Quaranteam - North West Ch. 18

"Just close your eyes and enjoy it, Harri," Kyla whispered to me. "You'll be back to ravaging us soon enough. Let us take care of you."

"Fuck, even shot and dopey from the drugs this is still the best cock I've ever had," Vanessa groaned. "I love you so Goddamn much, Harri."

"I love you too, Vanessa," I groaned. "I love you both."

Kyla kissed my forehead, and Vanessa kissed my lips, and then they both made soft, sweet love to me one after the other.

* * * * *

I was released from the medical wing of the Air Force building the next day. Vanessa and Kyla had both been allowed to keep their phones this time and that night I'd video called with Erica and Ivy, then with Leo, Dani and Aria for a couple of minutes. They were all glad to see I was OK and sent their love.

The tone of things changed once I was back home.

"Fucking asshole," Erica said and punched me in the arm. Hard. "Don't fucking do that to us again!"

"Ow, fuck," I said. Erica wasn't super strong or anything but she could throw a punch. "Jesus, Erica. I didn't get shot on purpose."

They had at least given me time to get back inside our compound, using a crutch to help keep weight off my wounded leg. Vanessa had driven Erica's car into the city and Kyla and I had hitched our ride back with her since my truck was- Actually, I wasn't surewhere my beautiful truck was. But based on what I vaguely remembered Miriam telling me, it wasn't exactly in driving condition at the moment and must have been towed somewhere.

I was sitting down - tenderly - in one of the deck chairs and Macho had jumped up on my lap and squirmed around in glee that I was home until I was giving him a rough belly scratching and he was lolling his head to the side with his tongue hanging out. That's when Erica hit me.

"She is right,mon amour," Ivy said, perching herself on the armrest of the chair and glaring at me even while she took my chin in her fingers and pulled me into a kiss. "There was no reason to put yourself in so much danger."

"It wasn't supposed to be dangerous," I sighed. "No one expected someone to attempt a big jailbreak."

"Still," Erica said, continuing her frown at me as she sat in the chair next to mine. "You scared the shit out of us."

"I'm sorry," I said, resting my hand on Macho's belly and just scritching him with my fingers. I'd never thought I'd be the kind of guy with a lapdog, but the little guy had grown on everyone quickly. "I- Kyla and I were doing something that we thought would be helpful, and then when wewere in danger we did what was necessary."

"That's some bullshit, Harri," Dani said, coming from inside our trailer with three bottles of beer in each hand fetched from the fridge and starting to hand them out. "You were being the hero again. And I, for one, am pissed at you as well but I'm not going to give you shit for it. You two shouldn't either. You knew what you were getting into when you picked him, Erica. And Ivy, I know you love the fact that he's a protector and super capable at that, so stop trying to give him shit for doing just that."

"Stop being reasonable, you bitch," Erica sighed with a little self-deprecating smirk for Dani as she accepted a beer from her.

"I'm sorry, Harrison," Ivy said, wiping under her eyes to try and keep herself from crying.

"No, ladies," I said and then sighed out an exasperated breath. "Don't start apologising. You two... I get it. And you have a right to feel the way you are. Especially since you couldn't come to check on me like Vanessa could. You've been bottling all that in. You can take it out on me, that's OK; you need to get it out."

"That's not what- ugh, OK, maybe that's part of it," Erica said, curling her feet up under her in her chair as she looked over with an expression that was more frustrated with herself than with me. "I'm not asking you to change, babe. I'm not even asking you to not ever get in a risky position again or anything. Just... make sure it'sworth it. To us. To people who... God, maybe this sounds awful, but to people who matter to us. Moving random prisoners from Point A to Point B doesn't change anything for us, doesn't protect us or make our lives any easier. Fuck, you weren't even gettingpaid to do it, Harri. The only reason you were out there was because you thought it was the right thing to do but it wasn't right or wrong, it was justa thing. We could have lost you and Kyla for nothing, and then what happens to us?"

I had to close my eyes and let her words run through me because they were something I'd been stewing on myself internally and I hadn't put to voice for myself yet. She was right. I could make an argument for the community policing stuffbecause it was in my community. The more people were safe in Jewell and around the area, the more they acted civil and protected themselves and each other, then the better this place would be long term. Helping Mary and the kids had beengood. Helping the women at Valkyrie Falls was good. Even driving down to Eugene on what had really been a fool's errand from the start had been a good thing to do because it helped Melina with her peace of mind and stopped her from risking herself.

Maybe, potentially, the prisoner transport thing could have earned me a favour with the Staties. But what were the chances of that favour ever being paid back? Or them feeling like it was actually owed?

Getting those men out of that prison had been a good thing, certainly, but I hadn't needed to be there for it. One more prisoner in the big SWAT truck instead of our vehicle wouldn't have made a difference. It was possible that Kyla and I had saved a couple of lives with our actions, but could I judge risking my life and the lives of four women I loved for something like that?

The soldier in me said I'd just been doing my duty, and the man in me said it was a thing worth doing. But the husband in me... the boyfriend. The lover. The father, sooner or later. Those parts of me that had found and bonded to these women that I loved...

"Stop pushing him," Vanessa said. She'd been hanging back a bit, likely since she'd had time with me already and felt like she owed it to the others. "Look at him. I can see his mind going a mile a minute. He knows all of this, Erica. You don't think he's already considering this?"

"I know he is," Erica said. "But sometimes..."

"Sometimes a man needs it put to him straight, or he'll run around it in circles until his legs fall off," I said and snorted a little laugh. "That's something my mother used to say about my father."

"Smart woman," Dani smirked from where she was standing behind Erica.

"OK," I said. "Erica, babe, I hear you. Ivy, I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you too,mon amour," Ivy said softly, shifting to lean against me from her perch on the armrest.

"Kyla," I said, looking around. She stepped up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I put you in a position like that again. I'm- God, I'm so sorry, and so glad that you didn't get hurt."

"I asked for it, Harri," she said. "It was- Fuck, I don't know. I love you."

Macho was not amused that I took my hand from his belly to take Kyla's on my shoulder and he rolled over and stood on his hind legs in my lap and started licking at my face.

"OK, OK," I said, fending him away. "Fuck, dude. Not on the lips." I pinned him down to my lap again and he wagged his tail and looked up at me with that little wide-eyed innocent look of his as he got his belly scratched again.

"Vanessa," I said, looking over at her. She met my eyes and smiled and nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too, you big bastard," Vanessa said.

That seemed to be news to Erica, Ivy and Dani, who all reacted like they were high schoolers and immediately were talking a mile a minute as they surrounded Vanessa and were hugging her. Kyla took that opportunity to lean down from behind me and give me a kiss on the cheek and let me know she needed to go take a nap - she hadn't slept since we'd left the morning before for Sheridan.

That left me with Macho for the moment, but I noticed that Leo had come out of his RV - he, Aria and India had disappeared after first welcoming me home to give us some privacy for the conversation. He was frowning a little and gave me the universal guy nod for 'follow me over here,' so with a grunt and a grimace I got up from the chair and hobbled after him with Macho tucked under one arm like a little furry football as he played with my fingers, gnawing on them lightly.

Leo led me around the side of the RV, out of sight of the girls, and turned and waited for me before leading me beyond the hanging sheets outside of the compound and next to one of the storage containers.

"It was just your leg, right?" he asked me, obviously concerned. "No concussion or anything?"

"Just the leg," I said with a sigh. "Thank-"

Leo punched me in the face.

Now, Leo wasn't a big guy. He didn't work out, and I doubted he ever really had with any seriousness. But he worked with his hands, and he wasn't necessarilyout of shape, so when he punched me it staggered me back a step and blossomed a nice shot of pain in my nose and a black circle in my vision for a moment.

"Fuck," Leo hissed, grabbing his hand.

"Fuck," I grunted, feeling at my face with the hand that wasn't holding Macho. "You could have at least let me put the dog down."

"Yeah, but then he might have run off," Leo grimaced, feeling his knuckles with his thumb. "God damn, you have a hard face. Fuck, Harrison. God fucking damn you. You need to stop fucking around. You scared the shit out of me and Erica. Do you know the last time I saw my sister cry? Like really cry? Cause I can't. But she did when she heard you'd been shot, and she came to me because she couldn't put it on Ivy or Vanessa. Sheneeds you, Harri, and I'm not just talking about the vaccine. She needsyou, OK? Fuck, we all need you. How long do you think I could take care of three live-in girlfriends, let alone my sister and any of the others, without you? You're changing all of our lives and I'm so fucking grateful for that, but fuck you for it, too."

I grabbed Leo and pulled him into a hug. Just the two- well, three- dudes in this mess together. Macho seemed to sense the moment and didn't squirm, instead nuzzling his way between the two of us a bit.

"I'm sorry," I told Leo.

"It's not just you, Harri," Leo said. "She needs you. I need you. I love you, dude."

"I know," I said. "I know. I'm sorry."

We hugged it out for a bit, and then both of us backed away feeling a little chagrined. I felt my nose, making sure it wasn't broken or bleeding, and he checked his knuckles again. Then I slapped him on the shoulder and nodded, and he nodded back, and we went back inside the compound.

* * * * *

Over the next couple of days I was on 'bed rest,' which meant I was popping Tylenol 3's on a schedule, was limited to one beer a day so I didn't fuck up my meds, and tried to move around as much as possible to stretch my legs while being harassed that bed rest meant I was supposed to stay in bed.

The blowjobs were nice, though.

Vanessa went back to work the day after we got back, and we got a couple of updates when she was back late that night. The renovations on the barracks buildings were finished and the first 100 workers were getting shuttled in - which actually meant 50 trained construction workers and 50 of their new vaccine partners who Vanessa had to work with the other labourer foremen to train and get into jobs. The canteen that would be feeding the entire camp was supposed to be kicking off as well, and within a couple of weeks there would be about 700 people living in the barracks buildings, and another 300 or so still living in the closest motels. The big plan was to erect another two major barracks buildings, and then work would really get started on everything. It was early July and they wanted the first of the McMansions to be finished by the end of September, and winter wouldn't be stopping construction.

It seemed insane, but with so many people to throw at a problem I had to assume things would go quickly. I didn't really know anything about construction; was there a critical mass issue of havingtoo many workers working on one house?

I managed to get in a quick walk outside our little compound when my truck was delivered. Part of me wondered if the fact that the bullet holes in the sides had been repaired but painted a slightly different black colour was Miriam giving me a reminder. All of the windows had been replaced though, and the front end had gotten repaired and there weren't any noticeable axle problems when Kyla took it for a quick spin. I also remembered to ask about Jackie Fallows, the prisoner we had been transporting - apparently, he'd caught a glancing blow from one of the bullets that had spattered the truck and he had a nice crease in his upper arm but was otherwise alright. He'd gotten loaded into the back of the SWAT truck once it had been freed from its precarious position after getting hit by the transport ambush. One of the men in there hadn't been so lucky and died from the wild impact.

Along with the truck, Miriam or possibly Laura had also sent a new care package with more ammunition, heavier-duty Kevlar vests and other SWAT tactical gear that seemed like overkill, and two new M4s to replace the one that had eaten a shotgun blast. There was also, much to the giggling delight of my girls, one of those doughnut seats that people with tailbone and ass problems had to sit on. I tried calling Miriam, but she texted back that she was busy unless it was an emergency, and that it better not be an emergency. I sent her back a Prayer Hands emoji, a Truck emoji and a Water Pistol emoji to thank her, and she sent back two fists bumping each other and a heart that made me smile. If Greerson hadn't manipulated the back end of the Air Force into putting her on this project, I couldn't imagine what kind of extra shit I would have been in by now.

It was on the third day of 'bed rest' that, following my morning blowjob from Ivy, I was presented with fresh bandage wraps for my leg and my gym clothes.

"We're going up to Valkyrie Falls," Erica told me. "Abi is going to check you out and see what kind of physical therapy you might need."

"Abi's great at what she does, but she's not a physical therapist," I pointed out.

"She's the best we've got, Harri," Erica said sternly. Then she kissed me on the forehead as I sat on the edge of the bed. "Just do what I say, OK?"

I wrapped my arms around her torso and pulled her to me, pressing my face into her soft stomach. "I will, babe," I promised her. "I will."

That seemed to mollify her, though I did manage to make her hesitate in us leaving so early when I slid my hands down to give her bum a squeeze. No such luck, however, and soon I was dressed in my gym gear and getting helped into the passenger seat of my truck. Kyla ended up driving, while Erica and Dani piled into the back seat.

The drive, more than even being at home again, felt like things were starting to go back to what we had come to think of as normal. Sure, my leg hurt like a bitch, but I could mostly ignore that to just focus on the banter between the girls. Kyla reached over and took my hand while she was driving and squeezed my fingers, then grinned and slid her hand onto my thigh like I often did with her. That made me laugh and I had to fend off her hand as she slid it higher and brushed against my crotch.

We pulled into the Falls through the automatic gate - thankfully the remote we kept in the glovebox was still there when I thought to check for it - and as we were pulling into the parking lot we were met by the ladies. All of the ladies.

"Apparently there are no secrets in this world anymore," I muttered and chuckled as the crowd of them came into view.

"I told Abi and Sara when I did the mini-supplies run two days ago," Erica said.

"I told Josie and Spencer over text," Kyla admitted.

"I... might have mentioned it to Melina," Dani said. "We've been chatting and she asked after you."

"It's fine," I laughed. "Just- I don't know. Don't let me get swamped here."

"Yeah, because you wouldn't love to be dogpiled by a bunch of muscle mommies," Erica teased me. "Come on, just face the music, babe. You're a lovable guy."

I made a dramatic grumbling noise that drew some laughs from the girls, and Kyla shut off the engine and I popped my door open.

It was, thankfully, a quick swarming. The ladies wanted to know what happened, and some wanted to see the wound while others turned away very muchnot wanting to see it. I got hugs from a bunch of them and all the sorts of words of encouragement that I expected. Josie was biting the inside of her cheek when it was her turn and she gave me a once over like she was worried I wasn't real for a second, then she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me gently as I bundled her up in my arms. It was fast, but I could tell she was shaken by the news of my injury. It was also weird seeing her a little shy and nervous compared to her usual boisterous self, though she managed to mostly get back into it when the hug ended.

Spencer had the opposite reaction; the quieter girl practically tackled me against the side of the truck as she hugged me hard and loudly proclaimed she was happy I was OK. I rubbed her back for a moment and patted her, not sure how comfortable I was hugging her fully only because of the crush she'd had. I didn't want to lead her on even by mistake, and she was too young for me even if things were different.

Melina gave me a hug as well, and a kiss on the cheek as she whispered her thanks to me again for my favour the week before. Her eyes looked a little sad, but she smiled, and I could tell that she was managing some complex emotions. Abi and Sara also hugged me, both of the tall women taking care not to squeeze me hard but giving me encouragement and slapping me on the back a bit.

Everyone knew everyone already so there were no introductions to be made, but Erica had never been there for an actual workout. It didn't take long for Josie and Melina to take her on a quick tour while Spencer got Dani and Kyla started on their workouts and I was partnered off with Abi. I did notice that the three of them stuck close to us though, never more than a few yards away from where Abi started working with me.

"So, how much pain are you really in?" Abi asked me as we took up a spot in the outdoor gym area and she dragged out a couple of padded mats from a little shed and set them down.

"Call it six out of ten," I said. "Seven if I whack it or do something stupid."

"Alright," she nodded. "Better or worse when you put weight on it?"

"Worse, but manageable."

"Any range of motion issues?"

"The girls have been keeping me limited so far, so I'm not sure," I admitted.

"Alright," she nodded. "Then let's start there."

Abi worked me over in a way that we'd never worked before. Whether it was stretching, light cardio work or even just some basic curls to do some upper body work, she was checking on my thigh for tightness or stabilizing my back or hip. There had always been some casual touching during my workouts as she adjusted my posture or stance, or occasionally had me put a palm on her to feel a specific muscle group as she showed me a new exercise. This was different though, and I put it down to her worrying about not wanting me to overdo it or strain anything.

The thing was, she wasn't the only one doing it. As soon as Melina and Josie had finished with Erica's tour the three of them joined us, and soon I had four women fluttering around me to make sure I was all good. I wasn't sure if Erica had talked with them about it or anything, but somehow I ended up being as ministered to by Josie and Melina as I was by Abi. Erica, meanwhile, was constantly nearby encouraging me, and occasionally rewarding me with a kiss when I exceeded Abi's goals.