Apocalypse Slaves

"S-sorry!" the redhead blubbered, all traces of joy and amusement gone.

"Sorry, Mistress," Carla corrected her. "I own you all until we're out of here! Remember that!" Carla moved to the head of the line, grabbed the lead chain, and led the coffle out. "Come on, Dawn. Make sure you close and lock the door behind us!"

"On it," Dawn said, doing as Carla instructed.

Walking through the streets of the town, that Carla had since found out was named Corning and was some miles west from the place that her and Dawn had been captured at, they looked like any other Raider doing business. A lot of the Raiders owned slaves of their own and at any given time there were naked slaves doing errands for their owners or being hustled off to one place or another for whatever reason. So two girls in leathers leading four other girls in chains was not beyond the stretch of the imagination.

Carla led their party up to the gates that led south out of the town where they were stopped by the guards. "Where y'all goin'," one burly guard asked.

"South, to Kansas City." Carla said without hesitation. "We got stops planned in Bedford, Maryville, and Saint Joe for supplies and rest before we get to KC." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Boss wants them down as payment for the guns they're getting a hold of," Carla added, using the information that she'd gleaned from Master and Mistress to come up with a plausible cover story. Lies were easier to get away with when they had the slight ring of truth to them and it seemed like that big Kansas City Gun Deal was huge right now in town so no one was questioning them.

"Ya planning on going on foot? That'll take too long." The guard shook his head. "Take one of the slave trucks over there, you can make the drive in a day. Hope you can drive a stick."

Carla couldn't believe her good luck. Her eyes lit up and she decided to add a quip to cover her elation. "Drive a stick or ride a stick?" she asked, waggling her eyes suggestively.

The guard let out a bark of laughter as he led them over to the truck. Minutes later, with the four naked girls secured in the back, Carla and Dawn were driving out of the gates through the perimeter wall of Corning. Carla continued driving south for a while before finding a cross road that headed west towards their ultimate destination.

*

It was nighttime when Carla pulled the truck up to a guard's outpost just outside of the city of Lincoln. The guard waved them to a stop and shook his head at them while holding his rifle at the ready. Around them at the checkpoint made on the road, other guards did the same. "Turn around and go back from where you came," he said in all seriousness. "We don't do business with Raiders here in Lincoln."

"We're not Raiders, we're refugees," Carla said, indicating herself and the others. Since leaving Corning in the dust, her and Dawn had got the girls out of the back cargo area and into the back of the cab of the truck. There they'd been given blankets to at least cover up with. At her declaration of being refugees, Dawn and their four fellow slaves all nodded emphatically. "We escaped Corning with this truck and need a place to hide," Carla went on. "Please! It won't take them long to figure out that we're gone."

The guard looked dubious until his radio crackled to let them in. "Guide them to the Mansion. I'll get the story from them myself," A man's voice said.

"Er... yes sir," the guard fumbled, caught off guard by the sudden command.

He gave the girls the directions and minutes later they were parked in front of an impressive looking stone building about four stories tall. Some of the city around it was in ruins with the exception of this one. A middle aged man in an immaculate suit accompanied by an equally well dressed middle aged woman in a blue dress that hugged her curves waited for them along with scores of guards that looked upon them warily. Business Suit smiled at them. "Welcome to Lincoln. I'm the Governor of the City; Henry Bailey. This is my wife, Sandra." He saw the looks of apprehension on Carla and the girls and then saw how his guards were poised. "Never mind them, they see to my well-being and with good cause too as we tend to liberate slaves taken by the local gangs around here. So their naturally skeptical minds wonder if this is a new trap."

Henry made a motioned for the girls to get out of the truck. Once out he motioned to his guards. "Scrap the truck. Do it quickly. If the Raiders come looking for it; we don't want it around here out in the open."

Sandra was waving the girls into the Mansion. "Come in! Hurry now. You all must be starved." She called out for her servants inside to get food while she herded the girls into a nearby sitting room just inside.

"This doesn't seem like it's a home," Carla observed as she sat down on a nearby couch. Dawn sat next to her as close as possible while the four others took up seats around the room amongst the plush furnishings.

"Quite right," Henry agreed. "Once upon a time this actually used to be a Town Hall. It survived the Flare and all of the earthquakes afterwards while the rest of the city either burned or tumbled to the ground." He rubbed an affectionate hand along the wood of the doorway while looking upwards as if seeing something for the first time. "They certainly don't build them like this anymore. Anyway, once things settled down this seemed to be the logical place to begin rebuilding operations for the city and so here we are."

Carla leaned forward, suddenly interested. "You were alive when the Flare occurred?" That got the rest of the girls' attention as well as they have rarely encountered anyone old enough to remember the event.

Henry gave a half shrug as if they were discussing last week's dinner as opposed to the single most catastrophic event ever to befall humanity. "Flare, I think, is a bit of a misnomer. Flash would probably be more appropriate as that is what happened with our sun to cause the scorched world we all know and loathe today."

"Mom always said that it was a flare from the sun that burned our planet." Carla pointed out.

"No," Henry shook his head sadly. "It was more of a one-two punch that got us. First, we discovered way too late that Betelgeuse had gone supernova some six centuries before and the shock wave and ejecta was heading our way." Henry closed his eyes as he thought back. "A shame too. We as humanity were making strides in exploration of our own solar system, we had underwater habitats, life spans were increased, we had cybernetic prosthetists, and computers so small you could fit them on your wrists and talk or play games with someone hundreds of miles away. Hell, I'd even heard that they'd made progress in human cryo-freeze and hibernation as there'd been rumors that they were stuffing people into the freezers to try and ride the event out either in sleeper ships to the stars or deep underground."

"What happened to them?" Dawn asked in amazement, having never heard such detail before of what life was like for the old-timers.

Henry shrugged. "Who knows for certain?" He looked up at some distant point beyond the ceiling as if he could see the spaceships he'd mentioned. "For the sake of humanity, I really hope that some of them made it. Last I'd heard of them they were taking shelter behind Jupiter in order to ride out the initial wave from Betelgeuse."

"Then our own damn Sun had to blast us back to the goddamn stone age." He said bitterly before shaking off the thought. "Anyway, the Betelgeuse Wave hit first. Night turned into day as auroras lit up the dark side of Earth while making things uncomfortably hot. Then, because it went unstable from the wave, our sun shed off a top layer in the form of a mini-supernova; not enough to kill us all but hot enough to cook us a bit to the point that we lost the ice caps and had about a foot or two of seawater flash fried in the pacific." He took a seat in a lounge chair, suddenly looking older and wearier than he actually was. "Astronomy was my hobby back in those days and it was something that kept me morbidly occupied when I wasn't working for the city. Young and Geeky is what a lot of my friends called me." He let out a rueful laugh. "But anyway, I think that is enough of history for the time being. I am more interested in current events now; events such as who you all are and how you came to be in the company of Raiders that you somehow escaped from."

As the servants, most of them nubile young women wearing a variety of clothing ranging from French Maids all the way up to leather harnesses and latex suits came out with food and drink for them all. Carla made the introductions and then explained their ordeal from when they left the settlement and how they'd managed to escape Corning. "We only have, maybe, another day left before they come looking for us," she finished, taking another sandwich and stuffing it into her mouth. This had been more food in a single setting than she'd ever seen in her life and she was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"The Corning Crusaders..." Henry said with obvious distaste in his mouth. "They think they own all of southwest Iowa as well as parts of Nebraska and upper Missouri. You, child, are either really fucking good or extremely fucking lucky to have gotten away from them."

"Will they come here for us?" Dawn chimed in the question, looking apprehensive.

"Without a doubt."

"Then we need to get away! Where's our truck at?" one of the blondes from the slave girl quartet squealed.

"Calm yourself," Henry held up a forestalling hand. "They're going to come here like they normally do after they've lost some slaves and we're going to do the same thing that we always do; hide them in plain sight."

Carla stared at him wondering if he was either insane or brilliant. Henry smiled wolfishly as he could see that the gears were turning in her head. "It'll be just like when you all walked right out the front door. If you look like you belong here then you obviously belong here and therefore cannot be the girls that they're looking for," he said as if it should all be simple logic. "Your ruse for telling the guards that you headed for Kansas City won't work because you didn't go there and the people that know you who did go there will not have seen you on the road back. So they'll look to the North and to the West, more than likely coming this way first since you said that your captors knew the direction you were heading."

Henry's gaze grew distant as he became thoughtful. "I figure that they'll be here about Monday as they ask every village, settlement, and town between here and Corning if they've seen you. Of course they'll all say that you continued west so this makes the logical destination."

"I'm still waiting for the part where you're going to hide us in plain sight?" Carla asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"They're going to be looking for two girls in Raider Leathers with four naked slaves running hell bent for the horizon. So my suggestion is that you two," he pointed towards Dawn and Carla, "become mine and my wife's personal slaves on a temporary basis." Henry held up both hands to forestall the outrage that Carla was now feeling. "Just. Temporary." He repeated. "Once they're gone and we're sure that they're not coming back. Then we can outfit you with a car and provisions and you can go wherever your heart desires."

"Why would we agree to do that?" Carla demanded.

"Because; they know that you don't like being slaves. You've already demonstrated that by escaping your settlement and then escaping their town after you'd been auctioned off to one of their members. So the last place they're going to be looking at is at anyone resembling a slave," Henry said, unfazed by her anger. "You four," he indicated Carla and Dawn's new friends, "are a different matter." Henry rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered the options. "We'll make you clerks on the top floor of the capitol building and make it look like you've been there for a while. JON!" he called out. A young man appeared in the doorway. "Take those four, get them clothed and get them working as clerks. Then draw up some papers showing that they've been in our employ for some time."

"How soon you need it, boss?" Jon asked.

"Yesterday."

"On it," he looked at the four girls. "Come on, I'll show ya to your new apartments."

"Hold on a moment!" Carla protested. "We haven't agreed to anything."

"You got a better idea?" Henry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Carla's shoulders slumped. "No," she said, sounded defeated. His words rang with an air of truth and certainty and it sounded like he'd done this thing before. It was that she didn't want to give up one so-called Master for another one. She looked him in the eye defiantly. "You swear that Dawn and I can go free after you're done with us... after the Raiders, or Crusaders as you called them, are satisfied that we're not really here? We can go on our own?"

Henry spread his hands to indicate his serving girls. "Feel free to ask any of these ladies present. Many of them have been in the same situation you have been in and many more have come and gone. I don't want anyone here who doesn't want to be here. Each of these girls serve of their own volition and are free to leave at any time," he said. Many of the girls were now looking at Carla and nodding their agreement.

"How about you?" Carla asked one at random; a dishwater blonde with an average body and equally average looks that appeared to be older than her. "Why are you his slave?"

"I'm his servant," the girl emphasized harshly, "I collect a paycheck just like everyone else here. I might have to give up my body at times and play the maid and servant as part of my job but at least I don't have to scrounge around for a living. Not to mention that Mister Bailey keeps me safe from Raiders." She squared her shoulders as she stood up from her work to face Carla full on. "I was on the run a few years back just like you are now. Raiders from the northwest were after me. Mister Bailey hid me away until they passed on by and I haven't had to worry about them ever since. I stayed here so that I'd have a safe place to live."

Carla noticed more of the girls nodding this time. Others stories were pretty much the same as the dishwater blonde's with varying details; one girl's folks tossed her out. Another escaped an abusive family. There was one who happened to be a trader that got separated from her caravan when a Raider gang hit it. Her sisters had been captured while she was on the run for her life.

"Okay, Okay," Carla raised her hands in resignation. "I got the picture. Alright, we'll go along with your plan, Governor Bailey. How are we going to go about doing this?"

***

CHAPTER 6: Laying Low

Judge's eyes narrowed when he returned to an empty house late Sunday evening. "Where the hell is everyone?" he wondered out loud. His wife and his slave were nowhere to be seen and he should, at the very least, hear someone moving. Drawing his pistol, he moved through the house with care as he wondered if one of his enemies moved against him while he was gone.

He found his wife tied up in the basement, naked and slumped in her bonds, unconscious. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed, holstering his gun and rushing to her side. He undid her leather straps and tried to ignore the stench of piss and excrement that was on the floor under her. Judge pulled her to the side and laid her down. "Come on!" he hissed, "Don't do this to me woman! Are you okay? Who did this to you?"

His wife gasped for air as her eyes darted around in confusion. "J-Judge? Is that really you honey?" she asked, delirious from her ordeal.

"Who did this to you babe? Tell me and the guy is dead!"

"G-girl..." his wife sputtered out. "S-slave... P-p-p-Peaches."

Judge rocked back in shock. "No way," he breathed.

"Tied me up just after you left," his wife said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Fucked me... left me..."

"My God..."

*

Judge met with other members of the Crusaders later that night after he got his wife to the Docs. Peaches had been busy in his absence, it seemed. One of the gang bosses admitted to seeing her the day after Judge had left and even had a quickie with her. Judge's partner who went to Kansas City with him, a stoic gentleman that they called Preacher, had his home visited by Peaches as well as a woman matching her description had gone up to Preacher's house and walked out with another Raider and four of his five slaves.

"You're lucky," Preacher was telling him. "This 'Peaches' killed my best guard and walked off with my property. Probably killed the one slave I'm missing too."

"I've heard that she went right out the front gates with them," Judge said irritably. "Your fifth slave was probably the other chick in leathers that the guards saw with Peaches." He shook his head in disbelief. "I really underestimated this girl."

"I heard from the gang boss that caught her and my new redhead that she downed two of our men before getting caught." Preacher said.

"Three," a man's voice said out of the darkness. Judge and Preacher turned to see their boss, Saint Thomas, standing there with a hard glare. "Would've been four had it not been for Sly tackling her before she could squeeze off another shot." He now shook his head as he took a seat at the table with them. "Guys, why was this girl sold off at auction and not offered a job? Hm? I mean seriously; I don't know what her price would've been but it would've been worth it!"

"You know we have to go after her, right boss?" Preacher said stoically. "We can't allow this attack on us to stand. My guard," he motioned to Judge, "his Wife? The people will see us as weak if we don't do anything."

"I totally agree," Thomas agreed. "But she's got a good day head start on us. Any suggestions?"

"West." Judge said at once. "I remember Sly telling me that she wanted to head west when he first started hunting her with Hagrid and Loudmouth."

"West it is then," Thomas said. "I'll go with you. I want to see this... Peaches... when we catch her."

*

The Raiders came to Lincoln on Monday.

Apprehension welled up in Carla when she heard the news. Sandra just smiled at her as she did the final touches to Carla's red leather dress. "Relax darling; we've done this many times before and those buffoons in the Crusaders have yet to catch on."

Carla sure hoped so as she took one last look at her getup. The dress that she had on just covered her sides and her legs from about halfway down her thighs down to her feet. The upper parts of the dress encased her arms and came up over her shoulders to encircle her neck. All of Carla's torso, front and back, were open for all to see. Already she had on the golden chains that were attached by clamps to her nipples that then ran all the way down to her clit. The final bit jewelry was a dildo that had already been inserted into her smooth pussy that ended in a much longer chain. It would be by this chain that she'd be led around by.

Then to complete the look would come the hood. It was open in the back to allow her hair, now done up in a topknot, to be pulled through. It would keep her face open as well from the top of her nose down but leave her effectively blind. Sandra gave her an encouraging wink and a smile as she pulled the hood up and over Carla's head, blocking her view of the outside world. "Just relax and trust in me and Henry," Sandra said with reassurance.

Carla managed a shaky nod before she felt the lead chain being picked up. There was a single slight tug on the chain and Carla walked forward. Her and Dawn practiced all day on Sunday being led around by the pussy chains in order to get used to the silent commands; a taut chain pulling forward was follow. If the chain was still taut and pulled across either thigh, she was expected to turn and continue walking in that direction. If the chain went slack; stop. Two jerks of the chain; kneel. Two more while kneeling; stand. "It's so that we do not have to issue verbal orders to you and you do not have to respond in kind," Sandra had explained during the crash course. "That way your voices are always concealed and they will have no reason to doubt that you haven't been here all along."