The auxiliary unit camped above the town’s rocky banks. Houses burned. A barking dog was silenced by the superior bark of a 12 gauge. Armies have suffered dearly without wars. They were wearing jungle fatigues, and seemed less organized than the main force. An entire cow, split down the middle and raise between the buckets of two backhoes, dripped fat into a huge fire below, sending angry tongues of red and yellow and orange licking toward the beast’s lifeless flesh. So much noice. The voices were spiritual, raising up to the darkening sky a war chant, a monks prayer perverted. Those men were keeping some sort of promise, but made to who? They had exchanged meat and sleep for the allowance of the devil’s finger up theirs ass, playing little violent games of pseudo-war with too fragile bodies. He wanted to murder them all, and was certain there was no salads, nothing healthy at all, and he wanted to murder them so badly.
You: This is ridiculous. I need to go see her.
Me: Very we’ll, let’s go.
You: We can’t fly those few miles, that would be silly. Is there a car?
Me: On the way.
From over the hill came a glowing field car. A six wheeled beauty just out of the factory. It belonged to the general, who was doing a little raping and pillaging at the moment. It seemed to breath, with its electric motors dialed so far down. Heaving in and out a rhythmic chant of its own. It signed and fell silent before them.
You: Take me straight to her. And then leave us alone.
Me: As you wish.
Leon had not seen Jenny for years, but they always fell right in with each other. He briefly explained that they needed to walk a ways, a few miles to an aspen grove, so that they could talk alone. He wanted to grab her hand, but even as the most powerful man on earth he knew that if she drew away from him that the end would sweep in effortlessly. Too risky. It was too risky her being here at all. Worth it though.
Leon ended their hike in a small clearing, moving logs and rocks around until it looked like a place where two people might sit and talk.
“So, how have you been?” Leon asked, looking into her eyes for as long as she allowed.
She looked to the sky and brought her hands to her face. “Oh, Leon! What is happening! What is this?”
“An A.I. went rouge and chose me for a buddy, and we’ve been sort of palling around causing trouble. I can’t say for sure why you are here, other than the obvious reason.”
“Palling around, Leon? Causing trouble?” Now it was her who gave in, reaching out and taking his hand. “Leon, all those people died.”
“Well we had to do something...”
She squeezed his hand.
“Now you are here though, Jenny. You can help us think of good things to do.”
Jenny let go of his hand and stood. “Maybe Leon, I just feel awful though.”
She walked away from him, asking over her shoulder, “Why did he choose you, anyway?”
“I think because I was about to kill myself.”
“What?”
She asked it as if she had not heard him, and turned, trembling.
“I was about to kill myself, so that had something to do with him picking me.”
“Leon, don’t talk like that!”
He laughed. “Like what?”
She went to him, holding his head and saying that things were different now, stroking his hair. The glow of the burning town, those silly sounds of war, the mad robot fool out there somewhere...whatever this world was now, or ever could be, meant little to her now. She pulled him up from the log, up from the depths into which he had been lost these years without her, and let him back in to her familiar embrace.
The carnage! This little piece, right here:
... read like it would taste good. Love this description and several others throughout the series. Keep it up!
Thanks so much for the compliment. I like this story, and I look forward to taking it along to some other places. It is not finish yet.