I do as I am told and stand there waiting for him to tell me what to do next but he manually adjusts the butt of the rifle up further, digging it into my shoulder. Circling me like a hawk, he scrutinizes my stance with his eyes and then kicks at my feet so that I have them slightly spread apart and more weight is on my back leg.
“Now bring your hand up to the grip and trigger but do not touch the trigger,” he barks. “Then hunch your shoulders up, tilt your head and look through the scope.”
As I do, everything appears to get closer in that eye, but in my other eye everything stays the same. I tilt my head back up and my vision returns to normal, the scope allowing me to see things closer than they really are and I liken it to Ami’s binoculars.
“Aim the crosshair of the scope at the target and do your best to keep steady,” he commands.
Trying to do as he says, I train the scope on the target and it is harder than it sounds because every time I breathe my chest rises and my arms move. Holding it in one place, my arms become fatigued and I allow my arms to relax and point it down.
“It is difficult.”
“That’s because you need to build up the right muscles in your arms from training and learn to regulate your breathing,” he scoffs. “Try breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.”
Bringing the rifle back up and looking through the scope I breathe as instructed and notice a small improvement in steadiness. He keeps me waiting for his next direction, standing in the sun as if to torture me, but my protective clothing helps me stay cool. In position for several minutes, my arms go a little numb and I struggle to keep the barrel and scope pointed at the target, the breathing trick no longer working to keep me steady.
“I cannot hold my arms up much longer,” I tell Kohan.
“Well then I guess you won’t last long in battle,” he retorts.
“What about using the rifle?”
“Not until I say that you’re ready!” he barks rather loudly.
My arms just cannot take it any longer and I have to drop the rifle to my side once more. They ache from the stress of being in the same position for an extended period of time, holding the rifle. Kohan looks at me displeased.
“Lift those arms back up!” he yells.
“I held them up for as long as I could!” I snap back.
“How did such a weakling beat me?!”
“I am faster and smarter than you. That’s how.” I turn to him, contemplating pointing the rifle at him despite not knowing exactly how it works.
“Why you!” Kohan lunges at me.
I swing the rifle around and hammer him in the stomach with the butt, however he is unfazed. He grabs my right arm and twists it around my back, causing my muscles and joints to blare with pain.
“Not so smart-mouthed now that you’re caught huh?” Kohan’s tone is smug.
My arm shoots with pain and feels like it is about to be torn off. I find myself in debate on whether I should attempt to get out of it or just give in. While I am contemplating it he takes advantage of the situation and hits me in the back of the legs at my knees, forcing me to the ground.
“You come here and disrupt our way of life. You’ve only been here a few days and have effectively upset the entire camp. And my chances with Lady Eve are gone because of you!”
“I don’t want her. Let me and Ami escape and you can have Lady Eve,” I grunt.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. You have to die in battle and I have to come out alive in order for me to gain favor with her again. That’s how she works.”
“Maybe you and I can work together to make her think that I died and then you can help me sneak Ami out of the camp so that she and I can be on our way,” I struggle against his grip.
But Kohan is quiet and while I cannot see him I know he is contemplating my proposal. His grip loosens and my arm comes free, allowing me to bring it back around to the front of my body. Back on my feet I turn around and Kohan’s suspicious stare judges my words and my face.
“How do you plan on coordinating such a thing?”
“Can you protect against bullets? With metal perhaps?” I question.
“We do have some shielding that can be used. We’re not sure where it came from, but we’re pretty sure it pre-dates the cataclysm from the sky in the past.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I am confused by the combination of words he has strung together.
“It’s the reason this area of the world is desert. But that’s beside the point. This material is bullet resistant and is a lot lighter than metal.” He scratches his red beard and looks off to the sky.
“So I would put this material on, get shot and you could report to Lady Eve that I died.”
“It might work.” He is deep in thought about this plan. “It would require your garment to convince her.”
“I do not know how I will make it to my destination without it, but if that is my only choice then so be it.” I nod.
“If Lady Eve finds out about any of this she will kill the three of us. Are you sure you want to put your friend in danger?” His eyes return to me and a scowl crosses his face.
“We have no choice.” I shrug.
“We will be moving soon, meaning our chance of coming across a caravan to raid will increase. When we do you will be with me and that’s where you pretend to die. You will have to return to camp and stay outside visual range but that night I will patrol and bring her out and release her with supplies that will get you far enough away from the camp.”
“I like this idea because we both get what we want.” I smile.
“For now, just continue as if this agreement doesn’t exist. Make it look like we are close to snapping each other’s necks.”
“What are you talking about? I was this close to snapping your neck just now,” I joke with him, while using my fingers to indicate a small amount.
“Don’t do things like that.” For the first time Kohan cracks a smile, but his face turns sour again. “Joking around will be suspicious. Back to training. Lift that rifle up.”
Under the new mutual understanding, I find myself not feeling so antagonistic toward him, following his instructions.
“Now that you have the basics, put your finger on the trigger and just barely pull it back while aiming at the target.”
Breathing in I hold my breath and pull the lever, hearing an audible click within the rifle, but nothing happens. I raise my head and drop my shoulders while looking to Kohan.
“Nothing happened,” stating the obvious.
“Right. There was no bullet loaded.” Kohan hands me a single bullet. “Now take this, open the breech and push it up until you feel it snap into place.”
Taking the cylindrical object that comes to a rounded point, I insert it as into the chamber and the bullet falls into place like a puzzle piece.
“Now close the chamber and do what you did before.”
Taking my stance and bringing the gun up to my shoulder once more I hunch and look through the scope. My free hand slides onto the grip and finds the trigger. Barely pulling on it releases a deafening boom right next to my ear and the rifle is forcefully shoved into my shoulder. Trying to keep my balance, I fail and fall backwards, landing on my tailbone. Even though it is sand that I land on it still stings.
“What was that?!” I yell, trying to stand back up. My ears are ringing and Kohan smirks once more before going back to his sullen look.
“Let’s see how you did,” he stretches out his arm and helps me back up.
We examine the target and there is a large gaping hole directly in the chest area. As I marvel and fear the power I hold within my hands he speaks to me.
“Not bad, but you will need more practice.” He points to return to the original spot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After hours of practice we return to camp and as he directs me to the outdoor bathroom at my request, we part ways. The bathroom they have s
et up is away from the camp and a community bathroom. It is quite disgusting: there is a grouping of four walled enclosures near each other and once inside one of them I see that the toilet is a hole in the ground. I shudder.
Finished, I have nowhere to wash my hands and wipe them fervently against my outfit as I head to the food tent. Upon entering silence falls over the area and all eyes are on me.
Wondering what I have done to garner such interest, I nervously take my food and water rations and sit down. When I do, I notice a shifting amongst the table I have sat at and everyone moves away from me. I glare at them for fun while I eat. My solitude is broken when Ami enters the tent, grabs her rations and sits next to me. She puts her hand on my leg and we exchange smiles while eating our gruel.
“How’ve you been dear?” she asks sweetly.
“Just fine sweetie,” I grin endearingly. “Kohan decided that I needed training on how to shoot a rifle.”
“What?!” Her voice jumps in pitch and tone. “No, no, no, you can’t be using those things.”
“Why?” I ask.
“They are deadly!” She smacks my leg.
“I don’t have a choice. Lady Eve and Kohan said that I was going into battle to help them capture something.” I shrug.
“This is outrageous! I’m going to speak with Lady Eve right now,” Ami starts to get up. I grab her arm and pull her into my lap.
“It will be okay. I promise.” I wink at her to try and give her a hint that there is more to it than I’m letting on.
Without realizing it, I have put both of us in an awkward situation as my arm is wrapped around her and she sits on my lap. She, however, does not miss a beat and throws her arms around my neck and leans forward. Our foreheads touch and we gaze into each other’s eyes and even in the dim light of the candles and lanterns of the tent I can see her beautiful light blue eyes clearly. After a minute she slides back to her seat and eats her food silently. Looking bashfully at one another while we eat we play up to the idea of being together.
After we are finished we head toward our tent and while walking we see Lady Eve. Ami latches onto my arm and pulls me in close while giving her a dirty look. Though I do not know if she is just acting her part out or if she is truly being jealous, I follow her lead and wrap my arm around her. Lady Eve catches sight of us and she scowls from afar, but not a word is exchanged.
When we reach our tent, I pull the flap open for Ami and let her in first. Hoisting the flap up over the side of the tent so that light from a nearby fire seeps in, I follow behind her. She looks at me puzzled and I smirk.
I lean in close to her ear and whisper, “We now have a plan to get out of here.”
“How?” she whispers back.
“I have made a truce with Kohan and he is going to get us out of here. It will take some explaining though.”
I tell her of my discussions with Kohan; why he has it in for me and what we’re going to do to fix the whole situation. She nods her head while I go over the details of the whole plan and then is silent for a few moments after I have finished.
“So you’re going to be protected the whole time?” She sounds genuinely concerned.
“If we execute this perfectly, we will escape and head the opposite direction that they are and we can get back to the house.”
“You didn’t tell him where we were going right?”
“Of course not.” I am a little offended at the thought that I might be daft enough to divulge that information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days have passed and they have begun blending together as the camp prepares set out toward the mountains. Everyone works to load things onto armored wagons that we finished assembling yesterday. In a moment alone, Kohan informed me that it will take a couple days with a caravan this large to get there, increasing our chance for the plan to work.
The armored wagons are tall enough to fit people under. Attached on the underside between the axels that hold the large metal plated wheels are large bars to grab onto and push against. With no animals to do the hauling for the camp the servants are required to do it instead. Though it looks like it might be intensive, it would be a nice reprieve from the desert sun. Attached to the wooden base, a metal framework arches to create a canopy when cloth is draped across and there is metal skirting around the area for the people pushing, I assume for protection.
Directing my feet toward where Kohan and the recon team are working, I begin loading unused scavenged materials onto one of the armored wagons. While passing chunks of wood along a chain of people to be loaded up a nearby ladder and onto the platform of a wagon, I look around and notice that the camp has become desert once more, save for the food tent and Lady Eve’s abode.
With everyone in camp working together as a large team, the work is accomplished with great speed and when the wood is loaded, the other materials not in use follow suit.
Once the materials are loaded and I have a brief break, I find Ami up on the second armored wagon hand-sewing together the canopy with other women. I sit down on a wooden box next to her while she works just to be in her presence. The other women glance in my direction, but do not stare long as it would seem they have gotten used to my making visits while she is working.
“It looks like we are going to be heading out soon. Tonight, possibly tomorrow,” I tell her. “It’s going to be difficult.”
“I know, but everything will be all right.” Her demeanor is cheery.
“Yeah. I will protect you from everything, even falls.” I allude to the possibility that we will be forcefully pulled back to the house if our escape plan fails.
“How will you do that?” She continues to concentrate on her large needle and thread, but I can see a smile on her face.
“I’ll find a way.” I smile back, despite her attention being elsewhere.
With my feet rested, I stand up and massage her shoulders for a moment before leaving. The muscles around her shoulders and neck are tight, so I do what little I can to work a few knots out. She relaxes some and I take my leave, heading down the ladder only to have Lady Eve intercept me.
“Rain, the only man I’m interested in seeing. Why don’t you bed with me tonight in my tent?” She says it loud enough for Ami to hear and winks.
“I will continue to stay with Ami,” I respond in a normal tone.
“But she’s no fun. I can show you the time of your life,” she says in a sultry manner.
“Lady Eve, you know that Ami is my partner. I will not betray her.”
“Being in charge here has its advantages. I can make people disappear if I want. She could be exiled without you, or perhaps even killed,” Lady Eve says in a disturbingly excited manner.
“You would be unwise to do such a thing as it would only anger me,” I cross my arms and scowl. “I promise if you hurt her I will unleash unbridled wrath.”
“Ooh! Are you threatening me?” She giggles. “You know I like my men strong and I definitely like it when they try to be dominant too.”
“Laugh if you like. It does not bother me. Just keep what I said in mind.”
“Don’t worry, I will honey.” She slowly grabs for my crossed arms but I back away and turn around. “Aww, now don’t be like that.”
Leaving in silence, I move under the wagon where most of the people have begun to congregate and mingle amongst them in the shade, protected from a significant amount of the natural element. Though tents have been taken down, many people have retained their cloth bedding and have begun to rest up for the journey. Looking for an open spot I find that between the two armored wagons there is minimal space for me, let alone for when Ami and I will need to sleep. Kohan finds me as I wander.
“Servant. Get some food and get some sleep. You’re on point with Bezzel and myself tonight as the caravan moves.”
“Who is Bezzel?”
“The superstitious guy you scared into thinking you’re bad luck.”
“You sure he’s going to work with
me?” I chuckle.
“Just keep your mouth shut and things will be fine,” Kohan snaps at me.
“Fine, fine!” I proclaim loudly and throw my hands up in the air.
I storm out of Kohan’s presence in an attempt to get people’s attention and make my way over to the food tent. A few dozen others are already in line and I have to wait to receive my gruel and water but as I take my bowl I find there is a double portion of meat in it.
“What’s this for?” I ask the woman cook behind the counter while pointing to the meat.
“By orders of Lady Eve, you are to receive a double portion of meat from now on,” she responds.
“Take it back. There are others here that need it more than I do,” I shake my head.
“If I don’t give it to you, Lady Eve will have my head mounted on a pike.”
“Whatever,” I sneer and then in a boisterous voice I yell out. “Which one of you servants wants this extra meat?”
Surprisingly, it takes a moment for someone to speak up. A very skinny man with an unhealthy slouch stands up. He appears to be older as his face is wrinkled and his hair is graying. His tattered clothing barely fits his body, threatening to slip off him, were it not held on by rope. I move toward him at the back of the tent, my bowl of gruel and two pieces of meat in my hand and, as I get close I take one of the pieces of meat off, and stretch my hand out to him.
“Eat that food and you won’t be eating again for a week servant,” Lady Eve’s voice snaps from the opening of the tent, directed at the older man.
Lady Eve’s cruelty angers me and I slam my bowl of food down on the table near the old man, slap the meat into his hand and spin around with the water cup still in hand.
“I will do with my portion of food what I like!” I yell across the tent.
“Make no mistake Rain. I may like you but I still make the rules around here. You will eat that extra piece of meat, or Ami won’t get anything.” I can see her anger flaring up and I have struck a chord.
“You think you can manipulate me? You’re wrong.” I storm over to her and stop two to three inches from her then whisper. “It would be easier for me to manipulate you than it would for you to manipulate me.”
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