Rise of the Scorpion

[accountant]

May 30, 2022 18:35:59 GMT -6 texican said:

A,

It been nearly a week since the last chapter and that makes the moar hounds weak from not being feed.

Texican....

I like 'em hungry.

A.

[accountant]

Chapter 17

We Are Here To Help You Be Better


“SM-2349672! SM-2349672!”, yelled one of the administrators of the sensitivity training center where I was unceremoniously dumped five days ago by my team.

“Here!”, I yelled from my cell. Yes, it was called a private contemplation quarter, but when you can’t leave when you want to, it’s a cell.

The training center was worst than I had imagined. I was in a large muddy place about the size of three football fields smack dab in the middle of a swamp. The days were spent in humid classrooms learning about the proper way to interact with others and Mother Earth in a sensitive manner, repeated over and over again for hours on end, under the watchful eyes of the instructors and ever-present SS Agents. These people must have really ticked someone off to be forced to work in this hellhole.

Not that the nights were any better. The constant buzzing and stinging of mosquitoes kept sleep to a minimum. And if somehow, I was able to fall asleep, the sound of the roving, sadistic SS Agents knocking on the damn cell door every hour on the hour would always wake me.

The food was rice gruel twice a day, every day. All “trainees” were issued one wooden bowl and one wooden spoon, which were ours to keep. Of course, with no way to clean them, the built-up crust on them became a welcome meal for all sorts of flies, centipedes, and other creepy-crawlies during the day and the night.

I was emaciated, dehydrated, and exhausted.

“SM-2349672?”, asked the sweaty administrator.

“Yes.”, I croaked, through the bars on the door of my private contemplation quarter.

The administrator looked down at his clipboard and began reading:
“SM-2349672, the administrative council of sensitivity training center STC-110256 is pleased to announce that you have received the required sensitivity training in order to re-integrate yourself back into society. The council is honored to have been able to assist you in growing beyond your former biases and becoming a better, contributing member of society. The council is confident that you understand how to express your compassion towards all persons of all stripes and Mother Earth and that you will be able to live in harmony with others in order to build the better society which all persons deserve. We are appreciative that STC-110256 was selected for your sensitivity training needs in this instance and assure you that we stand ready to assist you with all your sensitivity training in the future.”

Yeah right. I’ll be sure to recommend you to all my friends.

Unlocking the door, he sighed and said, “Okay, let’s go.”

I could barely stand, let alone walk, but knowing I was getting out was the impetus to get me moving.

The administrator led me through the building and as we were walking out of private contemplation quarters building 6, the SS Agent on duty sneered and said, “See you around, SM-2349672.”

I wanted nothing more than to bash his brains in with the nightstick all the SS Agents carried here, or at least give him the finger, but all I could do was to keep walking.

We made our way through the campus, as the sun was coming up, and entered the intake building through one of the rear doors. By this time I was starting to breathe hard from the exertion and humidity.

We walked into an area with a glassed in counter in front of us.

“SM-2349672.”, said the administrator with me to the administrator behind the counter, while taking the piece of paper from his clipboard and handing it through the slot to the administrator behind the counter.

The woman behind the counter looked at the paper, and nodded to the administrator who had provided it, who promptly exited the room.

The woman reached behind her, grabbed a new orange coverall, stamped it will my number and slid it along with a newish pair of shoes and a newish set of boxer shorts towards me.

“Go into the first door on your left, Sm-2349672. Inside you will find a bucket under a spout. You will also find a bar of soap. Please remove your clothes and place them in the receptacle inside the room. Pull the handle hanging from the tank on the wall. The tank will release just enough water to fill the bucket. Do not fill the bucket more than once. Clean yourself with the soap and water. Once you re clean, please put on your new clothing and exit through the door on the far wall. Again, we will know if you pull the handle more than once, so we suggest that you do not do so as otherwise you may need to partake of further training.”, she said, with a scowl.

I took the items offered and went to the room. As anticipated, it was dark and dreary, with the only light coming from the glass window in the top half of the door where anyone in the vestibule could see me in all my glory.

I don’t care if she watches me, naked as a jaybird. Right now, I’d allow just about anything to get out of here.

Getting undressed, I got busy cleaning myself. The sensation of the water and soap hitting my body was two-fold. First, the water helped with my dehydration, and I swallowed a lot of it. It felt good going down my throat and washing away some of the dust, dirt, and grime that had settled on my body. The soap was another story. It actually stung when I rubbed it against the bug bites on my skin. I didn’t care. I scrubbed and scrubbed to clean my greasy hair and the rest of my flesh and let the cool water wash it all away. Scooping the water into my hands, I rinsed myself clean before putting on my new clothing.

Fully clothed, I looked through the window in the door and saw that the woman was watching me, intently. I gave the voyeur a quick smile and a thumbs up before exiting the room through the door on the far wall.

[kaijafon]

interesting how this is working out. Thanks for the moar

[accountant]

Chapter 18

You Will Learn New Skills


After three days and nights of travelling, I arrived at my new assignment. Rather than a farm, it was a large distribution and processing facility. As the bus drove down the main road of the complex, I saw a long line of trucks and horse drawn carts waiting to be unloaded of their cargo.

I, along with a few others from the bus, was dropped off at the reception door of the building used to process the workers in the facility. My documentation was reviewed, I was physically checked over by a health professional for lice, fleas, ticks, and any other creepy crawlies which may have attached themselves to me. Just to be on the safe side, I was deloused, after which I showered, and was given a new set of overalls to wear.

Once cleaned, my group of new workers were taken to the large dining hall where we were given a small meal of mashed potatoes with gravy, a whole wheat biscuit, some rice pudding, and a small glass of watered-down juice.

The dormitory where we were to be housed reminded me of an army barracks and was segregated by gender.

I noticed that most everyone who worked at the facility was professional in performing their roles and not demeaning or condescending towards others of lower rank. I made a mental note to investigate the performance of this particular facility once I returned back to my office.

The facility was run on two ten-hour shifts. The first shift ran from 8am to 6pm. The second shift ran from 8pm to 6am. It was explained that the gap between shifts was due to the fact that the dormitory beds were shared between the first shift and the second shift. The gap allowed the shift workers getting ready to work to exit the dormitory facility before the workers getting off work got there.

I was placed on the 8pm to 6am shift. My role was that of a material handler. All night long, my job, that of what looked like hundreds of others, was to take a cart and move items from one station to another, or from one building to another. Sometimes it was produce, sometimes it was fabric and clothing, sometimes it was machined parts, or whatever needed to be moved.

After more than three weeks at the facility, I was beginning to feel that no one from the rebel group was going to make contact and that I had wasted time being there. Then, in the middle of one of my shifts, a guard came up to and said, “SM-2349672, bring a cart and come with me.”

The guard brought me to the building where they processed root vegetables, and I was told to put a sack of potatoes on my cart and follow the guard.

We walked deep through the complex and almost to the back end behind the processing building when we came to an older building which may have been an equipment storage building in a previous life with two rolling garage doors and a side entrance. A dim bulb illuminated the side entrance door.

The guard told me to wait and using a key, he unlocked the side entrance door and walked into the darkened building.

A few minutes later, I heard a latch open, and one of the garage doors was rolled up by the guard.

“In here.”, ordered the guard.

I pushed the cart into the darkened building, and the garage door was rolled down behind me. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I was that the building looked like it had previously been used for vehicle maintenance as one of the bays had a pit used by mechanics.

The guard tapped his foot on the concrete floor three times, and I saw a dim light turn on from behind a false wall in the pit. The false wall moved, and I noticed men come out of from behind the wall. Due to the dimness of the light, I couldn’t make out faces, but there were three of them.

Silently, the guard handed the sack of potatoes to one of the men and it was taken back into the space behind the false wall by one of the men. The other two climbed out of the pit and looked me over.

I heard one of the men sigh and say, “It’s good to see you again, Scorpion.”

[feralferret]

Accountant,

Good to see you writing again. Another wonderful story. Thanks.

[kansasterri]

Hey, THANKS for the new episode!!!!

[CountryGuy]

Thanks for the new chapter and look forward to it as your dystopian world seems more like the real world being set up for us in this country.

[accountant]

Chapter 19

You’ll Have Great Adventures


I remained silent, not knowing what was expected of me.

“Thanks Hawk. We’ll let you know when you can come pick him up again.”, said the voice, now attached to a head wearing a ski mask.

“Sure thing. Take care, brother.”, replied the guard, before exiting the old maintenance building.

“Come on, Scorpion. We’ve got a ways to go ‘fore the sun comes up.”, said the gravelly voice.

I was trapped. With the guard gone, I couldn’t be seen wandering the facility alone without raising the alarm, but I couldn’t just go with these men either. I stood my ground.

“Boy, those sensitivity training centers really fry your brains, don’t they? I get it. A lot of us have gone through that and have the flashbacks to prove it. Scorpion, it’s me, ferret. I told you before that we wouldn’t forget what you did for us and we haven’t. Come on. It’s safe. I promise.”, said the man.

“Ferret?”, I asked.

“In the flesh.”, he replied with a chuckle, “Now are we gonna hang around here all night or are we gonna get a move on?”

With that, I started towards the illuminated hole in the maintenance pit.

We followed the long tunnel until it ended at a rope ladder. Climbing up the ladder, I noticed that we were a good five hundred yards away from the facility surrounded by old-growth trees. Awaiting us were an additional four sentries all wearing balaclavas with only their eyes visible.

“Here. Take off those overalls and put these on. The orange sticks out like a sore thumb.”, said ferret, handing me a bundle of clothes.

I hurriedly slipped out of the overalls and into the jeans and dark colored work-shirt. They were a little oversized but would do. My coveralls were slipped into the potato sack.

We trekked through the woods until we came to a river. A couple of the men moved some deadfall out of the way to reveal an old aluminum flat bottomed boat with a steel wire that ran the length of the craft from aft to the stern through eyeholes. It was pushed into the flowing water, and we all jumped into the rickety boat. Once we were all settled in the boat along with the sack of potatoes, the men began to pull on the steel cable. I noticed that the steel cable when taunt rose out the water and was connected to both sides of the river. Without a whisper, the boat slowly made its way across the river.

Once on the other bank, the boat was again hidden from view, and we again began walking silently through the woods. We walked for what seemed like forever, but couldn’t have been more than a couple of hours, only stopping at times to take drinks of water from wineskins the men had, but not once saying a word. Finally, after cresting a hill, we came upon a plateau where several horses had been picketed.

“I don’t suppose you ride, do ya Scorpion?”, asked ferret.

Ina previous lifetime, my grandfather had owned a large rural property with several dozen head of cattle. I had visited every summer, rode horses and atvs, learned to rope and shoot, and did about everything expected from a ranch hand. They were some of the best times of my life.

“I’m sorry. I never have.”, I lied.

“That’s okay, you can double up with Nightingale.”, said ferret, climbing onto the back of a horse.

Riding behind a dude? Ughh.

“Um, which one is Nightingale?”, I asked, sheepishly.

While I was saying that, one of the men pulled his horse alongside me and a gloved hand was extended.

“Just put your left foot in the stirrup and pull yourself up into the saddle.”, advised ferret.

I pretended to miss the stirrup with my foot a couple of times before getting on the horse behind Nightingale. It was then that I noticed that Nightingale was too soft to be a man. She was a woman!

“You can take your foot out of the stirrup now.”, she whispered with a giggle.

“Oh, sorry.”, I said.

There came that giggle again.

“Just hold onto me, stay relaxed, and move like I move. I promise you won’t fall off.”, she said.

I put my hands on her sides and waited. She giggled and pulled my arms around her front before slowly walking the horse along the trail made by the other men.

It had been a long time since I had held a woman, too long. It almost felt unnatural, but good at the same time. I could feel her firm stomach muscles clench and release with every movement of the beast between her legs. Cantering the horse, I adjusted my body to move with hers, forward and back, up and down. I had to focus on the reason I was there in order to not feel too good behind the shapely body of the woman taking me to who knows where.

“You’re doing great.”, whispered Nightingale, as she once again rubbed up against me.

Focus, dammit, focus!

With the first fingers of the new sun creeping along the horizon, I saw the silhouette of a small village nestled between two hills come into view. As we got closer, I saw that the village was actually made up of many camouflaged tents and caves with covered doorways. If you didn’t know to look for it, it would be lost in the lush green of the surrounding forest.

Nightingale took off ski mask and I could feel the softness of her ash-brown hair against my face as we rode.

“Wanna have a little fun?”, she asked, mischievously.

Without waiting for an answer, she hooked my legs inside her own and said, “Come on, Stormy, let’s go home.”

Hearing those words, the great horse tore into a gallop towards the settlement. I gripped Nightingale tighter and held on for all I was worth as the wind whistled past my ear and the woman’s honey scent filled my nose.

As we approached, I could see an older woman standing at the side of the path with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face.

[cashless1]

is the site down