Forsaken World (Book 5): Homecoming

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “When do you think battle bot one will be ready to go back out?” Lilly asked, driving down the driveway.

  Keeping his AR across his lap aimed outside, Lance scanned around while shaking his head. “We won’t put it in another playground. It has another job in its future. Compared to the last generation, it’s ancient and way too light. We’re going to rebuild it, but just upgrade it for one last hurrah.”

  The fact Lance casually said something they had only built months ago was ancient, unnerved Lilly for some reason. “What about the power plant?” she asked.

  Glancing over his shoulder to Denny, “Denny, how long until bot one’s power plant is ready?” Lance asked.

  “If I can get you to help with the Stirling Engine, tomorrow,” Denny replied, scanning around and cradling his AR. “If not, a week. Sorry, but I have trouble programing the CNC.”

  “I’ll help you set up the CNC,” Lance chuckled, turning around.

  “What about the battery?” Lilly asked.

  “Denny patched that up last night with Lori,” Lance answered as Lilly pulled onto the valley road and headed up the valley. When they passed the meeting house, Lilly turned off the road, following the driveway to the clubhouse.

  “What are you going to do with that power station?” Lilly asked, passing the clubhouse and driving up the draw behind it.

  “Put it there,” Lance said, jerking his thumb back at the clubhouse. “After Ian and I get permanent power there, all radio and later video will be sent there and then sent to us by line. When the Beard Clan gets set up, we’ll start putting out video cameras that will have directional antennas beamed to here and then transmitted out via cable. It’s not perfect, but we need eyes outside of our perimeter.”

  “Oh, I thought we could set some cameras for the Beard Clan,” Lilly groaned.

  “Okay. If you don’t care about having eyes on likely approach paths to us, to give us warnings of bandits and hordes of stinkers,” Lance shrugged.

  “How many cameras are you talking about setting up around us?” Lilly gasped.

  “Starting off with sixteen, then adding more when we get more gear to build others or collect them if we can,” Lance answered. “Ian wants fifty-eight. I want thirty-seven. Don’t tell Ian, but I’m almost ready to give in because he can whine till he gets his way.”

  Nodding and chuckling as she turned onto the ridge and followed it north, then turned off driving down the slope heading to the Bear Trap Group, “The Beard Clan can make due setting up their own cameras,” Lilly said.

  Chuckling, “Heath gave them the design for hydro, and I showed them where to set it up at,” Lance told her. “They move as fast as Heath; they will have power this week. They damn sure have the manpower with eighteen bodies. Glad we sent them to where we did.”

  Pulling on the road below the house Lilly slowed, watching the gate open up. “I like our gates better,” Lilly confessed, looking at the wrought iron gates opening remotely.

  Driving the UTV in, Lilly saw Heath’s group with Patrick and David standing with them. “Yeah, they passed the trust stage going out to help,” Lance mumbled as Lilly pulled to a stop.

  “Hey, guys,” Heath said walking over, and his kids piled out and ran over to Heath and Robin. Jodi jumped out after Lance and ran to her mom and dad.

  “Look at our little soldier,” Dwain sang out, picking Jodi up.

  “You and Ian are geniuses!” Ethan cried out, coming over to Lance with his brother Dennis. “I have to admit, I doubted some of what Heath told us when we met you, but I’ll admit, I was wrong. You two make stinker eaters! Since those new bots have been up, we haven’t had one in the valley.”

  Feeling uncomfortable from the praise, Lance grinned, “Just doing what we can.”

  Dennis turned, pointing at the solar dish they had set up for Heath. “That thing is awesome. I’ve read about Stirling Engines, but you take the concept to the next level,” Dennis gasped.

  Now feeling awkward with the praise, Lance just shrugged and shook their hands as Heath came over. “Lance, you eat yet?” Heath asked.

  “Heath, it’s eight o’clock in the morning, why wouldn’t we have had breakfast?” Lance asked.

  Shrugging, “Sorry, forgot who I was talking to,” Heath chuckled.

  “Let me check your setup and if it’s good, let’s get this hooked up. We have several small projects to take care of at the cabin,” Lance said and walked off, heading around the massive house.

  “Thought you were taking the day off?” Heath asked, following Lance with the other guys in tow.

  “We are. We skipped workout and are only doing projects we want to work on,” Lance answered, looking at the modifications they had done to the house.

  “Oh,” Heath muttered, following Lance to the back corner of the yard where the stream ran down from the ridge above the house. Lance stopped, looking at a cemented pool the stream ran into and could see the pipes at the bottom of the pool that ran down the hill.

  “Nice job,” Lance nodded, and inspected the concrete waterway that led out of the pool over to the original streambed. “Let’s check the bottom and get hooked up,” Lance told him and walked off.

  Walking back to the front, Lance saw Lilly and Rhonda talking. “Wonder if that’s good or bad,” Lance mumbled, noticing the serious expressions on both faces. When Lilly saw him looking at her, she smiled and waved.

  “Who’s covering me?” Lance asked climbing in the UTV, and Heath, Dwain, and Ethan climbed in his UTV while Patrick and David climbed in another.

  “I’m coming,” Denny said, forcing his way in the backseat.

  “You need me?” Lilly asked.

  “Shit, if a stinker gets by all them, we are all screwed,” Lance chuckled and turned the UTV around in the yard. Dino moved up beside him, trotting along as Dennis opened the gates with a remote.

  “How has Grady been acting?” Lance asked, driving out the gate.

  “Now that he has a task, surprisingly well,” Heath answered. “He’s been putting in more cameras.”

  “Laying eight hundred feet of pipe down this draw, we took out the cable line to two of the houses,” Dwain chuckled from the backseat. “Forgot to call and get our permits.”

  “Well, you needed the hundred and twenty feet drop,” Lance said, slowing down and stopping beside a newly built cinder block building. Climbing out, Lance waited for Heath to unlock the door and checked the pipes and wire coming into the building. “Did a good job,” Lance nodded.

  “So, it’s good to go?” Heath grinned.

  Nodding, Lance started taking off his tactical vest. “Yep, need cover because I don’t like a lot of stuff on playing with electricity.”

  Everyone but Heath, Denny, and Patrick moved off to provide cover, and Lance had Heath and Patrick unload the trailer. “Patrick, when will you be done?” Lance asked, connecting one of the turbines to one of the pipes.

  “Waiting on cement to dry for the pool, and mortar to set on the power building,” Patrick answered, watching Lance’s every move. “We should be finished putting the pipes down day after tomorrow and just hook it up to the pool and powerhouse. Then, all we have to do is divert the stream into the pool.”

  “Well, you will generate more power because your stream is bigger,” Lance told him, hooking up another turbine.

  Patrick turned to Lance as he worked. “Lance, all the streams and rivers around here seem really high,” Patrick informed him. “We found pictures in that house of kids playing in the stream. In the pictures, the stream looks about three maybe four feet wide and at the most, maybe a foot or so deep. Now, the stream is over six feet wide and over three foot deep, with a flow that will take me off my feet.”

  Hooking up the last turbine, “Yeah, noticed that when we got here,” Lance grunted, tightening the fitting. “It was Jennifer who solved it for us. Nobody’s drinking, flushing or using the water for industry or farming, and the water is refilling the ecosystem.”

  Sh
aking his head as Lance moved over and started hooking up wires to boxes, “I should’ve thought of that!” Patrick cried out. “How did you guys get so smart? I want to be that smart.”

  “I don’t know,” Lance laughed as he continued to work. “Ian and I were working on the water table shifting because of the asteroid when Jennifer told us.”

  “How much power you think we’ll get here with hydro?” Heath asked.

  “About twenty kilowatts with these turbines,” Lance answered. “But remember, that’s constant power. When we get time, I’m showing Denny how to make you some new turbines. Ian and I are working on a discovery we made by accident at the research area. If it keeps showing promise, we’ll have all the power we need.”

  Having heard them talking about the research area, Heath moved closer to Denny. “Son, have you been to this research area?” Heath asked in a low voice.

  Shaking his head, “No,” Denny answered with a note of fear. “The stuff they work on there is too dangerous to work on inside the fence. Nobody but them work there. We know where it’s at, but only to avoid it like the plague.”

  A shiver ran through Heath’s body as his mind filled with images of terminator robots and terrifying rolling death machines. “It’s not near the build area, is it?” he asked panting in fear.

  “No, it’s on the other side of the property just outside the diversion perimeter fence,” Denny told him, and Heath stared at Denny in shock. “Yeah, it’s outside the diversion fence and protected by their next generation of traps. I’ve only seen one of the next generation of traps that we have set up inside the perimeter, and it scares the crap out of me.”

  With his mind now in overdrive providing images of new machines he didn’t want, Heath just nodded before moving back over toward Lance. “We will avoid that area at all cost,” he shivered.

  When Lance was finished, he stepped out of the powerhouse. “Let’s hook it up to the house,” he grinned, climbing back in the UTV.

  Driving back to the house, Lance saw Lilly and Rhonda still talking, but they had moved to the porch. Parking the UTV, Lance headed in the garage past the massive battery. Taking a deep breath and pulling on his heavy rubber gloves, Lance hooked up the heavy cable from the powerhouse.

  When he was done, Lance stepped back almost panting. “Done,” he announced.

  Heath went over and patted Lance’s back. “Now, tell me what I need to gather to replace what you used.”

  “Denny will when we start,” Lance replied, looking over at Denny and winking.

  Glancing at his watch, “Well, you can eat lunch with us,” Heath grinned, and steered Lance inside.

  Giving up on heading back to the cabin, Lance went inside and Heath guided him over to a table. Sitting down, Lance noticed Allie and Jodi already at the table eating. “We are leaving when we finish,” Lance told them, and they nodded.

  “Lance, when do you want to make contact with the others you were thinking of bringing in?” Heath asked, putting a plate down for Lance.

  “Dude, you’re still not set up and Patrick is just starting,” Lance laughed, grabbing his glass.

  Grabbing another plate and sitting down, “Lance, the longer we wait, the weaker they get if they’re lucky. They get dead if they aren’t, and that just makes more stinkers for us,” Heath said glumly as the others sat down.

  “Um, I know we just joined, but I want to say I’m with Heath about none of your group approaching those that are asked,” Patrick stated nervously. “I’m not saying or implying you aren’t tough enough by any means, but I would rather risk injury than any of you.”

  Lance cut his eyes at Heath who ignored it and continued eating. “I don’t like you some days,” Lance grumbled at Heath.

  “Lance,” Patrick called out, and Lance slowly turned. “How about letting us keep an eye on these new groups, just to make sure they’re all right to join and when you think we’re ready, one of us will approach them, but your group will lay out the terms,” Patrick offered with a pleading look. Never in his life would Patrick have believed he would be intimidated by thirteen-year-old boys, but he and his brothers readily admitted without any shame, Lance and Ian frightened them.

  Walking up behind Lance, Lilly hugged him and then dropped in a seat beside him. “Lance, they don’t want either of you getting hurt doing something they can do,” Lilly told him. “I agree with them, since I know deeds have been called for and that’s where I want yours and Ian’s full attention.” Patrick gave a sigh and Heath leaned back in his chair in visible relief that Lilly was taking their side.

  Giving a grunt, Lance turned to Lilly, looking at her for several seconds and then finished his sandwich. “I’ll talk it over with Ian, but I don’t see a problem with it,” Lance finally said, and Heath fought the desire to jump up and start dancing. “Lilly, we aren’t giving the pirates deeds,” Lance corrected, and Heath gave a startled gulp.

  Looking at Lance, Lilly’s mouth fell open as Lance drained his glass. “This calls for an exploit,” Lance told her.

  “Huh?” Lilly grunted.

  “Deed; an action that is performed intentionally or consciously,” Lance recited, putting the glass down. “Exploit; a bold or daring feat, to take unfair advantage of.”

  Feeling lightheaded, “Um, they aren’t the same?” Lilly asked.

  Shaking his head, “No, to the recipient, an exploit is much, much worse,” Lance told her as he got up. “Ian and I have only done one exploit to date. The Prime Directive told us nobody had better get hurt from one of our pranks. We knowingly broke the Prime Directive, but we decided it was worth it.”

  Swallowing hard, Lilly stood up nearly panting. “Lance, people got hurt with your deeds before this, and now some have died. You’re telling me an exploit is worse?”

  “A deed is to teach a lesson, letting the recipient know they upset someone in the Federation. If they are smart, the recipient tries to rectify and make amends. The Devil Lords and Nazis could’ve left and we would’ve stopped. We will chase the pirates to the ends of the Earth and bring them torment with a dildo covered in nails,” Lance huffed. “An exploit is only to hurt, and now that we don’t have to worry about getting in trouble for breaking the Prime Directive, the degree of injury inflicted will be severe. To be honest, we’re shooting for wounding to a degree where death is inevitable but will take some time before the recipient dies. We both agree the Prime Directive parameters have changed.”

  Getting very worried as Lance pulled on his gloves, “Lance, I’m still not following,” Lilly told him.

  Looking over at Lilly, “An exploit, they know they pissed us off because we let them know,” Lance said. “Primitive, I’ll agree. Unimaginative, to a degree,” Lance nodded, “but sometimes you just want to grab someone by the balls and grind them off with a cheese grater as they watch and howl in pain, just because you want them to know who is bringing them this misery.”

  Having seen some of the recordings of deeds, Heath’s face was pale, realizing there was another level of suffering the boys could bring on others.

  “So, an exploit is like retribution?” Lilly asked as Lance grabbed his rifle.

  “Retribution: punishment inflicted as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act,” Lance recited. “No, retribution calls for a deed. To let someone know they have done wrong. The Pirates are chrome-plated, 360-degree assholes and will be dealt with as such.”

  Really not liking the sound of the true hate Lance was showing, Lilly moved around the table, grabbing Lance’s arm. “It was a robot, Lance. I’ll build you another one on my own time,” Lilly panted. “I’ll rebuild everything they broke; I swear to you. You and Ian just do deeds.”

  “I’ll help!” Heath shouted, jumping out of his chair and everyone in his group quickly chimed in saying they would also.

  “We’ll only sleep an hour a day until we replace what they hurt,” Dwain offered.

  Ignoring them, Lance just looked at Lilly. “Lilly, it’s not the equipment
that pissed us off. We put up a sign and warned people to leave our shit alone. What did the pirates do? Pulled out their dicks, rubbed them in our faces, double ass fucked us, and took a shit on our front door. People shouldn’t ignore our warnings. I thought we were being nice to even put a warning up, but you and Jennifer have said many times, you don’t want us to hurt people who are just moving through.”

  Lance stopped as the others processed what he wasn’t saying. They all realized just who Lance and Ian listened to. “I’m sorry, but Ian and I won’t restrain our tactics like that anymore. The only ones who don’t have to worry about getting caught up in this are those in this coalition. Everyone else can pucker up and kiss the brown star between my cheeks,” Lance grunted. The others gave a thankful sigh they were under the protection, seen as friends by Ian and Lance, and most present didn’t want to push their luck.

  Walking out, “We are heading back,” Lance called over his shoulder. Allie, Denny, Lori, and Jodi jumped up from the table, grabbing their stuff.

  Still processing the hate Lance had for the pirates, “You can ask him later,” Rhonda told Lilly.

  “No,” Lilly said, shaking her head and took off after Lance, and Rhonda saw none of the kids appeared even remotely worried.

  “You do realize what Lance was talking about?” Rhonda asked them.

  Little Allie busted out laughing. “Those little pirate cock juggling thunder pussies are going to get spanked.” The adults looked at the small girl as she grabbed her AR. “You don’t even try and pretend you aren’t scared of Lance and Ian. They like me and Carrie, and they put us in a force field and it really hurts when someone takes it off,” she informed them with a serious face. “Lance and Ian didn’t care one way or the other about those bikers or Nazis. They looked at them like lint on your clothes that needs to be removed. But the pirates, they hate, and those little bitches … are they going to get skittled,” she ended with the most adorable smile, and that really disturbed everyone.

  Turning to Denny, “Skittled?” Heath whispered.