Recaptured

Author's note: This is the sequel to 'Captured.' It is recommended, though not necessary, that you read that story first, as it provides some background.

"Val, come in here."

She was in trouble again. Not that she didn't know her parents would find out, but she had hoped she would have a short reprieve between when she got home and when the news got there. The messenger must have sprinted from the scene of her latest crime to tattle on her.

"Damn busybodies," she thought. Everyone in the city knew her and treated her like she was their wayward child. The looks she got from people every day, even from those she had never met said, "We're so disappointed in you." Even as Val thought this, she realized that it really wasn't everybody, it was mostly just the women. Many men had been giving her very different looks lately.

Valerie put on her most sullen face and went into the living room to face her parents.

"Valerie, why? Why do you need to torture that poor boy? We hear you might have broken one of his ribs this time." Evan looked exasperated.

Liv joined in from there, "He's such a sweet boy and you just keep beating the shi . . . um, crap out of him."

Valerie picked up on the tiny smile that tugged at the corners of her mom's mouth. Mom could never quite hide it, and the truth was, that was part of why Valerie did some of the things she did. Getting approval from mom's hidden inner warrior was a powerful thing. Those fleeting glimpses of pride spoke louder to Val than mom's disapproving words.

"Explain to me what Brian did to deserve a beating," Liv demanded.

"But we were just sparring, it was just for fun."

"That's not how I heard it. I heard the poor boy was on the ground and bleeding and you wouldn't stop," Evan's voice raised as he became more frustrated.

"Daddy, you don't understand. Nobody understands. Brian is so annoying. He teases me constantly. He said something mean and he wouldn't take it back. All he had to do is fucking take it back and I wouldn't have kicked the shit out of him."

"Valerie Marie, you watch your language . . . and it is totally unacceptable for you to go around kicking the crap out of all the boys. You need to have some patience. Brian teases you because he likes you. Don't you understand? Considering all the other boys are terrified of you, I would think you wouldn't try so hard to turn him away too."

Evan breathed a big sigh and continued in a softer voice, "In three days you will be of age. The boys should be vying for your hand, but that's not going to happen if they are all afraid of you."

Valerie's blood boiled. She felt a tirade building and couldn't stop it. "That's what it always comes back to! You and everyone in this fucking city can't wait for me to start making fucking babies! 'Oh Valerie's got to save the human race by making as many fucking babies as possible.' What if that's not what I want? What if I don't want to be a fucking breeding mare? I was meant to be more than that. You realize I know what those tattoos on mom's wrists mean, don't you? I am the daughter of 'Liviana the warrior', a cold-blooded killer. How can you judge me for beating up a couple of kids on the playground, when she has killed dozens of men?"

Valerie's emotions overwhelmed her and she ran to her room, slammed the door and flung herself on the bed. She buried her face in a pillow and sobbed bitterly. She knew she had stepped way out of line. She had never addressed her mom's past so directly before and she knew her words had cut deep. Mom was proud of her own physical ability and still enjoyed exercising her fighting skills, but she was deeply remorseful of the indiscriminate brutality she had committed as a member of the Black Widows.

Val wasn't sure what she wanted, but she always felt rage build in her when she thought someone else was trying to tell her what she should want. That meant a lot of anger when it seemed like everyone she met had the same vision of what she was supposed to be. It seemed like society had decided on her future before she was even born.

Three days . . . in three days she would go from being the oldest child in the world to the youngest adult in the world. The closest adult to her age that Val had ever met was her own mother, who was now 43.

For twenty years following the viral apocalypse, no children had been born to the human race. The virus had killed 80 percent of humanity and rendered the survivors sterile. A medical breakthrough made procreation possible again and may have rescued humans from extinction. Val had been the very first child born as a result of the new fertility treatments.

The jury was still out as to whether extinction of the human race had been averted, because the birthrate was still so precariously low and dropping off precipitously as most of the remaining adult women passed beyond child bearing age.

The city of Munroe was the only place in the world administering this treatment to the general public, severely limiting access to a tiny fraction of the world population. With all mechanized transportation now a distant memory, it seemed virtually guaranteed that the human race would die off everywhere except eastern North America. As it was, people flocked to the city to receive the treatment, with declining success, and the production capacity for the drugs was unable to keep up with the demand.

Several attempts to export the technology to other settlements had failed. Two factors had plagued these attempts.

The first issue was the technical challenge of producing the drugs. The manufacturing process was complicated. Once produced, the drugs were highly unstable, had a short shelf life and needed to be kept in specific conditions. That meant sophisticated lab facilities and skilled personnel were required. Building such facilities from scratch was unrealistic with the state that technology had degraded to. The only possibility was to find former medical or pharmaceutical facilities that had not been too compromised by the ravages of time and looting.

The other issue was one of security. The majority of the world beyond the city walls of Munroe remained lawless and barbaric, which made starting up any new settlement risky. Any fledgling settlement was a target for violent marauders. One that promised to contain miracle drugs and fertile women was a particularly attractive target.

The origin of the fertility treatments was actually a settlement 500 miles to the north. Davisville had been a closed and secretive settlement ruled by an oppressive regime. Evan and Liv had led a daring exodus from Davisville that brought the treatment to the abandoned pharmaceutical plant that ultimately formed the basis of the settlement of Munroe. Val had grown up hearing the legends of her parents' heroics during that exodus.

Rumors were that Davisville had later collapsed due to an internal revolt and subsequent waves of marauders. The fate of the few children that had been born to that settlement was unknown.

What nobody in Munroe knew was whether the children born of the treatment would need the same medical assistance when it became their turn to procreate. Most of the scientific community believed that it would not be necessary, but no one had proven it yet. This was the key factor in determining whether the human race would truly recover.

Thus it was that the entire Munroe settlement was eagerly awaiting the coming of age of Val and the other children. Val would be the first to reach the legal age of 18. Six other children had been born in the same year, the next oldest being Brian, who was born three months after Val.

Val heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Go away," she said without much conviction.

"Honey, we need to talk," came Liv's reply.

Val didn't answer, but a few moments later, she heard the bedroom door open and felt the mattress move as her mother sat down beside her. Val didn't trust herself to look at her mother yet.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I shouldn't have said those things."

"Val, you know I am not proud of the horrible things I did as a gang member," Liv said in a choked up voice.

Val turned to look at her mother in surprise; she had never seen her mother cry. Liv was the toughest person she knew.

"I couldn't quite tell from your outburst if you condemn me or envy me for my dark past."

"I don't know, mom, maybe a little of both. It's not like I want to go out and kill people, but I want to do things with my life besides just making babies. "

"You understand that coming of age just means you can make your own choices. No one can force you to be a mother until you are ready. That's the reason those laws were enacted; to protect your rights. Early on, there were people who advocated that you children be forced to breed as soon as you were biologically able 'for the good of the human race.' Thank god cooler heads prevailed."

Val contemplated this a moment, then said, "Mom, I want to see the world. I want some adventure and excitement."

"Valerie, look at me." Val looked her in the eye and recognized her mother was deeply troubled.

"This is really important. The world outside this city is brutal. If you leave this city you will likely be dead within a week. You say you want adventure, but you don't realize what you are wishing for. I'm begging you, don't do anything stupid."

After sulking in her room a few hours, Val came back out and announced she was going for a walk.

"Gonna go beat someone else up?" called Connor from his bedroom.

"Shut up or you'll be next," shot back Val.

"Val, don't threaten your brother . . . and Connor, stop provoking your sister." Evan knew even as he said it that his parental demands would go unheeded. He had repeated them much too often for them to have any effect.

Valerie headed down the street and out of the neighborhood. She turned toward the beach. She always found the sound of crashing surf and the smell of the salt air to be soothing.

Her route took her past a corner saloon. On this warm June evening, the patrons had spilled out onto the outdoor patio. She ignored the catcalls that came her way as she passed. She had gotten used to them. Still, when she stole a glance back and realized two men had left the bar and were now tailing her at a distance, she began to get annoyed. Perhaps this walk was a bad idea.

Val reached the beach and walked out onto the jetty. She sat on a large boulder and watched the surf crashing in. Further out on the jetty, a man was fishing. She saw him glance back at her and do a double-take. He slowly began working back toward her.

The other two men who had tailed her from the bar wandered along the beach, trying to act nonchalant as they each planned their next move. Val felt the anger that never seemed too far from the surface rising in her. She knew exactly what was happening and was sick of it.

When Val had just entered her teens, she reveled in the attention she received from so many men in the settlement. They all seemed so protective and friendly. It wasn't till she was about 16 that she started to realize some of that attention was not entirely innocent. Given how watched over and important the children in the settlement were, no man would dare violate the laws that had been established and actually try to touch her, but that didn't entirely eliminate their attention.

With none of the boys reaching the age of consent until three months after her, up until recently Val had assumed she had until then to worry about warding off advances of serious suitors. In the past few months, a great many older men had made it clear that they intended to vie for her affections the moment she was no longer forbidden fruit. The way they saw it, they had a three month window of opportunity before the boys her age could even be part of the competition.

She found the whole thing disgusting. Men three times her age would approach her, sometimes a dozen in a day to convince her of the advantages of an older man. Some were still holding out hope to father children, others were simply enamored of the beauty of youth. It didn't help that Val had inherited her mother's strikingly beauty.

"Hi beautiful," said the fisherman.

"Do I know you?" Val asked coldly.

"No, Valerie, but I know who you are. Forgive me for being so forward, but . . ."

"No, I will not forgive you. I'm tired of all you old men sniffing around just because I'm turning legal in three days. I'm not interested." Valerie then raised her voice so the other two men could hear, "That goes for you two as well. I'M NOT INTERESTED, SO FUCK OFF!"

An old woman was walking along the beach with her dog. Recognizing the situation, she spoke up in defense of Val, "You men should be ashamed of yourselves. Leave her alone. You are too old for her. She needs to pick out a young man her own age."

The old woman turned to Val, "Don't mind those idiots, have you got your eye on a nice boy yet? My vote is with young Brian."

Val's temper boiled over again. "STOP IT! You're not helping things either!" Val stood up and stormed off. She actually found the old woman's inquiry just as annoying as the attention of the men. This city was unbearable. It felt like everyone was conspiring against her wishes and no one was willing to leave her alone.

Despite her mother's fears, a plan began to form in Val's mind. In three days' time, she would leave the city. She would be a legal adult then, so no one could stop her. She would seek her fortune and adventure. Someday she would return as a great warrior and then maybe she would settle down to domestic life. So her parents didn't think she could take care of herself? She would show them they were wrong.

The morning of her 18th birthday, Valerie got up before dawn and got dressed. She slipped a dozen throwing knives into the slots for that purpose in her leather vest. She strapped short swords in scabbards to either hip. She packed a bag with other survival essentials: a blanket, a jacket, some spare clothes, wire for snares, a flint, fishing hooks and line, a coil of braided cordage, a tin cup, a water canteen, venison jerky and a few odds and ends that she thought might be useful for barter. She grabbed her favorite staff and crept out of the house as quietly as she could.

As she approached the edge of the neighborhood, she heard her name. Her heart sank. She thought she had gotten away without anyone noticing. She turned to see that it was Connor.

"Wait up!" he called as he sprinted toward her.

Val thought about trying to outrun him, but decided she needed to somehow stall him from telling their parents. She stopped and waited for her little brother.

"Where are you going?" he panted.

"Walk with me and you will find out." Val figured the further she led Connor from the house before he turned back, the more time she would have to make her escape.

Connor looked at her, taking in the swords at her sides, the staff and the bag. There really weren't many explanations that fit. His eyes grew wide. "You're running away!"

"No Connor, as of today, I'm of legal age. I don't need to run away, I can go where I want. I'm just leaving."

"You can't!"

"Yes I can and I'm doing it."

Connor burst into tears. "No . . . no you can't. It's too dangerous. You'll die! I've heard the stories of what it's like in the wild, you won't survive."

"I can take care of myself. I'm a good hunter and a kick-ass fighter."

"Val, I won't let you go."

"How are you going to stop me?" As she talked, Val picked up the pace, building distance from the house.

"Val . . . is it me? I know I annoy you a lot. I'll be nicer! I'll never tease you again! I'll do anything! Please just stay. I love you! I need my big sister!" Connor flung his arms around Val and bawled. She hadn't seen him cry in years.

Valerie couldn't help it, she started crying too. She really was going to miss him . . . and Mom and Dad, too. "No Connor, it's not you. It's not Mom or Dad either. I love you all. It's everybody else. They are all pressuring me to start making babies right away. I just can't do that. I'm not ready."

She pulled away from him and started jogging toward the nearest city gate. Connor ran to catch up again, then stopped in his tracks. "Val, I have no choice. I'm going back to tell Mom and Dad. They will stop you."

"Do what you need to, but they can't legally stop me either."

"Wait!"

Val stopped one more time. Connor sprinted up and gave her a final hug, then ran for home.

Val ran the rest of the way to the gate, arriving out of breath.

The guard addressed her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving."

"You can't do that. I can't let you."

"Yes you can. Actually, you have to."

"Don't you understand? You kids are the most important people in this city, perhaps in the world. I can't let you just wander out the gate into the wilderness to get killed."

"So you know who I am?"

"Yes, you're Valerie, first born of this city"

"Then I'm sure you also know that I'm of legal age today."

"Yes."

"And what do the laws of this city say about citizens who are of age?"

The guard looked miserable as he answered, "They are free to pass to and from the city at will."

"Exactly."

"Please don't . . ." Val was stunned when the guard began to tear up.

She turned and ran through the gate. If she didn't leave now, all these tears would make her change her mind.

About 100 yards down the road, she turned to the right and plunged into the dense forest. She relaxed as she entered the cool shadows. She knew this area, as her dad had taught her to hunt here. It was relatively safe, this close to the city.

Val had no specific goal on this expedition, other than to escape the pressures of her life. She decided to follow the highway north. She had often been told of a small trading outpost about 200 miles north of Munroe. It had been variously described as colorful and exotic, as well as rough and lawless. For lack of a better destination, she decided to head there.

Val traveled quietly through the forest parallel to the highway. She knew better than to walk on the road as a solitary traveler, it was much too dangerous.

She ran across some blueberry bushes around mid-morning and filled up on the sweet berries. She reached a stream a couple of hours later. Hearing a rush of water coming from upstream, she decided to explore the source. Around the next bend, the stream opened up to a large pool and at the far end, a spectacular waterfall cascaded into it.

Valerie sat down on a moss covered log and just admired the beauty of the setting. Eventually she was stirred by hunger. Turning over a few stones on the river bank, she found several worms to use as bait. It didn't take long to pull a pair of fat brook trout from the pool.

Val decided to chance a small fire to cook the fish. Later, her stomach full, she stretched out in the warm sunshine. After years of being watched over by meddlesome citizens, Val felt wild and free.

She stripped naked and jumped in the cold water. In a few minutes she was chilled and climbed back out on the warm rocks. As the warmth seeped back into her, she idly stroked her bare skin. She noticed how hard her nipples were, jutting proudly from her small breasts. She pinched them gently, sending little chills down her spine.

She felt naughty being naked and touching herself in the open in broad daylight, something she would never be able to do in the city. "What the hell, why not?" she thought and let her hand drift down to the warm, wet place between her legs. At first she stroked lightly over the lips, encouraging them to slowly open. As her passion built, she rubbed her nub with two fingers, faster and faster. Soon she was writhing and moaning in pleasure, then came to a shuddering climax.