CHAPTER 35

Since no one had any better ideas, the only option was to return to Headquarters. After all, why wouldn't they – it had comfort and relative safety compared to any other place they'd been in. But of course, they couldn't leave until Shaggy woke up.

As the days spent in the sawmill dragged on, so did the rain. It was a downpour, completely soaking the drought-stricken bush Velma had seen on the way in. It wouldn't be enough to break the drought, but Velma knew that any rain was welcome in such a dry country. She was deeply concerned about the state of Headquarters, especially considering it lay in a gully surrounded by rivers. She knew she was overthinking absolutely everything, but there was literally nothing else to do. Velma mostly spent her days doing extra sentry duty that she decided needed to be reinstated. The whole radio incident had really shaken her up and she knew she was becoming increasingly paranoid. Her only relief from the reality of their situation came from those precious moments of sitting outside, overlooking the farmlands that extended right up into the peaks of the mountains. The rain had brought a crisp freshness to the mountain air that she hadn't smelt for years.

As for Scooby – well, he continued to make soup for everyone. He spent every waking moment by Shaggy's side, silently pleading for him to wake up. And Fred developed this strange habit of wandering away from the barn for hours on end during the night. No one knew where exactly where he went, and when they asked him, he simply answered that he was scouting out the area and collecting various supplies along the way.

Daphne fell into a strange depression where she simply would not emerge from the bundle of rugs and hay that had become her makeshift bed. Physically she was fine, and she was still smiley and chatty with the others, but she had absolutely no motivation to do anything, including eating. Most of all, she just wanted Shaggy to be okay. She watched his breathing with an intensity that rivalled even Scooby.

And Shaggy still lay within his mess of tangled blankets that were positioned like an island in amongst the many leaks in the roof.

One evening, Daphne watched Fred as he walked towards Shaggy and gave him his daily dose of Nurofen. He saw her watching and smiled at her, before walking over and sitting down in the hay beside her.

'How are you, Freddie?'

'Not bad.'

She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck for support. He held her waist as he pulled her in for a kiss.

'I think you should get up today. Just come for a short walk around the barn with me. Eh?'

It was a standard question that Fred asked every single day. And Daphne's response was always the same –

'Mm maybe.'

'At least come outside for a bit. I can carry you.'

'Fred…'

'The fresh air will be good for you.'

'I don't want to. I'm…' she took a deep breath. 'I'm too scared.'

The confession took Fred by surprise. Daphne admitting she was afraid?

'What are you scared of Daph?' He asked, then realising what an insensitive question that was, clarified, 'I mean, what's different now? You were scared before, but you still did things. Brilliantly too.'

'We've been so bloody lucky. Luck doesn't last forever. I'm terrified of the soldiers.'

Fred lay back down with her, stroking her hair while she cried silently into her blankets. Her tears were as wet and heavy as the rain outside. They were face to face, their noses lightly knocking against each other.

'I can't do this anymore,' she sniffled.

'Yes you can.'

'Fred… I… I just can't!'

'No. I believe in you and I know that you can.'

A couple of tears trickled down Fred's cheek, mixing with Daphne's in the little puddle between them. Fred reached out and stroked her hair again.

'Can you at least eat something today? Please?'

Daphne smiled against his lips. 'Stop worrying!'

'I can worry if I want to! Promise me you'll have some of Scooby's soup today. It's delicious.'

'I don't doubt it.'

'Come on, Daph, just eat something.'

'I'll eat you.'

'Be serious!'

Daphne shrugged. She was being serious about that.

Fred sighed. 'I'm going to go to the veggie patch with Scooby tonight. He loves it; it's like his release from err…' he gestured in Shaggy's direction.

'Yeah he needs it,' Daphne agreed. 'He's damn good at gardening too.'

'When we come back, Scooby will make some soup, and we'll eat it together. Sound good?'

'Okay.'

'Thank you.'

'Where's Velma?'

'Outside, making sure the soldiers aren't anywhere near here. You can go out and help her if you want,' Fred added hopefully.

Daphne quickly dropped her gaze.

'You don't have to. See you soon,' he said, giving her a long, warm kiss.

Fred left the sawmill feeling slightly distressed about Daphne's state. He had a funny feeling that the Bunnings "massacre" as they had termed it, was far from their last encounter with the soldiers. His concerns mostly rose from the way Daphne would handle another encounter.

~oO*Oo~

Daphne hated the way she was acting. She hated how lazy she was being, but at the same time, she hardly cared about it. The worst thing was: she felt that she couldn't even stop it; it was like she was trapped in herself. She told herself that Shaggy's condition had got her down, but she knew it was more than that. Normally, she'd be able to deal with that. Because he wasn't seriously ill anymore and he would wake up soon.

Yet his eyes remained shut, as they had been for the last two weeks.

Then they flickered open.

Daphne uttered a scream. 'Shaggy?'

He turned to her and gave a lopsided smile. 'Like, hey Daph.'

Daphne screamed again, much louder this time. Velma came rushing in, panic etched on her face until she saw Daphne's glance trained on Shaggy. She slouched against the doorframe, looking as nonchalant as ever.

'Like, morning Velm.'

'About time,' she said. 'Also, it's actually evening!' she called out as she walked back outside.

Daphne smiled to herself; Velma always acted as if she didn't care, but Daphne hadn't missed her tense shoulders deflate in relief at the sight of Shaggy.

Understandably, Shaggy was extremely disorientated, so Daphne quickly filled him in on the last two weeks.

'Man. It's hella lucky we survived,' Shaggy said when she finished.

'I know. Oh Shaggy, Scooby will be absolutely overjoyed to see you. He'll be back soon. He and Fred just went to the veggie patch at the nearest farmhouse.'

Shaggy gave her a smile that illuminated his whole face. Daphne felt her depression begin to lift ever so slightly. As she and Velma had noted earlier, Shaggy's goofy attitude was exactly what they needed right now. She'd always taken his light-heartedness for granted in the past. What she hadn't realised back then was that Shaggy and Scooby's antics were perhaps what made scary mysteries so much more bearable. How she missed those old days…

'God, I don't think I can keep doing this,' Daphne blurted out.

'Me neither.'

'Wait.' Daphne rolled over through the little puddles from the roof leaks and lay beside him. 'Really?'

'Are you kidding me? We almost died! Like, several times!'

'I know. Why do we have to fight them?'

'Like, I want out.'

'I think if I see another soldier I'm going to fucking scream.' She paused before adding, 'I'm sorry about saying things like that, Shaggy. I know you don't like it.

'Like, don't sweat it. I like, I think it's your release. But, just a heads up, maybe watch yourself around Scooby.'

'Noted.'

'But yeah. I think I'd totally freak if I saw another soldier.'

Daphne placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

'Say, when are Scoob and the Fredster supposed to be back?'

Daphne glanced through the window and saw the faintest flicker of orange on the horizon in amongst the greyness. It was still drizzling and it was very cold. If dawn was breaking soon, they should've been back by now.

'Umm…' She bit her lip and admitted that she thought they'd be back by now. She felt a sick sensation developing in her stomach that had nothing to do with her lack of food over the past few days.

Shaggy sensed her discomfort and took her hands. 'Fred and Scooby will be fine. Hey, Scoob's probably like, found a secret pantry filled to the brim with like, delicious food, and now they're stocking up on that. And they have to lug bagfuls of food where we are in the rain, which is like, no easy task. Speaking of which, I'm really hungry.'

'But they were only going to the veggie garden, Shaggy,' Velma said as she walked into the sawmill. 'I'll warm up some soup for you.'

Shaggy gulped.

'Velma, have you actually seen any soldiers around here?' Daphne asked suddenly.

'No.'

'See?' Daphne said excitedly. 'They'll be fine, right?'

'I'm heating up some soup for all of us,' Velma said, looking pointedly at Daphne.

With a lot of support from Daphne and Velma, Shaggy managed to prop himself up against the hay. Immediately after the first sip of soup, Shaggy found he had a desperate urge to relieve himself, so he scrambled into the bush before returning to the sawmill. He stumbled back down in his blankets and fell asleep again, without finishing his soup.

Daphne and Velma decided not to wake him again. Instead, they sat on either side of him and took a hand each. Daphne found she felt a lot better after having a couple of spoonfuls of his soup.

'We'll wake him again when Scooby and Fred get back,' Velma said.

Daphne's eyes glassed over.

'Daph, you have to think positive. Or this… whatever you've got will consume you.'

She nodded.

'Have some more soup.'

But this was a terrible suggestion, because moments later, Daphne was throwing up what little she'd eaten in a nearby haystack.

'Oh my god,' she moaned. 'I just want to go home. I don't want to live outside. I miss my bed and my bath and being warm and happy…'

Each image elicited a new sensation for Velma. She realised just how much she too missed home and her family.

'You're not alone there,' Velma said softly.

~oO*Oo~

By the time dawn broke, Daphne felt completely tired out from the wild rollercoaster of emotions that past night had sent her on. The only good thing that happened was that the rain finally stopped. For the first time since they had arrived in the sawmill, Daphne saw the sun shine through the droopy sodden trees. She wished Fred and Scooby were here to see it.

'His arm is looking really good,' Velma commented as she redressed Shaggy's bandages.

'Will he have a scar?'

'Yes. He will. But something tells me he'll be proud of this battle scar.'

'Velma.'

'Mm?'

'You should ask Shaggy out.'

'Out?' Velma stole a panicked glance down at Shaggy's peaceful sleeping face. 'Daph, we're in a war.'

'So? When did Fred and I start dating?'

'Sister, you're doing much more than dating.'

Daphne smiled briefly at Velma's subtle reference to her favourite band, the Hex Girls. It was strange how hearing Velma mention about something so normal made Daphne feel better about their situation.

'Velm. Stop trying to flip this on me. He almost…' she checked to see if Shaggy was still sleeping then continued in a whisper, 'He almost died! Isn't that enough of a wake up call for you?'

'I don't think I want to um, date anyone in the current climate.'

'You don't want to have regrets!'

Velma threw her hands up in exasperation. 'Daphne, listen. I'm nowhere near as forward as you. As much as I like Shaggy as a friend, I don't know if I want to date him. At the moment, I don't really want to.'

'But you like him!'

'Do I? What the hell would you know? He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met, but I know we wouldn't go well together. For starters, I don't think he likes me like that.'

'I think he does. He just hasn't realised it yet. Like Freddie and I.'

'No it's nothing like that. He's not the right one for me. Personally, I find his cowardice annoying and he's just a bit lazy for me.'

'How can you say that? He has a brave heart.'

'He does, but his carefree attitude doesn't sit well with me, and he's not open to new challenges in the way I am.'

'Can I remind you that he has been unconscious for the last two weeks!'

'I'm not talking about now. He's always been like that. I don't know why I was attracted to him before. He's silly and acts like a total Neanderthal. The war puts everything in perspective. I now know the only person I can fully trust is myself. I don't have time for relationships.'

Daphne was gobsmacked; she'd been so invested in Velma's attraction to Shaggy before the war. She was so excited for something wonderful to blossom out from it.

'If that's the way you feel then…'

'It is. It's cruel and harsh, but that's the way I feel. He has no get-up-and-go.' Velma looked at Daphne slyly. 'I wonder if that's the way Fred is beginning to see you.'

Daphne frowned. 'What?'

'You know exactly what I mean. Now I'm going to sit outside and do sentry duty. I suppose you won't be joining me.'

Daphne groaned in frustration and flopped back down beside Shaggy. She tossed a blanket over them both and hid her face underneath it, silently crying. Gee, she'd done a lot of crying lately.

The only thing that lifted her anger was a familiar sound outside. She rolled over and shook Shaggy awake. Shaggy had only just opened his eyes when he was met by Scooby's sloppy tongue licking every inch of his face. Fred was in the corner of the room, crouched down on his knees with his head in his hands.

'Nice sleep, Shag?' Fred joked.

'Yeah, like not bad. I'm really hungry though.'

'Re roo!' Scooby said excitedly. Tears were streaming down both his and Shaggy's face.

Fred's smile faded as he looked towards Daphne. 'Come on, let's go outside and give them some privacy.'

Daphne didn't protest as he lifted her up and walked out of the sawmill and into the barn. But just before he stepped outside, Daphne squirmed so violently in his arms that he dropped her in shock.

'No,' she cried, shuffling over to a table leg and gripping it tightly. 'No!'

Fred walked over in bewilderment and tried to pull her away from the table. He'd always thought of himself as being far stronger than Daphne, but he couldn't loosen her grip.

She turned to towards him, her face the epitome of sheer panic. She was bright red, sweat pouring down her forehead and tears running uncontrollably from her wild eyes. 'Stop!'

He let go of her, taking a couple of steps back before his patience reached breaking point.

'GET A GRIP BLAKE!'

'I'M TRYING!' Daphne screamed back.

'TRY HARDER!'

'I CAN'T!'

'Are you actually going to let the soldiers win? Are you going to let them take everything away from you and not do anything about it?'

She gave him a timid shrug.

'This is not the Daphne I know. The Daphne I know didn't let anything stop her. The Daphne I love is a fighter.' Fred turned to face Daphne directly. 'That's why I love you.'

Daphne's panic attack had ceased, but tears still streamed down her face. She looked frightened. Fred suddenly realised how this must look: Daphne was cowering in a corner, clutching onto the table leg while he was standing over her, yelling at her. He stepped back further and sat down on a hay bale.

'I'm sorry for yelling at you. But you need to pull yourself together. Help yourself or at least allow others to help you.'

He pushed his hair off his forehead, noticing for the first time that Velma had poked her head in from one door and Shaggy and Scooby were looking in from the other side. Velma gave him a small encouraging smile.

'I'm sick of everyone feeling sorry for themselves,' Fred said quietly, but firmly. He pointed at Shaggy and Scooby. 'You can't eat everything. You know we need to ration, so stop complaining about being hungry.' He turned to Velma. 'So you were wrong about the radio. Everyone makes mistakes. But we're not going to let that stop us, are we? And Daph… you need to start living again.'

Shaggy watched the tense scene disperse before him. It seemed Fred had completely exhausted the sympathetic approach towards Daphne. He watched Fred follow Velma outside, periodically glancing behind him to see whether or not Daphne would decide to follow. Still she stayed in the corner in the barn.

Shaggy turned back to Scooby, trying to gauge his reaction. But he was gone, instead he was sitting opposite Daphne.

'Ri want you ro eat some roup,' Scooby said calmly.

'I can't,' Daphne said in a small voice.

'Rhy are rou acting rike this? It's Raggy who should be like rhis. But rou were rowhere near as bad as re was!'

'Shove off Scooby, I don't need it from you too,' Daphne replied sourly.

'Rhy don't you just eat? Rit will make rou feel better.'

'Because every time I eat, I puke my fucking guts up. Okay?' she spat.

Scooby stared at Daphne, eyes wide in horror. He backed away from her and ran out of the barn.

'Scooby, like wait!' Shaggy called, but he didn't have the strength to follow him out of the barn.

He collapsed beside Daphne. 'I did warn you.'

Daphne expected yet another barrage of verbal attacks from Shaggy, but instead he moved closer to her and pulled her into a hug.

'I like, think I understand how you feel.'

'I think you do too. Because… you feel it too.'

She finally relinquished her grip on the table and returned the hug.

'Do you want to have some food with me? You don't have to.'

Daphne nodded.

Shaggy went to the sawmill and returned with his unfinished soup. He positioned it to the side of the doorway where they would get the afternoon breeze. Daphne ate over half of it and managed to keep the contents of her stomach down.

~oO*Oo~

'That was the worst thing I have ever done,' Fred said wearily.

'I think it had to be you, Fred,' Velma said. 'I think you did a good job.'

Scooby suddenly ran out of the barn and sauntered past them, his face ashen.

'Scooby, what happened?' Velma asked.

'Raphne,' Scooby scowled, as if that explained everything.

Fred shook his head in disappointment.

Scooby decided this conversation was going nowhere and decided to change the subject. 'Red, rare you going to rell them about rhat we saw?'

'What did you see?' Velma asked immediately.

'It looked to me like a labour camp,' Fred replied grimly.

'What! Where?'

'That's where I've been going off to during the night. I've been watching it. Mayor Dad is in it, and there's a couple of other people I recognise, but most of them seem to be out of towners.'

'What are they doing?'

Fred shrugged helplessly. 'Honestly, the labour seems pointless. They're rolling stones and pulling carts through mud… it's some sort of human labour quarry.'

'It sounds like a punishment.'

'A long term punishment? Most of those people look like they've been there for weeks.'

'Interesting. Who else was there?'

'Mayor Dad, Jesper Poubelle, Verona Dempsey, Ernesto, you know, that communist guy from Darrow University…'

'He'd enjoy that then,' Velma remarked.

Fred smiled at that then burst out laughing. Velma chuckled until she was laughing heartily along with Fred. It was proper belly laughter, something that felt so unfamiliar to both of them in recent times. Scooby didn't understand the joke, but he laughed along with them. It felt so good to laugh.

'Anyway,' Velma said, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. 'Why did you and Scooby go there?'

'Because we saw a soldier near the house with the veggie patch. Scooby insisted on following the soldier just to check they weren't planning an attack on us… and I had to tell Scooby the truth then about what I knew. He still wanted to see it for himself. And well, I think you should see it too Velma, on our way back to Headquarters.'

'Yes, I do want to see it.'

~oO*Oo~

Night fell yet again, and Velma and Scooby returned to the sawmill while Fred stayed on sentry duty. Shaggy and Daphne were in the barn playing Old Maid with a slightly soggy pack of cards. Velma and Scooby didn't give Daphne a second glance as they walked past them, but both asked Shaggy how he was feeling. Scooby asked Shaggy if he wanted to have a midnight snack with him, but Shaggy politely declined, saying he was still working on getting his appetite back. Scooby and Shaggy hi-fived and fist bumped before parting their separate ways.

'Where's Fred?' Daphne asked Shaggy.

Shaggy shrugged.

'Oh, he's probably on sentry.'

'Like, are you ready Daph?'

Daphne took a deep breath. 'Yes.'

'It's like not that bad. At night, you don't have to worry about being seen. You'll like, be absolutely fine.'

Aside from going to the toilet, Shaggy hadn't been outside in the last two weeks either. He wasn't terrified of it, but he was cautious.

They helped each other to their feet and tucked an arm around each other for support. Then they went outside.

'Okay?' Shaggy whispered to her.

'Okay.'

They walked around for a bit before bumping into Fred around the other side of the shed.

His jaw dropped as he saw her. Then he looked to Shaggy, hoping Shaggy would feel the gratitude pulsing out of him.

'Thank you, Shaggy.'

Shaggy gave him a smile and a thumbs up.

Noticing Shaggy was beginning to look a little faint, Daphne said, 'We'll go back in now.'

She began to walk back until –

'Daph?'

She turned around to face Fred.

'I'm proud of you.'