After a few minutes of deliberation between Stephen, Emma, the bus driver and the rep, they decided that it would be easiest if they split into two groups. They would then make their way around the meadow, to roundup the rest of the passengers.

“So, it’s decided then.” Emma waved across one side of the meadow. “Stephen and I, will roundup the rest of the passengers on this side of the meadow. “You two…” She paused. “I’m sorry, but we don’t know your names. I’m Emma and this is my husband, Steven.” She pointed to her newlywed husband.

The bus driver and rep took their que to introduce themselves.

First up was the bus driver. He stepped forward and offered his hand up to Emma first. “I’m Derek. I suppose it is nice to meet you, despite the circumstances…”

Emma shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too Derek!”

Derek shook hands with Steven and then stood a little to the side.

The travel rep was quick to step up next. He too offered his hand to Emma. “I’m Sebastion and I am your travel representative and guide for this, uh, last minute mystery tour.” He chuckled.

Emma laughed along with Sebastion and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you Sebastion.”

Sebastion quickly shook Steven’s hand and then also stood a little to the side as if he was waiting for the next instruction from Emma.

Emma clapped her hands. “Now we all know each other!” Having assumed the leadership of their small group as easily as she breathed, she began to give the instructions they were all waiting for. “Let’s go and round up the rest of the passengers, and meet back here in say, uh twenty minutes.”

Both Sebastion and Derek nodded in agreement and the pair looked as if they were about to leave when Sebastion started ruffling through his pockets. “Hold on a minute, I have something that will come in pretty handy in this situation!”

He continued to riffle around for a short while until finally he produced a scrumpled up piece of paper. Stepping forward he handed the paper to Emma.

She took it from his hand and stared at it for a moment. It was just a list of names. “What is this?”

“It’s the passenger list.” He reached into his pocket once again, then quickly produced a pen. “Here you’ll need this to mark people off as you find them.”

She took the pen from Sebastion. “Thanks, but won’t you need these?”

He shook his head. “I always carry more than one copy, otherwise it’s a pain if I lose it and that’s my spare pen. This way we can be sure we’ve accounted for everyone.”

Emma’s eyes lit up. “Good thinking!”

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Sebastion smiled at the enthusiastic praise from Emm. “No problem.” He coughed. “Well, we’ll get on with rounding up the passengers from our end. Good luck with yours.”

Emma nodded and took hold of her husband’s hand ready to walk away. “We’ll see you back here in a short while. If anything comes up, shout and we’ll come running.”

Derek gave a thumbs up. “Right, same goes for us.”

The two pairs parted ways and headed in opposite directions, to round up the rest of the passengers, from the areas they had previously decided to take.

As Emma and Steven walked away, towards the nearest group of their fellow passengers, Emma turned to Steven. “Well, what do you think?”

He shrugged. “They don’t know any more than we do. Not that I was expecting them too…”

“I was hoping they might know something! They are supposed to be the ones in charge here.”

Steven started laughing. “I’m not sure that applies in this situation!” I don’t think that anyone is in charge anymore. Despite his amusement at his wife’s reaction, he had some serious concerns about how things were going to pan out from here on in. However, he didn’t want to bring down his wife’s mood. Not yet anyway. Her optimism and ability to jump in and try to do whatever she could in any situation was already helping them out. If nothing else, they should try and gather the rest of the passengers together, like they had planned.

He would just have to keep an eye on matters.

The first people they tried to approach appeared to be another couple like Steven and Emma. The pair had been some way to the edge of the meadow while the Steven and Emma had been planning their next steps with Derk and Sebastion. They had now started heading further into the centre as Steven and Emma approached them.

Even from a distance could tell this couple were in a bit of a state. They appeared to be in a state of disagreement as they walked. The man was striding forward and the woman he was with seemed to be tugging his arm to hold him back. He could tell they were sharing heated words, even if he was yet to be able to make out what they were saying exactly.

As soon as the man from the pair realised that Steven and Emma were heading in his direction, he made a beeline right for them. He forcefully shrugged the woman off as she grasped at his arm and sped towards the pair.

When he drew closer, he waved his hands in the air and begun calling out to them. “Oi you two! Yes, you two. You better explain what’s going on here and soon!”

He seemed to be under the impression that they either knew what was going on, or had something to do with the situation they had all found themselves in.

Steven and Emma stopped where they were, as the man went from a quick walking pace and switched up into a purposeful jog in their direction.

He stopped aggressively just in from of the pair and stepped straight into Steven’s personal space. “Well? You’ve got about five seconds to explain what is going on here!”

Emma realising the way the situation was heading, stepped in between the two men waving her hands in the air. “Hold up, you just need to calm down mister!”

The man slapped his chest. “Me? Calm down! You must be joking.”

The man was almost shouting in Emma’s face, but she didn’t flinch. “Look neither of us know what is happening here either. We’re just as confused about this situation as you are.”

Steven hated the thought of someone being so aggressive to his wife, but he knew if did anything right now, the situation would only escalate. He just stood back and watched. For now.

The man didn’t buy Emma’s explanation. “Then why are you two walking around, like you’re not fazed by any of this? There’s no way you don’t know what’s going on here!”

Just then the woman that had been pulling on the man’s arm before he rushed off towards Emma and Steven caught up with him.

She piled into his side and pulled him back from the couple. “Michal! What the hell do you think you’re doing!!”

Michal tried talk back to her. “I-I”

She cut him off before he could say much in response. She shoved him, then turned to the couple. “I’m so sorry about my husband’s behaviour. I don’t know what’s gotten into him!”