A soft touch on my arm helped me come out of my sleepy trance. The bedroom door was open, and light was streaming in from a lamp in the living room. Riley was awake beside me, up on one elbow. Hovering above me was the face of possibly the most beautiful blonde to ever walk the face of the earth.
Bianka whispered to me, "I found her."
CHAPTER EIGHT:
I jolted awake. Bianka had returned safely. And she had found my wife, Alexa.
"Is she alive?" I croaked out in my rusty morning voice.
"Yes, Mason. She is alive."
I raised up to both elbows and tried to clear my head some more. Bianka had found Alexa. This was the news that I had been waiting for, for days. She had not been executed by the militia or killed by Tamika. I took a heavy sigh of relief, a weight removed from my chest immediately.
"Is she here?" I asked, looking around the room stupidly. If she was here already, she would be in my arms.
"Not yet," Bianka replied. I could see happiness and genuine affection in her otherwise businesslike expression. "But we can go get her, when you are ready."
"I'm ready!" I blurted out, still wiping the sleep from my eyes.
Riley's voice laughed beside me. I felt the motion of her sliding out of bed. Once on her feet, she said, "Get up Mason. Get dressed. I'll fix some coffee."
Bianka stood up allowing me to swing my legs over the edge. When I stood up quickly, I was in Bianka's arms. Her embrace was gentle as she whispered into my ear, "I found her for you."
I took a deep breath and held her body against mine for a while. I could feel her shifting in my embrace after a moment, ready to release the grip. That's when I realized that my morning wood was pressed into her belly through my underwear.
"Sorry," I told her as I let her step back.
"Should I go get somebody for that?" she asked. I could hear the humor in her voice if not see it on her face.
"No, thank you," I answered. "Tell me about Alexa."
"She is alive and not far away. Get dressed and put that thing away. I'll wake the others and meet you in the kitchen. This is good news, Mason. We're going to get her back."
I did as I was told and walked briskly into the kitchen a minute later. Coffee was still brewing, the aroma filling the air announcing that it was going to be a good day. Riley was resting against the counter staring at me as I parked my ass on one of the bar stools. Her mouth was smiling, but I saw worry in her eyes. I wasn't sure why.
"I meant what I said yesterday," I told her. "Things will be different when Alexa comes back."
"I know," she said. "We'll deal with that later. I've very happy that she is alive. I know that I didn't always let on, but I was very worried too."
"You still look worried."
"I was just imagining what she has been through," Riley told me, more emotional than normal. Of course, the circumstances called for it. "You had all of us to help you through the separation. I'm sure that she missed you terribly. But she was probably also worried for her very life ever since she was taken."
Stella was the first one down the stairs and to rush into my arms. She was crying. Tears of joy for me, no doubt. She had such a pure heart. Unlike the others, she never spoke against Alexa. Not even when my wife was treating her poorly. I kissed her softly on the cheek before letting her pull back.
Ling was next. I braced for impact as she came rushing toward me. Surprisingly, she stopped short staring at my pants. My boner had not fully subsided yet. I had not noticed when I hugged Stella, but she probably felt it against her and said nothing. Then Ling tapped me on the knee as a greeting and smiled that weird grin like she was showing me what she caught with her teeth.
Jamila entered the kitchen next, with a heavy cotton robe around her petite body. She gave me one of those awkward morning after smiles and waved from across the room. It caused Ling to look rapidly back and forth between us. Jamila usually greeted me affectionately multiple times during the day. This change in behavior was an easy red flag to pick up on.
Stella was clueless, though, and hugged my newest lover, celebrating the good news. I watched Jamila closely for two reasons. The first, I couldn't stop thinking about last night and all the things that she did in such a short time frame to satisfy me sexually. Second, I was trying to determine if she was regretting it, or just concerned about Alexa returning.
Even if Alexa continued to be bitchy toward Jamila, surely there was no way that she would be worried about being cast out. Not now after all that she has done for our colony. Plus, I would not stand for my newest bedroom companion to treated like that. Of course, she couldn't know that for sure. I regrettably had allowed some disrespect toward her in the past from Alexa.
When Bianka walked back into the house, she had Jada with her. The dark-skinned warrior had taken responsibility for guard duty supervision the entire night while Bianka was gone. Though I was certain that she was happy that Alexa was still alive, her eyes looked tired from the lack of sleep.
"Tell us about Alexa," I quickly said, trying not to make it sound like a demand.
Bianka nodded and went to the center of the group before speaking. "I have every reason to believe that Alexa is alive."
"You didn't see her?" I asked. That was not what I was expecting after being told that she found Alexa. I needed some reassurance.
"No," Bianka replied. "But I overheard several conversations regarding her. She is presumably not permitted to roam freely. They are keeping her inside at night, and I believe that she has not been injured by her captors."
"Where?" I demanded to know. "Where are they keeping her?"
"The high school to the north," Bianka answered. I saw Jada's expression in the background. These details were not new to her. Bianka had chosen to share certain information with her before me. I decided to shrug that off since I was pretty sleepy when she first returned. Also, Jada was much less likely to bolt out the door to rescue Alexa after only hearing some of the information.
"The schoolhouse gang?" Riley asked. The clan that we had defeated before leaving our last house was based in that high school. Many of them died in the battle, but I was certain that some of them got away unscathed, including the teenage boy and girl from previous encounters.
"Yes," Bianka replied, turning toward Riley. "Some of the surviving members are still there. But they are under new leadership."
Bianka turned toward me and waited for me to ask. It was a pause for effect that I certainly did not need. I raised my hands palm up, signaling that I was ready for the rest of the information.
"Tamika has taken over the group. As we already assumed, she did not return to the militia when she escaped. I was able to acquire two more very important details about her."
Again, a pause for effect. Get on with it already! I said with my face.
"Tamika has special powers. She is a mutant like most of us. The group is terrified of her."
"What powers?" I asked.
"I don't know," Bianka answered. "Between the way their guards were talking about her, and the fact that she was able to trick or overcome Alexa, I would have to assume that her special skills are significant."
"I wonder what her power is." Ling said like we were playing some simple guessing game.
"We can worry about that later," Jada spoke up. "More recon will be needed anyway. Bianka, tell them the second thing."
All attention was back on the badass lesbian again. "She has a partner. One that we know very well. Camilla. She also lives."
"Yay!" Ling shouted. "Camilla is alive!" When she looked around the room her enthusiasm diminished. Only Stella seemed excited about the news but was smart enough to know that it implied certain negatives. "Why are we not happy that Camilla is alive?"
"We are happy about that, Ling," I clarified for her. "What we are not happy about is that she has been keeping Alexa prisoner. If she has partnered with Tamika she has chosen to be on the opposing team." Between Ling's blank stare and the quiet in the room,
I decided to spell it out even more clearly. "Camilla is now our enemy."
"From what I can deduce by my limited exposure to their conversations," Bianka continued. "Those two are the only ones in their group with special powers. That’s not reliable, though."
"How many people?" I asked.
"I'm guessing fifteen to twenty," Bianka replied.
"Weapons?"
"They are all armed. The ones that I saw anyway."
"Still," Jamila spoke up. "That's no match for us. We have lots more people and plenty of weapons, too. Plus, all of you are awesome in battle. We're going to be able to get her back, right?"
I was not the only one studying Jamila's face for clues on how she really felt. My first wife had been rough on her. Overall, her life was much better without Alexa. We all knew that clearly. But Jamila was not a bad person. However, even good people had difficulty hoping for something that was bad for them individually.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Jamila asked, looking very concerned.
"Alexa wasn't very nice to you," Jada plainly said what we all were thinking. "I'm not judging, I'm just curious why you want her back so bad."
"She is Mason's first wife!" Jamila looked appalled at the insinuation. "He loves her very much. That is enough reason. I don't care how she treats me as long as she makes Mason happy."
"Well said," Bianka replied.
"And very convincing," Jada added, yielding her a curious look from Jamila.
"Alexa has been through an ordeal," I spoke up. "Not only do I prefer that we not talk about any negatives in our group at this time, we should also realize that she is not likely to be the same person entirely. I mean, we are all shaped by our traumatic experiences more than anything else."
"It is true," Jamila replied. "Getting the skank disease and living like homeless person changed me a lot."
"Regardless," Riley said. "How do we get her back?"
"There are two approaches, of course," Bianka told us. "Option one, we go in with a sizable squad and rescue her, catching them by surprise. That means killing some more people, which Mason is not fond of doing. Option two is that we go with a show of force and ask nicely that they release her."
"Can I ask a question?" Stella raised her hand. I nodded. "If we go with option one, do we have to kill Camilla?"
As I looked around the room, I saw mixed feelings about that question. Some were obviously against it, while others would consider it an acceptable loss.
"Does Camilla ever carry a weapon?" I asked Bianka.
"Not usually," she answered. "I assume you are asking because you are opposed to shooting unarmed women."
"She has her power," Riley reminded us.
"Excuse me," Jada interrupted us. "We cannot choose either option or plan an attack. We don't know enough yet. Another recon mission will be required. This one during the day so we can watch their routines. If Alexa is permitted some outside time, that could allow us to snatch her up without the need for a bloodbath. Otherwise, we gain vital information before forming a plan."
"Agreed," I said.
"But that is not all that we need to consider," Jada continued. "Bianka, tell them the other part of your mission results."
"New-HAM has scouts everywhere. I don't think that I was spotted, but a recon mission during the day will surely get noticed. They are watching us and Tamika's group closely. Each scout is positioned high in tree stands and is equipped with a walkie-talkie. They'll be able to communicate instantly what they see."
"If they are only watching," Jamila said. She was possibly the least tactically minded of the group, except maybe when it came to alluring men in the club. "What difference does it make?"
"They'll know who we sent," I replied, fully understanding the implications of Bianka's statement. "Which, of course, means that they'll know who are left behind to guard our colony. If we send too many people on a rescue attempt, they could take the opportunity to attack here."
"And it's not just the number of people," Jada added. "They probably have some knowledge of our individual powers. Sending even three key people could trigger a response."
"But sending a small unskilled team could get them intercepted or killed," I retorted.
"What do we do?" Stella asked.
Eventually all eyes rested back on me, and I began to smile as a plan formed in my mind. "I know what we'll do."
CHAPTER NINE:
The first thing that I did was gather every possible bit of intel from Bianka’s reconnaissance. She had noted the placement of the army scout locations along our northern border, the southeast perimeter of the reduced schoolhouse territory, and much of the space between us. The information included some unoccupied tree stands as well, which were much harder locate. She was quite thorough with her assignment, as I had expected.
A record of guard movement, quality of personnel and weaponry regarding the schoolhouse gang was also valuable, though it likely pertained mostly to night watch. I personally thought it logical to place my top people on guard duty during the dark hours when defenses were at their lowest, but others might do the opposite. Most people liked a normal sleep schedule, awake during daylight and asleep when it is dark. It was possible that what Bianka witnessed was the unfortunate members of their group that were at the bottom of the list. If that was the case, the gang could still be a challenge to defeat, especially on their home turf.
There was a brief debate when I announced the next recon team, but I didn't back down. Eventually, everyone accepted my choices. I weighed three important factors in my decision.
Number one. The mission personnel needed to appear strong enough that the scouts would not try to intercept them. The significant effort that the New-HAM was putting into their treebound observation program suggested that they would not want to reveal themselves unless there was a huge opportunity to do us damage. Let's avoid that. I wanted to deal with just one foe at a time.
Number two. The remaining personnel needed to strike fear in any would-be attackers. In that case, individual power might be less of a deterrent than sheer numbers or visible firepower. We could cease certain projects while our core group is divided and put more armed reborn women on display. I also suggested that we keep moving them around, making our numbers harder to count. If we had a hundred guards pass by our main gate, it would be difficult for an onlooker to distinguish between them at a distance, even with the use of binoculars. We could easily make twenty different people look like much more.
Number three. If there was a clear opportunity to rescue Alexa during the recon mission, we would need to take it. Sending a weak team to observe and report would prevent that from happening. I could not allow us to miss that chance. Someone intelligent and tactical needed to be there at the time that the decision was to be made.
It came to no one's surprise that I called my own number on this one. I simply had to be a member of this mission team. I had been so incredibly patient for days. Knowing Alexa's location made it unbearable to sit this one out. I had to see her, at least. Even if I couldn't bring her back with me at the time.
Bianka was an obvious choice as well. She had stealth, skill, and the ability to talk me out of doing something stupid. There may be times where she'll have to get very close to an enemy while I hang back. Not only was she the best choice for such an action, I could also trust her to do a better job than myself in that regard. Additionally, she already knew the way and hazards to avoid.
The third selection surprised some people. It was also the most difficult for me. I chose Riley as the final member of the team. My reasons? Immunity to Camilla's power was one. Her speed bursts were another. If stealth and quick action were needed, Bianka and Riley would be the best duo. She was also the most logical, methodical, and clear-headed woman that I had ever known.
"Well," Bianka said. "That leaves you in charge of the house, Stella."
"Me?" Stella was somehow surprised. "Why me?"
"Well, duh," Bianka repli
ed. "You are the next wife in line. It's time to step up, little girl."
"Don't call me that," Stella answered, showing a rare attitude. It may have been a pet name that Bianka used for her that had gotten under her skin. Everyone knew at that point how the lesbian felt about her innocent young female friend.
"Actually, I don't want you in the house while we are gone," I told Stella. "You need to be visible periodically to the scouts, and heavily armed. If they don't know our sharpshooter by sight, we should at least make them wonder. When they see you with weapons, they’ll think twice.”
"You're not afraid that she'll be targeted by a sniper?" Jada asked.
"What?" fear contorting Stella's face.
"Reportedly, there are no sniper rifles at the scouting posts nearby. None of our top people should be standing still out in the open, just in case," I replied. “That is a good point, Jada. Everyone takes heed to that requirement. If we’re smart, we will be fine.”
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