Chapter 1

Major Majors looked down at his orders with a frown on his face that betrayed his disagreement with the official document. Then, he shrugged his shoulders in resignation and turned to his First Sergeant and gave him instructions to get the men ready to move out.

The 200 personnel of special unit LACT 9 (Los Angeles Cleansing Team 9) started to convoy down to the collection point only ten miles from downtown Los Angeles with a sigh of relief after waiting almost 72 hours for orders in writing from someone still in authority.

Mike Majors did not like the fact that his chain of command had been switched from Sacramento Regional Headquarters to San Diego but his understanding was that the Sacramento base was a complete shambles. He knew the General-in Charge down at the Marine base was a straight-shooter but he still felt uncomfortable about his mission and the procedures he was about to institute in an attempt to transition from the chaos of Day Zero to some sort of stability.

His command was almost all male but that was only because most of the MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) slots were male dominated. In fact, he had pro-actively tried to boost the female numbers but was constantly undermined by higher command who felt the mission needed to be enforced by ruthless types who followed orders without either empathy or questions. His executive officer was Captain Sally Hogg who was definitely not a hog in appearance or in personality. She was the sexiest XO he had ever had the pleasure of serving with. The fact that she took his orders in the field and in bed as well was the sweetest sharing of command he had ever experienced.

They swung off the route into a holding compound encircled by double strands of barbed wire. It was devoid of any indication as to the purpose of the wire. It was a mystery if the purpose was to keep intruders out or to keep detainees inside. That question was answered when three large "Cattle Cars" drove up discharging over 200 civilians into the center of the compound. They were tired from the trip and being forced to stand the entire 90 minute journey with not enough room to sit down anywhere. He was not pleased to see a number of females and even some youngsters in the group. It would certainly be a test of the resolve of the unit.

They quickly separated the men from the women and the injured and lame from the healthy. The healthy males were moved into an adjoining compound with a row of large CP (Command Post) tents with all flaps down and windows zippered tight. He knew they needed to process these "infected" detainees first to make the rest of the detail go easier. After he saw the guards on the exterior fully suited up in their hazmat suits, he gave the word for the canisters to be discharged and watched anxiously as the wisps of vapor dissipated into the cold early morning air.

All of the injured and lame were taken to a large tent with a big red cross on the side and placed into a metal cot before being administered a final shot to ease them on their way.

The 200 souls were now reduced to a nervous group of about 40 females and 10 youngsters. He had them line up and went down the line checking them for signs of infection or some indication of aberrant behavior. He had only five of the females removed for treatment in the tent with the red cross and the remaining females were turned over to the reclamation section for decontamination and removal of all hair. They would make good breeders for the newly re-constituted government in the San Diego sector.

The youngsters were placed on a special truck for transport to the re-education center and training to populate the seeding program of government-controlled areas. Mike wasn't certain how that program worked but he was told it would be the key element in bringing the country back into its position of power in the world.

The plastic encased forms of all of the remaining day's detainees were loaded onto open-bed trucks stacked like cords of wood for transport to the deep-pit quarry at the end of an industrial zone. His group LACT-9 was now on-line with the previously established eight teams already working to "cleanse" the Los Angeles urban center.

The First Sergeant approached him with a request.

"Begging your pardon, sir."

Mike didn't like First Sergeant Grimes but he respected his skills and his advice on both tactics and morale.

"Yes, Sergeant, what is it now?"

A trace of irritation was in his reply but it was really directed at himself for the nasty work he had just authorized to be done to comply with his recently received official orders.

"Sir, I was wondering if it might be possible for the men to avail themselves of the female's favors before they are taken off to the breeding camp?"

Major Mike was disgusted at the thought of turning the harassed females over to his men for momentary pleasure but he could see how it might improve the men's morale after the nasty business they had just participated in. Nobody would be the wiser except for the females and they were headed to a fertility production line that had little advantage to their current situation. In fact, some of them might even enjoy the stolen night of pleasure before being forced into a life of constant pregnancy and little pleasure of their own.

"That would be permissible, First Sergeant, but I do not want to hear any reports of physical abuse. If they are uncooperative, be sure they are secured to the cot and not injured or bruised in any way that would generate a report from the breeding farm."

The usually grim-faced man smiled and saluted as he spun on his heel and left to set the females up in cots inside the GP (General Purpose) tent city at the rear of the compound. He spread them out about 4 or 5 to each tent figuring each female could easily attend to 3 or 4 males in one evening. Surprisingly, the half-dozen female members of the unit watched the entire process and even joined in with a high degree of unit pride and morale.