Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Mine and Amber’s?” Ebony echoed, staring at Tai-San, her eyes widening in fear. “If I felt that, and you felt that…” She trailed off, not wanting to complete the thought.

Tai-San studied Ebony carefully, unsure of what advice she should give her in this particular situation. She herself had experienced many powerful visions before, such as the one just the other night when she knew Ebony was in danger, but never before had she had one at the same time as another person.

“Ebony, I,” Tai-San hesitated, thinking through her words slowly, “Maybe this really isn’t anything. Maybe Amber is just fine.”

“So you think she’s in danger too.” Ebony stated, her lips drawing together in a grim line.

“I didn’t say that.” Tai-San argued, shaking her head causing her loose dark hair to spill over shoulders.

“Yes you did, Tai-San.” Ebony glared at her. “Just admit it. You think Amber is in danger too, and you know it.”

“I…” Tai-San began to disagree but closed her mouth knowing that Ebony’s words were true. The panic and fear she had felt were very real. She had incorrectly assumed that they were the feelings Amber had experienced just before her death. But if Amber was alive…

“We’ve got to go save her, Tai-San.” Ebony murmured. “She would do the same for me. I know it.”

“But you don’t know where she is, Ebony.” Tai-San tried to reason with the worried girl sitting across from her. “She could be anywhere.”

“How did you find me?” Ebony arched an eyebrow.

“Well, Alice and I took Cloudy and we just kinda, well, I followed my instincts, I suppose.” Tai-San supplied knowing how lame that sounded.

“Then that’s exactly what I will do.” Ebony declared firmly, her brow furrowed in concentration. “I figure she can’t be all that far from the Gaian village, so I suppose I can start there. Once I find the village I can—“

“Wait a minute,” Tai-San interrupted her, “You don’t know how to find the village?”

“No.” Ebony shook her head. “I’ve never been there. I have a good idea where it’s at, though. I’m sure I could find it after a little looking.”

“That’s ridiculous, Ebony.” Tai-San frowned. “I’ve been to the village. Remember? Robin took me there? I could show you where it’s at, then you and I can look from there.”

“You don’t want to be dragged into this, Tai-San.” Ebony replied shaking her head. “You can just tell me where the village is at and I can find it from there.”

“Don’t be stubborn, Ebony. I’m coming with you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” Tai-San told her flatly, her dark eyes flashing.

“Okay, fine.” Ebony nodded. “Will you be ready to leave in about half an hour?”

“You want to go tonight?” Tai-San’s eyes widened with shock.

“Look, Tai-San,” Ebony stated through gritted teeth, “Amber is out there obviously terrified of something. The longer she’s out there by herself the worse off she is. I need to find her as quickly as possible. I’ll go by myself if I have to, but I am leaving in half an hour.”

“Alright.” Tai-San nodded. “I’ll meet you by the sewer entrance in half an hour.”

“See you then.”

~*~*~

Ocelot cast a worried glance down at the fitfully sleeping Amber. Amber had started off the beginning of the night, curled up against Ocelot, sharing one another’s body heat as the temperature in the cave dropped to a chillingly low level. As the night grew colder and colder, the cough Amber had developed shortly after Ocelot returned from her ‘Zoot discipleship’, was steadily growing worse, causing Ocelot more concern than she wanted admit.

“Excuse me.” Ocelot called softly when one of the Chosen guards stepped inside the cave to make sure they were both still there.

“What is it?” The Chosen guard asked stiffly, her eyes never meeting Ocelot’s pleading gaze.

“I was wondering if you had a spare blanket Amber and I could share. It’s very cold, and well,” Ocelot looked down at Amber once again. “She’s getting sick.”

A brief flash of sympathy crossed the guard’s face as she too looked down at Amber. “Amber was always the kindest of the Mall Rats.” The guard murmured softly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Ocelot watched the guard disappear out the cave entrance, a puzzled expression on her face. “Amber?” She whispered.

“Hum?” Came Amber’s groggy response.

“Did you see that guard that was just in here?”

Amber shook her head, her eyes still closed. “Got to find Ebony.” She mumbled under her breath.

“Right.” Ocelot sighed. It was no use communicating with Amber right now. “You just sleep. I’ve asked a guard if we can have an extra blanket.”

Amber nodded, coughing a little as she did so.

A few minutes later the same Chosen guard returned, this time carrying two large thick blankets. “Here you go.” She said kindly. “I managed to find two.”

“Thank you.” Ocelot smiled up at her. “I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me.” The guard shook her head, causing her wavy hair to fall from the loose braid she had tied her hair back with. “Thank Amber. If it weren’t for her, well, let’s just say, I wouldn’t be alive right now.”

“Huh?” Ocelot looked at her, confusing apparent on her face.

“Never mind.” The guard smiled a strange smile. “Sleep well.”

~*~*~

It was daybreak before Ebony and Tai-San had reached the edge of the woods that lead to where the Gaian village was. Both girls were exhausted, neither getting any sleep the night before. “Maybe we should take a break for a little while.” Tai-San suggested, taking several deep breaths as she spoke.

“We can’t.” Ebony shook her head. “We’ve got to get to Amber.”

Tai-San frowned, but nodded her agreement. She was nearly to her breaking point, but she wasn’t about to let Ebony in on that fact. Ebony had been a slave driver all night, keeping them going at a breakneck speed, only stopping to rest once during their entire trek.

“How far is the village from here?” Ebony asked suddenly, surveying her surroundings.

“Well,” Tai-San panted a little, glancing around. They were about a mile or so away from the abandoned hospital, meaning they could reach the village in less than an hour if they hurried, which she knew they would. “I figure its less than two miles from this point.”

Ebony took a moment to digest this information, her eyes scanning the forest in front of them. “I know where’s she’s at.” She stated suddenly.

“What do you mean? How?” Tai-San gasped.

“Because,” Ebony seemed hesitant to tell her, “This is pretty close to where Amber and I first encountered the Chosen.”

“You and Amber found the Chosen? When?” Tai-San demanded. “Before Brady and Trudy were kidnapped?”

“Not before Brady, but before Trudy. It’s pretty complicated.” Ebony answered quickly. “We had a plan to rescue Brady, but it kinda didn’t work out as well as we had hoped.”

“No kidding.” Tai-San rolled her eyes. “So, why do you think you know where Amber’s at?”

“Gut feeling.” Ebony replied. “Follow me.”

Ebony and Tai-San silently picked their way through the forest, now at a much slower, relaxed paced, though Tai-San knew Ebony was still on high alert. Every so often Ebony would signal for Tai-San to stop and would just listen to see if she heard anything.

“Get down!” Ebony suddenly hissed in a low tone. Tai-San immediately dropped to the ground, her eyes peeling to see what it was that had suddenly put Ebony on guard. “They’re coming.” She explained after a moment of silence.

Tai-San lay as close to the ground as possible as she listened now hearing the sound of people traveling through the forest. She thought she recognized one of the voices, but quickly dismissed the thought. That would be impossible.

“I really don’t think we should be moving the prisoners right now.” A female voice stated in an argumentative tone. “Amber is very sick. If we move her right now she could die.”

“Amber?” The male voice sounded confused. “Which prisoner is that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” The woman quickly apologized. “I meant Eagle. I knew her before as Amber.”

“Interesting.”

Tai-San frowned. This woman’s voice was extremely familiar, but she could not place from where, though obviously she had known Amber. She glanced over at Ebony, but Ebony was not looking in her direction.

The male voice continued. “I believe I’m going to have to disagree, though. The Guardian needs new recruits. The one prisoner, Ocelot, seems strong enough. But as for Eagle, you know The Guardian does not like ill slaves.”

“What are you saying, Luke?” The female’s voice took on a definite edge.

“I’m saying if she does not show vast improvement within the next couple of hours we will have to dispose of her.”

“You can’t do that!” The woman cried out.

“Zoot has ordained it.”

“That’s a load of cr@p and you know it, Luke!” She exclaimed. “I know you don’t believe in this Zoot worship any more than I do—“

“Quiet!” The man named Luke spat, “Do you want someone to hear you? I’m sorry. I don’t want to have to kill her, but she would be better off dead than a sick prisoner of The Guardian’s.”

The woman sniffled, but said nothing.

“Look, c’mon. I let you bring them blankets last night. What more do you want me to do?” Luke sounded as if he were pleading with the female guard to understand. “Come on, let’s just go back to the camp and see how your friend is doing. I’m sure she’s feeling much better now.”

The twosome started walking away and was soon out of hearing distance. Tai-San glanced over at Ebony who was now looking her way, her eyes almost glowing with excitement.

“Let’s follow them.” She murmured softly, grabbing onto Tai-San’s hand and leading her in the direction Luke and the female Chosen guard had headed.

Tai-San nodded, noting it would not be difficult to follow them judging from the amount of noise they were making. Obviously they did not care if anyone knew they were there or not – a fact that unsettled Tai-San for some reason.

~*~*~

“Bray! Bray!” Danni called out across the marketplace after the quickly retreating Mall Rat leader. “I need to talk to you! Could you hold on?”

Bray stopped in his tracks, turning to face her he wore his most charming smile. “What’s up, Danni?” He asked. “Do you need something?”

“Kind of.” Danni grinned shyly up at him. Ever since she had stopped spying on the Mall Rats she had suddenly felt very vulnerable towards Bray, more so than she had before. She couldn’t explain how or when it happened, but she knew she was falling in love with him. “Do you think we could go someplace to talk?”

“Sure.” Bray nodded. “I probably should stay near the mall, though. Both Tai-San and Ebony have been missing since last night and I told both Lex and Ryan to let me know the moment they step inside the door.”

“How odd.” Danni’s murmured, furrowing her brow in puzzlement. “Those two are always disappearing, though usually not at the same time.”

“I know.” Bray agreed, running his fingers through his long brown hair. “Anyway, how about we go up to the roof to have that chat?”

“Sounds great to me.” Danni blushed, following him in the direction of the staircase that led to the roof. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to say when they got to the roof. All she knew was that she hadn’t been seeing enough of him lately and she wanted to be near him.

A few minutes later the couple was up on the roof, Bray staring out at the city, a whimsical expression on his handsome face. “You know, every time I look out across the city I almost forget all about the virus.”

“Hum.” Danni nodded, her gaze too going out towards the building. Her eyes first found the tall Pandorax Company building, but she quickly adverted her eyes to a more pleasant building – the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town. She could barely see if from their vantage point, but Danni could imagine it’s tall stately towers and ancient architecture.

“What did you need, Danni?” Bray broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.

“Oh, yeah, that.” Danni’s cheeks went crimson again. “Well, honestly,” She hesitated. Did she really want to be honest with him? She already knew the answer to that question before she asked it. “You looked a little worn out. I thought you could use a break away from it all.”

Bray smiled a little, the far away look returning to his eyes. “That’s really thoughtful of you, Danni.” He reached down and squeezed her hand gently. “I guess I tend to try and make myself really busy so I forget about things.”

“Things?” Danni queried, “Or her?”

Bray didn’t answer her for a long minute, his eyes refusing to meet hers, but his hand still holding her own. “Mostly her.” He murmured softly. “If I have too much time on my hands I always start to think about what she would say or do in certain situations.”

“I see.” Danni knew she shouldn’t feel jealous of the dead girl, but for some reason she did. “You still miss her a lot, don’t you?”

Bray nodded. “How could I not, Danni?” He turned to look at her, tears evident in his clear blue eyes. “I loved her so much. Our relationship wasn’t always perfect, but we always had each other. When she died I felt so empty, so lost. I didn’t know how I was going to make it without her. But I knew I had to.”

“She sounds like she was an amazing woman.” Danni commented, trying to keep the envy from sounding in her voice. “I wish I could have met her.”

“I wish you could have too.” Bray smiled. “You two would have been friends. I’m sure of it.”

“You think?” Danni glanced up at him. Somehow she had the feeling that she would not have gotten along with Amber one bit, especially if Bray had been in the picture.

“Yeah. You two think a lot alike, I think.” Bray continued. “You’re both natural leaders, strong, kind-hearted, gracious, beautiful…”

Danni felt her heart give a little leap in her chest. “Y-you think I’m beautiful?” She squeaked.

“Mum hum.” Bray pulled her closer to him, his face now only a few inches away from her own. “Beautiful eyes, beautiful skin, beautiful cheeks, beautiful lips…” Bray trailed off, brushing his warm, soft lips against her own. “So beautiful.”

~*~*~

“Ocelot!” Amber shouted, sitting straight up, her eyes wide. “Ocelot!”

“What is it, Amber? I’m right here.” Ocelot quickly made her way over to where she had left Amber snuggled up in both of the blankets. Amber had finally slipped into a calm rest several hours after the friendly guard had given them the blankets. Ocelot wanted to let her sleep for as long as possible, knowing full well that the Chosen would want to be on the move on soon.

“It’s Bray.” Amber’s lower lip began to quiver. “I need to see him.”