Chapter thirty nine: errands
Mitch, Preston, and I were about to land in Australia, and we all had a different mission for once we were back on terra firma. Mitch had to meet with the head of the rebels in Australia. Preston had to sort out a few technological issues that they were having, and I had to get my family and friends to somewhere where they could be easily protected. I was anxious to see my mum again, and the horse ranch, and everything I thought I'd never see again. I was the first person the hovercraft would be dropping off. I wanted to be able to show Mitch my old home, but there was no time. We had to get out of Australia before The Soviets realised where we were and bombed the place.
The three of us peered out the windows of the hovercraft as it lowered to the ground over my house - Mitch and Preston in curiosity, and myself in anticipation. One of the hovercraft managers came into the room.
"Abby are you ready? We're about to lower the ladder." I nodded.
"Yeah, I'll come now," I replied. I turned to look at Mitch, and he bent and kissed me.
"Be careful," he smiled. "I hope everything's ok down there."
"I don't think there's anything to worry about," I smiled. "See you guys later." Mitch released me, and I hugged Preston goodbye, before following the manager to the ladder.
As I stepped off the bottom rung of the ladder, I felt a familiar breeze blowing gently through my hair. I looked up at the hovercraft, and gave the thumbs up signal. Immediately, the ladder began to retract, and soon it was gone, and they were zooming away to wherever Mitch and Preston had to go. I turned to look at the Ranch house I had once called home. My mother didn't know I was coming today. Hopefully I didn't surprise her too much. I ran up the steps of the front porch, and knocked on the door. I heard a slight noise inside, so I knew she must be home. Eventually, the door opened, and my mother stood on the threshold. Her mouth dropped open slightly when she saw me.
"Hi mum," I smiled. She wordlessly pulled me into a tight hug.
"Is it really you?" She asked, pulling away to look at me. I nodded, smiling.
"We came to get you, and anyone else here that they're likely to harm," I smiled. "It's not safe here." She nodded.
"Let's go and sit in the field under a tree, and talk," she smiled. "We have enough time for that, right?"
"Yeah, they'll be back for us in an hour," I replied. We walked together over to the field behind the stables, and sat down under a large, shady tree.
"Who is we?" She asked. "Did Mitch come?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me. I smiled, and blushed a little.
"Yeah, he came, but he's not here at the moment, he had to meet someone else down in Perth somewhere. There's three of us that came."
"What about Emily?" She asked. "How is she?"
"She's safe," I smiled. "She's got a lot to tell you, so I'll leave her to do that when you see her. Preston is the third person that came." She frowned a little.
"Preston?" She asked. "But didn't he..." I realised she didn't know about Preston.
"This is the real Preston, who was good friends with Mitch before the Hunger Games," I explained. "Both Mitch and Preston were key to the rebellion, and their choosing ceremonies were rigged so they'd both be chosen and hopefully killed in the games. However Arabia found Preston a lookalike to go to the games instead of him, a guy called Lionel. Lionel was killed in the games, and Preston survived, although he feels terrible about it."
"Wow, that's quite a story," stated my mother.
"Tell me about it," I laughed.
"Is Preston the only one that survived who wasn't supposed to?" She asked, smiling a little. "Was there any others in the rebellion?"
"No," I replied. "The Soviet didn't know about anyone else." She nodded. We talked for a while more, but eventually we got up, and my mum went to pack some things to bring with her back to Canada, until the rebellion was over and it was safe to return.
Much later, my mum, along with my Uncle, (my mother's brother,) my Aunty, and cousins were on a small hovercraft headed back to the stronghold in Canada, where they would be safe until after the war. Meanwhile, Mitch, Preston, and I were back on our own hovercraft, headed for Africa. We would travel through the night, and get there late the next morning. I sat staring out of the glass windows, watching the sun setting, and the land and sea pass swiftly below us. I had noticed Mitch and Preston both seemed preoccupied with something that was clearly worrying them, but when I asked Mitch, he told me that nothing was wrong. I could tell, however, that something was clearly bothering both of them, and I couldn't help wondering what it was they were keeping from me.
The next day, we arrived in Africa, and met up with Ebony's family, who were part of the rebels there. It was the first time I'd been to a country that was struggling with resources, and although they had plenty of gold from their mining, there was little food for the people, and the majority of them clearly did not have much wealth.
Ebony's family consisted of her mother, father, three older brothers, older sister, and six little brothers. In Africa, many people had large families, and Ebony's family was no exception. The oldest brother and sister were about the same age - both about nineteen years old, and I wondered if they were twins or not.
"I'm so pleased I can meet you and thank you in person for what you did," smiled Ebony's mother, holding my hand tightly in gratitude. "It was beautiful."
"I'm just sorry that you lost her," I sighed. "I tried to make her death as peaceful as possible. She was a very courageous young girl, and I admired her for that."
"She was definitely courageous," smiled her father. "Thank you for coming to visit us. Allow me to introduce you..." He indicated to his family that surrounded him. "My name is Jerry, and this is my wife, Sharon, and Tyron and Ivory, who are twins, and then..." He listed off all of his other children, right down to the youngest little boy, named Ari. After talking with them and getting to know them better, we told them about why we had come.
"If you do want to get to safety, you've got two options, really," said Mitch. "The first is come back to Canada, and live in the stronghold until after the war. The second is go to the African stronghold, and live there. I don't think it's anywhere near as good as ours, but at least you'll be somewhere you call home, not far away in a different country." Jerry considered his options carefully.
"I want to keep my family safe, so I think we'll opt for Canada," he decided. Mitch nodded.
"Canada it is then," he smiled. "There's a mini hovercraft coming to pick you up in about two hours, can you have the things you want to take ready by then?"
"We can," smiled Sharon. "And whilst we are packing, allow us to treat you to an African banquet, it's not often we get guests around here." Mitch looked at Preston and I, and we nodded.
"Thank you," grinned Mitch.
"That would be amazing," I agreed.