Plot Only

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 19 – Moving
Day 5.

“Okay. We see you on the traffic cam. Head north,” I heard Ellie say to us.

I looked down the road, and the cars were standing there in all directions. It was almost as if keeping right was forgotten, and everybody did as they pleased. Some vehicles had crashed into others. Some were upside down. Doors were open, and in a few cars, the driver was still behind the wheel. It was total chaos. I didn’t see any car on fire, though. Nor were there burned-out cars. Maybe further up the road by the highway where the cars drive faster, it would be different. But what I was looking at now seemed like a scene from the Walking Dead or some show like that. The only difference was no zombies were walking around.
Joel got up and started walking down the street, a little crouched over so we wouldn’t be too obvious. I started following him, and the moment I left our front lawn, I froze. There were dozens of dead bodies scattered around on the ground. Male and female, old and young. No one was spared. And they all looked awful with their mummy-like skin and hairs.

“You’re okay, Mia?” I heard Joel whisper.

I tore my eyes away from the bodies on the ground and looked at my brother’s worried face. I took a deep breath and nodded. I needed to get my head straight and stop looking at these bodies as people. That was the only way I’d make it. It felt like an epiphany to me when I realized it, and it was very liberating to me.

“Yeah. I think I am. These bodies just… Never mind. I’m fine. Honest.”

Joel moved from car to car, making sure we’d be no more in the open than we needed to. I followed him one car behind.

“You’re doing great, guys,” Ellie said. “Just before the green van, there’s an alley to your right. You need to cross the street to get there. But once you’re in that alley, you’re less in the open.”

“Copy,” Joel whispered

I had to suppress a giggle because of this. All of a sudden, he was acting all stealthy and army-like. Ah well, if it works for him. We’ve both been through that alley dozens of times, but now it seemed more like a safe haven instead of a dangerous, dirty alley.

“The road is clear from what we see. According to SHIVR, there might be a car heading your way, but it’ll take at least two or three minutes. By then, you’re way down that alley and can hide from it between two dumpsters.”

Ellie and Adam had talked to us about SHIVR. Joel was very impressed by it and especially liked the autonomous functions it had. I was less impressed. I was mainly worried about getting where we were heading as quickly as possible.

“Three… two… one… Go!” Joel whispered.

We crossed the street quickly and were in the alley before we knew it. The most challenging part about running now was not stepping on a body. As we entered the alley, there were no bodies on the ground. I could see two or three in the distance, but nowhere near as much as on the main road.

“Keep left against the wall,” Ellie said. “That way, you won’t be seen easily, and we can keep watching you on three cameras.”

As we were nearing the end of the alley, we heard the sound of an engine in the distance. There was also another noise, but I couldn’t place it.

“There’s the car. Duck between these dumpsters in front of you.”

We did as Ellie said and waited. We were pressed against the wall but hidden from view by these big containers. I could glance to where we came from through a small gap between the dumpster and the wall.

As the sound of the engine grew louder, so did my heartbeat. In our street, a big army Hummer appeared. On top of it was a large gun with a skinny man holding it. The man was wearing a black coat and an old cap. I couldn’t see his face, but he looked very intimidating, despite his skinny frame. The Hummer just drove over the bodies and banged the cars out of the way. That was the sound I heard.

I had no clue where they were heading but was extremely glad it drove by and didn’t enter the alley. And as quickly as it came into view, it left again.

“Are they on patrol or something?” Joel asked.

“Looks like it,” Ellie responded. “Wait a few moments. We’ll check where they’re heading.”

“That was scary, Joel,” I said, covering my mic with my hand.

Joel just nodded.

“Okay. It’s clear now. You can move on further down the alley and turn left at the end. There’s another main road you’ll have to cross.”

We made good progress, and before we knew it, we were close to Uncle Tyrell’s shop.

“Alright. To your left, there’s a small shed in that garden. The gate and the doors are open. Head in there for a sec,” Ellie instructed.

We entered the shed and closed the door behind us. It was a typical garden shed with gardening tools hanging on the walls and some garden chairs stacked in the corner to be safe for winter.

“Listen, guys,” Adam’s voice came on the phone.

That couldn’t be good. We agreed Ellie would do the talking. And considering we’re about two minutes away from the shop’s personnel entrance, I didn’t want to head back.

“What is it?” Joel asked, clearly worried.

“The big apartment building you need to pass…”

“Yeah… What about it?”

“SHIVR recorded two men entering it about an hour ago. They didn’t come out yet. So there is a slight chance they come out the moment you pass the building.”

“Oh,” was my scared reply. “Isn’t there a way around it?”

“Actually… Not really. Going around it will bring you too close to the highway where the Hummers drive around quite frequently. Or it will take you to a bunch of piled-up cars, which we assume isn’t there because of an accident.”

“You mean people build a barricade?” Joel asked.

“We think so, yeah. So going straight is our best shot. The moment you round the corner, we can’t see you guys. It’s only one block, but you’ll be on your own. After you turn right, when you pass the building, you immediately go left. After a few more yards, we’ll be able to see you again. What do you think? Go on or head back? It’s up to you.”

I looked over at Joel. His face didn’t show too much emotion, but I knew he was scared. So was I. But heading back was also dangerous. We didn’t say anything. We just nodded.

“We’ll move forward. Thanks for the heads-up,” Joel said flatly. “Come on, Mia.”

Joel opened the door, and we walked toward the apartment building. We could stay under the first floor’s balcony, so no one could see us from above. As we reached the entrance, Joel slowed down and looked at me. I gave him another nod, and we softly but swiftly walked past the gate.

We rounded the corner and started crossing the street. Right at the moment, I thought we were safe. But then I heard a voice and froze.

“Hey! Stop, you two!”

We stopped, and Joel glanced worriedly at me. We turned around, and two men walked over to us. Both had a machine gun in front of their chests and tried to look all military. But even to me, it was obvious they were just two wannabes.

“Hello,” Joel said.

“Hello there. It’s nice to see there are more people alive. How are you two?”

“We’re fine, thank you. You?” Joel responded as casually as he could.

I noticed we were slowly crossing the street with these two men following us. We weren’t walking, just taking small steps each time. I knew what Joel wanted to do.

“Stay calm, guys! Keep talking. We’re working on something,” Adam’s voice whispered in our ears.

“All alone out here?” Guy one asked.

He was obviously the brains of these two. The second guy was skinny as hell. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a meth-head. The first guy showed a slight resemblance but was bigger and fatter. He wasn’t fat, just healthier. And older, but didn’t seem too bright either. Both wore camouflage clothing, a white cap with a logo on it with the letters AWA prominently in it.

“Yeah… All alone?” Guy two chipped in.

“No. We’re heading over to our Uncle. He’s waiting for us down the street,” Joel replied, still remarkably calm.

“I think it’s better you guys come with us,” Guy one said, “Don’t you think, Ben?”

“Yeah. I think so too, Curtis,” Ben said.

Well… At least we knew their names now. I was thinking about how we could get out of here. We couldn’t fight them. We probably could handle Ben, but Curtis was too much for the two of us.

“I’m sorry,” Joel said, “But then our Uncle and the people he’s with would be worried. I’m sure you guys have enough troubles as it is without the two of us.”

“Oh no. Not a problem. We’re making sure to gather all survivors in city hall. We’re trying to rebuild some form of a chain of command. We’ve got orders to bring survivors there.”

“Orders? Are you from the army?” I asked innocently.

“Army? You hear that, bro? They think we’re with the army. Ha!” Ben laughed. “No, We’re with the A.W.A. Way better than the army.”

Curtis started laughing, and of course, Ben began to laugh too after that. The resemblance made sense now. They were brothers. I was slowly beginning to panic now as the tension between us grew thicker by the second.

“Well,” Joel said, still annoyingly calm, “I’m afraid we can’t do that. We agreed to meet our Uncle. We’ll come to City Hall with them. How’s that?”
Adam’s soft voice came through the earpiece. “In a few seconds, you’ll hear gunshots. They’re not real, but the moment they start, hide behind the car behind you.”

“Sorry… BOY… Can’t do that. I’m afraid I insist,” Curtis said, gripping his machine gun to emphasize his point.

“Three,” Adam said.

“Sorry, mister,” Joel said, looking straight at him, and I could see the fire in his eyes after Curtis called him boy.

“Two…”

“Listen, you coons!” Curtis shouted with spit flying out of his mouth.

“One!!” Adam said.

What happened next was utterly unexpected. From inside the apartment building, loud gunshots were heard. It was deafening, considering the dead silence outside.

“Help me, Curtis!” a female voice shouted. Weirdly, it sounded very calm and polite, not panicky.

Joel and I didn’t hesitate. We ran behind the car and hid. From under the car, I could see both men step around, obviously not knowing what to do.

“Who is that, Curtis?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. I think we need to help her. Call for help and follow me! You two! Stay here,” he shouted toward us.

I could see Curtis’s feet running toward the entrance, and Ben followed him. We got up, and I could see Ben fiddling with the radio as he ran behind his brother.

“Eagle’s nest! This is team Echo. We…” was all we heard as he entered the building.

I glanced over at Joel and saw the smile on his face.

“SHIVR found a satellite feed, and we can see you from above now. Now you need to make a run for it. Every hostile in the neighborhood will go toward that building. That gives you two the time to enter the shop. Now GO!!”

We started running, and at each corner or side street, Ellie called the direction we needed to go. We were at the back entrance before we knew it, and Joel already had the keys in his hand.

“Here!” he said, handing me the keys. “Unlock the door, but do not open it yet. I have to double-check the alarm code first.”

I did as Joel said, and he started scrolling through his phone furiously. It took him only seconds, but it felt like hours. I kept looking in all directions, but no one came into view. In the distance, I could still hear the gunshots.

“Go!” Joel said.

I opened the thick, heavy, blast-proof door. Joel ran in and stopped in front of the keypad. I closed the door as softly as I could and locked it behind us. The beeps that were coming from the keypad as Joel disarmed it was like a train going by. This was probably because of the silence around us.

“There!” Joel said and sighed deeply as the beeping had stopped.

“Are they coming after us, Ellie?” I asked.

“No. They are still inside the apartment building. You’re good.”

“Oh my god! That was close! They would’ve never let us go, would they?” I asked no one in particular.

“I don’t think so, no,” Adam said. “We were lucky SHIVR could help us this way.”

“What happened back there?” I asked, really curious about how they saved us.

“SHIVR scanned online and found seven,” Ellie said but was interrupted.

“I’m sorry, Ellie. I used eight,” we heard SHIVR say in the background.

“Sorry. Eight,” Ellie giggled, ”smart speakers. She played gun sounds as loud as possible on them, and on one of them, she let Google Assistant call out for Curtis. We hoped it would lure them away from you guys. And it did, obviously.”

“Oh wow. Thank you, SHIVR,” I said, very impressed.

“You’re welcome, Mia,” was SHIVR’s response.

“Thanks a lot, you guys! You saved our lives,” Joel chipped in, and I could see he was still shaking all over.

“The adrenaline is still shooting through our bodies. That was fucking awesome! Do you think we’re safe here for the night?” I asked.

“The way I see it, you’re better off here than in your home, Mia,” Adam said.

“So we stay here for the night and head toward you guys in the morning, right Adam?” Joel asked.

“That’s the plan, yeah. No rain, mild winds, and no sun tomorrow. I think they’re the ideal circumstances to move around. Just so we’re clear… We can’t see anything inside the shop. The security system your Uncle used is A-grade, so we can’t hack into it. But Ellie and I will keep watch tonight and monitor the surroundings, so you’re still quite safe.”

“So… We’ll hang up and call again in the morning?” I asked, just to make sure we were all on the same page.

“Yeah. That way, your phones can be fully charged again, and you won’t make too much noise by talking to us. We’ll call you if there’s trouble ahead, okay? Maybe one of you can set their phone to auto answer on our number. That way, we can talk and listen, no matter what.”

“Will do. Thanks! So… if nothing bad happens, tomorrow at eight? There’s enough daylight by then, and we’ll have enough time to reach you guys.”

“Tomorrow at eight it is. Good luck and good night,” Ellie said with a bit of a worried voice.

End of Chapter nineteen

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

My deepest apologies for another plot-only chapter! There will be more sex in the next stories. I promise! But the plot needed this, so that’s why I did it this way. I hope you guys will forgive me…

amentibus possit cogitare ipsi rectores orbis terrarum

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 18 – Packing
Day 5.

“Take your time. We’ll be waiting. Bye!” and I pressed the red phone on the screen.

We sat there looking at each other with big smiles across our faces. Joel got up and walked toward my bed, consumed in his thoughts.

“It IS a very tempting offer, isn’t it?” Joel said to me.

I got on my feet too, walked over to him, and hugged him. This put him off balance, and we spun a bit on our feet, falling down on my bed. I started giggling about our clumsiness but also noticed Joel’s soft dick pressed against my naked pussy. The way we were lying now was in the traditional missionary position.

I looked at Joel, who was smiling too, but suddenly swallowed hard and looked all serious. Between my legs, I felt his penis growing rapidly. Joel quickly got up and sat down on the bed, looking all flushed.

“I… Uh… It’s…” he stammered.

“Yeah. I, uhh… I’m…” I stammered too, not knowing what to say or do.

This was all very unexpected. There was an undeniable sexual tension between us that moment, but I wasn’t ready for THAT. At least not yet. It did feel awesome feeling his dick poking against my entrance, even if it was very brief.

“Do you think you’re up for it, Mia?” Joel asked seriously. “I mean… It’s a hell of a walk. But there’s no way we’re going to manage it in just one day. Not now.”

“No. It isn’t. We don’t know what we’ll find outside. Roads blocked, people lying around, fire, you name it. I’ve seen enough of these movies to know it won’t be a party out there. But what’s the alternative? If we’re careful, we’ll last another week with our food. And after that?”

“I know. No doubt we need to do something. But there will be dead people lying around everywhere. You do realize that, do you?”

“I do. And I think I’ll manage. It’ll probably take some getting used to. But I know I can.” I smiled.

“And with our luck, we’ll meet the A.W.A. too. So we’ll have to stay clear from main roads and move through the country once outside of the city,” Joel said mostly to himself.

“But our home will be visited by these guys. That’s just a matter of time, and you know that too. And then what? I think we should take our chance and go to that big underground shelter with a food supply for years. And a shower. And…” I sighed.

“Fuck it! You’re right. We won’t get a better option than this. We just need to figure out how we can do this in two or three days,” Joel said.

“I’ve got my backpack in here. We can stuff our canned food in there. We need some spare clothes and a few bottles of water. These things all fit into two backpacks, and we’ve got two bags,” I chuckled.

“I need to go into my room to get it…”

“Oh,” I replied softly.

“But I need clean clothes and my hiking boots anyway. So it’s just something I need to do. I’ll try not to look at dad…”

“We can sleep in houses along the way. There are probably plenty of houses we can use. Every open house means at least one bed.”

“I don’t know… It’s dangerous. What if the A.W.A. check these houses, and we’re in it?”

“Okay… A tent, maybe? That can be hidden in a lot of places.”

“We don’t have a tent,” Joel said blankly, looking all thoughtful. “We need weapons too. We need to be able to defend ourselves.”

“We don’t have weapons,” I said in the same tone as Joel did about the tent, feeling a bit annoyed.

“Uncle Tyrell,” Joel suddenly blurted.

“Uncle Tyrell?” I asked, not sure what Joel meant by it.

“Uncle Tyrell gave me the keys to the shop and the alarm code. He asked me to open the shop Saturday morning, so I could let the supply guy in,” Joel said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“And do you think the shop is still there and not looted by the A.W.A.?”

“I don’t think so, no. Uncle Tyrell had a very secure place there. He needed to, considering the neighborhood and his license to sell hunting rifles. And it’s close. Less than ten minutes by foot. On a normal day.”

“And you know how to get in?”

“I do. The keys are in my room, and the code is on my phone. While we’re there, we can stock up. Backpacks, shoes, clothes, tent, weapons, anything. Even high-energy protein bars and drinks. There’s a lot of useful stuff in that shop. If we go there today, we can sleep inside the storage room tonight. No windows there, so no one will see us, and easy to defend if necessary. Then we’ll have an early start tomorrow so we can make good use of the daylight. We just have to be careful when we’re… uhm… shopping,” he said excitedly.

I had to admit I liked the idea. They had everything we needed in there for our trip to the woods. It was close enough so we could go back here in case it didn’t work. It was almost like a dry-run for the big journey.

“We can ask Ellie to check if the store is still untouched. And it’s a nice way to test if it works with them talking us through,” I said.

“And if it doesn’t work, we can always head back here. It’s close enough to act as a fallback,” Joel mumbled.

“We go today?” I asked.

“Yes. I don’t see why not. It’s not even noon yet, so we’ve got plenty of time to prepare and head over there. Even enough time to head back if necessary.”

“Fuck. We’re doing it,” I whispered.

“Don’t worry, Mia. We’re together. I’ll never let you out of my sight. Together we can do this!”

“Oh my god, we’re doing this,” I whispered again.

“Mia?”

As if I snapped out of my trance, I looked Joel in his eyes and smiled. I kissed him on his mouth and hugged him tightly.

“I know you’ll protect me. That’s why I’m confident we’ll make it. And I’ve got your back too. We’re getting out of here! Finally!”

“We are,” Joel laughed.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, thinking our own thoughts. I mainly thought about the luxury we’d have over there and worried we overlooked something.

“Don’t we need to sleep a night over this?” I asked eventually. “I mean… Aren’t we forgetting something? Or too excited to get out of here, so our judgment is off?”

“I was thinking that too. But I honestly can’t think of anything. And the stop at Uncle Tyrell’s place is a very sensible thing to do. It’ll give us a good idea of what’s out there. We can stock up on important supplies, get weapons and stuff. But most of all, we can go back here if we don’t like it out there or think we can’t make it. Then we’ll be back in the same situation as we are now, only better supplied. So no. I don’t think we should wait another day.”

I looked at my brother and let everything sink in for a moment. I couldn’t argue with the things he said. We couldn’t stay here forever and needed to go out eventually. By doing it now, we had the most significant chance the shop wasn’t looted yet, the weather was still okay, and the A.W.A. still wasn’t fully organized yet.

“I’ll call Ellie,” I simply said, causing Joel to laugh.

It didn’t take us long to explain our plans to them. By the time we hung up, their system had already checked, and it was safe for us to go there. There had been an attempt to enter the shop through the store’s enforced front window. But all the available footage showed there was only a massive dent in the security fence in front of the store and probably a broken window. They had used a truck to run into the fence that was still in front of the store, but the shop still was secure and untouched besides the big dent.

“It looks bad from the outside,” Ellie said, “but we’re convinced the inside is still untouched. The alarm doesn’t sound anymore either.”

According to Joel, this made sense. If the alarm sounded for more than an hour, the system would shut itself down as a precaution. The alarm was probably still armed on the upper floors, so we needed the code anyways.

We figured it was time for us to trust them and gave our address. The system calculated the best route for us to take now, so we wouldn’t have to climb over some freaky traffic accident or something. This route would take us fifteen minutes tops. The only downside was one small blind spot on the course, but we decided to take that risk. The other routes would take us way longer, or we’d have to go over the main road. We didn’t like either option.

“Right. We’ll gather our stuff and be ready in half an hour. Then we’ll call you the moment we head out, okay?” I asked Ellie.

“Right. Uncle Adam and I will be ready. I’ll do the talking, Uncle Adam the scouting on the monitors. Talk to you soon.”

We stood side by side in front of the sheet by my door. We were both hesitant to open it, but we also knew we needed to. Joel didn’t move, so I started pulling at the sheet, slowly peeling open the duct tape as I did this. I kept pulling, and suddenly, it dropped to the floor.

I closed my eyes and held my breath. I noticed Joel taking my hand and him holding his breath too. It seemed like ages but was probably less than a minute before I opened my eyes again. I glanced at Joel, who glanced back at me.

“We’re still alive,” he said as we both stepped out of my room.

I inhaled deeply but regretted it immediately. The stench from our toilet was pretty thick.

“I’m going into my room alone. I don’t want you to see Dad this way. I’ll quickly gather my things and head back to your room. There we’ll pack our stuff. Okay?”

This wasn’t a question, and I knew this was non-negotiable. I simply nodded and picked up the bucket.

“I’ll get rid of this and go to a proper toilet. Be back in a sec,” I said, walking away so Joel could take his time before entering his room.

After I did my business and cleaned the bucket, I went into my room and picked out the clothing to wear and the spare clothes to take with us. I didn’t want to take too much, but fresh underwear, pants, and a sweater were the least I could take. I also gathered the cans of food that were the most decent.

By the time I was done and started to get dressed, Joel came in. He had a blank expression on his face and didn’t say anything. He dropped his stuff on the bed and started getting dressed too. It was difficult to read his thoughts. But after I was done dressing, I walked over to him and hugged him. At first, he gently pushed me away, but I would have none of that and kept hugging. A moment later, I heard him sniff.

“He’s dead, Mia. He really is dead,” and he started crying his eyes out.

I couldn’t hold back my tears and started crying too. I caressed Joel’s hair and pulled him closer to me. His shoulders were shaking as he was sobbing for all he was worth. I let him cry. I cried too, but he saw our dad. I didn’t. I was still hurt, but he SAW him. That needed some processing.

After a few minutes, the sobbing stopped. He didn’t pull back yet, but it was clear he was trying to get himself back together. I kissed him on his cheek again and pulled my face back to look at him. Through his red eyes, I could see him trying to smile.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…” Joel started.

“Shhh. No need to be sorry,” I interrupted him.

He dried his eyes and looked at his clothes on the bed. I looked at it too, and he basically had the same clothes picked out. A few boxers, socks, fresh pants, three shirts, and a sweater. I realized I needed some spare socks too.

“I think this is the best I’ve got for this,” he said, trying to change the subject.

“I think you’ll manage with it. You’ve got the keys too?” I asked, figuring he’d talk about dad when the time was right.

“I do.”

We packed our stuff and divided it equally over the two backpacks. We made sure we got the food, water, clothes, and phone chargers. We both plugged in one earbud and connected the cord to our phones. We triple-checked everything and made sure we got it all. I looked at my room, feeling a slight sting, knowing this might be the very last time I looked at the place I grew up in, and that kept us safe during these dreadful days.

I checked the time and noticed we took a bit longer than we agreed on. It was a little past one, but still plenty of time to get to Uncle Tyrell’s store. Joel softly unlocked our door, and I started calling Ellie.

“Mia?” I heard with a bit of a worry in her voice.

“Hi. Sorry. But it took a bit longer than expected. But now we’re ready. Let me call Joel and merge the call, so we can both hear you.”

A few moments later, we were standing there in our living room with my heart beating out of my chest.

“We’re watching your street. It’s empty, so you’re good to go. Good luck!” Ellie said.

Joel slowly opened the door and crawled out on his hands and feet, waiting outside for me. I followed him and remained next to him until he closed the door.

We were outside for the first time in five days, and I was scared shitless.

End of Chapter eighteen

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

relinquens salutem

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 11 – Keeping busy
Day 3.

“Do you want a glass of water, Uncle Adam?” I heard Ellie ask from the kitchen.

“No. I’m fine. Thank you,” I responded.

After we both cried for over an hour, we comforted each other. We had a long talk together about everything that had happened. I felt SO guilty for letting Ryan go out there and not protecting him. I couldn’t think straight right after we realized he was dead. Ellie was amazing and talked to me constantly. She assured me that it wasn’t my fault. We didn’t know what was happening, and I did everything in my power to stop it. That just wasn’t enough.

After a few minutes, I realized she was probably right. Although the guilt didn’t go away. It kept lingering in the back of my head. Ellie, of course, was also devastated by her brother’s death. But eventually, we both agreed we needed to focus on the problems and mourn over Ryan later.

I was also still digesting the voice message her mother had sent me. It was sent over a day ago, and the ending disturbed me the most.

“Hi, Adam. It’s crazy out here! I’m locking myself in my hotel room. I’m really hoping that you, Ellie, and Ryan are safe. Please call me or app me! The Wi-Fi here is gone, but my phone still has service. Please, Adam! It’s… Oh no! Don…”

That was it. I tried calling her the minute I heard it and again when Ellie was on the toilet. I also sent her over a dozen messages, but no response. I was fearing the worst but couldn’t tell Ellie yet. Not now.

Ellie came back into the living room. I saw her eyes were still red and swollen as she sat down next to me on the couch. She cuddled up to me and sighed deeply. I put my arms around her, and we just sat there, lost in our thoughts.

“What do we do now, Uncle Adam?” Ellie eventually asked.

“I think we need to make a list of things we need to do. Just to make sure we don’t forget anything. How about that?”

“Okay. I guess,” she responded glumly. “What time is it?”

I checked my phone and noticed it was already six pm.

“It’s already six. How about we eat something first and make a list after dinner?”

“I’d like that.”

“Great. Shall we make dinner together?”

The next hour or so, we were busy in the kitchen. Ellie acted less sad, and we actually managed to create an excellent Italian-style spaghetti together. We ate it at the kitchen table, cleaned up together, and went to the living room.

“Okay. I think the first thing we need to do is to find out what is killing everyone. Is it the air, radiation, North Korea?”

Ellie giggled at that last option.

“I can check online if you want. I mean… We’ve got WiFi now”, Ellie offered and smiled weakly.

“Good idea. Even though I don’t think you’ll find much online, it’s worth the effort.”

“Why not?”

“Well… According to everything I saw online up until now, the world has probably gone to pieces. We don’t know that for sure yet, but let’s assume it has. The internet is designed to withstand catastrophic disasters, so its infrastructure will probably be up and running. But platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and such all use algorithms to present us the right news and information. That algorithm is probably way too confused to do anything now. With almost two billion people logging on each day, and maybe half of them posting stuff, the algorithm expects a certain quantity of data. I’d be amazed if Facebook is still available right now. They’ll probably have all sorts of automated procedures in place for these types of enormous drops in data traffic.”

Ellie looked at me, confused. She picked up her phone and unlocked it.

“The app still opens,” she said. But after a few moments laid her phone back down. “It’s still working, but the last addition is over ten hours old. So…”

“There are other ways to get intel. I like the idea of you checking online. I’ll try the TV and see if the regular channels work now. Then I’ll check if the news stations are still broadcasting. I don’t think so, but we’ll have to check. That way, we both work on our most important issue at hand. I think that’s a great start.”

“Great. So do I. What’s next?” Ellie asked, obviously eager to help.

“I need to find a way to contact Uncle Robert. I’m assuming he’s alright in that fortified army base. But I think the only thing we can do about that is wait. And I don’t like that at all. But when we get in touch, we’ll probably know right away what’s going on out there.”

“Maybe I can check the control room? No offense, but I think I’m better with that sort of stuff than you,” Ellie said, looking apologetic.

“Ha, ha! None taken!” I laughed. “But it’s a good idea, Ellie. You do that.”

“Maybe you can check the lab? That’s your cup of tea, isn’t it?”

“That’s an excellent plan, Ellie. Maybe there’s some lead in there about what’s going on. I know Uncle Robert always keeps detailed logs on his computer. So I must check that too.”

“Anything else?” Ellie asked, yawning loudly.

“Well. The most important thing is to gather intel and setup coms. I think we’ve got that covered. Maybe we need to check the crops room in case we’re here for a long time and need fresh food?”

“I guess you’re right. Put that on the list, and we’ll do that after the other stuff is done, okay?”

“Right. I think we’ve got it then. Maybe a cleaning schedule? You vacuum, and I clean the toilet?” I giggled.

Ellie started smiling, which reminded me how much I liked to see Ellie smile.

“We’ll manage. Remind me to set the temperature down when I find it on the control panel tomorrow. When we ask SHIVR, it seems it’s a temporary setting that only lasts an hour or so. Otherwise, we’ll keep walking around in our underwear,” Ellie said and kept smiling.

“Ellie? There is one more thing we need to talk about,” I said with pain in my heart.

“It’s about mom, isn’t it?”

“Well… Yes. I can’t reach her in any way. I tried calling and messaging her through her a lot of apps, but there’s been no reply.”

“Oh,” Ellie responded, not showing too many emotions.

“This doesn’t mean anything, Ellie!”I quickly added. “Maybe the cellphone network went down, her battery is dead, or stuff like that. I’m sure a big, international hotel like the one she stays in has contingency plans for such events. She’s probably in the shelter in the hotel.”

“I hope you’re right, Uncle Adam. She’s an independent woman and can take care of herself. Let’s hope for the best.”

That was a pretty mature reaction. I wondered how good or bad her relationship with her mother was. Or maybe she was just done crying for now.

“Let’s do that. What do you wanna do now? Watch a movie? Go to bed? Have a drink?” I laughed.

“I saw some books on the shelves over there. Maybe read some in bed?” Ellie asked shyly.

“Fine with me. I assume you’re sleeping in my room tonight?”

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not! And you’re not the only one that’s sad. I’m glad to have some company now too. But I’m taking a glass of whiskey with me.”

“Can I have one too? I’m afraid I can’t sleep, and maybe that’ll help me sleep,” Ellie asked with the same puppy eyes as Ryan did yesterday.

Damn! Yesterday… the day everything changed. Seems like an eternity ago.

“I guess one glass won’t hurt. I’ll go look for a book too, pour the whiskey and come to bed, okay?”

“Thanks, Uncle Adam,” Ellie said as she hugged me firmly.

As I walked into the bedroom, I noticed Ellie wasn’t there yet. I put her glass on the nightstand on her side of the bed. As I walked over to mine, I heard the toilet flush.

I crawled in and looked at Ellie doing the same. I held up my glass, and Ellie took the hint. She took her drink, and we toasted.

“To Ryan,” Ellie said, tearing up.

“To Ryan,” I said, swallowing that lump in my throat away.

“AAHHH,” we both said practically at the same time after our first gulp of whiskey.

“Damn! How can adults drink this shit?” Ellie asked, coughing loudly.

“In a few moments, you’ll feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Then you’ll know,” I laughed.

“Ohhh. You’re right!” Ellie said after a few moments.

A little later, we were sitting up against the headboard of the bed, reading. Eventually, I polished off my glass and poured myself another one. I glanced over at Ellie, and she smiled at me. I poured her a little bit too, figuring it wouldn’t hurt her too much to drink a little more than a full glass of whiskey.

After I finished my second glass, I looked at my phone and noticed it was almost ten. I looked over at Ellie, and she had closed her book already and was polishing off her glass.

“I’m tired. Let’s sleep, shall we?” I asked.

“I guess I can sleep now. So, yeah. Uhm… Uncle Adam?”

“What is it, Ellestar?”

“I… Uhm… I hate to wear clothes in bed. Do you mind if I… You know, take them off?”

This surprised me a lot, and I had to let that sink in for a moment. But that was a slight problem, though. I wasn’t thinking too clearly anymore because of the whiskey. I’ve always been a bit of a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

“You let Ryan sleep naked,” Ellie quickly added to her defense.

“You’re right, Ellie. But the deal I had with him was that I could be naked too and that we both kept our own ends of the bed.”

“Great! I can live with that,” she said, and I could see her hands moving under the sheet.

Moments later, her panties dropped on the floor, and she was fiddling with her top. She’d pulled up the bedsheet to hide her breasts from view, but that didn’t seem to work too well. I decided to give her some privacy, so I turned a bit on my side to face the wall and started taking off my boxers.

The movement beside me had stopped, so I turned back on my back and looked at Ellie. Obviously, her tank top had come off, but she modestly kept the sheet up, covering her breasts.

“Much nicer,” she said with a slight smile on her face.

“I agree. I hate wearing clothes to bed too,” I added.

“You know… In the last months or so, Ryan tried sneaking peeks at my naked body. Like when I came out of the shower and stuff. I didn’t let him, though,” she said softly, and I saw a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

I extended my arm and stroked her hair. Ellie took it as an invitation and nestled her head against my shoulder. It was against our agreement, but I figured to let her be in these difficult times. What harm could it do after all?

“After that little booger figured out it wouldn’t work, he started showing off his own nude body to me, hoping that would somehow work. He had a very nice body. Cute penis too,” Ellie smiled up at me. “Now I hate that I didn’t show him, you know,” she trailed off.

“Well… He was in a very curious phase of his sexual development,” I said, trying to sound scientific and mature.

“I guess you’re right,” Ellie responded, cuddling up even more.

“He asked me if I knew how to masturbate…”

Ellie pulled her head back and looked at me with a big smile.

“He did? Typical Ryan,” she laughed. “What did you say?”

“Well, considering he confided in me to help him, I decided to show him how it’s done. He just came out of the shower, and I… Well… You know…” I said, blushing, realizing the booze maybe made my tongue a bit too loose.

“You showed him. You didn’t just tell him how it’s done?” Ellie asked with a bit of unbelieve in her voice.

“Yeah… Well… He was naked. I was wearing only a bathrobe… So yeah. It was easier to just show him.”

“Wow,” Ellie giggled. “Knowing Ryan a little, he didn’t leave you alone after that, did he?”.

“You’ve got that right. Last night we did it again,” I said, immediately regretting saying it.

“What? In here?”

“Well… Where else?” I noticed I got hard from the memory of Ryan’s tight body.

“Oh boy. Well… He CAN be manipulative. So I guess it’s not that weird you did this.”

“I know I shouldn’t have. But he was curious, came to his gay Uncle about it, and got no one else to go to with it. Letting him find it out on his own was just not done, you know? Maybe he’d end up with some creep he found online,” I said, primarily to myself. “And you’re right. He did have a nice body and an adorable penis.”

“Well. Don’t be sorry. I think you did the right thing. Too bad for him he died a virgin, but at least he had an orgasm before he died.”

Ellie cuddled back against me and gave me a firm hug.

“I miss him,” she said softly but didn’t cry.

“I miss him too, Ellestar.”

“You’re the best Uncle in the world, you know that?”

Now it was my turn to be surprised.

“I don’t. Why’s that?”

“Well, you helped us out the best you could. We don’t have a dad. Our mom is probably gone, or at least out of the picture for a long period, and you take us in as if we were your own kids. And on top of all that, you taught an underage boy how to masturbate!”

We both started laughing at that. It was a way for us to release the tension of Ryan’s loss.

“Yeah, well… I can’t help you with that last part, you know? I’m gay, so don’t you ask me how it works with girls,” I laughed and kissed her on her head.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Adam. I’ve got it covered.”

“Thank god!” I said, overly exaggerating.

“Good night, Uncle Adam. I love you,” Ellie whispered as I felt her body relax under my arm.

“Night, Ellestar.”

End of Chapter eleven

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

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