Gearing Up

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Alvin grunted as he felt her inner walls twitching like crazy, as she hadn’t been given the okay to cum yet and her body was fighting the bond. “Cum for me, Gothy,” Alvin said as he let go of her hip and slapped her ass hard.

  Finally released, she slammed back into him like a hammer while her pussy clenched around his cock, contracting tighter with each pulse of pleasure she felt. As wet as she was, though, Alvin was able to keep thrusting, breathing deeply to make sure he held out against the pleasure he was feeling.

  Becky’s voice dipped before rising in pitch again as she orgasmed immediately after her first started to subside. Her hips met each thrust from him with equal, if not greater, force.

  Pulling her hair just a little more, he started slapping her ass in a solid rhythm as he felt her crest the second time. The spanking only spurred Becky further; her second orgasm started to die off, but a third was close behind.

  Reaching around her, Alvin pulled the marble out, earning a whimper from Becky, who was torn between relief and sadness. Slowing his thrusts, Alvin rode out her third orgasm and waited for her to start catching her breath.

  “Gods…” Becky moaned as she finally was able to form words again, even as she kept meeting his thrusts. “Sooo good.”

  Slowing until he came to a rest deep inside her, Alvin pulled on her hair and made her lean back toward him until he could get a hand under her chin. “Ready for your reward?”

  “You mean that wasn—yes!” Becky switched tracks before finishing the sentence, earning a chuckle from Alvin.

  Pulling out with a sigh, Alvin got to his feet and pulled Becky up with him. Wrapping his free arm around her waist, he guided her toward the dungeon. “I was thinking of maybe the cross, or the horse.”

  “Ohhh, give me a ride on the horse until I beg to be let down,” Becky murmured as a wide smile was plastered all over her face.

  “We still need some sleep, so you’re only going to get a short ride, but I’ll apply proper motivation with the crop,” Alvin whispered into her ear as he led her toward the wooden horse.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The sound of “Crazy Train” played at volume woke the two of them up with a jolt. “Kill the song, Jarvis, we’re awake.”

  “You did request that I not allow you to oversleep,” Jarvis commented dryly.

  “Yeah, I did,” Alvin said as he got out of bed. “How much time do we have?”

  “It is one half of an hour before the appointed time.”

  “Quick shower, then go?” Becky asked.

  “We’ll have to make do with granola for breakfast again,” Alvin sighed. “I was really getting used to your meals, too.”

  “I’ll cook you a good one next chance we get,” Becky said as she started toward the bathroom.

  “Maybe I’ll cook you one, instead,” Alvin replied as he followed her, admiring how even the faint bruises on her ass stood out against her pale skin.

  They were ready quickly, which wasn’t surprising since they didn’t fool around. Dressed and ready to go, the two made it to the great room to find Han and Karee already there. “Do we have an idea how people are being split up?” Alvin asked Han.

  “Two to a car, two to each rig,” Han replied. “Driver and shotgun.”

  “Sounds good. Anyone else up yet?” Becky asked.

  “Seems there are now,” Han said, at the sound of people coming up the stairs.

  It started to look like the entire Settlement was waking up to see them off, even though it was approaching midnight. Shawn appeared with Kate in his arms, Wynn and Laurel right behind him. The room wasn’t quite big enough, so everyone started piling out into the yard.

  “Where do you want me and Gothy?” Alvin asked Shawn as they went outside.

  “You’ve driven the road between here and Tonopah most recently,” Shawn said. “I’d like you in the lead. You’ve upgraded your Mustang far more than we have our vehicles, so it would be best if you took point.”

  “Where are the rigs going?” Alvin asked.

  “In the middle of the convoy,” Shawn replied before kissing Kate’s head. “Make sure you’re all ready, we’ll be heading out in ten minutes.”

  “I’m ready, but I’ll double check,” Alvin said, striding away toward the Mustang, where Becky was waiting.

  “Here’s breakfast, Hero,” Becky said, holding out a granola bar and a bottle of water.

  Snagging the offering, he leaned against the car next to her. “What do you think?”

  “That if we encounter anything serious, a bunch of them are going to die,” Becky said honestly between bites of her own breakfast.

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Alvin sighed. “As long as Shawn makes it back, they should be alright. He’s got ideas that look like they might actually be worthwhile.”

  “I heard a few of the people talking,” Becky said. “There’s another group going out to a place called Gosa to wrangle some cows for the farms.”

  “I hope they have a really big trailer, then,” Alvin chuckled, thinking of the massive cows they’d seen on the way there.

  “There’s livestock in the store,” Becky mentioned.

  Brow furrowing, Alvin frowned. “What?”

  “You can buy chickens, cows, goats and a few other animals in the store,” Becky chuckled. “I’m sure they’re in there just for the Settlements, but they’re in there. It’s limited to domesticated food animals. You can’t buy a guard dog, for instance. Or at least, not yet.”

  “Hmm. They know that, I hope,” Alvin muttered as he crumpled up the wrapper.

  “Placido does,” Becky nodded at the older man with glasses standing with his wife, kids, and grandkids. “They think it would be better to go round up a few than to buy them, though they do have plans to buy a bull instead of trying to capture one.”

  “Don’t blame them in the least. I’m fairly certain bulls are going to be even more mean tempered now.”

  “Everyone!” Shawn shouted, “we’re about to leave. We're headed to Hawthorne to loot the fuck out of the munitions dump and base. We’ll hopefully be bringing back a collection of explosives, as well as anything else useful. I’ll do my best to bring everyone back safely, but nothing is certain now. You all know who you’re with on the drive. We’re following Alvin in the Mustang. Once on site, we’ll take stock before we start looting. There might be survivors, but if they draw on you, defend yourselves. You are more important than anyone who might be there.” He walked toward his father, still holding Kate in his arms. “Go on over to Alvin and make the pledge, so we’re all in the group and ready to go. We leave in five minutes, so say your goodbyes.”

  Alvin stood there for the next five minutes, accepting pledges from the people going to Hawthorne, including a Kate-less Shawn. He promised each of them the previously agreed upon split of the loot. Becky stood beside him the whole time, head held high, showing off her collar. Most people seemed happy that they only ended up with a simple mark on the wrist.

  Karee tried to pledge more, but Alvin declined until she pledged the same as everyone else had. Han gave him a curt nod before making his pledge, then turned to drag Karee off to the Jeep. Alvin watched them go, as they were the last two to pledge.

  In the Mustang, Alvin rolled down the windows, glad that his clothing helped with cold. The autumn night air was nippy, and he could see quite a few people shivering. “Zombies and who knows what else. You ready for the start of the next leg of this adventure?”

  “With you, Hero, I’ll be ready for anything,” Becky said as she ran her hand from his knee to thigh. “Were you going to talk with Ohm about the dead dragon?”

  “Fuck, I keep forgetting to do that. Jarvis, let Ohm know I want to speak with him about a potential XP haul for him and his. Give him a conservative estimate on what the corpse parts could fetch him. I want fifty percent of whatever they get from it. Makes me wonder—is there a way for me to get the XP without going back?”

  “I will send your mes
sage, sir,” Jarvis said. “As for collecting XP without being present, yes. The XP tokens, like other items, can be sent to any other kiosk for a small fee if the originating kiosk has been upgraded to allow the function.”

  “Doesn’t the second kiosk need the same function?” Becky asked.

  “Not for receiving items,” Jarvis replied. “Only the sending kiosk needs the ability to ship it to others on the same network.”

  “Good to know,” Alvin murmured as he watched people getting settled in their vehicles. “One more question—is there an upgrade so we can accept items like that from your pads here in the car?”

  “Not in this vehicle, sir,” Jarvis replied. “It requires more room than you currently have, and also requires another Home Base upgrade first.”

  Becky held out her hand. “Pad me, Jarvis. I’ll do research as he drives.”

  “As you wish, miss,” Jarvis said as the pad formed in her hand. “Your message has been sent, sir. Ohm checks the kiosk every morning, so he should reply about the time you get to Hawthorne.”

  “That could get interesting,” Alvin said as he put the Mustang into gear and began to idle out of the yard. “Oh well, it's time to get this raid kicked off.” Seeing all the headlights turn on, Alvin pulled a little further down the road, waiting as vehicles lined up behind him. “Gothy, poke your head out the window and tell me if it looks good.”

  “The trucks are starting to move, so it looks good to me,” Becky said as she sat back down and buckled up. “Think the ghosts at Goldfield are doing okay?”

  “We’ll drive by there, we can see if the doors are still in place,” Alvin said. “Not going to stop, though. I didn’t care for Smokey much.”

  Becky snorted, “I was interested to see if the kids and the woman were able to regain their energy.”

  “Not stopping this time. We have a place to be and loot to grab,” Alvin said as he let the car pick up speed as they left town. “I’ll keep it to the speed limit, so the trucks don’t have problems.”

  About an hour later, Alvin slowed as he led them into Goldfield. The main road had been blocked off by the zombies the last time they were here, so Alvin was planning to lead them around on side roads. As they approached, he noticed that the main road had been cleared enough to allow single cars through. Alvin chewed on his lip as he slowed to a stop.

  “Hang on,” he said. He got out, leaving the car running, and walked back to Shawn, who was in the vehicle behind him.

  “What’s wrong?” Shawn asked as Alvin walked up to him.

  “The main road is cleared, but it wasn’t when I came through here last time,” Alvin said.

  “That’s because we cleared it on the way south,” George, the teen from Tonopah, said.

  “Oh, right,” Alvin said. “Looks like the trucks will just fit. I’m going to go slow by the hotel, I want to see if the doors are still in place.”

  “Okay,” Shawn nodded. “We’re following you.”

  Getting back into the Mustang, Becky patted his thigh. “So what’s the story?”

  “The group that came down from Tonopah moved them when they came south.”

  “Huh. I wonder if they unblocked Tonopah?”

  “We’ll find out when we get there,” Alvin said, putting the car into gear.

  Just past the roadblock and around a hard turn, Alvin slowed outside the Goldfield Hotel. The front door was open, and lights were on inside the lobby. A man came walking out, holding his hand up in greeting. Alvin paused so he could hear what the guy had to say.

  “Where you from?” the middle-aged man asked.

  “Beatty,” Alvin said, and the other man sneered. “Oh, you must have been with the group that left.”

  “We were told to leave,” the man snapped. “But we can make a Settlement here, and the ghosts have been friendly. We don’t need you.”

  “I can make it so the other Settlements can trade with you,” Alvin said. “That’s something to consider, since you’re starting off much smaller than they are.”

  “And what will that cost us?” the man asked, clearly wondering what the hook was.

  “Nothing. Very few people can hook a kiosk to a network. I’m one of them.”

  The sound of the first truck making the turn in the road brought the man’s head up, “Where are they going?”

  “North,” Alvin replied, “and I’m supposed to be leading them. So, did you want to be connected or not?”

  The guy waffled for a minute. “Fine.”

  Alvin put the Mustang into park and got out. “Where is it?”

  “The lobby,” the guy said, walking back up the stairs with Alvin.

  “You should be carrying a gun,” Alvin said.

  “I have one in my storage pocket,” the guy said with a smug air. “Not like you with the pistol on your hip.”

  Alvin didn’t correct him, and spotted the kiosk just inside the front door. He walked up to it, not entirely sure what he needed to do. When his hand touched it, a simple pop-up asked if he wanted to add the Goldfield Kiosk to his network. Accepting it, Alvin chuckled as another pop-up thanked him for adding another Settlement to his network.

  Goldfield Kiosk added to Alvin Leon Lambert’s network.

  Goldfield Settlement Overseer is Grady Newton.

  “Your Overseer is Grady,” Alvin said, stepping back from the kiosk. “You’re all set. I’ll have a friend send a message explaining some of oddities of the way the world works, so he can have a leg up.”

  The guy frowned at Alvin. “But you didn’t do anything.”

  Alvin started walking away. “I have magic hands, ask your wife. Have a good night.”

  “Hey! Wait a minute, asshole,” the guy said, following Alvin.

  “Thank you for stopping by, Alvin,” the woman’s ghost said as he walked out the door.

  “A pleasure. Maybe I’ll stay next time,” Alvin said and kept walking. Sliding into the open door of the Mustang, Alvin smirked at the guy following him, “See you.” Putting the Mustang into gear, he drove off.

  “He looked upset, what did you do this time?” Becky snickered.

  “I added their kiosk to the network, then I paid him back for his attitude. He objected to me saying his wife should be asked about how magical my hands are.”

  “I object to that, too. I didn’t get to sample her,” Becky said, dragging her nails over his thigh.

  “Knock it off, nut,” Alvin said, slapping her hand, though he couldn’t help grinning at her.

  “Fine. Did you get the kiosk set up, and did the ghosts say anything?” Becky asked.

  “The female ghost said hello as I left, and yes, it has been added, so more XP possible for me. Jarvis, send that Overseer everything we’ve told the others about how the world works, please.”

  “As you command, sir,” Jarvis intoned. “I could handle the driving to Tonopah for you, as well, if you but asked.”

  “It would be a good test,” Alvin admitted. “Okay, Jarvis. Drive us to Tonopah, and let me know when we reach the outskirts.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The road between Goldfield and Tonopah was empty. As they got into the town, Alvin noted the cars that had been on the road when they came through last had all been moved off to the sides of the road. “Looks like they made room for their convoy to Beatty. I’ve got the wheel, Jarvis.”

  “As you say, sir,” Jarvis said, relinquishing control of the car to Alvin.

  “From here north, it’s all new,” Becky said, sitting up straighter.

  “Indeed, it shou—” Alvin cut off as something came running at the car from the passenger side. He jerked the wheel in surprise and heard the thump of a body hitting the car. “What the fuck?” his eyes went to the rearview mirror in time to catch a glimpse of a white and red blur, before Shawn hit the body and sent it flying.

  “He’s going to stop,” Becky said.

  She was right, as a second later, Shawn’s vehicle slowed to a stop. Alvin hit his brakes and waited
to see if Shawn was going to move again, but instead, he saw the door opening.

  “Fuck, he’s out of the vehicle,” Alvin said as he put Ruffian into park and got out, summoning the UMP. Triggering the flashlight on the foregrip, Alvin saw that Shawn was also illuminating the area with his gun ready. “What was it?”

  “Human, I think,” Shawn said.

  “It purposefully hit my car, then you hit it,” Alvin said, “that doesn’t sound human to me.” As though his words were a summoning charm, a shape came sprinting at them from the darkness, the reflection from something metallic clutched in its hands catching the light from the cars. Alvin didn’t hesitate and fired three rounds while Shawn was trying to get a good look at whatever it was.