Shelter from the Storm Pt. 01

In a post-apocalyptic world where danger is everywhere, a young man stumbles across a closed community where he can live in comfort and safety. There's only one condition: he has to give up his ass for all the men.

This is the first installment in a planned two-parter. There are some light non-consent elements to the story.

*** If you are reading this because you follow me for my hetero stories, this might not be for you. This is a purely gay male story, and all the sex is between men. ***

Was it my imagination? Or had I really just seen lights, somewhere ahead of me?

The rain was soaking me to the skin. The night was pitch black, and a rough wind buffeted the trees. Cold, pelting rainwater had been hammering into me for hours, and I was shivering furiously, feeling like the cold was penetrating deep inside me. The rainstorm blocked out the sky, and I could barely see ten feet in front of my face. The noise was deafening. I was totally lost, totally immersed in the wild, cold night.

Of course, this had its advantages. It was hard for anyone to track you in a storm like this. Muggers and kidnappers would probably be lying low -- the defeaning noise and blinding rain was as much a disadvantage to them as it was to their potential victims. And I needed to get as far away as I could while the storm lasted, which was why I had been trekking through it all night rather than finding shelter. Twelve hours ago I had been spotted by a gang of bandits, and I had only just gotten away with my life. I was sure they were still searching for me, so I had left the ruined city behind me, and made for the wild. When the rainstorm came on, I knew I needed to make the most of it if I wanted a clean getaway. Under cover of the rain I could make sure that I left the city behind me, and I left no tracks.

In the years since the great collapse, I had learnt to think like this. Like everyone else who wanted to survive in this cruel new world, I had only two choices before me: become a predator, stealing and killing in order to survive; or get very, very good at running, hiding, and keeping myself safe. There was never really any question about which of those options I would take. I didn't have a predatory bone in my body. I was small and slim, and while years of struggling to survive had made me fit and lean, I was still no match for most other men. But more importantly, I simply didn't have it in me to fight, dominate, and get what I wanted by force. I had always been quiet, sensitive, and gentle. In the old world there had been a place for men like me. In this new world, the only place for a man like me was on the run.

It had been three, maybe four years now since the great collapse, which had come while I was finishing high school. In those few years I had got very good at hiding and running. It meant being constantly tense, constantly watchful, never safe, never at ease, never free. And now here I was, leaving yet another ruined city behind me, trekking through the stormy night, wondering where I could find another place to hide. I was cold, soaked, frightened, tense, and I was constantly alert -- watching the howling, wild night.

And I was sure I had just seen lights.

I tried to wipe the rain out of my eyes, and peered ahead of me into the turmoil of the storm. The wind howled, and the trees around me creaked and swayed, their branches groaning under the pelting water. I kept walking forward, but more slowly, peering cautiously ahead.

And then I saw it again. Warm, golden lights, as though from many fireplaces. The path was snaking gently upwards. I kept going for another minute or two, winding my way up the slope between the trees. And then I reached the edge of the trees just as there was a flash of lightning -- while a defeaning peal of thunder sounded directly overhead. And for that moment, I saw it clearly.

It looked like some kind of fortress. A high, thick stone wall towered up into the night. It curved around, enclosing a large area, and disappearing into the trees on either side. It wasn't ruined: unlike most of the surviving world, this place looked intact. More than intact, it looked strong, secure, unshakeable. And high up in that wall there were windows, and coming from the windows, there was a warm, cosy golden light. It made me think of dry, warm bedrooms, hot showers, and all the comforts of the old world, now long gone.

A gate was set into the wall, directly before me.

I hesitated. I hadn't survived this long by walking up to random doors and knocking on them. I should have known better than that.

But something in this place was calling to me. I knew I should be more cautious; I knew that I had no idea what this place might be, no idea if it was safe. But I was soaked to the skin, I was freezing, I had been on the run since this morning, and somewhere deep inside me, I just didn't want to have to hide anymore. Fuck it, I thought. Why not just give this place a try?

I dashed across the open ground between the treeline and the gate, icy rain pelting me even harder now that I was out of the trees. The gate was huge, but there was a smaller door set into it. I knocked on the door, as hard as I could.

After a moment, a small hatch opened in the door. A man looked out at me, his face illuminated by warm candlelight. He looked at me appraisingly, but didn't speak.

"Hi," I gasped. I was shivering uncontrollably. The rain was still hammering down. "I'm -- I'm lost out here. I've been on the road all day. I was just -- just hoping I could find a place to stay the night."

The man peered past me into the darkness. Then he met my eye.

"Get in quick," he said. Then he moved, and I heard him sliding back what sounded like many different bolts on the inside of the door. He closed the hatch, opened the door just enough for me to enter, and I slipped inside. Immediately, he closed and bolted the door behind me.

The first things I knew were that I was warm, and I was out of the rain. Blinking, I looked around me. I was standing in a large guard room. Several doors led out of it, and there were many lamps on the walls casting a warm yellow glow. It took me a moment to recognise the quality of that light. It was electric -- actually electric. I hadn't seen an electric light since before the collapse.

I was already dripping puddles of water all over the hard stone floor. Still shivering, as all my clothes were soaked through with freezing water, I turned to look at the man who had let me in.

He was tall and well built, with thick brown hair. As he turned towards me I saw his face properly for the first time. He was older than me, perhaps in his mid-30s. He had brown eyes, a Roman nose, and a strong jawline. He was wearing a white linen shirt, and I was struck by how clean and well-kept it was -- you almost never saw clothes in that good condition anymore. The man looked fit and well-muscled, but there was a kindness in his face that made something in my stomach relax, just a little.

Before speaking to me, he crossed to another door, opened it, and spoke to someone inside. "Go and fetch Kirios," I heard him say. Then he turned back to me.

"Have you come far?" he asked gently.

"Yes," I said, still shivering. "I left the city this morning. What is this place? It looks so -- so solid. So strong."

"It was once a castle," he told me. "And it's been preserved because they later used it as a museum. It's a safe place now -- nobody can get in unless we want them to."

"W-we?" I stammered. "Who lives here?"

His eyes were roving over me, taking in my slim, boyish frame, the clothes clinging to my body.

"Oh ... we have a community here," he said. "Thirty or forty men."

"Just men?" I asked, feeling confused. The man's mouth twitched in the hint of a smile.

"Yes. Just men. Though we tend to call the younger and smaller ones boys. Like you, for instance."

I heard footsteps in a passage outside, and another man strode into the room. He was very tall and broad, with dark hair that fell to his broad shoulders, and an olive-skinned, Mediterranean face. His dark eyes stared into me, and I felt suddenly naked.

"This is him, Kirios," said the man who had let me in. "He says he wants a place to stay the night." Then he added to me, "Kirios is the head of our community. He makes all the decisions here."

Kirios stepped towards me, his eyes still burning into me. "Your name?" he asked me.

"Aston," I told him. It was a long time since I'd used my name.

"And you know what this place is?"

I looked uncertainly at the other man. "Well ... I didn't know this place was here. I just saw it, and I wanted a place to stay, out of the rain."

"You left the path? In a storm? We're deep in the forest here."

"I was trying to get away. I had met some bandits ..."

Kirios nodded, slowly. "So you know nothing about our community. About how things are done here."

I shook my head. I was very conscious of my wet clothes, and the puddle of water that had pooled around my feet.

"What do you mean, how things are done here?" I asked. But Kirios didn't answer the question.

"You can stay here," he told me, looking at me with something very bright and intense in his gaze. "Tonight, and tomorrow night. After that, you will have the option to leave, if you have not chosen to join us."

"Join you?" I repeated.

"Oh yes," he said quietly. His eyes bored into me, making me feel like he was looking right through my skin, into my soul. "I can see what kind of boy you are, Aston. I think that before two nights have passed, you will have chosen to stay, and join our community."

I swallowed. I really wasn't sure what was going on. "Well, thank you," I said. "For the two nights. I appreciate it."

"You're very welcome," Kirios answered with a wry smile. "Of course, while you stay with us there will be certain ... conditions."

Before I could question this, he turned to the other man.

"James, I am giving him to you for the night." I saw James give a satisfied smile at this. His eyes flicked towards me.

"I'll send someone else down here to take over your guard duty," Kirios went on. "Give the boy a hot shower, and a warm bed for the night. You can invite one of the other men to join you if you want. Be gentle with him at first -- you can see how fresh he is. But make sure he understands what living here is about."

Kirios looked at me. "I'll see you tomorrow, Aston," he said calmly. There was a strange gleam in his eye. Then he turned, and left the guard room.

James smiled at me. "Come on," he said. "I'll show you to my rooms."

I followed him through one of the doors and up a stone staircase, lit by more lamps. I was still processing what Kirios had said. What had it all meant?

We made our way down a long corridor lined with doors. At one of them, James stopped and knocked. A man opened it -- blonde, slightly shorter than James (but still a lot taller than me), and wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"Evening James," he said with a grin. Then he spotted me. "Oh my ... and who do we have here?" There was a look on his face of curiosity, mingled with ... something else. The same bright, deeply interested sparkle that I had seen in James' eyes when Kirios had told him to look after me for the night.

"Sam, this is Aston," said James. "He's just knocked on our gate -- he was looking for shelter. Kirios has taken him in for two nights. I'm taking him to my rooms, and I was wondering if you'd like to join me. We can spend the evening getting to know him."

Sam smirked. "What a treat," he said. His eyes moved slowly over me. "Good to meet you, Aston. Welcome to our community."

I smiled, still feeling unsure what was happening. "Hi Sam," I said shyly.

Something in James' and Sam's expressions was giving me a queasy feeling in my stomach. It wasn't exactly unpleasant. It was like my subconscious knew something that my conscious mind did not. Something that was making me nervous. Making me excited.

James led us along the corridor, opened another door, and led us into his own rooms. I gasped in amazement. I hadn't seen a room like this since before the collapse. I was looking around a spacious, well-furnished living room, lit by a warm fire and several small electric lamps. There were comfortable sofas, thick rugs on the floors, and windows through which I could see the pummelling darkness of the rainstorm. It must have been the windows of apartments like this one, I realised, that I had seen from outside.

Two doors stood open, leading off the room. Through one I could see gleaming tiles -- a bathroom. A real bathroom. And through the other, I glimpsed the corner of a large bed. The whole apartment was the most welcoming, comfortable place I had been in years. I felt instantly at home.

"But this is amazing," I said. "How can you live like this? It's just like the old world."

"Yeah, we do pretty well for ourselves here," smiled James. "Hot running water, electricity from the generator in the basement, and we grow very good food in the castle gardens. And hardly anyone knows we're here. Honestly, it's an easy life."

Suddenly I became conscious that I was dripping water onto James' floor. He saw me glancing downwards at my sodden clothes.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I think the first thing you need is a good hot shower. Sam, why don't you grab us some food and wine? Aston, I'll lay you out a towel and something clean to wear. You can join us when you're ready."

Five minutes later, I was standing under a hot shower for the first time since the collapse, and feeling like years of dirt was being washed away. Washing in a river was all very well, but it wasn't the same as this. I felt like all the stress, watchfulness, and tension was slipping away from me, running down the drain along with the dirt of the road.

I stepped out of the shower, picked up the large and fluffy towel that James had left me, and rubbed myself down. Once dry, I turned to the shelf where James had said he would lay out something clean for me to wear.

I stared.

James had given me one piece of clothing, and one only. It was a small pair of pink shorts.

A rush of heat seemed to go through me as I stared at the tiny garment. The shorts looked my size, but they were very short. I would be wearing something small, cute, and pink, that left my whole torso naked.

Something in my brain seemed to slide into place. I held the awareness at arm's length -- I didn't quite feel ready to acknowledge it yet, even to myself. But if I were honest, deep down, I knew what this meant.

Slowly, I picked up the shorts and put them on. They fitted perfectly -- not tight enough to be stretched awkwardly over my crotch, but tight enough to make my peachy ass look round and full and ... well ... enticing.

My tummy was full of fluttering, quivering butterflies. I was suddenly exquisitely nervous. Relax, I told myself, as my brain tried determinedly to talk me into not knowing, not recognising. They're just giving you a bed for the night. That's all. Just looking after you. And the shorts ... well, they might not have a lot of spare clothes. There's nothing else going on here.

But my tummy knew what I was really here for. My tummy knew what was going to happen when I stepped out of this bathroom.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped back into the living room. James and Sam were sitting on one of the couches, looking relaxed. They had left a space between them for me to sit. As I walked towards them, very conscious that I was wearing nothing but the small pink shorts, I caught the bright, hungry expressions on both their faces. They were looking at me with contained but intense excitement.

"Hey," I said shyly.

"Hey little boy," said Sam, his gaze moving over my exposed chest. "Why don't you come sit down?"

Nervously, I perched between them. Big though the couch was, both James and Sam were stretching out, and there wasn't much room for me. I was very conscious of how close they were.

James passed me a small plate of cut fruit, cheese, and other snacks -- all of it the kind of thing I had rarely eaten in the past few years. There was also a glass of wine set out for me on the coffee table.

"Eat," said James kindly. "You need something to perk you up after being out in that storm."

I ate, and sipped the wine. It was all delicious, but I barely tasted it. James and Sam chatted a bit with each other while I ate, but I didn't take in a word they said. I was conscious, the whole time, of their eyes on my near-naked body. After a short while, I put down the food, having eaten just enough to satisfy my hunger. I couldn't eat more. I was too nervous.

James and Sam stopped talking to each other, and looked at me. There was a pause, in which the latent tension in the air between us seemed suddenly to intensify. I had the clear sense that some special, important moment had arrived -- that something was about to begin.

"So," said James quietly. "How are you feeling, Aston?"

I smiled nervously. "Good," I said. "I mean -- it's so lovely in here. This place is incredible."

"Oh, it's incredible alright," said Sam. His eyes were twinkling with mischief.

"I hope you're comfortable topless," James went on. His face wore an amused look. "You don't mind the shorts, do you?"

"No," I said. I could feel my pulse racing.

"Of course," said James, "if it would make you more comfortable, Sam and I can always take our shirts off too ..."

I swallowed. I didn't know how to answer that. But James' smile was growing broader. Not taking his eyes from my face, he began unbuttoning his shirt. Sam did the same. I realised I was holding my breath, my eyes flicking between the two of them as they pulled off their shirts, and tossed them casually aside.

I was sat between two tall, toned, shirtless men. They were both just inches away from me. I was acutely conscious of their broad, hard, tightly honed bodies -- the muscles in their arms, the firmness of their chests and their abs.

"That's better," said James, stretching. And he reached across, and rested his hand on the back of my neck. I shivered, unable to stop myself, and I knew he both felt it and saw it. He was smiling wickedly. His hand on my neck made me feel helpless, vulnerable, exposed to his strength -- all these feelings that should have been uncomfortable, even alarming ... but they weren't. Instead my tummy was twisting madly with crazy, sick, delicious nerves.

Sam gave a low chuckle, and rested his hand on my thigh. My skin was tingling madly wherever they touched me.

"I've got a question for you, Aston," said James softly. "Do you like men?"

My stomach plunged. It was real. It was all real. The last scrap of my brain's attempt to deny what was happening sizzled up and vanished.

"Um ..." I said.

The truth was, I didn't know. Back before the collapse, I'd had a few experiences with girls. And it had been ... fine. Just fine. Then, when the collapse came, sex abruptly stopped being possible -- there was no chance of it when you were surviving by running and hiding, always on your own. So I had never explored any further.

Sometimes I fantasised about women, making myself come as I lay in some lonely hideout. It felt good in my imagination. I had almost managed to forget that on the few occasions I had actually been with women, it had been nowhere near as good as the way I imagined that sex should feel.

But as for the thought of being with men ...

"I don't really know," I finished shyly. "I've never -- I mean ..."

Sam chuckled softly. "Oh, he's adorable," he said to James. "I owe you for inviting me to his first night with us, James. He's just so fresh and sweet and innocent."