What happens after that? If everything has been destroyed, burned into nothingness by the asteroid’s fire, there won’t even be any food for us to scavenge.
Jack swallowed his doubts and walked over towards the storage area in the main room. He was trying to think of something, anything, productive that he could do to distract himself, but ideas refused to come to mind.
“Mom?”
“Yes, honey?” Rebecca looked at him with patient, caring eyes.
“I… I love you.”
“I love you too, Jack.”
The two of them smiled at each other. Jack felt emotions welling up in his chest that were both comforting and confusing.
She’s all that I have now, and I’m all that she has. I really do love her, more than anything.
CHAPTER 7
The two of them spent the next few hours acting as though it was a lazy Sunday morning. Jack ate the granola bar that his mom had brought him, along with some dried fruit, and then spent some time picking through the supplies that they still hadn’t looked at.
Rebecca acted exactly like the busybody, perfectionist mother that she was. She took stock of everything in the shelter, sorting through what they had as though expecting to discover something new.
She found a handheld broom and dustpan in the kitchen and slowly began sweeping the floor of the main room. Jack was sorting through a box full of extra blankets, wondering if they had enough to make a second sleeping mat out of. He turned around and saw her down on all fours, moving along the outside edge of the wall, dusting as she went.
If it were anyone else, I would be a little worried.
Rebecca was humming a tune of her own creation as she went. She was the same mother that Jack had known back in the real world, on the surface, back when things made sense. She gave off an aura of ease, as though her very presence was enough to assure him that everything was going to be okay.
Nothing will ever really be the same again, not like it was. But she’s here with me.
The hardest part of being stuck in the shelter was the way that it changed his perception of time. It didn’t matter anymore whether it was 1 PM or 1 AM. Every hour felt the same, worked in the same way. There was no reason to live according to any schedule other than the natural rhythm of their bodies.
Jack also couldn’t resist the pull of the TV, the one object in the shelter that held the promise of novelty. He scrolled through the list of downloaded movies and shows for the umpteenth time, finally settling on a series that had several seasons downloaded, one that was ironic to be thinking about watching, given the circumstances.
“Mom, do you mind if I throw this on?” Jack had the remote in his hand, waiting to press play on the thumbnail for a post-apocalyptic zombie TV show that his dad had been particularly fond of. He was expecting Rebecca to chew him out for picking something so inappropriate, but she only shrugged.
“No, I don’t mind,” she said. “If anything, it will probably give us a couple of things to be grateful for.”
She’s got a point. But then again, at least in this fictional scenario, there are other people left alive.
Jack hit play and then took a seat over on the edge of the bed. His mom was finishing up with her sweeping, drawing the dust pile into the pan, and then walking over to the corner of the room to dump it in the empty box that they’d turned into a garbage can.
She walked over and took a seat next to him. Without thinking about it, Jack reached his arm out and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her in a little closer.
I like having her this close.
He’d already seen the first few episodes of season one, but starting from the beginning felt like the best way to settle into such a plot-centric show. The series began just before the world fell apart, with the main character, a sheriff, getting into a shootout with a suspect.
“I was doing laundry, right before it happened.” His mom spoke in a whisper, almost too quiet for Jack to hear her over the gunshots in the show. “Taking clothes and sheets off the line, and bringing them in to fold. I thought it was going to rain, last night.”
Jack squeezed the hand he had around her waist against her.
“The movie I saw last night, I guess it’s the last one I’ll ever see.” He smiled. “In a theater, I mean. Even if things get back on track, I doubt that kind of thing is going to be high on the list of priorities.”
Rebecca turned her head towards him slowly. Jack could still hear the show, but his mother had all of his attention. There was so much that the both of them had lost, so much that they’d never get back. So many things that he would now never get a chance to experience.
“Helllooooo? Anybody home?”
The TV show cut out, and in its place was Molly. A broad smile adorned her face, and she blew the two of them a kiss as they turned their attention her way.
“Molly, hey.” Jack stood up from the bed and walked in towards the wall monitor. “What’s up? Did you make contact with any other people?”
The female astronaut frowned slightly and shook her head.
“No, unfortunately. But I do have a little bit of good news.”
Rebecca walked over and joined the conversation.
“What is it?”
Molly waited a moment, drawing in the anticipation of her tiny, captive audience.
“I’ve been monitoring the temperatures on the ground,” she said. “By tomorrow afternoon, they should be low enough for the two of you to be able to go outside.”
“That’s amazing!” Jack laughed and pulled his mother into a hug. “We’ll be able to get out of this tin can, explore, maybe even find people on our own.”
“Well, there is a bit of bad news to go with that.” Molly furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure if the atmospheric oxygen levels have held steady. We don’t have any sensors for that anymore. The fire was enough to burn, well, essentially everything made of carbon. It may have used up too much oxygen in the process for the air to be breathable.”
That would mean…
“Let’s hope that’s not the case,” said Rebecca. “And if it is, we’ll find a way to cope.”
Jack’s initial reaction was to disagree with her, to explain just how totally doomed they would be if there was no hope of taking back the surface, but instead, he held his tongue.
“Anyway, I just wanted the two of you to know.” Molly smiled as cheerfully as a person could after sharing something distasteful. “Well, that, and I was pretty bored. I can totally relate to what you must be going through. There isn’t much to do up here, either.”
The three of them were quiet for a long moment. It was the kind of empty silence common to sad situations of all types, funerals, hospital rooms, and memorial events. Finally, Jack let out a sigh and took a step closer to the monitor.
“How did you end up on the station, anyway?” he asked. “I mean, I know you probably took a space shuttle, or whatever, but before that? How did you end up as an astronaut?”
Molly looked as though she’s been waiting for him to ask since they’d first met.
“I was always fascinated with space as a kid. I remember learning about the planets, dreaming about traveling off to them, and exploring them. You can imagine my disappointment when I eventually learned just how uninhabitable they were, and how impractical they would be, at least to live on the other ones we have here in the solar system.”
Our planet might be just like the rest, now. A place where humans are not welcome.
“Anyway, I got excellent grades in high school, and then in college, and started out at NASA as a sustainability intern, if you can believe it. I wouldn’t shut up about wanting to become an astronaut, and eventually the brass took notice. This is the first time I’ve gone up into space for real… Lost my orbital virginity, as we used to say.”
Molly’s eyes were locked onto Jack’s through the screen, and even over the distant connection, it was enough to make his body feel a little hotter than it should have. He hear
d his mom cough over to the side and move in closer to him.
“That’s very impressive, Molly. For both of our sakes, we’re glad that you were so committed.” Rebecca reached her arm over to Jack and ran it through his hair.
“Anyway, what about the two of you?” Molly gestured to the edges of the screen. “And what about the one of a kind bomb shelter that you guys are in? I feel like there must be a story behind it.”
Jack shrugged.
“It was one of my dad’s projects.” He suddenly felt a little embarrassed, even though he knew that pride would be a much more appropriate emotion. “He was a little paranoid… I guess rightly so. We always knew that it was down here, below the cellar, but he put a lot more work into it than either of us ever realized.”
“You can say that again,” said Molly. “The earthquakes and the firestorm combined were literally enough to change the landscape of the planet. Part of it was positional luck, the region you’re in wasn’t hit as bad as a lot of other places, but structurally, your shelter must be top of the line.”
“My husband started his own construction company after we married, back when Jack was only a little boy.” Rebecca smiled, as though recalling long lost memories. “This type of project came naturally to him, I guess. More naturally than a lot of other things did…”
Molly looked as though something that Jack’s mom had said had peaked her interest.
“Wait, did you say that you married Jack’s dad when he was a kid?” She paused, and raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean…?”
“She’s my stepmom,” answered Jack.
Molly leaned back, away from the webcam and away from the screen. It was an odd gesture in zero g, made only odder by the way she held one of her hands to her mouth, thinking intently.
“What’s wrong?” Rebecca waved to the webcam, trying to pull the astronaut’s attention back.
“I uh, hmmm….” Molly continued to think. It looked like something was on the tip of her tongue, and after a second she shook her head and let out a conflicted sigh.
“Molly, what’s the problem?” asked Jack. “You can tell us.”
Molly floated back over to the webcam and brushed a couple of loose, freeform strands of hair out of her face.
“The two of you might want to sit down for this. I would, too, but zero g environments aren’t exactly chair friendly.” She smiled, but her attempt at humor was lost on Jack and his mother. “Okay, so… wow, this is going to be a really hard topic to bridge.”
“After all that we’ve been through, I think we can handle it.” Rebecca reached her hand over and squeezed her son’s shoulder. Molly continued to squirm in her skin. She bit her lower lip and then continued.
“I’m just going to come right out and say it. I still haven’t found any other survivors. It’s just the two of you, at least so far.”
“What about you?” Jack pointed at the screen. Molly held her arms out, as if gesturing to the space station itself.
“I’m still in orbit, remember? I can’t even think about returning to Earth, not with the search for survivors as my priority. That works best from up here.”
I get that much, but where is she going with this?
Jack glanced over at his mother and was surprised to see that her face was bright red. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her blush before.
“I think Rebecca has already figured out what I’m trying to say,” said Molly, softly. “And trust me, it’s not an easy thing to be said, especially given that it’s coming from me, someone who is essentially still a random stranger.”
“Just say it already,” said Jack. “All of this dancing around the point is making me feel stupid.”
“Jack… you and your mom aren’t related by blood.” Molly paused, and then continued when she saw that it still hadn’t clicked in his head. “And, well, you’re a man… and she’s a woman.”
Wait, what? She can’t be saying what I think she’s saying… can she?
Jack was still shaking his head when he felt his mom’s hand come to a rest on his knee. She was looking at him strangely, with a gleam in her eye that he had never seen before.
“This is crazy…” Jack felt a strange tension settling into the room, as though he was out on a first date with a teenage girl. “There must be some other way!”
“Well, if I can find some other people, there obviously will be. But I just want you both to be clear that it’s an ‘if’ at this point, not a ‘when’.” Molly looked at them seriously through the screen, holding herself against part of the station’s frame and emphasizing her words. “I just want to get the two of you a bit more comfortable with the idea, and with each other, if such a thing can be possible.”
“Mom!” Jack couldn’t help but raise his voice. “Aren’t you going to say something? She’s suggesting that we-“
“I know, sweetie.” Rebecca rubbed slightly above his knee and smiled at him, determination and love bleeding together and forming something new on her face. “And… I think she’s right.”
“Jack, just listen to me.” Molly turned her attention to him, seeing that his mom had was already convinced. “The world that we knew, that you grew up in, it doesn’t exist anymore. Everything has changed. I know how weird it must be, even to just think about it, but you have to understand how important it is right now, of all times, to keep an open mind.”
Keep an open mind? To fucking my own mother? This is insane!
“Look, let me put it this way. The old social standards, the judgments and traditions of society, those don’t apply if there is no society!” Molly ran her hand across her face and shook her head.
“Molly, this is my mother that you’re talking about! I’m her son!” Jack desperately looked over at Rebecca for backup. “Mom, say something! You know what she’s suggesting! Things would never be the same between us again. Hell, even just thinking about it makes me…”
He trailed off.
Makes me what?
“I should have waited a while longer before bringing this to discussion,” said Molly. “I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable Jack. Just keep in mind that from where I’m sitting, yes, I see the two of you as mother and son. But I also see a man and woman, an attractive man and an attractive woman, both of breeding age. I see… potentially, the future of the human race.”
Jack was speechless. Molly was staring at him through the screen, and his mom, too, was waiting for a reply. He looked over at her, noticing her large breasts, silky hair, and trim waist as though for the very first time.
She’s still my mom. How is this even being suggested?
“I’ll talk to him about it tonight, Molly,” said Rebecca. She turned to Jack and squeezed his thigh again. It felt vaguely sexual to him, and he wasn’t sure if it was intentional or just due to the circumstances.
“Thanks, Rebecca,” said Molly. “And Jack?”
He looked up at her, still too stunned to be able to think straight.
“If this makes you that uncomfortable, just put it out of your head for now.” She smiled at him. “I didn’t mean to drop a bomb on you, but it’s hard for me to be so subtle when it comes to something so important. Hell, if it was me in that bomb shelter with you, we probably already would have gotten started by now!”
Jack didn’t laugh. Molly scratched her head awkwardly and then leaned in a little closer to the webcam.
“Anyway, I have to get back to scanning the channels for a bit,” she said. “Just relax, keep an open mind, and be grateful for the fact that the two of you are still alive! Talk to you guys soon!”
“Bye…” Jack whispered and then watched as the communication ended. Instantly, the screen jumped back to the zombie TV show that had been on before Molly’s call.
“Jack… sweetie.” Rebecca turned to him, forcing a smile onto her face and rubbing his leg. “I know that was a lot to take in. We don’t even have to talk about it. We can wait until you feel ready.”
“You say that as though I’m
the only one with objections,” he replied. “You’re… fine with this? Fine with the two of us…?”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. She was his mother, the woman who had raised him, cared for him all his life. Rebecca blushed and bit her bottom lip.
“I’m not sure I’d say that I’m fine with it, but if it’s the only option…” She walked over to his chair and leaned over it, dangling her large breasts in his face. “It’s not exactly like there are any other options. Even artificial insemination would require equipment that we don’t have.”
“That’s… I mean, even if that’s true, you’re still my mother!” Jack felt his determination returning in a wave. “I love you, and for me to do something like, like that…”
Rebecca looked at him, her eyes full of love, and caressed his cheek. She brought her face in close to his, close enough that he could feel the heat in her breath and the vibration in her voice.
“I love you too, honey,” she whispered.
CHAPTER 8
Jack spent the next few hours pushing through each second, casually trying to keep his distance from his mom. He felt uncomfortable, confused by every bit of what Molly had told them.
This is too weird. I can deal with being trapped down here, and with the end of the world, but this…
Unfortunately, the emergency shelter was far too small for him to be able to avoid her for long. He spent a while going through the last of the supplies and found a box of books stored away underneath the more practical equipment. He picked one of them out to read for himself, and looked up to see his mom sitting on the bed, humming and working two knitting needles around a ball of yarn.
How is she so unaffected by all of this?
Even with a book to read, it was still incredibly hard for Jack to escape from the situation. The shelter only really had one room, with both the kitchen and the bathroom too small for him to get comfortable in. He staked out a corner of the main room to sit down, but even the empty silence felt intimate, almost illicit.
After the Fall: The Complete Collection (Taboo Erotica) Page 5
