Sprawled out exhausted on the jetty, Jay just wanted the noise in his head to stop but it only got louder. In his confused state it took some time for him to recognise the noise for what it actually was, the sound of the boat's engine. That could only mean one thing - someone had seen him and they were coming back. Praying he wasn't dreaming, he lifted his head and smiled in disbelief when he saw the boat. It was one thing hoping it would be there, but quite another to actually see the proof. Forgetting his tiredness he jumped to his feet, ready to welcome his friends back onto dry land. As the vessel slowly came in line with the walkway there was a scramble of movement on board, as a result of which Trudy and Salene came out onto the deck with huge smiles on their faces. Salene threw him the mooring rope and he secured the boat in place before helping them both off onto the wooden boards. As soon as she was ashore, Trudy threw her arms around him, reminding him just how much his body ached.

'Jay! I'm so glad to see you!' she cried. 'Sorry, are you hurt?'

'Nothing a little rest won't fix,' he said, wincing a little. 'I thought I was going to be too late.'

'You nearly were,' said Salene. 'It's a good job Trudy spotted you.'

'Yes, but there's no time to explain,' Trudy interrupted. 'We've got to get back on the boat. Come on, Jay.' Before he realised what was going on he found himself being ushered towards the boat by the two girls.

'No, wait!' he protested. 'Nobody needs to go anywhere. The virus isn't getting out anymore!'

'You mean…' Trudy said, wide-eyed. 'Amber and the others stopped it? We're safe?'

'We're safe,' he confirmed. Trudy and Salene squealed and hugged each other, then Salene jumped back down onto the boat to tell the others. It was then that he realised Trudy was crying. 'What's wrong, Trudy?' he asked.

'Nothing. Really, it's nothing. It's just that I didn't think I was ever going to see you again - any of you - and now you're here and…look at me, crying over nothing!' She laughed at herself. 'Jay, are the others alright? Is Amber okay?'

'What about Jack?'

'And Slade?'

Ellie and Ebony led the rest of the Mallrats off the boat and soon there was a crowd around him, all asking after him and the rest of the tribe. Last out of the cabin were May and someone Jay didn't recognise, presumably the boat's owner. He walked with a slight limp and kept drinking from a hip flask, which Jay didn't think seemed like a good idea if he was supposed to have been steering the boat.

'Don't smother the man!' May told the group around Jay, smiling. 'Jay, you have no idea how good it felt to hear your news. I don't think we would have been in for a very calm journey.' Somehow he didn't think she was talking about the weather.

'Hello May,' he said. 'I'm sorry we've had to inconvenience your friend here!'

'Inconvenience?' The man spluttered. 'That hardly covers what I've been subjected to since you lot got here, and on my own boat no less! I assume I'll be adequately compensated for loss of income?'

'Don't push your luck, pal,' May snorted, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

'Shall we head back to the mall then?' Trudy asked, clearly wanting to change the subject. The boat's owner looked like he wanted to hurt somebody. Darryl shifted nervously on his feet.

'Come on then, let's go home,' Jay said. 'I'll fill you all in on the way, but to be honest I don't know very much myself. I more or less came straight here as soon as I caught up with the others.'

'Yeah, good riddance!' the guy shouted at them as they headed back into the city, still clustered around Jay. Slowly they left the boat and its angry owner behind, and the huts and workshops gradually began to give way to more substantial buildings. The usually lively streets were now eerily quiet though, so he was glad when the questions started up again.

'So what happened at the hotel then?' May asked. 'Did you find out?' He shook his head.

'I don't know. They'd already left by the time I reached them. All I know is that they definitely stopped the virus, but I don't know how. Something bad must have happened in there, though. They were pretty shaken up.'

'Is everybody alright?' Salene asked.

'Mega's dead I think, Ram too. And Jack, well he was in a pretty bad state. I don't think he was conscious.'

'He is alive though?' Ellie said, more of a statement than a question.

'Yes, he's alive. I just wish I knew what happened to them in there. They were all soaking wet as well,' he suddenly remembered, scratching his head.

'Are Lex and Slade ok?' asked Darryl.

'Yes. Jack was the only one I saw who was injured. The other three seemed fine, under the circumstances I mean.' With everyone satisfied that the city was safe, and that their friends were for the most part unscathed, the questions stopped and the Mallrats started talking among themselves. One voice that rose above the others was that of Gel. She was talking to Sammy and Darryl about her journey to the boat and Jay had started listening when he heard his name mentioned, but what she said next attracted the attention of the whole tribe.

'Kidnapped?' Salene asked incredulously.

'Yes, I stopped to ask these two guys for directions and the next thing I knew I was being pushed into an old warehouse, it was awful! They wanted to sell me to someone as a slave!'

'You should be careful who you talk to Gel,' Salene said. 'Especially when you're on your own in an area like that. There's always been people like that down there since the virus, believe me I know.' Jay wondered what she was talking about.

'Yeah, well it was either that or get infected by the virus trying to find the boat. Anyway, I nearly escaped.'

'What do you mean, nearly escaped? You're here aren't you?'

'I was rescued!' she said proudly. 'By a knight in shining armour. It was so romantic! I took a step towards him, he took a step towards me. I looked into his eyes, and he looked into mine.' She sighed wistfully and stared into space, lost in her own little world. There were a few giggles and Ebony rolled her eyes, while Sammy pretended to be sick.

'Yeah? Well does this 'knight' have a name?' Ellie asked, sounding unimpressed.

'Don't be silly,' Gel blushed. 'Of course he does.'

'You don't know it do you?' Ellie replied, trying hard not to laugh. 'You were too busy staring into his eyes to think of asking him! That is just so typically Gel!' Seeing that Gel looked hurt, Jay tried to help out.

'Why didn't you bring him back here with you?' he asked. 'He would have been welcome.'

'He knocked out one of the men who kidnapped me,' she explained, sounding in danger of falling back into her daydream. 'And he said he had to take him somewhere safe so that the virus wouldn't get him. He asked me to go with him, but I couldn't just leave you guys here waiting for me.'

'Lucky us,' Ellie sneered, earning her a warning look from Salene.

'I wish something like that would happen to me,' Trudy sighed, with the same yearning look that Gel had had. Everybody looked at her. 'Preferably without the whole kidnapping thing, though,' she added quickly, blushing.

It wasn't long before the Mallrats entered more familiar territory in the heart of the city. Soon they would be home. Ellie had long since stopped paying attention to what the others were saying. Actually that wasn't strictly true - she had stopped paying attention to what Gel was saying, and so had most of the others, although she was still yapping away to Darryl and Sammy who both looked half asleep. Maybe she had been a little harsh on the girl earlier, but how could she talk about her love life when the love of Ellie's life could still be unconscious? She had thought for one brief moment, although it had seemed much longer, that Jay had said Jack was dead, along with Ram and Mega. Didn't Gel understand how she felt? Did she have no tact? Wait, stupid question. One conversation she was still interested in was the one Jay was having with Ruby, although it wasn't so much what they were saying as Ebony's reaction to it. Ruby was telling Jay about her run-in with the truck on the way to the boat, and Ebony was walking a short distance behind the pair. She kept looking at them, obviously eavesdropping and probably trying to find out what Ruby remembered about the incident and if she would tell Jay what had really happened. Ellie was now convinced that Ebony had been responsible for Ruby's 'accident' and it didn't take a genius to figure out why - she obviously hadn't been told that Ruby wasn't actually pregnant and wanted her to miscarry Slade's baby. If Ebony was still capable of things like that they were going to have to keep an eye on her now that she was back with the Mallrats, assuming she stayed with them of course. Ellie sighed. As if she didn't have enough to worry about right now.

As they finally drew closer to the mall she decided she could wait no longer. Handing little Bray over to Salene she ran the rest of the short distance down the street, through the car park and into the old shopping centre's main courtyard.

'Jack!' she called out, not slowing down as she continued up the stairs.

'Ellie?' a familiar voice replied from the café at the top of the stairs. Lex rose from his chair to greet her and despite her better judgement she found herself giving him a hug. Slade was sitting with him, and there was also a little girl at the table who was watching her with curiosity.

'Lex! I never thought I'd say this but it's good to see you. Where's Jack?'

'He's in his room resting,' he replied. 'Amber's with him at the moment. Where are the others?'

'They'll be here soon,' she called back, already heading for Jack's room. When she got there she found him lying in bed, with Amber sitting by his side crying. Her heart caught in her throat and she began to fear the worst.

'Amber?' she said tentatively. 'Is he..?'

'Ellie!' Amber smiled, wiping her eyes in a vain effort to hide the fact that she had been crying. 'You're back! Jack's…well, we don't know what's wrong with Jack. He's alive, but all we can do is wait. I'm so sorry Ellie.' The two girls hugged and Ellie felt a huge surge of relief.

'I can't lose him Amber,' she said, hoping to hear some words of encouragement from the other girl, but Amber just stood there looking at Jack.

'I'll leave you two alone,' she finally said before leaving the room in a hurry. Ellie watched her go, to be replaced by Lex standing at the doorway.

'What's wrong with Amber?' she asked him.

'We don't know,' he said. 'She's been like that since the hotel, off and on. I thought she'd have snapped out of it by now.'

'Jay's on his way. He'll be able to help her.'

'They've just got back by the sound of things,' Lex said. 'I'm going down to meet them.'

'Okay, I'll stay here with Jack.' Lex nodded and left the room, while she sat down in the chair Amber had just vacated and started stroking Jack's hand. 'Hey baby,' she said softly. 'It's me. We're back from the boat now. It looks like you're a hero again!' She sat there talking to him, hoping that the sound of his voice would bring him back to her, but if he could hear her he wasn't showing any sign of it.

'Hello?' Trudy called out as Jay led them into the mall. 'Is anyone home?' She heard the scraping of chairs in the café upstairs, then Slade rushed down to greet them, or more accurately he rushed down to greet Ebony, the pair locking lips as soon as he reached her. Trudy covered Brady's eyes and looked away.

'Eww, what's that?' Gel asked from further behind. Beside Slade stood a very mucky looking girl in an even muckier dress, and it was this girl that Gel was apparently referring to. The girl had been watching Slade and Ebony but now that everyone was looking at her she hid behind him, peeking out and biting her lip nervously.

'It's ok,' he told the girl, guiding her in front of him and putting his hands on her shoulders to present her to the group. 'Everyone, this is Bonnie. Bonnie, this is Ebony, Jay, Salene, May, Sammy, Gel, Ruby, Darryl and Trudy.' He pointed everyone out as he said their names. 'And that's Brady, and his name is Bray.'

'Hello,' she said shyly, overwhelmed by all the names. Most people replied but one notable exception was Ebony.

'She seems very attached to you,' she told her boyfriend. 'I hope she's not going to follow you around everywhere.'

'Don't be silly. What's the matter anyway? I think it's cute. Don't you like children?'

'In case you hadn't noticed already, no I don't.'

'Oh. Well I guess that's just too bad then, because I do.'

'So I see. Especially other people's it seems,' Ebony said before storming off.

'Ebony!' Slade called before chasing after her. Bonnie looked as if she might follow but then seemed to think better of it. Looking around at the assembled Mallrats, she instead picked out Gel and stood next to her expectantly. Gel looked horrified, but when she didn't say anything Bonnie decided to make the first move.

'I like your hair,' she told the older girl. Gel's expression changed at once, beaming at the little girl and unconsciously twirling her hair around her fingers.

'Thank you!' she replied. She looked thoughtful for a moment then added, 'Why don't we go up to my room and get you all cleaned up? I might even have some nice new clothes for you to wear!' Bonnie hugged her and Gel laughed before linking arms with her and going upstairs. On the way they passed Amber coming down, closely followed by Lex.

'Amber!' Trudy called to her friend, but she was beaten to her by Jay. He tried to give Amber a kiss but she flinched and pushed him away.

'Not now, Jay,' she sighed irritably. At first he looked a little puzzled, but then he laughed and put his arms around her waist from behind, nestling his chin on her shoulder. Trudy felt a tiny stab of jealousy.

'Come on Amber, don't be like that,' he smiled. 'You've saved the day again. Take a break, the city's safe!'

'Get off me!' She pulled away from him angrily, turning around to face him. 'The city's empty, Jay! Everyone we spoke to decided they still wanted to leave and you know what? They were right! Ram and Mega are dead, Jay, and Jack's in some sort of coma, and for what? We should have just gone when we had the chance.'

Trudy and Salene, who was holding Bray, looked at each other as if to ask what was going on. Salene decided to try and cheer Amber up by stepping forward to return her son to her, but again she pulled back.

'I…I can't Salene. Please, just…' she couldn't finish and began to walk away.

'Amber, wait!' Jay cried, grabbing hold of her arm.

'Jay just leave me alone!' she shouted at him, then turned to address the rest of the tribe. 'Why can't any of you see? Every time we pick ourselves up something else happens and the chaos just comes right back!' As if to prove her point a loud scream came from one of the upstairs rooms.

'That sounded like Gel,' said Lex, and the Mallrats all headed up the stairs to see what was the matter, apart from Amber who stood shaking by the fountain.

'It'll be alright,' Jay called back as he left her. 'I'll be right back.'

Trudy hesitated over leaving Amber behind, but thought she would rather be on her own for a while. She was just stressed that was all, and who could blame her? She would be fine after a good night's sleep. When she entered the room with the rest of the tribe she saw Bonnie hiding behind Gel, both of them looking at a motionless figure lying on the floor, apparently having fallen out of the wardrobe, which was wide open. Trudy gasped in shock when she realised who it was.

'Lottie!' Ruby cried as she and Jay rushed over to the girl.

'Is she alright?' Darryl asked.

'She's just fainted I think,' Jay said, checking her over. 'She should be ok though.'

'Oh Lottie! What was she doing in there Gel?' Ruby asked angrily.

'I…I don't know. I locked it before I left the mall. I guess she was hiding in there.'

'I thought she'd got lost in the city!' Ruby cried. 'Oh, I'm so glad she's safe!'

'Alright everyone, let's give her some space,' Jay said. 'Darryl, can you help Ruby with Lottie?' Darryl nodded and while he and Ruby stayed behind to see to Lottie, the rest of the Mallrats filed out of Gel's room. Jay rushed ahead of them, presumably to check on Amber, but while everyone was still halfway down the stairs he came back, looking upset.

'What is it Jay?' Trudy asked.

'It's Amber,' he replied. 'She's gone!'