Moans in the Night

by Miranda Bailey

  Taking a deep breath Zyana prepared to speak again, shifting her gun to the one at the back because he was going to have to go first; the woman was in the way of getting the other one out of the way first. Taking her finger away from the trigger guard she moved it onto the trigger itself, preparing to squeeze and speak to tell the woman to move but she stopped cold.

  Apparently Isadora had figured out what was coming and grabbed Samuel’s hand as she moved to stand in front of Jacob.

  “NO!” Isadora screamed and threw her clothes at Zyana.

  Moving away quickly from the clothes Zyana screamed back as she re-aimed at Samuel.

  “Stop! Don’t move or I will shoot him! Somebody start explaining now. Obviously you care about these men so you’d best hurry up and make me understand what the hell is going on here because I don’t have much more patience. Either you need help or you don’t.”

  All three now stood with their hands in the air, fear evident on their faces. This was just some shit. Live through the zombie apocalypse only to be killed by some crazy woman. At least that’s what Zyana interpreted the looks that passed between them to mean.

  “Who’s going first?” Zyana imagined it had been the men’s question when they found the woman. She didn’t believe this tale of being married and whatever. This was something they’d fed to the woman, obviously. A lot can happen in six months, after all.

  Jacob spoke up first, his voice trembling at first but then steadying. “Isadora and I were married on April 1, 2005 at our home, her grandfather served as the minister. We have the marriage license at home if you want to see it. It’s got the seal and everything on it. Then we can show you the pictures we have of us and us with Samuel. What more proof do you need?”

  Isadora spoke up then. “There’s videos too, videos of our wedding, our honeymoon where we went to England, vacations we’ve taken over the last few years, some with Samuel in them and other videos we’ve taken at other times. We’re all in them”.

  Zyana’s gun started to slip as they spoke and Jacob rushed over to Isadora to take her in his arms, realizing they’d finally convinced the woman of something, at least.

  Now it was Samuel’s turn to speak. “We thought we were the last ones left. We’ve been together since it all began. Is and Jacob took me in and our bond grew. Issy and I aren’t legally married but we are all married to each other, that’s how we see this. And what counts for legal in this new world?” He broke off and turned to look at the couple embracing beside him. He loved them, you could see that written all over his face.

  “It’s us against them in this world and we protect each other. Yes, it looks like we are sharing Isadora but that isn’t the case, we’re sharing each other. We look out for each other, love each other, and work to make sure we all have what we need. Today started out as a day to find books we might need, that’s why we’re in the school but Isadora decided we needed a break and we started what you saw us doing. We weren’t hurting her, we were loving her.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense,” Zyana said as she lowered the gun completely. “How does this work? Don’t any of you get jealous? What happens when she gets pregnant?”

  “Well, we’re taking steps to prevent that. We are bluntly honest with each other, always, and if someone feels neglected we all have the ability to state that but we’re always together, always on hand. Samuel and I show Is all the love we can, and the same respect to each other as her husbands. Sometimes we have one on one time but usually, for all of us, it’s better when we’re all involved in the sex. It’s just more fun. Sometimes, again, we have one on one time, but not often. Not out of a need to keep her to ourselves but because we all really do enjoy everyone being involved. And Isadora is on birth control, for now. We’ll take steps as the supply runs out or the expiration dates near to prevent pregnancy. None of us want to bring a child into the world as it currently stands but if it happens, because we’ve talked about that too, it happens. We’ll both be fathers and Is will obviously be the mother. No matter whose child it is it will be ours. The same as we are to each other, ours.”

  “So you’re really happy with this, sweets? You really enjoy having two men, they aren’t hurting you?” Zyana’s head was spinning but the way they explained it seemed to make some kind of sense.

  “We’d wanted to explore this for years with Samuel, I’m sorry what is your name?” Isadora asked with a tentative smile.

  “Zyana.”

  “Oh, that’s a beautiful name! But yes, we’d wanted to explore this before but people judge, don’t they? You’re standing in a community is based on things that simply aren’t anyone’s business and we live in a small town. Our jobs, our ties to the community would have been threatened if we’d taken the steps we wanted to. People here are barely used to gay couples, I’ve even seen some people’s faces twist into ugliness when an interracial couple pass them, for heaven’s sake! They might be able to take a man having two wives, men like that idea because they get all hot and bothered thinking about the women together, but a woman with two men? That would probably just make all of their heads explode. Couldn’t happen.

  We thought we were alone in the world now. We’d planned on spending our last days together, doing just as we pleased until the end came. We didn’t think anyone was left so we let go of our inhibitions, of the restrictions of society and we’ve never been happier, even if it is the end of the world. That’s what you saw today, total abandonment and enjoyment. Seems we aren’t alone so maybe we should be more careful about where we take our clothes off at but it’s not going to change what we are to each other or how we feel about each other. If it all came back today Samuel and Jacob would still by my husbands, I their wife. That’s just how it is now.”

  “Which of them is in charge then? One man always has to be in charge.”

  “Believe it or not, Issy is the one in charge, actually. She decides what goes and what doesn’t” Jacob replied to Zyana’s question. He had obviously relaxed by now because he was leaning back against the table, completely open and unthreatening. Samuel and Isadora still stood, but were close to Jacob, Isadora holding both of their hands.

  “Bullshit! Men always have to be in charge!” Zyana said in disbelief.

  “Nope, truly, Isadora makes all of the final decisions. We talk about whatever problem we have, discuss it, look at options and if there’s no easy solution Isadora decides. And when it comes to sex Is has the final say as well. We don’t pressure her, we don’t force her, and we surely don’t rape her. We adore her and she is our sole concern.” He pulled Isadora closer to his side as he spoke, cradling her in case the gun came back up again.

  Obviously Jacob took more of a leader role at this moment than Isadora or Samuel did but Zyana was starting to see that this situation was vastly different from what she’d thought she’d walked in on and Jacob was acting as protector, not so much leader. His attempts to diffuse the situation were working and Zyana finally pushed the gun down into her pants at her back.

  “Ahem. Well. Seems I owe you all an apology doesn’t it? I’ll just leave you to it then, with my deepest apologies. I meant no harm. Sorry I made you stand here naked this whole time too. That can’t be comfortable for you all. Again, I’m very sorry.” Zyana turned to leave then, feeling like a complete moron but Isadora stopped her.

  “Do you have some place to be? It’s warm now and we have an extra room, in a safe place, if you’d like to stay with us tonight. No funny stuff, just a meal, a bed, and some conversation. I’m sure you have a story to tell. From that accent you aren’t from here, I’d like to know how you ended up here.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t impose on you. I’ve made an absolute fool of myself and I can never apologize enough. I’ll let you folks get back to your lives now.”

  “No, you can’t leave!” Isadora said. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. You tried to save me and that took guts! You didn’t know anything about any of us but you tried to save me and that makes you b
rave in my book. And I really would like to know more about you.” As Isadora spoke she moved closer to Zyana, and reached out to touch her arm, smiling into Zyana’s eyes with a guileless look that asked for friendship. Zyana, again, noticed that they were all still naked and that Isadora was one incredibly beautiful woman. And incredibly smooth. All over.

  Zyana wasn’t sure why she kept noticing the woman’s body but she was starting to think she’d been alone too long. She wasn’t gay but Isadora really was incredible to look at. Now that the men didn’t seem to be raping pigs she noticed they were both handsome but it was Isadora who took her attention. Thinking about what they’d all said, about exploring new things and living to be happy Zyana considered that maybe the things they said were true, maybe there was more to life than what she’d previously thought there was. Still, that was for another time, this group was obviously tied to each other and interested only in Zyana’s story. A safe bed to sleep in and some food were more tempting than she’d originally realized. Some company for a change might be nice too.

  “Okay. I could use a break. Are you guys going to get dressed now? I’m starting to feel weird being the only one in clothes.” Zyana laughed nervously as she said it, hoping that they would all get dressed now. It was getting hard trying not to let her eyes drop.

  “You can even have a hot bath if you want to. Oh, I’m not saying you need one or anything, just that you can have one. We heat water with a solar panel so we always have plenty. We also use solar panels to run the rest of the house. Jacob is brilliant at stuff like that! I’m babbling now, shall we get dressed and go?” For the first time Zyana saw Isadora blush and that was just as lovely as anything else she’d done.

  Walking out the door to give the group some privacy Zyana again wondered what the hell she was doing. She’d been alone a long time, but that was really no excuse. Isadora was simply something else, even screaming in fear she’d been beautiful. Not as tall as Zyana’s 5 foot 10, Isadora must have been around average height, maybe 5 foot 5 inches, around 140 pounds, and her hair was a more brown black than Zyana’s blue black, and her eyes were incredible. And the rest of her. Just wow. Zyana had a girl crush and knew it.

  For the first time in her life she had a girl crush and she had no idea what to do about it. This was not cool. Zyana was telling herself she was going to leave first thing in the morning; she couldn’t stick around an impossible situation, when the trio came out of the room.

  Taking Zyana’s arm Isadora walked her down the hall to the very door Zyana had used to come in earlier. As they walked Isadora started chatting away to Zyana.

  “Now I have three kinds of bubble bath, one that smells like roses that both the fellas love, one that smells like peaches, and another one that’s kind of a Christmasy smell, not quite apples and cinnamon but close. It’s heavenly! And we’ll have everything else you might need. We stock up on whatever we find when we go out. We all went out and raided the nearest stores a couple of months ago, when we started getting low on stock in the house, so now we have all kinds of stuff stored up. It won’t last forever but it will sure last a while.” Isadora grinned up at the taller Zyana who was starting to think maybe Isadora had lived a very sheltered life. Who cared about bubble bath during the zombie apocalypse?

  Isadora did, that’s who! Zyana smiled down at the woman, feeling a bit confused by the chatter. A tub of hot water and bar of soap would be good enough for her, she’d even wash her hair in Ivory soap right now if that’s all there was. She’d managed to wash up in the places she’d stayed but she’d not had a bath in months! Zyana kind of tuned Isadora out at this point, imagining slipping into a hot tub of water was far more consuming than the merits of 4-blade razors versus 6-blade razors. Zyana’s sore, tired body was already sighing just thinking about soaking in hot water.

  She didn’t notice when Isadora let go of her arm as Jacob pulled her back to him. She just kept walking down the road they were on, imagining a bathtub full of bubbles. Maybe bubble bath wasn’t such a bad idea, after all.

  “You sure about this Is? We don’t know anything about her and she held a gun on us earlier” Jacob whispered to her.

  “I am, Jacob, it’s ok. She’s been alone, this whole time, you can tell. She’s going to have to adjust is all. She will. I need to talk to another girl for a while so just calm down. I love you boys but I need some girl time! I’m not sure she’s into bubble baths but still, just hearing her story is going to be worth it. So, shhh. It’ll be ok, my love. Now, if I can just stop chattering like a 12 year old girl, we’ll be ok. Oops, she’s about to miss our road, let me go back ahead.”

  9

  As Zyana soaked in peach scented bubbles, a real mountain of them, her thoughts went back to walking into the compound Isadora, Jacob, and Samuel called home. Stuck between a mountain and the river the group had two natural borders of protection from the zombies. To that they’d added fencing, previous to the undead rising, and since added stone fencing. An iron gate had also been added to the previous gate they had. Within the compound, around two acres, there was a garden, building for chickens, three cows, and rabbits. There was also a section for a pig but they hadn’t found any pigs yet because they’d escaped to the woods and gone feral quickly. Pigs only ended up on the dinner table when one of the men went out hunting.

  A steel door had been added to the front of the house and the windows all had steel shutters that could be hand cranked to close over the windows. Zyana had started to think Isadora was a bit ditzy but looking at what all she’d had the men do to the house she knew this woman was no ditz. Although the river was a natural barrier the men had already started collecting wood to make a fence back there as well. They’d all but made their own little paradise island here. There was also one huge barn where feed, hay, and medicines for the animals were kept as well as all the supplies they’d taken from the stores. Isadora told Zyana that they planned to put more storage in, in case of fire in the main barn, but for now everything was kept in the house or in the barn.

  The men weren’t just laborers either, Samuel had provided electricity, while Jacob took care of the animals, water purification system, and took care of all of their medical needs. Jacob was a registered nurse in his previous life and was as close to a doctor as any of them were going to get now. Zyana also found out that Isadora was a math teacher at the school Zyana found them at, the reason the community relations thing was so high on her list, and Samuel had been a writer for an alternative energy magazine, one of the reasons he knew so much about the subject. He’d had a head start. Obviously these people weren’t stupid, or deviants, if they had such normal but technical jobs. Well, Zyana thought, it depended on your definition of deviant, and then smiled.

  They were all beautiful people and Isadora had ushered Zyana straight into the bathroom upon entering the house. Towels, wash cloths, a fluffy robe and slippers, soap, shampoo, razors, conditioner, all were handed over to Zyana straight away and Isadora revealed the cupboard where other treasures were hidden, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, it was all in there, anything she’d need. There were even some books in there to read.

  As she’d left Isadora started closing the door but made one final statement.

  “Now dinner isn’t for another hour or hour and a half so you take your time. I don’t expect you to come out of this bathroom for an hour, at least, so do whatever you want but take your time and soak for a while!” With a wide smile Isadora then shut the door and left Zyana in peace and quiet. That smile made Zyana’s nipples harden as she remembered it but Zyana blamed it on a breeze that blew in from the window placed high above the tub. She really had to stop these thoughts.

  Thinking of Isadora sexually was troubling to Zyana. She’d never been attracted to females, always preferring to spend her time on men. She loved men, their bodies, their laughs, their smells. She loved Samuel and Jacob’s voices, both had deep voices. But Isadora.

  Sighing Zyana plowed through the bubbles with h
er hands and sank further into the tub tilted at the back just right to be supportive without pushing you straight up. Going completely under Zyana blew the air out of her lungs to make bubbles in the water then began washing her hair. She loved this brand of shampoo and she scrubbed away at her hair, letting the soap get rid of all of the dirt and oil that had built up on her hair over the last few weeks. Gross! My hair must have looked nasty to them! It was hard to wash it all when she was traveling, there was never enough water to wash it all so she either got the oil and dirt off the top and had to leave the dust and dirt that was missed on the bottom or vice versa. Now she had a whole head of a clean hair and it was glorious!

  She next shaved her legs and under her arms, then scrubbed herself with a washcloth and soap one more time. She wanted to be clean everywhere when she went in for that dinner. She’d set a book aside to read but preferred to spend a few more minutes just relaxing before contemplating getting out of this current heaven.

  Thinking over the last few hours Zyana wondered if the pigs weren’t the only ones that had gone feral over the last few months. Sure, Zyana had learned to protect herself, and had a thin veneer of still being civilized with her painted fingernails and clothes that flattered her body, but she was really going to kill the first men she’d come across in six months today. She’d spent time covered in blood, guts, and other nastiness over the last few months, fighting for her life, and that must have left a mark on her. She would have killed the men and left with Isadora, without guilt, without shame because she thought they were cruel. She’d talked herself into an even worse nightmare world but had found the nightmare was within herself before she’d taken it too far.

  She felt a bit out of her depth here, confused, at a loss as to her role. She had no real role, she was leaving tomorrow, but still, this all seemed like an illusion, a dream.