He was amused and deeply satisfied when the first raptor had tested the perimeter fence to find it a shocking experience. A few others had tried their luck, now they avoided it whenever they came out of the tree line. So much the better.
He had deliberately kept the fence at least ten meters from the nearest trees. This would give him clear fire lanes and avoid anything trying to climb over or fly over the fence. With those residual wings, he wasn’t sure if those raptors could glide, and wasn’t in the mood to find out the hard way.
A marathon session of setting up the small greenhouses before a storm hit had him exhausted and dragging for days. It was painful to move by the time he was done, and taking a tepid shower had been an ear splitting occurrence. The water hitting the new welding burn on his forearm had hurt like hell.
Mitch crashed in bed that night, totally exhausted. In the middle of night he felt something crawling on him. Something prodded him awake; it took his sleepy mind a moment to process what he saw, a scorpion bug crawling over him. It stopped. Fearful but aware sudden movement was bad in this situation he stilled. An armadillo rat attacked it from out of the darkeness. He jumped up, staying on the bed as more of the scorpions were on the floor. The armadillo rat finished one, and then munched another. The stingers bounced off its shell with scratching sounds. The others retreated under the bed. The rat followed, and the occasional wet crunching sound was heard. His head swam with stress and adrenaline for a moment. Mitch got down off the bed and carefully checked the area, then decided it was definitely time to fumigate.
He thought about giving a couple of the animals to Doc. It would help them out, especially if he sent over a few chicks, or a couple puppies... But the attitude of some of the women, and their desperate straits made him reconsider that. They would most likely eat the animals, cutting down on his planned breeding schedule without as much as a thank you. He felt bad for the kids though.
A few days later on his way back from the iron mine he encountered a battered teenage boy being hunted by a group of women. The brown haired sunburned kid hid in the truck, ducking down into the seat as they drove off. It turned out the half naked teenage boy was a scarred kid, covered in welts and bruises. He was wearing only a breach clout and leather choker. He told Mitch his name was Brian before the jostling of the truck lulled him into falling into exhausted asleep.
He was an escaped slave from the village of women Mitch realized. Mitch cut off the collar, fed and treats kid and then took him back to base. He returned to the village after hearing his story, angry, wearing body armor, and armed. The kid came too, cringing at the sight of the women but he held onto a borrowed rifle Mitch had given to him. Mitch had two trucks follow, each with a war robot.
When he pulled up to the gate he got out, with a curt word he told the teen to wait in the car. The ED stepped off the back of the truck, scaring the guard into hastily backing up from her challenge. He gave her a long look then walked into the village center.
In the village he spotted a boy hiding and pointed to him. The kid came over reluctantly. It was the boy named Billy he recognized, but he was now wearing a breech cloth and a tight leather collar matching Brian's. Angry Mitch asked if he wanted to stay, the little boy hid face and shook his head no. “Go get your gear then,” Mitch gently told the boy. Billy beamed up at him briefly and then rushed off.
Soon boys came running. A teenage female came to stop him, but a wave of his rifle and a look at his set angry face after he saw another beaten kid made her hastily back off with threats to tell the dominatrix.
Diane the priestess showed up and seemed pissed, immediately going into a rant but keeping a wary distance from him. He gave the brunette a long dirty look. “Frankly lady I don’t give a damn what you want.” One of the kids giggled at this. A pair of women approached the car on the other side. He looked over to them and then back to the priestess. “Just consider me social services, or a concerned citizen,” he snarled to her, meeting glare for glare as he ushered the kids into the truck.
He warned her if another child was beaten the dominatrix would regret it. All the boys loaded up. Two orphaned girls came too in the bustle of bodies, as well as two women ladened with bags. He asked if they participated in the beatings, the boys confirmed that the ladies tried to protect them. Janet and Anne joined the group. The hummer was full; every seat was doing double duty.
Before leaving the compound Mitch asked Brian if that was all of the boys. Brian did a head count and then nodded, glaring at Diane. He was nervous but defiant, clutching at the rifle. Even the insanity of the priestess was pierced by the young man's indignant rage. Mitch got them out before the kid lost it.
“Clown car,” Mitch muttered. He took them back to base; they were awed by sight of all the gear. He gruffly warned them they wouldn’t be playing video games, they would have to do chores and go to school.
One teen smiled and said he; “Never thought he would ever want to go back to school till he heard that.” Everyone laughed at that. There was a lot of tension busting in that laughter Mitch realized.
Mitch told them they will work out a system, and school will be practical material. A boy barely 12 heartily agreed to that.
“I think I am in love.” One of the women commented.
“Awe, you just like me because I have hot showers and chocolate,” Mitch teased with a look her way.
“CHOCOLATE?” Janet cried eyes wide.
“Hot showers?” came from Anne. He laughed, waving them inside.
They took turns in the showers and bathrooms, Anne hissed in sympathy over cuts and welts, the boys were relieved at getting the leather chokers off. The chokers had been soaked in water and shrunk, slowly choking them. If they back talked the Dominatrix or Priestess would splash water on the leather. The kids piled out of the baths tired but happy and finally gloriously clean. Mitch had them dress in coveralls the robots dug out of storage while their rags were put in the wash. He doubted they were worth saving.
The tentative hopeful smiles were almost more than he could bear; he knew what hell those kids have probably been through. “I am sorry about the clothes, best I can do until we get yours sorted out,” he said again. He waved his hand as a robot brought the laundry to the laundry mat.
“I am sure we can get things sorted out soon enough,” Janet replied before she left to take her turn in the shower.
He had them sit at the table as he finished a quick dinner of spaghetti with meatballs with garlic bread. Anne and Janet come out of their showers last; Anne had a towel wrapped around her head and another around her body. Janet tousled her long wet hair with her towel, wearing her shirt and no bottom. She sniffed appreciatively. “You cook?” she asked.
He grinned. “But of course,” he responded with a fake French accent. Some of the kids giggled. She snorted. “I have MRE’s, cans of food, and stuff in the freezer and pantry if I am in a hurry though.” He warned her, and then smiled as she ducked her head and ruffles her damp hair.
“I thought I would never get clean again! Thank you!”
“Where is the chocolate?” Janet asked as she looked up.
He shook his spoon at her. “No desert until you eat your entire dinner lady,” he mocked her. She gave him a quelling look at his tease, but the kids were giggling and she couldn’t hold the look for long.
Janet chuckled and then gave a token sigh of surrender. “If you insist...” Anne smiled.
The garlic bread was a big hit, so big he had to bake a second loaf. Janet looked concerned but he waved it off. “I have over two tons of bread flour left, and the first crop of dwarf wheat should be coming in within the next two months,” he explained. She looked amazed, and then nodded.
As the general mayhem of dinner wore down Anne sniffed the air appreciatively and then smiled. “Is that...brownies?” she asked. She looked at Mitch hopefully. Janet looked up, and then gave him a look. The kids were enthused.
He chuckled. “Yeah. I threw a batch in. There is a
lso some fresh vanilla ice cream.” It took a bit of jostling and of course some oohs from his audience as he pulled the brownies out and tested them. A few minutes to let them cool allowed him to fetch the ice cream and bowls and Janet to police the dirty dishes from dinner.
“It will be a while before the cacao trees mature, so what is on hand will have to be rationed carefully,” he informed them, and then took a bite.
“Caccaa?” One of the kids asked, wrinkling his nose while the other kids giggled.
“Chocolate tree dear,” Janet replied, pointed back to his dish.
“Oh okay, for a minute there I thought he said Cacca as in poop,” the lad replied with a straight face. The giggling started again.
Mitch started to respond, stopped to swallow and then tried again. “When I first got here I set up small greenhouses. The third greenhouse has tropical plants that will take a long time to grow, like the chocolate. Also coffee, lemons, rubber, tea, nuts, vanilla, and other useful things,” he explained.
Anne looked up interest. “Coffee?” He shrugged.
Mitch wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, I don’t do mornings.”
Anne snorted. “Neither does she.” She pointed her thumb at Janet.
Janet chuckled. “Ain’t that the truth?”
Mitch ordered an Andy to unwrap and set up the mattresses for the new crew. The kids were tired but amazed, awed by the technology. Once they got used to the robots they found them amusing. The armadillos had them intrigued. Janet lent him a hand loading the dishwasher, then hustled the kids off to wash up.
Fed and bathed and de-loused the kids settled into bed with the occasional yawn. Anne, Brian, Vance, and Janet stayed up with him and told him about village over another brownie and a cup of milk. “At first it was okay, I mean we had a lot of people but we weren’t getting organized,” Janet started, then the four of the started to gush out the story, taking the lead from time to time.
“One by one the men would go out in hunting parties and not return. It was hard, and the ones that did come back didn’t bring back much,” Janet said quietly and then looked down at her drink as Anne took the lead.
“At first we were okay, we had some supplies, and a few people even had survival packs,” Anne said. Mitch nodded. “But the food ran out pretty quickly with so many mouths to feed. There were over a hundred people, many of them kids who couldn’t work much, and of course couldn't hunt.”
“When only Charlie, Harold, and Jim were left Mistress Tabitha and Priestess Diane began sermons about the evils of men every time they left. Rumors that they would abandon us, or that they were saving the best food for themselves were brooded about a few times,” Anne said darkly.
“Harold and Jim went out a couple weeks ago on their own after Tabitha refused to allow them to bring the remaining rifles. They never came back,” Janet said quietly as she continued to look down. Mitch looked on, face clouding.
“You know something don’t you,” Janet asked, eyes begging the answer, face dreading it.
He sighed. “Yeah. One of them was attacked by raptors about four and a half kilometers north.” His face grew bleak as Janet gave him a searching look and then she looked down again as she realized his answer to her unspoken question. “I’m sorry. I didn’t make it to him in time,” Mitch said softly. Anne nodded.
Brian sighed. “He almost didn’t make it to me,” the lad said. Anne patted his hand. He shied away. A fleeting look of hurt crossed her features before she suppressed it.
“With them gone Tabitha stepped up her rhetoric. A few people believed her; some went along with the flow.” She gave Brian a guilty glance. “Some of us just kept our heads down and did nothing,” Janet said and then sighed as she looked up. “We were just trying to survive.” Mitch nodded. “Charlie went out with a hunting party led by Tabitha after they had a big row. They said a cat got him,” Janet said.
Brian looked angry. “Cat hell, I saw his body. He was shot in the back,” he snarled. Anne looked shocked, Janet didn’t.
Janet gushed out a sigh shaking her head in mourning and anger. “I should have known. Should have known.”
Anne and Janet asked how he could afford everything. He told them he had won the lotto. “Wow, you paid for all this after winning the lotto? How much did you win?” Anne asked.
He coughed in his hand “Um... twenty two times.”
“Twenty two million? You bought all this with twenty two million?” Anne asked in disbelief.
“Um no... I won twenty two times. There was also some stock investments and businesses involved too,” Mitch replied, sounding a bit embarrassed by his good fortune.
She looked at him. “You're telling us you won the lottery twenty two TIMES? That is impossible!” Janet had her mouth open and a glazed look in her eyes.
Mitch snorted. “As impossible as being transported by squid aliens to another planet?”
Janet closed her mouth with a clop. “He has a point,” she finally admitted. She looked to Anne and shrugged. “So you’re a psychic?” she asked, turning back to him.
Mitch squirmed a little and then shrugged. “Yeah, I get feelings once and a while. I am really good with numbers. Though I could never get my taxes right,” he sighed theatrically, the girls, Brian, and Vance chuckled.
Janet nodded. “Yeah. I am glad.” Mitch chuckled. Anne and Brian shrugged.
“I get déjà vu moments from time to time, but they aren’t very helpful,” he admitted and then shrugged.
“No mind reading, tarot card reading...etc?” Anne asked warily. He looked at her and gave her a twisted smile.
“I wish! Mind reading would be nice in theory, but in practice? Imagine being in a room of people with that ability,” he said. She winced.
“What do you mean?” Brian asked.
Anne turned to him. “It would be like everyone would be talking at once, plus their voices talking... and surrounding people... Yeah I can see it wouldn’t be all that great.”
Mitch chuckled. “Yeah. No super cape, no super powers.” Vance, Brian, and Janet nodded, Anne looked relieved.
“Don’t worry about the dominatrix; I think she and I need to have a little chat tomorrow,” Mitch said firmly. Janet and Anne look alarmed at the look in his eye and set of his jaw.
Brain looked wary, and then he too got the look as well. “Yeah, I wanna see this,” he said. He gave a short choppy nod.
“We’ll wear body armor, and I think I’ll just bring along another mechanical friend as a deterrent,” Mitch said. Anne looked at him her face begged the question. “Robot. War robot, one of the robots I brought today.” She paled a little and then saw Brian’s face as he nodded.
The next morning after breakfast he led them on a quick tour. “Careful of the alpaca, they spit,” he warned the twelve year old Wayne, who promptly got spat on.
“Ew gross!” the kid said and wiped at the luger, and then got a set face and started to hack to retaliate. Janet ushered him away before he could retaliate. Anne chuckled.
They were all amazed at the animals and gear, the robots have the adults a little leery at first, but when he explained how much they have done and how they make things so much easier they relented.
He got Anne and Janet to have the kids do some simple chores while he returned to the village with an armed Brian. At the entrance he pulled up and encountered the dominatrix. She had her hands on her hips, dominant pose, with her coiled whip on hip. He angrily addressed her, passing on his warning.
When he turned his back to leave she uncoiled the whip and struck his back. Mitch turned and growled. When she went to strike again, he raised his arm and the whip wrapped around it painfully. He grabbed it and yanked hard, pulling it out of her hand and her off balance. He advanced on her, punched her hard in the gut, making her drop gasping into the dirt. He pulled her up by the collar and hair to look in her eyes, she tried to kick and scratch and he tossed her away.
The huntresses arrived and threatened him. The ED robot steppe
d off the back of the truck and they backed down warily. He looked them over and then tossed the whip into a nearby fire. “I said my peace. You wanna live this way that is fine. Beat or mistreat a kid again and you will regret it.” He yanked the driver’s door open and got in the truck. The robot panned across the group, and then got back onto the rear. He gave the red headed woman a look. The doctor bit her lip and ducked his gaze. He peeled out as he left.
Back at base, one of the first things Janet and Anne tentatively ask for were materials for Feminine Hygiene. He hid a smile and told them there were three crates with re-usable materials for that very purpose. “Oh thank God. You’re a saint!” Anne told him. Wayne looked at him quizzically.
“Lets just put it this way, you don’t want to know,” Mitch commented.
When Brian came running in the next day whooping that a foal had been born it turned into a three ring circus for everyone to go see. Janet wiped her hands on her apron and followed along the herd.
Herds of animals passed what he had designated the Eastern wall, those that do come close skirted the fence. Vance had been learning how to use the construction equipment with Wayne while he had been gone. Together with a robot for security they have begun to dig a three meter wide trench along each of the four kilometer long sides of the base perimeter. They had left one area on each side as a road entrance to the gates. Eventually the base would expand into the full territory.
With more mouths to feed and support he decided to quadruple the planting. The farm robots swung back into action. The kids were awed by the sight of the machines trundling along in the fields. Walter an eleven year old eagerly volunteered to oversee the robots. Janet gave a reluctant Mitch a wink and a nod. He left the planting in their hands.
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