LAND of the FREE

by Michael W. Huard

  They all laughed at one another and felt a little foolish, but at least they were now covered. It was time to track down the thieves.

  Tracking the thieves wasn't all that tough. Envy had done plenty of tracking in her time and the rest of them followed suit, searching along a trail which led them to another cabin about fifteen minutes down an overgrown dirt road. The family had done little to protect themselves from being followed. They had no idea who they were dealing with.

  Sneaking up to one of the wooden cabin windows, Mahira peeked inside and saw a ragged middle-aged man, with an overgrown beard and dirty overalls, two teenage boys, a woman, who was perhaps ragged-man's wife, and a younger girl who looked around ten years old.

  Raegan had the sisters circle the camp to make sure all exits were blocked. As soon as everyone confirmed the camp was secure, Chaya walked up on the porch and knocked on the front door. "Hey!" She banged on the door again, "We know you are in there, and we know you've taken our stuff!" Hearing no response from inside the cabin, Chaya tried a different approach. "We are not here to hurt you, we just need you to give us our stuff back and we will let you guys be." Chaya looked at Envy and shrugged her shoulders, now wondering if the occupants even understood what she was saying.

  Jansa, who was peering through a side window as Chaya banged on the front door, saw the father of the family immediately pick up his weapon, some sort of old-school shotgun. The boys were also picking up weapons of their own, two smaller handguns. This was no joke, and Jansa motioned to the others to watch out, mimicking that the family inside were preparing their firearms. The Q-Jin women now placed their backs against the wall of the cabin, awaiting the outcome.

  The burly and now angry father yelled out, "You’re trespassing on private property! Get the hell out of here, or we'll shoot you all down!"

  Raegan countered his demand. "You just stole our stuff from the cabin down the road and we’re here to get it back. Don't make us harm you. We'd prefer no trouble."

  Again the father yelled out, "Trouble is what you are getting if you don't get off my damn property. We have loaded weapons in here and we will fire if you try to enter. Get the fuck off our land!"

  Sinaye, watching from a window on the other side, motioned that the boys were making their way to the back exit. As if on cue, the two boys stepped out of the back door and quietly closed it behind them. Tiptoeing down the stairs, they hoped to circle to the front of the cabin to frighten the women away or shoot them if needs be. Their plan was thwarted by Mahira who clothes lined the pair of them, knocking the teens to the ground. She pounced on one of the boys and grabbed the other by the scruff of his neck. One of the boys, who was still awake from the blow, screamed in pain and yelled for help. His father burst through the back door, shotgun in hand. He would fire at anyone who dared to harm his boys.

  Mahira maneuvered the kids in front of her body and directly into his line of sight. The tough old guy now had a dilemma. Envy, who had moved to behind a nearby tree, called out to the man. "I'm right over here," she motioned to the man for a second, and then darted back behind the tree. As soon as the man focused his attention in Envy's direction, Jansa appeared from the right side of the cabin and snapped his wrists together to dislodge the shotgun, which then clattered out of his hands and on to the grass. The man was ready for a struggle and grabbed the doctor in a serious headlock.

  She dropped low and using a favorite jiu-jitsu technique of hers, she spun between his legs and tossed him over her shoulder using all her might. Both of them hit the ground in a roll and continued to grapple. He tried to overpower the Mystical Slayer by diving at her and reaching for her throat. It seemed the man now had the advantage, as he was now on top of her and grasping at her neck. He was caught off guard when Jansa swung her legs up his back and wrapped them around the front of his neck, pulling him right over. She gripped his arm and cranked his elbow using her pelvis as leverage, causing the man to cry out in great pain.

  "Ahhhh," he yelled out.

  "You best hold still and stop with the screaming, or I will snap your arm in two," Jansa told him. He ignored her and powered his way out of her hold and back up to his knees. Jansa, the oldest of the Slayers, was highly trained in jiu-jitsu. She weaved his arm in between her legs and whipped the other arm over his neck, this time executing a triangle choke, smashing his carotid arteries together with both her legs. But the stubborn man was incredibly strong. He heaved to lift Jansa right up off the ground, preparing to slam her small frame into the turf below. Her back would easily break from such a smash.

  Suddenly, the mother appeared out of the house, yelling and wildly brandishing some sort of kitchen knife. All the women now gathered at the rear of the cabin.

  Raegan was about to give another stern warning for the family to stop resisting. But she decided that Jansa needed her help. Jansa knew better than to allow an opponent to lift her body fully off the ground, and as soon as her small frame was being slightly risen up, she released her hold on the man and spun underneath the redneck, sweeping his feet out from under him. Raegan dashed over and grabbed him in a rear choke. She spoke loud and clear this time. "We are not here to harm any of you, we just want our packs and clothing back. All of you can then carry on living here and doing what you do. Just stop fighting, or we will hurt you." The resistance finally ended, and the mother dropped her knife.

  The mother spoke softly to the women in her back yard, while her husband was still in a choke by Jansa, and her boys were still pinned to the ground by Mahira.

  "We are sorry, please, let them go. We only gather anything useful worth keeping. We didn't realize you girls were so tough." The old tent wearing Mystical Slayers all looked like old time warriors from some dinosaur world. The sisters shook their heads in unison. Envy announced, "Well, you guessed wrong, we are some serious ass kicking chicks. Now you know!"

  Sinaye insisted, "You can’t just take other people’s things," still looking teed off.

  Mahira looked over and added, "Don’t mess with us again, or next time we will not be so nice."

  The women went inside to gather up all their stuff. They learned that this family had been here many years, hiding and in isolation, living off the land and doing all they could to survive while keeping a low profile. It certainly appeared that the isolation had perhaps warped their minds a tad, but the sisters had calmed them down and eventually, a somewhat decent conversation could be had. The overall-wearing dad was still taken back by how these small women were so tough. He glanced at all of them, perhaps still considering some sort of defiant act. He chose to hold off, and yes, he made the right decision. The women explained that they were not your average lot of gals. Maybe the woodland family could not comprehend all that they were. Still, they talked of how the land was altered more these days and it was, as they had assumed, very dangerous to live anywhere in the modern era. Raegan made sure all the family's firearms were conveniently taken back to their camp until they left later in the week. The family would not bother them again.

  Well, the girls still had plenty of time to enjoy their vacation out on the secluded Maine Lake. The weather was gorgeous and the water felt great every time they took a dip. They spent a lot of time relaxing, a lot of time playing games, and just enjoying the sights and the sounds of such a peaceful, serene setting. Chaya even did a little hunting and excitedly returned with a nicely sized deer late one morning.

  Each of the ladies were addicted to physical fitness, so it was not too long before they had their own little routines going. It was a never ending process of trying to keep in shape and stay on top of their skill-sets.

  Jansa was over by the water playing around with her Muay Thai skills, throwing knees and elbows and roundhouse kicks. While on the spot of sandy beach at the cove's end, Zaey was messing around with her friend, Chaya, flipping each other over and doing various judo throws and takedowns. Raegan and Sinaye found time to gather some long sticks from the woods and do a little s
tick and staff fighting as the sun offered its warm rays. Envy moved about on the wooden dock doing some Tai Chi. Each remaining morning all the girls would gather out by the water and do some yoga too.

  Mahira got stung by a hornet which had pissed her off, so she didn't do too much for the first few days. Yet she was also first, once she felt better, to suggest that it would be a good time to have a little group workout on their last day before the week ended.

  So she organized a full team workout. The group session was all about martial arts skills. Raegan and Mahira firstly got everybody working on some punching. They did jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts, then kicks to the legs, kicks to the stomach, and lastly, spinning kicks to the head, which she called a crocodile tail thrash.

  Then, after a brief break, they trained on elbows to the temple and jaw, and knees to the groin and the liver. It was easy to work up a good sweat while the women shadow boxed and did partner drills on these techniques. A brief swim followed before the next session started up.

  Sinaye passed out long, solid branch sticks, and each woman trained with staff maneuvers to get some practice in. The girls worked on how to strike out at legs, jawbones, ribs, and also how to drive a staff forward in a thrusting motion to keep someone at a distance, or maybe just to smash them in the nose. They certainly got a good workout.

  They stopped to enjoy a few snacks, and later in the afternoon the training picked back up again.

  Jiu-jitsu applications were on the agenda, and the ladies trained on the leverage aspects of grappling. It was not uncommon for the ladies to find themselves on the bottom when wrestling a bigger guy or a strong robot.

  It was so crucial for them while in a fight to keep their legs in front of an adversary, so the opponent couldn't get around to their side or directly on top of them to use their weight against the women's smaller frames. These were the type of drills that fully-fledged Slayers did quite often.

  So they began to train heavily on the grass with what Raegan and Mahira called "guard recovery". What it required was constant movements to create muscle memory, using all kinds of ways to keep the legs in constant motion, and defend against someone while trying to fully pin them down.

  The girls would place their feet on an opponent's arms, and while on their knees they would hook the opponent around their legs, either pressing them against their chest or swinging them in opposite directions if an opponent started to move to the left or right. All these maneuvers were designed to stop someone from getting around and on top of the Slayer. Each girl partnered up with a friend and they worked on these applications for quite a while.

  For the Slayers to be on their back in a fight would never be a planned situation. Without the knowledge to defend themselves in these circumstances, this position would be very dangerous and potentially life threatening.

  There were both offense and strategy to be found in these situations too. The ladies practiced kicking upward with the sole of the foot, which would often result in a good shot to somebody's face, thus allowing time for the Slayer to scoot back up to fight some more, or give her time to escape.

  There were also several submissions from being on their backs that each woman had learned throughout their lives. The use of the entire body to create a leverage up off the back allowed for arm bars, triangles, and various other moves the girls studied and trained for during the rest of the session. Mahira was excited to show the so-called move of the day before the workout was over. She took to her grassy center stage and explained. "Massaki Mi Sensei was known for a series of moves he called "spider web". The idea was to place your attacker in a hold where they could not escape easily, and once there, have a series of ways to hurt them. After all, hurting people is fun," she said with a grin. "He wrote on his spider web essay papers, saying that he himself had learned of such from some other planet or something of that nature. No one really knows what he means by that statement."

  The gladiator then showed the spider web application. She used Envy as her partner. The fun red-head chuckled at being chosen while entering Mahira's legs into her guard. Throwing her leg over Envy's arm and around her neck, Mahira knocked the sisterhood spy over onto her back. "You all are very skilled at this posture, yet watch the difference. I do not use both arms to pull her wrist; I grab her near leg instead, so as to hinder her escape. Now watch my feet. I cross them in such a manner to stop her from being able to move my legs and sit herself up. Here I have several options."

  All of the girls watched on and found these teachings very cool. From there, an arm bar was taught, a triangle, a bicep slicer, and even a cool sweep. These moves were new to most of the ladies and together they trained with a keen spirit on each maneuver. Today was a great workout, and by the time night rolled in they were all quite tired.

  That night, Jansa got a pretty good fire pit going with various wood scraps. A section of old cement blocks they had found down by the lake acted as a perfect spot for the ladies to enjoy an evening of sitting together by the fire.

  Chaya's previous hunting had resulted in some delicious Maine deer meat, as well as some fish, all of which the girls cooked on the fire pit. It was a beautiful night under the stars for the Mystical Slayers.

  Unknown to any of the other girls, Sinaye had discovered a secret catch within the cabin's lower level basement. This discovery had resulted in a very large bottle of Honey Jack Daniels whiskey. She walked over to the fire with her find, which certainly got all the girls upmost attention. "I just so happened to find us all a little treat the other day, girls. I’ve been saving it for a moment like this." Excitement spread through the camp and it did not take long to finish off the whiskey. It was a great last night together, one which they would ever forget.

  Raegan calmly said, "Tough times don’t last, my sisters, but tough people do. We’re those people! This was awesome. Thank you, guys, for joining me. We needed this." All the girls were in agreement.

  It felt so good to be a team, a group of women who believed in one another; and all which still held out hope for a better world. Tonight they were as one!

  Chapter 17

  In the days to follow, Chaya felt an obligation to do some sort of speech about health after such a dire virus had hit the area. People needed hope, they needed to feel like they could survive again. A summit was held for survivors of the Green Bug virus and in honor of lost loved ones. A bullet train to New Detroit was in order. Michigan was once a leader in bullet train manufacturing and the round trip rail still existed today. Yet, it was only for those brave enough to take the ride. This state, bordered with Canada above, still housed many so-called citizens who were not run by Y-Wood, but like any of the other undivided United States, the region was heavily held by the Corporation in most regards.

  With news of Zaey's chance to actually go to Y-Wood's home, and with Sinaye having also been invited, oddly enough, the Q-Jin had decided not to strike just yet. The urgency was still there and the threat of underground Boston still being hit was also very serious, but the opportunity of freely having inside knowledge of the stadium would come before any such last ditch attack on Y-Wood. However, the attack was still very much in the planning stages.

  Chaya would need help on any such trip. Raegan suggested that it was not to be done at all. It was too dangerous. But Chaya lived to teach, to inspire, and would not take no for an answer.

  It has already been a while sitting tight with the virus out there. The thought of more waiting just did not sit well with Chaya. The bullet train was Y-Wood watched, thus provided the risk of danger and possible capture. Known as "zip trains" the ride would be only about eight hours, so it could be done, but caution was needed. Chaya asked Tyne Gem to accompany her. She wanted Mahira too, but too many women together would draw suspicion, even if they traveled incognito. Flying to New Detroit was now prohibited under Corporation law. Chaya knew the entire Old Michigan, New Detroit region would soon be under Y-Wood's grasp. Another reason she had to do this confe
rence, as she believed it could still make a difference. Tyne Gem, always the survivor, often having to have new parts to make her run again, was able and willing to join her. She made sure to have her nice looking blond wig with her. She always preferred that one when undercover.

  Together, the two Mystical Slayers approached the zip train out of Boston. Tyne, using her cyborg internal intelligence, altered both of their embedded microchips to allow passage on board without any issues. Chaya had dressed plainly with a hoodie and dark, low riding woven pants, while Tyne preferred the shiny black leather; her trademark attire. Neither wanted undue attention. Tyne looked fully human. No one could tell she was part machine, a machine that had luckily survived the series of attacks in New York. The two of them made safe travel, and soon enough Chaya was doing what she did best at a conference podium stand.

  "Good afternoon, everyone. Let me start by saying how important it is that we have all gathered here today. Knowledge is power. We share today, all day, and empower each other. We can still make a difference to people all over the country." She then, suddenly, walked out into the crowd. "It’s been a rough time as of late, and I am coming to give out hugs," she announced. "Our mother always said nothing heals better than a hug." The brown-haired beauty with a wonderful spirit walked through the crowd, hugging those who reached out to her before returning to the podium.

  "Water is the single most important nutrient for our bodies. Your body is about sixty percent water. Water is a miracle cure. Whenever myself or my good friend, Jansa, who is a top-notch doctor in the medical and alternative medicine field, not to mention a cancer curing new-age witch, talk about health, we always recommend drinking water first as a cure for any ailment."