by TW Gallier
"We'll move everything to the rally point," he said. "But we still have to man the observation post."
I nodded. We had a lot more ammo. It was good to have more weapons, but we could only carry so much. Since we lost all of our cleaning supplies, our weapons would start to jam sooner rather than later. Now we had replacements.
"I think we have to do better," I said. Everyone gave me curious looks. "We need .50 Cal ammo. That means we have to capture Humvees with .50 Cals."
I looked toward the river, and the airbase beyond. We might be a step closer to rescuing the women and children, but still weren't much closer to having the ability to really do anything. We had to find a weakness in their perimeter defenses to exploit. With so few men, it was our only hope. And I wasn't feeling very hopeful.
I looked off into the darkness. Stay strong, Jenny. I'm coming. I promise, I'm coming.
Chapter 4
Jenny
I studied the door and lock. That side of the cage swayed just a little when I pushed on the steel mesh door. I didn't see anything other than the weight of the steel and the four walls keeping it upright.
I turned and headed across the cage. I passed Kate, who'd been watching me closely for the last half hour.
"What are you doing, Jenny?" Kate whispered. "The look in your eyes is scary."
"I want out of here," I said, hands curling into fists. I glanced at my children. Spooky slept between the two boys, all huddled together in the middle of the cage. The other women were laying beside their children, lost in their own misery.
The breakfast detail had failed to feed us for the third day. Just thinking about it made my stomach ache. The next meal was dinner. They never brought lunch. Worst of all, I still couldn't get the sneer on Sergeant Foster's face out of my mind as he reminded us that if we submitted, then our children would receive dinner that night.
For a second, I worried some of the other women would break and agree. Hell, I even considered it way too seriously. But the thought of being forced to give them my body was too much to tolerate. Yet, the children were suffering the most and they didn't understand why no one was feeding them.
Can I hold out if the others agreed? The answer sickened me.
Knowing I was so close to breaking filled me with both rage and despair. It was my responsibility, my sacred duty, to keep my children safe and fed. The other women looked to me as their leader. If I buckled under the pressure, then they'd all bow their heads and follow me into debauchery. We knew there was no choice, and we would eventually do what they wanted, but those damned soldiers made it so hard. Why did they need to dominate, belittle, and humiliate us so thoroughly? A little caring and understand, some compassion, would serve them well by making our decision easier.
I hate them so much!
Rage scalded my soul. I'd never wanted to kill anyone so badly. They scared me to my bones, and made me feel helpless and vulnerable. Worthless.
"Don't do anything crazy," Kate said, eyes filled with worry.
My eyes burned. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. I wanted to lash out at something, someone, anything. So I slanted a hostile look at the door across the cage. It was so tempting, but would it hold? Only one way to find out. With an angry cry, I launched myself at the door, racing the full width of the cage to build up speed. And then I slammed into it shoulder first.
Boom!
"Agh," I cried, falling to the floor. The entire cage vibrated loudly all around us, but remained standing. My shoulder screamed with agony. I rolled onto my back and glared at the still closed door. "Dammit."
"What the fuck is going on over here?" Spec-4 Daniels shouted as he raced around the other cages toward the back and came down our aisle. He checked the door and gave me a dirty look as he touched his key ring. "What did you do?"
Lying on the floor, it was hard to deny I was the guilty party. I tensed, praying he lost his temper and opened that door. If he did…
"Is everything all right, Specialist?" Sergeant Carmichael said as he hurried up from the front of the hangar.
The guard stepped back and the moment passed. I cursed under my breath. Kate and Fiona hurried over to me, dropping to their knees beside me.
"I think she tried to smash the door open," Daniels said. "I hope she broke her shoulder."
"I'm fine," I said, rolling to my knees. I moved my arm around, testing my shoulder, while opening and closing my hand. I'll probably have a bruise, but nothing worse than that. I looked at the sergeant's feet, pretending remorse. "I tripped."
"Yeah, right," Sergeant Carmichael said, eyes narrowing. "I'll report you if you try it again. The last woman reported for trying to escape was stripped naked, tied to her cage, and whipped until she passed out."
It was so infuriating to be talked down to by those men. I was a few years older, not a child.
"Calm down," Kate whispered.
"Be nice to them," Fiona said, pressing her mouth to my ear. "We want them to be nice to us after we… You know."
I groaned. God, I did know. I didn't want them to be "nice" to me. I didn't want anything to do with any of them, unless it involved me twisting a knife in their hearts.
"That's not going to happen," I said.
"Yes, it will," Fiona said more firmly. She shook her head sadly, dropping her eyes. "I'm not as strong as you. I can't take it anymore."
"No, no," I said, desperation filling my heart.
I noticed the two soldiers perk up, listening intently. Daniels was practically drooling.
"I have to," Fiona said. The blonde sucked in a deep breath, and stood. She turned to the door. "You win. I'll do anything you want."
Kate wrapped me up in her arms and held me back when I tried to lunge toward Fiona. The blonde never looked back. She walked up to the door while the sergeant unlocked it, and then followed him to the back after the door slammed closed in my face.
"No, Fiona! Come back!" I cried. "Please don't do this!"
All she did was bow her head and continue following him. Within seconds she vanished into the guard detail's private area.
"She made her decision, Jenny," Kate said, voice hoarse and tight. She was crying, too. "Don't shame her. It's her decision."
I didn't know what to do. I broke free of Kate and started walking around the perimeter of the cage, over and over and over. Almost everyone in our cage was crying, as well of many of the other women and children. The newcomers in the next cage over looked spooked and uncertain.
Fiona didn't emerge from the back for a good hour.
"Oh my god," I whispered, staring incredulously at her.
Fiona wore a black lace teddy and stiletto pumps. Her makeup was bright, and her long blonde hair curled. Sergeant Carmichael was leading her towards the front hand-in-hand, with a smug self-satisfied look on his face. Sergeant Coleman and most of the guards followed them out, also looking quite pleased with themselves. She walked with her head down and a sheen of sweat over her body. I had a sick feeling she'd been forced to do more than her hair and face while back with all of those men.
I turned away and pressed up against the back of the cage, squeezing my eyes shut and wishing I could stop my body from shaking so violently. I couldn't breathe until I heard the door open and close. Fiona belonged to the soldiers now. She was their plaything.
"You're next, Jenny," Sergeant Coleman said.
He was pressed up against the outside of the cage, his hot breath on my face. I'd never been so close to him. My eyes fluttered open. I hated how hot and red my face felt, and the tears staining my face. He looked so confident. Lust filled his dark eyes. The sergeant pushed his pinky finger through the cage to caress my lips. To my shame, I didn't pull away, though I wanted to bite that finger off.
"If you do the right thing, right now," he said. Coleman almost sounded like he cared. "I'll share my rations with your kids. They won't have to wait until dinner. Their cruel suffering will end."
I looked at my children. All three were sitting on t
he floor, arms around their knees, and watching with big eyes. I didn't think they could hear us, or would even understand what the soldiers wanted from their mother.
"You know you can't let them die of starvation, so why put up such a fight?" Sergeant Coleman continued. He pressed his fingertip to my lips. "Kiss it."
Heat flushed through me. My heart thundered in my ears.
Oh God, Roger, what am I doing?
I kissed his finger.
My knees started to buckle, so I clutched the cage. I pressed up tightly to the cage to keep from collapsing, and let him push his finger into my mouth.
"Suck it."
I pulled back instead. Anger flashed in his eyes.
After another glance at my children, "Feed all of the children."
He hesitated, and then looked around. The other guards were watching us, too. I waited, unable to breathe. I was selling myself for food. Once he let me out of that cage, there would be no going back. I'd be committed. Just like Fiona, I'd be their plaything.
"If you take real good care of us back in the bunk room, I think I can make that happen," Sergeant Coleman said. He pushed a finger through the cage again. "Kiss it. Suck it like you mean it."
I closed my eyes and my stomach turned, and then went sour. Visions of what I expected to happen in the "buck room" flashed across my mind. I tried to remember how many guards there were in the detail. Did it matter? I was agreeing to be a whore and sleep with as many men as possible every day.
I kissed his fingertip, and then opened my mouth. His eyes turned cruel as that finger penetrated past my lips, sliding down my tongue. Our eyes locked, and I felt that gaze all of the way into my bones. My very soul reeled in horror.
And I snapped my teeth down.
Coleman must've seen something in my eyes, because he snatched his finger back just in time. He cursed and punched the cage, screaming threats at me. I dropped my eyes and trembled.
All I'd managed to do was make it worse.
Chapter 5
Sean
Automatic gunfire erupted across the river. I couldn't tell where it came from, but sound travelled farther at night. Terrel stirred anxiously next to me in the foxhole.
"Hey, Sean, look," Terrel whispered. "Is everyone leaving?"
I lifted the binoculars to my eyes. They were so inadequate for what we needed even during the day, but it was better than nothing. I zeroed in on the three hangar group. The furtherest hangar was where we determined all of the women were kept. The middle one seemed to be a combination enlisted mess and club. Scantily dressed women were moved into it mid-mornings, and they didn't return to their hangar until well past midnight. The third hangar appeared to be the officer mess and club, which was attached to what we thought was their headquarters.
I watched the soldiers head in all directions. They seemed to bunk in four different hangars scattered evenly along the two lines of hangars. The officers took over the old airport building as their quarters, which was strategically located at the elbow of the L-shaped lines of hangars.
Women emerged from the Officers Club first. They walked in single file, with four soldiers flanking and pacing them. Their guards. They returned to their hangar and the guards returned to their barracks hangar. About fifteen minutes later the Enlisted Club women came out. There were easily three times more women for the enlisted. One of them stumbled.
They look exhausted, I thought.
Kate came to mind. I was thinking about her a lot lately. She was only twenty-eight, Jenny's age. Indeed, several of our women were around that age. But Kate was beautiful, tough, competent. She was easy to speak with, and had a great sense of humor even in these dark times. The thought of her down there, being forced to do unspeakable acts with those men, made me crazy sometimes. Yet, I had no claim to her.
I could only image what Roger, Terrel, and Vince felt. They had wives, if not children, being held over there. They knew their wives were probably being whored out. Those damned soldiers had to be using threats to their children to force the women to obey.
"Are you alright, Sean?" Terrel asked.
"What?" I realized I'd tensed up, trembling. My hands had curled into fists, so tight my hands and arms ached up to my elbows. "Yeah, I'm fine." I forced myself to relax as I looked at the airfield, barely discernible in the darkness. "I was just… Thinking."
Terrel's hands tightened around his binoculars as he turned back to the airfield. The last lights in the mess hangars blinked out. Their "entertainment" was finally over.
"I understand." He sounded so sad.
There were nine women and eight children over there. Only three of them still had husbands: Jenny, Sonya, and Leslie. The rest were single or widowed. And they were mostly young and attractive. His wife and son, Sonya and Terrel, Jr., were right there, but he couldn't do anything to help them. I might feel like a failure and feel shame at that failure, but I couldn't imagine the despair he and the other two husbands felt.
"Don't worry, we're – " I started, and stopped when I heard rustling below us on the hill. "Shhh."
We were both hyper-alert. My heart pounded. Was someone sneaking up on us? Was it soldiers on patrol? An attack force? Or other survivors?
A man's grunt sounded, followed by thumping and louder crashing sounds. It took me a second, but I figured it out. Someone fell and tumbled down the hill.
Terrel pointed. I squinted into the darkness. The woods were pitch black when we were out of the moonlight. Then I saw movement. Two figures moving across our field of view. Zombies. At least they weren't coming up the hill. They did tend to take the path of least resistance.
We ducked down into the foxhole and remained quiet for a long time. The sound of zombies soon passed. Even so, we carefully rose back up to survey the area. No movements or sounds anywhere.
And then I heard a familiar sound off in the distance. The sound of motorcycles seemed to come from every direction. It took me a moment to realize the terrain was the problem.
"Behind us," Terrel said, looking back and up the hill toward Miami Parkway. "I think they are on the road above us."
My first thought and concern was any zombies on the hill below us would come straight up the hill. We could be overrun with the mindless monsters in no time. Didn't those guys up there understand sound attracted zombies?
"Survivors or military?" Terrel asked.
That gave me pause. We'd seen several motorcycle patrols. The soldiers from the airbase used dirt bikes and ATVs for their patrols. The sounds above us could very well be dirt bikes or ATVs. There were no headlights, so at least they understood the need for light discipline.
"We have to find out," I said. I glanced at the airfield. There were still operations going on, but it appeared they only sent out two helicopters at a time during the night hours. It was doubtful they'd do anything we'd need to take note, so I motioned for Terrel to gather his weapons and gear. "Let's go see who's up there."
We weren't very far below the crest of the hill, at the end of Miami Parkway. Hell, we'd even setup residence in the house at the end of that street for one night. We vacated it once our rational minds realized it was too obvious. Soldiers would expect their foes to setup there, so might give it extra scrutiny. Fortunately, we found a spot a little below the crest with a good view of the airfield. That was where we wanted to position our .50 Cals to fire down upon the airfield and take out as many helicopters as possible.
If soldiers or another group of survivors setup there, then we'd have to scrap all of our plans and start over somewhere else. My hope was we'd find a Rough Rider patrol that would leave after ensuring the site was clear.
What we found was more worrisome.
"Outlaw bikers," Terrel said.
For years I owned a Harley. My ex-wife sold it while I was on my last deployment overseas. Our marriage was already rocky, and that proved to be the catalyst that resulted in divorce. I never bought another bike, mostly due to finances. They weren't cheap.
; "Not all bikers are outlaws," I said.
They did have a stereotypical outlaw biker look about them. Lots of long hair, beards, bandanas. Only their rides were dirt bikes and ATVs. They were milling around, with some inside the house. I counted at least thirty.
"What are we going to do?" Terrel asked.
Gunfire erupted before I could answer. We flattened ourselves to the ground. It took me a second to realize they were not shooting at us. Angry shouts filled the night, and then someone shouted and I heard the word, "Zombies."
When I looked again, I saw bodies on the ground and zombies lurching left and right. The bikers were doing a fine job of slaughtering the zombies, but making a god-awful noise doing it. I glanced back at the airfield.
"Let's get out of here," I said, and led the way back to the foxhole, and then headed down the trail to our new house. "That is not going to end well."
Chapter 6
Roger
"Alms Park is the perfect place for us to go," I said.
Sean wasn't convinced. For some reason he wanted to remain on the Kentucky side of the river.
"Listen, I've got it all worked out," I said. "The hill that Alms Park is atop is less than half the distance from the airfield. The aircraft on the ground will be within the .50 Cals' effective range. And we won't have to cross a river to attack."
The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. We could shoot up the helicopters on the tarmac, before rushing down to penetrate their perimeter right behind the women's hangar. Okay, there was still the problem with all of the zombies pressed up against the moat, but I was confident we could figure that out.
"That's all great, Roger, but we still have to cross the river to get over there," he said. "They have boats, ground, and air patrols constantly checking the river and bridges. How do we get across without being seen?"
"No problem. We've already determined the perfect time," I said. "Dawn and sunset. All patrols return at that time, before they start another twelve hour cycle. We can cross the river at dawn, and then attack the airfield at sunset. But, I think we should attack at pre-dawn and before they take the women away to their day jobs."
