Hi all,
here it is! I hope the wait wasn't too long. ;)
Thank you for reading, nice to know you wanna read more. This time I would REALLY REALLY love to hear your thoughts.
I will try to update soon.
Hope you'll enjoy.
missw.
PS: things are never as bad as they seem to be.
The Past, The Present and The Future
The Tribe fan fiction based on the wonderful A New World book by AJ Penn.
Focused on Bramber/Jamber thing, you can also read it as the missing pages between page 363 and the epilogue.
A note - - all characters are taken from The Tribe series and ANew Worldnovel. Nothing is mine; I just made up the storyline and the dialogues. Nothing would be possible without the wonderful masterminds behind The Tribe.
CHAPTER 10
"Now!" screamed Ebony on the top of her lungs.
Her scream echoed thorough the camp. Everyone looked up, puzzled. At first they didn't understand what it was about. They realized even too soon.
Lex felt an arm grabbing him. He jumped forward and turned. He found himself facing two men, dressed the same as those he had been fighting on the oil rig.
He didn't know what was happening but they didn't really give him any chance to theorize.
Jay felt a sudden pain in his rib cage. He rolled to his left and then on his back. His arms approached the hurting spot when his eyes noticed a large figure standing next to him, looking down on him. This can't be good, he thought.
The corner of Bray's eyes noticed how Lex suddenly jumped up but before he could do anything, Brady screamed. He turned to her, only to see her standing completely still, frightened. Her big eyes looked as if they were facing the pure horror. She was staring at something behind him. He looked over his shoulder and faced a guy whose fist stood ready to fly across Bray's face.
Gel shut up the moment Lex started fighting. It was so close to her that she froze. Only when Lex fell to the ground, she somehow woke. She started backing away, while still looking the men.
Men assigned to stop Lex weren't sure about what to do with her. Ebony had told them to only distract Lex; a girl wasn't their concern. But they were professionals, trained to do their job well.
One of them noticed how she was slipping away.
"Hey, you!" he shouted, "stop!"
His eyes broke off his target when he looked at Gel. Lex knew it was his chance. He stopped fighting and focused on the weaker one. With all his power je leapt towards him, into his knees, making him lose balance. The guy tripped and fell backwards. Sheer coincidence wanted that his head crashed into the medicine kit and knocked him unconscious.
Lex felt proud, knocking a guy down while being on the ground. But it really wasn't the best time to open up the bottle of champagne, with one man still standing. The loss of his partner certainly wouldn't make him any friendlier towards Lex.
Jay's predator was the closest of all remaining Blake's men and he heard his companion's head hitting something hard. He looked up; Jay didn't know whether it was out of concern or interest, but he didn't care. His survival instinct kicked in and he started creeping away. He knew staying in the centre of the camp was a suicide mission so he took cover in the thick jungle's undergrowth.
The guy didn't even notice Jay was gone. His eyes collided with Gel. Nobody was apparently focused on her; free as a wind she was disappearing. The guy realized she wouldn't bring them anything good if she indeed went towards the beach. Alarming other Mallrats; they weren't ready to face them all so the guy jumped forward, towards Gel. He grabbed her around her waist and she screamed.
"Quiet," he said and began dragging her towards the edge of the jungle.
Of a duo assigned to Bray only one was fighting. The other one kept the low profile in the bushes, ready to interfere if Bray would appear to be a match.
The little girl seemed to be no problem. She continued staring in horror.
As the rest of them, Amber and Trudy looked up as the scream filled the camp. Amber frowned and turned to her friend.
"Who the hell…." She started but couldn't finish. Blake's men flooded the camp and the fronts opened.
Trudy froze. It came. The day came. They came to get them.
The horror of realization stopped her heart and everything went dark in front of her eyes. But her motherly instinct kicked in.
Amber didn't understand anything. Who the men were, what they wanted and why. It looked like an organized attack - going after the men first.
Ebony, her mind said. It must have been her. She felt dumb – she should have seen it coming. But she had been so caught in the net of conflicting emotions towards Bray that she failed to predict it.
Her eyes searched for him. He was fighting, hard. A wave of concern drowned her. He was still weak and the guy appeared to be enormous. He was swinging punches towards Bray without mercy. Bray was fighting back; he was a fighter, he never gave up. But she could see blood on his face. He couldn't stand still anymore. The guy didn't slow down he was like a robot.
It didn't look good and she screamed out his name, frightened and worried.
Jay heart sank when he saw a guy dragging Gel towards jungle, towards him. He tried to hide himself, but he had nowhere to go. He started creeping underneath the plants but he got some dirt into his eyes. His body shut down, waiting for instructions as to what to do next. He forgot his leg was still looking out f his hiding place, out of bushes out in the open. Easy to spot.
But a man s dragging a screaming girl by himself, and her screams were inhumanly loud. They made him fail to notice Jay's leg.
He fell too; the weight of his body hitting the ground woke Jay. He listened but there were no more steps. So he slowly crept out. What he saw was Gel leaning over the guy, with what looked like a robe in her hand.
"Help me!" she exclaimed when she noticed him.
Trudy's eyes turned to her daughter. She was standing a few feet away from Bray; all alone. In danger.
"Brady!" she screamed, got up and ran towards her little girl. Mother's terrified scream seemed to wake Brady from her state. She stopped looking at her uncle Bray and turned around.
"Mommy!" she cried out and she too started running. A moment later Trudy embraced her daughter, throwing arms around her, not willing to let anyone take her away.
"Take care of her," whispered Ebony to Axel. He nodded and stepped forward, out of the jungle, exposing himself. She stood still, knowing the moment was coming.
Lex wasn't giving in; he continued to swing punches at the guy. They were both bleeding but Lex refused to let pain stop him.
Bray suddenly felt his opponent getting weaker. He felt exhausted and paralyzing pain was back. But he wasn't about to surrender. Functioning solely on his strong will he gathered the strength in one hit. He screamed when he transformed all of the energy into that one hit.
And the guy was knocked out of balance.
He hit him again.
And the guy fell to the ground.
Few kicks were enough. The guy stopped moving.
Bray turned around. And he saw him, standing behind her.
Amber felt like nothing was real. As if it was all a dream. It felt surreal, the sound. All she could really gear was her own breathing.
She looked to her left, to her baby. He was still asleep. No one was around.
She felt torn. A part of her wanted to run to Bray. She couldn't lose him. Not now when he had only come back to her. It was supposed to be a new start. She knew she couldn't handle the pain again; her soul breaking. She had to help him.
But she knew she had to stay with their baby. Bray would want her to; their baby was more important than them. He didn't seem to be in danger. But she didn't want to risk it. She wanted to step closer to their sleeping son, lift him and run away with him in her arms.
Bray started running.
"Amber!" he screamed on the top of his lungs.
Trudy hugged her daughter protectively. She pulled her closer while looking around. She expected to see men running towards them. Trudy was ready t fight. She would never let the psychos win.
But nobody came closer. One kept fighting with Lex. Nobody even looked at her. They didn't seem to care.
It didn't feel right. Something was wrong.
She looked around again, this time also over her shoulder. And she saw him too.
A guy in the bushes cursed. His partner fell down and their target stated running towards the baby. It wasn't part of the plan; he couldn't let it happen.
He jumped out of his cover, passed the woman with the girl and crashed full force into Bray. He managed to knock him on the ground. They were too close to succeeding to let him ruin it.
Bray's terrified scream pierced through Amber's ear. Her heart froze and she immediately turned to him. The fear numbed her. What would she see? Her lover fall to the found, screaming her name in deadly horror, realizing it was the end? Did he try to tell he, one last time; was it the last time she would ever hear his voice? She felt dizzy; she could feel tears filling her eyes.
She saw him, he was running towards her. But there was a guy behind him; he followed him with the look of an enraged animal. She realized Bray didn't know he was being followed; a guy looked as he was willing to kill.
"Bray!" she screamed to warn him but he fell to the ground before she could do anything. Tears ran down her face and she didn't see Trudy turning towards her; she didn't hear her scream either.
She wanted to scream out his name once more but then cold, unknown arms grabbed her around her waist. She tried to fight them off but they only squeezed her tighter.
"I'm not messing around," Axel said.
She didn't care. She felt panic taking over her body and she screamed again, this time in horror. She tried to kick him off but it didn't seem to work. She kept on trying; finally the grip loosened. For a moment she thought she could get away, but she was faced with reality when he slapped her across her face. It was so sudden and so violent she fell to the ground; face first, without being able to scream.
Bray saw it. He was trying to get the large man off him while his eyes were still with Amber. He felt horror suffocating his heart. They had her, gain. They wanted to hurt her. And here he was again, unable to help her.
It caused Bray so much pain it made him stronger. Extreme situations always brought the extremes out of people, made them do amazing things. He loved her too much to simply watch her being dragged away from him again. He clenched his teeth and somehow managed to throw the guy to the ground.
This time he didn't make sure the guy was passed out. He didn't care about himself, he just wanted to ensure her, the baby's safety. He'd give his life if that was what it took.
"Get away from her!" he yelled, but it didn't stop Axel. He bent, grabbed her again, and lifted her only to drop her back to the ground.
"I told you I'm not messing around!" he screamed.
A guy that stayed behind with Ram was observing the drama from their hiding place. He hadn't moved, just as he had been instructed.
It didn't look good. Things seemed to be out of control. He had been trained to obey orders; but he was also a team player. Those guys were his family and he couldn't let him continue dropping like flies, losing. Ram wouldn't go anywhere either way.
He knelt down to his prisoner.
"Don't mo..."
Ram was often portrayed as a selfish individual who only cared about himself. He was even heartless on occasions.
But lately he had been noticing changes. His technologically- programmed brain weren't able to explain them, but also they couldn't deny them. It might have been because up until now he had always been somehow separated from the rest; a superior in his own super league.
But since his defeat he had been forced into interactions with others. It looked like he actually really had some social skills after all, buried under tons of insecurities and superstitions. He actually enjoyed company. He began to understand what they were saying all along – that no matter how advanced a computer was, it would never be able to replace genuine feelings.
He had gotten stronger, in days since his beatings; he just hadn't wanted to show it to Ebony. It would only bring trouble.
Based on screams coming from the camp Mallrats were losing. He couldn't understand it, but he desperately wanted to help them.
And he found a way.
A guy who tied him up apparently had missed some hours in the ''how to tie up your enemy'' class. He messed something up and Ram had no big problems freeing himself.
He had waited though. He wanted the right moment.
And now it came.
He threw his body forward, making the guy fall. Then he quickly, while his capturer was still in shock, picked up the robe and started tying him up.
Amber fell down again and let out a scream. She didn't beg for mercy; she knew Axel didn't have any.
She looked up, to her baby. Sounds had woken him up and he was crying.
"No!" she screamed. Once again she tried to free herself but it only brought more pain. Desperate, she looked around, hoping to find something that might help her.
She saw boots, very close to her face. Her heart stopped. What were they going to do with her? And with their baby?
"Oh, Amber," the person said, sounding content. "You will never learn, will you?"
The person leant above her and Amber recognized the face. Ebony's features were obvious even through the layer of dirt.
"Ebony…" she said, struggling to breath.
"Stay out of my business! What do I need to do to make you get it?"
Ebony looked at the guy who was still holding Amber, pushing her to the ground. Amber felt he started to lift her. For a second she thought it was over; that they would talk, find a resolution.
But Ebony was right. She should have learnt her lesson a long time ago. Ebony simply wasn't a nice person. And she hated Amber.
"Ebony, please…."
"I thought we could do it nicely. But I guess we can't. So…" she stepped away, "we'll have to do it the other way."
Suddenly Amber realized. Ebony was walking towards the improvised crib, where her baby was screaming. Ebony smiled when she noticed how Amber's eyes gave in to horror.
"No…"
"What point would it be, stopping now? We would still be where we are? Without our Amber learning her lesson."
She was already at the crib and her hands reached for the crying baby.
"No! Ebony, please! I'll give you whatever you want, just leave him be!"
"See, Amber, that's why I don't want kids. They only make you weaker. Just like love; you and loverboy really belong together, you are both terrible leaders."
"Ebony, no! Take me, kill me, do whatever you want to me, just leave him, please!"
"Where would the fun be in that?" Ebony laughed.
"Ebony!"
Bray screamed out her name again. He started running again; he didn't know a guy quickly jumped to his feet, ready for more.
But Bray had a guardian angel. Trudy was still holding her daughter, looking at the losing battle, terrified. She saw how a guy took a breath, this time willing to take a life if Bray resisted. She couldn't let that happen. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a branch Lex had used to fix their tents. She didn't need a second to think she kissed her daughter's forehead, let go of her and grabbed the branch.
"Mommy," cried little girl, she too scared of blood and violence.
"Just a second, baby, don't move," Trudy responded. She followed a guy as silently as she could. He almost managed to catch Bray, but she was faster. She hit him across the head. He fell to the ground, motionless.
"Mommy!"
She looked at him for a moment. She didn't feel anything, particularly not guilt.
"Mommy!"
She dropped the branch and quickly ran towards the crying girl.
"It's gonna be alright, you'll see," she said and covered her daughter's eyes from the growing violence.
Amber's vision was blurred from tears. She screamed Ebony's name, hopelessly watching her slowly walking away, smiling, with her precious son in her hands. Axel was dragging her away; his arms felt like a death trap.
Axel was feeling exhausted, hungry and most of all he was furious. He certainly didn't appreciate it when Bray suddenly appeared next to him.
"Let her go, I mean it!" he screamed. He didn't wait for Axel's answer. He sent a powerful blow into his abdomen. It weakened Axel enough so that Amber was able to get away. She didn't say anything; all she could see was Ebony, holding their son.
Ebony cursed when it happened. She looked around but no one was there. She was all alone, holding a baby and Amber was free again.
What had happened? Where had it gone wrong?
Axel was the strongest man of the team. Bray's blow hardly moved him an inch. He didn't hesitate. He returned the swing, straight into Bray's head.
All Bray could see for a moment was total darkness. He knew he was falling down. His muscles were aching and his body was shutting down.
But he couldn't give in. his mind, his will, his heart wouldn't let him. Not until they were safe. There was no one else to protect them but him. It was up to him. He couldn't let them win again.
He managed to get up. He hardly had any balance left. His face was swollen from all the hits he had endured. It made it difficult to see. His lungs were burning.
"I won't let you," he said.
"I'll drop him, I swear Amber!" Ebony shouted. "You don't want me to do that do you?"
"Give me my son!" screamed Amber. Ebony cursed again, trying to think of the way out. She failed. She could fulfil what she had said. But what was the point, really? It would only make her a baby killer.
The battle had gone on for too long and screams were echoing to the beach. Other Mallrats looked at each other, with confusion and fear. What was happening? It sounded like an attack. They ran back, some of them grabbing branches or other possibly useful things on the way.
Salene and Darryl collided with Ebony. Even if she was surprised, Salene didn't show it. She grabbed Ebony by the arm and prevented her escape. Amber ran towards the baby. She pulled him out of Ebony's hands and embraced him tightly while sobbing.
"What's going on?" Salene asked.
Trudy came running with her daughter.
"Salene, help them! There are more!" she shouted.
But their help came too late for Bray. He was done; one more hit it was all Axel had to do to get his opponent to the ground. Bray lay still, not able to move. His vision was blurry and he was slowly falling into unconsciousness.
It wasn't enough for Axel. He snapped. He continued to kick Bray, into his back, ribcage, even though it was obvious he had won. It seemed all he wanted was blood, the more of it the better. It took Jack, Darryl and two native warriors to drag him away from Bray.
He lay in the pool of blood, motionless, with his eyes still half open.
He was numb, he didn't feel anything anymore, and all pain had subsided. His breaths became slower and shallow.
Maybe this was it, he thought.
He searched for her with his eyes. If this indeed was the end he had to see her, one last time, to ensure she and the baby were alright. They were what he loved most and they were what he wanted for the last sight on this side. They were what kept him alive for so long, through all he had experienced.
He had wanted her from the first moment; down there, in the sewers she had stolen his heart and he never wanted it back. She and the baby were his purpose and he gave his life for them. It felt satisfying.
He saw Ebony creeping away. In the chaos, they all forgot to keep an eye on her. So typical. He knew she would come back, someday, somehow. She always did.
Jay appeared from nowhere, with a cut on his forehead. It looked like he had come too close to a branch. He took Amber from Trudy's arms and hugged her tightly. Amber looked broken; she collapsed onto him. Sobbing, still with their son in her hands.
Nothing was ever more important than them. No pain, no hate could ever be stronger than the love he felt for her, their baby. They were what mattered most. He wanted them to be happy even if he couldn't be the one.
He looked at Jay. No matter what he was, he seemed to really love Amber. He made her happy, and he took good care of the baby. She had told him himself; she had been happy with him.
Her, happy. That was all it had been about, from the beginning. It wouldn't end here, with him slipping away. What they had was stronger than death; they had proven that over and over again. It would wait, evolve, grow until the day they would meet again, in another place, in another time.
The undying will for a better life was what embraced Bray when he drifted into unconsciousness.
What Bray never knew was that a moment after his eyes closed, Amber spotted him over Jay's shoulder, through her tears. She saw him lying, just as he … as if he was …
She stopped sobbing. The horror crept back into her and it felt so real her whole body shook. She felt her heart breaking.
"Bray!" she screamed. She pulled herself out of Jay's embrace and ran towards Bray's motionless body.
He didn't respond. He didn't move or open his eyes. He just … lay.
"Bray!" she screamed again. He reached him and knelt. With one arm she was holding the little boy and with other she gently touched Bray's face. She turned his head ti her. But he didn't move. Blood was still oozing from his wounds and onto her skin as she whispered his name again.
The baby was silent as if he too was waiting for his father to suddenly wake up, cheerful and happy, to give her a deep kiss and swing him high into the air.
"Bray, please wake up," she whispered and her fingers caressed his face, the face of a man she loved. Tears were falling from her eyes as she was begging him to open his eyes.
He didn't.
To be continued.
broughttoyouby::: misswinter.