Kennedy & the Yautja

Chapter 10 - Memphis

Many years had passed since Kennedy had walked the main road that took her home. The last time she had traversed it, she had been running for her life. Not much had changed over the years. Minus the once clear, wide paved street that was now cracked and crumbling with weeds rising high, it was virtually the same.

Every step closer raised Kennedy's anxiety. Beside her, Vah'keil kept a watchful eye out for any Rebels and Zekes. Her tall companion had been quiet ever since they exited the train ten miles back. The memory of the amazing sex they had on the train lived on between her legs. Vah'keil had been the best lover she'd had. Thinking of the many rounds they went helped her push aside the many emotions roiling in her chest.

She remembered how the alien man had thoroughly explored her body and showed the true extent of his stamina. The Yautja had been surprisingly gentle, though. Not once had he injured her, not even with his claws. There were a few times when he shredded the sheets instead of her skin in the wake of yet another powerful orgasm.

The people on the train hadn't said a word, choosing to be discreet, when she left the train with wild hair and disheveled clothing. Surely they had heard them, right? Kennedy had been very vocal. She hadn't exactly been discreet herself.

Pretty soon they crested the hill they were walking up, and Wolfchase emerged like a rotting humpbacked beetle. The massive structure was partially rotting, with parts of its walls having long caved in from neglect and age. It had once been a well-maintained shopping mall before being abandoned and then fixed up to serve as a safe, fortified colony. Compared to the last time she saw it...it was in bad condition. No repairs or maintenance had been done. This could only mean bad things.

Kennedy's heart raced as she picked up her pace. She jumped over the broken concrete of the endless parking lot, shoving aside the towering weeds, her feet pushing her into a run. Her feet pounded the pavement in her pursuit. Gone were her worries about any Zekes or Rebels. Going home was important.

The entrance her colony had used for so many years appeared, and Kennedy shoved her way through it. The glass doors flew open, scattering dust and fallen leaves. Inside, it was dim and dark, with only the light from the skylight guiding her way to the heart of the mall.

She had entered on the lower level, beside a rotting escalator and an old shoe store. The once pristine tiled floor was now broken in places; much of it was dirty with dust and age. Each of the stores that had been converted to apartments were empty and barren. Garbage and broken equipment scattered the causeway.

Nothing was as it should have been.

Tears brimmed in Kennedy's eyes seeing her former home in such a state.

That fire had also done a great deal of damage to the units closer to the heart of the mall. Ash coated the blackened windows, and wood sat crumbling in long-burned-out piles everywhere she looked. It was when she arrived at the central atrium, the heart of the structure, that she fell to her knees in horror.

Hanging from the girders were long nooses. Some still held up a skeleton, while others had long fallen to the floor in the middle. Hundreds of decayed and fraying ropes decorated the iron girders high above. Rotting clothing clung to some of the hanging skeletons. A large dried pool of decay stained the once decorative tiled floor and fallen bones. Centered in all of it was the biggest Rebel flag she had ever seen. It dominated the central space. The symbol of the group that had ruined her life and murdered her people hung there, the edges ragged with age.

Kennedy sobbed as she observed the area around her. Old skeletons littered the floor by the dozens. In horror, she realized that she knelt before a child-sized skeleton; a partially decayed stuffed animal sat only a couple of inches away.

Her worst fears had been true all along. Everyone she had known was dead. The Rebels had killed everyone and left nothing behind but ashes and misery.

The hope that she had tried to maintain—that dream that everything would be okay—had been nothing but an impossibility. All along, there had been nothing to come back to. They were all gone. Dead. Everyone and everything. Evil had triumphed.

It was at that moment that something cracked deep inside Kennedy.

A raging inferno sparked to life, giving her the strength to rise to her feet. She ignored Vah'keil as he stood off to the side, taking in the horror before them.

"Kennedy, I am sorry," he softly cooed.

"I should have known," Kennedy scoffed. Her companion caressed her shoulder gently as she leaned into him. "There was never anything left to return to. At least I know now..." She wiped the tears from her eyes as she took a few steps away from the awful scene.

Vah'keil stood out in all of his red and black alien glory among the grays of the mall. His powerful body was relaxed but alert. It was his body language that told her he was surprised at the scene left behind. The Yautja slowly walked around the main space, kneeling to inspect various skeletons and broken equipment. Those long, black locs tinkled together with the quick motions of his head as he paced. Under the pale light of the skylight, the bands in his locs shone brightly.

Relying solely on her memory, she entered a small door beside the main double escalator. It was wide open; the chains that kept it closed were long gone. She took the immediate left, where she entered another room that had been hidden. One deafening kick later, she entered the room, where there were still hundreds of barrels of gasoline. They had been untouched.

It was just what she needed.

Sniffling quietly, she filled a jug with gasoline from a spigot on the side of a barrel. Being careful not to splash it on herself, she poured a trail from the room and back down the hall, where she continued into the atrium.

"You wish to destroy this place?" The Yautja asked as she doused the area in gasoline.

She nodded solemnly, "Yes. This is the sight of a massacre, and by burnin' it to the ground, I'll be free." The jug finally emptied with a final splash right in the middle, beneath where the evil flag hung. She dropped the container in a planter box with finality.

"Do you have a light?" Kennedy asked, looking up at her alien companion.

He grunted in affirmation. A strange gun-like object popped up from one of his gauntlets, and a flame burst out of it. His arm swept over the area nearest him. Immediately, the area burst into flames.