Mad World - Descent Ch. 01

"Yes," Esmeralda added, "Very thoughtful."

I couldn't help the blush I gave them in return. Esmeralda gave me a peculiar smile and then led her daughters to the opposite showers from Nathan and me. That was as private as it got.

Once everyone was wet and lathered I said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Make sure you wash everything. Have someone wash your back, and make sure you wash your hair."

After our showers, I showed everyone where the towels were. Clothed only in our towels, everyone followed me to the workshop back out near the garage. Once there, I found the rad meter, and starting with Esmeralda, I checked everyone to see if we were giving off abnormally high rad values. Thankfully, everyone was normal.

There was a collective sigh of relief at that. Then, I took everyone to the residence on the second level upstairs. Three shipping containers with the interior walls cut out and welded together made up the general common area. Off to one side in a fourth container was a galley kitchen and two welded shipping containers beside it was the mess hall. On the opposite side of the common area was a long hallway made up of three containers welded long-wise and two more at the end making a T-shape. This was, by far, the largest section of the compound, and the most expensive. Down the hallway, on both sides, there were doors. With twelve children and counting, I had wanted there to be plenty of expansion. So, the very first door to the right was Eleanor's and my bedroom.

Our room was a single container. Built down one side was my gun cabinet, the closets, a desk, and the queen-size bed at the end with a walking path down the opposite wall.

After our bedroom, every door down the hallway and on the outside of the crossbar of the T were single containers with several bunk beds with gym lockers in between for personal effects and clothes.

It all felt so huge now without Eleanor or the girls. I had built the compound to be multi-generational if needed, and with enough space to sleep three families of twenty. Which, if Eleanor was able, was exactly where we were headed.

"This is my room," I said as I pointed to the door. From here every door is a room. Pick one and make yourselves comfortable.

"You said you had clothes that we could put on until we checked our clothes for contamination," Fernanda said.

"I did," I replied with a nod and pointed down the hallway, "I'm sorry but there are no bras. With all my girls constantly growing and changing it was impossible to stock current bra sizes. However, there are panties, pants, shirts, socks, and shoes. Though some of them are old. We put the youngest children closest, so if you want larger-sized clothes go to the furthest rooms and try things on until you find your size. Nathan, we put you in the very last room on the left wing of the T.

"Thanks, Dad," He said as he started for his room.

Marisol and Fernanda followed Nathan, Marisol more closely than her sister. She even took Nathan's hand. Fernanda looked back over her shoulder at her mother, until I realized that she was looking back at me. It made my skin goose once I realized that, and I wished I hadn't. Once the kids were gone Esmeralda turned to me and asked, "May I check your wife's clothing to see if any will fit me?"

"No!" I snapped automatically without meaning to.

Esmeralda's expression went from shocked to cool to understanding in just over a minute, and then she smirked and apologized, "I'm sorry Jonathan. I forgot that I'm not the only one who has lost a spouse today. I will go."

I wanted to reach out and say I was sorry, but she was already several feet away, and so I just held my tongue. Feeling like an idiot, I went into my room and put on some clean clothes. Once I was done, I opened the door and found Esmeralda, again.

She looked up at me and smiled. It was obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra, and then she pulled up the bottom of her t-shirt and showed that she wasn't wearing panties. She was blushing profusely as she did it and asked, "I am sorry, Jonathan, but may I please check if your wife's panties will fit me?"

I looked down the hallway and found only Fernanda watching us.

"Sure," I said as I held the door open for Esmeralda, "Also, I am sorry for snapping at you. It was a thoughtless reaction. I-- I feel like I am cheating on my wife when I am with you, and the thought of letting you into our bedroom... Well, I spoke without thinking, I'm sorry."

Esmeralda had one of those secretive smirks that all women seemed to perfect immediately after marriage. It was a smirk that I had seen Eleanor make a million times. Her long dark brown hair was still wet and she had it pulled over one shoulder which dampened her t-shirt making it semi-transparent over her right breast. She didn't seem to notice. Her areolas and nipples were pink. A soft light pink like her daughters which I tried very hard to not think about!

I opened the drawer that my wife's panties were in and started to turn away when Esmeralda placed her hand on my arm. I stopped and looked at her hand and then into her dark eyes when she said, "You are a good man, Jonathan. A kind man. I can tell. My husband was not a kind man. He was harsh. My father sold me to him when I was thirteen for three goats and a cow. I have known nothing else my whole life, and now you have killed him. I do not blame you. He was--crazy. Screaming about the end of the world and all of us going to heaven. He was going to kill us. Still, he was my husband. I hope you will take responsibility for that."

Once she finished, she turned to the drawer, pulled out a rather scandalous black lace g-string, and found the tag. She read it and nodded before bending over and stepping into them. It looked good on her. Like her daughters, she didn't have pubic hair, somehow. I wasn't about to ask.

"What do you mean when you say you hope I take responsibility?" I asked.

Esmeralda straightened up and looked at me before pulling her t-shirt off leaving her in only the g-string as she said, "I realize this is too soon for you, Jonathan. You still hold out hope that your wife is alive. I do not have that hope. I know my husband is dead. That said, my daughters and I were his property to do with as he willed. You killed him. So, now we are your property to do with as you will."

"This is America," I objected, "We don't do slavery! You aren't property!"

"America is dead, like my husband," Esmeralda said as she found a tank top and pulled it on over her head, "Women have always been property. First of our fathers, and then our husbands. Sometimes there is love to accompany it."

"No!" I denied as I shook my head adamantly, "You're no slaves. You're not property. You're free women!"

"I don't want to be free!" Esmeralda replied just as passionately, "I don't know what that is! I want security! I want to eat! I want to sleep knowing that I am protected! With you, I believe I will also be valued, and one day, after you accept that your wife is dead, possibly loved!"

"I can't promise that," I said, but then amended, "But, as long as you and your girls stay here you will be safe. And as long as you help out, you eat what I eat."

"Thank you," Esmeralda said and then performed a hasty curtsy while holding out the bottoms of her tank top like it was a skirt.

"You're Mexican aren't you?" I asked suddenly.

"Argentinian," Esmeralda corrected.

"How old are you and your daughters?" I asked.

"I am thirty-three," She answered, "Fernanda is twenty, and Marisol is eighteen."

"I think Marisol likes Nathan, and he likes her," I said, "Would you be opposed to a union between the two?"

"We are yours to do with as you wish," Esmeralda replied.

"Yes, you've told me," I said, "But I am not your late husband. I want to know how you feel and what you think."

Esmeralda's smirk turned up into a grin before she said, "I think it is a good union." Then gave me a shrewd look and asked, "Will you give Fernanda to him as well?"

"What? No! Why?" I gasped in shock.

Esmeralda shrugged, "There's only the two of you and three of us. When will Fernanda ever have an opportunity to meet a decent man now?"

Esmeralda let me mull over what she said as we left my room. Both Fernanda and Marisol were able to find clothes to wear. Only Esmeralda was left wearing only a g-string and a tank top until we could make sure her clothes were clean.

When Nathan saw her he moaned, "Oh for fucks sake! She's just like mom!"

"What?" I asked.

"Mom!" Nathan explained, "Was always walking around the house naked! All the girls did!"

"And you didn't appreciate the site?" I chuckled.

"Dad!" Nathan gasped, "Eww! She is my mother and they are my sisters!"

I just laughed, then waved him and the girls to come with me as I explained our next task, "Nathan go get the rad-meter. We are going out to see what's what with our clothes and foodstuffs."

Nathan shot one last glance at Esmeralda and left with Marisol following him. Fernanda followed me and Esmeralda.

"I will organize the kitchen," Esmeralda said, "As long as I live here you do not need to worry about cooking. That is my job."

That left me and Fernanda heading to the garage by ourselves.

"Mama talked to you?" Fernanda asked.

"She did," I replied.

Fernanda didn't say anything more for a few seconds. She, apparently, had expected more of an answer. Finally, she asked, "So we can stay?"

"For as long as you like and contribute to the running of the compound," I said.

That kept the girl quiet for a few seconds as we waited for Nathan and Marisol. Then she asked, "What did Mama say, exactly?"

I turned to her. She was a beautiful girl. Very beautiful. I searched her expression for a hint of her thoughts and feelings. What I saw was worry.

"Your mother says that you three are my responsibility now. Since I killed your father, her late husband," I said, "She says that you're my property now and that I can do with you as I wish. What do you think of that?"

The way I figured it, Fernanda and Marisol were as American as me, so surely she would not put up with being called property at all. I fully expected her to be outraged and cuss me in English and Spanish. Instead, she said, "Marisol is besotted with Nathan. Has been for a long time. The guy next door kind of thing, you know? As for me, I am not in love with him. How old is he?"

"Twenty-one," I replied.

Fernanda nodded and smiled at me as she purred, "He is too young for me."

"He's a year older than you," I replied.

Fernanda's smile deepened, "Too young. I like a man that has--seasoning. A man that knows himself and what he wants."

"I'm forty-eight," I said thinking that would put her off. By the look in her eyes though, it didn't.

"Perfect," She purred as she took a step toward me, "You are a man that knows what he wants then."

"I want my wife and children," I said softly, though not harshly.

Fernanda's smile took on a sad aura as she replied, "You would not be a good man if you didn't."

Then she took a step back and said, "I'm young. I can wait. I know my mother has the first claim to you anyway."

"Second," I corrected, "Esmeralda has the second claim to me. My wife has the first claim. You will be third, I guess. Much good it will do. I don't know if my wife is dead. I don't accept that outcome, yet. Either way, you will be older than me, and unable to bear children by the time your mother dies."

Fernanda chuckled and tossed her hair as Nathan and Marisol came striding in with the rad-meter. She took a quick step forward so that she was very close to me.

"Civilization is gone," She said, "and so is monogamy. I fully intend to have you alongside my mother just as soon as you accept your wife is dead and you mourn for her!"

Nathan stopped cold and looked at me, and then at Fernanda. His expression was completely shocked. Feeling guilty, feeling like I was cheating on Eleanor, I tried to explain, "Nathan, it is not what you think. Esmeralda and Fernanda are simply making their feelings known to me. Just like Marisol has done with you."

"I'm not married, dad!" Nathan growled, "We don't even know if mom is alive, or not. Maybe she is! Even if she's not, it's only been a few hours. Can't you wait a few days, maybe a few months before jumping the bones of the next woman, or women, that you come across!"

"Son!" I said, but Nathan thrust the rad-meter into my hands before turning and stomping off.

Marisol gave her sister a fleeting glance and then followed Nathan out of the garage. We didn't see them again for the rest of the day. Not until dinner.

Fernanda helped me scan the clothes, the tools, and the food. Only the clothes we had been wearing would have to be disposed of. The food and the other packed items were in good condition. Together with Fernanda and Esmeralda, we organized all of the cookware, dinnerware, and silverware. We packed the cellar with all of the food and I explained how I designed it and insulated it so that it required minimal energy to keep it cold.

That night Esmeralda made us a native Argentinian dinner. She made sure that it was just enough that we all ate but there were no leftovers. Afterward, we went to the common room. I walked over to the stereo and turned it on. I set it to scan for active broadcasts and everyone sat down and talked softly. Esmeralda and Fernanda sat close together and whispered as they shot glances in my direction. Nathan and Marisol went off by themselves. And that left me to sit down beside the radio and remember Eleanor and our lovemaking just that morning.