The Forbidden Zone

Chapter Eight - A Welcome Reprieve

The man would simply not stop. Then in the fading afternoon sunlight we saw why.

Up ahead in the distance on a high bluff that seemed to be an overlook to a greater expanse beyond was the glint of sunlight off of glass.

Our general weariness fell away as both of us got excited and worried at the same moment.

Excited for a safe place to stay. Worried about it being occupied by some demon of an individual that wanted to use us up essentially as toilet paper for his own filthy purposes.

Catching up to Mel it was only to see him silently hold up a finger for us to be silent and obediently we remained so.

The changeover in our man was fascinating as he proceeded forth with a caution that echoed of experience.

We entered a grove of trees not far from the house.

Mel came to a halt at the edge of the trees and together we crouched down and waited roughly now 200 yards away from the house.

Every part of my body was cramping up from both fatigue and nervous anxiety. I glanced back and forth with Shakaza as time slowly ticked by minute by minute.

Mel made no move toward the house for what felt like over an hour. It was beginning to get dark and with the darkness it was getting quite chilly.

I was doing my best not to object to his strategy of watching and waiting, but this was getting a bit long.

On the verge of speaking out my impatience with his actions my words were cut off by a head shake from Shakaza.

Both of us were hugging our arms over our breasts and yet somehow she'd read my body language and given me a censoring sign that had kept me from making a weak mistake.

Several more minutes went by and I consoled myself to the fact that I was about to become a human popsicle.

Mel shifted for the first time since we had stopped and turning our way he said, "Sorry ladies. I know you probably want to kill me, but I needed to wait until it got dark enough to see if anyone would turn on a light of some kind. I haven't seen a thing light up though, but still we're going to be very cautious. Follow me."

He turned away and stiffly we got up and followed as quietly as we could behind him. There seemed to be no road into this high alpine villa and the oddity of that was answered as we stepped quietly across a leveled out helicopter pad.

There literally was no road to this place.

The architecture of the house was very organic and natural in appearance, in the sense that it blended in extremely well with the other shapes and natural colors of the surrounding rocky environment. The only thing that gave it away were the windows.

There were no surrounding buildings of any kind.

I heard water splashing from around the front of the house, but as far as noises went that was it.

Oh how I prayed this place was unoccupied!

Biting my lip, I gripped Shakaza's hand, as Mel ap-proached the front door.

Surely it would be locked.

Mel tried the handle and in surprise the door opened easily. It was a massively thick wooden door and the reality of it opening so easily for us seemed to be a surprise even to Mel.

At that point he disappeared inside. Anxiously we waited there shaking more out of fear for Mel than the cold wind that now blew across this high alpine place.

The view beyond, even at this late stage of the day was absolutely stunning.

The spot had been picked truly well for a house to be placed upon it, but all my attention was on Mel and not the beauty of my surroundings.

Nothing would be beautiful about this place if something bad happened to him.

Tense minute after minute went by and then finally Mel reappeared out of the gloom of the house before us.

We saw him wave us forward and hurriedly we came to him anxious to know his verdict on the place.

Inwardly, we both immediately relaxed, as we saw the whiteness of his smile flash in the dark, "The place is perfect and we have it all to ourselves. There's food and drink and well, literally everything really."

That was all I needed to hear.

Stepping forward though he stopped me by saying, "There is however a dead guy."

Seeing our aghast expressions he quickly said, "Relax, he's pretty much just bones now, it's been a while. Kind of looks like he offed himself with this." He finished with by showing us a handgun tucked into his waistband in a way that said he knew how to use it.

Seeing the gun did a lot more to relax me. A gun in his hands meant a dead bear if it tried something with any of us.

He pulled the two of us inside then and closed the big wooden door. There was an old-fashioned bar that he slid down effectively locking it from being opened by anything short of a full bore rhino charge.

Feeling better and better we let him lead us forward through a small, but what looked like a very luxuriously appointed villa.

I drew in a deep breath as in the evening twilight I saw the white bones of a figure seated on a couch on a lower level down from us.

"We are tossing the couch." Shakaza whispered, even though there was no need to whisper.

"Agreed." Mel affirmed.

He pressed us down into two chairs at a glass table and then he was setting bottled drinks in front of both of us. Groaning I picked up the sugary beverage and twisted the cap off and literally glugged down half of it in one breath.

It had literally now been years since I'd had the pleasure of consuming anything with half this much sugar in it.

I heard Mel chuckle richly in the dark and then he was placing a second bottle in front of me.

My restraint to not finish the whole bottle right away disappeared instantly.

I drank it completely gone and then started to explore the food bar options that Mel had dumped on the table.

"I did find candles, but I don't want to light anything up at night as it will show for miles around us through the windows. So for now no light of any kind at night."

That was entirely understandable and I nodded with my mouth full of a bar that was actually quite good.

With her mouth full of food as well Shakaza indelicately asked, "How much food does this place have?"

"From what I've seen at least a year, maybe even two."

In shock I stared at him in the now moonlit darkness. As if his declaration about there being so much food hadn't been enough he went on to say then, "I also found clothing, not too much feminine wise, but I think we can make it work and there's medicine and books and well... there's a lot. There are chambers that go into the ground and I didn't really catalog everything that they held, but I will do so when it's daylight outside. Also in the morning I'll get rid of the dead guy and the couch. I will need your help to do an inventory of the place and...... are you guys crying?"

We were, but it wasn't a bad thing.

"We're fine, it's just, we didn't expect this. I....everything has been so hard for so long and...... this is really good!" I said with happy emotion.

"Yes it most definitely is." Mel affirmed and then leaning forward he extended out his hands to the two of us.

We took a hold of his hand and then he was praying and we were bowing our heads, "God....thank you! I....we needed a place. We needed food and drink and a means to defend ourselves and it looks like You've provided all of that and more and we are truly grateful! May we do only what You wish of us with what You have provided and above that I ask that You would clearly show and endow me with the ability to care for and keep these two women safe. They are more than I ever asked for and I thank you for them with all of my heart. Help me lead them and help them help me as I won't lie, this new land is alien to me and full of unknowns, but with Your help and blessing I know we can make it. Even so I ask these things in Jesus's Name and so be Your will done above all others."

The electric feel of authority that radiated out of the connection with his hand and mine was broken then as he let go and I was reminded all over again that I now belonged to an actual man of God. The feeling of peace at knowing that was indescribably incredible.

Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore, well at least not for food.

Husky voiced I asked, "Does this place have a bed?"

"Yeah, I was just about to ask that too." Shakaza whis-pered.

Without a word Mel stood up and we followed.

He led us into a room that was oddly sparse except for a large bed that took center stage and that faced like most of this house a wall of windows.

Mel hopped onto the bed and patted it to either side of him.

With a giggle I crawled onto one side and Shakaza the other.

I kissed Mel first and then I let Shakaza have her way with his lips.

We were all breathing heavy and then....then all hell broke loose.

Both I and Shakaza screamed, even as Mel sat bolt upright in the bed, as the wall of windows that faced the overlook of an epic sized valley flashed brightly with the colors of destruction, even as the whole house shook with tremors.

Down in the center of the valley there was a complex of sorts and it was being lit up royally.

Shaking I moved in against Mel's side as all thought of passion faded to be replaced with an unquestionable reality. The same scourge that had made daily life back in the highland jungles of India a lesson in terms of survival had now come here to this final frontier.

It was ironic somehow that the last effort to fix the effects of the first scourge they had created was in reality what led the scourge of their own creation right to their own doorstep.

Life here had already been difficult, but now everything had just gotten a lot harder.

Mel skootched back against the headboard and with little urging we soon joined him. Letting our heads fall to rest against his shoulders we watched the last epic of mankind play out before us like we were back in front of a big screen movie again.

Things like big screen cinemas would never happen again.

It was sad to know that my children wouldn't have access to such a simple pleasure as eating popcorn in front of a big screen in the company of others who in general wished no one present any bodily harm.

That said they would know other pleasures that under the corrupt interference of society had been going extinct for quite some time. Namely they would know what freedom was.

My children would be free.

Not only free, but unlike any in my lineage before me they would know the one true God and be all the better off for it.

As nightmarish as the sight several miles away from us and hundreds of feet lower in elevation was it didn't take away from the fact that I still felt peace inside in regards to the future. In some ways it felt like we were hidden away from what was going on down there.

Was God going to turn what on the surface looked liked something that could only be bad into something that would serve His purpose ultimately?

Inside I felt sure of it, but for now I tiredly closed my eyes and let the war down in the valley rage on unseen.