Part 27 – A Dying Breed

Bray walked across the mall, wishing he'd slept better. He'd gone to his room to rest until Milton returned from the country with Dal. He'd intended to just fall straight to sleep, to dream away the chaos of the day and the pain in his abdomen. But instead he'd found himself staring at the ceiling, completely unable to sleep.

All he could think about was Spike, if he would live or die. Jax, what they were supposed to do with him. Danni, how they could get back to the way they were. And the tribe, how it was falling apart around him. What a joke the Tribal Gathering seemed now. With people like Jax out there, how was there ever supposed to be peace and co-operation in the city?

He looked up on hearing footsteps. He spotted Tai-San wearily walking with a glass bowl, which he could clearly see was filled with water – water red with blood. Tai-San had refused to take some rest or let someone take over caring for Spike. She seemed to be deeply affected by having seen Spike being stabbed, and didn't want to leave his side.

"Tai-San! How is he?"

Tai-San smiled thinly at Bray. "The same. He still hasn't woken up. I thought it for the best so he could sleep through the pain, but now I'm worried. I really wish Dal would get here, he knows more than me about all of this."

"Well, let's hope he does anyway. Who's with Spike now?"

"Lex is. I was trying to clean the wound and all of the bandages, but there's so much blood," she explained, gesturing to the bowl of red water. "The bleeding stopped a few hours ago, but his breathing is what's worrying me. He can only stay going for so long with a punctured lung."

Bray ran a hand over his tired face. "What a mess. What a goddamned mess Tai-San."

Tai-San looked at him compassionately and placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Don't despair Bray, please. We need you."

"I know… I just wish I could run and hide sometimes. Especially now. We've got people from tribes all over the city coming here in just a few hours for jury selection. How can we still have the trial now?"

Tai-San shook her head. "We need to have it now more than ever! Jax has hurt one of his own now, it only further proves his guilt! And I saw it Bray, I witnessed it. Before we had no proof, now the jury will have to convict him!"

"And if they do? What do we do with him then?" Bray exclaimed. "Ebony was right. We can't banish him, and I don't think any of us has the will to condemn someone to death… so what are our options? How do we punish him?"

"Jail? We could imprison him in the court house cells indefinitely as punishment. We could have people to become prison guards, pay them in food, clothing, trading chips…"

"It's a good idea in theory Tai-San… but in practice?"

Tai-San nodded. "I know. It's flawed. But like you said Bray, we're limited here."

"We really are."

"Bray? Why are you up so late? And— oh it's you!"

Tai-San and Bray looked around to see an exhausted May coming up the stairs. She was looking at Tai-San with that usual lazy-eyed glare that she saved just for her.

"May! Where have you been all night?" Bray asked.

"Looking for Salene."

"Did you find her?"

"Nope. Not a trace."

"She obviously doesn't want to be found," Tai-San said. "We should just let her be. Let her find what she's looking for."

"She's pregnant. It's not safe out there for her!" May retorted irritably.

"Salene's a Mallrat, a survivor. She'll be just fine," Tai-San said with certainty.

May rolled her eyes. "I'm still going back out to look for her tomorrow if you don't mind. So I know why I'm still up at two in the morning, but why are you two?"

Bray shifted his gait tiredly, and let out a huge sigh. "A lot's happened since you left the mall earlier. We caught the person who we think has been killing girls in the city. Jax."

"Jax? As in Militia Jax?" May exclaimed.

"One and the same. Spike, Lex and I confronted him in the parking lot. He was attacking another girl down there. She's in Zandra's old room— still out cold."

May grunted. "Another stray we've taken in I see."

"A little compassion might be helpful right now May," Tai-San said archly. "The girl isn't the only injured one here. Bray was stabbed by Jax in the fight as well."

"And what happened to you?" May pointed to the bandages on Tai-San's arms with a slightly amused smile.

Bray stepped in then, afraid he'd have to referee another cat fight like the one between Danni and Ebony earlier. "Something else happened after that. Spike went to talk to Jax down in the basement where we were holding him… Jax attacked him. He had a knife concealed somewhere on him, we never noticed it."

May lips parted and she looked at Bray strangely. "Spike?" she said thinly. "He's okay, right? I mean knife or not… it was Loco against Loco, that's got to be a fair fight!" She smiled quickly, almost as if to reassure herself of that fact.

Bray shook his head gravely. "No May, it wasn't a fair fight. Spike was stabbed. He's seriously ill. We don't think he's going to make it."

"What?" May shook her head disbelievingly.

"I've been with him all night May. He isn't getting any better," Tai-San said.

May looked at Tai-San properly then, and noticed the bowl of water tinged red for the first time. She looked at it, horrified, and then at Tai-San who nodded grimly.

"Where is he?"

"May, you've been out all night. You should go to sleep," Bray said.

May shook her head vigorously. "This is a crisis Bray! I'm going to help and if you're going to try and stop me just give up now."

Bray nodded. "He's in storeroom eight on level three. Lex is with him."

With that, May sped off at top speed, not even taking the time to say another word.

"What was that about?" Bray asked, bewildered.

"No idea…" Tai-San shrugged. "Look, I'd better get to the café and get some more water."

"I'm going to go and wait on Dal and Milton. They have to be back some time soon."

Luckily, it was then that Milton and Dal trudged up the steps. Milton looked understandably disturbed. Jax had after all been his best friend, and he'd never known what he was truly like. Dal had one of his trademark irritable expressions on his face— probably from being dragged away from the farm during harvest.

He didn't even greet Bray and Tai-San as he came up to them, he got straight to the point. "You called me back here to tend to a Loco?"

"Dal he needs your help badly."

"A Loco, Bray! You remember the Locos, right? Led by your very own brother, they terrorised us all!" Dal exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Dal!" Tai-San reprimanded. "This is deadly serious. Spike is in grave danger! This is no scratch, he's been stabbed, and you're the only one we know with medical experience! Please help him."

Tai-San's pleading expression seemed to soften Dal's anger, and he nodded wearily. "Fine… fine. Bring me to him."

"Give me the bowl Tai-San," Bray said, taking it from her. "I'll get you more water."

"Thanks Bray… Come on Dal."

Tai-San led Dal up to the storeroom on level three where Spike was. It was a cold and bare room now. All of the racks and shelves had been hastily dragged out of it by Lex and Axl earlier and lay abandoned on the corridor outside the door. When they entered, the only sound they heard was that of Spike's laboured breathing.

Lex was nowhere to be seen; he'd probably gone to get some sleep after May arrived. May was curled up on a chair by the bed silently. She didn't even look up as they came in. She just stared at Spike's stark white face unblinkingly.

"Okay, does anyone know exactly what's wrong with him?" Dal asked, dropping his backpack and reluctantly rolling up his sleeves.

"I was there Dal. I saw it. Jax had a knife buried between his ribs! He's been bleeding steadily for hours, and he hasn't woken up since it happened. I'm not sure but I think he punctured a lung," Tai-San said.

Dal went to the bed, glaring at May to move aside. She did so slowly, as if dazed, and he took her place. Dal pulled back the covers, revealing Spike's bare chest. Tai-San had taken his blood-soaked shirt off of him hours ago. He now just had white bandages wrapped around his middle, a faint blood stain seeping through. Dal lowered his head to Spike's chest momentarily.

He nodded resolutely. "Yep. There's definitely damage to a lung. By the looks of it no major organs have been pierced. If the knife had hit a little lower his stomach would have been split open. He'd be long dead by now in that case— peritonitis would have set in. That's something to be glad of at least."

"Peritonitis?"

"It's when acids pour out into the body cavity and poison the person. If that had happened he wouldn't be alive," Dal told Tai-San.

He unwrapped the bandages and examined the gruesome wound. May looked away, staring at the wall very deliberately, chewing on her lip. Tai-San was just as affected by the sight, but used to it by now. She had been changing his dressing all night.

"The position of the stab wound is lucky really. It was right between the last few ribs. I don't think any organs besides the lung were damaged," Dal sighed heavily. He looked at Tai-San squarely. The expression on his face was that of someone who knew something very unconventional had to be done— and he didn't want to be the one to do it. "If you're serious about saving him, then we're going to have to re-inflate his lung. He can survive without it for a while, but with his blood loss… it's going to have to be done soon."

"What do we have to do?"

"I'll need to have a look at one of my dad's old medical books to check… But Tai-San— it's a really difficult procedure. In the old days it would have been simple… but now? And I've got minimal knowledge of it, at best. I'm fourteen Tai-San. I'm not a doctor. I just lived with one," Dal said solemnly.

"But can it be done?" May exclaimed. "Can you do it?"

"No!" Dal snapped back at her. "I probably can't… and I don't want to try either, but I don't think I have a choice, do I?"

"Of course you do Dal… but he needs you," Tai-San said softly.

Dal's eyes flared, and he faced her insistently. "I don't want his blood on my hands if it doesn't work! Re-inflating a collapsed lung? Tai-San, do you know what I'd need to do that? That kind of medical equipment is impossible to get! And we've got no anaesthesia either! The pain would be excruciating!"

"So we work with what we've got!" May insisted.

Tai-San nodded. "A life is a life Dal. You went to great lengths to save Trudy and you hardly knew her. It's only right that you should extend Spike the same aid."

Dal shook his head, looking angry and conflicted. "I'll do what I can. But I'm pretty sure that he won't even make it through the procedure."

May frowned, her eyes glassy. "And he won't make it at all if you don't try."

Dal closed his eyes and nodded reluctantly. "If the Locos go out and get me what I need, then I'll do it— but only if I have adequate equipment."

Tai-San nodded. "They'll get what you need. He's their brother. They're just as worried about him as we are."

"You'd better hope they are."


"When is someone going to tell us what all of this is about? We've been here for half an hour!"

Bray looked at Anubis, leader of the Demon Dogs. "We're waiting for everyone to turn up. I only want to say this once Anubis."

The silver-headed man rolled his eyes and turned back to the other Dogs he'd brought with him. Bray frowned deeply. He was standing at the railing on the steps just where they split off to each side. He surveyed the floor below him. Two or three members from about ten tribes across the city were gathered around the fountain. They were getting impatient for Bray to explain what this was all about.

Milton walked up to him with a clipboard. On it was a list of all of the tribes who'd said they'd participate in the trial. Only ten of the twelve tribes who'd agreed had been marked present.

"I think we should just start," he told Bray. "They're getting anxious and Ebony's AWOL. She won't be here to talk to them this time if they get out of control."

"But you guys are here," Bray replied, gesturing to the other Locos milling around. "And you're with us, right? We think what happened to Spike was wrong, and we want to punish Jax. That's what you and the rest of your tribe think too, don't you?"

"Of course we do. We want him to burn," Milton said, dead-pan.

The blunt manner in which he'd said that worried Bray, but he shook it off. He was sure Milton was just shaken up because of his best friend turning out to be a murderer. It would affect anyone, Loco or not.

Bray pressed his lips together, and decided Milton was right— they should just begin. He turned around and saw Danni in front of the café, bouncing Micah on her hip. She was talking with Lex, who looked slightly irked to be up out of bed after only going to sleep a few hours ago. He called to them, and the two of them came down the steps to him.

"We're starting?" Lex asked.

"We can't! All of the tribes aren't here yet!" Danni insisted.

"There's no time Dan. We waited for them. The people who are here will be selected for the jury."

Lex crossed his arms. "Ebony's not here to make her selections. She's gonna be pretty peeved when she finds out you did it without her."

Bray shrugged. "She's the one who stormed out last night. She knew we were doing this today. Tai-San can make the jury selection on her own," he said decisively.

"And that's another thing— Tai-San's a witness now," Danni pointed out. "She can't represent the defence."

Bray let out a groan. "Damn it! There's no one else here who can do it!"

"I can."

Bray looked at Lex wryly. "You're a witness too… and no offence, but you don't exactly inspire a warm and comforting feeling in people. You'd threaten the jury into convicting Jax! We need someone who'll put forward a reasonable argument."

Lex looked slightly mollified, and shrugged good-naturedly. "Okay, but who? Half of the tribe are gone, the other half are witnesses. That leaves precious few people man."

"Maybe we need someone outside of the tribe," Danni suggested.

Lex nodded. "Someone even more unbiased than Tai-San… Solaris. She's not a Mallrat, and it doesn't look like she plans on becoming one either. She's a free spirit, that one. But she's reasonable, smart and she'll probably agree to it. She's perfect."

Bray wondered at the fond tone in which Lex spoke of Amber's older sister, but forgot about it for now. He was right, Solaris was a good choice to represent the defence, but she wasn't even in the mall. She hadn't come back from visiting with the Mosquitoes yet. Bray paused thoughtfully, and called Milton over.

"Let me see that list."

Bray looked at the roll call of tribes and saw that the Mosquitoes hadn't been checked off yet. If they waited for them, Solaris would most likely turn up with them. He gave the clipboard back to Milton, and looked at Danni and Lex.

"Solaris is a great choice, but she's visiting with the Mozzies. If we wait for them to show up, she'll probably be with them," he said.

"Yeah, but how long can we wait?" Lex snorted. "They're getting tired of standing around."

"Someone needs to say something," Danni pointed out. "Something to calm them down and make them see how important this is."

Bray sighed heavily. "I guess it's got to be me then, huh?"

"Guess so pal," Lex said, slapping him on the back.

Bray turned around to face the tribes gathered, and took a deep breath. "I know you've been waiting for a while, and—Guys, please! You need to hear this!"

Bray shook his head as the crowd continued to talk among themselves. Lex rolled his eyes and put his fingers in his mouth, letting out a sharp, shrill whistle. The kids looked up at the source of the noise and Bray took his chance.

"I know you've been waiting for long enough, but I have to ask you to wait a little longer." The crowd immediately dissented, and Bray shouted over them. "Please! We all have to work together here!"

"This is just another Mallrat drama that we're being dragged into!" an Outcast shouted.

"It's not, I swear!" Bray protested.

"What is all this 'trial' rubbish?" Anubis demanded. "There are no laws in this city. We rejected your pathetic Bill of Rights!"

"But we all agreed on a system of crime and punishment, if you recall!" Danni spoke up.

"But a trial? A real trial?" Jet spoke up. "It's a bit ridiculous, don't you think?"

"No it isn't Jet. It's the only way to show how serious all of us are about punishing people who hurt others," Bray said firmly.

"And what exactly is this alleged crime that you're putting someone on trial for?" another Gull asked.

"Murder," Bray stated simply.

"Murder?" Anubis snorted disbelievingly. "Any proof of that?"

"Plenty of it," Lex said darkly.

"Oh?" Anubis intoned sarcastically. "Show us!"

"This baby that Danni is holding is the son of one of his victims. Another girl's body was brought to the Loco's hotel. And yesterday, we found this person attacking another girl in our very own parking lot," Bray told the crowd.

"So who is it?"

Bray stopped. There would be utter chaos when he told them it was a Loco, but he knew it had to be said. "It was a Loco, Jax."

Immediately the crowd was in uproar. People were shouting at Bray, shouting at each other, it was chaos.

"It was a Loco? One of the same Locos you told us we could trust?" Anubis demanded.

"And you can! One bad seed, that's all it was!" Bray insisted.

"The whole Loco tribe are bad seeds!" someone yelled.

The Locos standing on the stairs above and below Bray were getting riled by all of these comments and Bray knew he needed to get this under control—fast.

"We trusted the Locos enough to let them into our home, to trade with them, to be friends with them. The Locos have helped up through tough times! All of us, including the Locos, trusted Jax, but he betrayed that trust. The rest of the Locos haven't!"

"So you want to put him on trial?" Jet asked. "How do we prove he's done what you think he's done?"

"Jack recorded Jax's attack on the girl with a surveillance camera. We went down there and confronted him, and he stabbed both the girl, and me," Bray told them, showing them his bandaged abdomen. "But that isn't the worst. We believe he's done this before, to other girls, because we witnessed him turn on one of his own as well."

"One of his own? A Loco?" someone asked disbelievingly.

"A Loco," Bray nodded firmly. "His own lieutenant, Spike. Jax stabbed Spike much worse than he did me or the girl. It was meant to be a fatal wound. He tried to kill one of his best friends…"

The crowd was now murmuring, not with anger, but something else. Bray knew they were finally taking this seriously. If a Loco had turned on a Loco… something had to be wrong.

"A Mallrat is upstairs right now trying to save Spike's life… but we don't know how successful he'll be. But the point isn't whether Spike lives or dies, it's that his life was jeopardised in the first place, that all of our lives were jeopardised. Jax's next victim could have been your sister, or your girlfriend. Anyone. He's a danger to us all. That's why you're all here. We have to decide what to do with him together."

"It's easy. Execute him," Anubis said simply.

"And are you willing to kill him?" Danni asked contemptuously.

"Damn right I am. If some Loco scum has been running around this city murdering—then yeah, I'm more than willing to give him what he deserves."

"And how many of you agree?" Danni asked, scowling. "We can't just act like a mindless lynch mob and string up him! This has to be a fair trial!"

"You've already said you know he did it!" someone yelled. "What's the point?"

"Because it wouldn't be right!"

"Who cares? He's guilty, so let's just punish him, and not waste time giving him a 'fair trial!"

"We're getting nowhere arguing like this!" Danni yelled. "A trial is the right option—the only option!"

"Why? Because you say it is?" Anubis spat.

Danni looked at Bray helplessly. They obviously weren't for a trial. Bray had talked himself into a corner. In trying to convince them to put Jax on trial by saying he was guilty— he'd done the opposite. Sure, they accepted he was guilty, but they were so accepting of it, they wanted to forego a trial all together.

Bray looked over the people to see some Mosquitoes enter from under the grille. They were instantly recognisable by their tight, form-fitting leather suits, and by the fact that they were one of the only all-female tribes around. Bray was incredibly relieved to see Solaris sweep in behind them, easily set apart from them in her flowing white gown and hooded cloak.

She parted from the Mozzies and headed for the steps to Bray. Members of the crowd immediately began to murmur. Her similarity to Amber was causing quite a stir. A few were even asking if she was Amber.

"Bray! I heard about what happened!" Solaris said, concerned.

"It's worse than you know Solaris."

"Worse? Tell me Bray."

Bray told her about finding Jax attacking their mystery girl in the parking lot, and the fight which ensued, including his injury.

Solaris' eyes widened. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, the girl's doing okay too. But after it, he stabbed Spike. He's in a bad way, a very bad way. We think he's going to die Solaris. Jax needs to be punished for what he's done… but they don't agree that we should put him on trial. They just want to punish him right away!"

Bray wasn't sure why he was pouring out all of his frustrations and panic to Solaris. Maybe it was because he agreed with what Lex had said about her before. She was so calm and centred. Nothing seemed to faze her. Bray completely respected her for it. He wished sometimes that he didn't get so emotionally caught up in everything. It would be far easier.

Solaris put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and Bray placed his hand over hers. He never saw the eyebrow that Lex arched at the action, or Danni's dark look. He barely noticed when she turned on her heel and walked away with Micah.

"If they're so set on punishing him right away then there's little you can do Bray. It's a decision all tribes in the city must make together— you know that, it's why you involved them in the first place. Majority rules Bray, you can't deny that," Solaris said sympathetically, squeezing his hand.

"What are you saying?" Lex asked, crossing his arms. "I mean, I'm all for punishing him— he's guilty, trial or not."

"How about you let them go home and talk it over with the rest of their tribes. Tomorrow some Loco messengers can go and see what their decisions are. Immediate punishment, or trial," Solaris said.

"And if they choose punishment? What do we do then?" Bray wondered.

"Cross that bridge when you come to it."

Bray nodded, knowing she was right. He turned to face the crowd. "We accept all of your opinions, and we realise that this is a decision for all of us to make. If the majority of you want to punish him right away without a trial, then there's nothing we can do. But— we strongly advise against it. We can't just serve up punishment to anyone we think deserves it, a trial is a much fairer means of deciding. I ask you all to go home and talk this over with your tribes and try to come to a decision over this. We'll send messengers over in two days to find out whether each of your tribes wants a trial, or immediate punishment for Jax. Thank you all for coming today."

Solaris nodded comfortingly at Bray. "It's all you could say."

"I know... I know."


Trudy put Brady down in her stroller and then sat by it, pushing it back and forth, lulling her to sleep. She sighed and looked at the bed beside her. Their new mystery guest slept on. She hadn't woken up since the attack, just like Spike. She was just glad Bray hadn't been hurt as badly as Spike and this girl. Trudy glanced into the stroller and saw that Brady was already half-asleep, so she stopped rocking her. Instead she wrung out a cloth and patted the girl's forehead, which was hot and damp.

Trudy was worried about her. She and Tai-San had patched up her injuries the best they could. There were significant gashes on her forehead and on the back of her head from when Jax had punched her and banged her head against the concrete. They were pretty serious, but they're managed to do some crude stitching. She'd probably have some scars, but at least the cuts wouldn't get infected now.

The stab wound in her shoulder was another story. They hadn't really known what to do with that. Tai-San had made up a salve with some of her herbs that had healing properties and acted as a painkiller. After she'd applied that, they'd bandaged it up and just hoped it was okay to leave it until Dal could spare some time to look at it.

Trudy continued to run the wet cloth over the girl's warm skin. She was a pretty little thing, with no tribal markings to speak of. Trudy couldn't recall seeing her at any market before. She probably didn't belong to any tribe. A Stray. A pang of compassion shot through Trudy and she stared contemplatively at the girl.

"We'll take care of you. I promise," she murmured.

Trudy looked down at the bed, the colourful duvet assaulting her eyes. Of course, it had been Zandra's. She always had fluffy, pretty, wildly colourful things like that. A wave of nostalgia washed over Trudy as she recalled Zandra's wedding day – both of them. The frenzy of getting ready, all of the flamboyant clothes splashed all across this very room.

With a sad sigh, Trudy looked back at the girl, who slept on. "I was once like you y'know. Lost and alone. I was about your age when I first came to the mall," she whispered. She cast a look at Brady. "Right before my baby was born. It seems so long ago… so long. And now I'm having another one – but that's a secret. I don't suppose it'll matter if I tell you. You're still sleeping," Trudy murmured softly. "Still sleeping."

She was startled when the door opened and Solaris came in.

"Oh, Solaris! You scared me!"

Solaris smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Trudy. I just arrived back from my visit with the Mosquitoes. It's really crazy down there. The City tribes aren't taking well to the trial idea."

"Really?" Trudy frowned anxiously. "Bray must be pretty worried. I should see if I can help."

Solaris sat down on the other side of the bed. "I think you're helping him just fine by taking care of things in here. Speaking of, is she all right? I heard about everything that happened. How awful for such a young girl."

Trudy nodded, taking the cloth from the girl's forehead. "I just hope she wakes up soon."

Solaris looked at the dark-haired girl properly, and a strange look came onto her face. Trudy paused and watched her.

"Solaris? What is it?"

Solaris leaned over the bed, gazing down on the girl. "Sienna?"


Coming soon in Part 28 – In Here:

- May lets her guard down
- Siva makes a shocking discovery
- The results of Dal's risky procedure — will Spike survive?