Quaranteam - North West Ch. 14

She smiled at that, and one tear dripped from clinging to her eyelashes. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," I told her, hugging her tightly.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"This," I said. "Just this. Be with me like this."

We held each other for a long time. Long enough that we drifted to sleep in each other's arms until Vanessa came to wake us up for dinner.

I checked in with Kyla quietly at dinner, and she smiled softly and told me that she and Erica had a long talk and she was doing alright. Then she pulled me down into a kiss and told me she needed me after dinner, and we slipped off as soon as our food was gone and made love out on the edge of the forest close to where I'd planned my date with Erica.

We were back and sitting around the fire pit when my cell phone rang. It was sitting closer to Erica than to me, so she picked it up with a grin and answered. "Sheriff Black's phone, who may I ask is calling?" she asked in a played-up secretary voice.

Someone spoke on the other end. "I'll see if he's available. One moment please," she said, then lowered the phone. "It's a Colonel Abarbanel calling for you. Should I tell her you're busy and to call back during business hours?"

I rolled my eyes and stood, holding my hand out to Erica.

"Transferring you now," Erica said into the phone with a playful grin at me as several of the other girls around the fire gave little chuckles.

I took the phone and sighed, shaking my head at Erica's little game before raising it to my ear. "Colonel?"

"Just calling to check in, Harri," Miriam said from the other end. "And I'm off the clock."

"You sound beat, Miriam," I said, stepping away from the fire.

"Because I am," she said. "I haven't slept since you woke me up last night."

"Shit," I said. "Well, thanks again for answering. And for everything else."

"Yeah, well, it's the Everything Else that has been keeping me working," she chuckled.

"Any shot of you getting a day off and coming up to visit?" I asked.

"I would love to, but no chance," Miriam sighed. "Not for a good while yet, anyways."

"Well, I think we're up to a steak dinner, champaign and chocolate lava cake for dessert on my tab," I said. "One more favour and I'm going to have to learn how to properly grill a full-on tomahawk steak to properly repay you. That or find some wagyu."

"Remember that time you saved me from my blackmailing senior officer and stopped him mid sexual assault?"

"You already paid me back for that," I said.

"How so?"

"You got me out of the military, which led me to my best friend and my fiancee, and all of this."

"Fiancee?" Miriam asked.

"Oh, right," I said. "We haven't really made it a big thing, but Erica asked me to marry her. I said yes. We're not sure on any logistics yet, but that's our new label."

"Congratulations, Harri," Miriam said, and while I could hear the smile in her voice there was also a touch of what I thought might be... annoyance? "That's really great, I'm happy for you two. How are the others taking it?"

"Good," I said. "We're still figuring out our dynamics a little, but it's been weirdly smooth sailing to get there."

"That's what some of our reports are showing," Miriam said. "Or at least what's being reported when people bother to ask about the well-being of households outside of 'Is the vaccine working?' Seems like everyone is doing the best they can to make this work."

"Well, I hope no one else is going through the other shit we are," I said.

"Hmmhmm," she chuckled softly over the phone. "I doubt any other vaccine tester has gone through what you have, Harri."

"So what's up with the late-night call?" I asked. "Did you just miss the sound of my voice, or is there something going on?"

"Yes, and yes," she teased. "I'm sending up a care package to you tomorrow morning. Just wanted you to know to expect it. Have fun, but don't go wild, OK?"

"Is that a euphemism?" I asked. "You're not sending me another partner, are you? I don't have room in this RV bed for another body."

"Hah! No, nothing like that," Miriam laughed. "I'm sending you some toys, buddy. And Laura told me she gave you some warnings, but I wanted you to hear this from me personally. Don't go getting yourself into trouble if you can help it; I don't know if I could handle losing you after giving you the tools to get yourself done in."

"I'll try my best," I promised her. "But I want something in return."

"What's that?" she asked.

"You to get a solid nine hours of sleep tonight," I said. "And that's a full nine. Not eight. You need to sleep to be effective."

"I'll give you eight," she said.

"Miriam," I said crossly.

"Fine, fine," she said. "Nine, as long as you're seriously promising not to get yourself killed, you bastard."

"Done," I said.

"I'll hold you to it," she said. "You go and get yourself killed, and I'll hold it against you. I'll never sleep more than six hours for the rest of my life just to teach you a lesson."

"Noted," I snorted a laugh.

"How's the lady and the kids?" Miriam asked.

"Safe," I said. "For now, I guess. She's a little traumatized, but she's been that way since her husband disappeared early in the quarantine when he went looking for work. Her little boy is feeling it the most, from what I understand, but I'll go over there to try and help him feel a little better."

"You know you're too good a guy, right Harri?" Miriam asked.

"Don't you have some sleeping to get to?" I shot back.

"Fine. I do," she said. "Be safe."

"You too, Miriam. Thanks for calling."

"Thanks for picking up," she teased lightly.

When I stepped back to the fire Erica was smiling at me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, and reached over and took my hand. Then she glanced to Vanessa, who gave her a little smirk back.

"You know I don't like you girls keeping secrets from me," I said.

"We know," Kyla smiled over the rim of her tea mug. "That's not going to stop us from doing it though."

I rolled my eyes and reached for my beer.

* * * * *

"Holy shit," I said as the flatbed truck lowered the brand new Ford F-150 from its bed. It was blacked out except for a white band across each side and a gold-lined 'SHERIFF' decal plastered in bold letters. And 'Black County' in smaller white letters underneath. It had a heavy duty push bar and brush guard on the front along with a winch, a light bar on the roof of the cab and another with some spots mounted to the back.

"Captain Bloomberg wasn't joking," Kyla said. Everyone had come out to witness the delivery. "Where do you think Miriam got this from?"

"Probably got it from some other sheriff's department, or police, or something," Erica said. "Think she could get us one of those supercharged mustangs or chargers, too?"

"We arenot asking for more cars," I said, looking at the beauty of a truck touch down and settle on it's shocks. "Well, not yet."

I had to sign for the delivery, along with a crate that had also been strapped down to the back of the flatbed, which turned out to be an awkward process of the guy filling out the paperwork on a tablet, then sanitizing it and handing it over to me to sign with my finger, then sanitizing it again when he took it back. Once the delivery guy was driving off and disappeared around the site offices Dani, Ivy, Aria and India all immediately wanted to check out the truck while I went into the storage containers to fetch a crowbar to open the crate.

They had already figured out the lights when I came out, and we all got blasted by the siren for a moment which was super loud. Then we got blasted by a massive air horn sound that left our ears ringing.

"Sorry!" Dani called from inside the cab with Ivy. Aria and India were in the back seat, which was separated from the front by a heavy plexiglass of some sort. I wasn't sure I liked that, but it was what it was. Aria and India sure didn't seem to mind as they giggled and made out in the back seat of a cop car for what I had a feeling wasn't the first time.

When I cracked the seal on the crate we found a little trove of police equipment. There were a couple of bullet proof vests with 'Black County Sheriff' patches, a bean bag shotgun, a couple of tasers, handcuffs and zip ties, new flashlights and other gear. At the bottom was a hard case that I pulled out and opened to reveal a note laying on top of several firearms packed in foam. At a glance I recognized that I'd been sent an M4 rifle with attachments, an MP5, and a pair of Beretta M9s along with ammunition for all three firearms.

"Dear Harrison," Erica read as she opened the note while I ogled the firearms. "Don't make me regret this. Miriam. PS - Better make it a tomahawk steak after all."

I spent the rest of the morning learning more about the truck and checking over all of the equipment. We set up a little range backstopped by one of the hills and I practiced with all of the firearms to remind myself what shooting them was like - the M4 was standard issue military and easy to remind myself of once I dialed in the simple precision sight I mounted to the rails, and the Beretta's were standard issue sidearms that came with underslung flashlights. I still preferred my own to the new ones only because I was used to the grip of it, and these new ones had a slightly different pattern in my palm. The MP5 was the big new thing for me - a submachine gun wasn't exactly standard issue for an infantryman or Military Police, so while I'd had a couple of chances to shoot one in the past I'd never really gotten comfortable with them.

I ended up running a bit of a firearms clinic with the girls and Leo, everyone but India wanting to at least try shooting once now that the opportunity was available. I started Ivy, Aria and Vanessa off with a couple of my personal pistols and let Dani take over with them while I showed Erica the new toys. We prioritized safety first, and the girls didn't do anything stupid trying to be silly. Dani then got a shot at the new guns along with Kyla while I taught the newer girls about rifles and they each took a couple of shots with the hunting rifles.

By the time lunch was coming around we'd burned through a decent amount of bullets and we all had sore, or achey, shoulders from the kick of the rifles. Dani also had a new appreciation for Kyla, who had proven herself more proficient than the Aussie with both the M4 and the MP5. The two of them were talking guns, wearing clear protective glasses with their hair tied back in pony tails.

"God damn, you two look hot," I laughed as I was packing up the other firearms.

"You think?" Dani laughed, hefting the M4 to prop it on her hip in a pose, being careful not to point it anywhere dangerous.

"I should take a picture and send it to Guns and Ammunition magazine," I said.

"How about we just be hot for you and Leo?" Kyla asked as she set down the MP5 and knelt to kiss me.

"Deal," I said with a grin.

"I dunno, I think I'd make a good firearms model," Dani said as she rolled up her shirt to under her breasts and made another silly pose, this time with the M4 and the 1911 pistol in her other hand.

"Alright, Lara Croft," I chuckled with her. "Let's put these things away."

We got everything except the M4 packed into the gun safe. The bed of the new truck had a hidden, locked compartment built into it that could hold it, and I was running out of room in the safe. When we walked back into the compound lunch was being served and my girls were discussing who would get to christen which part of the new truck.

I ended up spending the early hours of the afternoon fucking Ivy in the back seat and then Vanessa in the truck bed after doing some light offroading. Erica was supposed to be next, bent over the hood, but I begged off for a rest as I needed to go check on Mary.

It was weird, driving the new truck off the property and knowing that I was the vehicle on the road that made other drivers check their speedometers quickly and clench their butts if they worried they were going too fast. Not that we were passing many other drivers. Erica came with, holding my hand as we drove after quickly programming the radio to our preferred music stations.

Mary was confused, and Thomas was elated, by the police truck. Erica plucked him up and sat him in the driver's seat, standing outside the open door and showing him the different buttons. Soon enough Charlie wanted in as well and was standing on the passenger seat and giggling away as she hit the siren button several times rapidly turning it on and off. Once we made her stop because it was so loud she lost interest and just played outside. Thomas took a little while longer for the novelty to wear off, but ended up heading back into the house to leave Mary to talk with us.

I gave her the quick rundown - a more full version this time, about my family land and my old connections to the military and how I was a real Sheriff at this point. The county I was a sheriff of just happened to only consist of our family.

"You do realize this is kind of insane, right?" Mary asked, looking at the truck again.

"That's what I keep saying," I sighed.

"But it's real, and he deserves it all," Erica said, hugging my arm.

It was at that point that Charlie started wandering in the direction of the road, and the skid marks I'd left on Mary's front yard. There was little danger even if she did play on the road - there wasn't a car in sight and little likelihood of one based on the number of homes that were currently taped over with police crime scene tape. Still, there was broken glass hidden in the grass from my truck windows getting shot out, and Mary called Charlie back but the little girl just giggled and gave a 'come catch me' look.

"I got it," Erica said, "Enjoy the break, Momma." She patted Mary's shoulder and then jogged after Charlie as the little girl giggled and tried to race away.

"Harri," Mary said quietly as she watched my fiancee quickly catch her little girl and scoop her up into her arms as they both laughed. "I don't mean to pry, especially not after that night, but... who was that woman you were with?"

"Oh," I said. "Oh! No, Mary, it's- OK, it's not easy to explain. That was Kyla, Erica knows everything. If you want the longer story then you'll probably want a glass of wine and some chairs."

Mary did, in fact, want the full story and soon we were sitting out in her back yard sharing the last bottle of wine I'd brought her. Erica did most of the storytelling, filling in some of the gaps we'd left out when they'd been introduced, and picking and choosing what juicy details to tell Mary about. She never got raunchy, but she didn't hide the fact that the vaccine was making us all hornier than normal, and I was doing a good job of keeping up with the demands of four women.

By the end of it, Mary was blushing furiously and more than a little shocked by the scandalous nature of it all, but I could also see her nipples had become a little pokey under her shirt. She had some questions, mostly about how we were keeping everything straight between us, and how there weren't more catfights going on. She'd been a cheerleader and knew how a group of women could get, especially if they were looking for attention from the same guy.

The two of them had finished the bottle by the time Mary's questions were answered, and the afternoon was wearing on. Charlie had gotten tired of playing in the backyard, but Thomas had come out and occupied her some until he was bored too. Mary had to make them dinner, so Erica and I said our goodbyes - I never did get to fixing her lawn, and as we walked around the side of the house I made a mental note that I should fix the side gate that I'd barrelled through as well. I promised I'd come back the next day with some more groceries and would bring Vanessa to help me out and meet her.

"Harri," Erica said once we were in the truck. "I think she has a thing for you."

"She's married, babe," I said. "And I'm not risking what happened last time with Vanessa."

"It could just be you," Erica said. "We'd all understand. She's cute, especially if she keeps getting back her regular weight. And she needs companionship."

"That doesn't change the fact that she's married," I pointed out.

"We both-"

"We don't know anything," I said. "Not for sure. And until that happens, I'm not treading on anyone's wedding vows."

"OK, babe," Erica said, taking my hand from the wheel and holding it. "And just so you know, I'd never break our wedding vows either. Which means they are probably going to be pretty weird if we're going to caveat all the face-sitting and cunt-licking."

I snorted and the truck bounced a little as I laughed.

* * * * *

"Alright, good to know you folks are doing well," I said. "Remember, this thing is real. Mask up and glove up when you're going out, and try to stay to yourselves as much as possible."

"Whatever," said the guy standing in the doorway of the home.

"Thank you so much, Sheriff," the wife said, beaming from beside him. "I really appreciate you taking the time to come out and answer our questions."

"No problem, Ma'am," I said. "Just remember that our system is pretty strained right now, and we want to keep our emergency lines open for the big stuff. You can always leave a message on the State non-emergency line and someone will try to get back to you."

"I totally understand, Sheriff," she nodded along.

I said goodbye to the couple and went back to my truck, stepping up into it and closing the door.

"Just one more," Kyla said from the passenger seat. "Though I'm really not sure why you're doing so many of these. You said you'd help out, not do their jobs for them."

"This is me helping out, Kyla," I said, throwing the truck into reverse and pulling out of the driveway. "The Staties are dealing with more looters, and all the other ramped up crime, and they have to be present when the dead are getting pulled out of places. These welfare checks are easy to manage and make people feel better."

"Not us," Kyla pointed out. "I've seen more dead bodies in the last three days than I have in my life."

I'd taken a few days to get acclimated to the truck, the firearms and my new title before I called up the local State Trooper Sergeant and let him know I was ready to fulfill my end of the deal. In that time I'd also fixed up Mary's place with Vanessa, who had become little Charlie's new favourite person, and had spent time out in the forest with Kyla as we talked through the mild nightmares she'd been having.

She'd decided the best thing to do was to find a purpose - she couldn't dance, at least not in the professional way she was trained, and while fucking and brushing up on her housewife skills was a great way to spend her time she needed more than that. So we had decided that she should become my volunteer deputy and partner and come along with me.

The Trooper Sergeant had needed to figure out what he could give us to do, since 'community policing initiatives' often involved things like presence at local fairs, presentations at schools and all sorts of things that were closed down at the moment. He'd landed on following up on the requests for welfare checks from the community as people had been calling in with questions and concerns about what was going on.

Kyla and I had quickly found that there were two kinds of stops we would make - the first was like the one I'd just done. I knocked on the door, and someone answered and was glad to see someone in uniform there to talk to them. Half of the folks tried to invite me in, but I would always refuse and let them know how serious things really were, and we'd talk on the stoop or the porch. A few of them would be agitated and try and shout me down about civil rights and liberties, but I would make a couple of attempts to talk them around and if they refused to listen I'd wish them a good day, and to stay safe, and then I'd leave.