Chapter 2

"We are gathered here today" began Sanjit in his smooth, calm voice, "to celebrate and commemorate the life of Maxie Smith."

After Sam had realised what he was seeing lying amongst the trees, he had promptly turned and marched away, people parting for him like the Red Sea. Once he was out of sight and earshot of everybody, he collapsed onto the ground and puked his guts out all over the dried leaves.

"Maxie was nine years old, and showed great promise at being one of our most talented Fishermen. He had no family in the FAYZ, but had a large array of friends, who will miss him more than those of us who did not know him. But we regret his death no less." The Carpenters began to lower the small wooden box they had made into a hole in the ground, marking the first grave of the Community.

Wiping his mouth, he had clambered shakily to his feet, half-there, and half-back in the nuclear power station, Drake Merwin ripping the skin clear off his body with his slimy whip-arm.

"We had hoped that in forming the Community, no more would have to die in this strange world, but the obvious return of Drake Merwin means we must all be on our guard. I myself am lucky enough to have proper family here with me, but whether you do or not, we must be there for each other. We have no parents, no teachers, no older siblings, no grandparents. We only have each other."

He'd walked back to the scene, to find Albert gently turning the boy onto his back, a sombre look on his face. Sam knew the boy would only be able to stand anything touching his back if he couldn't feel pain anymore.

"Maxie: we will miss you, we love you. Rest in peace."

If he was dead.

Sanjit finished, bowing his head for a minute, then walked away, followed by the Council and the rest of the Community, making a silent procession to the Community area, where a small meal had been laid out. Even Albert had agreed that it was the least they could do.

It was a sombre meal, with barely anyone, not even the Prees, looking happy. The few people who had known Maxie well, his tent-mates and fellow Fishermen, sat in a small group at the fringe of the gathering, by the trees. Like they wanted to stay close to him.

Only the Guards were missing: ever since Maxie was found, Edilio and Ellen had had them on constant patrol around the perimeter of the Camp, adding to Brianna and Taylor, who were no longer taking shifts. It was a bad move; at some point, they were all going to be too exhausted to continue the watch, but everyone was just so scared of Drake's return.

Sam hadn't slept in two days, and every time he heard a noise, he jumped. It was the same for anyone else who had faced Drake's evil arm. They could be seen sitting in huddles and several had shut themselves in their tents, refusing to go to work. For once, nobody stopped them from not going to work.

Sam swallowed his piece of fish, and made his way across to several Council members who looked like they were having a serious conversation.

"Hi, Sam." Dekka greeted him, moving over on the rock she was sitting on so he could sit down too.

"Hi." He replied quietly, taking the offered space and leaning slightly against Dekka's side. It wasn't a romantic gesture, but the two were practically brother and sister, having gone through so much together. Aside from Edilio, there was no one Sam trusted more. "What're we talking about?" Sam asked the group in general, and Albert bit his lip.

"I was saying that I think we should inform the inhabitants of Perdido Beach of the recent developments." The head of the Council said and Sam felt his eyes widen. 'Informing the inhabitants of Perdido Beach' meant going there. And seeing Caine. Seeing the graves in the square again, and the horrible yet wonderful idea that there wouldn't have been any more added. That Caine would have done a better job than Sam had.

"When?" Sam asked through gritted teeth, earning him a glance from Astrid. It was almost sympathetic, but he knew better than to read further into it than that. She had tried running Perdido Beach as well, so knew how hard it was. She would only be thinking the same thing as he had been.

"As soon as possible." Albert replied, nodding slightly in acknowledgement of Sam's half-agreement with the idea. As much as he was the one who definitely controlled the Community- and in fact, the Fayz itself, as he ran the food and water for Perdido Beach as well-, Albert knew that Sam was the one who everybody trusted, who they turned to in a crisis. If Drake attacked, Albert knew that no one would be listening to his rotas anymore. They would look to Sam.

Sam knew he was still the hero who stopped the bus from driving off the cliff. Only sometimes, he wished he'd just let it plunge to the ground. Then no one would have died on his account: there would have been less people killed on the bus than had been under his poor management of Perdido Beach, in particular during the Famine.

"Who are you sending?" Sam asked, praying his name wouldn't be said. Well, not praying; he had about as much faith in God as he did in Maxie coming back to life. Less even, seeing as that had already happened to Brittany, Drake's religion-obsessed, crazy other half. Albert seemed to realise that, and hesitated before replying.

"Taylor and Ellen, along with a couple of soldiers. It might be a good idea if Dekka went, too, to officialise the party somewhat." Albert said, and Ellen and Dekka looked at him.

"Hey, I'm on the council, I'm every bit as official as Dekka." Ellen said, and Dekka nodded in agreement. Albert cleared his throat slightly awkwardly. He wasn't good with not offending people.

"You may be here, but Caine is a freak, so he will recognise Dekka as having more power than you because she is one also." He said bluntly. "Also, everyone knows she's Sam's vice president, so she wouldn't tell Perdido Beach anything Sammy here doesn't want people to know."

"I am not Sam's pet." Dekka growled, and Albert actually leaned away from her direction slightly, raising his hands in his defence.

"I never said you were." He said, unable to hide the slightly panicked undertone in his voice. Dekka was scary at the best of times: if you pissed her off, she might fling you against a rock. Or that was what she would have most people believe.

"Stop this, you three." Astrid said, waving her hands in between Dekka, Ellen and Albert: the former two who were glaring angrily at the boy.

"Shut up, Astrid." Ellen muttered, but sat back. If nothing else, Astrid was good at settling arguments.

"So it's settled." Albert said, straightening his somehow-perfect collar. "Taylor will bounce to Perdido Beach after Dekka and Ellen have walked there tomorrow, and inform Caine of Drake's return. We'll send several guards to protect them as they go." Albert stood up, effectively ending the impromptu meeting, refusing to address the fact that if Drake found the girls on their way to town, no number of guns and basically-trained eleven year olds would be able to stop him from killing them.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review! xx :)