The Creepers Ch. 01

When she and Red Back were alone again, she turned to her trusted friend. "So what do you think?"

"I'm glad for you. You look happy again. Are you okay with this?"

"I don't know. But I'm okay with not knowing right now. I'm worried about her getting hurt though."

"Would she be in less danger wandering the wilds on her own?"

"I don't know. I don't know where this is going to go, Red. I'm just glad I don't have to go there alone." She stood up and gave her comrade a hug. "And I'm not just talking about Rain."

"Get some sleep Captain Diamondback. We've got more than enough people to stand watch tonight."

She wandered towards her tent and climbed inside. The weather had seemed mild, so she had left the rain-fly off, letting her gaze out at the stars. Rain's clothes were piled up next to the entrance and she was curled up under the blankets. Diamondback got undressed and slid in next to her. The girl was already out of it, but she instinctively snaked her arm over her lover's body. Diamondback slid an arm over the other girl as well, and drifted contentedly off to sleep.

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The next morning . . .

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They both got up bright and early. And they managed to be quite business like. Rat was on watch for the morning hours, and gave them both a pleasant smile when they emerged. Rain borrowed Rat's crossbow and went looking for small game. When everyone was awake, their Captain informed them of the plan to investigate the town, which sounded reasonable to all of them. After a breakfast of some small pheasant-type birds, they were off. They made good time for the next several days. Rain spent some time every day discussing horsemanship with Tick (who was an expert equestrian), knife fighting and self-defense from Cobra, and she spent some time with Red Back discussing Diamondback. He regaled her with the story of how they met, which involved a small bet and a lot of property destruction. He told her many of the brave things their Captain had done in her time. Diamondback herself was unaware of what these conversations were about, but Rain was always smiling afterward, so she didn't press the matter.

The little town wasn't much of a problem to get to. The store Rain had been talking about was almost completely overgrown with weeds. The squad managed to bust the front door in with a bit of help from one of the horses. Most of the stuff inside had been rendered useless by centuries of neglect. Almost all the guns had been exposed to the air and residual moisture, causing them to rust out. There were two shotguns in a sealed glass case that could be salvaged with a bit of work, but there was some doubt as to whether any of the shells would have survived. But much to Rain's delight, there was a fiberglass compound bow and a number of fiberglass arrows also in the case which were good to go. There were a variety of standard arrows that would be good for hunting, and some broad-heads in case she needed to hit something bigger, so she grabbed them all and a plastic quiver. The rest of the squad salvaged some synthetic rope, two spare tents (one for supplies and one big enough to meet in if the weather got ugly), and a couple of camouflaged tarps. Most of the hunting-style clothing had been devoured by silverfish and the like long ago, but they found some stuff in a back room that had been sealed in an airtight bag and stored.

Rain went into the back and tried them on. She looked a bit sheepish when she emerged. The hunting-camo pants were a bit big for her. Even with the belt , they hung low on her hips, and the long sleeved shirt (also in the hunter-camo pattern) was too big, so she had tied it off above the waist. She thought she looked ridiculous. Diamondback thought she looked especially sexy. Leave it to her lover to make old hunting clothes look THAT good. They trimmed up the length of the pants, and she was as ready as she was going to get. Tick, along with being an expert rider was apparently a skilled fisherman. With just some line, a hook and a branch, he caught them a fish dinner that Rain prepared as well as she could, considering fish wasn't part of her regular diet. They told stories around the fire for hours. Diamondback and Rain exchanged knowing glances, grabbed a blanket, and went off to make love on the shore of the lake.

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Several weeks later

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They were approaching Bismarck. The trip up the Missouri River had been uneventful. They had settled into a routine, which now accounted for the presence of the lovely Rain. They began to see the telltale signs of the presence of other people. They left their horses in the care of Rain and proceeded on foot. The beautiful girl touched Diamondback's face and kissed her before she left. This was the hard part for her. Actually, it was the hard part for both of them.

Sure enough, the raiders had already arrived. They had a bit of a head start, as the Creepers hadn't left until the rumors had reached Legion territory, but the raiders still must have kept up a good pace. They all had their binoculars out, trying to assess the nature of the threat. It was Viper who actually first noticed the oddity of the situation, and they all got together.

"This isn't an invasion force!" he said with a bit of surprise.

"I have to agree," said Diamondback, who had also noticed some odd things. Each of them told what they had seen. Viper had seen a group of children playing amongst the gunmen. And these warriors/soldiers seemed awfully non-aggressive, yet still alert. Diamondback has spotted a disproportionate number of elderly people. Tick said that their horses looked too laden down with as many medical supplies as weapons. And Red Back thought that less than a fourth of the mob appeared to be combatants. If this was an invasion force, Diamondback would eat her hat. If she had one.

"So how do we proceed? Do we risk making contact?"

Diamondback pondered the question. "Yes, we make contact. I'll do it. But go get the horses and be ready to ride out if things get ugly."

"Captain . . ."

"This is what we're supposed to do. And I might be able to bluff them into thinking we have more fighters than we do. I don't want to die here, but we have to figure out what the hell is going on." She waited around until Tick returned with Rain and the horses. Diamondback's young lover looked worried. Tick had probably explained the plan to her.

"I have to do this," Diamondback told her.

"I know. Go do what you have to do. But try and make it back in one piece. I don't want to lose you again." They embraced, Diamondback mounted up and headed in. She had a white flag with her, hoping they recognized the sign of peace. She stayed on the main road into town, waiting to be noticed. It didn't take long. Seven armed men emerged from the woods, guns trained on the rider. They looked focused, but not overly hostile. That was a good sign. One of them, who Diamondback guessed was the leader from the way he carried himself and the way the others looked to him to make a move, approached slowly. Then something seemed to click in his head.

"You're Legion?" he asked, sounding a bit excited. That was strange, but not nearly as strange as the fact that he started smiling. "Thank God! We didn't think we'd get to your guy's territory for months!"

Okay. This was weird. "You won't. We were sent to investigate why your force was advancing across the continent.

"Advancing? Miss . . . I'm sorry, but I don't know how to address you."

"S'okay. It's Captain Diamondback of the Third Squad of the Legion, also known as the Creepers." The man looked impressed. Apparently their reputation preceded them.

"Well Captain, this group isn't advancing. It's running."

"Mr. . . .?"

"Sorry. I'm Sergeant Malloy of his Majesty's Advanced Recon Team."

"Well Sergeant, I think you'd better arrange for a meeting on the outskirts of town for your superiors and my people. I think there is some explaining to do."

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To Be Continued . . .