Chapter 2: Kailahun

"What the hell are you doing?"

Alex pushed her sunglasses down her nose to give Dominic a pointed look. "What does it look like I'm doing, pray tell, almighty embodiment of timeless wisdom?"

He sat down next to her and peered suspiciously at her notebook. "Are you- writing?"

"I said I came here to look for inspiration for my book."

Dominic snorted.

"That's not very nice," deadpanned Alex.

"Uh, since when have you wanted to be an author?"

"Since last month," she all but snapped. "Now leave me alone will you? You've disrupted my flow of thought, you idiot."

But he stayed, ordered a lemonade from a waitor walking past, and asked, "So, what is your book about?"

Alex looked up from her notepad and smiled wryly. "It's about a man who walked into a bar."

"I know who that is," Dom smartly. "I know you're thinking about that man."

"Come on, Dom. I'm not that desperate," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, it's pretty obvious that you are, since you've actually started writing a bloody book about him."

"Dom?"

"Yeah?"

"Go screw yourself, will you?"

He grinned and interlaced his fingers behind his head then tilted his face backwards to the sun.

"Whatever makes you happy, your highness."

"What are you still doing here, miss?"

"Thought I'd score another free cocktail," she winked, slipping the bartender a couple of notes. "I'll have Sex on the Beach, if you please."

He laughed, and shook his head amusedly. "Anytime, miss, anytime."

The little pub was throbbing with a heavy, seductive beat, and throngs of people were moving to the rhythm under the red tents. Alexis casually looked around the bar, and saw quite a few Caucasians among the native party-goers.

"If you're looking for him, he's not here yet."

Her eyes snapped up to meet the bartender's, and she grinned. "Who are you talking about?"

"Mr Archer," he replied. "I know you're looking for him."

"Whatever do you mean! I came to see you, my old friend," said Alexis jokingly.

The bartender shook his head again and slid her glass to her. "You should be gone by now, miss, it's dangerous to stay. Don't you know the RUF is coming?"

"The rebels? Yeah, heard it on the news," she answered, taking a sip. "But hey, nobody really seems to worry, yeah? Look at your crowd tonight."

Alexis fancied she saw a touch of sadness in the bartender's eyes. "Not for long, miss, not for long."

He turned away to take another customer's order, but returned and said quietly, "The RUF will be here by tomorrow, they are most likely to attack by midday. Get a car and get out of the city before midday, huh?"

Alexis looked at him, sobering up at his tone. "You're serious, aren't you?"

The bartender sighed, then reached into a pocket at the back of his trousers and pulled something out. It was wrapped in a checkered handkerchief. He slid it across the bar and pressed it into her hand.

He patted her hand. "Protect yourself, huh? T.I.A."

She peered under the cloth and saw a glimmer of black metal. "T.I.A.?"

"This, is, Africa. Not your Hollywood movie, miss."

She slipped the pistol into her purse, and smiled, "Thanks. Take care, yeah?"

He nodded and gave her a toothy grin. "Take care, miss."

"Alex, the driver is here."

"I'm coming," she said, not looking up from the bill she was signing with a cheap ball pen, not quite what you would expect from the big fancy hotel she had stayed in for the past week. "Here, thanks."

"Thank you, miss, we hope to serve you again," said the receptionist with a warm smile.

She nodded at the doorman and slipped her sunglasses on. It was hard to believe that the city was on the brim of civil war- it was such a beautiful day.

She sighed and started to walk towards Dom, who was helping the porter load her suitcases onto a sturdy car when she fancied she saw a flash of sandy blond hair.

"Mr Archer?"

He turned around, and though she could not see his eyes behind the dark shades, she could tell he was less than pleasantly surprised to see her.

"You do remember who I am, don't you?" she asked, faking a playful tone.

Jamming his hands into his cargo pants' pockets, he said with a tense undertone, "Miss Devereaux, how could I forget?"

"What are you doing here? You don't strike me as the type who holidays in five-star hotels," she commented lightly.

He gave her a tight smile but did not answer her question. "I'm guessing the car with the big suitcases is yours?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm leaving this place."

"Are you headed for the airport?"

"That's the plan."

He shook his head, took one hand out of his pocket and waved it around, as if she just said the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Now, you listen, Miss Devereaux," he said in a low voice, stepping close. "You do not go to the airport, understand? That will be the first thing the RUF takes over, and you will be dead before you get your pretty little feet onto your private jet."

She folded her arms defiantly on her chest and said, "Why should I believe you?"

He snorted and put his hands up defensively. "Now, of course you don't have to. But, assuming that you'd rather live than have a bullet lodged in your heart, then you'd better listen to me, lady. I've been in this country since before you were born, and that's saying something, understand?"

Alexis took off her sunglasses and looked at him seriously. "Where should I go?"

"Head for Kailahun. There's a military airstrip there, you should be able to get your private jet to land there, but it might take a few days."

"How exactly do I get there?" He had started moving towards the pavilion, and she followed.

"You remember Maddy?" he asked, and reluctantly she nodded. "She mentioned a press convoy headed to Kono. If you get to the American Consolute by noon you should catch one of their buses." He then looked at the car whose trunk sunk well below the front due to the weight of her luggage. "But you'll have to lose your suitcases if you want to get there alive."

Alexis gaped at him. "Are you serious? They're Chanel, for Christ's sake. I can't just leave them behind."

Archer started to walk back into the hotel, and threw over his shoulder with a sort of disgusted amusement. "You're a spoiled bitch, you know that, Miss Devereaux?"

"Is that the best you can come up with, Mr Archer?" she grinned.

He just shook his head with a kind of finality but did not look back.

She watched his back for a moment, then put her sunglasses back into place and headed down to the car, where Dom was waiting with a curious look on his face. She just smiled and opened the car trunk. She had some unpacking to do before noon.

"How fucking long does it take to get to Kailahun?"

Dom threw her an annoyed glance and had to shout to make himself heard over the absurdly loud noise their little truck was making beneath them. "A few days. We're going to a relief camp in Port Loki first. Another bus will pick us up maybe one or two days later."

"Fabulous. At least food is a guarantee," she muttered sardonically. "And there'd better be a charger somewhere when I get there. My iPod's running out of battery."

Dom just shook his head and pulled the beak of his cap over his eyes.

Alexis rolled her eyes and turned the volume up. What was with people shaking their heads at her?

If she knew how shitty the ride to Kono would be, she would've gone straight to the airport instead. She really didn't care whether she would be shot or not, surely it would be better than this. The stupid truck stank and was literally falling apart, not unlike this country, and the roads did nothing to help either. Her earphones fell out every time they ran into big holes in the ground or huge bumps above it, and it annoyed the hell out of her. Besides, she could hardly hear anything other than the horrid clashing sounds of metal every time something in the depths of the vehicle disintegrated.

Fuck Archer.

"Does anyone else not feel the sympathy that should flood your heart when you see this, or am I just cruel?" asked Alexis aloud, following the CNN convoy to the Food Camp headquarters.

A photographer called James gave her a small smile. "You don't have to be that honest, do you?"

She shrugged. "I don't have to lie either."

"I guess," he conceded, but made no further comments.

Alexis picked her way carefully around the hordes of refugees huddled on the sandy ground, most of them were staring blankly into space, others either looked despaired and some just looked plain bored.

She took in the broken walls and the smashed windows.

Looking up at Dom, who was carrying a backpack which was stuffed to the brim with her things, she asked, "There doesn't seem to be much hope for a charger, hmm?"

Edited 26 May 2012

Sorry for the huge gap between the updates, I've had problems with uploading stuff onto but here is the 2nd chapter : Thank you so much for my two reviewers, your comments are much appreciated! I am actually quite pleased with the stats, 65 hits to the story so far and 2 reviews, I really did not expect much as there are so few Blood Diamond fics on the net and I'm assuming not many people read BD fics. Nonetheless, I hope gives the movie its own category, I've written to them but they have not replied. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, till next time!