Out of the ladies available I think he and Trudy could work well in this story. The guy who ended up impersonating Zoot ends up as a father figure for Brady. 
He is good with the kids and he would spoil Trudy rotten and keep her smiling.
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@Jack that’s it! Actually that is what troubles me for Phoenix… Hawk is soooo earnest… Blew 
(that’s why I always try to write funny moments for couples… A relation means to share laughter too… To sometimes be outright silly with each other… To laugh yourself away…) Darryl sure qualifies for that part… Though he maybe is “too young”
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All good points! Like I say, the Darryl/May pairing was the original inspiration for this story (if you’re interested in why, I wrote a whole piece on it for TheTribe.co.uk), but as things have progressed I’m not necessarily 100% committed to that outcome!
@Zwenja - I kind of felt a connection between Hawk and Pride in your latest Phoenix chapter. I think Hawk would calm some of Pride’s hot-headedness, and Pride would maybe bring Hawk out of his comfort zone a bit, expand his worldview.
Also I just realised I have three weeks to finish chapter 36. 
Ohaaa… There you go… My sister said the same (secretly my sister and me always felt like Pride could maybe also “change” sides) But Hawks story would make that a little… Very constructed 
And I originally wanted to pair Pride with Tai-San but right now I am not even sure I bring him back to he Mall. He just is an Eco. The city seems wrong for him…
Hmmmmm… Maybe it’s time for another threesome Trudy could also pair up with Hunter… Or meet one of the Technos (@Jack wanted Zoom for her… ) oooor… She could discover… She for real likes girls hmmmmm…
Huh? Three weeks? 
I am ahead of writing with both stories… I always have like three weeks of air…
Yes, Hawk would be no good in the city. It wouldn’t be fair on him to take him there!
The difficulty for me is always finding time for writing. I need to get into the right mindset before I can do anything productive. I thought I’d be able to get some done on holiday but it didn’t quite work out.
Hawk needs to stay with the Gaians, absolutely. I am somehow entering myself in my mind by Bray, Hawk and Pride becoming best friends… I will see… Last night I thought about that I already trying out more unusual combinations in the chapter… So Pride with Trudy could be an option too… (he is good with kids!)
I am writing on the fanfictions everyday now… But “thanks” to Corona I am living very closed up right now. Since months I only have contact with others in person on very rare occasions. So writing gives me the feeling “to do” something sense gil at last. More senseful then just watching TV (though I also have still read like thirty books like March )
Yes, it must be nice to be able to do something creative and to dive into another world a bit when you’re stuck inside. I’m so grateful that this has happened in a time where we are able to keep in contact with each other through virtual means.
Here is chapter 31. Hold on to your hats, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster!
Chapter 31: The Storm Breaks
‘Is anything happening?’ Ellie asked nervously. The lights on Jack’s headset were flashing, but there was no other visible sign that Spinner, standing next to Jack’s bed with the laptop, had begun anything. She didn’t know what she expected to happen exactly, but somehow this seemed a little…anticlimactic.
‘Spinner?’ she pressed when the Technician didn’t respond.
‘Hmm? Oh!’ the other girl said, not sounding completely focussed. ‘Oh yes, something is happening alright!’ She turned the laptop around briefly so that Ellie could see. From what she had been told the day before, Ellie knew that the flashing lights on the image of Jack’s brain indicated areas of activity. At the moment it looked like there was a firework display going off in his head!
She gasped when she saw the image. ‘Can…can he feel all that?’ she asked.
‘I expect so,’ Spinner said absentmindedly.
‘Is he in pain?’
‘Look. I told you yesterday,’ Spinner sighed. ‘This is new science. The only person who can answer that question is Jack. If I had to guess I’d say it probably feels a bit like a migraine, but it is just a guess. Better than his current state though, isn’t it?’
Ellie turned her head and bit her lip to avoid saying something she might regret. This wasn’t fair! She felt frustrated and helpless, and Spinner’s attitude towards the whole thing wasn’t helping. It was as if she were giving each answer reluctantly. She knew that she should be grateful; she was the one who had asked for help, which Spinner had not had to agree to, and the Technician had never made any promises, but it wasn’t like she had been forced to help either, so why was she being so difficult?
Composing herself once more, she turned to face Jack and Spinner again. As soon as she did so her jaw dropped as she noticed Jack’s hand clutching the bed sheets. Her initial joy soon turned to fear, however, as she realised that he must be in pain. Why wasn’t Spinner doing anything? The seconds ticked by like hours as Spinner just stood staring into the monitor, looking bored, until finally she heard herself shouting ‘Stop!’ and found herself on her feet.
Spinner blinked and looked at her. Had she even been concentrating?
‘Stop the machine!’ she ordered again.
‘What?’
‘You’re hurting him!’ she shrieked, pointing at Jack’s hands. ‘Turn it off, now!’
‘But…’
‘NOW!’
Spinner hurriedly pressed a few buttons and the headset shut down with a low hum. Jack’s hands released instantly. Despite the Technician’s protests Ellie pulled the headset off, letting out a cry of dismay when she saw Jack’s eyes staring blankly up at her.
‘You’ve killed him!’ she screamed, throwing herself over him.
‘He…he’s not dead!’ Spinner said, checking his pulse. Sure enough, she started to feel the rise and fall of his chest beneath her. ‘The eyes,’ Spinner added. ‘It’s just a response.’ Jack’s eyes closed again, only to flutter open a moment later.
Ellie stood up straight and slapped the Technician. ‘How’s that for a response?’ she spat. ‘Where was yours when he was clearly in pain? How could you not have noticed?’
Spinner’s shock turned to anger. ‘Oh, so you think I was deliberately trying to harm him, do you? Is that what you’re saying?’
‘Get out!’ Ellie shouted. ‘I want you to leave!’
‘With pleasure!’ Spinner shouted back, hastily gathering together her things. ‘You Virts are all the same,’ she muttered as she left the room. ‘I don’t know what Jay ever saw in you lot.’ The curtain in the doorway fluttered in the wake of her exit, and Ellie fell rather than sat down on the bed next to Jack, taking one of his hands in hers.
‘I’m sorry,’ she told him. ‘I just needed you back. I thought it was the only way.’ Jack’s eyes continued to slowly open and close. It must be a good sign, mustn’t it?
‘Please get better soon.’
Ruby arched an eyebrow as Spinner glared at her and Darryl on her way out of the mall. ‘What’s her problem?’ Darryl frowned.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘And I don’t care. Right now we’ve got problems of our own. Big ones.’ She waved the envelope that had been left in the grille in his face to remind him.
‘Hadn’t we better open it?’ he asked.
Scared as she was of the envelope’s contents, he was right. They had to know what was inside. Reluctantly she stuck her finger under the flap and tore it open, unfolding the piece of paper that was inside.
‘What…what does it say?’ Darryl asked. ‘Is it from him?’
She nodded as she scanned the note. ‘Oh no,’ she whispered as she reached the end.
‘What?’ Darryl squeaked.
‘Where are Lottie and Bonnie?’ she asked urgently.
‘Th…they were around earlier,’ he stammered.
‘LOTTIE! BONNIE!’ she shouted. ‘When did you last see them? Come on, Darryl! Think!’
‘They tried to get out of the mall earlier,’ he said. ‘Said they were going Skink hunting. I told them to go and play inside.’
‘And you haven’t seen them since?’
He shook his head.
‘LOTTIE!’ she called again. ‘BONNIE!’
‘What’s going on?’ Gel asked as she and Creg came down the stairs.
‘Have you seen the kids?’ she asked them.
‘Not since before we left this morning,’ Gel replied. ‘But I want a word with that Lottie, I can’t find my lipstick. Has she taken something of yours too?’
Ruby showed them the note.
‘No!’ Gel wailed. Creg crumpled it in his fist angrily. ‘How could he?’ he fumed.
‘Darryl said they tried to get out earlier, to go ‘Skink hunting’. They probably went out through the sewers.’
‘Darryl, come with me,’ Creg ordered. ‘You two go and tell Amber.’ Darryl brushed past her to follow him out of the mall.
‘Where are you going?’ she called after them.
‘To the Skinks,’ Creg replied.
‘But this is from Plague!’
‘It’s the only lead we have,’ he shrugged, then disappeared out of the mall with Darryl.
‘I suppose we’d better do as he says then,’ she said. ‘Gel?’
Gel stood rooted to the spot, looking torn. ‘I’m sorry Ruby,’ she said finally, running off after Creg and Darryl.
‘Gel, come back! It’s too dangerous! Gel!’
‘Ruby?’ She turned round to see Ellie standing behind her. ‘What’s all the commotion?’
She picked up the crumpled note from the floor and held it out to her. Ellie let out a sigh. ‘Not again.’
‘I’m afraid so,’ she said. ‘We need to find Amber.’
Amber rubbed her eyes as the words on the page started to blur, then gave up and slumped dejectedly onto her desk, letting out a low moan of boredom. She longed to be back in the countryside, away from the stresses and strains of the City, even if just for a little while, but she knew that she couldn’t. Not because of her duty to the people, or even the Mallrats, though deep down she did still take both very seriously, but because she feared she might not want to come back. Perhaps it was just as well that the Ecos had disowned her.
A purposeful knock came at the door.
‘Come in,’ she sighed, the words muffled by the table. She forced herself to lift her head. Ruby and Ellie stood before her, looking troubled. She didn’t have to ask why they were here. ‘He’s been in contact again?’
Ruby nodded and handed her the note. As she read to the end of it she felt a fear rising inside her that she hadn’t felt since Mega had threatened Bray. ‘What does he mean “where are your children”?’ she asked.
‘Lottie and Bonnie are out of the mall,’ Ruby replied, then quickly added. ‘But Darryl and Creg are out looking for them. And…and Gel. We think they went to play a trick on the Skinks.’
‘Oh, this is all we need,’ Amber groaned, rubbing her temples. ‘What were they even doing outside…no, it doesn’t matter, what’s done is done.’ Her thoughts raced but she had to calm down and concentrate on what was important. ‘You said the others are out looking for them?’
Ruby nodded. ‘Creg’s taken them to the Skinks’ sector,’ she said, sounding irritated. ‘But it could be a wild goose chase for all we know! We need to be out there looking for Plague!’
Amber took a deep breath, thinking things through. ‘No,’ she said finally. Ruby ground her teeth. ‘At least, not yet. Creg’s right, if that’s the last place we know they went then it makes sense to look there. There’s no point leaving the mall defenceless while we search the whole city. Best to try the avenues we’re more sure of first, unless you’ve made any developments locating Plague that I’m not aware of?’
‘No,’ Ruby shook her head sadly.
‘Yes,’ Ellie said at the same time. Ruby whipped her head around, looking hurt. ‘Well, no,’ Ellie blushed. ‘Nothing that would help with this, but I’ve been talking to Link this morning, and she’s going to try and get her hands on some old Techno personnel files. I think that Plague might have worked with Mega. That’s what I was coming to tell you,’ she added, for Ruby’s benefit. Ruby looked placated, but Amber was concerned.
‘Link’s a Technician? Can we trust her?’ she asked.
‘I like her,’ Ellie said, and Ruby nodded agreement. It wasn’t strictly answering the question, but Amber suspected it was the best she was going to get. ‘There’s more, isn’t there?’ she asked, picking up the note again. ‘This suggests there was some significance to where it was left. What’s that all about?’
This time it was Ruby’s turn to blush. Ellie looked as though she were wrestling with thoughts she would rather not have.
‘It was pushed through the grille,’ Ruby said.
‘Like the first one?’
‘No,’ Ruby admitted. ‘That was another messenger. He gave it to Bonnie, but you were so angry that we’d kept it from you I didn’t want to get her tangled up in it all too, so I lied. That’s the only reason, and the only thing we’ve kept from you since then.’
Amber bit her tongue to keep herself from further admonishing the pair, and schooled her face to calmness while pretending to re-read the letter. They had promised! But there really had been no reason to mix Bonnie up in the whole affair, and it wasn’t like it was of any great importance on the grand scale of things. She had to trust them. If she couldn’t trust her own tribe, who could she trust?
‘Don’t you see what this all means?’ Ellie finally spoke out, addressing them both. ‘This whole letter, it hasn’t been about the kids at all. It’s about him telling us he knows! He knows we lied about how that first note got here; he knows Lottie and Bonnie left the mall. He knows because he’s watching us, or he’s got someone else doing it for him.’
Amber nodded slowly, agreeing but not wanting to, and Ruby had a look on her face that said she’d missed something obvious. ‘He’s trying to scare us,’ Amber said finally. ‘But what can we do?’
‘The way I see it,’ Ellie continued. ‘There are three possibilities. The first is that he’s using bugs, like Mega did, though that still means somebody has come in and set them recently, since Jack and I got rid of those ones.’
‘And the other two?’ Amber asked, though she had guessed them already.
‘Either somebody is sneaking around our home,’ Ellie answered. ‘Or it’s one of us. There’s a spy in the mall.’
Amber and Ruby both nodded, then noticed each other nodding and stopped. ‘Right, well, first things first,’ Amber stated. ‘We deal with what we can deal with. Ellie, do you still have that bug detector?’ The other Mallrat nodded. ‘Then use it, see if that’s how he’s doing it and report back here in an hour.’ Ellie stood up and walked to the door, and Ruby made as if to follow her. ‘Not you, Ruby,’ Amber stopped her. ‘I’d like to speak with you a little longer.’ Ruby sat down again with her arms folded and a stubborn, sulky set to her jaw that said she meant to fight her corner. Ellie gave her a sympathetic look before leaving the room. As soon as the door closed, Ruby opened her mouth.
‘Look, I know it was wrong to keep it from you, but I’ve told you everything now…’
‘Ruby,’
‘And in any case I hardly think it warrants keeping me here when there’s work…’
‘Ruby!’
Ruby reluctantly stopped talking.
‘Thank you,’ Amber said. ‘I didn’t keep you here to chastise you, though clearly that’s what you and Ellie seem to think.’ Ruby opened her mouth angrily. ‘Well maybe it’s not without reason,’ Amber finished quickly. ‘But truthfully, I just wanted to talk.’ She waited to make sure that Ruby was going to listen before continuing. ‘I spoke to Trudy yesterday. She made me realise a few things.’ She thought of Darryl and allowed herself a small smile. ‘One of those things,’ she said, bringing herself back to the matter at hand. ‘Is that I’ve been far too harsh on you and Ellie. Especially you. I guess I was hurt that you thought I couldn’t deal with it, and jealous that Ellie trusted you over me. And I was scared, scared that you were right, that I couldn’t deal with it. I’m still not sure that I can,’ she laughed nervously. ‘But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.’
‘I’m sorry too,’ Ruby said reluctantly, after a while. ‘I still stand by my decision, but part of it was pride. I didn’t have to be so stubborn about it, I just wanted to prove that I could still be my own person, not just part of a tribe, doing whatever you say.’
‘That’s not how we do things here,’ Amber said.
‘I know. Now I do.’
‘You know what Trudy said?’ Amber smiled. ‘She said we were alike, you and I. I don’t know you well enough to say, but I’d like to. I’d like to be your friend, Ruby.’ She held out her hand. ‘Truce?’
Ruby studied the hand that was offered to her for a moment then smiled, taking it in her own. ‘I’d like to be your friend, too,’ she said.
Link crossed the great court of the power station, unmindful of the huge generators rising up like monsters to her left, droning away noisily and sending vibrations through the floor. She ignored them partly because the room always frightened her slightly, though not directly because of the machines, which she understood; the place was like a temple to the technology of the adults and when it was empty of people, as it was right now, she imagined she could feel their ghosts watching her, judging her. But that was only part of the reason she paid the room no mind; she had more important things to worry about. She was concentrating on the clipboard in her hands, holding the printouts of the personnel files for the Unit 12 Technos. Relay and Elsa she knew were dead, and out of the remaining four - Sparks, Proxy, Static and Data - at least two were also dead. She had only known one of those four, Data, but she didn’t hold out much hope for her, or any of them. She only wished they could be given a decent burial, like Relay and Elsa. Ruaridh , she told herself. His name was Ruaridh .
She turned around, clutching the clipboard to her chest, at the sound of footsteps approaching at a brisk pace, echoing in the large room despite the sound of the generators. Spinner stormed into the great hall from the reception area of the building, passing Tag’s office on her way to the stairs leading up to her own, not noticing Link standing by the railings overlooking the lower level.
‘That was quick,’ she shouted across to her superior. Spinner gave a start and glared at her, altering her course to make a beeline straight for her, and she half wished she hadn’t spoken.
‘That…that Mallrat !’ Spinner spluttered when she reached her.
‘You mean Ellie?’
‘Who else?!’ Spinner gesticulated angrily. ‘She made me stop almost as soon as I’d started because she thought her precious Jack was in pain! What did she expect?! I was trying to shift his brain back on the right track! You can’t get much more invasive than that!’
‘Well since she’s not one of us,’ Link explained, more politely than she felt. ‘I imagine she expected whatever you told her, which knowing you wasn’t much. Is Jack alright?’
Spinner glared at her even more. ‘Who knows?’ she replied with an uncaring shrug. ‘She practically yanked the headset off him almost before it was safe! All these accusations and then she nearly goes and kills him herself! What is it with these people? Trying to interfere in things they don’t understand! Can’t they just let us get on with it?’
Link laughed. ‘They don’t trust us Spinner!’ she said in disbelief that she had to explain it. ‘Can you blame them after Ram and Mega? It’s going to take time for them to forget we were Technos a matter of weeks ago. Even longer the way you’re going.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Spinner demanded, clearly affronted.
‘You’re not exactly a shining example of public relations,’ Link replied. ‘Speaking of which,’ she added, cutting off whatever retort Spinner had been about to give. ‘We’ve got some serious damage control to do with those kids that came to see Cable earlier, you know, about the power cuts in Sector 4?’
‘Pah!’ Spinner dismissed. ‘I saw Tag’s report! What are they using it all for anyway? There’s only so much we can provide, if they want any more they can come and generate it themselves. Maybe then they’ll realise how much work it takes!’
‘That’s not the point!’ Link argued. ‘Spinner, he threw a chair at them!’
The Technicians’ second-in-command stood in stunned silence for a moment before visibly sagging. ‘Damn it, Link!’ she cried in frustration. ‘Why does it always have to be me?’
‘Because you made it that way,’ Link replied in an exasperated tone, angry but sympathetic. She didn’t envy the position the other woman had put herself in. ‘You made him that way. All those feelings about Elsa’s disappearance are returning, but he doesn’t know why he’s feeling them. Is it any wonder he’s behaving the way he is? He was your friend , Spinner! Maybe it’s time…’ she was cut off by Spinner’s slap.
‘Will you stop saying that name!’ Spinner yelled, livid. ‘Don’t you think that I wish there had been another way? I did what I had to do to save his life! Every day I have to live with that decision and try and make sure he never remembers, but I can’t deal with it all, Link! Cable, Ellie, Unit 12, Sector 4! Can’t you all just leave me alone for one minute?!’
‘Be careful what you wish for, Spinner,’ Link said in a dangerously soft tone, clutching the side of her face. ‘You don’t have many allies in this place as it is.’
She gave a contemptuous sniff before leaving the other Technician standing there, Spinner’s shouting of her name becoming one with the drone of the generators in the back of her mind.
Entering her office, Spinner slammed the door shut and screamed in frustration. Did Link not care that she and Tag would get pulled down too if their secret were revealed? Sitting at her desk she rested her elbows on the table and held her head in her hands. She had a pounding headache. There was too much on her mind, Cable’s behaviour, the Unit 12 bodies showing up, now these Virts - Ellie and those Sector 4 kids - and on top of all that she had a power station to run! Reclining in her chair she tried to think. Her mother had always told her not to waste her time worrying about things she couldn’t do anything about, as there was always enough that she could do something about to occupy herself with; she had certainly got that part right. Her eyes drifted to the locked desk drawer that held the CD Link had retrieved from the storeroom. Right now that seemed like one of the few things she had any control over, and it would certainly buy her some time for the others. Making the decision she unlocked the drawer and took out the disc and her old Techno zapper. Strapping the latter to her wrist, she checked outside her door to make sure nobody was passing before heading along the walkway to Cable’s office, her boots ringing traitorously on the metalwork. There was no way Cable wouldn’t hear her coming.
‘Go away!’ the leader of the Technicians bellowed when she knocked on his door. She shrugged as if justifying to herself what she was about to do, then barged in. ‘What!?’ Cable spluttered. ‘I thought I said…’ He slumped over his desk, silenced, as she shot him. Quickly locking the door, she moved over and sat him upright, with difficulty, so that she could access the laptop he had fallen across. She uploaded the software from the CD and picked up one of several headsets Cable kept lying around.
‘I’m sorry, old friend,’ she said, squeezing his arm before putting the headset onto him.
‘In here!’ Bonnie whispered, crouching down by one of the strange fish huts and pointing through the window. Lottie crawled back to where her friend was, not easy to do laden down with weapons as she was, and peeked above the windowsill to the room within. The whole of the Skink tribe was there, having some sort of meeting.
‘Excellent!’ Lottie whispered in reply. ‘Come on, this way.’
She led Bonnie round to the side of the building, where a set of external stairs gave access to the upper floor. Bonnie quickly looked around to make sure the coast was clear and suddenly gave a start, fixing her gaze on one of the buildings on the other side of the complex. The clouds had darkened ominously since they had arrived here, making it hard to see, but they had checked those buildings already and they were all empty.
‘What is it?’ Lottie asked, panicking slightly.
Bonnie remained calm. ‘I thought…no, there can’t be anybody there. Let’s do this.’ She stalked up the stairs, barely making a noise, and Lottie followed, wincing whenever one of the wooden boards beneath her feet gave the tiniest creak. At the top of the stairs Bonnie opened the door a crack. It squeaked noisily and she hastily stopped.
‘What do we do?’ Lottie moaned. ‘We’ve come this far, we can’t stop now!’
Bonnie raised a hand to silence her. ‘Wait,’ her friend said. ‘Listen, and get ready.’
Lottie listened, and began to hear the voices of the Skinks having their meeting below. Occasionally the discussion was peppered with cheers or rounds of harsh laughter that made her want to turn back. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all. The decision was taken out of her hands, however, as at the next round of laughter Bonnie pushed the door open all the way and rushed in, pulling Lottie along with her.
Inside it was dark, but as her eyes became accustomed to it Lottie realised that the upper floor wasn’t a room as such, rather a storage area. There was a large space in the middle of the floor where they could see the Skinks below, and huge mechanical cranes in the roof space that would lift crates from the lower room to this level. Bonnie tiptoed to the edge and peered over. ‘Oh this is too good!’ she gushed, and started to unfasten one of her water bombs.
Suddenly Lottie was aware of another presence in the room. She whirled around to face the door they had entered from, and gave a sigh of relief when she saw Creg standing there. Creg, however, had his eyes firmly on Bonnie, who was holding a water bomb over the edge of the platform.
‘Don’t even…’ he began, but Bonnie just smirked at him and stuck her tongue out. Then she dropped the bomb. A woman screamed, and all hell broke loose in the lower room.
‘You little…’ Creg started, then shook his head. ‘Out!’ he shouted at the pair of them, and Lottie found herself being herded back down the stairs with Bonnie. ‘Run!’ Creg ordered when they reached the bottom, giving them both a shove. ‘Run!’ And Lottie and Bonnie ran. Looking across at her friend, Lottie saw that Bonnie was grinning, and soon she started grinning too, laughing at the sheer insanity of what they had just done. Turning her head to look back, she realised that Creg was no longer with them. He had remained behind outside the Skinks’ meeting room, and now the tribe burst out of the door to confront him.
‘What is he doing?’ Lottie wailed. ‘Why is he just standing there?’ Abruptly she screamed as she passed a building and a pair of arms wrapped around her, and she was vaguely aware of another pair grabbing Bonnie. She struggled and kicked, but her captor held tight, so she bit the hand that tried to cover her mouth.
‘Ow! Lottie!’ Darryl complained, releasing her. ‘Man, that really hurt!’ She faced him in surprise and gave a breathy laugh, relieved to see him, and ashamed to have attacked him.
‘Sorry Darryl,’ she mumbled. She looked at Bonnie, standing with Gel, who arched an amused eyebrow at her. Evidently her friend had realised sooner than she had who their captors were. Gel eyed Darryl’s bleeding fingers with alarm, glad to have escaped the same fate.
‘What’s taking Creg so long,’ the older girl asked anxiously. The four of them peeked around the corner of the building and saw Creg running in the opposite direction, being chased by half a dozen Skinks. The rest of the tribe were egging their fellows on. ‘Where’s he going?’ Gel cried. ‘We’re over here!’
‘He’s trying to lead them away from us,’ Darryl explained. ‘Come on, Gel! We have to get back to the mall!’
‘We can’t just leave him!’ Gel replied, aghast.
‘Creg can take care of himself,’ Darryl argued. ‘We’d only get in the way. Besides, we have to get the girls back.’
Gel made a whining noise and looked after Creg, running off towards the other side of the market. A push start from Darryl was all she needed, however, to begin running herself, all the way back to the mall.
The door to her tiny office burst open and Link gave a start, jumping to her feet as she saw Cable framed in the doorway, a furious expression on his face. She wished she had kept her old zapper.
‘Where’s that report?’ he demanded. ‘I won’t take your sloppiness anymore, Link!’
Link stood there wide-eyed, her mouth working. ‘Wh-what report?’ she stammered finally. Had he finally lost his grip on reality?
Cable glared at her for a few moments, then abruptly his lips quivered and he broke out in a grin. ‘Your face!’ he laughed, entering the room and perching himself on the edge of her desk familiarly. ‘Relax! I just came to see how you were doing,’ he explained. ‘I feel like we haven’t talked for ages. I’ve just been so caught up getting this place up and running again.’ He stared past her for a moment, looking confused.
‘Are…are you alright?’ she asked, placing a hand on his arm hesitantly, still unsure as to his mood.
He shook himself and smiled again. ‘I think I’ve been working too hard,’ he laughed. ‘The last few days feel like a complete blur. But what do you say? We should have a proper catch-up, relax a bit.’
‘We should,’ she agreed. ‘But not right now.’ Cable’s smile faded. ‘It’s just that I’ve got some tests I need to finish for Spinner and you know what she’s like. I’m sorry Cable, we’ll catch up soon though? You’re right, it’s been too long.’ She really was sorry. It had been so long since they had last talked just as friends, and she missed the old Cable, but it was far too strange seeing him suddenly change like this. She needed time to get over that before she could relax in his company again.
‘You’d think she was a robot, the way she focuses on her work!’ Cable joked. ‘Where is she anyway? I’m sure she’s avoiding me!’
‘Funny that,’ Link mumbled. Aloud she said ‘I wish I knew! There’s a few things I’d like to speak to her about myself.’
Cable stood up again and headed for the door. ‘Don’t forget!’ he said to her. ‘Come and see me when you’re done with those tests. I want to know everything you’ve been up to!’ With a jolly wave he left the room, and she heard him whistling as he walked off down the corridor.
Shakily, she sat down again herself. Spinner. She must have used the disc again; there was no other explanation. Anger bubbled up inside of her. How could she do that to him again? Cable’s brain wasn’t some faulty piece of hardware she could reset whenever it did something she didn’t like. What kind of effect would it be having on him?
‘That woman!’ she growled in frustration, banging her fist on the desk.
Gel anxiously paced up and down the entrance hall of the mall, awaiting Creg’s return. She wasn’t very good at judging time since the Virus, but it felt like hours had passed since she, Darryl and the girls had arrived back, running all the way. What was taking him so long? He must have lost the Skinks by now, mustn’t he?
She turned, and there he was. He staggered into the mall, barely staying on his feet, clutching his side as he shuffled along painfully. Seeing Gel standing there he let out a sigh of relief and slid down the pillar he was leaning against, unable to summon up the energy to move any further. She immediately shrieked and rushed over to him, gingerly trying to support him without hurting him, but he was too heavy for her to move by herself. His face was barely recognisable under a mask of bruises, and dirt and blood covered the rest of his body too. He looked up to the balcony and she followed his eyes just in time to see a small figure, Lottie or Bonnie she thought, running out of sight. Creg shook his head then winced at the pain.
‘Help!’ Gel cried. ‘Somebody, help!’
Trudy appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Gel? What’s the matter?’ she asked, then saw Creg’s bloodied face and gasped. ‘Oh no! Amber! Amber, bring the first aid box!’ she shouted, rushing down the stairs just as the rest of the Mallrats started emerging in the courtyard and on the landing, to see what all the commotion was. She crouched down on the other side of Creg and together the two girls managed to stand him up and walk him slowly over to the edge of the fountain, sitting him down on the low wall surrounding it. Before long the whole tribe was gathered by the fountain, looking on as Amber tended to the wounds on Creg’s face and chest; all except Jack of course, and May, who was nowhere to be found. Ellie and Ruby stood a little way off, whispering to each other. Trudy sat on the other side of the fountain, rocking Bray and trying to keep Brady occupied at the same time, while Darryl stood nearby with a hand on the shoulders of Lottie and Bonnie to keep them out of trouble. The drumming of the rain on the roof told Gel that the storm clouds she had seen outside had finally broken, but she didn’t care, not now that Creg was safely back in the mall.
‘I hope you’re grateful!’ she snapped at the two girls, her initial worry for them now melting into anger. ‘That could have been you if Creg hadn’t come and rescued you!’ Lottie at least looked shamefaced, though Bonnie just looked sulky. Gel tutted and turned her head, unable to look at the pair any longer.
Amber closed her first aid box and turned to her. ‘Now’s not the time for blame, Gel,’ she said sympathetically. ‘But we’re all very grateful for what Creg did for us today. It was brave of you to go after the girls like that,’ she said, addressing Creg now. ‘Even more so to help the others escape like you did, especially when you hardly know us.’ Creg shrugged uncomfortably. ‘I’ve spoken to some of the others about this, and now seems as good a time as any,’ Amber continued. ‘If you want to, Creg, we’d like to take a vote to elect you into the tribe.’
Gel beamed and clasped her hands together in pleasant surprise. Creg looked over to her and she nodded excitedly. He turned back to Amber and nodded himself. ‘I’d like that,’ he said with as much of a smile as he could muster.
‘Well then,’ Amber said, turning to the group. ‘This is pretty much a full house, what do you say Mallrats? Who votes for Creg to join the tribe?’ She raised her own hand and was followed almost immediately by Gel herself, with Trudy, Darryl and Lottie not too far behind. Brady, seeing people raising their hands, put up both of hers and jumped around excitedly. Bonnie looked around before raising her hand reluctantly, while Ruby and Ellie looked at each other before doing the same, if more decisively than the younger Mallrat had. Gel grinned at Creg.
‘Trust me to get caught in the storm!’ May complained, entering the courtyard from outside. Her silver jacket was soaking wet and her hair clung to her face. ‘What’s going on here?’
‘Ah, May!’ Amber smiled. ‘Perfect timing. We were voting on whether Creg should join the Mallrats. You’re the only person who hasn’t had a say.’
May scanned the raised hands and arched an eyebrow in wry amusement, seeing that her vote wouldn’t make a difference either way. ‘Yeah, whatever,’ she sighed, half-raising her hand too. ‘You sure you know what you’re letting yourself in for?’ she smirked at Creg before continuing into the mall proper, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her. Ruby and Ellie watched her go with curious looks.
‘Right, well that’s unanimous then!’ Amber smiled. ‘Welcome to the Mallrats, Creg!’
Gel clapped her hands and ran to hug him, ignoring his pained grunts and Amber’s cautions about spoiling her work.
At a nod from Amber, Ellie caught Ruby’s attention and led her away from the assembled Mallrats, now including Creg, in the courtyard.
‘Back to work,’ Ellie said softly so as not to be overheard. To her disappointment the bug test she had conducted earlier had uncovered nothing; she had been sure Spinner must have been up to no good in the mall, and if anyone was connected to Plague she would have bet that it was her, but the Technician appeared to be innocent. Of this crime at least; just because she hadn’t been planting bugs it didn’t mean she could be trusted. No, however Plague was getting his information it was far less hi-tech than bugging, which meant she and Ruby would have to resort to good old-fashioned detective work. Amber was determined that they come up with answers as soon as possible. It was all a worry for Ellie though; could she have been wrong about the Techno connection altogether? Was she leading Link on a wild goose chase? Worse still, had Link’s outburst at the graveyard merely been a ploy to put them on the wrong scent? No, Link was no Spinner. The connection to Mega was the only lead they had, there was no point abandoning it now.
Ruby grimaced as if she had been having the same thoughts. ‘Ok,’ she agreed. ‘Your room?’
Ellie nodded and started up the stairs. The sound of the rain outside got louder as they climbed; it didn’t sound as if it were going to end anytime soon. Still, at least it should keep Plague at bay, unless his spy was at work in the mall right now. A rumble of thunder sounded overhead and she shivered.
Entering the room she stopped at Jack’s bedside and patted his hand. ‘Just me and Ruby,’ she said, letting him know they were here. His eyes were closed again, but they had been opening more often since the morning and deep down she was quietly confident that he had reached a turning point in his condition. All she could do now was wait, and hope. Sitting on one of the chairs by the desk, she motioned for Ruby to do the same. ‘Where do we start?’ she asked.
‘Creg,’ Ruby answered without hesitation. I can’t believe that Plague can have people sneaking in here without any of us noticing anything. That suggests it’s an inside job, and Creg’s the obvious prime suspect. I want to like him, I mean he saved Lottie! But what do we really know about him?’
‘I agree,’ Ellie said. ‘He’s new to the tribe, just when all this is kicking off. At least officially making him a Mallrat means we can keep a better eye on him.’ She shook her head in annoyance. ‘But we’ve got no proof of anything! Okay so we don’t know much about Creg, but what do we know about Darryl? He managed to fool the whole city into thinking that Zoot was still alive, and suddenly he’s running the city with Amber? And for that matter, what do we know about Bonnie and Lottie? They’re new to the tribe too!’
‘And me,’ Ruby admitted.
Ellie blushed. ‘You know I didn’t mean you.’
‘But it’s true,’ the other girl shrugged.
A sudden movement at the curtain drew Ellie’s eye and she saw a shadow at the doorway. Whoever it was, they weren’t making any effort either to announce themselves or to move on. Not giving the figure a chance to escape, she darted out of the room, coming face to face with a very startled Trudy.
‘Ellie!’ Trudy breathed, putting a hand to her chest in fright. ‘I…I didn’t mean to…Is it true? What you were saying, that one of us is spying for Plague?’
Ruby appeared at the doorway beside her, frowning at Trudy. ‘It’s true,’ she said.
Trudy looked around nervously. ‘Are we safe?’ she asked, as if expecting an attack right then and there. ‘Shouldn’t we warn the others?’
‘No!’ Ellie cried. ‘Trudy, you can’t tell anybody! You’ll just alert Plague to the fact that we’re on to him!’ Trudy nodded reluctantly, eyes still wide.
‘What…what were you doing standing outside?’ Ruby asked, trying but failing to sound innocent. Ellie winced.
‘I…I was just coming to see how Jack was,’ Trudy stammered. ‘Wait…’ Realising what Ruby was getting at she began to regain some of her confidence. ‘You don’t think that I …’ She took a step back to distance herself from the pair.
‘Trudy…’ Ellie began.
‘How could you?!’ Trudy shouted. ‘Because I didn’t want to disturb you, suddenly I’m a spy ?! If you want to investigate somebody why don’t you start with May? She’s been constantly in and out of the mall since Darryl upset her. Did you know she has feelings for him? And that she thinks he’s seeing Amber? No? Of course not, because you’re too busy accusing me! Well it’s nice to know you‘ve got a handle on everything that’s going on in the mall. I’m sure with detective skills like yours you’ll catch Plague in no time!’ She half spat the last words and stormed off in the direction of her room.
‘Trudy!’ Ellie called after her, but the other Mallrat didn’t look back.
‘Sorry,’ Ruby said meekly as they returned inside. ‘I should have been more subtle, she just caught me off guard.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘Trudy wouldn’t betray us. I didn’t know that May had a falling out with Darryl, though,’ she frowned. ‘She has been leaving the mall a lot. We’ve both noticed it.’
‘Yes,’ Ruby said slowly, reluctantly admitting it. ‘But she wouldn’t sell out the Mallrats over Darryl.’ Aside from Ellie, Ruby had formed a friendship of sorts with May, from back when she had visited Liberty, and she clearly didn’t want to believe that her friend was involved with Plague.
‘She’s betrayed us before,’ Ellie admitted. ‘She spied on us for Mega, we even kicked her out of the tribe for it. It was Salene who convinced us to take her back in. Don’t forget it’s Amber she’s upset with too, and the two of them haven’t exactly been the best of friends since she rejoined us.’
Ruby shook her head. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Amber and Darryl? It’s ridiculous! Trudy was being far too defensive, she’s definitely hiding something.’
‘That’s just Trudy,’ Ellie argued. ‘Although…’
‘What?’
‘I still don’t buy it,’ she stressed. ‘But you should probably know, Trudy betrayed us in the past, too. She was the Supreme Mother.’
Ruby looked stunned. She looked towards the door as if expecting Trudy to walk in dressed in her full Chosen regalia. ‘That…that I didn’t know. Trudy was the Supreme Mother? So Brady…’
‘Is Zoot’s daughter,’ Ellie confirmed.
Ruby shook her head, still trying to process the information. Suddenly she laughed.
‘What is it?’
‘All of this is getting us nowhere,’ Ruby stated. ‘All we’ve decided is that it could be any one of us!’
Ellie frowned and opened her mouth to argue, then realised Ruby was right. She gave a sigh of resignation. ‘Which means,’ she said. ‘That the only person we can trust completely is…’ She cut off in mid-sentence, her hand half raised to gesture towards the bed, where she found herself looking into Jack’s eyes, his head slightly raised and turned towards her. ‘Jack!’ she cried, rushing over to his side and holding his hand.
‘El…’ he croaked, his mouth barely opening. ‘E…Ellie.’ As soon as the word left his lips his eyelids fluttered and his head fell back onto the pillow, which she immediately adjusted to make him more comfortable.
‘That’s right, baby,’ she said, unable to fight the grin that appeared on her face. ‘You rest now. Just keep trying, we’ll get there!’ She turned to Ruby and laughed. ‘Oh Ruby!’ she cried. ‘He’s going to get better! He’s going to be alright!’
Ruby stood up to hug her, but before she could do so a deafening clap of thunder sounded above their heads and the rain beat down on the roof even harder than it had been. ‘I hope they’re alright,’ she whispered nervously.
Realisation dawned on Ellie’s face. Of course. A storm this big wouldn’t just be affecting the City. What if Lex and the others were still at sea? She patted her friend’s arm reassuringly.
Ruby laughed mirthlessly. ‘I can’t help it,’ she said. ‘I worry about him. About all of them. In a storm like this…I wouldn’t even wish that on Ebony.’
‘Slade and the others will be alright,’ Ellie said, trying to comfort her. ‘They’ve probably reached Lex’s island already. They might be with the rest of the Mallrats as we speak!’
‘I hope you’re right,’ Ruby said softly.
I hope so too Ellie thought.
Salene struggled to stay on her feet as the boat pitched and tossed over another wave. Water lapped around her feet as the remains of yet another crashed onto the deck. Despite the best efforts of Jay, Slade and Sammy to bail it out, it was coming in faster than they could work, and she was afraid that they were going to sink. On the other side of the cabin Ebony was having as much difficulty as she was in staying upright, and her eyes looked out onto the deck where the others were in terror. It was a disconcerting look coming from her, especially with her face already tight from her sea-sickness.
‘Are you alright?’ Salene shouted over the din of the storm. ‘Ebony? Are you alright?’
‘Is this it Salene?’ the other girl shouted back, her face creased in worry. ‘Have we escaped the Virus again only to die out here, in the middle of nowhere? With nobody to even know?’
‘We’re not going to die Ebony!’ Salene yelled. ‘Just keep telling yourself that! We’re going to see this storm through, and then tomorrow we’ll reach land.’ It seemed like the right thing to say, and she tried to make herself believe it too. Suddenly another wave hit the boat, tipping it almost to the point of capsizing, and the two girls fell to the deck. Holding each other steady as they got back up, Salene whipped her head around to check the outside deck, and sighed in relief when she saw that all three boys were still there, clinging to the railings as they picked themselves up. One by one they returned to the cabin, soaked through and shivering.
‘It’s too dangerous out there,’ Jay said, shaking his head. His black hair shook drops of water around him. ‘We’ll just have to do what we can from in here, and hope we don’t get too many more waves like that one.’
The door to the control room opened and the trader marched out. ‘I told you we should have stayed in that village overnight!’ he shouted back inside to Lex. ‘But you wouldn’t listen, would you? Just keep her steady!’ Lex shouted something back that Salene couldn’t make out. She thought it was just as well.
‘That last one was a devil!’ he said, addressing her and Jay. For some reason he seemed to view her as the leader; at least she hoped that was why he talked to her more than some of the others. ‘What’s the damage?’
‘She seems to be holding up for now,’ Jay reported. ‘But I don’t know how much more of this we can take. We’re taking on water and that last wave nearly had us.’
‘She wasn’t built for this kind of weather!’ Sammy complained.
The trader rolled his eyes. ‘Tell me something I don’t know, kid!’ he snorted. Taking a swig from his hip flask to give him courage, he moved unsteadily out onto the deck to check the boat.
‘I’d better go out with him,’ Jay said, touching her arm reassuringly. He made it halfway through the cabin before falling to his knees as another strong wave lashed the tiny vessel. She herself only just managed to keep herself on her feet by leaning into the side of the boat.
‘Nooo!’ Sammy cried, somehow the only one of them to remain upright. Slade and Ebony paused in trying to get up to look out on the deck to where Sammy was pointing. Salene looked over just in time to see a pair of legs going over the railings. The trader had gone overboard! She ran to the outer deck with Jay and looked over the side. Nothing. Beside her, Jay started taking off his jacket and boots.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked in surprise.
‘We can’t just leave him!’ he replied, pushing his jacket into her hands. Before she could argue back he climbed the railings and dived into the black water.
‘Jay, be careful!’ she shouted.
‘Is he completely insane?!’ Slade cried, appearing on deck with her. They scanned the water impatiently.
‘There!’ Salene pointed, catching sight of Jay swimming out to where the trader’s head bobbed above the water a little further out. As he reached the other man a wave covered them and they disappeared below the water. Five seconds. Ten. Twenty. There was no sign of either of them.
Making a frustrated noise, Slade hurriedly took off his own jacket and started to tug off his boots.
‘No!’ Ebony shouted, her worry for Slade overcoming her reluctance to come out on deck. ‘Slade, don’t you dare!’ She tried to restrain him but he easily held her back.
‘Don’t worry about me,’ he said, kissing her, and vaulted over the railings after the other two with a splash.
‘Slade!’ Ebony called out in panic, alternately looking out for Slade’s reappearance and casting accusing looks at Salene.
‘Slade!’ Every second felt like a minute.
‘SLADE!’
Creg sat on a stool in the warehouse where he had first met Gel. Getting out of the mall had been tricky, with both Gel and Amber fussing over his injuries and Ellie and Ruby watching him like a hawk when they weren’t closeted together, but he had managed it, on the pretence of going back for the rest of his things. He sat there, waiting and staring at the symbol that now adorned the back of his hand. He was a Mallrat. Any other time he would have been proud to have worn that mark, but now it disgusted him by acting as a reminder of who and what he was.
Hearing movement outside he got to his feet, wincing at the pain it brought, just as two women entered through the back door. He frowned. Proxy, in her tattered civilian clothes that always seemed out of place with the determined look on her face, he had expected, but Data was another matter entirely. Still in her Techno uniform, with wisps of golden hair escaping from the buns on either side of her head, she looked around the warehouse wide-eyed, as if she hadn’t been outside in a long time. Perhaps she hadn’t, it had been months since he had last seen her.
‘What does he think he’s playing at?!’ he shouted angrily as the girls approached.
‘Quiet!’ Proxy snapped back, then added in a whisper. ‘Meta’s here.’
Creg looked up in shock as a third figure entered the warehouse at a whistle from Proxy. His second reaction was one of anger. Who’s watching Lyss? he thought, balling his hands into fists. The figure approached, coming to a halt between the two former Technos. Pulling down the hood of the white cloak that didn’t quite hide his own Techno uniform, the mad glint in the eyes of the face that was revealed made Creg flinch before he snapped them back determinedly.
‘Plague,’ he stated simply.
The figure just laughed in reply.
Waaaaa a… I was RIGHT not too trust Creg!!! And still… Is Plague then someone we knew already or also a Techno we never faced before?
Jack! Hopefully he gets better soon, they need his brain! Good that Amber and Ruby show some sense!
You got Trudy right… I saw her before my inner eye… Spitting the words, that maniac gleam in her eyes
Sorry but Spinner is a cow Loved how Ellie flipped at her!
Ahhhh… Jay acting the hero
… Slade too… Hopefully no one dies… Not now already! scared
Sorry for the unhelpful comment Writing all the days and taking a new medication makes me uneloquent in writing analyzes 
Haha! No, it’s good to know what you got a reaction from! I’m glad you liked the Trudy scene, I’m really pleased with how it came out.
I do feel sorry for Spinner, if only she hadn’t been so distracted…
You make an interesting point about Plague - I guess just because we know his Techno name, doesn’t mean he can’t have a third!
Upcoming chapters 32 and especially 33 are my favourites I think, I’m really proud of them and how the tension and emotion play out. So close now!
Trudy was pictured brilliantly…and also Ellie with hesitating to tell Ruby about her having been the supreme mother.
But I also wonder what is up with May…going out to drink at constantly occasions just doesn’t suit her in that way for me. To fall so into misery about her jealousy about a guy she sneered at at first…there must be more to it…hmmm
I will update today for I have an appointment tomorrow 
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Chapter 31; The Storm Breaks: Holy cow, what an incredible chapter, it was a long one but bloody brilliant. DRAMA! Okay now for a bit more of a breakdown. 
Ellie is all over the place with Jack, she is really struggling, Spinner is such a hard one to read. ‘There are three possibilities’, all I am going to say is I bloody knew it @MallRatMatt!!! 
Kudos to Amber for apologising, Amber and Ruby make quite the match and could be a force to be reckoned with. Spinner has really weaved quite a web for herself, HA. She is dangerous and if this is what she is doing to Cable, I dread to think what she could have done to Jack if Ellie hadn’t of stopped her. Naughty Bonnie and Lottie but it did make me smile and glad they are safe. Cannot believe Lottie is making me smile. LOL. Creg becomes the hero again, funny that! Bad decision Amber. Ooo the detectives at work again and they have the same suspicion as me, hmmm. YIPPEE JACK! Nice little teaser with the others on the boat, oh it’s not looking good. Glad to see strong Salene has stuck around. I recognised the name Data, she was UNIT 12! And I knew it, what a cliffhanger!!!
Roll on chapter 32.
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@Zwenja - I wouldn’t say May was in misery, it’s more like humiliation that has turned to anger. She swallowed her pride to take a chance on someone she thought was beneath her and has been cast aside (in her eyes).
@Jack - Thanks! Good spot on Data! Naturally I’ve done my usual thing of getting attached to minor characters, so expect to see more of her and Proxy later. And yes, strong Salene is definitely sticking around. I think she has single-handedly kept the rest of the tribe on the boat from killing each other all this time.
Oh Creg…it was all going so well…
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Salene deserves happiness after that journey for so sure… I can almost picture her like… Wanting to move out after the return for they all have cost her so much nerves
I get attached to minor ones also… They then always slip up in the story without a deeper reason
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Happy Friday!
Chapter 32: Troubled Waters
Pulling himself through the water, Jay mentally gave a sigh of relief as his hand brushed against the trader, who was flailing about trying to stay afloat, then gasped in shock as an icy cold wall of water crashed over the pair of them, pulling him under the surface, where he managed to swallow what felt like half the ocean before he was able to clamp his mouth shut again. His senses were thrown into chaos as what had seemed like darkness above deepened to pitch blackness below, and the sounds of the storm gave way to the roar of water all around him, then became the dull near-silence of submersion. As if it were a trigger his mind threw thoughts and actions into that silence and he found himself thrashing about underwater, trying to move in every direction at once in a state of panicked confusion as he was pushed deeper and deeper, yet thwarted by the mocking resistance of the water, making every movement seem as if he were watching it in slow motion. The rational part of his brain told him that all this was futile; it also told him that unless he did something about it very soon he would very rationally watch himself drown. With an effort, and it was an effort, he forced his mind to calm, his body to stillness. A brief, guilty thought for the missing trader flashed through his mind, and then his survival instinct took over. His feet started kicking and he began to move in what he desperately hoped, disoriented as he was, was an upwards direction. As fast as he could propel himself through the water, however, the surface was nowhere to be found. His chest began to tighten and the freezing cold seeping into his bones coupled with physical exertion was making him tired and light-headed. Soon it would be over. Soon he would be dead.
Suddenly, with a splash, he broke the surface and let in a deep intake of air, half breathing, half choking. With water in his eyes and ears, it took a moment for him to realise what had happened and to reorient himself, but when he did he laughed, an unstoppable laugh that bubbled up from deep within, born from shock and relief, and a hundred other emotions that rattled around his mind. Treading water, he dried off his face with his hands as best he could, slicking his hair back over his head to stop the water dripping into his eyes, and blinked. The laughter abruptly stopped as he was brought back to his senses. Where was the trader? Where was the boat? Turning this way and that, the panic started to set in again, and the exhaustion he had felt returned tenfold. This wasn’t over yet.
With both hands gripped tightly to the rail that surrounded the deck, as much to keep herself in control as to steady her while the storm lashed the tiny vessel, Salene scanned the water frantically, her eyes wide with worry, searching for any sign of Slade, Jay or the trader and trying not to think of how long they had each been under. Beside her, Ebony was doing the same, though with less success at remaining steady, her feet shifting with every pitch of the boat. Noticing her watching, the other girl frowned.
‘Keep looking!’ she urged, braids catching in the wind and falling in front of her face. She tossed them back with a hand in irritation that likely had nothing to do with her hair. ‘They have to come up soon! They have to.’ That last was said with less confidence, and Salene turned away to avoid the question in Ebony’s eyes. That was when she saw him.
‘There’s one of them!’ she pointed excitedly, staggering as a sudden gust caught her coat as she lifted her arm. She clutched the rail again, fixing her gaze on the head and shoulders bobbing above the water some distance away. They had kept drifting after Lex cut the engines, and been buffeted by the winds besides, but even so the figure was further out than she had expected, and a good way off to the right too. With the night and the storm her sense of distance and direction both seemed skewed; the other two could be anywhere!
‘Slade?!’ Ebony cried hoarsely, seeing where Salene pointed. The figure didn’t appear to notice, but kept turning in the water more and more desperately, occasionally going under again briefly as a wave crashed over him.
‘He can’t see us!’ Salene replied. And no wonder; he must be even more disoriented than she herself was. Unhooking an orange and white striped lifesaver from the rail, she tossed it out towards the flailing man. It fell well short, but the aim had been to alert the man, not to reach him, and in that respect the action had been a success. He turned and saw the boat, and they saw him. Ebony gave an anguished wail beside her; it was Jay, not Slade.
‘Slade!’ Ebony shouted into the night, then again, with greater urgency.
‘Lex!’ Salene called at the same time.
‘I see him Sal!’ came Lex’s reply from the cabin. Within moments the boat’s engine spluttered into life once more and they were moving slowly - painfully slowly - backwards towards Jay.
The scuffle of running footsteps from inside the boat announced Sammy, looking both determined and eager. ‘I want to help,’ he said, stepping out onto the deck. ‘Tell me what to do.’
‘Just stay inside Sammy,’ she said absently, concentrating on the progress of the boat, not taking her eyes from Jay. Just a little further. At the rail Ebony had stopped her calling for Slade, leaning over the edge and focussing intently on the water directly in their path, worried that he might appear in front of them while they were moving.
‘But…’
Salene whipped her head around. ‘Just do it Sammy!’ she snapped irritably, cutting him off. In a softer tone she added ‘Everything’s under control.’ But it was too late. Sammy’s lips thinned in anger and he stormed back inside. Raised voices from the cabin suggested that Lex had taken a similar approach, but either way Sammy did not reappear. She was glad; it was too dangerous out here and she would hate for anything to happen to him because she couldn’t watch him properly.
Turning back to the water she gave a small start as she realised the boat had stopped again and Jay was swimming the last few lengths to the foot of the boat, where a set of rungs led up to the deck. As if to make up for her silence while they were moving, Ebony took up her calling again with renewed vigour.
‘Jay!’ Salene cried, with equal parts joy and worry, as his hand gripped the first rung.
‘Salene…’ he panted, heaving himself out of the water to grab the second rung. It took two attempts. ‘I’m sorry…I couldn’t…’ His face twisted in a pained grimace. ‘I lost him,’ he finished. For a moment she thought he was going to drop back into the water, but he must only have been preparing to swing for the next rung, bringing his leg up to the bottom one at the same time, teeth gritted with the effort. Just the same, she reached down and grabbed his arm in case he got any ideas. It was a mistake. At the first sign of assistance his tired body instantly relaxed and his foot slipped from the rung. Her own feet were pulled out from underneath her as she was dragged down with him, and she landed on the deck with a bump and a grunt, sliding towards the edge on the wet boards. It was only the heel of her boot catching on the vertical rail support, sending a jolt through her body all the way to her teeth and almost dislocating her arm as it pulled against Jay’s weight - she didn’t dare let go of him, even then - that slowed them down enough for Jay to grab hold of a rung once more. Shocked into his senses, he quickly recovered his strength long enough to pull himself up to the deck, whereupon she dragged him the rest of the way on board, thinking that perhaps she should have taken Sammy up on his offer after all.
Pulling herself to her feet she went back into the cabin to fetch one of the blankets for Jay, to try and keep him warm; dry was out of the question after all the water that had come onto the boat, though she noted wryly to herself that the rain seemed to be starting to ease off at last. She returned to find he had rolled onto his back, taking long deep breaths of air, twisted slightly to watch Ebony’s back with a frown. ‘Slade’s out there?’ he wheezed.
There was no way around it. ‘He went in after you,’ she admitted, kneeling down beside him. His twisted position only emphasised the dark t-shirt clinging to his chest. Strange, the things you noticed at a time like this. She wrapped the blanket around him to avoid looking.
‘Then I’ve got to…’ he started, pushing himself up onto hands and knees, but getting no further before he started coughing.
‘You’re not going anywhere!’ she said angrily, partly at his stupidity and partly to hide her own embarrassment. She was surprised at how easily she pinned him back down, keeping him there with a hand on his chest. He started breathing deeply again and she snatched the hand away, hiding her blushes by brushing wet hair from her face. ‘Don’t be stupid,’ she mumbled.
‘Aye aye, captain,’ he grinned, saluting her, then his face grew sombre. The trader was still out there, after all. ‘Thank you, Salene,’ he said seriously after a while.
Not meeting his eyes, she smiled weakly and stood up. Ebony was still calling for Slade but there was no sign of him or the trader anywhere. It had been too long. Closing her eyes and offering up a silent prayer for the two missing men, she made an executive decision.
‘Lex,’ she called. ‘Start the engine again. We can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous. We need to find land.’
‘Sla…NO!’ Ebony yelled, turning on her. ‘Lex, don’t you dare!’
‘Ebony, I’m sorry,’ she said sadly, holding the other girl’s arms. ‘They haven’t surfaced. We have to accept that it’s too late. They’re…’
‘Don’t say it!’ Ebony cried, pushing her away roughly. ‘He’s not dead! He said he’d be ok!’
‘Ebony…’ she continued. ‘Ebony, they’re gone. We have to…’
‘NO! Jay made it back! Slade will too!’
‘Ebony…’
‘We have to wait, just a little bit longer!’
‘Ebony…’
‘I am NOT leaving him to die!’
‘EBONY!’ Frustrated and grief-stricken, she slapped the shorter girl. She had seen it work before, when the other person for whatever reason couldn’t stop to process the situation. This time, though, it backfired spectacularly. For all of two seconds Ebony stood still in wide-eyed shock, then with a snarl she launched herself at Salene, who found herself fighting back hands and feet that scratched and kicked and jabbed at her middle. A toss of the boat brought them crashing to the deck, where they continued to roll around struggling with each other until finally Ebony pinned her down and Salene found two hands closing around her throat. This was it. Ebony was going to kill her!
‘Do it Lex!’ Sammy urged, bouncing on his toes beside the captain’s seat, which Lex now occupied. Turning in the swivel chair, he gave Sammy a flat stare above steepled fingers. Swivelling wasn’t strictly necessary - he could have done the same just as easily by looking over his shoulder - but it felt good, and projected an image of power. Best to show who was boss now and stifle insubordination before it began. He moved his hand to push the lever underneath the arm rest that would ease the seat back; nothing happened, but he covered it expertly by drumming his fingers on the arm as if that were all he had intended to do all along. He didn’t know why Sammy was suddenly biting his lip, which kept twitching. He was probably making him nervous, that was it. All to the good.
‘I’m the captain now,’ he said, addressing the younger Mallrat. ‘You heard him put me in charge. Nobody decides where this ship goes apart from me, got that?’
‘Nothing to do with you being scared of Ebony then?’ Sammy said childishly. Childish, but Lex couldn’t help but react.
‘I’m Lex,’ he replied dangerously. ‘I’m not scared of anybody, and nobody says I am.’ Leaving Sammy to stew over the threat, he swivelled back to face the controls; rows of dials and gauges, lights, buttons and switches filled the wood-effect dashboard in front of him. Most of them did nothing useful for all he knew, and he didn’t think the trader had had any more of a clue either, but he had watched the other man steer the vessel since they had left the city, and taken over himself on occasion, and he knew how to get from one place to another, which was more than any of the others could do. The control was his now; only, Ebony was Ebony. He wasn’t scared of her of course, but only a fool ignored her without thinking twice, and he certainly wasn’t one of those. No, what he was going to do was sit here patiently pretending he hadn’t heard either instruction. The girls would argue it out with each other and whoever came out on top would come through and repeat herself, and he would of course agree wholeheartedly with whichever viewpoint was presented, and tell them how he had just been saying the exact same thing to Sammy, who would keep quiet if he knew what was good for him.
‘Come on Lex!’ Sammy whined, gesticulating wildly for emphasis. ‘Salene’s right, it’s too dangerous to be out here at night in this storm! We have to try and find land before we take any damage!’
‘You don’t get it, do you kid?’ Lex sneered. ‘Look, let me spell it out for you. Me captain. You cabin boy. I make the decisions, you run the errands. You’re lucky I’m letting you do that , you shouldn’t even be here! Now go do something useful, start bailing out or something!’
‘I can’t.’
‘You can’t ?’ he repeated acidly.
‘No,’ Sammy replied through gritted teeth. ‘The buckets went over the side, Captain , along with three of the crew because someone thought it would be a good idea to sail when it was far too dangerous!’
Lex was silent for a moment. They had all warned against it, Sammy especially, but how was he supposed to have known the weather would get this bad? All he knew was that every hour spent delaying in those tiny villages along the coast for fuel and supplies had been an hour longer before he found Tai San; an hour more in which they could decide to move her someplace else. He hadn’t been about to lose another night - or longer! - because of a few clouds. But this storm…
‘Well…what do you know about boats anyway?!’ he spluttered finally.
Sammy opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a thud from the deck outside. They both turned their heads as one.
‘Stay here,’ he ordered. ‘And don’t touch anything!’ Miraculously, the boy obeyed.
Leaving the control room and passing through the cabin, casting surprised looks at the water sloshing across the floor in rhythm with the rocking of the boat, and the soaked bundles that were their possessions, even those raised on the benches to a lesser degree, from the spray that blew in occasionally from outside, Lex stared in confusion at the scene that confronted him. Above the door, the swinging lantern cast a haphazardly shifting spotlight, illuminating the tiny stern, where chaos now appeared to reign. Jay was shuffling purposefully, crawling really, towards the rail surrounding the deck, while Ebony and Salene were locked in a scuffle in the middle of it, seemingly stuck in a loop of falling, leaning on each other to stand back up and then throwing themselves at each other, resulting in them tumbling down again, the source of the thud. Or rather Ebony was throwing herself at Salene. Salene didn’t look as though she was actively trying to kill the other girl but neither was she pulling any punches in defending herself. Pausing a moment he tilted his head, admiring their technique. Most people would have bet on Ebony to win hands down and thought it easy money, in fact there was a time he would have done the same, but Salene could be surprisingly…impressive, at times. He certainly hadn’t baulked at letting her come along to look for the others; she could handle herself well enough in a fight. Grinning appreciatively, he noticed Jay heaving himself to his feet against the rail and his smile slipped. Amusing as this all was, it had gone on long enough. It was time to end it.
Marching out, he made an unsteady beeline for Jay, tottering as the boat lurched one way then another, grabbing the ex-Techno by the scruff of the neck and holding him over the railings while he hissed fiercely in his ear to be heard over the wind. ‘You’re a lucky man, Jay,’ he said. ‘But I wouldn’t test that luck if I were you. I’m not coming back for you a second time.’
‘Slade…’ Jay groaned, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. ‘Got to…Please Lex! Let me go!’
‘Oh, and do what? Get yourself killed? Throw our help back in our faces? Nobody likes a martyr, Jay!’ Disgusted, he jerked the other man back roughly, throwing him to the deck where he lay feebly trying to summon up the strength to move. Not enough to hurt him though, or at least not much, his presence might still be crucial on the island if there were Technos around. Satisfied that Jay would cause no more trouble, he turned his attention to the women.
A cry of anguished rage signalled that Ebony was on the offensive again. Salene, anxious yet determined and growing more stubborn-jawed by the minute, took up a fighting stance to confront her, but Lex quickly put himself between the pair, instantly receiving murderous looks from both of them. If looks could kill, he certainly would have died on the spot.
‘Stay out of this Lex!’ he heard from both sides, though at the dark look he gave back Salene at least flushed and changed tack.
‘This is insane, Ebony!’ she shouted, switching her energies to negotiation now that she had been distracted from the fight. ‘I don’t want to give up on the others any more than you do, but we can’t stay out here forever!’ Ebony narrowed her eyes and took a step forward.
‘Listen!’ he growled in frustration. ‘She’s right! Look around you; if we stay out here for much longer we’re all dead!’
‘I should have known you‘d take her side!’ Ebony spat. ‘Trust Mallrats to stick together! Slade is not dead!’
‘He’s dead!’ Lex yelled back coldly. ‘Get over it so we can get out of here!’ He had only a moment’s notice before she careered into him, then he grunted loudly as his back hit the cabin wall and the wind was knocked out of him. The lantern shook just inches above his head, causing the glitter mixed into the painted flame on her forehead to glint in the jumping light as she gazed up at him with a feverish intensity. Even so, relief flooded through him as he realised he had hit the wall rather than being thrown over the rail, though he suspected that was luck rather than intention on Ebony’s part.
‘He’s. Not. Dead!’ Baring her teeth, she punctuated each word with a fist to the stomach, making him double over in pain. ‘He’s. Not. Dead. He’s. Not. Dead. He’s. Not…’ He grabbed her arms, pinning them together at the wrists, up in front of his chest. It wasn‘t easy; she struggled, but gradually the struggling slowed and she sagged, burying her face in her arms. To an onlooker it would look like he was comforting her, if in an awkward position; well, he was, in a way, though neither of them would like to admit it. Salene gave Ebony a sympathetic look, or perhaps it was aimed at him, while trying to help Jay to his feet, though keeping a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t try to jump in after Slade again; she had seen his earlier attempt and by the look of it was not best pleased. Ebony and Jay soon became lesser worries, however, as the boat’s engine suddenly roared back into life, making them all stagger a couple of steps as they adjusted their balances.
Lex gritted his teeth. ‘Sammy!’ he roared, letting go of Ebony, who stumbled before catching herself on the rail, and marched his way back inside. Briefly looking over his shoulder he saw Salene herding Jay and a distant-looking Ebony in front of her after him.
Splashing his way back through the cabin, he threw open the door to the control room and spun the chair around violently, catching Sammy roughly before he fell out of the thing.
‘What do you think you’re doing?!’ he shouted ‘Are you trying to get us all killed?! Don’t mess with things you don’t understand, kid!’
Looking frightened at first, in the end the tirade actually had the opposite effect, with Sammy’s face becoming just as stubborn as Salene’s had been when confronting Ebony. He somehow shook himself free of Lex’s grip to emphatically thrust an arm in the direction of the boat’s glass front, pointing. ‘Look!’ he urged, then again, addressing everybody this time. ‘Just look!’
Lex deliberately took his time about it - he would look where he wanted to, thank you very much! - glowering at Sammy, but eventually he did look. And saw nothing. The same wall of cloud they had seen since the storm began, even darker than before if that were possible. About to tell Sammy so in no uncertain terms, he was suddenly interrupted by Salene.
‘Land!’ she cried, almost in awe, before breaking into a grin. ‘Lex, it’s land!’
He looked again. In patches all around them the cloud was beginning to break up, but that black wall on the horizon looked as solid as ever. It wasn’t cloud, he realised then; it was indeed land, looming higher and becoming clearer as the cloud around it parted. In the night and the storm they could easily have missed it or run aground either one, they were already that close.
‘Get out of there,’ he muttered irritably, shoving Sammy out of the chair and occupying it himself, making the swivel to the controls into something of a flourish so that they all knew he had everything in hand. Shifting their course slightly, he pushed upwards on the large lever, prominent on the dashboard, that was one of the few controls he knew the purpose of, and the small boat increased its speed as they turned towards their target, the landmass ahead of them seeming to move so that it filled the cabin’s window. He thought he could make out the beach now, and the shadowy peaks of mountains further inland. The thinning cloud continued to expose more of the island, and it seemed to Lex to be larger than Mega’s map had made it out to be. He hoped it was the right place. No, it had to be the right place. It had to be.
‘Lex, no!’ Sammy cried as Lex’s hand left the lever, then gave a shout of pain as his own hand was stopped just inches away from grabbing it. ‘Salene, tell him!’ he winced.
‘I won’t tell you again,’ Lex stated, not loosening his grip on the boy’s wrist until he felt him relax.
‘Sammy, we’re grateful you saw land but leave Lex to it now, ok?’ Salene chided, gently but urgently.
‘But Salene!’
‘Sammy just cut it out!’ Salene snapped. ‘This is serious! Lex is the closest thing we’ve got to a captain now and he needs to concentrate. We’re not safe yet, and this is no time to be…’
‘SHUT UP!’ Sammy bellowed. ‘Just shut up! All of you!’ his fervent gaze took in not only Lex and Salene, but Jay and Ebony too, both of whom looked affronted at being included, Ebony dangerously so. Taking advantage of their stunned silence, he continued afresh. ‘Why can’t any of you see that I know what I’m doing?’
‘Maybe because you threw up for the whole of the first day,’ Ebony cut in, then lowered her eyes guiltily; her own sea-sickness still hadn’t abated. Even bringing up the topic now had made her throat clench.
Sammy closed his eyes for a moment, clearly struggling with something. Eventually he said, impatiently, ‘It wasn’t the sea. It was the boat.’ He glared around, daring anybody to make fun of him, before continuing. ‘My dad used to take me out with him in his boat all the time, before the Virus. He taught me everything; when it was safe to go out, how to prepare and check the equipment, and as soon as I could see over the dashboard he showed me how to steer. This is it, ok? This is my dad’s boat.’ His voice broke at the end, and he scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hand angrily.
‘Sammy…’ Salene began, stepping towards him with a sad look on her face.
‘No!’ he cried, putting a hand forward to cut her off. ‘Just listen! Lex doesn’t know what he’s doing!’ Lex shot an angry glance back at him. ‘You don’t! Not in this weather! It’s not safe to go this fast this close to the shore! There might be…’ An ear-wrenching grating noise seemed to fill the whole cabin, like a low-pitched screeching of fingernails on a blackboard, vibrating up through the deck. They all looked at each other in silence. ‘Rocks,’ Sammy finished worriedly, before trying to wrestle the controls from Lex’s grasp.
‘Hey! Cut it out!’ Lex complained angrily. ‘There was no way I could have known! You can’t even see anything out there!’
‘Lex, just give the controls to Sammy!’ Ebony wailed, her fists clutched tightly by her sides. Her own survival winning out against her desire to rescue Slade at this moment in time, she eyed the approaching beach hungrily, just wanting to be on dry land again.
Somehow Lex found himself being harried away from the controls by both Sammy and Salene, and before he knew it he was standing at the back of the cabin next to Jay, a bemused look on his face. He had been bossed around by the trader, then suddenly found himself in control, and just as quickly had lost the upper hand - to Sammy of all people! He shook his head.
‘How the mighty fall, eh Lex?’ Jay noted wryly, reading his mind.
He whipped his head around in irritation. ‘You’d know, Techno boy,’ he retorted. Jay frowned at him, then left the room for the main cabin. Lex watched him go, pausing to sit opposite Ebony, who had already gone through, sitting glumly with her back against the wall, but at her glare he moved further down the bench. Turning back, Lex found Sammy instructing Salene on how to look out for hidden rocks, the two of them huddling over the controls with purpose. Gritting his teeth he stepped up to Sammy’s other side.
‘I want to help,’ he said. ‘Tell me what to do.’
Sammy looked at him, not looking in the least bit triumphant. That almost made it worse.
‘This one,’ the younger Mallrat said, resting a finger on one of the levers. ‘Like this.’ He took hold of it and pushed down, then let go so that Lex could take over, immediately turning his attention back to the water in front of them. Lex gave a sigh of resignation. He may not like the situation, but he wasn’t stupid; he knew it had to be that way. Besides, it was only temporary. Once they were safely ashore things would change, but he could put up with this a little longer. For now. He pushed down on the lever.
Surprisingly, now that Sammy had taken control of the boat, Salene found that a lot of her worry had disappeared. Not all of it, of course; despite the lightening skies now that moonlight was beginning to poke through the gaps in the cloud, the storm was far from over, and they were still surrounded by rocks in a tiny boat that might be ready to burst open at any second after the damage they had just taken, not to mention the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought about Slade or the trader. Still, there was an air of quiet confidence about the youngster that made her feel for the first time on this voyage that she could rely on somebody else to take care of things. The trader had certainly not been as comfortable on the water as Sammy, which had set them all slightly on edge from the start, and even within the group everybody else had been caught up in their own concerns - Lex over Tai San, Jay over Ved and Amber, and Ebony and Slade over themselves, always a little apart from the rest of them - leaving her to slip into the role of chief organiser, she now realised. She had taken care of food and provisions in the villages they had stopped at along the coast, kept spirits up, and taken charge when it became clear that they were going to be caught up in the storm. Hardly surprising then that the trader had looked to her as the leader. Perhaps if she had taken Sammy more seriously from the beginning things would be different, somehow. She thought she had been protecting him, keeping him out of things, but maybe he didn’t need it anymore. No wonder he had been getting so frustrated lately! Everyone, herself included, had been shooing him away like an annoying fly when really he should have been the one telling them what to do! She looked across at him and he gave her a reassuring smile. He was certainly competent enough now, not just in working the controls, which he did with an unconscious familiarity, but trying to keep her and Lex busy too, even though it was clear he could manage fine on his own. He was already steering to avoid rocks by the time she saw them, if she did, and she had a suspicion that whatever Lex was doing with that lever on the other side of him was acting as a similar distraction.
‘There’s one!’ she pointed, straight ahead. Sammy murmured gratefully even as he was already rounding it.
‘You’re getting away from the beach,’ Lex said gruffly, though trying to sound placid.
‘I don’t think I can make it to the beach,’ Sammy explained. ‘I’m going to try and take her around to the east. It looks like there should be an inlet or something around the other side of that spur.’ He pointed to the far end of the beach, where a towering outcrop of rock jutted out into the sea; waves crashed all around the bottom of it, sending white spray flying almost as high as the seagull nests resting further up it. Foam gathered around smaller outcrops too, dozens of them just poking above the water, dotted around the larger.
‘Are you crazy?’ Lex blurted out. ‘The beach is clear! Just land there!’
‘There are a lot of rocks out there Sammy,’ Salene agreed, eyeing them doubtfully. ‘I can see them from here!’
‘It’s the ones I can’t see that I’m worried about,’ Sammy muttered quietly, then said more loudly ‘It’s gonna be tight guys, but just trust me, ok?’ He looked at them until they both nodded, then turned the boat towards the rocks. Salene kept a close eye out for hidden rocks, but the spray around the larger ones made it all but impossible. Every so often she heard a soft scraping from underneath the boat as they skirted over something, but for the most part they managed to avoid anything larger. Then, just as Sammy was taking them between two of the larger outcrops, the wind changed direction and the side of the boat scraped loudly against one of the rocks as they were blown towards it. At the noise, Ebony and Jay hurried into the control room, concern painted on their faces.
‘What are you trying to do, kill us?’ Ebony cried. ‘I thought you knew how to sail this thing!’
‘Yeah, well I can’t stop the wind from blowing,’ Sammy retorted. ‘You want to take over?’ There was no reply. ‘Lex, can you check outside for damage?’ he asked. ‘Be careful!’ Lex obeyed, brushing between Ebony and Jay on the way out. ‘Salene, I’m not sure I can do this.’ Sammy said quietly, for her ears alone.
‘Not far to go now,’ she replied, just as quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder. ‘You can do it, Sammy.’
As they rounded the spur, Salene’s breath caught at the sight of the rocky coastline continuing on as far as she could see. They had been lucky so far, even with Sammy’s knowledge, but she couldn’t see how they were going to navigate this whole stretch without being crashed to pieces.
‘There!’ Sammy pointed excitedly. Salene looked; a short distance away was a break in the rock that looked like it might be the entrance to a cave. It was the only opening anywhere along the coastline as far as she could tell.
‘That looks really narrow,’ Jay warned.
‘I think I can make it,’ Sammy replied. ‘I just don’t know how far it leads, or if it narrows any further. We might get stuck there for the night, but at the least we’ll be out of the wind. I don’t think we have any other option.’
‘I told you we should have landed on the beach,’ Lex said from the door. Walking in, he took his place beside Sammy’s chair and folded his arms. ‘Do it,’ he instructed, nodding towards the cave. ‘I don’t fancy our chances staying out here any longer. We’re not taking in any water, but let’s just say I don’t think we’ll be getting our deposit back. Not that it matters now I suppose.’ Salene gave him a disgusted look at the reference to the trader but he just shrugged it off.
Nothing much else was said as Sammy navigated them to the entrance of the cave. The rock outcrop loomed over them, glistening wetly in the moonlight. Clumps of mosses and lichens clung to ledges, and the lower parts were encrusted with a thick band of barnacles. As they passed through, the moonlight disappeared and they saw only by the eerie light of the boat lanterns. The sound of the wind died away as they moved into shelter, to be replaced by the dull plonk of water dropping fitfully onto the boat from the roof of the cave. Salene felt claustrophobic, and she soon realised why.
‘The passage is narrowing,’ Jay noted. ‘Are you sure we should keep going?’
‘There’s still space,’ Sammy replied. ‘We might be ok.’ Salene chewed her lip worriedly. There was still space, but not much. If she went to stand out on the deck she would be able to touch the wall without leaning over the rail.
Suddenly they rounded a bend and the passage widened into a rock-walled pool. Open to the sky above, moonlight filled the cavern, illuminating a rock ledge at the far end. Sammy cut the engine as they came alongside it, drifting the last few metres into place.
‘We made it!’ he whooped into the stunned silence, which soon burst into cheers and nervous giggles.
‘Thank God!’ Ebony enthused, holding her head and looking like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ‘Now get me off this boat!’ Pushing her way through to the cabin, she was already clambering out onto the ledge by the time the others caught her up, almost tripping herself headfirst into the water in her haste to be on dry land. Once on the ledge her legs buckled and she sank to her hands and knees on the ground in relief. Lex followed her, stepping across to the ledge, where he turned in circles looking around at the cavern and up to the sky, a broad smile on his face.
‘Tai San,’ he said. ‘Bray, Ved, Ryan. They’re all here, I know it! Tai San…’ He pummelled the air with a fist in celebration.
Sammy was next off the boat, and altogether more practical with his first actions on land. ‘Pass me that rope,’ he called to Salene, who threw it over the side. He grabbed it and tied it fast around a rock at the end of the ledge, which looked like it had been shaped for that purpose. He then returned to the boat and helped Salene support Jay as he wobbled over onto the landing ledge.
‘Should we stay here tonight?’ Salene asked, suddenly realising that she hadn’t planned this far ahead. ‘Near the boat?’
‘It’s sheltered,’ Sammy said, thinking it through. ‘But there’s always the chance that this cavern floods. I think we should take everything that’s worth saving from the boat and keep on going. But we don’t want to go too far inland while it’s dark…maybe somewhere by the beach? It shouldn’t take long to get there from here.’ He pointed to a rough set of natural stone steps, worn from use, leading up from the ledge to the main outcrop. ‘We should be able to get back down to the beach across there.’ he explained.
‘It would have been quicker to land on the beach itself,’ Lex complained, appearing at the side of the boat, but left his protest at that. Nobody wanted to stay here if the cavern might flood, so it was easy enough organising packs of blankets and provisions to pass around between everybody, and soon they were all trudging their way up the steep stone steps, slowly, so as not to slip on the wet rock. They emerged from the top of the cavern, then made their way back down the rocky slope just as carefully, all the way to the bottom. It was a relief when Salene heard the crunch of the shingle beneath her boot at last. Looking back up the slope, she realised that their landing spot was well concealed. The boat should be safe from any casual passersby at least, if there was even anybody else on the island.
They continued a short way along the coastline, stumbling along the shingle, until they had passed the outcrop, where they hit the beach proper. A sprawling forest, bordered by tall palms, walled it off from the rest of the island, and they chose a spot on the edge of it at the top of the beach, in the shelter of the outcrop, to set up their camp for the night. As soon as they had decided on it, Ebony dumped her bundle and left them to it, walking down to the shore to be alone. Salene watched her go, full of sympathy, but decided to let her think things through for herself for a while. Instead, she helped the others set up the camp. Most of their food was still ok, being in sealed containers and packets, but a lot of the blankets and sleeping bags had had to be left behind as they were completely sodden. While Jay changed out of his wet clothes and back into his Techno uniform, Sammy and Lex went searching for dead wood that was dry enough to burn. By the time they returned with a final armful each of pathetic-looking twigs, Salene was sitting proudly by the fire she had managed to create, underneath a makeshift canopy of stakes driven into the sand, with their damp blankets draped over them, simultaneously drying off over the fire and providing shelter. The driest blankets had been reserved for sleeping on, and next to the fire Jay’s clothes stood hanging on another set of stakes.
‘It looks like there’s a path through the forest leading inland,’ Lex announced, taking a place on one of the remaining blankets. Sammy took the other, and Jay, finding himself blanket-less, settled himself resignedly into a hollow in the sand, staring off down the beach towards Ebony. Ebony‘s own blankets still lay in the pile she had dumped them in, but nobody had dared touch those. ‘First thing tomorrow we’ll take a look,’ Lex continued. ‘See if we can find any signs of life.’ He shot a look at Sammy as if to say that he was in control again now, but Sammy just shrugged sleepily and laid his head down on his blanket, shifting around to try and find a comfortable position.
‘That sounds like a good idea to me,’ Salene agreed. ‘The sooner we find a proper place to stay, the better. But right now, we need to rest. The storm should have completely passed over by morning. We’ll discuss everything then.’ Lex nodded and lay back with his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky and not seeming at all tired. He seemed to be planning. Sammy’s breathing had already slowed. Jay, however, was still staring down the beach with a pained expression.
‘I should go to her,’ he said quietly.
Lex laughed. ‘If you’re looking to get yourself killed,’ he scoffed. Propping himself back up on his elbows, he fixed Jay with a suddenly serious expression. ‘She’s lost her man,’ he told him. ‘It hasn’t sunk in yet, or she’d be laying into all of us. Just let her be, unless you want to stir her up. You’re the last person she’ll want to see, in any case.’
‘I didn’t know he’d go in after me!’ Jay retorted. ‘I need to explain!’
‘You need to leave her alone!’ Lex repeated, then looked over to her himself, to where she knelt in the distance, in the sand, staring out to sea. ‘I’ll watch her, ok?’ he offered. ‘Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. I need to think anyway, the rest of you get some sleep. You look terrible.’
‘He’s right, Jay,’ Salene said, more diplomatically. ‘Ebony’s not ready to talk to anyone yet, but we’ll help her through this just as soon as she is. We’re all she’s got now.’
Jay’s face creased as he struggled with the decision but finally he sighed reluctantly and nodded. ‘When she’s ready,’ he agreed, then shivered.
‘Jay, you’re freezing!’ she exclaimed, shuffling over on the blanket. ‘Come and lie here by the fire with me. Come on, I don’t bite! You need all the warmth you can get after being in the water!’
Sighing again in a put-upon way, he moved across to join her on the blanket. She felt his cheek with the back of her hand; he was cold, but not dangerously so, she thought. Still, better safe than sorry. She moved closer so that they were touching. Catching Lex’s eye as she shifted, she saw that he was giving her a considering expression and blushed, then realised what she was doing and stuck out her chin stubbornly. Really, the ideas the man came up with! She could hardly let Jay sleep in the wet sand, could she? She was doing nothing wrong!
Lying on the blanket, she looked up at the stars overhead, poking through the last of the cloud. She had always loved the stars, and they were so much brighter since the Virus, with no lights to obscure them. They made her feel…content. We’re still here , they called to her. The world below may have changed, but we’re still here . So she lay there, forgetting tomorrow’s worries, just watching the stars and listening to Jay’s breathing slowing beside her, until finally her eyes closed and she slept too.
1 Like
I will be reading on the weekend… I am too full of writing at the moment
Review for Chapter 32; Troubled Waters: The detail and reading Jay’s struggle in the opening was written so well. You have such a way of grabbing your audience in and making it so visual. Happy to see Jay is alive, but Slade? 
The fight between Ebony and Salene was awesome, so glad you made the decision to bring back that stronger side of her. I found myself laughing at Lex but not in a funny way, but in a ‘you are such a pillock’ way. He is a coward and if anyone should be going overboard I wish it was him. I love to hate Ebony, thoroughly enjoyed her jabbing Lex in the stomach. And glad to see Sammy stepping up and showing Lex up. I’m not going to say it.
@MallRatMatt when you wrote about everyone caught up in their concerns I think the last name should of read Salene and not Slade, right?
Another great chapter, glad to see they all made it except for Slade. But that’s not the last of him, I hope. I am thinking you had to do this to bring back Ebony the bitch.
Hell… That was an exciting read! I hope Slade isn’t dead… Lex showed almost empathy kind of towards Ebony!
Sammy… What a cool idea to let him ve the one rescuing them!
I am also surprised that Lex had enough respect not to only care about Tai-San maybe being there, but mentioned others too. Salene is great here, but now I am worried she will be the next on Jay’s list 
Excited if they find someone there…