Beyond The Tribe - alternative and parallel stories by the fans

Blaze

Episode 1

Ryan strolled into the kitchen early that morning with the intention of making an early breakfast in bed for Salene. His cooking wasn't up to much but Salene always loved it when he did things like this. He smiled to himself, still a little sleepy as he filled the kettle with water and switched on the gas to light the stove. He looked up to see Salene coming out of their room and looking inquisitively around her.
‘Morning Salene!’
‘Ryan? Is that you? Do you know what time it is?’
Ryan looked down at his watch and to his horror he realized it was still only 6.30am. ‘Oh, sorry Salene, I was just trying to make you a cup of coffee.’
‘That’s really sweet Ryan, but come back to bed and try again in another couple of hours.’
He sheepishly walked back towards the room and climbed back into bed, he could of sworn it was later than that!

It was another hour or so until the early risers began to emerge. Bray opened his eyes to see the monotony of his bedroom ceiling, swaying slightly with the rhythm of his hammock. He felt awful despite the huge amount of unsuccessful cures the different members of the tribe had heaped on him. Tai-san had given him the usual foul tasting stuff and used enough lavender oil that Bray was sure he smelt like a some old granny, not that he actually did but his nose was so blocked and his throat so swollen and sore that if was hard for him to feel anything other than pain. He’d suggested antibiotics to Dal but he’d insisted that they should be kept for more serious diseases. All he’d got from him was a couple of aspirin.
He heaved himself out and moved slowly across the balcony to the kitchen. The coffee was already out along with mugs, spoons and some precious fresh milk from the farm. He moved over to the food cupboard to see if there was anything to eat. He opened the doors to see some fairly empty shelves, he hadn’t been out looking for food in a long time and the offers from the grateful antidote recipients was dwindling. He found the matches lying near the stove and he struck one. That was the last thing he remembered, apart from the heat.

Patsy was also emerging from her room to get some breakfast. She screamed as she saw a huge gas fuelled fire ball, blast from the kitchen with a sound that made her ears ring. Smoke filled the room and flames licked up around the kitchen roof. People ran out from their rooms and put up their arms to shield them from the heat. Ebony was the first one to act. She ran up the stairs into the heat, pulling a scarf around her mouth and nose.
‘What’s she doing?’ screamed Salene as Ebony plunged into the flames.
A few minutes later Ebony emerged dragging the figure that was unmistakably Bray.
‘Oh my God!’ cried Danni in horror as she ran forward to help get him away from the blaze.
Ebony left Bray and screamed to Spike and the boys standing at the bottom of the stairs. ‘Don’t just stand there! Get the extinguishers! Move!’
They unfroze and ran to find fire extinguishers lying around some of the rooms. The smoke was thick and black and visibility was getting low. But within a few minutes Ebony’s organization had the blaze under control.

Bray lay motionless on Salene’s bed. Danni was starting to get hysterical. ‘Wake up! Bray! Can you hear me! Get up now!’
Dal pushed his way into the room and took Bray's arm, he looked up in horror at the others as he felt the pulse. There was none. They had to do something fast.

Episode Two

Dal just felt the weak pulse fade under his finger tips and he felt again in horror for something, but nothing came. ‘We’re gonna have to resuscitate him. Quick. Anyone know what to do?’ he said as he locked his hands together and placed them over Bray’s ribcage.
The rest of them looked blank. Danni was holding his head. ‘What, Dal? What do we do?’ ‘Calm down Danni. Now listen carefully. Tilt his head backwards.’
Danni rocked the limp head towards her revealing the black charred skin still oozing liquid. Dal pushed down on Bray’s chest in pulses. ‘Now pinch his nose, put your other hand under his chin and take a deep breath and breath quite hard into his mouth. Now! Do it!’
She put her hands to his lips to open his mouth. ‘Dal they’re stuck!’ she screamed looking at the molten flesh, welded together.
Dal looked up in horror to see she was right. He shuddered realising what he had to do. Swiftly he put one of his hands up to Bray’s mouth and using his finger tips, pierced a hole through the cemented lips, tearing away the black flesh that was his lip. ‘Try now, go on!’
Danni took a deep breath and blew into his mouth. She could still the heat of his burns on her lips and the skin coming away around her fingers.
‘Good.’ Said Dal, pumping again on Bray’s chest. ‘And again.’
Dal leaned forwards and put his fingers to the side of Bray’s neck. To his relief he felt a pulse, faint but definitely there! ‘There’s a pulse!’ he shouted. He leant forward and put his ear next to Bray’s mouth. His chest remained still, not moving. He took a deep breath and blew firmly into Bray’s mouth, watching the chest rise then fall again. He did it again… and again. Suddenly he felt a breath returned and he breathed a sigh of relief. He checked the pulse again and it was still there, a faintly pressing against his fingers.
‘Salene! Ryan, get cold water, and towels and any cloth or anything you can find. As fast as you can!’ They ran out of the room. ‘Danni find some scissors!’

Soon Dal, scissors in hand was cutting down the middle of Bray’s t-shirt. Danni went to pull it off but some of it was melted into the skin around his shoulder where the skin was charred. ‘Leave it!’ shouted Dal at her. ‘Just get some pillows and raise his legs, he’s going into shock!’ Danni looked at the hands, now ghostly white, his face was still black and oozing something horrible.
Salene and Ryan ran in with bottles of water and a bucket. Dal told Salene to soak the towel in the bucket and Ryan poured the bottles of water over his face, where the skin was already beginning to rise up. Dal tilted his head to one side and checked his breathing. Wrapping the cold towel around Brays face Dal, signalled the others to leave with him.
The rest of the tribe were anxiously waiting on the steps when Dal came out of the room to talk to them. ‘He’s breathing now and his heart’s going again.’
‘So he’ll be OK?’ Chloe looked up, her make-up was smudged where she’d been crying.
‘Um.. well.. He’s had terrible burns, he’s lost so much fluid and without a drip or anything to replace them he could…’
‘What?’ Danni screamed. ‘You mean he could still die?!’
‘I’m afraid so. But it might not come to that.’
‘Why aren’t you in there doing something?’ she was getting hysterical. Salene put a comforting arm around her trying to calm her down.
‘There’s nothing I can do, we just have to wait, we’ll know over the next couple of days, either he’ll regain consciousness and get better or or…’
‘He’ll die slowly.’ Ebony put in pessimistically. Dal looked at her in horror. ‘It’s OK Dal, we both know that’s true. I’ve seen it happen…’
The tribe were shocked into silence apart from the crying from some of the girls. Bray couldn’t die. He was their leader! If he went it would be just Ebony! What would they do without him? Questions spun around and around in their minds. In the meantime Dal bandaged Bray up with the last of his sterile dressings and hoped for the best. The swelling went slowly down to reveal flesh, still black and charred all down the side of his face a shoulder. There was nothing they could do to stop the life giving fluid seeping from his face. Danni just sat by his unconscious body and cried, rocking herself backwards and forwards. Salene stopped the others coming in, the sight of Bray’s disfigured face would be too much for them. Tai-san tried her best to help, but she had to admit that it was beyond her. In the meantime they cleaned the kitchen, also charred with smoke and tried to save some of the tables and chairs from disintegrating.

Salene walked back and forth, she couldn’t bear the waiting. Patsy nervously went up to her, embarrassed to be asking such a trivial question. ‘Salene what can we eat? There’s nothing?’
Salene turned to her and realised the problem, there was no food in the mall now, the supplies had been burnt. ‘I… I don’t know Pats. Where’s Ebony?’ she cried angrily. ‘Why doesn’t she get the militia to find food! Is this more important than defence? ‘
A cough came from behind them, they turned around to see Spike standing there, with less make up than usual, looking a little concerned. ‘Um.. sorry.. but Ebony’s gone. She hasn’t been here since after the fire.’
‘What?? Where is she?’
‘I don’t know, she didn’t say.’
‘That sounds about right. Look, Spike is it? Can you round up the others and go and find some food, we’ve got nothing.’
‘Sure,’ said Spike backing awkwardly out of the kitchen. He felt terrible without Ebony, kind of lost. But he felt even worse knowing how this incident had brought out her feelings for Bray, couldn’t she see he was never going to change. He was forever hopeful…

Episode Three

Meanwhile it was getting dark outside and Ebony looked desperately around her. She was back in the old Loco territory, the same one she’d been thrown out of only a few months ago so she was a little wary to say the least. She gave a sigh of relief as she turned the corner and looked up to the tall building in front of her and saw the light shining dimly from the upper floors. Quickly she ran round the back and crawled through the window, just like she’d used to. Carefully she moved up the flights of stairs to the top of the building, passing as she went corridors with lights shinning from each of the rooms and the occasional cough. The person she was looking for was on the top floor. As she reached the final staircase, Ebony paused mainly for breath but also for thought. It had been about 6 months since she’d been here, since the argument and her pride had never let her return. How could she have been so stupid! She started up the stairs nervously, Ebony did not like the taste of humble pie but for Bray, she’d eat anything. Not that she’d ever admit that to herself.

‘Danni you’ve got to eat!’ Salene, laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. ‘You’ve been here for hours, now.’
‘I can’t leave him Salene, after all he’s done for me. I’ve to be there for him. I feel so useless!’
‘We all do, Danni, but Bray would want you to take care of yourself.’
Danni accepted the plate and they both listened to Bray’s delirious murmurings. To Danni it was just mumbling but to Salene, who’d been there, it was a broken account of the trip to Eagle Mountain and Amber’s death. In fact her name kept coming up.
‘It’s OK Salene.’ Danni realised what she was thinking. ‘I know he’s thinking about Amber. I can cope, honestly. Tell me what happened to her.’
So Salene sat down on the bed and told her all about the trip and Amber and Zandra’s death, in more detail than Bray had ever told her. It had been too hard for him.
Salene looked down at Bray’s seared face, for a horrible moment, it reminded her of the way they’d found Amber, the same charred remnants of a face. Salene choked back tears, she had to stay strong for everyone else.

Ebony stepped up to the closed door and knocked.
‘I’ll be with you in a second,’ called an businesslike voice from the inside.
Ebony pushed open the door. ‘Hi Briar. It’s me.’ Ebony waited, not sure how here old best friend would receive her after their last confrontation.
The first look on Briar’s face was that of shock but then she ran forward and threw her arms around Ebony. ‘I can't believe it! It’s you! I thought I’d never see you again!’
Ebony hugged her back with relief that everything had been forgiven, She couldn’t help the way Briar made her feel, it was a kind of effect she had on people that drew them to her.
‘So where have you been?’ Briar motioned for her to sit down on the bed.
‘I’ve been with the Mallrats.’
‘And your pride let you come and visit?!’ Briar teased in good humour. Ebony couldn’t help smiling, she knew her so well!

Episode Four

There was a moment of a silence in which the dreaded guilt rose up inside of Ebony. When she was with the Locos she’d learnt now to toughen herself against it but Briar always made feel this way. That was one of the reasons she’d tried to forget that Briar ever existed, but now Ebony needed her help.
‘So how are things here?’ asked Ebony cautiously.
‘Not bad. Better since the antidote, our death rate has fallen dramatically. I’m so pleased you’re with the Mallrats- they’ve saved the lives of so many of our patients.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me you needed it? I could have got people to bring it over to you.’
‘I… I didn’t want to bother you.’ The eyes of the two girls met and then instantly understood each other. Briar knew that it would have been hard for Ebony to see her again. That meant there had to be an important reason why she was here…
‘Look Briar. I’m sorry to ask you this but we need your help.’
‘Who’s injured?’
‘Bray. He was in a gas explosion and he’s really badly burnt...’
‘Hold up, you mean Bray as in your boyfriend before the virus, as in our old school, as in Martin’s brother?’
Ebony nodded.
‘So you’re back together?’ This was just too strange, thought Briar, they were never suited.
‘No we’re not we’re.. um…’ Ebony paused thinking how Bray despised her. ‘We’re just friends now.’
Briar read in her eyes that something was wrong but now was not the time for politics. ‘So when was he burnt?’ she switched into her businesslike mode.
‘This morning.’
Briar looked at her watch, it was half three.
‘How much of him? Estimate body cover for me.’
‘I dunno, about one fifth I guess. But they’re real bad, his skin's totally black.’
Briar gaped, even before the virus this was serious, but without proper hospitals etc. And there was serious work to be done here, she had so many patients to look after and Bray would probably be dead by the time she got there. She only had a few other competent kids helping her at the clinic and it would be hard to leave them, let alone the patients.
Quickly and practically she made up her mind. ‘Yes Ebony, I’ll go. But I can’t promise you anything, I have to tell you that the chances are slim. Possibly even less than the chances Anya had. Do you remember?’
Ebony nodded, surprised at how normally Briar could talk of her dead sister. Ebony remembered the time it happen, Briar had coped well even then. It was November last year and Ebony was with Briar when the phone call came. They’d rushed to the hospital to find her conscious, breathing, talking, but then the doctors had said there was nothing they could do - she was dying. Ebony didn’t understand it then and Briar had to calm her down and explain. She’d never realised how strong Briar really was until that day, Briar said it was because she came from a medical family and she was used to death but Ebony could see it was more than that.
Briar took out her two remaining plasma bags from the cool box, knowing it would be barely enough and she directed Ebony to get the rest of her father’s medical bags. She carefully selected some textbooks and a few personal things and put them in a small rucksack. Suddenly she remembered something. ‘Ebony, we’ve got to take Seth!’

Spike felt disconcerted foraging for food rather than threatening people to get it. They broke into some posh apartments near the centre of the city and raided them kitchen by kitchen for edible stuff. Soon they returned to the Mall laden with plastic shopping bags that they’d found in people's homes. The Mallrats could hardly help laughing at the sight of Ebony’s bulldogs with shopping bags rather than weapons.
‘Here you are,' said Spike, dumping the bags at the top of the stairs, the others copied him and then they turned to leave.
Ellie feeling a little guilty called after them. ‘Don’t you want some?’ Spike turned, a little surprised.
Salene joined in. ‘Sure we could make you some stuff up, you must be hungry.’
Reluctantly Spike, encouraged by his rumbling stomach, walked back up the stairs and sat in the cafeteria along with the others. There was an awkward silence. The Mallrats had never really mixed with Ebony’s militia before, it was uncomfortable to say the least.
Danni ran out of Bray’s room and broke the silence. ‘Dal come quick! I think he’s coming round!’

Episode Five

Ebony followed Briar to a room at the back of one of the long corridors. She watched as Briar knocked on the door and went inside. Ebony went to follow her but was stopped by Briar, ‘Wait here, I’ll be back in a minutes.’ She knelt against the wall and listened to the muffled voices from the outside. A few moments later Briar emerged with yet another bag and a teenager of about 16. He was much taller than Ebony, but he avoided her gaze as he shuffled along after Briar. As soon as they were outside Ebony and Briar off loaded some of their bags onto Seth who took them without complaint. In the dim light Ebony could just make out his short black hair, divided into small spikes on top. He noticed Ebony staring curiously at him but he didn’t seem to care.

As they were walking, the darkness swept in on them but Briar and Seth seemed unperturbed and simply got out some torches and walked on ahead. Briar told Seth the situation in more complex terms than Ebony understood and asked him what he would do. A little shyly (or maybe aloof) he answered her questions in a way which seemed to please Briar very much. Ebony felt a little left out of the conversation; it seemed as though Briar was using Bray’s condition as some sort of a teaching experience. However, Ebony knew that anything Briar thought of always had a good reason behind it. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she soon found herself lost around the back of some tall buildings she didn’t even recognise. She moved ahead of them to try and get her bearings.
‘Is something wrong?’ asked Briar.
‘I’m sorry Briar, but I think I’m lost.’ Ebony hated to admit it and she was sure she caught sight of the faintest trace of a smirk on Seth’s quiescent face.
‘Lost?’ came a scornful voice from the shadows, ‘Lost? Ha! We know exactly where you are!’ From the dark alleyway steps a vicious looking guy with a groups of others.
‘What do you want?’ snarled Ebony, conscious of her total lack of weapons compared to the baseball bats and bars they were carrying.
‘What have you got?’ he smiled politely, mocking them.
‘For you? Nothing.’
The guy moved closer to her and laid a hand on the strap of a bag she was carrying. Ebony looked down and to her horror the hand was scarred and the third finger was completely missing.
Briar stepped forward and laid her hand on his, feeling the rough skin and the stump where the finger had been. ‘Healed nicely didn’t it Zach?’
She looked up into his eyes. He stopped, speechless. Ebony went to move backwards to defend Briar but was interrupted by his astonishment. ‘Briar? Is that you?’
‘Sure is!’ she grinned right back at him.
He stepped forward and hugged her. Briar was a little overwhelmed but Ebony was reeling. Meanwhile Seth just stood back from them, a little detached.
‘So really, how’s the hand?’
‘It’s so much better thanks to you. It doesn’t hurt anymore and you were right, I didn’t need that finger at all!’
‘So you decided not to take up the piano after all?’ They laughed but Ebony still stared on.
‘You look a bit weighed down. Here, can we help you? Come on boys, its Briar!’
Soon the guys were leading them back on course to the Mall and carrying most of their baggage. Briar walked up front with them, chatting away and Ebony let herself fall to the back. She found she was next to Seth but as neither of them made any attempt at conversation they bore out the rest of the journey in silence.

A crowd of people watched Bray’s eye flick open and shut. Most of his face was obscured with bandages to try and prevent infection setting into all the horrible weals on his skin.
Salene sat down on the bed and took his hand. ‘Bray? Bray? Can you hear me?’ she called gently.
Bray’s eye opened and flicked in recognition. ‘Salene is that you?’ He was dimly aware of the bright red hair leaned down towards him through his limited, blurred vision. ‘Where am I? What happened?’
‘Don’t worry Bray; you’re gonna be just fine. There was a fire and you were caught in the blaze.
Painfully, Bray turned his head to one side to look at Danni.
‘It’s OK. I’m here.’ She took his hand and squeezed it softly. A faint glimmer of a smile moved across his face and then his mind fell back into the back hole he was desperately trying to climb out of.
Dal took his arm and felt his pulse, it beat quickly and weakly against his fingers. The others looked at him expectantly. ‘It’s much better know.’ he lied. He knew Bray’s condition was worsening and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Episodes 6-10
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