Apocalypse Slaves Pt. 02

Dawn gave her a wan smile. "Did you know that winter used to last upwards of three to six months before the Flare?"

"Yeah, right," Jenni scoffed.

"I'm serious. I heard it from an elder in Lincoln who was a young boy when it happened. He said that the seasons used to be even: three months of each. Winter could last as little as three but continue on as much as six to overlap with Spring."

"That has to be bullshit," Jenni laughed softly. It felt good to just girl-talk with someone after all of this time. "We've had to have six months of summer, two of spring, and two of fall and winter just as always. But whatever; you're avoiding the question. How do you do this and still be, I don't know, normal?"

Dawn half-shrugged and then looked up at Shepard as he shifted and then went back to snoring. "I wasn't always like this. My girlfriend, Carla, she was the strong one. When we got caught by some raiders and sold off at auction, I thought that life was over for me. But she was the one who got free and taught me how to survive using my body." Dawn explained, lowering her whispering even more. "I guess now I just either tune it out or just let myself enjoy the moment. I believe that it could be worse and things'll get better eventually. They have to, right?"

"I guess," Carla conceded. She then had another thought. "How is it that you're not pregnant yet like a lot of the other girls?"

"They can't impregnate that which they cannot catch," Dawn said with a small laugh.

"I'm serious. How do you do that? Where is it you're hiding at?"

"You think I'm going to let you in on my secret? Shepard might torture it out of you." Dawn shook her head. "I can't take that chance."

"I gotta get out of here," Jenni huffed with desperation.

"You will," Dawn said with encouragement. "Until that time just do what you have to do to survive. And then, when you see your chance, take it and run." Shepard shifted again and they both froze. When he settled down, Dawn whispered again. "I think that's all the time we have for now. Let's get some sleep or else we're both in for a world of pain tomorrow."

"Kay... Night, Dawn."

"Night."

***

CHAPTER 14: Change of Ownership.

Five days later, Dawn went missing.

When she didn't return with the rest of the herd for the noontime meal, cleaning, and milking, the Farm went into lockdown mode and guards started combing the nearby woods for her. Shepard led the way. Listening to the handlers that were pressed into ad hoc guard duty outside of the suite's front door, Jenni could hear that speculation and rumor ranged from she'd simply escaped over the back fence, to she'd been kidnapped, to she'd stumbled in the woods and got knocked out, all the way to she slipped on a rock and was killed. Jenni didn't want to think of any harm coming to Dawn and just hoped that the redhead that she'd shared a bed and her time with Shepard had simply escaped.

Good Luck, Dawn, Jenni thought with a sense of envy. It looks like you found your opportunity.

The escape scenario turned out to be more likely as shreds of her silver bikini costume were found strewn about the woods in a direct line northwest towards the perimeter fence where a small cut was found and the last vestiges of her costume had become snagged in what looked like a mad scramble away from the camp.

Many hours later after nightfall, Shepard came back into the suite in a fierce rage. Jenni had been lying on the bed when the door crashed open with such a force that it bounced off of the wall and slammed shut in his wake. Having had all of her chores completed for the day, Jenni had taken a chance and eaten on her own and cleaned up when Shepard hadn't returned for dinner. Now she was in the bed waiting for him and had dozed off. Now she was bolt upright in bed and Shepard had murder on his mind from the wild-eyed, rage contorted face that he had now.

"On your stomach, wench!" Shepard said, reaching for a nearby leather strap hanging on the wall. Jenni barely had time to comply when she felt the first lash of the strap cross her ass. She buried her face into the covers and screamed in pain as she felt the welts rise up on her butt.

He's punishing me for Dawn escaping? Jenni's first thought was as she wailed again at the second hard lash that was so hard it made her arch up. She bunched up the covers underneath of her in her hands, curled her toes, buried her face back down in the cloth, and braced herself for the next blow. She sobbed loud and long, her crying now muffled by the bedding, as Shepard took his rage out on her. In the back of her mind she accepted it. She accepted the fact that if her misery allowed her new found girlfriend to escape and have a better life, then so be it. It was no different than when she told her coworkers to flee to save themselves.

The rain of blows on her ass subsided as new sounds started echoing in the night. There was clanging of metal, shouts of alarm, explosions, and the tell-tale sound of gunfire out at the front gates. "What the fuck?" Shepard wondered as he dropped the strap on the bed beside Jenni and stalked to the window. Jenni looked up with a tear-streaked face as he threw open the window to be greeted by the bright conflagration of fires outside burning down the perimeter wall. "My God," he breathed.

There were already shouts of alarm and rings of gunfire downstairs as raiders swarmed into the main building underneath of them. The sound of mechanical clanking came up the nearby stairs, breaking Shepard out of his revere. He grabbed a nearby pipe gun and faced the doors. More gunfire and screams outside as the guards were gunned down. The rhythmic clanking got closer.

When the sound was right outside the door, Shepard opened fire. Bullets pinged off of the form encased in old military grade power armor. Jenni cowered behind one side of the bed to avoid being caught in any kind of crossfire. "Well, well, well..." the man in power armor said. "Shepard Caldwell; just the man I've been killing to see." He said through his armor's speakers.

"Fuck you!" Shepard hissed.

"You're not my type," Power Armor said with a shake of his head and took a step forward.

Shepard scooped up a nearby radio and held it up. "Hold it right there! One word from me and the guards will start murdering the women!" he declared in a taunting manner. The man in the Power Armor paused and lowered his rifle slightly. Shepard smiled. "Now, here's how this is going to go down, first we urk!"

Whatever he was going to demand of Power Armor died on his lips as Jenni snatched up the leather strap that he'd been beating her with, jumped up on the bed, and wrapped it around his neck. Shepard dropped his gun and the radio to claw at the strap that was now cutting off his air supply. Beating her was one thing. There was no way she was going to sit idly by and let him kill off the others. She looked at the man in Power Armor, who had cocked his helmet to one side in confusion. "Well?" Jenni shouted at him. "You gonna shoot him or not?" She swung down off the bed to one side and hit the floor to give him a clean shot. Two pulls of the trigger later and Shepard was on his back draped over the side of the bed, dead.

Power Armor man looked from Shepard's body to Jenni and back again a couple of times before settling his gaze on her. "Well," he mused, "That was unexpected." His bulky metal shoulders bobbed up and down in a shrug. "Well, come on then, slave."

Jenni blinked at him. "What?"

"Did I stutter?"

"So much for a white knight in shining power armor..." Jenni grumbled. "I just go from one owner to another." She glared at him, her defiance from two months ago being reborn in the wake of her captor's death. "Why the hell should I go with you?"

"Well, I guess that you could stay here, try and find some clothes, and try and get out in the confusion," he said, his huge armored gauntlet gesturing to the window by the bed where the anarchy and fighting was still going on outside. "But odds are that if you're not caught by some of the Farm guards who have been seen making off with whatever women they can get their hands on then one of my other allies of convenience will probably snag you as we were promised to take whatever booty we could get our hands on," he gestured at Jenni, "living or otherwise. So you have a choice; come with me and have a relatively easy life with me and my Retributionists, or roll the dice and take your chances. I promise you that the other gangs here won't be as gentle as I will be."

Jenni weighed her options and didn't really like any of them. She also told herself that this man could've just taken her without saying or explaining anything and that already put him miles ahead of everyone else that she'd met thus far. "Alirght..." she said at last, feeling defeated and deflated all at once. "I'll go with you. Can I at least know my new master's name at least?"

"Call me Walker," he said. He then pointed to some handcuffs and chains attached to a collar on the wall. "Those your slave chains and collar?" he asked. She nodded. "Get them on and then come over here to me."

Sighing, Jenni did as she was instructed. Snapping the metal in place on her neck, ankles, and wrists before hobble-stepping over to Walker. Walker lifted her up as if she weighed nothing and draped her over his left shoulder so that legs hung over his front and her arms dangled over his back. "You'll find a hook about halfway down my back armor for the chain of your handcuffs to lock into," he instructed. "lock them into place while I do your ankles here. This'll keep you in place if I have to run."

"Do this before?" Jenni asked wryly as she secured her cuffs.

"You're mouthy for a slave," Walker pointed out as he secured her ankles and then looped a strap over her back from the upturned portion of his shoulder armor to secure her midsection down. "It's any wonder that Caldwell kept you this long."

Jenni snorted. "Just wait and see what I can do with my mouth," she said sarcastically.

Walker chuckled. "I look forward to it."

*

Walker strode out of the front doors with his prize over his shoulder and his rifle in his hands, scanning the vicinity for any threats. He'd been the first one through the massive double doors leading into the Farm compound and the first one to breech the main facility. It wasn't so much as a fight than a slaughter, really. With him and his Retributionists all clad in refurbished military power armor leading the way, the results of this action were never in doubt.

In all honesty, this was a long time coming. He just wished that he and his men would've been able to get more of the women out to safety.

"Master Walker," one of his men said over the radio. "The defenders have all been killed or scattered and from what we can tell all of the women have been removed from the compound either by us, the Farmers, or our... allies." He reported, voice pausing and dripping with sarcasm at that last word. "What are your orders?"

Walker keyed the radio with a twitch of his jaw as he continued out and back to the designated rendezvous point. "Take a squad and sweep the buildings again. Once you're convinced that the place is deserted then burn it to the ground. I'm heading to meet our benefactor for this op."

"Yes sir!"

"What was that all about?" the blonde girl over his shoulder asked.

He couldn't help but glance to his left to where her perfectly round ass was sticking up and slightly forward from where she was bent over, riding his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Just doing a little clean up. What's your name, anyway?"

"Jenni," she said. "With an I"

"Well, Jenni-with-an-I, that was one of my men reporting in. That's all."

"I'm more curious about this 'benefactor' that you were talking about."

"Nicolas Saint," Walker said as he stared up the hill that overlooked the Farm from the east. "Probably the most badass bounty hunter that you'll ever meet. He just up and walked into our camp a week ago and asked us if we wanted to take the Farmers down. Promised us a good portion of caps along with all the women we could haul out of there. Of course, the catch was that we were going to be working and competing with the Fixers, the Colorado Militiamen, the Denver Mountainmen, those freaks from Four Corners, and the Fundies who had actually said that the Farmers were making THEM look bad!" Walker let out a bark of laughter. "You know that you've fucked up when Fundies are the voice of reason!"

The roar of an engine of an approaching vehicle got their attention. A moment later it crested the hill and the bounty hunter in question stepped out of the vehicle. "I see you managed to find a trophy." Nicholas quipped at Walker.

"Took her from Shepard himself," the Walker smiled, "right after I put two through his head. "Besides," he patted the blonde's ass affectionately and surprisingly gently with the powered gauntlet, "I think that she likes the change of ownership."

"To each their own," Nicholas said, cocking his head to get a good look at Jenni. Jenni looked right back at him and was relieved to see the man who'd challenged Shepard in wanting to buy Dawn. What was more; Jenni could make out a bound redhead in the back of Nicholas' buggy in pony-girl gear. That had to be Dawn. Who else could it be? It looks like we both found out way out, Dawn. Take care, wherever you go now... Nicholas reached for the payment bag and tossed it to Walker. "You're an honorable man. I trust you to divvy this up."

Walker nodded solemnly, catching the bag in his free hand. "Will do. Always a pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise." Without another word, Nicholas got into the buggy and drove off. Jenni craned her neck to watch her newfound friend ride off with the bounty hunter until they went over the next hill over and she lost sight of them.

"So that's it?" Jenni asked now that the bounty hunter was gone.

"Yup. We just wait until the other gang leaders get back. We then divvy up the loot and go our separate ways." Walker explained.

An hour later, all of the gang leaders were back and were dropping the loot of their conquests into the center of the hill. Off in the distance the sky glowed bright orange from the conflagration of what used to be the farm. Flames reached up into the sky, turning the black of night into virtual day where they stood at. The gangs put everything down; guns, ammo, foodstuff, first aid supplies, tabs, alcohol, drugs, and so on and so forth.

Jenni watched the proceedings with a keen eye. Walker had since let her down off of her shoulder when she complained about being uncomfortable up there. The blood rushing to her head had been giving her a headache. So now she was kneeling quietly by his side as the gangs divided everything up. Her merchant and trader training kicked in as she mentally tallied up the cost of everything.

Something was off to her and she couldn't quite put a finger on it. Something in the back of her head was screaming at her that the Fundamentalists, or the Fundies as Walker had put it, were holding something back from the others. When she appraised the guns and ammo that they were holding back in comparison to what they were giving the others, it wasn't coming back even. She narrowed her eyes in concentration at the ammo boxes as they traded hands. The ones that the Fundies were keeping to themselves were heavier than the boxes they were giving out.

"They're short-changing you..." It wasn't until after she noticed everyone looking at her that she realized that she'd said that out loud. Jenni blushed and looked down at her knees in submission as she realized that she wasn't an equal partner here.

But Walker caught on to it. "What do you mean? Explain, please."

Jenni swallowed hard and did as he asked, grateful that he asked instead of demanded. "The weight is off." She pointed at the white boxes. These supposedly have all of the 10mm ammunition in them, but I noticed that the Fundamentalists' boxes of the same color are slightly heavier and have black marks on the side of them. They were the last to show up here by a long shot and so could've switched boxes if they were the ones in the ammunition stores. If these," she indicated everyone else's stacks, "don't contain 10mm, I'd bet that they'd contain .38 rounds or the Fundamentalists' boxes contain something heaver. .308s or .45s, I'd guess."

They all stood there and gaped at her during her analysis. Then they looked at the boxes of ammo and then they started looking real suspiciously over at the Fundies. The Fundies, for their credit, tried to put up a brave front but everyone could see that they were sweating now. The Fundie leader was the first to comment. "What the fuck do you know, woman?"

"I was a LowLevel Trader, working on my MidLevel certification, back in the Republic before I was captured by Shepard," Jenni said defensively before she thought more about it.

"The Republic does put out the best traders," one man from the Fixers mused. "Y'all know the saying; if you can't trust a Republic Trader, who can you trust?"

"Is that Trader, or Traitor?" one of the Mountainmen quipped to the guffaws of everyone else.

"You can't seriously be trusting the word of a Slave, are you?" The Fundie leader asked.

"One way to find out," Walker said. In three good steps, he shoved them out of the way of their loot pile and kicked over a box that Jenni pointed out.

.45 Rounds spilled out.

"Uhm... we can explain," the Fundie leader said quickly.

"I'm sure you can," Walker said, pulling his sidearm and leveling it at the Fundie leader. Without warning he pulled the trigger and blew the man's brains out. The other gangs followed Walker's lead, leveled their weapons, and started shooting until each and every single Fundie in attendance was on the ground, dead.

Once the massacre was over, Walker came back over to Jenni, who'd hit the ground and covered her head when the shooting started. "Get up." He told her and pointed to towards the loot pile. "Can you distribute everything equally to everyone while the gangs are busy divvying up the Fundie slaves?" Jenni looked from him, over to the carnage that used to be the Fundie side, and back. She nodded mutely. "Good, get to work then, please. We'll ensure that you're not bothered.

***

CHAPTER 15: Fine Tuning.

"You did well back there and now it's time to relax and maybe get some sleep," Walker was saying as he entered his home with Jenni draped back over his shoulder again. From what she could see of the place when he turned to bat the door closed, it was a quaint little home with an open floor plan; a living room led into a dining area and beyond that there was a kitchen. Then off to Walker's immediate right was an office of some kind. The two areas were separated in the middle by a staircase that led up to what Jenni presumed was the bedrooms.

"Okay," Jenni yawned and stretched as much as she could given the fact that she was still being manhandled like a sack of potatoes.

Walker set Jenni down next to the stairs, told her to follow him, and then moved through the door to the office. He turned left immediately and went through another archway into what used to be a den. Once there he moved over to an alcove area where he reached up and attached two large metal hooks to rings at the base of his helmet's neck.

Out of habit now, Jenni knelt down by the doorway while she watched Walker get out of the power armor. He twisted something at his belt and the armor separated into an upper half and a lower half, bisected at the belt. He then reached over and pulled a lever. The two hooks and chains retracted into the ceiling and Walker raised his arms so that he could slide out.

"Oh..." Jenni gasped, getting a look at her new owner for the first time. He was muscular, probably from using the power armor a lot. She'd read in classes that back in the Pre-Flare days men had to be physically fit in order to properly operate the armor suits. Walker was no exception. His bare torso showed signs of working out regularly, especially with the six pack abs of his. He had a dark, chiseled face with very handsome features that looked like he could've stepped off of the cover of those old romance novels that her mother used to collect when she was alive. His hair was jet black and cropped close to the skin, probably so that it wouldn't get in the way while it was in the helmet.