Mall Rats Return

[Salene]

Salene

I hear what Tally is saying, I see Andy’s worried face as Tally grabs the bag and starts to go down the ladder…

"I’m going with her" I say suddenly

Dee grabs my arm…

"Sal, tell them we also have Fish, butter, jam’s and preserved fruits we can share"

I smile and nod, I grab my bag then follow Tally into the sewers with Will looking nervous…

"Hello? I am coming through… I’ll bring food!" Tally calls down the sewer

I step from the ladder and walk along behind Tally, I touch her shoulder with a smile, she was really tense and seemed to relax a little knowing I was beside her…

"We do this together" I smile "There’s strength in numbers"

We walk the length of the sewer and I push the big door open, stepping through into the place that holds sooo many good and bad memories, closing my eyes tight as voices of the past flood back to me, the days were first met, Cloe, Patsy and Paul being terrified, Amber taking control, Bray, Trudy, Lex, Taisan… Later Ellie and Alice, people coming and going… Ryan, marrying him, loosing him, our baby, almost loosing myself, if it wasn’t for Tally and Brady I would have jumped that day on the roof when the chosen fell…

"Come on, lets get this over with" I say to Tally as I swallow, then call out "HELLO!!"

I lower my voice not knowing if anyone is asleep…

"We come in peace, we have food we can trade"

@Zwenja @People in cafe

[Salene]

Dee

After telling Salene what stuff I have with me to trade, I watch as she follows Tally down the ladder… Worry fills me, who knows whats on the other side… Andy shares the same look as I do… Will comes over to the sewer as we hear their voices drift off in the distance… They way Andy was tells me the people inside the mall may not be very nice…

"They will be okay" I smile trying to convince myself "We have food and things we can trade, we are useful to them, they won’t turn us away"

I feel wills hand squeeze my shoulder…

"I need to tell Eciov what’s going on" He says quietly "Are you okay here for a minute?"

"Yes, I scream if we need you" I say with a nervous grin

He smiles at me and then leaves Andy, me and Leo alone to wait for Salene and Tally…

[Danni]

CALLAN

Alix returns with clothes and unceremoniously dumps them on the chair next to Zandra and Lottie, I give her a look before rolling my eyes. She obviously didn’t approve of our gentle approach to welcoming the mall rats but at least she wasn’t arguing, yet.

As Zandra comments she doesn’t like being wet I can’t help but smirk, ’well, that’s good to know,’ I reply with a laugh.

Luc introduces the others and I nod, at least he was trying not to be a complete jerk. Before I can introduce myself I hear two more voices coming from the sewers, ‘we come in peace’ one shouts and I roll my eyes, if they introduced themselves like James Bond I’d probably walk out, but at least they had the sense to mention they had stuff to trade.

Folding my hands I lean back against the back of my chair, ’we’re in the cafe,’ I reply, only raising my voice enough that they will hear rather than shouting. ’Alix, Bekah, could you take these ladies somewhere they can change their clothes, then we can make further introduction before getting down to why we are all here this wonderful morning.’ the sarcasm drips slightly from my voice but I can’t help it, I really would have preferred a nap over playing nice with a multitude of strangers.

@Zandra
@Tribelover15
@Zwenja
@Salene

[Zwenja]

Tally

I exchange a look with Sal as a male voice calls out, telling us to go the Cafe. I blink a little as he sounds way closer then he should if they are in the Cafe.

He speaks of someone named Alix and Bekah leading girls away to dress up dry. So at last they were welcoming enough to get some clothes for the two who went in before us.

I hear his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Yeah… That’s going to be such a lovely holiday…” I whisper to Sal.

I am confused that she leads me to a room down at the stairs, but I don’t let my surprise show on my face.

I see three guys around and the two girls from before. "Hi. My name is Tally. Andy is my twin brother… And I ask you to forgive him if he’d crossed your line… It just were some extremely rough days. We don’t come empty handed."

I let the bag drop on a table and open it, revealing the vegetables and eggs…"We even know where to get more. Yes I have a baby. And I don’t need help in caring for him. He is my responsibility and I take my responsibilities serious. Andy and I had a home that burnt down in an attack. So there wasn’t much other choices, then trying to find out who sends this letters. I don’t know how long this might take, but be assured we are good in trading and feeding ourselves…and others… "

@Salene @Danni @Zandra @Tribelover15

[Jack]

Eciov

Dawn was now sat in the driver’s seat of the car as it was just the two of us. I did feel like a bit of a spare wheel, not a leader just watching the emptiness from the car but she had reassured me we were all playing our parts that I had instructed. So I guess I wasn’t the spare wheel after all. As there was not much going on, Dawn suggests for us to play I spy… “Okay, okay. Me first, me first,” I scream like a little kid. My eyes dart in all directions looking outside and around the car inside. And then I see it… “Something beginning with W.” Dawn claps her hands and her eyes begin to flicker around. “WHEELS,” she shouts. I giggle and say, “Nice one, but nope!” She huffs and jerks her head to look behind but nothing. She then leans forward scanning for something around us beginning with W.

Suddenly she thrusts herself forward and presses down on the car horn that toots but sounds more like a clowns longhorn. (https://mixkit.co/free-sound-effects/horn/ - if you wish to hear the car horn, click the link and scroll down until you see clowns longhorn).

We couldn’t help but laugh as she pointed and shouted, “WILL,” who was my I spy. I had spotted the muscular frame making his move between objects, buildings etc back towards us as I was making my mind up for my I spy… It had been funny but then our faces changed to sheer panic that we could now have exposed our lookout point.

Dawn and I begin to grab our bits and bobs from the car. We had to move. Will reaches the car and grabs the remaining bags. “I forgot leaving you two together was a bad idea. We can join the others by the sewers.” Dawn and I look at each other and bite our lips.

Our movement to the sewers was not done with a zig zag between things, we bolted it as quick as we could to the sewers. There Will brought Dawn and I up to speed and Andy raised his hand when he was mentioned. “Nice to meet you Andy. I am Eciov, use to be Mouse many moons ago. And my partner in crime here making noise just like you did inside the Mall is Dawn.” We both smirked.

And now we wait… I really hope Andy’s sister and Salene are okay down there. Salene’s head must be flashbacking like no tomorrow, but I believed in her. She will be fine. Tally seems wise from what I had been told. Andy came across wise too, but just clearly the more erratic twin.

@Salene

[Salene]

Salene

"We’re in the cafe" A voice comes from inside

"Yeah… That’s going to be such a lovely holiday…” Tally sighs

"If we don’t feel safe we wont stay" I say with "Come on, lets get this over with"

Together we walk around the stairs and towards the last known location of the cafe, when Andy and Tally were here the cafe was upstairs, we moved it down stairs when the Technos were around not wanting them to be too far into our then home… We walk in as the two womem before us are walking away to change, I dont get chance to see their faces

"Hi. My name is Tally. Andy is my twin brother… And I ask you to forgive him if he’d crossed your line… It just were some extremely rough days. We don’t come empty handed." Tally begins

She puts the bag on the table that contains food, I look at them

"We even know where to get more. Yes I have a baby. And I don’t need help in caring for him. He is my responsibility and I take my responsibilities serious. Andy and I had a home that burnt down in an attack. So there wasn’t much other choices, then trying to find out who serbds this letters. I don’t know his long this might take, but be assured we are good in trading and feeding ourselves…and others… "

"My name is Salene… The couple of people I travelled with also have foods like fish, butter, jams and preserved fruits that we are happy to share" I smile "Please understand, we don’t want any trouble, we have our own lives outside of the mall, we just want to find out who is sending these letters and why and then we will leave you in peace"

I stand nervously with Tally as we look at the people infront of us…

@Zwenja
@Zandra
@cafe

[Salene]

Dee

The sound of a clown car horn makes Andy and I look at each other. I stand on alert with a raised eyebrow… Suddenly the bush moves, Andy moves Leo protectively as Ecoiv, Dawn and Will come running through and up to us…

"What the hell" I say quietly

"Sorry" Will says quickly

He starts to explain to use why there was a sudden rush and the to Ecoiv and Dawn what was going on… Ecoiv introduces herself to Andy and vice versa…

We all sit nervously, I chew on my nails as now we have to trust that Salene and Tally can talk the new group into letting us in temporarily

[Zandra]

Zan

I spooky my head at Callan “I’m not even gonna comment” I say with a small laugh before looking at Alix and taking the clothes I smile “Thanks” though I get the feeling she isn’t impressed so I dont push the conversation further
“I’m Zandra, but most call me Zan”
I stand and am about to follow the girls somewhere to change when the others come into the cafe, hopefully the food will win these guys over.

Turning I look at Salene “Long time Salene” I give her a small nod, I’m not sure how I feel about seeing the people I havent seen since waking up how I did.

[Tribelover15]

Lottie

I eye Zandra and smirk a little while i sip on my coffee. ”Never saw the appeal with ice coffee so trying cold coffee is not today” i Said adding a little grin before taking some more.

”I guess nice to meet you even in this weird and bizare sitatuation we’re in. I’m Lottie”* i introduced myself to those i hadnt. Its the least i could do now that im in here. I stood up with the clothes to change into to follow the girls and zandra when more mallrats joined, many of them i didnt know execpt for one. ”Salene?” it had certianly been a while since i had seen her.

[Danni]

CALLAN

Two more girls join us in the cafe and before I can even speak they are both introducing themselves, the one who has the baby continues on and I subtly put my hand out to stop Luc saying anything. I knew none of us particularly cared that their home burnt down, but I know better than to actually say that aloud. She drops some food on the table and I eye it for a brief moment before returning my attention to the current situation, although I was pleased that they hadn’t been stupid enough to come in empty handed…

Red, as Luc has aptly named her, and Lottie both seem to know one of the girls, Salene, although I notice Red isn’t quite so pleased to see her… interesting. I lock that little nugget away for future reference, obviously not everything within the mallrats was as rosy and happy as they implied. Obviously Andy had a different view from his speech but I’d take that with a pinch of salt.

’Right,’ I pause for a moment deciding the best course of action, ’Alix, if you’ll take them to get changed and then we can all sit down and have a conversation, I don’t think we want to be repeating ourselves.’

[Salene]

Salene

The woman with fiery red hair turns and looks at me…

"Long time Salene"

I stare, my mouth open, my heart in my throat as I shake… I feel Tally touch my arm…

"Zandra?" I say as a question and swallow hard "B…bu… I do…do…n’t, h…how"

Zandra smiles a little… I need to sit down, I pull out a chair and just try and get my head around the ghost thats in front of me…

"H…how?" I stutter again "Y…you were dead, Lex… well he said… oh my god…"

If I see Lex, I might just slap his face… As I sit staring at the two women, the other woman introduces herself…

"I guess nice to meet you even in this weird and bizare sitatuation we’re in. I’m Lottie”

My brain is fried… Zandra AND Lottie…

"Salene?" She smiles as a question to me…

"I can’t believe this" I smile… Then finding my voice "Zandra, we though you were dead"

"Right, one of the new people smile "Alix, if you’ll take them to get changed and then we can all sit down and have a conversation, I don’t think we want to be repeating ourselves.

@zandra
@Danni

[Zandra]

Zan

“I think you kind of answered your own question there, Lex said” I pause, clearly it’s a shock to Salene so I can’t exactly let any of my angrier emotions out and I don’t think Salene is the right person to realise it too.
Thankfully with Callan asking Alix to show us where to change I’m relieved, I need a moment.

Looking from Callan to Alix I smile “Brilliant, I cant wait to get out of these clothes” I say thankfully though I realise what I said so just shake my head slightly. All these innuendos are coming out and for a change I’m not doing it on purpose.

I start walking hopefully Alix will lead the way, I just need a breather before anyone else turns up and time to mellow out a little, I could already feel how tense my shoulders are.

[Zwenja]

Phoenix

I shiver slightly as a cold breeze brushes over me. I pull my jacket tighter and pull up my hood.

This place looks… Destroyed. Debris lays around. Parts of the white dome are crumbled. Weird.

Like… Those explosions I remember from movies. Movies. How long this seems ago. How much Patsy and Penny always complained when the undertitles were too big, covering something going on on screen…

I shake my head with a grin. It’s almost like remembering a younger brother who I lost. I often can’t relate anymore to the little angsty Paul I was…

Something beside the dome - the still intact side- catches my eyes. I swallow seeing the two crosses. Graves! Careful I step closer. Shocked I notice that one grave is open. Who the fuck does that? Breaking the deads peace?

The other galrave seems unharmed. The letters on this cross fading away. I only can dechiorrvthe first letter. A “Z”. Whoever is /was buried here… At last their people cared to place them to rest. During my years as slave I saw people die and the slave traders let the body just were it fell…

I turn back to the partly destroyed building and move closer. The part that still is intact seems weirdly organized. Boxes are stacked. There are masks and gloves. Was this place once used as a research for the virus?

I open up a box and see paper wrappings of some kind of bars. Protein bars? Expired for sure, but actually those kind of things are made forever. I wonder if all those boxes only hold the empty wrappers or if by any chance some are still not touched? Maybe I should get the other two. Who knows what’s waiting back in the city…You’ll never know what use things can have to you…

(occ: considering Zandra grave was unharmed in s3 I just assume it was covered up again, so no one would realise she’s not dead. Information of Eagle Mountain taken also from books in which Ram reveals a lot… The Technos have been there and probably left in a hurry…)

[Tribelover15]

Lottie

Salene seemed to be so confused seeing Zandra and soon I had my answer to it, she thought Zandra was dead. my eyes almost got twice their size in shock. Ohh my head was starting to hurt, this day was just too much. I just smiled softly before walking off with Alix to get changed.

"I won’t pry too much but… are you okay?" I asked Zandra, I hardly knew her but heck we had gone through a nasty sewer together and gotten soaked in the water together so the least I could do was check on her to see if she was alright and I did kinda like her.

[Danni]

CALLAN

Salene seems genuinely shocked to see Zandra and then announces they thought she was dead, well, resurrection was apparently a new mall rat skill….

Alix leads Zandra and Lottie away and I look over at Salene and Tally for a moment. ’I imagine your brother will want to be part of whatever conversation we have?’ I ask her, ’if that’s the case it might be worth going to get him and whoever else you have out there before we start.’

[Zandra]

Zan

I look at Lottie “Yeah, I will be, it’s just all a bit complicated as you can probably tell” I tell her with a small smile “And if I’m honest, Salene will probably be one of the easiest to deal with” reaching the room Alix took us to, to change I give the woman a small nod before walking in.

“As you may have been able to tell from my earlier comment, I was with Lex and he was the reason why I went up to Eagle Mountain and now it seems he was the one who said I was dead” I pause “See. Complicated” I offer a small smile before moving further into the room and start getting changed.

[Salene]

Salene

I watch Lotrie and Zandra walk away, still shocked Zan is actually here, mind you Amber came back from the dead when Ebony lied so why shouldn’t Zandra too… I’m sooo confused as I sit with my elbows on the table and my hands in my hair… Ebony wanted Amber gone and Bray to herself, she had a motive to lie that ber was dead… Lex loved Zandra, she was pregnant with his child, I know he and Taisan had their affair, but WHY would he lie, why would he kill Zandra off, he wanted that baby soo much… We all know Lex is an asshole but this makes no sense…

’I imagine your brother will want to be part of whatever conversation we have?’ The guy asks Tally ’if that’s the case it might be worth going to get him and whoever else you have out there before we start.’

I can hear them talking, I have sooo many questions in my head.

[Tribelover15]

Lottie

I smiled a little as I nodded my head “Yeah I could gather it from what happened back there” I told her gesturing my head toward the cafe. Of those, I knew that could know Zandra I could imagine that Salene was in fact the easier one to deal with.

I stayed quiet as I listened to Zandra’s story my eyes got big and round once more, "Wow…talk about a comeback than " I said as I huffed out some air. It did in ways remind me of the crazy things they said about Zoot which had caused me to travel to Liberty instead. I shook my head though at those thoughts before moving into the room to change as well and boy was it nice to get into some fresh and dry clothes.

@Zandra

[Zandra]

Zan

I snort “Don’t I know it” stripping off the wet clothes I was wearing, I was still a girly girl with my pinks and pretty prints, with a sigh I drop the cute pinafore-type dress on the ground along with the pale pink leggins.

“Oh shit” I mutter as I hold out the outfit that Alix had given me “Wheres the rest of it” I look around as though I must have dropped what to wear with the dress. I love dresses but you know with tights and leggings to company it.

Looking down at my leggings I pause for a moment wondering if I could wear them but the idea of wet clothes quickly made me lose the idea. Sighing I pulled on the dress and attempt to pull it down at the back but it wasn’t shifting “I hope my clothes dry quickly” I tell Lottie picking up the wet clothes and hanging them over a chair.

“I’ll meet you outside” I tell Lottie and walk out the room and wait by the door, I can feel the skirt of the dress swing, I wasn’t used to it being this… breezy.

Dress from Alix

[Zwenja]

Tally

I nod at the guy telling me to get Andy. I bit my tongue to mit ask sharply if he can’t at last introduce himself. Okay he’d have to repeat it tk new ones. But repeating his own name can’t be too much to ask. Gonna call him Grumpy then.

"We’ll be back Sal…" I snort almost, remembering Ned telling Andy and I the story of an old action movie where someone said that.

I repeat the names in my head while I hurry through the sewers. Won’t be good if I call someone a wrong name.

The pretty boys are both a little grumpy and the girls aren’t about to throw a party either. Maybe I should offer to make dinner tonight? With the things Andy and I brought… And Salene and her friends… A good dinner can mend tensions.

"Andy? Hey… All of you? Please come down. We can reach Leo down for now. I didn’t get the topic to the hole that’s maybe here. Those guys are losing their patience. It’s not the time to let them realise there might be a hole in the home they choose. It’s time to be clever Andy."

@Salene, @Jack