I exited my fenced-in yard where I was assisting Ling and headed toward the street. Passing through the cul-de-sac I noticed Bianka conducting a combat training course off to the right. She was facing my direction, so I gave her a meager wave. She nodded while continuing with her demonstration. Keeping it professional. Slow steps to repair our relationship. At least she didn't flip me off or look disgusted by the sight of me.
Further along I saw Jamila addressing her new squad. She had been the natural leader all along for many infected and recovered women. She was more hesitant about the formal arrangement than her girls. I noticed that she had Melanie and Josie separated from the group. I felt good about those two supporting my tiny friend as she grew her leadership abilities. But her unit had the least amount of combat experience. And she had to deal with the skanks which were considerably less reliable.
The flirty ex-stripper was much friendlier than Bianka, even willing to break away to greet me. I waved her off, though. Her group needed to see her taking her role seriously, I was thinking. Instead, she orchestrated a huge group wave in unison.
It wasn't long after that I heard Jada's voice again. At first, I thought I must have bumped the volume control. I could barely hear her. It turned out that she was whispering.
"Mason, can you read me. We have company."
"Yes, I'm here."
"At least a dozen soldiers holed up in a house on Springbrook," Jada told me. "We stumbled across them really. They look like they are hiding out. Might be deserters."
"Okay, hold off until I get there," I said as I quickened my pace and redirected toward the skank gate. That was the closest exit in the direction of Jada's current position.
"We got their attention already," Jada explained. "That might not be up to me."
CHAPTER SIX:
Turning down all offers to join me, I pulled my assault rifle around to the front, leaving the shoulder strap in place. I took my revolver in my left hand to help me move speedily through the partially wooded neighborhood infested with high weeds. I can't shoot worth a shit left-handed, but I didn't want to take a chance on losing the weapon as I ran and jumped over obstacles.
I slowed enough to pull my new phone off my belt, letting the rifle dangle once again. I was jogging along a paved trail with no houses in view. Thick clumps of grass and weeds were growing through the cracks, making the pathway almost as treacherous for running as the open field on the other side of the line of cypress trees.
After giving it some thought, it seemed like a good idea to call Bianka for reinforcements. She could also signal for the lesser squads to assist with guard duty during our absence. From the sound of Jada's situation, her group was at a disadvantage. Bringing extra firepower could help me save some lives.
"I'm on my way," I told Jada. She didn't respond, so I assumed that she needed to keep her focus. "ETA is two or three minutes. Which house is it?" No answer.
I repeated my message and waited again as I jogged. After a pause an unfamiliar voice came on the line, sounding panicked. "We're taking fire and trying to retreat," the woman's high-pitched voice shouted into the phone. "It's a stone and brown brick house. I think that it is the third one east from the school!"
"Got it! I'll be there soon. Bianka is bring reinforcements, too. At least five minutes before she arrives."
I debated on telling the blonde squad leader to bring one of the trucks. She’d reach us quicker and have a vehicle to use for cover on her arrival. Unfortunately, she would need to go all the way over to New Hampshire Avenue before heading north. That would likely be taking her through more trouble than we were prepared to deal with at the moment. With a more direct route she would need to travel across the hilly and wooded terrain just like me.
Crossing the next hill, I could hear the gunfire easily. Several weapons were being discharged. I quickened my already frantic pace, tripping once but recovering before my pistol hand or face could smack the ground. Cresting the next knoll, I was able to hear screaming as well. There was no confusing which house was the location of the turmoil.
I approached the building from the same direction that Jada had. I could see the backs of several women as they hunkered down in various positions behind a stone wall and large shade trees. Two of them had a couple inches of ass crack showing, but I couldn’t let that distract me at the moment.
I was able to spot three soldiers that had exited the house coming toward us. Just then one of them went down, pulled to the ground by a crazy-eyed zombie. Jada must have released her new recruits with specific friend and foe instructions. A couple seconds later the panicked soldier beside them ended both lives with a spray of bullets from her SMG.
The solid pop of a sniper rifle echoed through the air next, throwing the machine gun girl against the house with blood erupting from her neck. She squeezed the trigger to empty her clip into the concrete porch as she slid down the side of the house leaving a red smear like they showed in the movies. The remaining camo clad woman dove for cover off to the side behind a wall built solely for blocking view of the air conditioners or heat pumps.
A man with an assault rifle then exited the side door, which was already busted off its hinges. He came out ass first, firing his weapon into the house. I had to assume that another mad stinky was chasing him out. One of our girls fired her rifle twice to take him down. The zombie then came crawling out to feast on his flesh as he struggled to fight her off in his near-death condition. Nasty bullet wounds were visible on her disgusting body as she hunkered over her meal. She would need a bullet to the brain, apparently, to end her sad existence.
There was a section of yard on our side without a wall where the driveway meandered through and followed around to the garage in the rear. I darted for the driveway to avoid jumping into the crossfire. I tucked my pistol away to use my left hand as a shield, preparing to fire my assault rifle with the stock against my shoulder. I kept both eyes open as I rushed up the hot pavement. Pools of tar stuck to my sneakers as I ran despite their brief contact with the substance.
A flicker of light erupted from an upstairs window as I heard the bullets impact the asphalt in front of me. The thud sounds told me that they are embedding into the black tarred surface instead of ricocheting. I shifted my aim to the shooter as I slowed my pace. The woman's barely exposed head then went flying back before I could even pull my trigger. The sound of Jada's sniper rifle reached me at the same time.
I then walked slowly toward the house through the lawn terminator style, popping off shots whenever I spotted a target. One guy took my challenge and stepped into view. Without an invisible mutant shield of his own, he perished quickly. I then heard several screams from the building and my name being mentioned. They knew who I was. Maybe some of them had been present at the most recent standoff when the Coalition demanded that I return Camilla.
Three of Jada's women rushed the house while our enemies sought cover from the onslaught of my automatic rifle. Two made it all the way to the porch without incident. The third, a middle-aged woman named Liz that I did not know well, took two bullets to the chest. She was practically dead by the time that she hit the ground.
I remained off to the side to avoid being shot in the back by my own people. I was not yet skilled enough with my deflection ability to block all directions. Mentally, I could only successfully focus to the direction of my palm.
A rage of gunfire transpired from all angles. A tall skinny solider girl then bolted out the back door high stepping it for a storage building two hundred feet away. I was never one to shoot a person in the back, and I did my best to instill that mentality in my clan. I believed that the woman would escape unharmed until she turned around before reaching her destination and popped off three rounds with a pistol. One of our girls then perceived her as a legitimate threat and put an abrupt stop to her flight.
It wasn't long after that when the familiar phantoms raced through the air above us. Dark shadows with angry faces and extended claws caused everyone to
go prone instantly. I watched silently as Ling's projected ghosts flew through doors and windows to scare the shit out of the remaining soldiers. Bianka's agile feline form then hurried toward the house to take cover behind a corner. Several other women that came with her took cover alongside Jada's girls.
"I surrender!" I heard a woman scream. "Don't shoot! I surrender!"
She might not have been heard clearly if she had given up before Ling's demons caused a sudden cease fire. Maybe she had tried. When the woman exited the front door of the house with her rifle above her head, I was glad that no one shot her. Without having to be told, she tossed the weapon forward and dropped to her knees. Lacing her fingers behind her head she released a deep breath with her eyes clinched shut.
After seeing their comrade walk out and not take a bullet, four more followed suit. All women, most of which appeared to be young and in good health. I helped Jada and Bianka clear the house and surrounding area as their squads held the five soldiers at gun point.
Three of the four newly acquired zombies had been eliminated in the battle. The last was still chowing down on a corpse ignoring everyone else. She was in such bad shape that Jada decided to put her down instead of bringing her back to our compound.
Liz was our only real casualty, but three others took lesser injuries. I called a cease to the scouting effort and ordered everyone back to the protective fence of the colony.
"Why were all of you hiding out in that house?" I asked the only woman of rank among our captives. Major Emma Sutherly was her name, and she was the first to surrender. She was an athletic woman with impressive calves and thighs below her cargo shorts. Small breasted but muscular, her upper half more resembled a beach volleyball player. She had long dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail revealing a very narrow face with a tiny nose. A splash of tan freckles and pinkish skin, she wasn't exactly ugly. Her demeanor was all business, of course. Very few women got flirty when captured. Camilla would be the biggest exception.
"We lost our support," Emma explained. "I pulled our squad together to a single location to wait things out."
The other four women were still following her orders. Thankfully, Major Sutherly had instructed them to fall in line with our demands.
"What do you mean that you lost your support?" I asked.
"The Coalition was under attack from two sources. They pulled what forces together that were available and left the rest of us to fend for themselves. I lost radio contact with my commanding officer early this morning. I decided on a wait-and-see approach."
"Why did you fire on us?" I asked.
"Your patrol squad caught one of our guards by surprise. She fired without thinking," Emma explained. "It was hard to turn back after that."
"Do you know who we are?" Jada asked.
"Yes. You are the Apple Grove Mutant Colony. I've seen some of you before."
Apple Grove was the name of the road that led from New Hampshire Avenue to our cul-de-sac. We had some mutants, so that part of the title was appropriate as well. Only the term colony surprised me. In the Coalition's mind we had upgraded from being called a clan or gang. The name also suggested that we were an accepted entity. As opposed to rebels, an insurgence and the like.
I let Jada and Bianka take over the rest of the questioning as we paraded our captives back toward our colony. I then sought out Ling to thank her for her assistance in the battle. If it had not been for her mutant ability there could have been much more loss of life before the battle ended. If it was possible to convert these five women over to our side, I could justly refer to the skirmish as a win for us. The acquisition of the weapons, ammunition and phone radios was also a plus.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
Having capable women around me had made me unbelievably lazy. My desire to dictate what newly formed squads should be where, doing what, was nearly nonexistent. Jada and Bianka actually knew better than me where to put people when it came to our compound's security. In other matters, Riley was the foremost authority.
Though I was the only fully grown man in our colony, teenage Judah didn't count, physical work eluded me. Anytime that I tried to help out on the fence project or on the farm, one of two things happened. The majority of the time a few of the women would come to relieve me of the chore like I was some kind of royalty. They acted like it was their duty to do so. Brushing them off made them feel like they were being disloyal, so I relented. Other times all progress would stop while the women simply watched me work, which in turn reduced production and negated my efforts.
I was getting frustrated.
Finally, I felt like a new challenge awaited. We won a battle against a small military force and captured five women, one of which was an officer. Interrogation should still be my field. Yet, when Jada and Bianka assumed that role, I simply let them and sent Alexa to listen in. It had become the new normal for me. Let anyone near as capable as me do my work for me.
I sat on the sofa in the living room awaiting a report from my two security leaders. Information obtained from Major Emma Sutherly would help us determine what to do next. The woman seemed very willing to divulge all that she knew about the Coalition and their current state of affairs.
My hands rested on my thighs as I slouched back, fingertips facing each other in a familiar pose. There should be a video game controller in my hands. It had been at least a year since I last played anything. Joel and Martha didn’t have any consoles in their home and until now I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to scavenge one from another house.
I remembered Bianka mentioning video games once. She was into the first-person shooters as a teenager. I didn’t find that hard to believe. However, the response that the topic received from both Riley and Alexa suggested that I wouldn’t be winning any points with the ladies by spending my me-time on video games. I remembered what a time suck the activity had been for me in my early teens and decided not to push for finding a game unit.
I was forty-two minutes early for the meeting. I had nothing else to do, so I sat there and waited. I knew Jada and Bianka had plenty on their plate, so I wasn’t comfortable demanding that they come earlier. I tried some of my meditation techniques, but they didn't work. Or I didn't let them. It was just too late in the day for my mind to function with that level of discipline. I gave up out of boredom and restlessness.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Alexa asked from the kitchen after Jada had excused her from the interrogation. She was currently the only wife working on food preparation there. She placed four large glass dishes in the oven then walked around the large island counter to check on me.
"No, not really," I admitted. I knew that an explanation wasn't necessary with Alexa. She could clearly sense how I was feeling. Her question was only meant to determine whether I was ready to talk about it.
I watched her wonderful body move toward me until it sat right down beside me on the couch. Her sublime slender form was still a highly effective turn on for me. I briefly wondered if a good afternoon romp with my first and favorite woman in the post-apocalyptic world was what I needed to pull myself out of the funk. The quick smile that Alexa gave me said that she picked up on that vibe as well.
"It is hard to feel pity for you, my husband," Alexa said. I knew what she meant, but I let her explain anyway. "You have beautiful women falling at your feet, eager to pleasure you daily. A massive group of them following all of your commands, trying their best to make the world a better place in your name. I don't know why you can't just sit back and enjoy it. If I were you, I'd be lying on a hammock somewhere with two pretty young things waving fans at me and feeding me fresh fruit. And cake."
"Cake, huh?" I laughed.
"Yes, cake. Would you like me to bake one for you?"
"No, thank you. I do appreciate the offer, though. I just don't think cake will do it for me."
"Is there something else I can do for you?" Alexa asked naughtily as she began rubbing her small soft hand on my exposed thigh. Then she stopped suddenly as a
new thought came to her. Less enthusiastically, she asked, "Or would you prefer one of the other girls in your harem?"
I pulled her to my chest and kissed her on the top of the head. "No sweetie. I don't believe that sex is the answer either. If it were, you would be perfect for the task."
"If you desire more hands-on control of your realm," Alexa said as she returned upright beside me, ready for a more serious conversation. "Just tell people what you want. They'll adjust. I know that they will."
"Yeah, they might," I replied. "But they won't be happy about it. And honestly, neither will I. Our best people are proving themselves, doing a great job, and drawing loyal workers to themselves. It wouldn't be right to diminish their roles. I just need to find a happy place that works for everyone else, too."
"One second," Alexa said as she pulled her new two-way radio from her pocket. She selected an individual person and pressed the button. "Riley? Are you there?"
Dystopian Girls 5 Page 5
