The System

They both breathed heavily as they recovered. Rain poured over them as they kissed passionately upon the conclusion of their love making. While the rain cleansed them from above, it kicked up the dirt from the ground. They found themselves dirtier than they had been before.

"Let's rinse off and get some sleep," Donna offered.

Mark readily agreed. He stood and began to rinse his body of the mud and dirt the rain set upon him as he watched his sister remain on her back in the mud.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he watched her rub her body from breasts to belly.

"Just watching you," she said.

Mark smiled and walked into their shelter. He sat on the foliage they found to protect them from the dirt and watch his beloved sister in the rain. She pushed the rainwater all over her body and giggled at it splashed over her. He marveled at her innocence and youthful nature.

"Despite everything, she doesn't have a care in the world," he thought to himself.

Donna eventually stood and rinsed herself off with nature's waterfall. She came back into the shelter and placed their clothes closer to the fire to dry off. Mark stoked the fire and added more wood until he was sure it would burn well into the night. She took the blanket from her pack and invited her brother to come lay with her.

"Our clothes should be dry by morning. We can hit the trail again then and hopefully soon we can go back home and back to normal, whatever that is."

Donna wasn't as positive about their situation.

"Nothing will ever be normal for us, Mark. We knew that when this all started. We'll do the best we can in any situation, though," she said, reassuring him despite her feelings.

Mark sighed and agreed, "You're right. One day, though, we'll be happy and carefree."

She knew that moment was right to begin to bring him into her world.

"Mark?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"I want you to remember this night," she said hesitantly.

He thought for a minute before responding.

"How could I not?" he said, obliviously.

She sighed internally and pulled her lover close. He pulled the blanket over them as they both watched the light of the fire illuminate the falling rain.

"I love you, Donna," Mark said unexpectedly.

She kissed the back of his neck softly and whispered to him, "I love you so much."

They both watched the dancing fire light and fell asleep to the soothing sound of falling rain.

The following morning, they found the rain had stopped and their clothes dry. They thanked God for the blessing, got dressed, and packed up camp. The sky offered no hint of another bout of rain, so they continued down the trail with every intention of covering several miles before they rested again. They realized along the way that they had never been that far down their familiar trail. They conceded that the path could have changed in the years since their last visit. Each turn of the trail felt like a new experience to them.

As mid-day came, their luck began to fall apart. Storm clouds slowly moved in and they soon realized that they were in no position to set up a camp. Their trail had brought them to a lengthy mountainside pasture with only a single house in the distance. There was no wooded area for them to seek shelter. They knew they would have to seek the assistance of the homeowners.

"I don't recall this part of the trail. Do you think we maybe took a wrong turn?" Donna asked.

Mark looked around for any familiar landmarks and said, "I don't think we've ever walked this far. We've been out here for a while. I'm sure we would have recognized that house if we ever saw it. It's certainly not new."

The small house in the distance seemed to grow as they approached it until finally, they arrived at the disheveled gate near the gravel driveway. Rain was imminent and they wondered what to do at that point. Mark announced their presence loudly as they waited outside the fence. It wasn't long until a tall, lanky man walked out of the run-down house and approached them.

"What y'all need?" he asked suspiciously.

Donna didn't like the situation but still regarded the man as a neutral party in their ultimate goal. The man walked toward the gate and observed the two closely. His expression changed dramatically once he took in their appearances.

"I seen y'all on the television," he said informatively.

Mark reacted coldly, "It couldn't have been us. What was the story?"

The man adjusted his overalls and fixed his eyes on Donna, "Welp, the news said y'all out here runnin' from the po-lice. They ain't explain much else. Don't know what y'all have in mind comin' here."

Mark and Donna both were surprised at how fast information was getting out to the public. They feared any shot of normalcy at home was impossible given the news he just told them. They both were set on the idea that the implant company was determined to find and eliminate them to protect the System.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir," Mark said respectfully, "we're just hikers who don't care to spend another night in the rain."

The man eyed them both up and down before opening the gate.

"I s'pose I'll let ya stay for the night. You'll have to leave by the mornin', though," he said as he turned away from them and walked toward his home. "I'll have to put ya up in the barn if ya don't mind. Ain't got no room in the house."

"Anywhere is better than out here," Donna said loudly.

Donna watched as the man turned his head and focused his gaze on her as he winked. She felt immediately uncomfortable. He eventually showed the pair a spot in the barn that would keep them warm and dry. As he explained the accommodations, Donna became increasingly concerned about their safety. She waited until the man left the barn to express her concerns.

"I don't like this," she whispered to Mark.

"What don't you like? I know it's not nature, but we had to do something!" he said.

She sighed and told him what she observed, "He kept looking at me weird and let's not forget what he said when he first saw us. Apparently, there's a movement of some kind out there against us. This is bigger than we thought!"

Donna was in full panic mode. Mark wanted to relieve all her anxiety.

"When it stops raining, we'll leave without telling the old man. He didn't ask for payment nor did we offer any. I need to go talk to him and figure out what it will take for him not to report us."

"Mark, don't!" she begged, "I want to sleep and move on without conflict."

"He seems to know who we are and apparently that we're wanted. I need to know what it will take to keep him silent for us."

Donna disagreed with his approach, "Could you wait until morning?"

Mark went against his instinct and indulged his sister in her request. They slept soundly out of the rain that evening and woke with the sounds of the roosters. It wasn't long before the farmer came into the barn to greet them again.

"I reckon you two'd be on your way now," he said plainly.

"The change in weather gives us quite a while to make up time we lost overnight," Mark said.

The man shifted his position as he stood inside the frame of the barn door.

"Well, that's the thing, isn't it? You ain't gonna get too far if I report ya, are ya?" he said.

They both understood what was happening. Donna nearly broke down in tears. Mark resented her in that moment. He knew he should have confronted the situation the night prior. He approached the man.

"I don't have much to offer you right now," he said. He knew the man simply wanted something tangible to keep him silent.

"Well," the man said quietly, "I don't suppose you have much to offer being this far away from home, do ya? I guess I could compromise with ya on other stuff."

Mark became suspicious of the man's agenda, "What are you saying?"

"I think if the young lady over there gave a decent blowjob, I'd probably not recall anyone stopping by here at all. The ol' lady left me a couple years back and it gets kinda lonely out here."

The man was acting as if he struck gold. Mark wasn't approving of the idea, but he presented it to his sister regardless.

"He says he won't tell anyone we were here if you give him a blowjob," Mark said quietly.

Donna was shocked that he would even bring that concept to her, "Of all the possible ideas in your tiny little brain," she said, poking the side of his head, "that's what you two landed on?"

"I have nothing to offer him for his silence! What do you want me to do?" he asked harshly.

"Defend me!" she yelled back.

"Babe," he said. Donna took note of his tone as he rarely used that word. "I have no money with me. I have nothing of value to give him. He's willing to let us walk away but we'll have the authorities on our tail within minutes. I'm sure there's some reward for him if he turns us in. I don't know what's happening in the real world but it's clear that our images are a part of it."

Donna became upset but never said no. Mark comforted her but eventually asked her what she thought about the proposition.

"Do you think we'll be free to go without harassment if I do this?" she asked in tears.

He kissed her lips softly and nodded.

"I don't like it at all. I hate it, in fact, but he obviously knows something we don't. If we can make a small gesture and get out of here, we can change our course and figure out where to go later."

Donna cried on her brother's shoulder at the idea of performing sexually for another man. Mark cursed himself for stopping there. He tried to think of a way out of it. When no solution came to mind, he had another idea.

"Stay here, I'm going to bargain a little more," he told her.

Mark walked up to the man and began negotiating.

"Sir, you ask for a lot," he started. "I know what you're offering means the world to us, but I need to make a single additional request."

"I'm all ears," the man said with a grin.

"If everything you said is true, your silence won't save us. We can't live out here alone for a long time. We intended to go back home..."

The man looked as if he was going to panic, "Now, I wouldn't suggest ya do that."

Mark smiled, "No, sir, I wouldn't suggest that either. Do you have supplies or money or anything we could use while we're out there figuring out what to do?"

The man walked up close to Mark and looked around suspiciously, "Is that your sister, son?"

Mark nodded apprehensively.

"Well, boy, I tell ya. I don't much care to dig into the business of other folk. I'm out here tryin' to get by much like you. Problem is, money ain't gonna do ya no good. Most likely, wherever ya go, someone's gonna see ya. I can give ya some things to help but they probably won't last ya that long."

"Thank you, sir," Mark happily replied.

He went to go tell his sister about the deal when the man tugged at his shoulder.

"Hold on there, boy. There's no need to have the girl do anything. Sounded fun at the time but right or wrong, that's your girl. Get her and come with me," he said with a sly grin.

Mark wanted to hug the man but settled on a firm handshake. He noted the man called Donna 'his girl,' but mentioned nothing about it to Donna. He went back and broke the news to Donna. She was confused but relieved at the same time. They both approached the man, but Donna began thinking. They followed him to his garage and the man talked all the way there.

"Ya know, it's a damn shame they put you all over the television. Ain't sure what the big deal is. I know it ain't in accordance with the bible but hell, ain't that how Adam and Eve started? Eh! Not too many folks mindin' their business anymore around here."

He started shoving boxes aside and occasionally picked up and item or two and began building a stack of supplies. As he did, Donna pulled her brother aside.

"We are offering him nothing for all this!" she whispered.

"Oh, now I done already told y'all ya ain't gotta give me nothin'," the man said as he continued digging around.

Donna blushed in embarrassment and pulled Mark further away.

"I have an idea if you're up for it," she suggested.

"I certainly want to give him something for what he's doing for us," Mark responded quietly.

"I got a pack and a bunch of campin' supplies I ain't used in years over here. I think I got some more stuff over there," he said pointing to the shelves on the other side of the garage.

"Trust me?" Donna asked her brother.

Mark nodded suspiciously. Donna softly kissed his lips and stepped over the pile of junk toward the man as he continued digging through his collection.

"Sir," she said shyly, "you're doing so much for us, I'd like to give you something if you'll accept it."

The man stood up and turned toward her. He looked her up and down and flicked his hat up and away from his eyes.

"Miss, ya ain't gotta give me nuthin'," he said. "And I apologize for asking for what I did. I get kinda lonely sometimes and I couldn't help but notice how cute ya are."

Donna blushed lightly at his compliment.

"For your help and your lovely compliment, I would like to give you a small token of our appreciation. Do you have a cell phone?" she asked.

"Whatcha need one of those for? Eh, I got one of those flippy phones inside the house. Callin' someone?"

"No, we have no one to call. I'd like to use the camera on your phone," she said shyly.

"Oh, hell. I got one of them digital cameras. I used it a few times to take pictures of junk I wanted to sell." He laughed for a moment. "Never did sell them. Damn pictures are probably still on the darn thing!"

"That would be perfect!" Donna said. "Could we trouble you for one more thing?"

"Ain't getting' greedy are ya?" he asked with a smile.

"We would like to get a shower, if you don't mind."

The man looked over Donna to see Mark shuffling through the stack of supplies.

"You gon' shower with him?" he asked.

Donna looked over at her brother then back to the man and nodded. He looked at her suspiciously.

"Eh, y'all can shower but there better not be any funny business happenin' in there."

"No, we just want to shower and go on our way," she assured him.

He dug out his camera and showed them the bathroom. As soon as the door closed, Mark began to question what his sister had in mind. She silenced him and began removing her clothes. In a heartbeat, she was naked standing before him. He soon followed suite and the both got into the shower.

"See if you can find a razor," she asked.

He looked around until one was found and handed it to her. She did the best she could shaving her mound as her brother watched. He naturally got hard as she teased him while she worked. When she was just about finished, she opened her mouth and used her tongue to summon him to her.

She let his cock slip into her mouth as he pumped it back and forth. She would have preferred to give herself to him in almost any other way, but there was a time and a place for everything. They finally had privacy but little remaining in time. She gave him the blowjob she feared she might have had to give the old man while she shaved her pussy bare. Mark was unsure what to do. He felt his orgasm approach and pulled out, stroking his cock quickly.

"Cum in my mouth," she silently told him.

She stuck out her tongue and he rested the tip of his rod on it as he let spurt after spurt of his cum shoot into her mouth.

"Whoa!" he whispered when it was all over.

She put her finger to her mouth to keep him quiet. When she was done, they both rinsed and stepped out of the tub.

"I'm going to give him something he'll love. He thinks I'm cute, so I'll give him a little something to remember me by," she said, handing her brother the camera. "Take a picture of me but leave my face out of it."

Mark's eyes opened wide in disbelief.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked.

"I know it's not like me to do it, but we owe him so much and he's lonely here by himself. Come on! It'll give him a thrill!" she said with a grin.

Mark agreed and snapped some pictures. They reviewed them and left their favorite on the camera. He dressed and began to wait on Donna.

"If you're okay with it, I'd like for you to get him to come in. I don't mind him seeing me like this, face an all. He just can't have a picture with my face in it," she said.

"I don't think I like that," Mark said sternly.

"Oh, come on! What's the harm? He's giving us so much stuff for nothing!" she demanded.

Mark considered her proposition and agreed that it wouldn't really do any harm if he allowed the man to gawk at his naked sister.

"Okay, I'll get him," he said as he walked out.

He went into the garage and saw the man loading the pack with supplies. There were blankets, a tent, matches, fire sticks, a hatchet and more. He was beyond thankful and agreed with Donna.

"This old man is going to get the surprise of a lifetime," he thought.

Mark cleared his throat, drawing the attention of their benefactor.

"Y'all done in there?" he asked. "Ain't no hanky panky goin' was there?"

Mark chuckled and said, "No, sir. We do have something we want to give you, though."

"Yeah? Whatcha got that I could use?" he asked.

Mark asked him to follow as he brought the old man to the bathroom. He knocked quietly, alerting his sister to his presence.

"Go ahead," she said through the door.

Mark opened the door to find his sister striking a modest pose as she showed off her body to the old man. She was classy in her appearance. Her legs crossed just enough to hide the details of her vagina. She spun slowly to let him see all of her.

"Well, dang!" the man happily announced before averting his eyes.

Donna laughed.

"You can look. It's not much, but we wanted to offer you something. You can see me now but if you look at the camera, you'll have something to remember me by. We don't have anything of tangible value to give you. You're helping us so much, I wanted to give something back. You also made me feel special when you said I was cute."

"Oh, well I don't know how to work that dang ol' thing!" he said with a chuckle.

Mark showed him what to do but his eyes were barely able to be pulled from the display Donna was putting on. When the demonstration was over, he asked Mark a favor.

"Look here, son. I gotta thank ya for this but I'd like to do one thing if ya don't mind. It's been years since I touched a woman and I'm not talkin' dirty like, know what I mean? Just a woman's soft skin is somethin' else to behold. She is right pretty and does good on my eyes, but when you're my age, son, sometimes it's just the touch that gets ya goin'."

Mark hesitantly agreed and watched as the man approached his sister.

"Could ya turn around, Miss?" he asked.

Donna spun slowly until her back was facing him. The man touched the back of her neck and traced a finger down and across her back. He placed his hand firmly on her hip and held it there.

"It's been a long time since I touched skin that soft, ya know. Don't waste your youth wishin' you were older, now. It'll come before ya know it," he said.

He removed himself from Donna and shook Mark's hand.

"Listen," he said, "I put enough in the pack that'll get ya by for a while. If ya need something, swing by and I'll see what I can do. You'll have to give me warnin' before ya do. Ya can't see `em but I got some nosey neighbors. Just mark the barn door somehow and I'll leave something out for ya to pick up."

"We can't thank you enough for what you've done for us!" Mark said appreciatively.

The old man ogled Donna one last time.

"Miss, I think you should be gettin' dressed now and both y'all should be headin' on your way," he said as he walked out of the bathroom.

He turned to look at her once again. She was about to lean down and pick up her clothes when she saw him taking another look. She put her hands on her hips and struck another pose with a smile. She felt silly doing it and resolved to let that moment be unique in its occurrence. She declared herself as Mark's woman long before that moment and knew she would feel a little regret having done what she did even though it was a near life and death situation for them.