He loved her idea and meant it when he said he would go with her to find a wild country, untouched by war. But he still had unfinished business left to attend to. The Sov was thorough - they would comb the entire siege area - and upon not finding his dead body would begin metering out the punishment on the one person whose job it was for him to protect.
He didn't have much time and he didn't hold any options. He had no idea where she was. When the Sov split military families, each member was given a false name when they were transferred to their new Selection. That way, they couldn't be found or identified by anyone besides the Sov officials themselves. Worse, there were over two hundred Selections and he had only seen pictures of her over the last four years. The helpless frustration cut like a hunting knife - slicing through to his vitals - gutting him and turning his insides out.
Rachel woke and felt Noah's hard body clinging to hers. She loved the feel of him, his smell, his attentive behavior, and wondered what this thing between them would bring in the hours ahead.
She thought about Smithy. She had to get word to him, find out if he was okay, and see whether or not her plan had worked. The only way she figured she could accomplish that was by making it to Old Detroit and joining with the Rebels there. She could also get word then to the Divisions that Webb was a traitor. It felt like everything hinged on Old Detroit.
"You awake?" Noah's voice floated into her thoughts.
"Yes," she stretched. "What time is it?"
"Just past midnight."
"I hate to say it, but we should probably get moving." She said. "By car it will take at least three hours to Old Detroit… by foot, too long."
"Then, we'll just have to acquire a vehicle." Noah said assuredly.
Rachel smiled at his confidence.
They dressed in their plain underclothes and hid their glocks by strapping their belts to their backs, hiding them under their shirts. Rachel set her throwing knives into her boot.
"Are you ready?" Noah asked.
Rachel stood up, "Let's do it."
They climbed up the ladder and out of the sewers.
They wore night glasses and scanned the area.
"Let me go out first," Noah insisted.
He moved out so fast, Rachel had no time to debate.
It was all quiet on the surface. The Sov had done their dirty work and appeared to be gone. He waved her up. They ran through the night with no sign of Sov or Rebel forces - or even civilians. They followed Noah's compass and they soon came to the lone and deserted highway.
"Some of the old road signs are still intact!" Rachel exclaimed.
"We have a good chance of encountering a Sov patrol, if they are watching the highways for runners."
Rachel shot him a serious look, "Like us."
"Most Sov patrols are only two soldiers and I can take on at least four. If we come up to a Sov patrol parked and watching, that'll be cake to acquire." Noah assured her.
They had walked for hours, until they passed the depleted sign that read, "Welcome to Indiana." The old cars abandoned on the roadside were taunting.
"If just one of them could work," Rachel said wistfully. But they were just skeletons of the vehicles they once were.
"They've all been stripped for their parts. Probably during or right after the Great War."
"Have you ever tried to imagine what it was like before the Great War or the Sov?" Rachel asked.
"No," Noah said bitterly. "Daydreaming and wishful thinking never got me anywhere." Then he added, "Scratch that," he said taking hold of Rachel's hand and entwining her fingers into his.
"I've seen old photographs of the cities - they were magnificent - skyscrapers towered hundreds of feet into the air. There were art sculptures and bridges… and people had their own cars and would drive as far as they wanted to on roads like these with no fear. They worked and lived where they chose to, married who they wanted, had as many babies as they desired - things weren't Sov or government dictated here in the old United States or Canada - people had free choice."
"Yeah, then some asshole decides he hates that free choice thing and and starts a war. What was it for again? Himself? His god? More land? What a great idea the asshole had, made enough chaos to give a way for the Sov and Kain to step in and take control. Son of a bitch didn't even get what the hell he wanted in the first place!" He remarked angrily.
They walked on in thoughtful silence. When Noah's frustration subsided he asked, "How did you get out? Of the Selections I mean?"
"Rebels had infiltrated our Selection in Montana. We supplied a lot of hay and bottled water. My Selection family at the time was abusive. I was twelve and couldn't seem to do anything right." Rachel continued. "School doc noticed the bruises - and put in for a pass for me to be seen by a specialist outside of the Selection - telling them she thought I had some rare blood disease. I hadn't known it then, but she was a Rebel agent. When she got the go-ahead, she smuggled me out to a Rebel Division in Old Great Falls. Thanks to her, I grew up as a Rebel."
Noah stopped and pulled Rachel into his arms, "I'm sorry it was like that for you" and held her there where the stars were spread out over them.
"It's bad for everyone. It's over now.
"And even though it's over, the memories still hurt. I know that from experience."
Rachel held him more firmly. He was right. "I still miss my parents and wonder what it would have been like to have had them. I think about the abuse I went through and ask myself why any person would do that to a child."
There was something powerful in their shared pain. Each had been through so much loss and difficulty.
They continued walking until the power of the morning scattered the dark velvet night.
"We could stay in one of the abandoned homes over the highway fencing. It would be a perfect place to hide out and rest for the day," Noah suggested. "This area was swept long ago, there're wouldn't be any Sov activity."
"Let's take a look," Rachel agreed.
They both hooked their fingers into the steel fencing and climbed over. Silently they investigated for any signs of life. There was none. Each of the houses was tagged with a sign that read - Property of the Sovereignty. The grass had grown tall and wild about the houses. It was evident by the decay of the homes that no one had been in the neighborhood for years.
Rachel held a broken screen door open while Noah kicked in the locked backdoor. He insisted that he go first and drew his pistol - just in case. It was a simple yellow house with white shudders. Inside the home was large. The rooms had been stripped bare except for the carpets. All of the windows on the lower level had been smashed in to varying degrees. The kitchen was completely bare of any tools, food supplies or water.
Upstairs the windows were still intact and the carpets had less use. Rachel stepped into a large luxurious room. The east wall was lined with beveled mirrors, a pretty floral print papered the others, the carpet was a plush grass green, and a deep tiled tub for two sat to the side of the room on top of a section of cherry hardwood flooring. Rachel had never been in a more beautiful home or room in her life. And a feeling of sorrow or envy fogged her mind.
Noah gave her a small smile, "Let's go check the basement. If everything is okay, we can settle back up in this room."
In the basement, dirty, broken toys littered the cold cement floor; chunks of broken plaster had been busted from the walls. Rachel wondered if the family had survived the Great War, or if they had been taken during the Sov regime. She felt her heart breaking and hoped that maybe they had made it to a Rebel Division - but the reality of that…
"Rachel, look what I found!" Noah's voice interrupted her thoughts and she was grateful.
She met him by a concrete dug out that had been concealed by a hidden door. "This room must have been the family's secret storage supply."
Cans of turkey, chicken and beef stews, vegetables, soups, fruit and powered milk lined the walls. There were at least one hundred gallons of water.
"What's in the cabinet," She pointed to a slightly raised panel painted with the same color as the wall - only partially camouflaging it.
"Haven't opened it yet." He answered hiking three of the gallon water bottles into each arm.
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see," he said from over his shoulder.
Rachel opened the cabinet. The deep shelves held three clear, large, sealed, airtight vacuum bags. One she could tell was for the youngest children - diapers, baby clothes, powdered formula packets, bottles, and the like. She left it where it was sitting and removed the two that looked like it contained items she knew she and Noah could use. Just then Noah reappeared and reached for more water.
"Lug one of these up too, they look like they'll be of use."
"Yes, Ma'am," Noah hauled the heavy bag onto his shoulder and gripped two more gallons in his free hand.
Rachel hoisted the second bag and followed him up the stairs.
Blankets, clothes, flare gun, flashlight, and batteries… She went over the bag's inventory as Noah dumped gallons of the water into the tub, "Tools, old U S currency, soap and shampoo, medicines, and old passports. Their names were Samuel and Jennifer Nord. They had two children - one-year-old Lacey and three year old Zachary. What do you think happened to them?"
Noah came over and took the cards gently from her hands, "It's been a long time, Rachel - let it go." He kissed her forehead. Now the water is at least room temp so it's not freezing but I'll doubt you'll want to soak. You get washed, I'll bring up some food."
He returned downstairs and Rachel went through the clothes. The men's would never fit Noah - they were much too small. The woman's clothes were a close fit to herself.
She took the soap and one of the man's blue t-shirts, and brought it to the side of the tub. She stripped off the underclothes she had been wearing and submerged her self into the cool water - it was refreshing. She washed her body and hair, and then pulled on the t-shirt and a pair of the woman's clean packed panties over her wet body.
Noah knocked. "Come on," she responded.
I brought up different things because I wasn't sure what you'd…" Noah sucked in a breath. "Like most, God you are stunning."
Rachel loved to hear him say it.
"You can take your pick," he said trying to recover.
She chose the turkey stew. "The water is chilly, but it feels good to be clean. Do you want to wash up first and then eat? I'll wait for you."
"Let's eat now, I'm starving."
"Okay," He had even found a can opener and utensils. He opened her can first and passed it to her with a spoon, and then his own. When they were finished, Rachel explored the rest of the upstairs, while Noah bathed.
A pink room, a blue room, and an oversized walk in closet painted yellow. Every room was empty. She peered carefully out the windows. No one and nothing stirred on the streets or around the houses. She thought about the neighborhood filled with children playing whiffle ball on the quiet street, while the dads barbequed on their grills and the mom's chatted with iced tea. It was a good vision - of the way things used to be. Could humanity ever be the same again?
Back in the hallway something caught her eye. "Noah, are you about done?"
"Yes, come in." He was still glistening wet from the lack of a towel. He was wearing a pair of the man's too-tight boxers. He had hand washed his own clothes and was wringing them out and hanging them over the curtain rod to dry.
"I might have found an attic space. Did you see it yet?"
"No, show me,"
She led him into the hall and indicated the ceiling above their heads.
"Oh yeah," Noah said looking up. "It's like a trap door. There has to be a release mechanism somewhere here. Hold the flashlight." He felt over the walls with his hands until he located a divot between the wall and wooden border. "Stand back."
He slid the lever and the panel opened just a crack. Noah jumped up to reach it. Once his fingers caught, he lowered it down to reveal folding stairs.
He was totally distracting her with his sharp mind and his cut body in those tight boxers. Rachel blushed. "What do you think is up there?"
"Only one way to find out," and with that he was up the steps peering around the room with the flashlight.
"Possible jackpot!"
"What is it?"
"Come and see for yourself," he took her hand and brought her up next to him.
"A motorbike. Could it still work?" She asked doubtfully.
"I don't see why not. The Sov confiscated all motorized vehicles before the sweep, making it nearly impossible for anyone to get away fast or far enough. My guess - someone savvy hit it up here, but never got the chance to use it. Step back down,"
With that, Noah picked up the bike in both of his hands causing the muscles of his arms and torso to strain and flex. Rachel thought that she had been distracted before.
He set the bike on the floor and turned to her.
She breathed and came up close to him. She glided her hands from his wrists, up his forearms, over his biceps, and onto his neck. He pulled her in close.
"You want me? Again? Even though we might not die?" Noah asked surprised.
"Yes. Do you… do you, want - me?"
"I want you, Rachel. Forever." He pressed his lips hungrily against hers.
Last night was beautiful, Noah thought. It was so full of powerful emotions. It had been soft and tender - full of tears and gentleness. This was different. She took his hands and brought him into the bedroom. She tugged him to sit on the blanket with his back against the wall. As she has climbed on top of him, straddling his hips, he felt nothing soft or tender. He was full of urgency and she was full of sexual power.
"You're a goddess," He pulled her against him so he could feel the strain of her breasts under the shirt and his mouth could taste the heat of her neck. "All I could think about when I saw you after your bath was what I wanted to do to you if I could get that t-shirt off."
"And what did you want to do to me?" She rubbed herself against his already hardening shaft. He wanted to feel her now. He wanted to excite her. He wanted to experience her again - how she smelled, how she moved, how she tasted. She pushed her groin into his center and her mouth made a sensational path of kisses and tongue flicks down his neck and onto his shoulders.
"You want to know?" He growled, pulled the t-shirt over her head and grinded his cock between her legs. She was so fucking sexy wearing nothing put the tiny strip of fabric panties. He rolled her onto her back, even though she protested, and brought her earlobe tenderly between his teeth, trailing behind her ear, down her jaw line and throat to tickle her with his tongue between her breasts. He brought his hand up and kneaded the soft mound of her tit and felt her nipple pebble to stone under his palm.
He took a moment to study her lines and curves. She wiggled beneath his gaze, slightly uncomfortable and turned on as hell. "You are so gorgeous, every inch of you," She was a masterpiece.
"I want your perfect round breast in my hand while I suck your nipple deep into my hungry mouth." After those words Noah sucked her nipple with frenzy and massaged it between his lips until her breathing became audible panting. He released the pink flesh only to flick it with his tongue. To keep the sensations in that tit electric, he placed her lovely hardened stone in between his fingers and rolled it, while his mouth and tongue devoured the nipple of her other breast.
She moaned deeply as she pushed her wetness over his stomach. He felt the moisture through the fabric on his bare skin. Her reactions were making his shaft and balls ache. He knew she had to be as hot inside as he was throbbing on the outside. Slowly, methodically he moved his hand down the center of her belly over her pelvic bone until he reached her sweet sensitive flesh between her legs.
He slid his finger into the top of her slit and rotated two fingers circularly over the tiny nub that powered such electricity and moved his mouth back to her nipple, lapping at it with the flat fullness of his tongue, before he pulled it i
nto back into his mouth and sucked it strongly. Rachel groaned, crying out she latched her hands around the muscles of his forearms and squeezed tightly.
She was on fire and Noah knew he had brought her there! He released her tit and crushed his lips into hers at the same time he sank two fingers deep inside of her.
"I want to fuck your perfect, tight pussy with my fingers," Noah breathed over her mouth. She moaned against his lips as he rhythmically fucked her with his fingers.
This was getting too much for him; he knew he was going to explode! He had to taste her again. He brought his drenched and dripping fingers to his mouth and painted his lips and tongue with her moisture.
His eyes bore into hers, "You taste incredible."
"Noah do it, please do it, now." She begged.
"Oh, I'm not finished yet," he said huskily. She gasped as he slid his torso across the wetness between her legs until she could feel his breath on her sex. Instinctively, she closed her thighs. Noah gently pulled them back apart. She panted in anticipation.
"Rachel," He whispered against her core and began covering her with light kisses traveling up and along her heat. Noah was so hard now; he was pushing himself against the floor to find some relief.
He slipped his tongue between her soaked folds and reached her delicate clit. Something let loose from her throat between a gasp and a scream as she quivered under his touch.
"I want every part of you Rachel," he said caressing her with his tongue. He could feel her swelling - ripening with pressure.
"Come on beautiful," he purred over her. "Let it go, come in my mouth Rachel."
Her body began quaking. She spread her legs further apart for him. She whimpered and Noah moaned in ecstasy.
"You've got me, Noah!" Rachel cried and soared into her climax. Her entire body became Noah's. All of her - body and soul surrendered.
Noah was hard and ready. They were both fevered now.
"My turn," she panted. "Sit back." Quickly, Noah put his back against the wall and Rachel sat astride his shaft. His tip stretched to touch her, wanting to plunge inside. But she teased, hovering over him. "What do you want now?"
Enemy Lines Page 6
