Ambush

Day fifty-seven, 5:22 PM

James

"I did. I don't know what happened to it. I can only assume that the aliens removed it ... unless it took three years to get here, which I doubt," she said as she slipped onto my lap.

I kissed Jane fiercely, and stood her up. I then knelt in front of her and lifted her T-shirt. I started kissing her belly, and said to my offspring, "Grow strong and healthy my little one. Daddy loves you and cannot wait to hold you in his arms."

"Daddy is silly," Noka said with a giggle.

"Yes, he is," Kai added as well.

"I am?" I said as I picked the two girls up and nibbled on their necks, and they started laughing.

Water started splashing as their feet kicked the water. After I got them going good, I set them beside their mother to catch their breaths. I then kissed all my wives on the lips, and my children's foreheads.

Jane sat beside me and gripped my hand, "James, I'm scared. I'm the only doctor here. What if there are complications? What if..."

"No 'what ifs', everything will be fine. Now I want you all to stay close to the caves. If you go out, you go out in pairs, and you go armed. Children, you only play beside the door or with the dogs. Got me?" I said.

"Yes, we will. But we want you and Vala to be safe as well. Don't take unnecessarily risks," Jane replied.

"I won't, but I will stop them if I can. I just wish I didn't have to kill them," I said as I pulled Jane back onto my lap.

"We know, James, but sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do. When I was a vet back home, do you think I liked going to the county kennels, and euthanizing the excess population?" she said as she settled back onto me.

"No, I'm sure you didn't. Yet, as you said, it's something that has to be done," I replied.

"I know, and since you and Vala want to leave before dawn, you better go get some sleep. We will lock up and join you," Charlene said as she pushed Vala over to me.

We stood up, and stepped out of the hot tub. Grabbing our towels, we started drying off as we went inside. Going into the bathroom, we stripped out of our bathing suits and stepped into the shower. I started washing Vala's thin, muscular body as she looked into my eyes. I was washing between her legs, when the door opened and all my wives joined me except for Kari and Bakai who were still sleeping in the medical RV. I made gentle love to all my wives before we collapsed into a 'giant puppy pile'.

Day fifty-eight, 4:02 AM

James

The alarm went off. I groaned as I tried to wiggle free to shut it off. I heard Charlene curse and someone's hand hit plastic. The annoying beeping stopped, and I felt someone poke me in the side with their fingers. Turning, I looked into Jane's eyes, and she kissed me.

"Time to get up lover," she said and slid out of bed.

"I know," I replied and she helped me slide out of the pile.

Going to my dresser, I pulled out some camouflaged pants, shirt, t-shirt, some socks, and I grabbed my steel-toed boots. Going in to the bathroom I set my clothes down on the counter, and stepped into the shower. I was shampooing my hair when Vala stepped in and started washing my chest. I leaned down and kissed her, and rinsed off. Grabbing a bar of Dial soap, I scrubbed her back for her, as she washed her hair.

Five minutes later, we were dried off, dressed and armed as we walked into the kitchen. Jane was bagging up two huge loaves of bread. Sitting beside it was a canister of reddish material. Opening it up I grinned when I saw it was BBQ beef. I was about to snitch some when Jane whacked my hand with a wooden spoon.

"OUT! That's your lunch," she said.

"OUCH! Ok, I just wanted a taste, is all," I replied with a grin.

"Well, I will have your breakfast done in five minutes. So go take your coffee, and sit at the table," Jane said with the wooden spoon in her hand that she was using to point at me.

"Ok, I'm going," I replied as I picked up my coffee cup and went into the dining room. Sitting down, I stood my rifle beside me and sipped my coffee as Vala joined me with her own cup.

"James, we kill them, then come home. No chasing them," Vala said as she set her cup down after taking a gulp of the hot drink.

"I agree. We are few against many. We strike from a distance, and let them run. I just wish we had some Gillie suits to wear," I said as Jane came in with two plates.

"What is Gillie suit?" Vala asked in her broken English.

"It's a suit that makes you blend in to the background," I replied as I swiped toast through my runny egg yolk. Reaching over to the side table, I picked up the ketchup and squirted some onto my tatters and eggs. I then mixed it all up into a pile and started eating the mixture and used the slice of toast in my hand as a shovel. Ten minutes later, I was walking out the door with my wives.

The DUK sat in the center of the parking area. It was stocked with food, the weapons were loaded and the trailer was hooked up. I planned on picking up two of the horses, as soon as we came out. Delilah and Sampson sat up wagging their tails in the crates, and I went over and opened the door. The dogs bounded out and I ordered them up into the vehicle. They went up the ramp and into the back section as I turned and kissed all my women. Jane went and opened the door as I climbed in beside Vala.

I put the vehicle in gear, and drove down to the barn. Parking, I went in and led Scar and three of the horses out and loaded them into the trailer instead of two as I originally planned. Their pails were half full of water, and hay for them. We drove around the barn, past the PBM and back towards the house. I waved to the girls as we went by, and they waved back.

"Well here we go," Vala said as she pulled her pistol out and set it in the dash.

"NO! You put that pistol back where you can get it. It's for your safety," I said as we turned up on the ramp. The engine of the sixty-year-old vehicle groaned as it dug into the climb. Reaching the top, I stopped and stood up. I pulled the armored plates up on the windows, and locked them down. I then sat back down and started driving across the plains. Thirty minutes after leaving home, we went past the rotted remains of the men who assaulted our home.

I stopped and pulled out the map that Kalib must have left us, and I shivered as I realized how far we had to go.

"What is that?" Vala asked.

"It's a map. It shows the lay of the land, what is in the way, where the rivers are and the forests. This map shows where the enemy is coming from and where we will have to meet them."

I showed her where the caves were, where we rescued Donna and David. She caught on real fast and then asked what the X was on the map. I looked at the map and there was no description on what it was. I assumed it was where the enemy was coming from so I decided we would head that way. I just prayed it was. We drove for three days and reached the river where we found David and Donna.

We camped that night just up from the ford, during the night, we heard what sounded like a lion, but whatever it was touched the hot wire I set up, and it went running off. When I got up the next morning, I found where the creature touched it, and I could tell it was a cat, and that's all. I shut the hot wire down and pulled the PVC out of the ground. Rolling the wire up, I jumped when Vala fired her rifle, and I looked where she was pointing. A small doe was lying on the ground, and she ran to it and slit its throat. She quickly skinned it and came back with about twenty pounds of steaks and deer meat that she took down into the kitchen. I went to the dear and hacked off two of the legs and carried them back.

"Vala hand me a plastic bag," I shouted.

She came up with one of the bags and I dropped the legs into them and went back for the other two.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"For the dogs," I replied.

"We have dog food for them," she said as she wrapped the bag.

"I know, just like we had enough food, you didn't need to shoot the deer," I replied.

"Sorry, habit, see meat, kill it. Not know when next will come by," she said as she hung her head.

I hugged her, and kissed her, as I whispered in her ear, "That's ok. Better now, than when the army is just across the field. So what are you making?" I asked as I rolled up the wire and put it away.

"Stew, and I put the steaks in the fridge to stay cold. Have them tomorrow night. Will go make stew now. You drive," she said and went inside the living area.

"Yes Ma'am," I said as I tossed the PVC and wire assembly into the back seat.

"Don't get snippy or you don't get any," she said as she closed the door.

'Damn, what's her problem?' I wondered as I started the DUK up and headed for the river.

We arrived ten minutes later at the ford, and I pulled out my glasses and scanned the other side for any danger. Not seeing any, I unloaded the horses and led them across and ground hitched them. I then I ran back to the duck and drove slowly across the river and up the other embankment. Parking the DUK, I ran and opened the trailer while Vala watched out again. I quickly loaded the four horses and locked up the gate.

We drove towards where the aliens had originally planned for David and Donna to live with their father, and I stopped to look at the steel shutters over the cave entrance. I was tempted to go in, but I didn't and headed west again. The small grassland plain between the forest and the towering mountain of rock and snow came alive with the animals from rabbits to deer to tigers. I even saw a big horn sheep standing on the side of the mountain grazing on a bush as we drove by. I was so tempted to take a shot at it, but had no way to get up to it if I did.

That night, we made camp in the in a small canyon I found. I set up the fence, and we had deer stew for dinner. We cuddled during the night, and we awoke to screaming. Looking out the gun flaps, I saw a Neanderthal with his hand clutching the hot wire, and he was shaking like crazy. A dozen others were watching and one of them went to grab his companion, and he was soon doing the electric dance as well.

I started chuckling as a third grabbed the second man and damned if a fourth didn't walk up, and he grabbed the third guy. By this time I was roaring with laughter that tears were running down my face, and then I yiked as Vala hit me.

"Not funny. Go free them!" she demanded as she threatened me with the wooden spoon in her hand.

"Ok! I'm going," I said as I pulled my pants on and grabbed my gun.

I opened the door, and climbed out of the sleeping area and up into the driving area. Jumping down, I walked over to the plug that was mounted up on the wall and pulled the cord out. The four men dropped to the ground, and I stood there watching them. I reached over and turned the generator off and looked at the men shake. Finally, they climbed to their feet and glared at me. One of them lifted his spear and charged me, and I shot him with my .44. The round blew through his chest, and he flew backwards and hit the ground. The hole was the size of a silver dollar in his chest, but I knew it would be the size of a dinner plate in his back.

The other three stood there watching the smoke lift from my pistol and to prove it wasn't empty. I fired it twice more in the air and pointed it back at the men.

"What do you want?" I asked and they just looked at me and grunted.

Vala came out with a rifle in her hand, and jumped down on the ground.

She looked at the men and said in Neanderthal, "What clan? What do you want? Bring dead one's mates and children here."'

The biggest looked at her and raised his fist, and she pointed her rifle at him and fired once. The round blew through his chest, and he flew backwards. "Any of the rest of you fuckers want to insult me?" she asked.

The remaining three looked at each other and turned and ran. Several females and children went after them. Three women, stood there. One was holding a new born, and I said, "Shit just what I need."

"Shut up, James," Vala said and walked over to the three women.

Day Sixty-four, 6:22 AM

Vala

"Who are you?" I asked as I neared the three women. One was about fourteen, and the other two were older.

"Me Kugg, this Sali and her baby Lagh. That is Uliga," she said.

"I'm Vala, of the Bright rock clan, far to the sunrise. That is my mate James now your mate. Come. Let me introduce you to him. He doesn't speak the people's tongue yet, but I have been trying to teach him," I said as I walked back to James, when he jumped in the DUK.