Chapter Thirty-Five

Amber bit back a cry of distress as the place she had once called home came into view. The Gaian village was all but destroyed. Of the twenty or so lodges that had stood tall and proud, speaking of their remarkable craftsmanship, only four remained, and those looked as if they were about to collapse in on themselves.

The large fire pit that Amber recalled eating many meals around and enjoying several laughs was once again lit, though the flame was kept low so as not to attract any attention by giving off more smoke than absolutely necessary. A large black cauldron that was dented in on one side was hanging over the flame, slowly boiling some mixture that Amber hoped was a soup of some sort for the wounded.

“Oh Amber.” Ebony whispered at Amber’s side, her hand creeping up to her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. “It’s worse than my dream. It’s awful.” She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to control the vast emotion that played across her face.

Amber’s heart went out to Ebony and she silently slipped her arm around her slim friend’s shoulders, wishing she could give her some words of comfort, but Amber’s heart felt dead inside her. The Chosen had utterly demolished the village, destroying any beauty that had once lingered there. She could only pray there were some survivors.

“It seems almost impossible that this is the same place we were living only a few weeks ago.” Lex murmured softly under his breath, shaking his head, distressed by the damage he saw before him, though clearly not as much as Amber or Ebony were. “But there has to be at least some survivors, right? There’s a fire.”

Amber nodded, taking a small comfort in Lex’s logic. “You’re right. And they will need our help. All of our help.” Amber gave a half turn, surveying the small group of rebels who had come with her in hopes of rescuing the other Gaians.

Ebony and Lex had both immediately volunteered, as had Cloe. Hawk and Panther had come as well, though Moose, Cougar, and Robin had remained at the track to guard over Bray who still was suffering from his mild fever. Suddenly Bray’s fever did not seem nearly as important as the devastation Amber saw before her.

“Look! Over there!” Panther’s sharp eyes found movement amongst the buildings. “I think I see someone.” Panther did not wait for anyone else to comment, hitching up her already short dark suede skirt and tearing off in the direction she thought she had seen someone.

“Split up everyone.” Amber instructed, her tone quiet. “If whoever it is that Panther spied is not a Gaian or another friendly tribe there will be trouble. We must be on guard.” Amber continued on, instructing where each rebel should go to scout out the camp as she herself determined that she would follow after Panther. The chances were, whoever it was would need Amber’s help even if she was a Gaian.

Amber watched as they crept away before she set off herself. As she walked she made certain to keep her eyes away from the small graveyard that had been built to host Silver Fox’s body. In her vision she had seem other graves in that same yard, though she had refused to count how many. Now that her vision had become reality, Amber found herself in the same position. Instead, she kept her eyes straight forward, trying not to take in any more of the destruction around her that absolutely necessary.

“Who are you?” Amber could hear Panther’s voice demanding loud and clear, obviously having found whoever it was she had thought she had seen. “You’re not a Chosen, that much is clear. What is your tribe?”

“I already told you.” A soft voice replied, thickly laced with fear. “I don’t have a tribe any longer. I was a prisoner of the Chosen and escaped, I—“

“Panther. Be still.” Amber stepped forward, taking pity on the devastated dark-haired young woman who was obviously several months into a pregnancy. Amber forced a smile of greeting to her lips as she turned her attention to the frightened girl who looked to be about the same age as Amber.

“Hello there.” Amber greeted her, studying her garb carefully. The clothes she wore looked familiar, extremely familiar, and Amber found herself mentally trying to place them. “My name is A—“

“Amber. Yes, I know.” The woman stepped forward, a sudden confidence filling her eyes as she stuck out her hand in greeting.

“You know?” Amber glanced over at Panther, her eyes questioning the Gaian woman. Panther only shrugged her shoulders, obviously just as confused as Amber.

“Great White told me.” The girl explained. “She told me that the leader of the Gaians was a woman who went by the name Eagle, a woman who the city tribes had once called Amber.”

“Yes, that is true.” Amber swallowed hard, a strange sensation creeping through her. The more this girl spoke, the more Amber felt as if she already knew her, but that was not possible. Amber would have remembered such a tragically scarred face. “But how did you know that I was Amber.”

“Because you have the look.” The girl commented softly. “The look that Bray loves.”

“Bray?” Amber blanched at the mention of her former lover’s name. Flashbacks of two nights previous swept through her mind and she was completely out of it for several seconds. She quickly shook her head, determining that she would not let Bray’s wicked behavior affect her, and focused on what the dark-haired woman was saying.

“Yes, Bray.” The girl nodded, her face ashen. “I know be-because I too loved Bray, with all my heart. Though I knew even when I was laying with him that no one could ever replace you.”

“What are you talking about?” Amber’s brows knitted together in confusion. “Who are you?”

“Danni!” Ebony’s voice exclaimed behind her and Amber whirled around to face her best friend. Ebony’s face had paled and her mouth was once again agape as she stared at the woman Panther had come across. “Is that really you?”

“Ebony.” The girl Amber had been talking to greeted her, her tone flat. “Why am I not surprised to see you here?”

Ebony’s eyes flickered with pain for a brief second, but she quickly shielded that pain with the cool mask of indifference that Amber had seen her throw up on many occasions.

“So you are Danni.” Amber finally found her voice at long last as she slowly turned back to the girl she had been talking to. “I have been looking forward to meeting you.”

“And I you.” Danni nodded, a faint smile creeping across her lips. “Though up until a couple days ago I believed you dead.”

“Yes, well, now you can see I am very much alive.” Amber stated briskly, suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable in Danni’s presence. “But I must see to the rest of my tribe. Are they around?”

“Yes.” Danni pursed her lips, obviously sensing the immediate change of tone in the conversation. “The wounded are in the lodges that are still standing. Silver, Minxy, Ocelot and I are really the only ones who are up and around. Well, other than Jaguar. He is on guard duty, supposedly.”

“So tell me, Danni.” Ebony spoke up, coming alongside Amber and placing her hands firmly on her hips. Amber could sense the dislike Ebony bore towards Danni and she had a hunch much of it was an animosity that had grown between them because of Bray. “How is it that you happened to be in the Gaian village?”

“I escaped with several other prisoners from the Chosen jail several miles away. Great White happened across us in the forest and brought us back here. We were then attacked by the Chosen and well...” Danni finished, her voice dying out.

“It doesn’t matter right now anyway.” Panther rejoined the conversation, obviously taking in all the strained emotions that had passed between the three young women. “We need to see to the wounded. How many would you say are hurt?”

“Of the Gaians and former prisoners?” Danni queried. “Just four. Unless you count me, and I don’t. I’m well enough to be up and about.”

“Four? That’s it? Where is everyone else?” Amber demanded, panic building up in her throat.

“We don’t know.” Danni whispered. “We honestly don’t know.”

~*~*~

Caribou winced in pain as she slowly lowered herself against the rough tree, the bark snagging the nylon fabric of her soft yellow tube top. It was not a very practical shirt, but Caribou had loaned out the majority of her other clothing and it was all she had. She was just thankful for the two thin straps that she tied around her neck that held the shirt firmly in place, keeping her from the risk of exposure.

“You okay, Cari?” Chipmunk sat down beside her, pushing her dark brown and red locks away from her face. “How’s your leg?”

“Hurts.” Caribou replied through gritted teeth as she tried not to focus on the pain that shot up and down her leg every time she attempted to move it. The Chosen had been extremely demanding on them, making them travel great distances the night before so they could put a wide berth between them and the rest of the Gaians they had left to die at the village.

“I’ll be alright, though.” Caribou forced a smile and assured the younger Gaian after seeing the distress the one word had caused her. “I’ll be up and running again in no time. Just you wait and see.”

“Kind of hard to run while you’re in shackles.” Crow spat sarcastically, kicking at the steel clamps that held his feet together so that he could not move more than two or three feet at the most.

“It will be alright.” Caribou tried to encourage the dark haired young man who was actually half a year older than her. “The Chosen can’t keep us going at this pace for too much longer. They’ll wear themselves out, which would actually be a good thing.”

“How so?” Chipmunk frowned curiously.

“We have a higher endurance than the Chosen.” Caribou explained. “If this commander of theirs, Simon, keeps pushing them so hard they’ll eventually start to drop from exhaustion. He’ll see that he has to let them rest, so when they stop we’ll make our move.”

“And just what would our move be, Caribou?” Crow’s lips curled up in an unpleasant sneer. “We’re all chained together. It will be impossible for us to escape unless we can somehow break our chains and I’ve seen enough movies in my day to know that’s no easy thing.”

“We could try and pick the locks.” Chipmunk suggested helpfully. “I think I have a bobby pin?”

“I’m afraid these locks will require more than just a bobby pin or two, Chip.” Caribou sighed heavily, looking down to examine the locking mechanism. She was by far no lock expert, but she could tell these were heavy duty locks and could not be picked.

“So what are we going to do?” Chipmunk moaned a little, her dark brown eyes filling with worry. “We can’t just let them lead us away from our friends. They’re all back at the village hurting and dying… We’ve got to get back there.”

“We can’t. There isn’t a way.” Crow stated bitterly, slumping down on a rock on Caribou’s other side, causing the brunette on his other side to grumble in complaint. The links, though far apart, did not give much room for personal space.

“Maybe not for us, but I saw Cougar fleeing from the fight.” Caribou murmured thoughtfully, recalling how the young blonde had tore off without a single word of explanation. At first Caribou had been furious with Cougar for abandoning her friends, but after having time to think on the girl’s actions, Caribou realized Cougar must have gone for help. Cougar was not the sort to run from battle. Not by any means.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Crow rolled his eyes. “That we should have named her Chicken not Cougar?”

“No.” Chipmunk snapped at him irritably. “It means that Cougar must have gone for help. She must have picked up the trail of the others and gone after them, right Cari?”

“That’s what I’m hoping.” Caribou nodded. “And if that is so, she can find the others and bring them back to the wounded. Hopefully save a few lives.”

“Hopefully more than just a few.” Chipmunk quickly put in optimistically.

“Yes. Hopefully.” Caribou smiled over at her, though her heart would not be comforted. She had seen many of their friends fall that night and she feared for the worst. Even if Cougar had managed to find the others without too much trouble, who was to say there wasn’t another Chosen ambush waiting for them? She shuddered at the thought.

“Alright, time’s up!” Simon announced suddenly after far too few precious minutes had passed. “We don’t have all day! I intend to arrive back at the mall before noon. Now let’s get a move on! Now!”

~*~*~

The horrific stench of blood and death assaulted Lex’s nostrils the moment he ducked under the low doorway leading into one of the larger of the Gaian lodges that was used to hold the wounded. It was crowded, hot and stuffy, and smelled so terrible that it made Lex want to gag then feel for the comfort of the fresh clean air outdoors.

The lodge was filled far beyond its normal capacity, every bed that could be found in the village being brought inside and lined up edge to edge so that there was barely enough room for a slender individual to walk between the beds. After they had run out of beds they had formed pallets on the floor, which were far more dangerous for in the semi-darkness it was difficult to see where an injured individual lay and where there was actual floor.

The petite young blonde at his side bit back as soft cry of distress as her eyes roved the building, taking in the numerous wounded. “There are so many.” Amber whimpered softly at long last, though it was more to herself than the taller dark haired man at her side. “I had hoped that Great White might be able to recruit some, but I had no idea she had managed to bring back so many. Imagine… If they had only been able to make it back to the city before the Chosen attacked. The Guardian wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Don’t talk that way.” Lex gently chided, steering Amber out of the doorway so that those who remained healthy could pass through bringing what little comfort they could to the hurt and dying. “We’re still going to beat the Guardian, with or without these people. Ocelot assured me that they still have quite a few people who can fight.”

“How many?” Amber inquired as she began to slowly make her way down the narrow walkway that had been created between the ends of each bed that were lined up along the walls. It was less than two feet and impossible to walk side by side, so Lex was forced to fall in behind her.

“She didn’t say.” Lex admitted, not willing to tell Amber that Ocelot had hinted that it would not be nearly enough individuals unless they could stir up the last remaining free city tribes into fighting back against the Chosen instead of bowling over and letting the Guardian walk all over her.

Amber nodded, hesitating beside a bed that housed a young boy that reminded Lex quite a bit of KC, though this boy was a couple years younger and his spiked hair was dyed a hot magenta color, not teal. He did not appear to be wounded badly, though there was evidence of severe bruising on his arms and neck, almost as if someone had attempted to strangle him.

Positioning her body so that she could bend over the young boy’s bed, Amber reached down and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and whispering a few words of encouragement. The boy’s eyelids fluttered open and a beautiful smile slowly spread across his face at the sight of Amber leaning so close to him.

Lex felt a strange tingle in his chest as he watched Amber interact with the injured boy, realizing that there was far more to this woman that he had originally thought. She had heart that gave until there was none left and yet she still continued to give. She loved everyone, even strangers whom she had never met before, and was willing to share her time with them in order to bring a smile to their lips if it was humanly possible.

Amber remained at the boy’s side until he drifted off back to sleep, leaving Lex studying her carefully, truly mesmerized by the remarkable young woman that she was. She would make an excellent mother one day and Lex hoped that he would still be around to see that day come to pass.

“He’s so young.” Amber remarked to Lex as she continued to move her way down the beds, stopping every so often to offer a smile to the wounded. “He reminded me a bit of KC, don’t you think?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Lex nodded with a grin. “Except the hair was the wrong color. KC would never be caught dead with hot pink hair.”

Amber’s eyes twinkled with laughter, though it did not pass her lips, instead she nodded and gave Lex a controlled smile before she pressed onward, remarking on the various conditions of those around them.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult moving them.” She sighed at last, nearly to the end of the row. She turned in the aisle to face Lex and he could see that her face was drawn and pensive, obviously very worried.

“Why would we move them? Isn’t that dangerous?” Lex frowned, glancing back at the rows of beds housing the hurt rebels.

“It is. But I think it’s more dangerous to leave them here.” Amber agreed, her expression grim. “The Chosen will realize that there were many wounded left behind and will most likely send forces back to capture them. The Guardian doesn’t care if they’re hurt or not, he’ll put them to work in his mines and probably end up killing over half of them. We have to move them somehow.”

Lex nodded slowly, seeing Amber’s logic. After he had entered the lodge all thoughts of the Chosen had fled from his mind as he was overwhelmed by the sense of pity he felt for those who were most likely never to see another dawn. The entire feel of the lodge reminded him of the movies he had watched in history class about the American Civil War, though not quite as horrific.

“I have an idea,” Amber continued to speak, her brow creasing with worry as she stared down at one young woman who’s face was half hidden by the pillow where she lay, her sapphire blue hair spread out in beautiful curls, framing her face. “But I need to check with Ebony first. The Guardian has been using these black vans to patrol the city. They could probably hold quite a large number of the wounded and we could use them to transport them back to the racetrack.”

“But how would we get our hands on them?” Lex stared down at her, distracted by the smooth curve of her jaw line and her graceful swan-like neck that was beautifully exposed by her hair being pulled up in her traditional Zulu knot fashion.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to Ebony about.” Amber told him simply. “The Guardian was once one of the Locos and I have a hunch that he will probably use the same supply lines that they had. Not only for food but for petrol as well.”

“So you’re saying…” Lex continued on, unable to take his eyes off from Amber’s beautiful face, his heart doing strange things inside of him, until his mind quickly reminded him that he was a very happily married man. “Maybe we could ambush one of these petrol fuel stations and steal a truck or van and use that to move everyone?”

“Exactly.” Amber nodded, unaware of Lex’s intense gaze as she slowly began to turn away from him. “I only hope we’ll have enough people healthy enough to stage such an attack. From what Minxy told me, those who are still healthy aren’t much in the way of fighters and would need to be trained before we even thought about pulling a stunt like that. If only Pride weren’t back at the mall…”

“Pride. Yeah.” Lex frowned, recognizing the slight barb in Amber’s tone, even though she knew that Lex had no control over Ebony throwing Pride out of the rebel base and sending him to the mall to spy on the Chosen. Not wanting to see a man such as Pride cause a rift between Amber’s and Ebony’s friendship he pressed on, hoping that he wouldn’t anger the almost fragile looking young blonde.

“I know I wasn’t there and I didn’t really understand everything that took place, but isn’t it better that Pride’s at the mall?” He inquired gently, stopping Amber from turning fully away from him and pulling her a smidgen closer. “Men are like steel, Amber, once they loose their temper they’re no good to anyone.”

A small smile cracked across Amber’s lips and she nodded. “Who would have thought, you, Lex, spouting words of wisdom to me.”

“It was something my mum used to tell me whenever I came home from school bloodied.” He grinned, feeling his cheeks flush a bit, though it was not from embarrassment. Being so close to Amber was setting his nerves aflame with desire, desire to wrap his arms around her and hold her tenderly and never let go.

“You’re right, though.” Amber continued on and Lex was able to push down the desire for the time being. “As much as I would like to be able to trust Pride, I can’t. It’s for the best that he’s away from m—I mean, the rebels. It just makes me feel so helpless, though. I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

“You can trust me.” Lex whispered, his voice catching in his throat. “I promise you that.”

“Oh can I now?” Amber grinned mischievously at him. “If you told me that six months ago I would have laughed at you. You were the bane to my existence, I’ll have you know. Always hatching some new scheme, trying to think of a new way to take over the Mall Rats and get the women to wait on you hand and foot once again.”

“Aw, that’s not true.” Lex winked at her. “You’ve got me all wrong. I was always the misunderstood angel.” He traced an imaginary halo atop his head. “See? My intentions have never been anything but honorable.”

“Honorable?” Amber shook her head, still laughing. “What about the time that you tried to teach me about pregnancy, hum? I don’t think your intentions were so honorable back then.”

Lex immediately recalled the incident to which she referred and found himself laughing, well remembering her astonished expression when he had said the well-remembered line. “Alright, I’ll admit,” He chuckled, “That one time my actions weren’t so honorable. All I was trying to do was get you into the sack.”

Amber giggled a little, looking up at him to meet his gaze and for one brief moment their eyes were locked, both unable to tear away. Lex felt an electricity shoot through him and he lost all control of his muscles as his arms reached out and slowly began to draw Amber closer to him, his head lowering at an excruciatingly deliberate pace.

Amber licked her lips and leaned towards him, her mouth parting just slightly as if giving him unvoiced permission to kiss her and Lex carefully moved his hands to her back, taking a slight step closer to her, though their bodies were already not far apart.

“Amber I…” He whispered, closing his eyes, his heart thudding loudly in his chest, so loud that he was sure Amber would hear it. Unable to control himself any longer, Lex moved closer to Amber, closing the brief distance between their lips, he brushed them softly, gently, fully intending on deepening the kiss when abruptly Amber pulled away from him.

Lex’s eyes flared open and he felt hot humiliation from Amber’s rejection sweep over him, he was about to open his mouth and make some snide remark about still just trying to get her into the sack when he realized that Amber was not glaring at him whatsoever, rather, she was looking past him at the woman who’s face had been half hidden earlier.

“It can’t be. It just can’t be.” She gasped, her eyes widening with astonishment.

Lex stared down at the woman, his heart seizing up inside of him as the well familiar panes of the face brought images of a beautiful yet desperately naive young woman to his memory. “Zandra?” He whispered, the blood pounding in his ears making it quite difficult for him to concentrate. “B-but how?” And then suddenly Lex felt everything inside of him give out as the world around him became fuzzy then faded to black.