Chapter 13

The three travellers made good time as they journeyed back to the city. Lex kept up a fast pace and Paul was obviously accustomed to long marches and kept up with him easily. A little distance behind them, Ebony tried to keep up; her ankle was better, but her legs were shorter than those of the young men and she hadn't done any serious walking in almost a month! Concentrating on keeping up with Paul and Lex, however, allowed her to put Jack out of her mind for once and she turned her thoughts to the journey ahead. If they kept going at this speed, they would reach the city before nightfall and the mall the next day.

****

"I can't stay here, Ruby!"

"Why not? What's wrong with here?"

"I just don't belong here. I have to get out of Liberty: keep moving until I find the right place."

"And here isn't the right place, presumably."

"Exactly."

"And what about me? What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm sorry, but you'll find someone else soon. And besides, you have Slade here permanently now: he can help."

"And that's half the problem, isn't it Skye? Now that Slade and I are engaged, you just can't stand to be around us."

"Something like that, yes!" Skye screamed and turned on her heel, marching out of the saloon.

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it," Slade said, gently gathering Ruby into his arms. "We'll manage."

"I just thought she might at least give me the time to find some more staff! First Jetta, then Jack, then Ebony and Lex, now Skye! I feel like the rats are deserting a sinking ship! Everyone's leaving!"

"I'm not. And she probably would have given you that extra time if I had been. You know what she's like. It can't exactly be easy for her: watching us two all the time!"

"I guess," Ruby sniffed, then looked up at Slade. "I just have this awful feeling that you're going too."

"I'm not going anywhere without you! Except... maybe... to the bathroom occasionally!"

Ruby smiled and laughed a little. Just because Slade was determined not to leave her here alone again, didn't mean that her gut feeling wasn't right. It just meant that she too would probably be leaving Liberty and her saloon behind, perhaps forever.

****

Trudy watched as Ryan ran circles around the fountain with Brady on his shoulders. The little girl was six now and it took all Trudy's and Ryan's energy to keep up with her, not to mention the energies of some of the other Mall rats. The first mother of Phoenix mall watched happily, laughing as she watched her daughter stick out her arms, giggle, and make bird noises. That was the only thing that showed Brady to be a post-virus child: she had no idea what a plane sounded like; she had never got the chance to associate the noise with the machine when the Technos arrived and that was the only time she had ever heard one.

Pride was right, Trudy reflected. They had made too much use of technology, both before the virus and after it. It was true that technology could sometimes save lives, but in recent years, it had taken far more than it had saved. As Trudy looked back over those they had lost, her mind hovered for a while on Bray. He had been so much not only to her and to Amber, but to their entire tribe. The entire city in fact! If only they had stuck to their guns and not switched him for Ebony in the elections, he might still be here now. They never had found his body.

Staring off into space, in the direction of the grill, Trudy imagined she saw him now - looking rather worn and tired, but alive - walking around the corner and smiling up at her through the grill. She thought she heard him call her name. It was only when Ryan looked round and rushed to raise the grill that she realised it was no figment of her imagination, but a real, live, figure standing there on the threshold of the mall, calling her name.

****

It was the middle of the afternoon before Jetta finally brought Hope to see Jack. Leila had come and gone, answering, as he expected, only his questions about his own health and avoiding answering those about Jetta's. He could tell there was something wrong, though.

"Hey there, sweetie," Jack crooned as Hope reached out to him.

For some unfathomable reason, the child appeared to be fascinated by her father's hair. Maybe it was just because it was so short and messy, but every time she was within reach, she would grab at it, pat it and occasionally try to eat it! As much as he enjoyed seeing his daughter, Jack had to admit that, on some occasions, the meeting could be quite painful! This time, as usual, as soon as she was placed in her father's arms, Hope reached up and tugged at the hair on the top of Jack's head.

"She'll grow out of it!" Jetta laughed as Jack winced in pain.

"Yeah, and now I know why some men go bald so quickly!" Jack replied, quickly, carrying Hope over to sit down on his bed and offering the chair to Jetta before adding: "we need to talk!"

"What about? I'm not leaving here, Jack," Jetta warned. "And you can't take my daughter away from me: not without my consent."

"And I'm guessing you're not gonna give that!"

"No."

"So how come you get to take my daughter away from me? In the middle of the night without even letting me say goodbye!"

"If I had waited to say goodbye, would you have let me go?"

"Maybe!" Jack replied, defensively, then shrugged and admitted: "No."

"And I had to come back here. There were people I had to see."

"Who?"

"My friends, Jack! My tribe!"

"If they are why you were so eager to get back," Jack spoke slowly and carefully, measuring every word, "then why do you look so unhappy now you're here?"

"Much has changed."

"You sound like Tai San. Or Jewel."

"You've spoken much with Jewel?"

"A bit. Why? Should I not?"

"There's no reason for you not to speak with her. I just thought you might prefer to spend your time with your old friend, Alice?"

"Alice isn't talking to me right now."

"Oh. Why?"

"Ebony."

"They didn't get on?"

"You could say that."

"I see."

"You're avoiding the subject."

"Which one?" Jetta asked, innocently.

Jack sighed. He hated asking them, but sometimes direct questions were the only way to get answers out of people.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What makes you think there is something wrong with me?" Jetta avoided Jack's eyes and stared at her hands as she spoke.

"You answer questions with questions!" Jack replied. "You're cagey. You've barely spoken to me since I got here and it's not like we parted on bad terms! This isn't like you, Jetta: I can tell there's something wrong. I just wish you would tell me what it is! Maybe I could help!"

Jetta smiled. She still wouldn't look up at Jack, but she cold tell from his voice that his face would be an eager, honest mask, his brow probably wrinkled with worry. Perhaps he could help, but was it fair to burden him with the truth? On the other hand, was it fair not to? A long silence passed before she finally looked up and met his gaze. The openness of his countenance and the look of genuine concern she saw there made Jetta's lip tremble. This was what she had wanted to avoid: breaking down in front of Jack and in front of her daughter. She glanced at Hope, and saw that the toddler had subsided into a gentle sleep.

Jack saw her glance, stood up and placed Hope in the bassinet her mother had brought her in. Drawing a blanket over his daughter, Jack turned back to Jetta and drew her over to sit beside him on the bed, clasping her hands tightly in his own.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You can tell me. It's okay."

Jetta bit her lip. She could feel the tears welling up inside her and, faced with such support and tenderness, there was nothing she could do to stop them. As they spilled over, she finally managed to voice the three words she had been dreading saying:

"I have cancer."

Jack felt like the bottom had just dropped out of his world. As he drew Jetta's head to rest on his shoulder, he ran over his new situation in his mind. He had always felt torn, as long as he had been there, between Ebony and his daughter. Now Jetta needed him there too. He had to stay. For now, anyway, and until it was over, however long that may be. Not only would Jetta need him much more before the end, but Hope would need him afterwards too. He bent his head down and kissed Jetta's forehead. She jumped as if she had been stung and looked up at him, tears blurring her eyes.

"I don't want your pity, Jack," Jetta warned, moving away from him.

"I-it's not! I'm not..." Jack threw up his hands. "Dammit, Jetta: you read too much into things! I wouldn't do that! Not to you. Not to Ebony. I thought you knew me better!"

"But you did cheat on Ellie, didn't you? The proof of that is lying in that basket behind you. And the next morning I woke up to find you'd disappeared. What happens this time: you disappear and take Hope with you?"

"I'm not going to disappear!"

"Really? It seems to me you're quite good at that. You've disappeared on me once already. You walked out of the mall without saying goodbye to anyone. I'm guessing you didn't stop to say a fond farewell to Ebony when you came after me. How many other times have you disappeared without warning, Jack?"

"I'm not going to disappear! Not this time!" Jack stood up and stormed across the small room. "You can post a guard on my door morning, noon and night if you want: I'm staying here. For as long... A-as long as you need me to."

"You mean as long as it takes," Jetta sighed.

"I'm just being practical."

"In what way Jack? You know I'm dying, so you're hanging around to wait for the end. Once I'm gone, you'll be able to take Hope and leave here without any argument from me. Am I right?"

"Sh-she is my daughter a-as much as she is yours!"

"What if I want my Amazon sisters to care for her and raise her here?"

"Do you?"

"There are worse places to raise a child. We are safe here. We have everything we need. She would grow up happy and healthy. She would be taught and trained to fight and survive by our best warriors."

"But not by either of her parents!"

"What could you offer her, Jack? You were going to leave Liberty once you were well and go looking for lost members of your, apparently famous, tribe. Would you still do that with a young daughter? Or would you stay in Liberty, in the saloon, with Ebony and Ruby and Slade and all the undesirables that wander through those doors?"

"You were happy enough there."

"Only for a while."

"S-so what do you suggest? I walk away? I-I leave my daughter, MY daughter, to be brought up by strangers? These people might be like sisters to you, Jetta, but I know nothing about them. Think about it. I-if things were the other way round, and I was dying, would you be happy to leave Hope with the Mall Rats?"