Fiction

April

Lonestar chapter 9

Devilfish

Sarah awoke with a start, her hand closing instinctively around the pistol grip of the Israeli manufactured Mini-Uzi SMG that lay on the ground beside her bed. Dawn hadn't quite broken, but it was still light enough for her to see. She had the shivers from the early morning cold, in spite of being wrapped in several old blankets, and had spent, in her estimations to be, her first full night in nearly two years protected from the harsh effects of the elements. Despite the early morning chill, she knew that in a few hours the sun would be at its hottest, scorching everything and making movements detestable.

It had been an unfamiliar, yet not entirely forgotten, sensation that had brought Sarah awake, and it took her a few moments to work out exactly what it was. A mattress. Worn, a little thin and covered with a sheet of the roughest cotton. It still felt like she was resting on clouds. Her whole body ached, her feet and legs especially. She shifted in the bed, grabbing for her aching leg. Instantly her vision began to blur and her head began to spin in pain. She collapsed back against the flat pillow, her sore leg all but forgotten.

Whatever light there had been was gone by the time Sarah regained consciousness. A haunting sound echoed beyond her chamber. Sarah was disoriented, nearly panicked by the darkness, her own weakness, and the faint noise. Slowly her mind brought her back to the present, and her heart rate slowly eased. She recognized the sound as human activity. Satisfied that she was in no danger Sarah allowed her weakness to take over her and she drifted back into a deep sleep.

'Jesse?' His image flooded her mind as she struggled to sit upright, her arms flailing as she fought to free herself from the sheet's entangling embrace. She had to find him; nothing else mattered. It was then that she heard a voice and looked to her right. The room was barely large enough for the bed, desk and chair that furnished it. A large, intricately carved, wooden crucifix above the desk seemed to be the room's only form of decoration. The walls were grey and clean; the floor was bare, except for a small patch of well-swept carpet next to the bed. A young girl, dressed in denim jeans and an aqua-blue t-shirt, stood at Sarah's bedside holding a clay cup filled with water, which had obviously been poured from the clay decanter which sat atop the surface of the desk. A small candle, located on the desk near the clay water jug was the only form of illumination in the room.

After draining the offered cup Sarah had just enough strength to lever herself up out of bed and get dressed. The clothes, obviously supplied by her host, appeared to be freshly laundered and lay in a neat bundle on the top of the desk next to a clay plate of fruit that had been left for her. She felt well enough, despite the throb coming from her leg, to be hungry and reached for the bowl, wolfing down two bananas and a peach. When she was finished she drained another cup of water and was surprised to find that she needed to use the chamber pot located under the foot of her bed.

Now dressed in the clothes she had been supplied with, Sarah cautiously stepped outside of her room and slowly made her way along the barren hallway. She passed several closed doors, which she assumed led to rooms similar to the one she occupied, until she came to a room dominated by a large handcrafted table. Weakened by her short journey she sat at one of the chairs and laid her head on the tabletop, her breath coming in short gasps as a result of the pain she was feeling in her leg. Jesse, she needed to find Jesse.

She must have passed out again because the girl who had been at her beside earlier was now standing at her side once more, wiping her forehead with a damp cloth.

'Where is everyone?' Sarah finally asked.

Without answering, the girl indicated for Sarah to stay where she was and then scampered from the room. When she returned, several minutes later, she was escorted by another, older man. There was a reassuring air about him, a comforting quality that he seemed to radiate from within. It wasn't just the long grey hair or the silver of his beard. It was something behind his eyes that spoke of understanding and compassion.

'How are you, Sarah?' he asked, taking a seat across the table from her.

Sarah looked across at him with a surprised expression on her face. Was this some kind of trap? To her recollection she could not recall talking to anyone since the escape from Mt. Sherman.

'I apologize for my rudeness. Your associate, Mr Winston, has been awake for several hours, Miss Core,' he explained in an effort to alleviate the fear he could see on Sarah's face. 'That is how I have come to know who you are. My name is David. David Loren, commander of the Texas Anti-secessionist Alliance. Welcome to the Patriot Hills Sanctuary.'

'How long?' Sarah stuttered. 'How long have we been here?'

'Last night would have been your third night,' he replied, his voice gentle and soothing. 'And please, call me David.'

Sarah was surprised by how long she had slept. Nearly seventy-two hours!

'You sustained a gunshot wound to your upper thigh.' Loren continued.

Instinctively Sarah reached and rubbed the wounded area. 'When you arrived here one of the medics removed the bullet, sutured and dressed the wound. Once you were taken to your room to recover, my daughter,' he said, indicating to the child now standing at his side, 'insisted that she be allowed to stay with you until you regained consciousness.'

Loren leaned over and spoke gently with the girl and once again she left the room, leaving Sarah alone with him. Soon after, Jesse and Daniel Lov entered the room. The ordeal had left Jesse's eyes dulled, but otherwise he looked in pretty good physical condition considering what they had both been through over the past two years. Like herself, Jesse was dressed in a pair of faded denim jeans, a dark green t-shirt and combat boots. Holstered on his right hip was the Glock 18 semi-automatic Lov had supplied him with during their escape from the prison camp. Relief flushed through Sarah and she closed her eyes to hide the tears she could feel building. When she tried to get to her feet and meet his embrace he held her in the chair, taking a seat next to her and clasping his hand around hers.

'How are you?' He asked softly, moving his chair closer to hers and putting his arm across her shoulder.

'Much better,' she replied, laying her head on his shoulder. 'But I still feel as weak as a kitten.'

Daniel Lov took up a position on the opposite side of the table, slightly to the rear of Loren's seat. Desert camouflage trousers had replaced his black guards' uniform, black shirt and lightweight combat boots. His shaved head was covered with a black baseball cap. Slung over his left shoulder was the same Heckler and Koch MP-5K SMG he had been carrying during the escape. 'It's good to see you up and around, Miss Core,' he said, folding his arms across his broad chest. His ebony face held no expression as his eyes flicked between Jesse and herself.

'Thank-you,' Sarah replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable under Lov's intermittent gaze. 'Thank-you all for your help.'

The four sat talking among themselves for the remainder of the day. Occasionally others joined them, some Sarah recognized as former inmates. For some reason Loren seemed extremely interested in the security layout of the prison camp. Lov did his best to cover the general positioning of the guard towers and the weaponry they contained. While Jesse and Sarah gave detailed descriptions of what it was like at ground level. They spent over an hour drawing up a complete blueprint of the grounds, both inside and outside the camp, highlighting the weak spots and likely points of entry. It was also decided during the various discussions that Jesse and Sarah would stay with Loren and his group to recuperate a little more before rejoining Jesse's brother Dallas and the other members of the Texas-American League.

They spent their days building up their strength, going through a regimen of weight training, firearms training and martial arts. Sarah also spent a lot of time with Joseph Blackfoot, a native Cherokee Indian and former Marine Force Recon commando, learning all the skills required in not only throwing knives, but also the basics of blacksmithing so that she may be able to make her own blades. He taught her that throwing a knife was to be used only as a last resort as in most cases it would leave the knife thrower completely unarmed and vulnerable to attack. At the end of the second day he presented Sarah with her own set of customized throwing knives, honed to razor sharpness.

Both spent time resting and drinking water, more than Jesse thought possible. Their strength returned steadily. By the third afternoon, Jesse felt strong enough to walk the grounds surrounding their sanctuary, careful to make sure that Lov or one of the other members of the TAA were with him when he did so. He also assisted by taking part in the security of the sanctuary. It turned out that the place they had been brought to after the prison escape was an old abandoned monastery that had been converted into a full-scale militia headquarters. Radio transmitters and receiver aerials dotted the former chapel, which had been converted into a high tech communications and data hub.

After taking over the monastery Loren had had a twenty-foot brick wall constructed, and had the wall topped with rolls of barbed wire. He had also installed a sturdy, massive drawbridge into the center of the eastern wall as the only means of entering, and to minimize hostile penetration. Also built into the wall were a series of firing points, which could be reached and manned via the maze of ramparts that lined the upper levels of the wall. To assist with the defense of the compound Loren had had purpose built guard towers constructed in each of the corners to serve as lookout posts. Each post was manned twenty-four hours a day by at least two militia members armed with automatic rifles or submachine guns. An M-60E3 or M-249 general-purpose machine gun was fitted to each outfacing wall of the guard posts to provide additional, long distance fire support in the event of an attack.

It was just after sunset and Jesse was now lying on his bed, his legs sore from the weight training he had just put himself through, when he heard someone walking along the corridor outside his room. It was too dark out there to see more than a shadowy form passing his door, so he threw on his pants and boots and slid from his room. As he made his way along the hallway, Glock 18 clasped in his right hand, he became aware of the wooden floorboards creaking under his feet. The noise seemed unnaturally loud in the confines of the hallway and he feared that he would soon wake someone. Sarah stood about halfway along the hallway, her body silhouetted by the moon and starlight beaming in through the high arched windows. He kept his eyes locked on her as h'I was hoping it was you,' she whispered with a huskiness Jesse recognized instantly. She moved a few paces closer to him, the heat of her body soaking into his skin. 'We'll be leaving here in the next few days, and once we get back to the TAL I know that we will be too busy running our respective units to spend anytime together, I'm sorry, but if we are going to make love, it has to be tonight. Right now.'

'Pretty forward aren't you?'

'No jokes,' Sarah said placing a finger over Jesse's lips.

Before he could speak again his words were cut off by her hungry kiss. As they kissed she pressed herself to him, their bodies almost matching perfectly, knees matching knees, hips to hips, chest to chest. He felt her breasts swell and harden against his bare chest. More and more heat pouring against each other the longer they kissed.

'I was going to suggest,' Jesse muttered, catching his breath. 'I think we should go somewhere a little more private. Anyone can see us out here.'

He had expected at least the slightest hint of self-consciousness from Sarah when they returned back to his room, but there was none. She pulled her shirt over her head in one fluid motion, her breasts bouncing as they came free. Her nipples looked painfully erect, and his body reacted instantly. Her pants fell around her ankles with just the tiniest bit if urging. She kicked out of them and hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her panties. With deliberate slowness, she slid them down her thighs, bending deeply until they lay at her feet.

She stood proudly, a dusky Venus, her body returning to the tautness it had before their incarceration, her skin so flawless and waxy smooth in the candlelight that she looked like freshly cut marble. Jesse couldn't help but stare at the shallow cleft that rose from the juncture of her thighs, her body's most secret, and most sensual place veiled only by a thin veil of pubic hair. His heart pounded and his breath matched the shallow breathing of Sarah's chest. Her arousal perfumed the air.

Jesse had begun to shed his own clothes, when Sarah dropped to her knees next to him, brushing aside his hands, and began working at the buttons and zips, her fingers stroking each newly exposed section of skin until he was fully naked and she held his manhood firmly in her palm. She squeezed his erection gently, and his hips bucked upwards involuntarily. It was only then that she leaned forward once more and kissed him again.

'You are beautiful.' Jesse said, and Sarah smiled.

'So are you my darling.'

They were so lost in their lovemaking; neither heard the convoy of trucks approaching their sanctuary from the west. Half an hour after the vehicles had passed, they were in a lovers embrace when the sound of distant machine gun fire shattered the night. The crashing explosions of sound stripped away the remaining sense of euphoria they had just built up and brought them back to the ugliness of reality.