Chapter 4

[Janice]

He came over to us and smiled at me gently. "Terri, let's hear the real story."

Terri looked at us and said, "I'm sorry. Michelle had that one for anyone we might find and lead back to Milton. I was not happy there.

"We met by accident when my mother was killed in a traffic accident a week before the Day. She was the child of a lover and our father. I was the child of his wife. We were thrown together by that event. Before there was any resolution, the Day came and her mother died. We were pretty sick. For years, we hid out avoiding people. My dad was killed about two years ago. We found his body but not who shot him. I think Michelle found guys once in a while but none she liked. We met Milton about a month ago. He and his men took turns with us. Michelle liked it but I wanted someone who would care for me rather than use me.

"We became his bait. Michelle did it because she enjoyed it and me because they forced me. It was also a chance to get away from Milton and his guys."

I interrupted. "How old are you Terri?"

"I'm sixteen or seventeen. I lost count."

"It's early September, 2023, if that helps."

"It does. That makes me seventeen since early August"

"What about your brother?"

"There never was a brother; just the two of us."

I said, "Okay. Sit back. I'm going to work on your leg."

Bennie said, "That's her story. Who's next?"

The older woman spoke up. "I'll go next, if that's all right." No one said anything. She continued, "My name is Nancy Monroe. I was married before the Day and we, my husband and I, were going to start a family. I was twenty-two just before the Day. Mike didn't make it. My plan would have been to go to Orlando where my parents lived but the TV showed that Orlando was gone. The virus and radiation would take any survivors left after the earthquake and tsunami. I had no other relatives and Mike's folks died of the virus, too.

"I continued to stay at the house. For food, I raided grocery stores; first, the fresh food items, then the frozen and finally the canned. My power stayed on for three years. It went out in a bad snowstorm. I had seen the grocery store lose power and had figured my turn would come. I rigged up twelve-volt fans and car batteries to drive heat from my furnace. It worked and I had a small generator to charge the batteries. I also had lights but mostly used candles. I got through that winter and into late spring. I was out scavenging when a man spotted me. He had a gun and I surrendered. I lived with him as his slave until Milton incorporated us into his band of marauders. Life hadn't been pleasant and became less so after that. Milton added us about three years ago. I have thought of suicide but have tried to help some of the other girls. Terri is special."

Terri smiled up at her as I bandaged her face and put a better bandage on her leg.

There were four others, three women and one man. He was holding hands with one of the women. They appeared to be about the same age. Bennie looked at him. "Okay, Bud, what's your story?"

"It's not too complicated, I guess. My sister, Heidi, and I have been together since the Day. My name is Alfred Stoner. She was ten and I was twelve on the Day. My dad died of the virus and we were pretty sick. My mom nursed us back to health. She went out to scavenge that summer and never came back. We never found her. After this long, we have figured she was taken and can't escape or is dead. The next winter, many people died. It was pretty rough. We've never lived anywhere else and didn't know what to do. We lived by scavenging and were very lucky to have power until last spring. The utilities were buried in our subdivision and, until some big line went down, we were good. We were careful and had managed to disguise the house making it look empty like the rest. I took my pellet rifle and shot out all of the street lights and we went into any houses with lights and turned off anything left on. With the windows covered, we were fine. That changed when the power failed. We had to search farther away and Milton's men caught us. They raped Heidi and kept me on as a slave to do the dirty work. We were going to try to get away together somehow. Winter with Milton and his gang would not have been good." Heidi nodded and squeezed her brother's hand.

That left the two other women. Bennie looked at them and said, "Okay. First, one of you and then the other, tell your stories."

They looked at each other with a lack of expression. They looked to be in their middle twenties with reasonably good figures. After a moment, the one with light brown hair began to speak. "My name is Alicia Morgan. If it's 2023, then I am twenty-six now. Some days, I feel older. My folks were on a business trip in Europe on the Day. Dad traveled a lot and, this time, he took my Mom with him. I was staying with Mandy." She inclined her head toward the other female. Mandy's mother was a nurse. Without her help, I would have died. I almost did anyway. My periods stopped after I got well and I haven't gotten pregnant from the rapes since then. I think something happened while I was sick. Mrs. Chaston thought so anyway. Her husband died of the virus and the three of us had no relatives that we could reach. We lived in their house and did okay. We lived there for two years until we lost power. Mrs. Chaston moved us out to a farm and we lived there trying to grow food and keep warm during the winters.