The Violent Society

by M C Rooney

  “What is it?” Her eyesight was not as good as it had once been.

  “It’s my son Darren,” Kerri replied, “and he is walking towards us with some strangers.”

  “Who, who?” she asked.

  “Flynn!” Danni suddenly cried out and ran towards him with open arms.

  “That’s a relief,” Veronica said as she blew out a deep breath of air. “You looked like you had seen a ghost.”

  “We sort of have,” Kerri replied. She still sounded a bit anxious. “John Carter is with him.”

  “Well, that’s good,” Veronica replied. Thank God that man was alive. He could see the way out of any trouble that could come their way. “Who else?” she asked anxiously. Only one man would make her daughters look that nervous.

  “Well, I think I can see the Follett brothers, but they are wearing a lot of clothes now,” said Anne.

  “Who else?” asked Veronica. She could see her grandson now, and he seemed to be talking animatedly to a huge man wearing some sort of robe and face covering.

  “That’s the Follett brothers’ friend Ian,” Kerri said.

  “Craig Cheng is there,” exclaimed Caroline. “I haven’t seen him since I was a young girl.”

  “Who else?” She was starting to get a bit cranky now.

  “Well, there are two people on … horses with four … dogs,” Anne said. “They must be the ones Danni told us about.”

  “They look friendly, though,” Kerri said. “Danni seems to be playing with one of those dog things.”

  “Bloody hell!” Veronica snapped loudly. “Is your father there?”

  “Yes, I am here, Vonnie,” the huge man in the robe said. “No need to get all moody and start shouting.”

  Veronica tried to focus on the huge man as he walked up to her, but her breathing had become very ragged, and her eyes had become misty. It was him, though, she saw as he moved closer. He looked a bit older and less angry, but it was him.

  “Wife,” he said.

  “Husband,” she replied.

  Ozzie Martin

  “Where are they?” Ozzie screamed as he threw the village mayor against the wall. “And why do you smell so bad?”

  “He shit his pants,” Mackenna said with a laugh.

  Ozzie thought he must be scarier than he first believed and breathed in deeply to swell his chest, then instantly regretted it as he began to gag on the mayor’s stench.

  “Well, shit for brains,”—or pants—“where are they?” Ozzie spat.

  “Who?” the terrified mayor replied.

  “What do you mean, who?” Ozzie replied. “The fucking Roberts, that’s who.”

  “Veronica?” he asked.

  “Yes, Veronica, you dick.” What was wrong with this man? First he walks around with crap in his pants, then he can’t remember his own villagers.

  “She left … this morning,” the mayor mumbled. This was turning out to be the worst day in his life. “At … dawn; she has gone to Buzz.”

  “Did she take many belongings?” Mackenna asked.

  “Yes, she … took two … carts worth.”

  “We can catch her,” Ozzie said with a laugh.

  “And the girls.” Old Mackenna grinned and began feeling at his cock again.

  “Yes, and the girls,” Ozzie replied as he looked away. The Scruncher. Did he ever let his cock go? He was like a two-year-old boy who had just discovered it.

  “Move out!” he called to his men as he pushed his hair out of his face. Hopefully there wasn’t much farther to run; he was bloody exhausted.

  The Martin Mansion

  “There, boys,” Brett Martin said as he gestured towards the bloody verandah. “That’s how you keep people in line; that’s how you keep your hands on power.”

  Jonas and Brad nodded at their father and surveyed the lands beyond the verandah. People were moving about in their normal duties, and some were glancing at the mansion in fear. Their father was right. To keep at the top of the pack, you needed to be as ruthless as possible.

  “Your grandfather thought the same way,” Rebecca Roberts suddenly said as she gazed out the window from her chair, “and the people rebelled.”

  “But as I recall,” Brett replied, “he only had five people to watch his back. I have over ninety.”

  “You have only three,” Rebecca replied. “Your own sons are the only ones you can trust.” And barely at that, she thought.

  “That’s bullshit, you old bag,” Brett replied. “The warriors follow me and only me.”

  “Ah, maybe they do,” Rebecca replied, “but once upon a time, there used to be two hundred.”

  “Are you talking about the cowards who have given up fighting?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “Your numbers are shrinking.”

  “Fuck those men,” Brad suddenly said. “They’re fucking useless scum.”

  “Are they?” Rebecca wondered. Something was changing in their clan. Something was in the air, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was. “Nothing stays the same forever,” she said as she stood up. “Maurice once ruled with an iron fist, and in the end, he just up and left.”

  “He went to conquer more lands,” Jonas said.

  “He went to new lands for a new start,” she replied. “He was tired of the fighting and wanted to leave something new for his trueborn son.” She knew the truth of that now; the last few days everything had become quite clear to her. She had helped him become the violent man that he was, but there was a little of his father still left inside of him.

  “I am leaving something for my sons,” Brett said, glaring at the woman who raised him and kept him alive for all those years.

  “Stupid bitch,” Brad muttered under his breath.

  Jonas, however, was looking at her thoughtfully.

  “Violence,” she said as she walked out of the room, “that is the only thing you are leaving for them.”

  That night Rebecca Roberts dwelt on all she had done in her life and saw that she was selfish and vain and had failed in the most important thing you can achieve in life. She failed at loving others. She wept as she fell into a deep sleep from which she would not wake. Her body did rise and attack a few people in the night, but come the next day, nobody cared as she was buried at the back of the mansion next to her brother whom she was scared of, her lover, Barry, whom she had used for money, and her numerous nephews and great nephews who had all died violent deaths.

  However, one person named Grant Hamill did show he cared, and he would place a bunch of freshly picked flowers on her grave whenever he could. For she had saved his and his brothers’ lives after all.

  Veronica and Maurice

  Wife.

  Husband.

  These were two simple words, but words that conveyed a great deal in the new world. They were still married. There was no legal contract like in the old days. No blood-sucking lawyers to split up your property just say the word divorce and it was done. There was nothing to fight over anyway, apart from who would raise the kids. People only had the basic necessities of life. There were no flashy cars and massive homes, or huge bank accounts to fight over. People stayed together if they loved each other and left each other if they didn’t. Except for Veronica, of course, she had left her husband despite the fact that she still loved him, and Maurice must have thought she wanted a divorce.

  “Wife,” he said.

  “Husband,” she replied, and she could see the relief in his eyes, the relief and maybe hope. But ever since that first exchange, he had kept his distance. They kept moving towards Buzz, and with the help of the young men and the horses, the carts were moving along quickly, but Maurice would not talk to her; he would just move around the group and talk quietly with his daughters.

  What was he talking about? she wondered. She was itching to walk over to him and listen in as he talked to her kids, but she didn’t want to appear too nosy.

  But she bloody well wanted to be nosy, she thought in a huff. I’m their mother, and I am
his wife, so their bloody business is my bloody business.

  She watched as he talked quietly to his third daughter, Anne. Her face looked back at him in surprise, and she gave him a tearful hug. That was the fourth hug he had received. Kerri had given him a tight hug, Caroline a small, gentle one, Danni was crying as she hugged him and kissed his cheek, and now Anne was going all teary-eyed.

  When do I get the bloody chance to hug the big lug? she thought as she stomped her way along the pathway.

  “You look a bit angry there, Veronica,” Carter said with a small smile. “Anything amiss?”

  “Shut up, John Carter,” she snapped. “I see your hand in all this. He wouldn’t have come here willingly. You tricked him, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, just a little,” John replied with his usual friendly smile. “But the way he has been acting today is not a trick of mine,” he finished in quite a serious tone.

  “What has happened to him?” she asked in surprise. “Why has he changed?”

  “You, I believe,” Carter replied. “Ever since you left there have been small changes in him. Sure, he was angry and hurt at the beginning,” he continued, “but over the last three years, and especially over the last month, he has changed for the good.”

  “But it can’t be entirely because of me,” Veronica said, but a part of her would be quite pleased if it was all her.

  “I agree,” Carter said thoughtfully. “I think that no longer being chief has lifted a great burden from his shoulders. He seems more peaceful these days.”

  “Really?” she said in surprise again.

  “Well, apart from how he handled your village mayor,” Carter said.

  “Oh no, what did he do?” Veronica said as she raised a hand to her mouth.

  “Oh, nothing too bad, just threatened him a little.”

  “And what did the mayor do?”

  “Shat his pants.”

  “A metaphor.”

  “A reality.”

  Veronica burst into laughter, which had the whole group looking at her, including Maurice. He had been talking to his eldest grandson, who was looking at his grandfather in awe, but was now gazing at his wife.

  She preened a little as he looked at her so intently and wondered what he was thinking, until Flynn came running up to them. He and Sam were acting as rearguards for the moment.

  “They’re coming,” he said. “Ozzie is leading them, and they number about twenty.”

  “Where is Sam?” Alex asked as he unlimbered his bow and checked his sword.

  “He’s lying low and will be following them if he gets the chance.”

  “How far away?” asked his father.

  “About ten minutes,” Flynn replied.

  Kirstin and Hussein were unhitching the horses from the carts. The horses couldn’t wait to be released. They definitely were not used to doing any manual labour.

  “Are you coming with us?” Hockey called out to them.

  “Of course,” Hussein replied.

  “We fucking started it,” Kirstin said angrily. “We intend to fucking finish it.”

  The feud between the Roberts and Martins was not started by these two, but Hockey was glad they were joining the fight nonetheless. And what a mouth that girl had!

  Carter and Hockey gathered together and looked around at the terrain. The pathway they were on was in the middle of a big field. There was no place to set a trap in the woods, and there was no time to reach the nearest bushlands. They were stuck out in the open, and all they had for cover was two old carts. There were, however, some dips in the terrain that could prove quite useful.

  “The kids are so close,” Hockey said worriedly. “They will see the battle. And if we fail, they will all die.”

  “So how do we handle this?” Carter asked.

  “Same as always,” Hockey replied. “I stand up front and fight and you try to keep me alive.”

  “I can do that,” Carter replied. “But I need to use Danni for something.”

  “What?” Hockey replied sharply. “There is no way in hell I am putting my little girl in danger.”

  “We are all in danger, you know that.”

  Hockey sighed; he was right again. It was an ‘us or them’ scenario. “What’s the plan?” he muttered.

  “Well, basically, the plan has two parts.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Danni being a fast runner and a good actor,” Carter replied.

  “And the other part?”

  “Some of the Martin men thinking with their dicks.”

  Hockey sighed again. He knew where this was headed, and it was a good plan. “All right,” Hockey grunted. “But don’t tell her mother.”

  “Don’t tell her mother what?” Veronica said as she walked up to the pair of men. She was carrying a bow and had a knife on her hip as well.

  “Um, well, we have a plan,” Carter said quietly.

  “Yes,” Veronica replied, “and what does it involve that I wouldn’t like?”

  “Danni is a fast runner,” Hockey said.

  “What?” Flynn cried out. “Did I just hear you mention Danni’s name?” He looked really worried.

  “Yes, you did,” Hockey replied in confusion. “When did you become so interested in my daughter’s well-being?”

  “They have been going out for some time, Husband,” Veronica said angrily. “Didn’t you see her hugging him when you first arrived?” She was still annoyed with him. All this ‘ignoring her stuff’ had really got her goat.

  No, I didn’t notice as I was too busy looking at you, Hockey thought, but he was angry with her as well. “Well, I would have known had somebody not left me,” he said testily.

  “Oh, really?” she snapped. “Well, if someone was not fighting to the death all the time I would have quite happily stayed.” She expected him to respond about being a man and leading the clan by being as tough as possible, or some other cliché macho drivel, but his face altered.

  “I’m so sorry, Vonnie,” he said, ashamed and almost tearful as he looked at the ground. “I’m always so angry. I don’t know what is wrong with me.”

  She was speechless; he really had changed. It all stemmed from his mother and sister, she was sure of it. But a person was responsible for their own actions in the end, no matter what life threw at you. But she could see that Maurice had finally changed, and her heart now swelled with joy.

  “If we could leave the domestic disputes for just one second,” Carter said calmly, “we have the issue now of how we are all to stay alive.”

  The group gathered together as Carter went through his plan, only Danni and her sisters noticed that their mum and dad were standing very close together. Very close.

  Ozzie Martin

  “We must be near them now, surely,” Ozzie said as he lumbered up the pathway. He felt like he was about to pass out.

  “We are in a massive field,” Mackenna replied. “If they are close or even in the distance we should be able to see them.” And we would have caught them by now if you weren’t such an unfit bastard, he thought.

  “Well, I hope—” Ozzie stopped suddenly as he saw a pretty girl with thick black hair standing in the fields. That must be a Roberts, he thought. She looked just like the old photos of his Great-Great-Aunt Rebecca, which she strangely carried around in her purse.

  “Fuck me,” Mackenna said. The old man and the others had stopped as well.

  The girl looked at them for a moment, then screamed and ran in the opposite direction.

  Ozzie watched as Mackenna began tugging on his cock again. Thank God that man wore trousers.

  “Let’s get her, boys!” Mackenna yelled out, and before Ozzie could call out an order for them to stay where they were, Mackenna and four others ran after the girl.

  “Fucking hell she is hot,” Mackenna screamed out as he ran after Danni Roberts. He really couldn’t let go of his cock right now even if he tried.

  “She runs fast, though,” someone called out next to him.
r />   He didn’t care who was with him, so long as he had first go. He was so focused on that sweet young arse running in front of him that he didn’t notice a huge man suddenly rise up from the ground and stick an axe in his stomach.

  Ozzie stood in shock as he watched a huge man in a robe swing a wicked-looking axe into Mackenna. It went clean through his stomach and almost came out the other side.

  “That’s Hockey,” a man by his side cried out in terror.

  “It can’t be,” Ozzie muttered. That man was a walking, talking nightmare.

  The other four warriors with Mackenna stood still in shock, and Hockey quickly swung his axe twice and killed two more. The two surviving men ran back towards the main group. There were only nineteen of them now.

  Hockey enjoyed that, he really did, especially killing that sick fuck with his hand on his junk. Try as he might to be more peaceful, he did enjoy a fight, but he had to show some control to make sure Veronica didn’t leave him again. He had trouble taking his eyes off her all morning. He had missed her ever since she had left, but just being near her now was starting to drive him crazy. The first person he had killed, with the fondling problem, started making growling noises as he came back to life.

  “An oldie, hey?” he said as he put his axe through his head.

  Kirstin rode her horse out to the side of the field with her dogs trailing behind. She was worried they would get hurt, but she did have to do her duty in stopping these men. She looked at her dogs, pointed at the group of men gathered on the field, and made a circling motion with her hands. The dogs took off and soon began circling the men.

  “Well, they are not sheep,” she said worriedly as she watched her dogs. “But they are almost as dumb as.”

  Ozzie was trying to control his men, but Mackenna had been the real experienced leader of the group, despite his penis-grabbing issues. Hockey stood in the distance and stared at them. He raised his axe above his head and began to make a challenging scream. With his hooded robe, he looked bigger and scarier than he normally did, if that was even possible.