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Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 01

By: wildsweetone



I had really made it finally. All those years of hard work and bum kissing finally paid off. I was about to climb the tall ramp leading to the company airplane. I didn't then, nor do I now, know what kind of plane it was. I knew it was some kind of large four engine jet for sure. The ramp was tall and there were no propellers. 

Inside the plane I found a small passenger compartment. I was surprised to find only a dozen or so seats in the compartment. The rear of the plane was walled off. I supposed there was a rank thing even in our company. I really was surprised since I had always been told everyone was equal in the company. 

I remember thinking, as I looked at the wall separating me from what I presumed were the higher ups, that it must be like communism. All are equal, some are just more equal. I sat in the seat assigned to me by a window while I fumed. I had worked damned hard for the company. I won my trip to the Tiny island of Bimbo through some damn fine work. I resented being singled out to sit in the front of the plane while others travelled in what I considered a more luxurious manner. I had absolutely no facts on which to base the thought. 

I was not only the only woman in the regular class compartment, I was the only person. The steward, who spent almost all his time in the rear, explained that mine was the first stop on the pickup route.

It seemed that we barely made it into the air before the plane began to descend again. The second stop was in a town slightly larger than my own. We were on the ground only a few minutes when the tall grey-haired man entered. He was shown to the window seat directly across the aisle from me. I smiled as the steward introduced us. 

"Mr. Miles this is Mrs Stanley." After those words the steward disappeared again into the closed compartment. 

"How nice to meet you Mrs, Stanley." He said it from his seat by the window. "I suppose you are one of the contest winners?" 

"Why yes are you?" I asked it because he had a way about him. Something that gave him an air of authority. If he were a simple salesman like me, he had to be the best one ever. The suit he wore looked as though it cost more than everything in my closet at home. 

"Not this year," he replied with a warm smile. He did not go on to explain his rather cryptic remark.

I smiled at the rather imposing man, then returned to my own thoughts. Those thoughts were not very exciting for a woman on her way to a south sea island vacation. A whole month away from the family, hell it would have been a vacation if it had been in the bowels of Calcutta. At thirty-eight I was tired of raising kids and a husband. Yes I meant raising a husband. Bobby, you can tell by the name, never grew up at all. Counting Bobby, I had three kids without him only two. Both the real children were late into their teen years. The three of them assured me they could do just fine without me for the month. Sure they could, the house would be filled with Mcdonalds wrappers and mould when I returned. 

I shook my head. I did not intend to allow thoughts of them living in a sty to ruin the first real vacation I had ever had. I looked over to Mr. Miles across the way. He was looking out the window deep in thought. His seat companion was a briefcase, even it screamed class. The case was real leather she was sure. It couldn't have contained any plastic or fiberglass. That case just screamed, I am custom made and cost more than you make a week. 

The plane began a descent into the wispy summer clouds over God only knew what town. Again, we were on the ground, only a moment or two when another company employee entered the cabin. The man looked less polished than the first one who sat by the window. The new arrival was seated by the window behind me. 

"Mr. Edwards, this is Mrs. Stanley and Mr. Miles." With those words the steward again disappeared into the rear compartment. 

"Hi everybody, my name is Martin," the newest arrival said. 

"They call me Bess." I said even though no one had called me that in almost twenty years. 

"I am Thomas Miles." The older man said then went on. "I am the executive vice president of the sales Division. He didn't need to say that no one called him Tom or Thomas. 

"It is certainly nice to meet you Mr. Miles. I didn't recognize you from the picture in the monthly news letter." 

"That Mrs. Stanley is because I refuse to have a new picture made. That one is ten years old. I like to think of myself as still forty." His laugh was very honest and appealing. "I am afraid I suffer from the same vanity as everyone else. 

"Yes we are all vain to some degree," Martin Edwards agreed. In his case it was the very obvious toupee. "What is your vanity Mrs. Stanley?" 

"Oh Lord, I have so many. Let me see, I dye away the grey in my hair." I stopped right there. I had no intention of explaining the fancy spandex undergarments I wore. 

"I think it is time to change the subject," Mr. Miles said. Pretty soon we will be listing all our operations. So how about telling me how many children you each have." 

"I have two lovely girls," I replied. 

"Any how many beastly boys?" Martin asked. 

"None, I am afraid." 

"I have two boys and a girl and believe me you didn't miss a thing. My wife says the girl is a joy and the boys are a nightmare," Martin replied. 

"Your kids must be small," I replied. "Girls are hell in their teen years."

"True mine are all under twelve, but they are hellions. If they get any worse, I may have to consider military school." 

"I am sorry to admit my wife and I do not have children." Mr. Miles seemed sad to be reporting it. 

He looked as though he took it as a personal affront. That somehow his lack of children equated to a less manly man. At least that was how it looked to me. I almost said something about adoption but I knew it would be the wrong thing to say. Instead I gave him a sympathetic smile. 

"Well Mr. Miles if you miss it too much I think I could part with one of my brats," Martin said with a grin. 

"So how many more winners do we have to pick up?" I asked it because I knew the subject needed changing. 

"Just one more," Mr. Miles replied with a smile. 

"Oh, I thought there would be more than just three of us?" It was a question and he recognized it. 

"No. This time there are just three of you. We set the goal high because we wanted to find the most elite of the elite. Three of you made it over the bar, the rest didn't." 

"Did you expect so few?" I asked. 

"Frankly, I had no idea, how many, if any of you would make it." 

"So you made it almost impossible to make the grade?" Martin asked. 

"That is true enough, but the reward was exceptional. The company matches your average months pay so that your families will not suffer while you are on this long vacation. All you have to do for the next month is to enjoy yourself. Not a worry in the world for you." 

"So are you going to be with us?" I asked it hoping he would be. Even in so short a time, I had formed a positive opinion of him. I knew that I would enjoy getting to know more about him. 

"Alas no, while you are frolicking in the sun, I will be slaving away at the home office." He did not look at all sad to me. I had a feeling he enjoyed his work. 

"Do you and your family live on the island?" Martin asked it so that I didn't have to. Coming from me it might have seemed forward. 

"No, my family lives in New York City. I live there most of the time. Once in a while I am forced to the island for conferences. I even get into the field now and again." 

"If you are forced to the island, maybe we should rethink this vacation," I suggested with a smile. I would have gone on with my reasoning except that the seat belt sign began to blink. The landing was long, slow and smooth. From the beginning I had been impressed with how experienced the pilot seemed. 

Our final passenger turned out to be a brassy young woman in her twenties. Brassy was actually giving her some credit. The bitchy side of me came out when I judged her before she opened her mouth. The tight sun dress that she wore screamed slut at me. It obviously did to Martin as well. He groaned as she came through the door. I touched up my hair for grey, this one had it all dyed champagne blonde. 

Martin leaned over the seat and whispered in my ear, "I can guess how she made the grade." 

I turned to glare at him, but inside it was my thought exactly. I just couldn't give up my womens equality stance that easily. She was definitely not part of the movement. She was playing the sex card for all it was worth. 

The steward again did the introductions. Her name, he informed us all, was Lorris Smyth. 

"Is that Miss or Mrs. Smith?" Martin asked. 

"Neither, it is Ms. Smyth. It is the British pronounciation." She said it without much warmth in her voice. She did turn to smile at Mr. Miles. 

He smiled back but it wasn't with any more warmth than the one he used on all of us. 

For some reason Ms. Smyth's arrival put a damper on the conversation. We all drifted into our own minds for a while. I slipped blissfully into a nap, something I could never do in the afternoon at home. When I awoke, a couple of hours later, I knew I had missed something. 

"Is something happening?" I asked. 

"Not too awfully much," Martin said. "We have a tropical storm that moved the wrong way. We are going to be forced to fly around it. It don't seem like much though." 

The idea of a storm kept me awake. It didn't seem like nothing, if we were changing our direction. Suddenly the plane jerked hard, I looked out the window to see the engine on fire. The lights in the cabin went out immediately after. The blonde screamed. I considered joining in but for some reason I didn't. After what seemed like a lifetime of crises, being in a plane on fire didn't petrify me. It did scare the hell out of me though. 

We must have been hit by lightning, I thought. It didn't seem too bad since we were almost at the island. We were over land I could see, so it could have been worse even if we went down. What was I thinking? Nobody walked away from plane crashes anymore. I wanted to scream at that point. I had reasoned it out and the situation definitely called for panic. 

"Son of a bitch, they are shooting at us!" Martin was pointing at the red streaks flying past our windows. "Why the fuck are they shooting at us?"

Mr. Miles was frozen in his seat. He was calm looking, but he did not offer to share anything with us. The cabin shook violently again as the engine fell from the plane. It had burned itself loose I supposed. 

The plane began to vibrate as it descended. I could imagine the pilot fighting for control. That is how every movie of an airplane crash portrayed it. The steward came into the cabin from the rear. "Take off your glasses, remove any false teeth, empty your shirt pockets, brace yourselves as best you can." 

The blonde screamed again, unlike in the movies I could not understand her. She was just screaming at random. Nobody had enough air to tell her to shut up, so she screamed all the way to the ground. I closed my eyes and tried to pray. I found to my great disappointment that I had forgotten how. I was about to die and could not even prepare my way. 

An airplane crash is usually an inferno, I had always thought so anyway. The plane went down with a jolt and the screaming of metal tearing, but no fire. The impact was enough to tear me from the seat. The momentum hurled me through the air to land against the cockpit wall. For some reason, known only to the God I could not beg for mercy, the impact did not kill me. There was not even a smell of jet fuel fumes when I awoke a few minutes after the impact. 

I looked around in a daze. Mr. Miles was hanging from his seatbelt. He had a small amount of blood trickling from a scalp wound, otherwise he looked fine, just maybe sleeping. 

"Son of a bitch," Martin said as he stood on shaky legs. His giggle afterward seemed out of place until I realized I was giggling along with him. It was a release, since we had beaten the odds, I guess. "This one is alive," he said after touching Smyth as I came to think of her. 

"Check on the VP," he suggested as he tried to wake Smyth. 

"I don't know how," I replied too frightened to even try. I didn't want to find that he was dead. 

"Well then come hold this broad's hand while I check." He moved on still wobbly legs to Mr Miles. He felt his neck then began to slap him gently. 

"Out like a light. Let's just let them sleep while we check on the others." He moved to open the cockpit door. There was nothing beyond it. The impact must have sheered off the cockpit, I thought. Martin looked at me, then went to check the rear. When he opened the door, I stood to look inside from safely behind him. The rear was filled with boxes. It hadn't been a luxury compartment at all. We were flying in the equivalent of a tramp steamer. The thought made me smile. It had to be a reaction to the reduction of stress. 

Martin stepped inside but turned immediately. "Don't go in there, the steward is not a pretty sight. The shifting cargo got him." 

"What happened?" I asked of Martin who suddenly seemed to be in charge, at least for the moment. 

"Some son of a bitch shot us down. Who or why I have no idea." 

"What are we going to do?" I asked. 

"Honey, I don't have a clue." 

Now ordinarily I would have objected to the honey, but at that moment women's lib took a very distant back seat to pleasing the man who had control of my life, at least temporarily. 

"So what are we going to do?" I asked. 

"We're supposed to stay with the plane. This time I am not so sure. That was no accident we were in, and the power went with the first hit. The pilot might not have gotten out an S.O.S. I just don't know." 

"Well how bad are the others hurt?" I knew he didn't know any more than I did but I wanted someone to explain it all to my foggy mind. 

"Well the fake Brit is coming to now. We can ask her. The boss, hell I don't know. Why don't you try to do what you can for them while I have a look around?" 

"Please don't leave me," I begged. 

"Hang on honey, I need to know where we are so we can decide what to do next. We might not have the luxury of hanging around waiting." 

Martin left the wreckage of what had been an airplane while I checked in on the blonde. Smyth had suddenly become a blonde to me. I hoped she wouldn't be a liability. Oh hell, it's probably jealousy, I thought. She wasn't as well built as me but she knew how to flaunt what she had. I on the other hand was just a wife and mother. Not plain by any means, but not really sexual looking either. 

When she was fully awake, I was able to determine that her injuries were minor. Nothing more than sprains, I felt. At least I didn't see any bones showing through her skin bag. I answered her questions with the information Martin had given me. Even though she had seen the streaks outside the window she doubted Martin's shot down theory. 

"What is going on?" a groggy Mr. Miles asked. 

"It appears we have crashed. Martin thinks we were shot down." It was the blonde who answered even though she had slept through it all. 

Miles didn't answer her. He simply began to move around. He seemed to be testing his body. Finally he seemed to be satisfied with his condition.

"So where is Martin?" he asked

"He's outside trying to determine our next move. 

"Our next move is to stay right here. The company will send out help for us." Mr. Miles seemed to be sure of himself. That was impressive and I decided to follow his suggestion. I refused to think of it as an order. This was definitely a think for yourself situation. 

Martin stuck his head into the opening created by the wing ripping away from the cabin. "Well we got bad news everywhere. There is jungle all around us, this clearing is highly visible from the air. My guess is that we are in Pander." 

"What is Pander?" I asked since no one else did. 

"It's a small country on the east coast of South America. It is the only country with a revolution in progress at the moment. At least the only one near our flight path." 

"How do you know that?" Miles asked. I noted he did not dispute the information. 

"Because, I found the flight charts. The pilots are dead by the way. It is just the four of us left, folks." 

"Well we are not so far from our flight path that the search party won't find us." Miles said it trying to take charge. 

"No and we're not so far from where the pilots of those planes saw us go down so that we can't be found by the army or the rebels. It is kind of a good thing, bad thing, we got going on here." Martin was not really doing more than explaining it. He didn't seem to be pushing anything at that moment. 

"The air search will find us before either of those happen," Miles said. 

"Well I think we need to at least move away from the plane. If we just go to the jungle that's okay, but lets put a little distance between us." 

"Why?" Smyth asked. 

"Whoever shot us down, may come back to finish the job." 

"I think you are paranoid, not a good trait in an executive," Miles said. There was no smile in his voice. 

"Is there anything in the cargo these people might want?" I asked. I supposed, even as the words came from me, that I had been watching too much TV with my kids. 

"How the hell would I know," Miles replied. "The island is far from self sufficient, I guess that there is food in the boxes." 

"If there is, we might need it. I'll go check." Martin started for the doorway between the two areas. 

"You can't do that," Miles said. "That is company property. He began to sound like a petty bureaucrat. I watched as Martin smiled without stopping. I realized that his job was gone no matter what happened with the rescue. 

Through all the conversation the blonde didn't say a word. She seemed to be holding back for some reason known only to her. I guessed that she recognized it as a power play. She wanted to be on the winning side. I didn't blame her. I was fence straddling myself, only not quite as openly. 

I would have been seen as siding with Martin if I joined him in the cargo area. Instead I stood in the doorway so I could see without actually being a part of the raid. Martin was thorough. He opened all the boxes even after he found them. Them being several boxes of rifles. 

"What the fuck?" was his only comment. Only after he finished did he return to the cabin. 

"Well folks this is the situation. We have a enough guns back there to equip a small fighting force. Why the company plane is carrying them is a mystery. Could you help me out here Miles?" The Mr. was noticeably missing. 

"I would think they were for our security guards on the island." Even he didn't look as though he believed that one. 

"Well, it looks like one side or other in the civil war here didn't think that was the case. What were you going to do, have the steward kick them out somewhere over the jungle? If you were supplying the rebels, we have to get the fuck away from this plane." Miles, as I began to think of him, only nodded his agreement. 

I did not delve into why a successful international insurance company would be supplying a rebel army. My only concern was staying alive. I was not even thinking of my wonderful family, I was concentrating on staying alive for me. It might sound selfish but at that moment I was willing to do anything to stay alive. I just had no idea, what to do. 

Martin took his toupee off and tossed it through the gaping hole in the side of the plane. "I would suggest any of you with things you don't need, do the same." Nobody moved. 

"It is up to you," he shrugged as he once again returned to the rear section of the plane. Miles took the hint and joined him on that trip. The two of them began to load the food items into bags made from pillow cases. The bags were tied with electrical wires cut from the plane. It was all in all, an amazing display of ingenuity. I had no idea whose ideas they were but I had a feeling Martin was at the base of it. The crude Martin had risen in my eyes a great deal. I had the feeling he was my best hope for salvation. 


Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 01



"If you ladies have any pants or shorts, you need to get into them, boots or walking shoes too." Martin said it on a quick trip into the cabin. While he and Miles worked on getting our supplies together, I quickly removed the dress and the spandex body suit. I immediately gained fifteen pounds, but I was also cooler by five degrees at least. I slipped into a pair of mid thigh length shorts. They weren't tight but they did fit me well. Without the body suit, I had a bit of a tummy but the loose overhanging blouse hid most of it. My breasts grew an inch or so and the blouse did nothing to hide that. 

I was at the time almost thirty-eight years old so I did nothing to hide my expectations of slowing everyone down. What I did plan to do, was to make sure the others did not leave me behind. I didn't care what it took, I planned to survive. It was a conscious decision on my part even before I began to walk. 

"Where are we going?" the blonde asked. I was surprised by the way she looked. I shouldn't have been, she was younger and she was also in a lot better shape no doubt. The first few minutes of hiking she had enough spare breath to ask it. I was already winded. 

"We are going to start walking until we find a stream, then we are going to follow it. People need water. In this country, like any other, there will be a village on the stream. What we have to do is try to avoid any soldiers we meet along the way. 

I was hot and sweaty almost instantly. My knit blouse was one of those designer knock offs and it did not fare well in the heat. It changed colors and shapes as it soaked with my sweat. My breasts hurt from the braless walking. I would have worn a bra but I knew it would only make me miserable. I had done enough gardening to know that heavy sweating and bras make terrible bedfellows. 

We seemed to have been walking for hours but I knew from the position of the sun that it hadn't been long at all. During that first break the blonde began to complain about her bag being too heavy. She was obviously hoping someone would carry it for her. The men were carrying twice two bags each along with a rifle each. Miles was staggering at times from his load. Martin seemed to handle his well enough but neither offered her any assistance. 

I could have carried more, but she was definitely looking for a man to carry her load. It was typical of her type, I thought. Then I realized that I knew nothing of her type. I decided to save my judgement until I saw her in action. I had a feeling it wouldn't be long. 

I have no idea how much distance we put between us and the plane before Martin called for a break. The break was due to a rumbling and slight tremor in the jungle's floor. Even though we looked back there was nothing to see. I knew what it was just as well as Martin did. The others didn't seem to notice. 

When Martin decided to call it a day, I was as grateful as the blonde. Martin had been rationing the water all day. We hadn't found a stream. I expected that was the reason. We didn't dare build a fire so it looked as though the night was going to be miserable. 

I had heart of MREs or meals ready to eat, but had never seen one. The plastic pouch, Martin explained, had replaced the cardboard box filled with cans. Inside the bag were other bags. I got the one with spaghetti. It was cold and tasted more like the bag than food. I forced it down anyway. After the cold food all I wanted was a hamburger. I smiled at the thought. 

The blonde moved over to sit by Martin. He looked to be in the best shape after the hike. I couldn't blame her. Odds were that if any of us survived, it would be Martin. Even with her sweat soaked body, and ratty hair, she looked much better than me. The two of them whispered a bit before they walked off down the trail together. 

I waited a few minutes, five probably, then followed. Miles gave me a curious look, but I didn't explain. If it turned into a competition between me and blondie, I wanted to know what I had to do to survive. If my survival depended on Martin, I intended to know exactly where I stood. 

I turned a corner in the trail just as she removed his rather average cock from his pants. She smiled up at him as she dropped to her knees. She licked his cock starting at his sweaty balls and ending at the almost blood red head. She licked with wide tongue strokes like a dog might lick a bone. She looked not at all disgusted. She looked as though she were enjoying every touch of his cock to her tongue. She was either a real slut or a great actress. 

I watched as she rubbed the head of his cock over her lips. When she finally stopped, her lips glistened with his dripping cum. She slipped him into her mouth. Instantly her cheeks sucked inward. She was working Martin's cock hard in her mouth. She was doing it in a manner that showed she wasn't just doing it to get him off. The slut was enjoying it even in her present situation. If she didn't, she was a great actress. I wondered, if and when the time came, could I be that good an actress. 

Martin moaned quietly as he obviously came in her mouth. She couldn't hold it all. Some of his cum dripped down her chin.



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 02



I was cold. Some jungle bird had screeched in the distance waking me. I couldn’t get up though we were lying as sausages in a pan close together. Miles behind me and Blondie in front. The guys had magnanimously decided us girls would be safer if we were sandwiched with them on the outside.

Being this close to virtual strangers wasn’t really my idea of fun. When it was boiled down, we all sweat the same; we all had pretty high body odour. Mine wasn’t any better than theirs.

Miles groaned in his sleep. I guess his head wound must’ve given him hell this afternoon. But in all fairness he hadn’t complained. He’d carried all he’d been given and he’d walked for hours through the dense hot jungle, just as we all had.

Blondie was the only one who complained. She couldn’t carry her load, couldn’t walk, and needed food. She’d bitched for three solid hours before Martin told her to shut-up.

We rested only when Martin thought we’d put a reasonable distance between us, the remnants of the plane and any possible rebel who’d realise there’d been more than the two pilots and one steward aboard. We left our entire luggage behind; taking bare essentials struggling with carrying them had been enough to bring me out in a hot sweat as we’d tramped through the jungle.

The rifle dug into my back as Miles turned over. Martin ensured we carried one each, loaded, ready for firing. It had been okay to sleep beside Miles when his back was against mine. But now his belly rubbed against me and a seriously suspicious bump pushed hard against my ass. I wriggled away only to discover Blondie’s face pressed into my breasts. The snore let me know she was in dreamland though, so I didn’t let her bother me.

I couldn’t relax to sleep. My body beaten from all the unaccustomed walking was scratched from the dense undergrowth. The trouble was, my brain wouldn’t shut down sufficiently to allow me to drift into a light sleep. I knew tomorrow would be worse. I knew I needed the sleep. So, I did what I would do when I was at home in the same situation. I carefully turned so I lay on my back, slipped my hand down into my shorts and panties, and masturbated right there deep in the jungle in Pander.

I bit my lip hard though. I didn’t want the other three hearing me. I tend to get a little vocal when I’m masturbating. I didn’t linger with the job; just got it over and done with, jerking a little as the orgasm rippled through me. Sighing with a clear head at last, I turned over. Breathing deep and slow I drifted off.

“That was beautiful to watch.” I imagined I heard Miles whispering in my ear. Smiling I snuggled down and slept deeply.

It felt like only an hour later though, when Martin prodded me awake. “Come on lazybones. Get up. We’ve gotta eat and move on.”

Blondie moaned as she got up. One of her false eyelashes had gone awry during the night. She looked decidedly lopsided rubbing her arms and legs trying to get the blood circulating again. When she looked over at me I reached deep inside for the control not to laugh. She appeared comical with her skimpy bright sundress hiked halfway up her ass. The bra she wore would be giving her hell by now, the wriggling contortionist act she was trying to hide only proved it was driving her nuts. Her hair needed seeing to real bad. All in all, she looked like a drug-laden prostitute having a bad day. Poor bitch, I wondered how the hell she was going to survive the next few days.

I felt Miles roll away from me, welcoming the cool air down my back. He groaned as he stood brushing the leaf mould off his body. Holding a hand out for me to grab, my thoughts of him being a liability to our little group waned a little. His strong grip took all my weight as he pulled me to my feet.

“Thanks.”

“It is the least I can do,” he replied, smiling. The least I can do? Wondering at his odd remark I walked around willing the numbness from my unfit body. A few slow careful stretches later Martin quietly called.

“Here we go all. Breakfast is ready. Come and get it.”

Moving towards him, the horrified look on Blondie’s face caused a bubble of giggling to erupt from me.

“Before we eat, Lorrie, there’s something I need to help you with. Hold still.” She yelped as I held her lopsided eyelash pulling it off. I threw the offending piece of pomp into the jungle.

“There, now you’ll be able to see better.”

“My name is Lorris. Please remember that.” Haughtiness kind of suited her. I grinned but didn't dare look at her again. She actually looked funnier with one false eyelash on and the other off.

I concentrated hard on my meagre breakfast ration Martin offered me.

“Gee thanks, I think. I could eat a horse right about now.”

“We need to ration the little food we have or we’ll run out before we find help.” His eyes showed serious concern. Turning into quite the leader. Maybe his job wasn’t on the line after all.

“How long will what we have, last us?” I didn’t really want to know.

“I reckon we have enough food for three days with bottled water for two or three.”

I looked down at my plastic wrapped muesli bar and cup of water. God alone knew how I was going to survive on three days of this kind of meal. Hell, it might be a good thing really. I needed to lose a few pounds, having no other option might be a good way of dieting.

“Oh Martin, you surely can’t expect me to survive on one muesli bar! I’ll starve to death!” Blondie’s winging tone grated real bad on my ears.

“Dear, we need to save as much food as we can. We don’t know how long we’ll be out here.” He tried honesty first, with the politeness. I was impressed.

“Martin honey, I need more than this to survive in this horrible old jungle. Please let me have another bar.”

Not wanting to hear more, I walked off with my breakfast. Her whining got right up my nose. Martin was doing a great job placating her. I’d probably lose control and deck her one just to shut her up. Finding a rotting log a little distance away, content that it looked solid enough, I sat down to eat my bar. My back was to the sight of Martin and Blondie hugging.

Closing my eyes I nibbled a tiny morsel from the bar, letting a single rolled oat move around inside my mouth for a long time. I was quarter of the way through the bar when Miles plonked himself on the ground beside me.

“It is oddly nice out here, don’t you agree Bess?” He munched almost happily on his bar.

“If you like green stuff and rotting stuff,” I answered grimacing.

“Relax dear. Think of this as a tramp through the bush back home.”

Unbidden memories of home ran through my mind. The kids would be having their breakfast soon. John would get them ready and walk them to school. He’d spend the rest of the day looking through the paper for job, then lying on the couch in front of the television until it was time to collect the kids from school again. He was behaving like a complete bum at the moment. I guess he just needed to work the depression out of his system in his own time. Being made redundant was not an unheard of event. He’d get through it. He’d probably be a better man at the end of it all, I hoped, sighing.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Miles brought me back to the steamy jungle. Already it was growing uncomfortably warm and sticky.

“It’s ok. I was thinking about home. I wonder if I’ll ever get to see it again.” The bleak thought ruminated through the air. Turning away, my eyes caught on Blondie and Martin. She was at it again. Right out in the open this time. Maybe she thought we couldn’t see her. Gasping I looked quickly away. Miles grinned. He already knew what they were up to.

“She sure knows how to get what she wants, wouldn’t you agree Bess?”

I scoffed at his comment. “Unfortunately for us, she’ll succeed in getting Martin to part up with extra food for her. You realise that means we lose out don’t you?”

“Oh yes, I realise. But if it means she’ll walk quietly, then it will be worth it this morning.”

Unable to stop myself, I turned back to watch them. Her knees must be getting pretty sore, but the way her head was pumping Martin’s cock I reckoned she didn’t much notice her knees. Bitch. She was good too. Martin sure was enjoying her, grabbing her hair and practically pulling it out by the roots as she mouth fucked him. I watched as her cheeks drew right in, his groan indicating she’d managed to get him to cum yet again.

Disgusted, I stood abruptly putting my empty cup into my load. I slung it over my shoulder and began walking in the same direction as yesterday, not caring if anyone followed. I blocked them out and left them to catch up. The jungle’s heat had already increased to an uncomfortable level. I wanted to find my way out, or at least to a river, quickly. I needed a wash badly.

Walking for a few minutes I noticed the odd rumbling noise of yesterday had begun again. I wondered if the others had noticed it. I knew full well what it was. Soon enough we all would.



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 03



The jungle was beginning to stink. Wet rotting vegetation, smouldering humidity. It wasn't inducing a great loving temperament in me. I certainly wasn't thinking kind thoughts of my companions then. I seriously doubted if I ever would again.

Blondie was pissing me off big time. It was the way she kept sucking up to Martin that was driving me insane. Touching him with her hands every moment she could get away with. I wondered how much longer he would put up with her. The heat was causing us all to sweat like pigs. My breasts were rubbing raw against my body; I constantly had to wipe underneath them with the bottom of my shirt.

Martin's shirt was totally soaked. I hoped he'd managed to grab himself a replacement from the wreckage of the plane. I know Miles' shirt was not going to last the rest of the day. It had been torn up the back during the crash and this morning looked as if the slightest branch snag would rip it to shreds.

As I walked through the dense bush, my legs bled from the consistent scratches. I could have done with a knife of some sort to cut my way through the bush. At least I knew I was heading in the right direction. The old girl scout days had stood me in good stead so far. I merely followed the signs then aimed myself north. There was no doubt in my mind there would be a river waiting for me. I couldn't hear it, and the ground signs had been hard to pick, but there was an abundance of tree life. I figured where there was more life there'd be water. Kind of logical thinking really. Hell, it sounded good to me.

I couldn't figure out how far I'd travelled by myself though. The sun seemed to have risen a quarter of the way up into the sky by the time I had a chance to notice it through the canopy. I figured it was about mid-morning.

At least it was a damn sight more peaceful walking alone than with the rest of them. Blondie's constant chattering, Martin's constant placating and Miles' complete silence were all as bad as one another. It was nice to walk without having to listen to anything except the wildlife. It hadn't seemed too bad so far. At least, I hadn't managed to stand on any poisonous spiders or irritate any snakes.

The jungle became thicker, harder to move through. Interwoven amongst the branches of an old rotting tree were about a dozen different varieties of vine. The problem was they seemed to spread themselves right across my pathway. I stopped for a few minutes to figure out my way mentally around the mass. I took a long cool drink from my water bottle, then thanked God we at least had water. I tried to figure my way around or through the jungle.

I had decided that the right of the main trunk was most likely the best way and forced my way through. My hair snagged on twigs which brought stinging tears to my eyes. I blinked them back as I pushed my way through. My running-shoe clad foot landed on something soft. Unable to get enough of my body through the hole in the branches, I tested half my weight on the front foot. It appeared solid enough. It felt a little squishy. I had put my whole weight on that foot; I used the branches and pulled myself through the tangled mass. I stopped when I stood straight and looked down at what I was standing on.

My scream echoed through the jungle for miles. The birds had flown off in shock, screeching loudly. I sprang back through the hole and fell to the ground weeping.

Thunderous feet crashed through the undergrowth.

"Bess! Where are you Bess? Shout so we can find you!" Miles' concerned voice sounded very good to my ears right at that moment.

"Over here. I'm over here." I shakily answered him.

He smashed his way through the jungle, still shouting. "Talk to me Bess. I need to hear you to find you!"

"Miles I'm here. To your right. I can see glimpses of you through the trees."

He appeared in front of me, his face showed deep concern. "What is it? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He swept his hands over my feet and legs. Moved them up my body. If I hadn't been so shocked I'd have been turned on. I shoved his hands away.

"There's a, a body in the bush." I pointed where I'd seen it.

"A body? Where?"

God how did this guy get to be the company's operations manager? He seemed so damn dense at times.

"In there Miles. I stood on it. I was trying to get through the tangle of branches. I stood on his goddamn arm."

Miles dropped his bag to the ground by my feet. He held his rifle steadily in front, cocked, ready to fire, he walked towards the spot I'd pointed to. Sticking his head in the tiny gap, he pulled it out quick when he realised there was indeed a man's body laid out on the ground.

He was white in the face. I could see he was trying to control the nausea that had taken hold of him. Failing miserably, he dashed a few feet away and heaved up his breakfast. I didn't have the energy to go do the motherly thing of rubbing his back. My own insides were having a hell of a job staying put.

Martin and Blondie crashed into the small clearing.

"What's up? Are you okay Bess? What's with Miles?" He couldn't stop the grin from creasing his face when he realised Miles had thrown up. Blondie did her thing by going over to him and rubbing (or should I say stroking) his back. It didn't seem to help him any. He just kept chucking up nothing.

"There's a body in that bush. I was trying to get through it when I stood on some dead guy's arm. Miles went to check it out and nearly checked himself out in the process."

"A bit high is it?"

"Just a tad. Not much of a pretty sight either. Looks like he's been there a while."

Martin moved carefully over to the bush. He took a deep breath, then poked his head in the hole. He had it stuck in there a while before backing out.

"I'd say he's been dead about a week. Looks like he's been strangled. There's bad bruising marks around his neck. And it looks like a piece of wire or string or something is lying beside him. You okay Miles?" Martin added looking across at the still bent figure.

"Yeah I'll be alright. It stunk a bit is all. You reckon he's been dead a week? I wonder who killed him, and why."

Blondie plonked herself down on the dirt and burst into tears. The two guys stared at her. I laughed, a little hysterically. The three of them looked so comical.

"Shut up Lorrie. I can't hear what the guys are saying." Exasperated, I stood, walked over to her, lifted her face by the chin and slapped her. "Hysteria has no place right now. Snap out of it woman."

I ignored the shocked looks. "Who would have killed him? And why kill him? He doesn't look dressed up enough to be worth killing for his wallet."

"Maybe he saw something he shouldn't have." The sniffing bitch mumbled.

"Yeah right. Like what?" I asked.

"I don't know. But it figures that if there's rebels around, then maybe they're camping close by and maybe he saw them."

Actually through the dumb blond attitude, she may have had a point. I sat and thought for a few minutes. Miles and Martin talked quietly together. It seemed she was right. The men had decided we'd walk close together without talking from now on.

"Are we going to bury him?" Blondie snivelled.

"What with dear. We have no spades to dig with. He'll be okay where he is." Martin looked like he felt sorry for her. Hell, I reckoned he was just placating her so he could get sucked off again later on. I sure hoped we were going to be still around for that to happen. The way things had begun to look, I doubted I'd be alive myself for long.

We moved off, Martin was in front and Miles brought up the rear. I followed behind Martin this time. I tried to concentrate where my feet were going; I put Blondie's noisy crying out of my mind. Or tried to. I reckoned the heat had got to me for we hadn't gone more than 10 metres when I turned on her and slapped her face hard leaving an angry red mark.

"For fucks sake, shut up! You're gonna have us all murdered if you keep that noise up."

That seemed to stem the flow. My hand tingled from the slap. It must have hurt her like hell, but she hadn't said a word. Glancing back the red mark showed my fingers clearly. I refused to feel guilty.

Several times on our walk we had to stop and wait for Martin to discern the easiest route through the dense jungle. Blondie's face constantly rammed against my backside. I was getting to the point where I was enjoying it. Eventually Miles hissed to Martin.

"We need to stop for a rest and something to eat Martin." I was thankful he'd suggested it. I'd been holding off for the last hour hoping Blondie would crush first, but she'd held her tongue still. Slapping her must have sorted her out.

Martin found a gap in the thickening vegetation. We gratefully dumped our bags and rifles. Making sure to keep the rifles close, we then ate our meagre muesli bar and drank our cup of water. Martin and Miles wandered off a little way to check the path ahead.

Blondie had moved close to me. She sized me up with her eyes. "Bess, I want you."

The shock must have been obvious in my own eyes. She smiled. Oddly enough she looked fairly pretty when she was behaving in a natural way. Mind you with her natural was an act too. I thought about her offer. Touched her bruised face with my fingertips.

"I'm sorry I slapped you. But there wasn't another way to quickly get you quiet."

"Oh yes there was," she answered leaning towards me.

Before I could utter a word, her mouth had closed over mine; her hands wandered over the front of my shirt. I almost pulled away then. Almost pulled away that is, until the voice of reason tapped my half-dead brain cells. Maybe she could be useful after all, I thought.

I let her kiss me. I didn't protest either when she lifted my sweat covered shirt and latched on to my swollen nipple. When she sucked on it I cried out.

"Sweet Jesus girl. Where'd you learn to do that?"

She kept sucking. Her hand moved down the inside of my shorts and pants. She expertly found my clitty and rubbed her to life. Softly and gently she rubbed, the tension had tightened my aching pussy muscles. When I exploded arching my back, she swallowed on my breast. I felt my nipple rubbing against the back of her throat. I kept cumming, totally unable to gain control.

She suckled gently until the orgasm stopped then moved up to my mouth planting sweet tiny kisses against my dry, cracked lips. At that moment she was the most beautiful goddess on earth.

The men murmured to each other as they came back through the bush. We pulled apart, her knowing look landed on my incredulous face.

"Wait until tonight Bess. I'll show you a real good time."

With that promise, I leapt to my feet, gathered my bag and rifle and left the clearing. My sex scent still hung heavily in the air.

As we joined the men, the ground rumbled below our feet. This time it was loud in our ears and felled us to the ground. We were getting closer.



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 04



The sun had reached its peak hours before. The heat had been unbearable. Sweat poured from us all. The jungle stunk. We did too. It had begun to get dark again and we seemed to be no nearer discovering the origin of the rumbling noise. Both Martin and I knew it for what it was. We hadn't discussed it, but both of us were aware how little time we had left. 

I was beginning to wonder if Miles had figured it out. I wasn't able to tell if he had covered up his knowledge or if he was as much in the dark as Blondie. 

As mid afternoon arrived, I was gripped with stomach pains. I squeezed my eyes shut then wrapped my arms tight around my body. I fell to the ground in squirming agony. It wasn't surprising that the hunger pains had finally taken over. What was surprising was that they'd taken so long to pull me down. I'd been patting myself on the back that I hadn't succumbed to them earlier. I'd never in my life gone so long with so little to eat and drink. Breakfast was normally a small meal, but I usually washed it down with a couple of cups of coffee. Lunch was generally sandwiches or cheese and salad. Dinner was meat and three vegetables, a standard meal. Somewhat basic food, but it was good wholesome family food. Three muesli bars were a huge difference and my stomach had protested loudly. 

I'd watched Miles take off for the bush every so often during the day and guessed that he'd got diarrhea. There was nothing any of us could do to make it easier on him. Martin's first aid box didn't contain anything to still his bush sprints. 

When the pains began to ease a little, I opened my eyes. I looked up in the dimmed light at the three of them staring down at me. Martin was kneeling beside me. He opened his bundle and pulled out another of those goddamn muesli bars; he undid the plastic covering and offered the bar to me. 

"Here Bess, eat this. It'll help hold the pains off." 

I took the muesli bar without second thought and bit the end. I must have chewed it a dozen times before I felt okay enough to swallow it. I swore then that I'd never eat another muesli bar in my life after I got back home. 

"Oh nice. She gets a whole bar?" Blondie was bitching again. "A whole bar to herself? How many are left?" 

"There are five bars left Lorris. That's all. But I reckon we'll be finding company before we run out of them." 

"I want one Martin. I want a muesli bar right now." 

"I'm sorry Lorris. I can't give you one. Bess only has it because of her cramps. We need to walk for another hour at least before we make camp for the night. Bess needs the food to keep up." 

"Oh for God's sake! You've been favouring her the entire way. I'm starving hungry too. I've not complained this afternoon. I've not told you my stomach has been killing me. I'm entitled to that damn food too. Give me a bar right now, damnit." She lunged for his bundle. She grabbed it in one hand, hauled it away from him, and then ran off through the jungle. 

"Lorris!" Martin hissed. He didn't dare shout. He knew, as I did, just how close we were to company. "Damn that silly bitch to hell and back." He slammed his hand hard against his leg and tore off through the jungle in the direction she'd gone. 

Miles crossed over to me. He'd not gone unnoticed standing a little apart from us. He'd merely kept his thoughts to himself. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea. I'd try to imitate that, if I ever managed to get up off the ground again, that is. 

"You know something that's worse than these bloody stomach cramps?" I looked up as his shadow landed on me. 

"What's worse Bess? What could be worse than the pain of starvation? Slowly dying and knowing it." Even his tone was showing signs of being beaten. 

"The fucking flies. I'm sick to death of these colourless flies landing on me every minute of the day and night. Where the hell are they coming from? I would have thought they'd be better off sticking around that dead body than landing on me all the time." My skin was covered in tiny red welts. The flies hadn't just landed. They'd landed, grabbed and bitten hard. 

"I don't know Bess. I don't know where they're coming from. I have noticed they're getting thicker though. Maybe that's a sign of food close by, eh." A spark of a wishful look flashed over his face. 

"Maybe you're right Miles. Just maybe you're right." He helped me up and held me steady while my legs had a chance to hold my weight. The cramps had eased some. The dull ache hadn't shifted though. That was with me for the duration. 

"Where have those two got to?" I knew full well that he wouldn't be able to answer me. 

"I don't know that either Bess. I'm sure they'll be back soon though. We'd best stay here to wait for them though. No sense us all going off half-cocked. I hope Martin catches up with her soon. We need to get another hour's walking in before nightfall." 

"Well, it sure doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Now that they've gone off, there's no food here for you. I have water though. Here, have some." I handed him my bottle. "You need to keep your fluids up. You've lost more than enough already." 

"You first Bess. Wash that muesli bar down." 

I held the bottle in my shaking hand, then swallowed a couple of mouthfuls. I wished for a glass of ice right then. A glass of cold water would have been heaven. I handed Miles the bottle and watched his Adam's apple bob a few times as he drank deeply. 

Once I felt steady on my feet I walked a few paces. The cramps had almost gone, but I knew that they'd be back. He had put the bottle back into my bundle, then stretched out on the ground with his eyes closed. 

I took a long slow look at him then. He wasn't too bad looking for all the sweat and dirt that had stuck to his body. He was covered in red welts from where the flies had bitten him. His short black hair had become decidedly oily; it stuck straight up too, like my son's latest haircut. 

A fly landed on his face and with one strong, wide hand he waved it away. He looked fairly content lying there. Like he was lying on a beach getting a tan, not lying on ground that was solid one minute and swampy the next, in the middle of a jungle on an island stuck on the rim of the Pacific Ocean. He didn't look like a guy who could use that rifle he never let out of his sight. I wondered then if push came to shove would he use it? Would he use it to protect me? I had a feeling I was not going to have to wait too long to find out. 

He looked like he could have done with a good hot meal inside him, that and about 48 hours solid sleep, a shower and shave. Hell we all could have done with a good meal, then a bath at home. 

"Quit staring at me Bess. I know I'm nothing wonderful to look at right now. My guts is cramping just like yours, my body needs a complete overhaul. Stop staring at me like you want to eat me." 

I laughed at that. "Like I have the energy for that. I could sleep for a month." 

I sat on the dirt, cross-legged facing him. 

"Come closer Bess." I did as he asked, shuffling forward on my backside, I kept my eyes on his face. 

With eyes closed, he spoke a little hoarsely. "Lean over me Bess, put your hands either side of my head." 

Was he nuts? I'd already figured what that would do. I couldn't do it. I picked up a handful of dirt, then I watched as it fell between my fingers to the ground. 

"Now Bess." 

My body hummed in response. My brain told me to get the hell away from him, a split second later it had turned on me. I found myself doing as he asked. My hands flat on the dirt either side of his head. His face nuzzled my chest. My breasts hung down only stopping from hitting him in the face by my sweat-stained shirt. 

He opened his mouth, then with his tongue, he licked my shirt around my nipples until it was soaked. My nipples rubbed against the wet material. It was a warm wetness. There was no chance anything would feel cool in a hot untamed jungle. 

I watched as his mouth opened wide and he took my breast into it. He managed a fair bit, which impressed me. My breasts weren't small; they were huge. But he was good. He was much better than my husband was, that much I knew for sure. 

When he sucked it I nearly fell on him. The response time between my breast and core was instant. I straddled him, lowered my body until I rubbed against him. I felt his hardness through our clothes as my body rubbed and pressed against him, a delicious feeling warmed me. 

The jungle was muted; the flies ignored but the heat increased. He lifted his hips off the dirt and ground against me. When he bit me I smothered my scream with one hand. 

"Shut up Bess," he hissed against my body. He bit me again. Hard. My back arched, I tried to pull myself away from his tortuous mouth. He held onto my nipple with his teeth. I fell forward, giving him what he wanted. He licked the pain away. 

"Good girl, you're learning. Now get off me. I've had enough for now." 

I moved away from him. My senses spun at what had happened. I think I'd just had a lesson in being submissive. Where the hell had that come from? Bemused, I looked over at him. He was smiling; but he was snoring too. The arrogant prick. Where did he get off doing that to me? 

My whole body was throbbing. I needed release. I ignored Miles and slipped my hand inside my shorts and panties. 

"She's gone!" Martin almost fell on Miles' sleeping form. I removed my hand fast, but not fast enough. Martin had seen where my hand was, but he didn't comment. 

"Where?" Leave it to me to ask the dumb questions. 

"I wish to hell I knew. I followed her tracks for half an hour. I didn't catch sight of her at all. Then there was a small clearing." He looked around. "A bit like this one. There were footprints everywhere. Lots of different ones. They went from the clearing in all directions, but I couldn't find hers anywhere. I don't know where she is." He ran his fingers through his hair. "But Bess, I found this." He held up a piece of severed rope. "I found it just on the edge of the clearing. Bess, they must have tied her when they took her." 

I sat quietly for a moment. It was obvious she'd been caught, most likely tied. Knowing Blondie and the noise she makes, they'd probably have had to gag her too. Poor bitch. 

"You'd better take us to where you found the rope, Martin," Miles obviously had heard the latest events. "Come on, let's get moving. It'll be dark soon and we won't have any hope of following tracks." 

We hauled our bundles over our shoulders. Martin led the way. The walking was not so difficult, the jungle had seemed to thin out a little, but the darkness was closing in. We moved quickly in single file. It took us half an hour of walking to arrive at the place Martin had told us about. In the darkness it wasn't possible to see the tracks. 

We had been so quiet that the unfamiliar noise dawned on us all at the same time. "Oh God! Water!" I was parched dry suddenly. The sound of the moving water wasn't far away. As one, we quickly ran toward it. It turned out to be a small river. We had dropped to our knees then, scooping up the water in our palms to drink. Martin stood knee deep in the river and drank. I preferred to wait for daylight before I went in. The promise of a good wash had given me a measure of hope. Having filled our immediate needs, we moved away from the river. We huddled close to the ground and whispered. 

"We can't find Lorris tonight. It's way too late. We'll only manage to get lost ourselves." Martin's sensible logic showed through again. 

"Agreed. We'll make camp for the night and look for Lorris tomorrow," Miles stood. He looked around for a suitable spot to spend the night. "I guess if we move upriver a little way, we should find some shelter. It's windy by the river, there'll be some rocks further up that will shield us from it." 

I didn't know how he knew there'd be rocks, but I was too tired to bother asking. The stomach cramps were back. It took every ounce of control I had for me to ignore them and keep up with the men. There were rocks. We found them after only a few minutes walk. We looked around to check that we'd not be seen if people were looking for us. It appeared relatively safe. The only way somebody would discover us here, was if they actually tripped over us. And with a bit of luck, we'd have heard them coming by the time they got that close. 

Before we settled down to sleep for the night, Martin gave us our muesli bar and water, then had us check our rifles. We needed to make sure they were close to hand, and that they were ready to be used in an instant. 

I fell asleep with two men either side of my body, snuggled up against Martin's back, with Miles locked in behind me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep with the feeling that Miles' fingertip was making tiny circles against my back. The last touch I felt was his finger as it slipped between my ass cheeks. 

There was no rumbling from the ground during that night.



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 05



The bird's screech awakened me. At least that's what I had first thought. Then I thought it was Martin's toxic smelling armpit, which my face was leaning against. Finally, I realised it was Miles who had woken me. He was asleep but every now and then, his body would jerk. His hand would come up and shove me in the back like he was pushing me forward.

When I turned toward him, the moonlight showed the stark anguish on his face. He was having a nightmare. I'd read in a magazine something about not waking a person during a dream so I decided then to not wake him. I moved back a little. I had hoped to give him some space. I was still too close as he proved when his clenched fist swung from nowhere to land heavily on my hip. It was unexpectedly hard; my yelp of pain woke him instantly.

He figured out what had happened for himself.

"Sorry, Bess," was all he said. Then he had stood and walked off into the night.

I had found him easily enough. He was sitting slumped on some rocks at the river's edge.

"Are you okay, Miles?"

"It's me who should ask you that," he replied without looking up. I thought briefly at that point, about going back to Martin and sleep. I quickly dismissed the idea. I wasn't likely to sleep. I sat down beside him.

"I was in 'Nam. I still have nightmares." With his head in his hands, he went on. "I can't seem to shake them off. I guess I don't deserve to be able to."

"Why?" A single quietly spoken word was all I could master at that point.

"Some bad, unforgivable things happened in 'Nam. And I did nothing to stop them. There were times when I stood by and watched them happen."

"What kind of things?" I didn't really want to know but that morbid fascination took its hold on me.

"Things you'd never understand. Hell, I don't understand them myself." He shook his head then, in despair.

I figured from what I'd been through recently I was stronger than I'd ever been. So, I encouraged him. "Tell me, Miles. Tell me what happened to give you nightmares where you shove and hit out at others in your sleep."

Three minutes of hearing only the river moving went by. I'd decided to quietly wait, all night if necessary, until he spoke. I didn't have much longer to wait.

"It was hot as hell," he began. "It had rained hard all morning. Hell, it'd been raining for weeks. We'd been walking through heavy jungle. The fucking new guy in front stopped, so I'd stop. The guy behind me would give me a shove with his barrel against my back. Then I'd shove the guy in front. It happened a few times until the fng learned to keep his distance.

"We'd been walking through jungle a click or two. I was soaked to the skin as usual. We all were. Every noise startled us, not that we could hear much above the rain, that made it worse, though it meant they couldn't hear us so well either. I loved the rain; we hardly ever fought in it. We walked for another hour before the rain stopped. It was when we were drying out that it happened." 

He stopped, stared straight ahead at the moonlight reflecting on the water. I knew he didn't see it.

"This family had heard us. We had been very quiet, but they must have heard us. They'd walked straight up behind the fng in the squad, startling them. The two fng picked up their m6s turned and deliberately killed them. It happened so quick." He paused a moment then.

"And, you wanna know what else Bess?"

"What, Miles? Tell me." Though what he had just told me was horrific, I knew the worst was about to come.

"After, when we checked the bodies, we found a young girl. A kid really. She was no more than seven or eight years old. She had a bright electric blue dress on. The top part was covered in her blood. It had torn at the side. We saw two hand grenades that had been strapped to her body under the dress. They never went off.

"A kid Bess. A little kid for God's sake." He wiped the back of his hand angrily over the tear as it rolled down his cheek.

"Here's the stinger part, Bess. Later on that night, the squad were rolling about on the ground laughing their asses off about it."

It must have been the mother in me, I moved close to him then. I held him tight, rocked him as he grieved.

He shoved me away. "Leave me alone, Bess. Go away."

I figured I was about as useful as a fly on a skeleton then. I left him to his memories, walked to the river, stripped, then waded in and sank down into the icy wetness. I lay there for what felt like hours, just soaking, letting the grime slowly wash off my skin. The night sky had lightened a little by the time I moved in the water. Most of the dirt and sweat had washed off, the little that remained I rubbed away with my palms. Then I waded to the edge, picked up my clothes and took them back into the river to wash. The dirt came off easily enough. The sweat stains were something an hour of scrubbing would likely clean up. But I didn't have the luxury of that hour. I scrubbed them as best I could, then dressed myself. I figured that it wouldn't take long for the heat of the day to dry the clothes again.

A low quiet whistle had me looking over to the opposite side of the river. I couldn't make out any details, but the silhouette I saw bent in a bowing motion. I didn't wait to find out what that meant. I quickly put my shirt back on, then raced out of the river back to Martin. Miles, I figured, could look after himself.

Martin wasn't there. I fell to the ground my palms pressing the dirt where he had slept. It wasn't warm. The daylight still wasn't bright enough to see his footprints, so I didn't bother looking. I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could back to Miles.

"Miles, Martin's g…" I stopped. The rock was bare. He wasn't where I'd left him. I checked around to make sure I was at the right place. The rocks seemed the same.

I spent another fruitless half an hour searching around between the river, the rocks and the sleeping place looking for clues as to where they'd gone. I didn't find a thing. The sun had risen; it was clear enough around the edge of the river to see any tracks, which either of them may have left. Not one clue. Nothing.

Swatting the flies away from my face, I sat down, angry with both of them for leaving me like that. My stomach was cramping again. I decided then that I needed to find some food. With my immediate need seen to, then I would go and look for the others.

I walked a little way back into the jungle. The shade the heavy growth provided was a welcome change. The heat hit quick and hard on the island. I found a scrubby looking tree with berries. I knew nothing about what was safe to eat and what would be likely to poison me; I figured that I was half way dead as it was, so it wouldn't matter what I ate.

I grabbed at bunches of the berries. They tasted reasonable, being hungry for three days anything would have tasted reasonable. The berries were a little bitter, but edible. I filled myself with them, then tore off the lower half of my shirt. I made a kind of pouch with it and filled it with berries. I went back to the river then, and drank all I could handle. I had nothing with me in which to store water.

With food in my stomach, I checked my rifle, then I decided it was time to head out and look for the others.

I decided that it would be a good idea to keep fairly close to the river, but instead of going downstream, as any good scout would know to do, I went upstream. I had a hunch that I'd find the others further inland.

I ducked and dived between the bushes. At times, it had been nearly impossible to move forward. Occasionally I'd been forced to wade through the water. At least it was cooling. Being in the river kept the flies off my body, for a little longer anyway. My stomach began protesting again a few hours later. I sat, hidden by an outcrop of sharp rocks, and ate the rest of my berries. I guess I had been lucky with them. I hadn't had any ill effects from the ones I'd eaten earlier. I wished I'd picked more. I hadn't seen any other berries during the day. I also hadn't seen that dark figure again, but I had a way too eerie feeling that I was being followed. I had already figured I was to be captured, as it seemed the others had been. It was simply a matter of time. Hell I figured at least whoever caught them all was likely to be feeding them. They were most likely better off than I was.

I waded into the water again to cool myself. Once soaked I moved on upstream keeping to the very edge of the bush. I heard the waterfall before I saw it. It took me about quarter of an hour more walking before I saw it. It looked so odd. The sun caught it as it fell and cast a rainbow of sorts across the river. The rocks behind the waterfall took on a bluish tinge. Vaguely I knew what that was. The water below the rock face seemed very deep, and very tempting.

I stripped and dove in. The water was freezing cold, I guessed that the mountain spring it stemmed from was very close. I swam freely for a while, then floated on my back.

It was then that I noticed it. There was a cave in behind the waterfall. I lay looking at it for a few moments longer, then swam to the edge, dressed and climbed the rocks for a closer look.

The rocks all around the cave were tinged with blue. The blue colouring one sees around old copper mines. That spurred me on. I climbed carefully and slipped in behind the waterfall. Inside, it was disgustingly wet and clammy. I moved deeper into the cave.

An odd light glowed from inside, I cautiously moved toward it. The light grew in intensity. Before I realised what it was, the ground began shaking. The rumbling noise was tremendous in my ears. I grabbed a handhold against the side of the cave and hung on tight as I could. Rocks rolled and fell against my legs. The rumbling increased. I let go and covered my ears. I felt myself tumbling forwards, I tried to grab a rock to steady myself with, but they kept coming away from the wet cave wall in my hands.

The light went out. I was falling.

I landed with a dull thud on hard wet ground. The rumbling had stopped. I'd opened my eyes but the light hadn't come back on yet. It was definite moaning I heard not more than ten feet from where I had landed. I waited quietly. Moments later the light glowed again. It was weak at first, then with full strength. It almost hurt my eyes it was so bright. It lit up every crevice.

I sensed movement before I saw it. To my left, a body slumped on the floor moved and moaned. It was covered in filthy rags. Glancing around me, I quickly found a wooden crate to hide behind. I peered around the huge open space I had fallen into.

It was a huge hole in the rock. Never having been deep inside a cave before I didn't know quite what one would look like. It was simply a cave. High up the tunnel where I had fallen through was a large black hole and over on the opposite side was a lit up tunnel that had railway tracks going through it.

The body moaned loudly. I looked over at it. It was in pain. Cautiously, I then moved towards it. I held one of the rags between finger and thumb and pulled at it. The dirty clothing slowly revealed its owner. I found myself looking down into the bloodied and bruised face of Lorris.

I fell to the floor beside her, clearing the rest of the rags away from her body. She had been wrapped in sackcloth. She moaned as I felt her body, checking for broken bones. Everything seemed okay to me. Her eyes opened but she didn't appear to focus on my face.

"Lorris, it's me," my voice in no more than a harsh whisper.

"Bess! Oh Bess, thank god you're here. Help me up. We need to get out of here quick!" Groggily she pushed herself into a sitting position leaning against the cave wall. She moaned. "Help me up Bess. We have to get out of this cave now. If they catch you here they'll kill both of us."

The urgency in her voice didn't have me doubting her. Carefully I placed my arm around her back and lifted her from the ground. She couldn't stand without support, so I let her lean against me.

We made it in shuffling form to the opening of the tunnel before we were rushed and slammed into the rocky cave wall.

"You are going nowhere!" A cold, oddly familiar voice eventually stopped our struggles. 



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 06



The rumbling had begun again. The ground shook so hard that without handholds we fell to the floor. The lights dimmed then went out. The cave became menacingly dark. I let Smyth go and covered my ears with my hands. The rumbling noise inside the cave echoed loudly. It seemed that the rumbling was becoming more frequent. Two lots of it in less than an hour had me worried. At last the rumbling and shaking stopped. I stood shakily then and helped Smyth to her feet, stumbling a little in the darkness.

The bright flare of light from the match he lit showed every crevice on his face. The deep creases at the corner of his eyes served to highlight the startling blueness of his pupils as he speared me to the spot with them. His short oily black hair stood straight up on the top of his head. It looked as if he’d awoken that way and not bothered to comb it into any style. He’d run his fingers in an agitated manner through it so many times that this was his normal look.

What was most surprising was the indentation that ran from his left eye down over his cheek to the corner of his mouth. The scar was an old one and I hadn’t noticed it before. It must have been the match light catching the scar at a certain angle. I could only guess at the reason for it being there. I didn’t like the guesses I was coming up with either.

“Miles! I’m so glad to see you here. Please help me with Lorris. We need to get out of this cave quickly.” I looked expectantly at him.

His manner was not that of a concerned friend. He stood back, staring at us both. The scrutiny felt very odd and my body had begun to tingle with uncertainty.

“Miles?” It was then that I noticed the other dark figures surrounding us. Several men stood close, one had a hold on Smyth’s other arm.

“You’re not going anywhere Bess. You will do as you are told and you will be quiet while you are here, or you’ll find yourself in a worse condition than this silly bitch.” He waved his palm towards Lorris.

Smyth, I had noticed, had gone deathly white and very quiet. Her hand gripping mine squeezed so tight my fingers became numb. Her body as it lent against mine was shaking. Absently I put one arm around her shoulders and held her close.

“Miles, what’s going on? Why are you behaving like this?” I couldn’t figure out what he was playing at. I knew there was more to him than he let on, but I was still a little in the dark as to what exactly he was up to.

“You will both follow me and you will follow me quietly. Any noise and you will be tied and gagged.” He turned and walked through the tunnel.

Well, that was plain speaking at least. I decided it was prudent to just follow along with his lead for the meantime. Eventually we’d discover what was in store for us. I was pushed forward roughly. I glanced behind noticing all he wore was a loincloth, but that did nothing to hide the dark masculine body with its rippling muscles. His muscles glistened and it was then that I realised the lights were beginning to glow again.

I was pushed hard in the centre of my back. I fell forward and lost my grip on Smyth. She moaned in pain as she fell to the floor.

“Get up!” Miles demanded angrily.

“She fell. She needs help to walk.” I bent down and helped her up. Using my arm for support, we continued through the tunnel.

The tunnel had a higher roof than the storeroom. The walls were slippery and slimy and pools of water gathered on the uneven surface of the rocky floor. We walked between the rail tracks moving to the side of them whenever our guards poked and prodded us out of the way. I didn’t have long to wait to see a couple of men struggle to push a fully laden crate on wheels towards the storeroom. Whatever was inside the crate, was concealed with a large green canvas cover. The storeroom we left behind had been full of new wooden crates. I wondered now what had been stored inside them.

There were odd-shaped rooms that opened off to the sides of the main tunnel. They were not well lit. Some of them looked similar to the original storeroom. Others were set up like dormitories and I shuddered when I thought of spending a night deep inside the mountain.

After what felt like half an hour of shuffled walking, Miles stopped beside the entrance to an empty room.

“Leave them in here. Guard them until I get back.” With that, he strode off with purpose further along the tunnel.

The guards shoved us unceremoniously into the room. The single light lit up what had to be the most depressing looking room I’d ever been in. It wasn’t a totally empty room. There were a couple of camp stretcher beds set up in one corner. A small wooden table with two rickety looking chairs stood in the centre of the room directly under the bare light bulb. A deck of well-used cards sat on the tabletop.

I half carried Smyth over to one of the beds. She slumped down; wrapped her arms around her belly, then lay still.

The guards stayed outside the room. There was no door, simply an opening straight into the tunnel. I pulled out a chair and sat gratefully on it. My body felt bruised and battered from the fall out of the waterfall tunnel down onto the hard rock floor of the storeroom. A lump on my left leg showed the early signs of a nasty bruise, but by prodding it gently, I didn’t think anything was broken.

As I rested, I had a few minutes to gather my thoughts; I wondered what Miles was up to. Obviously, he had known about the tunnel system, he certainly seemed to fit right in amongst the few people we’d seen. More obviously he was their boss; they didn’t show any hesitation in following his orders. In fact, they seemed to be very in awe of him.

I thought I had known what the rumbling noise was all about. It seemed hot enough on the island to have been the rumblings of a volcano about to explode into life. I would have expected that the heat within the tunnel system to have been much greater if indeed it was an active volcano.

The one fact that I’d noted since being inside the tunnel was that the temperature seemed to be steady. Admittedly, there was a decent breeze moving through the main tunnel, the heat inside the room was stifling, but it was not hotter than outside in the jungle.

I yelped in startled pain as I felt a clammy hand on my shoulder; its strong fingertips dug into my body. I looked up into the greedy devouring eyes of one of the guards.

“Get up,” he growled.

“I can’t stand.” I played for time.

“You will get up right now without argument.”

“My leg hurts.”

The slap was fierce and unexpected. I screamed, then pressed my palm to my hot cheek.

“Get up,” he growled again.

“No!” I spat.

I found myself standing after I tasted the blood from his second slap.

“That’s better. You will learn to do as you are told, without question, or you will suffer the consequences.” The smug look on his face begged to be wiped off. He caught my raised hand before it connected with his face, then turned, twisting it painfully up behind my back. I gasped as the pain knifed through my shoulder.

“Let me go. Please let me go. I’ll do as you ask.” Just for good measure, he twisted my arm a little higher before he let go. I swore then, but was careful to do it under my breath.

“Walk.” He pushed me forward; something sharp pressed against my back.

We walked out of the room, one guard stayed by the entranceway guarding Smyth, one walked ahead of me and the other stayed behind me, poking the sharp object against me often enough to get me moving more quickly.

I didn’t know where we were going. We turned several corners, going off the main tunnel way. The guard in front stopped, then he moved to the side and I found myself in another room. A similar solitary bare light bulb in the centre of the room glowed on the stark horror of my surroundings. On the floor was a king-size mattress. I turned then and tried to push my way back through the two guards. It wasn’t any good. They held one arm each and dragged me back into the room letting go so I sprawled in a very unladylike manner over the mattress. My head didn’t hit the mattress though; it hit the rock floor of the room hard enough to hurt like hell. Black oblivion closed in on me.

“She’s okay,” I kept my eyes still as I almost gagged at the hot foetid breath of one of the guards as he lifted my eyelid.

“You shouldn’t have pushed her so hard. The boss will be really pissed if we mess her up.”

“I told you, she’s okay. Look she’s coming around.”

I quickly turned and vomited up nothing. When I’d finished dry retching, I lay back on the mattress pressing my palm to my forehead. I was burning up, my head throbbed painfully, but the guards took no notice.

“Strip her,” the muscled one demanded.

After much fumbling and with me definitely not helping him, the stinking skinny one tore the clothes from my body. Within moments his hot sweaty body was rubbing against mine, his greasy loincloth the only barrier between us. I lifted my legs at the knees and pushed against him with as much strength as I could muster, but it didn’t do any good.

He simply dropped his entire body on top of me. For a skinny guy he was heavy. I couldn’t move him. When his slimy mouth closed down over mine, I gagged against him.

His entire being repulsed me; I fought until my body could no longer fight.

When his mouth left mine, I screamed. His laugh echoed against the cave walls. His slap stung, he ripped off his loincloth then used it to tie my hands.

“Scream all you like, bitch. No one can hear you in here,” he sneered then licked my bruised cheek.

“Please don’t do this to me.” The hoarse voice was hardly recognisable as my own. “Please don’t. I don’t deserve it. Please stop.”

He ignored me, lifted my legs and pressed his disgusting body against me. Unable to move in any other way, I spat in his face.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for that.”

The light glinted off the knife held at his neck. “She won’t pay for anything unless I order it.”

Relief washed over me as Miles stood holding the knife against the guard.

“Get off her now,” his quiet voice demanded instant obedience.

The guard didn’t move. The knife drew a tiny drop of blood and I watched in fascination as it trickled down his neck.

“I won’t be asking you again.”

The guard ignored Miles. He made the move to thrust into my body. Then he made a weird gurgling noise as he collapsed on top of me. His full dead weight knocking the breath from me, I couldn’t gasp nor scream. I pushed him off in terror staring at the knife wound and watched the blood gush from his neck.

“Untie her,” Miles didn’t blink as he gave the remaining guard an order.

He knelt down by my head; I closed my eyes preferring not to look at him. He managed to tighten the cloth around my hands painfully before untying them. I sat up rubbing my wrists, unable to speak. The skinny guard lay with his head in a pool of his own blood. His eyes were staring unseeing at the cave roof. I shuddered.

“Get dressed, Bess.” Miles was getting good at throwing orders around. I stood up unsteadily, then dressed as the two of them watched.

“Which one ripped your clothes off?” Closely examining my torn clothes, Miles then spun around and waved the blood stained knife at the other guard. The guard took a couple of quick paces backward.

“It was him,” I pointed to the corpse.

“Take them off and wait.” I looked at his back strong and straight as he walked out of the room. He returned within a minute carrying a shirt and pair of trousers that I gratefully accepted.

“Now, follow me and don’t speak.”

We walked, not back to Smyth as I had expected, but in a direction further away from where she lay. We walked through several more storerooms, each full to bursting with stacks of new crates. Miles turned and grabbed my arm, gripping it tightly as another much louder rumbling shook the tunnel system. That time I stayed on my feet, though the guard took a tumble. I grinned at him. I don’t think he liked that much.

We were walking quickly before the lights came back on. It was obvious Miles knew his way around the tunnels in the dark. I let him lead me, though his fingers were biting into the flesh on my arm.

Unceremoniously he dumped me in an unlit very noisy cave. The noise didn’t come from within, but from a little further down the tunnel. I sat on the floor to wait Miles’ next order. He walked off, leaving the guard with me with instructions to not touch me unless I tried something stupid.

I decided then to just sit and wait. My mind played back through the days events, I guess shock kicked in then. I shook violently as I recalled the greasy sweaty body of the now dead guard when he had crawled over me. It looked as if I wouldn’t be seeing my family again. I felt almost beaten. Just as I was picturing my kids sitting down to dinner, Miles returned.

His dark silhouette meant his expression was hidden. He strode into the room grabbed one of my hands then hauled me to my feet. He pulled me against his body, his mouth making short work of my protests. My mind reeled. He kissed me hard and quick. He tore his mouth from mine then almost dragged me from the room in his haste. His hand held mine tightly; I had to run to keep up with his long strides.

He stopped suddenly, which caused me to crash into his back. I regained my balance and looked around below in amazement.

This cave was huge and lit so well that it seemed daylight streamed in. There were hundreds of men, all dressed in loincloths as the dead guard had been. Their bodies glistened with sweat. We stood at the entrance to the room watching the movements below. There was a narrow flight of steps dug out from the rock leading downwards. A pulley system was set up and in use, lifting heavy crates up into another tunnel. The noise was horrendous.

There, in the centre of the chaos, was that which I knew to be the ultimate cause of the rumblings which constantly shook the island.



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 07



I stared at the scene below.  The rocket lay on its side, the front tip mere inches from the cave wall, the slightly wider base with its multi-booster canisters at the opposite end of the room.

I had never seen a rocket close up before.  I was fascinated by its size and repulsed at the thought of its possible uses.

Turning then, I stared at Miles’ profile.  He watched the proceedings below in an intense interested manner.  His eyes carefully surveyed the entire scene, watching each man work.

His hand tightened around mind.  “Well Bess, what do you think of all this?”

“What’s it for Miles?  What are you going to do with that rocket?”

An agonised scream rang out.  Miles cursed under his breath.  I followed the direction of his gaze.  Horrified, I watched as the whip struck, leaving skin torn on the back of a man strapped spread-eagled on a vertical triangle.  The fourth landed on the bloodied body, criss-crossing the others.  He screamed, writing in pain.

“Martin?  Oh my God!  Martin!”  I pulled my hand from Miles’ grip, then ran down the narrow stairway and raced across the chaotic cave floor to him.  Two guards stepped in front barring my way.  As I tried to push through them, they grabbed my arms pinning them behind my body.

“Let me go!”  At my anguished scream, Martin turned his head.

“Bess.  Bess is that you?”

“Yes Martin.  It’s me.”

“Don’t worry Bess.  It looks worse than it feels.”  His tiny smile was short-lived as the whip landed again.  All that escaped Martin was a groan followed by laboured breathing that hissed from his body.

My scream bounced off the walls.  I hadn’t seen Miles arrive at my side, but his hard slap to my face left me in no doubt he was seriously angry.

“Tie her.”  His curt order yielded instant results.

I struggled as one guard held me while the other bound my hands.  The tie cut into the skin around my wrists but the blood oozing from Martin’s back overrode any pain I felt.

“Why are you doing this to him?  What’s Martin done that deserves this kind of punishment?”  I demanded answers from him.

Martin answered before Miles could speak.  “I pissed him off a bit Bess.”  I think he laughed then, but the whip landed and the odd gurgle sounded more like a pained moan.

“He caught me while you were swimming and washing yesterday.  He knocked me out then dragged me here.  He wasn’t happy when I let him know his precious secret would be common knowledge soon.”

The whip landed again.  Martin grunted.

“Shut him up,” Miles growled.

“It’s too late Miles.  They’ll be here soon no matter what you do to me.”

“Gag him now!” Miles demanded.  A guard leapt forward tying a filthy piece of material around Martin’s mouth.  His eyes glittered with hatred as the whip split his skin again.

“Are you insane?”  I screamed at Miles.

“Hell yes.”  His sneering laugh chilled me to the bone.  “But I’m alive, and I’ll still be alive in ten years time unlike the majority of the world’s population.”  He ran one fingertip along my jawbone, then traced my lower lip.  “If you play your cards right Bess, you’ll still be alive too.”  Repulsed at his touch I bit his finger hard.

“You bitch!  You’ll pay for that!  Give him another twenty!”  He barked out the order to the whipper.

“No!  Punish me!  Not Martin!  Me!  He didn’t do anything.  Oh Martin, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean…” The whip landed but the grunt never came.  Martin had passed out.

Disgusted, Miles snorted and walked away.  The guard shoved me forward.  I followed, my mind spinning back to Martin’s words.  He’d said ‘they’d’ be here soon.  I wondered who he meant.  Before I could think the thought through, I found myself pushed into a room foreign to the stinking hot barrenness of the cave rooms.

I stood gaping until the guard shoved me further into the room.  The silence was incredible as he shut the doors.  It was painful after so much noise.

“Welcome to my home,” Miles smiled as he walked across plush cream carpet to the drinks cabinet.  He poured himself a whiskey and stood contemplating the contents of the glass.

I was too stunned to utter a word.  The room was fantastic.  The instant temperature drop had me shivering as my sweat soaked body cooled rapidly.  An enormous tropical fish tank stretched the length of one wall.  The pump inside was the only other noise in the room.  Dozens of bright coloured fish gently glided through the rocks and plant-life.  It was odd to feel the beginning stage of relaxation.

“Will you untie me?” I asked, our eyes meeting over the wet rim of his glass.

“You realise there’s no point running, no point tying to leave me, don’t you?”  He sipped his whiskey.

“Yes I realise that.”  I figured I’d be able to escape at some point, but it’d be easier if I complied with the madman’s wishes for the moment.

A slight nod and the guard cut the tie with his knife.

“You stink.  The shower is through there, use it.”

I bit my tongue hard to stop from making a smart comment back at him.  It was anger that brought the hot flush to my face.  The guard pushed me across the room through a door.  He pulled it shut behind me.

I should have been getting used to surprises.  But the bathroom threw me totally.  Everything was gold and white.  The taps were gold.  I looked closely at them and knew them to be real gold, not imitation.  The shower was placed in the far corner of the room.  I stepped tentatively forward and turned on the single tap.  There were no walls to the shower, simply a moveable attachment on the wall and a grate hole on the floor.  Steam from the shower rose.  Automatically a ceiling grate gently sucked the wet air out of the room.

Like the other room, the bathroom contained no windows.  But the two walls adjoining with the shower were floor to ceiling mirrors.  They must have been heated, as the steam did nothing to fog them up.

I took my clothes off.  I did stink, and although the clothes had been recently given to me, they stunk too.  I placed them in a pile and walked barefoot to the shower.  The hot water pelted down on my body.  A dispenser placed on a shelf oozed a measured amount of green shampoo into my palm.  Grateful at last to wash my hair properly, I almost moaned in pure pleasure as my hands massaged the shampoo against my head.  

I thought I heard the door open and close, but when I turned to look there was nothing amiss.  I held my head under the sprinkling water, letting the shampoo rinse right out.  The swirl of bubbly water at my feet still looked filthy, so I repeated the shampooing.  Rinsing out the shampoo, I followed with conditioner.  The smell of fresh apples encouraged my stomach to grumble loudly.  What I would give for an apple right now.

Blocking the thought of food from my mind, I held the soap against my body sliding it down slowly.  I opened my eyes, my wet hair plastered against my head, my eyes wide and staring as I watched the soap glide over my skin.  I lathered every inch of skin, until it shone pink in the mirror and then washed all over again just for the pure pleasure of being able to watch my hands in the mirrors.

As the soap slid over my heavy breasts, my nipples hardened.  I used a little more shampoo, washing my pussy with it.  Apple scent wafted around the room.  My fingers moved gently between my legs, I bit my lower lip as I slipped one fingertip inside.  It felt so good that I dropped the soap, slid to the floor of the shower area, then watched with fascination in the mirror as both hands brought my body to orgasm.  The pink flush that covered my body was not due to the heat of the water but solely to the most beautiful orgasm I’d ever had.  Watching my own hands as they played, stroked and then rubbed against my body, was a unique experience for me.  My arousal had begun with the soap slipping across hardened nipples, and ended with one finger deep inside my body.

I relaxed, enjoying the feel of the water as it pelted from high above me, landing on my body.  Closing my eyes, I gave myself up to simply feeling the peace surround me.  I wondered what it would be like to have another person showering in such a huge room with me.  I wondered what it would be like to hold and rub the soap erotically against their body, to lean forward at will and flick my tongue over their nipple…  as I wished someone would do to mine.

My imagination shattered as teeth clamped down on one nipple.  I hadn’t heard him enter the room.  But Miles was on the floor beside me, the only part of his body touching mine were his teeth holding my nipple.

“Get off!”

His answer was to tighten his grip on my nipple.  Pain sliced through my body.

“Ouch!  Get off me!”  I raised my hand ready to smack him across the face.  I screamed as his teeth bit harder.  My hand dropped to the floor.

“That’s better.”  He spoke still with his mouth holding me.  An electrical pulse zapped directly from my breast to my pussy as his tongue licked my nipple.  His body was as wet as mine was.  When his mouth closed over my nipple, I braced myself for the pain.  Exquisite deliciousness filled me as he suckled.  Instead of smacking him with my hand, I used it to hold his head against me.

Disappointment flooded me as his mouth moved away.  Realisation struck quickly though as I felt his warm mouth moving lower, nuzzling between my breasts.  His tongue flicked out, circling my belly button and moved lower.  Such slowness taunted me.  I knew where he was aiming; he took forever to arrive there.  When he did, my moan was loud and left him in no doubt I enjoyed his ministrations.  His tongue lapped my juices.  When he’d cleaned them from me, he gently probed inside.  The warm wet abrasion against my pussy lips had my hands holding his head pressing it against my body.  He slipped his tongue out, licked upward and found my clitty.  He played with her, stroking her with his tongue.  She swelled under his attention.  My body trembled and quickly he pushed his tongue deep inside.  I came for him then.  I heard him slurping and sucking my orgasm from me.  My shuddering caused me to slip until I was lying on my back, his tongue still inside me, rhythmically moving in and out.

I couldn’t stop the shuddering; I lay there with the water hitting my body revelling in the magic his mouth played.

When eventually he lifted off me and stood up, my eyes were glazed over.  I had let another man touch the most intimate part of my body.  I didn’t loathe myself for it, nor did I loathe him.

“Get up.”  Miles harsh voice ripped me back to reality.

I stood.

“Look what you’ve done.”  He let his own eyes drop briefly to his fully erect cock.

My eyes followed, then quickly I looked back up.

“Yes Bess.  It’s time now.  Suck me off.  Make me cum in your mouth.”

I wasn’t too sure I wanted to do it.  For a kick-off, his cock looked like it would choke me, add to that the bitter taste of cum.  I took a step back from him.

“Bess, either you do this voluntarily, or I force you.  Which is it to be, it’s your decision.”

It didn’t take too long to toss the options.  I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me if it meant I would do as he wanted.  I fell to the floor of the shower, my knees against the hard floor.  I had to hold his cock and bring it down to my mouth.  I knew it would be more than a mouthful, the previous time in the jungle I had sat on top of him it had felt huge as he’d rubbed it against me.

Closing my eyes, I tentatively ran my tongue around his tip, his moan far above me sounded muffled.  I opened my mouth for him, suckling slowly just on the tip.  His moans encouraged me to take him deeper, his thrust pushed his cock right inside my mouth and I gagged as he hit the back of my throat.  I pushed him away, but his strength pushed back and I felt his cock pressing harder against my throat until it slipped a little way down inside.  I couldn’t breathe.  My eyes were streaming salty tears.  I pushed my hands against his legs hard, heard his awful sneering laugh as he pulled out of my mouth.

“Nearly got it right Bess.  Stand up.”

I took a few minutes, trying to breathe deeply.  The pressure to gag had been great and I tasted the nasty vomit reflex.  I stood, drank deeply of the shower water until he pushed the tap off.

I shivered as a fluffy white bathrobe was placed over my shoulders from behind.  Arms reached around and knotted the tie.  I was pushed forward, back into the room with the fish tank.

I looked quickly towards the doorway, hoping it was open.  I should have known it wouldn’t be.  I heard a click beside me and part of one wall moved away revealing a bedroom.  The huge bed looked so inviting, I realised I could have slept for a week.  But I also realised I wouldn’t be allowed to.

Turning, I saw Miles wrapped in the arms of one of the guards.  At least I thought it was a guard until I saw her face.  Her naked body showed her bruising, but she leaned against him like a limpet to a rock.  Lorris looked over his shoulder at me and to my surprise, winked.

She looked a lot cleaner than the pile of rags I’d seen her as, last.  The wink surprised me totally.  I didn’t think she’d have the strength to stand again, let alone hang off Miles’ body in such a manner.

Miles pushed her away, looking over at me.  My startled expression evidently amused him as his laugh echoed around the room.  He whispered something to Lorris; she left him and brought me a drink.

“Drink up Bess.  The night’s young and you’ve lots to do for me.”

I took the drink from her, our hands touching.  Our eyes met and hers seemed to be telling me to stay calm, that I’d be okay.  Whatever she saw in my eyes satisfied her, for with a small nod, she backed away and stretched herself out on the bed.

I gulped the drink down knowing what the immediate future would hold.  Placing the empty glass back on the cabinet shelf, I walked over to the bed.  Miles sat himself on the only armchair in the room at the foot of the bed, leaned back and placed one ankle over his knee in the relaxed manner males tend to do.

Looking down at Lorris I discovered her natural hair colour was not unlike my own.  Still the dyed blonde head colour seemed to suit her.  I settled down on the bed beside her.  I already knew the magic her mouth could bring for me.  I didn’t stop her from undoing the tie of the bathrobe.  When she opened it, I looked anxiously across at Miles.

“Relax dear.  Enjoy it.  You’re going nowhere until I say you may.”

I knew this for the threat it really was.  With Martins lashings etched on my mind, I lay back on the bed.  I stilled my circling thoughts and calmed my breathing.  Lorris looked down at me.

“It’s okay Bess, I won’t hurt you.  I love to touch your body.  I love to feel its smoothness against my palm, like this.”  She held my breast in one hand, squeezing it gently.  I closed my eyes willing the tension to leave my body.  A warm trickle ran down between my breasts.  With my eyes wide, I sat up.

“Lay down Bess.”  Miles ordered.  “I think she needs to be tied and blindfolded Lorris.  I don’t think she can be trusted not to move.”

“I promise I won’t move.”  I hoped like hell that he wouldn’t have me tied again.  I loathed not being able to move my hands.

“Too late Bess.”  He grinned at me.

Too quickly Lorris moved.  She grabbed one of my wrists and tied it to what I discovered was a ring on the headboard of the bed.

“Lorris, please don’t do this.  Please don’t tie me.”  I wasn’t beyond begging her not to do it.

“It’s okay Bess, I won’t hurt you.  Trust me.  I’m tying you up for your own good,” this as she grabbed my other wrist and tied it to the other ring.  The rope she used rubbed against my already raw wrists.  My head was a mere inch from the headboard.

“Lift your head Bess.”  Miles ordered me from where he sat reclining.

I lifted my head to look at him.  His smile widened as he watched Lorris covering my eyes with dark material and tying it at the side of my head.  I let my head fall back, unable to see anything; I listened intently for what would happen next.

“Get the bar.”  He ordered her.

She tied one of my ankles then the other, when I tried to move them I couldn’t bring them closer together.  I swore then.

“Shit, bitch!  What the hell are you doing to me?  Get it off!”

“I can’t Bess.  Lie still.”  I knew she was serious.  The slight quiver in her voice let me know just how scared she was of Miles.

“You know what to do Ms Smyth.”  Somehow, his quiet instruction scared me to death.

Icy cold wetness landed on my breast.  My gasp was swallowed as Lorris leaned over my body licking my lips with her tongue.  When it slipped inside, I felt her warm tongue move over my teeth, and rub sensuously against my own tongue.  The cold on my breast increased and seemed to move over my body.  My nipples felt like they were climbing to get away from my body.

Her mouth left mine and I heard a kind of sloshing sound, moments before one nipple was tugged hard and something cold and metallic was placed over it.  The other was tugged and the same feeling of cold metal pressed against me.  The coldness was not too bad a feeling, but the tightness of the metal gripping my nipple caused me to arch my back and gasp.  I became accustomed to the feeling.

Warm fingertips separated my pussy lips.  Something told and metallic pressed against my tender clit.  It felt like it was being squeezed or clamped.  I writhed, trying to move away from it.

“Please stop Lorris.  Please don’t do this any more.  You’re hurting me.  I want you to stop.”

“Gag her.”

She did as Miles bid her.  A wad of cloth was placed in my mouth, I tossed my head from side to side to avoid being gagged but it happened regardless.  She tied the gag firmly.  All I could do was moan against the cloth.  As she tied it, she whispered, “It’s okay Bess, just go with it hon.”

“Tighten that one.”

My clitty was squeezed.  I grunted against the gag.

“Good.  That’s better.  I don’t want it falling off.”

The constant pressure of having my clitty squeezed had my pussy dripping in anticipation.  The light pain I felt was turning me on.  Heat flushed my face and neck.

“Ahh yes Bess, you’re feeling good.  I can tell.  Okay Ms Smyth, carry on.”

Something tickled against my thighs.  It felt light and touched me so gently I almost cooed.  Warmth covered my clitty.  She was blowing warm breath against me.  Warmth covered my nipple as she encircled it with her mouth, her tongue flicked over it very slowly.  My back arched a little off the bed.  She felt real good.  I wanted the nipple sucking to go on forever.  My pussy pulsed hard.

She sucked my nipple a little harder, taking it into her mouth.

Warm wetness on my pussy.  Her mouth hadn’t left my breast.  What was happening now?  I couldn’t figure it.  The whisky dulled my wits.  It felt too good for me to worry about working it out.  Something firm slid inside me and then slid back out.  My clitty was pinched a little tighter.  I grunted again at the surprised pain.  She bit my nipple between her teeth.  The cold wetness on my breasts began to warm.  Something light rested against me.  Something tightened on my other nipple.  She took her mouth off and tightened something there too.  The bed moved as she lifted herself off it.

Silence.

I waited for either of them to move.  Nothing happened.  I breathed deeply, the gag tasted foul.  My head rested back against the pillow.  I could wait for whatever it was that he had planned next for me.

I leapt and screamed as an electrical charge zapped through my body.  The charge zapped me again.  After the third one, my numbed brain cells told me to stop screaming.

The zapping stopped.

“That didn’t take you long to learn Bess.  Good girl.”

He was pure evil and there was nothing I could do.  He was insane. God alone knew where Lorris had disappeared to.  My breathing slowed again.  I tried asking him to not hurt me.  But the sound that came out made no sense to anyone.  The gag took care of that.




Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 07



I guess it was because I had tried to make a sound that he punished me again.  The electrical current zapped through my nipples.  I thought they’d be burned off before I ever fully succumbed to his will.

I lay quietly whimpering back against the bed.

Okay, I’d learned this lesson.  Boy though, he was sure going to suffer by the time I got hold of him.

The bed moved and I felt something either side of my tied arms.  A few seconds later, I felt warmth against my pussy.  I smelt a warm pussy close to me and I figured Lorris must be straddling me.  Her tongue licked me.  I lifted my nose and pressed it against her soft wetness.  My tongue itched to lick her, to taste her.  But the gag stopped me.  I wanted her so bad.

Pleasure melted my core as she licked me; she brought me to fever pitch repeatedly, just stopping before the throbbing took me beyond her control.  The frustration was becoming more than I could bear.

All the time I heard Miles.  His movements on the chair led me to think he was not sitting as unaffected as he had been.  The squelchy sounds were rhythmic enough for me to understand he was stroking himself.  He was enjoying watching the two of us.

Lorris moaned as she licked me.  “Oh Bess you taste so good.  You’re so wet for me.  Oh Bess I want you bad.”  She kept up a one sided conversation the whole time.  “Mmm yes Bess.  Spill a little for me lover.  I want to taste more of you.  Oh Bess, come for me.”

I was so close to coming.  I moaned when she pulled away.  She screamed for me, as I felt the electric charge shoot through me.  Then became quiet, leaning back over me, pressing her ass into my face as she pressed her face into me.  It dawned on me then.  He must have rigged her up to the electrical charge too.  I bit hard on the gag to stop from crying out.

Her tongue slipped inside me.  I smelt my own juices as well as hers.  My hips rose to meet her.  She sat up, her pussy grinding against my face.  Something big and warm pressed against my pussy lips.  It felt like I was going to tear.  I was so wet though.  I felt her hand reaching down taking some of the juices from my body; she smeared them over the end of the big thing.  It pressed hard against me then.  It did tear me, a pain like a bee-sting as he thrust with a grunt deep inside me.  God he was huge.  He pumped in and out faster and faster.  Sloppy sucking noises and I realised he had leant forward to suck one of her breasts.

She moaned as he grunted and sucked her nipple hard.  Miles thrusted constantly and deeply into my body.  He groaned loud as his thrusting finally spurted thick cum into me.  He pushed in again his juices pouring from my body.  I came with his final thrust, my pussy lips clenching against him as he finished, and I felt and heard Lorris as she moaned and orgasmed above my face.

I lay there, fully exposed and unable to see.  They both moved off me, Lorris taking the electronic nipple clamps from my breasts as she moved away.  The numbness wore off and sharp pain seared my breasts.

I heard the shower running.

“It’s okay now Bess.”  She wiped my sweating forehead with a damp cloth.  “Just do as he asks and he’ll let us go, eventually.”

I couldn’t answer her; the gag in my mouth was sodden.  I shook my head from side to side in order to get her to take it off.  But she didn’t.  I felt the edge of the bed rise and soon heard them both murmuring in the shower together.  His grunts told me she had done more than helped him wash his back.  I must have dozed then.  The events of the last 24 hours slipped away from my mind as I slipped into blessed darkness.

I woke to soft warmth against my breast.  It reminded me of the gentle tugging while I’d breastfed the kids.  Warmth spread through my body in fond remembrance.

“Take the blindfold off her.”  Reality was back.

My eyes were uncovered.  It took a few minutes for the blur to define.  Unable to speak, I stared into his cold eyes and waited to see what he’d do next.

“Yes, Bess.  I’m in complete control of everyone on this island, including you.”  His sneering had the palm of my hand itching.  I strained against the ropes.  His laughter stung.

“Take her gag off.  Beware Bess, it’s easy to replace the gag and blindfold.”

I nodded.

The gag had been tight and I licked my lips in relief.  “Please untie me too, my arms are sore.”

“I’ll untie you when I’m ready and not before.”  He wandered around the room, picked up a small pot and fed the fish.  “What do you think of my home Bess?  Do you like it?  Don’t you think it’s better than camping out in the jungle, or shacking down in one of those hot dusty caves?”  He glanced towards me.

“Yes Miles.  I like it.  It’s much cooler in here, more comfortable.”  I moved my legs but found they were still tied to the bar.

“Do you have any idea what’s happening here Bess?  Do you know what is being built out there?”

“A rocket is all I saw.”

“Ah yes, the rocket.  Do you know what it’s going to be used for?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“Hmm maybe I will tell you.  Ms Smyth, come out here.”  Lorris emerged clean and shiny from the bathroom, dressed in another of the white fluffy bathrobes.

“Yes Miles?”

“Ms Smyth, you may untie Bess’s legs and remove the bar.”

Lorris did as she was told.  Her glance told me not to anger Miles.

“Well Bess, I’ve decided to tell you my plans.  I have yet to decide whether you will come with me or whether I will leave you behind.  Perhaps your behaviour in future will determine what happens to you.”

I followed his pacing from one end of the fish tank to the other.

“The rocket you saw is part of my plan.  This island is an active volcano.  Shortly it will erupt.  Once the rocket is finished it will be settled into place directly above the volcano’s core.  The eruption will detonate the canistered boosters, which in turn will contain enough force to propel the rocket into the sky.  Once it reaches the ozone layer, it will explode disbursing chemicals which will destroy the earth’s protection.  Rolling events will be doom and gloom for any humans remaining unprotected.

“However, I have already built a home life for myself and a chosen few only a thousand miles from here.  We will be living secure and safe in our own purpose built protected village.  We will be self sufficient, needing nothing from the outside world.”

He looked across at my shocked expression.  “Oh, I see you understand exactly what the future holds for the world.”

“You must be insane!”

His laugh sounded odd.  “Not as insane as the people on the planet who continue to war with each other, encouraging greed and hatred, destroying each other.  My way, there will be people inhabiting my village who actually care about others, who care about our planet.”

“But there won’t be a planet left once you’ve destroyed the ozone layer!”

“Ah Bess, the theory is that the ozone layer, once all the problems causing its slow depletion have been removed, will rebuild itself.  I believe it will be a new beginning.  A much better beginning for us.  Only those who live protected in my village will be left to re-inhabit the world.  And only those who care about others and the planet get to live in a protected environment until the ozone layer has rebuilt itself.”

“But what about the deaths of the billions of innocent people?”  I was stunned by the insanity of his plan.  His crazed eyes darted around the room.  His expression was one of pure pleasure.  His fantastical world was very real to him.  And so totally wrong.

An intercom beside the doors buzzed.

“Yes.”  Miles curt voice answered it.

“You are needed below, Sir.”

“I’ll be right down.”  Turning to Lorris he said “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Silence returned to the room as the mechanical hiss shut the doors tight after he’d left.  I tried to fathom out how to get myself out of the middle of this madman’s scheme.

“Lorris, please untie me.  We both need to get out of here.  Can’t you see Miles is insane?”

“Oh I see it all right.  But there’s no way out.  I tried escaping before.  There’s no where to go where he won’t find us.”  Absently she rubbed the hip with the most prominent bruise.  I didn’t want to put her through that again, but had no choice.

“Lorris, for God’s sake, we have to get away from here.  He’s going to kill us both.”

“When that rocket down there shoots up into the sky, its results will kill us anyway.”

“We’ll have to stop the rocket from leaving the ground.”  My thoughts spun as I considered various ways of doing just that.  “Lorris, please just untie me.  Then we’ll see if we can get away together.  At least one of us has to try.  Maybe one can be a diversion while the other runs.  Something Martin was saying has me thinking though.  He said others would be on their way here very soon.  Do you have any idea what he meant?”

“I have an inkling,” she hesitated.

“Come on just tell me.”

“I overheard Miles talking to one of the guards.  He was saying to prepare for some kind of invasion.  It sounded as if he believed Martin belonged to some kind of ring that’s been keeping an eye on him.  Even if Martin is killed, it sounded like there were others who weren’t far from landing on the island and sorting Miles out.”

“That sounds kind of official, don’t you think?”  I asked.

“Yeah it does.  But it didn’t sound like Miles was overly worried by it.  He’s just carried on building his rocket and filling the central core with chemicals.”

“Okay this is most likely going to be our only chance.  Untie me.  We have…”

I stopped midstream.  The room was moving.  We heard a distant rumbling.  Lorris shrieked, ran forward and untied my wrists.  I thanked God then for pushing the volcano along.  Quickly I dressed, grabbing clothes from the nearest drawer.  I balanced by keeping my feet apart.  As the room increased in moving, I ran for the doors.  They seemed sealed shut.  Quick as a flash I was over at the drink cabinet.  I grabbed the biggest metal object I could find, it happened to be a corkscrew.  I guessed Miles didn’t keep a tool box in his room.

I raced back to the doors, with Lorris staring and unable to move.  I tried poking the corkscrew between the two metal doors, but obviously that wouldn’t work.  In frustration, I hunted around the room for a bigger tool.  Nothing in sight.  I ran back to the doors, and idea formed.  I punched the intercom, within seconds the doors slid open, a guard stood facing us, his gun aimed directly at my belly.

“Please help!  What’s going on?”  I looked all innocent and scared while I shouted over the sudden noise.  “What’s happening?  The room is shaking!”

“Get back into the room.  There’s nothing wrong.  It’ll stop soon.”  He prodded me with the gun.  Quickly and without further thought, I grabbed the end of his gun and pushed it sideways.  It went off, a stream of water escaping from the perfectly round hole in the fish tank.  Before he caught his balance, I hit him over the side of the head with my palm.  I knew I was dead when the gun moved and he aimed it at my head.  I saw his trigger finger tightening its grip.  A quick sharp noise and blood trickled from a hole between his eyes.  It turned to a torrent; I turned to vomit.

Lorris grabbed my arm, pulled me to my feet.  “Get up, follow me.”

Grateful she’d finally come through for me, I stood shakily and forced my feet to follow her.  Out through the double doors we ran, along the short corridor and a sharp right turn found us in a wide sparsely lit tunnel I hadn’t been in previously.  I followed her.  We half ran being careful though as the tunnel was as slippery as the others had been.  I hadn’t even noticed when the rumbling stopped.  It seemed the further down the tunnel we ran, the more distant the noise was.  The tunnel wasn’t shaking.  The air seemed to be coming clearer too.  I didn’t dare ask her where the tunnel went.  I just ran behind her picking up speed as the tunnel inclined downwards.

The last two minutes of running were done on my butt.  I slipped and fell and rolled all the way to the tunnel entrance, managing to stop by grabbing hold of a prominent jagged rock by the tips of my fingers.

“Lorris!”  I screamed, my feet dangling way below.  The tunnel opening was halfway up the side of a cliff.

“It’s okay.  I’m right here,” she hissed from the side.

I looked to my left and saw her standing on a tiny ledge, more of an outcrop of rock really.

“Help me Lorris!”

“Be quiet, they’ll hear you.”  She took a tentative step toward me, then bent forward stretching her hand out to me.  “Grab my hand!”

“I can’t let go of the rock!  I’ll fall!”

“You have to let go one hand so I can pull you up.  I can’t reach you any other way.  Come on Bess, you can do it.”

“You’ll never pull me.  I’m twice your size, we’ll both end up minced meat at the bottom of the cliff!”

“For God’s sake Bess, there is no time to argue.  Let go of the rock and grab my hand.”

Without hesitating further, I let go.  With almost super human effort, she grabbed my hand and began pulling me along and up.  My feet kept searching for foot holds.  The rocks fell away and my feet scraped against the cliff.

“Pull harder damnit!”  I hissed.

Her face went as red as Martin’s bloodied back.  I thought she’d explode with the exertion, but she pulled slowly and slowly I managed to help.  Within what seemed an hour, but I knew were only minutes, I was balancing on the ledge beside her.

“Now what?” I gasped as I tried to get my breath back.

“Now, we go upwards.”

“Are you insane?  We’ll never get up there!”  I squinted against the harshness of the sun directly above us.

“We have no choice.  If we try to go down, they’ll see us when they look out from the edge of the tunnel.  They’ll also look to the sides.  But they would never dream of looking up.  That’s how they caught me last time.  I tried to climb down the cliff.  Never got any further than that little stubby tree there.”  She pointed at a shrub not more than a few feet below us.  “Come on.  Let’s go.”

Still panting for air, I followed her as we began the slow process of climbing upwards.  I didn't dare look down.  I was never any good with heights.  I didn’t see any point in telling Blondie that little fact either.  All I concentrated on was making sure I had a good handhold and even better foot holds.

It took a long time, but we did make it to the top.  Just as we pulled ourselves over the edge, we heard shouting voices below us.  We looked cautiously over the edge and saw a couple of guards waving their guns around searching for us.  To give Blondie her credit, they never once looked up.  For the meantime, it appeared we were relatively safe.



Blood, Sweat, & Fear Ch. 08



"I can't believe we made it," I gasped, then collapsed on the ground. From the top of the mountain, the island stretched out far below. The waters of the Pacific glistened deep blue as the sun beat mercilessly down. It was a little cooler at this height, being so exposed on the top of the now smouldering mountain; the sea breeze cooled the sweat on my body.

Blondie joined me on the ground; obviously, she was as unfit as I, judging the way that her body shook from the exertion. 

"We should have taken his food."

She was right. I hadn't thought about food for most of the day. With Blondie mentioning it, I felt the bile working on nothing and the cramps begin to build again. Groaning, I turned onto my stomach, resting my head on my arms.

"Thanks for reminding me Lorris. By the way, where did that gun come from? When the guard pointed his gun at me, I knew that was the end. When I saw blood pouring from between his eyes, I couldn't quite believe it. Do you still have it?"

"No. I got it out of the drawer by the fish tank. Miles didn't realise, but he'd left the drawer open after he took out the fishfood. The glint of the grey metal caught my eye. I left it there. Forgot about it actually, until that guard waved his around. And no, I don't still have it. It fell over the edge when I moved across the tunnel entrance to the ledge. I didn't see where it landed."

"Pity, we could do with a weapon. I left my gun by the tunnel entrance." We lay quietly for a moment.

"I wonder how Martin is doing. Do you think he's still alive?" she asked.

Visions of the criss-cross pattern on his back oozing dark blood, of the whipper sneering as the whip fell, of Martin grunting in pain, all crossed my mind. I wondered if he got all of the extra 20 lashes Miles had ordered.

"He's still alive. I feel it. Anyway, Miles needs him."

"Needs him for what?" She sat up waiting for my answer.

"Think about it for a minute. Martin told Miles someone was on their way here. Knowing Martin, he wouldn't have said anymore than that to Miles. That must be why he was getting the whipping. Beating the answers out of him. Miles seemed to be pretty vexed though. I guess Martin wasn't planning on saying anything else."

"I hope he's still ali…" A shot of steam flew straight into the air from beside her. It missed her by inches. She screamed and jumped up.

The rumbling moved up through the ground. My head banged against my arms as the ground shook from the strain of containing the volcano.

"Get down! Lay flat!" I screamed, as the silly bitch chicken danced two feet away. "Lorris get down!" She dropped to the ground, close to me. The steam had forced itself through several cracks now. She was petrified. Hell, so was I. I pulled her close to me and we lay together as flat as we could until the rumbling eased.

"We have to get down from here!" I shouted and jumped up searching for an easier way to get down than the way up had been.

"Bess, look!" Turning, I looked in the direction she pointed. In the eastern sky, with the sun directly behind, a black blob was all I could see. I held my hand, shielding the sun and squinted, watching as the dark shape slowly grew. I heard the rotor blades before the rumbling had completely stopped.

"Oh, thank God!" Lorris jumped up and waved her arms around madly.

"Lorris stop! We don't know if their friendly or not!"

"Oh God Bess! What do we do? There's nowhere up here to hide!"

"Stay low. Wait and see if they get close enough so we can tell. Get down low!"

We both dropped to the ground. There was nothing to hide us from their view. I figured the way the helicopter was slowly coming towards us, that they'd probably seen us already.

It felt like waiting for fate to make the next move. I found myself wondering how such a huge helicopter managed to stay airborne. I watched as it came to rest in the sky above us. The pilot seemed to be struggling to hold it steady. The breeze we had felt was obviously much stronger where the chopper was, probably the updraft from the mountain's side. I had no idea how to tell if its occupants were good guys or bad guys.

"It's okay. You are safe. We will pull you up."

With all the dust and steam flying around I couldn't be sure I'd heard the voice from the loud speaker. I looked across at Blondie. Her eyes lit up and she jumped up, her hair blowing in a tangled mass around her face.

"Get up Bess! They're here to save us. Get up!" She screamed above the noise and pulled me to my feet. I dropped low as the ground shook again, and then looked up praying whoever it was would hurry. I didn't think the volcano would hold out much longer.

Two harnesses were lowered from the chopper; a man in camouflage uniform was strapped into one. He motioned toward us. Careful to stay low, we made our way closer to the edge where the chopper waited.

I pushed Blondie forward, letting her know she was going first. She turned, hugged me tightly and quickly then was held by the rescuer as he harnessed her and gave the thumbs up for them to be winched upwards.

It took forever as I watched, holding my breath until I saw her safely aboard. The chopper waved around in the air, wind turbulence seemed to be increasing. The pilot pulled the heavy machine away and slowly moved back. Holding my breath again, I watched as he returned for me. I winced as the wind threw him into the side of the mountain. The pilot pulled up and began a slower descent.

I reached up, was grabbed and held fast until the harness snapped tight around me. He crushed me against his body as my feet left the ground. Wind tried to tear us apart, but he held me in a vicelike grip.

The winch pulled us upwards. As the chopper moved away from the wind turbulence, the line steadied. We spun a little, giving me a 360-degree view. Far out at sea a handful of ships sat. I hadn't noticed them before. I guessed the top of the mountain was wider than I'd thought when I'd been standing on it. The smouldering mountain seemed far below by the time I was roughly hauled onto the chopper. My stomach heaved and I forced myself to concentrate on the two pairs of hands that dragged me into the machine and undid the harness. A pair of earmuffs snapped onto my ears and mercifully the hellish noise of the chopper's engines dulled.

Before I could think straight, I found myself sitting, staring at Blondie's bemused face directly opposite. Two soldiers dressed in camouflage uniform flanked Lorris and our rescuer sat opposite her, beside me.

I grinned. Lorris grinned back.

Our rescuer grabbed my arm for attention and I looked in the direction he pointed. I gasped. The chopper pilot had taken us to the edge of the crater. Hot molten lava was beginning to ooze over the far side of the crater.

The caves below must have been to one side of the central core. Still, I figured they wouldn't be able to withstand the incredible pressure for much longer.

The chopper pilot pulled quickly away and several minutes later we had landed on the biggest ship I'd ever seen.

My head was pushed down as we ran, guided by our rescuers towards a hatchway. The earmuffs were taken from my head as I was pushed roughly forward into another room then I found myself standing in front of a man in uniform. My rescuer spoke, "Here she is, Captain."

"Thank you Jefferies. That will be all." Jefferies saluted then left the room as I spun around expecting to see Blondie, shocked that she wasn't with me.

"Where's Lorris?" I demanded of the Captain.

"She's with another Officer, she'll be fine," he smiled. "Now would you tell me dear, what's been happening on the island?"

"I don't even know who you are. You could be one of Miles' cohorts for all I know." My eyes darted around the room, noting its size and basic contents. It looked like a storeroom with a pile of boxes stacked against two of the walls and a couple of clipboards hanging from hooks. The Captain was sitting on the desk, one leg swinging a little as he watched me.

"Bess, I'm the Captain. I'm not going into details, but suffice it to say that I'm here to help you. I need to know what's happening on the island. My men need to be briefed and I plan on putting them ashore as soon as possible. Will you help me?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I know everything there is to know about you and your friends. I also know that the longer you take to help me, the less likely the chances are of getting Martin off the island alive."

Hearing Martin's name shocked me more than hearing my own name had. Immediately in my mind's eye I saw Martin tied, bleeding profusely from the whipping on his back, head fallen forward and unconscious.

"What do you want to know?" I looked at the Captain with eyes narrowed.

"Whatever you can tell me. Be brief."

"Miles is running the show. He's making a weapon. A rocket. It's nearly finished from what I saw."

"What does he plan on doing with it?"

"I gathered that he intended using the volcano to push the rocket into the ozone layer. He's going to make the ozone layer disintegrate. He's set himself up some kind of dome village where he intends living until the ozone repairs itself."

"I see. Well that sounds the same as the information we already have. How many people are working for him?"

"It looked pretty crowded inside the mountain. There were men everywhere. I didn't see any women. I'd guess maybe 500." I wiped the back of my hand over my eyes.

"When you were travelling through the island, did you find any large clearings?"

"No, we walked through dense bush most of the time. Any clearings were only a few yards wide," I paused and thought for a moment. "I guess it would be possible to make a clearing, but you'd need lots of people to hack the bush away."

The captain's leg swung a little further out as he sat thinking. His hands were entwined and rested on his lap.

"I need your help Bess. I need you to return to the island with a group of men. I can only tell you that we hope to get into the cave area, dismantle the rocket and get Martin out safely. Would you show the men the way in from the ground?"

"God you want me to go back in there? Are you mad? That volcano is going to blow up at any moment!"

"I know that. We need to go now. Will you help?" His eyes bore into mine as he waited for my response.

I nodded resolutely, "Yes, I'll help."

"Good. Now, have you eaten?"

At the thought of food, my stomach turned somersaults. "I'm starving. We've lived on next to nothing since we crashed."

"Right, come with me and we'll get you something to eat and a change of clothes. A uniform like the others."

"I'll be glad to get out of this stuff." I followed the Captain until we reached a small room with a heavily laden food table. Lorris was already there. She jumped up when she saw me, her face full of sandwich.

"Oh Bess, thank God you're all right," she flung her arms around me. Her clean clothes scraped against my bare skin. "Come and eat."

After stuffing myself with food in a most unladylike manner, then drinking a huge glassful of water, I was taken to shower and change. When I emerged 15 minutes later, I walked with a group of men dressed in the same gear I was, to a landing craft. I'd only ever seen one in my kid's toy box, somehow the real thing looked very scary. It was much bigger than I'd ever imagined and by the time I was on it, it was filled to bursting point with troops and equipment and stunk of grease.

The men didn't speak as the craft travelled to the beach, nor did they speak as they left the craft and quickly found hiding places amongst the dense bush. I went with the third group of men, I didn't have a gun, but each one of them did. They carried them ready for firing.

It took half an hour of scrambling through the bush to reach the cave entrance. They already knew the way to it; I had guessed all they needed me for was heading them in the right direction once we were inside the cave. As we waited for a break in the stream of half clad men leaving the tunnel system, I wished I was Lorris. She'd had the gall to smile nicely at one of the Officers and he'd decided he wanted her to stay on the ship.

I didn't particularly want to think of how she'd be draping herself all over the Officer, nor did I want to think of how his body would be reacting to her well learned tricks of the trade. How she'd most likely be touching him, undressing him and giving him whatever he asked for, and knowing her, it'd be one hell of a blowjob.

I pushed all thoughts of Blondie and her shenanigans to one side, forcing myself to concentrate on the tunnel entrance. The stream of men leaving was thinning now. One of the uniformed soldiers scrambled on all fours towards me. He stopped and spoke as he reached my side.

"Right, Bess. This next part is yours to play. We need the most direct route through the tunnel system into the central cave where the rocket is. Are you ready?"

I gulped. I didn't want to go back inside the caves. He saw the look on my face and spoke again. "We need to get Martin out before the volcano gives us no choice but to leave him there."

That spurred me into action. "Okay, let's get in there. Will you stay beside me?"

"Yep I'm here." His steel grey eyes dropped to my chest and he grinned. Looking down I realised my buttons had come undone. I fumbled with them then flushed with embarrassment as I realised what the look on his face meant. Ignoring him, I moved forward toward the tunnel. He caught up with me as I reached the entrance. Glancing back I couldn't see if the rest of the men were with us or not. I figured they were making use of what little camouflage the bush gave them. I guessed they'd been given specific tactics to follow. I stepped forward to the cave entrance then leant against the wall peering into the darkness.

A bare hand slipped inside my shirt. I stood still, shocked as I realised the hand was moving upwards.

"Get off me!" I hissed as I turned around. My hand smacked hard against Miles' smug face. "Get the fuck off me!" I screamed then found his dirty strong hand clamped against my mouth and his arms pulled me back into the undergrowth.

"Shut up! Shut up Bess, or you're one really dead woman," Miles hissed in my ear.

Fright kept me silent. My eyes widened as he moved slightly and I saw his intention clearly marked on his face.

"Yes, bitch. You're going to die this time. Where are all the troops? Where have they gone?"

I shook my head. I didn't know. I'd assumed they were behind me.

"Tell me now, bitch!" He waved a small deadly looking knife in front of my eyes. Horrified I tried to free myself from his grasp. I pushed away from him with my hands, kicked out at his body with my feet. But he was far stronger; he clamped his hand tighter on my mouth, dropped the knife and wrapped his other hand around my neck pressing in.

He was strangling me! I struggled, screamed against his hand then clamped my teeth against his palm.

His yelp of pain ended quickly when an odd thud rang in my ear. He slumped heavily against my body, his hand falling from my mouth. I screamed then. Screamed out so loud that they would have heard me back on the ship.

"It's okay, Bess." The soldier in his fatigues never looked so appealing as he did then. "He's dead."

Speechless, I heaved myself up. I grimaced when I looked down at Miles. His eyes were wide and staring, seeing nothing; his mouth was open, wide open and blood trickled from the edge of it. There was an increasing pool of blood underneath him. I assumed he'd been stabbed. For a moment, I was tempted to kick him hard; my hatred for him overwhelmed me. I looked back into the soldier's face; his eyes softened a little. With a tiny smile of encouragement, and small squeeze on my arm, he propelled me further into the tunnel.

"Okay Bess, lead us to the rocket."

On unsteady legs, I did just that. I led them directly into the central core of the cave system. We avoided meeting any half-dressed men in the tunnels as we managed to slip into empty caves along the way. When we reached the main cave, we found it virtually empty. The few men left were quickly taken by the soldiers and led from the cave system.

"Martin!" I shouted rushing towards the bloodied figure. "Martin, it's me, Bess!" He didn't move. My heart stopped. I held my breath bending to look at his face. Nothing moved. "Oh, Martin! Martin, please don't be dead. Please wake up. Martin!" Tears streamed down my face as I shook his body.

"Ahurggghh."

"Martin? Martin! Oh thank God you're still alive. Hold on dear, we'll have you out of here in no time!"

Two soldiers roughly pushed me out of the way and undid the tight ropes from Martin's wrists and ankles. As he slipped to the floor, one soldier caught him lifted him up over his shoulder. Martin grunted in pain then slumped into unconsciousness.

"Come on Bess we have to hurry now." The soldier grabbed my arm shoving me forward through the tunnel system. He shouted for his men to follow us. Those around the rocket gave the 'okay' signal, dropped their tools and sprinted to join us. The mountain groaned. Great huge creaking noises rumbled in our ears and the ground shook with rage.

We had only made it half way across the sea in the landing craft when the mountain spurted fire high into the sky. In dead silence, we watched as Mother Nature wrecked her revenge on the tiny island and it's dead occupant. A shout went up from the second landing craft; then there was noise all around me as soldiers and half-dressed men shouted out with relief at being speared from a hellish death.

Martin woke three days later, and blinked. I stood in front of him, my face close to his.

"Gidday stranger," I quietly spoke.

"Gidday survivor," he croaked his voice barely audible.

"It's good to see you awake, Martin."

"Lean close." I did as he requested.

"Would you like," he paused, then inhaled a ragged painful breath before continuing. "To come away with me and live on a tropical island?" I sat up, then burst out laughing as he winked and laughed with me.

"Sure! I'll bring the muesli bars!"