The Rotting Souls Series (Book 3): Charon's Debt

by Ray, Timothy A.

  He started mounting the steps and felt Sabrina bump into him when he reached the top. “Sorry,” she muttered.

  He had noticed how attached she seemed to be getting to him and though he felt an attraction there, he didn’t trust it. Trusting your emotions rather than logic could be disastrous in a combat situation. Best to keep things light and civil. He had come too far to lose his head over a dame now.

  He bent over and approached the edge of the wall, careful to slowly raise his head and look over the edge. Sabrina had brazenly stepped forward. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her down. “Stay down,” he snapped as he peered over the wall.

  Night had fallen so the torches were the first things that drew his eye. Then his heart stopped in his throat. There was over a hundred people down there, all dressed in fatigues and armed. “Holy fuck,” he muttered. He knew that they had designed this place to hold against a siege, but had more than three people in mind to hold the walls. And one of the those was just a kid. No way could he repel something like this. If they had ladders—

  An older man stood on the other side of the wooden palisade that lined their moat. As their eyes met, his breathing slowed. He looked like a drill sergeant and from his bearing, he knew how to handle that weapon of his. They looked at each other for a long moment, then a smile crossed the man’s face. “Why do pallies bubble hearth?” the man asked, breaking the staring contest.

  That stunned him. The man was leading a small army of heavily armed people and he was asking him a code phrase signaling that he was a friend. “Because they’re wimps,” he responded automatically. “Who inspired the Night Elf dance?” he asked before he could stop himself.

  “Some chick in France named Alizée, or something like that,” the man answered.

  “Nick, go open the gates,” he told the young boy in relief. Whoever these people were, they had known the correct questions and answers that signaled that they were friends. These had to be the paramilitary group from the north. Well, he was impressed. These people looked like they were prepared for war. He was glad that they were on his side.

  Their drawbridge lowered over the gap and Nick was rushing to open the wooden gate beyond. He turned to go back down the stairs and saw that Sabrina was already below, her weapon held ready in case things went to shit. He shook his head when he approached her. “Don’t provoke anybody.”

  “We don’t know these people,” she responded hotly. “Did you even know they were coming?”

  He shook his head. “But they knew the right things to say. Monica or Todd must have invited them. To be honest, that’s a good thing,” he told her. “We could use the help.”

  “I think we’re doing just fine on our own,” she returned with a snarl. Yeah, he could really get to like this one; she had spunk.

  “You never know what might come our way. It doesn’t hurt to have help,” he replied, trying to soothe the woman’s anger. Why was she acting like that? She seemed so distrustful of strangers. True, he hadn’t known her very long and the conversation in the Humvee had been light, but he knew that there must be something else there, something driving this paranoia that she was displaying. “Look, you don’t have to trust them, but you need to trust me. I’m telling you it’s okay. No way has someone come up with that on their own. It is a specific passcode tailored just for us. They’re invited guests and will be treated accordingly,” he told her sternly, wiping the retort off her face.

  She nodded in submission and he tried to smile.

  The old man led his people through the gates and came to stand at his side. “Sorry about that. I tried to call Monica on the walkie we gave her, but no one is picking up.”

  “That’s odd,” Joseph commented. “Why wouldn’t she be responding?”

  The old man just shook his head. “Names Bill,” he said extending his hand.

  Joseph took it and introduced the others. Henry must have taken the girls and the child into the tunnels because they were nowhere to be seen. Well, they didn’t have enough jeeps to ferry these people over to the third compound, so they would just have to huff it. By the look of them, they could handle it. “How many planes you got in this place anyways?” the man asked. “I was told that you were out retrieving one. Why do that if you already had another?”

  “What?” Joseph asked, not comprehending what the old man was talking about. “We just got back. This is the only plane that I know about. What are you talking about?”

  “We were about a mile out when we saw it take off like a bat out of hell. Took us by surprise. The only thing I could figure is that Monica set off to deal with that Sean character,” Bill told him as they walked towards the tunnels.

  Nick had remained behind to close things up and Sabrina was close by his side.

  “Monica set off to do what?” he asked incredulously. No way. No fucking way. Where would she get the plane? Why wouldn’t she wait for them to get back? What the hell has been going on while I was away? his raging mind roared.

  Bill kept silent for a moment. “I take it you didn’t know,” he finally commented. “Well shit, I guess I just put my foot in my mouth on that one.”

  He briefly explained to Sabrina how to get the large group over to the other compound and she nodded in response, then set off to lead the people on. He hung back and the old man understood he was expected to do the same. When the last person was out of ear reach, he turned and stared at the grizzled face. “Tell me everything.”

  “I found them,” a man said into a cellphone. He was hiding in the tree line and had watched the large group disappear behind the high walls of the fortress before him. He had been trying to scout the area as ordered when the flashing lights of a plane had caught his eye. The roar of the engine drew him closer and he had arrived just in time to see the drawbridge lowering. “I think we’re going to need more men,” he told the man on the other end.

  Renny would be pleased by his success.

  They had been held up in Morenci and he had been sent ahead to begin the search for this mysterious armed compound in the woods. Luck had been with him. He doubted he would’ve found it if not for that air traffic in and out of the place. He listened for another second, then smiled. Clicking the phone shut, he backed off and began making his way back.

  There was resistance in that little town to the south. Once they broke that, they’d work on “drafting” more men to their cause and come back this way. Then they’d kick those putos out and take the place for themselves.

  It was perfect.

  Whistling, he stepped into the shadows and disappeared from sight.

  Chapter 43

  Pressure Release

  Todd

  The Thing, AZ

  They had pulled over for gas and he waited patiently for the pump to finish. Ros had gone in to turn the pumps on and he was surprised the station still had power out here. The lights of Benson were gone as they passed through and it occurred to him that they’d have to rely on the gas tanks for fuel if the power had been off. He never did learn how to siphon from the underground tanks. Now, it looked like an essential skill if they were going to continue to drive around in the world.

  He hoped it would be the last time for a while. The only trip he had planned was up north, but that would be by plane, not by car. In and out, then back home and back to the business of waiting this shit out. He had enough excitement recently, it’d be nice to get some down time.

  Rosilynn emerged from the store with a black cowgirl hat on her head. She had removed her helmet and had let her hair down. Striding forward in that tight black suit drabbed in her armor, she was sexy beyond words. He felt himself stirring at the waist line and quickly diverted his eyes to slow the blood flow seeping south.

  “We’re not back yet. You should keep the helmet on,” he told her as she stepped forward and leaned against the pump, smiling at him.

  “What’s the matter, don’t like cowgirls?” she asked in a playful tone.

  He chuckled. �
��Love them. Especially you dressed like one. But—,” he began, but she stepped forward and put a finger on his lips.

  “I think you’ve done enough talking for today,” she whispered as she tipped her hat back and leaned forward, planting her lips on his. Her hot breath made his blood rush faster and as their lips opened he felt the stiffening response below.

  “Ros,” he begged, trying to keep in control of himself.

  She slid her tongue into his mouth and whatever he was going to say next was cut off as her passion enveloped him. He responded in kind, letting go of the pump handle and running a hand up her slim body to the back of her neck. He pulled her close; increasing the intensity of their kiss. Her own hands were fast at work as she slid off his helmet and tossed it in the front seat of the Humvee. Her other hand gripped the handle of the sliding door behind him and he felt the door jerk open. He leaned forward so that it could slide free, then she gently pushed him backward until he was half hanging out of the vehicle.

  “Seriously, we can’t do this out here,” he whispered, but his body was saying something entirely different.

  She knew it too because while her right hand was undoing the protective pads on his left arm, her left had slid south and was stroking his penis through the rubber suit. He moaned and got a smile in return. His first thought was of his wife, then he remembered her quick dismissal of his worries the last time he phoned her from this very spot. He couldn’t help but resist, how could he be thinking about sex with so much falling apart in the world? But as Rosilynn’s hand started to unbuckle his bullet proof vest, he knew that he would not be able to stop it now.

  His own hands went to work on her own suit and he threw her gear on top of his own. The pump clicked that it was finished, but he ignored it. He had no more fight to give.

  The sexy vixen in front of him pushed him back on the seat and turned to shut the door, cutting off the flood lights over their heads. In the shadows, she fell upon him and he felt the zipper of his suit slowly working its way down. His fingers were working on hers and as it slid below the breast line, she stopped unzipping him long enough to peel her arms out of the tight suit. Her large breasts bounced free and she leaned forward, pushing a nipple into his mouth. He moaned with desire as she continued to undo his suit, her hand sliding between his legs as the zipper cleared his waist. He opened his mouth in a hot moan and sucked harder as she began to stroke him.

  “You don’t know how much I missed this,” she said with a wink as she pulled away and lowered her head to his waist. As her mouth found his manhood he could do nothing but hold on as she went to work. His head exploded in ecstasy and pleasure wracked his entire body. Her hands were still moving and after getting his own arms out of his suit, he felt her hands whip it out from under his butt; freeing him from the pelvis down. He helped her get it off his legs and she didn’t miss a beat as she went to town on his throbbing organ. His own hands were working her own suit past her round hips. As it slid free of her ass, she moaned around him.

  He was getting close and she caught that because her lips suddenly clamped down and her right hand gripped his balls. “Not yet cowboy,” she purred.

  He slid off the seat and laid her down in his place. He lowered himself on top of her and kissed her neck furiously. As he began to slide south, sliding his tongue over her erect and hard nipple, he felt her legs wrap around his ass and pull him back up. “I can’t wait,” she told him and he sighed with pleasure as he slid all the way into her.

  “I love you,” he told her, confessing his deepest desires. He loved her as much as he could. He would always love the two women in his life more than anyone in the world, but Rosilynn was definitely close on their heels.

  “I know,” she said with a smile, as she threw her head back and moaned with pleasure. He increased his tempo and felt her hands dig into his back. Her nails were clawing their way downward and they clamped on his ass, pulling him further in. “Oh God yes, I love you too. Come on. That’s it.”

  He wasn’t much of a talker, which worked out fine because she was doing more than enough for both of them. He would normally try to draw this out but with the bucking of her hips and the frenzy of her gripping legs, he knew that it would only last a few more moments. He kissed her again and she gripped the back of his head with one hand and tore at the hair in the back. Her hips were rising to meet his and each thrust was getting further and further in.

  “Ros, I’m getting close,” he warned her. They weren’t using a condom. In fact, he was pretty sure the store behind them had one, but he wasn’t about to run butt naked across the parking lot to get it.

  “Just fuck me, I don’t care. Do it!” she roared and threw her head back as an intense orgasm shook her frame.

  He obliged, giving everything he had to fuel her pleasure and feeling his own building up inside. With a loud grunt, he felt himself let go and they continued to rock in unison, every second a shared explosion of pleasure. As they slowed, his breath was coming out in short gasps and he was sweating profusely.

  It was hot in there all of a sudden.

  He refused to pull out right away, wanting to savor the feel of her body against his. “I really do love you, you know,” he told her, as if making sure that she understood that it hadn’t just been the heat of the moment.

  “I love you too,” she returned, playing with his hair.

  “What about—?” he tried to ask. That worried part of him that suddenly felt guilty was trying to force its way to the forefront.

  She chuckled. “You still hung up on that? I thought we all agreed never to get jealous, to just love each other and have fun. Has something changed?”

  “Not for me,” he returned.

  “Well, me neither,” she smiled.

  His phone was vibrating on the floor of the Humvee and he groaned. Their timing sucked. He still didn’t want to pull himself free, wanting to bask in the warmth of her body and the feel of their skin intertwined. “You should get that,” Ros told him, slapping him on the ass.

  “Ouch!” he muttered.

  “Wimp,” she snickered.

  He slowly freed himself from her and with regret in his heart, he sat up and bent to get his phone. “Joseph, man, your timing sucks. I take you guys got back okay? Okay—she’s done what?”

  To be continued…

  In Book 4 of the Rotting Souls series

  Charon’s Coffers