Dan and the Bottle Ch. 07

Several days later, in the Great hall of the cave, many of the adults had gathered; some didn't seem to know what, exactly, was going on.

Dan stepped to the podium, and when things had settled down a bit, he began to speak.

"I know you're all uncomfortable; I know some of you are probably frightened. I know I sure as hell am." That brought a few nervous chuckles and nods of agreement.

"There have been some questions about what's going on outside.... all I can say for sure is that, yes, there has been a war. According to the readings we're getting, the level of radioactivity outside of these walls is high enough that, if we stepped outside, even for a few minutes, we'd be dead in a week."

People looked at each other, utter dread in their eyes. The noise level climbed for a few moments, then tapered off.

"We are completely safe in here.... we will have to stay in our underground home for quite a few years, perhaps as long as a century, but we will survive. The walls and rooftops are covered in a thick coating of lead--impervious to the radiation outside... not to mention the dozens of feet of earth and rock it's buried under. Nobody out there knows the location of this bunker; now you know why I asked that you never talked about it, while we were building, supplying, and populating it."

He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in.

"You now know, too, why I insisted on stockpiling so many tons of supplies. We are stocked for at least a hundred and fifty years, and I hope it's enough... though our great-great-grandchildren may find the stockpile of toilet paper running a bit low."

This was met, at least, with a bit of nervous laughter.

"For now, though, all we can do is to go about our day to day lives. We must go on, living and dying, teaching our kids and tending our gardens and our animals, learning and researching, spending our time as we always have. When the day comes that it is safe to once more return to the surface, we will be ready to repopulate this part of the earth."

His final words were met with a smattering of applause and even a few cheers. It was the reassurance everyone needed, and he knew the calming effect would radiate outward to take in the young people and the elderly that had not turned up tonight.

Two hours later, in their apartment, as Barb and Dan lay in bed together, Barb lay her head on his shoulder, contented in the contact.... they were together; that was enough for her.

"Honey?"

He turned to look at her, gazing into her eyes. He remembered, idly, that when he'd first seen those eyes, he'd thought that it would be all too easy to get lost in them.

"Hmmm?"

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing? I mean, are you really sure bringing kids into this world is the right thing to do?"

He nodded. "When things settle down, we're going to need to be ready to bring the earth-at least, this part of it- back to life, hun. I built this place so that humanity could have a chance to go on... so that the human race wouldn't die out completely. It's why we're here."

"Well, you and I will be doing our part." she replied, with a bit of a grin.

It took a moment for the words to sink in. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say it's a good thing Doc Michaels recruited a group of Gynecologists and Obstetricians before we sealed the place."

The words sank in; his eyes popped open, wide, and he stuttered out.... "Are... are you... are you sure?!"

She smiled and nodded. "Doctor Willis says I'm about a month along. Matter of fact, I'm not the only one."

Dan was now smiling widely. "Oh, really? Who else?"

"Charlene, for one... at about the same time, as a matter of fact. Sally Mitchell, Willis thinks she got pregnant on that trip they took to Hawaii.... Bert Crenshaw, that woman they met there, in Hawaii, you know, her hubby's a veterinarian? The funny thing is, both of them, Sally and Bert, aren't sure which of their husbands got them pregnant."

He raised an eyebrow at this, and she giggled.

"They kinda.... had themselves a little 'sex party' in Hawaii.... the way Sally was talking, I guess they had a pretty wild afternoon. Both her and Bert got it in two holes at once, from what she was saying... and Sally picked up a taste for pussy, too."

He chuckled at this. "Giving you some ideas, dear?" he asked, with a rogue's grin.

"I don't think so.... there's only one guy I want sexin' me up!"

He puffed out his chest, grinning, and replied "Well, Hell, I KNEW that! I meant are there any Ladies catchin' your eye?"

"Ooooh, you're gonna pay for that one, white boy!" She shouted, jumping on top of him, slapping him on both shoulders playfully.

He grabbed her hands, rolling her over until their positions were reversed, his hardening cock finding it's way between her full tits.

"Am I, now? Will that be before or after I titty fuck you, dear?"

"Not until you fuck me, baby.... I need a little lubricatin', Ya know!"

He knee-walked back, until he was between her spread legs. "Thought you'd never ask, Honey.... but first..."

He dove, face first, between her thighs, his tongue aimed squarely at her already unfurling lips, driving his tongue between them and licking upwards, as her hands reached down to tangle in his hair.

She scratched at the back of his head for a second, her long fingernails reaching through to his scalp, and he stopped to look up at her, his tongue moving in and out of her hole.

She sighed as he continued, wondering how she had gotten so lucky; her hubby was a Superb pussylicker.

He shifted his tongue to her hard little clit, licking circles around it, and sent her over the top, a flood of juice washing over his chin and cheeks. He kept his tongue moving, between her hole and her clit, and soon, her moans blended together into a nonstop song.

Now her orgasms were coming almost nonstop, and his face was drenched, his mustache soaked through. He gave her clit one last lick, and keeping her legs atop his shoulders, sat up on his knees, keeping her ass almost on the mattress and sliding his hard cock into her to the hilt in one hard thrust.

"OOOOHH! That's it, Baby, right there! Fuck meee honeeee!"

He picked up a rhythm, fucking her hard and fast, slamming into her again and again, until he couldn't keep it going anymore and washed her insides with his cum. Even then, he kept thrusting, slower now, and to both of their surprise, his hard on didn't wilt... he pulled out of her suddenly, flipping her over on her stomach, spread her cheeks, fitted the head of his dick to the small rosebud of her anus, and drove the first few inches up her ass.

"Oh, God, babe, take it easy!"

He gave her a few moments, then gave another push, until he was almost all the way in, then pulled back and drove in again, picking up speed as her rectum relaxed to recieve him. Soon she was bucking her hips back at him, crying out as he slammed into her, his balls slapping against her gaping pussy lips and clit at every stroke, until he finally lost control again, releasing another load of cum deep in her bowel.

"Oh! Dan, I love you.... Oh, God... Baby, you DO know how to take care of me!" She was straining to catch her breath, as was he, and he pulled out of her ass and lay back down beside her.

He lay on his back beside her, sliding an arm around her shoulders, and drew her to him, her head laying on his chest. Within a few minutes, she was fast asleep.

The next day, he was up early, after a call from Dave Hughes.... it seemed a few of the buildings furthest out weren't getting enough oxygen. They were a bit too far from the forest and farm chambers that supplied much of their oxygen. The simplest solution was to pipe oxygen in from one of the forest chambers, but it would take a few days to get all of the plumbing in place. They had plenty of three inch pipes and various angled connecters to go around, and Brad could set up a fan at the intake end to force fresh air into the pipes and send it through the thousands of feet of pipe to reach this end of the complex. They added a number of potted plants to supplement the oxygen supply and eat up the excess carbon dioxide.

Within a week, everything was in place, and the air was flowing, and air pumps in the basements of the several buildings were sending the carbon dioxide back to the forest chambers, creating a cycle.

Tom Jennings came up with the idea of running the small fans from solar panels, which picked up energy from the lights in the forest chambers and lights that were on timers in the basements. They added large 'Gel-Cell' batteries to keep the fans running when the lights were out, and the cycles were complete.

Over the next nine months, Barb, both of her sisters, Sally Mitchell, 'Bert' Crenshaw, and a number of other women around the complex gave birth; Barb got her wish all at once, with a boy and a girl, Dan Junior and Debbie; Charlene had a little boy, who they named James, after her father, Marlene had a little girl, who her and Ron named Barbara Jean, Sally had a son, who was named Brad Jr., and Jim and Bert had twins, named Jimmy junior and Bradley.

Over the years, they continued as they had begun, living, giving birth and dying; growing their own food and raising their livestock, fishing in the lake chamber and hunting in the forest chambers, learning and teaching their children and keeping the old knowledge alive.

There were both driving and flight simulators, and at least five people, at any given time, were trained to drive the few dozen tanks that were still sitting in one of the garage chambers. The radiation counts were closely monitored, but it would be nearly two hundred years before it would be safe to step outside again.

In the meantime, they practiced strict population control, holding the population to under four thousand people, in order to make their stored supplies go as far as possible, and enacted strict bag limits on the game animals in the forest chambers and in the underground lakes, to ensure that there would continue to be venison, fish, lobster, crab, and other game foods.

One group of young people started using some live catch traps they found in one of the warehouse chambers to catch rabbits, racoons, and squirrels, putting them in homemade hutches and cages to breed them, which, quite naturally, meant another source of both meat and furs for making clothing. Rabbit stew soon became a staple in many diets in the complex.

Children spent much of their time reading; it was not an uncommon sight to see fifteen or twenty kids in the library or the great hall with a book in their hands, and the literacy rate in the Cave was always a hundred percent.

The military tradition amongst many of the families was kept alive, as well, and for many of the kids, being taken down to the target range was a treat. At times, competitions were held, with small wooden plaques being handed out to the winners. The descendants of the numerous Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, and Recon Marines kept the traditions alive, practicing their skills at camoflage, moving silently, infiltration, and surviving in the forest with no more than a knife, the clothes on their backs, and a few dozen feet of parachute cord.

Every half a year or so, the kids would go to the target range for a different purpose, one that not many found so appealing; digging out the lead from the huge berm that provided the backstop for the bullets that they practiced with. This was taken back to the metal shops, where it was melted down and cast into bullets for reloading into the saved brass and fresh brass casings, which Dan had bought by the billions. They had, literally, a warehouse full of various types of ammunition, but they saw no reason to waste it, when they couldn't be certain there would be sources to replenish their supplies once they left the Cave.

By the count of those who kept track of such things, the year was 2175; Jimmy Archer was in the control room when the radiation detectors first dipped down into the green range--the range where it could be deemed safe to go outside. He watched the meter intently, and it ticked back up into the gray area, which meant it was what his great grandfather would have called 'borderline'; then it dropped back into the green again. He decided to hold this information to himself for the time being, for perhaps another month.

He knew, from the stories passed down from his father, grandfather, and great grandpa Dan, that this entire area had sustained no direct hits; further out, where the bombs had gone off, the radiation counts might well be much higher. As the current leader of the colony, it was his responsibility to keep his people inside until going outside was deemed safe.

He spent the evening going through his great grand dad's notes, looking for anything he could use to tell him a bit more about the surrounding area, knowing that the complex had quite a few features built in that great grandpa hadn't told anyone else about. Finally, he hit upon something that looked promising.

He was interrupted in his reading by his young wife, Jan.

"Honey, are you coming to dinner, or what?"

"Be right there, dear... "

"C'mon, you can read any time... the kids haven't seen you in three days. I think they're starting to wonder what Daddy looks like."

"I know, hun.... there's just been so much to do, lately... Hell, that waste problem took five of us a week, just to dig out. "

"I know.... I had to smell it when you came in, remember? It's a good thing you wore your old clothes.... I'd have hated to have to throw away new ones."

"Yeah.... but the compost piles got a big boost out of it. It'll pay off in the long run, those piles fertilize the farms that feed us."

At the dinner table, he saw that his youngest son was looking a bit puffy. He shot his wife a look, raising an eyebrow.

"Bee stings... Doc Martin gave him a shot of something, says he should be fine in a few days."

"Stings? More than one? What, did he get too close to a hive?"

Jan shook her head. "He was playing baseball, in that clearing in forest chamber three. The bees were swarming... I guess they had too many in that hive. George Loomis set up another one for them, I think he's going to move it to chamber five when they all settle in, in a few days."

"Good, we can use the extra honey production. Ever since George found out there was a way to make Mead, there's been a bit of a shortage."

"Yeah, but have you tasted that mead? Oh, my God, it's good!"

He grinned.... "Yeah, I have. Did he drop some off or something?"

"Yes... it's in the liquor cabinet.... we'll have a little, after the kids go to bed."

"Jeanne Chisholm is bottling a fresh batch of whiskey, too... says it's been aging in the barrel for the past ten years."

"I know... God, listen to us! We sound like a couple of drunks!"

He grinned back at her. "Nothin' wrong with appreciating a good drink from time to time, dear.... especially if it makes your panties drop!"

She gave him a small frown, turning her eyes to the kids for a minute to tell him it wasn't appropriate dinner conversation, then started dishing up food onto plates.

He looked over the table before him.... venison roast, from the big buck he'd taken, earlier this year, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked beans, and cornbread. "What's the occasion, Babe?"

"Nothing special.... I just didn't feel like leftover rabbit stew tonight.... the dogs got the last of that."

He looked to his other side; Rex, his Rottweiler/Lab mix, was sitting barely a foot away, drooling, looking up at his master hopefully.

"Rex, go lay down. If there's anything left, you'll get first crack at it."

The big dog looked at him with an 'I'll hold you to that' look, wagged his tail, and retreated to his usual post by the stove, laying down with his head on his paws, and sighed contentedly. He knew, in the way dogs seem to know, that his master was as good as his word.

Later, over coffee and blueberry pie, his wife asked him a question he hadn't seen coming.

"Babe, have you ever thought about having more kids?"

"Hadn't really thought about it, no... why? Do you want to?"

"Welllll..... It's not really a matter of 'want to', at this point..."

He looked up sharply at this. "You mean..."

"Remember that night the condom broke, about two months ago?"

"You're kidding. It was just that one time!"

"Apparently, once was enough."

His oldest, Jenny, was looking back and forth between them like watching a tennis match. "Mommy's pregnant?"

Jan nodded. "Yup.... you're going to have another little brother, or sister."

Jim was grinning ear to ear by this point.

Jenny wasn't quite so enthused... "Oh, no.... you mean I'm gonna be stuck babysitting?"

Jim grinned at this, deciding to dig the needle in a little.

"Oh, not just babysitting... you forgot about changing diapers, midnight feedings, burping....."

"EEwwww!"

Jan frowned at her husband a little, but couldn't hold it.

Jim took his last bite of pie, washed it down with his last swallow of coffee, and sat back with a contented sigh. Suddenly, a memory popped into his head.

"Honey, I almost forgot.... Leeanne Bertoni caught up to me earlier this afternoon.... said for me to ask you if you and the kids are up for a bit of berry picking tomorrow. The raspberries are ripe, in forest one, and she wants to get as many as she can before the birds and the animals get them all."

"Oh, lord.... we still have a ton of them in the dehydrated storage."

"I think she's going to make jam out of this batch."

"Well, that's ok, then.... but me and the kids are already going to be busy.... coffee beans and peanuts are both getting ripe, too, and the apples are about to start falling off the trees. We're going to have a bumper crop of those, too."

"If there are too many, drop off a few bushels in the forest chambers.... the deer love 'em."

"Good idea.... the deer are getting a bit on the thin side.... need to fatten 'em up, then send a few guys in to harvest a few. There are a few too many right now, and they're eating the grass down to the roots."

He nodded. "Make a note... tell Rod to drop off a few bags of oats and wheat, and maybe half a dozen bushels of corn, too.... small piles, maybe a dozen or so, spaced out in each of the forest rooms, so all the deer get a shot at them."

He stroked his chin for a moment, and added. "Once a week, for about the next two months or so... then we'll have a lottery for who gets to hunt them."

"I've got a better idea.... there are a few guys who haven't gotten the permits in the past three years... how about giving them first crack at them?"

"Sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on it, babe.... go ahead and check the records, see who you think will benefit most, and get back to me with a short list. Anything else I should know about?"

"The rest will wait, for now." She replied, diverting her eyes, once again, to the kids, indicating that whatever the 'rest' was, it wasn't for their ears.

He nodded, yawning a bit. "Well, dear, I'm going to lay down for a bit, it's been a long day. Wake me up in a few hours, huh?"

Jeanne Chisholm sat at the dining table with her husband Rod and their son, Max.

"Honey, did you find me any more bottles in the storage room?"

"Yes, dear.... they've already been dropped off in the still room. Why, do you have something ready for bottling?"

She nodded. "It's been in the barrel for the past ten years, maturing... and this batch has a bit of a twist to it, too...."

He lifted an eyebrow. "What did you do now?" His wife was well known for 'experimenting'.

"Well..... remember that year when we had that huge crop of the Jamaican?"

His eyes grew wide... he had a feeling he knew where this was going.