Mutual Protection

Author's note: I wrote this story in 2022 for a story writing contest on another website, with "(post) apocalyptic" as the mandatory theme (writing prompt). The version you see here has been slightly adapted to fit within Literotica's rules, but is otherwise unchanged.

Chapter 1: Alert

"Oh no! Why now?"

The beeping sound and the flashing red light were clear signals. Something had been reported. Something urgent.

If Melvin had learned anything in the past five years as standby emergency crew, it was that urgent was never good news.

There was only one thing worse than an urgent alert. And that was an urgent alert just 30 minutes before the end of Melvin's shift.

Ten more minutes. Ten more quiet minutes was all he had needed. If the alert had been 10 minutes later, he could have ignored it for 5 minutes, faking a restroom break, and then have his release handle it. Now he would have to do it himself.

Melvin tapped the screen to shut down the wailing sound of the alert and get the details on the screen.

A solar panel had reported a malfunction.

Of course it was a solar panel. It always was a solar panel. Those fucking solar panels just never could be arsed to keep working without constant care. Melvin was already convinced what he would find. Sloppy work from the regular maintenance crew. All maintenance staff should be forced to run standby shifts a week per month. That would teach them to do their job properly.

Melvin quickly phoned his house computer.

"Yes, Melvin?" the friendly sounding artificial voice inquired.

"I'll be home later. Delay meal preparation and room preheating for now. I will call again when I know more."

"Confirmed!" the voice replied.

Melvin knew his house would switch back into energy saving mode. He quickly typed "On it" on the keyboard, and left the alert and that quick note visible on the screen, so that his release would know where he was.

He sighed. Time for the most dreaded part of his work. But also the part that was the sole reason for his excellent pay.

Time to go Outside.

Chapter 2: Outside

Melvin stepped into the exit area. He undressed and put his clothes, neatly folded, in his locker. Undressing was not a strict requirement, but definitely recommended. The chemicals in the decontamination shower were harsh enough on the body already. Clothes simply were ruined. So nobody ever took them. Why bother?

After getting into his protective suit, Melvin took the time to carefully check that it was fully sealed. He closed the helmet and briefly under-pressurized the suit to double-check there were no leaks anywhere. He then stepped into the airlock and waited for the clean air to be pumped out. A hissing sound indicated that Outside air flowed in, and then the door opened.

Melvin stood still for a minute or so, to let his eyes could adjust to the bright sunlight. He was in an enclosed area, not roofed. Even though the protective suit shielded Melvin from all radiation, he always felt uncomfortable there, knowing he was surrounded by Outside air and directly exposed to sunlight. He quickly set foot to the small parking area and stepped into one of the available crawlers.

With the cabin door closed, he felt at least a bit more protected. Nonsense of course, The air in the vehicle was just as contaminated as outside of it. But at least the burning sun didn't shine directly on Melvin. He knew his fear was unwarranted, he knew the sun was probably the least dangerous element Outside, but he had long ago just decided to give in to his irrational feelings.

Being Outside was extremely dangerous, after all. Nobody in their right mind would ever go there, not if they could avoid it at all. Outside was a forbidden place for most people. And those who had to go Outside for their job were allowed their little oddities. How else would they handle the pressure?

Time for the final checks. Battery level was at 100%. The crawler's canon was loaded, with enough spare ammo to shoot his way through at least five mutant raids, if needed. Two rifles and a semi-automatic handgun in the weapon rack, all with plenty of extra bullets, completed the equipment. He was ready to go.

As Melvin started the engine, the outer gate of the parking lot opened. Melvin quickly drove the vehicle out of the gate, so that it could close again. The instruction to leave the gate open as short as possible was drilled into their brains. Every so often, mutants would try to find a way Inside. The shorter the gate was open, the lower the risk.

Melvin looked around him. Apart from the protective walls surrounding Base, right behind him, he saw nothing but barren wasteland. It was hard to imagine that, just a few decades ago, this had been so different. He had seen the pictures of North Carolina before the Disaster, and they looked nothing like the land now.

"Life is as it is," he said to himself, the mantra that was always repeated when people reminisced the old days. Those days were gone. He lived now and here. And now and here, he had to fix a solar panel. Better get going.

Chapter 3: Crash

Melvin touched the screen to activate the computer. A map of the area lit up, and Melvin quickly tapped the location of the failing solar panel to set the course. The familiar whirring sound of the engine told him that energy was flowing to the circuits and powering the vehicle. Soon it sped up, until it had reached its maximum speed of 50 miles per hour. Melvin sat down on the bench. He knew that the trip would take over three hours. He closed his eyes and tried to doze off.

A loud screeching sound ripped him out of his slumber. A sudden bump and then drop of the crawler thrust him off the bench. As his body was thrown hard against the manual control of the gun, he heard a ripping sound, as he felt a sharp pain on his chest. Then for a short while he seemed to float in midair.

In a short moment that seemed to stretch to infinity, he looked out of the small peeping glass and noticed that the vehicle, allegedly perfectly safe, was falling down a deep canyon. Just a split second later, he saw that the fabric of his suit was ripped. The large gash in his right shoulder, leaking blood, seemed to be his lesser concern. The right arm sleeve of his suit was ripped open, and he realized his arm -- no, the entire inside of the suit! -- was now exposed to the poisoned atmosphere of the barren Outside.

And then, still in the same fraction of a second, Melvin realized he was about to smash into the rocks below him. Which, given the circumstances, was not even a bad thing. If death was his fate anyway, then a quick splat on unforgiving rock was probably a much better way to go than the slow and painful process caused by radiation and pollution.

"Sad," he thought, "that I will now never know the winner of this year's Kettleball cup."

And then he realized that, for someone about to die, that was a terrible last thought. Why didn't he see his life flash by, as all books told him would happen? He should be thinking about his friends, not about Kett...

A loud screeching sound of metal ripping apart on the rocks. Pangs of intense pain in all parts of his body.

...

...

...

And then... blissful... nothingness.

Chapter 4: Alive

The first thing Melvin noticed as his consciousness returned to his mind was a numb pain in all of his body, as if he had been on the losing end of ten consecutive boxing matches the day before. And then he felt an intense thirst, as if he hadn't drunk anything for at least a day, perhaps more.

He wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids didn't obey. He wanted to move, but his muscles refused service. He wanted to speak, ask his house computer what happened, but his throat merely produced a rasping sound.

He felt something cool touch his lips. Water. He only now realized his dehydrated lips had been glued together. As the moisture did its work, he could open his mouth a bit. More water was poured into his mouth.

He heard a voice. A woman's voice.

"Sleep more, mister."

Melvin relaxed and fell asleep.

Melvin woke up, feeling refreshed. The pain was almost gone, much easier to ignore than his hunger.

He tried to recall what happened. A dream. A dream of a child giving him water and telling him to go to sleep. And before that... what had happened? He remembered going Outside to fix a solar panel. He recalled... and then all of a sudden he remembered the crash.

He should be dead. He should be smashed on the rocks. That alone should have killed him. And if not, then the pollution and radiation should have. Why was he alive? Had a rescue crew been sent? Had they found him in time?

How?

The next surprise came as he opened his eyes. He was not in a hospital bed, nor in his house. He was in a rocky cave, lit by an irregularly flickering reddish light.

He turned his head to the left, where he suspected the source of the light, and he saw that the source was an old fashioned camp fire. And just behind the camp fire was... a woman.

A young woman.

A naked young woman.

Chapter 5: Mutant

Melvin was struck by the beauty of the woman.

Unkempt, long red hair framed her heart-shaped face, that was dominated by large green eyes. Her bright red lips stood out, even more than their color warranted, from the contrast with the pale, almost yellow hue of her teint.

Her lips curled into a warm smile and her eyes lit up as she noticed that Melvin was awake.

"Hello, mister! Feeling better?"

Melvin instantly recognized the voice. It was the same voice he had heard in his dream. Which, then, perhaps had not been a dream at all?

Melvin did not reply immediately. He felt he had to gather his thoughts. But instead of focusing, his eyes had a mind of their own and wandered away from the woman' face, to her body.

She was slender, but not thin. The muscles on her arms and abdomen betrayed a life with little luxury and lots of hard work. Her breasts were small, but firm. Two large, dark orange areolae, adorned with small red nipples, marked the peaks of her soft globes. She sat cross-legged, unashamedly exposing her sex. A closed slit, adorned by a small triangle of curly red hairs. An enticing view, that would normally remain hidden between her firm legs.

And then, suddenly, in Melvin's slow mind the synapses connected.

Her yellow skin. She was a...

"Mutant!" he exclaimed in panic.

His hand shot to his hip in a reflex move, but instead of finding his weapon holster, he only felt his own naked skin. He looked down and now noticed for the first time that he was just as naked as the woman. He was lying on top of a bed of dried grass, wearing absolutely nothing.

He looked back at the woman. She had assumed a defensive position, but mostly looked startled, and sad.

"Don't be afraid?" she begged, "don't be mad?"

"But you... you... you are..."

"Yes, I am, Newfolk. Or mutant, as you call it."

The way she spat out the word mutant showed her disdain for the term.

"And you are oldfold. Oldfolk, who wants to kill us newfolk. And so I am supposed to kill you. The Elders say it's us or them."

She sat silent for a short while, her eyes in Melvin's direction but her gaze going right through him, as if he wasn't there. Then she resumed, her voice softer now.

"I could have left you there, you know. In the wreckage of your vehicle. You would have died. But I didn't. I couldn't. You're just as human as I am. So I saved you."

"I... You could... I would..."

Melvin interrupted himself as once more his brain slowly caught up.

"Wait. You saved me?"

She nodded.

Chapter 6: Heal

"How?" was all that Melvin could ask.

"You were lucky that your vehicle broke completely open. That's why I could reach you, to pull you out. You are heavy, for me. But I managed. I pushed you on my sled, so I could take you to this cave. We are safe here. And then I healed you. You were badly wounded."

"Thanks. I guess."

Melvin was happy to notice his mind clearing up enough to at least respond appropriately.

"But how did you heal me? I see no med unit here. And I thought mutants... Sorry, I thought newfolk don't have med units. Or electricity."

He felt that a far corner of his mind was still working on some other inconsistencies. Something was still very odd, odder than healing without med unit. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Not yet.

"How did I heal you?"

As the mutant woman repeated his question, Melvin noticed her thoughtful tone. Her body was perhaps that of a 19-year-old woman, the sound of her voice perhaps matched that, but her thoughtful tone betrayed the wisdom, or at least the life experience, of someone at least twice that age. Perhaps more.

She tapped a finger against her forehead.

"I am a healer. It's my... power, is what most people call it. I like to think of it as a gift, though. But the Elders call it a curse."

Melvin had heard the rumors. This confirmed it. Mutants had started to develop special powers. An increased threat, according to the governor. And yet, he seemed to now owe his life to the powers of this mutant woman.

"So, that's like... like a mental power? You healed me with the power of your brain?"

She smiled and moved her hand down from her forehead to her chest, pressing both hands against her left breast.

"That's what the Elders call it. A power of the mind. But I think it's a power of the heart. If it were in my head, I could control it. But I can't. I heal everyone who is near enough."

She paused, as Melvin digested this information.

"So I brought you here, in the cave. And I stayed with you, and then your wounds healed."

"But... why?"

"I was close. I felt your pain. I knew you were dying. If I had just gone away, you would have died. I would not put a knife in your body and twist it to kill, but it would be the same. I do not want to kill. I want to heal."

Melvin paused and let this sink in.

"Thanks," he finally said.

Chapter 7: Protect

And then, all of a sudden, he realized what the nagging doubt in his brain was about. The air. He was not in a protective suit. He was exposed to Outside air. The cave probably shielded most of the radiation, but what about the pollution?

He had to ask.

"I always thought muta... newfolk don't have air cleaning systems. When did your people acquire the tech? How did you build it? I understand that caves are easier to isolate, but still. Where do you get the power?"

The woman looked at him, clearly not understanding his words.

"Isolate? Air cleaning? What do you mean, mister?"

"The air, here in the cave. It must be cleaned, somehow. Outside air is dangerous. Pollution. Radiation."

A glazed look in the girls' eyes betrayed she didn't understand a word.

"I would die from breathing Outside air!"

"Oh, that!"

Suddenly, her eyes lit up in understanding.

"Yes, oldfolk are weak. You can't live in this world anymore. Newfolk can. We have adapted. We can survive. We don't need tech like you oldfolk do."

"Yes. Yes, that's what I mean. So how do I still live?"

She looked at him with a look normally only used by parents with a particularly persistent and non-understanding toddler. Then tapped her head once more, then touched her chest again, near her heart.

"Healer."

"Your power... your healing... it not only cured my wounds, it also kept me safe from radiation and pollution?"

"Of course," the woman shrugged, "I would not be much of a healer if you died from a bit of air. I protect you."

Chapter 8: Naked

Melvin felt his head spin from all the information he had been given. And the woman seemed to sense that it was becoming too much.

"No more talk," she simply said, "now you must rest. Eat and drink first, then rest. Your wounds were deep. They need more time to heal fully."

As Melvin heard those words, he realized she was right. He suddenly felt how dry his throat was, how empty his stomach. And also that his brain was starting to get foggy again, not just from too much information, but also from simply being weary.

The woman stood up, took two steps to an alcove where a rucksack was deposited. As she turned her back on Melvin, he noticed her buttocks. They were not plump and big as one would expect on more adult women, but small and firm, the buttocks of a teenager.

As she bent over, the movement made her buttocks part a bit, and he saw a small puckered hole, only vaguely visible in the flickering light of the camp fire.

She had found what she was looking for and turned around again. Once more, Melvin was struck by her beauty. A beautiful woman, for sure. He had already noticed that. But now in his mind he suddenly also felt a desire.

And then, as he felt a stirring in his loins, he suddenly recalled his own undressed state, and he quickly used his hands to hide his manhood.

"I am sorry," he mumbled, "I forgot. I have no clothes. I am naked."

"Yes, I know," the woman shrugged, as she started to walk towards the man whose life she had saved, "and so am I. It's warm here. And safe, We don't need clothes."

"But... But you are a woman. Almost a girl, even. And I am a man."

The girl paused for a second. Then broke into a wide smile.

"Oh, so it is true what the Teachers told me. Oldfolk think bodies are shameful and cover them. Don't worry. Newfolk know better. Bodies are just that. Bodies. Nothing special."

And then she walked closer to him, unfazed by the sight of Melvin's growing erection, that his hands no longer covered completely, and stuck out her hands to offer food and drinks. Melvin had no choice but to lift his own hands and accept the meal.

She had given him a jug, and when he took a sip he tasted clean water. In his other hand, he now had a bag. He opened it to find some fruits and two strips of dried meat.

"It's not much, but I have to ration. I can't get more now. We will find new food when you are healed. Eat now. Drink now. Then sleep."

The woman returned to the alcove, rummaged a bit more, then returned with a second food bag. She then returned to where Melvin was lying and sat down next to him, obviously no longer afraid, and started to eat her own food.

They both ate in silence and shared the jug, until they were both satisfied. Then the woman stowed the jug with the remaining water back in her rucksack, as Melvin stretched out on his improvised bed.

"Sleep now, mister," she repeated, "I will heal. You will be all healed when you wake up."

"Thanks," Melvin mumbled, as he folded his hands behind his neck.

"Oh, and by the way, you don't need to call me mister. My name is Melvin."

"Iole", the young woman responded.

And then she stepped on the grass bed tight next to Melvin, draped one small arm across his strong chest, and folded her lithe body against his side.

Chapter 9: Close

Startled, Melvin rolled away from Iole, all the way to the edge of the improvised bed.

"Are you going to sleep there?"

"Yes," the young woman nodded.

"You don't have your own bed?"

Iole smiled and pointed to the other side of the cave, where Melvin saw a similar but smaller grass bed.

"Then why don't you sleep there?"

She tapped her head, then touched her chest, like she had done before.

"Healing. We need to be close."

"So we slept like this every time?"

Iole nodded.

"Yes, of course."

Melvin sighed, then accepted his fate. He tried to find a comfortable position, lying on his back, pressed against the cave wall to give Iole as much room as possible. But to his surprise, she scooted closer and pressed her warm body firmly against his.

"Do you...," his voice failed, and he cleared his throat, "do you really need to be this close?"