Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:57:23 -0700 From: Cornhusker Fan Subject: Surviving the Apocalypse part 19 If you are reading this, it means you didn't get so mad at me after chapter 17 that you are not busy contemplating what kind of hate male to send me (or at least I hope not). Thanks for sticking with me! This story will feature sexual acts between adults and children, so if that's not your cup of tea, then move along please. The story is strictly fantasy, pure fiction. No part is true in any way. The author, nor any website that might post this, does not condone illegal sex with children. Also, though little or no protection is used in this story, please always practice safe sex. There may be a big oops in some chapters of this story, and to be quite honest, I just realized it and am WAY to lazy to try to go back and correct it. The main character's name is Bob, but he may (and as I said, I'm too lazy to check and see if it's true) have been called Mike or Michael in some chapters. If so, I apologize, and hope it didn't detract too much from any enjoyment you are getting from the story. Author's note - I have never been any part of a military unit, and profess no real knowledge of the military (except for my admiration for and gratitude to those serving our country), so please do not look for any accuracy in the information contained in the story. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I was up at my usual hour the next morning and was enjoying my first cup of coffee. Not even the other adults were up yet. I was startled when I heard a knocking sound from the front lobby area. Since I had my sidearm on as always, I drew it before cautiously heading towards the source of the noise. It repeated, sounding like someone rapping on glass with a key. I approached the lobby area and peered around the corner at the front doors. I was expecting some more of our friends to roll in today, but not this early. At the front door was a young woman, perhaps 25 years old or so. She appeared to be unarmed and alone. There was, however, a minivan with tinted glass parked under the front awning, which she must have driven. I stepped around the corner, but went no further. When she saw me, she started knocking on the door again. I could hear her plainly through the closed doors. "Please sir, can you help me? I have an injured child with me." She sounded legit from the worry in her voice, but it could also be a trap, especially since I couldn't see through the tinted glass of the minivan. "Wait there a moment while I get the keys to the door." I turned and headed back down the hall. As soon as I was out of sight of the lobby, I started sprinting. Entering the sleeping rooms, I quickly woke Frank and Phyllis, Glenn and Bev. I beckoned them into the hall. "We have a visitor at the front door, a young woman who claims to have an injured child with her. She drove a minivan with tinted glass that I can't see through. Bev and Phyllis, grab a weapon but stay right here. If any of the kids wake up, don't let them leave this area until we've given you the all clear. Glenn, take a back exit quickly and work your way around until you can see the front of the building. Frank, come with me, you'll back me up from the lobby area. Glenn, two clicks from your walkie-talkie will tell me you are in position. Move now." Glenn left at a run after pulling on pants and grabbing he M-16. He stopped at the back door and peered out. Seeing no one, he slipped outside. Frank and I headed back to towards the lobby. At the corner we stopped. "Frank, go belly down. When I walk into the lobby, slither up by the sofa and cover me from there." We heard two clicks on the walkie-talkie. I stepped out into the lobby with my weapon drawn. "Miss, please keep your hands where I can see them. I'm unlocking the doors." As I approached the doors, the young woman took a step back, keeping her hands beside her body and held slightly away. I unlocked the front door. "Miss, there are three weapons trained on you right now. Is anyone in the van armed?" "What? No, no, nothing like that. I have several kids with me, but one of them is hurt. Is there a doctor here?" "Yes. Bring the child inside." I stepped back inside and behind the front counter. I crouched down to present a smaller target, keeping my gun at the ready. The lady went to the van and opened one of the side doors. She reached in and lifted a girl out who appeared to be about 12. The little girl's head was bandaged, her arm was in a sling, and there was also a noticeable limp when the lady stood her on her feet and helped her walk in. I directed her to bring the girl around the counter and into the office area that Frank and Phyllis had set up as their medical facilities. "Come ahead Frank, I'll cover you." Frank jumped up, dashed across the lobby and ducked into the room behind the two females. When the girls saw Frank come running in with a gun in his hands, the little girl screamed and the older one jumped in front of her. "No, please, don't hurt her any more." Frank stood his gun in a corner. "Relax Miss, I'm a doctor." I stood at the door, keeping my eye on the van outside. "It's true Miss, he is a doctor." Frank grabbed his stethoscope and put it on. "Please Miss, you'll have to trust me. Step aside so I can take a look at this little girl." Tentatively she stood aside, but held on to the girl's hand. Frank got on his knee in front of the child. "What's your name honey?" The little girl didn't say anything. "Her name is Joni. Can you please help her?" "Of course I can. Tell me what happened." "We were in the next town. We had stopped for the night and at a motel. I woke up early this morning and the door was open. I realized Joni was missing. I looked outside and a man was carrying her down the stairs with his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream. I grabbed my gun and ran out after him. When he saw me coming, he dropped Joni and leaped down the stairs. Joni tumbled after him, breaking her arm and cutting her head badly. I shot at the guy but missed him and he ran off around the building." "Not knowing where the guy might have gone or if he had friends, I woke the other kids and got them quickly in the van and we raced out of town. I stopped and bandaged up Joni as best I could, then headed this way. As I drove down the road, it noticed the boarded up windows and doors on part of the motel and hoped that meant someone was staying here. I was just hoping whoever it was would be friendly." This young woman sounded pretty resourceful, not to mention smart and aware of her surroundings. To notice the boarded up windows was pretty smart. "Miss, why don't you bring the rest of the kids in while Frank looks after Joni." "Will you be alright Joni if I step out Joni?" Frank had the bandage off the girl's head and was gently probing the clotted gash. Joni winced, but was brave. "Go ahead, I'll be ok." The young lady stepped back outside and poked her head into the van. When she came back in, she was accompanied by 3 boys. "Is this everyone Miss?" "Yes sir, it is. But please don't keep calling me Miss. My name is Mandy." "Ok Mandy. And I'm Bob. You already know that Frank is the doctor with Joni. Who are these young men?" "This is Quentin, Donovan, and Marcus." "Nice to meet you boys. Are you hungry?" At the mention of food, predictably all three boy's faces lit up. "You bet!" "Well, we'll be having breakfast in just a few minutes. How does that sound?" "Great!" I got on the walkie-talkie. "Glenn, you can go back inside. Bev, please come to the lobby. Phyllis, please get the kids up and dressed and draft a couple to help with breakfast. We will have 5 more to feed this morning." "Bob, we don't want to take your food. It's very kind of you to help Joni, but we'll just be on our way when she is done." "Mandy, first of all, food for 5 more is no problem. We are pretty well stocked, so at least have breakfast with us, then we'll talk, ok?" "That's very kind of Bob. We accept." Just then Bev came walking into the lobby. I noticed with approval that she had a belted on a sidearm, not knowing fully the situation. I introduced Bev to Mandy and the boys. "Bev, would you mind taking the boys to the dining area? They'll be joining us for breakfast. There is an injured girl in with Frank, and Mandy and I will join you in a little bit." "Sure Bob. How about something to eat boys?" Bev could have led them through the gates of hell with the offer of food I think. They happily went with her off down the hall. Mandy watched as they went with Bev. "They'll be fine Mandy. We'll join them shortly. Let's go check on Joni." We walked into the office. We could tell that Joni was trying to be brave but was in pain. Mandy went to her side and took her hand on her good arm. Frank had cleaned out her head wound and re-bandaged her head. He had her arm out of the makeshift sling and was just finishing examining it. "Joni, would you just sit quietly for a minute while I talk to Miss Mandy and Bob?" "Ok, but please don't be gone long." "We'll be back in just a sec honey." Frank stepped out of the office and we followed. "Her head is fine, the gash wasn't too deep. I've left the wound open for now, and will check it again tomorrow. I hope not to have to stitch it. Her arm is broken however. It's not a bad break but I'm going to have to set it. I would like to give her a shot to put her out as it will be pretty painful." "If you think that's best Doctor." "I do. But please, call me Frank, ok?" In spite of the morning's trauma, Mandy gave him a weak smile. "Sure Frank." We stepped back into the office. "Joni, Dr. Frank is going to give you a little shot and you are going to go to sleep for a while, ok?" "No, please, I hate shots. They hurt too bad." "I know honey. But he has too." A tear slipped down Joni's little cheek. Frank stepped away and prepared the shot. When he came back to where Joni was sitting, Mandy again took the little girls hand. Frank gave her the shot in her good arm. "Now, that wasn't too bad was it?" "It hurt, but I'm ok." "You are such a brave girl, you know that? Now can you say your ABC's for me?" "Ok. A, b, c..." Joni nodded off before she got to K. Mandy had her arm around her so she didn't fall over. Frank helped to lay her back onto the desk with a pillow under her head. He worked quickly, setting her arm and casting it. While she was out, he also gave her a tetanus booster. He finished and washed up in a basin of water. "She is going to be out for a couple more hours. Why don't we go see if they saved us any breakfast?" Frank and I led Mandy down to the dining area where they had indeed put aside some breakfast for us. The three of us sat eating, and the Glenn, Bev and Phyllis joined us, having coffee. They had let the kids play in the new arcade area. "Phyllis, I'm expecting both Dan and Marty and however many each of them may have with them to pull in today. Would you mind getting the kids started on clearing out another block of rooms? Just have them dump any possessions from former tenants into one of the big laundry carts and we'll deal with it later. Then if they would clean the rooms if they've been occupied that would be great. Put James and Nick on bathroom cleaning duty for all of the rooms." "Sure Bob. Back in a few minutes folks, don't drink all the coffee before I return!" "Frank, you mentioned you would want to keep Joni overnight so you could recheck her wound tomorrow, am I right?" "That would be best." "That settles it then. Mandy, you and your brood will stay here tonight, and if you like, you are welcome to join us on a permanent basis." "That's very kind of you Bob, of all of you really. I'm getting so tired moving around, trying to figure out what to do." "Mandy, before you decide to stay on, we need to talk about our situation here. Why don't we all fill our cups and move to the lobby. We can sit around more comfortably there, and we'll be right there if Joni wakes up." Everyone refilled their cups and we wandered down to the lobby, everyone settling into a comfortable seat. "Mandy, before the war, I retired as a Colonel from the Army. Frank was a doctor with the Army, Phyllis a Nurse in the Army, Glenn was a member of the Special Forces. Other former military folks will be joining us soon, some of them today. We were all friends for many years, having met before, during, or after our time in the service. For the last 10 years, people like ourselves saw the signs that things in the world were not good, and in fact would probably deteriorate." "So we all started talking back and forth over time. We slowly weeded out some of our friends because they didn't believe the things that we believed. You see, everyone that joins us has a common set of beliefs. A lot of it is based on the old golden rule. Do unto others as you would have done unto you." "But it's more than that. None of us were happy with way the country had been going. We didn't believe that criminals should have more rights then their victims, and in some cases, could sue their victims for damages. We believe that punishments should fit the crime. And we don't believe in long drawn out appeals processes where a creep who slaughters a family in their sleep lives for years on the states tab while their lawyers file appeal after appeal and motion after motion." "I had never really thought much about what you are saying, but to hear you say it, it makes perfect sense to me. I know one thing that always made me mad was idiots that could sue large corporations and win, when it was their own stupidity that caused the problem in the first place. I remember my mother telling about how years ago a woman went through a McDonald's drive-thru, got a cup of hot coffee and put it between her legs before she drove off. When the hot coffee spilled and scalded her, she sued McDonalds for millions and won! For God's sake, it was coffee! Did she think it was ice water?" "You are right Mandy. That kind of thing was clogging up our over-burdened court system everyday. What we are doing here is an attempt at living according to common sense. We all pitch in everyday to make sure what needs to get done gets done. We won't have anyone with us that wants a free handout. If you're in a wheel chair, we will wheel you up to a table and let you fold towels while others weed the garden. If you're mentally slow, we will find a place for you. If you're sick, we will help you get better, but you better know that when you are better, you will work along side of the rest of us." "The kids you see here will be starting school again soon. We don't have any formally trained teachers, so we will all be pitching in to help educate them. There will be emphasis put on reading, writing, mathematics, and science. We will try and include art and music as we can, because we feel an appreciation for those things is important. Kids will be taught respect, both in our homes and in our schools. Kids will be kids, and should have fun. But we believe in discipline as well." "Our kids will be taught that to deface another's property, that to be a bully, that taking something that isn't yours will not be tolerated and that there are consequences for those actions. Again, back to the golden rule. All of the kids will receive Phys Ed as well unless they have a debilitating handicap that prevents it, and that is not currently a situation with which we are faced. As adults, we will continue to educate each other and ourselves. Let's face it, there is a lot of things that were done in this world that we don't know how to do, and we have to learn how to deal with all of it, or eventually find survivors that do have the knowledge." "I have to say, I like what I'm hearing from all of you. And if the offer still stands, I would like to give staying with you a try." "Before you make that decision Mandy, there are a couple of other things you should know. Another part of the kid's education will be in weapons and military tactics. We are here not just to get along, but to survive. No one knows what we will encounter eventually, and we will be prepared." "I've been carrying a gun for the past couple of weeks. I'm not very good with it, and would like to get better. But it makes sense. These are hard times." "I'm glad to hear you say that Mandy. There is one other thing I feel we have to bring up, and it's no small thing. Even after all you've heard, you may wish to walk out when you hear this, and if you choose to do so, you will be allowed to. And if you wish to take the kids with you, that will be your option too." "You make it sound like you're practicing witchcraft or something." We all laughed. "We don't think it's quite as bad as all that. As a matter of fact, everyone here is quite comfortable with our beliefs, but not everyone would be." "Are you talking religious beliefs?" "No Mandy. I happen to be Lutheran, Glenn and Bev are Catholic, Frank is an agnostic, and Phyllis is a Baptist, though none of hold it against her." More laughs and Phyllis game me the finger. "Marty, who will be arriving later today is a Jew. But what we are about to discuss would piss off some people from every one of those religions." "Bob, may I?" "Sure Bev, be my guest." "Mandy, Glenn and I have been married for 22 years. I love Glenn with all my heart, and the big lug tells me he loves me too." Glenn leaned over and kissed her cheek. "But, as much as we love each other, both of us are very close with everyone else here." "That would be expected. You're all friends, you've all survived a huge catastrophe, and you're all living together under one roof." "It's more than that Mandy. When I say we are very close with everyone else here, I mean in ways that society, if it were still flourishing, would have frowned upon severely." Mandy kind of blushed. "Are you trying to tell me there is a little partner swapping going on here? You didn't invent the open marriage you know. I had friends who were married but not monogamous." "Mandy, you may have read about a group of people back in the 1960's and early 70's that society called hippies. And you may have read about what the considered a free-love society." "I remember hearing about it in history class in school, but it was quite a few years ago, and was not a major topic." "Well, we have here the ultimate free love society." "Oh, you mean that some of the swapping is not just girl/boy, girl/boy. Again, not as shocking as you might believe." Frank decided to speak up. "Mandy, these people will lead you on forever, hoping you finally figure it out and they don't have to say it." The other four of us all stuck our tongues out at Frank and Mandy laughed. "Tell me Frank." "Mandy, like Glenn and Bev, Phyllis and I have been married for many years and love each other very deeply. We have two boys who are not with us. They were in the army when the balloon went up, and we don't if they survived or not. When you and your crew got here, I thought to myself that you were a very attractive lady, and if you had no objection, I might like to get together with you at some point. This would not bother Phyllis or anyone else here. I also thought that Quentin, Donavon, and Marcus were all quite good looking, and if any of them were willing, I might get together with one or more of them, and no one here would object any more to that than my wife and I having sexual relations. As Bev said, we are the ultimate free love society." Mandy just sat there for a moment, not sure what to say. To my surprise, she didn't leap up screaming at us for being molesters of children immediately. Finally, she spoke. "I'd like to say something, and please don't interrupt me until I've finished. A couple of months ago I might well have joined in society's collective call for your heads on a platter, because that was the way I was raised, and that was what society conditioned us to believe. Sex with a minor was the absolute worst thing any one could do, aside from murder. The kids I have with me were unknown to me until after the war. We just sort of found each other, and have been trying to survive ever since. Three nights ago, Joni, Donavon and Marcus were all in bed and had gone to sleep. I was sitting out on the front porch of the house we were staying in, enjoying the night air and kind of watching to make sure I didn't see anyone skulking about. Quentin came out and sat next to me on the porch swing. We spent quite a while talking and, well, things just kind of happened between us that evening. Before either of us knew what had happened we had moved back inside the house and had sex on the floor of the living room in that house." "Nothing has happened since, but we haven't been in a position to be alone either, so that may or may not be the entire reason. At first I felt guilty about it, him being 10 years younger than me, and a minor. But I've thought a lot about it over the last couple of days. He knew what he was doing as much as I did. I didn't force him into anything, and he didn't force me. It was a mutual, well, I won't say attraction at the time, but at the least, a mutual lust, or need. And I don't feel guilty about it now." Phyllis got up and came over to Mandy. She pulled her to her feet, and into a hug. "Congratulations on surviving, nice job with taking care of a group of kids you didn't even know, and welcome to our home." Mandy broke down in tears. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Oh Bob, she's just emotional. She's just unburdened herself, she's found safety, and she's exhausted. She'll be fine." We could hear Joni stirring about then, and Frank went in to check on her. "Bev, why don't you and Phyllis help Mandy get settled in to a room. Glenn and I will go see how the kids are doing. We've got a bunch more folks coming in today gang, and we'd better get ready." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sorry for the lack of sex in this chapter readers. I just got to writing the story, and never quite got to the "juicy part" this chapter. Don't worry, I'll do better in chapter 20, I promise! You can send me your notes telling me how mad you are to crnhskrfn77@comcast.net.