“No, Lester.” She put a hand on his arm. “You and a few others stay with me. I have a feeling about this.”
“As you wish, Sister.”
They walked straight into a deadly ambush. Ben and his people were hidden in the gap and chopped the men and women of the Ninth Order to bloody rags with machine gunfire. After only a minute, Ben called for a cease fire.
The Rebels picked through the carnage, gathering up all the weapons and ammo and usable equipment. They stripped boots from the dead and any clothing that wasn’t ripped by slugs.
Sister Voleta was not lying among the dead and dying.
“That yo-yo got away,” Captain Rayle reported to Ben. “I don’t know how she managed it, but she did.”
I’ll have to contend with her someday, Ben thought. This isn’t over. Her hatred for me is so intense, she’ll keep trying to kill me, one way or the other.
I wonder if that baby was mine? he concluded. I guess I’ll wonder all my life. Unless I run into him someday.
Ben walked among the dead and dying, picking his way carefully among the bloodstained rocks and brush.
Will this never end? Ben silently questioned the force that controls the destiny of every living thing. Will those who follow me ever be allowed to live in peace? Must we, for the remainder of our lives, go constantly armed, forever doomed to wage one battle after another, simply for the right to exist?
He thought of Gale and muttered, “I wonder how many times so many Jews wondered the same thing?”
A cold rain began falling, chilling the earth and those who still lived upon it.
Is that your reply? Ben pondered, remembering the savage night on the motel balcony.
Ben stopped his aimless wandering along the battlefield and looked down, looking into the eyes of a man who lay dying at his booted feet. The man spat at him and cursed him, the hate within overpowering the pain within and without. His voice bubbled from a chest wound and the rain that fell into his open mouth.
“It ain’t over,” the man gasped his promise. “You won this fight, but a lot of us got out. They’ll get you, Raines. And you’ll die hard, I can promise you that.”
“Why?” Ben asked.
“‘Cause . . . ’cause America didn’t work, that’s why. You . . . said so yourself , back in ‘89. All we was tryin’ to do was live our own way.”
“But your society was based on a twisted religion from the mind of a woman so overcome with hate it defied normal thinking.”
“Our right,” the man gasped, blood, pink and frothy, bubbling past his lips.
Lung shot, Ben thought.
“We’ll get you, Raines,” the man once more uttered the death threat. “I wish I could be there to see Sister Voleta burn you at the stake. Listen to you scream and beg for mercy.”
“Why did you follow her?”
The man’s eyes rolled back in his head and he shuddered several times, his boots drumming on the wet earth. His final reply was a sighing of air leaving his dead body.
Ben looked at the men and women gathered around him. His Rebels. His.
I’ve got to get away from this, Ben thought. These people must learn to cope without me. They have to do that, for future generations. I must leave. And not just for their sake, but for my own, as well.
Ben sighed. “Let’s go home, people.”
FORTY-TWO
Joni and George arrived at the slave camp just outside what used to be known as Perry, Florida just as the slaves were finishing with their former captors. It was not a pretty sight. Bodies were hanging from tree limbs, sprawled in death on the dusty grounds, and some had been staked out, spread-eagled naked under the sun, and covered with baby oil. The sun was slowly roasting them to death, in a most painful manner.
This was a much larger plantation, a combination cattle and farming operation, so there were almost twice as many slaves and almost four times the guards that had been at Live Oak. The fight had been savage and bloody, and the slaves, of all races and creeds and religions, had taken a number of casualties; but they had killed all the guards.
Joni introduced herself and George, asking, “How many more slave farms did Tony have, and where are they?”
“Four,” the leader of the Perry group said. “But we only have to worry about two of them. At the plantations in Clarksville and up in Graceville, the guards won. They killed all the slaves. Just lined them up and shot them down.” The speaker’s name was Lou, a middle-aged man, but one who looked as though he had made his living as a stevedore prior to slavery. His chest was huge and his shoulders and arms padded with muscle.
“We’ve got to get to the rest of the plantations as quickly as possible,” George said. “Some mercenary named Hartline is on his way down here.”
“Sam Hartline!” Lou said, his face paling as he spoke. “Oh, God! That’s a bad one. I remember him from three, four years ago. You’re right. We’ve got to get rolling in a hurry.”
Joni looked at the cheap wrist watch on her wrist. “Can we make it, Lou?”
“I think so, miss. We’re pretty well armed all the way around and radio reports from the other two plantations indicated the revolt was on the side of the slaves. What do you have on your mind, Joni?”
“Linking up with Ben Raines.”
Lou nodded. “I think that’s a good thought, Joni. I was on my way out to the old Tri-States with a bunch of people back in ’93 when we were ambushed in Iowa. Forced us to turn back. I always regretted we didn’t make it.”
“How long before your people can move out?” Joni asked.
Lou looked around him. “Give us an hour. You folks can get on Highway 27 and move on south until you reach Cross City. Wait for us there. Once we link up, we’ll move against what’s left of the guards at Chiefland, then head on over to Newberry. Do you know which route Hartline is taking down here?”
“Yes. Interstate 95.”
“All right. Just as soon as we clear Newberry, we’ll take 41 up to the intersection of Interstate 75 and pour it on. That will take us right up to the ruins of Atlanta. You folks shove off. We’ll link up with you in about two hours.”
“You think we have God on our side in this one, Lou?” Joni asked.
“There is no God,” Lou replied bitterly. “I gave up believing in that a long time ago. As far as I can tell, we’ve got only two things left to believe in.”
“Oh?” George looked at the man.
“Ourselves and Ben Raines.”
FORTY-THREE
Tony grinned at Ann. His grin was anything but nice. “I don’t trust you, baby,” he said. “I think you’re up to something.”
Ann said nothing. She crouched naked in the center of the bed. The knife she had stolen from Lennie was under her pillow, the blade open.
“I don’t know what,” Tony said. “But I’m gettin’ bad vibes from you. So you and me, baby, we’re gonna get it on one more time. Then I’m gonna give you to Sam Hartline.”
This time, Ann could not prevent a hiss of fear and revulsion.
“Yeah.” Tony grinned. “Hartline’s gonna split you wide open. It should be interestin’ listenin’ to you squall.”
There was nothing Ann could say, so she remained silent.
Tony checked his watch. A gold Rolex he had stolen years before. “Hartline ought to be back in two days. So you and me, baby, we’ll get it on tomorrow for the last time.” He grinned, exposing soiled and rotten teeth. “You rest up tonight, baby. ’Cause tomorrow, I’m gonna roll you over and take a whack at you from that direction.”
He laughed and walked out the door, carefully locking it behind him.
Ann turned on the bed and looked at Peg and Lilli, “You heard him. I get it tomorrow. I got to do it tomorrow, or it’ll never get done. Ya’ll pack, and keep it light for fast travelin’. Spare shirt, jeans, socks and panties. Any food you might have hidden back. This time tomorrow, we’ll either be free, or dead.”
The girls hurried from the room. Lilli looked b
ack. “Can I take one of the dollies, Ann?”
“Yeah,” Ann said. “You can take one of your dollies.”
“You gonna take one of your dollies, Ann?” Peg asked.
Ann shook her head. “No.”
“Why?”
“’Cause I think, after tomorrow, I will have outgrown dolls.”
FORTY-FOUR
Ben stood alone at the mass grave site. His face wore a grim expression.
“All this,” he muttered. “For what? All these lives, snuffed out. For what?”
But only the silence of the grave greeted him. And graves do not speak.
Gale was surprisingly cheerful when Tina visited her while her father was at the grave site.
“You’re pretty chipper today, Gale,” she said. “What’s up?”
Gale smiled at the young woman; they were about the same age. “Oh, I guess I’m just happy to be getting settled in one place. It’s a nice house, don’t you think?”
“It’s lovely.”
The home she had chosen was on the outskirts of what had been known as Dalton, Georgia. It was not a large home, for Gale knew Ben was probably only days, maybe hours, from taking off on his quest, and she didn’t want too large a house to look after.
“Tell me the rest of it?” Tina prompted, taking the cup of tea Gale fixed for her.
“I’m happy because Ben is happy. Well, as happy as he ever is.”
“Because he’s leaving?”
“Yes, as odd as that sounds.”
“I understand,” Tina said. “Believe me, I do.”
“I knew you would. When are you and Robert going to marry?”
“Probably never,” Tina said matter-of-factly. “You know that marriage has become, is becoming, kind of old hat.”
“One more long-accepted social institution gone,” Gale replied with a smile. “Perhaps it’s time for that.”
Tina shrugged. “Who knows? Dad doesn’t seem to object. Least he’s never said anything about it.”
Gale grinned at her. “How could he?”
Both young women chuckled.
“You going to live here all by yourself, Gale?”
“Yes. I’ll be all right. You and Bob are right down the street. Ike and Nina have settled in a house right behind me. So I’m not afraid.”
Tina finished her tea and rose. She said, “Lots of women would be pitching a fit right about now, Gale. They wouldn’t put up with Dad leaving.”
Gale shook her head. “Ben would never have chosen that type of woman.”
“You’re right. You know him pretty well, don’t you, Gale?”
“Well enough to let him go,” she said with a smile, and the smile was not at all forced.
FORTY-FIVE
How degrading! Emil Hite thought, as he shuffled along, carrying dirty clothes to the women to be washed. One day I’m king of the mountain, the next day I’m a fucking gofer.
“Hurry up with that laundry, you asshole!” one of the women squalled at him.
Just think, Emil pondered the frailties of being a god. One day they are groveling at my feet, the next day, they are shrieking at me like a bunch of fishmongers.
Oh, woe is me! Emil thought.
“Get your stupid ass over here with those dirty clothes!” a woman howled at him. “And be quick about it.”
Emil stumbled on the hem of his robe and the laundry basket flew from his hands, dirty clothes spilling out onto the ground.
Everybody started yelling at him, calling him the most awful of names.
Emil got to his knees and looked upward. “Why me, Blomm?” he said aloud. “Why me?”
One of his captors put a number twelve sized boot on Emil’s ass and that put an end to any questioning of the Great God Blomm.
As Emil hurriedly picked up the dirty clothes, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, the young girl, Lynn, being led into what had once been Emil’s house. She was giggling and simpering and allowing the man to touch her in the most intimate of places.
Lynn had been Emil’s favorite. She gave great head for someone barely in her teens,
Oh, well, Emil philosophized. Easy come, easy go.
“Hite!” one very large lady squalled. “Get over here with those clothes, you stupid prick.”
“Yes, Sister Hilary,” Emil said.
“And knock off that ‘Sister’ shit, you phony,” Hilary yelled in a voice that made Emil’s head sting.
Bitch had a voice that would crack brass, Emil thought.
“And you better not wear yourself out, either,” Hilary warned. “’Cause tonight it’s my turn with you.”
Jesus! Emil thought. And again, Why me?
Emil fervently wished he was back in Chattanooga, selling used cars.
FORTY-SIX
“Got a new truck for you, General,” Colonel Gray told Ben. “My Scouts found this one up in Knoxville.”
“Looks brand new,” Ben remarked, as he walked around the Chevy pickup. No doubt about it, the truck was a nice one. Everything that could be put on a truck was on this one. It was a long wheel base, four-wheel-drive Chevy. The camper top was new and bolted down securely. The cab held enough radio equipment to transmit anywhere in the continental U.S., Ben reckoned. Bucket seats, with new clamps bolted between the seats for Ben’s Thompson. The truck had two gas tanks and two spare tires bolted inside the camper.
“It is new,” Dan said. “Well ... the last model made, back in ’88. My people found it in a private garage out in the suburbs.”
“Uh-huh,” Ben said. He wondered how many tracking devices Dan had hidden in and on the truck. Several, he concluded.
“We, uh—” the usually eloquent Englishman seemed at a loss for words—“well, we just thought you needed a new vehicle before you, ah, left us, sir.”
“Thank you, Dan,” Ben said quietly. “It is, ah, common knowledge that I’m taking off soon?”
Dan nodded his head. “Yes, sir.”
“I see. I won’t be nursemaided, Dan.”
“I know that, sir.”
“But you’ll probably send teams out to try and keep an eye on me, won’t you?” Ben asked with a smile.
“Oh . . . probably, sir.”
“Good luck, Dan.”
The Englishman smiled. “Thank you, sir.” He patted the hood of the truck. “Enjoy, sir.”
As Dan was walking off, Doctor Chase walked up.
“Hello, you old goat,” Ben greeted him.
“Old goat to you, too, King Raines,” the old doctor fired back. “When are you planning to leave on your idiotic odyssey?”
“Soon.”
“I see. Gale is not going with you, I hope.”
“No. She’s staying.”
“Who are you leaving in charge?”
“Cecil. I’m going to call all the troops together tomorrow sometime and pin general’s stars on Cecil’s shoulders. I suggested I do the same with Ike, but he rather bluntly informed me he never wanted to be any type of fucking officer to begin with.”
Doctor Chase laughed. “That sounds like Ike.”
“While I’m gone, Lamar, I’m going to lay out the route for outposts. I discussed that with you. I’ll be back next year and we’ll start heading westward, setting up forts as we go. I think, Lamar, that is the only way we’ll ever have a chance for any type of civilization.”
“I agree. Well—” he cleared his throat—“you bastard, I’ll miss you.”
The two men shook hands.
Doctor Chase returned to the overseeing of his new clinic, and Ben walked to the quartermaster’s new area and began drawing supplies.
“Be sure to put an old portable typewriter in with the other gear, Sergeant,” Ben instructed. “And round me up several boxes of white paper. Good bond.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he left, Cecil fell in step with him. “You do plan on keeping in touch, don’t you, Ben?”
“You know I will, Cec. But you’re not going to run into any problems you wo
n’t be able to handle easily.”
I hope, Cecil silently prayed. “I’ve instructed everybody to be in formation at 1200 hours tomorrow, Ben.”
“Good.”
Cecil still did not know what Ben planned to do at the formation. Ike had been sworn to secrecy. “You going to make a speech, Ben?”
“A very short one. I plan to be up in Kentucky by nightfall.”
“Well ... see you tomorrow, Ben.”
“Tomorrow, Cecil.”
FORTY-SEVEN
Tony Silver stood naked over the girl who whimpered in pain and fear on the bed. Ann was naked. The marks of the belt vividly crisscrossed her flesh. Tony tossed the belt to the floor and slapped her viciously across the face, rocking her head and bloodying her mouth.
“Bitch! I wanna know what the hell you’re up to.”
“Nothing, Tony,” the child cried. “I swear it. Nothing.”
“Then how come I don’t believe you?”
In reply, Ann rolled over on her back and spread her slender legs. She watched Tony’s face change and heard his breathing quicken.
Tony hefted his growing erection and smiled at her. “Come over, here, baby, and kiss this for me.”
Ann scooted across the bed and put her small, bare feet on the carpet. Her right hand slipped under the pillow and gripped the handle of the sharp knife. When she looked up at Tony, he was slowly masturbating himself, his eyes closed.
Quickly she moved to him, and faced his hardness, one slender leg on either side of Tony’s hairy legs.
He pushed the head of his penis against her mouth. “Suck it for me, baby,” he said.
Ann gripped the knife with both hands and drove it into Tony’s soft lower belly, just a few inches above his pubic hair line. She savagely jerked the blade upward, for she had driven it in with the sharp edge facing upward.
Tony made a low choking sound and opened his mouth to scream. Ann jerked the knife out and, using all her strength, drove the blade as deep as it would go into the center of his chest. The blade tore into his heart and Tony fell backward onto the carpet, dying soundlessly in his own blood.
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