by L M Lacee
Naya sat on a large cushion and made herself comfortable as she said. ‘One could ask you the same question?’
‘True, although I asked first, but in saying that, I am on my way to a meeting.’
‘By yourself?’ Naya asked in a skeptical tone.
‘Yes, I do most things alone.’
‘I see.’ Naya felt sorry for the teenager, especially when she heard the loneliness in her voice. ‘You are what age… seventeen?’
Peyton grinned, she had turned twenty a month ago, and she admitted, it felt good to say it out loud. ‘I am twenty.’
‘Amazing you look younger and you are without family?’
And just like that the happy feeling was gone, Peyton shut down as she answered flatly. ‘Why are you here?’
Obviously she had hit a nerve, Naya thought as she absently answered. ‘I am here to rescue my sisters.’
Peyton studied the woman she had to be around thirty. She had short brown hair with a narrow face, and her eyes held a kindness Peyton had not seen often. She was lightly tanned, and a little weathered, perhaps she was under the sun a lot.
Peyton raised her eyebrows as she asked her. ‘Are they mixed up with these people who did this to me?’
Naya nodded but had no time to elaborate as two more people entered the cave carrying rifles. A male asked as he moved to her. ‘Naya, are you all right?’
With a smile, she jumped from her seated position and ran to the tall blond man. She hugged him as his arm wrapped around her and said. ‘I am, she woke a little while ago.’
The male looked over to where Peyton sat with guarded eyes in an expressionless face and nodded to her. She nodded back and said. ‘Hey.’
‘Hello.’
His accent was English, and his body screamed aristocrat, he was blond and blue eyed with high cheekbones. Peyton supposed he was nice-looking, as was the male who stepped out from behind him. He was a younger version of the first male, except his hair was longer and a little darker.
Naya introduced the newcomers. ‘Peyton, this is my husband Adam and his brother Tim.’
‘Gentlemen, please excuse me for not getting up.’ Peyton knew how to be polite; her grandmother had schooled her in manners often enough when she was younger.
‘No apologizes are necessary.’ Adam said as he handed his rifle to his brother, who placed both guns inside a secured case. Adam, she noticed, still wore a gun holstered at his hip.
Naya handed cups of tea to the men and another cup of coffee to Peyton, who was surprised to see the younger male was not much older than eighteen. He noticed her looking and greeted her shyly. ‘Hello.’
‘Hello.’
She grinned as he ducked his head over his cup, although she could see him looking at her from beneath his eyebrows. Peyton was amused and a little unnerved. She could not remember a time that someone had been shy when meeting her. Usually, they looked at her with confusion or an absence of expression. Adam sipped his tea, then asked her. ‘Why are you here?’
Peyton grinned, he asked the exact same question his wife had. ‘As I told Naya, I was on my way to a meeting when my mag bike broke down. Which of you do I have to thank for rescuing me?’
Adam indicated the silent Tim. ‘My brother followed your tracks and found you. We assume not long after you had been ambushed.’
She nodded. ‘That about sums it up. Thank you Tim, for finding me.’
He blushed as he nodded his head. Naya asked. ‘What were you doing there?’
Peyton saw the grateful smile Tim sent his sister- in- law, who winked back at him. He smiled fully, showing how much like his older brother he was. Peyton told them. ‘My magbikes charger faltered, and I was fixing it when I was set upon.’ She turned her attention to Adam. ‘Naya said you are here to rescue her sisters.’
Adam nodded as he finished his tea and told her wearily. ‘We are, although it is not going as planned. They are in a fortified compound; there is no way in, or at least we have not found one yet.’
‘Why not call in the troopers?’
Adam growled. ‘And have everyone in there killed, because they can’t think before blowing the place up. Not a good idea, easier to use a scalpel than a saw.’
‘Yeah, I guess.’ Peyton stood up and unwrapped a band from around her waist. ‘Can you draw me a picture of what the compound looks like?’
‘We don’t know.’ Adam said as he looked up at her. ‘We have not been inside.’
‘Oh sorry, I mean what the outside looks like.’
Tim said as he retrieved a tablet from a bag by the wall. ‘It is like this.’ He showed her a page depicting drawings of a fort. She frowned, trying to remember where she had seen a structure like that before. Until she remembered it was from an old movie her grandfather and she had watched together.
‘Did you draw this?’
Shyly, he nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘They are fantastic, you have a good eye.’
‘Oh, thank you.’
Smiling, she asked Adam. ‘What are the walls made from?’
He stood, helping Naya to her feet. ‘I am no engineer, but I would say some kind of comtungsten.’
The material she had unwrapped hung from her hand as she stilled, while she let her mind find a solution to the problem she was facing. It was something she had noticed over the years, when confronted by an impossible situation. If she stilled her body, it seemed to set her mind free to look and search out a solution to whatever was worrying her. After a minute she asked Adam. ‘What is it you do?’
A little bewildered at the change of topic, he automatically answered. ‘I am a medical researcher.’
‘Huh.’ She looked at him then Naya. ‘With what you have in your supplies. Can you make a quick acting compound that could instantly render someone unconscious?’
Adam nodded as Naya frowned, she then nodded as well. ‘Yes, how long do you want them to remain unconscious?’
‘An hour or more.’
Adam asked. ‘Delivery?’
Peyton smiled; he seemed to be getting an idea of what she had in mind. She dug into one of her jacket pockets and came out with a box saying. ‘It is just as well they did not search me.’
Naya stated in surprise. ‘It is amazing they did not.’
Tim told them. ‘It was too close to nightfall. They are sacred of the animals that come out once the sun sets.’
Peyton blinked, then asked. ‘Oh, are they dangerous?’
Tim grinned. ‘Only some of them.’
Adam interrupted as he told her. ‘It is not the animals they are afraid of. It is Odette, the oldest Warren sister, she is the leader; she orders the gates locked as soon as night falls. So if they are not there before then, they are locked out. They would rather be behind walls.’
‘Okay, good to know. Now these…’ She withdrew a small flat round disc from the box she was holding. ‘I have several of these. They are made from cellulose gum and gelatin and will break on impact. If you fill them with the sleeping agent, we could knock out all the people in the compound.’
Naya said excitedly. ‘Yes, we could do that. We also have face masks that we can wear in case of blow back.’
Peyton blinked several times, then smiled. ‘Oh, yeah, good idea.’
Tim asked softly. ‘Did you forget about that possibility?’
‘I am the ideas person, I leave details to others.’ She said as she flapped her hand about.
He laughed as he said. ‘In other words, yes.’
‘Oh, shut up.’ She grinned to take the sting from her words. He just laughed but sobered quickly when Naya said. ‘Of course we still have to get inside the compound.’
‘Oh, we will get in.’ Peyton flicked the material in her hand. It made a snapping sound and then like magic she was holding a perfect recurve bow.
‘Wow.’ breathed an impressed Tim.
Adam said. ‘I have seen nothing like that before. What is it?’
‘In ancient times warriors would u
se these to hunt their prey and kill their enemies. It is called a recurve bow, I have made a few modifications to the original design; this one takes smaller projectiles like these.’
From her boot, she withdrew a small thin dart. She notched it to the bow, then fired. The dart traveled across the cave and embedded itself into the wall about fifteen inches.
‘If I need to, I can add explosives to the arrow.’
‘Dear Lord!’ Adam said as Tim cheered.
Naya looked at the hole, then Peyton. ‘Who are you?’
‘I am a very irritated woman who wants her stuff back. I have somewhere to be, and this delay is just annoying.’
Adam, still looking at the hole, shook his head slowly from side to side, then he looked at his stunned wife and his equally thrilled brother. Finally, he turned to Peyton and said. ‘We can be ready in three hours.’
TEN:
While Adam and Naya made the knock out compound, Tim brought out another stove and started preparing food for a meal. Peyton followed him to where he was setting up and watched as he erected a small table and placed chopping boards and knives along with vegetables on the table.
‘So, you live with your brother and Naya?’
He nodded as he chopped vegetables. ‘We all live in a small town. Naya found it a year ago, and we moved there; it is safe for the girls or was.’
She reached out, touching his hand that held the knife. ‘It will be again.’
‘Yeah, I know. Anyway, the school was great, and we all work from home. I am training to be an engineer, I also do designs.’
‘What do you design?’
‘I am trying to design a processing complex that will produce furniture and other things. So our town can become more self-sufficient.’ He stopped chopping and looked at the wall of the cave as he said. ‘You know we as a race have lost the ability to manufacture like they did in our ancestors’ time.’
‘That is true.’ Peyton agreed, amazed at how much they thought alike. Except she was passed the design stage and ready to implement her plans. Changing the subject, she asked. ‘How many men are in your town?’
‘Just Adam and me. I think that is why he feels so responsible because he is a man. He thinks he should have done more to protect the town.’
‘Do you feel like that?’
He nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, it is the way we were raised. We only lost our parents a year ago, they were very big on protecting those that cannot protect themselves.’
‘Like little children?’
‘Yeah, like them.’
Peyton nodded. ‘Well, I was raised the same way. There is no shame in doing the right thing. It is honorable, and in the end our honor is all we are left with.’
‘I guess,’ he said as he added meat to the pot from a vacuum box. He looked at her as he said. ‘I know what you are thinking.’
She snorted. ‘I bet you don’t.’
‘We are not breeders.’
Shocked, Peyton squealed. ‘Breeders, you have got to be lying!’
‘I am not, there are towns where men are treated like kings and are used as breeding stock.’
‘Are you serious and are children being born?’
‘I am and yes, although Adam has said the rate is slower than it has ever been. He thinks the Virus is killing our ability to have children, and male children are basically non- existent now. Adam says we are a dying breed.’
Peyton looked toward the couple and said. ‘Sadly, he is not alone in thinking that.’
‘But he says there are people like him looking all the time for a solution to the Virus and the birth rate. He says that one day it will be different.’
Peyton could see Tim loved and admired his brother. She nodded, saying. ‘Yeah, I agree with that too. So Naya’s sisters were kidnapped?’
‘Yeah, we were not at home. Naya, Adam and I had gone to St. Joseph’s hospital it is a research facility. Adam has friends there who are doing studies on the Virus. We also did some shopping in the city for the town and the girls. They did not come because they had exams so they stayed with some friends. We were only away for two days, but by the time we got back the Warren family had come and taken most of the young girls with them. They hit the surrounding towns as well, not that there were many girls for them to get from there.’
Peyton rubbed her nail along the seam of her jeans as she watched Tim add a small packet of herbs to the stew; it was smelling enticingly delicious. She could feel her stomach rumbling with hunger. Tim, who seemed to be over his shyness now handed her an apple, she just looked at it until he assured her. ‘It is organic.’
Quickly reaching for it, she said. ‘No… no, sorry, it is the first one I have seen for a while, that is all. It looks good.’
He grinned. ‘It is good, we grow them and use them for trade, now eat, the stew takes a little while to cook.’
‘Thanks, you like cooking?’
‘Yes, our mother made sure we all learned, in case we needed to know.’ As he tidied up, she took a bite and sighed with pleasure it was delicious. When she finished, she asked. ‘Why do they take them?’
Tim knew who she meant as he told her. ‘Slaves.’
‘I beg your pardon.’ Peyton asked, her voice froze the blood in his veins.
He swallowed several times and said hesitantly. ‘I said slaves.’
In the same frigid tones, she asked. ‘To do what and please don’t say sex. I will seriously kill everything if you do.’
Giving her a quick look, he realized she meant every word she spoke. Carefully he said. ‘As far as we know, they use them for clean-up in cities and towns.’
‘You mean they use them to clear away the dead. The ones who died from the Virus?’
‘Yes, exactly.’
‘How old are these girls?’
‘Well, Freya is ten and Dayla is twelve. Most of the others are around that age, usually no older than fifteen.’
Peyton asked casually. ‘You know a great deal about these women?’
‘Yeah, we have made it our business to know, we tracked them here. Along the way we met people who talked about them. They are not liked, hated would be a better word for it.’
‘So tell me about them?’
He sighed as he leaned against the table. ‘Odette is the oldest sister, she is thirty-five and has two sisters who are her right hands. Fiona is thirty and Rhea is twenty-eight. They carry weapons and are deadly, they do not allow defectors and when the children are used up or get sick, they dispose of them.’
Peyton was looking at her nail running along her seam again, which was just as well. That way Tim could not see her eyes, which had become chips of ice with a small flame flaring in their depths. ‘I see, well, something has to be done.’
Tim grinned cheekily. ‘Yeah, they have your stuff.’
Peyton drew in a breath and let it go slowly as she grinned back, saying. ‘Yep, and believe me, that is not to be tolerated.’
ELEVEN:
Peyton, Adam, Naya, and Tim lay on the hill overlooking the compound. ‘It’s quite fortified.’ Naya murmured just loud enough for them all to hear.
They knew sound would travel in the early morning air, the four of them had been there for just under an hour. It was now a little past three o’clock in the morning, the magic hour Adam had told her. When sleep was deep and disorientation high, so decisions made were not always wise.
Peyton murmured back. ‘Yep.’
Tim said. ‘There are guards.’
‘Yep.’ Peyton absently answered as she watched the three guards walk back and forth on the front walkway above the gates. She turned over and looked up at the darkened sky with its half-moon. A perfect night to liberate a compound.
‘Okay, so Adam, go over the plan once more.’
Adam like the others rolled onto his back and whispered. ‘Peyton will shoot three arrows at the guards, and if we are lucky, you will hit them.’
‘Don’t worry, I will hit them.’ She smiled as she assu
red him.
‘Then if we are even luckier, they will drop on this side of the wall which will cause pandemonium, we hope. At the same time, we three will watch the other walls to see if anybody leaves by a secret door. You Peyton, will watch the gate to see if that is where they come from to rescue the downed guards. If we are again lucky, then we will know where to enter the fort.’
Peyton said. ‘That is the plan, every fort is built with a bolt hole. If again we are lucky, they will not know of it and we can slip inside and do our thing.’
Tim said. ‘If they built a bolt hole.’
‘They did, that compound was built to represent a fort. The builder built the hole.’ Peyton assured him as she sat up and notched her arrow and placed two in her mouth in preparation to shoot.
Adam said to the other two. ‘Let’s go.’
The three ran to their designated positions, where they knew they would have a direct line of sight to the walls. Peyton scrambled down the backside of the hill, so she would not be on the ridge as she stood to shoot. When three soft whistles sounded, she knew the others were ready.
Standing, she aimed at an angle into the night sky and toward the sentries on the walkway. Then between one breath and the next, she released her three arrows. As she predicted, the three guards fell on the outside of the wall.
She dropped to the ground below the ridge and raised her head. Minutes later, three women in sleepwear rushed onto the walkway. Peyton heard one of the women yelling, then a lot of women were on the walkway looking down at the three bodies and yelling and crying. Two more women rushed to the wall and looked over and more screaming and loud crying was heard. It appeared as though she had hit someone of importance by the amount of crying and running around there was.
She assumed it would not be long before they came outside; she had observed from movies and books that women who loved like these appeared too. Would not allow the bodies to remain laying in the dirt. She only hoped there was no one with army training in there, because if there was, she knew they would not allow the gate to be opened while under attack. And if they knew of the bolt hole, they would be using it and sneaking around to ambush the attackers.