by Eric Vall
Tara threw her leg over me and snuggled her face into my neck, while Paige scooted her back against my side and used my shoulder as a pillow. Bailey snuggled next to Paige, and I reached my hand up and stroked her hair for a moment. It was nice to lay down with my girls again. I hadn’t gone to bed with them in a while, and Anna was right, I was tired. Their warm bodies felt good against me, and soon I felt my breath grow heavy with slumber.
“Tav!” Anna whispered, and she shook my shoulder.
“What is it?” I asked as I shot upright.
“What the hell?” Tara groaned.
“Shh,” the redhead said. She was crouched low, and she slowly led me to the window to look out.
There were three guys outside by our boat. They were obviously gearing up to take it, but it didn’t look like they knew how to sail properly. They appeared to look for the release for the sail, and one had difficulty undoing the knot that Paige had tied earlier to attach us to the dock. Even if they didn’t figure out how to take the boat, we still had all of our supplies in there.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“What’s going on?” Bailey asked as she came up behind us.
“Wake the others,” I said, then I turned to Anna. “How long have they been there?”
“Just a minute,” she said. “I watched for a second to see if they’d move on, but I woke you up when they showed interest in the boat.”
“Good job,” I said as I watched the men.
“What’s going on?” Paige asked as she, Bailey, and Tara came up behind us.
“Are those assholes trying to steal our boat?” Tara asked.
“It looks that way,” I said.
“Well, let’s fuckin’ shoot them,” the platinum blonde said. “Bailey, you got this, right? Can you use your new rifle?”
“I can,” Bailey said. “But I might hit the boat with where they’re standing.”
“We really don’t want to do that,” Paige said, and she bit her lip.
“What do we do?” Bailey asked.
“We need to lure them away from the boat,” Anna said.
“How are we going to do that?” Tara asked.
“Are they armed?” Bailey asked.
“I see knives on their sides,” Anna said. “And one of them has a shotgun.”
“Other than that it doesn’t look like it,” I said.
“What if we play damsel in distress?” Tara asked.
“What does that mean?” I asked back.
“One of us could pretend to come from the road and say we need help,” the platinum blonde explained.
“Absolutely not,” I said. “I’m not putting any of you in a situation like that.”
“I’ll do it,” Tara said. “You wouldn’t have to put me there.”
“That’s too dangerous,” I said.
“Not with Bailey upstairs ready to snipe their asses,” the platinum blonde retorted, and she shook her head at me like it was the most obvious plan ever.
“They aren’t well armed,” Anna said with a small shrug.
“We do need to lure them away from the boat,” Paige said.
“We can do that a different way,” I said. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. All of them were now on board with Tara’s crazy plan to put herself in danger.
“But if we set a fire, or make a noise or something then they might get scared and cut the rope and try to take off,” Anna said.
“They obviously don’t know what they’re doing on the boat,” Paige scoffed as she watched the men meander around aimlessly.
“Yeah,” the redhead agreed. “But if they get it away from the dock, then we have no way to catch them.”
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” I said, and I looked around seriously to all the girls. “We’ll play damsel in distress.” Anna was right, we couldn’t risk them getting the boat away from the dock, and as crazy as Tara’s plan was, I had an idea on how to improve it.
“Yes,” Tara said with a grin.
“But we’re doing it my way,” I said. “You’ll call out for help, but don’t show yourself to them.”
“Alright,” the platinum blonde agreed. “But they’d probably come a lot quicker if they got a view of my cleavage, just saying.”
I rolled my eyes at the platinum blonde and turned to the other girls.
“Bailey, you go upstairs,” I said, “and as soon as the last one is off the boat you take them down as quickly as possible. I’ll be here with my rifle on them as well.”
“Okay,” the blonde hippie said with a nod.
“But,” I said. “If it looks like they’re about to try to take the boat and not check on Tara, then you take them out right then. We’ll find a way to fix the damage.”
“I’m on it,” Bailey said.
“Oh, and Bailey,” I said. “Don’t use the Barrett for this one. If you do have to hit the boat, I’d rather it not be with one of those bullets.”
“Understood,” the blonde said with a small chuckle, and she grabbed her weapon and headed upstairs.
“Anna, you go with Tara,” I said.
“On it,” the redhead agreed.
“And don’t let her show her cleavage to anyone,” I said with an amused shake of my head.
“My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, ” Tara snickered.
“Come on,” Anna said with an eye roll, and she grabbed Tara by the elbow.
Everyone departed and left Paige and I in the living room. We each readied our rifles and took aim through the window.
I watched the men as I waited for Tara to set the plan into motion. I didn’t like the damsel in distress idea, to alert my enemy of my presence was the last thing I wanted to do, but Anna was right, if they got spooked they might try to take the boat right then. It seemed for the moment that they were trying to figure things out before they unhooked it from the dock, and that could buy us some time.
The men were dressed in cargo pants, large jackets, and they each had a backpack that looked rather empty. I had no idea what color or style of hair they had since each of them wore a beanie, though I did see that at least one of them had long hair that came out the sides of his hat.
“What the hell are they even doing?” Paige whispered next to me, obviously irritated.
“I think they’re trying to figure out how to sail,” I said.
“Clearly,” the brunette scoffed. “But they’re not doing a very good job. They haven’t even figured out the main sail.”
Paige shook her head and threw her arms up as she watched, and it seemed each little thing they did got her more frustrated than the last. I had to admit I found her exasperation quite cute.
The men had probably looked around for boats before, but most boats that people used before the EMP had motors, and were virtually useless, then. It just made the boat heavier, which made it more difficult to row, and since most motor boats didn’t even have sails, there wasn’t really a way to use one on the water without rowing your ass off. These guys were obviously stoked to find an actual sailboat, even if they had no idea what to do with it.
I started to grow antsy when I realized how long it had been since everyone departed. A few minutes had passed at least, and we needed to get this show on the road.
Come on, Tara.
“Help!” I heard the platinum blonde call from the side of the house. “Someone, please!”
She was quite convincing, and I noticed she had made her voice higher so she sounded like a distressed woman from an old film.
The men looked back to the house, but they didn’t move quite yet.
“Is there anyone home?” Tara yelled. “Please, I need help! Some men ripped all my clothes off!”
“Ahhh, shit.” I closed my eyes and slapped my hand against my forehead.
Chapter 7
I shook my head at the platinum blonde’s tactics. She really wasn’t afraid to use her femininity against whoever might fall prey to it. I knew because I had been her victim on more
than one occasion. It was hard not to be with how insanely beautiful she was. I knew the guys by the boat couldn’t see her, but I figured that sex was pretty scarce when you traveled around, and that line about having no clothes seemed to get the guys’ attention. They had started to lean forward a bit to try to see the platinum blonde.
“Hello?” Tara called out once more, her voice one of false desperation.
“Hello?” the man with the long hair under his beanie called.
“Oh thank God!” the platinum blonde called back. “Can you help me?”
“What do you need?” he asked warily, and it seemed he still didn’t fully trust the situation. Not even the idea of a half naked woman was enticing enough to get him to go running. Then again, you didn’t live this long in this world without a healthy sense of caution.
“I need clothes,” Tara yelled. “Maybe a shirt? Or even a blanket.”
“Where are you?” the man asked.
“I’m around back,” the platinum blonde yelled. “I don’t want to come out, I’m totally naked.”
The man looked back to his buddies and gave some orders I couldn’t hear, and then he pulled the shotgun off his back while the other two pulled out their knives. He either didn’t trust the situation, or he wanted to capture Tara. Either way, I didn’t like this asshole.
Long hair beanie guy led the other two off the boat, then gave them a signal to go to the left while he went to the right.
I lined up my shot as the men walked toward the house. I decided I wanted long hair beanie guy, he was the leader and most likely the mastermind behind the idea to steal our boat in the first place. Plus I didn’t like the look of the guy, he looked like a kid I went to high school with who would smoke cigarettes behind the gym and cuss at the teachers. Once all the men were completely out of the line of our boat, I took my shot.
Long hair guy went down with a spray of blood out of the side of his temple, and I quickly swung my rifle to where his friends stood, but by the time I had got them in my eye line one was already on the ground. The other went down a split second later as Bailey landed another headshot. That girl really was impressive.
“Clear?” Tara yelled.
“Clear,” I called out. “Everybody back to the living room.”
“Well, that went well,” Paige said.
“There were only three of them,” I said with a grin. “Piece of cake.”
“Especially with Bailey around,” Paige chuckled.
“What about me?” the blonde asked as she came back downstairs.
“We were just saying how impressive you are,” I said.
“Oh, thanks,” Bailey said with a blush. “It was nothing.”
“For you, maybe,” Paige laughed. “I couldn’t have made both of those shots so quickly.”
“She’s right,” I said. “I know it’s second nature to you now, but you should still be proud of your skills.”
“I am,” the blonde said with a soft smile. “Thank you.”
“What did I say?” Tara asked with a grin as she and Anna came inside.
“Your plan worked,” I agreed, though I shook my head slightly.
“I thought it wasn’t going to for a second there,” Anna said.
“They were cautious,” I said. “They’ve survived the world this long, so it makes sense they would be wary.”
“Yeah,” Tara agreed. “I didn’t think about that. It took them a lot longer than I expected.”
“I had to convince her not to actually take her top off,” the redhead said with an eye roll.
“I figured it would speed up the process.” The platinum blonde shrugged. “Besides, they were going to die anyways. Their last view should be a nice set of titties.”
I shook my head and chuckled at the two girls.
“Are we still staying the night here?” Bailey asked.
“No,” I said. “I don’t think we should. We can sleep on the water from now on.”
“I agree,” Paige said. “I don’t think we can trust anywhere enough to stop for the night.”
“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “We were only here for a couple hours and someone tried to steal our boat.”
“Are we going to be able to sleep on the boat?” Tara asked.
“Yeah,” Paige said. “We should be fine.”
“And we have more blankets now,” Bailey pointed out.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s gather the supplies we found, load up the boat, and get the hell out of here.”
I left the girls to load up the blankets and small things they had found earlier, and I headed out to the fire pit we had used for dinner. The thing was totally movable, small, but sturdy. It was designed so that the fire was raised up off the ground, which was great for campers so they didn’t have to create a firepit on different types of soil that may not be conducive to heat. I grabbed it and put it on the boat, along with some pieces of wood I found nearby. If we would have to stay on the water for the remainder of our trip, at least we could still have a hot meal every now and then.
“You ready?” Anna asked as she and the other girls made their way over to me.
“Yup,” I said, and I held out a hand to help them onto the boat.
“Can we use that on here?” Bailey asked as she hopped on and pointed to the fire pit.
“We should be able to,” I said. “The fire won’t hit the ground at all.”
“Nice,” Paige said with a grin.
“Alright,” I said. “You all make the bed and get some rest.”
“You’re supposed to be asleep too,” Anna said, and she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I know,” I said. “But I can’t sleep after that incident. You all get some rest.”
“Alright,” the redhead said after a moment, but she narrowed her eyes at me. “But you wake me up in two hours.”
“Scouts honor,” I said with a smile.
I found a spot for the fire pit while the girls laid out blankets and sleeping bags on the floor of the boat.
“Are you sure you’re good to do this by yourself?” Paige asked as I released us from the dock and got us on our way down the river.
“I’m sure,” I said with a soft smile. “And if I need help, I’ll wake you up.”
“Alright,” the brunette agreed.
“Now get some rest,” I said.
The girls all laid down, and after a few moments of shoving and giggling they quieted down.
I sat near the rudder and steered us when necessary. The night was clear and beautiful, with a million stars overhead and a light breeze that pushed us along at a leisurely pace.
I listened as the girls’ breath grew even. I knew they were tired before, but after the incident with those men I was sure they were even more exhausted. Adrenaline crash was no joke, and it often got the better of people.
As the boat slid gently down the lake, I scanned the shores for any signs of life. Someone would have to be an idiot to attack a boat on the water, especially if they planned on using said boat, but then again a lot of people were idiots, especially in this day and age. It seemed like the mean and the crazed were the ones who survived this mess, mostly because they preyed on the weak and took what didn’t belong to them without remorse. It was sad to see the world go to hell, but I looked down at the girls and remembered that there was good left in the world, too.
I waited a few hours with the intention to wake up Anna, but when the time came, I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt her sleep. The redhead looked so peaceful squeezed amongst the other girls, their heads all leaned toward each other, and their breaths even with one another. So instead I let them sleep, and I continued on under the stars.
“Rise and shine!” I said once the sun broke the horizon.
“Ugh,” Tara groaned. “Five more minutes.”
“I don’t think so,” I laughed. “It’s already dawn.”
“It’s dawn?” Anna asked, and she shot up and looked around wildly. “You were supposed to wake me
up in two hours!”
“It’s alright,” I said. “You all looked so peaceful.”
“It most certainly is not alright,” the redhead snapped.
“I’m with Anna,” Paige added with a frown. “You need sleep, too. We all know you’ve barely slept this week.”
“Yeah,” Bailey said. “No guard duty for you at all tonight.”
“You all are giving me orders now?” I asked with amusement.
“Damn right, we are,” Anna said. “Bailey’s right, no guard duty for you tonight.”
“Alright,” I laughed. “I’ll agree to that. But I do have a pot of boiling water if somebody wants to make some coffee.”
“I got it,” Bailey said with a smile.
“Do we have any pastries left?” Paige asked.
“We do,” I said with a smile. “I figured we could have those for breakfast again.”
“Nice,” the brunette said with a grin.
The girls all got up, put the blankets away, and took a seat around our new fire pit where Bailey worked on our morning coffee.
“So how far did we get last night?” Paige asked.
“Not too far, I don’t think,” I said. “There wasn’t much wind, so we didn’t get very much speed.”
“That’s alright,” the brunette said. “We’re still on track.”
“How much longer will this trip take?” Tara asked.
“We should reach the end of the lake by tomorrow at least,” Paige said. “Maybe a bit earlier.”
“But we have to walk from there,” Bailey reminded us.
“Yes,” I agreed.
“We should have brought the bikes,” Tara sighed.
“We didn’t know we’d need them,” Bailey said.
“And since when are you so gung ho to ride bikes?” Anna chuckled.
“It’s better than walking,” the platinum blonde answered with a shrug.
“We’ll be alright,” I said. “We’ve walked plenty before.”
“That doesn’t make it suck less,” Tara laughed.
“I suppose that’s true,” I chuckled.
Bailey stirred the coffee grounds into the water and the aroma stopped me for a moment as I breathed in the delightful smell.
It didn’t take long before the coffee was done, and Bailey filled each of us a cup and passed them out while I passed around the box of pastries. Soon we all had a danish and a cup of coffee, and the sun had come up even further on the horizon. It was a beautiful morning.
