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Chapter Eight
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Felix proved to be a greater help than even he could imagine. More than once, Rex praised him for his show of strength and stamina as they battled their way up the steep hillside with the heavily laden wagon.
Olga worriedly monitored their progress, but said nothing. She’d overprotected her nephew because of his deformity for his entire life. She could see now that it wasn’t a necessary thing to have done.
Felix was born while they were huddled together like eggs in an egg carton in the bomb shelter. The birth was a long and complicated one. It resulted in a damaged foot for him and death for his mother. Having assisted with the birthing, Olga carried a heavy guilt over what had happened. It didn’t matter that none of them were trained for such an event and that they’d managed to save Felix even if they couldn’t save his mother. She kept wondering if someone else in the group might have done it bet
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Ari scowled as she kicked at the rocks that made up the well-used fireplace. Cold ashes billowed a few feet into the air before settling on and around her boots.“You should have followed her home that day,” Baelil complained.“I don’t know what good coming back here does,” Ari moaned. “It’s been weeks.”“I just thought that we should keep an eye on the place. Maybe she’ll return. You never know.”“You’re right,” Ari sighed. “You’re always right. I shouldn’t have come home that day. I should have followed her. I just didn’t see the urgency. I also thought that maybe, if she met you, she’d warm up to us better. Never in a million years did it enter my mind that meeting me would spook her so much that she’d pack up and move.”“I just sent for Denai. She should be here soon,” Baelil sai
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Denai was riding directly into the sun’s glaring rays. She leaned forward in the saddle -far enough to take advantage of the shadows cast by the leaves of the few trees that had managed to regain enough life in them to produce a decent foliage cap- in hopes of getting a more focused look at the couple standing on the boulder. If she was seeing correctly, it was Baelil and his sister, Ari.A low moan of displeasure escaped her lips, but she was careful to subdue it before it grew loud enough to attract the attention of Max, who she’d asked to accompany her on the three hour journey there.“I see Baelil,” Max said as he pulled his equally powerful horse up beside Danai’s Black Friesian beast. “It looks like his sister’s with him.”“She’s the one who met up with the girl a few weeks back,” Danai muttered.Max shook his head. “Yet, here we are. It just goes to show
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Kendra sat in the library with the book, The Hobbit, opened on her lap. When Rex had first shown the room that was lined with books to her, she’d been both intimidated and overwhelmed. She was taught to read by Olga, but the availability of reading material was limited. Therefore, her reading skills were wanting.To add to her frustration. Rex had been raised around enough books that he was a very adept reader. For the first few days, he had to coax her into the library and then convince her to explore the inventory. Eventually her insecurity and humiliation over her poor reading skills were replaced by an enthusiasm and notable improvement in her ability to decipher the meanings of the words on a page. Within a few weeks, her companions were hard pressed to pull her nose out of a book.The fact that the library was a complete literary treasure trove only added to the situation. Where she stood in intimidated confusion while fearful to
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Kendra walked past Rex with her head held so high that she didn’t notice the look of amused anticipation on his strong, handsome face. He waited for her to get a few yards ahead of him before he stepped off of the porch to follow her. He was startled to see the look of approval on Olga’s face as she watched from the window as he disappeared behind the house. Was that look because of her pride in Kendra’s prowess with a bow? Or, was there something more behind it?He’d grown close to Olga and considered her a friend. Even so, he’d shied away from discussing his feelings for her niece. After all, Olga was more like a mother than an aunt and, therefore, was protective of Kendra like a mother would be. He wasn’t worried about her rejecting him because of the nuclear exposure that he’d experienced as a youth. He didn’t consider the bit of damage that it did to his digestive and neurological system enough
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Olga brooded over Rex’s obvious foul mood as she watched him walk with aggressive deliberation to where the zombie lay. He grabbed it by its feet and dragged it into the trees before heading back to the fence to continue pounding the post into the ground. Things clearly didn’t go as she’d hoped between him and Kendra. Did the foolish girl refuse him? She’d watched the way he looked at her as well as the way she looked at him. She could have sworn that they were equally attracted to each other. What happened.As she headed out the door to assist Rex with the fencing, she made a mental note to have a talk with Kendra. She needed to understand that men like Rex wouldn’t be coming about one after the other. They were lucky that he came along at all. Rejecting him was a foolish move even if she didn’t have feelings for him; which she was sure that the girl did.“I have to say that I’m impres
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The alluring aroma of rosemary and roasting meat pulled Kendra from the deep and fitful sleep that centered on dreams of Rex and his rejection of her. Even though she could have easily done without the self-torturing dreams, she would have appreciated a bit more slumber for her tired body. Unfortunately, her empty stomach was on the alert and there’d be no more rest until it was satiated.She’d gone into her room right after they’d finished working on the fence, taken a quick shower, and then crawled onto her bed for what she thought would be a short rest. By the depth of darkness outside of her window, it was clear that she’d slept for hours instead of napping for minutes.Her stomach rumbled as she slowly crawled out of bed. She massaged her shoulder as best as she could while rotating it. The demands that she’d placed on her body while helping with the construction of the barrier around the camp had required the use of
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Even though she fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, it didn’t last long. Fear of getting caught in Rex’s bed by her aunt or Felix robbed her of her sleep. She was of an age where having sex was expected of her, in fact, it would be mandated if the regime was aware of her. Even so, she wasn’t ready to share with her family what had occurred between her and Rex. She wasn’t confident in where they stood as far as their relationship was concerned. Was it strictly sex? Or, was he expecting more from her? They had no condoms so their sex was unprotected, but he’d pulled out of her every time he released his seed. What did that mean? Did it mean that he didn’t want to impregnate her because he didn’t want to start a new family? Did it mean that he wanted to enjoy her body without a commitment? If so, what would her aunt and cousin think? Would they approve? She doubted it.Until she knew exact
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Baelil wiped the sweat off of his forehead and the back of his neck as he stopped to rest his horse. Reaching into his saddle bag, he pulled out a fresh shirt. Stripping the sweat soaked polo from his muscle defined torso, he rolled it up and put it in a small sack that was designated for such a purpose and donned a clean one that had been rinsed in lavender water to help retain its brightness and, therefore, gave off a light and refreshing lavender scent. They’d combed the area for weeks without any sign of the girl and her companions. How could they just up and disappear?“She has to be here somewhere,” Ari groaned as she pulled her horse up next to his and released the reins so that it could graze on the thick blades of grass that not only managed to survive the nuclear holocaust, but they’d grown back stronger than ever.It never ceased to amaze Baelil about how flexible and adaptable nature could be when it came to survival.&nbs
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Kendra moved amongst the fallen zombies and men, salvaging what arrows that she could from their corpses. When she came upon Baelil’s lifeless body, she was amazed at how accurate her aim had been in such poor lighting. It just showed what a driving force hate could be. Determining that the arrow was too damaged by the bone that it had shattered on its way to his heart to be of any further use, she moved away from him without a backward glance.The movement of a zombie that was felled but not killed caught her eye. She walked over to it, pulled out her knife, and drove it deep into the creature’s skull. Memories of looking into the human-like eyes of the zombies that had surrounded the tree that she’d used for safety floated through her mind as she wiped her knife clean and returned it to its holder.Making her way back to the house, she could see Rex and Olga casually leaning against the railing on the porch. Had t
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An eerie silence greeted Felix as he rushed into the house. “Auntie, he’s invisible. Get Eugene! Hurry! He’s after Eugene!”As he raced across the great room with his eyes focused on the nursery door, he tripped over something and tumbled to the floor. Picking himself up with an urgency, he scowled as he looked in the direction of the object that had caused such havoc. The words of frustration and anger toward the object that were on the tip of his tongue were quickly replaced by gasps of shock and worry when he realized that it was Olga’s arm that he’d tripped over.He lifted his torso from the floor and was just getting to his knees when he saw Eugene being carried out of the back door. Baelil was still invisible, so it looked like the baby was floating, but he knew better.Blood oozed out of Olga’s temple as she groaned out the words, “Go after him.”“I’ll be back,” he
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Denai cocked her head and scowled. “They have someone who is psychic with them.”“Truly?” Baelil said in an off-handed manner. He’d allowed Kendra’s taunting to get under his skin and was struggling to keep from charging the house and putting her in her place.“I think it’s a male, but I can’t be sure,” Denai continued with a worried whisper. “Whoever it is has strong energy. My magic is being blocked too.”Denai considered herself an average psychic with a few magical tricks up her sleeve. She’d let them believe that she was far more powerful than she was. She didn’t actually say it in so many words, but she also didn’t deny it when they praised her for her powers and skills. It had been good fortune that since she joined the populous of Center Land Village there had been no one to challenge or put her abilities to a serious test. Everyt
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The days that followed saw a significant improvement in both Felix and Kendra’s physical and emotional health. Since Kendra looked upon Felix as a brother and she trusted him explicitly, she asked him to help her with the baby so that she could resume the duties that she’d performed for the family over the years, which included hunting. He was nervous and hesitant at first, but quickly took to the new role to the extent that Kendra was hard pressed to have time with her son. She’d often joke that if it wasn’t for the fact that she was the one with the breast milk, she’d never get to hold him.Seeing how much the new role of pseudo father perked up Felix’s spirits, she gave him the honor of naming the baby. It took several days of extreme consideration on Felix’s part before he settled on the name Eugene. Although, not a name that would have made it onto her baby naming list, Kendra smiled and thanked him
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Other than the fact that pulling the cart was physically demanding and taxing, the journey home was uneventful. Although still weak, Felix was feeling more like himself and was able to get out and walk short distances, as did Kendra; giving Rex and Olga brief intervals of reprieve. By the time they reached the compound, they were ready for a hot bath, a good meal, and a long sleep. In that order.Olga insisted that Felix meet her in her special room so that she could better tend to his wound with herbs and sutures that she just didn’t have with her on the trip. He resisted, but was glad that he eventually gave in to her insistence when he almost immediately felt a reprieve from the throbbing pain that he’d experienced in his groin since Baelil and his men had attacked it with what he was certain was a dull knife. He smiled his thanks and promised to just do a sink wash before heading to bed so that he didn’t jeopardize the stability of the soothing her
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“I can’t believe you let me sleep through it all,” Rex grumbled as he ran his powerful fingers through his long dark hair before pulling its thick strands up into a man bun. “I could have helped you.”“You were exhausted,” Kendra said in a soft voice as she cuddled her newborn son close to her breast while it nursed. Since she had nothing to swaddle the baby in, she’d removed her tee shirt and was using that. This left her hoodie to cover herself with, but, at the moment, both of her breasts were bare, with her long, silken hair covering the breast that the baby wasn’t feeding on. “We need to head back and one of you had to be rested to pull the cart.”“So, I’m the family workhorse, eh?” he said in a mildly teasing tone that made it difficult to tell if he was serious or truly teasing.“I shouldn’t have sent that horse back to Ari,” Kendra lamented.&ldqu
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Rex said nothing to Kendra about the fact that Olga had shared her story with him. He thought it best to wait and see how much she wanted to tell him and at what intervals. He knew that she dreaded telling him anything, but he trusted that she would eventually share all. He held her close through the night and whispered his undying love to her, but made no move to touch her intimately. It wasn’t because he didn’t want her. After all of those months of searching, to finally be behind closed doors with her was extremely tempting. His need to touch every inch of her loveliness and assure himself that she was still his was almost overwhelming. But, the last thing that he wanted to do was to make her feel like she was forced into making love. She’d had enough of being forced into doing things; both sexually and non-sexually. When she was ready, she’d make the initiative. Until then, he’d do his best to be patie
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Rex paced the porch as he processed the story that Olga had just shared with him. A myriad of emotions surged through him like angry ocean waves slamming against a rocky shore. The thought of that snake, Baelil, forcing himself on his poor Kendra ripped him up inside. Thinking of her being forced to parade around the room naked for his months of pleasure was torturous. He slammed his powerful fist into the palm of his hand as he visualized punching Baelil’s head right off of his body.He could understand why Kendra would agree to the marriage in order to avoid being placed into a breeding rotation. Even though it was a made up reality for those in Center Land Village, such a set up was very, very real within the alien governed part of the world. It made sense that Kendra would believe it without question.He closed his eyes as he struggled to maintain control of his faculties. In the months that he’d been a member of this
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The trip back to the compound took longer than they would have liked, but neither Rex nor Olga wanted to push the very pregnant Kendra. Realizing how close she was to the end of her gestation time, Olga feared that excessive stress could bring on an early birth. She actually expressed her concern to her niece about the fact that she’d run away from her captors so close to the delivery date, but Kendra was adamant that she had to seize the opportunity when it arose. Olga couldn’t argue with that logic. Not one bit.They encountered a few stray zombies on the two day walk home, but Rex handled things quickly and without mishap. It was as if dealing with walking corpses had become second nature to him. Kendra thought about mentioning the look in the eyes of the zombies who had surrounded the tree that she’d climbed into for safety, but then thought better of it. That conversation could wait for another day.The compound had
