Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 14

Vaccine Enforcement.

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

"I'm sorry for earlier," Kyla said. It was late, well after dinner, and the return of the overcast sky had the evening hour darkening quickly. She'd asked me to come on a walk with her so we'd laced up our hiking boots and headed out with jackets and flashlights. Even before the construction I knew most of the trails by heart but would have brought a light anyways, now half of the trails were gone and we couldn't walk fifty yards without spotting one of the road cuts through the trees, but it was still worth being safe.

We were walking hand in hand and hadn't gone too far before she'd said what she'd been holding onto.

"I know you are, Kyla," I said. "I'm not mad."

"And I know you aren't," she said. "But that's part of why I want to always keep falling in love with you. I; While I was growing up, and then when I went into training, backtalk or teasing like that wasn't the norm. My family wasn't playful. They loved me, sure, but I never felt loved like I do now. I had to learn how to be playful and tease when it was decided I would be stationed in the United States at the University because that was what was expected of a popular, attractive Western girl. And I got used to that, and with the way everything has been happening and growing between all of us, and how close I feel to the others... When Ivy played that little joke on you, it felt like back in college and I pushed the teasing. But that's not who I am."

"That's not entirely true," I said, tugging on her hand to get her to stop. We were deep into the woods now on one of the old paths, but the sound of a cutting crew wasn't too far away. As she stopped I used my hand not holding hers to sweep some of her silky black hair away from her face. "Teasing and being playful is part of you. And it's a fun part. It's just not all you are; I've known people who are all banter, all the time. Usually, they grow out of it in high school, but some of them can't lose it. I knew a few of them in the military. Those guys never felt settled, and rarely had a good group of core friends, because they never let anyone get closer than the good-natured teasing. But you are so much more than that."

"I don't,” Kyla started, but stopped herself and seemed to rethink something quickly. "I don't want to become cold," she said. "I don't want to be the way my mother was with my father, or with me. But I also don't ever want you to feel like I'm disrespecting you."

"Kyla, Kyla, Kyla," I sighed, pulling her into a hug and wrapping her body up in my arms as she pressed her cheek to my chest. "I'm not going to lie to you, we all turn out a little like our parents even if we don't want to. But you are more than the sum of your parts, and together we can make sure we're both the best people we can be for each other. And our kids. And, even though it's fucking crazy, we'll also have Erica and the girls to call us out on our shit, too."

"I know," Kyla said. "I; I'm actually looking forward to that. But still, Harri. I don't ever want you to think I'm trying to put you down or make you less than the amazing giant of a man that I see you as."

"I love you, Kyla," I said.

"I love you too," she said.

We walked some more, taking a couple of turns away from the noise of the cutting crews, walking hand in hand until we skirted around one of the lowland areas that were usually a little boggy but had dried out that spring, and into a clearing. Looking up into the sky, there was a bit more light pollution than I was used to from the nearby spotlights lighting up the work areas, but it was still way better than in a town or city. As I was looking up at those stars and smiling to myself, Kyla tugged me towards the other end of the clearing and flicked on her flashlight to reveal there was a blanket spread out, and a little travel cooler and backpack.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Something I got some help with," Kyla said.

"You girls constantly amaze me with how you do this."

"I've been thinking about this for a while," Kyla said with a smile, pulling me towards the blanket and settling down with me. "I thought out here, surrounded by a place you love and under the stars, was a good way to start."

"Are you;?" I started, my eyes widening.

"No," Kyla said with a smile and both her hands on my arm, assuring me. "No, not yet, Harri."

"Oh," I said. And that little word, or the way I said it, caused something to change in Kyla. Her expression shifted, her eyes getting a little bigger, and she leaned in and kissed me deeply.

"Soon," she said after our lips drifted apart. "It'll happen soon."

I just smiled and nodded.

"This is about something else," Kyla said and reached for the cooler and opened it to reveal it had a lining of ice and two beers. She took one out, cracked it open and handed it to me, and then took the other out and cracked it open for herself before taking a long swig of it.

"Liquid courage?" I asked.

"Something like that," she said, then set the beer down. "Harri, I want what Erica has. I want to be all yours." Now I raised an eyebrow, trying to think of how I could be engaged and marry two different women. Being in the weird polyamorous arrangement of the vaccine was one thing, but I was pretty sure marrying two people was still illegal. Kyla quickly shook her head, "No, not like that," she grunted a little sigh. "God, I'm messing this up by beating around the bush."

I had to laugh at that, leaning in to press my forehead against hers. "Just tell me," I said.

"I want to do anal with you," she said. "I've never done it with someone before, and I want to bring it... into rotation. Like Erica. Not all the time like Ivy, but I want to share that with you."

That made my eyebrows rise up as I blinked. "Oh," I said. "Okay. I'm; Yes, please?"

That made her chuckle, which got me chuckling as well. "Do you want to? With me?"

"Kyla, please," I said. "I would love to. But out here?"

"Hmm," Kyla nodded. Then she reached for the backpack and unzipped it, pulling out a bottle of lube. "Erica helped me with a butt plug earlier, and Ivy's been giving me tips."

Now that was a scene I might have paid for tickets to see, Erica helping Kyla with her first butt plug experience. I could only imagine how awkward yet caring yet silly it would have been.

I leaned in and kissed her, her plush lips smashing against mine as she slowly leaned back and I followed her down until she was on her back and I was over her. Making out with each of my partners was different, and with Kyla, I was always struck by a soft tenderness behind her firmer, athletic energy. We continued to kiss as we started to strip; my shirt was off first, followed by hers. I left her lips behind to kiss down her neck to her chest. Her skin there was so amazingly smooth as I kissed down further between her tits and I planted kisses across her bosom and bra while she ran her fingers through my hair and scratched softly at my scalp.

Kissing lower, I was just reaching the button for her jean shorts when the loud ring of my cell phone started bingling in my pocket.

"Umm," I grunted, my lips pressed just below her belly button. "Hold on." I rolled to the side and off of her, pulling my phone out and frowning at the number. "Hello?"

"Sheriff Black, this is Captain Toranno," said the gruff voice on the other end. I didn't recognize the name, but I did recognize the voice; it was the big State Trooper Captain from the morning after the shootout at Mary's. "Are you available tomorrow morning? We've got an issue we need to deal with and an extra vehicle would be a big help."

"Um, yes, Captain," I said, looking over my shoulder at Kyla. She was currently on her back and pushing her shorts and panties down her legs, her bra already discarded. "Tomorrow morning should be fine. What are we doing?"

"We need to transfer a handful of prisoners," the Captain said. "It shouldn't take more than a few hours. We'll need you down in Sheridan for 8 AM, is that doable?"

"Absolutely, happy to help," I said "Just text me the address and whoever I should be asking to meet with."

"Great," the Captain said, and then without even a 'thank you' he hung up.

"God damn," I grunted, dropping my phone and turning fully to my very naked girlfriend.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Kyla asked as she pushed me onto my back and started working at undoing my belt.

"Prisoner transfer of some sort I guess," I said. "I thought the US Marshals were supposed to be in charge of that, but what do I know?"

"So we need to be sitting in the truck for several hours tomorrow?" Kyla asked. She'd gotten my belt and fly open and was tugging my jeans down.

"You don't have to come," I offered.

She gave me a look as she peeled my pants from my legs. "You think I'm going to let you go out on another trip without me, or at least another of the girls?"

"I guess not," I said.

She had my cock in her hand and leaned in, this time riding me down to my back as we kissed. "If I'm spending that much time sitting down tomorrow, I think we need to hold off on anal tonight," she mumbled between kisses.

"Makes sense," I muttered back, a little disappointed but for a good reason.

"Another time. Soon," Kyla promised.

"Okay," I said. My hands had found her ass and were kneading her butt cheeks as she slowly stroked my cock and we kissed.

"Just fuck me, Harri," she gasped. "Fuck me and I'll keep the butt plug in."

My fingers delved between her cheeks and found the little round stopper for the butt plug, teasing it by pushing on it a little and wiggling it.

"Fuck," Kyla moaned. She got up with one foot on the ground, opening herself up more, and tilted my cock into position so that she could start sitting down on it. "I love you, Harrison."

"I love you too, Kyla," I gasped as she took the head of my cock inside of her, squeezing me tight.

She gasped as she bottomed out on me, her warm golden-brown skin pressing down onto mine as we both reveled in the feeling of each other. The butt plug in her ass made an odd pressure against me inside of her, but it wasn't particularly large so she didn't feel overly stuffed to me. Then she began to use her hips to slowly start grinding on my cock, her black hair hanging around our faces as she looked down at me in the dark.

The sex was smooth and liquid. Kyla had perfect control of her body and encouraged me to let my hands roam over her. And like a couple dancing, we traded positions and power with ease, rolling over so that I was on top and could thrust into her with the same languid grace as she was showing me. With me on top, the light from the moon peeking around the clouds showed me her gorgeous face as her hair spread out on the blanket around her. I dropped my lips to hers and kissed her desperately, breathing in her scent through my nose.

We made love like that for a good fifteen minutes before she rolled out from under me onto her side and I spooned up behind her. Kyla's balance and poise made it so that this position still allowed me to get deep into her as she raised her leg into the air, and I reached around and softly played my fingers along her clit and labia as I fucked into her.

"Yes, Harrison," she gasped into the night. The chirps and croaks of the wildlife were all around us, and the cutting crews were just a distant hum nearly drowned out by nature. "You feel so fucking good, dear."

"You are amazing," I grunted, hugging around her chest with my other arm as I started focusing my fingers on her clit.

"Do that. Do that more... God, I want your cum inside me, Harrison. Fill me. Breed me, Harrison. I'm ready. You're ready. I want you."

I planted my lips onto the top of her shoulder, muffling myself by kissing her skin as I grunted hard and began to release inside of her. Kyla didn't have the same muffle and she groaned loudly and wordless, her cry of ecstasy at her orgasm rolling through her releasing into the trees. I hoped, dreamily in the midst of my own orgasm, that hers wasn't just the vaccine and that we'd hit that peak together naturally despite it, not because of it.

We lay like that for a good amount of time as I slowly softened inside of her and then finally slipped out, but she hugged my arms around her and didn't want to get up for another few minutes.

"Next time," she promised me quietly.

"When it makes sense," I told her. "We don't need to rush it. And I'm going to want you more before the 'right time' pops up."

She smiled and turned, kissing me over her shoulder. "I want you always," she told me.

I did end up getting anal that night, but it was with Ivy before everyone was getting ready for bed and it was a quickie. The girl was honestly astounding at how easily she could take my cock in her little behind. Then I waited up for Vanessa at the fire pit in the compound, chatting with Dani and Leo who wanted to let Aria and India have a little alone time in their RV.

When Vanessa finally showed up for the night, dead tired and covered in the dirt of the day, I brought her into the RV and got into the shower with her. She almost fell asleep on her feet as I washed her, but perked up when I planted my lips to her cunt and we ended up having a fast and passionate fuck in the little bathroom as she muffled herself with a towel between her teeth to keep from waking the others.

I almost told her I loved her again afterwards but managed to stop myself. Instead, I carried her back to the bed and found Kyla looking back at us from her side of the already crowded mattress. Somehow I wasn't surprised that she was the one who was still awake even though we had an early morning coming up, and she made space for me to lay Vanessa down and soon I was being snuggled by the two of them.

The next morning Vanessa was up early as always, needing to get out the door well before her day-shift workers showed up on-site, and Kyla and I weren't far behind her. We tried to be as quiet as possible but it was no good, and Erica ended up cooking us breakfast in the buff as Ivy helped Kyla by braiding her hair as the Filipino woman did her makeup for that 'natural look' that she preferred when we were working.

We were out the door before six; the drive down to Sheridan would take a couple of hours. It was southwest of Portland, and even the lack of dealing with traffic wouldn't make the back highways any faster. We were both wearing our button-down, collared shirts to look as 'official' as we could, and I had my badge out on the neck chain again while she wore hers on her belt. We took the scenic route, though that was mostly because it was also faster according to Google Maps, and passed through a few of the smaller towns that were around the fringe of Portland before we got down to Sheridan itself. I had told Kyla about the experience going all the way down to Eugene, but thankfully we didn't run into any locked-down towns or ghost towns as far as we could tell. There was a checkpoint as we got off the 18 and followed the directions Captain Torreno had sent me, but seeing our vehicle and a flash of our badges was enough for the National Guard to wave us through without questions.

At the end of the directions we pulled into FCI Sheridan, the medium-security federal prison. I almost had deja-vu of when I had pulled up at the Eugene PD; the parking lot was full of cars and trucks; civilian, police and National Guard.

"Why the hell do they need us here for this?" I muttered to myself as I put the truck in park.

Kyla grimaced, looking around out the windows. There were a few people walking into and out of the gates, all uniformed in one way or another, and they all were wearing medical masks and gloves, and many of them had full hazmat hoods. "I think most of the people here are busy with what's staying behind, not whoever we're taking with us."

That made me grimace as well. "Let's get suited up," I said.

Kyla and I got out of the truck and went around and opened the bed, strapping on our bulletproof vests with their emblazoned 'sheriff' patches; Miriam had sent those patches down to replace the 'police' ones that had been on them before. Then I took the M4 out of the secured compartment and did a quick check on it before we stowed it in the front seat, and we each took a couple of extra mags for our side arms out of the compartment as well.

Maybe it was a bit much, but we were both getting bad feelings about things.

Lastly, after locking up the truck bed again, I took a moment to drop my mask and kiss Kyla. "I'm sorry last night didn't work out the way you planned," I said.

"I'm sorry I made an offer I had to go back on," she said with a little smirk. "I'm definitely glad we waited, though. My ass felt weird for half the night after I got that plug out of me. I can't imagine what sitting in the truck for that long would have been like."

That made me laugh, and she gave me another peck before we raised our masks again and headed for the front gate to the prison. We were met there by a pair of National Guardsmen who checked our IDs and radioed inside before directing us back to the truck and to follow a road around the walls to a back gate that would bring us to a loading area. We quickly went and were checked again at the back gate with the National Guardsmen there not even blinking at the M4 blatantly displayed next to Kyla in the passenger seat.

We were waved through and pointed towards a collection of various police vehicles and a small, spread-out crowd of uniformed officers. We pulled into line with the others and got out, receiving some nods. Everyone was standing around the front of their own vehicles and were waiting for something, so we did the same. Parked next to us was a State Trooper from somewhere else in the state, and beyond him was a guy with an SUV marked as a Federal Marshall. Beyond them was a local PD from Sheridan, and a couple of cars from Portland.

No one was talking, so again Kyla and I kept to ourselves, unsure of what the protocol here was.

A few minutes later another vehicle came rumbling in, this one looking for all the world like a military vehicle, blacked out and making me shake my head. I'd always heard complaints about the 'militarization of the police' from folks while I lived in Portland and hadn't really cared; if the bad guys could upgrade, why couldn't the police, in my book. But this just felt like a bit much. It was labelled as belonging to the Salem PD, and two SWAT-equipped officers got out wearing full gas masks.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered to myself.

"Remember, dear," Kyla murmured to me. "None of them have the vaccine."

That made me second-guess my eye-rolling. What I'd seen and dealt with, and what had been happening down in Eugene, I'd been engaging knowing I had the vaccine. These men and women didn't have that luxury. They were facing every day, likely all day, with just a thin pair of gloves or medical mask between them and a whole lot of awful.

How could I blame them for using gas masks if they had them?

A couple of minutes later a few men in military fatigues stepped out of the loading area of the prison, and once they came into the light I could see the markings. They were National Guard, with one wearing the oak leaves of a Major and the other two the stripes of Sergeant Majors. The Major nodded and one of the Sergeant Majors went back inside, then the other two came to the edge of our little row of law enforcement officers but stopped about twenty feet away. The Major gestured to the Sergeant Major who had stayed with him, and the younger man took about ten steps back and to the side, and then the Major took off his mask and breathed deeply of the fresh morning air.

"God damn," he grunted, smacking his lips for a moment and taking another breath before turning his focus on us. "Alright, folks. I'm Major Button, and I'm going to assume you all are fairly in the dark about what's going on. I'll keep it brief; FCI Sheridan is shutting down. There was an outbreak and we're seeing 99% plus casualties among the prisoners, corrections staff and administrators. The staff who are still around are in quarantine, and the fortunate few convicts who are still alive need transporting. We're just waiting on the blood tests down from a lab in Portland to give us the Okay to move them. You'll all be heading to the same place in a caravan. The good news is the convicts are all scared shitless so we haven't had any problems with them. The bad news is that a lot of the survivors didn't get infected because they were absolute shits and were in isolation when the outbreak happened, so if they do manage to shake their abject fear we're talking about men who aren't afraid of violence. We're expecting that might happen as you close in on Columbia River and they start looking at entering another facility."

"Wait, we're bringing them to CRCI?" one of the Marshalls spoke up, interrupting the Major. "That's a minimum security facility."

"It's what we've got," the Major grimaced. "There hasn't been an outbreak there, and the Corrections folks there have been reinforced with a unit from the Army."

There was some muttering from the other officers in line with us, and I could understand their issue. The division of criminals into degrees of risk was important; lots of people thought it was about the risk of convicts breaking out of prison, but that wasn't true at all. It was about the risk of the convicts to each other, along with to the staff.

"Alright. Stick around out here, we're expecting the results from the tests any time now. Sergeant Major Oscars here will organize the loading. Godspeed, gentlemen." The Major looked like he was about to turn and pace back to the building, but stopped himself and visibly sighed as he slipped the mask back on over his face and then turned and left.

"Well, guess we're going to Portland after all," I said to Kyla, stretching a little.

"We should be bringing them down to Salem," said one of the Salem PD guys through his gas mask next to us. "State still has medium security beds open after their outbreak."

"There was an outbreak down there, too?" I asked.

"Yeah," said the other Salem officer. "Pretty much every prison and jail in the state. These transfers usually go pretty smoothly; most of the time the convicts are just happy to get out of whatever hellhole they were in. Wouldn't be surprised if most of them have PTSD for the rest of their lives."

"How many transfers have you done?" Kyla asked.

" Umm, six?" the officer replied. "Three in Salem, helped out with one in Portland, and then a couple of county jails but that was just one guy each time."

"Just make sure you keep a lid on any shit they try and spew," the other one said. "Literally and figuratively."

I nodded. "Noted."

It was about fifteen minutes before the Sergeant Major came out and gave us a quick rundown of the loading operation. Each of the individual cars would have one prisoner, and the remaining four would be loaded into the big Salem PD transport. The first officers in line were waved into the loading area to sign for their prisoner, and it wasn't until the Marshalls were headed in that I clued into the numbers. There were six vehicles total, meaning nine prisoners were being transported. A place the size of Sherian FCI had to hold well over a thousand inmates at least, probably closer to two.

If it was hard to match up my experiences with what the other officers dealt with on a daily basis, I couldn't imagine what being in that prison had been like. And this was just one prison.

When it was our turn, Kyla and I marched into the loading area and I was handed papers pertaining to the transfer, and I signed for the prisoner. His name was Jackie Fallows. Jackie was marched out to us in an orange jumpsuit with wrist and ankle shackles, and I quickly checked they were secure. He was a shaggy guy, his facial hair cut into a rough goatee, and his eyes were a little sunken and darted around nervously. I was easily a head taller than him, and Kyla was nearly as tall as he was, but he was wiry under the bulky jumpsuit as I took him by the arm and led him towards our truck.

"Hey, so, any chance of like... a burger and fries on the way?" Jackie asked once we were out of the loading area. "I swear to Christ I'll be a fucking fly on the wall if you guys could get me some decent chow. I went three days in the hole without food before they found me, and they've been feeding me like shit since then. Not that the food in there was good anyways, it was always shit, just like... more shit."

"Sorry, inmate," I said. "No can do on detours, we're convoying it and I doubt the boys in the big rig can fit through a drive-through."

"Damn," Jackie sighed. And then he just kept talking. Yammering away as we got him up into the back seat of the truck, I didn't think he even stopped talking after we got the door shut and before we got into the front. I quickly got the sense that Jackie Fallows was a nervous talker, and he was nervous as hell.

The Salem PD guys brought out four prisoners chained together and shuffling in line, and it took them five minutes to get them secured in the back of their rig. One of the officers stayed with them back there while the other got in the front seat and nodded down at me. Soon all of the vehicles were humming as their engines turned over, and we were pulling out of the parking lot and rumbling towards the gates. I waved the Salem rig ahead of me, and the officer waved and gave me a little nod in thanks before pulling ahead.

"Why send him first?" Kyla asked me.

"Just instinct," I explained. "Really he should probably be in the middle of the convoy as the biggest vehicle with the most number of prisoners. It doesn't make sense for him to be the tail of the group."

"Hey, you were in the military!" Jackie crowed from his seat in the back. "Where did you serve?"

"All over," I said, trying to keep my voice pleasant but detached.

"Any time in the sandbox? I was in the sandbox, just like my Daddy before me. Different wars, obviously, but man that shit was wild. You ever kill anyone? Me, I never got the chance, which sounds weird considering all the fighting, right? But nope, never did. Nearly got blown up a couple of times, but didn't fire my rifle once. You'd think a guy like me, they'd put me in the action, but,” He just kept talking.

The drive out of Sheridan was short and we were on our way to Portland. I hadn't known what to expect for a prisoner transport, and I still felt a little bit of an edge of vigilance in the back of my mind as we made the drive and Jackie rambled away to himself in the back. I was almost surprised that Kyla didn't snap at the guy, but then she'd probably had training on keeping her cool and patience. I just sort of entered a zen state of letting his voice turn into a meaningless drone as I checked behind us in the mirrors.

"What's wrong?" Kyla asked me, her voice cutting through Jackie's and pulling me back.

"Nothing," I said. "Just thought a car back there was possibly following us, but it turned off."

"How long?" she asked, ducking her head to look into the side mirror, but the road was empty behind us was empty now.

"They showed up just outside of Sheridan, so maybe twenty minutes. Likely just local traffic, it only stood out because the roads are so empty."

I could tell Kyla frowned behind her mask and started checking the mirrors occasionally as well.

The drive was going to take about an hour and a half since Columbia River was located in the northeast of Portland and we were southwest of the city. Usually, we would have needed to run the emergency lights or something for a convoy like the one we were in once we hit the city limits, but we didn't even need that. We passed cars, but they were sparse and avoided our trail of law enforcement vehicles. The fastest route had us passing right through downtown, and again I was struck by how ravaged certain streets looked; we even passed through the area that had been the 'no police zone' or whatever where folks had tried to stage their anti-authority protest in the early months of the year. It was even worse than the rest of the city, but there weren't any roadblocks anymore and the tent city that had started building was nothing but trash.

We did pass by the skyscraper that housed Miriam's operation, and I whimsically wondered if we should call her to see about stopping by when we finished the transport. She'd probably think it was funny that I was doing boring as hell police scut work, and tell me it was my own fault for being too helpful.

"Harri!" Kyla called.

I slammed my brakes at the tone of her voice.

The transport truck hit the back end of the State Trooper car and clipped the front end of the Salem PD rig, sending it careening sideways. The transport had come from our right, blasting through an intersection. I hadn't seen it earlier because of the buildings, and Kyla had only seen it at the last moment.

My whole body was jerking forward from slamming on the breaks, and I heard a dull thud behind me as Jackie rolled forward from the force and smacked his face into the Plexiglas between the two rows of seats. I braced my hands on the steering wheel, and Kyla was braced against the dash. The truck skidded and I peeled it to the right, avoiding the end of the Salem PD rig.

It took a hot second for my brain to catch up with my hands. Instincts stick in the muscles longer than the mind, and the advanced driving course I'd taken while I was an MP had taken over. In the split second my mind needed to catch up, things were changing rapidly.

The transport truck had hit and then jackknifed, folding in on itself and blocking my vision of the rest of the convoy and the State Trooper who had gotten hit. The Salam rig wasn't damaged heavily but had careened into a street lamp and had one wheel off the ground as it was propped up on the street lamp base. The most immediate problem, at least in my book, was the black panel van that was screeching to a halt in the wake of the transport truck and the three motorcycles that were rounding the corner a block back from us, heading in our direction.

I'd been in two ambushes while I was deployed as an infantryman. Both of them had been what's called 'far ambush,' where we were getting shot at from a decent distance away. As long as there is no debilitating damage to the vehicles, the best course of action in that situation isn't to engage the enemy but rather to get out of the kill zone that the enemy had picked out.

This wasn't that. This was a 'near ambush,' and it meant things were fucked. There was only one proven way to deal with a near ambush effectively, and it generally required everyone in the convoy to be on the same page; but we hadn't even taken the time to set up a radio connection, let alone trade phone numbers or something.

I had two options, and they boiled down to instinct and adrenaline. Flight, or Fight.

I slammed my foot down on the gas and the truck leapt into motion, gunning it straight towards the black panel van. It had stopped and the side door was sliding open at the same time as the driver was starting to hop out. Men, dressed in rough clothes and wearing black balaclavas, were starting to exit. I saw two rifles.

They saw me, or heard, too late. Or maybe they heard the scream of terror from Jackie in the back seat.

The crash bar of my beautiful, brand-new truck smashed into the side of the panel van a millisecond after it hit the much softer obstacle of their bodies.

The impact took less time than it took to suck in a breath. The guy that had been coming out of the side door had gotten blown back inside by the impact, colliding with whoever was following him out. The driver didn't just take the impact of my truck, but also of his own door slamming into him and pinning him to his vehicle. Then the van itself took the brunt of my powerful V8 engine, crumpling around my crash bar and hood as my beast of a vehicle slammed and pushed it across the street and into the curb, tipping it up onto two side wheels but catching the bottom of my crash bar and wedging us in place.

Two seconds, maybe less.

I tried not to look at the man who was currently leaking blood out of... well, probably a lot of places onto my hood, and instead glanced over to Kyla. She was wild-eyed but moving, unclipping her seatbelt.

"Go right and circle around them," I ordered her. "And I love you."

"I love you too," she grunted as she opened her door.

I opened mine as well, stepping out and drawing my sidearm. I wasn't too worried about the men in the panel van at the moment and immediately dropped to one knee pointing the muzzle back down the street in the direction we'd come. My vision was a little fuzzy and I had to angrily blink it straight as the three motorcycles were coming to a stop. Two of them had headed closer to the Salem rig, while another one had stopped a little further back and was already off his bike and bracing some sort of an SMG in both hands. I couldn't tell what it was from the distance, but it looked something like an Uzi. He opened fire at the same time I did.

I emptied my mag, and he probably did too. Again, it took maybe four seconds in total.

The spray of bullets panged as they hit my truck and the street. I saw sparks pop off of his bike. The second half of his shots sprayed wildly into the air as he fell back. I'd hit him at least four times; practice counted for something when you weren't within five yards.

I darted left, heading for the back end of my truck, and felt a stab of pain in my right leg but it didn't give out so I kept moving. That was a good thing because more shots started ringing off the side of my truck from the direction of the other motorcycles. I got around the end and behind the wheel, dropping my empty magazine and slamming home a new one from my belt. Kyla was firing the M4 from somewhere on the other side of the black panel van. I rolled onto my belly on the street and stuck my arms forward in a prone firing stance, looking under my truck at the motorcycles and opening fire again. This time I was slightly more methodical and between myself and Kyla we put down both shooters.

Then there was a metallic bang that sounded different from the other shots and was right next to me. It sounded like a muffled shotgun.

My eyes went wide and I scrambled up from the ground and around to the back of the panel van, but I only made it two steps before a rapid series of shots rang out, this time sounding like my own. As I rounded the van I found Kyla down on her back, her M9 sidearm pointed up at the side of the panel van where she was finishing emptying her mag. There was also a hole in the side of the van about the size of a fist, and the M4 was a mangled mess on the ground.

I emptied the rest of my magazine into the side of the van as well, only maybe four bullets before I was done, and rushed to Kyla and grabbed her by the shoulders of her vest and hauled her backwards. No more shots came from the van, however, and she rolled to stop me from pulling her further than the back.

"Are you Okay?" I asked her. "Are you hit?"

"He shot the end off of the rifle," Kyla grunted and held up her hand, showing me it was fine. "I almost lost my hand. Are you Okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. Like a liar.

We both reloaded and I peeked around the side of the van before I started side-stepping around it keeping my muzzle trained on the shotgun hole. I made it to the front where one of them was on the ground, his blood pooling under him; I couldn't be sure if the impact from the truck had hit him, or if Kyla had shot him. His door was hanging open though and I checked inside the van; there were four men in the back and none of them were moving. It was possible some were only knocked out from me ramming them and they hit their heads.

I had more pressing concerns though as there were more gunshots from nearby. Kyla had followed me around the van and had gone all the way to the corner of the building and was peeking around. Across the intersection, the driver of the Salem PD rig was out and sitting against the side of his vehicle with the look of a man who'd been shot, but it also looked like he'd gunned down the driver of the transport truck.

Moving to Kyla, I tapped her shoulder and we both circled around the corner of the building and up the sidewalk to the back of the transport. She ducked low and looked under it, then stood and we both moved around.

A shot rang out and punched the metal of the transport trailer right in between Kyla and me, and we both pivoted and my finger twitched, just a half-pound of pressure from pulling the trigger as I stared down my sights at a police officer looking at me with wide eyes as he realized we were friendly.

I still almost shot him in that split second. Between the adrenaline and my rage, I was this close to shooting him down knowing he'd almost hit Kyla.

He dropped his gun, cringing away from it. It was the officer from the Sheridan PD.

I put a hand on Kyla's shoulder and we kept moving, but it was over. The Marshalls were taking charge of things on the other side of the transport where another group of the motorcycles had closed in. A couple of the officers were down, and several of the bikers had gotten away. Kyla and I started to rush back around to the other side of the transport to check on the downed Salem PD driver, but my leg wobbled and I staggered, and Kyla saw it. She turned and I saw her eyebrows furrow, but didn't hear what she said.

Then I was on the ground and she was over me, her hands on me. Searching me.

"Leg," I grunted.

Then I lost consciousness.

"God fucking damnit," I groaned, and someone grabbed my hand and said something.

My head was pounding and I felt dizzy for a long moment even with my eyes closed. That passed, and the whom-whom-whom in my ears started to clear around the same time as I peeled an eyelid open.

I was kind of surprised to find Miriam was the one holding my hand. I was looking up at her and a hospital room ceiling; well, the ceiling was just a ceiling, but the hospital bed I was lying in was a big clue.

"You back with me, Harri?" she asked me quietly, almost whispering.

"Umm," I grunted, trying to sit up, but she put her other hand on my chest to keep me down.

"Don't," she said.

"How long?" I managed to croak.

"Six months," Miriam said, her face a graven tombstone of emotion.

"; What?" I exhaled, leaning back into the pillows. Six...? "How?"

She snorted and her expression broke into a smirk. "How the fuck are you so gullible, Black? It's been three hours."

"God fucking damnit," I groaned again, rolling my eyes.

Miriam moved aside, showing me that Kyla was sitting in a plush-looking chair in the corner of the hospital room, her eyes closed as she slept but her hands knotted into fists.

"She's Okay?" I asked.

"Better than you," Miriam said. "A little shaken, once you were in surgery. Before that she was ice. She called me instead of 911 when you collapsed."

"We're in your place, aren't we?" I asked, looking around the hospital room. On second glance it was newer than I would have expected of any random hospital, and the door was able to be hermetically sealed. We were in one of the quarantine rooms that I'd seen when I'd been able to visit Vanessa while she was here.

"We are," Miriam nodded. "I wasn't about to feed you into the hospitals even with you being vaccinated. It's..." She stopped and took a breath. "Let's just say you would be just as likely to die there as get better, and you aren't that bad off."

"What is wrong with me?" I asked.

"Well, two inches higher and I could have been razzing you for getting yourself shot in the ass," Miriam said. "You got hit in the meat of your thigh, Harri. Straight through-and-through, doctors aren't even sure if you got hit straight on or if it was a ricochet. The main reason you collapsed was blood loss because you didn't patch it, you idiot."

"Lucky that's all it was," I grunted. "Asshole opened up on me with an Uzi or some shit."

"I was told," Miriam said. "Wasn't the idea for you to be staying out of trouble?"

"This wasn't supposed to be trouble," I sighed. "The Staties asked for the help, it should have just been some driving around."

"Yeah, well, I got red in on the situation with the prison systems," Miriam grimaced. "Whatever you think you know, it's worse than that. Let's just say that you would have been turned away at the gates even if you did reach Columbia River."

"Fuck," I sighed. "Who even was it that hit us?"

Miriam sighed and shook her head. "You've got a hole in your leg and your truck looks a little like Swiss cheese, let alone any damage to the front end and the axel after you tried to fuck a van with it."

"Sorry," I said. "Guess I'm not playing nice with the toys you sent me."

"Yeah, well, when I get you something new don't worry about adding on to our meal tab," she said. "I'm going to ask you for something sooner than later and it's going to be more than a meal to pay it back."

"You're dodging my question, Miriam," I sighed. "What happened?"

"You need to rest, Harri," Miriam said.

"I'm not trying to get up and go here," I said. "I just want,” I trailed off, looking over at Kyla again. "Hon, you can stop pretending to be asleep."

Kyla's eyes blinked open and she rose from her chair in one graceful movement, stepping around Miriam and leaning down to kiss me as she cupped my face with both her hands. "I'm so glad you're Okay, mahal ko," she whispered against my lips, though it was a new couple of words she hadn't used before. She kissed me again and stared into my eyes for a long moment.

I knew why she'd been faking her sleep, and I was a little proud of myself for noticing it. Miriam had been dodging questions, sure, but she'd also be fairly open and Kyla had wanted to listen in. I probably would have let her if I hadn't wanted her in the conversation properly.

"Now," I said. "One of you better tell me something here."

"It was a prison break," Miriam said with a little shake of her head. "I haven't been tapped into whatever the investigation is, I just deployed a security force to scoop you and a couple of the other wounded officers up and brought you here for medical aid. The most I know is that it was likely a biker gang, or them and some other allies, trying to spring someone or everyone being transferred."

"In the middle of downtown Portland?" I asked, feeling a little incredulous.

"This isn't the city you remember, Harri," Kyla said. "It's gone wild. More brutal. I heard one of the officers saying that there wasn't a single 911 call from the area during the shooting. People are afraid of everything, including the police."

"Fuck," I groaned. It was like the city had turned into an old Western town when a gunfight was about to happen. People cleared the streets and only the bravest even watched from their windows.

"It's not your concern," Miriam said. "The Marshalls are all over it, and they've got backing from the Feds. I've got a feeling organized crime is pulling this kind of shit all over the country right now if things are the same in other states."

I grunted and nodded, and felt down at my leg with the hand that Miriam wasn't still holding and got a nice spike of pain from it as I touched the bandage. "Do the girls know?" I asked Kyla.

"They know," Kyla nodded.

"Vanessa is on her way here," Miriam said. "Erica gave me a chewing out like I haven't had since boot camp, but I can only bend so many rules and I can't let her or Ivy in the building. Vanessa can give some blood to check up on her vaccination status, so I can get her in here with you."

"Okay," I sighed, nodding. "Okay."

"He needs to rest," Kyla said, feeling at my forehead.

"I'll go check on things," Miriam agreed. "And you two also need to... boost your vaccinations. At some point. I'll be back once Vanessa gets here."

I meant to say goodbye, and thank you, and probably some other things, but my mind was feeling a little foggy. I blinked and when I opened my eyes Miriam was gone but Kyla was standing where she had been, holding my hand. "How drugged up am I?" I mumbled.

Kyla smirked and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "You're on the good stuff, Harri. Just get some sleep."

I closed my eyes again but didn't drift off immediately. Or maybe just not entirely. I could hear Kyla talking and I realized she was on the phone, but whatever she was saying was getting muddied in my mind. It was just good to know she was there.

"It'll be fine, the nurses know the deal," someone said.

"I just don't want to,”

"Kyla, you both need it. Just suck his cock to start."

"Uh," I grunted.

"Harri, baby," Vanessa said. "I'm here."

"Vee?" I asked, confused for a moment as I blinked myself awake. She had crawled up on the hospital bed and was lying next to me on her side, resting her chin on my shoulder as she held my hand in both of hers.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me.

"Am I on morphine?"

"Pretty sure that's what they give people who get shot, Harri," she said.

"Get me off of it," I said. "It's fucking with my head."

"Kyla?" Vanessa asked.

"Harri, you need pain meds," Kyla said.

"So switch me to powerful Tylenol or something," I groaned. "I can handle the pain, but I want my head clear."

"Okay," Kyla said. "I'll get the nurse."

Kyla went to the door to the room and pressed a button on the wall. When she walked away I noticed she was out of her police clothes and was now dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a pretty cotton t-shirt that clung to her fit form. I rolled my head to look at Vanessa and she met me with a little kiss. She was dressed in similar sweatpants but had on what looked like one of my undershirt tank tops with an athletic bra underneath.

"It's good to see you out of uniform, Vanessa," I chuckled.

"That's what you think of at a time like this?" she laughed. "Let me guess, you decided to get shot so that I would take an afternoon off, too."

"It worked, didn't it?" I smiled, but blinked and when I opened my eyes there was a nurse standing over us.

"He really should be on the morphine for another six to eight hours at least," she was saying. "If I switch him over now he's going to hurt like a motherfucker."

"Is it going to be that bad tomorrow?" Kyla asked.

"Mostly," she said.

"He wants it," Vanessa said.

"Okay," the nurse said. "I'll let the Doc know."

"Thanks," I grunted.

They fussed over me a bit, and I drifted again since the morphine hadn't actually been cut off yet, and I woke up to an odd sensation.

"Umm," I groaned and twitched.

"It's Okay, baby," Vanessa whispered in my ear. "Just lay back and enjoy it."

I blinked my eyes open and looked down my body. Vanessa was still lying next to me cuddled up as she kissed my cheek, but my hospital gown was lifted up to my stomach and Kyla was kneeling on the bed as well, straddling one of my legs as she slowly sucked my cock and looked up to meet my gaze.

"Don't have to,” I started, but Vanessa interrupted me by turning me by my chin to meet her lips.

"Shush," she shushed me. "She wants to, and she needs to. You were both exposed to multiple potential vectors, Harri. The tests came back clean, but we want to be safe just in case. You need to make sure the vaccine is working at high capacity. So Kyla is going to suck you off until you fill her mouth. Then we'll let you rest a little, and then we're going to reenact what you and I did when you woke up in a hospital gown in this building. Then, after a little more rest, you're going to fuck Kyla as well."

"Yes, nurse," I groaned, letting my head fall back. Kyla was using her tongue to slither around my cock head and even though the sensations were weird and dulled from the meds it was still pleasurable. My cock was obviously enjoying it too as I was already close to full mast.

"God, look at her," Vanessa whispered to me. "She's so fucking pretty already, but somehow she's even hotter with your cock in her mouth."

I reached to Kyla with the hand that Vanessa wasn't holding and Kyla caught it with hers and intertwined her fingers with mine, smiling with the whole head of my cock between her lips. This wasn't usual for us, being sexual with one of the others present; the only time it had really happened before was after that shootout at Mary's and us being detained overnight when she'd participated in the 'Whose Mouth Is This?' game with the others. Kyla was still uninterested in women and our time was just for us.

But here she was blowing me with soft, slow motions that spoke of her desire for me, and to make this last, while Vanessa was with us in bed and watching.

"I'm mad at you, you know," Vanessa whispered to me.

"For getting shot?" I guessed.

She nodded. "And not making me take more breaks. I miss spending time with you and the girls. But especially you."

"You wanted to work," I said. "You love doing your job, and it was emergency pacing."

"I know," she said. "But... you should have made me."

"I don't think I could make you do anything, Vanessa. I don't know if anyone could make you do something you don't want to do."

"You could," she whispered. "Youkan. Don't let me be away from you, Harri. I,” She stopped and swallowed.

I turned to her and kissed her hard, or at least as hard as I could considering the situation and the positioning. She kissed me back just as firmly, our lips mashed together as our foreheads touched. The kiss ended but we kept our faces touching.

"I love you, Harri. You big fucking bastard," Vanessa whispered.

"I love you too, Vanessa," I said quietly.

"Finally," Kyla said, taking her lips from my cock and nuzzling the shaft with her face as she looked up at us. "Jesus, Vee. Took you long enough."

"Shut up," Vanessa said, obviously a little embarrassed by her own emotions. "It's; this is all happening too fast. It's not normal."

"None of it is, but you've clearly loved him since before I joined the family," Kyla countered. "And you've been making him wait to say it because he didn't want to push you away."

"I have?" Vanessa asked in surprise. "I thought... we were just supposed to be..."

"Vanessa," I chuckled softly. "I wanted to tell you I loved you that first time we were alone together. It's almost ironic that you're saying it to me here, when I wanted to say it to you like thirty yards from this spot."

"God," Vanessa laughed gently. "I'm so messed up."

"No you're not," I said, squeezing her hands with mine. "You're you, and I love you."

She kissed me again, and Kyla went back to blowing me as she held my other hand. It was a long, slow process that they took to build me up; and they were working together even if they weren't communicating or even looking at each other. Every once in a while Vanessa would stop kissing me and turn my face to look down at Kyla with my cock in her mouth, and she would kiss her way down my jaw to my neck and then up to my ear to whisper naughty things to me. Then Kyla would squeeze my fingers and flick her eyes to Vanessa, signaling to kiss the other woman again.

"God, I love you both," I groaned softly in between kisses. "I'm close."

"Do it, baby," Vanessa said. "Fill her mouth. Give her your cum. She wants it so bad. I know because I want it too. I crave it from you. Give her your load and remind her why she wants to have your babies."

"I want his babies for more than being his little whore," Kyla said, taking her lips from me for a moment and jerking me off with her hand.

"Well, yeah, but..." Vanessa said, smiling and looking down at the other woman for the first time in a while.

"Fair," Kyla smirked. "She's right, hon. Usually I would want your load in my cunt. I love that obey gooey feeling when you go off in me, but I want it in my mouth now. I want to taste you. Can I have that, Harri? Can I have your delicious seed all over my tongue? I'll even share it with Vanessa if you want. I'll give her half."

"Yes, please," Vanessa whispered to me. "Can I have some too, Harri?"

"Fuck," I grunted, closing my eyes and letting my orgasm roll through me. Kyla dropped her mouth to my cock and I released right onto her tongue, four big spurts before she started sucking hard, pulling the rest out of me as she hummed a gleeful, almost manic laugh and her own body shuddered through an orgasm brought on by the chemical bonding from the vaccine.

I let out a long, loud exhalation as my orgasm finished, but opened my eyes when I felt Kyla leave my cock and climb up the bed carefully. Then, to my astonishment, she leaned down to Vanessa and kissed her, their tongues swapping back and forth as they traded my cum. Vanessa's body twitched and flexed as she was fed it and got her own orgasmic spike, and she gripped my fingers tight.

"Fuck," I groaned again. I never thought I'd see Kyla kissing one of the others beyond a friendly peck.

"Hmm," Vanessa hummed as Kyla finally pulled away. "Thanks, Kyla."

"No problem," Kyla smirked. She sat back, carefully avoiding my injured leg, took my cock in her hand and started to slowly jerk it again. "Harri obviously enjoyed watching that."

"Kyla, I mean; It's was hot, and surprising, but I don't expect you to,”

"I know, hon," she said, gently squeezing my cock to silence me. "I know. I'm not changing my stance on things. I'm straight. I just... it felt right in the moment. And it's not like I regret it."

"Neither do I," Vanessa smirked.

"Good," Kyla said. "Because now it's your turn. Get your pants off, I want to snuggle him while you fuck him."

I, apparently, didn't have a say in this, and soon Kyla was in the same spot as Vanessa had been and laying her cheek on my shoulder. Vanessa had hopped down from the bed and shucked her sweatpants and panties, then climbed back up. It took some doing for her to find a way to mount me that was comfortable enough for her to slowly grind on my cock while also not putting pressure on my left leg.

"God, fuck," I groaned once she was settled, my cock stuffed deep into her. She was leaning forward slightly to keep her weight high and was grinning down at me. Kyla, meanwhile, had shifted higher on the bed as well to give some more room and was sort of curled over me a little and looking down at me from above, running her fingers through my hair.

"Just close your eyes and enjoy it, Harri," Kyla whispered to me. "You'll be back to ravaging us soon enough. Let us take care of you."

"Fuck, even shot and dopey from the drugs this is still the best cock I've ever had," Vanessa groaned. "I love you so Goddamn much, Harri."

"I love you too, Vanessa," I groaned. "I love you both."

Kyla kissed my forehead, and Vanessa kissed my lips, and then they both made soft, sweet love to me one after the other.

I was released from the medical wing of the Air Force building the next day. Vanessa and Kyla had both been allowed to keep their phones this time and that night I'd video called with Erica and Ivy, then with Leo, Dani and Aria for a couple of minutes. They were all glad to see I was Okay and sent their love.

The tone of things changed once I was back home.

"Fucking asshole," Erica said and punched me in the arm. Hard. "Don't fucking do that to us again!"

"Ow, fuck," I said. Erica wasn't super strong or anything but she could throw a punch. "Jesus, Erica. I didn't get shot on purpose."

They had at least given me time to get back inside our compound, using a crutch to help keep weight off my wounded leg. Vanessa had driven Erica's car into the city and Kyla and I had hitched our ride back with her since my truck was; Actually, I wasn't sure where my beautiful truck was. But based on what I vaguely remembered Miriam telling me, it wasn't exactly in driving condition at the moment and must have been towed somewhere.

I was sitting down; tenderly; in one of the deck chairs and Macho had jumped up on my lap and squirmed around in glee that I was home until I was giving him a rough belly scratching and he was lolling his head to the side with his tongue hanging out. That's when Erica hit me.

"She is right, mon amour," Ivy said, perching herself on the armrest of the chair and glaring at me even while she took my chin in her fingers and pulled me into a kiss. "There was no reason to put yourself in so much danger."

"It wasn't supposed to be dangerous," I sighed. "No one expected someone to attempt a big jailbreak."

"Still," Erica said, continuing her frown at me as she sat in the chair next to mine. "You scared the shit out of us."

"I'm sorry," I said, resting my hand on Macho's belly and just scratching him with my fingers. I'd never thought I'd be the kind of guy with a lapdog, but the little guy had grown on everyone quickly. "Kyla and I were doing something that we thought would be helpful, and then when we were in danger we did what was necessary."

"That's some bullshit, Harri," Dani said, coming from inside our trailer with three bottles of beer in each hand fetched from the fridge and starting to hand them out. "You were being the hero again. And I, for one, am pissed at you as well but I'm not going to give you shit for it. You two shouldn't either. You knew what you were getting into when you picked him, Erica. And Ivy, I know you love the fact that he's a protector and super capable at that, so stop trying to give him shit for doing just that."

"Stop being reasonable, you bitch," Erica sighed with a little self-deprecating smirk for Dani as she accepted a beer from her.

"I'm sorry, Harrison," Ivy said, wiping under her eyes to try and keep herself from crying.

"No, ladies," I said and then sighed out an exasperated breath. "Don't start apologizing. You two... I get it. And you have a right to feel the way you are. Especially since you couldn't come to check on me like Vanessa could. You've been bottling all that in. You can take it out on me, that's Okay; you need to get it out."

"That's not what; ugh, Okay, maybe that's part of it," Erica said, curling her feet up under her in her chair as she looked over with an expression that was more frustrated with herself than with me. "I'm not asking you to change, babe. I'm not even asking you to not ever get in a risky position again or anything. Just... make sure it's worth it. To us. To people who... God, maybe this sounds awful, but to people who matter to us. Moving random prisoners from Point A to Point B doesn't change anything for us, doesn't protect us or make our lives any easier. Fuck, you weren't even getting paid to do it, Harri. The only reason you were out there was because you thought it was the right thing to do but it wasn't right or wrong, it was just a thing. We could have lost you and Kyla for nothing, and then what happens to us?"

I had to close my eyes and let her words run through me because they were something I'd been stewing on myself internally and I hadn't put to voice for myself yet. She was right. I could make an argument for the community policing stuff because it was in my community. The more people were safe in Jewell and around the area, the more they acted civil and protected themselves and each other, then the better this place would be long term. Helping Mary and the kids had been good. Helping the women at Valkyrie Falls was good. Even driving down to Eugene on what had really been a fool's errand from the start had been a good thing to do because it helped Melina with her peace of mind and stopped her from risking herself.

Maybe, potentially, the prisoner transport thing could have earned me a favor with the Staties. But what were the chances of that favor ever being paid back? Or them feeling like it was actually owed?

Getting those men out of that prison had been a good thing, certainly, but I hadn't needed to be there for it. One more prisoner in the big SWAT truck instead of our vehicle wouldn't have made a difference. It was possible that Kyla and I had saved a couple of lives with our actions, but could I judge risking my life and the lives of four women I loved for something like that?

The soldier in me said I'd just been doing my duty, and the man in me said it was a thing worth doing. But the husband in me... the boyfriend. The lover. The father, sooner or later. Those parts of me that had found and bonded to these women that I loved...

"Stop pushing him," Vanessa said. She'd been hanging back a bit, likely since she'd had time with me already and felt like she owed it to the others. "Look at him. I can see his mind going a mile a minute. He knows all of this, Erica. You don't think he's already considering this?"

"I know he is," Erica said. "But sometimes..."

"Sometimes a man needs it put to him straight, or he'll run around it in circles until his legs fall off," I said and snorted a little laugh. "That's something my mother used to say about my father."

"Smart woman," Dani smirked from where she was standing behind Erica.

"Okay," I said. "Erica, babe, I hear you. Ivy, I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you too, mon amour," Ivy said softly, shifting to lean against me from her perch on the armrest.

"Kyla," I said, looking around. She stepped up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I put you in a position like that again. I'm; God, I'm so sorry, and so glad that you didn't get hurt."

"I asked for it, Harri," she said. "It was; Fuck, I don't know. I love you."

Macho was not amused that I took my hand from his belly to take Kyla's on my shoulder and he rolled over and stood on his hind legs in my lap and started licking at my face.

"Okay, Okay," I said, fending him away. "Fuck, dude. Not on the lips." I pinned him down to my lap again and he wagged his tail and looked up at me with that little wide-eyed innocent look of his as he got his belly scratched again.

"Vanessa," I said, looking over at her. She met my eyes and smiled and nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too, you big bastard," Vanessa said.

That seemed to be news to Erica, Ivy and Dani, who all reacted like they were high schoolers and immediately were talking a mile a minute as they surrounded Vanessa and were hugging her. Kyla took that opportunity to lean down from behind me and give me a kiss on the cheek and let me know she needed to go take a nap; she hadn't slept since we'd left the morning before for Sheridan.

That left me with Macho for the moment, but I noticed that Leo had come out of his RV; he, Aria and India had disappeared after first welcoming me home to give us some privacy for the conversation. He was frowning a little and gave me the universal guy nod for 'follow me over here,' so with a grunt and a grimace I got up from the chair and hobbled after him with Macho tucked under one arm like a little furry football as he played with my fingers, gnawing on them lightly.

Leo led me around the side of the RV, out of sight of the girls, and turned and waited for me before leading me beyond the hanging sheets outside of the compound and next to one of the storage containers.

"It was just your leg, right?" he asked me, obviously concerned. "No concussion or anything?"

"Just the leg," I said with a sigh. "Thank,”

Leo punched me in the face.

Now, Leo wasn't a big guy. He didn't work out, and I doubted he ever really had with any seriousness. But he worked with his hands, and he wasn't necessarily out of shape, so when he punched me it staggered me back a step and blossomed a nice shot of pain in my nose and a black circle in my vision for a moment.

"Fuck," Leo hissed, grabbing his hand.

"Fuck," I grunted, feeling at my face with the hand that wasn't holding Macho. "You could have at least let me put the dog down."

"Yeah, but then he might have run off," Leo grimaced, feeling his knuckles with his thumb. "God damn, you have a hard face. Fuck, Harrison. God fucking damn you. You need to stop fucking around. You scared the shit out of me and Erica. Do you know the last time I saw my sister cry? Like really cry? Cause I can't. But she did when she heard you'd been shot, and she came to me because she couldn't put it on Ivy or Vanessa. She needs you, Harri, and I'm not just talking about the vaccine. She needs you, Okay? Fuck, we all need you. How long do you think I could take care of three live-in girlfriends, let alone my sister and any of the others, without you? You're changing all of our lives and I'm so fucking grateful for that, but fuck you for it, too."

I grabbed Leo and pulled him into a hug. Just the two; well, three; dudes in this mess together. Macho seemed to sense the moment and didn't squirm, instead nuzzling his way between the two of us a bit.

"I'm sorry," I told Leo.

"It's not just you, Harri," Leo said. "She needs you. I need you. I love you, dude."

"I know," I said. "I know. I'm sorry."

We hugged it out for a bit, and then both of us backed away feeling a little chagrined. I felt my nose, making sure it wasn't broken or bleeding, and he checked his knuckles again. Then I slapped him on the shoulder and nodded, and he nodded back, and we went back inside the compound.

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