All the King's Men

Region: The Badlands

Sally Haley

All the King's Men

(One Shot)

Sally wiped the bar down with a dirty rag that was saturated in stale beer and whiskey. Looking over the hazy air towards the dirty window that showed a hint of the evening sun, she pondered better times. She thought of days when a band played loud music intermingling with the sound of men and women laughing in unison as they drank. She remembered times when patrons partied until the night drew to a close and the dawn began. She envisioned couples dancing really close together, breathing each other in, not knowing that things would soon change way beyond any of their darkest dreams. Sally continued to work the old wood into a soft shine as she remembered yesterday, lost deep in thought. “Evening Sally.” Sally glanced up at the young girl standing at the bar, all dressed in black, the usual uniform for the town’s volunteer female army, an army that now held women of all ages and ill repute, especially those that felt it necessary to hunt men down and use them for breeding. This was something Sally did not agree with one bit but as with the trait that goes with a bar owner you keep your opinions quiet and smile, just listening, never making comment or scaring off the paying customers, no matter who they were.

Retrospect (Part Four)

Region: Unknown

Nathaniel Alistair

Retrospect

(Part Four)

Nathan stood quietly in the darkness confused by what had just happened. A billion different thoughts ran through his head at the same time, most of them bad and handful good. As he listened to the soldiers moving throughout the rest of the house he kneeled on the floor, once again hiding behind the bed just to be safe. While he waited there in silence, he narrowed his scrambled thoughts down to the two most obvious possibilities about his run in with the blonde soldier; she was either one of those 8th Day sympathizers he had heard stories about or she had plans of her own for him. It no longer surprised Nathan how women reacted these days when men were involved, not to mention how tempting the black market male slave trade was. Someone one like him could make a woman wealthy for life. Either way Nathan decided he was not sticking around to find out what the soldier’s motives were. At the first chance he got he was getting out of the house and getting as far away from here as he possibly could.“

A Long Wait Between Trains

Region: New Spain

Emilia Renee Coronado Cortes

A Long Wait Between Trains

(Part one)

As the train rumbled along its intended path she sat and stared out at the passing landscape watching it turn from flat beige fields and grey desolate towns to dark cities and then back again.  Every once in a while the fleeting blue horizon would offer up something other than the scorched war torn remnants of yesteryear.  On occasion she would see a sprawling region that was vibrant with life and activity and she yearned to stop, hoping that she could have a few moments to wander through it.  She sighed to herself when her imaginings where whisked away by yet another annoying interruption.  “Your mother wants to see you” came a heavily accented man’s voice.  She turned away from train window and eyed the man.  He was an older man with grey hair and noticeable posture issues.  “What does she want now?” she asked in a flat monotone voice with a slight accent of her own.  “I was not told what or why Emilia, I was just told to come get you.” he responded intent to be done with conversation.   She stared at him for a moment or so and then resentfully got up from her seat to follow him.  He walked a few feet in front of her wordlessly as they traversed the train’s cars one after another.

 

At each doorway they passed through leading to the next car stood two fully armed female soldiers.  None of them ever made eye contact with Emilia.  It was something her mother had strictly forbidden and it made her angry knowing this.  Day in and day out she was surrounded by distant, cold, calculating brown eyes, at least for the most part, occasionally someone with green or blue eyes stood in uniform, but none the less they were all no more alive than the furniture around them.  As she stared at yet another pair of stoic soldiers she did not realize the man in front of her had stopped and Emilia ran right smack into him nearly knocking him over.  “I am so sorry Victor.” She exclaimed as she helped to steady him.  “It is ok, I am alright.  Do not worry my dear.” He responded clasping her hands allowing a small smile to pass over his lips.  Emilia smiled back.  The moment did not last long because the next door opened and her mother’s voice came booming out of the room.  “Why are you taking forever?” Emilia’s mother was always one to over exaggerate a situation, this time was not to be excluded.  “Victor I sent you to get her nearly an hour ago.”  Victor swallowed his smile and hurried through the door toward Emilia’s mother.  Emilia herself made no point to rush into another one of her mother’s boring lectures about the way of the world and whatever other droll advice she had to offer. Instead she proceeded to walk as slow as humanly possibly into her mother’s presence, knowing full well it would get under the Queen’s skin.