Chapter 10: Sleeping Beauty

Tuesday, June 14th, 2072 – Queenie Glassner – Southern Oregon

My cheeks were warm and my leg throbbed when I woke up. How could a stupid scratch cause so much trouble? My upper thigh ached worse as I sat up. I reached for the pouch of willow bark, pulled out a piece, and chewed on it. It was bitter, but as I swallowed, the fever and ache diminished.

"How are you feeling?" Reina whispered as I painfully crawled out of the tent, my bladder full.

"Same as yesterday," I lied as I stood up. My leg burned with every step. I hid my wince as I walked away to squat and pee.

So far there had been no sign of pursuit by the slain Holy Liberation soldier's allies. Maybe they didn't have any nearby or maybe they didn't know which way we went. Or maybe they just hadn't caught up. I couldn't afford to slow my family down.

Rex crawled out, stepping up beside me and pissing. "How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Same as yesterday," I repeated, forcing a smile.

He shook his cock and bent over to kiss my forehead. "You feel warm."

"A little. I'm chewing on my bark."

"How's your leg looking."

"The same. I checked." I hadn't. I didn't want to look at the inflamed wound and the white pus that filled it. I just to keep walking and hope I healed.

Everyone asked me the same questions except Sister Stella. Her gray eyes gave me a considering look as I limped about the camp as we readied to set out. We loaded up Alison the pack mule with our belongings. I didn't have to carry my backpack. That was the one nice thing about being wounded.

I really tried to stay positive.

Rex, Reina, and Sarah walked around me was he headed down the trail. The pain was worse today. When I finished chewing on one piece of willow bark, I found another. It was the only way I could keep going. I grit my teeth, and sweat beaded down my forehead.

My limp grew worse.

"You don't look alright," Sarah whispered, slipping on arm around my waist. "Lean on me for a while."

"Thanks," I nodded.

Reina's brown, beautiful face furrowed, her lips pursed. I gave her a reassuring smile as I limped on. Sarah helped for a while, and then it was Rex helping me, his strong arms holding me up. I could smell his manly musk as I leaned against him, savoring that scent.

"You can do it," he whispered in my ear. "We'll reach Canyonville today. Maybe they will have a doctor."

I nodded my head. Canyonville was the next major town along I-5 north of Ashville. Hopefully, they weren't full of Christian fanatics that would try and kill us on sight. Chase said it was the Preacher that lead the army that attacked, getting revenge on us for driving her out of Redding.

I'm glad the dried-up cunt was dead.

"Just keep going, wife of mine," Reina whispered when it was her turn to support me. "Canyonville will have a doctor with some antibiotics. Maybe penicillin. That's not hard to make. And then you'll be right as rain."

"What does that mean?" I giggled. My forehead was burning, but that expression, right as rain, sent a fit of laughter through me.

"I have no idea why right as rain means feel better," Reina laughed back. "Maybe Chase knows."

The next step was agony. My poor leg finally gave out. I screamed out in pain. Reina held me, but she couldn't stop me from falling down. She made sure I didn't land too hard on the cement ruins of I-5. The concrete was warmed by the sun, but still felt cooler than my body.

"Queenie!" Reina shouted.

The heat grew worse. And despite the burning in my head, I shivered. My teeth chattered. I trembled on the ground as everyone gathered over me. I tried to put a reassuring smile on my face, but I just couldn't muster it.

"She's burning up!" Reina gasped. "Oh, Queenie! Hold on!"

A cool, wet cloth was draped over my forehead. Things grew hazy around me. I struggled to stay awake, but it was too hard. My body was giving up. I drifted like a log down the river, bobbing up to consciousness for a few moments before I was dragged down into the confusion of my dreams.

I rode atop a horse, waving at the cheering crowds. I was a goddess, married to three of the Living God's children. Everyone worshiped me and loved me. I waved back, drinking in their love. It was a world of happiness, where no one tried to shoot you and—

—I jolted awake. The world danced around me. I was tied to the back of Alison, swaying atop the pack mule. My leg burned. My face was on fire and—

—I flew over verdant fields. But a darkness crept over them. The darkness was somehow as silver as the stars, shining with a beautiful light, but still it consumed everything. A woman sat at the center of the darkness with hair like platinum and eyes as silver as the stars. She watched me like a bug, her hand reaching out to crush me. I screamed out—

—"It's okay," Sister Stella smiled, patting my hand. "You have nothing to fear. We'll find help for you in Canyonville. Just hold out a few—

—hours and then I'll make love to you," laughed Rex. "Your my Queen, Queenie. And you deserve to be worshiped as—

—the infection spreads, she'll grow weaker and weaker," Chase whispered to Sister Stella.

My feverish gaze looked ahead, barely understanding what she said. The half-charred ruins of a house peaked out from vegetation while a faded sign read, "Welcome to Canyonville, Oregon."

More ruins spread out before us. The Christians had cleansed this town, too.

Sarah Glassner

Canyonville was in ruins.

"I'm gonna ... Queen ... rule ... love me..." mumbled Queenie as she swayed on the saddle. Only the ropes tied about her waist and legs kept her on the pack mule. She wilted like a flower in a summer drought.

We trudged through the ruins hoping to see some sign of habitation. In the center of town, a collection of crosses had been driven into the ground, the grisly remains of bones still clung to the crucifixes. More bones were glimpsed peaking out of the vegetation that had taken over the ruined town. It had been destroyed years ago.

There was no doctor to save Queenie.

Hopelessness filled my spouses faces.

"Silvery darkness ... beware ... star eyes..." muttered Queenie. " ... she deceives ... pretends ... lion among the ... beware ... Astarte..."

The sun sank to the west, long shadows spreading through town. We kept going, leaving it behind. None of us wanted to camp in the ruins. Ahead, the South Umpqua River gurgled happily, not caring that Queenie was sick. We reached a crossroad where, according to a faded sign, Grazley Bridge Road crossed Stage Coach Road. The bridge's footing could be seen a quarter mile ahead, but the span had collapsed into the river.

We camped at the ruins. There were beautiful wildflowers. Queenie loved wildflowers. It seemed appropriate.

Wednesday, June 15th, 2072 – Chasity "Chase" Glassner

Queenie was too sick to move. She thrashed in her bedding, her body drenched with sweat. She couldn't eat and could barely drink. She wasn't lucid, but rambled about the strange things she dreamed about. The most common was the silver darkness. My three siblings surrounded her, their faces sagging with grief.

When my parents ruled the world, no one would die from something as easy to treat as an infected wound. Even before my parents, that wouldn't have happened. But now, thanks to the free will of men, they destroyed the world in an orgiastic delight, so bent on punishing those that still followed my parents they failed to preserve the basics of society. Who knew how long it would be before the world recovered.

If it ever would.

I changed the bandage on Queenie's upper thigh. The wound had spread, the infection eating at her skin. Her thigh was swollen around the red scratch, the white pus reeking of foul cheese. I took a knife, heated in the fire and brought it too her leg.

"Hold her," I told them. "I need to cut out the dead flesh."

Queenie howled as I cut, pus draining out with the blood. She fell unconscious when I finished. I packed the wound with a clean cloth while Reina poured a tea made of willow bark down Queenie's throat, pinching her nose to make sure Queenie swallowed.

"She'll be fine, right?" Reina asked, her voice tiny. She sounded like a little girl. Her blue eyes brimmed with tears.

"She'll survive," I lied. "She's strong. Her body's young."

I crawled out of the tent into the noon sun. Tears rolled down my eyes. I stumbled to the river bank and followed it upstream. This was all my fault. I never should have let Rex, Reina, and Queenie come along. I knew the trip was too dangerous. My sister-in-law was going to die.

My knees sagged and I sank to the rocky bank as I cried. I hugged my knees, rocking back and forth. Once again, I had killed a loved one. Why couldn't I have just been happy and lived contently with my parents like my other Billings? Why did I have to question everything my parents did?

Why did I have to kill them?

"It's not your fault she's dying," Sister Stella whispered, sitting down beside me. Her arm went around me and I leaned my head on her shoulder. "It's only the fault of the men who attacked us."

"Everything's my fault," I sobbed. "I stuck the dagger in his side. I created this world we live in."

"You gave mankind their freedom. It's not your fault they squandered it. But that will change. When we stop your parents, the world will be reborn. I'll use the power inside you to see to it. And you'll be free to live a normal life and witness the happiness you will cause."

I so wanted to believe that.

"That's what Tina and Doug promised me when I stood atop Mount Sinai. I would free the world, but I only brought a different from of slavery upon them."

"These are merely birthing pains," Sister Stella promised me. "What will come will be magnificent. You will see, Chase."

"And will I be as bitter about your future?" I spat.

"No." She smiled, her finger caressed my cheek. "Because unlike Doug and Tina, I love you, Chase. I don't want to see you hurt anymore. I want to take away your pain."

Her lips met mine. I closed my eyes and let myself forget in the sweet delight of her kiss. I needed the distraction. Her flesh was so soft as she pushed me back down. I held Sister Stella, her white-blonde hair falling about my face as we kissed. Her body writhed atop me.

Her fingers were deft as they unbuttoned my shirt. I shuddered as her lips moved down and engulfed my hard nipple. I closed my eyes as her tongue swirled about my nub. The excitement raced down between my legs.

"Sister Stella," I purred as her delicate fingers slid down to my pants. The fastener unsnapped and her hand pushed inside. "Yes!" I gasped as she brushed through my shaved pussy. Her tongue nibbled harder on my nipples, pleasure cascading down my body to my pussy.

I pushed off her white veil, caressing her light-blonde hair. Her gray eyes flashed up at me, twinkling with passion as she kissed over to my other nipple. She nuzzled at my freckled breasts and sucked my dusky nipple between her lips.

Her fingers played with my clit, stroking my bud and sending delicious rapture shooting through me. I drifted on the river of pleasure. I loved her so much. I had grown so close to Sister Stella on this journey. She always seemed to know exactly what I needed.

I gasped for joy as she shoved a finger into my hot depths. My pussy squeezed down on her finger as the pleasure shuddered through me. I moaned, my hips writhing as she pumped them in and out of my body.

"I can't wait to see your future," I moaned.

"We'll usher it in together," she promised, her fingers curling inside me.

"Sister Stella!" I gasped as her fingers found my G-spot. Her smile grew wicked as she massaged that wonderful place. My hips bucked up, the pleasure racing through my body.

"That's it. Cum for me. You're so beautiful when you cum, my love." Her fingers rubbed harder. Sister Stella licked her lips, staring into my blue eyes as she fingered me harder. Her thumb massaged my bud, the twin sensations of clitoral and G-spot stimulation roared through me.

My hips bucked hard as I came.

"Yes!" I moaned.

My pussy spasmed about her fingers as the pleasure washed through me. I drowned in the bliss and let it carry me away. For a few fabulous heartbeats, I was only pleasure. Everything else had faded. I held onto to it for as long as I could, savoring every fire of nerve endings shooting rapture into my mind.

And then I collapsed. I pulled Sister Stella to me, kissing her lips as I cried again. Queenie was going to die, but I would have Sister Stella to lean on. That comforted me just the slightest.

Friday, June 17th, 2072 – Rex Glassner

Queenie's mumblings had stopped. Her breathing was shallow. I feared she would never wake up.

The tent reeked of sweat and sickness after two days, a foul miasma that turned my stomach. Reina bathed Queenie's temple, my sister's face filled with despair. I felt that same yawning darkness inside me. My beautiful wife was never waking up.

It wasn't fair. It was just a stupid scratch. I've cut myself worse and been fine.

The tent was so small, the canvas pressing in on me. Sarah crawled in, holding a fresh bowl of river water. She rubbed it on Queenie's chest, trying to keep her cool. The fever burned through her body. Her leg was swollen down the entire length. Red lines ran up her belly, following her veins.

When they reached her heart, that would be the end.

I need to take a walk, my subconscious whispered. I need to get out of here. Clear my head.

I nodded. That is exactly what I needed. I couldn't just sit her and watch my wife die. There had to be something I could do. I couldn't stand hearing Sarah prattle on about how beautiful the wildflowers were and how much Queenie would love them.

I didn't want to bury my wife in the middle of Oregon.

"Rex?" Reina whispered as I crawled to the tent entrance. "Where are you going?"

"I need fresh air," I muttered.

"But... ?" She glanced at Queenie.

Her words didn't need to be spoken aloud. They rattled through my brain. Don't you want to be here when she dies?

No, I did not. I did not want her to die at all.

I stumbled down the road, not really caring where I walked. The splintered asphalt crunched beneath my shoes. Green plants sprouted through cracks and heavy rains had washed sediment over parts of the road.

I reached the crossroads. I had heard you could summon my father at a crossroads. I sank down on the asphalt. You need to dig a hole. I laughed. The road was made of asphalt. You couldn't dig it out unless it was already broken.

Next to my knees was a chunk of asphalt. I pried it up and blinked in surprise. The corner of a polished, wooden box peaked out of the dirt bed of the road. I reached down, digging at the box. I pried it out, dusting off the dirt.

"Had someone summoned you here, Father?" I whispered as I opened the box.