“Love and Family During the Great Death”
Chapter 06: Making Sure Everyone Is OK
“You know, you could have stayed inside, talked with Linda
and gotten everyone ready to leave later,” David told Ellen as he helped her
over a steeper section of the trail in the dim pre-dawn light. “I figured the two
of you would have had plenty to talk about this morning.”
She scrambled up beside him and they both looked back at
Alice, who seemed to be having problems. David assumed it was because she
stayed up too late kibitzing with her friends. He’d warned her, and she was
normally pretty good about things like that, but he knew she was different with
her friends than she was when she was visiting him, so he wasn’t overly
surprised.
“Ha, you may get a lot of things with me, but don’t expect a
Happy Suzie Homemaker,” Ellen responded. Her face was the opposite of Alice’s,
positively beaming in the predawn glow, whereas Alice’s was stuck in a persistent
scowl. “I’m not exactly a terrible cook, but I’ve never spent a lot of time in
the kitchen. Being on my own for so long, I’ve always focused on other things
than cooking and cleaning. I can make do, but all things being considered I’d
just rather not bother.”
David laughed; he could understand such an attitude. Ellen
really seemed to enjoy the outdoors, and having gotten used to the climb to the
wind turbine, she was keeping up with them. In fact she was doing better than
Alice, since she seemed to be dragging so much that morning.
“Well, if the other kids are like Alice is this morning, I’m
sure Linda could use all the help she can get. Those girls are going to be hard
to get moving today.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s got plenty of help,
and the girls are excited. They’re glad to be out of danger and are
interested in what’s happening.”
“Then why was Alice up all night?” David asked, not quite
comprehending the supposedly clear signals his daughter was sending him.
“Actually, that’s the main reason I came along with you this
morning. I was hoping to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what? I know this route like the back of
my hand and the meteors shouldn’t start until this afternoon.”
Ellen smiled at him. For as wonderful as he was, sometimes
he could be a little slow. She took his arm in hers and turned back so they
could both watch Alice slowly walk up behind them, glaring at her father the
entire way.
“From her,” she told him.
David shook his head. “Huh? What do you … Wait, what am I
missing? What’s she angry about?”
Alice was almost up to them and Ellen didn’t want to make
anything worse by saying the wrong thing, so she just added, “Think about it.”
David did. Alice stopped before she reached them, still
staring at her father. He shrugged and started up the hill, trying to figure
out what was going on. He climbed for a couple of minutes before he stopped dead,
turning around to glance between Alice and Ellen.
“She didn’t?” he asked, hoping to not hear the response he
expected.
“She did,” she answered him simply.
“Alice, were you sitting outside our room again last night?”
he called, concerned that Alice might still be too troubled to sleep at night.
“She didn’t hear you last night. Well, technically she did,
but she didn’t put it together then. She followed me downstairs after I left
the girls alone, and confronted me.”
“And you told her?” David asked, astounded at how Ellen
reacted around children.
“She figured it out herself,” she told him.
David turned and regarded his daughter again. She’d caught
up to them again and was currently standing there watching him.
“Alice, it’s not what you think,” he tried to tell her.
“No, it’s not what you think,” she told him with
venom to her voice. “This has got to be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”
“Stupidest?” he asked in confusion. He’d been sure she was
going to get her hopes up about his reconciling with his ex-wife.
“Yes, the stupidest. You’ve been miserable for years now.
You’ve lived as a solitary emotional cripple, and just when I think you may be
getting back on your feet, you backslide right back where you were years ago.”
“I … I don’t understand,” he replied, glancing back and
forth between Ellen and Alice.
“She’s not fond of the idea of the two of you being
together,” Ellen informed him.
“But I thought—”
“Yes, we figured that much out,” she told him, holding his
cheek like he was a slow remedial student trying to figure out an algebra
equation.
“You and Mom are a mistake,” Alice insisted. “You were an
emotional cripple for years after the two of you broke up. I figured getting
you and Ellen together might help you adjust finally, but like they say, you
take one step forward then run crying to your mother. Or rather my
mother,” Alice replied angrily.
“Alice, it isn’t like that,” he tried to argue, using the
same argument despite having found himself in a different battle.
“No? Then what’s it like? You and Mom slept together, didn’t
you? Mom spent all night flirting with you, didn’t she? You’ve been acting like
you’re walking on a cloud all morning, haven’t you?”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean that your mom and I
aren’t getting back together.”
“You aren’t?” Alice asked, surprised.
“No. It isn’t like I don’t like her,” he hurried to add.
“After all, we had fun, but we got together just because she was feeling lost
and wanted some comfort. Some physical comfort,” he said, trying to get
her to understand what happened without having to spell it out for her. “Like
when you came to our bed the other night. She was doing the same thing. It
didn’t mean anything. She just wanted to be held, and I, well….”
“I actually arranged it,” Ellen explained. “She asked me if
she could, telling me it would only be a onetime thing, and I agreed thinking
it might be good for your father, possibly helping him get over his hang-up
over her once and for all.”
“Really?” Alice asked, smiling for the first time that
morning.
“Really,” David assured her. “We’re not getting back
together. You’re stuck with Ellen and me, because I’m not about to give her up
now that I’ve found her.”
“Now that’s good news,” Alice replied, wrapping an
arm around them both and pushing them up the hill so they could finish their
project and get back before the morning got too late. “Wait a minute,” she
asked, pulling up short. “What about Mom? Does she know this was only a
onetime thing?”
“I just said she only asked me for a single visit with your
father,” Ellen reminded her.
“That doesn’t mean she isn’t assuming something else,” Alice
countered.
“I’m sure she’s not planning anything,” David insisted.
“Well, we hope so anyway,” Ellen added. “We were planning to
get together and hash it out this morning. We figured we’d do it when we left
today, the three of us in a car together with no way out until we get to where
we’re going. I figured that way we’d figure out if anyone is harboring any
resentment over what happened last night.”
“If you weren’t getting together, then why risk it?” Alice
asked. Not an unreasonable question.
“It’s one of those weird adult things,” David replied
unconvincingly. “Frankly, I’m not sure I understand it myself.”
“Well, I still think it’s a stupid idea, and I hope
you’re correct, but I’ll be anxious until this is over. Now let’s finish up
here so you two can get back and talk to Mom,” Alice replied, pushing them back
uphill.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time when they returned.
The girls were giggling and talking a mile-a-minute, the women were busy
keeping the food fresh and removing used plates, while Bobby was cleaning up
the dirty dishes, earning the respect and gratitude of the women.
“So the heroes return, having kept us protected with
continuing power and other luxuries,” Linda said when they entered. “We saved
you some food warming in the oven. Sit down and eat up, since I know you’re
anxious to get moving.”
“Oh, are we heading out today?” Caitlyn asked excitedly.
“Yeah, we’d love to go see what things look like outside,”
Julie agreed. “I was so busy trying not to throw up from the pain yesterday,
that I had trouble paying attention to what was happening.”
“You can leave me out of it. I saw enough death and
destruction to last me a lifetime,” Erica said.
“Well, we only have a single vehicle today since Betts and
Ma are heading into town, so there really isn’t room for anyone else,” David
warned them. “It’s just Ellen, Linda and me. I’d like the rest of you to look
over the buildings and land outside to see how much damage we suffered last
night. Maggie can help you make any repairs that are necessary, since she’s
pretty capable with a hammer and a saw. Bobby, I don’t know how much you know
about cars, but I figured you might be the best to see if you can make some
basic repairs to the cars Linda and Betts were driving last night. I’m thinking
it’ll be mostly banging out the dents and determining what works and what
doesn’t.”
“Sounds good, we can manage that,” Maggie told him.
“Bob’s going to need help,” Amy said. “I’d be glad to help
him. I’m fairly good with mechanical things. I’ve helped my brother fix dings
he put in my dad’s car often enough to know my way around them.”
“That makes sense, especially since the others don’t know
where anything is or how to deal with downed trees,” Alice said. “I figure Mom
doesn’t either, so I figured I’d better go with you, too, especially since
there’s enough room in the SUV for one more.”
David and Linda looked at her in shock, but Ellen just shook
her head with a small smile on her face she tried to hide.
“Uh, we were hoping….” David said, not sure how to finish
his objection.
“We might run into some things you really shouldn’t see,”
Linda replied, thinking of something more specific than David could.
“Like dead bodies? Mom, I saw several, and I helped drag
them out of a collapsed house. I can deal with it. But I’d be better at
crawling through storm damaged buildings than you would be, and I’m used to
working with Dad, so I’m the best person to help him with any trouble you may
encounter.”
Linda looked at her, her mouth opening and closing as she
tried to figure out some objection to bring up but finding none. David tried to
reason with her, since he knew she was aware of why they wanted their time
alone.
“We were hoping to use the time to discuss how to handle the
accommodations. We only have limited supplies, so we have to figure out how to
allocate things, plus your mom isn’t sure how long she wants to stay here.”
Alice looked him dead in the eyes as she replied to him. “I
know what’s here plus where to find replacements, I also know what each of the
girls is likely to eat, as well as their personalities and what they’ll be like
after spending a week in the country locked away in a cabin. Besides,” she said
with a triumphant smile, “I’ve got as much interest in what you decide as
anyone. I can help with the discussion.”
David took his turn imitating a goldfish until Ellen took
control for him. “That’s OK, as long as you sit quietly in the back and let the
adults discuss things on their own. You don’t say anything unless you’re asked
your opinion, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alice replied with a grin. Alice’s friends
looked at her in confusion, figuring there was more going on here than it
appeared but not sure quite what it was.
“You girls ever cut up a tree before?” David asked. “I’m
sure there are a lot of downed trees that need to be cleared away.”
“Really?” Amy asked with a sparkle in her eyes. “Could we
use the chain saw?”
“Maybe I’d better handle the chainsaw,” Bobby suggested.
“Over my dead body,” Ma replied. “No one’s going to let a
blind man wave a chainsaw around. Those things are dangerous and people injure
themselves every day.”
“She’s got a good point. If anyone uses the chainsaw it’ll
be Maggie,” David informed them. “The rest of you can help by holding and
moving logs for her, but make sure you stay out of the way of the blade. I’ll
bet this will be an education you won’t get in school.”
Everyone climbed into the SUV but no one wanted to say
anything, being aware of Alice sitting anxiously in the back seat. David put
the car in gear and drove off as Alice waved to her friends who were cleaning
up the scattered broken branches lying around the yard. No one said anything
until the car was well beyond the tree line.
“You can talk now,” Alice said to the silent car. “I know
what happened, so you’re not going to shock me.”
“This would be much easier if you weren’t listening in,” her
mother replied.
“Hey, I’m here to make sure each of you don’t do anything
stupid. Just consider me your advocate, I’m here to watch out for you.”
“Where did you learn about advocates?” Linda asked with
amusement in her voice.
“Hey, I’m not that young. I know a lot of stuff,” she
replied, then waited a while before adding, “but Caitlyn told me about it. I
knew what I wanted to do but I didn’t know the right word for it.”
“Remember what I said,” Ellen reminded her. “No intruding in
the conversation. Let us work this out between us. This is between us. You’re
here for information purposes only. When we’re finished we’ll discuss our
positions with you, but we don’t want you interrupting. We’re likely to say
several things you don’t agree with, but we need the freedom to explore all the
options. OK?”
“Yeah,” Alice grumbled, agreeing but not sounding happy about
it.
“I take it she’s not overly fond about what we did?” Linda
asked David and Ellen, looking between them. “Just how much does she know?”
Ellen turned and looked at Alice. She just looked right
back, not answering. “OK, you’re allowed to respond to that. Just don’t get
angry when one of us says something stupid.” That seemed to please Alice so she
went ahead.
“I noticed that Ellen didn’t seem anxious to return to Dad’s
bedroom, so I followed her out to ask her about it. When I stopped outside
Dad’s room I heard some embarrassing sounds, but I knew she didn’t have enough
time to get that far, so I went downstairs looking for her.”
“How do you know how long it takes to make ‘embarrassing
sounds’?” Linda asked in her ‘concerned mother’ voice.
“Alice agreed to be reasonable about our discussion,” Ellen
reminded everyone. “I think it’s only fair if we return the favor. She
obviously knows enough, so let’s just leave it at that.”
Linda grunted but didn’t say anymore.
“I didn’t think much of it, thinking it was just random
noise or maybe the TV, so I went downstairs looking for Ellen.”
David thought about reminding her that he never really
watched television at night, but he didn’t think that was a good point to bring
up at the moment.
“When I found her, we started talking. She said she was
‘giving Dad some space’, which I thought was suspicious. But it was only when
we’d been talking for a while that I put it all together. That was when she
admitted that you were sleeping with Dad. I got upset at all of you, her mostly
because I thought she was throwing away a good thing, but she told me to wait
until today and that you’d explain it all to me. So now I’m waiting for you to
convince me you didn’t screw up a great thing.”
“That wasn’t the response I was expecting from her,” David
told his ex. “I’d thought she was upset we weren’t moving in together right
away.”
“That’s not why—” she started to argue before Ellen’s glare
warned her to be quiet.
“I’m curious about why she’s upset about it?” Linda said as
she turned to look back at Ellen, who’d given her the passenger seat mostly so
she could run interference between her and her daughter.
Ellen could see Alice getting ready to respond so she put
her hand on her arm to calm her.
“She thinks you’re getting involved would hurt David,” Ellen
responded. “That it took him years to get over the breakup and that I was the
first girl he ever took seriously and that you stepping in now is likely to put
him into a tailspin.”
Linda looked thoughtful before she responded. “I can see that,
I guess. I hadn’t realized he hadn’t wanted the divorce until he mentioned it
last night. I always assumed since he didn’t object to it that he was fine with
it.”
“Would you have changed anything if I had?” David asked her
honestly. She frowned.
“No, I guess I wouldn’t have.” David simply grunted, showing
that was exactly what he’d thought and why he hadn’t said anything at the time.
“I’d just like to take this opportunity to apologize, and to
say that I’m sorry for all the things I may have said about you.” David waved
her off, though whether in forgiveness or simply because he didn’t want to
listen to it no one was sure.
“Did you say many bad things about him?” Ellen asked, simply
because she thought someone should ask it. Alice harrumphed in the back seat,
establishing her position but the others ignored her interruption.
“I’m embarrassed to say that I did. I complained about him
to everyone I knew. To my friends, to our friends, to both our families and to
Alice as well.” She took a moment to gather herself. “But now that I see how
you’ve adapted and how much you’ve accomplished, I think I’ve changed my mind.
I’m also beginning to see your position now that I’m away from everyone that
echoed my own.”
“All right, before we get maudlin, let’s address Alice’s
question,” Ellen said, interrupting her. “What are your feelings about David
after you’ve had some time to think about it?”
“Gee, it’s embarrassing to say this in front of your
daughter, especially when you know she already disapproves,” she replied.
“You’ll get over it. I told her she couldn’t interrupt so
just ignore her. We won’t make any progress unless we can be honest with each
other,” Ellen reminded them.
“You’re right,” Linda responded. “OK, here goes. First, let
me just say that last night was wonderful,” she said, to which David blushed,
but she went on. “It reminded me of everything we had that we’ve lost, and I’ll
admit that I hadn’t realized just how much I’ve missed it.” Alice groaned in
the back but no one called her on it.
“I’ll also admit that if things were different, if you
weren’t already involved and if I was meeting him again for the first time,
that I just may decide to see where things went.”
Alice leaned forward as if to say something but Ellen held
her in place.
“She’s got to be free to be honest. She’s just telling us
how she felt, not what she plans to do, so let her speak her mind.” Alice
nodded and sat back again, placated for the moment.
“So do you have any plans to pursue a relationship with
David?” Ellen asked, mainly to calm Alice more than anything else, even though
she was dying to hear the answer. But she knew the initial answer would be
mainly directed at appeasing everyone, and wouldn’t likely be an honest answer
anyway.
“No, absolutely not. I think too much of you, David and
Alice to step into the middle of everything and screw up everyone’s life, but….”
she answered before hesitating, letting her unspoken words hang in the silence
of the car.
“But…?” Ellen prompted her.
“Well, I hope you don’t mind, but I wouldn’t object to being
able to flirt with him some more. Speaking honestly, he’s still pretty damn
sexy, and I figure some innocent teasing won’t hurt anyone too much.”
“That sounds fair,” Ellen said noncommittally.
“So we haven’t heard from you, yet, David,” Linda reminded
him. “What was your response to last night?”
“Well, I was surprised by how strong my feelings were
towards her, something I never would have realized if Ellen hadn’t pushed us
together. But the important thing is, as wonderfully as we get along, I’m not
about to abandon Ellen for you, especially if I don’t trust how long this new
attitude of yours is likely to last.” Alice gave a silent thumbs up in the back
seat, but no one beside Ellen noticed it.
“OK, so you won’t ‘abandon me’, but that doesn’t really
answer the question,” Ellen pushed him for a clearer answer. “How do you feel
about what happened last night?”
“It was insightful, and I think ultimately it was healing.
What’s more Linda seemed like a completely different person, like the woman I
first married.” Linda smiled at that confession and reached over and held his
hand on the steering wheel.
“I was hardly a woman when we first married,” she reminded
him. “We were both young and carefree before I got obsessed with status and
position.”
“You’ll always be….” David started to respond before
catching himself. Considering the reaction of the other passengers in the car
he didn’t finish the sentiment. But Linda smiled in acknowledgement of the
unsaid compliment, so he was satisfied she at least knew what he was thinking.
“OK, but again, ignoring what you feel obligated to say,
what did you take away from last night?” Ellen prompted.
“That as nice as it was, and as much as I continue to love
my ex-wife, that I’m still committed to this new relationship, and that I’m not
going to jeopardize it in any way.” David thought he was in the clear with that
response. And he was until Ellen asked her next question.
“And if I wasn’t in the picture? What would you do if we got
in a fight and I stormed off on you?”
David didn’t look pleased. He ground his teeth and thought
about how best to reply but he was saved by a fallen tree lying across the road.
So he stopped the car and got out without answering.
He climbed out, walking around the tree examining it while
the others got out. While Ellen and Linda looked on, Alice went into the back
of the car and extracted the spare chainsaw and a couple of bow saws she knew
he’d have there. As she carried them to him Linda spoke up.
“You’re not getting out of this so easily, buster. What’s
your answer?”
David looked back pleadingly, as if asking Alice whether she
couldn’t have been faster, but he knew it would take a few minutes to ensure
the chainsaw was ready. ‘Damn chainsaw,’ he thought to himself, but he stopped
to consider how he’d respond as he set about preparing it.
“That’s not an easy nor a fair question,” he responded.
“Maybe not, but it’s the only sensible one,” Linda reminded
him. “So what would you do if Ellen wasn’t here to influence you?”
David looked up at Linda and looked her full in the eyes. “I
still wouldn’t do it. We’ve lost our trust in each other, and I couldn’t be
sure you’d feel any differently once you got back home. You seem different now,
but there’s no guaranteeing you’ll feel any more kindly to me once things
return to normal in your life.” With that he stood up and started the chainsaw,
effectively ending the conversation for the next twenty minutes.
Once they got back underway Linda turned back to regard
Ellen. “OK, we’ve heard from David and I, what about you, Ellen? What would you
have done if I had said that I was still interested in David?” She asked this
with a smile on her face, intending it mainly as a way of allowing Ellen a
chance to reconfirm her new commitment to her ex. She figured that was just a
small payback for the favor that Ellen had allowed her.
Ellen didn’t have to think about her response before she
responded. “Frankly I’d fight like hell to keep David to myself. I’m not about
to give him up at this point. The only reason why I agreed to our arrangement
was because I could commiserate with what you were going through and you
convinced me this was a onetime only thing.”
“What does ‘commiserate’ mean?” Alice asked.
“It means she can relate to it, that she can understand how
she feels,” David explained to his daughter.
Linda’s smile grew bigger as she delivered her next
response. “And what if I didn’t plan to steal him away? What about if I just
wanted to share him?”
“Share him?” Ellen asked, clearly thrown off her game.
“Yeah, what if I wasn’t interested in keeping him for
myself. I wouldn’t want to displace you, you’d still be the top dog, as it
were, but what if I was willing to pick up your crumbs?”
“Eww!” Alice said with a gagging motion.
“I didn’t mean anything kinky, young lady,” Linda informed
her daughter. “I’m just curious how Ellen would respond if it wasn’t so cut and
dried?”
Ellen had to think about this one a little more carefully.
“I really can’t answer that easily. It would depend on a lot of things. I
wouldn’t even consider it if I suspected that you weren’t serious, or that you
might change your mind at some point. I only agreed to it because you seemed to
be serious about not wanting to come between us.”
“Fair enough,” Linda replied, not really interested in pursuing
the matter. She’d asked the question just to be difficult. Although she was now
seeing her ex in a new light, she wasn’t sure she was ready to change her
entire life in pursuit of something that hadn’t worked the last time.
At this point they’d left David’s private drive and
reentered the local road that led to it. There were several houses located
here. Not a lot, but a few grouped together. David and Alice looked over them
to see just how much damage they’d suffered during the two days of meteor storms.
It didn’t look good. One house was completely gone, burned so badly that only
the blacked framework was left standing, the other two looked damaged but were
still standing, but David was sure there’d been a fourth. He was proved right
when he saw at the end of the block the crumpled remains of a house that had
collapsed in on itself. He was so busy watching the house that he was shocked
when someone ran directly in front of the car.
Linda screamed and David quickly slammed on his brakes, glad
he’d noticed the person in time to respond. The tires squealed, but it was
kept to a minimum by the antilock brakes, but the car broke to the side as
David yanked the steering wheel to avoid a collision. Everyone was a bit
stunned, having had to brace themselves unexpectedly, but at least they hadn’t
hit anything.
The figure that had run in front of them, a young woman, had
been waving her arms to get their attention. Now she ran around the car to
David’s window where she proceeded to knock repeatedly on the window. David
didn’t have long to consider her, but she looked a bit of a mess. She was
wearing a nightgown, but one that was badly torn and covered in smeared blood
across the front. Her hair was a mess too, with long straight red hair strung
out all around her, but that was understandable given the rest of her look.
Despite his tendency to respond cautiously to someone who
looked so out of it demanding something from him, David rolled his window down
to see what the problem was.
“You’ve got to help me,” she said, speaking excitedly,
hardly pausing to take a breath. “My parents are dead, my sister died in my
arms and I can’t find my brother. Everything we had is gone, the house is a
mess and I can’t find anything.”
David heard the other doors of the vehicle open as he tried
to calm the woman. “Take a deep breath and relax. Lead us to the house and
we’ll take a look around,” he instructed her as Ellen and Linda gathered around
her, getting her to step back from David’s door so he could get out of the car.
“I doubt you’ll find anything,” she told them. “As I said,
most everyone is dead and my brother is simply gone. What I really need is
assistance. I have no money, no food or clothing, and I’ve got nowhere to go. I
figure the banks are closed so I can’t get any money, and I couldn’t find the
car keys to go anywhere. Besides, I’ve really got nowhere else to go. I’m lost
and out of options,” she said, starting to break down now that her initial
panic seemed to be fading.
“Look, let’s see if we can help you locate your brother,
then we’ll discuss helping you. We were on our way to the police station anyway, so
we can—”
“No, I don’t need that kind of help. The police haven’t been
by, so I doubt they’ll have the time to help, and I’m too old to worry about
custody. What I need is someone to help me survive until the banks and stores
open. I figure it will take weeks before they can confirm that my family is
dead and issue a death certificate, so I’m not going to be able to gain access
to my money, so I need—”
“Look, we’ll work all that out, but right now let’s
concentrate on your family. Can you show us where everyone was?”
The woman, a girl really, led them to the scattered remains
of the house that had once stood there. David noted that the woman had no
shoes, stepping carefully around the various obstructions. He also noticed the
torn nightgown she had, and the fact that it revealed she was only wearing a
slim pair of panties under it. He tried to keep his eyes forward, though, not
wanting to be accused of leering at someone who’d suffered so much.
“I was downstairs when there was a loud crack and the whole
thing came down,” she explained, as she pointed to one corner of the mass of
broken timbers and jumbled belongings. “I was in the kitchen getting a drink,
we were all downstairs because we were so worried about the storm. I guess the
kitchen was a little safer than the rest of the house. It looks like the whole
house fell away from the kitchen, because I escaped relatively unscathed. I dug
and dug and I found my mom and dad, but it looked like they’d died instantly.
My sister was a mess and she died in my arms. I’ve been looking for my little
brother ever since, but I haven’t been able to find him.”
“When did this happen?” David asked, just so he could
calculate the likelihood of anyone’s still remaining alive.
“Yesterday evening sometime,” she surmised, looking about
wildly. “I’d left my watch and jewelry in my bedroom, so I have no idea what
time it is or how long it’s been, but it must have been around seven in the
evening.”
“Where was your brother when the house collapsed?” David
asked. He noticed that Alice was returning from having gotten some supplies
from the back of the car. He wasn’t sure he had the proper tools for this, but
they’d give it a try at least.
“I’m not sure. He might have gone into the basement, or he
might have gone upstairs. I really don’t know.”
David looked around. The new woman’s feet were already a
bloody mess and Linda’s shoes were little better. Luckily Linda had been smart
enough to have left her high heels behind, but her only other shoes had been
her jogging sneakers, which were way too lightweight to be any good in this
environment. They’d tried to find her something else that she could wear, but
there was a shortage of women’s hiking books around the house, so they were
stuck with what was available.
“Alice, you and I will start searching the debris for any
signs of her brother,” David said, switching into organizational mode as he
started issuing instructions. “Ellen, see if you can find her anything she can
wear or can scavenge from the remains. Linda, you stay back and watch out for
her. You can bring us anything we may need, but keep her off her feet. You’ll
probably want to clean and wrap them somehow.”
David worked to pry a decent length of two-by-four loose so he
could use it to lever the heavy debris aside. He and Alice worked out a system
where he’d lift heavy obstacles aside and she’d quickly examine whatever was
exposed. The girl, whose name turned out to be Flora Elmsford, directed them to
where her parents’ bodies were. It took a bit, but David and Alice managed to
dig them both out. Flora’s sister, Blossum’s, body was already lying out in the
open so they could access it easily. None of them looked very comforting,
already beginning to bloat and smell.
“What about friends, relatives or neighbors? Isn’t there
anyone who can help?” Ellen asked.
“No, I have friends, but none near here, and there wasn’t
any electricity or phone service anyway. I tried reaching the neighbors, but
the one left yesterday morning as soon as it was light outside. They just
packed up and left. The other house burned down during the initial storm, so
they left as well. I tried the other neighbor, the Williams, but they haven’t
responded. Their light was on last night, which I remember thinking was odd
since all the power on the block was out, but I couldn’t figure out where they
went to.”
David didn’t have a good feeling about that little tidbit of
information.
“Stay here, I’ll check them out,” he told the others, but it
was like he’d invited them to tag along, as they all followed him like a bunch
of young puppies looking to play.
When he reached the neighbor’s house he issued more
instructions to ensure no one else would be endangered.
“Everyone stay outside. Don’t come inside. If I’m gone
for more than twenty or thirty seconds then start breaking all the windows in
the house.” With that he tried the door and wasn’t surprised to find it
unlocked. Entering, he didn’t bother looking around, instead taking a big
breath of fresh air and holding it as he ran into the living room just off the
front door. Gaining a window he flung it open, taking a gasp of air since the
one he’d taken before was exhausted. Refreshed, he proceeded to open all the
other nearby windows. Once he thought the room had a chance to air out a little
he finally took in his surrounds.
Exactly as he’d anticipate, he saw a man and woman, probably
in their late 30s or early 40s lying motionless in their chairs. Just to be
sure he checked them, but as he expected, they were both dead. Most likely from
carbon monoxide poisoning. Just to be sure, he made his way to the garage,
opening more windows as he went. As he’d thought, there was a generator sitting
motionless in the garage, having run out of gasoline a long time ago, the garage
door opened to allow the electrical cords to run from the garage into the
house. He sighed in frustration how people could overlook something that could,
and did, end up costing them their lives.
He finally opened the garage door, where he faced the others
waiting to see what had happened and whether he was alright.
“They died from running their generator inside the house
without any carbon monoxide detector. They were overwhelmed by the fumes from
the generator. They probably never even knew what happened to them, just
quickly falling asleep never to awaken.”
Turning to the others he again started issuing instructions.
“Ellen, you take Flora upstairs to see if she can find anything she can wear.
Focus on decent shoes if you can find them, and also try to disinfect her feet.
All she needs now is an infection. We’ll have to give her a tetanus shot later,
since I’m sure she’d stepped on several nails while she was looking for her
family.
“Linda, see if there’s anything in the kitchen worth saving.
Flora will need anything she can scavenge. Alice, make sure the windows are all
open upstairs, then when you’re done we’ll start closing them again to protect
the house from the elements.”
The women all started moving to their assigned tasks when
Flora stopped. “They had a daughter, Melissa, did you see her?”
David swore under his breath. He hadn’t counted on that.
“Ellen, you go in first with Alice. While Alice opens the windows check the
bedrooms upstairs for the girl. Frankly, if you haven’t seen her since last night
I can’t see how she could have survived.”
The girls ran upstairs then while David stayed to talk to
Flora and Linda went into the kitchen to see what she could grab. It was there
she encountered Melissa, probably only seven or eight-years-old, lying peacefully
on the floor looking like she was just taking a quick nap on the cool floor.
Linda reached out and tried to get her to wake up, and failing that she called
out for some reinforcements.
“David, I found her!” David came running in, with Flora
following him. He knelt down by the girl and checked for her carotid pulse, but
sadly shook his head and picked her up, taking her in to lay with her parents.
Linda and Flora just watched him disappear. Flora got Linda moving again,
pushing her towards the refrigerator.
“Aren’t you disturbed by that?” Linda asked.
“Frankly, I’m a little past being shocked,” Flora responded.
“I’m just overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed by death, by destruction, and by
everything I’ve lost. I’ve got to keep moving now, because if I stop I may
never start again. So let’s get busy so I can keep from thinking of everyone
I’ve lost.”
Linda just shook her head, unable to fathom such immense
sadness, but she followed Flora’s advice and checked the refrigerator to see
what was salvageable. As she expected, most of the stuff in there was already
spoiling due to the lack of electricity, but she grabbed the bottled water and
sodas she saw. Next she turned to the counter and started to reach for the
cookie jar when she paused.
“Are cookies and bread OK?” she called out.
“Only if they’re securely wrapped,” David called back from
the other room. “If they’re exposed I wouldn’t trust them. I’m not sure what
effect carbon monoxide has on food, but I wouldn’t trust it just on principle.”
Flora was collecting all the canned goods and unopened
packages until David called them again.
“Flora, you’d better get upstairs and see if you can find
some clothes. That’s the most important thing you’ll be needing now. Try not to
disturb too much, as I’m sure their family wouldn’t appreciate seeing the house
torn up by us.”
As Flora headed upstairs Alice came down and looked
nervously at her father before entering the living room with the three dead
bodies. Linda, initially motivated by a sense of trying to shield her daughter
moved in front of her, but she kept moving based on something else, and she
ended up wrapping her arms around her ex-husband seeking comfort from him once
again as she tried to absorb some of his strength from her physical connection
to him.
David didn’t say anything, just holding her for several
minutes until it got to be too much for him.
“Don’t worry, Alice, there’s nothing beside basic human
compassion happening here, but we need to get started. I want to move Flora’s
family here so they’ll be protected from the elements and any wandering
wildlife. I think it would be better if Ellen and I did that, so see if you can
take over for her upstairs.”
“I can do that,” Alice responded. “I mean, it’s a shock
seeing them, but I already know they’re dead, and I’d rather be doing something
than just sitting around thinking about it.”
David considered that for a moment. “Are you sure? I’m not
sure exposing you to this much death is the healthiest way to raise someone.”
Alice waved him off. “Yeah, I’m sure. I don’t think Mom is
up for it, since she’s not used to this kind of thing. I’ve dealt with death in
the woods near your house, so I’m a little better equipped for it. Besides,
unlike Mom, I have you to help me over any difficulties, and I know you’ll
watch out for me.”
“It sounds like you’ve already given this a lot of thought.
I’m still not convinced it’s a very smart move, but you’re probably right about
Ellen and your mother. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather help Flora instead?”
Alice simply shook her head. “No one else here is better
equipped to help you than I am,” she answered.
“OK, Linda, why don’t you take over for Ellen and tell Flora
to stay upstairs until we ask her to come down?”
Linda nodded and, once again, they each set off in their own
directions, Linda heading upstairs while David and Alice headed next door.
Linda entered the master bedroom where Ellen was looking
through the open closet, handing out various things to Flora.
“Nope, I’m telling you, she’s bigger than I am,” Flora said,
regarding one outfit she handed back while she took the next that Ellen handed
her. “Now that might work,” she responded, as Linda entered the closet
and without saying a word gave Ellen a hug as well.
“I may need to borrow David again,” she said simply. “Seeing
all this death and thinking of Alice and the other girls has me completely
unnerved. He held me for a little while and it helps, but I’m sure I’m going to
need more.”
“I understand,” Ellen responded, not saying anything else.
Linda quickly responded, pushing her out of the closet.
“They need you. Something about shuffling bodies. We
girlie-girls will stay up here where we can avoid such things, while focusing on
fashion and accessories,” she laughed uneasily. Ellen gave her a last glance,
trying to determine if she’d be OK on her own or if she’d return to find two
hysterical women crying when she returned, but both seemed to be OK for now.
Everyone worked as quickly as they could. No one took the
time to find a makeshift stretcher or body bag, so they simply carried the
bodies by grabbing them under the arms or by their feet and walking as rapidly
as they could before they had to put them down to avoid dropping them. It
wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. Although carrying the bodies was more
of a two person job, Alice concentrated on digging the bodies loose and
preparing them, while her father and Ellen carried them. She carefully closed
their eyes and said a brief prayer for them, despite not having anything
personal to say about them.
In order to protect her a little, David assigned Ellen to
carrying the bodies by their feet, meaning she’d have to face away from them as
they carried them, which meant that David had to watch them the entire trip. He
was glad he hadn’t given Alice or Ellen that role, but he also knew he’d have
to take time to talk the issues raised with both of them later. It’s one thing
to see someone in the distance die, but it’s another to confront death head on
by watching its aftermath in the cold lifeless eyes of the dead up close.
When they finished, they found Linda and Flora putting
various supplies from the house into the SUV, having ignored David’s warning to
stay upstairs to avoid seeing what they were doing. But Flora seemed appreciative,
and thanked David herself with her own hug when they came back to the car.
“Thanks for doing that for them,” she told him.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t find your brother, but he could be
anywhere. I hate to say it, but I don’t think he made it. If he had, he’d have
tried to make some noise by now to let us know where he was. Unfortunately
there’s just too much shit to move to find him, and we only have so much time
before the meteors are going to start up again.”
“What about me?” she asked, pulling back to look him in the
eyes as he considered her request. “Linda told me your house is secure and
seems to be safe from the meteors. She also said that although it’s crowded
that you have spare floor space, and that’s a heck of a lot better than I have
right now.”
David looked hesitant, but eventually sighed and nodded. “We
still have to see the sheriff, so we’ll tell them about everyone here when we
do. We’ll also see if we can pick you up any supplies when we pass some stores,
but I doubt any of them will be open.”
Her smile was all the response he needed, as she enfolded
him in a tight hug once again, this time tight enough for him to confirm that
she was, in fact, dressed in nothing more than a torn nightgown and panties.
“I’ll do anything you want for this,” she promised him in a
quiet whisper. “Anything at all.”
He was going to try to disabuse her of that notion, but
thought better of it as he saw everyone watching them. Better not to call
attention to it than to cause a fight amongst the women. Hopefully she’d get
the message when he simply didn’t respond to her during the day.
It didn’t take them long to get out of there or to make it
to the nearby town. They stopped at the local clothing store but found no one
around. Flora asked about breaking in, since this was a bit of an emergency and
there wasn’t anyone around, but David felt conflicted since that would put him
in a similar position to the men he’d stopped the other day. None of the others
felt it was a similar circumstance, but no one wanted to debate the point.
None of the other businesses seemed to have anyone in them,
except for the local grocery store, which has a hive of activity with everyone
who’d been holed up for the last couple of days trying to stock up quickly and
get out again before the meteor shower began again. Everyone rushed inside,
each going in a different direction in order to grab as much stuff as they
could so they could finish as soon as possible. Linda and Ellen focused on the
extra food needed by so many people, while Alice and David looked for extra
supplies like crates, empty boxes and several extra bottles of wine, which
David was sure would be needed in a house filled with anxious women. Flora went
looking for anything she could find to cover herself with, though the selection
was abysmal.
When they finished they headed over to the local police
headquarters, only to find it battered down. It turned out there was a single
deputy there, but the building had taken a beating and they didn’t want to risk
damaging the building further by overusing it. He told them the various
officers were trying to roam the territory, looking for anyone needing help but
they couldn’t spend too long looking because of the small window of opportunity
open to them. He thanked them for the information on the people they’d found
and told them they’d see about picking the bodies up as soon as they could, but
told them it wouldn’t be anytime soon as their tiny morgue was already over
full, and without any electricity they had no other options.
He was glad to get the ham radio, telling David that the
sheriff would appreciate it and that he’d already told them to look out for
him, which David appreciated. Normally the police cars came equipped with
similar radios tuned to the police channels, but the station didn’t have
electricity for their base unit, and so many of the police cars had been
damaged that only a couple still had their police radios intact. Luckily they
had a generator hooked up to the building, but they were only using it
judiciously, turning it on for short periods then turning it off again to conserve
as much gasoline as they could, since the pumps at the gas stations weren’t
working any longer. David showed him what he’d need to do to communicate with Bobby,
who was monitoring the news from back at the house. He told the officer that it
was best to simply use Bobby to relay the information rather than trying to
learn how to use the device and waste that much time himself. The officer
agreed that made the most sense.
Finally the officer, one Samuel Riggins, asked if they
needed anything. David assured him they were set, but Samuel took him aside and
handed him a spare pistol and a pump action shotgun.
“The Sheriff told me you were helping us to handle certain
supplies, and it looks like you’re making yourself helpful in other ways as
well. This is just to make sure you stay safe, and can take care of anyone else
that needs help as well.”
“Well, thanks, I guess, though I hope I won’t need it,”
David replied. Samuel then proceeded to swear David in as a
temporary officer of the law. David didn’t know if such an informal procedure
would hold up in court, but such things were not a big priority at the moment.
“Oh, and here, take this as well,” Samuel said, handing him
a small battery powered walkie-talkie. We ‘borrowed’ a couple from the
local camping store. It’s got a good range on it, effective for up to 15 to 20
miles if you’re in a good position. That’s what we’ve been using to communicate
between us, though that means we have to drive within range in order to check
in. If you need anything give us a call. Likewise, if we need anything we’ll
ring Bobby when we check in roughly every two hours.”
David nodded, shaking Samuel’s hand before they bid their
farewells, wishing each other continued good luck. Soon they were back on the
road, hurrying to get back before the peace ended when the meteors started
falling again.
Since none of them wanted to air their dirty laundry before
a virtual stranger, and since they’d effectively settled the discussion before
they encountered her, they spent the time getting to know her and what she was
like. David commented that he knew her enough to wave as he drove by, although
he’d never gotten to know her parents.
“I’m attending college and only came home for holidays and,
of course, over the summer. My brother and sister both still lived at home.
They hadn’t even decided what they wanted to do with their lives,” she replied
with a sniffle, as she lamented the lives they’d never get to lead.
“So just to avoid that for a little while,” Linda suggested,
“what is it you were studying?”
“Actually I was studying Engineering. If it wasn’t so
horrendous, this would be a great opportunity to put my training to use, going
around and examining houses and bridges to see which ones were likely to
collapse.”
“Damn, you should have told us sooner,” David commented from
the driver’s seat. “I could have told police you could do that for them. I’m
sure they’d be interested in knowing where any potential trouble might lie.”
“They said they’d call in, so you can tell them after we get
home,” Ellen reminded him.
“Still, we could have stopped and examined a couple of
places if we’d have thought of it,” he replied.
“Not if you plan on getting us home before something happens
to us,” Linda added. “I’ve already spent hours riding in a car in the middle of
raining debris, I’d rather not do it a second time.”
That of course led to a discussion about what everyone had
suffered through, which only led to Flora being impressed that David had such
foresight to build his retreat.
“It wasn’t really foresight, it was just blind luck to build
it facing the right direction,” he countered, but it was really no use. She was
obviously infatuated, and she wasn’t about to believe he wasn’t right about
everything he did. As much as he liked having his ego boosted, he knew having a
house full of women all vying for his attention was just a recipe for disaster.
They managed to make it back just as the meteor shower
resumed. They were delayed getting back by someone else who broke down going
over a large pothole in the road. Luckily they got in and got everything put
away without incident. Everyone was relieved they’d made it back. It seemed the
girls had worried something would happen and they wouldn’t be able to make it
back, leaving them on their own. It seemed that everyone had come to rely on
David, if not to rescue them then at least to reassure them.
The girls were happy to see Flora. They were impressed that
a college student would spend time with them, plus she regaled them with the
stories of what had happened to them, and how she’d be rescued by David. David
tried to stress that he’d hardly been the only one involved, but no one seemed
convinced by his argument.
It turns out that Betts had returned from her trip alone and
with a fair amount of supplies plus some clothes she’d managed to scrounge up.
Despite the fact all the stores were shut up tight, she’d found a second hand
store that was full of people who’d lost everything that were looking for
anything they could find. She’d only picked up what she thought they needed, as
she hadn’t wanted to take anything that those in need would require, but she’d
gotten some more appropriate apparel for most of the girls.
Ma had, as she’d predicted, decided to stay over at the
hospital. She’d called her husband to let him know what was happening. It seems
the hospital was a mess. Since the hospital was a modern marvel of glass and
steel, it had turned into a blizzard of shattered windows. They’d had to move
everyone in the hospital to either the emergency room or down into the morgue
to shelter them, which made things quite crowded. People managed to stream in
throughout the day, most of them managing to drive themselves, since the
ambulances were having so much trouble due to the meteor storm and their own
lack of communications.
The majority of cases were from shrapnel, though there
were many from falls or from collapsing buildings. The emergency room was kept
busy all day, and the delivery ward, while less crowded, was also kept busy, as
most of the pregnant women ended up delivering early due to the stress they
were suffering.
Ma had established a schedule where she’d work for two hours
then check what was happening on the radio, keeping the hospital staff informed
as to what was happening around them. Bobby was working as a central clearing
house of information he collected from his many associates across the country
and the world. Ma told Bobby that she’d be staying at the hospital indefinitely
and that she was safe there. They had plenty of spare gurneys and cots to sleep
on so she’d be fine, but she’d call him if anything changed.
Betts reported that both the trip down and back had been
harrowing due to the damages she saw, those hurt or killed along the road, and
the terrible shape of the road. She had been anxious to get back to the
security of the house.
Bobby also gave them a review of what had been happening
across the country. It seems that despite the widespread destruction, most of
the damage was physical. There didn’t seem to be that many deaths. Sure, there
were a fair amount due to people caught by the forest fires, or those who fell
victim to collapsing buildings or bridges, but so far the calamity had mostly
been small scale but widespread physical damage. The biggest problem would be
the repair effort afterwards.
Actually, the general consensus seemed to be that this would
actually boost the economy. While it had suffered from the widespread shift of
American businesses overseas, most of the shipments of supplies to and from
those other countries were curtailed, either by container ships sunk at sea, or
the grounding of most of the planes across the world. Thus most of the business
efforts would be local, centralized on the needs of each country, rather than
on competing for scarce resources with each other. What’s more, everyone was
likely to hire virtually anyone willing to work to clean up the mess they were
all suffering from.
The recovery effort would be substantial, but it would
benefit those who were doing the work, as opposed to their efforts and their
money being shipped overseas. Most economists thought that would benefit
everyone and return the global economy to a more regional basis. It would take
a long time to repair the basic infrastructure, and the shipping and airline
industries would only be repaired once everyone else was finally settled enough
for large scale production of planes and ships could resume.
He also explained the troubles ahead with the financial
markets. While the major banks in New York City were secure because the
electrical and telephone wires were all laid underground, most of the banks
around the world reported their results electronically using older
communication technology. Telephone poles, communication towers and switching
stations had been damaged all over, meaning the banks couldn’t transfer loans
to the Central Bank to cover minimal balances, loan payments or scheduled
transfers. About the only thing that had saved the world financial market was
the fact that everything had happened over the weekend when the markets were
closed. The only way they could avoid bank failures would be to keep the banks
closed, so it was unlikely anyone would be able to access their money for the
indefinite future, which, if they couldn’t figure out how to get things started
again, would be likely to cause a run on any banks remaining open. The
potential for a widespread bank failure was large.
But cities like New York hadn’t escaped unscathed either.
The older buildings built with small windows and constructed out of stone were
fairly secure, but the more modern buildings, with their large windows and exteriors
consisting of panels of polished stone, were susceptible to the this kind of
assault. Every window became a source of dangerous projectiles, while wandering
outside was dangerous as well due to the falling fractured stone facades. It
seemed that most people had abandoned the upper floors of the office towers and
congregated in the interiors near the elevator shafts, which were the farthest
from the exposed windows.
Once the meteor shower had begun and everyone was restricted
to the house again, the women had set to work organizing the supplies and
preparing dinner, so no one had to wait long to eat. Dinner was accompanied by
tales of the amazing things that David had done in rescuing Flora and taking
care of both her family and her neighbors. Everyone ate up everything they said
about it. David just tried to bury himself in his gravy and mashed potatoes.
After dinner the girls ran up to their room with Flora to
gossip about David. She asked the girls what the deal with him was. It seems
she was a little confused who he was with, since he seemed to be flirting with
practically everyone. Several of the girls opined that they wouldn’t mind
entertaining him, but Alice objected to that line of discussion. Finally David
decided it wasn’t good leaving them alone talking about him, so he interrupted
them and forced everyone downstairs so they could play some board games
together. The girls didn’t mind, they could flirt and tease just as easily with
him present as they could gossip in their room.
Amy told David she wasn’t much into playing a game and asked
him if he had anything she could read. David took her cartoon character t-shirt
as a clue, and they set out to search for his stored collection of his comic
books from when he was a kid, most about twenty years old. Amy was overjoyed,
telling him she could only deal with the girl-talk for so long, as she was
really a big geek and preferred spending her evenings in her own make believe
world. Since he’d spent many years there himself he could appreciate the sentiment,
so he got her settled and returned to the board game that was already underway
in the other room.
Ellen and Linda busied themselves keeping everyone fed and
entertained, so they spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen. After a while
David noticed Linda heading upstairs, unannounced and apparently unnoticed by
anyone else except for him and Alice. Ellen came into the room a short time
later and whispered in his ear. His head shot up in response and his eyes got
big.
“You’re shi… are you serious?” he asked, managing to
rephrase his question. Ellen simply nodded her head, smiling widely at him.
“You’re sure about this. I mean, if you have any—”
“I don’t have any doubts, but I’d suggest you get up there
and get busy before you lose much time,” she responded.
“Excuse me everyone,” he told the girls sitting around the
game board, “but I’ve been told that … that I need to go through my supplies
stored in the back of my room. Everyone wants to make sure of what we have,
just in case anyone else seeks refuge with us.”
“Ah, do you have to?” Caitlyn asked in a singsong pleading
voice.
“We’ll miss you,” Flora told him. “Be sure to hurry back.”
He assured them he’d finish as soon as he could, but he
figured it would take a fair amount of time. However Alice noticed that both he
and Ellen were grinning broadly as he headed upstairs.
David knocked timidly on his own door, and hearing no
response hesitantly entered. The lights were dimmed so he couldn’t see much,
but he saw a figure on his bed so he hurriedly entered, closing and locking the
door.
“It’s about time you get here,” Linda told him. “I was
beginning to think maybe someone managed to grab you on the way.”
“I had to make sure that Ellen was serious about this. I
mean, having your girlfriend ask you to sleep with your ex is shocking enough
the first time, but after today I figured it was a onetime thing.”
“It was,” Linda replied. “But after what we experienced
today, I told Ellen I needed a little more reassurance. But I don’t think you
have anything to worry about. Although she’s crazy about you, we’ve managed to
actually get along quite well. The only thing she asked is that we don’t try
for a double tonight, as she’s not sure you’ll be able to make it home before
you putter out, to mix my metaphors a little.”
As David entered, his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he
saw that Linda wasn’t wearing anything, covered in only the thin sheet she had
draped over herself, revealing a still shapely leg and a bit of breast. He
couldn’t help himself, and smiled the entire time he raced through stripping
his clothes off. That was his initial reaction anyway, but once he started, he
realized how silly he was being. They had all night, and he didn’t want Linda
to feel cheated because he was in a rush. So he slowed down just so he wouldn’t
scare her off.
“You’re sure the two of you are OK with this?” he asked,
just to be sure. “After all, I can imagine how uncomfortable it’s going to be
if the two of you decide it isn’t working out like you’d hoped and we’re all stuck
inside the house with nothing to do and no way to avoid one another.”
“No, we spent a lot of time talking about it, both about
what we felt about it and about how we saw ourselves fitting into your life.”
“And just how do you see yourself fitting into my
life?” he asked as he lay down beside her and slid his hand up her leg under
the sheet that was hiding her charms.
“Well, I don’t see myself as getting in the way. As I said,
I’m really more interested in spending time with you since you make me feel so
safe and secure, but if we happen to have some hot and steamy sex while we’re
doing that, I’m not about to object. But I also don’t see myself as moving in
here with you. I know I’ve got my life in the city and you have yours out here.
Once this damn storm stops and everyone gets everything straightened out again,
we’ll both have to get on with our lives.”
“Well, I’m glad you aren’t setting yourself up for
disappointment, because while I’m sure you know that I still love you and enjoy
spending time with you, my future lies with Ellen and the life I’m building
here.”
“I understand that perfectly,” Linda cooed, as David
refocused his mouth from discussing relationships to working on her breast. She
caressed his head as she nestled it against her breast, quietly humming a song
David slowly realized was ‘their’ love song from when they were first
dating.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve danced to that,” David
reminded her as he smiled around his mouthful of tit.
“Well, we’re restricted to a horizontal mambo for now. We
don’t want to alert anyone with the sound of our heels clicking on your hard
wood floors.”
“Yeah, that would surely be embarrassing for everyone
involved,” David agreed, as he sought to distract her from this mindless banter
by assaulting her citadel. She giggled and proceeded to kiss him, and they
kissed and enjoyed each other for several long moments, even as their hands
roamed far and wide in an effort to bring more pleasure in the other than they
were receiving themselves. It was a fight that neither one could win, just as
neither would lose.
They spent quite a while making slow and passionate love, as
they both rediscovered just how well they functioned together, each knowing
just how the other responded, playing each other like a fine fiddle. As David
began strumming her bow repeatedly, she hummed her appreciation as her whole
being vibrated, slowly rising to a resounding crescendo as she interspersed her
tune with assurances of how much she appreciated and loved his efforts as much
as she loved him. After they finished they both hummed their long song duo as
they both cuddled each other in their afterglow.
David made it back downstairs after the girls had started on
a movie they’d found in his library. He didn’t really watch many, but he’d stocked
up a fair amount of them for Alice to enjoy during their nights together.
Mostly they consisted of Disney animations and romantic comedies. That had been
David’s compromise, since he refused to allow any other Disney channel
selections to be shown, believing them to set a bad example for the teenagers
and preteens of the world.
Alice was glaring at him as he came into the room, but he
was too busy grinning like a peacock to notice. Ellen gave him a big hug and
thanked him for putting in such an effort to make sure everyone was
comfortable, and he gave her a heartfelt minty kiss, demonstrating he knew
enough to erase any evidence of what he’d been up to.
The girls insisted he join them, so he ended up sitting
between Flora and Sara with little Erica sitting on his lap, though she seemed
to take an inordinate amount of time settling herself into his lap. Linda
wandered down a short time later, but the movie was already playing so the only
people who noticed were Ellen, Alice and Maggie. They were all enjoying the
insipid movie when suddenly Julie sat up and turned to the others.
“Is it my imagination, or is it a lot quieter outside than
it was earlier?”
Instantly all eyes turned to the grand window overlooking
the valley below the cliff in which the house resided, and they all agreed that
the amount of meteor trails seemed to be dwindling. In fact, it fell off
dramatically as they stood there watching it.
“I can’t believe it,” Flora said awestruck. “It’s over. The
meteor storm is finally over!”
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