Chapter 26: Getting To Know You
Darryl woke the next morning to the sound of a baby crying, bringing back memories from before the Virus, looking after his nephews and nieces when the adults went out for the night.
‘What?’ he cried, suddenly jolting awake. ‘Where am I?’ Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he saw that he was in a chair in somebody else’s room. Amber’s room, he realised; she was standing over Bray’s cot, gently rocking him. ‘What time is it?’
‘Breakfast time!’ Amber said cheerily, nodding to a rack of toast on the cabinet next to him. ‘You fell asleep as I was explaining the intricacies of democracy,’ she explained. ‘I was terribly offended!’
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said through a mouthful of toast. ‘I’ll learn, I really will!’
‘Relax,’ she laughed. ‘I was only joking, there’ll be plenty of time for all that. Right now I’m just glad you stayed last night, I really enjoyed the company. And so did Bray, didn’t you little man?’ Bray just smiled obliviously.
‘It was fun!’ Darryl agreed. ‘I didn’t realise you…I mean, erm.’ he trailed off.
‘That I wasn’t serious and bossy all the time?’ He started to protest. ‘Don’t worry, I know people say that about me, and I can see why, but I can still let my hair down occasionally. It’s just that the city won’t run itself.’
‘And that’s where I come in!’ he said proudly.
Amber smiled. ‘Shall we get to work then?’
‘Already?’ his face fell.
‘That pile of paperwork’s only going to get larger I’m afraid.’
‘Right. Well I guess we better had then,’ he said. ‘But let me have a shower first!’
Amber walked him out of the room. ‘Thanks again for offering to do this Darryl,’ she smiled. ‘It’ll be a big help. I already feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.’
‘My pleasure!’ he grinned. Seeing May coming up the stairs towards them he gave her a cheeky wink. ‘Morning May!’ he said. ‘Are you ok? You look tired.’ He wondered if she’d been to bed at all. Seeing him standing there, however, the tiredness in her eyes quickly turned to shock, then hurt and finally anger. Before he knew it she had slapped him and stormed off back down the stairs. ‘Ouch!’ he complained, touching his cheek gingerly. ‘Was it something I said?’
Amber shrugged and went back inside her room, leaving Darryl standing confused on the landing.
The peace of the early morning in Sector 9 was shattered by four figures emerging from the casino, or rather by three of the four figures. Ruby, Ellie and Link were laughing and joking with each other while Tag, even though he was just as tipsy as the girls, remained his usual quiet self.
‘That was brilliant!’ Ruby gushed. ‘The best night I’ve had since before the Virus! Did you have a good time Ellie?’
‘Yes,’ she replied after thinking about it. ‘Yes I did. I have to admit I didn’t think I would but it’s been nice just to, you know, forget about things for a while.’ Ruby put a hand on her shoulder and the two Mallrats shared a smile. Before she could start thinking about Jack and the letter from Plague again the mood was lifted by Link.
‘I can’t believe you turned that guy down Ruby,’ the Technician teased. ‘It’s not like there was much talent in that place.’
‘I can’t believe he started hitting on Tag as soon as I told him where to go!’ Ruby replied. The girls erupted into fits of laughter once again, scaring a stray cat that was lurking on the street corner. Tag just grunted, clearly unamused.
‘Oh my poor baby!’ Link giggled. ‘I bet you’ve felt awfully outnumbered all night with us girls. However can I make it up to you?’
Tag perked up a bit and grinned. ‘I’m sure I’ll think of something,’ he answered, putting an arm around his girlfriend’s waist. Ellie and Ruby put a few strides of space between themselves and the loved-up couple.
‘Thanks for inviting me tonight Ruby,’ Ellie said gratefully to her friend. ‘Really, I think it was just what I needed.’ She hadn’t realised how uptight she had been since Mega was defeated and now she felt as if she could look at things with a renewed clarity. Or at least I’ll be able to tomorrow she thought to herself, yawning. A good night’s sleep was out of the question of course but there were still a few hours before she had to be up and about.
‘Okay guys, this is where we say goodbye,’ Tag called as they reached the edge of Sector 6.
‘We’ll have to do this again sometime,’ Link added as the pair turned off towards the power station.
‘Definitely!’ Ruby agreed.
‘Will you two be alright going back to the mall by yourselves?’
Ruby laughed. ‘We’ll be fine Tag,’ she answered. ‘We can look after ourselves.’
Link gave Tag a playful punch on the arm. ‘You can be so sexist sometimes!’ she told him.
‘What?’ he complained. ‘I was just trying to be nice!’
As Tag and Link continued their friendly bickering the two Mallrats waved goodbye and set off once again down the street. ‘So,’ Ruby prompted as soon as the Technicians were out of earshot. ‘What did you think of them?’
‘They do seem alright,’ Ellie admitted. ‘But that doesn’t mean I’m crossing all the Technicians off my suspect list.
Ruby nodded. ‘I suppose that’s a fair point.’
Now that two of their number had departed, tiredness soon caught up with the Mallrats and for some time the walk back home was passed in relative silence, giving Ellie the chance to think things over. She had enjoyed herself tonight, and was even starting to like Ruby’s new friends, but she still felt a pang of guilt at leaving Jack on his own, especially after telling him she wasn’t going to be long. She was beginning to doubt her decision to let Spinner try the headset on him again but that was something she needed to sleep on so she drove the thought from her mind.
‘Are you still up for scouting the city tomorrow?’ she asked Ruby. ‘Or today rather.’
‘You bet!’ her friend answered. ‘We need all the information on Plague we can get. We won’t have long before he realises we’re not going to do anything about the letter, then he’ll make his next move. We have to be ready for it.’
‘Great!’ she smiled. ‘Now, on to more important matters. Why did you turn that guy down tonight? He was kinda cute!’
Ruby sighed. ‘It wasn’t him,’ she explained. ‘I’m just not in the mood for that kind of thing right now.’
‘You mean with Plague?’
‘Oh no, nothing like that.’
‘Then what?’
Ruby arched an eyebrow. ‘You’re not going to stop until you get answer are you?’ Ellie grinned. ‘Trust me to make friends with a reporter! Alright then, can you keep a secret?’
‘Of course!’
‘Before he died,’ Ruby paused a moment to gather her thoughts. ‘Before he died, Ram and I, we were getting close.’
‘You and Ram?!’
‘Not a word okay! Nothing happened but I think it was going that way. I hoped it was anyway and I think he felt the same. I miss him like crazy Ellie, he wound me up no end but when we were alone he was different, you know? More open. There’s no way I could think about being with anyone else just yet.’
‘Wow,’ Ellie replied. ‘I’m sorry Ruby, I had no idea.’
‘It’s not really something I can shout about is it?’ Ruby snorted. ‘Just mentioning his name would get me killed in some parts of the city. Even within the Mallrats he’s a touchy subject - his memorial wasn’t exactly a sell-out was it?’ Ellie blushed as she remembered the torrent of abuse she’d given Slade when he’d asked if she wanted to attend the service. ‘But I completely understand,’ her friend continued, reading her mind. ‘I mean, if I was a city girl I’d probably hate him too.’
‘Well,’ Ellie said in response. ‘Since we’re sharing. If it makes you feel any better I once fell for the Guardian’s right-hand man.’
‘As in the Chosen?!’
She nodded. ‘What a pair we are, eh?’
Back in good spirits, the girls laughed and joked for the rest of the way home. As they finally came within sight of the mall they were once again overcome by fits of yawning. ‘Do you want a hand with Jack’s exercises?’ Ruby asked when she could finally speak.
‘I think I’ll give it a miss tonight actually,’ she replied. ‘We’ll do it before we go out if that’s ok.’ Ruby nodded.
As they entered the building they heard the sound of running footsteps followed by an irate voice.
‘Get out of my way!’ May shouted as she pushed past the two girls and ran off into the morning.
‘She looked really upset.’ Ruby frowned. ‘Should we go after her?’
‘No,’ Ellie asserted. ‘She hates for people to see her like that; we’d only make things worse. Better to leave her alone for a while, see if she can sort things out for herself.’
‘In that case,’ Ruby said stifling another yawn. ‘I’m off to bed. I need to be alert if we’re going to be trudging the city later.’
Saying goodbye to her friend Ellie returned to the room she shared with Jack, kissing him lightly on the forehead before crawling into the sleeping bag she kept on the floor by the bed.
‘I don’t know if you’re awake,’ she said softly. ‘But I’m sorry I was out so long. Nothing went wrong, we just stayed out longer than I expected. Ruby’s Technician friends are actually quite nice, not that that’s an excuse of course.’ She paused, still unused to having a conversation where she was the only one talking. ‘We’re going out later,’ she continued. ‘To find out what we can about Plague - yes, we’ll be careful - so I need to get some sleep now, but I promise I’ll help you with your exercises before we go.’
She waited until she was sure Jack was not going to respond, then turned over and went to sleep.
‘Sorry lady we’re closed,’ the bouncer said authoritatively as May tried to barge past him into the bar. She tried to shove him aside but he was too strong.
‘Oh come on I’m not in the mood for this,’ she snapped. ‘Just let me in, I need a drink!’
‘May?’ came a voice from inside the building. ‘It’s alright Gray, let her through.’ The bouncer’s face showed no emotion as he stepped aside for her.
‘New guy, Fin?’ she asked her friend in the multicoloured waistcoat and matching bow tie, the bar’s owner. ‘Or do you have a new policy of turning away regulars?’
‘He’ll learn,’ Fin replied, raking a hand through his curly red hair. ‘Now, what can I do you for?’
‘Anything, just make it a double,’ she said taking a stool. ‘And no I don’t want to talk about it,’ she added as Fin opened his mouth.
She quickly downed her drink and gestured for another one, then slumped forward onto the bar with her head in her hands. How could he have done this to her? The whole tribe knew how he felt about her, and then after the dance at the party she had been surprised to discover that she had feelings for him too, but she had poured her heart out to him in that letter, asked him to meet her in the basement; she’d cooked for him and bought a new outfit and what had he done? Not only had he stood her up but she’d caught him this morning coming out of Amber’s bedroom! How could she compare with Miss City Leader?
‘Maybe it wasn’t how it looked?’ Fin pondered. She glared at him and he shrugged his shoulders. Well maybe it wasn’t his fault that she’d said all that out loud but she’d told him she didn’t want to talk about it! Still, he had a point. With a sigh she rose. ‘Put those on my tab Fin,’ she instructed.
‘You know May,’ the bar owner hesitated. ‘Your tab’s getting a little on the expensive side. You might want to think about paying it off soon. I’m running a business here, not a charity.’
She fished in her pocket and pulled out a pocket watch she had been going to give Darryl, then put it back. She’d give him a chance first, see what was really going on between him and Amber. ‘Another day, Fin,’ she said apologetically, leaving her disappointed friend pouring himself a drink as she left the bar and headed back to the mall.
‘It seems quiet in here this morning,’ Creg mused as he sat in the café drinking coffee with Gel.
‘Quiet?’ she said, making a face. ‘What planet are you on?’ She gestured down the stairs to the courtyard where Lottie and Bonnie were noisily playing a game of Technos and Virts.
Creg laughed. ‘No, I mean there don’t seem to be many people around. What’s everyone up to?’
‘Oh right,’ she said. ‘I knew that’s what you meant. Ruby and Ellie went out last night, I think they’re still sleeping it off. They’re getting quite friendly with those Technicians you know.’ Creg raised an eyebrow in interest. ‘Could come in handy if we have another power cut like yesterday.’
‘What about the others?’ he asked.
‘Not sure,’ she replied. ‘I haven’t seen May or Trudy. Amber’s doing politics stuff with Darryl I think.’
‘Darryl?’
‘Yeah, he mentioned something about a new ‘cushy government job’ but I forget what exactly, something to do with sorting letters. Oh! Here’s Trudy!’
‘Morning you two!’ Trudy called as she approached them. ‘Mind if I join you?’
Creg hesitated but Gel pulled out a chair for her. ‘Of course!’ she smiled. ‘Have a seat!’
‘Thanks,’ Trudy smiled, then looked more serious. ‘I wanted to have a word with you actually Gel, it’s about Bonnie.’
Creg straightened in his seat. ‘Has she done something wrong?’ Gel asked, frowning.
‘Oh no, nothing like that,’ Trudy explained. ‘It’s just that, well, last night I couldn’t sleep so I came to get myself a hot drink. I hear a noise outside and when I went to check it out I found her sleeping in the rubbish. She asked me not to tell but I was so worried for her. We don’t know what happened to her before she arrived here and I thought, with you two being so close, maybe you could talk to her? See if you can find anything out that could help?’
‘Are you sure that’s wise?’ Creg asked.
‘What do you mean?’ Trudy replied. ‘If we can find out what keeps attracting her there we can put a stop to it.’
‘Put a stop to what? She’s a kid! Kids like dirt.’
‘That’s not true!’ Gel said, mortified. ‘I never did.’
‘The last thing I want to do is hurt her by bringing up painful memories Creg,’ said Trudy. ‘But Gel’s right, this isn’t normal and it’s not healthy. Even for someone Bonnie’s age. Will you do it Gel?’
She nodded. ‘I’ll do my best.’
‘Thanks,’ Trudy smiled. ‘I’ll get Lottie out of your way so you won’t have any disturbances.’ She got up, smiling at Creg who still looked unhappy, and went over to the top of the stairs to call for Lottie.
‘Lottie! Can you come and help me with Brady?’
‘Coming Trudy!’ the youngster called back happily, leaving her playmate and running for the stairs.
‘Can I help too?’ Bonnie asked, following.
‘No sweetie,’ Trudy replied. ‘I only need one of you today. You can help tomorrow alright?’
‘Alright,’ Bonnie said a little sadly.
‘Why don’t you come and sit with Gel and Creg?’ Trudy suggested before leading Lottie away to find Brady. Bonnie looked even more disappointed, glaring at Creg as she climbed the stairs as slowly as she could. Gel sighed. She had hoped that the little girl would accept her boyfriend but evidently she was still jealous of the time the couple spent together. Bonnie took the seat vacated by Trudy and the trio sat in silence for a few moments.
‘Well this is nice isn’t it?’ she said cheerily. The three of us here together, just like a little family?’ For a second she was overcome by a fantasy of her and Creg adopting Bonnie and living happily ever after, but she was brought down to earth when the little girl arched an eyebrow in wry amusement and even Creg allowed himself a small smile. ‘Yes well,’ she said. ‘Why don’t we have a little chat, get to know each other better? You start Bonnie. Tell us about your tribe.’ Bonnie shot a sideways look at Creg then looked pleadingly at her. ‘Oh come on, honey,’ she said. ‘Creg’s a nice guy, just spend some time with him and you’ll realise that. I know I haven’t seen as much of you lately but that doesn’t mean I care about you any less. And haven’t you enjoyed spending time with Lottie?’ But Bonnie still looked at her with those pleading eyes. ‘Oh alright then,’ she relented. ‘Creg can you get me another cup of coffee?’
‘But…’ he started.
‘Please?’ Reluctantly Creg left the table and headed to the kitchen. ‘Take your time!’ she called after him. ‘Now, where were we?’
‘What do you want to know?’ Bonnie asked timidly.
‘Well, you must have had a tribe?’ she prompted.
Bonnie nodded. ‘To begin with.’
‘Were they not very nice? Is that why you left?’
‘No,’ the little girl insisted, shaking her head. ‘I didn’t leave, and they were nice, mostly. We were only a small tribe, it was me and my friends from playschool and a few of the older kids, brothers and sisters and stuff. We looked after each other for a while.’
‘That sounds nice,’ Gel smiled.
‘It was,’ Bonnie said sadly. ‘Then some of the older boys started getting into trouble. They didn’t look after us as much and one of my friends died.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Gel murmured, putting her arm around Bonnie, but the younger girl wasn’t listening. She was caught up in the flow of her memories.
‘Then things got worse,’ she said. ‘They all started fighting, then the Mozzies attacked, and then the planes came!’
‘The Technos?’
Bonnie sniffed and nodded her head. ‘I don’t know what happened to my friends,’ she cried. ‘I ran away.’
She burst into tears and rose from her seat with the intention of running away. Gel caught her hand but she reached across and scratched the older girl’s arm.
‘Ow!’ she yelped, letting go of Bonnie who promptly scampered downstairs. ‘Come back!’ she yelled, following as fast as she could. By the time she reached the courtyard, however, Bonnie had vanished.
‘Hmm,’ she muttered disapprovingly. ‘Three guesses where you’ve gone little missy!’ Sure enough she arrived at the rubbish skips just in time to see the little girl darting behind a pile of bulging black bin bags. ‘Bonnie!’ she called. ‘Come out please, I want to talk to you.’ There was only a sulky silence from the garbage. With a heavy sigh she wrinkled her nose and carefully picked her way through the trash to where Bonnie was hiding. ‘Eww, I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ she complained.
‘Leave me alone!’ Bonnie warned, but she had delved as deep into the rubbish as she could and Gel was now blocking off her only escape route.
‘Now then,’ the older girl said, squatting down beside her and clasping her hands tightly in her own. ‘What was all that about?’
‘None of your business!’ Bonnie shouted angrily.
Gel pointed at her arm where the other girl had scratched it. She had drawn blood. ‘This makes it my business,’ she replied. ‘Now tell me, what’s the matter?’
‘I told you!’ Bonnie said. ‘I ran away! I let them all be captured, I’m a coward!’
‘You’re not a coward Bonnie,’ she said softly. ‘Or if you are then so am I, and so are most of the people walking around this city. How else do you think we’re here? We either ran or we hid. Otherwise we’d just be in some slave camp somewhere feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve all been there honey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.’
It took her some time to realise that Bonnie was no longer crying but laughing. ‘What did I say?’ she asked. ‘What did I say?’
Bonnie lifted her head and smiled. ‘You came through the rubbish for me!’ she said gleefully.
‘Don’t remind me,’ she replied dryly.
Bonnie laughed again, then stood up and planted a kiss on Gel’s forehead. ‘Sorry about the arm,’ she said. ‘Let’s go get cleaned up before it gets infected.’
‘I thought I was supposed to be comforting you?’ Gel said, confused as they made their way back inside. ‘Wait a minute, did you say infected?’ She all but sprinted the rest of the way to her room to take a shower.
Coming back into the mall May climbed the stairs to the upper level with purpose. She had walked off the drink and the anger and was ready to accept Darryl’s apology for not meeting her last night. She was sure there would be a logical explanation for his absence, just as there would be one for why he had spent the night with Amber. There was no way he was her type. She walked along the top landing, coming to a stop outside Darryl’s room. ‘Darryl!’ she called. ‘It’s May. Can I come in? I need to talk to you.’ When she received no reply she went in anyway; Darryl was nowhere to be found. Fearing that she had been right all along she decided to check Amber’s room. Sure enough as she drew nearer she heard voices coming from inside - Amber and Darryl.
‘I don’t think I can hold it much longer,’ he grunted.
‘Just a little more,’ Amber begged. ‘No, don’t put it there! A little more to the left. That’s it.’
Shocked and disgusted May ran to her room and threw herself on her bed, feeling utterly humiliated.
‘What have you got in this thing Amber?’ Darryl wheezed, propping himself up on the cabinet they had just moved across the room. ‘It weighs a tonne!’
‘Yeah, sorry about that,’ she smiled. ‘It’s from the antique store, I guess they built things to last back then. Still, we did a good job; we should be able to move that desk out now and stick it outside the office downstairs for you to use. Think you can handle one more lift?’
‘Let’s get it over with,’ he replied, wishing he’d had more at breakfast. He positioned himself at one end of the piece of furniture with Amber at the other end. ‘Ready?’ he asked. ‘And one, two, three, hup!’ As they lifted the desk he saw out of the corner of his eye something small falling to the floor. ‘Down a second!’ he instructed.
‘Quit messing around Darryl!’ Amber complained. ‘We’ve got lots to do today. There’ll be people streaming into the mall in a few hours, and more paperwork on the way - I’m nowhere near finished with the first pile yet!’
‘There was something caught behind the desk,’ he said ignoring her. He was strangely intrigued by the object. Picking it up he realised it was a photograph. The subject was a young man with messy auburn hair. He handed it to Amber. ‘Is that Bray?’ he asked.
She smiled as she recognised the photo. ‘No, it’s not,’ she replied, but didn’t elaborate. ‘Now, let’s get this desk out.’ Tossing the photo onto her bed she lifted her side of the piece of furniture forcing Darryl to do the same.
Before long Amber and Darryl had finished fitting out the office she would be using to conduct the day-to-day business of the city, with Darryl’s new desk placed in front of the doorway as a first port of call for any citizen with an enquiry or petition. ‘Not a bad morning’s work,’ she said happily.
‘Yeah!’ Darryl agreed. ‘We make a great team!’ For some reason she found herself blushing. ‘Do you fancy a coffee before the crowds arrive? There’s still plenty of time.’
‘Sure,’ she agreed. ‘Why not. You go on ahead, I’ll just fetch the paperwork down.’ As Darryl wandered off to the café she returned to her room. Picking up the photograph again she allowed herself to remember its subject. ‘I wonder what you’re doing now Sasha,’ she told it. ‘Where you are. Who you’re with. Strange that it was Darryl who found you.’ She had always felt comfortable with Darryl, and she realised now that it was because he reminded her of Sasha. They had both helped to take her mind off things and make her smile again, and they were both good with children; Sasha because he was an accomplished entertainer and Darryl because he was still a big kid himself. Just thinking about him made her smile. But she had already chosen duty over fun and it was too late to change that now, wasn’t it?
‘Stop being silly Amber,’ she told herself. ‘You’re starting to sound like Tai San.’ It was just a coincidence that Darryl had found the photo, that’s all. ‘And you stop giving me ideas,’ she told Sasha’s picture. Putting him away in her box of photos, she went back to sorting her paperwork.
(joking… But I disliked him… Bleh…)
It seems Amber is pulling herself together, shame she couldn’t of moped a bit longer, HAHA. Mmmm a topless Slade, hubba hubba. Aww what a sweet memorial, Slade is just the whole package, a hot sweet kinda guy, HAHA. This is a memorial Scott, BEHAVE!!! Bless Ruby, you would of written Ruby and Ram as a couple so well, shame. Oh Ebony you just can’t help but open your big mouth, but all seems okay with him and Ebony. I hope it stays that way and Amber stays away, you have me worried. That one can’t keep her legs shut with one guy for too long. 
Great visual for Gel in her pink dressing gown. 
A new Techno uniform and name, interesting. It’s nice that everyone is happy with the Mall Rats, but for how long I wonder? It always goes tits up… And Jay is really beginning to grate on me. He either needs to die or get with Spinner and be with her FOREVER instead of being a dirty rat. Or alternatively get with Darryl. 
a hooded figure oh no!!!
it’s good to read someone else’s ideas for a change, then only always write the own down!