Chapter 5: Smile

Pierre was devastated that she was leaving, or at least that was what he said. He gave her a hug and his phone number, and insisted that she kept the Unicef t-shirt she had been wearing the past couple of days.

"A souvenir," he said.

Alexis threw it out of the window as soon as the camp slipped out of sight.

The little bus in which she sat at the very back- squashed between an extremely dirty window and Maddy, who was busily tapping on her laptop- was crammed to the brim with BBC and CNN journalists and crew members. Dom sat two rows from her, industriously working on a crossword on a scrappy piece of newspaper.

"When will we get to Kailahun?" asked Alexis.

Maddy looked up from her laptop and glanced at her watch. "It'll probably take half a day, depending on road conditions."

She nearly banged her head against the window, but restrained herself and asked instead, "Do you have paper and a pen?"

The journalist nodded and found exactly what she wanted from her battered backpack. Alexis took the crumpled piece of lined paper and set it against her thigh, only to find it too soft to draw on. Maddy noticed and handed her a paperback book.

"The Genealogy of Morals? Sounds like pretty deep stuff," commented Alexis.

Maddy smiled. "I guess Africa brings out the worst in me."

Alexis smiled back, then leant back lazily, looking for someone to sketch.

Her eyes alighted on Archer, apparently catching up on his sleep. He was three rows down on the opposite side of the bus, his head resting on the ridge of the dirty sofa, his sandy blond hair a royal mess, his sunglasses shielding his eyes, and his mouth half open. In short, he was quite a sight to behold.

Perfect.

With a grin, she started sketching.

Maddy looked over after a while, watching her.

"You're an artist?" she asked.

"I'm more of a painter," replied Alexis, looking up to study Archer's nose, before dropping her eyes to her half-completed sketch again. "I've sold a few of my paintings."

"Impressive," commented Maddy.

Alexis shrugged. "Well, all of my clients were my dad's friends, but what the hell, I'm not complaining if they can spare a poor painter a few hundred bucks."

Fifteen minutes later, Archer was very rudely disturbed from his sleep when something sharp struck him on his forehead.

Alexis snickered as he watched him virtually jump out of his skin, catching the paper plane before it slipped to the floor. Unfolding it, he took off his sunglasses to study the sketch, then turned around and stared straight at her.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" she shouted over the incredibly loud noise the bus was making.

He stood up and carefully made his way to the back of the bus. Maddy moved over and he slid into the space where she was sitting with a grunt, sliding one arm onto the top of back of the seat, right behind her neck.

"This looks nothing like me," he declared.

Alexis snatched the sketch from his hand and pretended to examine it in great detail. "Hmmm. Are you sure? I think it looks awfully like you. Don't you think so, Maddy?"

She grinned, and said, "Very much so."

"I don't sleep like that," he insisted, a small smile tugging on his lips.

"Oh yes you do, we all saw you!"

He grinned easily, his fingers toying with her hair. "I told you you can't keep your eyes off me."

"Haha," she said flatly, rolling her eyes. "I'm surprised you don't walk around bent over considering the size of your enormous ego-inflated head."

"You wound me, dahling," he quipped, slipping his sunglasses on.

Alexis caught sight of Dom staring at her with an arched eyebrow, but just as she was about to respond, the bus suddenly lurched to a halt, sending her crashing into the back of the chair in front of her.

"Jesus!" she shrieked. "What the hell was that?"

There was a flurry of activity, with everyone jumping up and shouting and pointing at the same time.

"What's happening?" she asked Archer, who had got onto his feet as well.

"Stay on the bus," he instructed her, his eyes on something in front. "Don't come out, you hear me?"

She frowned. "What-"

Archer turned around and grabbed her shoulder, pushing her down. "Just stay here, okay?"

"What the fuck Archer! Maddy?"

Maddy shook her head. "Stay here. It's safer. We'll be back in no time."

Practically the whole bus was evacuated in two seconds flat, and only the driver and herself was left on the bus. Alexis made her way to the front of the bus, and gaped at the scene.

A truck was overturned in the middle of the road, and scattered around the smoldering vehicle were bloodied bodies, and weeping women with children in their arms. There was a hectic scramble among the journalists as they snapped pictures on their cameras, while others rushed to treat the injured.

"What happened?" she asked the driver, most probably a native.

"R.U.F.," he said simply in heavily accented English.

"The rebels-" Alexis had hardly finished her sentence when gunshots sounded, and she immediately dropped onto her knees, eyes wide and heart pounding wildly.

There were screams and it was absolute chaos as the crew ran back to the shelter of the bus, pushing past Alexis so quickly that she was knocked off balance. She hardly had time to curse before she was pushed to the back of the bus as people kept swarming in.

Looking through the window she saw Maddy still out there, along with Archer. But she couldn't see Dom anywhere.

"Dom? Dom!" she screamed. She tried to fight her way to the door, but the bus had already started pulling out of the dangerous zone.

"Miss, sit down!" A random hand shot out and tried to pull her down onto a seat.

"You have to go back! My friends are still there!" she shouted in a panic. "Pull back, you fucking idiot!"

"We can't go back, it's too dangerous," said a BBC photographer.

"But they're still there!"

"Don't worry, there are army officers there, they'll be fine," he argued.

Shakily, Alexis flopped bonelessly into an empty, and lifted a trembling hand to brush aside a strand of hair from her eyes.

For the first time in her life, Alexis was scared.

When they got to the airstrip, night had fallen and Alexis was totally spent. When the bus finally rumbled to a halt, she followed the crowd off the battered vehicle, and was surprised at how chilly it was.

She hardly noticed anything as she was led into one of the tents that seemed to be abundant in number around the camp. This one was lit by lanterns hanging from the top of the tent, and sleeping bags lined the ground. Putting her sack down by one of them, she left the tent and stopped a passing soldier.

"Do you know anyone called Archer by any chance?" she asked.

"Archer? Danny Archer?"

Alex almost sighed in relief. "Yeah, that's him. Is he here?"

The officer rubbed his nose. "Not that I know of. The colonel is expecting him though."

"Oh. If he gets here, can you tell him that Alexis Devereaux is looking for him?"

"Certainly miss, good night. I've heard that you had a long day."

She gave him a wry smile and said quietly, "Yeah."

Alexis made use of her time quite wisely, she thought. She spent the next day poking around the camp, checking out tents (many of which she was not supposed to enter), talking to people and generally getting really bored. The anxiety that initially gnawed at her gave way to a resigned calm. If there was one person who could make it out alive, it was Archer. And if there was one person who could keep up, it was Dom.

No worries, no stress.

She quickly found her favourite tent. She was pretty sure it was the one-stop for soldiers before they left for their expeditions. There was practically everything one needed- dry cereals, biscuits, first aid stuff, satellite phones, some strange-looking gadgets and- thank the Lord- alcohol.

Okay, so there were only gin and vodka, and some mysterious force told her that it was unlikely she would find anything to mix them with, but hey, it was hardly the time to be picky. So she nicked two small bottles and hid them in the pockets of the oversized shirt she borrowed from one of the journalists.

Alexis was sitting on the edge of the camp, on a large rock, sketching (the army was very well-stocked in quality paper and pencils) the view of the mountains from her perch when she heard someone approach.

"Miss?"

"What?" she asked shortly, not bothering to look up. It was probably time for lunch, which was baked beans and toast the day before. Needless to say she was not too enthusiastic about it.

"You asked me to find you when Archer gets here."

Alexis nearly fell off the rock having turned around so quickly. "He's here?"

The officer nodded. "Just arrived."

"Is someone else with him?"

"A couple of people."

She literally threw away her sketch and didn't even bother with her shoes, dashing across the grass to the main campsite.

She burst into laughter when she saw Dom, muddy and bloodied, but very much alive.

"Dom!" she squealed, uncharacteristically, and flew straight into him, nearly knocking the whole six foot of him down to the dirt.

"Aleeeex!" he echoed, teasing her, but squeezed her tightly. "Christ you have no idea how worried I was. Do you know how your dad would skewer me if I lost you?"

"I don't care, you're alive!" she pulled back and did a silly dance. "Oh my GOD I've never been so happy to see you before. Nor will I ever again, don't get used to it."

Alexis looked around and saw Maddy talking to a black guy who she had seen before at the Unicef camp, he was always hanging around Archer. Speaking of which, he was following an officer into one of the tents she remembered as the Colonel's headquarters.

She silently hoped that the Colonel didn't notice the missing Times magazines. A girl needed some form of entertainment, no matter how bland it might be.

"If you're still after him, you'd better act quick," said Dom mischievously. "The American's getting him wrapped around her finger pretty damn quickly, if you asked me."

"Shut up, Dom," she muttered, shooting him a glare.

He sighed dramatically. "Where has the love gone?"

Alexis sent him to the guest tent to get himself cleaned up, and stood on one side to wait for Archer to show up. When he finally did emerge from the Colonel's tent, he didn't look entirely pleased. But before she got the chance to bug him, he turned abruptly and headed to where Maddy was sorting her things out on a bench. She silently watch them converse, and she could see what Dom had meant. He was smitten with her.

Maddy looked rather upset when she got up, and Alexis watched Archer sneak into the supplies tent rather stealthily. Taking the longer but less noticeable way round, she snuck into the tent as well, and luckily, Archer's back was to her when she got in from the back.

"Boo."

Archer nearly dropped the satellite phone he had just picked up, and cursed when he found that it was her.

"Fuck it, don't sneak up on people like that, Alex," he complained, stuffing the phone into one of the sacks he was stocking.

"Nice to see you alive too," she replied pleasantly. "What are you doing?"

"Getting out of here."

"Why?"

He cast her a suspicious look. "The Colonel knows about the stone, and he wants me to join his operation."

"I didn't tell him about it, if that's what you're thinking," she said.

"I didn't accuse you of anything," he said nonchalantly.

"I can read between the lines."

"If you insist on me being mistrustful of you, suit yourself," he snapped, now moving onto vodka.

Alexis stepped around a box on the ground. "Have you asked for permission for my jet yet?"

"Yeah. It will take a few days but it will be fine."

She was quiet for a while, watching him fiddle with a rectangular electronic thing, then asked, "How long will it take you?"

"How long what will take me to what?" he asked impatiently.

"For you to find the diamond."

Archer shrugged. "I don't know. Considering the fact that we'll be going into R.U.F. territory, maybe three or four days."

"Why don't you just go in and bomb the shit out of them?"

He looked at her as if she just said the stupidest thing ever. "Bomb them?"

Alexis shrugged. "You have the army behind you, don't you?"

Archer laughed, one of those sarcastic ones again, and said, "You think I'm going with the army? No, this stone's mine. I ain't sharing it with anyone. I'm going alone."

"Alone? Are you suicidal?"

"I have a guide."

"You'll never make it out alive," she told him.

He shrugged again. "Maybe."

"You're willing to die for this diamond?" asked Alexis, unable to keep the almost childish confusion out of her voice.

Archer sighed. "Do you normally ask this many questions?"

"Only if I'm talking to an idiot," she said pointedly.

He shook his head and walked out of the tent, throwing one sack over his shoulder and held the other loosely in his hand.

"My offer still stands," she said, following his long strides across the grass and towards the runway, where a plane had landed.

"What offer?"

"Of getting you out of this country."

Archer stopped abruptly and turned to face her. "Alex, you can't get me out of this country."

She almost stamped her foot. "Why not?"

"I'm not worth the trouble, okay?"

Alexis frowned and watched him walk away, obviously headed to Maddy and the African, who were waiting for him.

The two of them talked, then looked at each other for a long time. She probably shouldn't have, but Alexis found herself walking towards them.

Maddy smiled as she approached. "Alexis, so glad to see you again. Archer told me you're not leaving yet."

She shook her head. "I'm waiting for my jet."

Maddy handed her a white card. "My phone numbers, just in case."

Alexis gave her a half-hearted smile, then asked, "Do you have a pen?"

"Always," answered the journalist.

Alexis scribbled her number down the back of Maddy's hand. "My number, just in case."

She let Maddy give her a hug, then stepped back. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Safe flight," offered Alexis.

Maddy smiled, then turned around and headed towards the plane. She suddenly stopped and turned her head towards Archer, asking, "Are you going to call me?"

He smiled back. "As soon as I find a goddam phone."

Maddy shook her head and turned around again. Alexis fancied she heard her say an unconvinced "yeah, right."

Alexis looked sideways to find Archer still staring at her retreating figure, and said quietly, "I think you're in love with her."

Archer looked at her as if she was mad. She took the sketch she drew in the bus from the back of her shorts, turned it over and wrote her phone number. Maddy forgot to ask for her pen back. Oh well.

"In case you change your mind," she said, handing the sketch to him.

Archer nodded, and tucked in into a pocket in his shirt. "I doubt it, but thanks."

Alexis let out a deep breath, looking away. "Good luck." She turned to the African and smiled. "Good luck to you too."

"Thank you," he replied, in a deep voice.

She kept her eyes on the ground as she walked slowly away, listening to the rustle of grass as they set off towards their diamond, and the roar of the plane engines as it took off on the other side.

Dom found her an hour later, sitting on the rock again, resuming her sketch in the deepening dusk.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a bit concerned at her silence.

Alexis was just putting the finishing touches to the sketch- two figures headed towards the mountains.

"Yeah," she replied in a remarkably tranquil voice. "Better than ever." She turned around and flashed him a genuine smile. "We're going home."