Part 14 – Adapt or Perish

"I want to know where she is!"

"We don't know where she is!"

Archer snorted, kicking at the leaves beneath his feet. He set his mismatched eyes on the tribe leaders venomously. "You two know something. You're keeping things about Raven from the tribe… from me," he accused. He took not even a breath before continuing. "You and Raven share blood! You told each other everything! Why would she have done this?" he demanded.

Amber closed her eyes, Archer's voice shooting through her. She opened them and looked up at the volatile young boy from her seated position. "We are not keeping anything from you or the tribe, because we know nothing Archer! Raven and I may share blood but we don't share minds. We don't know where she has gone, but we do know why. She was upset over your reaction to her turning down your proposal," she said in a calming tone.

Pride placed his hand on her shoulder. It was as if he were silently stating his presence. She was grateful.

Archer paced. "It wasn't my fault. She led me on. She lied. But she came to me the night she left. She said things to me. She sounded like she was fine, like she wanted to forget it all and move on. Why would she just leave after that?"

"We don't know."

"Then you have to do something!"

"There's nothing we can do."

Archer glared at the owner of the voice. "I thought you'd have more sense than this Pride. Raven could be in danger. She's no fighter, and she's not armed. She doesn't have the skills that you and I do," he said harshly.

"And neither should she… or you two for that matter. We're members of a peaceful tribe Archer. There's no place for violence here," Amber said firmly.

Archer sneered at her, turning his attention away from the tall man standing behind her. "Eagle, you're too much of a pacifist for your own good! What if the slave traders came our way… or the feral tribes living out in the caves… or what about the City tribes – the ones who fight without a reason? What would you do if they attacked?" he snarled.

Amber kept her cool. "Archer, you're angry and upset. I suggest you go to the lake and calm down," she said in soft voice.

"I don't want to go to the damn lake!" Archer shot back.

"We are dismissing you Archer," Pride spoke up, putting Amber's words plainly.

"Dismissing me?" Archer said disbelievingly.

"Respect our wishes and leave. We want you to calm down. Eagle and I are worried about Raven too," Pride said with a stern kindness.

Archer seemed to wilt before their eyes. His choppy shoulder-length hair that had green vines sporadically woven through it, fell into his face as his head bowed. His broad shoulders dropped and his lean chest deflated. Amber rose and placed a hand on his arm. At seventeen, his height had suddenly come upon him. The young boy was now taller than her and almost level with Pride.

"I love her too," Amber said softly, looking into his off-putting eyes. Though a lot of people nowadays had changed their old appearances with the use of contact lenses, Archer didn't have to. He had one forest green eye and one mud brown eye. Earth tones. It seemed he had been destined to become a Gaian right from the moment of his birth.

"She told me she loved me the night she left. She told me she loved me."

"I'm so sorry Archer," Pride offered, stepping forward.

Suddenly, Archer pulled himself away from Amber and stalked across the room. He grabbed his bow and arrows from beside the door. He then stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"I just don't understand. She refuses Archer's proposal… then goes to him a few hours later tells him she loves him… and then leaves! What was she thinking?"

Pride placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "She's always been wilful. She must have her reasons."

"I'm worried about him. He's unpredictable Pride," she said, looking at the door Archer had just left through.

"I know," Pride sighed. "But there's nothing we can do. His love has disappeared Amber. I would be the same if something happened to you," he said.

Amber turned and wrapped her arms around his lean abdomen. She rested her head on his chest in that familiar way. "Thank you," she murmured.

"I'm afraid for her Amber. I love her like a sister," Pride whispered.

"Me too," Amber replied. "Me too."

"I think it's time I went after her."

"But you don't know where to start looking!"

"But at least I'll be looking!" Pride said. "I'm a good tracker; I know how to find someone Amber. And I'm going to find her. I swear to you."

Amber nodded. "Okay. Okay, do it. Do what you have to do to find her."


Tai-San gently ran a wet cloth over the dead girl's face, wiping away the blood and dirt from her skin. She was cleaning the body up for burial later that day. Bray stood beside her, watching her work, slowly and methodically.

"She's so young. My age."

Bray looked at Tai-San's contemplative face. "I know."

They fell into silence, the dark basement seeming to shrink around them, so that all that existed was Bray and Tai-San, and Micah's mother.

"Bray, I don't think this was just a murder. I think it was a rape as well," Tai-San said suddenly.

"What?"

Tai-San sighed, and put down the cloth in the now bright red bowl of water. "Bray, I've been cleaning this body all morning, and I've closely examined it. The bruises, the cuts, the fact that she had little or no clothing. It adds up. Someone raped her and killed her – either to cover it up, or just for the sake of killing her."

Bray sat down in shock. He stared at the floor. "Was I blind Tai-San? Did I ignore this?"

"I think we all did."

"But I'm in charge. I'm the leader of supposedly the most powerful tribe in the City and I've let this happen!"

Tai-San looked at him frankly. "Bray, you're not in charge of the whole city! And I think that here in this mall, we're cut off from the rest of the world. The things that trouble us most are who gets what for dinner, who does this chore, who gets these batteries or this share of water. We concern ourselves with the minutiae – the little things, because we don't know what's going on on the outside. We don't know because we have no way of knowing unless we go out and see it. And it's not our fault. None of us can know all that's happening out there. And if we did, how can we take care of it when we're trying to take care of our own? When we're just trying to survive?"

"But that's what we're supposed to do! It's what Amber wanted. It's what we always tried to do – to take care of this city. It's what she died trying to do."

"Amber's intentions were good and so are yours Bray. But you've had a shock. You've just been woken up to the true face of this city. You need time to think."

Bray stood up determinedly. "I've had time. And I've had enough. I will not let any member of my tribe get hurt like this girl. This is not going to happen in this city anymore."

Tai-San frowned worriedly. "Bray, don't do anything rash."

"I won't. I'm going to do something brave. Maybe for the first time, I'm going to do something really brave."

"Bray, you're the bravest of all of us. You always have been."

Bray shook his head. "No. This is different. I'm going to confront this city."

"Confront? Bray—"

Footsteps echoed through the basement then, and they looked up. Lex had arrived with a bowl of water.

"More water," he said simply.

"I'll leave you guys to it," Bray said, walking away.

"Bray—" Tai-San called after him.

"We'll talk later Tai-San."

"He doesn't look too good," Lex commented.

"That's because he isn't. This has changed him. He forgot what this city is really like," Tai-San said sombrely.

"I didn't. If I had told him, he never would have believed me."

Tai-San shook her head. "It's not just you that's lived out on those streets. He did too Lex. He knows how cruel it can be. But I just think he's forgotten. So many things have made him think positively about this place – and that's a good thing. It is. But he just forgot all that he learned when he was a Wanderer."

Lex shrugged. "Right… well I think that this will shake him up. Yeah, he'll be real angry for a while. He'll go on a crusade… and then he'll forget all about it and go on bugging us about our chores. He'll just settle back into wedded bliss with wifey and their new kid, and forget about the big bad world."

"Pessimistic view Lex. You have little faith in Bray. And, 'wifey'?"

Lex snorted. "Come on. They've adopted this girl's baby, marriage won't be far off. Especially for the almighty Bray. He's the marrying type."

Tai-San cracked a smile. "So are you."

"Yeah… well. That was another time," Lex said stoically. He shuffled uncomfortably. "I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while. Marriage, kids, women… all too much trouble."

"I'm sorry if I made you think that way," Tai-San said sincerely.

Lex crossed his arms and shrugged. He didn't look at her. His eyes dropped to stare at the ground. "You didn't. Well, not entirely. It's just that— this girl… she was someone's friend, sister, girlfriend, mother. Who knows if she's got people out there, worrying about her, wondering where she is, if she's okay? And that kid isn't going to know a thing about her except for that she was left to die in an alley. She might have a boyfriend looking for her, looking for that baby. I don't want that. I don't want to be that guy, wandering the streets looking for a wife that's already dead, looking for a child he's never going to find."

"Lex, that won't ever happen to you."

"It kind of already has Tai-San," Lex said plainly.

Tai-San just looked at him, at a loss for words. She put a hand on his arm. Her touch seemed to shake him from his thoughtful daze, and he stiffened, moving his arm away from her hand.

"Anyway, Alice is getting things ready at the farm, so we'll be ready to bring the body out soon."

Tai-San nodded. "I'll have her ready."

Lex walked away, leaving Tai-San staring after him worriedly. It seemed his anger toward her had worn off – a rare thing for Lex. She had been cringing at the thought of his keeping a grudge against her and making tribe life very difficult for a long time – but apparently not. She was glad, but also a little bothered by his contemplative mood. It seemed that when Lex thought too much about things, he simply fell into a depressed stupor.

Tai-San sighed and took up her cloth, squeezing the blood-tinted water out. She began her grim work again.


"What is this about? I'm not part of this tribe. I have better things to do. And I'd really rather not listen to pretty boy preach about morals and goodness thanks."

Ebony rolled her eyes. "Shut up Spike. Bray's message said he wants the Militia present, so the Militia's going to be present. End of story."

"What – he says jumps, you say how high? Is that how it is these days Ebony? Trying to get into his good books?" Spike laughed. "Nah, I don't think it's going to work. He likes his girls a little taller… oh and a little less evil."

Ebony flinched on the inside, but outwardly, she shrugged and let out a bored laugh. "Whatever Spike. Think what you like honey. I really don't care what new ideas you want to delude yourself with. You've always been a dreamer."

"Yes I have," Spike retorted with a cryptic snigger.

Ebony gave him a strange look, and then disregarded his remark, rolling her eyes. She cared very little about Spike's enigmatic comments. After getting back from the Techno's base yesterday she'd found days had passed and she had apparently missed quite a bit. Bray had sent a message with a Militia member earlier that day saying that Ebony should bring her Militia over for a meeting with the tribe as soon as possible. She had slept the day away after her ordeal with Ram and so had only been given the message late in the day.

As she trudged the streets to the Mall with the Militia her experiences at the Techno base came rushing back: her sisters, Ram, VR… and especially what she had seen while in VR. She pushed it from her mind. She couldn't think about that right now.

Ebony and the Militia entered the Mall and found it deserted.

"Bray?" Ebony called.

"Where the hell are they?" Spike growled.

"Shut up." Ebony went up the staircase and had a look around on the second level. Empty. "Bray?"

"Ebony! You're here!"

Ebony looked down over the balcony to see Bray and the rest of the Mallrats entering through the car park entrance.

"I just got your message. Where have you all been?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Bray walked up the steps slowly, a serious look on his face. "At a funeral."

Ebony raised an eyebrow. "What? Whose funeral?"

Bray came to stand in front of her. "Look, I'll tell you everything once everyone assembles for the meeting, all right?" He looked down at the floor, his jaw clenched. "You should have been here yesterday Ebony. Things got bad, really bad. Where were you?"

Ebony could hardly stand the sadness in Bray's eyes and wondered just who had died, and what had gone on yesterday. For one joyful moment she thought Trudy must have finally gone through with it and committed suicide, but then she saw her and her brat walking up the stairs. Even more puzzling, she spotted another brat amongst the tribe. Danni was holding a boy a little older than Brady in her arms.

"Who's the kid?" she asked Bray.

"I'll get to that. Just get your Militia up here for the meeting."

Ebony ordered the Militia up to the café and they lined up in rows around the tables and chairs as the Mallrats took seats. Spike was standing apart from the Militia, his arms crossed and his head low, obviously still not happy with being there. Ebony stood near Spike and surveyed Bray as he stood by Lex at the front of the café, with Danni behind them holding the boy.

"Where are the kids?" Ebony asked, noticing that the annoying girls and Lex's little protégé were missing.

"They're staying with Dal and Alice at the farm tonight. We thought it best. This meeting isn't for their ears," Bray explained.

Ebony noticed that his voice had been unusually severe and stern ever since he'd arrived. His face was pale and his eyes were wide as well. A pang of worry shot through her. Was there something wrong with Bray? She pushed it away, buried it down deep. She didn't need feelings for him getting in the way now.

Bray began to speak. "Yesterday on the way back from the farm, Ryan, Jack, Ellie and I found the body of a girl in an alley."

Ebony fought the urge to say, 'so what?', but continued to listen.

"We just came back from her funeral at the farm."

"Did you know her?" Ebony asked.

Bray frowned. "No."

"Then why the big fuss? Why the funeral, the meeting?" Ebony asked, bewildered.

Danni rolled her eyes, her expression poisonous. "Because she was a human being – something you don't have a lot of practise in."

"Cool it. I'm just asking! So you found a dead girl!" Ebony shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal Ebony is that this is a murder. This girl was barely clothed, she had been severely beaten, and her throat had been cut and—" Bray broke off, and swallowed hard. Danni placed a hand on his shoulder and he grabbed it, squeezing hard.

Ebony was shocked. Bray was on the verge of breaking down. "What is it?"

"This…. This is her son. That dead girl, that poor dead girl who was murdered and left to die had a baby son!" Bray told her, his eyes flaring. He looked at the child in Danni's arms with a mixture of pity and affection.

"So you took him in. You did a good deed. One more mouth to feed, but it's your choice I guess," Ebony replied nonchalantly.

She couldn't help but notice how much like a family Bray, Danni and this kid looked as they all stood together. And it was pretty obvious from the way Danni was holding him and Bray was looking at him that the two of them had taken on care for him themselves. Ebony felt repulsed at the thought. It was just another thing to bring the perfect couple even closer together.

Bray looked at Ebony harshly. "Doesn't this affect you at all?"

Ebony shrugged. "I never took you for a sentimentalist Bray."

"I'm a humanist!" Bray shouted at her.

"Big word. Doesn't mean a lot these days though," Ebony told him.

Bray slammed his hands down on the table before him. "Yes it does! It does to us, to every single Mallrat, and to every decent person out there. She was raped and murdered Ebony! I know there's been a break down in order, in structure, in everything since the Virus, but this is barbaric!"

"She was raped? Left a little something out, didn't you?" May said, affronted.

"It's just a guess. I'm not a doctor. But I told Bray my suspicions earlier before the funeral," Tai-San explained.

"Then all of us girls are in danger," May pointed out. "It looks to me like there's a rapist running around out there."

Bray looked at Ebony. "Well? Did you hear that? Rapist. You're just as susceptible to this person as that girl we found yesterday was."

"Bray, there is no law and order! Get that through to your head! This means that every second teenage boy is a rapist nowadays! No one is going to stop him! No one can! Who's going to patrol every tribe and eek out the rapists, the thieves, the murderers? Half of this very tribe would be thrown in jail in that case!" Ebony insisted. "And someone even fits all three parts," she added, looking pointedly at Lex.

Lex stared back at her, not even rising to the challenge. Ebony snorted, and looked away.

Bray's face fell dramatically. "When did this start happening? When?"

Ebony felt an unwanted pang of compassion for him then. In a soft voice, she said, "Bray it never stopped happening."

Bray looked away and made an impatient noise, and she knew that wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. Bray seemed to be in severe denial, and Ebony needed to wake him up. Fast. He had been a streetwise guy once. She suspected too many years holed up in this mall with a bunch of idiots had worn down his smarts and senses.

"I won't give this city back to the murderers and the rapists and the crazies!" Bray yelled suddenly, his eyes vicious.

"In case you hadn't noticed Bray – they always had it," Ebony said smoothly. "And they always will."

Bray's expression became ferocious. "That isn't true!"

"It's not like it's the first time we've seen dead bodies littering the street!" Ebony shouted back.

"How can you be so cold?" Trudy demanded, her voice wavering.

"Stay out of this or you might find yourself in an alley with your screaming kid as well," Ebony shot back.

Trudy's face lit up with fury. "How dare you!"

Ebony stepped up to Trudy's table, staring down at her. "No, how dare you! How dare you sit in judgement of me because I'm tough, because I know how to handle myself, because I'm not afraid and getting hysterical because a girl turned up dead. One girl among thousands who have turned up dead since the Virus!"

Bray moved to stand between Ebony and Trudy. "Back off. Back off and leave her alone."

"Wrapped around her little finger again I see." Ebony smirked.

Bray's expression turned nasty then, and Ebony jutted her chin proudly as he glared down on her. "I called you here to ask for help. But I can see that you're as cold and callous as the person who killed this little boy's mother."

"No, I'm not. I just see this city for what it really is," Ebony retorted, ignoring the fact that his words cut worse than any knife.

"This girl was sixteen, seventeen tops, she was a mother, and she was brutally murdered not three blocks away. Do you feel safe Ebony? Do you feel safe at the thought of that? Because I don't."

"I always feel safe," Ebony replied stoically. "I have no reason not to."

"Only because you've got twenty armed men standing behind you ready to kill whatever you say needs killing!" Danni exclaimed. "The rest of us know that there is a real threat to every innocent girl in the city who doesn't happen to have an army at their disposal!"

"What do you want me to do? The Militia polices Mallrat and Loco territory. This didn't happen on either!" Ebony threw her hands up.

Bray walked up to her and looked at her squarely. "Help me, help us. Get your men out there and have them patrol those streets. Make sure this doesn't happen to another girl," he said to her in a pleading voice.

"Fine," Ebony stated. "I'll spare the men I can, when I can. But don't expect a big result. It's a dog eat dog world out there Bray, kill or be killed. We need to adapt to this city or perish. It's the only way."

Bray just shook his head. "If that means being like you, then I'll pass. I'd rather perish."

Ebony hated that he was so against her, but she didn't show it. She simply shrugged. "Then you will." She looked round him to the rest of the Mallrats. "And so will they. Who will be nice enough to go to your funeral then Bray, when all your little tribe are dead?"

Lex walked around Danni and snorted. "I think the question is who will go to your funeral Ebony?"

Ebony simply snarled at him and turned on her heel. Spike was leaning against the balcony, a huge smile on his face, obviously laughing at Lex's remark. Ebony fought the urge to scratch his eyes out. "Move it idiots! On the streets now! The mighty Bray wants you to patrol so you're going to patrol!" Ebony spat, giving Bray one last venomous look before storming out of the Mall, her men following.

Bray was a fool. They were all fools. She wanted as little to do with them as possible. But they would need her very soon. Oh they would. And she wasn't going to give a damn.


Coming soon in Part 15 – Crusade Most Holy:

- Locos Jax and Milton make their opinions of Ebony clear to Spike
- Spike formulates a shrewd plan to rid himself of Ebony
- Lex forms an unlikely bond with a lonely soul in the Mall

And more…