Amber leaned against the railing of the tiny trawler rubbing her eyes and trying to will some sort of plan into head or even better for a nice island full of food and clean water to appear in front of her. She covered her eyes for a moment and concentrated; conjuring up images of bountiful fruit trees, flowing clear springs of cool water and warm sturdy shelter on dry land. She felt her face split into a grin at the thought of biting into a crisp apple, taking a drink of fresh water and falling into a solid, real, warm bed.
"Amber, are you ok?"
The voice broke Amber out her dream and she opened her eyes only to look at the same vast ocean she'd seen for the past two weeks, she stared outward for a few more seconds hoping that her fabled island would appear but when no island did she turned and saw Jay watching her patiently. She couldn't help but smile again at her solid, dependable and kind Jay, she grinned even bigger when she saw his outfit which consisted of an over sized khaki work shirt and a pair of undersized dungarees that rode high up on his ankles.
Jay smirked and spoke again. "You ok?"
Amber nodded. " I'm fine, I was just day dreaming."
Jay stepped forward and pulled Amber into his chest and she gladly sunk into the hug and felt his chest rumble as he spoke again.
" You weren't dreaming about me were you?"
Amber smiled again and pushed away from Jay's chest to look into his eyes and then pulled at the collar of his shirt.
" Well, who could resist dreaming about a man wearing such a dashing outfit, but no I was just hoping a plan would come to mind or an island stocked with food and water would appear on the horizon."
Jay sighed as they broke the hug and stared toward the ocean.
"Well, I can't help with the plan at the moment or with the island full of food but I can help with a few spoonful's of food, everyone's in the galley and ready to eat so they sent me out to get you."
Amber felt her headache coming back even stronger at the thought of being in the same cramped room as everyone else on the boat as she knew they would ask again and again about what the plan was and then argue endlessly about any plan that was brought up.
"I could tell them you weren't hungry yet, if you want."
Amber shook her head and stepped towards the door to the galley,
"No, I may as well go in and get it over with."
As she stepped into the galley she quickly felt more than a dozen pair of eyes settle on her. There were a total of 19 people on the boat including herself, 19 people living for two weeks on a boat meant for 8 led to a lot of personal space issues which had led to dozens of petty arguments that Amber was always expected to solve.
At least meal time seemed to keep everyone quiet as they focused on their meager rations, Amber smiled at her son, Bray Jr, as she spooned mushed carrots into his mouth, he was the one that truly kept her going, she cared for everyone on the boat but since becoming a mother she had dedicated herself to either finding or building a better world for her child. She thought about Bray and how he had been ripped away from her the day Junior was born and she had held out hope for so long that he was still out there until that horrible day Jay told her he had been deleted by the Technos.
"Well, any plans yet, Great Leader?"
Lex's grating sarcasm broke Amber from her trance and she looked up to see the whole galley with their eyes on her, she set up in her chair and straitened her shoulders before speaking, looking directly at Lex.
"Well, we've been moving south for almost two weeks now so I think we're far away from the city at this point to not worry about the virus so tomorrow I think we should head back towards shore." She turned her gaze to the Trader, owner of the boat. "How far could we get on the fuel we have left?"
Trader, who has just recently given up on trying to get people to call him by his real name of Jon shrugged and spoke. "I don't know exactly, at least 40 miles which should get us back to shore."
Amber nodded and looked around at everyone cramped into the galley.
"Good, anyone have any objections about heading to shore tomorrow?"
Everyone seemed to be fine with the plan, even Lex who usually always had a snarky comment about anything Amber came up with. She relaxed a little, glad to have one meeting that went without an argument.
Amber nodded satisfied but then noticed a couple of people were missing.
"Where are Jack and Ellie at, did they not want to eat?"
Salene spoke up from her seat at the battered wood table.
"They're still trying to raise somebody on that old radio in the wheelhouse, I brought them some food right after it got done."
Amber nodded again, she would have to go up and talk to them after the meal was over but for the time being she concentrated on her son's feeding and enjoyed the relative peace dinner time always brought.
"And where exactly will we be once we get to shore, Amber?"
Amber's gaze snapped towards Ram, who squatted like a gargoyle on a tiny stool at the other end of the table, and she glared for a moment before collecting herself and speaking.
"We won't know until we get there of course but we will be back on land which I think we'll all agree is preferable than being stuck on this boat any longer."
Ebony let out a short derisive laugh from where she leaned against the sink.
" You're telling me that we've been stuck on this shitty little boat for two weeks straight with barely any food or water and now that we're finally going back to shore we won't know where we are or if it'll even be safe? Great plan, Amber."
Jay stepped forward. "Do you have a better plan Ebony? Because the whole time we've been on this boat you've done nothing but complain and instigate."
Ebony snorted and pushed away from the sink. "Calm down, Loverboy, I'm only saying what everyone's thinking." She slipped out the galley door leaving behind a cloud of tension and nervous feelings.
Sammy piped up from where he sat on the floor next to Lottie. "Is that true what she said, that we don't know where we're going or if we'll be safe?"
Salene reached down from her seat and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Sammy; Amber knows what she's doing."
Amber attempted to give everyone a reassuring smile but was interrupted by Ram. "Don't listen to them Sammy, we don't know how far south we've drifted or were in the hell we'll end up when we land."
With a smug grin he added. " If we'd done what I wanted and simply waited off shore to see what happened, we could've been safe in warm in our own home but instead she…"
Ram's ramble was cut off by Lex who slapped a hand onto the wobbly table hard enough to make the dishes shake before he jabbed a finger at Ram.
"You shut your damn mouth, horseteeth, before I make you shut it!"
Ruby came to Ram's defense from where she leaned against Slade's shoulder both of them looking rather ragged. "Lex just leave him alone please, this arguing won't make anything better."
Ram smirked and turned slightly towards Ruby and opened his mouth to speak but Lex leaped out of his seat with a snarl and snatched Ram up by his shirtfront and began slamming him against the wall which caused the room to explode in a flurry of commotion and noise. Slade, Jay, Lex and Ram tangled together in a writhing, pushing ,pulling mass, Sammie and Lottie were quickly escorted out of the room by Salene followed by Trudy who take the confused Brady and squalling Junior with her.
Amber could feel the constant pressures she'd had to endure over the weeks on the boat welling up inside her and she slammed her fist down on the table hard enough to send cups and plates flying off the table and yelled out a harsh order to. "Stop fucking fighting!"
Lex was so surprised by Amber cursing that he actually let go of Ram and Jay used the opportunity to step between the two men while Gel, Darryl and Trader used the pause in violence to sneak out of the room from the corner they'd been cowering in.
Amber zoned in on Lex.
"What in the world is your problem Lex? You can't go blow up on someone like that just because they've annoyed you."
Lex let out a groan of frustration and jabbed his thumb at Ram.
"We've been stuck on this boat for two weeks and all this mutt has done is smirk and groan and complain about how we didn't listen to him. I think a little beating will shut him up for good and make all our lives better, don't you?"
Amber practically snarled at Lex.
"No, I don't, if we attack each other we'll never get anywhere…" She took a moment to calm herself. "Look, we'll be back on land in less than a day, Lex, so why don't you just go outside and cool off and you and Ram stay away from each other until we're off the boat?"
Lex shrugged and stepped out of the room, Slade followed behind him a few moments later promising Amber he'd help keep him in line. She turned her attention to Jay.
"Would you go and check on Junior for me? I don't think Trudy can handle both of them in the state she's in."
Jay nodded and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze as he left the room.
Ram exhaled from his seat on the floor where he was checking himself over for any major injuries.
"Thanks for the save, Amber, I thought Lexy was really gonna do me in for a second."
Amber's mouth set in a hard line as she glared at the disgraced Techno.
"Just shut up, you're no better anyways…" Ram tried to interrupt and defend himself but Amber gave him no chance. " It's all true what he said you do nothing but snark and moan about how you would have done things different, can't you for once in your life be helpful instead of a hindrance?"
Ram shrugged. "But I'm right, if we had simply waited out in the middle of the water to see what actually happened I guarantee we could've stayed back in the city and not on some rusty, rickety old tub in the middle of the ocean."
Amber Scoffed. "Or we'd be dead from some horrible virus that could have been airborne for all we knew."
Ram stood and dusted himself off.
"Well, I still say that the virus was never real in the first place, Mega was always a trickster and it wouldn't be hard for him to convince people like you."
With that little dig at her intelligence Amber decided that it would be a good time to get some fresh air.
"It doesn't even matter at this point, just clean up the mess in here and then stay away from Lex like I said and try and keep your thoughts to yourself for the rest of the night."
Ram looked horrified at the thought of cleaning up someone else's dishes but Ruby quickly butted in before he could speak.
"Don't worry, Amber, I'll make sure he keeps to himself and we'll glad clean up the dishes, won't we, Ram?" She added with a baleful look.
Ram gave her a brattish snort and shoulder shrug. "Sure, why not, it's not like I have anything better to do."
Amber nodded at Ruby in thanks then she turned and stepped back out into the salty air and almost directly into Ebony who smirked at her which almost immediately caused Ambers head to begin hurting again.
"Watch where you're going next time, huh, Amber?"
"What do you want now? Because I really don't need any more problems from you today."
Ebony snorted and shook her head. "Not everything revolves around you, I just heard Lex gave that Techno bastard a thrashing and I wanted to see the damage."
Amber shook her head. "Whatever, just please don't start anything else tonight, at least wait till we're back on shore tomorrow."
"No promises." Ebony threw back over her shoulder as she stepped into the galley.
Amber stood staring at the door Ebony'd just passed through before turning and stepping back to the railing, she gripped the rail hard enough that she felt it might crumble in her grip and send her tumbling forward into the endless water below and for a moment she thought that might be better than spending one more second on this ship with this miserable group.
"It'll be alright, Amber, you'll see."
Amber loosened her grip and turned to see Trudy standing in front her wearing a dress that had once been bright white but had slowly faded out to a dull yellow. Amber smiled weakly at her best friend.
"Will it? Do you really think so?"
Trudy nodded and Amber could see a calmness in her eyes that was uncommon for the usually frantic girl.
"I really do, like you said will be back on land tomorrow and then we'll find somewhere to live that's truly safe for us and the kids."
Amber looked into her friend's eye and saw that she was searching for confirmation and comfort and so she decided not to test Trudy's new found calm.
"Of course we will, by this time tomorrow we'll be eating a nice meal cooked over a warm fire."
Trudy smiled at this and Amber pulled her into a tight hug that was reciprocated twice as hard, they held each other a moment longer before Amber pulled away.
"Who's watching Junior and Brady?"
Trudy nodded down at the small set of steps that led down to the only private bed on the boat.
"Salene took them down to read a story to May; she thought it would be good for her to have little company now that she's feeling better."
Amber shook her head and sighed. "Poor May, I can't believe she's been so sea sick this entire time. Has she been able to keep any food down the last couple of days?"
Trudy shrugged. "Only a little but she's been able to keep water down today at least without puking."
Amber shrugged. "Well at least it's something. Would you help Salene get Junior down for the night? I want to go up and see if Jack and Ellie have gotten through to anyone on the radio."
Trudy nodded and moved towards the stairs, Amber watched after her friend for a moment, she had truly worried for Trudy's sanity since they'd fled the city, never a very stable person Trudy only hope getting back to land tomorrow would soothe her.
Amber turned and climbed the short staircase to the wheelhouse and greeted Jack and Ellie who sat side by side in cramped room. Jack was adjusting an inexplicable number of knobs and switches on the face of the radio while Ellie scribbled down numbers and letters that Amber couldn't even begin to decipher.
" Well, have you two managed to get ahold of anyone yet?"
Jack turned in his seat and looked at Amber with bleary eyes but managed to crack small smile.
"No, not really, I had something a little while ago but I think it was just some kind of interference because it was just a bunch of guys yelling and screaming about a party and blasting music."
Amber found this strange but since there was nothing she could do about it she simply shrugged and turned to go back down the steps only pausing to address Jack again.
"Please make sure you get some sleep tonight, Jack, we're planning on heading back to shore tomorrow and I don't want you sick from exhaustion before that happens."
Jack had already turned back towards the radio but bobbed his head up and down in acknowledgment.
Amber turned her attention to Ellie.
"Ellie, make sure he gets some sleep tonight, Please?"
Ellie dropped her pencil and cracked her knuckles.
"No problem, Amber, my hands are killing me anyways." She poked one of her slender fingers into Jacks shoulder. "C'mon Jackie, let's go for a walk and stretch out our legs."
Jack nodded again. "Sure, Sure, but in a minute babe, I want to try out a few more things first."
Ellie looked at Amber and rolled her eyes and shrugged towards Jack, Amber gave her a sympathetic smile, then turned and made her way back down the steps and towards the sleeping quarters. She was looking forward to spending a little time with her son and then hopefully a goodnights sleep before they started back for shore in the morning.
Darryl stood on the bow of the ship staring out into the vast empty sea and switching from balancing from one leg to the other and digging his nails into his palms, trying anything to keep himself awake. He hated pulling night watch and he especially hated it when he'd been kept from sleeping during the day because of Gel's constant need to chatter.
He yawned and stretched mightily, leaned against the railing and then slid down until he could stretch his legs all the way out, deciding it would be a good idea to rest his back if he had to be up the rest of the night on watch. He let his mind drift to thoughts of what they'd find on shore tomorrow and he truly hoped it would be a fully stocked and staffed five star hotel where he could take a real shower instead of bathing with cold sea water, eat a real, hot, meal instead of a tepid one dumped out of a can and then stretch out in a king sized bed sandwiched in between silk sheets and thick, soft and warm blanket and drift off into the kind of sleep he hadn't slept since the virus hit.
His eyelids began to flutter and Darryl knew he should stand up before he went over the edge but allowed himself one last thought about that warm, cozy bed and then he slumped onto his side and proceeded to snore and he also proceeded to miss that another ship was quietly motoring over towards them.
Amber woke from her fitful rest slowly and for a few moments attempted to will herself back to sleep but gave up on that quickly and simply laid on the chilly, hard floor of the sleeping quarters and listened to the snores, and, sleep talk of her room mates. Lex and Ebony both snored horribly and Sammy constantly chattered to himself in his slumber while the Trader would let out vicious, hacking coughs that sounded to Amber more like something an old man who smoked would do than a boy in his late teens.
She turned onto her side and couldn't help but smile at the sight of her son sleeping peacefully on his little pallet beside her, she kissed his cheek and ran her hand over his fine, silken blond hair and then laid a hand on his chest and felt the movements of his shallow sleeping breaths. He was already beginning to look like his father to her, Bray, her Bray, she had thought of him almost every day since he had disappeared, how he was headstrong and brave to a fault sometimes but he was still the most good-hearted and kind person she had met since the virus started.
She turned her attention to Jay who slept ram-rod stiff just on the other side of her son and felt that old and familiar guilt settle it's self on her brain, she loved Jay but not in the way he deserved, she tried but he would never be the number one person in her heart, when they finally got back to shore she would make things right.
She laid on her back and closed her eyes again, trying to block out the thoughts and visions of what would happen when they got back to dry land, then the ship rocked hard enough that Sammy fell out of his bunk onto the Trader who slept below causing him to let a blast of thick, phlegmy coughs that quickly knocked everyone out of their slumber.
Amber quickly gathered Junior to her chest and attempted to comfort him as Jay sat up and looked at her bleary eyed, he opened his mouth to speak but then the ship rocked again causing everyone to lose their balance again and then they heard boots landing on the upper deck and Darryl calling out for help.
"What in the world is happening now!" Trudy screeched in a shaky voice as she held Brady in a vice grip.
Amber stood and passed her son to Salene who had shoved Sammie and Lottie into the corner farthest from the door and then she gingerly guided Trudy and Brady into the same corner.
Ebony, Jay, and Lex had gathered near the door holding improvised clubs, Amber joined them and Jay handed her a small piece of solid steel pipe.
Ebony turned from the door where they could now hear a thick, garrulous voice calling for them to show their cowardly pirate arses.
"Well, what's the plan now pirate queen?"
Trudy piped up again from the corner. "They think we're pirates?" She pointed a shaky accusatory finger towards the Trader. " have you been using this ship to rob people, if anything happens to my daughter because of this I swear to god I'll kill you myself."
Salene seeing and hearing that Trudy was on the verge of becoming inconsolably hysterical began comforting her while the Trader shook his head like a wet dog.
"No, I've never robbed anybody like that and I never even moved this ship before that new virus got released, I got no fuckin' clue what's going on."
Amber quickly took charge again.
"Everyone stay calm and listen to me, Jay, Lex, Ebony and I will head up top and figure out what's going on while Trader and Gel will stay down here and guard you and the kids just in case."
The Trader looked severely sick at the thought of violence while Gel seemed more perturbed by losing beauty sleep than the fact that their ship was being invaded and her boyfriend being in danger.
Amber turned towards Jay.
"Well, do you think we should just rush up and see what happens or is there a better strategy?"
Jay turned his club in his hand.
"I think maybe we should go up and try to fight our way to the galley, Slade and the rest slept up there and we'd be able to put up a much better defense with them."
Amber turned her attention to Lex and Ebony.
"Does that sound good to you two?"
They both nodded and Lex looked towards the door again where the voice was shouting more demands and insulting them for their thieving, pillaging, bastardly pirate ways.
" Sounds great to me, but we better hurry cause our friend out there is fixing to start counting down from ten if we don't come out, I'll lead the way like usual."
As Lex mounted the first step the door burst open and he was grabbed by what looked like a dozen pair of hands and ripped out onto the deck and bodies suddenly poured into the room, Amber tried to fight back to back with Jay but was quickly set upon by two black-clad men who wrapped her hands and ankles with rope and dropped her hard onto the floor.
From her vantage point Amber watched as Jay and Ebony quickly got the same treatment as her and dropped next to her though Gel and the Trader were simply order to drop their weapons and sit on a bunk which they gladly did.
The men turned their attention to Trudy and Salene who stood in front of the children. Salene held a rather unimpressive tack hammer and Trudy was drawing patterns in front of herself with a dull rusty scissor half and practically snarling at the invaders.
"Stay back or I swear I'll stick this in your neck."
The apparent leader of the invaders stepped towards Trudy and rather theatrically struck what he thought passed for an authoritative pose and jabbed a thick finger towards her face.
"Drop that shank you pirate wench and step away from the poor kiddies it's time to face justice for your deeds."
Trudy let out a battle cry and charged, scissor held high over her head toward the man who even in the cramped room easily side stepped and tripped poor Trudy while simultaneously snatching her weapon out of her hand.
Trudy was quickly bound and dropped on the floor writhing and screaming while the leader turned his attention toward Salene who stood steadfast in front of the children.
"Alright, sea-scum, will you surrender or do I have to give you the same treatment as your pals on the floor?"
Salene glanced towards her bound companions and her hand began to shake slightly but she stared at the invader with her eyes ablaze.
"We're not pirates you daft bastard we're Mallrats and you're not coming any closer to these kids!"
The leader shared a few confused glances with his men before he looked at Lottie and Sammie who crouched in front of Brady and Junior in an attempt to guard them from the fray.
"Is that true, little ones, are you Mallrats and not pirates? And are you with these people by your own choice?"
Lottie spoke while Sammy just vigorously nodded his head.
"Of course it's true you idiot and you're the pirate here, you jumped on our ship in the middle of the night and started beating everybody up!"
He stared at Lottie for a moment with such harshness in his eyes that Salene cocked the hammer back and prepared to swing with all her might until the invader suddenly let out a explosive guffaw that boomed in the small room and was just beneath painful to hear. Amber winced as that man's laugh continued for an uncomfortable amount of time that the Trader even let out a nervous giggle of his own until he was elbowed in the ribs by Gel.
The invader's laugh slowly tapered off as her struggled to catch his breath, finally he wiped a few tears from his eyes and turned towards his companions.
" Lads, I think we've made a mistake jumping this lot, looks like we've got quite a lot of apologies to make tonight."
Lottie stood up and spat on the man's boot.
"You're damn right you do you shit."
Salene had grab Lottie's shirt to keep her from charging forward.
"Lottie! Cursing and spitting, what's the matter with you?"
The invader clapped and let out another booming guffaw that was thankfully very short.
"It's alright, mum, I can handle a little spit on my boot and harsh words in my ear and besides that she's right."
He turned and began making his way up the stairs pausing at the top to give his men orders.
"Canhead, Duds, you two untie these poor people and get them up so we can make amends."
Amber managed to turn herself enough to be able to look at Jay who looked just as bewildered as she felt.
Canhead and Duds made quick work of untying the Mallrats and then stood awkwardly in front of the stairs looking at their former captives with pensive and somewhat chastised looks on their faces. Ebony was the first to make a move and marched towards the man making dismissive gestures with her hands.
"Move you clods, your boss wanted us upstairs."
The two quickly hopped out of the way and allowed her to go up the stairs.
The one Amber guessed was Canhead due to the fact his head had a bit of a cylindrical shape to it gestured at her and then towards the stairs.
"Well, go ahead Ma'am; the boss said he'd like to make amends up there." His soft and high-pitched voice did not match his compact and thickly muscled body. He and his companion then turned and made their way upstairs.
Amber looked at Jay and Salene who both seemed lost as to what their next move should be.
"Should we just go up like they said or do you think it's a trap?"
Jay gaped at her for a moment before seeming to find himself again.
"I don't think it's a trap, why would they tie us up like that and then let us go just to trap us again?"
Amber looked around the room at her companions who all looked equally befuddled as they waited for her to make a decision.
"Ok, let's go up then, Jay and I will lead the way with Trader and Gel behind us and the Salene and Trudy will follow with the kids. If anything happens when we go out the door get the kids back in and lock the door behind you, got it?"
Everyone nodded and Amber walked up the stairs with Jay directly behind her, as she stepped through the door she braced herself for an attack but when none came she relaxed slightly and made her way around towards the opposite side of the ship where she finally saw what had knocked Sammy out of bed and where their attackers had come from.
It was at least twice the size of the Traders boat and to Amber it even looked like at one point it could have an extremely expensive boat used for pleasure cruises but now the outside was covered in gouges and graffiti and where the name had once been it was covered in a piece of tarp the read "S.S. Mac".
Amber stared at the ship for a moment longer before Jay gave her a gentle nudge, she turned back and saw him and the rest lined up behind her either gawking at the ship or looking at her for guidance. Amber turned forward again and saw the apparent leader of the invaders staring at her and giving her what he must have thought was a charming smile.
He gestured towards the rest of the Mallrats who stood or leaned against the railing on the other side of him.
"Please, join your friends so we can get this silly mistake worked out."
Hearing Ebony and Lex both scoff at the man's words Amber quickly made her way over not wanting to give them any time to start trouble. She noticed most of her companions looked unharmed except for Darryl who had a black eye already forming and Ram whose bloody nose Ruby was holding a rag to. Whoever these guys were they must have been good to get the jump on Slade and the others who had slept in the galley.
Once everyone had settled in the man stepped forward and struck a pose that he must have thought looked heroic, his eyes were a vibrant blue color and held a mirthful shine as he took a look into each and every one of the Mallrats eyes, he stroked his mustache which was thick and braided and hung down to his chin before he finally settled his gaze on Amber.
"I'm guessing you're the leader of this crew?"
Amber nodded and stepped forward, noticing for the first time how tall the man was, he would easily tower over any of the Mallrats and his muscles seemed to stretch his shirt to its limits, Amber was suddenly worried again about an attack as it seemed he could take on all the Mallrat fighters at once and not break a sweat but when he spoke that fear disappeared again.
"Would you please accept me and my men's most sincerest apologies?"
Amber was surprised by the tone of the man's voice which sounded truly contrite, like a young boy who broke a neighbor's window with a ball.
Amber opened her mouth to speak but found that she was so surprised by the apology and overall confused by the situation that words wouldn't form, she turned towards her companions for help and May stepped up and despite her pale and sickly demeanor her voice was strong and challenging.
"First of all why don't you tell us who you are and why the hell you crazies decided to jump on our boat and rough us up in the middle of the night?"
The man looked stricken and maybe even a little hurt by May's words and Amber was worried for a moment that her words may set him off but he only looked from the Mallrats to his men and back to the Mallrats and back to his men again.
Then he spoke. "You mean you've not heard of me?"
Amber decided to speak this time deciding she would tread carefully to not upset the man any further.
"No, I'm sorry but we're not even from these parts we came from up north."
The man shook his head and looked towards his two men on the boat. "Can you believe this?" When they shrugged he turned and addressed the dozen men who stood on the deck of his boat. "Can you boys believe this, they've never heard of us?" When they shrugged, almost in unison Amber noticed, he turned back towards the Mallrats.
"We're known for our deeds far and wide and you're telling me you never heard of us."
If they were confused by the situation before the Mallrats were even more confused now as their giant would be captor lamented about being unappreciated like a child who found their drawing in the trash.
The Mallrats looked from one to the other hoping one of them would know what to do next and it was Ebony who took lead.
"Look, friend, why don't you tell us who you are and then we'll figure out if we've heard of you."
This seemed to perk the man up and he clapped his hands together and let out what must have been his trademark guffaw.
"Of course, of course! With this bad lighting you probably couldn't tell who I am."
He bowed slightly. "I am The Mac." He made a grand sweeping gesture towards his ship and the men on the deck. "And those are The Mac's Lads."
He looked up from his bow and Amber guessed he was expecting looks of awe and admiration but she and the Mallrats could only continue giving him confused or in Ebony's case slightly amused stares. His shoulders sagged and he let out a disappointed sigh.
"You've still not heard of me?"
Amber shook her head and gave him a nervous smile.
"No, I'm sorry but like I said we're from far up north and we've been on this boat for a while now."
The Mac nodded his head. "I know you're from up north but I'm sure our fame's traveled that far; The Avenging Angels of New Aberdeen, Terror of the Technos, Lovely Lads of Lawndale, the boys who saved the Nuns of Caledon from Cruel Carl and his Cannibal Crew? You've never heard any of those names?"
Amber shook her head and looked back at the Mallrats all of whom looked even more confused than before except for May who looked peeved and Ebony who was trying to keep herself from busting out laughing.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm sure you're very famous but we've had a lot going on in our own city."
The Mac nodded. "Well I guess we can't be known everywhere, news always gets to backwaters slower…"
May spoke again from where she stood leaning against Salene for support. "Look, mate, can you just tell us why you jumped on our ship and what you plan to do to us? I'm a very sick woman and I'd like to get back to bed."
He nodded and held his hands up in surrender. "Of course, you'll have to excuse me sometimes I ramble on, my mother used to say I had a brain for radio, whatever that meant. Anyways to tell you why we invaded your boat I'll have to go back a ways."
May audibly groaned and Ebony finally broke down and laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation as the Mac started in on the story, he rambled and rolled along for twenty minutes about battles and contracts and women and contracts while most of the Mallrats stared at him in bewilderment except for Sammy, Trader and Darryl who all seemed enthralled by his story.
The story came to its end as the Mac told of how they'd helped chase some undesirables, who he called "Culties" from a nearby city and were now taking their ship north to find new jobs and new adventures.
As he finished the story with a flourish of hand gestures the Mallrats looked around at each other hoping somebody could figure out how that story explained why the Mac Lads invaded them, May was the first one to voice her disappointment.
"You just spent half an hour telling us a story that didn't tell us why you attacked us, please just tell us why you did it and what you're going to do with us!"
May's outburst caused the snoozing Junior to burst out in frustrated sobs, Amber began rocking and shushing her son to no avail. The crying baby seemed to get the Mac to recognize how long he'd been rambling.
"What am I doing, keeping a little baby up late into the night like this?" He gave Amber a sympathetic look.
"Don't worry, mum, we'll get this cleared up and be on our separate ways. Me and the Lads jumped on your ship cause it sorta looked like Mad Martha's ship and they fella who you had sleeping on watch sorta looked like her husband Bandy George."
The Mallrats all looked at each other in disbelief that they had been terrified and hog tied because they sorta looked like somebody they'd never heard of, Jay decided to speak up.
"You decided to attack and tie us up because the boat we were on sorta looked like someone else's boat? Wouldn't have been smarter to make sure before you just jumped on?"
The Mac laughed again. "Mate, if you knew Mad Martha you wouldn't hesitate before jumping her either, she'll gut you like a hog then sit down and have breakfast." He quickly sobered. "But like I said we are going to make it up to you."
Lex stepped forward this time. "You keep saying that but you haven't said how, you've put us through a lot of distress, especially the kiddies, just look at 'em." He pointed to Sammy who seemed more enthralled than distressed, then to Lottie who had fallen asleep and snored softly against Salene."
The Mac grinned at Lex. "Don't worry, mate, we'll make it up to you proper. "GROATER!"
His booming yell caused a small head with a large mop of orange hair to pop up on his boat and he began giving out orders.
"Get these fine folks some supplies; food, water, smokes and some of those baby things that little bastard from Eden stuck us with and throw in something nice for their time as well."
He turned back towards Amber and the Mallrats.
"I truly hope you all can forgive me and the Lads for being foolish like we were, we'll get these supplies onboard and then you can be on the way to where ever you were going before."
Amber stepped towards him.
"You said something about Eden, is that a city near here?"
The Mac nodded. "Yeah, Eden's a nice little place, had some problems not too long ago but seems to be settling down now which is why we're leaving, Mac and his Lads go where problems need solvin'."
Amber smiled trying not to blow up on the man for his constant boasting and unfinished answers.
"But it is near here right, we only have enough fuel to go about 40 miles and we need to get back to land soon, we're going a little stir crazy on here."
"Yeah, it's not too far only about 60 miles from here but don't you worry about running out of gas. GROATER!"
Amber winced as he let out another booming yell as she had finally gotten Junior to settle down but luckily he was so exhausted he didn't even stir. The mop of orange hair popped up again and the Mac told him to add some petrol to their gift.
Two large boxes bulging with an assortment of goods and a 5 gallon can of petrol were handed over along with directions on how to get to Eden and then Mac and his men made the leap back over to his boat. The Mallrats huddled together and watched as the other boat pushed away from them and began moving east, the Mac stood on the railing and waved at them and then cupped his hands over his mouth.
"When you get close to Eden make sure to approach a bit cautiously, they're good folks down there but they're also a bit jumpy at the moment! Goodbye and good luck Mallrats, let fortune be forever in your favor and don't forget to tell the world about The Mac and his Lads!"
Amber and her companions waved until the boat became a speck and then they all turned and looked at each other, searching for an answer to what exactly it was they had just experienced, Brady had the best answer as she rested in her mother's arms.
"Those men were silly, huh, mommy?"
Trudy grinned and laughed at her daughter's candidness.
"Yes, Brady, they were very, very silly."