place in the yet unwritten history of the aftermath of the most humanly destructive war
ever waged on the face of the earth.*
The attacks were coordinated to launch within a second of each other. And the troops of Tony Silver, who thought they were so well-hidden, so tough, so professional and so feared by all, had only a maximum of five seconds to scream out their pain and fear before their unwashed bodies were torn to bloody strips of mangled flesh.
Ben watched grimly through binoculars as Tony’s little army was creamed.
“Let’s get the fuck outta here!” the man in charge of this contingent of Silver’s army of thugs and goons and murderers and rapists shouted. “Them is regular army troops. Where the fuck did they come from? We’re outclassed.”
The “army” split. They tucked their tails between their legs and cut out, jumping into cars and pickups and vans and heading east on Highway 80, fleeing as if pursued by the devil.
They left behind them death, rape, torture, sexual perversion and hideous memories in the minds of the people in Dublin who had survived-thus far.
“Cut down those people over there,” Ben said, pointing at the hanging bodies. “James, have Scouts follow those retreating for several miles; make certain they’re really bugging out. Let’s find out about the residents of this town.”
Ben Raines and his Rebels soon discovered the aftermath of Silver’s scurvy followers. The scene was sickening to them all.
Tortured and sexually abused men and women *Out of the Ashes
and children began streaming into the littered streets of the town when they discovered the new troops were there not to harm them but to help them.
The Rebels broke up the mob of people into sections, for interviewing, for medical treatment, for food and clothing.
After a time, Susie came to Ben. “This Tony Silver’s got to be stopped, General. I’ve talked withand seen little girls and boys not over nine or ten years old who were sexually assaulted and abused. It’s pitiful, General.”
Ben listened.
Sergeant Greene said, “One man told me a lot of the kids-mostly girls, ages twelve to fourteen-were taken out of this area. To be turned into whores for shipment around the country.”
Ben nodded. But one question kept nagging at him: Why did the people left in the town allow it to happen? Why didn’t they fight?
James said, “There isn’t a female in this town, between the ages of nine and sixty, who hasn’t been raped repeatedly. The men were sexually humiliated, in front of the women.”
“Are these people residents of this town?” Ben asked.
“No, sir,” a Rebel said. “Those I’ve talked to say Dublin was wiped out by the plague. These people area mixed bag, from all over the state. They just got here “bout six months ago.”
“Why here?”
The Rebel shrugged. “They’re some kind of religious order, sir. Don’t believe in violence.”
“No guns?” Ben said acidly.
“That’s it, sir. Not a weapon in the whole town.”
Ben felt anger wash over him. What had the young Rebel, Bert, died for? A group of dickheads so naive they believed all they had to do was hold up the dove of peace and it would be honored? Stupid, naive, out-of-touch- with-reality crapheads.
Ben brought his anger under control. “Tell them to read Ecclesiastes. Get their priorities in line.”
“Sir?” the young Rebel asked.
“Never mind, Joey. Just talking to myself. All right,” Ben said with a sigh. “Maybe it all ties in. I have a feeling it does.”
“What, Ben?” Gale asked. She was sick at her stomach from what she had seen and heard this awful day. But she knew Ben had no patience with people who would not fight for their lives.
“The Ninth Order, Captain Willette, Tony Silver. The whole rotten, scummy bag.”
“How does it tie in, Ben?”
He shook his head. “Hunch, Gale. That’s all. Could be I’m wrong.”
The Rebels gathered around him dismissed that instantly. The thought of Gen. Ben Raines being wrong about anything was something no loyal Rebel ever entertained. That would be unthinkable.
“Let’s patch these people up and get the hell out of here,” Ben ordered. “I feel sorry for the kids and the elderly-but losers don’t impress me.”
“You have no right to judge us so harshly, General,” a man said.
Ben turned. The man facing him was dressed in a business suit. Ben found that just slightly less than ludicrous, considering the surroundings. “I lost
good man in your town, mister. And I’m not real sure his death was worth it-considering the fact that you people refuse to stand up and be counted in a fight.”
“We are peaceful people, General Raines.”
“That’s fine, mister,” Ben countered. “All well and good back when you could pick up a phone and. call the police, back when law and order and rules and codes of conduct were the norm. That is no more. And I seriously doubt-except in isolated pockets of this world-it will ever be again. At least not in our lifetime. Now, mister,” he said, lifting the old Thompson, “this is the law.”
“We refuse to take a human life,” the man said.
Ben frosted him with a look. “Then you’re a goddamned fool. I’m not advocating mass murder, mister. Just telling you to protect yourselves.”
“The Lord will provide.”
Ben smiled grimly. “Then I suggest you find yourself the jawbone of an ass. Or, in your case, the backbone might be a better choice.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Nina lay in Ike’s strong arms. The morning sunlight was beginning to filter brightly through the dusty windows of the old home. Nina’s bare breasts pressed against Ike’s naked chest. It had been quite a sex-oriented night. Ike smiled, recalling an old saying from his boyhood days down in Mississippi: Girl could do more with six inches of cock than a monkey with a mile of vines.
He laughed softly at the crudeness of the old expression.
Nina opened her eyes and yawned in his face. “What’s so funny, Ike?”
He told her.
“Jesus! What an awful saying.” But she laughed as she said it.
“What’s for breakfast, Nina?”
“Canned eggs and bacon.”
“Thanks just the same, but I think I’ll pass.” Ike disengaged himself from her warm nakedness and dressed, conscious of her eyes on him.
“You got a few scars on you, Ike,” she observed.
“More than my share, I reckon,” he replied. “Got a few in Vietnam. Rest of them came from my days as a Rebel, following Ben.”
“This really the first time you’ve been unfaithful to your wife?”
“Yep. Not countin” the mental times.”
She laughed. “I can relate to that.” She rose from the pallet on the floor, totally unashamed of her young lush nakedness. “Your wife been faithful to you, you think?”
“I think so,” Ike said thoughtfully. “But I’ll tell her about us. Even though I don’t have to. She’d guess. She knows me pretty well.”
Nina shook her head. “What is it with you people who follow General Raines? You’re so … well, I guess, dedicated is the word. And Ben Raines … is he really a god like I’ve heard a lot of people say he is?”
“The Rebels?” Ike shrugged. “We’re just kinda like that ol’ boll weevil, I reckon. Lookin’ for a home. Ben a
