The Rooster (Erotic Apocalyptic Thriller) (5 page)

“Isn’t it obvious? I have almost as many
loyal shooters as the boss, so she doesn’t trust my reports. An
external opportunity is the only way to get her to assign me enough
extra personnel and heavy firepower to challenge her dominance.
I’ll be the queen of this roost in 24 hours, with your help.”

She slid closer and ran her fingers over my
chest. Despite the gesture, her self-indulging smile held no trace
of sensuality. “You’re at an impasse in your life. I’ve got my own
men squirreled away outside the wire. I don’t need you. So if you
help me, you’ll have free reign to fuck whoever you want. How’d you
like to own your dick again? For all I care, you can cart off a
couple of your favorite bitches and go back to wherever you came
from.”

Now her voice came with a sultry pitch as
she pushed a blade to my member. “Or I can make you my first Eunuch
slave. Your call, big boy.”

For the first time ever, I was happy to hear
gunfire. The shock on Daniella’s face when those rounds fired off
from inside the motor bay was priceless. She absentmindedly waved
the knife in my face before rushing outside. “You stay right
there.”

Over the bedlam I heard Rachel apologizing.
Peeking out the window, I was perversely relieved to see Espinoza
jogging up with her ever-present armed entourage. “What the fuck is
going on here?”

Rachel cast her eyes down and laid on the
meekness. “I’m sorry, boss. Just a function check on the new gun
and I guess I had an accidental discharge. I fucked up, ma’am.”

Espinoza holstered her weapon. “You can say
that again. So the stuck up, smart ass bitch turns out to be
retarded.” She laughed with relief. “I thought for a minute someone
was putting John down.” The rare laughter cut short. “Wait a sec.
Jessica. Where the hell is John? I thought I told you he was never
to get out of your sight?” While my “little boss” gesticulated and
turned pale, I had the first flash of courage in a long time.

I stripped down and snagged Daniella as she
ran past the door, trying to slip out the back of the maintenance
lot. I threw her against a locker and dry humped her leg. Making as
much of a racket as a frigging orgy. Didn’t last long. She snarled
and, with freakish strength, threw me to the floor in seconds. I
did manage to rip a few buttons off her camo blouse as I fell. With
more luck than I expected, she wore no T-shirt underneath in this
heat. I snapped her bra open too, but she just howled and dived on
top of me. Beating the crap out of my face the whole time.

On the verge of passing out, someone ripped
her off of me. Espinoza slapped her upside the head and probably
would have done the same to me, if she had found any spot that
wasn’t already red or blue. Instead, she just shook her head.

“God damn it. I always knew you were
sneaking around behind my back, but never expected you’d play such
teenage games.”

“Boss, he-”

“Shut up, Daniella! Maybe this is a blessing
in disguise. You’re growing too powerful operating independently.”
Espinoza stepped out of the shack and glared at her maintenance
chief trying lamely to look innocent. “Now I have an excuse to take
you out of the field. You’re confined to base until I feel you’ve
learned a lesson. That little empire you’ve built is gone. One of
my lieutenants will take over scavenging operations.”

Espinoza turned her back and chewed out
Jessy. From Daniella’s white-hot rage, you’d expect to hear a war
whoop. Instead, she just quietly caved the nose in of the boss’s
bodyguard. A hidden revolver grew out of her hand as she drew a
bead on Espinoza’s back. To this day, I still don’t know what came
over me. I like to think I was making a strategic choice and siding
with the devil I knew rather than a new one. To be perfectly
honest, maybe I was just pissed off about getting my ass handed to
me.

Either way, I leapt out of bed and ripped a
fire extinguisher from the wall. While Espinoza’s other two
compatriots froze in quiet indecision as the most popular woman in
camp took aim at the boss, I slammed the heavy canister into the
back of her head. Daniella got off a wild, but far-off shot as she
crumbled.

Espinoza spun like a top, that ubiquitous
.50 caliber pistol of hers out and ready. She blasted three quick
holes in Daniella’s chest without saying a word. I collapsed to the
floor, suddenly feeling even more like a naked idiot. The boss,
naturally, was cool as ice.

“She wouldn’t have tried something like this
if she couldn’t count on support. Seize the three girls that came
in with her from the field. Go now, before they realize what’s
happening.” She looked the maintenance team over, her eyes halting
on Rachel’s deadpan stare. “One idiot and a bunch of disloyal
cunts. That’s what I’ve got to work with.”

Jessy turned ghost white. “Boss, no! We’re
on your side. You know that!”

“We’ll find out soon enough. For now, take
this,” she kicked Daniella’s corpse, “down the road a few miles and
dump it. She doesn’t deserve a burial in the camp.”

Espinoza’s tone softened just a tad when she
stepped closer to me. By her standards, that meant she was
practically purring at me. “John, out of all these bitches, you’re
the only one I can count on. I never took you as the type for
romantic gestures.” She brushed her hand over my hair and whispered
in my ear. “You might just make me switch teams. Once this loyalty
purge is over with, we’re going to explore this a bit more.” I
practically fainted when she gave me a peck on the cheek.

For her part, Rachel wouldn’t talk or even
look at me the rest of the day.

That night I only had one appointment. A
sweet young girl who’d been kissing the boss’s ass for the chance
to get pregnant. Not looking forward to that visit. Five minutes of
sex and then all night I’d have to listen to her drone endlessly on
about the family she lost in The Fall. Oh, I’m not that callous,
but every one of us has a similar story. We make it through the
pain by focusing on the future. In my depressed state, it took a
second to realize the girl rushing into my arms when I answered the
door was Rachel.

“Baby! Holy God.” Lust and terror sparred
across her face. You could tell she’d been crying, but she hushed
me. “I know the risk and I don’t care. If this is the only we can
be together, then I’ll take what I can get.”

“Rach, I want you too. More than you can
ever know, but my, uh, client will be here soon.”

Rachel finally laughed. “Oh, you mean that
young tart with the big tits? Hate to break this to you stud, but
your mojo did the trick last time. She’s a few weeks pregnant. Got
what she needed and isn’t interested in you anymore. I bought her
slot dirt cheap.” Her green eyes held as much challenge as
mockery.

There were about 10,000 thoughts swirling
around my mind by that point. Thankfully, I shut up before saying
anything stupid. Apparently opening my mouth just to kiss her was
the smart move.

I held Rachel tight, afraid the magic would
disappear any second. We kissed with a real fervor I hadn’t known
in a long time. I squeezed her butt in both hands and eased her
towards the bed, only to be pushed away. “Um… no, no no. Not here.
I can’t.”

Rejection was a new phenomenon. “Uh, come
again?”

“John, please. Not on that bed. I’m not
another… assignment. Hmm, can’t do my room either. My roommate is a
gossip.” Like an emotional tornado, she swirled back into seductive
mode. “Oh, I got it. Look, we can’t be seen leaving together, so
meet me in the motor pool in ten minutes.” She ran to the door,
straightened her hair and walked away. Calm as could be.

No, I wasn’t good at waiting. 60 seconds
later, I opened the door to follow… and ran right into the duty
guard. “Where you headed to so late? Don’t you have a date
tonight?”

Surely my excitement didn’t show. “Hey!
Well, she didn’t feel like cuddling. So I’m going to go take a
shower.” I remembered this woman from last week and gave her a wink
and my best bedroom voice. “You remember how sweaty it gets,
right?”

Must have done the trick, because she smiled
wide. She still smiled after pushing me into the room and softly
shutting the door. “That’s not the date I was talking about. I saw
Rachel skipping away a little too mellow. A girl doesn’t wiggle
around like that every day.”

This, what’s-her-name, something starting
with a C, leaned her rifle against the door and turned on her own,
much more powerful, bedroom voice. “Why are you taking such a risk
with that ugly little duckling? All these randy hens here, and
you’ll run off with
her
?!”

A dozen lies formed and then disappeared in
my mind as she unbuttoned a bit of her uniform. I gave my wittiest
response. “I like her.”

“Shit! I think you’re serious. Ha!” She
licked her lips in, I guess, a seductive style. “Well, if you care
so much, what are you willing to do for her?” She maxed the charm.
Her voice was sex distilled into its purest form. “I’ll keep your
little secret, but only if we can have our own dirty secret.” I
stepped away while she still clawed at me.

Not so easily deterred, this tiger nearly
jumped me. She rammed her tongue down my throat while slipping a
hand inside my pants. Now it was her turn to be flustered.

“Are you kidding me? You had such a hard on
for that little bitch, but can’t get it up for me!” Those big blue
eyes cycled back and forth with rage, embarrassment and
astonishment. After what seemed like forever, she finally buttoned
back up.

“I’ve never been rejected by a man in my
life.” She slapped me and then kissed my cheek. “Hurry up now. Go
on and find a little happiness before it’s too late.”

I didn’t waste another second.

*

I flipped on a black light when I slipped
into the Conex shipping container turned storage locker. Rachel
rose from some sofa in the back. Really? A couch? Had she planned
this? She hesitated when I hugged her. The first time I’d ever seen
her truly nervous.

“What’s wrong, Rach?”

In the soft light, her fear was only
amplified. “What am I to you?”

Once upon time, that would have left me
cold-footed. You get a little quicker on your emotional feet living
with women for weeks though. “The most important thing in the
world.”

Her eyes watered, but she pushed the tears
back. “Don’t give me any lines.” She blinked and searched my face.
“I want to believe you, but… are you just slumming it with me?”

“Darling, what’s with this nonsense?”

“You know what I mean. I… I haven’t been
with a man in years… how can I compete with those other girls? I’ve
heard the stories. The things they do for you… I’ve never-”

I was more embarrassed than her. “Shh. All
that means nothing. Just games. This is real.” No point in any more
words. She let me ease her down on the sofa. I undressed first to
calm her nerves, but she wanted to strip herself. Getting down to
her underwear, she balked again.

“Kill the lights.”

“No, I want to see you. You’re the only one
I’ve ever wanted to see.” I tried to show off my well-practiced,
one-handed bra unsnapping, but I felt her back stiffen. Way too
tense. Not a good start, John. I flicked the black light off. Also
let her keep her clothes on while I backed off to just petting.
Instead of foreplay or getting down to business, she pulled me on
top of her and locked lips.

A move I always considered procrastination
before, but not with her. My God, how can a kiss mean so much? Not
just a hot prelude, I mean it was better than sex. Lost in this new
plane of non-physical pleasure, we were both a little slow and
didn’t notice the door creaking open. We didn’t react at all until
the regular white lights flipped on.

Ms. Espinoza carried no weapon, but that
sadistic grin was dangerous enough. Four of her henchwomen rushed
in. Someone butt stroked me in the gut while I tried to untangle
Rachel’s pistol from the pile of clothes. Espinoza only laughed.
“Don’t worry. The party is not over. It’s just getting started.
Take them to my room.” While they prodded me outside, my previous
guard and wannabe lover raised her bowed head. Even through her
split and bloodied lip, I could have sworn I saw her mouth, “I’m
sorry.”

*

Espinoza circling us like a shark wasn’t the
scary thing. The fact that she seemed genuinely unsure what to do
next blew mind. You could see her insane imagination running wild.
I tried to avoid eye contact and assumed a submissive posture.
Hoping to keep from pissing her off any more. Standing at attention
beside me, Rachel oozed proud defiance. Shit. I respected her
stoicism, but what good would it do us?

“What a dilemma. I get that ambitious
Daniella nutjob screwing around behind my back, but now even a
nobody is showing me disrespect? This back-stabbing can’t go
unpunished. The rest of the compound needs to know I don’t make
wild threats.” She toyed with the grip of a hand cannon in her
shoulder holster. “If it was anyone else, I’d just take them behind
the cesspit and shoot them myself.”

I’m not usually the type for noble gestures,
but something came over me. “It was my idea, boss. Passion of the
moment. You wouldn’t let her buy any time with me. So, you know, I
wanted what I couldn’t have. I mean, I basically raped her.”

Rachel practically growled. “Man up! Quit
sucking up to this pyscho bitch. She can’t do anything to us. She
needs us both too much.”

Espinoza nodded and two guards yanked Rachel
down onto a stool. They tied her down while another held a gun to
the back of my head.

“That’s all so cute. Well, you’re half
right. You are both extremely valuable. Rachel is the only mechanic
we’ve got really worth a damn. Beating you both is probably a waste
of time. Not an effective deterrent and anything worse is out the
equation.” She walked over to my girl and pulled her hair back.
Hard. “Buuut, you two have a unique weakness. There’s some love
here. Unlicensed love.”