Dead End Stories From the End of the World

by P. S. Power

  That... It was how she felt, actually. That fit perfectly with what she'd been thinking. It was also kind of a cute way to say it. In a flash she understood that a certain Bawdri girl had the hots for Jake. That wasn't going to work out that well though, since it was pretty clear to her that he wasn't the kind of person to sleep with a girl that looked that young. Not even in a war zone like this.

  Grinning, she kept her voice a bit wry. Sammi would get that she was being needled a little, but it shouldn't embarrass Jake. Doing that would be counter to what they were trying to accomplish, which was to bring him back into the fold and keep unit cohesion.

  "Jake's a bunny now? All adorable and soft? Like you just can't help but cuddle him all night long?" Well, that might be a little bit over the top, but it was funny enough.

  Clearing her throat first, she shook her head and gave Tip a look that was completely serious.

  "Don't you see it yet? Your stories are the same as the ones that I've grown up with. Carley's people are close to the same. Jake simply isn't a killer. The universe screams out against him doing anything of the sort. His very being tries to reject that at every turn. That's what you're seeing, Tipper."

  Again, what she said was right, but it didn't make sense. That clearly must have crossed her face, since the girl finally sighed, as if feeling put upon having to describe something so basic.

  "Jake... Is a Very Good Man."

  For a moment she thought that it was a joke. Bawdri had senses of humor after all. Often convoluted, and horribly dated ones, but that just meant she could be not understanding the joke. If it was one.

  "What? I... Oh. I... see. That... makes sense. How though? VGM can't fight. Not well. Jake is good that way. I don't see it being possible. Plus, there's the sex thing. Aren't they normally... I don't know, less concerned with things like that?"

  The girl nodded, but when she spoke her words were addressed, not at her, but Carley. She was sitting there looking half panicked for some reason. That made sense, given that they'd both clearly been pushing Jake a bit, trying to get him to snap out of the funk he was in. It suddenly seemed mean of them, didn't it? It had been tough love for a regular guy, but for a VGM?

  It would be even worse for the Killgrade, too. Tipper knew Jake as Jake. They could call him whatever they wanted, and she could kind of see it now. Not how he'd survived as long as he had, but that he had an innate goodness that she hadn't been able to understand before. Now it locked into place. It was still a little discordant, but that was her problem.

  Jake did what he had to, in order to save as many as possible. He worked himself to the bone, and did it day after day, never resting for more than a moment. That was the kind of thing that a VGM would have done, right? In a more sane world it would just seem very different. Loving and kind all the time, instead of him having to make one hard decision after another. Taking lives in order to keep the whole strong, and able to go on.

  Carley had started crying, in the dark room. Thick tears running down her cheeks. There was the barest hint of a sob, but Tip covered for it, speaking.

  "That would do it. I... Damn. That's a raw deal. Okay, I guess we can fix things now. Can't we? When we go back a lot of the people there will understand the idea. We can do better." If Jake was a VGM, which really did make sense, then he was probably The Very Good Man.

  The final Judge of them all.

  Driving him away was about the worst thing they could do, wasn't it? If he didn't think they were worthy, then in the end, they'd all die. That was the story. The tale that all the kids learned in school. When you found a VGM you were supposed to do anything you had to in order to protect them.

  Which would be why Carley was crying like she was.

  By her way of thinking, she should have been doing everything she could to protect Jake the whole time, and instead she'd kind of treated him... It wasn't really like crap. Half the time she acted like she was flirting with him, to be honest. Touching him, and making sure they worked together a lot. The rest of the time though there was a coldness about the whole thing.

  "Derrick?" The word was whispered, and she was looking at the Killgrade woman when she said it, but Sammi spoke softly.

  "Indeed. It's been the major problem here, I think. It's nearly ended all of our lives already. It's one of the reasons that that kind are driven out of normal society, historically speaking. Incubi have been vilified for a reason. The main one being that they tend to disrupt any group that they're in. This effect has been extremely potent however."

  Then, instead of talking things out, which was Tips plan, Jake stood up.

  "I'm going to be sleeping in here. You can use the other rooms." It wasn't cold, or snotty sounding, but there was a tired acceptance of the fact that he was, once again, sleeping alone. Then he walked out, as if he could see anything in the dim glow from the woodstove that had been left cracked open for light.

  Tipper thought he was headed for the bathroom. Probably to wash up before sleeping. He did things like that. In field conditions being clean was important, after all.

  Once the door clicked closed down the hall, Samantha spoke, her voice low, but not all that gentle.

  "We need to protect him. It might be good if you two could help coach some of the other ladies, and perhaps the men as well, to that end? Make them understand? I... Don't think we can protect him from the dangers of the world right now, but we can make sure what's harming him isn't us."

  Carley still cried. She'd started to shake too, which wasn't her normal kind of thing, as far as that stuff went. Normally the woman hid her fear behind wall of anger. A short wall, but it was a real one. Defensive battlements made of aggressive words and hard glances.

  "I... What do I do? I... I hurt him so much. I can't fix it now, can I?" There was worry there that bordered on real fear.

  Tip grinned.

  "Well, a few blowjobs won't hurt. After all, you like him, don't you? That whole iron woman thing you were pulling aside. He's practically your boyfriend." It wasn't the truth, but to her surprise the blonde, her hair looking brown in the dark, took a deep shuddering breath.

  When she let it out it sent little shock waves through the air, almost like coughing.

  "Yeah. I mean, we haven't done anything, like what you just said, but... I guess. We're pretty close."

  Then, before Tipper could even tease her for thinking that might possibly be real, Sam nodded.

  "True. You both have at least the potential for a connection there. I can't order you into his bed, but might I suggest at least one of you consider it? I don't know if you're fully out from under the influence of Derrick Holsom, Carley. Do you think that you can act in that kind of a way? I have to admit, that for a while, a few months ago, even with Derrick still in the house, I thought that you and Jake were starting to hit it off fairly well. Something happened then and you pulled back..."

  That got a gasp, but the Killgrade didn't share what it was. It was clear that she knew though, wasn't it?

  After that, they all went off to various beds. At least that was her plan. After she laid down, in the first bedroom on the bottom floor, Carley walked in, feeling her way along the wall. Blind in this small room that had no windows or lights. If it wasn't for the infrared given off by the woman Tip wouldn't have noticed her either. Except by sound, and the way she smelled.

  "Hey." She nearly suggested that the woman find her own room, since Carley was a bit of a prude when it came to having sex with women. Not that it was an issue at that moment, but if they were going to pull things like that, after the topic of the day, they might as well just go into the kitchen and shoot Jake in the head while he slept.

  "Um, can I sleep in here with you? I need to talk."

  That was rare. They weren't exactly chat pals. It was a thing that the base had now. Little cliques that spent most of their time together, day and night. They'd talk and whisper about inane things normally, and create little collections of stupid that reinforced one another. T
hat was how Jake had gotten voted out before.

  Enough groups that mainly talked only to each other had decided that the fact that he was the one that killed people and kept order, meant he was a bully. They just didn't get that sometimes people had to make sure you did the right thing. Like with Vickie stabbing her like she had. It wasn't about using force, but making a statement. Straighten up and follow the rules.

  Like making sure that her people, her team members weren't left hanging, dangling by a string of depression, and feeling like they didn't have any real backup.

  Not that Vickie wasn't a bitch. She still totally was. A big part of that was that she'd kind of failed to acculturate to American morality and ethos. Her little sis did all right, most of the time, but she still thought like a Val commander. It set her apart from the others around her here. It made her seem flat and a bit uncomfortable all the time.

  Tip on the other hand had mastered the subject decades ago. It was one of the subjects she taught. Infiltration into foreign social networks. That meant she had to understand the people she was around.

  "Sure. You can keep me warm. What's on your mind?" It would be Jake. There was no doubt of that, was there?

  After the other woman got under the covers next to her, the air pleasantly chill already, for Tipper, she whispered, her voice thick, but not teary anymore.

  "I... Still love Derrick. I know it was a trick, but I dream about him at night. I hate myself for it. Sam is right. All of our problems seem to go back to him, but I... Can't really blame him for it. He's just so... perfect. You know, you slept with him too."

  That was true, but the honest truth was that it had mainly been about her wanting to get the man to bond to her, so she could steer him toward better behavior. He had enough influence at the time that it made tactical sense to her.

  "Carley... He was pretty much just a guy to me. He isn't even hung that well. Below average. If it wasn't for his pheromones you wouldn't have thought he was all that hot either."

  There was movement next to her, which was probably a head nodding on the other pillow. A few hairs from the other woman managed to tickle her face when she did it, their heads being so close together.

  "I know. But... I don't, at the same time. I've never been in love before, but this sounds like it's more than what people talk about. Even now, after I've beaten the initial addiction portion of things. He's bad, but on some level I still don't really care. If he came back and told us that we needed to eat Jake and you for breakfast, I'd probably do it, even if he can't capture me again like he could the others." There was a low chuckle, and the woman scooped a little closer. It would have been cozy, except that she didn't mean it that way. Again, because she was a prude.

  Smiling in the dark, even if the topic was serious, Tip thought for a second.

  "Is it really that bad for you, or was that exaggeration? Because I think I actually need to know what we're dealing with." If it were really that bad, then the base would have been gone already. If half the people had taken his direction, regardless of sanity, then Derrick would have tried to take over using them, and most of them would be dead.

  "Oh, mainly me making a bigger thing of it than it really is. For me, now. Before though...Yeah. I could really see that. I know that he thought that I broke up with him because he wanted to have anal sex, but it wasn't that. It's just that, if he hurt me doing it, I could have gone into a defensive release, and killed everyone, including him. Since I couldn't explain what I was to him, I had to move away from him. That really hurt too. I mean physically. Calling it withdrawal isn't that far off. It's way easier for me than the others too, being a Killy and all that. Even at that, when he took off... I nearly chased after him."

  Tip was willing to bet that wasn't just to say goodbye either.

  That being the case, it was amazing that most of the women in the place hadn't followed along with him. She and Vickie were safe, Sammi too, but why hadn't some of the others gone for him? Lois for instance? Yeah, she was older, but still female, and pheromones required proximity, not physical contact. All of the women there should have wanted him at the very least. Yes, the ones he touched would be hit hardest, that was clear enough, but if he'd captured Lois he really might have had a chance to take over.

  As far as she could tell, the older lady that ran the kitchen basically thought no more of Derrick Holsom than she would have a brick. Not that they hung out or anything. She could cook a bit, but it wasn't her main job there. She was the one making sure that no one melted down because they felt unloved. Even if Jake thought that meant she was a slut.

  She wasn't, but explaining it to him hadn't been something she could have done before. Now... Well, it was possible. She'd just have to get him in bed first. If he'd go for that now, after everything.

  Carley kept talking, for hours, but she didn't mind. After all, she only needed about two hours of sleep a day, so she'd get plenty herself. If the woman needed to vent, she could handle that.

  Plus, if it was as bad as she said, then it was pretty clear that they had a real problem at the base.

  Every woman except her that had slept with Derrick Holsom was a potential threat now. They needed to be watched. Otherwise, things might very well go wrong, very quickly.

  Fatally so.

  So, there was that job, plus watching Jake, the Very Good Bunny.

  Thinking about it, she smiled at first, but then let herself frown.

  Because it was a horrible thing, in the end.

  Who Walks Between the Winds- Cameron

  The news had nearly floored Cam when she heard it.

  Jake, the man that had killed the last of the cops at her Grandpa's protected shelter farm, was a Dehist. Tears came to her eyes again, just thinking about it. It was there though. She'd seen it in him from the very start. Even when everyone else was afraid of him, and that boy had gone around telling them that he'd kill them all if they were too loud. Even though he wore a gun on his side, and had an alert and wary gaze that never really held still.

  He was the real thing.

  She knew what she had to do, of course. It was her job as one of the people, the Sh'elle'erid, to take him to safety. To protect this gentle soul from the hardships of a world that was too rough, too dangerous, for the likes of him.

  That was the problem though, wasn't it? Where the hell was she going to remove him to? All of her places were as bad as the one she'd just left. Worse than that. This house of his sounded like as safe a place as could be found. Unless... It was a thought, and might be worth trying. Cameron could try to get him to one of the high zones. The problem there was a simple matter of finding them.

  Cam got out of the police van when they got to the farm. It looked decent from the outside. There were two windmills, both of which slowly moved in the cold evening air. It was dark out, but not so much she couldn't see movement and trace where things around her were. Then, she could do that with her eyes closed. You had to be able to, in order to teleport. If you didn't have much of the second vision, then you were functionally crippled for one of her kind. It meant you could only go to places you knew for a fact were safe. Her ability was nice and strong though. Really, if she had a decent clue what to look for in a place and knew how to get close to it, having been within say, ten miles, then she could do it all the time. That really only worked for big things though. Picking a certain house in a set of a hundred others was hard. She could find large things though, like rivers and mountains well enough.

  It was like that for everyone though. One of her people or not. It was why houses had addresses on the outside. Otherwise you'd have to go from door to door knocking... instead of stealing from the right place the first time. It was an old joke that she told herself, trying to capture the right spirit for what she was going to need to do in the coming days. There was a Dehist here, in this very place. One that clearly needed to be protected. That he had to be armed and was made to fight was barbaric. Shameful. Not that she didn't understand it. What e
lse could anyone do?

  It was up to her to change that, if she could.

  The people that came out to greet them were all different. Some black, a lot of them white. To her displeasure there was a Bawdri too, who stared at her, eyes shining green in the dark when a headlight caught her in the face. It seemed to only be the one. So that part was good. There would probably be trouble there anyway, since that kind always thought they should be in control of all power and influence, and would try to use a Dehist to their own ends.

  They couldn't help it. They were natural politicians. Liars and con men that put on airs to make others think they were somehow legitimate. Unlike her people.

  They simply admitted to being thieves. They were the best at it too. Not that she'd steal from this place. It was the home of a Dehist, after all. The only thing she could take from here would be... She nearly froze for a moment. Her mind screamed at her to grab Jake and run. To take him...

  That was where she kept getting stuck. Where was better than here?

  Unlike the rest of the girls, her friends, she could have left the police at any time. Well, within ten minutes, as long as she wasn't being beaten or having things shoved into her for some reason. The reason that she'd stuck with them was because the entire world was like this now. Or, not like this, or even like the cops. No, the common place outside was a thousand times worse. A constant nightmare that descended on you relentlessly. This place felt calm and quiet, but nice. A bit closely packed, but not too bad. She could share after all. Being as open as they were in regards to who and what they might be, she could even be able to do more now. Get things from other places.

  It was frightening though, and not at all safe.

  Which was her current point. Jake, the Dehist, possibly the Ba-Dehist, the last good man, was already here. The safest place in the whole world that she knew of. That meant...