Chapter 14

October 26^th, 2020

It was a short drive into the community’s center, a sort of tiny mini township surrounded by elaborate estates. Niko had insisted on driving, and it let Andy text both Phil and Eric that he was going to see the place if they wanted to join him. Eric shot back that he’d be there within the hour, and Phil answered that he and his family were already there having lunch at the diner. C’mon and join us said the text, just as Niko was pulling the Tesla into a parking spot in front of the 1950s themed diner.

“I can’t say I’m thrilled with the theme,” Niko grumbled as she turned the car off. “But I guess I’ll manage.”

“If they try and make you use a different drinking fountain, Niko, we’ll raise hell,” Andy said.

“Damn straight,” added Aisling. “Now let’s go say hi to Phil and see how many women he has in tow.”

“More than he can handle, I’m sure,” Andy chuckled. “He was barely okay with just Audrey.”

As soon as they got into the diner it was relatively easy to spot Phil. Unlike diners of yore, where booths had typically held four at best, the interior of this particular 50s styled diner was lined with booths designed to fit as many as ten people each, with a few booths looking as though they could hold in upwards of 20.

The booth Phil was in wasn’t full, but he certainly had more people with him than the last time Andy had seen him. Sure, Audrey was there, snuggled right up against his side, but there were also two other women that Andy didn’t recognize, a fit blonde woman with tightly cropped hair dressed in camo and a curvy young black woman with her hair tightly braided.

“Hey Phil,” Andy said to him as he approached. “Audrey. You already know both Lauren and Aisling, but this is Niko. I know Niko’s met Phil before, but I don’t believe we’ve met your other two companions.”

“I’ve met one of them,” Niko said, as she slid into the booth, offering half a salute to the blonde. “Captain.”

The blonde nodded in return. “Lieutenant. Hi Andy, I’m Linda, and this is Tamika,” she said. “2^nd Lieutenant Redwolf and I are stationed together, although I suppose we’re both stationed here now.” Tamika seemed mostly interested in her cellphone, not even looking up to say hello.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind me asking, Captain, what are we going to do?” Niko asked, scooting until she was right next to the captain.

“They’re moving all our work within the walls, so I guess we’ll have a tiny base on site before month’s end.”

“Roger that.”

“How you holding up, Phil?” Andy asked, sliding in next to Niko, Aisling sliding in after him, Lauren moving in last. “I know you weren’t originally planning on having multiple partners.”

“Well, the world’s not up to what I want any more, Andy,” he sighed. “But I’m making it work, even if I am a bit more tired than I used to be.”

“We had to set up a shift schedule of who gets intimacy time with Phil,” Audrey said, giggling a little bit about it while poking Phil. “I’m surprised you haven’t had to set something up like that.”

“Andy’s learned that we keep his best interests in mind,” Aisling laughed. “And we know about what his limits are, and rarely try and push him past them.”

“How’s the new place?” Phil asked Andy, as Linda and Niko started having a quiet conversation with one another. “Bet it blew your mind when they drove you up there.”

“I still don’t think I really need a mansion, Phil.”

“You say that now, but believe me, in about two weeks’ time, you’ll be thankful for all the room. There’s going to be an influx of new partners quickly. We’re struggling to get as many people vaccinated as we can as quickly as we can, which means there isn’t as much time as we’d like to let everyone get acclimated.”
“Mmm,” Lauren sniffed. “The newest member of our family showed up just before we got here.”

“You sound unhappy, Lauren,” Audrey said.

“Well, she’s my ex-girlfriend who cheated on me, but we’ll work it out, I guess.”

“Ouch. That sort of thing’s not supposed to happen, but I suppose sometimes it slips through the cracks,” Phil grumbled. “Everything’s gotten so much harder to manage now that we’re moving at warp speed. The death rate spiked on the east coast, and everybody freaked, so people in the know in the government who were hoping to get a later version of the vaccine without the, ah, side effects are now practically storming the facilities, demanding to get injected with it, no matter what it does to them, as long as it protects them from the virus.”

“Yeah, I saw reports saying that a European company thinks they’re close, but nobody’s ready yet,” Aisling said. “Are we shipping this vaccine anywhere else?”

“Hell, Ash,” Phil sighed, “we’ve barely got enough for the west coast right now. They’re struggling to get more manufactured for the rest of the US, but we aren’t in any state to be able to provide it to other countries right now.”
“I only ask for my brother back in Dublin. He desperately wants to leave the house, but I keep telling him, stay inside and stay safe.”

“That’s all most people can do right now,” Phil nodded. He glanced to the door and smiled. “Hey, look who’s here! Slide into the bench, Eric.”

Eric had been standing in the doorway with the familiar faces of both Lily and Jenny next to him, as well as a short, mousy Midwestern looking woman dressed in a giant t-shirt and denim shorts poking out from underneath. “Hey everybody!”

The new woman’s name was Sarah, and she was Eric’s new partner, only having arrived yesterday so her head was still a little cloudy. When the waitress arrived to take their orders, the three households had been sure to divvy up the checks upfront.

For the next couple of hours, everyone was trying to settle into their new normal. Andy, Phil and Eric got to talk in person, while all the women slowly started to figure out who out of each household they liked and wanted to avoid. It was a float of conversations with so many different discussions going at one point that when Phil said he was going to step outside for a few minutes to vape up, Andy and Eric happily agreed to go with him just so they could hear each other clearly.