Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.

Dave's second quandary was his position, nearly on the middle of the pad, left him seriously exposed. Applying the aggressiveness taught by Carter, he knew Liv had him protected to the right, so he closed with the occupied building, moving to the far corner. A quick look showed him there were again two doors, like the other building. And two men emerging from the far door. Turning their backs to him as they followed a third man who was just rounding the opposite corner. That put him out of Dave's sight, but into Liv's.

As the men receded, Dave fired into their backs. Neither was at a sprint, so they fell forward without the dramatic tumbling of the earlier target. A simultaneous rifle crack announced the death of the lead in that trio.

He paused. Dave couldn't hear any sounds coming from the building. He remained wary, uneasy. How many more will it take? He waited.

An eternity later, the door on one of the smaller buildings slowly opened. Two hands held high and outward came into view, followed by the woman they were attached to. She moved slowly. She was too far away for Dave to read her facial expression but she was giving all the big outward signs of surrender.

Two more women exited another of the smaller buildings. One was an average build, the other rotund. The latter's feet seemed reluctant to move.

Great. Don't know if there's anyone left in the big building, and now I have unknowns coming in from the houses.

Other women began issuing from what must be the dwellings. Eight in all. As they neared, most had curious, guarded expressions on their faces. The big one had a look like she rarely smiled, ever.

"Alright, that's close enough! Just stop where you are. Pick a leader and send her forward."

There was a brief discussion which resulted in a medium height brunette walking towards him. The third woman out glared daggers into the back of the brunette's skull. The angry one argued hard with all of them, but none seemed interested in anything she had to say.

Dave waited until the brunette reached easy speaking distance.

"Stop right there. What's your name?"

"Sandy."

"How many of you are there?"

"I don't rightly know." She looked thoughtful. "All the men were in the community building. Us women and our kids were in our homes. Jeb, the man that bound me to him, came in awhile ago with a new woman. She was out, like from the shot he gave me before."

That confirms they're using the QT serum . "If he bound you to him with that shot, why are you awake?"

"Oh, that was a few weeks back for me. I knew him a little bit before lockdowns started. Then he just shows up and says he has this safe place to stay and we can both be safe from the virus runnin' round, but I have to take this shot and sleep with him. He's been an okay guy, and I ain't had no boyfriend in several months anyway. 'Sides, he didn't tell me that I couldn't be with anybody else after that. Which sucks, but mostly he's been okay. Only been an asshole a few times, but that's pretty fair for most guys I've met. No offense."

Dave smirked. "Sandy, how many men are there in your community?"

She stopped, looking off to the side, thinking. "Well, there was the ten that left saying' they's gonna raid a rich man's house for somethin', never told us what. Now we know why. They were out collectin' poon like we's just a bunch a deer and no tag limit." Sandy paused. "Is that why you're here? You come to scoop us up and make us your whores?"

"No, ma'am." We killed more than ten, so that can't be all . "If you ladies were bound to these men, we'll need to take you to the people that hand out the vaccine to see what they can do for you. But ma'am, please, how many men total are there?"

The far door of the community building opened slowly, and a woman stepped out. It was the one Dave had seen inject one of the women right before she got raped.

"Get over with the others. Is anyone else inside?"

The woman shook her head no and moved swiftly to join the pack.

"Oh, right. Well, after the ten left, all six of the others took off saying' they could do just as good somewhere else. But only three of them came back, including Jeb. As soon as they's back they took the nurse, that's the woman that just came out, well they took her and the two women bound to two of the guys that didn't come back and a bit later those women are out cold again. I thought the whole shot thing was permanent, but maybe not if the guy's dead? I hope so, 'cuz we're about to be in a bad way aren't we?"

Thirteen. Thirteen men here. Dave counted off in his head. He thought they'd taken out thirteen, but he wasn't going to make assumptions. Especially when one part of his brain was parodying an old farcical movie about how many bullets had been fired from a gun. An 80's flick set in the 50's.

"Alright Sandy, is there anyone else left in the houses?"

"Just the kids, and some unconscious women. The men said they'd gotten them; reassigned?" She looked frustrated. "Guess I still wasn't good enough to keep that asshole by m'self."

Dave deliberately gave Sandy an appraising look. "I think that has more to do with his greed than your looks or personality."

"Well ain't you sweet?" Sandy licked her lips and looked Dave up and down.

"Easy, I meant every word I said, but I already have several partners. Those six that left attacked my house."

Sandy's face dropped. "I don't know if I should hate your guts for killing Jeb, or thank you, for the same thing." After a pause she spoke again. "You should be careful of Debbie. Her husband brought her here for some kinda rebel nation shit. She's already pissed he came back with some hot blonde from a rich man's house. But not so mad at him she's just gonna let you killin' him slide."

"Is she the rather large woman that looks like she sucked on an entire lemon tree?"

"That's the one."

"How 'bout we settle on neutrality for now? Look, let's get all of you back in your homes and warm. I'll need to call the authorities to make sure you all get taken care of before that serum starts doing ugly things."

Sandy walked back to the assembled throng. Another debate broke out. Debbie leading a third of the group in angry objections. Then she turned to face Dave.

"Where's our men? What gives you the right to come bargin' in here?" She headed for the far end of the building. Several others followed, more than just the ones that had agreed with her.

Dave knew things would turn ugly as soon as these women saw the dead bodies. His fastest route into the open yard space was behind him. He sprinted the way he'd come, entering the yard through the gap just as the women began kneeling near selected bodies. By the women's placement, some of the men must have sprinted from the building's edge. Instead of a clump near the corner, there was a line of a few reaching towards the tree line. Dave felt a cold turn inside. Rationally, he could see the line ended well before the trees, suggesting Liv had taken all of them down before they got close. But could one have gotten through?

That thought was interrupted by Debbie leaving the line of dead, beginning to search the yard and moving as quickly as her thick legs would carry her. Dave moved to get clear of the gap and the bodies just beyond it.

Several of the other women left the line of dead as well. They slowly swarmed about the open space while Debbie made a beeline for the gap. Then she noticed a body in the grass. Fury returned to her face after a brief look of relief. Then she paused. Her chest was already heaving from exertion. When she faced Dave, the anguish was obvious.

"You fucking coward! You shot 'em in the back! You shot my husband!" She began a slow charge at him.

Dave sorted through his options. The only sure way he had of stopping this woman was his weapon, but he had no desire to shoot an unarmed woman grieving her husband. He could outrun her easily, but he needed to stay in the area. For a moment, Dave's brain played an image of him making short sprints and the woman chasing after him like some schoolyard game. Not helping dammit . Dave took a few steps backwards, bringing him near the back wall of the community building. He noticed the dryer vent again, which meant the pile of pipes wasn't far. He'd have to be careful if he backpedaled any more. Falling on his ass would not engender obedience or respect.

Debbie's tirade ended in a screech as she reached into her pocket. Her hand came back out with a small revolver.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Dave brought his weapon up faster than her and pulled his trigger. Click . No round fired. The weapon jammed. Shit .

Dave dove sideways and backwards just as Debbie fired. He felt a smack on his shoulder as he fell. His hand landed on the pipe pile. He grabbed and rolled away from the wall as another shot spanged off the brick. As he rolled, he swung one arm, releasing one of the two rods he'd snagged. He threw one leg out and came up from his roll, facing Debbie as she recovered from the rod that hit her. Her motion and his brought them in close proximity. On instinct, Dave snapped out with the remaining rod, striking Debbie's wrist. She shrieked in pain as she dropped the pistol. Dave followed up with two strikes to her knee before stepping back into a ready stance. Debbie cried out, but still managed one step forward before the side of her head exploded.

Dave turned from Debbie's corpse to scan the area. All of the other women were on the ground. Clearly, they'd done the math in their head and figured out he had a partner in the trees.

"Don't make us shoot anyone else. We only came here because we were attacked. The people that attacked us and another house are now all dead. We've done what we came for. We are not leaving you hanging. We know you've been given Quaranteam doses so your lives are bound to these men. There is a way to free you from that bond." Dave decided a bit of vague spitballing could be useful here and played it fast and loose based on what he'd learned in the past 24 hours. "Well, not exactly free you, but transfer that bond to someone else. This time, you will have a choice in that bonding. But, I will not countenance any threat to myself or my partner. And as you can see, she is very protective of me as well. You can also see she is a damn good shot. I want all of you to gather over here, in the lee of this building, while I get someone here to help."

The women got up, moving slowly so as not to provoke Dave or his hidden partner. Once they were all clumped together, he pulled out his cell phone. Time to call Detective Verratti.
Chapter 13; Cleanup.

October 29, 2020 8:20am

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you and Olivia are at the compound? Didn't you say you and your special forces friend; Carter? That the two of you were heading to the compound?"

On another call, Dave would have switched ears by now. The burning in his left shoulder threatened to make that shift a very painful decision. "No, detective, I simply said we."

"Dammit, professor, why the hell wouldn't you take the trained spec-ops guy on something; oh, fuck."

"Exactly. Carter and his wife have been dead for two months now. Carter was the security expert in our prepper community. He ran us through many drills on how to protect ourselves and those around us. Olivia is an excellent long-range shot. She proved it again today. Took out half the compound with her sniping. Shot one that was coming at me with a.38, when my gun jammed."

"Okay, okay. Damn. Look, I contacted the Air Force when you sent me the text saying you were there. As soon as the liaison red off the coordinates, whoever was on the other end of the phone got pissed. If I overheard correctly, they gathered a small force and headed that way by chopper. I think they lifted off about twenty minutes ago. Expect them in less than an hour. If they arrive in the same mood their boss was in, keep your head down. I know I'm already in deep shit. After getting shouted at over the phone, the Air Force liaison went into my boss' office and shouted for ten minutes straight. Professor; I'm sorry I got you into this."

Dave signed off that call, then texted Liv.

-Sling your rifle, come into the glade with pistol drawn.

He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and waited. Half his energy was devoted to ignoring the pain in his arm. The adrenaline and other wonderful bio-chemicals the body produces during high stress situations all drained out in the past ten minutes so nothing got in the way of his arm screaming at his head for doing damn fool things. On the plus side, the bleeding had stopped. Mostly. As long as he didn't move it. The blood that had come out was enough to stain most of his sleeve, but not significantly impair his thinking from blood loss.

Liv emerged from the tree line with all the charisma of a warrior queen. As Dave requested, her rifle was slung cross body, and her 10mm pistol was in her hands, held low, as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She took a bit of extra 'dwell time' when her eyes passed over the assembled women. Liv strode purposefully across the ground, halting at a position within easy talking range, yet too far to make them both a single target.

Dave looked her over, examining her face and posture. Concern for the psychological impact of this on Olivia was uppermost in his mind. Great time to be worried about that, huh? After all the fighting is done. Genius . He snapped himself back to reality. There would be time later for self-recrimination.

Liv's visual scanning kept lingering on Dave's left shoulder. "We need to treat that. It'll be tricky to do while maintaining security."

"There's an Air Force team on their way. Detective Verratti said they may be unhappy, but I'm sure they'll have a medic. Or at least a first aid bag."

"How long?"

"Less than an hour. Sounds like forty minutes, most likely."

"That arm shouldn't wait that long. You need stitches."

"Got any in your back pocket, Liv?" Dave hadn't meant to get testy, but the pain was eroding his 'nice function' and the conversation felt like it was spiraling already. The flat look from Olivia carried a tinge of hurt, and forgiveness, and her own self-restraint.

"Sorry, Olivia."

She nodded in response, her eyes once again on their charges. One of them stood and moved slowly towards Dave. Livy squared her shoulders to the woman, but made no other change in her focus. When the woman was halfway to him, Dave recognized her as the lady that came out of the building as he spoke with Sandy. The one Sandy identified as a nurse.

"Sir, would you let me look at your wound? I'm a nurse."

Liv looked at him cautiously, then gave him one slow blink. Dave restrained himself from chuckling. From her, the slow blink meant anything from 'sure' to 'don't make me say I told you so'. Dave nodded at the woman. She approached slowly, then cautiously brought one hand up to examine his wound. She pulled back on the shirt to ascertain the extent of the injury.

"I can treat it temporarily for now. You need stitches; which we don't have. And a painkiller. All they have here for that is alcohol, marijuana and meth. None of which I would recommend."

Dave chuckled. With her finger so close, his shaking caused her to jab the side of the open gash. Dave flinched and gritted his teeth.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The nurse jumped back, pulling her hand back to her chest. Her other hand clasped the offending one closely, like she was putting it in time out.

"It's okay, ma'am. I'm the one that moved suddenly."

"Parker. My name is Parker."

"Dave."

"Well, Dave, you've got a decent flesh wound that will make a good reminder scar once it heals. You need to get stitches as soon as possible. Like today. Wait too long and it won't do any good. In the meantime, I can bandage it up. I'll need to go inside to get some clean cloth, though." Her eyes held the obvious question of whether he would let her.

"How did you wind up here?"

"I was on a transport from the vaccine center on my way to my Oracle designated partner when the bus got hijacked. Fifteen of us were diverted from someone we'd chosen to these guys that made their choices just by looking at us. They went in order, so whoever had priority got first pick, and so on."

That matched what Verratti told Dave. More importantly, she didn't hesitate and there was no sign of falsehood in her eyes or face. Carter taught him to be careful who you trust, but you have to trust someone. There was a haunted look in her eyes, but no deception.

"Liv, can you escort this nurse inside so she can get something to bandage me with?"

The young brunette that had known him longer than anyone left alive gave him a funny look. "Or maybe you escort her, so you can sit down and put your arm on a table while she does her work. Should be easier for both of you that way."

The nurse's face immediately took on a restrained, but amused look.

"Don't say it, let's go," said Dave with a sigh. He followed her back around to the front of the building. She entered through the first door. It opened into the kitchen area. In short order, she scooped up the first aid kit and led Dave into the dining space. The room still smelled of the recent nonconsensual ruttings.

Parker visibly flinched when the smell hit her. She came to a dead stop when she saw the body lying against the wall. The look on her face suggested her desire to not be here, and not be reminded of the events of this morning and her part in them, was warring with her professional instincts. Dave watched as she composed herself and ushered him to take a seat with just a hand gesture.

Dave sat so Parker's back would be towards the body. As she tended his wound, he searched for visual clues. The man was older, at least fifty, likely over sixty, judging by the condition of his skin. Prominent wrinkles and liver spots, and a leathery look of someone that spent much of his life with a heavy tan. A distinctly aquiline nose and patrician features shouted 'man of money' even more so than his silk pajamas.

Necessarily, Parker - more specifically her face - lay in Dave's line of sight as he looked about. Underneath the mien of professional concentration lay clear signs that removing the visual cue of the dead body was barely tamping down her anxiety. When she reached into the kit to find the scissors; so she could trim the excess off the bandage; her fingers first brought out the razor. The way she stared at it was unsettling. She paused to wipe away newly forming tears before finishing with Dave's gauze. As she neatly placed each piece of unused equipment in the kit, he gently took her chin in his right hand, turning her head to look directly at him.

"Parker, you've had to make some tough choices here. You did the best you could with what you had. You're an ER nurse, right?" He recalled that tidbit from the detective's discussion. Parker nodded in affirmation. "Okay, so your training and experience is to do everything you can to get your patient that next heartbeat, to take the next breath, and another, and another. Just keep them going, and let someone else do the fancy work once you're sure the patient is alive right?"

Her face contorted further as she nodded. "But I didn't. I didn't keep her alive. They took her outside ;” Parker's voice trailed off as she wept, her chest heaving.

"An older blonde woman, probably in her mid-forties right?"

She nodded, still weeping, not looking at him.

"Her name is Natasha, and she's alive."

Parker's head snapped up. Her eyes were wide in astonishment and hope. "But; how?"

"I killed those men with a silenced pistol. She's hiding in my truck. Actually, I need to check on her. My partner had some spare clothes in there. Hopefully she found them."

"Can I see her? Please? I just ;” The wild, desperate look in her eyes was impossible to deny.

Dave gave his arm a few careful motions, testing out the pain level for various directions and ranges. It gave him an excuse to delay answering and drew her attention back to occupational concerns.

"Yeah, we can do that. First, I need to touch base with my partner though." Gesturing he said, "Let's go."

Parker quickly rose, snatching up the first aid kit. She deposited it back in its secure place in the kitchen before exiting, with Dave right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder several times to check that Dave was still with her as she walked around the building and straight towards Olivia. Over the last fe