Ryan, Sylvia - Saved by One, Shared by Two (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Sylvia Ryan

  “Fuck! She’s not here,” Ben spat.

  They called out her name a few times. No answer.

  “Maybe she’s in the outhouse. It would also explain why the back door was open.”

  They walked back down to the kitchen together.

  “I’ll go check.” Arden strode out the back door and around the corner of the house.

  “Julia?” he called, knocking softly on the door.

  No answer. He opened the door and quickly ran back to the house.

  “She’s not there.”

  They both walked outside and surveyed the property.

  “You think she’s at the root cellar? Maybe she saw someone and went to hide.”

  Both men strode at a quick clip over to Ben’s farm. They got to the root cellar and saw the door open.

  “Oh, God,” Arden said, running over and calling inside the pitch-black, cavernous hole. “Julia? Are you down there?”

  He got no answer.

  “I’ll go down and feel around, just to make sure,” Ben said. He started to descend the stairs and almost fell on his face, “Shit!” The second step was not where it was supposed to be.

  “What?”

  “The step is broken. Julia, Julia are you down here?”

  Ben felt around and kicked over something with his foot. His next step landed on something. He stepped back and felt with his hands. His chest clenched in panic. It was her.

  “Arden, she’s down here. I’ll carry her up as soon as I can figure out what’s what.” Ben felt around and found Julia’s head. “Oh fuck, Arden, this is bad!” He lifted her limp body and carefully tried to find his way to the first step. Once he found it, he was up in a flash. The night was dark, with no moonlight showing through the heavy layer of clouds.

  “Let’s just get her home where we can get some light on her.” Ben cradled Julia in his arms and walked toward the house.

  Arden closed the cellar door and took the extra time to hide the handle. “I’m going on ahead to get things ready for her,” Arden said as he passed Ben on the way back.

  Ben comforted Julia’s unconscious form as he closed the distance to the house. “I got you, kitten. It’s going to be okay. I got you.”

  When Ben made it to the farmhouse, he carried Julia upstairs and laid her on the bed. Arden had lit candles in their bedroom. Sheets and towels were stacked in a neat pile on the bed. A pitcher of water and a glass were on the bedside table.

  Ben shook his head. They were so flimsy on medical supplies. They should have looked harder for antibiotics.

  In the candlelight, they looked her over. Arden rolled her onto her side and found the four-inch gash on the back of her head. It was already healing. “Shit, Ben, this is days old. She’s been down there for days! Oh, fuck, Ben, this is all my fault.”

  Ben stood grinding his teeth, watching Arden break down. He knelt next to Julia’s broken body on the bed, rubbing her hair away from her face and repeating the same thing over and over again. “I’m so sorry, Julia, so sorry.”

  Ben cut in on the guilt trip Arden was wallowing in. “We need to clean that up really well. If it gets infected, she’s in big trouble. We have to do it now, Arden,” Ben said forcefully.

  “How? Her head is totally crusted in blood.” Arden seemed at a loss on how to get her blood-covered hair and the wound as clean as it needed to be and looked to Ben.

  Ben paused then started barking out orders. “Okay, you get her undressed. I’m going to go grab another blanket. I’ll be right back.”

  Ben ran to the bedroom next door and was back so fast that Arden hadn’t even gotten her shirt off by the time he got back. “Once she’s undressed, go down before me and get a towel, then start pumping the water. I’ll wrap her in the blanket and carry her back downstairs. I’ll get her head under the water enough to wash the blood out of her hair. We’ll get it as clean as we can. It’s probably better that we clean it really thoroughly when she’s out cold anyways. Then, we’ll bring her upstairs, towel her off and put her into bed until daylight.”

  The men worked together to execute their plan. Julia didn’t regain consciousness even when the cold well water was running over her head and trying to make its way through the upper folds of the blanket covering her body. Ben held her up for Arden to dry as best he could and carried her back upstairs to put her into bed.

  Ben unwrapped her from the wet blanket and dried her off a little more. “I’ll lay her on her side so she’s not lying on the gash.”

  “Face her this way,” Arden said, indicating the side he wanted. “I’ll be able to pull the chair up next to the bed.”

  Arden pulled up the chair and sat. He began dripping water into Julia’s mouth from a washrag. “This is a nightmare déjà vu. I had to do this when I first found her.”

  Ben took off his wet shoes and jeans and lay on the bed behind her.

  “Do you think the baby’s okay?” Arden asked with an anguished look.

  “I don’t know. It’s too hard to tell exactly what’s going on in the dark.”

  Ben slid his hand under the blanket and placed a hand on Julia’s swollen belly, as if to comfort the baby inside.

  The room was quiet. Arden fed water to her drop by drop. Ben lay still with his hand on her belly, rubbing as if to coax the baby to rub back.

  When the sun rose enough to get a good look at Julia’s face, fear replaced worry. Her skin was gray, and she had a sheen of perspiration over her body. They uncovered her and inspected her more closely. The channel in the back of her head was as they had thought, at least a couple days old. The blood was clotted and trying to form a hard scab. There were horizontal bruises equally spaced down her neck, back and buttocks, caused by falling hard on the edge of each step.

  “She might have injured her spine,” Arden said, inspecting the lines.

  “I don’t think so. She wasn’t right at the bottom of the stairs when I found her. She had moved herself toward the back.

  “There’s a bad bruise on her left ankle, but other than that, I don‘t see anything else.”

  Arden and Ben spent the day cooling her forehead with damp wash rags and trying to get her to swallow drops of water they put into her mouth while elevating her head. As the day wore on, the men became more desperate and tired. They had both been awake for more than a day and a half. They agreed to take turns sleeping next to her while the other continued with the wash rags and hydration.

  The day turned into evening with no change.

  * * * *

  Julia’s brain sprang awake before the rest of her. She felt her baby move and smiled. Lifting her hand to her belly, she whispered, “Sorry. Not much longer.”

  “Julia.”

  She smiled. Arden is calling me.

  A hand touched her face.

  “Julia, wake up, baby.”

  I’m up.

  Hands were touching her arm, her hair.

  She heard a command in her ear. “Julia. Open your eyes.”

  Ben.

  Julia tried to open her eyes.

  “Do it. Open your eyes!”

  Can’t.

  She felt something cold and wet on her face. “Stop it,” she breathed.

  “We’re going to sit you up so you can have some water.”

  She felt hands and arms moving her and water in her mouth. “No.” She turned her head away.

  “Yes! Swallow!” Ben barked at her.

  More water in her mouth. Water on her neck and chest. Swallow. Swallow again. She raised her hand to make it stop.

  “Open your eyes, Julia.”

  Julia opened her eyes. It was dark. Arden stood next to the bed with a glass in his hand. Ben was holding her, lifting her to almost sitting.

  She closed her eyes. “Tired.”

  “Okay, we’ll let you go back to sleep, but you have to drink more first.”

  She felt the glass to her lips. She swallowed more.

  “Good girl,” Ben encouraged in her ear. “Drink for the ba
by, too.”

  She did.

  Then she was laid back down on her side. She felt the mattress behind her move, as if someone was getting out of bed.

  “Don’t leave me.”

  “Never, baby, never,” Arden murmured. “Never again.”

  Chapter 21

  Julia started feeling frequent movements of her baby very soon after she started eating and drinking again. She was weak, and the men made her stay in bed for three more days after she regained consciousness. She was never alone during that time. Either Arden or Ben was always with her. Most of the time they laid next to her, caressing her, or were fighting with her to eat and drink more.

  Her ankle, she thought, was probably not fractured since she was able to increasingly put weight on it. Slowly their routine fell back into place, and life got as normal as it could again.

  About a week after they let Julia get out of bed, Arden suggested that they all go to the creek to cool off and have a picnic. Ben stayed behind to finish his chores but told them he would join them later.

  Arden and Julia went to the same spot that Julia had soaked in alone so many months before. Her spot. The area next to the creek had tall, soft grass. The water was warm, and the sunlight dappled through the trees to make patches of sun and shade.

  They soaked in the cool running water of Salt Creek and ate some vegetables Julia had plundered from their garden for lunch.

  It was an idyllic day. Julia lay with her head in Arden’s lap while he laid his hand on her large swell of belly. They waited to feel the baby roll and shift inside her again and laughed quietly together as the child obliged and executed another somersault, then kicked Arden’s hand.

  They were in their own world, and Julia was surprised to hear Ben’s angry threat behind them. “Look good and hard, 'motherfucker, ’cause it’s the last thing you’re going to see in this life.”

  She turned to find Ben holding a man at gunpoint.

  “Oh, my God. It’s John!” Julia shouted out. She tried to get up quickly, but her center of balance combined with gravity refused to let her. Arden stood and held out a hand to pull her to her feet. Julia ran to her brother and clutched him to her for a long time. She wouldn’t let go as she cried and told him how glad she was to see him. After a long minute, she finally broke her hold on her brother.

  “John, this is Arden and Ben,” she said, indicating with her hand.

  John shook their hands. “I appreciate you guys taking care of my sister.”

  “Let’s go back to the house so I can put some more clothes on,” Julia said.

  Arden handed her his T-shirt to slip on, and then Julia grabbed her brother’s arm and walked with him back to the farm. Arden and Ben followed behind.

  “How did you find me?” she asked.

  “I got your message from another Guardsman. From what I gather, the note I got with your name and approximate location was handed from person to person until it got to me.”

  Julia quickly glanced over her shoulder. “Actually, that was Arden’s doing. I didn’t even know that he tried getting a message to you until I spent the day at the farm down the road.”

  “I didn’t want her to get her hopes up too much. I didn’t think it would get to you,” Arden cut in.

  When they got to the house, Julia left the men on the porch and went inside to pull on her sweatpants.

  On her way out of the kitchen door onto the porch, she caught Ben’s eye. With a serious face and a slight “get going” nod of her head, Ben got her message.

  “Well, Arden, we need to finish fixing that coop. Let’s let them catch up, and we’ll all get to know each other better at dinner.” Ben’s eyes communicated silently with Arden, just as Julia’s had done a moment before with him.

  The men walked away, but they didn’t go far. Julia and John sat on the porch swing. John took some gear and his shirt off and took a deep breath. There was some awkward silence. It was almost like there was so much to say neither person knew where to begin.

  “Do you want some water?”

  “No, I’m good.” John looked at his sister. “So tell me how you ended up here.”

  Julia gave John the details of her trek that landed her in Arden’s path. John was proud that Julia had actually listened to him when they had talked about EMPs and the chaos that would ensue after any major disruption.

  “You did good,” he said to her.

  “You wouldn’t have thought so if you’d seen me when Arden found me. He literally saved my life.” She took a deep breath. “Everything was good after that. Ben showed up a while later, and it’s been pretty easy going since then. Well, except, I killed someone.”

  “What?” John looked at her, shocked.

  “A man came into the house. I was alone there. We weren’t on our guard as much then as we are now. We just hadn’t seen anybody, so we were complacent, I guess. Anyways, the man walked into the kitchen. He had a gun. I distracted him enough that I could get one good shot in, and I just bashed his nose in like they taught at the prison. He just died right there.”

  “Shit, Julia.” Silence fell between them. “Are you coping with it okay?”

  “Yeah, I was upset at the time, but I try not to think about it now.”

  “Sometimes people give you no other choice. You did what you had to do. I’m glad you’re okay. But how could I have ever thought differently? I should have known that even the collapse of the free world wouldn’t bring you down,” he said, laughing.

  They swung back and forth with John absently keeping the swing going with his feet. He put his arm around her shoulder. “Can we talk about this now?” he asked as he put his hand on her belly.

  “I don’t think you’re going to like what you hear,” she said, meeting his eyes.

  “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

  “No, It’s just…” Julia paused. She had absolutely no idea how to say it. “The three of us, and what soon will be the four of us, we’re a family.”

  “Why wouldn’t I like that? I’m glad you’re like family.”

  She looked at him a long time as if waiting for him to understand what she was trying to say.

  “What am I missing here, Julia?”

  “I have a relationship with both Arden and Ben. The three of us are together, not just two like a normal couple.”

  John stood. “What the fuck are you talking about, Julia!” he yelled. “What the…” John walked over to his rifle that was propped up in the corner of the porch.

  “John, no!” Julia yelled going over to him and grabbing his arm.

  “Let me handle this, Julia. Sit your ass down. I’ve heard enough from you. I’m going to hear the rest from them.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her down on the swing.

  “John! Dammit.”

  He stormed down the steps, gun in hand, and strode over to where Arden and Ben were standing. They had heard the commotion and were waiting to face John when he got there.

  Julia followed close behind. “John, calm down!”

  “What the fuck are you two doing with my sister?” John seethed.

  Chapter 22

  John raged as Julia stepped in front of him, putting her hands on his chest. “Calm down!”

  “Julia, don’t,” Arden said. “We’ll take care of this. Go back to the house. We don’t want you getting upset.”

  Julia didn’t budge.

  “Go, Julia!” Ben snapped.

  Julia gave John a glare and reluctantly walked back to the porch swing.

  “You’re taking advantage of my sister. You knew she had nowhere else to go. She had to do what you wanted her to, to survive.” John was talking through clenched teeth.

  “It’s not like that, John,” Arden said. “We love her, and she loves us.”

  “She’s happy here with us,” Ben added.

  “Bull fucking shit!” John yelled.

  “John, think about it. You know your sister well enough to know that nobody takes a
dvantage of her. She’s a hardass. She killed a man with her bare hands for God’s sake.”

  John digested what Arden had just said to him. As the wheels turned inside his head, John lowered his gun a little. “It’s just so fucking bizarre. I don’t like it.” He looked over his shoulder to where Julia was sitting. “Who’s the father of the baby?”

  “We don’t know, and we don’t care. We all will love this baby. It’s ours, all of ours,” Arden said.

  John took a breath of resignation and walked away from the men. He stopped ten feet away, not facing them. “Don’t fuck this up,” he said as he turned, pointing at them. “Don’t let this ever end with her getting hurt. I will come back and I will kill you both.”

  Arden stepped forward.

  “She won’t get hurt.”

  He raised his hand to John.

  John grudgingly shook Arden’s then Ben’s hand.

  They walked together back to the house in silence.

  “Well, let’s eat something, guys,” Julia said, looking at John cautiously and hooking her arm around him and giving him a squeeze.

  John looked down at her, shaking his head. “Only you, sis, could manage something like this.”

  They talked and ate together. John’s animosity dissipated like the wind of a tornado that has burned itself out.

  John gave them all the information he had and passed on the rumors he had heard. He warned that there were still reports of gangs raiding, raping and killing, but he thought that this was more the exception than the rule now. He told them of the massive number of casualties and his clear, stack, and bury duty that went on for months.

  It was a changed world, with new rules. Survival of the best-prepared-and-armed reigned. Survivors were now being referred to as “Generation S.” S for survivors.

  As the night progressed, John realized he liked Arden and Ben. He watched them closely, and they were good to Julia. He tried to convince himself that this was just another aspect of the changed world they were living in. Life was unconventional for the people left. Many did what they had to do to survive, and the rules of acceptability from just a year ago didn’t apply anymore.