Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Come on Zan,” Cloe sat beside the unconscious young woman, gently bathing her forehead with a damp cloth, pushing the curly tendrils of hair away from Zandra’s face. “You’ve got to wake up. Please, you’ve just got to wake up.” She murmured softly.

The moment Cloe had heard that Zandra was alive and in the Gaian village she had wanted to instantly drop everything that she was doing and race to find her. But that was not very convenient. She was in the middle of assisting Silver carefully sew up some of the deeper cuts of the wounded rebels. Cloe barely had a stomach for it, but somehow with the calm and steady Silver by her side she found she had the strength.

Finally, after what felt like hours of putting all the skills Cloe had learned in home economics to use, she was released from her duties and told she could go check on Zandra. Already Amber had come by to see her, let her know that Zandra was still unconscious and would most likely not even know if Cloe was there or not, but Cloe had wanted to go anyway.

Cloe stared down at Zandra’s lovely face, thinking that asleep, she looked far younger than she really was. Her brilliantly dyed blue hair was sprayed out on the pillow around her, curling up at her hairline, especially the pieces that Cloe had touched with the wet rag. Her eyes were closed and her face was devoid of any traces of makeup. Perhaps that was what made her look younger.

Silver had warned Cloe that Zandra had fallen in with the Chosen, had become a lieutenant under the Guardian, but Cloe had not fully prepared herself to see Zandra with the vibrant blue hair that haunted Cloe. She had always associated the blue hair with the enemy, and now one of her oldest friends had been one of them.

Cloe closed her eyes, biting down hard on her lower lip. It was too easy for Cloe to hate the Chosen as a whole. They had hurt her and those she loved so much already. They had killed Dal, destroyed the beautiful Gaian village and slaughtered so many innocencts, and yet there was Zandra. Chosen. Just like them, and yet, not.

“I can’t hate them all anymore.” She breathed aloud the realization, a strange feeling stirring inside her. “I can’t judge them all by the actions of the Guardian. They’re not all like him. Some are probably just like Zandra, lost and confused, thrown into the Chosen by circumstance and too afraid to get out once they realized what was happening.”

Without really understanding why, tears began to trickle down Cloe’s cheeks as she felt a deeply rooted prejudice break within her. Not only a prejudice against the Chosen and the other tribes that had stood against the Mall Rats since the beginning, but against all the people groups Cloe had ever held responsible for the actions of just one man or woman.

Cloe felt herself crumple into a heap at the floor next to Zandra’s bed, sobbing tears of relief, knowing that never again would she have to harbor hatred against an entire tribe because of just one man.

~*~*~

‘I hate them. I hate them all.’ Patsy thought savagely to herself as she gingerly rubbed the fresh bruises that Chaise had given her that afternoon. She had made another desperate attempt at escape, though somehow she had known that in her weakened condition and the cruel shackles on her ankles and wrists that she would not get very far at all. She hadn’t.

“If you’d stop trying to run away I would take them off.” Chaise stated suddenly, looking down at Patsy a slight frown on his otherwise handsome face. “The Guardian told me I needed to keep you wearing them the entire time, but it just sort of seemed cruel. I wasn’t going to make you wear them at all, except you tried to run away.”

“And I’m going to keep on trying to run away.” Patsy glared at him, hatred seeping out of her every pore. “So you might as well keep them on.”

“That wasn’t very smart, Patsy.” Chaise shrugged his shoulders, slowly easing himself onto the ground beside, Patsy, hitching up his woolen Chosen robes so that he could sit cross-legged, half turned so he could face her. “If you had told me you were going to be good I would have taken them off and you could have tried to escape then.”

“You could have caught me.” Patsy sniffed. “Besides, my mum always taught me I shouldn’t lie.”

“But you lied to Luke.” Chaise pointed out. “You lied to the Supreme Mother, and if she is to believed, you lied to those people you called your friends.”

“And look where that’s gotten me.” Patsy retorted haughtily. “I’m wearing handcuffs, being forced to God knows where with the most unpleasant company, away from all my friends, and without the hope of ever seeing my brother again.”

“You’re brother?” Chaise pushed back his hood and ran his fingers through his closely cropped brilliant blue hair. “That’s Paul, correct?”

“Yes.” Patsy nodded her head glumly. “He’s one of the Chosen’s prisoners and Luke somehow found out that he was my brother and was using that against me so I would betray my friends. After I betrayed Cloe I felt so guilty that I just couldn’t take it and I told him that he would have to take me instead.”

“And he did.” Chaise frowned while dabbing at the sweat that had formed along his brow and Patsy realized for the first time that those Chosen robes must be extremely uncomfortable and hot.

“Yes, he did.” Patsy scowl deepened as she swiftly looked away from Chaise, ordering herself not to even consider feeling sorry for him. It was his choice to wear the damn robe. Let him suffer the consequences.

“So tell me, Patsy,” Chaise interrupted her bitter thoughts. “Are you always this waspish?”

“Waspish?” She narrowed her eyes at him, feeling anger begin to burn inside her.

“Yeah. You know, snapping at people, refusing to even try and have a civil conversation with the only person that you’ve seen for six days… You know, that sort of thing.” Chaise almost smiled and Patsy could tell at once that he had been teasing her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Patsy grumbled, swatting at a fly that had begun to buzz near her ear. “You’ve been bossing me around, pushing me with that stupid stick of yours, putting me in chains and preaching to me about how great Zoot is all this time and now suddenly you’re asking me why I’m ‘waspish’?”

Chaise nodded, a grin spreading across his lips.

“What they say about the Chosen must be true, then.” Patsy rolled her eyes. “You all are stupid.”

“Misled, yes, stupid, no.” Chaise shook his head. “At least not all of us. You probably don’t know this, but about half of the Chosen don’t actually believe in Zoot. Well, they believe that he was alive once, but they think he’s dead and buried, not coming back. But the Guardian doesn’t care. Just as long as we march around in these damned robed and shout ‘Zoot be praised’ every so often he’ll give us food and not hurt our friends.”

“Your friends?” Patsy’s eyes widened.

“What? You didn’t think you were the only one that the Guardian has manipulated, did you?” Chaise returned her gaze evenly. “He has, or at least Luke tells me he has my little sister. She’s only three and she’s supposedly at one of the Chosen nurseries.”

“There are Chosen nurseries?” Patsy paled, her thoughts instantly going to Salene who was only a few months pregnant. “What for?”

“What do you think?” Chaise shrugged his shoulders. “The Guardian figures that if he can’t convince the parents he’ll get the kids at birth. Before you know it Zootism is going to be the only religion. The guy’s smart. A little insane, but he’s really smart too.”

“Zootism?” Patsy made a face, sticking out her tongue. “That’s so stupid. Why would anyone even want to believe any of the Guardian’s mumbo jumbo?”

“Because.” Chaise stated simply, holding her gaze with his eyes. “The Guardian offers protection. He gives us a sense of family. He gives us food, takes care of us. He provides for everyone like our parents used to. Surely you can see the attraction.”

Patsy gnawed on her lower lip nervously and slowly nodded her head. She had once been seduced by Trudy’s words and had nearly fallen into the Chosen web of lies. Cloe had been there for her at the last minute, though she had nearly killed Ebony in the process.

“So why are you Chosen?” Patsy asked curiously.

“I told you. Because of my sister. Katy.” Chaise whispered, his voice thickening with emotion. “My mum died while giving birth to her and she charged me with taking care of her. My father, well, he wasn’t so good so it was up to me. Then the virus happened and at first I did real good by her, but then the food in the house ran out. I had to start trading in the streets, though it was difficult. No one wanted to trade for what I had. It was food that everyone wanted. But we did okay.

“Then one day I got back to the house to find the Guardian himself waiting for me. Of course he didn’t call himself the Guardian yet, just Jaffa. He said he had been watching me for some time and he liked the way I handled myself out on the streets. He asked me if I would like to join his tribe. I refused at first, but then he told me had had my sister. I really didn’t have a choice after that.”

Chaise looked down, very close to tears, though it was quite obvious to Patsy that he was struggling to control them because of her. “So I joined up with him, slowly raising in ranks by saying my ‘Zoot be praises’ and keeping my mouth shut, always looking and waiting for the opportunity to escape and rescue my sister.”

Patsy bit back a gasp, suddenly realizing why Chaise had suddenly opened up to her. “This is your opportunity, isn’t it?” Her eyes widened.

Chaise nodded. “I’m sorry for misleading you, Patsy, but the Guardian has eyes everywhere. I had to put on a good show. I’m sorry for that. Really sorry.” He bit down on his lower lip.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Patsy assured him, feeling sympathetic. “I understand. I probably would have done the same thing if it were my brother.”

“No you wouldn’t have.” Chaise shook his head. “You proved that. You told the Guardian to take you instead of any more of your friends. You proved that you were stronger than I’ll ever be, Patsy.”

“Stop it, Chaise.” Patsy was shocked to see that the tears were flowing freely down his cheeks. She had never seen a boy older than her cry before, except for maybe Jack when Ellie was being such a witch to him, but Patsy didn’t really consider Jack older than her. “Think of Katy.” She reminded him of his little sister. “Think of her and how we’re going to go rescue her.”

“We’re?” His head shot up in surprise.

“Of course we.” Patsy grinned. “You don’t think you can drag me for six days out to the middle of no where and just abandon me, do you? Now let’s get that stupid robe off from you. I’m sure it can’t be very comfortable.”

~*~*~

”Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,” The hideously dressed game show host was grinning broadly, his voice loud and boisterous as he addressed the crowd, using a microphone that Lex had not noticed in his hand earlier. “And welcome to the Loooooove Connection. Today we’re going to meet one looking-for-love bachelor and three tantalizing bachelorettes. Now, without further ado, I present to you, Lex!”

The host took a step backwards and gave a side turn so the audience would get a full view of Lex. Lex felt his cheeks flush crimson as he attempted to be swallowed up by the chair he sat in. He didn’t know how exactly he had gotten himself into this, but he sure as hell knew he wanted to get out.

“So, Lex,” The host strode over, the oily grin from earlier still plastered on his overly made up face. “Tell the audience a bit about yourself. You say you’re a Mall Rat, is that correct?”

Lex nodded, knowing that much for certain. “Yeah.” He gulped in a deep breath of air, attempting to calm his rapidly racing plus. “I’m a Mall Rat and I’m not exactly a bachelor.”

“Oh you’re not?” The host arched his eyebrow. “So tell me, are you or are you not married to two different women.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” Lex swallowed the hard lump that had formed in the back of his throat. “But I didn’t know. I thought Zandra was dead.”

“How convenient.” The host chuckled, the amusement not touching his hard eyes. “So since you’re married to two women, that means your second marriage is null. Or at least that is the law as it used to be. But I have my sources that tell me that those laws don’t really apply any longer, now do they?”

“I guess not.” Lex furrowed his brow, seeing the host’s logic, no matter how disturbing it seemed. The thought of being married to two women was quite a frightening prospect, one that Lex really wished he wasn’t facing.

“So, you still are a bachelor, correct?”

Lex shrugged. “Why not. If it will get you to leave me alone, sure, I’ll be a bachelor.”

“That’s what we like to hear!” The host announced proudly. “So, Bachelor Lex, shall we begin the game?”

Again Lex found himself shrugging, wishing for this all to be over with.

“Great.” The host arched his eyebrow. “As you are well are, Lex, there are three lovely ladies on the other side of that wall. For purposes of this game we shall call them Bachelorette #1, Bachelorette #2 and Bachelorette #3. You’ll address them as such throughout the show until you are introduced to each of them in turn at the end. Understand?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen the show before.” Lex felt it necessary to inform the host so he didn’t feel the need to explain each and every single one of the game’s rules to him. “Can we just get this over with?”

“By all means. Ask your questions, Lex. You have ten minutes.”

“Right.” Lex furrowed his brow, realizing that he hadn’t a clue what to ask the girls on the other side of the partition. Slowly, he cleared his throat, “Bachelorette #1,” He spoke carefully, searching his memory for the different questions he had heard asked on shows like this before, “If I asked you to plan the perfect date for us, what would it be?”

“Well,” Bachelorette #1 sounded just as nervous as Lex felt. “First of all I would fix you the most fabulous chicken dinner then we’d take a nice romantic stroll down the beach, ending up at the pier to watch the moon rise above the ocean.”

Lex frowned at the rather typical answer. It was the sort of thing every girl replied with on shows like this. “Bachelorette #2, same question.”

“Well, Lex,” The second Bachelorette sounded far more confident, her voice soft and sultry, enticing Lex and making him extremely curious to know what she looked like. “I would meet you at the door dressed in nothing but a kimono. My house would be filled with incense and candles and I would have a table prepared for you where I would give you a sensual full body massage, not missing a single part. From there, well, we’ll just see what happens.”

Lex licked his lips, feeling just a tad excited at Bachelorette #2’s reply. Then, seeing the host motion for him to keep asking his questions, he moved on to the final Bachelorette. “Bachelorette #3, same question.”

“My,” the final one chuckled good-naturedly. “We are the creative one, aren’t we?” Lex felt a blush rise to his cheeks, but he quickly pushed it back down. “In answer to your question, I’d take us to a miniature laser tag game. I’m a bit competitive and I’d like to see how well you’d fare against my sharp shooting skills.”

A grin spread across Lex’s lips and he found himself laughing at the third woman’s answer. She was obviously not taking this game nearly as seriously as the first two women and the thought helped him relax a bit.

“Bachelorette #3,” He decided to question her again, “What would be your ideal pet?”

“My ideal pet?” Bachelorette #3 puzzled over the question for a long moment. “Well, I’d have to say you, my pet.”

The audience seemed to enjoy that answer and Lex found himself smiling again, though the host seemed rather annoyed. Lex watched him out of the corner of his eye and realized that the man looked a bit familiar to him, but Lex couldn’t place from where.

Deciding not to let it distract him, he moved on to the next question. “Bachelorette #1, there is no food left in the entire city and there’s just one drumstick left between the two of us. Would you let me eat it or would you eat it yourself?”

“Oh, I’d eat it.” The woman gushed immediately. “Wait! I mean, I’d give it to you, of course, that is if you wanted it.”

“Of course.” Lex rolled his eyes, immediately deciding that he wasn’t too fond of the first rather frivolous Bachelorette. “Bachelorette #2,” He addressed the seductive young woman, “Say we’re involved in a relationship and for some reason we become separated, but not broken up, would you remain faithful to me?”

“But of course, Lexy.” She purred softly, then smoothly added. “In my own way.”

Lex nodded, not exactly comfortable with her answer, but deciding that he would ask her a few more questions before making his decision. “Bachelorette #2,” He addressed her again, “What is your favorite cartoon character?”

“What?” The woman seemed shocked at his question. “Why, I really don’t know.” She stated at last. “I really have never watched cartoons.”

“I see.” Lex frowned, finding himself distracted by the game show host again. He pulled out a strange silver flute and had started to play a few notes on it, but upon seeing Lex notice it, he quickly put it away, glancing away a bit sheepishly.

“Bachelorette #3, same question.”

Bachelorette #3 began to laugh, a musical sound before she replied, “She-Rah. Princess of Power.”

“She-Rah?” Lex was startled. He had always wanted to be He-Man, running around swinging the Sword of Grayskull… “Bachelorette #3, are you reading my mind?”

“Of course not.” He could tell she was grinning as she spoke. “I’m only answering how you think I’d ask. This is your dream after all.”

“Dream?” Lex was taken aback. “What do you mean dream?”

“You have to address the Bachelorette you wish to answer the question, Lex.” The host reprimanded him. “I thought you said you knew the rules.”

“I do. I do.” Lex waved him off. “Bachelorette #3, what are you talking about, dream?”

“This is your dream, Lex.” The bachelorette answered him. “This is your way of trying to sort through everything that has happened to you in the past couple of weeks, especially today.”

Lex nodded, feeling his palms grow sweaty again. It was all beginning to make sense. He knew that he couldn’t really be on The Love Connection, and yet… He quickly shook his head, noting that the host was pointing at his watch, mouthing that he had time for two or three more questions.

“Bachelorette #1,” He addressed his least favorite of the women. “Describe your sense of style?”

“My sense of style?” The woman gushed happily. “Why, I’m always up to date on the latest trends. I love pretty things, lost of pastel colors and I’m always experimenting with new and different ways to wear my hair and makeup. I-“

“That’s enough, Bachelorette #1. Thank you.” Lex exchanged an amused look with the host. “Bachelorette #3, same question.”

“Honestly, I’m really rather practical. I don’t live the easiest life so I try and make sure everything I wear serves a purpose, though I do have a thing for feathers.”

“Feathers? That doesn’t sound very practical, Bachelorette #3.”

“Well, no one’s perfect, right?” She laughed.

“Right.” Lex winced as the host once again pointed at his watch. “Alright, Bachelorette #2, same question.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” The woman cooed, “My clothes are practical, just like Bachelorette #3’s, though I have another reason for wearing them. I ensnare my prey and lure them in with my clothes.”

“Prey. Right.” Lex mumbled to himself, though the woman gave him the creeps a bit, he felt himself strangely drawn to her. More so than with the first bachelorette, though he was definitely torn between #2 and #3.

“Well, it’s time to make your choice, Lex.” The host rose to his feet. “Who’s it going to be? Bachelorette #1, Bachelorette #2, or Bachelorette #3?”

~*~*~

Amber felt a strange fluttering in her heart as she stared down at the resting Lex. He had passed out nearly three hours before, and normally Amber would have been deeply concerned that he remained unconscious for so long, but had relaxed after she heard the soft gentle sounds of snores escaping from his lips.

Things were definitely strange between them. Amber couldn’t exactly describe it. It was almost like they had been with each other back when the Mall Rats had first formed, back before she had gotten together with Sasha, when they would always exchange light-hearted banter, teasing each other and quite often making some sexual jokes, though usually Lex was cracking them at her expense and not the other way around.

But it was different now. Ever since their first real conversation after she had ‘come back to life’, when they had gone into the city and bumped into May. Though they had only discussed strategies and a few trivial matters, Amber had felt a bond form with him then, a bond of friendship she didn’t want to let go, or ruin…

Amber closed her eyes, her thoughts lingering on the kiss that they had barely shared just before Lex had passed out. She wasn’t sure who had inspired the kiss, whether he had moved down to kiss her first or if she had reached up to kiss him, but whoever had started it, Amber was quite certain she had been most moved by it. Her heart was still pounding rapidly in her chest whenever she thought about it.

‘It will ruin your friendship.’ A niggling voice in the back of her head warned her. ‘Just like incorporating romance with Pride ruined that friendship. Besides, he has two wives now, not just one. Two. Tai-San and Zandra. How could you possibly ever think that he would choose you?’

Amber slowly shook her head, a bemused yet bittersweet smile lingering on her lips. “Chances are,” she murmured softly to herself, “He’ll wake up and have forgotten all about it. Better just let this one go, Ambs. He’s got other worries. And so do you.”