Morena and the Matriarch Ch. 09

The SHTF, Fallout and Time to Leave

The sound of the soft swish-swish-swish of the propellers on the dirigible could be heard over the morning birds and insects waking in Vern's Dale.

I thought they'd take longer than this, Alyssa thought as she sat in the tree overlooking her home, dressed in her Ghillie suit. At least the guys have better than an eight hour head start.

The soft sounds of the propellers faded away as the engines were stopped and the big grey balloon drifted over the house in complete silence. Then suddenly ropes appeared, flung from the gondola, four on a side and reaching the ground. Figures in SWAT gear began rappelling down the lines -- Alyssa counted sixteen in all -- a full squad and some extra brass, from what she could see.

They're really serious about this, she thought. I don't see a K-9 unit, yet, but we'll wait this one out and see what happens.

She watched as the squad fanned out around the house, a couple on each side, the majority at the front and back doors. She smiled a little when the point man out front brought the sign from the front door to the woman who was obviously the Commanding Officer. She simply looked at it in disgust and said something quietly... quiet enough that Alyssa couldn't catch it.

Two point men each, front and back, snuck a look in through the windows, obviously not seeing anyone. The team breached the front and back doors simultaneously, spreading out into the house. Alyssa couldn't see what was going on, but she could hear occasional excited yelling, the sporadic crackle of someone getting zapped with electricity and one very loud explosion, which must have been some inept soldier setting off a grenade trap.

Based on watching the lights, they were thorough, checking all three floors plus the basement. What they came out with was three limping soldiers, plus two on stretchers and one in a body bag. That, and a bunch of very confused looks. Not to mention a very unhappy CO.

While they were trying to evacuate their dead and wounded to the dirigible, they adopted a hostile posture, trying to look threatening enough to keep the now curious citizens of Vern's Dale in their homes -- the grenade was probably heard all the way out to Deanne's evergreen. The pissed off CO began stalking around the outside of the house, apparently looking for inspiration, because there wasn't much else out there.

She had two soldiers with her as she systematically looked at the old outhouse, the tool shed, the garage, the stable and finally the root cellar. When the CO had the two soldiers remove the bar holding the doors closed, open them and then enter, Alyssa figured this was going to be her only chance.

She nocked a stun arrow and as soon as the second soldier disappeared inside, she shot it at the CO, catching her right at the base of the skull and dropping her silently where she stood. Alyssa dropped out of the tree and quickly ran to the root cellar doors, rapidly closing them and sliding the wooden bar into place, locking them. Then she grabbed the CO and dragged her off into the woods behind the house.

Once out of sight, Alyssa bound the CO's wrists and ankles, put a gag on her, hoisted the CO over her shoulder and moved deeper into the woods as quickly as possible. She knew any dogs pursuing her would have no problem following her scent, so she had come prepared. She shed her Ghillie suit and doused it with urine from a bitch in heat. Then she moved into a small stream that ran between her house and Steven's smithy. She pulled out another couple of bottles and splashed wolf urine all over her and the CO. It smelled horrible, but it would confuse the dogs. She needed to get to Steven's and her horse.

He had her horse waiting for her when she arrived.

"I thought you were escaping alone, Missy," he told her.

"Change of plans," Alyssa answered. "This one's going to Morena's. Got any sedative that'll keep her quiet?"

"Yes, but one injection will only last eighteen hours at best. You'd have to give her a second and maybe a third injection, on the road."

"Then do it, man," Alyssa told him fervently. "I'm on the clock."

"Yeah, an' you don't smell so good, either," Steven told her. "You're scaring your horse."

"Can't help it," Alyssa apologized. "Inject her, wash us down so it ain't horrible, then we're outta here. They'll be confused for a while, but pursuit will come. And can you keep an eye on the escape route? Fuck 'em up if they figure it out?"

"Can do, Missy. Be right back."

He was. Together, they got the CO injected, most of the urine washed off and Alyssa on her horse with the CO draped across in front of her. She had provisions for several days and her usual hunting gear, plus the rest of the sedative from Steven. She also borrowed the carbine and revolver. With a quick kiss for luck and a heartfelt "thank you" to Steven for all of his help, she headed off towards Morena's, staying in the woods and undercover as much as possible, and avoiding the Mossy Hill area.

She traveled as far into the night as she safely could, then had to stop. Besides, the CO was starting to come around.

Alyssa picked a tree for a base camp. She threw a length of chain up and over a stout branch. She hooked it to a steel collar and put the collar around the CO's neck. Holding the revolver on her, she released the CO's wrists and ankles, then told her to stand and strip.

With great reluctance and an eye on the gun, the CO did.

"Here's the deal," Alyssa told her. "You've got enough chain to go over into those bushes and piss or shit or whatever. I've actually got some bun-wad for you, so you don't have to be careful about what leaves you wipe with. Then I've got some food and water here for you. We're way the fuck out in the middle of Nowhere, so I'm going to leave the gag off. You try yelling for help and it'll be nighty-night and I won't make the offer again."

"Your uniform hasn't got any insignia on it at all, so I haven't a clue what to call you, other than Bitch In Charge. You want to give me a name or a rank, I'll use it. Until then, you're Bitch. I'll give you your clothes back before we sack out, after I've gone through them for anything that might help you be located or escape."

"As far as I'm concerned, you're engaged in treason. Lucky for you, I have my reasons to keep you alive. Make it difficult for me and I'll change my mind. Are we clear?"

The CO looked at Alyssa for several moments, deciding that this young woman was indeed dangerous and meant what she said.

"Yes," she finally told her. "And the name is Major Kirsch, Matriarch's Special Services."

"Oh, great... a Spec-ops spook. Just what I needed," Alyssa commented. "Look, Major, you would do best to believe me when I tell you that your best chance to stay alive is to cooperate. This is not a joke. My life is on the line. Consequently, so is yours."

"I believe you," the Major said.

"Good. So here's your wad. We're eating cold, but I'll have something for you when you get back."

The Major nodded and walked off into the bushes, dragging her chain behind her.

Alyssa got out sausage, bread, cheese, trail mix, a couple of apples and water. She had the Major's portion ready when she got back. She set it out and backed away.

"I'm fairly suspicious by nature," she told the Major. "So just in case you were thinking of jumping me and strangling me with that chain, I'll be sitting over here, out of range. Do something stupid and I'll kill you. Out here, no one will hear the shot. Play along and you get to spend a comfortable night strapped to a tree. With your clothes."

She then sat down well out of range of the Major and began eating. The Major also began to eat, eyeing this Procurer with a much more appraising eye. They hadn't been warned that this woman had firearms. Nor the explosives she'd booby-trapped her house with. They weren't expecting the house to be empty. Someone had tipped her off. It was unlikely to be the other Procurer who had turned her in. So she had to have had outside help.

Her orders had been straightforward, straight from the Matriarch. This woman and her sister were guilty of treason. The Major was to capture her, her sister and the stock she was hoarding, alive, and return them to the Matriarch. If the woman fought back, kill her, but keep her stock alive at all costs. Now the Major was her captive instead and she had some kind of plan that included keeping the Major alive. Right now, that sounded like a great plan.

With all the precautions she had taken, the Major mused, it was unlikely the dogs would be able to find them. Aerial surveillance might do it, but the aircrews would have to know where to look. And this Procurer was keeping to the trees as much as possible, foiling air recon as much as possible. Since this woman didn't intend to kill her, yet, maybe it would be a good idea to play along.

When Alyssa finished eating and began going through the Major's clothes, the Major spoke up.

"There a locator beacon sewn into the collar," she told Alyssa. "I didn't have the opportunity to turn it on. There is a wire garrote hidden in the belt and the belt buckle conceals a knife. I think you've already stripped all the other weapons. There is also a plastic bag with solid gold coin and two cyanide pills in my pussy."

Alyssa eyed her with suspicion. "And you're telling me this why?" she asked.

"Because I believe you about cooperation keeping me alive," she explained. "I don't usually work in the field. The teams are usually headed by a Lieutenant or a Captain. So I'm not as prepared to resist you as they might have been. Better to stay alive, right now, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Alyssa told her while very, very carefully searching for the indicated items, presuming they'd be trapped and not wanting to be caught off-guard. She found the three items and carefully removed them, setting them aside. Then she turned back to the Major.

"Want me to go digging for the bag?" she asked, "Or would you rather fish it out yourself?"

"As kinky as it sounds, and though it could be fun," the Major told her, gauging her reaction, "I think I'd rather dig it out myself."

"Have at it," Alyssa told her, drawing the revolver and aiming.

The Major spread her legs and inserted a couple of fingers, pulling the edge of the bag to the vestibule, then pinching it with her thumb and forefinger and drawing it out. Alyssa estimated a couple of dozen gold coins in the bag and two separately packaged small capsules.

"What the hell good does keeping the cyanide wrapped in plastic, in your pussy do?" Alyssa asked as she watched.

"The theory is, if you are going into a situation which might require suicide, you would remove the two capsules and put them in your mouth between the cheek and gums. They are too strong to break unintentionally, but a solid bite on just one of them would release enough hydrogen cyanide to kill you. Obviously, I didn't think suicide was going to be necessary."

"Toss it," Alyssa directed the Major, and she did. Alyssa took out the two capsules, dug into the earth with her heel, dropped in the capsules and crushed them with her boot. She poured some water over them, then covered them with dirt. Then she stuffed the plastic bag into the shirt pocket of the Major's uniform.

"You can keep the gold," she told the Major. "I don't need it." She tossed the clothes to the Major. "You can get dressed," she told her. "Then we're going to grab some sleep for a few hours."

Alyssa went to her saddlebags and got out a picket line, hobble and stake. She picketed her horse under the trees where it could graze in comfort. Then she went back to the Major, who was now dressed. Handing her a pair of handcuffs, she directed the Major to put them on, in front. When the Major had, Alyssa inserted a thick branch through her elbows and behind her back. Tying a rope to the branch, she tossed the other end well up into the tree.

Next, she scrambled up the tree until she and the rope were several branches above the lowest ones. She carefully adjusted the position of the rope, grabbed tight hold of it... then jumped off the branch.

Her sudden descent jerked the Major up into the tree. Pulling her a little farther, she instructed the Major to reach out with one leg and hook a branch, drawing herself to it. Alyssa let her down on the branch as she did. A few minutes later, the Major was sitting astride a large lower branch, handcuffed in front and bound to the trunk so she couldn't fall.

"Nighty-night, Major," Alyssa told her. "I know you had a nice long nap on the way out here, but try to rest anyway. We'll be going again in a few hours. Do I need to gag you, or are you going to stay cooperative?"

"The gag won't be necessary," the Major told her.

"Okay, then... I'll be up there," Alyssa told her, and pointed several branches above. Alyssa tied herself to the tree in a comfortable fork well out of reach of the Major. She'd been sleeping in trees since she first learned to climb them. She drank half a canteen of water, then lay down, letting herself drift into the sleep she'd learned to achieve anywhere, at anytime.

We'll get moving when I've got to piss, she thought.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Where the hell is the Major?!?!" the Captain ranted at her troops.

"We don't know, Sir," one of the soldiers replied. "She was with us, checking out the outbuildings. She sent us into the root cellar and the next thing we knew, the door was locked and we were trapped. It took us awhile to get the wooden bar out of the way and get the doors open. By then, the Major was gone. We found where she'd been dragged into the bushes, but then the trail disappears."

"Damn, it's that bloody Procurer!" the Captain decided. "Get the fucking K-9 unit down from the ship. We've got to pick up her trail. And the others. They were obviously warned. Otherwise, the place wouldn't be empty. Sonofabitch..." she trailed off, muttering.

After hurried communications with the dirigible hovering above, a large crate was lowered to the ground along with four more soldiers -- the handlers for the K-9's and their riflemen escorts. It took several minutes to get them organized and in the meantime, the Captain decided one dog team would go after the Major and one would go after the escapees. The dog team that went into the house just came out confused, and casting about outside wasn't helping any. The dog team that they sent to the root cellar had more luck.

They walked the dog along the drag lines where Alyssa had moved the Major into the bushes and after a couple of passes, the dog seemed to pick up on a scent leading away. The team followed it. They were doing well, following her track, until they got to the Ghillie suit. The dog went absolutely nuts, pawing at it, constantly coming back to it, worrying it... and the handlers couldn't shake the dog loose from the suit.

"Well, we know she came this way," the handler told the Captain, "but she must've spiked the suit's scent. The dog'll be worthless now, until we can get him away from this suit and his nose cleared out. I figure she'd have gone into the stream. Up or down, I'm not sure. "

"Well, go check it out," the Captain ordered. "Somebody get that damned suit out of here! Get the other team over here and keep the dog away from this spot! Check out the stream."

The teams moved to obey her orders and were immediately surprised when the dog would not cross the water.

"There is something very wrong here, Captain," one of the handlers told her. "It smells pretty foul, but I don't know why the dog would be so schizzy..." His thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl from the far bank and a louder howl from farther away and drawing nearer. Looking over, everyone saw a huge Dire Wolf watching them from the underbrush. Another was coming through the woods to join it.

"I'd say that's why your dogs don't want to cross the water," the Captain told them. "Maybe she knew the pair lived here and the dogs wouldn't mess with them."

"Maybe she did, Captain," one of the handlers agreed. "But that means our dogs are useless. Maybe we need to canvas the neighbors? See if someone knows where she'd bug out?"

"Fine," the Captain decided. "You two teams, take your dogs back to the ship. Lieutenant? Start canvassing the neighbors. See if anyone has any idea which way she'd go."

The remaining squad fanned out through the village, going door to door and getting polite dead ends... until they got to the smithy. Steven answered the door in his work clothes.

"Yeah?" he asked as he towered over them. "How may I help you?"

When they told him about trying to find his neighbor, the Procurer, and did he have any idea where she might have gone, he looked thoughtful for a very long moment before answering them.

"Well... I know she used to do a lot of hunting up near Mirror Lake," he told them. "Had a few little outposts in that area. But recently, I think she'd moved on to Settlers' Ruin. Probably has one or more nests in that area, as well. You're gonna have a tough time finding her out there if she doesn't want to be found."

They thanked him for his help and relayed the information to the Captain, who relayed it to the dirigible Captain, who relayed it to the aerial reconnaissance teams. Of course, only Steven knew that Mirror Lake and Settlers' Ruin were 120 degrees and several days off in the wrong direction.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alyssa moaned slightly, stretched, dropped down out of the tree, walked into the bushes and pissed. Then she came back to the tree, climbed up and sat across from the Major.

"Good morning," she greeted her, although it was still just before dawn. "Sleep well?"

"Didn't sleep," the Major replied. "Didn't fall out of the tree, either."

"Okay," Alyssa told her, "time for breakfast." She untied the Major from the tree, went to the ground and suggested the Major help by standing up and stepping off the branch. With only the slightest hesitation, the Major did so and Alyssa managed to let her down to the ground without too large a bump. With the collar and chain still on, Alyssa let the Major head into the bushes while she got out a simple breakfast, which she shared with the Major upon her return.

When they finished, Alyssa tightened up the chain so there was no slack.

"Okay, let's get you rigged for travel," Alyssa told the Major. She had the Major face away from her while she secured her wrists behind her. Then without warning the Major, Alyssa injected her with the sedative from Steven.

"Sorry," she said. "Can't have you see where we are or where we're going."

As soon as the sedative came on, Alyssa removed the chain and collar, secured her ankles, brought her wrists around front, securing them again, and lifted her over her horse. Mounting up, she headed on out toward Morena's.

The sun was still up when she ran out of woods. Deciding to wait until dark to move across the open fields, and fully aware that she'd be thermally visible to any aircraft, she was hoping she'd managed enough misdirection that she wouldn't be discovered. In the meantime, she lifted the still comatose Major off her horse and laid her out as comfortably as she could on the ground, under cover of the trees. Then Alyssa sat back and scanned the skies and the fields for any problems.

Nothing and no one appeared, but Alyssa was sure that Tara would have people watching Morena. She was going to have to chance it. She was going to come in through the corn fields, on foot and leading her horse with the Major draped across it. The corn was tall enough this time of year to hide her. There would be a short sprint from the edge of the fields to the main gate. If the guards didn't give her any shit, she could be inside the compound fairly quickly.