Cost of Survival

"Fuck, fuck, Jesus, fuck, fucking good, oh yes, yes, shit, shit, shit fuck. Fucking black cock, good, so good, good black, good black fucking cock!"

The orgasm had washed away her tiredness as well. She clung to him, riding him wildly. Tevin was forced to grab hold of her hips to slow her down in case she toppled both of them over with her windmilling. Once he had steadied things, he lowered the two of them to the ground, still locked together. Now he lay full length of the ground and Celine lay on top of him. She buried her face in the side of his neck, licking and sucking on his skin, enjoying the scent of him, the taste of him. All the while her hips rocked back and forth as she straddled his cock, pushing herself on for another orgasm.

They were both getting close now, it had taken close to twenty minutes it seemed but she could tell from the widening of his eyes that he was almost there as was she. He had taken a hold of her hips a couple of minutes ago, adding his own impetus to her pace.

"Cum for me! Come on bitch, cum on my black cock. Then I am gonna cum in that mouth of yours, gonna seed that pretty whore mouth of yours!" He slapped her ass painfully as he spat the words in to her face and, unbelievably, her body obeyed him. A huge orgasm was over her, her head lurched forward, she bit into the fabric of the jacket he was wearing, the material soaking up her spit and screams.

Tevin gave her no time to relish the orgasm, he rolled her off him, grabbed her head with both hands and forced his cock into her mouth. Celine slurped on its length as he sawed it between her pursed lips. The slight tremor running the length of the shaft was the only warning she got. Even as she registered the trembling cock it began spitting sperm into her mouth like an angry black cobra. The ejaculation coated her mouth, her tongue and teeth, all plastered as he nutted.

Celine broke free, sperm dribbling from her lips as she drew in a shuddering breath. One last wad leapt from the cock head, white from black, and landed on her chin. She scooped it up quickly, shovelling it back into her mouth, unaware of his approving gaze as she did so.

In short order, the three of them had dressed again. The brothers returning to their blankets, Celine to her spot near the fire. As she closed her eyes, she felt a twinge of regret at having to part company with them in the morning but the success of the day had filled her with new found confidence. She had eaten well, had destressed like never before and had gained valuable intel on the surrounding area. Life, finally, was getting better.

Chapter 3:

The sun had climbed high into the morning sky before Celine finally woke up. She didn't wake up with a start as had become her norm, instead she lazily stretched, eyes still closed against the light and yawned lightly.

"Morning sweetness!" she heard Daniel call out.

Opening her eyes, she saw the two brothers were packed and ready to leave. However, while Tevin was carrying the deer carcass slung over one shoulder, Daniel had her backpack slung over his shoulder. Celine's hand darted towards her belt only to find the gun was gone. She looked back at the men and saw Daniel patting his own belt, the familiar butt of her gun just visible.

"You are robbing me then? Bastards!" Celine spat towards them.

"Well, kind of, I guess you'd say we were kidnapping you too." Daniel answered casually, for all the world sounding like he was simply ordering breakfast.

"Just take my stuff." Celine pleaded, "I just want you to go, I'm no use to you."

The men weren't for turning however. She begged and pleaded for a few minutes more until Daniel tired of the delay. He hauled her to her feet and led her out, heading due south.

The three of them walked for two hours without a break. Both men tried to engage her in conversation on a number of occasions but Celine remained stubbornly silent. Her eyes constantly tracked left and right, looking for a means of escape or deliverance but mile after mile she saw no sign of either.

Eventually they crested a low rise and Celine saw what appeared to be a farm below. A large two storey white washed house, a large courtyard in front and behind it. Scattered around the perimeter of the two yards was a collection of smaller buildings. One was unmistakably a barn. There also looked to be a garage or workshop of some kind and four storage sheds of differing descriptions. As they walked towards the buildings Celine saw a large figure moving at the front of the workshop.

Closer still and Daniel hailed the man Celine had seen. The stranger stepped from the shadows of the building. He was enormous, 6'5 at least and built like a professional football player with slabs of corded muscle and impressively wide shoulders. He had no shirt on, she could see a large number of scars across his chest and arms. For pants, he wore a pair of biker's leathers, matching boots on his feet. That made sense of the oil stains on his hands and what looked like a small engine on the workshop table.

There was definitely a resemblance between him and the two brothers, though it was hard to tell as the black man had a long thick beard that ended inches past the tip of his chin. The relationship between himself Daniel and Tevin was confirmed when Celine heard Tevin greet him as 'Uncle Brutus'.

He acknowledged the two younger men with a casual wave, but his eyes were fixed on Celine. His gaze didn't even shift when Tevin stepped up close beside him to engage in a whispered conversation. Whatever was being discussed, Celine was certain she was part of it. Again, she looked around for a means of escape but she had to admit to herself that whatever chance she'd had before to get away had worsened now that there was a third man involved.

Tevin finished talking and he directed Daniel towards the barn with a nod. He led Celine to the small barn door on the side rather than the large double doors. Pulling back the dead bolt that secured it, he swung it open and beckoned her to step through it. Without any other options, Celine moved forward to comply. As she passed him, he took her arm, slowing her briefly.

"Whatever else you think, you are safe here. We don't want you comin' to no harm, believe me." he said quietly.

"Yeah, sure! I mean, why shouldn't I believe you? Not like you've given me any reason to doubt you." Celine replied and she pulled her arm free stepping into the barn. Behind her, the door closed and she heard the bolt being drawn back into place.

The barn inside was airy and light. As she stepped further inside Celine saw that the center of the building was dominated by a number of camp beds, chairs and even a padded couch. Perched on different pieces of furniture were six women, all of them staring at her.

Celine stepped closer, cleared her throat and introduced herself.

"Hi, umm, I'm Celine."

There were two black women and four white women. One of the black women, she looked at thirty to be the eldest person there and she was also visibly pregnant, introduced herself as Darlene and went on to introduce the others. Candace was the other black woman; she was short and heavy and seemed uninterested in Celine once she'd gotten her name. Linda was a young redhaired woman, mid-twenties like Celine herself and pretty with copious freckles adorning her skin. Jennifer was dark haired, sallow skinned, Italian maybe. Celine wasn't sure but she caught a strong New Jersey accent from her. Deborah or Deb as she liked to be called was the youngest woman there, of an age with Tevin by Celine's estimation, a pale girl with brown hair, her face was blotchy as if she'd been crying recently.

The last woman introduced herself, her name was Anya and she was a Polish tourist who, with her boyfriend, had been trapped in the US after the Zombie plague hit. Dark eyed with long wavy black hair, she spoke good English but with a strong accent.

"So, he is dead, bitten. I was alone. I thought to walk to the ocean, maybe find a boat or a ship back to Europe. But instead, I find I am in a barn." Anya said, summing up her presence.

"How long are you here?" Celine asked the group.

"I'm here six months I reckon, though it's hard to keep track." Darlene answered, "Anya got here yesterday, the rest in between that."

"And what, where... why? What are we doing here? Why are they keeping us here?" Celine asked, directing it towards Darlene as she seemed the most willing to talk.

"You'll find out once you get 'the talk' from Caesar." Darlene said, moving over to one of the chairs, sitting down. "No point hearing it any sooner than that." She closed her eyes.

Celine remained standing, looking around at the other women. She couldn't just wait.

"What do they want?" she asked again.

Candace looked up, she shook her head pityingly and said, "What do men always want?"

Soon Tevin appeared at the barn, he called out for Linda and Deb, the two women following him without protest or question. Thirty minutes or so later they returned, obviously fresh from cooking in the kitchen, as they brought food for everyone. If nothing else at least she wasn't going to starve here, Celine thought to herself.

She caught Anya looking at her so she tried to engage the Polish woman in conversation. It turned out that she'd been wandering aimlessly and alone for weeks until the sound of a distant engine had come to her. She'd rushed towards the road in time for Uncle Brutus on his motorbike to see her. He'd taken her back to the farm. Anya at least had no delusions about what would happen next.

"It's like she said." Anya waved vaguely towards Candace who was shoving food into her mouth, "Men want sex, so that's what will happen. I don't like it. Who would? But I like dying hungry in woods even less. So, I fuck for food now I think."

Celine looked at her, she wasn't much taller than herself, maybe an inch if that. She was far thinner however. Something told Celine that she was always thin though. Coupled with her long face, large eyes and small chest, she looked fragile but to have survived as long as she had alone, she was probably anything but. Her first reaction though had been to tell her that her attitude was wrong. Then it occurred to her, hadn't she herself fucked for food the night before?

The day passed slowly, the other women kept a distance from Anya and Celine, quietly talking amongst themselves. Anya napped mostly so Celine had wandered around the barn aimlessly. She came across some old paperbacks so with no better options, she took one to a corner and read a while. At one point an engine's roar signalled another arrival. Celine had tried to find a place to look through the walls to see who had arrived but by the time she found a gap to peer through, the courtyard was empty.

In the evening Tevin appeared with food and on his heels was his uncle. Brutus stood in the doorway, still shirtless as he had been that morning but now minus the oil stains on his hands and chest. He looked at the women and then grunted "Anya". The young Polish woman got to her feet. She didn't make eye contact with anyone else but she managed to walk, stiff backed and proud, out of the barn as if it was her decision to leave and not in response to his call.

A short while later, Daniel opened the door. He looked at Celine and crooked a finger. Sighing, she wiped her mouth clean of the food she'd wolfed down and followed him outside. Daniel bolted the door shut and headed across the yard to the main house. Celine trotted along behind him and to one side.

"You know this is illegal right? I mean you all could get in so much trouble doing this. It's against the law to keep people imprisoned against their will." Celine said in a low voice as they walked.

He stood still, a look of total bafflement on his face.

"Illegal? Have you seen any law around here? Have you seen any law anywhere in the last six months?" he asked. Celine shook her head. "So, stop talking shit." he continued. "You want to know about the law? Well around here that's my old man. Remember that when you meet him."

Message delivered, he headed on. Celine followed him, silent now. As they reached the front door, they heard a loud crashing sound coming from one of the storage sheds followed by loud cursing.

"What's that fool done now?" Daniel said to himself. He looked at Celine and then opened the door. "Go in and wait till my old man comes to get you. He wants to talk to you. I gotta go see that Tevin ain't killed himself." Not waiting to see if she if she was obeying, he loped away towards the shed where curses still flew.

Celine stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind her. There was a long hallway, a big wooden staircase to the far left of her, one door to her almost immediate left, one to her right. Just past the foot of the stairs there was a second doorway to the right. There were pictures on the walls, family portraits, but not of any of the men she'd met. They were photos of a happy smiling family, white. The former owners, Celine assumed, dead or fled, who knew?

From the furthest doorway she could hear sounds so she walked quietly down the hallway to the first step on the staircase. The door was open, it was the kitchen. At the angle she was looking at she could see some presses filled with plates and canned goods lining the walls in the background. In the foreground was a kitchen table. Brutus stood in front of it. He was entirely naked now, his black scarred skin gleaming with health and sweat. Lying on her back on the table, equally naked, was Anya.

She couldn't see their faces clearly; Brutus's was in profile and Anya's face was obscured by sweat dampened tendrils of her black hair. Her legs were to either side of his waist, he was deep inside her and judging from their sweat laced bodies, had been for a while. Brutus was fucking her at an almost sedate pace, he was clearly taking his time and enjoying it. Despite the leisurely pace of his thrusts, they were still being delivered with bone wrenching force. Celine could see an almost imperceptible shift to the table legs each time he drove forward into Anya.

Anya was cursing at him, venomously and in Polish.

"Pizda! Cwel! Do dupy! Skurwiel! ...ah-uh, uh, uh, uh...Skurwysyn, Skurwysyn!"

Brutus reached out with both hands, tweaked both of her nipples simultaneously, then delivered an admonishing slap to Anya's firm 32A breasts.

"English, I told you already, speak English." he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Swine! Pig! You fucking pig! Bastard!" Anya yelled at him. She got an arm under herself, levering her torso up off the table. With her other hand she punched and hit at Brutus, her blows delivered with force. Brutus didn't react at all. Her small white fist bounced off his broad muscled chest, having as much impact as if she were merely knocking on an oak door. As she hit him Anya continued yelling.

"Bastard, Black bastard! I hate you; I hate you. Fuck you, pig fucker!"

Brutus took hold of her wrist, stopping her attack. He got hold of her other arm as well and pinned both to the table top, forcing Anya to lie back on the surface of the table. Now restrained and seeing how she hadn't hurt him at all, Anya subsided, at least she stopped yelling at him.

"Nah bitch, I don't fuck pigs. I fuck sweet bitches like you. Don't you worry, you'll be begging for this black bastard by the time we is done."

Celine shook her head, she wanted to turn away from the scene. She kept watching though, hoping to see Anya's spirit flare back to life again, she wanted the young woman to fight back. Instead as Celine watched, the only action the pinned girl did was hook one leg around Brutus's waist as a low groan seethed through her clenched teeth.

"Celine?"

Between the noise coming from the kitchen and her own rapt focus on what was happening, Celine hadn't been aware that anyone was approaching her. She jerked her head towards the voice and took a step back from the stairs so that the couple in the kitchen wouldn't see her, if they were even aware of anything happening outside their own activities.

The speaker stood on the staircase, just five steps up from where she had been standing. This must be Daniel and Tevin's father. He was as tall as his brother but with a leaner build, more reminiscent of his sons. Celine figured him to be in his mid-forties, forty-seven at the most. His head was shaved clean and he sported a neatly trimmed goatee that was flecked heavily with silver hair. He descended the last few steps, an open smile on his handsome face, another trait he shared with his two sons. His look was completed with black jeans and a black shirt, buttoned at the neck.

"Apologies I am only meeting you now." he began. "I'm Caesar and this is my home." He gave a small wave of his hand, encompassing the surroundings.

"Let's move to the front room, I have some coffee waiting for us there and I think it will be easier to talk there without any distraction." The sounds of sex were growing louder now, Anya had begun yelping and moaning, an occasional word of Polish punctuating her groans. Brutus didn't correct her again, at least not that Celine heard. She flushed, embarrassed that Caesar had caught her spying.

Caesar led her to the front room and closed the door behind them, the heavy wood cutting off the sounds from Anya and Brutus. He took a seat in a comfortable chair, a low table in front of it bearing a pot of coffee and two cups. He indicated she should take the chair opposite him. She did so and gratefully accepted the drink he passed her. She sipped it and sighed happily; she'd missed coffee.

"My sons tell me you were a nurse?" he asked her, taking a sip from his own cup.

"Yes, three years. I lived and worked in St Louis." Celine answered. There didn't seem any point in not telling him.

"Then you will no doubt find the beginning of the story I am going to tell you interesting." He paused as if trying to decide what exactly he wanted to say. Celine thought this was probably a pretence, something told her he had performed this charade, this pantomime, more than once.

"You're an intelligent woman so I don't doubt you've already reasoned out why you are here. I'm going to lay out the facts to you now. Whether or not you agree with my actions is immaterial. In the end, what I want will happen. The only choice you have is if you will follow or be led." Caesar stood up and began unbuttoning his shirt as he spoke.

"When the outbreak began, to be bitten meant you were infected. If you were infected there was just two outcomes. You turned into a Zombie, continuing the spread of the plague or you died. That's it, just those two results." He pulled off his shirt, folding it in half and dropping it onto the table.

Celine could see that he was, like his brother, festooned with scars. Some she recognised from her stint in ER. A couple of gunshot wounds, old ones. Some appeared to be knife wounds maybe, long puckered scars, some old, some relatively new. There were also some scars on one arm, the top of his right shoulder and on his side that could only have come from one source.

"You've been bitten!" Celine exclaimed in shock.

"Four times in total on three different occasions. Brutus has a similar number of bites from two occasions, the boys have been less fortunate, each bitten six times. And none of us dead or turned." He picked his shirt back up and began dressing.

"How is this possible? You could be carrying a cure! You need to get to the CDC!" Celine said, excited now. Maybe there was hope for the future. Caesar held up a hand, so she stopped talking until he had finished dressing and had sat down again.

"After the first time it happened, we had exactly the same thoughts as yourself. The four of us travelled to three major cities and two army bases. It was too late. The plague spread too fast. There was nobody alive to help, nobody alive with the knowledge of how to turn our immunity into a cure for the rest of humanity." He took another drink.