Chapter 8

"Come on Trude, let's go and join the dinner," Ryan said as he broke our kiss off. I just looked at him. I didn't really want to join the others at all. I knew we had to join them sooner or later - even though I didn't want to.
"There you are! Did you think you could really sneak off without being noticed?" a female voice asked, and I looked over my shoulder: it was Amber.
"Yes—we are coming," I said as Ryan pulled me up to my feet. I just smiled at him and Amber. He placed his arm around my waist as we followed Amber down, and out to the café.
As we entered the café we were met by cheers from our friends. It was nice to hear, and it brought a big smile to my face.
"Where did you two sneak off to?" Zandra asked me as she came into view. She was holding our daughter, Taryn. She looked so content with Zandra.
"Wouldn't you like to know!?" I asked smirking, indicating that I had no intention of telling her, or anyone else for that matter.
"Yea, but that's beside the point. Here's your daughter," Zandra said and handed me Taryn. I had a smile that went from ear to ear as I took her. I looked over at Ryan who was also smiling.
"Wanna hold her?" I asked him, and all I got for an answer was his goofy smile and a nod. I handed our daughter to him. Ryan held her as he went over to one of the tables, where there were two seats free, mine and Ryan's. He sat down and held Taryn in his arms. I settled down next to him after a while.
The food we had was fresh vegetables, like tomatoes and potatoes, carrots and other things; we also had a roasted pig, thanks to the boys. When we'd eaten and there was barely anything left, Jack came and surprised us. He'd managed to fix the battery charger, that had broken apparently, so now we had music. The mall was beautifully decorated, and around the fountain they'd hung paper lights in different colors, and it was beautiful. I loved it. I was sitting on the fountain edge with Amber watching Ryan playing with our daughter.
"Aren't they cute?" I asked Amber as I watched Ryan with Taryn. She was gurgling, I could hear her, because I was the one who set the volume of the music, so it was quite low. One reason for that was to keep attention away from the mall, so nothing would be heard outside; but the second reason was that I wanted to be able to hear Taryn.
"Taryn is extremely cute, and I see that Ryan is happy with playing daddy," Amber said smiling and looked over at me. I smiled and nodded because I knew Ryan loved being a dad. I watched as Ryan danced around slowly with Taryn in his arms.
"I think I'm going to go dance with my man," I said and got up from the fountain. I walked over to Ryan. "Want to dance?" I asked and smiled as I walked up to Ryan.
"Of course. Hey Zan, can you take Taryn?" Ryan asked, and Zandra came over to us.
"Of course I can, I love your daughter, Trude." Zandra said smiling brightly as she reached out for Taryn. Ryan handed Taryn to Zandra who pranced off as Ryan pulled me into a hug. I kissed him on the cheek as we started to dance to the music.
The next morning
I woke up early, it was dead quite; the only thing that I heard were footsteps. I got up from my bed and went out and looked down from the balcony. It was Bray returning, he'd been gone during the past few days. I didn't think much of it and went back to bed. Ryan was sound asleep; so was Taryn, in the stroller that Zandra had pushed in last night for us. I couldn't fall back asleep so I laid my head on Ryan's chest - he was lying on his back - and listened to his heartbeat. It was soothing. And the next thing I knew was that Taryn was crying.
"It's okay sweetie," I cooed as I got out of the bed to go and pick her up. Taryn kept crying, I checked her diaper to start with, and changed it, which didn't take me long at all; then I went about to feed her.
When I'd done that I headed out of the room I shared with Ryan; he was still sound asleep, which I found entertaining. I left the now-sleeping Taryn in the stroller next to the bed and headed for the café. I had every intention of making breakfast, but when I reached the café I was ambushed by Zandra and Salene.
"Go back to bed!, we've prepared your breakfast" Salene said smiling as she motioned for me to go back to bed. I did as she asked, and sulked all the way back to bed. I was barefoot and in my brown dress, and I'd so wanted to make breakfast. I crawled down next to Ryan and laid my head on his chest again, seeing as he'd just flipped over on to his back. He was barely awake. I decided to wake him up in my own way. I snuggled up close to him and started kissing his chest, moving up to his neck and up to his mouth. When I reached his mouth he responded by kissing me back. It didn't take long until I heard the sound of a throat being cleared. I looked up with a sheepish smile on my face. I was also slightly embarrassed and I was sure Ryan was too. I got that confirmed when I looked back at him.
"Morning!" I said brightly as Salene put the tray down on the bed next to me.
"Here you are!" Zandra said as Salene went back to stand with her.
"Salene, would you take Taryn for the day?" I asked, but it was more of a request than a question. Salene nodded and retrieved the stroller with Taryn in it, and she and Zandra left. I knew the two would most likely fight over who was going to get time with her. I didn't mind much, I had Ryan, and I had some ideas of how we could spend the day. He looked marvelous, and smiled just as sheepishly as me.
"Good morning!" were the words that woke me up the next morning. I was lying in Ryan's arms, and it had been quiet and peaceful, since Taryn had been with one of the other girls. It was wonderful waking up in Ryan's arms. Yesterday Ryan and I had been talking for just a few minutes; the rest of the day we'd basically spent in bed, underneath the cover. It had been wonderful. Now I knew it was time to face the real world, of misery and drama.
Ryan stayed in the bed while I was getting dressed; I just rolled my eyes. I didn't care. I wanted to be back with my daughter. I found her in the café with Zandra, and I found Salene preparing breakfast. I smiled as I settled down next to Zandra.
"Thanks for taking care of Taryn yesterday," I said as I shuffled my dress some.
"No problem, she was an angel!" I heard from Salene who poked her head out from behind the cupboard. Just then Bray entered the kitchen. I looked him over, he was covered in bruises. Zandra handed me Taryn and hurried over to him.
"Are you okay?" Zandra asked Bray as she led him over to a chair. I couldn't care less about him. I didn't like him. Something about him just rubbed me up the wrong way. I didn't pay attention to the conversation since I was focusing on Taryn again. She was the cutest in the world, and I just loved her to bits. I caught the end of Zandra's conversation with Bray and that was only because Salene had called that it was breakfast.
"Did you just say there's a tribal gathering?" I asked, and looked at Bray intently.
"Yes," Bray said as he looked at me; his face was guarded. It surprised me, not that I let it show.
"Where?" was the first question I asked.
"Along the coast," Bray answered sluggishly, still guarding his face and his voice too, at least that was what it seemed like.
"Why?" I asked and looked closely at Bray, he was obviously aware of me studying him, because his face was even more guarded now than before.
"Ebony thought it was a good idea to have tribal gathering, to try and get the tribes to get along. Everyone's invited. It is all because Zoot has vanished," Bray said in a detached voice.
"How fun!" I said with some sarcasm. I had settled down on a chair next to Zandra with Taryn in my lap. She was half asleep.
"I believe so, it's a step toward getting along with each other, meaning it will become safe to walk the streets again," Bray said and my response to it was a snort. I couldn't help it. As I sat there with Taryn in my lap Salene came out with breakfast. I put Taryn in the stroller that was standing in the café while Salene called everyone for breakfast. It didn't take long before the whole tribe was sitting in the café. Bray of course took time to explain about the tribal gathering; I didn't pay attention to him.
"Okay, it sounds like a good idea to check this out," Amber said and I looked over at her, not really caring much. "However, we need to decide this as a tribe. Everyone for going to the gathering raise their hand—" Everyone sitting in the café except me and Patsy raised our hands. "Seems like we are going, and Salene, you will stay behind with Trudy to look after Taryn with Patsy," Amber said and Salene nodded.
I didn't say anything, I was just bothered with the fact that they were taking Ryan with them. But I knew I shouldn't protest, cause they wouldn't hear of it.
The gathering was apparently going to be in two days. During the two days before the gathering I kept a close eye on Bray. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary and he stayed in the mall. I was surprised that he'd learned of Zoot's disappearance, but then again, he'd had a run-in with the Locos.
I was sitting by the phoenix fountain with Patsy to my right and Salene to my left; Salene had Taryn in her lap, and I didn't mind. It was nice not having to hold my child all the time. Ryan and the rest were about to head out with the wind turbine to have something to trade for, power without having to use slaves.
"I'll go and put Taryn down for a nap," Salene said and headed up the stairs with Taryn. I didn't say much. I watched as the tribe left. When they'd gone, Patsy helped me get the grill back down. It didn't take us long to get both the grills down, and I felt a lot safer with the grill down.
After a few hours it was time for lunch. I was making the lunch for the three of us, me, Salene and Patsy. Taryn wasn't on solid food yet. While I was in the café, Patsy was playing with Bob at the back of the mall in the storage area. Salene was sitting in the café with me. Taryn was in her stroller awake; I could hear her gurgling, it was nice to listen to.
"What do we have here?" a voice asked and I looked up. It was a group of people in robes.
"Get away," I said as I hurried over to Taryn and Salene. Patsy was still at the back of the mall; thankfully she stayed there.
"Oh, a feisty one!" the guy in a blue robe closest to me said; and I shivered. I couldn't really fight since I'd picked up Taryn. One of the other robed people had bound Salene to the chair she was sitting on.
"We have what we came for," the same guy said again. It leads me to believe he was the one who was the leader over the rest of the bunch.

Chapter 7

Always eating the same tinned food: beans with some more beans on crackers. With water.
"Trudy?" I looked up and it was Amber this time.
"Yes?" I said hesitantly as I sat down with my food next to Ryan after I'd served everyone.
"I was wondering, since we now have something to trade for, will the wedding take place soon?" Amber asked me and I smiled. But I didn't answer until I'd swallowed my food.
"Yes. I was thinking that it would take place in a few days. And Amber, we want you to marry us," I said smiling brightly while Ryan was sitting, mostly playing with his food.
"Me?!" Amber asked me surprised. I looked at her, nodded and smiled. "Why?" was the reply I got.

"Because, you are the leader of this tribe, and who better than the leader to marry us?" I asked and tried to get Ryan to say something. But he stayed quiet. I wondered why, but I didn't ask. I'd do so later when we were alone.
"Where's Bray?" I heard Zandra ask. I looked over at her. I wondered why she was asking about Bray. She'd had the hots for Lex the last time I'd spoken to her about love. But on the other hand, that was like three months or so ago.
"I dunno," I answered with a shrug of my shoulders. I didn't really care either.
"He must be around here somewhere," I heard Zandra say, but I guessed she said it more to herself than anyone else; the only reason I thought that was because she got up and left her dinner. I couldn't really be bothered to tell her that I'd seen him leave the mall once again. It was beginning to get on my nerves, but I wasn't the leader, Amber was. I was still eating so I stayed put. Taryn on the other hand, was awake; but she was quite, thankfully. I couldn't stand it if she would go in to a crying fit.
"So boys, when will you go and get me food for my wedding?" I asked as I looked from Ryan, to Lex, to Jack and then over to Dal. No one answered, so I kept staring at Lex, since I knew how my staring got to him more than anyone else.
"Fine, we'll go tomorrow, when we have enough batteries," Lex said; and I smiled, I was happy: I was getting my wedding. It also meant real food: I couldn't wait. But I did know that this meant that Zandra would prompt me to stay away from Ryan from tomorrow, since we were going to have the hen and stag parties then, and the day after would be the wedding. I didn't mind it, that much. As I finished my food I picked Taryn up from the stroller. She was growing quite fast. I was still trying to decide whether or not to tell the others that she was Ryan's daughter: I didn't mind it anymore if they knew. And it meant that Lex would start to treat Ryan nicer—hopefully. I'd made my mind up: after the wedding I was going to announce that Taryn was Ryan's—well I had to discuss it with him first. I headed in to mine and Ryan's room to feed Taryn. I still only did it in our room, since I didn't like the gawking eyes of the others.
"Ryan?" I asked as I poked my head out through the curtain. I was trying to get Taryn to burp still.
"Yes," he said as he came over from the café. I didn't even have to ask him to come. He often knew when I wanted to talk to him. It was nice.
"I was thinking if we should let the others know about Taryn," I said as I finally heard the burp from Taryn. I smiled as I put her down in the stroller. I slumped down on the bed, and as usual I pushed the stroller back and forth with my foot. The movement kept Taryn calm.
"Why?" was all I got from Ryan, this surprised me.
"I thought you'd like it, and I think they'd leave us alone if they knew," I said confidently.
"Well I think they'd be asking us a lot more question if we tell them now. And I don't care what they think," Ryan said and I just nodded. I realized that it was useless to argue about it. I let it be.
As the next day dawned I listened to the clattering sound coming from the café. I didn't get up, I still stayed put in bed. Ryan was already up. Taryn was still in here with me in the stroller. Sleeping.
"Hi baby!" I said as I saw that she was awake. She was gurgling, making odd sounds on her own. I thought that it was cute. I fed and changed her before I headed out of the room. I had of course gotten dressed as well.
"Good morning!" Amber said as she handed me a bowl of tinned fruit and cornflakes. I took it and sat down at the table. I had Taryn in the stroller.
"Have the boys left already?" I asked as I noticed that the only ones in the café were me and Taryn, Amber, Zandra, Paul and Patsy, Salene, Bob and Bray.
"Yeah. They left a little while ago to go to the farm," Zandra answered smiling. She was sitting next to Bray, and she was sitting extremely close to him. I wasn't really surprised, she'd been eyeing him since he first showed up in the mall.
"Patsy, what do you think of being my flower girl?" I asked her as I was thinking of the dresses me and Zandra had found a while back.
"Yeah! And Paul you can be the ring bearer," Patsy said smiling which made me smile and I then asked Paul about it.
"Well would you like to be the ring bearer Paul?" He nodded as an answer and I smiled brighter. I couldn't wait for the wedding. It would be so much fun.
"The hen and stag night is tonight. Bray, Paul could you make sure that Lex doesn't get Ryan in trouble please?" I asked and this obviously surprised Bray, seeing as he looked like he was dumbfounded.
"Sure!" Bray said as took a bite of his breakfast.
"Thanks. And Zandra, you'll have to help us girls to get ready for tomorrow," I told her still smiling brightly. I had a feeling that it was going to be a wonderful day.
Before I knew it, the boys were back. And Zandra made sure that Ryan and I couldn't see each other. It didn't bother me. It just meant that I would have Taryn the whole day, which suited me just fine: I loved my daughter.
I got a look at what food the boys had traded for. There was a real live pig, and fresh vegetables. It smelled delicious. And if I knew Lex (which I did), he'd probably been able to get something with alcohol in it too. I didn't care, I wasn't the one who was going to drink it.
As the night came approaching I was a nervous wreck. The only thing that kept me together was the fact that all the girls kept me company.
"Calm down Trude," Salene and Zandra both kept telling me. It was hard though. And we ate the most wonderful pie for dinner, which I could eat only a little amount of: I was too nervous. Zandra and Amber kept reassuring me that the wedding would go just fine and that it all would be 'peachy'. We could hear the boys laughing.
"Sounds like they're drunk," I said as I looked out the window of the furniture store where we were held up.
"I'll go and see," Amber said as she got up and headed out the doorway. I followed her with my eyes.
"Guys—be careful" was what I heard Amber tell the boys. Then she came back in. "It's okay Trude. They are being careful." Amber said smiling to me. I didn't really believe her. And she had been wrong, because a few minutes later we heard a crash. We all hurried over to the railing. I saw Jack lying on the floor. It made Zandra scream and gave me a headache.
"Calm down Zan," I said as I tried to get her to stop screaming. It took a while, and all the while Amber headed down to help the boys with Jack.
"It's not a spectator sport" I heard Amber say. I guess it was to those who were gawking. I'd gone with Zandra to my room. She was going to stay with me to make sure I didn't sneak off to Ryan.
The Next Morning
"Trudy, come on get up," Zandra said and I was trying to wave her away. But she continued to bug me.
"NO!" I said a bit too loud as I pulled the cover over my head, or rather when Itried to pull the cover over my head. I realized that Zandra was standing with it in her arms. "What?" I asked frustrated as I sat up in the bed.
"You are getting married in a few hours, and all you want to do is sleep?!" Zandra asked me staring at me like I was crazy. I just started laughing. I had almost forgotten about the fact that I was getting married.
"Don't worry Zan. I know," I said as I got out of bed and walked over to the cot and looked down: Taryn was still asleep. "Now, you go and get our dresses and let's get ready." I said smiling brightly as I studied Taryn's face. She looked just like Ryan.
It didn't take Zandra long to fetch our dresses. Here was my beige halter top with rhinestones on the collar and it looked wonderful with the matching skirt. The skirt was trimmed with white and black rhinestones, like the collar on the top. Zandra's outfit was a pink, furry top with a pink, slightly furry skirt and a pair of pink high heels. I, on the other hand, were wearing a pair of cute black ballerina shoes we'd found.
First Zandra got me into my clothes, and then she got herself into hers.
"Sit there." Zandra said and pointed at the edge of my bed. Taryn had woken up earlier, hungry, and I'd fed her and changed her. And now she was asleep again, thankfully. I nodded and sat down.
"Now let's see." Zandra said as she rummaged around in her bag for make-up.
As Zandra applied the make-up, she made sure that I didn't get to see how I looked, until she was done with the make-up and styling me.
"There. Now stay put here, while I go and get my brush," Zandra said as she headed out of the room. I just rolled my eyes. I checked on Taryn, she was awake playing with a teddy bear that Ryan had given her. I smiled at my daughter. I couldn't believe that I had a daughter, and would be someone's wife in just a few hours.
"Trudy?" I heard Amber ask.
"Yes," I answered and looked up from Taryn. Amber entered my room, with a plate of food.
"I thought you might be hungry," Amber said smiling brightly. I guessed that Zandra had told her that she wasn't allowed to tell me what I looked like.
"Thanks, and yes, I am starving. Give me!" I said as I reached out for the food. I smiled. It was some fresh fruits and cereal and milk. I couldn't eat the cereal and milk and I tried to eat the fruit at least. Thankfully, I managed to eat the fruit.
"Hi!" Zandra said as she came back into the room. She was brushing her hair as she was walking. She had let her hair down, it looked hilarious, with the blue, pink and brown all jumbled up together.
"I'll leave you to it. Let me know when you're ready," Amber said as she headed out of the room again. It didn't take long until Zandra attacked my hair. When she was done I got to look myself in the mirror. My hair was pulled up into a short ponytail at the back of my head, and attached to it was a flowing gown. The make-up was subtle, a light beige eye shadow and a thin layer of a pink lipstick. I smiled as I admired her work. I also had small rhinestones at the corner of my eye. It looked beautiful. Zandra was now working on herself. I just sat and watched her. The last thing Zandra applied to herself was a layer of bright pink lipstick. She looked beautiful.
"Now you stay here, while I go and tell Amber," Zandra said as she walked out of the room. It gave me time to dress Taryn.
I dressed Taryn in a white T-shirt and tied a beige ribbon around the waist. It functioned as a dress on Taryn, and she was really cute.
I was listening for the music that Zandra had told me was going to be played when I was to come down the stairs. I waited, and not before long I heard it. I picked up Taryn and walked out of the room. I was shocked when I came out in to the mall. They had decorated it. There were ribbons and flowers all over the railings, including the ones on the stairs. I carried Taryn with me down the stairs. I was smiling brightly. Everyone was gathered in front of the fountain. I saw Ryan: he was wearing one of Lex's shirts, a black one with red dragons on it, with a red and black striped tie. It made me smile even more. Amber was wearing some sort of sarong around her, in red and yellow. She was standing on the edge of the fountain, smiling just as much as I was. Lex was standing behind Ryan, and to the left Zandra was standing looking up at me.
"We are gathered here today, to witness an act of love. Ryan and Trudy are getting married, and have decided to write their own vows," Amber said as Ryan and I had our hands intertwined. I'd handed Taryn to Zandra.
"Ryan—" Amber said, and nodded to Ryan.
"With this ring, I vow thee my eternal love, for the whole of eternity," Ryan said as he put the ring on my finger with the last word.
"With this ring I vow thee my undying and eternal love," I answered and placed a simple ring on Ryan's finger. My ring was spectacular. It was silver with stones around it, in shifting colors.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride," Amber said and that's when I stopped hearing people, because Ryan swept me off my feet and kissed me passionately.
Ryan and I snuck off on our own before the dinner so we could have some time alone. I had planned to talk to Ryan but we ended up just sitting in a hammock we found in storage and sat in it, making out.

Chapter 6

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked and I just nodded. Taryn had woken up again, and she was suckling on one of my fingers since I let her, and wanted her to be quiet.
"You seemed to be in a hurry before," Ryan said looking me in the eye, or trying to. I was avoiding looking at him by looking Taryn.
"Did I do something wrong?" Ryan asked concerned.
"No. It's just—Marriage?!, Ryan," I said and he looked up at me. He just smiled like a goof and held out the ring to me. It was a piece of copper wire that had been wrapped around so it looked like it was three lines.
"Yes, I love you, and I want us to be married," he said as he handed me the ring. I held it in my hand, and gave it back.
"Why? It's not like anyone can marry us," I said and looked down at Taryn again.
"It's a new world, we can be what we want," Ryan said still wanting to give me the ring. "Trudy, I love you, and I want to marry you. Please accept the ring." Ryan said looking me in the eye. I was looking him in the face. I was thinking over what to tell him.
"I love you Ryan, and yes, I want to marry you," I said and reached out with my left hand to let him put the ring on my finger. I was smiling as he put the ring on my finger. We were still on the stairway to the roof. "Let's go down, it's late, and we need a good night's sleep," I said as I struggled with getting up; I had to hand Taryn to Ryan to be able to get up.
"Yes, we should sleep," Ryan said smiling as he looked down at his daughter. We walked down and entered the café. The only one sitting there was Zandra.
"You go ahead. I'm gonna speak with Zandra. Can you put Taryn to bed?" I said and Ryan nodded and entered our room. I could see him from the café.
"You okay?" I asked Zandra and she just nodded.
"No, you are not. What's wrong?" I asked her as I studied her face.
"Nothing, it's just Lex is being an ass," Zandra said as she took a sip of whatever it was she had in her cup.
"When is he not an ass?" I asked Zandra and she just shrugged. I was trying to think of a way to bring up the proposal.
"Nice ring you got there," Zandra said as she spotted it on my finger as I cradled a cup of hot chocolate I'd made while talking to Zandra.
"Ryan gave it to me," I said smiling as I looked at it. It really was beautiful, even if it was simple.
"Did he propose?" Zandra asked and I just nodded. It made Zandra light up like the sun. Zandra was my best friend and therefore the first person to learn about the proposal.
"What did you say?" Zandra asked and I just smiled as I flashed her the ring.
"I said yes, silly!" I said smiling.
"That means a wedding!" Zandra said as her smile grew. I didn't think she could smile any wider than she was before, but obviously she could.
"Yes. And I want you to help me," I said as I went into the kitchen. Zandra followed and sat down on the counter and fixed her make-up, while I fixed something to eat for me.
We ended up talking for most of the night. So when I entered my room, Ryan was asleep and Taryn had just woken up. She was hungry, so I settled down on the bed and fed her—I'd pulled the curtain screen closed first. Zandra and I had been talking about how my dress should look like, and what we could use from the stores. We had the lingerie store, the boutique, the shoe store, the boarded up jewelry store, the antique store, the store where they had hats only, and we also had the leather store on the second floor, and the fabrics store. So we had a lot of stores where I could find things for the wedding. Zandra and I had spoken about if for quite a while and came to the conclusion that my dress shouldn't be white, but a more beige-like color.
"Hi!" I heard Ryan say as I put Taryn down in the stroller; she had fallen asleep in my arms.
"Hey you!" I said as I crawled down next to Ryan. I kissed his cheek as I snuggled up close to him. He pulled me closer to him.
"Sorry if I woke you," I said smiling slightly as I yawned. Ryan just grunted something that I couldn't make out. It didn't take long until I was asleep.
"Breakfast is ready" were the words I woke up to that morning. I rubbed my eyes and looked around for Taryn. The stroller wasn't in the room, neither was Ryan. I pulled on my dress and went out to search for him. I saw him standing in the kitchen, with his foot on the stroller to keep Taryn from fussing too much.
"Ryan, let me take her—she's hungry," I said as I walked up to Ryan.
"Okay," Ryan said and stopped the stroller. I picked up Taryn and headed back to our room. I first fed her, then I changed her, because that needed to be done too. I then went back to the café. To enjoy breakfast with everyone, I'd put Taryn back in the stroller, and I was sitting next to Ryan, pushing the stroller back and forth with my foot.
We were all talking about different things when Jack came running up the stairs.
"I know how we can secure the sewer entrance. I just looked at him, I thought they'd managed to do that already. Apparently not.
"How is that, Jack?" Lex asked him, and I shifted to look at Lex. He was looking mischievously at the nerd.
"A trip wire connected to an alarm," Jack said smiling brightly. I just rolled my eyes and went back to eating my breakfast. I glanced up at Ryan and realized that he wanted to tell everyone at the same time of our plans. I nodded slightly.
"I have an announcement, or rather me and Trudy have one," Ryan said as he stood up. I just smiled.
"What?" several of the others asked at the same time. They were curious, it was easy to tell. I looked up at Zandra and she was grinning like a fool, just like Ryan. She knew already.
"Well, we are getting married, and we'll need all the help we can get," Ryan said smiling as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I knew that I probably should tell the others about the fact that he was Taryn's father, but I didn't want to. The rest of breakfast-time went on quietly, which suited me fine. It meant I had some time to think.
Later that day I asked Salene to baby-sit Taryn while Ryan and I was speaking about what would be needed for the wedding. We decided that we wanted Amber to marry us. We both knew her, and so did Zandra, and she seemed to be the best choice since she was the leader of the tribe. Well, not appointed leader, because we hadn't voted for it. But she was the one we went to with our troubles.
"Hey Salene!" I said as I left Ryan to go and speak to Lex about something while I went to get Taryn back.
"Hi!" Salene said smiling as she handed me my daughter.
"Was she good?" I asked as I looked down at my little girl.
"She was an angel," Salene said smiling as she handed me a stuffed animal she had let Taryn play with.
"That's good," I said as I took the stuffed animal—a little monkey—and gave it to Taryn, who was actually asleep.
"She looks a lot like Ryan, doesn't she?" Salene asked me and I just nodded without thinking. "So— Ryan is her father?" Salene asked, and I looked up at her. I had no choice, and I knew I would have to tell them sooner or later.
"Yes, but please, I don't want anyone to know. It's hard enough as it is with everyone gawking at us—and Lex being an ass," I said pleadingly as I looked Salene in the eye; I knew that I looked somber. Salene smiled and nodded.
"Of course I won't say anything, take your time. So have you decided who will marry you?" Salene asked me, and I smiled and nodded as I headed up the stairs to the café.
"Won't you tell me?" Salene asked, and I shook my head. I wanted it to be a surprise. And it reminded me that I needed to speak with Zandra. I wanted her to be my bridesmaid. "Oh, okay. Let me know if you need help with Taryn again." Salene said and went to the furniture store where Paul and Patsy were playing—I could hear them. I went into the room I shared with Ryan: he wasn't there. I put Taryn in the stroller and then went out again with the stroller to find Zandra. It didn't take me long: she was in her room, doing her make up.
"Hey!" I said as I sat down on the bed next to Zandra.
"Hi!" she said not taking her eye off the mirror she was holding in her left hand while she plucked her eyebrows.
"You do know that I want you to be my bridesmaid, right?" I asked Zandra as I kept my foot on the stroller and pushed it back and forth to make sure that Taryn stayed asleep.
"Yes, and yes I will be. So what we need to decide is what we should wear." I nodded smiling.
"Let's go to the boutique," I said and Zandra nodded. We headed down the stairs—with the stroller, which was quite hard. When we reached the boutique we looked through the clothes we found there.
We found the perfect top for me. It was a beige halter top with rhinestones on the collar. It looked wonderful. We also found a really pretty pink furry top for Zandra to wear. Now all we needed was skirts, and some other things.
"I think I saw some skirts that might work in Penny's fabrics," Zandra said as we headed there.
"Let's go," I said and soon enough we entered. We actually found two skirts that were finished that worked with our tops. It was like someone had asked for them to match the tops. The beige skirt was trimmed with rhinestones in white and black, like the top.
"Shoes?" I asked and we headed for the next store. It didn't take us long to find a pair of nice flats that I would be able to walk in. I'd never been comfortable in high heels and most often went barefoot in the mall. Zandra on the other hand found a pair of high heels that were off-white, more to the pink color than white.
"I want you to help me decide on what to do with my hair," I said and Zandra nodded. She headed for the store filled with hats. She grabbed a few items but didn't show me.
"I will fix it for you, but that will be a surprise. Now come with me. We'll have to stash the clothes in my room, because Ryan mustn't see them—it means bad luck," Zandra told me, and when she turned her back to me I just rolled my eyes: I thought it was ridiculous. But I planned on doing as Zandra wanted: I thought it would be more fun to have it be a bit more like a traditional wedding.
"You know, I bet Lex is talking Ryan in to having a stag night," I said as I sighed. We were sitting in Zandra's room; I was sitting on the floor, actually half lying, and pushing the stroller with my foot as I usually did.
"Yeah, Lex would love having a Stag night, and I think we should have a Hen party. It would be fun, don't you think?" Zandra asked me and I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't too keen on having a party at all. And I didn't want the wedding to happen just yet. I wanted us to have proper food and such. Which meant we needed to trade.
"Zandra, can you look after Taryn for a while?" I asked and she looked at me and said yes. "Thanks. I am going to go ask Jack if he can think of a way for us to be able to trade," I said and headed out from Zandra's room. It didn't take me long to locate Jack. He and Dal had worked on fixing a water supply for us, apparently; and they had managed to make a filtration system for it too.
"Hey! I need your help," I said as I stood in the doorway looking at the two kids.
"Aha—with what?" Jack asked me in a skeptical tone of voice. I glared at him.
"Well, I want proper food for the wedding. And I was hoping you could help me think of something I could trade with," I said looking at the two. It looked like Dal had something on his mind.
"Well we were talking about how to make a generator to recharge batteries. And if we manage that, we could trade batteries for fresh food. I bet Bray knows somewhere," Jack said smiling as he showed me the book they'd been reading.
"Thanks guys. Let me know when it's done. And there's no rush!" I said smiling as I left.
A month or two later and it was time for lunch. And according to the roster Amber had drawn up, it was my job to make lunch that day. The others didn't like the roster too much, but it was good, it kept us out of trouble, and helped us. Lex was trying to get to become leader, I'd overheard him a few times speaking to Ryan, or someone else. But Amber stood firm, and she was our leader and would continue to be, because none of us wanted Lex as leader, and Amber was the best at it. Lex however had been told to act as the security chief. And he did, which kept us all safer than you'd think. Bray was co-leader with Amber but he was only in charge of food supplies. Amber was in charge of everything else. It was marvelous.
"Okay, we got it working," Jack came in to the café and announced as I was serving the food.
"Got what working?" I asked looking up at him.
"The windmill. It is now recharging batteries. Which means we can trade batteries for food at the farm Bray mentioned," Jack said as he took his plate and sat down. I nodded. I'd almost forgotten about the wedding we were planning. Now we could get all we needed.
"That's amazing. Now you can trade for fresh food at that farm Bray spoke about," I said smiling brightly. I was happy, I was getting my dream wedding, well sort off. It was like the one me and my mother had talked about when I was little, but it would have fresh food and not disgusting tinned food. And there would be music. I was excited now, for the first time in a while. Sure I was in love and happy, but every day was the same, and it was becoming tedious.

Chapter 5

I didn't know what to answer, I was taken by surprise. Instead of saying anything I just walked out of the room. I knew how to get up to the roof, and that's where I headed.
As I reached the roof, I settled down on one of the benches that were placed up there. I looked out over the city, thinking. I knew that I loved Ryan, but I didn't understand why he was asking me to marry him. I knew that he loved me too, but I was too perplexed by his choice of asking me.
"Trudy?" someone asked. I looked around and spotted Salene.
"Yes," I said as I turned back to look out over the city.
"I saw you rush past. And I was wondering if something's wrong," Salene said as she sat down next to me. I heaved a sigh.
"Nothing's wrong. I just needed time to be alone and think," I said smiling slightly as I glanced over at the redhead.

"Oh, do you want me to leave?" she asked and I just nodded. A few seconds later I was all alone again. I pulled my knees up against my chest and put my chin on my knees and my arms around them. I was thinking back to the months I'd been hiding my pregnancy, before we'd found this safe haven. Flashback

"Trudy?" Ryan said. I was sitting in a corner in the barn we were squatting in that night. It was about four months since we had left the school and boot camp. We were close to where Zandra's old friend Glenn was from. We had gone there with him, because he had told us he knew a safe place that would be full of things. I'd been avoiding him for two whole days now, and I guessed it was getting to him. "Yes," I answered as I pulled at my shirt, which was getting a bit tight around my stomach. Luckily Ryan didn't notice it, and even if he did, he didn't comment on it. None of us had managed to scavenge any clean clothes yet, since all the places we had found had already been looted, sadly enough. The barn we were in right now was an abandoned barn that had just a small outhouse connected to it. I had found that whoever had lived there, had lived up in the loft, because there was a sweet little apartment there, and it hadn't been looted of food yet, nor clothes. I had found a brown dress to wear with a green trim. It was a lot looser than the school uniform. Zandra found some really weird clothes that she got dressed in, and the boys found shirts that they could wear. I was sitting on the bed that was in the corner of the little apartment, eating a tin of beans, cold. "What are you doing?" Ryan asked and I just rolled my eyes as I took a mouthful of the beans. It was a wonder that I got to keep them down. I'd been having trouble with keeping food down the last few months, seeing as I actually was pregnant, which little miss Z had pointed out to me. "Eating, of course—I know. But what I meant was, why have you been avoiding me?" Ryan continued.. I stayed quiet for a while, while I was pondering on my answer. "I haven't been avoiding you Ryan, it's just something Lex said," I said covering up nicely. And it was true, Lex had told me something that'd made me think. A lot. "What did he say this time?" Ryan asked as he looked me dead in the eye. I was glad that I'd learnt to lie well as a child. It helped me at times like these. "Well you know Lex, the usual," I said, not really knowing what else to say to Ryan. "You mean he called me fat and dumb for the gazillionth time?" Ryan asked as he came closer to me. I just nodded. "I need to pee," I said, and moved around Ryan in just a few seconds and avoided his touch. He was still the same shy boy he'd been before we had found out about the virus. Which meant that he seldom hit on me. Sure he kissed me from time to time, but mostly only a peck on the cheek, or on the forehead, because he was embarrassed for some reason or the other. When I was on my way out of the toilet I heard Lex and Glenn having a shouting match. Lex and Glenn fighting, as usual. I was so used to them fighting by now that I seldom noticed it. Zandra always pleaded for them to stop or asked Ryan to make them stop. Me, I just ignored them until they stopped. Most often they stopped when Lex had smacked Glenn, leaving Zandra mad at everyone but me. Which I found amusing, but only because the boys never learned.

"Trude?" I heard someone call, and I was brought out of my memories. I had left Taryn with Ryan, and Zandra had come up to check on me.
"Yeah," I said, indicating that she was welcome to stay if she wanted to.
"Taryn was crying," Zandra said and handed her to me. Apparently Ryan hadn't been able to quiet her down, or Zandra had taken her from him, I guessed that it was the latter.
"Or you wanted an excuse to come up here?" I said reaching out for my daughter.
"You know me too well," Zandra answered as she sat down next to me on the bench.
"Yes, so spit it out. What do you want?" I asked, looking at Taryn.
"I just want to know why you just rushed out of the mall. And why you came up to the roof of all places instead of heading outside," Zandra said. I glanced up at her, and she was staring at me intently. It bothered me slightly.
"Ryan asked me to marry him," was all I said. I didn't feel like telling Zandra why I'd chosen the roof.
"Aww, what did you say?" Zandra asked me happily, and I just stared at her, completely forgetting about Taryn. "What?!" Zandra asked in surprise. I just rolled my eyes.
"What do you think? I took off before he could ask me again. I need time to think," I said staring at Zandra who was starting to feel uneasy: I could see it in her face. She got up and hurried away, and at this point Taryn started crying. She was hungry, so I fed her. When I'd burped her I went back to thinking of the past, and started telling Taryn about it.
"You know Taryn, me and your father met only a few days before you were conceived. It was at a dance and it was so much fun. The only thing was, I had to keep you a secret at first. I didn't tell anyone I was pregnant, until your aunt Zandra found out by mistake," I said smiling to myself. It was starting to get cold up on the roof, so I headed back inside. But I stayed on the stairway, still wanting to be alone. I was still trying to decide if I wanted to marry Ryan or not. I loved him, and I knew he loved me, but in this crazy world I wasn't too sure if it was such a good idea. I also knew that Zandra would be ecstatic if I did marry Ryan. But I was doubting Ryan's reasons for wanting to marry me. Was it so we would be a family? Or was it because he loved me? I didn't know, and it bothered me. The feeling of not knowing brought me back to before the virus, when I'd been shipped off, not knowing if my parents were dead or alive. It had been horrible, at least I'd had comfort in the fact that everyone around me felt the same way. I wasn't alone then, not like now. Sure, I was surrounded by people, but not a single one of them could understand how I felt. Not even Taryn, who had fallen asleep in my arms. I just watched her for a while. I was determined not to go back to the mall if I didn't absolutely have to. It didn't take long before I was back in the land of memories.

Lex and Glenn fighting, as usual. We were sitting in an old van, it was warmer in the van than it was outside, seeing as all five of us were huddled up together, even though the boys weren't too fond of it. Especially Lex and Glenn, who just kept on bickering and fighting. It was driving me mental, and on top of everything, I was trying to hide my pregnancy. It was getting harder as the months passed by. But I still managed, I knew that Lex didn't pay any attention to me since the time I'd almost neutered him. It was almost five months ago now. It was before I'd realized I was even pregnant. We had been sitting in an old abandoned store that hadn't been looted. Lex had been eyeing me all night and made passes at me. "So, you sure you don't want to hook up?" he asked me when Ryan had gone out to take a leak, and Zandra had gone off to find more make-up. "Ask me one more time and you will see how much I do NOT want to hook up with you," I said frustrated and put a lot of emphasis on the word 'not'. It didn't take long for Lex to make another pass at me. "I warned you," I said and took a hold of his nut sack and held it tightly. It made Lex squeal like a pig. "Will you leave me alone?" I asked him seriously, and he just nodded and whined. I let go of him and got up from the floor and went to find Zandra. It didn't take me long. Zandra was standing where all the perfume, make-up and other beauty products were. She was stuffing most of the things she wanted into her bag. The only thing Zandra didn't put in her bag was hair dye. Or that was what I thought. "Help me dye my hair, Trude." Zandra said, and I of course said yes, but I'd given her one condition: if she fixed mine, I'd fix hers. "How do we look?" I asked the boys as me and Zandra paraded over to the section of candy, where the boys were fighting over the last bar of some weird brand of candy. They stopped when they saw us. My hair was purple, and short, and Zandra had done my make-up too, so I looked like her, with blue swirls and pink eye shadow. Zandra's hair, however, was half brown, and the other half was split in two, one half in blue and one half in pink. The boys just stared at us. I burst out into laughter because of Ryan's expression, and Zandra started laughing because I was laughing, and probably because all three boys were wearing matching expressions: looks of surprise, gawking with their mouths fully open. "You can close your mouths now," Zandra said when she had managed to stop laughing, which just made me laugh even more. I hadn't slept properly, none of us had for the last few days, since we had been sleeping outside. It was before we'd met up with Glenn. Ryan kept finding razors to shave his head with; he kept trimming his hair down to keep it short; it seemed to be the way he liked it. Lex on the other hand had let his hair grow out, and it was reaching down to his eyebrows, so it was still quite short, at that point. I thought it looked ridiculous but I didn't say anything, because I knew it'd hurt his feelings.

"Trudy?" someone asked and I was brought back to the present.
"Yes," I said and looked down the stairs. It was Ryan. I didn't know what to tell him, so I just stayed quiet.