7/21/2019: Updated to the published version.
Leah woke early, dressed, and left the house as quietly as possible. She walked around the block, getting the lay of the land, and trying to remember the drive there. She didn't know which direction was closest to the inner perimeter but made an educated guess and began walking. An hour later, she found the wall. It was stupid to try to escape with no plan and no supplies. She was just there to gather information, today.
The wall looked about twenty-five feet high. It was smooth stone, well fitted together, and totally unclimbable. Surely she would be spotted if she tried it anyway. Guard towers were built along the wall, every one hundred yards. They were wooden structures with ladders, more like look out platforms. However, every tenth tower was made of stone.
These were higher and had stairs coming straight down, then splitting to the left and right further away. A small room sat atop the wall. She wondered if there were any stairs on the other side of the wall. If she were designing them, she would put them there. How else would they get to someone on the other side if needed, but perhaps that was wishful thinking. Still, it was an option she planned to check somehow.
She wondered if fully half the population were guards and what dangers they thought necessitated such vigilance. Eventually, she came to a larger road. There was a gate in the wall over it, but it was very well guarded. She decided to test it and walked right up like she had somewhere to be and expected to be let through without a hassle. The gate itself was closed, so she had to stop and wait.
A man came forward. "Pass?"
She nodded.
He just looked at her, waiting.
"Yes, I would like to pass."
He looked confused. "You need a pass to go through the gate. Do you have a pass?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "Sorry, no. I'm new. Where do I get a pass?"
When she said the word new, he looked at her with more interest and smiled. "What's your name?"
She smiled back and lied easily, "Susan."
"Susan, welcome to the Colony. I'm Emmett."
She let her eyes move down his body and back up slowly. He was tall and muscular but nowhere near as big as James. She supposed he was nice looking but not as attractive as James either. She hooked her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans. "Hi, Emmett."
His eyes lowered to her hands for a second but returned to her face. "What brings you out this way?"
"I was just exploring the neighborhood. They said it was safe to do so." She bit her lip as if second guessing that now.
"It is."
She smiled again. "They said there are horses in the outer ring. I just love horses."
He nodded and smiled. "You can get a pass at the Town Hall. If you want to work with them, you can apply for a job there too. Job comes with a permanent pass."
"Okay, thanks, Emmett." She turned to leave.
"Wait."
Leah faced him again.
"Uh, do you know your way from here?"
"Yes."
"I could give you a ride, if you like?"
She smiled. "That's okay. It's not far."
He smiled back. "I'd sure like to see you again."
"When do you get off work?"
"3 p.m."
"Is it shift work? 7 to 3, 3 to 11, 11 to 7?" She remembered the song.
"That's right."
"I'll be in the town square this afternoon. You could meet me there."
He smiled. "I'll do that, but what if I can't find you?"
"I'll be back with the pass." She made her voice breezy, unconcerned.
"Actually, you'll be wanting the South gate for the horses. This is the West gate, leads to the corn fields and orchards." He sounded a little guilty.
She gave him a forgiving smile. "I know where to find you. If I don't see you this afternoon, I'll come looking for you. I don't know my address by heart yet, just what it looks like. I'll write it down for you, for next time."
He smiled again. "Great. I'll see you later then."
"Bye." She waved and left. He had been extremely helpful. She walked towards the city center for a few blocks, then doubled back on side roads. It was an easy grid within the circle. When she judged she was far enough away from the gate, she went back to the wall road. It was from there that she knew her way back.
It was maybe eleven o'clock, she judged, when a very familiar truck came cruising down the road. It was James. He stopped when he saw her and laid his forehead on the steering wheel for a second.
Leah didn't know what to do. She expected him to be angry, so she just stood there.
He put the truck in park, got out, and came to her. She watched him warily, but he just wrapped his beefy arms around her and held her close. "God, Leah, I was so worried. What are you doing out here?"
Her voice was muffled by his chest. "Walking, exploring. I just couldn't stand being in the house anymore."
He kissed the top of her head. "Sorry. I should have realized after you'd been in that shelter for so long, but you should have said something. Instead, you snuck out at dawn and didn't even leave a note."
She mumbled, "Sorry," and he kissed her head again.
"Come on." He led her to the truck and put her in the passenger seat. "Did you at least get some breakfast?" She just shook her head, not having thought of anything but getting out of the house as quietly as possible that morning. That made him frown. He got into the truck and drove off.
He wasn't heading to his house, so she asked, "Where are we going?"
"To get you something to eat."
He took her towards the town center and parked the truck in front of a small diner. They went inside and sat down in a booth. A waiter brought them menus, but James started to order right away. "Two cheeseburgers with fries and chocolate malts."
Leah thought he was ordering all that for himself, so she told the waiter, "I'll have the chicken Caesar salad."
The waiter looked back at James who smiled. "Bring her both." The waiter nodded and left.
Leah asked James, "Both?"
James grinned. "I meant one of those burgers to be for you."
"Oh." She frowned. "Why do you want me to get my period so bad, James?"
The grin left his face. "It's not healthy for you not to have it."
"Won't it make it difficult for you to..." She trailed off, embarrassed, but then finished, "To do what you so obviously want to do to me?"
He gave her a confused but amused look. "Why would it?"
"It would be disgusting, wouldn't it?"
He laughed and leaned closer to her over the table. "It's just more lubrication, Leah."
Her disgust was plain. "Eww."
He laughed again. After a moment, he looked at her with a kindly smile. "Do you fear sex?"
She looked down at the table, thinking about what to tell him. She didn't know what he wanted to hear. She thought it more likely that he would push her to face the fear if she had it. He certainly wouldn't just respect it and leave her alone. She didn't fear sex, so she saw no reason to lie. She looked back at him. "No."
His eyes narrowed at her. "Why did it take you so long to answer?"
"I was deciding if I was going to answer."
"Or whether or not to lie?" He smirked.
"You think you know me so well that you know what I'm thinking?"
"I'm beginning to, yes."
The milkshakes arrived; one was set in front of Leah. She asked the waiter, "Can I get some water too?" The waiter looked at James, who nodded. Leah frowned as the man left. She looked back at James. "What am I thinking now then?"
He smiled. "You're annoyed."
"Oh, so you just mean you can tell what mood I'm in and if I'm lying?"
"You're annoyed because the Colony seems to be run by men. You think we're all bossy male chauvinists."
"Aren't you?"
He shook his head, still smiling. "We respect women very much. We think they are superior to men. There are far fewer of them now, and the survival of the human race depends on the women. Men are here to protect them, care for them, and love them. But men are expendable because there are so many more of them."
It was her turn to narrow her eyes at him. "You mean you need to protect your baby factories."
He frowned. "I would never use so a crude a term, and no, women are important for far more than producing children."
"Like what?"
"Raising good people. Reminding us why life is precious. Making life good." He smiled again.
She still wasn't impressed. "So it's all about what we can do for you?"
"Men and women have always had mutually beneficial relationships."
"But I don't want anything from you."
He grinned. "See? That's why I think you are a virgin."
"I am not a virgin," she said forcefully. He just smiled. The waiter took that moment to deliver the food, but when he was gone, Leah asked, "You think if I've had sex once, I'd want more and more of it?"
He nodded and smiled. "If you'd had good sex, yes."
"Maybe I had fantastic sex, and I don't want to be with anyone else because I know they will never measure up."
"Maybe, if you were really in love, you might feel that way for a while, while you mourned. This person would have died in the plague, right? So, it's been five years. You'd be looking for love again because you'd know how great it is and that it's real, and you'd be looking for sex with that love too, yes." He took a bite of his burger, and when she still hadn't said anything by the time he swallowed it, he said, "Eat your food, Leah."
She started cutting up the chicken in her salad, quiet, and obviously thinking.
"No smart-aleck retort to that?"
She kept her eyes on the strips of chicken she was tearing apart. "I've never been in love, but I'm not a virgin." After a moment, she added, "And I'm not in love with you."
"You were a teenager, so he probably was too. He probably didn't know what he was doing, a boy." She didn't respond, so he put his hand on hers and waited for her to look at him. "It'd be different with me, Leah. I'm a man. I know what I'm doing, and I care about you, a lot. I'll make sure you enjoy it so much that you want plenty more." His fingers caressed her skin. "And maybe you would fall in love with me if you weren't trying so hard to hate me."
She pulled her hand away. "You took my freedom, James."
"I'll give you something better."
She stabbed her food forcefully. "There is nothing better."
He started to say, "That's why—" but she interrupted him, even with her mouth full.
"Don't say it again!" She pointed her fork at him for emphasis, and he just grinned.
They ate their food in silence for a while. Then James asked, "So, who was this guy that you supposedly had sex with? The tall, skinny one you went to senior prom with?"
She shot daggers at him with her eyes. "Yes, my high school boyfriend."
"Did he have a name?" He watched her closely, obviously to see if she had to think on it, but she answered quickly, "Ryan."
"Ryan what?"
Now that gave her an idea, and it came to her in a flash. She answered quickly, "Grant. Ryan Grant."
His eyes narrowed. "But your..." Then he caught up, and his eyes widened. "You married him?"
She nodded.
"How old were you?"
"Eighteen. We had less than a year married, before the plague."
He was frowning, thinking about it. Then his eyes widened. "You little liar."
Her mouth fell open for a second. "Nice, James. How can I fail to fall in love with a man that insults me?"
He smirked. "We both know you lie. You lie well too but not this time."
"What makes you think that?"
"A: You would have called him your husband, not your boyfriend. B: You said you'd never been in love before."
She thought, Damn it. He's throwing me off my game, but aloud she tried, "I was telling you who he was when we first had sex. And I was lying when I said I'd never been in love before."
He laughed and shook his head. "No, Leah, give over. I'm starting to be able to tell the difference."
"How?"
He smirked. "I'm not going to tell you what your tell is, honey."
She frowned. "I don't have a tell. I'm extremely good at poker."
He grinned. "We should play tonight then."
Now she laughed. "I can guess what you want to bet."
"Now that would be fun, but I'd be willing to bet something else."
She was intrigued. "What?"
"Truth."
"There's no way to check that."
"I'll know."
"You'll think you know. Besides, the coins need to have value for all players."
"What do you want?"
She gave him a look that said he was stupid. "My freedom."
He waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah. Besides that?"
"Nothing."
"Come on, there must be something."
She took another bite of salad and thought about it. "I want you to take me out of the Colony, on vacation like."
"How about just to the outer ring? If you win it all, that is."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about little bits of truth while you are talking about one big thing. So, we'd have to play for matches or something and whoever ends up with the lot, gets what they want."
She took another bite and had another think. She was confident in her abilities, had always beaten her brothers and their friends. She was more than fairly sure that she didn't have a tell. He wasn't asking for that much even if she did lose, and she had a lot to gain, perhaps even her freedom, at least more information that would help her get her freedom. So, finally, she said, "You're on, but."
He smiled and waited for the but.
"I comb my own hair tonight."
He grinned. "Deal."
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Author's Note:
I hope you're enjoying Post Plague Kidnapping. If so, please consider purchasing the full novel at Amazon to keep reading. Your support is appreciated! Thanks!