Clouds of Tyranny (12 page)

Locke got up first, the
sun wouldn’t be up for another hour but he wanted to get moving;
his brain always woke him up when it was almost time to go, no
matter what the time, his body was very in tune with its needs; a
killers instinct. He crawled out of bed and rose to his feet
looking over at Alex as he yawned.
So
beautiful,
he thought as she laid there
breathing calmly with her hands cradled under her cheek,
I’m sorry Alex, I like you too much to bed
you.
He put on the clothes he obtained the
night before; a sleeveless black shirt, faded jeans with his
daggers attached and a brand new pair of black military boots. He
tied his Returner’s bandana to his head and walked over to Alex’s
bed and sat down near her and began rubbing her arm, “Alex,” he
whispered, “Time to get up.” She rolled onto her back and stretched
her arms and let out a big yawn, “Change your mind?” “Nope, we’re
out the door in thirty. Get dressed, I’ll grab some food.” Locke
got up and left the room stealthily.

After retrieving some scrambled egg
sandwiches and a big cup of coffee, Locke returned to the room to
find Alex ready to go and smoking a cigarette, “Ya know, this dress
makes it impossible to fight three guys at once.” He handed her a
sandwich and the cup, “Don’t be ridiculous, they’ll be frozen in
awe.” Alex chuckled as she chewed her sandwich. She took a drink of
the coffee and handed it to Locke. “No thanks, I had mine while
they made the eggs,” said Locke as he ate his sandwich. “No, I mean
get rid of it. It’s intolerable.” “Yeah, the coffee here’s pretty
bad. But the eggs are good.” They both chewed as Alex nodded her
head in agreement, “Here here.” Locke took the last bite of his and
went to the side of the bed to retrieve his Damascus. Alex took her
last bite and closed her eyes before taking another drink of the
sewage tasting coffee. “So,” said Locke, “What is that thing we
rode in on?” “My ride? It’s called a ‘ground rocket’, the S250.”
“Interesting.” “Yeah, I’m the only one that can operate it, kinda
cool huh?” “Yeah, ready?” “Yup, man the rockets gonna feel good in
this dress.” “Oh my, that’s gross Alex.” “Wouldn’t be thinking that
way if you-“ “Lets go,” said Locke as he walked through the door,
“Hey,” he said, “ Aren’t you gonna take that night gown?” She
looked at it and shrugged, “Doesn’t seem to work very well.” Alex
smiled devilishly and grabbed her dragon blade and followed Locke’s
lead.

Once they got back to the
metal shop where the S250 was being stored, Locke said his goodbyes
and Milton raised the gate and they were off. As they raced across
the plains Locke did the math in his head; he figured they’d be
there a little after sundown, maybe. Locke’s brain was hard at work
trying to find a believable lie about Alex; she’s pretty and can
fight better than almost anyone Locke has ever battled.
Hmm, blacksmith? No. Uhh, waitress? No. Dammit!
This iron horse sure is- Wait! Horse trainer! That would explain
her agility. And…her father was a …knight for the Velxeer army.
Aces!

“Terra?” sung Ruthie to wake her up. “Oh,
hey Ruthie,” yawned Terra as she rubber her eyes. “Thanks for the
blanky.” “Sure, how is Clyde?” “He’s tough, wants to get up and
walk today, but doc wont allow it.” “Oh. But how are you?” “I’m
good.” “You seem a little more like yourself this morning. Thanks
for not being naked when I woke up.” “No problemo, Ter. Come on,
breakfast.” Terra laid in bed for a few more minutes before getting
up and seeing that on the floor next to her bed was her green tank
top and white flowing skirt, “Yesss! Girl clothes at last. All
clean too,” she yelled out in excitement. She turned her head and a
few of the young girls were staring at her. Terra cleared her
throat, grabbed her clothes, and made her way to the bathroom to
change.

After getting dressed, Terra went down the
hall towards the dining room; as she passed the infirmary door she
heard acts of violence. “You son of a bitch! I want to eat with
everyone else and eat what they’re eating!” screamed Clyde throwing
objects across the room; most likely at the doc. “Listen to me! You
need vitamins, rest and proper nourishment, that means four pills
twice a day, stay in that bed for six more days, and eat fruit and
vegetables four times a day. That adds up to-“ “Eighteen shithead!”
“Wrong! Staying in this room and doing what I damn well tell you
until I tell you not do what I tell you to do.” Clyde stopped
screaming and tried desperately to dissect what the hell doc was
saying. “Besides,” continued the doc, “There having chili for
breakfast. That, my friend, is a step in the wrong direction for
you.” “Shiiiiit! They’re having chili today? I loooove chili! You
had to tell me didn’t you, you sick son of a bitch! Chili? Oh man!”
“Yes I did. Should have been nice, Clarence.” “Hey! Stop that shit:
it’s Clyde. You want nice? Come over here within arms length.”
Terra couldn’t help but laugh; four bullets were pulled from the
inside of his body and the lack of chili upsets him.

Once again, Terra found her way over to her
usual table with Ruthie, Pearl, and Ray where her chili awaited;
red and chunky with beans, onions, and meat protruding out of it.
Just the steam going into Terra’s nostrils was spicy; she knew it
was going to be good; she always liked spicy food, even when she
was little. She sat next to Ruthie, as usual, “Eating out here
today?” asked Terra. “Couldn’t listen to all the yelling any
longer,” replied Ruthie. Pearl smiled at Terra when their eyes met.
“Any news on Locke?” asked Terra directed at Pearl. “No, nothing
I’m afraid.” “Don’t worry,” said Ray, “He’ll be okay, he always
is.” “Until he isn’t,” sulked Terra. Ray gave her a confused look,
“Are you guys doing each other or something?” “That’s charming,
Ray!” said Pearl sarcastically, “Doing? Why not just say ‘screw’?”
asked Pearl angrily. “Cuz, we’re at the breakfast table and I have
class.” “Really? Well, I think it fell out of your pocket when you
were a teenager.” “Enough!” yelled Smith who was at the next table.
“Criminy, why don’t you two get married already?” Pearl and Ray
looked at each other and scoffed like Smith had lost his mind to
imply something so hideous. “I only date women,” said Ray. “Look, I
got a message this morning; Locke is on his way home with someone
he rescued from the Empire and more importantly information on the
Empire’s plans and statistics on how many soldiers are in Pan’dier,
so we can take back the town and that will be one less piece of
land the imperials occupy.” Terra let out a sigh of relief. “Oh,
and Terra? More training today. Don’t worry, firearm training and
Ruthie’s going to show you some hand to hand combat moves. Bullets
don’t last forever, you know.” “Right,” answered Terra then went
back to her chili and out of the corner of her eye she saw the
black German shepherd eating a bowl of chili on the floor as well.
“His name is Hans,” said Ruthie about the dog.

After breakfast Ruthie went to visit Clyde
while Terra and Ray sat quietly waiting for Ruthie to return to
take Terra to the training room. “Whatever,” said Ray out of
nowhere, “Me and Pearl? Smith ain’t all there.” “Are you trying to
convince me or yourself?” “What? Please.” Terra smiled at Ray as
she winked, “So, what’s with the that thing on your arm?” “It’s an
arrow turret. It holds eight mini arrows at a time, when I fire one
the whole device rotates so the next on is just above my knuckles.”
“Neat.” “Ray,” yelled Pearl from the doorway into the Returner’s
private rooms. Ray turned to face her, “Yeah?” “Come on, we gotta
study the floor plans for the next mission.” Clyde got up and
followed Pearl down the hallway. Terra sat patiently for several
minutes until Ruthie returned. Then, they went to the training room
where five of the young workers were setting up bull’s-eye targets
for target practice. Terra took a series of shots from different
distances; it turns out that she is a natural, landing several
bull’s eyes and the rest inside the middle rings. “Okay, Ter. First
thing I’m going to show you is a sleeper hold. No matter how big
your opponent is, this will incapacitate him.” Ruthie got behind
Terra and put her forearm across Terra’s throat and put her hand on
her left bicep for leverage. “Feel the pressure?” “Mmhmm.” “Okay,
next is a move that will by you some time.” Ruthie released her
hold on her and got in front of Terra. “Okay, you want to close
your fingers half way and bend your knuckles back so they are
almost touching the top of your wrist. Then, you want to punch
using the bottom of your wrist right into the space just below
their nostrils; where the nose meets the upper lip. This will push
their nasal cavity up into their brain.” Ruthie took Terra’s hand
and formed it like hers, “Okay, like that.” Then Ruthie placed the
bottom of Terra’s wrist in the area below her nose. “Good. And you
can always just chop your hand into the spot where the chest meets
the throat. That’s always a crowd pleaser. They’ll be on the floor
fighting to breath for a few minutes.” “Hmm, good to know.” Ruthie
sat down on the floor, as did Terra. “Did good today Ter. So, when
Locke gets back your not gonna do anything foolish, are ya?” Terra
looked at Ruthie with a half smile, “Define foolish.” “Kiss him…in
his bed…while your both naked…” “No, of course not.” Ruthie sat
Indian style, “But you want to right?” Terra blushed, “Oh yes. Very
much, but I want him to make the first move.” “Why? Guys like it
when you make the first move, it turns them on.” “So I’ve heard. I
just get mixed signals from him and my biggest fear is him pushing
me away.” “Yeah, I gotcha. Rejection is never fun.” “When do you
think he’ll get back?” “By morning maybe, if he stops in a town to
rest.”

It was a few hours past sundown when Locke
and Alex reached the wall of separation. “So, what’s the plan? Am I
your long lost love that you couldn’t leave in Pan’dier, so you
decided to rescue me and bring me home with you?” “Nothing that
complex…or far fetched. You’re a horse trainer that was born and
raised in Pan’dier. Your father was a high level soldier in the
Velxeer military; that’s where your fighting skills come from. And
no spells and I mean it, Alex.” “Okay okay, Dad.” “Okay then,” said
Locke as he leaned against the countrywide wall and pulled a glass
flask from his jacket filled with a light brown liquid. Alex looked
around in confusion, then looked to Locke for answers, “So… what
are we doing?” Locke twisted off the cap and took a swig, “We’re
waiting till after ‘lights out’ before we enter.” “Oh, I get it,”
said Alex as she pulled out two rolled cigarettes, “Smoke?” “It’s
been a while,” said Locke with a long pause, “Sure, why not?” “I
can’t think of a reason,” said Alex as she handed Locke the
cigarette. Locke and Alex spent the next two hours sipping the
whiskey and smoking cigarettes as they swapped stories of battles
and more importantly the days before war when their lives were
innocent and full of hope. Alex regaled him with her travels of the
western continent, telling him of the large hand holding a torch
that stuck out of the ocean along the northern coast. Locke, who
had not changed his position from the wall since they had arrived,
finally removed himself and said to Alex, “Okay, let’s go in.
Silence till I say otherwise.” “Okay,” responded Alex. The exchange
of past experiences changed her feelings of him and made them more
like friends than like an excuse to survive. She understood him
more than most people could; they had similar lives. Their lives
consisted of heartbreak, death, and utter disappointment.

Locke opened the door to
the long dark corridor leading to the Returners hideout while he
thought,
Is it crazy I’m bringing her
here?
For some reason he trusted her
though he didn’t know why. Locke made sure he was at least one step
in front of Alex; he didn’t want anyone to see her yet. When they
made it to the main dining area Locke peaked his head from the
corridor and looked left; nobody. Locke looked to the right; the
doorman was asleep with Hans resting his head on his lap. “Okay,”
whispered Locke, “Let’s go.” “Why are we whispering?” asked Alex.
“Quiet!” Locke took Alex’s hand and pulled her through the door
marked ‘Returners’ and into his private room.

“
I’ll be right back, don’t
leave this room.” Locke left her standing there in the center of
his room; she saw his private sink, big bed with one leg shorter
than the rest, vials and herbs on the shelves above his dresser,
and a wooden upright chair with limited padded. The door slowly
crept open as Alex clutched her dragon blade; Locke entered and
quietly closed the door and latched its lock. “Okay,” said Locke
with arms full of squeeze tubes and small boxes with various items
protruding out of them and a duffel bag hanging over his shoulder
that was undoubtedly filled with clothes, “It’s time for a change.”
“Sick of the dress already?” “That was in case someone was awake
when we arrived. Now, we change everything else about you.” Alex
narrowed her eyes, “Like what?” “Eye color for starters. Not many
people have two different colored eyes. Kind of distinguishing,”
“That’s true, I suppose.” “And of course-“ “No! Not my hair! I love
my hair! Don’t even think about it you sick ma!” “Sorry, Alex. We
need to cut and color it. Sit,” said Locke as he pointed to the
wooden chair as he sat on the bed. Alex pouted for a few seconds
then grabbed the wooden chair and pulled it up to the bed and sat
with her back to Locke. Locke sat the boxes next to him on the bed
and removed a pair of stainless steel grooming scissor from one of
the boxes. Alex could feel Locke hovering behind her as he took
sections of her hair in his hand as he cut it shorter and shorter.
She couldn’t see what she was losing but felt the long strands fall
along her arm to the floor, as her head seemed lighter. She cringed
with each click of the scissors as they closed. After several
minutes Locke exhaled a sigh of relief, “Okay, short and
acceptable.” Alex closed her eyes in anticipation and ran her
fingers through it; it was even shorter than she thought. Her hair
went from a long beautiful golden blonde to short hair on the top
and sides that barely reached her ears. “Oh god! This is awful.
What did you do to me? I look like a boy, don’t I?” screamed Alex.
“Shhhh! It will grow back one day.” “Fine! What’s next?” “Time to
color.” “Okay, just not brown, it’s so dull…no offense.” Locke
couldn’t see her face, but felt her smiling. Locke brushed the
loose hairs from her shoulders and ran his fingers through the back
of her hair looking for strays; she let out a small breath of
happiness. “Okay, lean your head back,” said Locke as he gripped a
squeeze tube of dark red ooze peeking out of the nozzle. She leaned
her head back and looked at Locke as he brushed her bangs back so
he had access to the roots. She felt Locke’s strong hands glide
across her soft face. He began squeezing the thick liquid onto her
scalp line. He felt her looking at him and shifted his eyes to look
at her; she was staring into his eyes.
I’m
gonna miss those eyes,
he thought. He
rubbed the ooze into her hair, massaging it so it was all evenly
colored. “Okay, just let it sit a few minutes… unless you want pink
hair. Hmm, that actually suits you, Alex.” “What? Your crazy!” she
laughed. “While your heads back,” started Locke as he reached into
another box to retrieve a tiny eyedropper, “Here, squeeze a drop
into each eye.” Alex took the eyedropper and did as he said. Within
seconds of squeezing the liquid into her eyes they changed from
blue and green to both becoming hazel. “Well,” asked Alex. “Looks
good,” smiled Locke, “Okay, let’s rinse.” Alex stood up and
followed Locke to the sink as he turned the knobs and checked the
temperature. “Okay, dunk.” Alex did as Locke said and the as the
water fell against her hair the thick red dye looked like blood
twirling down the drain. Locke held his left hand on her back while
he helped rub the dye out with his right until the water went
clear. “It’s out,” said Locke as Alex stood and he handed her a
towel. She took the towel and began drying her short red hair. From
inside the towel Locke heard, “Got a mirror?” Locke opened one of
the drawers to his dresser and pulled out a saucer-sized mirror for
her to look at herself with. Alex took the mirror and gazed into
it, “Not bad, but I still like the blonde better.” “Me to.” She
lowered the mirror and looked at Locke and they shared a quiet
content look with each other. Locke snapped out of his trance and
said, “Ahem, got you some clothes too.” “Locke?” “Yeah?” said Locke
not looking away from the duffel bag he was now immersed in. “Come
here, I’m not very good at this.” Locke snapped his head up and
walked over to Alex, “Good at what?” “Appreciation. I want to thank
you for saving my life and getting me out of that place,” said Alex
as she put her palms on Locke’s chest, “You’re an amazing man and
I’m sorry for trying to treat you like an object last night, I just
needed a stress reliever. I hope you can forgive me.” Locke smiled
as he looked into her eyes, “I already have.” “Good, and I will do
anything I can to help your group stop the empire from hurting
anymore people.” “Thank you Alex, it’s late, you can tell me all
you know about the empire tomorrow. The bag has night clothes and
day clothes for you, you can change in the bathroom in the women’s
room.” “Thank you.” Alex leaned into Locke a gave him a light
nonsexual peck on the lips then smiled and walked to his bed to
retrieve the duffel bag. She picked up the bag and turned and saw
Locke standing a few inches from her face. Locke slid his hands
across her sides and around her back till they met on her lower
back and kissed her passionately on lips like he wanted to do since
the night before. Their lips were moist against each as their eyes
closed to enjoy every second. Alex’s right hand found its way to
the back of Locke’s neck as her finger nails scraped against his
flesh. Locke slowly pressed his tongue against her wet lips and her
mouth opened granting him entry as he pulled her body closer so
their hips were pressed together. Alex moved backwards, pulling
Locke on top of her as she laid on the bed as they continued
swirling their tongues with each other. Locke’s mouth strayed down
to the V on her dress and slid his tongue in circles along the top
of her chest then slid it to her neck and began nibbling her ear.
Alex let out a moan of ecstasy and closed her eyes tight enjoying
every second of his body pressed against her and his mouth making
love to her flesh. Alex took her left hand and pulled her dress up
a little so the could wrap her lags around him as they vibrated
against each other. As Locke continued to kiss her neck and ear she
whispered, “I’m so wet for you.” Locke lifted his head and looked
into her eyes; his heart was beating a mile a minute. He kissed her
deeply as he caressed her cheek and she caressed his. Alex began
pulling his shirt up- KNOCK! KNOCK! They heard a slamming against
the door, “Locke, are you back?” yelled Pearl from behind the door.
“Fuck!” grunted Alex. Locke sighed and looked down at her, “I gotta
get that.” “Duty calls,” sighed Alex as she pushed Locke up and
fixed her dress.