Annihilation

Page

Annihilation

ISBN # 978-1-78184-053-5

©Copyright Jambrea Jo Jones 2017

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright October 2017

Edited by Sue Meadows

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2017 by Pride Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, UK

Pride Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

Alliance

ANNIHILATION

Jambrea Jo Jones

Book five in the Alliance series

It’s the end of the world as they know it…

Ricardo Clark is ex-military working a nine-to-five job on Earth, a planet that was almost wiped out by the big flood of 2050. The world is changing and trying to regroup under a new government called the Alliance. For most it is business as usual. That is, until the old government tries to take back control.

Gilliland Carter is tired of living on the streets. He’s taken a job at a bakery hoping to put some normal back into his life. There is no need for his kind anymore, an undercover cop. The Alliance has a lock down on things and if you aren’t military, you aren’t needed. He doesn’t exactly have the look of someone who’d fit into the soldier lifestyle with his tattoos and piercings.

Ricardo and Gilliland take a journey neither of them is prepared for. It will bring them to the brink of death, but can it also bring love?

Dedication

To Nancy—Gill thanks you.

To all those who love sci-fi and a bit of man lovin’.

And to Joy.

Chapter One

‘I WANT YOU.’

The old vintage recruitment sign with the image of Uncle Sam on it mocked Ricardo Clark. The finger pointed in his direction. Someone had marked out the part that said ‘for the U.S. Army’ and written over it with ‘for the Alliance’, some new form of government that had taken over power when the old government had crumbled.

Not that he had to worry. He’d been discharged years ago because of some stupid asthma thing and now he was a hundred pounds overweight, give or take a few pounds. Who would really ‘want’ him? He should have been able to stay in, but the military was overcrowded. They’d stopped recruiting after they’d pulled out of the Middle East and were looking at reasons to let soldiers go. Hell, with all the advancements in medicine he could have had his asthma cleared up in no time, but he didn’t fight it. Not like he should have done. He had a place to go, others didn’t, and they needed the stability of working for the government.

Rico continued his walk to the bakery. The only thing he was good for was eating a few doughnuts before going to his boring data entry job. After the big flood in 2050 there were tons of data that needed re-entering and a lot more of it lost. With his military career he had the necessary clearances to process the sensitive data so he was pretty secure in his job, unlike some others. It sucked, but it paid the bills. The homeless population was bigger than ever. It also kept his mom off his back. She was always asking him when he was going to find a nice boy and settle down. She’d bring up the old ‘I helped fight for your right to marry whoever you want, now do something about it and make me proud. I want grandkids!’ Rico didn’t even know if he liked kids, not that it was an option now anyway. He was single and barely making ends meet. The job might have been steady, but it wasn’t high-paying.

Before he was born there had been a big fight over government involvement in same-sex marriage and his parents had been in the ‘trenches’ as it were, fighting to make changes. Finally the government had passed a bill stating that it would take no part in deciding who a person could or could not marry and that each state had to abide by this bill, allowing people to marry whoever they wanted to. Or something like that. Rico couldn’t remember the exact wording, but the gist of it was that same-sex couples could get married and have that marriage recognized wherever they went.

There had been a big outcry and some churches had taken a big stand, but, all in all, after a few years, no one really cared and it was business as usual. Still, there were the hatemongers out there, but as time passed they faded away from the spotlight. When Rico had hit puberty it was all old news and there were different things to fight over. The churches prayed over the state of the world and blamed the rest of the nation for the coming apocalypse. Turned out it was a flood, not zombies taking over. The church still took credit, saying their God was bringing down the sinners of the world. They never could come up with an explanation for how their congregations hadn’t been spared.

Rico didn’t really care because faith didn’t really fit into what he wanted out of his life. He had big plans, like with his military career. It was supposed to be his ticket to law enforcement. He was thinking CIA or FBI. Now he was a glamorous clerk sitting behind a desk and clacking away at a keyboard all day.

He finally reached the shop and walked in.

Rico! Your usual? The owner winked at him.

Rico nodded and bellied up to the counter to wait for his order. It should’ve made him sad that the pastry people knew him, but he was hungry and running late. He didn’t have time to be upset about a predicament of his own making. No one let him get so out of shape. That was all on him.

There was a new guy behind the counter and Rico couldn’t stop staring. He was rugged and lean with short blond hair that stood on end and bright green eyes. He had scruff on his face and a shiner, as if he’d gone a couple of rounds in a fight. But that wasn’t what caught Rico’s gaze. It was the black plugs in his ears and the tattoos running up and down each arm. They were colorful and he wanted a closer look, even leaned over the counter a bit before he caught himself. He could make out some sort of creature’s head on his right shoulder in a dark red with black horns and it appeared like wisps of smoke tied everything together. There were a few other things, but he couldn’t make them out without getting closer. On the other arm were a koi fish and cherry blossoms and other small tattoos.

But a man like that wouldn’t look twice at the fat blob he’d become. Maybe if he was still in the military Rico’d have had the balls to approach him. Now he just took his sweets and left the bakery.

The city seemed better than it had in years and he enjoyed his walk, taking a big bite of the gooey confection. The weather was nice, the sun shining. He was actually sweating a bit, the hazard of his extra pounds. For the first time he thought maybe he should do something about it. He thought back to the blond with those tattoos and threw his doughnuts into the next trash bin he found, but that didn’t stop him from licking his fingers.

The day was the same old, same old. The only exception was that his thoughts drifted back to the hot guy at the bakery. He knew what his spank fantasies would be about that night. It wasn’t like his job forced him to think. He glanced at papers and entered information into the central system that the Alliance had hooked back up after the flood. If it wasn’t for them, the United States would probably still be in the dark.

So he’d enter some top-secret data while picturing himself licking those tattoos. He wondered what the guy’s cock looked like. Hell, he wondered what name he should be screaming.

His supervisor, Mr. Jordan, walked over while he was in the middle of a daydream, his cock rock-hard in his pants while he gazed off into nothingness.

Mr. Clark, is there a problem with your computer?

No, sir. Rico sat straighter.

Desk work sucked the life out of him and his boss was a prick, but he had to do something.

Good. Back to it then. Mr. Jordan clasped him on the shoulder and walked away.

With a sigh he got back to the daily grind. His dick deflated and he wanted to keep it that way until he got home. Then all bets were off.

* * * *

Walking home cooled him down somewhat. His libido under control, he started thinking about food. Of course, that brought him back to the tattooed god