Pegasus Part 41

Satiated, I turned and made my way back up the rocky trail to the encampment. At times, being forced to climb I thought there must be an easier way. The scene of devastation remained much the same.

I began to feel uneasy as I walked into the center of the encampment. The cries of pain and anguish had stopped. There was an eerie silence. Then I noticed that all the piecing eyes were focused on me. Their faces were etched with anger. Roars broke the silence.

“He’s one of them.”

“Get him.”

What the fuck?

Tabitha appears out of the corner of my eye. She jumps in front of the growing, braying mob.

“Listen, he’s not one of them. He saved my life. It’s not his fault how he looks.”

And I thought she liked my looks. What the hell is going on?

They shouted back at her.

“You should not have brought him here!”

“Kill him!”

I look around for somewhere to run but there is nowhere. All escape routes are now blocked off by rows of people.

“I love him. If you touch him, I am gone.”

Nobody had said anything like that about me before. The angry crowd seemed to be stunned too. The shouting stopped and they dissipated.

Tabitha looked back at me and then walked away.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (8)

The General continued to speak, his scarred face barren of emotion.

“And yet the enemy must be stopped. The Tyranids cannot be allowed to simply cut a swathe through the Empire. You, Timothy, confirmed what I already knew. The best way to destroy this enemy is by depriving it of what it needs most – life to gorge on. It might not stop them here but we will gradually sap their strength till they are no more.

Prepare to fire the Terminatus missile.”

There were audible gasps from those on the bridge.

“Prepare to fire, that is an order.”

Timothy began to sweat, and his heart raced. But there was nothing he could have done or said to change what was about to happen.

“Fire,” the General commanded.

Timothy looked out. A white speck hurtled away from the ship towards the beautiful blue and green planet. Deathly silence gripped the bridge.

Then it seemed to disappear into the green haze for a few seconds.

Perhaps, it had failed Timothy had thought.

But then the first dash of red appeared and it began to slowly expand. Timothy left the bridge to return to his dour quarters. He knew what was about to happen and couldn’t just sit and watch it. Over the next few hours what was once a thriving world would become a barren rock devoid of all life.

All those men, women, and children, their homes and dreams would be no more.

Galway Girls (Part 17)

The next thing I know I felt something shuffling beside me. I was sure it would pass and tried to stay asleep. Then I felt a larger movement and slowly opened my eyes. A woman was sitting on the side of my bed.

For a second I wondered where I was. Then the night before started coming back – all the drinking, music, and sex. No wonder I felt terrible. My mouth was parched and my stomach was telling me not to make any rapid movements.

“Hope I didn’t wake you but there are places I have to be.”

It was very early morning and still not quite bright.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to respond. This was a very novel situation for me. Should I play it cool or tell her I have eyes for her only?”

“Had a great night. Hope I get to see you again.” Well, at least I made a decision.

“Aww, you’re so sweet. You probably say that to all the girls. I’ll write my name and number over there and if I hear from you, you never know.”

With that, she went over to the table and I heard a scribbling. After, a quick wave, I heard the sound of the door opening and closing.

Pegasus Part 40

Eventually, someone pointed at me and told me that I should go clean myself up. That there was water down a narrow ravine. They were correct, if I was going to comfort people I needed to look the part and not remind them of the horror.

So I made my way down. It was steep and at times I had to resort to climbing down. There was a time not so long ago when this would have made me fearful but no longer. I had been through too much.

After a few minutes, I finally made it down to what was a large pond with a sand embankment. I went to get in but then froze in fear remembering a program about Earth and its crocodiles. If I remember correctly, it stated that some of its species had been around since the dinosaurs. They could be in this pond.

I scanned my eyes over the water but there was no movement. A wall of rock lay on the other side. Slowly, I took steps towards the water before taking off my top, and then trousers and dipped them into it. Slowly the blood came out. Then I splashed some on my face. It felt nice to the skin and had no foul odor. Feeling parched, I knew I needed to drink. Fortunately, I had figured out that it wasn’t stagnant water. It was dripping into the pond in a mini waterfall through a crack on the opposite wall and draining slowly away somewhere underneath. It was never going to be perfect, I just had to risk it. I lurched forward on his hands and knees and sipped voraciously.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (7)

It only takes the Robocarer a few minutes to get Timothy up, much faster than his father ever could. Of course, it is devoid of any love or banter. It is method, mechanical in doing what is required before it places him in his battle chair.

It gives him time to think about his drunken conversation. Something about it fills him with foreboding. The General will do the will of the Emperor no matter the cost.

Now sitting in his chair, he dreads what the future may hold.

He drives out of his room and it into the turbo life. It is a fluorescent white, as if valiantly trying to will hope itself into existence.

The door opens and Timothy enters the command centre. The first thing he notices is the stench from the commander. It is all pervasive. There a myriad of computers with flashing screens manned by people in white suits. In the centre is a translucent screen showing a blue and green planet. The odd large city on its surface was visible in places under its clouds.

“Good, you are here Timothy. I wanted you to see this. This planet Anubis 1034z is the next target of the Tyranid. A huge chunk of their armada will shortly arrive. As you can see it is lush and green, a hyper habitable planet with a large populations. For weeks, I have pondered how it could be successfully defended. Now, from our conversation I know that it cannot.”

No Timothy thought. This was not how he envisaged it being interpreted.

Galway Girls Part 16

As I made my way to the bed, I was happy that she hadn’t fallen asleep in the darkened room. I drove my wheelchair up parallel to the bed, pulled back the sheets, and using my hands and arms stood up. Suddenly, I felt nervous, realizing I had to pull down my pants in front of her but what the hell. Then I swiveled and fell back into the bed.

“God, I thought you were never going to get in here.”

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

“Guess it’s up to me,” she whispered.

Then she got on top of me and started to rub my firm chest with her soft hands. She opened her top and then her bra leaving her breasts dangling in front of me. Slowly, I move my hand up and touch them. They are soft and tender.

She is in total control. I feel strangely vulnerable, an unexpected feeling.

She begins to lick my nipples before sucking them, sending me into ecstasy. My pulls down her pants, and my heart races. Then I enter her. She grinds back and forth as I close my eyes. I feel her sweat drip onto me.

Then I climax and a few seconds later she falls off me. There is so much I want to say and yet nothing comes out.

Pegasus Part 39

The scene only became more horrific as we drew closer. Different body parts were strewn here and there. The smell of now rotting flesh agitated your sense of self in the heat. The survivors, who had never seen me before just looked blankly into space as if in a daze.

It must have been that monstrous creature that we had just managed to avoid earlier. Perhaps, we hadn’t. It had simply satiated its hunger already. The thought sent a chill down my bones. Maybe it would be back.

I looked over at my companions. Tears were rolling down their faces at the devastation. I was thankful that I hadn’t known these people like they had.

Looking around I knew that I had to do something but it was difficult to know where to start. I went from place to place. Some people just wanted someone to hug me even though I was covered in blood myself. For others, I helped salvage their possessions. Some were relatively fortunate in that their tents were still intact.

For many, there was simply nothing I could do. Their loved ones were slain and everything they had was destroyed. It was easy to tell them apart. They were on their knees and their eyes a raw red.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (6)

Timothy awoke in a bed many hours later, His head was aching and his stomach felt like convulsing at any moment. It was a small, sparse room enclosed by steel. His robocarer had been diligently waiting for him to wake.

“Do you want to rise, Sir?”

“No, just push me over in the bed onto my other side.”

Timothy almost lurched as he was gently moved. That was some great ale, he thought to himself. The general had not spared the good stuff and that was a good sign of respect.

He tried to close his eyes but it made him feel worse, like a motion sickness from feeling the ship traveling through the warp.

“Are we in the Warp? he asked his robotic company.

“Yes, the ship entered it shortly after your return,” came the reply.

Eventually, though he could no longer keep his eyelids open.

“Timothy, Timothy. You must rise. Your presence is being sought on the bridge,” the robot said in an almost manic repeating cycle.

Timothy realized that he had dozed off once again. Hours must have passed. At least, he was feeling much better save for a thirst.

“Yes, you are authorized to get me up.”

That was all that he had to say. The robot knew how to do the rest and quickly too.

Galway Girls Part 15

I knocked on the door of the hotel and waited. A few moments later the door opened.

The valet looked at me and then at her.

“Residents?”

Fuck, he’s not going to let her in. This can’t be happening.

“I am and she needs to help me get to bed.”

There was a moment of silence, well apart from the drunks shouting at each other in the distance.

“Otherwise, someone in the hotel will have to help me.”

That did the job.

“Come on in.”

As I went down to the lift I was relieved to feel her holding onto the back of the wheelchair. I quickly pressed the button in case the valet had a change of heart.

Once safely inside the lift, we both started to laugh.

“So, I’m your carer now, am I?”

“I think assistant is the more pc term for it these days. It was quick thinking though, wasn’t it?”

“It sure was, not just a pretty face.”

The lift opened and we continued down the narrow corridor to my room. A quick turn of the keys and we were in.

Now came the challenging part, transfer onto the toilet, then back on the wheelchair, and then into the bed. All the time hoping she didn’t fall asleep waiting.

Pegasus Part 38

As we rounded the corner of the hill, we heard a loud explosive roar. It was unlike anything I had heard before visceral, primal. It stopped us dead in our tracks. Then the acrid smell hit us.

“Don’t move,” Tabitha whispered, “if we stay perfectly still, it won’t register that we’re here.”

Then the monster appeared. It was huge, with large teeth, and relatively small front claws covered in large feathers.

I don’t think that I could have moved even if I wanted to, I was frozen with fear and a sickly feeling life was coming to an end.

It slowly moved its head to the left and then to the right. Fortunately, it didn’t sense our presence.

“Come on, get moving,” Tabitha demanded, “it’s gone now. We were very lucky that we were upwind or it would have smelled us.”

Grudgingly, I put one foot after another and began to move wondering how I ended up in this crazy situation knowing I had nobody to blame but myself.

Trudging up and down hillsides, sometimes traversing small streams. It was arduous. My feet were sore from walking around my hands were getting cut.

It took another hour to reach the campsite. and it was Tabitha who saw it first.

“No,” she roared out.

It lay in a valley between three peaks and most of it lay in ruins. The tents that provided shelter lay scattered around. Many were tainted an ominous red.