Alpha Farm, Facing Your Demons (Prepper Chicks Series Book 2)

by Annie Berdel

  “Well, my mom does more than I do but yes, he has been out to the farm a few times.” Lauren clarified.

  “What farm? What’s your name, little girl?” the man gruffed

  “Emma Montalvo is my mom. My name is Lauren.” she replied

  Commotion behind the barricade got the two girls attention as the whispering increased. A lone man ran off towards town from somewhere within the barricade that he had been hiding.

  “I’ll be with you right quick if you could just sit still for a bit.” the man’s tone obviously changed to one more of neighborly instead of the snide, vexing demeanor from just a few moments ago.

  Megan knew they were in over their heads. She had no idea things were going to be like this, especially this close to the farm. Now what? If they turned to leave, they would be shot, that much was clear. Hopefully the fact that Emma was Lauren’s mom would pull some weight here. Looking at each of the faces behind the barricade, Megan was wondering when the last time they bathed or had a hot meal was. Cigarettes were not in short supply as every face except two carried the glow of lit ash as the aroma of cheap whisky meandered over to Megan like a drunken cowboy at a rodeo making her stomach want to hurl its contents. Glancing over at Lauren, Megan prayed the girl could get them out of this mess.

  “So Sherriff said to let you two in since your daddy’s here.” The big man said looking at Lauren.

  “My dad? Is here?” Lauren said in confusion. She knew he had been taking off for lengths of time but had no idea he was coming into town. Feeling a bit relieved that her father was around, Lauren watched as the tall, skinny kid wound his way out of the obstruction until he was standing between the girls. Holding out his hand, Lauren finally figured out that he wanted one of the reigns from her horse. Tossing the leather rope over, the boy caught it with his left hand as he slid his hand behind the cheek piece of the bridle. Lauren glanced over at Megan and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

  “Get off the horse.” The boy instructed Lauren.

  “I…” Lauren began before the hint of anger crept in “Why do I need to get off my horse? Just let me get through!”

  Dropping the reign of Lauren’s horse, the kid turned and shot Megan’s horse in the breast. The horse tumbled forward onto the ground flipping Megan over its head.

  “I told you to get off!” the boy screaming at Lauren now.

  Lauren, still in shock at what she just witnessed, threw her hands in the air as she lifted her leg over the saddles horn and slid off. With her arms still raised, Lauren made her way over to where Megan still lay on the ground.

  “You okay?” Lauren quickly asked. Megan only nodded as the deafening sound of the whaling horse was too much for her. Rolling over, Megan started gagging as the horse defecated on the ground mere feet from where she lay. Grabbing the distraught girl by the arm, Lauren pulled her up and away from the tortured beast.

  “Get the other horse over to Ed’s so we can have fresh meat.” The big guy directed to the skinny kid,

  “Wait! What?” Lauren started screaming at the man. “What do you mean, fresh meat?”

  “I mean exactly what it sounds like. That horse will feed a lot of people in town.” He shot back at Lauren.

  “I’ve had that horse since I was little! You can’t just cut him up and let people eat him like a cow!” Lauren now bewildered at the conversation she was having with this man.

  It was too much for Megan who turned and vomited, losing all control of body function she could feel the warm flow of urine down her legs.

  “Yes, we can.” The man continued with a slight grin creeping over his face. “Just like a cow.”

  Lauren was stunned. Was this how life was now out here away from her mom’s farm? How much had she been protected by the woman who just a bit ago was complaining about?

  “Where’s my dad?” Lauren screamed at the man.

  “Your daddy is down at the pub. Joey, you want to escort the princess over there along with her friend here?” The man asked the skinny kid. “Don’t let them out of your sight he said turning to dismiss his association with them. He had other business to attend to.

  Lauren walked over and helped Megan to her feet. “Lauren, I…” Megan began before the other girl shushed her.

  Holding her close, Lauren and Megan walked into the opening of the barrier with the skinny kid close behind. Once on the other side, the boy pointed his chin in the direction the girls were expected to go. Once on the other side, the girls saw the reality of what could have been their death. At least a dozen bodies were on the ground with rifles aimed outside the roadblock. It was sad to think these people probably shopped as the same grocery store and had kids in the local grade school. Now they were ill trained mercenaries. Any twitch and they could have been dead. Glancing back, Lauren couldn’t even fathom the outcome of the two horses she left behind. This was her fault. If she hadn’t gone off on a whim once again they wouldn’t be in this predicament. Thinking about how her mom would react to any of this was a road she didn’t want to think about right now. Now, she just wanted to get to her dad.

  The girls paused outside what was not much more than a hole in the wall. Candlelight flowed from the windows as the smell of cheap cigars and dime store perfume moseyed from the open doorway with more class than the cheap prostitutes who stood at the entrance. Megan yanked back on Lauren’s arm to get her to slow. “I don’t want to go in there!” she said trying to get Lauren to stop.

  “I’m not leaving you out here by yourself.” Lauren whispered back in a huff. “Here, stay right behind me.” She continued as she shoved the other girl to trail her into the pub.

  It was hard to see as Lauren followed the skinny kid into the bar. With the lights down and a thick haze of smoke, Lauren squinted until her eyes started to water. The boy led them through the crowd of locals towards a room in the back where a pool table was visible through the doorway. He thrust his chin out towards the room as he turned and walked to the bar. Lauren stood there with an uneasy feeling starting to swell in her stomach. The room around her started to melt away as her vision narrowed to the doorway of the alcove.

  She saw him sitting in the corner smoking the short stub of a cigar. His arm was wrapped around the waist of a woman that Lauren had never seen before as she teetered on his knee. Laughter erupted through the small room as the woman looked back at Lauren’s father, a smile broad enough to show her rotten teeth behind the bright red lipstick.

  Lauren could feel the coldness of the room as it crept across her skin. None of this was making any sense. Why was her father in this place? Who was the woman? Feeling an intense need to run away, Lauren turned to find the exit when she ran square into Ben’s chest.

  “Well hey little lady! Fancy meeting you here.” He said with a mischievous grin.

  “I…I shouldn’t be here. I need to leave.” Lauren stammered.

  “Ah, no!” the excitement evident in Ben’s voice. “We are all family here! Find a seat and stay a while.” He said as he gripped Lauren’s elbow to spin her back around. “Now, who do we have here?” he asked as he spotted Megan still tight behind Lauren.

  “Hi! I’m Susan.” Megan said thrusting a hand in Ben’s direction. “Lauren came into town to have a little fun with me. We haven’t seen each other since we went to college together.”

  “Oh really? College girls, aye? Where do you live here in town?” Ben asked

  “Over on Hickory. I have an apartment over there.” Megan explained as she remembered what Lauren was saying earlier. “You should stop over later! A couple other girls are coming over and we are going to have a small party for old times.”

  “Hickory, why yes. I know where that is. Funny, I don’t remember seeing you around town before now.” The Sherriff stated giving Megan the once over.

  If there ever was a time that Megan was glad she was still breastfeeding it was now, hitching her shirt lower, Megan let the Sherriff have a look at her rather robust cleavage. “I keep out of trou
ble, or at least I don’t get caught” she said as she shot a quick wink at Ben.

  “Well now!” Ben exclaimed. “Maybe I will stop on over after I take care of some business here. Give me a chance to get to know you girls a little better.”

  “Sure thing. We are heading home now. The rest of the girls should be there soon, but I needed a bottle, ya know, and I knew I could get what I needed here.” Megan cooed. Grabbing Ben’s collar, she gave it a salacious tug. “I’ll see you in a bit, then.”

  Pushing Lauren behind her towards the front door, Megan did not take her eyes from the Sherriff until she rounded the corner of the exit. Turning, she grabbed Lauren’s hand and pulled her into the bushes beside the bar. Keeping the two moving, Megan put as much distance as she could between the pub and themselves until they were both out of breathe and had to stop.

  “What the fuck just happened back there?” Megan panted.

  Lauren dropped her head into her knees as she slid down the outside of the building to the ground. Her head was spinning in a thousand different directions. “I don’t even know.” She moaned

  Picking Laurens chin up with the cusp of her hand, Megan looked at Lauren’s now tear stained face. “We have to get out of here and fast.”

  “Let’s get to my apartment.” Lauren suggested.

  “Are you crazy? There is no way we are even going close to your apartment! That asshole of a Sherriff will be all over that area soon and we need to be out of town before he realizes he got played. Lauren, think! How do we get out of town without going back through that barricade?” Megan pleaded

  Running her hands through her hair, Lauren blew out the rest of the pent-up breath she had been holding inside. “I guess, through the ballfields? We used to play little league there and there’s train tracks that run alongside that if we follow them will bring us right to the western side of the farm.”

  “Can you get us there without anyone seeing us, and fast?” Megan asked

  “Oh man, I’m trying to remember. It’s been a while now since I’ve been on that side of town.” Lauren said fighting through her memory.

  “You have to! We need to get out of here fast!” Megan all but screaming now.

  “Megan, my dad?” Lauren finally said, the tears filling her eyes.

  “I know honey. We will figure this all out when we get home. Let’s get going before they start looking for us.”

  Standing, Lauren peered around the side of the building that had been sitting beside. Taking Megan by the hand, the two girls disappeared into the night.

  61

  He watched her as she sauntered towards the chicken coop. He had her schedule down to the nearest minute as he had spent weeks following her every move. Even though things were in a chaotic state with the condition of the electric grid, there was some normality to people’s daily tasks starting to creep back in. He had waited patiently and now it looked like that patience was about to pay off.

  Her spikey blonde hair was getting a little longer from when she first arrived but she still had a hard edge to her thought drew his attention. Maybe it was the “go fuck yourself” attitude that perked up his manhood or the freedom she allowed her body to strain against the borrowed t-shirt she got from his wife but she definitely got his attention and held it. Just thinking about her taunt nipples pressed against the back side of a Def Leppard concert tee made his dick hard. Reaching down, he slid his hand down the front of his jeans and squeezed. Feeling the blood looking for a release made his breath catch in his throat as thousands of nerve endings screamed up his throat, his eyes fluttering shut against the addictive sensation.

  He wasn’t even sure his pecker would even work again after all the shit he had been through but after a night out with the boys, well, let’s just say that he had never felt more pleasure in the abuse he had put it through that night. Grasping harder, he bowed his head as a muscle crap crept up his back sending him into spasms. Resting his hand on the wall, he braced himself so he didn’t fall to his knees as his manhood oozed into the inside of his briefs. Keeping his eyes closed, he focused on getting his breathing under control as perspiration broke out across his brow.

  He needed to feel the inside of her. To take control of her. To make her submit. It was all he could think of lately. Some say he was consumed, he looked at it more of conquering an adversary. She wanted him. He could tell by how she acted when they were together but she was just too weak to allow herself the pleasure. He could change that. Hell, he would change that whether she wanted him to or not. He could see her face afterwards, the surprise at the amount of pleasure he just gave her. Grabbing himself again, he fought back the urge to give in again.

  Chloe bounded towards the Barn of Tortures, as she called it. It had become her chore to gather the eggs every day and keep an eye on all the chickens. Everyone had a duty and this seemed like the safest thing for the city girl to do to immerse herself into her new way of life. It’s not like she would be helping to birth a calf anytime soon so starting small was a good step for her. It also got her out of the house and away from some of the chaos the swirled around in there like autumn leaves in a winter breeze.

  She had resolved that her life would not return to her known normal but she was okay with that. After all, she was tired of turning tricks to rich assholes who treated her like a commodity. Here, she had a fresh start. She was Chloe, someone’s friend and sister instead of just a piece of ass.

  Opening the door to the small building, Chloe waited for her eyes to adjust to the dimness within. She understood why pirates wore eyepatches! Left eye was above deck, right eye was below. That way they could see at all times without having to loose valuable seconds without being able to see when an enemy could instantly thrust a blade into their torso. And here she had spent most of her life just thinking that all pirates were blind in one eye!

  “Ahoy, wenches!” she yelled out as she made her way inside, the chickens squawking at the intruder. “Oh, just calm yourselves. It’s just me” she responded rolling her eyes at her intended victims. “Now, hand o'er yer bounty before I off yer heads!” Chloe said in her finest pirate talk, giving herself a giggle.

  “Aye, I’m glad no one is in here with me! They would think that I had lost my bloody mind!”

  Picking up her little lathe basket that she used to collect eggs in to transport them safely to the house, Chloe timidly walked over to her first gudgeon. Licking her lips, Chloe sized up the chicken sitting on the nest.

  “I don’t suppose you just hand over that egg and no one will get hurt?” she half sniveled.

  The chicken just looked at her. “God, I hate this part.” Chloe moaned as she timidly stuck her hand out towards the chickens’ underside. “Just sit still and don’t peck at me” she commanded of the yellow feathered poltroon.

  Chloe turned her hand over, palm down and gently slid her hand beneath the hen, feeling around for the much valued gratuity.

  The door slamming behind her jolted her so much that her hand came flying up, knocking the chicken off its nest. Spinning, Chloe faced the insensitive intruder with the basket in front of her for protection.

  “Mike, damnit! You should knock first!” she screamed

  “Before I go into a chicken coop?” he asked with a sly grin creeping across his face

  “Yes, well. We wouldn’t want to disturb the girls while they are working, now would we?” she stammered

  “You the Madam of the Coop now?” he shot back with a laugh

  Chloe felt the comment cut deep before she realized it was just a joke. He knew nothing of her past and she intended to keep it that way. But Mike caught the sudden change in her demeanor.

  “Hey, you alright?” he asked reaching out to run his hand down her arm.

  “Ya, so what brings your bloody self out to my lair?” she asked with a grin

  Maybe Mike had misread but he didn’t think so. He had caught her off guard a few times that she tried to recover quickly but he knew something was there. Some
thing she was hiding.

  “I came to see if you want to go on a picnic down by the creek?” Mike chuckled “I had no intention of scaring you this bad.”

  “You didn’t scare me!” she shot back a little too fast

  “Oh no? Then why is your heart beating a mile a minute?” he asked

  “How do you know…? “She started to say as her hand went to her chest, verifying what the man stated as fact. Before she could utter her next denial, his lips covered hers.

  She melted. She melted straight into the man who was sweeping her off of her feet and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. She wouldn’t even know how to begin to stop the tidal wave of emotions he caused in her soul.

  Letting her come up for air, he didn’t miss a beat. “So, about that picnic?”

  “You expect me to talk after that?” she half muttered wiping the spittle from her lips.

  “Finish what you are doing. I’ll meet you in the house in say, an hour? We can go from there.”

  “You’re not going to help me so I can get done faster?” she pouted

  “I have my own thing to do.” He said as he smacked her playfully on her rear. “An hour”

  Michael walked out the door, letting it bang closed behind him and Chloe exhaled for the first time since he walked into the room. Damn if he didn’t have a way of messing up all her senses!

  Turning back to the business at hand, Chloe was boldly sliding her hand beneath her next couple victims knowing the sooner she got done, the sooner she could go on this picnic Mike had planned.

  Chloe’s pulse increased again a she heard the door open. This time though he let the door fall gently back instead of the loud bang just minutes earlier.

  “Forget something?” she asked not turning around. She didn’t want him to see the enormous grin growing across her face that she couldn’t hide. He didn’t respond.

  “Oh, want to play some games instead” she cooed playfully

  Her head snapped back as the hand grabbed a handful of her champagne tresses, the basket she was holding so delicately just moments before forgotten as it tumbled to the floor. She could feel his breath on the side of her neck, the faint smell of beer wafting beneath her nose.