[OOC: This thread contains images and descriptions of extreme sadism and violence, some of a sexual nature. If this bothers you, or you are not legally allowed to view this material, please exit the thread now.]

A Girl Like You blared over the barren landscape with a churlish disregard for other’s listening preferences. The few animals around to hear it didn’t mind; nor did the undead skittering around the area. But for the women who heard it, it was a terrible, cruel irony.

A circle men stood in a ragged circle around a hunched form. Blood-slicked bats pounded with disjointed rhythm into the downed form, occasionally earning themselves a grunt or a moan. The form had probably been human when they started. Now, it was a twisted, bloodied form – but even as they stared at it, it moved again, air hissing into and out of bruised lungs.

“Leave off, boys,” a new voice said. The men stood back, giving room for the watcher to join them. Grinning, he knelt next to the broken body. “Good girl,” he whispered, then moved behind her and opened his pants. The previous attackers now because the watchers as Hornsbeck did what he did best – destroyed the self-worth of a living being.



The super-powered members of Fox’s Refuge gathered for a important meeting. It was time, it had been decided, for them to move on the prison. Now, the only question was what was the best way to do it while minimizing losses to their side and maximizing losses to their side.

She couldn't stop the moans and groans that escaped her as bones withdrew beneath the skin, flesh knitting back together with a maddening itch, bones mending with audible pops. Her breath rasped as her body fought for life once more - how she wished it would give up already.

Once, she had been strong, strong enough to bear anything, but she wasn't strong enough to bear this. If she wasn't though, something worst would happen, something bad always happened when she wasn't strong enough. But it was hard to remember what - she had been too long in Paradise.

... Ashley... She wasn't sure if she whispered the name or only thought it, a vague image of a face flashing before her eyes.

"Good girl," Master whispered in her ear, and she felt bile rise up her throat (or maybe it was only blood) even as her body betrayed her and flushed with unwelcomed pleasure at the compliment.

Once, she had had a name, but she had hidden it away so Master couldn't steal it, but she was afraid she had hidden it so well, she wouldn't be able to find it again. She was finding it easier just to respond to 'girl' or 'bitch' or 'whore' or 'slut' or all the other names.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Master move behind her, then heard the sound of his zipper. Immediately, she went to her hands and knees, then barely caught herself from smashing her face into the ground as one damaged arm refused to support her weight. A spasm wracked her body as her ribs crackled back into place. She hastily went to pull down her denim cut-offs, but her hand slapped bare flesh - she forgot that she had lost her shorts earlier.

She cocked her head, listening intently for the hum of the cattle prod or the sound of the skinning knife leaving the sheath. She stifled a sigh of relief when she didn't hear them - that was a sure way to make him change his mind.

Her hands dug deeply into the dirt and gravel as she felt one of Master's hands grasp cruelly at one of her breasts, the other yanking back savagely on the short length of chain still attached to the metal collar welded around her neck. A shudder ran through her at the sound of the chain links jingling, Master chuckling at her distress before plunging into her all the way to the hilt with one brutal thrust.

She bit a lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from screaming as Master continued to take pleasure in her pain. Despite all the times she had been raped, she never got used it, it hurt now as much as the first time. It hurt worst even, though she wasn't sure how. One of her hands tightened around a small rock in the dirt, shattering it with a sharp crack.

Once, she had been stronger than anyone she knew and zombies couldn't even hurt her. It took a normal man to do that.

This time, she wouldn't scream, she wouldn't, she wouldn't, she would not...

She screamed.

Men laughed.

James had a room filling presence and he'd been thinking about how to do this for a while. Seeing how everyone seemed to be waiting for everyone else to start, James said,

"OK, let's get started. We're going to take out the prison. The way I see it our big problem is a lack of information. We don't know how many people are there. We don't know how many prisoners they have or where they are. We don't know if they have any supers running the show."

"One way to do this is to just wing it. Scout out a bit and then storm the place at 4am some morning. Fox warps us in to multiple spots, we run amok and hope for the best. It'd be bloody but it'd probably get the job done."

"Another is to scout for a while and take out any raiding party that they send out. The obvious problem is there's no telling how long it'd take."

"My preferred solution is easier. We need someone on the inside who knows what is going on, so let's get someone. I'd like to approach the prison and try to buy one or two of their slaves. I could trade alcohol, gold, canned food, and/or a pair of generators. Hopefully we'd end up with someone who could tell us a lot more about what's going on."

Dan nods. The only problem there is that what if they decide to take it all from you, including your life. Then you're forced to reveal the truth to them." I'd say we amend that to include keeping several of us onsite as well, discreetly, just in case. You and I could take my Humvee, along with whatever supplies needed. Or you and fox could take it, and I could bring the others on the sled while it's dark."

Jasmine shook her head, looking tense.

"Okay, everybody, wait. First of all, why don't we get a good summary of what we already know? After all, we already know someone from the inside. What has Jules been able to tell us? We should all know that before we start making plans."

"Agreed." If Jas seemed tense, Bond was calmly collected, even slightly insouciant to the casual eye as he sat with his feet up on a chair in front of him. He smiled broadly at James. "I do like the inside-man idea, though. I also think it will need a few days, maybe even a week of patience in order to be fully effective. But Jasmine is right: we should examine all the intelligence at our disposal."

He appeared to be done with his two cents worth, then shifted in his seat as another thought occured to him. "I also think that whoever we choose as a point-man, or woman, should be able to pass for a mere mortal. Not just because some of them might have seen a 'super' before, but even if they just think of you as an imposing presence they'll put you on their threat-radar immediately." His pale blue eyes sparkled at the gathering as he smiled.

James considered, *He means himself as inside man. Let's hope he's kidding about the 'inside-woman'. No way am I sending any of mine... right, it's just Jo now. ... That's a different problem. Jill and V don't deserve that prison.*

*Could I pass as normal? Muscles that were unusual even before the plague. I don't know, maybe if I stop burning off my facial hair and wear something that makes me just look heavy.*

*...I've never even thought about trying to pass before now.*

Fox listened to the discussions then added, "I'm good with the inside man idea. The problem is, to be effective the inside man needs to be me. I'm the one that can make the gateways, so to be aimed properly I need to have seen the place I want to go. I can do it without going there first, but that's way harder and I don't always end up where I want to be that way." He thought for a minute then said, "I suppose I could scout the place out at night from the air and pick places on the roofs to open the gates or in open spaces that I could see into, then whoever gets inside could report to me the best places to go that I can get to."

"Keep in mind that we need to hit them as strategically as possible. That means taking out any leaders or threats first."

Myfwany spoke up then.

"I can tell which of them has powers, most likely," she said. "But I will have to be able to see them first. It may not be a hundred percent...if they're not using any abilities, I can't always tell...but it seems like most people with powers are constantly using them to boost themselves one way or another, most of the time."

James said, "Morgan, if we lose you we lose both transportation and the head of our civilization. Either of those makes you too important to be on the front line."