Chapter Eleven

Cloe walked slowly down the long corridor that had once been so familiar to her, the cold clank of her steel chains that bound her ankles following her every movement. This place, The Chosen’s new headquarters, had once been her beloved home, the Phoenix Mall. The shop she had just passed, Home Design, which was now a guard’s break station, had been her bedroom. She couldn’t escape it. Everywhere Cloe went she was reminded of how much she and the rest of the Mall Rats had lost.

Cloe ducked her head, gnawing on her lower lip as she lugged the heavy metal bucket of soapy water in the direction of Trudy’s, The Chosen’s Supreme Mother, new living quarters. Cloe had been given the duty to prepare the rooms for the Supreme Mother and her Divine Child before they moved in. That included scrubbing every single inch of the filthy tile floor.

Cloe heard short clipped footsteps behind her, but did not bother to turn around. She recognized that stride. It was the stride of a Chosen guard. Probably some boy her age or younger out on what he felt was the world’s most important mission.

“You there!” The guard called to Cloe, making her stop in her tracks. “Turn around.”

Cloe slowly obeyed, the bucket in her hand growing heavier by the minute. “Yes?” She looked at him skeptically, making note that he had already cut his hair into the short cropped style of the majority of the Chosen guards, though it had yet to be dyed electric blue. He must be a new recruit.

“Where are you going?” He demanded, furrowing his face up in what he probably thought was an intimidating expression.

A defiant comment was ready on Cloe’s lips, but she quickly bit it back. Showing them resistance would do no good. Alice could attest to that. “I am going to the Supreme Mother’s new quarters to prepare them for her.”

“The Supreme Mother?” A reverent expression crossed the guard’s face as he spoke her name, making Cloe want to gag. Trudy should be called the Supreme Traitor, not the Supreme Mother.

“Yes.” Cloe stated coolly, narrowing her eyes at him. “I was instructed to scour every inch of the floor before she moved in. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.”

“Halt!” The guard shouted seconds after Cloe had turned to leave. “You must not go in there.”

“And why not?” Cloe knew she shouldn’t challenge him, but her orders had come directly from Lieutenant Luke so she felt a bit emboldened.

“The Supreme Mother is in conference right now. She asked not to be disturbed.” The guard explained carefully, loosing a bit of his Chosen abrasiveness.

Cloe stared at him, trying to keep the surprise from showing on her face. She was not aware that Trudy was already using the store. But she supposed it made sense. Trudy had always despised her own little room.

A sudden idea came to Cloe, and she knew it was too good to pass up. Using every inch of her newly acquired feminine charm she slid up beside the guard and offered him a flirtatious smile. “What if I clean the Divine Child’s room? I will not disturb the Mother in the nursery.”

The guard, flustered by Cloe’s nearness, began to mumble words she could not quite understand. Finally he looked down at her, his cheeks flushed crimson. “Yes. Go.” He managed to get out before his ears turned bright pink.

Cloe, holding back a laugh, quickly nodded and hurried down the corridor before the guard could change his mind. She could not believe how beautifully that had worked. And the poor clueless guard had no idea that Brady’s nursery was directly adjacent to Trudy’s new bedroom. Cloe would be able to hear every single word that passed from Trudy’s lips and hopefully she could draw some useful tidbit of information from that to give to Ellie and Alice who were already beginning to plan a resistance.

Cloe stepped inside the dimly lit nursery, wrinkling up her nose at the stench. It was obvious that the store had once sold candles and incense, the smell lingering on the walls. Normally Cloe loved the scent of incense but this smell was old and musty, reminding Cloe of an old man’s cheap cologne.

Carefully and quietly, Cloe set down the bucket of sudsy water, creeping over to the doorway that led directly into Trudy’s bedroom. She could make out two distinctive voices, Trudy’s pathetic whining tone and the cold condescending voice of The Guardian.

A small shiver raced down Cloe’s spine as she listened to them talk, trying to figure out what they were discussing while coming in on the middle of the conversation.

“But there must be some other way.” Trudy was begging The Guardian. “Surely we can convince him to turn—“

“No.” The Guardian stated evenly. “As long as he lives he is a threat to the Chosen and Zoot’s purposes.”

“But think of what a powerful ally he would be!” Trudy exclaimed, tears were streaming down her face. “If he joined the rest of the Mall Rats would be close behind.”

“But he will not join.” The Guardian growled, his tone even and deadly. “We have already tried.”

“We must try again.” Trudy insisted. “Let me try. I know him. I know him better than anyone in this mall.”

And suddenly it came to Cloe who they were discussing. Bray. But he was not at the mall, was he? She had heard rumors that he and Lex had both been found dead on the beach, but Cloe refused to believe them. She had clung to the hope that somehow Amber and Ebony had managed to rescue them and now the four of them were plotting together on how to rescue the rest of the Mall Rats.

“He must die.” The Guardian stated flatly.

Trudy was silent for several minutes, her sniffling getting softer and softer. Then, suddenly with more authority than Cloe had ever heard Trudy speak with, she declared in a loud voice, “No, Guardian. Zoot’s blood runs through Bray’s veins. He is the Holy Brother. I will not give him up that easily.”

“You do not have a say.”

“I,” Trudy annunciated her every word, “Am the Supreme Mother and you will do as I say, Guardian! Bray will not be executed tomorrow. I will convert him.”

The Guardian did not speak for several seconds, obviously weighing what he had to say. “You,” His voice was in a thin fierce whisper, terrifying Cloe even more than the thought of the virus returning, “Can be replaced Supreme Mother. I can turn even the most common street rat into the Supreme Mother.”

“You wouldn’t?!” Trudy gasped.

“I would.” The Guardian hissed back. “It is your choice, Trudy. Your life or Bray’s.”

Cloe could listen no more. She knew exactly what Trudy would say. Trudy have proven herself traitor time and time again. As long as she was on top she was fine, but the moment her position was threatened, she was willing to sacrifice anything – anyone to secure herself.

‘I’ve got to warn the others. I’ve got to get a message to Amber and Ebony!’ Cloe thought desperately to herself as she hurried out of the room, leaving the abandoned bucket of now cold water behind.

~*~*~

“Held prisoner in the mall?” Amber repeated the words Panther had just spoken, mulling them over as she carefully avoided all eyes that seemed to be turned on her. Panther, having returned only moments before, had given them as much information about Bray’s whereabouts as possible, which was not much. He had apparently been taken by The Chosen and Panther had tracked them – all the way back to the city and into the mall.

“Why would they bring him to the mall?” Pride mused aloud, studying Amber with intent eyes. “I thought they were taking all the tribe leaders to the prison on the hill.”

“They are.” Amber frowned, a strange fearful feeling settling in her gut. She had been fighting against the overwhelming feeling of guilt all night long, and now that guilty conscious could be coupled with fear for Bray’s safety. It did not sit well with her.

“It doesn’t make sense for them to bring Bray back to the mall.” Lex frowned.

“Yes it would.” Ebony stated quietly, her expression grim. “The Guardian has a vendetta against Bray. He has always seen Bray and the Mall Rats as his biggest obstacle to overcome. It would make sense that he would want to keep Bray close to him, for the time being.”

“Why would he see us as his biggest obstacle?” Lex stared at her, confused.

“Because we killed Zoot.” Ebony explained simply. “Or more specifically, Lex, you killed Zoot. But The Guardian blames all the Mall Rats. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is subjecting them to harsher punishment than the rest of the slaves, or whatever it is that he’s calling them.”

“All he more reason we’ve got to get them out of there.” Lex declared through gritted teeth, the pain and concern over his wife etched across his face.

“Yes, we do have to get the Mall Rats out.” Amber quickly agreed, not wanting to seem callous or unfeeling. “But first we have to focus on rescuing Bray.”

“Why Bray?” Lex snapped, his eyes flashing. “Why not Tai-San? Or why not all of them? Why Bray? Because you love him?”

Pain flickered in Pride’s eyes, but he did not comment as Amber ducked her head, a wave of confusing emotions sweeping over her. “No, Lex. That’s not it.” She said quietly, her voice almost in a whisper. “We have to get Bray out of there because Bray knows there’s a resistance. And he knows where we’re located.”

“So we move.”

“Where to, Lex?” Ebony frowned at him. “The Gaian village is an ideal location.”

“Why is that, because it’s half a days journey from the city?” Lex scowled, crossing his arms against his chest. “To me it seems like the village is the worst location for a rebel base.”

“You’re right.” Amber nodded, shooting a warning glance in Pride’s and Ebony’s direction. It was something they had discussed for weeks. The village was not ideally situated. They had no idea what was going on in the city unless they sent a scout out, and by the time the scout returned the information was half a day stale. If they were going to succeed in their endeavor they had to move closer.

“I am?” Lex looked at her startled.

“Yes, you are.” Amber nodded. “And I know the perfect place to set up our new base.”

“Where is that?” Ebony frowned, clearly confused. The last they had spoken neither one of them could come up with an idea for a new base. The school had been suggested, but that was too obvious of a choice. It had to be someplace close enough to the city to monitor the Chosen’s activities, but far enough away to avoid suspicion.

“The race track.” Amber put simply. “The Guardian would never think to look there. But that’s not the issue right now. The issue is, we’ve got to move in quick and rescue Bray. Maybe we can grab one or two others, but not so many that it will slow us down.”

“But why not someone more useful?” Lex scowled. “Bray will only be moaning about trying to get you back into bed with him.”

Amber shot a quick glance in Pride’s direction, but his face was a cold mask to her. “Lex, its not like that. Bray and I, we’ll never be again. But I know we have to save him. Its just this feeling I have. I can’t explain it, but its there and I can’t just ignore it.”

“What do you mean?” Pride asked her, a puzzled expression crossing his face.

“They’re going to kill him.” Ebony whispered, taking everyone by surprise.

“Wh-what do you mean?” The twisting feeling in her gut returning with doubled intensity. “What do you mean, Ebony?”

“The Guardian.” Ebony looked up, her pale eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “He’s vowed to kill Bray since the very beginning.”

“Since Zoot?” Pride asked.

“No.” Ebony’s lips twisted into an ironic smile. “Since high school. The Guardian, Jaffa, blamed Bray for just about everything – not making it on the basketball team, Martin’s insecurities, everything you can think of Jaffa blamed Bray for. And then when Martin turned into Zoot, well, Jaffa vowed that he would kill Bray one day.”

“Man that guys has issues.” Lex whistled, shaking his head.

“Yes he does.” Ebony nodded. “But now do you see why we have to get him out of there? The Guardian will not hesitate to kill Bray now, now that he has him. We’ve got to move, and we’ve got to move fast.”