by Robert Boren
He turned and walked into the bedroom, her eyes on him every step, body buzzing with desire and love. Stop it. Go slow. When he slid the door shut, she finished making the bed, got undressed, and got in, asleep within minutes.
“They’re coming,” somebody shouted.
The tanks began firing. I ran, not sure where Don was. Suddenly there were barbarians at the gates, in Islamic attire, weapons in their hands, shooting anybody they saw as the group struggled to fight back. Chloe and Alyssa ran, only to be swept up by Islamists on horseback, kicking and screaming as they were carried away. Somebody grabbed me from behind. I tried to pull free, and saw Don rushing towards me. Then he froze, his mouth opening, blood flowing out as he collapsed. “Don!” I cried as I was dragged away, more of them on me now, pulling at my clothes, hitting me all over, laying me down naked on the hard dirt, pebbles and rocks digging into my back, several rifle barrels just inches from my face as my remaining clothes were torn away. “No!”
Sydney woke up in a cold sweat, panting, covers laying on the floor next to the bed, her naked body clammy, her mind still in a panic. She staggered towards the bedroom door, sliding it open, Don’s soft breath calming her in an instant. She slipped into bed next to him, her naked body against his back. He stirred, waking up, turning his head towards her.
“Whaa…” he said, groggy.
“I had a bad dream,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep. I just want to be next to you.”
He turned his head back, and was asleep again within seconds as she clung to him. She drifted off.
Don woke up sweaty as the sun rose, peeling back his blankets. Then he felt the warm body against his back, and the arm over his torso. He was instantly overcome by feelings of love and lust, vaguely remembering when she came in, too tired to process it then. He turned onto his back, Sydney getting closer, her soft breasts against the side of his chest, her breath hitting his face, her black hair spilling over the pillow. He was watching her pretty face when her eyes fluttered open.
“Oh,” she said. “Sorry. I had a nightmare.”
He chuckled, his hand going to her side. “I’m glad you’re here.”
She sighed, getting closer, leg going over his middle, the contact making him groan.
“Oh,” she said. “Sorry. Wow.”
“I’ll settle down,” he said. “Can’t help it. Maybe I’d better go to the bathroom. That’s part of the problem.”
“Go ahead, but then come back, okay?”
“Okay,” he said, getting up, trying to keep his back to her as he rushed into the bathroom. He could hear her giggle as he shut the bathroom door.
He was done after a couple minutes, and cracked open the door. She was still laying on her back, facing away from the door. He rushed in and got under the covers, getting his first glimpse of her naked body as he lifted them.
“Get a good look?” she asked.
“Sorry.”
She smiled and pulled the covers down, revealing herself to him. “There, now we don’t have to worry about this part.” She sat up and pulled the blankets away from him, taking a long look. Then she laid back down and moved against him again, her leg coming back up on his torso, not avoiding his condition this time.
“You’re driving me crazy,” he whispered.
“You want me, don’t you?”
He looked into her eyes, silent, moving in for a kiss, which she returned with passion. They broke it and continued staring.
“You’re something else,” he said.
“So are you. I think we can sleep in the same bed from now on.”
He smiled, not knowing what to say, his heart pounding, all of him feeling electric.
“You’re pretty worked up,” she said, petting his hair. “You’d take me right now if I asked, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m only human,” he said.
“We’ll get up now,” she said. “If you don’t mind.”
He chuckled, then was silent for a moment. “No, I don’t mind.”
She kissed him again, moving over him, both of them moaning. “We’ll do a little more tonight. Not everything, but a little more. I promise.”
“Like I said, at your pace, honey,” he said, sitting up.
She smiled at him, still lying down, letting the covers fall again, watching his eyes on her. He noticed her watching, his face turning red.
“You’re having yourself a time, aren’t you?” he asked.
“You aren’t upset, are you?” she asked. “I’m not trying to tease you. It’s all I can do to hold back.”
“I know that,” he said. “Haven’t been looked at like that for years. I know what it means.”
“Oh, really?” she teased.
“Yeah, really,” he said softly. “We don’t need to say anything. We understand each other.”
Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at him.
“I’ll see about breakfast,” Don said, getting out of bed, not hiding his nakedness now, feeling her eyes on him. It gave him a thrill. He slipped on a robe and went into the kitchen.
“There anything to eat out there?” Sydney asked as she got out of bed.
“I got a few eggs from Moe’s store yesterday,” he said. “I’ll try the stove. How do you like yours?”
“Over easy,” she said, walking through the salon naked.
“What are you doing?” he asked, trembling.
“My clothes are out here, silly, remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, face turning red. He got out the eggs and frying pan as she dressed. “I’ll go get my other clothes later. They’re in the cabinet over by the still, along with some of my other stuff.”
“I’ll help you,” Don said. “We’ll bring the SUV over.”
“Good,” she said, coming up behind him as he stood at the stove, arms going around his waist. “I didn’t give you quite enough this morning.”
“It was fine,” he said. “Best morning I’ve had in a long, long time.”
“But still,” she said, turning him towards her. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him, arms going around his neck. He hugged her tight. They broke the kiss after a couple of minutes.
“Wow,” he said. “I’d say that’s enough.”
“That wasn’t what I was going to give you,” she said.
“No?”
“No,” she said, hugging him. “I love you.”
They kissed again, long and passionate. Then she broke it and sat on the dinette bench. “So what are we doing today?”
He chuckled. “Something that will make the day go quickly, I hope.”
Chapter 9 – Screening
Nelson walked into the kitchen, where Maria and Hendrix were sitting, sipping their first cups of coffee.
“Ready to be rid of me?” he asked.
“You’re leaving?” Maria asked.
“Is it safe yet?” Hendrix asked.
“Yeah,” Nelson said. “They’ve got the large bunker under the Capitol building set up as a new Governor’s residence and office space. I’ll get picked up later today, in an armored personnel carrier.”
“We going too, or staying here?” Hendrix asked.
“Staying here for now, just in case,” Nelson said. “We’ve got a new strategy.”
“Really?” Hendrix said. “What?”
“We’re installing airport scanners to monitor everyone coming into the Capitol building,” Nelson said.
“You mean you’re checking for weapons?” Maria asked. “Like we do in the criminal court buildings?”
“We’ll be telling everybody that’s what we’re checking for, and that’s part of it,” Nelson said. “We’ve got the scanners fine-tuned to look for RFID chips.”
Hendrix chuckled. “Perfect. Hear anything about the chopper pilots?”
“I’m still waiting for Wallis to call,” Nelson said. “We ought to hear from him any time now.”
Nelson’s phone rang. He looked at it. “Brian. Excuse me a minute.”
Nelson went into the console room. Maria smiled at Hendrix.
“We get to be alone again.”
“Sounds like it,” he said. “It’ll be nice, but I’ll miss my friend.”
“I will to,” she said, “I can see how close you two are.”
Nelson walked back in. Hendrix eyed him.
“Nothing important,” Nelson said. “Details about office set up.”
“Oh,” Hendrix said. “Good. You looked worried about something.”
“San Antonio,” Nelson said. “They still haven’t found the cell responsible for the attacks yesterday.”
“Maybe they left the city,” Hendrix said.
“Maybe,” Nelson said. “We’ve legalized open carry for all citizens there. No permit required.”
“Might be a tad risky,” Hendrix said.
“Yeah,” Nelson said. “Ought to shorten any new terror attacks, though. Probably worth it for now.”
The console beeped.
“Call coming in,” Maria said, getting up from the table. She rushed to it and looked. “It’s Director Wallis.”
“Great,” Nelson said. He rushed into the console room with Hendrix just as the call started.
“Hi, Director Wallis,” Maria said.
“Good morning, Maria,” Wallis said. “Nelson in there with you?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Hi, Wallis,” Nelson said. “Hendrix is in here too.”
“Perfect,” Wallis said.
“You sound chipper,” Nelson said.
“The RFID check has paid off big time,” he said. “There were 47 plants. We’ve got them under arrest now.”
“Out of how many?” Hendrix asked.
“Just over two hundred,” Wallis said. “This is a game changer. We can use our choppers now, full strength, if we keep the retired guys on the job.”
“Don’t push them too hard,” Nelson said.
Wallis chuckled. “Hell, they don’t want to stop. They’re loving this.”
“Okay, but if they change their mind, I’d let them off the hook,” Nelson said.
“Understand,” Wallis said.
“Can we tell when these people were compromised?” Hendrix asked.
“We’re still working on that,” Wallis said. “Some of them have been in the Air National Guard for more than five years.”
“Geez,” Nelson said.
“We still have Landry’s body?” Hendrix asked.
There was silence on the line for a moment. Nelson looked over at Hendrix.
“Dammit,” Nelson said. “If we do, check him for a chip.”
“You think they’d put them in somebody up that high?” Wallis asked.
“They might,” Hendrix said. “We don’t have a full understanding of what they’re doing yet.”
“I think Landry’s still in the morgue,” Wallis said. “We haven’t released news of his death yet. His family doesn’t even know.”
“I wonder how much of his family is still alive?” Hendrix asked. “We know they iced his daughter.”
“I’ll put somebody on this right away,” Wallis said. “Get the sensors set up at the Capitol yet?”
“A team is working on it now,” Nelson said. “As soon as they’re up and running, I’ll be moving into the bunker under the building. The big one. I’ll have most of my team there too.”
“You think that will give us enough security there?” Wallis asked.
“We’ll see,” Nelson said. “I’m not bringing my family down there until I feel comfortable with it.”
“Don’t blame you,” Wallis said. “I’m gonna run. I’ll work the Landry thing.”
“Good, thanks,” Nelson said.
The call ended, and Maria shut down the console.
“Well, that was good news, for the most part,” Hendrix said.
“Yeah,” Nelson said. “We need to figure out how to deal with those RFID chips.”
“General Walker has somebody working it, right?” Hendrix asked.
“Walker didn’t start that. It’s General Hogan. His asset is working it on his own.”
“They aren’t giving up the name, are they?” Hendrix asked.
“Nope, and I’m not asking.”
Chapter 10 - Overflow
“Happy?” Madison asked, lying next to Juan Carlos on their bed, breath still coming hard.
“So happy,” Juan Carlos said, petting her blonde hair. “Your foot didn’t get hurt, did it?”
“No, honey, I’m fine,” she said. “It only hurts when I stand on it.”
“Good,” he said. “Getting hungry?”
“I’d be happy just to stay in here with you,” she said.
There was a boom outside, and the sound of breaking glass.
“What the hell?” Juan Carlos asked, getting up and rushing to the window. He saw a rocket fly off a roof on the other side of the river, slamming into a high-rise hotel half a block down. “Oh shit!”
“What’s happening?” Madison cried.
“Somebody’s shooting an RPG at hotels on the Riverwalk.”
“No!” she cried.
“Get dressed,” Juan Carlos said, picking her clothes off the floor and handing them to her. There was a knock on the door. He rushed to it, pulling up his boxers.
“Look out the peep hole first!” Madison said as she struggled with her pants.
“Richardson,” he said, opening the door a crack. “Madison is getting dressed.”
“Get her out of here. We need to move the women to the other side of the building.”
“Roger that, dude,” he said. “Then what?”
“Then we get the long guns and the SMAW out of the car,” Richardson said. “Let’s take these creeps on.”
“I’m dressed, honey,” Madison said, hobbling over to the door.
“Go with Hannah and Lita,” Juan Carlos said.
“I heard,” she said. “Don’t get killed.”
Juan Carlos finished dressing as two more rockets were launched. The building shuddered, and glass fell down in front of his window, covering the balcony with debris.
“Shit, man, get out of there!” Brendan shouted. The women ran to the hallway and moved to the far side of the building as Richardson, Juan Carlos, and Brendan rushed to the elevator, taking it to the parking garage.
“People are gonna see us with the weapons,” Brendan said.
“Don’t care,” Richardson said as they rushed from the elevator to the car.
“What are we taking?” Juan Carlos asked.
“As much as we can carry,” Richardson said. “I could see the shooter up on the roof.”
“There was more than one,” Brendan said.
They heard another couple rockets hit.
Richardson opened the back of the SUV, and handed their rifles and the SMAW out to them.
“C’mon, let’s get back up there,” Juan Carlos said.
They got into the elevator and rode it back up, holding their breath most of the way. The women were near the elevator.
“If they get a bead on you, get away from the window,” Lita shouted. “Hear me?”
“Yeah,” Richardson said as he ran after Juan Carlos and Brendan.
“Should we go to the lobby?” Madison asked.
“No, stay up here,” Richardson said. “We don’t know what this is yet. They might send fighters in.”
“Okay,” Madison said.
“Get away from the elevators,” Brendan shouted, watching Juan Carlos unlock his door. They rushed in, Brendan loading the SMAW.
“That thing is gonna jam again,” Richardson said.
“I can get out the old round,” Brendan said. “Don’t worry.” He rushed out to the balcony and got down on one knee, SMAW on his shoulder. “Think they’re in range?”
“Oh, yeah, they’re in range, but if they see where that comes from they’re liable to fire right into this room,” Richardson shouted.
“There he is,” Juan Carlos said, bringing his
rifle up. “See him?”
“Let Brendan fire first,” Richardson said. Another rocket flashed off the roof, hitting the building next door with a loud rumble.
“Take this, suckers,” Brendan said, firing the SMAW. The grenade blew up its target, the enemy fighter flipping over the edge and falling. Then machine gun fire peppered their window from the same area.
“Get back,” Richardson said. They rushed out of the room as Brendan struggled to get another round loaded into the SMAW.
“Got it,” Brendan said. “Let’s go in another room.”
“Yeah,” Richardson said, rushing to his door. He opened it and they ran to the balcony.
“I’ll be ready to fire this time,” Juan Carlos said. “As soon as you take out the next guy, we’ll surprise them.”
“Yeah,” Richardson said, aiming his rifle too. Another rocket flew towards the hotel, hitting the room they just left, exploding inside. One of the women in the hallway screamed as the building shuddered.
“Shit, dude,” Juan Carlos said.
“Eye on the target,” Brendan said as he fired again, the grenade exploding in the midst of several Islamists. Rifles came out, pointed at them.
“Got them,” Juan Carlos said, pulling the trigger on his M-16, cutting down a fighter. Richardson joined him, hitting another bad guy. The rest ran for cover.
“Time to leave this room,” Richardson said. They got up and ran to the door as another round broke through the window, going off as Brendan slipped out.
“Shit, dude, that was too close,” Juan Carlos said. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Brendan said. “We wasted five of them with that salvo.”
“So where do we go now?” Juan Carlos asked.
“The roof,” Richardson said. “Let’s take the stairs.”
“Good idea,” Brendan said. They rushed to them and started the climb, going five stories.
“Roof access,” Juan Carlos said, pointing at the door. He tried it. “Shit, locked.”
“Move,” Richardson said. Juan Carlos jumped back, watching him shoot the lock and kick open the door.
“Good,” a large man yelled, running towards them. He had a long case, and was sporting long hair and a beard.
“What’s that?” Richardson asked.
