Chapter 8

We didn't waste any time. I started up the engine and headed west on I-80 out of New York. I figured two days of hard driving would get us at least close to the Twin Cities.

Bridgett sat up front in the passenger seat as I drove the big RV. "This could be risky, you know," I told her.

"Strangers, you mean?"

"Yes. And three men. And you, the only woman."

"Maybe you've been reading too many sensational novels," Bridgett said, smiling.

"Sure. Maybe. But you are, at least for now, the only woman on earth. That's a pretty scary proposition for you."

"They sounded OK on the radio."

"Yes. They sounded fine. But they are three men, all much older than I am. If they decided to just -- take you -- there wouldn't be much I could do about it. They come from way up north, there. They're probably big lumberjack-types, or something."

"You think they'll make me their sex slave?" Bridgett was still smiling.

"It's not funny, Bridgett. I mean, God! These are desperate times. The world is a whole new system, here. Almost everybody's dead! From all I can tell on the radio, there's almost nobody alive, anywhere! These guys are -- I don't know -- almost 2000 miles from us! If we can hear them on the radio, and nobody else -- what does that mean?"

"There will be more people," she said.

"Maybe. But not so many."

"There will be more. When you came out of that mine, you thought the only reason you were alive was because you'd been deep in the earth. But I was home in my bed!And Ingmar and his son and the other guy -- they didn't say they'd been protected from -- from whatever killed everyone."

"OK, so maybe we'll eventually run into more people. But for now, it's going to be five people -- and four of them men, and you the only woman."

"You could be right, Carter, I know that. Maybe the sex thing will be a problem. But if we can avoid violence, if we can cooperate, having more of us together will be a help -- a big help. You might as well face the fact that -- something could happen along those lines."

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"I'm saying, if things don't change, and if those men are -- if they have... sexual needs, then I might have to be the one to fulfill them. At least for awhile."

"You have a right to refuse."

"I do? Who says so? The Supreme Court? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission? What 'rights' I have, in this new world, are pretty much up for debate, don't you think?"

"I think if we don't try to hold on to some kind of civilization, we'll all be lost."

"Yes. Yes -- some kind of civilization. But what kind will be up for questioning, for awhile. Don't be too afraid of it, Carter. You are right to worry, but don't let it paralyze you. We have to stay strong."

"Maybe if they don't know that you and I have -- y'know -- slept together, they'd be less likely to expect you to have sex with them."

"Let's think about it. It's going to be more than two days before we even get there. It may take just as long, or longer, for them to arrive. Let's think about how to play it."

"OK, Bridgett."

"But. One thing, Carter. Whether we pretend not to be lovers or we don't, you must expect that things might change. The time may come when I must... treat this... Ingmar, and the younger one, his son, and perhaps all of them, equally. It may be necessary for me to be -- everyone's woman, for awhile."

"God."

"Yes. But Carter. It doesn't have to be a fate worse than death. It may be an accommodation that we all could live with. Let's think about it. But, also, let's wait and see what develops. I am less concerned than you, about the sex thing. I don't expect it to be an immediate crisis. I expect these men are at least as civilized as we are."

"I hope so."

"And this man -- Ingmar. He's a bit closer to my age than you are, dear boy!"

"Are you saying that you... wouldn't mind, having to sleep with him?"

"How could I know? I've never seen him. Perhaps he is a great hairy beast, with no teeth! Perhaps he hasn't washed since the Death Virus came. How can I say whether I would mind? But if these are civilized men, and if we continue to be the only ones we've found alive. Well, then, I could imagine, in time, giving myself to one of them, or even to all of them."

"Wow."

"Yes, indeed, wow. And do you know? How many men there are -- in my entire life -- who have been inside my body?"

"How many?"

"Three, Carter -- you included!... One boy, in my misspent youth; and then, for all those years, only my beloved husband. And now -- you. Three! And now, possibly three more in my future. Not the kind of future I had been expecting I would have! I expected to grow old there, in St. Cloud, with my husband."

"Maybe we can hold it together. Civilization."