Andy looked around the circle and shook his head. “I know many of you want to go on this journey, and I understand your desire to see the city, to provide for our community, maybe have a hand in saving it for the future. But we need our young men here to tend the crops. I, too, would like to travel. I’d like to see firsthand what the world is like outside the village. But I’ll be staying here. The numbers going will be the absolute minimum we decide can achieve our ends. Enough to protect the group and no more. We sent ten last time, and that will be the approximate number we send this time, but three of the ten will be Koby, Pagan, and Ruby, who know the roads and can guide and direct our people as they search.”
Adena saw the people groaning but also saw them nodding. They all knew the facts of life. Growing enough food for the village was a full-time job. Sure they had days off from time to time to celebrate the birth of a new baby, or some special event, but mostly each day followed the pattern of the seasons—preparing the ground, planting, weeding, sowing, weeding, weeding, weeding, and finally reaping the crops.
The children did most of the searching for fuel, but the men still had to chop down a tree from time to time. The new pipe system had made carrying buckets of water to the vegetable garden a thing of the past, for which all the women were hugely grateful. It’d been back-breaking work and a job they were glad had disappeared with the installation of their new irrigation system.
Andy cleared his throat, and the outbreak of chatter ceased. “Our first task will be to assemble maps and plan the safest possible route around the city. We need to use larger roads that the trucks will hopefully still be able to navigate, but passing through areas where gangs would not logically live. It’ll be a lot of guesswork as well as planning, but we’ll endeavor to plot the safest possible pathway we can find. Even so, the trucks may have to backtrack or go elsewhere if roads have become impassable. Koby said there were a few places where people had blocked off entire neighborhoods to make their homes safe, and there’s no way of knowing that sort of thing just by looking at an old map.”
“Have we got maps other than the ones Luke made?” asked Tau.
“We have maps we’ve updated over the past few years, but they’re only updated in places we’ve been. Much of the journey is deliberately to be where we haven’t been, so all we have for that is the original map. But it’s a good map, and we should be able to work out areas to avoid,” said Ruby.
Lots of people joined the conversation, wanting to know about the city, but Adena was no longer listening. The first journey had been an attempt of pure desperation, brought on by approaching starvation. People driving a truck who’d never even seen a truck before, let alone driven any machine at all. Until they’d met up with Ruby, Pagan, and Koby, their pickings had been slim indeed. Being taken to the grain warehouse had made all the difference to the community’s survival. This time, however, the task was much harder. They had to find out where other surviving communities had gone. And she was betting they wouldn’t have painted a sign on the road to tell her!
* * * *
For the next two days Arthur was in meetings with Andy, Koby, and Pagan. Although he said nothing to her or to Ghedi in her presence, she thought he was happy with the way the planning and arrangements were going.
Other people must have sensed the atmosphere because on the second night after supper there was an aura of anticipation. Andy acknowledged the people and said, “The group of nine will leave in two days’ time. Koby, Pagan, and Ruby, Arthur, Ghedi, and Adena, Tau, Udo, and Zuri. Arthur will be overall leader of the group, but everyone will defer to Koby’s knowledge of the roads and security issues.”
A couple of the young men looked downcast, but most people seemed happy.
“The three women should be replaced by three men. What use are frail, weak women on such a quest?” demanded one of the men.
Adena jumped to her feet. “When men were in charge of scavenging, we all nearly starved to death. They saw no reason to admit they’d failed and ask for help. They never brought milk, so badly needed by our children. Women are prepared to ask for help. Women look to the needs of the whole community, not just of themselves,” she said loudly.
“Zuri and Adena were also much better drivers than almost all of the men. Adena was the only one able to reverse the truck properly for a long time,” added Ghedi.
“In this village, we are a mix of men and women. Each has different skills and abilities. Such a difficult journey demands the skills of both genders. I have chosen six men and only three women. Enough women to leaven the men’s desire to press ahead without considering the rights, needs, and abilities of others. Enough men to protect the weaker women. I have spoken. It will be as I have said.” Andy’s voice was firm, and Adena knew no more opposition would be tolerated. But she’d made her point, and the women at least knew what she said was nothing but the truth.
“Tomorrow we’ll decide what needs to be taken in the two trucks and pack them. The team will leave at first light the following day,” Andy concluded.
Adena nodded, her brain already full of thoughts. Sleeping in the truck had been damn cold last time. The metal walls didn’t retain any warmth at all. Of course, it was later in the season then, but she would take more than just one blanket this time. Also they’d been hungry most of the time on the last journey. But she was pretty sure Koby, Pagan, and Ruby would insist adequate food was available. They’d never faced starvation, and she was certain they’d want proper meals.
Apart from that, she wanted to see the maps and memorize the route they planned to take. It was all very well having someone with a map on board, but if she was to drive, she wanted a picture in her head of at least the direction to travel, if not the actual roads.
* * * *
They left the village just as dawn began to creep across the sky. Adena was driving the lead truck, and Ruby the second one, with the understanding that when they reached the highway the trucks would swap places. Drivers were to be changed every hour, with those traveling in the back of the first truck to be rotated into a cab every third hour. Koby and Tau were in Ruby’s truck, Arthur and Udo in Adena’s, and Zuri, Ghedi, and Pagan in the back sitting on the mattresses.
Arthur was fascinated by the mirrors Pagan had made so they could see behind themselves. Of course the trucks had rearview mirrors, but these mirrors were on long wooden poles, so a passenger could hold the pole out their window and tilt the mirror to see not just the road behind them, but also into the trees and, hopefully around buildings as well.
Arthur sat by the window, practicing with the mirror, tilting it this way and that, moving the pole around. “This is great. You really can see so much more than I imagined behind us,” he said.
“Let’s hope it helps us avoid trouble. I’m not really looking for a fight. I’d rather come and go without being noticed,” said Udo.
“Me, too,” said Adena.
“I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Zuri or to Tau. They’re a part of me now. It’d be even worse than if something happened to myself,” said Udo.
“I feel the same. That’s why we all have to watch out for each other. We’re a team. Nine parts of a single unit. That’s enough people to watch each other’s backs. Especially with cool gadgets like this,” said Arthur.
He really wanted to say he’d die if anything happened to Adena, but he knew that’d make her grumpy. He knew she saw herself as strong and tough as him, but she was actually still slender and short. He was certain she’d fight hard and dirty if she had to, but he’d much prefer no such need arose.
At the end of the first hour, they stopped the vehicles in an open stretch of road and rotated drivers. They’d practiced this, the driver sliding into the middle seat, the middle person moving into the driver’s seat, then the former window person moving into the middle. Koby was very large, and it was hard for him to fit under the steering wheel until the other person was right out of the way, but everyone else could make the move qu
ite easily.
After the third hour, three people who’d driven moved into the rear of the truck to rest, with the people who’d been there coming into the cab. Everyone knew which order they were in, and the maneuver only took a minute to enact.
They travelled all day, the people from the back of the truck bringing those in the cab food and water at the sixth hour, and again at the ninth. Arthur absolutely hated being in the back of the truck, not seeing what was happening, not in control. But he understood the logic. A good leader didn’t do only the jobs he liked. A good leader took his fair share of the good jobs and the bad ones alike. Besides, he took a nap, and it refreshed him, made him better able to be on top of whatever happened next.
On they drove through the night, stopping only to refuel the vehicles from the cans they’d brought with them and regularly rotate drivers and watchers. When it got light enough, Arthur traced the map with his finger, following the route they’d come, wishing he read well enough to know exactly where they were right now. Ruby placed her finger beside his, saying, “We’re here. That’s the big road junction we passed maybe half an hour ago. This is all new country for me. I’ve never been this far north before. But we’ll swing west at the next major intersection and head for the outer suburban ring road.”
“So this is farther north than Koby and Pagan have been as well? It’s new to them, too?” asked Arthur. Pagan was currently driving the lead truck.
“I don’t know about before I met them. But certainly for the past five years neither Koby nor Pagan have been out this way. We focused our scavenging out around where we lived. And before that, the community we used to live with concentrated their scavenging in the city itself.”
“That was a shitty thing, your community not accepting you when you formed a triad partnership,” said Arthur.
“Yeah. It sucks,” contributed Zuri, who was driving.
“It hurt when people I thought were my life-long friends suddenly hated me. But we adjusted. We were very happy together, although a little lonely. Your village accepting us has been wonderful.”
Arthur nodded and went back to looking at the map while Ruby got out the long pole and checked behind them and all around the truck for any signs of other people. Day blended into night and night into day as they moved steadily west with no sign of either people or fresh produce. Twice they stopped at what appeared to be warehouse complexes. One had been thoroughly looted, but a long, long time ago. The other hadn’t been touched in years. The bags of rice were several years old, but appeared to still be good, so they loaded half a dozen into the lead truck. Then Arthur thought a little longer and said, “Better take them all. Who knows if we’ll find any more.”
There were only about twenty-five bags altogether, which fit easily into the truck, leaving plenty of space for anything else they may find.
* * * *
They were heading south, on the third side of their circumnavigation of the city, when Adena, Arthur, and Ghedi were all on rest period in the back of the truck together. Adena had only memorized her own roster, but had she stopped to think, they were bound to end up together sooner or later, as they were being rotated between the two trucks and four tasks. Being all off-duty together was a bonus though. Immediately she took off her shoes and sat on the mattress. “I can think of the perfect way to fill in the time,” she said naughtily.
“I like the way you think,” said Ghedi, pulling off his shirt and kicking his shoes off.
“Well, I’m not going to say no,” said Arthur, following suit.
In moments they were naked on the pile of mattresses, and cuddled together.
“I’ve missed this,” whispered Adena, kissing first Arthur then Ghedi.
“Me, too,” said Ghedi, kissing her then Arthur in return.
The kissing became faster and harder, heads turning, noses knocking together, teeth clashing, until they all pulled apart gasping for breath.
Adena giggled, the tension of the past days draining from her body as she touched and held her men. She’d missed the awesome sex, of course, but she’d also missed these peaceful moments of just touching, cuddling, being together, just the three of them, alone.
Ghedi pushed a blanket behind his back and braced himself against the side of the truck. “Sit on me, Arthur,” he said, tugging on his cock.
“Let me help you with that,” she said, cream dripping from her pussy as she watched him pull on his cock. A cock growing longer under his touch.
Adena kneeled in front of him and licked up the shaft. She couldn’t resist sucking each of his balls, before running her tongue along the pulsing vein. Feeling all that throbbing power always turned her on. Not that she needed turning on right now. She was already as hot as hell just looking at the two of them naked.
Concentrating, she sucked his cockhead, flicking her tongue into the slit, tasting his flavor, then running her tongue along the little ridge as he always liked her to do. Next she sucked him deep then licked his shaft again. “Now you’re all nice and slippery,” she said.
“Now me,” said Arthur, kneeling and turning his ass toward both Adena and Ghedi.
Ghedi grabbed Arthur’s hips, pulling him closer, and stuck his tongue out, licking all around Arthur’s hole. More cream dripped from Adena’s cunt. She’d never seen them do that before, but if tugging on a cock was hot, licking around the rim of an ass was ten times hotter.
Ghedi licked Arthur a few more times then spat on a finger and pressed inside softening Arthur’s tissues. Adena moved closer, licked a finger and waited until Ghedi nodded, then added her finger to Arthur’s ass as well. Together they twirled and prodded, softening and stretching his entry until finally Arthur groaned, “No more or I’ll come before I get inside Adena.”
“Well now. We wouldn’t want that to happen, would we,” said Ghedi hoarsely. Adena knew he was just as aroused as she and Arthur were, and this fucking would be over very soon. But she didn’t mind. She’d missed being intimate with them and would take whatever fate—or the roster—gave them.
It took Arthur a few moments to position himself over Ghedi and lower his ass as Ghedi guided his cock inside. But before too long, Ghedi’s cock was fully seated in Arthur, and Arthur was waving her over to climb on top of the two of them. Arthur was sitting with his back to Ghedi, so Adena could sit facing them both, which was a bonus, she decided. When they double fucked, mostly she could only see one of their faces. To see both was a special pleasure.
Adena had become so accustomed to the truck bouncing over rough roads and in and out of potholes she didn’t even notice it anymore, until she came to guide Arthur’s cock into her cunt. It was harder than she’d imaged to balance herself steady and get his cock into her entry. But at last he was there, and she could settle herself on his lap. Thank all the gods both men had good muscle tone because pushing up into Arthur and her like this was going to be hard work.
She set her feet flat on the floor of the truck to help take some of her weight, and noticed Arthur did the same. Ghedi, on the bottom of the pile, had his legs stretched out in front of him so Arthur could balance on him.
She grabbed a tight hold of Ghedi’s shoulders, locking Arthur between them, as both men began pushing upward together. Arthur clasped her hips and buried his face in her breasts, licking and sucking on her flesh. That was unusual. Ghedi was much more a breast man than Arthur. But of course, they were pretty much in his face right now!
She wiggled, rubbing her nipples across the hard planes of his chest, noticing how his nipples rose to the challenge. Then she took one hand off Ghedi’s shoulders and pushed it down between Ghedi’s chest and Arthur’s back to tease Ghedi’s nipples, too, spending a little time along the way playing with his thick, dark chest hair.
Both men made soft groaning noises, so she bounced her hips a little, making Arthur’s cock slide around inside her, touching her walls in the most enticing fashion. He responded by grabbing her hips even tighter, so she sat still and let them both pump
steadily and hard upward, Ghedi into Arthur, and Arthur into her. The rhythm was carnal, erotic, but oddly soothing. Being together, naked like this, fulfilled her in a way that had been missing during the fear and stress of the past few days. Even though they’d faced no obvious danger, they were all well aware death could be around the very next bend in the road.
Adena breathed in deeply, relishing the male scent of her lovers. A little sweaty, a little salty, but quite recognizable and distinct, each of them. Ghedi always had a slightly earthy flavor to him, while Arthur was spicier. Their cum was the same, Ghedi’s slightly earthy, while Arthur’s held just a hint of spiciness.
She rested her head on Arthur’s shoulder and rode up and down on him, letting him and Ghedi do all the work and accepting the occasional bump and wobble added by the motion of the truck. Actually it’s quite erotic in its own way.
Adena would have preferred to just cuddle there forever, her arms wrapped around the two men who meant more to her than anyone else in the world. But it wasn’t fair to Ghedi, who was on the bottom of the pile, holding their combined weights, or the rest of their team, watching and guarding them all against the ever-present risk of danger. Reluctantly she concentrated on squeezing Arthur’s cock with her internal muscles and stroking Ghedi’s arms and sides. She lifted her head and kissed them both, one after the other. Long, heartfelt kisses of passion and love.
Yes, love. Suddenly she understood that what she felt for them was more than lust, more than affection or companionship. It was love, genuine love. She had to tell them now, in case anything happened on this journey. “I love you, Arthur. I love you, Ghedi. You’re the most important people in the world to me.”
Raw Future [Embrace the Future 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 4