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Jay felt giddy as he watched the ground many miles underneath him and quickly stepped back. He closed his eyes and felt how his heart was throbbing in his chest and the wind thundering against his ears. Taking tiny steps Jay neared the open airplane door and peeked out again. He could instantly feel the nausea whelming up in his stomach. Even though he had parachuted a million times before, he never got used to it and he probably never would. Jay was usually a calm and collected guy, known for his leveheadedness and mental strength. But this particulary task was always something that threw him off his balance.

Jay's younger brother Ved turned up beside him with a big grin, "Wow, you look like trash."

Jay just leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. They were nearing the time where they had to throw themselves out from the airplane and land on the ground somewhere. If they made it.

Ecko, one of the Technos, walked over to Jay and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Time to go," he said. He knew how much Jay dreaded this moment. Jay had a sinking feeling and started to double check if everything on his parachute was where it was supposed to be. On his right Ved was getting ready to jump and stepped out onto the edge of the plane. Behind Ved a line of Techno-jumpers formed. Jay placed himself at the very back of the line so he was the last one to jump.

"We're flying about 111 mph at a height of 1.476 feet," Ecko informed them. He had to yell in order to make himself heard above the roar from the motor.

"Ready?" he shouted loudly in order to drown the noise of the wind. "Go! Go!"

Ved took a deep breath, then threw himself into the air and disappeared out of sight. Jay always felt a jab of panic by the sight of this. He never knew if his little brother would make it or not. Or if any of them would. So far there had been three deaths when they had parachuted in the previous cities and Jay feared the worst.

His heart started to beat faster when the line was thinning out. When the Techno in front of him had jumped and disappeared out of sight, Jay stepped over to the opening and looked out. He took a deep breath as if he hoped it would make the panic in his stomach disappear. It didn't.

When he heard Ecko shouting, "Go!" he closed his eyes and jumped into the nothing. The panic in his stomach spread to the rest of his body and he felt his guts contract. The feeling of the lacking ground underneath his feet was almost unbearable and he started fumbling wildly with the string that should release his parachute and tugged hard at it. His heart almost stopped beating when nothing happened and he forced his eyes open and looked down. He could see the other parachutes underneath him. He kept tugging at the string for what felt like hours without anything happening. Even though he was still miles from the ground it seemed to get nearer and nearer with sickening speed.

Realising the parashute wasn't going to fold out, he made a swift decision. He pulled a handle, releasing the parachute from his back. He looked up and saw it disappear into the air above him. Then he pulled hard at another handle. The air was knocked out of him when the reserve parachute unfolded, reducing the speed abruptly. He felt an overwhelming relief run through his body. He was now gliding smoothly through the air and could relax enough to look down and see Ved land elegantly on the ground.

Jay made himself ready to land too. His feet hit the ground with such intensity that it forced him to his knees. He turned a somersault and landed flat on his back with his arms stretched out on either side of him. A couple of Technos, including Ved, came running over to him. Their head's formed a circle in Jay's view as they looked down at him.

"You okay, bro?" Ved asked and could barely suppress a grin as he bent over Jay.

"Fine," Jay mumbled and sat up. He was really shaken from the jump and needed to sit down for a while. But there wasn't time for that. Ram would soon land at the airstrip and he expected Jay to be there.

—

Ebony opened her eyes and sighed deeply. Something had woken her up from her sleep - she didn't know what though. She smiled contently and closed her sleepy eyes again. She was so comfortable in her warm and cosy bed with it's big fluffy pillows and silk sheets. Red of course.

5 seconds later her eyes flew open and she listened intensely. There was something noisy above them, like an airplane or something.

"That can't be?" Ebony whispered to herself as she climbed out of bed and walked over to her window. She shoved the curtains aside and looked out. The morning sunlight blinded her eyes and she couldn't see anything. But she was no longer in doubt. It was a plane.

Grabbing her long red silk coat she ran to the door and out into one of the hotel's many hallways. She ran down the hallway and headed for the entrance where she knew a couple of her militia guys would be on guard.

"What's happening?" she demanded when she reached them in the doorway.

"There's a plane. And parachutes," one of the guards said. He looked alarmed and nervous. Ebony walked outside, looked to the sky and then saw the plane. It was about a mile from the city and she could see the parachutes clearly. She turned to the guards, "Gather the rest of the militia and go check it out."

"But, Ebony-"

"It wasn't a question! Just do it! Now!"

The guard didn't move. Ebony gritted her teeth in annoyance and stepped closer to him so she was only inches away from his fearsome face.

"Do you want to get kicked out of the militia?" she snarled with chillingly menace, "Cause there are lots of guys who would kill anyone to be in your place. And I mean kill anyone, if you catch my drift?"

He seemed to catch her drift perfectly fine because he darted off with his pal right behind him. Ebony walked back inside and locked herself up in her room. She needed time to think.

—

The sun slowly rose from the horizon, painting the sky in a red and orange shade. Ebony walked through the deserted streets, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She walked with a slight frown, concerned about the lack of people that usually invaded the streets in these parts of town. She glanced over her shoulder to check up on her militia, loyally walking at her heel to watch over her.

When they arrived at the Mall they walked in through the main entrance until they met the grills which were open. Annoyed, Ebony started yelling at the rest of her tribe.

"Why aren't the grills down? Anyone could walk right in! Is that what you want? And where's the security guards? I want to have a word with the person on guard duty!" she scolded as she and her militia walked through the mall and up the stairs. When she reached the café she stopped and put her hands on her hips.

"What's going on?" she asked as she glanced at the few mallrats that sat around the small tables. They just looked at her with empty expressions, which sent chills down Ebony's spine. She was about to demand an answer, any kind of anwer, from them when something caught her eye. There was a movemt in the shadows to her right and then a figure stepped into the light.

"Amber!" Ebony exclaimed in surprise, "You're back." She wasn't particular pleased about this unexpected twist and she knew she didn't sound it either.

"No thanks to you," Amber said and glared at her. She was holding a small baby boy in her arms.

"Where's Bray?" Ebony asked, looking around as if she had somehow missed his presence. Ambers face fell and she looked down.

"They took him," she said in a small voice. Ebony felt a pang in her heart. God no, not him, she thought. She had always had feelings for Bray - secrete ones of course, she coudn't let anyone know of such a weakness. She shook it off and put on her best nonchalant expression, "What's going on?" she asked, holding out her arms in bewilderment.

"They've taken Alice and some of the other mallrats," Salene said, finally breaking her silence. Mouse hung by her arm. She looked at Ebony with huge brown eyes, looking like a scared kitten.

"What?" Ebony said with disbelief, "Who?"

"Men with masks," Amber said, "They invaded the Mall and there was a struggle, but they were too strong." She tightening her grip around Baby Bray who was crying.

"Well how did they get in?" Ebony asked, trying to get the facts right.

"How is that important?" Pride broke in, getting up in a swift move. "Our friends have been taken and that's all you can say?"

"Look, I'm just trying to find out what happened and why," Ebony said sharply. "Who exactly has been taken?" She looked around at Amber, Pride, Salene, Mouse and Cloe - the remaining members of the tribe.

"They took Alice, Ellie, May, the twins, K.C and Tai-san. We're all that's left," Amber informed her. She looked very pale, "And Bray." Her voice quivered uncharacteristically towards the end.

"Well what about Jack, Lex and Trudy?" Ebony wanted to know.

"Trudy's taken Brady to the Ecos," Pride said. "They are safe there. As for Lex and Jack, they've gone out to see if they can find out where they have taken the others. I'm gonna go see what I can find out." He disappeared into his room to get his coat.

"But who are they?" Ebony wondered.

"Who knows?" Cloe said, speaking for the first time since Ebony had arrived, "They came here on an airplane." She could still clearly see the masked men running around in the mall inside her mind. She shuddered.

Ebony nodded her head and then turned around to face her militia, "Go see what you can find out about this new tribe. You can go with Pride, watch his back."

"I'd rather go by myself, if you don't mind. I'm much better on my own," Pride said, coming out from his room.

"Suit yourself," Ebony said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Just make sure not to get taken. We can't effort to lose more members of our tribe."

She told her men to go and turned around towards Amber again, "We need to gather what's left of the city's tribe leaders," she said "I'm calling on a meeting right this instant." And with that she turned around and disappeared down the stairs.