The following story is a work of fiction. Science fiction, to be precise. Any resemblance between characters in the story and any real persons, living, dead or waiting to be born, is purely coincidental.
In my little world of the future, there are no unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases unless having them would be a convenient plot device for yours truly. The author encourages (strongly) the practice of safe sex.
The following story contains lesbian sexual activity and has a lot of plot. If either of these things fails to float your boat, you might want to stop reading now.
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It had been an hour since the meeting had ended, and Diamondback was sitting in the Creepers encampment, which had been moved into the city of Bismarck. She was holding her head in her hands and trying to absorb what had happened. She and her Legion squad had traveled halfway across the continent to intercept a potential threat to the Legion's territories. Instead, they had encountered a group of refugees from a kingdom based around the area that was once Seattle. Apparently, the raider bands that had once ruled that area had been driven out by local militias who had subsequently united under a king named Conner. The kingdom had flourished for years, rebuilding some industry and coming up with what sounded to be a sensible collection of laws. Many had debated contacting the Legion due to a general difference in philosophy between the two groups. But fate had given them little alternative. Within the last several years, the Kingdom of Seattle fell under attack from a group worse than any raiders. No one was sure exactly where they had come from but these beings, which were simply referred to as the Savages, had come up from the South, possibly from as far as Mexico. They had no technology and little organization. What they had were numbers and ferocity. The king's spies noticed that these Savages consumed some sort of elixir before going into battle which apparently dulled pain and fear. And they were monstrous in size, as if they had been breeding for size and strength for many generations. Any man they captured was killed brutally and his flesh was devoured. Indeed, they appeared to be cannibals. But a far worse fate awaited any woman who fell into their grasp. The stories of the atrocities committed on women by these things stung even the hardest of hearts.
Attacks by Savages had become more frequent, causing the outer line of Seattle's forces to pull in. King Conner realized he didn't have the resources to protect all the civilians under his domain, so he concocted a plan to get them out. His forces launched an offensive against the enemy, and a small number of soldiers under the command of Sergeant Malloy were sent along with all those who couldn't fight. He had hoped to find a generous spirit amongst the Legion despite their differences, and prayed they might protect these people should they make it to the Legion's territory.
Overall, Diamondback decided she liked the sound of this monarch. His first priority had been to get non-combatants to safety, which showed compassion as well as brains. But she didn't like the sound of these Savages. Sergeant Malloy said that there were thousands and thousands of them camped outside the kingdom's borders. He only hoped they weren't aware of this departure, as he didn't have enough men to fend off any but the smallest of their scouting parties. Then the weather had turned bad and their march eastward had been noticeably slowed. They had made a semi-permanent encampment in Bismarck because of the strain the voyage had been placing on the travelers. Many people would probably die if they didn't get some rest. And they hadn't seen any of the Savages for a month, so they figured they were in the clear. Malloy realized that they were months away from Legion territory, which is why he was surprised to see the Creepers show up out of nowhere. He had been debating between marching on and just sending scouts to contact the Legion, so they weren't alarmed when a large group of strangers showed up on their doorstep. Probably not a bad move on his part. Malloy and Diamondback had agreed to send an emissary back to Legion headquarters, to be accompanied by Rat. The Sergeant picked his fastest rider to act as diplomat. They would pick up fresh horses along the way, making Diamondback glad that the Legion was in good standing all along the trail home. With the weather improving and the roads cleared, the two riders should make good time back to Manhattan. Rat was not all that excited about leaving the squad, but he was the best rider they had. And when the Seattle rider turned out to be a fairly cute blonde, his objections became less strenuous. They would ride back to headquarters and make the offer of an alliance, and try and get the Legion commanders to send some fire support out this way. If these savages took Seattle or decided to head east, they didn't want to wait until they reached Legion territory to make a stand. This ragtag band of Seattle-ites and legionnaires would move as quick as they could east, trying to put as much distance between them and their adversaries as possible. With the winter still underway, Diamondback was worried about taking the shorter route around the north end of the Great Lakes, so she decided to go around the southern end to Chicago. Chicago was a town that had a bunch of small groups, but nothing that would be a threat. There were plenty of places to hole up that were defensible and it was close to sources of fresh water. They would wait there until the Legion arrived. And somehow, Diamondback had been placed in charge of the whole operation. She was the only one with the authority to speak on behalf of the Legion, and the only one with enough experience to pull this off.
After hours of meetings, they had formulated a tentative schedule. They would stay in Bismarck for a few days, restocking their food supply as much as possible. The Seattle-ites had a lot of horses, but not enough to carry the entire mob, so they were going to fashion wagons out of any materials they could find. They might not go faster, but they could go longer with putting too much of a strain on the very young and very old. A number of horses in the mob were draft or plough horses anyway, and they could do the pulling. Patrols would be joint efforts of both groups. Luckily, these new arrivals had plenty of ammunition, so Rain was actually able to start learning how to start learning to shoot. They had managed to clean up one of the shotguns they had found along the way, a handsome side-by-side with two triggers and a full choke. It could certainly get the job done.
Unfortunately, all the planning and construction took time. Diamondback was patrolling, planning the route, guard shifts, and overseeing construction. Rain impressed just about everyone with her hunting ability, and she became an essential component in finding food and getting it prepared for travel. When she wasn't hunting, she was learning to shoot, knife-fight and ride. They were lucky if they saw each other for a few hours on a given day.
Diamondback was standing on a rooftop, surveying their progress and discussing some last minute preparations for the next day's departure with Red Back and Sergeant Malloy. At one point, she saw Rain milling around with one of the hunting parties. Her attention drifted from the conversation. Her girl was growing up fast. She was branching out, making new friends and learning how to be part of a community, rather than just a small group like the Creepers. Those were two entirely different worlds, and she seemed happy in that other world. Maybe too happy.
"Captain?" asked Sergeant Malloy. "Are we set then? Or would you like a pair of binoculars?" The two of them had discovered they got along great, so she didn't mind the rib.
"Okay, HIM," she said, pointing at her second in command, "I have to take that sort of thing from. You can be thrown off the roof."
"So I should go then?"
"Yeah. And yes, I think we're ready to roll. You all get some rest this evening. We have a long day tomorrow."
"See you in the morning."
Red Back remained conspicuously nearby as the other man left. "So, what's eating you?"
"I'm just nervous about defending the rear of the caravan. We don't have enough . . ."
"Wrong answer," he interrupted. "You pretty much zoned out of that part of the discussion looking at a certain young woman."
"When did you become my confidant?"
"When you started confiding in me. I'm glad though. I was beginning to think you were perfect," he said with a smile.
"Hardly. She's a big girl now, isn't she?"
"Afraid she doesn't need you anymore?"
"I'm afraid she's realizing she never needed me. And we're getting ready to head back towards the one place she doesn't want to go."
"You knew this was an eventuality you would both have to face."
"But we just got everything fixed."
"Well don't go assuming it's broke again. It's a long way to Chicago. We may not get recalled back to Legion territory. We've got several months until the decision has to be made. Listen, we'll cover your patrol tonight. Take a while and sort things out. You've done a good job of it recently, so don't go turning yourself into a mess again for no reason."
"I can't. I've got to make to do my rounds and make myself seen. I've got to convince these Seattle boys I know what I'm doing."
"They know! Most of them are scared of you, for cryin' out loud. You've been going non-stop for days. They believe in you. Now go." He placed one of those giant hands on her shoulder. "Clear your head."
He was right. He seemed to be right an annoying amount of the time those days. She descended the stairs an emerged into a broken city filled with failing light. The campfires were getting going, and stories were getting told. Any Creeper not on patrol would get grilled by the children or by the other soldiers to regale them with tales of their adventures. Diamondback wanted none of it. Besides, her comrades could exaggerate her accomplishments much more elegantly than she could. She took a walk through the downtown area. She often found herself in such places, looking at the architecture and admiring the world people had created for themselves so many centuries before. She tried to imagine what it had been like when people lined the streets, going to work or to lunch without a care in the world. Did they ever imagine that a lone soldier would be the only occupant the street held? That a single set of footsteps would echo on streets that once teemed with young people on their ways to a myriad of rendezvous points.
"Penny for your thoughts?" asked a sweet, familiar voice.
Diamondback smiled. Whenever she least expected it . . . "How long have you been following me?"
"Since you left the meeting. You official people have a lot of meetings." Rain sidled up next to her, timidly taking the soldier's hand in her own and kissing her warmly on the cheek. Diamondback turned her head and received a full, lingering kiss on the lips.
