Chapter 34

Present – Stacy – Travel back to the bunker

I have a terrible dream. I don't even want to repeat it and wake up screaming. Ben is right beside me, holds me so gently and comforts me, "Stacy it will be fine, it was just a bad dream."

I reach down, touch all the pads and instantly realize – no, it wasn't just a bad dream that's why the pads are here. It really happened and it's a fracking nightmare!

I look at Ben and declare...

Present – Ben – Travel back to the bunker

Well Stacy's amnesia must have left because she wakes up screaming. I jump off Bo, run back, sit beside her, hold her and try to convince her it was just a bad dream.

She pulls away, looks at me and declares, "Ben, like hell it was! That fat fucking bastard drugged me and raped me! He's not going to get away with that! I want to go find him and kill him!" Then she begins to cry.

I hug her and tell her, "Stacy, if we did that right now, it would be the biggest mistake we would ever make. Believe me that I want to kill him almost as badly as you do. But you need to heal first because right now you're too badly injured to even ride a horse."

She pulls back and agrees, "You're probably right, but I want your promise that as soon as we can we're going after the bastard!"

I promise, "Stacy, when you've healed enough to ride we will head out and look for Guy. I don't let people survive who hurt my friends. Now we need to get you back to the bunker where we can clean you up better. Are you going to be okay riding on the travois by yourself?"

She sniffles and answers, "I would feel better if I had a gun."

I explain to her, "Well the bastard took all your guns so I can either let you use one of my revolvers or the Winchester Centennial '66."

She says, "I don't like revolvers but I do like your shiny rifle."

I jump up and grab it out of the scabbard. Then I sit beside her and demonstrate how it works. She surprises me when she kisses me on the cheek as I get ready to leave and says, "Ben thank you again for rescuing me. Because if you had left me with that bastard I think he would have killed me."

I mount up, look back at her and curse myself again for not killing the bastard when I had the chance!

Present – Stacy – Travel back to the bunker

I swear at myself because my plan to use Guy to get Ben jealous seriously backfired on me! How could I be so stupid! He seemed so nice and charming but ended up being the worst kind of terrible monster. I close my eyes but all I can see is the bastard and what he did to me. Somehow at first he even made me think it felt good but then he turned into a sadist and all he wanted to do was hurt me.

I make a decision and yell, "Ben, please stop."

He stops, jumps off Bo, is right back by me and asks, "Stacy what's wrong."

I give him a determined look and say, "Ben I want to ride back to the bunker."

He argues, "Listen Stacy, you're not thinking straight. If you ride it will hurt like hell and cause you to bleed more."

I glare at him and answer, "I don't give a frack! Sooner or later I'm going to have to face the pain of riding and the sooner I get it over with the sooner we can hunt that bastard down and kill him."

Ben continues, "Stacy you're not being sensible, there's no way in hell I'm letting you ride."

I answer, "Fine, then I will walk!"

So I get off the travois, begin to walk and the gentle, considerate Ben walks beside me. Yeah it hurts like hell but I'm not ever going to let the bastard win and I'm sure not letting him off the hook!

Present – Ben – Travel back to the bunker – SA and SLLS training

I walk beside Stacy, study her actions and realize her SA is higher than I've ever seen before. She's carrying my Winchester in high ready position on her hip and her head is moving like crazy. While I'm proud of her, I'm also concerned so I say, "Stacy, you need to back down a little because you're worked up right now."

She answers, "Ben, I was a fool and let that bastard trick me. That's never going to happen again. Next time someone like Guy shows up I'm going to shoot them."

Yeah, I'm going to need to work on her attitude some because while Guy needed to be shot, not everyone else will. I decide I need to distract her a little so I again start the training, "Stacy, while you're great at seeing things, you are weak at using your other senses."

She answers, "Like hell I am! I can hear much better than you and I can sure smell that you need another shower because you smell like the horses again."

I counter, "Yes, but at least my smell is a natural smell, not like the perfume and deodorant you wear. Those smells give you away when you're on a mission and need to be avoided. But the worst action is when you decide to cook, because the smell of food travels for miles. And yes your hearing is better than mine but you still miss things. For instance did you hear the squirrels in the trees to the right of us?"

We stop walking, Stacy looks to the right and I direct her actions, "Stacy stop looking. Now close your eyes and listen to the normal sounds around us."

She replies, "Okay I'm doing that, now what?"

I tell her, "Once you've memorized the normal sounds, listen for sounds that fall outside of those."

I watch her face, then there's an ever so slight smile and she says, "Yes I can hear the squirrels now. Can I open my eyes?"

I whisper, "Not yet. Keep your head on a swivel and it will help you identify the exact location of the squirrels. Once you identify the exact location, bring up the rifle and aim it where you think the squirrels are making noise."

She complies as I watch her bring up the rifle and she complains, "Frack! The squirrels ran off."

I laugh and explain, "Yeah, you moved the rifle too fast and the squirrels saw the movement. So which way did they move?"

She aims the rifle and does a damn good job so I say, "Very good you were really close now keep your eyes closed."

I head to my saddlebags and Stacy says, "Hey, where are you going?"

I reply, "Good job of listening but keep your eyes closed."

I pull out a little bottle, silently open it and wait. Stacy wrinkles up her nose and says, "Well something smells really bad."

I question, "What else happened?"

She answers, "Well something has the horses a little upset probably that bad smell."

I reply, "Very good. The smell is red fox urine and smells so bad it will mask almost any other smell."

Stacy adds, "So the horses thought it was a threat that's why they're upset."

Ben says, "Right again! You're on a roll!"

Present – Stacy – Travel back to the bunker – SA and SLLS training

I suddenly realize I've had my eyes closed this whole time and haven't thought about or visualized the fat bastard. Ben's doing an excellent job of distracting me. But frack! Now the distraction is gone because I figured it out.

I open my eyes, look at Ben, touch his arm and say, "Thanks for helping to get my mind off what happened."

He smiles and lies (he's a terrible liar), "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just using this time for training. Now hop back on the travois so we can get back to the bunker."

I remind him, "Ben I told you I'm not riding in the travois, I'm going to walk. Now let's get moving."

Ben answers, "One more thing, remember how you memorized the normal sounds? That's something you have to continually do, but you need to be careful that you don't count a significant sound as a natural sound."

I question, "And how am I supposed to do that?"

He grins and says, "Just like everything I've taught you, you need to practice it all the time. Now are you sure you don't want to ride on the travois?"

I give him a dirty look and answer, "Since when did you become a nag? No I don't want to ride on the travois. Let's get going."

We take off leading the horses behind us, each step hurts so I fight to ignore the pain...

Ben whispers, "Stacy, when a person is in pain, there's always a danger they will concentrate so much on the pain that they lose their SA."