7. John Makes His Move

As Scarlett and John walked outside the storage units to the one he used as his own motel, she looked up at the skies. Looks like snow, she thought and shuddered.

John opened the door and held it open for her as she walked in. He smirked as he looked at her backside. "Nice ass," he said and chuckled when she stopped and turned around. Then he followed her inside the locker and set the box down on the hood of his car. He locked the door again, crooked his right index finger towards Scarlett and said, "Come here, lover."

She suppressed a groan and her shoulders slumped as she moved up to the older man. When he grabbed her upper arms and pulled her to him, she closed her eyes. His lips came into contact with hers and she shuddered as she waited until he broke the kiss.

Scarlett opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Do you have to keep doing that?" she asked.

His response was to lightly stroke the left side of her face and kiss her left cheek. "In a few days, we're going to be doing a lot more," he said. "A whole lot more. Relax and accept this. The world has changed and you should see this for what it is."

The redhead blinked and moved her hair away from her right eye. "What is it?"

"This is a blessing for both of us. I protect you, shelter you and feed you. In return, you provide me with affection, warmth and comfort in bed."

The girl felt her anger flare up inside her, but held it in. You really think this is some sort of trade off, you stupid freak! How in the hell can you even dare call this a 'blessing' for me?

She cleared her throat, looked him in the eyes and said carefully, "I don't see how what happened changes anything. Basic decency and kindness should still be practiced...or else we'd be that much closer to anarchy."

John nodded and kissed her forehead, then her lips. "You're right. That's why I'm giving you time to mourn." He hugged her briefly. "Not only are you beautiful, you're smart. That's a winning combination and I'm a lucky man to have you."

If it wasn't me, you'd have some other girl in here. She tried to see if she could detect how many girls he had taken in the trailer, but the thoughts and memories she could read revealed nothing about that. What happens when you're done with me? She moved her right hand over her hip pocket and felt the outline of the pushdagger. What did you do to the other girls?

Suddenly, John kissed her lips again and she grimaced as he tried to push his tongue in her mouth. Her clamped teeth kept him from that, but when he broke the kiss, he laughed and ran his right hand over her left arm. "Let's go on inside, beautiful. We'll eat and try to find out some more news."

As she opened the RV door, he added, "After lunch, you can try on the crop tops for me."

Scarlett winced and frowned as she entered the vehicle. He followed her in a couple of seconds later.

Once he shut the RV door, he tried the light switch and smiled when the power turned on. "Good," he said. "I wondered if the power would be out. We'll save the candles for later, just in case we need them." He set the box of rations on the kitchen counter and looked the teen over slowly. "Of course, we'll use the candles for our first screwing. It'll be much more romantic that way."

The girl gasped, blinked and moved back slightly. Oh, shit! You're going to do it tonight! You're going to wait until I'm asleep and attack me. Your thoughts on that are so clear - and graphic. She sat down quickly at the table and gripped the edge with both hands to hide her nervous shaking. She also looked away from his face, but still felt his lewd staring.

He threw something at her and she jumped as the crop tops landed on the tips of her fingers. "Why don't you try these on for me?" he asked as she quickly looked back up at him. "Let me see how you look in them."

Scarlett noted again how thin the material was and swallowed hard. He's definitely going to rape me tonight...or after lunch. This leaves nothing to the imagination. "What if they...reveal too much?" she asked, her voice seemingly smaller. "I'm embarrassed by this whole situation as it is."

John moved up to her and knelt on one knee in front of her. He tapped her left breast with his right index finger and said, "No reason to be embarrassed, Scarlett. No reason to be ashamed. I've seen you totally naked before." He cupped her breast then; she gasped and visibly shook as he squeezed her. "You're a very beautiful girl - I mean, young woman. I've longed for the chance to see you like that again."

Then the man moved up closer and hugged her awkwardly. She grimaced as he did and thought, Oh, hell, I can feel his...thing...through his pants against my leg. And he's excited. She tried to move her leg, but he pressed harder against her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, his voice a taunt. "Feel something?"

"John," she said, her voice shaky, "you're scaring me."

"When the time comes, we'll sleep naked, girl." He smiled at her and winked. "Once you relax and accept your place, you learn to like it."

To the girl's shock, he bent his head down and kissed her left breast, then stood up. "Go in the bathroom," he said, his voice firm. "Take off the T-shirt and try on one of the crop tops. Now." He moved back to the counter. "I'll heat us up a can of beef chow mein while you model for me."

The girl felt a strong urge to pee...and vomit. She stood up slowly, balled the tops up in her left hand and moved away from the table and around the bed towards the bathroom.

"Scarlett!"

She turned around and felt his gaze burn into her eyes. "Yes?"

"Before you put on the crop top, take off your bra and throw it away. You won't need a bra after today."

You might not even let me eat lunch, she thought and nodded. "O.K.," she said, in resignation and walked into the bathroom.

oooooooooo

Scarlett nearly broke down in the bathroom and resisted the urge to lock the door. He'll just break in and get me if I do that, she thought and wiped at the tears than ran down her cheeks.

She pulled off the T-shirt and laid it on the hand sink. Her hands shook as she reached behind her back and she bit her lower lip as she unhooked her bra.

Her thoughts went to the pushdagger in her pocket. I don't know if I can do this, she thought as she removed her bra and put on the first crop top.

From the image in the mirror and her own self-consciousness, the top called total attention to her chest and she blushed. "I was right," she muttered and suppressed a sob. "It leaves nothing to the imagination."

"Scarlett!" John's voice yelled from the kitchenette area. "Hurry up and show me how you look in it!"

A wave of anger swept through her and she frowned. I can do this. She reached into the pocket and made sure that she could pull the weapon out quickly...if she needed to. Then she made her frown disappear, opened the bathroom door and stepped out for his inspection.

A low wolf-whistle greeted the teen and her blush intensified. She stood there as he stared at her chest.

Behind John, a microwave oven heated up the food and suddenly beeped as it finished.

"Damn, you're not just beautiful," he said. "You're freaking gorgeous!"

She stared at him.

"Come on and have a seat," he said. "We'll eat and listen to the news."

Scarlett exhaled slowly and obeyed him. When she sat down, she tried to hold her arms in front of her breasts and waited.

After a minute, John set a bowl of chow mein and a bottle of orange soda in front of the girl. He saw her attempt to shield herself and laughed. "Hell, girl, I can see your boobs, so you might as well stop it, relax and just let me look. Like I said, I've already seen you in all your glory."

"When?" she asked quickly and stared at his face. "When did you see me naked?"

John's smile widened; he served himself and sat opposite her. "On one Saturday last July, you mowed for me when your parents went out for the day. Remember?"

She nodded.

"You went home after than and took a nice long shower. I watched you the entire time."

The girl's face went pale. "You...you were in the bathroom with me. I thought something was wrong then!"

He chuckled and nodded. "While you took off your messy shoes and pants in the garage, I snuck in the unlocked utility room door, went up to your room and waited. You went straight to the bathroom and undressed. You left the door open and I came in as you adjusted the shower strength and temperature." He sighed as the memory replayed in his mind. "You made me really hot then. As you finished, I went home...and Lisa showed up nearly ten minutes later. I barely let her get the front door shut that day...and I took her right there near the front door."

And you thought of my naked body the whole time you had sex with her, you pervert! "What...what if I had caught you then?" she asked. "What would you have done?"

The man said nothing, and simply smiled at her.

A cold chill swept through Scarlett and she shuddered as she realized the answer.

"It would have been fun," he said, "but I'm glad you didn't catch me. It would have caused...problems."

No shit! Dad would have killed you! If Mom or Lisa didn't first. Then her face paled and she looked down. You would have killed me right after the rape...to keep me from telling on you. She took a bite of her meal.

John turned towards the radio and turned it on. "Enough about romance, let's hear the news."

Scarlett nearly choked on his use of the word "romance". She bit back her response and quickly washed the food down with a drink of soda.

For more than a minute, the man slowly tuned the radio, until a voice came in crystal clear. "...president is in an undisclosed location at this present time, while an attempt is now underway to determine how many members of the Congress and Supreme Court have survived the bombings yesterday. It has been confirmed that St. Louis, Missouri and Cleveland, Ohio, are among the list of destroyed cities..."

John turned off the radio and sat there, his expression shocked. "Lisa," he said, his voice weak and uncertain. He covered his face with both hands and sat there, still and unmoving.

Scarlett looked at him, unsure of what to say, or even do. A small part of her wanted to touch his arm in a gesture of comfort, but she knew that he would misinterpret it and held herself back.

In fact, she could see his arms tense as the minutes passed. Oh, hell, here it comes. She tensed as well and slowly moved her chair back.

He lowered his hands and looked at her face. "You don't need to worry about Lisa anymore," he said, a small smile crossing his face. "It's just you and me, all alone now...lover." He stood up.

She stood up as well and backed up slightly. "You...you promised to wait, so I could mourn my parents!"

"You've had enough time, girl." He rushed at her.

"NO!" she cried out as he grabbed her and threw her onto the bed.

Before she could get up or roll away, John mounted her and immediately forced his mouth onto hers. He kissed on her as she tried unsuccessfully to push his body off of hers.

Scarlett gave up that struggle and groaned as he pulled her top up to her neck with one hand. The other hand moved to her pants and unbuttoned the top. Then he tried to unzip them.

Quickly, she reached into her pocket and closed her hand on the pushdagger's handle. Almost instantly, her hand felt hot and she had an sudden image of the knife in front of her, while two or three Asian-looking men in military outfits stood in front of her, knives in their hands.

She turned her head and broke the kiss, but could still only see the three Asians. She screamed at the top of her lungs and ripped the weapon out of her pocket. Then she struck again and again as the image of the three overrode all of her senses.

A man screamed out some obscenities, but Scarlett ignored that as she fought. A knife blade barely missed her right arm and she buried the blade into the chest of the man who held it, then yanked it out. He fell to the floor and his body shuddered as it laid there.

The pushdagger blade dripped with blood and the redhead attacked the other two Asian men. A loud, animalistic scream escaped her lips as she slashed and stabbed at them, until they both fell under her attack.

Then the image faded and Scarlett stood in the RV at the side of the bed. On the blankets, John laid, multiple stab wounds in his chest, neck and even his face. He groaned and shuddered as he laid there.

The girl saw the blood that coated her right hand and she quickly threw the pushdagger onto the floor. A startled cry escaped her lips and she backed away from the man and the bed. "Oh, shit, what did I do? What did I do?"

She finally came up against the kitchen door and sat on the floor hard, her right hand in the air in front of her.

Scarlett Hawkins sat there and cried as rivulets of his blood ran to her elbow..

(To be continued...)