W.A.R.S. Tournament Ch. 01

“That won’t be the only groan you make today baby.” He said smiling nastily down at her, unfastening his vest. “Take off your clothes little one, you’re my prize.”

Gina crawled backwards away from him. He stepped on her leg and put his full weight on it. She let out a painful cry. With one foot still on her leg he stepped hard on her chest with the other and pointed his gun at her head.

“If you’re not stripping in the next two seconds I will…” He said determinedly.

Gina reached for the zipper of her vest. He took his foot off her chest, put on her vagina and let out a soft horny moan as he rubbed his foot against her. She was crying like a baby, tears streaming down her face, not again she thought to herself. Max was dead, she couldn’t believe it, he was dead and she would soon join him after this animal raped her. Her stomach turned she was almost sick. She had her vest unzipped and was sitting up to pull it off when she saw a shadow cross the doorway. A shot rang out and the man over her got a stupid stare in his eyes, a small trickle of red oozed down his nose. Gina rolled as he fell, he just missed landing on her. She looked at the door to see Max writhing in pain. She zipped her vest and rushed to him. She opened his vest. The bullet hadn’t penetrated, but it hurt like hell. Max could barely breathe. She hugged his neck and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. She was crying too hard to say anything. He wished he could enjoy her kiss but the pain was too great. She helped him to his feet. This time he watched every direction. They gathered their things and crept into the street heading toward the location Max thought he needed to go.

They hadn’t gone far when the two towers came into view. They were the bell towers of a church. Max decided to make his way to the alley and enter the church from the rear. They made it to the back doors without further event. Max pushed the doors open. They went in and closed the doors behind them. He pulled an empty cabinet to the doors. It wouldn’t keep anyone out but maybe it would make enough noise to warn of an entry. They managed their way to the front of the church. Pews were strewn all over. The place was a mess but Max just wanted one clean tower. He checked both tower rooms and chose the worse looking of the two, figuring no one would think anyone would be up this one. It was all Max could do to climb the ladder and open the heavy wooden door at the top. Gina had to push against him to give him the leverage to pry it up. It hadn’t been opened in decades. When it did open Max tried to grab it but it fell back with a bang. They didn’t need that. They got their supplies up and closed it. One studied the street in one direction while the other studied the other direction. You had to get on your knees to see over the edge, a good height for hiding behind. The tower was about ten feet square, the bells had long since been taken out. They didn’t talk for several minutes. Max wasn’t sure he could talk at all, the pain in his chest was subsiding but it still ached.

After awhile Gina moved to his side. She put her hand to his chest and laid her head on his shoulder.

“I thought you were dead.” She said, the tears starting to flow again.

“So did I Gina, so did I.” He said wincing slightly.

“Oh Max I was so scared. That animal was going to…” She couldn’t continue for the tears.

“I know baby, I know. I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you didn’t I?’ He said smiling down at her trying to put her at ease.

She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yes…but.”

“We might have to strip you naked and use you for a decoy more often.” He joked.

“MAX NO!” She cried.

“Oh, baby, I’m just kidding but you did get that guys attention. He never knew what hit him.” Max said smiling at her, he put his hand over her mouth and pulled her close. “You’re ok now baby, you’re ok and nothing is going to hurt you I promise. Even if I have to come back from the dead to keep you safe.”

She looked up at him and smiled and closed her eyes. She wasn’t tired, she wasn’t exhausted; she was totally drained. She could jump up and run forever, she had all the energy in the world but there was no place to run to. Max’s chest was the safest feeling she had felt in a long, long time.

It was going to be dark soon. Max would rest easier when it got dark. He was breathing normally now. He took off his vest and shirt. There was a bruise on his chest but not much of one, good vest he thought to himself. Max was in great shape for his age, he was in great shape for any age. Gina took notice. She touched the bruise softly, then ran her hand to the chip pasted to his chest. She put her other hand on her own chip and dropped her head in deep thought. She didn’t have to say what she was thinking. Max was thinking the same thing. He would find a way, if it killed him he would find a way. But suddenly he had another bright thought.

This was a Catholic Church. Catholic, communion, wine? He put his shirt and vest back on and eased the door open. He propped it up with the blankets as he descended the ladder. He made his way to the front of the sanctuary and searched for…he didn’t know what to search for exactly. There was a door leading off the pulpit area. He pushed it open, it was stuck and resisted his weight. It led down a flight of stairs into total darkness. When he got to the bottom he stumbled over a large cardboard box. It was full of rags or clothes or robes, cotton robes.

He felt his way carefully. When he came to a solid wall he eased in the direction that seemed to go back under the main building of the church. He stuck his hand out, another wall, he was in a hallway. At the end of the corridor was another door, he forced the door open. There was the slightest bit of light shinning through holes in the sanctuary floor. He walked slowly into the room with his hands in front of his face to protect him. He turned ninety degrees and headed to what he hoped would be another wall. He bumped into the wall in five steps. There was a rack there but he couldn’t feel any bottles. Probably long empty. He kicked a couple of empty casks, that would have been nice, a whole cask of wine. No telling who had been down here in the past. If any homeless had found it any wine down here would be long since drunk. Then his hand feeling the rack slapped against a bottle that slapped against another bottle. The tinkling of the glass brought excitement to his pained chest. He felt at least seven bottles, that would do for now, as a matter of fact two would do for now. He took two of them and headed back to the sanctuary. He took several robes from the box and continued on. When he got the bottles into the light he could see they were dusty and old. Just right for wine, he thought. How would he open them? Damn, who cares, he had wine. He wasn’t a wino or anything but he loved good wine. And these could very well be his last two bottles.

He sat the bottles on the floor of the bell tower and slid the robes in after them. Gina helped him lift the door. The last light of the sun was disappearing behind the buildings. That evil red glow of the barrier was just two blocks away from them. It was brighter than last night. Gina picked up a bottle and asked Max what it was for. He got one for her but it was sounding like he might drink them both. On second thought he couldn’t risk that. A drunken laugh or unnecessary sounds and others might be on them in no time.

“It’s wine Gina, you drink it.” He said pushing himself up and closing the door.

“I know its wine. Where did you get it?” She asked.

“Well, you see there is this little liquor store just around the corner, they were having a buy one get one free sale so I did.” He smiled.

She slapped his arm playfully and looked at the bottle. She got out a pack of wafers. And held the two up.

“Wine and wafers. Gourmet feast, don’t you think?” She asked smiling.

They actually felt safe for a change. Max couldn’t see anyway that anyone could get to them without giving a lot of advance warning. Unless of course, they had a rocket like Max did. That made him think. He looked over the building side of the tower and the roof was easily accessible for them if they had to high tail it out of there. He could ease her onto it and jump over and be gone in a heartbeat. He explained the possible escape route to her and they settled in to enjoy the wine.

Max looked for a way to open the bottles. When he couldn’t find a way he wrapped the neck of the bottle in one of the robes he had commandeered. He leaned over the side of the tower facing the roof and gently rapped the mouth of the bottle against the outer wall. He hit it two more times before it broke.

“We can’t drink that, there will be glass in it.” Gina said studying Max interestedly.

“Oh yes we can, just wait and see.” He told her.

Max took her empty water bottle and stuffed a robe into the mouth using his index finger. When it was far enough in he took the wine bottle and turned it upside down on the water bottle. The wine began to sift into the empty bottle, he didn’t lose much. Soon they had a clean bottle of wine. Max took a sip to make sure it was alright. He shut his eyes in exquisite delight. He savored the taste handing the bottle to Gina. She took a sip and coughed. She got her breath back and took another sip. She had tasted wine before but not often.

They nibbled on wafers and sipped the wine slowly. They had no where to go. When it started to get cold Max took one of the blankets and wrapped it around Gina’s shoulders. The warmth of the blanket mixed with the warmth of the wine mixed with the warmth of Max’s touch settled deep inside her. She leaned against him and watched the sky. It was dark, the stars were bright, the moon was just coming up. The only other light they could see was the barrier. Max couldn’t see any way to get through that thing. He didn’t waste time trying to beat it. There must be another way. He held Gina close. Her soft breathing had a calming effect on him.

The sound of gun shots in the distance woke them from a deep peaceful sleep. Gina’s head was resting on Max’s chest. They had taken their vests off and each wrapped in a blanket. Gina lifted her head opening her sleepy green eyes trying to figure out the gun shots. She looked at the almost empty bottle of wine. Max had opened the other one later. They had almost drunk both of them, it helped them sleep, something they both needed. Gina reached for the bottle and took a little sip and put the mouth of the bottle to Max’s lips. He opened wide and she poured the rest down him. He swallowed again savoring the delicious liquid. She sucked a drop from her bottom lip that almost escaped her mouth. She looked at the bottle sadly.

“All gone. So sad.” She said feigning the poutiness of a little girl.

“Um, there’s more where that came from.” Max informed her.

“Ooh! Really, where?” She asked excitedly.

“Same liquor store the last came from.” He teased her.

They listened with growing interest as the report of the gun shots came closer. When Max heard shuffling in the street he peeked over the wall of the bell tower and saw an injured man stumbling toward them, there was no way this guy was going to do them any harm. Then two shots rang out and the man fell flat on his face. He didn’t move, Max couldn’t believe the amount of blood that ran from the dead man’s body. He had on his vest? Blood was flowing from his shoulder and a wound just below his vest. That should not be fatal Max thought. The shooter ran up to him, checked to make sure he was dead, looked all around and kept on going down the street. Max could have whacked the guy easily from his perch making one less combatant to deal with but keeping their hideout secret was more important than reducing the odds by one.

Max figured the shooter was using that new liquid bullet. He took one out of the case and studied it. They had a sharp point that penetrated the object and a metal casing that broke on firing and flew of the bullet as it left the barrel. It was there to keep the glass casing intact long enough to get it through the heat of firing. On impact the glass casing shattered and the liquid flew out. When oxygen touched the liquid it became hard. It was like long shards of sharp hard plastic went ripping through the body cutting everything it hit. Max had heard it compared to a lava lamp when the stuff inside first gets hot enough to flow only on a smaller deadlier scale. Max studied the shooter carefully as he crept down the street, he would remember this guy. He didn’t want to run into any of those liquid shells if he could help it.

They would be out of water by the end of the day. Max decided to go hunt for more. He told Gina to stay put and if anyone came up besides him to jump over on the roof like they planned and run to the back of the church. How would she know if it was Max or not? He would knock twice, then three times, then twice again. She decided in her mind that if anyone but Max came up she would send them back down full of lead. She took her gun and huddled in the corner the second his head disappeared from sight.

Max headed back the way the shooter had just come. He figured this guy at least wouldn’t be back this way. He searched several buildings. He was about to give up when he noticed the edge of one of the blue containers showing through the slightly opened door of a cabinet in an office building. He eased the cabinet open and pulled the container out. It was a food and water container. A six-pack of quart bottles and two boxes of wafers. This should be enough to keep them for several days if they went easy on the stuff. He rummaged through a couple of broken desk’s drawers. He didn’t find anything of significance except a knife shaped letter opener. He took his loot and headed back to the church. He found a fist sized rock and took it for a whet stone. Perhaps he could sharpen this thing enough to make a viable weapon. A silent kill might come in handy. Max hated what they had reduced him to.

Max sat in the back room of the church for almost thirty minutes, if anyone followed him they would have been here by now. He climbed up to the tower and gave Gina the knock.

“Max is that you?” She asked.

“No actually Max told be the secret knock and asked me to come check on you.” He joked.

“Don’t joke Max, I’ve been scared to death while you were gone.” She was trembling as she opened the door.

He closed the door and pulled her to him. “Oh honey, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to be gone so long. Did anything happen while I was out?” He asked.

“No…but it might have.” She said whimpering but hugging the breath out of him.

Max laid his catch of the day on the floor. The water, the wafers and he grabbed a couple of more bottles of wine for later. He decided to stay sharp during the day but figured at night they could relax a little. He showed her the rock and letter opener. She sat beside him and wrapped her arm tightly around his and pressed her head hard against his shoulder. She watched as he quietly sharpened the want-to-be-knife. He would whet it for a while pouring a touch of water on the rock, test the sharpness and whet some more. Before long it was cutting through the material of a robe like a hot knife through butter.

“Are we just going to sit up here all day? I mean that’s fine with me I don’t want to get out. But are we going to try to do something about getting out of here? I mean if we just sit here we might end up being the only two left and the siren will never sound. Won’t they come get us eventually?” She asked.

“Yes.” He answered and smiled at her.

“Yes what?” She asked getting a little frustrated.

“Yes to all of the above.” He replied. Max touched the chip on her chest. “We are going to find a way to get this off you without them knowing your not dead.”

“I want it off right now.” She stuck her hand under her shirt.

Max grabbed her hand, a look of sheer fright crossed his face. “My gosh, Gina, don’t do that. If that thing comes off while you’re alive it sets off an alarm at the central computer and they send drones in here to kill you. They find the body without a chip that’s still breathing and make you not breathing. Now just leave it alone.”

“Ok, if I have to be dead to get it off how are you going to get me…get us…out of here alive?” She asked.

“I don’t know Gina, just give it some time, I will come up with something. Please, just wait.” He promised her, an idea had been rolling around in his head but he couldn’t quite figure it out. It would come.

She settled down. They told each other about their lives. They had lots to talk about, all small talk but they both enjoyed it totally. They were stuck where they were, they made the best of it. Max had studied martial arts most of his life. He was part owner in a dojo/gym back home. He was a fourth degree black belt. That’s what got him put in prison.

…Max and a bunch of his friends were drinking in a nearby bar after working out one night. They weren’t drinking heavily, just having a good time. About an hour after they got there a beautiful young lady came in and ordered a drink and started playing pool. They noticed her but didn’t pay her any mind. She walked to their booth after awhile and asked if any of them wanted to play pool. They all looked at Max, stating that he was the single guy there and pushed him off on her. He played pool with her for quiet awhile. The rest of his friends left but Max stayed and played pool. They were having tons of fun, Max was really enjoying her company, he bought her several drinks, they were getting along great. Just about closing time a guy burst through the door in a rage and headed for the lady. He jumped in her face and started screaming at her. Max was off his bar stool and between them in an instant. The guy informed Max that he better back off. Max didn’t back off from a lady getting abused, verbally or otherwise. He didn’t want to hurt the guy and had no intentions of doing so. He just wanted him to calm down and leave the lady alone. Discuss their problem if he had to but not in this manner. Calm down and talk to her like a gentleman. That was Max’s advice to the guy. Max turned to the table and tried to ignore him. Several people close by screamed and Max looked back just in time to see the guy come up with a knife. Max put his pool stick up beside the guys head before he knew what he was doing. He acted out of reflex. He saw imminent danger and reacted to protect himself with reasonable force. The blow sent the guy to the floor. He never moved. Max was cut slightly on his forearm.

Max went on trial for manslaughter. The prosecution convinced the jury that even though it was self defense that anyone as dangerous as Max should have handled the situation without bloodshed and he should pay for his actions. The jury agreed. He got two years. He still doesn’t know how that happened.

When he got to prison, warden Skelly called him into his office and tried to talk him into fighting on the prison team. They had bouts with other facilities and the wardens would make small bets on the side. It was just good clean fun Skelly told him. Max refused, Skelly was angry. The warden sent his thugs to convince Max on several occasions. He never had too much trouble with them. That just infuriated Skelly more. He wanted Max fighting for his team. He was the most skilled fighter in the place but Max didn’t set out to hurt anyone ever. His skills were for self defense and exhibition.

The morning they came and took Max to W.A.R.S. the warden was there glowing. He smiled at Max as if to say, ok, don’t fight for me, fight for your life instead. Max climbed into the van and was on his way to hell. Skelly had made a example of Max that would send a shutter through the prison like an earthquake. Skelly’s world got a lot easier while Max’s got a lot rougher…