ArthurEliosChapters 6-9 |
Chapter 6
Survival Instincts
The next morning the boys awoke to the first blush of dawn showing in the sky and the soft swishing sound of the gentle waves lapping at the shore; the three heads poked out of the top of their warm and comfortable sleeping bag and sniffed the freshness of the salty air. A slight dampness from the morning dew had settled on the outside of their sleeping bag and the light chill made all three shiver slightly and wriggle closer to each other to try and keep the body warmth a little longer.
It took them a little while to orient themselves and then ready everything for their next move; after their meal they rechecked their quads and supplies and after eating, were ready to move out on another search towards the far end of the shore where they could see in the distance the face of a cliff. Had they been walking it would have taken them more than a dei to make it but on the quads and at a leisurely pace they were close well before high sun.
The boys had been looking out to sea most of the time they had been travelling and the number of broken cave systems buried in the water surprised them; although most were crumbling and showed no signs of the gles that they had been used to seeing in the land based caves; these were definitely ancient cave systems but why they would build them out in the Oshun was a mystery to the boys.
Their concentration was so riveted on the Oshun that they almost missed the movement of dark spots at the top of the distant sand hills and it was only at the last minute that Elvan saw the movement out of the corner of his eye; he quickly pushed the button that made the quad beep to call attention of his friends; as they turned to him he pointed to the hill and shouted out loud so he could be heard above the noise of the quad.
The boys stopped and looked ahead at the line of Renegs on the hill top; they had also stopped and were looking down at the three boys on their strange artefacts; there were over ten of the Renegs and the boys were not about to try to challenge them here in the open; with a shout, Elios turned his quad and took off in the opposite direction from the mounted men on the hill top; the other two boys were quickly behind him.
The sound of the quads drowned out the shouts and yells of the Renegs as they urged their haws forward in an attempt to catch the fleeing boys; Elam took the second place and Elvan the rear as the boys pressed down on the speed button under their thumbs; the Renegs were at full gallop as they descended from the sand hill after the fleeing boys; their yells and shouts echoed down the shore as they tried to close in on their escaping prizes.
Elios, being lighter than the other boys was slowly pulling ahead but he could also just hear the beat of the chasing hooves as the Renegs did their best to catch up; they all kept their eyes on the sand in front of them; until Elvan felt a hot burning sensation on his thigh and the distinct sound of metal hitting metal; Elvan looked down as he raced across the sand; on the top of his thigh was a deep cut that was bleeding but in front of that was the back half of a crossbow bolt sticking out of his fuel tank and the cold wetness of the fuel spilling out over his injured leg.
Just as Elvan looked up to call out to his disappearing friends, his quad hit a bump in the sand and at the speed he was travelling he was ejected high into the air and came smacking down hard on the sandy shore; as he landed his instinct was to curl up into a ball and roll to avoid breaking anything; to the side his quad spun into the air as well and, as the fuel sprayed from the ruptured tank there was a flash and a deep boom sound as it caught fire and exploded in a ball of fire.
Elvan rolled to his feet and reached for his Beretta as he settled onto one knee to steady his shaking hands; the shock of the sudden tumble had not had time to take any effect on his nervous system as yet but the fast approaching Renegs were not going to give him a chance to run; far ahead Elios and Elam heard the sound of the explosion and slowed enough to turn around just in time to see the Renegs galloping down on the lone figure kneeling in the sand.
Elvan watched the approaching danger and, just as they had practised at the bunker; he began to follow the fig pictures, pull back slide, safety off, hold with both hands firmly, squeeze gently and slowly. The loud bang would have startled Elvan had they not had the practice; his first shot missed the approaching group but settled his nerves; with slow deliberate actions he continued to fire off his shots until the Beretta clicked empty; he had hit two haws which had thrown their riders; one of which didn't move any more and the other was struggling to stand; he also hit two of the Renegs; one falling over the side of his haws and the other grasping his stomach.
Elvan reached for another mag but before his fingers could release the button on his webbing, he felt a stunning blow to the side of his head and all he could see was the sand coming up at his face before he blacked out and lay still. Elios and Elam were in the process of turning around the quads when the first bangs of Elvan's Berretta were heard above the noise; they watched in fear and fascination as they saw two haws stumble and their riders fall badly to the sand followed by one more Reneg and then another wobbling on his haws.
What upset the two young boys the most was the sight of Elvan falling under the blow of a big Reneg as he swung a blunt weapon at the smaller boys head; Elvan collapsed and the sight brought a new fear to the remaining boys; should they go and try to help him or try to escape before they were all caught; the confusion from the sudden and deadly attack made it difficult to make a decision.
Finally Elios called Elam over as the Renegs had stopped and circled around Elvan's limp body.
"We have to save him; we can't leave him for them to kill."
"I know but what can we do, there's got to be more than ten of them and only two of us?"
"Let's get up into the sand hill away from their sight and then we can plan."
"Ok."
The boys turned their quads around and raced further down the shore before they turned up into the hills to hide and plan. As they rode over the hill and out of sight of the group on the shore, the first tears began to appear; both boys sucked in big gasps of air to calm themselves; they needed to be calm and concentrate on the task ahead; they both knew that Elvan was in grave danger and to break down now would not help him.
"We've got to get him free; they're going to rape him and kill him or take him for a slave, we can't let that happen," stated Elios.
"I know, but what can we do, there's only the two of us, Elios?"
"We've got those rifles we can find a place and try to get as many as we can and hope they run away so we can get Elvan."
"Do you think it could work?"
"Yes, they only have crossbows and have to get close before they are any good; we can stay well back and if they come after us we can jump on the quads again and escape then turn back and do the same again; their haws will be slow going up the hills so all we have to do is find a place where we are above them and then move before they can catch us again."
"How are we going to do it?"
"Let's fill up the quads and check the rifles and put the small red lights on the rifles " the boys had discovered during their long practices, that the red light under their rifles made it easier to hit the targets. "It'll make it easier to hit what we are looking at. We'll go along here behind the hill until we're close to where they are; if we keep low we can sneak up to the top of the hill and try from there; we will have to leave the quads running in case we have to make a run for it."
Elam nodded his head in agreement of Elios plan and turned to get his quad and rifle ready as Elios did the same; as they worked away they heard the first high pitched cry from along the shore; it was made faint by the distance and height of the sand hills but they knew what it meant to their friend Elvan.
While he worked on his gear, Elios mind worked out their problem; they had to find more boys to live with them and train; with just three of them they were open to attack from bigger numbers; that would be their next search, to find more boys to come with them to Bunker #42.
At last the two boys were as ready as they could be and so; with their quads moving slowly to keep the noise down; they made their way along the base of the hill until they thought they were close to where the Renegs were holding Elvan. Both boys crawled carefully to the top of the hill and with slow deliberate movements slowly poked their heads above the sand hill; below them the sight nearly made them jump up and run down to help Elvan.
The group of Renegs had Elvan down on the sand; even from the distant vantage point the boys could see he had been badly beaten and was now the object of multiple rapes; worse than that the Renegs had made him lay on his back and two of them were holding his legs up while a third was pounding into him with savagery. This position was the worst one that a boy could be in; when boys played their games it was always agreed that they were boys and would never have sex in the same position that a breeder is put; that was not only a disgrace but was the worst insult that could be given to any boy; the Renegs were delighting in the total degradation of their captive as Elvan's cries and screams went unheard by his attackers.
Elios looked at Elam with a stoniness in his eyes that boded hate and destruction to the gang below them; the boys slowly eased their rifles< over the lip of the hill making sure not to send any loose sand down the hill to warn the Renegs; switching on the red light under the rifle they took their first aim at the group; Elios picked the biggest man as it was more likely to be the leader; while Elam took aim at the man on top of Elvan.
"Ready?" Whispered Elios.
"Yes."
The resounding crack of the two shots could be heard along the length of the shore as the two boys pulled the triggers; the large man that Elios could see through the eye piece of the scope suddenly took a step back and clutched his chest with both hands; he looked down and saw the blood seeping between his fingers and then his eyes rolled up into his head as his knees buckled under him; the rapist had no such chance as Elam's shot took him in the centre of the back and exploded out through his chest to spray Elvan with his blood; this Reneg had only time to mutter something under his breath and then rolled over sideways, pulling out of Elvan at the same time.
The remaining Reneg stood rooted to the spot at the sharp unknown sound; the haws however, knew danger when they heard it and all of them began to bolt for safety up among the hills leaving their riders on foot; two more crashes sounded out loud along the now still and quiet shore line; two more Renegs crumpled onto the dry sand; the remaining eight looked about for their haws and only then realised that they were at the mercy of the invisible killers with their strange new weapons.
One of the Renegs ran towards Elvan with the boys combat knife raised high in the air to strike down the boy and finish him off before any more of his fellow Renegs fell; he never made it to the boy as the twin sounds echoed around the shore again; the Renegs were down to six and still confused as to where the death was coming from; two more crashes and they were reduced to four; it was time to call a halt to the carnage so they fell to the sand on their knees with their hands empty and high in the air hoping the loud crashing and death would stop but it didn't; two more fell never to rise again, of the last two one was now crying out for the magicians to show themselves; the other one lashed out with his hand and knocked the younger one to the ground only to feel a hot knife pierce his chest and then he fell to the sand not moving anymore; the last Reneg curled up in a tight ball and sobbed loudly as he waited for his end as well; the magicians were showing no mercy for Renegs.
A soft groan came from the young boy they had captured as he tried to roll over and sit up but the effort defeated him and he collapsed back onto the sand in pain; the young Reneg didn't want to move so he turned his tear stained eyes to look at the boy; as he did he saw movement from the sand hills above him; another young boy was coming down the hill carrying a strange black pipe in two hands; when he was at the bottom of the hill he knelt down and pointed the pipe at the Reneg; when this was done another boy appeared at the top of the hill and began to run down it.
Elios knelt at the bottom of the hill and kept the red light on the chest of the last Reneg; why they had not killed him as well neither Elios or Elam knew; they had just decided to stop firing, Elios never took his eyes off the Reneg as Elam crouched down beside him and took up the same stance with his rifle pointed at the Reneg as Elios ran over to where Elvan lay groaning on the sand, one glance and Elios was ready to kill the last Reneg.
Both Elvan's eyes were closed shut and very quickly getting blacker and blacker; there were small cuts over his chest from a sharp knife and bruises over most of his slender body; from his boy hole there was blood and man juice leaking and his thighs were also bruised; Elios knelt beside his friend and tried to talk to him but his life long friend only tried to hide his battered face from him; the ignominy and shame of being raped like a breeder was having its effect along with the serious injuries. Elios slowly put his arm around the boy as Elam came up beside him still pointing the rifle at the Reneg who was still face down on the sand shaking in fear.
Normally the Rover boys would not fight back with the Renegs but these two very young boys had not only fought back but had killed all of their enemies with some new and strange weapon the Reneg had never seen nor heard of before; he could see the two boys looking down at their friend but he was not going to chance them seeing him move so he stayed as still as he could; although the sobs were hard to control he tried not to bring attention to himself; he had only been with the Renegs for two yarn and didn't want to die yet so he waited for the boys to make the first move.
Elios left Elvan to Elam and walked over to the Reneg; with his rifle he poked the body on the ground.
"Turn over; have you got any weapons on you?"
The Reneg shook his head and rolled over and sat up to face the young boy with the pipe; it touched his skin and he felt a faint heat to the end of it. Elios stared at the Reneg and then gave a slight gasp; the Reneg was only a few yarn older than they were; he was dark haired so he wasn't from their Breeding Cave; he was also very dirty and his hair had not seen water in a long time.
"Why did you try to hurt our friend?"
"I… I didn't want too; that's what they did to me; then they made me join them or I would be killed; I… I like your friend, but, well I couldn't stop them."
"What's your name?"
"Mita."
"Are there any more Renegs around here close by?"
"No, no more; we were on a hunting search and only stumbled onto you when we heard those funny wheel things on the shore; there's a big group about one dei away from here."
"How many is there?"
"I don't know for sure but about five plus ten at least."
Taking a short time to think, Elios continued.
"Turn around and put your hands behind you; don't make any other moves or I will kill you."
The young Reneg just did as he was told and waited for the young boy to tell him what to do next; taking his old sling from around his neck, Elios quickly tied the Renegs hands behind him; once that was done he left Mita where he was and went back to the now calmer Elvan; his shirt was torn and laying on the sand; Elios picked it up and ran down to the Oshun to wet it and try to clean Elvan up a little; once he was back he asked Elam to go back over the hill and bring their quads back one at a time; they would have to take Elvan back to their home cave and treat him properly there; he was sure the ancients would have some sort of medicine to help his friend; of the young Reneg he was not sure yet as what to do.
Elam left to get the first quad as Elios continued to clean the cuts on Elvan's chest; he then carefully tried to clean the blood and man juice from between his friends legs; when he had finished Elvan was calmer but still not able to look his friend in the eye from his shame at being taken like a breeder; the rape had been bad enough as had the beating but the shame he felt was far more disastrous to his sense of being a boy.
Elam brought the first quad up as Elios finished with his cleaning duties and then Elam turned again to get the last one; they would have to double up to get Elvan back to the home cave; Elam still had a hatred for the remaining Reneg and was only stopped by Elios from killing him immediately; Elios explained that they might learn a lot from the young Reneg but they would have to keep him from either escaping or attacking them on the way to home cave.
Elios had thought out a plan to take the Reneg with them; Elvan would have to ride with Elam and Elios would tie Mita's hands to the rear bars of his quad; they would have to make their home cave in what was left of the dei so they could help Elvan; they would refuel here and head off at top speed for their base; Elios went and picked up Elvan's webbing and Beretta before going over to Mita.
"We have to get our friend back to our cave; you'll come with us but if you try anything I'll let Elam kill you slowly so no funny tricks."
Mita could only nod his head; he would rather be a slave to these boys than be dead; besides, they had so much ancient artifacts they must be very dangerous; maybe if he did as they said he would get something to eat at last; it had been two dei since he had been allowed to eat by the Renegs and he had little energy left to fight these boys.
When Elam had returned they fuelled their two remaining quads and sat Elvan on the back of Elam's making him as comfortable as they could for the long run back home; Elios told Mita to sit on the back of his quad facing backwards; he then took both his sling and the one Elam had and tied Mita's hands to the metal pipe at the rear so he could not try and attack Elios as he drove the quad; there was not much space but it would have to do; besides he was only a Reneg captive so he would just have to put up with it.
"If you try to escape I'll drag you along behind until your dead so don't fall off, we're going to be going fast so hang on tight to that pipe," Elios told him.
Mita nodded his head in understanding but his stomach was gurgling with fear at the strange artefact that the boys used; it alone was terrifying enough he was not going to take any chance of being dragged behind it as well. Elios gave Elam the signal and they took off for home; the speed built quickly as they pushed as hard as they could on the speed button; there was no time for being careful; their friend needed help as soon as they could give it to him.
The dark was approaching quickly as they hit the flat sand of their valley; with a quick burst of speed the boys made a final short dash for the door to their home cave. Elios made sure that Mita was still looking backwards as he got off the quad and went to open the door; all Mita could do was sit there and wait as he first heard a deep rumbling sound and then a small vibration from the pipes he was sitting on.
Elam went in first followed by Elios who stopped to close the door and then took off after Elam to park the quad in the garage; there he helped Elam take the now almost unconscious Elvan from the back of the quad and helped him to support Elvan down to the ablution room; there they could wash him and then put him in one of the bunks to rest as they tried to find a way to help him from all the manuals.
Mita tried to look around this new huge cave; there was so much in it and he didn't understand any of it; none of it had been seen by him before and although his hands were hurting from the tight skin thongs used to tie him up; he thought it better not to say anything unless the boys got angry and killed him; he sat and waited as far off noises came to his ears; the sound of water made his dry throat constrict and somewhere he could smell some sort of food being cooked. Mita's biggest amazement was the amount of light in the cave; it shone down strongly from long gles strips high up in the roof; there was a real freshness about the cave that he had never felt or smelt before in all the caves he had been in.
After what seemed forever; Mita heard the sound of approaching steps; looking up he saw the smaller boy come into the cave, in his hand he had another black artefact and it was pointed right at his head; it was smaller than the long pipe he had seen earlier but looked just as dangerous in the smaller boy's hand. Elios went over to Mita and stared at him, his hand holding the Beretta was still and firm as he pointed it at the Renegs head.
"I'm going to untie you, you do anything silly and I will put a hole in your head, understand?"
Mita nodded his head; besides, the way he was feeling without food for so long he had little energy left to try and fight this boy; the boy smelt clean and looked as though he had just eaten; he had to find out more about this new cave system; maybe, just maybe, if he was good and worked hard for them, they would let him stay; he had not enjoyed the last two yarn with the Renegs, even now he was still treated like a slave boy to them.
Elios held his Beretta with one hand while he loosened the two slings with the other; once he had the Reneg free he stepped back out of reach and pointed towards the door; by the smell of the Reneg he would need a wash before he was allowed into the living and eating area. Elios followed along behind and a little distance away from Mita as he directed the Reneg to the ablution room.
"Strip your skins off and stand under that pipe over there."
Mita looked at the clean shirt that Elios was wearing and then down at the roughly tanned skins he had on; these boys were way better off than any of the Renegs had ever been apart from the big leader who was a long way away in the Reneg cave town. Mita did as he was told; the strange white squares of stone under his feet felt cold as he stood and waited. Elios went closer to Mita and turned on the two levers to start the water flowing; he then reached for a yellow bar they used for washing and threw it to the Reneg.
"Use that to wash, it will make you cleaner and make sure you use plenty on your hair; it's like a rat nest up there."
Elios stood back and watched as the Reneg boy took off his skins; his boyhood was a lot bigger than any of the three friends and he stood staring at it and wondered what something that big would feel like inside him; his eyes glazed over a little at the thought but then he shook himself as the Reneg got under warm water.
At first Mita couldn't make out what it was but the water was definitely warmer than any river or other water he had washed in so long ago; he stood in awe as the warm water ran over him; he felt his sore muscles begin to relax and; just as he got used to the water, Elios turned the lever a little more and the water became hot.
Mita jumped and then began to relax as he felt the new sensation run over him; taking the yellow square he began to rub it over his skin; the scent making him relax even more; it smelt of strange flowers and the dirt seemed to just run off him.
Elios watched as the dirt ran from the body of the young Reneg; what appeared made Elios like the look of the older boy more and more; once the hair was washed it had a soft shine to it and while it was way longer than any boy he had seen, nearly down to the middle of the Renegs back; it also intrigued him; his breach-clout was beginning to get tight as his reaction to the older and bigger boy took effect.
Elios waited until the Reneg was clean and then told him to leave his dirty skin on the floor and walk ahead of him.
Elios directed him to the main room where they had some of the left over spam pie from their meal; it was still warm from the heating oven and Elios directed him to sit and eat; the Reneg didn't need a second invitation, he sat and began to shovel the first food he had had in dei's into his mouth with his fingers.
It wasn't long before the metal tray was as clean as though it had never been used; Mita was still hungry but wasn't about to ask for more; he had been lucky so far and didn't want to push his slim luck any further while the boy stood there with the strange black weapon pointed at him.
"Right, you're going to be put in a room to sleep; I have to tie you up again until we feel we can trust you, get up and go down there," Elios pointed in the direction the Reneg was to take.
"What about my cloths?"
"You don't need them yet; if you turn out ok we will find some new ones for you to wear but for now; you stay as you are until then," replied Elios.
Mita walked ahead of the boy until he was told to stop at a door; the boy opened the door to a dark cave, he was then pushed into the dark and then a bright white light came on showing a number of strange sleeping platforms; each one had another above it.
Mita was told to stand back against a wall and not move while the boy went about taking some strange rolls and laying one on a sleeping platform; he then placed two grey thick cloths over the base and signalled Mita to lay down.
Mita did as instructed and, as soon as he was laying on the soft pad, the boy put the two grey cloths over him and told him to put his arms above his head; once that was done the boy then got two of the unusual belts and tied his hands firmly to the pipes at the top of the platform; he could relax his arms but not get them close enough to each other to untie them, the boy then told him.
"Stay here and don't try to do anything silly; we only sleep over the other side and can hear you if you do, then you will be killed."
Mita had no doubts that the boy meant what he said; it was obvious that the three boys were old friends and wouldn't hesitate to protect each other. Mita had no doubts and decided to do as he was told; besides, it was also obvious that he was in a much better place than he had been for the last two yarn; good food, plenty of water and warm cloths, that is if he was ever allowed to have any cloths.
Elios returned to their sleeping room and saw Elam lying beside the injured Elvan; the boy's eyes were now completely closed and showing the dark blue of the bruises; his chest was covered by a new cloth that Elios had not seen yet; it was only about three fingers wide and went around and around Elvan's chest and stomach; there were faint splotches of red coming through the strips of cloth but looked as though they were drying rapidly.
"Where did you get that cloth from?" asked Elios.
"I looked at all the remaining manuals until I found one that had a description of injuries; the symbols were to big to understand so I just looked for some fig pictures; they showed a box with a red + on it and inside was another small manual on how to use the cloths and some of the mixtures inside; I use something called an antiseptic to clean the cuts and then covered them with the long cloths; he seems better now and the wounds aren't bleeding anymore."
"Is he going to be alright though?"
"Yes, but he still feels bad about being taken like a breeder; I think we're going to have to be careful with him for a while; what about that Reneg boy?"
"I tied him to a bunk in the other room; he can stay there until sun rise, then I think we should question him about the Renegs and what they do or where they come from; we might have to fight them again one dei so the more we know about them the better for us."
"Yes I agree; are you going to sleep here now?"
"No I think I should give Elvan space to heal; I'm going over to that bunk are you coming? I really need you after the dei we've had?"
Elios went to the bunk he had pointed too and made it up ready for use; by the time he had stripped off and got into the bunk, Elam was also ready; he too was naked and hard as he slid down behind Elios, his rigid boyhood pushing urgently into Elios asking for entry; both boys need some relief after the tough dei and the attack on the Renegs.
The following sun rise, Elam changed the cloths on Elvan who was now awake but feeling very sore and so was told to stay where he was and they would look after him until he felt better; Elios went to the other room and released the Reneg boy and took him to their main room; after making sure the boy was tied to a chair he went to the galley and took another of Elvan's dishes from the cool room and put it in the oven to heat for their meal.
As Elios put the tray of food on the table, Elam arrived and after giving the Reneg a murderous look, sat down and began to eat while Elios took out his Beretta and laid it on the table in easy reach before releasing the Reneg boy so he could also eat; they all stayed silent as they ate and when Elam had finished he filled a plate and took it to Elvan while Elios stayed to watch their prisoner.
Mita was still hungry and there was still some left in the tray but he was not going to risk his neck by asking for more; the small boy looked as though he too was ready to kill him; Mita sat back and waited for his next orders and the one that came surprised him completely.
"You can finish the tray if you're still hungry; we have plenty of food in here, when you're finished I want information about the Renegs; no lies or only half stories; I want to know everything you can remember about them."
Mita could only nod his head in agreement as he refilled his plate with the unusual but great food; he had no intention of giving the boys any reason to kill him or throw him out of this great and secret cave system.
When Mita had finished eating and Elam had returned; Elios told Mita to tell his story starting with why he was with the Renegs. It turned out to be a horrifying story and when Mita got to the end the boys could see why he had joined the Renegs; after being repeatedly raped by any Reneg that saw him, he was given the chance to either join them or die; if he joined them he would stay their slave for three yarn and then he would be old enough to be a full Reneg; the boys' attack had put a stop to that end.
Elios and Elam began to question him about the Renegs; how many, where they stayed, what they did, what weapons they used, who was their big man; it took a long time but both Elios and Elam could tell that the Reneg had told them the truth and not held anything back from them; they both stood up and went over to a far corner where they couldn't be heard by their prisoner. After a short discussion, the two boys went back to the table; Elios looked down at the Reneg and took out his Beretta, looked at it and then at Mita; he could see the fear in the Reneg's eyes as he held the Beretta loosely in his hand.
Elios replaced his pistol and looked hard at Mita.
"Here's what we agreed; you can take it or you can die, there's no other way for you. You become our slave for one yarn; you will do all the cleaning and anything else we want for that time; if at the end of one yarn we are happy with your efforts and you want to stay with us then you can; we will give you plenty of food and cloths; you will sleep in the room you were in last dark but we will not tie you up; we will block the door so you can't get out while we sleep; if you agree then you start now, if not then you die right now; your choice?"
Mita didn't hesitate in his decision; even being a slave to younger boys was better than he had with the Renegs and here he had good food, could wash all the time as he hated being dirty like the Reneg were; and he would have a chance to be a part of this secret cave system. Mita told Elios he would like to stay, even as a slave to younger boys he would be better off than outside or dead.
"Right then it's agreed, you go with Elam and he will show you how to operate the water levers in the galley and clean up the eating tools; when that's done come back here and we'll give you some more work to do; if you've done good work in the galley we will give you some cloths to wear, it's all up to you."
Mita nodded and quickly followed Elam out to the galley where he was shown how to use the water levers and where everything went after washing and cleaning the galley; Mita set to work straight away the plates, the trays and eating tools the boys had used took a little while but when he finished he started on the rest of the galley so everything was again shiny and clean.
It was five dei's before Elvan was up and about with any sense of freedom from his pain and injuries; his eyes were both still black but he could now see clearly; only the bruises ached a little but his cuts had healed remarkably quickly with the aid of the medicine Elam had found and used. Elvan was still very suspicious of Mita and would not let the Reneg close to him even though he could see the new addition to their small family was trying very hard to do as he was told and with no complaints.
At their dark time meal the three boys decided to talk over what they would do next while Mita was in the galley cleaning; he was not included in any decision making, he was their slave and that was that; Elios brought up the question of numbers again.
"From what Mita told us the Renegs are many more times than we are; if we run into a big gang of them we might not be as lucky as last time; I think we have to go out and look for more boys, we need more numbers to train so we stay safe from them."
Both of the other boys nodded their heads in agreement as Elios continued.
"Elam, do you think you can operate the APC properly?"
"Yes, I've been practicing a lot in the garage but it will take the three of us to operate it properly; what do you have in mind?"
"Well, we can't leave Mita here on his own and I don't want him trained in anything until he has finished his one yarn so he will have to come with us and that means he can't ride a quad; if we fill the APC up with everything we might need we will still have space to put some new boys to bring back here; also the Renegs have nothing to break into the APC so we'll be safe inside it; it'll only be when we have to go outside of it that we will need to be very careful."
"Ok, so when do we go looking and what will we need?" asked Elvan.
"We'll need food, fuel and weapons as well as the sleeping and cooking things; the food will have to be more than last time because we might have other boys to feed; how many people do you think will fit inside along with everything else, Elam?"
"Uhm, let me see, I'll drive, Elvan on the big weapons, you reading the directions and Mita sitting in the back; add the fuel, let's say ten of the jerry cans full; the boxes of food and there's places to store the hand weapons on the sides so that leaves enough space for about ten plus five boys on each trip."
"Good, Elvan can you cook enough food for every one if we get that many?"
"Yes, I can use Mita to help cooking when he's not doing other stuff; I think we should take that big rifle out of the box and use the box to store the food in; it's the right size to take a lot of trays then we only have to heat it up like last time."
"Good, ok now what about you using the big weapons in the APC?"
"Elam will have to teach me about it but I think I can do it."
"Good, right now all we have to do is work out what to do with all the boys when they get here; what do you guys suggest?"
Elam spoke first.
"Why not make a list of what has to be done then we can tell each boy where he has to work each day and we can leave enough time for them to do training as well; like if there's going to be lots of boys then Elvan will need a lot of help cooking and cleaning; then there's the transport that will need looking after according to the manuals they need something called a SERVICE done every so often so they don't break; I'll need some of the boys to help with that sort of thing, what do you need Elios?"
"I think I should try to teach some of them about reading the symbols and how to work a map; there's also the items in the administration room; they call them COMPUTERS I haven't worked them out properly but they seem to hold a lot of information inside them that we might need or be able to use; some of the boys might be able to learn about them."
The three boys ran through the list of needs in their head before all agreeing to call it time for sleep; they sent Mita to his bunk and locked the door before going to their own room where they could all now sleep again together as Elvan was not as sore anymore; at the rising of the new sun they would start to put their plans in operation so they could go looking for new boys to join them as soon as possible.
Chapter 7
Adventures
Five dei's passed before Elvan was once again at his normal state of excitement; although his bruises and inner feelings were still tender; he also did not fully trust Mita; even though the older boy tried everything he could think of to put Elvan at ease; the traumatic episode had now made Elvan suspicious or anyone outside his two closest friends.
Elam had worked tirelessly in the garage to check and ready for their next adventure; every inch of the APC was checked and tested as far as he could inside; both he and Elvan went over and over the manuals for the weapons until both boys were sure, they could operate them as best they could; but it would not be until they could go back outside and try them for real would they be fully satisfied.
Elios spent every waking moment hunched over the marvels of the ancients in the administration room as he tried to work out the way these things worked and what he could learn from them; after the five dei's he was a little more confident but the need to learn new ideas of time and distance made his head spin; sometimes he went to sleep at night with his head aching from all the information he had had to take in; everything he thought they knew before finding this cave Bunker #42 had now been made useless by the new lessons.
Mita quietly did as he was told and tried not to make the three boys angry with him; the longer he lived in their cave system the more he wanted to stay. He well knew the boys were at least two yarn younger than him but their new talents seemed to make him look like a new born; he had never seen or heard of any boys who were willing to spend so much time sitting and learning from all the ancient's reading blocks; little did he know at the time that he was seeing the emergence of a new dawn of understanding.
Dei followed dei until almost a full mune had passed before the boys thought they were ready to make their next foray out into the wastes to try and find some more boys to live with them. The routine of the bunker had been well established as the boys worked ever harder to understand all that the ancients had left for them. Elios had finally, after many head aches and bleary eyed dei's; worked out the directions of the ancient's compass as well as the way they used time. It was a little disconcerting to find that the time he had been born to was proved irrevocably wrong by the ancients.
Elam and Elvan had taken the APC outside to test the weapons and for Elam to test his driving skills; at the first use of the weapons both Elam and Elvan had been almost deafened by the loud sound and it took Elam more than half a dei to find and work out what the ancients called COMS; which turned out to be able to let the two boys not only cut down on the loud noise, but let them still talk to each other as though they were in a quiet room by themselves.
The boys had taken some time to get used to the metal hats they had to wear to use the coms; after another full dei wearing them they felt confident about their ability to do their tasks. The weapons had at first frightened the boys as the whole APC shook each time it was fired but the real surprise was the distance the rounds went outside; they had no trouble hitting the other side of the narrow valley and the size of the sand kicked up by the rounds had brought a look of awe and a little horror onto the faces of both of them; as Elvan had said to Elam after the first dei of using the weapons.
"These could destroy the whole Reneg gang."
Elam had just sat and looked at the craters on the far cliff and nod his head in agreement with Elvan; the weapons had more power than anything they had found and used so far; over the next four dei's they went out and practiced using and aiming the weapons until Elvan was fully used to them and how they worked; he only needed help with the heavy round metal boxes for the AMMO that the weapons used as they were to heavy for him alone to lift up and fit into place.
Elios had been pulled away from his administration room for a while so he too could practice with the funny hats and coms sets until he too was happy with using them. Elios also was now happy with his ability to look at the ancient maps and find his way around the lands that awaited them outside; he now knew that they were living in an area that was once called CALIFORNIA and that the caves once covered what the ancients called MILES but were now mostly under the Oshun water; where they now lived was once in a place called the OUTER SUBURBS and that the caves they had seen in the Oshun were once the CITY CENTRE.
Elios worked out that; if his calculations were right and he had understood the ancient's system; they were now about thirty miles from where the city centre was; the Oshun had covered about ten miles of once dry land on what was called the coastal region; the new shape of the coast was going to make his map reading a little difficult close to the Oshun but would not be any trouble inland and so he set out to learn all he could about his world.
The final dei arrived that they had decided to go out and search for new boys to live with them; after the attack and rape of Elvan they had a new determination to never allow it to happen again; from this dei on they would declare their own war on the Reneg and use everything the ancients had left behind to destroy the danger of the Renegs and what they did.
They spent their last dark time getting the APC ready; using Mita to carry everything that was too heavy for one of them; when all was ready and only the food stocks had to be loaded for the start of their adventure at the next sun rise; Elvan sat with the other two and for him, made an unusual suggestion.
"I think we should teach Mita to load ammo into the weapons; it will make it easier if both of you are busy; I'm not strong enough to lift them on my own to put them in the slots."
Elios and Elam looked with surprise at their friend; for him to suggest that the one time Reneg should be taught to help was indeed a break-through for the boy; that he would allow his once enemy to be so close to him with such an important job was a testament to his new found maturity and trust of the Reneg that had been their slave boy for only one mune.
Both Elios and Elam nodded in agreement and Elios called out for Mita to come into the main room and sit with them; once the Reneg was seated all three boys looked at him and it was Elvan that began.
"We want to trust you Mita; as you know, we're going outside at sunrise to find some more boys to live here; you have to come with us because we can't leave you alone in here yet; I know you didn't have anything to do with what happened to me last time and I've watched you try as hard as you can to help us in here."
Mita sat looking at the boy and wondered where this was going; were they going to throw him outside and leave him to his fate alone out in the wastes to die or live as he had been with the Renegs? Mita's stomach fluttered with uncertainty as another young boy; the one called Elios continued.
"You know we're going out tomorrow; you'll be coming with us; your work will be to set up our camp when we need it and to get our food ready; your position with us does not change but, if you do this right then you have a better chance to stay with us after this adventure."
Elam took up the conversation.
"We need you to help Elvan with the weapons when we are travelling; at sunrise he will show you what you have to do; if you do it right and follow our orders on this adventure then we are prepared to let you stay with us; we will teach you how to use the other weapons for our defence; it's all up to you."
Mita sat stunned by the announcement; they were offering him a chance to join with them properly and not as a slave but as a member of their fantastic cave system; all Mita could do was nodded in agreement and promise them he would work as hard as he could; he promised to help them in any way as long as he could stay with them in the fantastic magical cave of the ancients.
The boys accepted his word and then everyone went to their room to sleep until sun rise; Mita noticed that for the first time since he had come to the boy's cave he was not locked in his sleeping room; he was now determined to do all he could to hold onto the trust the boys put in him.
At what they thought was the new sun rise; Elios and Elam checked everything in the APC while Elvan got the food ready for their adventure along with the help of Mita; Elvan sent him to the main room to clear out the last metal box of its contents and bring it to the galley to put the food and ice in.
Mita had noticed the metal box a number of times but had never tried to open it; he had to ask Elvan to open it for him; what he saw inside brought a strange feeling of almost lust when he saw it; it was a rifle but nothing like the ones the boys had; this one was coloured in light and dark browns with splashes of white in funny patterns; it was bigger and heavier than any of the other ones and had a look of power to it; Mita gasped as he saw it for the first time.
The rifle was far to big for any of the smaller boys but for Mita it would be easy to handle as he was bigger muscled and taller; with slightly nervous hands he lifted the large weapon from its box; it felt good in his hands as he laid it carefully onto a nearby table; next he began to lift out all the smaller bits inside the box; two small square metal boxes; a cylinder with small round pieces of gles at each end; a pair of funny short legs; a long metal rod with a sort of brush at one end; a small round cylinder that had a thick liquid inside and a roll of white cloth with thin red stripes spaced about a hand width apart. Each of these items he carefully laid on the table; as the last piece from the box was placed on the table, Mita could not resist running his hand over the lethal looking rifle one more time.
The feeling of the cold metal sent a shiver down his spine just as Elvan coughed lightly to remind him of what he was here for; Mita quickly returned to the large metal box and pulled out all the soft stuff inside until the box was clean; he then picked it up easily and placed it on his shoulder to carry into the galley and fill it with the food trays they had made over the last few dei's.
The boys were finally ready to move; inside the APC everything had been packed neatly either under the metal seats or down the middle; their weapons were in small racks on the wall of the transport; the fuel jerry cans were under the metal seats and their food box and sleeping bags were in the middle tied down to small rings in the floor; Mita sat alone in the back with the gear; Elvan sat in his small seat at the centre at what was called the weapons console this was a small table like structure under the round turret; it had a small screen that showed what was on the outside and attached to the seat was a hand piece that controlled the heavy weapons above his head.
Elios sat just behind Elam at another small table with three screens on it; one showed what was ahead of them; another went around and around to show a long way ahead; and the last one had a map of California on it with a small red light that showed the boys where they were. Elam sat in the driver's seat and controlled the APC from another screen in front of him; he could also open a small thick window and see what was outside for real; most of the time he had the window open as he could feel the fresh air over his face; all three boys had the large funny hats on and could talk to each other through a com fixed to their throat and hear from a hidden part inside their hats.
Elam started up the twin motors of the APC; their deep rumbling roar sounded right to his ears as he slipped it into forward gear and began to slowly move forward towards the door; once there he stopped while Elvan got out of his seat and went through the small metal door on the side to open the main bunker door and waited until Elam had driven through; he then closed and sealed the door and returned to his seat. Mita watched every move the boys made; he was astounded at the ease in which the boys moved and settled comfortably into their places in this huge metal carrier.
Elam turned the APC toward the direction they had come from their home caves; it was in this area the boys knew there would be boys out roving from their dispatch from their last day as cave boys. It was also the direction that they would be most likely come across any searching Renegs; Elam pressed down on the dual throttles and the APC moved forward smoothly on the floor of the valley.
They travelled for a good half dei and then saw the first of the breeding caves come into sight on the horizon; Elam pulled the APC to a stop in a small shallow dip in the surrounding wastes; with the colour of the patterns on the outside it would be difficult for anyone to see them until they were quite close.
Elios got out of his seat and opened the small metal door on the side of the APC; taking one of the newly found looking cylinders called binoculars from the case near his seat, he sat up on top of the APC and began to look around the wastes; the new binoculars had astounded Elios when he had first found them; they brought everything up close and he had marvelled at how clear everything was once he used them; he had found other sets but they only worked in the dark and had to be fitted onto their hats and couldn't see as far as the clear ones, as well as making everything a funny green colour; he would keep them for dark time when any Renegs might be around.
It was usually thought that the Renegs would stay at least a full dei's walk away from the breeding caves; this gave the new boys a chance to make it as far from help as they could before meeting the horror of what the Renegs were. Elios was hoping that this would give them a chance to get to some of the boys before they met an evil fate at the hands of the Renegs.
Elios carefully scanned the barren wastes around them looking for any hint of movement that would indicate a new boy from the breeding caves; he sat in the high heat of the sun; his eyes moving back and forth waiting for that first hint of movement. As he sat he became aware of a small movement just near him; taking his eyes away from the binoculars he looked down the side of the APC to se Mita standing there with a water bottle in his hands, lifting it up for Elios to grab; taking the bottle from Mita he smiled his thanks and went back to his search.
Finally; after Elios had had time for two more sips of water; he saw the first small dot of black on the sand. Elios watched as the dot slowly moved towards where they all sat hidden by the dip in the sand. Through the wavering heat of the day, Elios began to make out more dots on the horizon as more and more boys left the breeding caves; most were in ones and twos but one group caught Elios eye; it was a group of about five boys but they were well behind the others. Elios felt it was time to go and talk to his friends.
Sliding off the top of the APC and getting back inside with the others, Elios told them what he had seen; working on the assumption that the Renegs would not attack the new boys until they were well away from the breeding caves; Elios and the others made their plans for later in the dei. They were well aware that the boys would be terrified of the strange transport; they had decided to have just Elios and Elam go out on foot with their weapons and try to make contact while Elvan and Mita stayed in the APC with the bigger weapons to guard them.
Elios returned outside and began to mark where he thought the new boys would stop for the night; using his good memory he tried to set a land mark for each group so he and Elam could find them quickly; he wanted to make contact with as many as he could to avoid any Reneg that might arrive early.
The three boys waited patiently as the sun began to sink lower in the sky; they would soon have to start to make their way forward in the APC and get as close as they could without scaring the new boys. Elam started up the APC and began to move slowly forward; he was keeping the sound of the twin diesels as low as he could; Elvan rotated his turret as he kept his eyes on the small screen in front of him.
Once they were as close as they felt comfortable and safe; Elam stopped the APC but left the motors running; if they had to run then he didn't want to have to stop and waste time starting up again as well as Elvan needing the power to operate his weapons. Elios and Elam put on their webbing and loaded their smaller weapons; placing the small binoculars on their hats they unhooked the wires for their coms from the APC and plugged them into the batts on their webbing; they then checked with Elvan that he could still hear them; both being ready they stepped outside in the darkening sky.
They knew that the new boys would not light fires on this first night out; it was one thing they learned very early in life; it was all now down to Elios to find them from memory. The two boys set out with weapons at the ready; eyes peeled into the closing darkness. Once it was fully dark, Elios and Elam lowered their small binoculars and pressed the button to switch them on; immediately all around them lit up with the strange green colour but they could now easily see everything for some distance.
Slowly the boys kept moving; eyes and ears pricked for any movement or sound that would tell them where the new boys were. It was Elam that heard the first boys talking quietly. Elios and Elam veered slightly left and were soon standing only a short distance away from the small group of three boys; the plan for meeting the boys had been worked out during the day. Elam would stay back in the dark and protect Elios as he went forward to make contact with any groups or boys alone; Elam took up position facing out from the group and scanning the darkness with his binocular eyes as Elios lifted his binoculars back onto his hat and called softly to the small group.
"Can I come in to your camp? I'm a boy not a Reneg."
Elios could just see in the darkness the three boys jump to their feet and take up their spia's ready for a fight.
"I can help you; I'm not going to attack you; let me come in and talk and if you're not happy you can use your spia's."
One of the boys looked intently into the darkness around him and finally made out the small figure of Elios, although the boy looked funny in some sort of hat and was holding something in his hands that was not a spia.
"Ok come slow, any trouble and you die."
"I'm not here to hurt you; I and my friends want to help you."
"Come in then, let's see you."
Elios walked slowly forward until he could see the boys clearly; they were all friends by the look of their hair which was a blonde reddish colour; they were obviously from the same Cave system; one of the boys stepped closer and faced Elios.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
"My name is Elios; me and my friends have been out here for about six mune; we have found and ancient's hidden cave and we want some more boys to join us; there's plenty of room and food as well as good ancient style weapons."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" said the same boy; obviously the leader of the small group; the other two boys just kept a close eye on Elios.
"Look at my weapon and clothes; have you ever seen anything like them before?"
"No, but how do we know you don't work for the Reneg to trap us?"
"Why would I work for those rats? they nearly killed one of my friends a while ago; look we only came here to find more boys to live with us; we have a lot of space and all sorts of new artefacts from the ancients; we can train you with them and there's so much food for everyone as well as you'd all be safe there; if you stay here the Renegs will get you either tonight or tomorrow."
"What if we want to join, what do we have to do?"
"My friend and I are going to keep looking for other boys to join us; I'll show you where to go and meet our other friend who's in our transport; go and have a look, talk to him, if you want to stay then he will let you inside; if you want to go and take your chances then it's up to you."
"What's a transport?"
"It's an artefact from the ancients that can carry a lot of people very quickly; it looks like a metal box and has two pipes sticking out of the top; I'll show you which way to walk, it's not far from here; we have to go and look for more boys but our friend Elvan will now why you're there."
"It sounds pretty much of a kid's story so far."
"Ok, just go look; if you want to stay with us fine, if not you're free to go your own way."
The leader looked at the other boys and they gave a small nod and lowered their spia's a little.
"Ok, where do we go?"
Elios reached into his shirt pocket and took out the yellow metal compass; turning slowly until he had the right numbers under the pointer, he pointed in that direction; the three boys had watched open mouthed as he did this and were amazed when he pointed in the direction of the open wastes.
"Just walk straight back there; it's not far and you'll see the metal box. Elvan or Mita will meet you outside and show you how to go in and have a look."
The leader looked again at his two friends and with a shrug of his shoulders; picked up the small sak and his spia and lead the others in the direction Elios had pointed out; Elios lowered his binoculars and called Elam to join him after he had taken another reading from his compass; the next boy was alone and was easy to convince.
Slowly the two friends went from one group to the other until all that were left to them was the larger group that he had seen behind all the others; they were now quite a distance from their APC but as yet there had been no sign of Renegs; the boys kept moving until they heard the soft muttering of a number of voices. Elios set Elam in the same place as he went forward and called out to the group; he thought there was about six or eight of them when he had seen them earlier in the dei.
"Hello camp!" called Elios.
The ring of boys immediately jumped to their feet holding their spia's ready; one boy stepped a little forward of the others.
"Who's there?"
"My name's Elios, I've come to see if you want to join our new cave."
"Why should we do that?"
"For safety; the Renegs will soon be out hunting; we can protect and feed you," Elios answered from the dark.
"Come in slowly, any tricks and we kill you."
Elios lifted his binoculars and stepped into the circle of boys; their spia's pointed at his belly; he stood still as they looked him over. All the boys had black hair so were not from his breeding cave. The new boys looked at the young boy in front of them; he was well fed and had very strange clothes on as well as a funny looking pipe in his hands; the boy also had thick cloth belts over his shoulders and around his waist that held strange ancient looking items.
"So what do you want?" asked the leader.
"As I said, my names Elios; me and my friends have found a big hidden cave that the ancients built; we want more boys to join us, there's a lot of space and plenty of food; we want to get our own gang so the Renegs won't attack us anymore."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?"
"Well just look at my stuff; have you ever seen anything like them before?"
The group of boys muttered amongst themselves as they looked Elios over, the leader pointed to Elios rifle.
"What's that?"
Elios held up his weapon so they could see it clearly.
"It's one of the ancient's weapons; it's called a rifle it can kill a Reneg from a long way away; they can't even get close enough to use their cross bows."
"Show us."
"That wouldn't be a good idea just now; it makes a lot of noise and might tell any Renegs that are around where we are but, if you come with us we will show you at sun rise so all the boys can see."
"Who's us?"
"My friend is out in the dark keeping guard and there's some other boys that we met that have gone to see if they want to join us; they're waiting at our transport."
"What's a transport?"
"It's an ancient people carrier; we found out how to use it in the cave we found; you can go faster and longer than walking and it can carry a lot of boys; we have some food and water inside waiting if you want to come and see it."
"Wait here, we want to talk it over."
"Ok."
Elios crouched down as the boys moved a short distance away and began to chatter among themselves; after a short time the leader came back.
"Most of the boys want to have a look; other are not too sure about you, how do we find this transport thingy?"
"I'll lead you to it."
"Yeah, And how are you going to do that in the dark?"
Elios pointed to the small dark binoculars on his hat.
"These are ancient artefacts they help you to see in the dark and we have other things so we don't get lost."
"Like what?"
"This helps us as well," Elios showed them the compass as he opened it the numbers glowed in the darkness.
A short gasp of wonder told Elios the boys were impressed with what they saw; suddenly his com hissed in his ear; Elios pushed the small button on his neck piece.
"Yes Elvan?" he whispered into the com.
The faint voice of Elvan crackled in his ear.
"I've just seen four dots on my screen moving fast towards you; they have to be Renegs."
The group of boys looked scared as Elios talked softly to no one with his hand on his throat.
"Where are they and how far?"
"They're in the middle of the valley going towards the breeding caves so they must be headed towards you."
"Ok, we're over to the left of the valley, how much distance do we have?"
"I don't know where you are; I lost your dots earlier but they are definitely going towards where I last saw you."
"Ok, we'll be careful, how many of the other boys decided to stay with you?"
"All of them, once they saw everything they were as happy as rats to stay; Mita fed them and they're all sleeping on the floor."
"Ok, we're on our way with the last group; we'll keep an eye out for the Renegs; Elam, did you hear that?"
Elam's voice was clear as he was very close.
"Yes, I think I can hear their haws way out in the middle; they don't seem to be worried about anything."
"Ok, I think they're just trying to stumble on any boys out here; I'll bring these boys to you and we can make for the APC."
"Ok, I'll wait for you here."
Elios pushed the button to switch off his com and turned to the new boys.
"We don't have much time; there's Renegs out hunting; if you're coming we have to move now and you have to be as quiet as you can so they don't hear us; it's up to you, what do you want to do?"
The leader looked at his boys and they all nodded together, he turned to Elios.
"Ok, but I'm the leader of these boys."
"That's ok with me but just remember; we have to get you to safety first so you have to listen to me while we move or those Renegs will find us and believe me, you don't want them to catch any of you; I've seen what they do to new boys. Ok let's go this way, keep close and no talking; you all know how the sound carries at dark time."
Elios watched as the boys took up their spia's and sak's; he lowered his binoculars and read the numbers on his compass he then began to lead the boys toward where Elam waited. Soon they were all standing close to Elam and watched as he put his strange pipe on his shoulder and nodded to Elios.
"Which way?" asked Elam.
Elios looked down at his compass and pointed in a direction away from where they stood and towards the left of the valley.
"We keep going that way until Elvan can see us on his screen; he'll then correct us and bring us to the APC."
"Ok, I'll go out in the front a bit and keep and eye and an ear out for the Renegs; keep your com on so we can talk," replied Elam.
Elios nodded and turned to the group of eight boys.
"Ok, Elam is going to watch out front; keep it as quiet as you can, we're going to try to sneak past those Renegs out in the middle."
The group of boys remained silent but nodded their heads in understanding. Elam took off and Elios began to lead the boys forward into the darkness; only the soft swish of their feet in the sand could be heard as they walked onward. Elios soon got used to the dull hiss in his ear from the com so he could concentrate on what he was seeing in his binoculars.
Suddenly he heard Elvan's voice in his ear.
"Stop, I can see you all on my screen; the Renegs are almost opposite you out in the middle."
Elios quietly whispered to the group of boys.
"Get down, lie flat on the sand."
Elios quickly crouched down with his rifle at the ready as Elam's voice came into his ear.
"I see them; they look as though they've stopped out in the middle to rest or eat; wait, yes, they're starting a fire, you should be able to see it now."
Elios looked out in the direction of the middle valley and was just in time to see the flicker of a fire as it took hold; the Renegs were closer than he would have liked; he gave the signal for the other boys to stay down as he looked through his binoculars at the group of four riders and haws as they sat on the sand; Elios whispered into his com'
"Elvan, how far are we from you?"
"Not far at all, if you keep walking straight ahead you will see me shortly."
"Do you think your weapon will reach the Renegs?"
"Easily, why?"
"I want you to fire some ammo at them; it doesn't matter if you hit them or not, just enough to scare them away then we can make a run for it."
"Ok, get ready and when you see the fire you will know exactly where I am; ready?"
"Just a moment, I want to tell these boys so they don't get scared and run into the Renegs."
"Ok."
Elios crawled over to the leader and explained what was about to happen.
"My friend is going to fire at the Renegs; there's going to be a lot of noise, so don't let your guys run away; as soon as the Renegs take off we can run towards where you all see the fire from."
Even in the darkness Elios could see the fearfulness in the boys' faces; he ignored it and called Elvan.
"Ok Elvan let's do it."
Almost immediately the dark was shattered by what sound like a ten tens of haws running on hard metal; the flashing of the weapon was closer than Elios had thought; also there was a fantastic sight that they had not expected as they saw a stream of small lights flash from where Elvan was towards where the Renegs were sitting.
In his binoculars Elios could plainly see the sand around the Renegs erupt in small geysers of dust as the rounds hit; some were staying in the sand but others were hitting the sand and bouncing high in the air; the Renegs haws reared and bucked as they took to their heels in fright as the ground became a forest of sand spouts; only two Renegs got to their feet and looked around terrified at the sudden explosions around them; their haws were gone and they were now only two in the middle of the dark. As quickly as it had come it also finished; the two Renegs were to terrified to even take any notice of the faint dark figures running madly towards where the small, lethal lights had come from.
As the group came up next to the APC, Elios called Elvan in his com.
"Open the back door, quick."
Elios ushered the new boys around the back of the APC as Elam dived in through the side door. Elios followed the new boys into the rear; the red light inside would give them away if the door was open to long; as soon as he was inside, Elios went to his table and sat down puffing as he heard Elvan giggling behind him.
"What are you laughing at?" Elios asked him.
"I didn't know that it would have all those pretty lights in it; it made it easier to see where they were going; did I get any of those rats?"
"I'm not sure but I think I only saw two of them stand up before I was running."
"Good, I hope I got some of them, teach them a lesson."
Elios turned in his chair to look at the new boys; their faces showed the awe of their surroundings. Elvan changed the red light to white as Mita took out two trays of food and handed them to the new boys along with some water bottles; the new boys wasted no time in diving their dirty hands into the spam pies and shovelling it into their mouths.
Elios called to Elam.
"What do you think, should we try to get back to the cave now or wait till sun rise?"
"I think we all need some rest, let's wait till sun rise and do it easy."
"Ok, we'll have to sort out some places to sleep; there's more of us in here than I thought we would have."
"We'll be ok, let's just sit in our seats and we can sleep here; it'll give the boys more room on the floor," suggested Elvan.
"Good idea, is everything locked up so none of those Renegs can get in?"
"Yep," replied Elam.
"Ok let's get some sleep till sun rise."
The boys got as comfortable as they could in their seats while the new boys tried to find a place to lie down; it was going to be uncomfortable but it was better than being outside for the Renegs to find.
Elios was the first boy to feel the rising heat of a new dei as it shone down on the metal skin of the APC; beside him Elam stirred as he too opened his eyes to a new dei. Elios called out for Mita to get food and water for their new group of boys as they would soon be heading back to the Bunker #42 to unload the boys they had found. Elam began checking the instruments on the APC in front of him as the sounds of waking boys could be heard in the rear compartment.
Mita set out food for all the boys in the form of four trays of spam pie and then handed out the water bottles as Elios, Elam and Elvan took their places ready to depart for home. After explaining what they were going to do and where they were going; Elios turned back to his table and set the course for the APC. Elam started the twin motors and began to turn the APC towards home; as he got back onto the return course a clanging sound came to his ears and those of the others; Elvan checked his screen and called out to Elam.
"Renegs, about ten plus five, they're trying to surround us."
"We can't lead them back home; give them a few rounds and see if that gives them a scare," replied Elam.
Elvan fired of a long burst of rounds and watched through his screen as the Renegs haws bucked and jumped in fear at the unusual sounds and the heavy spurts of sand as it flew into the air around them. Three Renegs were hit and fell dead from their mounts as others were thrown from their seats and landed badly on the ground; Elvan stopped firing and watched intently as the remainder of the Renegs took flight towards the far side of the valley.
Elam began to move quickly as the motors wound up to a deep growl and the body of the APC began to buck slightly as it moved over the uneven ground towards their home; it was then that Elios realised they would now be the object of the Renegs attacks; they had now been seen in the light of dei and it was way to obvious that it was something from a long time ago when the ancients ruled the world.
Elvan had turned the turret to follow the Renegs as they went back away from the APC but did not flee altogether; they stayed as far away as they could and still keep the strange ancient's box in sight; Elvan relayed to Elios and Elam what he could see.
"Are they still in range of your weapons, Elvan?" asked Elios.
"Yes, I can get them easily from here."
"Try a couple more rounds at them and see what happens."
Elvan fired again and watched his screens as the rounds hit the soft sand causing small fountains of dirt to fly up around the packed Renegs; again the Renegs took to their heels and went further back; Elvan watched them closely as they reformed further away from the retreating APC. It was then he saw what could cause them a real problem.
As they pulled further away from the gang of Renegs, Elvan picked up on one of his screens the two distinct lines of their tracks in the soft sand; he turned to Elam and told him what he could see; the three boys discussed if there was anything they could do; it was soon obvious that this was beyond their control and they would have to just do the best they could when the time came; as it surely would now that there were witnesses to their discovery of ancient artefacts.
Their exhibition of the power inside the APC would soon spread through the ranks of the Renegs and they would become a target for the secrets they now held in their home. Elios told Elam to get as much speed as he could and get to their home as fast as possible; they would have to now start to make plans for their own defence as the Renegs could follow at a distance and then wait for them to emerge from their bunker and attack them when they were outside. Only the new weapons gave the boys a distinct advantage and as long as the Renegs could not get a hold of any of them they would be able to defend themselves.
Elios had a deep seated feeling that one day in the future they would have to go out and be the ones to attack the Renegs; he also understood that at this stage they did not have enough boys to make an effective group; they would have to go out many more times before they could try to turn the tables on the Renegs.
High sun was approaching just as the APC pulled up at the entrance to the bunker; Elios jumped out and opened the door much to the amazement of the new boys who had not said a word for the whole journey as the deep rumbling sound of the APC had at first frightened them, and then had made it impossible to talk normally.
Elam drove the APC into the darkness of the bunker and then into the garage where he turned it off and sat back with a sigh; it had been a long drive and the tension of knowing the Renegs were tracking them further back had kept all three boys on the toes for the whole journey; now they were once again home they all relaxed and began to get the new boys out and along the passages to the main room.
It was time to get to know the new boys and as soon as everything had been locked down and the Renegs could not get inside the boys asked for everyone to sit down and introduce themselves. Elvan, along with Mita, went to start heating trays of food for the hungry group; Elios sat at the head of one table while the new boys pulled other tables together so they could all sit in one place.
Once all the new boys had exchanged names and places of birth, Elios began to describe what they had in the bunker; where the sleeping rooms were and how to make the bunks; he told them where the boys could wash and how to use the water levers as well as the galley for food and all the other places in the bunker system; at the end of the discussion, Elvan and Mita arrived with the food and a new hot drink that Elvan had discovered in a cooking manual called HOT CHOCOLATE; this went down so fast that he had to go and make some more for most of the boys.
At the end of the meal all the boys looked full and contented except for the leader boy of the largest group; his name he said was Bax; during the whole talk by Elios, he had remained silent but once the meal was finished and the boys had thanked Elvan he seemed to decide that now was a good time to bring up his thoughts.
Elios had been watching him and had a suspicion that the boy was not going to accept his or his friend's decisions; Bax thought of himself as the natural leader and did not want to give up his position in his group.
Elios waited for Bax to start and he didn't have long to wait.
"So what do you expect from us; I'm the leader and we have more boys than you so I should be the leader here," said Bax with a little belligerence in his voice.
Elios looked at the bigger boy and smiled at him disarmingly.
"If you were the leader here what do we do next?"
Bax looked at the smaller boy with confusion written on his young face.
"I… I…"
"That's what I thought; we found this system and we've had a lot of time to work things out; so far you've only seen a few of the things the ancients had but there's so much more and we're still working out a lot of it so I think it's your decision; you can either work with us or you're welcome to leave and make your own way out there."
Bax looked at the smaller boy and before he could get to his feet and fully confront him, he felt a cold pressure on the back of his neck; turning he saw the boy called Elam standing behind him with one of their small weapons held against him; the look in Elam's eyes held a silent warning about going after Elios. Elam spoke quietly but his intentions were very clear to Bax.
"This is our home, we found it and we've been here for more than six Mune; there's still a lot we have to learn and you can either stay here and help or leave right now; any of your boys that want to go with you it's fine by us. We're trying to build our own group here so no one of us have to be scared of the Renegs anymore; and if you think you can come in here and take over or attack one of my friends then you don't belong here; now make your mind up."
Elam stepped back away from Bax and watched as the boy looked around the room; for the first time he had a look of fear on his young face; this was a lot more than he had bargained for; looking at the boys in his own group he suddenly became aware that they were not with him on this; that realisation that he was alone for the first time brought the first small tear to his eye.
Elios stood up from the table and went to stand beside Elam.
"It's your decision Bax; outside the Renegs will be looking for us by now; they had our tracks to follow so are probably already out there trying to work out a way to get in here; so, are you in or out?"
Elam had never heard Elios speak with such hardness before and he wrapped an arm around the smaller boy in a gesture of agreement and solidarity; Bax could only look around at what he would be giving away just for the chance to be the leader; as another tear fell from his eye he sniffed and then bent his head in defeat. Slowly he nodded that he would listen to the boys and wanted to stay, there was no hope outside and he knew it; he either complied with the wishes of these boys or he was out among the Renegs, and that was not going to be an option.
"Ok, I'm sorry, I don't want to go out there; I've heard all the stories about what Renegs do to new boys, I want to stay here and I'll do what you want."
"Look, everyone is tired, let's leave all this until we've all had a rest. Mita will show you to the sleeping rooms and show you how to make the platforms comfortable to sleep on as well as show you where to wash, ok?"
All the boys sighed as they released the tension that had built up during the argument with Bax; the long ride and the fear of the Renegs had made them very tired and sleep was what the wanted most of all. Mita appeared from the galley where he had been cleaning up and told the new boys to follow him. Elvan also appeared from the galley and joined his two friends at the table.
"Do you think he will be a problem in the future, Elios?" asked Elam.
"I don't know; maybe we can find a way for him to take charge of a group when we get more boys here; he does have a type of leadership about him. Maybe we can use that in the future but first they will all have to be trained to use the new weapons and also how to help around the bunker as far as cooking and cleaning goes; we also have the problem of the Renegs now knowing where we are; we have to find a way to fix that as well."
Mita appeared in the room as the boys heard shouts and yells of delight from away down the passage; the new boys had found the ablution room and were enjoying the newness of the instant hot and cold water washing system. Elios turned to Mita just in time to see the older boy looking longingly at the large rifle still sitting on the table where he had put it the dei before.
"What is it, Mita?" asked Elios as he smiled at his two friends.
"That… uhm… rifle, I would like to have it when you free me."
"Why?"
"I don't know, it's just something about it that draws me to it; and it's far too big for any of you or the new boys to carry but I think I can if you could teach me how it works."
Elios looked again at his two friends and saw them nod in agreement to whatever he decided.
"Mita; in the last few Mune you have been here, you've done everything we asked and no complaints; I think my friends and I are in agreement that you should be free now and if you want to stay with us and help then you can or if you want to go your own way we will give you some stuff to help you; what do you want?"
It took no thought at all on Mita's part to make such a decision.
"I want to stay and help you destroy the Renegs; what they did to me and to Elvan is not right and they need to be killed off; all of them and I want to help."
Elam stood up and went over and hugged Mita.
"Move your things into our sleeping room then we'll go and get some clothes for you to wear; as far as the big rifle goes, I'll look over the manual and then teach you how to use it; from now on it's yours."
Elios joined Elam in hugging Mita. Elvan was still a little reticent about getting that close to an ex Reneg but smiled at the newest member of their developing group in welcome; they were starting to become a close knit group and this would only bode well for them in the long run. Mita gave a great sigh of contentment as the three boys accepted him at last.
Elios told the boys that they should settle down for the dark time and then start to look at what the next dei would bring them. They knew that they were safe inside the bunker and that any Renegs outside would not be able to attack them while they slept; they could face them another dei when they had trained more boys for defence.
Chapter 8
Gathering Storm
Bunker #42 was, for the next thirty dei's; a hive of activity and learning as the newest members of the family were immersed into learning about weapons and how to read either the ancient's writing or how to make use of the fig pictures. Most of the teaching was left to Elam and Elvan as Elios had decided to learn all he could from the admin room and the strange COMPUTER machines.
Most dark times every one was too tired to play boys games and was only too happy to eat as fast as they could and retire to the new and comfortable sleeping rooms. Elam had taken three boys with him into the galley and was teaching them how to prepare the trays of food and keep the galley clean. Elam spent a lot of time teaching both the weapons and the fig pictures but it was Mita that had the most fun; he had been allowed to have the big rifle to himself as the other boys were just too small and light weight to handle it; and along with the fig pictures he spent every waking moment with it in the underground RANGE area.
First he taught himself how to FIELD STRIP it and clean its many parts; once he was happy that he could do it as fast as his hands could move, he began to follow the fig pictures for the looking glass that went on top; this he had learnt was called a RANGE AND NV INTERGRATED SCOPE; he wasn't aware of what it meant until he had spent six days going over and over the fig pictures and finally had worked out what he could do with the large weapon. What he did learn almost frightened him; when he saw the power of the rifle for the first time as he fired it at a TARGET at the far end of the RANGE room.
He knew that there were three types of AMMO for it and had tried one of each; the AP had made a large hole in the TARGET and the loud bang had nearly been too much for his ears even though they were protected by the EARMUFFS; as the fig pictures had shown him to do. The next one as an AT round; that had made the same loud sound but had almost destroyed the TARGET. The last one was called a DPU round; this one made the same sound but the results not only shook the room he was in but brought a lot of the boys running; when the dust from the far wall settled, Mita gulped in horror at the damage.
Elam was the first to get into the range room and saw Mita standing above the big rifle he had taken a shine to; the look of horror on his face as he stared open mouthed at the far end of the room made Elam turn and look in the same direction; when he saw what Mita was looking at, Elam broke out into a huge smile and ran up to hug Mita with all his might. Mita looked down at his once captor and shook his head at the unusual reaction; all that was running through his mind was how much trouble he would now be in for causing so much damage; he again looked down the range and shook his head.
Where there had once been a target was now nothing; the bags full of sand behind had been splashed all over the floor and the hard ancient stone wall now had a large hole punched into it that Mita though he would be able to put his head into. The destruction was amazing from such a small looking round; Mita began to shake with the realisation of the damage that this big weapon could do, he then heard Elam talking to him.
"Mita, what was that?"
Mita shook himself again and looked at Elam standing there waiting for an answer.
"I… I was trying out the rifle; the first round only put a hole in the target; the next one destroyed the target and I had to put a new one there; the last one sort of blew up everything."
"Which round is which?"
Mita stooped down and took one of each round from their respective metal boxes; he then took the first one and showed it to Elam; it had a red point at one end.
"This one just made a hole in the target."
Mita showed the next one, it had a green point on it.
"This one destroyed the target."
Taking up the final round he showed Elam the grey point on the end.
"And this one did everything."
Mita could only stare at the three rounds lying in his palm and then looked down at Elam again with the awed look still on his face; Elam smiled back and patted him on the shoulder.
"Do the fig pictures show what they all are for?"
"I'm not sure; from what I can work out, the red one is for people, the green one is for things like your APC and other transport, but the grey one is for something called a TANK or for shooting into something called FORTIFICATIONS whatever they are."
Mita had had to spell out the new words as he wasn't sure how to say them but Elam got the idea of what he was trying to say.
"Can you get me your manuals so I can find out more about it; maybe we can help you understand it better."
Mita nodded and went to the small table at the wall behind him and gave the manual to Elam; he immediately sat on the floor and began to go through the manual; the other boys that had run in with him slowly went back to what they had been doing before the large shaking had taken place.
Elios was enthralled by the many things his COMPUTER could do as he learnt more and more about it. He felt the shudder through the floor but was to engrossed in what he was doing to give it much thought; his young mind was being opened to new and wondrous things the more he learnt about his new toy; he was totally amazed at the amount of things the ancients had done and could not work out how they could have just disappeared in the Horror of ancient times.
Elios was learning a new way of working out time and numbers; he now knew that it had once been a habit to break up each dei into shorter parts so the ancients could work more efficiently; the numbers did not stop at multiples of ten and the distances were also worked out to the smallest part; every night he went to sleep with all this new information running through his head; it almost ached from too many new ideas but at the same time he felt a great satisfaction at what was now inside his head.
Elios had decided that it was almost time to teach these new ideas to the other boys so they would all have the benefit of them. He had been about to start the new teaching now but had opened a FILE that was all about BATTLE TACTICS and had then been enthralled again at what he was seeing. There was so much there that he was sure would help them to avoid having one of their number hurt again by the Renegs; much of what he saw now made sense when attached to the various weapons they now had and would be very useful in future; he was still mindful of the fact that the Renegs were probably camped outside their big door waiting for them but he now had a small idea how they might be able to get out again soon without having to fight head on with them.
More time passed as everyone tried as hard as they could to take in the new ideas; hardest of all was the new type of breaking up the dei's as well as the way the ancients measured the distance from one place to another. Elios was insistent that every boy could understand each of these new ideas so that they could all be more precise; for some unknown reason, Elios felt that this was going to be very important in the future of the boys' survival.
At the end of thirty five days, all the boys were close to understanding the new scales of time and distance; it was now time for the boys to go out and search for more members to join their underground home. Elios called all the boys into the admin room to tell them about how he thought they might be able to get out without all dying at the hands of the waiting Renegs. That was if they were still out there, and Elios had a funny feeling that they would be waiting for the young boys to come out.
Once everyone was crammed tightly into the admin room he lit up the far wall to lots of ooh's and aah's at all the little lights shining on the gles wall; next he hit some buttons on the computer and an outline of their bunker showed up as well as the surrounding land; although the land of today was not exactly the same as on the wall picture due to the number of yarn that had passed since the Horror.
Elios began to tell them of his plan.
"What we need to do is find out where they might be so we have to find a way of going outside without them seeing us; to do this we will have to clear all the sand out of the hole we first came in; it will have to be done carefully so they don't hear us although it's on the other side of the cliff. Next one of us will have to go up to the top of the cliff and draw a picture of where they all are camped, ok?"
All the boys nodded their heads and continued to listen intently, this sounded like a good plan to them all.
"Next; once we know where they all are we have to have a group to scare them away so we can get our transports outside; what I think is best is that Mita with his big rifle, along with two others to protect him; should go to one side of the hole until he can see their camp, another group; under Bax and with six boys, go out and hide on the other side of the hole to stop any Renegs getting too close to the big door.
Mita this is how you should be when you find the right place to hide below the cliff top so you can see them but they can't see you and the two boys with you. You are in the middle with your big rifle; one boy will lay on each side of you watching out for anyone trying to sneak up on you from the side; once you're there and you see Bax and his boys in place then you start to fire on their main camp; use the red rounds for that and try to kill as many as you can."
Elios looked at Mita and saw the determination on the older boy's face as he nodded his acceptance of his place.
"Bax, you lead the other boys to the top of the cliff on the other side and set your boys out in a line along the top so you can see the front of our bunker and the doorway; when Mita starts to fire you do the same at any of the Renegs that are close to the door; both of you; if the Renegs try to attack you and they are getting close, then get back to the hole and come inside; close and lock the little door so they can't get into our bunker."
Elios looked at Bax and some of the other boys for agreement, when he was satisfied that they understood their jobs he continued.
"We all know how to use the small com units so we have to keep in contact with each other all the time but only Mita and Bax are to talk so we don't all mess up the coms; when we hear you start to fire; Elam, Elvan and I, along with some of the other boys will use the APC and one of the Humvee to escape outside and make as much trouble for them as we can. I've made a map of where we can go and look for more boys; we will be away for a while so don't worry; when we get back with new boys we'll call you on the com units and we do the same again to get back in if the Renegs are still stupid enough to be waiting outside again. Mita and Bax, you will be in charge while we're gone, keep everyone safe and make ready some new rooms for any new boys we can get."
Elios looked at Bax and got his understanding of the position they would be in.
"The last thing is this; when we have enough new boys we can go out and look for more of these bunkers to live in; if we can get enough we might be able to form a group big enough to fight off any more killing raids by the Renegs and save more new boys when they leave their breeding caves. Ok we need to get all the sand cleaned out of the back hole and make everything ready to move. Mita pick two boys to go with you; Bax get your six boys; the rest will come with me in the Humvee and Elam and Elvan in the APC; everyone check their weapons and make sure your webbing is good and tight; you'll need three mags for your Beretta and four mags for you rifle; three boys with me and one more with Elam, Elvan will be on the big weapon on the APC like before."
Everyone set about doing what they had been asked and for the next two dei's they set about practicing what they would need to do. Mita would crawl along the floor of the range room and when he was looking over the small lump of sand bags they had made; the two boys would take a place on his left and right facing away so they could see both directions as well as behind the boy on the floor.
Bax did very much the same as he set about putting his boys in a spread out line along the floor of the training room so they were about two lengths apart; both sets of boys spent long hours practicing their places while all the other boys were helping to pull all the sand from the round hole that the three original boys had used to get into the bunker. The storm had really packed the sand in hard but working from the inside was easier than trying to go outside and face the Renegs without a plan.
At the end of the second dei the boys had broken through the sand barrier and could now see outside into the small valley on the opposite side of the cliff from the Renegs large camping place. Taking his binoculars with him as well as one other boy to watch over him; Elios crawled through the short tunnel to the back of the cliff and then both of them made their way to the top as quietly as they could. Once at the top of the cliff, Elios and the new boy lay flat and carefully poked their heads above the last small ridge of sand.
Below them was more than Elios had bargained for; somehow the Renegs had managed to call in more men. The main camp was well out in the middle of the valley as well as smaller camps dotted about and closer to where their big doorway was; closer to the door was another small camp that was obviously put there as a first warning of the boys coming out. The Reneg had placed a line of broken stones across the track that lead into the door space; Elios smiled to himself as he thought of what the APC would do to the line of stones; while he had not taken a Humvee outside he had driven it inside the garage and didn't think the stones would be a problem.
Elios smiled at the thought of the alterations that Elam had had to make so Elios could reach all the pedals and be able to look over the wheel to see where he was going; they would be taking extra boxes of mags for the three boys so they could each fire out of the side of the Humvee. Elios would have a map and tell Elam which way to go from the coms units once they were well clear of the Renegs. The big door would be closed by one of the last boys inside the bunker; they all had now been given a card to operate all the doors in the bunker and had practiced with them until they all knew how to do it.
Elios looked down at the valley below him and carefully taking out a piece of paper, began to draw the camp set up down below him. When he was sure he had all he would need, he signalled the boy with him to carefully crawl backwards and then down into the tunnel. When they had closed the small door and got to a table; Elios spread out his paper and called all the boys to the room to look it over, especially Mita and Bax.
For the next half a dei they went over and over the rough map Elios had made until they were sure where they needed to be. Elios was only concerned about the big camp as it was a long way from the top of the cliff but Mita assured him he would have no trouble with the big rifle to reach that far. Mita now knew what the numbers were when he looked down his scope and the fig pictures had told him he could easily reach a target as far away as 2000mt. He wasn't sure what a mt. was but he had a reasonably good idea what the 2000 was; when he got outside and up to the cliff top he would be able to see through his scope how far way the camp was by the numbers inside the scope.
Finally the boys thought they were ready for the next sunrise; the two groups going outside to the cliff top would leave as soon as the first light showed; as they would be along the cliff top with the rising sun behind them, they would be almost invisible to the Renegs down in the valley, when they started firing; they would tell Elios and the others when to start out the big door.
That dark time they had a huge meal and went to sleep earlier than usual so as to be ready for the fighting next sunrise; until Mita and Bax returned to the bunker there would only be two boys left inside and their job was to get the big door closed as soon as possible after the others left.
Sunrise seemed to come quicker than usual but all the boys were ready. Mita lead the way out the small door and into the tunnel while it was still showing dark outside; Bax along with his six boys followed quickly behind; the tension and excitement was thick in the air as the boys felt for the first time a new determination to retaliate against the Reneg for the first time in their lives. The ancient weapons gave them a new sense of worth and a way to fight back against an evil that had killed so many new boys over the history of the new world.
Elios looked around the garage at the collection of young boys; all of them held their rifles ready; their webbing belts were adjusted to fit their smaller frames as well as the new shirts being cut down to fit. Their new boots covered their slender legs and their side arms looked heavy on their slim hips but all had the same look of determination on their young faces; they all understood that they were going out to fight for a new life as well as a new life for other boys out there alone.
Mita carefully crawled outside the tunnel and, along with his two boys went to the left and began to climb the short distance to the top of the cliff; he heard Bax lead his boys to the right and begin their climb. Once on top of the cliff; Mita moved along until he could see down into the other valley below; sending his two lookouts to each side of him to watch for any Renegs trying to get up to his position, he settled down and set up his big rifle.
Making sure he had the two short legs firmly in the sand, he took off the two black caps on the scope and settled himself down like he had taught himself from the fig pictures; once he was comfortable, he began to sweep left and right to see where all the camps were; when he found the big main camp he began to search for signs of life and to try to work out who the leaders were.
Elios had suggested he try to pick out the leaders and kill them first; it would hopefully cause a lot of panic in the followers and so make it easier for Bax and his boys to kill as many as they could before all the boys would go back into the tunnel and disappear from the sight of the Renegs before they could react to the attack. They knew they had to keep up their fire until they saw the transports take off through the ranks of the Renegs camps and escape into the far wilderness in search of new boys.
Mita felt the first touch of the sun's heat as it rose above the horizon behind them; soon the glare of the sun would hide them from any eyes below and that would be the time for him to start their attack. Mita waited patiently; doing his breathing exercises like he had learnt from the manual, slowly his breathing quietened until he was hardly breathing at all; his body felt relaxed and comfortable as he took sight at the big camp in the middle of the valley; the numbers in his scope told him he was 1400mt from the camp; he made the needed adjustments as he had learnt and settled down to wait.
As the first rays of the rising sun broke over the main camp, Renegs began to make themselves seen as they rose for another day of waiting for the boys to appear from the big door that they had run into in their strange artefact so many dei's before. Some of the Renegs were getting tired of the waiting game, but their leaders had a tight hold on them and wanted all the new and terrible weapons the boys had used on them so they sat and waited.
Most of the Renegs were both hungry and thirsty as the means to fill their bellies and slake their thirst had to be carried from a long way away; most of them were lucky to get one meal a day and the constant need for water had made a lot of them very short tempered; fights broke out constantly over the amount of water being shared and the leaders were always having to break up the fighting and arguing every day. Tempers were very short indeed and they didn't know how long they could keep their men satisfied; pressure was building as they had to wait out in the hot sun every dei.
The six leaders sat in a circle as one of their men brought them some water and the dry tough bred they usually had for the first food of the dei; the rest of the Renegs were starting their own meals as the sun rose higher; it looked like another dei of waiting for the boys to come out; boredom was the hardest part of this dei but they were determined to take what those boys had; if they could get those fantastic ancient weapons they would be the leaders of the whole world that they knew; no one could fight against them.
Mita looked through his scope at the circle of six leaders; each was seated opposite another as they seemed to be talking and eating. Mita adjusted his scope until he was sure he had it set right then, taking careful aim and letting his breathing follow his self training; he squeezed off the first round, the sudden shock of firing pushed back into his shoulder as the rifle went off with a loud crack that could be heard right down the valley in the stillness of the air.
Mita watched as the Reneg he was aiming at was lifted bodily from his squatting position and thrown forcibly into the small fire in the middle of the group; what amazed Mita more was that the Reneg opposite the one he had aimed at was also thrown backwards as the round went right through the first one and punched heavily into the chest of the second leader.
Mita would have smiled at the effect of the big rifle had he not been sighting in on another leader; the Reneg tried to look around and find out what had just happened to the other two who were now lying on the ground with large bloody holes in their chests; they never got to work out what it was as the next Reneg felt a very hard punch in his chest just before blackness took him.
Suddenly there was pandemonium as the sharp sound of crackling erupted from the far off cliff top; around the entrance to the cave where the Reneg had been camped to stop the boys escaping; there were yells of fear and fright as the top of the cliff seemed to light up with small flashes of fire; below the guards were falling or running for their lives as the sound of angry bees appeared to fly around the heads of the guarding Renegs. Small spurts of sand kicked up around the Renegs feet as they tried to scramble for cover from the hail of death coming from above them.
Further out from the cliff, other Renegs were looking for the cause of the death that had come out of the stillness of the rising sun but nothing could be seen against the glare at the cliff top; only the deep booming sound of death as another Reneg fell to the sand with the appearance of a boneless bag, or a small animal skin hut would disintegrate in a flash of flame and sound. Haws were screaming in fear as they pulled mightily on their tethers trying to pull free so they could flee from the loud sounds that echoed around the valley bringing death and destruction in the stillness that had been the dawn of another dei.
Mita carefully picked his targets as he methodically dealt death to the Renegs as his friends on the other side of the entrance took care of the Reneg that were too close to the entrance. Mita felt the rumbling in the earth of the big door rising which was shortly followed by the deep rumble of the APC as it sped out of the doorway before it was fully open and was followed quickly by the lighter sound of the speeding Humvee.
Mita stopped firing as he saw the Humvee speed past the APC and take the lead once the APC had crushed and pushed the line of stones out of the way; through his scope Mita could see the three black barrels of the boy's rifles poking out of the windows as the Humvee charged wildly through the nearest camp; the APC was firing its weapons further out into the rest of the Reneg camp areas.
Mita stopped his firing and gave a short whistle to get his two boys to pull back from the top of the cliff as he again felt the rumble through the ground as the big door closed once again; once below the rim of the cliff, Mita gave out a long loud whistle and was soon answered by Bax and his boys as they too pulled back and began to make their way to the tunnel leaving a number of black bundles lying on the sand below them.
As soon as all the boys returned to the main room in their bunker they all began to yell and laugh as the tension of their first ever attack on the hated Reneg was over; not only over but was a bigger success than they could ever of thought; the two remaining boys that had stayed below had already made a huge amount of food for the returning hero's and hurriedly filled a table with it as the boys carefully lay their weapons on other tables ready for cleaning.
A thought flashed through Mita's mind as he sat down to eat; from the carnage they had caused this dei, there would be feasting as well for the black Skavs for a long time to come. The birds were very quick to attack any carrion that was disabled so the bodies of the Renegs would probably cause a huge number of the Skavs to appear and begin to feed. Mita knew that the Landers; the people who hid in small valleys and produced the plants needed to make the bred that everyone ate; also called the Skavs, Soul Eaters; as they believed that the black birds took away the life force of any person unlucky enough to be eaten by them and that the souls could be seen living in the black unwavering eyes of the Skavs.
On the valley floor; once they were well clear of the Renegs camp sites; Elios pulled his Humvee to a halt and waited as Elam stopped the APC beside him. Elios got out of his still running Humvee; his young body still shaking a little from the excitement of the wild dash from the bunker and sound of the rifle fire as they tore through the small groups of running and scared Renegs; not a crossbow bolt had been fired at them as the fear of death from above the cliff had taken all of the Renegs attention.
Elios put his binoculars to his eyes to look back at what had once been a Reneg camp of somewhere around four plus ten men. It was now nothing more than a place on the sand that had less than half of them now running towards the far off hills; on the floor of the valley were burning skin huts and small black dots of the dead; already Elios could make out the black dots in the sky of the Skavs; the black birds would fill their bellies this dei. Elios looked over at where Elam stood beside the still running APC and signalled for him to come over.
Once Elam had joined him, Elios got out his map and they began to discuss where they would start their search for more boys.
"I think we should make a big circle around here and come into the breeding cave area from this direction," Elios said as he traced a circular line on the material of the map with his finger.
Elam looked and nodded his head in agreement; Elios was the one with the good mind for this type of thing and Elam was happy to go along with any plan he made.
"How many boys do you think we can get this time?" Elam asked.
"As many as we can fit in both transports; even if we have to squeeze them as tight as we can; the more we can save now is better for us all."
"Ok; I'll just follow you, what about those Renegs that escaped the camp?"
"Well all of them are now on foot so if we see any on the way I think we should finish them off; the ones that get away will tell all the others that this place is a valley of death so they might stay away and leave us alone when we're here. I think they will try to take us when we go out on searches so we will have to be more careful then."
Elam nodded and then, with a big smile returned to his APC while Elios got back into his Humvee where he told his three boys how good they had done on their escape from the bunker; the three boys blushed with pride at the words of encouragement and gave small shivers as they felt the effects of their first battle with the Renegs. Elios took the lead and turned the Humvee towards what he now knew was called the North point on the small round compass he had carried with him.
For the next half dei they travelled across new sands towards the far side of the breeding caves; while the circular route was longer it also gave Elios a chance to get used to driving the big Humvee and to get used to the thick blocks of wud attached to the pedals that Elam had made for him so he could reach them; the thick pad under his butt made it easier to see over the wheel but it was also a small danger when he hit a hole or bump in the sand as he tended to bounce upwards; had it not been for his metal hat he would by now have a very sore head.
By high sun, the two transport had come up close to where the outskirts of the breeding caves were; Elios climbed up on top of his Humvee and, with his binoculars to his eyes, began to scan the surrounding landscape; while he was doing that his three boys along with Elam and Elvan from the APC, got out and walked around to stretch their legs and take out some of the kinks that had built up from the long drive. Elvan got out some food and water for them all as Elios continued his search.
Whenever he saw a small black dot moving on the sandy ground far away along the valley, he would stop looking and carefully place a mark on the map that was open at his feet then he would go back to searching. After quite a while on top of the Humvee, Elios thought he had seen all he could and came back to the ground with his friends, folding the map as he did so; taking some food from Elvan and a sip of water he began to report to the others what he had seen and how they should go about collecting all the boys out there.
After their food and water stop the boys returned to their transports and headed out towards where Elios had seen the small black moving dots of the newly dispersed boys from the breeding caves. In the back of Elios mind was the idea to start to search for more of the bunker systems that he had seen in his computer pictures; he was well aware that theirs was not the only one as he now understood the counting system of the ancients; he was also aware that there must be at least four plus one; or in the numbers of the ancients, which he now understood as 41 more of them.
The two vehicles travelled onward and it wasn't long before Elam and Elios saw the first boy ahead of them; at the strange sound of the vehicles, the boy looked back over his shoulder with evident fear on his face at the large things headed his way. His only response was to take to his heels and run as fast as he could away from the approaching terrors. Elios watched as the small boy looked over his shoulder again; fear and dread was plain on his young face, Elios sped up a little more and pulled to a halt in front of the fearful boy.
As soon as he came to a halt; Elios opened his door and jumped out waving his arms in an attempt to calm the boy who, seeing he had no way to escape from the beast or the boy that controlled it; had collapsed on the sand and began to cry tears of fear and desperation as Elios slowly approached him with a container of water in one hand and a little food in the other and with a soft smile on his lips to try and calm the boy.
The closer Elios got to the boy, the more the boy cringed in fright; slowly Elios got closer and then with a calm voice began to talk to the new boy as he held out the food and water in a gesture of peace; slowly the boy stopped crying and looked up at Elios and the food and water he held; there was still fear in his eyes but he was beginning to calm a little as Elios didn't move any closer.
"Hello, my names Elios, what's yours?"
A very soft whisper came from the boys trembling lips.
"Pita."
"Well Pita, you don't have to be scared; we're here to help you and offer you a new safe home if you want it; here, take the food and water," Elios said as he held out his gift to the still trembling boy.
"What is that thing?" Whispered Pita.
"It's called a transport it was made by the ancients; we found it along with a lot of other stuff in a hidden place and we learnt how to use it so we can beat the Renegs; we're looking for more boys to join us because we don't like what the Renegs do to new boys when they go roving; we really would like you to join us."
Pita took the food and water from Elios and quickly took a mouth full as soon as he had the food in his hand; immediately a new and wondrous look came over his face as he got the first taste of the new and strange food; it was like nothing he had ever eaten, quickly he took a mouth full of water and then went back to hurriedly eating the rest of the food; when he was finished he looked up again at the young boy standing waiting for him.
"Can I really join you, that thing's not dangerous is it?"
"Yes we would like you to join us and no; it's not dangerous, well not unless I drive it wrong."
Elam had kept the APC far back from Elios as he could not go as fast as the smaller Humvee; he sat and waited for Elios to call him on his com unit before he would go close to the new boy.
Pita looked again at the Humvee and noticed for the first time that there were another three boys sitting inside holding funny looking black pipes; they also had funny metal hats on that made their small heads look under sized; each boy was smiling at him.
"There's not much space in there for me," Pita again whispered to Elios.
"That's ok, we have another bigger transport to carry you in; this one is just for looking and finding new boys; would you like to see the bigger one?"
"Uhm… yes, ok."
Pita watched as his new friend Elios, put his finger to his neck and talked softly to nothing.
"Ok Elam; come up slowly, Pita is still a little scared so be careful."
Pita watched as Elios nodded his head at something and then heard a deep loud growl from behind him; with fear again in his eyes he spun around and saw a new transport come over a slight rise in the ground; it was bigger and looked very dangerous; from the top of the transport stood a round thing that had two larger pipes coming from it; these pipes were going around as though searching for something. Pita felt Elios put a soft steady hand on his shoulder to let him know it was ok; as the new transport got closer, Pita continued to tremble as he realised just how big it was.
When the large transport stopped a little way away, Pita saw a small metal door open in the side and then heard it begin to wine like a small dog as the back began to come down; from the side door another young boy jumped out smiling at Pita.
"Hello, my name's Elam, I'm Elios' friend; are you going to come and live with us?"
Pita looked from Elios to the new boy Elam; his mind was close to being made up when he saw that the boys were just ordinary boys and not demons or Renegs; slowly he nodded his head that he would like to live with them even though the big transports still scared him.
"Great," Elios said. "Why don't you go with Elam and he'll show you how to get inside so your safe from any Renegs that we may find; we're going to go looking for more boys so we might be out here for a couple of dei's looking but don't worry, we have plenty of food and water."
For the first time since their meeting, Pita smiled and still with a little trepidation he moved with Elam to the back of the APC; when he saw inside he couldn't believe how much space there was; also he felt a little better when he saw Elvan sitting and smiling at him as he sat at his small screens watching the surrounding country; Elvan gave him a small wave and a smile then turned back to his business.
Elam took Pita inside and showed him where to sit and how to tighten the belt around his waist; explaining that sometimes the APC would hit a hole or bump and the belt would keep him safe.
"If you get hungry or thirsty just help yourself, it's all in those two boxes, you open them like this."
Elam showed Pita how to open the boxes and what was inside; Pita could only stare in disbelief at all the food; he suddenly felt happy to be with his new friends. At last he was not going to be lonely or scared of the Renegs again while he was with them. Pita settled into a seat and pulled his belt tight as Elam went to the front and sat in the driver's seat; with some movement of his hands on some buttons and a stick, the APC began to move forward. Pita let out a small gasp as the APC moved smoothly away from where they had stopped.
By high sun; the boys had collected another four boys, all showed the same reaction as Pita at first but soon saw how much better it would be with these boys that had the secrets of the ancients. Elios began to look for a place to sit out the high sun time and finally found a deep overhang of rock where they could park both vehicles in the small amount of shade it gave. The outside of the two vehicles were now very hot from the strong sun and the inside was like being cooked; all the boys were glad to get out and stretch their limbs under the shade.
Elios asked the three boys from the Humvee to keep a look out for trouble while the rest of them rested in the shade; each of the three boys would take turns watching so they didn't get to tired and miss something out on the hot shimmering sand of the valley; when the sun had lowered a little later in the dei they would resume their search for new friends.
When the highest heat of the dei had passed, the boys began to ready themselves for the next move. Elios had been inspecting his new map and trying to plot out their next direction to move in; after talking with Elam and Elvan, they all agreed on a direction and then loaded up the new boys as Elios took the Humvee out to the front and led the way in another curving passage towards; what he now knew was called the WEST as he looked at his small compass; between the compass and his new understanding of the ancient's distances, he was able to plan their travel for the rest of the dei.
By the time of the approaching dark; the boys had collected five more new boys and they all felt it was time to start looking for a place to camp in a safe place until the new sun rise. Slowing his speed as he turned SOUTH; Elios told his three guards to keep a lookout for a good place, one that they could defend if attacked by any straying Renegs and at the same time be easy for their transport to get too.
It was almost dark when one of Elios boys spotted a small cave on the edge of a towering cliff; on getting closer, Elios saw that they would be able to place the Humvee in the mouth of the cave with all the boys behind and the APC could be parked in front of the Humvee as further protection; they would have to set up a guard routine during the dark time but Elios thought that wouldn't be too much trouble.
Elam stopped and unloaded all the new boys and then waited while Elios backed the Humvee into the cave mouth until only part of the front could be seen. Elam then parked the APC across the front of the Humvee and Elvan turned the big weapons outward to cover any approach. When the other two boys joined Elios in the cave, they sat and discussed what they should do for guard duty. Elvan volunteered to do the first part along with one of the guard boys and give Elam and Elios a chance to rest after all the driving they had done; then they would each take a turn until sun rise. Elios checked that Elvan had his NV binoculars that fitted onto the top of his hat and that the three guard boys had brought theirs as well; once satisfied that they were all set for the dark time, the three boys went back into the cave to eat and talk with the new boys.
Elios found all the new boys sitting at the back of the cave with the big box of food still closed tight and none of the water containers opened; they were all just staring at the box with hunger on their faces but would not open or eat for some reason; Elios asked one of the boys why they weren't eating, there was plenty there for everyone, the boy replied.
"We didn't want to take something unless it was ok by you guys," the small red head boy told him.
Elios smiled at the lost looking boys and told them.
"There's plenty of food and water; any time you're hungry you can just help yourself, if we run short we'll just head for home and get more; when you see your new home cave you'll see what I mean; we should only be out here for one or two more dei's, when we have enough boys we will go home and start to train you."
The group of new boys looked up at Elios to see if he was genuine and, after studying his open expression for a short time they all smiled and began to move towards the large box. Elios looked at his two friends and smiled at the hesitation of the new guys but it was only a short time before all the mouths were full of food and water was being passed around. Elios did not want to light a fire while they were out in the sands in case there were any Renegs around so they had their food cold and, even though it wasn't quite as good as when it was hot, it still filled the new boys and satisfied the others for the time being.
When everyone was finished eating, Elvan got up and checked his equipment and asked one of the three guard boys to come with him to sit on top of the APC to keep guard while all the others found a place to settle down and sleep; some for the first time in dei's as they could not afford to take any chances when they first went out into the wilds on their roving.
Elios and Elam didn't know how late or early it was when they both felt a hand on their shoulders shaking them; opening their eyes they saw Elvan with his finger to his lips indicating they should stay silent and come with him to the entrance of the cave. Once there the two boys saw that the guard boy was now lying down on the top of the APC so he wouldn't stand out too much. Elvan signalled them to follow him around the unit and lay down on the sand near the tracks of the APC.
Elvan pointed to his head and pulled down his NV binoculars; the two boys did the same and began to scan the sandy wastes before them. It took no time at all to see why Elvan had come to find them; out on the sand, not too far away was a small Reneg camp; by counting the haws they could see there were about six Reneg sitting around a small fire. It was lucky they thought, that they had decided to park so close to the cliff as they blended into the rough face of the ridge; the Renegs didn't seem to know they were even there.
Elios could only see one problem; when the sun rose they would be very close to the Reneg camp and totally visible and as soon as they started up their transports, the Renegs would be on top of them; there was only one thing to do. Elios signalled for his two friends to join him back inside the cave; once there he told them his idea and asked for their input.
"Elvan," Elios whispered. "How did they get so close without you seeing them?"
Elvan lowered his head and the other two boys heard a slight snuffle from his throat.
"I'm sorry, we were both sitting there so long and we must have just sort of dozed off for a little; when I heard a small sound and opened my eyes they were all sitting there in their camp. I told the other boy to stay up there while I came to get you; I'm sorry, really sorry, I know I've put everyone in danger." A small sob came from Elvan as he buried his head in his arms.
Elios and Elam quickly sat at his side and put their arms around Elvan to comfort him and tell him it was ok; they were still safe and nothing bad had happened.
"Besides," Elios said, "we've all had a long day and all of us are tired so let's forget this and make plans to get out of here."
"What are we going to do about the Renegs out there?" Elam asked.
"Well, I thought we would wake all the new boys and warn them about the Renegs then tell them to stay here but be ready to jump into the APC when they hear us firing; Elam you get in the APC and get ready to start it up. Elvan you get on the big weapons and keep them lined up on the camp; I'll take the three other boys with me and move in on the camp from the left side so you know where we are; we'll attack them before they know we're here; there's only six of them so our rifles should take care of them pretty quick. If it looks as though it's going wrong then Elvan can fire from here; remember, we can see in the dark, they can't so we should be able to surprise them."
"Sounds good to me," Elam replied
"Same here," said Elvan.
"Ok, let's go tell the boys," Elios sent a soft whistle to the boy on top of the APC and when he got to the ground, Elios told him what they were going to do; the boy nodded and went to get the other two ready. Elvan went and woke up the new boys and softly whispered to them and explained what was going to happen so they wouldn't get to frightened by the rifle fire; when he was sure the new boys understood everything he went back to Elios and Elam by the cave mouth.
"All ready," whispered Elvan as he passed Elios on the way to the APC's small door. Elios gathered the three guard boys to him and explained the plan; the boys nodded and, along with Elios made their way to the front of the APC and lay down on the soft sand, their NV binoculars pulled down over the eyes; the green tinge lit up everything in front of them and they could see the nearby Reneg camp clearly; the six Renegs were now lying in front of the fire and looked to be asleep or close to it.
Elios signalled his boys to start to crawl to their left away from the cave mouth and closer to the Renegs; the boys spread out so there was a bout four lengths between each of them and slowly came up to one knee as they had learnt in the fig pictures; flicking on the small button on their scopes, they could now also see the Renegs clearly in the greenish yellow light. Elios switched on his com unit and whispered. "Now"
The four shots sounded loud in the still night air and echoed around the open valley floor; three of the Reneg barely moved apart from a sudden shudder; the fourth one screamed loudly and clutched his shoulder; the other two jumped to their feet with weapons in their hands as they tried to see past the light of the fire into the darkness around them yelling at each other as they tried to work out what had happened.
The darkness was suddenly split apart by a loud roaring sound as Elam started up the APC; for the first time in their lives the Renegs were afraid at the unknown roaring sound; one man holding his shoulder as his blood dripped from between his fingers as he swayed back and forth from the shock; three of their brothers not moving even with the loud roar so close to them, the remaining Renegs lifted their crossbows towards the new roaring sound but still could not see anything past the firelight.
The three remaining Renegs never saw the four flashes in the dark behind them;, instead they only felt the heavy shock of something hot hitting them in the back and side and the dark sand rushing up to meet them; then, nothing. The haws broke their tethers and rushed away into the dark as Elam turned on the lights of the APC; Elios and his three boys turned off their NV binoculars and lifted them from their eyes.
"Come on," called Elios as he began to lead the three boys back to their Humvee; as he reached the door of his transport, Elios looked up at the dark sky and judged by the stars that they had only a short time before the new sun rise would be here; it was close to the time for moving on any way. Elios got into the Humvee and started it up as his three guard boys got their belts on; they knew what it could be like if they forgot to wear them when Elios was in a hurry.
Elios hit the noise button on the wheel to let Elam know they were ready to move; as soon as Elam was away from the front of the Humvee, Elios pulled out and around him to take the lead and show them the new direction they would go in. As quickly as they could in the darkness, they hurried away from their latest killing field and drove down the valley floor as far away as they could before the sun rose; when it was light they would decide where they wanted to go in the hope of finding more boys. They felt that there was still space for about ten or more boys in the APC; if they could find more they would try to take them as well even if they were overloaded.
Chapter 9
Range Afar
They had been out for four days; both the Humvee and the APC were now overloaded with new boys, some even sitting on the laps of others; their food and water were also very low and Elios had decided to make a dark time run to the bunker in the hope of avoiding the heat of the dei.
As the first hint of the rising sun made itself known over the ridge top, Elios saw the door to the bunker emerging from dim dawn light; the valley seemed eerie in the semi darkness, as the lights of his Humvee swept over the valley floor. He could make out the bleached bones of the Renegs that had attacked them; the creatures of the dark had made short work of the bodies that had laid there only a short time ago.
Pulling up to the huge door and stepping out of his vehicle, Elios noticed the silence and stillness for the first time; it felt as though the death of so many Renegs had brought a curtain of silence over the valley. Elios shivered slightly and put his card in the detector, seconds later the sound and rumble of the opening door could be heard in the stillness. Elios returned to his Humvee, still a little uncomfortable at the feeling of the valley around him.
As the door lifted to its full height, Elios saw all the other boys lined up along the passage; their rifles slung over their shoulders and their new clothes all neat and tidy; Mita and Bax stood at the front with big smiles on their faces as they watched the two overloaded vehicles start to enter the bunker. First Elios, then Elam waved as they drove past while all the new boys tried to look out the side windows at the smartly dressed boys inside the huge passage. A new sense of excitement pervaded the two vehicles as the new boys tried to take in everything they were seeing in this strange new place.
While the two boys parked their vehicles in the garage, they could feel and hear the rumbling of the door closing; it was not long before Mita and Bax along with the other boys came rushing into the garage to see the new boys. The noise level grew quickly as the new boys began to call out questions to the others; they asked about food and the strange clothes they were wearing as well as the obvious ancient weapons they all held.
As quickly as possible, Elios and the other three boys tried to get some sense of order in the garage until finally; Mita let out a loud yell and everyone quietened down enough for Elios to begin explaining to the new boys where they were and what was happening.
The first thing he asked was for the boys that had been in the bunker for a while, to take one of the new boys and show him where he could sleep and wash; once that was organised he then told them that there would be a big meal ready when they had all had a chance to wash and find a place to sleep. With that they all began to leave while the five boys made their way to the main room to organise the new additions to their small army; to Elios' surprise, Mita walked up to him and, with a tenderness Elios had never known from anyone; Mita took the smaller boy in his larger, stronger arms and pulled him into a warm heartfelt hug.
At first Elios was taken by surprise as he did not think Mita had ever had any feelings for him but the strength of the hug and the warmth behind it made Elios tired body respond in a typical young teen way and he melted into the strong arms; he saw Elam and Elvan smile widely at the little blonde wrapped in the large arms of Mita.
With a final gentle hug, Mita took Elios hand and led the three of them down the passage to the main room; once there he gently pushed Elios into a chair and rushed away, only to return shortly with a heaped plate of food; as he placed the plate on the table in front of Elios he leaned in close enough so only Elios could hear him.
"I want to sleep with you; I want to protect you; I want to never leave you; will you have me Elios, forever?"
Elios could not speak; he had never thought someone would want a runt like him and Mita was so big and strong; he couldn't get his head around such a handsome and strong boy like Mita would want someone like him. All Elios could do was sit and stare up at the soft eyes above him; he could see in Mita's open face a sense of hope as well as fear of the smaller boy rejecting him; his look changed to longing as he looked down at the small blonde.
From the first time he had seen Elios out in the desert after the Reneg attack he had wanted to hold and protect him; the smaller boy had not only a hardness in his slim body but he also was smart and very good at organising things both in the bunker and outside in the sands. Mita had never felt this way about any boy before; most times boys just liked to play their games with anyone they liked but this boy was something special; it made strange feelings deep inside Mita and he was still a little confused about the feelings were; he knew he could not go on without Elios by his side or in his bed. He waited with apprehension as Elios looked deeply into his face.
A small shiver went through Elios as he looked up into the waiting eyes of Mita; slowly he began to understand why he was always looking for the bigger boy; why his body stirred with happiness when Mita was around; the closeness of Mita was beginning to make his blood warm and his loins stir in that familiar way; with a blush on his young cheeks and almost a tear in his eye, Elios could only nod his head in acceptance of Mita's offer.
Mita saw the small nod and his face broke into the widest smile that any of the boys had ever seen; he immediately reached down and pulled Elios up into his strong teen arms and hugged the smaller boy as close to his chest as he could get him. Even the staleness of the four days of travel could not take away the desire and feelings he had for the boy; he quickly looked at Elam and Elvan as though asking them for their approval; happily both boys just nodded and smiled. As far as they were concerned, their little friend deserved someone to look after him and protect him in the long and hard times to come.
Bax broke the spell that had come over the room; in the distance they could hear all the new boys laughing and splashing around in the ablutions room as he began to explain to Elios, Elvan, and Elam what they had been up to while they had been away. Firstly there had been the clothing and training of the other new boys and then they had decided to go and investigate the rest of the bunker that had as yet not been looked into; the best news was left till last.
"The passage that goes on past the office that you never bothered to look at is the best part; down there is a number of smaller sleeping rooms, I think that's what gave Mita the idea to finally ask you to be with him; each room is big enough for four people and the sleeping platforms are way bigger. We thought that we could either each have a room or they would be big enough for two in each room; they have their own wash room and big places for your clothes."
Elios, Elvan and Elam looked at the two boys with surprise; the far end of the passage had not been one of their priorities but the news that there were smaller rooms to use was good news indeed; it would leave the larger sleeping rooms for the other boys to use, Elios looked at Mita.
"Uhm, did you find one for us?"
"Yes; and I've already got it set up in the hope you would say yes to me; I'll take you there when you've eaten then we can talk more about us, if that's ok with you?"
Elios blushed and returned to his food as Mita sat down next to him and put his arm around the smaller shoulders of Elios. Elam sat opposite and shovelled the food into his mouth as though he had not eaten in dei's; meanwhile Elvan went back to his kitchen to ready food for the new boys who were starting to drift in from their washing; they all had a look of wonderment on their young faces.
Elvan called for the boys that he was teaching to cook and they left to start bringing the fresh food out into the room for the newcomers; soon the room was filled with laughing, eating boys as Elios, with Mita close by; left to find his new room; with the addition of the new boys the large bunker no longer seemed empty; the laughing and chatter seemed to make it more of a home than any of them had ever had.
Mita led Elios to their new room; the walls were coloured in fresh white; the floor had some type of soft warm skin over it and the bed was so much bigger; carefully Mita reached out and gently began to remove the dirty clothes that Elios had been wearing for four dei's.
Slowly; as though unwrapping a special gift, Mita revealed Elios small slim body; revelling in each new view of the smaller boy until Elios stood in all his naked glory before the bigger teen. Mita could only hold Elios at arm's length and smile as he once again laid eyes on the beauty of his partner; to Mita there was no other boy that could compare to this small compact vision of delight.
Elios smooth soft skin; now paling a little as he was wearing the ancient style clothes more and more; took Mita's breath away, the boy's untidy mop of blonde locks falling over his soft eyes. He looked up into Mita's face with a new innocent look that Mita had not seen before; it broke the idolising stare and Mita started to move again; picking Elios up in his arms he carried the smaller boy through to their new washing room and placed him on his slim feet; next, Mita quickly stripped himself and reached up to turn on the water as he slipped behind Elios in the washing space.
Once the water was at the right temperature, Mita took up the new block of what he now knew was called soap; he began to gently soap and wash Elios body; taking special care as his larger hands came down to hold the now erect boyhood and wash it all thoroughly and tenderly. Elios was overcome by the tenderness of the larger boy and all he could do was let himself lean back onto the harder and more solid chest behind him; the strong hands worked their magic on his tired body.
Elios was almost overcome by the gentleness that Mita showed him and even though he had become erect almost the moment Mita had touched him; he was just too tired and comfortable in the big hands to want to go any further; besides, if Mita was really true to his word then they would have a long time together to make up for any time lost in the wash room.
Although Mita was also rigid and wanted nothing more than to feel the hot delights of the boy leaning back against his chest; he held his feelings for the smooth body under control as he finally turned off the water and lifted Elios from the wash area. Wrapping the smaller boy in a warm dry towel he again picked him up and carried the boy to their new bed where he again gently laid Elios down; for the first time in his life, Mita leant down and softly kissed the soft red lips before him; immediately Mita felt the pressure of a small, slim tongue on his own lips and he opened his mouth to accept it; it was the first time either boy had kissed another person but to both of them it seemed the right thing to do.
Elios put his hands on Mita's shoulders and pulled him towards the bed; the feeling of heat in Mita's mouth had brought Elios back to life and he wanted to feel the bigger boy beside him; even though Mita's boyhood was now more a manhood, Elios still wanted to feel it slowly enter him and fulfil the hidden dream he had been harbouring since he had first seen the teen out on the sands.
Mita let himself be pulled down onto the bed, careful not to lay his full weight onto the smaller boy; the towel that had covered Elios had now slipped to the side and his slender beauty was now fully displayed below Mita; the boys rigid pole showed no signs of the tiredness he had felt earlier as Mita lay down, his own rigid pole pressing down until it slid between the slightly open thighs of Elios; soon Mita was covering his whole body.
Need and desire took over all of Elios thoughts as he felt the full size of Mita slide between his thighs; the hugeness almost made Elios think again until he felt the heat of that large shaft radiate onto his own tender skin. Elam and Elvan were both smaller than Mita but the need deep inside Elios brushed away any concerns about being hurt; if and when Mita decided to take him; the need for the bigger boy over took any thoughts of safety or pain.
Elios was almost taken by surprise at the gentleness of Mita as the bigger teen slowly turned Elios onto his side and lay with him tucked up against his chest; one hand behind Elios neck as they kissed deeply, and the other hand spread over the small butt and pulling Elios closer. Elios sighed deeply as their mouths parted and he tucked his still damp head deep into Mita's shoulder as he felt the full body contact.
Mita held him close as he smelt the clean freshness of the boy hair, the soft rhythm of Elios breathing slowed and before either of them knew it; Elios had drifted into a deep sleep; the previous four days having taken their toll, even against the wishes and desires of both boys. Mita smiled to himself and lightly pulled the small body closer to him and closed his own eyes; everything felt right and he was happy and still smiling as sleep also took its hold on him.
Mita's eyes fluttered as he felt a slight movement in front of him; feeling with his free hand he noticed that somehow, Elios had turned in his sleep and was now nestled tightly into him; his small butt pressed hard against Mita's pubic region and his hard shaft was still tightly held between the soft thighs; it was as though they welcomed the larger shaft into the heat of the smaller boys body. Mita pulled back slightly and felt his manhood slide up the boys crack until it was just barely touching the rim of Elios relaxed hole.
Mita could no longer resist the feeling and pushed softly against the moist place between Elios thighs; as though in a dream, Elios lifted his upper leg and bent it backwards until it rested over the top of Mita's thigh behind him. Mita pushed gently again and was surprised to feel a slight give in the tightness as his skin slid back and his glans made the slightest on entries; a soft moan issued from Elios lips as the pressure increased slightly.
Elios was in dream land; it was a dream that he was beginning to enjoy; in his dream he was cuddled back against Mita and the bigger boy was gently pushing his large hard manhood into him with a steady pressure. Elios sighed deeply in his sleep; it was as though he could actually feel the large shaft entering him from behind as his new boy friend was starting to make a new adventure in boys games for him, Elios sighed again.
Mita was more than surprised as his rigid shaft sank deeper into the willing boy hole. Elios was very tight but he seemed to relax his boy place without effort as Mita moved further forward; suddenly there was an indrawn breath from the boy in front of him as Mita felt the tight ring open up and let him enter into the heat and moistness of his chosen mate. The small slim hips bucked slightly as Mita's glans popped through the tightness and then there was a long deep sigh of contentment from Elios as his small butt accepted the larger shaft. In his mind Elios was still in a dream land and it was a dream he didn't want to awake from.
Mita's time with the Reneg had not been pleasant; his mind was trying to make him just force himself into the smaller boy without thought or worry, but there was something deep inside him that didn't want that for Elios; and so he used all his strength to take his time and move as slowly as he could; whenever his will power was about to give in to his desires he would look down on the still sleeping form wrapped in his arms and slow down again.
Even Mita did not understand the amount of will power needed to stop from burying himself deeply into the boy in his arms but he remained steadfast and made each movement as slow and carefully as he could. With one arm around Elios narrow chest and the other wrapped around the sender waist; he slowly pushed in another inch of shaft; his answer was another deep sigh from the still dreaming boy and apart from a little movement from Elios as his body adjusted itself to the new intrusion; Elios seemed to sleep on until finally Mita was pressed hard up against the two small smooth globes of Elios butt. He was now fully inside and the heat was overwhelming.
The hot feeling and the long slow entry had Mita softly panting as he tried to hold himself back from rampaging forward and taking his pleasure; his lower hand wrapped around the slim waist was now brushing the soft downy pubic hair that was all Elios had; his smaller slim shaft was rigidly pressing against Mita's hand.
Mita began the slow withdrawal but before he had moved more than enough to feel the softness of Elios soft cheeks leave him; his new mate seemed to awaken slightly and at the feeling of the rigid shaft being withdrawn, Elios immediately pushed his small butt backwards with determination; it was obvious to Mita that his mate wanted him to stay where he was; Mita pushed back until he was again buried as deep as he could go; his answer was another satisfied sigh from the boy laying against him.
Elios eyes fluttered at the last gentle thrust; he felt good and full, it then hit him and brought a smile to his still sleepy face; Mita had entered him in his sleep and it felt good; it also felt very big and filling, more than he had ever felt before but it was a nice feeling; that large shaft buried as deep as anything had ever been inside him before; he flexed his butt cheeks and tried to push back a little more but Mita was fully deep inside him; there was only a small burning sensation around his tight hole but the longer Mita stayed inside the more he liked the feeling.
Mita felt the small flex of Elios butt cheeks and, with a smile he also flexed his shaft a couple of times; the feeling was way above anything he had ever felt. Elios hole seemed to emit a fire of its own and Mita could wait no longer; slowly he began the long withdrawal, feeling the tight ring flexing as he rubbed against it on the way out.
Once his glans was close to exiting, Mita stopped and Elios flexed his tight ring again; Mita started the return as Elios opened his legs wider to accommodate the larger shaft as it made its slow way back inside him. He was in a place he had never been and he enjoyed being there; just as he thought it would not get any better, Mita shuffled slightly and his large glans hit that spot inside Elios that had the smaller boy squeal with joy; Elios pushed harder backwards, forcing that large shaft deeper into him; his own smaller thin shaft pulsed without assistance and his clear ejaculate was forced from him as Mita bottomed out once again.
Elios could hold himself back no longer and he started to force the pace by rapidly moving his hips back and forth on Mita's rigidity; each thrust sent shivers of delight through Elios and he wanted more and more of the bigger teen which Mita was now only too glad to accommodate; he went to work with a will that surprised even him.
Turing Elios onto his stomach; Mita took a position above him; supporting himself with one arm and both knees, he used his free arm to lift the smaller boys butt high and began to speed up his penetration; pulling out almost to the limit before burying himself as deeply as he could not knowing that each thrust was hitting Elios button perfectly and turning the younger boy into a frenzied, writhing mass of arms and legs as he was brought to another orgasm. Mita was holding on tight to the small wiry body as he came closer to his own release.
Elios didn't want the new feelings to stop and, although he was again ejaculating from the sheer action on his inner button by the larger shaft working in and out of him; Elios did not want any of it to stop; his moans and squeals filled the room as Mita came closer to fulfilment until finally; Elios gave one very loud squeal of pleasure as he felt Mita's shaft swell and then a hotness seemed to fill his insides; Mita continued to pump harder into the tightness that was his new mate.
Elios was still moaning as Mita turned him on his side and lay down behind him; he was still buried as deeply as he could be and didn't want to release the boy until they both died of old age. Elios was still panting heavily and tried to snuggle back as much as he could into Mita's stomach; not wanting that large full feeling to leave him; both boys were covered in a sheen of sweat and panting heavily but both also knew that this was not the end of their first night; it was only a pause in their new awakening.
Mita began to move although Elios tried his best to keep Mita just where he was but the older teen would have none of it; slowly he withdrew his now semi hard shaft from the hot tight place it had been; once free he slipped off the side of the bed just as Elios turned towards him with a look of askance on his young face as well as a small smiling pout of his lips.
"We need to wash," said Mita.
He leaned in close and scooped the startled boy into his stronger arms then carried him into the wash room and placed him on his feet under the water spout; once the taps were turned on Mita joined Elios under the water; taking the younger boy in his arms and pulling him back against him, Mita began to soap and rinse Elios as he stood leaning against the solid chest behind him.
Both stepped from the wash area and Mita proceeded to dry Elios off with a fresh towel; although Elios had other ideas at that moment but Mita would have none of it; he spun Elios around and gently pushed him towards the bedroom to put some fresh clothes on; there were a lot of new boys waiting for them and they needed to get them settled as quick as possible.
A little disappointed, but understanding the need to take care of the new ones first; Elios drew the towel over his now slightly sore butt, making sure he was not leaking any of Mita's warm juices before he started to pull on his pants. Elios mind began to wander a little as a sudden thought came into his head; it was something that would take a lot of thought and he didn't even know if Mita would agree to it.
If both he and Mita came to a decision on the subject, it would mean Elios would have to give up any further thoughts of playing games with any other boys; although Mita would still be able to do as he liked; even if he found a real breeder female, but it would mean that Elios would always be number one if Mita wanted to follow along that path; Elios decided it would need more thought on his part first.
Mita joined him in the bedroom and began to don his own pants and cut off shirt; Elios eyed the still semi hard shaft and then looked up into the watching eyes of Mita and gave him a tight pout before laughing happily and running from the room followed quickly by Mita.
The two arrived at the main room just as Elvan and his helpers were placing many trays of fresh food on the tables. The room was now full of hungry boys all trying to talk at the same time while they did their best to fill their mouths as well; apart from the four boys who were now outside the bunker on watch, everyone else seemed to be there.
Elios two friends, Elam and Elvan were giving both Elios and Mita long smiling looks; Elios slightly tight walk and tenderness as he sat down told them both all they needed to know about what had happened the previous dark period. Mita and Elios just looked back at the two friends with a smug and all knowing look on their faces.
After some time, all the food trays were empty and all the boys were leaning back in their chairs; their stomachs distended by so much fresh food, for the new boys it was a marvel of the ancients that so much food was even available; as they sat and rested, the difference between the new boys and those that had been in the bunker for a while was quite apparent; the new boys sat naked and the older boys were all clothed in the ancient's clothes, Elios stood up to address all the new boys.
"Welcome to our home; it's called a bunker and was built by the ancients; everything you have seen here was also made by them and it has taken us a long time to learn as much as we can about it all. If you want to join us and stay here, you will also have to learn all there is that we can teach you. Beside me is Mita, if you stay he will be in charge of training you all in the use of the ancient weapons; over there is Elam, he is the leader of the transports; those who want to learn about them will go to him; the boy who supplied the food is Elam; he is in charge of all supplies and will also need more help now that we have so many boys here."
Elios looked around the room waiting for any questions so far none came; the new boys were sitting and waiting to see what happened next, Elios continued.
"We were not asked to be the leaders here, it's just that we found it and have been here the longest and we know most of what's going on in the bunker and how the ancients did things. Our plan is to go out and look for more of these bunkers as well as bring in as many boys as want to come and join us; the idea is to gather as many boys as we can and train them to protect not only each other but to protect our home; there will come a day when we will have to fight the Renegs so the more we know now the better. The way we have set this up is that there will be groups of boys with one leader in each; the ancients called them squads; they're a group of six boys and they work together all the time; also you will be asked to stand guard outside so we don't get surprised by the Renegs; they tried it once and found we are not easy to kill or invade."
There was a soft rumble of voices at this new revelation; if these boys had beaten the Renegs in a fight then it was obviously in all the new boy's interest to stay and learn as much as they could; Elios continued.
"Now if you want to talk it over, those that want to stay can see Elvan and he will get you some of the new clothes and then Mita will start your training; any of you that want to go on alone we will give you some food and clothes to help you but we can't give you any of the ancient weapons; we need them for those who stay to help us; thank you all."
Elios sat back down beside Mita and left the new boys to talk it over; it didn't take long for all of the new ones to agree to stay and be a part of the new bunker system; when Elvan came back into the room, he signalled for all the new boys to follow him and he took them away to be fitted with the new clothes; Elios laid his head on Mita's shoulder and sighed in satisfaction; their little family now numbered over six plus ten.
Elios stood up; with a smile to Mita, he left to go to the office room; he had a lot of work to do to try and find a way of searching out new bunkers; by now he had a reasonably good understanding of the strange computers; his natural intelligence had worked out most of the systems he would need to set a plan in motion.
Mita waited for the new boys as they drifted back dressed in their new clothes; most were too large for the boys but the use of a knife and a belt soon made them useable; finally all the new boys were back; Mita signalled for them to follow him to the armoury where he would issue their weapons and then start them on learning how to use them and how to maintain them. It was going to be a long day and he was already missing Elios; his feelings for the smaller boy were so deep and strange he had never felt like this about any boy he had been with; he just hoped that Elios felt the same way.
It turned out to be a long day for everyone; the new weapons training and assignment of places within the bunker for the new boys took a lot of work but finally Elios had it all set out; he was now learning about the ancient's system of distances and time; he had been trying to learn these things so he could work out a way to find more of the bunkers; he just knew deep down inside that these bunkers were going to be the answer for all the boys sent out on their searches; with luck they would be a way of stopping the Renegs once and for all.
Elios settled back again to read the computer window; it took a while but slowly the strange symbols and figures began to make more and more sense; at last, after what must have been half a day; he had most of it worked out and it all seemed so easy. The ancients had a time measure of 24 hours to make a day; each hour had 60 minutes and each minute had 60 seconds; by looking at the clock on the far wall he was able to see how it all worked. They also had worked out that there were seven days to make 1 week and 4 weeks to make 1 month, followed by 12 months to make 1 year.
At last he could make sense of their thinking; the new age had it all wrong; some of the words were the same but made up of different symbols. As for the distances, it was even better; now there would be no need to guess how far a place was; by using the ancient's system of measurement they could judge the distance down to nothing. Elios looked again at the measurements; it was all so easy once you could understand the basics.
10 millimetres became 1 centre meter; 100 centre meters became 1 metre; 1,000 meters became 1 kilometre; it was all so easy, now a lot of the numbers and symbols on the maps became clearer; he could now plan for a search for more new bunkers, all the information he needed was in the computer.
Elios shrugged his shoulders to relieve the built up tension; as he did so his stomach rumbled, it was time to go and find some food to satisfy his hunger; it had been a long day and the exertion of having to learn all the new meanings was now telling on him; also were the thoughts in the back of his mind of what to do about his strange feelings for Mita. Elios shut off the computer and left the office; he hoped that some of the new boys would be interested enough to come and help him in the future. If he went searching for new bunkers they would need someone here to carry on for the rest.
Over the next ten days, Elios worked hard in his office to set out his plan; they had been accepting boys from outside at a steady rate of 2 or 3 a day and sometimes more; it seemed that a rumour had set itself in motion, as they are apt to do in isolated areas; that there was a safe haven for boys leaving the breeding caves in a valley now called 'Ded Valy'; if you could find it you would be safe from the hated Renegs; the valley was littered with the bleached bones of long dead Renegs and when you found it all you had to do was call for help and you would be safe.
No one knew how the rumour had started, but like all things in this world, it just had and now new boys were arriving daily. The bunker was now becoming crowded but it was a happy and bustling place; every new boy had to be clothed and fed as well as trained for his chosen job.
Elam now had a garage full of boys learning to drive the transports and do the maintenance. Elvan had six boys working in the kitchen all the time and also had started another three boys to learn about helping any boy who got sick or was injured in their training classes. Mita was the weapons teacher; he would take boys for long runs out in the high sun heat and then take them to his new place across the other side of the valley; there he had set up the newly found ancient targets for the boys target practice to improve their shooting abilities; in the early evenings all boys would be assembled in what was now known as the "Common Room"; there all the new lessons of the day would be discussed and any important announcements were made by the four leaders.
Elios continued to expand his own mind even though he was sidetracked by his own personal thoughts; he had mastered the long lost art of the ancients and; even though it had been an accident; he could now print the clean white sheets of paper he had found in a room off the side of the office on a small machine attached to the computer called a printer.
From this discovery he had made out the new time and measurement papers; they were now given to each boy to learn so that they could revert to the old way which, to Elios; seemed far more efficient for their purposes. Without knowing it, the new table of measurements also helped Mita's riflemen to attain a new ability in hitting the far off targets as they could now work out how to use the sighting systems.
But today was a far more important day than any that had gone before; today was the day of Elios final decision; he was very happy with Mita, each night (for that was the true name for the dark time) Mita took Elios gently from behind like all boys did when playing the night game; with real passion he would fill Elios with his hot juices until they both collapsed in each other's arms and slept; but tonight was going to be different; it would be the night for Mita and Elios to decide where their boy fun went. Elios finally left the office and made his way to the now very busy kitchen to search out his friend Elvan.
As soon as he entered the busy kitchen, Elios gestured for Elvan to follow him outside to a quiet area; once there he began to tell Elvan what he was thinking and ask his friends advice about certain things; the look on Elvan's face was one of awe and acceptance and finally he told Elios all he knew about his friends plan and how to accomplish it.
"Are you sure you want to do this Elios?"
"Yes, I've thought a lot about it and I feel it's the right thing for me to do."
"You know what it means for you, don't you?"
"Yes, but it's what I feel inside; it feels right and I'm not giving up much when I look at what I'm gaining."
"Well as long as you're sure then I'm happy for you; you do realise that if you do this, then it's for life."
"Yes, I know it is; it's what I want and I'm sure Mita wants it as well but he just doesn't know how to ask me."
"Ok, well I'm with you all the way and I know Elam will be happy for you; when is it going to happen?"
"Tonight, I don't want to wait any longer."
"Ok, then wait here for a bit, I want to give you something to help you."
Elvan rushed back into the kitchen and a short time later he returned with a small bottle of thick liquid and handed it to Elios.
"When the time comes, use this; put as much on as you can, it will make it easier but you're still going to be very sore for a while; especially if Mita is as good as I think he is."
Elios blushed and then smiled his thanks as he put the small bottle in his pants pocket. Elvan reached for Elios and drew him into a strong hug and squeezed him tightly.
"I'm going to miss our games and so will Elam but if you're sure then it's ok with us."
"I'm sure, and thank you for this; please, don't tell anyone yet, if Mita says no then I don't want to look silly."
"It'll be our secret, well it will be a secret until tomorrow morning." Elvan smiled his devilish smile and raised his thin eyebrows in a knowing arch.
Elios laughed and waved as he left Elvan standing outside the kitchen; he had a lot to do before he joined Mita for sleep later. Elios went to their room and took out his breach-clout, then the moccasins; swiftly he made his way to the washroom and began to clean his breach-clout until it was spotless and then set it to dry. Next he took up each moccasin and, with the red coloured writing stick he had found in the office many days ago; he began to make the symbol on the top of each moccasin; the strong smell of the red dye made his head a little light but he continued until the two symbols were complete. He looked at his handy work and smiled, it looked right; he replaced the moccasins back in the storage cupboard for the next morning.
Looking around their room he decided to clean it and find something to make it look nicer for this special night, and so he set to work. Elios had no idea how much time had passed all he knew was that now his stomach was continuously rumbling with hunger; he looked around the room and decided it was enough; turning, he left for the common room to join Mita and to eat.
As soon as he walked into the common room he felt the tingle of Mita's smile as the older teen looked up at him from his place at a table where he was discussing the guard duties with two new squad leaders; Elios quickly moved to the table and sat beside Mita; the older teen reached an arm out and wrapped it around his partners shoulders and pulled Elios in closer.
Elios blushed slightly but didn't resist and laid his head on Mita's chest as the older teen finished his explanation; the two new leaders looked at Elios and smiled, they got up and left to see to their respective Squads of boys. Mita called out for some food and one of Elvan's kitchen boys quickly arrived with two plates full of steaming meat and vegetables.
Elios had to try hard to swallow his food even though he was ravenous; his plans for later in the night were still forefront in his mind and he just hoped that Mita would agree when the time came. Elios knew there was going to be a certain amount of pain and that the next day he was not going to be at his best; he also knew that he was giving up a lot of his freedom of choice if Mita agreed but deep down it was what he knew was the right thing to do.
Elios hoped that what he was feeling for Mita was going to be reciprocated; he was sure it was but there was always a little doubt in anyone's mind when they were going to do what he wanted to do. His only assurance was the fact he could not be away from Mita for long without feeling alone and lost. Mita seemed to complete him and every time he looked at the older teen his body tingled with excitement; his face would blush and he would feel all hot and sweaty; just a smile from Mita could set Elios body on fire and half his mind was always consumed by thoughts of Mita.
Their meal finished; Mita took Elios in his arms and hugged him close then sat back and sighed with contentment; all he had to do now was find out if his little Elios would agree to the thoughts Mita had had for more than three months. It was a problem Mita could see no way of fixing; if he made the offer and Elios turned him down he would have to leave the bunker; he would not be able to work so close to Elios and not be reminded of the loss and so he waited; his desire and need for the smaller teen was overwhelming but he waited; what he wanted to do would mean a lot of changes in Elios life and Mita was not about to force him into that position; he would just have to wait it out and see what the future would bring them both.
Mita felt Elios push back from the gently embrace he had been holding him in; Mita looked at Elios in askance.
"I need to do a couple of things before we go to sleep, are you coming to our room soon?" Elios asked him.
"Yes, I just want to let all the food settle and I'll be there in a bit."
"Ok, I'll be waiting for you."
Elios smiled as he got up from the table and left the common room; his stomach was full of flutters and his knees shook slightly; he only hoped that Mita would understand what he was doing and would accept the offer; he knew his feelings were far more than just boy game needs, there was something deep inside him that cried out for the comfort of Mita.
Elios made it to their room and began to get himself ready; after washing himself thoroughly and drying every nook and cranny of his slim body, Elios got out the small bottle and began to apply the smooth oil; making sure he used plenty where it was going to be needed; next he checked the bed and saw that all the bed clothes were fresh and clean; once that was done he laid himself down on the bed in the position he knew was not going to need any questions but the important ones; every boy knew these special questions, they had been taught to them by the old crones in the breeding caves and now it was Elios turn.
What he was going to do was not common; only very few boys got this chance and it had to be with someone very special; someone you could trust with your very life; but Elios was sure Mita was the one and now it was time to finally find out what the older teen thought of Elios.
Elios waited patiently for Mita to arrive and after a short time he heard him walking down the passage. Elios began to sweat and a nervous tic started in his cheek as the footsteps got closer; finally there was Mita, standing in the doorway looking at the smaller teen laying on the bed waiting for him.
Mita gasped in surprise as he looked at the young teen laying on his back in the position of a breeding female; his slim legs splayed wide and the knees slightly bent to offer his small hole to his man. Elios arms were spread wide as a sign of acceptance of Mita's domination over him; Mita could see a sheen of something oily spread on and around the small hole; Elios had prepared himself for his Mita.
Elios was looking up at Mita, the nervousness overtaking him as Mita stood in the doorway with a look of awe mixed with desire. Elios waited, it would be up to Mita to ask the right questions if he chose to take Elios and make him a Bred boy. Mita began to speak with a slightly choking sound at first.
"Is this what you truly want?"
Elios voice shook as he answered.
"Yes."
"Do you give me all of you?"
"Yes."
"Do you obey me in all things?"
"Yes."
"Do you promise to never lay with another boy or breeder?"
"Yes."
"Do you have questions?"
"Yes, will you protect me?"
Mita hesitated as he looked down at the boy he had always wanted and without further thought began his answers.
"Yes."
"Will you keep food on my table?"
"Yes."
"Will you always keep a roof over my head?"
"Yes."
"Will you take me as your first Bred Boy?"
"Yes."
"Then I am here to be taken by you."
It took only moments for Mita to shed his clothes and get onto the bed; without further talk or actions, he grasped Elios legs behind the knees and with one forceful lunge he buried himself fully inside Elios well oiled hole and began to take him immediately ignoring Elios loud cry as he was entered so harshly; while it hurt a lot it was expected; this was the way it had to be; Mita had to prove he could breed him properly and therefore prove he could care for Elios in the future.
Elios cries faded away to loud moans and then groans as Mita pounded deeply inside him; each time rubbing over Elios' button would bring flashes of electric shock through his body as he was rubbed again and again. Elios began to ejaculate uncontrollably as Mita continued his assault on his button trying to force himself deeper into the tight body.
Elios was now rolled right back onto his shoulders; his knees pushed right back by his head as Mita stretched his long body to its fullest and rose up on his toes to get more of his rigid shaft into the teen; on he went as Elios thrashed his head back and forth moaning and yelping as he was bred by the older teen. Mita went rigid as his first juices sprang from him in long hot spurts deep inside Elios. Elios was past feeling anything more than the thick shaft filling him and still thrusting deeply even as Mita spent himself he did not stop his fast thrusts.
Mita continued on thrusting as deeply each time as he could get. Elios moans had changed to long groans as he lay there being bred; his eyes were beginning to glaze over as the breeding continued at its frenzied pace. Mita was sweating heavily and his breathing was coming in short heavy gasps but he could not stop; he would have to keep breeding Elios until he could no longer remain above him.
By the time Mita had spent himself for the fourth time; Elios eyes had turned upwards and there was a thin line of spittle running down his chin; his face was flushed bright red and his slim body covered in a sheen of his and Mita's sweat. The bed clothes beneath them were saturated with the sweat and the leaking juices from Elios ravaged hole and still Mita forced himself to go on; Elios had long ago been having dry orgasms; his body's ability to produce any more boy juice had passed and still Mita continued to breed him; just he as he should.
Eight times Mita spent himself into Elios until he could go no further; his arms and legs ached with the effort and his shaft could no longer stand hard; his glans was beyond sore and he was barely breathing as he pulled from the swollen, puffy, gaping and dripping hole. Elios had been bred; he would now be known as a Bred Boy and was off limits to any other boy for as long as either of them lived. He would always have the honour of being the first and therefore; even if Mita took other boys or females as breeders, which as the man he was entitled to do; Elios would always be the first and therefore have a special place if the family grew bigger; any new breeders that joined Mita's family would have to bow to Elios decisions; it was his rightful place in the family.
Mita looked down at his first Breeder; he was sated beyond consciousness and lay there on his back like any good breeder. Totally bred, Elios body looked like an empty bag; there was barely any movement of his chest as he was still under the influence of the long and hard breeding; his young slim body was covered in sweat and his own boy juices; his long blonde hair was now matted and lank; he had allowed it to grow to his shoulders in all the long months they had been in the bunker. Mita reached forward and ran his fingers through the lank hair; it would be the last time he could do it; when they had slept their fill the last part of the breeding would take place and this was often the hardest part for a Bred Boy; Mita relaxed down beside his boy and quickly fell into a comatose sleep along with that of Elios.
When he awoke, Mita felt the need to relieve his once again hard member so he rose from the bed and went to the wash room; every bone in his body ached from the exertions of the previous night; he was sure Elios would be feeling even worse. Mita's member no longer hurt and for that he was grateful; he still had one last act to perform before it was finished and this one was the hardest of all, especially for Elios.
Mita saw the implement on the shelf that Elios had found for the next act along with a small bottle half filled with what looked like oil; Mita returned to the bed and looked down at the barely awake Elios.
"Are you ready to accept the last law?"
Elios ached in every part of his body; his chest and stomach were covered in the dry spots of his own juices; his once small hole felt on fire and swollen but he was ready for the last part of being Mita's Bred Boy; all he could do was nod his head in agreement to Mita's question.
Mita lifted Elios off the bed and carried him into the wash room; once there he looked over the boy's body to make sure he wasn't badly hurt; then, with a flick of his wrist, he opened the small bottle and poured a copious amount of the oil into his free hand and gently rubbed it over and in Elios puffed hole; next he knelt down on the bare floor and leaned back making his rigid shaft stand up hard and proud and waited.
Elios moved forward and placed a leg either side of Mita and then with a grimace on his face as he lowered himself onto the rigid member until he was sitting once again filled with his man; Mita began the last of the actions that would change Elios from a free boy to that of a Bred Boy.
"I took you as a breeder, now you must look like a Bred Boy."
Elios stayed sitting hard down on Mita's hard shaft as he watched his man take up the implement he had found and with nothing further to say; Mita began to cut off all his hair except for a thick band at the back of his head; Mita could see some pain in Elios face from being once again forced to take all of Mita inside him; his small hole had so recently been pounded for most of the night but the adoration in the younger boys face as his hair fell to the floor was the final justification for Mita.
Once the hair had been cut, Mita physically lifted the smaller boy and turned him around while still buried inside him; the twinge of pain on Elios face calmed as he was settled once again into Mita's lap now facing away. Mita slowly and with deep feeling began to make the single plait with the remaining strip of hair that Elios had left; when that was finally finished there remained only the final act; Mita pushed Elios onto the floor on his hands and knees, keeping his shaft deep inside the younger boy.
"You were bred like any female should be bred; now I will take you as a boy should be taken for you are still a boy and will be known as such."
Mita raised himself behind Elios and began to take him for the last time as a boy; from now on Elios would be taken by Mita from the front like any true Breeder. Elios felt the pain of the last breeding; his hole was now so sore he whimpered at each and every stroke of Mita's shaft; even so his own still sent a small spurt of juice onto the floor as Mita rubbed his magic button time and time again; at last, with a deep groan and panting breath; Mita spent himself deep inside, finally; Elios was a Bred Boy and belonged to Mita.
It was some time later before the two had washed themselves and Mita had watched as Elios had carefully put on his fresh clean breach-clout; his now enlarged and swollen hole could not stand the roughness of the ancient's clothes; his small feet were covered in the unworn pair of moccasins with the big red **B ** painted on the top of each one. Elios moved awkwardly his butt hurt as did his back and legs; he was also a little weak from lack of a good meal; the efforts of last night had been huge and he need to regain some strength. Mita attended him like a special prize, re-plaiting his hair and making sure he was not bleeding or hurt in some way as to cause him any danger.
Before leaving for the common room; Mita once again took Elios into his arms and with a new passion; kissed the smaller boy fully on the lips and then laying an arm over the boy's shoulders; they made their way to the door of the common room where Elios took his place on Mita's left side and slightly behind him; all the boys inside would see he was now a Bred Boy and belonged to Mita, together the two teens entered the common room.
It seemed every boy in the bunker was there and, as they entered; loud cheering and whistles broke out which brought a deep red blush to Elios and Mita's face; in the centre of the room were four tables pushed together to make a larger square; there were four settings on the table and Elam and Elvan sat one on each side waiting for their friend to arrive.
Mita as the man; led the way to the table with Elios trying to cover his sore butt struggled to get there as well; it was evident to all the boys there that Elios had been well and truly bred by Mita. Mita waited until Elios made it to the table and then helped him to tenderly sit down before he took his own seat; a kitchen boy arrived with plates of food for the four and then everyone else there started to eat.
When the four had finished eating but before the two could leave; Elvan stood and clapped his hands together; immediately two of the kitchen boys came through the door carrying a large tray covered in a white cloth and placed it in the centre of the table; then, before they left one of the boys gave a large kitchen knife to Mita and stood back to whisk away the cloth.
When Elios saw what was hidden under the cloth he gasped in pleasure and surprise; there was a huge, round, white covered mound; it looked like thick layers of round white stone piled one on top of the other and getting smaller and smaller as it got to the top; a mouth watering smell was coming from the tall tower. Mita pushed the knife in easily and cut downwards; inside the white coating was a dark brown mass of soft bread like texture.
"What is it?" asked Elios of Elvan.
"It's called a chocolate cake; it took me three tries to get it right."
"What's the white stuff on it?"
"It's called frosting, or icing, it's made of sweet sugar; try it, you're going to need all the food you can get."
Mita cut a slice and gave it to Elios before anyone else; Elios hesitantly brought it to his mouth and took the smallest bight he could; he had no doubts about Elvan's abilities with food but this was something new and no one had ever seen anything like it before. Elios also had been a guinea pig for Elvan's experiments when they were just boys at the breeding caves and not everything turned out the way Elvan wanted it too; after the first bight, Elios knew this was going to be one of his favourite foods; quickly he pushed more into his mouth, the white frosting on the outside coating his lips as the cake was forced inside.
Around the room everyone clapped and laughed as they watched the newly Bred Boy; the first one ever in their new home, push more and more of the new cake into his mouth; for the next little while, Mita was kept busy cutting the cake for everyone until he could finally take a piece for himself and sit with his arm around his Bred Boy who was now on his fourth piece of cake. Mita laughed softly at the sight of Elios with his mouth and chin covered in the white frosting; he leant over and gave Elios a soft kiss on the top of his head.
As the meal finally came to an end, each boy there would pass by Elios and Mita and would pat Elios on the shoulder and wish him good breeding until the last had left. Mita then helped Elios to his feet and lead him back to their room for him to recuperate from the event; it would be two full days before Elios could appear again and move normally. During all that time Mita looked after him and tended to his every need; feeding him, carrying him to be washed with gentle hands and dried off before being once again laid carefully on the bed to sleep or rest. Mita wouldn't let Elios do anything for himself; it appeared that everyone in the bunker had forgotten that Mita had once been one of the hated Renegs; now he was the first man in the bunker to have his own Bred Boy; he was now in a special position within the ranks of the leaders.
Elios was just glad that he had been accepted by Mita as his first Bred Boy and was now happy and content in his place with the older teen; once he had recovered he went back to planning his adventure to find more bunkers and set up their own system of safe havens for all the wandering rovers out in the sands. Each day their numbers were swelling as more and more boys learnt of the Bunker and the boys who had set up a safe zone for boys. Bunker #42 was nearing its full capacity and it was time to find some new ones; Elios set to work in his office.
PART