“Don’t cop attitude,” Ian said, filling his plate.
Allie lifted her chin, looking at Ian. “When I get big, I’m going to tickle you and Lance so bad you’ll have babies.”
With wide eyes, Ian looked over at Lance. “We leave before she grows up.”
“Shit, the Hummer has a full tank. I’m thinking we should just haul ass now,” Lance said as his mind filled with pictures he didn’t want.
Looking at the terror on the boys’ faces, Lilly laughed and quickly covered her mouth, hoping not to upset them. Jennifer felt no need to restrain herself and busted out laughing as she pounded the table.
“Oh man, that was good, Allie,” she howled. “I’ve never seen them afraid of a spoken threat.” Allie beamed as Jennifer slowly stopped laughing, and the others continued eating with Ian and Lance just looking down at their plates, not wanting any more vile threats to their manhood.
Trying not to be rude, Lilly slowly ate, but her stomach informed her it wanted food faster. Her fork gradually moved faster from the plate to her mouth until it was moving in a blur. The others glanced over, watching, and felt sorry for what she had been through. When her plate was empty, Lilly noticed more bacon and a biscuit being put on it. Grabbing the biscuit before it hit her plate, she looked up, seeing Jennifer looking at her with a smile. Hearing a clink from her plate, Lilly looked down to see more scrambled eggs and turned to see Lance grinning at her, putting more on her plate.
“Just some advice,” Lance said, putting another spoonful of eggs on her plate, “slow down or you’ll get sick.”
“You and Ian eat that fast,” Carrie said, diving back in her food.
“True,” Lance said as he sat back down. “But we have always eaten that fast. I can tell by just looking at Lilly she doesn’t.”
Jennifer looked over and had to admit, with the exception of Lilly’s chest, her body was tiny. She might have been an inch taller than Lance, but Lilly’s waist was the same size as her own, and the top of Jennifer’s head barely touched Lance’s chin. Lilly wasn’t malnourished yet, but Jennifer could tell she had missed some meals. Lilly just had a small stature.
“Sorry,” Lilly said and swallowed.
Lance shrugged, grabbing his coffee. “Don’t know what for. George and Judy didn’t apologize when we fed them.”
“Yeah, that’s why we had to find two bowls,” Jennifer said, grabbing her fork. “They didn’t even want to share with each other, and Dino’s bowl is his alone.”
Lily glanced over at her dogs lying with Dino on a mattress in the corner then turned, looking at everyone at the table. “Thank you so much,” she said, trying not to cry. When her stomach growled again, Lilly started eating with misty eyes.
“One thing you’re going to learn here is we help each other,” Ian said then carried his empty plate to the sink, rinsed it, and put it in the dishwasher.
“Humpf,” Jennifer snorted. “You two only started letting me help you after I bitched.”
Shaking his head, Ian turned and looked at Jennifer. “From your point of view,” he said with a smile. “We thought we were putting too much on you from our point of view.”
Jennifer took a deep breath to respond, and Lance held up his hand, stopping her. He saw the hint of fire in her eyes and knew she would get worked up. “Jennifer, he was giving you a compliment,” Lance said, dropping his hand. “You stepped up, demanding a man card.”
Allie let out a gasp. “A girl can get a man card?”
Thinking about what Ian said and trying to make it fit Lance’s explanation, Jennifer felt a headache starting and just quit. “Thank you,” she said and drained her coffee. “I think,” she added quietly, getting up and grabbing her plate.
As the others carried their plates to the sink, Lilly looked up from her third empty plate. Breaking apart her last biscuit, she wiped the plate down, shoved it in her mouth, and got up. “We’re not rushing you, Lilly,” Jennifer said, watching her drain her juice then her coffee.
Carrying her plate over, Lilly grinned. “Oh, I could eat more, but I think I would end up seeing it again if I continued,” she said as she rinsed it. “I don’t know about you, but I only like seeing and tasting my food once.”
“Dino doesn’t,” Carrie said, putting her plate in the dishwasher. “He’ll eat it even if he didn’t throw it up.”
Everyone laughed, and Ian and Lance headed down to the bunker. Lilly stood, wondering what she should do. When Jennifer and the girls started clearing the table, she helped. When the table was cleared and the kitchen was clean, Ian and Lance came back up, each carrying an armload of gear.
“Lilly, let’s get you outfitted,” Lance said as he and Ian put the stuff on the table. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the M4 you came with 100% reliable until I finish my gun course. I already know I have to replace every spring in it, so this is your AR,” he said, holding up a rifle that looked almost like the one she had.
Looking at it harder, Lilly noticed it had a lot more accessories than the one she had. Then she noticed the round tube on the end of the barrel and gave a sigh, knowing what it was. “You’re giving me a rifle with a silencer?” she asked, moving toward the table.
“Yep,” Ian said, spreading the gear out on the table. “The only time you fire a weapon with us that doesn’t have a suppressor is when you are about to die.”
“I mainly used my rifle to shoot at people,” she said as Lance motioned her to come around the table. “I tried to be quiet when taking out the infected.”
Ian glanced back at Lilly. “So you had a lot of trouble with people, I take it?” he asked, and Lilly nodded. “Yeah, we had our trouble with them as well.”
Lance turned around, holding up a tactical vest that had a drop holster on one side and a drop platform on the other. He and Ian looked at Lilly’s chest then turned to look at each other. Spinning around, Lance put the vest on the table as he and Ian started making adjustments to the top. “This is a tactical vest, Lilly,” Lance said, loosening straps and tightening others. “You’ll also have a chest rig and plate carrier, but this is what we use the most.”
Finally satisfied, they turned around and put the vest on Lilly. Lilly grunted, not expecting it to be that heavy. She looked down to see eight magazines on her chest in plastic holders. Pouches on her upper chest were closed, but she knew something was in them.
Lance and Ian pushed her arms out and went to work on making adjustments. Holding her arms out, Lilly gave a little grunt as they tightened the vest. When they knelt, she looked down, and Lance was adjusting the drop platform on her left leg. Lilly noticed it had six more magazines and another pouch that held something. Turning, she saw Ian strapping the empty drop holster to her right leg.
Feeling something move under her left arm, she whipped her head to see Lance adjusting a smaller holster. Lilly looked over at Jennifer and gave a slight nod, understanding now what she meant. Ian and Lance didn’t realize squishing boobs hurt, and the drop platform and holster leg straps were too low.
Lilly had to shift her weight so they didn’t yank her off her feet as Ian and Lance started tugging the vest, drop holster, and drop platform to make sure they didn’t twist around her body.
Satisfied, they stepped back, nodding at their work. “Lilly, today, Jennifer is going to go over your AR and pistols,” Lance said, turning to the table and the pile of gear. “This is the rest of your gear, and she can tell you about it.”
Ian looked over at Carrie and Allie. “You two know where you have to go.” They both sighed, dropping their shoulders. Sulking over to the gun rack, they grabbed their small ARs and headed downstairs.
The boys grabbed their gear and headed to the back door, and Dino jumped up. “See you at lunch,” Lance said, opening the door. Judy and George jumped up in a dead run shooting out the door behind Dino.
When the door closed, Lilly grabbed the vest. “How do I loosen it up?” she gasped, and Jennifer ran over to help. “My boobs are com
ing out my back.”
“Hold your arms up,” Jennifer said, loosening the straps on the right side. “Yeah, when they put mine on me the first time, they shoved what little I had back in my chest.”
Feeling the vest loosen, Lilly sighed then looked at all the gear on the table and noticed a laptop. “A computer?”
“Yeah,” Jennifer said, moving to the left side. “Stay here, and you’re going to have to learn, and that means teach yourself. The computer has thousands of books that we need to know.”
“I can do that,” Lilly said with relief as Jennifer loosened the other side.
“You’ll get areas to learn later,” Jennifer said, tugging the vest when she saw it still didn’t move even after she gave Lilly a few inches of slack. Kneeling down, Jennifer went to work on the drop platform. “Be glad they didn’t put the bulletproof vest on you,” she said, glancing up with a grin. “If it was uncomfortable to me, it would’ve dropped you.”
Looking at the gear on the table, Lilly spotted a bulletproof vest. “Thank you, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but could you put that on me next to fit it so they don’t have to?”
“Oh yeah,” Jennifer said with a chuckle. “Spin around, and let your right arm hang natural.” When Lilly spun around, Jennifer went to work on the holster.
When they were happy with the vest, Lilly took it off and put on the bulletproof vest. “It’s made for a female,” she said, looking at the bowed out upper part.
“Yeah, we have several because there should’ve been several more females here. I’m coming to find out they should almost be sized like bras,” Jennifer said, ripping the Velcro tabs to adjust the vest. “Sorry, but you’re going to have to be a little uncomfortable in this.”
“Hey, if it stops bullets, I’m fine,” Lilly said, looking down at the black vest. “As long as my tits aren’t pushed to my back, I can wear it a long time.”
It took an hour, but they finally had her gear sized, and Lilly noticed there were no more clothes. “Um, Jennifer,” she said with a slightly red face. “I need to wash those clothes I peed in.”
Shaking her head, Jennifer started stacking the gear. “No, I’ll wash them. The machine is in the basement, remember?” she said and looked up at Lilly. “I’m going to get you more clothes. I just wanted to make sure what I got you fit. Does it?”
Lilly looked down at the tactical baggy pants and her boots. “Yeah, they adjusted up perfect,” she said with a shrug.
“When we go on patrols, you and I will have to keep an eye out for more bras for you. We only have two more for you, and they were the biggest cups with the smallest straps. Lance and Ian’s moms did a great job getting bras. We have boxes, but they only got a few of each that they didn’t wear,” Jennifer said, pulling out a chair and sitting down as she grabbed the AR the boys had brought up for Lilly.
Nodding, Lilly sat down with a grin. “I’ll go without one if needed,” she said. “So you have more?” she asked, and Jennifer nodded. “Could you check and see if you have a 28G? Those only come from special stores or the internet, but that’s my size.”
Jennifer’s jaw fell open. “You’re bigger than a DD?”
“I can wear them, but they don’t fit,” Lilly said with a blush. “I had to learn how to fit myself for a bra when I was fourteen. Eighty percent of women wear the wrong size, you know.”
Jennifer looked down at her chest. “Hell, I was tickled pink when I finally got out of training bras.”
“Jennifer, you’re at least a 28B,” Lilly said, making Jennifer snap her head up.
“You think I’m bigger than an A?”
Lilly grinned. “I know you are.”
Jennifer jumped up. “Take everything but your vest and weapons, and put them in our room,” she said, heading for the stairs. “Hang your gear up on the rack at the end of my bed like mine. Two of the drawers in my dresser are empty, and you can use those when I get you some clothes later.” Before Lilly stood up, Jennifer bolted to the stairs.
Outside, Ian had rolled a tool chest to the trailer where the mini excavator and track steer were still on. He took off his vest and put it on the trailer next to his rifle then climbed up and opened the engine compartment. Walking back in the shop, he saw Lance had opened the back and was already working.
He grabbed a box of metal screws and headed back out. Waving at Lance, he closed the door to the hidden area then headed to the big truck that pulled the trailer. Raising the hood, he went to work removing the insulation panel on the underside of the hood. He and Lance had pulled a lot from cars and trucks when they were on patrol and even had a roll of heat-resistant insulation in the shop, but Ian wanted to save that; he had a project he wanted to work on.
When the insulation was out, he went over to the truck that hauled the pigs, raised the hood, and removed the insulation. Ian jumped down and carried it over to the trailer with the others then went to work mounting it on the inside of the engine shroud for the excavator.
“Lunch is ready,” Ian heard Carrie call out over the radio strapped to his vest on the trailer. Extracting his body, Ian jumped off the trailer to see Lance coming out of the shop.
“Finished with the excavator,” Ian said, grabbing his gear. “I’ll start on the track steer after lunch.”
“I finished the muffler for the excavator, and I’m almost done with the other one,” Lance said as Ian fell in beside him. “I’m just hoping this shit works.”
Glancing over at the hillside that had to be dug out, Ian nodded. “If it doesn’t, one of us will stay out on patrol with Jennifer while the other digs and just shoot what comes for the noise.”
“You got my vote,” Lance said, opening the door. They found Jennifer putting a pitcher of tea on the table. Looking around, they saw Lilly sitting on the sectional, putting her AR back together. “She getting the hang of it?”
“Yeah, she’s taken apart guns before but not like that,” Jennifer said, moving back to the stove. “She hunted with her dad and knows gun safety, but we still went over it, and she can recite the five rules.”
“Laws,” Ian and Lance said together.
Hanging his gear up, Ian glanced over his shoulder. “Rules are made to be broken; laws are made to follow but can be bent.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, I know,” Jennifer sighed, setting food on the table. “But she knows them anyway.”
After lunch, Ian and Lance headed back out, and Ian grabbed Lance’s arm. “Did Jennifer’s chest look bigger to you? Because it did to me.”
“Huh?” Lance said, wondering where in the hell that came from.
“Lance, I swear her boobs grew.”
“Well, she is a teenager, and we do grow,” Lance said.
“No, I mean since this morning when we came out to work on the equipment.”
Lance stared at Ian and saw he was dead serious. “I don’t know. I didn’t pay any attention.”
“How in the hell could you not notice her boobs getting bigger?” Ian said, throwing up his hands.
Lance stepped back. “Brah, she’s your wife, not mine.”
“I haven’t even gone on a date with her,” Ian snapped.
“Well, you kind of did,” Lance said, walking off toward the shop. “You two went on patrol together twice.”
About to follow Lance, Ian froze, thinking about that. “Man, talk about a shitty first date,” he mumbled then trotted after Lance. When he caught up, Ian grabbed Lance’s arm, stopping him. “Go back inside, and tell me if I’m right.”
“Ian,” Lance groaned but saw pleading in Ian’s eyes. “Fine,” Lance huffed and spun around.
Not wanting to be seen waiting on Lance, Ian stepped in the shop and slid the back wall away so Lance could go into the hidden area of the workshop. Ian started pacing. It was ten minutes later that Lance came back with wide eyes, shaking his head. “So they are bigger than this morning.”
Lance looked up. “Dude, both their racks got bigger from this morning.”
&nbs
p; “How in the hell can you tell about Lilly? I’m surprised she doesn’t fall on her face as it is.”
“I’m telling you, Jennifer and Lilly’s boobs grew since breakfast,” Lance said.
“How?”
Tossing his AR on a workbench, Lance threw up his hands. “Hell, I don’t know.”
“You think they’re alright?”
“They seemed fine,” Lance said, thinking about it. “Maybe when girls hang out, their hormones spike, and their boobs grow,” he offered with a shrug.
“Brah,” Ian said in a huff. “If that was the case, all girls would have giant jugs. Shit, Jennifer had her girlfriends over at her house every day.”
“I was just trying to come up with something.”
Ian spun around, heading for the door. “First, Allie threatens to make us have babies; then, Jennifer’s and Lilly’s tits grow. I’m thinking we may want to sleep in the shop.”
Still disturbed by the revelation, Lance went back to work. An hour later, he carried out a large, metal, rectangular box with a pipe on either end. He put the box on the trailer and saw Ian’s legs sticking out of the engine compartment of the track steer.
Climbing up on the trailer, Lance used sheet metal screws to screw down two-inch-thick canvas pads. When he was done, he put the box on the back of the excavator, lining up one pipe that ran out of the box to the exhaust stack on the excavator.
Jumping down, Lance went to the shop and rolled out the welder. Putting on his welding helmet and other gear, he turned it on. When Ian heard popping, he crawled out to see Lance welding on the muffler he made for the excavator. Ian went back to work as Lance continued.
After making a few touch ups, Lance turned off the machine and checked his weld. Smiling at the work, Lance then screwed the box down on the hood of the excavator. “Ian, you mind if I give it a try?” he asked, taking off his welding jacket.
“You don’t want to wait until one of us goes out on the buggy?” Ian called out, still inside the engine compartment of the track steer.
Forsaken World:Coming of Age Page 25