She was determined, Casey admitted as they readied to leave.
He wasn’t surprised by her tears. In fact, most of the draft evaders he’d recovered over the years dissolved into hysterics as soon as they knew they were going back to the city to serve their country. Usually, after the initial reaction, the dodgers fell into three reaction types: heartfelt relief, total apathy or abject despondency. Rarely did he encounter an avoider that tried to run repeatedly, but he had a sneaking suspicion this one would test him in that regard. It was one of the reasons why he would keep her in his tent.
Casey mentally ran through his roster, shuffling duties and watches until he had a plan on how to address the threat.
He had to hold his smile in check. Threat? She could hunt, yes, and had a fair idea what to do in a fight, but she would be no match for him or any under his command. So why did the army drill into their heads to treat the deserters as threats? It was one of the few mentalities of the army that made no sense to Casey.
Women were entitled, that was a given. They had a plush life: medicine when they were sick, no hard labor on the farms, and access to all the luxuries the city still had to offer. Army surgeons. The cities might not be what they were in their prime—he’d read the history books—but he failed to understand why being required to help cure the infertility illness and to try to bear daughters, scared them so much they would run. Without their efforts, the human race would go extinct. Countries across the globe had similar plans in place. It wasn’t like the military forced them to suffer through weapons training or learn how to kill another human. All they had to do was have babies and submit to science. How hard could that be?
“The Black’s not quite a mile from here and almost all downhill. Think you can make it?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Javier, take point,” he commanded.
They picked their way down the hillside, navigating rocks and boulders, and it took the chick another forty—five minutes to reach the Black river. With each step, Casey could see her fatigue building, and her wish to stop on the tip of her tongue, but she never complained. Each time her arm encircled her waist protectively, he wanted to call a halt to their hike. Making her march until she had a heart attack would be detrimental to his position. He was relieved when they finally stopped at the bank of the river.
Casey didn’t think he could stand to hear her whimpers of distress any longer. They were making him uncomfortable. In his six years of active duty, he’d only recovered two other assets that were pregnant, and neither of them was as far along as this one. The desire to take it easy on her was a new emotion, and one he didn’t quite know how to address.
He left her standing on the side of the river and walked over to Lincoln. “She’s not going to like what comes next.”
“No, I don’t suppose she will,” Javier agreed. “But you will.”
Casey glared at him. “Make sure no one at base decides they need to shave right now.” He glanced back to where she stood.
She looked to him with a question in her eyes.
“Obviously, this is just a one-time courtesy for her,” Casey continued. The woman had turned back to study the water.
“She needs to get used to dick always around,” Javier joked.
“Yes.”
They stood in companionable silence for a while.
“You ever get the feeling we’re going about this wrong?” Casey asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything,” Casey answered. “Stick close. I don’t expect trouble, but I want backup just in case.”
“Will do.”
Javier moved off into the woods to stand watch out of sight but within range. Idly Casey wondered if she would need help submerging in the water. She seemed unstable on her feet, and it was worse after her trek through the woods.
He walked back toward her.
“Strip down. Give me your clothes, and get in,” he told her, keeping his voice level.
She turned her wide eyes to him and went to take a step back. His hand reached out and latched around her upper arm before she shifted her weight backward. He was in no mood for her to attempt to flee.
“Devushka, you are caked in dirt, and your clothes are sticking to you,” he explained. “Take them off, and while you get clean, I will wash them for you.” And search for any other surprises, he thought to himself. “You have a dry set of clothes in your bag. You can wear those after you tidy up a bit.”
Casey let go of her upper arm, and she didn’t take another step back. Her newly freed arm joined the other in holding her belly.
Defensive.
“Look, as you so eloquently pointed out, I’m not about to let you go. But I do make some concessions to your gender.” He indicated her belly with his open hand. “You’ll always have a guard, but they will keep a modest distance when you attend to your personal needs. It is the best I can do under the circumstances.”
“How long will I be here?”
“At least two weeks, maybe as much as three. I need my team to work flawlessly together before I bring you back.”
She turned to gaze at the water, her expression unreadable.
“Well I’m hot and irritable, so I assume you are also. So get in and cool off.” They stood in silence for five more minutes before Casey lost his patience. “Bean, I’m the only one here. Get naked. Get clean. And while you soak your stressed out muscles in the river, I’ll get your clothes washed.”
He ran a hand across his face encountering dirt caked on at his temples. He grimaced, and decided to bathe after she was settled in. “I’m tired of you pussy-footing around. If you won’t do it voluntarily, I will help you comply.”
She twitched her head in what Casey assumed was a nod.
He would give her five more minutes and then he would act on his threat. He stepped back a pace to give her some space and waited. She shuddered but finally began shedding her clothes. She didn’t look him in the eyes as she handed him her shirt and ribbed tank top. She quickly untied the rope holding up her shorts and as it came loose, they fell to the ground. She stepped out of them, but before she bent to retrieve them, Casey stooped and collected them.
“Wear your panties if that makes you more comfortable. You’ll get clean enough with them on.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Casey took her clothes and quickly determined—aside from some rocks in the pocket—there were no other threats located within them. He waited on the bank in case she needed him while she edged her way into the water. Once she settled, Casey moved down river where he would be close, but yet gave her some room to breathe and clean without being stared at.
He grabbed a few cleaner looking river stones and wadded them into her clothes. Casey then agitated the garments in the water. It was a poor substitute for soap, but it would do in a pinch. They could clean her clothes properly later.
Once finished he glanced to the sky. Sunset was approaching, and he wanted to be back in camp before full dark. Casey placed her pseudo—cleaned garments over some bushes to dry, and sat on the bank of the river a few feet away from the water. He would let her soak for thirty more minutes before moving her on to the campsite.
While he sat on the bank he studied his new charge.
She stood in waist-high river water, and the current tugged at her balance. Her back was smooth and slender from this angle, and it dipped in at her waist. If he hadn’t seen her from the front, he never would have known she was pregnant, her body was so lean.
Casey’s eyes traveled up her spine to the light dusting of freckles over her pale white shoulders. Her tan arms a dark contrast to the skin of her torso shielded daily from the sun by her shirt. Her light brown—almost blonde—hair shimmered.
She slipped on a stone, and he saw the side of her full breast before she caught her balance. Glancing at him, the woman blushed and ducked into the water fully, as if that would hide the fact he had seen her nudity.
There was a hidden strength in her movements. She’d been on her own for a while. Casey wondered how long she’d lived in the wilderness without help.
“Femme fatale,” he called out to her, “Time to go.”
She hesitated.
Casey gritted his teeth, barely controlling the urge to hustle her along when finally she stood and picked her way toward him. He questioned why she irked him with her reluctance. All of the evaders in the past reacted the same way, she was no different.
“I’d offer you a towel, but I don’t have one. You want a minute to air dry before getting dressed?”
She shook her head.
With a shrug, Casey stood and dug the dry clothes out of her pack and held them out to her. She snatched the shirt and hastily pulled it over her head. She lost her balance as she tried to put on her shorts, and Casey reached out to steady her. His hand clasping around her bicep in the process.
He noted the muscles in her arm.
“How long were you own your own?” he asked, yet didn’t expect an answer.
“Not long enough,” came her soft reply.
“Why would you not want the security of the city?” He queried genuinely curious. Women were given everything as far as he could tell.
“Why would you want the security of the military?” She spat back.
“I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“Exactly,” she replied, and then didn’t say anything more.
Case let the silence stretch between them while she finished tying on her shorts with the simple rope belt.
“You ready, devushka?”
“Yes,” the woman replied.
Casey turned and headed toward the well-used stone pathway toward his base just expecting her to follow. Her wet shoes squished on the river gravel behind him. In a few minutes, they gained the eroding road that completed the path to Casey’s campsite. He tried to walk slowly for her—they were going up a steep hill, and he could hear her labored breathing behind him.
Casey turned to check on her. “You okay, bean?”
She nodded, but she looked a little pale, and she was clutching her stomach.
“We’re almost there and you can rest then.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, fear shining out of her eyes.
He turned and continued up the hill, crossing over a low water bridge. When the hill leveled out they turned into his campsite.
Javier came up behind him as they passed his lookout point. Casey could hear his light footsteps on the path before he arrived. “Will you make sure someone started a meal? The dame, here, needs something more than rations tonight. Also, get her a few extra blankets. I want to make sure she is comfortable.”
“Will do Case,” Javier replied, and trotted off to the storage shed where the extra army supplies were stored.
“This way,” Casey paused, hoping the young woman would supply her name. He wasn’t surprised when she ignored him, but it was getting old.
He headed toward an outbuilding in the middle of a clearing amongst several tents. There was a cooking fire already going. “We cook and eat communally. My tent is that one,” Casey told her and pointed to a tent up the hill from the others. “You’ll be with me, most of the time, but there will be times when someone else will be in charge. Over there are the latrines.”
Casey studied the camp with a practiced eye. Javier was delivering blankets to his tent, and Ty, Matt, and Jules were cooking dinner. Paul and Jaesen were discussing something—most likely the girl—with Teo and Wu. Tristan, Javier, Ethan and Hong should be on watch, so that left Adan at large. Casey guessed he was either helping with mess or in the latrine.
“Any questions, senorita?” He asked, turning to look at her.
She shook her head.
Of course not.
“I’ll leave you with Ty, Jules, and Matt. Grab some grub when it’s cooked.”
“Wait... Where are you going?”
Casey almost didn’t want to answer. He could give the silent treatment as well, but in the end, he sighed and answered. “I’m hot and dusty too. I’m going to wash up. And unlike you, I don’t need you to supervise. Although, if you want to assist, that could be arranged.” Why did he just say that?
Her eyes widened in alarm and she shook her head.
“Come on then,” Casey retorted and headed over to the cooking fire.
“Ty, Matt, this is—” he looked to her to supply her name, and when she didn’t he continued with, “—a very stubborn dodger. Evader, this is Ty and Matt. Over there is Jules.” Case turned back to Ty. “I’m leaving her here with you while I wash up. You are authorized to use force if she runs,” Casey said and then turned to head back to the river. “Oh, and Ty?” He called over his shoulder. “When the food is done, make sure she gets the first serving.”
He was almost out of earshot when he heard Ty respond, “Sure, Case.”
*****If you like Conscription Compromise, please add it to your library!
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