by Misty Vixen
“I hope they aren’t angry,” David murmured as they walked into the campgrounds.
“Why would they be?” Cait replied.
“Either for not getting back here sooner or...”
“Or…?”
“Our relationship escalated quickly.”
“Don’t worry, remember I-”
“-won’t get in the way, I know. I just...this is all new to me. I’m scared of losing this.”
“I know,” Cait murmured, taking his hand. “I understand. But I think you can trust Evelyn and April.”
“...I think so, too,” he replied after a moment.
They walked up to the main office and opened up the door. “Evie! April! I’m home with Cait!” he called.
“Oh shit, David, thank fucking God!” he heard Evie call back from upstairs. She quickly came down with April. “Are you okay? Your eye! What happened!?”
“I’m fine. We’re both fine,” he replied, and realized that he’d actually forgotten about his eye because he’d been so distracted and apparently everyone else hadn’t really said anything about it.
Evelyn wrapped him in a hug and picked him up off the floor. It was intimidating and also very comforting to be hugged by a seven and a half foot tall woman. She kissed him firmly on the mouth, then set him down. April was much more tentative with her hug, and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly to himself, and he kissed her too.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Holy fuck, so much,” he replied. And then, almost without thinking about it, he said, “Uh...I fucked a wraith.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened a little. “You did? Really?”
“Wow,” April murmured. “How did that happen? What’s her name?”
“Jennifer,” he replied. “It, uh...shit, we really need to catch up. Like, legitimately a lot happened.”
“That’s how the eye happened,” Cait said with a smirk. David sighed.
“We were just about to make lunch,” Evelyn said. “Let’s talk over that.”
David hesitated, and then realized that it had actually been just about three hours since he’d first left Jennifer’s house. Damn. He was very hungry, too.
“Well, I’ve got bacon,” he said, holding up the second pack.
“So you did finish your work from the farm, then,” Evelyn said.
“Yep.”
They headed into the kitchen and started making lunch. They fried up a lot of chopped beef and bacon, and threw in some vegetables with the beef, and then pretty much drank off all the milk in one go, given how thirsty they were. While they prepared the food and then ate, he caught them up on everything that had happened.
“That is fucking insane,” Evelyn said. “God, I’m so sorry that part with the stalkers happened. You must have been scared shitless.”
“Hell yes,” David replied.
“I know I was,” Cait muttered.
“Now, there are, ah, two more things to bring up. Kind of, uh, ‘Seeking your approval’ things. Both of you,” he said.
“Oh. Okay,” Evelyn replied, clearly intrigued.
“Uh...Cait wants to, um, take mine and her relationship to, I guess, the next level.” He hesitated, cleared his throat. “I’m bad at this,” he muttered.
“You want me to?” Cait asked, and he nodded. She looked at Evelyn and April. “For the past almost two years now, I haven’t had what I would call a real relationship. Everything has been a casual fling, sometimes an extended casual fling. But during our trip together, I realized that David and I...we connect. There’s a spark there. And I just kind of realized all at once that I want to be with him, and I also want to be a part of this relationship you three have. I like all three of you a lot. So...I’m at your mercy.”
David was honestly surprised. He thought they all were. This was...very vulnerable, but also just so straightforward and honest and heartfelt.
“I have to admit, I like you a lot, Cait,” Evelyn said. She looked at David. “I’m assuming that you feel the same way?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m sorry if I’m coming up short here, I just...this is a lot for me. Like, I was lucky to have one woman interested in me once a year, you know? This is overwhelming. The three of you are just...so great, and so beautiful, and I like all of you so much. And...I want to make this work, you know?”
“I’m okay with this,” Evelyn said after another moment. “All three of you, I like a lot. And I can do the polyamorous thing, if we have the right people. And I think these are the right people.”
“April, you look apprehensive,” David said.
She frowned, looking even more so now that attention had been called to her. With a visible effort to get control of herself, her emotions, she relaxed slightly. “I’m...feeling a little...outclassed,” she admitted.
“I don’t get it,” David replied after a moment.
“How am I supposed to compete with Evelyn, let alone Cait?” she asked all at once.
“April,” Cait said, leaning forward, looking intently at her, “that isn’t how this works. You don’t have to compete. Not at all. That’s not what’s happening here. We’re all in this together. I mean, we’re all dating each other. Everyone is dating everyone else. We aren’t competing with each other, we’re strengthening each other. I know it’ll take some time to work it all out, but...we can all trust each other, and come to each other with problems, if we’re needing help at all. We’ll all be here for each other...okay?” she asked.
“Okay,” April murmured after a moment. She sighed and hugged herself. “I’m sorry I’m so insecure, I’m not trying to be difficult or look for attention...”
“We know, April,” Evelyn said, reaching over and touching her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re here for you. We won’t abandon you.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly. A few moments passed, and again she seemed uncomfortable with the spotlight.
“All right,” David said. “So, final time, just so we’re all clear: all of us acknowledge and advocate the idea that all four of us are in a poly relationship with each other?”
“Yes,” Cait said.
“Yes,” Evelyn said, nodding.
“Yes,” April said, sounding stronger, surer than before.
“Okay. Good.”
“What was the other thing?” Evelyn asked.
“Oh, right. So, as you can gather from our stories, the people at the garage, Jim and his family and, uh, I think some teenager they happened to pick up while River View was going down, they’re in a sorry state. And, I want to seriously discuss the potential to offer them a place to live here, under our protection...thoughts?”
“I’m for this,” Cait said immediately.
Evelyn began to nod. “Yeah...it feels right. I mean, why not? We could make each other safer, and they can help, pitch in. I’m there.”
“April?” he asked, looking at her.
“Yeah, I mean, it seems like a good idea. I don’t have any kind of reason against it beyond just general anxiety. I...kinda like our cool little setup here, just us, you know? But that’s no reason to keep people from being safe and happy. I’m okay with it. We should do it,” she replied.
“Okay then, in that case, I want to make it happen.” David stood up. “I also want to offer Ashley and her family a place here as well. Although they’ll likely take up two cabins...actually, maybe three. They also have an older couple with a younger kid with them that they’ve kind of adopted, and they can’t fit that many people all in one cabin. And Ashley’s got a strong independent streak.” He glanced at Cait. “Last time I saw her, I suggested she basically be you.”
“Well, being me is pretty awesome,” Cait replied.
“I think you just want to have some more willing pussy around,” Evelyn said with a smirk.
“I mean...that’s not the main reason I want this. It’s the right thing to do,” he replied quickly, shifting uncomfortably. The women laughed.
“You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed,”
Cait said.
He sighed. “Yes or no?”
Again, they all agreed. “But I think those two should be it for a little bit. To see what kind of things crop up that we might not have thought of when it comes to the logistics of running something like a small town,” Evelyn said.
“Good idea,” David replied. “Uh...anyone want to come with? I want to go tell Jim the good news.”
“I’ll go,” Evelyn said.
“I think I’m going to stay here and...” she looked meaningfully at April, “...do things, with April.”
“Oh my,” April whispered, and shivered under Cait’s intense gaze. David knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that gaze.
It was a good, but kind of intimidating, feeling.
“Have fun,” he replied.
“Oh I promise, we will,” Cait replied. She smirked at April, standing slowly and putting her hands on her hips. “I’m going to begin introducing you to some of the benefits of having me as your girlfriend.”
“Oh-okay,” April said, and laughed nervously, probably overwhelmed with arousal, given the last time they’d had sex together.
He looked at Evelyn. “Ready to go, honey?”
“Yes, dear,” she replied with a happy smile, and they began preparing for the walk.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I missed this,” Evelyn said as they walked towards the path that ran alongside the river.
“What?” he asked. They were holding hands. It was a little weird, given how much bigger her hand was than his, but he didn’t care.
She felt good.
“Walking. Just walking, with you. You’ve been so busy with your new girlfriend.”
“Speaking of that, are you really...okay with it?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied, and he was glad that he didn’t detect anything but sincerity in her voice. No hesitation, no uncertainty, no buried resentment. “I like Cait a lot. She’s a serious catch. And she can eat pussy like no one I’ve met in a long time...not to diminish your own capabilities, dear.”
“Oh, not at all. Cait is...skilled.”
Evelyn smirked. “Yes. I’ll admit, I don’t have a lot of experience with open relationships, but I’m not a jealous person. At least, for the most part. I have...insecurities, like everyone else. But I can tell you really like me. You aren’t just faking it to get pussy, you aren’t doing it out of pity, you actually really like me. And that...is such a good feeling. And I like you in the same way. So far, I trust Cait. I think she won’t overstep any boundaries, she will listen, she will be reasonable. And I believe you will, too. Honestly, my biggest concern is April.”
He sighed softly. “Yeah. She’s...very insecure. Honestly, I would have liked to have taken a bit more time with this, but Cait sort of...sprung it on me, you know? And our own relationship is not only new to her too, but also just new in general.”
“I think we can handle this, though. I, well, empathize with April.”
“I think we all do.”
She snorted. “I doubt Cait has ever had much experience in the insecurity department. She looks like the kind of person who has always been beautiful, and has only gotten more so with age,” Evelyn murmured.
“Cait...will empathize with April. I’m positive. Her life isn’t as simple as it seems,” he said, thinking back to her admitting to him her own racist past.
“Like how?” Evelyn asked, looking at him.
He considered it for a moment, then sighed softly. “I don’t quite feel comfortable relaying it to you. Cait told me in confidence, and although I think she will likely tell you, I really think it should be her choice to tell you.”
Evelyn nodded. “Okay, I can respect that.” She smiled. “I do respect that about you. Too many people are too eager to gossip, but you actually respect privacy.”
“It seems worth respecting,” David replied.
“It is...now, about these people. We’re all in agreement, we want to offer them a place to live. One of the cabins. One of the larger cabins, I imagine. How many are there?”
“There are four of them. The man, Jim, his wife, who was the one that was ill, their daughter, who I believe is young, somewhere between seven and ten, I’d guess, and a teenage boy they picked up while fleeing from River View. What kind of rules do we want to impose?”
“I guess...don’t do anything stupid. No stealing, no fighting, obvious stuff. We’ll have to figure out a food situation, probably determine how much they can do on their own, versus how much help they might need. How capable are they?” she asked.
“Jim seems capable. I honestly have no idea about his wife, I’ve never even seen her. The teenager seems...foolhardy, but that could just be my impression because of Jim, who seemed a little overprotective of him. Right now, Jim is injured. He hurt his leg trying to go for medicine and then being forced by back some stalkers. But they’ve survived this long, so I’d say they’re probably all at least somewhat capable.”
“Probably. I think we’ll have to draw up some kind of schedule. I would like there to be someone awake and aware at all times, you know? Guard duty.”
“That makes sense,” David agreed.
They let go of each other’s hands as the garage came within sight. It didn’t look any different than before, but David was still paranoid nonetheless. Now felt like an oddly perfect time for something to go wrong: right before they struck a deal that would (ideally) vastly improve their lives. Hopefully Jim had had enough time to talk it over. As they approached, the front door was suddenly flung open, and Jim emerged slowly, limping, carrying one half of a stalker.
“Oh fuck,” David whispered, and they began hurrying forward. “Jim!” he called.
Jim turned around, dropping the stalker, and David also saw that the teen was on the other end of it. Jim took a step back, a look of surprise and fear briefly crossing his face as he saw them, probably because Evelyn was intimidating as hell if you weren’t expecting her, and even sometimes if you were, but then he got control of himself and straightened up.
“Hello, David,” he said.
“Are you okay? Is everyone all right?” he asked as they came to stand in front of the garage.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” he replied. He looked down angrily at the stalker. “Fucker got in through, we think, a vent somewhere. Scared the living fuck out of us, but my wife shot it. She’s doing much better now with the medicine. Thank you again for that.” He looked at Evelyn. “Hello, ma’am. My name is Jim Carlson.”
“Evelyn,” she replied simply.
“A pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise. David here has told me that you might be interested in coming to stay with us at our campground,” she said.
“My family and I are very interested in your offer. We’ve talked it over and we’re ready to accept immediately.” He glanced down at the dead stalker. “This isn’t the first shitty thing that’s happened recently.” He looked back up. “What are the specifics?”
“I feel as though we can iron them out in detail once we’re there,” Evelyn said, “but there are obvious things, like: don’t steal, don’t get in fights, don’t be an asshole, basically. You’ll be the first in what we hope will be a community, so you and your family will be expected to commit a reasonable amount to the general cause of keeping us all alive. This will change over time, depending on what we all need, but basically stuff like guard duty, maintenance to the buildings, help fighting off or hunting down undead or human attackers, should the need arise, salvaging supplies from abandoned buildings, stuff like that. We’re reasonable and willing to work with you, and we’ll pool our resources. You can own your own items, but I don’t think any of us should be hoarding, if you take my meaning,” she explained.
“That all sounds pretty reasonable, and about what I thought it would be. We accept. If you don’t mind, we’ll go gather up our things and then we can join you right now,” Jim said.
“That sounds perfect,” David replied.
“Good! And,” he looked at David, “I found what you asked me to look for. I’ll send it out to you.”
“Okay,” David replied uncertainly, trying to remember what it was he’d asked for. He suddenly remembered that he had asked for something, an item, the last time he was here, or maybe the time before that. Fuck! Time and instances ran together when you were running around, getting a lot of shit down. It was hard to keep it all straight in your head.
“What’s he mean?” Evelyn asked.
All at once, he remembered. “Oh. I got you a present. Well, I’m getting you one.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You’ll see.”
A moment later, the teenager returned with the handheld sander that David had asked for and passed it to him. “Uh, here. We’ll be done in another five minutes or so.”
“Okay. Thanks. And take your time, make sure you don’t leave anything important behind. We can come back, but leaving stuff unguarded isn’t a great idea. And Evie and I can carry some of the load, too,” David replied.
“Uh...okay,” he said awkwardly, and disappeared back into the garage. David wondered if he was intimidated by Evelyn, or just an awkward teenager. Probably both. David had been pretty stupidly awkward not all that long ago.
He often still was.
“Here,” he said, handing her the sander.
“Oh shit,” she murmured, taking it and studying it. “You remembered that I wanted this for our bed...”
“Yeah.”
She looked up after a moment, smiling broadly. “That’s...very appreciated, honey. Definitely appreciated. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Evie.”
She gave him a long hug and said, “I’m going to suck you dry later on.”
He felt a twitch of lust. “I very much am looking forward to that.”
After a bit, the teenager returned with a crate of stuff, mostly cans, and told them it would be very helpful if they’d carry them. They loaded them up into their packs, and eventually, David finally got to meet Jim’s entire family. His wife was a very tired, pale, and attractive dark-haired woman with a slim build and a calm air about her. She walked up to David as she emerged in the cold winter light and offered him her hand.