Delquan just exited the farmhouse when he felt a blast of heat at his face as Aquanetta ran down the stairs covered in flames screaming at the top of her lungs. She began to run in circles in the front of the farm. Delquan watched in fascination as Aquanetta ran in smaller and smaller circles, her cries weakening until she fell on her face in the driveway and stopped moving. Delquan continued to watch as his troops jumped over her flaming body to search for their recently lost prisoner until two of Mustafa’s guards covered Aquanetta with a tarp, extinguishing the flames and covering his most recent lover from public view. Delquan had little concern for the late Aquanetta. However, the escape of the prisoner was most unfortunate.
Mustafa approached Delquan who was still standing on the porch observing the chaotic scene unfurled around him
“Sir, it appears that the prisoner has escaped, but…..”
Just as Mustafa was about to finish his sentence Delquan struck him hard on the left side of the face. Mustafa bellowed and dropped to one knee while Delquan stood over him and screamed, “No shit, our prisoner escaped, boy what a surprise!”
Mustafa recovered his bearings and stood to face his leader. He was enraged that Delquan disrespected him like that, and if it were any other time, Delquan would be dying in a heap in front of him, but given the circumstances, he would take this insult for the moment.
I decided to let one more round loose and boogie back to town. I sighted in on the tractor and fired a second time. The bullet hit the engine once again, making a bright flash and a loud “PLINK!” as it struck the metal of the engine and ignited. Six of Delquan’s followers were peppered with bullet and tractor fragments as they milled about their damaged machine. Delquan’s head mechanic, Rupert died instantly as a large piece of the engine block separated from the engine and dropped directly on his head, because of the bullet strike.
I packed up quickly, concealed Simone’s bike as best as I could, and jogged my bike back down the trail until I was out of the line of sight of the McDonnell farm. I mounted my bike and made my way back to town as quickly as possible. I reached the trailhead in about 20 minutes and walked my bike to the nearest roadblock passing through and heading to the Police station to share what I had learned with the others.
Upon arriving at the police station, I was surprised to find that both Sam and Zeke had beat him back to town and were happily reuniting with their father. I smiled and thanked the powers that be for their escape, and went looking for Simone, Robert and Mitch to tell them what happened, and what I had seen at the farm. I found Simone conferring with Elaine, Mitch, and Robert in the Chief’s office. They were all bent over a map of Cambridge and were discussing where they should place manned defenses to protect the town from the army at the McDonnell’s. Upon entering the office Elaine looked up and smiled, “I see you have returned, I was beginning to get concerned.”
I took a deep breath, let it out and said “Yep. Ladies and gentleman, we have things to discuss. Let’s bring Zeke in here; he has the best intelligence concerning our foes.”
I went back outside and asked Zeke and his dad to come into the chief’s office. As they made their way into the office, I approached Sam and put my hand on his shoulder.
“You’re a brave young man Sam, I was proud to have you out there with me tonight. I think this town owes you a debt of thanks.”
As I began to walk into the building, Sam touched my shoulder, “I was happy I could rescue my brother, thanks for putting your trust in me Ben.”
I looked the young man in the eyes, “Anytime, Sam, anytime.” I Left Sam outside and made my way to the chief’s office to speak to Zeke and his dad.
When I entered the office, I found Zeke sitting on a small couch with his father sipping a warm Coke and smiling from ear to ear. Simone, Mitch and Robert were seated directly across from them, and Elaine sat behind her desk. A chair was placed for me next to Elaine, and I gratefully sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. Elaine began the debriefing.
“Zeke, we want to talk to you about the McDonnell’s farm and what happened there, do you think you’re up to that?
Zeke took a sip of his Coke, “Sure ma’am, hopefully I can help, ask away.”
Elaine was a very good interviewer, teasing out critical details that most would miss or disregard as unimportant, and thoroughly going through the boy’s story until she was sure that all the intelligence we needed got addressed.
Elaine began, “Zeke, what can you tell us about the people at the farm?”
“Ma’am, I think that there are about 200 people there, but it doesn’t look like they’re soldiers. I think they’re college students, I heard several of them complaining about the amount of manual labor that is needed to keep the farm going. One thing I know for sure is that they are not farm folk.”
“What are they motivated by Zeke?”
“I kept hearing nonsense like they were all black kings and black queens and that they were destined to rule the Midwest under their leader Delquan. For all their talk, I don’t think that they have a plan, and they are hoping that a massed attack will be successful. He wants to take the town and spend the winter here before moving on.
“Did you identify any leaders while you were there?”
“I Sure did. The leader is Delquan; he’s an idiot with delusions of grandeur. His second in command is this one eyed guy named Mustafa, he likes to beat people up and make people afraid of him. He was the one that tied me to the wagon wheel as an example to the others. Then there is Delquan’s girl Aqua-something. She has a loud mouth and likes to push people around.”
“Did you hear anything about their plans, like when and how they were going to attack?”
“Well, I heard that they were planning on attacking within the next few days, but didn’t hear an exact date. But I did see Delquan and Mustafa walk off of the farm with a white girl, and return bragging that they now would have a spy inside the town feeding them information…I think I heard them call her Mary or something like that.”
Elaine turned bright red, and I choked on a glass of water I was drinking. This confirmed my suspicions, Mary was not what she appeared to be. We needed to act fast and get Mary into custody right away! Elaine ran out of the room yelling, “Grinker!”
I decided to continue the interrogation in the absence of Elaine. “Zeke, my name is Ben, and I have a few questions for you if you’re willing to answer them, it that ok?”
“Sure sir, my brother told me that you covered our escape, thanks a lot!”
“Did you see any weapons in the compound?”
“Yeah, I sure did! When I got captured, they stuck me in the shed and I saw several crates of Army guns, like the soldiers have on the news, and a good supply of ammo. I didn’t see anything else, but it appeared that all of the leaders carried a pistol or revolver. I also saw some of the people leading the rest of the group in target practice. I don’t think that many of them knew one end of a rifle from the other though.” Zeke smirked at his last comment and then let out a yawn.
Knowing that we were unlikely to get any more out of the exhausted boy, we let him, and his father return home. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 1 am, yet we still had lots of work to do, and many things to discuss.
As we were finishing with Zeke, Grink returned to the room with Elaine in tow. Elaine appeared ashen and on the verge of tears. She sat heavily in her chair and stared vacantly at the ceiling
Grink frowned, “Ben, I’ve got some bad news. Mrs. Waller is dead, Mary killed her!”
“What?”
“I don’t have the whole story, but Green was there, I’ll let him tell it.”
Grinker waved a tall and thin man in and introduced him as Green.
I said, “What can you tell me Green?”
Green sat in a vacant chair, “Well, there is not much to tell. We were responding to a complaint of Mrs. Waller’s dog barking. As we approached the house, I saw that lady that was staying with Mrs. Waller flee out the front d
oor. She had some blood on her and tried to get back in the house when she saw us. We followed her into the house and grabbed her. We found Edna in her bedroom dead. It looks like Mary cut Edna’s throat with a carving knife. We took Mary prisoner and were bringing her here when we met Grink on the road.”
Elaine sprung from her chair, despair turning to white-hot rage, “Where is that treacherous snake, as of now, she is a fucking dead woman!”
I grabbed hold of Elaine and whispered to her, “Now is not the time, let’s get the facts and then we will decide what to do with her. Besides, she has valuable information that we need.” I hugged Elaine to keep control of her and felt her relax in my arms, her rage spent for the moment.
Grink whispered into Green’s ear, and he left the room.
“We got her in a cell downstairs stripped naked. Hopefully, in the morning she will be willing to talk.”
“Grink, leave that to me, I have some interesting methods I would more than happily try on her.”
After that shocking revelation, we all agreed that we would all get about 6 hours of rest before we interrogated the spy so we would be fresh and alert. Simone and Mitch drifted off to their assigned quarters. Robert did the same and walked down the hall, disappearing into the late evening.
I decide just to crash in a cot they had in the basement of the Police station. I went into Elaine’s office and found her sitting in a pool of light cast by her small lamp, with her bottle of Makers Mark resting next to a half full glass.
“Elaine, I’m going to crash in the basement after taking a shower….I’ll see you in the morning. That is unless you want me to stay with you a bit”
She grunted and shook her head in my direction, and I left her in her office to deal with the pain of losing a good friend.
The building had an old style gas fired hot water system that was unaffected by the EMP, so there was plenty of hot water for showers. I stood under the ancient showerhead and soaked in the steam and felt the tension leave my frame. As I began to soap my chest and shoulders, I felt a presence behind me. Elaine stood before me, naked with a hopeful look on her face.
“Is there any room for me in there Ben?”
I stood aside as she took her place under the cascading water. She wet herself under the hot stream, and I found myself soaping her back and hips with the sponge I had in my hand. She had a fantastic body, soft in the right places, but also very taught and strong in others. I continued to soap her body, working my way to her chest and gently soaped her pert breasts.
I felt her hands begin to stroke my manhood causing me to take a deep breath. It had been a very long time since I had been with a woman, and it appeared that she decided that she was going to have me. My hands parted her legs and stroked her velvety folds, which earned me a sharp intake of breath; she bit her lower lip and looked deep into my eyes.
I was now fully aroused. I quickly washed the rest of the soap from us and carried her to one of the waiting cots. She directed me to lay on my back, and she straddled me and guided me into her. She rode me and met my thrusts as we writhed on the cot in that holy motion. Moments passed, and I found myself unable to hold on against her lusty assault. “Elaine I’m about to blow!”
She rode me harder until I could hold no longer and felt myself let go into her. She nuzzled me neck, and I felt her contract around me as she yelped and moaned, eventually collapsing on to me and kissing me on the lips.
I was totally spent. I lay on the cot with this wonderful piece of woman on top of me and drifted into the place between sleep and wakefulness. I felt her get off and poke me in the side playfully, “Back in the shower Ben; I want a clean man in my bed tonight.” I took a quick shower, washing off the evidence of our lusty enterprise and dressed. Elaine and I walked out of the basement door of the Police station to her home a few blocks away. She let me into a beautiful one-story ranch, and we walked back to the bedroom, where we undressed and fell into bed. Just before sleep took us, I asked dreamily, “Why did you do that Elaine?”
“I needed to celebrate life. She then kissed me on the lips, and rolled over, her back against mine and began gently to snore. Just before sleep took me I thought to myself, “Ah, to celebrate life indeed.”
Morning arrived, and I found myself lying in the bed alone. I smelled coffee brewing, so I got out of bed and made my way down the hall to the kitchen. I found Elaine in a short satin robe with a dragon and phoenix pattern you would find on a tight fitting Chinese dress bustling about the kitchen. She looked up and smiled as I approached, crossed the kitchen and gave me a peck on the lips.
“Sit, it’s almost ready.” She returned to puttering around the kitchen, opened the gas oven and produced a dish containing a hash brown casserole just enough for two.
“Tah Daaah, the apex of my cooking ability!”
She placed it on the table, poured me a coffee and kissed me on the cheek. She then took her place across from me and served breakfast. I dug in and found a bite size piece of ham and cheddar interspersed with the shredded potato; it was heavenly! I took a sip of coffee and looked across the table at Elaine, gone was the tough cop replaced by a sexy version Suzy Homemaker. It was a bit disconcerting, but I found myself enjoying the moment nonetheless.
I felt her eyes on me, “Thank you for the wonderful evening and the breakfast, but what did I do to earn such a reward?”
She looked over the rim of her coffee cup, “From the moment I saw you, I knew I had to have you. I know it sounds corny and maybe a bit strange, but I felt a strong attraction to you the moment you walked into my office. Once I found out about Edna, it came to me that I better celebrate life and take enjoyment while I can, so …… well you know the rest don’t you?”
I was floored; I have never experienced having a woman say these things to me. I had plenty of female friends, but I unluckily never made the transition from friend to boyfriend. It bugged me a bit as a young man, but as I got older, it bothered me less and less. A few years ago, I resigned myself to being a bachelor. Now, out of the blue, I have a fantastic woman telling me that I’m prince charming…unbelievable. I thought carefully about what I was going to say next. I certainly did not want to upset Elaine, she seemed a good sort, and the hazy beginnings of a future began to appear, at least in the fantasy portion of my mind.
She took my dish from me and continued, “It’s lonely out here amongst the cows and farmers, the only reason I stayed is because of my mother. She was an institution in the town, when she passed, I found I had nowhere else to go. So I decided to build a life here. I used my skills to get a job on the Police department and eventually became the Chief. There were some men, but my time with them was very brief. I never found anyone I was truly drawn to. You, Ben, are exactly what I’ve been looking for in a man. You’re courteous, strong, brave, and willing to lay down your life for people you have no connection to. That’s a quality man in my book!”
I was flattered, but in this new world I wondered how it could ever work; we could both be dead in a couple of days. I thought that this distraction, however wonderful it was, simply could not take up space at the moment. Giving form to my thoughts caused me physical pain; no way was I going to give this connection up willingly….despite what logic dictated!
Once again I considered my words carefully to both table the matter and also leave the possibility open, “What can I say, you are quite lovely, and I felt a tug when I first saw you, especially in that uniform skirt and heels. I want to see where this takes us too, but we have Delquan to deal with first. Let’s put this on the back burner for now, agreed? I sighed heavily, “Dammit, why couldn’t I have met you a few years ago.”
She moved across the floor and sat on my lap, nestling in the crook of my neck and sighed, “I’ll behave for now, but once this no-good son of a bitch Delquan is dispatched, we are going to talk, now get dressed, we got ourselves a murderous spy to talk to.”
Chapter 12
We walked back to the Police station, careful no
t to reveal what happened between us to the others and met Grinker, Simone, Mitch and Robert back in the chief’s office. The overnight guard, a man named Cook gave us a report on Mary’s behavior over the evening.
Cook mopped his forehead with a blue bandana and stood in front of Elaine’s desk, “Ma’am, that crazy piece of humanity raved all night about How her man Delquan was going to crack this town open like a lobster and kill every one of us for defying him. Between her threats of violence, she wept and screamed at the top of her lungs. She fell asleep around five this morning, until we woke her up for the morning meal.”
I looked over at Cook, “Did you give her bread and water?”
Cook looked slightly bemused, “No, but she certainly didn’t like the bacon and eggs. She said she was a vegan and that it was a plateful of murder or some such shit.”
I couldn’t help but snicker, “I suppose that a roast beef sandwich is out for lunch then?
Cook smiled for the first time, “Yeah Ben, I suppose it is.”
I stood up from my chair, “Cook, go with Grniker and put her in the interrogation room….I’ll be down in a few moments.”
Grinker and Cook left to prepare Mary for interrogation. I turned my attentions to other duties. I wanted Mary to sweat a bit in the box and let her imagination run a bit wild as to what we were going to do with her.
I moved towards Mitch, who had spread a large map of the town on the side table.
Mitch, what is the status of the defenses? Have you come up with any ways of defending us from Delquan?”
There was a mischievous glint in Mitch’s eyes, “Oh, I have a few ideas.” Come by when you’re duties allow. Come on Robert, I could use a hand.”
Robert, Mitch and a few others from the defensive committee excused themselves to attend to their duties. Simone, Elaine and I remained in the office, and we began to discuss how we were going to interrogate Mary to extract the best information from her in the quickest possible way.
Lights out in America's Dairyland: An EMP Adventure Page 10