Part 23 – All The King's Men
Lex fell gratefully onto his bed fully clothed, and settled in for a long mid-afternoon snooze. After working security all night and presiding over business in the market without any sleep in between, he was completely exhausted. He had just yawned widely when the door to his room was kicked open, and light streamed in. Lex groaned and looked at his visitor, preparing to unleash a collection of extremely unpleasant remarks.
When he saw Salene standing there, he let out a heavy sigh. He should have expected a visit from her. She was never going to take Trudy's message from him very well.
"Just who do you think you are? Who do you think you are Lex!"
Lex sat up on his bed, and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Calm down! What's up with you? Hormones, is it?" he said blearily.
"You have no right to decide when I should tell my husband about my pregnancy!" Salene yelled, staring down on him.
Lex just gave her a dark, uncaring look. "You're pathetic, you know that?" he sniggered.
Salene stepped closer to the bed, shaking with anger. "How dare you! How dare you call me pathetic! You're the pathetic one Lex! The one playing God with other people's lives!"
Lex's attention was caught then. He made an incredulous face, and stood up from his rumpled bed. "I'm playing God? You're the one keeping your husband's own child from him!"
Salene glared at him, and Lex didn't think he'd ever seen such rage and venom in her eyes before. "Since when did you have a conscience Lex? Oh I forgot… you only got one when you realised you could use it as an excuse to hurt me!"
Lex scoffed. "I'm not trying to hurt you Red. I couldn't care less about you. If you disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn't shed a single tear."
"I wouldn't give a damn if you did or not you creep."
Lex ignored her, and continued. "What I care about is that child you're carrying. It's my best friend's flesh and blood, and I will not let you take away from him, not if I can stop it."
"I'm not taking anything from him! All I ever wanted was time to try and break the news to him!" Salene insisted.
"It's not very difficult! You say, 'Hey Ryan, you're going to be a father'."
"Trust you to boil down one of the most difficult dilemmas in a marriage to a simple, macho idea. It's not as simple as that!" she cried.
"Yes it is as simple as that… but then, nothing's ever simple with you, is it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've got a loving husband, but you just can't be happy, can you? You have to spend your days pining over someone else— Bray, who already has a girlfriend that he loves. If he wanted you, he'd be with you! Is that such a difficult concept to get through to your head?"
"Shut up Lex!"
Lex's eyes flared, and he began to feel as angry as Salene looked. He was sick of this. He did wrong, people got angry, he tried to do right, people still got angry. Well he wasn't going to let this one go. The wool had been pulled over Ryan's eyes from day one by his precious Salene. She needed a wake up call. She couldn't just use his friend like this.
"No, I won't! I'm finished with keeping your sad little secret! You're just holding out for lover boy— well he doesn't want you Salene! He wants Danni! He loves Danni!"
Salene just gritted her teeth and slapped him across the face as hard as she possibly could.
Lex just smirked, and flexed his stinging jaw. "Nice right hook babe. Too bad it's not going to save you from the truth— because that's exactly what Ryan's about to find out."
Lex laughed, making Salene even angrier. He had the audacity to laugh at a time like this! To mock her! He had no comprehension of what she was going through. How could he, being the brainless, lust-driven pig that he was. He would never understand her reasons for doing what she had done.
"You are vile, evil scum Lex. And I hope you get what you deserve," Salene spat.
"You're in way over your head," he snorted. "Just give up already. You're nothing but a sad, insecure little trollop and the sooner Ryan realises that the better."
Salene flinched at his words, but pushed his insult from her mind. She refused to be brought down to his level, though she feared she'd sunk even lower than him already. But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was what she would do next. Lex was going to tell Ryan everything!
"You'll regret this Lex, mark my words!" Salene hissed, before turning on her heel and stalking out.
"I very much doubt that sweetheart!" Lex called after her, laughter in his voice.
He looked at his inviting bed, and rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to get any sleep now— he had to go find Ryan and tell him the truth. Lex heaved a sigh and walked out into the Mall, going down to the market in search of his friend.
"Anyone seen Ryan?" he asked.
KC shrugged. "I think he was talking with some traders outside. Why?"
"'Cause I got some happy news for him," Lex stated.
"You don't sound too happy."
"Yeah, well, that's what women do to you," Lex muttered as he headed outside to find Ryan.
Salene fled to her room and slammed the door behind her. Once inside, she really let the floodgates open. She wept and wept, and felt like she just wanted to curl up and cry forever— but she couldn't. She was in trouble, big trouble. The safety she had felt with her pregnancy being a secret had been shattered by Lex's selfishness. She had to do something to stop this… she didn't know what, she just felt like running, running far away…
Salene froze, and inhaled sharply. Running away…
If she left then she wouldn't have to face Ryan's anger once Lex told him, she wouldn't have to face the tribe, or Trudy… or anyone! She could just escape, be free, be herself… She wouldn't have to worry about hiding her pregnancy anymore, she wouldn't have to deal with a husband she despised.
Salene, her face still wet with tears, shot over to her closet and began yanking clothes out at top speed. She stuffed them all into a backpack along with a few more belongings. She grabbed another bag for food and went to leave the room. She paused though, and frowned. She had to leave a note, some sort of goodbye to Ryan. She knew at least she must owe him some explanation.
She tore out a page from a notebook, and quickly penned a note to him explaining what she could in such a short time. She left it on the bed, and then peered out the door cautiously. Seeing no one, she practically ran to the café, where she took cans of food and some fresh vegetables, and stuffed them into her food bag.
After that, Salene stopped, and frantically wondered which exit she could leave through unnoticed. It was market day, there were people everywhere… Then she had it—the roof! If she went out onto the roof, she could climb down the ladder down the side of the building. She'd end up on the other side of Mall far away from the market entrance. No one would see her.
Salene found her way out onto the roof, and made her escape.
Spike stood with ten of his men just under one of the grilles in the Mall. Ebony stood before them, a clipboard in hand. Bray had given her a list of things the Militia needed to get on top of before the Gathering, and so she was handing out jobs to them. Spike resented having to stand there and await Ebony's orders, and do the Mallrat's bidding— but he knew that his time would come eventually. He just had to be patient.
"I need all of these things done pronto. The Gathering is nearly upon us, and none of the tasks appointed to the Militia have been carried out," Ebony said sharply. "That is going to change— now. I want you all to quit resting on your laurels, and do your jobs!"
Some of the men shot Spike sideways glances, and he nodded silently at them. It was a signal— just do what she says, for now at least. She handed each of them pages with a list of things they needed to do. None of them looked very happy, but said nothing to Ebony about it.
She sharply told them all to get moving, and they began to disperse. Ebony's sister Java walked by with a small, spiteful smile on her face. Spike smirked to himself. Java had been playing the innocent act ever since she'd arrived, and this was the first not-so-pleasant look he'd seen on her face. The first of many of her real faces he surmised.
"Glamorous life, isn't it Ebony? What power you have, giving out chores!" Java laughed mockingly.
"Get out of my way," Ebony hissed, and she stomped past her older sister.
Spike snorted. He had known all along they had been faking their big reconciliation. He just wondered why. He didn't have time to worry about it though. He looked at his list of errands. Many of them he had to do out in the City, but some were checking with other Mallrats that all of their own tasks for the Gathering had been completed so that everyone knew what should be brought to the Gathering..
Spike headed to the electrical shop to talk with Jack about the inventions that he was supposed to showcase for the Gathering. Spike stood in the doorway of the shop, but saw only Ellie.
"Blondie! Where's science boy?"
Ellie turned and looked at him disdainfully. "Jack! You've got a visitor!"
Jack appeared smiling, but his face instantly fell upon seeing Spike. The boy descended into a bundle of nerves and stammered his way through a greeting.
"Shut up kid. Just tell me if you've got your science stuff ready for the Gathering," Spike said, cutting through Jack's jittery ramblings.
"Yes! Yes, I— I do. It's all— all ready. It is. Mostly ready. Well, all right, almost ready. There's— there's some fine tuning needed," Jack said sheepishly.
Spike placed a hand on his hip and looked at Jack expectantly. "How much fine tuning?"
Jack shot Ellie an uneasy glance, and grinned anxiously. "Well… you know, a significant amount… I would say."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Show me what you've got! Now!"
Jack shot around the corner to the other part of the shop, and Ellie glared at Spike. "You have no right to speak to him like that."
"Blondie, I've got work to do. I really don't need my time wasted by some kid who's scared of his own shadow."
"Jack isn't afraid of his own shadow!" Ellie defended. "He's just sick of you Locos thinking you can bully your way through our Mall!"
"Does he always let his woman fight his battles for him?" Spike asked tersely.
Ellie just gave him a poisonous look and stormed off into the adjoining part of the shop.
Spike shook his head, irritated. He stood there impatiently for several minutes, listening to the frenzied shuffling and whispering in the other room of the shop. He was looking around the jumbled room listlessly when something caught his eye. A TV. It was a surveillance TV, and it was showing the parking lot below the Mall. Then it switched to the market entrance. Then is switched again to the parking lot a few seconds later. Spike was almost impressed. The kid had managed to hook up cameras and a TV to watch the exits. Not bad.
Suddenly, movement on the screen captured Spike's attention. The screen was showing the parking lot, and by some abandoned, burnt-out cars, he could make out someone… someone instantly recognisable by their Loco uniform.
"What the hell?" Spike muttered to himself.
He peered closely at the screen and saw that he was not alone. The Loco was actually dragging a struggling girl along behind him.
"No…" Spike hissed. "Not here, not here you idiot!"
It looked like he'd finally found the Loco that was the culprit of the rapes and murders. It was just too bad that he was stupid enough to do it on Mallrat territory. If only he could see his face… but Spike had no time to try and make out which of his men it was. He had to act fast. He looked around to see if Jack and Ellie could see the TV. They couldn't, they were still shuffling and organising something in the other room.
Spike looked at the TV once more, then he raised his foot and kicked it with all his might. The TV fell back off the table. Spike couldn't see how much damaged he'd done to it— but hopefully he'd broken it enough so that Jack couldn't see what was happening in the parking lot.
Spike turned and raced out of the electrical shop at top speed.
"Can we talk?"
Bray stood in the doorway of Danni's room looking at her expectantly. She didn't look up from Micah, who she had perched on her knee, a story book on the bed before them.
"About what?" Danni asked nonchalantly.
Bray's eyes flashed angrily for a moment, and betrayed the growing irritation inside him. "You know exactly about what Dan. About the fact that you're in here and not in our room. About why you're hardly talking to me!"
Danni pursed her lips. "I would have thought my reasons were perfectly clear Bray."
"They're not! All I see is that you're pulling away from me, and I don't like it!" Bray exclaimed, a mixture of sorrow and anger apparent on his face.
Danni's hard expression softened. "You haven't exactly been beating down my door to make things better, have you?"
Bray's face fell, and his shoulders dropped tiredly. He ran a hand over his face. "I've been so busy Danni. I'm sorry."
Danni sighed, and bounced Micah affectionately. "You're always busy Bray, aren't you?" she said shortly.
"Danni please, you know I can't help that! I'm the tribe leader, there are things I have to do!"
"I know that, I do. But I really don't think that this is… that this is going the way I thought it would." Danni finally looked at him properly, and Bray hated the sad, defeated look in her eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Danni sighed painfully. "Bray, it just doesn't feel right. I don't feel right."
Bray frowned deeply, and sat beside her on the bed. "I don't understand."
"I don't feel right… as you girlfriend," Danni said gently. "I keep feeling like I'm replacing someone."
"That's not true at all."
Danni exhaled sharply, exasperated. "But it's what I feel! And I think it is true Bray! No one sees me for who I really am! I'm just someone you turned to when you were vulnerable and lonely! I'm not your real girlfriend in their eyes! They're just waiting for Amber to somehow return and for everything to go back to normal!"
Bray took her hands, and spoke to her passionately. "But it is normal! This is normal, us! You have never replaced Amber for me, ever! When I fell for you, I fell for Danni, not Amber. And I love Danni."
"Bray, I love you too, but it's just not as simple as that anymore," Danni told him softly.
"It can be," Bray insisted.
Danni shook her head. "Things have changed Bray, you have to see that."
"Of course I see it, but that doesn't mean we have to change!" Bray exclaimed. "I don't understand why you're acting like this all of a sudden!"
Danni yanked her hands from his grasp and stared at him defiantly. "Because maybe I'm sick of being defined by someone else! First my father, then you… I've been tied to someone else's choices, to someone else's mistakes for too long. I want to be my own person!"
"You are!" Bray cried. "Of course you're your own person, Danni, you always have been. That's what I love about you!"
"Bray I think we just need to…"
"Need to what?" Bray prompted breathlessly.
He didn't want to hear what she was about to say. He couldn't hear it. He couldn't lose another girl that he loved, he just couldn't. The thought of Danni was the only thing that helped him get through these days of trouble, and death, and worry. Being leader of the Mallrats, and trying to bring the City together besides that had taken their toll on Bray. He wasn't the fresh-faced sixteen year old he'd been when the Virus hit. He now felt as jaded and world weary as an old man.
His life, it felt like one long, cold day, but Danni was the warm fire he came home to in the evening. She was the warmth seeping through his limbs, the fire revitalising his veins. Had things gone so terribly wrong that she no longer wanted to be with him? Was he about to lose the one person he truly loved?
Danni looked pained as she tried to speak. "I need to get some space. I just think if I don't I'll self-destruct."
Bray looked at her shocked and saddened. He felt like he'd been kicked in the teeth. "Danni… don't leave me," he said simply.
Danni shook her head vehemently. "I am not leaving you Bray. No way… I'm just— taking a leave of absence," she told him, smiling comfortingly.
"For how long?" Bray asked urgently, his heart pounding.
"For as long as it takes," she replied gently. "Let me do this Bray, please?"
Bray nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah… yeah, of course. Do what you have to… I— I just—"
Danni just looked at him compassionately as he felt his whole body break out in a cold sweat. "Bray, just focus on the tribe for now. Focus on the Gathering and bringing the people of this city together. I'll take Micah and stay here in my old room. You don't need to worry about him, okay?"
Bray nodded distantly. "Yeah, thanks. Danni, I—"
Suddenly, both were startled by the sound of arguing and shouting down in the Mall.
"You'd better go see what that's about," Danni said quietly.
"It can wait," Bray said sharply.
"No it can't. The tribe comes first Bray," Danni told him firmly.
Bray looked at her pleadingly. "Danni…"
"Bray! Go!" she insisted.
He finally relented and stood up. "Fine… I'll see what's up. But I'm coming right back. We need to talk more about this."
"Bray, I really don't think there's anything more to talk about," Danni stated softly.
Bray just looked at her mournfully, and stood up slowly. He reluctantly walked out of the room, feeling a little dazed.
Danni just watched him leave silently. She took a breath and smiled at Micah. "Let's get back to the story Micah, shall we? Now where were we? Oh yes… 'And all the king's horses, and all the king's men couldn't put him back together again…'"
Bray walked down the stairs to see KC and Lex glaring at Spike. The three of them stood in front of the Phoenix Fountain, Lex with his hands on KC's shoulders, Spike gripping his Loco helmet so hard that his knuckles were turning white.
"What's going on?" Bray asked.
"This moron just practically knocked me out!" KC accused.
"Shut up you little squirt!" Spike growled.
Bray noticed that Spike looked paler than usual, and that his eyes kept darting toward the exit. His stance was jittery, uneven, like he was about to bolt at any moment. He didn't have time to ponder what was wrong with Spike though as Lex started yelling heatedly. Bray ran down the remaining stairs and intercepted the fight.
"Back off!" Lex shouted in Spike's face. "He's just a kid! You ran into him!"
Bray pushed against Lex's chest, and wondered at the force of his anger. There seemed to be something more behind it than Spike just running into KC.
"I've got places to go! Your fearless leader here gave Ebony a list of tasks for us. I'm trying to get them done!" Spike insisted.
He pushed Bray away from him and walked off, tossing Lex a disdainful look.
"You're nothing but Ebony's jumped up little whipping boy!" Lex yelled after him.
"Maybe, but I bet you wish you were too," Spike shot back laughingly, without even turning around. He walked under the grille, and left through the market entrance.
Bray watched the fair-haired man leave the Mall. Just then Ryan came in carrying some boxes. He'd probably been in the store room, organising things for tomorrow's market. The market had closed down for the day just a short time ago.
"Patsy and Cloe said you were looking for me Lex," he said.
"Yeah…" Lex said uncertainly, his fight with Spike forgotten almost immediately. "Ryan, man, it's Salene…"
Ryan immediately looked panicked. "Salene! What is it? Is she okay?"
"Lex what's going on?" Bray asked. "What about Salene?"
Ryan didn't stop to listen though, he dropped his boxes and raced up the stairs to his and Salene's room.
"Lex, I won't ask again, what's going on?"
Lex had a guilty look on his face which told Bray he knew more than he was letting on. "Red's pregnant."
Bray's mouth dropped open in shock. "Salene? Pregnant?"
"Yeah… like four months pregnant. She's been hiding it from Ryan," Lex said.
"How did you know when Ryan didn't? And what happened to your face?" he asked, just noticing a dark bruise on Lex's cheekbone.
"Uh well… that's kind of part of it. Salene wasn't too happy that I had found out that she's pregnant. I said I wanted her to tell Ryan… and she hit me," Lex said sheepishly.
Bray was just about to ask just how Lex had found out about Salene's pregnancy when Jack came running over. He looked wide-eyed and frantic, and was looking around. When he saw Bray, and tried to speak, he was so out of breath that he was struggling to get words out.
"Jack! What is it? What's wrong?" Bray asked, concerned. First Danni, then KC and Lex, then Ryan and Salene… when was the drama going to end?
Jack gasped for breath. "Spike! It's Spike! He's— he's up to something!"
Ellie came out of the electrical shop and walked over. "We were getting the inventions ready to show Spike when we heard a crash in the front of the shop. We came in and the surveillance TV was damaged and Spike was nowhere to be seen!"
"The screen wasn't too badly broken though… we could see a Loco down in the parking lot. He's… with a girl. She's— she's struggling and fighting him…" Jack said nervously.
Lex looked at Bray, realisation dawning on his face. "Someone doesn't kick in a TV which just happens to be showing a fellow Loco attacking a girl for no reason!"
"No he doesn't," Bray agreed.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the fabled capture of the City rapist, would it?" Lex asked. "'Cause I didn't buy that story the first time, and I still don't."
"It was pretty suspicious," Bray agreed.
Jack, having finally gotten his breath back, stood up straight. "If you want to save that girl's life then I suggest you move."
"Where's the Militia?" Ellie asked.
"Out doing Bray's precious Gathering tasks," Lex answered.
"I didn't know this was going to happen!" Bray snapped irritably.
"It looks like it's got to be us then, doesn't it?" Lex said darkly. "And I for one would love to get my hands on a piece of Loco scum."
Coming soon in Part 24 – Last Call For Sin:
- Spike, Lex and Bray face off with the Loco in the parking lot
- May goes out in search of Salene
And more…
