Grid Down

After a month and a half, I'd pretty much resigned my self to staying in my bunker for the foreseeable future. I wasn't too concerned about that. With Mom and Christy for company, we were doing all right as far as passing the time.

We were also learning more about Christy, and from what I saw, she was going to make a valuable addition to our little group. She'd grown up in Rapid City, but her grandfather ran a small ranch just north of there. She'd spent most of her summers on that ranch, so she knew a lot about cattle and horses and living in the country.

She'd also been married at one time. She'd married a guy in the Air Force stationed at Ellsworth two months before he was transferred to Guam. They decided it was better for Christy to stay in South Dakota since she had a good job and probably couldn't find one on Guam. They stayed in touch by telephone calls every couple of days.

He'd been there for three months when he told Christy that he'd met a teacher who taught at Guam High School and she was showing him what there was to do on Guam. She said after that call, most of what he wanted to tell her was what he and the teacher did on the weekends. That had understandably bothered Christy a lot.

"I could read between the lines of what he said about her, and I knew that they were doing more than just seeing the sights together. I called him one day when it was about ten PM in Guam. When he answered, I heard a woman's voice in the background. When I asked him who was there with him he said nobody and that he was just watching TV. When he started talking about how we had to trust each other I hung up.

"I filed for divorce the next Monday and I didn't ask for alimony or anything from him because I just wanted out. I couldn't stay married to a man who lied to me. He didn't contest it and we hadn't been married for very long so it was almost like we'd never been married at all. I heard from one of his friends that he'd decided to get out of the Air Force and stay on Guam as a civilian contractor. I suppose he's still with his teacher. I hope he's happy. I know I am."

}|{

After Christy joined us, I started getting concerned about my food supply. I'd stocked enough for one person for maybe five years, maybe more if I didn't go overboard. Now, I was feeding three people, so I was looking at running out of food in about another year and a half.

I'd been putting off hunting since I brought Mom to my bunker because I didn't want to leave her alone for very long. When she met Christy and me with my pump shotgun, that had eased some of my fears a little, and since Christy would be there, Mom wouldn't be alone. If I was going to stretch our food supply, we needed meat, so I had to go hunting.

I'd seen a few deer while I was out listening to my radio, and they were starting to show the strain of a South Dakota winter. In November, an average buck might weigh a couple hundred pounds and dress out at about a hundred pounds of usable meat. A doe would be about three fourths of that. Now, in February, I'd be lucky to get seventy pounds from a buck and fifty from a doe. That much meat would help but it wouldn't last long.

I was outside one day and listening to a ham radio operator in Texas when I saw movement off to my right. It was one of the steers that belonged to the farmer who rented Dad's farm from me. Behind him was the rest of the herd, maybe a couple hundred all together. They were heading down to the river to drink.

They did this every day and I hadn't paid much attention to them, but now, what I was seeing was a lot of meat. Each steer was almost a thousand pounds of beef on the hoof that would dress out to at least five hundred.

I knew it would be stealing, but the rancher had always checked on his herd at least once a week before, usually on Saturday when I was there. I hadn't seen the rancher since the day things went to hell. He was either dead or holed up somewhere like I was. I went back to the bunker for my 30-30.

}|{

I'd learned how to field dress an animal from Dad, but not how to cut it into steaks and roasts. As far back as I could remember, Dad had always taken his deer and the steer he killed every fall to a locker plant in town to be cut up and packaged. Mom said when they were starting out, they did that all themselves to save money and Christy said she'd watched her grandpa butcher several steers and thought she remembered what to do. Between them cutting and me carrying, it took us a whole day to get the steer cut up into manageable pieces and down in my freezer room.

I figured that steer had stretched our food supply by at least six months, and it broke the ice, so to speak. I planned on killing a steer or an older cow every winter after that. If things got turned around, I'd just pay the rancher for the beef. If they didn't, well, we needed the meat to survive and the rancher apparently didn't. About half the herd were cows, so there would be calves born the next spring. According to Christy, we'd have to watch which bull we let breed each cow, but if we kept half dozen bull calves, the herd would be self-sustaining. Over the summer, our meat would be beef stretched with rabbits, pheasants, and fish.

}|{

We settled into a sort of routine for the rest of the winter. If it was sunny, I'd take my solar panels outside to charge the battery pack while Mom and Christy made breakfast. While I was outside, I'd see if there was anything on the radio. Usually there wasn't. Even the ham radio operators seemed to have gone quiet.

After breakfast, Mom and Christy would clean up the bunker or heat some water and wash our clothes. I'd take an axe and go split firewood or drive my truck into the trees to find some dead wood to carry back to the bunker. Once a week, we'd heat enough water that the three of us could take a shower.

I was happy that Mom and Christy got along so well for two reasons. Mom really needed another woman for company and so did Christy. They spent most days helping each other and talking about everything under the sun.

The other reason was now that I wasn't working my ass off at Ellison, I had some time to think about the future, not whether the world would ever be the same again, but about my personal future. Was this all there was to my future, to spend the rest of my life in an underground bunker and then die without leaving anything behind? That's what it was looking like more and more every day.

It was good that I had Mom there to talk to about it. She understood.

"I know what you mean. I used to worry about that when your dad and I were starting out. All we had was a few cattle and each other. If we'd died, nobody would have cared. It was after you were born I understood what my legacy would be. It would be you. That's every mother's legacy - her children."

I said there wasn't much of a chance of that happening, at least in the near future, but Mom just grinned.

"What if I told you that Christy thinks you're a pretty great guy? She does, you know. She's just too modest to tell you. If what you've been telling me is true, she might be your only chance. I can tell you that you could do a lot worse. Don't you like Christy?"

I did like Christy. She wasn't movie star beautiful, but she was still pretty, and I liked her personality. Because she was wearing Mom's clothes and they didn't fit, it was hard to tell much about the rest of her, but she looked pretty normal to me. She was also pretty practical about things just like I was, and she seemed to be adapting to what we now called life.

What Mom said about Christy liking me started to bring some things into focus too. Often, even though it was really cold when I went outside to do something, Christy would put on her coat and come out with me. Sometimes she'd just sit with me and other times, if the horses were close, she'd call to them and get them to come up to her. I thought she only did this to get some fresh air, but maybe she was trying to tell me something.

I told Mom I did like Christy, but even if we decided we fit together, it wouldn't do any good because there was no way we could get married. Mom just smiled.

"In case you've forgotten what your dad told you, you don't have to be married to have children. I promised your dad I'd never tell you this, but I think he'd understand. Teddy, you were born six and a half months after your dad and I were married. We went to Vegas and he paid the minister fifty dollars to backdate the marriage license so our parents wouldn't know. With things like they are right now, I don't see why you and Christy should have to be married. She's living with you right now. If things get back to normal, you can get married then. In the meantime, you can give Christy her legacy. Your legacy too."

Well, I never thought I'd hear anything like that from my mother, but the more I thought about it, she was right. I'd read somewhere that if the electricity was out for a year, most of the people in the metropolitan areas would die either from lack of food or because of disease or riots. Anybody who was left would be the ones to repopulate the US, and they'd most likely be in the rural areas of the country. The problem was I didn't know how to ask Christy how she felt. She might think I was telling her she had to have sex with me in order to stay with us.

Mom solved that problem by asking Christy for me, though I didn't know it until Christy came out of the bunker one day while I was listening for anything on the radio. She sat down beside me and didn't say anything for a while. Then, she reached over and touched me on the arm.

"Ted, your mother asked me a funny question this morning. She asked me if I'd ever thought about having kids. I told her I wanted at least two, but that probably wasn't going to happen now. She said it could happen if I wanted it to happen. I think she was talking about you and me."

I nodded.

"She was. She had about the same conversation with me a couple days ago. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to make you think you had to do that to stay here. You don't need to worry about that, by the way. I'd never turn you out."

"That's what your mother told me too. Sometimes I wonder about what will happen in the future though. Do you think they'll get things fixed and life will get back to normal? What will we do if it doesn't?

I stopped tuning the radio and turned to Christy.

"I don't want to scare you, but we've been here for almost four months and it doesn't look to me like anything's changed. I haven't seen a light anywhere since that day, and I haven't seen anyone since that day you jumped in my truck. If there was a quick fix, the power companies would have already done it and they'd be back on line by now.

"I think the equipment damage must have been pretty extensive, and the problem is a lot of the equipment that keeps the grid running isn't sitting somewhere on the shelf. It'll have to be made from scratch somewhere where the electricity is still on because most of the manufacturing process is computer controlled. Even if the equipment does exist somewhere, that would only let a tiny little part of the grid start back up. It took almost a hundred years to get the grid to the state it was before. Getting the entire grid working again could take almost that long.

"I don't know when or if things will ever be what we used to call normal. What I do know is that if nothing changes, we'll find a way to survive here, all three of us. I don't know what that way is yet, but we'll find it."

Christy surprised me with her next statement.

"If we're going to live together for a long time, wouldn't it be natural for us to really live together? I mean, I like you and I think you like me. We seem to work together pretty well. I got married the first time based on less."

I put down the radio.

"Are you saying we should start living like man and wife?"

Christy grinned.

"Unless you don't want me."

}|{

That night, Mom went to bed but Christy stayed up until I'd banked the fire in the stove and started turning off the lights. When I asked her why she was still awake, she just smiled.

"I thought maybe tonight would be our first night together. If you don't want that, I'll go sleep with your mother, but if you do..."

Christy pulled the sweater over her head and tossed it on the table. Evidently Mom's bras were too big for Christy because she wasn't wearing one. Her breasts weren't as small as I'd thought, probably because she hadn't been holding them up with anything.

I hadn't said anything yet, so Christy looked up at me and smiled.

"You better tell me now so I can get under the blankets and not freeze."

I was pretty stunned by what she'd done, so I couldn't talk. Christy grinned again.

"I guess you don't know yet, so maybe this will convince you."

With that, she pulled down the pants she was wearing and I saw that apparently Mom's panties didn't fit Christy either. I also saw that Christy hadn't shaved since I brought her to the bunker. The pale blonde hair on her arm pits, mound and legs was hard to see, but it was there.

Christy kicked off her shoes and then walked over to the fold out couch, pulled back the blankets, and climbed in. She looked up then and held out her arms.

"Don't make me wait too long or I'll fall asleep."

That first time with Christy was an experience I will never forget. When I took off my clothes and slipped under the blankets, she snuggled up to me and hooked one leg over mine.

"Mmmm", she murmured. "This is a lot nicer than sleeping with your mother. I couldn't snuggle with her."

I had to admit that it wasn't just nice, it was great. I was feeling Christy's soft breasts against my side and her smooth inner thigh was lightly touching my cock. She felt it start to rise and ran her hand down my belly until she was holding it. Then she giggled.

"You don't know how many times I've thought about this, about what it would be like. I think I'm going to like it a lot."

That night was probably typical of any newlywed couple's first night. It was more exploration and learning than anything else. Christy surprised me by being more active than the other two partners I'd had.

She didn't take charge or anything like that. She let me set the pace, but she wasn't backward either. When I stroked her breasts, she sighed and wiggled close enough I felt the hair on her mound against my leg. When I lightly stroked her nipples, they stiffened and she reached for my cock again.

When Christy started rubbing her mound against my leg, I slipped one hand down between us until I felt hair, then gently moved it down until I felt the separation of her lips. Christy opened her thighs then, and moaned when I slipped a fingertip between her soft lips. After the moan, she whispered, "Kiss me, Ted".

When I did, for a second I felt her lips against mine, but then I felt her tongue trying to slip between my teeth. She moaned again when our tongues met, and I felt her push herself into the finger stroking between her thighs. When that caused my finger to slip down to her entrance, Christy caught her breath and gave my cock a few more strokes.

She was wetter than I had expected when I slowly slipped that finger inside her. When I pulled it back out, I stroked up to the little button at the top of her lips. When I gently rubbed the tip, Christy broke our kiss and whispered, "I think I'm ready".

She didn't roll over and spread her legs. Instead, she gently guided my cock down as she wiggled up a little further, pushed it up and down between her lips a little, and then positioned my cock head at her entrance. She pushed her body toward my cock at the same time I pushed toward her. When my cock slipped inside her a little, Christy moaned and pushed harder.

She wasn't wet enough that my cock went home on that first try, so I eased back out almost all the way and then pushed in again. My cock slipped through the tight spot just inside her and Christy caught her breath. I pulled out, then pushed back in again, and this time, kept pushing until I felt hair around the base of my cock. Christy put her hand on my ass and held me there for a few seconds, then eased away.

That's how it went for a while. Christy met my strokes and rocked herself into me at the end of every stroke. If I kissed the nipple I could reach, she'd gasp and push a little harder. When I managed to suck that nipple into my mouth, Christy murmured, "Oh God, I forgot what that does to me."

I'd forgotten what it feels like to have my cock buried inside a very willing woman as well. It was either that or I'd never been with a woman as willing as Christy. I knew I'd never been with a woman who was as actively engaged or who was getting to her peak so fast. I was getting there really fast too. It had been so long that all that desire had built up until it was about to explode.

Christy got there first. I was slowly stroking away when she gasped, then held her breath, and started rocking herself over my cock. That put me in a position where I couldn't hold back anymore. I groaned when Christy cried out and started to shake as the first spasm raced through her. Seed flew out the tip of my cock and deep inside her. I pulled back out a little, but Christy held my hip and gasped as another wave shook her.

That happened twice more before I was laying there and panting and felt my cock being squeezed inside Christy's writhing body as little contractions kept making her jerk. Even when she calmed down, she didn't pull away. She held me tight inside her, kissed me sensuously, and then whispered, "I think this is going to work out just fine."

I can't honestly say when I fell asleep or if Christy moved off me after I did. When I woke up the next morning, she was in the same position, one leg over me, and with her breasts against my side. When I opened my eyes, I saw she was awake.

Christy fluttered her eyelashes at me and grinned.

"Your mom will be up pretty soon, so we probably shouldn't start anything, but I wish we could."

She kissed me then, just a soft kiss, and then got up and dressed. By the time Mom came out, Christy had the stove warmed up and the coffeepot was percolating. Mom looked at me, winked, and then smiled. She knew what we'd done, and she was happy about it.

}|{

Our lives changed after that day. Christy and I got closer every day. It wasn't the sex, though that was fantastic. It was because I let myself see her as a woman I was starting to love instead of just a woman I'd accidentally rescued from some serious trouble. I guess it was what I overheard my grandma once say - that in her day, people got married to share the work and have children and that love came later.

We didn't make love every night. It depended upon what we did during the day. If Christy and Mom were doing the laundry or if I was splitting more firewood, we were usually pretty tired and just went to sleep. Whether we made love or not, I was starting to realize I could never let Christy go.

}|{

By May, I started thinking about our food supply again. We were still doing all right, thanks to the beef I'd killed, but what we really needed was some fresh vegetables. Christy had insisted we take a vitamin C and vitamin D tablet every day, but she said fresh vegetables and fruit would be better. I remembered that Mom had always had a garden and that's what we needed now. When I told her about my seeds, Mom agreed.

"If you can dig up a garden, we can raise enough vegetables to see us through the next winter. I used to can a lot of what I raised in my garden. I can't can anything here, but I used to dry tomatoes outside in the sun. We could try drying things like green beans and peppers. Things like beets and carrots and squash will keep all winter if you keep them cool.