Paul and Fenny caught the others just as they were about to sit at a table.

“We have to leave. Now,” Paul declared.

“What? Why?” Gina asked.

“Our friendly neighbourhood psychopaths are across the road,” Fenny replied.

“How far’s the next town?” Brad asked.

“Only a few K up the road,” Gina said meekly.

“Christ, all I want to do is eat and sleep,” Greg scorned.

“Just a few more kilometres and we can eat, sleep, and in their case, fuck like rabbits,” Paul declared, motioning to Brad and Fenny.

There were various grumbles and groans as they headed back to the car.

“I’ll give you a break if you like,” Fenny offered as she caught up with Gina.

“Yeah, that’s right, send me back to the fiery pits of hell,” Gina grumbled.

“From what I saw, you and Paul were getting on tremendously well. No pitchforks in sight,” Fenny mused.

“Oh bull, you barely stopped sharing saliva with Braddles,” Gina jeered and felt any attempt at a jovial mood slip away as she noticed Greg had made it back to the car first and was perched in the centre of the back seat.

“Good luck,” Fenny teased as she slid behind the wheel.

Once everyone was buckled in, Brad grabbed the map. “The next town is Hawker.”

“How long is that gonna take?” Paul queried.

“Half and hour, give or take a few seconds,” Brad mused.

“We ready then?” Fenny asked.

There was a unified, “Drive,” and then once again the car was swallowed up by blackness.

Gina tried to focus her attention out of the window, but soon felt Greg’s hand slip onto her thigh. She focused her attention on the black blobs that she could see out of the window mixed with her own troubled reflection. Greg placed a soft kiss on her cheek and she shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t phased and did it again.

“Greg,” she murmured, noting an annoyed look from Paul.

“What? I barely had a chance to be near you all day,” Greg said in a hushed voice.

Gina turned from the window to look at him and was promptly engulfed in a kiss. She figured it was easier to go with it than to explain why she’d rather not and pressed herself as close to him as she could.

Hawker was a slightly larger town with about four million pubs and a smattering of houses. The few streetlights illuminated the car as Fenny searched for a suitable place to get food and spend the night. She eventually chose a small pub and pulled the car to a stop.

“Finally,” Brad yawned, “I’m starving.”

“You and me both,” Fenny perked and unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the car.

The others joined her and they headed toward the entrance, walking stiffly and attempting to stretch. Brad put his arm around Fenny and she slid one of hers into his back pocket as they entered the pub. Greg put his arm around Gina’s waist, making sure Paul noticed.

“Good evening,” the publican gushed, “what can I do for ya?”

“We’d like rooms for the night, and food,” Brad replied. “Please.”

“Sure, that’s two doubles and a single I take it,” the publican grinned and disappeared into a small room. He returned and handed out the three keys. “Let us know what you want and we’ll sort out something to eat,” he added.

“Thank you very much,” Brad perked, the other chorused their thankyous.

The weary mob headed upstairs and found their rooms. Fenny and Brad’s was across the hall from Greg and Gina’s and next to Paul’s.

Brad unlocked the door and Fenny sauntered in, went straight to the bed and flopped onto it.

“I am so exhausted,” she sighed, stretching out her arms and legs.

“I dunno, I’m up for a few things,” Brad grinned and lowered himself on top of her.

“You are insatiable,” Fenny mused. Brad started kissing her neck, then moved down to the top button of her shirt.

“Does that bother you?” Brad asked, stopping to look up for a moment, and then went back to undo the button.

“Oh, I’m just appalled,” Fenny sighed, unbuttoning Brad’s shirt and running her fingers over the tattoo again.

“I apologize deeply,” Brad breathed as he chucked his shirt on the floor and then brought his lips to hers.

“When you said you were starving,” Fenny said breathlessly, “you weren’t talking about food, were you?”

“Nope,” Brad grinned as he tore off her shirt and then moved one of his hands down to work on her belt.

“Shit, I just remembered I have to tell Fen something…I’ll be back in a sec,” Gina announced as Greg opened the door.

“I’m sure Fen’s not gonna care,” Greg huffed.

“Five seconds, I promise,” Gina smiled, pecked Greg on the cheek and headed across the hall. She watched him go into the room and then stepped across to Paul’s room and knocked on the door. He appeared looking less than pleased.

“Can we talk?” she asked

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow and moved aside to let her in. Gina scanned the room and thought the single bed looked slightly pitiful.

“Well?” Paul asked.

“I just…I wanted…” Gina flustered.

“Shall I make it easier for you?” he asked. “If you go back across that hall and spend the night with him, that’s it.”

“You don’t understand, I have to,” she pleaded.

“Why?” he asked bitterly.

“Because if I don’t, he’ll be even more unbearable than he already is,” she huffed.

“I don’t care. I don’t want to play ‘who’s got the most fucked up emotions’ game anymore,” he declared.

“Oh, and you think I enjoy it?” she scorned.

“Well I don’t know. I mean every time you say you love me, you go fuck someone else,” he spat.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times. “I’m sorry, ok? I’ve told you a billion times that I’m sorry. I know I’ve got to deal with Greg, I know. It’s just too fucking complicated to deal with right now.”

Paul walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. “Look at me,” he breathed.

Gina reluctantly looked up into his hazel eyes. usually they twinkled, but right then they were serious.

“The only way to deal with this is to take control. Sleeping with Greg to keep him happy isn’t taking control. I mean, if you want to be with Greg, then by all means, go ahead.”

“I don’t want to be with Greg,” she said, the words escaping and surprising her.

“Then what do you want, Genie?”

Gina opened her mouth, but the word “you” just wouldn’t come out. She stood staring into Paul’s eyes for several seconds, urging herself to tell him. But the words wouldn’t come. “I should go,” she mumbled and headed for the door.

She walked out without looking back, grateful not to have seen Paul’s crushed expression. She looked across the hall at the door and then at the door behind her. Gina then walked down the hallway, descended the stairs and left the pub.

Fenny woke, her eyes springing open with the fear she was going mad. Then she realised the voices were actually coming from outside.

“Who the hell is yelling?” she groaned.

“Greg and Paul, by the sound of it,” Brad yawned.

“God, what now,” Fenny grumbled and rolled out of bed. It wasn’t until she was dressed that she realised it was morning. The last thing she remembered was snuggling into a sweaty ball with Brad.

She opened the door to see Greg and Paul standing in the middle of the hallway.

“I told you I haven’t seen her,” Paul spat.

“Well she didn’t come to bed last night,” Greg hissed.

“Maybe she got her own room,” Paul suggested angrily.

“Don’t try and worm your way out of it. I know you, McDermott.”

“What? Christ you haven’t gotten over Belgium have you?”

“Yeah, well all I did was got to the bathroom. Next thing I know, you’re screwing her in the back ally!”

“I was off my face!”

“What are you yelling about?” Fenny asked, stepping between the two men before they could start laying into one another.

“Gina didn’t give Greg his eagerly awaited blowjob,” Paul scorned.

“Oh, grow up,” Greg hissed. “She didn’t come to bed last night.”

“And she wasn’t with me,” Paul declared.

“Maybe she did get another room,” Fenny soothed.

“She said she was going to talk to you,” Greg huffed.

“I never saw her,” Fenny shrugged.

Greg glared at Paul, and Paul rolled his eyes. “Ok, she came and saw me, but she left again I swear.”

“Of course she did,” Greg sarced.

“I’m not surprised, you two are acting like children,” Fenny sighed. “I’ll go and ask the publican if she got a room, ok?” she added and left Greg and Paul to glare at each other.

Gina had left the pub and, against her own morals, hitched a lift to the next town. She was so tired on arrival, she didn’t bother paying attention to the “Welcome To…” sign. Instead, she found a room and fell wearily onto the bed. She encountered a restless night, with sleep only coming in the form of horrendous nightmares. By morning she was still tired, hungry and emotionally drained.

She headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant, grabbed a newspaper and spent time milling over a cup of strong tea. Halfway through an article about artificial insemination in fish, she heard two familiar bickering voices.

“How am I supposed to know who left the note?” Rona scorned.

“Well you’ve got to help me think. If anything happened to Brad—” Ritza gushed.

“You handcuffed the guy to the bed, and you’re worried about him getting hurt,” Rona groaned.

“That was good pain, besides he was crying my name,” Ritza mused.

Gina cringed behind her paper.

“Let me have another look,” Rona declared, and snatched the note from Ritza. “What’s this?” she asked.

Ritza snatched the note back. “Fuck it…we’ve been had.”

“Great, now what?” Rona sarced

“Well, the heavies should be calling in sometime soon,” Ritza mumbled. “You don’t think that skank might still be alive, do you?”

“How? Her and that…I don’t even want to say it. They went over the cliff,” Rona growled.

“Yeah, but the heavies didn’t see the bodies did they?” Ritza countered.

Gina got to her feet and shuffled out of the restaurant, making a vain attempt to hide behind the paper. Outside, she dumped the paper in the nearest bin and wrung her hands nervously. She should tell the others about what she’d just heard, minus the bit about Brad crying Ritza’s name as they did the deed. But that would mean having to call Paul, and did she really want to deal with that right now?

“We can’t leave,” Greg declared after breakfast.

“Well what else do you want us to do?” Fenny asked.

“I don’t know, call the police, the army…her mother,” Greg hissed.

“Calm down,” Brad scorned. “I’m sure Gina is fine.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty tough,” Paul nodded.

“Maybe she’ll resurface at Oodnadatta,” Fenny suggested.

“It’s possible,” Paul agreed.

“She could be hurt or something,” Greg shrieked.

“That’s right, be positive,” Brad sighed as he took Fenny’s hand and led her outside. Paul and Greg followed.

“Who’s driving?” Paul asked.

“Brad’s turn,” Fenny perked. “I’ll navigate.”

“Suits me,” Paul shrugged.

They piled into the car and Fenny began consulting the map. Suddenly Paul jumped a mile, looked a bit bewildered and then pulled the phone from his pocket.

“Sorry, wondered what was making my testicles vibrate,” he mused and took the call. “Hello?”

“Paul.”

“Gina, where the fuck are you?”

Greg, Fenny and Brad all turned to look.

“I don’t know.”

“Well find a sign.”

“In a minute…I’ve found Ritza and Rona.”

“And?”

“They’ve got some sort of note…and they reckon it’s a hoax.”

“Shit.”

“Ritza is fuming and I think she knows you guys aren’t dead.”

“Dammit.”

“And the heavies are lurking about.”

“Ok, so where are you?”

“Shit.”

“Gina.”

There was no response

“GINA,” Paul yelled, but the phone had gone dead.