Quaranteam - North West Ch. 13

Aria was in the back seat and leaned forward. Neither woman was bundled up and were supposed to just be along for the ride and the chance to get off the property. It had been over a week now since the outbreak and every couple of days there were some National Guard who trucked in to accomplish one task or another, but based on Brent's talks with Vanessa the work wasn't going to start spinning back up for another week at least. That left us all feeling just a little cooped up, and so we'd been spreading out our reasons to go into town and who would make the trip. Yesterday Leo, Erica and India had hit up the pharmacy. Today Vanessa was dressed in jean daisy dukes and a black bikini top, her long dark hair pulled back in a french braid, while Aria was in a thin white tank top (and, to my dismay, no bra so her large breasts were teasing me in the rearview mirror) and some spandex workout shorts.

"It's-"

"It's clearly not nothing," Vanessa cut me off. "So you can just spill it, or when we get back I'll get Erica to get it out of you."

I snorted and chuckled a little. "There was a fire over on the Rez, and it sounds like it was on purpose and whoever did it used it as a distraction to rob a bunch of homes. But at least a few people died."

"Shit," Vanessa sighed, sitting back in her seat. "When?"

"Fuller didn't say, but I assume the last day or two," I said. "Sounded like it was fresh news."

"That's awful," Aria said from the back seat. "Do you know anyone from up there?"

"Boy, does he," Vanessa grumbled. She was grimacing and texting on her phone with what I could only describe as agitated thumbs.

"What does that mean?" Aria asked.

"It's a long story," I said. "Short version is my high school ex is an important member of the Rez community."

"And she believes in a generational grudge against Harri's family and tried to protest the construction," Vanessa said. "And she got spanked by the military for it."

".... Yikes," Aria said.

"Yeah, that about sums it up," I sighed. Then my phone rang and I fished it out of my pocket. "It's Erica," I said and thumbed the call onto speaker phone.

"Hey," I said.

"Harri, just go up there," Erica said.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, don't play coy," Erica sighed. "You need to know, so go find out. Unless you think calling her is enough."

"Erica-"

"This is from all of us," Erica cut me off. "You've got Vanessa with you, and she's looking hot. Not to mention Aria. So just go up to the Rez and find out if Kara is alive, and ask if there's anything you can do to help because obviously that's what your gut is telling you to do. You have our blessings, OK?"

I looked over at Vanessa, who shrugged as if to say 'What did you expect?'

"Alright, Mrs Black," I said, teasing her just a little.

"That's Mrs Black, Ma'am to you, soldier," she teased me back and I could hear the smile on her lips.

"Love you," I signed off.

"Love you too," she said and hung up the call.

"Really, that fast?" I asked Vanessa.

"Better than you stewing over it for the next couple of days," Vanessa said, then got a thoughtful look. "Then again, when you're stewing over something you are just that bit more intense when you fuck. You're right, we should definitely ignore this and go back."

Aria broke into a brief snicker in the back seat and I just rolled my eyes. "Alright. Next stop, the Rez," I said.

* * * * *

I hadn't driven up the road to the Rez for going on fifteen years. Little things had changed, but mostly it was the same. There were some new signs. A couple of holes in the treeline I didn't remember. Some of the woods had been cut back on the right hand for a stretch where new power lines had gone in.

"The last time I made this drive, I was trying to figure out Kara's message to me. We broke up right there," I said, pointing at an overhanging little rockface. "She didn't want me coming any further up at the time. Said it wasn't fair for me to step on their land after my family stole some of theirs."

"Sounds like angry teenage bullshit to me," Aria said.

"Sounds like just plain angry bullshit in my book," Vanessa countered. "You didn't see the protest."

There wasn't an entrance to the main Rez community so much as a sign and a little information kiosk that could be set up to act as a ticket booth when the tribe held cultural events. Apparently, someone had decided to use it to build a barricade and now there was only one lane worth of traffic for someone to go in and out. A couple of big, angry native guys were manning it, and one held up a hand for us to stop as we approached.

I pulled the truck to a halt and rolled down the window.

"Rez is closed to outsiders," the guy said, leaning down to look in the window. He was wearing big, dark sunglasses so I couldn't tell if he was looking at me, or glancing over to Vanessa in the passenger seat in her less-than-appropriate clothing for being out and about.

I wasn't sure of the legality behind closing the reservation off to outsiders, but I wasn't about to argue with the guy. "Understandable," I said. "I'm here to see Kara Swiftwater. Any shot that can happen quickly?"

He considered us for another long moment and then nodded and my heart gave a thump in my chest because that meant she wasn't dead. "She'll be up at the community centre. You know where that is?"

"I think I remember," I said.

"Alright. If you're not back through in fifteen minutes we'll come looking for you," the guy said.

"Noted," I nodded.

He backed off and waved me through.

"I'm getting major bad vibes from this," Aria said.

"I know," I said, driving up the road past the old parking areas used for the festivals. I made the turn but second-guessed myself when I couldn't see the structure of the community centre I was supposed to go to.

Then I realized it hadn't just been a fire. The whole place had come down.

I had to park a ways back from the blackened structure. It wasn't smoking and there weren't any fires going or anything, but both of the Rez ambulances were on standby and there had to be a hundred people working together trying to pick through the wreckage.

Turning to the girls, I grabbed Vanessa's hand. "Do me a favour and stay in the truck," I said.

Aria nodded, and Vanessa looked like she wanted to argue for a second but took another glance outside and then nodded. She wasn't exactly dressed for a rescue operation, or a place where a tragedy had just happened.

I got out of the truck and rolled my shoulders uncomfortably, looking around. Several people were staring at me, and the last thing I needed was someone recognizing me as the guy who they'd so recently been protesting. I took one heavy breath and started walking towards what looked like the tent where they were doing most of the organizing efforts.

I didn't get far - Kara apparently heard that someone was coming to see her, and when she saw me in the parking lot she glanced around as well as if checking if anyone had seen me and then speed-walked over. She was dressed in jeans and boots, with a grey tank top and a collection of bead and feather necklaces. For a second I thought she had work gloves on, but as she got closer I realized her hands were bandaged, along with one of her arms past her elbow. She also wasn't wearing a mask, and from a distance it looked like only half of the people around were.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she came into angry-whispering distance. "I've got enough problems going on, Harri. I can't deal with you gloating over the protest."

"Fuck me," I grunted in frustration. "Seriously, Kara? You really think that low of me?"

Her anger immediately broke into embarrassment. "I- Sorry," she sighed in frustration. "No, you wouldn't. But there's a lot going on and that military bitch-"

"Refused to prosecute anyone, and made sure all your vehicles got brought back here," I cut her off. "And she also happens to be someone I respect, so how about you take one fucking breath and we actually talk for a second before your big guys from the entrance come looking for me."

Kara pursed her lips and closed her eyes, actually taking my advice and sucking in a deep breath and blowing it out. "Why are you here, Harri?" she asked once she opened her eyes.

"I heard what happened," I said. "I'm sorry. I wanted to make sure you were OK. What happened with your hands, were you inside?"

"No," she said. "I was outside coordinating people when the roof gave out. We thought we had more time. I got burned trying to dig people out."

"Shit," I sighed. Of course she did. "I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that, I'll start asking where you were two nights ago," she grimaced.

I rubbed my forehead for a second, looking over at the scorched wreckage. "How many?"

"Eight," she said quietly, looking back over her shoulder. "We've only found four so far."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it's a shitty situation and you can call me a masochist for offering," I said tightly.

She softened a bit more, her stance shifting a little uneasily as she realized she just kept antagonizing me. "Harri, I'm sorry," she admitted.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked her again.

"Unless you've got a shitload of food to help feed a bunch of people, or know who did it, I don't think so," she said.

"Send someone over to my truck, I was out doing a quick run to Fuller's butcher shop when I found out about everything," I said.

"Harri, a few burgers or a couple of steaks aren't going to put a dent in things," she sighed.

"I've got three big bags of meat," I said. "Do you want it or not? It'll feed maybe twenty-five people in one go, thirty if you stretch it."

She hesitated but then nodded. "Thanks."

"None necessary," I said. "Anything I can do for you? And I do mean you, Kara. I know you're not thinking of yourself at all right now."

"No, I'm fine," she shook her head. "I've got a couple of gals cleaning up my place for me, and they'll stick around to help me while my hands heal up."

"Yours was one of the houses that got robbed?" I asked.

She nodded. "Didn't get much of value other than my wallet," she said. "I'm not even sure what they thought they were going to find. But they sure made a mess looking for it."

I blew out a long breath from behind my mask. "OK, well, let me know if there's anything."

"There won't be, Harri. Just..." she paused, reaching up to shift a bit of her hair from her face awkwardly with her bandaged hands. I stepped forward and did it for her after she couldn't get it, tucking the hair behind her ear. That just made her sigh. "Thank you for coming to check. You didn't need to do that."

"I did," I said. "If I didn't you would have been living in my head rent-free and my fiancee would have gotten annoyed."

"Fiancee?" Kara asked in surprise.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Uhm, you met her kind of that first time you came by last month. Her name's Erica."

"The white lady with the tits?" she asked.

"Yeah, Kara," I said. "The white lady with the tits. How would you like it if she started calling you 'your native ex' or something? Jesus Christ."

"Sorry, sorry, I just-" Kara huffed. "There were just two white women there that time, the construction one and the- your fiancee. I thought the construction one had a thing for you."

"Yeah, well, we're seeing each other now," I said.

"What?"

"It's a whole thing," I said.

"You're Poly?" Kara asked incredulously. "You, Harrison Black, whose father was the staunchest conservative hick stick-in-the-mud ever, are Poly?"

"It's more complicated than that," I said.

"Sure," she said, shaking her head. "I bet it is."

"You know what? Just forget it," I said, starting to turn and walk away.

"Harri! Harri, I'm sorry. Look, it's a little shocking, you have to admit. Finding out the one who got away is seeing two good-looking women," she said.

"The one who got away?" I asked.

"Oh, fuck," she said, and this time it was her who turned to start walking away, but she pivoted back after taking a breath. "Yeah. Sort of. I've dated a couple of guys, but it never got as serious as I wanted. So over the years you've kind of overshadowed a lot of my first dates. Even back then you were a lot to compare a guy to."

A radio crackled and Kara fumbled to pull it off of the back of her belt. She got it but winced a little at gripping it through her bandages. "Repeat that?" she asked.

I couldn't tell what was said, but she grimaced and I could see the walls come back up. Walls that I hadn't seen weaken or slacken in well over a decade. "I need to go," she said.

"Just like that?"

"They found another body," Kara said.

"Shit. Or good, I guess," I sighed.

"Both. Neither," she said.

"Maybe next time we can try to find a way not to need to keep apologising to each other," I said.

"Yeah, maybe," she said. The walls were firmly in place again, not a crack in sight. "You sure about the food?"

"Yeah, send someone over. I can spare it," I said. "Just do me a favour?"

"What's that?" she asked.

"Wear a fucking mask," I said. "This shit is real. You all need to take it more seriously. I've seen it myself and it's bad." I fished an extra medical mask out of my jacket pocket and held it out to her.

She hesitated for a long moment, and I knew every instinct in her wanted to argue. Wanted to tell me anything the government told her had to be a lie. But she looked me up and down, sweating my ass off in full-length clothing with a bandana and a medical mask over my mouth and nose during the hottest summer the North West had seen in decades. "Alright," she said and sighed heavily as she took the mask. "Thanks, Harri."

Huh, I thought as she walked back towards the burned-down community centre and the dozens of people working to clear the rubble.Maybe there is a crack.

I texted Fuller as I walked back to the truck that I was going to need to make another pickup. At this rate, I had to be his favourite fucking customer.

* * * * *

"You did what you could, babe," Erica said. She was sitting behind me on the bed, running her fingers through my hair and occasionally massaging my scalp. We were alone, the others giving us some space. Vanessa must have texted Erica what was going on as we drove back in a soft silence. I'd told her and Aria what little information I'd had, and I guess they could feel my mood because there wasn't any teasing or jokes afterwards.

"I shouldn't need to do anything," I said.

"I know," she said softly. "I know."

Things were getting worse and no one was doing anything. Or they were, but the stuff they were doing was so high-level that all of the little things were getting missed. Which Senators or Congresspeople were paying attention to what happened out in the rural sticks? Miriam was able to mobilize the fucking National Guard in hours, which meant they were already active, but where were they?

The answer was obvious - they were dealing with the cities, or waiting in staging areas for events like the outbreak or the protest. Probably quarantined away when they weren't in hazmat suits.

"It's not your fight, Harri," Erica whispered.

I leaned back against her, feeling her chest press against my back. We were fully clothed, but I could still feel her. It made me crack a little smile.

"You know, she called you 'the white lady with the tits?'" I asked.

"Well, I guess she isn't wrong," Erica chuckled.

I turned and rested my head on those tits, and Erica hugged me to her. "I still feel like I should be doing something," I said.

"Of course you do," she said, stroking my shoulder. "Because you've got a hero complex. And it's attractive as hell when it isn't pissing me off or making me worried."

The RV door opened down the length of the vehicle and Vanessa stepped in. "You guys OK?" she asked.

"We are," Erica said, waving her down to us.

Vanessa kicked off her shoes at the door into the messy pile of shoes and sandals that we'd built up there, and on her way back to us she pulled off her bikini top. Now half-naked, she crawled onto the bed and up to rest her head on the pillows next to Erica. Her casual nudity was a heart-warming sexiness, knowing she was comfortable with us like that.

"I just talked with my Dad," she said, reaching over and running her hand through my hair for a moment, pulling a long lock of it back out of my face. "He said there's probably another week still until work is going to start on refabbing the dorms, but I guess it's a good thing because changes are coming down."

"What kind of changes?" Erica asked.

"Pretty much everything," Vanessa shrugged. "Fewer lots and houses, but bigger. He can't figure out why and no one is telling him, but we're going from McMansions to McMansion Deluxes with Cheese."

That made me snort a little. "Really?" I asked.

Vanessa grinned and shrugged. "He thinks in terms of food. All the architects are in a dither I guess. They were off-site so their team wasn't impacted. The surveyors and planners are shitting bricks though, needing to rework all their maps while they are all quarantined away in hotels with their new partners. Dad says an order came down that our house is going to be big as fuck, though. I told him I was going to want to see any plans because there's no fucking way I'm letting a random architect design my house without some input."

"Good idea," Erica smiled. She leaned over and softly kissed Vanessa, who accepted with a little smile. "Let us know if you want help."

"Help, no. Input, yes," Vanessa said. "I'll make sure we get everything we need."

We cuddled there for a bit, and then Erica's top came off, and soon I was under the both of them with Vanessa moaning on my cock and Erica's delicious, slippery pussy leaking onto my tongue. It was an excellent way to end a shitty afternoon.

* * * * *

I woke with a start, grunting a little as I blinked awake at the sudden noise ringing through the bedroom. It took me a second to realize it was my phone, and all four of my girls were blinking themselves awake as well.

"The fuck?" I groaned. Ivy shifted to let me move, having practically fallen asleep on top of me, and I reached over Erica for my phone. I had to blink a few times to see the call display was Mary, and it was two in the morning.

I thumbed it open, wondering if maybe she was drunk dialling me. We'd dropped off a couple of bottles of wine the last time we'd been there and had only finished one with her as we sat on her front lawn. She'd been happy to hear about Erica and I, and we didn't go overboard explaining the whole situation. It had felt like back before the pandemic, introducing my girlfriend to people I knew, even if I hadn't seen Mary since high school. Erica had made it a point of being extra friendly and warm; and not with her customer service personality. Stronger, more personable. By the time we'd left Mary's eyes had been brimming she'd enjoyed 'adult time' so much and we promised to do it again.

"Mary?" I asked drowsily.

"Harrison," she said, and the panic in her voice immediately had me sitting up. "Harrison, I don't know what to do. 911 is busy, I don't know what to do!?"

"Hold on, Mary," I said, sitting up and starting to scoot my way to the end of the bed. "One step at a time. One big breath, in and out, and tell me what's happening."

She did, though the sound of the breath was wavery. "There's men," she said. "Breaking into houses down the street. I think they're going house by house."

"How many houses away?" I asked, scrambling to yank up my jeans while keeping the phone to my ear. Hands appeared from behind me and deftly got them up and buttoned them. Erica was on her knees on the bed helping me out, and Ivy was already finding a shirt and tossing it to me. Vanessa slipped past me, flicking on the light for the bedroom and quickly walking naked into the main area of the RV, getting my boots out of the pile of shoes by the door.