Title: When All We Wanted Was A Dream (3/?)
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe, maybe other pairings included…we’ll see…
Warning(s): AU, but definitely not OOC, k-ers?
Author’s Note(s): Okay, here’s the third installment in this series. I’m trying to drag it out for suspenseful purposes, but not so long that it becomes boring. I hope I’m doing a good job?
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
IV.
Spears of dawn light poured over the desolate city, pushing back the shadows of night and the children that haunted the darkness, forcing them to seek out shelter in the dank, mildewy ruins of empty warehouses and office buildings. The light swept over everything revealing trash strewn streets, cars rusting in their parked spaces, graffiti on building sides telling the stories of the end of the world. Bray woke to this bleak scene of life, his eye bleary and heavy from lack of sleep. He glanced over at Trudy’s sleeping form and the mound of her belly rising and falling as she breathed. He looked away and pushed himself up from the wall that he had been resting on, catching the few winks that he could from such an awkward and uncomfortable position.
The streets outside were quiet. Martin and his Locos must’ve passed them over in the night to seek out some other quarry, and for that Bray was grateful. Grateful that his little brother still retained his impatient air to get things done, that he wouldn’t take the time to look over every nook and cranny to make sure that he hadn’t missed anyone or anything. It was what made getting out of the City so easy that first time. While Martin was a charismatic leader that could bring people together, he lacked the finesse that it took to pay attention to the small minute details that most would inevitably miss.
“Looking for Zoot?”
Bray whirled in surprise and was met with the calculating green eyes of Ebony as she stepped passed him and looked out into the ruins of the convenience store that they had took refuge in for the night. Bray nodded, realized she couldn’t see with her back turned to him and said aloud, “Yeah, I was. How’s Trudy doing?”
Ebony gave a one shoulder shrug and turned back to him, her green eyes glittering in the morning light. She replied, “As well as any like her can be expected.” At Bray’s glare Ebony rolled her eyes and continued, “She’s fine, Bray. Her and the little brat inside of her.”
“Ebony,” Bray began in a chastising tone, but she cut him off before he could start. She stepped up to him, getting into his personal space, causing Bray to retreat a foot as her eyes bore holes into his.
“We can’t keep living like this, Bray, and you know it,” she growled, her voice brooking no argument. She got none from him. He looked away from her intense gaze as she continued on. “Sooner or later that baby is going to be born, and we won’t be able to keep lugging the two of them around. Trudy’ll slow us down and that baby will definitely get us caught—”
“Well, what do you want me to do about it, Ebony?” Bray protested in a fierce whisper. “What do you expect me to do? Cast them out? Leave them behind? Whether you want to admit it or not, Ebony, that’s my niece and my responsibility. I can’t just—”
“Cut the crap, Bray,” Ebony groused, cutting him off. She gave and aggravated sigh, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him further away from Trudy so as not to wake her. “You don’t want this responsibility. I can see it in your eyes. I can hear it in your voice.”
She shook her head, the locks of her braided hair cascading down her shoulders in blonde and brown strands. He watched them, wanting to distract himself from her words, wanting to push her out of his mind for just a few seconds so that he could think to himself, think quietly about what to do, how to survive. But her voice refused to be faded out and he heard her loud and clear: “We need to find a place that’s safe for her, and then you and me…We need to get out of the City.”
His brown eyes snapped up to meet her green in disbelief. She glared at him unapologetic, but her fiery gaze did nothing to change the emotion that warred inside of his own.
“You can’t be serious,” he said, his eyes widening as he saw the truth in her expression. “We can’t just leave them. I can’t…I can’t leave Trudy alone. I can’t leave that baby, Ebony. You know that.”
“All I know, Bray,” Ebony countered, putting a hand on his shoulder and gripping tightly, “is that she’s a liability. Her and that baby, and that the sooner we get rid of them, the sooner we can survive on our own.”
Bray shook his head and shook her hand off his shoulder. He stood up his full height, looking down at her. She looked up at him, unperturbed, unfazed, her eyes cat-like and shining in the dawn light.
“I won’t hear of it, Ebony,” he growled. “We won’t leave Trudy. I figured you didn’t like her, but I didn’t know to what extent. If you want to stay with us, Ebony, then fine, stay, but don’t ask me to do this. Don’t ever ask me.”
He turned on his heel and made his way to the back of them store, feeling Ebony’s eyes burning holes into his back. And even though he didn’t want it to, even though he tried hard to fight against it, his brain replayed her words in his head, condemning him, even as he stepped into the convenience store’s back office and met the sleepy-eyed gaze of Trudy as she slowly began to wake from her slumber: “You don’t want this responsibility. I can see it in your eyes. I can hear it in your voice.”
Was she right? Was what she was saying even true? He could feel it sometimes, this lust that filled him, even back when he and Trudy and Ebony had lived in the country, trying to eek out a living in the wilderness. He feel it like a burning underneath his skin, this want to…This need to just…He could feel it in his legs, feel the muscles flex and contract, his toes wanting to grip the earth, wanting to just…
Was she right? Did Ebony have a keen insight to the true emotions that pervaded his soul when he least wanted them to? Did she know of the voices—Run, Bray. Run. Run far, far away from here—that sometimes haunted him, made him want things that he had no business wanting?
He couldn’t leave Trudy. He couldn’t. Not with that baby. She was just too…He could see it in her. She was just too weak-willed, he knew, and not because she meant to be, but because that was what she was, the type of person she was. She needed people, depended on others because Trudy wasn’t strong enough by herself. He knew that, and Ebony knew that too. It was why Ebony picked on her all the time, and taunted her.
But why Ebony would want Trudy to be abandoned, and that baby too, was something that he didn’t want to think on, didn’t want to ponder, didn’t want to remember—Come back to bed, lover—because those days were long dead and gone, had died when the adults had died, and Bray didn’t want to rehash old things. He wanted to live, he wanted to make sure that they would be okay. And if sometimes he felt the lust in him rise, that lust to just sneak off while Trudy and Ebony were sleeping, and run away from the world and his problems, he’d deal with it and squash it so that he didn’t have to think about what he wanted it. What he wanted didn’t matter in the long run.
Trudy blinked up at him, smiled, and Bray—with the feeling that his heart was being torn from him—smiled back. He crouched beside her, the smile still in place, braking his face in two, and said,” We’re going to see if we can find you something to eat, okay Trudy? Me and Ebony are going to search high and lo until we find you a feast.”
The dark-haired girl smiled at him, rubbing her belly, her dark eyes shining, and Bray almost couldn’t bear to see the trust and devotion that she held from him in her gaze. He heard Ebony behind him sigh in aggravation and say, “Of course, we’re going to make sure Princess Spoiled is all ripe and fattened up. Wouldn’t want anyone to think we were starving the cow, now would we?”
Bray gritted his teeth as Trudy’s eyes widened and her face flushed an ugly shade of red.
“How DARE you, Ebony!!!” she screeched, and Bray winced, wishing—just for once—that the universe would be kind enough to give him one morning where the two of them didn’t have to start with each other. But the gods didn’t hear and he rolled his eyes as Trudy struggled to stand, still yelling at Ebony and Ebony yelling in turn.
“Oh boy,” Bray muttered to himself.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
When All We Wanted Was A Dream 3/?
Title: When All We Wanted Was A Dream (3/?)
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe, maybe other pairings included…we’ll see…
Warning(s): AU, but definitely not OOC, k-ers?
Author’s Note(s): Okay, here’s the third installment in this series. I’m trying to drag it out for suspenseful purposes, but not so long that it becomes boring. I hope I’m doing a good job?
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
II.
It had been little Patsy that heard the sirens first, and then her brother, Paul, who’d tapped her urgently on the shoulder, pointing out the window, his eyes wide with panic; he’d felt the rumble from the streets, had felt the fear quaking in his bones. He mouthed: ‘Locos.’ And Patsy nodded, standing and rushing off to find Salene. She ran from the department store space that she shared with her brother down the Mall steps, passed a puzzled Chloe who shouted: “Where’re you off to, Patsy?”
“No time,” Patsy shouted back. “Locos are coming!”
She jumped down the stairs, three at a time, as Chloe gasped and raced after her, catching up in only a few short strides. Both girls raced through the Mall, passed Jack who glared at them and mumbled something about “girls” and “crazy psychopaths” that the two girls had no time to correct him on; they needed to find Salene.
The Mall had been an abandoned megalith of past memories when Salene and the girls had found it only a few short days back, and it had seemed like heaven to the wander-weary children. At the beginning, there had been Salene, some fellow named Dan and four or five little ones that had hung onto to the two older teens as they were the only sense of authority and stability that the little ones knew or could find in this strange new old. The adults had all died, perished by the ravages of the virus, and there was nowhere to go, no one to turn to, and when the Locos came…
Salene had gathered them though. She was timid and quiet, but her motherly presence had soothed the children’s longing for the own parents, if only for a little while, and Dan’s strong hand had kept the small, little group firm and together. They’d been all right for a little while after the virus had done its work, had scavenged the City for supplies while dodging the threats of wilder, more dangerous kids, and for a moment there, they’d believed that they would continuously be all right, that they’d survive and that they could have some normalcy to their hectic, uncertain lives.
But then came the Locos…
And then came the death of Dan…
And the other little ones, aside from Patsy, Paul and Chloe, had run off, leaving Salene all alone to mourn the loss of their little makeshift family. If it hadn’t been the needs of Chloe, Paul and Patsy, then Salene might’ve slipped into a deeper depression than she was already in, but Patsy didn’t know anything about that. All she knew was that Salene had been sad for a while and then something had snapped and she had pulled herself together, scouting out the Mall and getting them inside. And, despite the protests of Jack, who’d been living there since the start of the virus, she’d managed to make them a makeshift home in the few days that they’d occupied it.
But that still didn’t make it entirely safe…
“Salene!” Patsy shouted, her eyes wide, searching for the older girl in the abandoned, dark department stores and around the marooned kiosks. Chloe trailed swiftly behind her, shouting the older girl’s name as well, the panic in her voice palpable and real.
“Salene!”
“Salene, where are you? The Locos are coming!”
“Well, now, if you’d stop yelling then maybe they won’t find us,” came the familiar voice of the older girl from behind. Both young girls whirled in surprise and alarm, finding the magenta-haired teen coming up behind them like a ghost on quiet feet.
“Oh, Salene,” Patsy cried, forgetting her momentary shock in the face of her relief of seeing the older girl. She ran to Salene, burying her face in the older girl’s bosom. Chloe followed suit and Salene wrapped them tightly in her arms, saying reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Don’t panic, Pasty, Chloe. The Locos won’t get us here. They can’t find us. Now,” she knelt down, making herself level with the two young ones, soothing back their fears with the gentle motions of her hands through their hair, “where’s Paul and Jack?”
“Paul’s upstairs,” Patsy started.
“And we just passed Jack trying to find you,” Chloe finished. Salene nodded and stood up to her full height, gathering the girls to her and walking them away from the darker, unoccupied parts of the Mall.
“Let’s go find them, okay?” she suggested, wanting to take their minds off of the threat looming outside of the walls of the Mall. She didn’t want them worrying about things that they didn’t have to. It was her responsibility, her burden to bear and not theirs. They were just children, innocent and naïve, and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as she could beat back the world from their small refuge in the big, bad City.
It had taken more than a little pleading and bribery to get Jack to let them stay here and even now, their place in the Mall was still on rocky terms. Jack was more than a little sore that people had discovered his hideout, especially two rambunctious girls like Chloe and Patsy. She knew Jack didn’t much mind Paul: Paul mostly kept to himself, isolated as he was either way because of his deafness, and possibly by virtue of him being male. For some reason, Jack got real agitated at the presence of females, even around one as unthreatening as Salene; his temper flared, his sarcastic jabs stung just that much more and he was more ill-tempered than usual. He never got like that around Paul, and Salene was sure that with a little more time, Jack might share the same attitude with the rest of them.
But for now, she couldn’t worry about Jack or his ill manners. She had to gather everyone together so that they could all be safe. So that, if the Locos did manage to get inside, they’d be okay. She knew the Mall wasn’t as secure as Patsy and Chloe hoped it was. She knew that there were still areas where it was vulnerable, but she didn’t have the know how to make it safer than it was. Safety had always been Dan’s thing, and now that Dan was gone…Salene felt the familiar pangs of sadness and remembered agony gnawing at her mind when she thought of the other teen and the fact that he wasn’t here with them anymore.
If he were here, Dan would know just what to do, Salene thought as she ushered the girls up the Mall stairs, towards the department store that she’d converted into a makeshift, communal bedroom that she shared with Patsy, Chloe and Paul. He’d have made this place real secure, real tight and nothing and nobody would ever hurt us. Nobody would dare.
But Dan wasn’t here, had fallen under a Locos attack, and Salene was left all alone to make do, to make decisions, to do what needed to be done, and she just…She didn’t know if she had the strength or ability to do it. After all, she was just little ol’Sal, youngest daughter to a family of all-stars and she’d never shown as bright as her sisters had. Even in this strange new world, she didn’t think that she’d ever be able to shine either way.
“Jack!” Chloe shouted, breaking Salene from her thoughts, and she looked up, meeting the young boy’s eyes as the sound of sirens grew closer and closer. The color drained from Jack’s features and Salene quickly ushered the girls into the department store, seating them with Paul who looked just as frightened. She gave him a reassuring smile before standing and moving towards the doorway to talk to Jack.
“Wait! Salene!” Patsy called, her voice laden with fear. Salene turned back as the young girl stood, reaching for her. “You’re leaving us?”
“Only for a moment, Pats,” Salene replied, trying to reassure the girl as best she could. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right back. I have to talk to Jack. I’ve got to make sure…” Her voice trailed off and Patsy nodded, going back to both Paul and Chloe and saying, “Hey, you two…Let’s play a real, quiet game, okay?”
That was all the distraction Salene needed. She slipped out of the room as Patsy drew Chloe’s and Paul’s attention from her leaving. She went to find Jack and found him in his workshop, agitatedly moving from one end of the room to the other.
“Jack,” she called, hearing the sounds of sirens again, this time much, much too close for comfort. “Jack, are listening to me?”
“The Locos are coming!” Jack cried, throwing up his hands. He turned to her and she could see the fear in his eyes. An uncomfortable feeling of fear wound its way into her stomach also, but Salene pushed it back, swallowed it and asked: “That storm drain, to the sewers, is it still open?”
He looked away from her, shrugging. “I-I don’t know, Salene. I can’t remember.”
“Do you think the Locos could find it?” she pressed. She didn’t want to agitate him further, but she needed to know, she needed to make sure…It was something Dan would do, she was sure. “Do you think they could find it and get through?”
“I don’t know, Salene!” Jack cried, glaring at her. “I don’t know! I don’t know!” He advanced on her, jabbing an accusing finger. “If you hadn’t have shown up with those two annoying girls they wouldn’t be snooping around! They know people are here and they’re going to get us! They’re going to get me!”
She knew fear was making Jack irrational, but she couldn’t deal with it. Not right now, anyway. She took his anger, his fear, and then asked in a calm voice, “Don’t worry about that now, Jack. Just tell me. The storm drain?”
Jack’s glare was a heated one and he shook with pent-up emotions. He ground out, “I. Don’t. Know.”
Salene nodded, swallowing and looking back to the darkened Mall that she remembered so well being filled with people, laughter, giggling teenage girls and macho posing boys, parents, families…all gone now. But she had her own family to protect, and she was going to protect them the best way she knew how.
“Okay, Jack,” she said not turning to look at him, a frown formed between her delicate eyebrows. “I’m going to go check on the storm drain. Just…Just look after the girls and Paul for me.”
She didn’t wait for his answer, just bound down the Mall stairs and headed towards the back where there used to be the Mall security guard’s office and the stock room for the retail stores and the store rooms for the old eateries and cafes. She proceeded with caution as she walked down the darkened hallway that lead to Mall’s exit and…to the entrance to the storm drain.
The storm drain itself wasn’t the problem, or at least not the biggest problem. The sewers were. The sewers were what needed to be sealed off to make the Mall an effective fortress. Sal was sure Dan would’ve thought of that, but so too would he have figured out a way to rig it so that they’d still have a way to escape if need be. Dan had always been much smarter than her when it came to those kinds of things and it made Salene miss him more than ever. She didn’t want to do this on her own, she couldn’t. She didn’t know how, she didn’t have the skills.
She crept further down until she hit the Mall’s exit. She paused, breathed, steeling herself for any possible threat that could spring out at her from the darkness the lurked beyond. Salene pushed the Mall door open and stepped outside into the cool night air. The sound of the sirens was muted here, but she could still here them, like a reminder of everything that everyone had lost. They used to be a sound of comfort to those that needed the help that they signified and even an annoyance sometimes when the sirens whirred past houses, disrupting the quiet of peaceful neighborhoods. But now they were a sound of terror, and Salene could curse the Locos for that. She could only imagine how many children had flocked to the sound of sirens in the beginning, just after the virus had done its worse, hoping for relief and thinking that they had found it, only to be captured or killed. She shuddered in both fear and sadness.
Salene proceeded through the darkness of the back hallway that led to the entrance to the storm drain, and from there, the sewers and the only way out or into the Mall from outside. She certainly hoped no one would find it, especially not the Locos. She wanted to keep herself, the little ones…and even Jack…safe from the outside world, safe from all the dangers that could possibly harm them or worse. She walked quietly, trying not to make a sound, breathing deep and shallow, just trying to listen to anything in the darkness up ahead.
There was nothing and she made it to the storm drain without much incident. She pushed it open, undoing the latches and opened the lid. The rank, disgusting smell of rotting things rose up to her unprepared nostrils and made it sting to breath. Salene coughed, wrinkled her nose in disgust and swung her leg over, placing her foot on the ladder that lead down into the sewers. When her other leg was secure, she climbed down into the even deeper darkness, hoping against all hope that the entrance to the sewers from the street level was as inconspicuous as possible so that no one could get in.
She walked the sewer tunnel, eyes combing the darkness for any threats and when she made it to the other entrance, she climbed up the ladder quietly, hearing the sounds of sirens. She put her hands against the sewer lid and pushed with all her might. It made a grating sound that set her teeth on edge and she hoped no one outside heard it. She pushed until there was enough room to stick her head out and when she did, she gasped in both fear and surprise, trying to pull herself back down into the comforting darkness to escape.
“No! Wait! Please!” came the panicked shout from outside and Salene paused, her breathing suddenly very hard and shallow. Everything in her was screaming to close the sewer lid and run back to the safe and comforting bosom of the Mall, but then a small part of her didn’t want to refuse people if they needed help. She was torn and before she could even make a decision, a girl’s face appeared above her, a relieved smile on her face.
“Thank you,” the girl said, attempting to climb in. Salene was too stunned to do anything other than move out of her way. “Thank you for helping us. C’mon, Dal.”
Us? Salene thought, feeling slightly confused and, even a might bit sick. Jack was not going to like this. She leapt down from the sewer as a younger boy followed the girl down. And then another shadow loomed above the sewer entrance and the young boy shouted in alarm for the girl.
“Amber!”
“Oi, you can’t just leave us out here with the Locos coming!” came a young male’s voice from up above and the girl, Amber, shouted back in anger, “You were going to attack us! It seems like you’d fit right at home with those psychos!”
“Wait, please!” came yet another shout from above, this one belonging to another girl, who pushed the shouting, dark-haired boy aside. “Please, we were only trying to survive. We haven’t eaten for days and the Locos have been chasing us too! Please don’t leave us out here!”
“Tough!” growled Amber, and that was when Salene spoke up, spurred to action by the sirens that were drawing closer, circling around like a vulture looking for its prey. She’d been watching the exchange with a dazed sort of confusion, not understanding how a simple recon to check to see if the storm drain and sewers were secure, could go so horribly wrong so quickly. She hadn’t meant to help anyone except herself, the little ones and Jack. Now, there were more people and she couldn’t just let some girl that she didn’t even know bo-guard her way into Salene’s pseudo-home and make the rules. Dan wouldn’t have stood for it. Then again, Dan probably wouldn’t have let things get this far.
“Now, hold on a minute,” Salene began loudly. The girl, Amber, and her friend, Dal, whirled on her in surprise. “This is my home, not yours, and I get to decide who stays and who goes, and I say they get to stay.”
Amber started to protest, but Salene shook her head, glaring at the girl.
“If you let them in, you’ll regret it,” Amber said coldly. Salene shrugged.
“I’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Salene replied just as cold.
“Oi, move!” the dark-haired boy shouted from above and the boy Dal did just that. Three more teens piled noisily into the sewer and the last one, a boy much larger than his friend who’d first spoken, pulled back the sewer securely and leapt down from the height with a loud thump as his boots hit the concrete floor. Amber glared at the dark-haired boy and the boy sneered back, while the other girl in the small group of three rushed to Salene and hugged her gratefully.
“Thank you so much,” the girl said, her eyes watering.
Salene nodded and smiled at her reassuringly. “C’mon, let’s get going before the Locos hear us and discover where we are.”
“Exactly,” the dark-haired boy said darkly to Amber, stepping around Salene with a smirk and continuing down the sewer tunnel. The bigger boy followed him and after a gentle smile, the girl followed after the other two. Amber and Dal were next and Salene brought up the rear. She shook her head.
Jack was not going to like this at all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When they finally arrived in the City, everything was quiet, deceptively so. Bray didn’t like it and he could tell that Ebony didn’t either. She had the same watchful silence cloaking her as he did, and even Trudy seemed a little agitated with the lack of activity. No one was outside, no one walking the City streets or chaos on every corner. He had not expected to come back to a City at peace, or at a relative peace because he had not found a secure enough place to put Trudy and Ebony so that he could scout around and be sure. He swallowed and proceeded forward. Ebony followed on silent feet, and Trudy trailed quietly after.
Bray’s eyes watched the darkness, combing shadows that were not chased away by the glow of street lamps. He studied the hulking shapes of abandoned cars, the buildings that crowded around the small trio like a concrete tunnel, where nothing moved save the wind. All of the stillness was making Bray nervous; it felt like the calm before a very tumultuous storm. He just hoped that he and the others could find shelter before the storm broke.
It was just weird. He expected to come back to a city in chaos, but there was not sound of Locos sirens or children running away scared and hiding wherever they could. Had someone defeated Martin, was that it? Had the Demon Dogs and the Locos finally killed each other? That gave Bray pause, caused a slight stab of pain to jab his gut. He didn’t want to think of Martin as dead, no matter how unhinged his brother had become. He didn’t want the only link he had left to anything normal—no matter how messed up that link was—taken away from him. He needed Martin to be alive and well, even if his brother were part of the source of the troubles in the City. It gave Bray hope that maybe, one day…
“Bray,” Ebony called quietly, and he turned back to see her stopped in the middle of the road, her head inclined to sky. Listening.
“What is it?” Trudy asked, a tremor in her voice. She turned from Bray to Ebony and back again. “What’s going on?” She clutched her stomach protectively, her breathing haggard and fear laced.
“Locos,” Bray replied in dread, finally hearing the sirens. They were far enough away for them to be able to find a decent hiding spot, and—even though Bray was loathed to admit it—he was glad that he heard them; Martin had not fallen after all.
“What’ll we do?” Trudy asked, her voice rising in pitch. “What’ll we do? Bray? Ebony?”
“We get outta here,” Ebony replied, turning to the other girl, but there was no malice in her voice, just a touch of fear. Ebony had good reason to be afraid. She’d taken a great risk leaving Martin behind for Bray, and that betrayal wouldn’t go over well with the Locos leader. He felt a stab of guilt; after all, it was his fault. He’d wanted to her to with them, had figured that life away from Martin, away from the City, was better for her. He just hoped he could keep her, and Trudy, safe.
“C’mon,” Bray said, shouldering his backpack and taking both of their hands in his. Ebony’s hand was warm and soft despite the hard work that she’d had to endure living in the wilderness outside of the City and she clutched his with a fear that she’d never admit in any other circumstance. Trudy’s hand slipped into his other hand also, and he could feel the tremors that were quaking her body as he pulled them along, combing the darkness, trying to find a suitable and secure place to hide. They didn’t have to look for long.
It was abandoned, and didn’t look as if anyone had ransacked it in a long time. The windows were broken through sure, but how would the Locos know that anyone were hiding in a place that they’d probably already looted for supplies anyway. He took the girls to it, pushing aside shopping carts and other obstructions, clearing an easy path for Trudy. When they were done—the sirens all that much closer—Bray ushered them inside, pulling the broken glass door shut behind him. He ushered them to the back, where he was sure there was a store room or an office, and when they reached it, they hid behind toppled file cabinets and a ruined, fungus eaten desk.
“We’ll stay here until first light,” Bray told them. Ebony nodded, her green eyes—even in the darkness—shining with an unnatural light. Trudy sniffed and held her belly and Bray went to the office door, staying in the shadows, but still wanting to see outside. Just in case.
He settled his back against the door frame, his gaze watchful, preparing for a long night ahead.
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe, maybe other pairings included…we’ll see…
Warning(s): AU, but definitely not OOC, k-ers?
Author’s Note(s): Okay, here’s the third installment in this series. I’m trying to drag it out for suspenseful purposes, but not so long that it becomes boring. I hope I’m doing a good job?
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
II.
It had been little Patsy that heard the sirens first, and then her brother, Paul, who’d tapped her urgently on the shoulder, pointing out the window, his eyes wide with panic; he’d felt the rumble from the streets, had felt the fear quaking in his bones. He mouthed: ‘Locos.’ And Patsy nodded, standing and rushing off to find Salene. She ran from the department store space that she shared with her brother down the Mall steps, passed a puzzled Chloe who shouted: “Where’re you off to, Patsy?”
“No time,” Patsy shouted back. “Locos are coming!”
She jumped down the stairs, three at a time, as Chloe gasped and raced after her, catching up in only a few short strides. Both girls raced through the Mall, passed Jack who glared at them and mumbled something about “girls” and “crazy psychopaths” that the two girls had no time to correct him on; they needed to find Salene.
The Mall had been an abandoned megalith of past memories when Salene and the girls had found it only a few short days back, and it had seemed like heaven to the wander-weary children. At the beginning, there had been Salene, some fellow named Dan and four or five little ones that had hung onto to the two older teens as they were the only sense of authority and stability that the little ones knew or could find in this strange new old. The adults had all died, perished by the ravages of the virus, and there was nowhere to go, no one to turn to, and when the Locos came…
Salene had gathered them though. She was timid and quiet, but her motherly presence had soothed the children’s longing for the own parents, if only for a little while, and Dan’s strong hand had kept the small, little group firm and together. They’d been all right for a little while after the virus had done its work, had scavenged the City for supplies while dodging the threats of wilder, more dangerous kids, and for a moment there, they’d believed that they would continuously be all right, that they’d survive and that they could have some normalcy to their hectic, uncertain lives.
But then came the Locos…
And then came the death of Dan…
And the other little ones, aside from Patsy, Paul and Chloe, had run off, leaving Salene all alone to mourn the loss of their little makeshift family. If it hadn’t been the needs of Chloe, Paul and Patsy, then Salene might’ve slipped into a deeper depression than she was already in, but Patsy didn’t know anything about that. All she knew was that Salene had been sad for a while and then something had snapped and she had pulled herself together, scouting out the Mall and getting them inside. And, despite the protests of Jack, who’d been living there since the start of the virus, she’d managed to make them a makeshift home in the few days that they’d occupied it.
But that still didn’t make it entirely safe…
“Salene!” Patsy shouted, her eyes wide, searching for the older girl in the abandoned, dark department stores and around the marooned kiosks. Chloe trailed swiftly behind her, shouting the older girl’s name as well, the panic in her voice palpable and real.
“Salene!”
“Salene, where are you? The Locos are coming!”
“Well, now, if you’d stop yelling then maybe they won’t find us,” came the familiar voice of the older girl from behind. Both young girls whirled in surprise and alarm, finding the magenta-haired teen coming up behind them like a ghost on quiet feet.
“Oh, Salene,” Patsy cried, forgetting her momentary shock in the face of her relief of seeing the older girl. She ran to Salene, burying her face in the older girl’s bosom. Chloe followed suit and Salene wrapped them tightly in her arms, saying reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Don’t panic, Pasty, Chloe. The Locos won’t get us here. They can’t find us. Now,” she knelt down, making herself level with the two young ones, soothing back their fears with the gentle motions of her hands through their hair, “where’s Paul and Jack?”
“Paul’s upstairs,” Patsy started.
“And we just passed Jack trying to find you,” Chloe finished. Salene nodded and stood up to her full height, gathering the girls to her and walking them away from the darker, unoccupied parts of the Mall.
“Let’s go find them, okay?” she suggested, wanting to take their minds off of the threat looming outside of the walls of the Mall. She didn’t want them worrying about things that they didn’t have to. It was her responsibility, her burden to bear and not theirs. They were just children, innocent and naïve, and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as she could beat back the world from their small refuge in the big, bad City.
It had taken more than a little pleading and bribery to get Jack to let them stay here and even now, their place in the Mall was still on rocky terms. Jack was more than a little sore that people had discovered his hideout, especially two rambunctious girls like Chloe and Patsy. She knew Jack didn’t much mind Paul: Paul mostly kept to himself, isolated as he was either way because of his deafness, and possibly by virtue of him being male. For some reason, Jack got real agitated at the presence of females, even around one as unthreatening as Salene; his temper flared, his sarcastic jabs stung just that much more and he was more ill-tempered than usual. He never got like that around Paul, and Salene was sure that with a little more time, Jack might share the same attitude with the rest of them.
But for now, she couldn’t worry about Jack or his ill manners. She had to gather everyone together so that they could all be safe. So that, if the Locos did manage to get inside, they’d be okay. She knew the Mall wasn’t as secure as Patsy and Chloe hoped it was. She knew that there were still areas where it was vulnerable, but she didn’t have the know how to make it safer than it was. Safety had always been Dan’s thing, and now that Dan was gone…Salene felt the familiar pangs of sadness and remembered agony gnawing at her mind when she thought of the other teen and the fact that he wasn’t here with them anymore.
If he were here, Dan would know just what to do, Salene thought as she ushered the girls up the Mall stairs, towards the department store that she’d converted into a makeshift, communal bedroom that she shared with Patsy, Chloe and Paul. He’d have made this place real secure, real tight and nothing and nobody would ever hurt us. Nobody would dare.
But Dan wasn’t here, had fallen under a Locos attack, and Salene was left all alone to make do, to make decisions, to do what needed to be done, and she just…She didn’t know if she had the strength or ability to do it. After all, she was just little ol’Sal, youngest daughter to a family of all-stars and she’d never shown as bright as her sisters had. Even in this strange new world, she didn’t think that she’d ever be able to shine either way.
“Jack!” Chloe shouted, breaking Salene from her thoughts, and she looked up, meeting the young boy’s eyes as the sound of sirens grew closer and closer. The color drained from Jack’s features and Salene quickly ushered the girls into the department store, seating them with Paul who looked just as frightened. She gave him a reassuring smile before standing and moving towards the doorway to talk to Jack.
“Wait! Salene!” Patsy called, her voice laden with fear. Salene turned back as the young girl stood, reaching for her. “You’re leaving us?”
“Only for a moment, Pats,” Salene replied, trying to reassure the girl as best she could. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right back. I have to talk to Jack. I’ve got to make sure…” Her voice trailed off and Patsy nodded, going back to both Paul and Chloe and saying, “Hey, you two…Let’s play a real, quiet game, okay?”
That was all the distraction Salene needed. She slipped out of the room as Patsy drew Chloe’s and Paul’s attention from her leaving. She went to find Jack and found him in his workshop, agitatedly moving from one end of the room to the other.
“Jack,” she called, hearing the sounds of sirens again, this time much, much too close for comfort. “Jack, are listening to me?”
“The Locos are coming!” Jack cried, throwing up his hands. He turned to her and she could see the fear in his eyes. An uncomfortable feeling of fear wound its way into her stomach also, but Salene pushed it back, swallowed it and asked: “That storm drain, to the sewers, is it still open?”
He looked away from her, shrugging. “I-I don’t know, Salene. I can’t remember.”
“Do you think the Locos could find it?” she pressed. She didn’t want to agitate him further, but she needed to know, she needed to make sure…It was something Dan would do, she was sure. “Do you think they could find it and get through?”
“I don’t know, Salene!” Jack cried, glaring at her. “I don’t know! I don’t know!” He advanced on her, jabbing an accusing finger. “If you hadn’t have shown up with those two annoying girls they wouldn’t be snooping around! They know people are here and they’re going to get us! They’re going to get me!”
She knew fear was making Jack irrational, but she couldn’t deal with it. Not right now, anyway. She took his anger, his fear, and then asked in a calm voice, “Don’t worry about that now, Jack. Just tell me. The storm drain?”
Jack’s glare was a heated one and he shook with pent-up emotions. He ground out, “I. Don’t. Know.”
Salene nodded, swallowing and looking back to the darkened Mall that she remembered so well being filled with people, laughter, giggling teenage girls and macho posing boys, parents, families…all gone now. But she had her own family to protect, and she was going to protect them the best way she knew how.
“Okay, Jack,” she said not turning to look at him, a frown formed between her delicate eyebrows. “I’m going to go check on the storm drain. Just…Just look after the girls and Paul for me.”
She didn’t wait for his answer, just bound down the Mall stairs and headed towards the back where there used to be the Mall security guard’s office and the stock room for the retail stores and the store rooms for the old eateries and cafes. She proceeded with caution as she walked down the darkened hallway that lead to Mall’s exit and…to the entrance to the storm drain.
The storm drain itself wasn’t the problem, or at least not the biggest problem. The sewers were. The sewers were what needed to be sealed off to make the Mall an effective fortress. Sal was sure Dan would’ve thought of that, but so too would he have figured out a way to rig it so that they’d still have a way to escape if need be. Dan had always been much smarter than her when it came to those kinds of things and it made Salene miss him more than ever. She didn’t want to do this on her own, she couldn’t. She didn’t know how, she didn’t have the skills.
She crept further down until she hit the Mall’s exit. She paused, breathed, steeling herself for any possible threat that could spring out at her from the darkness the lurked beyond. Salene pushed the Mall door open and stepped outside into the cool night air. The sound of the sirens was muted here, but she could still here them, like a reminder of everything that everyone had lost. They used to be a sound of comfort to those that needed the help that they signified and even an annoyance sometimes when the sirens whirred past houses, disrupting the quiet of peaceful neighborhoods. But now they were a sound of terror, and Salene could curse the Locos for that. She could only imagine how many children had flocked to the sound of sirens in the beginning, just after the virus had done its worse, hoping for relief and thinking that they had found it, only to be captured or killed. She shuddered in both fear and sadness.
Salene proceeded through the darkness of the back hallway that led to the entrance to the storm drain, and from there, the sewers and the only way out or into the Mall from outside. She certainly hoped no one would find it, especially not the Locos. She wanted to keep herself, the little ones…and even Jack…safe from the outside world, safe from all the dangers that could possibly harm them or worse. She walked quietly, trying not to make a sound, breathing deep and shallow, just trying to listen to anything in the darkness up ahead.
There was nothing and she made it to the storm drain without much incident. She pushed it open, undoing the latches and opened the lid. The rank, disgusting smell of rotting things rose up to her unprepared nostrils and made it sting to breath. Salene coughed, wrinkled her nose in disgust and swung her leg over, placing her foot on the ladder that lead down into the sewers. When her other leg was secure, she climbed down into the even deeper darkness, hoping against all hope that the entrance to the sewers from the street level was as inconspicuous as possible so that no one could get in.
She walked the sewer tunnel, eyes combing the darkness for any threats and when she made it to the other entrance, she climbed up the ladder quietly, hearing the sounds of sirens. She put her hands against the sewer lid and pushed with all her might. It made a grating sound that set her teeth on edge and she hoped no one outside heard it. She pushed until there was enough room to stick her head out and when she did, she gasped in both fear and surprise, trying to pull herself back down into the comforting darkness to escape.
“No! Wait! Please!” came the panicked shout from outside and Salene paused, her breathing suddenly very hard and shallow. Everything in her was screaming to close the sewer lid and run back to the safe and comforting bosom of the Mall, but then a small part of her didn’t want to refuse people if they needed help. She was torn and before she could even make a decision, a girl’s face appeared above her, a relieved smile on her face.
“Thank you,” the girl said, attempting to climb in. Salene was too stunned to do anything other than move out of her way. “Thank you for helping us. C’mon, Dal.”
Us? Salene thought, feeling slightly confused and, even a might bit sick. Jack was not going to like this. She leapt down from the sewer as a younger boy followed the girl down. And then another shadow loomed above the sewer entrance and the young boy shouted in alarm for the girl.
“Amber!”
“Oi, you can’t just leave us out here with the Locos coming!” came a young male’s voice from up above and the girl, Amber, shouted back in anger, “You were going to attack us! It seems like you’d fit right at home with those psychos!”
“Wait, please!” came yet another shout from above, this one belonging to another girl, who pushed the shouting, dark-haired boy aside. “Please, we were only trying to survive. We haven’t eaten for days and the Locos have been chasing us too! Please don’t leave us out here!”
“Tough!” growled Amber, and that was when Salene spoke up, spurred to action by the sirens that were drawing closer, circling around like a vulture looking for its prey. She’d been watching the exchange with a dazed sort of confusion, not understanding how a simple recon to check to see if the storm drain and sewers were secure, could go so horribly wrong so quickly. She hadn’t meant to help anyone except herself, the little ones and Jack. Now, there were more people and she couldn’t just let some girl that she didn’t even know bo-guard her way into Salene’s pseudo-home and make the rules. Dan wouldn’t have stood for it. Then again, Dan probably wouldn’t have let things get this far.
“Now, hold on a minute,” Salene began loudly. The girl, Amber, and her friend, Dal, whirled on her in surprise. “This is my home, not yours, and I get to decide who stays and who goes, and I say they get to stay.”
Amber started to protest, but Salene shook her head, glaring at the girl.
“If you let them in, you’ll regret it,” Amber said coldly. Salene shrugged.
“I’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Salene replied just as cold.
“Oi, move!” the dark-haired boy shouted from above and the boy Dal did just that. Three more teens piled noisily into the sewer and the last one, a boy much larger than his friend who’d first spoken, pulled back the sewer securely and leapt down from the height with a loud thump as his boots hit the concrete floor. Amber glared at the dark-haired boy and the boy sneered back, while the other girl in the small group of three rushed to Salene and hugged her gratefully.
“Thank you so much,” the girl said, her eyes watering.
Salene nodded and smiled at her reassuringly. “C’mon, let’s get going before the Locos hear us and discover where we are.”
“Exactly,” the dark-haired boy said darkly to Amber, stepping around Salene with a smirk and continuing down the sewer tunnel. The bigger boy followed him and after a gentle smile, the girl followed after the other two. Amber and Dal were next and Salene brought up the rear. She shook her head.
Jack was not going to like this at all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When they finally arrived in the City, everything was quiet, deceptively so. Bray didn’t like it and he could tell that Ebony didn’t either. She had the same watchful silence cloaking her as he did, and even Trudy seemed a little agitated with the lack of activity. No one was outside, no one walking the City streets or chaos on every corner. He had not expected to come back to a City at peace, or at a relative peace because he had not found a secure enough place to put Trudy and Ebony so that he could scout around and be sure. He swallowed and proceeded forward. Ebony followed on silent feet, and Trudy trailed quietly after.
Bray’s eyes watched the darkness, combing shadows that were not chased away by the glow of street lamps. He studied the hulking shapes of abandoned cars, the buildings that crowded around the small trio like a concrete tunnel, where nothing moved save the wind. All of the stillness was making Bray nervous; it felt like the calm before a very tumultuous storm. He just hoped that he and the others could find shelter before the storm broke.
It was just weird. He expected to come back to a city in chaos, but there was not sound of Locos sirens or children running away scared and hiding wherever they could. Had someone defeated Martin, was that it? Had the Demon Dogs and the Locos finally killed each other? That gave Bray pause, caused a slight stab of pain to jab his gut. He didn’t want to think of Martin as dead, no matter how unhinged his brother had become. He didn’t want the only link he had left to anything normal—no matter how messed up that link was—taken away from him. He needed Martin to be alive and well, even if his brother were part of the source of the troubles in the City. It gave Bray hope that maybe, one day…
“Bray,” Ebony called quietly, and he turned back to see her stopped in the middle of the road, her head inclined to sky. Listening.
“What is it?” Trudy asked, a tremor in her voice. She turned from Bray to Ebony and back again. “What’s going on?” She clutched her stomach protectively, her breathing haggard and fear laced.
“Locos,” Bray replied in dread, finally hearing the sirens. They were far enough away for them to be able to find a decent hiding spot, and—even though Bray was loathed to admit it—he was glad that he heard them; Martin had not fallen after all.
“What’ll we do?” Trudy asked, her voice rising in pitch. “What’ll we do? Bray? Ebony?”
“We get outta here,” Ebony replied, turning to the other girl, but there was no malice in her voice, just a touch of fear. Ebony had good reason to be afraid. She’d taken a great risk leaving Martin behind for Bray, and that betrayal wouldn’t go over well with the Locos leader. He felt a stab of guilt; after all, it was his fault. He’d wanted to her to with them, had figured that life away from Martin, away from the City, was better for her. He just hoped he could keep her, and Trudy, safe.
“C’mon,” Bray said, shouldering his backpack and taking both of their hands in his. Ebony’s hand was warm and soft despite the hard work that she’d had to endure living in the wilderness outside of the City and she clutched his with a fear that she’d never admit in any other circumstance. Trudy’s hand slipped into his other hand also, and he could feel the tremors that were quaking her body as he pulled them along, combing the darkness, trying to find a suitable and secure place to hide. They didn’t have to look for long.
It was abandoned, and didn’t look as if anyone had ransacked it in a long time. The windows were broken through sure, but how would the Locos know that anyone were hiding in a place that they’d probably already looted for supplies anyway. He took the girls to it, pushing aside shopping carts and other obstructions, clearing an easy path for Trudy. When they were done—the sirens all that much closer—Bray ushered them inside, pulling the broken glass door shut behind him. He ushered them to the back, where he was sure there was a store room or an office, and when they reached it, they hid behind toppled file cabinets and a ruined, fungus eaten desk.
“We’ll stay here until first light,” Bray told them. Ebony nodded, her green eyes—even in the darkness—shining with an unnatural light. Trudy sniffed and held her belly and Bray went to the office door, staying in the shadows, but still wanting to see outside. Just in case.
He settled his back against the door frame, his gaze watchful, preparing for a long night ahead.
When All We Wanted Was A Dream - 2/?
Title: When All We Wanted Was A Dream (2/?)
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe
Warning(s): AU, so far that’s the only warning—see chapter one
Summary: So, the world’s still out there?
--Desmond Hume (Lost), Adrift S2xE2
Author’s Note(s): Okay so after a long overdue update, chapter two is finally here, and it might be a tidbit disjointed, but umm…I warned ya, didn’t I? Unbeta’d so all the mistakes are mine. It’s going to get a bit bumpy, but bear with me, k?
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
II.
Running was one of those things that Lex excelled at, one of those things that he found that he could do without much thought, without much planning save to shift, pivot and move into the direction that he needed to go. It was easy, something that didn’t require much brainpower; an instinctual drive that was taken over by intuition, leading him to safety. Like now, for instance: he could hear the labored breathing of Zandra behind him, and Ryan and Glen, with their heavy boots, thumping behind him as well, but he was sure in his movements, jumping over trashcans and obstructions, as fleet-footed as the wind.
“Lex, wait!”
Was that Zandra shouting behind him? He couldn’t tell, his mind was so set, so focused, like tunnel vision; they had to escape. Well, he more so than the rest, but if they managed to keep up then all the better for them. He wasn’t going to slow down; instinct was shouting, ‘faster, run faster, Lexy baby. Run’ and he wasn’t going to be fool enough to not listen to it. He leaped over another trashcan, looked up and saw a chain-linked fence barring his way. He felt the surge in his muscles, the adrenaline pumping in his veins, the thunder of his blood roaring in his ears.
“Please, Lex!”
He glanced back, only for a second: Zandra was so far behind, and Ryan and Glen were fairing no better. Did he dare stop? Indecision was not something that Lex was good at. He hated being confused, hated that feeling that befuddled his thoughts and made him feel like even more of an idiot than he sometimes told himself he was. He hated not having the answer presented right in front of him, simple and exact so that he didn’t have to pick it apart and ponder its pieces. He wanted to get away—further back from Zandra, a gang of Locos loomed and over the thoughts that were starting to befuddle his mind, Lex could hear the sound of sirens blaring, wailing the end of the world—but did he dare leave them behind? Lex looked back again, bit his lip, felt a frown line form between his brows.
His hands met the chain-linked fence, ears ringing with the sound of metal clashing metal, and gripped individual chain rings, cold and biting, between his fingers—“Lex!”—felt the muscles strain in his arms as he hoisted himself up, felt the power in his legs, propel him upward, vaulting over the fenced obstruction until he was flying for just a moment, suspended, then his feet met hard pavement and he stumbled to catch his balance. He looked up and back—Zandra’s angry blue eyes met Lex’s brown, and he stopped, paused, in his mad dash to get away—“Power and Chaos! Power and Chaos!”
“C’mon, Zan!” he shouted, motioning for them to hurry, looking past them and seeing the Locos getting closer. Ryan vaulted over the fence first, with Zandra following closely after.
“C’mon, Glen,” Zandra shouted in panic and Lex heard the fence rattle, glanced back, saw the angry red and blue paint of one Locos’ face as the boy growled at him from behind the fence. Glen gave a cry of alarm. Lex looked away as the Locos grabbed him. Zandra screamed, Ryan shouted; Lex felt the power surge in his legs. Run, Lexy-baby. Never look back.
“Leave him!” Lex shouted, retreating. He heard Zandra’s gasp of horror and Ryan’s protest, and growled, “Leave him or I leave you.” And took off, not caring if they followed or if they stayed. He had to get away, had to run, had to follow the instinct that was screaming at him, yelling at him, urging him to go, flee to wherever there was safety, to wherever the Locos couldn’t find him. He heard Zandra’s footsteps behind him, heard the heavy thump of Ryan’s boots also.
But he didn’t hear Glen’s, and all he could think: “Sucks for you, mate.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When night fell, Amber and Dal made their move.
Amber had been looking for a place for weeks for her and Dal to crash, a place to get them by at least, until they could escape the madness of the City and find their solace in the countryside. Their plan, however, had been hindered for weeks. Trying to find supplies had become a fast fading dream in the City no matter where Amber or Dal looked, and with kids scrambling to get as much as they could before everyone else, the usual picking grounds were drying up. The last place that she could fathom to still have anything worth taking was the local Mall.
She and Dal had been watching the Mall for weeks.
It was located in a remote portion of the City, where none of the other kids dared to venture. Maybe they believed that the large, looming colossus of a building was haunted, or maybe there were just too many memories of the old days lingering about the place like unquiet ghosts and no kid in the City was willing to relive the happier times. Either way it was perfect. They could hold up there for a little while, resupply with whatever was still left there and then escape the City when they were well rested.
She and Dal moved like shadows in the darkness, side stepping the street lamps that still flickered for a moment and flooded the night with yellow-gold luminescence. They moved from pool of darkness to pool of darkness, pausing when they heard the distant sound of sirens wailing in the distance; Amber wondered if the Locos ever got any sleep at all, or were they driven relentlessly on by their psychotic leader, Zoot? She shuddered even thinking about the Locos king with his silvery opaque eyes that seemed to look right through you, right down into the very dark depths of your soul. She’d encountered him only once, at the beginning when all this madness had began, and she didn’t ever want to relive the experience again.
“Amber?”
She gave a start at the barely whispered call of her name, met Dal’s eyes in the darkness, giving him a reassuring smile. He frowned at her, but said nothing, merely pointed ahead. She looked to where he pointed, and saw that the front entrance to the Mall was blocked. She frowned.
Blocked?
In all her surveillance of the place, it hadn’t been blocked. There had been no obstructions at all. Did that mean that someone else had already moved in?
“What’ll we do?” Dal asked, quietly, coming to stand beside her. He stared intently at the toppled trashcans, the piles of papers and shopping carts that blocked their way in. “Should we find somewhere else, d’you think?”
Amber breathed, staring hard at the Mall, frustration wanting to bubble up from her stomach in annoyance and anger. They’d been watching the Mall for weeks. How could it have just slipped past her that someone else had been occupying it, or had begun to occupy it? How could she have not seen someone moving in on their new picking grounds?
She turned to Dal’s expectant gaze and shook her head in the dark. “No, Dal, we’re not going anywhere. Let’s just hope that whoever they are, they’re willing to share.”
He nodded and followed her as she walked carefully through the dark, picking her way around obstructions and pools of light, attempting to find a different entrance into the Mall. She stared at its nearly unblemished walls, the windows that remained unbroken despite the chaos in the City and the few fires that crackled, popped and danced in their confines of metal trash bins. The place was virtually untouched, a fortress, almost impregnable, but there had to be a way in. There just had to. She didn’t want to believe that she had wasted weeks of hers and Dal’s precious time trying to make sure that the Mall was safe for them when it really wasn’t.
How did she know that this wasn’t where the Locos wee holed up? There was no evidence to support it, but then there was no evidence to the contrary either. How did she know that there wasn’t some other hostile band of kids in there? How did she know that she wasn’t risking hers or Dal’s life even standing here and looking at the building?
The truth was, she didn’t, and Amber hated herself for feeling so lost and indecisive. She’d only felt like this one other time and that was back at the beginning, when her mother’d left her—like all the parents had left their kids—and she promised herself that she wouldn’t feel the awful churning of confusion in her gut ever again if she could help it.
“C’mon,” she began, starting towards the side alley that lead to the back of the Mall. “Let’s go—”
She only had a split second to react to Dal’s sudden panicked shout before a large, hulking shadow came barreling out of the darkness and slammed into her at full force.
“Amber!” Dal shouted as her back hit the ground and the shadowy figure landed on top of her, driving the breath from her lungs in a painful rush. She could only vaguely utter a stream of obscenities in her mind as the figure grappled for purchase and she too struggled to be released.
“Amber! Amber, I—”
Dal’s voice was cut off in mid-choke and Amber felt her arms pinned to either side of her head, skin brushing against her cheek as a whispered threat brushed across her ear: “Make another sound and you’re both gonna get it. Understand?”
The voice clearly belonged to a male, and a cocky one at that. Amber’s breathing was struggled, harsh ragged breaths sucked into her lungs, as she nodded, feeling anger and frustration boiling hotly in her belly, defiance leaking into her limps and adrenaline pumping in her veins. As soon as the figure even gave her an inch of leeway, she was going to make sure they paid dearly. She waited and the figure finally drew back enough to give her some breathing room. Amber gritted her teeth, but still she waited. The figure moved even more, trying to get his balance to stand, and that’s when she struck. Lightning quick, she snatched her arm from the figure’s grasp, but before he could protest, she nailed him with a swift punch to the jaw. He recoiled and she kicked out, nailing him with her booted feet in soft, pliable flesh. He utter a cry of alarm and pain and she scrambled to her feet, trying to make out the attackers in the dark.
There were three of them: the one who attacked her, another, a girl, standing off to the side whimpering and the last, who held Dal in a vise-like grip. She didn’t know them, couldn’t distinguish the war paint on their faces in the darkness to see if they were Locos or Demon Dogs or some rogue element that wanted to get hostile.
“Let him go,” she growled at the boy who held Dal. He was a big fellow with features that—back in the old days—Amber would’ve figured inspired trust in anyone, even a wild, rabid dog. But these weren’t the old days and Amber wasn’t going to trust anyone aside from Dal.
“Don’t you dare,” growled the one who had attacked her. He was dark haired, she could see that even in the dark, with almond shaped eyes that glowered at her. He held his jaw and stomach. “Don’t you dare let him go. Not until I let her have it for one-upping me.”
“Lex, please,” the girl begged, her eyes wide and frightened. “What if she’s one of the Locos? We have to get out of here.”
“Cool it, Zandra,” the boy named Lex growled angrily. “She’s not a Locos. Lookit the way she’s dressed. No, she’s just some damn girl that’s going to pay. Check him, Ryan. See if he’s got any food or supplies. I’m going to deal with her.”
Lex advanced on her, and Amber stepped back, her gaze trained on his every move. She heard Dal’s sharp protest, saw out of the corner of her eye Dal trying his best to fight off the big bully that this Lex-guy obviously commanded. She gritted her teeth and hardened her jaw, her hands forming tight fists of anger. She felt power uncoiling from her gut, branching out into her body and she growled at the boy, “Alright, Lex, is it? You want to rumble? Let’s rumble.”
The grin that he gave her was a lupine one with all teeth. He narrowed his eyes even further, balling his own hands into fists. But before either one could make a move, the sudden sound of a wailing siren stopped them, held them frozen in fear, and for a brief second Amber saw the look of anger dissolve in Lex’s eyes to one of pure panic. He whirled and faced the direction of where the sirens were coming from, his breathing suddenly very shallow an ragged.
Amber snapped out of her temporary stupor though, and seeing hers and Dal’s chance shouted, “Run, Dal! Run!” Before taking off herself down the mouth of the alley. She heard a shout, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and then, “I’m coming, Amber! I’m coming!”
Dal’s footsteps echoed down the dark alleyway with her as they tried to find someway of escape.
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe
Warning(s): AU, so far that’s the only warning—see chapter one
Summary: So, the world’s still out there?
--Desmond Hume (Lost), Adrift S2xE2
Author’s Note(s): Okay so after a long overdue update, chapter two is finally here, and it might be a tidbit disjointed, but umm…I warned ya, didn’t I? Unbeta’d so all the mistakes are mine. It’s going to get a bit bumpy, but bear with me, k?
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
II.
Running was one of those things that Lex excelled at, one of those things that he found that he could do without much thought, without much planning save to shift, pivot and move into the direction that he needed to go. It was easy, something that didn’t require much brainpower; an instinctual drive that was taken over by intuition, leading him to safety. Like now, for instance: he could hear the labored breathing of Zandra behind him, and Ryan and Glen, with their heavy boots, thumping behind him as well, but he was sure in his movements, jumping over trashcans and obstructions, as fleet-footed as the wind.
“Lex, wait!”
Was that Zandra shouting behind him? He couldn’t tell, his mind was so set, so focused, like tunnel vision; they had to escape. Well, he more so than the rest, but if they managed to keep up then all the better for them. He wasn’t going to slow down; instinct was shouting, ‘faster, run faster, Lexy baby. Run’ and he wasn’t going to be fool enough to not listen to it. He leaped over another trashcan, looked up and saw a chain-linked fence barring his way. He felt the surge in his muscles, the adrenaline pumping in his veins, the thunder of his blood roaring in his ears.
“Please, Lex!”
He glanced back, only for a second: Zandra was so far behind, and Ryan and Glen were fairing no better. Did he dare stop? Indecision was not something that Lex was good at. He hated being confused, hated that feeling that befuddled his thoughts and made him feel like even more of an idiot than he sometimes told himself he was. He hated not having the answer presented right in front of him, simple and exact so that he didn’t have to pick it apart and ponder its pieces. He wanted to get away—further back from Zandra, a gang of Locos loomed and over the thoughts that were starting to befuddle his mind, Lex could hear the sound of sirens blaring, wailing the end of the world—but did he dare leave them behind? Lex looked back again, bit his lip, felt a frown line form between his brows.
His hands met the chain-linked fence, ears ringing with the sound of metal clashing metal, and gripped individual chain rings, cold and biting, between his fingers—“Lex!”—felt the muscles strain in his arms as he hoisted himself up, felt the power in his legs, propel him upward, vaulting over the fenced obstruction until he was flying for just a moment, suspended, then his feet met hard pavement and he stumbled to catch his balance. He looked up and back—Zandra’s angry blue eyes met Lex’s brown, and he stopped, paused, in his mad dash to get away—“Power and Chaos! Power and Chaos!”
“C’mon, Zan!” he shouted, motioning for them to hurry, looking past them and seeing the Locos getting closer. Ryan vaulted over the fence first, with Zandra following closely after.
“C’mon, Glen,” Zandra shouted in panic and Lex heard the fence rattle, glanced back, saw the angry red and blue paint of one Locos’ face as the boy growled at him from behind the fence. Glen gave a cry of alarm. Lex looked away as the Locos grabbed him. Zandra screamed, Ryan shouted; Lex felt the power surge in his legs. Run, Lexy-baby. Never look back.
“Leave him!” Lex shouted, retreating. He heard Zandra’s gasp of horror and Ryan’s protest, and growled, “Leave him or I leave you.” And took off, not caring if they followed or if they stayed. He had to get away, had to run, had to follow the instinct that was screaming at him, yelling at him, urging him to go, flee to wherever there was safety, to wherever the Locos couldn’t find him. He heard Zandra’s footsteps behind him, heard the heavy thump of Ryan’s boots also.
But he didn’t hear Glen’s, and all he could think: “Sucks for you, mate.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When night fell, Amber and Dal made their move.
Amber had been looking for a place for weeks for her and Dal to crash, a place to get them by at least, until they could escape the madness of the City and find their solace in the countryside. Their plan, however, had been hindered for weeks. Trying to find supplies had become a fast fading dream in the City no matter where Amber or Dal looked, and with kids scrambling to get as much as they could before everyone else, the usual picking grounds were drying up. The last place that she could fathom to still have anything worth taking was the local Mall.
She and Dal had been watching the Mall for weeks.
It was located in a remote portion of the City, where none of the other kids dared to venture. Maybe they believed that the large, looming colossus of a building was haunted, or maybe there were just too many memories of the old days lingering about the place like unquiet ghosts and no kid in the City was willing to relive the happier times. Either way it was perfect. They could hold up there for a little while, resupply with whatever was still left there and then escape the City when they were well rested.
She and Dal moved like shadows in the darkness, side stepping the street lamps that still flickered for a moment and flooded the night with yellow-gold luminescence. They moved from pool of darkness to pool of darkness, pausing when they heard the distant sound of sirens wailing in the distance; Amber wondered if the Locos ever got any sleep at all, or were they driven relentlessly on by their psychotic leader, Zoot? She shuddered even thinking about the Locos king with his silvery opaque eyes that seemed to look right through you, right down into the very dark depths of your soul. She’d encountered him only once, at the beginning when all this madness had began, and she didn’t ever want to relive the experience again.
“Amber?”
She gave a start at the barely whispered call of her name, met Dal’s eyes in the darkness, giving him a reassuring smile. He frowned at her, but said nothing, merely pointed ahead. She looked to where he pointed, and saw that the front entrance to the Mall was blocked. She frowned.
Blocked?
In all her surveillance of the place, it hadn’t been blocked. There had been no obstructions at all. Did that mean that someone else had already moved in?
“What’ll we do?” Dal asked, quietly, coming to stand beside her. He stared intently at the toppled trashcans, the piles of papers and shopping carts that blocked their way in. “Should we find somewhere else, d’you think?”
Amber breathed, staring hard at the Mall, frustration wanting to bubble up from her stomach in annoyance and anger. They’d been watching the Mall for weeks. How could it have just slipped past her that someone else had been occupying it, or had begun to occupy it? How could she have not seen someone moving in on their new picking grounds?
She turned to Dal’s expectant gaze and shook her head in the dark. “No, Dal, we’re not going anywhere. Let’s just hope that whoever they are, they’re willing to share.”
He nodded and followed her as she walked carefully through the dark, picking her way around obstructions and pools of light, attempting to find a different entrance into the Mall. She stared at its nearly unblemished walls, the windows that remained unbroken despite the chaos in the City and the few fires that crackled, popped and danced in their confines of metal trash bins. The place was virtually untouched, a fortress, almost impregnable, but there had to be a way in. There just had to. She didn’t want to believe that she had wasted weeks of hers and Dal’s precious time trying to make sure that the Mall was safe for them when it really wasn’t.
How did she know that this wasn’t where the Locos wee holed up? There was no evidence to support it, but then there was no evidence to the contrary either. How did she know that there wasn’t some other hostile band of kids in there? How did she know that she wasn’t risking hers or Dal’s life even standing here and looking at the building?
The truth was, she didn’t, and Amber hated herself for feeling so lost and indecisive. She’d only felt like this one other time and that was back at the beginning, when her mother’d left her—like all the parents had left their kids—and she promised herself that she wouldn’t feel the awful churning of confusion in her gut ever again if she could help it.
“C’mon,” she began, starting towards the side alley that lead to the back of the Mall. “Let’s go—”
She only had a split second to react to Dal’s sudden panicked shout before a large, hulking shadow came barreling out of the darkness and slammed into her at full force.
“Amber!” Dal shouted as her back hit the ground and the shadowy figure landed on top of her, driving the breath from her lungs in a painful rush. She could only vaguely utter a stream of obscenities in her mind as the figure grappled for purchase and she too struggled to be released.
“Amber! Amber, I—”
Dal’s voice was cut off in mid-choke and Amber felt her arms pinned to either side of her head, skin brushing against her cheek as a whispered threat brushed across her ear: “Make another sound and you’re both gonna get it. Understand?”
The voice clearly belonged to a male, and a cocky one at that. Amber’s breathing was struggled, harsh ragged breaths sucked into her lungs, as she nodded, feeling anger and frustration boiling hotly in her belly, defiance leaking into her limps and adrenaline pumping in her veins. As soon as the figure even gave her an inch of leeway, she was going to make sure they paid dearly. She waited and the figure finally drew back enough to give her some breathing room. Amber gritted her teeth, but still she waited. The figure moved even more, trying to get his balance to stand, and that’s when she struck. Lightning quick, she snatched her arm from the figure’s grasp, but before he could protest, she nailed him with a swift punch to the jaw. He recoiled and she kicked out, nailing him with her booted feet in soft, pliable flesh. He utter a cry of alarm and pain and she scrambled to her feet, trying to make out the attackers in the dark.
There were three of them: the one who attacked her, another, a girl, standing off to the side whimpering and the last, who held Dal in a vise-like grip. She didn’t know them, couldn’t distinguish the war paint on their faces in the darkness to see if they were Locos or Demon Dogs or some rogue element that wanted to get hostile.
“Let him go,” she growled at the boy who held Dal. He was a big fellow with features that—back in the old days—Amber would’ve figured inspired trust in anyone, even a wild, rabid dog. But these weren’t the old days and Amber wasn’t going to trust anyone aside from Dal.
“Don’t you dare,” growled the one who had attacked her. He was dark haired, she could see that even in the dark, with almond shaped eyes that glowered at her. He held his jaw and stomach. “Don’t you dare let him go. Not until I let her have it for one-upping me.”
“Lex, please,” the girl begged, her eyes wide and frightened. “What if she’s one of the Locos? We have to get out of here.”
“Cool it, Zandra,” the boy named Lex growled angrily. “She’s not a Locos. Lookit the way she’s dressed. No, she’s just some damn girl that’s going to pay. Check him, Ryan. See if he’s got any food or supplies. I’m going to deal with her.”
Lex advanced on her, and Amber stepped back, her gaze trained on his every move. She heard Dal’s sharp protest, saw out of the corner of her eye Dal trying his best to fight off the big bully that this Lex-guy obviously commanded. She gritted her teeth and hardened her jaw, her hands forming tight fists of anger. She felt power uncoiling from her gut, branching out into her body and she growled at the boy, “Alright, Lex, is it? You want to rumble? Let’s rumble.”
The grin that he gave her was a lupine one with all teeth. He narrowed his eyes even further, balling his own hands into fists. But before either one could make a move, the sudden sound of a wailing siren stopped them, held them frozen in fear, and for a brief second Amber saw the look of anger dissolve in Lex’s eyes to one of pure panic. He whirled and faced the direction of where the sirens were coming from, his breathing suddenly very shallow an ragged.
Amber snapped out of her temporary stupor though, and seeing hers and Dal’s chance shouted, “Run, Dal! Run!” Before taking off herself down the mouth of the alley. She heard a shout, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and then, “I’m coming, Amber! I’m coming!”
Dal’s footsteps echoed down the dark alleyway with her as they tried to find someway of escape.
[FIC] When All We Wanted Was A Dream 1/? - The Tribe
Title: When All We Wanted Was A Dream (1/?)
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe
Warning(s): AU out the yin-yang, but not OOC, k? It’s got a few twists and turns so bare with me
Summary: So, the world’s still out there?
--Desmond Hume (Lost), Adrift S2xE2
Author’s Note(s): Okay, so I was in a TRIBE mood a few weeks back and I started watching the first season again, and quite suddenly, around episode three, this bunny just up a bit me. It all started when Trudy & Bray first came to the mall in Season One and just this LOOK that Lex gave Trudy while she was seated on the stairwell of the mall. You can watch that particular episode on Youtube (S1xE2, part 2) and watch very closely the minutes: 1:00 – 2:40…hrmmmm…
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
I.
Under a night blackened sky, stars twinkling into existence one-by-one, two-by-two, three-by-three, away from the all too bright glare of city, street lights, Bray settled his aching body underneath the leafy heaven of overgrown bushes and vines, finally able to seek a little peace. Trudy and Ebony lay somewhere nearby, sleeping on empty dreams; they barely stirred, save Ebony to move from her stomach to her back and then back again. He watched them, staying off the inevitable oblivion of sleep, just amazed that the two of them had stuck by his side for so long in these past few months; especially Ebony. He’d always thought that she would up and abandon him and Trudy, but she had stayed, pulling her weight as much as he, and for that he was grateful.
He lay back with an appreciative groan, glad for the comfort of the lichen and moss beneath him, letting a sigh escape and closing his eyes to the night and darkness. Crickets sang their midnight songs, birds and other animals rustled through the trees overheard. This was the time that he liked the most: the darkness when the world seemed like it was new and everything was quiet in the twilight hours, when he had a chance to let his thoughts drift and wander without the threat of someone catching him unawares. He let his thoughts drift back, back from the current circumstances and instead hover over what had brought them to this place and time.
It had been a few weeks after the last adult had died, a tumultuous time indeed, with teenagers and kids running around stirring up chaos in the City, gradually forming tribes and terrorizing those kids that either weren’t in Tribes or were much too weak to defend themselves. It was during the time that Zoot—Martin, his mind corrected sharply, and Bray winced at that—had lost his marbles completely, and had begun recruiting the scared kids of the City to follow him; ‘Power and Chaos’ chanted along the streets as his police car whirled around the city blocks: Power and Chaos. It was when Martin had truly started securing power for himself that Trudy had come to Bray, telling him that she was pregnant and it was then that they had made the decision to leave the City. It would be much too dangerous to raise a child in the pandemonium, and Bray wasn’t one to let responsibility pass him by.
It had taken them a month to prepare, to get all the necessary supplies that they had needed, to keep the suspicious eyes of the Locos away from their activities, and when they’d finally gotten everything they’d tried to make their escape, by night, by moonlight, when no one—they thought—would detect their leaving. But someone had, and that someone had been Ebony. She’d cornered them, and Bray remembered that moment, so clearly as if it were happening all over again, right in front of him, a tense scene in a movie that was his reality, his life…
…"Just what the hell d’you think you’re doing, Bray?"
The sharp question came out of nowhere and Bray whirled as Trudy nearly screamed, almost alerting the other Locos to their presence. He faced Ebony, her green eyes glaring at him in accusation, betrayal, anger. She stepped forward, and even though she was shorter than he, Ebony could still be a menacing lynx when she wanted to.
“I said, ‘What the hell d’you think you’re doing, Bray?’” she repeated slowly, as if she were talking to a village idiot. Bray stood his full height and stared her down, his blue eyes meeting her unwavering green.
“We can’t stay here any longer, Ebony,” he replied, his voice firm and no-nonsense. “It’s too dangerous.”
Ebony smirked, shaking her head at him, but it was Trudy who broke the tension, tugging at his arm and saying, desperately,”She doesn’t matter, Bray. Let’s just go. Please? Let’s just get out of here.”
“No!” Bray said, his voice explosive, causing Trudy to release his arm and step back, clearly trembling and afraid.
“No,” he continued, his voice quieter, softer. He turned back to Ebony, swallowed and said, “Ebony…” his voice trailed off uncertainly and she looked up at him, her gaze cold, calculating, unyielding.
“Give me one reason,” she growled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call the Locos down here and have you two captured. I bet Zoot doesn’t even know about your little impromptu trip, huh? So, how about it, Bray?”
Bray swallowed in apprehension, looked back at Trudy and met her frightened, pleading eyes: pleading him to run, pleading him to save her, to do something—anything—to save her from Zoot’s wrath. Bray breathed deep, swallowed again and came to a decision. He turned back to Ebony, a look of fierce determination written across his young features and said, quite seriously, “Come with us, Ebony.”
The look of absolute disbelief that covered her delicate features was on he’d never seen on her before, but it was Trudy’s explosive, “WHAT?!” that shook Ebony from the emotion and turned her face back to a mask of cold stone.
“You’re joking, right?” her voice was mocking and cruel, but Bray had seen an emotion flash through her eyes and he pressed forward, taking a step toward her and holding out his hand slowly.
“I’m not joking, Ebony,” he said, no pretense in his tone. “I wouldn’t joke about this.”
Somewhere far beyond them an alarm went up, the sound of the police car being revved up and the enraged cries of a dozen or so teenagers roused from their sleep and dreams rose in the air: “Power and Chaos. Power and Chaos.” Zoot was awake, and had clearly discovered Trudy and Bray missing. Ebony looked up as well as Bray, and Trudy whimpered in the background.
“Please, Ebony,” Bray implored, looking at her, as she dropped her gaze from the sky and met his blue, blue eyes. “Come with us.”
Ebony shook her head, the smirk back on her face. “You’re crazy, you know that, Bray? Crazy. You wouldn’t last five minutes out there with Princess Spoiled to look after, and what d’you think Zoot’ll do once he finds you? It’s chaos out there, Bray. Chaos, and the only way to survive chaos is through power and you don’t have any of that.”
“But what I will have,” Bray ground out fiercely, “is freedom. Freedom to do whatever I want, however I want. Back there, you’re owned Ebony.” He saw the dangerous glint that her eyes took on, but he pressed on with his words, unafraid.” You have to listen to Zoot and do what he says. You’re his property as much as any of the others. He owns you, Ebony. I can’t promise you that it won’t be hard, that you won’t get scared. But in the City, I can promise you that you’ll lose yourself, Ebony.” He stepped forward, closer to her this time, his hand still out stretched, still beckoning. The sound of angry teenagers was drawing closer. The blood in Bray’s veins were thundering like horses in his ears, but he kept a calm, straight face, his eyes showing the only emotions he dared: asking, pleading, begging her.
She stood stock still, eyes darting from his hand to his eyes, then back again. She swallowed. Bray waited. The silence was tense between them; the only sound was the Locos army, getting closer and closer.
“Bray,” Trudy whined from behind him, but he ignored her. His attention was focused on Ebony, hoping to get through to her, for her to listen, to believe, to come with them and escape the City, escape Zoot, to save her soul. He knew what kind of person she was, knew what kind of games she liked to play, but if she took his hand, if she stepped forward and reached out and took his hand…
Maybe…
Maybe…
“Bray, please,” Trudy’s voice, louder and helpless still, broke the silence between them, and Ebony blinked, swallowed and took a step away from his outstretched hand. Bray looked away, defeated, and began to turn, to take Trudy’s hand and escape while they still had time.
“C’mon, Tru—“
But it was at that moment that Ebony’d grabbed his arm, and that he met her scared, scared eyes with his own. He smiled reassuringly, lacing his fingers through hers and they—all three—took off into the concrete jungle, into the night swamped City, away from Zoot, away from the Locos, and out into the wilderness beyond…
…It had been a miracle to say the least. Ebony--The Ebony--taking his hand, and joining him and Trudy; he still couldn’t believe it, but when he’d woken up every morning since, she’d still be there, grumbling about having to lay on the ground, grumbling about getting her clothes dirty, but still there, still with them, never leaving. Bray settled even further into his comforting paradise of underbrush, wanting sleep to claim his exhausted body and rest from this day’s events of scavenging for food and running away from a tribe of kids that hadn’t really liked their grown food stolen. He couldn’t help that; they needed to eat; especially Trudy, what with the baby and all.
It had been hell telling Ebony about the pregnancy, and she certainly didn’t let him live it down either. It wasn’t like Ebony overtly said anything, but she made her displeasure known in other ways. She’d mutter to herself sometimes, make an off-hand comment about Trudy’s body or some other such. Bray knew that it bothered her, knew that she’d had a ‘thing’ with Martin for a little while back when she was part of the Locos, and because of that fact she and Trudy did not get along.
He often had to stop the bickering between the two girls; it usually earned him a burning look from either one, and sometimes a snide comment from Ebony. And it still marveled him to no end how they all still remained together, how they’d managed to brave the first couple of weeks together without someone getting killed. He smirked at that despite himself and turned on his side, trying to get comfortable.
It’d be nice if he’d had a bed or some such to sleep on, like the one he’d had back home, but he couldn’t think about that, couldn’t wish for things that he could never hope to get back. He hunkered down, pushing his thoughts away until his consciousness was claimed by dreams.
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He awoke the next morning to the sound—surprise, surprise—of two bickering teenage girls. Ebony was complaining about food and rummaging he could see—with one eye cracked partially open—through the backpack that he’d abandoned the night before. She pulled out a can and tossed it to Trudy, who yelped and glared at the green-eyed girl as if she’d gone mad. The can landed with a thump at Trudy’s feet and rolled a little ways before stopping.
“Are you insane, Ebony?” Trudy screeched. “That can could have hit me in the stomach and hurt the baby!”
“Oh, pipe down,” Ebony growled in annoyance. “It wouldn’t have done anything of the sort. Besides, I counted on you moving out of the way.”
“And if I hadn’t?” Trudy growled back, indignant. Ebony shrugged nonchalantly and went back to the backpack, rooting around for other food stuffs. Trudy gave an even more indignant huff and Bray saw her whirl, starting for his prone form. He wanted to groan, bury his head in his arms and sleep. He was so not in the mood for this today.
“Bray!”
But apparently those merciful gods that would’ve heeded the boy’s pleas had abandoned the universe long ago. Figures. Bray sat up with a groan as Trudy marched right up to him and he looked up, meeting her wide, furious eyes. He dropped his gaze down, closing them and steeling himself for the tirade that was sure to come. And come it did.
“Did you see what she did?” Trudy shouted indignantly. “Did you? She tried to throw that can at me and purposefully hurt the baby!”
“Oh for crying out loud, you stupid cow,” Ebony shouted, just as indignantly. “I didn’t try to do anything! If I’d wanted to, it would’ve been done already.”
Trudy’s face drained of all color. Here it comes.
“D’you see, Bray?!” Trudy screeched louder this time, and it left a ringing in his ears that he hadn’t thought at all possible. “D’you see?! She admits it! She wants to hurt me. She wants to hurt the baby!”
“Trudy,” Bray groaned, rubbing his temples. A massive migraine was starting to form at the base of his neck and it wasn’t even noon yet. He looked up, met her dark, dark eyes with his blue, tried to smile reassuringly. “She wasn’t trying to hurt the baby, right, Ebony?” He glared at the other girl, who gave another nonchalant shrug and pulled out a can of soup from his backpack and two carrots.
“Whatever,” she replied, nonplussed. “If Princess Spoiled over there wants to think that I was trying to kill her, then fine. I have no problems with that.”
“Ebony,” Bray groaned. He seriously, seriously did NOT need this. “Play nice, please? It’s too early in the morning.” He lay back down with a thump and Trudy stomped her foot, looking from Ebony to Bray’s prone form and then back again, her features contorted in both anger and shock.
“I can’t believe you just defended her, Bray.” The shock layered Trudy’s voice like a second skin, and Bray wondered whether or not it had been prudent to run away with her in tow instead of just taking Ebony with him that night and leaving her behind. It wasn’t a very nice thought, he knew, and it was probably just her hormones making her act so crazy and paranoid, but he just did not feel like handling it at that moment.
“How could you—“
“Trudy,” he said, his voice firm, as he sat up once more. She fell silent, her eyes wide and watery. “Just stop, okay? Help Ebony with breakfast and I’ll go find us some water.”
He mouth shut immediately and she looked, at that very moment, every bit like the spoiled princess that Ebony nicknamed her, from the way her lips quivered to the way her eyes teared up and her jaw hardened. He didn’t want to deal with a tantrum so he sprang up with an energy he did not feel and walked swiftly over to his backpack, scooping it up as Ebony shot him a glare.
“You’re going to leave me with her?” Ebony growled low enough so that only he could hear. He glared at her.
“Play nice.”
Ebony smirked with a mischievousness that made butterflies flutter anxiously in his stomach.
“I can’t promise you anything.”
He rolled his eyes and stood up straight as Ebony picked up the can opener that she’d swiped from his bag and began to open the can of soup.
“Wish me luck,” he said turning to Trudy expectantly, who pointedly ignored him. He sighed and started off into the woods.
“Luck!” Ebony called after him, entirely too cheerful to be normal. She had something up her sleeve, and he just hoped that there wouldn’t be some new chaos Ebony cooked up to annoy Trudy that he’d have to break up when he got back.
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“You know,” Ebony began, her tone thoughtful as she sat before the boiling pot of soup, watching it bubble and froth and cook, waiting for it to be done already. Trudy shot the other girl a burning glare that Ebony didn’t see so intent on her cooking, but Trudy wasn’t fooled for a second. She sneered.
“What?” she growled at the other girl, angry that Bray had left her—abandoned her more like—with the stupid cow, Ebony. God, how could he?!
Ebony glanced at her, raised an eyebrow and then turned back to the cooking food. She didn’t speak for a moment, an infuriating smirk playing across her features as she leaned forward and checked the soup with a spoon, stirring it slightly then tapping the spoon gently on the pot’s side; it rang hollow in the air. Trudy watched her, growing impatient by the moment, until she exploded: “WHAT, EBONY?! WHAT DO I KNOW?!”
Ebony turned to her all innocent looks and mock surprise.
“Temper, temper, Trudy dear,” she said, her voice every bit as mocking and condescending as her expression. “We wouldn’t want Bray to hear you shouting, now would we?”
“Stupid cow,” Trudy muttered and sat down with an angry thump on the ground, pouting and pointedly ignoring Ebony. The other girl watched her, amusement written all across her features. Trudy could feel herself trembling with pent-up rage. She didn’t know why Bray had to bring Ebony. She didn’t know why he had to go all noble and save the other girl when Trudy was clearly the one in greater, dire straits. She was pregnant after all with his niece or nephew, and she needed more looking after. With Ebony there it just distracted him, made him angrier than he needed to be, and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.
It had been their plan to escape; why had fate decided that Ebony had every right to interfere? She always managed to crop up unexpected, and unwanted, and with her here there was no way that…
There was just no way that Bray would…
Trudy growled in frustration and shot another angry glare at Ebony, who pointedly ignored her and took the pot of soup off the fire. She’d cut up the two carrots that she’d taken from Bray’s backpack and had dropped them in the soup before she’d started cooking, saying with a darkly, twinkling eye, “Got to keep your strength up. We want that baby nice and healthy when it’s born.”
But Trudy wasn’t fooled. She knew Ebony hated her for being pregnant with Martin’s child, resented her for it, and it gave Trudy momentary satisfaction that she’d one-upped Ebony in some way. She smirked at the thought and held her stomach. It large and swollen, and no longer just some regretful dream that Trudy had hoped wouldn’t happen; there was no denying her pregnancy now, no matter how much she wanted to. She was big and—in her mind—fat, as large and unattractive as a walrus. She couldn’t understand why Bray had stuck around her at all. She must’ve looked terribly hideous to him; that must’ve been why he always needed to get away from their tiny group. That, and Ebony, of course. Trudy was sure once the bay was born…
Well…
When the baby was born, Bray would want…
Her cheeks flushed positively red at any thoughts of Bray and her, and she couldn’t help the smile that played across her features. It dropped immediately once she’d heard Ebony’s derisive snort. She looked up, shot the girl a heated look.
“Lost in Lala Land, are you?” Ebony snapped, ill-tempered. Trudy sneered at her.
“No, of course not,” Trudy hissed, pursing her lips. “I was just thinking about—”
“Bray?” Ebony finished with a smirk. Trudy snarled at her and ground out, “Mind your own business, Ebony. I don’t know why he brought you! He should’ve left you behind with the Locos!”
Ebony’s gaze darkened at her words, but Trudy was too angry to care. Ebony stood, stalking menacingly towards Trudy, her green eyes flashing, her mouth pulled back to reveal her teeth.
“And maybe he should’ve left you behind, you stupid cow,” she growled and Trudy blanched. Ebony shook her head and looked down her nose at the other girl. “You’re not good for anything, Trudy. Not good for work or for scouting. At least I pull my weight around. What do you do? You mouth off and complain, even when Bray tries his hardest. You’re just a stupid, spoiled princess and you need to wake up!”
Trudy opened her mouth then closed it with a snap, her eyes beginning to water again, her lip trembling as a wave of emotions washed over her and shook her down to her very core. She didn’t like Ebony and she didn’t like the fact that Bray had brought her. She hated that Ebony could go off with Bray, hunting and searching out for food while she had to sit back and wait anxiously for their return. She hated that Ebony was so much more of a help to Bray than she was. But she couldn’t help any of it. She didn’t know how to cook on an open fire. She didn’t know how to hunt or track for animals, how to seek out the right food to eat and which herbs were best to treat wounds. She didn’t know anything.
A stray tear escaped her eye and she wiped it away, turning her head so that Ebony wouldn’t see, and the other girl hadn’t seen. She just continued with her anger, throwing her hands in the air in frustration and saying, “You’re the reason we’re even going back to the City at all. There’s not food out here, or at least none that we can easily get, and we need to be in a place that we know. It’s not safe out here for a baby and it’s not safe in the City, but at least…” Ebony’s voice trailed off and she growled. “It doesn’t matter, does it?” She shook her head, cocked it to the side, listening. “Bray’s coming back.”
Trudy looked up in surprise and Ebony retreated, going back to the rapidly cooling pot of soup. The pregnant girl quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, not wanting Bray to see. She sniffed, hoping that her face hadn’t gotten all splotchy and when he stepped through the clearing with three full water bottles in tow, Trudy greeted him with a smile as bright and cheery as she could make it.
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The minute he stepped back in the clearing, he knew something was wrong. He looked from Ebony to Trudy then back again, shaking his head in defeat. He tossed Ebony her water bottle and she caught it deftly and then took Trudy hers, popping the top off for her and smiling with a cheer he didn’t quite feel.
“Here,” he said, his voice as kind as he could make it and handed it over. She took it, trying to shield her eyes from his steady gaze, but he’d already seen the tale-tell redness of unshed tears. He wanted to groan in frustration and annoyance. What had Ebony done this time? Before he could turn and ask, Trudy spoke up in a soft, meek tone of voice, “Thank you, Bray.”
He smiled at her again, stood and breathed. Ebony had gone straight for his backpack where he’d let it tumble off his shoulders, rooting around for the few meager bowls he’d been able to scrounge up in the last few months. When she’d gotten them, she’d spooned soup in them and handed one off to Bray, who took it and passed it to Trudy then took the other and hunkered down to eat. Ebony ate from the pot and the three of them consumed their food in silence. Bray snuck glances at the two girls, but they looked stead-fast into their food, saying nothing. He groaned loudly, breaking the silence.
“Oh god, what happened?”
“Nothing,” Trudy said too quickly. “Nothing at all.” She smiled a watery smile and Ebony grumbled.
“When do we start do on our way back to the City, Bray?” Trudy asked, ignoring Ebony’s mumbles. Bray sighed, said,” We’ll start at noon. Give you some time to rest up a little bit more and then we’ll be off. Sound good to you, Ebony?”
The other girl mumbled her consent and finished off her food, getting up to clean the pot without a word. Bray gave another, inward, sigh. This was going to be another long day.
Author: wonderbread9
Rating: PG-13 - R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Bray/Salene, Lex/Trudy, Ebony/Pride, the cast of the Tribe
Warning(s): AU out the yin-yang, but not OOC, k? It’s got a few twists and turns so bare with me
Summary: So, the world’s still out there?
--Desmond Hume (Lost), Adrift S2xE2
Author’s Note(s): Okay, so I was in a TRIBE mood a few weeks back and I started watching the first season again, and quite suddenly, around episode three, this bunny just up a bit me. It all started when Trudy & Bray first came to the mall in Season One and just this LOOK that Lex gave Trudy while she was seated on the stairwell of the mall. You can watch that particular episode on Youtube (S1xE2, part 2) and watch very closely the minutes: 1:00 – 2:40…hrmmmm…
WHEN all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
--Charles Kingsley, Water Babies
Under a night blackened sky, stars twinkling into existence one-by-one, two-by-two, three-by-three, away from the all too bright glare of city, street lights, Bray settled his aching body underneath the leafy heaven of overgrown bushes and vines, finally able to seek a little peace. Trudy and Ebony lay somewhere nearby, sleeping on empty dreams; they barely stirred, save Ebony to move from her stomach to her back and then back again. He watched them, staying off the inevitable oblivion of sleep, just amazed that the two of them had stuck by his side for so long in these past few months; especially Ebony. He’d always thought that she would up and abandon him and Trudy, but she had stayed, pulling her weight as much as he, and for that he was grateful.
He lay back with an appreciative groan, glad for the comfort of the lichen and moss beneath him, letting a sigh escape and closing his eyes to the night and darkness. Crickets sang their midnight songs, birds and other animals rustled through the trees overheard. This was the time that he liked the most: the darkness when the world seemed like it was new and everything was quiet in the twilight hours, when he had a chance to let his thoughts drift and wander without the threat of someone catching him unawares. He let his thoughts drift back, back from the current circumstances and instead hover over what had brought them to this place and time.
It had been a few weeks after the last adult had died, a tumultuous time indeed, with teenagers and kids running around stirring up chaos in the City, gradually forming tribes and terrorizing those kids that either weren’t in Tribes or were much too weak to defend themselves. It was during the time that Zoot—Martin, his mind corrected sharply, and Bray winced at that—had lost his marbles completely, and had begun recruiting the scared kids of the City to follow him; ‘Power and Chaos’ chanted along the streets as his police car whirled around the city blocks: Power and Chaos. It was when Martin had truly started securing power for himself that Trudy had come to Bray, telling him that she was pregnant and it was then that they had made the decision to leave the City. It would be much too dangerous to raise a child in the pandemonium, and Bray wasn’t one to let responsibility pass him by.
It had taken them a month to prepare, to get all the necessary supplies that they had needed, to keep the suspicious eyes of the Locos away from their activities, and when they’d finally gotten everything they’d tried to make their escape, by night, by moonlight, when no one—they thought—would detect their leaving. But someone had, and that someone had been Ebony. She’d cornered them, and Bray remembered that moment, so clearly as if it were happening all over again, right in front of him, a tense scene in a movie that was his reality, his life…
…"Just what the hell d’you think you’re doing, Bray?"
The sharp question came out of nowhere and Bray whirled as Trudy nearly screamed, almost alerting the other Locos to their presence. He faced Ebony, her green eyes glaring at him in accusation, betrayal, anger. She stepped forward, and even though she was shorter than he, Ebony could still be a menacing lynx when she wanted to.
“I said, ‘What the hell d’you think you’re doing, Bray?’” she repeated slowly, as if she were talking to a village idiot. Bray stood his full height and stared her down, his blue eyes meeting her unwavering green.
“We can’t stay here any longer, Ebony,” he replied, his voice firm and no-nonsense. “It’s too dangerous.”
Ebony smirked, shaking her head at him, but it was Trudy who broke the tension, tugging at his arm and saying, desperately,”She doesn’t matter, Bray. Let’s just go. Please? Let’s just get out of here.”
“No!” Bray said, his voice explosive, causing Trudy to release his arm and step back, clearly trembling and afraid.
“No,” he continued, his voice quieter, softer. He turned back to Ebony, swallowed and said, “Ebony…” his voice trailed off uncertainly and she looked up at him, her gaze cold, calculating, unyielding.
“Give me one reason,” she growled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call the Locos down here and have you two captured. I bet Zoot doesn’t even know about your little impromptu trip, huh? So, how about it, Bray?”
Bray swallowed in apprehension, looked back at Trudy and met her frightened, pleading eyes: pleading him to run, pleading him to save her, to do something—anything—to save her from Zoot’s wrath. Bray breathed deep, swallowed again and came to a decision. He turned back to Ebony, a look of fierce determination written across his young features and said, quite seriously, “Come with us, Ebony.”
The look of absolute disbelief that covered her delicate features was on he’d never seen on her before, but it was Trudy’s explosive, “WHAT?!” that shook Ebony from the emotion and turned her face back to a mask of cold stone.
“You’re joking, right?” her voice was mocking and cruel, but Bray had seen an emotion flash through her eyes and he pressed forward, taking a step toward her and holding out his hand slowly.
“I’m not joking, Ebony,” he said, no pretense in his tone. “I wouldn’t joke about this.”
Somewhere far beyond them an alarm went up, the sound of the police car being revved up and the enraged cries of a dozen or so teenagers roused from their sleep and dreams rose in the air: “Power and Chaos. Power and Chaos.” Zoot was awake, and had clearly discovered Trudy and Bray missing. Ebony looked up as well as Bray, and Trudy whimpered in the background.
“Please, Ebony,” Bray implored, looking at her, as she dropped her gaze from the sky and met his blue, blue eyes. “Come with us.”
Ebony shook her head, the smirk back on her face. “You’re crazy, you know that, Bray? Crazy. You wouldn’t last five minutes out there with Princess Spoiled to look after, and what d’you think Zoot’ll do once he finds you? It’s chaos out there, Bray. Chaos, and the only way to survive chaos is through power and you don’t have any of that.”
“But what I will have,” Bray ground out fiercely, “is freedom. Freedom to do whatever I want, however I want. Back there, you’re owned Ebony.” He saw the dangerous glint that her eyes took on, but he pressed on with his words, unafraid.” You have to listen to Zoot and do what he says. You’re his property as much as any of the others. He owns you, Ebony. I can’t promise you that it won’t be hard, that you won’t get scared. But in the City, I can promise you that you’ll lose yourself, Ebony.” He stepped forward, closer to her this time, his hand still out stretched, still beckoning. The sound of angry teenagers was drawing closer. The blood in Bray’s veins were thundering like horses in his ears, but he kept a calm, straight face, his eyes showing the only emotions he dared: asking, pleading, begging her.
She stood stock still, eyes darting from his hand to his eyes, then back again. She swallowed. Bray waited. The silence was tense between them; the only sound was the Locos army, getting closer and closer.
“Bray,” Trudy whined from behind him, but he ignored her. His attention was focused on Ebony, hoping to get through to her, for her to listen, to believe, to come with them and escape the City, escape Zoot, to save her soul. He knew what kind of person she was, knew what kind of games she liked to play, but if she took his hand, if she stepped forward and reached out and took his hand…
Maybe…
Maybe…
“Bray, please,” Trudy’s voice, louder and helpless still, broke the silence between them, and Ebony blinked, swallowed and took a step away from his outstretched hand. Bray looked away, defeated, and began to turn, to take Trudy’s hand and escape while they still had time.
“C’mon, Tru—“
But it was at that moment that Ebony’d grabbed his arm, and that he met her scared, scared eyes with his own. He smiled reassuringly, lacing his fingers through hers and they—all three—took off into the concrete jungle, into the night swamped City, away from Zoot, away from the Locos, and out into the wilderness beyond…
…It had been a miracle to say the least. Ebony--The Ebony--taking his hand, and joining him and Trudy; he still couldn’t believe it, but when he’d woken up every morning since, she’d still be there, grumbling about having to lay on the ground, grumbling about getting her clothes dirty, but still there, still with them, never leaving. Bray settled even further into his comforting paradise of underbrush, wanting sleep to claim his exhausted body and rest from this day’s events of scavenging for food and running away from a tribe of kids that hadn’t really liked their grown food stolen. He couldn’t help that; they needed to eat; especially Trudy, what with the baby and all.
It had been hell telling Ebony about the pregnancy, and she certainly didn’t let him live it down either. It wasn’t like Ebony overtly said anything, but she made her displeasure known in other ways. She’d mutter to herself sometimes, make an off-hand comment about Trudy’s body or some other such. Bray knew that it bothered her, knew that she’d had a ‘thing’ with Martin for a little while back when she was part of the Locos, and because of that fact she and Trudy did not get along.
He often had to stop the bickering between the two girls; it usually earned him a burning look from either one, and sometimes a snide comment from Ebony. And it still marveled him to no end how they all still remained together, how they’d managed to brave the first couple of weeks together without someone getting killed. He smirked at that despite himself and turned on his side, trying to get comfortable.
It’d be nice if he’d had a bed or some such to sleep on, like the one he’d had back home, but he couldn’t think about that, couldn’t wish for things that he could never hope to get back. He hunkered down, pushing his thoughts away until his consciousness was claimed by dreams.
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He awoke the next morning to the sound—surprise, surprise—of two bickering teenage girls. Ebony was complaining about food and rummaging he could see—with one eye cracked partially open—through the backpack that he’d abandoned the night before. She pulled out a can and tossed it to Trudy, who yelped and glared at the green-eyed girl as if she’d gone mad. The can landed with a thump at Trudy’s feet and rolled a little ways before stopping.
“Are you insane, Ebony?” Trudy screeched. “That can could have hit me in the stomach and hurt the baby!”
“Oh, pipe down,” Ebony growled in annoyance. “It wouldn’t have done anything of the sort. Besides, I counted on you moving out of the way.”
“And if I hadn’t?” Trudy growled back, indignant. Ebony shrugged nonchalantly and went back to the backpack, rooting around for other food stuffs. Trudy gave an even more indignant huff and Bray saw her whirl, starting for his prone form. He wanted to groan, bury his head in his arms and sleep. He was so not in the mood for this today.
“Bray!”
But apparently those merciful gods that would’ve heeded the boy’s pleas had abandoned the universe long ago. Figures. Bray sat up with a groan as Trudy marched right up to him and he looked up, meeting her wide, furious eyes. He dropped his gaze down, closing them and steeling himself for the tirade that was sure to come. And come it did.
“Did you see what she did?” Trudy shouted indignantly. “Did you? She tried to throw that can at me and purposefully hurt the baby!”
“Oh for crying out loud, you stupid cow,” Ebony shouted, just as indignantly. “I didn’t try to do anything! If I’d wanted to, it would’ve been done already.”
Trudy’s face drained of all color. Here it comes.
“D’you see, Bray?!” Trudy screeched louder this time, and it left a ringing in his ears that he hadn’t thought at all possible. “D’you see?! She admits it! She wants to hurt me. She wants to hurt the baby!”
“Trudy,” Bray groaned, rubbing his temples. A massive migraine was starting to form at the base of his neck and it wasn’t even noon yet. He looked up, met her dark, dark eyes with his blue, tried to smile reassuringly. “She wasn’t trying to hurt the baby, right, Ebony?” He glared at the other girl, who gave another nonchalant shrug and pulled out a can of soup from his backpack and two carrots.
“Whatever,” she replied, nonplussed. “If Princess Spoiled over there wants to think that I was trying to kill her, then fine. I have no problems with that.”
“Ebony,” Bray groaned. He seriously, seriously did NOT need this. “Play nice, please? It’s too early in the morning.” He lay back down with a thump and Trudy stomped her foot, looking from Ebony to Bray’s prone form and then back again, her features contorted in both anger and shock.
“I can’t believe you just defended her, Bray.” The shock layered Trudy’s voice like a second skin, and Bray wondered whether or not it had been prudent to run away with her in tow instead of just taking Ebony with him that night and leaving her behind. It wasn’t a very nice thought, he knew, and it was probably just her hormones making her act so crazy and paranoid, but he just did not feel like handling it at that moment.
“How could you—“
“Trudy,” he said, his voice firm, as he sat up once more. She fell silent, her eyes wide and watery. “Just stop, okay? Help Ebony with breakfast and I’ll go find us some water.”
He mouth shut immediately and she looked, at that very moment, every bit like the spoiled princess that Ebony nicknamed her, from the way her lips quivered to the way her eyes teared up and her jaw hardened. He didn’t want to deal with a tantrum so he sprang up with an energy he did not feel and walked swiftly over to his backpack, scooping it up as Ebony shot him a glare.
“You’re going to leave me with her?” Ebony growled low enough so that only he could hear. He glared at her.
“Play nice.”
Ebony smirked with a mischievousness that made butterflies flutter anxiously in his stomach.
“I can’t promise you anything.”
He rolled his eyes and stood up straight as Ebony picked up the can opener that she’d swiped from his bag and began to open the can of soup.
“Wish me luck,” he said turning to Trudy expectantly, who pointedly ignored him. He sighed and started off into the woods.
“Luck!” Ebony called after him, entirely too cheerful to be normal. She had something up her sleeve, and he just hoped that there wouldn’t be some new chaos Ebony cooked up to annoy Trudy that he’d have to break up when he got back.
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“You know,” Ebony began, her tone thoughtful as she sat before the boiling pot of soup, watching it bubble and froth and cook, waiting for it to be done already. Trudy shot the other girl a burning glare that Ebony didn’t see so intent on her cooking, but Trudy wasn’t fooled for a second. She sneered.
“What?” she growled at the other girl, angry that Bray had left her—abandoned her more like—with the stupid cow, Ebony. God, how could he?!
Ebony glanced at her, raised an eyebrow and then turned back to the cooking food. She didn’t speak for a moment, an infuriating smirk playing across her features as she leaned forward and checked the soup with a spoon, stirring it slightly then tapping the spoon gently on the pot’s side; it rang hollow in the air. Trudy watched her, growing impatient by the moment, until she exploded: “WHAT, EBONY?! WHAT DO I KNOW?!”
Ebony turned to her all innocent looks and mock surprise.
“Temper, temper, Trudy dear,” she said, her voice every bit as mocking and condescending as her expression. “We wouldn’t want Bray to hear you shouting, now would we?”
“Stupid cow,” Trudy muttered and sat down with an angry thump on the ground, pouting and pointedly ignoring Ebony. The other girl watched her, amusement written all across her features. Trudy could feel herself trembling with pent-up rage. She didn’t know why Bray had to bring Ebony. She didn’t know why he had to go all noble and save the other girl when Trudy was clearly the one in greater, dire straits. She was pregnant after all with his niece or nephew, and she needed more looking after. With Ebony there it just distracted him, made him angrier than he needed to be, and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.
It had been their plan to escape; why had fate decided that Ebony had every right to interfere? She always managed to crop up unexpected, and unwanted, and with her here there was no way that…
There was just no way that Bray would…
Trudy growled in frustration and shot another angry glare at Ebony, who pointedly ignored her and took the pot of soup off the fire. She’d cut up the two carrots that she’d taken from Bray’s backpack and had dropped them in the soup before she’d started cooking, saying with a darkly, twinkling eye, “Got to keep your strength up. We want that baby nice and healthy when it’s born.”
But Trudy wasn’t fooled. She knew Ebony hated her for being pregnant with Martin’s child, resented her for it, and it gave Trudy momentary satisfaction that she’d one-upped Ebony in some way. She smirked at the thought and held her stomach. It large and swollen, and no longer just some regretful dream that Trudy had hoped wouldn’t happen; there was no denying her pregnancy now, no matter how much she wanted to. She was big and—in her mind—fat, as large and unattractive as a walrus. She couldn’t understand why Bray had stuck around her at all. She must’ve looked terribly hideous to him; that must’ve been why he always needed to get away from their tiny group. That, and Ebony, of course. Trudy was sure once the bay was born…
Well…
When the baby was born, Bray would want…
Her cheeks flushed positively red at any thoughts of Bray and her, and she couldn’t help the smile that played across her features. It dropped immediately once she’d heard Ebony’s derisive snort. She looked up, shot the girl a heated look.
“Lost in Lala Land, are you?” Ebony snapped, ill-tempered. Trudy sneered at her.
“No, of course not,” Trudy hissed, pursing her lips. “I was just thinking about—”
“Bray?” Ebony finished with a smirk. Trudy snarled at her and ground out, “Mind your own business, Ebony. I don’t know why he brought you! He should’ve left you behind with the Locos!”
Ebony’s gaze darkened at her words, but Trudy was too angry to care. Ebony stood, stalking menacingly towards Trudy, her green eyes flashing, her mouth pulled back to reveal her teeth.
“And maybe he should’ve left you behind, you stupid cow,” she growled and Trudy blanched. Ebony shook her head and looked down her nose at the other girl. “You’re not good for anything, Trudy. Not good for work or for scouting. At least I pull my weight around. What do you do? You mouth off and complain, even when Bray tries his hardest. You’re just a stupid, spoiled princess and you need to wake up!”
Trudy opened her mouth then closed it with a snap, her eyes beginning to water again, her lip trembling as a wave of emotions washed over her and shook her down to her very core. She didn’t like Ebony and she didn’t like the fact that Bray had brought her. She hated that Ebony could go off with Bray, hunting and searching out for food while she had to sit back and wait anxiously for their return. She hated that Ebony was so much more of a help to Bray than she was. But she couldn’t help any of it. She didn’t know how to cook on an open fire. She didn’t know how to hunt or track for animals, how to seek out the right food to eat and which herbs were best to treat wounds. She didn’t know anything.
A stray tear escaped her eye and she wiped it away, turning her head so that Ebony wouldn’t see, and the other girl hadn’t seen. She just continued with her anger, throwing her hands in the air in frustration and saying, “You’re the reason we’re even going back to the City at all. There’s not food out here, or at least none that we can easily get, and we need to be in a place that we know. It’s not safe out here for a baby and it’s not safe in the City, but at least…” Ebony’s voice trailed off and she growled. “It doesn’t matter, does it?” She shook her head, cocked it to the side, listening. “Bray’s coming back.”
Trudy looked up in surprise and Ebony retreated, going back to the rapidly cooling pot of soup. The pregnant girl quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, not wanting Bray to see. She sniffed, hoping that her face hadn’t gotten all splotchy and when he stepped through the clearing with three full water bottles in tow, Trudy greeted him with a smile as bright and cheery as she could make it.
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The minute he stepped back in the clearing, he knew something was wrong. He looked from Ebony to Trudy then back again, shaking his head in defeat. He tossed Ebony her water bottle and she caught it deftly and then took Trudy hers, popping the top off for her and smiling with a cheer he didn’t quite feel.
“Here,” he said, his voice as kind as he could make it and handed it over. She took it, trying to shield her eyes from his steady gaze, but he’d already seen the tale-tell redness of unshed tears. He wanted to groan in frustration and annoyance. What had Ebony done this time? Before he could turn and ask, Trudy spoke up in a soft, meek tone of voice, “Thank you, Bray.”
He smiled at her again, stood and breathed. Ebony had gone straight for his backpack where he’d let it tumble off his shoulders, rooting around for the few meager bowls he’d been able to scrounge up in the last few months. When she’d gotten them, she’d spooned soup in them and handed one off to Bray, who took it and passed it to Trudy then took the other and hunkered down to eat. Ebony ate from the pot and the three of them consumed their food in silence. Bray snuck glances at the two girls, but they looked stead-fast into their food, saying nothing. He groaned loudly, breaking the silence.
“Oh god, what happened?”
“Nothing,” Trudy said too quickly. “Nothing at all.” She smiled a watery smile and Ebony grumbled.
“When do we start do on our way back to the City, Bray?” Trudy asked, ignoring Ebony’s mumbles. Bray sighed, said,” We’ll start at noon. Give you some time to rest up a little bit more and then we’ll be off. Sound good to you, Ebony?”
The other girl mumbled her consent and finished off her food, getting up to clean the pot without a word. Bray gave another, inward, sigh. This was going to be another long day.
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