Part 15 – Crusade Most Holy

"This is pointless."

"This is really pointless."

"It's beyond pointless."

Spike turned and glared at Jax and Milton. "Would you two shut it? I think we all realise that this is pointless – apart from the omnipotent Bray that is," he said darkly.

He glanced blandly round the streets, which at this time of day were practically empty. All the Scavengers, Wanderers, Strays… they'd all headed for shelter for the night, and all others had long since headed back to their tribes. The Mallrats hadn't even opened the market that day, so not many had been out anyway. It really was deserted.

"Looking for an imaginary rapist." Jax shook his head. "We're not going to find anything."

"No, it's a real rapist all right," Spike remarked. "But we're not going to stop him, or any other one from doing what they want."

"And do we even care? All she was was just another girl wandering the streets. No great loss," Jax said with a shrug.

Spike was a little surprised at his indifference. Even he thought what had happened was brutal. But he pushed that from his mind. He had other, more pressing matters to think about.

"If this is pointless, then why are we here?" Jax demanded.

"Because he doesn't want to upset Ebony," Milton drawled.

"Spike when did you become Ebony's lapdog?" Jax asked in a mock-curious tone.

"The same time you two, and the rest of the Locos, did," Spike shot back easily.

"Touché. He's got us there."

"He really has," Milton agreed. "What became of the real Locos? Zoot's Locos?"

"They died along with Zoot," Spike replied bluntly.

"Sad but true." Jax nodded. "Sad but true."

"'Militia' is just a fancy word for glorified lackeys," Milton snorted, scrapping his baton off the pavement blandly.

Spike laughed. "Well boys, I've got to agree. But Ebony calls the shots, doesn't she? Nothing we can do…"

He sighed heavily and walked ahead, smiling to himself. He hadn't even needed to nudge the conversation in his desired direction – they had done it for him. It seemed the rest of his tribe mates were just as unhappy with their current situation as he was.

"Nothing we can do?" Jax said, pushing his black framed glasses up his nose. "We're Locos!"

"Power and chaos… where did it all go wrong?" Milton asked.

Spike turned suddenly, a fierce and energised look in his eye. "Where did it all go wrong? I'll tell you where it all went wrong. It went wrong with that pint-sized, back-stabbing usurper. That's where it went wrong!"

Jax and Milton chuckled at his unfavourable description of Ebony, and Milton spoke. "What the hell was Zoot thinking leaving her as his second-in-command?"

Spike threw his hands up. "That's just it! He wasn't! He was too distracted with looking for Trudy. His own brother had taken her right from under his nose – he was obsessed with getting her back! All Ebony had to do was slip into his good books, at the same time slipping into his bed. She wrapped him around her little finger." Spike spat on the road disgustedly. "By time he went to that mall and got himself killed, Ebony was all ready to take his place."

Jax nodded. "And he left us to serve her – and now her band of misfits as well. Nice."

Spike shrugged. "She doesn't give a damn about the Mallrats. The only reason she's got us protecting them, the only reason she's got us out here patrolling these streets – is Bray. She's head over heels for him. Has been ever since before the Virus – but he couldn't care less about her. He's never been interested. Poor thing just keeps deluding herself," he shook his head in exaggerated sadness, before cracking a wide, mocking smile.

Milton laughed along with him. "Unbelievable! Ebony? In love with that do-gooder? If Zoot wasn't already dead, he would have dropped dead once he heard that!"

"Seems that she's not the tough-as-nails queen she makes out to be," Jax commented.

"No, no she isn't," Spike agreed. "She would be so easy to take down, it's laughable. That girl has a thousand chinks in her armour – you just gotta know where to find them."

"We need to make the Locos what they were again," Milton said fervently. "I joined this tribe for power and chaos, and I instead I got caring and sharing. You can find those chinks Spike. You can get Ebony out."

"I can. Let's just say I'm working on it," Spike said smugly. "Don't worry boys. Zoot wasn't the one and only saviour. I'm no Zoot – but I'm gonna carry on his vision. And Ebony doesn't factor into it."

"How about I try and off her?" Jax suggested. "In the good old days I was pretty handy with a knife." He smiled sadistically, stroking a hunting knife that he'd unsheathed.

Spike chuckled. "Well, well, what a little sociopath you are Jax… but I think something a little more subtle might be better. What do you think Lord Bray is going to do if Ebony turns up in little pieces? Considering the crusade he's begun over one nameless girl – how about one he's known for years? Hate her though he does – he won't like it."

"Who cares if he likes it? Once she's out of the picture we won't have to answer to him anymore!" Milton exclaimed.

"Guy, guys, please. I've got this under control. But feel free to come to me again if my plan falls through – I might just take you up Jax. But in the meantime… why don't you pass this around the tribe, covertly of course. Come back to me and tell me if the others are thinking like you are."

Jax nodded putting his knife away. Spike watched him out of the corner of his eye. He had an excited glint in his eye that he didn't quite trust. Jax's plan was too bold obvious, it would ruin the plans Spike was formulating. He didn't need one of his own implicated in a murder – especially the murder of his own tribe leader.

"What do you plan on doing then?" Milton asked. "How are you going to get her out?"

Spike smiled. "Milton, it's really very simple. I'm going to break her down, slowly and carefully, until there is nothing left of her. She won't even be fit to walk herself to the loony bin – let alone lead a tribe."


"It's been a tough few days," Danni whispered.

"It really has," Bray replied softly.

She kissed him and lay beside him in the bed. She put her head down on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Are you okay? This has really gotten to you."

Danni had never seen Bray act like he had since finding the girl's body. It worried her. Bray was who everyone relied on. Although she knew she was capable of doing everything that Bray did, the tribe didn't trust her like they trusted Bray. They had known him much longer, and they all loved him. Besides that, he was known around the city for his calm personality, his diplomacy and his negotiating skills.

She had seen that Bray fade gradually over the last few days, and she had become afraid for all their futures without him. He was what kept them all together. She just hoped the old Bray would make a welcome return.

Bray stared off into the darkness of their room. "I know it has. I just— you don't know what it's like Danni. My little brother was once the most feared person in this entire city. He was nothing short of a madman – a blood-thirsty war-mongering madman. And there was nothing I could do. Not a thing. Every day I'd watch him slaughter innocent people for no apparent reason. He and the Locos painted the streets with their blood and I felt sick to my stomach that I was related to him. Only Trudy could bring out any piece of humanity in him – and even then, he terrified her. Her pregnancy was probably the one thing that would have made him stop terrorising this city, but she was too afraid to tell him."

"What does this have to do with what's happened?"

"Danni, once Martin died… I felt relief. It was stronger than the sadness. I felt relief that this city would be safe again – and that's all been shattered over these last few days. I never realised that Martin wasn't the only evil person in this city. It's stupid I know – but maybe because I knew him, because I was so connected to him, I focused only on his wrong-doings. I never considered the crimes that any others were committing. I never even thought about it."

"That's why this has all been such a shock for you," Danni finished.

"Yeah… it's why I couldn't even comprehend it. Why I've been so confused. But I'm getting better. I know you've been worrying. Things have changed for you too. We have Micah to think about now. I'm sorry that I never even asked you about us taking care of him."

Danni shook her head. "Bray, you didn't have to. He's just a little boy. The tribe would have taken care of him, sure, but he needed two people, two new parents to love him and only him. I don't mind that you decided without me. Taking him is the right thing."

"I know. I know. But what do we do now? Do we raise him like he's ours? Do we have him call us Mom and Dad? Do we tell him he's not really ours? Do we tell him what happened to his mother? How we found him?"

"Bray, we'll cross those bridges when we come to them. Right now we just need to get him used to us and to his new home."

Danni glanced across the room where Micah's cot was illuminated in the dull moonlight. He slept on peacefully. She was glad. He had been sleeping badly the last few nights, and crying hysterically. No matter how long she or Bray held him, he didn't stop. He kept asking for his mother. It broke Danni's heart to hear him calling again and again for her. All Danni could do was picture his mom's grave out on Alice's farm, the grave marker simply saying 'Micah's Mother', and nothing more – for they knew nothing more about her.

"I just want things to get back to normal – but they won't," Bray sighed. "Things will be different forever now. But probably for the best."

"It is," Danni nodded. "Now go to sleep, please. Get some rest, and bring the Bray I know and love back to me."

Bray kissed the top of her head. "I'll try."


A knock at Lex's door startled him. He frowned, puzzled, and stood up from the chair he'd been sitting in, brooding. Maybe he should welcome the interruption, something to distract his mind before he delved too deep into himself. Illuminated by the candlelight casting dancing shadows across his walls, he walked across the room and answered the door.

It was May.

"May? What do you want?"

May shrugged. "Just company. Can I come in?"

Lex sighed. "I'm not giving the kind of company you want."

"Lex, I can't sleep. I just want someone to talk to," May said, and for the first time in a long time, she was telling the truth.

Lex held the door open and shook his head to himself, wondering why he was bothering. He had slept with May, sure, but he didn't know her and he hardly liked what he did know of her. She simply wasn't a pleasant person most of the time.

But May was lonely in this mall. She hadn't bonded with any of the girls at all. She didn't trust Trudy, and Salene didn't like her for her sharp tongue and short temper. Danni was hardly seen out of Bray's company, and didn't seem to be very close with any of the girls anyway. And Tai-San? Well, May didn't even want to become friends with her. She despised the place she held in Lex's heart, and the hold she had over him.

It wasn't that May was in love with Lex. It was just the simple fact that he was the only one in this place that she had any connection to – however fleeting it was. She needed someone to talk to, and Lex was the only one she would even consider. She thought she might go mad if she had to pace the mall one more night, talking to herself in her head.

May went and sat on Lex's rumpled bed, looking around the candle-lit room. It was messy. He obviously wasn't a neat freak. His belongings were all over the place: notebooks and pens – he'd obviously been practising his reading and writing more – batteries, burnt down candles, a few weapons even. Lex's clothes were scattered everywhere too, but on shelves and hanging on hooks were a girl's clothes, kept carefully out of the way, neat and tidy. May could only assume they belonged to his dead wife. It brought to her attention a very different side to Lex.

Lex walked across the room and sat back in his chair. He surveyed May as she looked around his room, and wondered just why she had chosen to come and talk to him.

"So what'll it be May? What do you want to talk about? The weather?"

May just looked at him. "I know I'm not your favourite person. But I don't have any friends in this tribe Lex. Sometimes I feel like I'm going insane in this place. I'm surrounded by people, but no one who would even care if I threw myself off that balcony."

"I'd care."

"Sure you would Lex."

Lex sighed, and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "I know what it's like to be lonely May. After Zandra died, loneliness was the only thing I knew. I had never realised just how much time I had spent with her, how much it actually meant to have someone caring so much about me – until she wasn't here. But I'm not the best person to be talking to if you're screwed up. I'll make you worse."

May considered this. "Maybe I don't care. Maybe I just need company."

"What's wrong with the girls May? Talk to them."

"The girls don't like me, and frankly, I don't really like any of them."

"Then I guess you're stuck."

"I guess I am."

"What do you want from me May?"

May looked down at Lex's creased bed clothes and uselessly smoothed them with her hand. "I want someone to care about me," she said softly.

"I'm not that someone. I've got my own problems."

"Lex, I'm not asking for you to love me, to sleep with me, to do anything with me! I just want someone to talk to!" May exclaimed. "And anyway, am I that repulsive?"

Lex rolled his eyes. He stood up from his chair and sat beside her on his bed. He threw an arm over her shoulders. "No, you're not. May, you're beautiful, you know that. But you aren't the most pleasant person to be around sometimes. You can be a real hell cat."

May shrugged and chuckled lightly. "I know. I can't help it. Most of the time I'm like that because I'm just afraid. Afraid that I'll get kicked out onto the street again. That I'll be out there among the crazies – especially now after what happened to that girl."

Lex cupped May's chin and turned her head to look at him. "No one is going to throw you out May. No one. And I wouldn't let them if they tried," he said sincerely.

As he looked at her, he felt her heat, he felt the closeness of her body, and he felt that familiar lust burning within him again. He'd been so taken with Tai-San recently that he hadn't even thought about, or looked at another girl. But Tai-San didn't want him. She didn't want him.

Lex stared at May in the flickering light and his breathing quickened. He hadn't been lying, she really was beautiful. Once he looked past her surly personality, he saw her big eyes, her high cheekbones, her lips…

As Lex stroked his thumb over her cheekbone, May kept perfectly still. Was this what he wanted? In return for her piece of mind, for someone to talk to – is this what he wanted from her? May asked herself if she was willing to do that, to for all intents and purposes, prostitute herself to him. But not for money, just for company. For the sheer purpose of having some kind of contact with someone, so she wouldn't feel so desperately alone.

"Lex?"

Lex didn't reply, he simply leaned in and captured her lips in a searing kiss. May barely responded, too taken with her wild thoughts. Getting caught up with Lex was like getting caught in a tangled web. Did she want to risk it, to risk her heart? Who knew how she would feel? How she might get attached to him. May felt so vulnerable then that she thought she might do just that.

Lex deepened the kiss, without knowing why. He was asking for trouble here. He was definitely attracted to May, but she could be as poisonous as a snake in the blink of an eye. He could hardly think of the revenge she might take if this didn't go well.

They broke apart and he rested his forehead against hers.

"We're getting into something here May," he said, his breathing shallow and catching.

"I know. I just need someone. I need someone!"

"But this isn't long-term May. I just came out of this thing with Tai-San. It screwed me up. I'm not looking for a girlfriend. But I'll go ahead if this stays inside this room. If we keep it private, and between us, and if there are no strings attached," Lex said, surprised that he felt a little bad for what he was saying. He knew he was basically telling her he was going to use her and that it was never going to go anywhere, but all the same, that was what she was asking from him too.

And it was. May knew that Lex would never get into anything meaningful with her, and she didn't want him to. She simply wanted someone. And if he was going to be that someone… why should she disagree?

May nodded. "I know. I feel the same Lex. This is just us – two screwed up people trying to feel a little less screwed up, right?"

Lex reached up and brushed her silky dark hair from her face. "Right."

May smiled. "So kiss me Lex."

Lex chuckled. "I'm getting to it!"

He kissed her again, and this time, they both felt the same desire run through them like jolts of electricity. Lex quickly took off his shirt, and pushed May back onto his bed. He placed his hands on her waist and slid them up under her top. She laughed and squirmed as his touch tickled the sensitive skin of her stomach. He laughed as well, and pulled the top over her head. Caught under his gaze, she saw the lust in his blue eyes as he looked down at her. He swung a leg over her hip and leaned over her, pressing their naked chests together.

He grinned a shark-toothed grin as his lips brushed across her neck, her jaw, her cheek. He then raised his head momentarily, and blew out all the candles.

In the darkness May felt Lex's lips whisper against her skin. "I think this going to be a very good night for the both of us."


Coming soon in Part 16 – Too Little, Too Late:

- Lex is in trouble with all the women in his life when news of his and May's liaison gets out
- Salene and Trudy talk and both realise that they can't keep their pregnancies from the tribe for much longer
- Lex gets tangled even deeper in Trudy's secret, and is compelled to lie to Bray for her
- A stranger with a familiar face comes to the Mall looking for Bray

And more…