We remained behind some large trees that were grouped close together as we observed. Riley and I focused on activity in the camp as Jada alternated her attention to every possible direction. Along with Alexa keeping her emotion-sensing feelers out there, it prevented us from being flanked.
After nearly an hour I deduced that they were still not aware of our presence. Also, they didn't really have a lot of people. The question was what kind of powers these individuals might have. One man could be worth twenty soldiers if his superpower was good enough. They didn't wear scout badges announcing their skills or practice their powers out where we could see them, so we had only our experience with them recently to go on. And that was very limited.
Jada, Bianka and me had been knocked unconscious by Mister Skull early in the battle. We had to rely on the recollection of the others regarding the special abilities of our foe. In the chaos, they didn’t take very good notes on the matter.
I was surprised to hear that none of the others remembered Celeste making the comment that Mister Skull would knock us into last week. Only the three of us that suffered that effect had heard her. I wondered if instead of a warning, as it appeared to be intended, it somehow prepared us to be put into coma from his attack. Had we been played by the porcelain skinned ex-military representative? Did she have a unique gift of her own? It was a farfetched notion, but worth exploring if we ever encountered her again. Assuming that she hadn’t been killed along with the dozens of others that we were trying to protect.
We had approached the fortified neighborhood directly from the north about midway along the fence between the main entrance and the skank gate. That gave us a fairly good overview, especially from the slightly higher elevation. But it didn't reveal much about how well each entry point was guarded from the inside.
We retreated a bit until we were well behind a knoll, then moved east toward the main gate where the troop transport trucks were still parked. Fully fueled, but unmoved. Perhaps the mutant gang had no use for them. Or they didn't yet realize their potential. Motor vehicle transportation had become a thing of the past except for the army factions that didn’t mind getting noticed.
I was surprised to see only two guards posted there by the trucks. Both were on their asses leaning against the section where Jada had previously kept her zombies. And they were smoking cigarettes. Though much less prevalent since the apocalypse, smoking was still a thing. None of our reborn or skilled survivors smoked, but several of the military and schoolhouse gang members that we adopted did. As essential supplies dwindled in stores and ransacked houses, cartons of cigarettes were still in abundant supply. Just like the odor of a skank, though, the stench of a lit cigarette could give away the location of someone that should be staying hidden.
Again, neither of these guys seemed to be taking their jobs seriously. I probably could have started dancing around in the clearing nearby and they still wouldn't notice us. Of course, I had no interest of testing that theory. How pathetically stupid would that be?
We waited another half hour in case we happened to catch them at a low point in their security routine. Maybe the real guards were on coffee break and these bozos were just covering for them. But no. They were either so confident in their ability to ward off attackers or they believed that no legitimate threats remained in the area.
We back-stepped again and headed west. I wanted to get a good look at the skank gate. We called it that because that is where we diverted any diseased women looking for asylum and a chance to become reborn. Allowing them through the main gate would have been too obvious to observers and be a clear breach of our treaty with the Coalition. Of course, that was all part of the past. But the name stuck. It was still the skank gate to all of us.
To my absolute shock, and pure delight, the rear entrance was wide open and unguarded. I couldn't believe it! We stuck around for more than an hour to make sure that it wasn't some kind of trap. As far as we could tell, that would be our best way to breach their meager attempt at defense.
Bianka and Stella arrived by the time that we had seen enough. I explained what we had observed and what our likely course of action would be. Wait until dark, then sneak into the compound through the skank gate. We would need a way to neutralize threats quietly as we went in search of Mister Skull. We had only spotted him once, stepping out the front door of our old house long enough to shout out some orders before retreating back inside.
I didn’t get any better look at him this time than the day that he knocked me into the past, which turned out to be a messed-up dream coma. In my mind, though, he was an ugly fucker with bad teeth. And stinky feet, or whatever else would make him unattractive to women.
"I'd like to do some additional recon," Bianka told me. "I could probably get us some more valuable intel by getting closer. I'll make sure that I don't get spotted."
I hesitated, worried about setting off an alarm that could put us right back into a fierce battle with these assholes. I certainly did not want to get knocked out again. But Bianka's stealth skills were downright incredible. I had witnessed that firsthand many times. I gave my approval after contemplating the possible advantages of gaining more information about the enemy.
We found a place to relax while we waited for her to return. Jada and Riley took turns on lookout. Spying as intently as we had for the couple hours before was an unexpected drain on our energy, even though we were hardly moving around. The rest allowed a tiredness to creep into my bones. Perhaps I wasn’t fully recovered from the three days of deep sleep.
Then the breeze picked up a bit, blowing in from the west. Stella was wearing a sleeveless blouse causing her to catch a chill. I could count on one hand how many times the weather was cool enough to do that since the comet hit. Perhaps the heat wave was finally settling down. It reminded me of my long dream where the climate was much different than in reality.
I pulled my newest wife against my chest, wrapping my arm around her. A moment later Alexa took the same position on the other side. It felt so good to have them like that. Combined with the cooler breeze and my growing lethargy, I was tempted to take a nap.
We waited patiently for Bianka's return. She was gone much longer than I had anticipated. I was tempted to call her phone and check on her, but that might give her away. As stealthy as her cat-like abilities made her, she might be crouched on a rooftop eavesdropping on an important conversation at that very moment.
"She's in trouble," Jada said, showing an emotion resembling mild panic. Knowing her like I did I took it more as impatience. "I need to go check on her."
"No," Riley replied before I could. "We have spotted no disruption in their camp. There is no reason to believe that she has been discovered."
"Well, then she got her pretty little foot stuck in a hole," Jada retorted. "Or her bra strap caught on a branch. Either way, she's taking too long and might need our help. I'm going."
"Mason?" Riley was asking if I approved of Jada going. Both Stella and Alexa raised their heads off my chest to look at me. I could tell that they were prepared to stand up if I made the decision for us all to move.
"I think that she is okay," I told them. I stood up anyway to get another peek at the area. I had let Riley and Jada watch for threats for so long that I was worried that Jada might be right. Something could be wrong. "I think that she'll be back soon."
Jada opened her mouth to object but was cut off quickly by a soft thump behind us. It sounded like maybe a couple acorns or crabapples falling from a tree. We all braced ourselves in case it turned out to be an enemy sneaking up on us instead.
"I'm back now," Bianka said as she slipped around the thick trunk of a tree. "Sorry that I took so long. With them being mutants, I was extra cautious in my approach. I don't believe that any of them have Alexa's extra sense, or anything like it. No one had a clue that I had infiltrated their camp."
"What did you find out?" Jada asked, showing more curiosity than appreciation for our friend’s return.
"There are only about twelve to fifteen of them in our colony's compound. The rest retreated to secure other areas that they had abandoned. From the sound of it, there are still some small clans out there causing a nuisance."
"What about Mister Skull?" I asked. I needed them all to move out of our area, but their leader would surely be the key. Kill or contain him and our chances of chasing these powerful intruders off improved dramatically.
"He's in our house most of the time," Bianka replied with some distaste. "I wasn't able to get inside but I monitored people going in and out. That’s why I’m unsure of their total number. He intends to spend one or two more nights there before a rendezvous with the rest of his forces. They plan on pushing north next, but it is unclear of whether or not that he will go with them. He’s made some comments about how comfortable he is getting with our place. Wherever they were hanging out previously did not have power."
"They are going to go toward our new house next," Stella mumbled.
"Our temporary house," Alexa corrected her.
"That's what I meant," Stella replied quickly. "I'm just saying that returning there will put us in harm's way soon enough. We can’t just simply wait things out and hope that they all move on."
"That's true," Jada said. "We should take action before they get their reinforcements. Mason, what do you think?"
I immediately nodded my uncommitted agreement with her statement but didn't say anything just yet. I wanted to think things through and not make a hasty decision. All eyes were on me as they waited for me to speak.
Instead of confirming that I approved of the suggested action, I turned to Bianka. "What do you recommend?"
Bianka didn't hesitate to respond. "I think that we should go in tonight. They'll have a few guards spread out, and maybe one watching the house. We should be able to sneak in through the skank gate unnoticed if we time it right. Then head toward our house. There is sufficient cover to get all of us there unseen. We should try to take down this Skull guy while he is sleeping. And I don’t mean take him captive."
"I agree," Jada said. It wasn’t just animosity toward the man for what he had done. Letting a powerful mutant enemy live could be a huge mistake.
"We'll need to incapacitate their people silently," I told them. "If we fail to do that, someone will raise the alarm. We'll risk Mister Skull's attack putting us in another coma if we are not careful."
"I can probably get most of them with my knives," Bianka suggested, not showing complete confidence. She clearly wanted help.
"We do have a silencer that we acquired from Major Sutherly's team," Jada announced. "I've been keeping it in my bag back at the house."
Nods all round then. The ability to shoot people without making a noise would greatly improve our chances of our success. I started thinking about how each of us could play a valuable role in this sneak attack.
Bianka and Jada could take out guards with close combat before they knew what hit them. Alexa would be able to tell us where each person was located, as long as none of them were immune to her power. Riley could use her speed burst at a key moment and be unaffected by some of their powers. But the most important factor was our most timid member.
"Stella gets the silencer," I informed them.
CHAPTER TWENTY:
"So, I'm betting that you're wishing that you could go back to your dream world," Bianka said to me as we headed toward our old compound on the mission.
I had chosen to walk beside her in the darkness to discuss more details about our planned stealth attack. I had not expected her to engage in small talk. But our relationship had gone back to the friendship that we had before she had been seduced by me and my wives. It caught me off guard, but I was grateful for it.
"It is funny that you should mention it," I answered.
"Oh yeah? Why is that?"
"Um," I said, realizing that I shouldn't have encouraged a deeper look at my alternate reality life from just a couple days ago. The one where Bianka had mounted me happily. "No reason."
"Aw, come on," Bianka pushed me. "You can’t say that and then let it go."
"Sure, I can. And I did."
We walked silently for a minute. I needed to change the subject, but her reminding me of that ultra-realistic coma dream had me flustered. I knew revealing any details that brought up a sexual relationship between us was risky.
"Let me guess," Bianka finally said.
"No," I responded quickly. "Please don't do that."
"We had sex in this other world of yours," she said anyway. I saw her out of the corner of my eye smiling at me.
I did not respond. Let her assume things and then let it go. I had no interest in taking chances with our relationship again. She had become my best friend up until a week ago. I knew that Alexa and Jamila had good intentions with their attempted sexual foursome, but it backfired just the same. I couldn't completely wipe that memory from my brain, nor did I wish to do so, but I was eager to reestablish our friendship. It meant a lot to me. More than any sexual fantasy.
"Did you seduce me this time?" Bianka asked teasingly. "Or did one of your women snooker me in?"
"No one seduced you," I replied, regretting the words as soon as they left my mouth. I should have refused to answer. "Can we just let it go?"
There was another long pause before she spoke again. "I understand why you don't want to talk about it. You want to go back to how things were. And I want that, too. I really do. Losing our home and pretty much our entire colony just kind of put things in perspective for me. When I woke up from my coma to find you still asleep, I was very worried. But more than that. I had this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I regretted treating you the way that I did back before the attack. It was wrong of me. You are a good man, and I know that. I should have been able to brush it off like you did. I just want you to know that I'm sorry, Mason."
I stopped abruptly. Was this for real? I mean, I knew that the barrier between us had dissolved after I had awakened. But were we really back to where we were before? Best friends? I couldn't completely trust it. She meant too much to me to take a chance.
"Thank you, Bianka. I'm very sorry, too."
I reached for her hands to hold, but she took it as an invitation for a hug. Her slender frame gripped me tightly and I gladly reciprocated. We vowed never to let anything come between our friendship ever again.
We continued walking in silence for a while. I could feel the eyes of the other women on us. Eventually, Bianka spoke again. She just wasn't going to let it go.
"So, I seduced you then?"
"Stop it," I answered almost angrily, shaking my head.
"I thought that none of us knew you when you met us again. Only you retained your memory of this world. And the dream ended right after I walked in."
"Yes, pretty much."
Bianka stopped then and grabbed my arm to bring me to a halt. She looked shocked. "So, I jumped you the moment that we met for the first time? I mean the first time for me?"
"Uh..."
"You liked that, didn't you?" She had completely returned to teasing me over my attraction to her. At least she wasn’t angry, but we were walking a thin line.
I shook my head. This thing apparently wasn't going away. I reached for her hands again. This time she delicately placed her fingertips on my palms. Her smile was nearly gone then. My actions might be confusing her. Maybe she thought that I was misreading her intention and was about to put a move on her.
"Bianka, you know that I find you very attractive. I can't help but think about you in certain ways from time to time. But that is a fantasy that we never need to talk about. And certainly, one that I will never act on again. I think that it is for the best that we avoid the subject."
She looked relieved as she took a deep breath. We agreed and continued on our way. We hadn't taken more than ten steps side by side before I heard her whisper, "Never say never."
I stopped in my tracks. Did I just hear her correctly? This time, though
, she just kept on walking. And I watched her go. It wasn't long before Alexa, Riley and Stella all caught up with me. I walked alongside them as Bianka rushed to catch up with Jada. It was then that I remembered her answer over the phone radio last night when Jada had asked her if she had ever been butt fucked. She said not yet. Is that what I needed to do to woo her in? Focus on her anus?
Alexa teased me, sensing what my conversation with Bianka must have been about. She clearly had an idea of what I was thinking about as the teasing blonde ran off. But I stayed tight lipped. If I was hesitant to talk about sex with Bianka, I certainly wasn't going to reveal our conversations with others. That would be a sure way to lose her trust.
We passed close by the Springbrook High School that the Coalition had bombed during their attack on Tamika's clan, which we formally had called the schoolhouse gang. Parts of the structure were reduced to rubble but there were still some sections standing tall. A couple small fires could be spotted through the broken windows.
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