Things at the compound had changed considerably since the arrival of Tasha and the Warriors. The most obvious thing was Elsie completely fell in love with Raven. Any lingering crush on Ethan quickly morphed into paternal attachment when Raven showed up. Oh, the way he trained the Cadets in the militia, with his shirt off and muscles glistening. She could and did spend hours watching him.

Everyone in the compound except Raven knew Elsie had a crush on him. It was impossible not to. She was shameless in the way she leapt on his knee every time he sat down. And flirt! She’d lay across him and run her hand over the front braids he wore. He had stuff like beads, golden leaves and bound feathers weaved in them.

“I just love the way you wear your braids, Raven,” she’d say casually, slowly moving her hand up to caressingly examine the weave. They really could be mistaken as two lovers sitting around on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

“I know, Elsie,” Raven would pick her up and place her back on her feet. “You tell me every day”. Raven came from an extended, but close-knit family. Nieces were always jumping on his lap. They were family, so you’d hold them for a moment, pass some pleasantries and send them on their way. That was it.

The fact that Raven was oblivious to Elsie’s wiles did not dissuade her in any way. If he wanted an endurance race, she was up for it, and she’d chase him wherever he went, because she had something important to tell him. It usually involved something about makeup, outfits, or how her perceived competition were skanks.

God help the compound if Raven actually said anything in reply to Elsie’s ramblings. Then it was, ‘Raven said this’, or ‘Raven said that’. Not that it was possible to escape hearing about Raven in any conversation with Elsie, even when he hadn’t spoken in several days.

It got to the point where everyone in the compound was fed up with hearing about Raven, and they started to greet him with a touch of derision, which he did notice. The other Warriors teased him about how he was choosing them kind of young these days. Dawn and Alicia were more direct and suggested he should try to slow Elsie down a bit. Finally Tasha caught wind of what was going on, and she told him if he didn’t take care of it, she would.

Mostly though, everyone was sick of both Elsie and Raven. One day Elsie came up with a great new plan to bring herself and Raven closer together. She went up and told Tasha she wasn’t feeling safe with the two Sheriff Bobs guarding her on her frequent outings into Central Park, and probably only Raven could do the job.

Tasha was quick to jump on that.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” she replied joyfully. “Take him whenever you need him”.

“What?” Raven said, never expecting Tasha to agree and caught completely off guard. Unbecoming to a Warrior, his eyes were wide with fear. He knew how to fight everything but twelve year old girls. “I have to train the Cadets”.

“Jerome can do that,” Tasha easily waved off Raven’s concern.

“But’”.

“But. But. Go. Elsie, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you can set up a daily thing where you and Raven represent the compound out there. Mingle with the people. Make sure supplies are getting to where they’re supposed to. Things like that”.

It will be a lot of work though,” Tasha continued unmercifully. You’d have to put up with Raven for, I don’t know...eight hours a day,” she said, looking at the others who all nodded their agreement.

“Oh, I can put up with him!” was Elsie’s enthusiastic reply, which set off everyone but Raven grinning.

The thing was, everyone was quite busy at the time and found things went a lot quicker when Elsie was off doing other things. They had just hijacked a truck full of pliable perovskite solar cells, and were making suits for the Sheriff Bobs to wear when they were sent out into the Wasteland. Getting Sheriff Bobs to Ethan had become a priority since Tasha’s arrival and her informing them of the huge gang he planned to fight.

The Bobs required some rewiring to accommodate the suits, and while they were at it they converted the onboard microchip printers to print sim cards instead, so the Sheriff Bob’s could assimilate new recruits along the way. The work, including sewing the suits, was performed entirely by Sheriff Bobs. When they were finished and ready to join Ethan, they looked much like festival goers heading off to a rave, not a battle. Their suits, and matching caps, were iridescent in the sun. They even carried what looked to be glam kits, but were actually portable generators, also recently hijacked from the Consortium.

The Sheriff Bob’s were becoming self-sufficient with AI efficiency. No information was lost, and more and more gained every day. They were all connected to Alicia’s AI network, and as one, were absorbing every bit of data that came from each of them.

The Sheriff Bob’s were becoming more and more independent. It was them who hacked into wifi satellites to ensure they were never disconnected from each other. They were making and acting on conscious decisions. Alicia’s AI now had eyes, ears and limbs.

The Sheriff Bob’s were leaving the compound by the thousands, most often sending those they assimilated back for retrofitting, but if there was a Consortium with the needed materials closer than home base, they set up shop there. The only defense was other Sheriff Bobs which they easily assimilated. It was at these outposts where it was rumored AI was not only retrofitting Sheriff Bob’s, they were building new and more capable ones. In a very short time, thousands and thousands of Sheriff Bob’s were heading towards Kansas. In fact, they had already arrived by the thousands, and were maintaining an observer status until Ethan arrived. They always stayed outside of detection. Even with their iridescent suits, the gang was not aware they were there.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Are you going to go back and help him when the time comes?” Tara asked Tasha.

“I don’t know. I suppose I will, but he really does deserve a good spanking. He’s creating all this fuss when it could have been avoided entirely simply by confronting the Dragon. I can’t even begin to guess how many Dark Angels are out there by now”.

How many can there be? Dawn asked. “I was under the impression you killed most of them in your last battle”.

“No. In this world, Angels fall as easily as humans. There could be hundreds of thousands of them out there by now. They’re a bastard to kill too,” Tasha replied. “He’s giving the Dragon time to build up his defenses, and something Ethan doesn’t seem aware of is if there are more souls who wear the Mark than those who don’t, Ethan will lose this battle. I doubt the Creator will allow this world to exist if he loses”.

The very next day, Elsie with Raven, began her new role as supply inspector. If you thought she couldn’t look more prideful than she had two Sheriff Bobs following her around the Park. The problem was, she was at the age where she wasn’t adverse to flaunting her advantages, all gentilly of course, which was her nature. She had nicer clothes than her friends, and of course, each and every one of them coveted her living in the compound.

How could she not see herself as a Princess, when she was being everything she had imagined herself to be, while a lonely wretch in the backstreets of New York. Always embracing a theatrical flair, she started speaking like she figured princesses must, which was a blend between a Victorian debutante and southern belle.

“Raven, my dear,” she’d say. “I’m simply famished. Would you be so kind as to fetch me some deep fried cheese sticks and a cherry float”?

Raven was torn between obeying Tasha, who was capable of making his life worse than any Dragon, and flying away and hiding forever. At first he tolerated Elsie’s little game, but he quickly grew weary of it when she started ordering around and generally bullying her friends. This was becoming more and more frequent, because they spent a considerable amount of time with her friends, and very little time as a supply inspector . She much more enjoyed showing off Raven and lording over everyone, than managing supply chains.

One day a little boy, not much more than five or six, homeless like the rest and being raised by the other kids, took to Raven and started to climb up onto his lap.

“Don’t do that!” Elsie screamed. “He’s mine”.

Raven stood up, and purposefully picked the boy up and rested him in his arm. “What did you just say”?

“Well, you know,” Elsie replied, immediately realizing she had gone too far. “I just meant you’re not a toy. You’re here on business”.

“Since we’ve been coming here,” Raven replied. “You have been nothing short of mean spirited towards these children; the very ones who were there for you when you needed them. I am embarrassed to be in your company”.

Short and sweet. The Warrior way. Nothing could have hit home harder. Elsie looked around at all her friends, who were all staring at her. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Raven. Tears started to run from her eyes, and she ran off to a secluded corner, alone but still within the group. She sat down and had a full out cry, her back to everyone, too embarrassed to look at them.

Raven sat back down, turning his attention to the boy, and trying to find a spot to poke him in the belly. The boy quickly caught on to the game, and was soon laughing and grabbing at Raven’s offending finger. Raven looked over at Elsie, giving her time to work through her hurt. She took the better part of the afternoon.

At first Elsie just cried at the hurt. Then she started to think about what had been said, and how it came from the last person she wanted to hear it from. A jolt of guilt ran through her, because she knew it to be true. She was becoming an uncaring jerk.

Fortunately, her fertile imagination intervened and she started thinking about the tragedy of the whole thing. A fallen woman, whose love had been lost before it had a chance to begin. Soon she was imagining her and Raven in a meadow, her head resting on his lap as he smiled down on her with his loving eyes, and how that would never happen now. Not anymore. Like before Ethan came into her life, a forlorn life alone and without love waited for her.

How unfair life can be! All she ever wanted for at least 3 weeks now, was for her and Raven to walk off into the sunset hand in hand. Now all was lost and she was destined to die a lonely spinster, probably up in an abandoned tower somewhere. She had loved and she had lost, but she would not lose her dignity as well as the opportunity to play the jilted heroine. It was time to go back to Raven and her friends and ask their forgiveness.

Raven was relieved to see Elsie return. She took a long time to work through things.

“Everyone,” Elsie said stoically in the way she believed a woman would conduct herself under such circumstances. “My behavior towards you has been atrocious, and I beg you all to forgive me. If any of you have a knife handy, perhaps you will plunge it into my heart, for that is what I deserve. Abandon me, for I have abandoned you. Who could blame you for casting me off to a life of wretched loneliness”.

All of Elsie’s friends gathered around to hear her apology, and in her estimation, were impressed by it, so she figured she’d string it out a little longer.

“Take me out and drop me in the ocean where sharks will circle me and rip away my limbs, one by one. Put me in the desert without water, and...”

“Alright, Elsie,” Raven interrupted. “I think everyone understands the depths of your sorrow by now. Come. We should be heading home”.

Elsie walked up to Raven who was still seated. This time with all sincerity. “Please don’t leave me Raven,” she said, starting to cry, and not just a little.

“What?” Raven replied, a flash of understanding and hurt because of it coming to his eyes. He stood and hugged her. “Elsie, you’re part of our family. Family never leaves family...ever. Come on. Let’s go home”.