by Reese Rivers
“Come with me!” I yell to be heard and then lead them to the nearest guard platform and climb up the ladder. Once they’ve scrambled up behind me, I show them the hinged bench seat we built on all the towers and open it. Inside is a silenced rifle, extra ammunition, two jugs of water, some protein bars, a blanket, and a small med kit. The tower is also equipped with a couple of sharpened poles that are long enough to be able to stab zombies on the ground. The idea was if we were ever overrun, we could survive on the towers for a few days while we picked off the dead.
I grab the rifle and quickly make sure the guys know how to reload and then point to the next two platforms.
“Go and pick off any dead in your area and when Oliver and Linc get back, one of us will have to go help them cut up and move that tree. We need to try and create a barrier with the cut-up pieces so the dead can’t stack up against that fence panel. We’ll have to wait until the ground dries out before we can properly reinforce it with new, cemented-in posts. Two of us will stay up and keep the dead off of the others.”
Dev grabs me by the arms tightly. “You, you will stay up here and cover us while we work! I’m not fucking around, Kelsey! You’re the best shot of us all and the tree job needs brute strength to get it done fast. Stay up here until we get the fence back up.”
I shake my head angrily but he barks at me before I can argue.
“If you are on the ground with us, you will be a distraction that could get us killed. We’ll be so busy making sure that you’re alright that it will take us twice as long to get it done. Please, Kelsey, we need you up here watching our backs!”
Now’s not the time to argue and I hate to admit it but he is mostly right, so I just give him a curt nod and tell them to go before getting my rifle on its mount and start scanning the forest for the dead.
Right away I can see three stumbling grey shapes headed this way. I breathe in, line up my first shot, and as I breathe out caress the trigger. The first two shots I take are perfect headshots but the third zombie lurches left just as I shoot. With a curse, I steady up and fire again, dropping it.
I scan constantly, shooting when I have to, and finally hear the low rumble of the ATV. I scan all around the area where the tree went down to make sure it’s cleared and breathe a sigh of relief when I see the ATV with Linc driving and Oliver and Devin running beside it on the outside of the fences. My head swivels as I take another survey and don’t see any threats - so my eyes move back to the boys just as Linc lifts a chainsaw and it roars to life. Fuck! It’s so loud, even with the storm raging. That damn thing is like a dinner bell being rung for the dead but there’s no choice but to use it if we want to get that tree cut up and moved quickly. I tear my eyes away from them and concentrate on looking for any threats around them.
As the first hour passes I’m wishing I had thrown on my slicker after all. I’m beyond soaked as the rain never lets up and the way my body is shivering makes me miss my last shot twice. I finally take the zombie down on my third try. The saturated cut-offs and t-shirt I’m wearing offer no protection from the weather and I finally snatch the blanket from the bench and drape it over my body and head to keep the driving rain from my eyes and then I’m back to scanning and shooting.
Sometime during the second hour, Tara shows up and distracts me from the rain-soaked blanket that no longer offers me any warmth.
“It’s a good thing your men showed up when they did, Kells. This would have been a real bitch to manage on your own.”
I just grunt as I take another shot and then swipe my dripping nose.
“I would have managed. I did it for over a year by myself.”
She laughs. “Oh yeah, superwoman you, totally would have cut and moved that tree while dodging dead, gropey hands. How many have you taken down so far? By my count, it’s thirty- seven and who knows how many Grayson’s taken out.”
We both look that way and I see Devin is now behind the rifle with Gray, Linc, and Oliver working to pull the fence back up.
“Thirty-nine,” I tell her.
She rolls her eyes at me so I go back to scanning. “All I’m saying is you made the right call letting them in and that’s not even taking into consideration the sex. Can we talk about THAT because holy orgasms on a cracker, that was fucking hot!”
“No. I don’t want to talk about that.” I tell her and then take out another zombie that’s just come into view.
“Poo, you’re no fun! Is it because you’ve banged two out of the four now? Why would that bother you? They said you didn’t have to choose.”
I clench my teeth. “Just because they said that doesn’t mean I should have done it, Tara. I’m not a …”
“Slut bag? Whore master? Dirty HO? Ooh, ooh, I know! Buckle bunny!” Her laugh fills the air around me. “God, Kells, you’re such a priss. Seriously, why would that bother you? Do you think the zombies are going to judge you? Besides, they’ve all made it pretty clear that they have feelings for you besides just wanting your gold-plated snatch. I say go all in, enjoy every damn minute and orgasm you can get in this fucked up world. You deserve it, babes.”
“Can you do me a favor, Tara? Can you fuck off right now?”
“Awe, Boo, you say the sweetest things to me! Kay, love you, byee!”
And then I’m alone again, scanning and shooting. It takes another forty minutes for the guys to wire and clamp the fence panel back into place. When Linc drives the ATV through the gate and back toward the sheds my whole body relaxes by half. I stay put for another twenty minutes, taking out a few more zombies at a distance so they don’t stack up on the outer fence. Judging that we should be in good shape for now, I pull out my phone and hit the button to fire off one cannon shot of fireworks. It won’t be heard or seen by any of the dead not in the close vicinity with the storm still overhead but hopefully, it will turn around any that are headed this way. I throw off the soaked blanket and just leave it to be dealt with when the sun is out again, secure the rifle and add the extra ammunition I brought with me to top up what I used. Slinging the shotgun and bag over my shoulder, I climb down and head back to the camper.
My body is aching from the cold and involuntary shudders wrack my body as I trudge through the mud back to the campers. I dump the bag and guns onto one of the patio couches and then strip all my sodden clothes off, leaving them in a pile on the patio before going in. I don’t look to see who’s already inside, just climb the three steps and push open the bathroom door to find a cloud of hot steam billowing out. It’s a tight fit with Linc’s broad body and the honest truth is it could have been any of them and I would have stepped into that hot shower anyway - but I’m glad it’s Linc who pulls me under the hot spray and starts soaping me up.
“Jesus, Kelsey, your lips are blue!”
I don’t say anything, just lean my head against his hard chest and let him wash me as slowly the hot water starts to ease the chill from my bones. When he shuts the water off, he dries me off with a clean towel and then wraps it around me and leads me to my room. A warm oversized hoody goes over my head and cozy sweatpants and thick socks are slid on and then we are going back out and down to the table.
Oliver slides a steaming bowl of soup in front of me and then a cup of coffee. After I’ve swallowed down a few spoonfuls of soup and half my coffee, I finally feel like I can function so I lean back and look over the guys. I wince when I see scratches and small cuts on their faces and arms where the tree branches whipped at them as they worked to clear it.
“Thank you.”
My soft words stop all conversation as four sets of eyes turn my way so I clear my throat and try again. “Thank you all for what you did. I … I doubt I would have been able to do that myself. At least, not that fast, so thank you.”
It’s Dev that pins me with a look and throws my words back at me.
“You don’t have to thank us for protecting our home. We’re not guests here anymore and we’re never checking out.”
I see the truth in his eyes so I
give a tiny nod and go back to eating my soup as Grayson starts talking about rewiring the fence to get the alarm back up on that panel and Oliver talks about post holes and cement to reinforce that section once everything dries up again. Even as my head starts nodding into the last of my soup, a small smile tugs at my lips. Home, this is their home and they’re not going anywhere.
I’m starting to doze off when Linc scoops me up from my chair and takes me back to my room. He strips the clothes I just put on off of me and helps me into bed, sliding in naked behind me. I settle back against him and just let all the stress and weight of the day flow out of me. I’m almost asleep when a second warm, hard body slides in on the other side of me. Sandwiched between them, enveloped in their heat and wrapped in a feeling of comfort, the last of the chill in my bones starts to fade. Feeling more protected and wanted than I can ever remember, I close my eyes and drift into a restless slumber.
My dreams are filled with downed fences and relentless hordes of dead pouring through. I watch as one by one Linc, Oliver, Grayson, Devin - are all torn apart by clawing hands and biting teeth and once again I’m left alone with all I love stolen from me. It ends with Tara. She’s yelling at me, pleading with me to do what needs to be done. At the last instant before my finger curls around the trigger and squeezes, I come awake with a strangled gasp.
Soothing words and hard hands rub softly on my skin to calm me but it’s not enough. I need the images wiped from my mind. I need the terror and despair replaced by something else so I find the closest lips and pour it all into a kiss that makes clear what I really need, what I want. Linc pulls me roughly against him and savages my mouth with his. It helps and has my body relaxing and heating up but it’s not enough so I reach behind me and find Grayson’s hand and tug it in between my legs. He presses against my back and his clever fingers dip into the hot wetness that’s starting to pool there. He slides up and down my slit a few times and then slips inside to circle my clit. The exquisite pressure has me bucking my hips against Linc’s swollen cock even as Grayson grinds against my ass.
Linc breaks our smoldering kiss and taps Gray to get him to move back and then I’m on my back between them and Gray’s mouth is on mine as he slides two fingers deep inside me and begins to pump them in and out. He swallows my cries of pleasure and holds me down when I try to arch off the bed as Linc sucks hard on my sensitive nipples. God, even with all they’re doing to my body, I need more. There’s a beast inside me now and it’s roaring to be fed.
I drag my mouth off of Gray’s and beg, “Please! Please, I need one of you inside me!”
Linc’s strength is on full display as he plucks me off the bed, spins me around, and positions me to straddle Grayson. My hips roll so my open pussy can glide along his hard shaft, the friction on my clit sparking electric bolts of pleasure that travel through my body. My hands are splayed on Grayson’s chest and alternately release and contract in time with the clenching muscles in between my legs.
Linc pushes on my back, telling me to lean over so my breasts are pressed into Grayson’s chest and he can capture my mouth again. Our lips part and his tongue wages a relentless attack on mine. I gasp into his mouth when I feel Linc’s large, rounded head press against my opening. Instinctively I tilt my hips to lift my ass a few inches and Linc buries himself deep inside my pussy. Every hard stroke of his cock has me sliding along Gray’s wet shaft and pushing me closer and closer to the crest of my climax. Linc’s fingers dig into my hips as his thrusts are matched underneath me by Gray’s cock sliding back and forth over my clit.
Linc groans out as I begin to tighten around him and Grayson slams his mouth back on mine and rolls my nipples between his thumbs and fingers, sending me over the edge and swallowing the scream that rushes out of me at my release. My walls clamp down again and again on Linc’s cock as the orgasm rocks through me and encourages his release as he cums deep inside me. At the same time, Gray moans into my mouth and I feel his hot cum spread out between us, painting our skin.
The three of us collapse together for a few minutes, getting our breath back and enjoying the moment. Linc rolls over and snags a shirt from the floor and uses it to clean us off before handing it to Gray to clean as well. The shirt gets balled up and tossed into a corner and then I’m back to being sandwiched between them. Soothing strokes on my hair and skin have my eyes fluttering closed. I have one thought before I let sleep take me again. This isn’t the first time they’ve both been with the same woman, they’ve done this before.
Oliver
Something is bothering Kelsey.
It took us five days to rewire and reinforce the fence panel that the tree took down. The wiring was the easy part as Grayson did most of it and he had it back online the day after it went down. The hard part was waiting three more days for the ground to firm back up enough from all the rain to support the fence. We dug new post holes and poured cement - so that new panel is probably even more secure than the rest of the fence. During all that time, Kelsey stayed out of the way, leaving the fence to us and working on salvaging what she could from the torn-up areas of the garden that Linc and I drove over with the ATV the night the tree came down.
It’s not only that she’s been keeping busy away from us, it’s how quiet she’s become. I’m pleased that she’s been eating more and I can already see she’s gained a few pounds, softening some of the sharper edges on her body. Something is on her mind though and I can’t put my finger on it. My brain hasn’t yet met a puzzle it didn’t tackle head-on and I’m frustrated that I can’t solve this one.
I know she’s now been with both Linc and Grayson but she’s been keeping her distance from them as well. The last few nights, Kelsey has gone to bed alone. Her bedroom door has been locked every night when she wakes from her nightmares and one of us tries to go in to calm her. I knocked last night to try and get her to open it but she just called out that she was fine and she would see me in the morning. I look out over the gardens and see her walking the rows, occasionally bending over to pull a weed and frown, remembering her conversation with Dev this morning.
“So what’s the deal, Princess? Are you going to give us the cold shoulder every night your nightmares wake us all up now or are you going back to drinking and smoking on the patio?” He bit out at her in annoyance.
I didn’t intervene even though I saw her shoulders come up and she started chewing on that lip of hers in anxiety. I wanted to see her snap back at him, see some spark come back. Instead, she just tucked her head down and apologized, mumbling about finding earplugs for us so she wouldn’t bother us at night. When she took off to the gardens right after that, Dev glared at the rest of us.
“Who fucked the Princess up?” He growled at us but none of us had an answer as to why she has pulled back from us.
I watch her walk over and disappear into the greenhouse and consider quizzing Linc and Grayson again to try and figure this out but shake my head even as my feet begin to move. We are coming up on being here for two weeks and it feels like we’re back to step one with Kelsey. I haven’t been with her sexually and I don’t know if she would even want to be with me that way. No matter how much I want her, I would accept any decision she made in that regard. What I can’t stand though is not seeing her smile, not hearing her laugh, and the few times I got to hold her in my arms through the night was heaven for me so it would be a blow to never experience that again. I want, no, I need Kelsey happy and healthy. I have to find out what has upset her and find a way to fix it.
I pull open the greenhouse door and see her watering her small citrus trees so I go and stand against the cutting table and wait for her to notice my presence. When she finally turns and spots me, she jerks back and the watering can drops from her fingers and falls, spilling the water into a puddle on the ground.
“Oliver! You startled me. I … I didn’t hear you come in.” Her words are rushed as if she is flustered.
Kelsey bends to scoop the can back up, completely avoiding eye contact with m
e. I wait her out and say nothing but it only makes her jitteriness worse. She stumbles over to the other end of the table, sets the can down, and then straightens tools and pots that don’t need to be straightened.
I see her knuckles whiten as she grips the edge of the table and still without looking at me asks, “Is there something you need?”
I can’t stand this! She went from warm and open with me to this, this almost fearful reaction. What the fuck happened?
“Yes, I need you to tell me what’s wrong.” I keep the anxiousness from my voice and keep my tone calm and cool to try and not upset her even more. She finally looks my way but it’s a darting glance and then she’s back to biting her lip and staring down at the table again.
“Nothing’s wrong. You guys did a great job fixing the fence. Um, crops look good. We should be able …”
“Kelsey.” I cut her off causing her brow to furrow and her fingers to reach for an empty pot. I step into her space and lift her chin, forcing her to look at me. Tears are welling up in her eyes as I let her chin go and tug her against me. My lips brush over her hair and then I lean back.
“Tell me what’s wrong, beautiful. Let me help fix it.”
A lone tear escapes and trails down her cheek as she gives a small shake of her head.
“You can’t fix it, Oliver. You, you and the others are the problem.” She sniffs back the rest of her tears and pulls away from me, turning back to the table.
I have to work on steadying my own breathing as her words have my anxieties surging forth. She doesn’t want us. We are her problem. How can I fix that? How can I leave here and give her up? She’s everything I ever wanted in a woman. How can I walk away from that? Ask the others who feel just as strongly about her to walk away? Her eyes slide my way again and she must see some of what I’m thinking on my face because she pinches her eyes shut tight for a moment and then turns back to me.
