Volume II � Episode 96 Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 1 month and 3 days after E-Day, 8:25 pm David Pitman stood at the window, watching tracer fire arc down into the city streets below. When the news first reached him that Patrick Flannigan, Flynn Haire, Mick Wyndham and Jeremy Gilbert had been murdered, he'd been elated. Four less psychopaths for him to worry about. But then he'd realised the implications - the Flannigans were gonna be pissed. The wake was proceeding pretty much exactly as he'd expected. The Flannigan men were on the roof, venting their shock and anger by firing grenades and incendiary rounds at the neighbouring buildings. The Flannigan women were in the boardroom on the 70th floor, getting drunk while gossiping and talking tactics. He didn't know which group was more dangerous. Another burst of tracer fire rushed past the window. A number of small fires were already burning around the city, and now the Flannigans seemed to be trying to set fire to the top floor of the Australia Bank building. He contemplated going upstairs to tell them to stop, but quickly thought better of it. They were just as likely to shoot him and throw him over the barrier. It was, relatively speaking, safer down here with the Flannigan women. Relatively speaking. He looked around at the room full of tough, mournful women, their bellies filled with Bundaberg Rum and their faces filled with misery and rage. The matriarch of the family, Judy Flannigan, was in here somewhere, in this sea of sneering bogans and hardened criminals, expertly whipping up the women up into a frenzy of grief-fueled rage. She wanted revenge for her son's murder. She wanted the women responsible found and tortured. But also, somewhere in this room, was Brooke Delroy. David had caught a glimpse of her earlier in the night, looking absolutely stunning in a loose-fitting (and entirely inappropriate for the occasion) dress that showed off her amazing legs and tantalising cleavage. Best of all, her enormous hulk of a husband, Angus "The Bear" Flannigan, was nowhere to be seen. David had caught another glimpse of Brooke later in the night while making his way back from the bathroom. She was standing in the corner, surrounded by Flannigan wannabes, somehow maintaining her dignity and composure while downing Bundy after Bundy along with the rest of them. He had tried to approach her at that point, but the drunken crowd had kept them apart. No matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to be able to close enough to her to strike up a conversation. Every time he got near, another of the Flannigan women would corner him and drag him away. Such was life as the leader of Apex Tower - keeping the Flannigans under control was one of his biggest and most time-consuming responsibilities, nodding and smiling and pretending to care while listening to their many, many grievances. As if on cue, Patrick's younger sister Alison and his aunt Alyssa chose that very moment to step out of the crowd and approach him. He sighed inwardly and smiled his most diplomatic smile.