Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 8

Summer Plans

Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.

 At dinner I checked in with Ivy first, then Vanessa when she had finished for the day and joined us. I also made a point of stopping to check in with Dani to see what she was thinking about her new co-team members, who she thought would work out fine, and Kyla.

"I think she's a lot quieter than the rest of us," Dani told me as we sat side by side near Leo's RV. "Which isn't a bad thing, obviously. She isn't as used to being around girls like us though. Erica worked with strippers because of her job, along with all sorts of other crazy people, so it's whatever for her. Kyla obviously isn't used to how open we all are about sex things."

I pressed my lips together and nodded, watching her as she sat in a group with Erica, Vanessa and Aria chatting. She was obviously engaged, but didn't offer much to the conversation and seemed happy to listen.

"Anything else?" I asked. "Anything weird come up?"

"No. Should I be watching for something?" Danielle asked.

"No, no," I assured her. "I just; Erica, Ivy, Vanessa; it's working. It's crazy, but it's working. I'm worried about Kyla messing that up."

"It should be fine," Dani said, patting me on the shoulder. "Erica will Mom them into shape if things get out of whack, and if she's the problem you can just spank her until she apologizes."

That made me snort and shake my head with a grin. "You and her talk too much."

"Or maybe we don't talk enough," Dani grinned.

We folded ourselves back into the larger conversations, me joining the group with Kyla while Dani went to sit with Leo, India and Ivy. As the sun was setting we busted out the fire pit and Vanessa pointed me towards the nearest brush piles I could harvest some wood from; it seemed she'd handily directed some of her workers to pile it within easy walking distance.

Then, once the fire was crackling and we all had our drinks of choice, we told the new women our story. We started with Leo and I, then how Erica had joined us for quarantine. We both teased her about hearing her masturbating, which until that moment she hadn't realized had been the case and made her blush. Then we talked about the land lease, the construction, and the introduction of Dani, Vanessa, and Ivy. Vanessa told us how fucking crazy she thought we were at first, but after that first night around the fire she'd realized something weird but special was going on so she stopped judging and started getting a little jealous. Then Ivy told her perspective, stepping into a life with Erica and me. Then we had to tell the story of Vanessa joining us, which got rushed over really quickly and then had to be retold because even Dani hadn't gotten all the details.

I'd purposefully sat beside Kyla around the fire, Erica taking the spot on the other side of me. As India and Aria started ragging on Vanessa for not giving them the full story in the initial car ride when they met her, Kyla leaned over to me. "Can we talk? In private?"

"Sure," I said, nodding towards our RV. I leaned back in the other direction to Erica and kissed her cheek, and she met my eye and nodded.

Inside the RV Kyla had taken the Murphey seat this time so I sat on the bench opposite her. "You still feeling alright?" I asked her.

"No," she laughed. Inside, in the more steady light of the RV, I could see she was flushed even with her slightly darker Filipina skin. "I feel like I've got a fever, but it's concentrated in all my erogenous zones. I don't even like women but that story about Vanessa has me..." She blew out a long breath. "I don't know how much more sex talk I can take before I snap."

"I can ask them to stop if you want. Or we can have that conversation if you think you're ready."

"I'm; Yeah, I'm ready to talk," she said. She took another deep breath and sat up straighter, putting her hands on her knees like she was trying to focus herself.

"You can ask anything you want, and I'll try to answer," I promised her.

"I don't have questions," she said. "Well, I actually have lots of questions, but they aren't important right this second. Seeing you with Erica and Ivy, and meeting Vanessa. Hearing the way Leo and Danielle talk about you. I think I know what I'd be getting into if I do this with you. And to be honest, it sounds pretty greater considering the other options that the world seems to be moving toward right now. But I never want to be someone who just takes the easy thing because it's in front of them. I know a lot about you now, but you don't know much about me. And I'll tell you, pretty much anything you want to know, but there's something I need to know if you're Okay with. More than my past, more than whatever your government is worried about."

"The only way to know is to ask," I said, trying not to let my own nerves out. Kyla, who had been steady throughout the day, was showing signs of anxiety amidst her hard pressure to keep herself under control. "If I don't like it, we can try and find someone else as soon as possible."

"I don't want,” She bit her tongue, cutting herself off, and took a breath. "Harrison. If I do this, if I imprint on you, this is my out. I've been doing everything my father wanted since I was a kid. The only escape I ever had was through dance, and even that he took control of to make sure I was getting the best lessons and tutors and going to the best camps and schools. And even then, he and NICA used it as well. My entire life I've been pushed and trained and taught and used because I didn't matter and my country and my service did. I want a new life, Harri. But I want that life the way I want it. I want a big family. I was an only child, and my parents tolerated each other at best in a political marriage. I want six kids at least, more if we can. Fuck, I'll pop out an even dozen and be happy. Or maybe not, maybe I'll be happy earlier than that, but I know I want a lot of kids to love on and raise in a big, supportive family.

"If you can handle that, and if Erica can handle that because I know she's going to need to agree to it too, then I swear to God I'll be loyal to you and only to you. My father, NICA, my country; I can leave them all behind and in the dust if you can promise me we'll try to make my dream life happen. And I promise I'll be the best, hottest housewife I can be for as long as you can keep me barefoot and pregnant. I'll make sure I'm fit and tight and everything I can be for you in between pregnancies, but God I want this, Harri. I've never told anyone this before, but I want it so fucking bad."

I didn't know what to say. She was practically sobbing in her earnest desire for what she was asking. I just slid down to my knees on the floor of the RV and wrapped my arms around her and Kyla clutched at me as she panted hard. Not crying, but desperately trying to control herself.

"Kyla, I would be an extremely lucky man if I can give that all to you," I said. "And I want to tell you yes right away, but you're right. I do need to check with Erica first. Do you want me to call her in to ask her now?"

She hesitated a moment, then nodded and sat back on the chair, sucking in a deep and unsteady breath.

I stood up and opened the RV door, sticking my head out. All three of my women looked over to me and I made what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then locked eyes with Erica and motioned her over with a head jerk.

She joined us, shutting the RV door behind her. "What's up?" she asked. "Everything Okay?"

I looked at Kyla. "Do you want me to ask, or you?"

"I; You," she said after hesitating.

I turned to Erica and reached out, holding her hand. "So, I know we had our conversation earlier, but I didn't realize this was coming or maybe we would have talked about it more seriously. Kyla is ready to join us, but she has an ask. Because of her own family past, one thing she wants more than anything is to have kids. A whole bunch of them. So she wants to know if you and I are Okay with that and willing for that to happen, or if we should try to find her someone else who can help her get the life she wants."

Erica's eyes had widened as I was speaking and her jaw worked a few times before she could find the right words. Then she turned to Kyla and looked at her for a long, long moment before putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's the most important thing for you?" she asked quietly.

Kyla nodded, then looked up to meet Erica's gaze. "More than anything else. And I want to do that with Harrison; God, I haven't even known him a day but it's like I can see it right there in front of me. He'd make a great husband and an even better father. I just know he's yours more than either of the others, and I couldn't risk saying yes to him without you saying yes to this."

"God, fuck," Erica sighed, and I realized she was tearing up as well. She looked to me. "Yes, obviously, if it's what she needs then yes. But I guess now I need to stop taking the pill because I'm not just gonna sit by and not be in the running for the first mother of your child."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. "But we just,”

She kissed me to shut me up. "It doesn't matter," she said. "I love you, you love me. If the world implodes and we're all shot off into space, I still won't regret making a kid with you." She turned to Kyla. "Are you going to love him?"

"I'm going to try," she said. "And I'll work harder at it than my parents ever did."

"Then yes," Erica said. "But, and I'll only ever say this once and you need to listen to me closely, if this isn't the truth and you hurt Harrison or me or anyone else here then I swear to everything in heaven and hell that I will end you. Do we understand each other?"

Kyla nodded, taking her seriously. "I do, and I won't."

"Okay," Erica said, and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "You clearly need a fuck, so unless you've suddenly turned Bi then I should leave you to it." She turned to me and kissed me hard, and I hugged her to keep her close.

"You're sure?" I asked her in a whisper.

She nodded. "Rock her world, babe. Show her why she's one of the four luckiest women on the planet."

She kissed my cheek, squeezed my fingers in hers, and then stepped away and out of the RV.

Kyla looked like she was going to jump out of her seat.

"So,” I started.

Kyla stood up abruptly and grabbed me by the face, smashing her plush lips to mine. I naturally grabbed her by the waist as we started making out right there in the middle of the RV. She'd been wearing that bulky coverall the entire day and now she started to scramble to try and get it unzipped and off at the same time as trying to get me to get my shirt off, which just turned into an awkward mess of her hands moving back and forth between us.

"Stop, stop," I murmured, pulling my lips from hers.

She actually whined a little in her throat and then blinked in surprise at her own reaction. I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I carried her back towards the bed. Like this, she was taller than me and she bent down to kiss me some more, making it hard for me to navigate. Thankfully it was a straight shot, and there wasn't a lip at the door to the bedroom area that I needed to duck under or step over. I found the bed with my shin and stopped and lowered her down onto it so we lay somewhere in the middle, me on top of her as we kept making out. Once we were done I pulled away and tugged off my shirt.

"Fuck," she groaned, looking at me hungrily.

"Not what you're used to?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, so much better." She raised her hands to my stomach and up to my chest, letting her fingers play through my chest hair.

I couldn't help myself and I reached down and unzipped the coverall down to her belly button. Underneath, all she had on was a set of black bra and panties. On the one hand, I was starting to get mesmerized by her body very quickly, but on the other, I remembered in the back of my mind that she hadn't arrived with any luggage.

I lifted her from under her arms and she let me help her pull the coveralls off, then raised her ass so I could pull them from her legs as well. I crashed back down onto her, now feeling her smooth skin on mine. Her body was everything I would have expected from a dancer; smooth and sleek all over, with toned muscling and a sort of feline grace as she moved around.

"Where; are; your clothes; and things?" I asked between kisses.

"They said; they would bring; them up; from Cali,” she replied. Then she stopped the kissing and looked up at me. "Seriously, I've got this fucking craving for your cock right now like I can't believe, Harri. I need you to fuck me so fucking bad."

"Okay," I said, and then kissed her again as I reached under her to unsnap her bra. When she realized what I wanted she didn't even bother with the snap, she just yanked the black cups off her tits and the whole thing over her head. Her tits were a perfect size for my big hands to palm, a bit bigger than Ivy's but much smaller than Erica's, and her dark brown areolas were smooth and a little puffy, with two perfect nubs for nipples. I sucked on one, feeling how hard they were, but she was stretching to try and get my shorts off of me.

She needed the imprinting. We could always explore each other more in the future.

I leaned away from her, one hand still on her tit and holding her down, as I shoved down my shorts and boxers. For her part, she pushed her panties down to her knees and I pulled them the rest of the way off. Her cunt was a gorgeous brown, flushed darker than the skin above and slick with her chemically-induced horniness. Even her clit hood was a little pulled back, the softer pink of her clit just visible from being swollen. She was entirely bare, and I wondered if that was a personal choice or a seduction tactic she'd been told to follow.

Not that I cared at the moment.

I wanted to eat her out and taste her. I wanted to make this last, to wow her like Erica had said. Fuck, let's be real, I wanted to impress the seductive honey trap spy with my sex skills.

"Fuck my brains out," Kyla demanded. "Fuck me until I can only ever think of you. Take me and make me yours, you fucking massive wall of American god."

I could impress her later.

Her cunt accepted my cock like a perfectly tailored suit. I slid in, and even though she was tight and her muscles were firm as hell as they clenched at me she was also extremely willing. That changed when I was almost all the way in though, but not from want of trying.

Kyla came, her entire body rolling and arching as her cunt clenched down enough to almost start forcing my cock out. She grabbed me around the shoulder and hugged herself up, clinging to me, and her hips roiled as she thrust hard up and down. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her lips curled in an ugly snarl for a long moment, until the orgasm passed and she let go of me, falling a couple of inches back to the bed with a 'whumph.'

"H-Holy fuck," she panted, looking up at me in confusion. "What was that? That,” She blinked rapidly.

"Did no one tell you about the first orgasm?" I asked her.

She shook her head, still blinking like she was trying to gain her focus. "Fuck me and tell me," she said.

I started to slow-thrust, enjoying the delicious warmth of her as I leaned down a bit more, pressing my full body against hers as she spread her legs wider for me. "They told Erica in the information session that she should expect a massive orgasm the first time she ingested a man's precum, and the biggest one of her life when they ingest their actual cum."

"She got an information session?" Kyla panted, looking slightly alarmed.

"You didn't?" I asked, equally alarmed.

We'd both stopped thrusting at each other, not sure what to do.

"Fuck it, fucking fuck me," she said and rolled her body to get my cock deeper inside her again.

I wasn't going to argue with that.

We fucked like that, mutually, for a bit and then I took some more control and went up high on my hands for better leverage and started to fuck her harder. Kyla moaned and panted beneath me, then raised her lips up and sucked on one of my nipples, which was an oddly pleasurable surprise, and then she took some of my hairy pec muscle between her teeth and bit me lightly as she came again.

"Ow," I said when she dropped back to the bed again.

"Sorry," she panted. "I just; you're really fucking good."

Huh, maybe I can impress the spy, I thought.

"I'm getting closer," I told her. I'd had... well, not the most amount of sex I'd had in a day, but a bunch, so I wasn't entirely surprised I was lasting as long as I was. "Do you want to try something else?"

"I want to try everything with you," she gasped and kissed me. "But... let me..." I disengaged with her, which made her moan like a whore, and she scrambled around on the bed until she was at the bottom corner on her back. Then she spread her legs wide into a full split, and then even wider until she had one leg practically parallel with her torso and the other was way out to the other side. If she was a clock, she would have been showing 10 o'clock.

"Fuck me hard. Use my hole," she said, licking her lips. "Get your cock back inside; yes! Oh, fuck, Harrison. Make my cunt fucking squirm. Make your cunt squirm. It's yours now. I'm yours. My whole body. Fuck! I've never felt it like this before. I've never felt anything like this."

I was crushing down into her in big, hard strokes and I could feel her cunt squishing with her juices and my balls slapping against her ass cheeks. I was hovering over her and a bead of sweat had trailed down to the end of my nose. Kyla opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, licking it off of me. I lowered the rest of the way to her and kissed her hard, then hugged her tightly as I started pumping short and quick, barely leaving her cunt.

"I can't wait to fall in love with you," I whispered to her. "I can't wait to make babies with you, and start a family."

"Do it," she gasped. "Put a baby in me. Make my womb yours forever. Breed me, make me your breeding wife-whore. Love me, may-ari. Oh, fucking; that's what you are, you beautiful big bastard. You're my may-ari. My owner. I choose you. I choose; I,”

I couldn't have stopped from coming in her if my life depended on it. She was pushing towards her own orgasm already, and her years of dance and other physical activity had turned her core into a vice that sucked at my cock like a hoover.

I came as she lost her grip on her words, chanting about choosing me. She came as well, a scream quenched in her throat as her entire body flexed and tensed. I filled her up, releasing over and over in her, but I finished before she did and just went right back to fucking her since my cock hadn't gone soft yet and she was still coming. I only stopped when she went slack, her legs falling back to a more natural position, and her face went from that clenched teeth-gritting tension to a soft, satisfied smile.

"Imprinting. Imprinting. Imprinting."

I pulled away from her slowly, making sure she wasn't going to fall from the bed, and found that the entire bottom corner and the edge of the mattress were wet and sticky with juices. Along with my legs, crotch and hips.

"Great, another squirter," I sighed. Not that I actually minded, but it just meant we'd be doing even more laundry in the tiny machine the RV held. I stood and, once I felt like I could be coordinated enough, I picked Kyla up in a cradle and lifted her higher on the bed and tucked her in. She was in the fetal position, still mumbling the imprinting sequence with that smile.

I had to grab a new pair of shorts since mine had ended up in the splash zone, and I didn't bother putting on a shirt but did wipe myself down with some wet paper towel.

Stumbling out of the RV, I was greeted by catcalls and applause. Looking around, the fire was still going and someone had stocked it higher with wood. Erica, Dani and Vanessa were all sitting in the Adirondack chairs, and Ivy was sitting curled up in Erica's lap.

"Where are Leo and the girls?" I asked, trying my best not to let them show the embarrassment I knew they were going for with their teasing.

"Aria and India were going to fuck, and invited Leo to watch," Dani smirked. "So I assume he's in there either jerking off, or fucking."

"I don't need to picture that," Erica rolled her eyes.

I stepped over and kissed Vanessa as she leaned her head back and reached up to hug me around the neck. Then I slipped around the circle to Ivy and Erica and kissed both of them. Dani opened her arms to me as well, so I hugged her and she kissed my cheek.

"Congrats," she said as I pulled away. "Pops."

"Oh, God," I groaned and looked at Erica. "You told them?"

"Was I supposed to keep it a secret?" she countered. "I needed to talk it out with someone."

Vanessa had stood from her chair and gestured for me to take her seat and went inside the RV, coming back out with some more beers. She passed them around and then sat on my lap similar to the way Ivy was with Erica.

We sat that way for a while talking as the night sky played out above us. I'd always loved looking up at the sky out on the property, away from any major sources of light pollution. Now spotlights were lighting up the construction area a hundred yards away, where men and women were working through the night. The view was dimmed, and I wondered if it would ever be as clear again as it had been a month ago.

Dani slipped off to bed first, and Vanessa grumbled that she had to be up in the morning for work so the rest of us went quickly. We never had discussed the sleeping arrangements, so I ended up sleeping next to Kyla, with Erica pressing her back to my side and holding my arm under her and around her stomach, with Vanessa spooning up to her and Ivy on the end on her back, snuggled partially under Vanessa.

I knocked on the door and set the two big brown paper bags down on the stoop and backed away. The house wasn't 'old' per se, located in a neighborhood that had been developed almost twenty-five years ago, and hadn't been updated since it was first built. To be fair, there hadn't ever exactly been a housing boom in the area, so other than the one-off builds it was probably one of the newest places around.

The inner front door opened and Mary looked out cautiously, then in surprise as she saw me. She hadn't texted me like I'd asked her to, and it had almost been a week since I'd seen her in the parking lot at the grocery store. She looked a little better, though not by much, and I wondered how far she'd been able to stretch that $70 I'd been able to give her then.

"Harri?" she asked in surprise.

"Hey, Mary," I said with a little wave.

"How did you; Is this;?"

"It wasn't that hard, Mary," I said. "I just made a couple of calls. You never texted me."

"I know, I,” she hesitated, and then hung her head. "I was so embarrassed."

"You don't need to be," I told her. "You're in a tough spot, and I'm not. I want to help out."

"Mom? Who's at the door?" came a little voice from inside. A boy poked his head around Mary's hip, looking cute and curious.

"It's an old friend of Mommies," Mary said. "He's just here to say hello."

"Hey there buddy," I said, smiling as I pulled my mask down and waved, then let the mask snap back up and played like it had rocked me. The kid giggled. "My name is Harrison, but everyone calls me Harri on account of my big beard and hair."

"That's a funny name," the kid said. "If you got rid of your beard, what would they call you?"

"Hmm, that's a good question!" I said. "I don't know. Maybe you should ask your Mom, she knew me when I didn't have a beard."

"We still called him Harri, baby," Mary said, smiling down at the boy and running her fingers through his hair.

The kid had keen eyes and noticed the bags on the stoop and the food inside. "Is that for us?"

"It is, kiddo," I said. "Could you help your Mom get it inside?"

"Sure!" he said. Mary sighed and opened the screen door for him, and the kid came out in his socks and hefted up one of the bags and started carrying it in.

"Harri, you don't need to,”

"I made sure there are some snacks for the kids in there," I said, pretending like she hadn't been talking. "I know they aren't nutritious, but I figured you can bribe some good behavior for some Oreos and stuff every once in a while. There's also a bottle of merlot in that other one there, so you may not want the kiddo to lift it. He's a cute kid, by the way. I've got an order in down at the butcher's that I'm supposed to pick up tomorrow, so I'll be by sometime tomorrow afternoon with some meat for you guys too. Maybe I can meet your little girl then? Charlie, right?"

Mary looked like she was about to cry, and I didn't want to push her over the edge so I tried to make it all like it wasn't a big deal. "Alright, Mary. See you tomorrow. Let me know if you need anything specific and I'll see what I can do, alright? Tell the kiddo not to eat all the gummy worms at once."

I was halfway down the driveway to my truck when the screen door opened again. "Harri," Mary called. I looked back and she was standing on the porch, looking at me with tears brimming in her eyes and a happy frown on her face. From this distance, without a mask, I could still see her as the little button-nosed cheerleader I'd known. "Thank you."

I just winked and waved, heading back to my truck.

"That was really kind of you," Kyla said as I got in.

"It's nothing," I said. "I knew her in high school and her husband's been missing for a while."

Kyla took one of my hands from the steering wheel and wrapped her fingers in mine, looking at it. The casual intimacy was still new; the first couple days after her imprinting had been us feeling each other out, and her getting comfortable with the general openness to sex that was our new life. I'd made it a point to spend time with her, both sexually and non-sexually, each day and we were slowly starting to find a soft groove.

"That's still kindness, Harri," she said. "You're sure she needs it? I don't want to see you getting taken advantage of."

"I'm sure," I said.

"Okay," Kyla nodded. "Then we'll help her. Now, let's continue this tour. I want to know everything I can about this little podunk, backwoods town I've been shipped off to."

"Well, the first thing you should know is that I'm pretty sure it isn't big enough to be considered a town. Maybe a village?"

"Oh, God," she laughed. "Not if you consider all the construction workers moving in."

"True. I bet we're close to half-againing the local population at this point. Vanessa said we'll hit a thousand by the end of the week."

"With that many," Kyla said. "We should have our house in, what, a few months?"

"No idea," I said. "No fucking idea."

"Fuck, it's already June," I groaned. It was hot as balls and I was regretting putting on my 'go out into the world' getup.

"How did you miss the 1st?" Erica asked, also done up in her gear.

"How did we miss Memorial Day?" I countered.

"Oh, shit," Leo said, standing up from where he'd been sitting over near his RV. "You're right, we did miss Memorial Day. Should we do something?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"We could throw a party," Ivy suggested. "We could all dress up fancy and have a dance?"

The surveyors had been needing Leo and me less and less lately and I was starting to get a little twitchy with how little I had to do. Quarantine before all of this really kicked off had been one thing, but now we didn't even have our big wide backyard to ourselves. When Erica had mentioned that she wanted to take a drive into Portland to pick up some things from the tattoo parlor and check her apartment I'd jumped on the chance and we'd made the plan.

The girls were already starting to excitedly talk about planning our late Memorial Day celebration as I stretched and sighed, checking my watch. We'd been planning to leave right after lunch and it was already 3pm. Vanessa had taken an extended break since she'd worked late the night before and we'd had some one-on-one fun in the RV, which had been sorely needed for her. Where the rest of us were struggling to find things to keep busy and motivated, the last week had seen more and more responsibility and work landing in Vanessa's lap as the construction crews started to show up and move into the barracks. It meant there was an entirely new crew of cleaners, maintenance workers and delivery people under her supervision along with her 'gorillas.' Not to mention her wrangling of the other foremen and administrators on-site as her father handled the top-end details of the job. Every day it seemed like new equipment and supplies were being delivered and a third barracks was quickly being erected as even more hands were around.

But an hour with Vanessa had delayed us, and when I was finally ready to go Dani was busy with Leo over at their place, and since she was coming with us Erica and I had to wait. Then Erica and Kyla were ensconced in a private conversation in our RV when Dani emerged ready to go, so we lost another half hour before the three of us were all finally dressed and prepped to leave.

"Okay," I said loudly, trying to cut through the multiple party-related conversations. "We're all agreed we'll do a Memorial Day thing, but we're burning daylight. Erica and Dani, let's go."

We took my truck, only needing one vehicle since we weren't hauling a ton of stuff like the last time. As we pulled around the site offices I spotted Vanessa walking with one of the other foremen in conversation and gave her a little double honk. She smiled and waved. Driving down the old driveway path there were now a half dozen wide offshoots winding off into the trees and closer to the highway there were big swathes of ground that had been cleared and were starting to get flattened by scrapers and excavators. Vanessa had mentioned that we'd end up with a couple of strip malls worth of stores to help provide for the eventual community; a convenience store, a clinic, a dentist, that sort of thing.

Right at the end of the driveway a guard hut had been erected, little more than a fancy roadside fruit stall that could barely fit two people inside. I pulled up next to it and Erica rolled down the window.

"Hey Patrick," I said, waving to the construction worker manning the booth and tracking the ins and outs.

"Hey folks," the older guy said with a grin. He was supposed to be on the road crews but had arrived earlier than needed. I'd asked him once if standing in the guard booth all day working a clipboard was boring and he assured me that after three decades manning a 'Slow/Stop' sign in the middle of roads through sun, rain and sleet, the booth and the clipboard were welcome.

"We'll be out for a few hours," I said.

"Sounds good," he replied and made a note on his clipboard. Then he wiped at his eyes and cleared his throat, blinking. "Y'all didn't say anything about how bad the pollen got up here. I think my allergies are kicking up and I didn't bring any of my meds, I thought the North West was supposed to be wet."

"It usually is. We'll pick you something up," Erica offered. "We need to stop at a pharmacy anyways."

"We do?" I asked.

"We do," Erica said, patting me on the knee.

"Hah," Patrick laughed. "And here I thought you was some sort of Big Dog, Harri. But you're as whipped by your women as the rest of us."

"See you in a bit, Patrick," I said.

He waved us off, then covered his mouth to cough a little.

"Poor guy," Dani said. "I'd hate if I had allergies like that."

"We'll get him fixed up," I said as I pulled onto the highway and started heading in the direction of Portland. "It's been weirdly dry and hot so I'm betting the dust from the brush cutting is doing it to him."

And I didn't think anything more of it.

Erica unlocked the metal grate that pulled down over the front of the tattoo parlor and lifted it up on the rollers enough to uncover the door.

The good news was that the whole thing with the 'Autonomous Zone' seemed to have burned itself out and Portland was no longer hosting big protests at the moment. The bad news was that only happened after a week of riots and several news-worthy moments of violence and vandalism. Thankfully the parlor wasn't on one of the major routes the riots had travelled down and there didn't seem to be any damage other than sprayed graffiti on the grate and some of the glass windows behind it.

I'd pulled my truck right up over the curb and parked us as close as possible. The streets were as empty of people moving around as the last time we'd come into the city, except there was more trash. I'd seen old newsreels of when there had been major strikes in New York City back in the early 80s and it wasn't exactly that bad, but another couple of weeks and it might get there. Someone must have been doing collections, they were just overburdened or understaffed or something.

I had to nudge a pile out of the way with the front of my truck to wedge into the open space, but it almost immediately proved worth it as a trio of ambulances came burning down the street with their lights running. If I'd parked on the street one of them would have needed to swerve out of the way and who knew if those extra seconds would be the difference between life or death for someone; not to mention the potential of the ambulance not swerving fast enough and clipping my truck.

Inside the tattoo parlor Erica went straight to her bay and started unhooking and gathering her equipment. Dani was looking around at the place, grinning as she examined the wild decor. She would call out questions to Erica, who would tell her who had done what mural, or the brief story behind the broken surfboard hanging from the ceiling and the skateboard deck covered in almost a hundred different signatures.

I spotted a photo on the wall and realized it was of Erica and all of her staff at the most recent DragonCon where they had put up a booth and done live tattooing. Erica had said beforehand she thought it might be a waste of time, but the owner of the parlor was a huge nerd and wanted to do it so it was her job to organize. I never had found out how it went, but she looked happy in the photo. I grabbed the frame from the wall and brought it over to her.

"Do you want to bring this, too?" I asked.

She glanced at it and paused her work, then smiled and hugged me. "That's sweet, Harri. Yes, absolutely." She took the frame and put it in one of the boxes we'd brought for her to carry stuff, then turned to me. "Hey, could you just empty all those drawers there into the boxes? Don't just dump them, but there isn't anything particularly fragile. It's mostly inks and cleaner solutions and stuff."

"Sure," I said.

"Thanks, babe," she said and kissed my cheek. "Dani and I are just going to slip through to next door."

"Oh, God," I groaned. I hadn't realized that was her plan.

"Don't worry," she grinned. "It'll all be fun for you, I promise."

The owner of the tattoo parlor also owned the sex shop next door and had installed a door between the two since the clientele crossed over fairly consistently. Erica led Dani through the door, opening it with her key, and I could hear them laughing and giggling.

By the time I was done with the drawers Erica had pointed out, placing what seemed like hundreds of little vials and bottles of inks and other liquids into the boxes along with some other art supplies, they hadn't come back. I went to the door and opened it, looking in.

Erica glanced over, grinning as she held another box and Dani was placing something inside. "You want any porn, babe?"

"What do I need porn for?" I asked.

"I dunno," she said. "Variety?"

"Ooh, this one is called 'Big Black Booties 15,'" Dani said, grabbing a DVD from a nearby shelf and waving it at me. "You don't have that kind of variety yet, Harri."

I snorted and shook my head. "I'm perfectly happy with the booties at my disposal, thank you."

Dani shrugged and put the DVD in the box. "I'll see if Leo wants it."

"Gag!" Erica laughed, making them both start giggling. I had a feeling that was a running joke between them.

"How are we paying for this stuff?" I asked. "Everything is turned off and we don't have any cash."

"Artie told me I could Venmo him at a 75% discount," Erica said. "Plus anything with an expiry date I could have for free. So we've got a lot of lube now, along with a bunch of penis-shaped candy and some candy underwear."

I sighed and shook my head.

"Oh my God, we should take her with us," Dani said, pointing up on a high shelf where a creepily lifelike sex doll was sitting.

"I think you mean rescue her," Erica said. "Harri, help me get her down."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes," they both demanded.

When we packed up the truck we had two boxes of Erica's tattoo gear and other possessions from the shop, another full box of Sex Shop stuff, and Dani was sitting in the back next to 'Sexy Susan' who had also happened to get dressed in a sexy nurse costume. They thought it was fucking hilarious, I just thought 'Sexy Susan' was a little creepy.

Dani stayed down in the truck, taking the front seat as I pointed out that the 1911 was in its case under the passenger seat if she needed it, while Erica and I headed up to her apartment. The elevator had an 'out of order' sign on it, and Erica had to use her key to the building to get into the stairwell which she said she'd never had to do before. That was an immediate red flag to me, but I kept my cool to try and not worry her.

"You know," Erica said as we climbed the stairs. All our sex cardio seemed to be paying off because we weren't puffing from the exertion yet. "You haven't officially asked me to move in yet."

"What?' I asked. "Leo and I,”

"That wasn't asking me to move in permanently," Erica cut me off. "That was just for quarantine."

I rolled my eyes, knowing where she was going with this. At the next floor I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me, pulling down my mask and hers and kissing her hard and deep.

"Erica Lacosta, will you move in with me forever and ever?" I asked her.

"Yes," she grinned. "Yes, I will." She kissed me lightly to seal it, then sighed and we raised our masks and started climbing more stairs. "With that out of the way, I should really try and find a way out of my lease. Just because you have money doesn't mean I should be wasting mine on a place I'm not ever planning on moving back into."

"I'll help with some research," I said. "I know there's all the clamor about halting eviction notices, but maybe there's something that will help. I could text Miriam, see if Captain Bloomberg knows anything offhand."

"Hmm, maybe,” Erica started, but stopped as we reached her floor and found that door locked as well. "What the fuck?" she sighed and unlocked it.

"Let me go first," I said.

"Why? It's just..."

As we entered the corridor Erica trailed off, seeing the tracks of dirty footprints in the hall and the spray paint on the walls. She immediately started to move forward, but I grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait," I said. "Look." I pointed at the big circles on the walls next to each door, but she clearly didn't understand what I was pointing out. "Those are FEMA search and rescue marks."

Erica blinked once and was obviously unsure of what to say.

"Let's just take it slow," I said.

We walked down the hallway. Some of the doors were shut, but others looked like they'd been kicked in.

"What do they mean?" Erica asked me, looking at the circles and the scribbles of letters and numbers on the walls. Each circle had an X dividing it into four parts, and each quadrant was marked.

"The top part is the date the location was searched," I said. "5-24 means it happened May 24th, so a little over a week and a half ago. The left side is who did the search, the numbers are probably a military code for a National Guard unit. If it said PPD that would be the Portland police, or CDC or DEA or whoever. The right side is if there are any hazards." I pointed to one of the doors that were kicked in. "NE means 'No Entry.'" Then I pointed to another. "F/W means there's contaminated food and water." I pointed at another door, this one wasn't kicked in. "A 0 means no hazards.

"What are the bottom parts?" Erica asked.

I frowned and swallowed. "The crossed 0 means no one found. DB or DOA means dead bodies. LB means live people are, or were, inside."

Erica looked at the carnage of the corridor, her eyes scanning the doors of her neighbors as she weighed the number of DBs. There weren't many 0s, but about half of the apartments were labelled LB and hadn't been kicked open.

Half.

We got to Erica's place around the hall corner, passing the old lady Diane's door. It was kicked in and labelled NE, DB. Erica poked the door with her boot and it swung in. Inside, other than the dirty boot prints, it looked generally neat and tidy... other than the pool of dark something that had dried on the kitchen linoleum.

I grabbed Erica and held her as she gasped and her knees went weak. I pulled her away from the door and she saw that her own apartment had also been kicked in, but was labelled 0 hazards and 0 bodies. We went in and she sat down on the couch, burying her head in her hands.

Kneeling in front of her, I cradled her head on my shoulder and hugged her tightly as the reality of the world settled on her. She cried, though not as long as she probably needed, as I talked her through what had probably happened. Enough people had gotten sick and called emergency services that they came to do a sweep of the building. They knocked on every door, and anywhere someone didn't answer they kicked it in. Then I assumed they had extracted the bodies.

"I need to get out of here," Erica breathed.

"Okay," I said. "Do you need me to grab anything? Did we forget anything last time?"

"No, nothing," she shook her head. "Just get me out of here."

I picked her up and carried her out. Erica wasn't Ivy or Vanessa, or even Kyla. She was a full-figured woman. But I carried her every fucking step, down every stair. She stopped me right at the doors to the building and had me let her down.

"I don't want Dani to see me like this," she said.

"Why?" I asked. "She would understand."

"I know," she said, blinking under her ski goggles. "But if she sees me like this, she'll start thinking about what might be happening back home for her, and she doesn't need that."

I held Erica's hand at the door for another minute as she breathed deeply and got control of herself, and finally she smiled at me and it actually travelled up to her eyes.

"Thanks, babe," she said.

"Love you," I said.

"You too," she said and touched her forehead to mine since we were both masked and goggled.

"Hey, Charlie," I grinned, waving to the little four-year-old as she sprawled in Mary's arms and waved back with her little grin.

"Hi," she chirped.

"Okay," Mary said, setting her daughter down. "Scoot, you. Let Mommy talk with Harri for a second. Go see what your brother is doing."

"Okay," Charlie said and pounded off in the way only a four-year-old could.

"You're looking more like yourself, Mary," I said. I was standing off the porch and we kept the screen door closed, but I had my mask lowered so she could see my face.

She smiled softly and shrugged. "I don't feel like it, but thanks."

"How are the kids doing?" I asked.

"Well, I regret letting them eat sugar again," she smirked a little. "But they're good. Better than me, anyways, though Thomas misses his friends from school and keeps asking when he can go back to class." She laughed and wiped under one eye. "He used to hate going to school every morning, now it's all he wants to do."

"We'll get there eventually," I assured her. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"Physically? Better, I guess. I can't stop worrying about Eddie though, I just wish I knew anything. And I haven't even seen my neighbors around recently. You've been the only adult I've talked to in person in; God, a week and a half? Maybe two? Even with the kids I'm feeling isolated."

"How about next time I come by, I'll bring some lawn chairs and my girlfriend and I can sit and chat with you for a bit?" I offered.

Mary smiled and shook her head, then nodded. "Harri, you're too good for your own good. That would be really nice. Is that her in the truck?"

"Yeah," I said. "And her brother's girlfriend that's quarantined with us. We had to drive into Portland to pick up some of her stuff. The city is weird right now, Mary. I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie tried to head somewhere else to look for work."

"Thanks," she said, and I knew she was thanking me for keeping her little false hope alive. We both knew her husband was probably just gone, one way or another.

"Any special requests for the next grocery run?" I asked her.

"Um, yeah..." she said and blushed. "Could you, uh, pick me up some pads or tampons? Whatever is available."

"I'll have Erica text you for details," I assured her. "We'll take care of it."

"Harri, I'd kiss you if it were safe," Mary said with a smile.

"Don't go saying that," I said, backing away. "Mary Duncan, the Mary Duncan, offering me a kiss? I might go mad!"

I left her laughing, which was how I preferred to go. I'd been by twice more since the first time, once to drop off meat from the butcher, and once just to say hello like today.

Back in the truck Erica asked me how they were. "Good, the kids are good. I can tell she's eating more now that she doesn't have to worry about the kids. She's just really lonely and feeling isolated."

Erica glanced back at Dani and they did that 'women talking to each other through a glance' thing and Dani rustled in one of the boxes and handed forward a plastic-contained device.

"Bring her this," Erica said. "You can say it's from us."

I flushed, looking down at the vibrator in its packaging. "I don't know if that's appropriate," I said.

"Harri, either you go give it to her, or I'll dig out the dildo that's just about your size and bring her that, and let her know why I picked it for her."

I was out the door and back knocking on the front door.

"Harri?" Mary answered the door with a raised eyebrow. "Forget something?"

"So, when I mentioned to my girlfriend that you were feeling lonely, her and our friend decided that you should have this," I said, and set the vibrator down and backed off.

She looked down at the vibrator on the porch, then back to me. "Really?"

"It's a long story," I said. "Erica works in a tattoo shop, which is adjacent to a sex shop, and when we; you know what? I'll let her tell you next time we come by, Okay?"

"Okay," she said, suppressing a laugh. "Tell her thank you."

"I will," I said. "Uh... enjoy."

Mary had fetched the vibrator from the porch by the time I was back in the truck, and was standing on the stoop waving to us. Erica and Dani both waved back proudly, while I just tried to focus on backing out of the driveway and driving.

Patrick was sluggish getting up from the booth as we pulled in. I rolled down the window and held out the bag from the pharmacy in town. "Wasn't sure which you preferred so we got you Benadryl and Claritin," I said. "Whichever one you don't use feel free to pass it off to someone else if they need it."

Patrick coughed into his arm, blinking drearily above his mask as he got just close enough to take the bag and then back off. "Thanks, buddy. I'll mark you back in."

"No problem," I said and rolled up the window.

"We should tell Vanessa he needs a day off," Erica said.

"If he gets one, maybe we should send Sexy Susan to go take care of him," Dani giggled in the back seat.

"Oh my God, can you imagine!?" Erica cackled. "Patty opens his barracks door and she's just sitting there?"

"Fucking hell," Vanessa grumbled, typing away at her phone as I was massaging her feet. We were sitting around the campfire and it was late for her to be up at almost midnight, but she'd been dealing with a couple of minor messes that the night shift supervisors felt like she should handle instead of them.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"There's almost a dozen guys calling in sick ahead of time for tomorrow. If they called in the morning that would be one thing, but this just means they're planning it."

"Isn't a dozen workers barely 1% of your workforce?" Kyla asked. "Is it that big a deal?"

"No," Vanessa sighed. "Unless people start getting ideas and it spreads. Get enough knuckleheads in one place and they can convince each other of anything. If I don't squash this tomorrow they'll all think if they take some sick days that the incentive bonuses will get pushed back. That's not how they work, but they'll still think it's true and get all butt hurt when they don't get paid."

"Maybe they are sick and lonely and need some female attention," Dani chuckled. "Sexy Susan can be your nurse."

Vanessa barked a laugh and then made a disgusted face. "They'd probably love that, but way too many of those guys would be down to share her. I'm sure we'd have a chlamydia outbreak or something within days."

"Where is Sexy Susan?" Kyla asked, looking around. When we'd gotten back from our trip all the girls had been introduced to our new 'roommate' and thought it was hilarious. Aria had straight up started making out with 'her,' and India had lifted up the nurse's skirt and pretended to eat 'her' out.

The RV door opened behind me. "Ahem," Ivy cleared her throat for my attention.

I turned around and saw she was posing in the doorway of our RV, dressed in Sexy Susan's nurse outfit.

"The doctor will see you now, mon amour," she said with a wicked smile.

All the girls jeered me and wolf-whistled Ivy as I set down Vanessa's feet and stood up with a little grin on my face. Vanessa just grumbled, "Guess I'm waiting a little bit longer for the bed."

I went to Ivy and she planted a kiss on me, showing off for the others.

"That looks so much sexier on you than on the doll," I said to her.

"Good," she giggled. "Now come play doctor with me."

"Yes, Nurse," I said, and let her pull me into the RV.

I winced and blinked, sitting up slowly. It was rare these days that I woke up in the middle of the night; partially because I was usually dead tired by the end of the day after one final round with someone, and partially because extricating myself from the pile of bodies was a bit of a hassle that my subconscious apparently didn't want to deal with.

Kyla always slept on the edge of the bed, and the girls had decided on some sort of rotation so I ended up next to her every other day, and on the others she put a pillow between herself and the others as they dogpiled me. Tonight was a Kyla night, so I only needed to sit up and softly move Vanessa's arm from around me.

Red and white lights were flashing off the RV, and a crack in the curtain coverage had let it in to play against my face. I squinted, trying to look through the window without moving anymore.

"What is it?" Vanessa asked quietly, woken up despite my attempt not to disturb her.

"Looks like ambulance lights," I said. If it had been cops there would be blue as well.

"Umm," she grunted softly. "If it's an emergency someone would have called me. It's probably nothing."

I hesitated, wanting to curl up with her again, but then decided if I was getting nominally paid to be 'security' I should probably know why there was an ambulance on the property. Slipping out of bed, I pulled on my jeans and a shirt in the dark. When I glanced back Vanessa was dead asleep but Kyla was looking at me in the dark. I shuffled down the edge of the bed and leaned down and kissed her softly. "I'll be back in a few," I whispered.

"Okay," she said and took my fingers in hers for a moment.

I made my way out of the RV as quietly as possible, slipping my boots on without socks, and got hit with the cool night air. Leaving the compound I considered riding one of the ATVs over but decided that I didn't want to risk the noise waking everyone up, so I started hoofing it. Crossing the football field worth of dirt expanse between the compound and the barracks didn't take long, but it was enough time for me to consider the time I'd been asked by a German why Americans measured things in football fields to begin with. I hadn't had an answer for him at the time and guessed it was because it was a standard size and very common feature in every town and high school.

I also happened to have time to consider Kyla, and that little touch of comfort in the dark between us. She'd only been with us a little under two weeks and so far she'd fallen into the family naturally. She was more 'adult' in maturity than any of the other girls except Erica despite the fact that she was actually the youngest, and I had to assume it was because of her upbringing and training. Kyla was a natural leader but a quiet one, and I'd noticed she was deferring to Erica whenever she was around and I wondered if that was a choice, or her training, or something else.

It was the 'something else' that bugged me the most. I was sharing my bed with four women and sure, there'd been small issues here or there as they tried to find their spaces, but there hadn't been a fight. Not a single one. The most anyone ever even raised their voices was when they were laughing, or orgasming. I was the only one getting yelled at, and it was always, 'More!' and 'Harder!' and 'Please!'

The whole peaceful coexistence was great, but it also felt downright unnatural. There should have been some real friction.

I'd have to ask Miriam about it, or one of the nurses who came around to test our blood for the vaccine labs. It had happened twice in the last month and took barely more than twenty minutes for all of us. Maybe if I got lucky the next nurse would be chatty and I could get some info out of her.

As I approached the barracks and offices I saw that the ambulance was pulled up alongside the main door to the first big dormitory and a handful of men in reflective construction vests were milling around. There was more activity going on in the offices and even at night I could hear the telltale sound of machinery working by the light of the portable spots out across the forest.

Two EMT were wheeling out a man from the dormitory on a gurney, a medical mask and neck brace on him, as I arrived.

"Hey, clear out; Oh, it's you," said one of the construction workers. He had a white hard hat on, marking him as a foreman or higher.

"Yeah, just wanted to make sure everything is alright," I said. "Saw the lights."

"Mm," he grunted, then turned and waved off the other workers around him. They left, some into the barracks and others to whatever other work they were supposed to be doing, and then he turned back to me as we watched the EMT get the gurney into the ambulance. "Nothing major. Well, not for the project. Someone found Old Phil on the ground in the barracks common area unconscious and with a gash in his head. One of the guys did first aid and realized he'd probably had a heart attack so we started CPR and called the ambulance; shitty luck for Phil, the AEDs are supposed to get installed in the buildings in a couple of days. We had to send a runner to the offices to get one."

"That is shitty luck," I said, watching as the EMT worked on the guy a bit in the ambulance. "We're sure it was a heart attack?"

"Couple of guys said he'd been short of breath after work, walking around scratching at his chest and 'feeling funny,'" the foreman said. "Guy's a fucking ox so he was probably ignoring the worst of it. Honestly, we're lucky he didn't just keel over on the job, that would have been a way bigger issue and could have shut us down for a day or two of investigation."

"Alright, well, thanks for the update," I said.

"No problem," he nodded.

I approached the ambulance and knocked on the door when the EMT didn't look particularly in a rush. "Hey, sorry to bother you. I'm technically security on the site. You guys good?"

The EMT raised an eyebrow at me and I could immediately tell the guy was haggardly tired. His eyes were sunken above his medical mask and he was wearing a clear face shield to go with it, and he was buttoned up and gloved including a hood.

"Existentially I'm fucked," the guy said.

"He meant right now, fuckhead," the other EMT grunted. That made me blink; sure, I figured EMT and other emergency services could be rough and tumble, but in front of someone who wasn't part of their system?

"Right," the first EMT said. "Dude's dead. Apologies for my bluntness but I'm running on hour twenty-three of a twelve-hour shift and we'll probably hit thirty-six before we can clock out for a nap."

"Shit," I said.

"Yeah. All of it. Everywhere," the second EMT said. "You need us to sign anything or can we get out of here?"

"Uh, not for me," I said. "Stay safe."

For some reason that made them laugh, and there was a tinge of crazy in there that I really didn't like. I backed off and they shut the door and soon the ambulance rumbled down the well-driven driveway towards the highway.

"Fuck me," I sighed, watching it go. First I got weird responses about police response time, and now the EMTs were going loopy around the edges. All we needed now was a firefighter arsonist and a mailman axe murderer.

"Why?" I asked myself as I turned to start walking back to the RVs. "Why would I even think that?"

Vanessa's alarm went off somewhere under her pillow. It was the best thing we could come up with for her to wake up for work and possibly not wake everyone else.

She shut off the alarm and started to stretch and I rolled over and planted my face between her little tits and kissed her chest.

"Morning," I grumbled.

"Morning," she sighed. She kissed the top of my head then slipped out from the covers and down the length of the bed.

Erica extracted herself from Ivy and got up without a word, walking naked through the RV to the kitchenette to start brewing coffee. Ivy, half-asleep, took the chance to squirm across the bed and plant herself against my side, mirroring Kyla on my other.

I missed Vanessa leaving, but felt Erica crawl back into bed and spoon up behind Ivy. I vaguely wondered if we could get Vanessa's father to give her a better shift schedule.

Bacon and a Blowjob were on the menu for breakfast when Miriam called. Erica had brought me breakfast in bed, Kyla making herself scarce to make her own breakfast, but Ivy stuck around to watch with a little smile on her face. When my phone started buzzing over where it was plugged in Erica groaned unhappily around the head of my cock, but there weren't many people who weren't in the compound who would be calling me.

"Morning," I said, suppressing a bacon burp as I answered the phone.

"Harri, what the hell is going on down there?" Miriam asked.

"Wait, hold on. What?" I asked, sitting up and pulling my cock away from Erica.

"I'm getting a bunch of conflicting reports from the site. Is there something going on?"

"I don't know," I said. "We had an ambulance in last night because a worker had a heart attack, but I assume there'll be an incident report or something about that. Let me get dressed and go find Vanessa to find out. I'll call you back."

"Okay," she said, and I could feel the pregnant hesitation on the line. "Be quick, please."

"Will do," I said, and we hung up.

Erica looked at me with a pout on her lips. "Really? Mid-blowjob?"

I scooted around and leaned down to kiss her. "Babe, I promise I'll fuck your face later, Okay? And eat you out until you squirt."

"Fine," she sighed, flopping over onto her back on the bed. "I guess that will do."

"You know," Ivy grinned, slipping out from under the covers as I got up to get dressed. "I don't have anywhere to go."

I left them in the bedroom, shutting the door as Ivy sat on Erica's face. Kyla would have heard everything and she just reached out a hand to me, again brushing her fingers with mine and giving me a soft smile as I passed her and slipped on my boots; without socks, again. Once they were on I turned to her and pulled her by the back of her tank top to me, kissing her hard.

We didn't say anything, she just smiled wider as I left her there in the kitchen in her panties and top.

This time, even though it was early and Leo and his crew might not have been awake yet, I didn't hesitate to go for the ATVs. I drove over to the offices first and went to the 'main' admin one and asked for Vanessa. There was a flurry of activity going on and the admin folks inside were almost all on the phone. One person I'd never met before cleared their throat heavily and radioed for Vanessa, and what I found to be an inaudible squawk back turned out to be directions over to another one of the portables. I jogged over there and knocked before entering, finding Vanessa and two of the other foremen just hanging up the phone from some sort of conference call.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," I said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'd love to, but I'm in the fucking trenches right now, Harri," Vanessa said.

"Miriam called," I said.

She hesitated, then turned and gave some directions to the other two foremen and they brushed past me. "Come in," she said, waving me on.

I went in and, once the door was shut, I took Vanessa's hand in mine and made her stop for a second. Instead of kissing her I just held her hand and looked into her eyes, and I could see her immediately match my exaggerated breathing until we were in sync.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," I told her. "Miriam called and wants to know what's going on. She says she's getting conflicting reports."

"Well, that's probably because I'm dealing with conflicting reports. We've got almost thirty guys calling in sick, and there's a site-wide slowdown because men are fucking gossips," she said. "My best guess is that someone snuck drugs into the barracks and started selling last night, so we've got a bunch of guys who are fucked up and now that there's a noticeable number of guys off sick other people are trying to take advantage. Or trying to find out who has the drugs. Or both."

"Shit," I said.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure if this would eventually be a problem or not with the quick spin up of the camp. In industrial construction jobs, the spin up takes months and there's a lot more infrastructure and planning in place first. We'd have a subcontracted security company doing bag checks, and we'd have cameras in the public halls and spaces to monitor people doing shady shit. Hell, most camps have a bustling but controlled underground highway for drugs, booze and hookers. No one wants to fuck it up for everyone else, so no one lets anyone else go overboard. But this is the wild fucking west and one asshole can convince a bunch of other guys to be assholes too."

"You want a hug, an ear to bounce off of, or just to be left alone?" I asked her.

"Yes?" she answered, and then took a breath. "I just need to work. Thank you, though."

"Okay," I said, and squeezed her hand one more time then stood up. At the door I turned to her and smirked. "You know, your ass looks great in those jeans."

She threw her hard hat at me as I ducked out the door, hearing her bark a laugh.

I called Miriam once I'd ridden the ATV back to the compound, letting her know that it was a slowdown and that the best guess was it was getting caused by contraband on the site, and that they were trying to track down the source. She thanked me and asked me to update her if I heard anything else.

"Harri, I need you," Vanessa said over the phone.

I sat up from my spot on the deck chair at the tone of her voice. "Where and how?" I asked her.

"It's not drugs," she said. Her voice was calm and even, but I could hear the barely contained thread of anxiety behind it. "People are sick. I don't know if it's the Covid one or the Duo Halo one, but people are sick. I need you to lock down the site. Go down to the front entrance and direct anyone trying to come in over to that motel where I was staying, and don't let anyone leave."

"Okay," I said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I am," she said. "We just have a lot of shit to deal with and we're trying to figure out what the protocol is and I can't reach Patrick down at the gate."

"Alright, I'm on it," I said.

"Thank you," she said, the gratitude heavy in her voice.

"Be safe," I told her.

"I will."

"What's wrong?" Dani asked. She and Ivy had been sitting with me in the chairs painting each other's toenails while Leo and Erica were facing off against India and Aria in a game of corn hole on the other side of the compound.

"People are starting to get sick over at the barracks so we need to go into quarantine," I said, standing up. I raised my voice. "Hey, guys? No one leaves the compound for now, Okay? We're on quarantine."

They had questions that I didn't have answers to, but I tried to tell them as much as I could as I went and got my jacket on and fetched my masks. A moment before I hopped onto the ATV I decided 'Don't let anyone leave' might require more than a stern frown so I went into the storage containers and fetched my M9 from the gun safe and holstered it to my hip.

I burned it wide around the barracks and offices, running the ATV at speed. There were people milling around and I thought I could see Vanessa trying to direct some traffic in her white hard hat and mask. I raced down the driveway and pulled up, parking the ATV across the middle of the drive and wishing I'd driven my truck down instead since that would have blocked more space.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what I had to worry about when I dismounted and turned to the little guard house to talk with Patrick.

He was on the ground inside the hut, and while I rushed over to check on him my instincts clicked in and I stopped about half a dozen feet away and slowed down.

Inside, he was on his side. His chest wasn't moving, but I could see a leak of blood out of his mouth and the corners of his eyes. I don't know why, but my eyes went to the open box of Claritin in his shirt pocket.

"Fuck. Shit. Fucking hell," I swore, backing away and grabbing my phone out of my pocket. I dialed 911 first, following the First Aid protocol, and I was almost struck dumb when I got a busy tone. "Fuck!" I shouted and almost threw the phone, but knew that was a bad idea. I hung up and dialed Vanessa, but she didn't pick up. I left a message telling her about Patrick, and then I called Miriam.

"Harri?" she answered. "Talk to me."

"It's not drugs. I think it's an outbreak. I'm looking at our gate attendant collapsed and probably dead. He's got blood leaking from his mouth and eyes, maybe his nose."

"Shit," Miriam grunted. "Okay, we're already on it. I think Brent Peters tried to downplay it, maybe he thinks he has it under control but he doesn't get it. We're already spinning up an emergency response but it'll take some time to be able to handle the number of people on site. You said you're at the gate?"

"Yeah, Vanessa asked me to come down here," I said.

"Good. Stay there," Miriam said. "Don't go near the body. Even vaccinated you're not perfectly immune. Do not let anyone get on or off that site, Okay? Its vital people don't add to this problem."

"I hear you," I said.

"Good. Okay," she said. "Be safe."

"Be quick."

I hung up and glanced at poor Patrick, then went and sat on the ATV.

"Shit," I said to the wind.

To be continued, Based on a post by Break The Bar for Literotica