The Empire's Corps: Book 07 - Reality Check

by Christopher Nuttall

  Barry walked back to the fire, then glared down at Gary. “Make sure that Kailee gets the best portions,” he directed. “She’s going to need to keep up her strength.”

  Shaking, Gary agreed. The rabbit didn't taste bad at all – he would have been pleased with it, under other circumstances – but he could barely swallow. He knew what was coming and it wasn't going to be pleasant. Barry gulped his down with every evidence of enjoyment, then tossed the leaf he’d used as a plate onto the fire. Gary watched it burn up like his hopes, time and time again. He silently cursed whoever had decided to send Barry away from Earth to the deepest, darkest pits of hell. They deserved far worse for what they'd done to him ... and to Kailee.

  He met the girl’s eyes and knew that she knew what was coming.

  “We can live out here,” Barry said. “All of us, working together.”

  “Under you, of course,” Abdul sneered. “What do you know about keeping us alive ...?”

  Barry threw himself at Abdul with staggering speed. Gary stared in horror; Barry had shown a sadistic precision whenever he’d picked on Gary, but now he was fighting savagely, pummelling Abdul into a pulp. Abdul was bigger and stronger than Gary had ever hoped to be, yet he was tiny compared to Barry. Barry hammered him into the ground, fists moving backwards and forwards like pistons. Blood spurted and splashed down onto the muddy ground.

  Gary watched, unable to move, as Abdul’s body hit the ground. His face was a bruised and bloody mess, one of his arms was definitely broken and he was coughing up blood. Barry stood over him, smirking openly. Gary had always known that Barry wasn't just bored when he picked on someone – he actually enjoyed it – but this was worse. Barry, without any restraints on his behaviour, had beaten Abdul to death.

  “Well,” Barry said, as he raised his foot and held it above Abdul’s head. “That was fun.”

  He pushed down, hard. There was a crushing sound and a final spurt of blood, then nothing.

  Gary vomited, violently. He threw up the rabbit he’d eaten, then whatever had been left in his stomach from yesterday, then ... it felt like he'd thrown up everything he’d eaten since the day he was born. His stomach hurt badly as he hacked and coughed, spewing up ... he wasn't sure what he was spewing up. And Barry looked at him and laughed.

  “Stay there,” Barry ordered. He picked up one of Abdul’s shirts and used it to wipe the blood off his hands, then looked around. “Where is she?”

  Gary blinked in surprise. Kailee was gone.

  ***

  Kailee had known that Barry was going to try something as soon as she realised that both Austin and Darrin were gone. One skill that girls learnt in the megacities was how to read boys – and she knew that Barry lusted for her, even though he was too scared of Austin to risk starting a fight. Not that he would ever have admitted being scared of Austin, she knew; Barry had probably told himself that he was biding his time. He wasn't the sort of person to admit to being scared.

  She watched in horror as Barry started to pummel Abdul, knowing that it meant he believed that the last restraints on his behaviour, such as they were, had vanished. And then she pulled herself to her feet and slipped into the forest. Being eaten by a fox or one of the more dangerous creatures would be preferable, she felt, to spending any time with Barry. His mad delusions about living in the forest, away from civilisation, would get them all killed. Or, in her case, a fate worse than death.

  The nightmare rent and tore at her mind as she ran. He might call her his wife, but she knew what she would be, just like most of the other women in the CityBlock. She would be his chattel, his slave. The schools might prattle on and on about female rights – the right to live as they pleased, the right to marry whom they wished – but she knew that the law would do nothing about an abusive husband. And not having a husband could be far worse. But now ...

  She ran harder, ducking and dodging her way through the trees, as she heard someone come running after her. Barry – it had to be Barry – was crashing his way through the branches, giggling to himself as he gave chase. Kailee pushed herself right to the limit, hoping that Barry would give up or they would run into Samantha, Austin and Darrin. Surely, they weren't dead. But if Barry found Samantha ... he'd just set himself up with two wives. It wasn't as if anyone was going to stop him.

  Something caught at her foot and she stumbled, then fell face-down into the mud. There was a shout of triumph from behind her as she rolled over, just in time to see Barry come up, his face twisted into a leer. The bastard wasn't even breathing hard. Kailee stared up at him, knowing that her luck had finally run out. She was going to be forced to let him have her, to violate her body, to invade her very core ... every girl on Earth faced the same nightmare, even if they had a powerful protector. After all, that protector had to be paid something for his services.

  She wished, desperately, that she’d spent more time listening to Janet – or that the older woman had come with them on the flight. But she hadn't. And even if she had, what could she have done? Barry was stronger than Janet, certainly stronger than Kailee. And his reputation suggested that he wouldn't hesitate to beat her bloody if it was what it took to make her surrender and open her legs.

  Barry’s leer grew wider. “Get undressed,” he ordered. “Now. Make a show of it.”

  Kailee swallowed. She had prided herself on never being naked with a boy, never allowing them to touch her body. It had been kept pure for her planned career, but now ... she hesitated, unsure of what to do. Surrender to him and hope he didn't make it hurt, or fight, knowing that he might make it hurt anyway. Sex didn't have to hurt, she knew, there were girls who claimed to enjoy it. But there were also boys who delighted in making the girls hurt, enjoying the power they wielded over their victims. And Barry was very definitely one of those.

  I will not let him use me like this, she vowed, mentally.

  “Come on,” Barry said, impatiently. “I want to see your body.”

  Kailee glared at him, but stood and started to remove her shirt. Midway through, she remembered some of the odder sex education videos they'd been shown and began to move her hips, drawing his attention to her chest. She lifted her shirt briefly, then lowered it; a moment later, she removed it completely. Barry’s eyes were fixed on her breasts, admiring them. Kailee shuddered in revulsion at the naked lust on his face. He snickered; she realised, in horror, that he was fully aware of her feelings. But the fact she didn't want to undress only made it more exiting for him.

  She pushed her hands into her pants, then hesitated. Barry’s expression urged her to continue, mocking all of her dreams of remaining untouched until she became an actress. Feeling a sense of bitterness that merged with her vulnerability, she unsnapped her pants and lowered them to her knees. The panties she’d brought all the way from Earth were already damp, clinging to her flesh. Part of her wondered if that was actually good for her.

  But the rest of her knew it didn't matter.

  Barry hastily undid his pants as she pulled down the panties and stood, naked, in front of him. She wanted to cover her breasts and groin, but she knew that he would only take it as a sign of fear and enjoy it. Instead, she forced herself to stand upright, proudly displaying everything she had. But as his eyes left trails of slime over her body, she knew that it wouldn't be enough to stop him. He wanted everything she had.

  He stepped up to her ... and she saw her chance. She brought her knee up as hard as she could, but Barry twisted to one side, just in time. Kailee realised her mistake an instant before his hand slapped into her face, knocking her to the muddy ground. The pain and blood in her mouth mocked her. Barry was fond of taking girls against their will. He knew all the tricks. He’d probably known that she was biding her time from the moment she’d started to undress.

  “Slut,” Barry said. Kailee tasted blood as he rolled her over, pushing her face-first into the mud. “Bitch. Ice Princess. Let me show you what a real man feels like.”

  Kailee forced herself to speak. “You
can never get a woman to make love to you willingly,” she said. “You ...”

  She gagged as he pushed her face-first into the mud. It was suddenly impossible to breathe ... did he mean to kill her? Maybe that would be better than being his ‘wife.’ She thought for a moment of Aunt Lillian, of the bitterness that echoed through her voice whenever she talked about men, and wondered if her family would ever know what had happened to her. Had they even expected her to come home?

  And then Barry pulled her head out of the mud. She cried out as he felt his fingers between her legs, then he mounted and entered her from behind. Kailee couldn't struggle any longer, even when it began to hurt. All she could do was lie there and take it. A deep burning shame spread through her as he spent himself. He'd used her, just like an object, just like something that didn't matter. She felt filthy and violated and knew that she would never be clean again.

  Barry rolled off her and stood up, donning his trousers casually. Kailee just lay there, wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her. She hated him at that moment, she wanted to kill him ... but she knew that she could never beat him in a fight. It wasn't as if weapons that might even the odds were available on Earth. Rape might not be a crime, or at least a crime that was actually punished ... and yet owning a weapon was considered a serious offense.

  No wonder Austin finds us so disgusting, she thought, bitterly.

  “On your feet,” Barry ordered. He reached down, pulled Kailee up and slapped her ass hard when she stumbled and almost fell again. “Don’t bother to get dressed. We’re going to have some more fun soon enough.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  In effect, the Empire was not only stagnant, it was regressing. Much of its technology would be familiar to someone from the early days of space exploration, while the promise of everything from gravimetric technology to focused force fields was largely unfulfilled.

  - Professor Leo Caesius. Education and the Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire.

  Barry was going to rape Kailee.

  Gary watched him run into the forest, hoping that Kailee would manage to escape, but knowing that she would not. Kailee wasn’t anything like as fast or tough as Barry – and besides, she had nowhere to go. None of them had anywhere to go. The compass had been lost with Austin and, even if they’d had it, Gary had no idea which way to go. They’d been forced right out of their way by the thunderstorm. For all he knew, they might accidentally start walking back towards the crash site.

  Fear kept him immobile for long minutes. Barry had told him not to move. Gary even found it hard to breathe. Long experience told him that it was always worse if he didn't do what he was told, even if it was just standing still and waiting for the pain to begin. Submission had been beaten into him, time and time again, until Barry could expect him to sit and wait for him to return. He could run; he hadn't been tied to a tree ...

  But he was held in place by mental bonds that held him tighter than any rope.

  Why was he so weak? He barely remembered the first day of school, but surely he hadn't been so isolated then ... or had he? The government mandated that all children had to start school from the age of four; earlier, perhaps, if both parents worked. He recalled entering a large room and trying to play with the other kids, only to discover that he was isolated and picked on by the bullies. What had happened to make Moe and Barry such effective bullies when they were children? And what had happened to make Gary so weak?

  Pain, he thought, as he looked over at Abdul’s body. Barry was normally precise, hurting his target with the minimum of effort, but when he’d fought Abdul he’d lost control completely and beaten the other boy to death with his bare hands. Gary felt sick, wondering bitterly if Barry was going to come back and kill him too. If he did ... could he resist? But resistance was always futile.

  He heard ... something in the distance, something human. A cry for help, perhaps, barely audible over the ever-present insect buzzing. Kailee was being hurt, he knew; he’d heard enough to know that Barry liked it to hurt. He shuddered and stared down at the muddy ground, then up into the fire. Barry had gone completely mad. Did he really believe that they could hide out in the countryside indefinitely?

  A chill ran down Gary’s neck as he realised that Barry might be right. Meridian’s settlements were expanding slowly, slowly enough to allow Barry to hide in the undeveloped countryside. He could feed himself, if he were careful – and if he had two others with him, serving as his servants. But it wouldn't be very pleasant or healthy. There were too many plants that might kill or injure an unwary eater. And ... Gary shuddered, again. It would be a nightmare for all of them.

  He felt the gun at his waist, wondering how he’d managed to forget it. If he’d used it, he could have saved Abdul’s life ... and then what? Could he have killed Barry? But he knew that Barry was not the type of person to be balked easily. If he’d threatened Barry, he would have had to carry out the threat. Carefully, he drew the gun out of his belt and examined it in the bright sunlight. It looked so small and simple, smaller than he’d realised. And yet it was a deadly weapon.

  Yates could probably have told him chapter and verse about it, if he’d still been alive, or Austin could have taught him how to shoot. But he was alone. Gary had never thought to use Earth’s datanet to study guns – why bother, when he’d known he would never see one in his life? He’d been wrong ... the gun seemed simple enough, but he didn’t even know if it were loaded. He peered down at it, trying to determine how it went together. The trigger was obvious, yet was there a safety? Something to keep the gun from firing?

  Yates kept it in his belt, Gary told himself. He could have shot himself in the balls if he wasn't careful.

  He heard, in the distance, someone scream. It had to be Kailee. Gary’s imagination, aided by what he’d heard of Barry’s boasting and some darker videos he’d watched on the datanet, filled in the details. Kailee had been beaten, then forced into submission. Or maybe Barry had ... he shook his head, trying to banish the visions. It didn't work. He liked Kailee, yet he was a helpless witness to whatever Barry intended to do to her.

  The gun suddenly felt heavy in his hand. He wasn't helpless. He could do something. But he would have to force himself to move.

  He stood up. The motion seemed to tire him. Somehow, he managed to stumble over to look at Abdul’s body, feeling an odd sense of loss. Perhaps he should have tried to be friends with the other boys, knowing that Yates would have stopped Barry from attacking them. But he’d lost the skill of making friends long ago, back when it had become clear that anyone who even spoke to him risked being attacked by Barry or Moe. Even if Barry hadn't won the competition, Gary knew he would never have been able to talk to the other boys. No doubt Darrin would have picked up the slack and bullied him remorselessly.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered, although he wasn't sure if he was talking to Abdul or himself. “I’m truly sorry.”

  He froze. Someone was crashing his way through the trees towards him. Gary gripped the gun in one hand, holding it as if it were a talisman against evil. Somehow, it gave him courage and determination; he understood, finally, just why everyone on the planet carried a gun. They knew that there was no such thing as physical equality, no matter what the teachers told them; they knew that they needed guns and technology to even the odds. Gary had known the first part ever since he’d been picked on for the first time, but he'd never been taught to articulate the second. He silently cursed Earth’s schools under his breath as he saw someone come into view under the trees. They’d ingrained helplessness into most of their pupils.

  Barry stepped into the clearing, an ugly leer of triumph spread over his face. Behind him, Kailee was naked ... and badly bruised. There were marks all over her body, mud dripping down to the ground, but he could see enough to know that she’d been beaten. He tore his gaze off her breasts with an effort – she’d been hurt enough that she didn't even try to cover them – and met Barry’s stare. The look of self-satisfaction
on the bully’s face made him feel sick.

  “That was fun,” Barry announced. “Pack up the bags. We’re ...”

  He broke off as Gary lifted the gun and pointed it at his forehead. “Where did you get that?”

  Gary held the gun as tightly as he dared. The look of sudden fear in Barry’s eyes was exhilarating. For the first time in his life, he held the power – not Barry, with his fists, or the teachers, threatening to mark down his grades if he didn't shut up and do as they wanted. He understood, suddenly, the impulses that drove Barry and so many others on Earth. They had no real control over their own lives, but as long as they controlled others, they could forget about having no control themselves. What did fists matter, he asked himself, when he held a gun?

  “I found it in the bag,” Gary lied, smoothly. “What did you do to her?”

  Barry gave him a long considering look. “Do you want a turn with her?”

  Gary almost pulled the trigger there and then. Barry, deliberately or otherwise, had touched a nerve. Gary had resented his virginity almost as long as he'd known what he was missing, but there had been no way to lose it. He was too isolated and unpopular to ever hope to get a girl into bed, while the brothels were too dangerous for someone like him. Did the gun give him enough power to simply take what he wanted?

  The thought seemed natural for a long chilling moment, then his mind revolted against it. He was not Barry – but he was thinking just like the bullying bastard. How could he take Kailee against her will? It would be wrong, morally wrong ... the look on her face told him just how wrong it would be. He would be better remaining a virgin for the rest of his life than doing that to anyone.

  “No,” he said. It was a lie. Almost a lie. “I don't want her.”

  Barry smirked. “Do you want me instead?”

  Gary almost threw up at the thought. Homosexuals weren't discriminated against on Earth, but he had never been interested in other men. And, even if he had been, he would certainly not have been interested in Barry. The thought of Barry and sex was enough to put him off sex for life! He felt the gun shake in his hand, sweat staining his palms. How could anyone say something like that?