Chapter 170

It can't be too much further, Rex thought to himself.  He knew that the band hadn't died in the explosion because they were still making headlines in the Resistance news.  It had been almost two years since he'd heard anything until a couple of months ago.  He heard the they'd held a rally at Lake Tenkiller in Tahlequah, OK.  He knew then that he had to find David, Dan, Mike, and John.  He had no choice.  Only they would recognize him for who he used to be; their chief gopher.

Finally he happened upon a quaint house in the middle of the woods.  There were three SUV's and a large passenger van parked in front of it.  Leave it to the Draiman's to need a vehicle that size.  At last count they had four kids.  Knowing Mr. and Mrs. Draiman, though, they've probably had more by now.  Rex made his way down the hill to the front door.  I wonder if I should use the gopher knock.  Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, he knocked five times, spaced it a little, knock five more, space, then two more.  He then prayed that he didn't end up with a 9mil in his face.  9mm Glock was David and Mike's weapon of choice.  Dan seemed to prefer a .45 and John was fond of .22 caliber rifles.  Thinking of that, he prayed that one of the wives answered the door.  At least they wouldn't put a gun in his face.  I really just hope that whomever answered the door isn't frightened by the way I look now, he thought and gave the knock one more time.

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The Disturbed Family was enjoying a breakfast together in the living room when there was a familiar rapping on the door.  The adults all looked at each other.  "We're not expecting a grocery delivery, are we, baby?" David asked Brie.

She, Nicole, Kristen and Tina all exchanged a look.  "No, they just dropped off the week's groceries yesterday", Brie said. "Didn't they, Tina?"

Tina nodded.  "Yeah, we barely got everything put away before you your guys emerged from the studio for lunch."

Brie stood and went for the door.  She checked and double checked before even thinking about opening it.  The incident with the fake Lightfoots cured her of all her incautiousness.  She noted that the figure appeared to be about 6' tall and the hood on his jacket was pulled over his face.  "Um, fellas, I can't see his face."

"Ask him who he is, Brie", Dan said as though she had ignored the obvious.

"I was about to, asshole."  She turned back to the door and pulled  a Browning 9mm pistol out of the waistband of her scrub pants.  "Who is it?" she called as she took a shooter's stance.

"Rex, one of your old gophers", the young man called.  Just as he said it, he gave the knock again.

Brie looked at everyone else.  "We haven't used that knock since Colorado and no one but the gophers know it", she said to the guys.

David grabbed his pistol off of the coffee table and moved for the door.  He was on the side that opened and she was behind and to the side.  David nodded for her to open the door.  The door swung open to the disfigured face of their former gopher.

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They got the boy in and settled on the couch.  After Kristen brought him some breakfast, they sat with Rex and found out what had happened to him.

"The day the house blew, I was going over there to tell you that the Utopians were on the move and that you guys needed to get out.  I hears gun shots  and I assumed that you were all somewhat safe, so I started to leave.  When I hit the tree line of the property, I turned to the house right as it exploded."

"Which tree line?" Dan asked.

"The one on the west side of the house."

"That put you right next to the blast", Mike said.

Rex had kept his hood up until that point.  He pulled it back and revealed his face.  His eyes were red and blood shot.  His face was a mass of scars.

Tina gasped.  "Oh, my God!  Rex, are you ok?"

He shrugged.  "The muscles in my face spasm uncontrollably every now and then.  I tend to look like a maniac when I punch myself in the face to get the spasms to stop."

"What kind of damage did you sustain?" Brie asked.

"First thru third degree burns on my face, arms and chest.  Several ruptured vessels in my eyes which permanently stains them red.  Most of my teeth are shattered in some places which makes them pointed."  He held up his hands and removed his gloves.  He held his hand out, palm up, so that they could see his hands.  "I have no finger prints anymore because the fire burned them off.  It's all scar tissue throughout my hand."

Mike chuckled.  "You know who you look like now, don't you?"

Rex nodded.  "The Guy, I know.  It's pretty fucked up, huh?"

"Not that bad, dude.  And the fact that your pretty much don't exist can be used to both your advantage and ours", David said.

Rex looked confused, but it was John who spoke the confusion.  "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Use men can take care of ourselves, as can a couple of our wives, but not our kids.  Anyway, if Director Richardson sends us out on the road to do rallies, then we're going to need protection that can't be traced.  We'll need a personal bodyguard", David explained.

"Surely I can't go by Rex, though.  It just doesn't make sense.  Kings aren't supposed be disfigured like this."

"Rex means King in what language?" Brie asked everyone in the room.

David smiled and answered his wife's question.  "Latin.  Where are you going with this?" he asked, but he had an idea.

"Ok, what was the name of your first album?"

"The Sickness", Dan chimed in, still confused.

"What is 'Sickness' in Latin?"

A satisfied smile came over David's face.  "Morbus.  We'll call him Morbus."