Blossom stopped outside the gates but waited for everyone else to disappear inside before turning to address her.
‘That’s entirely up to you, Ebony,’ she eventually answered. ‘You obviously haven’t come all this way on your own to attack us, so you’re very welcome to come in. Or you can take your chances outside, it’s your choice. But you must be tired? Hungry?’
She would have denied it, but at the mention of hunger her stomach complained noisily. ‘A little,’ she answered grudgingly.
‘Then come inside. I promise you, this is the safest place on the island. You can eat and rest, then set off again tomorrow if that’s what you want.’
Ebony sighed. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck behind those gates with Blossom and her crazy tribe, but she needed food and water, and a proper night’s sleep would be good too. Besides, what she really wanted was information - these people knew what was going on on this rock, and she needed to learn every scrap if she was going to survive.
‘One night,’ she said firmly, and began walking towards the gates.
‘Excellent!’ Blossom smiled. ‘Then we can get to know each other better. I’d love to hear your stories from the City.’ Ebony could almost see the cogs whirring in Blossom’s head. What was she after?
Approaching the gates, Ebony noted that the two small children had resumed their lookout. They stopped to watch her as she passed by, meeting her gaze with not even the tiniest bit of fear in their eyes. The girl even had the nerve to smile! Ebony scoffed.
‘Some guards!’ she muttered.
Blossom stopped abruptly and put a hand on Ebony’s arm, forcing her to do the same. Ebony’s lips thinned in irritation.
‘Kiara,’ she called, addressing the little girl. ‘I don’t think our new friend feels safe here yet. Why don’t you show her what you can do?’
The girl, Kiara, smiled excitedly and dashed over to a low makeshift wall of crates just inside the gates, tiny shells on a cord around her neck rattling against each other over her grey knitted jacket as she ran. On top of the wall was a small bow, and Ebony could see that she already wore a quiver of similar size, looking out of place belted on to her jeans of blue denim with pink flowers embroidered on the pockets. Kneeling behind the wall, she nocked an arrow with practiced ease, took a brief moment to aim and then released. The arrow flew through the gate and lodged itself in a tree trunk close to where Ebony had been hiding earlier with a dull thunk . The post had been stripped of branches for use as target practice, and had four red and white targets painted on at various heights. Kiara’s arrow had fallen right in the centre of the lowest - a good thigh shot, Ebony noted grudgingly - but the girl didn’t stop there. Two more shots came in quick succession, with each of their arrows landing in the centre of another target.
‘Very good, Kiara!’ Blossom gushed, before flashing Ebony a satisfied smile. ‘I hope that cleared things up for you Ebony.’ Baring her teeth in return, she contented herself with mental images of slapping the other girl, but was saved from having to comment by the twang of Kiara’s bowstring. The girl had attempted to hit the last target - at head height - but this time had completely missed the tree trunk. Blossom shook her head. ‘You always have to go too far,’ she chided. ‘Now go and find Jade, and tell her what just happened. You’ll lose a marking for this.’
‘Aw, but Blossom!’ the little girl complained.
‘Now, before I make it two!’
Kiara pouted, skewing the single line that ran all the way down the right hand side of her face, almost the same colour as her golden hair, but she obeyed, putting down her bow and running off to find the lanky tracker. The boy immediately took her place by the wall.
‘You run a tight ship here,’ Ebony noted as she and Blossom resumed their journey.
‘I have to,’ the other girl replied, firmly and ever so slightly defensively. Just then they rounded the side of the cliff the road had been winding along and the settlement proper came into view. Ebony couldn’t help but stop and stare.
‘Welcome to Freetown,’ Blossom intoned, spreading her arms grandly.
She had expected a small village, and indeed that was what Freetown had been, originally. From where she stood, she could make out two rows of tall houses at the end of the road, the end of the island in fact, as the land fell away to the sea - which was visible between the two cliffs that surrounded the settlement, stretching out to the horizon - only a short distance from the last of the houses. Right there, at the edge, people were emerging with baskets, coming up what must have been a set of steps in the cliff face, suggesting some sort of harbour area at the bottom. Another set of steps snaked its way further up the cliffs above the village, to where the wind turbine that had drawn her here stood. Its purpose seemed obvious now, with the material hanging from its spokes clearly being from the sails, like on an old-fashioned windmill. They must have torn loose in last night’s storm. She could see people up there now, setting up scaffolding so that repairs could be carried out. Back on ground level, more people clustered around somebody speaking on a grassy area between the rows of houses, but none of this was what had her gaping like a fish. Between the houses and where she now stood, an entire shanty town of shacks and shelters had sprung up on both sides of the road, completely dwarfing the original village. Its mix of timbers and metals, painted in a multitude of colours or sometimes just left bare, contrasted wildly with the grey stone and straight edges of the original houses, just as the clothes of the people who walked its streets stood out from those of people she had already met. Some of Blossom’s tribe were walking about, but the vast majority of people in Freetown wore bright colours and different styles, many of which she recognised from the City. It seemed she had found Flint’s ‘others’, but where had they all come from?
‘From all over,’ Blossom answered, and Ebony realised she must have voiced that last thought. ‘Some, like you, came from the City, fleeing whatever disaster appears to have hit there. The stories get worse every time I hear them, and I’m not sure I believe half of them.’ She wrinkled her mouth in distaste, but Ebony allowed herself a small smile. Apparently news of the success of stopping the virus hadn’t yet reached the island, which meant she herself held important information. A small victory, if it could even be called one, but she would take it. ‘Others found their way here escaping the troubles to the north,’ Blossom continued. ‘But most of the people in Freetown were Techno prisoners. That’s how this place came into being. This island was their holding area for prisoners from their operations to the south. When we got our freedom, the Coyotes returned here, along with many others who were either unable or unwilling to return home.’
Their operations to the south. Ebony shivered. She had figured out from conversations with Ram, Jay and Siva - rest her soul - that the Technos had forces elsewhere, but from what Blossom was saying, they were an even bigger organisation than she had imagined. So many questions ran through her mind, and not least how the prisoners came to be here in Freetown. She thought of Lex, heading in completely the wrong direction, and found herself feeling pity for him, though given how they had parted ways she wasn’t sure why.
‘You were a Techno prisoner?’ she prodded, getting back to the matter at hand.
‘Yes,’ Blossom replied curtly. ‘And that’s all I’m prepared to say on the matter.’ She started walking down the road towards the town, and Ebony cursed herself for missing her chance at finding out more about the Technos before following at a brisk pace, slowing down when she caught up with the other girl. Not willing to antagonise her any further - at least until she had found out all she could - she contented herself with studying the shanty town as they passed through it. The townsfolk stopped to watch her as she passed, the stranger walking with Blossom; sometimes they would recognise her, though the most she could say about them was what tribe they had been a part of in the City, and that was purely from their appearance. Occasionally someone would smile and wave, or call her name in greeting - which she ignored - but more often they would look at the ground, or rush back into their squalid homes in fear. That was much more satisfying. Not that Blossom noticed the power she held over the former city dwellers. She was too busy looking around, surveying the buildings and people with a sad expression, occasionally letting out a small sigh. As they walked through the shanty town it became apparent that it wasn’t just the turbine that had been damaged by the storm. Some of the houses, if that was the right word, had also been affected, and some had even blown over completely. Building construction, understandably, wasn’t as much of a prized skill as it had been in the pre-Virus world, and some of the refugees had done a better job than others with their new homes. Dotted along the streets she saw groups of people helping with the rebuilding. She recognised members of Blossom’s tribe, with their dull clothes and those hierarchical tribal markings - what had she said they were called? Coyotes? She also recognised a number of city tribes, including some she never would have expected to see working together.
‘Doesn’t it just break your heart?’ Blossom said suddenly, breaking the silence. She gestured to either side of her, at the shanty town and its people. Despite the camaraderie in the aftermath of the storm, the majority of faces conveyed one thing above all else - weariness. ‘I try to help as much as I can,’ she continued. ‘We send teams out to look for more building materials, and those who have the skills have been teaching others, but there’s only so much that can be done. Still, it does ease the burden a little knowing we aren’t alone.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ebony asked curiously.
‘There are people here from all over this part of the world, Ebony,’ the older girl explained. ‘I’ve been talking to as many as I can, and it seems there are towns like this growing everywhere! Safe havens where people come to find refuge, mostly from the cities. Those places, they’re far too big for us now. The larger tribes take over, constantly fighting over territory. It’s too dangerous. Other people have seen that too, and it makes me certain that what we’re doing here is right. The buildings will improve, given time, and with no sectors to fight over, there’ll be peace at last. Everyone will have their place in the community and will be able to use their skills so that everyone is provided for. Places like Freetown, Ebony, they’re the future!’
Ebony grimaced. Refugees. Safe havens. Living away from cities. It all sounded far too familiar. Was this some sort of punishment? So soon after losing Slade, with that wound still deep and fresh, despite all she had done to ignore it, had she really stumbled on the makings of another Liberty?
Blossom had clearly sensed her apprehension, but thankfully had come to her own conclusions on the reasoning. ‘Believe me, Ebony,’ she said. ‘I’m under no illusion that Freetown is some sort of Utopia. I know there’s a long way to go, and a lot of work to put in, before we come anywhere close.’ Her posture straightened slightly, though she hadn’t been slouching, and her voice suddenly took on a determined edge. ‘That’s why I meant what I said before,’ she said intently. ‘As Council Leader I have to keep order in this place. I have to steer Freetown in the right direction. There are so many people here now, and they’re all relying on me to make the right decisions. You were City Leader weren’t you? You must understand.’
‘Sure,’ she lied. ‘Society doesn’t build itself. Sometimes you have to make hard choices.’ Personally she thought Blossom was fretting over nothing. She had always believed that as long as people were doing what she wanted then everything was fine. They stayed out of trouble and she had an easy ride - it was a win-win situation.
‘You’re right,’ Blossom agreed. ‘It’s going to be hard work, for everyone, but it makes for an easy life. We only have one rule here, Ebony. The Council exists to help settle disputes and lead the people, but we only have one crime, and that is to endanger Freetown. I won’t regulate people’s lives, but that one condition must be met if we’re going to stay safe.’
Ebony frowned slightly. Now that sounded more like her own view, if justified differently, but did that say more about herself, or about Blossom?
At the sound of running boots on tarmac, they both turned to see two Coyotes heading towards them down the road - or towards Blossom at least; the pair ignored Ebony in their haste to reach their leader. Both had similar numbers of chevrons on their faces, but the tall male, of an age and height with Kwarli, had an extra line running straight through the middle of them. For that reason she assumed that he was the one in charge, but was in for another surprise - she had had far too many already today, and was laying the blame firmly on Slade’s shoulders; she wasn’t usually this scatty, was she? - when the girl, around thirteen, and with a paler complexion than her companion, spoke up.
‘Kiara was right,’ she said firmly. ‘Ash and I have seen the evidence ourselves. And there’s more.’ She did look at Ebony then, a ‘this-is-none-of-your-business’ kind of look. ‘We need to call a meeting.’
Blossom nodded matter-of-factly. ‘Alright then. Rain, you come with me, and fill me in on the way to the council chamber. Ash, can you round up the rest of the Council? Everyone who’s not tied up.’ The two newcomers, Rain and Ash, laughed as if the older girl had said something funny, before Ash trotted off down to the village, the two women following at a slower pace. Ebony moved to join them, but was prevented from getting close enough to overhear their hushed conversation by a sharp and surprisingly commanding look from Rain. Lagging a short distance behind, she could only look on, grinding her teeth in irritation. She wasn’t used to being overlooked like this.
Not far from the grey stone buildings, Blossom suddenly stopped, turning to face her. ‘You turning up here like this, at this time,’ she said as if thinking aloud. ‘You wouldn’t know anything about a boat spotted last night, heading up towards the west coast?’
Ebony put on her most innocent face. ‘Nothing to do with me,’ she replied. And it wasn’t, not anymore. Blossom said nothing but smiled knowingly and turned back to her conversation with Rain, ignoring her once more.
Though Blossom… Irgs. That’s the kind of woman I like snapping at 
It will be interesting to see Ebony handle her…
all of me usually has three parts each chapter… My longest till now had over 90 000 letters 
And I’m happy that you enjoyed Ebony’s scheming in this chapter! It really made me think about the society and politics of Freetown and all the different factions so that Ebony could understand them and take advantage of them in the story.
But we all know it never works out… Oh Ebony you are so smart and wicked and somehow always land on your feet, MWAH. OMG I loved the inclusion of the song ‘Everywhere You Go’, you never cease to amaze me 
