Near Ending Of Mankind

"It's his appendix. It's infected and going to rupture soon and when that happens he will die. I need to operate straight away but I can't do it here. He needs to come back to our hospital."

An argument started between their leader, who wanted nothing to do with us, and the boy's mother. The argument was still going when another woman entered the room. I half turned and gave her a cursory glance from the corner of my eye. Something bothered me so I looked directly at her, then my 'jaw dropped'. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was my wife Lauren, alive. She recognised me too and started sobbing loudly and collapsed to her knees on the ground. I went to her and we hugged tightly with me now sobbing as well.

"I thought you were dead," I whispered after a while.

"I thought you would never find me."

After some time had passed I snapped back to reality. A boy was dying.

I pulled myself together and stood, pulling up my wife. Still holding onto her I spoke to their leader again, more forcefully. "The boy will die, so I am going to take him to our hospital now. Is there any way we can get a vehicle in here?"

I got no response from her but the boy's mother answered, "yes, there is a hidden trail here from the highway, I will show you the way."

From next to me I heard Lauren say, "no Jen, you stay with your boy, I will show them the way."

Looking at their leader Lauren said, "Doris, this is my husband Rob, he is a doctor, listen to him."

Kristen wasted no time and without a word grabbed Lauren by the arm and they ran to a motorbike, both got on it, and they rode off.

Meanwhile I pumped intravenous antibiotics into the boy. His temperature was skyrocketing. It would be touch and go.

An hour later our 3 vehicles emerged from the forest.

I only had a few minutes to talk with Lauren while the boy was being loaded on a stretcher into the back of one.

"I don't understand Lauren, I found you dead in our apartment. I buried you."

"That was my sister Jane, she turned up at my place sick, and then died in my bed."

"How did you survive?"

"Long story Rob."

She motioned to a 4 year old boy who walked over and hid behind her.

"You surprised me, now it is my turn. Rob, meet your son Jake. Jake this is your daddy."

I was floored, again.

"I discovered I was pregnant after the last time you called me."

I knelt and coaxed Jake out from behind her. "Hello my son." With encouragement from Lauren he allowed me to pick him up and give him a hug. I'm not sure he had ever seen a man before.

By then, the sick boy was loaded and ready to go, and Lauren and I were out of time.

"I have to go with the boy right now. I will come back for you both as soon as I can. Kristen here will look after you. You can trust her completely. She is.... umm..... well...... she is also my wife!"

With no time to explain, I left my Lauren with a shocked expression on her face.

Once back at the hospital, my colleagues and I operated on the boy and managed to save him though it was a close call. His mother had accompanied him and was overjoyed.

With the emergency over, I had time to reflect. My legal wife was miraculously alive and I had a son. I was also married to 2 other women, one with a daughter and another with baby on the way. How this situation was going to resolve itself, I had no clue.

Kristen and the rest of the team arrived home 2 days after me, along with Lauren and young Jake.

When I came back home that day from work at the hospital, Lauren and Jake had already been settled into a spare room of the house and I was greeted in the kitchen by 3 women, 1 daughter, 1 son, and a growing baby bump.

Fortunately Kristen had already explained the situation to Lauren, and the introduction to Shelly had been made. I was relieved as I didn't quite know how I was going to tell Lauren everything.

Shelly and Kristen were trying very hard to make Lauren feel welcome, but I could see Lauren was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. After dinner I played with Jake and Sarah for a while, then put them to bed. We four talked sat around and talked for a while. Nearing bed-time, the two girls insisted I retire to my room with Lauren to talk privately and reconnect.

It was uncomfortable at first with Lauren after 4 years apart, not to mention the complication of my new living arrangements. I had loved Lauren heart and soul, but time and grief had caused that to be buried away deeply in my heart. I had since fallen in love with two other women as well. It was awkward. We talked for a while, filling each other in on the events of the last 4 years, then went to bed together, just cuddling, getting the feel of each other's bodies. The next night we made love, feeling shy, like it was our first time all over again. My love for her blossomed again.

Bless my two other lovely wives, they gave us space to reconnect. I'm sure they were a little worried that I would cast them out in favour of Lauren.

After 3 or 4 weeks it was Lauren who ended our exclusive private nightly interludes, telling me it was time to look after my two other women in bed again as well as her.

So apparently now I had 3 wives!

Little by little Lauren relaxed, maybe not fully accepting our domestic situation, but taking some first steps.

PART 2 - Lauren's Story

The pandemic hit so suddenly. It was reported on the news hitting Asia, then soon after it was here. I had tried to call Rob but couldn't reach him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Our politicians tried to reassure us everything was okay and not to panic. They were fearful of public backlash about restrictions on our personal freedoms and were too slow to lock the place down. By the time they acted decisively it was too late. My school was closed but some of my students were already sick. Everyone was belatedly being urged to quarantine at home so I stocked up as much as I could from the supermarket then stayed put in the apartment.

Reports on the news were unbelievable and after a while, from my window, I could see people literally collapsing and dying on the streets. I wanted to help but there was nothing I could to.

After finally talking to Rob on the phone, I had done as he told me - started taking anti-viral meds and steroids. I got sick anyway and progressively got worse.

By the 3^rd day I was really ill with a fever and congested lungs, and having trouble breathing. When I had my last phone call with Rob I fully expected to die, like everyone else around me. When I said goodbye to him I tried to be brave but it was heartbreaking.

Sometime later I woke up and found myself breathing into a mask. I thought I was hallucinating in an 'out of body experience' as it was me doing the caring. As I became more conscious I realised it was indeed real. It was my 'lookalike' younger sister Jane who had arrived. She had been on her way to visit me when the pandemic broke out and had somehow made it. She had found some oxygen in the building's first aid room. I started to slowly recover but she was now also getting sick. I in turn tried everything I could to save her but she died the next day in my bed.

I recovered slowly over the next couple of weeks. I wasn't strong enough to move Jane's body, so I left her in my bed, closed the bedroom door and moved out of the apartment. Fortunately I had the key to a neighbour's apartment who was away on vacation. I lived there for 2 months, occasionally breaking into other apartments for food. I avoided the ones with dead occupants inside. As far as I could tell, there was no-one left alive in my building and through the windows I rarely saw anyone on the streets.

I was in a dilemma. Home and any surviving family were on the other side of the country and Rob, even if he had survived, was who knows where. I could not stay in the apartment indefinitely. Food supplies in the building were running out. There was another complication, my period was late, very late, and I was starting to get a bulge in my tummy.

I started venturing outside every day scavenging food and water in nearby stores. One day inside a store I was surprised by a man who grabbed me by the arm. He had a wild look and started dragging me outside. I was screaming. He threw me on the ground and started tearing at my clothes. Suddenly there was a loud boom and his head exploded in a red mist.

I rolled away to see an older woman holding a gun, with another woman close behind.

After I calmed down she introduced herself as Doris, and the other girl was her niece.

To cut a long story short, we all realised we could not stay in Boston. Doris knew of a farm in an isolated area to the west so we gathered supplies and set off collecting some more female stragglers on the way. That was the start of my new family.

We set up our little community at the farm. There were 10 women and 4 children. It was a very basic existence, wood fires, the stream for water. We never had quite enough food and it was very cold in winter. Doris was our mother hen. She was very caring but highly protective, to the point of being very stubborn sometimes.

I gave birth to a baby boy in that first spring who I named Jake after my dad, adding another to our number.

Luckily with our isolated location we had no unwelcome visitors. On forays to nearby towns or to Boston, occasionally we had to fight off male bandits wanting to rob and abuse us. I became quite a good shot.

Though I knew in my heart Rob was probably dead, I still held onto a tiny piece of hope. I became a bit obsessed. If Rob was still alive he would search for me, but how would he ever find us here on the farm? I knew he would check the apartment.

In late summer when Jake was old enough to travel I returned to our apartment. The front door was still locked and the place looked undisturbed. I left a note to Rob and map of where I was living in a conspicuous place in the kitchen, just in case. The door to my room, where my sister lay dead in my bed, was still closed. I decided I could not bear to see her like that again so I didn't enter. I left the apartment with only a few of my old things.

The visit made me feel sad. I missed my sister Jane so much. We were only a year apart in age. As youngsters we were inseparable, dressed the same, wore our hair the same, as teens double dated, and even had a combined wedding with exactly the same dresses and wedding rings. Some people said we looked so alike we could be twins and we often joked with our husbands that we could swap places for a night and they would never know it.

The irony of the situation was that if I had gone back into the bedroom, I would have found Jane's body gone and realised it could only have been Rob, and that he was indeed alive and looking for me.

Our new family lived on at the farm together and 4 years quickly passed bye. It was a hard life but we survived. Rob never appeared there, confirming my belief he was dead.

One day we were all gathered in the living room trying to decide what to do with a serious problem. We sent the older children away to play by the creek and Jake was inside with me. Our oldest child was very ill and we were concerned. He had not responded to any medicine we had given him and he was in a lot of abdominal pain.

We were so absorbed in this discussion we didn't hear the motorbikes until they emerged from the forest about 100 yards from the house.

We could see them clearly with binoculars. There were 6 of them with definitely some men in the group. They were all armed with slung assault rifles. Doris fired a number of warning shots through an open window over their heads and they scattered back into the forest. They didn't fire back but we quickly prepared to defend ourselves.

They called out to us but it was hard to hear anything. Five minutes later, to our horror, four of them re-emerged with our children as shields. They waved and motioned us to come over. We were in a panic about what to do. Their mothers wanted to rush over but Doris held us in check.

We watched, perplexed, as they built a fire and then fed the children. Then, the oldest child stood up and trotted over to us with a note. It told us they were here to help, would not harm us or the children, they had food to give us and had a doctor with them.

We were concerned, but they had our children. After much discussion, Doris alone walked over to talk to them. We couldn't hear what was said but Doris returned unharmed with the other children and the strangers started to pack up to leave.

Doris said, "I told them we need no help and they said they would leave, but we need to stay on guard."

"What about my son, he could die. They said they had a doctor."

With that the boy's mother ran out the door and across the meadow to the strangers and began an animated discussion.

Shortly after we saw two of them walking back with her to our house, a man carrying a bag and a fearsome looking woman armed to the teeth. Doris was furious and at first refused to let them in. We took all the children out back to keep them safe and out of sight.

After a while I could just hear them talking inside the house. The man's voice disturbed me and I crept out and peeked around the door into the room. He had his back to me and was patiently talking to Doris about the sick boy. He half turned his face to talk to the boy's mother then noticed me out of the corner of his eye and turned. There was a flash of recognition. It was a blur from then on. I was on the floor sobbing and Rob had his arms wrapped around me crying as well. How long we stayed like that I don't know. The reverie was broken when he whispered. "I thought you were dead."

After a while he helped me to my feet, and with his arm tightly around me, continued the discussion with Doris on the sick boy, who was stubbornly stonewalling. I was still in shock and barely following what was being said when I heard myself blurt out "I will show you the way."

Before I knew it I was on the back of a motorbike with the fearsome woman.

After returning with a convoy of their vehicles I had almost no time to talk with Rob and could barely introduce him to his son. When he left with the sick boy I was in a daze. All I remembered clearly was him, as he walked out the door, pointing to the fearsome woman and saying, "Kristen.......my wife".

Kristen took charge after he left, much to Doris' consternation, and insisted on cooking all of us a meal. It was the most nutritious food we'd had for years. We brought our children to be examined by their nurse, and she treated some of our minor ailments too. Kristen described their community broadly, explained how it operated, that we were welcome to come join them, and offered to take us there to see it for ourselves.

That evening they set up camp away from us in the meadow. The debate amongst us was lively, some wanted to go to an easier place to live, and others led by Doris, adamantly wanted to stay.

The talk was getting nowhere so I slipped away and found Kristen in their camp. She sat me down in front of the fire with a large strong drink.

"Hi Lauren, I have being hearing all about you for a long time. It's incredible to actually meet you, back from the dead so to speak."

"I still can't believe what's happened either."

"I imagine it was quite a shock to suddenly find Rob and at the same time find out that I am also his wife."

I nodded and took a big gulp from the glass.

"It was a shock for me too Lauren."

She reached out put her hand gently on my arm and her voice softened. "I am sure you have many questions, and since Rob isn't here, I had better tell you everything. It's best if I just cut to the chase. I have been together with Rob for the last 4 years, from soon after we thought we found you dead in your apartment."

She paused, then, "I have a 1 year old daughter by him."

I just sat staring at her, not talking, as I slowly took that in.

"There is more. Don't be too shocked, but I also share him with another wife, Shelly, and she is 4 months pregnant."

I emptied my glass in one gulp and held it out for a refill.

"Sounds like a mess doesn't it Lauren."

I found my voice, "I am having a lot of trouble processing all of this."

"Me too, though probably less than you."

Kristen then proceeded to tell me about her first husband dying, how Rob got to Providence with Shelly, their search for me, finding me and burying me/my sister, comforting each other, falling in love, and becoming his wife with Shelly.

"Our living arrangements must seem weird to you, but we are used to it now. It's the same for most people in our community."

"I don't understand. Why?"

"To survive we have to share ALL our limited resources between us - our labour, food, clothing, shelter, and so on. There is a big surplus of women over men so it was natural that we decided to share the men as well, like a resource I guess. No woman misses out on male company and love if they want it, there is no disharmony from a bunch of lonely frustrated women, and we are all helping repopulate the land. It makes sense and works well for the community."

"I don't know that I can handle sharing Rob. It would feel too strange and I would be jealous, hell I am already jealous. Then, coming in after 4 years of you both being together with him I would feel like an intruder."

"I understand completely. I felt the same when Shelly invited me to join them as a family, but Shelly and I made it work. We can make it work with you too."

"It's easy to say Kristin."

"Lauren, I know that this is hard to accept, but we all had to face a new hard reality not of our choice. As much as I would want it, my life, or yours, will never go back to where it was. In another world I would still be with my first husband, living in our house together, having his babies. Shelly would be married to her fiancé. Now everyone is just doing the best they can to have a good life with what we have."

"I guess I am in shock that Rob remarried so soon, and to two women."

"Maybe you think he hooked up with Shelly and me too soon after losing you? Rob was in despair when thought was you, dead. We were all lost souls back then who had lost the loves of our lives. To stay sane we needed to cling onto someone for comfort. We three were fortunate to have found each other. We survived."

"It's just, all this time I have been holding onto a tiny fragment of hope of finding Rob. But now I found him it's too late, he is gone.

"That's not true Lauren. I still love my first husband. I also love Rob now very much. I know Rob still loves you very much. Now he has found you, he couldn't bear living without you. It would break his heart to lose you. If he left us for you, that would break his heart too. Shelly and I don't want to lose him either!"

After a moment she said, "I know it all seems too hard at the moment. Our experience was that with acceptance, goodwill and love, Shelly and I made it work. I don't want to sugar-coat things, it will be hard at first, but it will work with you too if you give it a chance."

I thought silently about what she had said for a while, sipping my drink.

"It's been quite a day for both of us Lauren and a lot to take in especially for you. Maybe sleep on it, but please consider coming back with me to at least see what our life together can be like."

I stood and said goodnight. Kristen stood and gave me a big warm hug, kissed my cheek and whispered, "it will be OK, I promise."

As I walked away I thought, "Fearsome on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside." I could see why Rob would be attracted to her.

By the next morning I had made a decision. I was not giving up Rob no matter what. I was going to fight for him. So with much trepidation, I went back to Providence with Kristen.