M7 meets South Africa

by kas7

Ezra has some bad luck with the wild life, Chris has bad luck in general. Help!

5. the end is in sight

"AGH!" he screamed as he ran inside the kombi.

Ezra didn't have enough time to close the door as Ayanda put foot, driving them to safety form a certain crash. Seeing that they were now in a safe position, Ayanda parked the car. Then JD burst out laughing.

"Did you see Ezra's face!" JD asked.

"No, but boy can Ezra move!" Buck said as he too began to laugh.

Soon everyone started to laugh, to release the tense atmosphere.

"I do not Ever want to do that again, and Thank you Miss Wilson, for the warning," Ezra said.

"Please call me Marie, and your welcome," she said.

JD and Buck were still too busy laughing, that they failed to see that the other's had stopped. Ezra was also looking a bit on the flushed side, and his heart was still beating way to fast for his liking.

"You alright?" Nathan asked with a smile.

"Yes, thank you for your concern,"

"Come on Ez, it's not like we see you run ever day," Vin joked.

Ezra looked at Vin, and knew it was just his bad luck to fall in the line of fire, from the jokes. So with a smile, Ezra joined in.

"Food time," Ayanda said.

They made their way out of the kombi and into the camp site where everyone could cook and eat and use the toilets.

After a quick break, everyone headed back into the kombi much more relaxed and refreshed.

"Have you to been here before?" Nathan asked the girls.

"Yeah, I've been here three times. Haven't seen an elephant, but they mostly away further up," Marie said.

"I've been here once, came camping here with my dad. We saw the elephants, " Ayanda said.

"Hope we get to see some lions," JD said.

"We should, come lets go!" Ayanda said.

They started to drive around. They sent the day looking at the different animals, after a while they heard a loud roar that sent chills down their spines, as right in front of their car as a pack of lions, who were looking rather on the hungry side.

"They can't get in, can they?" Buck asked in concern.

"Not unless anyone open's a window, or a door, we should be safe," Ayanda said.

They watched through the car's windows, looking at the mighty king, it's golden brown hairs shown in the light. But to every beauty where was also a dark side, their teeth, which proved the reason why they were called the Kings.

Ezra took out his video camera and started to film the wild beasts, which the other's followed. They stayed their for two minutes before the lions began to get a little bit closer.

"I hate to cut this short, but I don't like the fact that they coming closer. I mean we are safe and all, but hey why temp fate?" Ayanda said.

"Good thinking, after all we pushed our luck with the Rhino," Marie joked.

"But they so pretty," JD said sadly.

"Yeah, but they are also dangerous, and they can and Will eat you if you give them a chance," Marie said.

"Yeah, its just that they are so different to what they look like on tv, they seem more powerful, more beautiful," JD said in amazement.

"Right, lets go!" Ayanda said.

She started the car which caused the lions to go into hiding, while she started to drive away. They looked again at the different variety of animals before they headed out of the game park to go back to their hotel. They were still teasing Ezra when they arrived at the hotel.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, I shall not forget this day," Ezra said in a threatening tone.

"That's because we won't let you," Ayanda joked.

They all laughed as they headed to the restaurant to have some supper. They then headed to their rooms for some much needed sleep.

Chris and Vin were woken up with a knock at their door. Chris looked at Vin, but Vin just shrugged. They slowly got up and headed to the door. Vin had his gun out just in case. Once Chris knew that Vin was ready, he slowly opened the door to reveal Marie, all by her self, wearing sweat pants and a large t-shirt.

"What's wrong," Chris asked in concern.

"Nothing," She said in defence.

Vin just shrugged then lowered his gun as he headed back to his bed. Chris turned his attention back to Marie,

"You need something or is this just a social call?" Chris asked.

"I need to talk to you, in private, please," Marie begged.

Chris nodded his head, then headed back inside to get his jacket. He didn't really like the idea of going somewhere just in his sweatpants and t-shirt.

Once he put it on, he quickly headed out. They headed in silence as they made their way down to the restaurant's bar. Chris and Marie both ordered coffee.

Chris looked at Marie, watching her fight with her thoughts.

"You can tell me anything, I won't do anything," Chris said softly.

"Yeah, but sometimes telling the truth doesn't always sets you free," Marie said.

"I know, but sometimes it helps, not a lot, but it helps,"

"Sometimes life can be so cruel, you only find out how good you have it when it's gone," she said sadly.

"I know, I lost my wife and child a few years ago," he said sadly.

"I'm so sorry, I never knew. I'm sorry,"

"Weren't your fault," Chris said softly.

"I guess everyone has lost someone, in their times," Marie said.

"Yeah, so what do you want to tell me?" Chris asked.

They found themselves talking right into the early hours of the morning, when they made their rooms. They said their goodnights as they headed into their own rooms. Chris silently crept into his room, hoping he wouldn't wake up Vin.

He quickly got into bed, when he heard Vin groan.

"Sorry," Chris whispered.

Chris received a moan in response. Chris smiled as he found himself falling a sleep.

Chris woke up when he felt eyes upon him. He looked up to see Vin smiling.

"Your turn to shower,"

Chris groaned as he made his way to the shower. Once finished they headed to the passage. In surprise they saw everyone waiting.

"What happened?" Chris asked.

"Nothing, Marie woke us up," Josiah said.

"And believe me, she didn't take no for an answer," Nathan joked.

Chris frowned then looked at Marie, who just shrugged.

"Okay, well lets get some grub!" Chris said.

They headed for the elevator, some prayed that there weren't going to be anymore jokes.

"Hey guys," Marie said.

Everyone groaned.

"What?" JD asked.

"Did you know that South Africa hold's the highest bunging jump?" Marie asked.

"Really? how long?" Vin asked.

"Something about over eight hundred feet," Marie said.

Buck whistled, Ezra gasped, JD's mouth dropped, Ayanda paled, Chris groaned, Nathan shock his head, Vin smiled.

"Cool!" JD said excitedly.

"Do you want to do it?" Marie asked everyone.

"Yes," JD and Vin answered excitedly.

"No!" everyone else said.

"Hang on, that's near Cape Town," Ayanda said in confusion.

"What's the problem?" Josiah asked.

"Besides the fact that Cape Town is about fourteen hours away?" Ayanda said.

"Well, that's why I arrange us to go to Cape Town," Marie said with a smile.

Everyone looked at Marie's smile, then knew she was telling the truth. Vin looked at Chris who just smiled.

As they arrived at the restaurant they sat down and ordered.

"So we still got six days in South Africa, what we going to do?" JD asked.

"Well, today we are going to go to the Drankensberg , tomorrow we are going to the Lost City, Thursday we are going to Gold Reef City. Friday we go to Cape Town, first to jump, then that means that the rest of that Friday and Saturday to relax, site see and fly," Marie said.

"Oh, that's nice," Ayanda said sarcastically.

"What's wrong with the plan? I mean I want to show everyone the major sites, and well that's most of them," Marie said.

"No, I'm talking about the Bungee jumping thing. I mean who the Hell do you think is going to jump?" Ayanda asked.

"JD, Vin and me, and who ever is brave," Marie said.

"No way," Ayanda said.

"Look, all the rest of you guys just walk the bridge, watch us jump, then we go back," Marie said.

No one but Vin noticed the little spark light up Marie's eyes, he had to smile to himself. He knew that she planning on some way to get everyone to jump. What ever it was, he was going to enjoy.

They quickly ate knowing that it would be a few hour drive, then lots of walking. After they ate they quickly went and freshened up, then meet at the kombi. They sat in their usual seats, as Ayanda started the car.

"Ooooo, guess what?" Marie said.

"What?" JD answered.

"JD, when you gonna learn not to answer her back?" Ayanda asked.

Buck just laughed and shock his head. JD just shock his head then turned his attention back to Marie.

"Come on guys, this is funny, well it was when I first heard it," Marie said.

"Oh no! that means its going to be horrible!" Ayanda joked.

"Just you wait!" Marie warned.

Ayanda suddenly wondered if she was pushing the limits. Lucky for her, JD was still interested in the joke.

"What's the joke?" he asked

"A young pilot is approaching an unfamiliar airfield at night and wants to sound cool to the control tower.

Instead of making a serious request he says: "Guess who?" , The controller promptly switches off the airfield lights and replies: "Guess where!"," Marie said.

"That's funny," JD said with a smile.

"No that's lame, and it's totally degrading to SA," Ayanda said.

"Come on! it ain't that bad, Anyway it's not bad to our economy," Marie said in protest.

"Ya right! these guys are going back to the USA, and they going to warn others about our bad jokes!" Ayanda said seriously.

"Hey, that's mean! my jokes ain't always bad! and anyway its only a few people that make jokes!"

"Yeah, but you are one of those few!"

"Just because I have a sense of humour doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"

"ME no sense of humour? please!"

"Well, everyone has bad jokes, I mean look at JD's," Buck said.

Ayanda and Marie burst out laughing, while JD swatted Buck over the head.

"Hey!" Buck moaned in protest.

"Sorry, we do seem to get a bit carried away," Marie said.

"Yeah, and your jokes aren't that bad," Ayanda said.

"Yeah, glad to hear,"

"Just please get some that are really funny,"

"Okay,"

"Good to hear that there are no hard feelings, can we listen to the radio?" Nathan asked.

"Sure,"

They waited as Josiah switched on the radio. The music was all basically American or Europe.

"Is there any South Africa music?" Josiah asked.

"Yeah, sometimes," Ayanda replied.

"Why not played more often?" he asked.

"Dunno, maybe because the other music is more popular, and there is not enough of the SA music," Marie offered in behalf of Ayanda

"That's a shame," he said.

"That depends on your music taste," Marie joked.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, we mostly got almost what you call "Rap", but its more South African, and most of it is in Zulu," Marie answered.

Everyone grew silent as they watched the passing scenery. That was until JD started to think,

"Wilson, isn't that English?" he asked Marie.

"Wow, you are smart," she mocked.

JD just glared at her,

"Yes it is, my father is English," Marie answered.

"Then how do you know Afrikaans?" he asked.

"Well, my ma is Afrikaans, and at school, we have it was a subject," Marie answered.

"Wow," JD replied.

"Not if you have to learn all the spelling, and do orals! ewe I hate orals," Marie said in disgust.

"Why?" JD asked.

"Well, because she does best, and what most girls do," Ayanda answered.

"What's that?" Buck asked.

"Blush, dam you should see her, she goes Blood red, then her words get all mixed up, it's so funny," Ayanda joked.

"Laugh it up, you'll pay for this. Mark my words!" she said in a lethal tone.

"And this is where you fellows come in, and Protect me!" Ayanda said seriously.

"It's amazing that you two are still together with all your disagreements," Josiah said in amazement.

Marie frowned,

"Can I tell him?" she asked Ayanda.

"Go ahead girlfriend," Ayanda answered.

"Well, you see its like this, we're sisters, so that gives us right to fight, anyway life will be too dull without the pain in my side," Marie said.

"Pain in your side, ha! your the pain!" Ayanda said.

"No we are both pains," Marie ended.

The trip went by quickly as they found themselves at the Berg.

"Wow, look at this place, it's Huge," JD gasped.

"Ain't it just the pretty picture, just wait till we climb to the top, then you can talk about views," Marie said.

Ezra's mouth suddenly dropped.

"Excuse me, I find myself with a communication problem, did Miss Wilson just mention these horrific words, "climb to the top"," Ezra asked.

"We," Marie said as she pointed to everyone, "are going to climb," again using her hands to explain, "to the top," she said as she pointed to the sky.

"Well, then I bid you farewell," Ezra said as he made his way back to the car.

"Ezra! you are here on a mission. You know that we must stay together, and do everything as a group!" Chris warned.

Ezra paled as he looked at how high the mountain was, and just the thought of climbing made him want to faint. But facing the wrath of the almighty Chris Larabee, would be his death. With a heavy long, drawn out sign, Ezra joined the team.

"Glad to have you with us Ez," Vin teased.

"I shall not forget this Mr Tanner, mark my words!" Ezra promised.

Vin just smiled.

"Right, now lets go, we got about a few hours walk ahead," Marie said.

"Walk? what about the climbing?" JD asked.

"No we aren't climbing, there's an easy path already there, and with her track record, we need to go on the safest route," Ayanda said.

"Don't tell me she attracts trouble?" Chris begged.

"Like a fly to sugar. Hell not even the school tours where safe. Like last year, we went to the berg, and on the way someone through a rock at the window. Guess who's window broke?" Ayanda asked.

"Marie," JD replied.

"Yip, and because the window broke, her neck got cut. She had to go for stitches, and missed half the tour. When she finally joined us, we went out in the bush, we were walking the next minute she is falling down a hill," Ayanda said with a smile.

"Hey, the window wasn't my fault, and I was drugged when I fell," Marie said in protest.

"Yeah, but should I tell them about the other years?" Ayanda asked.

"No!" Marie answered.

Chris wanted to cry. He looked at the sky wondering how on earth did he land up with the trouble makers.

'I just wanted one mission , just one lousy mission to go without anyone getting hurt or in trouble. Just once. Is that to much to ask for?' he silently asked.

No reply, he looked back down to see Nathan, Ayanda and Marie packing everyone's bag with water bottles and medical kits. He frowned and looked at Nathan.

Nathan felt Chris's glaze on him, he shrugged in response.

"With JD, Vin and now Marie, I'm not taking any chances," Nathan replied.

Chris shock his head as he chuckled.

"Right, everyone come and get your bags," Nathan shouted to everyone.

Everyone came and took their bags, and security it to their bodies. When all things were ready they looked at Marie and Ayanda who were arguing over the map.

"I tell you this is the safest," Marie argued.

"And this is quicker and safer!" Ayanda argued back.

"Children!" Chris shouted.

Marie and Ayanda stopped and looked at Chris.

"Right, your the leader. You lead," Marie suggested.

Everyone looked at Chris as he began to read the map. Vin walked up to Chris and took the map from him.

"You mind?" Vin asked.

"Nope, be my guest," Chris said.

Everyone knew that Vin was the best to lead anyone when it comes to the out doors. Vin grew up around farms, and he had an uncle who worked in a game park, giving Vin the skills to be an excellent tracker.

They watched as Vin quickly scanned the map, then gave it back to Chris.

"Lets go!" Vin said.

Everyone quickly formed a single line, with Vin leading, followed by Chris, Josiah, Buck, Ayanda, Marie, JD, Ezra and ending with Nathan.

The further they walked, the smaller the path went, where everyone had to lean a bit more to the one side to stop them from falling.

But even with the narrow path, they found themselves needing a break.

"I....need....a....break!" Ezra said breathlessly.

"Whoa! Ezra using normal English! we must stop!" Nathan joked.

Everyone stopped and turned around, leaning against the side of the hill as they took out their water bottles.

"Good lord, this is high," Ezra said as he saw how far up they went.

"Sure is a loooong way down," Marie teased.

"Marie Wilson, you mention heights one more time, and your going to be sorry!" Ayanda warned as she leaned further into the hill's side.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall," Marie joked.

"MARIE!" Ayanda pleaded.

"Alright, and anyway it ain't that steep. If anyone does fall you won't die, maybe break a few bones, but not die," Marie said honestly.

"How charming," Ezra gasped.

"How come I'm so tired?" JD asked.

"Because you ain't used to the weather, and the higher we get the less air there is," Marie replied

"Oh, my gosh!" Ayanda said in surprise.

"What?" Buck asked.

"Marie remembered some Geography! It's going to snow!" Ayanda joked.

"I'm not that bad!" Marie said in defence.

"Yeah, right!" Ayanda answered.

"Come one, lets go. We still got about a mile o go before we reach the top, then it's the way back," Marie said.

"Agh!" JD moaned.

"Where's your spirit JD?" Vin asked.

"Right now, it's at the bottom of this damned mountain!" JD moaned.

"Come on, you can't tell me your tired?" Buck teased.

"No, just need a break in the shade, and on the ground," JD explained.

"Come on, we need to go before it gets dark!" Ayanda said as she slowly got up.

Everyone nodded and made the long trip up. They moaned all the way up, but silence surrounded them when they arrived.

"Wow," JD gasped.

"This is amazing," Josiah said.

"Heaven," Vin said in amazement.

Chris was just to shocked to say a word. Everyone just stood their in total silence, absorbing the amazing view.

"I....I just can't believe how beautiful it is, I mean it's just so breathtaking," Nathan said.

"See, South Africa is a beautiful place," Ayanda said.

They watched as the sun shone on the fields below, which highlighted it's natural beauty. It looked like the garden of Eden, beauty all around.

"I hate to break this up, but we got a long way down," Ayanda said sadly.

JD and Marie quickly took out their camera's and started to flash away.

"I wish we could stay here forever," JD wished.

"Same here, but you wouldn't like to be here at night," Marie said.

"Why not, I bet it looks even more beautiful at night," JD said.

"Yeah it is, but it's colder, and believe me that's not going to be nice," Marie said.

"Ag!" JD moaned as they started to get ready to leave.

Vin just closed his eyes and breathed in the beauty. A smile formed on his face.

Chris had never seen Vin so at peace, that he just couldn't help but thank the heaven's above for allowing them this chance.

Chris turned to see Marie and Ayanda helping each other with their bags, he was truly happy that he had the chance to meet them.

"Vin, time to go Pard," Chris said softly.

"I know, it's just so beautiful," Vin said as he opened his eyes.

They looked back one last time as they began to walk away. On the way down, no one moaned, in fact no one spoke. It was a comfortable silence, because they were just so at peace, and still so amazed that they hardly felt tired. They were still so caught up in the beauty that they couldn't believe that it when they reached the car.

"Wow, they way back was quick," JD commented.

"That's because you knew that it was worth it," Ayanda explained.

"I know, on the way back I just couldn't think about anything else," JD said.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they got in the car.

"Right, now to get back to Durbs," Ayanda said.

They all sat down and got comfortable as Ayanda started to drive off. The music played softly in the background as their minds wondered off to the top of the mountain.

Marie had to smile when she saw all the day-dream looks in each of their looks.

"Look's like they are miles away," Marie spoke to Ayanda.

"I know, amazing what a simply view can do to someone," Ayanda joked.

"You ok with the driving?"

"Yeah, I just get a bit tired seeing nothing but fields for miles and miles, but it's not that bad,"

"Thank you,"

"For what?" Ayanda asked.

"For always being there for me,"

"Now wait one minute! you, Marie Wilson, is getting sappy. My word, I never thought I'll see the day," Ayanda joked.

"Shut up!" Marie said.

"Not that's my girl,"

The rest of the trip was in silence, when they reached the hotel they headed to their rooms. With a quick "goodnight" everyone headed to bed.

Chris climbed in, and looked at his friend.

"I'm glad that we are here," Chris said.

"So am I," Vin answered.

"It was beautiful,"

"Sure was,"

"Good night Vin,"

"Night,"

Night past quickly as morning arrived. Everyone woke up, quickly showered and got dressed before they headed out to wait in the passage. When everyone was ready they got onto the elevator.

"What we doing today Brain?" Marie said in a comical voice.

"What we do everyday Pinkie," Ayanda said in the same way.

"What, like trying to figure out how to escape?" Marie asked.

"No! Try to take over the World," Ayanda answered.

"Pinkie and the Brain, yes Pinkie and the Brain, one is a genius and other's in sane, they're Pinkie and the Brain, yes Pinkie and the Brain, brain, brain..." Ayanda and Marie sang to the theme song.

The other's looked on in amazement as Ayanda and Marie carried on till they reached the ground floor

"I remember that one, that's with the mouse's, I loved that one," JD said.

Ayanda and Marie were still hymning the tune as they sat at their table.

"That's one of our favourite cartoons," Ayanda said.

"I prefer Johnny Bravo," Buck stated.

"That explains a lot," Marie whispered.

This cause everyone to laugh.

"You are evil," Buck said.

"And proud of it," Marie answered back.

"So where are we going today?" JD asked.

"JD, I told you about a hundred times!" Ayanda complained.

"I forgot," JD said innocently.

"Lost City," Ayanda answered.

"Are we going to Sun City?" Josiah asked.

"We can, we are going there today," Ayanda said.

"Hey?" JD said in confusion.

"Sun city and Lost City is at the same location. Sun City is where the casino and golf area's are. While the Lost City is the part for the children and adventure type people," Ayanda explained.

"So you mean that this "City" has two names, just because they split it?" Buck asked.

"Yebo," Ayanda said.

"That's just confusing!" Buck moaned.

"I know, shame your poor brain can't handle such complex things like that," Marie mocked.

Everyone but Buck laughed.

"I understand perfectly! and my brain can handle lots of information, Missy," Buck said.

"Sure Bucklin," Vin said.

"What's this? pick on Buck day?" Buck asked.

Everyone looked at each other then at Buck.

"Yes,"

"Your so very kind," Buck muttered as he began to eat.

Everyone went to their rooms to fetch the things that they needed before heading down to the car, where Ayanda got in, and away they went.

"I can believe how quickly this week is flying," Marie said.

"While they say that time fly's when your having fun," Nathan said.

"I know, I can't wait for tomorrow," she said.

"Why?" Nathan asked.

"Gold Reef City," Marie explained.

"I must admit, that I am also interested in tomorrow," Ezra said.

"You just want to see if you can get the gold," Marie said.

"Dam, Ez, she knows you already," Vin joked.

"I can ensure you that I am interested in the history behind Gold Reef City, the gold is something that interests me a little," Ezra explained.

"Yeah, whatever! but I must admit, that I am going there for the rides," Marie said.

"Miss Wilson, what do you mean by 'Rides?" Ezra asked.

"Rolla coaster's, and stuff like that," Marie said with a smile.

"Do they have anything at Lost City?" JD asked.

"Yeah, there is a slide, where you go straight down, dam scary, but it's fun. For the first few seconds you feel nothing but air, then you hit the slide, then just water," Marie tried to explain.

"What do you mean by 'nothing but air'?" Ezra asked.

"It's a waterslide, and you have to push yourself to go down, and for a few seconds you are in the air, it's so amazing," Marie said.

"I want to try that," JD said with excitement.

"Me too," Vin added

"I'll give it a shot," Nathan said.

Everyone gasped, and looked at Nathan as if he were an alien.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Nathan Jackson?" Marie asked.

"Come on, I'm not that bad, and I do want to try it," Nathan said in protest.

"Welcome to the fun side," Marie joked.

"That doesn't mean that I'm going to try everything though!" Nathan warned everyone.

A smile formed on Marie's face, JD noticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all," she said with a grin.

Vin turned and saw the same look she had when she was planning something. He wished he could find out, but what ever it was, it was going to be interesting.

They all sat in silence as they watched the passing scenery, till they arrived.

"Wow, this is like a castle," JD gasped.

"Yep, pretty impressive isn't it," Marie said proudly.

"I mean, look at it, It's HUGE!" Buck stuttered.

"This magnificent palace is fit for a King," Ezra said in amazement.

"Sure it," Nathan said.

They all saw the huge palace type hotel as they drove near to it. Everyone got out, and looked around at the beauty.

"Now I know why it's called the Lost City," Buck commented.

"That's the hotel and the preserved area," Ayanda pointed out the one half of the city.

"Yeah, and this is for us peasants," Marie joked.

They walked into the main entrance, and were amazed by the beauty.

"Where to now?" Ayanda asked.

"What is there?" Chris asked.

"Well there is the gambling place, the adventure stuff and the water sports?" Marie answered.

"I suggest we try out the..." Ezra was stopped when Chris raised his hand.

"Ezra, we are on the job, what ever we do, we do it as a team," Chris explained.

"Mr Larabee...."

"NO!"

"But..."

"The answer is no,"

"Surely..."

"Ezra!" Chris said in a deadly tone.

Ezra kept quiet, knowing when he has reached the limit.

"Why don't we do all three, I mean we can start with the adventure, then the sport then a quick game of chance, before going home?" Marie suggested.

"Fabulous, Idea Miss Wilson," Ezra agreed.

"Why not," Nathan said.

"I'm cool with it," JD offered.

"Why not," Buck said.

"I don't see the harm in it," Josiah said.

"Yeah, might be fun," Vin joked.

Chris groaned, then gave a nod.

"Right, now stand back boys, we got ourselves an adventure," Marie said.

"Why do I feel like we are doomed?" Ayanda asked.

"The same reason why I do," Chris answered.

"They're trouble magnets," They answered together.

They followed Marie and Vin as they used the map to head into the forest. They walked for miles, through small paths, behind rocks, steep hills, before finding themselves faced with a bridge.

"You can not expect me to go across that miss-made, so called bridge?" Ezra asked.

The other's looked at the beautiful waterfall, and the long way down. The bridge was made from rope, and old wooden planks, with one step on the bridge caused the whole bridge to shack.

"This is going to be fun!" Marie said with a smile.

Everyone groaned, not believing her for a second. Then looked at the very long way down.

"While you do know that you have to walk All the way back down, while if you cross this bridge it's just around the corner," Marie said.

"I prefer to live, thank you every much," Ezra commented.

"While enjoy the long walk back, just think of all the time you could have spend at gambling, instead of walking all that way back," Marie said with a smile.

Ezra paled, he didn't really know what to do. Sure the gambling would make him feel a whole lot happier and it was a long way back.

With a heavy sign, Ezra went first. He gripped the two ropes tightly as he slowly began to walk across. Josiah waited a few seconds before following, Nathan looked at the long trail back, then back to the long way down.

"Doomed if I do, doomed if I don't, let's just hope I get to live to regret," Nathan commented as he took a deep breath as he made his way.

"While looks like we are going to fun way," Buck said sarcastically as he made his way to the bridge.

"Don't worry, you won't die, the water will catch your fall," Marie shouted to everyone.

"Shame on you!" Ayanda said sternly.

"What! it's the truth," Marie joked.

Ayanda took a deep breath, before gapping onto the rope's with a deadly grip, her hand's shock so badly that the whole bridge began to shake, causing everyone to stop as they tried to steady themselves.

Vin quickly pulled Ayanda back onto the ground, as the other's sent a silent thank you, as the quickly made their way to the other side.

"Sorry, got a major thing about heights," Ayanda explained.

"No problem, we will just wait for the others to get across then we are going to take it easy," Chris said.

Ayanda nodded as she sat down, trying to control her breathing.

Marie sat down next to her.

"Don't worry, my friend, I ain't going to let you fall, trust me," Marie said.

Ayanda took a deep breath as she got up again. She looked to see that everyone else was across, before trying to get on the bridge again.

Marie quickly went in front of her, as Ayanda followed. Vin went behind Ayanda just to help her, while Chris followed Vin, just in case.

They took step by step, second by second but finally they made it across. When they made it, the other's were sitting on the ground, just relaxing and enjoying the view.

"Right, we all good to go?" Chris asked.

Everyone got up and started to follow Vin, Chris and Marie.

Their walk was short when they started to see the sign's of civilisation.

"I have never seen such an amazing sight, such as this, before," Ezra commented as saw the place coming into view.

"I thought that would the sight of gold," Marie joked.

Buck and JD giggled, Vin gave a soft chuckle, while the other's just shock their heads.

They carried on walking till they arrived at the water part of the 'park'.

"How..."JD gasped.

Everyone stopped walking where they saw the man-made sea.

"Oh, yeah, it's cool isn't it," Marie commented.

"Man-made waves?" Buck asked.

"Yip," Ayanda answered.

"Good lord," Ezra said.

"What next?" Josiah asked.

"I never thought it was possible," Vin said.

"Yeah, while they use machine's to create the waves, it's pretty cool," Marie said.

"Yeah," JD said as he stared.

"I don't know about you guys but I am going for a swim," Nathan said.

"I think I might join you," Josiah said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Everyone nodded in agreement, they all went to the lockers and packed their stuff in so they could swim. Then went into the cool water.

Everyone were just wearing boxer type costumes. Ezra wore a t-shirt, much to his delight. While Ayanda wore bikini and Marie a one suit.

"Ah, it's so nice and cool," Ayanda said as she went under the water.

"Sure is," Buck said as he started at the other woman.

"Excuse me, I got people to meet," Buck said as he made his way to the woman.

Everyone went their separate way's as they spent the next half hour in the water, just cooling down.

"Dam it's hot!" Nathan commented.

"It's like a dam oven!" Chris as he went under.

When he resurfaced he was greeted by the heat once more.

"I thought the cities were hot," Nathan said.

"Now we know," Vin joked.

Everyone came together again,

"What we going to do now?" Buck asked.

"We have to try the slide," Marie said.

"Then?" Nathan asked.

"Gambling," Ayanda said which caused Ezra to smile.

"Then?" JD asked.

"Back to Durban," Ayanda answered.

"To bad we don't get any fly miles," JD joked.

"Yeah, but I don't mind the driving," Ayanda said.

"Cool, since everything is organised, let's try the slides," Marie said as she made her way to the slides.

Vin and JD followed her, as the other's went the other way to watch. They walked to a bridge where they saw the slide.

"You got to be joking," Buck said as he saw the slide.

"Dam," Nathan commented.

They saw the long slide down. They watched as a person went down.

"Dam!" Buck winced.

They all watched as JD fell to the ground.

"Dam! now that's one thing I could never do!" Ayanda said as she winced.

Then they watched as they saw Vin fall.

Chris wiped his face with his hand trying hide his fear.

"Two down one to go," Josiah said.

They watched as a skinny young woman fall down the slide, the water spraying everywhere.

Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief, as everyone was now safe and on the ground. They headed down to where the slide ended to meet the three dare-devils.

"Did you see us?" Marie asked.

"Unfortunately yes, " Ezra commented.

"You are very brave," Nathan said.

"You guys should try it, It's such a rush," Marie said with a smile.

"No, thank you, I like my life," Nathan joked.

"Come on," Vin teased.

Chris just snorted, and shock his head.

"While come on, time to spend our money, hopefully we will get some in return," Ayanda said as she checked her purse.

"Ah, the game of chance," Ezra said with a treasure cat's grin.

Chris groaned, he didn't know which was going to be worse, the three dare-devils or Ezra and the gambling.

Vin just chuckled when he saw Chris's worried face.

"Tanner, you make this any worse and I'll get you!" Chris said.

"Who me?" Vin said in a mock innocence.

"Don't play innocent with me, I know your track record!" Chris warned.

"Come on Chris, just because I seemed to get a scratch or two more than you, doesn't mean that I'm bad," Vin protested.

"Please, your little 'scratches' nearly made you lose your life! you coded about twenty times on the operating table in the past three years," Nathan argued.

"Can I help it that the bad guys like to shoot at me?" Vin asked.

"No, but if you stop revealing yourself to the bad guys, they wouldn't be able to shoot at you," Chris explained.

"I have to!" Vin protest.

"I know, but it's also the risk's that you, JD and now Marie take, you play with fire," Chris explained.

"Come on, what's the point of living in fear, when you can live each day to it's fullest," Marie asked.

Everyone stood their unable to answer.

"Dam girl, when did you get all philological and wise?" Ayanda asked.

"I have my moments," Marie said with a smile.

"Not that I don't like communicating with all you fine people, however, there is another call that is awaiting me, " Ezra said as he pointed to the Gambling area.

"Dam, you got a one track mind," Marie teased.

Ezra was too busy scheming up a plan to win large amount's of money that he failed to hear the joke.

Everyone shock their heads and followed Ezra into the Gambling area of the huge hotel.

"My oh, my, I think I have died and arrived in heaven," Ezra gasped as he saw all the gambling options.

"Remember, we got to hit the road in half an hour," Ayanda warned.

"Don't worry we will get everyone together," JD said.

Soon everyone was spilt up as they each went to their choice of gambling. Vin gave up after he lost about a two hundred Rands, but that was somewhere near thirty Dollars, so it wasn't such a bad loss.

He went in search of Chris, who was sitting by a slot machine.

"How you doing?" Vin asked.

"Losing, lucky for me it's isn't that bad," Chris said as he got up.

They walked around where they found Josiah just outside the gambling area, looking at the fantastic art works.

"It's amazing," Josiah commented as they headed back into the gambling area.

They walked around and found Nathan sitting by a slot machine.

"Winning?" Vin asked.

"Nope," Nathan said.

Nathan got up and followed the others. They stopped when they didn't know which row to go to, but all questions were answered when they heard gasping . They followed the sounds to reveal a crowed table with Ezra dealing the cards with Buck and JD losing.

"We better go, before they realise that he's cheating," Chris said to the others.

Vin laughed and went to the table.

"What can I do for you, Mr Tanner?" Ezra asked as he dwelt the cards.

"Time to go," he said.

Ezra's mouth dropped, he went to the cards then to the people he was playing against.

"But....but..." Ezra was speechless.

"Ezra speechless! I never thought I'll see this day," Josiah laughed.

"Come on Ezra," Chris order.

"But...but...." Ezra said as he was forced up.

"But....but....." he carried on as Josiah and Vin picked up his cash.

"But..."

Ezra didn't even try to finish the long forgotten sentence as he was directed to the exit, with Josiah and Vin carrying his cash, and Nathan helping out the gambling area.

On the way to the exit they meet up with Marie and Ayanda who were already waiting for them.

They didn't speak as they made their way to the kombi. When they were ready Ayanda began to drive.

"So did you do well?" Marie asked.

"No, only Ez there won anything, what about you?" JD asked

"Ayanda there won about a hundred Rand, me, well not to bad, managed to score a cool three hundred," Marie said.

"That's good," Buck said.

"Yeah, better than us," JD joked.

"See Ez, you can without cheating," Buck joked.

"I do not cheat," Ezra stated.

"Sure," Buck said in a 'yeah right' tone.

They carried on talking till they arrived at the hotel, where they spilt up and went to sleep.

The morning came quickly as they found themselves been woken up. They all got dressed and waited out in the passage.

Chris and Vin were shocked to see Ezra, awake, and smiling.

"What you doing up so early?" Vin asked.

Before Ezra could speak the others came out.

"Dam, Ez, you up early," Buck moaned.

"Who are you? and what have you done to the real Ezra?" Marie asked.

"I am interested in today's events," Ezra said honestly.

"Ah, got yourself a scheme to get the gold, haven't you?" Marie teased.

Chris groaned as he remembered where they were going today.

"Can't we go somewhere else?" Chris asked.

"Nope, all planned out," Ayanda said evilly.

Chris looked at Ayanda in total shock.

"What did I ever do to you?" he asked.

"Made me share a room with her," Ayanda said as she pointed to Marie.

"Dam," Vin laughed.

Chris just glared at them all as he made his way to the elevator. When they got in, they silently counted.

five....four....three....two...one...

"Did you hear about this one blond?" Marie asked.

Everyone smiled.

"No, but I got a feeling you are going to tell us," Ayanda said sarcastically.

By the time they reached the restaurant they were all smiling.

"Where do you come up with these things?" Buck asked.

"Dunno, some I hear form other people, other's I make up," Marie said.

They quickly ate, then headed to the car, and began to travel.

"By the end of this week, we should know our way around here," Buck commented.

"Yeah, so when you ever come down here for a holiday, you know where to go," Ayanda said.

"And there are still loads more places to go," Marie said.

"So may I ask, about this 'gold' what is the catch?" Ezra asked.

Everyone groaned.

"The catch is that no one can do it. You see you can only use two fingers on the one hand. But it's too heavy that's the reason why no one was able to take the gold. Do you really think they were going to offer the gold, if there was a chance that someone might be able to do it?" Marie asked.

"I understand that, however, they have never meet me," Ezra said slyly.

Chris closed his eyes and wished the day was over.

The drive was relatively short, mostly because they were all used to the travelling. When they got there, it wasn't what they expected. It was like a scene out the old West novels.

"Oh, wow," JD said.

JD always dreamt of being in the old west, being a cowboy and wearing the big silver star. This was a dream come true.

They headed further into the place. The people that worked in the place, all wore old western clothes, that just made everything look so real. but there were modern touches to it, but it still had the western effect.

"I can't believe this," JD said in awe.

"JD, you might want to wipe away the drool," Marie joked.

Everyone laughed because JD was so wrapped up in his own little dream that he failed to hear her comment.

"Where should we go first?" Buck asked.

"While we can go down the mines, go through the museums, then through the shops. Finishing off with the rides," Ayanda suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Vin answered for Chris.

They walked to the mine entrance, which raised some eye-brows.

"That looks like a ride to me," Nathan said.

"Well it is, you get on, and you get a tour of the mines," Marie said.

Vin watched Marie closely, and saw the spark in her eyes. He smiled, this was going to be fun.

They were all sceptically, but they wanted to see the mines, so they all got on.

"Ayanda, have you ever been here?" Josiah asked.

"Nope, first time for me," She answered.

"Then how did you know what's here?" JD asked.

"Marie, and the map," Ayanda said.

"Oh,"

They waited a few seconds, when they felt the 'ride' start to move. They started to go up....

"Aren't we supposed to go down?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, but we go up, get the speed, then down we go, hee hee," Marie laughed evilly.

"Are you sure you aren't related to the devil?" Buck asked.

"Nope, just a girl, who wants to have fun," Marie joked.

They all felt scared the higher they got. Ezra closed his eyes, Josiah sent a silent pray, Vin smiled from ear to ear, JD kept on look down below, Buck was holding onto the seat as if his life depended on it, Nathan was looking a bit paler, Chris was getting a headache, and Ayanda was glaring at Marie as if she was dirt.

"I'll get you baaaaaaaaaak," Ayanda screamed as they dropped.

The dropped quickly into the dark cave, the air became stale the further they went in, but soon they felt themselves going up again. They all welcomed the sun, and the fresh air. Once the 'ride' was over they all quickly got off.

"Remind me never to go with you," Ezra complained.

"What? I didn't say anything, anyway it was Ayanda that suggested it," Marie said in defence.

"That's because you didn't tell me that it was going to be a ride!" Ayanda argued back.

"Well it doesn't matter, it's all over now," Josiah said.

Everyone nodded. They started to look around the shops.

"This is so cool, they like we are really in the Old West," JD said excitedly.

Buck just laughed, he loved to see JD so happy.

"Come on Kid, lets find you a cowboy suit!" Buck joked.

"Ha ha Buck," JD said sarcastically.

JD and Buck disappeared into one of the shops, while Josiah, Ezra and Nathan went into another. Soon Marie and Ayanda disappeared. Leaving Vin and Chris alone.

"So what do you want to so, cowboy?" Vin asked.

"Cowboy? did you just call me a cowboy?" Chris asked.

Vin just smiled.

"I should shoot you," Chris joked.

"Na, just think of all the paperwork you would have to do," Vin teased.

Chris groaned which caused Vin to smile.

"Why don't we try look for our witnesses, then the rest of the boys. Oh, and please keep an eye out for Ezra when we get to the gold," Chris said.

"Why? it's not like Ezra would try anything?" Vin said innocently.

"Ha and pigs can fly!" Chris said sarcastically.

Vin just laughed as they went through the different shops. Some how they found everyone looking at the Gum-boot dancers. They watched as the men danced, making the thumping noise with every movement.

"They are very good," Nathan commented.

"Yip," Josiah replied.

After the show they all headed to the museum. They were all amazed at what dangers the miner's faced, they were shown the different stones that were found, everything was there.

Finally they reached the part were you try to get the gold.

There was a long line of people, but that didn't stop them. They waited a few minutes as people tried, then left.

Josiah was the first to try, but it was just to heavy. JD tried, but to no success.

"Man, that's heavy," JD commented as he made his way to Josiah.

Buck went up to the gold, and did a little stretching.

"Stand back boys, I'll show you how to do it," Buck said.

They watched as Buck tried, and tried. He tired till his face turned red.

"Dam!" Buck gasped as he let go.

"Way to go Buck," JD teased.

Buck just slapped at the back of JD's head.

"Ouch!" JD commented.

Nathan, Chris, Marie, Ayanda and Vin all tried, but had the same results.

They gathered around as it was Ezra's turn.

They watched as he examined the gold, they could see that he was in deep concentration. They held their breaths as he tried.........

"Dam," Buck said as Ezra tried but failed.

"That was close Ezra," Josiah commented.

"I shall be back, my friend," Ezra said to the gold as he made his way out.

Chris signed out of relief as they headed out.

"You were scared there for a minute," Vin said to Chris.

"Yes, I really thought he was going to get it, then we would have to explain to the people," Chris said honestly.

Vin just shock his head.

They walked around and finally got to the rides.

"Please can we go on the Roller Coaster?" Marie begged.

"Go ahead," Chris said.

"Who's coming with me?" Marie asked.

Vin and JD agreed, but everyone else kept very quiet.

"Come on, please," Marie begged using her best begging face.

"Yeah, come on Buck," JD begged.

"Alright," Buck caved in.

They then all turned their pleading looks to the others.

"This is going to kill me, but I'll go," Nathan said sadly.

"Why not," Josiah said.

They all looked at Josiah and Nathan a bit shocked.

"I'm chicken, I mean who could say no to their faces?" Nathan said.

Ayanda signed and walked up to the others.

All who remained were Ezra and Chris.

"Come one Ezra, where's your sense of adventure?" Vin asked.

"My sense of adventure, is fine, thank you," Ezra answered.

"Come on Ezra, please, please... I'll make sure we stop at a Casino in Cape Town...." Marie begged.

Ezra looked at Marie.

"Where you, in any chance, in a debating team?" Ezra asked.

"Na, I just practiced with Ayanda," Marie said.

Ezra signed then joined the others.

"You owe me," Ezra commented.

Marie just smiled.

Chris saw that everyone was looking at them.

"No," Chris answered.

"Come on...." Marie begged.

"No!" Chris said.

"What's a team, without their leader?" Marie asked.

"A team that can cope," Chris answered.

"But you should be there, for us, to protect us," Marie said.

"You have six body guards with you, you should survive," Chris said.

"Come on, what's the harm?" Marie argued.

"I don't want to," Chris answered.

"Come on," Marie begged.

Chris looked at everyone, then back to Marie.

"If I do, that means you are going to follow everything I say, when I say no, that means no, ok?" Chris said.

"Yippy," Marie said excited.

"I can't believe it," Buck said in shock.

They all looked at Chris as if he were a ghost.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Nathan, I think you better check and see if that's our Chris," Josiah joked.

Nathan went to Chris and felt his forehead.

"Yeah, it's a bit hot, I think he's got a fever," Nathan joked.

"Lets just get this over with!" Chris ordered.

Everyone laughed as they headed to the ride.

"Why?" Vin asked.

Chris smiled, to be honest, he really wanted to go on a roller coaster when he was a child, but he never went.

"To stop Marie begging," Chris answered.

Vin just laughed.

When they got to the ride, all their smiles faded. It was one of those roller coasters where they had chairs, so that your feet hanged out, and the only thing that was holding you was that chair.

"Oh, no,"

They heard Ayanda gasp.

"Come on, our turn and I already have your tickets, so there's no turning back," Marie said with a smile.

They all signed and made their way onto the ride, where the one worker came and made sure they were in safe.

"Make sure this won't come lose," Chris warned the man.

"Yes, sir!" the man replied.

Buck, JD, Marie and Ayanda sat in the front row, with Nathan, Ezra, Josiah, Vin and Chris in the row behind them.

Everyone held on as tightly as they could, sending a silent pray above, praying that they would live through this.

They held their breaths as they felt the ride start to move. They moved slowly at first, but that quickly changed as they went lighting last. When they looked forward, it kept on looking like they were going to hit the pole, but they always turned before that could happen, then the horrible thing happened, there was the loop. After a few minutes they were back safely on the ground.

Ezra was looking a little bit green, Josiah looked a bit of the wobbly side, Buck was looking a little pale, Chris just smiled, Vin and JD were still talking about the 'rush', while the others were walking around a bit

"How did you find it?" Marie asked everyone.

"An invention that should have never been created," Ezra spoke.

"Not to bad," JD answered.

"Never again," Nathan answered.

Everyone else just nodded. With shaky legs, they slowly left the park as they headed to their car.

"Ayanda are you okay to drive?" Nathan asked.

"Don't think so, my stomach hasn't yet caught up with me yet," Ayanda said.

"I don't mind driving, as long as you show me the directions," Chris suggested.

"Cool," Ayanda answered.

Chris nodded his head and got in the drivers side of the car, while the other's took up their usual positions.

Chris took a deep breath, and started the engine. It felt weird for him to drive on the wrong side of the road, he drove at a reasonable speed, just in case.

The other's were all taking about the day, Ezra was scheming a new way to get the gold, JD was talking about the wild west, and all the books he read. Buck was teasing JD when ever he could, Nathan and Josiah were talking about the mines and the stories that they read, Marie and Vin were talking on the different sports that they do, and what they want to do. Ayanda just told Chris different routes to take, how far it took from one city to the next.

The trip went by quickly when they found themselves at the hotel, since they never had lunch, due to the fact that that Roller Coaster put them off, they decided to have one last meal in the restaurant.

They went to their rooms to freshen up, before headed back down.

"I can't believe this is the last time we are going to eat here, together," Marie said sadly.

"Time sure seems to fly," Buck joked.

"I know, I mean it was just the other day that we were back home, working," JD said.

"Yeah, I mean we only got two days, then we are heading back to the USA, I still can't believe that," Ayanda said.

Before anyone could speak, their food arrived. After they ate, they decided an early night would be best.

"Right, tomorrow we fly at ten, so we got to be there at eight, so we are leaving here at seven-thirty, I want all bags to be paged, and everything ready," Chris ordered.

"Yes sir," the all said.

"I mean it," Chris warned them.

Everyone nodded and headed to their rooms to pack.

The morning came by quickly, as they found themselves at the receptionist, handing over their bed room keys. They decided to get a taxi, seeing that they couldn't take the kombi with them. They managed to squeeze into two taxis, then headed to the airport.

Once they arrived they checked their tickets.

"It's so sad, I wish we could stay here forever, I mean look at my tan," JD said.

Everyone saw that JD was a lot browner than he was, in fact everyone was.

"Well, that what happens when you spend time in the sun," Marie joked.

JD rolled his eyes, and Buck just laughed.

"So what 'plans' do you have for us?" Josiah asked Marie.

"Well, site-seeing, and one or two shops," Marie answered.

Josiah and the others just nodded, but they knew that she was planning to do something evil.

"Right, they said that we can go to the plane, and get comfortable," Chris said.

Everyone picked up their hand luggage and headed through customs, then onto the plane.

Josiah, Nathan, Ezra and Buck sat in the one side of the row, next to them were JD, Marie, Ayanda, and in front of Marie and them were Vin and Chris.

"So what's so exciting in Cape Town?" Buck asked the girls.

"Table mountain, the beautiful beaches, the food," Marie answered.

"Not to mention the shops and the sites," Ayanda concluded.

"What sites are there?" JD asked.

"Well, you know in the olden days, ships used Cape Town as a trading stop, so that they could get fresh food and stuff," Ayanda answered.

"Wow, I'm surprised you remember our history lessons," Marie joked.

"Yeah, but I mean, the whole Trek thing, was pretty interesting," Ayanda said.

"Trek thing?" JD asked.

"Yeah, history, don't know the whole thing, I kinda fell a sleep," Ayanda looked a bit sheepish.

"During a history lesson?" Buck said in mock horror.

"Yeah, well, can we help it that our teacher could speak in one tone, the whole time, and just speaks, and speaks?" Ayanda asked.

"Whoa, don't worry I never paid that much attention either," Buck said.

"I wonder why," Marie said sarcastically.

"Dam, Bucklin, she's got you down to the last detail," Vin joked.

"Ha ha," Buck said sarcastically.

Chris couldn't help but smile, specially when the plane started to take off, drowning any more conversations. He left out a sign of relief as he closed his eyes, just enjoying the peace.

To Chris's dismay, the flight was short, as they found themselves going through customs yet again.

Once they were finished they headed out the airport.

"Hot Dang! it's even hotter!" Buck cursed as he wiped the sweet from his brow.

"Did anyone get us transport?" JD asked.

"Yes," Ayanda said with a smile.

Everyone nodded as they followed her to their new car. It was the same type of model as their previous kombi, only the colour was different, it was white.

"A white car," Josiah commented as he watched Chris's reaction.

Chris just shrugged.

"Well it was the only thing I could get, unless you refer to go with a donkey?" Ayanda asked.

"This shall do," Ezra answered for Josiah.

They quickly packed their bags into the car, then got in.

"Where shall we go first?" JD asked.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, But I was thinking that we could go to the hotel I got, so we can freshen up a bit, then maybe go site seeing," Marie said.

"Sounds ok," JD answered.

Ayanda smiled as she started to drive, she always wanted to see Table Mountain.

They arrived at the hotel in record time, they checked in and went upstairs. Once they got to their floor, Chris held out the keys.

"Same," he said.

Everyone nodded knowing that they were sharing with the same people and the rules were the same. Ayanda picked a key then she went to her room. It was exactly like the one in Durban.

They quickly freshen up and unpacked their pages. Nathan brought everyone water bottles for the trip, and Ayanda went and got some sandwiches. Marie was in deep thought, with a map in her hands. Buck and JD were just chatting on what was going to happen, while Josiah and Ezra were admiring the beautiful hotel, and Chris was just sitting with Vin.

"Okay, everything organised, we have the medical kits, lunch, water, maps, so we can go," Nathan said.

With that, everyone got up and headed to the car.

"Right, off we go," Ayanda said with a smile.

They drove for a while before JD started to wonder where they were going.

"Hey, where are we going?" he asked.

"To the Bungee jump thing, of course," Marie answered.

"Oh, cool, I forgot that we were going to do that," JD said excitingly

The other's groaned.

When they got their they were amazed at the beauty of it. There was a gap between the two mountains, the only thing joining them was the road, and the place to bungee.

"Dam, it's beautiful," Buck said.

"And extremely high," Ezra commented as he looked down.

"Not that bad," Marie said.

"Yeah, right!' Buck said as he too looked down.

"Okay, lets go," Marie said.

Buck gave her a look, while the others just shock their heads.

"Not on your life," Nathan said as he looked down.

"You don't have to jump, but you can walk with us, you know, give us last words of advice," Marie said.

None of them liked the idea of walking on the bridge, specially if you see the long fall.

"Please," Marie begged them.

"Alright, but we are not jumping," Chris warned her.

She nodded, and everyone followed. As they walked to the centre, they kept to the middle, in fear of falling. Once they reached the middle, they were greeted by three other men.

"Hello, I'm David, this is John and that is Ben, we are going to make sure that you are good to go," David said.

They were in their early thirties, all medium built, David had brown eyes with short spiky brown hair. John had soft green eyes with short brown hair and Ben had dark black hair with brown eyes.

"So, who's first?" Ben asked.

"I'll go," JD volunteered.

"Okay, lets get you set up," John said as he showed JD what to do.

They all watched as JD went near the edge. Buck felt as if he was going to heart attack. They all watched in horror was JD jumped.

"Waaaaaaaahhhoooooo!" JD shouted as he fell.

Buck ran to the side, looking to see if JD was still ok.

"He's ok," Buck said in relief.

After a few minutes JD reappeared. Along with David.

"You guys must do this, it's so Cool!" JD said excitedly.

"Sure kid," Buck said.

"So who's next?" David asked.

Buck just laughed a nervous laugh.

"Just think of all the ways you could brag about this with the woman, oh, nothing makes you more interesting than having done this," Marie said just loud enough for Buck to hear.

Buck could just see all the woman flocking around him. He was so caught up in his dream, that he never saw Marie volunteer for him, nor the fact that David was helping him put on the safety ropes.

Buck finally woke up when he looked down to see nothing, he was standing right at the edges.

"Whoa!" Buck shouted as he tried to get back.

But it was all too late as he fell.

"AAAggghhhh!" Buck screamed as he saw the ground coming closer and closer.

Buck closed his eyes, thinking that this would be his last moments alive. Suddenly he felt himself being jerked up.

His one eye opened to see that he was swinging, but he was alive. He looked up to see that the rope was still holding him.

"MARIE!!!!!!!" Buck shouted once he realised who had done this to him.

Up on the bridge, Marie just burst out laughing when she heard her name being called out.

"Guess he made it then," She joked.

"How'd you do it?" Vin asked.

"He looked like he wanted to, so I just gave him a little push," Marie answered.

As soon as Buck made it to the top, he looked like he was out to kill.

"How was it Buck?" JD asked.

"A living hell," Buck answered.

"Come on, didn't you feel so free down there?"

"Yeah, when all my blood was going to my brain," Buck said sarcastically.

John come to the group.

"Next?" he asked.

Marie was by Nathan when Buck came up, she was trying to decide what blackmail she could use on him.

"Hey, Nathan, don't you ever wonder how it feels?" she asked.

"No,"

"Come on,"

"No,"

"Please?" Marie begged.

Nathan could never say no to anyone.

"Dam it," he swore.

When John asked, Nathan stepped forward

"Nathan?" JD gasped.

"Mite as well see why you are so hooked on these dam suicide missions," Nathan moaned as he left.

When Nathan was getting ready Buck saw Marie, but by then JD had calmed him down so much that he was actually glad that he did it. He walked up to her.

"Marie, next time, don't do that," Buck said.

"Did you enjoy it?" Marie asked.

"Yeah," Buck said honestly.

"Would you do it again?" Marie asked.

"Hell NO!" Buck answered as he made his way back to JD.

They all watched as Nathan closed his eyes and fell.

"Dam," Josiah said as he watched Nathan fall.

"So Josiah, do you want to give it a try?" Marie asked.

"No,"

"Come on, I mean have you ever wished you could fly?" Marie asked.

"Yes, but that's not flying, that's falling," Josiah answered.

"Please," Marie begged.

"I'm to old to do that," Josiah said.

"No your not," Marie stated.

Josiah just laughed, then looked in Marie's pleading eyes.

"I will think about it," he said true fully.

"You see, if you do go through it, you might understand why people do this for a living," Marie said as she walked off.

When Nathan appeared, he moved to the centre of the bridge.

"I still don't understand why people do this for a living," Nathan commented.

"You were very brave," Josiah said.

"Yeah? well I had a little help," Nathan said as he pointed to Marie.

"She does seem to want everyone to try," Josiah said.

"She ask you?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, told her I'll think about it," Josiah answered.

"Well, it is something that I'll never forget, it was very different," Nathan said.

Josiah nodded his head.

The saw Ben appear, with a huge grin on his face.

"Who's next?" he asked.

Josiah sent a silent pray to the heavens, then moved towards Ben.

"I'll mite as well," Josiah said sadly.

Everyone was shocked.

"Dam," Buck swore as he saw Josiah near the edge.

"Go for it Josiah!" Marie shouted for support.

They watched as Josiah jumped.

Nathan, Buck and JD were all talking about their 'jump' when Josiah appeared. He was smiling.

"Wow, that was an experience I'll never forget," Josiah said.

"What's got into you guys?" Chris asked.

"New country, new experience?" Nathan answered.

"Remind me never to take you out again, this is getting scary," Chris joked.

"Well, who's next?" David asked.

"Me," Vin said.

Chris inwardly groaned as he watched Vin get ready. He held his breath when he saw Vin jump.

"Please," Chris silently prayed.

After a few minutes Vin reappeared.

"Going give it a try, Cowboy?" Vin asked.

"Hell no," Chris answered.

Ezra was standing alone, when Marie approached him.

"Miss Wilson," Ezra greeted.

"You know, you should really try it," Marie suggested.

"Heavens no!" Ezra replied.

"Come on, just think, you will be the only one that doesn't give it a try," Marie said.

"I can live with that," Ezra answered.

"Come on, please, please, I'll do anything," Marie begged.

"Anything?" Ezra asked.

"Please?" Marie begged.

"Why do you want me to risk my life?" Ezra asked.

"Because it's fun, and I don't want you to be left out. Please Ezra, I promise this will be the last thing I ask you to do," Marie begged.

Ezra looked at Marie, then groaned.

"If I do this, then you owe me," Ezra said.

"Yes!" Marie said with a smile.

"Thank you," she said as she walked away.

Ezra looked to the sky.

"Why do I have this feeling that I was just conned?" Ezra asked the heavens.

"Who's next?" John asked.

"I shall give it a try," Ezra said sadly.

"Right, follow me," John said.

"Ezra, bungee jumping!" Buck gasped.

"Go EZ!" Vin shouted for support.

"Good luck," Nathan said.

They were still so shocked to see Ezra jumping. They watched every second of it. They watched as Ezra slowly made his way tot he edge, then he closed his eyes, and jumped.

"Dam, I can't believe it," Buck said.

"Everyone is losing their minds," Chris stated.

Ayanda was just watching everyone, she had a bad feeling that she was going to be next. She moved away from the group. Suddenly she felt someone was behind her. She turned around to see Marie, with an huge grin on her face.

"Hi," Marie greeted.

"Oh, no! no, nononononono!" Ayanda said as she backed away.

"Ayanda.." Marie called.

"Marie.." Ayanda mimicked.

"You know that one time, where you promised me that you will do anything I asked," Marie asked.

"Yes, and I did. You made me abseil down a cliff!" Ayanda stated.

"And you loved it," Marie said in defence.

"Well, that's because it was finished," Ayanda argued,

"Please, I'll do anything," Marie said.

"I hate you!" Ayanda moaned.

"I know," Marie said with a smile.

When Ezra joined the group, Ben did too.

"Well, hate to ask, but who's next?" Ben asked.

"I'm going," Ayanda said sadly.

"Ayanda, aren't you scared of heights?" Josiah asked.

"Hell yes!" Ayanda said as she left.

"Then why would she do it?" Nathan asked.

"Trying to get rid of her fear," Marie answered.

"Sure," Buck said.

Vin looked around, and saw that it was only Chris and Marie left to jump. He couldn't believe it, Marie had managed to get Josiah, Buck, Nathan and Ezra.

"Dam," Vin said silently.

He moved closer to Chris, knowing that he was her last victim.

Chris didn't seem aware of this, he was just to shocked with Ezra, and now Ayanda. He started to have a bad feeling about this.

They all watched as Ayanda jumped.

"Agh!" she screamed.

Marie turned her attention to her prey. She silently moved closer, getting ready to pounce.

"Hello," Marie greeted.

"Marie," Chris answered.

"Look's like it's just you and me," Marie said.

"Looks that way," Chris answered.

"Why don't you go next?" Marie offered.

"No, thanks," Chris said.

"Well, that just means that you are going to be last," Marie said.

Chris turned to stare at Marie.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Well, remember when we were climbing the mountain, you said, and I quote, 'Ezra! you are here on a mission. You know that we must stay together, and do everything as a group!' So I mean, this is a group active, and everyone else has gone. And it would be unfair that you can bend the rules, because if you do, then why can't we?" Marie asked.

Chris looked at her dumfounded. Vin just burst out laughing.

"Dam, Chris, she's got you!" Vin said in between laughs.

Chris turned his glare to Vin, which caused Vin to laugh more.

He turned back to Marie.

"You ever consider a job in the politics?" Chris asked.

"Na, to much work, so are you going first?" Marie asked.

Chris signed, knowing there was no escaping.

"Damit!" Chris swore.

Marie smiled, then saw Ayanda coming up.

"That....that....was horrible!" Ayanda moaned.

"Glad it's over?" Marie asked.

"Yes," Ayanda said.

"Who's next?" David asked.

"Me," Chris signed.

"Chris, you going?" Buck asked.

"Don't have much option thanks to a certain teenager," Chris answered.

Everyone stared at Marie.

"I'm an Angel, honest!, the horns just help keep my Halo straight," Marie joked.

Buck burst out laughing, Chris just shock his head as he got ready.

"Dam, I knew you were planning but I never thought you will do it," Vin said to Marie.

"I'm blessed with a gift of manipulation, not something to be proud of," Marie said.

Vin watched Marie head to the side of the bridge.

He shrugged and went to Chris, who was covered with ropes.

"You ready?" Vin asked.

"No," Chris answered.

"Can't believe that you are doing this?" Vin joked.

"Hell, Vin, I can't even believe that I am doing this," Chris said.

"Okay, lets do this," Ben told Chris.

Chris nodded and started to move towards the edge. He closed his eyes, as he moved closer. He took a deep breathe.

"Go Chris!" Buck shouted for support.

Chris nodded then jumped.

"Dam," Buck laughed.

They watched as Chris reappeared.

"How'd you find it Chris?" JD asked.

"Ok, but I am never doing that again," Chris said.

"Right, last one," Ben said.

Marie stepped up and went to the edge. They watched her jump.

"Still can't believe she conned us all into jumping," Ayanda said.

"She would be an excellent lawyer," JD said

"Hey!" Ayanda protested.

"Sorry," JD said shyly.

"Na, it's ok, she does have the power to do that to people," Ayanda joked.

"Amazing," Buck said.

They watched as Marie came up.

"Ah, I can't believe that you guys didn't enjoy that," she said.

"We did, but we just don't want to do it again," Buck said.

"Hey, why don't we do it again?" Marie asked.

They all looked at Marie,

"NO!" they shouted.

"Alright," Marie said.

They paid David, then headed to the car.

"Where to now?" Ayanda asked.

"Don't know, I mean today's Friday, and tomorrow we leave, so how about Table Mountain?" Marie asked.

Everyone looked at Ayanda.

"That's not bad," she said.

"Okay," Chris said.

Ayanda smiled as she started to drive.

After a few hours they arrived at Table Mountain.

"Wow, it's high," Buck said.

"Well that's why it's called a mountain," Marie joked.

"Ha ha," Buck said sarcastically.

"We do we go?" JD asked.

"To the lift, that's the whole thing about this, we go up in the lift, and you can basically check basically the whole of Cape Town," Ayanda explained.

"Cool," JD said.

"A lift?" Josiah asked.

"Don't worry, nothing scary," Marie said.

Josiah didn't really believe it, so he turned to Ayanda.

"She's right, it's not that bad, well not bad for people that aren't scared of heights," Ayanda explained.

They went to the lifts and got in, there were some other people in the lift with them, all were tourists.

"Wow, looks like this is a hot spot for tourism," Buck commented.

"Yebo," Ayanda answered.

When the lift started to move, their questions were answered. The view was fantastic, there were no words that could describe the site, it was simply beautiful.

When they reached the top, they walked around, looking at the earth below them.

"Wow," was all JD could say.

"Heaven on Earth," Josiah pointed out.

"It looks so peaceful, so..." Nathan was speechless.

They spend the rest of the afternoon just looking at the breath-taking site, they could have spent the night there, but the weather, and temperature had different ideas. The wind began to blow, which made it difficult to stand.

Everyone immediately returned to the lift.

"Is this lift going to be safe?" Ayanda asked.

"It should be, I mean it lasted this long in the weather, so it should be," Marie said.

"Thanks,"

"No prob," Marie said with a smile.

The trip down was a nightmare, the lifts shock the whole time down. Once they reached the ground everyone got off immediately. They all felt sea sick.

"Well that was fun," Ayanda said sarcastically.

"Yeah, just great," JD said.

"I think we better go back to the hotel," Nathan said.

Everyone agreed, after that ride, none of them felt very adventures, and no one wanted to be out in this weather.

Ayanda drove every slowly, due to the wind blowing so hard.

"Is the weather always like this?" Buck asked.

"Cape Town is know for the wind, but isn't not always this bad," Marie said.

"Great, just our luck," Ezra said.

"Well we can't get lucky all the time, it was bound to happen," Ayanda said.

"Good think that we are nearly at our hotel," Marie said as she saw the hotel building.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They quickly parked the car, and headed up to their rooms.

"As soon as my head touches that pillow I'm going be fast a sleep," Marie joked.

"I think that how we all feel," Ayanda said with a yawn.

"What time is our flight back to America?" Marie asked.

"At two, so we have to be at the airport at twelve, Lets have breakfast at eight, then we will have four hours to walk around," Chris suggested.

"Cool," JD said.

"Yeah, night," Marie said.

Everyone said their goodnights then went to their rooms, to have a much deserved sleep.

Morning came very quickly as they all got up and ready, once they were they headed downstairs to have breakfast.

"Morning people," JD greeted when he sat down at the table.

"Morning," they replied.

Vin and Chris were the only ones that were really away, the others were still sleepy.

"Dam, I can't believe it's a Saturday and I'm up at eight, it has to be a world record," Marie complained.

"Why?" JD asked.

"Because this party animal would only go to sleep the next day," Ayanda laughed.

"Can you believe that we are going back today?" JD asked everyone.

"Nope," Buck answered.

"Speaking of getting back, when's the trail?" Marie asked.

"Well it's for Monday," Chris said.

"So soon!" Ayanda gasped.

"Yeah, you see the that was the trail date with Donald, so all our files were ready, we just needed a witness, but now we got you two," Chris explained.

"So after the trail, does what does that mean for us?" Marie asked.

"Well, you go under, just for a few months. I spoke to Travis, he said that you two will disappear just till things cool down, but then we might need you on later on, so you will have to disappear and stay that way, sorry," Chris said.

"So you mean, from Monday, there's no more Marie and Ayanda?" Marie asked.

"Yip," Josiah answered.

"Ah, but we can still stay together right?" Ayanda asked.

"That's not such a good idea, having the two of you together is very dangerous," Buck said.

"Then I'm not doing it, Ayanda is my only family," Marie explained.

"We will arrange something, don't worry," Chris said.

"So when will we hide? what do we do?" Marie asked.

"You will come with us to my ranch and stay there till Monday . On Monday you will come and testify, then you will go with another FBI team which will tell you the Do's and Don'ts of being under, you will spend a few days with them, then you will get your new lives," Chris explained.

"Dam, that's fast," Marie said

"Yeah, but it's better that way," Buck said.

"Well, lets order," Marie said.

"You read my mind," Buck joked.

They ordered and ate their meal. As soon as they finished they headed out the hotel, and just walked down the streets, they stopped at different shops, buying little things and so on.

"Oh, another clothes shop!" Ayanda said happily.

Everyone else groaned.

"Come on, just one more," Ayanda begged.

Marie looked at her watch, and smiled.

"Um, guys, what time are we supposed to be at the airport?" Marie asked.

"Twelve, why?" Chris asked.

"Well it's ten past," Marie said.

Everyone's mouth's dropped, Chris looked at his watch.

"Dam!" he swore.

"MOVE!" he shouted when no one moved.

Everyone ran out the shop, and ran as fast as they could down the street. The other civilians watched the seven men and two girls run down the street.

Ezra wasn't the type of person to run, but he knew that if he didn't move, he would be forced to leave his luggage.

When they reached the hotel they were out of breath, but they still made their way up the stairs to their rooms.

"Pack, quickly, meet, in five," Chris said in between breaths.

Everyone nodded and quickly packed their bags. Nothing was packed neatly as everyone just threw their clothes in. After five minutes everyone was downstairs.

"Car, drive!" Chris spoke quickly.

Everyone quickly packed their bags, then got in. Ayanda quickly started the car and began to drive.

It took them ten minutes to the airport, thanks to Ayanda who knew a few shortcuts, not to mention the speed.

When they arrived at the Airport they quickly parked the car, and unpacked. In record speed, they arrived by the customs before eleven.

"Cutting it close," the one security guard joked.

"I love to live dangerously," Marie joked back.

The guard nodded and let them through. They found their seats and sat down, and signed in relief.

"I can't believe how fast we did everything," Buck joked.

"Shows what we can do under pressure," JD said.

Everyone got comfortable as they took off, some slept while the other's watched the movie. The flight was long, and by the time they arrived in America, it was late at night.

Chris and the others went through customs and meet just outside.

"Right, now listen. It's going to be dangerous now. The people know that you two are the witnesses, and they will be after you. So I want everyone to be on their guard," Chris ordered.

Everyone nodded and they fell into a group, with Marie and Ayanda in the middle. Buck and the others started to look for any signs of danger, so far so good.

They made their way to the parking lot, where their car was waiting. JD quickly checked the car, making sure that it was bomb proof, when he gave it the wall clear, Ayanda and Marie were the first to get in, followed by the others.

"Okay, is everyone safe?" Chris asked.

"Check," Buck answered.

Chris nodded for Josiah to start driving. While they were driving, Chris took out some papers.

He quickly read them, then turned his attention back to the others.

"Right, we are going to the Ranch, the trail is on Monday morning, at eight," Chris said.

"Who would want to be wake at that unearthly hour?" Marie asked.

"You've been spending way to much time with Ezra," JD joked.

"Why?"

"Because that's exactly what he says,"

Marie just yawned as a response.

"Sorry, I'm tired," she explained.

"Well its past twelve, I don't blame you," Josiah joked.

By the time the reached the Ranch, the sky was light. They could see that the sun was going to be up soon.

"Good, at least we can sleep, if there are any attacks it would be at night, so we are safe for now," Chris said.

When the car stopped, Marie went to open the door but was stopped by Nathan.

"Not yet," he said.

"Why?" Marie asked.

"JD, Buck, Vin I want you to check for visitors," Chris ordered.

"Oh," Marie said as her question was answered.

Nathan smiled at the girls, trying to ensure that they were safe.

Buck and the others were gone for only a few minutes then came back to the car.

"All safe," Buck said.

Chris nodded, then everyone got out the car. Buck and Josiah got all the bags while the others went inside. Once Josiah and Buck entered, Chris and Vin started to lock all the doors, and checked the windows.

Marie and Ayanda took their bags then looked at Chris.

"Where we sleeping?" Marie asked.

"Same room," he answered.

"Right, good night people," Ayanda and Marie said.

"Night," the replied.

Marie and Ayanda were the first to fall a sleep. While they were, the guys were making sure everything was same.

"Right, I want us to take shifts, who wants to go first?" Chris asked.

"I can," JD said,

"I'll do it," Buck agreed.

"Right, the rest of you, I suggest you sleep. We will do a two hour shift," Chris said.

Everyone nodded.

Buck and JD went and made coffee, while the others went to sleep. Thanks to the help of coffee JD and Buck managed to stay away the two hours.

"Who we going to wake up?" Buck asked JD.

"How about Nathan and Josiah?" JD suggested.

"Sure," Buck replied.

Buck went into the one room, and quickly woke them up. Since they were on alert everyone woke up easily, thanks to the many missions that they did, they knew that if a few seconds meant the difference between life and death.

"Your turn," Buck said.

Nathan and Josiah nodded. They got up slowly and headed to the kitchen to grab a quick cup of coffee, before doing their rounds. They did a search of the house every ten minutes, and of course the kitchen was one of the recent pit stop.

Just as their shift they woke up Chris and Vin.

"Night boys," Nathan said as he went back to bed.

Vin just smiled.

Chris and Vin went to the kitchen and quickly made more coffee.

"What's happening?" Vin asked Chris.

"Tomorrow it's the trail, I have a feeling that someone's going to get desperate," Chris said.

"Dam, what time is the court starting?" Vin asked.

"Last time I heard eight, but I'm going to phone Travis and see what time he wants us in," Chris said.

Vin nodded his head.

"I'm going to do a quick scan," Vin said as he left.

Chris nodded his head as he search for his cell. When he found it he quickly dialled Travis's number.

"Travis, yes...when do you want us?.....um.......okay....what's going to happen......dam...okay....will do," Chris spoke.

He quickly switched off his phone. Just as he did that Vin came back.

"What's wrong?" Vin asked.

"Well our lawyer has Marie's and Ayanda's files, everything's ready, they just need them to be at the office at six, so that the lawyer can make sure everything will run smoothly," Chris said.

"So basically we have twenty four hours left, dam, people are going to get desperate," Vin said.

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about," Chris said.

Vin and Chris fell into their comfortable silence as they went through the house again, making sure everything was alright.

After a few hours there were signs of movement as Ayanda woke up.

"Morning," she greeted everyone as she poured herself a glass of water.

"Morning," Vin greeted her.

Ayanda just finished her drink when Marie came.

Marie didn't greet anyone, she just walked in, went stright to the coffee, quickly drinking the coffee she walked off.

"And a good morning to you to," Chris said sarcastically.

Vin and Ayanda just laughed.

After a few minutes Marie came back in, looking a lot more human than she did. She quickly poured herself another cup, before turning to see the others staring at her.

"Oops, hi guys," Marie said.

"Morning," Vin greeted.

"Sorry, this whole morning thing is still new to me," Marie said honestly.

"Don't worry," Chris said.

Marie nodded, then went to the lounge with the others.

"So what are we doing today?" Marie asked.

"Relaxing, and planning for tomorrow," Chris said.

"Oh, what time do we have to be there?" Marie asked.

"Well the laywer wants to meet you at six, so he can go through some things. So we will leave at five," Chris said.

Marie pulled her face at the sound at the early hours which made Vin chuckle. Ayanda didn't look that happy either.

"So straight after court what happens to us?" Marie asked.

"Well, you will be taken straight away, and taken to a safe house, then go through the program," Chris said.

"Wow, you guys don't play," Ayanda said.

"Yip," Vin answered.

"So what planning where you talking about?" Marie asked.

"Well...." before Chris could finish, gunshots filled the air.

Vin quickly pushed Marie and Ayanda to the ground. While Chris quickly got out the line of fire.

Chris could hear the others trying to get closer to help.

"DON'T MOVE YET!" Chris shouted over to Buck.

-------------------------

What's gonna happen?

Guys, I am seriously thinking that no one is reading this, I mean, not one reply. I'm starting to think no one likes this story. Is there anyone out there?????? hello?????? please...... have mercy and write a little message, just so that I know that there is someone out there.

Kas