by Lilly Black
"This has nothing to do with the American legal system," he said. "It's about the safety of our community."
"Look, rape is a heinous act. I'm not saying otherwise, but June is alive, isn't she? He didn't kill her. Even if we're going back to an eye for an eye, a death sentence is not warranted."
"Fine, then," Dani said, infuriated. "You go take his eye for an eye. We'll wait right here."
"Raping Jobe isn't going to solve our problem," Olivia said. "If we don't kill him, what are our options?"
"We could build a jail cell," Aiden suggested.
"You want to waste the time and resources to build a cell, have guards watch it, and then feed and take care of a rapist when we're lucky to have enough food and water for the contributing members of this community?" Alek demanded.
"Then exile him!" Aiden said. "Throw him out of the community. Make him fend for himself." Liana nodded, and when it looked like Jax and Dani might be swayed as well, Olivia put her foot down.
"Absolutely not!" she snapped. "He knows we're here, and he knows what we have. No way in hell am I going to throw someone out of this community and risk having them bring back others to try to take it away from us."
"Does he even know where here is?" Liana asked, trying to make peace. "He was in the back of the limo on the way in, and he hasn't left on a single run since. What if we drove him like fifty miles away and dropped him off? Could he really find us again?"
"Perhaps that's something to consider," Olivia said.
"Is it?" Alek demanded. "So we're just going to let him rape a woman and then risk our lives to drive him fifty miles away to turn him loose?"
"You saw what a coward he is," Dani said. "He'll never survive on his own."
"Then why not just throw him in the trench?" Alek asked.
"Because at least he'll have a chance if we drive him somewhere," Aiden said.
"A chance at what? Raping someone else?" Alek snarled.
"Alek is right," Dani said. "If he's done it once, he'll do it again."
"You don't know that!" Aiden argued.
"Why are you defending a rapist?" Alek demanded, slamming his fist down on the table.
"I'm not!" he shouted, bolting up out of his seat, but realizing arguing would get him nowhere, he sighed and sat back down. "I'm not. It's just that this is the first crime we've had, and we need to do the right thing. We're building a society here, and we need a strong, humanitarian foundation. The death penalty is not the answer. If we're going to execute someone for rape, what do you think that says to the next rapist in our community? May as well silence your victim forever."
"No," Olivia said firmly. "What it says is don't rape anyone around here. We have a chance to build a world where women don't have to fear walking alone at night or crossing the path of a male stranger. If we take a strong stance on rape and make sure everyone understands it, maybe there won't be any more rape."
"And what is the community going to say?" Aiden asked. "Have you considered gathering them together and asking what they think?"
"Let's do it," Alek said. "Let's lay out the options for everyone to consider. We can either waste our man power and precious resources keeping a rapist in a cell, we can risk lives by driving him fifty miles away to basically get off scot-free, or we can kill him and make sure no women in this or any other community ever have to worry about being raped by him again. We should ask absolutely everyone!"
"No one asked me," June said, speaking up for the first time. She had been sitting in the corner of the room as everyone else was gathered around the dining table in Olivia's residence, and she had been so quiet, they had all nearly forgotten she was there.
"Then what do you think we should do to him, shug?" Dani asked.
"Well, I don't think we should kill him for something that's not his fault."
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.
"I mean it's my fault too."
"June, did you say some variation on the words, 'Jobe, I have a rape fantasy, I want you to fulfill it, and by the way, here's the safe word?'" Alek demanded furiously.
"I don't have a rape fantasy," June hissed, insulted.
"Then it's not your fault," he said.
"But I tempted him. I was always tempting him," she said as Alek stared at her, incredulous.
"Her parents raised her in a world where men have biological needs that drive them to lose control if women are not careful about how they act and dress," Olivia explained.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked, disgusted.
"I wish I were."
"June, that's complete bullshit," he said, then he looked down for a second and back up at her. "Listen. I promised Olivia no one would know about this, so I need everyone in this room to keep what I'm about to say to themselves, and Olivia, I hope you can forgive me." He gave her an apologetic smile, then he told their secret.
"Every night, I slip into Olivia's bedroom after all the lights go out. Every night, she falls asleep in my arms. Her skin is so soft, and her hair smells so good, and I want her like you couldn't possibly imagine." He spoke softly as he watched her with a wistful reverence that made her feel shy, then he looked back at June.
"I do have biological needs, and sometimes it gets to the point that I feel like my dick is going to burst, and you know what I do?" he asked, his tone suddenly brimming with anger for anyone who would raise a girl to believe that she was responsible for the actions of men. "I go in the fucking bathroom and take care of it myself because nothing Olivia could possibly say, wear, or do will ever give me a legitimate reason to rape her!"
Alek stood glaring at June, and his imposing, 6'3" frame intimidated her back into her seat, which could not have been further from his intent. Frustrated, he sat back down, and after a long, tense moment, Aiden broke the silence.
"Alek is right," he said, then he turned to Liana. "I wasn't able to put it in perspective because I had you in mind. You're too strong, Liana. If Jobe tried to attack you, you'd tear him apart, but June isn't like you. And we have a lot of young women and girls around here who couldn't fight him off. Their well being is more important than the life of a man we already know is rapist."
"You're right too," Alek said. "We should present it to the community as a whole. We can't just come out of this room and announce that we've made the decision to kill a man."
"I agree," Olivia said. "But first, I want to take a vote here. If we were going solely on our opinions alone, who thinks we should execute him?"
Dani, Jax, Aiden, Olivia, and Alek immediately raised their hands. Then Liana's slowly went up, her eyes cast downward, ashamed but knowing it was the right choice as June sat quietly, consumed by her guilt.
"Okay," Olivia said, wrapping up the meeting. "We'll keep everyone in the lodge after dinner tonight and take a vote, and if they vote to exile, I'll escort him out myself."
And he'll never, ever find his way back to my compound, she thought deviously.
Every night, the entire group gathered in the lodge for dinner. They hadn't grown too large to fit everyone in a single shift by using some extra, folding tables, and while they all worked during the day, fortifying their compound, scavenging, caring for the livestock, or pruning and harvesting in the greenhouse, a few members were usually on kitchen duty. Olivia had installed a large, restaurant-style kitchen off to the right of the reception area because a chef, who was moving into the first ring when her house was finished, was planning to operate it as a restaurant and offer room service. Olivia had hoped she would find her way to the compound after the world ended, but she never did.
On the way to dinner that night, June stopped Olivia, begging her to just let the whole thing go, but when she refused, June took her boys back to their cabin so they wouldn't hear anything about her being raped. In the lodge, Olivia asked everyone to stay after the dinner dishes were cleared, then she stood up with the two witnesses at her side and told them what Jobe had done, leaving June's name out of it, but for much of the commun
ity, the rumor mill had beaten her to it.
Once everyone knew what had happened, though many of the people were just as torn as their leaders had initially been, there were a few with some very clear ideas of what Jobe's fate should be. John and Sharon, for instance, didn't want a rapist anywhere near their teenage daughter nor did they want to take the risk that he could lead others back to them. Then there were others, like Rena, who couldn't stomach the idea of killing a man who wasn't a murderer.
"What if it wasn't a grown woman, then?" John asked. "What if it was my fifteen-year-old daughter? Or one of Randy's granddaughters?" When he said that, Randy's elder granddaughter looked down at her shoes sadly because she knew the answer, and she knew how her grandfather dealt with it. He killed every man who tried to break into their shop from that point on. Unfortunately, her actual rapist had gotten away. He was still out there somewhere, and because of that, even under the protection of the people in the compound, she lived in fear. She didn't want to feel that way anymore, so she decided to share her story, but before she could get the first word out, everyone's attention was drawn to the front door of the lodge as it flew open so hard, it slammed against the wall.
In walked Jimbo Connors dragging one of the two guards who had been at the gate tonight. The tall, imposing man with dark hair and angry eyes threw the much smaller man down on the ground as Olivia marched toward him, furious.
"What are you doing, Jim?" she demanded.
"No one tells me I can't come in to see my wife and kids," he spat at her, and since Alek was guarding Jobe in the makeshift jail they'd created out of a storage room on the other side of the greenhouse, Jax and Aiden stepped in front of her, blocking her from the intruder. But, unintimidated, she put her hands on their shoulders to gently guide them out of her way.
"The guards at the gate were protecting your wife and kids! They don't know who you are," she said, assuming that they had followed procedure and held him at gunpoint. Of course, the next step would have been to contact her on the walkie, but she had heard nothing. She turned to the guard, who was still visibly shaken. "Why didn't you call me?"
"He didn't give us a chance. He ambushed us!"
"Who was on guard with you tonight? Where's your partner?" Olivia asked.
"Phil. He's tied up in the guard station."
"What the hell, Jim?" Olivia shouted. "You can't just come in here and attack our guards. If you had just asked them..."
"I don't have to ask."
"Yes, you do. This is still my property."
"I want to see my wife!" Jimbo shouted in Olivia's face, and all over the room, guns clicked. Then Alek appeared in the entrance to the kitchen, armed and furious. Savannah had been at the monitors, but because of the toggling, she didn't see Jimbo until he was approaching the front porch. By that time, all she could do to help was call Alek to protect her mother.
"You don't come in here and make demands," he said, and as he approached Jimbo, he gave Olivia an apologetic look. He hated to have to take over when she was the one really in charge, but by all accounts, Jimbo was not the sort of man who was going to recognize Olivia's authority.
"You're not her husband," Jimbo said.
"No, I'm not, but I'm helping her take care of this place until he gets back home, so why don't you drop all your weapons, come with me, and I'll take you to your wife and children?" When Dani heard this, she quickly slipped away so she could run ahead to warn June. She wasn't going to be happy that her husband was here, but at least she'd have a heads-up.
"Everyone else has weapons," Jimbo argued.
"And if you become a trusted member of this community, you can carry weapons as well, but right now, you're some guy who crept in here and ambushed our guards," Alek said, giving him a look like he would an errant child, and true to his upbringing, which told him to respect male authority, Jimbo handed over three guns, two knives, and a knapsack full of bullets.
"We'll keep these safe for you," Liana said as she carried them off to be stored in the weapons locker, and once Alek led Jimbo away, Olivia brought the meeting back to order even though she knew they were not going to come to a resolution on Jobe's fate tonight. After seeing a stranger waltz into the main lodge, all anyone wanted to talk about was security, and with concerns of her own, Olivia realized that she could provide the community with the peace of mind they needed while occupying her friend who would otherwise be hassling her to let her train an army.
She told everyone they would pick up where they left off tomorrow then introduced Liana as the new head of security, turning it over to the general and to check on June while Randy's granddaughter slipped away to go back to her room and cry, hoping she would still have the courage to tell her story the next time it became relevant. The very idea of them allowing Jobe to live was more than she could bear.
Dani and Jax were scheduled at the front gate after midnight the night Jimbo broke into the compound, and though they usually spent their late night shifts completely ignoring everything but each other, they realized those days were about to be over. In the morning, they would begin drawing up designs and gathering stone to build towers at the front gate, the back gate, and every two hundred yards in between. They didn't have enough people to man all of these towers, but until they did, their new tech guru had a plan to make the unmanned towers appear to be staffed by using dummies rigged to looted technology to make them move around randomly. She had excitedly hurried off to her workshop with two blowup dolls from Olivia's x-rated stock room, and if their circumstances that night had been better, Dani would still be laughing at the idea of June learning that they were being protected by sex dolls.
"Hey," Jax said, recognizing the distant look in her eyes. "She's going to be okay. Her husband is back now, so she won't have to be afraid after what Jobe did to her."
"I'm not sure her husband is an improvement," Dani said. She had read through June's diary in Pittsburgh, and she had noticed a pattern other than the fact that every entry was practically identical to the last. June was lying. It was obvious, but she could not quite put her finger on the reason for it. One thing she was certain of was that June was not having all of the orgasms she claimed to be having. The way she wrote about them, it seemed like she didn't even understand how the female orgasm worked, and Jimbo had never struck her as the good lover sort. There was something about him she couldn't put her finger on either.
"If it will make you feel better, I'll try to get to know the guy," Jax offered.
"That might help," she said.
"You know what else always makes you feel better?" he asked.
"Jax, we can't. What if Jimbo didn't come alone and has friends just waiting to come in and take over?"
"What if I bend you over so we can both watch while we fuck?" he countered, and while his lascivious smile would normally have melted all of her defenses, it wasn't working tonight. It was partially because she was worried about June, but she also still had the nagging suspicion that he was cheating on her.
"What's wrong, baby?" he asked, lifting her chin as she stared at her feet and shook her head, not ready to discuss it. "Come on, Dani. Talk to me."
"It's nothing, really," she insisted.
"Then fuck me," he said with a smirk, and she laughed as she buried her face in her hands.
"I didn't want to do this yet," she said.
"Do what? Are you breaking up with me?" he said, and the hint of panic in his voice made her smile.
"No, nothing like that. I've just been worried because..." she stopped and sighed. "It's just that you used to have a different woman every night, and now..."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he snapped, incredulous. "Goddamn it, Dani! I haven't been that guy in ten years, and I thought you, of all people, would know that about me!"
"You were locked in a bathroom with two twenty-year-olds when we rescued you!" she argued.
"And the only motivation I had to save them from getting killed by my band mates is that I was fucking th
em? They weren't even with me. You seemed to understand that at the time. Do you really think I could have gone straight from being with you in that bar to fucking those two little girls? Because that's what they are to me, Dani - little girls! If my daughter had lived, she'd be their age right now!"
"Your daughter?" she asked. She didn't know he had ever had any children.
"Yeah, my daughter!" he snapped, then his face fell into sadness as he stared into the distance for a long moment before he spoke again.
"Linzie got pregnant while we were still in high school in New York," he began. "It was just as the band was starting to take off. We spent the summer on the west coast recording our first album, but Linzie stayed home so she could be near her mom and her doctor. I was in the recording studio when she went into labor at thirty-two weeks, and by the time I got back to New York, it was too late. The baby didn't make it."
"I'm so sorry," Dani said, squeezing his hand as Jax's eyes grew misty.
"I didn't want to be a father at seventeen," he said, wiping his face. "My friends thought I'd be relieved. I know that sounds awful. But we were just kids, you know? The thought even crossed my mind before it actually happened, but when I got to the hospital and saw her lying in Linzie's arms as if she was just asleep, it hit me like a ton of bricks. That was my baby, and she was gone.
"She even had a name already - a name that was just going to go on a tombstone now. We'd been calling her Hope, but it didn't feel right anymore, so we named her Faith because that was the day I lost mine. After that, Linzie and I decided we weren't going to have any more children, and as soon as I made enough money to pay for it, we both got sterilized.
"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find doctors who will perform those surgeries on eighteen-year-olds. I got so fucking sick of assholes who thought they knew everything telling us that we didn't know what we wanted because we were just kids, but I knew I was never having children. I'm almost forty now, and I still feel that way," he said, then he looked Dani squarely in the eye. "But if you want children, baby girl, I understand."