CHAPTER 40

Velma, Shaggy and Scooby watched as Fred led Daphne towards the river. When they reached the mouth of the river, Daphne suddenly kicked wildly out of Fred's embrace and yanked him away from the river. They couldn't hear the words exchanged, which may have been just as well, because it seemed pretty traumatic for both of them. After a scene which involved Daphne frantically waving her arms around and Fred trying to calm her down, they tentatively walked back towards the river. They bent down and splashed their faces. Knowing how icy cold that water was, Velma got second hand shivers.

'Rhat was that rabout?' Scooby asked in concern.

Velma and Shaggy glanced at each other, not sure how to answer that question and explain it to Scooby.

When they didn't respond, Scooby asked again, 'Rhat rappened to…'

'Like, she had a bad dream, Scoob,' Shaggy said.

'Rike the one Ri had where all the food ran rout?' Scooby suggested.

'Um, like, not really…'

'Scooby, how would you feel if you woke up this morning and all of us were gone?' Velma said.

'Rhere did you go?'

'It doesn't matter! What if you woke up and you had no idea what happened to us? You don't know whether the soldiers took us or if we got possessed by something and ran away.'

Scooby shuddered and covered his face with his paws.

'And like, all the food was gone too!'

'Roh no!'

'And there were vampires, werewolves and Frankensteins hiding in every shadow!' Velma added.

'Rtop, rtop! It's too rorrible!' Scooby cried.

'I'll bet that that feeling Scooby, is how Daphne felt in her dream. But she thought it was for real.'

Scooby stayed silent, digesting that information. 'Raphne had a ream we all left rer?'

'I'm not sure exactly what it was about. But I'm one hundred percent sure my idea is closer to the truth than the food dream you had,' Velma said.

'How rawful! Poor Raphne.'

Scooby looked to the river, where Fred was walking over into the trees and Daphne was clinging onto his arm for dear life.

'Rill she be rokay?'

'Yes. She'll be fine. But I'm not sure how we're going to help her this time,' Velma said, turning to Shaggy.

'Look Velm, Daph and I talked about it on the way here. I don't think me helping her is like, a good idea.'

'What did you talk about?' Velma asked, panic forming a red flush on her cheeks.

'Just how us like, you know helping each other out, hasn't been good for Fred and Daphne's relationship.'

'Did you talk about anything else?' Velma pressed.

'Yeah. How it's also been bad for me and Scoob's friendship.'

'Anything else?'

Velma's entire body tensed. Just how much had Daphne disclosed to Shaggy? She'd seen the exact moment that night around the fire when Daphne had made the connection between Velma and her confused sexuality. She didn't know if she wanted Shaggy and Fred to know just yet.

Shaggy shrugged in bewilderment. 'Like, I think that was all!'

'Ri don't mind rou and Raphne relping each rother. What I ridn't like was your rattitude to the war. Rou two were giving rup. Re have to fight!'

'Exactly,' Velma said, recovering from her moment of distress. 'Shaggy, please don't let the rest of us come between you and Daphne, because I know how good you've been for each other.'

'Like yeah,' Shaggy sighed. 'But I don't want to make Freddie and Scooby, like mad.'

Velma tried her best to ignore the burning rage that Shaggy neglected her name when it was so obviously affecting her too.

'Sure,' she said through gritted teeth. 'But I'd rather have that then another mental breakdown from Daphne.'

She grabbed one of the almond croissants they had picked up from the Bunnings café and shoved it in her mouth. They had tried to eat the more perishable foods first, but that was difficult when pretty much everything from that café was supposed to be fresh. Considering the food had been sitting there for four months before they got their hands on it, it was in pretty good condition. Unfortunately all of the sandwiches were already mouldy and had to be thrown out straight away, but the quiches, croissants and biscuits had been fine, albeit stale. Shaggy had managed to snag an entire box of tea bags from the café, so they got fresh tea every morning. But their staple food was damper, thanks to the bag of flour Scooby had grabbed (he later admitted he thought it was a sack of potatoes, which is why he didn't mind the extra weight). Their nutrition was poor, and rations were strict, but they were alive.

Velma sipped her tea slowly. She felt the rare sensation of humour in that moment when she realised she was having an almond croissant and tea – in the middle of the bush – in the middle of a war.

Shaggy noticed her smirk and cocked his head expectantly. 'Like, what's up?'

'Oh, nothing much. I just feel like I should be at a high tea with this food.'

'Right? It does seem that way.'

Shaggy made himself and Scooby some tea then turned back to Velma.

'Do you think she's heading for it again?' he asked uncertainly.

'You mean another mental breakdown? Yes,' Velma sighed. 'I do. She may already be there. That's why I want you to help her. You're good at it.'

'Like yeah, I know what you mean, man,' Shaggy nodded. 'But I guess Daph and I are both hoping that Freddie can get her through it this time.'

'This time,' Velma echoed, deep in thought.

'Rhis time?' Scooby looked up at her, his snout covered in flour from the damper.

'Mm,' Velma smiled at Scooby's cuteness. 'God, Daph just keeps breaking.'

'Not quite. But she's like been very close to it multiple times,' Shaggy corrected.

'Can I ask Shaggy,' Velma said abruptly, 'why do you and Daphne have that effect on each other? Is there a specific reason or not?'

Shaggy nodded, as if he was fully expecting the question. 'There kinda is a reason. A year and a bit ago, me, Daph, Scooby, Scrappy, Flim Flam and Vincent van Ghoul were hunting down the Thirteen Ghosts.'

'Yes, I know.'

'Ruper scary,' Scooby added.

'And like, I don't know, I guess little groups formed within that. Vince wasn't always there, so most of the time it was Scrappy and Flim Flam, and then Daph, Scoob and me. Sometimes Daph went with the little guys and sometimes Scooby did, and like, I guess Daphne and I just got closer throughout it all.'

Velma raised an eyebrow at that last part. 'How close?'

'Closer than we were before. Some of the mysteries we "solved" were pretty spooky and sometimes Daphne and I would like, talk about it afterwards and share our fears.'

Velma understood. She was a little frustrated that Shaggy had missed the point of the previous question, which meant she would have to really spell it out to him.

'Look Velm, I feel like you and Fred are the ones who drive the mysteries. Freddie like, leads our investigations, drives the van and sets the traps. You piece the clues together like the little genius you are and solve the mystery.'

She gave him a small smile.

'Daph, Scoob and I have like, always been in the background. You know, finding odd clues, accidently opening trap doors, motivating the team I guess…'

'Being rungry, scared and running raway,' Scooby added helpfully.

'Like, that just applies to you and me, buddy. Daph's not a quitter. But don't you see, Velm? We do actually have a lot in common.'

Velma considered that. She had always found it annoying how people assumed that any connection between a male and a female was romantic. Couldn't they just be friends without the whole world judging them? That was something Shaggy was always so good at: not caring what the world thought of him. He and Scooby were so free to be themselves. Had she done what she hated people doing to her, and assumed Shaggy and Daphne were more than friends?

She knew Shaggy was being the better person in this argument. She didn't like that. So she decided to drop the bomb on him.

'Did you and Daphne ever date?'

Now it was Shaggy's turn to look awkward and tense.

Detecting movement down by the river, Velma quickly glanced down to see Fred and Daphne making their way back to the cave.

Scooby was glancing anxiously between Velma and Shaggy like it was a tennis match.

'Shaggy! Just tell me, yes or no?'

'She had eyes for Fred only,' Shaggy finally said.

It wasn't until much later that Velma realised he didn't actually answer the question.

~oO*Oo~

'Velma!' Fred said breathlessly as he ran back up towards the cave.

'Yes?' she replied, unsure of what to expect when Fred was in a mood like this. He was fresh faced, water droplets flying off his face, and he was simply radiating chaotic energy.

'Have you tried the trannie yet?'

Her eyes widened and she immediately went to grab it, only to discover that it was still waterlogged. Disappointed, they set off again. To give them a sense of purpose, Velma suggested they decide on what day of the week it was. It was strange how important that seemed, especially when it was such a small detail that they all took for granted pre-war. It was also strange and unfamiliar for everyone how the role of team motivator had been shifted onto Velma's shoulders in the last couple of days.

Velma knew with conviction that she was sanest in the group at that point. That was why she was dying to get back to Headquarters, where hopefully everyone else could recharge their batteries. Fearing for your life everyday is incredibly draining.

Using Velma's date system, on Sunday, they left the cave. On Monday, there was an absolute downpour, which resulted in Shaggy getting the early symptoms of hypothermia. Tuesday came and went – the only eventful thing was discovering a small snake inside Velma's sleeping bag. By the time Wednesday came, the rain had finally stopped, giving way to the first proper golden sunlight the gang had seen in weeks. On Thursday, after discovering the cheese was off, their food supplies were dangerously low.

The only upside was that Daphne's condition improved a lot over those few days. She knew for a fact that Shaggy hadn't talked to Daphne about it, so it seemed Fred was making some progress. However, their situation of being stuck in the bush did not improve. Given a choice, Velma found that she would rather be stuck in the bush and have Daphne feeling better, which surprised her because it wasn't the logical option. Velma had always prided herself in her logics. But friendship was her priority now. The group's unity was slowly re-establishing itself.

It wasn't until Friday night that Velma realised they had made a wrong turn somewhere and were terribly, terribly lost. Fred insisted that there was nothing they could do besides continuing to follow the river, because the river had to emerge somewhere soon.

Velma felt a flash of fury at his cool-headedness. She had spent the last few days walking around every twist and bend, hoping with all her might that the bush would give way to the industrial sector. It annoyed her that Fred seemed to be treating this misadventure as 'just another camping trip'.

She shoved down whatever emotions that were brewing at the pit of her belly and retrieved the radio transmitter, something that had become a nightly ritual. They were at slightly higher ground than they had been for the past few days, and Velma had a good feeling about tonight.

'Any rignal?' Scooby asked hopefully.

'No – '

The trannie coughed and spluttered to life.

'Yes! The trannie's working!'

The gang dispersed from the fire and eagerly gathered around the radio. Velma tuned it to the same frequency they had used last time when they heard the American broadcast. Thanks to some radio host with a grating American accent, they found it was almost 7am, which meant almost 11pm for them. Just knowing what the time was restored some order to Velma's world.

They listened intently to the radio cycling through various news stories for almost twenty minutes, but there was absolutely no mention of the war. Then the tone changed as they switched to government affairs.

'Wait, I think this could be it!' Velma said.

They started off with a statement from the president about tax payments or something like that. Then –

The US defence continues to provide monetary aid to the heart of the war currently raging in Australia. The Inter-Pacific War marks its four month anniversary this Thursday since Australia was invaded.

Fred gasped. 'What even? Four months!'

'Like, our war has a name now!' Shaggy said. 'The Inter-Pacific…'

'Ssh!' Velma hissed.

The money is being sent to New Zealand, who are the leaders of the resistance. Australian army units that managed to escape have been recommissioned in New Zealand. Other powers have also joined the ANZ cause – including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. These powers have joined in the hopes of gaining something out of fighting in favour of these privileged Oceanic countries. In light of this, the ANZAC acronym has been temporarily altered to Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Army Corps (ANZPAC). This week also marks one month since the ANZPAC landed on the shores of Sydney in the first attempts of a resistance. Academics are still split on the effectiveness of the attack. Leading war historian at the University of California Professor Anna Alfont argues that it was successful, as it opened up pockets of resistance. Some towns have been liberated, and ANZPAC managed to gain control of Sydney and some small outback towns. However, others say it was unsuccessful because the area ANZPAC holds is less than one percent of the entire country. Melbourne…

The transmitter died, immediately replaced by frantic, excited chatter.

'Do you know what this means! Hot combat!' Velma said.

'They have Sydney!' Daphne exclaimed.

'Ranzpac?'

Fred said, 'Velma, there's been hot combat for a month!'

'Like yeah, you know ANZAC day, Scoob? Will it become ANZPAC?'

'I mean, it's not a huge change for us,' Daphne commented.

'Like, Velma,' Shaggy said suddenly.

Alarmed by his serious tone, everyone turned to look at him expectantly. Scooby's eyes darted around the darkness, intently scanning for movement. Fred made a move to put the fire out and Daphne grabbed his arm. Velma shrank back against the wall.

'What?' she whispered.

Shaggy sighed, shaking his head. 'Now look, I don't want to freak you out, but there's really no easy way to tell you this…'

Velma narrowed her eyes at him, clearly confused.

'But well, there's a little spider on your hat.'

Without warning Shaggy's tense expression suddenly broke out into a wide grin and then he was rolling around on the floor in fits of giggles.

Everyone groaned and shot him dirty looks. Velma yanked her hat off her head and threw it at him, taking great delight in watching him scream like a little girl as he tried to get it off him. If it hadn't been below freezing, Fred would not have hesitated to tip the entire bucket of water right over Shaggy's head.