As Emil hurriedly picked up the dirty clothes, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, the young girl, Lynn, being led into what had once been Emil’s house. She was giggling and simpering and allowing the man to touch her in the most intimate of places.
Lynn had been Emil’s favorite. She gave great head for someone barely in her teens,
Oh, well, Emil philosophized. Easy come, easy go. “Hite!” one very large lady squalled. “Get over here with those clothes, you stupid prick.”
“Yes, Sister Hilary,” Emil said.
“And knock off that ‘Sister” shit, you phony,” Hilary yelled in a voice that made Emil’s head sting.
Bitch had a voice that would crack brass, Emil thought.
“And you better not wear yourself out, either,” Hilary warned. ““Cause tonight it’s my turn with you.”
Jesus! Emil thought. And again, Why me?
Emil fervently wished he was back in Chattanooga, selling used cars.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
“Got a new truck for you, General,” Colonel Gray told Ben. “My Scouts found this one up in Knoxville.”
“Looks brand new,” Ben remarked, as he walked around the Chevy pickup. No doubt about it, the truck was a nice one. Everything that could be put on a truck was on this one. It was a long wheel base, four-wheel-drive Chevy. The camper top was new and bolted down securely. The cab held enough radio equipment to transmit anywhere in the continental U.s., Ben reckoned. Bucket seats, with new clamps bolted between the seats for Ben’s Thompson. The truck had two gas tanks and two spare tires bolted inside the camper.
“It is new,” Dan said. “Well … the last model made, back in “88. My people found it in a private garage out in the suburbs.”
“Uh-huh,” Ben said. He wondered how many tracking devices Dan had hidden in and on the truck. Several, he concluded.
“We, uh-was the usually eloquent Englishman seemed at a loss for words-“well, we just thought you needed a new vehicle before you, ah, left us, sir.”
“Thank you, Dan,” Ben said quietly. “It is, ah,
common knowledge that I’m taking off soon?”
Dan nodded his head. “Yes, sir.”
“I see. I won’t be nurse-maided, Dan.”
“I know that, sir.”
“But you’ll probably send teams out to try and keep an eye on me, won’t you?” Ben asked with a smile.
“Oh … probably, sir.”
“Good luck, Dan.”
The Englishman smiled. “Thank you, sir.” He patted the hood of the truck. “Enjoy, sir.”
As Dan was walking off, Doctor Chase walked up.
“Hello, you old goat,” Ben greeted him.
“Old goat to you, too, King Raines,” the old doctor fired back. “When are you planning to leave on your idiotic odyssey?”
“Soon.”
“I see. Gale is not going with you, I hope.”
“No. She’s staying.”
“Who are you leaving in charge?”
“Cecil. I’m going to call all the troops together tomorrow sometime and pin general’s stars on Cecil’s shoulders. I suggested I do the same with Ike, but he rather bluntly informed me he never wanted to be any type of fucking officer to begin with.”
Doctor Chase laughed. “That sounds like Ike.”
“While I’m gone, Lamar, I’m going to lay out the route for outposts. I discussed that with you. I’ll be back next year and we’ll start heading westward, setting up forts as we go. I think, Lamar, that is the only way we’ll ever have a chance for any type of civilization.”
“I agree. Well-was he cleared his throat-“you
bastard, I’ll miss you.”
The two men shook hands.
Doctor Chase returned to the overseeing of his new clinic, and Ben walked to the quartermaster’s new area and began drawing supplies.
“Be sure to put an old portable typewriter in with the other gear, Sergeant,” Ben instructed. “And round me up several boxes of white paper. Good bond.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he left, Cecil fell in step with him. “You do plan on keeping in touch, don’t you, Ben?”
“You know I will, Cec. But you’re not going to run into any problems you won’t be able to handle easily.”
I hope, Cecil silently prayed. “I’ve instructed everybody to be in formation at 1200 hours tomorrow, Ben.”
“Good.”
Cecil still did not know what Ben planned to do at the formation. Ike had been sworn to secrecy. “You going to make a speech, Ben?”
“A very short one. I plan to be up in Kentucky by nightfall.”
“Well … see you tomorrow, Ben.”
“Tomorrow, Cecil.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Tony Silver stood naked over the girl who whimpered in pain and fear on the bed. Ann was naked. The marks of the belt vividly crisscrossed her flesh. Tony tossed the belt to the floor and slapped her viciously across the face, rocking her head and bloodying her mouth.
“Bitch! I wanna know what the hell you’re up to.”
“Nothing, Tony,” the child cried. “I swear it. Nothing.”
“Then how come I don’t believe you?”
In reply, Ann rolled over on her back and spread her slender legs. She watched Tony’s face change and heard his breathing quicken.
Tony hefted his growing erection and smiled at her. “Come over, here, baby, and kiss this for me.”
Ann scooted across the bed and put her small, bare feet on the carpet. Her right hand slipped under the pillow and gripped the handle of the sharp knife. When she looked up at Tony, he was slowly masturbating himself, his eyes closed.
Quickly she moved to him, and faced his hardness, one slender leg on either side of Tony’s hairy legs.
He pushed the head of his penis against her mouth. “Suck it for me, baby,” he said.
Ann gripped the knife with both hands and drove it into Tony’s soft lower belly, just a few inches above his pubic hairline. She savagely jerked the blade upward, for she had driven it in with the sharp edge facing upward.
Tony made a low choking sound and opened his mouth to scream. Ann jerked the knife out and, using all her strength, drove the blade as deep as it would go into the center of his chest. The blade tore into his heart and Tony fell backward onto the carpet, dying soundlessly in his own blood.
Peg and Lilli came into the bedroom. They looked at the sight, no emotion at all registering on their young faces. They were survivors; they had seen far worse than this in their young lives.
“It’s dark out,” Lilli said.
“Get your stuff together,” Ann said as she hurriedly dressed.
The girls raced for their slim bundles. Each girl had packed her favorite dolly inside.
All except Ann. She looked at her small collection of dolls scattered on the floor and shook her head. She looked at the blood on her hands.
“Too late for that,” she muttered.
She picked up Tony’s .38 snub-nosed Chief’s Special and checked it as she had seen him do many times. All
