The wicked grin lit the faces of my family and I knew what wasing. We had found the first family to escape this ce. Arnold and his Brothers would not be ves to the women once we were done with them.


    We wanted Arnold’s family to be ready for the world beyond the mountains. We spent the next moon surreptitiously passing them information. I was restless and anxious the whole time we trained the men to leave. The root became a constant in my diet. Damien even went to the trouble of having the fizzy drink made again. I took it twice a day as I had before and it controlled the constant rolling in my stomach.


    The decision about how and when to leave would be made by Hannah’s Elder Women and the orders left for us on the pad Kennedy had given me. Hannah would send us the messages pertinent to this escape. I cringed the day she sent the instructions and the n.


    Arnold’s family was to go on their patrol as usual. Once they were at a certain point, they should wait. Men would approach them and say Hannah’s name. The Warriors were instructed to do as the new men told them.


    When Arnold’s family disappeared it sent the General into a rage. The men Damien chose were powerful Warriors. It wasn’t clear what had happened to them. Thepound was on lockdown for five day cycles after they disappeared. Damien assumed the women were scouring the desert looking for them.


    I worried that we would be caught, but the Brothers did not think so. My men had been cautious to only speak to Arnold’s family in ces where it would not be obvious. When they patrolled the road, those men met them and they talked. Very rarely did we see them at the bathhouse or in our rooms. The goal was that the women would never realize it was Damien who had set them up to leave.


    Kennedy’s pad was a constant in the house. The one I had previously used from the Keepers was left there permanently. I never brought it home anymore. I sent messages to my daughters and every so often received one back. They were busy and I relished the littlemunications.


    We were rarely able to use the pad like a videophone. When the girls were in the mountains, which was normal, it would not work. They had to be at a ce this side of the mountains to contact my pad that way. It was always marvelous when one of those times urred and I was able to talk to them. But, I still loved to get the little notes from my girls. It made it possible for me to survive the not seeing them all this time.


    It was a surprise as I wrote a note to Kennedy one evening that the pad shed up at me. There was a new message from Hannah. I called excitedly to Damien as I called it up.


    The message wasn’t really from Hannah, but it was under her ount. The message was written in Paterian and it was from Arnold and his Brothers. They had escaped and were now living in a free society beyond the mountains. Hannah had allowed them ess to the way she contacted me so they could thank Damien.


    Arnold and his Brothers were amazed at the new life. There was so much they didn’t know and so many new things they had to do. It made the regimented life at thepound seem easy inparison.


    There were things they had to do now they’d taken for granted in thepound. They had to help grow their own food or assist in trapping it every day. Water was not piped in like it had been at thepound. They were helping to install that system. Creatures attacked the settlement if they saw an opportunity, so everyone had to be vignt. Women patrolled and stood guard as did the men, but it was still a dangerous existence.


    “Still, we are pleased,” Arnold wrote. “We are free men here. When we wish to be with a female we find willing partners. If we do not wish their attention, they leave us be. It is harder work just living, but we would not trade it. We are free, cousins, and we thank you.”N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    Damien and his Brothers re-read the message several times. Each of them read it themselves and they passed the pad around looking at it. It was obvious what they felt, pride. After all this time, they had finally saved a family from the women.


    “Tyle and his family use the des now,” Bane said holding the pad. “Soon they will start to be sent on patrols.”


    Kein grinned widely and pped his Brother on the shoulder. “He’ll be ready to go soon, Brother. Hannah said they just needed some experience fighting first.”


    We were happy, very happy. Their feelingssted through the day and beyond. Arnold’s sess spurred them to want to do more. Me, I just wanted to rest.


    I was just tired of feeling constantly ill. I was just so exhausted all the time. I began to wonder if it was that fizzy drink. Often after my afternoon swim I napped on the beach. It was ridiculous how much sleep I seemed to be needing.


    My clothing was tighter also, it was especially noticeable in the pants the men dressed me in at night to train. They could barely do theces up one night and I stood staring down at my stomach. The subtle, soft bulge I always had was more prominent. I ced a hand over it and felt how firm it was. A subtle flutter in the center of the mass confirmed my suspicion.


    When my eyes met Damien’s I became anxious. I was exhausted and fat because I was pregnant again. My menses hadn’t stopped because of some chemical they gave me. It had happened again!


    This wasn’t the ce to scream and cry, we were in the training stadium for the young boys. Damien wouldn’t let me look away from him, though.


    My family could see something was very wrong and Damien leaned close.


    “Tell me,” he demanded.


    My lips brushed his ear as I spoke. I told him I thought I must be pregnant again. I was so tired and I seemed to be gaining weight in my stomach. It wasn’t clear to me how this had happened.


    Damien pulled back to look in my eyes. I saw his happy smile as relief spread across his face.


    “There is more family, then?” Kein said happily grinning at me from the side.


    The reaction confused me. They’d said Nu-reeh did not want children from me right now. I nodded and stared dumbly from one man to the other. They all looked thrilled.


    “You said she didn’t want more babies right now…” I trailed off.


    “Perhaps not,” Bane grinned, “but she neglected to give you the shot. We thought it would be less traumatic for you if this just happened naturally. More family is not a bad thing, even if Nu-reeh does not want them. We are pleased to have another member and the breeding was not stressful.”


    Fatigue left my body and rage took its ce. They had no right to do this to me! Of course it would be asked eventually, but I longed to put off the pain of separating from another child. I was shaking I was so angry at them. For the first time in a long time I wanted to really hurt them!