The band was playing a slow song and Chloe stepped closer.  Jim reached out wrapping his arms around her waist.  As he pulled her closer she wrapped her arms around his neck.  They moved to the music like that bodies pressed tightly together.  She rested her head next to his with their cheeks touching and her mouth less than an inch from his ear.  He could feel her warm breathe against it and realized that she was breathing a little bit heavier too.

Jim pulled back and looked Chloe right in the eyes.  They didn’t say anything; just stared at each other.  Jim stood there taking in the whole moment.  The feel of her body against his and the look in her eyes was almost too much for him.  He couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.  This is actually going to happen he thought as he moved his head closer to hers.

She started to speak, but the words came out in his Dad’s voice.  “Don’t you think you should wake up so you aren’t late for your second day of Militia?”

The world came crashing back to Jim with a sharp contrast.  He was lying in bed and his eyes were stinging as he opened them.  His dad was standing in the doorway to his room grinning and the sun was shining in his window far too brightly in his opinion.  “What?” he managed to ask hoarsely as he moved his hands up to block the sun.

Jim’s dad spoke as he moved to the curtains and pulled them open wider letting even more of the offending sunlight into the room.  “Well its Monday morning and I figured you would want to get an early start.  Make up for that late start you got on Friday.”

Jim struggled to sit up and thought back to the events of Saturday night.  They had obviously inspired the dream that he had just been so rudely pulled out of, but they certainly had not ended like that.  After Jim’s dad left he and Chloe had talked for hours.  They shared life stories, told jokes, and generally got to know each other better.  As the celebration died they both went their own separate ways and headed home.  Jim liked the ending from his dream much better.  Well the ending that almost happened until his Dad woke him up.

Thinking about that night reminded Jim of a question that had been bothering him.  “Dad,” he started slowly.  “What is Linden?”

Jim’s dad looked thoughtfully at him and than sat down on the end of the bed.  “Linden is a town in Tennessee about a weeks ride from here.  I haven’t traveled much, but I did make a trading trip there when I was just a little bit older than you.  That was quite a trip.”  His dad seemed to be lost in thought for a moment and Jim wasn’t sure if he was going to continue.  “They are one of the few towns I have seen that is actually better off than we are.   That town is beautiful and its people know it.  They really care about their town.”

“What makes it so special?”

“Well for starters if you need anything mechanical they are the best place to find it.  Red’s junkyard has more parts and more working machines than anywhere else that I have ever heard of.  That alone makes he town valuable.  Besides that they actually have a history similar to ours when you think about it.  It’s a town too small to be hit that rallied together and built a life for itself after the bombs.”  His dad looked thoughtfully at him.  “Why do you ask?”

“Well when Mayor McQuery tripped and his bag fell open huge stacks of paper with the name “Linden” written on them fell out.  I think it might have been some kind of money.”

“Money you say?  That is odd.  Why would he need Linden money and how did he get as much as you say you saw.  It’s just worthless paper here in Metropolis.”

“He also had a book, but I couldn’t make out the title.”

“I’m surprised that man even knows how to read.”  The disgust in his tone could not be missed.  He sighed.  “Well it seems like you were quite the snoop while trying to help him get his stuff put away.  I don’t trust that man, but so far we don’t have any reason to think he is doing anything wrong.  Maybe if we are lucky he is just planning on leaving town so we don’t have to ever see him again.”

His dad stood up and walked to the door.  “If I start talking about him you really will be late.  Hurry up and get dressed.  I’m going to walk you to the Fort this morning.”

“But dad,” Jim started to protest.

“Don’t worry I won’t embarrass you.  We’ll split up just before getting to the Fort so it doesn’t look like your old man is dropping you off.  I have quite a few subjects that I need to talk to Jason about.  It’s been too long since we last spoke.”  It took Jim a minute to realize that his dad was talking about Sergeant Reynolds.  His dad then added as he walked into the living room, “Besides it will give us a chance to finish our discussion of how you should have reacted to that situation with the Ist woman.”

Jim groaned at the thought of the impending conversation as he started to get ready.

Chloe gave Jim her best pouty face.  “Come on Jim, I thought we were having fun here.”  She reached out for his hand, but he jerked it away quickly.

“I don’t think so.  Drop the act, it isn’t going to work anymore.  You can’t flirt your way out of this.”

Chloe sighed and with the sigh her entire demeanor seemed to change.  She stood up much straighter now and her face was far more serious.  “Ok I admit it; I had no idea who you were until yesterday even though we probably have been in school together most of our lives.  You just weren’t in my circles.”  She sighed again.  “I didn’t mean it to sound like that.  We just didn’t have anything in common.  Now that you’re in the militia you hit my radar.  That’s it really.”

“I don’t buy it.  You don’t act like this around Joe, Rick, or David.  It also doesn’t explain why you felt the need to put me in the spotlight back there.”  He was pointing angrily in the direction they had just come from.

Chloe once again sighed.  Jim wondered if it was her way of stalling to think about what she wanted to say.  “If you really want to know I thought the stuttering thing yesterday was cute.  Like a scared little puppy.  I wanted to see if you would do it again.  You were so nervous around me and I couldn’t help but try to push it a bit.  I was just trying to have a little fun with you.”

“So basically you just do whatever you want without ever thinking about anyone else.”  Anger was still in his voice, but Jim was starting to calm down.  He wasn’t even yelling anymore.  “Have you ever thought about how the people you use feel?”

“Not often enough apparently.”  She reached out again and this time he let her take his hand.  “Look Jim, I think we started off on the wrong foot here.  You’re a pretty nice guy and apparently do have a backbone in there when pushed.”  Jim started to protest, but she cut him off.  “Believe it or not that was supposed to be a complement.  I can’t seem to say anything right to you tonight.”  She looked at him thoughtfully.  “You know I don’t think anyone except Daddy has ever spoken to me like you just did.  That probably means I really deserved it.”  She mumbled under her breath so quietly that Jim almost didn’t hear her over the celebration sounds.  “I guess it also means that I owe you an apology.”

“Come on I think we need some new beers and this time I’ll buy.”

“You know saying you owe someone an apology isn’t actually apologizing.”

“Nope I guess it isn’t.”  The bounce had returned to Chloe’s words and she turned quickly towards the beer cart tugging on Jim’s hand.  As she spun she smashed hard into an overweight grey haired man knocking both of them to the ground.  The man’s duffel bag went tumbling and ripped open spilling papers at Jim’s feet.

A spark of recognition struck Jim.  “Mayor McQuery we are so sorry.  Here let me help you with your bag.”

As Jim started to reach for the former mayor’s bag the older man shuffled quickly on the ground to gather up his papers.  “I think you two have helped quite enough young man.”

Ignoring the attitude Jim bent down to gather a stack of papers that was blowing away.  He had never seen the design on the papers before, but they looked like some sort of paper money.  Jim couldn’t help but notice the word “Linden” written on the bills before Shannon McQuery grabbed the pile out of his hands and shoved them back into his bag.  Jim noticed a book on the ground as well, but the older man grabbed it before he could make out the title.

“Those are mine and I’ll thank you not to paw them.”  He pushed the last handful of money into his bag and held it shut tightly.  “You know if I were still mayor I could do something to teach all you little brats some manors.  In fact you know what I’d do?”

Jim did not even notice his father had walked up to them until he spoke.  “My guess is you wouldn’t do anything at all unless someone bribed you to do it.  Of course I could be a bit jaded by your actual term in office.”

The former mayor looked to have lost his confidence.  “James, I see you still don’t know when to keep your mouth shut and stay out of other people’s business.”

“I guess I don’t.  I certainly couldn’t keep it shut while endorsing Mayor Parker for your job.  I also couldn’t keep it shut while cheering at the announcement that he won.”   Shannon McQuery opened his mouth to speak, but James continued to the assault.  “and I just don’t think I will be able to keep it shut while I’m kicking your crooked ass for giving my son attitude.”

The former mayor looked like he had something more to say, but thought better of it when he saw that James was not backing down.  He held his bag closer and turned back into the crowd.  “What’s it take to get just a little bit of respect in this town.”

“Having a spine or a moral bone in your body would help,” James yelled after him.  He then turned to the kids.  “I think I’m all celebrated out for the night.  Jim I’ll see you at home.  Chloe, say hi to your dad for me.”

After James had wondered off Chloe looked at Jim.  “What was that all about?”

“I have no idea.  I don’t even know how he knew your name.”

“I’ll tell you what I know,” Chloe said with a smile.  “I know where you got that buried courage streak of yours.”  She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  “Now come on, I still owe you that beer.”

Jim handed Chloe a beer with his left hand and stared at his own in his right.  Time for a little courage he thought as he took a big drink.  This beer was much better than what he had on the night of his birthday.  It had a much stronger flavor and he didn’t feel the need to vomit at the very smell of it.  Nothing but the best for the Summer Celebration apparently he thought.  He didn’t like the taste, but figured that if he had enough it wouldn’t matter anymore. Chloe took a drink from hers as well.  Jim was finally ready to try and have a conversation when a woman began screaming behind the band.

“You lousy Son of a Bitch you slept with an Ist didn’t you?”

The woman yelling at the top of her lungs startled the pair and they both turned in the direction the sound had come from.  “Well someone is angry,” Chloe joked as she grabbed Jim’s free hand.  “Come on let’s see what’s going on.”  Her blonde hair bounced as she pushed her way through the crowd dragging Jim along behind her.  What horrible timing Jim thought until he realized that Chloe was holding his hand.

“Now Doreen; just calm down honey.  You’re making a scene.”

The man was speaking softly and Jim could barely make out his words.  He did recognize him though.  Jim leaned in close to Chloe’s left ear and whispered, “That’s Patrick Dempsey.  He’s my neighbor.  I think he works in the food panty.”

Chloe leaned into his ear and Jim could feel her warm breath on it.  “Yeah I recognize him.  He used to be the mayor’s assistant until Mayor Parker was elected.  I’ve heard some rumors that he was crooked, but no one seems to have any proof.”

“Don’t you ‘now honey’ me.  I don’t care if I make a scene.  Joanna saw you heading up North a few days ago and now I hear that there are Ist around.  What am I supposed to think?”

Jim could tell that the man was getting frustrated.  He let out a big sigh and raised his hand up in the air.  The sarcasm in his tone screamed that this was not going to end quickly.  “I don’t know, how about thinking that you should trust your husband?  How is that for what you are supposed to think?  Maybe,  ooh crazy idea, just maybe you should ask him in private instead of yelling at him in front of the whole town.  Oh and how about just this once having the conversation BEFORE you start drinking?”  She started to speak, but he cut her off.  “Besides if I were to ever cheat on you I haven’t sunken quite low enough to do it with a filthy Ist woman.”

The woman was crying now, but fought back the tears with loud sobs.  “How do you know there is a woman up there and that she’s dirty if you weren’t up there with her?”  The words were barely understandable through the sobs.

“I know there’s a woman because I heard the stories about yesterday just like you did and I know she is dirty because she is an IST.  Of course she is dirty.  Besides who knows if the stories are even true.  There might not even be an Ist woman up north.”

“Jim knows.”  Jim was caught completely off guard by Chloe suddenly speaking out loud.  He was caught even more off guard by her hand shoving him out towards the fighting couple.  “He was there yesterday.  He knows exactly what happened and what the woman looked like.”  The crowd was staring at Jim now and he was getting very uncomfortable.

The man turned angry eyes towards Jim and Chloe.  “You two just stay out of this.  This is between me and my wife.  It’s none of your business.”

The sobbing woman looked at Jim.  “Was she prettier than me?”

“Uhm,  uh.  She was,  uhm.”  Jim heard Chloe failing to hold in a giggle behind him.  He had dealt with quite enough of being made fun of the last two days.  When he spoke again he was forceful.  “Pretty?  She was a violent bitch that tried to kill me.  She was a dirty horrible woman that stabbed someone who was just trying to protect me from her.  If your husband even tried to approach her she would have killed him without blinking and he wouldn’t be here to listen to your drunken ramblings.”  Jim wondered if he was being too harsh, but the woman annoyed him.  He had always liked Patrick and didn’t think he deserved this kind of public humiliation.

Jim turned to force his way through the crowd.  He heard the man call out behind him, “Hey you can’t talk to my wife like that.” He decided to ignore it and keep moving.

Chloe called out from behind him.  “That was harsh.  I like it.”  She was slipping through the crowd trying to catch up with him.  “Hey wait up.”

Jim turned to face her.  “What the hell was that?  I’ve been in school with you for years and you have never so much as said a word to me.  Now suddenly you are following me around trying to find new ways to make me uncomfortable.  What is your game here?”

Jim and his father live almost a mile from town square.  It takes them on average twenty minutes to make that trip.  This is exactly how long Jim had to listen to his father give him a speech about his reckless behavior the day before and how lucky he was to still be alive.  This also happens to be the same speech he had given him the previous night and all morning.  By this time Jim didn’t think he could take hearing much more of it so as soon as they reached the crowd and he could hear the band playing he shot forward into it.  This was his escape.

“Don’t think we’re done talking about this!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jim yelled back as he slipped out of sight.  He knew the band would be set up in town square at the statue’s feet and the beer carts that he was now old enough to buy from would be circling that square.  Street performers would be spread throughout the crowd and gathered around the bonfire that lit the square.  As it got darker the town officials would walk the street lighting torches.  The whole thing was kicked off by a speech from the mayor that Jim was thankful he had missed.  He did wonder whether the events of the previous day had been mentioned or not.

As Jim neared the bonfire a drunken man stumbled into him.  He was knocked off balance and barely managed to keep from falling on the ground.  Beer splashed onto his shirt.  “What the hell man watch where you’re going.”  The man turned and Jim finally got a look at his face.  “Joe?  Are you already drunk?”

“Yeah I’m drunk.  After what happened yesterday you think I could have any fun if I wasn’t?”

“We are supposed to be keeping an eye out for trouble though.”

“Bah they just didn’t want us kids involved in tracking down those Ists.  Well they can shove that in their pipe and…..  pipe,  Piper.  Project Piper.”  He smacked his head a little too hard and it glowed a soft red.  “We forgot to tell Sergeant Reynolds what Danny said about Project Piper.  I better do that now.”

“I think you are a little too drunk to do that now.”

“Whatever,” and with a dismissive wave Joe stumbled off in the general direction of Fort Massac.

Jim shook his head and continued towards the music.  As he reached the bonfire he noticed a crowd of boys about his age all dancing and decided to take a closer look.  As the he got closer he glimpsed movement in the center of the circle and moved into a better position to see.  There in the center of the crowd was Chloe Reynolds wearing a tight red dress that clung to her hips and didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination.  The front was cut low and showed off quite a bit of cleavage.  As she was dancing with her hands in the air her long blonde hair was flying around her.

Jim stood and watched as Chloe captured all the boys attention.  She slide her back tight against one of the boys and wrapped her arms around his neck rubbing seductively against him.  When she let go she bounced over to a boy across from her and wrapped her arms around his neck.  She leaned close and Jim thought for a minute that she was going to kiss the boy, but as her lips were just about to brush his she spun to the right with a giggle and ran her hands across another boy’s chest.  This continued for the remainder of the song as Chloe went from boy to boy teasing each of them.

When the song ended she waved at one of the boys and started for the beer carts.  As she passed the boy she almost kissed reached out and smacked her butt.  The next few moments happened so quickly that Jim could barely register what he was seeing.  As his hand touched her backside she reached back and grabbed the boy by the wrist.  She twisted the wrist hard spinning it around behind his back and using her other hand to put pressure on his shoulder.  The boy slammed into the ground hard and Chloe rode him down landing with her knee in his back.  “Is that any way to treat a lady?” she asked as she let go of his arm.  She ruffled his hair and smacked his head into the dirt fairly hard as she stood up.

Jim froze as he realized that Chloe was walking right towards him.  She stopped about two feet in front of him and ran two of her fingers down her chest.  “Well if it isn’t the new guy.  So tell me do you have any hobbies besides staring at me?”

“Well uhm, I un.”

She startled Jim as she laughed loudly.  “You’re more nervous than you were with Daddy.  Relax I don’t bite.  Much.”

“Sorry about the staring and all.  I was nervous yesterday and today well you were putting on quite a show.”

“Do you know what it’s like to have complete control over a group of people?  No I don’t suppose you do.  It’s a real rush and the closest thing you can get to adrenaline rush of a fight.”  She looked back at the boy who was just now being helped to his feet.  She blew him a kiss.  “So what’s your name new guy?”

“Jim, I’m Jim.”

“Well Jim today is your lucky day.  You are going to make all those boys back there jealous by getting the privilege of buying my next beer.”  She wrapped her right arm through his left and led him off towards the beer carts.

This is already the most interesting celebration ever; Jim thought as he walked Chloe towards the beer cart.

“You let Jim ride David’s horse?”  Bill Turner had a shocked look on his face.

“It was an emergency.  David has been hurt and we knew the GC would be smart enough to make it back.”  Rick said defensively.  The two boys had decided to drop the horses off since Joe was already in with Sergeant Reynolds by the time they arrived and his horse had been wondering off.

“Oh I get that, but what you apparently don’t get is that David breaks in horses for me.  His horse is always the wildest one I have.”  Bill chuckled and looked at Jim.  “You’re lucky he didn’t just toss you off.”  He sighed and his face took on a more serious expression.  “I hope David is ok, he’s a good kid.”   He started leading the horses back to the barn two at a time.

Sergeant Reynolds was walking out of the fort screaming commands and that everyone was scrambling to react.  “I want 21 men on route to Fort 24 right now.   Twenty of them report to Commander Jackson for immediate deployment to deal with Ist activity.  The other man needs to meet me at City Hall with a report on David’s status.   I want 5 more men at the Fortress of Solitude backing up Danny.  I’m taking these boys into town to explain what just happened to the Mayor.  We’re going to be running on a skeleton crew here men so I want all eyes South.”

Rick walked towards the man.  “Sergeant Reynolds, I want to be one of the men that go to Fort 24 to hunt down the Ist that did this.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing that I told Joe.  Not gonna happen.  I’m not sending you boys into harms way and you can’t be fully affective to Commander Jackson without clearance into Fort 24 and you are a good year away from getting that.  My decision stands and we do not have time to discuss it.”  He stepped up to the stable.  “Bill I need four horses.”

As the boys rode to town Jim had a chance to take in the sites he had missed while running to the Fort that morning.  The first thing that caught his eye was a large statue in front of the town pantry.  It was a man holding a paper sack.  The pantry was just a warehouse and was positioned close to Fort Massac to allow for better control if another food riot were ever to break out. The town’s food was actually handed out from City Hall and large amounts were never onsite.  Up ahead on the right was an old theatre that a group of kids from school had just recently started using for plays.  On the left in the distance was a water tower.  It had been reinforced over the years and whatever had once been painted on it had chipped away until there were just flakes of color left.

Town hall was the largest prebomb building still standing in Metropolis.  It was two stories with large open courtyards on all sides.  A stable had been built to the East of the building.  In the back a 20ft tall statue of a man stood holding his hands to his waist.  It had a long red cape and a bright red and yellow S symbol on its chest.  Jim knew that this iconic character had been important to the town before the bombs.  He had seen the symbol still standing all throughout town.  In the days after the bombing though peoples priorities had changed.  The town had created a new identity for itself and surviving was more important than honoring a fictional character.  There were still those in town that knew about him and tried to keep his stories alive.  Jim and his father were certainly not those people.

Shannon McQuery Sr. was the Mayor who had seen Metropolis through the bomb and was single handedly credited for its current well being.  He is remembered as the greatest leader Metropolis has ever known, and his son is remembered as the worst.  Under Shannon McQuery Jr. the town had seen corruption and mismanagement like they had never known before.  Jim often wondered if it was the stress of not being able to live up to his father’s legend that led to the mayor’s downfall.  Whatever the cause it left a large mess for current mayor Frank Parker to clean up.  Jim found himself standing in front of this man telling him all about yet another complication that he would have to deal with.

Mayor Parker listened quietly to the boys telling their story.  He let each one tell it as they remembered and took notes occasionally.  When the last boy was done with his story the Mayor finally spoke.  “This is troubling on many levels.  You boys were set up for an ambush and are lucky to be alive.  Those Ists somehow managed to raid town food as well.  This says to me that they are organized.”  He shook his head.  “I haven’t seen this level of organization since James crushed the last band thirteen years ago.”  Mayor Parker looked at Jim.  “Your father is a hero and this town can never repay him enough for what he did or what you two had to sacrifice.”

The Mayor turned back to Sergeant Reynolds.  “We are still going to have the celebration tomorrow.  This town needs its yearly morale boost and I will not have this incident tarnish that.  I can’t help but wonder about it’s timing.  One day before the celebration seems like too much of a coincidence.”  He looked at the boys.  “We cannot spare extra men to attend the celebration now.  They need to be patrolling the northern border.  I want you three and any other recruits to keep a close eye on the town during the celebration.  I want you to celebrate and have a good time, but you keep your eyes open for anything suspicious.”

Before any of the boys could answer they were startled by a knocking at the door.  Mayor Parker motioned for Sergeant Reynolds to open the door.  “I have news from Fort 24 sir.”  Jim was not sure if the man was speaking to the mayor or Sergeant Reynolds.  “The Taylor boy pulled through.  It was real touch and go for a while there and they weren’t sure, but the docs managed to stabilize him.  They said another few minutes and it would have been too late.”

Mayor Parker looked back at the boy.  “Well I guess you three have something extra special to celebrate this year.  You’re dismissed for the rest of the day.  Go home to your families before word of this spreads to them.  Sergeant Reynold you stay here.  We need to talk.”

The reason I am writing this is to let everyone know what to expect over the next few weeks.  I am going to be at Gencon starting Wednesday, but I am dedicated to ensuring that each part of this story comes out on time.  I also want to give you all something extra for the week of Gencon.  This week’s story which is currently going through its final editing pass introduces a few more locations in town.  I figured some of you might like to see some pictures of the places that inspired this story.  This evening part 10 of Skies of Glass: Metropolis will go live.  Throughout the week a few bonus editions will be released with some vacation pictures I have of the town.  I am not an artist at all, but if I can come up with a map of the area for you I will release that as well.  None of this information is needed to read or enjoy the story and it is just my way of giving a little bit more on the week of Gencon.

Thank you all again for taking the time to read my labor of love and if you are enjoying it please tell your friends and help me grow the audience.  The more readers and feedback I get the better the final product will be.

David’s horse didn’t lean down for Jim to get on like Buttercup had.  No this horse just stood there waiting for him to get on.  He grabbed on and tried to pull himself up.  The ground hit him hard in return for his effort.  The second attempt went much better.  He actually made it up onto the horse.  He held on tightly as the horse started walking around aimlessly.  This definitely wasn’t going to be as easy as riding Buttercup and certainly wasn’t going to be as smooth.

As the boys took off towards Fort 24 Jim was finding it hard to keep up.  This ride was not nearly as smooth as the previous ones.  He noticed that the horse needed constant correction to stay on course.  Buttercup had taken care of all of that for him.  She knew where she was going and didn’t need him to get there.  This horse was very different.  He didn’t feel like he had complete control and was not comfortable riding as fast as the other boys.  Jim knew that this was necessary though.  David needed the smooth ride.

Jim glanced up at David on Buttercup.  He was leaning over and barely upright.  They had grabbed a bandage from Rick’s pack and wrapped it around David’s wound to apply pressure.  The former white bandage was now a bright red.  This did not look good. A knife wound like that would not be bleeding this much unless it had hit something important.  They had to get him help quickly.

The land they were riding through was beautiful and he knew that if he wasn’t so worried about David he would have wanted to go much slower and take it all in.  There were fields of grain, fenced in cows grazing, and a pond being fed by a natural stream.  He could see geese swimming across the top of the water.  The grass covered hills rose and fall all around them.  All the while not a sound could be heard except the birds and their horses.  He wanted to take it all in.  Of course he also might have just wanted to go slower because he couldn’t control this horse.

As they crossed on final hill Jim got his first look at Fort 24.  The building was an old brick building with one square barbwire fence enclosing another one around the outside.  At the corners of the outer ring of fences were large wooden lookout towers and even from here Jim could tell that there were men with guns in them.  Between the two fences Jim could see at least 3 armed men walking patrols.  Behind the fort was a large field with multiple animal pens sectioned out and converging in a small pond.  A large barn sat on the other side of the pens.  Across the trail a large grain silo sat at the end of the forest.  This strange site of farm and fort unnerved Joe.  He couldn’t help but wonder why a farm would need so much security and even stranger secrecy.

As the boys started down the hill two horses rode out at top speed to meet them on the hill.  “Hold there.  Identify yourselves.”

Joe took point, “We’re the daily report from Fort Massac.  We ran into some serious trouble a few miles back.  David is hurt bad.  We need to get him inside and get him help now.”  Almost on queue David fell off of Buttercup and onto the ground.

The man who had addressed them turned to his partner.  “Chris let the Fort know what is going on and get an emergency bed set up.  I’ll bring David down.”  As the second man rode off at full speed towards the Fort the speaking man turned back to face the boys.  “Get him up on my horse.  I’ll take him in and we’ll see what we can do for him.  You boys need to get back to Fort Massac and let Sergeant Reynolds know what just happened here.”

Joe stepped towards the man.  “We are not just leaving him here.  This is my friend and I don’t give a damn about your secrecy I’m going to make sure he is ok before I go anywhere.  Then I want to go with whoever goes out there to hunt the Ist that did this.

The man raised his voice, but it still had an air of control about it.  “You will stand down now recruit.  David is our friend too and he is the only one of you that has clearance to be in Fort 24.  None of you are cleared for active combat either.  You will report to Fort Massac as you have been ordered because even if I wanted to,” he pointed to one of the wooden towers, “those men would not let you in.  We will take care of him, but every second I’m standing here arguing with you is a second that he is losing more blood.  ”

“Damn it Joe; David doesn’t have time for this.”  Frustration filled Rick’s voice.  “I don’t like it any more than you do, but we have to get him in there.  Besides he’s right that Sergeant Reynolds needs to know about this now.  They were organized and the whole town could be in trouble.”

“Fine,” Joe pointed to the Miltia Guard.  “if he dies I’m holding you personally responsible.”

Jim was getting very uncomfortable.  He never cared for being around arguing, but in this case he also felt responsible.  David was hurt protecting him and he could just as easily be the one laying on the ground bleeding out right now.  The realization struck him hard.  I could have died.  This was just supposed to be a training day and this mission was just supposed to be a simple ride.  I was stupid and because of it I could have been killed and David might still die.

Rick helped the man pull David onto his horse.  Joe watched them both with a scowl the whole time and as soon as David was in the gates he took off full speed towards Fort Massac.  Rick just shook his head, “You know the sad thing here Jim is that I agree with Joe.  We should be in there with him, but standing out here arguing that was just doing more harm than good.  If you don’t learn anything else from today you should at least learn that following your gut isn’t always the best thing to do.”  He hopped back up on his horse.  “Come on let’s get back.  If everything I hear about GCs is true Buttercup here should be smart and loyal enough to follow without us needing to tie a rope onto her.”

No one spoke on the entire ride back to Fort Massac.

Jim’s head spun trying to process everything that had just happened.  This woman he thought was in trouble was really waiting to ambush them.  She would have stabbed him if David hadn’t arrived and taken that hit for him.  David was now lying on the ground with a knife embedded in his upper leg.  The muscles in his leg seemed to be spasming wildly causing more blood to gush out around the knife.  If that wasn’t bad enough Joe was aiming his gun at the woman and preparing to kill her right in front of his eyes.  All this going on while I’m standing here like an idiot, Jim thought.  I have to do something.

Jim finally snapped out of his indecision and started moving.  He wasn’t sure what he could do for David, but he could still reach the woman and hopefully Joe wouldn’t shoot if he was in the way.  Jim lunged at the woman and tackled her to the ground just as Joe pulled the trigger.  The gunshot was loud and left Jim’s ears ringing.  He had never been this close to a gunshot before and he could have swore he felt the air rush by him before the bullet struck a tree a few yards from him.

The Woman hit the ground hard.  She raised her hand to try and cushion the fall, but had been taken by such surprise that she couldn’t stop herself in time.  The right side of her face smashed into the path and she let out a grunt of pain.  Jim was grabber her arms and pulling them behind her back twisting her shoulders in a way that sent shock waves of pain through them.  She raised her head as best she could to the woods.  “THEY HAVE ME, GET OUT OF HERE!”

Within seconds of the woman’s scream sounds could be heard in the woods.  Bushes rustled and soon the sound of hoofs moving away joined it.  The sounds came from three different points in the woods and all seemed to be moving away further in to the woods.

“AMBUSH,” David screamed through clenched teeth.  He had finally gotten a hold of the knife handle and ripped it out the back of his leg.  Blood gushed from the now open wounds.  He reached into his backpack for an extra shirt and started wrapping it tight over the wound.  He had been on the sidelines too long.  David with great pain pulled himself to his feet, but the moment he put weight on his bad leg it gave way.  He found himself once again on the ground.  This time he was cursing.

Joe stalked over to Jim and the woman.  It was obvious that he was angry, but Jim wasn’t sure if he was angry about being set up for an ambush or about Jim’s own actions to save the woman’s life.  She was struggling under his weight trying to get free.  Jim would not underestimate her again.

“What the hell was this?  Why were you trying to ambush us?”  She did not answer Joe’s questions.  Instead she continued to struggle and spit at Joe’s feet.  “So that’s how it’s going to be huh?  Fine, I’m almost glad new blood here saved your life.  He guaranteed that you will rot in a cell.”  Joe was almost yelling as the anger came out in his voice.

Rick looked nervous.  He had rushed to David’s side after the fall and was now helping him to stand again.  “Come on man, we need to get you on a horse and get out of here.  Oh god you’ve lost so much blood.”  David leaned on Rick and they limped towards his horse.  “All this bumping is going to make things worse.  We have got to hurry.”  David just grunted as Rick led him to Jim’s horse. “Jim you take David’s horse.  Buttercup will be a smoother ride.”  On the walk to the GC David never once took his eyes off the captive woman.  Rick helped him onto the horse.

Joe walked over to Rick and the woman.  “I’m going to check for more weapons.  Hold her tight” Joe reached out for the woman.  She struggled against Jim’s grip and finally managed to get a little movement room.  She bit down hard on the inside of Joe’s hand between his thumb and index finger.  He screamed out in pain and jerked back causing her teeth to rake against the smooth flesh.  His hand was bleeding now.

Jim was caught off guard by the scream and loosened his grip slightly.  It wasn’t much, but it was just enough.   The woman was able to turn herself slightly and struck out with her knee.  The blow landed on target between Jim’s legs and pain shot through him.  His hands dropped as he crumpled to the ground in a fetal position.  Breathing was difficult and his eyes blurred slightly.  He couldn’t say or do anything, just ride the pain.

Not wasting a second of the confusion the woman ran for the woods.  As she was about to disappear into the brush she reached down for a backpack that was lying on the side of the road.  Taking a second too long she glanced back behind her focusing her gaze on Joe and in the process failed to make contact with the bag.  He was pulling his gun out again.  With only a split second to act she dove into a bush and out of sight.  Joe fired in after her and listened for a scream of pain to indicate he had hit something.  The sound never came.

“Guys we have to get to Fort 24 now.  David has lost a lot of blood.”  Rick was climbing into his saddle.

David was slumped over on Buttercup.  “Get that bag,” he managed to grunt out and pointed to the bag the woman only seconds ago had failed to grab.

Jim was still struggling to get off the ground so Joe approached the bag first.  He picked it up and unzipped the top.  “Let me just see what’s in it then we’ll get you some help David.”  He glanced into the bag.  “It’s food.  Canned and jarred food.”  He paused.  “It all had the Metropolis logo on it too.  How did an Ist manage to get this much food from town without being caught?”

As the group started off to the east Joe turned to Jim.  “So far we have been riding through the safety of town.  The path to Fort 24 is going to take us along the outside of town.  It’s pretty safe, but you need to keep your eyes open.  I have seen Ists once or twice along this route.  They tend to get spooked by people on horseback and even more so when they notice that I am armed.  We simply don’t look like an easy target.”

“I didn’t realize that they got this close to the city unless it was an attack.”

Jim was startled when David spoke for the first time since the awkward conversation about the Militia.  “Don’t ever underestimate them.  They are always pushing to see how close they can get to town.  Sometimes they even clean up and wander into town with the traveling merchants.  Most of them are just wandering groups looking for supplies, but there are a few organized bands nearby.  You can hear them hooting and hollering off in the woods if you ride this patrol at night.  So you keep your eyes open out here.”

“Trust me; I know how bad these guys can be and I wouldn’t dream of letting them get the drop on me.”  Jim was riding with his head down and his mind lost in memories that he wished he didn’t have.  He barely remembered his mother, but he certainly remembered how his father had reacted to her death.  Thirteen years ago as of next week his mother had been brutally murdered to prove a point.  His father had a breakdown and spent the whole night crying.  That was after all the natural reaction to having your wife’s severed head left on the side of the road for you.

The boys rode in relative silence for a while.  They passed numerous identical fields and a pond as the path started to veer more to the North.  There was the occasional small talk between Rick and Joe, but the look of pain on Jim’s face sent a clear message that he did not want to talk.  David was silent again as he had been for most of the trip.  Jim thought that perhaps he had his own story about the ists, but he couldn’t imagine it possibly being as bad as his own.

A woman’s scream cut through the silence from the path ahead of them.  Without pause Jim spurred his horse to run full speed towards the sound.  As he gripped the reigns tightly he was reminded that Buttercup was a GC and she could run considerably faster than the average horse.  He was twenty feet ahead of the other boys before any of them had even registered what was going on.  David looked back at the other boys as he prepared to spur his horse on.  “That damned idiot is going to get himself killed.”  The rest of the boys followed, but Jim was moving so fast that he was soon out of sight.

As Jim hit the top of a small hill he caught sight of a woman laying in a fetal position in the road ahead.  Her back was to him, and her dirty blonde hair covered much of it.  Even from this distance he could tell that her clothes were torn.  He strained his eyes, but could not see any blood on her.  He slowed to a trot and called out, “Are you OK?”  When she didn’t reply he decided to hop off the horse and take a closer look.

As Jim approached the women he noticed that she was sobbing into her hands.  He could also hear the sounds of the other Militia boys just over the last hill.  This is my chance to prove myself to them Jim thought.  If I can calm her down and find out what happened before they get here maybe it will make up for all my stupid comments today.   “My name is Jim.  I don’t know what happened here, but I’m going to help you.”  He tried to sound reassuring, but thought it came off more nervous than anything else.  He kept looking around to make sure whoever had done this wasn’t waiting for him.

David reached the scene next.  He quickly sized up the situation.  There was a seemingly injured woman lying on the ground and Jim was approaching her.  She was lying in a fetal position with her hands down near the ground.  Her arm muscles were tensed like she was gripping something and she was watching Jim approach out of the corner of her eyes.  David knew the signs and realized that he would only have seconds to react.  He leapt off his horse and lunged between Jim and the woman.  He just prayed that he could move fast enough.

Everything happened so quickly that Jim could barely register what had happened.  As he stepped near the woman he saw a glint of light reflect off of something on the ground.  David whirled in grabbing him and pushing him back away from the woman, but her arm was already in motion.  David presented his back to her shielding Jim as best he could.  Jim saw the tip of a knife explode out of the front of David’s upper leg with a splatter of blood.  David let out a scream of pain as his leg gave way and he dropped to the ground.  Blood had already soaked the front of his pants.

“What the hell!?!?” Jim exclaimed as he pulled himself up off the ground.  The woman was struggling to her feet and trying to move off into the woods.  David was bleeding pretty badly and couldn’t seem to reach the knife handle in the back of his leg.  Jim knew that should either try to stop the woman or help David.  He told himself that he just needed to decide which and move while he still had time.  He didn’t move though.  He stood in a state of shock hesitating to do anything.  His mind screamed at him to move, but fear and shock left him paralyzed.

The other two boys came over the hill at full speed and one of them let out a gasp of shock.   Jim suspected that it was Rick because Joe instantly took command of the situation.  He pulled his horse to a stop and pointed at David.  “Rick help David and Jim.”  He pulled the hand gun from his side and aimed it at the stumbling woman.  “I’ll take care of her.”

The boys were farther outside of town than Jim had ever traveled.  The path had taken them through the northern most edge of town and out into open fields.  It had been a few minutes since they had seen any buildings and no one had said a word.  The awkward silence was finally cut by Rick.  “Well Jim this is it.  Over this hill is ‘The Fortress of Solitude.’”

The first thing that Jim noticed about the fort was that it was much more open than Fort Massac.  There were no outer walls or large towers and it was noticeably missing the constant flurry of people.  In fact if Jim didn’t know it was a fort he might have mistaken it for just a collection of buildings.  The only odd thing that stood out was a long road that was better maintained than any Jim had seen before.  Jim wondered about the purpose of this road to nowhere.

Four large metal building rectangular in shape were lined up in a row along the road. Each of them looked to be pre-bomb construction which he could tell by the curved roofs.  Postwar buildings were far more focused on function than aesthetics and curves were much harder to build.  The skeletal remains of a fifth building barely stood next to them.  It still had the basic frame, but most of the outer walls had been pulled down over the years.  Jim noticed patches on the remaining buildings and realized that this one had most likely been used as parts to keep the others standing.

“Well Jim, since this is your first patrol I think we will give you the honor of taking point..”  Jim noticed a chipperness in Joe’s voice that had not previously been there.  “Just ride around and approach the first building from that Road.  We’ll hang back a bit and let you get to know Big Dan.  Just tell him that you are from Fort Massac and you are here to get the report from the ‘Fortress of Solitude’.”

“Ok, I guess.”  Jim knew that they could hear the trepidation in his voice.

As he rode around the front of the build Jim noticed that each of the four buildings had a very large door in the front.  In fact the door covered most of that side of the buildings.  The road had a well maintained path to the second building, but the paths to the other building had been allowed to atrophy.  Jim also noticed a normal sized door on the side of each of the buildings.

As Jim headed for the first building a rather big man was walking out through one of the large doors to meet him.  He had the kind of build that was difficult to tell whether he was muscular or pudgy.  In all likelihood it was mixture of both.  The man had a large bushy black beard and mustache that matched his curly unkempt hair.  He wore jeans and a t-shirt with little rips and black stains all over it.  “Well hello there boy.  I don’t recognize you, but I see Joe and the boys back there so I’m guessing you must be a new recruit.”  There was a certain kind of cheeriness to his voice that put Jim at ease.

“Yes sir.  My name is Jim.”  He remembered what Joe had said.  “You must be Big Dan.  I’m here from Fort Massac to get the report from the ‘Fortress of Solitude’.”  As the words left Jim’s mouth he noticed the smile slightly fade from Big Dan’s face.

“Dang it boy this place is NOT named the “Fortress of Solitude”.  That was just a nickname some guys from town thought was funny 40 years ago when this place was set up.”  His hands were waving wildly in the air as he spoke.  “This Fort doesn’t have a name.  I guess if I gave it one maybe I wouldn’t have to deal with everyone reminding me how lonely it is up here.”  He paused.  “Wait a minute, Joe put you up to that didn’t he?”

“He told me what to say yeah.”

“Ah good old fashioned hazing.  I remember my first day in the militia.  James set me up on lookout duty outside Fort Massac while him and Jason climbed the wall so they could dump a bucket of leftover oatmeal over the wall onto my head.”  He shook his head.  “Oh I got them back, but that my boy is a story for another time.  For now let’s see what we can do about Joe.  My name is Daniel by the way, but most everyone just calls me Big Dan.”

Jim dismounted from his horse and offered Big Dan his hand.  “Nice to meet you Dan.”  Big Dan took Jim’s hand and gave it a firm yet friendly shake.  Jim could tell that this man could seriously hurt someone with just a handshake.

“Nice to meet you Jim.”  Big Dan walked towards the other boys with a purpose.  “Joe, Joe, Joe….  Hazing the new boy at my expense.  I thought you’d know better than that.”

“Awe Danny, it’s just harmless fun.  Figured you’d give him a scare to rival the one Sergeant Reynolds gave him this morning.”

“You know you are one of the few people who know me well enough to call me ‘Danny’ and that means you know me well enough to come up on Sunday and help me with some cleanup in the garage.”  The other boys laughed at this, and Big Dan turned back to Jim.

“So Big Dan are you all alone up here?”

“Almost.  I have an assistant named Luke, but he is picking up a package from town for me at the moment.  We are all alone up here and don’t hear from anyone else except these daily patrols.  As for that…”  Big Dan took up an official tone.  “I don’t have any Ist news to report out this way today.  It is quiet as usual.  You can tell Sergeant Reynolds though that I should be done with “Project Piper” by Wednesday.”

Joe nodded his head at Dan.  “Danny, you take care and try not to get too bored out here.  I’ll make sure to stop by early on Sunday so we can chat for a while before getting to work.  We need to get a move on if we want to make it back to Fort Massac for a late lunch.”  Joe rode ahead a ways while Jim was getting on his horse.

Big Dan walked closer to Jim.  “Jim you should watch out for Joe.  He is a good kid don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t seem to know how to deal with a conflict he can’t shoot at.”

“Thanks Dan.  I’ll keep that in mind.”  Jim rode off to the East to catch up with other boys.

“Whoa!  Is that a GC?  Where’d Turner get that and why does the new guy rate it?”  Rick couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice.

David answered.  “Mr. Turner has raised Buttercup from a pony, and you don’t rate her because you actually know how to ride a horse.  Jim here doesn’t.  Plus do you really want to ride a horse named Buttercup?”  This caused chuckles form Joe and Rick.  Jim didn’t seem very amused by it.

Joe took the lead position and spoke with an air of command.   “Alright boys today we’ll be hitting the “Fortress of Solitude” and then heading over to Fort 24.  As everyone but Jim knows we will not be allowed inside Fort 24.   When we get there someone will ride out to meet us and when we leave we will forget that we even know it exists.  We’re glorified messengers without the glory.  Pretty simple.  Any questions?”

“Yeah, what’s up with Fort 24?  What could possibly be such a big deal around here that we aren’t even allowed to see it?  Why have I never heard of it before?”  Jim had to admit to himself that he was now fascinated by the mystery of Fort 24.

Rick pulled his horse along side Jim’s.  There was excitement in his voice.  “I don’t know what’s in there and it drives me crazy.  I’ve learned not to ask though.  Sergeant Reynolds is pretty laid back, but even he seems to get agitated when someone asks too many questions about that fort.  You ask me, I don’t think he knows what’s in there either.  Best not to ask.  If they want that place to be a secret I don’t want to be the one to spoil that.”

Jim nodded in acknowledgement.  “Ok, I’ll drop it for now.  Oh hey, I have another question.  What’s up with Chloe?  Why was she hanging around the Fort?”

“Well she’s Sergeant Reynolds’s daughter for one thing and she does live there.  She wants to follow his steps in the Militia.  Why wouldn’t she hang around there and try to learn?”  Joe was very matter of fact in his explanation.

OH, “Chloe Reynolds” of course she is his daughter.  Jim felt stupid for not catching on to that himself.  He was so busy being nervous and not talking that he hadn’t made the connection.  This left him wondering what else he hadn’t caught on to this morning.  I suppose I should keep my mouth shut for a while before I say anything else stupid.   I don’t want that to be my last question though.  I should ask something relevant.”

“Joe can I ask you another question?”

“Sure”

“Why are you the only one of us with a gun?  I figured I would still need to be trained, but Rick and David should have guns checked out to them.”  Jim had been wondering that since first meeting the boys.  He thought to himself that this was a much better question.

“Oh, that’s a simple.  This is my gun not the Militia’s.  My dad gave it to me for my 14th birthday and it hasn’t left my side since.  The Militia doesn’t check guns out to you until you’re full time.  It’d look pretty bad having a recruit shoot themselves.  If you have your own gun you can keep it on you.  There just isn’t a need for them most of the time. ”

“I have to say this whole militia thing isn’t anything like what I thought it would be,” Jim mused.

“And just what did you think it would be like?”  There was a hint of defensiveness in Joe’s voice.

Jim wasn’t sure how open he could be, but decided to go for full disclosure.  “Well to be honest I expected it to be a hell of a lot stricter, for one. I thought it was going to be two years of brainwashing and  I definitely expected more guns.”  As soon as he said it Jim wondered if he had been too blunt.

Rick let out a burst of laughter.  “Well this one sure doesn’t beat around the bush at all.  Man you couldn’t have been more wrong if you had tried.”

“I guess not.”  Jim’s voice did not sound convinced.

David who had been relatively quit the whole ride finally spoke up.  “Look I know some people aren’t happy about being forced into this, but this town needs everyone to understand how the militia works for it to be effective.  The militia is here to defend and protect.  Nothing more.”

Jim wasn’t quite sure what to think about it anymore.  It was just too soon too tell.  He regretted his comments and desperately wanted to change the subject.   If only I went with my instincts and kept my mouth shut.

The boy’s rode the rest of the way to the “Fortress of Solitude” in silence.

“We spent far too long talking about policies and procedures.  We need to get you up and moving before you fall asleep.  Hell we keep talking and I might just fall asleep myself.”  Sergeant Reynolds gave a slight chuckle as he held the door open and waited for Jim to step through.  As he stepped out of the classroom Jim got his first good look at the inside of the fort.  Sure he had seen it on his way in, but he was far too flustered to absorb it all.  He had been so nervous that once the laughing ended he just let himself be ushered into the large building he had spent the last three hours in.  Site seeing was the last thing on his mind.

There was a large building lining the far wall directly across the courtyard from him.  This building made up most of the west wall.  On his right was a third building about half the length of the other two.  It took up the space between the east wall and the front gate.  On each of the four corners of the fort were square towers topped by a large room.  They were not much taller than the main buildings so Jim was not sure what purpose they served.  On his left was the gate leading out to the Ohio River front and on the right was the gate he had come through.  Unlike the metal outer coating most of the fort’s interior was wooden.

Sergeant Reynolds led Jim out the Southern gate and off slightly to the east.  They passed a statue of a man steering a boat and headed for a medium sized wooden building connected to large fenced in fields.  The Sergeant continued to talk.  “I was going to tell you about the other two forts, but perhaps it would be better to let you see them for yourself.  Twice a day we send a group out on patrol.  They ride from fort to fort sharing the news of the day and keeping an eye out for trouble.  Seems like a good chance for you to see what I’ve been babbling on about and get to know the boys all at the same time.”

David was standing by the stable talking to a middle-aged man with scraggly black hair.  The man seemed jittery like he always had to be moving in some way.  “Hey Jim, are you ready for your first patrol?”

“Yeah, I’ve been sitting WAY too long.”

“If we get moving now we can be back in time for lunch.  Rick is already out on the road waiting for us outside.  Bill here will set us up with a few horses.”

The man turned sharply at Jim.  “You must be the new kid.  Well let me tell you something right now new kid, these horses are worth more than you are.  They are to be protected at all costs.  Have you ever even ridden a horse?”

Jim wasn’t sure if this was another joke, but he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of reacting in case it was.  “Not really.  I’ve been around them enough, but haven’t actually had a need to ride one.”

“Well in that case I have just the horse for you.  If you can’t ride this one you have no business even looking at a horse.  Of course this one is also special so if anything happened to it well it best be over your dead body.”  Bill Turner disappeared into the stable for a few minutes and reappeared with a rather large horse.  Jim stared at the horse for a few seconds trying to figure out what was so different about it.  It was certainly larger than any horse he had ever seen, but its coloring was a normal brown.  He looked into its eyes and there was a quality there that he just could not place.  This horse was large and he could just tell from those eyes that it was smart.  Jim thought back to his pre-bomb history class from last year and it suddenly realized what he was looking at.

Jim stared at the horse in shock.  “Is that what I think it is?”

“That’s right boy, this here is a Genetic Construct. A real, live GC.  This horse is smarter and faster than your average horse, but more importantly it is made for new riders.  You just let her do all the work for you and she will bring you both back safe.”

“Where did you manage to get a GC?”  Jim reached out and took the reigns of the massive animal.  He had never actually seen a GC in person.  He knew from his classes that companies had genetically engineered animals for a variety of purposes.  During the resource wars animal labor had became an important part of society again.   He glanced over at David, but if he was surprised he certainly wasn’t showing it.

Bill Turner beamed with pride as he handed the reigns of the horse over to Jim.  “That boy is my little secret and I would prefer if you didn’t share the fact I have her with anyone.  Buttercup really is more valuable than you are.  You take extra good care of her, and I promise you she will do the same for you.”  Jim expected Bill to help him up on the large horse, but to his surprise the horse bent down to make it easier to climb on.  Once Jim far firmly in the saddle the horse stood back up fast.  It was so fast it caught Jim off guard.  He thought he might fall off, but found the horse adjusting to keep him centered.  He reached up to pet her neck appreciatively and noticed that she didn’t feel any different from regular horses.  She was definitely something special though.

Bill reached into a bag sitting near the fence and pulled out a bundle of carrots.  He handed them to Jim.  “She likes to have a snack mid ride.  Now you make sure you give her all of these.  If you try to eat one yourself and short her I’ll know it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jim said in a sarcastic tone.  The horse turned and smoothly started walking towards the road without Jim having to do anything to lead it.  Jim had forgotten Sergeant Reynolds was there until he stepped up to walk beside Buttercup.

Once they were far enough from the stables to be out of earshot Sergeant Reynolds spoke again.  “Don’t mind Bill.  He wouldn’t be a very good stable master if he wasn’t overprotective.” He reached out and pet the horse on the side of the head.  “Give it a week or two and you should have him won over.  Win over Buttercup here and you might do it in a few days.”

“I’ll try, but I think you’d have to have four legs and hooves to win that guy over.”

Sergeant Reynolds chuckled at Jim’s comment and turned back towards the fort.  “Well I’ve got work to do and the others have a good head start on you.”  David now mounted on a horse of his own came up on Jim’s right.    “You two best get moving.”

Jim and David set off at a gallop to catch up with the others.  Jim was amazed at just how smooth the ride felt and found that the horse seemed to already know where it was going.  That was a good thing because Jim had no clue.  After a few minutes they fell in formation behind Rick and Joe moved to take up the rear.  Three hours into his first day and Jim was already setting off on his very first mission.

While the run from town had worn him out; the sweat pouring from Jim’s face now was came from fear and nervousness.  He knew that Sergeant Reynolds would be a stern man, but he wasn’t prepared for anything quite like this.  He wanted to say something smart to put the man in his place, but found himself struggling to put together a coherent thought.   “Well, uhm,  sir.  I errr,  I tried to get here on time sir.  I didn’t…”  His mind raced trying to come up with a way out.

“What’s wrong with you boy?  Do you have some sort of brain damage?  Spit it out. Well uhm, sir.  Are we going to have to teach you English on top of everything else?  You might be the sorriest excuse for a trainee I have ever seen walk through that gate.  Well are you going to say something or am I going to have to make you run laps around the fort until you remember how to speak?”

Jim didn’t know what he would have said next, but he was shaken out of his shock by the sound of laughter.  “Sorry Sarge, that look on his face though is just too priceless.  Well, uhm, sir.  I err.  He looks like he’s going to piss his pants.”  The boy on the end was laughing loudly and barely managed to get the words out.  Once one of them had broken down it was only seconds before the others had joined in.  Soon they were all bending over holding their stomachs as they laughed hysterically.  Jim saw Chloe look up from her book just long enough to give them an annoyed look and then return to reading.

“Well damn boys, I had a whole speech ready to go.  I thought I could make this one cry and you have to go and give me away.  I didn’t even get to ask him if he would be more comfortable in a dress.”  Sergeant Reynolds looked annoyed for a minute as his hands waved in the air.  Finally a smile cracked and he couldn’t help but join in the laughter.

Jim stared relieved and confused all at the same time.  “What’s going on here?”

Sergeant Reynolds managed to regain his composure, but the smile never left his face.  Jim noticed that it made him look significantly less scary than he had been just minutes before.  When he spoke again his voice had a jovial tone to it and Jim could tell that he was trying to hold back more laughter.   “This is a militia, not a military.  We’re just another part of the town, and like to have a little fun with our new recruits.  Everyone gets the speech.   Even if they show up an hour early.  I can usually keep up the angry act for at least five minutes, but the boys here just had to be a part of it this time.”

“Dad warned me about you though.  He said that you were real hardcore and that you didn’t have a sense of humor to speak of.”

“Your pop is an old buddy of mine.  We went through training together twenty-five years ago.  There’s no way he’d spoil this joke for me.  Besides he doesn’t like to admit falling for it himself back in the day.”

Sergeant Reynolds turned from Jim to face the other boys. “How about we do some introductions?  Each of these boys has gone through training and most decided to make a full time career of the militia.  They all have different specialties.  Here on the end is Rick, one of our scouts.”  Sergeant Reynolds pointed to a short skinny boy with black hair on the end.  He was in good shape, but certainly didn’t seem intimidating.  Rick shook his hand and stepped in front of the next boy.

“In the middle here is David.  He’s a guard focusing on keeping the traders safe.  When the trade fleet goes out next spring you will be on it with him.”  Now this boy Jim found intimidating despite his bright red hair.  David was much taller than he was and had a very serious look on his face.  Jim noticed that his eyes seemed to always be moving like he was taking in everything around him without ever turning his head.  Jim was not even slightly surprised when David used his handshake as a chance to test his strength.

“Finally Joe here will be teaching you about the weapons we have available.”  Joe was smaller than David, but still noticeably more muscular than Jim.  He was also the only one of the boys that had a gun strapped to his side.  Jim noticed that his handshake was not quite as firm as David’s, but he could tell he was putting more effort into it.  “You will also get a few bruises from him when it comes time to learn about hand to hand combat. That just leaves me.  I’ll be teaching you policies, procedures, and pretty much everything else you’ll find boring. “

“We expect a lot out of you here.  Make no mistake; it will be hard at times, but it can be fun too.  Of course today you are going to be doing a lot of sitting around and listening to me talk.  For the record, that’s not the fun part.”  There were two large building, four towers, and a shorter third building that made up the fort.  Sergeant Reynolds pointed to one of the larger buildings.  “We best get started.   Head on in there and take a seat.”

The next few hours were filled with Sergeant Reynolds explaining the basic rules of the Militia and what his training would consist of.  Jim thought to himself; when he said this would be the boring part he wasn’t kidding.  I wonder what book Chloe was reading.  It is such a nice day out today and here I am sitting in a fort looking at a chalk board. The realization hit Jim that Sergeant Reynolds had quit talking and was staring at him.

“I’m going to guess that you have no idea what I just asked you.”

“No sir.  I’m sorry.  I must have zoned off a few minutes ago,” Jim admitted with a bit of guilt in his voice.

“That’s ok.  Everyone has their limit for sitting in a room digesting this stuff.  It’s a lot to take in and to honest I don’t expect you to remember most of it until you’ve been here a few weeks.  Come on, let’s get you a horse”

Jim was exhausted by the time he reached the Fort.  It wasn’t that he was out of shape, but the June sun was beating down on him the whole way.  He forgot his water at home in the rush to get out the door and hadn’t bothered to eat that morning either.  Dehydration was starting to set in and a nasty hangover certainly wasn’t helping his disposition.  Jim couldn’t help but think of the string of bad decisions that left him doubled over panting inside the supply depot.

“You look like Hell.”  Old-Man Higgins chuckled.  He was walking through the depot picking out uniforms, basic supplies, and much to Jim’s relief a bottle of water.  “Bet you can use this.”  He was an older man with a full head of grey hair.  Time had begun to catch up with him as he moved slower than he once had.  Despite these signs of wear and tear he was in fairly good shape for a man in his 70s.  The years couldn’t take the smile from his face.

“Let me guess, you stayed out all night celebrating your birthday with friends and had to run all the way out here from town.  If I had a dollar for every time that happened, well I guess it wouldn’t make any difference at all now would it with the dollar not meaning anything and all.  I just can’t seem to give up those old phrases though.”  He sat a pair of black boots on the counter and wiped a bit of mud off of them.

“I can’t seem to give up this building either to tell you the truth.  This used to be a visitors center before the bombs dropped.”  He pointed to the wall behind Jim.  “You can tell by all those pictures I won’t let Jason take down.  He keeps telling me that maps or signs would be more useful.”  A sigh escapes his mouth.    “He’s a good man, but he misses the point.  History is important or we will just repeat our own stupid mistakes.  Society has just gotten to the point now where we can start stabbing each other in the back again.”  The man’s face took a much more somber tone as the conversation shifted.

“You know I was working here that summer.  When the bombs dropped that is.  I wanted a little extra money and was hoping to buy a car before school started up again.  My parents were visiting relatives, and well..”  A hint of pain could be seen in his face.  “They didn’t make it.  All I had left was this place.   Nobody cares about the history here anymore though.  That’s a whole nother world.  They only care about the now and the technology of before.  It’s such short sightedness.  If they would have only looked to history before deciding to blow us all up it might never have happened.”  There was another sigh.  “Ah, but I am rambling.”  He sat the bundle of supplies on the counter and turned away.  “You best get changed and up the hill to report for duty.  Jason’s going to be mighty hard on you for being late.  The way you look now ain’t gonna help your case much either.”  As Old-Man Higgins strolled into the back room Jim was thinking that he had just finished the most one sided conversation in his life.

“Well I guess I best get this over with,” Jim sighed as he stepped into what used to be a bathroom to get changed.   The sun shined through the window just enough for Jim to get changed by, but not enough to clearly see all of the supplies in his pack.  He was thankful that his own bag was able to fit nicely into the new one.  There was no table to set his bag on while he changed and he didn’t want his personal items touching that floor.  Enough time had been wasted so he decided to dress quickly and get orientation over with.

As Jim approached the Fort he got his first good look.  Once it was a replica of a fort built by the French in 1757.  At least that’s what all the plaques in the supply depot said.  Pictures had shown a large wooden structure that only barely resembled what now stood in front of him.  Metal from cars, building, and whatever else could be found had been used to reinforce the walls.  These additions had grown the fort to twice its original size and changed its clean structured appearance into a twisted metal monstrosity.  On either side of the fort buildings there were buildings that Jim could tell had been constructed after the bombs.  There was a clear style difference in post bomb Metropolis architecture that focused much more on function than aesthetics.  A large drawbridge sat in the middle of the fort’s outer wall, but without a trench or water running around the fort it sat flat on the ground.  It reminded Jim of a mouth waiting to swallow him whole.  His dad had described the site, but nothing he had ever seen could quite compare to the site before him.

As Jim walked across the drawbridge he saw three other boys slightly older than himself in appearance lined up.  He couldn’t help but be disgusted by how perfectly in formation they stood.  They were so rigid and stern.  In front of them was a fourth much older man who was pacing back and forth.  A sense of dread filled Jim.  The moment had finally come for him to pay for his bad decisions.

Jim noticed a girl he recognized from school curled up in a corner with a book.  Chloe Reynolds was undeniably cute and Jim liked how her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders.  He found himself staring a bit longer than appropriate.  Perhaps he was just delaying the inevitable.  Jim quietly approached the older man and with a nervous voice gathered the courage to speak.  “Are you Sergeant Reynolds?”

“What do you think?  Who else would be standing here pacing because some snot nosed punk can’t seem to wake up in the morning.  Do you think these men have nothing better to do then stand here wasting their morning waiting on you?”  His voice had gotten extremely loud and he moved to be directly in Jim’s face.  “Well boy don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

“You better hurry up and get moving boy.  You don’t want to be late for your first day of Militia.  Sergeant Reynolds doesn’t have much patience and you DON’T want to start off on his bad side.  That man sure can hold a grudge.”  James chuckled as he watched his son nick his cheek shaving.  “See now that wouldn’t happen if you had woken up earlier.”

Jim was rushing to get ready as quickly as he could, but he had been up a bit too late the night before celebrating his 18^th birthday.  Good friends and poor quality liquor had taken its toll.  Of course Jim didn’t really have any frame of reference to determine what liquor would be good or bad.  “I know dad, I’m hurrying.  The fort is only a mile away so I’ve got plenty of time if I run.”  Jim’s words were muffled as he slipped a shirt on over his head.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll make a great first impression on Sergeant Reynolds if you show up panting and out of breath.”  Jim’s father sighed and all the laughter drained from his face.  “Look in all seriousness son I want you to be careful out there.  I know it’s only your first day and you’ll be in training for a while, but it’s a dangerous world.  We have it pretty good here in Metropolis and there are a lot of people out there that are jealous of that.  You keep your guard up because the Ists are always out there waiting to stab you in the back if it isn’t.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry so much.  We haven’t heard from Ists in almost six months now.  Besides it’s not like I have much choice in this.”  Every male age 18-22 has to serve full time in the militia before starting their real lives.”  There was a mocking tone to Jim’s voice as he paraphrased the line he had heard so many times growing up.  The idea of serving in the Militia was something that really bothered him.  Actually, the idea of being forced to do anything bothered him.  He took a deep breath to get control of his voice hoping to keep things from getting out of hand.  “I know how dangerous the Ists are.  I may not like the idea of being in the Militia, but it is important and to be honest I wouldn’t mind getting a little bit of payback for what happened to Mom.”  His father started to speak, but Jim cut him off abruptly.  “I won’t do anything stupid, but I can’t talk about this now I really am going to be late.”  Jim paused at the door on his way out.  “Besides its just training what could possibly happen during training?”  With that parting comment Jim grabbed his bag and was out the door running full speed east towards Fort Massac.

Jim’s father stood in the door to their house watching him run off into the distance.  “Your mom would be so proud to see this day,” he mumbled to himself.  Memories of all the time both good and bad he had in the militia swam through his mind.  He thought of his old friend Jason Reynolds and broke out into a laugh.  “I’d give anything to see your face when you meet Jason.”  When the laughter stopped James went back into the suddenly very quiet house.

The seeds of the story you are about to read go back to a Skies of Glass campaign that Dan ran from late 2008 to early 2009.  The campaign had our characters crossing Missouri on an escort mission to Linden, Tennessee.  As we traveled I found myself wondering just what the town of Metropolis, Illinois would be like in this world.  Would it have survived the hardships that had come, and would the Superman statue still be standing?  I wanted answers to these questions, but a side trip to Metropolis in-game just did not make sense for the characters.  Alas the campaign ended and I never did find out what the status of the town was.

Over the next few months my mind raced with questions about how Metropolis would have held up.  I started writing backgrounds and developed the entire history of what the town had experienced over the 50 years or so from the bombing to the time frame of our campaign.  As the town became more real in my mind, I began to write a story set in this era.  I intended to post this story in a serialized format but found myself drawn into other creative projects.  I left this work for a while, but in the back of my mind it was screaming to be worked on.

Fast forward to a few months before Fear the Con 3.  I knew that I wanted to run a game or two, but I just could not get a superhero story put together.  I created characters that I was proud of, but the story just would not come.  I was also nervous about running a system without ever having played in it.  Suddenly the solution hit me.  There was a story, characters, and city in a world that I cared about.  I even had a system to run that I had played enough to be comfortable running.  All the pieces fell into place and my story became the foundation for two sessions of Skies of Glass that I ran at Fear the Con 3.

Returning to the town I put so much thought into reignited my passion for the story.  I found myself creating new characters and expanding the town and its mysteries.   Thoughts of  driving to the real world Metropolis again just to take more pictures for further inspiration even started to float through my head.  The serialized story that will be presented here week after week is a true labor of love.  I genuinely care about these characters and this town and I hope to make you the readers care as well.

The phrase, ‘No plan ever survives contact with the enemy.’ is very true. Like all well-laid plans, there are some things Life throws your way that simply cannot be accounted for.

When we started this comic, we made sure we had the first eight weeks of strips done, in the hope that it would provide enough of a cushion to deal with any delays that would come our way. Well, a delay did come our way around week 3 or 4, and it only recently has been resolved.

Our beloved arteest, Mr. Mikey Mason had his van start on fire while driving between gigs. Thankfully, he escaped unscathed, but his computer and much of his performing gear did not. While five weeks might be enough to get back on your feet, sometimes insurance companies don’t see it that way, and the hashing out of details for Mikey took a bit longer than expected.

So, this means there will be a slight delay in the next page of this comic. How long? We truly can’t say, but since, as of this writing, all the details have been ironed our between Mikey and his insurer, it likely won’t be too long.

That does not mean we’re leaving you high and dry to roam the wastes on your own. Next Monday, you can expect some some fiction set in the Skies of Glass universe to fill this space until the comic can return full steam. Thanks for staying with us, and having patience.

A picture is worth a thousand words. What does this one say to you?

It is evidently clear that he knows how to fight.

As I post these, I debate on how much commentary should be on here. Do I make mention of my interpretation of what is going on here, and what’s being illustrated? Do I leave it up to you? Honestly, my preference is to leave it up to you, and only answer things if comments and questions come around.

And now we learn that these two aren’t so alone after all.

Mmmmm… rat.

In this page, you are getting a definite sense of the relationship between father and son. While such behavior is natural for a father in regards to his son, it may be a bit unusual for a man his age. It speaks a lot to the conditions of the world and how James views his son. Of course every parent has to let go, but when and how they do it… well that depends on the parent.

This Page

We’re getting to see an inkling into the relationship between these two. Obviously they’re father and son, and obviously they’ve done this type of operation many times before, most likely with not always pleasant results.

On February 24th, 2109, nuclear warheads activated all around the globe.  In less than 12 hours, centuries of human progress were reduced to ash.

Some survivors rose to the occasion, providing for their neighbors and banding together to maintain some shred of social order.  Others lashed out in fear, taking what they needed by any means necessary.

50 years have passed since that day.  Mankind has adapted to its new condition.  The population is slowly recovering, and governments — both benevolent and tyrannical — have formed to rule over the scraps of once-great nations.  Farmers, nomads, and criminal gangs wander the unclaimed spaces left behind.

The world has started over, but as some look to a brighter future, others see this as the chance to reshape the world in terrible ways.  Mankind sits upon a precipice of hope and despair, and the men and women of this age will decide how this ruined civilization will be reborn.

What’s available right now?

We are proud to present To Find a Home, a web comic written by Chris Hussey and illustrated by Mikey Mason, based on an original setting created by Dan Repperger.  Additional background information can be found on the Resource page of Fear the Boot.

Why isn’t the comic on the front page?

Skies of Glass is a setting that we hope will contain many stories, conveyed through a variety of media.  This homepage is being kept for important announcements regarding every aspect of this creative property — not just the initial comic.

What else is coming and when will we see it?

Skies of Glass was first conceived in 1995 as a roleplaying game, and it has seen multiple incarnations as a game and prose setting over the years.  What exactly will we develop or release next?  That question is being discussed internally even as I write this post.  We want to deliver quality products, so we’re weighing the attention we can give Skies of Glass against the other properties we’re equally excited to bring to market.  In the meantime, I’ve been given a logo and color palette I’ll be using to at least spruce the site up a little.

Welcome to the inaugural strip of ‘To Find A Home.’ It’s been a long time coming for this strip. Looking back at the initial scripts written for this comic, it’s nearly two years old. The journey to get this comic published has been long and frustrating at times, but thankfully for me, it’s been worth the wait. Mikey Mason, a man I barely knew even a year ago, but an active member of the Fear the Boot community, stepped forward and has done a terrific job.

This being the first comic I’ve done, it’s an interesting learning process. Webcomics take time to develop. Especially when they have a serialized storyline, and are not episodic. It’s going to take several weeks for this comic to pick up steam, and keep you interested. Very different than a conventional comic that has 30 or so pages to grab you and keep you satisfied for a month until the next issue releases.

Please keep coming back. We’ll be here with a fresh strip every Monday.

This Page

Despite taking some time to build a story and feel for the comic, you still have to lay some groundwork for the universe these characters live in. If the reader has no sense what’s really going on, they may not care, or end up confused. I think these panels do a good job of illustrating what happened, what one of our main character’s motivations are, and convey the real sense of danger still present in this burned world.