It was only when the lightning flashed that Grady could really see where he was going.  The oil lantern he carried lit his way enough so that he wouldn't trip over anything, but that was about all.  Strong winds, and an almost horizontal rain brought visibility down to nothing.

'This is stupid,' he thought, 'searching for someone in this is madness.'  Grady hoped that the woman he was looking for had the sense to find some shelter from the storm.  But then if she had any sense at all, she wouldn't have gone out in the first place.

Grady shifted the pack he carried until it was more comfortable for his shoulder, and then carried on.  He vowed to walk this trail to the end and then turn back.  He doubted that a simple woman, an outsider at that, could have gone much farther in this weather.

Another flash of lightning, and he could see the river up ahead.  It looked swollen. 'There was no way she would make it across that,' he thought.  He figured that if she came this way, then she had to be sheltering nearby.

Shawna swallowed some more water and struggled back onto her feet.  Her ankle just would not come free, and every move she made sent a wave of pain through her.  She was happy for the pain, for it kept her awake, the water was so cold that the rest of her body was almost numb.  Fighting the current, she stood up straight and got her head above the surface. She was shocked at how rapidly the water level rose, and was scared it would get even higher.

Through the rain, she saw something moving on the riverbank.  A point of light.  There was a flash of lightning and she saw the outline of a man.  Franticly, she started to scream and wave her arms!

Grady heard the scream and stopped walking.  With the sound of the storm raging around him, it was hard to tell where it came from.  More screams followed, and Grady peered into the darkness.

It was blind luck that he happened to be looking in exactly the right direction when the lightning flashed once more.  He saw, out in the river, what looked like a head and two waving arms.  He was unsure, though; it was only a brief glimpse, yet the screaming seemed to come from that direction.  Then the screaming stopped suddenly, and Grady realized he had to make a decision.  It was no choice at all.  He dropped his pack and lantern on the ground and quickly shed the waterproof cloak he wore, before wading into the river.

Another flash revealed nothing in the spot where he thought he'd seen something in before.  Then another flash revealed an arm still waving franticly.

Grady struggled against the current, not a swimmer himself, in an effort to quickly reach the spot.  His feet found only tenuous purchase on the rocky river bed, but his immense strength kept him from losing his footing.

It was pitch black, and he wasn't sure he was heading in the right direction at all, until he heard a half strangled scream to his right.  He changed direction and kept going, following with his ears the unmistakable sounds of someone thrashing in the water.

As he struggled through the chest-deep water, he suddenly began to wonder if this was how his wife had sounded just before she drowned.  Did she struggle like this, her desperate cries for help unheeded?

Cheryl had died alone, with no one to save her until it had been too late.

Was it happening again?

A wave of despair and anger flowed through Grady, almost crippling him with inaction, until he heard the woman's cry for help.  It spurred him on, images of his wife filling his head, and he pushed even harder through the water until he reached her limp body.

The woman's gyrations were feeble, she was about done; and Grady wondered if he was too late.  He grabbed her and pulled, but she cried out in pain, and seemed rooted to the spot.

"Foot...caught," she gasped.

Grady nodded and took a deep breath, plunging under the surface and running his hands down her legs.

The two slabs that held her foot were large, but Grady's time in the Smithy had given him great strength.  It only took him a few seconds with the right leverage to shift one of the stones, and Shawna almost floated free before he could grab her again.

"It's okay, Cheryl, I have you," he said.

Grady gripped the woman around her waist and started back for the shoreline.  The water was terribly cold, and he could feel his strength ebbing, but he was driven by more than his physical well-being.  His grief had overwhelmed his senses for the moment, and he truly believed he was saving his own wife.

Shawna inhaled water, and coughed, and struggled with the last of her strength to keep her head above the surface.  A part of her mind wondered why the man saving her had no idea how to handle a drowning victim, but it was a very tiny part.

The rest of her was fading in and out of consciousness as she struggled to survive.

It took a great effort for Grady to reach the riverbank, and an even bigger one for him to haul himself and the woman out of the water.  He dropped her and collapsed on the ground, shivering violently as the cold got to him.  The rain was still coming down though, and while Grady would admit he knew nothing much about saving people from drowning, he DID know that cold itself could kill.

It was too far to go to get back to the Compound; he knew he didn't have the strength and Cheryl...no, Shawna...he realized that now...Shawna might not have the time.  But there was shelter in the trees.

Grady rose to his feet and staggered to where he had put down the lantern and his pack.  Moving as quickly as he could, he found a tree with low lying branches and spread his cloak out under it.  The ground here was wet, but relatively sheltered from the rain, which was all he asked for.

He undid his pack and rolled out a sleep sack, the Compound's equivalent of a sleeping bag.  It was waterproof, and the insides were fur lined for comfort.  It would be their only dry spot.

After laying out a couple of other items, he made his way back through the rain to where he had left Shawna, and saw that she had passed out.  He could have used her help but it didn't really matter; he picked her up and carried her to their new shelter.  Under the branches, he took his knife and cut away her soaking wet dress, wondering as he did so why she wasn't wearing anything more to protect her from the rain.  He pulled off her loincloth, and used a dry rag from his pack to wipe her down as best he could before stuffing her into the sleep sack.  Then he stripped and wiped himself down in an effort to get as dry as possible before climbing in himself.

As he did so, he felt at war with himself.  Not since his wife died had he had such intimate contact with a woman; he hadn't expected to be skin to skin with another woman ever again!  Yet he knew this wasn't for romance, but for survival.

He knew that he was cold, but Shawna's body felt like ice.  Grady knew about hypothermia and was very concerned about Shawna succumbing to it.  He had to warm her up, and the only heat source he had was his own body, which was why the two of them had to be naked in the same sleep sack.

Grady slid into the sack behind her, spooning her.  Before closing the sack up, he pulled the empty pack over their heads to protect them some more from the rain.

There was now nothing left to do.

While Shawna was a small woman, Grady was a big man, and the sleep sack only had so much room.  He was squeezed up against the woman from his knees on up.  He tried to find a place to put his hands, and settled for wrapping one around her stomach, which gave him a bit more room to breath.  He was conscious of her breasts brushing his arm and tried to think of other things.

Cheryl and Grady used to have a very healthy sex life, and the loss of all that had just been one of the many things that had been hard for him.  But now was not the time to think of such things.  Especially since he and Shawna were not married.

Grady was a big believer in the Compound's rules of marriage before sex.

Grady could feel Shawna shivering though, and it seemed to him that she was having a bad dream or was in pain.  He didn't know about her condition or her withdrawals, and if he had, he would not have known what to do anyway.  He thought it might be her foot bothering her, and made a mental note to check it in the morning.

Right now, he was exhausted, and as the storm continued above them, he joined Shawna in a restless, haunted sleep.

---***---

The storm continued to intensify, and all the men returned to the Compound to wait it out.  Stumbling about in the wild without being able to see anything was NOT a survival trait.  There would be plenty of time to search once daylight broke.

Among the returnees was Matthew, and as he entered his apartment, he grinned.  Rhianna was nude and bound in a strict hogtie on the bed, with more cords keeping her centered where she wouldn't get into any trouble.

Matthew knew she was extremely pissed at him, and that eventually they would have a "discussion" about what happened, but for now, he was definitely in control.

As he slipped out of his wet clothes and padded naked to where his bound wife struggled to get free, Matthew flexed his fingers in preparation.  With luck, and more than a little experience, by the time he got around to freeing Rhianna she wouldn't be mad at him any longer.

---***---

Grady came back slowly to consciousness.  As he awoke, he became aware of the warm soft body pressed against him and smiled.  It had been awhile since he and Cheryl had woken up together like this; it felt good!

Grady stretched a little and let the hand around her belly move up to cup a breast.  He shifted his hips a little, and felt his erection begin to climb the cleft between her wonderful buttocks.  Rolling a nipple gently between two fingers, he sniffed the mass of hair in his face and rolled slightly to bring himself in even more contact with her.

Grady could feel the woman shivering beneath him, and he chuckled silently at her excitement.  His waking mind wondered why it had been so long since he and his wife had made love.  Had she been mad at him about something?  Grady frowned as he tried to remember, and then he came fully awake.  In horror, he let go of the woman he was pressed up against and quickly undid the drawstring that held the sleep sack closed.  With an effort, he pulled himself out of the sack and crouched naked under the tree on the wet ground.  Grady could feel his heart beating and was uncomfortably aware of his waving hard on, and he was terribly embarrassed.  He watched and waited for Shawna to say or do something, but she just lay there shivering.

Concerned, he felt her forehead, and it appeared to him that while she was sweating up a storm, she didn't seem to have a fever.  Grady was unfamiliar with withdrawal symptoms or he might have recognized what was going on.  He thought that she was having a reaction to her close encounter with hypothermia.

Then Shawna opened her eyes and groaned.  She rolled over on to her side and dry heaved.

"You okay?" Grady asked, nervously.

Shawna shook her head and tried to vomit again, but nothing came out.  Grady got a flask of water out of the pack and helped her to drink.  Shawna was able to suck some down but she immediately threw it up again.

"You got anything stronger?" she gasped.

"No," he said.  "I don't think it would be good for you, anyway."

"You let me be the judge of that," Shawna replied, her throat sore.

Grady held the flask to her lips again, and this time she drank without spitting any back up.  As she finished, she noted Grady's nudity and then realized that inside the sleep sack she was also nude.  She had a vague recollection on him sleeping behind her, but the events after she became trapped in the river were a little fuzzy.  One thing she was sure of was that she felt like hell.

She closed her eyes and lay back, making sure that she was covered up.

Grady finished the water and then stood up to look around.  The storm had passed, although the sky was still overcast, and he figured they were only about a half hour's walk from the Compound.  The search for this woman had probably been restarted.

"Do you think you can walk?" he asked her, remembering that despite how she felt, she had assaulted one of their own.

Shawna shook her head.  She didn't feel up to walking, all she wanted was a drink.  She didn't realize it at the time, but her craving for cocaine had all but gone.

"Well, I'm not going to carry you all the way back, so I think we had better see if you can walk!"

"No...I don't want to," Shawna replied.

Grady couched next to her and Shawna opened her eyes, her vision filled by the big man in his very nude state.

"Listen, woman.  I really don't care what you want; you hurt a friend of mine.  If you really can't walk because you're sick, then I'm just going to tie you up and leave you here while I go get help.  Or you can come with me, your choice."

"What?  Tie me up?"  Shawna asked.

"You're dangerous, woman, a danger to yourself and to others.  You almost got us both killed in that river last night, and it was only bad aim on your part that meant Vicky wasn't hurt more badly!"

"Vicky?  Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine.  The Doc says she'll be right as rain in a couple, but that doesn't excuse what you did."

Shawna shook her head.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"I don't want to hear it!"  Grady interrupted.  "So which is it?  Do I leave you here alone, or do you come with me?"

Shawna was afraid of this big man, yet the thought of being left out here in the woods helpless was even more frightening.  There was also something about this guy, something that connected with her.  She had gotten the same feeling with Dirk a lot of the time, and even her father when he was at his most domineering.  Shawna had always reacted to strong men, and the one in front of her now certainly seemed strong!

"I...don't want to be left here," she said.

"Then get out of the sleep sack; let's get you on your feet."

Shawna was about to move as Grady stood back to give her room, but she remembered again that she was naked.  She looked around for her dress, and saw the soggy pile of material lying on the ground a few feet away.

"My dress?" she asked, pointing.

Grady chuckled and went to pick it up.  It was a mess of rags, no longer recognizable as a garment.  Grady's knife had cut it to shreds when he got it off her the night before.

"You won't need this.  Now get up!"

Shawna paled, and self-consciously she began to wriggle out of the sleep sack.

Grady watched her, attempting to keep his anger up.  He was still embarrassed and upset at his reaction to her upon waking, and a part of him was still reacting that way.  He didn't like it; it was not how he was brought up.  But he couldn't deny that his wife and this woman shared many mannerisms and physical similarities.  It was confusing and impacted upon his grief in a way he didn't want it to.  He felt like he was betraying his wife's memory by reacting to this woman the way he was.  So his defense was to stay angry at her.

With her back to Grady, Shawna emerged from the sleep sack and slowly stood up.  She gingerly put weight on her hurt foot and was surprised that it didn't collapse.  It also felt a lot better than she expected, and while it did hurt, the pain was tolerable.

Grady noted how she was standing, and remembered her injury.  He also took note of the multitude of bruises that covered her arms and legs.  Someone told him that she had been beaten, and he could well believe it.

Shawna stood with her arms wrapped around her breasts, shivering as a wave of nausea passed over her.  She felt in desperate need of a drink, but felt able to keep it together for a while.  She also felt very embarrassed standing there naked, and was keenly aware of Grady watching her.

"Can I...get something to wear?" she asked quietly.

"We don't have anything dry, but you don't need anything.  Can you walk on that foot?"

Shawna took a few steps, keeping her back to Grady.  It hurt, but there was no weakness despite the wrenching the ankle got the night before.

"Come here," Grady said, bending low and reaching into the pack.

Shawna looked over her shoulder at him, not wanting to be there.  All she could think of, apart from wanting a drink, was that they were both naked and that she was feeling extremely vulnerable.

"I said, come here!" growled Grady.

Shawna shuffled over until she stood in front of Grady, still facing away from him.

"Hands behind you," he ordered.

"What?" Shawna asked, turning her head to face him.

"Put...your hands...behind you!"  Grady replied, glaring at her.

"Why?"

"Because you have to be restrained for the trip back to the Compound.  You broke the rules, I have to restrain you!"

"Fat chance!" yelled Shawna, suddenly even more afraid, and she began to move away as fast as she could.  Naked or not, she had to get away from this guy!  She had images of the people in the stocks back at the Compound dancing in her head, and a strong image of her joining them.

Grady shrugged and moved after her.  It took only a second for him to reach her and grab her about the waist.  He tried to ignore how she felt as he struggled with her, pulling her hands behind her and tying them in place with the leather cord he had pulled from the pack.  He bound them in the traditional manner, hands back to back with loops over the thumbs and little fingers to prevent twisting.

While he tied her, Shawna began to swear.  She called him every name she could think of, and then began to repeat them.  She struggled to break free and when that didn't work, she turned to kick him.

She forgot her nudity as she flailed away at him, and managed to connect with his shins a few times although she kept missing the target she was aiming for, the one visibly dangling between his legs.

Grady, getting angrier by the minute, pushed her off balance, and she dropped to the ground.  He quickly got down and tied her feet, binding them together tightly so she would feel the thin cord.

Shawna yelped in pain and tried to break free, but quickly stopped.  Her head was pounding and she was not only fighting her bonds but an alcohol withdrawal.  She tired quickly and lay flat on her stomach, eyeing Grady as he calmly re-packed the pack.

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked after a bit.

Grady didn't look at her.  He had an idea what would be done with her, but he didn't like it.  She was an outsider; she would probably be given her things and escorted to town.

She would get away with her assault on Vicky.

Then Grady realized that personally, he would prefer she did leave.  It would help him in any case!

"That's not for me to decide," he said eventually.

"Will I be put in the stocks?" Shawna asked him.

Grady was surprised she knew about the stocks; few of the outsiders that visited regularly were aware of them.

He finished packing, then hung up the tattered remains of Shawna's dress and their other soaked clothes to dry on some branches, and then draped the waterproof cloak he had brought over his shoulders.

"It's time to go," he said, picking up another length of cord.

---***---

Shawna was walking--well, limping--with her head down as they entered the camp.  She wondered what could be worse than what was happening to her now.  Suddenly this little corner of paradise had turned into hell.

Her father had used humiliation to great effect when she was younger, and in all that time, she had never grown used to it, even though she lacked the will to stand up to it.  And what was happening now was very humiliating.

Her feet were hobbled, tied with only a foot of slack between them so she couldn't run, and around her neck was another thin leather cord, the other end held by Grady, who walked in front of her.  She was still completely naked except for her waist rope, and with her hands bound behind her, she could do nothing to cover herself against the stares of the community as they came through the gate.

Mostly women and children--many of the men were still out searching for her--the crowd watched as she was brought in.  Silent, they all stood glaring at the woman whom they had welcomed into their community, only to see her strike one of their people.

Community solidarity was strong here; too many outsiders were critical of their lifestyle.  They survived together because they STUCK together.  Partly in shame and partly because she was still sick, Shawna hung her head and tried to ignore the eyes.  She was already sorry for what she did, knowing that when her cravings got that strong, she could get crazy ideas.  Shawna only hoped that when they heard WHY she did what she did, their attitudes would soften up.

What she was really afraid of, though, was that they would call the real police, or send her down the mountain.  She could stand the humiliation, if it wasn't followed by a prison term.

Gabe Miller suddenly appeared in the crowd, and he started yelling at people to leave.  He approached Grady with a flustered look, and took the man's cloak, placing it instead over Shawna's naked form.

"You idiot, Grady.  She's not one of us, you can't just walk her in here naked like this!" he said.

"That's the rule, Doc," Grady said slowly.

"Go find Paul, he's looking for you!" snapped Gabe, who took the cord Grady had been using as a leash and pulled it from the big man's hand.

Grady scowled and turned away, his pack over his shoulder.  He wanted to clean up before he saw Paul Anderson, and to be honest, he was glad someone had come to take the woman off his hands.  Forcing himself not to look back, he went inside.

Gabe didn't stop to untie Shawna, instead he helped her inside, asking how she was.  Shawna said little, and Gabe could see that the woman's strength was almost gone.  He half carried her to the clinic, and there untied her bonds.

As he was settling her in and giving her something to help her sleep, Paul Anderson came in, followed by a couple of his deputies.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Not good," Gabe replied.  "I just gave her something to put her out; she needs sleep and fluids, and constant watching until all the poisons are out of her system."

"Okay, I'll leave Ed and Stan here to watch her."

Gabe looked at the deputies.  "I hardly think she needs guarding."

"I disagree, and as soon as she is fit to move, I want her out of here!"

"She's a sick woman, and probably didn't know what the hell she was doing when she hit Vicky.  Even Vicky understands that!"

Paul grunted, and left.

Gabe shook his head.  "Shit!"
 
 

End of Part 5