Taking the steering wheel of the derelict MRAP, Reece turned it slightly to keep the heavy vehicle on the road even as bullets continuously bounced off it. The Order was closing in on them. While Cyrene and Ciera were lying flat behind the vehicle’s heavy armor, Reece had only the bullet-resistant glass to protect him. He wasn’t sure how well the glass would hold up since it had been sitting in the hot desert sun for who knew how many years. He decided to let the vehicle pick up all the momentum it could.

Since Reece wasn’t using the brake, the vehicle quickly picked up speed, and soon the plinking of bullets died out, and the sounds of gunfire faded. The MRAP was now barreling down the overgrown dirt and cobblestone road while Reece guided it down the massive, terraced hill. The road was a straight shot to a small modern-looking town down below. The town’s houses and other structures were built close to each other, and he didn’t see a way through. Instead, he just let the vehicle pick up momentum. Once the MRAP crashed through the first house, he estimated they were doing eighty kilometers per hour.

“Sorry!” he called out over his shoulder.

“Where did you learn to drive?” yelled Ciera from the back. “A demolition derby!?!”

The MRAP cut through the house like it was made of paper mache. Wall, room, wall, alley, wall, room, yard, fence, wall, room, wall, yard, fence… Reece continued to crash through building after building until he finally hit a large street. It seemed to go out of town, and he angled for it.

The whole way, Cyrene was gasping and moaning at every bump, and there were many. Ciera managed to wedge herself into a seat, keeping her jostling to a minimum. After a couple of grueling minutes, the MRAP finally started to slow down to a crawl. Reece took the opportunity to look over at Cyrene. She looked pale, and her breathing was ragged. He had to do something soon.

He quickly leaned over and kissed the semi-conscious Cyrene hard on the lips, even slipping her a little tongue. He reasoned that the intimacy might kick-start her healing ability, assuming they were out of range of the mana suppression. He continued to kiss her, holding her face in his hand. She soon responded, her tongue dancing with his.

Once the MRAP came to a complete stop, they were passionately kissing. The energy from the erotic act started flowing through them both. The mana-dampening effect wasn’t present. Cyrene’s breathing and color quickly improved. Reece heard a loud ‘harrumph’ from the backseat and let go of Cyrene long enough to see Ciera arch an eyebrow.

“She heals from sexual energy, too,” Reece said, answering the unasked question.

“Bullshit,” said Ciera.

“Seriously,” replied Reece. “She’s from the antechamber.”

“No kidding? Really?” asked Ciera, her face brightening as she realized something. “In that case, move over and drive. I’ll take care of her. We can heal each other.”

Pulling back to the driver’s seat, Reece looked at Cyrene’s face. She once again radiated pure sensuality. She also looked much improved from only a couple of minutes before.

“I got us out of the dampening effect, but we’ve got to move,” explained Reece as he got out of the MRAP. He quickly moved around to her side of the defunct vehicle. The two women were locked into a passionate kiss. “The Order’s still coming.”

Ciera released her grip on the blonde woman’s head and smiled, her wounds slowly healing. Cyrene nodded in understanding, though her eyes narrowed at his revelation.

“Cyrene, this is Ciera. Ciera… Cyrene,” said Reece as he unbuckled the beautiful blonde. “But I see you’ve already met.”

Once their worst injuries were partially healed, they left the MRAP and ran into the desert. Reece could hear engines roaring down the hillside and through town. Looking back, he saw that the Order’s soldiers were catching up. They rode in armored vehicles, the likes of which he had never seen. Looking out over the desert, Reece spied a small brick farmhouse a couple hundred meters out. Grabbing Cyrene by the hand, he dragged her along as he ran for it. Ciera had healed considerably and limped quickly along after them. He could hear the heavy engines behind him. Soon, the gunfire started again.

Cyrene looked at him with worry as he pulled her around the farmhouse. They crashed through the rotted wooden door to fall inside. A moment later, Ciera followed, landing on top of Reece. Reece immediately sat up and closed his eyes. He could hear Cyrene and Ciera struggling to sit up next to him.

“What are you doing?” yelled Cyrene, her voice betraying her fear.

“Please be quiet,” requested Reece. “I need to concentrate.”

Ciera didn’t make a peep. Cyrene instantly quieted down and waited, holding his arm in both of hers. She pressed her soft chest against his back while he let his mind wander across the desert until he found what he was looking for.

Meanwhile, the gunfire became sporadic and finally stopped. The Order was quickly surrounding the house with vehicles and soldiers. They were trapped. A minute later, a deep male voice called out to them. It was an unfamiliar voice, yet commanding.

“Give yourselves up, and you will not be harmed in any way,” declared the voice with supreme confidence. “If you refuse, we will rain down death upon you and collect it anyway. So, what do you say?”

“Just a moment,” yelled Reece, squeezing Cyrene’s hand with his own and giving her a knowing wink.

She tilted her head to the side questioningly but didn’t argue. He turned towards Ciera and nodded with a little half smile.

“Okay, we’re coming out,” yelled Reece, taking his time. “Don’t shoot.”

He stood up and slowly walked out of the farmhouse. Slowly placing his hands behind his head, Reece surveyed the area. He stood there, just taking stock of the Order’s presence. The man who had been talking stood the closest, maybe thirty meters away. He was tall, older-looking, and dressed in a dark uniform. He had jet-black hair and a matching medium-length beard. His eyes were cold and calculating as he studied Reece.

Dozens of soldiers stood ten meters back from the man. They created a circle around the farmhouse and had their automatic weapons ready. They were dressed in black cloth and leather uniforms as well. Everywhere Reece looked, he saw what had to be the Order’s new symbol. It was a red circle with two black lines running inward from the circle’s outer edge. They were perpendicular to each other and crossed in the center. The symbol was emblazoned on their chests and shoulders. It was his first time seeing it. The Order was getting bolder and better organized.

Three mechanized exoskeletons were there. Though damaged by fire, they were still operational. Several silver heavy-duty utility trucks with mounted guns also dotted the perimeter. The Order’s emblem was painted on them, too. The soldiers, mechs, and trucks had their weapons pointed at him. After all the problems Reece had given the Order, they weren’t taking any chances.

“Well, hand it over,” demanded the arrogant man with a little smirk. “As you can see, you are surrounded. One wrong move, and there won’t be enough left of you to put in a box.”

“Nah,” replied Reece, spitting out a bit of dirt he had gotten in his mouth. “I’ll tell you what. Give yourselves up, and you will not be harmed in any way. So, what do you say?”

“You’ve got some balls, I’ll give you that,” laughed the man, stepping back. “But no, I think this conversation is over. Kill him!”

“Wrong answer,” blustered Reece, loud enough for the man to hear.

The man must have seen the look in Reece’s eyes. His smile faltered, and his confidence waned. A moment later, the sands around the small farmhouse exploded high into the air. Reece took the opportunity to sprint back into the farmhouse. It took another moment before the screaming started. Massive mouths filled with numerous rows of deadly teeth had emerged from the sands and were preying upon the soldiers like starving people at a buffet.

The mechs were the first to go. Before long, the soldiers turned and started firing at what looked like giant worms. Unfortunately for them, the worm-like monsters had thick hides. The bullets did less than tickle the massive aberrations. One after another, the worms crashed down upon the soldiers or rose from beneath to bite them in half or swallow them whole. Snaking through the sand like water, the creatures had no trouble catching the soldiers and making a meal of them.

The apparent leader of the troops decided to follow Reece into the farmhouse. He figured it was the farthest from the worms and the safest place for him. While it may have been the safest, it wasn’t safe. He had been too cocky to bring a gun, so he pulled a wicked dagger instead and charged, holding the weapon above his head in preparation for a powerful downward thrust.

Reece had just passed the doorway and had his back to him. The man stabbed at Reece’s back. Reece saw the terrified looks on the women’s faces and knew something was wrong. He quickly spun and sidestepped the overhand attack. Revealing the sword he had held at his side, he swung it over his head. While the man’s momentum carried him past, Reece lopped his head off. The dead man didn’t even see it coming, his decapitated head registering shock as he blinked twice before dying.

It wasn’t long before the last soldiers disappeared beneath the sands to be slowly digested by the massive sandworms. After their meal, the creatures left the area and returned to the deep sands of their regular hunting grounds. Reece realized that the worms might explain the lack of zombies in the area. He doubted that the ravenous creatures were picky in their choice of meals. Cyrene and Ciera stepped from the farmhouse. Ciera just shook her head, smiling. Cyrene’s lips were pursed, and her eyes were dilated. She limped over and held a hand to Reece’s face.

“That was incredible,” she breathed, kissing him again. “How did you do that?”

“They were in one of my dreams,” answered Reece. “And I can find and control simple minds easily. It seemed our best bet to get out of the situation.”

Pulling away slowly, she stared into his eyes, her eyebrows pinching together in worry. “I’m sorry we lost your friends.”

Reece closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Thank you. Unfortunately, the Order’s still coming, so we’ll have to catch up with them later. If the suppression is gone, they can easily take care of themselves. For now, we need to get moving again.”

Looking back at the town, Reece could see more soldiers and vehicles. None dared travel out onto the sand, however. Seeing all the destruction the worms had just created, Reece verified that they had left one of the vehicles alone, just as he had planned. The creatures weren’t smart, but they were smart enough.

“We’d better go,” he said, leading Cyrene and Ciera to the remaining silver-colored truck.

Opening the passenger door, he waited. Popping the passenger seat forward, both women got in the back seat. That caused Reece to raise an eyebrow, but he said nothing. Shutting the door, he ran to the driver’s side and got behind the wheel. The soldiers had left it running, so he wasted no time driving them back onto the road out of town and heading towards the coast as fast as the Order’s truck would go. While the carnage fell far behind, Reece could hear the wet sounds of kissing coming from the back seat.

He drove like that for over an hour before the vehicle started to get too hot. Looking over, he saw that Cyrene and Ciera had passed out in the backseat, holding each other closely. Reece was glad they could help each other while he concentrated on driving them to relative safety. They made it to a small desert town a few kilometers away. It was encircled by trees and looked like it had once been a nice place to live. Most of the buildings were single-story structures that were made from brick or concrete. He found a commercial-style garage with a high enough stall and parked the truck within to keep it out of sight of the Order’s spies. There were numerous signs of a major zombie attack, but it looked like it had happened years ago. Large brown splotches of old blood, dozens of crashed vehicles, numerous broken windows, and countless bullet holes painted a grisly scene of what had transpired.

He wasn’t sure if the Order’s vehicle contained any tracking devices, so he ditched it there. Waking Cyrene and Ciera, he led them a couple of blocks down the road to an unassuming grey brick house just off the road.

“Wait here,” he told them as he hopped the fence around the building’s yard and crept to the back.

Drawing his sword, he opened the back door and peered inside. For a moment, it looked clear. Then two emaciated and nearly nude female zombies lurched out of a side room. They groaned when they saw him and shambled toward him. Their skin hung in flaps, including their deflated breasts, and the one on the left was missing her lower jaw. These zombies had been rotting for a very long time.

Seeing how slow they were moving, he carefully stepped outside the house and waited. The first thing out the door was the smell. It was the sickening stench of rotten meat. Once they cleared the doorway, he held his breath and decapitated both in one move. After they slowly toppled out of his way, he entered the house and looked around. It had three rooms. Other than the lingering smell of rot, it seemed okay. Going through the house, Reece opened the front door, letting Cyrene and Ciera inside. They needed to rest and heal. He indicated a plush chair and sat on the floor near it to rest. Before he could pass out, Reece felt a hand touch his shoulder.

“Not here,” sighed Cyrene, shaking her head.

“What?” asked Reece, turning to regard the injured woman.

“Not here,” she repeated. “We need to find a clean home. This is filthy and spoiled.”

“Fine,” sighed Reece, pushing his weary body back out of the chair. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be right back.”