"Let me go!" she hissed at him.
"Oh no. You're not going anywhere for a few days, and then you'll be flown to Vermont with the other girls we've accumulated," he replied as he continued to leer at her groin, then reached a finger out to probe her down there.
Jean flinched as she tried to scuttle backwards, but the metal cuffs bit further into her ankles causing an incredible amount of pain so she instantly froze. She tried a different tactic to distract him, fearing he might do something that the position they had fastened her in would only make easier.
"You said girls. What girls, and why Vermont?"
"Because you're being flown there for genetic extraction. I don't understand the full process, but in order to clone you and the others, Lynch says he needs several DNA samples in order to modify a viable egg. You told me you were fully developed by twelve. That's old enough in my book." Now he was grinning with delight as she shuddered, thinking about child sex slavery which was obviously what they had in mind. "Didn't you see the other girls as they brought you in here? There are several superior specimens, and Lynch is drooling over all of them." He had continued speaking and quickly she paid attention to his words, trying to learn everything she could.
"I am not a specimen. I am a human being!" Oh, he just pissed her off every time he opened his mouth.
"Don't flatter yourself, you're nothing more than flesh that's nice to look at. I am so tired of you women thinking you're as good as men. That will all change when we of the Order consolidate our authority over Earth."
"Boy, Don. That will be a long time coming, so don't hold your breath. You know you'll never see it happen, right?" Jean was so mad she couldn't see straight, and it took every effort on her part not to start wildly spitting at Don. The Order this, the Order that. A bunch of dumb fucks, she thought. "You realize Jay will come for me, and when he gets here I'm quite sure killing you will be at the top of his list." She shut up as Don started laughing.
"Bitch! We are on a hidden base that no one knows about, and we’re heavily protected. Your new governor has nothing that could possibly get him here in less than a few days, and we'll both be long gone by then. The land surrounding this facility is covered with sensors. It's impossible to get in, and nothing they have can penetrate the blast shields here. They might take the airstrip, but that would be about it before we wiped them out."
Jean smiled coldly at Don as she muttered, desperately trying to hold her temper, "You'll see. Don't say I didn't tell you so."
"Just shut the fuck up and spread your legs. The first child you bear will be mine!" and Don was already prying her legs apart as she snapped.
"I'm already pregnant, you stupid fuck!" Jean howled at Don as he was smirking at her.
"What? You can't be." Don looked like he was in shock as he sat back and released her knees, staring at her in a dumbfounded way.
"I found out this morning, you stupid shit. Seven days pregnant and it isn't yours, bastard!"
Slowly Don rose and stared down at her.
"Well, that's unfortunate for you. I find I no longer desire you for my companion." He sighed, and triumphantly she read disappointment in his eyes.
"You mean your slave!" she hissed.
"Words mean nothing. You are what you now are, Jean. Since you can no longer be mine, I’ll give you to my men soon. In the meantime, you can listen to what you have to look forward to." Don turned and walked out the open cage door and addressed the guards there. "Which one was causing all the trouble earlier?"
"4B, Sir."
"Perfect. She's only marginal anyways. Call the barracks and tell them 4B is all theirs. Just try not to kill her because Dr. Lynch would prefer her alive. Make sure no one enters this room," and he turned, looking at Jean in disgust before stalking off.
A long line of men passed her cell, joking and laughing. Moments later she heard the screams start. They didn’t stop for a very long time, and Jean desperately attempted to drone them out by reciting her childhood catechisms as loud as she could while sobbing almost uncontrollably. "Jay!" she prayed before she passed out from exhaustion, "save us, please." Mercifully, she didn’t see the bloody sheet-draped form carried out hours later.
*****
Locke looked up from his bunk as Cobb strolled in and plopped down on the one next to his and levered himself up on his elbows.
"Did you get to talk to your wife and kids?" Locke asked in a low voice. The barrack was fairly crowded but no one was within a dozen feet of them. Upon arrival, after every mission, they would search the nearby bunks and remove the almost microscopic listening devices that had been planted. They were not afraid of being caught at it, as most of the other men were doing the same. The extensive training all these men had received allowed them to find such devices easily and quickly. Now Cobb leaned forward and spoke even lower.
"Yeah the wife, but not the kids. Diane gave me the signals, bro. Scared. Separated from kids. Limited talk. Little sleep from extra work schedules. Then they cut us off."
"Fuck, dude. I'm sorry. I'm afraid to call Connie now. Fuck!" Locke sat up and leaned forward before continuing. "Well, we knew this would happen. We're becoming unneeded extras. As soon as they dispose of the last military elements our lifespan will be measured in seconds."
"Don't care about my life, Locke, I just want the wife and kids to survive."
"Me too, so hang in there. My turn I guess for the phone. See you in a bit."
Locke started to rise and the barrack’s speaker came to life. "Fresh meat available in the cell. 4B, end of the row. She's feisty and needs taming. Have at it, men."
Locke scowled as he turned to Cobb. "I really don't know how much more of this I can take." Cobb just nodded as his eyes hooded, thinking about his wife and children in Vermont. "You talk to Abbot and Shafer?"
"Don't trust Shafer, but Abbot's in the same canoe as us. You became his hero when you took out Nolan. He'd marry you if you'd do the same to that asswipe Don."
"Abbot is sort of cute in a large bulky way." Locke chuckled, then sobered while lowering his voice again. "I think our Don pissed off the wrong person today. That woman we snatched is carrying that governor's kid. I know how mad I'd be."
"Yeah," Cobb breathed.
Locke lowered his voice further to a mere whisper. "I bet he's here tomorrow night doing a scout recon, then he'll hit us the night after. It's what I would do. I refuse to underestimate him. Fucker is one mean shit."
"Yeah. So what do we do?" Cobb asked, and Locke sighed in thought.
"Play it by ear. We're fucked, man," he finished, rising and heading off to the communications shack to talk to his wife. He and Connie also had codes they used and he would get as many answers as he could in the limited time they had. In the corner, he noticed Abbot had not risen off his bunk for the current recreation being offered but that Shafer was following the others out. His eyes narrowed...
*****
Author Afterword
Well I'm having fun and so will you my reader. Book three is positively explosive being almost entirely action. Granted, I left some cliffhangers like almost all if not all authors do in series but don't worry. Book three will be out within a month and a half at the most. It's almost there already.
I really hope you enjoyed this second novel and please visit my website and shoot me an email. I respond to all of them. I love constructive criticism because without it I cannot improve as a writer.
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