Beyond The Tribe - alternative and parallel stories by the fans

Blaze

Episode Eleven

It was times like this that you could really see the strength of the Mallrats. They pulled together and supported and comforted each other, no one complained about their chores and there were always people willing to help fill Bray’s place in the rota. The antidote distribution turning into a dreary funeral procession as the customers, sensing the sombre air, fell silent. Most of the tribe came to visit Bray that day, Seth just sat in the corner feeling like a spare part and tried to fend off any well meant conversation. In fact it was quite a relief that Ebony didn’t even try. In fact he could have been a stuffed teddy bear and she would have taken more notice.
Salene and Danni asked if he was alright, after the weird occurrence the night before, to which he just smiled and fobbed them off into the realms of total confusion. They brought him food in the room considering he wasn’t keen on going anywhere. Ellie was surprised at Jack who didn’t express much enthusiasm at visiting Bray. Finally she dragged him along to Trudi’s old bedroom where he now lay. Briar was appalled at Bray’s hammock (calling it the most un-orthopaedic bed she’d ever seen) and refused point blank to let him stay in there.
Both of the visitors were unnerved by the charred peeling skin which was just visible, sticking out a round the edges of the bandages. Jack gulped and tried to restrain the feelings of horror rising up inside himself by not looking at Bray. He didn’t like to tell anyone but really his worst horror was blood and broken skin. He just didn’t have the stomach for it. When he was seven, he’d burnt his hand on the iron and fainted at the sight of the minuscule blister which had come up. Even the doctor had laughed at his extreme reaction and that was the most humiliating point of Jack’s life, other than the time his friend had cut his arm on some tarmac and he fainted in front of a playground full of merciless kids. As his eyes roamed around the room he noticed the figure sitting in the corner of the room. He was older than both of them, roughly the same age as Lex or Bray but he had the air of someone much older and superior- similar to Bray when he’d first arrived. He was looking at Jack with a slightly bemused look on his face, Jack turned from a pale green colour to a faint red as he felt the eyes boring into him.
Seth had hoped it was Briar when these two had first entered the room, but to his dismay it was more concerned friends. He felt bored and his legs were beginning to cramp up so he thought he’d make conversation. Ellie smiled at him in a friendly way and Jack followed suit a little more nervously. They sat down on the bed next to each other, Ellie studying Bray’s swathed face with more interest than disgust. Luckily Seth had done a good job in covering the mangled face, it would take everyone a while to get used to.
‘So how is he?’ asked Ellie sweetly.
No points for originality, thought Seth. ‘Much better now. I’m Seth. I’m sorry I don’t know you two.’
‘Hi Seth. I’m Ellie and this is Jack.’
Seth glanced dubiously at the pale, nervous young guy. ‘Yeah I’ve seen you around,’ he said turning back to Ellie. ‘By the way I like your make-up. It’s quite understated. I like the natural look.’
Ellie blushed. ‘Er Thanks. I notice you don’t wear any make-up.’
‘Yeah. I reckon it looks stupid on blokes,’ he said not aiming it as a direct insult at Jack, it was just a statement of fact. Seth realised too late what he’d said but he didn’t seem to care anyway. There was a silence so he thought he’d better fill it. ‘I just going to get a drink. Would you and your little brother like one?’
Ellie stifled a laugh and nodded while Jack’s complexion turned redder and redder with indignation. Seth left the room quite unconcerned while Ellie broke out into giggles.
‘It’s not funny!’ protested Jack.
‘Sure it is, bro…!’
‘And why didn’t you say anything; you’re meant to be my girlfriend!’
‘I’m sorry, Jack,’ said Ellie trying hard to put on a straight face.
He was patently put out. ‘And he was flirting with you so obviously!!!’
‘Was he?’ said Ellie coyly, clearly flattered.
‘You’re not meant to be happy about it!’
‘Oh come on, Jack. No need to be jealous,’ she said, her mind involuntarily wandering back to Seth’s gorgeous eyes. She moved closer to him and put her arms around his waist. ‘You know you’re the only guy for me.’ And she kissed him on the lips tenderly.
‘So this is the first thing I wake up to?’ a strained voice from the bed interrupted them. ‘Thanks guys!

Episode Twelve

The two moved apart guiltily, they had totally forgotten Bray was there.
‘Bray! You’re awake!’ called Jack happily.
‘Er.. yeah. It appears so but I’ve got a hell of a headache. What happened?’ He lifted his arm up to rub his head but as it came into view he noticed the long plastic tube leading to above his head, attached to the needle which had sunk deep into his arms. At first he did a double take but before he had time to react Ellie caught his arm and lowered it firmly back down beside him. ‘Don’t move,’ she said, ‘I’ll be right back: I’m gonna get Seth!’ and she ran out of the room to leave Jack feeling a little awkward with the confused, disoriented patient.
But he didn’t have to wait long-Seth shifted into action; he called Danni and Salene and went straight into see Bray. Danni sat down beside him and took his right hand, looking lovingly into the bandaged face. She tried to say something but she was so overwhelmed with grief that tears welled up in her eyes and she was unable to speak.
‘Danni?’ What is it?’ asked Bray, a concerned look on his face that was twisted painfully to one side.
‘You’re alive. You’re gonna to be alright!’ she smiled at him from tear-rimmed eyes.
Seth motioned to Salene rather impatiently. Salene took the hint and went over to a rather emotional Danni to try and calm her down. Seth carefully hid his shudder. He hated the emotional type; he didn’t get how any one could display that much affection.
‘Hi Bray, I’m Seth,’ he said, rather unsuccessfully trying to force the bedside smile Briar was so good at.
Bray rolled his head around to look at him.
‘Don’t worry about the tube in your wrist,’ continued Seth. ‘We had to get some fluid into your body. Try not to move that arm, we’ll take it out fairly soon.’ Seth picked up Bray’s free wrist and held his fingers to the pulse while looking at his watch. ‘Do you remember what happened to you?’
‘Er… I was making coffee and then… no…. it all went black…’
‘That’s OK,’ supplied Seth. ‘You were in an explosion and you got badly burnt. You’ve been unconscious since yesterday morning’
Seth released his wrist and Bray brought it up to his face to feel the bandages. ‘Is this… is this where I was burnt?’ Seth nodded. ‘Will it heal?’ continued Bray.
Luckily Danni came to the rescue of and awkward question. ‘You’re alive! That’s all that matters now!’
The rest of the morning was spent with Seth trying to restrain over zealous, over joyful visitors. Danni was the worst, he and Salene had to almost forcibly drag him from the bedside to let Bray get some rest.

Late on in the morning Ebony slunk into the room. She moved awkwardly along to the bedside without taking her eyes off Seth who was seated at the other end of the room. A drowsy Bray was a little confused when he saw her. ‘Hi Ebony. I heard what you did, getting help for me. I just want to thank you for everything.’
‘That’s er.. fine. So how are you feeling?’ Bray considered his reply but before he had time to give it Ebony broke in, ‘Do you have to just sit there smirking? Can’t you go outside or something?!’
Seth shrugged and got to his feet, he made casually for the door without even attempting to take the half smile off of his face.
‘Seth, wait!’ called Bray. ‘Wasn’t that a bit harsh Ebony? After everything he’s done for us? He’s only here to help.’
Ebony’s blazing eyes narrowed as she stormed out of the room.
Bray, surprised to say the least, called to Seth. ‘What’s up with her? Have you two already met?’
‘Yeah. You could say that, our paths have crossed,’ he said still smiling.
‘I’ve never seen anyone provoke her like that before. It’s strange.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Normally, nothing gets at her. If it does then she just sends her militia after it, but this….? You have a real effect on her!’
Seth laughed, a sly grin, creeping over his face. ‘Yeah well Bray, from what I’ve heard you two used to be quite an item!’
‘What? How do you know?’
‘Oh the girl I live with went to school with you two.’
‘Who?’
‘Briar.’
‘Nope, the name doesn’t ring a bell. Anyway its nice to see something gets to Ebony. I’d watch your back though.’
Seth smiled. ‘Thanks.’

Episode Thirteen

Briar was a little dubious about going back to the Mall. The patient would either be dead, in which case it would be hell to be there (she felt sorry for Seth) or the patient would be better and everyone would be running around like headless chickens, clucking for joy. She didn’t know which was worse! If he was dead then she really should do a bereavement call, if he was alive then she’d have to break the bad news to Seth. She wanted him to stay there and help Bray’s recovery.
And then there was Ebony. To be quite honest, she didn’t know if she had the time or the strength to try and help her. She was always a good friend to Ebony, but Ebony had never been a very good friend to her. Then again, she knew she was one of the few people who could actually get through to her. But there was Seth. Seth seemed to be able to get through to her, even if it seemed as though it wasn’t in a beneficial way. Plus Seth would try and do anything Briar wanted him to. She smiled. It was a good idea. Seth was just what Ebony needed. She wasn’t so sure that it was what Seth needed though… She packed some of Seth’s stuff just in case Bray was still alive and he could stay and then she left the clinic, leaving a few of her people to look after the minor injuries that had come in that morning.

Meanwhile, Bray had gone back to sleep again so Seth had a few precious minutes off. The trouble was that in this damned Mall there weren’t many places you could go, unless you went outside. Seth didn’t like it outside. It was too unpredictable, too many things there which could trigger another fit. So he left Bray’s room and headed for the dining room. Luckily it was late morning so everyone had finished breakfast and had disappeared off to do their various chores.
He’d just got himself a coffee and sat down when he noticed another bleary eyed figure struggle up the stairs. ‘Late night eh mate?’
‘What? Hmmmm… Yeh,’ he said, his slightly detached line of speech proving his point.
‘I’m Seth.’
‘Hi. You’re the helper kid aren’t you…’ he said.
‘Yeah you could say that.’
‘So why do you do it? Are you going out with that bird.. Briar was it?’ he said, still not quite awake.
‘No,’ said Seth amiably, ‘I just work for her. Complex reasons.’
‘Oh right…’ replied Lex, not having a clue what this guy was on about.
‘So what did you do last night?’
‘Oh nothing. OK, so you promise you won’t tell anyone...’ said Lex, feeling somehow that he could trust this stranger. ‘There’s this farm, outside the city and they do some great cider.'
‘Sounds tasty.’
‘Yeah, it is. You’ll have to come and sample it.’
‘Sure, but I’m really meant to be looking after Bray.’
‘Bray can look after himself! Or at least I’m sure one of the girls will be glad to…’
‘Yeah, I see what you mean. Even Ebony was in there today.’
‘Ebony? Yeah, she’s got a huge crush on him. She always has. So you’ve met the wicked witch of the East then?’
Seth laughed. ‘Yeah. She’s not that bad.’
‘You obviously don’t know her mate. Just you wait, when’s she’s around, you’ve always got to watch your back.’
‘You know, even Bray told me that!’
‘Yeah and he should know.’
‘Why’s that?’
Lex launched into the story, three quarters myth, one quarter reality, about the kidnapping of Bray by Ebony. Seth laughed all the way through and Lex was glad of some attention. He didn’t like to admit it, but it was nice to have another bloke around, at least one that hadn’t gone soft on him…

Episode Fourteen

Salene was the first person that Briar met on her way into the mall. She ran up towards the startled girl and hugged her. ‘Thank you! Thank you so much!’
Briar disentangled herself from the overjoyed girl. ‘So I take it he’s feeling better. I’m so glad for you all. Is he awake? Can I see him?’
‘Of course, he was up a while ago, Seth’s still with him.’
The girls chatted as Salene led her up the stairs to the balcony. There they saw Lex and Seth engrossed in conversation. Salene was a little surprised, but glad to see Lex and him were getting on.
‘Oh hi Salene! Hi Briar!’ called Lex more cheerfully than he’d sounded in a long time.
Seth greeted Briar with a sigh of relief, all he had to do now was to get a quiet word with her. Despite what she’d said about his fits he was sure that they were getting more and more frequent. The longer he stayed in this place the greater the chance there was of people finding him out. He stood back as Briar talked to Bray and tried to find out how he was really feeling, other than the cover story: ‘fine, much better’.
‘Bray, you’ve still got a long way to go. Don’t expect this thing to go away in the next couple of days like a cold. If those burns get infected then you’re in trouble. And your body’s running on just enough juice to keep it alive, not to have you running round trying to save the world. Got it? Good. And those wounds are gonna need redressing every day and so…’ she took a deep breath, ‘I’d like Seth to stay on and look after you.’
A look of horror spread over Seth’s face while the others in the room, Salene, Danni and Bray looked mildly contented.
‘Can I have a word?’ asked Seth quietly to Briar. Briar shrugged and led Seth out onto the balcony. ‘Briar, I can’t stay.’
‘Why not? It’ll be a week at most. Oh, is it the fits? Don’t worry, like I said, you’re not due for…’
‘I had one last night.’
‘Oh my God! Are you alright?’
‘Yeah, fine but if someone finds out..’
‘Why does it bother you so much Seth? I’m sure they wouldn’t think differently of you if you told them.’
‘Briar. This is my problem. I want to keep it that way.’
Briar shrugged. ‘Fine, if you really must. But in the meantime you’ve got to stay for me, I haven’t got anyone else. Look; the more tense and stressed you are the more fits you’ll have , you’ve got to try and relax.’
Seth said nothing, it wasn’t even worth arguing with Briar she was always right. ‘So you’ll do it?’
‘Alright,’ he said in a unenthusiastic, non-committal tone. Briar and Seth stepped back into the room.
‘Is there a problem? Bray is gonna be alright isn’t he?’ asked a concerned Danni.
‘Sure, Danni, that was about another patient, don’t worry. So Seth will stay on and…’
‘Excuse me. I bought some lotions. Are you the healer?’
Briar laughed. ‘I wouldn’t really consider myself as a ‘healer’ it all sounds a bit too spiritual for me. I guess I am though. You are…?’
‘My name’s Tai-san. And I’ve bought some…’
Briar took one sceptical look at her. ‘You’re a herbalist right?’
‘No. I’m more of a spiritual healer.’ She said mimicking Briar’s earlier comment.
Briar rolled her eyes. ‘Right and what have you got there then?’
‘It’s some soothing almond oils for the burns.’
‘Well oil isn’t the best thing to let the skin breathe now it is? I tell you what can you make me up some antiseptic lotion. Just distilled water and about 2 drops tea tree and 2 drops eucalyptus. Thanks.’
Tai-san was a little put out being first patronised and then ordered. But she put the thoughts behind her. ‘Sure.’ She smiled. ‘And Seth I brought something for you.’ She moved towards him and opened a box she was carrying.
A strong odour immediately rose up out of the box and hit Seth full in the face. He reeled slightly and then looked in horror towards Briar. Briar ran forward and snatched the box off Tai-san she smelt the contents and turned to her in fury. ‘Rosemary! You idiot! Don’t mess with what you don’t understand!’
With that she grabbed Seth by the arm and pulled him out of the room. ‘Come on Seth, you’re gonna be OK. We’ll get you some fresh air, hold on.’ She dragged him down the stairs and along a corridor.
‘It’s too late,’ choked Seth. He pulled himself down to the nearest room and collapsed on the bed and started having a violent fit. The rosemary had not only triggered the fit but it had made it violent.
Briar cursed that stupid girl as she stared helpless at Seth’s thrashing limbs. She ran back to Bray’s room to get her bag. The others were still there looking very bewildered. ‘Don’t worry.’ She said. ‘Just keep that girl and her potions away from Seth. OK?’
‘What’s the matter? What happ…’ Salene was cut off by a loud beeping.
Briar pulled out a small pager thing from under her loose top. She swore as a look of panic crept over her face.

Episode Fifteen

‘What am I going to do without Seth?’ she said to herself. Then a spark of an idea came to her. She turned to the others. ‘Where’s that kid who tried to treat Bray before?’
‘Dal?’
‘Yeah.’ She moved out onto the balcony and leaned over the edge. ‘DAL!!’ she shouted.
Instantly Dal came running out of one of the lower floor rooms. ‘What is it? I was just about to go out to the farm,’ he looked up and saw who it was.
Briar snatched her bag and ran down the stairs. ‘Change of plan. You’re coming with me.’
‘What is it?’ called Salene from the balcony, looking down at them.
‘I need Dal’s help. One of my patients has got a breech birth coming now. I hope you’re fit. We’re running all the way to sector 4!’ she said moving off quickly down the corridor.
‘What?’ Dal asked running after her.
‘The baby’s coming out backwards. Ever delivered a breech birth before?’
‘Nope.’
‘Well neither have I. There’s a first time for everyone. Now come on, we’ve got to run.’ She broke off into a run down towards the sewers.

In the meantime Ebony had gone back into her room and to her horror there, lying on her bed was Seth, fitting violently. She panicked as she saw Seth throwing his arms against the brick wall. She ran out into the corridor nearly colliding with Briar. ‘Briar! Seth’s on my bed and there’s something horrible happening to him.’
Briar stopped suddenly and turned around to face Ebony straight on. ‘Listen Ebony, I need you to help me. Seth’s epileptic and he’s fitting. Stay with him and try to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Don’t hold him down. Let the fit run its course and if you can, put pillows or something soft along the walls and under his head.’ With that she turned and ran leaving Ebony standing, aghast.
She ran back into her room and looked helplessly at the jolting body. She tried to move pillows under his head and around the walls but he’d just throw them back. Finally she moved swiftly and picked up his head pushing the largest pillow she had under his head. After that all she could do was wait. It was terrible for her, to look straight into his tortured face. There she suddenly felt at peace with him. The demons inside him also controlled him, just like they did her, and he too was powerless to stop it.
She watched as his movements became less wild until he was motionless, his eyes still open. This was even more scary for Ebony. Was he dead? Was he alive? She hated any situation she couldn’t control and she knew Seth must too. ‘Seth! Seth!’ she called to him, gently laying her hands on his shoulders.
Suddenly the vacant look on his face disappeared, it was replaced by a look of fury. ‘You? what are you doing here?’
‘Trying to help you.’
‘But why? he asked, his look of fury wilting.
‘Firstly, Briar told me to, secondly this is my bed,’ she smiled.
Seth looked around himself then laughed, it was a compromising situation. He was lying on the bed, pillows strewn everywhere and Ebony was leaning over him. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t want anyone to have to see that.’
‘What, the fit?’
Seth cringed. ‘I hate that word it makes me sound so.. so, I don’t know, affected.’
‘Loads of people are epileptic,’ said Ebony, rather uselessly.
‘Oh so you’ve had chats about this with Briar have you? When did she tell you? I suppose all the others know?’ he demanded angrily.
‘So is that the thanks I get for looking after you?’
Seth relented, ‘No, this is.’ He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, taking her by surprise. But then, when he kissed her again, she kissed him back.

Episodes 16-20
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