auto-meiser: Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything besides the new charters I invented.
Chapter 1
"Its not far now Trudy!" Amber said happily. She looked almost like a child. Her Zulu knots weren't as big as they usually were, and her cheeks were rosy and she looked like she had just come out of a candy store, and her mother had bought her half the sweets inside. Her outfit made her look more babyish, a purple top, a purple hat, and purple pants.
I could now see the city; for the first time in months. It looked the same, the old buildings left untouched after the virus, graffiti everywhere, dirt, and dreadful memories.
As we walked though the one place I never wanted to return to, Amber acted as though this was a real treat. Sure…maybe to her, but not to me.
Finally after trudging though a forest, and a city, for about 3 hours, we arrived. The building called the mall loomed out of the darkness that was settling around the world. It was just as I remembered it.
Soon, Amber and I arrived inside, and I was hit with a sense of sadness, when I saw my old friends. They all greeted me enthusiastically; their smiling faces hitting me like a ton of bricks. The only one that didn't greet me like this, which I wasn't surprised about, was Lex. He hung back in the back round, his raven black hair covering half his face as he looked at me, watching me walk past everyone.
The black trench coat he was wearing sent chills down my spine just by looking at him. He looked unusually pail, and tired. Run down even. But I didn't dwell on it too long, because Amber was steering me to the direction of her room to greet Bray.
Bray lay on his bed. Next to him was a sleeping baby Bray, who looked so peaceful when we walked in.
His mane of brown hair was styled down, with a little braid going down his fair face, and it looked as though Bray had tried to get his little son into footie pajamas.
Bray didn't notice our entrance right away. He just kept watching his son sleep, almost as though it was the most wonderful thing in the world. And maybe it was to Bray, never seeing his son for 2 years of his young life.
Today Bray sported his hair cut closely to his head, very clean. He was wearing a leather jacket, and a pair of leather pants, and looked very much the same except more tired.
"Had no trouble with your son?" Amber said, breaking the silence
I jumped. I had forgotten she was there.
Bray looked up and grinned. "No problems. Amber our son is a complete angel! Then again how could he be any different? Your his mother." Bray got up, and hugged Amber tightly, and the two of them met in a few kisses.
After a while, I realized trying to get Bray's attention now was near impossible. So I left them, so they could be alone and I could meet Bray later, and wandered off to my old room.
It was left untouched from last time I was here. The bed I used was still there, so I flopped onto it, and breathed in deeply.
I was really back.
Slowly I slipped into a dreamless sleep, which I long needed, after Amber and my long trek back to the mall. When I woke, it was very dark outside, and the first stars were starting to appear. I stared out my window for a while, and then finally I managed to sit up, and put my feet on the floor. Why was I back? Bray apparently didn't care, and I missed Brady. I considered going back, but in the end, I knew I couldn't until morning.
By then I was getting very hungry, so I looked though my closet and put on the nicest jacket I had, then walked out of my room.
The mall was silence, which was unusual, none of the kids running about. I slowly walked in the shadows not really wanting to meet anyone. Finally, I reached the cafe, and slowly slipped into a chair, putting my head into my hands and sighing.
I was thinking about Brady. This was one of her first nights without me there for a long time. Was she afraid? Did she want me? I was so lost in these thoughts; it took me a while to realize Lex was watching me.
I looked at him in surprise when I finally spotted him. He was standing in the shadows, his black hair covering his eyes, his face toward me. When he realized I had spotted him, he seemed to panic, but as casually as ever I said aloud,
"What are you doing Lex?"
Lex sighed and stepped forward, and raked his fingers though his hair.
"I'm deciding what to eat. I haven't eaten all day." Lex paused, and sat down in a chair across from me. "What are you doing here?"
He looked almost comical, his head resting on the palm of his hands, his elbows resting on the table. He was grinning. Why? Honestly he didn't seem happy to see me at all.
"I'm here for the same reason you are, I suppose." I looked away from him. His dark eyes were following me. I wished he would stop. "Want me to fix you something?"
"What and get sick off rat again?" Lex laughed a hollow sounding laugh. I shivered. He was never going to let that go was he?
"Oh hush up." I muttered as my come back. I didn't really feel like talking.
Lex got up, and walked over to me. "Ohh.. Touched a nerve did I?" Lex sighed, and laid his hands on my shoulders. "You need to lighten up Trud! Honestly. You're always so tense."
I looked away from him coldly. "I have reasons to be. As you use to put it, the "little brat" and me don't belong here. That can cause a lot of tension."
"Aw come on Trudy, that was ages ago!" Lex started to massage my shoulders slowly. He bent down and whispered into my ear, "Let ol' Lex take all the badness away."
"Don't touch me." I replied sternly. I slapped his face and glared at him.
Something must have snapped in him because before I knew it, He had picked me up and pined me to the wall.
"Now you listen to me Trudy. I could have you thrown out of here in a heartbeat, with every bone in your body broken if I wanted to. I'm capable of doing anything after a bottle of vodka. So you better be a nice little girl. And I might let you leave here and go to your little Eco tribe in one piece." He squeezed my arms and grinned like a maniac.
I cried out. His breath smelled of vodka with a mix of tobacco he must have been smoking too. No wonder he looked so horrible when I first arrived. "Let me go Lex!" I squeaked out. My arms were starting to hurt really bad now.
Lex surveyed me quietly, and I knew he was drinking in every inch of me. "I'm not letting go of you." He said softly. "In fact I don't think I'm going to let you get very far from me tonight. Not for a while."
I started to scream then. Really, really loud! But I was shocked when Lex started to laugh.
"No ones in the mall! They're all at a tribal gathering! Lucky for us it lasts till morning, so that leaves the mall for you and me." Lex grinned wickedly.
"A tribal gathering? Why wasn't I told?" I looked up at him fearfully, and confused.
"You were asleep. Bray told me to tell you." Lex frowned a little, and looked me over again. "But your not going to sleep much tonight oh no. Not on my watch." Lex then pulled me into a lip-crushing kiss.
A/N: More coming soon. Review please!
