Chapter Forty-Nine

“You should have let me kill her when we had the chance.” Jaffa scowled angrily at Luke, his mood foul and his body stench even more so. They had been walking since the day of the revolt well over a week ago and Ellie was exhausted. Luke had pushed them hard, saying that speed was of the utmost importance, but after days of wandering around passing the same places they had passed the day before, Ellie was beginning to seriously doubt that.

“Shut up.” Ellie shot a dark look in the man whom had once been known as the Guardian’s direction. She didn’t know exactly what had happened after she had passed out from lack of oxygen, but she figured Luke had rescued her from Jaffa’s deadly grip. “I wasn’t complaining this time. All I asked was how much further it was to this supposed safe house.”

“Not long.” Luke assured her, his expression neutral. Ellie had tried on more than one occasion to talk to Luke, but he had been cold and aloof towards her, refusing to make anything but small talk. She had asked him how long he had been pretending, if everything he had ever said to her was an act, but he had refused to answer.

“Not long?” Ellie snorted in an undignified manner. Walking with two men for over a week had an adverse affect on her, but she no longer cared. “That’s what you said yesterday Luke and the day before. And the day before that. You said it should only take a week to get there but it’s been ten days now! When are we going to get there?”

“We’ll be there soon.” Luke stated quietly, refusing to look over in her direction, his eyes intent on the road ahead of them. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been here.”

“Awhile?” Jaffa rolled his eyes. “You were here once and if I remember correctly you were taken here blindfolded.”

“But I left on my own.” Luke returned. “I know the way.”

“So basically we’re lost, huh?” Ellie stopped in her tracks, planting her hands on her hips. “You really don’t have any idea where we are, do you?”

Luke turned back and looked at her, his eyes unreadable. “Keep moving Ellie. We don’t have time to waste.”

“Look, if you think you’re going to make it back to your precious little safe house, rally the troops then march back into the city and retake it you’ve got another thing coming. I don’t know if either of you guys was watching what was happening, but the city revolted. They’re not afraid of you any more. You can’t just waltz back in there and think you can regain control.”

“We’ll take it by force if we have to.” Jaffa spat. “We have more than enough followers to make sure the city is never capable of revolting again.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, flicking her dirty platinum blonde hair over her shoulders. After the first couple days she had stopped whining about wanting to take a bath. Luke and Jaffa smelled worse than she did and their body odor covered up any that she might produce.

“Ellie,” Luke’s voice had softened slightly, causing him to sound more like the Luke she had thought she had fallen in love with, “Please. We’re nearly there. We just have to cross the Straight of Zoot and—“

“Straight of Zoot?” Ellie let out a long laugh, wondering if she had ever heard a more ridiculous name in her life.

“It is where Zoot was found after the Mall Rats set him out to sea.” Jaffa explained with surprising patience. “He wasn’t dead, obviously, and the heat from the flame awakened him. Thankfully he had enough sense to roll off the pyre and into the ocean, though after that he was pretty much helpless. He’s not exactly sure how long he was adrift in the sea, but at last he washed up on the beach where my sister and I found him.”

“You have a sister?” Ellie stared at him incredulously, wondering if it were possible for a man so insensitive towards a woman’s needs could possibly have grown up with a sister.

“Yes, he has a sister.” A strange female voice interrupted their conversation. Ellie whipped around and found herself staring at a very beautiful young woman perhaps a year or two older than herself. She had long blonde hair that fell even longer than Ellie’s hair and was shot with blue highlights throughout. She wore rather revealing outfit of a leopard print shirt with a black skirt and blue overlay.

“Meredith.” Jaffa’s face broke out in a smile, though Ellie saw Luke blanch.

“Hello brother.” A sneer appeared on the woman named Meredith’s lips. “You’re going the wrong way.”

“I thought we might be.” Jaffa nodded, his confidence building the longer Meredith was in their presence. “But Luke refused to listen to me.”

“Yes, Luke.” A seductive smile curved up on Meredith’s lips and Ellie found a strange feeling of jealousy coursing through her. “How have you been Luke? It’s been a long time.”

“Not long enough.” Luke returned bitterly, causing Ellie to wonder just what had happened between Luke and this strangely beautiful young woman. “What are you doing here?”

“Patrolling.” Meredith returned. “I heard you a mile off and decided to follow you. Hope you don’t mind. If you had continued the route you were taking who knows how long you’d be wandering in the wilderness looking for the safe house.” She hesitated for a long minute as she studied Ellie with careful eyes. “I take it things went poorly in the city.”

“You can say that again.” Jaffa affirmed. “The Rebels took over. We lost control.”

“Luke’s dispatch, Simon, arrived several days ago. He thought things wouldn’t go so well for the Chosen. Zoot is furious, but wants to implement stage two immediately.”

“Stage two?” Ellie queried.

“Who is this insolent little pest anyway?” Meredith stared at Ellie with cold hard eyes. “And why are you brining her to the safe house?”

“She’s a Mall Rat.” Jaffa turned up his lips in an ugly sneer that matched his sister’s. “Luke wanted to bring her along.”

“Oh, a Mall Rat.” Meredith mocked. “How cute. I take it you knocked her up?”

“No, I did not knock her up.” Luke glared at Meredith with hatred in his eyes. “She came after us. I figured she might be useful.”

“Might be useful.” Meredith rolled her eyes. “Look, Zoot already has one too many beautiful blondes around. We could do without her.”

“What do you mean?” Jaffa frowned, obviously disturbed by Meredith’s comment.

“Much has changed since we last spoke, brother.” Meredith’s eyes hardened, if that were possible. “Zoot has the silly notion that he needs a new woman.”

“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Jaffa was still puzzled.

“It would have been,” Meredith scowled darkly, “If things had gone according to plan, but they haven’t. Come. We must reach the safe house before nightfall. Then you will see with your own eyes what our almighty leader has done.”

~*~*~

“We’re getting absolutely no where, Amber.” Ebony let out a low grown as she slowly slunk deeper into the high backed leather chair that had been taken from what had once been the Guardian’s private office during the Occupation. “We’re never going to get them to agree on something.”

Amber nodded slowly, biting down on her lower lip, clearly just as troubled as Ebony was about the city’s current state. Though her speech to the angry mob had temporarily calmed them and had gotten them to corporate, news of the Guardian’s escape had sparked another uprising, this one against the Mall Rats and the Rebels led by none other than Moz, the persuasive yet highly unreasonable leader of the Mozquitoes.

“If we can’t get nineteen people to agree on something, how can we possibly expect an entire city to?” Amber let out a nervous breath, her eyes darting back and forth along the table where nineteen selected members of the Rebels had gathered in the same spacious furniture showroom that many of them had slept in just a little over a week before.

“Have a little faith guys.” Danni, who had remained inhumanly optimistic throughout the entire proceedings, grinned at them encouragingly. “Somehow the adults managed to agree on stuff like this. We certainly can, can’t we?”

Ebony grimaced at Danni’s perky attitude, wondering what on earth the brunette had to be so happy about. She was in a relationship with a man she did not love, caring a baby whose father could quite possibly be a monster. “Sure we can.” She muttered under her breath, looking back towards those gathered around the table.

All in all there were eight Mall Rats if you included Zandra, seven Gaians then Aya who represented the Clarets, Grieco who represented the Heavens and of course Silver who was the acting leader of the Cheetahs and none of them could agree on anything.

“Alright,” Great White rose from her end of the table, straightening her iridescent pastel blue one shoulder strapped top. “We’re all here now, so let’s figure this thing out, shall we? We don’t have all day.”

“Gee, that’s what I’ve been saying all morning.” Ebony muttered softly so only Amber and Danni could hear. Ebony slowly stood to her feet, imitating Great White’s stance and placing her hands carefully on the table. “Great White’s right,” She spoke louder this time, her voice ringing with the same authority that commanded the respect of the mob after Tai-San’s failed coronation. “Fighting and arguing amongst ourselves is accomplishing nothing.”

Ebony hesitated, shifting her gaze to linger on each of the individuals seated around the tables, though she quickly glazed over Bray. She had been almost violently opposed to Bray being on the council, but as the most recent leader of the Mall Rats he had an automatic in. Just another grievance Ebony was stock piling against him.

“We need to get something figured out today, something that we can present to the tribal leaders tomorrow. If we don’t,” Ebony paused dramatically, already knowing that everyone had heard what the tribal leaders were threatening if the Rebels had not presented them with an acceptable course of action by tomorrow at three o’clock. “The city is going to fraction. It is going to become like the days right after the virus, only worse. Every man for himself. I don’t think that’s what any of us want, is it?”

“Why do we care what happens to your pathetic city?” Crow growled, his dark eyes flashing dangerously close to violence. “We’re Gaians. We belong in the forest. The only reason we got involved in this fight in the first place was because—“

“Because it directly affected us, Crow.” Minxy shot a poisonous glare in his direction. “First there was Wolf spying on us for the Chosen, then the Guardian’s own sister, Lioness. If you want to stand there and say the Gaians should not have gotten involved in this war, you can go right ahead. You’ll only be making a larger fool of yourself than you already have, Crow.”

“Look,” This time it was Amber who spoke, her voice clear and steady. “Ebony’s right. We must decide something. Today. We’ve had three other meetings like this that have all ended up in pointless arguments. We will not leave this table until we reach a decision. Is this understood?”

There was quiet grumbling around the table, but everyone seemed to agree to Amber’s statement. After everyone had quieted, Amber shot an encouraging smile in Ebony’s direction and she quickly decided it was time to turn the table over to Danni so she could suggest the idea she had remained so secretive about.

“Danni has a suggestion that I think we should take quite seriously.” Ebony spoke, looking down at the brunette who was seated on her left. “Danni?”

Danni smiled back at Ebony and rose as Ebony sat down. Self-consciously, she tucked a slowly growing strand of dark silky hair away from her face, revealing her scar. Across the table Ebony saw Bray wince and look away, still unable to look upon his girlfriend’s face.

“The city needs someone to step up and lead.” Danni spoke quietly, though the tone of her voice carried volumes. “Someone who is answerable to the tribal chiefs but is the executive decision maker. Someone like the Guardian yet not a tyrant.”

“What do you mean? Like a president?” Aya furrowed her brow as if seriously mulling over Danni’s words.

“Yes, exactly like a president. An elected official.” Danni smiled, gaining in confidence as she spoke. “Tomorrow at the tribal leader’s meeting we could suggest a city-wide election. Each of the tribes can nominate one candidate—“

“There would be far too many candidates.” Jaguar shook his head adamantly. “There are well over a hundred tribes in the city and the number increases daily. How can the city elect just one official?”

“You didn’t let me finish.” Danni smiled pertly at the Gaian, her gaze steely. “After the tribal leaders have nominated someone, the nominees must be seconded. If a nominee is not seconded, then they are out of the running. After they are seconded there will be another process where they must be thirded.”

“Thirded? Is that even a word?” Bray scoffed, clearly not respecting his girlfriend’s words. Ebony wanted to hit him.

“No, there isn’t, darling.” Danni twisted her lips up in a sarcastic smile, revealing that there might just be trouble in paradise. “But I’m making one up for the situation. By the time each nominee gets three votes the number will be cut down dramatically. I’m guessing that the most there will be ten candidates. I’m sure the city can elect someone with just ten candidates.”

Ebony looked around the table, seeing the approval written clearly across everyone’s faces. They finally seemed to all agree on one suggestion, but Ebony had a hunch it was how the suggestion was presented more than the suggestion itself that they approved up.

“I saw we go for it.” Lex grinned broadly. “It’s the best idea I’ve heard yet.”

“Me too.” Ocelot agreed. “We should nominate someone from our own group before the meeting tomorrow, though. Just so there is no outward sign of the strife that has been so prevalent in our own meetings.”

“Here, here.” Amber murmured quietly, causing the lips of Ebony’s mouth to quirk up.

Again the council members seated around the tables fell into quiet discussion amongst themselves, though there were no arguments and fighting like there had been only minutes before. “So that’s why were you were optimistic.” Ebony nodded in Danni’s direction. “You knew they’d like the idea.”

Danni grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “I figured they would. They’re a reasonable and logical group. They just weren’t thinking clearly. They only needed to have someone point them in the right direction.”

“And now we get to argue over who to nominate.” Amber chuckled, shaking her head causing her golden ringlets to toss back and forth against her shoulders. “How do you suggest we go about doing it, Danni?”

Danni drew her lips together in a fine line and frowned. “Well,” She hesitated, piecing together her words before she spoke, “I suppose the most effective way would be to just shout out our nominations. Then we can discuss each individual in turn and have a vote at the end.”

“Good idea.” Ebony agreed, taking note that discussion had ended around the table. Once again she stood up, relaying Danni’s idea on how to nominate members of their own makeshift tribe. Predictably, Bray was the first one to speak.

“I know this may sound a little arrogant,” Bray began, a cool mask of aloofness on his face, “But I would like to nominate myself. I have experience leading the tribes and am well respected—“

“Well respected?” Cloe, the youngest member at the council, interrupted him with a sharp laugh. “Since when Bray? You haven’t had an ounce of respect since before the Chosen took over. Honestly, Bray, you would not be the ideal candidate for us.”

“I’ll have to agree with Cloe,” Pride spoke calmly, though Ebony knew from a recent discussion with him that he was still furious with Bray for what he had tried to do to Amber weeks before and how he had gotten away with it. “Let’s nominate someone else.”

“Then Danni.” Bray nodded his head in Danni’s direction, clearly taking his girlfriend by surprise. “She’s proven herself a fabulous leader time and time again, as well as an eloquent speaker. Besides, she has the respect of the tribe leaders for sure.”

“No, Bray.” Danni shook her head, pursing her lips together firmly. “I can’t. Not only do I not want to, there would be no way I would win. No one is going to vote for a pregnant woman about to give birth, now are they?”

Bray’s expression darkened at Danni’s words, but he kept his mouth shut, much to Ebony’s relief. She turned her attention around the table and it seemed that everyone was still discussing who they would want to nominate.

“I have a suggestion,” Danni shot Ebony a sly smile that suddenly set her on edge, “Ebony.”

“What?!” Ebony exclaimed, taking by surprise. “What are you talking about Danni?”

“No, she’s right. You’d be perfect, Ebony!” Panther, who rarely showed emotion about anything, grinned wildly. “Like Danni you have respect in the city plus you have good intuition and the guts to back up what you believe in.”

“I second Ebony’s nomination.” Amber winked at her best friend with a proud smile.

“And I third it.” Cloe voiced her consent. Soon the entire table was an echo of their agreement to her nomination and Ebony realized there was no way she was going to get out of this no matter how hard she tried.

“This has to stop!” Bray suddenly leaped to his feet, his crystal blue eyes flashing with anger, “Have you all forgotten who this woman is? She was the Empress of the Locos! She was a lying, deceitful traitor who has only looked out for herself since day one. If we nominate her she will get elected and when she is, she’ll be more of a tyrant than the Guardian was.”

“I certainly hope you’re right, Bray.” Amber smirked in her ex-boyfriend’s direction. “I hope Ebony is elected. Out of all of us she’s the only one who really stands a chance. The leaders who will actually get past the nominations will be Moz, Jet, Billy Boy, Rex… The powerful tribe leaders who have much influence. We need a powerful leader to nominate if we stand a chance of winning.”

“Well, what about you, Amber?” Bray stated almost pathetically. “Why can’t you be our nominee?”

“Because I haven’t been in the limelight like Ebony has.” Amber explained simply. “What do the kids in the city know Ebony as? The once leader of the most powerful tribe, a co-leader of the tribe that found and distributed the antidote, saving everyone’s lives. Then she was known as a leader of the Rebellion, defeating the Guardian then calming the crowds after the uprising. Who better to nominate other than her?”

“I still think it’s a bad idea.” Bray glared directly into Ebony’s eyes and a cold fear swept through her, reminding her far too much of an earlier time when she had locked gazes with him. “She can’t be trusted. At the first opportunity she will stab you all in the back. Just you wait and see.”

~*~*~

“Now you understand,” Ravenscroft frowned, now dressed in the sleek black lycra shirt and slightly baggy black trousers that matched so many of the other individuals wandering about the safe house. “I’m still not saying yes. Just maybe.”

“Just maybe?” The handsome young general of the tribe that would be called the Technos after their stage in the plan was launched, “If it were only a maybe, Ravenscroft, why have you already taken up the uniform?”

Ravenscroft glanced self-consciously down at the nearly solid black uniform. It had been given to him nearly a week ago when he asked the general, whom he was actually starting to become friends with, if he could get a change of clothes. Jay had tricked him into wearing the uniform, and both of them knew it.

“You’re right.” Ravenscroft sighed heavily. “I have made up my mind, but I’m still uneasy. I know that the Technos will do good things for the city. This hospital you’ve been telling me about is something that we’ve needed desperately for a very long time, but whenever I think of the man in charge—“

“Don’t worry, Ravenscroft.” Jay quickly assured him with a tight smile. “Zoot is not a hands-on type of leader. Ram is the real leader of the Technos. Ram, well, he’s a bit eccentric at times, but has a brilliant mind and can be trusted.”

Ravenscroft said nothing, well remembering the one time he had met the wheelchair bounded young man. Looking into Ram’s cold eyes did not exactly inspire confidence in Ravenscroft, but he knew better than to say anything against the Techno leader, especially to his general. Apparently, Jay, along with his younger brother Ved, had known Ram before the virus. He had been a neighbor of theirs and one of Ved’s good friends, though there was a gap in ages.

“Trust me, Ravenscroft.” Jay’s smile broadened. “If this thing starts to turn sour I’ll be the first to bail ship. The Technos will bring about a new world for the city, one with electricity and running water, where no one has to die because of a minor cut or infection…” He broke off, clearly becoming emotional.

“I know.” Ravenscroft nodded, his thoughts immediately going to the beautiful young woman he had left behind in the Gaian village. It seemed that lately his thoughts were never far from Danni, always wondering how she was doing and if she was still thinking of him. He knew that she was drawing close to her due date and he silently prayed that there would be someone to be by her side as she delivered, since it would be impossible for him.

The two tall young men dressed identically walked the rest of the way to Zoot’s ‘throne room’ in silence, both brooding in their own thoughts. Ravenscroft knew that Jay had a mysterious past that he really did not like to talk about. He had confessed to Ravenscroft that part of the reason he was so intent on making sure that electricity and running water along with hospitals and schools was restored in the city was because he had lost someone quite close to him in the early days of the virus, but Ravenscroft was no fool. There was something else too, though he hadn’t been able to learn what just yet.

“Apparently,” Jay suddenly broke the silence, “The Guardian and his lieutenant arrived earlier this morning.”

“Excuse me?” This news astonished Ravenscroft. After Luke’s dispatch had arrived quite some time ago they had assumed both Luke and the Guardian had been taken captive by the Rebels, but obviously they had eluded them somehow. Ravenscroft knew that was not a good thing.

“Along with a hostage, a girl.” Jay explained. “A Mall Rat.”

Danni! Ravenscroft’s heart leaped in his chest, though he knew that the chances of the girl being Danni were slim to none. In fact, he sincerely hoped it was not his beloved. There was no way Danni would be able to make such a trek in her advanced condition.

“Zoot has called a meeting with those of us who will be directly affected by this event.” Jay went on, his hands clasped behind his back in true general form, his back straight and stiff.

“Then why am I being summoned?”

“Because,” Jay turned his full attention to Ravenscroft, “You are associated with Xenia. It seems that Xenia and Zoot have become quite close over the past few weeks. They have an announcement to make, one that I’m sure you are expecting.”

Ravenscroft nodded slowly. He had known for quite some time that this was coming up, he was, in fact, surprised that they had not made their little announcement sooner than this.

“Meredith will not be taking it well.” Jay added unexpectedly. “She has long had her eye on the position that had been left vacant since, since Ebony’s day.”

“Zoot hasn’t had a woman since Ebony?” Ravenscroft was so startled by this news that he did not notice how Jay had suddenly become quite flustered at the mention of the young braided beauty’s name.

“No.” Jay shook his head quickly. “Once Ebony gets inside your head, she’s impossible to get out. Th-there’s no replacement for a girl like that.”

This time Ravenscroft was not so oblivious to Jay’s mood change. He glanced over at the one person he could actually consider a friend in the safe house and stared at him. “Jay, are you okay? Ebony… You haven’t—“

“No.” Jay stated too abruptly. “I have heard of her, but that is all. To me, Ebony is a stranger.” His words were cold, detached and somehow Ravenscroft found he didn’t quite believe them.

~*~*~

Xenia shifted uncomfortably in her seat beside the handsome young man whom she would be pledging her allegiance to that day. They had talked about her coming into this position for over a week now, and though Xenia had been extremely hesitant at first, Zoot had been persistent. Apparently, from the rumors she had heard throughout the house, she was the first female Zoot had shown any interest in since his relationship with Ebony, though Xenia found it very difficult to believe. Zoot was a very passionate man.

“Here they come.” Zoot whispered over to her, his milky blue eyes glowing with anticipation. They had discussed this too… What they would do with The Guardian, his lieutenant and the Guardian’s sister when they returned to the safe house. Only, Xenia had not been prepared for them to bring a hostage – a Mall Rat hostage. She hoped Zoot would not condemn her to the safe fate.

Xenia shifted her gaze to the four individuals who were slowly making their way through the room that had been set up to look remarkably like a medieval throne room. Zoot sat on one end of the room in a high back chair, a long table with a white cloth in front of him. That was an addition that the throne rooms of old did not have, but nearly everything else was the same, including his queen sitting by his side.

“Jaffa,” Zoot rose to his feet at the four drew near. “It has been a long time.”

“M’lord.” The Guardian – Jaffa dropped to one knee in a overly reverent gesture that made Xenia nauseas. “You are looking well.”

Zoot nodded, accepting his compliment, though he clearly was not impressed by Jaffa’s rather meager words. “It’s a pity I cannot say the same for you. How long has it been since you bathed, Jaffa? A month? Two months?”

“Eleven days.” The pretty blonde woman, obviously the hostage, spoke up. Xenia watched her with interest, especially since she did not seem to be intimidated by being the presence of a ‘dead man’. “None of us have. Luke has had us wandering around since the city fell.”

“And you must be the Mall Rat.” Zoot’s lips quirked up in amusement. “I take it you do not like the thought of being someone’s captive.”

The girl’s eyes remained stony as she folded her arms against her chest. “No one likes being a slave.” She retorted haughtily. “Especially not by such imbeciles.”

“Imbeciles?” Zoot let out a loud laugh and Xenia was startled that he actually seemed amused by this girls antics.

“The only reason they knew about the Rebels infiltrating the mall in the first place was because I told Luke.” She shot a deadly glare in Luke’s direction as the pieces to the puzzle slowly began to fall into place. “But that was before I realized he really was a black-hearted bastard like the rest of you.”

“Tell me, Mall Rat,” Zoot spoke down to her, his tone slightly mocking, “Who is the greater fool? The fool or the fool who follows him?”

The Mall Rat’s head dropped and Xenia knew Zoot’s words had gotten to her. It was obviously something the young blonde had been thinking about since she had left the city. “You’re right.” She looked up, her eyes suddenly pooling with tears, a sign of weakness that Xenia knew Zoot despised. “I was a fool for falling in love with Luke. A fool for believing that he wanted the same things I did. Peace. Freedom. All the beautiful things that the Chosen have stolen from us.”

Zoot nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the young girl’s face. “Once all I wanted was power and chaos. I ruled the streets proclaiming my words, confusing everyone around me, especially myself. But I’m older now. Older and wiser and I realize just what a precious thing freedom is and peace is far more beautiful than chaos.”

Zoot hesitated, casting a sideways glance at Xenia, his eyes surprisingly clear for one moment. “I want the same things as you, Mall Rat. Peace. Freedom. A city that heals not hurts. Running water. Electricity. Hospitals. Schools. Newspapers… I want all these things, Mall Rat. Do you believe me?”

The girl stared at him, clearly confused. She had obviously never met Zoot before he had ‘died’ and was taken aback by the sudden change from what she had heard. Of course, Xenia was startled too. It was only last night that he was whispering words of power and chaos to her as they made love, assuring her that she would have a throne in the city even if they had to carve it out of the city’s heart. This was not the same man he was last night. Xenia did not believe him.

“No, I don’t.” The girl stated finally, defiantly. “And why should I? I know now that it was you who sent the Chosen into the city, to confuse everyone and to set yourself up as some type of god. People were worshipping you and I know you were reveling in every minute of it. I don’t believe you. Not one word of it.”

“Would you believe me if I banished The Guardian?” Zoot inquired and Xenia shot a look in the Guardian’s direction, amused by the shock that registered there. “Not only the Guardian, but his sister as well? And your lieutenant that lied to you?”

“I—I don’t know.” She was stumbling on her words not.

“Let’s see, shall we?” Zoot’s lips quirked up in a maniacal smile and Xenia knew he would enjoy throwing the three out of his safe house immensely. “Guards,” he gestured to those gathered in the throne room wearing the black uniforms, “Take Jaffa, Meredith and Luke outside the safe house’s gates. Tell them that if they ever return here or to the city they shall be killed on the spot.”

“Zoot, no!” Meredith exclaimed, stepping forward, her eyes flashing wildly. “You need us, Zoot. We have done everything you have ever asked of us. We have fought for you, killed for you. Everything we’ve ever done is for you, Zoot. And this is how you repay us?”

“Get them out of my sight.” Zoot made a gesture with his hand and suddenly there were three or four Techno guards on each of the three Chosen officials.

“Wait!” The blonde Mall Rat shouted, her face pale. “Please, no, you can’t do this.”

“What is this?” Zoot was surprised by the girl’s plea.

“Please, don’t take Luke away.” She was sobbing now, more tears that Xenia once thought Zoot hated. Suddenly, Xenia was no longer sure she knew the man who was her lover. “You can’t. I know he’s a lying, insensitive jerk who only betrayed me, but I love him. I love him and I don’t think I could bear to lose one more person who I love.”

Zoot stared down at her, obviously not prepared for the Mall Rat to plead on behalf of one of her captors. From Luke’s startled expression Xenia could tell he had not been either. “This is what you want, Mall Rat?” Zoot spoke carefully, “You want Luke spared?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“And if I spare Luke, will you believe me? Will you believe that I want nothing but good for my city?”

Again she nodded.

“Very well.” Zoot looked at the guards who held Luke. “Release him, but Luke,” He smiled a wicked looking smile, “Please know, you are no longer a lieutenant with the Chosen. There are no more Chosen. Just those who want peace and order, and will be bringing it to the city in the form of technology. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good.” Zoot quickly turned his attention to where several of his Technos were waiting in the wings, Ravenscroft was with them, and Xenia tried to ignore the strange fluttering of her heart that seeing him caused. “Ram, see to it that these two receive uniforms.”

“Two?” The blonde looked up in surprise.

“Yes, Ellie.” Zoot smiled almost comfortingly down at her. “I need someone like you on my side.”

“How did you know my name?” She demanded suspiciously.

He quickly reached inside his pocket and produced a rumpled piece of paper that bore the words The Amulet and The Chosen are Finished! on it. “We can read here in the south too, Ellie. Even if we did burn all the books.”