CH 93

The bus Connor and the group of terrorist wannabes rode was a climate conditioned charter bus. It was a nice ride looking out at the scorching desert while sitting in comfort. It was a long ride, some were leaned back in their seats napping. Connor noted one of the gang boys was paying attention to where they were going as he was. The ragged jeans and dark blue undershirt this one wore showed he had tattoos down both arms, some large tattoo on his back peeked up from under the hem of the undershirt. He looked like a Latino hoodlum, but he seemed to be a little more focused that the ones he'd came with.

Once Connor glanced over to see the man looking at him. Connor paid him no attention and returned his gaze out the window to keep picking out landmarks and noting the direction they were going in. At the moment them were headed southeast. A half hour later the man came over and sat in the seat next to him.

"Have I seen you before?" the man asked.

"Have you?" Connor asked. "I'm Albert, and you?"

"Rico. Where you from, Albert?"

"Lots of different places. How about you, Rico? Got a home, or do you just wander around?"

Rico grinned. "You look familiar, but I can't quite place where from. I'll remember eventually."

Connor returned his mirthless grin. "Good luck. Tell me, who's this Horton guy you were asking about?"

"You don't know? Supposedly, he's the leader of this group. Heard he's like a real Kaiser Soze. You know, bad guy that everyone fears, but no one ever sees."

"ah, a phantom," Connor replied. He felt the bus slow and turn. The road there were taking next was dirt. Connor looked out and saw no road sign, but did the old gas station across the road.

Rico did also. "Esso? That sign is ancient," he noted.

"No vehicles, I doubt that station is operating," Connor said.

"A cop would notice something like that," Rico said in a low tone.

"And you did," Connor confirmed.

Rico stared at Connor. "I think we talked enough for now," he said and went back to his own seat.

They drove another fifteen minutes out on the dirt road then stopped at a low area that looked like a dry creek bed. There they all got off and lined up in front of what looked like a row of shipping containers. The metal doors of these were folded open, regular doors on the ends had been put on.

There are 20 mobile living spaces here, select the one you want, over here are the cafeteria and our main office," the shorter Chinese guy said. "Once everyone is settled, we will have a meeting."

Connor noted that as they looked at their 'rooms', the bus turned around and went back down the road.

The inside of the containers was insulated with thick foam, and had a bed, sink, semi-private toilet and even a shower. Hooks for clothes, no dresser of closet space. He bet they were shipped from China like this. Looking at a tag on the bed, yup it was Chinese script. A few tractor trailer loads here had made this little paradise. At least there was water and lights. On his way out, he grabbed the marker he found. Outside, he wrote 'Albert' on the door.

The cafeteria was a few of these containers put in a line. Several Chinese foods were available, heated up in the one container to the side that served as a rough kitchen. Much of it was heat and eat. No gourmet food here. If you liked noodles and tofu, this was the place for you.

Connor got his bare-fare and the too sweet punch they had. There were small tables along one wall with a seat to each side. Rico found him and sat in the other chair across his table.

"Here I thought they were going to have food," Rico grumbled.

"I can assured you, this is the best part of their hospitality," Connor said quietly. "Stay quiet, observe."

"That what you're doing?" Rico asked.

Connor eyed him. "It's what you do to survive." He looked around and saw there were three female servers here, but not the Chinese men. The women looked to be oriental. They also didn't look happy. Everything they did, they did with their eyes downcast.

"Man, don't even say you're checking out those ugly broads," Rico said.

Connor cracked a grin and replied, "Who knows? After a couple weeks out here, they may start looking good."

Rico laughed. "Hard up?" he asked.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Connor asked.

Rico cast him a serious look. "Man, I know you form somewhere. Just can't remember where."

Connor finished his meager meal and said, "Don't try too hard."

After whatever meal that was, Connor went out and looked around. Down in the dry wash, which was pretty wide, boxes and some wood had been set up to simulate a town. The more Connor looked at it, the more it reminded him of Driftwood. Whoever did this even made small streets. Yes, as he walked around to the right angle, he began to see the real buildings in miniature.

"What's this?" Rico asked as he stood atop the bank.

Connor eyed him. "We need to stop meeting like this. To me, it looks like there's a place we're suppose to raid, and it's suppose to look like this."

"This where Horton is?" Rico asked.

"Doubtful," Connor replied. "Stop asking about him. It may be unhealthy for you."

"You know there's a 2 mil reward to whoever caps him?"

"So I heard." Connor replied. We went back up the bank and looked around. "Do yourself a favor, stop talking about it." From their little metal town, he saw the Chinese and all the new recruits coming. "I think it's time to tell us why we're here."

.

The shorter Chinese man got down in the dry wash and had them gather around. The other one stayed up on the bank. Pointing to the mockup, the shorter man said, "This is the objective. You are here to fight non-humans. There are plenty here. Two roads in, one from the north, one from the south. Each of you will have three weapons we will provide. A pistol, a heavy caliber rifle, and a powerful stun gun. Each small group will also have a portable friction saw. This is so matter what it is you just put on the ground, you can cut their head off. With these non-humans, that is the only way to truly kill them! Each non human you kill is worth one million dollars to you. It is getting late today. Your training begins tomorrow, we will be passing out weapons and protection then!"

"Question!" Connor spoke up. "If there's a whole town of these things, aren't we going to need more men? We don't have that many here."

"There is another group we are joining up with. Do not concern yourself about that, but on learning and practicing what you need to do!"

Connor knew exactly what he needed to do. When they went back to their metal boxes for the night, he noted which one Rico was in.

.

Connor lay on his bed fully dressed. It took them a while, but he heard the hinges of the outside metal doors moving. Aliana appeared to sit beside him.

"Those Chinese are locking you and all the other men in your little metal houses," she said.

"Expected that," he told her. "They told us the plan, they can't afford anyone running away to let anyone know about it."

"And your satisfied to stay locked in here all night?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't say that. After they feel we're all locked down, find the one in charge. Kill the rest then come let me out. We need some answers."

"This will be fun," Aliana said with a grin, and disappeared.

An hour later, Connor heard the outer doors open on his room. He opened the inner door. Ailana wearing only a thin black nighty greeted him. "Master, I have their leader." she motioned to the side, one of the women lay bound hands and feet.

"Not one of the men, huh?" he asked.

"No, she watched and gave the orders. Meet Colonel Chang, People's Liberation Army, infiltration division," Aliana said.

Connor bend over to look down on the tight faced woman. "Read her mind yet?"

"I did. Her mission is to create chaos and instability here. That is why she had been pouring money into James Horton's activities. She doesn't care what he does, as long as he's killing and creating hate and fear. Besides this group, there's another north east of El Paso in Texas they have been training. That group is 35 people. As soon as she got them all together, they were going to attack Driftwood in the name of Horton. Of course as soon as they did, she and her buddies would be on a plane back to China so they didn't accidentally get caught by authorities."

"I have diplomatic immunity, you can do nothing to me! Let me go!" the woman on the ground barked.

"The others dead?" Connor asked.

Aliana nodded. "They are, nothing fancy, I just cut their heads off."

"Same with her. Take her in, give her a chop, just don't let the blood run out the door."

Aliana grabbed the woman by her shirt and dragged her towards the cafeteria containers. She paused to call back and asked, "No making Sushi?"

"That's Japanese, not Chinese," Connor told her.

"THIS WILL MEAN WAR!" the woman yelled out.

Aliana looked down on her. "Over the likes of you? I highly doubt it." she dragged the woman inside. There was a plea for her life, then silence.

Connor went over to Rico's container and opened it up. His door was already open. Kneeling, he had a piece of metal in his hand.

"How'd you get out?" Rico asked.

Connor shrugged. "Can of magic. So, who do you work for?"

Rico peek out and asked, "Where's the Chinese?"

"Dead. I got what I needed from them. The question is, who are you and what do we do with the other guys still locked in their bungalows?" Connor asked.

Rico eyed Connor intently. As he did, his jaw slowly dropped. "Impossible," he whispered. "I was five. My mother was in trouble, this guy who looked just like you brought her home. He saved her from being raped and robbed..."

Connor cracked a grin. "Maria, yes, I happened to be watching her because I suspected that slimeball was going to try something. So, you're little Ricardo. Who are you working for now, Ricardo?"

"Federal, ATF. I was to infiltrate this group and find out what they were up to ... WHO are you?"

Connor put a finger to his lips. "No telling. Can you take care of the other sequestered members here? I have to get moving. OH, call your ATF pals, there's enough weapons, ammo and explosives here to get their attention." Connor then walked away.

"Hey, wait! You can't just leave!" Rico cried.

Connor waved to him as he walked away. "My job's done. Your turn. Have a good life, Ricardo!" Once he walked around the corner of the last container, Aliana met him and lifted him up to fly to El Paso.

.

Rico did call for backup and tried to explain to the boss what happened, only he had been locked away until this 'Albert' had let him out. He looked at a pad that had mug shots on it while their men collected up the weapons the Chinese had and other let the other men out of their containers. Some were wanted criminals, they were taken away. Others, like Jake Tanner were held for a while, then seeing they had planned on attacking a town, they were taken away on attempted terroristic activities.

After a while of searching the pad for Albert's face, Rico finally found it. "Captain, this is him!" he announced.

The Captain read the information. "His name wasn't Albert," he said dryly. "When this shot was taken back in 1985, his name was Russel Nash. That name was fake also, the real Russel Nash died at birth. This guy was just using that name."

"Then, who is he?" Rico asked.

"Unknown. And since those Chinese are already dead, by beheading as Nash had been accused of, he actually did us a favor. There's a whole bunch of diplomatic shit we don't have to deal with. You say he walked away?"

"He did," Rico insisted.

"Well, so far we've found no sign of him in a five mile radius. Either he walks very fast, or he just disappeared," the captain said.

"That's weird," Rico said.

"Everything about that guy is weird," the captain told him. "Supposedly, the NY City police have proof he's been creeping around the US since the early 1700's. Every now and then, there's a report about him but that's it for another 20, 30 years."

"What was the first report about him?" Rico asked.

"A sword duel on Boston Common, in 1756."

.

Sonja got home before Mark and did some cleaning while she waited for him . He came in and offered her a smile, "Hey sweetie," he said. they hugged and shared a kiss.

"Tough day," she asked.

"Just long. How was your day."

Sonya's smile dimmed. "Cameron called. We're gathering tomorrow and leaving. I don't know when we'll be back."

"Oh no. This is another fight someplace, isn't it?"

Sonya nodded.

He patted her belly. "Well, be very careful. You have to go even though you're pregnant?"

"Yeah," Sonya said, not happy about it. "Mark, this is another big threat we can't ignore and police can't stop. The guy we're after has killed innocent people. He's the one who shot Joan, kidnapped and scalped Allison."

Mark frowned. "I hate the fact you have to go do this."

"I do too," she said and hugged him again. "But right now, we're the only ones who can."

Mark nodded. "So, when do you have to go?"

"We leave tomorrow. We know where to go, but not what all is there. Someone is finding out the details. Cameron said I'll be mostly support, so I shouldn't have to be in a firefight. But we never really know how these things will go until after they are started." With a wince, she added, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't you be sorry for being a hero, hon," Mark said firmly. "Just come home safe."

.

Aliana had teleported to the Connor house to let them know everything she'd found out, then went back with Connor to watch the place. He'd found a nice hill two miles away and with the astronomic telescope, he had a good view of it atop his hill. Partially covered in brush, he'd be very hard to see.

Aliana returned with good news. Cameron was bringing an army. Every cyborg she could find, every terminator Weaver could give her. Everything she knew, there was only 40 people there at the most in that compound, but so was one very important one. Horton was there, and this time, he wasn't getting away.

.

Cameron wasn't forgetting home defense either. The EV 2 was out with the turret on it. John was going to be watching the monitors at home with Louise. Although he hated to be apart from Allison right now, Bob was going to be at his house watching the road to the lake. Mr. Nader from school was going t be at the other end of the road with the New Sheriff. All the townspeople had been notified of a threat to their town, so everyone was walking around armed and watches were out in all directions. No one in Driftwood was going to be caught unawares if a portion of Horton's forces slipped the noose. In two more days, Jackie would be back home also with her four terminators. Joan insisted she be part of the attack force after what Horton had done to Allison.

When the homeland security force came they had all of Weavers' terminators with them as well as Catherine herself. The four tractor trailers held 160 terminators to assist in Cameron's attack.

.

While Cameron gathered her forces and Connor watched for anyone coming or leaving the compound - with Aliana flying invisible over it to be sure it was Horton who was still there, Horton himself was still planning his attack.

The first bit of bad news came from New England. Rather the lack of news came to him. He could not contact his group. They were overdue in reporting. Concerned he made some calls and discovered they had gone out to sea on a boat, but never returned. The Coast Guard was out looking for them.

Horton cursed this information. Not knowing what happened to them, he had to assume they had been killed. This irritated him, but not being part of the main event, it didn't worry him. He knew the Chinese Colonel was collecting and training men. He called for a status on that. No one answered. He called her subordinates. They didn't answer either.

This was worrying. He knew they badly wanted cyborg bodies, they would not just give up. Even if their camp got raided, there would be news. He decided call their Nevada Embassy.

"This is Mr. Hatten. May I speak with Colonel Chang please?" he asked.

There was a moment of shuffling, then, "We're sorry, Colonel Chang is out of communication. Please try again later."

He hung up. This was abnormal. Chang was never out of communication. Something had happened. He thought about going himself. Then again, if something bad had happened, he might be walking into a trap. He decided to send a messenger, and gave the man specific instructions. He send for him.

When the man showed up, Horton told him, "Take the emergency tunnel exit. Be sure you are not seen leaving. Go to the training post in Nevada, see what's happening there then come straight back. If something is amiss, call immediately. Go."

"Yes, sir."

Horton sat back and thought. He wasn't sure if he had enough forces yet to drive into the lion's den. He needed the extra guns and men the Chinese were training for him. If the training post was compromised, This one could be next. He put extra guards out and a patrol outside the stacked tire walls to look for anyone who might be around.

.

Aliana floated above the compound below. She then noticed a lone figure appeared a few hundred yards away from the compound. Flying over to him, she saw him get on his dirt bike and leave. She dove down and followed him until the road was in sight, then she dropped down on him and stabbed him mid back and pulled him of the motorcycle with her claws. He let out a pained cry, she dumped him on the ground and landed on him.

Not bothering with clothes of hiding any part of herself, she flipped him on his back and held his arms to the sides. She slapped her spaded tail on his forehead as he gaped at her with shock and horror written in his face. Horton had sent him out here to scout out the training camp. In his mind, she saw the tunnel he'd come from.

Casting the young man an evil grin, she said in a musical coo, "My my, look what I caught. A tasty little treat. Any last words before I eat you?"

He squeaked out a few syllables as his bladder emptied.

"Noting for posterity then, huh? I guess it is tough speaking when I stabbed your lungs to keel you quiet." Leaning down face to face with him, she said, "Tell you what, kiss me an I'll make it painless when I kill you."

"Ghhaaah," he croaked weakly, and twitched.

A hand on the back of his head and she took the feeling of pain away. She kissed him and sucked away his life force. The terrified young man was tasty. She left the corpse and flew back to Connor to tell him about the escape tunnel.

.

Sonya was given coordination duties for the attack Cameron usually did. Cameron herself wanted to be in the think of this one. On the way, Cameron and Sonya planned their actions and who would be where. Finding out about the escape tunnel, Cameron decided she and Joan would watch the exit. She knew at the first sign of trouble, Horton would flee like a rabbit.

There was no rush to get into position around the compound. As they arrived behind Connor's hill, Sonya gave out the position assignments to ensure the compound was surrounded. After dark, everyone got into position. Cameron and Joan went to the tunnel exit and waited for the rabbit to bolt out of his hole.

Getting to the small opening in the side of bank, Cameron said, "Joan, calm down, your eyes are still red."

"I want to kill him." Joan replied.

Cameron grabbed Joan by the shoulder and jerked her face to face. "We will. If he sees your red eyes, he won't come out. Get rid of them."

Joan stood still, taking a few deep breaths. The glow from her eyes faded.

"Better." Cameron pointed to some scrub on the opposite bank of the tunnel. "Lie down in that scrub brush and wait. As soon as he exits, attack. Don't give him time to run. I'll be hidden above the exit. We will get him as long as we see him before he sees us."

"K Mom."

.

Horton paced in his office. It was getting dark outside and something felt wrong. Very wrong. He tried to call the scout he sent. No answer. That could well mean someone was coming after him. He took a walk around the compound. The guards had seen nothing. That meant nothing, for if someone was out there, they would be racing in fast, giving them little warning. By now, he knew to trust the hollow pit forming in his stomach. These metal mutations acted fast. If they weren't here yet, they would be soon and they would be merciless.

Walking over to a small group of his men who were drinking and bantering about something, he said, "I have a small job for you."

.

1 AM. The compound was asleep except for the guards on watch. Behind the wall of stacked up used tires, a guard stood on the wooden platform so he could see over the wall. Over the starlit landscape, he noted a shadow rise up, another to one side, and another to the other side. He rubbed his eyes. Was he seeing things? Then he saw bright lights racing towards him. Then he saw nothing ever again as a plasma bolt turned him to ash and lit the rubber tire wall on fire.

.

All the terminators approached the compound at the same time, shooting. The burning wall around the compound gave off flames and thick black smoke. Inside, there were shouts and screams. The ring of terminators closed in. What used to be a wall of stacked up used tires was now just a burning ring of stinking rubber. Beyond flashes came briefly from windows of the buildings within. Plasma answered those shots, blowing holes in buildings and lighting them on fire. More screaming sounded from burning people as the compound was reduced to crumpled burning debris.

As this happened, Joan and Cameorn lay awake, watching the tunnel exit. From within, Joan saw heat approaching. The heat solidified into a human figure holding a flashlight. Another was behind this one. A third followed. Joan tensed herself, ready to leap.

The first figure emerged, looked around and motioned the other two out.

Joan threw herself from cover at the one with the light. She impacted him, her fist square on his temple with a loud thump. He flew to the side limp. The long haired one by him, she kneed hard in the head. A TOK sounded as this one was driven to the ground. Cameron jumped out and hit the third one in the back of the neck. There was a snapping sound and the third one tumbled to lay still.

Cameron grabbed the flashlight, Joan turned to bodies on their backs. Two men, one woman. No Horton.

"Drag the bodies over here, out of sight of the exit," Cameron told Joan. She did, pulling two away the came back and pulled the third away.

"Someone tried to escape, where is Horton?" Joan asked.

Cameron studied the tunnel. "I don't know," she said flatly. "Stay quiet, hide and wait."

.

The sun rose to show the compound was nothing but a few blackened metal pieces above the smoldering ash. The still smoking pungent ring around the ash piles showed there was once something here. As the fires burned out, terminators searched the remains for anyone living, or any corpse that had enough face left to identify.

Catherine Weaver was looking at a depression. The depression sagged in, then from the hole, Cameron and Joan appeared.

Cameron looked at Catherine and said, "We followed the emergency tunnel back here. There are no side tunnels, no one got out alive from this direction."

"Then we got Horton." Catherine stated.

"I don't believe it," Cameron replied as she looked at the carnage around her. "He didn't try to escape. That means he wasn't here, or he found another way to avoid death."

Eyeing the scene, Joan asked, "How, Mom? I mean, there's nothing left here to hide in, and we searched the length of the tunnel."

Cameron studied the ground, then remaining pieces of whatever stuck up. She found something odd, a small pipe that came a foot out of the ground. She walked over by it. It was dry, not a water pipe. After watching it for a while, she called Sonya. "Sonya, there's no one left alive here, recall everyone. We need to leave before someone sees the smoke and comes searching."

"Understood."

"Shouldn't we check the bodies to make sure Horton's dead?" Joan asked.

"We don't have time, we all need to leave before someone comes," Cameron stated. Looking up, she saw the smoke was drifting east. "Help get everyone back to the vehicles," she told Joan.

Cameron walked around the ruins to be sure everyone was leaving before she went over and filled the tunnel with debris. She then walked out the remains of the entrance and found a place to wait, unobserved.

.

Down in his emergency shelter, Horton breathed a sigh of relief. He had been right again! All the men and even the equipment he'd lost last night was a serious blow, but he could recover all of that. Their attempt to trap and kill him had failed. Now those cyborgs had to flee before law enforcement came looking at what they had done.

Relaxing on some supplies, Horton gave those mutants three hours, ample time to collect and get out of the area. Feeling better now that he had avoided their trap, he waited until 11:30 to decide it was time to leave. Climbing up to the hatch, he undogged it and pushed. He had to push hard, the men had covered it in dirt as he'd told them to. Huffing and pushing, he got it open to have some dirt fall down on him. No matter, he pushed and shoved and got it open enough to peek his head up. Scanning the area, he saw nothing moving except some whisps of smoke. He climbed up farther, ensuring no one was around before he got the rest of the way out and stood on the ground.

All his work was gone. He'd have to rebuild. He'd done it before, he'd most likely have to do it again. After all, he was the man they couldn't kill. Brushing and shaking off the dirt from his exit, he walked out the ruins of the entrance. His best bet was go to El Paso and grab the emergency stash he had there, then head off to Mexico. He knew some people there who would help him.

Something smashed against his right knee, folding his leg. He fell and let out a pained cry. Someone just threw a rock and hit him.

"Thought you escaped, didn't you?" a hard female voice asked.

Horton turned to see Cameron walking towards him. He struggled up to run and found he was barely able to stand. "YOU!" he spat.

"Yes, me," Cameron said and picked up a steel rod off the ground that had been sharpened on both ends.

"I see you got a wig," he sneered.

Cameron paused. "I'm not Allison. I'm Cameron, and I'm here to kill you for what you've done."

Horton stumbled back when she came up on the dirt path they used for a road. She then jumped up and drove the rod vertically into the ground hard on landing. Fearing she was going to impale him he tried to back away and fell.

"This is not to impale your body," Cameron stated. She then yelled out," Joan, it's time!"

Off to the side some dirt pushed up to reveal the blanket that was covering Joan. Joan got up holding a sword. She walked toward Horton.

Becoming frantic, Horton blasted out, "You kill me now and it will be murder!"

"No," Joan stated. "Not after all the ones you killed. All the ones you ruined the lives of. It will be justice."

He was between them. He couldn't run and although he checked, he didn't even have his pistol. He tried to crawl away. Cameron raced over and grabbed the ankle of his bad leg and dragged him back into the road as he screamed. She pulled him up to grab his arms, forced them behind him, then bend him over to kneel.

"Killing me won't stop others from coming to destroy you!" he wailed.

"No. It will stop you," Cameorn said flatly. "Joan, take his head then put it on that pike for all to see."

"Yes, Mother."

Horton wailed, "YOU CAN'T DO..."

CHOP

Joan picked his head off the ground and jammed it onto the upright rod. She glanced at the body and asked, "Mom, how did you know?"

"The pipe in the ground. I heard breathing from it. He always had an escape route. He planned for it," Cameorn replied. "He won't be planning anything else, ever again. Let's go."

They walked down the road to meet Delilah. Cameron motioned to the sword. "And clean the blood off that blade. Delilah won't be happy if you give her sword back dirty."

.

When Jackie arrived with her crew, they got the boat into the water on the big lake then went back to Driftwood and relieved the Sheriff and Bob to guard the road to the lake themselves.

Seeing the New sheriff, Jackie frowned at him. "You're not the sheriff," she said.

Duncan smiled and pointed to his badge. "I am now, your other sheriff had a job to do, so I'm taking his place."

Jackie looked at Bob.

"He's the temporary sheriff," Bob explained.

Jackie nodded. "Well we'll guard the road. Bob, go check on Allison. I heard she got hurt bad."

"She did. Thanks Jackie."

"Temporary sheriff, we can watch the road. Thank you for helping."

Duncan smirked. "Sure, if you need something or have any trouble, call."

"We will," Jackie assured him.

Bob went back to the Young's house to see Allison up and sitting on the couch in her house robe. The white cap was still on her bare head. Going in he asked, "Feeling a little better?"

Allison smiled, "Hi Bob. Yeah. I was tired of lying down."

"So, you're healing?" he asked sitting next to her.

"Yeah," she said and pulled the white cap off.

Allison had skin atop her head now and dark fuzz starting to poke up. Bob ran his hand over her head and said, "Not enough to shape or fashion, but I see your hair's making a comeback."

"I was really afraid I was going to be bald forever," Allison said with a wince. "Any news on the Horton guy?"

"Yup, They caught him. Joan cut his head off and stuck it on a pike in front of that compound he had. She won't need a gallon of Visine to get the red out of her eyes any more."

Allison grinned. "I have to say, I'm relieved. For a while there, I was sure he'd get away to come after us again."

"Naw, his head's not going anywhere," Bob assured her. He tentatively touched the back of her shoulders. "Road Rash healing too?"

"It doesn't burn any more, no. Itchy here and there."

"Is it safe to rub you? Maybe help you feel a bit better?" Bob asked.

Allison cast him an impish look. "Are you trying to get me back in bed?" she asked.

Bob shrugged. "What can I say? Yes, I want to check you out."

"You can't be any more romantic than that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was thinking to see how well you're healing first," he said seriously.

They got up and went in her bedroom. Of course Allison was naked under her robe. She took her robe off and laid down on her belly. Bob sat by her and spoke in a musing tone as he gently rubbed her back. "Your skins back, I can see some irregularities in your muscles." He rubbed her shoulder blades gently.

"Ohhh you tease! You can rub a bit harder," she said in a purr.

Bob did and gave her a gentle massage from her shoulders to her butt. Allison sighed. "That feels really good," she told him.

"Enjoy, love. You deserve to feel good after what you've been through."

"Keep this up and you'll put me to sleep."

"Do you want to sleep?" he asked.

Allison turned over and said, "I want you to do the other side."

Bob raised his eyebrows. "I get to do all of you?"

Casting him a loving look, Allison said, "Please. Come to bed."

Bob got undressed and joined her. He spend a long time petting and rubbing her and giving her kisses. Allison was loving it. Later when they finally made love, she let out a happy sigh as he entered her. She felt like she was finally alive again.

.