Chapter 6

Before anyone could process it, it was lunch time and everyone was starving. Tina came in from outside to see that Salene and Trudy had taken over the kitchen. She stood in shock as she watched the two efficiently cook a meal big enough to feed the two tribes. "What's going on here?" Tina asked, fighting with which emotion she should be showing. She was upset that they even thought they could take over her domain, but grateful for getting the chance to not worry about cooking.

The two guiltily turned around. "We thought we would show our gratitude by cooking..." Salene said.

"Plus, the kids came in hungry and no one else was around," Trudy finished Salene's thought. At that moment, Lex sauntered in asking, "Where's the food?"

"There's kid number one," Trudy whispered to Tina. The three girls shared a secretive laugh that left Lex confused. "What?" he asked, making the girls laugh even harder. With the help of Tina, Trudy and Salene quickly got lunch finished, with enough time to set the table before anyone else entered the dining room.

Lunch was really a quiet affair with small talk placed in to fill the silence. No one seemed to want to ruin their appetites by breaching the subject of the virus or what the ex-Mall Rats did after they were last seen. Once lunch was over, Re-Nee, with the help of Mouse and Johnny, began to clean up the table. Tina took Michael to go lay him down for a nap, while Danni and Guy left to get some privacy.

Trudy and Salene got up and stretched. "Why don't we go for a walk, Brady?" Trudy asked. Brady's face lit up and she began to bounce up and down. "Yes Momma," she said excitedly.

"I think I'll go with you," Salene said. "I'd like to see what this island looks like."

"Yay!" Brady screamed. "Let's go to the beach," Brady grabbed a hold of Salene and Trudy's hand, and pulled them behind her. The two older girls laughed and began to walk towards the door. Lex stood up and also stretched. Walking up behind the girls, he wrapped his arms around their shoulders. "I'll go with you," he said.

Trudy shrugged his arm off and turned to give him an evil glare. "Why would /you/ want to go with us...No wait, why would /we/ want you to go with us?"

"You need a man to protect you from the wild animals out there," Lex said, puffing out his chest. Trudy was tempted to punch him and watch as his ego deflated. Salene stopped her from doing just that.

"Sure Lex, come along. That is, if you can keep up with us..." Salene threw over her shoulder as she walked out the door with Brady. Trudy sent him another glare in hopes that Lex would get the point. Of course, Lex didn't pay any attention and followed them out.

At that moment, Cloe came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Slow down," Re-Nee said. "All that jostling is not good for the baby."

"I know...I know, but I really need to talk to Salene. Where is she?" Cloe said breathlessly. Re-Nee wanted to make her sit down, but knew she wouldn't win against her stubborn side.

"She went with Trudy, Lex and Brady to the beach. You might be able to catch her," Re-Nee shouted as she watched Cloe run out of the door. "Be Careful!"

Ever since Salene had shown up, Cloe had been debating on when she should talk to her. After lunch, Cloe had headed upstairs to think some more. She finally reached the conclusion that she had to do it now, or it wouldn't mean as much. Cloe reached the four of them in matter of seconds. "SALENE!" she yelled. Salene stopped and ushered the other on. "But..." Trudy began to protest, but knew that this talk had been coming for a while. /Great! Now I'm stuck with the self-centered baboon. / Trudy thought.

"It's so good to see that you're doing well," Salene said, wrapping her arms around Cloe's shoulders. "Now, why are you running all the way out here? You should be more careful. You're eight months along..."

"I know Salene...I know," Cloe said, feeling her anger rise. Quickly she turned away to hide her rising emotions. /Damn hormones. / Taking a few calming breaths and counting to ten, she turned back around. "Salene...I...I wanted t-to talk about what h-happened with the T-Technos." Cloe said, chocking on her words.

"Let's go sit down somewhere." Salene looked around for the perfect spot. She finally decided on a shaded area underneath a tree. Salene pointed and Cloe nodded her head in agreement. They made their way over there, waiting until they were seated to say anything.

"You know you don't have to tell me anything. I understand," Salene said, making Cloe feel as comfortable as possible. Salene wasn't sure she wanted to know. It still killed her to think about how The Game affected Pride and how he lost his life in the end. Will Cloe's story be as sad?

"I have to Salene. I've lived with this guilt for close to two years. I'm sorry for not listening to you; I'm sorry for letting the technology go to my head," Cloe cried. Salene pulled her in a hug and let her sob.

"It's okay Cloe, I understand. You were young; you're still young. We've all done things we've regretted." Salene waited until Cloe had calmed down again. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Cloe placed one hand on her stomach and the other combed through her hair. Her hair was now worn down in soft curls. Bright green feathers and bangs adorned her black hair. "I got addicted. I couldn't get enough; I wanted more. I logged in one day and the rest is blank. The next part is just fragment, almost like dream sequences. I'm in a holding cell. Then, I'm outside and the sun is too bright for my eyes. I'm on a boat and I see Ved looking down at me. All I feel is disconnected and confused. When things began to get clear, I'm on a beach, gasping for my breath. I look up and see a little boy looking down at me. It was Johnny..."

While Cloe had been searching for Salene, Ved had been searching for his brother. He finally found him in his room. Ved knocked on the door, which was cracked opened. "Hey Jay," he said, walking inside the room.

Jay jumped up and greeted his brother. Ved could tell something was bothering him, but knew he wouldn't get any answers if he pressed Jay too far. Instead, he tried a round-about way. "A gorgeous scene, huh?" Down below, Ved could see the beach and the tree where Cloe and Salene were sitting. Ved couldn't help but swell up with pride as he watched Cloe. He felt he had grown up since the last time Cloe thought she was pregnant. He was even ready to take on fatherhood, even though it scared him shitless.

"It's very relaxing," Jay said. He wanted to know so many things. "Where did you go? What happened?" He didn't realize that he had spoken his thoughts until Ved answered his questions.

"After my fight with Ram, I secretly still searched for Cloe. It was my fault that she was addicted to The Game; I was solely responsible. Guilt was eating at me and then one night, I realized I was in love her.

"Ram found out what I was doing and sent me away. I think he planned to use me for an experiment, but things started to go downhill for him. I was able to escape, and while I was leaving the building, I saw Cloe. Freeing her, I carried her out. We were situated near water, so I stole a boat and set sail. Along the way, a storm hit and the boat was destroyed. I fought day and night to keep the two of us alive. I must have finally passed out, because the next thing I remember is being dry and sleeping in a bed.

"Upon awakening, I jumped out of bed as I heard Cloe scream. When I found her, a tall blonde girl was leaning over the bed and holding her down. I was going to lunge forward, but a black haired girl stopped me."

"Re-Nee and Tina..." Jay whispered to himself. Ved nodded and continued his story. Salene and Cloe had come to the same spot in the story.

"The first few months were terrible. My body ached for the game, but there was no way to get a fix. Ved stayed by my side every moment of the day. Re- Nee and Tina had to bring him food in order to get him to eat. Ever so slowly, I started to think of other things beside The Game. I started to help around the house. I took care of the boys, I cooked, and I gathered firewood."

"As Cloe got better," Ved said, "I started to feel better. As soon as I realized she was no longer hungry for The Game, I told her I loved her. Luke held a wedding ceremony for us and we were welcomed into their tribe," Ved said as he played with his black and white seashell bracelet.

"Are you happy here?" Jay and Salene asked their individual storyteller.

"More than you'll ever know..."

Ellie was dying to get out of the house. Why was she so upset? Her and Jack had a healthy and lasting relationship. Luke and she were over, so why did it feel like her heart was breaking into pieces as she watched Tina and him exchange special little smiles?

"Please Jack?!" Ellie begged. "I've got to get out of this house. It's /too/ much!"

"Does this have to do with Luke?" Jack asked. Why was it that Luke was always coming in between them whenever their relationship looked like it was going for the long haul? Was he a test, an obstacle? Last time it didn't go well for Jack, but this time Jack had a little luck on his side. Luke and Tina had a son after all...a three year-old son...Jack got lost in the statistics and numbers of child-bearing and didn't see Ellie leave the room.

/Fine then. If he doesn't want to join me, then I'll go by myself./ Ellie regretted her rash actions when she ran into Luke. "Ellie," he said. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm busy right now," she said, trying to pass him up. He only moved into her way. "Get out of my way," she said, her face contorting in anger. "You left me and I'm going to leave you."

"Ellie, it wasn't like that! I had to get out of there. I knew too many things; I had done too many things."

"You couldn't even say good-bye? I fought my hardest to make you stay. Why didn't you tell me what was bothering you? I would have listened; I would have understood!"

"Ellie..." Luke said exasperated. "That's the problem, you wouldn't have understood. The hatred you feel now is nothing compared to the hatred you would have felt."

"You don't know that Luke," Ellie argued. "Tell me and I'll prove it to you."

"I can't...I promised I wouldn't say anything..."

"You lying, cheating, low-down dirt bag!" Jack yelled as he stormed into the hallway where Luke and Ellie were talking. "You lied to her! How could you?" Jack asked as he pulled his arm back. Ellie watched in horror as Jack punched Luke right in the nose.

"What's wrong with you?" Ellie screamed.

"He lied to you. Back at the mall, he lied to you." Jack's chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, confused and in pain as his nose began to bleed.

"You were cheating on her," Jack said, pointing at Ellie. "Michael is three, meaning that Tina conceive while you were trying to steal Ellie from me! You acted as if you were single."

Luke watched as Jack's words sank into Ellie's mind. Her emotions went from confusion to disbelief to anger and then finally burning hatred. "You have no idea what you're talking about," Luke said cautiously.

"Is this why you left the city?" Ellie asked.

"You don't understand," Luke said, feeling his anger rise. /If only they would listen.../ he thought.

/But even if they listened, what would you do? / the other side of his brain. /You can't tell them the information they need to know. /

"Well?" Ellie asked. "What possible excuse could you have to explain your actions with that skanky cow?"

Luke felt the precious control he had on his anger slip. "Do you really want to know? DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?!" he screamed. "Fine then. Michael isn't even my son, or even Tina's to top it off. He belongs to someone you know..."

"Luke?" Re-Nee's voice broke through the silence that followed Luke's announcement. "Can you come here?"

Luke looked back at Jack and Ellie and then took the chance to leave. Jack and Ellie were left to mull over things. "What did he mean?" Ellie asked. "Whose son is it then?"

"I don't know, but I think it's something we need to look into." Ellie nodded and the two took off towards their room to start working out exactly what happened three years ago.

Bray and Amber sat in her room, watching their son wander around the room. "He looks so much like you," Amber said, looking back and forth between the two Brays.

"He has your eyes though," Bray said. His earlier thoughts were still nagging him. He wished he could travel and go back to that day that Bray Jr. was born. He would have fought harder; he would have made sure he'd have been there for Amber.

"Bray?" Amber asked, pulling Bray back to reality. "What happened? Where did you go?"

Bray looked and saw the tears that were welling in her eyes. She had always been such a strong person. Last night she had told him everything that had happened to her. Now it was only fair that he tell her.

"When I heard the plane, I had to take a look. I didn't understand what was going on. Who was flying the plane? Could some isolated adult actually be alive and they had come to save us? I stood staring up at the sky, and the next thing I knew was that I was being grabbed from the sides.

"They threw me into a truck and blindfolded us. It seemed like we traveled for days and we were given little food. Finally, they stopped the truck and I was rough-handled out of it. I was then forced in this machine, almost like an old virtual reality game set. I really don't remember much after that. Just days blended together." Bray stopped and wiped a tear that was falling down her cheeks.

"One day, I awoke in a field. All around me were people. They also seemed to be coming out of a daze. There was one guy next to me. For a second, I almost thought it was Martin, but he only had his hair done in his dreadlocks. Guy and I joined together and we tried to find the city. Instead, we found a beach. Hoping that maybe it would be faster in finding the city, we got on the boat and set sail. We found this island instead of the city. It's been two years since I first arrived."

"I thought you were dead!" Amber said, feeling her anger rising. She began to hit him on the chest. "It...the computer said you had been deleted. I hated you because you left me in that barn. All I wanted was to raise our child together..."

"Shhhh," he whispered, rubbing her back until she calmed down. Even Bray Jr. tottered over to help calm his mother.

"How did you and Re-Nee hook up?" Amber said after she calmed down. Bray sent her a look that said he wasn't sure that she wanted to know. "I have to know."

"Guy and I landed on the island on a bright and sunny day. Re-Nee and the rest of the tribe were out enjoying the weather. We were hungry and tired, and like she did with you, Re-Nee brought us up to the house and fed us. All I thought about was you. Every day and night, nothing else passed through my mind.

"One day, Re-Nee and I were talking. She was yelling at me because I let Johnny get too close to the jetty. Something inside me clicked. I would always love you, but there was a slim chance that I would see you again. Slowly the pain eased and I began to have feelings for Re-Nee. We were seeing each other until last night. A year to be specific."

"Do you love her?" Amber asked. She had to know. She had thought about what Jay had said and came to the same conclusion. Bray was the only man for her. Was she the woman for him?

"I won't lie. I had strong feelings for her and if you hadn't shown up, I think we would have married and raised a family. Now that you've shown up though, I can't do it." Taking her hand, he made Amber look him in the eye. "I love you Amber. You're the only girl for me. I want us to be together. I know we need to get to know each other again, but I'm willing to take the time."

Amber smiled a tearful smile. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear," she said, pulling his face down to share their first kiss in more than two years.

After leaving Jack and Ellie, Luke quickly made his way to Re-Nee's side. "What is it?" he asked when he reached the patio.

"Look," she pointed. In the distance, dark clouds were gathering and were starting to make their way to the house. "There's a storm coming in. It should be here by tomorrow night."

A/N: Well...there's a semi-long chapter for you. Y'all like?