by SD Tanner
Unsure how she’d feel about his request, he pushed on and said, ‘We need someone to infiltrate their base and keep us informed about what this asshole is up to. Ya know, to be a honey pot for us.’
Blonde Distraction leapt to her feet and slapping him sharply across the face, she shouted, ‘You fuckin’ sonofabitch! I’m not a whore!’
That went well, he thought, guess I’m lucky she didn’t have a gun. Being slapped didn’t bother him, it wasn’t exactly the first time a woman had belted him in the face, but he did think it was a little undeserved. Sighing, he said, ‘If ya really wanna hurt a man, you’ve gotta do more than slap him.’
Her anger was replaced by confusion and sitting down again, she looked perplexed and asked, ‘What?’
He was asking her to put her life at risk and, needing to be completely honest with her, he said intently, ‘You’re the hottest woman I ever saw, plus ya got smarts and you’re ballsy. I think ya can get into this guy’s head and keep eyes on him for us.’
Blonde Distraction looked back at him in confusion and he added, ‘I won’t be far away. I’ll give you a radio and we can talk almost every day. Ya won’t be completely alone. Major major asshole’s base isn’t a prison. He won’t know you’re with us and if you get nervous, ya can leave. I’ll come getcha.’
To his surprise, she started to cry and he thought, I really don’t understand this woman at all. I’m asking her, not forcing her and she doesn’t have to do this. Feeling genuinely confused, he said gently, ‘Ya doan have to if ya doan wanna. I won’t be angry. No one will be. Doan even worry ‘bout it. Forget I asked, we’ll sort it another way.’
‘It’s not that,’ she said, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand. ‘I’ll do what you want. Before the world ended I was alone, but now I’m with the people at the Base. It’s the best place I’ve been in a long time and I’ll do anything to protect it.’
He was always surprised at how important the Base was to people. Personally, he thought the Base was a hole and it was, but he guessed it was a safe hole. People could sleep at night, there were three squares in the mess and that was enough to keep everyone happy.
Still not understanding why she was crying and feeling genuinely concerned, he asked, ‘What is it then?’
Tears were still clinging to her long lashes and she said in a small voice, ‘You didn’t get mad at me for hitting you.’
Her answer surprised him. Even if he had gotten angry, she had nothing to fear. He’d never hit or threatened a woman in his life. Pop taught them real men didn’t treat women that way and it was a code of conduct that the three of them lived by. For her to think he would become angry or violent toward her for any reason, meant at some point she’d been treated badly.
Leaning towards her, he said gently, ‘You can get as angry as ya like with me. I won’t hurt ya, but I gotta teach ya some self-defense. Ya need to learn how to a put a man down proper.’
Watching her mood shift, she smiled almost shyly at him and said, ‘I guess you guys must have been in the Special Forces.’
Laughing, he shook his head and replied honestly, ‘Nah, we were jus’ grunts. Mostly combat. Some peacekeeping, but always in the front line. Gears had a bad accident ‘bout four years ago, so we wanted to stay stateside while he recovered and we was trainers for the last three years.’ Thinking about his brothers, he paused and added, ‘I gotta admit, now I see Gears steppin’ up I think he coulda made officer. And TL is so damn smart he probably shouldna bin in the army at all. But me, I’m a doer. I like to get shit done. My motto is think less, do more.’
In the time he’d known her, that was probably the most he’d ever said about himself and, smiling at him, she replied candidly, ‘Maybe you should think more and do less?’
Rolling his eyes at her, he said, ‘Why’s everyone always tellin’ me that. That’s how Gears and TL got us started down this crazy-assed path.’
Frowning at him, she shook her head vehemently and said passionately, ‘It’s not crazy-assed. If no one fights for us, there’ll be no us left. You don’t get it, Pax. We’re dying out here. What you guys have built is like…’ Hesitating, she searched for the right words and then said, ‘Hope. Hope that there’s a future worth living for. What you’re doing is beyond survival. You’re building a future where we can all live again.’
Sighing and sounding resigned, he said, ‘Ya sound like Gears.’
Flicking her blonde curls at him, she replied sternly, ‘That’s because he talks common sense.’
He wasn’t sure putting their asses on the line and making themselves a target was common sense, but he chuckled and said cheerfully, ‘Is that why he’s such a miserable asshole?’
Shrugging, she replied dismissively, ‘Probably. The common sense way is not usually the fun way.’
Grinning mischievously, he asked happily, ‘So, do ya wanna learn how to hurt a man?’
She smiled at him and said, ‘Sounds good to me.’
For the next hour he showed her a number of Krag Mava moves. Blonde Distraction was about 5ft 5, weighed around 145 pounds and she was fit, strong and able. By the end of their brief training session, she was happily putting him down on his ass and he was thoroughly enjoying himself. He didn’t figure Blonde Distraction would ever give him the privilege of enjoying her excellent assets again, but he thought being beaten up by her was the next best thing. After being dumped on his ass for the fifth time, Blonde Distraction followed her leg sweep move by sitting down in his lap and pinning him to the grass.
Laughing, he asked, ‘Whatcha doin’? This ain’t at all defensive.’
To prove his point, he flipped her over carefully and she landed gently on her back and under him. Now it was her turn to look up at him. She was slightly breathless from the effort of fighting, and her eyes were alight with mischief.
Suddenly narrowing her eyes at him, she asked, ‘Am I going to have to have sex with Major major asshole?’
He frowned and nodding, he said nonchalantly, ‘Probably.’
She pursed her lips and asked, ‘What’s he look like?’
Trying to remember what Major major asshole looked like, he said, ‘Short, shaved head, potbelly and…’ He paused briefly and added. ‘He has freakishly small feet.’
Pouting and sounding disappointed, she said, ‘Oh, I had hoped for better.’ Narrowing her eyes again, she asked, ‘What kind of compensation are you offering?’
He genuinely didn’t have clue what she was getting at and asked, ‘Whatdaya mean?’
Blonde Distraction looked up at him and haughtily declared, ‘Well, if I have to have sex with a short, bald, ugly, fat troll with little feet, I want to be compensated.’
Hoping this was leading somewhere good, he played along and replied, ‘Ya mean by a tall, good looking man with big feet?’
Arching her eyebrow, she exclaimed, ‘Exactly!’
Still hopeful, he laughed and said candidly, ‘I don’t know anyone like that, baby.’
Screwing up her face, she said tartly, ‘Then you’ll have to do.’
Reaching up with both hands, she pulled his head down and his mouth to hers. As he returned her kiss, he thought, this woman owns my ass. He’d never expected to touch her lovely curves again and he took full advantage of his good luck. They quickly pulled off one another’s clothes and used them as a makeshift bed. Lying naked together, his hands roamed over her body enjoying the softness of her flesh. He kissed her neck and telling her exactly what he was thinking, he said, ‘Ya never cease to surprise me, baby.’
She stretched her neck to let him tease her and said, ‘I missed you. I think I get mad at you because I like you.’
‘Seems contrary,’ he murmured, as he worked his mouth down the center of her throat towards her breasts.
Gasping as he circled her nipple with his tongue, he nipped it lightly with his teeth and she said, ‘But you take it so well.’
Continuing to tease her nipple, he ran his hands up betwee
n her thighs, and murmured, ‘I always will, baby.’
His hands moved higher between her thighs and there was no more talking for quite some time. When they were done, they lay together relaxed and entangled on the La-Z-Boy.
While he idly stroked her breast and playfully toyed with her nipple, she asked, ‘So what is your name? I mean, your full name.’
He hated his real name. It didn’t fit with his self-image. When they were kids, Gears and TL only called him Joseph when they wanted to annoy the hell out of him and it always disintegrated into a brawl. Pop would have to separate them and, as a punishment for fighting, they’d be made to clean the stables.
Given it was the end of the world, he figured he could ditch his name along with everything else and he replied, ‘Can’t tell ya that. I’d have to kill ya.’
Lifting her head from his shoulder, she looked at him and pouting, she said, ‘That’s not fair. You know my name.’
No, he didn’t, but he didn’t think he ought to mention he’d forgotten her name. When he didn’t reply, her eyes widened and, pushing her body away from his, she asked indignantly, ‘Are you serious? You don’t know my freaking name?’
Realizing that didn’t look good, he said earnestly, ‘I’m bad with names. I got 190 odd people at the Base and I train ‘em all so they can protect themselves and hopefully stay alive, but I don’t know any of their names.’ When she didn’t speak, he continued, ‘You gotta understand. I get maybe five hours sleep a night. I’m tired and pissed off pretty much all the time. Some dumbass does some dumbass thing, and I just wanna punch ‘em, but I can’t, so instead of punchin’ ‘em, I think about you. You, me, naked, doin’ stuff together and I forget about punchin’ the dumbass. You’re my distraction. Ya keep me sane and I like you, I like you a lot.’
Starting to smile, she asked, ‘So what do you call me? In your head, I mean.’
He didn’t think she was going to like it, but he didn’t want to lie and wincing, he said, ‘Blonde Distraction.’
Seeming to contemplate the name for a moment, she asked sweetly, ‘So, you think about me a lot then?’
Sweeping his eyes admiringly down her body, he smiled and said, ‘All the time. You’re my go to place when I wanna feel good.’
Still smiling, she asked huskily, ‘I make you feel good?’
He knew she was setting him up, but he didn’t care and knowing the truth was the truth, he said, ‘Ya make me feel fine, baby girl.’
Abruptly her expression became stern and she said tersely, ‘You’re an idiot!’
He thought when it came to her that was always true and he asked amiably, ‘No doubt, but why this time?’
Glaring at him, she said crossly, ‘You like me. You think about me and I’m important to you. If you had told me that from the start, you could have saved us both a lot of trouble.’
Unable to disagree, to be fair to himself, he hadn’t known how he felt about her until losing her upset him more than he expected. He really missed having her in his life, but instead of telling her that, he said, ‘I’m not so good with the words.’
She demurred, flicked her blonde curls at him and mused, ‘Hmm, Blonde Distraction. I like it.’
I can never predict this woman, he thought and he realized it was one of the many things he liked about her. She was a mystery. She never did or said what he expected and that’s why he thought about her all the time. She’d caught his attention and, unlike any other woman he’d ever known, he couldn’t second guess her.
Smiling affectionately at her, he asked, ‘So, what’s yer name?’
With a wicked look in her eye, she laughed and said, ‘Blonde Distraction. BD for short.’
It was getting to be late afternoon and, on the way back to the Base, they checked the depot. After spending the night in her quarters, he equipped her with a radio and showed her how to use it. He said he would be within a 50-mile radius of her for 30 minutes most days at 4am. They both figured everyone would be asleep at that time and she could probably make radio contact. She would contact him if and when she could. It did mean he’d need the bird to take him up most days, but he didn’t want BD to feel alone and abandoned. Now the plan was in motion, he wasn’t sure it was such a good idea after all. He thought BD was an unusual, but highly appealing combination of strength and vulnerability. Of all women he’d ever known, he believed she could handle such a difficult assignment, and he’d no doubt she could manage the Major. Before she left, he’d told her she could change her mind, but she’d gotten annoyed with him for even suggesting she might. To her, this was about protecting the people who protected her, but he didn’t really want her to go.
To his surprise, he realized BD had really gotten to him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Sister of the Marie Celeste (TL)
‘I’ve missed this,’ he said loudly through his headset.
He and Benny were on the Black Hawk, high above the ground, watching through the crew windows as the world slowly passed by. He’d always loved riding in a bird. Unlike a plane, you could open the doors and feel the wind and he always felt like he was flying free. Today is a good day, he thought.
They already knew the bird could be refueled at a remote private airfield about 50 miles from the Base. He’d found the airfield over a month ago, but it’d been useless until they found the bird. Now he was able to recon a bigger area, he hoped to find another site they could use as a new base. There was a lot of sense to moving their base. The current base was becoming increasingly untenable and the Major knew where they were. He suspected, for all his ambition, Gears hadn’t expected to find success as quickly as he did. The Base should have been viable for longer, but he thought finding more survivors quickly was a good problem to have.
Hatch was flying low and he had a good view of the ground. He and Benny were looking out for any signs of survivors, good places to scavenge and possible sites for a new base. They’d seen a few slow moving vehicles, but very few animals. Much of the region was farming land and there should have been at least some herds of cattle. He wondered if the hunters were now attacking animals as well as humans, but other than the odd stillness, the land looked peaceful and green. There were towns, clusters of houses, overgrown crops and, if a person didn’t know the truth, they might assume everything was normal.
Passing over Covington, he saw a large and sprawling golf course on the far outskirts of the town. There was a large complex in the middle of the golf course and he assumed it was a hotel. It wasn’t the hotel that caught his attention, it was the state of the golf course surrounding it. From the air, he should have seen stretches of green pitted with sandy bunkers, but instead of rolling green grass, the area was dirty brown with small patchy islands of green. The land looked as if it had been churned repeatedly until all that was left was lumpy, deep brown dirt. The original golf course looked to be about 180 acres, and he didn’t know what had destroyed it so thoroughly.
Flagging Hatch, he pointed towards the hotel and said loudly, ‘Let’s take a look down there.’
Hatch didn’t reply, but he felt the bird bank towards the hotel and then land about 30 yards from the main entrance. While Hatch kept the bird ready to lift off, they grabbed their gear and headed through the main doors of the hotel. Once a wide glass window with matching glass doors, the panels of glass were long gone and dirt and mud had swept into the foyer. Inside the main entrance of the hotel, there was a large open foyer area that was well lit by daylight, but it was a mess. Everything was crushed and pulverized beyond recognition, and even with the glassless windows, the place stank of vomit.
Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Benny complained loudly, ‘Why does it stink?’
He didn’t know why the place stank either. Shrugging, he moved through the foyer, holding his gun ready. In the quiet, he thought he could hear something he didn’t recognize. Straining his ears, he tried to shape the sound into something he recognized and couldn’t. At best, it sounded like a thousand people wheezing as they breat
hed, interspersed with the occasional sharp barking noise. Benny was always naturally exuberant and, catching his attention, he put his finger to his lips to indicate he needed to be quiet.
Benny nodded to show he understood and he mouthed to him, ‘Can you hear that?’
Nodding, Benny mouthed, ‘Yeah. What is it?’
Shaking his head, he pointed to an extra wide staircase leading to the level below and looked questioningly at Benny. Benny nodded and they both quietly moved to the top of the staircase. Silently walking down the stairs, they found an underground area he assumed was roughly the same size as the large foyer, reception and bar area above them. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, they peered into the gloom. The undefinable sound was louder here and it was definitely the source of the wheezing noise. Now closer to the source, they could distinguish the sharper sounds were barks and growling. Oh shit, he thought, what the hell is this? Curiosity overrode his common sense and he pulled his large flashlight from his belt and flicked it on. Without saying a word, he and Benny turned and sprinted up the stairs and straight towards the bird.
Nearing the bird, he roared, ‘Go! Go! Go!’
He could have saved his breath. With the stream of manically vibrating hunters hard on their six, Hatch didn’t need to be told. As he and Benny scrambled onto the bird, Hatch lifted off. The hunters launched their hardened bodies at the open door of the bird. He and Benny swung their M4A1s and shot several hunters trying gain a handhold. Luckily Hatch had been quick to respond, and they were soon airborne and hunter free. Immediately all three of them looked at the scene below. There were thirty or forty hunters blindly stumbling in the daylight. With the departure of their prey, they were disoriented and didn’t seem to know how to return to the safety of the hotel.
Grabbing headsets, Benny turned to him and declared, ‘We should kill ‘em.’
The young man had arrived at the Base a few months earlier, hesitant and easily alarmed, and he didn’t know who this confident self-assured killer was. Surprised, he nodded and said, ‘Okay.’
