Chapter 8

A cold morning rain woke them up. The first thing they did was to check if the chargers had done its job with the ray guns. It had. Valerie hid her gun with twelve rounds and one spare clip then holstered their heaters. She wondered why the Walkers had such an advanced weapon whereas the rest of the tribes were back in the Dark Ages in their weaponry. She would ask her later but now they had to get away from here and hopefully find a cave or friendly tribe,

"Were those Caazaans?" Valerie asked.

"No," Atlanta shook her head.

"Then who were they?"

"I don't know but they weren't Caazaans. First this bunch tried to kill us with their arrows. Caazaans only want to enslave their women to work and have sex with them. They don't treat us like Jackson treated you. He had seduced you and you let him. The Caazaan's would rape us."

Valerie's thoughts drifted back to Jackson. She wanted him again so badly. Nothing else mattered to her. Never had a man have a grip upon her like this one did. Atlanta seemed overly friendly with the man she went snake hunting with or did they really do that? It might have been an excuse for them to find somewhere where they'd be alone and did what she and Jackson had done.

The sun came out at about noon. They were no longer cold. Plus the desert had faded from their view. Atlanta kept walking west with Valerie right behind her. Now that they had killed men who attacked them, both were on the alert for anything else. As they walked on, Atlanta looked for a shelter for the night. Even if they had to stop in midday, she felt they needed more rest.

"Come near me," she ordered Valerie. Without any hesitation, she did. "I didn't want you to get near that," she pointed. Valerie saw a snake coiled and ready to strike. They averted it by taking a wide loop to stay out of its way.

"There!" Atlanta pointed to a rocky hill. "I think I see some sort of a shelter."

"Where?" Valerie couldn't see it.

"Never mind, we'll just climb up there then you'll see it."

"Is it like the one we stayed in way back there?"

"No, but there's slab of stone hanging over it. At least if we are going to be attacked, it's going to be from just the one direction. We're safe on three sides,"

When they reached it, there were only five feet that they could crawl into. The opening was just long enough for Atlanta to fully recline in the prone position. They had to enter on their stomachs. The opening was only eighteen inches so once they were inside, it was a bit higher. Not by much. They took their energy pills then settled in. At least they'd be sheltered from the elements. Barely. They couldn't help but snuggle with Atlanta in back and her arm draped over Valerie. Soon they were asleep.

Both were wakened by being poked with something sharp. They opened their eyes to find at least a dozen of women holding spears. One had an arrow pointed at them. They were on their knees looking at them with their weapons still prodding. Valerie reached for her death ray but Atlanta stayed her hand.

"If they wanted to kill us, they would have done so when we were sleeping," she explained. "I don't think they want to do us harm."

Without a word, they crawled out of their shelter. The women looked at each other when they saw how tall Atlanta stood. Most of them were like Valerie. Short, trim, and pretty.

"Hello," Atlanta wondered if they spoke their language. None of them answered. One came forward and relieved them of their knives and leaving the pair with their deadly weapons. They motioned them in the direction they wanted them to go. "I don't think they speak our language. Lets just see what's going to happen. I don't think they're any danger to us," Atlanta stayed in back of Valerie just in case she were wrong. She would take the first thrust of a spear.

They walked until it turned dark. That night there was a full moon so they didn't stop until they could see a glowing orange in the sky which meant they were close to their village. Atlanta wondered what lay ahead for them. She knew that Valerie was hungry because she was famished too. The pills were a good substitute but real food was much better.

They smelled meat cooking long before they reached the clearing. Everyone saw the captives and were over awed by the size of Atlanta. Most had heard rumors of these giant women but thought it to be a myth. Now myth was a reality for this unknown tribe. The first thing Atlanta noted that all the men were fettered with chains from around their necks and their ankles. The shackles each had a heavy stone to keep them from escaping.

They were led to a middle-aged woman sitting on what had to be a throne. She was nibbling on her meal of meat and fruit. She was a bit on the chubby side. Six of the warriors escorted them to her.

"So! It is true. No doubt you are from the Tribe of the Walkers."