Chapter 14

We rode up to the ruins which looked like most ruins except that this one had the sign that the witch had described to me. We forced our way inside and I found the room just like Clarissa, the witch, had described it. There was a large pedestal in the middle of the room and the talisman fit into a hole on it. When I pushed the talisman home, there was a click. A voice said, "Self destruct is activated. Countdown commencing. Ten minutes. Nine minutes, fifty-nine seconds..."

The voice droned on counting down seconds. "Everyone, out now and fast." We went outside and ditched our torches. Mounting our horses, we rode out of the ruins quickly. We could see our camp which was being attacked by a horde of Gammas. They were surrounded and there were too many for us to break through or break them out. The ten men with us rode that way fast to try just that. I reined in. "That way and fast." I said, pointing. "We can't get far enough away if we try to help them and we and those ten won't be enough to break through them. Ride!"

We rode away from the ruins and the Angel camp at a gallop.

Marva had apparently been counting down. "One minute before the destruction!"

I yelled, "Ride faster! We have to get to cover!"

We goaded the horses to try to go faster. Up ahead, I saw a creek bed that cut deeply into the ground. "Get in there! Dismount! Crouch down! Now!"

We rode in and got off the horses. I thought about holding them but realized that wasn't a good idea. We crouched down together with two blankets that Red and I had brought covering us. "Stay down. We don't know how bad it will be. I'm guessing fire at least." I said.

"Zero," said Marva.

A moment later, there was the biggest bang I had ever heard in my life. It was like the sound of hundreds of lightning bolts thundering at once. Even under the blanket, the light was fierce and hot. Joan jumped up to look and was blown away her body blazing as she screamed a short cry before dying. Everyone else huddled closer knowing that was our only hope to survive.

We waited for the light to die down and the wind to slow. Remembering what the old witch said, I told everyone to stay under cover longer.

Sylvie asked, "What about the others and the Gammas?"

"I'm afraid they're gone in the fire. I have never seen anything like this before." I said soberly. We waited most of an hour after the light and the wind were back to normal before we looked about. The area was devastated.

I looked over toward the ruins and it was an open sore in the ground. The Angel camp only had a few isolated sticks and lumps left. There were no people. Suddenly, the ground shook. I managed to remain standing though not one of the others did. Then, they stood up and joined me in looking around. Joan was gone. Our horses were gone. The entire area looked like a very hot fire had burned through. I looked over up the creek bed and saw half a horse. I could see a lump on top of the little ridge which I guessed might be the rest of it. I didn't want to look any closer. The stench of death was all around us.

"There's nothing we can do here. We're leaving. Go that way." I said and pointed southwards down the path of the creek bed. That was the closest direction to an area that might have been protected.

"Lem, feel this." Miranda said holding up one of the blankets. I did and it was singed across the top as it had laid upon us.

"We need to go. We have no provisions and I'm not sure about eating anything killed by that fire. We'll gather what we can as we go but be careful."

We moved out walking and watching for anything. This was suddenly a strange land. We skipped lunch and drank sparingly of our water. In mid afternoon, the land fell away and the burned area ceased. For a number of miles, the tops of trees were still burned. We were tiring, particularly the girls who were used to riding in a wagon and not walking. Finally, I called a halt for the day. We made our camp for the night among some trees and found a creek close by. Red took his bow to hunt while everyone else gathered wood for a fire. Jerry and Jules filled the three canteens at the creek, we drank our fill, and they went again. When Red returned, he had a small deer that he had field dressed.

We made supper and banked our fire so it would burn safely all night. We used the blankets to create two reflectors for the heat and slept in our clothes. We were all quiet. It was tough to realize that everyone else had been killed.

In the morning, Miranda asked, "Lem, what happened back there?"

"I'm not sure. We found the ruin with the sign that the old witch told me to expect along with the room with the pedestal. She had told me to put the talisman into a slot there which I did. She told me that, after doing that, I should run fast to get away because a big fire would occur. That must be the self destruct. She said it would be violent."

Sylvie said, "If we hadn't found that creek bed, we would have died, too."

"I know. The witch said we might die even if we were successful. Now, the question is, what are our hearts' desires? She promised us that also."

Sylvie smiled. "Master and Mistress, to continue to serve the two of you is my heart's desire." She told Miranda and me.

I smiled and said, "Sylvie, there is no thought to have you depart from us."

Miranda looked at me and said, "Lem, is there an 'us?'"

I smiled at her and said, "Miranda, I think there is or, at least, can be."

She smiled back at me. She said, "Yes."

I mentally shook myself and said for all to hear, "People, let's get ready to go and put down some miles. It still can get cold and we need to find a better place to stay where we can restock our provisions as well." Everyone groaned but started moving. We left soon afterward.

We headed out south-southeast following what was probably an old road. It was in such bad shape that it was hard to determine. Red took point to watch for problems and to hunt. We needed enough food for us all and to, hopefully, build up a little reserve for times when hunting wasn't successful. Jerry and our three girls were the ones who set our speed though I would push them when I thought it necessary.

We made good progress and eventually came to another ruin. We checked a good bit of it out and found it uninhabited. We found shelter from the weather and decided to make it our camp for a while to rest and build some reserves. Winter wasn't over and we needed to be better prepared. Red went out by himself and Miranda and I went out together. Red found a herd of deer and ravaged it. Miranda and I found horses! We returned to camp riding having roped two and broken them. They were still wild but training would make a difference in time.

We all went after Red's deer and brought them into camp after field dressing them on site. We were just in time as the scent of the fresh kills had drawn competitors to the potential meal. We left the scraps for the other predators.

Our shelter was in the corner of an old building that still had some cover on it. We built our fire in the open and it reflected back into our area. We skinned out nine deer and built make shift racks to stretch the skins. We needed the leather. We ate well that night and spent the rest of the afternoon before supper scrapping hides and smoking meat. After supper, we retired to our beds with appetites of a different type. Jules and Marva were in a sixty-nine on their sides licking each others' pussies while Jerry and Red came behind them and fucked their asses. By then, I was involved with my two as I pushed my cock deep into Miranda's pussy and began to slam her deep and hard while she licked Sylvie's pussy who leaned forward and licked at our junction. I came hard trying to bury my body into Miranda's pussy and filling her with my load of cum as she came with me gushing. Sylvie fell forward with her own cum from Miranda's tongue. As I pulled out, she gobbled my cock cleaning it of cum, mine and Miranda's. When I pulled back further, she fixed her mouth on Miranda's pussy trying to suck out all the cum. After a while, Miranda took me in her mouth and sucked me to a full erection. Once I was fully hard, she pulled back and I came out of her throat and mouth. She mounted me taking my cock into her ass this time in reverse cowgirl position with Sylvie at her pussy licking and fingering her. Eventually, Sylvie was licking her clit and fisting her pussy as she let her body enjoy cum after cum until I finally dumped my load into her bowels. She rolled off on her stomach beside me and Sylvie's hand twisted staying in her pussy. Sylvie's mouth took my cock and again cleaned it before she went to Miranda to suck my cum from her ass. Sylvie came from her efforts though no one had touched her body. She truly seemed to derive pleasure from using her mouth and hands on us.