Moans in the Night

by Miranda Bailey

The people she had threatened to kill took her into their home and sheltered her. This was one seriously fucked up world they were all living in. Before the zombies had come Zyana would be in jail if she’d threatened to shoot two men. But the zombies had come and now the world was a new place. A scary place, but one that might not be totally bad, after all.

  Zyana emerged from the bathroom in a fluffy white robe to find Jacob standing at the door. She bumped into him as she rushed out and looked up at him with surprise on her face.

  “Oh sorry” he said then smiled. “Wow, I hope you don’t mind me saying but you sure clean up well!”

  Blushing Zyana pushed her dried and straightened hair behind her right ear, then smiled at Jacob. She’d taken the time to do all that and applied some brand new makeup she’d found in the bathroom cupboard as well. She thought if she was going to go as far as straightening her hair, she might as well go the full monty and put makeup on too.

  “Thank you, I thought I might as well, while I had the chance. All of you are the first people I’ve seen since this all started. I may not get another chance to see anyone so I might as well make the most of it.” Looking up at Jacob, Zyana thought, yes, maybe I should make the most of this one night I have, wondering how far the trio would go. How far she would go. Smiling up at Jacob, straight teeth gleaming, Zyana raised an eyebrow and asked Jacob what he needed.

  “What? Oh, Isadora wanted me to bring you this dress; she thought you might want something new to wear. She put some other things in there as well. If you want them.” Looking a bit sheepish Jacob handed Zyana the bundle and walked away.

  Moving back into the bathroom Zyana inspected the bundle. A long but thin white cotton summer dress with a few buttons on the front, silk lace panties and a thin lace bra that somehow were the right size in nude, and stockings, if she wanted them. Fuck it, she thought, I’m going for it. I may not get another chance at human contact and those stocking are a signal if I’ve ever seen one. What else would it mean for a woman to send another woman such sexy, lacy things? If it happens, it happens. I’m not stopping it.

  Zyana inspected herself after she dressed. The thin bra did little to hide the dark color of her nipples through the even thinner white cotton dress but the panties did keep her modest. Barely. She’d only buttoned the buttons at her nipple line and just down to a little past her panties. It was hot after all, even though the family had enough energy to have the air conditioner running. Zyana still felt, hot, however, despite the AC cooling the place off. Experimenting, she sat down on the toilet and discovered that when she crossed her legs the dress fell open and exposed the lacy tops of the stockings. Very good. I’m ready. Let’s go. Taking a deep breath Zyana stood up, walked out the bathroom door, and into the dining room Isadora had shown her earlier.

  Everyone was there waiting on her. In the time she was in the bathroom Isadora had prepared ham steaks, potato salad, corn, and other dishes. There was even a plate with what looked like brownies sitting at the other end of the table! Isadora had also taken the time to shower and change into a dark green version of the same dress Zyana had on, buttoned exactly the same way. She smiled and sat down in the seat Isadora indicated.

  “Thank you so much for all of this. I’m ever so grateful. This all just looks wonderful, thank you again.”

  “Here have some wine. Think nothing of it. To have such a beautiful guest for the first time in six months is reward enough. Even under all that road grime you were pretty hot but now we can all see just how beautiful you truly are. And I want to say thank you for what you did today. You might have misunderstood the situation but your intentions were pure. I truly appreciate the chance you took for me, seriously. Thank you.” Isadora smiled over at Zyana and Zyana’s heart skipped. She smiled back and looked around at the men.

  The table was round so there was no head but the two women were sitting across from each other with the men on either side of them. The table was large but not so large that they had to scream at each other. Turning left to Samuel she smiled at him as she took the bowl he offered and put some ham on her plate. Jacob handed her the potato salad from her right, his fingers brushing hers as he passed the bowl. Both men smiled at Zyana and she wasn’t sure but there seemed to be a promise in each of those smiles.

  Turning the full beam up on that smile Jacob then spoke to Zyana.

  “A few months ago all we had was canned ham. Samuel managed to get this pig and that was the end of Isadora having to find ways to make canned ham palatable. She did have some rather creative ways of feeding it to us though. I almost miss those days, don’t you Samuel?”

  Samuel spluttered into his wine. Sitting the glass down, he wiped his mouth and grinned across at Jacob. Zyana noticed that Isadora seemed to be blushing. Oh, there must be a story here, she thought.

  “Why yes, Jacob, I do miss those canned hams. The last one was certainly a treat.”

  “Oh, you two”, Isadora said, “stop teasing me, those things were horrible but it was all we had. We’re better stocked now, thank goodness. There’s even fudge brownies for dessert, Zyana. Now let her eat, she’s not had a proper meal in ages, I’d bet.”

  “Oh, you’re all fine. We can talk and eat if you’d like.”

  “Tell me how you got your name then, my lovely. Such an unusual name Zyana.” Isadora almost purred with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Everyone asks that but nobody actually knows. I was with my mother until I was three then I somehow ended up in foster care in a small town in South Carolina. The records disappeared so I don’t know anything about my mother or my father or even where I was born. All I know is my birthdate, June 28th, I’m 27 years old, and that my name is Zyana Phillips. That’s it. I grew up in foster care, with several different families over the years.Then I left foster care to go to college. I got a degree in computer science and started working for a tech company in South Carolina. A distant aunt died and left me a house but I wasn’t allowed to know anything about her so that didn’t reveal anything either.”

  Swallowing a bite of food Jacob asked “There weren’t any papers in the house?”

  “All of the papers were removed from the house too. It was one of those old farm houses, stuck out in the sticks so there weren’t any neighbors to ask either. I just don’t know who I am. You’d think, if she knew where I was and who I was that my aunt would have let me know something about who I am but no, she took that information to her grave with her.”

  “What did you do then?” Samuel asked taking a drink of his wine.

  “Instead of worrying about it I worked and bought a car, and my “crotch rocket” as one of my friends called it. Then the zombie apocalypse happened. In the first week I had to kill my friend that named the bike, two of my coworkers when I tried to go into work that first day, and some other people that wandered to the house somehow”. Taking a drink of the wine Zyana pushed down the tears trying to form.

  “How did you survive the first few months?” Isadora asked this question, thinking about the things Zyana had just told them. To have to take down so many people you knew, on your own, must have been horrible. She wanted to reach across the table and take Zyana’s hand but held back.

  Taking another sip of wine Zyana answered Isadora. “The house had an old nuclear fallout shelter in it. I hid in that for a long time, going out only when I absolutely had to. I’d mark the day off on a calendar. I finally had enough marking days while on my own and decided to go out and try to find other human beings. I needed to hear another real human voice and went out hoping I’d find someone”.

  “Weren’t you afraid to go out on your own?” Jacob asked.

  “I’ve had a few mishaps along the way, Jacob, I really should have just gone around Charlotte, North Carolina, for instance, but I made it out and learned a lesson, avoid cities because they’re full of zombies. Mooresville, North Carolina is completely gone. It looks like a bomb went off. I don’t know what happened there but it’s gone. I had to go out of my way
to get around that one. I’ve not seen a single soul that was still alive since the first week all of this started.”

  “Did you have a destination in mind” Jacob asked then put the last bit of his potato salad into his beautifully distracting mouth. That was a rather fine mouth. Zyana wondered what it would be like to suck on his full bottom lip. Right, conversation, back to it, she thought.

  “Ahem, well, I was considering going over to Tennessee but one of my friends from college was from around here so I thought I’d see if I could maybe find her. At the very least I can see where she came from. And here I am now.” Putting her fork down Zyana realized she’d eaten everything she had put on her plate and had two glasses of wine in between telling her story.

  “That’s some tale, Zyana. Brownie?” Isadora offered the treats to her with a smile.

  “Oh my, I could eat that whole plate!”

  “Go ahead and do it” Isadora laughingly said. “We have about 15 cases of brownie mixes out in the barn. You eat all of them you want, but I’ll take one, too. What do you plan on doing now?”

  “Well, I guess, I’ll see if I can find Lynn’s place. It’s in a town not far from here. Then we’ll see how it goes from there. I’m not really sure what to do anymore. If I found you all, there might be other people out there.” She almost melted as she took the first bite of the confection and tasted still warm chocolate for the first time in months. It was heavenly, almost drugging to taste the familiar treat.

  “Yes, but are they people you want to meet?” This came from Samuel’s direction. Turning to him Zyana gave the handsome blonde a thorough looking over. A handsome man Samuel’s blond hair almost invited female fingers to play with it. At the moment it was cut in such a way that longer tendrils almost reached his gray eyes. Zyana wanted to brush it away. He had kind eyes, and a broad smile that made you want to smile back at him.

  “Well, I didn’t want to meet you and look where I’m at now.” Zyana laughed at that and popped the last bit of brownie in her mouth. Then she had to repress a yawn. “Oh my, I do apologize. You aren’t boring me, I’ve just been up since dawn and three glasses of wine seems to have been my limit. I’ve not had wine in months now.”

  “That’s alright Zyana, why don’t you lay down for a bit, have a nap, and if you feel like it later we’ll have a nice chat in the living room. The sun is only just going down so perhaps a nap will refresh you. We can even watch a movie later, if you want.” Isadora stood up with Zyana and guided her up a set of stairs. “There’s a steel door here too Zyana, that we close at night, so even if something or someone gets through the fences and the door at the front we’re safe up here. We spent a lot of time up here in the winter, trying to stay warm. There are two rooms. We all share the room on the left and the right we turned into another bedroom, in case anyone needed some space of their own. It’s all air conditioned so you’ll be cool, safe, and you should have nothing to fear. You’re secure here so have no fears about falling asleep. We’ll just be next door tonight as well so you won’t be alone. Okay? There’s a nightgown on the bed and a robe too. I also brought up the book you left out in the bathroom. If you want anything we’ll just be downstairs, alright? Sleep well, my lovely.” And with that Isadora trundled down the stairs, leaving Zyana alone.

  “Whoa, this is not how I expected this evening to end” she said quietly. “I thought we’d all be having sex by now. Dang it all, I missed my chance!” She quickly changed her clothes, tilting a bit as she tried to remove the stockings, realized she was more tipsy than she’d thought, then put on the nightgown and slid into the comfort of cool, clean sheets that didn’t smell of dust and mold. “Oh my, is that memory foam? It is! Oh man, I may never get out of this bed” she thought.

  Picking up the book Isadora had left on the night stand Zyana managed to read the first five sentences of the horror novel by one of her favorite authors before she fell asleep. She didn’t even realize it when Isadora came in 20 minutes later and turned the light off, tucking the covers up around Zyana’s shoulders.

  Isadora stood over the sleeping woman and finally gave into temptation and reached down to stroke Zyana’s face. Picking up a lock of her hair she let the glossy black strands slide through her fingers.

  “Yes, you brave, darling girl, I do believe you’ll fit in just fine here.” Then she walked out of the room, letting the exhausted woman have her much needed rest.

  10

  Zyana wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep or what woke her but a glance at the window told her the sun had completely set. Getting out of the bed she wondered where the other three people in the house were. If it was late they might be asleep. Cracking the door she didn’t hear any sounds coming from the other room so she went to the bathroom there.

  It was a tiny thing, just a shower, sink, and a toilet that must have been put in after the house was built. She giggled a little because the toilet was right in front of a full length window. Imagine using the toilet in front of window, peaking out as you did your business. That’s funny.

  Leaving the bathroom she went back to her room, grabbed the robe, and headed quietly down the carpeted stairs. As she got near the bottom she could see candlelight burning and she thought she could hear murmuring but wasn’t sure. Zyana froze in the doorway, wishing she could close the door that was propped open to her right.

  “I guess they decided to finish what they started earlier today” she whispered to herself as she stood there, frozen to the spot. Maybe she should just walk back up the stairs and read her book? Nobody seems to have noticed me coming down so maybe I can sneak back up? But she couldn’t move, couldn’t make her feet work, and her eyes grew wider as Isadora moaned.

  Candles were lit all over the room, providing plenty of light while lending a romantic air to the room. It wasn’t the candles that held Zyana’s attention; however, it was the lovers entangled on the red blanket on the floor. Samuel was between Isadora’s smooth tanned thighs, an occasional gleam catching Zyana’s eye as his tongue flicked out to touch Isadora’s most intimate flesh. He must have a tongue piercing; I wonder what that feels like?

  Jacob propped up by pillows and sitting behind Isadora, was whispering to his wife as she writhed there, his fingers delicately tugging her nipples to points. Isadora was somehow even more beautiful, her eyes closed as she took in all the pleasure being given to her. Her face was rapt, her expression and rapid breath revealing how lost she was to the sensations. Zyana thought they were all beautiful, totally transfixed in each of their tasks. She heard Isadora gasp and watched as she tensed. Zyana watched as Isadora’s back arched and Zyana could hear a low keening coming from the other woman’s mouth. Jacob leaned forward and kissed his wife as she found her release, breathing in her cries as the intense pleasure continued.

  Zyana knew women could have multiple orgasms but she’d never seen anything like this, Isadora’s pleasure just seemed to go on and on. Zyana watched, spell-bound as the two men continued to wring out every bit of pleasure they could from Isadora, their total focus placed on the woman. She was starting to see how this all worked now. The dinner, the working together, the pleasure part of all of this was directed at pleasing Isadora. They all worked together as friends but as lovers the focus was on Isadora first and foremost. Zyana thought the idea was intoxicating and she envied Isadora the adoration she was being shown.

  Distracted by her thoughts for a moment Zyana hadn’t noticed that Isadora had opened her eyes and was looking directly at her. Her eyes lifted and she inhaled sharply, however, as she heard her name spoken.

  “You see, Zyana, it’s not about rape my lovely, it’s not about the men being selfish. It’s about love and enjoying being a part of each other. About giving pleasure and knowing how to take it. Come here.” Isadora held her hand out to Zyana, questions and a dare in her eyes.

  “Um, I’m, I, oh my, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. I’ll just go back to bed.” Caught, unsure of whether she should take the chance no
w the effects of her bravado and the wine had worn off, Zyana tried to retreat back to the stairs.

  “No, lovely, I wanted you to see. We wanted you to see. Jacob whispered to me that you were here when you first came down the stairs. Knowing you were there, that you were watching was ever so delicious for me. Please, come here with me. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do and you can always say stop. I’ve been waiting to taste your lips all day, ever since I saw them trembling as you tried to decide what to do with all of us. I want to suck it between my teeth and taste you. And seeing you there, with the candlelight turning that nightgown translucent, revealing all you have to us, I want to taste all of you. Please?”

  Zyana didn’t know what to say. She wanted to. She wanted to feel alive again, to feel physical pleasure. To be stroked and touched until she burst. She wasn’t afraid they wouldn’t like her body, she was afraid that this might only be for one night. But she knew, and finally decided, that if one night was all she was going to get then she’d take it. She didn’t know what lay outside the walls of the house, if there were other people, but one night with these people was worth it, even if she did have to leave them behind. Stepping forward she took off the robe, drew the nightgown over her head, then took Isadora’s hand and sat down beside her.

  “What are we going to do?” She asked Isadora.

  “We’re going to do whatever you want to do, lovely. Whatever you want to do”. Isadora stroked Zyana’s face with her free hand, cupping her face as she gazed into Zyana’s green eyes with her blue ones. “Such beautiful eyes. For now, I’m simply going to kiss you.” Then she moved in, placing her lips gently against Zyana’s.

  Zyana released a surprised sound, her eyes flying open as she felt Isadora’s full lips against her own. It had been so long since she’d been touched the feeling of soft lips against her own was almost shocking. Looking into the woman’s open eyes, she smiled and opened her mouth as Isadora’s tongue pressed against her lips. Perhaps it was only the effect Isadora had on her and not shock, after all. She closed her eyes and gave herself up to the kiss, not noticing when the men moved away from them to sit on the couch.