Deadrise 2: Deadwar (17 page)

“Right.” he said. He pushed a button on his desk intercom.

“Go ahead General?” David’s voice came back over the speaker a moment later.

“I need you to kill the audio and video in here until further notice.”

“You got it.” the intercom went quiet and the red power light on the security camera went dark. Patty resisted the urge to chide him about the blind obedience of David, a Council member. The last thing she had come here to do was fight.

“So what’s on your mind?” he asked, obviously steeling for an argument.

“I’m not here on matters of the mind, Blake…but rather the heart…” She looked him square in the eye, dropping all barriers, all pretenses.

“I…” he began but fell silent. There was momentary confusion in his eyes. “I…” he tried to speak again, but the swelling in his heart threatened to crack his iron self control. Sensing his weakness, Patty went to him, taking him in her arms, pulling his head tight to her chest, and then he did break...

CHAPTER 19

Saturday September 1, 2001

Rainbow Lake, UT

8.45 PM

Matt and Susan lay entwined, finding strength and solace in the others warm, naked embrace. For the past month, Matt had been in turmoil at keeping Susan in the dark about his heart condition. But it was in these gentle moments of lovemaking that he found it most difficult to keep his silence.

“Is something the matter, baby?” Susan whispered in his ear before softly nibbling down the side of his neck.

“I just have a lot on my mind. So much is happening so fast.” Things
were
happening fast. Matt was surprised at the progress the community had made in only two months. Not only had they incorporated Mountain View, they had stripped Evanston bare and were well on their way to emptying Green River. They had opened diplomatic contact with Hill Air Force Base and engaged in limited trade, and had also began to repopulate Kittewa for farming and the raising of livestock.

“Strange about Patty and Jenkins, don’t you think?” Susan asked, caressing his stomach.

"I'd say. Talk about a match made in hell." He rolled over and kissed her deeply, growing aroused. He pulled her on top of him, marveling at how well she used her hips to make love to him. They climaxed together and continued to lay entwined afterwards.

“I’m pregnant.” Susan said sometime later, breaking the musky silence. Matt felt the slightest twinge of pain in his chest, followed by a warm flush and a quickening pulse.

“That’s…that’s wonderful.” Matt stammered out, his vision blurring.

“Are you alright?” Susan asked, pushing him back onto the bed.

“I’m fine. You just surprised me with the news.” Matt took several deep breaths, wiping his sweaty palms on the bed sheets.

“You look like you had a heart attack.” Susan said with a smile, bending down and kissing him.

“Pregnant…” Matt said heavily, looking Susan deep in the eyes. “How far along?”

“Just enough to test positive on the strip…” She sensed something else in his question. “What, you think it might not be yours?” anger flared in her eyes.

“I didn’t say that?” Matt defended, trying to ward off a fight.

“But you were thinking it.” Matt’s silence was all the answer she needed. “I hadn’t seen Benny for over a month before he came looking for me.” Her anger was replaced with shame, and tears came to her eyes.

“Whoa! I didn’t imply any such thing. I was just surprised.”

“Why are you surprised?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it.”

She wiped her eyes clear and sniffed. “Do you think I should keep it?”

“What?”

“Should I have Norris give me an abortion?”

“What? An abortion?”

“At this stage its probably just a shot or some medicine.”

“Why the hell would you want to have an abortion?”

“Do you want to try and raise a baby in this world?”

“That’s our baby.” Matt said. “I don’t want you to have an abortion.”

Any intention he had of telling her about his heart condition disappeared as all his thought turned toward his wife and their unborn child growing inside her. He pulled her tight to him, trying to quell her sobs, but found himself fighting back his own. “I love you so much…” he cried into her ear.

“I love you to…” she answered back, pulling him even tighter, and together they held each other through the long hours of the night…

CHAPTER 20

Wednesday October 10, 2001

Rainbow Lake UT

4:48 PM

As second in command of the Rainbow Lake Militia, and therefore Rainbow Lake itself, Colonel McReedy often found himself at the helm while the General was out in the field. At first Mac had pressured Jenkins to stay behind and let Captain Turner or Commander King command from the field, but Jenkins had been a lead by example guy since he’d first met him a few months ago. And since Mac had no real desire to return to the field unless absolutely necessary, baby-sitting Rainbow Lake became his responsibility. And Mel had been encouraging him to take advantage of the position and power he held.

Mel. The thought of her voluptuous curves, highlighted by exotic body tattoos, flaming red hair and emerald green eyes began to arouse his passions. He had found her among the first of the Park City refugees, and from the moment their eyes met, there was an electric current between them. He had taken her to his bed the second night she had been at Rainbow Lake, and she had been there ever since. He felt a connection with her unlike any he had felt before. When they were apart, he felt anxious and vulnerable, her empty presence always tickling at the back of his mind. Only when she was in his arms, her hot flesh against his own, did he truly feel whole. He knew his feelings for here went beyond love and bordered on obsession, even addiction, but what could he do? He was a slave to her touch. Her skills as a lover were mind blowing, beyond anything he had ever experienced with a woman. She had stimulated erogenous zones on his body that he hadn’t even known existed. And the way she would look deep into his eyes, their energies overlapping, bonding in the heart and soul…it was pure magic…Heaven on earth. Mac couldn’t get enough.

He pulled his mind away from thoughts of Mel, lest he walk around with a hard-on the remainder of his shift. He still had things to attend to. The General was out with Captain Turner and most of the Alpha Company scouting Rock Springs, leaving him in command. He left the Main House and climbed into the Toyota pickup assigned to him for personal transportation. Security protocol demanded that senior Militia personal and Council members were escorted by an armed guard, but he ordered the pair assigned him to remain behind. He had private business to attend to.

It took him almost ten minutes to slowly follow the perimeter road around to the east side of the lake to the estate occupied by the Freebooter Smitty Tucker and his crew. A pair of heavily armed bikers guarded the front gate, but they let him pass without incident. Smitty had been trying to win his favor lately, giving him extra pain pills to supplement what Doc Reilly allotted him, which were never enough. He had even hinted at other, more beneficial perks to being his friend. When the biker had first contacted him his gut instinct told him to refuse any friendship that was offered; the man had been a lowlife criminal pre-plague, and from what Mac had seen since his arrival, he hadn’t changed much.

But Mel had seen it differently. Why not take advantage of what he had to offer? Jenkins, Matt, Susan and Councilman Casey definitely were. Hell, half of the community obtained their drugs, alcohol, and other precious, rationed items from Smitty or a member of his crew. And for the most part the Council turned a blind eye. Patty, Sheriff Busley, Guy Hammonds and Doc Reilly were all concerned about the drug traffic, but short of driving the Freebooters off and implementing complete Totalitarianism there was really nothing that could be done about it; people who wanted to get drunk, stoned or loaded were going to find a way to do it, better to supply them than deny them and watch them destroy everything around them to get a fix. So long as the Freebooters kept things quiet, safe and under control, and applied the proper amount of grease to the wheels, the Council let them go about their business. So despite his better judgment, Mac had listened to Mel and accepted the biker’s friendship. Besides, it wasn’t like the pain pills weren’t appreciated. When one of the bikers had delivered the message that Smitty requested a private meeting, Mac had agreed.

He parked the Toyota in the front lot and made his way to the entrance of the elegant, cabin style mansion. Smitty met him at the door, wearing denims, leather chaps, leather riding boots and a sleeveless leather vest and holding a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“Welcome, Colonel.” Mac shook his hand then followed the wiry biker inside. The interior of the mansion continued with the log cabin design, to comfortable results. Smitty led him into a large den on the main floor. It was aptly decorated with a roaring fireplace, bearskins along the walls and a large oak desk. A sliding glass door looked out on the backyard of the estate and the cold autumn waters of Rainbow Lake.

“Please, have a seat.” Smitty beckoned him to one of the leather easy chairs that sat in front of the desk. “What would you like to drink?” The leather-clad biker was almost comical as a gracious host.

“A cold beer, if you have one.” Mac said skeptically. They were rationed one a day with the evening meal among the community.

Smitty just smiled and opened a small refrigerator hidden in a wall panel beside the desk. He pulled out a bottle of beer, moisture condensing on the outside of the bottle, twisted off the cap and handed it to Mac. He took a modest swallow, wanting to savor this rare treat.

“Drink up. There is plenty more where that came from.” Smitty grinned, taking a long pull from his whiskey bottle. Mac didn’t need a second invitation to drink a cold beer… Once he had cracked his second bottle and taken a drink, he turned his mind to more serious matters.

“So what’s on your mind?” he asked the biker.

“I like how you took the time to have a beer before getting serious.” Smitty replied with an approving nod. “The General, he cuts straight to the chase. All business. But you know how to relax. I like that.” Mac thought he detected a hint of bitterness when Smitty mentioned the General.

“You didn’t invite me here to have a beer.”

“Of course I did. I invited you here to have a beer in hopes that we could become friends.”

“I thought we were friends?” Mac took another sip of beer.

“That’s yet to be decided.”

“What about Jenkins? Isn’t he your friend?”

“I like the General, but lately his judgment has been clouded. Ever since he took up with that Marshall woman,” Smitty’s voice was filled with venom.

“Council Woman Marshall.” Mac corrected him, testing the limits of the Bikers respect for his authority.

“Right…” Smitty said with a snort, tilting the whiskey bottle at him before taking a drink.

“And your right,” he said, smiling at the surprised look on the biker’s grizzled face. “She has clouded his thinking.” Mel had even said as much. Mac didn’t really see it. Other than a lack of tension in his body language, and a softening of his razor sharp, sometimes bitter wit, he seemed the same old Jenkins. Never-the-less, Mel warned him not to trust Patty.

And he did
whatever
Mel asked of him.

For a moment his mind wandered to her, and he felt a stab of depression in his heart that he was not in bed with her, naked, wrapped in her long legs, deep inside her... His skin ached for her touch.
Soon enough...
He could almost hear her whisper in his ear. It was never soon enough. Every moment spent away from her warmth was too long.

“The Council has been cracking down on my cut of contraband salvage. I’m supposed to turn over all drugs and medication, but I skim. Everybody knows it. For the longest time, the militiamen checking us in didn’t search too hard. Now that the General is with Council Woman Marshall, they have turned on the heat, even patting me and my guys down.” Smitty looked and sounded like a man wronged.

“What can I do about that?” Mac asked, almost laughing at the biker’s plight.

“Your the second most powerful man in Rainbow Lake. I know you have men that are loyal to
you
first. Get them assigned to tariff duty…”

Mac
had
taken a new unit, Bravo Four, under his wing. He knew their loyalties lied with him, not Jenkins. “What’s in it for me?”

“A five percent cut of my take for you. How you decide to spread that among your men is your business.”

Mac looked Smitty in the eyes, long and hard. He felt a spark of hot adrenaline flare deep inside him. It felt good. Damn good. “So it’s not just a friend you are looking for… You need a partner.” Smitty didn’t answer him, just took a long pull of whiskey.

“Five percent for me, but
you
have to take care of my men.” Smitty grimaced. “Like you said, I’m the second most powerful man in Rainbow Lake. The General is away half of the time, leaving me in charge. I can cover my end of the deal without a hitch. That’s worth ten percent. You have to take care of the tariff squad. They are young men. Their needs will be easy to fulfill; Sex, whiskey, drugs.”