Plot Only

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Epilogue

The morning after Joel and I made love for the first time, there was some odd tension in the air. Adam and Ellie acted all weird and didn’t look us in the eyes. It took me a while to figure it out, but when I finally asked them, it was clear they had heard us making love.

Adam wasn’t mad or offended. Thank god! But the moment they said they heard us, I almost shit myself, and my stomach churned at the idea we probably had to leave. Adam noticed the tears welling up in my eyes and immediately put me at ease. If we could assure him this was something we both wanted, they’d accept that and let us be. During our talk, I noticed Ellie squirming uncomfortably in her chair. We made it clear to Adam we loved each other, and this was something we both wanted badly. He paused for a second to size us up and then started smiling.

As Adam started explaining how he and Ellie got involved in a sexual relationship, I was shocked initially. But when Joel began to laugh and asked Adam if he was still sure he was gay, the ice was broken. The four of us agreed not to make a fuss about it, but we had to keep the intimacy inside the bedrooms. And that was that. Joel and I averaged on our lovemaking almost twice a day. Most of the days, we started and ended the day with a good, long lovemaking session. The few days we didn’t have sex in the morning, we made up for it in the evening. Or the other way around, of course.

Life inside the shelter was good. Adam and Ellie were very kind to Joel and me, and we all clicked on a personal level. We divided all the chores and even made the dreaded schedule we talked about earlier. After the initial stress about our situation wore off, it was almost as if we were a regular family. Almost.
We were all very strict about keeping the sex inside the bedrooms. There was only one occasion where we ditched this agreement. Joel and I got our first vaccine, where Ellie and Adam took their second. Adam warned us about the side effects, but we waved these off. It couldn’t be that bad. Boy! Was I wrong… Joel and I were watching a movie when I could no longer control myself. I got on my knees in front of the couch and started sucking Joel’s cock while fingering myself furiously. I barely noticed Ellie and Adam walking in, and they didn’t say anything. They just sat down on the couch that was positioned across the room.

I only realized they came in when I sat up to let Joel fuck me. I didn’t care that they were looking. I was too horny to care about that. And the moment Joel started entering me, they went for it too. That was the first and only time I saw Adam’s dick. It looked fat to me and not nearly as lovely as my brother’s. I came A LOT. I lost track, but if I had to guess, it was fourteen or fifteen times. Joel spurted his cum inside me four times before we were both completely spent. Ellie and Adam’s bodies were slamming loudly and obscenely as we looked at them.

Joel and I discreetly left the room and took a shower together. When we came back into the living room, Ellie and Adam were sitting there as if nothing had happened. We flipped on the TV and watched a movie together and didn’t talk about it. When it was time to hit the sack, Adam spoke up and was very clear. This would never happen again. When we got our next shots, we would each stay inside our own bedrooms until the vaccine’s effect wore off.

The funny thing was that neither of us knew if the vaccine had the desired effect. We didn’t dare to test it, and we didn’t just want to rely on some notes on someone’s computer. But we took the vaccine anyway because we figured it wouldn’t hurt us.

The second wave decimated the A.W.A. On all the camera feeds we had available, there were barely any A.W.A. people left. I was both sad and relieved at the same time. The A.W.A. was a bullshit militia we didn’t want to have around. But it killed another bunch of people. And there weren’t too many people left in the world.

The third wave came six days after the second. The fourth and fifth each eighteen days later. Ellie calculated the sixth wave would hit us fifty-four days after that. She was positive about this because each time, it multiplied by three. The sixth wave proved to be the last. Thank god! We waited another fifty-four days for a possible seventh wave. And just to be sure, we stayed down for another two hundred days. But after this, we were sure the bugs had stopped coming but asked SHIVR to keep an eye on the holes in the ground.

The four of us had a very existential discussion about mankind. By the time the fourth wave started, we had contacted thirteen other shelters in the US. Some of these had contacts with other shelters worldwide, so we knew we were not alone. But we did raise the question if we needed to reproduce. Ellie wasn’t ready for that yet, but I wouldn’t mind having a baby. Especially in the safe and secure environment we were in now.

So between the third and fourth wave, we went out with the Cybertruck and gathered some much-needed supplies for that. A baby bed, diapers, bottles, you name it. Adam visited two pharmacies to gather additional medication and the pill for Ellie.

When I started missing my period, we were all thrilled. I had to try one of the pregnancy tests Adam got, and it turned out positive. I was pregnant! We had all the equipment down here to make sure I could deliver the baby, and Adam had quickly grabbed his old study books from the house to catch up on delivering babies.

During my pregnancy, Joel was extraordinarily protective and considerate. He wanted to do my chores so I could rest. Thank god Adam and Ellie talked Joel out of it and convinced Joel I wasn’t sick. Just pregnant. The last few weeks were tough, though. I was getting really nervous about actually giving birth. But the moment our little girl was born, all doubts and uncertainties were gone. Our little Dina was beautiful. A true bundle of joy. I needed a few days to recover, but I was back on my feet sooner than expected.

A week after Dina’s birth, SHIVR suddenly announced there was an incoming message. Adam and Joel went to the control room together since Ellie and I were bathing Dina at that moment. We were drying Dina and putting on her diaper when Joel and Adam came back. The moment I looked at Adam, he scared me. His usual kind, open, and friendly face was completely gone. Adam looked bitter and angry.

Joel told us about how Robert contacted us. At first, Adam was thrilled to talk to Robert. But it quickly became clear Robert had left Adam, Ryan, and Ellie to join an elite group of people inside a government bunker. Robert was one of the people selected by the government in a secret program. He lived inside that bunker surrounded by scientists, artists, politicians, and other ‘vital people for society’ for over a year now, with the task to stay alive and form a new society together. Adam was devastated that Robert had left him. Robert tried defending his actions by saying he pointed Adam, Ryan, and Ellie to the shelter behind the house. But Adam would hear nothing about that. He just couldn’t believe the love of his life left him in such a selfish act.

After Adam left the room to be alone, Joel also told us how Robert had confessed he found himself a new boyfriend. He apologized dozens of times for that. Robert said he assumed we were dead. He just kept defending himself and pressed that he did everything in his power he could. He sent some morse-code signals to us, which was strictly forbidden. He supplied Adam with the thumb drive, which could’ve cost him his spot inside the bunker. And he kept saying that he did show us the safety of the shelter. So Robert was convinced it wasn’t his fault. According to Joel, this was the moment something snapped in Adam. He just walked away and let Joel finish the call, which was something Adam would never do under normal circumstances. Joel said he didn’t mind. Had it been up to him, the call would’ve ended way earlier.

It took Adam a few days to recover. We only saw him during breakfast and dinner. He locked himself inside the storage room to work on the Flux Capacitor. He stopped trying to fix it a few months before, but when he came out of that room, he had a massive smile on his face and was holding the Flux Capacitor triumphantly in front of him. From that day on, we started wearing clothes inside the shelter, and we basically never talked about Robert again. I tried it once, but Adam said Robert was dead to him, and he couldn’t care less about what happened to him.

Almost two years after the first wave, the country was getting back to a new normal. The rough estimate about the current population was that there were about sixteen million Americans left. I was shocked when I first heard this number. We quickly learned the US had done quite well because of all the preppers. The UK was left with a little under four million. The world had lost more than 99 percent of its people. A mind-blowing number.

In the US, we had a new president, a small army, and a police force. A few hospitals, spread out across the country, had opened their doors, and a medicine distribution system was set up. The USA was now roughly divided into four quarters. Each quarter had two small hospitals near former big cities. But no one wanted to live in the cities anymore, so these were moved to other places soon enough. Everybody preferred to live in the country now.

As time passed, small communities had formed, each of them completely self-sustaining. Most of the bodies had been removed from the streets and out of public buildings. These were burnt in huge piles because burying them all was simply too much work. The four of us gave Ryan a proper funeral between the fourth and fifth wave. We found a nice spot under an old willow at the edge of Adam’s yard, close to the former National Park.

The housing estate near our shelter got occupied after the fifth wave. About twenty-five people started living there, and we kept close contact with them. The nearest significant settlement was a two-hour drive away. This settlement housed around a hundred-fifty people and was a big city by modern standards. We visited it regularly, but we all preferred the shelter. We took a vote on living inside the shelter or move to the house above the ground. Only Joel wanted to go and live in the house. He didn’t have a real reason for it, other than that we should live above the ground instead of hiding like bats in a cave. The fact that we’d have to miss SHIVR when we’d move out was all the convincing Joel needed to stay underground.

Joel and I noticed Adam and Ellie slowly drifting apart. They started visiting the estate near us every now and then. But they ended up going there almost every day. Adam met a cute guy about half his age, and they became lovers soon enough. Adam started sleeping there every other day, leaving the three of us alone with Dina inside the shelter. We didn’t mind too much. Joel and I were a family now, and we could take care of our own. Adam’s boyfriend had a younger brother, and the day he was introduced to us, it immediately became clear Ellie was very interested.

Blake was a year older than Ellie, and he was a very handsome, very friendly guy. Three months after Ellie and Blake started dating, Ellie asked if he could move in with us. We ended up living down there with the four of us and eventually had five kids. Joel and I were blessed with a boy, Tommy. Ellie and Blake got twin boys and a girl. They did what the new government asked of us. They wouldn’t force us, but people were urged to get three kids or more to get the country back up and running. We figured two great kids were enough for Joel and me. We never quit having sex, thank god!

Interestingly, we never learned the truth about the bugs and where they came from. The new government did put the best scientists on it, but they never really figured it out. After some research, it was positive they weren’t alien. Using carbon dating on the bugs, they learned that some of these were almost a million years old. So the global consensus was that it was some sort of fail-safe mechanism from mother earth. An emergency brake on global overpopulation.
Joel and I ended up growing old together, raising our two magnificent kids to be kind and decent people inside an entirely new world. Looking back now, I think we did a fantastic job.

The End.

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

hoc ultimum non dolor sed agendas

That’s it! My first ever novel-sized story. I can only hope you all enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun writing it and learned a lot while writing. It started out as a project I wanted to do just for myself. If one or two people enjoyed it too, this would already be a nice side effect. But this honestly wasn’t my main focus. Looking back, I was a bit scared the ‘Plot only’ chapters would put people off, but I didn’t hear any complaints about that. From the beginning, it was clear to me that I didn’t want to have a sex scene every chapter. I had a story to tell. Yes, that story contains sex which is interesting for a niche group of readers. But the story was more important than the sex to me. I assume you understand. Oh. Before I forget… Sorry about the dream sequence in chapter three! I usually hate dream sequences in stories, but I needed some action at that point and couldn’t come up with anything else. So my deepest apologies for that.

I also feel the need to apologize for a few things. First of all: Asheville. This city was kind of randomly chosen. I visited the region a few years ago while I was on holiday there with my family. It’s a beautiful area, especially around the N.P. I was ‘scouting’ for a location where the story should take place (I use Google Maps for that…) I came across the area, and it immediately brought back some memories. I stumbled across it after reading an article about the opiate crisis and that a county in that region (sorry, I lost the article) had a lot of troubles with it. I needed a place with these problems, and since its location was familiar ánd near the N.P., the area was set. Nothing personal about it, and I felt the need to make clear why this location.

The next thing I want to apologize for is the use of some words. I hate the ‘N-word’, for example but I needed to use these words to create the much needed tension. And I needed a way to make the A.W.A. (COMPLETELY fictional and cliché, by the way!) more evil in its intentions. And the A.W.A. was randomly chosen. There is no link whatsoever to N.W.A., MAGA, N.B.A., A.S.A., NASA, W.W.F., or any other stupid shit. It is fictional. Period. If you think differently, I’m sorry. But it is what it is.

As always, I couldn’t do it alone. Edward-of-Ford helped me out with proofreading. He gave me some precious pointers for my next story too. Thank you SO much, E-o-F!!! I really couldn’t have done it without you! He is a very talented writer, and he writes about the stuff I like. So I guess you’d like it too! Check out his stories here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edward_or_Ford. And drop him a message if you like what he did. I know he’ll appreciate it.

I know a lot of you would like to see the story continue. But don’t get your hopes up. This won’t happen. Not by me, at least. And I know a lot of you would’ve like to read about all four of them gettin’ jiggy. But IMHO this was just too far-fetched and out of character for at least Adam, Joel, and Mia. Ellie is a bit more adventurous, but she’s a minority in this group. I wanted to focus primarily on Joel and Mia’s budding relationship. I used Adam and Ellie for added excitement and story arch.

Another thing you also may have noticed is the Epilogue. I added it later, and I feel bad about it. It just isn’t ‘on par’ with the rest of the story, but I just couldn’t do better, and the story could use some closure. I wrote it a while after the story itself was done, and it shows. I need to find a way for my mind to get back to the story. It didn’t work this time. I struggled with the same problem in the Zafar story, which made me decide to publish only when the story is finished. That, to me, is the only way for me to stay involved in the story enough at the moment.

All in all, I hope you liked my efforts. It took me almost nine months to write. I’ll focus on one or two short(er) stories now. Maybe I’ll write another big one in the (near) future but I haven’t figured out the premise for it yet. And no! It won’t be Smoky Mountains Part two! So stop bugging me about that 😀
Thanks for all the comments! These really motivate me to keep going.

Stay safe!

Thanks again, Ed!

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 25 – Wildlife
Day 6.

During the last stop, I took off my fleece vest. The road was slowly but steadily going uphill, and I was starting to sweat pretty heavily.

“Can we pause for a minute, Joel?” I asked, panting a bit.

“Let’s stop around that corner up ahead,” I hear Joel say from behind me.

After we rounded the corner, we got off and took another sip from our drinking bottles. I looked at Joel and noticed he was sweating too. We didn’t talk too much to get our breaths back, but I felt hungry, and I figured Joel was also hungry. So I reached into the bag fitted around my front wheel and grabbed us both a high-protein energy bar.

As we started munching them down, I noticed the phone was quiet. When I took my phone out of my pocket, I gave a big sigh of relief because I saw we were still connected. They’d probably just muted us for some reason.

“Ellie? Are you still there?” I asked.

Nothing. I glanced at Joel, who looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. The moment I wanted to ask again, Adam’s voice came on the phone.

“One second, Mia. We’re looking into something here. We’ll get back to you as soon as we know more. Can you two start pedaling again? Just in case?”

“Sure thing, Adam. We just finished eating our protein bars,” I responded casually.

I pressed mute on my phone and signaled Joel to do the same. After he did this, I stepped close to him and pretended to fix his shirt.

“Adam sounded worried. Do you think anything’s wrong?” I whispered.

“I noticed that too. But I guess our only option is to trust them and do what they say. They’ve got the bigger picture.”

“Guess you’re right. I just hope it’s not the A.W.A. following us for killing these two assholes,” I trailed off.

“If they are, I’m sure Adam and Ellie will find a solution for it,” Joel said confidently.

We unmuted our phones, climbed back on our bikes, and rode off again. Joel rode beside me, and we were currently at a flat spot of the road, so we decided to step it up a bit and make up for the lost time.

“Ehm… Listen up, guys,” Adam’s voice came on. “We’ve got some bad news and are not going to lie about it.”

“Oh, oh,” was my immediate response.

“Yeah… We’re looking at the satellite feed from Brazil, and uh… I’ll just say it. They’re back.”

These words felt like a punch to the stomach. I looked over at Joel, and all the color had vanished from his face. He stared blankly at the road.

“You mean the bugs, right?” I asked, making sure we were talking about the same thing.

“I’m afraid so,” he softly said.

“Fuck! We should’ve stayed in the store,” Joel said beside me.

“Don’t, Joel. You know that’s not true,” I said, looking at him sternly.

“But there’s also some good news,” Adam said, trying to steer us away from conflict.

“Shoot!” I said, really curious how there could be any good news in this.

“According to SHIVR’s calculations, they won’t be here in another five hours. According to your average speed up until now, we’ve got about thirty minutes to spare. So you’ll make it in time to get down in the shelter with us.”

“Fucking hell…” Joel mumbled.

I couldn’t help but agree. I just didn’t say it out loud. This would mean another four and a half hours of cycling. Without stopping.

“According to our calculations, you’ve got room for two short brakes,” Adam said flatly. “And considering we’ve got thirty minutes to spare, AND considering these thirty minutes are a pretty conservative calculation, we guess that you’ll make it in time.”

“Okay then…” I said. “Well… Nothing to do than to step it up and keep going.”

We pedaled like this for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. I felt the need to take the edge off and wanted to talk. The subject didn’t matter to me, as long as we talked and not thinking about bugs.

“So it was you started calling us on the landline, right?” I asked while pedaling steadily.

“Yeah. We were,” Ellie responded. ”SHIVR pointed out the cellphone masts were going down, and almost at the same time, we saw these two guys approaching the store.”

“Yeah. They told us they did that on purpose. They didn’t know how we did it. Still, they just assumed we were calling someone who initiated the speaker-thing inside the apartment building,” Joel added.

“Adam and I didn’t know what else to do. We figured that simulating an S.O.S. signal by calling the landline three times with pauses in between was the only way to warn you,” Ellie said, a bit embarrassed.

“It worked. We woke up in time, and we… uh… handled it,” I said, glancing over at Joel.

“You can’t imagine how thrilled we were when we eventually heard your voices!” Ellie said in a blatant attempt to avoid talking about how we handled it.

“Listen… We didn’t say it yet. But thank you. Your actions probably saved our lives,” Joel said thoughtfully.

“I’m glad you look at it this way, Joel,” Adam’s voice said, “but as I said earlier, we’re in this together. And I was scared shitless the moment I saw these men go inside with no way for us to reach you. So… You’re welcome, but please! Don’t mention it! We’re so glad we can help you guys this way. And you’re basically doing it on your own. We’re just remote assistance from some call center.”

I heard Joel and Ellie laughing, and I had to laugh too. So, for now, we were more than okay together, and I wouldn’t want to waste any more words on it.

“Just keep going, guys. You’re doing great! We’ll keep the line open and let you know if there’s any news we need to share. You need to focus on getting here as quickly as you can,” Ellie said.

And that’s precisely what we did. We rode for an hour straight, making some occasional small talk. We were making good progress, and the road SHIVR had picked was clear from debris or other nasty stuff. With each corner we rounded and hilltop we reached, my confidence in getting there in time grew. We were exiting a small group of houses when Joel slowed down and stopped.

“Fuck me. We need to ditch some items to make our bikes a bit lighter. We don’t need to haul a fucking tent with us. We’re not going to use it. And if we do need it, we’re screwed anyway.”

“Didn’t think of that. You’re right, Joel!” I said and started untying the sleeping bags and other stuff we didn’t need anymore.

We just kept the food, the drinks, spare clothes, and the guns. We threw all the other stuff at the side of the road. After another sip from the water bottles, we mounted our bikes again for the next stint.

“Damn! Why didn’t we think of this sooner!” I said to no one in particular.

“Adam and I said it to each other hours ago. We were wondering how long it would take before you figured it out. Guess I won the bet,” Ellie chuckled.

“WHAT!?” I said, a bit agitated.

“Hahaha! Just kidding, Mia!” Ellie laughed.

I heard Joel laughing over the phone, and when I looked over, he had a pretty smug face with a big smile on it. I knew she got me, and I’ve always been a good sport with these kinds of jokes, so it didn’t bother me that much.

“Fuck you, Ellie,” I laughed.

The next hour or so was pretty uneventful, and I realized that all the cardio I did before all this started paid off now. I was getting tired, but nowhere near exhausted. I knew I had another three hours of heavy pedaling in me, which boosted my confidence even more.

“We’re going to make it, Joel,” I said, smiling.

“I think so too. Tired?”

“A little. But nothing serious.”

“Same here.”

Joel rode a bit in front of me now because the road was getting narrower. With him bend over on the bike, his ass looked fabulous, even in these pants. Now I knew why Joel kept riding behind me for so long.

“Guys?” Ellie’s voice came on.

“Oh no…” I replied.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that bad. SHIVR spotted a black bear on the road in front of you.”

“Not bad?” Joel asked, surprised.

“Just listen. Turn left the first street you see. After that, it’s an immediate right turn. This road runs parallel to the main road. It’s just through a housing estate. That way, you’ll avoid the bear and can keep going.”

“Copy,” Joel said. “I see some clouds of smoke in the distance. I don’t think it’s anything serious. Can you see what is?”

“Hard to see from the satellite feed. We’ll look into it and let you know,” Ellie said.

“Thanks! Next left, right?” Joel asked.

“Yes. The bear is further up the road, so he won’t see you guys.”

Before we knew it, the street to our left came into view, and we entered it. Ellie was right. There were a couple of houses here. Besides a few toys, some cars, and a few bodies in the street, it was abandoned entirely. We could see some clouds of smoke in the road to the left of us, but it wasn’t much.

“You’re doing great. We got eyes on you via the satellite. It’s the only feed left, but we can see you on it until you’re at our place,” Ellie said.

I felt a bit nervous about the bear, but Ellie’s comforting voice was enough for me to keep focused on riding my bike. About halfway down the street, I saw the source of the smoke. I noticed the house on our left had no windows left, and some small clouds of smoke were coming out of its roof.

“Must’ve been a gas explosion or something,” I thought.

“Look out!” Joel shouted.

The loud hiss coming from my front tire made me feel extremely stupid. Here I was, realizing there was broken glass everywhere, and I didn’t bother to look at the street in an attempt to avoid it.

“Fuck! This is bad,” I heard Joel say. “Ellie?”

“I hear you, Joel. Why have you stopped?” she asked worriedly.

“Mia’s front tire and my rear tire are flat. I don’t think we can ride like this.”

I noticed his voice was remarkably calm, especially considering our dire situation.

“Can you try if you can still ride like this?” Adam asked worriedly.

“I just rode a few yards after I ran flat. That’s not an option,” Joel replied.

“Let alone with a flat front tire,” I said. “I nearly fell after all the air was out of it.”

“Damnit!” Adam and Ellie said at the same time.

“I think we need to find shelter in one of these houses,” Joel said as he looked around.

“Can’t you make one functioning bike?” Ellie said.

“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked, clearly not getting what Ellie was aiming at.

“Replace your front wheel with Joel’s. These wheels are easily interchangeable, aren’t they?”

“One sec,” Joel said, and he started fiddling with his front wheel. “I think that will work.”

Joel pulled at some screws near his front wheel, and seconds later, he dropped his bike and held the wheel in his hands.

“Hold it steady,” he said, pointing at my bike.

Joel basically started doing the same thing on my front wheel, and I looked around for a suitable house to stay in, just in case this didn’t work out. I looked down the street to where we were heading, and my blood ran cold.

“Joel?” I softly said.

“What is it?” he said, a bit annoyed, and looked at my face.

He glanced back over his shoulder to check what I was looking at, and he immediately got to his feet. There, a few hundred yards away, the black bear was walking around.

“You take the shotgun from my bike, just in case he gets close. I’ll try and scare him away with the rifle,” Joel whispered.

“Guys? Do you see that big bear too?” I said into the mic.

“We do now,” Ellie said. “We were checking out some options, so we didn’t look at the screen.”

“Don’t worry too much,” Adam said. “He’s probably more scared of you.”

“Probably,” Joel said. “But still aiming the rifle.”

Joel got on one knee and loaded the rifle. He was looking through the scope toward the bear. I had the shotgun pressed to my shoulder and already made sure it was loaded. My heart was beating in my throat, but I wasn’t as scared as I was this morning. Adam was right. This bear was probably just hungry and afraid of us.

That’s when the bear froze and looked our way. For a few seconds, it was almost a Mexican standoff. Neither moved, but we each knew something was about to happen.

“Please let him run away,” I whispered.

“If he doesn’t, I’ve got him in my sight,” Joel whispered back. ”You don’t shoot until I tell you, Mia. Your range is way shorter, and we might need all these bullets.”

“Kay.”

And that’s when it happened. The bear started running, but he didn’t run away. Instead, he ran straight toward us.

“BANG!”

A loud bang from the rifle hit the road right in front of the bear. He slowed down a bit but didn’t stop. Joel was pulling at the bolt to reload a new bullet. He aimed again and…

“BANG!”

I could see a small cloud of blood coming from the bear’s shoulder, which caused him to roar loudly. Joel was pulling at the bolt again, and…

“BANG!”

Another cloud of blood at almost the same spot and another roar.

“Fuck! Scope’s off…” Joel mumbled as he pulled at the bolt. “Get ready, Mia.”

“BANG!”

This one hit the bear in his neck. I could see the blood pouring out, but he still kept running. By now, he was getting close, and I figured I could shoot too, but I had to wait.

“Now, Mia!” Joel shouted, making ready for another shot. “Unload your gun on him!”

I never shot a shotgun before in my life, so I didn’t know what to expect. The moment I pulled the trigger, the punch against my shoulder was firm, and the gun pulled up a bit. But the loud bang and fury it released was nothing I expected. It hit the bear dead-center in his chest, and by now, he stopped running and started standing up. I was so impressed by the sheer size of the standing bear, I hesitated. It was only a millisecond, as I realized it was him or us. I pulled the pump-action below the barrel and saw the empty shell fly out. I aimed again, and…

“BANG!”

Joel and I shot at the same time. I hit him in the chest again, and Joel hit the bear right in the middle of his forehead. The bear was killed instantly by that last shot. He felt down and didn’t move anymore. I just knew we had killed him and felt a vague sense of pride, despite killing such a magnificent animal.

“FUCK YEAH!” Joel shouted. “We got him!”

“Yeah! We did!” I shouted too, giving my brother a high-five.

“That was amazing!” Adam shouted in our ears, “You killed a bear!”

We walked over to the bear, and after I softly kicked it, we were both positive it was dead.

“I don’t want to be a party-pooper,” Ellie said, “But we still need to figure out what to do with the bikes.”

“We’ve got one working bike now,” Joel said, clearly still hyped from the action.

“We could take turns running and riding,” I offered.

“No way. That’ll be way too hard and way too slow,” Adam said, obviously thinking out loud.

“Then we go and build a shelter in one of these houses and sit it out again. Only with less food this time,” I said glumly, not seeing any other option.

“Fuck this,” Adam said.

I didn’t hear him swear before. I didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing yet. I glanced over at Joel, who just shrugged.

“Look,” Adam said. “You go pick out a house and start building a shelter as secure as possible. We’ll work somethi…”

“Adam?” Joel asked.

While Adam and Joel were talking, I was scoping the area for more possible dangerous stuff. A few moments after Adam got cut off, I noticed the lights in the only house that had some lights on go out simultaneously.

“I think the power is out, Joel,” I said, feeling the panic build inside me.

“Adam?” Joel asked again but started looking at his phone.

I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen. No service again. I felt a blanket of fear sweeping over me as I realized we were entirely on our own again.

“FUCK!” Joel screamed and started looking around frantically.

“What do we do? Can’t we just take a car and see how far we get?”

“I was thinking the same,” he said, a little calmer now. ”But we only roughly know where to go. That’s not enough. Especially not now we’ve lost contact with them. And in these houses, we’ll probably find keys for the car that’s inside the garage, but…”

“How do we open the garage without power…” I completed his sentence, knowing a car wasn’t an option.

“Right. Let’s start scoping the houses,” Joel said, obviously in survival mode. “We’ll split up to cover more ground. There are about ten houses in the neighborhood. We do a quick scan if the door is open and if we think we can build a shelter in there.”

“Okay. How about food and water?” I asked.

“During the first run, we just check the kitchen. Our main priority is shelter. But since we’re already inside, a quick food check isn’t a bad idea,” Joel said and looked around.

He started untying the bag on the front of his bike and motioned for me to do the same. After it was undone, he opened it, grabbed his spare clothes, and laid them on the curb.

“You do the same. We’ll grab our clothes later. Use this bag to stuff the food you find. Don’t be picky,” he smiled.

“Okay. Let’s go,” I said. “I’ll work my way through these houses. You take care of the others,” I pointed.

“Okay. Work fast. If a house is locked, move on to the next. If there’s nothing to our liking, we can always kick in a door or window.”

And off we went. I didn’t run because I wanted to preserve my energy. I did scope the houses at a gentle jogging pace because time was becoming an issue. The first house was locked, so I quickly went over to the next one. When I opened the door, I noticed two mummified people lying in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. I ignored them and hurried inside. I checked the first floor, grabbed two bottles of coke from the fridge, and went upstairs. Nothing useful there.

The following two houses were open, and the layout was pretty much the same. The first floor had a big living room, a kitchen, and a hallway. Upstairs four bedrooms, all had large windows with a fancy ventilation system in them. Every house was equipped with a state-of-the-art air refreshing system, which meant every room had a small air vent connected to a central unit placed on top of the roof. These houses were basically a death trap for what was coming our way. I did manage to collect some food and drinks, but that was about the only plus side on my run.

The moment I tried the last house and noticed it was closed, I saw Joel walking over. He saw me looking down and started smiling.

“I think I found something,” He said. “You?”

“Nah. Nothing. All houses have this stupid system with that unit outside. I’m sure the bugs will find their way inside through that. I did get food and drinks, though.”

“At least that’s something. Come on,” he said and started jogging toward a house at the end of the street. He opened the door and entered an entry on our right, halfway down the hallway.

“This is the only house I found with a basement,” he said, going down the stairs in front of me.

As we entered the basement, I noticed it had concrete walls and one small window at the top of the back wall. I also saw it was currently closed, which was a good sign.

“See?” Joel said. “No ventilation system, concrete walls, and only one tiny, securely locked window. We’ll only have to seal off the door.”

“This is good, Joel. Real good! Let’s get stuff down here like a bed, table, and chairs, and some other stuff,” I said as I placed the bag with food in a corner.

We went upstairs and got the stuff down in the basement as quickly as we could. We decided to worry about setting it up later. After we had the necessities downstairs, I looked at Joel.

“I’ll do another food run in the closed houses. I’ll smash a window in with this,” I said, picking up a hammer I found on a shelf in the basement.

“You do that. I’ll start looking for something we can use to seal the door. Back in fifteen?” Joel said, looking at his phone.

“Okay. I set a timer on my phone. according to Ellie’s calculations, we’ve got about forty-five to fifty minutes left before the bugs arrive.”

“Let’s hurry then,” Joel said as he started climbing the stairs.

I emptied the bag, and after just under fifteen minutes, I was back with another supply of food and drinks. I guessed this would last us at least a week, maybe a week and a half if we were careful. I scanned the house for a bucket that could function as our toilet. And since we had a water supply down here, I was getting more and more used to the idea of spending another week down here. What we’d do after that was still Unclear but wasn’t something to worry about now.

As I was scanning for the bucket, I came across a few board games. I took them down with me so we wouldn’t die from boredom. Unfortunately, Risk wasn’t one of them, but Twister, Battleship, and all sorts of other games were. The moment I was downstairs and checking if we were missing something, Joel came down.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He kept saying. ”I can’t find anything to seal off the door.”

“Can’t we put towels at the bottom and push some paper into the keyhole?” I offered.

“I don’t see any other option either. But the gaps at the side and top of the door are pretty big. I want to seal these off too.”

The moment I wanted to go upstairs to the bathroom to get some towels, I heard a car horn outside. I looked over at Joel and, judging by the confused look on his face, he was just as puzzled as I was. We didn’t hear a car engine. Was this a fluke? Was someone still alive in one of these houses? We started sprinting up the stairs. I was the first to go outside to see the most fantastic thing I could ever imagine.

End of Chapter twenty-five

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

Hic venit servare

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 23 – Busted
Day 6.

I woke up with a shock. Joel and I were still lying the same way as we fell asleep last night. I guessed because we were both so tired from yesterday’s events outside and our long sex session in the evening. I knew something had woke me up, but I didn’t know what it was.

“RINGGG!”

There it was again! The phone downstairs was ringing. Joel moved beside me too and quickly sat up straight.

“RINGGG!”

Again? Joel’s sleepy eyes looked at me, and as he did, I saw the sleep vanish from his eyes.

“What’s that?” he whispered. “The landline?”

“Yeah,” I whispered back, reaching for my phone.

I looked at my phone and noticed the time. It was 6:34 a.m.

“That can only be Ellie and Adam, don’t you think?” Joel whispered as he got up.

That’s when I noticed the ‘No Service’ text in the top right corner. My heart almost stopped when I read it. What was going on? Was the power out? Were we being sabotaged? Who was calling us?

“I don’t have service anymore.”

“RINGGG!”

The ringing had stopped for a minute or so, and here it was again. Joel looked at me wide-eyed and quickly picked up his phone. The look on his face already told me what he was looking at.

“We must get dressed quickly,” he whispered with an urgency in his voice I hadn’t heard before.

“RINGGG!”

“Fuck!” I whispered. “Do we need to get that?”

Joel looked at me as he was pulling up his boxers. I had to look at his dick before he hid it from view and adjusted it in his boxers. The moment he started pulling up his pants, I started with my panties, tearing my eyes away from his crotch.

“RINGGG!”

We didn’t stop this time, and both started dressing as quickly as we could. As I was tying my shoes, I glanced over at Joel, who was tying the knife sheath to his leg. He was still shoeless and shirtless, and the tip of his tongue stuck out of his mouth as he was concentrating on tying the cords. I put on my shirt and hurried over to help Joel. We needed to be dressed comfortably, and this was one of these things that needed to be done correctly.

“The phone stopped ringing,” Joel said softly.

“You’re right. I think it’s ringing three times and then stops for a few moments,” I said, tying the last knot. “There! All set.”

“Thanks,” Joel said and started fiddling with two smaller knives that were supposed to sit parallel on his belt above his butt.

I tried the light switch and noticed we still had power.

“What do we do, Joel?” I asked, feeling the panic sweep over me.

“We stay calm. We’re safe in here, and after we get dressed…”

“RINGGG!”

“After we get dressed, we’ll carefully try and go downstairs.”

“I guess you’re right. We need to get dressed and be completely…”

“RINGGG!”

“Fuck! Completely ready before we get out of this room.”

“It’s an S.O.S. signal…” Joel said as if he was struck by lightning.

“RINGGG!”

“Oh my god… You’re right…”

I started gathering my things and regretted leaving our guns by our bikes. The shotgun and rifle weren’t a problem, but I’d feel a lot safer with my handgun in my hand, despite my aversion for guns. A knife suddenly just didn’t seem enough.

I noticed a loud click downstairs but couldn’t quite place the sound. Joel apparently didn’t hear it, as he was still working on these knives. This was starting to annoy me. He needed to put his shoes and shirt on and worry about these knives later. The moment I wanted to open my mouth, we both froze.

“Told ya that nigger was the owner,” a familiar voice downstairs said.

“Fuck, fuck fuck…” Joel whispered, moving around frantically.

There was no way we could hide from anyone inside this room. We needed to do something, but I couldn’t figure out what to do.

“Good thing we checked these apartments, right?” the voice continued.

“There’s some great shit in here. Don’t we need to call it in?” another voice said.

“Nah. Let’s check for ourselves first…”

Joel reached for his shoes to pick them up. The moment he did this, his shoulder bumped against a stack of staples and paperclips, causing them to fall over. It wasn’t that loud, but it was almost like a pile of glasses fell over and shattered on the floor in our ears.

“First…”

Joel and I didn’t move an inch. We both just stood there, afraid to make any more noise. I was feeling terrified, and my heart was trying to beat out of my chest. The voices had stopped, and everything was quiet now. Maybe they didn’t hear us?

“Did they hear us?” I whispered as softly as I could.

Joel shrugged his shoulders but looked just as petrified as I felt. I slowly stepped over toward the door to put my ear against it. I didn’t hear the voices anymore, but there were still footsteps. I just couldn’t figure out if they were close, downstairs, or somewhere in between that.

“Can you hear them?” Joel whispered just as softly.

“No. I think…”

With a loud bang, the door cracked as it was kicked open. It hit me hard on my head, causing me to fall back. I felt a sting in my head and saw white flashes before my eyes. I saw a familiar face appear in the door opening between these flashes, immediately pointing a gun at Joel, who quickly raised his hands.

“Well, well. What do we have here, Ben?”

“The two fuckers that tricked us!” Ben said as he came into view and pointed his gun toward me.

“You two got a cozy place in here,” Curtis said as he glanced around. “Too bad for you we found the keys to this place on the body of that nigger who owns this place. We just had to take the keys out of his pockets.”

“Yeah… Too bad, fuckers!” Ben added with a sly smile.

“What do you want from us?” Joel asked, still bare-chested and far from being as diplomatic as yesterday.

“What do we want? HAH!” Curtis said. “We want to know how you tricked us and then come with us to City Hall. That’s what we want.”

“What do you mean? Tricked you? We were scared shitless when the shooting inside that building started,” Joel said with a straight face.

“Right… Scared, huh?” Ben said sarcastically.

“Listen up. I know you were behind it one way or the other. That’s why I let my friends shut down the cellphone towers in this region.”

“Why? Did you run out of your prepaid phonecard and didn’t want anyone else to know?” Joel smiled.

Curtis moved quickly and punched Joel in his stomach with the back of his rifle. Joel let out a moan and hunched over, grabbing his stomach.

“Don’t get cocky with me, BOY. We were out all night looking for you two. I didn’t think we’d find you anymore, but yet here we are.”

“I’m sorry,” Joel groaned. “But how on earth could we do what we did? We were just on our way to our Uncle!”

“I don’t know how you did it! But Ben noticed you were both wearing an earbud. I just put two and two together…” Curtis trailed off.

I could only hope Joel would keep his mouth shut and not try to be funny about adding up numbers. So I decided to beat him to it.

“We were just leaving this place to head out to our Uncle. All the stuff in here is yours if you want. We won’t tell,” I said with the friendliest smile I could.

Curtis looked over at me and got a weird look on his face.

“And you know what else?” Curtis continued while he kept looking at me, “That pretty mouth can be used for a whole lot of interesting things…”

The moment he said this, Joel stepped forward angrily. He was pressed back immediately by the barrel of the gun being pressed against his chest.

“Oh yeah! Please! Give me a reason… BOY…” Curtis said.

I could see Joel trying to hold back, but his eyes looked… different. The last time he met Joe, his eyes shot fire. Right now, I could see utter violence in them. Something I never figured I’d see in my brother’s eyes.

“Maybe we should try her out for ourselves first, Curtis,” Ben chipped in and laughed loudly after he said it.

“Yeah… Maybe we should… She’ll need to be doing it a lot anyway. Might as well teach her the ropes,” Curtis smiled. “And you, BOY… You’ll help us hauling in all the stuff our foraging teams bring in. You think you can…”

“RINGGG!”

Curtis and Ben looked back at the door, a bit surprised. It was only a tenth of a second, but enough for my brother to spring into action. Joel quickly grabbed the gun by its barrel and pointed it toward the ceiling. With his other hand, he punched Curtis hard on his nose, causing blood to spurt out all over his face and his clothes. Moments later, Joel grabbed the knife on his belt’s back and moved it quickly toward Curtis’s throat.

This all happened in a split second. I noticed Ben looking wide-eyed at the scene in front of him, not moving a muscle. But after the initial shock went away and Joel grabbed his knife, Ben sprang into action. With the back of his rifle, he punched Joel on his shoulder. He aimed for my brother’s face, but since they were all moving fast, he missed. In the meantime, I tried to get up, but the air mattress slowed me down too much. It only delayed me for seconds, but it was enough to make me unable to help my brother.

Curtis grabbed Joel by his bare shoulders and quickly swung him around. Joel fell backward out of the room onto the balcony. Curtis jumped out too, and was pointing his rifle at Joel. The moment he fired, Joel kicked against the underside of the gun, causing it to miss my brother by mere inches. Curtis lost his grip, and the rifle flew out of his hands and landed in the door opening.

Ben looked at the scene unfolding in front of his eyes, which gave me the opportunity to grab him from behind. I jumped on his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. I could see Joel quickly got on his feet, swinging a punch at Curtis’s bloody face. But despite his bulky build, Curtis was light on his feet and dodged Joel’s swing. The moment Joel’s fist passed Curtis’s face, he took a punch at Joel’s side, causing him to groan loudly.

I was gripping Ben’s neck as tightly as I could, but he threw himself back against the wall, trapping me in between. Ben was a skinny guy, but this blow still punched all the air out of my lungs, which caused me to loosen my grip slightly. This was enough for Ben to wrestle himself free and slap my face hard. The sting of it was incredible. I’d never imagined such a skinny guy being able to punch someone this hard. Maybe him using a flat hand instead of a fist added to the effect and sting of it. Before I could duck, he slapped me again, and I fell down on the air mattress.

The way I was lying now, I could clearly see the fight between Joel and Curtis. Joel’s back was against the railing as he tried punching Curtis again. I wanted to shout at them to stop, but time itself seemed to slow down. Joel missed Curtis by a hair, and Curtis punched against my brother’s chest with a lot of force. Joel’s head flew back, and so did his torso. I could see his feet trying to get a grip on the floor, but gravity was winning. Curtis’s second blow did it. Joel tumbled back over the railing, his arms desperately trying to grab something. Anything. The gravitational pull was relentless. His eyes caught mine, and I’ll never forget the look of desperation in them. And then he went over.

“JOELLLL!!!!” I screamed as time got back to its regular speed.

Curtis stepped against the railing and looked down. In the meantime, Ben had picked me up and grabbed me firmly by my wrist. Curtis turned around and had a big grin on his blood-covered face. I didn’t care, and I felt the tears streaming down my cheeks.

“That’s one coon less,” Curtis said proudly.

“Is he dead?” Ben asked.

“Looks a lot like it,” Curtis chuckled. “He dropped two stories, and I didn’t see him move. He did have a mean right fist, though.”

Curtis took the hem of his shirt to wipe the blood from his face. Dead? Is my brother dead? I didn’t seem to register in my mind. How could Joel be dead? My sweet and strong brother… He had always looked out for me, and now… Why didn’t I help him? What now? Oh no… Joel’s dead. DEAD!

Nothing registered. Only “Joel is dead” was inside my head. Until a big sting took me back to reality. I saw Curtis smiling at me, and his hand raised. Ready to slap me again.

“I said… What will you do now without your precious boyfriend, princess?”

I couldn’t think. I just looked blankly at Curtis through my tears, feeling completely helpless. I wouldn’t care if they threw me down too. Joel was dead.

“On your knees, princess,” Curtis shouted. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Ben kicked me back at my legs, causing me to drop to my knees. He let go of my wrist but pointed his rifle at my head. I didn’t care. It didn’t even hurt me. Joel was the only thought in my head. My eyes were open, but I didn’t see anything. Joel…

“Ever suck a grown man’s cock, princess?” Curtis asked, gripping his dick through his pants.

I didn’t move. I didn’t nod, didn’t talk. I just looked at the ground. This obviously irritated Curtis a lot. So he grabbed me by my chin, forcing me to look up at him. At that moment, my vision returned, and I saw the face of my brother’s murderer. I never felt more intense hate for another person than at that moment.

“You killed him,” I whispered.

“You’re damn right. I killed him. And I’ll do the same to you if you don’t open your mouth and do what we tell you.”

“You killed him,” I whispered again.

SLAP! Another sting on my cheeks, but I practically didn’t feel it. It hardly registered. Curtis started unzipping his trousers, reaching inside. Before he took it out, he looked at Ben.

“What are you doing?” Curtis said.

“Making sure she doesn’t do anything funny,” Ben responded, moving the gun to make his point.

“Get behind me, you fool. Or do you like looking at my dick?”

“Jeez…” Ben said. ”Is it that small?”

“Fuck you! Get over there and stop looking at my dick, or you’ll get jealous.”

Ben moved a bit, so he couldn’t see his brother’s groin. But he still kept pointing his gun at me. I was starting to feel sick in my stomach from the idea of having to suck off the guy that killed my brother. I was trying to think of a way out of this, but my thoughts were too clouded with Joel’s image falling to his death. I couldn’t think of anything.

The moment the hairy little dick came out of the fly of Curtis’s pants, I realized I had to do this. My mind was in survival mode and was witty enough to know I had to get this done. I would seek a way out later when I was able to think straight. Curtis’s dick looked smaller than my brothers. It was still soft-ish but slowly rising. The uncut glans looked pointy, which made it look even smaller. Pubic hairs were peeking out of the sides of his shaft, and as he stepped closer, I could smell the stale stench of someone with bad personal hygiene. I could suppress a gag, but I immediately felt another one coming.

“What’s the matter, princess? Impressed? Just mind the teeth, or you’re leaving here without them. Got that?” Curtis smiled.

“And if you try anything funny, I’ll shoot you. And don’t worry. I won’t kill you, but you’ll wish I did,” Ben said from behind his brother.

Curtis took his dick in his hand and pointed it toward my lips. The moment the tip of his glans hit my lips, I felt something warm spray over me.

“Did he cum already?” I thought.

But when I heard a gurgling sound above me, I looked up and was shocked at what I saw. Curtis’s throat had a big red line over it, and blood poured and spurted out of it. I could see the end of two knives at the sides of his throat disappear from view as Curtis slowly sank to his knees.

“What the…” was all Ben could say before his words were cut off.

It all happened in a flash, and it took me a moment to realize what I was looking at. Joel jumped against Ben with two bloody knives in his hands. The moment Ben tried to speak, both knives landed in his chest. As soon as they were entirely inside his chest and the blades weren’t visible anymore, Joel pulled them back, only long enough to push both of them back in. And again, and again. I didn’t count, but I was sure Joel stabbed Ben over twenty times before he stopped.

Joel sat there panting heavily, and his face and chest were covered in blood. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Joel was alive! And he saved me! I jumped over to him and hugged him tighter than I ever hugged him before. My forward motion caused both of us to tumble over. Joel groaned the moment we hit the floor.

“Oh, Joel! I thought you were dead! And that evil fucker wanted me to…” I started.

“Shh… It’s okay now. We’re safe,” He moaned.

“But… How?” I couldn’t help but ask. “You fell down. I saw it with my own eyes!”

“I did. But I landed on a stack of boxes containing the new fleece vest collection. It hurt like fuck, and it still does. But the moment I landed, I knew I lived. I figured I’d lay still for a few moments to let these fuckers think I was dead. The moment he disappeared from view and started talking to you, I grabbed two knives from the shelf and crept upstairs to surprise them. ”

“Fuck! You saved us!” I exclaimed and hugged him again, kissing him on his mouth.

“Mpfh!” he groaned again.

“Can you move? Do we need to stay another night? Do I need to find a medkit?” I blabbered.

“No. No, I’m fine. I’ll be sore for a few days, but we can go. We NEED to go. These morons probably bragged about finding the keys to this place over the radio. So the moment they don’t respond, this place will be crowded with more of these fuckers.”

I looked at the dead bodies on the ground, realizing Joel was right. My face burnt from the slaps I received, but other than that, I was fine. And I guess Joel was okay too. He got up and was starting to clean himself with his t-shirt. There would be plenty of time to rest when we reached the shelter.

“Let’s go to the locker room. There’s a sink in there so we can wash off the blood,” I said softly.

We got ourselves cleaned up in no time. Joel was still shirtless, and mine was covered with drops of Curtis’s blood. So I took it off and glanced at Joel, looking at my bra-covered breasts.

“This is a fucked-up world, Joel,” I said seriously. “Thank you for saving me!”

I took his face in my hands and kissed him passionately on his lips. He returned my kiss but pulled back way sooner than I wanted him to.

“We must get going, Mia! I don’t want to waste any more time.”

We grabbed our backpacks, knives, and shoes and went downstairs. Just before we hit the bottom step, the phone rang again. We looked at each other, and I shrugged.

“It’s probably Adam and Ellie. Worst case, it’s someone from the A.W.A. But now we’re out of here in seconds if we need to,” I said, looking at Joel.

He just nodded. I walked over, got behind the counter, and picked up the phone.

“Hello?” I said, not knowing what to expect.

“Thank, god! Mia?” I heard Adam’s voice asking.

The relief in his voice was unmistakable. I nodded at Joel, who started smiling, and it seemed like a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

“Are you two okay? We saw these two guys enter the shop, but we couldn’t reach you. They sabotaged the cell phone towers. At least according to SHIVR.”

“We’re fine,” I said calmly. “And these two guys are… dealt with.”

“Oh… I… I see,” Adam said after a long silence.

“Put them on speaker,” I heard Ellie say in the background.

“Mia?” Ellie’s voice came on after a small beep.

“Hi, Ellie. Yeah. We’re fine. We need to get to you now, though. We want to leave NOW.” I said with great urgency in my voice.

“We already checked everything,” Adam said. “The area is clear, and SHIVR calculated that there will be a cellphone signal the moment you’re leaving town. The road is just one straight line.”

“Which way do we go?” I asked.

Adam explained the first part of the trip. After we went left and right a few times, it was a straight shot toward them. After what Joel did today, I was confident we could make it, but I had to ask Joel. The moment he knew it was Adam, he stepped closer so he could listen in.

“You’re okay with it, Joel?” I asked.

“Of course I am. We need to get the fuck out of here as quickly as we can. If they checked the area, plotted the course, and say it’s safe, then we go.”

“It’s safe, Joel. I promise. The road is clear, and as far as we can see it, every A.W.A. member is either at City hall or at the rendezvous point at the other side of town.”

“Then it’s settled,” Joel said. “We’ll be wearing our earbuds, so you can call us when the signal comes back. Can you watch us on cameras all the way?”

“In the town, we can see you all the way. But the moment you leave town, there are a few gaps. SHIVR is working on another satellite feed, just no promises there. But we’ll be in touch over the phone by the time you leave town. We didn’t see any movement outside the town last night, so we’re assuming the back roads are clear. At least clear from A.W.A. people.”

“They’re not people,” Joel said grimly.

“Well… You know what I mean. If you go now, you probably won’t have to sleep outside, or maybe just one night,” Adam said, carefully avoiding Joel’s comment.

“We’re ready,” I said. “We’ll grab our coats, guns, and bikes, and we’re off. Talk to you later,” I chirped.

“Later. Be careful, alright?” Adam said.

I hung up the phone and smiled at Joel.

“With a bit of luck, we’ll be having a nice, warm shower tonight,” I said.

“Oh yeah… Can’t wait to have a shower. Maybe we need to preserve water and have to shower together,” Joel said and smiled mischievously.
At the idea of showering with my brother, my vagina moistened considerably.

“It’s also better for the environment, so maybe we need to do it anyway,” I smiled back.

After we put in our earbuds, zipped up our new coats, and holstered our guns, we grabbed our bikes.

“Let’s go,” Joel said as he opened the door.

End of Chapter twenty-three

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

quia caritas quae agis