Quaranteam - North West Ch. 15

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QT:NW continues the official Spin Off for the Quaranteam universe originally created by CorruptingPower. You do not need to have read the original series to enjoy this one, but you really do need to start with Chapters 1-4 (I really suggest you read the original though, it's great!). Fans of the original should be pleased to know CP has approved the story and the continuity.

In this chapter you can expect funerals, tattoos, workouts, and group showers.

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The funerals were held on the fifteenth up at the reservation. I only found out they were even happening because the State Troopers asked me to attend as a formal representative of local law enforcement - I guess they considered it a 'community initiative' to take the time for a funeral and wasn't worth the manpower when they were stretched so thin.

I hadn't been sure how to feel about the request, but I took it. And when the time came, I found out that the girls had discussed amongst themselves who should go with me. All four of them wanted to, both to support me and to pay their respects to the tough situation, but they also didn't want to draw too much attention attention.

In the end, Kyla attended as my deputy, while Erica attended as my fiancee.

"It's not fair how hot you look in that dress," Kyla muttered as she looked in the rearview mirror of the truck back at Erica.

"You could have worn a dress too," Erica countered. "I saw that little black one you've got. You probably look like a fucking snack in it."

Kyla sighed and shook her head, but then reached back to undo the bun she kept her hair in when we were 'in uniform' and started fixing her hair with her fingers. "It's more of a clubbing dress, or a cocktail dress, than for a funeral," she said. "Plus we're here in an official capacity."

We were waiting in the line of trucks and cars that were being let onto the Rez one by one. There were four big, dour-looking Native men working their 'gate' and most of the vehicles were only stopped for a couple of moments - I had a feeling anyone in the tribe was welcome, and they were just looking for outsiders. I'd already clocked a few confused glances at us as we slowly edged closer up the line.

"Baby, you're frowning hard enough to crack the windshield," Erica said. "Tell Kyla she looks pretty."

"She does," I said off-hand, reaching a hand over from the steering wheel and taking hers in mine.

"Wow, don't overstate it," Kyla said with a little smirk.

"Sorry," I sighed. "This is all just- The community deserves a funeral, but this big thing is a bad idea."

Kyla nodded and frowned. "I'm surprised they're allowed to do it at all."

"It's on the Rez, so the State Troopers don't have jurisdiction, and if any Feds cared it would still be something of a nightmare to enforce," I said. "Part of me thinks I should say something."

"And the other part of you knows that wouldn't accomplish anything except piss people off," Erica ended my thought for me. "We can only do what we can do. We'll wear our gloves and masks, and we'll stay a respectful distance away at the back of the ceremony, and maybe we can let people know how serious we're taking things and influence them that way. And then afterwards, when we get home, you can fuck me and Kyla a few times each to make sure we're all inoculated."

I glanced up in the rearview mirror to make eye contact with my fiancee. "Hold on, is that why you wanted to be the one to come?"

She smiled a little and adjusted the bust of her dress that showed a tasteful amount of her cleavage. "Maybe partially," she said. "I also want to make sure I'm here to support you."

"And to show off in front of your ex," Kyla said. "Just a little."

"Just a little," Erica agreed. "I'm 'the white woman with the tits,' remember?"

I rolled my eyes and thought about asking her to keep it decent, but I already knew she would. We were also pulling up to the gate and one of the big natives was holding up a hand for me to stop.

"We don't need you here," the biggest guy said as I pulled up. We had the windows down and I could hear the muttering from the other three as they leaned back to look at the big 'Sheriff' emblazoned on the side of my truck. Or maybe it was that combined with 'Black County' under it.

"We're just here to pay our respects," I said. "Officially and unofficially."

He grunted and narrowed his eyes for a moment, looking at the three of us dressed all in black. "Hold on," he said and stepped away to the little information booth and grabbed a handheld radio and spoke into it quietly.

"Where's Black County?" asked one of the other men, the youngest of them. He was wearing a rough-looking suit that looked like it doubled as his 'going out on the town' outfit on occasion.

"Southeast of here," I said vaguely, not exactly wanting to draw attention to the fact that we werethat Black family, fromthat Black land. "This is my deputy, and this is my fiancee. We just want to pay respects."

The leader of the group came up, an obvious look of suspicion on his face. "Take the second right up this road. A member of the Tribal Police will meet you and direct you on what is or isn't appropriate."

"Happy to meet them," I nodded.

He nodded back, patted the hood of my truck, and backed off to let me through.

"Well, that was easy," Erica said after we were rolling and they wouldn't hear her.

"We should really get actual uniforms," Kyla said. "It would probably make us look a touch more official for formal events."

"Yeah, maybe," I said, wondering how many more of these things I would actually need to go to in the future. How long was I supposed to be Sheriff for anyways? Did I have term limits or anything? "Or at least actual badges."

"Harri, babe," Erica said, knocking on the plexiglass barrier between the front and back seat - I still hadn't figured out how to take it out. "Seriously, you need to get out of your head or you're going to scare people with that scowl."

"Ugh, sorry," I said, wiping my face and then scratching at my beard for a moment. "You're right."

"Of course she is," Kyla said.

"We should have given him a blowjob before we left," Erica sighed. "Or on the way."

"You said we should stay appropriate," Kyla said, looking back at Erica.

"You two discussed blowing me on the way to a funeral?" I asked, making the turn as I'd been directed.

"We all did," Erica said. "Seriously, Harri. You think everything just happens spontaneously?"

I blinked, raising an eyebrow. "At least half," I said.

"Maybe a third," Erica shot back. "Maybe."

"My life is a lie," I said whimsically, making both of them snort and grin a little. I wasn't sure if they were starting to pick up on each other's mannerisms a bit, or if maybe they had always been this similar. Or maybe Kyla's training had her mirroring Erica to create a stronger bond.

I spotted the Tribal Police cruiser ahead of me and it flashed its daytime lights to signal me over into the parking lot for the little general store it was parked in front of. Making the turn in, I pulled up so that we were window to window though I was looking down at the much older cruiser that looked like it might have been purchased third-hand about a decade and a half ago.

"So you're the new Sheriff we heard about, huh?" said the woman inside. She was young - or younger than Erica and I, but likely had a year or two on Kyla, and was pretty in a soft sort of way. But she also looked a lot more official than Kyla or I in her brown uniform and full rig of equipment.

"That's me," I said. "I'm Sheriff Black, this is my Deputy, Kyla, and my fiancee Erica in the back."

"Hi," the woman said as she peeked back at Erica, then looked back at me. "Are you...that Harrison Black?"

"Uh-" I said.

"It's not a big deal to me if you are," she said, holding up her hands. "I think all the old-school grudgey victim stuff is BS."

"Well, yeah, that's me. Or us," I said.

She shrugged. "Kind of risky comin' here, isn't it?"

"I'm just here to pay my respects," I said. "The State Troopers couldn't spare anyone, and I've been doing community efforts and welfare checks all over the area for them. But, however strained it is, I do still have a connection or two here, too."

"Alright, well, do us all a favour and leave your sidearms locked in the truck," the officer said. "You can follow me over to the cemetery. Try to keep to the back and not draw attention. Most of the folks who will be here are members of the Tribe, and you're already going to stick out as outsiders."

I couldn't bite my tongue completely. "Are there any safety measures going on for the quarantine?"

The officer grimaced. "Official policy on the Rez is we're leaving it up to folks to do what they think is best for them. No one will look at you funny if you wear a mask or anything, but if it bothers you to see folks unmasked then I suggest you just turn around now."

"I'm sorry, Officer, but you do realize that it'sreal, right?" Kyla asked from the passenger seat.

"Oh, I do," the Officer said. "But like I said, I'm not exactly the standard around here. Probably why I can put up with being a cop. Anyways, the service is supposed to start soon so we should head over."

"Sorry," Erica called from the back seat. "What was your name again?"

"Right. I'm Constable Gertrude Swiftwater, but everyone just calls me Gerry."

"It's nice to meet you, Gerry," I said, wondering if it was happenstance or if she was related to Kara somehow.

"You too," she nodded. "Alright, let's head over."

"More like Officer Hotty McHotpants," Erica murmured from the back seat as Gerry pulled away and I turned the truck to follow her.

"You barely saw her," I said.

"She's cute as fuck and has big tits," Erica said.

"Could you stop objectifying my coworkers?"

"I objectify Kyla all the time," Erica said.

"Hey," Kyla said.

"What, you want me to stop giving you feedback on what lingerie or outfits he might like?"

"That's not objectifying," Kyla said. "That's advice."

"Advice based on deciding how hot you look in different outfits."

"OK, you two," I said.

"Fine, you can objectify me. On a case-by-case basis," Kyla said, a little chagrined smile on her lips.

I followed Officer Gerry through a couple of back roads in the main Rez community and we passed by the remains of the burned-down Community Centre. It looked like they hadn't started carting off any of the refuse; the blackened steel and concrete reminded me more of my stints overseas in combat zones than anything else. There was also a large memorial set up with large pictures and cascading with wildflowers, and it looked like folks had likely been holding vigil once the search efforts had finished.

We pulled up a short walk from the cemetery and I was helping Erica out of the back seat with one hand as Officer Gerry stepped out of her car.

"See?" Erica whispered to me. "Tits, and a dump truck ass."

"Erica," I whispered sternly.

"Last one, babe. Promise," she grinned and winked at me.

"You see her butt?" Kyla asked quietly, coming around the back of the truck.

I just groaned, making them both snicker a little, and then we all got our black medical masks and gloves on.

Gerry found a spot and left us near the back of the cemetery, moving forward to check in with one of her fellow Tribal Police, as the service got started. It was one large one for all eight of the folks who had died in the fire trying to rescue as much of the food in the foodbank as possible. Six men and two women, dead because of an act of arson used to distract folks for burglaries. I assumed that the families would likely be holding their own personal funeral rites - the service was sombre, but still something of a community spectacle. There were speeches, and poetry, and a traditional dance presentation.

And as I looked around at the gathered crowd, I felt a creeping chill up my spine. I stopped counting unmasked faces after the first couple dozen since there were so many more to go. I saw folks shifting, talking to each other and hugging each other in between presentations. Every little cough, or someone clearing their throat, had me looking in concern.

I prayed, even though I hadn't really prayed since I'd been in the military, that everything would be OK.

Kara got up second during the memorial speeches for each of the dead, giving a heartfelt description of a man who had worked for the Community Centre for two decades, and organized the local sports rec tournaments that helped keep their community connected to other tribes through friendly competition. She was dressed in a slim and sombre black dress with black leggings underneath and had a large necklace of lots of white and black beaded strands hanging around her neck. I could tell the moment she scanned the crowd and recognized me - she didn't falter, but her eyes did come back to us a few times quickly. When she ended her speech to soft claps, and more than a few mournful sobs from the crowd at the loss of a pillar of their community, I noted that Kara put a medical mask on before moving to shake some folks' hands and then hugging what I assumed was the grieving son of the man she'd given the eulogy for. Then she was free, and the next presenter was mounting the stage, and she quietly made her way towards us.

"Harri?" she asked in a whisper as she approached.

"Hey, Kara," I said. "You know my fiancee Erica. This is Kyla, my girlfriend."

"I thought you said you were dating the-" She stopped and took a breath, then looked to Kyla. "It's nice to meet you." She looked at Erica. "Thank you for coming."

"We're sorry for your loss," Erica said with sincerity.

"Thank you. What's with the utility belts and outfits?" Kara asked, glancing at the way Kyla and I were dressed. "Don't tell me you're the Sheriff I heard about?"

"It's a long story," I said. "But yes, I am."

Kara closed her eyes and put two fingers to her forehead as if she were trying to steady her brain from spinning, then blinked them open again. "I can't even begin to process whatever that means right now," she said. "I need to get back up front."

"Go," I nodded. "And I'm sorry."

"Thank you," she said quietly, eyeing the three of us like she still couldn't quite place how we were who and where we were, before starting to turn back.

"Kara?" I asked, stopping her. "I- Thank you for taking me seriously last time, and I know the people need this, but it's not safe. Be careful."

She just nodded and turned. Erica, who had been standing beside me, grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze before stepping forward and looping her arm in Kara's, walking with her for about a dozen paces and speaking to her quietly. The two of them stopped and Kara said something back, then Erica replied, and then separated from her and came back to us.

"What was that about?" I asked, watching Kara weave her way back through the crowd towards the front.

"I told her she needed to take better care of herself and actually take this seriously because if she dies from the pandemic it would break your heart."

"Erica," I sighed.

"She took it well, babe. Don't worry," Erica said, taking my hand.

"That's not what I meant," I said.

"Yes, it was," she said, squeezing my hand harder for a moment and giving me a look not to argue with her.

I just shook my head and we listened to the next speakers.

* * * * *

The buzzing of the tattoo gun was a soft drone in the compound as Erica slowly added her mark to Ivy's collection of tattoos. Kyla and I had finished up another round of Welfare Checks in the afternoon after the funeral, and again the next day, before I woke up to a beautiful morning that promised to straddle the line between the strangely hot spring and the wetter, cooler weeks that had settled in.

I'd decided to take a day off.

First I spent the early morning with Vanessa, making love to her by ourselves out in the forest like I had with Erica and Ivy when the site was full. We packed coffee in thermoses and set off for a hike, and within twenty minutes her bare ass was pinned to a tree as she clutched her arms around my neck and I thrust into her with animal desire. Once her legs weren't shaking anymore and she'd dripped most of my cum out of her, she pulled her panties and shorts back on, took my hand and we kept walking.

We stopped again on our way back and took our time, with her riding me slowly as we softly touched each other and locked our gazes.

Then I sat with Erica and drew. It hadn't really been that long since I'd done that, but it felt like longer. We did little creative exercises, drawing each other's hands, and then starting half of a sketch and swapping to finish for each other. Once we were into it, Erica flipped back and forth between a couple of different tattoo designs she was fiddling with while I sketched out a landscape from my memory of before the construction started.

By lunch, I was getting pulled out of my chair by Ivy, who wanted a quickie before we ate. Then after lunch Kyla had asked to go on a ride with the ATVs. She'd spent the morning doing some callisthenics with Dani and Ivy and then had been reading the Fellowship of the Ring at the heavy encouragement of Leo and Vanessa. We rode up to the Spring Pond, and we got naked and held each other in the cool water but didn't have sex. Instead we talked; she was still having nightmares occasionally about the gunfight at Mary's, and I'd woken up in a sweat myself once from my own nightmare.

We held each other and commiserated, and loved on each other. And when we were talked out we got dressed again and raced the long way back to the compound, buzzing on the ATVs at speed down the old paths and the new ones that the crews had been clearing.

When we got back, we found Ivy was laying out on a makeshift table in a t-shirt with her panties pulled up and wedged into her buttcrack as Erica leaned over her and was just starting a tattoo on her back, upper thigh. It was on the side of her that had all the other tattoos, and Erica was matching the dark navy of the others. When Ivy saw me she grinned and wiggled her bum, which made Erica scoff and give her a spank to stay still.

So, before dinner needed to start getting prepared, I decided I would indulge myself in one more luxury.

I took a fucking nap.

I couldn't have been asleep in the RV for more than ten minutes when I felt movement, and I peeked my eye open and found Vanessa climbing into bed with me and flopping down to cuddle.

Then I woke up again, but the smell of the hair my nose was pressed into wasn't right. It wasn't Vanessa, it was... "Kyla?"

"Hi," she said, rolling over from how she'd been spooned with me and gave me a soft kiss.

"I thought Vanessa was napping with me," I said.

"She was," Kyla said, stretching a little. She was only wearing a soft, lacey bra that gave minimal support but that she also said was comfortable, and panties. "We swapped out."

I kissed her back softly and went to escalate as I intended to make love to her, but she put a hand on my chest and stopped me with a little smirk. "Not right now."

"Not right now?" I asked.

She shook her head. "We have something to show you."

"OK," I said, a little confused. We got up and she put on one of my t-shirts over her underwear while I got on some shorts. Then Kyla took me by the hand and led me outside. It was late afternoon now, but the weather had held and the sun was peeking out from behind some clouds. The makeshift 'tattoo parlour' was put away, and Erica and Vanessa were lounging with India and Dani in the deck chairs while Ivy was laying out on a blanket, still only in a shirt and panties but now with saran wrap covering the fresh tattoo on her thigh.