Chapter 13

The five youths now stood in the main body of the mall. The grill and doors had been locked behind them to prevent further escape attempts by Bobbi, who had been carried, kicking and screaming like a three year old throwing a tantrum, back into the mall by Marc. The half-crazed girl now lay cradled in Marc's arms, her screams having subsided into exhausted, resigned sobs.

"Come on," Amy sighed, her features drawn and haggard, "I'll take you to her room."

"I'd better come too," said the curly-haired youth, making his way past the others to walk beside Amy and Marc, "Has she been like this long?"

"Since her mother died a few days ago," Amy relied, "She was just quiet at first. Didn't talk. Didn't eat. Just sat and stared. Then she started babbling a bit. Then this. Why?"

"Will was studying psychiatry when the virus hit," Marc explained as they reached the shoe store, "One year in and he thinks he can cure the world!"

"Everyone's the world to someone," Will replied, then, looking around him at the room, he exclaimed: "Oh my word!"

Clothes, books, bags and other miscellaneous items were scattered all around the room, but any desk, shelf or stand that could be conceived as a pedestal had one or more pairs of shoes lovingly arranged atop it. Marc picked a way through the mess and gently laid Bobbi down on her makeshift bed. She was sleeping now. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. Even in sleep, her young face was a mask of pain and Marc winced as another tear found its way out of Bobbi's closed eyes. Will found his way into the midst of the room, following Amy as she automatically tidied things out of the way.

"Sorry about the mess," Amy mumbled.

"No worries," Will replied, his words betraying him as Australian, even if his accent was somewhat more clear cut and anglified, "You should get some rest."

"I'm fine," Amy replied, automatically, "It's easier to clear things up when she's not awake and trying to get in the way."

"All the same..."

"I'm fine!"

"Will," Marc called, bringing his friend's attention back to the sleeping Bobbi, "Do you think you can get through to her?"

"I can try," the Aussie replied, "but not now. Let her sleep while she can. It's amazing what sleep can do, sometimes."

He had directed the last of these remarks, rather pointedly, at Amy, but she ignored him and carried on tidying up. Will sighed and looked back to Marc, who shrugged and looked blank.

"Okay, at least let us help!" Will cried, as loudly as he dared, "We'll get it cleared up quicker. Then will you rest?"

"Someone has to stay with her," Amy answered, without turning round, "In case she wakes up."

"I can do that," Marc offered, "As soon as she wakes, I'll call you."

"I don't know. You might scare her when she wakes up. She's used to me being here."

"She'll be fine," Will assured her, piling up a few books on a shelf, "You need to rest. You'll be no use to her if you start cracking up too!"

Amy paused and nodded, wearily.

"I'll be in the Monsoon store," she sighed, "That's my room."

"We'll call you as soon as she starts to wake up," Will said, gently, as he folded a crumpled pair of camouflage trousers and put them on another shelf, "I promise."

Amy nodded again and picked her way out of the room. As soon as she reached the bed in her own room, she collapsed into an exhausted sleep.

***********************

"Well?" Say asked Cat as they stood a little way away from the others in D'Arcy's restaurant.

"She certainly sounds like Britt," Cat shrugged, "Running for her life and she still manages to pull a guy! I don't know how she does it!"

"Apart from that!"

"Apart from that: yes, she fits the description."

"Then something's happened to them. We should join forces with these guys to try and find them."

"You're kidding? We don't even know them!"

"We know they are looking for one of their own and we are looking for one of our own. Chances are the two will be found together. We don't have enough people here to mount a search and look after this place. Like it or not: we need their help!"

***********************

"You know her?" Britt hissed at Steve once they had been returned, without their gags, to the dark store-room.

Steve winced and looked away.

"Intimately?" Britt's voice reached a quiet screech.

"I can explain..." Steve offered.

"You'd better!"

***********************

"We're willing to join forces with you until we find our friend and your brother," Say told the leader of the three remaining young men, who had turned out to be Gary, "but how do we know that, once we've found them, you won't turn against us?"

"My brother didn't have to escort your friend home," Gary replied, "the mere fact that he did so suggests to me that he has a particular interest in her. That being the case, it's better if our tribes are both friends and allies from here on."

"Better for you, maybe," Cat cut in, "What about what's better for us? We have everything we need here. Food. Shelter. Electricity. Security. What do you have that we might need?"

Gary smiled sardonically.

"This place might be secure, but it's hardly impenetrable! Even then, to survive in this new world you're going to need more than six girls and a madwoman to keep it that way. All you need is a tribe with the right equipment and enough manpower and you'll find yourselves out in the cold, if you're lucky, as soon as may be!"

"And just how could having "allies" like you help us avoid that?" Cat asked in a sarcastic tone, "What would you do? Ride over on a white charger and rescue the helpless maidens trapped within?"

"You read too many books." Gary quipped, raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps we should be more than allies," said a voice from the doorway.

"What do you mean?" Dee asked as Marc walked over to join them.

"Will is looking after your friend Bobbi just now," Marc carried on, ignoring Dee's question for the time being, "She's sleeping. We managed to persuade your other friend, Amy, to go for a rest. If I know Will, he'll want to stay and help look after his new patient. Personally, I wouldn't mind staying and helping him. It would take at least the three of us to look after her if she's going to be like this for long. What I suggest is that we all stay."

"I'm not leaving the Counting House!" Gary cried, indignantly, "My father worked hard to keep that place going!"

"Maybe he did, Gary, but it's hardly ideal for living in! It has some food supplies, but not a lot between us. Most of what food was there has gone off because it doesn't have any power either! There are hardly any rooms as such to use as bedrooms: just cupboards and a few offices. There's plenty alcohol, I'll grant you that, but that's only really any good for trading with: you can't live on it!"

"It's more easily defended than this place!"

"Actually, no it isn't. This mall may have huge shop windows and walls of glass in some places, but they're covered by metal shutters and grills: you'd have to get through them before you could break the glass to get in. The doors are thick and well set and they have grills on the outside too, both of which these girls have the keys for and can lock. The weakest spot is the plate-glass ceiling and that's thick enough and reinforced enough to keep it up there and support the weight of one or more people!"

"So what do you suggest? We just pack up and ship everyone down here?"

"Pretty much, assuming these girls would let us. There are only a few others on guard and the kids. If Kyle and Zane go back and get them and they all take what they can carry and bring it here, we could get everyone settled in and helping before the day is out. It would also give us more people to use in the search."

Gary looked away, sullenly. He knew there were no good arguments for staying at the Counting House. It wasn't a hotel, just a bar that served some hot food, most of which had defrosted and gone bad when the electricity failed.

"We'd have to discuss it," Christy cut in, "In private and with Amy."

"She's in her room," Marc replied, "I'll take you to her. These guys will stay down here. You can trust them. I want to get back to... to help Will."

"Sounds good," Christy said to the other girls.

"You're not gonna leave these three here alone!" Cat cried.

"What harm can they do?" Anni asked, pacifying her friend, "The stores are locked. They cannot leave and it is in their interests to do as we ask."

Outvoted, Cat followed the other four girls and Marc up to the ground floor and Amy's room. Amy was sleeping so soundly, the girls felt guilty about waking her, but this had to be done now and, as Christy had pointed out, all six of them had to make the decision together. Amy came round quickly and listened intently, if somewhat groggily, to Say's narration of events.

"I say we let them stay," Amy said, as soon as Say had finished speaking, "I trust Will and Marc: they were a great help getting Bobbi back in here and the room tidied. If they say we can trust the others, then I believe them. Plus, Marc's right: we can't run this place all on our own. Not for long. I have a full time job looking after Bobbi and even with the two of them helping it's only going to make it bareable, not easy."

"But the worst of the work will only be for the first few days. A week maybe," Cat complained, "After that, there isn't going to be half as much to do."

"We'll still need more people to help defend this place," Dee countered.

"She's right," Say, Anni and Christy said, together, before Cat could say anything.

"I still don't trust them!" Cat persisted, "Especially that guy Gary: he's too impulsive! He could be a liability!"

"He's no more impulsive than you are!" Say exclaimed, "And he's got a missing brother to worry about!"

"I have a missing friend to worry about. Although we've only got their word for it that she's missing! How do we know that they're not the one's who have taken Britt?"

"Because you're friend Gary is too worried right now to think straight enough to hide things," Christy replied, "And if you look at the whole picture, I hardly think it's likely that that is an act! From the way the other's treat him, he's obviously the leader of the group, yet he defers to his friend Marc, who seems to be acting as the voice of reason. If that was meant to be planned, wouldn't he keep his... his advisor, shall we say, with him all the time? And if he's like this all the time, do you think the other boys would treat him the way they do? They obviously respect him, which means that this is either really, really good acting, and, for that matter, that Bobbi is in on it, or that they are telling the truth."

"Why would Bobbi have to be in on it?" Dee asked.

"Well, the way that Marc and, what was his name, Will, reacted to Bobbi, and then stayed with her and used her as part of their reason for wanting to stay. That couldn't have been acted that well without knowing it was going to happen and, therefore, having Bobbi on their side. As we know that Bobbi is pretty much out of it, that means it could only be genuine."

"I don't know," Cat shrugged, "I think they could easily have just used that situation to their advantage. The main part of their reaction might be real enough, then they might have figured out that they could use it to their advantage."

"It's a chance we have to take, though," Amy said, still sounding tired, "None of us have any psychiatric training and Anni's the only one who's ever studied any psychology, and that was child psychology! If Will can help bring Bobbi back to her senses, and if they're right about Britt and can help us find her, surely it's worth the risk?"

"I agree," Anni replied, "Bobbi needs professional help and Will is the closest we are likely to get now. Britt is, according to your reckoning, due any time now and hasn't appeared yet. Maybe not cause for concern in itself, but it does mean that what the boys are saying ties in with what we expected her movements to be!"

"Me too," said Christy.

"And me," said Dee, adding, with a glance at Cat, "We do need the help."

"Then you're outvoted, Cat," Say shrugged, "Are you still against them joining us?"

Cat sighed, huffily.

"I guess not," she shrugged, "But don't expect me to welcome them with open arms!"

***********************

"I swear," Steve assured Britt, "that's all! She was Gary's girl, not mine! She just lived with us for a while. That's what she meant when she said 'intimately'! She hit on me once! Once! And I knocked her back. That's it!"

"What happened between her and Gary?" Britt asked, having just heard the full story of how Sophia had come to know and then 'hit on' Steve.

"Nothing. D'you think I'd tell him that? He worshipped the ground she walked on!"

"But they're not still together, right? So something must have happened"

"Well, that was the weird thing. Nothing, exactly, happened. We just got back to Gary's flat one day and she'd gone. Taken all her stuff and vanished. Not even a note. We, or at least I, haven't seen her since; and if Gary has, he hasn't told me. Until now."