Recaptured

Mason and Val traveled together for the next week without major incident. They managed to avoid contact with any other travelers. Val thought that she was gaining Mason's respect. She tried to learn from him to improve her own survival skills.

A clatter of hooves announced the passage along the road of a sizable traveling party on horseback. Val and Mason watched as they approached from the cover of the brush along the side of the road. The horses were laden with goods for trading.

Val was surprised when Mason said he was going to talk to them. They had taken great care to hide from everyone else along the way.

"They are traveling fast, they will get to the outpost several days before us. I need to send a message on ahead with them, to prepare someone there for the deal I want to broker. I need to get the word out so the right buyers will be there, prepared to pay a worthy price. Stay here. You would likely attract the wrong attention."

Val climbed a densely foliated tree, and peered through the leaves to get a better view as Mason strode confidently out and flagged the travelers down. They spoke for a few minutes as Mason relayed his message.

Val heard faint rustling behind and below her. She looked back into the woods and saw figures slipping through the cover. They gathered at the edge of the brush, just off the road. The men readied their weapons. Val realized they meant to attack the travelers. She had to warn Mason. She shouted out, "Watch out, ambush!" and immediately released knives at two marauders who had bows drawn.

Mason turned and raised his cross-bow just in time to see the first attacker charge out of the woods. He dropped the attacker immediately. The others in the traveling party drew their weapons and met the marauders.

Val drew her short swords and dropped out of the tree into their midst. This ambush was not going the way the marauders had planned. They had lost the element of surprise, and apparently there were additional enemies in the trees they hadn't accounted for. Someone called for a retreat, and they slipped back into the woods, heading off to find easier victims.

Mason came back to find Val as the travelers took off, their speed on horseback being their best defense. A dead man lay at Val's feet, his throat slashed. Two more stared with blank eyes further away, throwing knives protruding from their foreheads. Val cleaned off her swords and sheathed them. Val again felt ill after the adrenalin wore off.

"We should get away from this place," said Mason.

A while later, they came to a stream with a wide, lazy pool. The water looked enticing and Val realized how dirty she was from days of traveling. "I would love to take a bath right now," she said.

"Go ahead," Mason said. "I'll keep watch."

"Bullshit, you're just going to watch me, you pervert. How about you take a bath and I'll watch you."

"How about we both take a bath together, then we'll both be even."

Val wasn't sure if he was joking, but she wasn't going to back down. "You don't think I will, do you?"

Her heart was racing as she pulled off her vest, exposing her pert little breasts. She locked her eyes on his as she continued to undress.

Mason pulled his shirt off, exposing a broad chest and rippling abs. He was incredibly fit for an older man. Val's eyes drifted down to the growing bulge in Mason's pants. Val turned and dove naked into the water. She heard him splash in behind her.

She turned and she suddenly found herself in his strong embrace. His lips met hers hungrily. She had no experience with a man, but she responded instinctively. Her tongue met his as she ran her hands through his wet hair. She felt his strong arms enveloping her and his firm hot penis pressing against her belly underwater. She reached a hand down and stroked it. It jumped at her touch and Mason moaned a little.

Mason lifted her up, carried her to a soft patch of moss on the bank of the stream and laid her down. He gazed down at her. "You are unbelievably sexy," he said.

He lowered his head and began suckling on her nipples. Val felt like there was and electric current running directly from her nipples to her crotch. She was incredibly aroused.

"Oh, Mason," she moaned, "that feels so good."

He worked his way back up and began sucking on her neck. She ran her hands down his back and clutched his firm buttocks.

Mason kissed her lips again, then asked her, "Val? Are you a virgin?"

"Yes, but I'm ready for you to take me," she said in a husky voice.

"No, not here, not now."

Val was stunned. He was turning her down?

"Val, your virginity is a precious thing and now is not the right time to take it. Being with child in the wilderness would be an incredibly difficult and dangerous thing to deal with. There are other ways I can satisfy your needs. Trust me, you will love this."

He reached down and began to gently brush her pussy with his fingertips as he worked down her body with his lips.

When his tongue and fingers came together at her pussy, Val felt incredible sensations her own fingers had never produced. She felt him trace the folds of her labia with his tongue, making every nerve ending tingle. Every time he brushed her nub, there was an explosion of intense pleasure that burst forth and radiated out to the rest of her body. When he took the little button between his lips, she soared over the edge, with wave after wave of sensation coming rapid fire and racking her body. Her hips bucked out of control. She slowly drifted down from this high.

"Holy shit that was amazing. That was like nothing I have ever felt before." She lay there spent and satisfied.

"Um . . . Val?"

"Yes?"

"Maybe you could return the favor?"

"What do you . . .Oh! I'm so sorry. I don't know what I'm doing." Val felt like an idiot. She was just lying there basking in the afterglow, when she owed Mason some return attention.

"I've never done this before, so bear with me."

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

Val reached down and circled her hand around his shaft and slowly stroked it up and down.

"Mmmm, yes."

After a couple of minutes, she repositioned herself to get a better look, but Mason gently pushed her head closer and closer. Val got the message. She reached her tongue out and ran it from base to tip, then took the head in her mouth and swirled her tongue around it. Slowly she lowered her head, taking more and more in.

"Oh, Val . . . oh yes!"

Val bobbed her head up and down. The more suction she created, the more Mason moaned and thrust his hips. Val enjoyed the feeling of control as she directed his pleasure. She increased the pace and Mason matched her with his thrusts. Val looked up and met his eyes. This seemed to drive him wild and he thrust frantically. "OH GOD!" he cried out and suddenly Val felt the hot spurts of his cum hit the back of her throat. She swallowed it and kept sucking until no more came out. She raised her head off of his softening cock and grinned.

"Did I do OK?" Val asked.

"Awesome."

Mason and Val traveled for four more days until they approached the outpost. They hid in some dense brush about 400 yards from the gate in the stockade fence that surrounded the outpost. "Wait here," Mason said.

He slipped out of the bushes and followed the road to the gate. Val watched as he disappeared through the gate. About an hour later, he returned with something made from heavy cloth in his hand.

"We will wait until nightfall to enter."

Val dozed off while they waited.

Once it got dark, Mason handed Val the cloth item. "Put this on." It was a hooded cloak. Val put it on as requested, pulling the hood low over her face. Val understood the point was to conceal that she was a young girl, and therefore hopefully avoid attention.

They entered the outpost together, walking along the nearly empty streets. They passed a couple of drunks, who paid them no attention. There were still a few booths in the street where salesmen pitched their wares by torchlight. As Val and Mason passed by, they kept their distance and didn't respond to the sales pitches that were aimed at them.

They came to a noisy saloon in the center of the village. Mason led them around the back. He knocked on the back entrance. The door opened slightly and he spoke to someone. The door opened wider and they slipped in. They turned to the left and climbed a set of stairs to the second floor. At the top of the stairs was a hallway. There was a small office to the right, with an open door.

Mason gestured for Val to stay in the hall, and he entered the office. Inside, Val could see Mason speaking quietly with to a short man with a turban and a swarthy complexion. The man kept looking out into the shadowy hallway at her. She pulled the hood lower.

Mason turned to Val and waved her into the office. "You can take the hood off now. This is Rajeev." Val pulled back the hood.

Rajeev drew his breath in sharply. "Praise Allah, she is a heavenly sight."

Mason said, "Rajeev has a room for us. We will need to lay low for a few days while the buyers arrive for my merchandise."

They settled into a small one-bedroom suite with a kitchenette. Rajeev brought them a hearty lamb stew and a pitcher of ale.

Later Mason and Val had oral sex again, bringing one another to heights of passion. As she lay in his arms later, Val was content. She had found a man who was not threatened by her skills, embraced her adventurous spirit and satisfied her passions. She didn't care that he was more than twice her age.

Leaving the safety of Munroe may have been foolish and dangerous, but it seemed to have worked out. She was experiencing the adventures she had longed for. Someday, she thought, she could return to Munroe with Mason and start a family.

Rajeev's wife Harisha tended to their needs during their stay. She brought them food three times a day, and basins of warm water morning and night for washing.

On their third day, Mason received word that the key buyers had arrived. He told Val they would be attending the auction later that day. Harisha arrived at the room and insisted on doing Val's hair, "to look her best at the market." This didn't make much sense to Val, as she would be remaining discreet under her hood. Still, she let Harisha brush her hair out and French braid it. She had never bothered with such hairstyles, but she had to admit she liked how it looked when Harisha was done.

Late in the afternoon, they entered the open air market. Val kept the hood low over her face and walked with her head down. Rajeev had send four armed guards with them "to prevent any trouble," as he put it.

The auction was in full swing, with the auctioneer taking bids on goods of all kinds. Mason talked to a man at the edge of the crowd, who then pushed his way up to the auctioneer and said something to him. The auctioneer scanned the crowd until he found Mason and caught his eye. Mason gave him a nod.

"Now for the moment many of you have been waiting for . . ." the auctioneer began.

Suddenly, Val felt strong hands grab her wrists and pull them behind her. A cold metal restraint closed on them. She looked to Rajeev's guards for help, but realized they were the ones restraining her. She tried to struggle but soon her ankles were similarly restrained. Bewildered, she cried out, "Mason, help!"

He turned to her with a sad smile, "Sorry, Val, it's just business."

Val stared at him, at first not comprehending, then the realization hit her even as the auctioneer confirmed it. She was the valuable commodity that Mason had come to sell. Her heart plummeted at the shock of his betrayal.

"We have the rarest of items up for sale today. The first born child of the new generation. The only 18 year old girl in the world."

At that moment, one of Rajeev's men pulled back Val's hood. The crowd roared in approval.

"Just look at her: beautiful, virginal and fertile," the auctioneer continued.

The crowd parted as the guards dragged Val toward the stage. Her despair was replaced by seething anger. "Fuck you! I'm not for sale! If you buy me, I'll kill you!"

The auctioneer didn't miss a beat, "apparently she's feisty as well, an added bonus." The crowd laughed and roared in approval again. Someone put a gag in Val's mouth to shut her up.

The guards hauled Val onto the stage and tied her off to a post that appeared to be there for that purpose. Val glared out at the sea of faces.

"Let's hear some offers."

"Six pigs!" someone yelled from the back of the crowd.

"Let me rephrase that . . . Let's hear some realistic offers. Folks, this is the most valuable item we have ever sold. Perhaps the most valuable item on the face of the earth."

"A dozen draft horses and two carriages."

"Better . . ."

"Forty ounces of gold and eight slaves."

"What do you think, Mason. Any of these offers strike your fancy?" asked the auctioneer.

"You've got to do better than that. Maybe these folks need to get a better look at just how fine this merchandise is." He looked to Rajeev's guards. "Strip her." They pulled her clothes off, much to the delight of the crowd.

Val felt like crying, but she put on a defiant face. She thought nothing could be more humiliating than being bound and naked in front of a crowd of hundreds. A few minutes later, that assumption was proven wrong.

"Eighty ounces of gold and ten slaves."

"Folks, we are talking about a real virgin teenager here."

"How do we know she's a virgin?" asked a voice from the crowd.

"I checked, she's still intact," Mason declared. Horrified and disgusted, Val realized why Mason had turned down intercourse. It had not been out of any concern for her, but purely to protect his investment.

"Why should we trust your word? You're the seller," came another voice.

"Go check for yourself," said Mason. The crowd was delighted at the prospect of this. A man came up to the stage. Val suffered through a humiliating "inspection" in front of the crowd. The man gave a thumbs up at his findings and the crowd roared again.

"One thousand ounces of gold, forty slaves, one hundred and fifty handguns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition."

A stunned silence swept over the crowd. The offer was shocking.

"We have a deal," said Mason quietly. The crowd cheered.

Before Val was handed over to the buyer's representatives, Mason came over to her one more time. Val was still restrained and gagged, so she couldn't do much more than glare at him in fury.

"You may hate me now, but this is probably the best thing for you. The buyer has paid a fortune for you. Anyone who would pay that much is going to keep you safe and well cared for."

His justification only made her angrier. She swore to herself that she would track him down some day and get revenge.

The buyer's representatives dressed Val again, removed the gag and unshackled her hands, but left her ankles restrained. They loaded her into a shiny metal vehicle that had the word "Escalade" on the back. The abandoned rusted hulks of cars were a common sight, but Val had never seen one in pristine condition, except in picture books at the library. The heavy engine had apparently been removed and the car was hitched to a team of horses.

They slid Val into the plush, soft back seat. She looked past the seat in front of her and there was a panel covered with a confusing array of buttons, knobs and dials and a large wheel. She knew that ordinary people like her had operated these vehicles before the apocalypse. She wondered if somehow people had gotten dumber, because she couldn't imagine being able to understand the controls, let alone operate them.

A man slid into the seat in front of her and grasped the wheel with his hands. The car lurched forward as they began their journey. They travelled in a huge caravan, with dozens of carriages, though the remainder were of the common wooden variety, and about 50 men on horseback, all of them armed with guns.

Val had only seen a few guns before, in the possession of the guards at the entrance gates to Munroe. She had always been fascinated by them. She understood they could kill from ridiculous range with little effort, and unlike a cross-bow, could kill repeatedly without pause. She didn't think any marauders would stand a chance against them as they traveled along the road.

For the first hour they traveled, Val could think of nothing but her anger over Mason's betrayal. Eventually anger was replaced with apprehension over what was to become of her.

"Where are you taking me?"

"I have not been authorized to say, Milady."

"How long will it take to get there?"

"Five or six days."

"What have I been purchased for?" Val figured it probably involved her making babies, since that would seem to be the ability that made her a rare commodity. That or being a sex slave, since men seemed to find her youth so compelling.

"I do not know, I am just a simple driver."

"Who has purchased me?"

"I am not authorized to say, Milady."

This guy, as pleasant as he seemed to be, clearly was not going to be much help. They sat in silence for a while.

"How does this thing work?"

"Now it is quite simple, the horses pull and I use this wheel to keep it steered in the right direction. I have a pedal by my feet that applies a brake, so we don't run into the horses when they slow down. But back in the old days, these cars moved without horses and they were fascinating machines."

Clearly Val had hit on a topic that this man was passionate about. He launched into an animated lecture on pistons and spark plugs and other exotic sounding and bewildering things that meant nothing to Val. Still it passed the time and the few things she did grasp surprised her. He mentioned the air conditioning, and Val was incredulous.

"Wait, you are saying this thing could make its own cold on a hot day?" He had mentioned combustion, so she could grasp that it would make heat, but cold? It seemed like magic.

Several times a day, the caravan stopped and they ate. Every evening they made camp. Several guards watched over Val at all times. With metal restraints on her ankles, there was no chance Val would get far even if they forgot about her for a while.

On the morning of the sixth day of travel, they approached a huge wall, with massive gates. The gates were open, and Val noted that one of them hung at an odd angle on its hinge. Vines grew up on them. It was clear that these gates had not been closed in years. The entrance was not guarded either. What appeared to be a guard shack just in the gate had broken windows and a hole in the roof. Weeds had overtaken the wooden stairway up to the door.

Val looked ahead and saw a large, faded sign that was barely legible. It announced that they were in Davisville.

Val recognized the name from the stories. Her parents had escaped from here over 18 years ago. She had heard that the settlement was later destroyed and it appeared that those rumors were true. They passed miles of abandoned homes, shops and factory buildings, many of them burned or collapsed. Tangled vegetation was slowly overcoming the ruins. It had been a long time since people lived and worked in these buildings.

Val wondered why they were entering an abandoned settlement. Still, as they traveled on, she began to notice a change. There seemed to be less and less remains of the buildings, until they reached the point where many were just foundations. At the same time, these sites seemed to be much less overgrown. It appeared as though someone had been removing the remains of these structures, rather than that they had just completely disintegrated.

A couple of miles later, they came to another wall. This one was under construction. Val saw the first signs of life as dozens of workers assembled the stockade fence from massive tree trunks, under the watchful eye of armed guards. Inside the wall was a completely different world, as the settlement teemed with life.