"She, Brady, was taken from me. The mother died while giving birth, and my
daughter was kidnapped by those filthy Mall Rats! I can't stand going to
the city, so do you think you could get her back for me?"
They were standing in a secluded area of the woods. He looked hopeful and vengeful, yet shifty.
"Can you excuse us for a minute?" Rori asked, staring skeptically at the blond man, her arms crossed. She grabbed her cousin by the forearm when the man nodded his approval, and dragged her out of earshot. "Nonni, are you sure about this? Where did you meet this guy anyway?"
"Around," was all Nonni offered in reply. "And he's called 'The Guardian'"
"Oh yeah, that's not suspicious at all," Rori shot back sarcastically. Nonni glared at her. Rori sighed. "Fine, we'll snatch the kid, give it to him, and never have to see him again. Okay? He's creepy!"
Nonni nodded, and the cousins walked back to the Guardian. "All right, we're in," Nonni told him triumphantly.
"Great!" he exclaimed. He smiled one of his creepy 'I'm getting my own way' smiles. He told the two where the mall was, described Brady, and told them how to contact him, once they had the child before dashing off to some unknown place in the woods.
"Oh yeah Nonni, that guy's real normal," Rori rolled her eyes as they walked towards Liberty.
"What's normal anymore anyway Rori? He's giving us food if we get him the kid. And it should last us quite a while if he can deliver all he says he can. Let's just go to the city tomorrow and snatch the kid back."
Rori sighed and nodded in agreement. "Don't you ever get sick of this life though? Running from one place to the next, taking odd jobs just to survive?"
"Well yeah," Nonni answered as they reached Liberty. "But we've got to survive. Besides, this job shouldn't be as bad as some of the ones we've taken on."
Rori said nothing. The cousins reached Ruby's saloon. Nonni opened the door to see a relatively empty room. "Hey Ruby!" she smiled at the girl behind the bar.
Ruby looked up and greeted the cousins. "Hey guys, long time no see."
"Yeah, you know us. We've been around. Doing this or that," Rori replied. "Still got our room open?"
"Of course," Ruby smiled and handed her the key to a small room containing two twin sized beds and not much else.
"Thanks Ruby! We're both exhausted, so we can all catch up later, okay?" Nonni called over her shoulder as she and Rori climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Ruby smiled to herself and said "Those two are always up to something."
******
The next morning as Nonni and Rori were making their way to the city, the Mall Rats were just waking up.
Trudy brought Brady out to the café and started making breakfast for the tribe. Moments later, Amber ambled in and sat down. "Good morning Trud," she yawned.
"Morning Amber!" Trudy called from the kitchen. "You look exhausted!"
"I am," came Amber's reply. "Baby Bray kept me up most of the night fussing. Salene's watching him for me now." She yawned once more.
Trudy set some toast on the table, and put some on plates for herself, Amber and Brady. "Tell you what," she said happily. "I was thinking of taking Brady out for a walk this morning, why don't I take Bray with me, so you can take a nice, peaceful nap."
Amber smiled at her friend. "That'd be great! Thanks Trudy!"
******
"How much farther to the mall do you reckon?" Rori asked. They had been walking all morning, and had finally reached the city.
"Not long," Nonni shrugged. "Listen, do you have any ideas on how to get this kid? I mean, should we just walk in there, take everyone out, grab the kid and run?"
"You don't have a plan? Oy! I haven't been thinking about it, because I thought you knew what we were going to do!" Rori nearly screamed. "We're doomed. We're going to get caught this time. We're done for. I told you we shouldn't do this."
"Relax!" Nonni yelled. "Why do you always freak out like this? It's starting to get annoying!"
"We've never kidnapped innocent children before!" Rori protested.
"We're not kidnapping. We're un-kidnapping. The Mall Rats were the kidnappers, we're just taking the kid back, remember?" Nonni explained.
"Okay fine. Let's just get it over with. But how? Wait, is that the mall there?" Rori pointed to the Centre City Plaza Carpark.
Nonni squinted her eyes. "Yeah, I believe so. Who's that person coming out of it?"
"How the hell should I know?" Rori snapped. "But they have a kid in that stroller. Wait, there are two kids in that stroller. It's a double stroller."
"The one looks like she could be Brady. Let's go!" Nonni smiled and grabbed Rori's arm, pulling her towards the carpark.
"Wait! What about the other kid?" Rori asked. "And how are we going to do this?"
"Well, you can take out the girl, and then I'll come around to snatch the kid. Shouldn't be too hard." Nonni explained.
"Okay, I'll get her from behind so she won't see my face," Rori said as she ducked low and followed Nonni towards the three Mall Rats. They still hadn't figured out what to do about the other kid. Once they were closer, Rori quickly and quietly snuck up behind the girl (whom she would later find out was named Trudy), knocked her unconscious, and Nonni took control of the stroller. Both cousins had forgotten that they were kidnapping an extra child, and ran as fast as they could out of the city.
******
"What now?" Nonni asked Rori once they were back in their room in Liberty. They had discovered the extra child along the way, when they had decided to ditch the stroller, and had been arguing ever since. Somehow they managed to sneak the two unfazed children past Ruby, and were now back to arguing about their latest mission.
"Well, I guess we take the girl to the Guardian, and somehow get the boy back to the mall," Rori thought aloud. "I wonder what his name is."
"Who cares? What are we going to do with two brats?" Nonni exclaimed.
"This was your idea!" Rori hissed. "I never thought it was a good one! Look at them! They're so innocent!" she gestured to the sleeping children. "And I never believed his story about Brady being taken from him! He's a liar! Do you really want to hand her over to the Guardian? And furthermore, if the Mall Rats had taken Brady from him, why were they so openly bringing her outside in public? Anyone could have seen and done what we did. That girl didn't stand a chance." "Hmm."Nonni thought. "You may have a point there," she looked helplessly at her cousin. "I think we made a mistake."
"No, really?" Rori shot back sarcastically. "We've got to take them back. Now," she said, moving for the door.
"No!" Nonni yelped. "We can't do that. At least, not like that. If we take them back, then they'll know it was us who took them. They'll capture us for sure. One of us should go and make sure that the kids really belong to them. It could all still be a trick."
"Ugh, the kids do belong to them!" Rori thought to herself. Aloud she said, "You do it then. You were always better at getting information from people. You made friends a lot faster than I did too. I'll stay here and mind the children. But go now! And hurry back," Rori urged her cousin in a warning tone.
"Right, I'll go. You stay here. And you shouldn't have any problem keeping Ruby out of your hair. You were always good at that," Nonni smiled. She was glad not to have to stay with the children, but nervous about approaching an unknown tribe alone. "But perhaps the time apart would do us some good. We've been at each other's throats over this, maybe we'll see eye to eye once I get back," she assured herself.
"Oh man, if she knew half the stuff that we did, and that we used her saloon as our hideout."Rori thought aloud.
"She'd kill us herself," Nonni finished for her. "I know. Watch yourself!" With that, Nonni left the room in a flash, grabbing only her cloak, and she was off for the city again.
Rori collapsed onto her bed, thinking of all she and Nonni had been through since the virus, and wondering if things would ever look up.
******
Half an hour after she had been attacked by Rori, Trudy woke up and screamed. "Brady! Not again! Brady! No!" She ran hysterically into the mall, screaming and alerting the entire tribe. "Brady's gone! Kidnapped! My poor baby!" she collapsed in front of the Phoenix fountain, and Jay was the first to reach her, followed closely by Amber.
Jay tried to calm Trudy down with promises that Brady would be safe, and that they'd get her back for sure. Amber, on the other hand, was obviously more concerned for the safety of her own child.
"Where's Bray, Trudy?" she asked curtly.
"Gone!" Trudy wailed. "They're both gone!" Amber's knees weakened, and she grabbed the seat of the fountain for support. The rest of the Mall Rats were now gathered, and Jay took charge of ordering a search party.
"Everyone, split into groups of two, and search in different directions." "The usual routine." He thought to himself. "Some stay in the city, others check the suburbs. They can't be far," Jay assured the tribe. "Everyone meet back here by dark." He sighed and sat down next to Trudy and Amber, trying to calm them both.
******
Nonni made record time into the city from Liberty, and quickly found herself right outside the mall. She paced for a few minutes, mentally preparing herself to walk inside and be interrogated. It was nearly dark when she decided she was ready, let out a deep breath and took a step towards the entrance.
A strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. She whipped around to attack, but she wasn't fast enough. Her attacker had both of Nonni's arms held strongly, and there was no way for her to escape. Looking up to meet her attacker's eyes, Nonni saw a young man with long dark hair looking down at her menacingly. He wasn't very tall, but he was taller than she was, and stronger than he looked.
"What do you think you're doing?" He quizzed.
"Taking a stroll," Nonni suggested, shrugging her shoulders.
"Not funny," he said, strengthening his hold on her. "I watched you pacing. You're coming with me: inside." He started walking and pushing Nonni towards the mall.
"What are you going to do with me?" Nonni asked. She was worried, but tried not to show fear in her tone. She found that never helped much. Thoughts of torture, enslavement, captivity, starvation, rape and abuse flashed through her mind. "Rori was right. We never should have done this job. I'm doomed."
******
They were standing in a secluded area of the woods. He looked hopeful and vengeful, yet shifty.
"Can you excuse us for a minute?" Rori asked, staring skeptically at the blond man, her arms crossed. She grabbed her cousin by the forearm when the man nodded his approval, and dragged her out of earshot. "Nonni, are you sure about this? Where did you meet this guy anyway?"
"Around," was all Nonni offered in reply. "And he's called 'The Guardian'"
"Oh yeah, that's not suspicious at all," Rori shot back sarcastically. Nonni glared at her. Rori sighed. "Fine, we'll snatch the kid, give it to him, and never have to see him again. Okay? He's creepy!"
Nonni nodded, and the cousins walked back to the Guardian. "All right, we're in," Nonni told him triumphantly.
"Great!" he exclaimed. He smiled one of his creepy 'I'm getting my own way' smiles. He told the two where the mall was, described Brady, and told them how to contact him, once they had the child before dashing off to some unknown place in the woods.
"Oh yeah Nonni, that guy's real normal," Rori rolled her eyes as they walked towards Liberty.
"What's normal anymore anyway Rori? He's giving us food if we get him the kid. And it should last us quite a while if he can deliver all he says he can. Let's just go to the city tomorrow and snatch the kid back."
Rori sighed and nodded in agreement. "Don't you ever get sick of this life though? Running from one place to the next, taking odd jobs just to survive?"
"Well yeah," Nonni answered as they reached Liberty. "But we've got to survive. Besides, this job shouldn't be as bad as some of the ones we've taken on."
Rori said nothing. The cousins reached Ruby's saloon. Nonni opened the door to see a relatively empty room. "Hey Ruby!" she smiled at the girl behind the bar.
Ruby looked up and greeted the cousins. "Hey guys, long time no see."
"Yeah, you know us. We've been around. Doing this or that," Rori replied. "Still got our room open?"
"Of course," Ruby smiled and handed her the key to a small room containing two twin sized beds and not much else.
"Thanks Ruby! We're both exhausted, so we can all catch up later, okay?" Nonni called over her shoulder as she and Rori climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Ruby smiled to herself and said "Those two are always up to something."
******
The next morning as Nonni and Rori were making their way to the city, the Mall Rats were just waking up.
Trudy brought Brady out to the café and started making breakfast for the tribe. Moments later, Amber ambled in and sat down. "Good morning Trud," she yawned.
"Morning Amber!" Trudy called from the kitchen. "You look exhausted!"
"I am," came Amber's reply. "Baby Bray kept me up most of the night fussing. Salene's watching him for me now." She yawned once more.
Trudy set some toast on the table, and put some on plates for herself, Amber and Brady. "Tell you what," she said happily. "I was thinking of taking Brady out for a walk this morning, why don't I take Bray with me, so you can take a nice, peaceful nap."
Amber smiled at her friend. "That'd be great! Thanks Trudy!"
******
"How much farther to the mall do you reckon?" Rori asked. They had been walking all morning, and had finally reached the city.
"Not long," Nonni shrugged. "Listen, do you have any ideas on how to get this kid? I mean, should we just walk in there, take everyone out, grab the kid and run?"
"You don't have a plan? Oy! I haven't been thinking about it, because I thought you knew what we were going to do!" Rori nearly screamed. "We're doomed. We're going to get caught this time. We're done for. I told you we shouldn't do this."
"Relax!" Nonni yelled. "Why do you always freak out like this? It's starting to get annoying!"
"We've never kidnapped innocent children before!" Rori protested.
"We're not kidnapping. We're un-kidnapping. The Mall Rats were the kidnappers, we're just taking the kid back, remember?" Nonni explained.
"Okay fine. Let's just get it over with. But how? Wait, is that the mall there?" Rori pointed to the Centre City Plaza Carpark.
Nonni squinted her eyes. "Yeah, I believe so. Who's that person coming out of it?"
"How the hell should I know?" Rori snapped. "But they have a kid in that stroller. Wait, there are two kids in that stroller. It's a double stroller."
"The one looks like she could be Brady. Let's go!" Nonni smiled and grabbed Rori's arm, pulling her towards the carpark.
"Wait! What about the other kid?" Rori asked. "And how are we going to do this?"
"Well, you can take out the girl, and then I'll come around to snatch the kid. Shouldn't be too hard." Nonni explained.
"Okay, I'll get her from behind so she won't see my face," Rori said as she ducked low and followed Nonni towards the three Mall Rats. They still hadn't figured out what to do about the other kid. Once they were closer, Rori quickly and quietly snuck up behind the girl (whom she would later find out was named Trudy), knocked her unconscious, and Nonni took control of the stroller. Both cousins had forgotten that they were kidnapping an extra child, and ran as fast as they could out of the city.
******
"What now?" Nonni asked Rori once they were back in their room in Liberty. They had discovered the extra child along the way, when they had decided to ditch the stroller, and had been arguing ever since. Somehow they managed to sneak the two unfazed children past Ruby, and were now back to arguing about their latest mission.
"Well, I guess we take the girl to the Guardian, and somehow get the boy back to the mall," Rori thought aloud. "I wonder what his name is."
"Who cares? What are we going to do with two brats?" Nonni exclaimed.
"This was your idea!" Rori hissed. "I never thought it was a good one! Look at them! They're so innocent!" she gestured to the sleeping children. "And I never believed his story about Brady being taken from him! He's a liar! Do you really want to hand her over to the Guardian? And furthermore, if the Mall Rats had taken Brady from him, why were they so openly bringing her outside in public? Anyone could have seen and done what we did. That girl didn't stand a chance." "Hmm."Nonni thought. "You may have a point there," she looked helplessly at her cousin. "I think we made a mistake."
"No, really?" Rori shot back sarcastically. "We've got to take them back. Now," she said, moving for the door.
"No!" Nonni yelped. "We can't do that. At least, not like that. If we take them back, then they'll know it was us who took them. They'll capture us for sure. One of us should go and make sure that the kids really belong to them. It could all still be a trick."
"Ugh, the kids do belong to them!" Rori thought to herself. Aloud she said, "You do it then. You were always better at getting information from people. You made friends a lot faster than I did too. I'll stay here and mind the children. But go now! And hurry back," Rori urged her cousin in a warning tone.
"Right, I'll go. You stay here. And you shouldn't have any problem keeping Ruby out of your hair. You were always good at that," Nonni smiled. She was glad not to have to stay with the children, but nervous about approaching an unknown tribe alone. "But perhaps the time apart would do us some good. We've been at each other's throats over this, maybe we'll see eye to eye once I get back," she assured herself.
"Oh man, if she knew half the stuff that we did, and that we used her saloon as our hideout."Rori thought aloud.
"She'd kill us herself," Nonni finished for her. "I know. Watch yourself!" With that, Nonni left the room in a flash, grabbing only her cloak, and she was off for the city again.
Rori collapsed onto her bed, thinking of all she and Nonni had been through since the virus, and wondering if things would ever look up.
******
Half an hour after she had been attacked by Rori, Trudy woke up and screamed. "Brady! Not again! Brady! No!" She ran hysterically into the mall, screaming and alerting the entire tribe. "Brady's gone! Kidnapped! My poor baby!" she collapsed in front of the Phoenix fountain, and Jay was the first to reach her, followed closely by Amber.
Jay tried to calm Trudy down with promises that Brady would be safe, and that they'd get her back for sure. Amber, on the other hand, was obviously more concerned for the safety of her own child.
"Where's Bray, Trudy?" she asked curtly.
"Gone!" Trudy wailed. "They're both gone!" Amber's knees weakened, and she grabbed the seat of the fountain for support. The rest of the Mall Rats were now gathered, and Jay took charge of ordering a search party.
"Everyone, split into groups of two, and search in different directions." "The usual routine." He thought to himself. "Some stay in the city, others check the suburbs. They can't be far," Jay assured the tribe. "Everyone meet back here by dark." He sighed and sat down next to Trudy and Amber, trying to calm them both.
******
Nonni made record time into the city from Liberty, and quickly found herself right outside the mall. She paced for a few minutes, mentally preparing herself to walk inside and be interrogated. It was nearly dark when she decided she was ready, let out a deep breath and took a step towards the entrance.
A strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. She whipped around to attack, but she wasn't fast enough. Her attacker had both of Nonni's arms held strongly, and there was no way for her to escape. Looking up to meet her attacker's eyes, Nonni saw a young man with long dark hair looking down at her menacingly. He wasn't very tall, but he was taller than she was, and stronger than he looked.
"What do you think you're doing?" He quizzed.
"Taking a stroll," Nonni suggested, shrugging her shoulders.
"Not funny," he said, strengthening his hold on her. "I watched you pacing. You're coming with me: inside." He started walking and pushing Nonni towards the mall.
"What are you going to do with me?" Nonni asked. She was worried, but tried not to show fear in her tone. She found that never helped much. Thoughts of torture, enslavement, captivity, starvation, rape and abuse flashed through her mind. "Rori was right. We never should have done this job. I'm doomed."
******