text: As they neared the meeting point with Billie, Madeline got her map out of her backpack. She’d marked the coordinates on with a small pencilled-in cross -- a shopping mall on the edge of the city. She and Lena agreed to approach from opposite sides, each taking a separate entrance. As she walked through the empty parking lot, Madeline stared up at the towering structure looming over her. She hadn’t exactly liked malls at the best of times. Blaring lights and loud music, masses of people meandering around mindlessly... She preferred the quiet comfort of a library or a cafe. But somehow it was even worse now everything was silent and still. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there were too many rooms and too many entrances. Sure, that meant hiding places and escape routes for her, but it also meant places Poiloogs or people could spring out from. Still, Billie was waiting for her in there. She had to trust her friend knew what they were doing. The main advantage -- and the reason she supposed Billie had chosen it -- was that with a building this big, they could all be inside and still not be close enough to trigger whatever it was the Poiloogs detected when people gathered. Madeline paused when she reached the entrance, looking around before peering inside. Everything seemed calm. She stepped through the shattered automatic doorframe, wincing at the sound of glass crunching underfoot. When no one came to investigate the sound she relaxed slightly, edging further inside. There were a number of shops to choose from when it came to picking a location to settle in and wait with her walkie-talkie. There was a jewellery store to her left that had been pillaged of everything valuable before everyone realised that gold and gemstones weren’t as important as food and water. Multiple clothes shops caught her eye -- she could probably do with a change of trousers, a T-shirt, and... well, everything. Then, of course, there was the bookstore. It was hard to ignore the beckoning of all those stories, worlds she could lose herself in and words weighty enough to knock out any foe. She wondered which Billie had chosen. Her friend was presumably already here. Madeline had given up trying to beat them to a meeting long ago. She chuckled to herself as she imagined them squirrelling themself away in some sporting goods store, getting excited about all the new ways to tire them both out. Figuring it was best to stay near the entrance, Madeline eventually chose one of the clothes stores. She wove her way through the display, carefully poking at the larger piles of items, until she reached the back of the room. Once there, she tucked herself away between the shirts hanging on metal rods protruding from the wall and took out her walkie-talkie. “Hello? Lena? Billie? It’s Madeline here.” “Mads?” Billie’s reply came almost instantly. “And did I hear Lena’s with you?” “Glad to know I still warrant some attention,” the medic’s voice came through, dripping with amusement. “Half of me thought that both of you would forget I existed as soon as you were back together.” Madeline rolled her eyes. “Like I could forget the woman who saved my life.”. “Well, it’s good to hear you’ve been looking out for each other,” Billie said. “I was worried we’d lost you for a minute there, Lena.” “You wish!” the woman replied. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Warmth swelled in Madeline’s chest as she cradled the radio in her hands. It felt good to be back together, all three of them. Though they might mask it with bravado and jokes, over the past few days, she’d worried first that she’d lost Billie for good, and then that she’d lost Lena. She hadn’t realised how used to them and their banter she’d grown. But as much as she wanted to revel in this moment, she knew there were more important things to discuss. “So, now that all that’s out of the way...” she said. “How did the meeting go?” There was a brief pause during which Madeline thought her heart might climb up out of her chest and into her mouth. “It went well,” Billie replied. “The plan is all ironed out. Now we’ve just got to enact it. After one final meeting, of course. You know how we love our meetings.” Madeline chuckled, grateful as ever for her friend’s ability to ease the tension with a little humour. “Where’s the meeting?” “Back where it all began. After all, if we want to make sure we’re finding where Liam and Joe -- and everyone else folk in the group lost -- were taken, we figured we should start from the same location.” Madeline nodded to herself. It made sense. It was what they’d agreed between them. She just hadn’t quite realised they were there yet. Everything had happened so fast while she’d been stuck on the sofa healing. “There’s just one more thing I wanted to... errr... clear with you, first.” Even through the static on the radio, Madeline could hear the nervous quiver in Billie’s voice. It squeezed at her chest and set her heart racing. “Yes?” she prompted. “So, you know that the plan requires someone to get captured for us to track them?” “Yes...” Madeline could feel the tension winding tighter and tighter inside her chest, tying her heart in knots. “We said that naturally one of us would be the one to do it.” *Of course, when we said that, I’d fully expected to be at all the planning meetings so that I could make sure it was me,* she added to herself. “Well, with you being injured and everything it just made sense...” There was a brief pause, but it didn’t matter, Madeline knew what was coming next. “I said I’d do it.” Madeline clenched her fists and pressed herself back even further against the wall, swiping at the shirts hanging around her in an attempt to hold back a scream of frustration. “And you didn’t think to check with me first?” she asked through gritted teeth. “You just made this decision for the both of us?” “Well, we weren’t exactly on speaking terms at that point. And it wasn’t like you were around to check with anyway...” “So it’s my fault?” Madeline was surprised at the fire in her own voice, the words burning a path from her chest and trembling in the otherwise still air of the abandoned store. “Of course not! You know I didn’t mean it like that. Look, I’m sorry, okay? But it’s done now so--” “I’m coming with you,” she said firmly. She knew Billie too well to try and persuade them out of it, but that didn’t mean she had to let her friend go in alone. Besides, if any part of tracking the captured volunteer failed, this way she didn’t have to lose someone else. And it was probably her best shot at finding Liam without having to rely on anyone else. A long silence followed. Madeline could imagine the cogs whirring away in Billie’s brain, tucked away in some other corner of some other abandoned store in the mall. They’d be trying to think of anything they could say at this point to persuade Madeline to stay safe and let them take on the risk. Then, if they were as smart as she knew they were, they’d be realising there was no point even trying. It would have made her laugh if she wasn’t still so full of rage. Eventually, the hiss of static came. “Fine,” they said. “Excellent!” Lena’s voice over the walkie-talkie made Madeline start. She’d allowed herself to get so distracted she’d almost forgotten the medic had been listening in the whole time. “We can all agree that you’re both reckless idiots with more bravery than sense... So, what now? I hope you’re not both expecting me to volunteer to join you too because I personally *like* being alive and free.” This time, Madeline did laugh. She was sure her friend would have plenty of choice words about everything she’d just heard the next time they were alone together. And probably for Billie too. Oh, how she wished she could be a fly on the wall for that conversation. “Now?” Billie’s voice came over the radio. “Now I suppose we set off back to where Liam and Joe got captured. That’s where we’ve arranged the final meeting to take place. And that’s where me -- and Mads, apparently -- will get ourselves caught.” A tingle of static ran over Madeline’s skin, her body filling with nervous excitement tinged with a healthy dose of fear.