The Number 22

Finished reading: AD4

Amazingly, one story from my "unfinished fic" list has been completed: "Canon Fodder" was posted for me by Scissors MacGillicutty.

That's the good news. The bad news is that I have to start work on "Reclamation", a much tougher fic to write and one whose ending will be disappointing. That's as may be -- the list needs to be cleared out. Oddly enough, I've been thinking about "Same Drum, New Tune" more than I've been thinking about "Reclamation".

I noticed that medea42 opened up an account on the other board. I hope she finds it interesting but that other board is pretty much dead. No real fic is being written there and all of the conversation -- so to speak -- takes place in hidden forums.

(* * *)

Now, on to "Apocalyptic Daria". I just noticed at PPMB that Doggieboy has actually finished the series. medea and Milderbeast returning, a serial actually being finished? What's next? A red moon? The birth of a centaur?

AD4 isn't much of a story, it's more of a "get the characters from one place to another" tale. However, there are hints of the future world that I wonder if the author intended.

It's clear that government at the state level has broken down, but not at the local level. Each town seems to be left to its own as to how to deal with the problem of refugees. D & J are met by gun-toting locals at the city limits in one town; in another they are pleasantly greeted but told sorry, there's no more room at the inn. At least, an ancient Geiger counter is brought out to indicate that no one is dying of radiation poisoning. With no where else to turn, Daria and Jane go to church...seriously, at least to find a place to spend the night. (Shades of Joseph and Mary looking for a stable.)

Surprisingly, they have no trouble gaining entrance. The doors aren't locked. When I grew up, every church I ever attended regularly was locked when services were not being held. Either Daria and Jane got lucky finding an unlocked church, but really -- we don't need to know the details as to how D & J got in.

Sidebar: There's a blog called Slacktivist that I sometimes read. No, it's not what you think it's about. It's a blog about Christianity. From one of the comments links, I was taken to an atheist blog that discussed the recent shootings at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. As it turned out, there was armed security at the church that shot the gunman. Good thing the gunman was there, but it raises the question of why Christians put their trust in Sam Colt more than they do in God, who is the ultimate provider. Likewise, I wonder why churches have their doors locked when no one is inside. You'd think that a church would want as many people coming in as possible. Then again, the pastor is a "Marion Summers", so maybe they're United Methodists or something.

Anyway, back to the tale. While Daria sleeps a fitful sleep, Jane rummages through the "black knight's" personal effects. She finds out that the assailant, a Larry Carter, has a wife, three kids, and a cat. A diary (!) also reveals that Daria and Jane were not his first victims.

Oddly enough, the concept of a serial rapist having his own family isn't out of the ordinary. You can type in "serial rapist married" into your search engine and find out about Nathan Antonio Washington, a married father of four, who committed two rapes and two sexual assaults in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The most interesting part of AD4 -- to me, anyway -- involved Mr. Carter's diary, where he wrote the details of his sexual assaults. Apparently, of his twenty victims (I'm assuming Daria and Jane aren't counted), he killed seventeen after his assaults and managed to track down and kill one of the three escapees. A nasty piece of work. Jane reads all of the details, including that he liked to hear the screams of his victims.

Serial criminals, oddly enough, tend to play into the stereotype of being meticulous. Frankly, you can't be successful as a serial whatever unless you are very organized. Can't leave evidence lying about. Can't leave people talking. And of course, sometimes you take a trophy -- in Carter's case, his detailed notekeeping.

But this is the odd fact: Carter must have written down the details before and after. Jane and Daria were listed as Numbers 21 and 22, but both escaped without molestation. Yet I suspect that many serial planners are a bit obsessive. I assume that Carter's handwriting is neat, the ledger is neat, and everything is properly squared away.

Therefore...I assume that Carter would not flub details and get the order wrong. Jane is listed as #21. Daria is listed as #22. Jane is knocked unconscious in AD3. When she wakes, Carter is ready to assault Daria. My question: what happened between the time Jane was knocked cold and the time she intervened on behalf of Daria?

If Carter is a serial obsessive, then the logical conclusion is: Jane was raped by Carter (#21). Then, Carter went on to rape Daria (#22), but was stopped. Meaning, that Daria saw Carter rape Jane...and didn't tell Jane. Jane, apparently, has no memory of what happened. Only Daria knows the awful secret.

(Of course, this theory falls apart: Carter liked to hear his victims scream. Unconscious victims don't scream. Carter was forced to skip #21 and proceed to #22, where he would have undoubtedly made the appropriate corrections in his logbook later. My first hypothesis, however, is more intriguing. And it has tigers.)