Seven hours later, as the sun was winking its last under a darkening sky, Sergeant Milovich was looking over the preparations for the night. The men had travelled quickly and managed to reach the small town before nightfall. The town had been abandoned long ago and anything useful had since been rendered stolen or useless. The town actually sat in a small depression in the land, surrounded by trees. Off in the distance, Milovich could see the arching concrete arteries which once fed the nation, now just graveyards of cars and people.
He had stationed men up near the ridgeline to keep a watch for Talon. The ambush was going to be simple. As soon as the enemy reached the center of the town, they were going to cut him in half. This was going to be easy work.
Milovich was setting up his quarters in an abandoned house for the duration when Corporal Kazinski came bursting through the door.
“Sarge? Sarge?” he called.
“Right here, corporal. What is it?” Milovich’s exhaustion was evident in his voice.
“Found a couple of survivors, sir, thought you might want to see ‘em,” Kazinski announced. He pushed forward a man of about medium height and build, with a long ponytail hanging down his back. His hands were secured behind his back and his eyes darted over Milovich’s uniform and weapons before settling on the floor.
Milovich dismissed him as irrelevant and turned his attention on the other prisoners. They were two women, one blonde and the other brunette. The blonde was an attractive, buxom young woman of about thirty and the brunette was a leaner specimen, with a hard look about her. Both were bound as well, which seemed to be a good thing, since both were literally festooned with edged weapons. The blonde had a number of what appeared to be scissors attached to a wide belt which wrapped around her waist.
Milovich nodded approval and was about to order the two to be given to the men when an idea formed in his head. He let it marinate a while then smiled at the blonde, who looked back in such defiance that the sergeant nearly put a hand on his gun.
Milovich nodded to his corporal. “Good work,” he said to Kazinski. “Take the man out to the edge of the town and get rid of him.” The man’s eyes turned wide and he opened his mouth to protest, but Kazinski’s fist slammed into his head first, stunning him and bringing him to his knees. Two other soldiers grabbed him by the arms and dragged him away.
Milovich noted that neither of the two women even flinched at the violence. Excellent. He turned to the blonde and tried unsuccessfully from looking too obviously at her chest.
“As you can see, I’m in charge. Whether you live or die depends on how cooperative you both are willing to be. I need you two to be part of an operation that should be taking place in the next few days. Swear to cooperate and I can guarantee that you will leave here unmolested,” the sergeant said.
“And if we don’t?” the blonde spoke before her friend, nearly spitting the words at him.
“Then you will be given to the men to enjoy until they tire of you, which might mean several days, depending on your stamina,” Milovich said, noting the flashes of hatred both women gave him. “What will it be?” he asked.
The two women exchanged glances and covert nods. It was obvious they figured to cooperate in order to avoid being raped to death, but they didn’t know that Milovich had never kept his word in his life.
The blonde spoke. “We’ll do what you want, just don’t hurt us.” She tried to sound defeated, but the sergeant didn’t believe her for a minute. He figured she would stab him as soon as she could find the opportunity.
Sergeant Milovich smiled. This was icing on a cake that already was tasting sweet. Talon was as good as dead.
Joseph Talluto
America the Dead