by Holly Ardent
Jill took a nervous drink of water, staring at the top of the table.
“But why are you out here for that?” Karl asked. “Why aren't you holed up at home if you don't have a bug out location?”
“Um, well I did mention it wasn't the best part of town, right? Things got bad there pretty quickly. A couple of days back they got even worse. A couple of houses got burned down, the guys who did it stood there with their guns shooting at anyone who tried to get out. That was when I knew I needed to leave, even if I didn't have anywhere to go. I figure I'll find somewhere and set up camp, I have all the gear for it in my car along with a bunch of freeze dried food that should last me several months at least.”
“But you were on foot,” Karl protested.
She cleared her throat nervously.
“Well, I wasn't exactly sure what kind of reception I was going to get here, so I hid my car about a mile away and walked the last bit.”
Karl chuckled.
“That wasn't necessary, really. I was upset about the grade but it's not like I hated you because of it. I just couldn't understand how someone as intelligent as you could look at the facts I laid out and call it a fantasy.”
“Normalcy bias,” she said. “I didn't want to see it, didn't want to be jostled out of my comfortable life and expectations, so my brain refused to see it. At least it did until I saw that some of the things you'd detailed in your paper were actually happening. I found out all about normalcy bias when doing my own searches.”
“You really did do your research, didn't you?” he asked.
She looked indignant.
“You should've known me better than that. Once I get interested in something I want to know everything about it. Of course I researched it. There's a lot of crap out there, but there's also some very useful information as well. It was just a matter of separating the wheat from the chaff.”
“One more thing though,” he said, gesturing towards her belt buckle.
“Oh that. Well, evidently I had a blind spot in my preparations. Dresses were almost the only thing I owned clothing wise and I hadn't thought to purchase more durable clothes. Fortunately my oldest daughter used to be about the same size as me. She still had a bunch of her old clothes stored at the house when we sold it. I'd just tossed those boxes in my new garage in case she wanted them at some point. I ransacked them when I decided to bug out and didn't have the appropriate clothing. I'm well stocked on more appropriate clothes now, although some of them, like this belt buckle, aren't exactly my style.”
“I'd say you pull that off just fine,” Karl said.
He'd looked before when he'd arrived at the gate to meet her, but now he looked closer. Jill was less plump than when she'd been his teacher. He'd always thought she looked fine, but could stand to lose a few pounds. Evidently she'd done just that. The leather jacket and blue jeans were a good look on her and the t-shirt she had on under the jacket was white and clearly showed that she was wearing a black bra beneath it. Her breasts were just as large as he remembered and he blushed slightly as memories of his fantasies broke into his mind.
A minute or so later, he realized he was staring at her chest, but when he lifted his gaze to her face he found her smiling. It wasn't a smile he'd seen on her face before, not the tolerant one she used in class, or the stern one she'd used when talking to him about his paper. This one looked a bit more wild, maybe even inviting.
“So, I've made my apology. I should be on my way,” she said. “Can you recommend a good place for me to hole up, somewhere not so well traveled?”
Do I dare? he wondered. What the hell, the worst thing that could happen is she says no.
“I can think of one. It does see a few people nearby it though, but I can vouch for them. Are you willing to trust me?”
“I'm here, aren't I?”
“But your car isn't.”
“Oh, well yes. Now that I've seen the reception I received, I'll trust you.”
“Good,” Karl said, “then go get your car and drive it up here. This house has more room than I need myself. You can stay here.”
She raised an eyebrow at him.
“There's a second bedroom. Dad insisted I put it in, never would tell me why. Now I'm glad I did.”
“In that case,” she said, standing. “I'll be back with my car in a few minutes.”
As she walked out Karl stared at her ass for a moment.
Damn she looks good in those jeans, he thought.
He tore his eyes away from her ass and looked down at the floor before muttering.
“Not that I'd be at all adverse to sharing my own bedroom with her,” he said softly.
He wasn't looking up at the time. If he had been the stutter in her steps as she left the room might've clued him in that he hadn't been as quiet as he thought.
* * *
Karl wandered over to his father while waiting for Jill to return with her car.
“So dad, Jill told me you ran into her a few months before the big day?”
There wasn't an actual day that anyone could point to that things fell apart, but his mother disapproved of cursing so they'd started referring to the day the shit hit the fan that way any time she might be in earshot.
“Yup,” his dad replied.
“That's all you have to say about it?”
“Yeah.”
Karl knew that when his dad was being this laconic he was normally hiding something.
“She told me what you said.”
“Oh, well then. That's a different story.”
“What were you thinking?” Karl asked.
“I was thinking that she'd started prepping. She was buying a brick of ammo, only .22, but still. Also her cart had freeze dried foods, a Fresnel lens, and a bunch of other things that could've come straight off of one of our lists. Plus, she looked a lot fitter than when I showed up for your conferences. But, really, there were a couple of other things that did it.”
Karl gestured, making circles with his hand in the air.
“Go on,” he said.
“Well, she recognized me too. Asked after you, asked how you were doing. Seemed actually interested in what you were doing. Asked a couple of pointed questions that confirmed that she was prepping. Plus, she wasn't wearing a wedding ring any more.”
“So?”
“Son, the things she asked me about you weren't exactly the types of things a teacher would ask about a student. As a matter of fact I'm surprised she asked me if you were seeing anyone, seeing as she's closer to my age than yours.”
Karl heard her car approaching.
“Wait, she asked what?” he said.
“And here she is,” his dad said. “Better go greet your guest and get her car into a barn. Don't want to block any lines of sight.”
Karl growled softly. When his dad got like this there was no getting any more information out of him. He shook his head and trotted out to the gate. Much to his surprise Jill was pulling up in a Jeep. She'd used to own a little compact car when he was a senior. Even more surprising was the fact that it was loaded to the gills.
“Where should I park?” Jill asked.
“See that barn on the far side of my house? I don't have any animals, so that'll do for a garage for you.”
She drove slowly once she reached the grass at the end of the driveway. Karl trotted ahead and opened the garage door for her. His own pickup truck was in there, but he'd parked it on one side and there was plenty of room for her jeep.
“You weren't kidding when you said you had the gear. I understand why you wanted somewhere out of the way also, anyone who saw this load would want to get their hands on it.”
She nodded.
“That was another thing. You assumed people would immediately stop acting civilized and I didn't believe it. I do now though, I've seen it first hand.”
“Well, do you want to unload it now or just close the barn and get it all later?”
“Either works, but I don't want to disturb your s
chedule. You said you had other things to do, right?”
“Yes, I do, but I can help you out here if you need me to.”
“How about I give you a hand with your work, assuming I can, then we can unload after it's done?” she asked.
“That would work just fine. It's mostly gardening stuff. I need to turn the compost pile, finish weeding, get more compost from the manure my dad's chicken coop generates, stuff like that. Then I've got guard duty tonight, the eight to four shift.”
She grimaced.
“Gardening was one of those things I couldn't get a handle on. I tried a little bit in the postage stamp back yard of my new place but it didn't go well.”
“Well, come on then. I'll give you some pointers.
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, the two of them taking care of his chores, then unloading her car. He was amazed at the items she had, admittedly they were more geared towards camping, but a lot of it would be useful here as well. They made a quick dinner around five since both were hungry, then sipped at coffee.
“So, you've got the watch at eight?” Jill asked.
He nodded.
“It's what, five-thirty?”
“A quarter to six, but yeah I've got a couple of hours to kill. I've got an idea on how to do that.”
“What's that?”
“Before I tell you, and maybe make a fool of myself, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you ask my dad if I was seeing anyone,” Karl said.
Jill blushed do hard her face almost went purple.
“I... Well, I wanted to... I didn't want to...” she trailed off into silence.
“Good enough of an answer for me,” he said.
He set his coffee mug down, stood, took the two steps to get to her then grabbed her hands and drew her to her feet. Once he had her standing, he kept pulling, bringing her in close so he could wrap his arms around her. He leaned his head down, she was short so it was necessary to do that to bring his lips down to hers.
She met him halfway though, craning her neck up and pressing her own lips against his as her arms went around his back.
The kiss lasted for a couple of minutes before she broke it off.
“I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because, well...” this time she started speaking again after a pause. “I'm afraid I might have idolized you. Any time I wondered what to do next in my preps I looked at your paper and it gave me a clue. Then I got here today and you've got electricity, you just brewed a pot of coffee like it was nothing. I know how much electricity those things take. So, I'm kind of... I don't know, looking at you as though you're larger than life.”
He grinned.
“Do you know why I could brew a pot of coffee like that?”
She shook her head.
“As soon as I was out of high school I got my solar installer certification. I could've gotten a design degree in it if I had more time. I managed to test out of most of the installer classes as it was, even some of the hands on stuff. I'd been making portable solar generators and selling them during my junior and senior years. I was paying for preps with that money. So, I designed and installed the solar system on my house, plus the other two here.”
“See, that's what I'm talking about. You glibly talk about testing out of requirements for one of the hottest jobs from the past few years.”
“I'm just saying, you aren't seeing me larger than life, that's just me. I've got my own weaknesses, don't worry about that. You'll find them out, I'm sure. By the way, when did the power go out elsewhere? I hadn't heard about that.”
“About a week back.”
He shook his head.
“Damn it, that means there'll be more people coming out this way. I hate when they do that.”
“There don't have to be,” Jill said.
He cocked his head and looked at her.
“Well, if they're in cars, just drop a tree across the road a couple miles out. Yours is the only place out here, so do it just beyond the turn off from the main road. Then they'll most likely turn back, at least if you cut it right and make it look like a natural fallen tree and not a cut one. Do you get anyone on foot out here?”
“No, which is why we were so surprised when you walked up to the gate earlier. But see, you've got ideas just as good as mine, if not better. So who's larger than life now?”
She blushed at the compliment, but when he pulled her closer again, she didn't pull away. Their kiss didn't last as long this time. Karl had put a hand on the side of her stomach, then lost his nerve. He'd intended to slide it up her side to cup her breast, but just as he was about to do it he remembered that she was his teacher, or at least had been. When she pulled back this time, his hand came from her side, hanging there in the air for a moment before he pulled it back. She glanced down at it while it was still stuck in mid-air, then smiled.
Jill quickly stripped off her jacket and leaned in for another kiss. This time, she took his hand and put it back where he'd had it. A moment later, she nudged it upward, several times, until he was brushing her breast. He wasn't stupid so he took it from there, cupping her breast, or at least as much of it as he could get into his hand. He was idly distracted for a moment by realizing that he had less than half of her breast in his hand. He'd known they were large but the graphic demonstration of just how large took him by surprise. He'd thought maybe they'd just looked that big on her small frame, but they really were just as large as they looked.
She hadn't complained or drawn back in the slightest when he cupped her breast, so he got bolder. His hand slid down and under the t-shirt she was wearing. The touch of her bare skin against his hand sent a thrill through him, even before he started moving his hand upward. When he reached her breast again he tried to slip her bra up and over before discovering a drawback of larger breasts. Her bra wouldn't make it over her breast, unless he was willing to pinch her badly to do it. He only considered that for the briefest of moments before his thoughts were interrupted by Jill's laughter.
“That's not going to work, wait a moment,” she said when she'd stopped laughing.
Without moving his hand she reached down and peeled the t-shirt up and off of her body. A second fluid movement had her unsnapping her bra from behind her back. She leaned forward slightly and the shoulder strips slipped down her arms. The cups of her bra slipped off her breasts, clipping his hand on the way to the floor. He didn't really notice that though because as soon as the cups were gone her breasts spilled down onto her torso, his hand trapped beneath one of them.
“Oh, that feels so good,” she said. “It's just so uncomfortable wearing a bra, but with this size chest, it's kind of necessary any time I go out in public.”
Karl turned his hand so her breast rested in his palm. He really didn't know how to reply to her comment, but just blurted out the first thing on his mind.
“You're not in public here, feel free to where whatever you like, or not wear what you don't like.”
She laughed again.
“I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy that, but didn't you say your parents and you sister's family are here as well?”
“I don't think they'd care,” he said. “Hell, you might even start a trend. I've heard my mom and sister complain about their bras frequently enough.”
“Oh, so I'm supposed to be a corrupting influence or something like that?” she asked.
“Well, the women would appreciate the freedom of that, and I certainly don't think the men would complain, do you?”
“You always did recover quickly and manage to make logical arguments at the drop of a hat. Something else I always liked about you,” Jill said.
Karl blushed at the compliment, then realized the ridiculousness of it.
Here I am, holding her breast in my hand and I'm blushing because she complimented me on thinking quick on my feet?
He shook his head mentally, and started to stroke the smooth,
soft flesh of her breast. Jill's breath caught as his fingers started moving.
“No fair changing the topic,” she said.
“What, I didn't say anything?” Karl said.
As he spoke his fingers drifted across her breast towards her nipple. After his last word he caught it lightly between his fingers and squeezed gently. She'd been about to say something, but another sudden intake of breath when he pinched her nipple stopped her conversational efforts cold.
When his other hand reached her second breast she leaned forward pressing it into his grip. Instead of saying whatever she'd been about to say a contented hummed moan, almost like a purr, came rumbling up out of her throat. With both her breasts in hand, he leaned forward and caught her lips with his again. This time, she kissed him back hard which caused him to put more effort into his own kiss. Earlier he'd been afraid of scaring her off, of not knowing her intentions, but now he was pretty sure he knew just what she had in mind, and was looking forward to it immensely.
Usually, he wasn't this forward, but her earlier encouragement made him feel like he had license to do whatever he wanted. After all, apparently she'd wanted the same thing to some degree at least. So when they broke off the kiss, he stood.
She looked up at him, a confused look on her face. He smiled in return.
“No, nothing like that,” he said. “You look disappointed. I have no intention of disappointing you, just moving us to someplace that doesn't make me feel like I'm sixteen and necking on my parents' couch.”
“Oh,” she said, standing herself.
He stared, he couldn't help it, her movement had set her tits to bouncing and jiggling and his eyes locked on.
“That's the other reason I ought to wear a bra,” she said. “I'd be less of a distraction.”