CHAPTER 18 RISK

 -how long do you plan on staying there?

-I don't know, Chess. I'm fine. I have everything I need. I'm happy here. Chess, it fucking works here.

-it would work here if you give it a chance.

Chess sat next to the bed and held her hand. Jay watched them and felt oddly strange about this. He knew they were talking. If they weren't talking, he wouldn't be holding her hand.

-chess, Jayson is there. I cannot give anything a chance 

-he's not listening.

-I know he's not listening. you talk different when he is.

-Julia, if we wind up together, then why not cut this shit out now and just start fresh?

-no such thing. chess, you know that it takes time and growth and a lot of work for us.

-you are laying next to me there but won't consider it here? i'm your fuckin husband. I can see my body next to yours. is it Macy? Is it-

-stop. we will talk when I am conscious. I have not surrendered to you there.

-what the hell is surrender?

-it's the step after transcendence, dummy. you come up with this shit, not me. it was a very wicked game...chess, you made me give myself to you. beyond marriage. my king.

-that's a fuckin turn on

-you have done some sick and dirty shit to me in your sex room.

-Oooooh, I have a sex room.

-yes. it's very s and m of you and you had me submit to you. it's quite sexy here. there not so much.

you can walk up to me here, put my ring on my finger and it's all really sexually and physically submissive. it's the best sex ever and then we sit and talk afterwards and I tell you I surrender myself.  the s and m stuff, i'm totally into your size. you like conditioned me somehow. the pain is pleasure, complete and utter pleasure.

-every hole

-every last one...whatever you like, I do it. on demand as long as that ring is where it belongs. I have to. you've taken my choice away, but in a totally sexy way. this version of me is so in love with you. you give and you take away. you are my everything.

-how long do I gotta wait?

-but you have been fucking me forever though. I have fucked with all kinds of people. there's stuff you and jay don't know about. I been reading my journals.

-come out of this please, Julia

-I don't wanna. I have a daughter...

-you're pregnant now...

-that's caroline maybe. I been pregnant a few times...there's no birth control here...you got kids all over the place, 5 with macy, one with jess

-Tavin wants to know if he's alive

-sure, so is tarin. please tell him. I know it weighs on him. And Alex. Care is here, but they break up and make up a lot. I was right about Alex. Him and Tatia are my brother and sister. your mom and dad are alive. babe, we did it. this is the end result. it will all be alright. even if I can't save my Jayson, we're fucking alright. we made it. my fucking king....

-my fucking queen, he's fucking pissed i'm holding your hand. he says hi. wants to know what we're talking about.

-tell him his sister is getting nailed on the daily by her boyfriend. she's so funny. the kid's gifted at oral and he puts his mouth on her bump. she comes literally while she's talking about it

-what the fuck is a bump, the clit?

-yeah, she's a little freak that one. leave me alone so I can fuck in peace.

-I love you.

-you too.

Chess left her hand go, looked at Jayson who sat fuming in his chair still in the same scrubs.

"She's good. She's strong."

"What were you talking about?"

"Your sister's getting her bump licked on the daily."

"She's been obsessed with her bump since she was little."

"Why bump, Jay?"

"I didn't know what else to call it. Gotta wash your bump. It was when she was little and I used to give her a bath. The dirty stuff didn't make sense and neither did the right terminology."

"She's in love, Jayson." He said.

"Julia or Tatia?"

"Both." He answered. "It works there, Jay. She misses you, but we work there. After you, of course."

"Are we ever gonna get past this?"

"Jay, considering I let you fuck my wife, I think I am past it. Don't like it when the shoe's on the other foot, man?"

"What?"

"While I was-never mind, Jay. It's cool. She's all yours."

"Chess, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't touch her till Christmas. I didn't touch her when she was with Tavin. I never stepped out on Jess. I didn't do anything wrong. If you think I did, please tell me."

"You're right. You didn't."

"I'm happy with her Chess. I was happy when there was nothing there too."

"You're right, Jayson. No one can love her like you."

"I didn't say that, Chess."

"You act like it."

"How? By being her friend? I didn't open this up till him and her were over. I wouldn't do that."

"But you wanted it."

"Of course I did. I always did. I never wanted the girl to leave me to begin with. Over some shit with Hayley that never happened in a place that never happened. Getting us outta there, it was you she was thinking about. You two fucked that up from the minute you got back here. I wasn't in bed with you or in Philly with you or anywhere else with you. It wasn't my place to get involved in that. I stepped in when you fucking asked me too. One time."

"When did I ever ask you?"

"I think it was around the time you got married. Right before she tried to kill herself, Chess."

"Oh, yeah. I remember that. Maybe you should have handled that. Maybe she wouldn't have...you did reach in there and get to her. Then I fucked that up having her call the girl."

"I would have done the same thing, Chess. Tavin's the one that got in there and fixed her. Not me or you."

"He could have taken a different approach." Chess said. "Speaking of your brother, have you spoken to him? Did he do what I asked? I need to get that taken care of."

"What did you ask him to do?"

Chess dialed Tavin's phone and spoke with him briefly on the tasks he'd given him. He said it was a go. That the monitoring had gone over well, everyone seemed asymptomatic, no one was ill. The personal effects were removed as ordered and everything was in the trunk of the car. He was able to do whatever he wanted in the house. Clear it, clean it and so forth. Tavin indicated that there was more blood than he'd originally remembered on the steps and the walls leading upstairs. None the less it would be cleaned as well.

Chess got on the line to Blondie who had not gone clear back to Maryland. She had stayed in Maverick in case Jayson's prediction of the girl was inaccurate. She'd visited the local Walmart for more professional clothing to match the badge and the job description. She didn't like being criticized by anyone. Jayson had called her unprofessional and she took a look at herself in the mirror with no make up and a yoga suit. She didn't fit the part. Walmart office casual was what she had to work with and she worked it.

"Where you staying, sexy?"

"There's a motel near here. I hate these small towns, Morgan."

Chess stood up, "Come get me, Cook. We have work to do. I need to go back, so get me a ride too."

He clicked off the phone and looked at Jay. "You are in charge. I'll have paperwork sent in to sign."

"What? You're leaving? Paperwork?"

"Jayson, she's gonna be alright. Take care of her. Call me when she wakes up. I'll drive back this weekend."

Jay sat in the chair and watched as he walked away. What paperwork? He asked again as he sat alone in the room with Julia. This weekend? He asked thin air. Take care of her. When the nurse brought his phone back, charged at 100, he set it down and looked at her. She looked wretched. "Nurse Dawn, can I have some towels and wash cloths and a brush for her hair? Some lotion, please."

"Sure." She replied from the hall where the curtain usually was pulled. She went and gathered the things he'd need.

"No one did this yet. She's just laying here." Jay said when she returned. She handed him a basin with the supplies he'd requested inside it. "Thanks."

"You know what you're doing there?" The nurse asked. "I can find her nurse and get-"

"I do. No thanks. I saw you guys had a couple new patients come in and they look more complicated."

"You're not allowed to do this, but-" She looked around. Her tone of voice changed. "Be careful not to pull out anything. We were told this was all infectious disease and no one wants to come in here. The CDC was in swabbing her, took her records, took her-"

"I can handle a 100 pound girl, nurse Dawn. I'll be careful."

Jay pulled the curtain and went to work while he watched morning television. Possible case of Ebola, unconfirmed, in a local hospital..."Ebola. She doesn't have Ebola." Jay muttered as he washed her. "This is the best story you could come up with, Cookie..." He shook his head.  Ebola like symptoms, but highly unlikely due to the case history..."They wish this was Ebola." Jay said to himself as he turned her. He washed her back, dried her. From the looks of her small red ass, he left her laying on her side, propped up neatly with pillows. The catheter he repositioned and strung down over the opposite side of her bed. Bloody urine. "Great." He sighed, a whole new symptom. He talked to her while he worked on her hair. "How did this get so matted up, Jules? You only been here over night." He asked, running the brush through her long, red curls. As he brushed, flecks of dried blood broke off the strands of hair. He lifted her head and dragged the brush over her hair, pulling it straight back on the pillow, gathering it in a tail. He pulled the hair together, forming a braid and took the hair tie off his own hair and tied up hers.

Around lunch time, he and Julia watched TV and he sat talking to her through Maury Povich and the DNA tests. Even though Julia wouldn't admit it, she loved Maury and Jerry Springer. She didn't watch every day, but when she was alone he'd catch her laughing and screaming, 'you are not the father!' as Maury read the results. He'd never seen anyone so disappointed when the results came back that the daddy was in fact the daddy. "Jules, they don't even look alike." Jay pointed at the screen as the split screen showed the child and the potential father. "Look, babe, that guy's dark and this kid's as light skinned as ever."

"Jayson." he heard, but it wasn't her. "Jayson Keller." He turned from the TV and saw a man with glasses and a bald head standing in the door way.

"Yeah, what's up?" He asked.

"I am here with the paperwork." The man said. Jay stood and washed his hands, then went in the hall to the nurse's station. "Stanley Bass. I am the hospital social worker."

"Oh, I see. What paperwork?"

"Mr. Morgan designated you as her responsible party in his absence. I understand there are extenuating circumstances as he is in the military. Sign here and here." Stanley pointed at the lines where Jayson was to sign. Jayson signed.

"He's a marine, Mr. Bass."

"Yes, yes. I will have this placed on the chart. In his absence, any medical decisions during her stay will be discussed with you as well as Mr. Morgan. If he is unable to be reached, then you have authority to make medical decisions, be informed of her status and any changes. I understand he was called away."

"Yes, he was. Thank you."

Mr. Bass departed, spoke with the staff and left Jay standing at the nurse's station. While he stood there, Tavin was escorted to the ICU by a nurse he seemed to know well. When Tavin walked with or spoke with a woman he knew well, he was in a comfort zone. Relaxed, smiling even. He kissed her cheek when she left him standing by Jay. A Latina, heavy set with a mound of pinned up black hair.

"Who's she?" Jay asked as Tavin watched her jiggle as she walked away.

"That, Jayson, is Carmen Lopez."

Tavin handed him a back pack with clothes and snacks and his charger. Cards for Julia. He placed money in Jay's palm for the vending machines and he sat McDonald's on the counter in front of him.

"No soda?"

"I drank it." He said, his neck stretching to watch this Carmen walk through the ICU doors. Jay watched too, wondering what he saw in all that jiggle. "Still love that woman."

"Doesn't seem like your type." Jay remarked.

"She turns me on." He said, smiling. "Memories." he said, turning back to Jay. "You don't remember Carmen?"

"No." He answered, picking up the McDonald's bag and his backpack.

"Jay, come on. Picture that like 8 years ago." He said, following Jay into the ICU room. "Carmen. My Carmen."

"Sorry, Tavin."

"Taught me more than Spanish. I spent a summer with that fine chica a long time ago." Tavin looked at Julia. "I see you've been working, nurse Keller."

"She was a mess. No one around here was doing it. Her little ass was so red." He said, opening up the box of nuggets. Tavin took one and a handful of his fries.

"Chess said she's in there."

"She is."

"Where is that little douche bag?"

"He left. Told me to take care of her and he'd be back this weekend." Jay said. "Hey, you got a message. You're alive. So is Tarin."

"I'll tell Kelly." He smiled.

Jayson caught him up on life in the future, the end result, the work they'd done and the work they continued to do. The baby, Antonia. "She's pregnant." Jay said, rooting around in the front pocket of his back pack.

"Now?"

"That's what Chess said."

"Congratu-"

"She only has one child and that's in the future, so hold off on that congrats shit."

"I'm sorry, Jay."

"I don't want kids, Tavin. But I'll take what I'm given." He shrugged.

"You got a call from that school. I brought her phone, Jay, so call them back. I gotta go. If you need me, call."

"I don't wanna leave her. Can you handle things at home? I could-"

"Stay with her. Mommy's got this." He said as he turned to the sink to wash his hands. "Her and Cal are getting her at school."

"They together, Tavin?"

"It looks like it. Our mother is making up for lost time."

"Well, he's not a bad guy at least."

"You got a point. Later. Call if you need me, ok."

"Ok."

"Really, call me Jay. I know-"

"I did this before. I'm doing this now and I will do it again. I can handle a 100 pound girl."

"While she's unconscious maybe." He said as he left him.

Jay sat in the chair beside the bed and ate his nuggets and what was left of his fries. He waited for her to wake up and if this was anything like the past, he'd be waiting a week. Then she'd need to recover, which would be nearly as bad as the unconscious phase of this whole process. That would take weeks to bounce back. It always did. He tried a few times after he finished eating to connect with her. He was jealous of Chess in that aspect. Why him? Why was he the one that could hold onto her hand and travel through her brain to the place she lived. Why couldn't he?

"You smell nuggets?" Julia asked Chess, sniffing the air around them.

"Chicken nuggets?"

"McDonald's, Chess. I smell McDonald's." She smiled, sniffing the air and absorbing the odor of fast food through her nares. She set in the chair, holding Antonia. She stared at him across his desk as he read his reports.

"No, Julia. I don't smell nuggets." He replied.

"Is there such a thing anymore?"

"No." he answered. "Please, my Julia, I am busy."

"You called me up here, my love."

"Because I want your company. Your quiet company." He didn't look up from his paperwork. A laptop was open beside him and he typed in several messages and sent them. "This internet, damn it."

Julia sat still, holding the baby, memorizing her features, all the little things that made her daughter, her. Her living, breathing daughter. "Would you like to return to work?" He asked quietly.

"Uh, no." She replied, touching Antonia's small, curled, brown hand. She slid her finger inside of it.

"Julia, there are some issues. I think-"

"No." She replied. "I will not leave Antonia. Who will watch her while I am-".

"One week. Leave the girl with Macy. Take Tia and her lover and get them into a nest."

Julia laughed. "Macy?"

"I can arrange that."

"Let me get this through my head. You want me to take my sister and her boyfriend into a nest?"

"With infantry, of course."

"I don't need infantry. I am out of shape, my love."

"I've been thinking." He said, closing the folder of papers on the desk. "This still is not working. It's been 6 months. This plan has promise, but I need new blood in there."

"I will not go to Jersey with two inexperienced teenagers."

"Get off your ass and train. One week."

"Chess, now I am insulted. You wanna put me in with the children?"

"To get your ass in shape. It may tighten up that flabby midsection of yours." He paused, having struck a chord within her. "Your words not mine. I love you the same large or small."

"Large." Julia mumbled.

"Anyway," He continued. "I need these fucking nests cleared. I need your abilities."

"Night vision gives them the same abilities, Chess."

"I said I need you in the field. Junior infantry will form a team from across the state, top in the class only, and we will go in and we will clear the fucking nests."

"I want Antonio with us. And Masters." She stated.

"Tomorrow morning first thing. A week of training will begin. Then two weeks of the special junior infantry. I will inform you of the destination and come up with a plan of your very own. A classified plan. I will contact Alex-"

"No. No Alex, Chess."

"Why not?"

"Tatia will not follow his command. I certainly will not follow his command. They-"

"They are not under his command, wifey. They are under yours. Work your magic. I am an impatient man."

"If you're so impatient, why don't you do it?"

"I will if that is what you'd like."

"Have you discussed this with Tavin?"

"Yes. Would you like his company as well?"

"Not really. Chess, how long has it been since you actually were in a live nest or face to face with a live zom, my love?"

"Awhile. But it's like riding a bicycle I imagine."

"Are the parents all on board with this?"

"It's in the process..."

"Fine. Whatever. Get me Antonio and Masters and let Masters choose additional vets then."

"I will have to clear this with Derrick."

"Would you like me to clear this with Derrick? Taking his infantry..."

"I do not want you in the presence of Derrick Singletary."

"You still mad, my Chess."

Chess was silent.

"Who's helping Macy?"

"I will have Jesslyn come in and assist her."

Julia looked toward their room to the right. "Can we get Jess in there?"

"She would run screaming from that room." He stated, looking toward the closet. "Also why I have not invited Macy inside. Chaining her to a wall would not be in my best interest."

"I see your point, considering the girl was already chained up once."

"Someone has been in our room."

"Tatia again?"

"I believe so. I can't figure out how she gets in without a key. But, she's the only other person here who knows of it." He replied. "If she was not my cousin..."

"We could bring her in there, scare her."

"Lock her in there with her lover."

Julia shifted and stood up with Antonia. "Chess, I believe the girl has already surrendered."

"He made that look easy."

"I've been guiding her in that direction. He's a good choice. She spent the first half of her life watching me and Jay, the second watching me and you. Is it any wonder she is the way she is?"

"Him though?"

"He's the strongest, of course him. We do not seek out the losers in life, my love."

"Off you go, send those two to me please.."

"Of course, Chess. Up here?" Julia said, walking out of the office.

"Yes. Up here. This is the war room. Tell the girl to bring her key with her."

Chess waited for them at the stairs on the landing. He looked mighty looming and ominous standing on the landing above them. They climbed the stairs nervously, one at a time with Jody ahead of her. They stood apart from him several feet, observing his pistol on his side. He never carried in the house.

"Let us in." He stated to Tatia, opening his arm and motioning her to the door. Tatia stepped from Jody's side and pulled a hair pin from her hair. She fiddled with the lock a moment and then turned the knob, opening the door to the war room. He'd honestly believed she had a true key, maybe had found one in the fortress somewhere. "You pick the lock, Tatia." He observed as she looked inside his war room.

"I do, Chess."

"Go inside." He said. She and Jody stepped inside the war room, acting as if it was unfamiliar territory. "What business do you have in here?"

Tia and Jody stood silently, waiting for the other to speak.

"Mayers, have you been in here before?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What did you do in here, Mayers?"

He was silent a moment, thinking. Chess walked behind his desk, waiting for his response. He removed his side arm and placed it on the desk.  "I saw surrender, Sir."

"You saw who surrender, Mayers?"

"I saw no one surrender. I was in surrender, Sir."

Chess glanced to a fidgeting Tatia. "Stand at attention, Keller." She straightened up.

"What is surrender, Tatia?"

Chess spun the weapon on the desk. Tatia thought she was going to get shot. She ran ideas through her head to get the gun off him. Was it possible?

"The room, Sir." She spoke softly.

"What do you know of surrender?"

"It is what I have named your room."

"What have you done in there?" Chess asked.

"Nothing, Sir. We looked."

"Why, Tatia?"

"New Jersey, Chess. It's an idea I have for New Jersey."

"Mayers, explain."

"She'd like to open a hotel with experienced women in fine dresses and heels. Tia-Keller would like to have men pay for surrender."

"Whores, Tatia?" Chess asked.

"Good ones." Tatia replied.

"What do you know of good whores?" Chess asked her, taking a seat. He opened the drawer on his desk and placed his gun inside it. He closed the drawer and locked it.

"Mayers?"

"She'd like male ones as well."

"Tatia," He laughed. He couldn't resist it. "Male whores. Is there a market for male whores, dear?"

"Yes, I believe that men will also pay for other men."

"Why do you say that?"

"Men will fuck anything and they will pay for it if necessary."

Hey now...Chess thought. "Where are you getting these ideas?"

"My head."

"Mayers."

"The advertisement for the casinos, Sir."

"Jody-" She said under her breath.

"Step and fetch, Mayers."

"Yes, Sir." He said, moving to the door.

"Jody, don't you dare." Tatia said, turning to him. He kept going. "This has nothing to do with infantry or the war or anything else. These are my ideas, my-"

"Quiet." He told her.

Mayers returned to the war room and placed the brochures and the notebook on the desk in front of Chess. He flipped through the ads and looked at the source of her brain child. "This is nothing like surrender, Tatia."

"I am aware of that." She replied as she watched him flipping through the pages in her notebook.

"This is your imagination?"

"Yes. May I have them back, please?"

"Yes." he closed the book and set the brochures and ads for Atlantic City on top of the notebook.

She'd devised multiple sex rooms. Multiple themed rooms. Chess was in awe, withheld it from her, his enthusiasm for the ideas she had. It was all very hedonistic, Sodom and Gomorrah-esque.  "You've been helping her with this." He looked to Mayers.

"Yes, Sir. It is a hobby of ours."

"Among other things." Chess mumbled. "Keep working on it. You may be onto something here. You're obviously not participating in these activities or you'd have more to go on."

"Oh, no. Not yet, Chess." She blushed.

"Have you used Vegas? Or as you call it-surrender."

"No." They answered quickly.

"Stay out of there for now. You must be invited in there. One does not simply walk into Vegas. It must be earned. Understood?" They nodded in agreement.

"What's Vegas, Chess?"

"It's Surrender." He pointed to the closet.

"How does one earn his way into Vegas, Sir?" Jody asked seriously, looking at Tia.

Chess grinned ear to ear on that question. "You're about to find out, Mayers." Chess paused and opened a folder he had on his desk in front of him. "Have a seat. That's only half the reason you're here. We'll cover this quickly, then as the others arrive you'll be briefed in depth."

Mayers sat down as Tatia felt she was being left out. Mayers was top in the class. Mayers was the one he spoke to. She felt crushed. Jody caught her hand as she stepped aside and was about to leave. "Keller, he told us to sit down."

"Me, too?"

"This is what you've been working for. Do you want it or not?"

Jody pulled her hand and pulled her around him to the chair at his right.

"You get used to having her at your side. You're team A, you work together from now on. Everything you do will be done together and you are responsible for each other and each other's actions. You will eat, sleep, piss and shit-and in your case-bleed together. And I do not mean as boyfriend-girlfriend. I mean as Keller-Mayers."

"What for?" Tatia asked curiously. "Where? Here? What will we be doing, Chess?"

"We will be going to New Jersey. Next gen is not faring well with this plan of yours."

"What is wrong with my plan? Are they meeting resistance with the savages?"

"No. It is the nests. We have bypassed the savages as the plan stated early on. I have a team in there and they are actively working with and negotiating with them. We have offered them a fair and impartial deal, much more than what The Keller plan has called for."

"So."

"So what? Once our teams have passed. these nests are dense and at times impenetrable. We must retreat. New Jersey is overrun with the dead. They nest well, in all the nooks and crannies. It will all be detailed when the others arrive."

"We'll be going into nests, Sir?"

"Yes. The new zom that we have encountered since the first nights, they nest. They do not mill about aimlessly. It was suggested that they are part of a biological warfare, someone tweaked them in a lab and expected us to die off or as Julia believes, the virus mutated to form this nesting creature. Old virus also is still out there. The dumb ones. Those that ambulate about the landscape without direction. All are equally as dangerous. This will be outlined when the others arrive."

"Who are the others, Chess?" Tatia asked.

"Top junior infantry across all sectors. 26 teams. 51 junior boys and one junior female."

"You are sending all of us alone to eradicate nests?"

"No. I am not, Mayers. No."

"Who all is going?"

"Experienced vets. I will accompany the team. Julia will be going as well. I need her abilities considering we will function primarily at night. Some things elude night vision." Chess paused. "Your brother, Alex. Do you have a problem deferring to your brother?"

"Does my brother have issue with it? He's not my partner. Mayers is."

"We may be partners here, but when we arrive that will all link together into one large outfit. There are senior officers that are in command."

"He is correct." Chess said, nodding at Mayers. "You are both top in this class. Are there others who should take your place?"

"No." Mayers replied.

Tatia held back. "Answer the question." Chess demanded.

"I am ready, yes."

"You are not ready. None of you are. Mayers, I do need to reach your family yet. Your brothers are difficult men to get hold of."

"They're nomadic, Sir. Free spirited. They come and go."

"Where would they be coming or going? I need to speak with the eldest." Chess looked at his paperwork. "Gene is his name."

"Good luck. Gregory may be the easiest to find, Sir."

"I will continue to reach out to them."

"Greg usually gets me when it's time for leave. So-"

"What rock is he under, Mayers?"

Mayers appeared uncomfortable speaking of his family. "Keller, you're dismissed."

"Oh, Ok." She said and moved herself to the doorway and waited for Jody.

"Tia, go away." Jody said under his breath.

"Oh, sure, duh. I'll wait downstairs then."

Chess sat with Mayers and listened as he described his brothers.

Gene, the eldest had addiction issues, life long. At 30 he was the eldest of the 5 boys. He came and went in and out of their lives. He was from their father's first marriage and only a half brother.

Gregory and Allen were next, twins, age 26. They worked at two bars, the watering hole an hour outside town. Friday and Saturday, they worked at Risk as bouncers. Risk was the hot spot for young people. Chess had been there several times over the years for various bachelor's parties. It was a risk walking inside most days, thus the name. It was a rough crowd on any given day, but weekends it was the OK corral.

"That's a rough place to be a bouncer, Mayers."

"They are not sissies I assure you."

Next in line was Adam, 22, the typical pot head. He liked an easy life, a safe life. He was learned and quiet, always had his head in a book, always had a romantic ideology. He was also gay. An actor in local theater and plays, musicals occasionally.

"I take it that Tia is not aware of your family at all."

"Yes and no, Sir. If she asks I will tell her. But I figured she'd never be allowed out to meet them, so why bother? I don't want out to meet them half the time, Sir."

"Do any of them have a steady address?"

"Adam can be found at the theater most days. The twins are usually with women and I don't care where Gene is."

"Where did you live when you were not here?"

"With Greg and Allen. I went where they went. As did Adam, when we were coming up."

Chess scanned his paperwork, looking for the boy's address. "Mayers, it says right here 320 Mimosa Street."

Jody grinned, then stopped. "Yes."

"What's this address, Mayers?"

"A bakery, Sir."

"Cut to the quick here, Mayers. I don't have all day."

"I do not know where they live. They move a lot. If I leave here, which I usually do not, then I go to their job. They lead, I follow. It's been that way since the first nights. I came here because I didn't want-I want a future."

"So, I should send my man to risk, the night club, and fetch which twin?"

"Whichever one you see first."

Jody was dismissed at that point. Chess ordered up a man to go to the night club, Risk, to fetch one of Jody's brothers. Jody's parents were obviously gone.

In his time, he saw a lot of broken families. Saw kids who found it near impossible to detail their family life when there wasn't one to detail. A lot of the kids that he'd put in the original infantry were orphaned. They'd brought many home from the great clear out. Adults were left to fend for themselves, but children that were orphaned always were brought home. The children they'd inherited at the school had gone to war. Kids as young as Alex or a little older were on the war path, killing the dead and clearing the state of nests. He wondered if he was making the right decision with the kids he'd chosen for this special project. They'd done this before. Trained them to kill and trained them quickly. Most were ready and willing to jump on board. Most wanted out of the fortress. Most, like Jody's brothers, had the balls to do it. Back then, they just wanted their lives back, or something similar to it.

"Jody, we're going to New Jersey." She said excited.

"Tia, he asked if there were others who should take our place."

"I heard him. Yes."

"Tia, you passed the firing range for me."

"We have been working on that, Jody. You can hit the target now. You would pass now."

"Am I truly worthy of going though, Tia?"

"Of course. Am I? I started 2nd year, skipped right over first year. I was not supposed to last a day on the field out there with you boys. Did I earn this or is it just my name, Jody?"

"No, you have earned it."

"I wouldn't want anyone else as my number two." She smiled, poking him in his chest.

"There's 25 other teams just like us, Keller."

"Oh, fuck that. We stand out for sure." She said, doing a little dance in the hall way.

Jody was summoned from the range with Tia and brought to the school. She and Jody were escorted through the building by Headmaster Miller to his office where Chess waited with two men that he needed to meet with in order to get permission for Jody's departure to New Jersey. Classified information would not be provided. Typical families were interested in seeing their family member and spending some free time with their junior prior to leaving grounds.

The identicals sat before Chess and had a wordy exchange on their life coming up through the first nights and he realized these two Mayers boys were an integral part in the clean out in their sector. They'd been organized and they'd rallied when the call had come to clean out. They worked tirelessly through their days clearing out the streets and then secured their sector street by street when the time came to hunt and dispose of nests. They'd been involved in both aspects of the original plan. Chess remembered having worked side by side this duo years prior. They were pure assassins as if they'd been born and bred to kill the dead. They were just as rough and as equally deadly at times with the living. They had a wild streak about them, derived a thrill from their work as opposed to a purpose. He remembered them passing up any involvement in maintaining what they had cleared out. They declined any future service and any future involvement in anything sector related. They were fly by the seat of their pants individuals, had their very unique lifestyle. Jody was as strong as they only regimented and wanted infantry life, a steady life.

"Yo, Jody, I so remember this dude from back in the day." Allen said, dragging the young junior into a bear hug. "I remember you. You and the twin, you're identical too. What's his name, man?"

"Ray." Chess answered.

"Where's that motherfucker at, man?"

"He died in sector one." Chess replied. "Or he would be here beside me."

"Man, I'm sorry. Man, that's gotta be fucking tough." Greg said.

"Yeah, man, we all lost people." Allen said, releasing Jody. "So, yo, why we here? You dragged us away from work. Shit's probably going to hell right about now."

Chess covered the basics of what he planned with junior infantry. They were proud of their younger brother and were 'amped' as they'd said that he'd head into Jersey and follow in their foot steps. The brothers both signed the paperwork, allowing him to go. They even offered up their time if they needed volunteers.

"Fellas, hopefully it will not come to that. I will keep your service in mind."

The brothers shook hands with Chess and he allowed them time to walk the campus before the jeep head back to return them to Risk.

"Brother, who's this fine woman?" Greg asked, eyes following her curves in the uniform.

"I am Tia." She answered.

"Tia is my number two." He answered, placing his hand on the small of her back. He kept her close to him, never moved his hand from her back.

"Glad to meet ya, Tia."

"Sure, guys. You too. So they brought you in from work for this?" She asked.

"Yep, took us right from the door. Like they got any right. But it was for a good cause."

"You both seem to have done a lot of important things."

"Just doing what was necessary, darlin'." Greg nodded. "You ever get out, you stop by Risk and see me."

"Risk. What's Risk?" She asked.

"It's a spot where everyone goes to have fun."

"Maybe Jody could bring ya by sometime if y'all break out of here."

"Maybe. Jody?" She asked.

"It's not your kind of place, Tia." He said, rubbing her back.

"But they said it's fun, Jody." She smiled, turning to face him. She put her hands on his chest as they walked with the brothers.

"Number two, huh? What all does that include nowadays?"

"Don't disrespect her."

"She your girl?"

"So, thanks for coming out. Thanks for the visit." Jody said, cutting it short.

"Jody can bring you. Sure, Tia." Greg said, overlooking Jody's out.

Jody stopped them mid walk, "Keller, go back to the range. I'll meet you there."

"Keller, any relation?"

"Yes, I'm related." She replied, piping down the enthusiasm to match Jody's. He seemed put off by his brothers for some reason.

"So this is why you ain't coming home on the weekends anymore."

"Jody, you may go home on the weekends if you wish." Tatia said, taking hold of his hand.

"Thanks, Tia, I know that."

"Don't stay here on my account. You may leave."

"Tia, I know this."

"You could ride back with us. It's Friday."

"No. I choose to stay here." Jody stated flatly.

"You may have fun even if I cannot leave."

"Risk is not what you think it is, T. Cool it."

"Do you go there?"

"I have, yes." He looked to his brothers. "Guys, enough. She's not the type of girl that goes to Risk. She's-"

"A Keller. We knew her brothers then. If she has Keller blood, she's welcome where we are."

"All my brothers?" Tia asked.

"The oldest likes to party. He likes his women and he likes his drink. The younger one not so much. Very different. He ran with a redhead who-she was the roughest of all of them. I never seen a chick fight like her, drink like her or fuck like her."

"That must be Julia." Tia said. "She is my sister."

"That I do not believe." Allen said.

"You must bring her. She'll see the real world soon enough. Let her blood run like the rest of them. Let your blood run, Joseph."

"They'd never allow it."

"They will allow war, but they will not allow Risk. It is all risk, life is risk. You come. You'll see."

"Jody, I can ask."

"No. Tia, that is not something you ask permission to do."

"We could die in New Jersey, Jody. What if I never get to have fun..."

They left the brothers talking and smoking by the fence where they waited their jeep to come for them and return them to Risk. Jody and Tatia walked away, heading back toward the main building.

"Jody," Tia whined.

"Tia, Risk is just that-a risk. It's violent. It's drinking and you do not drink. It's dancing and even though you dance for me, it's different. You gotta watch your back and your front. There's fights, there's-"

"Real people, Jody."

"Unreal people, Tia."

"But you go there, Jody."

"I would leave here and hitch a ride out there. They'd put me to work behind the bar, cleaning up, sweeping up, typical bar shit. I got free drinks and I got to watch the girls dance. I'd go home with them, Tia."

"Oh, I see. You had girlfriends."

"No, Tia. I had girls.  Plenty of them."

"You'd make love to them like you do with me?"

"No, Tia. I fucked a lot of girls. A lot of girls fucked me. Think I learned all that over night? There's no book on pussy, Tia."

"So it is fun. So how do we get there?"

"Tia, no."

"I will do as you wish, Jody." She sighed.

"You can't be Tia there. You have to be a Keller. Like my brother said."

"I could be like my sister?" She suggested.

"From what Greg said, no. I do not want you fighting or drinking or fucking."

"What if-" Tia grinned, sliding her arms around his waist. "I only fight, drink and fuck with you? Would that be alright?"

"We are going to get the militia out after us."

"Jody, what would our brothers do?"

"Get in the jeep and ride out, T."

"Then that is exactly what we shall do."

"They're gonna come after us. We could get kicked out of infantry. We'll never see each other again. We'll never get to Jersey. We'll never go to surrender. And I wanna take you to surrender. Bad."

"Come, my handsome Prince." She giggled.

"You just gonna hop in the jeep?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "Let's see what happens."

They walked back to the brothers by the fence. Jody took a smoke off one of them and when the jeep arrived to take them back to Risk, Tatia and Jody joined them for the ride. The driver, heading out on a Friday afternoon toward home, thought nothing of the extra passengers as he was only ordered to pick up the people at the fence and return them to Risk. He'd told them as much on the ride back to town.

The jeep left them off at the street and the four climbed out and walked straight to the door. Tia was excited and Jody had been giving her pointers through the ride to the bar from the time they departed the gate. Most of which she did not even hear as she was distracted by the ride itself. Whenever she traveled it was so orderly, so protected in the SUV's with the tinted windows. As she traveled with her family, even then, her vision was skewed from the tint. The jeep was bumpy and open. She rode on Jody's lap the entire way and she'd seen parts of her very own sector that she'd never laid eyes on. She traveled a simple path to and from either the farmhouse or Philly or the fortress. She'd never roamed the real streets, the cleared streets. She hadn't since the first nights when she'd been tucked between her brother's feet in the front of the car, beneath the dash board on their way to safety. The last time she'd seen home or anything close to home was when she was a child, going to school with Julia at her side or going to the park with Jayson and Alex to play.

From the street, Risk looked like any other establishment they'd passed. Not exactly clean. Dirt lot out front. She appreciated the bikes parked in front, Jody cautioned her not to touch. Do not touch other people or their belongings...he'd said. Greg and Allen went in ahead of them and Jody hung back by the door with her. In their absence, there were persons who'd crept in and needed to go. There were persons who were not welcome.

"Why not?" She asked.

Jody shook his head. Do not get into other people's personal business or interfere or intervene...that's what his brothers were paid to do.

Music played, a man at a table played acoustic guitar. He had something burning in a bowl on that table and smoke puffed around him. There were poles similar to the surrender room that were on the bar, on a walkway that led out past the bar and a couple situated in the floor of the establishment. Tia suddenly felt over dressed in her juniors uniform, but Jody would never allow her to walk in front of other men and women in the least amount of clothing. Women in what appeared to be bras and panties who worked there, danced there. Card games in play. The place seemed very large, very empty, very risk-less. There hung on the walls the entire circumference of the building, covered domes, oil lamps. At either end of the bar, torches lit. The odor of food cooking caught her attention. Jody watched her as she took it all in. He guided her through the small crowd. It was early yet on a Friday. There was still room to move. The place hadn't come to life yet. Allen had gone back to the door and Greg had gone to the bar along with them.

"Three shots," He said to the bar keep.

"Jody, is that you?" The bar man had asked. "I'll be damned, boy." He said, forcing his hand out to him. "How ya been kid? Still gonna save the world?"

"Alright." Jody said, taking his hand and shaking it.

"This is a special occasion, Henry!" Greg yelled. "The kid and his mate here are off to war in sector three."

"Three shots it is. On the house." Henry yelled, pouring out three shots and one for himself. "Ya working tonight, kid? Could use some help."

"I don't think we'll be staying long." He answered.

"No one's working tonight, Henry. The boy and Keller here are heading off to Jersey."

The men picked up their shots. Jody motioned to Tia to do the same.

"Keller, you any relation?"

Tia rolled her eyes. Would this be happening all night? She opened her mouth to speak.

"She's got the blood in her, Henry."

"To the team that bleeds together." Tia smiled, holding up her shot glass in front of her.

"Hopefully not tonight, Keller." He said and he downed the first shot.

Henry flipped through his ledger. "I have no Keller here."

"You have a Morgan, Henry."

"Which one, Greg? There's a hundred Morgans."

"Chester or Julia. Pick one. Just the kids, not the whole bar." He said and he returned to his post at the door. "You don't want sector two's infantry in here after you."

The shot tasted horrible and burned her throat going down. "What is this?" Tia asked.

"Tequila, Missy."

"Give us the bottle, Henry. Where is the food? I smell it."

Henry dosed out two more shots. "Jody, you heard the woman. Get her some food."

"Tia, you stay right here. Remember what I said." He disappeared into the kitchen and returned within 15 minutes with half a chicken and slices of potatoes on a flat tray. Tia eyed the food and set down her bottle.

"Tia. Eat. Back off the tequila. It's not water."

"I like the burn." She said, reaching for the chicken. "We eat with our fingers here?"

"We do. It's chicken. Here, taste this." He said, picking up the potato wedge and sticking it in her mouth.

"Is that a French fry?"

"Kinda, yeah. I knew you'd like that. Eat."

"Loosen up, Jody. You're so-"

"It'll take more than 2 shots, Keller." He said, pulling off part of the chicken. He saw the tequila was having an effect. She slid the bottle across the scratched up bar. He took another shot. "Keller, you never drank before. I would slow down."

"The burn though, Jody. It feels good." The blood was warming up inside her. She felt stronger, hotter, looser. "As you wish." She said, trying to force it down. As she ate, she watched the girls dancing on the poles, the music became louder and the room was starting to fill up. The more men that arrived, the more women arrived, the more girls with little to no clothes started dancing and working. "I was right." Tia said to him, watching it all go down.

"Right about what?" He asked, handing her the third drink of water, hoping to counteract the effect of too much tequila in such a short amount of time.

"About men...and women." She replied as the men hovered around the girls dancing on their poles. She spied women dancing on men's laps and it appeared similar to what she and Jody did privately together. "You told me I must cover myself, Jody. These women are not covered. Some of them are just as nice or nicer than I." She set the water down and let her hair down, sliding her hair tie over her wrist. She untucked the junior uniform tee from her pants. "I need to pee."

"Come." He said, taking the tequila off the bar. He escorted her to the stalls. He waited outside for her to finish. When she emerged he redirected her away from the bar to one of the two pool tables in the rear of the building.

"Awe, Jody, where we going?"

"Wanna make some money. Let me explain how this works, Princess." He told her, sliding his arm around her waist. He wanted to get them off Morgan's tab. They'd already run up tequila and food.

"Alex, fetch your sister and her boyfirend. We can sit and go over this ahead of the arrival." Chess stated. "Get them out of her bed and down here. They've missed dinner."

"I do not wish to sit and go over any plan, Chess. I want to-"

"Does no one see the importance of this? This is the problem with next gen, Julia."

"The kid wants to party, Chess. He just came off a tour." Julia sighed, wondering why she even had to explain this to her husband. "Remember when you came off a tour, Chess?"

Alex stood before them in his casual attire, appearing much like a junior in his black tee and pants, his boots. They watched as Alex head off to find Tia and when he returned he stated she was not there. He instructed Alex to go to the school and fetch her as she had been spending more time there with the junior infantry. Alex returned empty handed. "They are not there."

They looked at Julia. "I do not know where she is."

"Are you covering for her again?" Chess asked.

"I have not since their first day. I have not withheld anything, Chess, since I told you about them."

"Where do they go?"

"They don't go anywhere. We've allowed it so they do not have to hide from us."

"True. You don't think they're in Vegas? I strictly told them not to go to Vegas without earning it."

"I cannot go to Vegas with Tatia, Chess. Are you crazy? We cannot go to Vegas with Tatia."

"She is aware of Vegas? I am not allowed to go to Vegas."

"You have not earned Vegas." Chess stated.

"Are we the family that fucks together, Chess? I have issue with them earning Vegas."

"What did she do to earn Vegas, Chess?"

The two turned their heads to look at him. "I apologize, Julia." Alex said quietly. "Stupid question."

"She created Vegas." Chess stated, pulling his shorts off the floor. Julia remained covered, stretching onto the extra space on the sofa. "Return to the school, find his bunk mate and ask where they've gone. Go on. We'd like to dress, Alex."

"Shouldn't be naked in the foyer." He snickered, taking the side exit to the courtyard.

"Chess, must you leave me?" She asked as he dressed.

"You have been awfully clingy lately, my Julia. Needy."

"I love you, my Chess."

"Since when?" He asked, kneeling in front of her. He leaned on the sofa edge and kissed her. "What is wrong, my Julia?" He asked, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Tell me."

"I'm feeling for you again, Chess."

"That's good. I have my wife back."

"Then let me cling if I choose. Would you prefer I fight you?"

"I'd prefer-is it time for your period?"

"I do not bleed anymore, Chess."

"It is. You're hormonal."

Alex returned with the bunk mate, escorting him through the foyer door. The boy had never been in the main house. "Tell him."

Chess looked over the back of the sofa at the boy Alex had brought into their home. He looked around the house, as if he'd solved a mystery, discovered the holy grail. "You are Fulton. The bunk mate."

"Yes, sir."

"Tell him."

"They drove away in a jeep this afternoon."

"Where did they go, Fulton?"

"I do not know. I saw them get onto a jeep with two men."

"Were they forced?" Alex asked.

"No. They got in of their own accord."

Chess bowed his head and laid it on his forearms in front of Julia who started laughing.

"Thanks, Fulton." He stated. "Escort him back, Alex."

Alex took the boy back out the door.

"I know where they went. Chess, babe, do not get angry."

"It looks like I will be going out this evening with my cousins." He sighed. "Julia, I am so tired."

"May I come?"

"It's been years since you went to Risk."

"Refresh my memory, please." Julia stated, wondering what had happened there.

"Drinks, fights, fucking. The usual. You ate the pussy right on the bar."

"May I go? Please. Please. I haven't eaten pussy on a bar in a long time."

"No."

"Is there vodka?"

"Yes, if I ask for it."

Julia jumped from the sofa, pulling on her clothes. "I must tell Macy. Do not leave me, Chess."

"I will not." he said, hopping the elevator with her.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting our guns, Julia."

"By all means, yes. I'll bring my knife as well."

Jody took the money they'd won and settled Morgan's tab with Henry. He bought the bottle of tequila as well and took it back to the table. They'd already been through two fights and one skirmish together and the more Keller drank the more overbearing and confident she grew. Loud, cocky infused with balls. Huge balls. He wasn't sure who was protecting who or who was watching out for who. She could handle herself, he figured that out fast. She didn't need him and she didn't need a bouncer.

"Princess, cool it before they draw weapons." He said.

"I don't need a weapon."

He pushed her into a seat by the girl dancing on the pole. He took the lid off the tequila and sat back with his arm around her, watching the girl dance above them. "Watch her, Keller. When we go to surrender, you will do this for me."

"You'd like that? I could do that." She said, leaning forward, staring upward at the girl. She swung around and flipped upside down on her pole. "Well maybe not that." She said as she watched her slide down and roll off the pole somehow not banging her head on the stage. She crawled toward Tatia, pointed at her.

"Here, pay her." Jody said, placing the paper in her hand. "Tuck it in her titties, Keller." Tia leaned further and pulled the strap on her bra and tucked the paper neatly inside. Jody put more money in her hand, "Wave it at her." He said, pulling Tatia back in her seat. She did and the girl came down to her. "Hold on to it. Wait till she's done."

"Done what?" Tatia asked as the girl straddled herself across Tatia's lap.

"Oh, my gosh." Tia smiled as she was grinded and had body parts rubbed on her. The girl smelled of roses. "May I touch her?"

"Ask her." Jody asked, watching as the half nude girl caressed Tia's face.

"May I touch you?" Tatia asked shyly. Jody held the tequila to her mouth and poured some in till it dribbled over her chin. The dancer licked it off her chin, her blond hair, tickling Tia's face. Tia's hands lightly glided over the dancer's chest and belly. The girl held aside her panties and Jody pushed the hand with the money toward her.

"Pay her, Keller." He said.

She tucked the money in her panties and the girl backed off and climbed back on her pole like she'd never been on the floor at all. "Jody, wow, that was fun." She said. He held the bottle to her mouth and poured more tequila inside.

"Yes," He said, taking a gulp for himself. He yanked her off her seat and onto his lap like the dancer had been on Tatia's lap, his lips met her neck.

She'd been in Risk long enough to know that anyone's hands on her other than Jody's were not supposed to be there. Anyone's hands on her anywhere in the land other than Jody's was a no-no. She'd been told, warned, explicitly made to understand his feelings in that regard. As she grinded on him, he poured some tequila over her chest, a few drops, not much and he licked it off her, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her body tensed. He did not react, but she grasped the hand, twisted it till the hand released. She tried getting up, but Jody held her in place.

"Stop." Alex said, taking hold of her shoulders with a light grip. "Trying to break my hand, Tati." He swept around her and sat in the chair she'd occupied. He glanced up as the girl swung on the pole. "If you could see the look on your faces right now. What are we drinking?"

"Tequila," Jody replied, holding up the bottle. Alex reached for it. Jody held it from his reach. "Bar is that way."

"Jody, we have a tab."

"We do not, Chess does. I settled the tab, bought this, paid your woman on the pole. We are now broke, Princess." He told her, taking a drink. He held the bottle to her mouth again.

"Must we leave, Alexander?" She asked, ceasing the gyration of her hips and waist.

"We'll be here awhile." He pointed across the bar to Chess and Julia.

Julia pushed through the crowd and side stepped tables to the bar with Chess on her heels.

"Chess Morgan, we are reopening your tab, Sir?" Henry asked, pulling out his ledger.

"Reopening, Henry? What is she drinking, Henry?"

"Tequila. The boy settled the tab."

"Vodka. Give me vodka, barman." Julia demanded, stretching over the bar to Henry.

"Yes, Henry. Vodka for the woman."

"You, Sir?"

"Same. Mixed."

Henry set the bottle on the bar and poured Julia and Chess's drink first, then Julia swiped the bottle.

"Your women drink this straight from the bottle, Chess." Henry stated, pointing to Tatia who sat with Jody and Alex.

"Indeed. Indeed." Chess stated, picking up his drink. He looked to Julia. "You run off and play. I'm getting in on that card game over there." Julia kissed him, then wandered off. "Henry, has their been any issue with the girl this evening?"

"Two fights at the pool table. They took care of it."

"They did." Chess stated, looking at Tatia with his back to him. "Very well. Give my people what they request, Henry. Thank you."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

As the night wore on, Tia and Jody felt fairly safe they were not in being kicked out of Risk or the infantry or New Jersey's mission. Tia's excitement for Risk had turned to fascination. The tequila had her feeling her first intoxication and Julia swept them to the area in front of the stage where the live band played. The more vodka Julia added to her system, the less inhibited she became and when a song came on she remembered from before the first nights, she was invited from the floor where she danced to the stage and took Tatia with her. Music, commotion, dancing. Through the club there were various sex acts in dark corners, various stages of undress. Alcohol flowed, drugs were done, clothes came off. They'd blended in, achieved anonymity. No one in the place cared if they were Morgans or Kellers and Tatia got what she had wanted, real people.

Chess played his cards right, had imbibed enough alcohol, observed enough sexual activity for one night and he joined them at their table in front of the stage with an order of the potato slices. He sat a female down beside him and fed her as well, whatever she desired. He and Alex shared a joint and they watched the females dance. He offered Jody the joint and he passed.

"Who is this?" Alex yelled, pointing to the female that sat beside him. She could not have been more than 15, slight frame with braided brown hair. She wore a half top and jeans. The girl remained quiet as she ate and moved in her chair to the music that played. Jody knew her from the neighborhood. He had never seen her in Risk and he hadn't seen her in ages, since he'd gone home with her older sister. She'd always been a strange and quiet girl. 

Chess didn't answer. He sipped his last drink and he finished his fries as the band played their final song. The noise stopped ringing in his ears, the music having ended finally Julia jumped from the stage, bringing Tatia with her. She took to Chess's lap. Tatia took her own seat beside Jody.

"Oh, and who might you be?" Julia asked, looking to the girl.

She didn't answer, looked a bit frightened.

"Katara, is it?" Chess asked.

The girl looked bashfully at Chess, put her head down. "Yes." She answered.

"What is she doing with us?" Julia asked, looking strangely at her husband. She was rather young, even for him. Definitely too young for Julia. Even with her vodka shaded eyes she could see youth at its finest.

"I won her in the card game over there." Chess answered.

Julia laughed. "We have enough children, Chess. Don't you think?"

Chess looked to Jody and Tatia, "You two interested?"

"I don't-Interested in what?" Tatia asked.

Chess looked at Alex. "Interested?" He asked.

"Maybe." He answered, looking her over. "She's kind of young."

"I'd say so." Jody answered, hopefully diverting Alex's sole interest in Katara despite the fact that she was still intact. Katara was never that kind of girl. Rarely spoke when spoken to. In fact people considered her mute, but the girl could speak fine when at ease and relaxed with someone. Jody wondered how she had wound up at Risk. She'd never go of her own volition, seeking out that environment.

"You know her, Mayers."

"I do, Sir."

"You know her intimately?"

"No, I know her sister, Maddy." He answered, hitting the tequila again. "Kat doesnt speak." He pointed at her.

"Are we keeping this girl?"

"I am unsure what exactly to do with her. Alex, have you made up your mind? She's young for me."

"I only want the willing, Chess." Alex answered, peering at the stripper across the bar that had already been more than willing.

Tatia took the tequila from Jody and awaited their decision. "I don't understand how one wins a girl in a card game." She took another drink, then another.

"Tia, give me that. You have had enough." Jody said as Tia swayed on her chair.

"Leave her go, Chess." Julia said. "She is too young. Very pretty in a plain way, but too young."

Chess stood from his seat. "Very well then, wifey."

"Chess, she is much too young for us." Julia smiled, twisting the girl's braid in her fingers. "Unless, you want her. Do you want the girl, Chess? There is no law..."

"No. Of course not. She came with the pot I won." He stated, holding up a cloth bag. "You may like this, however." He handed Julia the small cloth sack and when she peered inside, she handed it back.

"I don't do coke anymore, Chess, you know that."

"Fine, woman, bring your bottle and let's go." He sighed, taking the bag back and then stuffing it in his pocket.

"Save it for Vegas, Chess."

"Fine, woman." He smiled, snatching her from her seat by her arm. He hugged her to him and he grabbed her ass. "To the car."

The table of them stood to depart and head toward the door. Once outside, Tatia and Jody attempted to enter the vehicle. "Hold on." Chess said, pointing toward them. "Where exactly do you think you two are going?"

"Home, Chess." Tatia answered, feeling the night chill in the air. She stood at Jody's side and they stared drunkenly at Chess, Julia and Alex. At that moment, Katara emerged through the doors with Greg and he plopped the girl down on the ground in front of Chess's ride.

"Yo, Morgan. She says she's with you." Greg turned and walked away to oust the rest of the patrons from Risk. Katara scooted to Chess's side and stood quietly waiting. Chess opened the rear door and allowed her to sit inside. He closed the door firmly, shutting the kid off from their conversation.

"Chess," Julia whined.

"I won the kid, Julia. What would you prefer I do with her?"

"We do not win children in card games, Chester Morgan. It is...inappropriate."

"My Julia, I will deal with the girl as I see fit."

"We could take her to Vegas...No. No, that is wrong. No." Julia slurred.

Chess turned his attention to Jody and Tatia. He removed his jacket and tossed it to Tatia who shivered in the night air. "Make your way home the way you came."

"We could have a game of it." Alex suggested, peering through the car window at Katara. "This one, well, she is kind of pretty." He added as the girl patiently sat in her seat.

"A game, you say, Alex."

"Make them break into the compound. Test your security. See if they can accomplish that." Alex explained, peering down over Katara into her shirt. No bra, perky tits, slim waist.

Julia listened, shivering herself as she watched Tatia trying to squeeze into Chess's jacket. Always the gentleman, he forgot his size. Tatia out grew him and his chivalry. Julia took the jacket from her and put it on with room inside to wrap it around her.

"I concur, Alex." He turned his gaze specifically on Jody. "We'll see you when you arrive at the compound." Chess walked Julia around the car and opened the door for her to climb in.

Tatia nearly objected when Jody spoke up. "Challenge accepted." He grinned, placing his hand on the small of her back. "Will this earn our way into Vegas?" Jody asked, hoping to God he'd say yes.

"No." Chess replied.

Alex slid into the car beside Katara. Chess rounded to his side and he started the car, then drove off.

"Chess, are we really leaving them out here?" Julia asked, looking back at the juniors standing in front of Risk.

"It is a free state, my Julia. We could leave Alex with them."

"No thank you." Alex replied, moving closer to Katara. She did not budge nor say a word. "I'd rather go back to Jersey."

"I can stay with them." Julia volunteered.

"You shall do no such thing. Have some confidence in them. She is with the boy. She will be fine. You made it through-"

"She is not me. We have sheltered the girl her entire life."

"Julia, she wanted common people, she is now among common people."

"Leave Alex."

"No." Alex argued. "Do not leave Alex. I have made my way, Tia will make hers. Surely the two can manage to walk home from a bar in a free state."

"Surely," Chess agreed.

Alex made himself comfortable next to Katara. "May I still have her, Chess?"

"Do what you like with her, Alex. Kat, you are given to Alex. I do not wish to have your company." He said, glancing in the rearview mirror at her. She nodded, remained mute, sinking into Alex's arm that he'd placed over her shoulders. Alex reached over the seat to Julia and he snatched the vodka from her hand.

"Have it, Alex." She sighed, reaching to Chess's free hand and holding it. She looked at Chess as he drove. "My Chess, she is too young."

"You are correct." He replied, squeezing her hand. "Though we are not old." He pulled her hand to his crotch and Julia slid across the seat a bit, She undid his pants and put her head in his lap.

Alex moved Katara up in the seat and pointed at Julia. "You. Watch and learn. That is how it is done."

Jody faced Tatia, letting his confidence slide in front of her. "What are we gonna do, Tia?"

"Well," She slurred. "I guess we're gonna break in the compound. You accepted this challenge, Jody."

"How we breaking in?"

"I don't know. What are you asking me for? I thought you knew since you said 'challenge accepted'."

"I was excited for a second, thinking I would get into surrender, T."

"You have surrender every damn day, Jody. We do not need a special room for surrender." She reminded him. Tatia started walking away, to the road, to the darkness, which would lead them in the direction of home.

"It is the only room in the house with a pole, Tia." He pointed out. "Tia, where are you going?"

She pointed down the road in the direction the car headed. "Home." She answered.

Jody fell in at her side. "You do not know where home is. Do you know where you are going? It is the middle of the night." He said, looking around the road. "Tia, stop."

"I cannot believe that they left us here. I am angry about this. Why would you accept this challenge, Jody?"

"One, because I want your fine body dancing for me. Two, because we can do it." He said, placing a hand on her arm to stop her. "You are not on the compound. Stop walking and come back with me."

"To where? To Risk?"

"Yes, Tia, to Risk."

She did not take much convincing to return her to Risk, to his brothers. They waited outside till Greg and Allen departed the bar, locking up the doors with the chain lock through the handles. The short and stocky brothers were surprised to meet up with them in the lot. Greg offered his brother a smoke, which he took, then offered one to Tatia, which she declined.

"Brothers, where are we living these days?" Jody asked. He honestly had no idea.

"Down the road a ways." Allen replied. "Follow us."

These brothers were older than Jody not by many years. They stood stocky and short with cropped black hair with eyes just as dreamy as Jody's only theirs were blue. They were tough looking, rough around the edges where Jody was more clean cut. They had short fuses that were always lit or at least that was the feeling she got from them. Both had facial hair, side burns and goatees. They were super confident, feared nothing. They talked freely with each other, never shut up in fact. They finished each other's sentences and it appeared, to Tatia anyway, that they could read each other's minds. The entire way down the road they complained about women, or the lack there of.

Down the road a ways was a half hour walk. Anywhere they went was a walk, neither had transportation. Tatia noticed the knives on their waists, carrying over from a never forgotten time in their lives. Most common people carried knives visibly on them, though nowadays most carried firearms. She and Jody carried nothing. She wondered if that was a smart idea.

"Jody, I'm tired." She whispered.

"We're almost there, Princess." Greg called, having over heard her.

"Y'all were left behind."

"Yes, to make our way back."

"This is not heading back. This is the opposite direction, Jo." Allen informed him.

"I know this." Jody replied.

"So, Princess, are you two into each other?" Greg asked, looking back over his shoulder at the long legs that held up the narrow waist and the ample chest.

"We do not discuss our relations with anyone." Tatia replied, recalling that was another of Jody's preferences.

"We are together. Tia is mine." Jody stated firmly.

"Why bring her to our home-"Allen started the remark.

"If not to pass her." Greg finished the remark.

"Tia is not meant to be passed. I do not pass her to anyone."

They turned through a path in the trees off the road and a small trailer set not too far in the distance. Jody was not surprised they lived there or in the dense wood surrounding it. They were the kind to hunt their food, cook it on an open fire. They had cleared an area surrounding the trailer, which would allow sun to filter in during the day from all angles, which would allow their small and enclosed garden to grow. An enclosure to the left of the trailer housed the chickens.

Greg went in ahead of them, lit an oil lamp to cast light inside. Tia entered with Jody's tight grip on her belt and he did not leave her go. He leaned into her ear, kissed her neck and he whispered to her, reminding her of team A and what that meant. To stay at each other's sides, responsible for each other's actions...Tia was confused, but straightened and stood with Jody as he held her belt firmly at her back. She could not grasp why, though? Would he throw her aside and from what?

Greg pointed to the couch in the sparsely decorated room. Place to sit and eat, a small table only and the sofa. "It's all yours." He stated. "Bathroom is outside."

Greg disappeared into the back to the far and larger room. Allen moved as well to the near and smaller room. Their doors remained open as they entered.

"Tia, I should have explained before you met them."

"Explained what?"

"Do not allow them to touch you. They may try. They may try together. Women are not treated respectfully out here."

Jody left her go and he placed a blanket on the sofa over the cushions. "Do not take your boots off. Keep your clothes on." He said, moving toward the oil lamp. He peered down the hall.

Tatia observed Jody as he moved, her eyes heavy and her body tiring from the long day, the fun evening, the walk down the road a ways. Jody cracked the window above the sofa. He looked out back, the ground was clear below the window. He backed off the sofa and he stood in front of her, close to her. His voice barely audible in the dim room. "Do you remember your way out of here to the road, Keller?"

"Yes."

"The window. It slides right. Up and out, Keller. When your boots hit the ground, you stop and think of your position in the woods in relation to the trailer. Keep calm and make your way back to the road and back toward the bar. Understand?"

"I do. But-"

"Remember that." He told her. "You're fast. I'll cover you."

"Why? I do not understand this."

"You are a guest in our-their home. You are female. I have said you're mine. But I am not sure how that will fly with them."

"What?" She said, the strong odor of tequila on her breath wafting in his face. What Jody had said made no sense to her.

"It is a risk having you here." He said, taking a seat on the sofa. He pulled her alongside him and covered them with the blanket.

"Why run?"

"It is a fight we would not win." He replied, taking her hand.

Had she not had the tequila in her system, this may have made her nervous. "Aye, I hear that." She yawned as he placed her head on his shoulder. 

"Are you passing out on me, Keller?" 

"I am afraid so." She hummed, eyes closed as she leaned her head back on the back of the sofa.

"Jody!" Allen called, his voice commanding. Tatia snapped back awake. "Have you finished with the girl?" His body moved to the door way of the room and peered into the room, through the former kitchen, over the counter.

"No, I have not."

His brother moved to the counter. Tia's confidence grew as opposed to growing discouraged. The tequila...Jody thought...

"What do you think is happening here tonight?"  Tatia asked. "I cannot get a straight answer from your brother?"

"You are in our home. When a woman is brought into a home, that woman serves man. Any man who resides in that home."

"I see." Tatia nodded. "Is this how all common people behave?" She asked, leaning forward on the seat, eyes gazing into his.

"I am a common man." He responded glibly.

"Oh, you see, I am not a common woman." She smiled.

"You are not in your castle, Princess."

"You are in my sector."

"I cleared this sector."

"I own this sector." She countered, raising her voice. " One does not pass a Keller or a Morgan. It does not happen. It will not happen."

"Julia Morgan has been passed."

"She is not born to that name. She claims it by marriage only. Julia allows what she allows. I allow what I allow. Do you understand me, Allen Mayers?"

"This one has balls, Jo, talking to us like this."

"Is why I chose her." Jody replied.

"You may return to your common room in your common home and take your common dick in your common hand. Your brother has stated I belong to him."

"Greg, are you listening to this?" He called.

"Leave the girl with our brother."

"Greg-"

"She is a Morgan. Leave the girl."

"This girl is a Keller. Get it right." She stated, separating herself from Jody. 

"Can you back up those beer balls, Keller?" Allen asked sarcastically zeroing in on her name.

She leaned forward and she stood. "I have had no beer." She said, rolling her eyes. She focused on Allen, waiting. Would he jump? Would he continue? Would he push her or Jody further in the middle of the night. She was tired, drunk, but brazen at that moment. It was either beginning or ending for her. "Leave us." She stated. She watched as he slipped away through darkness into his doorway.

She set back on the sofa and Jody put his arm around her. "Why did you get up? To fight?"

"No. To jump through the window. As you said."

"Princess." She heard, arousing from sleep. She was wrapped in a blanket, curled on the end of the sofa. "Wake up, Princess." Greg called. "Rise and shine." He poked at her with his finger through the blanket.

"Uh, time."

"Morning." He answered, continuing to poke.

"Jody."

"To the stream with Allen." He answered as she slapped his hand away. She squinted, pushed her hair back from her face. He noticed her glancing to the window.

"You do not stand a chance of making it to that window, Princess." He said, slapping her ass. "Get up." He stood and walked out the trailer door, leaving it swing open behind him. She heard him clattering around outside. She saw puffs of smoke passing the open door. "I apologize for my brother." He called through the door. He observed her as she folded the blanket and placed it back where Jody had removed it the night before.

She said nothing as she stepped outside into the sun. She saw him lighting a small fire. "They will be back shortly. They've been out all morning."

Tatia looked into the pen, watched the chickens run around. "You said the bathroom is out here, Greg."

"Pick a place. Any place." He said, crouched over the small fire he'd lit. He added some kindling.

She rounded the end of the trailer and passed the garden. Undoing her pants, she squatted by the corner of the trailer. The garden peeked her interest as she squatted. She took a pass through the rows of strong plants as she made her way back to the fireside. "How was your first night with the common people, Princess?"

"We are all common people in common houses with common lives." She told him.

"Why Jody?"

"I choose to be with Jody." She nodded, taking a seat on the ground at his side.

She heard them coming through the woods. Brothers bantering back and forth. When they appeared, Jody looked bruised and swollen about the face as did Allen. Jody wore his shirt around his head, bare chested. His brother was blood splattered and covered. Tatia did not ask.

"They never have seen eye to eye." Greg told her.

"I do not see eye to eye with my brother." Tatia said, thinking of Alex. He'd left her with Jody, left her in the dark, dirt lot with Jody. He had proposed this challenge. She would settle with him soon.  She would show him soon. She would meet him face to face and she felt strongly she would make him look like Jody.

"Keller, come learn to clean a fish."

"Eww," She cringed.

"First year, Keller. You missed this. Get off your ass." He ordered. "Then you will cook this and eat this."

She got off her ass.

Alex awoke late morning with Katara at his side in bed. He'd imbibed enough vodka that he essentially passed out as they lay together. The girl was not one for conversation. Alex spoke to her an hour or so while touching her body in places he sensed she'd never been touched before. She never objected and had taken Chess seriously as he had directed her to stay with Alex. She sat looking at the books he had in his bag, wearing his black tee from the evening before.

"Morning, kid." He said, smiling up at her from his pillow. She touched his face softly in response. "Still not speaking I see." Kat, he thought, spoke through her eyes, her touch, her body language. Regardless, he understood her. He moved against her, placing an arm over her lap. "You know how to read?" She didn't respond as she paged through the book, then closed it, joined him on her side.  Face to face. She'd enjoyed the night before he believed, which had started in the vehicle when they arrived back from Risk.  She'd watched and learned from Julia as she gave head to Chess, then watched and learned after the car had parked as Julia nestled herself between the steering wheel and Chess's body. Alex had her watch and learn that as well as he had in the past.

"Pleasure, Katara." Alex said as she parted her thighs as Alex set himself between them. She tensed a bit. "I will not enter you." He assured her as he held her lower back. He kissed her face and neck softly, moving his waist, his erection between her tight thighs. His hands felt her over her shirt, then under her shirt. He palmed her small breasts and played with her nipples while he pleasured himself as she would allow. He liked her quiet attitude. Having listened to Care curse him over the years in 2 languages and assault him over the years with her two fists and any other object close to her, Katara's easy personality and her shut mouth were a blessing. He thanked the universe that he didn't have to hear a woman's voice in his ear. Her soft moans that escaped her lips were enough.

"Come, clean yourself." He said, crawling out of bed. She followed on command. He pulled on shorts and head to the bathroom. She followed close to his side, a full foot shorter than he, the size of a peanut, her bare feet slapped against the floor. As they neared the bathroom, the commotion could be heard from the toy room. The children were up. Their voices carried down the hall, their noise, their laughter. He noticed that caught Kat's attention.

"They are my nephews. You may meet them." He told her. "But first, in here."

Alex ran the shower and the room filled with moist warmth. She removed his shirt and got into the shower with him, allowing him to wash her thoroughly. He studied her small body as he cleaned her, washing off the fluids he'd deposited over night and that morning. He washed the bar off them, still carrying the odor of Risk on their flesh. Once clean he kissed and held her in the stream of the water. She felt his erection against her and lifted her leg for him as he pressed against her.

"Now?" He asked, lifting her, holding her against the wall of the shower. "In the shower?" She folded her legs around his waist. "Is it because I was not clean from the other woman?" She nodded. "Why didn't you just say that?" He asked, then remembered she did not speak. He set her down, turning off the water. He stepped out then held his hand out to her, assisting her to step over the edge to the floor. He dried her, kissing her skin as he went. "How old are you, Kat?" He asked, spinning her around to dry her back. She faced the steamed mirror. She reached her hand to the mirror, her finger traced the number 14. "Are you a virgin, Kat?" He asked, leaning over her. He thought about taking her there from behind until she drew the word yes into the mirror. He wrapped the towel around her hair, wringing it out tightly in his hands, then wrapped it around her small body. He then applied one around his waist. "Ok, then. Back to bed, Kat." She hesitated. "I will not do this to you standing in the bathroom." He told her, lifting her towel. His hand felt her from behind and she pushed back on him. "To bed, if you'd like more." Alex led her through the hall to his room. He laid her on his bed. He dropped his towel.

Julia peeked inside Tatia's room. She was not home yet. She held Antonia on her hip and stepped inside the empty bedroom. She backed out and head to the toy room where Chess sat on the floor with Kyra in his lap and Layla across from him. They rolled a ball back and forth, letting Kyra pushed and slap at the ball as it rolled toward her.

"Chess, they are not back yet." Julia said.

"Don't start, Julia."

"They are not in the room, Chess." She repeated, worrying.

"I am not worried. Sit and play or go away." He said playfully.

"I should have left Alex with them." She said, walking the floor with Antonia.

"You do know that you can set the baby down and she will not disappear."

"I have waited a decade for my child. I will hold her all I please."

"Mayers knows his way around the outside of the fence."

"You're right." She replied.

Julia sat with Chess and his girls and Chess rolled the ball to her.

Tatia sat beside the fire and watched as Jody cooked the fish on an old flat pan. It cooked fast and he slid a slice onto a spatula and then onto a plate for her. She eyed this fish prior to eating it, then looked to the chickens.

"Eat." He urged her, sliding some onto a plate for himself. He used his fingers to eat. This seemed common for common folk. There had to be others...she thought...who ate with utensils. "It's good, Keller, I swear." He smiled, spitting a bone from his mouth. She picked at it and followed suit with the bones, spitting them wherever as they sat outside. "We should come up with something." He stated as he placed another slab of fish onto the pan.

The fish was palatable, though she would have preferred chicken. She knew how to kill, clean and cook one of those. She did not mention this as she ate for fear he'd make her do it. "Something in regards to what, Jody?" She asked, spitting bones forth from her mouth. "You have no butter?"

"No." He answered, taking a drink of water from a bottle he'd found in the trailer. He handed it to her, which she accepted with some hesitance. "Something in regard to getting into the compound."

"I planned on walking to the gate, Jody."

"What kind of challenge is that, Keller?" He reminded her as he flipped the fish with the spatula.

"We out, brother." Greg called. "Y'all coming?"

"We'll make our own way back." Jody answered. "We're still eating."

"Good luck with your plan. Princess, you may return at any time you choose." Greg invited, fake bowing at her.

"Why thank you, kind sir." She giggled.

Having spent part of their morning together, she enjoyed her conversation with Greg. He was by far the more mentally stable twin. When the others were not at his side, he was open and thoughtful. He'd told her stories of clearing out nests. He gave her pointers and told her how to keep safe.

"She is a keeper, Jo. Later." He called.

Allen remained distant with her, still believing his brother should have passed the girl, Keller or not. The brothers had settled their differences with their fists and each looked evenly battered.

"He does not like me." Tia pointed at Allen. "Good bye, ugly." Tia called after him. They'd exchanged words more than once during the morning hours. He turned to flip her the finger only, then continued on with Greg.  "Jo, you'll make a fine Keller one day." Allen called.

"Oh, he's insulting you."

"I don't care what I am as long as I'm with you, Princess." He divided the fish in half and scooped her some more. "I cooked this one better. It's crunchy." He remarked as he scooped himself the rest. "You were supposed to cook this."

"I am no chef, Jody."

They ate their fish quietly as Jody thought of ways to get into the fortress undetected. He had gone through the options as he saw them. Three layers of fence and out in the open, too. Barbed wire along the top of all three fences. They could not climb over without bleeding out. Dig beneath, but three fences worth of digging would put them at a disadvantage as that would take time and they would be caught. Their goal was to avoid getting caught.

He and Tatia went into the trailer and as Tatia cleaned their dishes, he dropped her pants and took her from behind. "I'd like a bath." She sighed as he held her waist.

"I do not care if you smell." He said, leaning her forward over the sink with the dirty water.

"I do not smell." She argued, looking over her shoulder at him.

"T," He called out, fingers digging into her ass.

"Just come, Jody. I do not need the dramatics. Quickly, my love."  Jody pulled out and finished on her ass. She felt the warm fluid as it contacted her flesh. "Ugh," She sighed, looking at the dirty water in front of her. He reached into the sink around her and he wrung out the cloth. He wiped her off then threw the rag back in the water.

"It is Saturday." He reminded her." He pulled his pants up as she did her own. "I cannot believe you still do not grasp this calendar after all this time."

"I simply do not care. You seem to know what's going on, so why should I bother?"

"You will care when there is a head coming out of you instead of going into you."

"May we leave this place? Is this how you were raised, Jody?"

"This is how I was raised. More or less."

They head out, locking up the trailer as if anyone would want it. He tried explaining that there are people who have less and would be interested in that fine box shaped real estate in the woods, but she didn't believe him. He led her back to the main road and they set out in the opposite direction of the bar. As they walked, it was obvious that Tatia had no idea where she was or where she was going. She followed him, hoping that he would lead her home. They walked till they arrived at a farm where Jody climbed the fence and stood atop of its sturdy wood. He tossed her an apple, then picked one for himself.

"The orchard." She said. "We will enter at the orchard."

"What orchard?" he asked, hopping down in front of her.

Tia explained the layout of the compound. There were the fields where they planted. There was an orchard with apple and pear trees adjacent to the fields and irrigation system. The infantry did not go out that far. But Tia, having grown up on the compound and having picked the fields as well as the orchard of its fruit, knew exactly where it was.

When the men were at war, Julia and her people worked the fields, grew their food. She knew exactly how to grow their food. She spent the growing season in the fields. Julia devoted herself to feeding those in the compound. She didn't wish to see anyone starve. Once sector two had been cleared and was free, the men came home for a short time to plan for clearing sector one. Julia's endeavors in the fields were ongoing until the state was free. People who were hungry would arrive to the fence and beg for food and Julia never turned anyone away in regards to food. Her goal had always been to keep people alive. She would not allow them entry into the compound as they only took in orphans. No adults. Eventually, Julia ordered the fence come down. They cut their way through the layers of fence and installed a gate, which was padlocked. During the growing season, food was taken from the compound via that very gate as well as the tobacco and the pot that Chess grew and gave away for free. They fed the least fortunate, the orphan houses that had been set up through the local sector. Fields had been established similar across the free states as no one was allowed to starve anymore. No one was allowed to be homeless anymore either. Everyone in the sectors was guaranteed housing. Since the population die off, there was community housing set up and everyone had shelter from the elements. No excuses.

"We go to that gate, open the lock and we walk in. No climbing, no digging, no fuss."

"I suppose you have a key." Jody replied, leading her into the small village that was an hour past the farm.

"I certainly do. Not on me. I would have to find one." She said. "Where are you taking me?" She finally asked as he led her down the main street in the village. Mimosa street, she observed on the street pole. Jody turned to the alleyway next to a bakery and took the fire escape to the 2nd floor window. He banged on it till the curtain moved and Adam's face appeared in the window.

"Jody?" He said excited, almost a squeal. He opened they window and dragged him through to the inside. "Jody!" He hugged him tight.

Adam was a slight kid, tall and thin with short cropped light brown hair. He wore a flower patterned silky robe, tied at the waist. He looked at Tia with light brown eyes as she poked her head inside. "A girl, Jody?"

"She's my girlfriend, yeah. This is Tia. This is Adam, Tia." He said, helping Tia through the window into the small apartment.

Adam placed warm and welcoming arms around her. "She's gorgeous. Like you." He said. "I am so happy you found someone. Where did y'all meet?" He asked, clapping his hands together.

"School. She's in my class." Jody answered. "How are you, Adam?"

"I am working it, Jo. As usual, baby brother. What are you doing here?"

"We spent the night with Greg and Allen. I couldn't leave without seeing you."

"I see Allen and you are getting along." He pointed at Jody's bruised eye.

"He looks similar, Adam. You know how we do."

Adam welcomed them to his kitchen table, setting them down, giving them juice and cookies that were from the bakery below them. Jody and Tia explained how they met and how they fell in love. Tia loved that he was so open and comfortable with this brother when he spoke. He was not guarded with Tia at all. He informed Adam of their plans for New Jersey. The team that was forming and the training they would undertake would head to sector three and eradicate nests. A new plan and a new undertaking.

"Gasoline, Jody." Adam stated. "You do realize that gasoline, kerosene, oil is short in this world we live in. Fuel, Jody. That is why they are interested in New Jersey. The savages are being slaughtered to keep them from controlling the fuel." Jody and Tia were quiet and did not respond. "You know I am against this war. You know I do not condone these militants slaughtering our own men and women, fellow American citizens. They label them savages and create the story that they want the public to believe. You be safe, my dear brother. Keep her safe as well."

"Do you believe this to be true, Tia? This fuel theory?"

"I have heard this theory. But I do not know the true reasons. The original plan calls for peace. Going to peace with New Jersey."

"Whoever spun that bullshit, I don't know what he was thinking."

"I am sure she had the best of intentions." Tia replied in the nicest tone of voice she could summon from within her. Adam sat criticizing her plan. She explained the plan's basic ideals, handing the cities and more than ample farmland to those among the living, reconstructing society so the war would end, to end the killing of humans. The original plan was aimed at peace. Jody stuck up for her, having read her original plan. He agreed, knowing what Tia had created. Her plan, the first part, was humanitarian in nature. It had  been born to end human suffering on not on the side of the savage, but on the side of those who were sent to war.

"Militias do not keep peace. Military efforts are not efforts in the name of peace." Adam said.

"It must start somewhere." Tatia argued as she glanced around the small efficiency apartment.

"Why shouldn't it start here? There are far too many men, women and children suffering in our very own streets." Adam added.

Tatia spied the wigs across the living room that were lined on a shelf above his dresser. "Would you happen to have any hair pins?" She asked completely changing the subject.

"Of course I do." He said. "Help yourself, my lovely. Top drawer."

Tia crossed the room to the dresser as Jody and Adam continued to talk. She opened the top dresser drawer and discovered numerous sexual aids, toys, devices. She gasped as she saw them, spying the largest black dildo that rivaled that of surrender. She picked up 2 hairpins, then pocketed them.

"Honey, there's things in that drawer that would curl your toes."

"I saw that." She blushed. "You use those things?"

"I do, my darling."

"Oh, well thanks for the hair pins."

"You're welcome, honey."

"We should head back, I guess, Tia." Jody suggested.

They hit the road with more cookies and left the way they came, through the window and down the fire escape. Adam was teary eyed, leaving Jody walk away from him. He hung his head out the window and yelled at Tia to bring his brother home.

Jayson scrubbed up in the bathroom at the hospital and changed out of his blue hospital scrubs into his own comfortable clothes. He spent his hours taking care of his red head and watching TV. He listened to his music with her, playing it low so he wouldn't disturb the patients and the staff around him.

"Chess, they are not back yet."

He heard her speak and thought he was dreaming. She had said it so low.

"I should have left Alex with them."

He swiveled around in his chair and looked at her. Eyes closed, facing the window on her side where he had turned her to keep her off her butt.

"Who isn't back yet, Julia?" Jay asked.

She didn't respond to him or his voice and he figured she was still under, dreaming or living and it slipped out of her consciousness somehow. He turned his attention back to the TV, got comfortable.

"I have waited a decade for my child. I will hold her all I please."

She said nothing again for hours. The time ticked by as slow as ever, but Julia seemed to be having a good time wherever she was. She laughed finally, after hours of silence.

"Jayson," He heard his name and thought she'd said it, but there stood Blondie at the curtain to the ICU bay. "May I?" She asked, motioning to the room.

He lifted his arm and waved her in. "What's up?" He asked, watching Blondie in her Walmart office casual step inside and walk around the bed. She looked over Julia.

"She looks good, Jayson. You've taken care of her. You made her hair look nice." She observed.

"What's up?"

"Is there anything you need?"

"My brother was here. He brought my things to me."

"Anything else?" She asked.

"What are you offering?"

"Chess asked that I check in with you." She observed him trying to get comfortable in his chair, feet propped up on the heating unit in the wall. She noticed the cards on the window sill. He reached in his pocket and he handed her money.

"Some flowers. Pretty ones. Bright ones. And some Swedish fish."

"You can come and go, Jayson. You realize that."

"No, I want to be here when she wakes up. What if something happens and I am not here? She would be alone and I don't want her to be alone."

"I see." She nodded, placing his money in her pocket. "He's given me some background on-"

"Thanks.  Swedish fish and some flowers."

"I will get your fish and her flowers." She said, feeling he was not ready to talk with her just yet. "A bed. The hospital provides those rollaway cots. Would you like one of those?"

"That is a good idea. This chair..." He said not finishing his sentence, fidgeting in his chair.

Cookie stood at Julia's side a bit, looking her and her monitors over. She did see improvement. She did see an over all change for the better with her condition. The room felt lighter and less ominous. She could hear her talking ever so softly, barely audible.

"She's been doing that all afternoon. She's dreaming or hallucinating or..."

"That's good?"

"It means she's coming closer to the surface, Cookie. I told you she'd recover."

"She is a strong girl." Cookie said, sliding her hand over Julia's.

"How old are you, Cook?" Jay asked, watching how she gazed at Julia.

"25." She answered.

"Been doing this long?"

"I have been doing this two very long and tireless years, Jayson."

"No wonder you're so miserable." He said, taking hold of Julia's phone as it rang. "Telling lies that long."

Jay answered the phone and Cookie dipped out to find flowers and Swedish fish. She stopped at the nurse's station and she spoke with the desk clerk about a rollaway cot, which she agreed to find. "By the way, what are Swedish fish?" Cookie asked, stuffing her hand in her pocket. She rubbed the money Jayson had given her between her fingers.

"It's candy, ma'am." The clerk answered.

Jay hung up from his phone call, having spoken to the human resources rep from the reformatory.

"I have an interview, Julia." He'd scheduled it for Wednesday morning and he had no idea where this school was. He had a list of things he had to bring with him in addition to the interview itself. Julia would be pleased. She had already completed the school's requirements in order to even apply for a job, background checks and she'd had something run through the FBI in regards to child abuse. He had to bring this paperwork with him, which was in her books that Tavin had removed from her room. Three envelopes paper clipped together with a sticky note that read 'for the interview'. He texted Tavin and asked him for what he needed sometime within the next 24 hours.

Cookie returned to the hospital room with the flowers and the fish. His bed had already been brought in and he'd set it up neatly in the corner of the room out of the way.

"Hey, Cook. I have to be someplace Wednesday morning. Can you gimme a ride if you're not busy?"

"Sure. I told you that I am at your disposal. Where are you going?"

"A school. I have an interview. I wouldn't ask but it is important. If I don't go, she'll kill me."

"Alex." Her voice barley a whisper as she held him around his neck. She clung to him.

"You do speak." He said as he lay atop her. "You have a lovely voice, Kat." He kissed her neck and attempted to pull away and off her. She held him tight, but he did break free as she was not that strong to hold him in place.

"Alex." She reached for him.

"Yes." He smiled, pushing the hair from his eyes. He sat up in his bed and stretched nude before her. "Yes, Kat. Speak,  Kat." He watched as she covered herself, pulling at the sheet. "You are shy now?" He asked as she blushed. She moved against him, her fingers tracing along his chest. He took her again and then again until she finally ceased with her desire for him. For whatever reasons, he imagined hunger placing top at the list. They got up from bed. He rummaged in Julia's dresser and found Kat a pair of shorts and a tee. He pointed at Julia's house slippers and she slid them on her small feet. In Julia's clothes, she looked as young as the 14 she had traced onto the mirror in a foggy bathroom. Without the alcohol in their systems, she looked her age and her youth was visible.

He led her to the elevator, then watched her fascination as she had never ridden inside one or at the very least remembered riding inside one. He slid a kitchen stool to the prep counter and they sat. He fed her oatmeal as he diced up fresh fruit for her to eat, then he dined beside her at the prep counter. She was fascinated at the size of the house, the food that sat before her as she ate was fresh and there was plenty of it.

"Thank you." She said, eating two helpings of fruit after her oatmeal.

While they sat at the counter he found himself speaking to her as low as she spoke with him. Had it not been for the utensils clinking and echoing through the large kitchen, no one would have known they were there. The longer they sat with each other and the closer he listened, he realized that Katara had been speaking with him the entire time they'd been together. He had never listened closely. The alcohol he drank had his head messed up and then she spoke so low her words emanated on her breath. He'd only listened for audible sounds not her breathing. She spoke as if she were breathing her words. "A ghost. You speak like a ghost." He said, it dawned on him finally as he'd been wracking his brain trying to figure out what she sounded like. A strange girl, but what member of their family was not strange? Each weird person he lived with had their own specific set of psychological abnormalities. They wore their faults on their sleeves.

The noise from the court yard caught her attention, listening to the children outside. He set their dishes in the sink and he led her to the outside. She met his family, Chess's boys and she set off to play with the eldest who held a bat and a ball. She kicked off Julia's house slippers and ran barefoot with the eldest to the open area where they played.

"Stay in the courtyard, Kat." He called, thinking he sounded ridiculous telling the girl he spent the night and day fucking with to stay in the yard. He picked up Julia's house slippers and carried them inside the house, meeting up with Chess as he entered.

"Where is the girl?" Chess asked.

"Playing with your children." Alex answered, feeling awkward. "She is much to young for you. You would have had no patience for that one."

" 15, huh?" Chess snickered, peering through the French door to the courtyard.

"That is my story and I'm sticking to it."

"Has she spoken yet? We should find her parent, her guardian."

As Alex stretched out on the sofa in the foyer he looked to Chess. "I think you're looking at him."

"Oh, she has quite a swing." Chess observed, watching the girl swing the bat and connect with his eldest son's pitch.

"She does." Alex agreed, closing his eyes.

"She hit it out of the yard, Alex. She is climbing the fence. She is jumping."

"I told her to stay in the yard dammit."

"Tucking, rolling, running. She is mighty fast on those legs of hers."  Chess said, watching the girl run naturally fast on her bare feet. "Agile."

"Limber, yes." Alex agreed.

"She is climbing back into the yard. She climbs like a cat, Alex."

"Why is she not using the gate? It would be so much easier."

"I want your 15 year old." He remarked, stressing the number. His finger poked the window on that French door he stood behind.

"You gave her to me, Chess, but if you must have her I can't deny you." Alex whined. Just like Chess to pull the rug out from under him. "You did win her after all."

"I do not want her like that. I have enough children. And wives." Chess replied sarcastically. "Put her in the infantry with Tatia."

"Chess, another female?"

"When this Jersey ordeal is done I want someone to form a female infantry. I want physically rigorous requirements also. If they excel in 3 of 5 or so areas, they may enter. I shall form this myself in fact. This will be fun."

"You have always said-"

"I am bored, Alex.  Your sister has proved us wrong. This one, she may as well. I want her out there all week."

"Speaking of girls, where is Tia?"

"She has not arrived home yet." Chess answered.

"If she is not home by dark, I will go find her." Alex volunteered. "Maybe I should have stayed with her."

"She's with Mayers. She's fine. I would not have left her out there without that family. The twins are killers and the youngest is strong. She is as strong. You have not seen her since the first day in infantry."

"You sing her praises now?"

"She is the number two, Alex. That is why she is part of team A. If she got off the boy's dick she has potential to be number one. But she defers to him."

"She knows her place."

"In the confines of a relationship, yes. She is very accommodating, sweet, loving. In the confines of the infantry, that is unacceptable. She wears that accommodation to him on her sleeve. She's weaker, but it doesn't have to be that way. Mayers doesn't appreciate that out there. He's been working on her confidence." Chess watched through the door, folding his arms across his bare chest. "Come here. You must see this young one climb."

"Ahh, I see, Tia." Jody said, following along the tree line. There was nothing but trees at the rear edge of the compound. They set back in the wood about 20 yards and felt secluded enough to walk freely through, crunching the sticks and leaves beneath their boots. The compound, its guards and its buildings could be clearly seen in the distance. It was far, but it was visible.

"I am hungry and I am hot and I am dirty." She complained, leading him through the brush.

Tia explained that the campus used to be heavily wooded. There were those who chose not to stay inside the buildings and there were those who were not permitted to stay inside the buildings. Julia had evicted more than a few individuals from the school, but did not remove them from the land. She pointed to the school. Half the distance to the buildings used to be heavily wooded and that area gradually was cleared out. The wood used to heat, construct, fortify, board up the building depending on what weather approached. They'd lived through several hurricanes and two tornados.

"This far inland, Tia? Really. I don't remember these storms."

"Really. After the first hurricane, Julia demanded a plan of action for the next. 'If it happens once it may happen again'." Tia mimicked Julia's voice and mannerisms. Julia was very OCD in her planning back then and now she was very OCD when it came to her work. She did not like surprises. She didn't like to be unprepared in the slightest way. It irked her. She took it to heart as if things that happened were her fault, within her control somehow.

"So basically all this is your sister's idea?"

"All this is the result of her tireless efforts and many sleepless nights."

"Really? I don't see that in her, Tia. Honestly. I see her as this tiny woman, a mom."

Jody brought up Adam and his beliefs about the Morgan family's interests in New Jersey. His belief that fuel and supplies were there in abundance. Tia stated she did not know. She never heard any of that sort of talk in her home. Jody wondered if there was a way to find out.

"I wish there was a way to have known we came in the opposite end of the compound cause I am tired of walking, Jody."

"We almost there?"

"Do you see an orchard? Do you have one fruit bearing tree in your field of vision?"

"It's a green blur out there, T."

"Ugh, yeah." She pointed annoyed.

"We could run. We'd get there faster." Jody suggested.

"I'm gonna kill my brother for even thinking that this was a good idea."

"It was, Tia. We get to prove ourselves. Break in here with all the security, Tia. It's the fucking dare of a lifetime." He said, feeling the rush of it all. "This is exciting, baby." He said, stepping a head of her.

"This is a lot of walking." She snapped at him. She thought a moment, hearing the word that made her cringe in revulsion. "Baby? Did you address me as 'baby'?"

"Perhaps. Is that a problem?"

"I do not like that word. I am not your 'baby'." She snapped.

"I apologize, Tia." He said, staying ahead of her. "I didn't mean it to sound like-whatever, you are moody. I'm running, Keller. I'll see you there."

"We do not separate, Mayers. You know about the rules." She yelled, sprinting off after him, feeling obligated to keep up with him. Mayers was right and they made better time, but last she checked they weren't on a clock and she chose to go in after dark. Darkness covered them like a blanket. They'd get to the orchard to do what? Wait till night fall? "Jody, I want to go in after dark. We have time yet." She called after him, slowing down. "Fuck it. Do as you please." She said, stopping her pace to a walk again.

"Will you give me this much shit in Jersey, Keller?" He yelled, slowing down enough for her to catch up.

She poked him in his chest. "I would appreciate if you could follow my plan. And decide whether I am Tia or Keller, please. We are not training yet. We are not-dammit." She said angrily. Jody left her fume and walk it off at his side.

"It would have been nice to include me in the plan. If you even knew where your own orchard was in your own back yard, we could have been dropped off closer and we wouldn't be walking at all."

"I do not know direction. East south north west."

"If you hadn't skipped first year, Keller, you would know." He criticized.

"It is my mistake. I can own it." She sighed, feeling hurt for some reason.

"Are you crying now? Tia, I am not trying to hurt your feelings. I am not. You could have discussed this with me is all."

"I suppose we are now the team that cries together."

"I wouldn't mind crying if we had something to cry about. But this is not tear worthy."

"We are fine aren't we?" She noted, wiping her tears on the back of her hand. She started laughing a little. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"All of this. I should have stayed home. I should have not left the compound. I do not fit in out here. I feel as though I do not fit in there either. I am a female. I should have stayed that way instead of trying to do something I am not capable of. I cannot walk across my grounds without shedding tears or arguing with you. What kind of teammate am I? I will never be able to do this and I will never measure up. Ever. I am a joke. I am-"

Tia rambled on about all her insecurities and her self imposed faults. He hated seeing her like this, lacking any confidence at all. She periodically wavered like this. He'd usually leave her and go work out and she would work things through in her own way. He stopped listening to her after a while, separating himself from her small cloud of negativity she had floating around her. He focused on the woods around him, the sounds of their feet on the forest floor. They'd completely forgotten their surroundings. He had his own thoughts going through his mind. He thought of his brother, the ass kicking he received from him. Allen had always been the violent brother. He had a habit of talking with his hands because he didn't communicate well with his mouth. If it hadn't been for Greg through his childhood, Jody and Adam would have killed Allen in his sleep. Adam may have even tried once or twice.

"Jody, are you listening?" Tia demanded, pulling him out of that unpleasant memory in his head.

"No." he answered. "You're talking to yourself. Not me."

"So asking what you think would be dumb."

"I think I am only as strong as the girl at my side. That's all." He noticed she still had tears to burn through and continued onward, focusing on that orchard. "Fruit bearing trees, T."

"Yes. I see. Hey, will you be killing our supper, Jody?"

He burst out laughing. " No." He laughed again till he realized she may have been serious. "There's a kitchen over there, Tia. I could if I had to though."

"First year stuff?"

"Some of it. Some is growing up stuff." He replied, thinking of his fishing trip with Allen. "Like this morning me and Al caught breakfast."

"Yes, thank you. For doing that. I would have been hungry."

"You would have." He agreed.

"Do you miss living with your family, Jody?"

"No." He responded quickly. "I mean I learned a lot from them that readied me for this. But, no."

"Like what?"

"How to fight. Fish. Hunt. The usual. While you were surviving in there, Tia, I was out here. No fences or walls. My brothers were my first and only defense."

"So there is no loyalty there?"

"The opposite, Tia. If they needed me, I would leave without a doubt. But what would they need of me?"

"Exactly. So you do understand me. That is how I feel. I would like to do something that is so gloriously epic I will earn their respect. What compares to clearing states and allowing people live a free life, Jody? Your brothers did the same, when the call came. They chose different afterward is all."

"I haven't thought about it like that, Tia."

They took a seat in the woods and waited for dusk. Jody took that time to let her know what happened that morning with his brother. "I took an ass kicking for you."

"For me? What did I do, Jody?"

"It is what you did not do, Tia."

He gave Tia the rundown again in regards to what happens in their home. When a woman is invited inside the home she was there to serve man in any way that man saw fit. "Tia, you told him to go jerk off."

"I did?"

"Yes, T. You said for him to take his common self in his common room and take his common dick in his common hand. You said that drunk on tequila."

"Oh, I kind of remember going back and forth with him, Jody."

"Before the first line was cast he beat my ass for you being disrespectful to him in his home."

"He had his bruises, Jody."

"I fought back, Tia. But I had to apologize to him."

"Would you want me serving-"

"Hell no. One does not simply pass a Morgan or a Keller."

"So if he had brought a woman home, then she would have served you."

"Yes. I grew up like this. I had my first girl like that. I had a lot of girls like that."

"Oh, so you'd all force them-"

"Never. It's understood, Tia. He listens to Greg. I was serious about the window. I would have taken the fight last night if it wasn't for Greg. Allen's a fucking nut, Tia. Greg says it's all he had to see, watching our parents die. He killed them after they turned. He has some hard memories."

"We're about to have some of our own, Jody."

"Kind of scares me, T. Thinking I might come back like him. Wrecked in the head."

"Jody-"

"He's why my brother didn't take Chess up on his offer years ago. Allen would never have been able to live that regimented life, but Greg could have. They will never separate."

"And Adam."

"He doesn't speak to either of them. Adam doesn't have a violent bone in his body, unless it's in his ass." Jody said. She gasped a little, thinking of that and Adam's drawer of sexual devices. "If things went bad again, I would go for Adam. He's defenseless. He panics."

"They take issue with his sexual orientation."

"No. They take issue with him being a fucking pussy. They were always tolerant of him, but never excited about him. He's had boy friends as long as I can remember."

"You ever thought about it, Jody?"

"Never. Not once. No." He stated adamantly, shaking his head. "That is not for me."

"Me either. I don't think I could be intimate with a woman like Julia is."

"No offense, but is she a huge slut?"

"She has had many lovers, male and female."

"You ever seen that?"

"Yes, I have. Not so much anymore. When I was young, I saw a lot of things I should not have witnessed. She was always in bed with someone. It always seemed so wrong. She was always so drunk or high."

"She doesn't seem that way now."

"It was Jayson, losing him. She surrendered to Chess. She makes love with Chess and she has Antonio." Tia rose from the ground and reached a hand down to him. "You ready for phase 2."

"Only if it doesn't take as long as phase 1."

" Fingers crossed. Gotta pick that lock before it gets too dark."

They crept from the woods and used the orchard along the fence line as their cover. "Tia, the gate is not in the orchard. We gotta go dark."

"No, I need to see. Get down." She said, dropping into the tall grass along the fence.

"I'll-uh- bring up the rear, baby." He said, reaching out and slapping her ass.

"Are you insisting on calling me baby now? Why?"

"Cause I love you, alright?"

"Awe," She cooed, looking back at him. They crawled the way to the edge of the gate. "Oh, it's kinda high up there. Who can reach that?"

"It's high so people can't come by and fuck with it, Tia. It helps if you're standing on a truck bed."

"Oh, hoist me up there. Let me on your shoulders." She said, pushing him down. She sat on his back and he stood up, balancing her weight on him. She fiddled with her pocket while he waited with her against the gate. She pulled out a hair pin and went to work. She fiddled with her pocket again.

"Tia, what's up?"

"I need two. Some locks require two I have discovered."

He waited as she worked, undoing the lock and unwinding the chain from the fence. She dropped the chain and held onto the lock as he lowered her to the ground. Jody opened the gate a bit and the stepped inside the compound completely undetected. He rewrapped the chain around the fence posts and he reapplied the lock, securing it and them inside.

"Get low. Patrol is on their way around." She said, dropping to the ground.  He followed suit as the patrol drove past. Patrol these days was always more or less a formality.

"Tia."

"Hmmm,"

"Can we take out patrol and drive back?"

"Can you drive?"

"Can you?"

"Oh, is that covered in year 3, Jody?"

"Ha. You're so funny. Are we crawling back?"

"Phase 3. We walk back."

"We'll get caught."

"Jody we will get caught somewhere that we belong. No one will think anything of it. We're supposed to be here."

"Then why are we on the ground, Tia?"

"Seemed like the right thing to do at the time, I guess."

"The right thing." He laughed. "How bout we crawl over there to that orchard and wait for dark, Tia?"

"I think I could allow for that in phase 3."

They ran off into the orchard.

Julia stood in the foyer, drawn to the door. She felt something was off, she sensed energy outside. A flood of relief took her over, when she realized whose energy it was. They'd made it home, onto the compound, through half the grounds and were making their way back to the main house. They'd gone completely unnoticed by Chess's grounds men. Had she not known who was crossing the grounds, a whole situation would have occurred.  She left the foyer and rode the elevator upstairs to the second level, then took to the window at the far end of the toy room. She could not see them, but she saw their energy, watched as it crept closer to the main house. Slow and steady, the blue hues intertwining with each other. Blue meant life. Red meant death.

Alex approached her and stood at her side, looking out the window, straining to see what she looked at in the darkness, sensing Julia's relief as she leaned against the wall.

"Where are they?" He laughed.

"They're at the stables, Alex. I believe she is visiting her brother."

"Are you sure it is them?"

"Who else would it be?"

"How? There are fences, triple layered with barbed wire."

Dig? Jump? Julia didn't answer as she scanned the grounds, thinking about the structure out there on the far campus. But they had done it, were successful. Had made it as far as the stables. "Is the orchard patrolled, Alex? The trees, do they overhang the fencing?"

"I have no idea. I have not been to the orchard in years, since we took down the fence.".

"Alex. It's one gate out there and it is padlocked. She picked the lock and they walked onto the grounds."

"She picks locks."

"She does. It is how she and Jody went to Vegas."

"This was too easy." He muttered.

"Would you have done the same?"

"No. I would not."

"Me either."

"There are ways inside."

"I agree, Alex. She does not know about the hatch, the tunnel."

"I wouldn't use that old tunnel. The structural integrity is sketchy at best."

"There are supplies there along the way. Lighting, food and water. I would have used the tunnel."

"To each his own." Alex said.

"Where's the child bride, Alexander?" Julia asked.

"Bed. Asleep. If not she'd be at my side. She took Chess very seriously when he ordered her to remain with me."

"Tread very carefully with her, Alexander. What you have done,"

"Is done."

"Make sure she knows the way things are."

"How are things, Julia?" He asked, placing his hands on the window sill. He leaned, looking over the stables. "Remind me of things, Julia. What are the rules again? Explain."

"Why this animosity, Alex? What is this between us? Why do you dislike me?"

"I know what you were doing in the car. Your way of reminding me."

"What are you talking about?" She asked, thinking back to the night before. She and Chess in the car. "Reminding you of what, Alex?"

"It is strange what you choose to remember and what you choose to forget."

"Alex, I don't choose-what are you talking about?"

"You were looking right at me, Jules. You were connected again. I felt it."

"Connected? I never conn-" She stopped speaking. "What have we done, Alex?" She whispered.

"It's what we do, Jules. Not what we have done. Are we done?"

"You're joking right? You are fucking with my head."

"I didn't say anything last time because you were pregnant, but last night at the bar I thought...the lap dance, my hands were-"

"That's obscene. Back off." Julia ordered.

"We went past obscene about 5 years ago and kept on going." He said, letting her arms go. He folded them over his bare chest. His height, he loomed a foot over her. His narrow build, small waist. Similar to Jayson's build. Not exactly cut, but defined.

"So let me get this through my thick skull, Alex. At some point about 5 years ago I molested you?"

"We won't call it that."

"Incest, then? Does that sound right?"

"Jules,"

"You're my brother, Alex. Does anyone else know? Did I tell Chess?"

"I don't know what you tell Chess. As far as I know...no one else knows."

"I am sorry, Alex. Why would I-"

"It was mutual."

"Doesn't matter. Why is my energy still in you? It should have faded by now. I felt it when you took hold of me."

"It doesn't belong to you, dumb ass. It belongs to me. You didn't connect with me. I connected with you." Alex said. "What is wrong with you? Why are you acting so-"

"I'm not the girl that did that with you. Alex, remember when I got sick, before the first nights?  I'm that version of Julia. I've been here since I met Antonio in New York. I got infected at Mount Oliver."

"We should not continue this conversation, then."

"Do not, please. I don't wanna know why or when or anything like that. Please, I-it's wrong, Alex."

"It's not, Julia, but you wouldn't understand."

"Your energy? You can do what I can do?"

"I have a different version of it." He shrugged. "I was kind of surprised you didn't ask to see him. Now I know why."

"See who?"

"Jayson. He is why we connected to begin with, then things transitioned from there."

"I can see him when I go home. I have already communicated with him through Chess there in the hospital. I try not to think of him while I am here. I have Chess here and I like this. It is very comfortable what we have."

"I see your point." He nodded. "So what was with the car thing then?"

"I go with the flow. I have learned it's easier than trying to adjust what we've created or done or-"

"I see. Say no more." He advised her.

"I do not think of you that way, Alex."

"You've transitioned. Ah, say no more. I'll discuss this with her when I see her next."

"What's transitioned? Is that some word we came up with?"

He smiled. "Not telling." He said as he walked away.

"Is there anything else I need to know? What do you mean you can connect to my Jayson? How? He's gone?"

"He's gone here, Jules. He lives elsewhere. You have said it yourself." Alex explained. He stopped and turned to face her. "Would you like to see him?"

"I-uh-no. No, I don't. But how do I see him, Alex? Physically or-"

"Very physically, Jules. Would you like to see him or not?"

"No, I wish an explanation. Jay's alive. He's not in a stable grave yet. He's right where I left him."

"Do you want me to send you home?" Alex asked, placing his hands on his hips. "You wish to stay."

"I do. The baby-"

"The baby is the only thing tying you here?"

"She is my daughter. She is not a 'thing', Alex."

"She may go as well. Would you like to go home?"

"She will not survive."

"She will go. Anything you have done here is-" He waved his hands through the air.

"What the fuck is this?" She asked as she waved her arms similar to his, through the air.

"Not established, lacks roots or foundation, literally up in the air, time and space, Jules."

"Do not send me anywhere." She demanded.

"Yet." He smiled. "There is only one way you get home, Julia. And you have to transition there."

"Why you?"

"When you left the farmhouse, you transitioned from there through who? Who allowed you to transition?"

"Jayson. but you are not Jayson, Alex. I was going to transition. Where?"

"Home, Julia. After Jay died. You were going to transition. You changed your mind. So many times you changed your mind."

"Oh, my God. So our-what we were doing-"

"Was you changing your mind." Alex said. "Repeatedly."

"And when I left this place, left Chess, left Macy...I made my decision. And Antonio was my new life and...Oh, my God what have I done? I ruined that for Julia, this Julia. Chess is-I went back to Chess."

"She didn't go back to her husband. You did. When she left, she wasn't coming back."

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Julia repeated. "So when I leave, she'll plop back down here to reality with a baby and a husband and a boyfriend named Antonio."

"Of course. I will explain if you like. Don't forget, she'd like a baby too."

"I see. Yes." Julia said, pacing the floor. "I would love to go home. Shoulda fuckin stayed at that farmhouse."

"That was your original destination." Alex said.

"Jay doesn't have the magic, Alex."

"Who are my parents? Who are his? Who are yours?"

"It is our father, Alex. My father...he was at the farmhouse. He was involved the first time. Tia. Is she like us?"

"I don't know. Maybe you two could transition? There are some things even I wont do."

"Oh, no. I cannot. I could transition with that Jody of hers though." Julia said, looking out the window.

"Still in the stables?"

"Oh, yes. They are." Julia observed. "I can't believe you can't see them."

Alex crossed to the window and Julia took his hand in hers. She clinked the window with her nail toward the bright blue glow. Their energy fused together with varying blues and small sparks. "See."

"Bright." He squinted. "I thought you'd see bodies."

"Nope, just colors. The dead are red."

Alex's vision shifted over the barn to the woods and he scanned around the grounds. He saw no red, which meant no death in their vicinity. He didn't need the gift to hunt the dead. He had a natural knack for that. Sometimes experience mattered as well as all the other senses. The dead stink to high heaven. They smelled...dead...despite their ambulation in necrosis.

Alex searched through Julia without her realizing at first. His energy, he had never deposited inside her till that moment. He connected, nested in her. He turned it on, like flipping a switch. He hadn't done this in a long time with her, but her body was basically the same. Same nerve pattern, same imprinted memory. Her memory ceased where she said it had, the basement in Tavin's old house in Maverick. He slithered through the house, witnessed what they had witnessed in the basement that night, the blood. He listened to bits and pieces of the conversations she'd had with Chess and Jayson. He went in the nest in New York and he walked the streets with Antonio. He watched as the nest was disposed of. She'd never disposed of a nest prior, it came naturally. Like he thought, experience meant a world of difference. She was latched onto Antonio for herself, her own fear. She'd never been in a nest. Her first nest and she didn't want to go alone. His first nest and he didn't want to go at all. He was more fearsome than she. He skimmed over their first nights together, he skipped to Chess taking advantage of her, talking to her, reminding her of surrender. Her arrival at the compound, pregnant and bloated.  He felt her weight, heavy and uncomfortable. He felt her pain, the contractions, and he felt her joy when she saw Antonio holding Antonia.

He shifted his attention back to the window, bright lights in a barn.

"Finished?" She asked. "You filled me up did you?"

"You're easy. Same energy."

"I am no liar, Alex. I thought you'd know me better by now."

"Secrets are a different thing altogether, as you know. You have not told Chess."

"I have not told anyone."

They watched as the energy approached from the outside of the barn. A guardsman. "Lord, here we go." Alex laughed.

"They will not fire at them." Julia said.

A scuffle ensued, the guard was taken down, his gun was removed from his person and they held the guard at gunpoint from the barn to the courtyard.

"Chess will not be pleased." Alex supposed. "I'll fetch him."

"Good. Thank you." Julia laughed. 

They kids waited in the foyer with the prize, a very confused guardsman. Julia stepped off the elevator and saw the dirty juniors shove the guardsman into a chair at the table.

"Rudolph, I assure you I will not harm you and this is not personal." Tia said in a motherly, soft voice.

"Remove the gun from his head, Tia, and he may actually believe you." Jody told her, standing at her side.

"Did he harm you? You're all bloody." Julia observed blood smeared about her neck and forearms. Jody was shirtless and similar. "And your face-" Julia pointed to Jody.

The men could be heard on the back steps, Alex and Chess hurried through the hall to the foyer. Tia held the gun firm against Rudolph's graying temple.

"I was attacked by them, Sir. I go to the barn on my break and I brush the mares."

"I am aware, Rudolph. I recall." Chess said. "Get that pistol off Rudolph's head, Tia."

"Shall I place it to yours?" She asked, aiming the weapon at Chess. "Or yours, brother?" Tia glared at Alex.

"This is not me. I have nothing to do with this madness." Jody said, stepping back from her.

"Mayers, step back in your place. We are responsible for each other and each other's actions."

"Damn it, Tia." He said angrily as he returned to his place.

"Why are you bloody?" Alex asked, stifling a laugh.

"We are unharmed." Jody said, placing his hand on her lower back. "For now." He ran his fingers in circles over her lumbar spine.

"We are the team that bleeds together." Tia added, lowering the weapon. She set it on the table in front of Rudolph.

"Did you aim a firearm at me in my own home, Tia?"

"Yes, Sir." She answered.

Rudolph picked up his service weapon, then holstered it. "Safety is on, Chess." He remarked.

"Do you need medical? Are you alright?" He asked Rudolph.

"I am unharmed."

"Return to your post, then, please."

"Yes, Sir."

Chess slid a chair from beneath the table. He took a seat. "You went too far with-"

"I wouldn't shoot you, Chess."

"-with Rudolph. Rudolph is special. He's not even a guardsman. There are no live rounds in his gun. He will never draw his gun. He walks the grounds at night and he brushes the horses, Tia."

"I did not know."

"How did you get in?"

"How would you?" Tia countered.

"I personally would enter through the hatch and take the tunnel in."

"Told ya." Julia said to Alex.

"There is a tunnel, Tia?" Jody asked. "A tunnel we could have walked through?"

"Yes. It has food and water and lighting."

"It is not structurally sound. I would not have risked it." Alex announced.

"Tia, there is a tunnel?" Jody repeated.

"I was not aware."

"The orchard." Tia answered.

"Clear across the grounds when the tunnel is right there."

"I didn't know about the tunnel, Chess."

"You climbed-"

"We picked the lock. We opened the gate and we walked in."

"Long walk." Chess laughed.

"From the looks of it, they enjoyed the long walk." Julia pointed out.

"I have had a long day. I am dirty and bloody and-"

"Successful." Chess added. He pulled the band with the key to Vegas from around his neck. "Have your way with her." He tossed the key to Jody as he laughed at them.

"Huh? Now?" He asked confused, looking at the bloody mess they'd already created of themselves.

"I expect my key back first light."

"But, Sir."

"If you do it right, she should come out bleeding from somewhere anyway." Chess said, rising from his chair.

"Or vice versa." Julia smiled. "What would you do, Chess, if the roles were reversed?" Julia prodded him as the two looked surprised and discouraged and tired, offering some helpful advice. She knew Chess and she knew exactly what he'd answer.

"It comes with experience, my Julia. You know." He wandered off to the elevator with Alex who complained yet again that he had never been offered Vegas.

The two looked to Julia who stood still by the foyer's French doors. "Julia..." Tia said. "You know..."

"That is my room and it must be respected when it's offered." She replied, looking into the courtyard at the red roses, blooming in the moonlight. "In plain English, Tatia Rose..." Julia smiled, stepping away from the door.

"In plain English." Jody repeated.

"Go as your are and get dirtier. Do you truly bleed together or not?" She wandered off to the elevator. "In Chess's house, it is called war paint for a reason." Tia gasped a little. Julia heard her from the elevator. As she stepped inside and the doors closed, she wondered if they'd believe that bullshit. Chess would never touch her while bleeding.

"Really, babe, none of that Vegas stuff interests me other than that pole, but you know what?"

"What's that, Jody?"

"I think we both like the bed a lot. The one in the war room."

"Oooh, it is so pretty. Yes, I do."

"So we bathe, we go to the bed and we go the fuck to sleep."

"But do we truly bleed together?" Tia asked, letting him put an arm over her shoulders.

"I think that we are smeared with the evidence of that."

"Jody, I don't wanna bleed with anyone else."

"Ditto, let's go wash this off and go to bed."

ORIGINAL 7/2/2015. EDITED AND DIVIDED 8/18/2021