"We Do What We Do" (A Post-Apocalypse RP)

[DM2015]

"What about me?" Jade asked. "Can they hold me?"

Brett smiled, intrigued by the fact that Jade would offer herself up. But he shook his head lightly, smiled devilishly, and clarified, "No. She wants someone she might not find standing over her in the dark with a hatchet."

The guys couldn't help but chuckle, and after he himself controlled his own desire to laugh, Brett offered, "Why don't we just ... let's go ahead and head for Sodaville and ... contemplate on it. When we get there, we can revisit the idea."

He looked about the group and got the responses from each he would have expected. When he met Brantley's gaze, the expression on his face told her all she needed to know: she was going to live with Serena, and she was going to be happy about it.

The Fingers broke up and began packing their things. A trio of Townies accompanied Serena over to meet Brett, and a moment later the three were packing up some of the stash the Fingers had taken off the now-dead raiders. A few minutes later, they were carrying filled packs and string-tied bags or pushing hand carts.



Just after midday the caravan was crossing over an aging single lane bridge that spanned a narrow stream arcing around Sodaville like a crescent moon. Brett and Serena led the way, with he carrying his readied weapon in case their was trouble and she wearing a flashy red scarf that was intended to prevent it. And the signal worked, because by the time the other Townies and, taking up the rear, the other Fingers had crossed the bridge the town was coming alive with activity.

Brett watched with both interest and caution as a dozen and a half men, women, and children emerged from homes and businesses in every direction, some wandering forward while others rushed forward to Serena with obvious excitement or relief to find her still alive. It was a heart warming scene, even to Brett, who wasn't the most sentimental of people.

The townies who'd been taken by the Raiders joined the others as well, but as they did, Brett thought he noticed something in the faces of both those who'd been at the camp and those left behind. A pair of camp Townies entirely bypassed the reunion in the street, heading off in another direction, only to be met by an older woman who -- unfortunately out of hearing range -- began chastising them. Brett watched the trio as the verbal altercation heated up, ending when the older woman slapped one of the two younger women.

As the three separated again, Brett couldn't help but notice that the two women weren't the only Raider hostages who avoided their fellow Townies. There was only one explanation, of course: these half dozen people hadn't been hostages at all and had left either of their own free will or will less resistance and reluctance than the others had expected. This was going to be an issue, Brett knew. It might be a conflict between the Townies only, but now that he and his fellow Fingers were in charge of security, it was likely to become a conflict involving them as well.

As the reunion began to dissolve into small groups heading in various directions, Brett studied the town for a long moment. It was typical of a small rural community: old and new homes, a main street lined with retail and service businesses, an old, now rusty water tower, and more. Of course, there was damage all about the town, both old from the Collapse and new from the recent Raider attack. In fact, there was still smoke rising from the remains of what once had been a feed and seed store on the edge of town.

Even with all of the damage, though, Brett could see a great deal of potential, too. The stream and a wide flat plain on the opposite side of the town offered some defense; there was a tall grain elevator that would offer a lookout a great view; a water wheel on the stream was still turning, which might be suitable for electrical power generation; and more.

Of course, all of this infrastructure didn't mean anything if the Townies themselves couldn't be controlled and trusted. But that wasn't something Brett could know about yet.

"I talked to my people," Serena said stepping up to him. "They'll all be at City Hall in an hour. We'll discuss the deal, and ... well..."

They discussed living arrangements for the Fingers and separated again. Brett crossed to where his traveling mates were also watching the activity. He pointed toward Main Street, saying, "Apartment over the hardware store ... another one across the street over the grocery. I thought it might be better if we were split up, maybe two in each."

"Jade and I can take the grocery," Julio said quickly, trying to sound as if it was truly an option the woman would consider. Near him, Kim tried to stifle his snicker but failed.

"Brantley," Brett said softly in a tone she would recognize as his come hither voice. He stepped away from the others, waiting for her to join him. Waiting until the others were heading away, arguing about the proposed living arrangement and out of hearing range, he told his sister about the Serena situation, "I need you to be okay with this."

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Brantley stood stunned as the rest of the Five stood and joked about whether or not Jade could take her place and why doing so would be so unpalpable for Serena. Fuck Serena, Brantley thought. What about me? She had rarely been so disappointed in Brett, even compared to the times he forced himself upon her. Despite her unease, she simply nodded when Brett instructed them to get ready to travel with the larger group, knowing she would have no real choice, which she saw in her brother's unspoken look in her direction. She sighed as she gathered a pack from near the campsite. Within an hour, the group had taken to the road. Brantley lagged well behind the others, not in any great hurry or of any great concern for her safety. She was within thirty or forty yards of the remaining four, certain they neither needed her to assist nor would be unable to protect her quickly if something should happen. She looked high above the heads of the people hiking ahead of her and noticed a slight darkening of the skies, though it appeared unlikely it would rain. She wondered if they would make it to Sodaville before darkness set in, and she wondered if she would be forced to live with the camp leader once they arrived, on the very first night. As she returned her attention to the road, she noticed Jade slow down, then wait as Brantley caught up to her.

"You okay, Little Bit?" Jade asked. Her tone was not dismissive, but one of sincere concern, this time treating her very much as she would treat a little sister. Brantley just gave a tight, forced smile and wide eyes as if to simply ask, "What do you think?"

Jade Shortt had been born to well-to-do parents a year before 9/11. Her father was a doctor and her mother ran a significant international nonprofit, dedicated to providing security forces to women and children in war-ravaged areas around the world. Their principal home had been the cliffs of Santa Monica, California, where they lived most of her life. In the summer, they maintained a large homestead outside of Butte, Montana, largely to indulge her father's fantasy of being a cattle rancher and to allow them a nice retreat a few times each year from their workaday worlds. When she was little, the family had introduced her to the Tyners, the neighbors to the West, with land of their own and children five years older and five years younger than her. Over time, they had become closer, and she had spent endless summer nights watching Brantley while the two families enjoyed cookouts on the patio. She had only interacted with Brett a few times and, she recalled, as she grew up, he went away and spent time in the military. She would often hear Mr. and Mrs. Tyner speak of him, his deployments and his honoraria, never suspecting she would someday serve next to him not in any army, but in pursuit of re-establishing their lives.

In 2014, when she was in junior high, she struggled with feelings that most teenage girls would. She often felt ugly, or too fat, too plain, too little of the things that people liked. She became aware of a burgeoning American icon, women's UFC Champion Ronda Rousey. She would follow her career casually, wondering what the fuss was about at first, but noticing she felt powerful and strong each time she heard or saw another dominant performance. She convinced her father to enroll her in a Jiu Jitsu course, as well as Judo, and by the time she was in college, she had developed an impenetrable psyche, a confidence the little girl she was could have never imagined, and a hard body the envy of girls and desire of men of all ages.

"You know," Jade said to Brantley. "I remember when my parents died."

"Jade, I don't want to...." Brantley began.

"No," Jade interrupted. "Listen to me." Brantley fell in step beside her as Jade continued her tale. "I was your age." She paused to let Brantley feel her story. "The guard was just being formed, and the civil war was pressing West. It wasn't like the first time, when there were supply lines and army fronts and cavalries trying to flank an enemy it could see across an open field. It was infiltration, guerrilla tactics, urban warfare and ambushes in the suburbs. People were choosing sides and if you chose poorly, you were rounded up and carted away, sometimes shot on the spot. Women and girls our age, even your age back then, were raped and then killed." Jade looked ahead, taking her gaze off the girl. It would be too hard to keep watching Brantley, the feelings of herself at that age too sharp of a reminder, but as she looked toward the road and the caravan, her story continued. "We were at the ranch, in Montana. That's why I'm here now." She shrugged and forced a whimsical grin. "I'm not even sure what's left of California. But we were in town, waiting in a secured feeding station, which was basically a bread line. I had finished basic compulsory training, mostly to keep from being drafted immediately into a civil service that was as yet undefined and because of my prior training, the government anticipated me for combat. I returned, expecting to be placed into the guard."

"You were going to be in the guard?" Brantley asked, having never known that Jade could have easily become an enemy.

"I was," Jade said. "My parents believed that the guard would protect us, protect the State of Montana, at least, and maintain our rights. But, it was just the opposite. We were in the bread line and a bomb went off. There was a horrible wave of heat, then ringing in my ears. Smoke was everywhere and people, bodies, were lying on the ground, broken......bleeding." Brantley nodded, listening intently. "My dad was on the ground. His leg was gone. Mom was on the far side of him, already dead. She had taken shrapnel along her right side, and there was a hole torn into her that pierced her heart and lungs." Nothing about Jade's story seemed comforting. Brantley simply listened, hearing the story for the first time. She had known Jade lost her parents in the collapse, but never knew just how.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"The guard was supposed to report immediately the next day. I received a message from my unit, and at 2pm, I was to be at the old National Guard building in Butte."

"Why didn't you go?" Brantley inquired.

"The bomb had been set off by the guard. They needed a reason to attack their enemies and claim parts of the city and state in the name of 'safety.' They did it and blamed it on citizen rebels. If I had reported, I would have been sent to Great Falls." Brantley's eyes got wide.

"No!" She said. Great Falls had been the site of a significant massacre, where the population of the city had been reduced by 85%. When opposition forces had retaken the city, they found mass graves of women and children, all at the hands of the guard and then used the incident as reason to rally other parts of the state and, ultimately, turn back the guard. In the subsequent years, the wars had not ended, but the guard saw great numbers of desertion, weakening it, and making it ineffective in holding the area. As it was since disbanded in favor of more tribal, roaming forces of shifting loyalties and the post-collapse era they were in now, Great Falls had proven to be the start of its demise.

"Yes," Jade said. "Brantley, Brett was the person who told me - warned me - about the guard." Brantley's eyes focused on Jade's. "He knew. He saw it then, earlier than others. Brett was there when I snuck back to my parents' home, using the creek beds and ravines on your family's land." Jade chuckled a bit. "He almost shot me. He thought I was a raider or looter or scout for the guard. When he found me, he tackled me from behind and I reversed him and flung him down. It was my first fight of the war. And I won it, by the way." The girls laughed. "He took me inside my parents house, making sure it was safe and we discussed the guard. He told me don't go and why. He told me to trust him and that he would protect me." Brantley nodded again. She knew more about Jade's combat history than her personal history. The girl was a badass. Since the war erupted, it was rare that Brantley or anyone else had seen Jade without her standard S&W 686P strapped along her thigh and a blade sheathed along the back of her belt and the side of her boot. She knew Jade had killed. She did not know how many times, though perhaps did not want to. And she knew how the guys, any guys, looked at Jade, wanting to both experience and conquer her. She knew she would be tough to conquer by anyone. Jade came to the point she wanted to make.

"Brantley, he's a good man," Jade said. Brantley wished Jade could know what Brantley knew - what she had to endure at times. And she suspected Jade did know the feelings of love she had for her brother and, perhaps Jade had similar feelings. "Trust him," she concluded. "He will not let anyone hurt you."

No, Brantley thought. He wants to save that for himself. She simply smiled at Jade, knowing she could be a confidant going forward. She had long been a friend. "I know," Brantley said. "Thanks."

Hours later, the sun still rather high in the sky, the troupe crawled into Sodaville and, crossing the bridge into the city entrance, Brantley noticed scurrying and activity, though knew not what to make of any of it. As they stood watching the activity, Serena approached her brother as Jade and Brantley closed in to his position in the front of the caravan. She could not hear what they discussed, but heard Brett announce the two apartments available for four of the Five.

"Apartment over the hardware store, another one across the street over the grocery. I thought it might be better if we were split up, maybe two in each."

"Jade and I can take the grocery," Julio said. Brantley and Jade both just turned their heads to look at him, giving nothing more than a smirk.

"Like hell," Jade said. "I'm with Brett." Despite their chat earlier, Brantley sneered at the thought, disapproving and feeling, perhaps, a bit of jealousy.

"Looks like you and me Hoo," Kim said, prompting his compatriot to drop his shoulders and shake his head. "We can chase some tavern girls."

"Brantley," Brett said, calling his sister away from the stupid negotiation.

"Go," Jade said, urging her to approach her brother as she hefted her own pack and headed toward the hardware store and the apartment above. Brantley did just that.
Brett watched and paused until Julio and Kim grabbed their weapons and packs and started walking to the grocery store. Brett's voice, low and serious, addressed Brantley again, making her feel every bit like a little girl.

"I need you to be okay with this," he told her. Brantley felt her rage boil to the surface. She was not okay with any of this. At the same time, she remembered Jade's words not hours ago.

"I'm not," she said, matter-of-factly. "But I'll do it." She had no other way to exert her power or push back, other than with her next words. They would be the only needle in her arsenal, nodding toward one of the young men who appeared to be securing the town's original leader, with whom she would soon be living. "Maybe that cute guard will be in our house." Brantley turned, swaying her hips slightly on her way to get her pack.

 

[DM2015]

"Maybe that cute guard will be in our house," Brantley said about one of the Townies standing with Serena.

Brett watched her turn and walk away, not waiting for his response. He didn't miss the added sway in her hips, nor did he fail to understand that that sway was meant to both tease him and catch the attention of the armed man who Brett realized was looking their way.

He felt his stomach roll over, causing him to grimace. He thought at first it was simply because of her obvious insubordination. But as she continued away toward the town's leader and the hunk of a man beside her, Brett realized it was jealousy that was causing him his current emotional pain.

Brett didn't want Brantley spending nights any where near that man ... near any man for that matter. In the past, he'd never had to worry about the men about him contemplating spending intimate time with his sister: neither Julio nor Kim would ever think about getting naked with Brantley without first getting written, notarized permission from their de facto leader.

But now suddenly, there were other men available to his sister. Not only that, she was no longer going to be under his thumb 24/7. He'd realized this back in the canyon when he'd negotiated the deal with Serena, of course. But while he'd known that he wouldn't have the convenient sexual access to Brantley that he normally had, it hadn't occurred to him that other men might have that access instead.



"I'm Serena," the woman said to Brantley, offering her hand as the young woman stopped before her. "I want you to know that I greatly appreciate you agreeing to spend some time with me. It'll give us a chance to get to know one another."

As Brantley reached out to take Serena's hand, the man who had been standing at the town leaders side but who had been slowly and casually circling around to the side reached out and took hold of the rifle slung over the young blonde's shoulder.

"This is Donovan," Serena said as the man disarmed Brantley, giving her a polite smile. The town leader looked to the weapon, then to the young woman and said, "You'll get it back soon, I promise. We'll just hold on to it for safe keeping."

Donovan pulled the slide back on the rifle, then looked to Serena with a smirk. "Empty."

As the man slung the rifle over his shoulder, Serena smiled to Brantley and said with a friendly tone, "Let's go look at your room, shall we?"



"I think you'll be comfortable here," Serena said as she opened a door on the second floor of the large, century old home. "It was my daughters before..."

She let the explanation die, turning her back to Brantley to hide the glazing of her eyes that threatened to turn to rolling tears. The bedroom was large with two southern facing windows through which the late afternoon sun was shining. It was definitely a little girl's room, with lots of pink and the typical girl toys and furnishings.

"There's a bathroom here," Serena continued, opening another door. "Running water ... cold, unfortunately. No electricity, though we hope to get that corrected soon'nuff. You're free to use anything you find in here."

Despite the Collapse and the end of commerce, the bathroom was still stocked with all of the soaps and shampoos and other girly stuff that had been here way back then. Serena had forbidden anyone from entering this room, and -- because of her status in the town -- the home had never been pillaged. The Raiders of recent days had missed the home by pure luck.

"If you need anything, Donovan here is at your disposal," she continued, still wearing her polite smile. The smile faded a bit as she explained, "Brantley, I need you-- It was Brantley, yes...? I need you to do me the favor of working with Donovan. I'm sure that your brother explained the hostage analogy I spoke to him of, yes? I don't want you to think of yourself as a prisoner. You will have a great deal of freedom to do as you with, but..."

By the time she reached this point, she was standing very close to the young blond. With a more serious tone, she said, "You are not to go anywhere without Donovan as an escort. Any where. Do you understand? The agreement I have with your brother ... with Brett ... is that he can, essentially, control the town ... if I have control over you."

The expression on Serena's face left no doubt that she considered herself Brantley's jailor. And yet, she said all she had to say with a smile of varying degrees. But it was a smile, indeed.

"So...", she said, taking Brantley's shoulders into her hands for a bit of a familial squeeze, "make yourself comfortable ... tell Donovan if there is anything you need ... and ... we'll see you for dinner."

(OOC: Sending you a PM.)

 

[DM2015]

(OOC: Second post: Kim and Julio.)

"Looks like you and me Hoo," Kim said to Julio.

Julio shook his head, feigning disappointment in an offer he knew wouldn't fly. "We can chase some tavern girls."

As Brett dismissed them all to go about their business, the two male Fingers headed off, claiming the office over the grocery store. A woman standing on the cracking, weed choked sidewalk listened to their explanation about being the new tenants, then reluctantly led them up a creaky set of stairs to the second floor. She gave them a similar explanation as to the one Serena would be giving Brantley shortly.

It wasn't much, but it was a lot more than they'd had over the years of their wandering. Oh sure, they'd often stayed in abandoned homes or hotels or businesses, but more often than not those structures had been pillaged of anything and everything of value. This apartment's two bedroom's had full bed sets, fresh linens, pillows, and the like.

The two men returned to the communal room connecting the bedrooms and traded satisfactory nods and comments before checking out the kitchen and views from the windows. Julio, who hadn't failed to notice that their guide was female and not entirely unattractive asked, "Do we have neighbors...? How many apartments, occupied or not?"

"No one else up here," she responded, turning to leave but stopping in the door with her ass on display to them. "No one but me, I mean ... down the hall ... number 8."

With that she left, leaving the two men staring at one another with questioning looks. It was more information than they'd asked, so ... had there been more meaning there? They laughed as only men do, then returned to their individual rooms to unpack and get comfortable.

 

[DM2015]

(OOC: Third and final post: Brett and Jade.)

Once Brett had finished with his sister and watched her sashay away to and with that man, he spent another ten minutes of so just milling about the edge of town. Some of the Townies approached him, introducing themselves or just asking whether he'd learned anything new about the political and military situation outside of their immediate neighborhood. All he could -- or would -- tell them was that not much had changed: the Local Militias were still fighting against the barely surviving remnants of the Montana Republic Guard, as well as fighting amongst themselves; and law and order was still a thing of dreams across most of The Republic and, presumably, the rest of the United States of No Longer America, as some called it.

Eventually, he tired of the questions and the suspicious glances and headed for the apartment that Jade had decided they would share. She was there already, inspecting it and announcing her claim to the best of the two bedrooms, despite Brett's supposedly command and privileges of rank. He surveyed the town from the windows of the living room, his bedroom, and Jade's bedroom, as well as from both ends of the hall upon which the room sat. There were staircases at each end of the hall, as well as an emergency escape outside each of the bedrooms. He didn't like the thinness of the building's walls, knowing that if -- God forbid -- anyone ever found the need to shoot from the street at them in their rooms, anything larger than a .30-30 round would likely pass right through the fir and Fiberglas insulation.

When he finished, Brett found Jade in the kitchen, a bottle of rum on the counter next to her. He smiled broadly, asking, "Did you find that hidden, or ... do we simply have some thankful hosts?"

It had been forever since Brett had had a stiff drink. And God, did he need one now.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Brantley held firm to her rifle as the guard for Serena pulled it from her shoulder, though it had no ammunition and the girl quickly remembered she was the pawn to trade to keep the older woman safe. Of course they would confiscate her gun.

"Empty," the man said with a smirk as he checked the weapon. Brantley forced a sheepish grin and a slight shrug. She again felt like a lost child. As a ward of Serena, she would perhaps not feel like a hostage, but still she didn't want to be powerless in front of anyone. She got that enough from Brett. She didn't need it from Serena or her guard, but it was too late. As Serena toured her through her living quarters, Brantley thought the area was particularly girly.

Oh, great, she thought, failing to realize the option of staying with the Five might have been less comfortable. It will be nice to have a bed. My OWN bed. And a shower!

"If you need anything, Donovan here is at your disposal," Serena said. Brant gave a closed lip, demure smile at the man.

Donovan. I like that name. She noted he was indeed cute, though when she referenced it earlier before Brett, it was simply to upset him and well before she had gotten a close look at her new escort. Donovan seemed professional. He was clean and appeared well mannered, not acting like a bully like so many men in powerful positions she had seen in recent years had acted in the presence of a girl of her age, stature, and countenance. So long as he left her alone and Brett did his job to keep her safe, then she would play ball, no matter how irritating the situation was. When Serena left her to prepare for dinner, she followed her and the body man to his station before retreating to the room she had just been told was her new home. As Serena retreated down the stairs, Brantley looked at the guard.

"Donovan," she said. "I HAVE to get out of these clothes and take a shower," she said, leaving to do just that. Thirty minutes later, Brantley had completely washed herself, outside and in, relieved to be free of the filth of the long caravan, as well as the residue Brett had left upon her the night before. She felt like new and greatly appreciated the clean, vanilla scent from the soap and conditioner that was left for her use. She pulled a black sports bra from her pack and matched it with some black, bikini cut panties, beneath a clean pair of khaki cargo pants and a clean white tank top that came just to the waist of her pants. She tugged her still wet hair into a ponytail and tied it with a rubber band she had in her go bag. After lacing her boots and covering them with her pant legs, she opened the door and went outside, finding Donovan, still dutifully at his post.

"I want to go to the meeting at City Hall," she said.

**********​

Jade chose the hardware store for a reason. Should anything go down, even the remnants of the store could supply a good amount of ammunition and weaponry for her and Brett. She stepped inside to see that it had, indeed been looted, but a few sets of garden shears, a few shovels, some small hatchets, and a number of other blunt objects, still littered the floor. She climbed the back stairs and quickly found two rooms, across from each other, at the end of a hall, each facing the main street and the grocery store across the way. From this vantage point, she and Brett both could see City Hall and the main street area, where most of the town's activity would be. It would be a good lookout for the provision of security. She placed her pack on the king size bed in the larger of the two rooms, leaving the queen in the next room for Brett, not even caring if he wanted to whine about it.

More importantly, it was a large, comfortable place, complete with large beds, a leather couch intact in the main room, and a kitchen full of supplies, but no real food. She reached into a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rum, the only bottle left in the place. Rum wasn't her drink. She sat the bottle on the counter and continued to search the kitchen, finding little else of note. As she did, she heard the door open slowly. She reached to her thigh and wrapped her hand around the leather wrapped grip of her pistol, just until and she saw Brett enter, looking weary from the day's travel.

"Did you find that hidden," he said, causing her confusion at first. "Or ... do we simply have some thankful hosts?" She saw his eyes directed at the counter at the alcohol.

"Only thing left," she said. "Want some?" She turned to the cabinets again and found a glass. "I hope you don't expect ice because there's not any." She poured a half glass of rum and slid it across the kitchen bar to where he stood, knowing their time together and how well they operated together would see him catch it on pace and sweep it up to take the drink he so badly seemed to desire. "I hope you don't mind me staying here," she said. "I mean, I'm not Kim." She closed the bottle of rum and sat it back in its place in the cabinet. "And I'm sure not Brantley," she continued, walking past him, maintaining eye contact, and heading into the main room. Her tone was deliberate. She was not certain about his relationship with his sister. If they had been intimate, she wanted to suggest she knew and express that Brett could find his needs elsewhere. If he wanted. At the same time, if they hadn't been together, she wanted to suggest that with his sister not there, perhaps he would be free to fulfill Jade's own desires. She enjoyed the flirt very much. She doubted Brett would try anything, certainly not quickly. They had known each other for years and she was perhaps much like a sister to him as well. Or maybe he was intimidated. Other men had been. She changed the subject as she stepped toward the window in the main room.

"Good view here," she said, leaning forward to look down to the street level. She looked up and across the street. "We could probably keep an eye on Julio and Kim too, but I shudder to think about that." She turned and leaned on the window sill to look at Brett once more. "So what's going to happen at this meeting?" She asked.

 

[DM2015]

Donovan and Brantley:

"Donovan, I HAVE to get out of these clothes and take a shower."

"Everything you need should be in Cassie's room," he said, both unnecessarily repeating what Serena had told Brantley about her room's supplies and unknowingly referring to the room's former occupant, not understanding that his boss hadn't discussed her deceased daughter in detail. He added with a polite smile, "Use what you want."

He watched Brantley head down the hall and couldn't help but ogle the young woman's well rounded buttocks. There were, of course, other beautiful women in Sodaville, even after the Raider massacre of a few days earlier. But there wasn't one who was, to use a word, suitable for Donovan. They either weren't his type, didn't like him, or were already attached to someone else. There had been two women who serviced him when he needed release, but one of them had been critically wounded in the attack and two mornings back; and the other had willingly left with the raiders and returned only today, her greeting being that of a painful slap in the face by her heartbroken mother down on Main Street earlier.

Donovan walked to the hallway wall and leaned his head to it, listening to Brantley's movements. Thin walls were a fixture in these old towns, and -- particularly when security was involved -- it was sometimes nice to be able to hear that which others were doing when they were out of sight. Once he was certain Brantley was indeed in the shower, he slipped into the bedroom and quickly but carefully looked through her bags for anything of interest.

It wasn't simple curiosity or sexual perversion, although he did take a moment to check out the black panties stuffed into her back pack's side pocket. No, instead, it was about safety and security. Donovan had been instructed by Serena to find out if she might have any other weapons -- a knife or small pistol, for instance -- or anything else that perhaps the girl should have claimed.

When he found nothing of interest, he departed the room and waited in the hall. He knew she was coming even before he saw her, as the intoxicating smell of soap and vanilla wafted from under the bedroom door and down the hall, out the open window behind him.

When she stepped out into view, Donovan just about had a heart attack. She was simply incredible. Her white tank top gave a hint of skin at her waist as she walked, and below it her black bra was just noticeable enough to make the man wonder whether she'd intended to tease him with it.

"I want to go to the meeting at City Hall," she said as she approached.

"Sorry," he said softly, and as she came to a stop before him and top of the stairs, he added as politely as he could, "Serena says you need to stick around until she returns."

His lips widened in a friendly smile as he tried to take the edge off what he was sure to be disappointment, if not anger. "We could play cards while we wait maybe. I have a cribbage board downstairs."

**********​

Brett and Jade:

Bret caught the tumbler of rum as it slid down the kitchen bar without spilling a drop -- the worse thing an Army man can do other than desert -- and lifted it to his nose. The scent was wonderful, and after a quick sip to ensure that it was still palatable, he downed the two fingers worth in a single, eager gulp. Once the burning had subsided, he growled, "Nice."

"I hope you don't mind me staying here," Jade said. "I mean, I'm not Kim."

"Thank God," Brett said, tipping the glass again to get the remaining drops. "Have you heard his snoring?"

"And I'm sure not Brantley," she continued as she walked past him, maintaining eye contact, and heading into the main room.

Brett held Jade's stare until she had passed him, uncertain of what to read from her tone. Everyone had been told that the two siblings typically slept near one another -- in the same tent or room if one was available -- because anymore Brantley was all Brett had in this world. But as time went on, the fantasy that the others didn't know about the incestuous goings on was becoming just that, a fantasy.

Brett knew Jade wouldn't simply come out and say anything unless she thought he was hurting her friend. Then again, he was raping her on a regular basis, so ... what was it that had kept Jade silent so long? Brett wanted to believe that despite the inappropriateness of it all, Jade understood that the two loved one enough so deeply that a little bit of rough sex could and should be overlooked. Of course ... he could simply be deluding himself.

"Good view here," she said behind him, checking the streets below. She went on about the potential for enhance security, then turned and looked to him, asking, "So what's going to happen at this meeting?"

Brett had been watching Jade -- ogling Jade -- from beyond the bar. He'd suddenly realized that in all of the various living arrangements since they'd left their respective ranches so long ago, he'd never spent a single evening solely with Jade. Some combination of the other Fingers had been present each night, almost as if chaperones stationed to ensure -- as they taught at the Catholic dances -- that there was space enough between them for the Holy Spirit.

And this realization was suddenly causing Brett's long restrained lust for the woman to rise like a phoenix in the hot desert. When he realized that she'd turned and was watching him watching her, Brett turned away from her and reached into the cupboard to again pull down the bottle of courage.

"Serena has already sold the deal to those we essentially saved out there in the canyon," he explained, pouring another two fingers of the magic elixir. He put the bottle away, and turned back to her, taking another moment to study her beautiful face before gulping down the rum and finishing, "Now, she has to sell it to those who were still here."

He set the glass in the sink and filled it with an inch or two of water, then began moving slowly her direction as he told her confidently, "They'll agree to it, of course. They got there ass kicked. Lost a lot of people. They're either going to vote yes because they want our help or they're going to vote yes because they fear that otherwise, we'll kick their asses again, just as the Raiders had."

When he stopped, Brett was standing beside Jade at the window, looking down at the streets as she had. He turned to look into her eyes, less than two feet separating them. He smiled politely, saying, "I don't mind you staying here ... just in case you were truly concerned. But I have to tell you--" His smile widened, then he chuckled. "The first time you sas me about leaving the toilet seat up..."

He didn't finish, instead just smiling broadly.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"What do you mean 'stick around' until she returns?" Brantley demanded. "The deal was that I can go anywhere I want, so long as you accompany me." She took the remaining few steps downstairs to the landing where Donovan remained, stopping just two steps above him, so as to peer down upon where he sat. "And who plays cribbage?" She placed her hand on her hip, annoyed at her limitation. "I want to go to the meeting."

**********

Jade continued leaning on the windowsill as Brett began to answer her question. Reality was that she wanted to be apprised as to what to expect. She didn't demand rank, but she did not consider Julio, Kim, or Brantley to be capable to cover Brett if things went south. It was imperative she know what to expect.

"Serena has already sold the deal to those we essentially saved out there in the canyon," Brett explained. She watched him pour a drink without offering her any. Though she was no teetotaler, alcohol had never had any command over her beyond the times she indulged in rare celebrations or in times of personal gratification among friends. Now did not seem like either occasion. "Now, she has to sell it to those who were still here."

"Wait," Jade said, interrupting him. "She doesn't speak for everyone? You didn't know this before we got here? What if they don't approve?" Brett placed his now empty glass in the sink and filled it with water. Jade made no comment, but thought it interesting that here, now in this world where chaos was the norm and most habitable areas had been looted, raided, or leveled, he still found the need and the compulsion to clean up after himself.

"They'll agree to it, of course," he reassured her. "They got their ass kicked. Lost a lot of people. They're either going to vote yes because they want our help or they're going to vote yes because they fear that otherwise, we'll kick their asses again, just as the Raiders had." Jade nodded at his remarks, knowing he had likely read the situation right. She watched him move toward her as he spoke, coming to rest next to where she was leaning, facing the other way, his hands on the ledge as he peered into the streets below.

"I don't mind you staying here," he changed subjects. His tone prompted her to raise her eyebrows, in anticipation of the contingency that was sure to come, wondering what limitation he was about to issue. "But I have to tell you," he began to smile a broad smile, the classic smile he kept hidden so often in this now lost world, a sincere and deep smile she had rarely seen in recent times. ""The first time you sass me about leaving the toilet seat up..." Jade laughed, not at all expecting such a remark. She pushed herself off the window ledge.

"Well, don't leave it up," she said, giving a sly grin of her own. She turned to face the street again. She sighed. "What if we can't hold this place?" She asked, thinking out loud more than questioning the group's abilities. She paused a long moment and imagined what the town had looked like before the collapse. As she looked out the window and down the street, she remembered the world as it was. "Do you ever think it will be like it was?" She asked Brett, before realizing the answer for herself. "Lie to me," she told him, not wanting the truth, for once.

 

[DM2015]

Donovan and Brantley:

"What do you mean 'stick around' until she returns?"

Donovan had been expecting this, of course. Serena had warned him of the tightness and unity she'd observed within the Outsiders -- she hadn't heard the term Five Fingers, of course -- just as she'd explained that their guest was the little sister of the group's leader.

"The deal was that I can go anywhere I want, so long as you accompany me." Brantley continued downstairs toward the landing where Donovan had been leaning back against the wall on an old wooden chair. He casually returned the front feet to the ground and stood, not wanting to appear as if he expecting a physical altercation but certainly preparing himself for one. "And who plays cribbage?

"I play cribbage," he laughed.

It was an Old Man's game, of course. As a child, Donovan had learned the game from his grandfather, who had been a national champion and -- with a lifetime of winnings from bars and Eagles lodges all across Montana -- had been able to buy a small cabin near the Canada border just in time to retire and die days later of heart failure. Attempting to make fun of her youth, as well as her generation's obsession with smart phone apps and online social games, he joked, "Maybe it ain't the Sims or Candy Crush or Dance on Mars, but it's a game of thought and strategy that would do you some good to learn."

With an annoyed tone, Brantley said, "I want to go to the meeting."

"You're not going to the meeting," Donovan said with the blunt tone of a parent telling their teenager they weren't going to meet their friends at the mall this day. He tried to take a conciliatory tone with her, almost begging, "C'mon ... let me teach you Cribbage. Or ... Gin. The card game, not the liquor."

Donovan was desperately hoping that Brantley would accept this temporary limitation, because if she tried to pass by him, he was going to stop her. Reluctantly, of course. But stop her he would, even if it meant picking her up, tossing her over his shoulder, and carrying her back -- kicking and screaming -- to her room.

**********​

Brett and Jade:

"Well, don't leave it up," Jade said as she, too, turned to face the street below them. "What if we can't hold this place?"

Brett answered her with a short half glance, followed by again looking out upon the town below.

"Do you ever think it will be like it was?" she asked. Brett turned to face her, ready to answer, but the words he wanted to speak must have been obvious in his expression for she quickly added, "Lie to me."

A smile spread his lips. His gaze lifted to Jade's mussed hair, and as he reached up to pull a wild bunch of hair back away from her face -- a tender touch that before today he'd never once performed -- he said softly, "No ... it will be better."

He gazed into her eyes for a moment, then turned and headed into the room, looking about at the furnishings. He wasn't looking for anything in particular: he was simply delaying what he wanted to say because -- to be honest -- he wasn't sure what he wanted to tell her. Finally, though, Brett shed his gear and jacket, setting it all at the end of the couch, into which he dropped. A cloud of dust from the long ignored fabric filled the air, causing him to laugh and fake a cough.

"It'll be better, Jade," he said, waving his hands through the sun-illuminated cloud, "because we're starting from scratch. There's no one to tell us how things are going to be, so we can make them what we want them to be. The old rules are gone. We're going to make new ones ... you, me, the Fingers ... even Serena and her Townies. Fresh start ... from scratch ..."

He laid his head back on the couch's back and closed his eyes. Until this very moment, as he sat on that plush sofa, Brett hadn't realized how tired he'd truly become. He mumbled, "...like g-ma's homemade apple pie."

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"NOBODY plays Cribbage," Brantley said, dismissively. "Or Gin." She shrugged her shoulders, clearly unable to beat the man before her in any sort of physical altercation without a weapon. She sat down on the stairs, curling her knees in her arms, taking a position as if ready to wait. Not even a minute later, she looked at him again, still annoyed that she couldn't go to the meeting. "If I'm not there, Brett might not like it," she tried a vague threat. She yawned and stretched her arms high, her shirt raising just a bit with them, before she leaned back in a relaxed position, stretched back along the stairs, her arms bent, resting on her elbows. She looked at Donovan and thought him to be handsome. She allowed her mind to roam for only a second to marvel at how she was just a day before lying in almost the same position, her brother between her knees, and now she was hoping he would kill someone to get her out of this situation where she was a ward of the local authorities. Protector or tormenter, her brother never could be sure. "So," she said, changing subjects, since her efforts were getting her nowhere out of the house. "Why is Serena in charge?" She asked. "And why are you here with her?"

Meanwhile, Jade watched as Brett blinked at her question and gently brushed her hair from her eyes, his fingers running just along the line behind her ear where the hair would be kept. She could not see, of course, but his fingers ran over each of the tiny, black, bird tattoos that she had placed behind her ear as well, a long time ago, when the Five had first formed. One was large and, from it's place at the back of the line, could oversee the others. Brett. The second one wasn't as big, but was ready in case the others fell. It was herself. The next two were the same size, identical in stature, the center and core of the group. Kim, then Julio. Finally, closest to her ear, the tiny one, not quite a full bird but able to fly on its own as part of the group. Little Brantley. The touch of his hand sent goosebumps over her neck, chest, arms, and down her spine. The Five had been her family for so long, the only people she trusted and, yes, still loved. But she loved Brett most of all and knew his answer would be right, at least as far as she needed to hear. He knew her too well.

"No," he said. Her heart sank. "It will be better." Her eyes and face gave a pleasant smile, not quite euphoric since she didn't quite believe him, though she wanted to despite having asked him to lie about this terrible world that was left. She watched him repeat the lie and struggle with finding a place to sit that did not contaminate the immediate environment. She grinned at his battle with the couch and said nothing as he closed his eyes, clearly ready to rest. She pushed away from the ledge again and walked past him, heading toward her room, where her pack was stored. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, a thanks for easing her mind, as well as a half-playful wake up call.

"Can't fall asleep, My Captain," she said, still giving a demure smile. "You have to get ready to go negotiate a new world in an hour." She traipsed down the hall, the tight pants she wore accentuating each curve and line. "And I need a shower," she said, looking over her shoulder on her way to her room.

 

[DM2015]

Donovan and Brantley:

"NOBODY plays Cribbage," Brantley declared. "Or Gin."

Donovan just smiled, then chuckled. She wasn't that far off from the truth. There had only been a dozen or so Townies who would sit and play the games -- as well as Hearts or Canasta -- and more often than not, to prevent them from getting discouraged and abandoning him, he had to play his "B" game and let them win from time to time.

"If I'm not there," Brantley said, returning to the main topic on her mind, "Brett might not like it."

"Your brother has been informed by now," Donovan said confidently, though Serena hadn't actually told him as much. He simply knew that when the Outsiders' leader noticed Brantley's absence, Serena was going to have to explain the situation to him. "He'll understand."

As Donovan stood over her, remaining casual in stance on the exterior but spring loaded on the interior should he need to be quick with her, Brantley stretched out on the steps before him. Donovan allowed his gaze to drop to her slim but rounded figure, impressed with what he was now seeing more clean and presentable. Brantley was certainly worth ogling, though Donovan limited the length of time his eyes were walking over her as to not seem like a total letch.

"So ... why is Serena in charge?" she asked. "And why are you here with her?"

"Why...?" he asked, as if he didn't know the answer off the top of his head.

As he stepped back a bit and returned to his chair -- suddenly aware that there was a growth spurt occurring below his belt line that needed to be hidden -- he contemplated the question. No one had asked him that in ... well, since the Collapse, actually. The Townies all knew of Serena's story, and the wanderers who came to the town to trade never asked. The Raiders hadn't asked why Serena had been in charge, either, instead only asking who was, then beating her, raping her, and hauling her away with them to ensure that any potential wanna-be heroes from Sodaville didn't follow them to stage an attack in an attempt to get her back. Ironically, it hadn't Townies who got her back. It had been the Fingers, and rescuing the town's Matron had been the furthest thing from their mind.

"Serena's family has been in Sodaville for close to two centuries," he began. "They built the plants in Montana that processed soda ash ... or, sodium bicarbonate, or something like that. I'm no chemist. They made a fortune, bought up hundreds of land claims from other wanna-be miners and prospectors and ranchers after they failed, and -- obviously -- established Sodaville."

Without taking his eyes off Brantley, Donovan reached a hand up and tapped a finger on an old black and white photograph in a hand carved wood frame. It was from the late 19th century and showed a man and woman and their six children standing before a simple log cabin.

"For all their money," Donovan continued, "this was the only home they ever lived in, until Serena's great grandfather built the one we're in now. Generation after generation, they were ... what's that word...? benevolent? Yeah. They owned almost all of the town for a hundred and fifty years. With most people today ... well, until the Collapse, I mean ... people like that would have used their power ... mis-used their power, to make sure others did what they asked, when they asked, how they asked."

He shook his head, a pleased smile spreading on his lips. "But not Serena's people. No one in this town ever went hungry. No one ever found themselves on the streets 'cause they couldn't pay their rent or mortgage. When the mine was tapped out just after World War Two, Serena's grandfather spent his entire fortune on building new businesses ... on infrastructure. By the time he was done creating a job for every man -- and woman -- who wanted one, he was broke."

Donovan's voice cracked a bit, and his eyes almost looked like they were going to glaze over but he blinked the moisture away. "That was when the tables turned ... and the people of Sodaville began taking care of Serena and her family instead."

He looked past Brantley for a moment, up that stairs and out the tiny circular window at the end of the hall. The sky beyond was as blue and blue could be, making him want to take a walk with this young beauty and show her the town he'd never wanted to ever leave.

"Me, well..." he continued, standing up and slinging over his shoulder the small caliber rifle that had previously been leaning into the corner of the landing. "I owe everything to Serena. Enough said."

He jerked a thumb toward the descending steps and offered with a smile, "If you promise not to make me put a leash on you, I'll take you for a walk ... show you the town ... maybe introduce you to some Cribbage players." Before she could even contemplate what she wanted to do, Donovan made it known, "You're not going to the meeting."

He stepped back a bit and swept a hand toward the stairs in invitation.

***************​

Brett and Jade:

"Can't fall asleep, My Captain," Jade told Brett as she passed by, "You have to get ready to go negotiate a new world in an hour. And I need a shower."

Brett couldn't help but ogle the beauty's round ass as she headed away from him. He'd never noticed that little sway in it before and wondered whether he was only noticing it now because he was exceptionally horny for her or because it was being accentuated for his viewing pleasure. Either way, he enjoyed it.

"I'd offer to wash your back for you," he said, again laying his head back and closing his eyes, "if I weren't five seconds away from passing out."



He flinched awake at Jade's voice and realized that he had, indeed, passed out. He seemed to recall her replying to his suggestive comment, but couldn't honestly be sure whether he'd only imagined it or not. He looked her over now that she was freshly washed and cleanly dressed. A smile spread on his face, which -- like his ogle of her shapely figure -- Brett didn't try in the least to hide.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Brantley listened intently as Donovan told the story of what amounted to the history of the town. She did not suspect he was making it up, though in a world where nobody was to be trusted by rule, she allowed that he was. But the emotion in his tone and the rather benevolent way he addressed her suggested her instincts were correct. At the same time, she wondered if the others were okay. She could not think of any time in the last several years when she had been away from them for so long. As Donovan continued, she scanned her emotions to try to identify just what sort of person this man was. Was he kind, or simply kind because he had been so instructed? Was he violent? He was in a job that required him to carry a gun at all times, but until he snatched hers earlier in the day, she had been too. She wondered if he had any family, finding it interesting that his story was Serena's story and it was as if he had magically appeared from the ether only today to protect her and guard Brantley herself. The story raised so many more questions than it answered, though she did not feel any immediate threat. And no sooner had she realized that, did she wonder if he, too, would at some point rape her as she had been so often warned others would, usually by the man who did so as he did so, while calling himself her singular protector. She wondered if the threat to girls like her was overstated, though a few gentle moments with a stranger would not be enough to take her far down a path of any such idea worthy of putting her guard down. She simply wondered why Donovan said he owed Serena, or anyone else and, in doing so, she found she did not fear him. She found him intriguing and didn't know how attractive she found him until a tiny jolt ran through her at a single offhand comment he made.

"If you promise not to make me put a leash on you," he said. She felt the words along her spine. Her mind flashed to her brother's hands pressing hers into the dirt. "I'll take you for a walk," Donovan continued. "Show you the town. Maybe introduce you to some Cribbage players."

A leash? Brantley thought, the word bringing a tingling chill along her spine. Hm.

"I'd like that," she said, vaguely as she began walking down the stairs, expecting her new keeper to follow and uphold his promise, absent his strange desire to play cards.

**********​

"I'd offer to wash your back for you," Jade heard Brett say. Having trained and worked in gyms for years, often as the sole female, it was an offer she was not unfamiliar with and it was one that she had never accepted.

"Yeah, yeah," she called as she closed the door to her room, thinking she would not be offended by Brett's, or someone's, hands on her body, had he decided to press the issue. Since he hadn't, she managed to find some simple soap and shampoo, and some discarded towels, then she opted to shower alone. Not long after, she had managed to shave herself with an old razor pack she kept in her bag, then enjoyed just enough lotion the previous owner had left in the medicine cabinet to moisten her legs, stomach, chest, arms, and face, feeling as renewed as she had in months. She felt, for the first time in a long time, grateful. She closed her eyes as she faced the mirror and let her mind dissolve into a peaceful black, eliminating the stress, strife, and strain from her world as it remained in the larger, real world beyond. It was a trick she had learned in jiu jitsu training, which brought her an eerie calm whenever she called upon it, in battle or otherwise. No more than two minutes later, she stepped from the bathroom and into the room where she kept her pack. She pulled on some clean, charcoal colored cargos, and an intense, blood red sleeveless shirt that rose high to her neck, fitting her form perfectly. She reached behind her pack and pulled her holster from the ground, wrapping it around her thigh, where it was most comfortable, adjusting it just so that it remained within reach at a moment's need. She tied her hair in a ponytail once more, an act that over the years she had trained her mind as the signal that it was time to do work, and when she was done, she pulled the gun from it's case and opened its chamber. She rotated it a single time, making sure all seven doses were present, before shutting it again and returning it to its place. She would accompany Brett as his number two at the meeting, and everything was in place for her to come strong. Jade stepped from her room, her heavy boots marching alone with a purpose. Stepping from the hallway, she saw Brett passed out on the filthy couch.

"Hey, Montana!" She shouted across the apartment, using the name she had used for him since the Five had conquered a band of marauders that attacked them not seven months after they had formed up.

"You don't rule Montana," the band's leader had said to her, as he lowered his rifle at her face after he had squared off with her in the woods, her gun out of reach having fallen from her hand after she leapt from a lookout in an effort to evade capture by a chasing enemy. She had not seen Brett step into the pursuer's way and disarm him with a knife to the throat before dropping behind the man ready to shoot Jade, ending her days.

"I AM Montana," were the last words Brett made sure the man heard as he fell to a heap, his throat gaping. The Five had sometimes used it, mostly mocking their leader, the only way to keep his head in check. As soon as the man had dropped, Jade's hands went to her stomach as she doubled over laughing.

"Really?" She had said, never showing signs of fear from the imminent situation, only able to ridicule her team member. "I AM Montana?" She laughed the entire way to camp and proceeded to tell the story three more times to the rest of the group. Julio and Kim had rarely enjoyed such a laugh themselves. Now, she used it to startle him awake.

"Let's go!" She said. "Get up!" She saw the sly look on his face. "WHAT are you grinning at? You have twenty minutes."

 

[DM2015]

Donovan, Brantley, and The Walk

Donovan let Brantley lead the way down the stairs and out of the house. It was her first test, in a way: she had a lead on him and, given the right moves, could probably get away from easily if she wanted to rejoin the Outsiders or, at the least, her brother.

He was pleased -- and relieved -- that she waited for him on the porch. He gestured to the north, saying, "This way."

They took their time, heading up Main Street past businesses and homes that were, in most cases, damaged or totally destroyed. Regardless of whether there was anything left, Donovan seemed to have a story about every structure, with some of those stories relating directly to his life in Sodaville.

Every few minutes, a Townie or small group of Townies would either pass by or look to the pair. The reaction from his fellow citizens varied, from smiles, waves, and polite greetings to suspicious stares and lowly grumbled words of disapproval.

They came to the library which -- with the exceptions of the smashed in windows -- was intact and without major damage. Donovan reached out to take Brantley's elbow, gently turning her toward the ten ascending steps as he said, "You need to see this."

Inside, most of the shelves were still filled with books, most of them looking like they dated back to the mid-20th century or older. There was a bank of flat screen computers, obviously unused as they were protected by a sheet of transparent plastic film tossed over them. Donovan again ventured a touch to Brantley's elbow, saying, "Over here."

They entered what had once been a study room. The walls and several newer white or older chalk boards were crowded with drawings, flow charts, specs, calculations, and more. Donovan moved over to one in particular that had a hand written, dated flow chart. He smiled to Brantley and said with pride, "Sodaville's future."

Looking about the vast information, it would soon become obvious to the young woman that what was before her was a plan to rebuild the town and reclaim a bit of civilization. There were plans to turn the old grain mill water wheel into an electrical power generator. There was a topographical map laying out a plan to increase water flow to the wheel, as well as to a reservoir that would then be used to water crops where previously only grass for stock had grown before.

It was quite visionary, and it was obvious that Donovan was proud to be a part of it. As he looked at Brantley, it was also obvious that he was hoping she would want to be a part of this new future.

**********​

Brett and Jade:

"Let's go!" Jade told Brett, even as his subconscious was informing his conscious of the smart assed comment with which she'd woken him. He wore a huge grin on his face as he recalled the incident so long ago. He still didn't know exactly what had been going on in his mind when he'd spoken those words. The fight with the Montana Republic Guard, followed by the never ending hassles from Raiders and Local Militias had simply gotten to Brett, and by the time that moment arrived, he was ready to think of himself as the only man in Montana who mattered.

"Get up!" she ordered, causing him to rise, stretch, and arm himself again. When she saw the sly smile filling his face, she asked, "WHAT are you grinning at? You have twenty minutes."

He didn't want to go there, so he only answered, "I was wondering whether when we got back from the meeting you'd wash my back ... or stick a knife in it for some of the things I've done over the years."

He laughed as she responded, leading her out the door and down to the street. When they got across the Town Square and were just across the street from City Hall, Brett stopped. The noise from inside was spilling out, and the voices weren't all of a positive nature. He looked to Jade as he gripped his rifle tightly by his side, saying, "If we don't come out of this alive ... I'm going to wish I had washed your back."

Inside, Brett found exactly what the noise had prepared him for: a very emotional debate that seemed to be about two or three of the key topics all at once. Serena was standing on a dais before the Townsfolk, which Brett was shocked to find now numbered almost 50 heads. He murmured to Jade, "They're comin' out of the woodwork."

"Please, PLEASE!" she called out, repeating it again, then a third time. Once the volume died to a manageable level, she told them, "It's just a temporary measure that is aimed at ensuring the long time security of our town, please, you have to understand."

Brett realized that Serena was talking about the very specific demand that the Townies give up their guns. And despite the fact that he only saw maybe a half a dozen fire arms amongst them, it was obvious that the Townies weren't interested in being disarmed to the least.

"Cover me," Brett whispered comically out of the corner of his mouth to Jade. "I'm going in."

He moved forward slowly, carefully picking a path through the crowd that would lead him toward the front and to Serena. She caught sight of him halfway through yet another take on the subject and went quiet, giving him a desperate expression.

He was almost to the front when a man hollered from nearby, "There he is! There's the son-of-a-bitch who wants to take our guns!"

As Brett continued forward, the Townies all about him began talking and complaining and accusing. And although there were a couple of dozen voices aimed at him in anger, it was the voice of the man who'd first spotted him that he heard once more asking with fury, "Who the fuck are you that you think you can do a better job of protecting us than--"

Before the man could finish, a brave soul reached out to push Brett. He saw the hand coming and stepped aside, causing the man to get a bit off balance. In a swift move, Brett grasped the man's hand, spun him, put a knee to the back of the wanna-be assailant's legs, and dropped him to his knees with his hand twisted in a disabling move that, ironically, he'd learned from Jade and not his Army Hand-to-Hand combat instructor.

As the same time that he'd been dropping this man to his knees, Brett had been jerking his .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol from his waist holster, leveling it directly into the face of the loud mouth who'd only been two feet away from Brett at this point.

In an instant, with the exception of a shocked gasp from many of those assembled, the entire crowd went silent. Brett stared through his weapon's sight at the man for a moment, then answered the question posed. "Who the fuck I am ... who the fuck we are ... are the people who slipped into the camp of the people who raided your little town ... killed them all ... rescued your own people, including your noble leader ... then brought them all back here, safe and sound, after you had been unable to do it yourself."

Brett lifted his finger to the hammer of his weapon and returned it to the safety position, then brought it back to his chest as he continued, "Who we are..."

He looked to his right, and after the sound of shuffling on wooden steps, some of the Townies followed Brett's gaze to find Kim mounting the dais, his rifle close to his chest, ready for use but not pointing at anyone in particular. He then looked to his right, just as the side door to the building clanged shut and the crowd caught sight of Julio, whose newly acquired Raider AK-47 was indeed pointed at the crowd. Finally he looked to the back of the assembly to Jade, to whom he smirked a bit, wondering whether she'd been concerned that she might actually have to cover him after all.

He continued, "...are the people who will lay down our lives to protect you ... your town ... your children ... your future."

"They've already lost one of their own saving us!" Serena cut in. "Their comrade was killed saving me--"

That wasn't entirely true, of course, as none of the Fingers had known of the existence of Serena at the time, nor had Victor been killed by one of the Raiders. But the white lie seemed fitting for what the town leader was trying to accomplish.

"--and I think we need to remember that! These people came to our aid out of their own free will and goodness. Now, all they are asking for is a little cooperation."

"And our guns!" the loud mouth reminded her.

"You've already seen how volatile things can be!" Serena continued. "It is so easy for someone to get hurt by accident ... to get killed by accident. You saw what happened when the Raiders thought we'd killed one of their comrades."

"They killed my boy!" a woman called, followed by a series of testimonials as to just what the Raiders had done to the town before leaving. "We gave them what they wanted and--"

"It was an accident that led to all of those deaths," Serena reminded them. "An accident that wouldn't have happened if we had only left our weapons in our homes and done as the Raiders asked."

The conversation went on for several more minutes, during which Brett helped the disarmed man to his feet, shook his hand, and ascended the steps to stand next to Serena. He reassured them that he and his were not a dictator or raiders, as well as promised that they would get their weapons back in time, as they were trained to protect their own community. He had one final weapon -- figuratively -- in his arsenal.

"My people can't protect you with the weapons and ammo we currently have. We need what you have to do our jobs. You can protect Sodaville better by giving us your weapons and ammo than by keeping them yourselves."

There was some more discussion, and it became obvious that the tide was turning their way. Suddenly, a man emerged from the crowd, approached the half-moon table around which the City Council once had assembled, and laid a deer rifle upon it. A moment later, another man repeated the gesture with a shotgun, emptying a half dozen rounds out onto the surface as well.

One after another, Townies came to the table and offered up what they had. Brett was shocked to find that where he thought he'd only seen a half dozen weapons or so, there turned out to be more than two dozen rifles, shotguns, pistols, and even cross bows...

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Brantley stepped down the stairs, through the still-rather nice foyer area, and immediately into the front of the house. She had every intention of getting as close to City Hall as she could, without inviting security action by Donovan, but being unfamiliar with the area she would be cautious. She waited for him on the porch, and he quickly appeared, weapon still in hand. She found it a bit unsettling, being out in the open with an armed man who was not one of the Five Fingers. In the past, such a situation would no doubt be dangerous. She wondered just how safe she was now.

"This way," he said, pointing her in the direction he would direct her personal tour. The town looked like many small towns in the United States, before the end of the United States, though with a certain degree of damage and age upon it since the beginning of the collapse. Much of the area was completely destroyed, a sense of sadness and lost hovering over the stillness of the rubble. Donovan told her tales of various grocery stores, pawn shops, and the place some famous singer from the 1950s had stayed when he was in town a single occasion, though she was not sure in the least who Buddy Holly had been. Donovan seemed to come alive telling the stories, however, and she listened with a smile as the two walked along. She noticed the eyes of the townspeople looking at her.

"Are we safe out here?" She asked, though not even registering his answer, since safety was a concept she had not been familiar with for years anyway. Her mind went to what might come of her if something happened and the town took action against the Five, or if Brett got cross ways with Serena. Heaven knew in his cranky, dour, post-world state that he seemed to maintain, it was not unthinkable. As the horrible visions of the town's survivors turning on them, of her being turned over to mobs of men to enjoy before she were killed, of her being strung up along the bridge into town, along with her friends, as some sort of wartime warning to entrants to be wary, she also had a vision of Donovan, her current keeper, being ordered to turn on her as well, perhaps using her himself, or simply killing her upon command. She cautioned herself, as she listened to his jovial tales, to be careful and to not trust him easily, or become too cordial. Their arrangement, which she never agreed to, was strictly the business of security. Suddenly, she felt his hand on her arm.

"You need to see this," he said.

"What is it?" Brantley asked, following him up the stairs and into a library. There, she studied the charts and posters that depicted the future of the town. She feigned interest and encouragement, seeing the hope in Donovan's eyes. She remained skeptical of any such future world, for her, him, or anyone else, yet did not reveal her cynicism. There was no use breaking the man's heart. At the same time, she couldn't get her prior thoughts of her situation and his guardianship out of her head. As she looked over a series of maps and drawings on a wall on the far end from where Donovan stood, she suddenly turned and faced him. Her voice was low, measured, neither joyous nor fearful. Simply inquiring.

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked. "I mean...if something happens and I don't get to leave. Will it be you who does it?"

**********

Jade rolled her eyes at Brett's innuendo. It was her stock response, though after it was said, and the entire way to the meeting, she entertained the idea.

"If we don't come out of this alive," Brett said, sidling up beside her on the way. "I'm going to wish I had washed your back."

"Get in line," she said, not exaggerating. She heard voices as they approached the meeting hall. "Looks like we have trouble." Jade scanned the room and saw clusters of townspeople, many irate, many carrying weapons of any variety, and nearly all of them disputing the authority of anyone but Serena.

"They're comin' out of the woodwork," she heard Brett say, low in her ear. She scanned the room, but did not speak out loud the first thing she noticed, for fear it would set Brett off and cause a lot of danger.

I don't see Brantley. She remained calm, walking slowly to a marble pillar near the back of the hall as Brett approached Serena at the dais, and leaning against it. Serena plead to the group that the situation involving the Five was temporary and that things would be different in the future. As the crowd grew more restless, Jade placed a hand just alongside her hip, ready to pull her gun from her its holster, her eyes scanning further for any signs of trouble. The crowd became belligerent as Brett took the podium. Jade saw one man lunge and shove Brett, who quickly took him to the ground, eliciting gasps and a few shrieks from the people surrounding them. Jade now placed her hand on the butt of her pistol, while at the same time smiling.

You son of a bitch, she thought, realizing Brett had used the same move she had used on him the time he had tackled her in his parents' farmland when the collapse had occurred. Since that time, he had asked her to show it to him, and she had. He was now just showing off. She admired his work. She felt a jolt run through her body as he pulled his four-five and immediately locked the scene down. He gave a speech to the group establishing just who they were, and Jade found the dramatic effect corny when Kim and Julio made their appearance, two sentries, dutifully behind their leader. As Brett acknowledged them, then her, the crowd's eyes followed. She felt a dozen pair of eyes riveted on her, still leaning on the pillar, hand on her pistol, unflinching, never out-of-command. Brett's tone turned harsh, at one time, threatening one of the citizens with his gun, backing him off. It was a turning point. Serena chimed in and the crowd slowly began to crack, then ultimately agreed to a resolution that left the Five overseeing security and Serena maintaining her stature and place within the community, if not in complete command. The balance of power seemed tenuous.

Jade watched the meeting unfold, largely in favor to the Five. She was intrigued by Brett's ability to command and work the situation to their best interests. She found it attractive as hell, pursing her lips, as the townspeople began, one by one, placing their weapons before him and the others. As they did, Julio, Kim, and herself closed nearby, watching the gathering of the guns. The crowd dispersed thereafter and four of the five remained in the room, along with Serena and one of her guards.

"Would you look at this?" Kim asked, picking up a double barrel sawed off shotgun and a .45 pistol with a long barrel. "We're gonna be a force now." Jade stepped forward and picked out a .40 caliber Sig Sauer P250 and promptly checked its magazine, finding it full, before chambering it, and shoving it promptly inside her belt at her lower back. She also found another .40 caliber Smith & Wesson MP pistol in a holster, which she began attaching around her hip opposite of where she kept her 686. Julio seemed to pick up every weapon, before putting it back down.

"Would you load up already and quit fingering them?" Jade said, prompting Julio to make a dismissive grunt, and strap an assault rifle over each shoulder, crossing them across his back, before taking a pump action shotgun and a 9mm pistol. Lost in the collection of their new stash was the location of the fifth member of The Five.

"We gonna take something for Brant?" Kim asked, prompting Jade to give a darting glance to Brett, wondering if he had already noticed what she had, that Serena did not bring her to the meeting, which meant either she didn't want to come, or was forbidden from it.

"Grab the rest of these and let's get them locked up in the apartments," she interjected to Julio, trying to change the topic, hoping it worked, as she took several long guns and a crossbow in her arms, ready to move everything back to the apartment and settle away for the night.

 

[DM2015]

City Hall:

"We gonna take something for Brant?" Kim asked.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brett caught Jade looking his direction and knew she had the same thought that he'd had since arriving: where was his sister.

"Grab the rest of these," she said, "and let's get them locked up in the apartments."

"No," Brett countered. When the four looked to him he casually instructed, "Take them to the Sheriff's Department. Corner of City Hall, out the door to the right."

"But..." started Kim, "don't we want them with us ... secured?"

"They'll be secured," Brett said as he approached the table, picking up one clip only to find the caliber wrong, then picking up a second on and after inspecting it, stuffed it into one of his empty belt pouches. "If we are going to be a part of this community ... if we are going to be their security ... their law and order..."

Julio cut in, quickly mimicking the Doink, doink sound from the popular television show of that name, causing Kim to back slap his belly and laugh.

Brett couldn't help but smile before continuing, "...we have to start thinking like cops, not militia. We'll set up shop in the Sheriff's Department ... secure the weapons in the gun locker ... work with the Townies on--"

Serena cleared her throat behind Brett in a way that indicated her dislike for the term. She'd overheard him and the others use it a couple of times on both the march to town and the initial arrival in it, and she'd taken an immediate dislike to it.

Brett continued, "We need to work with the citizens ... on issues of law and order--" Without looking up he pointed a finger Julio's direction and, as expected, got a rerun of the classic sound then continued without missing a beat, "--and developing trust."

He gave them a moment to consider what he was instructing, then gave them an only half serious gesture of impatience, saying, "C'mon, get it done."

As the two men -- and, after his boss suggested helping, Serena's man -- began filling their hands with weapons and other paraphernalia, Brett reached out to take Jade by the elbow, directing her away from the others. He whispered to her softly, "This town needs a Sheriff."

********​

Donovan and Brantley:

"Are you going to kill me?"

Donovan didn't immediately understand what Brantley was getting at and simply stared at her with a blank expression.

"I mean...if something happens and I don't get to leave," she continued. "Will it be you who does it?"

His eyes widened in shock and he quickly countered, "No ... no, oh my God no, Brantley. I'm not going-- No one is going to kill you! Why would you--"

He stopped in midsentence, remembering that every second of every minute that Brantley had been with him, he'd been carrying a gun and -- after he'd taken hers -- she hadn't. He quickly pulled out the clip of the semi-automatic deer rifle and set it atop a glass display case filled with antique books and other library-related memorabilia from the 19th century. With the skill that demonstrated he did this often, he tilted the rifle in a specific angle and kicked the shell out of the barrel. It flipped in the air before him, and he reached out to snatch it.

"No one is going to kill you, Brantley," he repeated, as he slung the rifle over one shoulder. He stuffed the bullet into his shirt pocket and the clip into a pouch on his belt. "I'm just ... I'm just supposed to keep you safe and secure. And ... by secure ... I mean ... well..."

Donovan realized that he couldn't explain his task to her because, essentially, he was exactly what Brantley had presumed him to be earlier: her jailor. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. He didn't know what he could say to make her understand that he was no threat to her. There was only one thing he could do, but he'd been instructed not to do it.

"If you want to go to the meeting at City Hall, I'll take you," he said. "I'll get in big trouble ... but if it's what you want..."

Donovan was being straight with her, and if Brantley chose to walk the two blocks to the building from which the Townies -- citizens -- were now disbursing, he would obediently step in beside her and follow...

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Jade stoked a fire in the small, corner fireplace inside the apartment, before retreating to her room, stripping down to some shorts and a half t-shirt over just a pair of simple, black panties, finally as comfortable as she had been in several months, perhaps a year. She returned to the living area and refilled Brett's glass from the bottle of rum and then poured one of her own, then walked across the room and sat on the still rather musty couch, leaving his glass for him to pick up on his own.

"You think we can hold this place," She asked, putting her feet up on the coffee table, her lean legs stretched out before her. "Sheriff?" She raised her eyebrows as she took a sip from her glass, watching for his response. Before he could give one, she continued her thoughts. "I mean, those people had a lot of guns. I don't think we got them all and even if we did, someone comes in from outside and it's the outside world against, five of us." She remembered Brantley was somewhere in what amounted to captivity. "Four of us." She shrugged. She turned her head toward the window, only some mini blinds between them and the town below. The only light beyond was a few tiny bolts pumped up by generators running on kerosene, signaling the town's few remaining 'wealthy' patrons. Her thoughts lingered in the room and she looked back at Brett, sensing something that could not easily be pinned down. She suspected she knew what it was. She took another drink, daring herself to raise the issue with him.

"You worried about your sister?" She finally asked. "I think she'll be okay. Serena seems to be acting in good faith. As long as we protect the people, show them we are with them, she'll be back here in no time." She took another drink. "You'll have to kick me out." She forced a small grin. She felt a stirring for Brett, but also knew that he would never be his sister, for better or ill. Perhaps she wanted to be anything other than Brantley. Or perhaps that was exactly what she wanted to be. She wasn't quite sure of their relationship. At the moment, she didn't care. Brantley wasn't there, and she was.

"Come here, Sheriff" Jade said, patting the couch beside her. "Talk to me."

********

Brantley thought for a moment and decided to build trust, rather than fight a battle that need not be had. She knew her brother. She knew he would command the meeting and not enter any agreement that did not suit his people, and that included her. There was no reason for the remaining four of The Five to engage with the townspeople and it would secure their immediate situation to do as Serena asked and protect the town. Why disrupt that?

"No thanks," she said, in response to Donovan's offer to take her to the meeting. "But I do want to see my brother tomorrow." She left it at that. She gave a last look at the area around her, happy to have been out of harm's way and off some camp road to nowhere, even for a few hours. She thought about what might be for dinner. It had been a while since a meal had not included some roasted varmint or simple plants plucked from the earth, steamed over a smoky camp fire, leaving her hungry for the next twenty-four hours.

"Let's go eat," she said, committed to returning to dinner with Serena.

 

[DM2015]

Brett was standing before a wall case filled with books -- mostly early 20th century issues of a historical nature -- when Jade said, "Come here, Sheriff. Talk to me."

He looked to her with a smile, then crossed to retrieve the drink she'd poured for him. He studied her over the top of the tumbler as he walked slowly to her. He didn't hide the direction of his gaze, downward from her beautiful face to her shapely breasts to her lean, strong legs. He hadn't often seen her in so little clothing before, and seeing her like this -- all cleaned up and smelling like soap and shampoo, a strange odor indeed -- and particularly in a setting like this, with a soft couch beneath her firm ass and a bed only a dozen steps away, was causing him to have thoughts about her that until this day had only been whimsical fantasies.

He didn't sit next to her, butt on cushion, but instead set a knee on the couch beside her so that he was facing her as he said, smirking, "I, um ... think there's been a misunderstanding. I have no intention of being Sheriff. I'm not the man for the job. It would reek of dictatorship. No ... I'm thinking there might be a better candidate for the job."

He stared directly into her Jade's eyes with a knowing expression as he again lifted the tumbler to his mouth, sipping at the strong drink.

********​

"But I do want to see my brother tomorrow," Brantley told Donovan.

"You will," he said quickly. "I'll make sure of it. Breakfast maybe."

He didn't know whether his comment had inspired her, but Brantley's next words were, "Let's go eat."

Donovan stepped back and waved a hand in an after you gesture. They didn't get very far before he reached out to take her by the elbow and say, "Dinner's at Mabel's."



They entered the restaurant to find it packed with Citizens, most of whom looked toward the entrance and went quiet or whispered to others nearby at the sight of the unfamiliar face.

"We serve a communal dinner here every night," Donovan explained. "Less waste ... better selection, variety ... good company."

He put his hand to Brantley's back and urged her inside. A few people smiled or greeted Brantley, including a pair who had been at the Raiders camp and -- despite the Town's overall feeling that they were being hijacked -- considered Brantley and her mates like heroes in their own right.

There were some dirty looks as well, but those faces generally turned away when Donovan set his own gaze upon them to let them know that this was neither the time nor place to make a scene.

"Sit here!" a boy's voice sounded from a few booths away. A woman slid out and gestured the pair toward them. She, too, had been at the Raider's camp, and -- while Brantley might have though her contribution slight -- at the time the Five Fingers had attacked, she'd been in the bushes about to be raped by the man into whose chest Brantley had put three bullets.

Donovan urged Brantley over, saying, "This is Mary ... and her boy, David."

"Hi!" David said with youthful excitement, scooting to make space for the stranger.

"Mary, David, this is Brantley," Donovan went on. He looked to his Charge with a reassuring expression, urging her to sit as he said, "Brantley, Mary is Sodaville's resident County Fair Apple Pie champion, six years running ... back when we had a county fair, I mean. And David ... well, he likes to eat apple pie."

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"Me?" Jade asked in response to his suggestion about the Sheriff job. "No way," she took another drink. "I don't want it. I'd rather have that person on my side when I have to take down some Townie who won't put his weapon down when I tell him to. If I'm the Sheriff and have to do that, then that person gets executed." She thought for a moment and grinned. "Make that guy you took down the Sheriff." She took another sip of her drink. "That was my move by the way," she looked up at him, challenging him to deny it to be the truth. The moment became quiet and she patted the seat beside her again. She looked at him and asked a second time. "You didn't answer me. Are you worrying about Brantley?"

********

Brantley smiled at the thought of an apple pie contest. In months and years on the road to a safe haven from the strife of the new world order, she could not remotely have imagined anything quite so...normal.

"Congratulations," she told the woman. She looked back at Donovan. "How do you all do it?" She continued before letting him answer. "We have spent every day walking through what is mostly a wasteland, hunting for food, sometimes being forced to take it, barely finding fresh water to drink or bathe in without fear of contamination or infection, fighting off ambush after ambush and...." her voice trailed off as she hesitated to mention what was more than regular, consistent rapes at the hands of her own brother, now the town's de facto guard and a putative leader. "And other stuff. An apple pie contest?" She shook her head and took a sip of water from the glass that someone had placed before her. "You're all very..." she hesitated to say the word, afraid of insulting them since they no doubt did not feel this way. "....lucky." She looked around the room and did not notice Serena. Thinking nothing of it, she turned her attention back to Donovan. "What, exactly am I supposed to do?" She asked, casting a glance to the woman and her son across the table. "I mean......tomorrow? Do we have a schedule, or do I have to stay in my room for some period of time?" She turned to the citizens again. "I'm a ward of Serena," she explained. "They won't let me see my brother or my friends." She glanced at Donovan to see what he would say in response to her tweaking of him. "I'm basically a prisoner." She teased with a grin. "You all should never fight for your freedom because you have to get bossed around by this guy."

 

[DM2015]

"Make that guy you took down the Sheriff," Jade said, sipping at her drink. "That was my move by the way."

Brett smiled, adding playfully, "But I make it look so good."

There was a moment of quiet in which they simply stared at one another. Brett's thought began to swing back from business to pleasure just as Jade again patted the seat beside her and said, "You didn't answer me. Are you worrying about Brantley?"

Brett looked back to the woman's face, then away toward a random spot, a window beyond which the clear blue sky could be seen, as it turned out. He couldn't ogle the woman he was considering trying to fuck while the woman he regularly fucked -- his sister -- was no longer under his constant watch and care ... and control.

Jade and the others didn't understand how Brett could have so easily given up possession of his sister. Ironically, it had been very easy. And amazingly, it had actually been his idea. Serena hadn't asked for a hostage: Brett had offered one. The town's leader had asked How do I know we can trust you? and, after just a short moment of hesitation, Brett had very casually replied You can keep my sister close by ... like one of those Medieval royalty hostage trades.

Serena's response had been twofold: first, she corrected him on the time period, telling him that such familial trades had died out long before that; and second, she agreed and -- as the others had seen -- stuck her hand out to Brett and shook in agreement.

"No," Brett said softly, looking back to Jade. "I'm not worrying about her. She'll be safe. Serena would never let her come to any harm, and ... well, it might be good for Brantley. She could use some new scenery ... meet some new faces ... prettier mugs than mine and Kim's and 'specially Julio's."

His lips spread in a flirtatious smirk as he looked into Jade's freshly cleaned, beautiful face, not at all unaware that he hadn't mentioned her amongst those not so pretty faces.

After he sipped at his own drink, then downed the rest of it, he lowered a bit closer to her in the couch and stressed, "I need you to be Sodaville's Sheriff. What do I need to do to convince you that you're the right person for the job?"

********​

"Congratulations," Brantley told Mary. She looked back at Donovan, asking, "How do you all do it?"

She described a typical day for the Five Fingers, to which Donovan replied with a bit of sorrow in his voice, "We did pretty well, until that last attack, of course. We were luckier than most communities. Most towns, people don't know-- didn't know their neighbors. Everybody spent their days with their smart phones pressed to their faces ... their remotes in their hands, clicking through nine hundred channels."

"Not Sodaville," Mary said, the pride in her voice evident, even after the Collapse and the recent attacks.

Donovan went on to explain how the town had always maintained a strong sense of community and family. "When everything went to hell--"

Mary cleared her throat, and when Donovan looked her way, she casted her eyes down toward little David, who had immediately shoved his hand out, palm open. Donovan rolled his eyes, stood, and dug into his trouser pocket. He pulled out a coin -- that one day he would explain to Brantley -- and pressed it into the kid's hand. He explained to Brantley, "No cursing."

Mary jumped in quickly, telling Brantley about how Serena, her now deceased sister, and their respective husbands had worked with other community minded citizens to bring the town even closer, telling her about the communal meals -- they offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner to anyone willing to contribute food or labor -- and about the communal farm and ranch and about the communal this and that and what not.

"We did well for a long time," Donovan cut back in. "And we kept it all secure, not just with guns but with trade and, when necessary, donations. It's easier to sent a trouble maker packin' without a fight if his belly and pack are full, so ... we did that."

Brantley looked around the room, then turned back to Donovan, asking, "What, exactly am I supposed to do? I mean......tomorrow? Do we have a schedule, or do I have to stay in my room for some period of time?"

She turned to Mary and David, explaining, "I'm a ward of Serena. They won't let me see my brother or my friends." She looked to Donovan. "I'm basically a prisoner. You all should never fight for your freedom because you have to get bossed around by this guy."

"I'm not bossy," Donovan said, his gaze diverted as his lips smiled.

"Yes you are," David said quickly. He looked to his mother and said with a begging tone, "Can--" He looked to Brantley, then David for help. He reminded David of the girl's name, and David again looked to his mother and begged, "Can Brantley play with me, can she? I'll show her the fishing hole and the water wheel, and we can..."

He continued to rattle off a long list of adventures that were fun for a boy half the age of the intended guest, his gaze moving between the three adults. Even as he was continuing, Donovan shrugged his shoulders to Brantley and explained, "Long as I stay with you..."

 

[DM2015]

(OOC: 2nd post in a row.)

Two hours ago:

Brett, Kim, and Julio -- accompanied by Serena and her man, Rufus -- packed the assortment of weapons out of City Hall, around the corner of the building, and into the Sheriff's Department. Another of the Townies -- Citizens, Brett had to remind himself -- was sitting behind a big desk and popped up quickly at the sight of the town's matriarch, a guilty expression on his face.

Serena waved him to relax, then made the introductions. "Carl, Brett. Brett, Carl."

As the men shook hands, Brett could sense the nervousness in the man's trembling hand. He didn't ask, instead continuing the introductions, "Kim ... Julio."

Carl only nodded politely from beyond the desk. When Brett glanced to the man's uniform -- a rather worn yet official looking Deputy's uniform -- Carl quickly explained with a tentative voice, "Just filling in. We lost our Sheriff in the raid. Shot dead ... executed ... fuckin' bastards."

"Carl," Serena said softly. The man apologized. Serena had spoken only briefly with Brett on the walk to Sodaville about the future of the town's security, which had been the reason for his comment to Jade a few minutes earlier about the town needing a Sheriff. Now -- trying to show due respect to the nervous man standing near her -- she explained in more detail, "Security has always been the purview or the Sheriff, his Deputies, and the Perimeter Patrol. Sodaville's success through the years was always based upon law and order."

Her expression faded toward the more somber as she continued, "We did very well compared to most of the region ... until those ... what did you call'em, Raiders...? Until they came to town, we'd been on the verge of reclaiming civilization. They ... well ... you know what happened."

"I don't want to be Sheriff," Carl said suddenly, as if answering a question he was desperately hoping someone would ask. "I just--" He blushed a bit, then finished, "I just like the uniform."

"Why don't you check with Double P," Serena suggested, to which Carl nodded. He shook Brett's hand again, thanking him for being there, nodded to the other Fingers, and headed out to find the Perimeter Patrols, adjusting the too-big utility belt as he went.

Brett caught Serena's eye and gestured casually to the gun on Carl's waist.

"Carl," she called, crossing to meet him near the door. Without asking, she unbuckled the belt and told him, "We're going to inventory everything today. You'll get this back."

He donned a disappointed look, which Brett expected. But the reason Brett had presumed was behind the expression was 180 degrees off as Carl said, "Do I have to have it?"

"No," Serena reassured him, sending him on his way. Once he was gone, Serena looked to Brett with a smile. "His daddy was a City Cop in Butte. Killed during the Collapse ... during a riot."

She, too, shook Brett's hand, then Kim's and Julio's, saying, "We truly are glad you are here. We're putting our safety into your hands. I ... I'm a pretty good judge of character ... and I trust you. So long as I trust you, my people will, too."

Brett wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what. In less than 12 hours, they'd gone from being wanderers to being the law. How the fuck did that happen? he wondered. Serena told them about the dinner that would be ready in a couple of hours, thanked them once again, and departed.

Brett immediately turned to the other two men and ordered, "I want a full inventory. Every gun, every clip, every bullet. I want to know what's functioning, what isn't but can be repaired ... what's got a scope ... if anything is full auto, etcetera."

"Yes, Boss," Kim said, quickly smiling and correcting himself, "Yes, Sheriff."

Brett snorted, then turned to depart, saying, "I'm with Carl."

(OOC: This is where Brett goes to the apartment to join up with Jade.)

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Jade took a long pull from her drink and contemplated Brett's words. "I'm not sure you can convince me." She gave a long pause, digging in. "Why do I need to be Sheriff?" She turned to peer out the window, facing now away from him. "I can fight, and I can win. I can kill if I need to. But I'm tactical. You need someone who can see the bigger picture, who can organize. I'm not sure that's me." She turned and faced him again, then gave a sigh. "We've had a lot happen today," she looked up at him from where she sat. "Can we discuss this tomorrow?"

********

Brantley observed the precious little boy at her feet with a smile, as his mother and Brantley's guard told her various background on the town. It was an impressive community effort to keep the place functional, much effort of which had been undone by the recent raid. But it was interrupted by the little boy when Donovan attempted to defend himself from Brantley's suggestion that he was too in charge.

"I'm not bossy," Donovan had said.

"Yes you are," the boy said, capturing both Donovan and Brantley's gaze. The girl gave a wide smile when the boy asked his mother if she could play with him. She looked at Donovan for approval, suspecting he would not mistake the boy for any sort of terrorist threat.

"Long as I stay with you," he said.

"Long as I stay with you," Brantley mocked, before squatting down before the boy and picking him up, placing him squarely on her hip and carrying him with her. "Where is this water wheel?" She asked, and the boy gave a wide smile and pointed in the general direction into what looked to be something of a nature park. She sauntered in the same direction, and Donovan and the boy's mom followed them. No more than seventy five yards in, they came to the bank of a river, where it bent around a rock wall the river had no doubt carved into the earth over thousands of years. She set the boy down and as she did, he began to fuss, his journey not complete.

"We're not there yet," he said.

"Show me," Brantley encouraged. The boy began running only so fast as his little legs could run, and as they all followed around the bend, the massive, three story tall water wheel came into view. On one side, sat something of an aqueduct, the water the wheel pumped pushing out toward parts unknown, and likely the city itself. On the other sat a completely still lake, from which the wheel carried once it turned.

"Holy shit," Brantley said, at the majestic piece of engineering and the amazing idyllic view beyond the lake, all square in this tiny patch of what was certainly a war ravaged territory. "It's beautiful up here." No words were said as she listened to the water being scooped and served to the acquaduct. She noticed the sun was beginning to paint the water-colored sky a sharp series of orange and gold, overlaying the deep, royal blue. In the South, she could she the pale white ghost moon, which would be full in only a few hours. "It's breathtaking." Brantley stepped toward the ledge upon which they stood, looking over the broad, panoramic view. She closed her eyes and let the surroundings sink in, before taking a series of deep breaths. She turned around quickly and kneeled down to little David. "Would you like to be my date to dinner?" She asked, smiling. "I like you better than the one I have," she looked up and winked at Donovan, before brushing the wind swept hair from her eyes and returning her gaze to the boy. She noticed his somewhat ragged shirt and messy shoes. "And you dress better than he does." The boy's eyes turned to focus on Donovan too, not missing a thing due to his age.

"Yeah!" The boy agreed, to the date or to the statement of fashion, it didn't matter. Brantley stood up and took the boy to where his mother stood.

"He's safer than this one, too," she told Mary in a faux conspiratorial tone, indicating a fake concern about Donovan. She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "But," she said, opening a wider grin, "I suppose I'll keep him." As she did, she winked at the man with the rifle. "He seems nice," Brantley continued. "And he's cute, too."

 

[DM2015]

"Why do I need to be Sheriff?" Jade asked, listing all of her abilities and accomplishments as if they were contrary to the job for which Brett was suggesting her. She finished with, "Can we discuss this tomorrow?"

"No hurry," Brett said casually, his mind on other issues that involved the beauty. As he stood, he patted his hand upon her leg, a bit higher from her knee than could have been considered entirely just a friendly gesture, then said, "I'm going to see what all this fuss is about a real shower."

He shed his jacket and utility belt as he went, dropping them into an old chair near the door to his bedroom. As he began unbuttoning his shirt and disappeared around the corner, heading for his room's access to the shared bathroom, he feigned an inability to reach his back, saying, "Damn. I guess that part of me'll just have to remain dirty."

Out of sight, he chuckled just enough that Jade might be able to hear him.

********​

Seeing the scene at the lake, Brantley murmured, "Holy shit."

Without hesitation, little David's hand reached out, palm open, expectantly. Donovan laughed and began digging into his pocket, saying, "I got this one."

After he paid off Brantley's cursing debt, and sent the boy to the water's edge, he simply stood there was watched Brantley marvel at the scene.

"It's beautiful up here," she said, turning another direction to add, "It's breathtaking."

"Yes ... spectacular view," Donovan agreed.

Mary had just caught up with the man and -- catching him staring hard at Brantley -- whispered suggestively, "Which one do you mean?"

She chuckled as she continued onward, warning David about getting careless around the water. The three adults took in the scenery for a long moment, with David concentrating more on the bull frogs that again and again eluded him before being asked to accompany Brantley to dinner that night. The younger woman's teasing led to Mary's claim about her boy and Donovan, "He's safer than this one, too."

Donovan only shook his head, uncertain of how he was supposed to react, if at all. Brantley was a beautiful young woman, and he wouldn't at all mind spending some quality time naked with her. But he had a job -- protecting her while simultaneously keeping her secured -- and anything that looked like a romantic entanglement was simply not a good idea.

"But I suppose I'll keep him," he heard Brantley say, smiling and winking at Donovan. He feared he was going to blush, but the rush of warm blood through his face and neck only came when the girl added, "He seems nice ... and he's cute, too."

"Ewwww... David said, running ahead down the trail after his mother told him it was time to head back.

Donovan began to fall in step behind Brantley when he felt Mary tug his arm and gesture him to stay put. She instead took the new girl by the elbow and began leading her back toward Mabel's. As they walked, the local began touting even more wonderful things about the little town. Then, after staring at Brantley until the blond returned her gaze, Mary half peeked back over her shoulder at the distantly trailing Donovan and said suggestively, "Sodaville would be a wonderful place to put down roots ... maybe find work and play ... maybe, find a good man."

Her lips spread as wide as they probably could as she saw in Brantley's eyes that the girl knew exactly to what end she was leading.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Jade thought about the possibilities of being Sheriff. She did not like the idea of taking the position. She wondered if Brett even had authority alone to appoint her to it. She watched as he left the room, heading to clean up, which he severely needed. She rolled her eyes at his stupid joke, breaking into yet another grin as she shook her head. She wasn't a girl to simply give herself to a man. She wondered when he was going to figure that out. She finished her drink and put the glass away in the kitchen, then walked to the window to overlook the town once more. The sun was finally beginning to get lower on what had to have been the longest day the group had seen in a very long time. So much had changed and so much had been shuffled in the last twenty-four hours. For the first time, they had institutional control. They had an opportunity to build a peace, tentative though it may be. There was little going on in the streets below. She saw a few men and women sweeping the sidewalk in front of the shops on Main. She did not hear any alarms or see anything on fire, both common events in this new modern world. She thought about the people at the meeting earlier. There wasn't any she saw or recognized to be any threat to her, should they get out of hand. And she and her crew had keys to all the guns. Perhaps the job would not be hard. She still wasn't sure. She still preferred to be a one man warrior, freelancing when necessary to protect herself and only those to whom she was loyal. She sighed, unsure of what to do. She heard the shower shut off in the next room. The silence surrounding her was perfect. It had been too long. She raised her eyes to stare off into a general nowhere as she contemplated her next move. Perhaps she could be convinced. She slowly and deliberately walked down the hall and peered into Brett's room. She continued to step inside and perched herself squarely on the bed, which looked like it had remained perfectly made as the world had ended around it. She sat up, back to the pile of pillows near the headboard, and stretched her long legs out, crossing one over the other at her ankles. She waited, silently, until he emerged from the bathroom, her eyes meeting his.

"I'd like to apply for the Sheriff's position," she said, simply.

********

"Sodaville would be a wonderful place to put down roots," the woman told Brantley, as the girl blinked at her, unclear exactly of what she was getting at. "Maybe find work and play. Maybe, find a good man." The woman smiled, failing to see the inner turmoil that struck Brantley like a freight train, her face going slack as she was reminded just exactly where she was, which was not with her brother. To think of her with another man suggested Brett with another woman, and Brantley could not so imagine any such situation. Sex with him had been forced nearly every time, but the love between them had always been real. Could he be abusive? Yes. Did he not love her and she him? No chance. The woman's suggestion was anathema to Brantley and near heresy.

"Oh.....ah......no," Brantley stammered. "No, I don't think so." She looked down at little David, deflecting. "Only one man for me," she put on a brave face, playing to the boy's precociousness before shifting to get back to business, the business at hand being getting to rejoin the Five. She turned to Donovan as she reached down to pick the boy up once more. "Come on, Donovan," she said, her voice suddenly filled with intent and drive. "It's time for dinner." She wanted to see her brother.

 

[DM2015]

Jade surprised Brett, being stretched out on his bed, her long, lean legs and flat belly well displayed by the shorts and cropped top that had been teasing him for the past hour or so. He didn't hide his ogle of her as he -- in nothing but a relatively clean pair of running shorts, with a towel wrapped around his neck -- entered the room, hesitated a moment, then continued forward to the opened pack laying on the dresser near her. Jade surprised him again when she said, "I'd like to apply for the Sheriff's position."

His lips spread a bit as he dug for a clean shirt -- with no success -- then turned to eye her as he stripped the towel from his shoulders and dabbed at the hair of his skull and beard. After a moment, he said, "Lucky for you, I happen to know the position is open."

He tossed the towel onto the dresser, then moved to the bed and -- putting his left hand on the mattress close to her buttocks -- leaned close over her. With his face just inches from her own, his eyes looking directly into hers, he hesitated in what very much looked like a first move to plant a kiss on her mouth ... then snatched up the shirt he'd been looking for, which was on the far side of the bed from Jade.

********​

"Oh.....ah......no," Brantley stammered. "No, I don't think so." She looked down at little David, deflecting. "Only one man for me."

Mary couldn't see the girl's expression, so she didn't know if by only one man she was toying with David or thinking of an actual lover or lover-to-be. She didn't push it, though. Either way, the town's Matriarch heard something in Brantley's voice that said leave it alone for now.

"Come on, Donovan," the girl said, the casualness of the early evening walk suddenly ending. "It's time for dinner."

When they arrived at the diner, it was the same scene they'd left only with a whole new shift of faces. Even the servers from earlier were, for the most part, gone with many of them sitting at tables to now partake of the food they'd been dishing out.

It wasn't the food of a Four Star restaurant, but it was better than what the Five Fingers had been surviving on for the past several months. There was meat, from both stock animals and live game, as well as fish; the vegetable assortment was vast; and there were nuts, root, and berry dishes that the youngest of the newcomers likely wouldn't have even recognized, despite having lived only a hundred miles from here most of her life. There were chicken and duck eggs and dairy products as well, though no fresh milk as the Raiders had killed the town's two dairy cows out of spite when the Citizens had initially resisted them.

But for all the diversity in items, there was an obvious limit in portion size. The Raiders had been in Sodaville for three days, eating as if it was to be there last meal -- which, ironically, it had been -- and wasting a great deal simply to show their power over the Citizens and apathy for their hard work.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Jade gave a tiny, nearly un-noticeable gasp as Brett moved his lips to within inches of her own, and as she did, her head backed away from his in the tiniest most imperceivable way, shocked that he might try despite her very much asking him to. And when he reached over her body to grab his shirt, her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows lifted in a solid display of mock disbelief. She appreciated that he wouldn't be easy. Nothing Brett did came easy anymore. Since he had helped her escape the guard and fought the earliest skirmishes with the Five, she had seen a darkness fall upon him, shrouding him, a hardening of his outer shell and his soul. He had generally been polite to her and Brantley, the only two women of the group, though she always hated that he might have thought of himself as having two sisters, not just Brant. But only she and Brantley knew him before he joined the military and the broader world of warcraft and combat, therefore they were the only two people on the planet who knew Brett Tyner and not the leader of a small but effective force banded together to ensure its own survival and that of its members, and the rough and tumble world that surrounded them.

"Are you serious?" Jade asked, watching him recover his shirt to get dressed. She laid her head back on the pile of pillows supporting her, then gave a confident grin. Most women may have launched into self-doubt, wondering if there was something wrong with their body, or if something about them was not attractive. Jade knew better, no doubt any such suggestion about her could not be more wrong. She raised her head, now leaning upward, resting on her elbows beneath her, as she looked at him once more. "What is this about?" She asked, unknowing that she was in the same position Brantley had been only a day or so before, or that she had asked him the same thing. Unlike Brantley, Jade gave him no time to respond on his own, answering the question she just asked for him. "We finally get a place where we are out of the fields and forests, we don't have Kim and Julio here. We don't have your little sister...." The words came out as if she were sneering at Brantley being present, even though her intent was to simply point out they were alone. "If I need to go in and stay in the other room or meet one of the townie's, then I'm fine with that." She played with the hem of her shorts, just twirling it in her hand, something to touch in the absence of anything else. Her voice returned to a normal tone. "But if I do, then I won't do this again," she said, referring only vaguely to the efforts she was making to bring him to her. Although this was as close as she would come to throwing herself at someone, she did not give second chances, as a rule. "I won't."

**********​

"Let's go already, Hoo," Kim said. "We gotta get to dinner now if you think we will have any time to stop in at a tavern afterward before curfew hits."

"We gotta stay in for curfew too? Brett said we're the law," Julio responded.

"We have to patrol," Kim said, the word idiot being only implied in his tone.

"Then we can patrol around the tavern," Julio thought he made an excellent point, finding a way to mix work and fun.

"Yes," Kim said. "The empty tavern after curfew. We'll find a lot of ladies there."

"Bet I can find your mom there."

"Wha....really?" Kim said, not even raising his voice to the level beyond a simple question. He grabbed his rifle and slung it onto his back. Julio grinned, still proud of his juvenile jab, before he grabbed his own weapon and the two headed to the diner.

"You think since Brantley is living with that lady," Julio asked moments later as they walked down the empty street, before being interrupted by his fellow member of the Five.

"You have zero chance," Kim said. "And if you did, we'd be down to Four."

"What does that mean?" Julio asked.

"You know what it means," Kim said. He stopped and turned to his friend, who truly was speaking in hypotheticals with no bad intent, though nevertheless was letting his need override his proper mind. "Look, man....I get it. She looks good. And I'll bet with that little body she's tight as hell. Maybe a virgin. I check out her ass too when Brett's not looking, okay? But if you think that she's interested in us, or that Brett would not shoot you in the skull if she even expressed an interest in you or me....." He let everything that would follow afterward drop into the ether.

"Yeah," Julio said, his childish smile finally dropping away as well. "She looks good though."

"Way better than you," Kim said, laughing only moments before they came to the diner. "Hey, speak of the devil," he said, nodding toward Brett's sister, who was sitting inside with the man who had been Serena's guard earlier, as well as a woman and a little boy. Brantley smiled when she saw them enter, and the two proceeded to find their way to her table.

"Hey boys," Brantley said. "Where's Brett? And Jade?"

"No idea," Julio said, sitting down a seat away from where the group already was. "We figured they were here. We didn't see them on Main." Brantley wondered where they could be. "But goddamn," Julio said, "If I was in a place with Jade, I'd be....."

"Julio!" Brantley said, her eyes turning into daggers, less at the language than the idea that her lover would do any such thing he was suggesting, though she covered for her objection quickly. "This is David," she said, widening her eyes as she emphasized the little boy's name. "He's six." She turned to the boy. "This is Julio and that is Kim. They are older than six, but should learn to act like it," she said, turning her head to Julio and Kim giving the same wide-eyed cautionary look from before. She failed to introduce Donovan out of no slight, simply from preoccupation with the ignorance of her fellow warriors and the nagging curiosity about where her brother and the very attractive, tough fifth member of the group might be. "And if my brother gets here," she said, turning back to the little boy, "you can meet him. But he is big and mean and scary sometimes, so you might not like it."

"It?" Kim asked. She thought a bit, slipping from the brief trance she had gone into while describing Brett. She HAD said it. She realized her last sentence was more commentary for her own sake, a slip of her own feelings, disguised as a tease to a little child.

"Him," she corrected herself. "I meant him."