“I’m coming with you!” Lana quickly stood up out of the bed. Dan glanced over at her and realized that she was also in her underwear. When she’d gone to bed, she’d still been wearing a t-shirt and leggings. Seeing her half naked made him feel an uncomfortable sense of forbidden arousal, which he pushed out of his head.
He didn’t bother trying to stop her, and instead moved forward, into a position near the furniture store’s entrance. He could hear footsteps and voices, much closer than they had been before. Dan peaked out beyond the store’s open front wall, and saw the intruders.
“I know you are, that’s why we came here,” said a female voice. “We can get food, supplies, and anything else we need here.”
“This is a waste of time,” said another voice. “We need to keep going. It doesn’t feel safe here.”
“It’s an empty mall,” replied the first one. “It’s creepy, but definitely safe.”
“There has to be someone here,” said a third voice, the voice of a teenage girl. “It’s a mall. If the movies I’ve watched are good to go on, it’s pretty much the holy grail for apocalypse survivors.”
There was laughter, and Dan pulled back into the furniture store. The group was almost upon them. He glanced over at his mom, and even in the dark, he could make out her frightened expression. He signaled with his hand for her to stay where she was, and slowly began to move.
Lana grabbed onto Dan’s hand and held it tight. He shook his head at her, and tried to pull away. All it succeeded in doing was dragging her onto him. She was still in her underwear, and feeling her soft breasts make contact with his chest, so warm and tempting, was almost enough to distract him from the situation at hand.
“Put your clothes on, mom,” he whispered. “If anything happens to me, hide.”
Lana still refused to let go of his hand, and Dan essentially had to pry it loose. He took a couple of deep breaths, summoned all of the courage that he possessed, and then stepped out into the mall’s main hallway, holding his hands up in the most nonthreatening way he could manage.
The group of intruders froze when the saw him. Dan stopped right where he was, and instantly began to question whether or not what he’d done had been a good idea.
“I don’t mean any harm,” he said, after a moment. “I’m just like you, just trying to figure out what’s going on.”
The group stepped closer to him, moving near enough that Dan could make out the shapes of their silhouettes. It was a group of four women, and one of them, the one in front, was holding her hand at hip level. She had a gun, Dan realized.
“Are you here alone, or are you with a group?” asked the one in front.
Dan started to answer, but before he could, Lana walked out of the furniture store and over to him. She’d put on her t-shirt and yoga pants, and Dan felt her grab onto his shoulder tightly.
“Is that everyone?” asked the woman.
“Yeah,” said Dan. “It’s just the two of us.”
The woman suddenly pulled out the gun and pointed it at them. Dan had to fight his instinctive response to flinch back. He felt his mom’s fingers dig into his shoulder, and pulled her behind him.
“Alex, circle behind the two of them,” said the woman. “Kim, Jen, go check out the store that they came out of.”
Two of the women broke off, and Dan felt his fight or flight response kick in. He briefly considered trying to overpower the two that were still in the hallway with them, and then remembered the gun.
“Michelle, they don’t look dangerous,” said the woman who was moving into a position behind them. “Maybe we-“
“Shut up,” said the leader. “Looks aren’t everything. Keep your eyes on them.”
The other two girls came back after a few tense, silent minutes. One of them whispered something into the commanding woman’s ear. She listened, and then stepped closer, holding the pistol tightly in her hand.
“Alright, bud,” she said. “You need to tell me where the fuck your weapons are, right now. If you hold out, I will kill you.”
Dan shook his head.
“We don’t have any weapons,” he said. “You’re the first group of people we’ve encountered so far.”
“You expect me to believe that you’ve been running around with your girlfriend and haven’t given a single thought towards what it would take to protect her against other survivors?”
Dan felt his cheeks heat up, and felt more than a little grateful for the darkness of the hallway.
“She’s… my mom,” he managed to say, after an embarrassing, awkward second.
The group of women looked at each other, and then a couple of them burst out laughing. Dan felt himself blushing even more intensely. He wished that he could take advantage of the moment, and catch them off guard, somehow, but the guns in their hands were much too real and menacing for him to take a chance.
“Oh wow, that’s good stuff,” said the leader of the girls. “No, I should have figured. She is pretty hot though, I bet you’ve wished before that she was your girlfriend, huh?”
“Michelle! That’s mean!” The girl behind Dan shouted across the hallway, and it suddenly felt like she was his ally.
“Whatever. Anyway, you two don’t seem to be very dangerous. We’ll take you with us, while we look through the mall, at least.” The leader of the women holstered her pistol and walked over to Dan. “My name’s Michelle. The nosy one behind you is Alex, and the two twins are Jen and Kim, good luck telling which is which.”
It was still dark, and Dan hadn’t even noticed until that moment that the two women who had searched the store before did look exactly alike. He glanced over his shoulder and got a look of the one Michelle had called Alex, a petite girl around the same age as him with medium length hair, big breasts and a nice butt.
“What’s your name, boy?” asked Michelle.
“Dan,” he said. “And my mom is Lana.”
“Alright, Dan, for security’s sake, I have to pat you down.” As the leader of the women came in close to him, Dan could see that she was actually quite attractive. She was very fit, and was wearing a sweatshirt over what looked like workout clothes, with a belt and gun holster hanging from her waist as though they had been an afterthought.
She smiled at Dan, and he watched as she reached her hands out and began rubbing his shoulders, following the crease of his arm into his neck. Her hands were strong, but they touched him in a curious manner, one that made him feel a little excited.
“If you do happen to be packing heat, let me know now, Dan,” she said in a soft voice, right against his ear. “I’ll find any weapons that you do have.”
Her hands ran down Dan’s stomach, and then up his shirt. He began to get a little aroused, feeling the strange woman’s warm touch as though it was meant to be sensual rather than a search. Michelle slipped one of her fingers into his waist band and ran it along the front of his jeans. Dan felt his cock stirring and hardening as though it had been called into action.
“I was in the military police before this all started,” said Michelle. “I learned long ago that a suspect could be hiding a weapon in places that you would never expect.”
Her face looked serious, but Dan could see a slight, devilish glint in her eyes. Her hand slipped lower, into his boxers, and then up either side of his crotch. Michelle cupped his balls in her hand gently, and then wrapped her fingers around his now rock hard erection.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Dan,” she whispered. “If you follow my directions and don’t fuck around, then we don’t have to be adversaries.”
She let her hand stroke him up and down, once, twice, and then a third time. Dan could feel his body aching for release, but before the situation could go any further, Michelle pulled her hand out of his pants and then pushed him roughly to the ground. He fell flat on his chest and stomach, and then felt her roughly feeling up the rest of his body.
“Don’t hurt him!” yelled Lana. Dan heard someone shush her, and looked up to see
the girl Michelle had introduced as Alex whispering something into her ear. His mom was frowning, but remained passive.
“Alright, you’re clear.” Michelle finally stood up and took a step back from Dan. “I would search your mom, too, but I sincerely doubt that she’s packing anything other than a nice rack.”
Jen and Kim laughed, and Michelle unholstered her pistol again.
“Alex, keep an eye on these two,” said Michelle. “Don’t let them out of your sight, and don’t take your finger off the trigger. We’re going to do a once over of the rest of the mall, and get a sense of what we can use here.”
“I don’t think they mean us any harm,” said Alex. “Maybe we should just-“
“Quiet!” said Michelle. “You’ll do what I tell you.”
She signaled for the two twins, and then after giving Alex a final harsh look, turned and headed further into the hallway. Dan slowly stood to his feet, and then walked quickly over to his mom. She looked as though she’d been holding back tears, and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
“Sweetie, are you okay?” Lana hugged him and held the back of his head with her hand. Dan nodded, and felt a strange urge to kiss her. He turned his face and quickly pecked her on the cheek, feeling her body against him and his own semi aroused member rubbing into her stomach.
“I’m fine mom, I’m fine,” he replied. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think that they were going to treat us like this.”
Alex let out a small, polite cough from where she stood.
“We’re not bad people, I hope the two of you know that.” She spoke in a sweet, almost melodic voice, without the slightest hint of malice. “Michelle is just… a little controlling. We haven’t found anyone else that’s been free of the simulation yet, other than the two of you.”
Dan pulled away from his mom a little reluctantly, his cock pushing out embarrassingly hard against his pants. He walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, and Alex and his mom followed him.
“We’ve been inside the mall since yesterday afternoon,” said Dan. “Has anything happened on the outside? The government hasn’t released a statement, or organized counter measures?”
Alex shook her head.
“It’s as though the world is just frozen, and everyone is in stasis,” she said. “The VR headsets were so essential to the way people lived their lives, I’m not really surprised that there are so few survivors.”
Dan looked at her face. She was young and pretty, and had eyes that looked as though they contained their own light within them. He realized that she was, along with his mother, one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen.
“How did you not get locked in?” asked Dan. “My mom has always been against using the VR headsets, was it the same for you?”
Alex opened her mouth as though she was going to answer, but instead turned bright red. She looked away from him for a moment, and then ran hand through her hair and smiled nervously.
“I had… a bad experience with one, when I was younger,” she whispered. “I know that there is a certain anti-science stigma to not using the simulations, but I just can’t. It’s like a trigger, for me.”
Dan nodded, though he didn’t really feel like he understood what she meant. He could hear the other women approaching from down the hall, and got up and stood close to his mother.
CHAPTER 8
“It’s time to eat!”
Michelle had her gun out, and was walking with a spring in her step. Dan couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by her. She had a look on her face that was a mixture of happiness and unpredictability, and it kept Dan in a state of alert, guarded awareness.
“Yeah, I’m starting to get hungry, too,” said Alex.
“There’s a food court down that way.” One of the twins gestured with the gun she was carrying. Michelle walked over to Dan and his mother.
“I don’t want any trouble from either of the two of you,” she said. “Understood?”
“Yeah, we get it,” said Dan.
Michelle led the group down the hallway and towards the food court. The twins walked in back of Dan and his mom, and Alex walked to their left. He couldn’t help but look over at her, and noticed that she had a look of concern on her face that served as a sharp contrast to Michelle.
“There’s probably enough food in all of these stores to feed hundreds of people,” said Michelle. She glanced over the adjoining chain restaurants in the food court, and then frowned. “It’s all probably going to just go to waste. What a shame.”
She led the group over to a table in front of a sandwich shop, and then hopped over the counter and began rifling through the kitchen. Jen and Kim moved to join her, and a couple of minutes later, they came back with enough sandwiches made up for everyone.
“Thank you,” said Dan, as Michelle handed him one.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” she said. “I’ll still shoot you if you try to pull anything.”
Dan shot her a sarcastic smile. Everyone sat down, and for a couple of minutes, the conversation shifted enough that Dan almost forgot that he and his mom were being held at gunpoint.
“The mall, as far as a tactical choice goes, makes for an excellent place to set up camp,” said Michelle.
“Thanks,” replied Lana. “We had one more person with us yesterday, and it was her idea to come here.”
Nobody said anything for a moment.
“She put one of the headsets on?” asked Alex.
Dan nodded.
“She was a scientist… I think she wanted to figure out what the simulation was like. To research it, and maybe even figure out how to get people out of it.”
Michelle let out a guttural laugh.
“That’s cute, but we all know that nobody is getting out of this.” She took a large bite out of her sandwich, and then continued talking as she chewed. “I think your researcher friend probably put the headset on for much less noble reasons than you think. When the only alternative is to hang out in the empty, barren remains of the old world, a simulation actually has a lot of appeal.”
Dan stared at her for a moment. There was something about Michelle’s confidence that almost felt fake to him, almost as though it was a necessary act, or innate response to stress.
“Why haven’t you put on a headset, then?” Dan asked. The question came out with much more derision than he had intended, and Michelle paused for a second before answering.
“I’ve always wanted something like this to happen.” She looked him directly in the eyes as she spoke, and this time, Dan knew that she was being completely sincere. “I think other people probably have the same thoughts in passing. On a shitty day, it’s easy to daydream about what it would be like for the world to end, to be one of the last people left in it, to have to fend for yourself, and survive on your own. I’m just somebody who really wanted that daydream to come true.”
“How can you say that?” asked Lana. “This is the world we have to live in now. What about me, and my son, and those of us who actually had normal lives, lives that we can never go back to now?”
There was a nervous, uncertain edge to his mom’s voice that made it hard for Dan to forget the events of the night before. The two of them could never go back to their old lives. That much was totally certain, as certain as the vivid memories of his mom’s touch, her hand wrapped around his hard, eager cock.
“I can say whatever I want now,” said Michelle. “And I can do whatever I want, too. That’s one of the nice things about the breakdown of law and order. The only thing that matters anymore is strength, and I’ve always had that in spades.”
The rest of the meal was silent. There were no windows in the food court, and Dan began to wonder what time it was. He got his answer when Michelle looked at an analogue watch on her wrist, and then stood up from the table abruptly.
“Come on, it’s almost noon,” she said. “We need to get what we’re here for, and get out of here.”
Dan was beginning to feel frustrate
d by the situation. He and his mom were essentially prisoners, and Michelle was acting more unpredictable with every minute that passed by. The group walked down the hall, with Michelle and the other women in her group evaluating the contents of each store for usefulness.
“We could use some more clothes,” said Alex. The group was passing by a department store, with mannequins posing in the windows that somehow looked much creepier than they should have. Michelle paused, and then nodded.
“That’s not a bad idea,” she said. “Let’s make it quick, though. We’re here mainly for guns, ammo, and camping supplies.”
Dan and Lana were in the center of the group as they headed inside. He noticed his mom beginning to look at the many racks of clothing with a longing in her eye that she couldn’t hide, and apparently so did Michelle.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Mommy, you’ll get a new outfit, too.” She laughed, and led them forward.
As the only man in the group, Dan was a little taken aback by the way all of them fell into their old habits, shopping and trying on various articles of clothing as though it was a normal weekend at the mall. Michelle even relaxed her guard, commenting on the other women’s choices and asking for their opinions on her own stuff.
Alex changed out of the plain outfit she had been wearing, baggy sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, into a pair of tight jeans along with a nice fitting sweatshirt. Dan found that it was hard to keep his eyes off her, and realized that if she had been a student at his school, he would have probably been smitten with her long ago.
His mom was still wearing the clothes that she had woken up in the morning before. She also found a nice pair of jeans that clung to her butt so perfectly that it was a little embarrassing for Dan to look at her. Over her t-shirt, she found a nice sweater to wear that somehow made her breasts look even bigger, enhancing their illicit appeal.
Michelle was laughing with the twins in another aisle, and Dan glanced over at what they were doing in time to get a sense of what was about to happen. The leader of the women had a set of lingerie in her hands, and it was clear from the way that she was holding it that it wasn’t intended for her.
EI: Erotic Intelligence - The Complete Collection (Taboo Erotica) Page 5
