by Eric Vall
“I could see the smoke,” I said. “But I think the fire is in a valley, so I couldn’t see any flames.”
“If we could just get some damn rain,” Betty muttered.
“Would rain be enough to put out a fire that large?” Paige asked.
“Maybe not completely,” the old woman said. “But it would slow it down some, that’s for sure.”
“I’m going to stay on watch duty tonight,” I announced. “We need to have someone up there twenty-four seven right now in case it gets close, especially while we’re sleeping. We actually called this a ‘fire watch’ in the military, and I never thought I’d have to do one when I got out.”
“It’s a good idea,” Anna agreed.
“I’ll stay up with you,” Bailey said with a smile. “I’m not really tired.”
“I can, too,” Paige offered. “I’d rather be up and seeing what’s going on than asleep.”
“Not me,” Tara said. “I’ll take sleep, thanks.”
“Oh, come on, Tar,” Bailey said. “We can all hang out on the roof like we used to.”
“Count me in,” Anna said.
“Oh fine,” Tara said with an eye roll. “But only if Kimmy comes.”
“Me?” Kimmy asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
“I mean, you’re in the inner circle now,” the platinum blonde said.
“Inner circle?” Betty asked with an amused smile.
“Totally,” Tara said, and she elbowed the old woman lightly. “You’re in the inner circle, too, don’t worry.”
“I’m honored,” Betty laughed.
“What about me?” Henry asked with a playful smirk.
“Hm,” Tara said, and she thought for a moment.
“Tara!” Paige hissed.
“What?” the platinum blonde asked. “I’m thinking. I’d say Henry’s nearly in the inner circle. Like, inner circle adjacent.”
“For being new here, I’ll take it,” Henry laughed.
“What about us?” Rosy, Henry’s young granddaughter, asked with hopeful eyes.
“Of course, you’re in the inner circle,” Tara told her with a wink.
The little girl then turned to her grandpa and stuck her tongue out playfully.
“You better put that tongue back in before I grab it!” he threatened, and she giggled and turned away as he lightly pinched her cheeks and mouth.
As stressed as everyone had been lately, it felt good to relax a bit and be with the people I loved. It could also be the pot roast filling my belly that was putting me in a good mood, but either way I felt good for a man who had a fire headed straight for his house.
After a while Betty excused herself to run inside, and Rolly followed behind her.
The two of them were virtually inseparable, and honestly, I was a bit surprised that he hadn’t proposed yet as well, though given the circumstances I couldn’t exactly blame him.
We all sat around and talked for a while after we finished eating, but then Rolly and Betty came back out of the dorm building, and they were giggling like school girls.
“Everybody,” Rolly said, and it was clear that he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. “We have an announcement to make.”
“He did it,” Tara squealed as she turned to give her attention to the couple.
“I’ve asked Betty to marry me,” Rolly announced after everyone looked their way, then he held up her hand to show the ring. “And she said yes!”
Everyone erupted into congratulations and cheers as the old couple smiled at each other and kissed.
Even though I knew it was coming, I still found myself grinning from ear to ear. Henry had been right. In this rotten time, this news was exactly what everyone needed to take their minds off of things for a little while.
Rolly looked happier than I’d ever seen him, and Betty stared at him as if he were the most beautiful thing on the planet. They were the sweetest couple I’d ever known, and to think it had all started when Rolly and I had barged into her house.
It was hard to believe that they’d lived only a few miles from each other for so many years, but it was an EMP that finally brought them together.
“Let’s get some drinks going,” I called out, and everyone cheered again.
I headed inside, and Anna followed me to help. We grabbed several fifths of various different alcohols and brought them out to set on the table. I grabbed a bottle of bourbon for our table and enough glasses for everyone, then I went over and started to pour drinks.
Rolly and Betty sat next to each other, and they were still holding hands and giggling as if it was their first date.
I smiled and shook my head as I poured us all a round of liquor and passed it out.
Once we all had a cup I held mine up into the air.
“To Rolly and Betty,” I shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear me.
“To Rolly and Betty!” the crowd echoed before we all took a swig of our chosen beverage.
“So,” Tara said as she set her glass down and leaned over the table toward Betty. “Let’s talk wedding.”
“Oh, I bet we can find you a nice dress,” Bailey said with a smile.
“Yeah,” Paige added. “I doubt that the wedding dress stores were hit too bad.”
“Do they have suits at the same place?” Bailey asked. “Rolly needs a suit.”
“I don’t need a suit,” the old man chuckled.
“You’re wearing a suit,” Betty told him playfully, but sternly.
“Yes, ma’am,” he laughed.
“Betty’s bringing out the claws,” Tara said with a grin. “I like it. Rawr.”
“My first wedding was terrible,” Betty said with an eye roll. “We were young, my dress ripped, and it was pretty much a disaster. This is the last one I’m gonna get, so I better make it count.”
“Fair enough,” Anna laughed.
“If we do it the right time of year, I bet we can get enough flowers to make it look really pretty,” Bailey offered.
“We’ll have to get you girls dresses as well,” Betty said with a smile.
“You mean, we get to be in the wedding?” Paige asked, her eyes full of surprise.
“Of course, dear,” Betty chuckled. “You all and Jenny of course. She’ll be the maid of honor.”
“What color were you thinking?” Tara asked. “Because I don’t do yellow.”
At that, I caught Rolly’s eye, and we both shook our heads at the conversation around us. The couple hadn’t even been engaged for more than a few minutes and already the girls were planning every last detail. Forget about the fire headed our way, or the group of people that we had to figure out what to say to, right then it was all about the wedding, and I loved it.
I chuckled to myself and took a long swig of the bourbon I’d poured. It was smooth and smokey tasting, and it warmed my belly as it settled.
I listened quietly while the girls chatted for a bit longer. It was nice to hear them in a good mood after the last few days we’d had, but soon I was out of bourbon, so I poured myself some more. I remembered then that I had saved a bottle of Rolly’s favorite stuff in my room a long time ago. I planned to give it to him if we were ever low on booze again, but this seemed like an appropriate time, so I grabbed my glass and excused myself from the table to head upstairs.
Once I got into my dorm room I realized that I had no idea where I had put the bottle.
“Well, shit,” I breathed out loud to myself, and I took a long pull of bourbon before I started to go through the various drawers in the small room.
Most of them had clothes or weapons in them, and some of them were still empty, but I didn’t find the bottle in any of them.
My room had gotten messier than I’d like to admit, but I didn’t spend much time in there unless one of the girls happened to catch me in there for some alone time. Aside from that, it was just a place to store my clothes and things, but I hadn’t organized it in quite a while.
If you looked at this small room you’
d never guess that a military man stayed here, and for some reason that thought made me smile. For a long time I felt I had been defined by my military career, and of course I appreciated my time in the service, but I wanted to be more than that man. Sometimes it was hard to find yourself again after spending so much time serving others.
Now, though, I was my own person. My military background came in handy every day, and I’d trained everyone around me using military tactics, but I was more than that. I was a leader in my own right now, a position I’d earned through trust and dedication to the people around me. It was a tough job, but I was proud to be their leader.
“Hey,” Paige’s voice said, and I turned to see her standing in my doorway.
“Hey,” I greeted her with a smile. “What are you doing up here?”
“I just came to grab some magazines I had in my room for Betty,” the brunette said.
“Magazines?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Paige answered, and she went a bit red as she hid a small stack of magazines behind her back. “I used to have kind of an obsession with bridal magazines.”
“Really?” I chuckled. I had never pictured Paige as the bride obsessed type. She seemed to me like the little girl that spent her time cataloging butterflies she’d seen, or making baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, not planning her dream wedding.
“We all have our guilty pleasures,” she laughed and she came over to where I now sat on the bed and took a seat beside me. “What were you doing up here?”
“I hid a bottle of Rolly’s favorite whiskey a while ago,” I said. “In case we ever got into a spot where we were low on booze or something, but I thought this would be a great time to give it to him.”
“That’s so sweet,” the mousy brunette said with a smile, then she looked down at my hands and around the room. “Where is it?”
“If you knew that, then it wouldn’t be hidden, would it?” I teased.
“You forgot where you put it, didn’t you?” she asked with an amused smile.
“Maybe,” I admitted. “I might have been drinking when I hid it.”
“Want me to help you look?” she asked.
“I’ve looked pretty much everywhere obvious,” I sighed. “I’m really not sure what I did with it.”
“Oh, come on,” she said. “I’m sure we can find it.”
Paige stood and pulled me up by the arm, then she began to dig under the bed and pile laundry into the corner as she went. I watched her for a moment, then I began to do my part looking as well. The brunette was sweet to help, and I was reminded of how lucky I was to have her. Not only was she incredibly intelligent, a quick learner, and one hell of a navigator, but she was caring and generous and incredibly driven by her morals. I never had to worry about Paige doing something stupid. She put the group first and followed the plan. While some wouldn’t consider her the bravest of the group, she was by far the most reliable and predictable.
“Found it!” Paige exclaimed as she held up the bottle of whiskey and shook it a bit.
“Where was it?” I asked as I turned away from the closet and walked over to her.
“You really don’t remember?” she asked with a smile.
“I don’t,” I said with a shake of my head.
The brunette was on her knees on the floor, and she looked at me, raised an eyebrow, then reached over and pulled open the vent at the bottom of the wall.
“I’m a genius,” I chuckled.
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Paige laughed. “But it’s a pretty good hiding spot.”
I reached into the vent and pulled out an M18 pistol.
“Dang,” the brunette said as she looked at the weapon in my hands. “I didn’t think to keep digging.”
“Let’s see if there’s anything else,” I said.
I reached in again and pulled out a spare magazine for the M18, as well as a bottle of bourbon.
“Tara would be pissed if she knew you were hiding top shelf booze,” Paige said with a wicked grin.
“It’s not like I wouldn’t share,” I chuckled. “I was saving them for when we needed them.”
“It’s alright,” Paige told me with a wink. “She has a private stash, too.”
“Oh, does she?” I asked.
“She thinks nobody knows about it,” the brunette said with an eye roll. “But everybody does.”
I shook my head, but then I noticed my nearly empty glass of bourbon on the nightstand.
“Well,” I said as I stood up and walked over to the glass. “If Tara has a secret stash, then I think we should, too.”
“You already do,” Paige pointed out with a laugh.
“Do you want some of this bourbon or not?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as I untwisted the cap and started to fill the glass.
“Yes, please,” the brunette said with a sweet smile.
“Alright, then,” I chuckled and handed her the now full glass of bourbon.
“Cheers,” she said as I sat down next to her, and she clinked the glass against the bottle.
We each took a swig of the smooth, dark liquor and let out a sigh after we had finished. Through the window, I could hear the sounds of everyone down in the courtyard celebrating. It didn’t sound like they were missing us too much, so I figured we could stay a while and have a drink.
“I’m really happy for Rolly and Betty,” Paige said, and she turned to me with a sincere smile.
“I know,” I agreed. “I think everyone is.”
“I know it won’t be the same as if they had their wedding when things were still like they used to be,” she continued, “and I know everything is crazy right now, but that news made me really happy.”
“Everything is crazy,” I said with a nod, and I took another swig from the bottle of bourbon. “But having something to look forward to will be good for everybody.”
“I think so, too,” Paige said, and she looked at me with soft brown eyes and a slight smile on her pink lips.
The brunette was gorgeous, her face dainty and feminine, and I reached my hand out to stroke along her cheekbone.
Paige’s eyes closed as she leaned into my touch, and she let out a small, soft sigh of relaxation.
Her skin was smooth under my hand, and up close I could see the small freckles that were sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. They were light, and it looked like some of them were new, probably from how much time we’d spent in the sun recently, but they were adorable. I moved my hand into her hair then and raked my nails across her scalp.
“Ohhh,” she moaned as she leaned her head back slightly. “That feels so good.”
The moan was one of relaxation, but it didn’t matter, my erection stirred just the same, and my breath caught in my throat as my body filled with desire.
Paige’s lips parted just slightly as she leaned her head back further into my hand, and I took that opportunity to take her mouth with my own.
I felt her body jerk slightly with surprise when I made contact, but then she sighed and her lips relaxed against mine.
She tasted of bourbon, and her mouth was warm as my tongue entered it. I ran my hand down to her neck, then further down the arch of her back. Her small frame fit into my hands as I worked my way down even further to snag my thumbs through her belt loops and pull her body closer to mine.
Once she was close enough that I could feel her breasts pressed up against my chest, I reached back and undid the messy bun that her mane of chestnut locks was kept in. Her hair fell down her back, and I ran my fingers through the thick chocolatey waves of it while I kissed down her neck to her collarbone.
“Tav,” Paige panted, and I felt her arch her back even further.
I slowly moved my hand around to her stomach, felt it tighten under my touch, and then I made my way up to her small but perky breasts.
Paige let out an audible gasp then, and I watched her knees clench tighter together in response.
My fingers lightly grazed over her bra and shi
rt for a moment, then I reached down and pulled both of them over her head in one quick motion to leave her topless and exposed in front of me.
The brunette looked at me through heavy eyelids as my eyes raked over her partially naked body.
“God, you’re so sexy,” I told her as I reached up with both hands to cup her breasts.
“Oh, yesss,” Paige breathed as she leaned into my touch. “I want you so bad.”
I grabbed the brunette by the waist then, and pulled her up from the floor. She was light in my arms, and I carried her to the bed and set her down gently before I climbed on top of her and kissed from her chin down to her small, pert pink nipple. It was hard when I pulled it into my mouth, and she gasped and her hips bucked beneath me.
I placed my thigh between her legs, and she began to writhe against me as I continued to play with her breasts. I could feel the heat coming off of her, and it made my erection twitch in my shorts.
Paige’s breath grew heavy as she clung to my back and dug her nails into me each time I nibbled on one of her tight nipples.
“God, Tav, please,” the beautiful brunette begged. “I need you inside of me.”
I wasn’t quite ready to quit the fun that I was having, so instead I kissed down her stomach until I got to the top of her shorts, then I slowly unbuttoned and unzipped them so I could yank them off.
She had no panties on underneath, which was a welcome surprise from the usually shy Paige.
“Was in a bit of a hurry this morning.” She bit her lip and let her legs part even more as she stared at me.
“I don’t mind,” I purred.
I could see her sex glisten below me, and the sight of it only made my desire grow. She was ready for me, but I wanted to make this last, so I kissed up her thigh until I got to her sweet spot, then I hovered right there, just an inch away from where she wanted me most.
“Ohhh,” she begged as she tried to writhe against me but found that I held her hips in place. “Please, I want you so bad.”
I held my position just above her shimmering pussy for a moment more until my hot breath drove her wild and she was panting and thrashing against the bed. Only then did I softly place my lips against her clit.
