Clouds of Tyranny (25 page)

Locke stared at Ruthie from the table
waiting for her to notice him looking at her, she caught him
looking and could tell by the look on his face that he had
something to say to her. “I’ll be right back,” said Ruthie to Eve
and Alex and walked over to where Locke was standing. “Ready for
the trip,” asked Ruthie with a huge smile on her face, obviously
ready for this battle. “Can we talk?” asked Locke seriously.
“Sure,” bubbled Ruthie. Locke looked over to the kitchen that was
now empty of any cooks or cleaners, “Over there…in private.” Ruthie
did a half frown and followed Locke over to the kitchen as Eve,
Ray, and Alex watched. “What’s going on, Ray?” asked Alex referring
to Locke. “Don’t know.”

“Ruthie?” asked Locke looking into her eyes.
“What’s wrong, Locke? You look upset.” “I don’t want you to go.”
“Huh?” “I want you to stay behind for this one.” “No, Locke. Don’t
even try. I’m going. How am I supposed to prove myself as a
Returner and get my own room if I don’t go on this one.” “I have a
bad feeling.” “Oh really? Err! I knew you’d do this,” scoffed
Ruthie as she turned to face the dining room and yelled, “Hey
everyone! Abort the mission! Locke’s got a feeling!” She turned
back to and gave him a nasty look. “Ruthie, that’s an order. You’ll
stay behind and wait for survivors.” “That’s bullshit! I don’t
answer to you! You think you’re my father all of a sudden?” “You
may not be my child, but I am your dad.” “Errr! I’m not seven
anymore Locke! I’m a young woman now, I can make my own choices.”
“Even if they’re the wrong ones?” “That’s right, you bastard, even
if they’re wrong! That’s how people learn.” Ruthie pulled her own
hair and began to turn his back to him. He grabbed her by the arm
before she could get away and jerked her back, “That’s how you
DIE!” She slapped him on his left cheek as hard as she could, so
hard her fingers stung and his face had a red mark above the beard
line. She was shocked at her own action, but did not show it. He
glared at her in anger so fiercely that she thought he was going to
hit her back, “You ARE still a child.” “I have killed, had sex, and
traveled thousands of miles.” “You think that makes you an adult,
Ruthie?” said Locke laughing at her ignorance. She scoffed and
turned and began walking away. “Ruth-Angela, please,” said Locke in
a monotone voice begging without using body language. She turned
just her head to look at him remember the last time he called her
by her real name; she was nine. “I love you more than I could ever
love my own child, or a lover, or the Returners even.” Her eyes
began to moisten with forming tears, “I’m sorry.” He watched his
Ruth Angel run through the dining area and back toward the dorm for
a good cry. Locke walked back to the table and gathered his cleaned
daggers. “Are you okay?” asked Alex who was now standing behind
him. He didn’t look to her as he packed up his weaponry, “She
doesn’t slap very hard.” “That’s not what I meant.” He picked up
his rollaway knife holder and turned to her, “Let’s talk in my
room.”

Locke walked into his room followed by Alex
in tow. She shut the door slowly and looked to Locke for some sort
of explanation. Locke turned to look at her as she sat on his bed
with her hands folded in her lap. He pointed at the wall, “I
remember when she was a year old and took her first steps with me
guiding her. The first time she said ‘I love you’ to me. When she
was six and we left Listka and all we had were each other.
Pneumonia when she was nine. We joined the Returners together, and
now she wont do one little thing for me.” “What did you ask her to
do?” asked Alex. “For her to skip this battle.” “What?” “I have a
feeling that something bad is gonna happen and even if it doesn’t
she shouldn’t be exposed to the blood shed that is likely to
happen. I don’t think she can handle seeing her friends be killed
before her eyes.” “You actually think she hasn’t thought about
that?” said Alex standing up from the bed, “That’s WHY she wants to
go, Locke. She’s a young woman that needs to experience this.
Ruthie craves power and a big victory will give her that power;
it’ll make her feel strong.” “She’s only fifteen. She’s still a
child,” sighed Locke. “Only to you. When I look at her, I see a
strong dangerous woman capable of anything. When you look at her,
you see that little toddler holding your hand as she took her first
steps.” Locke shook his head, “Maybe your right. Damn, twenty-seven
and I have a fifteen year old daughter.” “If it helps, you look
older with the beard,” flirted Alex approaching him and putting her
hands on his chest. Locke smiled as he looked into her eyes, “What
a couple: I look thirty-five and you look twenty-two.” She moved
her mouth close to his till he could feel her breath as she
whispered, “When I’m actually older than you.” Locke moved in
closer to touch her lips with his and instantly slipped his tongue
inside her mouth as he took down his pants; this night he was
feeling only lust. Alex looked down and grinned devilishly, “Mmm,
don’t mind if I do.” She kneeled down and began licking Locke’s
penis as he stood there with his eyes closed and head tilted back.
He placed his hand on the back of her head and began forcing his
penis deeper inside her mouth till her lips were pressed against
his pelvis and she almost gagged. She realized what kind of mood he
was in and was happy to oblige. She pulled her mouth off of him and
spit on his penis and began sliding her hand up and down him hard
and fast making him moan in pleasure as well as pain. He grabbed
her by the arms and pulled her up to him till their faces were at
eye level. He grabbed her tight by the hair and shoved his tongue
in her throat as deep as it could go. Alex unbuttoned her pants and
let them slide to the floor and licked his tongue inside his mouth
as she pulled her feet out of the dropped pants. Locke spun her
around and forced her to bend over on the bed as he pushed himself
hard inside of her; he felt her wet secretion drip around him. She
let out a heavy moan at the intensity of his thrust deep inside
her. He wasn’t easy on her, he pushed as deep and as hard as was
humanly possible as she screamed in pleasurable pain. He grabbed
her hips and pulled her towards him as he thrust forward into her.
“Fuck me, Locke!” screamed Alex wanting more and more of his anger.
He felt her orgasm against him three times till he finally released
inside of her. She felt his semen shoot inside of her and warm
cream excited her even further as she smiled. She turned her head
around with him still inside of her as Locke leaned his head
forward to kiss her. “I love you,” said Alex. Locke responded by
kissing her hard and removing himself from her depths. “I’d say
it’s time to get some sleep,” said Locke lying down in his bed.
Alex pushed herself up from the bed and looked at Locke, she wasn’t
sure if she was welcome in his bed tonight. “Come on,” said Locke
waving her in. She smiled as she removed the clothes that didn’t
find their way off during their activities then jumped in bed and
cuddled with him until he fell asleep. Alex lay in bed for a few
hours thinking about her poor choice of words to Locke after he
finished with her. She blamed herself, in part, for going to ‘love’
so quickly. She was confused at the audacity of Locke basically
making their relationship public, but not saying anything endearing
to her concerning their romance.
He could at least say I’m
‘special’ or something to give me peace of mind.
“Jerk!” said
Alex before forcing her eyes closed and falling asleep.

All the inhabitants of the Returner’s HQ
began to wake up at sunset. Some of the lesser soldiers had trouble
getting to sleep but the Doc fixed that with a few chewable
tablets; the Returners didn’t have this problem being experienced
in the procedure. Smith had not slept to make sure everyone had
what they needed before the trip to Harmon, he would sleep at night
as he usually did. Smith’s first errand of the night was to make
sure that there was plenty of nutritious food, consisting of bread,
soup, and dried meat for the trip to keep everyone’s energy up.
Smith waited patiently in the dining area till Terra entered from
the women’s dorm; she was the first one up for a change. “Hello,”
she said sitting with Smith. “Good morning Terra,” he said before
noticing her right hand, which had a blue bandana wrapped around
her palm with a wad of gauze peeking out from underneath it, “My,
what happened?” “Was practicing a trick and hurt myself, but I’m
ok.” Smith shook his head then froze in realization, “Wait! You’re
wearing the bandana.” “Yeah, It feels right to wear it now. After
all, I am one of you now, right?” Smith smiled, “That’s right.”
They sat quietly for several minutes until Terra finally broke the
silence. “So, since I’m part of the team now…” Smith looked at her
intently, knowing exactly where she was going. “My mother, can you
tell me more about her?” Smith took a deep breath. “I met her in
Turklane, a small farming town to the far south. Her stomach was so
bulbous; she could barely do her work. Why the farmer had a
pregnant woman tilling the soil, I’ll never know. I saw her toiling
away in the field and something inside me said that she needed
help, so I offered to provide her food and shelter in exchange for
nothing. She met me for dinner that night and that’s when I felt
something. The same thing I felt in you; a gift. I asked of the
father of her unborn child. She said he was dead, but I knew that
was a lie; that’s MY gift.” “So, you never met him either.” “No,
not until many years later.” “What? Who is he? Where is he? What
does he look like? Does he-“ Terra was frantically asking questions
till she was cutoff by Smith, “Terra, I’m telling you about your
mother. Trust me, your better off never meeting him.” She stared
into Smith’s eyes waiting for him to continue. “Anyway, I offered
to provide anything your mother needed up to your arrival and
refused to take ‘no’ for an answer, which she tried to say multiple
times; your mother was very prideful, maybe too much so. It took
you twenty hours to finally make your exit, like you didn’t want to
leave. I cleaned you off and then handed you to your mother so she
could see what she created; she couldn’t stop staring at you as you
nursed.” “Wait. You were the first person to hold me?” Smith
smiled, “Yes, I named you as well. Your mother said that was her
repayment to me. After she had recovered from your birth, she
wanted to leave, but I asked her not to. One night, she tried to
sneak away in the middle of night. I knew she would, but I caught
her in the process. I told her that if she ever needed my help to
seek me out. I gave her the location of the first Returner camp and
she found me several years later.”

Captain Reuben and the Velxeer Archers were
the next to emerge; they sat at their usual segregated table, Terra
noticed that Ten seemed normal today; she didn’t have the same
robotic qualities she had upon her first arrival. One-by-one the
soldiers from HQ as well as the other Returner camps settled in the
dining area waiting for their queue to leave. Next came Ray,
followed by Sam. Ruthie and Eve emerged sometime later and joined
Ray and Sam at their usual table along with Terra who had left
Smith’s side once her friends surfaced. Pearl walked out of the
‘Returners’ door followed by Julius who looked as if he were
sleepwalking, probably awoken by Pearl. The Doc walked out with
Bridget and Helena with him and sat down with Smith; the three of
them each holding a medical bag for the trip. The last to reach the
dining area was Alex and Locke, who arrived together. They stood in
the doorway and looked at the room full of people arranging to go
to Harmon. “Locke,” whispered Alex, “About last night? What I
said…I was just in the moment…and…” “It’s time to go to work,” said
Locke walking to the center of the room to make an announcement as
Alex stood there in love’s limbo. “Returners! Make your way to the
armory! Soldiers! Line up against the wall outside the armory!”
said Locke as he made his way down the hall that led to the
infirmary, the dorms, the training room, and the armory.

“This is a room I haven’t seen yet,” said
Terra looking around from inside the armory as Locke and Pearl
rummaged through various objects that lay on the shelves and hung
from the walls; swords, knives, staves, spears, shields, armor,
ammunition, and guns of all types. To the very back of the armory
Terra saw a barred cage that was most likely for prisoners, though
it did not house anyone at this time. Inside the cage was a hole in
the ground that was used as a lavatory, a tub of water used as a
sink, and a metal bench used as a seat or a bed. “Terra?” said
Locke going through a box of various pistols. Terra turned around
suddenly, “Huh?” “Here,” said Locke handing her a silver .45
caliber pistol that matched her other one complete with holster for
her other hip and four more magazines. “Thanks,” said Terra
attaching the guns in a crisscross fashion to her waist and
pocketing the magazines, which now gave her a grand total of seven
clips of ammo for Harmon; two being housed inside her pistols.
“Let’s see what else we got here,” said Locke exploring about the
shelves, “Ah, put this on Terra.” Locke threw Terra a Teflon vest
to wear and then picked up on one himself and threw a third one to
Ruthie; Terra banged on the vest and noticed that beneath the
lining was a hard metal plate for stopping bullets. Ruthie handed
it to Pearl, “It’ll just slow me down,” said Ruthie being
rebellious of Locke. “Sam!” said Locke throwing a small box at him,
“Last box of mags.” Sam removed eight of the bullets from the box
and put the box into his back pocket and inserted the eight bullets
into his Magnum revolver and placed it back in it’s holster which
lay a few inches below his left armpit. “How are you on arrows?”
asked Pearl looking at Ray. Ray gave her a bizarre look and opened
his trench coat, which had what looked like an endless supply.
“Eve?” asked Pearl. “I’m fine,” answered Eve putting two fists up.
Since the Returner’s were all outfitted, now it was time for the
soldiers to get prepped. Locke walked to the doorway and peeked his
head out the door, “Okay! When it’s your turn at the door, you
specify what you are comfortable with; sword, pistol, crossbow,
etcetera etcetera!” When Locke went back inside he saw that Alex
was helping herself to a large rectangular shield and began tying
it to her back. One by one the soldiers from the four Returner
locations walked up to the door and requested their choice
weapons.