His mom’s eyes met his, and this time, he couldn’t look away. There was something in them, a fusion of different emotions. Love, concern, hope, along with a drop of curiosity, and the slightest hint of lust.
“Jack and I…” Rebecca paused and looked over at Molly. “We’ve started progressing to the point where the idea maybe isn’t so outlandish.”
Jack could see just how difficult the words were for his mother to say. She didn’t like having to talk frankly about sex in any capacity, and for it to involve him as it did, her own son, only made it even more of a struggle.
“Jack and I will also need some time to start getting comfortable with each other.” Molly stepped over to him and set one of her hands on his shoulder. “That was what was happening last night, just so you know.”
Jack saw a lightening quick flash of emotion pass across his mom’s face. The wind blew gently from the south, scattering ash against their ankles.
“”Yes, well, it’s something we’ll all have to talk about and approach together,” said his mom. She also walked over to him, letting one of her arms wrap around his waist and pushing her breasts against the side of his body.
This is going to be complicated.
“We should keep moving.” Jack stepped away from the two women, his body still hot with confusion and embarrassment. He took his turn leading the group forward, doing his best to stay on a straight northeastern line.
There was something about the idea of sleeping with both his mother and Molly that felt like taking the final step across the point of no return. There would be no coming back from it, not with Molly, and most of all, not with his mom.
Up until the asteroid had hit, Jack’s life had been sickeningly normal, and Rebecca had been one of the main points of stability in it. Even in the emergency shelter and in the trip across the wastes, and even after what little they’d already explored sexually, it still felt as though their relationship as mother and son had been preserved.
Will it still be the same when I’m trading off nights with her and Molly?
He snuck a glance over his shoulder at the astronaut. The legs of her jumpsuit were speckled with ash, and it looked as though it clung to her a little more tightly than it had earlier in the morning. Her breasts bounced with every step she took, and Jack couldn’t help but imagine sliding that front zipper down and helping them out of their confinement.
She caught his eye and smiled at him.
“You should focus on hiking, Jack,” she said. “For now.”
His mom walked up next to him and looped her arm through his. Jack thought for a moment that Molly was going to do the same on the other side, but the young astronaut had enough sense to hold back.
They can’t seriously be acting jealous over me, can they? It’s hard enough for me to think about what needs to happen without bringing emotions into it.
“Are you okay, Jack?” His mom asked the question in a whispered voice, quiet enough for just the two of them to hear.
He looked over at her and drank in the sight of her loving face and sensual body. On a couple of guilty occasions, back before the disaster had struck, Jack had guiltily fantasized about her.
She had always been so comfortable around him, never stopping to question wearing a towel after stepping out of the shower, or bending over to pick up something on the ground in a low cut shirt. She was his mother, and there was no reason for her to think about his wandering eyes.
“Jack?” Rebecca reached one of her hands up and cupped his cheek. Jack realized that his cock was as stiff as a board and stepped back, staring at the way her blouse accentuated her breasts, and the tightness of her jeans highlighted her thighs.
“I’m fine, mom,” he said. “Come on, the hiking is easy enough here. We should speed up our pace.”
For the next hour, that was exactly what they did. The shoulder straps of Jack’s backpack began to chafe against his shoulders, but he ignored it, the pain being well within the spectrum of what he could bear. They stopped for a water break, and Jack let his mom and Molly switch packs.
“Water…” Rebecca stared at the bottle she was holding in her hand and shook her head, frowning. “We’re also counting on being able to find water in this sanctuary that you’re leading us to.”
Molly looked as though she was stifling a glare.
“There will be water there!” she said. “I saw it from up high, remember.”
“Did you see any blue mixed in with the green?” asked Rebecca.
Molly didn’t say anything.
Jack took one more sip from his water bottle and then tucked it back into his bag.
“We just have to trust that we’ll find some there,” he said. “If it looked green when Molly came down, after a couple of days, and all of the ash that’s been up in the air, there must be a reason for it.”
“Well, I guess we don’t really have any other…” Rebecca trailed off and looked up into the sky behind them.
“What is it?” Jack followed her gaze off into the distance. The sky was a clear, cerulean blue, except for one very strange looking cloud, almost jet black and stretched out into a long oval.
“Is that… a cloud?” Molly was standing on the other side of him, also staring up at it. “Wait a second, how can it be moving like that?”
The dark shape in the sky turned sideways and then inverted. It was heading straight towards them, dropping lower as it went. Jack nervously glanced at his mom and Molly and then back up in the sky. He suddenly realized just what the cloud was.
“Those are bats,” he said softly. “That’s a huge cloud of-“
“Ahhhhh!” One of the front runners had flown into their space, grazing Molly’s shoulder as it went by. Jack looked over at her, but before he could say anything, more bats began threading through the air.
“No, no, no!” His mom had begun to swing her backpack defensively. Most of the cloud was still in the sky, but it had changed orientation and was heading straight for them.
We aren’t the only living things left! We should be celebrating!
Jack looked over at Molly and his mom and saw the terrified expressions on their faces. Thousands of bats were screeching by, each one bolder and more brazen than the last.
“Here, just stay low!” he said, pulling the two women into a kneeling position. “I’ll take care of-“
A bat slammed into the side of Jack’s head with all the force of an accurately thrown baseball. It immediately began buffeting its wings, forcing him to swat it away.
“Are you okay? Did it bite you?” His mom’s hand grabbed his tightly. Jack shook his head.
“I’m fine, just… here.” He unshouldered his own bag and hurried to pull one of the tent poles out of it. The thing was made of a flexible composite material, and that was a good thing. With his hands still injured and unwieldy from the burns, he knew it wouldn’t do any real harm even if he scored a home run on one of the creatures. All he wanted to do with it was push them away.
They could be carrying any number of transmittable diseases, but I can’t kill them. I literally can’t, and given the circumstances, I probably wouldn’t even if I could. They are survivors, just like us.
Jack swung the tent pole through the air, defending his mother and Molly’s hunched forms as best as he could. As the bulk of the swarm descended on them, most of the sun’s light was blocked out. It felt as though an evil summoner had cast a spell on them, dark magic designed to frighten and curse.
There were thousands of them, maybe tens of thousands. Their calls were high pitched, and would have been on the verge of being inaudible if it hadn’t been for their massive combined bulk.
“Take off!” yelled Jack. “Get out of here!”
He heard one of the girls squeal from underneath him, followed by grabbing his ankle tightly. Unfortunately, he had to kick it free to remain mobile.
Jack’s aim was atrocious, but he still managed to score occasional hits against the bats. They were too fast for
him to be able to pick out a target and stick to it, but swinging into the scores of them worked just as well.
They aren’t interested in us. They just want to fly closer to the ground.
The last half of the bats flew tightly packed together. Jack flinched back as it swarmed by him. There were so many of him that despite all logic telling him otherwise, his body reacted as tough they were trying to grab onto him, to pull him up into the air as their prize.
“Jeez!” He spun around like a human tornado with the tent pole, feeling ridiculous as the last few stragglers rushed by the humans to catch up with their brood. The cloud of bats was heading in the same approximate direction that they were, and the profile of it on the horizon gave Jack an ominous feeling.
“Are they gone?” whispered Molly. She was clinging tightly to his mom, both of them trying to conceal as much of their exposed skin against each other as possible.
Jack smiled.
Let’s hope we don’t run into a carpet of spiders, next.
“Yeah, they’re gone,” he said. “We should keep moving.”
CHAPTER 19
The contrast between dealing with the bats and then immediately returning to hiking across the barren landscape was a little unnerving. Jack put the tent pole away and continued walking with his mom and Molly, both of whom looked as though they had reached their stress limit for the day.
“I’ve always been afraid of bats…” said Molly. “I had a dream once up in the space station that somehow, one of them had gotten inside and… ick, it makes me cringe just thinking about it.”
Jack suppressed a laugh.
“Would a bat even be able to do anything in zero g?” He smiled at her teasingly. “I doubt they’d deal with that disorientation factor all that well.”
“That’s not the point! I just don’t like bats, is all.”
Rebecca put a sympathetic hand on the younger woman’s shoulder.
“I know, Molly. I’m not the biggest fan of them either.” She shielded her eyes and looked up at the bat brood off in the distance, which was now just a speck on the horizon. “I heard a story once about a girl who got bitten by one that had rabies. They are nasty little creatures.”
Jack shrugged.
They’re the only life we’ve seen besides each other in days. And there’s so many of them left, enough for them to make it just fine if they find food.
“They must have been deep in a cave when the ash and the fires happened,” he said. “If they survived, there’s a chance that other humans could have, too.”
Molly and his mom shot him matching skeptical looks.
“I mean, I’m not counting on it,” said Jack. “But the likelihood doesn’t seem that low. And if we did find other people, it would mean…”
It would mean that saving the next generation would be a lot less weird and awkward.
“Maybe.” Molly shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not quite as optimistic as you. I was up there in the station, remember? I swept every inch of every civilized area with radio broadcasts. If there is anyone left, they are either totally cut off from communications technology, or in no real position to be surviving out here.”
The group was silent for a moment. The ash underneath their feet had grown about an inch deeper, just enough to make the ground feel loose and sandy to walk on.
“Well, clearly the bats survived,” said Rebecca. “What else do you think did? All we’ve seen so far has been scorched earth, totally dead.”
“I thought about this for a while on my way down,” said Molly. “There is still life on the planet, just not life that we can interact with all that easily.”
Jack thought about what she was saying.
“The ocean, you mean?” he asked. “Do you think that aquatic creatures were mostly unscathed by the heat?”
Molly nodded.
“I’m sure some of them that live closer to the surface were killed off, but by and by large, this is one of the best things that could have happened to them. Just imagine it from their perspective. There are no more humans to dump waste, to poach them, or to mess with their food supplies.”
Rebecca laughed.
“Yes, I guess when you look at it that way, they are the winners,” she said. “Maybe the dolphins will develop an underwater civilization before humans ever get a chance to get back on their feet…”
The ash was thick now, coming up high enough on their feet with each step to feel a little surreal. Behind them, their footsteps stretched on for miles, three little trails in the ash like trailing bread crumbs.
Jack was getting hungry. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was slowly dropping low on the horizon, and they had not yet stopped for lunch. He slowed at the front of the group after they had passed through a short section of small hills.
“Should we take a break soon?” he asked. Molly shook her head.
“It can’t be much further. If we hike at a decent speed, we might even be able to reach it tonight, and then…”
And then what?
It was a question that he been brewing on the tip of Jack’s tongue for the past couple of hours. Outside of basic survival equipment, their tent, and some food, they didn’t have all that much with them for supplies. Even if Molly’s green paradise were everything that she’d claimed it would be, they would still be starting over from square one, learning how to live like the humans of centuries ago.
“We can only travel so fast through this blasted ash.” Rebecca kicked a trail through the gray powder as she spoke. “Besides, reaching it after sundown would be a waste. We need to scope out the area before we head rushing on in.”
Jack started to agree with his mom, but before he could, a lucky speck of dust found its way into his eye. He wiped off his finger to rub it and felt the wind slowly begin to pick up.
“Shoot,” said his mom. “Here, let me see.”
She moved over to take a look at Jack’s eye. He waved her off.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just an annoyance, that’s all.”
“Jesus…” Molly was shielding her eyes and pointing in the direction that they had come from. Jack glanced up and instantly saw that what they were dealing with was much more than just an annoyance.
A wall of dust swirled chaotically towards them, like a gigantic dry tsunami. It was at least fifty feet high, swirling with a sinister black and gray intensity that made Jack’s heart begin to beat double time.
“Fuck!” He slipped off his backpack and immediately began pulling it open. “We have to get the tent set up!”
Jack pulled the shelter equipment out of his bag. Molly and his mother hurried over to help, and he let them spearhead setting up the tent instead of fumbling through it with his bandaged fingers. Instead, he stood in front of them, broadening his shoulders and trying to block as much of the dust as he could as the wind began to intensify.
The ash storm looked like something out of a science fiction movie. It would have been more at home on Mars or Venus, or even Jupiter, the type of surreal weather that was scary even just to look at from afar.
I hope the material of the tent can still hold up against it. Otherwise, we’re going to be in serious trouble.
“Jack, get inside!” His mom tugged at the back of his shirt, and he realized that they had finished. He ducked low and through the tent’s door just as the thickest part of the storm began to close in on him.
“Zip it up, quick!” yelled Molly. Jack fumbled with the zipper for a moment before finally managing to pull it up and around, sealing the three of them inside of the small, cramped tent.
It sounded almost as though it was raining outside, with thousands of minuscule drops of water peppering the tent incessantly. None of the ash was getting in beyond what had already managed to coat their clothing. Jack breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh man,” he said. “That was close.”
Molly and his mom were silent. Jack realized that he was essentially half on top of both of them and did h
is best to shift so that they could all be more comfortable.
“It’s going to be a tight fit if we have to sleep in here.” His mom’s voice was muffled by the action taking place outside.
“Let’s hope it lets up before then,” said Molly. “In the meantime, we might as well eat some food.”
The small space was limiting, and it made even something as simple as pulling out their food supplies into a chore. His mom handed each of them a peanut butter granola bar, and they all solemnly began eating.
I’m sick of the taste of granola, but I’m even sicker of the taste of ash.
“We’re going to look back on this and laugh, eventually,” said Molly. The ash storm severely limited the light from the setting sun, making it hard to see more than outlines of the women, but Jack got the feeling that she was smiling.
“Let’s hope so,” he said. “For now, I’ll be happy just to look back on this at all.”
“How about we take advantage of the fact that we’re stuck and rest up for tomorrow?” Molly’s voice was still cheery, like a principal trying to keep students calm during a fire drill.
Getting rest was easier said than done, as the three of them soon realized. Pulling the sleeping bags out was another chore in the cramped tent, and there simply wasn’t enough room on the floor for them all to sleep without being in close contact.
“Damn it, the ash storm still hasn’t let up.” Jack sighed, feeling a little claustrophobic all of the sudden.
At least down in the emergency shelter I could stand up and walk around.
“It’s going to be worth it,” said Molly. “Trust me, Jack. When we get there, all of this will seem like a tiny price to pay.”
“And when will we get there, exactly?” Rebecca’s voice was calm, but Jack could sense the frustration in her words. “This was a risk from the start, and with the ash storm, we’re going to lose time and supplies stuck holed up in this tent.”
“Well, sorry, but it’s not like I can predict the weather.” Molly’s voice was snarky. “It shouldn’t be more than another day of hiking, if even. Don’t lash out at me just because you don’t like the situation.”
After the Fall: The Complete Collection (Taboo Erotica) Page 13