Page 30 of Nazab

“I’m going to search for a truck we can use while you work your mojo on them,” Monica said. “I’ll grab some supplies as well.”

“They’re stockpiled in the town hall,” Nazab said, gesturing at the building directly across the street. “I’ll instruct the victims to ignore you and to forget seeing you at all.”

“Good idea,” Monica agreed. “We wouldn’t want them to tell the townsfolk about me,” she figured. “They might get suspicious and realize I’m working with someone else. We stole their ham radio and they might want it back.”

“They had another one,” Nazab said. “But I saw a couple of ham radios while I was hunting the guards down. I’ll leave one in the town hall and the captives can take it with them.”

Monica felt better about their theft now. “I hope this will balance out our bad karma,” she joked, then left him to it.

The phantom pain in her side was down to a dull throb, but the agony in her back was still sharp. She didn’t know how Nazab could ignore it so easily. All she wanted to do was curl into a ball and whimper, but that was out of the cards.

Leaving the police station, the cambion crossed the street and entered the town hall. “He wasn’t joking,” she said in wonder when she saw boxes of supplies stacked along one wall. Monica rifled through the boxes and packed some items into an empty box. She grabbed a first aid kit as well, since she would need to perform surgery on her knight soon.

Remembering the withered corpses were still lying on the street, Monica hurried outside to dispose of them. It would be hard to explain how they’d died and she didn’t want to test his mind control on the captives. She carried the remains to a dumpster behind the town hall and tossed them inside.

Nazab used his power on the humans while she searched for a truck to use. The vehicles all had flat tires, except for three pickup trucks. They were parked inside two garages close to the town hall.

“This one will do,” Monica decided, picking the most battered looking ride. Any working vehicles would draw attention now. Choosing the flashy red one would be a mistake. She put the box of supplies on the back seat after checking that the keys were in the ignition. Climbing inside, she started the truck and checked the fuel gauge. “It’s full,” she said in relief. There was no telling how far they would have to drive in search of the rest of the Knights of Order. With that in mind, she began loading up the bed with jerrycans full of gas.

Monica could hear Nazab talking to the victims in the police station before leading them outside. None of them had believed they’d been saved until they saw the bodies.

“It’s really true,” a female said tearfully. “We’re finally free!” She broke into sobs of relief and the other women comforted each other.

The males were still in a state of shock, but were rallying. “Where should we go?” one of them asked.

“I found another town that has good people in it,” Nazab said. “I passed through it without speaking to them, but I’m sure they’ll welcome you if you turn up with supplies.”

“We don’t have any food,” another man pointed out.

“Yeah, you do,” the knight said and pointed at the town hall. “You’ll find everything you need in there.” He turned to Monica as she drove the dented truck out of the garage.

Lowering the window, she stuck her head out to talk to him. “There are two more trucks that are in working order,” she said, hiking her thumb over her shoulder. “They can use them to reach the other town. I’ll wait for you just outside of town,” she said.

“I won’t be long,” her warrior vowed, then he herded the survivors into the town hall.

Nazab was true to his word and joined her a few minutes later. “They asked me to go with them when I released them from my mind control,” he said as he climbed inside.

“What did you tell them?” she asked.

“That I’m searching for my brothers,” Nazab replied.

“We did what we could for them,” Monica said. “But I do have one regret.”

“What’s that, female?” he asked in concern.

“I wish I could have cut their hair for them,” she said. “But it would have been obvious who helped save them if they turned up with beautiful hairdos.”

She snickered and Nazab shook his head in amusement. She was glad the ordeal was over and now she just wanted to return to their base. Nazab had a bullet lodged in his back and it needed to come out asap.

Chapter Twenty-Three

––––––––

STILL FEELING THE EFFECTS of Monica’s kisses, Nazab couldn’t get them out of his mind. He watched her drive most of the way back to their base before he spoke. “Why did you kiss me, female?” he asked.

“For luck, remember?” Monica said. She checked the rearview mirror and side mirrors automatically, even though they were the only ones on the road.

“It seemed impulsive,” he said, needing to get to the bottom of it. He’d taken the initiative the second time, but he’d also been a bit high on the power she’d imbued him with.