Chapter 3: Archer, revisited

Alexis had no problem sleeping in a hammock. She could sleep in, or on, virtually anything. Besides, a hammock, despite the fact that it had more than a handful of big tears in it, was much nicer than the bumper truck. Definitely.

So, recharged and refreshed with a splash of bottled mineral water on her face and fresh clean clothes, she made her way to the headquarters of the food camp. It was a temporary structure made out of tin and bricks, but it held its own pretty well. She pushed her way in through the wooden door, which shrieked and resisted her entrance, but she managed to get in and slammed it shut behind her.

"Morning, what's for breakfast?" she said loudly, looking around the empty corridor.

To her astonishment, Maddy Bowen looked out of one of the few doors on the right.

She smiled. "Alexis! What a surprise, I didn't know you were here. Are you volunteering?"

Alexis blinked, the shock of seeing her still quite real. "Am I what?"

"Volunteering," repeated Maddy. holding up something which looked like an ID card. "Have you got one of these? We're a bit short on supplies, but I'm sure we have one lying around somewhere. Is your friend with you?"

"Um, yes."

"Fantastic, give me a minute to sort the cards out, I'll meet you out at the front, okay?" Then she disappeared into her room again, and Alexis stood there for a while.

What the hell did she get herself into?

Alexis found herself out in the sweltering heat thirty minutes later, wearing a ridiculously oversized Unicef tshirt and a matching cap, giving out breakfast, which was a cereal bar and a cup of milk each, to the refugees.

Maddy was working beside her, smiling like Miss United States and occasionally chatting with those in line. As if they even knew English.

"Does this queue ever end?" Alexis asked Pierre, a French volunteer who was working on her other side.

He laughed. "Not really. Are you tired already?"

She scowled and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. "That's an understatement."

"It's okay, our shift is over in an hour," Pierre reassured her.

Alexis groaned. "I should get a fucking Nobel Peace Prize for this."

Pierre simply laughed again.

"Fuck it, Dom! There's no network coverage!"

Dom lazily swatted flies away from his face and drawled, "Anyone with a brain would figure that out. This is the African wilderness, for Christ's sake."

Alexis gave a frustrated cry. "Then how are we going to get out of this country?"

"We'll have to wait till we get out to the airstrip in Kailahun, as our friend, Mr Archer says," replied Dom, now trying to pull a stool closer to him with his foot.

"I'm gonna fucking kill that man," she grumbled, flopping onto a chair made out of hay.

He looked up from the magazine. "I think what you really meant is you're gonna fuck that man."

Alexis glared at him. "Dom, shut up."

"Fine, fine, I'll shut up. Why don't you go find yourself something to do instead of yelling at me, huh?"

"Ugh!" she threw her hands up and hauled herself up from the poor excuse of a chair. "Fine. I'll go play Scrabble with the refugees, how about that?" And she marched away, yanking her cap down so it almost covered her eyes in almost childish contempt.

"I knew you had a heart in there," called out Dom after her teasingly.

The heat was practically killing her, and she was only wearing a camisole and super short shorts. Thank God she had the sense not to give her sunscreen away. She would have been burnt into a crisp in an instance.

"My wallet, my credentials, everything's still in Freetown-"

Alexis stopped short in her tracks.

"-we barely got out with our lives."

Slowly, she turned around.

Blond hair. Blue eyes. Green shirt. Cargo pants.

And that voice.

Alexis had to laugh. This was not happening.

"Back away from the fence," snarled the guard, shaking his gun for good measure.

Sidling up next to the guard, Alexis took off her sunglasses and grinned, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Archer stared at her as if he had seen a ghost, and she tut-tutted. "Have you ever been taught not to stare, Mr Archer?" Then she added as an afterthought, "Actually, going around calling people spoiled bitches isn't considered good manners either."

He broke out of his trance and smirked. "Fancy seeing you here, Miss Devereaux. I don't think I saw your suitcases around, huh?"

"Gave them away to a woman on the streets," she replied truthfully. "Nearly died from the heartbreak. Are you looking for someone?"

"Yeah, is Maddy around?"

Alexis sighed dramatically. "Should've known it wasn't me. Maddy's at the back, come on in." When he did not move, she sighed and took her little card from the back of her shorts. "What? I have a V.I.P. pass, okay?" She looked up at the guard imploringly. "Is it okay if he comes in? I know him."

The guard grunted and jerked his head to the side, indicating that he could.

Archer arched an eyebrow at the card. "V.I.P. huh? You're a volunteer?"

"No thanks to Bowen," she replied, turning towards the headquarters.

She heard him say "stay here" to someone, then his footsteps as he caught up with her.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, his shirt brushing her arm.

"Why shouldn't I?"

He held out a hand and ticked off his fingers. "Well, I laughed at you, and I called you a bitch, and I made you miss your plane-"

"I'm a good person, alright?" she interrupted without looking at him.

He didn't reply for a moment, then he said conversationally, "You just don't strike me as the Unicef type, you know, huh?"

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "Swinging on hammocks gets boring."

"How long have you been here?"

"A day."

"When are you leaving?"

"As soon as the BBC people head for Kailahun, which may be days." She turned her heads sideways to give him a look. "No thanks to you."

Archer snorted. "You think you'd still be alive if you went to the airport?"

"At least I wouldn't have had to see your face again," she retorted, with an haughty look in his way.

"Dahling, you know you can't keep your eyes off me," he flashed her a grin, and she looked away with a small smile.

"Get over yourself, Archer."

"Alex!"

She turned around at Dom's voice and saw him jogging towards them.

Alexis grinned. "Hey Dom, meet Danny Archer. Archer, this is Dominic Fisher."

Dom shook his hand and looked almost excited enough to bounce up and down. "Mr Archer! I've heard all about you."

"Have you, huh?" asked Archer, sending Alexis a questioning look.

"I said thatI would fucking kill you, in case you're wondering," she teased.

"I am flattered," he said, shaking his head with a grin.

"Is Bowen at the back?" Alexis asked.

"She was a few minutes ago," said Dom. "I'm off for my rota, see you around, mate!"

Archer nodded and waved, then looked down at Alexis and faked shock, "You would kill me, huh? Guess I'll have to watch my back, huh?"

She rolled her eyes and pointed at the rundown building. "Maddy's at the back of the headquarters."

"You aren't escorting me there?"

"You're a grown man, Mr Archer. I'm sure you don't need a chaperon."

"I'm very sure that I do if it's you, Miss Devereaux."

She arched an elegant eyebrow at that. "If you were a few years younger, I'd think you're hitting on me."

Archer grinned and threw her words back in her face. "Dahling, get over yourself, huh?"

She stood grinning at his back as he sauntered away.

She seemed to be doing quite a bit of that lately.

Edited 26 May 2012

Here you go! I actually have a couple of chapters written, but I've been too busy to upload them. Thanks for the reviews, I hope you enjoyed the update!