HAVEN 2

by Misty Vixen

Catch up on the Haven series!

HAVEN

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

OTHER TITLES

ABOUT ME

CHAPTER ONE

Even in the cold light of day, David couldn’t shake the uneasiness that had settled over him since the previous night.

After the bandits broke in and had forced the situation that resulted in two deaths, he thought he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. He hadn’t wanted to, not at first, but Evelyn had offered to stand guard the rest of the night. He wanted to at least share the responsibility with her, but she’d told him that goliaths didn’t need quite as much sleep as humans, and they didn’t want to put the responsibility on April, she was shaken enough as it was. David didn’t know if Evelyn had been lying about the sleep thing to make him feel better, but finally he’d relented after making her promise to wake him up if anything else happened, or, barring that, at dawn.

Then he’d laid down with April, and had held her. She had cried a bit, and he understood. He was halfway there himself, that had scared the shit out of him, and he imagined it must’ve been worse for her. She’d seemed embarrassed, but shortly after she was done, she’d fallen back asleep. At some point, he’d drifted off as well.

There had been nightmares, and several times he’d woken and shifted, rolling over to check and see that Evelyn was still there, still safe, still okay. She always was. She sat at the table with a book and a candle, lit by it and the mellow glow of the fireplace behind her. Whenever he looked at her, she could tell, and she’d smile and tell him to go back to sleep. Although he’d probably gotten six or maybe even seven hours of sleep, it had been very broken sleep, and he felt kind of shitty right now. But he at least felt properly motivated.

Evelyn seemed pretty much normal, but April was still subdued and anxious. She hadn’t seemed like she’d wanted to stay behind, nor had she wanted to leave, and he felt bad for her. Ultimately she recognized the reality of her situation and had gone with them. As soon as Evelyn had gotten them up, they’d eaten a quick breakfast and then begun packing their most important possessions, mainly the food, the ammo, and the medicine. They had split it between them, as well as a few of their more personal items, then they’d headed out.

It was a crisp, chilly morning, bright with cold sunlight shining down on them through dead trees, made brighter by the layer of frosted snow that covered everything. David had been able to see the bootprints in the snow even in the morning. It made the whole thing scarier somehow, maybe more real. Last night had obviously been real, but when he’d first woken up, he’d wondered if he’d had a nightmare or something. Things that happened suddenly in the night often seemed unreal or impossible in the morning.

But this had happened, and they were acting on it.

At least that was helping. David had spent the first part of his life in fear. The world was fucking terrifying. His parents had done much to shelter him from the worst of it, which was good, because he’d be dead now if they hadn’t, he was almost positive. But they had at least prepared him some as well. He knew how to shoot, reload, and even clean a gun by the time he was twelve. And he was good at it within two years. He’d adopted a workout regimen that kept him in decent shape, limber, and fast. He was decently strong, but he was definitely faster and more dexterous. Which was also good, because otherwise he’d also be dead.

He’d started doing things more often than not maybe five years ago.

It had come sort of as a realization, one of those weird, startling revelations that slammed into you. He’d been trapped in a shack in the middle of nowhere, alone, with zombies outside, and he was going over options in his head. He’d wanted to just wait it out, because eventually they’d wander off...probably. Or at least there were supposed to be other people out and about in the area, and they’d come find him...maybe.

But then he’d just looked down at the gun he was holding, and then up, out the single window of the shack, and it had just kind of come to him: this is what he always did. He always tried to wait it out, he always tried to hide, he always tried to pawn the responsibility off on anybody else, and he suddenly, almost violently, hated that aspect of himself. Even to this day, even right now, he couldn’t explain what had led to this abrupt reversal. He only knew that he’d made a tectonic shift that day, a massive change, and he had emerged from that shack and shot five zombies in the head, and had gone back to the settlement he was staying at a different person.

Now that the knowledge of how he honestly, truly acted had been highlighted for him, he’d begun to recognize it for what it was, and while he didn’t always take action, he did far more often than ever before. And so now, here he was, taking action again. It was necessary, although there was a part of him that was anxious about this. There was a lot to be done, if they were going to make this place, these abandoned campgrounds, their new home.

“Are you doing okay, April?” Evelyn asked.

David glanced over. April still looked sullen and withdrawn. Although now she looked a touch angry. “I’m fine,” she said curtly.

“April-” he began.

“I’m fine!” she snapped.

He stopped, and so did Evelyn. April walked another few paces before slowing to a halt. She didn’t turn around though.

“April...please,” David said. “We’re not trying to be difficult.”

She heaved an explosive sigh and turned around finally. “I know! Fuck! I...I’m sorry,” she said, her shoulders slumping. Her tail twitched behind her. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m just...angry. I’m such a fucking coward and I hate it so fucking much but I don’t know how to be brave.”

“You’re here, now,” Evelyn said.

“After arguing with you about it,” she muttered. She sighed and shook her head. “And now I’m wasting time with this. I don’t know how to do it. I don’t know how to do what you two do, what Ellie does. How to not be afraid and do shit.”

“I’m afraid,” David said.

“You don’t look like it,” April replied uncertainly.

“I know. But I am. I was fucking terrified last night. You’ve probably heard this before, but being brave isn’t the absence of fear. Only sociopaths or people with genetic defects don’t feel fear. Some people feel less, certainly, and that can be learned, over time, but most everyone feels fear. Bravery is doing stuff in spite of fear. You could have demanded to stay home, locked away in the basement, waited for us to make sure it was safe, but you didn’t. That’s brave. You were scared but you did it anyway.”

She stared at him for a few seconds, then looked over at Evelyn. Finally, she spoke. “I want you to do me a favor, both of you.”

“What?” Evelyn asked.

“Put more pressure on me to do things. I mean, not crazy risky things, but stuff that needs to be done. You know, don’t be mean to me, but help me out with this. I’ll try not to be too much of a pain in the ass about it,” she said.

“I can do that,” Evelyn replied.

David nodded. “We can help you with this.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate it,” she said. “We should keep going.”

They kept walking.

…

David began to feel better as they reached the campgrounds.

It was oddly comforting to see them. The buildings, the fence, the surrounding forest. It looked like a fairly defensible position, once they’d made some repairs. And put some barbed wire on the top. That would definitely help.

“What first?” April murmured.

“We need to secure the area. Anyone or anything could’ve gotten in since the last time we were here. After that, we can decide the specifics of our new home,” David replied.

“I wanna live in the big building,” April murmured, glancing at the three-story structure.

“Same,” Evelyn replied.

“Then it’s decided, we’ll live there. Evelyn, I’m thinking we should split up, you go right, I go left, we search the cabins one by one until we meet on the other side, then we search the main building,” David said.

“Sounds good to me,” Evelyn replied.

“What about me?” April asked.

David had been considering that. “I have a job for you. I need you to check the perimeter, the space between the backs of the cabins and the fence, to see if anything or anyone is inside.” He handed her his pistol and a spare magazine. “Do you feel comfortable doing that?”

She frowned, then accepted the pistol. “I can do it,” she replied. “I will do it.”

“Good. Thank you. Shout if you see anything. When you’re finished, wait for us in the center of the campgrounds.”

“Okay.”

She turned and walked off after checking over the pistol with a reassuring certainty. David had the suspicion that April wasn’t as bad at things as she thought she was. She just needed some more confidence. And the only way to build confidence was to do things. Typically successfully doing things helped, but he was surprised how many times he’d failed, and felt better than if he’d never tried at all. He watched her go, then grabbed his shotgun and nodded to Evelyn. She nodded back. They headed into the main area and looked around.

Seeing nothing, they split up and began their search of the cabins. David settled into his search mentality, focusing on the here and now, listening for anything, looking for clues that might tip off if someone had been here recently. Or if someone was still here. Or something. The newer ones were smart enough to hide in wait, which was a whole new level of terrifying. He cleared the first cabin, finding nothing but empty rooms and lonely places. After checking it, he moved on to the next one. And this was how the next half an hour passed. David suspected that no one was here, and by the time they met back at the main building, he’d been proven right. At least so far. Neither Evelyn nor April reported seeing anything.

They headed into the main building. It looked undisturbed. They took the time to search the building over top to bottom, and found nothing. Although David found a bathroom on the third floor that he’d overlooked initially.

“Okay...now what?” Evelyn asked as they came to stand back down in the main room of the first floor.

“First, who gets where for bedrooms? How do we wanna do that?” David replied.

“Well, given my size and the fact that you’re my boyfriend, I say we get that master bedroom up on the third floor,” Evelyn said.

“Fair enough. April?”

“Well, I want to be near you, but I would also like my own space, so I think the smaller bedroom next to the master bedroom up there would make the most sense,” she replied.

“Perfect. I think the next order of business is to empty our packs somewhere safe. Ideally one of us would stay here and guard it, but...I really think we should get everything out today, which will happen faster if all of us are transporting.”

“I’m okay with that,” April replied.

“Yeah. I think this place is secure. And I’m pretty decent at hiding things,” Evelyn said.

“Perfect. Let’s do it.”

…

As they made their way back home, David was happy to note that he was feeling a lot better. This was going very smoothly so far. Although it could all go to hell very abruptly, which he tried not to think about. That was just the nature of life nowadays. More so than ever before. As they came to their previous home, he felt fear shoot into him as he saw someone standing outside the door, waiting, but he relaxed when they turned to face him.

He recognized this person.

“Ashley?” he asked.

“Hello David. Hello Evelyn. Thank you again for rescuing me.” She looked at April. “We haven’t been introduced,” she said, and put her hand forward.

April took it tentatively. “I’m April.”

“Good to meet you. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah...mostly,” Evelyn replied.

“We were attacked last night. We’re fine, but we’ve decided to live somewhere a bit more secure,” David answered.

“Oh. Well, that sucks, but I’m glad it turned out okay.”

“Did you need something?” he asked.

“Yes. Well, not need per say, more want. My parents are...too cautious. My whole family is. Understandable, given the circumstances, but cautious isn’t always the answer. I’ve been scouting, I’ve found a few buildings I think are worth checking out, and I’m not reckless, so I figured I’d ask for some backup. And you came to mind,” she said.

David glanced at the other two women. “How do you feel about that?”

“We can handle this,” Evelyn replied. She had a small smile on her face. “Go have fun.”

David hesitated. There was something about the way she’d said that. He didn’t think that this excursion would be particularly fun.

Unless she thought something else was going to happen.

He glanced again at Ashley. Well, it would be nice to have fun with her.

“Okay, uh, let’s go then,” he said. “I’ll meet you both back at the camp.”

He gave each of them a hug and a kiss, then joined Ashley. She looked at him, a very small smile on her face, then she glanced back at the other two women, then she turned and began walking. David followed after her, wondering what that had been about. Obviously there was some kind of subtle thing happening, but he’d always been a bit on the slow side when it came to subtlety. In a way he found that he was missing some crucial sense. It was like being deaf but not blind. You sure as hell could see gunfire, but you had no idea what it sounded like.

“So...” she said after a few minutes as they walked south.

“So?” he replied.

“I saw you give both of them a kiss. On the mouth.”

“Uh...yeah. I did.”

“I kind of suspected you and Evelyn had something sultry going on, based on how you two interacted when you saved me. But I didn’t know you had another girl, let alone another inhuman,” she said.

“And what do you think about that?” he replied after a moment.

She laughed loudly. “That was an incredibly neutral statement. Don’t worry, I’m not judging you. I don’t disapprove. I approve, actually. Takes guts to date an inhuman.”

“Why?” he asked. It came out more defensive than he meant it to.

“Oh, not for the reason you might think. I’m not saying it takes guts to like an inhuman, you like who you like. We don’t get to pick our crushes. No, it takes guts to date an inhuman. To act on those feelings. I mean, for both of you. We humans aren’t the only ones who can be racist. I respect your relationship...relationships. Not just interracial, but polyamorous, too. Now that’s interesting.” She paused. “Is this weird?”

“A little,” he admitted.

“Should we stop talking about it?”

“I mean...no, we don’t have to.”

“Okay, good. I’m curious. What’s it like with them? What’s the exact nature of your relationship?”

“Why do you wanna know?” he replied, honestly curious.

“I told you: it’s interesting. I love interesting things.”

“Fair enough, I guess. Evelyn and I met maybe two weeks ago on the road. We became fast friends, and then we...hooked up, the night River View fell. We decided that, since we liked each other and were really attracted to each other, we should be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Very cute. And April?”

“Well, we rescued her from River View by chance. She was trapped and injured. We’re not exactly boyfriend and girlfriend, but we are sexually involved. I mean, I guess we’re not not boyfriend and girlfriend. Evelyn is happy for us. April is...tender. I’m attracted to her and I want to make her happy, make her feel good.”

“And I bet it makes you feel really good to fuck that rep pussy.”

He chuckled nervously, feeling heat rushing to his cheeks. “I mean...yeah.”

“I’ve only ever been with an inhuman once. A jag girl who was about ten years older than me. Hundreds of miles from here awhile ago. It was...extremely good.”

“Yeah...” he murmured, thinking of Ellie.

“Oh? You’ve been with a jag, too?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“You’re blushing...do you have a third girlfriend?” she asked, suddenly interested again, grinning broadly.

“I mean...sorta.”

“Wow, you fucking get around. Rep, goliath, and jag? Who is she?”

“Just someone I met out and about. She’s...I don’t want to talk about it really?”

“Oh? Why not?”

“I don’t really know how she feels about our relationship. Not that we really have one. We’re friends...I think. She’s secretive, but I guess she likes me, given how many times we’ve fucked. But I don’t know if she’d be okay with other people knowing about us. I mean, Evelyn and April know, but I don’t want to make her upset or embarrassed or uncomfortable, you know?”

“That’s fair. I really respect that. Most guys can’t shut the fuck up about the chicks they’ve fucked.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to talk about it, honestly. Evelyn and April are both very beautiful, but this woman is...something else. Just...wow. She’s amazing.”

“You are in lust with her.”

“Yeah. Really bad. She’s just...she’s something else. But again, she has a right to privacy.”

“Well, I think highly of that. Hey, there’s the first building.”

He could see it. It was another abandoned cabin, (how many of them were there sprinkled throughout the region?), and it looked to be in pretty bad shape. The front door was open. Something about that didn’t sit right with him.

David pulled out his pistol.

As they approached, he heard something shift inside. Both of them froze. Could be anything in there: an undead, an animal, a human that may or may not intend harm. He glanced at Ashley. She had drawn her own sidearm.

“Back me up,” he whispered, and when she nodded to him, he began making his way towards the front door.

Another sound came to him as he crept closer, but it was so faint. Whatever it was had to be fairly stealthy. Which kind of narrowed it down. David reached the porch and stepped onto it. It creaked loudly under his boot and he winced. Something let out another sound, this one entirely organic, and he heard light footsteps rapidly approaching.

“Shit!” he snapped, and began backing off.

Before he could make it more than two steps away from the cabin, a stalker appeared in all its undead, horrifying glory. He aimed and fired. It was a good shot and punched a hole right through its forehead, dropping the creature in an instant. He wasn’t ready for the one immediately behind it. He fired and missed, still backpedaling.

Ashley was ready.

She put two shots into its head, one in the right eye, one in its mouth, and blew its rotting brains out. David prepared himself for another assault, but no more of them came. He slowly let out his breath, shaking slightly.

Those things always scared the shit out of him.

“Fuck, I hate those fuckers,” Ashley snapped. Apparently she felt much the same way.

“We should make sure there’s no more of them,” David said after a few seconds.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Let’s get it over with.”

They moved carefully into the cabin and did a search of it, but found nothing hanging out in any of the shadowy niches or hidden areas. Once they were sure it was safe, they began their secondary search, hunting for useful supplies. The feeling of anxiety began to abate as they settled in, and David found himself wanting to know more about her. Already, he felt that Ashley was an intriguing person, definitely the kind he was interested in.

And not just because she was in really good shape and had a really beautiful face, but also because of her personality.

He seemed to be drawn to women like her.

“So how have things been going with your family?” he asked.

“Fine, I guess. We’ve been fighting a little.” She hesitated, then looked guilty. “I guess more than a little. We’re kind of different. We didn’t used to be, or at least not this much, but the past year has changed my parents. They’ve always been cautious, I’ve always been...”

“Reckless?”

She snorted. “No!...maybe. I was going to say bold or maybe daring, but yeah, I guess, if I’m being honest, reckless. I’m less so now, because they rely on me a lot. My dad’s like twelve years older than my mom, and she obviously isn’t young anymore, so he can’t really do as much. I mean, he’s in good shape for his age, but, you know, for his age is kind of a low bar. I mean, not that I’m dumping on him or anything. My dad’s a great guy. He used to be more like me, not reckless but he would risk his life a lot for us. He almost died six months ago, broke his arm, and I think that...kinda knocked a lot of his confidence out of him. Which my mom likes, in that she likes him not risking his life all the time. She’s very capable, but really cautious...”

She sighed suddenly. He looked over at her. She had been digging through a box, but now she was staring at the wall in front of her.

“What?” he asked.

“I just...I was going to leave. I’m twenty six now. I’ve been wanting to be on my own for a few years, but my parents kept talking me out of it. And then everything changed when the...the mutations came. Even with all that was happening, I feel like I could leave, just go somewhere on my own, but...my little brother. I can’t stand the thought of abandoning him.”

“I’m sorry,” David murmured.

“Me too.” She laughed suddenly, the sound a little bitter. “Honestly, one of the upsides of what happened recently is that I finally feel the pressure coming off. The pressure to get out and do things, because I’m the most capable person in my household. My parents always had some reason to keep me from going out into the wilderness, looking for adventure. But now? Doesn’t matter what they say, I’m really the only one that can go out and find food, supplies, help. Even then, they still argue with me whenever I head out.”

“Where would you go?” he asked.

“That’s the thing, I don’t even know. It’s not like I have this dream destination in mind or anything. I don’t want to go anywhere specific. I just want to go, you know? Although I’m beginning to wonder if that’s true.”

“What do you mean?”

“The urge to be on my own was...overwhelming, maybe two years ago. I’d run away a lot. I mean, not like run away run away, but, you know, I’d leave. And just take walks. I mean, I know how to defend myself, I’ve got good reflexes, good senses. But it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I’m...not calm, but calmer. I find myself grateful to be with my family more, that we’re all still alive and okay, for the most part. I don’t know, I just wish there was some kind of, you know, some way I could balance the two things.”

“Maybe you can,” David said.

“How?”

“There was a woman I met earlier, and...what?” he asked. She’d turned to look at him suddenly and she had that smirk on her face again.

“The way you said that...did you sleep with her?”

“I, um, well...” he hesitated, derailed both by her question and by the sudden flood of memories of having amazing sex with Cait.

“How many women have you actually fucked since coming here?” she asked.

“Four,” David replied. “Just four.”

She laughed. “Yeah, just four.”

“I got really lucky. That is nowhere near normal. Like, not even close. This is the most sexual activity I’ve had like...ever. And it was just once with this other woman. But that’s not my point. My point is, she lives a kind of...drifting lifestyle, it seems. She just moves around the region all the time, doing a ton of different things. She has a lot of different places she stays at. You could do something like that, you know? Have wherever your parents are staying be like your home base, and you go back there every few days. But otherwise, you’re out and about, doing things, helping people, looking for supplies, you know?”

“Hmm...” She fell silent, her gaze falling as she thought about it. “That’s actually a really good idea. I guess I never really thought that a middle ground was an actual possibility. I’ll have to think about it. But thank you, that’s a good idea.”

“You’re welcome,” he murmured in reply, sure that he was blushing again.

And now he was thinking about Cait, and the way she moaned for him to impregnate her. Fuck that had been hot. Maybe he should ask Evelyn to ask for the same thing, although it wasn’t quite the same, given he knew he couldn’t impregnate her. Although he knew-well, he didn’t know for a fact that he couldn’t knock Cait up, it was just ridiculously unlikely. Whatever, it had been awesomely hot, and he hoped he saw her again, and that she’d want to fuck him again, because she was probably the hottest human he’d ever seen.

Definitely the hottest he’d ever been with.

They finished searching the cabin and found nothing more than some clothes that might make for semi-decent trading. With the search finished, they left the cabin and moved back out into the crisp winter air.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“There’s a house a little farther north I want to check out,” she replied.

“All right, lead me to it.”

They set off once again.

CHAPTER TWO

As they made their way to the house, she began asking him questions about himself.

She seemed oddly interested in his sex life.

He had the idea that she was a bit of a voyeur, but then again, who wasn’t? He sometimes wondered how many people would spy on two people having sex if they knew they could get away with it. Probably a lot. He liked to think that he wouldn’t. He certainly wouldn’t go to any great lengths to, but if he happened to be in a position where he kind of stumbled on it...he honestly couldn’t say. Did that make him a bad person?

Maybe, at least in that regard.

But he liked talking about it with her, and he knew Evelyn and April wouldn’t mind.

They came to the house in question and cleared it, first of hostiles (there were just a trio of zombies lingering inside), and then of supplies. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of the latter. They at least managed to find a small stash of canned goods, a hardback novel that he took to give to April, and some more clothes. They split the supplies, what little there was to split, and as they did, he noticed that Ashley seemed a little more anxious than before. When he started to leave, he realized she was hesitant, like she was reluctant to head back out.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“So...I may have had an ulterior motive for asking you out here,” she replied, not quite meeting his eyes.

“And what would that be?”

She looked up at him suddenly. “I want your dick.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. I want to fuck you. Like, a lot.”

“Seriously?”

She laughed. “Yes! Don’t keep me waiting, do you want to with me or not? Because I want to do it here, in that bed we saw, the queen size. I want to ride you.”

“I...yeah. I’d fucking love to have sex with you,” he said.

Her eyes lit up. “Good.” She reached out, grabbed his hand, and began pulling him back into the house. “Let’s not wait.”

David felt his heart start pounding in his chest as they hurried through the house. So...this was happening. He’d been hoping for it in the back of his head since she’d showed up looking for him, but he hadn’t really been expecting anything. Ashley was really hot. She was tall, thin, and, he saw as they got into the bedroom and she started taking her clothes off, fit in a wiry, sinewy kind of way. And she had a few tattoos, oh fuck he loved those. She had a pretty well-done rose on her inner right thigh, and a skull and crossbones on her left shoulder, and a little blue bird over her right breast. He started taking off his shirt.

“No,” she said, making him pause. “Leave your clothes on.”

“All of them?”

“Yeah. All of them.” He hesitated, looking at her, putting his arms down. She looked a little embarrassed. “I think it’d be really hot. I don’t know why, I just like it.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

“Thanks.”

She grabbed his hand suddenly and swung him around. He let the momentum carry him and fell back onto the bed. She peeled off her panties, revealing a beautiful pussy with some pale blonde stubble around it. As he got into position, she climbed onto the bed with him. She mounted him, climbing atop him, and reached down.

Grabbing his belt, she began undoing his pants. “We’re just gonna have some fun,” she whispered quietly, more to herself than to him it seemed. Then she looked up at him. “It’ll be quick, I can’t be away for too long and we’ve already been out here for over an hour now. So we fuck, and you bust a huge nut in my pussy, and then we part ways.”

“You’re okay with that?” he replied.

“Yeah. I’m a squirter and I’ll make such a big mess on your pants, which isn’t fair to you since I asked for this. How about you make it up to me later? I’ll swing by your place sometime later and you can give me a sweet orgasm while your girlfriends watch.”

“Uh...yeah, that sounds good,” he said.

She smirked. “I bet it does...ah, there you are,” she murmured, pulling his dick out. She began to massage it with her hands. “So, this is the dick that satisfies goliath vagina. Hmm.”

“You though it’d be bigger?” he asked.

She laughed. “I guess so. Don’t worry, I’m not disappointed, this is a fine size. A little bigger than I’ve had experience with myself, but...I’ll be totally honest, a little part of me thought you had like a fucking monster cock in those pants. Actually, I’m relieved. I’ve never fucked one of those before, but I know girls that have and some of them like it, but some of them say that shit hurts, especially if you’re skinny like me. And I like a little pain, but not a lot. Now...” she spit into her hand and began rubbing his dick down with it, “...now we fuck.”

Once his cock was coated in her saliva, she pushed herself up, slipped the head inside of her very wet vagina, and then began to lower herself down it. David groaned, clenching his hands into fists, watching her work his dick into herself, watching himself disappear into her. She was fucking tight. Like really fucking tight, and so wet. He looked her up and down as she began riding him. She had a lot of smooth, pale skin, her breasts were high and firm and small, topped by wonderful, dark pink nipples. Her short, light blonde hair hung around her face, looking a little wild. She had a lean, angular face that really accentuated her features in a way that he definitely liked.

He liked a lot about her. She seemed so...carefree, so into the sex.

And fuck was he ever into it.

“Oh my fucking God, Ashley,” he whispered, reaching out and grabbing her slim hips.

“Mmm...you fucking love that, don’t you?” she murmured in reply, looking extremely satisfied with herself as she kept riding.

“Yes. I do, I really fucking do. You are insanely tight.”

“I should hope so. It’s been like three fucking months since I’ve gotten laid. I’m gonna pay for this in the morning, but a sore pussy is really worth this.”

She reached down and grabbed his hands, then brought them up to her tits. He began groping them and she started riding him harder and faster. The slick friction of her vagina slipping up and down his cock was overwhelmingly good. It felt like his body was alive with sexual energy, like he was getting a mainline hit of pure pleasure, absolute gratification.

“Come on, boy,” she whispered. “Come on, come for me. Fucking come for me, David...”

“Uhn, fuck...Ashley...” he groaned loudly, his cock throbbing as it was saturated in absolute rapturous ecstasy.

“Almost there, I can tell. I can feel it...you’re gonna come so fucking much in my pussy...” she panted, and began chewing on her lower lip, a look of concentration on her face.

David felt the pleasure hitting him in waves, slamming into him, shoving him violently towards an orgasm.

“Come on, David...come on!” she shouted, going faster than ever.

He screamed, grabbing her hips again, and let out a strangled, inarticulate sound as he thrust forcefully up into her and released the first spurt of his seed.

“Oh yes! YES DAVID! YES!” she shrieked.

He began moaning her name again and again as his cock jolted inside of her tight pussy, spraying her insides down with his seed, coming as hard and as fast as was possible. The sexual satisfaction blasted through his whole body, lighting him up with total bliss. He groaned and grunted, thrusting repeatedly up into her, shoving his dick deep and hard into her and just fucking pumping that sweet pussy of hers full of his stuff.

And then he was finished, and he let out a sharp gasp and fell back against the bed. He opened his eyes and found himself staring up at her, and she was smiling down at him, looking satisfied, and a little smug, but happy.

“That is what I wanted when I came out here,” she said. “Fuck, that was a good screw.”

“A really goddamned good one,” he agreed as she got up off of him.

He laid there, recovering, as she cleaned herself up and then dressed. By the time she was done, he’d tucked his dick away and zipped up, then he stood.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Told you, now we part ways. Well, we start walking back home and then part ways when the time comes for it.”

He nodded and grabbed his pack. “Too bad we didn’t find more.”

“Well,” she replied with a smirk, “we can always come back out and try again.”

…

The walk home was uneventful, and he held her hand most of the way there.

It felt good, though he did feel a sort of panicky guilt that he was still figuring out. He knew it was because he’d just fucked another woman away from his girlfriend...girlfriends...whatever his relationship was with April. But they both knew, so he had nothing to worry about. Evelyn had even encouraged him to have fun.

They kissed and she promised to come see him at some point over the next few days before they parted ways. Once she was gone, he headed home. Well, towards his original home, to see if either of the ladies were still there. All the way back, he found himself alternating between feeling that weird, unnecessary guilt, and thinking a lot about what Ashley looked like nude, riding his cock. She’d look really good on her back with her legs in the air. He liked a lot of different positions, but for whatever reason he loved missionary the most. Or, well, maybe not even necessarily only missionary, but positions similar to that.

He loved it when a woman was laying on her back at the edge of a bed, and he could stand up right against it and just fuck the shit out of her, and he could see their hips meeting and his cock disappearing into her over and over again.

But all the other positions were pretty good.

When he got back to his original home, he found the place empty. Checking it over, David saw that they had already cleared it out. And they’d done a good job, too. There was hardly anything useful left. He packed whatever he found leftover into his backpack, did one more sweep of the area, and then he left, heading to his new home.

…

He made it to the camp without trouble, and found both of the women now in his life (well, his home life), on the third floor of the main building. The stairs let out into a hallway with three doors and several windows, giving an excellent view of the area. The door at the end led to a bathroom, while the two in the left side led to bedrooms. The first gave access to the master bedroom, where he and Evelyn would be staying, and the second led to April’s room. He poked his head into April’s room and knocked on the door.

She was in the process of getting it all set up. There wasn’t much in the room, just a double-wide bed, a nightstand, and a desk. Specifically, she was in the process of stacking some books in the niche built into the base of the nightstand.

“Hey,” she said after jumping a little and turning around. She smiled at him. “How’s it going?”

“Good. How about you? How did everything go?” he replied as he walked over to her desk and put his pack on it, then began opening it.

“It went fine. We packed up everything and ran into a few zombies on the way back, but nothing serious. We got pretty much everything, I think.”

“You did, almost. I swung by the cabin after finishing up with Ashley and did a search, found a few things that were left behind. Here, I got you a present.” He fished the book out of his pack and passed it to her.

“Oh, I...thank you,” she whispered. “Really, thank you.” She studied it closely, then flipped it over and looked over the back.

“Let me know if there’s anything else you want while I’m out there, if there’s anything you’d rather have than books,” he replied.

She looked up, then set the book down and stepped closer him. “Honestly, the only thing I want more than books is you,” she said, and wrapped her arms around him.

“Oh. Wow. Okay,” he replied.

She hesitated. “Is that...too much?”

“No! No, not at all. I just, you know, you’ve been a bit reserved so far. It was just a surprise, but it wasn’t a bad one.”

“Sorry, I have a hard time showing people that I like them. But I really like you. Like, a lot. A lot,” she said, and then she kissed him.

He kissed her back, feeling a thrill of lust, but also of just wonderful emotions. Acceptance, happiness, peace, outright joy. That fantastic rush of emotions that came from when you really liked someone and they really liked you back and you were both acknowledging it at the same time. As he continued hugging and kissing April, he sensed someone else nearby and they both stopped and looked over at the door.

Evelyn was standing in it, ducking a little to see through it, smiling at them.

“You two are just the cutest couple,” she said.

April let go of him and coughed uncomfortably, turning away. “I, uh, to answer your question, I always want more books.”

“Don’t stop on my behalf,” Evelyn said.

April sighed and turned back around. “Evelyn, you...are too forward, sometimes.”

“Am I?”

“Yes!” she growled, half-smiling.

“Oh come on, we’ve all seen each other naked, we’ve all seen each other have sex, I can’t watch the two of you making out?”

“It’s not that, it’s just...it was an emotional moment.”

“And fucking isn’t?”

She sighed. “It’s...it was different.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to embarrass you or anything. David, I’m glad you’re home and safe. How did it go?”

“Uh, fine. Didn’t find much, though. I swung by the cabin and picked up a few leftovers,” he replied.

“Good!” She glanced at April. “Something’s bothering you, besides what we just talked about. What is it?”

David glanced at April. He’d gotten that impression a little bit too. April looked back at them both, her tail twitching behind her. She looked like she was deciding what to tell them, or how to phrase it. Finally, she sighed softly. “I’m still nervous about, you know, this, uh, relationship we all have,” she admitted.

“What about it?” Evelyn replied.

“I guess I’m worried that...you’ll suddenly decide you want David to yourself, or that you’re secretly hating my involvement, you know? And, uh, to be clear, I mean, I’m not necessarily getting that impression from you. It’s just fears of my own, you know?”

“I completely understand,” Evelyn said. Her smile changed, and it became more bashful, and her eyes flicked to David. “To be honest...I have my own anxieties.”

“Like what?” David asked.

“They’re stupid,” she replied.

“Oh come on, after you just dragged that out of me, you don’t think that’s insanely hypocritical?” April asked.

“Okay, yeah, yeah, fair point. I’m a little paranoid David’s going to leave me for someone else,” she murmured.

“What? Why?” he asked.

“It’s like April said, it’s nothing you’ve done. It’s just my own insecurities. I shouldn’t even have brought it up, but I wanted to make April feel better. And I wanted to say it’s normal to have worries and doubts and insecurities. Just give it time. Eventually you’ll see that they’re unfounded, and they’ll fade. I don’t know if they’ll ever go away, but they’ll lose strength. Eventually, they’ll be easier to dismiss. I don’t know where our fun little three-way relationship is going, but so far I like it, and I think it’s going to keep being good.”

“Me too,” April said after a few seconds.

Evelyn looked at him. “David...what’s wrong? You’re frowning.”

“I just...uh...”

Evelyn suddenly smirked as a look of dawning realization passed across her face. “Oh. I just put it together, at least I think. Let me save you some trouble. We’re here talking about our insecurities, and you suddenly feel awkward telling us how you fucked the shit out of Ashley...am I right?”

April looked at him too now, waiting.

“...yes,” he replied.

Both of them laughed.

“Is it really that funny?” he asked, now blushing fiercely and hating it.

“Kind of,” April replied.

“It’s okay. I like hearing about sex. I like having it and watching it. I like it in general. I want to hear about the encounter, if you wouldn’t mind,” Evelyn said.

“I would too, actually,” April murmured.

“Fine. Let’s go into the other bedroom, I want to put some of this stuff away,” he said.

They agreed and all moved into the master bedroom. He looked around it as he came in. The place looked better than he remembered it looking when they’d first been here earlier today. Evelyn had swept up and she’d gathered up most of the refuse leftover from whoever had last lived here, however long ago that might have been. He looked at the furniture they were going to have to work with and saw a king size bed, a pair of dressers, a nightstand on either side of the bed, a bookshelf, (he was going to give that to April), and a decent sized desk.

The bed, however, definitely wasn’t big enough.

Evelyn followed his gaze to it. “Yeah, the bed. I wanted to talk with you about it. Basically: we’re gonna have to custom-make a bed. We can cannibalize mattresses from other beds in the area, and I can hammer together a frame if I’ve got the right wood. What do you say?”

“Sounds great,” he replied. “I’ll help however I can.”

“Good! Now, tell me about Ashley and sex,” she said, sitting down on the bed. April sat down next to her. Both watched him intently.

He chuckled nervously, took off his pack, and began putting away items. “Well, we searched two buildings, fought some stalkers, and didn’t find much. And then she admitted to me the entire reason we’d come out here was so that she could have sex with me. She rode me, and she made me keep my clothes on.”

“Was she naked?” Evelyn asked.

“Yeah.”

“What’s she look like naked?” April murmured.

“Really hot. Skinny like you. And she’s got tattoos.”

“Nice,” Evelyn said.

“Yeah. She’s kind of aggressive. Unfortunately it was short-lived, given it was cold, and dangerous. So she fucked me until she made me come, and then we headed back.”

“You gonna see her again?”

“Yeah. She said she wants to come by and fuck me again and have both of you watch.”

“She is aggressive. And brave,” April murmured.

“Yeah. I like it. Well, I’m looking forward to that. But...before we move forward with everything, talking about sex made me horny. I want a quick screw,” Evelyn said, standing up and peeling off her shirt, then tossing it aside.

“Oh. Wow,” David replied. How fast some women could transition into sex still really caught him off guard.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Evelyn said. She kicked off her boots and began getting her pants down. “You want to watch, April?”

“Definitely,” April replied immediately.

“Perfect.” She pulled her panties down and stood nude before him, again striking him as some enormous goddess of sex and lust. She look really good naked, and with him still sitting on the edge of the bed and her standing up, towering over him, their height difference was very much emphasized to him, and it reminded him of just how much he fucking loved tall women. David got up and began undoing his pants.

“Uh-uh,” Evelyn said. He looked up at her curiously. “Just the shirt, leave everything else on. That idea of clothes on makes me kind of hot, too.”

“Okay,” he replied, taking off his shirt. “How do you want this?”

“Me laying on my back and you standing up and fucking the hell out of me. I’m already wicked wet,” she replied, sitting her big ass back down on the bed and then falling onto her back. She opened her legs for him, exposing her beautiful pussy.

She was wet.

David unzipped his pants, leaving them buttoned and belted, and worked his cock out through the resulting gap. April got closer to them, dragging a chair over and setting it down right next to them. She watched them with wide eyes. He got up against Evelyn, guiding his rigid dick into her, and once he had the head inside, he began working the rest of it in. Evelyn moaned and shivered, trembling at the physical contact.

“Oh yes, I love it when you first go in,” she whispered.

He nodded, muttering something inarticulate, and grasped her enormous hips. Going inside of her was deeply pleasurable. As he began to make love with her, sliding his cock slowly at first in and out of her, feeling that immense wetness, that amazing heat, he looked her over. This beautiful, seven and a half foot woman who was now his lover, his girlfriend, his partner. She looked back at him with her bright green eyes. Her mouth was open, she was panting, and suddenly she closed her eyes and leaned her head back a bit as he hit something sensitive.

“Fuck, keep going,” she whispered, and he began to go a bit faster and harder.

Which made her breasts sway and bounce more. Her breasts. They were just...so big. Even if she was human-sized, she would still be pretty chesty. But fuck, the fact that she was a goliath meant that she had enormous breasts. He loved looking at them, touching them, licking them. Pretty much doing anything with them was an absolute joy. And then down, past her stomach, to her fucking huge hips. Her hips and thighs were just too much. He almost let off just looking at them, and at her pussy, and his dick disappearing into it again and again.

Hips, and especially thighs, were massive turn-ons for him, and he could never figure out why. They just looked amazing, and seeing them bare was just...fuck! It was incredible. So it was even more fantastic seeing someone Evelyn’s size and height without pants or panties on. He ran his hands lovingly down from her hips to her thighs, across that smooth, pale skin, and she shivered and moaned. He shifted one hand back up.

He wanted to bring her intense pleasure, more pleasure.

Laying his thumb against her clit, he began to rub it.

“Oh yes! Oh fuck! Oh don’t stop, honey!” she cried, jerking in response to the new action.

“You are going to come,” he replied. “I’m going to make you come, Evie.”

“Yes! Yes! Fuck, oh God, make me come!” she shrieked.

It only took another five seconds or so of pounding and rubbing before she let out a loud scream of pleasure and jerked so hard that the entire bed jumped. She began babbling incoherently as he continued pleasuring her throughout the orgasm.

David had fully intended to keep going, and he honestly thought he had a good shot at holding onto his own climax when Evelyn was having hers, but apparently he had forgotten just how good fucking orgasming goliath vagina felt.

He didn’t stand a chance.

Groaning loudly, he thrust deep into her as the first of his seed exploded out of him. He began moaning her name as he emptied himself into her, coming into her sweet pussy, slamming into her again and again as they became unified in the apex of pleasure and their shared orgasm. Bliss blossomed within him, racing through his body, his nerves, his everything. It was like a pink light, warm and wonderful, a wave of unending rapturous euphoria that cast him into a violent, churning sea of deep sexual gratification and pure pleasure.

They came together, and it was beautifully wondrous.

As he came back to himself, and realized that he was finished, David opened his eyes and looked down at Evelyn, who was doing the same, looking up at him, smiling as she panted. Her pale, nude body was glistening with a light layer of sweat now, her face flushed, and she looked as beautiful as she ever had before.

“That was very satisfying,” she murmured.

He nodded and carefully pulled out of her. That had been a powerful orgasm, and now he was left pretty sensitive.

He sat down beside her and looked at April. “Did that do it for you?”

She laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah. It did. I’m going to need sex later though, if...you know, either of you feel up to it.”

“I will in a bit,” David replied.

“Same,” Evelyn murmured. “Before that, though, we should talk about things. There’s a lot that’s been on my mind.”

“Like what?” David asked.

She groaned and got up, then went about cleaning herself off. “Like everything we need to do to bring this place up to snuff. I mean, we are planning on living here, right? I just want to be clear on that. The three of us intend to live in this place for at least, like, several months?”

“At least through the winter, yeah,” David replied. “And probably longer. Honestly...”

“What?” Evelyn asked.

“I guess it’s just kind of hitting me right now, like thinking about it, but...I’m fucking sick of moving around. I used to just do it compulsively. It’s how I ended up here, but I think I’m tired of it...” He shook his head after a few seconds. “I don’t know, maybe it’s just how I’m feeling right now, but from where I’m standing in this moment, yeah, I want to stay here. With the two of you. I want to have an actual fucking home for once. And keep it.”

“That sounds really good to me,” April said.

“Okay then. We’re staying here. Which means we need to build up a good store of supplies: food, water, bullets, medicine, firewood. And pretty much anything worth trading for those things, because I doubt we can sustain that ourselves indefinitely.”

“Well, I’ve kind of got an in with some farmers nearby. Ellie introduced me. I need to follow that up, see if we can make some kind of a deal.”

“Excellent. There’s also a few things we really need to do, and soon. The first and foremost thing that needs to happen today, because of how dangerous it could be, is to make sure that chimney is clear. Because if we light a fire and it isn’t, we could all die of inhalation poisoning. I’ve seen it happen,” Evelyn said.

“Oh fuck, you’re right,” April whispered. “I forgot about that. Shit.”

“We’ll get it taken care of,” David said. “What else?”

“In the short term, if we can find canvas or plastic of some kind, some similar material, and tape it up over some of the windows, that will help trap the heat inside. Long term, we need to make repairs. To this building and to the fence surrounding us. We also need to find a way to actually close that gate, like firmly. The more obstacles we can throw between us and potential threats, the better. And then there’s long-term goals. It would be just fantastic if we could get running clean water and power coming to this place,” Evelyn said.

“And a greenhouse,” David threw in. “If we could get one of those going, or even just a hothouse inside one of the cabins, rig up some of those special lamps and boxes of soil, we could start growing our own vegetables. Then we’d be the ones producing, and people would come to us.”

“Yes, definitely,” Evelyn said. “Now...big question for the long term, maybe even the short term: do we want other people living here?”

David thought about it. Thought about those people he’d come across in the wilderness. Alone. Afraid. Desperate. They had space. They could form a real community here, he thought. Slowly, he began to nod. “Yes...I’d be okay with that. I want that.”

“I do, too. April?” Evelyn asked, looking at her.

“It would be nice to have more people around. People we could rely on, trust, to help keep the place safe. But it would mean more supplies, more resources, more...potential threats,” she replied.

“We’ll have to be sure about who we let in,” David agreed.

“Yes,” Evelyn said, nodding. “So we’ve obviously got a lot to do, and-” She stopped. They were done washing up and were now dressing again. “Did you hear that?”

David waited, listened.

“Hello? Anyone here?” It was a feminine voice, and a familiar one.

“Who is that?” April whispered harshly.

“I think I might know,” David murmured. He finished dressing quickly, (he’d had to change his pants and boxers), then, just in case he was wrong, grabbed his pistol and left the room. He moved to the stairs. “Who’s there?!” he called.

“...David?”

“Who’s there?” he repeated.

“It’s me, Cait!”

He felt relief flow through him. “Come on up!”

“Okay!”

He heard her lightly bounding up the stairs, and a moment later, she appeared. She grinned when she saw him, then came over and embraced him. With her arms and her lips. Her kiss was familiar and wonderful. Then she pulled back and blushed slightly. “Oh, guess I should’ve asked. I’m guessing your girlfriends are here...”

“Yes, they are. And it’s fine. They know about, uh, us,” David replied. He paused. “Wait, how do you know about them?”

“I ran into Ellie and we talked. She told me about them.”

“Oh, that makes sense. All right, come on. You can meet them.”

“Okay, cool.”

He led her into the bedroom, where April was still sitting in her chair and Evelyn was done dressing and sitting back on the edge of the bed.

“Hi, I’m Cait,” she said.

“Evelyn.”

“April.”

“How’d you find us?” David asked.

“Like I said, ran into Ellie. I saw her today. She pointed me to a cabin, and also here. Said you or one of your girls would be at one of them. I’ve got a job, and I want to share it with you,” Cait explained.

“What kind of job?”

“Go to a place, search the place for supplies. I’ll split the reward with you.”

“What’s the reward?”

“What do you need?”

He glanced at Evelyn, who shrugged. “At this point, we need everything.”

“We’ll figure something out. So, what do you say? Come with me? Work with me?” She grinned and he was again struck by her intense natural beauty. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

He looked back to the other two women. Evelyn was just smirking. “Go on, babe. We can hold the fort here. Have fun. Again.”

“Have you had fun already today?” Cait asked.

“He’s had fun twice so far,” Evelyn replied.

“My my. Okay then, let’s do this.”

“I’ll be back,” David said, kissing and hugging both Evelyn and April. “Stay safe.”

“You too. We’ll be here, David,” Evelyn said.

“Good luck,” April murmured.

And then he and Cait were heading downstairs.

CHAPTER THREE

“So, um...how have you been?” David asked.

They had left the campgrounds that were now his home, and had struck off east, roughly back in the direction of his cabin and the farms. It was a decent day out, for winter. It was above freezing at least, or so he thought. Still cold, especially when the winds gusted through the dead trees. In the distance, he saw the occasional zombie stumbling around, and also a bit of wildlife here or there. He needed to take up hunting again, as it was an excellent source of both food and trade. You could get a lot for a good skin.

“Good,” Cait replied. “I’ve been busy. Really busy. A lot of people were displaced after River View fell. Ellie and I and a few others have been working hard to keep them alive and safe. And I’ve heard tell that you’ve been doing your part.”

“When I can,” he said. “If I can help, I do.”

“That’s a very good, and sexy, trait, you know. Too few people are helpful just for the sake of being helpful. I’m glad I met you.”

“I’m really glad I met you,” David murmured.

She grinned. “I know. I still think about that night we had together...you wanna do it again?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

She giggled. “I guess not. I’m sure we can work something out. I’m assuming since you aren’t shooting me down, your girlfriends will be okay with you sticking it in my pussy until we both come, huh?” she asked, reaching out and running a finger gently down his cheek.

“I, uh...yeah. No, I mean, no they won’t mind. They’ll want to watch, I’m sure,” he replied.

“Good. Really good. I’d love to watch you bang Evelyn. Not only is she gorgeous, but I fucking love seeing human on goliath sex. Honestly, anything on goliath sex. It’s the size disparity that really gets me hot and bothered.”

“I’d like that, too. And I know Evelyn would. I wouldn’t have thought so when we first met, but she’s a real, uh...exhibitionist, I guess,” David replied.

Cait smirked. “Who you are when you get naked and sweaty often has very little overlap with who you are the rest of the time.”

“Which doesn’t seem super true with you,” he said.

Her smirk broadened a bit. “Yep. I wear my heart...I guess you could say I wear my pussy on my sleeve. I love sex. I love flirting. I intend to have sex with you before the day is over.”

“That’s...very exciting,” he replied, feeling his heart picking up speed at the thought of her naked and riding his cock, her big tits bouncing.

He still sometimes dreamed about what it felt like, her bare vagina sleeved tight around his rock hard cock, sliding rapidly up and down…

Something suddenly occurred to him. “Have you had sex with Ellie?”

“Yeah,” Cait replied. “Several times. I love it when she licks my clit. She’s got a perfect tongue for it. It’s got this weird texture...” She looked at him suddenly. “Have you slept with Ellie?”

“I, um, no,” he replied quickly, but he could feel himself blushing.

“Oh my God, you are so sweet,” she said.

“What?”

“You lied for her. That’s really sweet. Don’t worry, I already talked with Ellie about you. I kind of pried it out of her that she’d let you fuck the shit out of her. She’s a private person, but we’re best friends. She said she fucked you like three times in a watchtower. I was just curious if you’d lie for her,” Cait replied.

“Well...she seemed, uh...how do I put it? I guess, her general demeanor made me think that she didn’t quite want anyone else knowing.”

“Yeah, she’s like that. Don’t take it personally, she’s not ashamed that she fucked you. I think she’s just ashamed that she fucked at all. Like it’s some kind of weakness or something.” Now Cait frowned. “Ellie...is still mysterious to me. She’s very guarded, and it’s hard to pry stuff out of her. I don’t really know a lot about her. But I do know she likes you. And she doesn’t like many people. And even among the people she does like and trust...very few of them are men.” She regained her smirk. “It’s so hard not to tease the fuck out of her that she’s got a crush. I’d do it if I wasn’t afraid she’d cut off contact with you just to spite me.”

“I’d really appreciate it if that didn’t happen,” David said, a little alarmed at the thought of that. Besides the sex and the fact that Ellie was a fantastic ally to have, he did like her. She was a good person. Kind of rough around the edges and slow to trust, but good.

“Don’t worry. If Ellie stops fucking you, it won’t be because of me. To be totally honest, it’s a personal fantasy of mine to talk that girl into a threesome. If you could be the third in that threesome, it would just be...oh, it would be great!”

“That would be fucking amazing,” David whispered, considering it.

They both fell silent, and he had the idea that she was imagining, or really fantasizing, about that threesome as well. Finally, he decided that it was probably time to get a little more serious and figure out what was happening.

“So, what are we actually doing out here, Cait?” he asked.

“Oh, right. That. There’s an abandoned train station up ahead, maybe a mile away, past the farms. I’ve been meaning to check it out ever since I found out about it. People have been avoiding it. I keep hearing about how dangerous it is. Trouble is, no one can agree on why it’s dangerous. Which typically reeks of either someone trying to keep people out and spreading lies, or just one of those situations where there’s a big cache of supplies no one touches because everyone thinks that either A, it’s too dangerous, or B, surely someone else must’ve gone there by now. So I want to check it out,” she explained.

“And if it is too dangerous?” David asked.

“Then we leave empty-handed, and your reward is hot, unprotected vagina from a hot redhead who will let you bust so hard inside of her,” Cait replied.

“That...works for me.”

She laughed. “I figured it would. Works for me, too. Your cock is pretty rewarding.”

“Um, thanks,” he replied, and she laughed again.

It was weird being around Cait again, but in a really good way. She was an amazing person. So vibrant and happy and honest and...sexual. In a way, it was pretty refreshing. Too many people were guarded. He understood why, he didn’t necessarily think they were wrong to be guarded. It was a bad world, and it was getting worse. Besides the elements and the horrific creatures roaming the countryside, you still had people to worry about. People that might kidnap you, or rob you, or kill you. People visited a lot of horror onto each other.

For a long time now, David had longed for someone he could just...not worry about. A group of someones, a community. And it really seemed like he might be on the path to having exactly that. He trusted Evelyn, he trusted April, and he trusted Cait and Ellie as well.

“Who else did you have fun with?” Cait asked.

“What?” David replied. They had passed the farms and were now making their way across the open area where he and Ellie had killed a giant not too long ago.

“Evelyn said you’d had fun twice today. I got that once was with her, at least I think. Was the other with April? Or someone else?”

“Someone else. I was going to with April, but then you showed up.”

“Well...I’d apologize for cock-blocking you, except I’m not, because you’re still getting pussy from me...so I guess I should apologize to her...I could eat her out to make it up to her.”

“Oh my fucking God, that would be so awesome to watch. But, um, there was another woman. Another human survivor. She asked me for help with something, searching a building out in the woods. Turns out it was just a pretext to get away from her family for a bit, and fuck me. Which was really nice. That was a great sex session.”

“I bet. She human or inhuman?”

“Human.”

“Nice.”

She paused as they both heard something. They had since reentered the woods. David pulled out his pistol and looked around. A zombie stepped around a tree and began to come for them, moving swiftly. It still freaked him out to see them moving with such a sense of purpose. He aimed and fired, putting a neat hole in its forehead and dropping it in an instant. It thumped to the ground and the gunshot echoed across the area. They both waited, scanning the area around them for more movement, but saw nothing.

“You’re quick, and a good shot,” Cait said as he walked over to his kill and performed a quick search. It didn’t have anything on it.

“Thanks,” he said, getting back up. They resumed their walk. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“Most adults still alive have,” Cait murmured.

They kept walking, and they managed to reach the train station without running into any more troubles. David thought about what he knew of trains as they came out of the trees and got a good look at the place. It was a simple structure, not very large, built next to some old, rusted out train tracks. The only other thing he could see besides the building and tracks for a long ways in either direction was a single derelict train car.

The side door to the train car was open, but it was dark inside.

“Ready?” Cait asked.

David pulled his pistol back out. “I’m ready.”

“Okay. Ellie tells me you’re good in the field, not just in bed. Let’s see you put those skills to use, and afterwards, you can show me your other skills,” she said, smirking at him. Then she set off. David found his eyes briefly drawn to her ass, which was thick, shapely, and filled out her cargo pants very nicely. He shook his head and made himself focus.

Sex later.

Work now.

He followed after her. They made a slow approach to the train car. David kept a good sight on the area, looking repeatedly at the lone structure. It was closed up, and looked somehow threatening and ominous. He listened intently, trying to determine if he heard footsteps other than their own. But all he heard was the occasional gust of wind. His nose though, that was telling him bad things. He smelled old blood, and death.

They reached the cart and checked behind it and, finding nothing, Cait pulled out a flashlight. She flicked it on and pointed it into the interior.

“Oh fuck,” she whispered.

They could see a big spray of dried blood across the closed door on the other side of the car. She moved the flashlight around, checking both sides. There were a few still forms in there, what might have been corpses, but nothing that looked actually alive.

“I’ll go first,” David said.

“I’ve got your back,” Cait replied.

Reluctantly, he holstered his pistol, then planted his hands against the floor of the cart, which was a good three feet off the ground, and climbed up inside. The smell was worse, a lot worse. It was like he was getting blasted by it. He gagged, then tried to ignore it as he turned and helped Cait up into it. He then pulled out his own flashlight and the two of them began their search. It was obvious that someone had set up shop in the car, and recently too. There was a small metal barrel that had served nicely as a fire-pit, a little collection of blankets and pillows on an old, stained mattress, and a few backpacks and other random supplies strewn about.

And one body, ripped up badly.

“Fuck, man,” David whispered, studying it all.

The place was a bloody wreck. Something had come screaming into this car and torn a few people to pieces, and run off with most of the pieces.

“What do you think did it?” Cait murmured.

“Stalkers?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

They quickly salvaged whatever supplies they could, shoving some sealed food that had been spared from the bloodbath, and a few other trinkets into their packs. Then they got out of there as fast as they could. Once they were back outside, David moved several paces away and took several deep breaths, trying to empty his lungs, his throat, his nostrils of the smell. Fuck, it had been bad. Overwhelming.

He spat a few times, trying not to vomit.

“You gonna be okay?” Cait asked.

“Fine,” he replied, a little more sharply than he meant to, straightening up. “I’m fine.”

“Hey,” she said softly, coming up to him and taking his hand. Her tone caught him off guard and he looked at her. There was concern in her blue eyes. “I don’t buy into that ‘men can never show weakness’ shit. You can, you know, be weak around me.”

He realized she had a point. That had been running through his head just then, somewhere far in the background. He relaxed. “Thank you,” he said quietly, “but I’m okay, really.”

“Okay. Good. Because...” she sighed softly and looked reluctantly at the building, “now we need to go in there.”

David’s gaze followed hers. The building seemed even more threatening now.

They both lingered there for a moment, standing together in the cold winter sun, and then Cait began walking. David started up after her almost immediately. Facing something like this was always a hell of a lot easier with another person you could trust and rely on at your side. Readjusting his grip on his pistol, he tried to loosen up, rolling his shoulders and popping his neck as they walked across the open space between the car and the building. It was built onto a concrete platform that stood about three feet up off the ground.

There were four openings that were closed, sealed off by metal shutters that had rusted shut long ago. He saw only a single door, placed in the middle of the building. It was ajar, just by about two inches, and what lay beyond it was only darkness. They kept a slow and even pace as they approached the train station. Sometimes, some of the things that wanted to kill you couldn’t wait, and would burst out of hiding if enough time passed. But other times they were immensely patient, lying in wait for as long as was necessary, until the perfect moment came to pass, and they struck with a terrifying speed, like lightning.

Nothing came out of the building as they finished their approach.

David led the way, moving up some crumbling concrete stairs built along the side of the platform. He reached the top and moved slowly over to the door, preparing himself for the worst. Still nothing happened as he reached the door. The tension was getting irritating. He pulled his flashlight back out and flicked it on, then brought his two hands, and the light and the pistol, together.

“You ready?” he asked as they both stood in front of the door.

“I’m ready,” Cait confirmed.

David stepped forward and pushed the door open with his foot, then took a step back as it creaked open, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

He aimed his flashlight into the opening, annoyed with how dark it was. Weren’t there windows? It was broad fucking daylight out, why were there little more than a few narrow, dim shafts of light in there? His own light revealed a big, open space. He saw a dusty, dirty floor of old tiling, and some benches fitted to the floor, and a lot of trash and refuse in there. It smelled bad. He caught a whiff of old blood again.

But there was nothing moving in there.

Gathering his courage, David moved forward. He shifted the light across the big, empty space as he moved cautiously into the room. For a few seconds, he stood at the threshold, checking his immediate left and right. A perfect place for someone or something to hide. The smell was worse. There was nothing hiding to either side of him, and as far as he could tell, nothing obvious in the main area, either.

“I think it’s clear,” he said to Cait, who joined him.

“I dunno, something about this isn’t right. Something killed those people, and obviously there’s something dead in here, too,” she murmured.

“Maybe it moved on, whatever it was. That body and the blood were at least a day old, maybe older,” he suggested.

“Maybe...” But she didn’t sound convinced. He didn’t really feel convinced, either.

They stood there a moment longer, looking over the big room. It was mostly empty space, but along the back wall, he could see more of those shuttered windows, though a few of them were open, and a few doors, too, leading to other rooms.

“We’ll have to check those,” he said, playing his flashlight across it.

“Yeah. Come on.”

Cait set off, and he walked alongside her, trying not to tense up. The farther back they went into the building, the worse the smell got. They were maybe halfway across the big room when they both froze, because they both heard something. They waited, flashlight beams moving slowly across the back wall, hunting fervently, but nothing happened. Nothing emerged from the dark holes back there. David sighed softly.

“So what the fuck was that?” Cait asked quietly.

“Could be anything,” he muttered. “But we obviously both heard it.”

She nodded. Slowly, they picked back up their walk. Their footsteps were ominously loud in the darkened structure. He could see now that someone had boarded up pretty much all of the windows. Someone had, at one point, even gone so far as to board up the skylights. Well, he could understand that. If they were broken, they’d let in the rain and the snow. Unfortunately, it made for a spectacularly darkened environment.

The first place they were approaching was the far right, where a doorway awaited them. It had no actual door in it, it was just a dark gap in the wall. It seemed as good a place as any to begin their investigation.

They stopped as they reached about ten feet away.

“Okay, what’s the best way to do this?” David asked. He was feeling overly cautious and extremely paranoid right now.

“One of us should approach the door, the other keeps watch from a short distance away,” Cait replied.

“Okay. I’ll approach the door.”

“I’ve got your back.”

He began moving forward again, his shadow bobbing on the wall now that he was walking in front of Cait’s light. He kept expecting something to appear suddenly in the doorway, some wretched monster, some mutated undead thing. It was as silent as death, though. He kept walking. It seemed to take ages, but David finally came to stand before the doorway.

Aiming his flashlight for maximum exposure, he peered into the room.

Something moved.

“What the f...” he whispered. And then a slender figure was charging at him. “Oh fuck me!” he screamed, backing away as fast as he could while opening fire. Something shrieked loudly, and although the shriek was somewhat familiar, it definitely wasn’t a stalker or a wildcat or a zombie. He wasn’t sure what the fuck he was dealing with here.

Only that it scared the fucking shit out of him.

One of his shots managed to connect and the thing really began to shriek. It was like a goddamned alarm going off! Suddenly, that shrieking was met by a hell of a lot more, seemingly coming from all over.

“Oh fuck! Rippers! David run!” Cait screamed at the top of her lungs.

There was suddenly a lot of activity all along the back wall. He saw dark shapes begin to emerge from the openings. Terror, pure, cold, mindless terror suddenly flooded his entire body and he was running before he’d even told his legs to do so. He twisted back around as he ran towards Cait, who was already sprinting to the exit, and fired practically blindly at the shapes. He knew what they were now, and just how bad the situation was.

Rippers.

They were reps that had been taken and twisted by the virus. He hadn’t encountered many of them, but they traveled in packs and they were dangerous as fuck. They had sleek black scales, barbed tails, and claws like you wouldn’t fucking believe. They continued shrieking and screaming as the whole pack of them scrambled to get at the fresh meat that had stupidly walked right into their fucking lair. He could tell by the quality of the shrieking that at least a few of his shots had connected, but really this was just a delaying tactic. Anything to buy the precious few seconds he needed to get the fuck out of here.

Cait was through the door. He saw her spin around the second she was back in safe daylight and aim the gun towards him. He cried out in shock, almost skidding to a halt. But he knew she wasn’t threatening him. Quite the opposite, she was saving his life. She fired a round that scorched past him, then another, and he could hear her connecting with the rippers as they scrabbled after him across the dirty tiling.

He barely managed to make it out. The second he did, he spun around and emptied the rest of his pistol in through the open door. There were still several things coming for them. He hastily reloaded when his pistol ran dry, almost dropping the spare magazine. Once it was in, he steadied himself, then took more careful aim and began putting them down as fast as he could manage. Between the two of them, he and Cait managed to kill every last one of the monstrous fuckers. The last one’s shrieking cut off abruptly and it went limp, hit the floor, and skidded to a halt. Its head and neck stuck out of the doorway as it stopped.

It was the one that had got the closest.

Both of them stood like that, stock still, for several more seconds, guns pointed, waiting to see if anything else was going to come out for them. All he could hear was the wind occasionally gusting and the two of them breathing heavily.

“Fuck,” Cait whispered, finally lowering her pistol, her hands shaking. “God-fucking-fuck!” she snapped, her voice low, a harsh rasp. “That was bullshit!”

“Y-yeah...are you okay?” David replied.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I might puke, but I’m fine. Are you okay? Did they get you?”

“No, nothing got me,” he replied, feeling a tremendous relief. When the situation got that bad, being prepared, armed, in shape, and with good reflexes, obviously helped, but honestly, it was kind of a throw of the dice whether or not you made it out.

And they had made it out, unscathed.

He was shaking badly though, and he was with her there on the potential puking. “I’m fine,” he repeated. “Fuck, that was way too close. Holy shit. I fucking hate rippers.”

“I was just about to say that,” Cait growled. She took several deep breaths, then spat a few times and straightened up. “We should go back in there.”

“Fuck, do we have to?” he groaned.

“We came all this way, killed those rippers, and expended that ammo. We need to have something to show for it. And there might be like a treasure trove in there,” she replied.

He nodded slowly. She had very valid points. “Yeah, okay, just...I need a minute.”

“That’s fine,” she said, and then she hugged him.

He hugged her back fiercely, clinging to her almost, and soon she kissed him on the mouth. He kissed her back, tasting her, feeling that thrill of lips meeting, of physical intimacy with a beautiful woman he cared about, he liked. And then she was slipping her tongue into his mouth, and they were passionately making out.

This went on for several seconds before she stepped back, almost gasping. “Fuck. Okay. We should, um, we should focus. We need to get this, uh, the work stuff out of the way, before we can get to the fun stuff.”

“Yeah,” he said, although honestly, if he had some place to safely fuck her, a place that wasn’t covered in goddamned blood, he would so be asking for that right now. There was definitely a weird connection between adrenaline and lust. But she was right. Work first, sex later. He took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly, getting himself fully back under control. Then they headed back into the building.

They took it slow.

The work was pretty gross, and miserable. It took almost an hour of combing through the back rooms of the train station. They tried to be both diligent and quick, and twice they had to take breaks, catching some fresh air back outside almost desperately. He did come close to vomiting, but managed to keep his breakfast.

In the end, it was definitely worth it.

They found evidence of a campsite, and a scattering of supplies strewn across the few rooms, as well as several corpses. Some food, a few bullets, nothing much. And then, finally, they uncovered a battered silver case that was about three feet long, one wide, and one deep. It had a good, solid lock on it, but Cait had some bolt cutters on her, and she snipped it off without a real problem. Once it was off, they pulled it open, and found their treasure trove. The thing was packed with magazines of ammunition, shotguns shells, a chopped-down, double-barrel shotgun, a compact submachine gun, and four pistols, one of which was a revolver that took some pretty powerful bullets. They gathered up everything, distributing it between them.

And then, once they were done, the pair hurried back outside, into the cold gray light of the winter sun.

“Told you it’d be worth it,” Cait said.

“Yep,” David agreed. “You called it.” He saw that she was looking around rapidly with an anxious look on her face. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she murmured, clearly distracted. “Hey, come with me.”

“I, uh-” She grabbed his wrist suddenly and began practically dragging him along the platform. “-uh, okay,” he said, going with her.

She brought him around to the side of the building, where she stopped and then looked around again, checking out, first, the wall, then the space around them. David looked as well, seeing if he was missing something.

She took off her backpack and set it aside.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“This is gonna have to do,” she muttered, and unzipped her jacket, then began pulling up the shirt she was wearing beneath it.

“What are you doing?”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to survive the walk back to your place. I’m just too fucking horny right now. Like, I’m gonna claw my eyes out or something if I don’t get fucked. So I need you to fuck me.”

“Right here?!” he cried.

“Uh-huh,” she said. She finished pulling up her shirt, and then her bra, freeing her big, pale tits. They dropped and bounced and immediately got his attention.

“Well...I mean, I guess we could,” he muttered, staring intently at them.

She smiled. “I knew you’d understand.”

Then she was pressing him against the wall, kissing him passionately again, shoving her tongue into his mouth. He began groping her big tits, immediately becoming alight with intense, almost overwhelmingly powerful desire as he grasped them. It derailed every single thought in his head other than, I need to fuck the fuck out of this woman. Her lips were so hot and her tongue so desperate as it twisted and danced with his own. He tasted her again, and he was reminded of their extremely passionate and pleasurable night together.

Suddenly, she broke the kiss, then dropped to her knees and began getting his pants undone. “I’ll suck you for a bit, then you can do me doggystyle. But bust in my mouth, okay? I want you to bust in my mouth.”

“I can do that,” David replied, panting now.

She giggled and pulled his dick out. “Yeah, I bet you can.”

Then she put his cock in her mouth and began rapidly bobbing her head, getting her saliva all over it. That hot, wet pleasure hit him like a drug and he groaned, putting his hand on the back of her head and leaning against the wall of the train station.

“Fuck, Cait, you are so insanely fucking hot,” he panted as he watched her work.

A few seconds later, she pulled his dick out of her mouth. “You’re really hot, too,” she said, and then quickly got her belt and her pants undone. As soon as the task was complete, she dropped to her hands and her knees. David took a quick look around again to reconfirm that they were alone, then got down on his knees behind her. He pulled her pants and her panties down, revealing her thick, smooth, pale ass, and her glistening vagina, and then he got up against her and slipped right into her.

“Oh fuck, Cait...” he moaned as he penetrated her.

“That’s it baby, fuck me,” she whispered back as he pushed his way into her.

David immediately began humping her, grasping her big, firm hips, sliding rapidly in and out of her pussy. She was insanely wet and so hot. And tight. Cait was in such amazing shape. They fucked furiously and David found himself absolutely in love with how goddamned feral their sex was. They were like mindless, horny, screwing animals. It was like they were both in heat, completely consumed by their carnal desires.

She was so hot for him that she couldn’t even wait to get inside, and that was just a great fucking feeling.

And her vagina!

Feeling it clenched tight around his cock as he pounded the fuck out of her, staring down at her thick ass and the way his dick was disappearing into her again and again and again, the sound of their skin slapping together…

“Fuck that pussy, David! Fuck my pussy!” she screamed.

He lasted about two minutes.

He wanted to keep going, but this was way too hot of a situation.

“Gonna bust!” he cried.

She immediately moved forward and spun around, then took his cock into her mouth without missing a beat. He moaned loudly as he started letting off, blowing a huge load into her mouth, and he heard her moan as well as she began to suck.

“Oh fuck! Oh Cait! Oh fuck, yes!” he moaned in desperate, impassioned pleasure.

It was bursting within him, his entire body pulsing in time with the orgasm as he spurted his seed into her sucking mouth. The rapturous ecstasy was nearly blinding, wiping out all other senses as he came so hard into this beautiful redhead’s mouth. She moaned loudly as she kept sucking him off, draining his cock, taking his whole load.

She sucked him completely dry.

When she was finished, he fell against the wall, panting, almost gasping for breath. He forced himself to look around again, to make sure nothing had snuck up on them in the meantime. Nothing had, but he realized how stupid and risky this had been. Goddamn, sex made him dumb. Carefully, he tucked his cock away. Cait looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes, looking smug and satisfied. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hands.

“I can get such a rise out of you,” she said. “You sounded so satisfied there.”

“Yeah. I was. Oh fuck,” he panted. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shakily, and got himself under control again.

Cait laughed and pulled her pants back up. She quickly put her tits and her pussy away, getting everything back into place, then easily slipped her backpack on again. “I would’ve liked to come, but that was kind of out of the question. Too much cleanup. But I’m better now. Just give me good orgasms when we get back to your place.”

“Definitely,” he said. “Definitely, I can do that.”

She offered him a hand. “Come on, lover boy, let’s go.”

He took it and she pulled him to his feet, and they started walking to his home.

CHAPTER FOUR

“You know, I’m a little curious,” David said as they walked through the dead, frozen forest.

“Yeah?” Cait replied. She had been calm ever since they’d fucked, but during the tail end of the twenty minute walk back home, she’d gotten fidgety again.

“Why do you want to fuck me in front of Evelyn and April so much? You were kind of like, specific about that,” he asked.

She smirked. “Oh. Well...” She considered it, then shrugged. “I mean, I like an audience. From both ends. Watching and being watched, you know? But also, I guess if I’m being completely honest, and I’d really appreciate it if you kept this to yourself, but I guess it’s kind of like...a display of dominance? Like, not a real one, if that makes sense? I would never, like fuck someone’s boyfriend, or girlfriend, and rub their face in it if I knew it bugged them. But I guess, like, if in my own head I’m kind of framing it that way, it really helps get me off. If you must know.”

“I can understand that,” he replied after a bit. “It makes enough sense. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Evelyn or April.”

“Good. I want to stay on their good sides.”

“Any reason?” he asked.

She didn’t say anything at first. “I...might be looking to, you know, stick around awhile.”

He looked over at her, surprised. “Really? Like...live with us?”

“Not exactly. I don’t really live anywhere, per say, but I mean, if you’ll all have me, I would like kind of a, I guess, permanent room? A place I could call my own...or at least only share with one other person, maybe Ellie, since I imagine that despite how...closed-off she is, she’ll want a similar setup...what was I saying? Uh, yeah, I’d like a room. Just a little one. So I could pop by every now and then, give some supplies, share a few meals, have some sex, and just...you know, have a place where I could be around people I like, people I trust.”

“I mean, I’d love that, if you were around more often. And I’m pretty sure Evelyn and April will like the idea, too. But we’ll talk about it today over a meal, if you want.”

“That sounds wonderful, David. Thank you.”

Before long, he saw the campgrounds appear through the trees. He found himself listening for shouts or gunshots or moans, but there was nothing. Just the wind whispering among the dead trees and their boots crunching in what was left of the snow. A decent amount of it had melted into slush recently. They walked in through the main entrance, headed down the little road to the central area, and strolled over to the main office.

“This is a nice place,” Cait murmured, looking around. “What are you planning on doing with it?”

“We’re still figuring that out,” he replied. “We haven’t even finished actually searching it for useful supplies yet. But there’s room to grow, obviously.”

“Definitely.”

He heard movement from upstairs and called up to the women that it was him and Cait. Once they got the confirmation response, they headed upstairs and found April in her room, tidying up, and Evelyn was doing the same.

“Good trip?” she asked as they walked into the master bedroom.

“Well...yes and no. Primarily yes,” David replied.

“What happened?”

“We ran into a pack of fucking rippers,” Cait said.

A look of genuine worry crossed Evelyn’s pale face. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine. We got lucky, got away without a scratch. And we managed to snag a cache of guns and ammo, and a few other things.”

“Yep,” David said. He pulled off his pack and set it on the bed, then pulled out the submachine gun, the sawn-off shotgun, and the two pistols he’d taken.

“Holy shit,” Evelyn whispered, walking over and studying them. “This is...definitely quite the find. Very nice. I guess it was worth it then.”

David nodded. “There’s ammo for all of it, too. Where actually is our armory?” he asked.

“Oh. Over here. For now,” Evelyn replied. She walked over to one of the now three dressers that were in the room. He guessed that they both got one, and then this third one went to guns. Pulling open the top drawer, he saw a pair of small metal cases inside. Both were open. One had shotgun shells, the other had nine millimeter magazines. There was a collection of random other rounds in a small glass jar in between them.

She shut it, then opened the next drawer, where a spare pistol laid. “Ideally we’ll get something better. I’d like to salvage an actual gun locker or something. But I figured this will do for now.”

“Perfect. So, we never quite discussed how we want to split the guns,” David said, walking back over to the bed and looking at the weapons he’d set there.

“I’ve been thinking about it. You just keep everything I gave you,” Cait replied.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I’ve got stuff stashed all over the region, you three lost your home and most of your stuff recently, and could use the boost.”

“Well, thanks,” David said.

“We really appreciate it,” Evelyn replied. “We definitely could use it.”

David took the new weapons and laid them in the dresser, then added all the ammo he’d snagged to the piles and closed the drawers.

“Okay, sweet. Now what?” he asked.

Cait began to respond, but another voice came from the open doorway. “You made me a promise,” April said. All three of them looked over, surprised. He hadn’t heard her there at all. She could be really quiet when she wanted to be.

“I did,” he replied, feeling a smile begin to grow on his face. Although he wasn’t sure if he’d actually made a promise, per say. But she was right.

“Are you going to keep it?” she asked.

“Of course. Come here. Take off your clothes,” he replied.

“Okay.”

He looked at Cait. “You mind waiting?”

“No, of course not,” she replied.

“Oh, you were gonna fuck her? Here and now?” Evelyn asked, amused.

“Yeah. She’s...needy,” David replied, unable to keep from smirking at least a little.

“I am not needy, you smug dick. I am horny. There is a difference,” she shot back.

“Fair enough.”

April walked into the room and something occurred to David that should have occurred to him before. “Shit, I’m sorry. Are you okay with this audience, April?”

“Yeah,” she replied, glancing at Cait. “I am.”

“Okay.”

He started taking his clothes off. He was glad to see that Evelyn had boiled some fresh snow down into clean water in a large glass bowl while he’d been gone. There were some rags and a bar of soap next to it. Given what he’d been doing with Cait, and all the fighting and running he’d been going through since last he’d washed, it made sense to get cleaned up. He finished stripping and walked over to the water, then dunked in the soap and a rag and got to cleaning.

“I’m still clean,” April said, going and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“That won’t last,” Cait murmured. “Not the way he does it.”

“That’s true,” Evelyn said. “He makes the biggest goddamned messes.”

David just sighed and finished washing up, then quickly dried off and walked back over to April. He looked down at her and she looked up at him. She looked very good, all her green skin and her high, firm breasts and her slim thighs. He could see her tail drifting back and forth across the blanket behind her in anticipation.

“Spread your legs,” David said, getting down on his knees.

“Oh my, okay,” she replied. April leaned back a bit, resting on the heels of her palms, and opened her legs for him. She revealed her smooth, pale green pussy. He leaned in and spread the taut lips of her vagina. She let out a small gasp. Leaning in further, tongue out, he began to lick at the exposed, highly sensitive flesh there.

“Oh, David...” she moaned loudly, sounding almost surprised.

He began to lick up over and over, his pace slow and steady, his pressure firm, using all of his tongue. He felt the nub of her clit press against his tongue each time. April began to pant.

“Oh my fucking-oh holy shit, no-no one has done this for me. Not this good. Fuck...” she whispered, and he felt her tremble against him.

“You into girls?” he heard Cait ask.

“Y-yeah. I am.”

“You wanna give me a shot sometime soon? Because I can totally do a better job. Not that David isn’t doing a stellar job, I’m sure.”

“I would-oh my God! Oh yes-love that...you’re so beautiful, Cait...”

“Thank you! You’re very pretty yourself, April.”

“Th-thank yooooouuu oh fuuuuuck, David...” she moaned loudly.

After a bit, he went for a more targeted approach, just using mostly the tip of his tongue and licking her clit. He went faster, with lighter strokes, and she let out a shriek. “Yes! Yes!” she cried, and he felt her whole body jerking occasionally.

This was going very, very well.

Within another thirty seconds, he moved onto the third, and final, phase of the oral sex. What he hoped would be a good finisher.

He slipped a finger into her vagina.

She let out another shriek of pleasured bliss as he began to fuck her with his finger. She was squirming madly now, clearly having a hard time sitting still. He licked her and finger-fucked her, pleasuring her as much as he could, going in for the kill. And it didn’t take a whole hell of a lot longer to bring her to orgasm.

“Oh, David! OHMYFUCKINGGODYESYESYESYESYES!!!” she began shrieking incoherently as she started to climax. He could feel her vaginal muscles clenching around his finger, feel her hips bucking. He continued pleasuring her throughout it all as he felt her get a bit hotter and wetter. Her pussy was going crazy. And she was screaming her fucking head off. He wondered if anyone could hear her. Fuck, if there were undead around, it might grab their attention. Well...he guessed that just gave the sex an extra edge of danger, made it even more spicy.

That sex he’d had with Cait at the train station had been dangerous...and fucking amazing.

Once she was done, she flopped back onto the bed, panting, gasping really. He stood up, rock solid now, and walked around the edge of the bed.

“D-David, do you, um...what do you want me to do now?” she murmured as she tried to catch her breath.

“Spread your legs, April,” he replied as he grabbed the lube, squeezed some into his hand, and coated his dick in it. “Then grab them, hold them up in the air. Now.”

“Oh. Yes, sir,” she whispered, doing just that.

He tossed the lube aside and walked back around to her, looking down at her pussy. As he put his dick closer to it, he could feel heat. She looked really fucking good in this position. He could see her tail. It was twitching more rapidly now.

David laid the head of his lubed-up, rock hard dick at the entrance of her pussy and began to slide it in. She let out another long moan.

“Oh my fucking-oh, that’s big,” she moaned. “It feels really big. Holy shit.”

“You do have a pretty good size,” Cait said.

“I’m glad you think so,” David replied as he pushed all of his hard inches inside of April. He’d never thought he was particularly impressive, but did it honestly matter what he thought? The women in his life were the ones getting fucked, and if it felt good to them, then really that’s all that mattered when it came to size.

He looked down at April. She was on her back, her legs up and spread, hands on the backs of her thighs, face already twisting and contorting in pleasure as he worked his way in and out of her. She looked absolutely beautiful. As he began to go faster, once he was comfortably inside of her, he slid his hands in between her legs and settled them on either side of her stomach. He gripped her gently and started screwing her.

The pleasure was intense, the inside of her exceptionally tight vagina a little like wet silk stretched over taut muscles that were moving and reacting to his stimulation, clenching around his rigid length reflexively.

“Ughnnnn, David...it feels so good...” she moaned. He started going faster, gripping her tighter. He could hear the sound of their skin meeting, slapping together. “Oh my...fuuu...this feels too good. Just. Fuck. I can’t even...oh!” she cried out, practically incoherent with pleasure now. Well, at least he was keeping his promise to her.

She was clearly getting her pussy satisfied.

And holy shit, was his cock ever getting satisfied. The feeling of bare rep vagina clenched hard around his lube-slicked dick was phenomenal. He stared down at her small tits as they shook and bounced each time he slammed into her pussy.

David glanced over as he realized he was hearing heavy breathing.

He’d almost forgotten that two exceptionally attractive women were watching him, staring at him really. Cait had actually removed most of her clothes. Her tits were out, looking just amazing, and all she had left on were her panties. And one hand was down them. She moaned as they locked eyes and began rubbing her clit harder.

That pushed him a hell of a lot closer to orgasm.

He groaned loudly as he looked back at April, and her eyes shot open suddenly. “Oh, David...you’re going to come soon?”

“Yep,” he groaned.

“Please come on my face. Just all over it. I want that,” she said.

“Fuck, okay. Legs down,” he replied.

She let go of her legs and planted her feet back on the floor. David moaned loudly, grunting as he started really pounding that sweet, tight rep pussy, and then he was ready to pop off. He pulled out as fast as he could, shouting at her that he was going, and she got up, nimble and quick, and dropped to her knees before him, her mouth open.

“Oh fuck! Ohhh fuck, April!” he cried as he started jacking off all over her face. She moaned as a spurt of his seed escaped his cock in a hard twitch and sprayed across her forehead. And then he was coming, he was coming so much all over her face. She had her eyes closed, mouth open, head tilted up. He came on her cheeks, and got some on her nose, and got at least half the load directly into her mouth. Jacking off into a woman’s open mouth was just too good. He even got some of his sticky stuff onto one of her black horns.

“Clean it, April,” he said when he was finished, and stuck it in her mouth. She moaned again as she closed her lips around it and sucked. He groaned, pulling it back out. She swallowed, then slowly stood up and began walking over to the water to clean up.

“Holy shit, that was hot,” Cait said. He looked over and saw that her panties were pretty wet. She glanced down and then back up at him, grinning. Her face was flushed. “Couldn’t help myself.”

“You must be pretty wet right now,” David said. He’d wished he’d seen her orgasming.

“Yeah.” She stood up. “Lay down on the bed.”

“Okay.”

He climbed onto the bed and laid on his back. He was still mostly hard. Cait quickly took off her panties and then hopped up onto the bed with him. She got to her feet, walked to him, and stood over him. She looked even more impressive than usual from this angle. Her pussy was glistening, her thighs absolutely beautiful. She had a grin that was halfway between a confident smirk and a loving smile, and then she began to squat down.

If she was looking to fantasize about displaying some dominance in front of April and Evelyn, then it would make the most sense that she’d want to be on top. He’d kind of wanted to do her doggystyle again, but this was fine.

Because he also really loved it when women rode his dick.

He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get hard again fast enough for sex this close to an orgasm, but he quickly learned that that wasn’t going to be a problem as she took his semi-erect dick into her insanely wet pussy, and within seconds he’d instantly hardened back up again.

“Holy fuck,” he whispered as she began to ride him. She looked so confident, so sure and certain of herself, wearing that smug smirk of hers as she rode him, staring down at him. The pleasure ate him alive, consuming him with a shocking intensity as she began to ride him faster and faster. She held his eyes with her own, staring intently, unblinkingly at him, and he could read the message she was silently sending him.

It said: These two may be your girlfriends, but right now I own you. Right now you are MINE.

He supposed that was true, in a way. She fucking had him right now. She owned him. He reached up and cupped her big, pale breasts in his hands, grasping them and massaging them gently, feeling her up. Just touching her was amazing.

“That’s it, David...” she whispered, putting her hands over the backs of his. “God, you feel so fucking good inside me...”

“Yes. Fuck. Cait...” he moaned.

She looked over at the others suddenly. “Do you know what we role-played the first time we met and had sex?”

David suddenly felt his face flush harder. He glanced at Evelyn and April. Their eyes were wider. Evelyn leaned forward. “What? Tell me.”

“I bet it’s not what you’re expecting,” she murmured, still smirking. He sighed and she looked down at him. “I won’t tell them if you don’t want me to.”

“No, whatever, it’s fine. There’s no secrets between us so far.”

She looked back over at them. “We fantasized about him getting me pregnant.”

“Really?” Evelyn asked, sounding honestly surprised.

“That’s really hot, actually,” April murmured.

“Yeah, it is. Did he get off on that?”

“Oh, so hard. He fucking busted the biggest load in my pussy and you should have heard him, the sounds he was making as I begged him to get me pregnant,” Cait replied.

“You’re gonna make me bust right now, you keep talking about that,” David groaned.

She looked back down at him, her smirk smugger than ever. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. What, you think I’m suddenly not into it anymore?”

She licked her lips. “You want to get me pregnant, don’t you?” she murmured.

“Not...for real...” he groaned, but already he was thinking about her pregnant, what she would look like impregnated. Pregnant with his child. Fuck. Her tits and her ass were already big, but they’d get so much bigger, and her fucking hips would be huge, and her thighs…

“You’re thinking about it right now. I can tell,” Cait said.

“Seriously, Cait. I’m gonna...bust...”

She moaned and then brought one of his hands down from her breast and laid it over her belly. “Just picture it, David. My belly swollen...with your child inside of me...”

“Oh, Cait-fuck!” he cried and started coming immediately. She gasped and then moaned as he began thrusting madly up into her, releasing his seed from his cock like a fucking volcano, pumping that sweet, perfect vagina with it in hard, thick spurts. He came so much inside of her, the pleasure blasting through him with a white-hot intensity. He could hear himself moaning loudly, panting in desperate bliss, and he was lost in that orgasm.

And then, after awhile, he came back to himself, and found himself staring up at her. She looked deeply satisfied with herself, her red hair a mess, her pale face flushed. She was sweating. It glistened on her large, bare breasts.

“Holy shit, you weren’t exaggerating. He got off so fucking hard on that,” Evelyn murmured. “I might wanna try that. Although we can’t crossbreed.”

“We could pretend...” April murmured.

“You’re welcome,” Cait said, patting his sweat-slicked chest.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, then groaned as she got off of him and went to wash up. She had a point. His secret fetish was out to his girlfriends, and they thought it was hot. So...yeah, that was a win for him.

“Thanks,” he muttered, staring at her big ass. He laid there panting for a bit, listening to Cait clean herself up. Then he remembered that Cait wanted to hang around for a bit. “So, uh, Evie, April, you mind if Cait hangs around for awhile?”

“How long is awhile?” Evelyn replied.

“I don’t have anything I need to do today,” Cait replied.

“If you don’t mind helping out with some manual labor, then no, I don’t mind at all.”

“Cool! I like you three, I want to get to know you better,” she said, coming back over and sitting her pale, amazingly well-formed ass down on the bed near David’s head.

Evelyn smirked. “You obviously know David pretty well already.”

“That’s true. But now I want to know the ladies in his life.”

“Fair enough. Well, the main thing we’re doing today is searching this whole campground top to bottom. Every room, every nook and cranny, everything. I want to find every bit of supplies that anyone might’ve hidden here, because we’re going to need every advantage to stay alive out here, especially with winter having arrived,” Evelyn said.

“I’m actually really good at finding hidden stuff,” Cait replied. She stood up and began to pull her clothes back on.

“Okay then. David, put your cock away, we’ve got work to do,” Evelyn said.

“Yes, dear,” David replied, and got up.

…

After the nightmare at the train station, the rest of the day was basically a vacation.

There was a lot of hard work involved, a lot of physical labor, exhaustive searching, moving things around, but David had never really been afraid of hard work. He was doing things, making progress, actually getting shit done. He was building himself a new home, and not just his home, but a home for his two (well, in a way three) lovers. Best of all, he wasn’t alone basically the whole day. He spent time with all three women, and they spent time with each other. And he was pretty grateful for that, because they seemed to really like Cait.

On the one hand, he wanted them to get along, because he genuinely enjoyed Cait’s company, and also thought she would be an amazing friend to have. Not just because of her personality and temperament, but also because she was so skilled and knowledgeable.

On the other hand...he really liked this whole ‘having two hot girlfriends that he fucked on a regular basis’ thing, and it would be really fucking awesome if he could up that to three. Even if she wasn’t his girlfriend and instead a friend with benefits, still: fucking awesome.

He didn’t let the thoughts of the three women he’d had amazing sex with, and likely would again tonight, distract him as he thoroughly searched the campgrounds. It took the entire length of the day and partially into the night, but they were motivated. They all wanted this to be done before they went to bed. Or, at the very least, he knew he wanted all the other structures thoroughly searched and locked down. They could deal with the main office in their own time.

They dedicated about six solid hours to searching the cabins. They poked through each and every one of them, carefully, slowly, methodically. To varying degrees, they were all very apt at searching by this point, as they’d all had a decent amount of practice over the years. The landscape was littered with hundreds of thousands of buildings, millions all over the world really, and something like ninety percent of them, probably more, were abandoned. Supplies and materials meant for over nine billion people now was left for maybe ten percent of that number. Probably less. He honestly had no idea how many humans or inhumans were still alive.

He chatted with the women as he searched all the rooms, in the attics, in the basements, in the closets and all the little hidden spaces that people had created or discovered over the decades. Almost all of the cabins were identical. They seemed to come in two varieties. The first was clearly meant for either couples or single people, with just a single bedroom and a very small basement. These were single story. The other seemed to be meant for families or larger groups. They had two decent-sized bedrooms, a full basement and attic space, two stories, and a bit more room to spare. Even as he was searching them, David began to imagine what it might be like to have other people around. Groups, families, friends…

A community.

He still wasn’t sure where he stood on that idea. On the one hand, it seemed like a great idea. On the other hand, it seemed like a lot of responsibility. Was he up to the task? Were the others? Did they even fully want this? Evelyn seemed interested in the notion of building a community. He went around and around on it all day.

After thoroughly searching the cabins, they took an extended lunch break and went over their findings. It wasn’t terribly impressive. Mostly it was some clothes, a lot of which were too ripped up, torn, or otherwise ruined to be of much use. He knew there were other uses for clothes, even ruined ones, so they stored them in a box in the basement for the moment. There were some blankets, and other bedding supplies, and they managed to get together three single-wide mattresses and a bit of lumber to begin their project of building his and Evelyn’s bed.

He really liked that idea.

Not just because he’d be banging the fuck out of her in that bed, and it would be appropriately sized not just for sex with her, but for threesomes or even foursomes, but also because it was something they were doing together. Something they were both going to use, to share, and they were going to build it together.

That appealed to him tremendously, and he got the idea that it did to her as well.

They found a few bullets that looked like they would still work scattered about, a combat knife, some silverware, a bit of food that was still good, half of an old medical kit that would still be useful, and, most significantly, a pistol that had been hidden away at the top of a closet. It was a revolver and though it was unloaded, and there was no ammo for it, it looked to be in great condition. After lunch, they began to tackle the task of hunting through this building that they now called home. They started with the ground floor and found pretty much more of the same over the course of an hour and a half: nothing really special.

At that point they decided to split up: April and Cait opted to search the basement, as it was going to be a bit of a chore, and Evelyn and David decided to get to work on at least beginning to assemble their customized bed.

It was a good experience, and he spent about forty five minutes helping her get the frame put together.

And then he kept getting handsy and kissy and she ended up shooing him downstairs, because she was more interested in work than sex at the moment.

And so he joined the others downstairs.

Cait had opened up what windows she could down there, (there were four small windows built high into the ceiling and, with a bit of cleaning and then opening, they let in sunshine and fresh air), and April had pulled out a pair of electric lanterns that still worked and they lit the place up. Which was good, because it was a little miserable.

David had never liked basements.

Well, that wasn’t true. He actually really liked basements like the one he’d been living in up until very recently. Ones that were finished, and reasonably clean. This basement was bare concrete and packed with boxes and furniture and other crap, and there could be anything lurking among all that stuff. Like spiders. Fuck, he hated spiders. But it was good being down there with April and Cait. For awhile, as he sorted through boxes, he listened to the two women talk to each other. Mostly they talked about their backgrounds, how they’d grown up, why they were here. It was nice listening to them talk, relaxing.

It was something he could get used to.

David had spent a lot of time alone, and a lot of time with strangers or people that he never got to know, or actively didn’t like. But he liked Evelyn, he liked April and Cait. A lot. And not just for the obvious reason that they let him stick his cock in them without protection. Their personalities blended pretty well. He loved talking with them, working with them, just being around them, honestly. And they seemed to enjoy him as well.

There were a lot of things to value in the miserable, gut-wrenching world that they all lived in. Food, clean water, shelter, medicine, heat. A lot of basic, primal comforts that many people often weren’t afforded. And he valued all of those, and appreciated them when he got them. But honestly, what he thought he might value the most were the connections he sometimes made with others. He valued...trusting, and being trusted. He valued conversation. Obviously he valued sex, but also everything else that went with intimacy.

Holding hands, cuddling up together beneath a blanket, falling asleep and waking up together, just being around someone you were deeply intimate with.

This day of calm searching and sorting with these three women now in his life was really helping underline these things. And he was happy. He let himself be happy. There weren’t enough opportunities for happiness and contentment nowadays. Maybe that was a good motivator for making this place his own, their own, making it safe and secure, a haven against the cold and the dark. David wanted to cultivate happiness and security, not just for himself, but for those he cared about. Honestly, for good people.

There were too many good people suffering out there.

The hours drifted by as they searched through the basement. A lot of the stuff was garbage. Either it amounted to essentially useless junk, or it was so broken or old that it had been rendered useless. There were some decent finds, though. There was a fair amount of clothing secreted away down there, and blankets and sheets that, after a good wash, could be plenty useful. The furniture could be redistributed to the cabins, if they did indeed go ahead and let a few people stay with them in the campgrounds.

There was an axe in surprisingly good condition, which they’d use to chop firewood, as well as a small backpack packed with some canned food and basic medical supplies that looked old, like it had been there for months at least, probably longer. Cait had confirmed that she hadn’t put it there, and none of the people she knew had used this as a hiding spot, so ultimately they’d decided to take it because the person who had put it there was probably dead or long gone. They didn’t manage to sort through it all, but they got through most of it.

Eventually the sunlight began to fade. That was something David really hated about the winter: how quickly darkness came on. The cold sucked, but the fact that it started getting dark at like five in the afternoon kind of just sucked the life out of him. It was why he tended to go to bed early and wake up at the crack of dawn: he wanted to get as much daylight as possible. Not just for the practical reality that it was harder and more dangerous to do things at night, but because it was better for his psychological health.

“All right, all we have left to do down here is that corner,” Cait said after they had decided to call it quits for now. “And honestly, we can wrap that up after dinner. Then tomorrow maybe we can finish off this building.”

“Sounds good to me,” April said. She looked exhausted, though.

“You doing okay?” David asked.

“Yeah...I’m really tired though.” She yawned, then swayed a little, then sat down suddenly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Cait asked, taking a step forward.

April looked up at her, then at David. She looked...sheepish, embarrassed almost. “I’m okay, really. I’m just...a little anemic.”

“What’s that mean?” David asked.

“Not enough iron in my blood,” she replied. “Basically it means that it’s easier for me to get worn out, and sometimes I’m dizzy.”

“You didn’t mention this before,” David said.

“I know. I’m sorry. I...didn’t want to worry you. It’s not a big deal or anything. I just...you know, I was already causing enough problems as it was. And...” she hesitated, now anxiously rubbing one of her arms, looking at the floor.

“And what?” David asked. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “You can tell me, April.”

She swallowed. “It’s kind of a sore spot, because I’ve been basically abandoned before because of it. People are...stupid. I don’t tell anyone because they either think that they’ll catch it, which is literally impossible, or they think I’ll drag them down. Which everyone already thinks because I’m so skinny and have such low stamina that they’re looking for any excuse to cut me loose. And, I know you and Evelyn aren’t going to just, you know, abandon me, but I still-it’s hard, okay? It’s hard to talk about it after being paranoid for so long.”

“April, I’m sorry,” David said, and then he pulled her head gently against him. He ran his hand up and down the back of her neck. “I understand. It’s okay. What do we do about it?”

“Not much,” she replied, and she sounded better now, calmer. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him to her and resting her head firmly against his stomach. “I really just need rest and food more often than most people. If I can find them, I take iron supplements. Those help. But they’re harder to find nowadays.” She paused, then looked up at him. “It’s really not a big deal. Like, don’t worry, I’ll really be okay. It’s pretty light as far as anemia goes.”

“Okay,” he replied. “I wish you’d have mentioned it earlier, but I get it. Come on. Let’s get upstairs and I’ll get dinner started...” he hesitated, considering something. “Is there anything you can be eating to help?”

“Yeah, some things. Leafy greens, like spinach. I hate that stuff, though. Ugh. Meat is good. Venison is probably the best we’re gonna get around here, so keep an eye out for that. Beans too. Like kidney beans and black beans, those are good. And orange juice. It helps me absorb iron that I eat,” she explained.

“Okay. I’ll make some black beans today. Actually...I’ve seen deer around recently. Maybe I could go hunting. I know how to skin and clean and prepare meat,” David replied.

“I could help with that,” Cait said.

“That’d be great, actually. I love venison. It tastes amazing. Black beans and venison for dinner would be so good.”

“Then I’ll make it happen,” David replied.

She got to her feet and took his hand, smiling at him. “Thank you, David. For helping me, and being patient with me.”

“You’re welcome, April.” He kissed her forehead, and they headed upstairs. Cait followed.

They tracked down Evelyn and found her in the process of finishing up with the basic construction of the wooden frame of their new, custom-made bed. Several tools lay scattered around her on the floor.

“Wow...that looks great,” David said. And it did. Better than when he’d left.

“Thanks, babe. I want to sand it down before finishing it up. I found a little battery-powered hand-sander in a closet, but we’ll need some batteries. You know how hard those are to come by,” she replied.

“What about those electric lanterns downstairs?” he asked.

“Those were actually solar powered,” April replied.

“You know, we might be able to get our hands on a little portable solar charging unit,” Cait said. “They’re rare, but if you can find one, you can hook a lot of stuff up to it.”

“Any idea where to get one?” Evelyn asked.

“I’d have to think about it, maybe ask around. I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you. So how’s it going downstairs?”

They brought her up to speed on the situation with April, and ultimately she wished them luck on their hunt for some venison. David kissed them both, then grabbed a rifle and a pistol, and headed back out into the wilderness with Cait.

CHAPTER FIVE

“You surprise me,” Cait said about a minute after they left the campgrounds.

“Why?” he replied, looking at the sky. There should have been just enough daylight left to hunt...provided they found and successfully killed a deer quickly.

“You’re a real sweetheart. I think a lot of people would have been annoyed with April and, at best, polite about her fears. But you are patient, and kind, and you really mean it. I can read people well. I can tell when people are bluffing usually, when people are lying, when people are actually pissed or irritated but they’re trying to hide it. You were a little frustrated, but not that much. I think you were only frustrated because you were worried about her, not annoyed that she’d hid something from you or irritated with the fact that now you have something else to worry about. You actually care about her.”

“Of course I do. Is it really that surprising?”

“Yes, David,” she replied. He looked at her. “I’m not taking a shot at you or anything. I’m not surprised that you, specifically, care about April. It’s just that it’s a unique situation. A lot of people are selfish. The world is brutal, cold, uncaring. A lot of people tend to reflect that. They either don’t care about the suffering of others, or they care more about their own suffering, or potential suffering. People are selfish, it’s just who we are. And that’s not even factoring in the fact that most people have a hard time empathizing with inhumans. I’ve seen a lot of racism over the years. Fuck, don’t even get me started on wraiths and how poorly they’re treated...” she hesitated, then a different look came over her face.

“I’m sorry, this is a huge change in topic and tone, but would you fuck a wraith?” she asked.

“I, uh...I mean, yeah. If there was mutual attraction there, yeah.”

“Wow. See, that’s what I mean. Most guys wouldn’t admit to that. But, I mean, just...yeah. That kind of altruism and patience and kindness, it’s rare. That’s what I’m saying. And it’s nice. It’s...a very attractive quality, I must admit.”

“Is that why you’re fucking me?” he asked.

She snorted. “What? I mean, no. You...said that like you can’t figure out why we’re hooking up,” she murmured, looking at him suddenly.

“I mean, yeah. I can’t.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. You’re obviously way out of my league, Cait. In more ways than one.”

“It’s not a mystery, David. I’m having sex with you because I’m sexually attracted to you. I mean, that’s how we got started. We bumped into each other, I thought you were really cute, and we had chemistry. I mean, right?”

“Oh yeah, I feel like we have chemistry. It’s just that...normally women who are this attractive wouldn’t bother with me.”

“What are you talking about? You’re fit. You’re brave. You’re cute.”

“Guys like me are everywhere now, and most of them are fitter and more attractive and braver. I guess...I feel like you’re with me because of random chance. If we’d never met-”

“Well of course we’d never have hooked up if we never met!” Cait replied, sounding mildly annoyed and surprised. “Can’t hook up if you never meet.”

“I mean...” he sighed, looking for the right words. “You didn’t seek me out.”

“What the fuck? Yes I did. What the hell do you call today? I literally sought you out. For sex. I wanted to have sex with you. What’s this about?” she asked suddenly, stopping.

He stopped too. “I...” He considered it. What the fuck was he hung up on? “You know, I don’t fucking know. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going on about. I guess it feels like...the best way I can put it, is it kind of feels like you fucked me because I was the only guy you happened to stumble on that night. You didn’t choose me, you know? You didn’t fuck me for me, you fucked me because I was the only one around...wow, that was rude, wasn’t it?”

“Kind of,” she said, crossing her arms.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m just...I’m trying to figure out what the fuck my problem is.”

She sighed. “It’s okay, I get it.” Cait stepped closer to him suddenly and took his hands. “David. The first time we had sex, yes, it was pretty random. We bumped into each other by chance. But I chose to have sex with you. You know, I could have not. I could have just brought you to that cabin and left you there.”

“It was already late and how far away was the next place to sleep?” he replied.

She sighed again, more heavily. “Fine. But I could have not slept with you. I’m a highly sexual woman. I know that. But, believe it or not, I can say no to fucking. I chose to seduce you. I chose to fuck you several times that night, because I was attracted to you. And I obviously chose to track your ass back down, and let you stick your cock in me repeatedly. Let me give you some advice, David, for free, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied. He was, admittedly, intimidated. He’d never quite seen this side of Cait yet. She was very...domineering.

“Have some faith in yourself. Confidence is attractive. Doubt is good, but so is confidence. For the most part, you’re actually pretty confident, from what I’ve seen. I know sex can be a sore spot for a lot of people, and a lot of people feel unattractive. But listen, if someone doesn’t find you attractive, then they don’t find you attractive, and you shouldn’t take it personally. And if someone does find you attractive, then be happy, and move on. I mean, you know, fuck them if you’re both down for it, but don’t let it go to your head. Be happy that we found each other, that we’re attracted to each other, and that we’re having good sex...” she paused, then smirked. “Great sex, honestly.”

“Yeah...you’re right, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult.”

“I know. It’s okay. And-” she froze, looking behind him.

“What?” he whispered. “Is it a stalker?”

“No. A deer.”

He swallowed and let go of her hands. Carefully, he gripped his rifle, then slowly, gradually turned around. Before he fully was turned, he heard the soft crunching in the snow. Sure enough, there it was: a pretty healthy-looking deer, about fifty feet away, moving slowly between the trees. Perfect. He could make this shot. David tucked the rifle up against his shoulder and took aim through the iron sights.

He waited, lining up his shot carefully, aiming for the sweet spot that should kill it instantly and cleanly.

The moment came. David pulled the trigger.

The rifle shot echoed across the area. A swarm of birds began squawking and flew off in a dark cloud from the trees around them. The deer dropped.

“Nice shot,” Cait murmured.

David sighed. “Yeah.”

“You feel bad?” she asked.

He slung his rifle, letting it hang off his shoulder, and started walking. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. I get it. But this is the way of things.”

“So it seems,” he agreed. “I know, it’s for the best. Natural order. Predators eat prey. I still feel bad about it when I have to pull the trigger. But I’ll do it, regardless. It needs to be done.”

They kept walking towards the deer.

…

It was a bit of a pain in the ass hauling the deer back home, and it was more of a pain in the ass to actually skin it and then harvest the meat. But it was worth it. And Cait helped him. She clearly knew what she was doing and she’d had a lot of experience with stuff like this. Eventually, they had the job done, and he and Cait ended up in the kitchen, cooking up a meal over the wood-burning stove. Before long, Evelyn and April smelled the food and came down to join them, and David felt a tremendous sense of happiness and comfort.

There was something very wonderful and comforting in being...domestic, he supposed was the best word. In being domestic with a woman you really liked. Let alone three. It was well into dark by the time dinner was ready and the four of them sat down to the meal.

After the initial wave of ravenously digging into the food had passed and everyone was more calmly eating, David decided it was time to bring up something Cait had asked him to.

“So, Evelyn, April. I have a question,” he said.

“Yes?” Evelyn asked, giving him her attention, as did April.

“Cait was wondering if we would be amenable to letting her have one of the rooms in this building,” he asked.

“To live with us?” April asked.

“Not exactly,” Cait replied. “I’m kind of nomadic. Although I don’t go terribly far from this general region, I do move around a lot. And I like to have several different places to stay. Hideouts, basically. Mostly they’re just isolated shacks or cabins, places people are unlikely to stumble upon. But I really like the three of you, and I obviously really like David, and I like the setup you have here. I want to be a part of it. So basically what I’m asking for is just a little room I can call my own, so I can just show up and crash whenever the urge takes me. And obviously I’ll pitch in and help if I’m around, and tell you about any neat opportunities I come across, and I don’t mind sharing any supplies that I happen to find out in the wild or from a job.”

“Hmm,” Evelyn said, considering it. “Well, obviously David would be overjoyed to have you around more often. I can already tell that. What do you think, April?”

“I’m okay with it,” April replied.

“Tell me one thing, Cait.”

“What?”

“Do you truly intend to have sex with myself and April?” she asked.

Cait smirked. “Gonna kick me out if I say no?”

“Of course not, but I just want to know.”

“I’d love to have sex with both of you. If the opportunity is made available, I will absolutely have sex with both of you. I’ll regularly have sex with all three of you.”

“Well okay then, that’s good to know. Just so we’re clear: sex is not a condition of you being welcome here, you’re welcome here even if you become celibate.”

“God fucking forbid,” Cait muttered.

Evelyn grinned. “And I’d love to have you around, Cait. You’re a good person, a friend, and a strong ally to have.”

“Sweet! I was eyeing one of the rooms on the second floor. It’s the room at the end of the hall that has the stairs. It’s got a window and not a lot else. If I could have that, I’d actually be pretty thrilled,” she replied.

“Sounds good to me,” David said, and the other two nodded.

“Perfect! Well, I’ll get set up tomorrow then. But tonight...uh, how’s that bed coming along, Evelyn?” Cait asked.

Evelyn smirked. “Well, I’m afraid it’s not ready yet, but...I managed to haul the mattresses up there. There’s enough mattresses on the floor that we could push them all together, cover them in blankets, and then fuck and sleep tonight.”

“That is exactly what I wanted to hear,” Cait replied. She looked around the table, her eyes flashing. “What do you say? Foursome?”

“Hell yes,” David replied immediately.

“That sounds like fun,” April replied.

“Yes, please,” Evelyn said.

“Perfect! This is going to be amazing.”

…

It took about half an hour to get everything set up.

They let their food settle for about fifteen minutes, which was about as long as they could wait, because as it turned out, they were very amorous. They quickly cleaned up the kitchen and once that was done, the three women hurried upstairs to get the bedding ready while David double-checked to make sure they were secure and safe, as they were basically shutting down for the night. Even if they were going to do more things after this foursome, he had serious doubts that they would take place outside of the building.

He made sure that it was as secure as possible, then hurried up the two sets of stairs until he was on the third floor. The sounds of the women moving around came to him as he moved quickly down the hall and hooked a left into the master bedroom. They were just finishing up moving the three mattresses together. They had put them in between the bed that had come with the room and one of the walls. There was just enough space for them to fit. He looked at the bed, and then at the frame that he and Evelyn had built, and marveled at how fucking big his bed was going to be. It was going to be like twelve feet wide and eight long.

And then he looked at the women, and it really began to dawn on him that he was actually about to have a foursome. A threesome had seemed like something beyond the realm of possibility for him even a month ago, unless he was willing to pay well for it. Which he wouldn’t have minded. But a fucking foursome?

This was going to be...challenging.

But also a lot of fun, and amazing, and feel really good.

He hurried across the room and joined them in covering the beds with blankets and pillows. He was very happy to see that they all appeared to be as excited as he was. As soon as they were done, the quartet quickly shed all their clothing and then hurried over to the washbasin that Evelyn had set up. They passed around rags and soap, washing their bodies off as quickly as possible. David couldn’t stop looking at the three naked women around him.

Evelyn with her fucking huge tits and her big, broad hips.

Cait with her pale, extremely sexy, fit body and wonderful curves.

April with her slim, tight, beautiful body and smooth green skin and her tail.

He was going to be inside of three women tonight, without protection, all in the same sexual encounter. That was mind-blowing. He wondered how many times he could orgasm, and if he could manage to orgasm inside of all three of them. That was something he really wanted to do. Coming inside of a woman completely bareback still topped his list of Things That Felt Amazing. He was already rock solid by the time they finished washing up. When they were dry, the four of them hurried over to the bedding and climbed on.

It wasn’t the most comfortable bed, but David didn’t care at all.

This sex was going to be fucking phenomenal.

“So...how are we going to, um, do this?” April asked. “I’ve never actually been in a foursome.”

“Same,” David said, and Evelyn nodded.

“Wow. Okay. Well, the three of you are all pretty comfortable with each other. David’s comfortable with me. And I feel like you two trust me, and I trust you. So it shouldn’t be too difficult. Just...do what you feel like doing, I guess. And make sure no one gets left out of the action,” Cait replied.

“Okay,” David said, and moved over to Evelyn. He started making out with her and groping one of her huge breasts. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cait come up behind April and begin to kiss her neck. She started playing with her nipples, making her cry out in surprised pleasure. Evelyn kissed him back with an intense passion. He loved her tongue and how it felt when she slipped it into his mouth, set it dancing and twisting with his own, the way she began breathing heavily, and the desperation in her movements, her body language, like she needed him. He felt the same way. They kissed, escalating quickly into full-on making out, her lips wonderful and soft and big and hot. April suddenly let out a loud moan.

They both looked over. Cait now had a hand between her slim, firm green thighs and was pleasuring her, rubbing her clit. Both of them looked incredibly sexy like that as Cait continued kissing the side of her neck, holding her, groping her breast and rubbing her clit. They almost looked like an icon of pure sexuality, pure lust.

“Oh Cait! Oh yes! It’s so good!” April yelled, twisting and writhing in Cait’s grasp. Their redheaded playmate seemed deeply satisfied with herself and just kept going, switching over to kissing the other side of her neck.

Evelyn wrapped one large hand around his dick and began to massage him. They continued making out for a bit longer, and then he switched to licking her breasts. He particularly loved licking her tits, and sucking on them. They were so fucking big, so enormous, and yet not gratuitous. Her large frame kept them from crossing over into ridiculous parody levels of big. She moaned as he began dragging his tongue across her large breast, her sensitive, pale skin, getting closer and closer to her pink nipple until finally reaching it.

Then he was licking across her nipple several times, making her cry out in impassioned pleasure, until he started sucking on it. That made her get louder. Abruptly, April began yelling. They both looked over again and she was now hunched forward, resting on her hands and knees. Cait was behind her, apparently fucking her from the back with two fingers, slipping them in and out of her orgasming rep vagina.

“Wow, that is fucking hot,” Evelyn whispered.

“OH GOD! OH CAIT! OH FUCK! YES! YES!” she shrieked, overwhelmed with lust and absolute pleasure, panting and screaming desperately.

Cait looked even more satisfied with herself.

She fingered April through her climax, then gave her a kiss on the mouth and left her panting on the bedding and crawled over to Evelyn.

“Spread your legs,” she said to his lover.

“You got it, I want to see what you can do,” Evelyn replied, opening her legs.

“I can do a lot,” Cait replied, and settled down on her stomach in between Evelyn’s enormous thighs.

David felt a surge of lust. “Be back in a bit, babe.”

“Have fun, handsome,” Evelyn replied.

He moved down to Cait. “Will you get me lubed up? I want to fuck your pussy.”

“You got it,” she replied, and opened her mouth. He got into position and stuck his dick in her mouth. She immediately closed her lips around it and began to suck him off and bob her head smoothly, coating his dick in a thick layer of her saliva. It felt amazing. Once he was properly lubed up, he pulled out and let her get to work on Evelyn. And he got on top of her, laying his crotch against her thick, well-formed ass.

As he began working his way into her perfect pink pussy, her legs pressed together, thighs looking so beautiful, he heard Evelyn let out a shout of pleasure. David was laying flat now, though holding himself up with his hands, looking down in between himself and Cait, mainly looking at her fat ass, but also making sure his dick was getting in there properly. It was a little harder when they kept their legs pressed together, which she’d opted to do. Once he actually felt himself slip in a little, he looked up.

And saw another iconic representation of pure female lust and pleasure.

He saw Cait’s red-haired head slowly but sure shifting up and down as she licked Evelyn’s clit, eating his goliath lover out with sure, steady strokes.

“Oh fuuuuuuck, Cait...” Evelyn moaned, her legs spread out wide. She was gripping her thighs, a look of absolute bliss on her face. She looked almost stupefied by how good it felt. “I haven’t been eaten out by anyone this good...sweet fucking hell, Cait...oh my fucking...oh yes...” she moaned, panting. She looked down briefly and locked eyes with him. “No offense, honey.”

“Oh no, it’s fine. I know. She’s just the best,” he replied. “She can suck dick like a fucking succubus.”

“Yes, she ca-an! FUCK!” she shrieked. He saw her arm moving now and realized that Cait must’ve licked two fingers and slipped them up into that perfect pink hole of hers. Evelyn began crying out, writhing around. Goddamn, Cait didn’t hesitate at all. She dove in and knew exactly what she was doing.

And fuck, her vagina.

Seriously, her fucking pussy felt like paradise. It was perfect. It was almost better than Ellie’s. Not that he wanted to play the comparison game, because it didn’t matter, but she felt so good. He knew exactly how Evelyn felt right now because he felt goddamned dumbfounded by how fucking good this pussy felt. He began grunting as he drove into her, thrusting furiously, burying his whole dick inside of her and making her grunt and moan.

“Holy shit, this is really hot,” April said, startling him.

He glanced over. She had crawled over and was right next to him. An idea struck him. “Oh my God, April, I just got the best idea. Stand up. Right in front of me.”

“Okay,” she said.

She stood up and put her feet on either side of Cait’s body, in between Evelyn’s spread-open legs. Almost perfect, he saw.

“Here, crouch just a little,” he said.

“Okay...”

He pushed himself up as he kept pounding the fuck out of Cait. “I’ll keep this up for as long as I can,” he said.

“Keep what up-oh fuck, David!” she cried as he began eating her out.

“Okay, holy fucking shit you two, that is hot,” he heard Evelyn say, then she cried out.

He kept humping Cait’s amazingly tight, wet pussy, pounding it, sliding his rigid cock in and out of it like crazy, as he pushed himself up and licked at April’s clit. She reached down and parted her pussy for him, spreading the lips and giving him better access. He figured this wasn’t going to last super long, because this was kind of a difficult position and also because April seemed to be fighting to stay upright. He knew how that went, when you were being pleasured so much that your legs couldn’t really take it and you had to fight not to fall down. And she wasn’t resting against anything, nor did she have anything to grab if she fell.

He was prepared to try and catch her if that happened.

The hot bliss of fucking Cait’s raw pussy was burning into him, waves of rapture rolling through his body, and from the sounds she was making, her muffled moans and cries of pleasure, she was enjoying it too. He listened to all three women moaning and yelling in pleasure. Now this was a foursome. David ate April out for as long as he could, looking up at her slim body and high, firm breasts and beautiful, reptilian face as she looked down at him, watching him pleasure her. This lasted for about a minute and a half before she gasped and put her hands on his head.

“I-I have to sit down!” she managed, and he stopped. She took a few stumbling steps and then fell onto the bed, then laughed. “Oh my fucking...that was amazing. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” David replied, and he slammed into Cait’s pussy a few more times, then pulled out of her and shifted over to April.

“Oh my!” she cried as he gripped her ankles and yanked her closer to him, then opened her legs. He put his cock inside of her and pushed himself deeper in. Between her orgasm, his oral, and the sex juices already on his dick, she was wet enough that he didn’t need lube. She cried out loudly as he penetrated her. David put her legs up in the air and began just fucking drilling into her, screwing the fuck out of her tight rep vagina.

“Oh yes! OH YES! DAVID! OH FUCK!” she shrieked as he went to work.

“Hot damn!” Evelyn yelled enthusiastically. “That is hot!”

“Yeah, it is. Fuck, man. You can fuck, David,” Cait said.

He didn’t respond, because he was too focused on April. He wanted to make her come, and he wanted to fucking pound her into the mattress. She had her legs up in the air now and was staring at him with wide eyes.

“David! Oh my God! David, you’re going so hard! Fuck, you are wearing my pussy out!” she cried, panting.

“Too much? You want me to pull back?” he asked.

“No, don’t,” she moaned. “Don’t stop. I need this. Harder.”

“You are such an awesome lover,” he said, and began to pound her harder and faster.

“So! Are! You! OH MY FUCKING GOD I’M COMING DAVID!” she shrieked wildly, and he felt her vaginal muscles spasm and clench hard around his cock, and he groaned, grabbed her slim hips, and began just fucking slamming into her. She started screaming at the top of her lungs as she orgasmed, her vagina going crazy, spasming and twitching as she got hotter and wetter. She screamed his name incoherently again and again and he lost it. He lost his battle to not come and he lost it gladly, because it felt so fucking good.

“Oh my fucking fuck, April! Yes! Oh April!” he cried in impassioned pleasure and pure, absolute ecstasy as he orgasmed into her inhuman pussy. His cock began contracting furiously, just hosing her insides down, his seed leaving him in powerful spurts and filling her up. The pleasure was unthinkable. It was out of this world. It didn’t just fill him, it rocketed through him, blasted through like an earthquake.

It was sheer exaltation.

Slowly, he came out of it, and he looked down at her. She was looking up at him, a look of serene tranquility on her face. She looked deeply satisfied.

“Wow,” she whispered.

He nodded. “Wow.”

“Seconded,” Cait said.

“Yeah. Fuck man, that was wild,” Evelyn murmured. “Can I have one?”

David laughed. “Yes.” He leaned down and gave April a long, lingering kiss on the mouth, then pulled out of her and moved over to Cait and Evelyn. He gave Cait’s ass a few smacks. “I need access to my lover.”

“You got it,” Cait replied. As she moved, he looked at Evie’s goliath pussy, and found it glistening and ready to be fucked. “I’m going to watch for a bit and then...can I ride your tongue, Evelyn?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Evelyn replied.

“Now that will be hot,” David said.

“Yeah...” April agreed softly.

He got in between Evelyn’s huge thighs and slipped his still rigid cock inside of her. She let out a loud moan as he did, and he shuddered and groaned at the shock of pleasure that hit him as her bare pussy rubbed against his bare cock.

“Holy fuck, you are so wet,” he whispered as he began screwing her.

“Cait did a really good job eating my pussy,” she moaned, then let out a loud shout of pleasure as he hit a very sensitive spot. “Fuck, your dick feels so good, David...”

“This is somehow hotter than I thought it would be,” Cait murmured.

David continued driving into her, laying against her as he fucked her, putting his hips to good use. He was horny as hell right now. For a few moments, the sound of her voice, crying out in pure pleasure, and their skin slapping together, filled the bedroom. April and Cait watched in rapt silence. And then it evidently became too much for Cait, and she quickly crawled across the bed and onto Evelyn. He watched as she straddled Evelyn’s face, facing towards him, and then started chewing on her lower lip as Evelyn put her tongue to work.

“Oh fuck, Evelyn,” she whispered. “You’ve got a big tongue.”

“Uh-huh,” Evelyn murmured in reply.

Cait cried out and reached up, running her fingers around her nipples. David groaned as he continued pounding the fuck out of his girlfriend.

“Fuck, Evie, you are such a beautiful, sexy woman,” he groaned.

“She is...” Cait whispered.

“You really are,” April agreed.

“Thanks,” she murmured, then kept eating Cait out, which made their redheaded friend scream in pure bliss. David fucked Evelyn faster, making her huge boobs jiggle and shake beautifully. He watched them, and also watched her tongue working furiously to pleasure Cait. He kept going, kept fucking, until the pleasure again overwhelmed him, and he started to orgasm inside of Evelyn. He moaned loudly, falling against her, head pillowed on her huge breasts as he came into her goliath pussy. It was paradise.

He came hard inside of her, hips jerking automatically, draining himself a second time.

When he was finished, he slowly pulled out of her, sat back for a moment, and then he went looking for something.

`“Where you going?” Cait murmured.

“Looking for lube,” he replied as he began hunting around.

“Any particular reason?”

“I really want to fuck you in the ass. You down for that?”

“Oh yes I am,” Cait replied immediately.

“That would also be seriously hot,” April murmured.

David finally tracked it down, then went back over to Cait, who was dismounting from Evelyn. As soon as she was, she immediately shifted towards him. They got into position, with her getting onto her hands and knees, showing him her big, pale ass, and him getting behind her on his knees. He quickly lubed up, and then started working his way into her ass. Fucking Cait in the ass was something he’d wanted to do since he had first met her.

“Holy fuck, Cait,” he groaned as he inched his way inside of her.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” she murmured.

“Yes. It’s fucking amazing,” he whispered. “It’s...oh wow, it’s tight. Your ass is really fucking tight, Cait.”

“And it’s all yours.”

He groaned and pushed his way completely inside of her. Then he gripped her big, firm hips and started fucking her in the ass.

“How hard can you take it?” he asked after a bit.

“How hard can you go?” she replied, sounding more than a little smug.

“Oh, you asked for it,” he said, tightening his grip.

“I sure did.”

She cried out as he started pounding her ass, going harder and faster, really driving his dick into her tight opening. She began yelling as he fucked her hard in the ass, and the pleasure was even better than the other experiences he’d had during this foursome. Her ass was so fucking tight! He found himself panting and moaning in intensely desperate pleasure.

“You sure...you can...take it?” he groaned as he really put his hips to work.

“I can take it! I can fucking take it!...oh fucking...oh fuck...” she moaned, hanging her head, pushing against him. “Oh God, David, fuck my ass!”

He groaned louder. This wasn’t going to last much longer, because he couldn’t take the pleasure. But he wanted to come. He wanted so badly to just bust a huge load in her ass. And so he did. He cried out, his whole body jerking in a primal response to the rush of blinding rapture that shot through him as he orgasmed for the third time. He pumped that thick, sweet ass of hers full of his seed. Cait was moaning, pressing against him, and he realized, suddenly, that she was coming, too. He could feel her hot spray of feminine sex juices as she screamed her way through another orgasm. The pleasure of coming in her ass was insane.

After what felt like a long time, he was finally finished, and this time he was really finished.

Carefully pulling out of Cait, he flopped onto his back as soon as he was free. Slicked with sweat, gasping for breath, he just laid there and stared at the ceiling.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “I’m done.”

“Yeah I bet,” Cait murmured. “You came in three women.”

“Four, actually,” Evelyn said.

“Oh yeah, I think you mentioned that. You fucked another girl today, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” he managed.

“And you fucked me at the train station, and again here...” Cait said.

“And you fucked me earlier today...” Evelyn added.

“How the fuck do you keep it up, David?” Cait asked, sitting up. “That’s like over half a dozen orgasms. Holy shit.”

“I don’t know,” he managed, “I’m super fucking horny. I know that. I also know I’m done for the day. That took a lot out of me.”

“Yeah, it did,” April said. She was cleaning herself up now. “Took a lot out of you, put a lot into us.”

Cait laughed. “Yeah, very true. You came a lot.”

“It felt really good,” he murmured.

“I could tell.” Evelyn sat up, then yawned, then stretched. “I think I want to do more before I bed down for the night.”

“Same,” April said.

Something occurred to David. “Did we clean the chimney?”

“I did,” Evelyn said. “Don’t worry, I took care of it earlier. It’s good.”

He let out a small sigh of relief. “Okay...cool. I think, um...I don’t know if I’m done working for the night, but I might be. I’m fucking tired.”

“You should be,” Cait said. “You wandered all over the damn region today, fought a pack of rippers, pounded pussy like six times, searched this place top to bottom...you need sleep, boy.” She reached over and gently patted his sweat-slicked chest.

He nodded. “I guess so.” He yawned. “Maybe I will go to sleep soon.”

“Okay. We’ll wake you if we need anything,” Evelyn said.

“All right.”

He gave them each a kiss, repositioned himself beneath a blanket, and told himself he’d relax here for a little bit, then probably get back up and do some more work.

David was asleep within two minutes.

CHAPTER SIX

David felt pretty damned good right now.

He’d slept damn near eleven hours, as it had been barely past eight when he’d apparently just drifted right off. He didn’t remember waking up once in the night, although it turned out that what he thought was a vivid dream of Cait sucking and then riding his dick had actually happened. When he’d woken up in the morning to the first rays of sun, he’d been blindingly horny. And he’d fucking wrecked Evelyn’s and Cait’s vaginas, pounding the fuck out of them and coming inside both of them. He would have fucked April, but apparently he’d made her sore, she had been unhappy to discover. Cait instead fingered her until she orgasmed.

After that, he’d had a quick breakfast, and then told the women his plan for today.

He was going to walk over to the farms and try to establish a more long-term relationship. They’d offered to join him, but for some reason, he felt he should visit them, at least the first time, alone, so he’d declined. He wasn’t quite sure why, but his instincts were telling him that was a good idea. Maybe it was an appearance thing. David didn’t quite care about appearances, but other people did. They judged you based on them, and for the most part, he didn’t care how he appeared. But he was going to need these people.

He needed them to think he was strong, to respect him, to want to work with him.

Going alone seemed more conducive to that.

It made him wonder, very suddenly, who was in charge. After thinking about it for a bit, it ultimately seemed like it definitely wasn’t April, because she just wasn’t leader material, nor did she want to be. It wasn’t Cait, because she had just kind of tagged into the group, and she seemed happy enough with her role as fuck friend and support, something that would let her shift in and out at her own whims. So it was between him and Evelyn.

Did they even need a leader?

He wasn’t sure they did. This was working.

Maybe that would change. But for now, it was working. David scanned the area around him, looking through the trees for threats. This place they had staked a claim on didn’t seem particularly dangerous. The only thing that seemed to hang around was zombies. They were certainly more dangerous than they used to be, but they were still the weakest of all the dangerous creatures that now roamed the wilderness.

No stalkers, no wildcats, certainly no rippers.

He knew there were other, more terrible things. But they were, thankfully, rare.

As he walked on through the snow, which crunched beneath his heavy boots, he thought about how he was going to approach the farmers. He’d never really negotiated before, at least not anything beyond simple trading. Bullets for food, water for medicine, clothes for books, and all possible combinations and permutations. He always had his eye out for anything that might be decently useful that had been left behind or abandoned.

Honestly, the closest he’d gotten to this was negotiating for a job. In a way, he supposed this was basically that. Trading his services in return for a steady supply of food. Or at least semi-steady. Only he wasn’t just negotiating on his own behalf now. Evelyn and April had said they were fine with him doing this, and that it was a good idea, and they would support him. But still, he was kind of anxious. David realized that he was nearing the farms now.

Well, it was time to pretend that he wasn’t anxious.

Looking desperate or nervous tended to make people, mainly bad people, want to take advantage of you.

He saw the same guards as the last time he’d been here with Ellie. They were already on their feet and had their guns in their hands. Well, he didn’t blame them. A farm, especially four farms together, must be a pretty ripe target.

“Hello,” he said, trying to sound somewhere between neutral and friendly. Sound too friendly and that was suspicious. Same with too neutral.

“Hi,” one of them said. “I remember you. What do you want?”

“I’m here to negotiate something of a more permanent business relationship,” David replied.

The man nodded. “Okay. Boss wanted to talk to you. Stay there.” He walked a few feet away and pulled out a small radio, brought it to his lips. The other guy sat back down, but kept an eye on him. He talked quietly but David heard him. “Hey boss...no, nothing’s wrong. That guy is here, the one who killed the giant with Ellie, wants to make a deal...yeah, right. Okay.”

He replaced it and came back over. “Okay, boss is coming to talk with you. He’ll be a minute.”

“All right,” David replied.

He felt like asking a few questions, but again knew that could, and likely would, be taken with a big grain of salt. People asked questions about your operation usually when they wanted to learn about holes in your defenses, ways they could exploit you. It was just how most people operated. David had been desperate before, he’d been starving before, but he had yet to be desperate enough to steal from someone, or try to fuck someone over.

So far. He liked to believe he had morals, and he did, but he also wondered how far that extended. How desperate was too desperate?

Where was his line?

As he was contemplating this, he saw a figure emerge from the main farmhouse that was a good two hundred feet back down a dirt road that started at where he was. The figure walked along the road, apparently taking their time. David tried not to appear impatient. Admittedly, he wanted to get this over with so he could get back home and see the women in his life. Now that there were women in his life, he found that he wanted to be around them all the fucking time. Even now, after having been away from them for barely half an hour, he was missing them terribly. The person in question, who turned out to be a middle-aged man, tall and lanky, with graying hair and a large beard, finally arrived at the front gate. He wore a straw hat, a stained t-shirt, faded gray overalls, and heavy workboots. He looked like other farmers David had seen over the years.

“You must be David,” he said.

“Yes, sir, I am,” David replied.

The man smiled. He seemed genuine enough. “Manners are too rare nowadays. My name is William Thatch.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mister Thatch,” David said, offering his hand.

William grinned and shook it. “And you, David. I’ve known Ellie for an appreciable length of time now, and she has proven tremendously trustworthy and reliable. Her word carries a lot of weight. And she vouches for you. Because of that, I’m going to give you a chance to prove yourself to us. We’ve had to be very...selective, about who we’ve worked with. Especially over the past few months. Some...undesirables have moved into the region.”

David frowned. “Yes. I believe I’ve had to deal with some of those undesirables. I was at River View.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That was quite the tragedy.” David nodded. “Well, as for the job.” William reached into the pocket of his overalls and produced a piece of paper. It was small and square and made of tough material. There was a sketch on it, a pretty detailed sketch of a gear, and also some measurements and specifications scrawled on there as well. “We need one of these. It must be, specifically, what is on the paper. The exact specifications. If you can find that for me, then I will consider us partners. You will gain the ability to complete jobs for us, and receive quality food as payment for those jobs.”

David accepted the paper and studied it, then carefully placed it in one of his pockets. “I’ll get you this gear. Thank you for this opportunity, Mister Thatch.”

“You’re welcome, David. I’m sure we’ll have a good business relationship. Good luck.”

“Thanks. What kind of timeline am I looking at?”

“Well, sooner the better, essentially.”

“Understood. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He turned and began heading back home, already pondering over this situation.

…

When he got back, the others had resumed the work of searching for supplies. They were all down in the basement now.

“Hey, it’s me!” he called as he came in, because that seemed like a smart thing to do. They still didn’t have a lock, or well, they had a lock, just not keys for it. They were still looking for the keys, but he was wondering if they were around anymore.

“Any luck?” Evelyn replied as he came down the stairs into the basement.

“Yes, actually. A lot of luck. Well, theoretically. Ellie vouched for me and her word carries a hell of a lot of weight evidently, so they’re willing to let me prove myself.”

“Wow,” Evelyn murmured, “they were so impressed with you that they gave you the prestigious opportunity to get a chance to prove yourself.”

“To be fair, they have a lot of security breaches,” Cait said. “I mean, they’re a farm.”

“Okay, okay, fair enough. So how can you prove yourself?” Evelyn asked.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper. “I need to find one of these.”

Evelyn took it carefully and studied it. “Hmm,” she murmured. “I gotta admit, this is kind of outside my area of expertise...”

“April?” he asked.

Evelyn passed it to her and she studied it, then shook her head. “No. I know medical stuff, but not this.”

“Cait?”

She accepted the paper and studied it for several seconds. “I have a few ideas of where one of these might be.” She passed it back to him. “It’s a start at least.”

“Okay. Well, I gotta do this. You wanna show me these places?” he asked.

“Yeah, I can do that.” She brushed off her hands and then started heading for the door.

David sighed softly as he looked at Evelyn and April.

“What?” Evelyn asked with a small smile.

“I miss you,” he replied. “Both of you. I keep having to leave. And it makes the most sense for you to stay here because there’s things that need doing and this place needs protecting. And I...just miss spending time with you.”

“I know,” Evelyn said, and she stepped up to him and enfolded him in her arms. “It’s okay. We miss you too, don’t we April?”

“Of course,” she said, and came up beside them. Evelyn raised one arm, and April got against the two of them, and Evelyn added her to the hug as well.

“But there are things that need doing, David. You’re being responsible. It’s sexy, honestly.”

“Is it now?” he murmured.

“Yeah. Guys being responsible is hot. Especially guys that are my boyfriend. You are capable and responsible and it’s hot. It warrants lots of dick sucking.”

He laughed. “That’s good to know.”

“So go with Cait, find that gear, and secure this alliance. And you will have provided us with food. I know guys like to provide for their girlfriends, traditionally.”

“I do like the thought of that,” he murmured.

“Exactly. And you will be rewarded for this with lots of pussy and head. And the happiness of your girlfriends.”

“That last one is really rewarding,” he said. She let go of him and looked down at him, pursing her lips. “And obviously the first two are really rewarding. I just didn’t want you to think I was only interested in the sex.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “That much is obvious to me, David. Now go. And be safe. And good luck.”

“Come back to us safe,” April said.

“I will,” he replied. He kissed both of them, then hurried upstairs to join Cait.

…

David wasn’t happy about the first destination Cait had in mind, but he couldn’t argue with her logic on the situation.

They were going back to the train station.

He’d had nightmares about that place last night. And the rippers. He shuddered thinking about them. That had been a close call. From the way she was acting about it, he figured she felt pretty much the same way.

“How’d you meet Ellie?” he asked as they walked north.

Cait smiled. “By saving her life.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Don’t mention this to her, or anyone for that matter. You know how she is.”

“I do. And I won’t.”

“Okay. I mean, it’s not a big deal or anything. Just some bad luck. It was like six months ago. I’d heard about her at that point, and I thought I’d seen her a few times, I mean, she’s pretty distinctive, not many jags have blue fur, but we’d never formally met or anything. I heard a lot of fighting going on one day. I was down in a gorge off to the east, across the river, checking out an old building. Hurried to investigate, because it sounded serious, and I found Ellie on top of a house, fighting off some wildcats. They’re good climbers, both Ellie and wildcats. Right as I got there, she fell off the side of the house. Barely managed to catch herself on the edge of the roof, but dropped her gun in the process. And the wildcats were closing in on her. So I killed them, giving her enough time to climb back up. Once they were dead, we started talking. She kind of held a grudge against me for the first few weeks of our friendship.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d saved her life. Ellie...her personality type makes it difficult for her to see something like help as anything but an insult. She has a lot of difficulty. And saving her life...whew boy, that was big help. So it was a big insult. The problem, of course, is that she didn’t quite know this fact. She only knew that it pissed her off, that I pissed her off. After that, we kept bumping into each other, and, okay, sometimes I tracked her down. I’m good at tracking. She’s better, but I often think she let me track her down. And we’d spend some time together, because she did like me, as much as I pissed her off. And we’d fight, and...one day we got into a fight. A real fight.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. It was...not good. It was raining and we were both miserable. She’d agreed to work with me on something, looking for something, but it had gone poorly. All day it had gone poorly. And then we got into an argument, that became a fight, and it got a little physical. And I finally confronted her about, you know, her feelings towards me. Why she was so pissed at me, because she was so fucking afraid of being vulnerable. That...shocked her. It kind of put the pieces together for her in a way she hadn’t before. And she apologized. We became a lot closer after that. We had sex a few days later, and that was really good. She...let her guard down.” She paused, probably lost in memories for several seconds.

“And, well, that’s how we met. I believe she said she saved your life, and that’s how you two met, right?”

“Yeah,” David replied. “Basically. She saved me from wildcats, and she was on the roof of a building as she did it.”

Cait laughed. “Well, maybe she saw that as oddly appropriate. That would’ve made her happy, at least. She loves saving people. She just doesn’t want people to know that. People...see it as a weakness. And people like taking advantage of weakness.”

“Yeah, I get that,” David muttered.

“I’m glad you aren’t like that. And that Evelyn or April aren’t like that. Ellie’s not like that. I mean, on the one hand, she isn’t afraid or above fucking someone over if they really earned it. But she helps people, or at the very least doesn’t fuck them over most of the time. Ellie’s a really good person. I like and respect her a lot.”

“I do, too...so you don’t know, like, her history or anything?”

“No. She’s very tight-lipped about it. She doesn’t give up much of anything about herself. I’m positive something really bad happened to her. Probably several somethings...”

“Do you know where she is? I haven’t seen her for awhile.”

Cait shrugged. “Around. That’s our nature: we’re always moving. She could be anywhere. If I had to, I could probably track her down without too much trouble. I’ve got a rough idea of where she’s likely to be right now. I could be wrong, but I’d probably be right. Same with her, she knows how to find me.”

They broke through the treeline of the dead forest and then stopped as they caught sight of the train station and the abandoned car. Neither spoke for a few seconds, just stared. It looked as intimidating as ever. He ran his hand across the cold barrel of the submachine gun he’d brought along with him. After the incident with the rippers, David felt like packing a little more heat. He’d checked out the SMG they’d recovered yesterday and after making sure it worked, he’d loaded it up, grabbed some spare ammo, and added it to his usual arsenal of a pistol and a knife. It actually made him feel a lot better.

“There probably won’t be more rippers here, but be ready for anything,” Cait murmured.

“I’m ready,” he replied.

They set off, crossing the space between the treeline and the platform. They took a moment to search the train car again, but it remained undisturbed. From there, they went into the platform, taking it nice and slow. They went inside, and David’s instincts told him that they were actually alone here this time. After performing a search of the area, they were confirmed correct: they were the only things here. And so they set to work. It was unhappy work, about as unhappy and disgusting as yesterday, since the smell hadn’t really abated.

If anything, it had gotten worse.

But they were thorough and diligent, and spent a solid forty minutes searching everywhere they could think of, and they turned up a grand total of nothing. Well, that wasn’t true. They’d found a few more supplies that they had evidently missed in their initial search. Nothing major, just a few tools, some scrap metal, and a few stray bullets that still looked serviceable, once they were cleaned. David added it all to his pack and they left the building.

“So now what?” he asked, extremely grateful to be back in the daylight.

“Now we walk to a barn in the middle of nowhere,” Cait replied. “Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

They began walking north, along the train tracks, towards the river.

…

They walked north until they hit the road that David and Evelyn had first come in on, and then began walking west. Before long, they passed the road that led to River View. He could see the burned remains of the small settlement as they passed by it, and what seemed to be a few shapes moving around. He couldn’t tell if they were zombies or people.

“Hey Cait, I want your opinion on something,” he said as they kept walking, moving at a decent pace alongside the river.

“Shoot,” she replied.

“The campgrounds we’ve got now...do you think it’d be a good idea to maybe bring some people together? Maybe build, like, a community?” he asked.

She seemed to think about it. “I think it would certainly be a good thing to do. Whether or not it’s a good idea is up for debate. Because you have to think of the ramifications of that. A few people living together, sure, you’re liable to get some negative attention, thieves looking to rob you, shit like that. But you’re harder to find. Gathering together a group of people, on the other hand...that’s a bit more like painting a target on yourself. A group implies hoarded resources. Whether or not that’s true. Eventually the group gets big enough that it becomes extremely unlikely that you’ll be attacked. River View, for example, was pretty unlikely. It had been there for years, basically unchanged. And there are some bad groups in this region.”

“Like who?” David murmured.

“The thieves who attacked River View, for example. I know they have some kind of camp around here somewhere. There’s a lot of them. Several dozen. They’ve been causing problems a lot more recently. But there’s others. There’s a military group to the south. They aren’t a threat, per say, but...in the dealings that I’ve had with them, I do worry about them. Their leader is a little...he’s been leaning more towards tyrant recently. He’s got a good second in command, she keeps him level for the most part, but that could turn bad. And there’s another group farther off to the north, I don’t really know about them, but I’ve been running into their scouts more recently. They’re always hostile. They’re like the thieves, only better organized.”

“Not good.”

“Exactly. These are the kinds of groups you might draw the attention of.” She shrugged. “Are you thinking about starting a town or something?”

“I don’t know. Not a town. But we’ve got all this space, and it’s pretty secure. And there’s people out there, families, I know of two at least, who could really use help and a place to stay, you know? We’d all help each other out...”

“I think, personally, you should do it. Because you’re right: you have a good, solid, secure location there. If you brought in people you could trust, people you had an understanding with, people who could help, then I think that’d be a really good thing. Of course, you would have to understand that you and Evelyn and April would be the leaders.”

“Would we?”

“Yes. It’s your place. You settled it first, or most currently at least, you would be the ones inviting others into your space. I know how this works, I’ve seen it before. They will look to you to solve their problems,” Cait explained.

David thought about that. About the implications. About the responsibility. And...it didn’t worry him. If anything, it almost made him...happy?

“I’m okay with that,” he said.

“You are?”

“Yeah. I’m okay with that. I want to help people. I like helping people. I want...to make a place where people are and feel safe. I mean, I want other things for myself, you know. I want good food and my own shelter and safety, health...sex. A lot of sex. But that only takes up so much of the day, you know? And I’m restless. I like to stay in every now and then, but I hate being idle. I want to do things. And what’s better than helping people?”

“Not a lot,” Cait replied. “You’re making me horny again.”

He laughed and glanced at her. “You get horny over weird things.”

“Do I? You’re telling me you’ve never been attracted to someone because of their conviction? Their passion? Their dedication? Their kindness? It’s just tits and ass with you?”

“No, of course it’s not just tits and ass with me.”

“I know. I was just making a point. I mean, yeah, you’re really cute. You’ve got a good body, and I really like your face, and your hair actually. But I more like your kindness, and compassion, and motivation...what do you like about me?”

“Your bravery,” he replied. “Your compassion. Your openness. How accepting you are.” He chuckled. “Your highly sexual nature.”

“Duh,” she said, grinning. “Well, thank you.” She slowly lost her grin. “I wasn’t always this way.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed. “I guess now’s as good a time to talk about my history as any.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he replied.

“It’s all right. I like you. I...want to be a part of your life, and I want you to be part of mine. I’m admittedly not sure how much, in either capacity. I tend to just...feel my relationships out, you know? But I’ve got a really good feeling about you and Evelyn and April. We seem to mesh really well together. Now that I’ve had sex with all three of you...yeah, I think we can be very good friends. I mean, the fact that I asked for a permanent room there is a pretty big deal. I don’t really ask for that often. Honestly...I haven’t asked for that in years. It’s a big show of trust. But anyway: my life. I wanted to talk a little about my history, if you’d be willing to listen.”

“I am definitely willing to listen,” he replied.

“Good! Well, I was born in a little settlement to the south and west. I believe the region used to be called Arizona. It’s a desert. Lots of reps around. I was...born into wealth, you might say. For a long time, I genuinely didn’t know how fucking awful it was, or how awful it could get. I was in a very secure town, we had ready access to water and food, we had a largely human population. Almost a thousand people lived there. My father was a doctor, my mother was an engineer. Naturally, they were both in extremely high demand, and as a result, they were able to set themselves, and consequently me, up in some pretty comfortable conditions. Shit, we even had power.”

“Wow,” David murmured.

“Yeah...turns out, if you raise someone like that, and you have a tendency to think of yourselves as better than other people, then that really rubs off on your offspring. I was an entitled little shit for the first...oh...sixteen years of my life. I thought I was better than pretty much everyone else. I thought people had to earn my respect. People had to listen to me. People had to do what I said. Because, for the most part, they did. I didn’t know at the time but my father was actually pretty powerful, pretty influential, and he would use that power and influence to punish anyone who bad-mouthed him or his family.

“It...wasn’t good. Finally, it all came crashing to an end. Literally. We were hit by an earthquake. A bad one. It practically leveled the town. Hundreds died. And it was pretty far reaching. We probably would have eventually been okay, but...there had been tensions in the region for a long time between the remains of the old world military and a militia of reps that had formed over the past few years in response to, well, a lot of racism. The earthquake put the military in a bad way, and the rep militia took the initiative, and there was a lot of fighting. A lot of bad fighting. My mom had died in the earthquake, and although we tried to stay in our old life at the town I grew up in, it was too far gone. We had to move.”

“I’m sorry,” David murmured.

“So am I. I loved my parents, but...I have to admit to myself that they were bad people. In the end, we relocated a few hundred miles east in a small town and on the way there, I began to realize just how bad the rest of the world was. I realized the danger, the reality, the scarcity of resources in some places, the suffering. The sheer magnitude of the suffering. My dad was able to get decent pull, given he was a doctor, and the place we ended up in would’ve been great by an average person’s standards. I thought I was living in hell. Running water only a few days out of the week, no power, people didn’t respect or know me anymore...” she shook her head.

They came to a small bridge that crossed the river and walked across it. David looked into the chilled water as it raced past them, heading south, presumably towards the lake she had told him about earlier.

Upon reaching the other side, they began moving into a forest, north again.

“Let’s just say that I had a wake-up call there. I almost got killed because I was being...well, a racist shit. It was common for humans to come before reps where I grew up. I didn’t know that was wrong. I didn’t know that it was actually an extremely shitty thing to do to demand you be serviced before someone else, even though they were there before you, based solely on their physical appearance. Or that it was wrong to cut in line in front of a rep. They never argued where I grew up, because they were scared. So I actually didn’t know. I was that stupid. I cut in line one day and...well, the rep guy I did it to didn’t really care that I was some stupid teenage ditz. He pulled a fucking gun on me.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Scared the fucking shit out of me. Luckily it was really just for show more than anything. He was part of a gang and you don’t let anyone disrespect you in a gang. Not even stupid teenage girls. There was security around and they got him to put it away. I was in shock. Thankfully, this woman, she was a goliath traveler who happened to be in the village, pretty much took me aside and asked me what I’d been thinking. When I began to explain to her why I didn’t fully understand what had happened, she...was kind enough to take the time and tell me what a racist piece of shit I was. Her name was Shelly. And she...changed my life.”

“How long was she around?” David asked.

“Years. At first, she just stuck around town for awhile. She was a nomad, a wanderer, and she’d just gotten into town. She was looking for work. The only good side effect of my being forced to travel hundreds of miles was that I suddenly realized there was a whole world out there...and I wanted to explore it. Of course, that took a little while to acclimate to my assumed level of comfort. You can’t live the high life in the lap of luxury and explore the wilderness all the time, you know? If you’re lucky, you can do both, but typically not at the same time.”

“That’s very true,” David murmured.

“So she started talking to me. Teaching me. Not just social etiquette and helping me rewire my brain, but survival shit. How to shoot. How to set a broken bone. How to fix some basic stuff. How to spot a trap, or someone trying to fuck you over. How to defend myself. Basically, how to be independent. She was so smart, and patient, and kind. She was like...a big sister I never had. I began going out on adventures with her, running jobs. My dad hated it, hated her, and ultimately tried to make me choose. I chose Shelly.

“Long story short, by the time I turned eighteen, I’d found out that I was pretty efficient at survival and taking care of myself. More than that, I liked it. Shelly had actually stuck around for those two years. I found out why, later. She told me she’d had a younger sister who had died several years ago, and I kind of reminded her of her. And also she wanted to help me, and saw helping me as a good cause. But yeah, I was eighteen, and sharing a place with Shelly, and she wanted to leave, and so did I. So we did. We left and we traveled the land for several years, and I just got better at survival and combat.”

“And then?” he asked cautiously.

She smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s not a sad ending. About two years ago we stopped at a little town and did our usual thing: found some jobs, killed some zombies, had some fun with some of the locals. And then...I don’t know. We both kind of just realized we wanted to be alone. It was one of those things, you know? One of those just...tectonic shifts inside of you. Where you just realize something as a fundamental truth. Our time together was over. We both wanted to part ways. So we said our goodbyes, wished each other luck, and just...parted ways.”

“Wow. I don’t know if I could do that,” he murmured.

“It was hard. I didn’t want to, honestly. But it was the right thing to do. I think it was kind of a thing that grew over the course of months. We were realizing that we wanted to do different things, we had different goals. I think part of it with Shelly was that she realized she wanted to settle down somewhere, at least for awhile, maybe forever. I don’t know. And she knew that wouldn’t work for me. But it was more than that. Although I feel stupid about that now...”

“Why?”

“I have kind of settled down. I’ve been here for nine months now, sticking to this region. And I don’t want to leave. I want to leave even less now that I’ve met you and Evelyn and April and Ellie. I like all of you so much. I enjoy your company so much. I really want to spend a lot of time with you, David.”

“...how far do you think our relationship will grow?” he asked after a moment.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “To be totally honest, I don’t know. But, I mean, and I’m not necessarily committing to anything, but I could honestly see being your girlfriend. Well, being a serious part of your polyamorous relationship. If Evelyn and April would have me. You’ve got an amazing dynamic going. That’s rare. And I...want to be a part of that, I think.”

“They both like you a lot, I can tell,” he murmured.

“And I like them a lot. But I don’t know. I need more time to sort through my feelings, you know? For now, we’re having fun. And that’s simple enough.”

“Simple can be good,” he agreed.

She smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad you understand. But don’t worry, I’m not going to jerk you around or anything.”

“I’m not worried.”

“I appreciate that...and that’s our second stop,” she said, looking forward.

He’d just spotted the structure as well. It was an old barn, way out in the middle of nowhere. “What’s this doing here?” he murmured. He couldn’t see any other signs of civilization around.

“I actually have no idea, but enough time has passed that, theoretically, all these trees could have grown up in what was once an open field.” She shrugged. “I found it last month kind of at random, just wandering around. There’s some stuff inside, and an old tractor that’s mostly stripped for parts but might have what we’re looking for.”

They pulled out their weapons, sticking to pistols for now, as they approached the old barn. It looked pretty ancient, ready to collapse. The double doors were open, folded out and pushed up against the front wall, then kept there by what looked like years, if not decades, of weather. He imagined they were fused that way at this point. He could see the tractor she was talking about, sitting in an open space in the middle of the barn, and it looked pretty fucking stripped down. It seemed like a really long shot that they’d find the gear in question.

But long shots could pay off, he’d seen it happen before.

And it was worth checking out for that reason alone.

They both got their flashlights out and on, and as they headed into the darkened interior, he had a flashback to the train station. David shuddered slightly and put that out of his mind. He didn’t smell anything bad and hadn’t heard anything, and he didn’t get a sense that this place was housing something alive. That wasn’t exactly a definitive test, but it was a good sign at least. He and Cait spent five minutes moving through the old barn, checking out everything, looking in all the places something or someone might be hiding.

It was empty.

With the search out of the way, they went to work. David began checking out the tractor while Cait searched in any other likely place the gear might be. Another five minutes went by, then ten, then twenty.

As they were closing in on half an hour, they both surmised that this was a dead end.

“You got any more ideas?” David asked as they left the barn.

“One,” she replied. “Come on.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“What are you thinking about?” David asked.

They’d retraced their steps, crossed the river, and had begun heading west again, following the path David had taken not that long ago that took him to the garage with the family. He, in fact, was almost positive that Cait was leading him there. And if she wasn’t, he was going to bring it up when they got close enough.

He’d looked over and noticed she seemed a little distracted, had a small smile on her face.

“What it feels like when you come inside of me,” she replied.

He paused. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Okay, well, it wasn’t that far off, he supposed. That look on her face, combined with what he knew about her...he had suspected that Cait had been thinking about something related to sex.

“What does it feel like?” he asked.

“Practically speaking? It feels like your dick is having a seizure, I guess. It jerks and it’s so powerful, it’s so hard...it’s a really intense experience, even from the outside. You usually grab me and hold me, and the sounds you make...I love it.”

“And beyond practically speaking?” he asked.

“It’s like...power. It makes me feel powerful. In this world we all inhabit, especially over this last year, we all have things we seek. I mean, there’s the basic stuff: food, water, heat. And obviously most people seek sex and power. But people can be complicated creatures. We all have things that we want beyond the primal urges, you know? I mean, often, they’re extensions of or sophisticated versions of the primal urges. Not just power but a specific kind of power. Often it’s creativity. After...my past, I spent a long time trying to determine the answer to the simple question of: What do I value? What do I actually give a shit about?

“And, you know, helping people is number one. I love helping people. I’ll forgo certain things to help people, if it comes down to it. But there are other things. Exploration. I love to explore. I love to find new places and poke through them. Ellie’s worse about it. I feel like it’s what drives her. She’s always off exploring. But I think what I value the most is...connections. Sexual connections. And, I mean, all that goes with that. To be clear, even an amazing night of sex with a stranger wouldn’t stack up to a night of mediocre sex with you at this point. Not that you’re mediocre.”

“Oh? What about our first night?” he asked.

She pursed her lips. “Well, I guess you have a point. But that’s just the thing. I guess, what I’m really thinking about is how fast I’ve connected with you. How quickly and intensely. You push my buttons really hard, David. There’s something...intangible about you. Being around you...is like a drug. I feel high around you. Giddy.” She giggled. “I love the feeling. And bringing you pleasure, which you orgasming inside of me with no protection, it’s...it’s the apex of that, of bringing you pleasure, I just love it. It’s a real high for me. That may sound weird, and don’t get me wrong, I love being brought pleasure, to be sure, but knowing that I’m doing that for you, and that we’re as intimately connected as physically possible, and emotionally connected too...it’s a high unlike anything else I’ve experienced, you know?”

She fell silent, then she stopped abruptly.

They were within sight of the three structures, including the garage, now.

“What?” he asked, worried, stopping and looking back at her.

“I guess...I just realized.” She looked at him directly in the eye. “I want to be in a relationship with you. I want you to be my boyfriend. I want to be your girlfriend.”

“Seriously?” he asked, though he could tell she was serious, he just didn’t know what else to say.

“Yes. Talking about it like this, really focusing on it, spending time with you...and now that I’ll be kind of-sort of living with you...yeah. I want to be with you. Like with you, you know?” She paused again, a look of worry briefly passing across her face. “Is this too fast? I feel kind of like a bitch, because I was just telling you that I needed more time, and now I’m throwing this at you. I’m sorry if this seems like I’m just some...overly emotional person who switches between emotions at the drop of a hat, but I promise I’m not. This isn’t normal for me. Honestly, the reason I’m being this way is because you...”

She sighed. “You make me feel a way that I haven’t felt for a long time. You make me feel just...so good. And it’s not just ‘beginning of relationship’ good. I know what that feels like. I’m not just giddy. I feel connected with you. Honestly, genuinely connected. More importantly, I feel like we both feel that way. Tell me I’m not nuts.”

“No,” he replied quickly, reaching out and taking her hand. It felt so good to touch her right then. “No, not at all. I do feel a connection with you, Cait. You’re right. It’s there, and it’s wonderful, and it feels amazing. I just...I mean, to be clear, I’m okay with this. I just feel like...a lot is happening at once. Even if it was just you and me, it would be a lot. But I mean, I feel real connections with Evie and April, too...”

“I know, I can tell. You’re so sweet and genuine with them. You care about them. Don’t worry, as emotional as you’re making me, I would never get in the way of your relationship with them. I think we can make this work. And I understand that right now, a lot of shit is up in the air. Not just between the four of us, but between us and the rest of the world. I get it. Don’t worry, David, I’m highly adaptive and I’m pretty reasonable.”

“I believe you,” he said, lacing their fingers. She smiled and stepped closer. “And I trust you. It’s more myself I’m worried about. I’ve never...I’ve never even come close to trying to satisfy three women regularly. Sexually or emotionally or socially, you know?”

“Just be open and honest with us,” Cait replied. “We’ll all be open and honest with each other. And that will give us the best shot of making this work. And...” she smiled a wicked smile and stepped closer, leaning around to put her mouth against his ear. She moved his hand to her belly and held it there. “Just think of all the impregnation fantasy sex we can have,” she whispered.

“Ugh...fuck,” he groaned, feeling a pure hit of lust shoot through him.

“Oh my God, that sound, David. You really get off on that, don’t you? I mean, I know you do, but you aren’t, like, playing it up at all, right?”

“I’m not. I’m really not,” he replied, then swallowed, trying to get himself back under control.

“Tell me something, I know you don’t actually want to knock me up, but does this fantasy only cover getting a woman pregnant, or do you have the same reaction to fucking a chick that’s already, and visibly, pregnant?”

“Yes. Very much yes. I would love to have sex with a pregnant woman,” David replied immediately. It was something he’d always wanted to do.

“Oh my...all right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Why, do you know any pregnant women?” he asked.

“I might,” she replied.

He sighed. “You’re such a tease.”

“Yes, I am,” she agreed. “Now, come on, we’ve got a job to do.”

“Are we going to that garage?” he asked as they started walking. He tried to will the hard-on currently straining against his pants away.

“Yes, how-oh yeah, you have been there, huh? Ellie told me about that. Yes, I’ve had a dealing with the family there, briefly. I dropped off some food a few days ago. One of them was sick, though. The man’s wife. She was coughing. I gave them some medicine, I hope she’s okay...”

They came up the road and kept an eye out for zombies or anything more lethal, but there was nothing. As they drew closer to the garage, he heard arguing. They walked up to the door that he had approached not all that long ago and Cait knocked firmly and loudly three times. The conversation died immediately.

They heard uneven footsteps getting closer, and then the blanket covering the window in the door was yanked back. A pale face appeared, one David recognized: Jim. The man he had negotiated with originally for the ammo. A look of tremendous relief came across his face and the blanket went back down, then the door opened up.

“Cait, David, thank fucking God you’re here,” he said. “Please come in.”

“What’s wrong?” Cait asked as they walked inside.

He closed and locked the door behind them. David saw that his leg was wrapped up tight and he was using a walking stick. From somewhere else in the garage, he heard a bad, hacking cough.

“Amanda, she’s sick. It’s really bad,” he said. “I tried to go out, but I got chased by a fucking stalker. I killed it, but I busted my leg. It’s splinted, but I’m out of commission. The damned kid wants to go out and look...” he muttered.

They all looked over as footsteps sounded and drew closer. There was an open doorway that led to the garage proper, and a scrawny teen with wide eyes and long, dirty hair appeared. “I can do it,” he declared. “Just give me some more ammo and-”

“God fucking dammit, Benjamin, I said no! You’re going to get yourself killed out there,” Jim snapped.

Benjamin started to argue but Cait shrugged out of her backpack and set it down on the counter. “I have antibiotics,” she said.

Jim shook his head. “No, we already gave her antibiotics. We need something stronger...do you have anything?”

Cait cursed and shook her head. “Not on me. Fuck.”

“Do you know where you can get some?” Jim asked, pleading, desperate.

“Yes, I think so,” Cait said. “I know a place to check, at least.” She reached into her pack and pulled out a bottle of water and a tiny glass jar of pills. “Give her two of these and make sure she drinks a lot of water. She needs to stay hydrated.”

“What will these do?” Jim asked.

“They’ll help with the coughing. And the fever. They should help her sleep.”

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Wait,” David said, reluctant, as Jim snatched the pair of items up and began to leave. He hesitated, turning to look at him. “I hate to ask, but-”

“We’ll give you whatever you want,” Jim interrupted, looking afraid again.

“No, no. It’s not that. We won’t make you trade for this,” David replied. “We’ll do whatever we can to get the medicine for you. But I need something.” He reached into his pocket and showed Jim the drawing. “This gear. We’ll give you the antibiotics if we can find them regardless of whether or not you can find it, but if you can find one exactly like this, it would help so much.”

Jim nodded after studying it closely for a few moments. “Yes, we have a lot of gears around. I’ll sort through them. I think we have this.”

“Thank you.” David replaced the paper. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Don’t worry,” Cait said.

Jim nodded and he and the teenager disappeared deeper into the garage.

David and Cait left, heading back out into the cold.

…

“So where to now?” David asked.

They were now headed west again, towards another bridge that would bring them back across the river. The pair moved at a brisk pace.

“There’s an abandoned building over this bridge and through those woods up ahead. It’s kind of dangerous, there’s a lot of stalkers and zombies in the area, but it’s a pretty well-fortified location. I’m not sure what it once was, but what it is now is a makeshift, independent hospital. About six months ago, I helped a small group of doctors and surgeons, who were evidently the only survivors of a brutal attack on a caravan a few dozen miles north of here, set up shop in that building. Honestly, they just wanted a place they could call their own, where they could set up shop and help those who need help,” she explained.

“If they’re so into helping people, why are they in such an isolated location?” David asked.

She sighed. “They are...paranoid. I guess the last person they worked under was extremely controlling and practically enslaved them. And the attack, though technically it did help them, was very vicious and unexpected. And the trip here was not easy. Plus, this region isn’t the safest place. Basically, they’re at odds with themselves. I think they’re pretty much waiting to get secure. And they don’t turn people away who come to them, they are good people. I’d really love to get them set up somewhere else, somewhere more accessible, but then there’s the question of who will protect them? And anyone I suggest, they get paranoid and say, ‘Well, what’s to stop them from trying to control us?’ You see the problem?”

“Yeah, that fucking sucks,” David muttered.

“Yes,” she agreed bitterly. “But they should be able to help us. I’m sure this is where Jim was going when he hurt himself. Be ready, this is a dangerous place.”

He nodded tightly and pulled out his pistol. Once they were fully on the other side of the bridge, they began to move down a long, cracked road. Plants, mostly just stems and stalks now, withered husks of their former selves, grew through the cracks. The sun had melted the snow off the pavement, but the trees around them were still partially capped by it, and more lay in heaps and clumps along the bare dirt ground.

David listened as they walked through the chill afternoon air. It was peaceful out. Distantly, he heard the occasional gunshot, but that was very normal. Behind him, he could hear the river rushing by. And somewhere close, but out of sight, he heard the shuffling and occasional moans of zombies. He continually searched the woods around them as they made their way down the road. It curved out of sight maybe a half mile down the way, and the trees were thick to either side. This was a very heavily forested region.

They made it about halfway there before trouble showed up.

Something groaned, and this time the sound was far too close. Both of them stopped in their tracks, David taking the right side of the road, Cait taking the left, their pistols raised. A zombie came out from behind a tree and began to make a beeline for David, arms outstretched, hideously decayed flesh obvious in the bright sunshine, its eyes nearly rotted out of its skull. Its feet slapped the pavement as it made rapid progress towards him.

He aimed and fired, putting a round through its open mouth and blowing out the back of its head in a spray of ugly gore.

The zombie dropped, and that was easy enough, but then a chorus of groans went up, as well as a warning snarl from at least one stalker, and then there was movement all around them.

“Fuck,” Cait snapped softly. “Don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

“We’ve got this,” he agreed.

The undead abominations came for them.

David popped the first three that appeared in his line of sight without much trouble, but then half a dozen more appeared, one of them being a stalker. He immediately shifted his aim to that one, as it had the capacity to kill him the quickest. Opening fire, he missed twice, but managed to nail it first in the neck, then again in the head, dropping it. Unfortunately, that cost him precious seconds he needed to keep the rest of the zombies back. He fired off another shot, put a bullet into the rotting brain of another undead, and then managed to bring one more down before the others were on him. There was nowhere to go, because Cait was right behind him, and he couldn’t leave her exposed.

The only option was to stand his ground and fight for his life.

He punched the barrel of the pistol into the side of the nearest zombie’s head while pulling the trigger, blowing its brains out, and then brought his knife out with his other hand. Bringing his foot up, David placed it against the chest of the nearest of the three remaining creatures, then shoved as hard as he could. It was sent stumbling. He brought the knife around and stabbed another in the side of the head as it made a grab for him.

The thing roared and died, immediately dropping to the ground and bringing the knife with it, ripping it from his grasp. He shouted a surprised, angry, and terrified curse as the remaining of the half-dozen nearest fuckers grabbed onto him. Its flesh was awful and leathery and so cold. It began to bring its broken, decaying teeth towards his neck. He fought to throw it off, trying to get his gun up to get a good shot, but it was strong.

It had his gun arm. He shoved at it again, and suddenly its head snapped to the side right as he was trying to throw it off of him and he tore free as it fell away, nearly bringing him down with it. Another shot sounded and the zombie he’d kicked, which had already recovered and was coming for him again, went down.

David saw a few more coming his way. He snapped his pistol up and fired off three shots in rapid succession, putting them down, hyped up by near-death adrenaline.

“Fuck,” he whispered after he looked around and saw they were alone.

“Are you okay?” Cait asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” he replied, looking down. His coat sleeve was dirty and ripped, and his arm was going to be bruised, but he didn’t feel the burning sting of broken skin. He took it off anyway, as well as his overshirt, just to be sure.

“You’re clean,” she said after examining him. He quickly pulled on his shirt and coat again. She looked eager to keep moving.

“Should we search them?” he asked.

“No time, I really want to get out of here before more show up,” she replied.

He nodded. They didn’t look like they had much of anything anyway, as most of them had been out here for so long that their clothes had fallen off or been ripped off or any number of other ways clothes came off of you if you wore them for long enough and never stopped walking through the countryside.

They hurried on.

…

The first indication that they had that something was wrong was a raised, angry voice coming from up ahead.

They both froze as they heard it. David and Cait stood still, listening.

They had walked another quarter mile along the road, then broke off down a side path that would take them the rest of the way there. It curved up ahead out of sight, and that’s definitely where the voice was coming from.

“I don’t care! Okay!? I don’t care!”

“Please don’t hurt her!”

“Then fucking get out here and do as I fucking say!”

“Jesus fuck,” Cait whispered. She looked at him, her eyes wide. “David, you see that little, tiny, narrow pathway there?” She pointed to the left. He looked, saw it, nodded. “Go down it, follow it until you have a view of the building. I need you to be my backup. Don’t let them see or hear you. I’ll go ahead of you, make it obvious, cover your movements. I’m going to see what’s going on, play it by ear, but if it goes south, you fucking shoot and kill them. Got it?”

“Got it,” he replied, feeling another surge of adrenaline.

“Let’s do this.”

She moved on up ahead, and David slipped onto the path. Thank fucking God most of the snow around this area was melted. It was basically impossible to be quiet while walking on snow, the way it crunched underfoot. The trees were thick here. He followed the path, listening as someone shouted commands at someone else.

He could hear someone crying.

What the fuck was going on?

Nothing good, obviously. He got into position at just about the same time Cait made herself known to the group.

“Hey, what’s going on back here?” she asked, sounding surprisingly innocent.

“What the fuck?! Who’s that?! Don’t fucking move!”

David studied the situation quickly, crouching down and getting his pistol ready. He saw half a dozen of them. Men in a mishmash of clothing, all of it looking grubby and stained. They looked like...the assholes who had burned down River View! And the shitheads who had been there, threatening Ashley, and the ones who had assaulted his and Evie’s and April’s cabin! Motherfuckers! He could be wrong, but something about them was definitely familiar. It didn’t matter. Whoever they were, they were obviously here on some kind of shakedown or extortion or robbery. And that was going to end.

“Okay, okay, no need to get upset,” Cait replied, putting her hands up.

“Who the fuck are you?” the leader, a tall, bald man who currently had a gun to the head of a slim brunette woman who was kneeling at his feet. He held her hair with his other hand. She was the one who was crying.

“My name’s Cait. I just came here to do some trading...what are you doing here? Who are you people?” she asked, sounding concerned and kind of...stupid. Man, Cait could really act. He saw a few of the men chuckle and nudge each other.

“None of your business,” the leader replied.

“She’s fucking hot,” one of them muttered.

“We should take her back home,” another said, a little louder.

“You wanna come home with me, sweetheart?” the first one asked.

“Uh, no,” she replied flatly. Well, that clearly wasn’t acting.

“Too bad. Come on, boss. I bet she sucks dick like a high class whore.”

“I fucking love redheads,” another muttered.

“All right,” the boss said, “get over here sweetmeat. Why don’t you show me what you can do with that mouth of yours?”

“I don’t think so,” Cait replied.

And then the boss made his first, and last, mistake.

He raised the pistol and aimed it at her.

When Cait moved, it was so fast David could hardly track it. She still had her hands up, on top of her head. She snatched the shotgun from its holster on her back, whipped it into position, and blew the guy’s fucking head clean off in a resounding explosion of blood and brains. Everyone shouted in shocked surprise.

David remembered thinking that she could do exactly that were he to try anything the very first time they’d met. It actually looked almost precisely how he had imagined it.

Fucking hell, she was fast.

He shifted his aim very slightly, so that he was tracking the one who’d asked to take her home, and put two rounds into his skull. His head snapped back and in death his nerves twitched as he fired off a few random shots. One of which actually connected with the leg of another nearby asshole. The man screamed and collapsed, grasping his leg. David shifted targets and shot another man twice in the chest, sending him to the ground to join his asshole friends. The brunette woman who had been being held hostage was now frantically crawling back towards the entrance to the building, where a man was urging her on.

One of the men’s faces twisted up in anger and he began to point his weapon at her. David shifted aim towards him, but Cait fired off a round that punched a hole clean through his skull and killed him in an instant.

Although some of their return fire came dangerously close, and David hissed in pain at one point as a bullet struck the tree next to him and sprayed him with a rain of bark shrapnel, he, Cait, and someone inside the building managed to cut them down and murder all the thieves in a matter of moments.

David looked around, a reflexive gesture. It was something you always did after you had to do something loud, because it could draw anything in. He saw several dark figures moving closer from elsewhere in the woods.

“Cait?!” someone said.

“Yes, Donald, it’s me. And a friend,” Cait replied. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine, get in here!”

“Come on, David,” Cait said, and he emerged from his spot immediately. The pair of them paused briefly to snag a few guns and the most obvious gear from the thieves, but their corpses weren’t going anywhere in the immediate future, and he could hear stalkers coming, and a lot of zombies. They finished up at the urging of the man named Donald, and as soon as the pair of them were inside, he slammed and locked the door with a bar and several deadbolts. The door looked pretty heavy and sturdy.

David looked around the room they had come to as he calmed down. That had been close. One of those bullets had come extremely close to his neck. The room looked pretty old and decayed, but it also had the look of such a place that had been inhabited by people looking to spruce it up, make it habitable again. It was a big room, probably about half of the entire first floor. All of the windows were carefully boarded over with solid-looking wood. There wasn’t a great deal of furniture in the room, given its size.

Two old couches had been pressed into the corner together to his immediate right, and he saw another two couches taking up the far back wall. There was a desk and a chair midway down the left side of the room, and a few other chairs scattered about. There were just two other doors in the right wall. And right now he could see three people besides Cait. The first was the man named Donald. He looked...smart. Something about him just seemed smart. It probably helped that he wore glasses that were in pretty good condition.

That was rare.

He had short, graying brown hair and wore heavy jeans and a button-down shirt. If David had to guess, he’d peg this man as the leader. The woman he had seen before, that Cait had rescued, looked young, maybe a little younger than him. She had collapsed on the nearest couch and had hidden her face in her hands. She was crying softly. She had a slim build and something about her reminded him of April. The last person in the room was a somewhat more mature looking jag woman with red fur. She had an arm around the younger woman and was talking to her quietly and soothingly. She shot him a suspicious look.

Well, after what had just happened, he didn’t blame her.

“Is everyone okay?” Cait asked.

“I think so, the only other one here is...Peter! Where are you!?” Donald called.

“Coming! Coming!” a young, male voice replied. They heard jogging footsteps descending down stairs and a moment later a young human man appeared. He looked anxious.

“You okay?” Donald asked.

“Fine,” he said. Now he looked...guilty. “I was going to shoot them. I-I was waiting for an opening...I’m sorry Amanda,” he murmured, looking at the crying woman.

She tried to say something, but it was lost to another sob.

“Give her a minute,” the jag woman said.

“Okay,” Peter replied quietly, looking guiltier than ever.

“Peter, it’s fine. That was...a really, really bad situation. A very bad situation. It’s good that you didn’t shoot,” Donald said. He looked over at Cait and David again. “Thank you so much. You saved our lives. You really did.”

“It’s okay,” Cait replied. “What happened? Where’s Katya and Vanessa?”

“They’re out looking for something for us-”

A loud groan sounded and something banged against the door. Amanda let out a shriek, and then clapped her hand over her mouth. The zombie banged against the door a few more times, and they heard more groaning, then it stopped. Several soft sighs of relief sounded.

“Fuck,” Peter muttered.

“Um, everyone, this is David, a, uh, well, my boyfriend,” she said.

“Really?” the jag woman asked, sounding surprise.

David wondered if he should be offended by that.

“Yes, Janice,” Cait replied firmly.

“Huh.”

“Thank you for your help. They would have killed us,” Donald said.

“Not all of us,” Janice muttered darkly, “not right away, anyway.”

“Indeed,” Donald murmured. He walked forward and offered his hand.

David shook it. “I’m happy to have helped.”

“It’s very much appreciated. This here is Peter. And the others there are Amanda and Janice,” Donald said.

“There’s normally two more here, another human and a goliath...so what are they doing, exactly?” Cait asked.

“We’re running low on power. The situation is very desperate, I’m afraid,” Donald replied.

“How desperate?”

“It will become dire within the next day. Some of our medicine, and our supply of blood, it needs to be cooled. And we have other technical resources that we simply cannot use without power,” Donald explained.

“What about your generator? Your solar panels?” Cait asked.

He sighed. “The generator broke two weeks ago and we’ve been trying to fix it ever since. But it’s a complicated piece of equipment. Of the four solar panels we have, one has always been unreliable and finally gave up the ghost last month. Another was broken about two weeks ago. We still don’t know how the hell that happened, something heavy must have hit it but we have no idea what. And the third one gave out two days ago. The remaining one just isn’t enough, even with turning off everything else, and we don’t have any other emergency power stored anywhere. That’s where the other two are: tracking down another solar panel...” He paused. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what are the two of you doing here?”

“We need antibiotics,” Cait replied. “Strong ones. The ones you use when regular antibiotics have failed.”

“Oh dear,” Donald murmured.

“Please, please tell me you have some,” David said.

“We do, not what I might call a healthy supply, but we do. We could part with a bottle, which should be enough. But I’m afraid I need payment of some kind.”

“We can kill two birds with one stone,” Cait said. “If we can find some kind of power supply, then you can give us those antibiotics.”

“I’ll give you more than that if you can find me some kind of power supply,” Donald replied.

“Okay, I’ll just-”

They froze as a gunshot sounded, and then another one. And several more. A couple of dozen shots were fired off, one after the other, and they heard several shrieks and moans. Everyone remained frozen, and Cait, David, Donald, and Janice, who had stood up, had their weapons out now. A few seconds passed after the final gunshot echoed.

They all jumped as someone knocked firmly on the door.

“Donald? You in there? What the hell happened out here?”

“Ellie?” Cait asked, and David almost did as well.

“...Cait? What are you doing in there? Is everything all right? Open up.”

“Coming, coming,” Donald said. He hurried over and unbarred the door, then got it open. Ellie stood there in all her blue-furred glory, and David felt a tremendous happiness at seeing her. She looked a little surprised to see him, though not necessarily unpleasantly so. She slipped in and Donald resealed the door behind her.

“What happened? Is everyone okay?” she asked.

“We’re fine,” Cait replied. “No injuries, no casualties. Save for those shitheads out there.”

“I heard all the shooting and decided to see what was up, since it sounded like it was coming from here. What were they doing here?” Ellie replied. “And hi, David.”

“Hello, Ellie,” David replied with a small smile.

“They were shaking us down, basically,” Donald said. “They wanted meds from us.”

“Fucking bastards. Where’s the others?”

Cait quickly brought Ellie up to speed on the situation. She listened, then nodded, then frowned suddenly and stared first at Cait, then at David.

“What?” he asked reluctantly. He didn’t like the look on her face.

“So...I might know where we can find a few solar panels. But...it’s going to be really dangerous,” she murmured.

“Where?” Donald asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“About two miles east of here, there’s an abandoned bunker of some kind. A prepper bunker, I think.”

“Prepper?” David asked.

“Yeah. It’s what they called people who prepped for the end of the world before the world actually ended. Sometimes rich people did it and had bunkers built out in the middle of nowhere with shitloads of supplies. It might not be that, but whatever the hell it is, it’s got solar panels on top of it. It’s this little concrete building.”

“Two miles east is stalker territory. Like, heavy stalker territory...” Cait murmured.

“Yeah. Hence the danger.”

“Fuck,” David muttered.

“I can help with this. If we’re fast, and lucky, we can go salvage one, they aren’t big but they are high quality, built to last, and then get back without running into any of the fuckers,” Ellie said. “But it’s your call.”

“Is there anywhere else we can get some power?” Cait murmured, clearly considering it.

“Not easily,” Ellie replied. “Certainly not for free. I could make it happen in a day or two...”

“We don’t have that long,” Donald said.

Cait sighed and looked at him. “David?”

“I’m ready to do it,” he replied.

She frowned, then slowly nodded. “Okay. We’ll do this. The three of us. We’ll go strip those bastards for more ammo, and then we do this.” She looked at Donald. “We’ll try to be back as fast as we can.”

“Thank you so much for this,” he replied. “And...good luck.”

It almost sounded like a goodbye.

CHAPTER EIGHT

After leaving the building, they checked the corpses. There wasn’t as much ammo on them as David was hoping for, but he was already decently decked out with gear. He still had his SMG, and now he had two pistols. The other two women were about as equally armed, and definitely more skilled than him with fighting, and had better reflexes, clearly. As soon as they were finished, the trio set out, heading due east.

For a bit, nobody spoke.

Finally, David began to find the silence oppressive and tried to strike up a conversation. “So, Ellie, um, how have you been doing?” he asked.

“Fine,” she replied after a few seconds, like she’d been lost in thought and it had taken her a moment to realize that he’d spoken. “You?”

“Well, we’re moved into the campgrounds. We’re making good progress. Evie and April are doing okay,” he said.

“That’s good, at least. You’ve got a good place there. Pretty secure, not a lot of dangerous people or things around...what about you, Cait? It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you. Where have you been exactly?” Ellie asked.

David glanced over. Cait was blushing. “You know...around,” she murmured.

“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Ellie asked, shooting her a glance. “You’re blushing. What’s going on? What could you possibly be embarrassed about?”

“Well...David and I are...an item?” Cait replied.

“You’re embarrassed about that?” David asked.

“No! I mean-” she sighed heavily. “No. I’m not. I just...Ellie’s...difficult.”

“How the fuck am I difficult?” Ellie snapped.

“How are you not?” Cait replied immediately. “I know you want to give me shit for this.”

“No I’m-not,” she said, stumbling, probably realizing that she was gearing up for that.

“See! You knew it! You always give me shit.”

“I’m just fucking teasing you, Cait! That’s our relationship...I mean, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It is. It’s just...sometimes, it feels too...genuine. It has teeth, you know?”

Ellie fell silent for several seconds. Well, this had certainly gone from casual to serious in record time. “I’m sorry,” she said finally, her voice quiet. “I don’t mean to. I never mean to hurt you, Cait. You’re my friend. I just...have difficulties...with trust. And...letting people get close to me.”

“I know,” Cait replied quietly. “It’s okay. I understand. This whole thing has me feeling vulnerable, and I’m realizing it’s actually been awhile since I’ve felt vulnerable and...well, I have let you close, Ellie. I care about what you think. Your words hold more power than most.”

“I get that. I’m sorry, I’ll try to be less of a jerk in the future.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, you two are...an item? Where the fuck does that phrase even come from? And what? Are you an item on a shelf with other items in this relationship?” she asked, then groaned and looked down. “I’m sorry, that was mean.”

“No,” Cait said, and giggled. “It was kinda funny. It’s okay. But yeah, I guess you could say that. I’ve decided to...not really move in, per say, but have a room dedicated to me. Well, me and you actually. I thought, you know, you might like a room to call your own...that you shared with me, if you felt like being social, maybe getting some David dick for the night?”

“I’d like that,” David murmured.

Ellie laughed. “Obviously. You fucking love fucking me. I do remember that much. Well...okay. Yeah, I wouldn’t mind having a safe, quiet place to stash some stuff with friends nearby.”

“We’re friends?” David asked.

“Aren’t we?” she asked, defensively. He looked back at her. She sighed again. “Sorry. Yes. I’d count you as a friend. Don’t let that go to your head.”

“I won’t,” he said.

“Good. Well, I think that’s cool. Though it’s a little weird, I have to admit. I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone you actually claimed as a boyfriend, or girlfriend...have I?”

“Uh...” Cait fell silent, thinking about it. “No, I guess not.”

“So...is it love, you two?” she asked.

“Uhhhh...” David began, completely at a loss as to how to respond to that.

Cait laughed. “Come on, Ellie. What did I just say about being a jerk!?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, David. Again, just teasing. But really. What made the two of you get together?”

“I mean...I like him.”

“You like a lot of people. You like me,” Ellie said.

“I’d date you if I thought I could get you to agree to it,” Cait replied.

“Oh really?” Ellie shot back.

“Yeah, really, Miss Prissy Blue Bitch,” Cait replied.

Ellie huffed in annoyance. “Stop derailing the conversation.”

“Fine. I feel...” she looked at him with her bright blue eyes, smiling serenely, “...a spark. A real spark. You know? You know when you just click with someone? Like it just happens and you just know? That’s why.”

“Fair enough. And David?”

“Do you even need to ask? Cait is capable, kind, smart, badass, focused, motivated, insanely hot, and so good in bed, and okay with me fucking other women,” he replied.

“All valid points,” Ellie said.

“And, you know, I feel it, too. I feel connected to her. Like I feel a connection with Evie and April.” He frowned suddenly. “Hopefully they’ll feel the same way...”

“I mean, functionally speaking, not a lot is gonna change about our relationship,” Cait said, but she looked a little worried too.

“Having met them both, I think you’ll be fine,” Ellie said. She opened her mouth, but then hesitated, looking around. “Something’s wrong.”

“What?” Cait replied, adopting a suspicious look as she checked around them.

“We haven’t run into any stalkers yet. We should have by now,” Ellie replied.

They all came to a stop. They were well into the woods at this point, following a very vague path that David could only barely see, though Ellie surely saw clearly. She hadn’t hesitated a single time as she’d been leading them on.

“So what does that mean?” he asked uncertainly, his hands falling to the submachine gun hanging from a strap at his side.

“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I can smell their stink around, a lot of it, but...I don’t really sense any of them actually nearby. It’s different, but fuck, maybe we’re going to get lucky. Maybe someone came in and killed a bunch of them, or maybe they’re busy with something else. Either way, we should probably hurry up. Come on, we’re almost there.”

They all fell silent as they picked back up their pace, this time going faster. The tone and mood dramatically shifted as the tension began to rise. There was something ominous and tense about the forest around them. The dead, skeletal trees seemed to watch them. Several minutes passed as they hurried through the forest, trusting Ellie’s instincts to get them to where they needed to be. As they continued, he looked down at his arsenal, which suddenly didn’t feel so much like an arsenal any longer.

Maybe he should have grabbed some more weapons.

Well, too late now.

“Okay, stop,” Ellie whispered, and both he and Cait froze.

Beyond their blue-furred companion, he could see a decent-sized clearing up ahead, and in it was a simple concrete and rebar structure that vaguely resembled a giant brick. It looked old and weathered, and plants grew across its surface, but it had held up pretty well.

“That’s it,” Ellie said softly.

Sure enough, he could see some solar panels glinting in the dull gray sunlight.

“How have they survived all this time?” David murmured.

“The top tier solar panels from just before the apocalypse had some really, really good, solid casings that could stand up to a hell of a lot, in my experience,” Cait replied. “They’d need polishing, because shit gets on the casing, but otherwise they should be well protected...you sure you can salvage one of those?”

“Yeah,” Ellie replied. “Pretty sure. I’ll need to see to be totally sure, but I should have all the right tools on me.” She hesitated, then carefully scanned the way ahead and the area around them. David could see nothing, and apparently neither could she. “Okay, follow me and keep a damned eye out.” She turned to face them, her gaze level, her expression dead serious. “This is how it’s going to go down: we three will cross the clearing and get straight to the building. If nothing happens, you’ll give me a boost up, then you will stand guard and keep a constant eye out for anything moving at all. This is very dangerous territory, I need to stress that. We’ve been lucky so far. That, or they’re laying some kind of trap.

“At that point, I will assess the situation up there and let you know. Then, ideally, I will detach one of them and lower it down to you, and then we will get the fuck out of here.”

“You don’t think we should try to take at least one more?” Cait asked uncertainly.

“No. It’s far too risky. I think we should come back with some more people, experienced people that we can trust, Evelyn for sure, and Katya and Vanessa, with some heavy armaments, and maybe one or two others, and salvage the rest. And at some point we can try to break into this place. But that’s later. It’s too dangerous right now. It’s going to take two of us to carry just one. So, any questions? Are we ready?”

“I’m ready,” David said, and Cait nodded tightly at her.

“Okay...let’s get this over with.”

They checked the area one more time, then they broke through the treeline and headed into the clearing. It remained empty as they moved quickly across the open space between the trees and the side of the structure. After several tense seconds, they reached it. David spun around as they did and looked back the way they’d come, expecting to see some stalkers slinking out of the trees, but there was nothing. It was as dead as ever.

“Okay, help me up,” Ellie whispered.

They let their weapons rest and each helped Ellie climb up onto the structure. She was pretty light, and clambered up onto it without a problem. They watched her disappear over the edge, her tail the last thing to go, and then pulled their weapons back out and turned around, beginning their portion of this job.

Several seconds passed in tense silence, the only sounds that of the occasional breeze blowing through and disturbing the dead trees, and Ellie very quietly shifting around. He glanced at Cait. It was interesting to see this side of her again, this stern, serious, professional side. Not that he didn’t think she was capable of it. He wasn’t surprised to see it, more just curious about it. He only really knew her when she was acting flirtatious or happy or sincere and vulnerable. There was something immediately and powerfully attractive about a competent woman who knew exactly what she was doing. And Ellie and Cait had that in abundance.

“Okay,” Ellie said, making them both jump, as they hadn’t heard her approach the edge again, “the good news is that I can do this. I have the tools. The annoying news is that it’ll take at least five minutes, because I’ve got to deal with some rusty bolts. You see anything yet?”

“No,” Cait replied, and David shook his head.

“Great. I’m getting to work.”

She disappeared again and they resumed their vigil.

More seconds passed as they began to hear the sounds of Ellie first getting her tools out, then detaching the solar panel from the roof. David felt sick to his stomach by now with all the fucking tension and anxiety coursing through him. He tried to keep his face neutral, his stance sure, and his mind clear, but it was hard. He’d been in tough situations before, really damned dangerous ones, and some close scrapes that still gave him nightmares and left him wondering how he’d managed to get out of it alive.

He’d gotten half decent at sniffing out danger, and this place was screaming danger. Something about it, the hushed atmosphere or maybe the overt stillness of it all, just...something was telling him to run like hell. Maybe it was nerves, but he didn’t think so. A minute went by, and then two. They felt long and painful.

Still there was nothing moving.

Another thirty seconds went by before, suddenly, he saw something. “Contact,” Cait said as they both raised their weapons.

“What is it?” Ellie asked, sounding distracted.

“Stalker,” David said. Even from a distance he could tell.

“What’s it doing?” she pressed.

“Just standing there...” Cait murmured.

“I think-” he stopped. “Oh my God. Oh my fucking God.”

“What?” Ellie asked. All the spit went dry in his mouth and his heart began hammering violently in his chest. “What?!” she snapped, and stopped working. “David?! Cait!?” she hissed.

“Ellie, oh my God, help us up. Now! Now!” Cait screamed.

There were dozens of them, suddenly, almost as if by magic, all along the peripheral of the clearing. They were standing there. And as he heard Ellie come back to the edge, and then let out a sharp, terrified curse, they began to run forward.

“Get up here! David!” she snapped.

He froze, but only for a second, and then Cait grabbed him and turned him violently around. He saw Ellie leaning down, offering him her hand. He jumped up and took it, and felt Cait grab his feet and help him get up. He scrambled up on top of the building as fast as he could, and then turned and helped Ellie pull Cait up as well.

And as he stood up, that was when he realized how truly fucked they were.

There had to be a hundred of them. Stalkers, coming at them from every direction.

“Shoot them!” Ellie screamed, raising her pistol.

She began pulling the trigger. Cait did the same. David raised his submachine gun, in awe of the rapidly encroaching tsunami of stalkers, and squeezed the trigger. There were so many of them. He had never before in his entire life seen so many of them. And they were fast! So fast! His bullets began finding their targets. He didn’t even have to try too hard to aim, there were so many. David fired off volleys of rounds, trying to go for the head as often as he could. He put down three of them quickly, and then another three, and four more after that before the weapon ran dry and he hastily reloaded. There were so fucking many of them…

Cait and Ellie were firing off with a startlingly calm professionalism, putting their pistols to good use. He saw headshots more often than not. Corrupted blood sprayed on the mud and dead vegetation as stalkers fell to the ground, rolling and coming to a halt in a tangle of limp limbs. He emptied the submachine gun again, putting down another nine of the hideous creatures. As he reloaded again, he heard a hiss behind him.

“Fuck!” he snapped as he turned around and saw that some had begun to climb up the back. He aimed and fired, trying to be careful of the solar panels. He believed they were encased in some pretty tough stuff, but these were close-range bullets and solar panels were far, far too precious to risk fucking up, even in these desperate times. He put three rounds into the screaming mouth of the nearest stalker, blowing its head off its neck, then turned and shot another one in its misshapen cranium. It flopped back off the building, but more were climbing up.

“More are coming!” Ellie screamed.

Behind the ones now coming at him on top of the structure, he saw even more of the creatures emerging from the treeline back there.

This was it. He was probably going to die here.

He was probably going to have his guts ripped out, his skin torn open, and he was going to be eaten alive and screaming.

What a really fucking awful way to die.

But he wasn’t going down without a fight at least. David pumped the nearest fuckers full of lead and drained his submachine gun for the last time. As soon as it began clicking, fresh out of ammo, he dropped it and whipped out his pistol. He shot a stalker in the eye as it leaped for him, then turned and put two rounds into the face of another one.

As he emptied his pistol and quickly began to reload, a sudden thunderous crash of many assault rifles firing off sounded. He saw a great many flashes coming from the north. There had to be a few dozen rifles firing, given the sound and number of muzzle flares. They were all hidden within the treeline. Whoever they were, whatever they were doing, he really didn’t give a shit right now, because they were probably going to save his ass. Although it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t keep this rooftop clear of stalkers.

He finished reloading and quickly killed off all of the others he could see. Cait joined him a few seconds later, and together, they put down those that had managed to make it up onto the roof. As they helped Ellie kill off the remainders, a spray of automatic fire suddenly cut their way, flying overhead. All three of them dropped flat.

“Watch it, fuckers!” Ellie screamed, though he doubted they could hear her. He could barely hear her with all the shrieking and gunfire.

It lasted for what felt like a really long time, and they never seemed to run out of ammo. He heard several shotguns go off, and twice something exploded. What had to be a grenade. Where the fuck were they finding grenades? Who the fuck was this exactly? They had to kill a few more stalkers that had managed to get close enough to crawl up there, but for the most part all the others were either killed right away, or reacted to the new threat and began bounding towards it, and were then subsequently killed by the hail of gunfire.

Finally, after awhile, several minutes at least, the gunfire stopped, and they were still alive, and a tremendous silence fell over the clearing.

“Who the fuck is that?” David whispered.

“I think I know, and we might be in trouble,” Ellie replied quietly.

They slowly got up, and David saw several figures emerging from the trees. They walked among the field of dead stalkers. Occasionally, a gunshot would ring out as they found a survivor. As they began heading right for the building, David felt a fresh wave of cold fear as he saw that they were all wearing matching camouflage uniforms.

“Shit,” Ellie muttered. “I knew it.”

“Who is this?” David whispered.

“Lima Company,” Cait said softly. “Ex-military. Back from when there still was a military, I guess. Or so their leader says. Fuck.”

“Are they...violent?” he asked uncertainly.

“Not exactly, but they take what they deem necessary, and they police themselves, largely. They have been known to help people out, but they’ve also come down very hard on some people who didn’t deserve it. There’s a good fifty or sixty of them, all trained soldiers. Shit.”

“What do we do?” David asked.

“Just stay quiet. Follow my lead,” Ellie replied curtly.

She walked up to the northern edge of the building, and David and Cait joined her, standing to either side of her.

“Is that Ellie I see up there?” a deep voice called out.

“Yes, Stern,” Ellie replied, sounding annoyed.

“I believe I’ve told you before, it’s Colonel Stern.”

“And I believe I’ve told you before you can shove that up your ass, you pompous fuck,” Ellie snapped. David tensed. Wow, she had guts.

The man, Stern, laughed. “You know, Ellie, I just saved your ass. You could at least employ some tact,” he said.

She sighed. “What do you want, Stern?”

“I’ve been meaning to grab these solar panels for awhile now, and since we just happened to be in the neighborhood, I thought we’d knock it off the list.”

“I found them first,” Ellie said, stepping closer to the edge. A few of the soldiers raised their rifles, but Stern waved them back. There were almost thirty of them, David saw. They stopped about thirty feet short of the building. Stern walked ahead of them and came to a stop about fifteen feet away. He was tall, built, and handsome. He sure looked like you’d expect a leader to. His head was shaved bald and he looked to be in his forties.

“Dibs might work among you and your kind, Ellie, but that’s not how things work with me and mine. I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”

Ellie raised her pistol, aiming it right at him. David felt his heart start hammering again, but found himself raising his pistol as well, as did Cait.

All of the soldiers immediately raised their rifles.

“And I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist that you fuck off, I need at least one of these,” she said.

Stern stared at her for several seconds. He looked...impressed. Well, this was an impressive move, if a suicidal one.

“Ellie, I have always said that you have a hell of a lot of guts. Probably more than most of my men, if I’m being completely honest. Sometimes, guts is enough...but not now. There’s no possible way you can win this, Ellie. I know you’re bluffing. Don’t be an idiot. I genuinely do not want to have to kill you and your friends...but I will.”

Ellie remained rigid, and so did Cait and David, and then, finally, she slowly lowered her pistol. “Just give us one, Stern. We need it.”

“I can’t,” he replied.

“Please. It’s for the doctors. It’s desperate,” she said.

His expression soured. “The doctors, huh? No. We gave them an opportunity to join us, share resources, we offered protection, and they turned their noses up at us. If they have problems, then they have them. They made their own bed, and they can sleep in it. We need them more. Our goals are bigger, more important.”

Ellie growled, her tail thrashing violently. She was trembling slightly from what had to be raw fury. David prayed she didn’t do anything rash.

“You’re a real fuck stick, you know that, Stern?” she growled.

“You’re welcome, for saving your life. I’d appreciate it if you left my area of operation,” Stern replied.

Ellie tensed, then finally turned back to them. “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” she said, her voice low and furious.

Cait looked pretty pissed, too. David almost felt bad. He was admittedly pretty pissed about this turn of events, and this guy did seem like a fucking asshole, and they had failed in their mission, but he couldn’t stop thinking about that living wave of monstrous stalkers, and how they’d pretty much been snatched back from the abyss of death.

They walked to the edge, and David grabbed his SMG in passing, almost forgetting that he’d dropped it during the fighting, and then they got back down onto the ground. David landed with a grunt, nearly falling over, whereas Cait and Ellie landed pretty easily. He wished he was more graceful, but honestly he was just glad not to have fallen on his ass.

He tossed one more glance at the soldiers, who stared back at him like an army of statues, and then followed the two women out of the clearing.

…

Ellie and Cait didn’t say anything for awhile, and so neither did David.

At this point he was more scared of Ellie than anything else, she looked ready to rip someone’s head off with her bare hands. Her tail was still thrashing more violently than he’d ever seen it. Obviously she and Stern knew each other. They walked until they were decently clear of stalker territory, and then Ellie led them suddenly off the path.

“Where are we going?” David asked uncertainly.

“I need to make a pit stop,” Ellie replied tightly.

He just shut up and kept following. A moment later, they arrived at another, much smaller clearing, that held a little, dilapidated cabin. “Stay here,” Ellie growled, stalking towards it, “I need a fucking minute.”

David and Cait stopped walking and watched as she walked up to the cabin, yanked open the door, then stepped in and slammed it violently behind her. A moment later, he heard her begin screaming in absolute, raw, uncut rage, and something shattered inside.

“Fuck,” he whispered.

“Yeah, Ellie needs to, uh, blow off some steam,” Cait muttered.

“Who in the fuck was that? Obviously that asshole knew her.”

“Colonel Stern runs Lima Company. They’re stationed in an old military base a ways southwest from here, near the lake. I’ve only ever seen it once, and from a distance. They’ve been here for awhile, like two years or something. They established their presence and for the first year or so they didn’t do much, so I’ve heard. Then they started coming out, talking to people, offering support, asking for things in return. Honestly, they weren’t that bad for awhile. But over the past month or two, they’ve gotten, I don’t know, worse. I’ve been hearing stories that they’re demanding more supplies, more stuff, and I think they’re stretched too thin to be of any real support for everyone they claim to support. Stern...wasn’t a bad guy, I feel like.”

“Wonder what happened,” David muttered.

“MOTHERFUCKER!” Ellie screamed, and something smashed into something else.

“Don’t know. I’ve talked to him a few times, when he’s leading a scouting party or patrol or whatever out in the woods or on the road. He’s polite, charming in his own way, but he’s always kind of creeped me out. It’s like...he’s wearing a mask, you know? He’ll stand there and smile at you, say all the right things, in all the right ways, but...” she showed her teeth in a grimace of discomfort, then shook her head sharply, “I dunno, it’s like underneath, he’s thinking about where best to stick a knife in you maybe, you know? He creeps me out.”

“I can see that,” David murmured.

“FUCKING ASSHOLE!” Ellie screamed.

“I think she might have anger problems,” he whispered.

Cait chuckled. “Can you blame her?”

“No, not really.”

There was silence about a minute later, and then suddenly the door flung open and Ellie marched back out. “Come on,” she said, walking past them.

They glanced at each other, then quickly began to follow after her.

…

Ellie seemed to spend the rest of the walk back cooling off, or trying to, anyway. Again, nobody said anything. David felt real concern begin to creep into him as he realized that they were coming back empty-handed. How was he going to get those antibiotics? If he didn’t get them, that woman might die, and he wouldn’t get his gear, and he wouldn’t secure trade with the farm, and his life with Evelyn and April (and now Cait) would be harder. And, fuck, he still had to have an actual conversation with Evie and April about the seriousness of the relationship with Cait…

There was so much to do.

What was he going to do now?

On top of that, he actually did want to help the hospital. It sounded like they really, genuinely needed it. He was still mulling over all this when they finally made it back to the building that served these doctors as both home and hospital.

Ellie banged on the door and looked up. A moment later, someone leaned carefully out of the window up above, weapon in hand. It was the younger nurse, what had his name been? P something. Peter, yeah.

“Oh fuck, you’re back...uh, where’s the solar panel?” he asked.

“We didn’t get it. Something went wrong. Open the door,” Ellie replied curtly.

The man paled, then nodded tightly and disappeared. A moment later, the door opened and they walked in past Peter. Donald waited for them in the main room.

“Peter said you didn’t get it, what happened?” he asked anxiously.

“We ran into a fucking army of stalkers, and then we ran into goddamned Lima Company, and they took it,” Ellie replied, starting off pissed and defensive, but quickly reigning herself in. “I’m sorry,” she added.

“This is terrible,” Donald muttered.

“What about Vanessa and Katya? Did they find anything?” Cait asked.

He sighed and shook his head. “No. We spoke with them over the radio, it was a bust. They’re on their way back...what are we going to do?”

Ellie reached up and placed her first finger and thumb on her temples, beginning to massage them, hiding her eyes. “You said you had a generator,” she said slowly as she continued to massage her head.

“Yes, but it’s very complex and broken...” Donald answered uncertainly.

“I know an expert in tech,” she replied.

“You do?”

“Yes. She’s a wraith, so if you want help, you’ll have to get over any hangups you might have about working with a wraith.”

“I honestly don’t care what she looks like if she can help us,” Donald replied.

“Good. We’ll get her then,” Ellie said. She turned around, but David stepped forward.

“Wait,” he said, and they all looked at him. “I know your situation is desperate, but...ours is, too. Can we please have at least the medication? Please? I promise we’ll go and get this expert and come back, it’s just that this woman is very sick and has been for days...”

Donald looked sympathetic, but also very reluctant. David glanced briefly at the others, looking for help, when inspiration struck him. He took off his SMG and held it up. “What if I leave this here as collateral?” he asked.

Finally, Donald relented. “Okay, yes, you have a deal,” he said, accepting the weapon. “I’ll give it back to you when this expert arrives. I...believe you are helping for more than just personal gain,” he murmured.

“We are,” Cait said, “you know I believe in you, and what you and your people are doing here, Donald. We will help you, I promise.”

“Thank you,” he replied softly. “I’m sorry if I’m difficult, it’s been...it’s been bad, for a long time now. It’s so hard to trust.”

“I know. I understand. It’s fine, Donald. We’ll be back, okay? As quickly as we can. Tell me again what kind of timeline we’re working with,” Cait said.

He sighed. “Squeezing everything we possibly can out of what we have left, and turning off every conceivable device that we can, I think we might have twenty hours or so.”

“Okay, we can make that,” Ellie said.

“I’ll be right back with the medicine.”

He and Peter hurried off through the door near the back of the room.

“All right,” Ellie said, turning to face them, “so we get this medicine, run back to wherever you need to go, drop it off, then we all go to Jennifer’s place.”

“Maybe we should split up,” Cait suggested. “You go on ahead of us?”

“No,” Ellie replied immediately, shaking her head. “It’s dangerous and you don’t know the way to Jennifer’s well enough to get there on your own yet.”

Cait sighed. “Yeah, fair enough.”

Donald returned with two slim metal tubes that had complex words written across them in black marker, and a slip of paper. “These are antibiotics and these other pills will help with the suffering likely more than anything they’ve got. Do. Not. Lose. These. Or the paper. It gives proper instructions for when to take the pills and how many.”

“I won’t lose them,” David said, slipping all three items into his inner pocket.

“Good. I’ll be waiting...please hurry.”

“We’re already gone,” Ellie said, and briskly walked across the room.

David and Cait followed her out the front door, back into the cold.

CHAPTER NINE

“So who is this woman? Jennifer?” David asked as they began heading back to the garage where Jim and his family were waiting.

“She’s a wraith, and a techie. She’s a goddamned genius, but very isolationist. She’s had...a lot of bad experiences,” Ellie replied. “I traveled here with her,” she added.

“Really? You never mentioned that,” Cait murmured.

“Jennifer and I are very...private.”

“I can tell,” Cait said quietly.

Ellie sighed. “Cait...a lot of shit happened to us, okay? A lot of bad shit.”

“...I’m sorry,” Cait replied.

“It’s okay. I know you don’t mean anything by it. I just...it’s been hard. You...both of you have been very good friends to me. And I do appreciate that, even if I have a very hard time showing it,” she said, slowing so that they could catch up with her on the path back to the river.

“You’re a good friend too, Ellie,” Cait said, reaching out and rubbing her back. “Honestly, you’ve been my only best friend for a long, long time.”

“Oh, but not anymore?” she asked.

Cait sighed. “You just cannot keep your snark inside for more than like thirty fucking seconds, can you?”

“Not really,” Ellie admitted.

“David is amazing, but you’ve been there for me for months now.” She glanced at him. “I hope you don’t take that as an insult, you’re right up there with her.”

“No, it’s fine,” David replied. “I’m honestly glad you like me as much as you do.”

“Okay, okay, enough feelings. Always fucking feelings with you two,” Ellie muttered. “Where are we actually going?”

“That garage at the crossroads,” David said.

“Oh shit, them? Fuck, they’re still there? That’s not a good place...” she murmured. Suddenly, she looked at David. “Have you considered asking them to live with you? I mean, I’ve seen that place, you’ve got room. Even just having them there would make them a hell of a lot safer.”

“We haven’t spoken about it yet, and before I do anything, I’d need to ask Evelyn and April for confirmation. And, I guess, you know, since we’re dating and you’ve got a room there...” he said, looking at Cait.

“Oh, I’m fine with it. I love the idea,” Cait replied.

“Okay, cool.” David reached up and patted the pocket holding the medical supplies. “I hope these work,” he murmured.

“They should. Those guys know what they’re talking about,” Cait said.

They reached the bridge a few minutes later, and then hit the crossroads another few minutes after that. The door opened up even before they managed to get close enough to knock. Jim stood in the doorway, looking pale and anxious.

“Do you have the pills? Please tell me you have them,” he said.

“We have them,” David replied, and the look of intensely powerful, grateful relief that swept his face was almost payment enough.

“Thank you,” he said as David passed him over the tubes and the paper.

“You’re welcome. Read that carefully, it will tell you how many pills to give her and when,” he said.

“Okay. I have to go give her some now, but I found your gear, I think. I’m almost positive I did,” he replied, then he rushed back into the garage. David, Cait, and Ellie followed him in, closing the door behind them and waiting in the main room. After about five minutes, Jim returned. He looked a lot better. It was times like this that David really appreciated the gravity of stress. It was an insanely powerful force on people.

They said it was a killer, and he believed it.

“Thank you so much,” he said, walking over to them. “I’m really hoping these will do the trick. Um, here, I found what you were looking for.” He sat something small but heavy down on the counter they were gathered around. David pulled out the paper he had and held it next to the gear, studying it, comparing them.

“That looks right,” Cait said, and Ellie nodded in agreement.

He thought it looked good, too, but it was really good to have backup on that assessment. He pocketed the paper and the gear in the inner pocket that had held the medicine before. “Thank you,” David said. He began to leave, feeling the press of time, but hesitated as something occurred to him. “I have one more favor to ask.”

“Anything,” Jim replied.

“Do you have, like, a sander? Like for smoothing down wood?”

“I...think so,” he said, frowning and squinting, thinking about it. Slowly, he nodded. “Yeah, I think we do, actually. I can go look.”

“I’d really appreciate it, but we have to go for now. We have something we really need to do, and fast. Um, I’ll be back within the next day to check on you and to see if you have the sander. If you can’t find it, don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. Just...stay safe. There’s a lot of assholes out lately.”

Jim’s expression turned sour. “I saw some people passing through earlier today, they looked like bad types. They reminded me of the monsters who burned River View to the ground.”

David hesitated. “They’ve been causing a lot of trouble lately...are you properly armed?”

“We have guns and decent ammo,” Jim replied. “I know how to shoot, and if it really comes down to it, everyone here at least knows enough to aim and shoot.”

“Okay. Don’t take any chances. We’ll be back later.”

“All right. Thank you again,” Jim said, and offered David his hand. He shook it, as did Cait and then, with some small reluctance, Ellie, who looked more surprised than anything else. “Good luck out there.”

“You as well,” David said, and left, with Cait and Ellie following.

…

“That was rather...authoritative,” Cait said as they crossed the bridge again.

David was looking at the skies, frowning. He didn’t like the way the clouds were building up, or how dark they were getting. And there was a powerful wind beginning to blow, and it had frozen teeth to it. “What do you mean?”

“I thought Ellie or I would have to captain that conversation, but you just...handled it,” Cait replied. “It was hot.”

He laughed. “Really?”

“Yeah. I guess I need to keep reminding you: confidence is sexy.”

“She’s right,” Ellie said.

“Then why’d you fuck me in the watchtower?” David asked, looking at her. “I wasn’t feeling particularly confident at that point.”

Ellie shrugged. “You were cute, I was horny, we were stuck there, and...you seemed like a safe bet.”

“What do you mean, ‘a safe bet’? Safe like...I wouldn’t try to hurt you?”

“No,” she said. “I knew that. I also knew that even if you were stupid enough to try I could kick your ass out a window and watch you drop the thirty feet.”

“No argument there,” David said, and Cait laughed.

“No, you seemed safe like...you wouldn’t make it difficult. I felt like I could fuck you, and tell you that that was it, it was a one-time thing, and you wouldn’t make it difficult. You’d accept that,” she explained.

“Would it even have mattered if I hadn’t accepted it? Like you could just tell me to fuck off anyway, right?”

She sighed. “Yes, David, but believe it or not, I don’t get off on being a bitch.”

“I didn’t say that! I more meant, like, you could tell me to fuck off and just leave and it wouldn’t be a big deal for you, right?”

She was silent for a few moments, and he and Cait waited. He noticed her looking at Ellie now with an interested, curious expression.

“It’s not that easy,” she said finally, not looking at them. “I don’t like being cold and distant, and it isn’t easy, either. I’ve gotten better at it, sure, but it still isn’t what I’d call easy. I’d rather have sex with someone and they not make it difficult, instead of having sex with someone, and I have to tell them to fuck off. I don’t like telling people to fuck off, I don’t want to, not unless they really earned it, you know? And you’re a good guy. And I’m just...glad it’s worked out well so far.”

“So what I’m hearing is that you want to have more sex with me,” David said.

She glared at him, then looked away again. “Yes.”

“Why is that so hard to admit?”

“Did you listen to a single thing I just said?” she snapped.

“I’m sorry. I did. I just...it’s hard not to take it at least a little personally, you know?” David replied.

“Fine, I guess I get that. It’s not you, it’s just...sex is a weakness. It makes you vulnerable. And I have a lot of difficulty with that. And you teasing me about wanting to have sex with you...it triggers the same response as being taken advantage of. Does that make sense?”

He felt guilty suddenly as that finally slid together for him. “Oh. Wow. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know you didn’t, and I’m glad you understand it now,” Ellie murmured. Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Ellie heaved another sigh. “This is why I don’t talk about shit like this, it fucks everything up. I ruined the mood.”

“No you didn’t, Ellie,” Cait said. “Just sidetracked it. And it was an important sidetrack. But if you want, I have something to talk about. Something to ask you, actually, since you are the most knowledgeable about the situation out of the three of us.”

“Okay, what?” she asked.

“I think David and Jennifer should fuck.”

Ellie looked over at Cait, then at David. “Huh,” she murmured, looking ahead again. “So...you’d fuck a wraith, David?”

“Yeah, definitely, if there was mutual attraction there,” he replied.

“That might be the hard part. Jennifer is...like me, only worse. I mean, she’s a wraith, she’s had a hard time. But we have talked about sex before. And I’ve got at least the tiniest inclination that she’s into me...I think.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Cait replied.

“Racists,” Ellie said.

“You’d want them to be?”

“Fuck no. Although I take that back, I’m sure a lot of them are, they just hate to admit that, even to themselves. But whatever. Don’t say anything to her about this, she’ll clam up hard. Just...I’ll feel the situation out, and if I think it’s right, I’ll talk to her about it. But it’s not like we’ll have time to get busy, you know?”

“Yeah,” David replied uncertainly, looking at the sky again.

They walked on.

…

The trip to Jennifer’s was fairly uneventful.

They walked past the hospital and deeper north and a little west. They ran into a pack of zombies on the way there, but managed to put them down without too much trouble. As they made their journey, David’s suspicions at first grew, then became all but confirmed. A cold wind was blowing consistently through most of the walk, and soon a light snow began to fall.

“Fuck,” Cait muttered as she looked around, then glowered at the sky. “Fucking snow.”

“I think we’ve got a storm on our hands,” David murmured.

“I think so, too. Fuck. Goddamnit. This is a real shit time for it,” Ellie growled.

“Well, we’ve got what...nineteen hours? Eighteen and a half?” David replied.

“Yeah, I just...don’t like dallying if I don’t have to,” Ellie said.

“If there’s a blizzard, we’ll have to,” Cait replied flatly. “We’re not going through a blizzard. It’s too dangerous. That isn’t negotiable.”

“Yeah,” Ellie conceded after a moment.

By the time they got to Jennifer’s house, which was an actual house at the end of a very long, poorly tended path, deep in the dead woods, the snow had gotten worse. The flakes were fat and falling fast from the dark gray skies. The clouds seemed endless. David studied the house as they approached. It looked old, but decently tended to. All the windows he could see were intact and closed off. Smoke rose from the chimney.

They walked up to the front door and Ellie knocked twice.

There was a pause, then a voice came to them. “Who is it?”

“It’s Ellie,” Ellie replied, leaning close, “and I’ve got two people with me. Cait, who you’ve met before, the redhead. And David, who you haven’t met before.”

“...and you vouch for them?” she asked uncertainly.

“Yes, I do. I wouldn’t bring them if I didn’t trust them,” Ellie replied. She sounded surprisingly patient, given how she normally reacted to people questioning her judgment.

“Why are you here?”

“We need your help. I have a generator that I need you to look at-”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jennifer said, interrupting.

“Jennifer, please. It’s important. It’s very important.”

A long pause, and finally he heard a muttered word, what might have been goddamnit, and then a few locks clicked open and the door opened up. “Just you, Ellie,” she said.

“Jennifer, it’s fucking freezing out here, and there’s a snowstorm. I’m not making my friends wait outside in the fucking cold,” Ellie replied firmly.

Jennifer sighed. He could hardly see her, as she was standing in shadows, away from the door. She stepped a little closer, and scrutinized him and Cait with flat, mistrusting, bloodshot gray eyes. Well, one thing he knew for sure: the attraction was certainly there on his end. Jennifer was...very beautiful, in a weird, grim sort of way. She was exceptionally pale, almost grayish, but her black hair was pretty vibrant, and she had a pretty face.

She was holding a revolver.

“Fine,” she said finally, “but just into the living room. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“We won’t,” Ellie replied. She looked back at them. “Come on.”

They all walked slowly into Jennifer’s house, and as soon as they were, she pointed them to the immediate left, then closed and locked the door firmly behind them. David came into a cozy and tidy living room, where the fireplace was. There was a couch that was big enough to seat all three of them, and that’s where they sat. Jennifer came in behind them. She was still holding the revolver, though thankfully not aiming it at them.

“Okay, what’s the problem?” she asked, sitting down in an armchair near the fire, facing them. She looked very ill in the firelight.

“You remember the doctors and their hospital?” Ellie asked.

“Yes, I remember,” Jennifer replied curtly.

“They’re kind of fucked. They have a power problem and long story short, we’ve just about run out of options. They have a generator, it’s complicated, I think it’s a bio-mass generator. It’s broken. I think you can fix it. They also have some solar panels, but they seem to think they’re fucked, so you could take a look at them, too, in case they overlooked something. So...I’m asking you to help with this,” Ellie explained.

Jennifer studied her, her expression flat, a little hostile, then her eyes slid over to Cait, and then to David. “How are you two involved in this?”

“I’m running a mission for some farmers, which led me to some sick people at a gas station who had what I needed, but desperately needed meds. Cait took me to the hospital, and they happened to be in that situation when we arrived. Now we’re here,” David replied.

Jennifer continued staring at him, and he felt slightly unnerved by her intense scrutiny.

“Why should I do this?” she asked finally, returning her gaze to Ellie.

“Because I’m asking you to, and because it’s the right thing to do. You know they are good people over there, Ellie, and you know that you’re one of the very, very few people probably within fifty miles who might have a chance to solve this problem,” Ellie replied. Her voice was firm, but still patient.

He wondered, suddenly, how they had met.

Jennifer continued looking at them for several quiet moments, then turned and looked into the fire, frowning. Outside, the wind howled and the house creaked and shuddered under its force. “I’ll...have to think about it,” she said finally. Then she sighed. “And obviously you can’t go back out, there’s a blizzard on, so...you can stay here. Just...stay in this room. I’ll, um...” she stood up, “I’ll see what I can do about dinner.”

She walked quickly out of the room and somewhere deeper into the house.

“So...I think it might actually be warmer outside after that reception,” Cait murmured.

“She seems more on edge than usual,” Ellie replied quietly. “Something probably happened. Or maybe she had a nightmare or a bad false alarm.”

“What do we do?” David asked.

“Sit tight in here for awhile, when she’s had a chance to get used to the idea that there are people in her house and she’s relaxed a bit, I’ll go and talk to her and help her make dinner. You two stay here unless I say otherwise. There’s a working bathroom directly across the hall that we came in through, if you have to go, but otherwise, just stay here and don’t do much of anything,” Ellie replied.

“All right,” David said, and he sat back and settled in after taking his hat and coat off, because what other choice did he have?

…

After about fifteen minutes, Ellie got up and walked deeper into the house.

David realized he was tensing, waiting for a negative reaction, but there wasn’t one. He just heard the two of them talking quietly, the murmur of two voices in another room. He looked at Cait, who just looked back and gave him a small shrug.

“How do you know her?” he asked.

“Through Ellie. She brought me out here a few times. I honestly don’t know much about her, but she’s got a nice setup,” Cait replied.

David looked around. There was a bookshelf with a lot of books, and a nice table with a glass top, and a few quality armchairs. “Yeah.”

Another ten minutes passed before Ellie returned.

“What’s up?” Cait asked.

“She’s...calmer now. We spoke. Just kind of catching up. I still don’t know why she’s this on edge, though. She said, if we had to, we could spend the night here. You know how blizzards are. And she seems like she’s leaning towards a yes with regards to the generator. She asked several more questions about it all. We’re having rabbit and veggie stew,” she explained.

“Oh nice. I love rabbit,” Cait said, and David nodded.

“Okay. Keep sitting tight, I’ll be back when dinner’s ready.”

And this was how they spent the next half an hour, listening to the winds shriek outside, to the trees groan and sway. Before long, Cait laid down and put her head in his lap, and he began to run his fingers through her hair, and then, after a bit, to gently massage her temples.

“You are too sweet,” she murmured.

“Too sweet for what?” he replied, looking down at her. She had her eyes closed. She looked very beautiful.

“I don’t know. For me. You’re very in tune with what your partner wants and needs, I’ve noticed. You’re very caring. You’re very...sweet. Sometimes, a lot of times, I feel like I don’t deserve that,” she answered quietly.

“Why not?”

“I told you about my past, about what a shitty person I was.” She opened her eyes. “That’s why. I did a lot of bad things. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’m a monster or anything, but...I did a lot of shitty things. Most of them little, some of them big. Hell, I don’t even know, actually. Some casual, careless, racially insensitive remark could have been brushed off as me being just another asshole, or...it could have ruined someone’s week, caused tremendous amounts of suffering, you know? I was a bad person.”

“Do you think you’re still a bad person?” he asked.

“I’d like to believe not. I don’t think so, not anymore. I guess mainly I try just to be good, and hope it’s enough.”

“I think you’re a good person, Cait,” he said, reaching down and taking one of her hands.

“Thank you,” she whispered, staring at him intently now. She squeezed his hand. “That actually means a lot. I think you’re a good person, too. A really good person. Like, a rarity. And I’m very glad that you’re in my life.”

“I’m glad you’re in mine, Cait.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

“Not just because of the sex, or that you’re insanely hot. Or that you’re a very useful survivalist with amazing reflexes. I like you. A lot. I like being around you, I like it when you hold my hand when we walk together, I like having you in a room with me, even if we aren’t interacting. I like that I’m going to get to know you. I like how much there is to like about you.”

She sighed suddenly and rolled over, now laying on her side, facing away from him.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said, and sniffed. She shifted, and he realized she was wiping at her eyes.

“Are you crying?” he asked.

“No!” she replied, then sniffed again and sighed. “Maybe a little.”

“Why?”

“I...haven’t had someone treat me well in a long time. Not like this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve met people who respect me, who look out for me. Ellie likes me and treats me well, but not like this. It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone I can call a boyfriend who I feel...very strongly about, and who is this good to me. And I guess I’m realizing that just now.” She sat up and wiped at her eyes, then turned to face him. “I’m crying because I’m happy, David.”

“Well...okay then,” he said. “I guess that’s one instance in which I’m okay with making a woman cry.”

She laughed and then hugged him and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

“Okay, dinner’s ready,” Ellie said, coming into the room. She stopped, looking at Cait. “Are you...are you crying?”

“No,” Cait replied immediately.

“You are. You were, at least. Why?”

Cait sighed. “Emotional moment. I’m just...David made me happy.”

“What the fuck did he do, propose to you or something?” she asked.

Cait laughed. “No, Ellie. He just...is a good person, and is very sweet. Stop asking questions.”

“Hypocrite,” Ellie said, though she said it with a small smirk.

“Oh fine, I’m a hypocrite. Let’s eat,” she said, standing.

David stood as well and they joined her.

…

As they ate dinner, which turned out to be very good, Jennifer seemed to warm up.

He had the idea that at least part of her demeanor was a reaction to the fact that she had encountered a lot of people who were, on varying levels, not okay with her being a wraith. He imagined that she kind of steeled herself for it. But he really didn’t care.

“So how’d you two meet?” Cait asked after a bit. “I’m not sure I’ve ever found out.”

“We met a few years ago,” Ellie said, after glancing at Jennifer, who hesitated, then nodded. “It was a ways from here. Dozens of miles, maybe more. I don’t really know how far we traveled. I had just blown into this little shit town and was looking for work. Someone pointed me towards this wraith who was looking for parts in dangerous places and needed help.”

“I wanted help, I didn’t need it,” Jennifer interjected.

“She needed it,” Ellie whispered.

“Oh fuck yourself,” Jennifer muttered, and Ellie giggled. “I...might have really wanted help,” she admitted finally.

“Anyway. She was looking for parts to finish fixing this car’s engine for the town. She was trying to win them over, fuck knows why.”

“Is it so fucking weird to want to belong, Ellie?” Jennifer asked pointedly.

“I suppose not. Anyway, we did it over the course of a week or so, and despite some...tensions, Jennifer and I found out we liked each other.”

“Could tolerate each other,” Jennifer muttered.

“And so,” Ellie continued, “out of this an...acquaintanceship was born.”

“Hmm. I guess that’s fair,” she murmured.

“Eventually, we wound up here. And now I come out to check on her, see if she needs anything, spend some time together, share stories.”

“Sounds like friends,” Cait said.

“I...have a hard time calling anyone a friend,” Jennifer replied, a little curtly.

“That’s understandable,” Cait said.

They finished their meal after that. By then, a little over an hour had passed since they had arrived, and the storm showed no sign of abating. David began to think of another time this had happened, when he’d been pretty much trapped in a place with Ellie. He seriously hoped something similar occurred this time.

Jennifer was absolutely beautiful, and he was very interested in making love with her.

“I guess it’s still going on,” Jennifer muttered as she got up and walked over to the kitchen window. She pulled aside a heavy blanket she had placed over it and sighed. “Well, my offer does stand, there’s enough places to sleep for you three. I’m...going to go downstairs for a bit.”

“You mind if I come?” Ellie asked.

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Oh I guess not.”

“Good.”

As the two walked out of the room, Ellie looked at David with a smirk and gave him a wink, then they were gone.

CHAPTER TEN

“So that was interesting,” Cait said as they got up and began the process of cleaning up the kitchen. It seemed the right thing to do, since the other two had been the ones to make dinner. They started washing the dishes.

“Yeah,” David murmured.

“So you into her?”

“Oh yeah, big time. Good lord, she’s hot.”

“So you’d really fuck her? You’d really fuck a wraith?”

“Yeah...what, are you suddenly reversing your position?”

“No! Not at all. Fuck away, if the opportunity presents itself. I want to watch. Hell, I want to fuck her. It’s just...people consider it very perverse to have that desire, let alone actually act on it. Even people who are okay with other interracial interactions...”

“You know what? Fuck those people. They can go fuck themselves. Wraiths didn’t ask for this shit. No one asks to be a wraith. There’s literally no reason to treat them any differently than anyone else. They just look different. We all look different. Wraiths don’t deserve the way they’re treated and I’ll say that to anyone,” he said.

Cait looked at him for several seconds, then smiled. “That was hot.”

He laughed. “Seriously? Is there anything I do you don’t think is hot?”

“I dunno, yeah, some stuff. But more in that it just isn’t hot, not that it’s specifically not hot.” She set aside the plate she was washing suddenly and hugged him. “This is what I was talking about: you’re a great person. Also, brave.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just sick of fuckheads, you know?”

“I think most of us are,” Cait replied.

They went back to washing dishes after that, and when that was done, they went back to the living room and sat down on the couch. They sat there for awhile, listening to the wind blow, cuddling together and just relaxing. David was actually nodding into a doze when he realized that he was hearing footsteps approaching.

Ellie appeared in the doorway, smirking at both of them. “Well David, you won yourself another admirer,” she said.

“How so?” he asked. “Did you...talk her into it?”

“I didn’t have to, really. Turns out, there’s a vent that goes from the kitchen to the basement and it makes sound carry really well. We heard what you said pretty clearly, and that...she liked that. After that we just talked about my experiences with you, if she can trust you, shit like that. I vouched for you, obviously. So...she’s willing to have sex with you, and Cait, you perverted little slut, yes, she’s willing to let you watch...and maybe even join in if she’s feeling comfortable enough.”

“Oh fuck yes,” Cait whispered.

“Wow. Okay...awesome. Uh, when?”

“Now,” Ellie said. “Come on.”

David and Cait stood and followed her through the house, and then back to the stairs that led down to the basement. David felt his heart thumping in excitement. He was going to have sex. He was going to have sex with another woman. Another inhuman. Not just a new person, but a new type of inhuman.

He had never made love with a wraith before.

As he came downstairs, David became much more impressed with the house. Upstairs was tidy and cozy, but the basement was decked out. This was clearly where she lived. There was a good sized bed, a full bookshelf packed with more books, another fireplace built directly below the one in the living room, a lounge area with two comfortable looking loveseats, and even a fucking giant tub, built into the floor.

“Wow,” he said.

Jennifer was sitting near the tub, which was filling with hot, steaming water.

“Yeah,” she murmured, looking vaguely embarrassed and a little anxious, “I’ve got a hot water heater, reservoir, and filtration system. I lost some things when I became a wraith, but I still love soaking in hot water.”

“And sex,” Ellie murmured.

“Shut up!” Jennifer said, and he thought that if she could still blush, she would be.

“There’s nothing wrong with loving sex,” Cait said. “It’s awesome.”

“It’s...complicated, for me,” Jennifer replied. “I did used to like it a lot. But, you know, it’s...far, far fewer people are willing to have sex with you if you’re...like me.”

“I understand,” Cait said. “Don’t worry, David’s the real deal.”

“Well, Ellie sure thinks highly of him. You’ve been talking him up enough,” Jennifer murmured.

David looked at Ellie, who crossed her arms. “Don’t give me that look, I told you I like you,” she said, her tail beginning to twitch.

“Fair enough. Um...how do you want to do this, Jennifer?” he asked.

“I thought we could take our clothes off, and get in the tub, which needs to happen anyway, because I need to, um...warm up, you know. I don’t really hold heat anymore. And we could get to know each other while that happens. I like sex, and I’m used to...or I was used to casual encounters, so it’s not like I need to go on a date or anything, but I am a lot more anxious than I used to be, so it’d be nice to get to warm up to you a bit.”

“That’s fine,” David said, taking off his boots, “we can take as long as you want.”

She gave him a small smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

He took off his clothes, feeling uncomfortable again as he stripped naked in front of another attractive woman he hadn’t met before now. He saw as much as felt her eyes on him, and he hoped he wasn’t coming up short. Finally, he stood naked before her, and sat down beside her at the edge of the tub, which was almost full now.

“You’re in good shape,” she murmured.

“I travel a lot,” David replied.

“I used to travel. But at some point, I just...got tired of it. Ellie and I found this place and it seemed nice enough to set up shop. So I did.”

“You’ve done an excellent job,” David said, looking around. “I mean really, this place looks fantastic.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

The tub finished filling up and she turned the water off, then she stood and slowly began taking her clothes off. David watched intently. Seeing a woman get naked for the first time was also an extremely exhilarating and satisfying experience. She was wearing a button-down shirt and she unbuttoned it slowly. As she got to the last one, she hesitated, looking at him, then at Ellie and Cait, who were both also watching.

“This is so nerve-wracking,” she said after a moment.

“Sorry,” David replied.

“No, it’s okay. It’s just that, you know, my body changed a lot when I became a wraith, and it’s become extremely difficult to show people. It’s very...exposing.”

“I understand...if you want to stop-”

“No,” she said, “I don’t. I just need to face the music.” She finished with the last button and shrugged out of the shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, he saw, just a thin tanktop underneath it. She hesitated a few more seconds, then took that off, revealing high, firm breasts. She was skinny, he saw. Not as skinny as April was, but almost. After another moment, she reached down and slipped her thumbs into her waistband, then slowly began to pull her pants down. He saw that she was not wearing any panties or undershorts of any kind.

Her vagina was very smooth.

All her skin was snow white in color, and her veins were very clearly visible beneath it, dark against the light. Her pants pooled around her ankles, and she stepped out of them, then she clasped her hands together in front of her, looking surprisingly vulnerable.

“So, uh...this is what I look like naked,” she said, clearing her throat halfway through.

“You are really hot,” David replied.

She laughed nervously. “Thanks. So are you,” she murmured. “Uh, let’s get in the tub.”

“Okay.”

She turned off the water, as the tub had filled up enough of the way, and the pair of them slipped slowly into the steaming water.

“Oh my fucking God, Cait...we are getting one of these,” he groaned as he got into the water up to his neck.

“Hey, no argument from me,” she replied. “I fully intend to use it before we leave.”

“You two can get in now, if you’d like. I don’t mind,” Jennifer said as she settled in.

“Fucking sweet,” Cait said, and immediately began stripping.

“Okay, I guess two of you here have seen me naked, so why not a third?” Ellie murmured, and started taking off her clothes as well.

“Is it weird, with the fur?” Cait asked.

“A little, but not as much as you’d think. It’s like, well, shit, I don’t know. I was born this way. But I guess I imagine it’s like when you dry your hair on your head, you know? Just all over,” Ellie replied. “I like the feeling of being submerged in water.”

“It is very pleasant,” Cait said.

“Wow,” Jennifer said, and stared at the two women almost bug-eyed. “You two are, uh, holy shit. You are both really hot. Like...oh my God, you’re so hot,” she whispered. She looked over at David. “You’ve fucked both of them?”

“Yep,” he replied.

“I’m his girlfriend,” Cait said as she climbed into the water. “Well, one of them.”

“One of them?” Jennifer asked. He was glad to see that the nudity seemed to be shocking her out of her natural anxiety and apprehension. “I know that some of the species are pretty good about polyamorous relationships, but in my experience, humans are not. I mean, it’s not impossible, it’s not unheard of, it’s just...rare.”

“Well, David’s a rare breed,” Cait replied.

“My other two girlfriends are a rep and a goliath. I have to admit, it’s...different, than what I’m used to. I haven’t had much success with women or relationships before coming here.”

“What the fuck changed?” Jennifer asked.

“I have no idea. My luck, I guess.”

Ellie slipped in and for several minutes, the four of them simply soaked and relaxed. Finally, Cait began to get impatient.

“Come on...do something you two,” she murmured. “I want to watch.”

“She likes to watch, like a lot,” Ellie said.

“Oh.” Jennifer smiled suddenly. “I used to have audiences...before I turned, I was a stripper for awhile, actually.”

“I believe it. You’re very fit,” David said.

“Thanks. And yeah, this is me after becoming half-undead. I was even fitter before. But it was temporary and easy employment while I studied what I really gave a shit about, which was engineering...but I do kind of like performing,” she said, and then she drifted across the tub over to David, and stood before him.

He looked up at her, and she looked down at him for several seconds, then, finally, she sat down in his lap and looped her arms loosely around his neck.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” she said.

“Okay,” he replied.

She slowly leaned in, her hauntingly beautiful face getting closer, and then her lips touched his. She was still a little cold, but that didn’t bother him too much. It was a little like kissing a woman who had just drank a cold drink. Her lips connected firmly with his, and she leaned in more, tilting her head slightly.

Jennifer let out a small moan, then pulled back.

“My,” she whispered.

“Good?” he asked.

“Great,” she replied, and immediately resumed kissing him. He held her as she began to make out with him, kissing him more passionately, and he groped one of her breasts, feeling it beneath the water. It had a pleasant shape and firmness in his grasp, her nipple obvious against his palm. Jennifer slowly pushed her tongue into his mouth, still moaning, slowly getting louder as they continued passionately making out.

After close to a minute, she pulled back, and David found himself almost gasping for air. “Oh fuck, I’m sorry. I forgot. You need to breathe...fuck,” she whispered.

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” he replied, then laughed. “That was great, obviously you aren’t that shy.”

She offered a small smirk. “I do remember how to do this,” she said quietly.

“I can tell,” he said, looking into her eyes. He shifted slightly. “Here, turn around. Sit that sweet ass of yours down in my lap,” he said.

“We’ll need lube if we’re gonna have sex...” she replied uncertainly.

“I know. We’re not to the sex yet,” he said.

“Oh, okay.”

She turned around and sat down in his lap.

“He’s good at this,” Cait murmured.

David settled his hands on her thighs, then began to rub them slowly up and down. At the same time, he started to kiss the side of her neck.

“Oh,” she whispered, shuddering at the attention. “Oh wow. I...haven’t been touched like this in a long time. Oh my...oh yes.”

“You’re a beautiful woman, Jennifer,” he murmured, his lips against her neck. His hands slipped down in between her thighs and gently parted them, then continued to run up and down. She shivered as he caressed her inner thighs.

“Th-thank you,” she whispered, shuddering more.

David continued kissing her neck and moved his hands closer to her crotch, until finally they found her vagina. He slipped a finger in between the taut lips of her pussy, found her clit, and began to massage it gently.

She gasped sharply and jerked against him.

“Is this okay?” he whispered.

“Y-yes. Don’t stop, please,” she begged.

“I won’t until you come,” he said, and began to rub a bit harder.

“Ah! I-um-uh...that may be hard. I...it’s hard for me to come nowadays.”

“I can make you come,” he replied, and she moaned loudly.

David continued fingering her, rubbing her clit. With his other hand, he raised it back up to her breast and began playing with her nipple, and she moaned louder.

“Wow, you are good at this,” he heard Ellie murmur. “Fuck, can you do this for me sometime?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“But it’s-oh!-my turn now...” Jennifer moaned.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything to interrupt this,” Ellie replied.

He steadily increased the pressure he was using, rubbing harder, and then faster. After a bit, he lowered his other hand and found her tight opening, then slipped a finger inside of her. She let out a loud cry of pleasure as he started finger-fucking her.

“You like that, don’t you?” he asked, whispering in her ear.

“Yes! Oh fuck! I like that!” she cried.

He felt her writhe and twist in his lap, like she wasn’t able to contain or control herself, and he wondered how long it had been since someone had touched her like this. Since someone had touched her like this because they wanted to, because they were attracted to her, and not because, maybe, she was paying them to, or maybe even they just felt bad for her. He knew that it was notoriously difficult for wraiths, even attractive women wraiths, to get laid. There were a lot of prostitutes who would do anyone…

But a wraith.

Jennifer was right. In the end, he had to finger her consistently for almost ten solid minutes while kissing her neck, switching between sides, until she finally had an orgasm. But oh was it ever worth it. What an orgasm it was.

“OH MY FUCKING SHIT, DAVID! OH FUCKING FUCK! I’M COMING AND IT FEELS SO GOOD! OH YES! YES! YESYESYESYESYES!!!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs with absolute and total abandon.

He held onto her hard as she bucked and twisted and jerked.

And then she slammed the back of her head into his eye.

“Fuck!” he snapped as a bright explosion of pain erupted in his head.

“Oh, David! Ah! I’m so-oh fuck!-so sorry!” She shifted out of his lap, into the seat next to him, and waited for her orgasm to taper off. Ellie and Cait were wincing, and apparently trying not to laugh. He held his hand to his face.

“Oh my God, David. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Jennifer said once she had control of herself again, turning to face him. “Oh shit, fuck, I feel so bad.”

“It’s okay, Jennifer. I know it was an accident,” David replied, holding his hand over his eye. Damn it hurt.

“It’s just that, you lose control of your sense of self and strength sometimes, as a wraith. You know? And it had been so long since anyone else had given me an orgasm, and those orgasms are always so much more powerful than what I can do for myself, and you were so good at it-”

“Jennifer,” he said, reaching out with his other hand and taking hers, “it’s really okay. I’m not mad. I promise. Like, it’s really okay.”

“...okay. I’m sorry.”

“I accept your apology,” he said, and lowered his hand.

“Ooh,” both Ellie and Cait said at the same time.

He blinked several times. “How is it?”

“It’s...already blacking up. That’s going to be a really bad shiner,” Cait murmured.

“I’m so sorry,” Jennifer whispered.

“It’s okay! Genuinely don’t worry about it,” David replied, laughing softly. “It was more than worth it to get that orgasm out of you.”

“It was amazing,” Jennifer said after a moment. “That’s the best my pussy...the best I’ve felt in so long. Over a year. Um...what can I do for you? I want to do something for you. Whatever you want,” she said.

“Can we have sex?” David asked.

“Yeah.”

“Can we go raw?”

“Yes, definitely. No need for protection.”

“Can I come inside of you?”

“Yes, definitely,” she said.

“Okay, then. I’ll take that,” he said.

“Do you ever pull out?” Cait asked as they got out of the tub and began drying off.

“Um...” he thought about it. “I mean, sometimes. To come on someone’s face or something, if they’ll let me.”

“I’ll let you,” Jennifer said.

“Jennifer, don’t...do anything you wouldn’t normally do just because you feel guilty. Like, I’m really not mad, I don’t feel like you owe me anything. As far as I’m concerned, nothing has changed about this encounter,” he said.

She looked at him hard for a few seconds, as if scrutinizing him and his words, then seemed to relax a little. “You’re...very understanding.”

“He is,” Cait said.

“Okay, um...I have lube over by the bed,” Jennifer said, and walked over to it. David looked at her ass as he finished drying off. It was small but shapely. Really fucking hot. Doggystyle would be nice, but definitely missionary first.

He pretty much always did missionary the first time with a new woman if he could help it. It was so wonderfully intimate.

She crawled onto the bed, and by the time he joined her, she’d tracked down the lube in her big headboard. It was in a simple glass tube. She upended it and shook some out into her hand, then set the bottle aside and made a fist several times.

“Okay,” she murmured, “I’m going to put it on now.”

“Have at it,” David replied. He was still rock solid.

She wrapped her hand around his cock and slowly began to massage it. He shivered as she did this, and she smiled. “I like getting that reaction.”

“Well, you’re doing a pretty good job,” he replied after a few seconds as she kept massaging the head of his dick in her fist.

“How do you want me?” she asked.

“I bet I know,” Cait murmured.

“Oh?” David asked. “How do I want her?”

“On her back,” Cait said.

“How do you know that?” he asked, vaguely annoyed.

She shrugged. “I can just tell it’s your favorite position, plus, it’s what most guys feel most comfortable with, I think, during the first time.”

“Well yes, that’s how I want you,” he said, returning his attention to Jennifer.

“I really like that position,” she said, wiping her hand off on the blankets. “I was worried you’d want to do doggystyle.”

“Do you not like that?” he asked. She laid on her back and opened her legs.

“No, I like it a lot. It’s great, honestly. It’s just...most of the sexual encounters I’ve had since turning, almost all of them actually, have been doggystyle. I think it’s because it’s the position from which my...condition, is least obvious.” She chewed on her lip as he got on top of her.

“Your condition doesn’t bother me, Jennifer,” he said, looking down at her.

Although it was very strange to see all her veins, all that deathly pale skin, and her extremely bloodshot eyes, it wasn’t off-putting. Really, it was enticing. It made the encounter spicier, honestly. And she was so beautiful.

He gripped his slicked-up cock and began to work it inside of her.

“Oh yes,” she whispered. “I’m not as sensitive as I used to be, not nearly, but that still feels really good.”

“Yes,” he groaned as he pushed his way into her, “it does. Holy shit, you are fucking tight, Jennifer.”

“Told you. Been awhile...ah yes!” she moaned as he finished getting inside of her.

“Fuck that pussy, David,” Cait whispered. He kept forgetting that they had an audience. An audience of women he had already had sex with. One of which he was actually dating. He held himself up over her, staring down at her, and she looked back up at him. She seemed like she was enjoying herself, but also a little uncomfortable.

“Is it okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” Jennifer replied, and offered him a nervous smile. “I just-like I said, it’s been awhile. Sex is very...it’s so intimate, and intimacy and I haven’t ever been on the best of terms even before I was like this. Ohhhh yes, that’s good. That dick is good,” she groaned, briefly losing her train of thought. “I’m just anxious something will go wrong.”

“It’ll be fine,” David said, and he laid down against her. She immediately hugged him, gripping his shoulders from the back. He smiled, his face inches from hers. “And if something does go wrong, Jennifer, then it won’t be a big deal. I won’t get angry, I won’t hold it against you or anything.”

He saw her eyes shift, look to the right side of his face. She winced. “I’m really glad. You are going to have such a black eye...”

“It’s fine,” he said, and then he kissed her before she could continue focusing on her anxieties. Because he knew what it was like to be anxious about sex, and knew that if he could really get her into it, get her into the physical, the feelings, the emotional connection of it, that would probably help her enjoy it more.

“Oh, David...” she whispered after a lengthy kiss. She put her legs up in the air. “Oh, David...it’s so good. You feel so fucking good inside of me...”

He kissed her again and then they were making out passionately. He felt one of her hands shift up the back of his neck, then to the back of his head. She held him tightly against her, kissing him deeply, pushing her tongue into his mouth.

She was a great kisser.

Jennifer pushed against him with her hips, and he imagined that she looked fucking fantastic right now, being driven into by him, her legs up in the air. And then she did one of his favorite things: she wrapped her legs around his midsection.

“Please...don’t stop...” she begged.

“I won’t stop,” he said, panting heavily now.

“Is it good?” she whispered, holding his head so that his forehead rested against hers, and they both stared into each other’s eyes. “Is my pussy good?”

“It’s so good,” he moaned. “It’s so good, Jennifer.”

“I want you to come in me,” she whispered softly. “Come in me, David. I want to feel that. I need to feel you blowing your load in me as you fuck me with your huge cock...”

“Oh, fuck, Jennifer!” he cried, and then he was coming, he was orgasming into her. She gasped and then moaned, holding him tightly against her with her arms and especially her legs, which were locked firmly around his midsection.

“Oh fuck! Oh Jennifer!” he panted. “Oh my God! Yes!”

The orgasm was incredible.

It was a supernova of pure sexual bliss, a detonation of staggering intensity. He could feel his seed gushing out of his cock, hosing down her wraith vagina. He was coming into a wraith pussy for the first time and it was a fantastically gratifying experience. Especially with her moving against him, her slim body pressing against his own, her moans on the air. And she stared into his eyes the whole time. Halfway through, he kissed her deeply, passionately, and thrust his cock as deep and as hard into her as he could.

He emptied himself completely into her.

As he came down from the high, he felt a bit guilty, and mildly embarrassed. “Shit,” he whispered.

“What? What’s wrong?” Jennifer asked, sounding worried.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get you off again,” he replied. “I normally do, I just-”

“David,” she said, and laughed, “don’t worry about that. It’s really hard to get me off. Did you not get that from the tub? Like, it’s fine. That felt amazing. The fact that you even gave me an orgasm is spectacular, and the sex was amazing. Like, you did fine. You did better than fine, you did great, David.”

“I...all right, thanks,” he murmured, then yawned suddenly. “Wow, I’m really tired.”

“You’ve had a very busy day, David,” Cait replied.

“It sure has been a trying day,” Ellie muttered.

“I’ll go with you,” Jennifer said, and they looked at her. She looked very beautiful, laying there, nude and pale. “When the storm lets up, I’ll go and try to fix this generator.”

“Thank you,” Ellie said. “We really appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry I was difficult earlier,” she said. “I just have a really hard time with trust. Which, I realize, may not be self evident given the fact that I just fucked you like two hours after meeting you.” She sighed softly. “I guess that just goes to show how lonely I’ve been.” She frowned suddenly and looked at Cait. “So you two are together...this isn’t going to fuck anything up, is it? Because I’ve had encounters with couples in ‘open’ relationships before and sometimes one or both of them is lying about it. Either to me or each other or themselves.”

“It’ll be okay, I promise. I’m not the jealous type,” Cait said easily. “And if you overheard our conversation, then you know how I feel about you.”

“Oh. Yes.” If Jennifer could blush, she would be, David imagined. “Um...I actually would like to try that, with you,” she glanced at Ellie, “and you, if you’re interested. At some point. Not tonight. Although that was a good experience, and I’m feeling good about it, I am a little overwhelmed. I haven’t seen a single other living person for like...two weeks. And even then, it hasn’t been like I’ve been hosting parties every other night before that. Going from that to having three people spend the night and get naked and one of them has sex with me is...a bit much.”

“I understand,” Cait said, and Ellie nodded. “When, and if, you’re ready.”

“Thanks,” she murmured. “I’ve liked you since I met you, and Ellie talks about how good of a person you are, and I can really see that.”

“Oh does she now?” Cait asked with a smug grin.

“Do not start with me,” Ellie growled, and Cait laughed.

“And I definitely like you,” Jennifer said, looking over at David.

“I’m glad. I like you, too,” he replied, then yawned again. “Fuck, the sun’s not even down yet, I think.”

“I think it is actually, by now,” Cait replied. “Get some sleep, David.”

“But what about the hospital?”

“It’s too late to go back out tonight safely. Don’t worry,” Ellie said. “We’ll get up first thing in the morning and head right there, okay?”

“All right,” he murmured reluctantly.

“You three can sleep down here. This bed is certainly big enough,” Jennifer said as she got up. She walked over to the tub and got back down in it. “I need to, um, wash.”

“We’ve been there, at this point,” Ellie said.

“Many times, for me. David is a messy boy,” Cait added.

“I can’t help it,” he murmured as he rubbed one eye.

“I didn’t say it was a problem,” Cait replied. “Get under the blankets and go to sleep, David. We’ll join you.”

“Where will you sleep?” Ellie asked.

“I don’t need to sleep too much, but when it’s time, I’ll just come down and join you in bed. And if it’s too much for me, I have another bed upstairs I can sleep in. And yes, I’m really okay with it. Sleep is...different, for wraiths,” Jennifer replied.

“Okay. Please wake me up if anything happens,” David said as he got beneath the blankets.

“I promise...goodnight, everyone,” Jennifer said.

They all told her goodnight as they got into bed, and soon David found himself sandwiched between two extremely attractive, nude women. He curled up against Ellie’s backside, putting his arms around her, and she let him. He figured Cait wouldn’t mind, given that this was an extremely rare occurrence at this point.

Plus, Ellie was just so soft and warm.

He fell asleep almost immediately.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

At some point in the night, he woke up to Cait riding him.

He remembered orgasming intensely, the pleasure washing through his body, him filling her hot pussy with his seed, and her moaning.

Then she patted his chest and gave him a kiss and told him to go back to sleep.

When he woke up again, for real this time, it was to almost near silence. The only thing he heard, occasionally, was the turning of a page, and a gently crackling fire. He was still in between Cait and Ellie, although now he was spooning Cait, and he had a bad hard-on. It was stuffed in between her thick thighs, but he could tell she was still out.

That was fine, because he wanted to have sex with Ellie. Not that he would turn down sex with Cait, but it had been what felt like a long time since he had made love to Ellie. David carefully disengaged himself from her and rolled over. He caught sight of Jennifer in a nearby chair, reading. She glanced up and smiled at him.

He smiled back, then he gently shook Ellie.

“What?” she whispered, shifting, coming awake.

“It’s fine,” he said, “it’s me. I’m-can we fuck?”

“What? Oh...yeah, sure. I actually miss your cock,” she murmured, and rolled nimbly onto her back, then spread her legs.

“I so fucking missed your pussy,” he muttered as he climbed atop her, scrambled on top of her, really.

“I can tell,” she said with a small laugh.

She reached down between them as he got into place, gripped his cock, then ran her furry fingers up and down it. “It seems bigger than I remember,” she murmured.

“It feels that way in the mornings, I think,” he heard Cait say tiredly.

“Hmm.” Ellie slipped his penis inside of her, and he groaned as he felt that burst of hot, wet perfection. And then she moaned loudly, crying out as he pushed his way into her.

“Oh my God, Ellie, you’re so wet!” he moaned, laying down flat against her as he shoved all his inches inside of her.

“I’m so fucking horny in the morning,” she replied.

David immediately began humping her, screwing her in an almost mindless state, like his whole body had been co-opted by his desperate, furious need to fuck. And she seemed just as desperate and needy. The sounds she was making, almost growling as she grabbed him and forced him deeper into her with her amazing hips and by wrapping her strong legs around him.

“Oh David! David! Oh DAVID!” she screamed, panting and crying out.

He had her coming inside of another thirty seconds.

“Oh fuck!” he cried as the pleasure doubled, tripled in magnitude and intensity, her vaginal muscles clenching and spasming firmly around his already sensitive cock, primed and ready to explode from fucking her absurdly tight, and wet pussy. Which only got wetter as she gushed out sex juices, screaming his name.

“ELLIE!” he roared and shoved his cock as deep and as hard as he possibly could inside of her as the first spray of his seed left him in a rapturous, ecstasy-laden explosion of pure, blinding pleasure. He heard himself moaning loudly as he grabbed her and hugged her to him, coming hard and fast inside of her, shooting his load into her orgasming vagina, filling her up. His whole body throbbed and pulsed in time with his climax.

And it was truly amazing sex.

When they were finished, they were both left panting, gasping almost, for breath, entangled with each other.

“That might have been the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jennifer said, the first to break the silence.

“That was crazy hot,” Cait whispered.

“I feel better now,” Ellie murmured.

“Me too,” David agreed. He groaned as he pulled out of her. He rolled off of her, onto his back, and just stared at the ceiling for a few moments. What a way to wake up.

He heard Ellie giggle. “I fucked your boyfriend,” she said sleepily.

“Did you ever,” Cait murmured. She laughed softly. “You’re so cute when you’re tired.”

“I’ve never seen this side of you,” Jennifer said.

“It doesn’t happen often,” Ellie replied. “There’s a reason for that.”

“What, you aren’t sleepy often?” Cait asked.

“No, I’m just...not often around people I...trust.”

David rolled back over, reached out, took her hand. “You can trust me,” he said, looking at her. “Do you believe that?”

“I...do,” she said after a moment, although it sounded a little reluctant and uncertain. “I just...have difficulty with trust.”

“Obviously,” Cait murmured. She shifted closer, before Ellie could respond, and wrapped her in a hug. “You can trust me too, Ellie.”

“I know. I do. I have, obviously,” she said. She smiled suddenly and reached over. “And I trust you, Jennifer.”

Jennifer reached out and took her hand, tentatively. “I’m glad,” she said. “I, um...”

“It’s okay,” Ellie said. “I know you have troubles, too.”

“Thank you.”

Something seemed to shift in Ellie then, almost like a switch being flipped internally, and she sat up. “We need to get moving,” she said, her entire demeanor and tone changing.

David realized she was right. He started to get up, but Cait suddenly grabbed his wrist and yanked him onto his back. She mounted him in a flash.

“Uh-uh, my turn,” she said.

“Make it fast,” Ellie said as she got to her feet.

“We will,” Cait promised.

…

The second round of sex invigorated David further.

He did offer to have sex with or take time to give Jennifer an orgasm, but their new wraith friend said that she needed some time without physical intimacy for a little while. She had greatly enjoyed what he had given her, but she just needed a little space, which he understood and appreciated. So after Cait fucked him, they washed up, and soon the quartet were all washed, dried, dressed, and upstairs. They gathered their things, scarfed down a quick breakfast, and then headed outside to a world covered in a fresh layer of snow.

The skies were bright and clear, with not a cloud in sight. The sun was still very low on the horizon. If he had to guess, David would say that it was somewhere between seven or eight in the morning. None of them spoke as they made their way briskly towards the hospital. Jennifer had taken a moment to lock everything up before she’d joined them. She had a backpack full of parts and tools that she said would probably have what they needed. As they got underway and the glow of not just sex, not just sex with multiple women, but sex with a brand new woman and even a brand new species of woman, faded away, David became antsy.

There was much to do, and on top of that, Evie and April would be worried.

And on top of that, he still needed to tell them about how his and Cait’s relationship had deepened a little. Although he was beginning to get the impression that it was more than a little for Cait, as apparently she hadn’t claimed anyone as a boyfriend in quite awhile. All of this seemed very fast for him, especially with his budding relationships with Evie and April as well. On the one hand, it was really fast, on the other hand…

Well, that was life now.

Things moved briskly.

They managed to reach the hospital quickly, as nothing dangerous ran into them. As they approached, David could see the lumps beneath the snow where the bodies of thieves still lay. Ellie walked right up to the front door and hammered on it.

“Open up, Donald! It’s Ellie! I’ve got your expert!”

The door opened hardly ten seconds later and Donald, who looked like he’d barely slept at all, stood in the doorway, ushering them in. He hesitated, though only briefly, when he saw Jennifer, who looked dead in broad daylight.

“Donald, this is Jennifer. She’s the expert,” Ellie said.

“I hope you don’t have a problem working with wraiths,” Jennifer said uncomfortably. It sounded like she meant it to be a joke, but her tone was too stern and worried for that.

“I don’t have a problem with wraiths,” Donald replied, “and at this point, if you can solve our problem, I don’t care about much else.”

“Good. I can work with that,” Jennifer said, relaxing slightly. “What kind of timeline am I looking at here?”

“Perhaps six hours,” he replied.

She sighed. “Not exactly a great situation...”

“What are your terms?” he asked.

She frowned. “What? My terms?”

“Payment? Conditions?”

“Oh.” She paused, then slowly looked over at David. He was genuinely curiously. What did a wraith want? What did a wraith need? Especially one who clearly had as much as Jennifer. A slow smile spread across her face. “I want lubricants.”

“I, um...that’s what you want?” Donald asked uncertainly.

She returned her gaze tightly to him. “Yes.”

“Uh, okay then. Deal. Please, come this way.”

“One moment.” She walked over to David and stood before him, hesitantly. He looked back at her, waiting. Suddenly, she hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear, “for the orgasm, and the sex, and making me feel like a person again. Can I see you again?”

“Of course,” he replied, hugging her back. “And you’re welcome.”

She hugged him a bit more, then pulled back, hesitated once more, then kissed him quickly on the lips. And then she turned and walked over to Donald, who was giving the two of them a very surprised and curious look.

“Take me to it,” she said.

“Uh...yes, yes. Right this way.”

They disappeared deeper into the building.

“David’s got a girlfriend...” Cait said, smirking broadly.

“Evidently. What is it about you? I’ve never seen one human guy get so many inhuman chicks,” Ellie muttered.

“I think that I, by chance, met just a few fucking awesome women who happened to be open to sex and more, and now, evidently, I’m getting introduced to other awesome women like that...” he replied.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. You capitalized on that,” Cait said.

“What do you mean?”

“What, you honestly think we’d have stuck around if you weren’t worth our time? You’re a gentlemen, in a number of ways. You earned this pussy,” Cait said. “And it’s just lucky for you that you’ve run into several women willing to give it to you.”

“Beyond lucky,” he agreed.

“I’ll say,” Ellie said. She sighed. “I really should stay here, in case they need help with anything else. And honestly I want to catch up with Vanessa and Katya when they get back. But I will come and see the two of you, and soon, for a proper catch-up.”

“Okay, Ellie. It’s been very good to see you again,” Cait said, and she gave her a hug and a kiss on the mouth.

“Yeah. I’m glad I got to see you,” David said, doing the same. She grabbed him and prolonged the kiss, slipping her rough tongue into his mouth, and came away with a sly grin when she let go of him.

“You’re so fucking lucky I like you as much as I do,” she murmured.

“Oh, I know,” he replied.

She laughed. “Be careful out there, okay?”

“We will. You too.”

“Oh wait!” Donald called, and they heard returning footsteps. He reemerged in the room, holding David’s submachine gun.

“Oh shit, yeah,” David muttered, feeling embarrassed that he’d forgotten it. “Thank you,” he said as Donald returned it.

“You’re welcome.”

They said their goodbyes, and then they were off once more.

…

David was feeling fantastic.

It felt like he was finally getting shit done. Because right after leaving the hospital, he and Cait marched directly over to the garage. He wanted to make a pit-stop there and see how they were doing, and tentatively bring up the idea of a relocation.

That was the third thing he intended to talk to Evelyn and April about. Right after explaining what had happened, and bringing them up to speed on him and Cait.

That still made him a little nervous, even though he felt fairly confident it would go okay.

Luck seemed to be with them today, David thought as they reached the garage. They still hadn’t run into anything more serious than a few random zombies that they’d put down with ease. They kept up a quick pace, and managed to make it across the bridge and up the road in under half an hour. Cait, it seemed, was also in a very good mood. They didn’t talk much, but everything about her seemed to shine, and she kept touching him and planting kisses on his cheek, and it was tremendously good to have the affections of such a wonderful, attractive woman.

They walked up to the front door of the garage and knocked on it. The blanket was pulled back, then dropped into place, then the door opened up.

“David, Cait! How are you?” Jim asked, sounding in much higher spirits than before, which gave David a lot of relief. He wouldn’t be in high spirits if the meds hadn’t worked.

“We’re good. Very good,” David replied. “How is your wife doing?”

“Much better already,” Jim said, beaming with a broad smile. “Her fever’s down and she slept through the night peacefully, and her cough is going away. She says she feels so much better. Thank you so much. I think...you saved her life.”

“I’m so glad we could help,” Cait said, and David nodded.

“So are we. So, um, did that gear do the trick?” he asked.

“Actually, we haven’t had a chance to find that out yet. We’ve been busy with other projects. We just came by to check up on you, and...possibly make you an offer,” David said. Cait glanced at him, but held her peace, probably interested to see how he navigated this.

“What kind of an offer?” Jim asked, seeming honestly curious.

“Right now, this is all...theoretical. But what if, theoretically, I offered you and your family a safer place to live?” he asked.

“Well...then I’d ask for your terms,” he said, sounding slightly more cautious now.

“I don’t feel comfortable discussing any terms until I’ve managed to talk it over with a few other people, but I’m reasonably sure I’ll be back here later today with a real offer. What I can say is that, ideally you will become part of a community, and we’re all very reasonable people. And I would advise you to seriously talk it over with your family.”

Jim nodded slowly. “Okay...we’ll do that. Honestly, after all the help you’ve given, we’re quite willing to listen.”

“I’m glad. Um, I’ll be back when I can.”

Jim thanked them again, then bid them farewell.

“Well, that was a little unexpected,” Cait said as they began walking away, heading east, back up the road again.

“Well, I wanted to kind of...prime them, you know? Instead of just showing up later all at once, asking them if they want to move their entire family. Now they’ll have time to talk it over, feel it out, you know? And I’m pretty confident Evie and April will be okay with it. We’ve already discussed it a little bit,” David replied.

“Fair enough. So where to now? Back home?”

“I’d love to but no, I want to get this gear delivered right now, and then home.”

“To the farms, then,” Cait said, and he nodded.

They resumed their journey.

…

When they approached the farms again, the same two men were on guard. They both perked up as they saw them, and, he quickly realized, specifically because of Cait. Well, who wouldn’t? She was insanely hot.

“Hi, Cait,” one of them said, standing, and for some reason it immediately set David on edge. For a few seconds, he honestly wondered if he had seen some kind of sign, some hint of motion that was warning him of danger in the background, for how strong the reaction was.

“Hi, Dylan,” Cait replied.

“Uh...what are you up to?” the taller of the guards, Dylan, asked.

David realized why this was setting him so on edge: Dylan was very obviously infatuated with Cait. Oh. Well, he’d kind of put up with this before. (Although he’d never dated anyone as attractive as Cait. Well, that wasn’t true. Evie was. In her own way, he thought April was. Standards of beauty tended to shift across the interspecies lines. Though given how much he desperately wanted to fuck every other species, obviously not by that much.)

He was experiencing jealousy, and he quickly quashed it.

Although there were some women who preferred that their men ‘fight for them’, so to speak, David tended not to garner their interest much. And, personally, he much more preferred women like Cait or Evie or Ellie, who would gladly fight their own battles, and weren’t turned on by displays of machismo.

They were actually turned off by them.

“Just making sure my boyfriend gets here and home in one piece,” she replied.

Dylan hesitated, and the crestfallen look on his face was actually kind of painful to watch as he looked briefly at David. “You two are, uh, together?”

“Yes,” Cait replied simply.

“I...see.”

The other guard laughed softly. He seemed more put together and stood up. “Do you have what we need?” he asked.

“Yes,” David replied, presenting the gear.

He took it, inspected it, then passed it to Dylan. “Here, go show the boss.”

“I, uh...” He looked down at the gear in his hand, then at the other guard.

“Come on, boss is gonna get pissed if he knows you just stood around when you had this thing.”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“Because I’m a better shot than you.”

Dylan sighed, took a step towards the farm, stopped, looked back at Cait. “Uh...bye.”

“Goodbye, Dylan,” she said.

He lingered for another few seconds, then turned and began walking briskly away.

“Sorry about that,” the other guard said.

“It’s fine,” Cait replied simply.

He sat back down and they all stood around waiting for a bit. When a figure emerged from the main house, David at first thought Dylan was coming back, but he realized the shape and size and stride of the person in question was too different. It was, he realized, the man himself, William. He was carrying what looked like a backpack.

Walking down the long road, he finally arrived at the gate and passed the pack to David, who accepted it. “You did the job, David. And you did it quickly, too.”

“I would have been back yesterday, but the storm hit,” he replied.

“Go on, take a look,” William said, nodding to the pack.

David dropped into a crouch, setting the pack in front of him and opening it up. Inside, he saw a glass, gallon jug of cold milk, several cans that were labeled ‘chopped beef’, and some vegetables like corn and carrots, a loaf of bread, and some wax paper wrapped with twine.

“That’s bacon in there,” William said when he saw David touching it.

“Thank you for all this,” David replied, sealing it back up.

“You earned it. Consider that payment and a bit of a bonus. You passed the test, so we can work together now. Going forward, I’d like to offer a bit more of a menu as payment. Some things we have a fair amount of, some not. If you show up with a list of your wants, that will help and we can see what we can make happen. Given the fact that there aren’t always jobs like these on offer, we do offer more mundane work, like working the fields, vehicle maintenance, cleaning up, stuff like that. Of course, some of that is seasonal,” he said, indicating the snow all around them.

“I’ll definitely keep it in mind. Thank you for this,” David said, and offered his hand.

William shook it and grinned. “I look forward to working together.”

David grabbed the pack and then he and Cait began hurrying home.

…

“I hope they aren’t angry,” David murmured as they walked into the campgrounds.

“Why would they be?” Cait replied.

“Either for not getting back here sooner or...”

“Or…?”

“Our relationship escalated quickly.”

“Don’t worry, remember I-”

“-won’t get in the way, I know. I just...this is all new to me. I’m scared of losing this.”

“I know,” Cait murmured, taking his hand. “I understand. But I think you can trust Evelyn and April.”

“...I think so, too,” he replied after a moment.

They walked up to the main office and opened up the door. “Evie! April! I’m home with Cait!” he called.

“Oh shit, David, thank fucking God!” he heard Evie call back from upstairs. She quickly came down with April. “Are you okay? Your eye! What happened!?”

“I’m fine. We’re both fine,” he replied, and realized that he’d actually forgotten about his eye because he’d been so distracted and apparently everyone else hadn’t really said anything about it.

Evelyn wrapped him in a hug and picked him up off the floor. It was intimidating and also very comforting to be hugged by a seven and a half foot tall woman. She kissed him firmly on the mouth, then set him down. April was much more tentative with her hug, and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly to himself, and he kissed her too.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Holy fuck, so much,” he replied. And then, almost without thinking about it, he said, “Uh...I fucked a wraith.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened a little. “You did? Really?”

“Wow,” April murmured. “How did that happen? What’s her name?”

“Jennifer,” he replied. “It, uh...shit, we really need to catch up. Like, legitimately a lot happened.”

“That’s how the eye happened,” Cait said with a smirk. David sighed.

“We were just about to make lunch,” Evelyn said. “Let’s talk over that.”

David hesitated, and then realized that it had actually been just about three hours since he’d first left Jennifer’s house. Damn. He was very hungry, too.

“Well, I’ve got bacon,” he said, holding up the second pack.

“So you did finish your work from the farm, then,” Evelyn said.

“Yep.”

They headed into the kitchen and started making lunch. They fried up a lot of chopped beef and bacon, and threw in some vegetables with the beef, and then pretty much drank off all the milk in one go, given how thirsty they were. While they prepared the food and then ate, he caught them up on everything that had happened.

“That is fucking insane,” Evelyn said. “God, I’m so sorry that part with the stalkers happened. You must have been scared shitless.”

“Hell yes,” David replied.

“I know I was,” Cait muttered.

“Now, there are, ah, two more things to bring up. Kind of, uh, ‘Seeking your approval’ things. Both of you,” he said.

“Oh. Okay,” Evelyn replied, clearly intrigued.

“Uh...Cait wants to, um, take mine and her relationship to, I guess, the next level.” He hesitated, cleared his throat. “I’m bad at this,” he muttered.

“You want me to?” Cait asked, and he nodded. She looked at Evelyn and April. “For the past almost two years now, I haven’t had what I would call a real relationship. Everything has been a casual fling, sometimes an extended casual fling. But during our trip together, I realized that David and I...we connect. There’s a spark there. And I just kind of realized all at once that I want to be with him, and I also want to be a part of this relationship you three have. I like all three of you a lot. So...I’m at your mercy.”

David was honestly surprised. He thought they all were. This was...very vulnerable, but also just so straightforward and honest and heartfelt.

“I have to admit, I like you a lot, Cait,” Evelyn said. She looked at David. “I’m assuming that you feel the same way?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m sorry if I’m coming up short here, I just...this is a lot for me. Like, I was lucky to have one woman interested in me once a year, you know? This is overwhelming. The three of you are just...so great, and so beautiful, and I like all of you so much. And...I want to make this work, you know?”

“I’m okay with this,” Evelyn said after another moment. “All three of you, I like a lot. And I can do the polyamorous thing, if we have the right people. And I think these are the right people.”

“April, you look apprehensive,” David said.

She frowned, looking even more so now that attention had been called to her. With a visible effort to get control of herself, her emotions, she relaxed slightly. “I’m...feeling a little...outclassed,” she admitted.

“I don’t get it,” David replied after a moment.

“How am I supposed to compete with Evelyn, let alone Cait?” she asked all at once.

“April,” Cait said, leaning forward, looking intently at her, “that isn’t how this works. You don’t have to compete. Not at all. That’s not what’s happening here. We’re all in this together. I mean, we’re all dating each other. Everyone is dating everyone else. We aren’t competing with each other, we’re strengthening each other. I know it’ll take some time to work it all out, but...we can all trust each other, and come to each other with problems, if we’re needing help at all. We’ll all be here for each other...okay?” she asked.

“Okay,” April murmured after a moment. She sighed and hugged herself. “I’m sorry I’m so insecure, I’m not trying to be difficult or look for attention...”

“We know, April,” Evelyn said, reaching over and touching her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re here for you. We won’t abandon you.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly. A few moments passed, and again she seemed uncomfortable with the spotlight.

“All right,” David said. “So, final time, just so we’re all clear: all of us acknowledge and advocate the idea that all four of us are in a poly relationship with each other?”

“Yes,” Cait said.

“Yes,” Evelyn said, nodding.

“Yes,” April said, sounding stronger, surer than before.

“Okay. Good.”

“What was the other thing?” Evelyn asked.

“Oh, right. So, as you can gather from our stories, the people at the garage, Jim and his family and, uh, I think some teenager they happened to pick up while River View was going down, they’re in a sorry state. And, I want to seriously discuss the potential to offer them a place to live here, under our protection...thoughts?”

“I’m for this,” Cait said immediately.

Evelyn began to nod. “Yeah...it feels right. I mean, why not? We could make each other safer, and they can help, pitch in. I’m there.”

“April?” he asked, looking at her.

“Yeah, I mean, it seems like a good idea. I don’t have any kind of reason against it beyond just general anxiety. I...kinda like our cool little setup here, just us, you know? But that’s no reason to keep people from being safe and happy. I’m okay with it. We should do it,” she replied.

“Okay then, in that case, I want to make it happen.” David stood up. “I also want to offer Ashley and her family a place here as well. Although they’ll likely take up two cabins...actually, maybe three. They also have an older couple with a younger kid with them that they’ve kind of adopted, and they can’t fit that many people all in one cabin. And Ashley’s got a strong independent streak.” He glanced at Cait. “Last time I saw her, I suggested she basically be you.”

“Well, being me is pretty awesome,” Cait replied.

“I think you just want to have some more willing pussy around,” Evelyn said with a smirk.

“I mean...that’s not the main reason I want this. It’s the right thing to do,” he replied quickly, shifting uncomfortably. The women laughed.

“You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed,” Cait said.

He sighed. “Yes or no?”

Again, they all agreed. “But I think those two should be it for a little bit. To see what kind of things crop up that we might not have thought of when it comes to the logistics of running something like a small town,” Evelyn said.

“Good idea,” David replied. “Uh...anyone want to come with? I want to go tell Jim the good news.”

“I’ll go,” Evelyn said.

“I think I’m going to stay here and...” she looked meaningfully at April, “...do things, with April.”

“Oh my,” April whispered, and shivered under Cait’s intense gaze. David knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that gaze.

It was a good, but kind of intimidating, feeling.

“Have fun,” he replied.

“Oh I promise, we will,” Cait replied. She smirked at April, standing slowly and putting her hands on her hips. “I’m going to begin introducing you to some of the benefits of having me as your girlfriend.”

“Oh-okay,” April said, and laughed nervously, probably overwhelmed with arousal, given the last time they’d had sex together.

He looked at Evelyn. “Ready to go, honey?”

“Yes, dear,” she replied with a happy smile, and they began preparing for the walk.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“I missed this,” Evelyn said as they walked towards the path that ran alongside the river.

“What?” he asked. They were holding hands. It was a little weird, given how much bigger her hand was than his, but he didn’t care.

She felt good.

“Walking. Just walking, with you. You’ve been so busy with your new girlfriend.”

“Speaking of that, are you really...okay with it?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, and he was glad that he didn’t detect anything but sincerity in her voice. No hesitation, no uncertainty, no buried resentment. “I like Cait a lot. She’s a serious catch. And she can eat pussy like no one I’ve met in a long time...not to diminish your own capabilities, dear.”

“Oh, not at all. Cait is...skilled.”

Evelyn smirked. “Yes. I’ll admit, I don’t have a lot of experience with open relationships, but I’m not a jealous person. At least, for the most part. I have...insecurities, like everyone else. But I can tell you really like me. You aren’t just faking it to get pussy, you aren’t doing it out of pity, you actually really like me. And that...is such a good feeling. And I like you in the same way. So far, I trust Cait. I think she won’t overstep any boundaries, she will listen, she will be reasonable. And I believe you will, too. Honestly, my biggest concern is April.”

He sighed softly. “Yeah. She’s...very insecure. Honestly, I would have liked to have taken a bit more time with this, but Cait sort of...sprung it on me, you know? And our own relationship is not only new to her too, but also just new in general.”

“I think we can handle this, though. I, well, empathize with April.”

“I think we all do.”

She snorted. “I doubt Cait has ever had much experience in the insecurity department. She looks like the kind of person who has always been beautiful, and has only gotten more so with age,” Evelyn murmured.

“Cait...will empathize with April. I’m positive. Her life isn’t as simple as it seems,” he said, thinking back to her admitting to him her own racist past.

“Like how?” Evelyn asked, looking at him.

He considered it for a moment, then sighed softly. “I don’t quite feel comfortable relaying it to you. Cait told me in confidence, and although I think she will likely tell you, I really think it should be her choice to tell you.”

Evelyn nodded. “Okay, I can respect that.” She smiled. “I do respect that about you. Too many people are too eager to gossip, but you actually respect privacy.”

“It seems worth respecting,” David replied.

“It is...now, about these people. We’re all in agreement, we want to offer them a place to live. One of the cabins. One of the larger cabins, I imagine. How many are there?”

“There are four of them. The man, Jim, his wife, who was the one that was ill, their daughter, who I believe is young, somewhere between seven and ten, I’d guess, and a teenage boy they picked up while fleeing from River View. What kind of rules do we want to impose?”

“I guess...don’t do anything stupid. No stealing, no fighting, obvious stuff. We’ll have to figure out a food situation, probably determine how much they can do on their own, versus how much help they might need. How capable are they?” she asked.

“Jim seems capable. I honestly have no idea about his wife, I’ve never even seen her. The teenager seems...foolhardy, but that could just be my impression because of Jim, who seemed a little overprotective of him. Right now, Jim is injured. He hurt his leg trying to go for medicine and then being forced back by some stalkers. But they’ve survived this long, so I’d say they’re probably all at least somewhat capable.”

“Probably. I think we’ll have to draw up some kind of schedule. I would like there to be someone awake and aware at all times, you know? Guard duty.”

“That makes sense,” David agreed.

They let go of each other’s hands as the garage came within sight. It didn’t look any different than before, but David was still paranoid nonetheless. Now felt like an oddly perfect time for something to go wrong: right before they struck a deal that would (ideally) vastly improve their lives. Hopefully Jim had had enough time to talk it over. As they approached, the front door was suddenly flung open, and Jim emerged slowly, limping, carrying one half of a stalker.

“Oh fuck,” David whispered, and they began hurrying forward. “Jim!” he called.

Jim turned around, dropping the stalker, and David also saw that the teen was on the other end of it. Jim took a step back, a look of surprise and fear briefly crossing his face as he saw them, probably because Evelyn was intimidating as hell if you weren’t expecting her, and even sometimes if you were, but then he got control of himself and straightened up.

“Hello, David,” he said.

“Are you okay? Is everyone all right?” he asked as they came to stand in front of the garage.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” he replied. He looked down angrily at the stalker. “Fucker got in through, we think, a vent somewhere. Scared the living fuck out of us, but my wife shot it. She’s doing much better now with the medicine. Thank you again for that.” He looked at Evelyn. “Hello, ma’am. My name is Jim Carlson.”

“Evelyn,” she replied simply.

“A pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise. David here has told me that you might be interested in coming to stay with us at our campground,” she said.

“My family and I are very interested in your offer. We’ve talked it over and we’re ready to accept immediately.” He glanced down at the dead stalker. “This isn’t the first shitty thing that’s happened recently.” He looked back up. “What are the specifics?”

“I feel as though we can iron them out in detail once we’re there,” Evelyn said, “but there are obvious things, like: don’t steal, don’t get in fights, don’t be an asshole, basically. You’ll be the first in what we hope will be a community, so you and your family will be expected to commit a reasonable amount to the general cause of keeping us all alive. This will change over time, depending on what we all need, but basically stuff like guard duty, maintenance to the buildings, help fighting off or hunting down undead or human attackers, should the need arise, salvaging supplies from abandoned buildings, stuff like that. We’re reasonable and willing to work with you, and we’ll pool our resources. You can own your own items, but I don’t think any of us should be hoarding, if you take my meaning,” she explained.

“That all sounds pretty reasonable, and about what I thought it would be. We accept. If you don’t mind, we’ll go gather up our things and then we can join you right now,” Jim said.

“That sounds perfect,” David replied.

“Good! And,” he looked at David, “I found what you asked me to look for. I’ll send it out to you.”

“Okay,” David replied uncertainly, trying to remember what it was he’d asked for. He suddenly remembered that he had asked for something, an item, the last time he was here, or maybe the time before that. Fuck! Time and instances ran together when you were running around, getting a lot of shit down. It was hard to keep it all straight in your head.

“What’s he mean?” Evelyn asked.

All at once, he remembered. “Oh. I got you a present. Well, I’m getting you one.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You’ll see.”

A moment later, the teenager returned with the handheld sander that David had asked for and passed it to him. “Uh, here. We’ll be done in another five minutes or so.”

“Okay. Thanks. And take your time, make sure you don’t leave anything important behind. We can come back, but leaving stuff unguarded isn’t a great idea. And Evie and I can carry some of the load, too,” David replied.

“Uh...okay,” he said awkwardly, and disappeared back into the garage. David wondered if he was intimidated by Evelyn, or just an awkward teenager. Probably both. David had been pretty stupidly awkward not all that long ago.

He often still was.

“Here,” he said, handing her the sander.

“Oh shit,” she murmured, taking it and studying it. “You remembered that I wanted this for our bed...”

“Yeah.”

She looked up after a moment, smiling broadly. “That’s...very appreciated, honey. Definitely appreciated. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Evie.”

She gave him a long hug and said, “I’m going to suck you dry later on.”

He felt a twitch of lust. “I very much am looking forward to that.”

After a bit, the teenager returned with a crate of stuff, mostly cans, and told them it would be very helpful if they’d carry them. They loaded them up into their packs, and eventually, David finally got to meet Jim’s entire family. His wife was a very tired, pale, and attractive dark-haired woman with a slim build and a calm air about her. She walked up to David as she emerged in the cold winter light and offered him her hand.

He took it and she shook firmly. “Thank you so much. You probably saved my life, and definitely offered a tremendous relief. And this opportunity you’ve given us for relocation...I promise, we won’t squander it. You’ll find us valuable assets.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” David replied.

Their daughter greatly resembled her mother and seemed hardly able to contain herself. He supposed he understood how she felt. He remembered how exciting it was to go to a new place when he was younger. Hell, that was still exciting.

“Is this everything?” Evelyn asked. They all had backpacks heavy with gear, and the teenager, who finally introduced himself as Benjamin, had a suitcase that looked loaded down.

“It’s all the most important stuff: guns, ammo, food, medicine, tools and parts. There’s stuff I want to come back and get, but it can wait,” Jim replied.

“All right, let’s go then,” Evelyn said.

And off they went.

They walked along in relative silence for the first few minutes, moving up along the river until they could find a relatively hidden path that led roughly towards the campgrounds. After a bit, Amanda spoke up. “So, how exactly is this structured? I mean, who’s in charge, precisely?”

“I guess we are,” David replied.

“At present, there are three permanent residents, not including your group. We have another who is...semi-permanent,” Evelyn said.

“What does that mean?” Jim murmured.

“She has a room in the main office that is hers, but she’ll likely be gone half the time, out in the wilderness.”

“Is it that redhead? What was her name...” Amanda replied.

“Cait,” David said.

“Yeah, her. She seemed...very capable.”

“Oh, she is. She’s a, um, close friend,” David replied.

“Uh-huh,” Amanda murmured. “And the other person?”

“Her name is April. She has knowledge in medicine. I don’t think you’ll see much of her, she’s...shy.” He paused. “She’s also a rep.” He hesitated further. “I suppose I should have mentioned this before, although I really don’t think it will be an issue, but...if anyone has a problem living and working with inhumans, then I don’t think this is going to be sustainable.”

“We don’t,” Jim said, and he sounded confident.

“Okay, cool. We have another two families lined up that we’re going to ask after we get you settled in, and then we’re going to kind of let it ride for a bit, see how well it goes. We’re kind of new to this whole ‘running a village’ thing,” David replied.

“So you do intend for it to be a new settlement?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Evelyn replied after a bit.

They found the path and moved along it. It was, thankfully, an uneventful trip. That was probably one of the most valuable aspects of this part of the region: low zombie population. That could change, and it was winter now, which tended to have an effect on that, but it was valuable, and they were going to use it while they had it.

They put down a few zombies on the way back, and as they approached the campgrounds, David suddenly wondered if Cait and April were going to be...audible. That might be something they were going to have to adjust, because the women could be very loud. Especially Cait. And given how amorous they all were, then that might cause some problems. Maybe they could find some way to soundproof one of the rooms a bit.

“And this is it: home,” David said as they walked in through the front gate.

“We still need to do some work on fixing up the fence surrounding us, but for the most part we’re fairly secure,” Evelyn said.

“This place is amazing,” Amanda murmured, looking around.

“Which one do you want? I would personally recommend one of those three,” she said, pointing to three of the larger cabins lined up to the right of the main office. “They’re the larger models and they still have furnishings, for the most part.”

“Probably makes sense to live closer to you, in case of emergency,” Jim said after a bit, and the others seemed to agree.

“Okay, closer it is,” David replied.

They walked over to the cabin and opened it up. “At the moment, we admittedly do not have keys for any of these. We’re still looking,” David said. “And these bigger cabins only have two bedrooms.”

“Does it have a basement?” Benjamin asked after a moment.

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t mind living in the basement.”

“What do you think?” Jim asked, glancing at David and Evelyn.

“As far as we’re concerned, as long as you aren’t doing anything messed up, this cabin is yours. You can pretty much do as you see fit. Rearrange furniture, live where you want, how you want, make changes, additions, whatever. I guess we’d ask that you keep it intact,” Evelyn replied.

“Okay, great. Amanda?” he asked.

“Yeah, if you want to, sure. Jim and I can have a room, and Wendy can have her own room, and you can have the basement,” she replied.

“Yes!” Wendy whispered, which made her parents chuckle.

“All right then. We’re going to go check in with our friends, then we’ll check in with you, then we’re going to go and recruit the others,” David said.

“Sounds good. And thank you again for this, it’s...this is a really good thing you’re doing for us,” Jim said. “It means a lot.”

“We’re happy to help,” Evelyn replied.

They watched the family go into their cabin and begin setting up their new life, and then they went to track down Cait and April.

…

“David! Oh fuck, what happened to your eye!?”

“Hello, Ashley,” David replied, smiling.

Everything had gone well. Cait and April had been cozied up together, nude and freshly fucked, in April’s room, and they were glad to help the new family get settled in. After checking in briefly with Jim and the others once more, they’d made the quick jaunt over to Ashley’s house.

She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “What happened?” she whispered.

“You want the truth?” he replied.

She looked...excited, almost. “Yes! That is a bad black eye.”

Evelyn giggled. He sighed. “I...met a woman-”

“A woman gave you that!?”

“Will you please let me finish?” he asked. She nodded. “I met a woman yesterday. We...hooked up. We were in her bathtub, and she was in my lap, facing away from me, and I was pleasuring her. She was hard to get off, she’s a wraith, and-”

“You fucked a wraith?” she whispered harshly, looking more excited than ever.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Did you get her off?”

“Yes. And-”

“Way to go, man. I’ve heard they’re really hard to get off.”

“Ashley!”

“Sorry. Continue.”

“Thank you. When she came, she slammed her head into my face on accident.” Ashley winced, but was still smiling broadly. “And that’s how it happened...how are you?”

“Uh, I’m fine,” she replied. Then she laughed. “I can’t believe that. That’s crazy, man. Also, hot. Uh...so how are you? I’m sorry I haven’t stopped by like I said I would, it’s just been a little nuts lately.”

“Why? What’s been up?” David asked.

“Well, I’ve been trying to search a lot of buildings I’ve found out in the wilderness, that takes a lot of time. Three times we got attacked by some stalkers, and then some fucking assholes showed up and tried to take us down.”

“Goddamnit,” David snapped. “If it’s the same fuckers I think it is, they’ve been causing problems all over the region recently. They’re the ones who fucking burned down River View.”

“I’m pretty sure it was them.”

“How’d you deal with them?” Evelyn asked.

“Successfully intimidated them. Some zombies were closing in and I convinced them there were more guns trained on them than there really were,” Ashley replied.

“Wow, nice,” David said.

“Yeah. And now we’re living in fear because they promised to come back with more of their asshole friends.”

“When did this happen?” Evelyn asked.

“Yesterday.”

“Well, I guess it’s timely that we showed up then. We have an offer for you,” David said.

“What’s that?”

“Come live with us.”

Ashley didn’t speak for a moment, clearly thinking that over. “Like...me? Or...my family?”

“Everyone in your house. We have the room,” David replied.

“Shit.” She paused again, looking down, thinking about it more. Finally, she looked back up. “I need to talk to my family about this.”

“We’ll be out here,” David replied.

“Okay. Um...thanks.”

She went back inside. Evelyn laughed after a few seconds. “Another girl who would be interested in fucking you regularly,” she said.

“We just had a fling,” David replied.

“And she said she wanted more. What, you think she won’t be hopping on your dick if she’s living with you? Also, I saw Amanda checking you out.”

“What?” he asked, honestly surprised.

“Yeah.”

“She’s married. Even if she was, I can’t imagine it’s anything more than...just looking. And even if it’s not, I’m not interested.”

“Really? You don’t think she’s attractive?”

“No, obviously she’s attractive. I’m not interested in helping someone cheat.”

“Why does it have to be cheating?”

He looked at her, confused. “Because that’s how...cheating...works?”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “They could be in an open marriage, dork.”

“Oh...I guess so. I mean, yeah, if they were in an open marriage and if she was actually interested, then yeah, obviously I’d like to have sex with her.”

“I want to watch. I also want to watch with Ashley. She is...very pretty.”

The door opened back up and Ashley stepped out. “Okay. We talked about it, and yeah, everyone’s down for this. Now, having seen your campgrounds, I can already say that we’re going to need two of those cabins. There’s me and my parents and brother, and then the older couple I mentioned, and the kid they basically adopted.”

“That’s fine,” Evelyn replied. “I’m sure we can work it out.”

“Good! Well, uh, my parents and the older couple will want to talk with you, but for now we’ll get packed and come out.”

“That seemed a little fast. I thought your parents were...overly cautious?” David asked.

“At the moment, they’re more afraid of the assholes coming back and shooting the place up. It’s clouding their judgment a little. Normally I wouldn’t let that happen, but I’m reasonably sure I can trust that you and your offer are genuine, and you’ll be good neighbors.”

“Well, good heads of the neighborhood, technically,” Evelyn said.

“Yeah, that. So that’s what’s up.”

“All right. We’ll be waiting here to make sure you get there safe.”

“Thank you so much for this,” Ashley said, and she gave David a hug and a kiss, then hesitated. “Oh, I guess...that’s cool, right? I mean, you know we fucked.”

“I do. It’s cool,” Evelyn replied. “I wouldn’t mind a hug.”

Ashley hugged Evelyn, putting her head between her huge breasts. “I also wouldn’t mind a kiss, either,” Evelyn murmured. “But no pressure.”

“Oh,” Ashley said, looking up. “No, I don’t mind. You are a very pretty lady,” she replied, and Evelyn smiled and leaned down and pressed her lips to Ashley’s. David watched as their lips met, and the kiss began to linger, and Ashley closed her eyes and moaned softly. Then he saw a bit of tongue action, and then Evelyn pulled back.

“I wasn’t done,” Ashley murmured, smiling.

“I know, but I was worried about a member of your family seeing this or something.”

“I don’t care...but I should get back in there,” she said. “Later?”

“We can do a whole lot more later if you’re down for it.”

“I go all the way down,” Ashley replied with a smirk, and then slipped back into her house.

“I really like her,” Evelyn murmured.

“Me too,” David said.

“We should so fucking double-team her soon.”

“Yes, we really should.”

David began trying to ignore the erection that had formed as he waited for Ashley and her family to get their things together.

…

It took a little longer with Ashley’s group than with Jim’s, probably because there were more of them, they had more stuff, and two of them were almost elderly. Both he and Evelyn took on a fair portion of the cargo, given Evelyn’s carrying capacity. After they had grabbed the most important items and began making their way back to the campgrounds, he and Evelyn and the group chatted about largely the same things that they had with Jim’s group. Despite Ashley’s assessment of her parents, they did seem a little tense about the whole thing, but they slowly relaxed over the course of the walk, especially when David promised protection.

“So, if those people show up again?” Ashley’s mother asked reluctantly.

“Then we will handle them,” David replied firmly. “Evelyn and I are rather proficient at fighting, and one of the other women we have with us, Cait, is even better.”

“Okay,” she murmured, sounding relieved.

A few minutes later, they were making their way in through the front gates again. “And this is home,” he said.

“It looks very nice,” Ashley’s mother said.

“Thank you,” David replied as they walked towards the main road, “we still need to-”

“Hold it!”

David whirled around, hand falling to the pistol on his hip, and found himself staring at over a dozen men in grubby clothes, most of them armed. His heart immediately began to hammer faster. Speaking low and fast, without taking his eyes from the slowly advancing group, he said, “Everyone, go to the main building and go into the basement as fast as you can. Stay there until one of us comes to get you. Ashley, find Cait, she’s in the main building, and tell her what’s happening. Tell her we need help. And someone please stop by the cabin to the immediate right of the main building, and warn the family there to get into their basement right now.”

“David, I can help-” Ashley began.

“Ashley, fucking go right now,” he snapped.

“What do you want!?” Evelyn called as the group began moving away.

“I want everyone to stay fucking still!” the man apparently in charge, a large man with long, greasy black hair and a big leather jacket said. He was holding a machine gun.

“Don’t you worry about them,” David said. “Keep going, guys. Now. Do not stop for anything.”

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are-”

“What do you want?” Evelyn demanded, stepping forward. All eyes turned to her, and David stepped forward with her.

“I wanted to see the fucking pricks who keep interfering with my operations,” the man replied, his voice low and angry.

“If by operations you mean, like, being complete fuckheads who shake people down because they’re too spineless to get their own supplies? Yeah, I’ve killed several of you shit-fucking idiots,” David replied.

“That stops now,” the man growled, visibly becoming even more enraged. Good. David could hear the others moving and they should be at the very least behind another building by now, and this idiot was too focused on them to fully appreciate this fact. Now, just he and Evelyn needed to not die. Hopefully she had something up her sleeve.

The man raised the rifle he was carrying sharply.

“I wouldn’t,” Evelyn said. “Unless you want a bullet through your head.”

“You aren’t fast enough, and you’ll be dead even if you do get your gun out,” he snarled, but he did hesitate.

“Not from me,” Evelyn said. “You think we wouldn’t protect this place? You think we don’t already have a dozen sniper spots picked out that cover the entrance to this place? You think we haven’t managed to get our hands on some rifles?” She stepped forward, and although he didn’t take a step back, he almost did. “And I still fucking owe you, you worthless piece of shit,” she growled. “I saw you, at River View. I saw you as you burned that place down. Do you know how many fucking people died there you spineless little bitch?”

His face twisted into fury again and he raised his assault rifle once more.

“Boss! High left!” someone screamed and then a shot rang out right as the leader of the thieves began shifting. He screamed as a round punched through his shoulder in a spray of blood. David and Evelyn reacted immediately, each one breaking in a different direction as they pulled out their pistols and opened fire while running for cover. Cait was fast. David managed to make it to the nearest cabin as bullets began flying, sailing around him, and several landed in the building, barely missing him. He kept running the length of the building and hooked a hard left, moving along the next wall, in between two of the cabins now.

No way he was going to hang around there, everyone had seen him go. Much better to appear somewhere else. David got to the edge and leaned carefully out, pistol in hand. Three of them were down already, and at least two more were injured. They were falling back to the trees, firing at Cait and Evelyn. David sighted one and put a bullet right through his head. He shifted aim and shot another man in the neck. Where was that bastard who’d been threatening them? He couldn’t see the leader. He popped off another few shots and fired two rounds into a man’s chest, sending him to the ground in a screaming spray of blood.

A spray of automatic fire came back his way, blowing wood out of the wall right next to him. He cursed and pulled back. From somewhere overhead, he heard another several gunshots pop off and someone screamed. He waited, then leaned out and fired again, emptying the magazine. He pulled back quickly, expecting another spray of gunfire, but none came. In fact, all the rest of the gunfire suddenly fell silent. He reloaded and leaned around again. There were no more figures moving out there, just a lot of dead bodies.

“Is everyone okay?!” he called.

“Fine!” Cait called back.

“I’m okay!” Ashley said.

“Goddamnit Ashley, I told you to get inside!”

“Fuck off, David, I’m not a coward!”

“...Evie?” he called. “Evie?!”

“I’m, uh, I’m okay, David,” she called back after a few seconds, but he could hear the pain in her voice. He felt cold all over very suddenly and began sprinting back around the cabin.

“Keep watch, Cait!” he yelled. As he came back into the main road, he saw her sitting on the ground, holding her leg. Her hands were bloody. “Ashley, go get April! Now!”

“Okay,” she replied, running off, looking pale.

David rushed over to Evelyn and dropped to his knees behind her. She had a bullet in her thigh and was bleeding. “Oh fuck honey.”

She winced. “It’s okay, babe. Pretty sure it missed my femoral artery. Not enough blood. Digging it out will be the bitch.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“What? Why? Honestly, this came out really well. We got lucky. Provided no one else got shot.”

He heard running footsteps behind him. “Oh God, Evie,” April said as she rushed up. “Don’t worry, I can handle this.” She knelt and put down a metal case. Cracking it open, she began sorting through the medical supplies within.

“David, go check on the others, make sure they’re okay,” Evelyn said.

“No, I’m not leaving,” he replied immediately.

“David,” she said, taking his hand, smiling at him. She winced as April began to cut away her pants. “Listen, April needs to tend to my wounds, and Cait is watching over us. I need you to do this, okay? I need you to go check on people. Make sure they’re safe. Please. This is part of our job now. This is our responsibility. Please?”

He stared into her eyes, trembling with fear and anger. “Cait, do you see anyone?!” he called finally.

“No! No movement!” she called back. “Is Evie okay?”

“I’m fine, Cait!” Evelyn called back.

“Okay, just...stay there! Keep watch!”

“Okay!”

“I’ll be right back,” he promised.

“Make sure they’re okay, David. Do you understand me? This is our responsibility, okay?” she asked, her expression flat and serious. She winced again.

“I’m going to inject you with some local anesthetic...and then I’m going to pull the bullet out, okay? Then I can clean it and patch you up,” April murmured.

“Okay, do it,” Evelyn replied.

“I’ll make sure they’re safe, Evie.”

“Thank you, David. I’ll be okay, all right?”

“All-all right.” He kissed her, then he got up and ran off, first making his way over to Jim’s cabin. He found the door ajar and pushed it open. Stepping inside, he looked around. “Hello?! It’s David! It’s all clear now!”

He waited, resisting the incredibly powerful urge to run back outside and rejoin Evie. But she was right. This was their responsibility now. After a moment, he heard footfalls, and then a door opened somewhere nearby.

“David?” It was Jim.

“Jim, are you okay? Is everyone okay?” he asked, moving deeper into the house and finding the door to the basement.

“Yes. We’re fine. What the fuck happened?” he asked.

“Those assholes that threatened you and burned River View showed up. They tried to kill us, but we killed them.”

“Goddamnit, is everyone okay?”

“I’m not sure. Evie was shot in the leg, but I think she’s going to be okay. I have to go check on the others. I had just gotten back with the other families.”

“Okay, go. We’re fine,” he said.

David nodded, turned, and ran off. As he came back outside, he looked and saw Evie and April. He couldn’t see Cait, he still didn’t actually know where she was. But he had to finish this. He hurried into the main office and found the door to the basement, where he heard hushed conversation. “It’s David! I’m coming down! Is everyone okay?!” he called, moving down the stairs.

“We’re fine, David,” Ashley replied. Apparently she’d gone down to check on her family after sending out April.

He found them all gathered in the basement and scanned them each, counting heads. Everyone was present and everyone looked safe. “You’re all okay?” he asked again.

“We’re okay,” Ashley’s father replied.

“God, if they had come to us...” her mother whispered.

“We’d probably be dead,” Ashley said. “Thank you, David. You and Evie and Cait saved us.”

“You helped, apparently,” he replied, his frustration briefly surfacing.

“I don’t sit things out, David,” she shot back immediately, staring hard at him. He sighed, then let it go. What right did he have? He was just worried about her, but she was right, it was her choice, and she had chosen to do the same as him and Evie and Cait, to pick up a gun and defend their home, defend what was theirs.

“Okay, you can come out now. I have to get back to Evie.”

“Is she okay?” Ashley asked.

“I think so. I need to go see her. I might need your help getting her back inside,” he replied.

She nodded. “I’ll be up in just a minute.”

“Okay.”

He ran back upstairs and outside, then hurried back over to Evelyn and April. “There,” he heard April saying, “I’ve got it.”

“Thank fucking God,” Evelyn muttered. “Hi, honey,” she said, wincing. April was holding the bullet in what basically amounted to medical tweezers. She tossed it aside after studying it for a moment, then began cleaning the wound.

“Everyone’s okay. No one was hurt,” he reported. “Except you...”

“David, I’m fine,” Evelyn said. “I promise. We just need to watch for infection.”

“She’s right, David. As far as bullet wounds go, she got lucky. This was just a twenty-two and it didn’t hit anything important,” April said. David looked at her, surprised. He thought she’d be close to freaking out, but she had a flat, professional calmness to her.

“I’m gonna need help getting inside,” Evelyn muttered.

“I thought of that, Ashley’s going to help. Me and April and Cait can, too. We’ll have to get you up to the bed,” David replied.

“So much fun,” Evelyn muttered. “I can probably walk on it-”

“No, you can’t,” April said flatly.

“Oh, yes ma’am,” Evelyn replied with a smirk.

April glanced up, seemingly suddenly aware of what she had just said and her newfound confidence, then she just looked back down and continued cleaning the ugly wound.

“How long do you think this’ll take?” Evelyn asked.

“I need another five, maybe ten minutes,” April murmured.

“David, why don’t you go start gathering up those weapons. We could really use them.”

“Okay,” he said, reluctant to leave her again, but knowing she had a point. You couldn’t just leave stuff laying around outside. He gave her another kiss, then stood up and began heading for the battlefield. “Cait? Where are you?”

“One of the cabins,” she said, and he looked over. She appeared on top of the cabin closest to the main office, but opposite the one the Carlson family was residing in.

“How’d you get up there so fast?” he asked.

“There’s a ladder on the side,” she replied. “I’m coming down. I overheard that. I can help you search.”

“Okay.”

David stood there, realizing that he was still shaking a little and his stomach was upset, but he was slowly coming down from the adrenaline high of a shootout. She came down and walked over to him, then gave him a long hug and a kiss. “You’re okay,” she whispered, and he thought she might be saying that for her own benefit.

“And you’re okay,” he replied, looking her up and down.

“Yeah. I was on my way out when everyone came in and told me what the fuck was going on. I’m just glad we took them down, but...the leader got away. So did a few others. They’re long gone, but they made it.”

“Fuckers,” David growled.

They walked out to the battlefield and spent the next ten minutes emptying pockets and collecting ammo and food and anything else the thieves had on them, as well as guns. Most of them were pistols, but there was a shotgun in there. No rifles, though, nothing more significant than that. Still, it was a good haul. It made him feel the slightest bit better about this whole thing, but as they finished up, he felt a strong anger smoldering somewhere deep inside of him.

This piece of shit, this monster who led other monsters, had come to his home. That was three times now these bastards had come to him and his home. He and Cait went and dropped off their supplies inside, and then they went back and he took Evelyn’s backpack and ran it inside as well, finding Ashley’s family moving slowly among the first floor now. He reassured them that all was well, then hurried back out to Evelyn.

“Okay, I’m done,” April said as she finished wrapping the wound tightly. “You’ll need at least a week off your feet, I’d say, but I’d like it to be longer.”

“Great,” Evelyn muttered.

“Although...I have noticed that some of us inhumans heal faster, and I think goliaths are one of them. But I don’t want to rush it, either way. I’ll be checking on you every day. And David, be careful when you fuck her, got it?”

“I will,” he said.

“Lame,” Evelyn said.

“Come on, honey, let’s get you to bed,” David replied.

The four of them began the long process of helping a seven and a half foot tall woman into a building and up two flights of stairs.

…

“Agh, fuck, finally!” Evelyn groaned as she fell onto her back, then winced. “Fucking leg...” she muttered. “This blows.”

“Now what?” Ashley asked.

David sat down on the bed beside Evelyn. There were a lot of things running through his mind.

“Why don’t you help me get your family and the others settled in?” Cait suggested.

“Yeah...probably a good idea,” Ashley murmured. She looked at Evelyn, at David. “Thank you so much for opening your home to us, and fighting to defend us.”

“You’re welcome, Ashley,” Evelyn replied. “Don’t forget about that offer. I’m going to be bored out of my head soon and sex is a great distraction.”

Ashley giggled. “And orgasms are great painkillers. Don’t worry, I’ll be by with my tongue and my fingers and my lips soon enough. Just...keep it on the down-low from my parents, yeah? I’m not ashamed, but I think they’re having a hard enough time admitting to themselves that I might have fucked David, let alone you and...” she glanced at Cait, “and please, please you.”

Cait smirked. “We’ll see,” she replied.

“Fucking tease,” Ashley muttered.

“Yep. Come on, let’s go.”

They left the room, leaving just David and Evelyn and April. They sat there together in silence for a few moments.

“What are you thinking about?” Evelyn finally asked. “You look really mad.”

“I am really mad,” David replied. “That’s three times now these fucks have attacked us in our own home. First at River View. Then at the cabin. And now here.”

“So what are you thinking?” April asked quietly.

David’s hands curled into fists. “I’m thinking it’s time we take the fight to them.”

Hello, Misty Vixen here!

If you’ve made it this far, then thank

you so very much for finishing my book!

I’m here to ask you if you wouldn’t mind

leaving a review for my story. I would

deeply appreciate it!

OTHER TITLES

Haven 3 will arrive in Early 2020!

THE MISTY VIXEN STARTER PACK

Get ready to experience over 100,000 words of hot, filthy fucking. This starter pack features four original novellas, each from one of my shared universes, and a whole lot of passionate, human-on-inhuman sex.

Get the Book

SCIENCE FICTION SHARED UNIVERSE

HELLCATS

Ryan is a socially awkward, young technician who takes a leap of faith and joins up with a mercenary crew called the Hellcats. What he finds is a squad of alien or otherwise inhuman women who are looking for a boytoy to live on their ship with them and fuck them hard. Ryan fits the bill perfectly.

Get the Book

The Complete Trilogy

ALIEN HAREM

James is a failing author who is friends with Aria, a beautiful alien woman who is also a failing author. She happens to live with three other attractive alien women who are creative types of varying degrees of success. Everything changes when they invite James to live with them and help them shoot human-on-alien porn to help pay the rent.

Get the Book

DESIRE

Derek is a technician fresh out of college. Unsure of what to do with his life, he feels adrift as he stares down the barrel of adulthood. But all that changes when he gets the opportunity of a lifetime: he is invited to come live and work on Desire, a city-sized space station that caters to every sexual fetish imaginable.

Get the Book

The Complete Series

FANTASY SHARED UNIVERSE

DEMONESS

When John Greenfield heads into the forest outside his home village, pissed off and hungover, the last thing he expects to find is an injured and unconscious demoness. When he rescues her, it starts him on a path he no longer thought possible, and into a romance he didn’t think could exist.

Get the Book

WOMEN OF THE WILD

Seth is a frustrated young man who lives in a magical world of beautiful landscapes, abandoned ruins, ferocious monsters, and untold adventures to be had. He’s been stuck in his boring, tiny village for his entire life. But that’s all about to change. When he finally works up the courage to tell his parents that he’s leaving and saves up enough to buy himself some survival gear, he strikes out on his own, into the wilderness. Although he expected to find many things on this adventure, he had no idea that he would be getting to know the inhuman monster women that populate the wild on such an intimate level.

Get the Book

WANDERLUST

Owyn Fisher has just come of age and decides to leave his small village and start adventuring out into the world at large. But instead of danger or riches, he finds that his greatest adventure is all the beautiful monster women he encounters that wish to experience the taboo thrill of sex with a human.

Get the Book

The Complete Series

LUST & ADVENTURE

When Alan Wilde, a magical healer living a quiet life in a small village, begins having a personal crisis, wondering if he’s missing out on leading such a life, he meets Layla, a beautiful, cat-woman felis adventuress. She and her friends are on a dangerous journey and need a healer. The chance meeting feels like fate, and so Alan begins his journey of adventuring and, he is happy to learn, sleeping with several attractive adventuresses…

Get the Book

The Complete Trilogy

PARANORMAL SHARED UNIVERSE

PARANORMAL PASSIONS

Jason is a regular, twenty-something human who feels adrift. After trying to radically alter his life, all that really changes is that he now lives next door to an incredibly hot, redheaded vampire. When they hook up, she leads him into a world of hot sex with inhuman women.

Get the Book

The Complete Trilogy

PARASEXUAL

Alex considers himself a failure. After losing his job, losing his roommate, and coming close to losing his mind all in the same day, he goes to hang out with his best friend, who happens to be a particularly attractive werewolf woman. In an attempt to help him out and also to alleviate her own growing wanderlust (and regular lust), she has sex with him and then decides to take him on a road trip to Thorne: a giant coastal city that is home to a huge concentration of paranormals. And on the way, she begins hooking back up with several of her old girlfriends, who are apparently interested in hopping in bed with her and Alex.

Get the Book

POST-APOCALYPTIC SHARED UNIVERSE

SEX & SURVIVAL

Welcome to a post-apocalyptic world where a virus, once meant to be a scientific revolution, has ravaged the planet and turned most of the population into inhuman creatures. Some have become mindless zombies, others have morphed into new species. Some can fly. Some can breathe underwater. Some exhibit animal characteristics. Enter Mike Walker, a survivor and adventurer. In this brave new world, Mike often finds himself in the company (and beds) of beautiful, inhuman women.

Get the Book

The Complete Trilogy

ABOUT ME

Hello, I’m the author! There isn’t too much to me personally. I live somewhere in the United States and I like to write stories about people having sex and people having adventures!

So what makes me special? What sets me apart from most of the other thousands of similar authors out there?

Well, a few things that I can think of.

I write about reasonable, more down-to-earth guys. I’m honestly sick of all the billionaires and NAVY Seals and cowboys and firefighters. Most of all, I’m fucking sick and tired of all these BS ‘Alpha Male’ types. I don’t really want to bring down anyone who is writing or reading that, but I thought it was high time we started hearing about guys who aren’t like this.

Another big focus of mine is human guy on inhuman lady sex. There are certainly tons of stories about hot chicks getting laid by werewolves and dinosaurs and even Bigfoot! But there’s not enough out there, in my opinion, about regular guys fucking hot alien or monster or otherwise inhuman ladies. I love writing about human guys getting laid by mermaids and dryads and sexy aliens and genetically engineered female super soldiers and robots and even more.

Finally, I like emphasizing sexual encounters, casual and longer engagements, that focus on consent, communication, trust, and respect. I like both parties getting what they want out of the sex. (Or I should say all parties, given how many people are fucking at once!)

And that’s it, I guess. There’s probably a few other things, but those are the big ones.

If you want access to extra content, to get news about my progress on upcoming stories, or pictures of hot, naked inhuman ladies featured in my books, then here’s some places you can check out.

This is my WEBSITE, (www.mistyvixen.com). Here, you can find free short stories that are related to my works or stand on their own, a monthly newsletter, alternate versions of my cover art where the ladies are naked, and more!

This is my TWITTER, (www.twitter.com/Misty_Vixen). I’ll post updates and pictures of hot, naked alien, monster, or otherwise inhuman ladies I find on the internet. Also, I respond to pretty much everyone, so feel free to say something!

This is my PATREON, (www.patreon.com/MistyVixen). There, you can get early access to the first two chapters of my in-progress works, and early access to alternate versions of my cover art where the ladies are naked! They will be released to my website after one month.

Finally, if you want to talk to me directly, you can send me an e-mail at my address:

mistyvixen@outlook.com

Also, I’m Crystal Candy (www.amazon.com/author/crystalcandy). As Crystal Candy, I write sexy, erotic harem serials across a variety of genres. This is closer to my earlier works as Misty Vixen. All titles are available through the Kindle Unlimited and average about 15,000 words.

And that’s it! Once again, thank you very much for reading my work. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

-Misty

HAVEN 2. Copyright © by Misty Vixen. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entire coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.