“Understood. We’ll stop one hundred feet back. Jed, leave the engine running. Ayla, stay on the mic giving a commentary the whole time. The rest of us will enter just the first cave to scout it out,” said Gideon.
Team K’s truck drew quietly to a stop, and the men exited, watching every direction at once. Kenan noted that Ayla had slid down below the windshield so her body was protected by the heavily reinforced metal body of the truck, with just her eyes peering out, the mic at her mouth. Although he knew Team D would be watching their sides and their back, Kenan still found his head turning automatically, quartering the land in every direction, watching, waiting for trouble. His nostrils flared, trying to scent danger, although with the breathing apparatus, that was unlikely.
As they had so many times before in different places around the world, the team deployed smoothly, entering the cave mouth, noticing instantly it was open and empty, then moving into the next few tunnels. Their pace was fast, and there was no sign of life at all.
Gideon waved them back to the entry. “Clear,” he said into the mic.
Ethan and Kenan watched the tunnel, Yuri and Dave the cave entry, while Reuben and Lucas scaled the walls looking for hidden exits and entries. Gideon waited in the center for Team D to arrive.
The trucks were parked side by side facing the exit, with Ayla and Jed remaining in them, while Team D joined the others in the cave. Areas to search had already been allocated. Gideon merely reminded them all to check in every ten minutes. “Back here in two hours unless you find people. Do not approach them. Observe only,” he reiterated.
For Kenan, the rest of the day epitomized the downside of military work. He and Dave searched every inch of their area and found no clue at all that anyone had ever been there. Or not in the previous few millennia anyway.
He colored his map to show the area they’d searched, and he and Dave were on their way back to the cave entry when there were three sharp clicks on their mics. He and Dave exchanged glances. That was Yuri and Lucas’s signal. Not trouble, but that they had found something.
Each pair was also backup for another pair. Greg and Travis were backing up Yuri and Lucas. Kenan and Dave nodded to each other and jogged back down the cave system to where a number of paths met. From here they would be able to move forward or backward quickly.
But there were no more clicks, so they returned to base.
* * * *
“We heard some movement in sector H65. Not much, one, maybe two people is all. We planted a bug, and it’s recording,” reported Lucas.
“Good work. We’ll proceed as planned then, using night vision goggles, no lights, no sound. Since everyone cleared their first search area, we’ll move direct to the second area. Another two hours,” said Gideon, after they’d all reported in and taken a brief rest.
But after three more searches, no one had seen or heard anything. Kenan was eager to follow up the only clue they’d found, the noises heard by Lucas and Yuri.
“The tape has only one small section of conversation. It’s two women, one of whom sounds quite old, and the conversation is general, no hint of trouble,” reported Ayla.
“Does it sound as though they’re guarding a portal?” asked Reuben.
“No. The younger one was soothing the older one, suggesting she take a nap,” replied Ayla.
“Hardly what you’d expect on guard duty,” replied Gideon. “Travis, you can swap out with Jed and remain here with Ayla. These caves are likely much more extensive than we have so far seen. There has to be a way into a deeper subsystem somewhere, and it’s probably near where these people are stationed. So let’s find it. Remember, a frail old lady can still be a good shot. Assume everyone is an unfriendly,” he warned.
Kenan had a good feel for the layout of the caves now and didn’t need his map as they marched quietly to where Yuri and Lucas had heard the noises. He was hyper-alert, ready to believe the two women he’d heard on the sound tape were simply the cover for a squad of vicious crazies or lookouts for a community of ordinary people. Hopefully, the latter, not the former.
He could tell by the attitude of his teammates they were as alert as he, although Reuben looked back and winked at him as they turned one corner. He couldn’t help smiling. Now was not the time to think about sex, but Reuben’s ass would be his sometime in the near future. That is, sometime when they weren’t likely to get their asses shot off! After all, they’d promised Hazel they’d bring their bodies home in good condition. And wasn’t that a delicious thought? Hazel waiting at home for them. Hazel and Peyton and the boy. Damn! Finally, after all these years he had a family. A real family, waiting for him at home. How awesome was that! Awesome enough to keep his mind on the job and not on Reuben’s ass!
This time they wore their masks loose around their necks, ready to be pulled over their faces if needed. As they neared the area where the women were—or had been—there was the smell of food. Not a lot of scent, not like a campfire or meal being cooked, but definitely a food-type smell. There was also talking, but just the same two voices. An old woman with a frail, weak voice, and a younger one.
“Come on, Tatiana, just eat a few spoonfuls, please.”
“I’ve eaten some already. You have the rest. I just lie here all day. You’re the one who needs the energy.”
“Well, if I finish the stew, you have to promise to eat half the apple.”
“No, you eat it. You need the energy. I don’t.”
“You have to eat something.”
Kenan strained his ears. Why was this woman trying to get Tatiana to eat? Were they, too, searching for the community who had come to live in these caves? What was going on here?
Gideon waved his arms, indicating they were to move forward.
With a rush the two teams rounded the corner, covering each other, spreading out in the cave they entered.
There were no obvious other entries or exits, but immediately Greg and Dave scaled the walls, looking for hiding places. Yuri positioned himself in a corner with a good field of fire. The rest of the men surrounded the women, handcuffing them, searching them for weapons and upending the camp bed the old lady was on and searching it and her bedding.
Both women were incredibly thin. Starvation thin, their arms just sticks, their eyes huge and peering out of hollowed, skeletal faces. Apart from the camp bed the old lady had been lying on, there was just a wheelbarrow with half a dozen cans of stew, two cans of tuna, two or three wizened apples, an almost empty jug of water, plus a plastic bag that seemed to hold a few pieces of clothing.
It was difficult to guess their ages, but the old lady seemed to be too old to be the younger one’s mother, and not old enough to be her grandmother. The young one looked like a runway model on a strict diet, but she had plenty to say.
“Don’t you dare hurt her, you vicious beasts. Get your hands off her. And keep your filthy hands off me, too.”
“Who are you, and why are you here?” Gideon asked the women.
“Who are you, and why are you here?” the younger woman responded.
“Young man, you will either have to hold me up, or let me sit down. My knees aren’t what they used to be,” said the old woman.
Her voice was weak and frail, but there was no lack of determination in it, Kenan thought. Then again, anyone who’d survived this long had to be damn strong. The world had been in a mess for six months now, and it sure didn’t look like they had been eating much lately.
“Did you find any exits?” asked Gideon.
“No, Sir,” replied Greg.
“Very well. Bring them and their possessions back to base.”
“You’ll have to take the handcuffs off. I can’t push the wheelbarrow like this,” demanded the young woman.
“Reuben will push it. You can walk in cuffs.
“You brainless idiot! Tatiana can’t walk that far. We move around by me pushing her in the wheelbarrow.”
“Dave will carry her. Let’s get moving, men.”
Yuri m
oved off in the scout position. Kenan brought up the rear, with the women and the wheelbarrow sandwiched in the middle of the group. They hadn’t gone very far when it was obvious the younger woman wasn’t managing to walk very well, and Lucas scooped her up into a fireman’s carry. After a few blistering words, she became quiet, so Kenan guessed she was likely relieved.
When they reached the entry cave and the trucks, two bedrolls had been set up on the ground, and Ayla had the medical pack ready beside the bedrolls. She was facing the passage they came from, her weapon at the ready. Travis was backed up in a corner of the cave watching the entry, but positioned to shoot into the passageway as well if needed.
Gideon nodded to them both, assigned new guards, then said, “All right, Jack. You and Ayla can treat them while I ask a few questions.”
“We aren’t radioactive if that’s what you’re thinking. We’ve been here since early December. The food and water came in with us.”
“Unless you’ve got a stash of the stuff somewhere else, it looks like we arrived just in time. That’s not even enough water for a single day longer.” Gideon waved at the plastic jug on the wheelbarrow.
“There’s a lake. We were going to move our camp there before it ran out.” The woman sounded defensive, Kenan thought, but something else as well. Maybe resigned, or worried? Did she know their time was limited? Or was she hiding the fact that there was danger at the lake. Crazies? Or a community?
“You can show us the lake in a little bit. Right now I need some answers. Who are you, and how did you come here?” asked Gideon, repeating himself from much earlier.
Like an echo, the woman challenged him, “Why don’t you tell me who you are? We were minding our own business when you came and carried us off. Like a pack of animals.”
“It’s okay, Ruth. You can see their guns. It would have been very easy for them to shoot us. I’m Tatiana Rodensky, and this is Ruth Chapple. My son Charlie worked for Edu-Tech. The company brought all its staff and their families who wanted to come here, to keep safe. They had grandiose ideas of starting a new world order or some such thing.”
Kenan’s gaze kept flicking to the two women. Jack and Ayla had run some gizmo over both people, and now they were taking temperatures and blood pressures. Yuri had climbed up high in a sniper position in one corner, and Travis had done the same in another. Between them they had the entire area covered, but Dave had tucked himself behind a rock formation near the entryway as an extra guard.
“So where is everyone else?” asked Greg, moving to stand beside Gideon.
“I had trouble walking properly even then. I wasn’t keeping up with the group, so Charlie put me in the wheelbarrow and pushed me instead of me using my Zimmer frame. Charlie had a—difference of opinion with one of the men, and the other man shot him.”
“They were fools. Always arguing about who was the leader and who deserved respect, and none of them with the guts to stop people eating the food like there was a store still on every street corner,” interrupted Ruth.
“Why exactly was Charlie shot?” asked Gideon.
“There’s an area of the cave near the lake where you have to climb down a sort of rock chimney to get into to the lower level. There was no way I could go down there, so I said to leave me behind. Charlie and Ruth decided to stay with me, and Charlie insisted we be given our share of the food and water. One of the men came back that night to steal our food. Charlie woke up and yelled at him. The man shot Charlie. Ruth ran down to the leaders and demanded the man be punished. Which he was. But nothing could be done for poor Charlie. He died instantly.”
“I’m sorry you lost your son,” said Gideon.
“You have my condolences, too. Do you know where the rest of the people are now?” asked Greg.
“Only that they were heading south, but that was three months ago so they could be anywhere. And, of course, we moved, too. We were on our way back to the lake to be there when our water ran out. There may be fish we could catch, too, for a food supply,” added Ruth.
“It’s possible, but the water might also be polluted. Now show us on the map where you were going, and where the entry to the lower level is,” said Gideon.
* * * *
Team D had a two-hour sleep while Team K kept watch, then they swapped over, and then Lucas, Ayla, Kenan, and Reuben remained with Ruth and Tatiana and the trucks, while the others took their new maps and went looking for the lake and the rock chimney to the lower level. They also took several backpacks of equipment to test the water and any potential fish or plants they found growing there.
Ruth and Tatiana were moved into Team K’s truck, handcuffed, their feet shackled, and the shackles chained to a metal bolt on the wall of the truck. “Young man, I’m flattered you consider me so dangerous,” said Tatiana with a huge grin.
“Actually it’s to make it easier to feed you. Jack has left instructions that we are to give you both tiny amounts of food every ninety minutes,” said Lucas.
“Ah, fattening us up like pigs for the slaughter,” quipped Ruth.
“Woman, right now you weigh less than my boots,” replied Lucas.
Kenan stared at Lucas. Well, well, well. It looked as though his teammate had found a woman he was going to claim. Lucas’s gaze was definitely soft as it rested on both Ruth and the old lady. Kenan smiled inside. He’d gotten himself a woman and a surrogate son. Looks like Lucas was about to get a woman and a surrogate mother-in-law!
Kenan made sure he had some lube in one of his battle-pants pockets before he and Reuben went to check their surroundings again. He’d been thinking about getting inside Reuben’s taut-muscled ass for hours now, but it must only be done from a position where they could still keep watch.
It seemed Reuben had been thinking much the same thing, as he led Kenan to the rocky outcrop behind which Dave had hidden earlier. It was a good position, with a clear view of the cave entry, the two trucks, and the start of the passage into the cave system. Even better, Reuben could rest his weapon on a fissure of rock while they fucked, and his hand would be right next to the gun if it was needed.
“Ah, God, my dick’s harder than a spike. I’ve been wanting this for hours,” Reuben breathed as they slid behind the rocks.
“Me, too. Watching your ass as we marched back from finding the women was torture. It’s a mighty fine ass you have there.”
“And you’ve had it many times before. Of course, I’ve had yours, too.”
“And you will again. But right now, this is mine.” Kenan slapped his hand lightly on Reuben’s rear.
Reuben dropped his pants and thrust his butt out backward for Kenan to touch.
Oh, it looked so good. Very muscular and hard, just a little rounded, and as Reuben bent over, the opening was round and pink and begging him to touch it. Kenan dropped to his knees and pulled Reuben’s butt cheeks apart. He licked around the hole, sliding his tongue over the muscle rim, getting it nice and wet. Reuben shivered under his hands, so he licked it again, this time letting his tongue go just a fraction inside. Touching Reuben like this was so erotic his own cock almost broke out of his battle fatigues.
Quickly he grabbed the tiny tube of lube, then undid his own pants and let them fall to his boots, before bending once more to taste Reuben. He lubed two fingers and stroked them inside Reuben’s hole, making sure to stretch the muscles as he moved his fingers around.
It was surreal making love like this. The physical danger was an integral part of the love. Both of them were watching all around for trouble, their eyes constantly scanning the entries and their surroundings. Yet Kenan’s mind was also focused on Reuben and this desperate need to fuck his partner. From the way Reuben’s cock was bobbing up and down, Reuben was thinking much the same thing.
I really am an adrenaline junky. I love the danger. The high of it. But it’s more than that. I want to protect and serve my community as well. And I love that Peyton, Hazel, and Tyler will be there at home waiting for Reuben and me, too. Fucking with Hazel,
Peyton, and Reuben is another real high.
They were both so very aroused Kenan didn’t wait long before lubing his cock and pressing it to Reuben’s back door. Reuben slammed his body back onto Kenan’s cock, driving his dick deep inside. For a moment they both stood still, panting lightly, and then Kenan spread his legs a little wider, grabbed hold of Reuben’s hips, and pulled out a little way.
Making use of the slight curve on his cock, Kenan dragged it across Reuben’s walls then wiggled his hips before pressing in again. He soon had a punishingly hard and fast rhythm going. Reuben kept his right hand braced on the rocks right beside his weapon, and used his left to tug on his own cock in time with Kenan’s thrusts. Faster and harder, Kenan jack-hammered, his hips slamming into Reuben, his partner driving back onto him.
All too soon he felt the familiar tingle at the base of his spine, knew he couldn’t hold off any longer. He reached around Reuben, laid his hand over his partner’s, and together they tugged on Reuben’s dick. One stroke, two, then they both exploded together, him into Reuben’s willing ass, Reuben over both their hands.
Kenan stroked a few more times, both with his hand and his cock, then leaned over Reuben’s back and kissed his neck. “So hot. So good,” he whispered.
“Damn straight.”
* * * *
Each day at breakfast, the community at Lilyward One was given updates on news from around the world. There were sister communities, Lilyward Two, Lilyward Three, and Lilyward Four, and all shared their discoveries and advances in food, communications, and any other successes.
From time to time one or another of the communities picked up some radio transmissions, but so far none had turned out to be genuine surviving communities. The Captain suspected from various broadcasts that at least one was a rebel group seeking to destroy any other survivors in some kind of insane, world domination attempt. The leaders at the other Lilyward communities agreed with him.
Brown, Berengaria - Raw Need [Raw Claiming 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 5