Chapter 12

Day 154 - October 22

Evie and I were sitting, having our morning coffee. As usual, she was sitting on my lap, and we weren't wearing any clothes. I was gently rubbing her back as we talked about the people we had met the day before. The taping on her ribs was gone now, but she still had the cast on her arm.

"Chris is going to take my cast off this morning," Evie told me.

"Thank God," I said. "I won't have to worry so much about you knocking me you out when you have an orgasm."

"Yeah, but you'll have to worry about the claws," she giggled. "I may leave permanent scars on your back."

We were sharing a loving kiss when there was a knock on the door. Evie yelled, "Come in," not wanting to get up to check on who was there.

The door opened and Belinda came in, followed closely by Homer.

"Ahm... Ahm sorry. We'll come back later," Homer managed to say.

"Come on in and pour yourselves some coffee, Homer," I told them. "Homer, my wives and I are going to be naked when we do the interviews today. Are you going to be able to handle being our bodyguard if we don't have clothes on?"

"I certainly could," Bell said. "I went skinny dipping with my brothers all my life. There's nothing wrong with being nude, Homer."

"I guess not. It's just that I've never even seen nude women before," Homer said.

"Oh, don't give me that, Homer. I went into the bathroom nude this morning. The curtain was open to your bedroom and you were awake. Don't even try to tell me you didn't look."

"Well... Uh... I guess I did look. I'm sorry, Bell."

"Homer, if I hadn't wanted you to see me naked, I'd have been wearing clothes when I went into the bathroom."

Homer just stood there with his mouth hanging open. "You mean you..."

"Yes, you big dummy. I fell in love with you the day we pulled in here. I was trying to figure out how to get rid of Fouts from the moment I saw you."

"Well... Ah'l be."

"Homer, you're sunk," Evie told him. "Once a woman decides she is in love with you, you don't stand a chance. You might as well just relax and enjoy it."

"Yes ma'am. I'll surely enjoy it," Homer said, seemingly getting back some of his composure.

Belinda laughed and gave him a big hug. We were all laughing uproariously when Syl came in and demanded to know what was going on.

"It seems Belinda has set her heart on Homer," Evie told her. "I think it kind of shocked the poor man."

"You should have seen how shocked Ed was when Tina and I told him we intended on sharing him," Syl said. "He looked like he'd swallowed a bug. I thought for a minute he didn't want me, then I saw he had a hardon he could have driven nails with."

All the women looked at Homer's crotch, causing him to blush redder than I'd ever seen anyone blush before.

"What man wouldn't have an erection with three beautiful women in the room, two of whom are naked?" I asked.

"Let's just make it three naked women," Belinda said as she started removing her clothes.

Homer watched Belinda getting undressed with his mouth hanging open. The rest of my wives walked in while she was removing her clothes, but Homer never even knew they were there. His eyes never left Belinda's body.

Belinda stayed naked while they ate breakfast with us, but Homer kept his clothes on. When we finished eating, we said we were going to start the interviews in a few minutes, so Belinda asked Homer if he'd walk her back to the RV first. He just nodded and they took off.

When they got to the RV Belinda asked Homer to come in for a minute and when they were inside, Belinda pulled him to her and kissed him soundly. "I hope I didn't embarrass you too badly when I took my clothes off," she said when she had broken the kiss.

"No, Belinda, you didn't embarrass me," Homer said, still holding the nude woman in his arms. "You did scare the hell out of me though."

"How did I scare you, Homey?"

"Belinda, you are the prettiest thing I've ever seen. I haven't been around girls much. I don't know how to act around them. You being so pretty and telling me you love me scared me because I know I'm not good enough for you."

"You are good enough for me! You're good enough for anyone, Homer. You said you didn't know how to act around girls. What did you want to do when I took my clothes off?"

"I wanted to put my arms around you and kiss you."

"Well, I'm still naked and you already have your arms around me, so what are you waiting for?"

Homer kissed her again. This one seemed to Homer to last a lifetime. When they finally broke apart, Belinda whispered, "What else did you want to do, Homer?"

"I wanted to run my hands over your body and see if you feel as good as you look."

"Then do it."

Homer did.

Our first interview was with Mike Seavert and his wife Joann. We already knew we wanted them to join us, so we told them so immediately, then we just chatted for a while.

"I don't think I've seen as much bare flesh since my parents used to go to a nudist colony when I was a kid," Joann laughed. "Do you guys always dress this way?"

"Pretty much," Tiffany told her. "Sandy is the one we can almost never get to wear clothes and I'm almost as bad."

"Does it bother you?" I asked.

"No. I'd have been scandalized if I'd have seen someone naked before IT happened. Now? No, it's no big thing."

Evie explained our thoughts about being more open when you're naked and Joann nodded her understanding.

"Does our being naked bother you, Mike?" Evie asked him.

"No. I'll have to admit it does have an effect on me. You young ladies are so gorgeous you'd have an effect on any man who had been dead less than three days."

Chris laughed. "Being aroused is perfectly natural. If you were naked and that happened, we'd just take it as a compliment."

"Mike, no one's saying you have to go naked. We're just saying it's alright if you want to," I told him.

The next person we interviewed was Carl Justice. Carl had three women with him, two he was mated with and one who was a free agent. Carl didn't seem like the brightest candle in the church, but he did seem like he was honest and from the look of his hands I would guess him to be a good worker. We talked for a few minutes and I started to like the guy. He didn't seem put off by our nudity, and he didn't try to come on to my wives. When he spoke of his wives it was with affection and when he spoke of the free agent, he referred to her as their friend. Carl told me up front that he could do about any kind of handyman stuff but that he wasn't a planner.

Alfrieda (Allie) Pancake was Carl's first wife. Talk about the odd couple, where Carl was quiet and slow, Allie was a bubbling, fast-talking, extrovert. The interesting thing was during the three months they had been together, she had fallen for Carl in a big way. She was truly in love with him. "You know," she told us, "I was in a profession that is totally worthless now. I was a political activist. I was nearly at the end of my rope when Carl found me. I had been eating out of cans for a couple of months and hadn't a clue as to how to do better. Carl found me in a grocery store, eating a can of ravioli with a plastic spoon. I almost died when he walked in. I hadn't seen anyone in two months and here was this guy, walking into the store, carrying some kind of assault rifle."

"Did it frighten you or please you?" I asked.

"A little of both, I think. Then he walked over to me and said in that quiet voice of his, 'Howdy, ma'am'. My knees got weak and my panties got wet before I could even answer him."

Chris giggled. "That was my first reaction to Ed, too. Although, I didn't let him know it for a few days."

"Well, I didn't let Carl know it either. He looked me over and asked where my gun was. I told him I didn't have one and didn't know how to use one if I did. He asked me if I'd been seeing dogs and explained to me that they were running wild and attacking anything that moved. We talked for a few minutes and he offered to teach me how to shoot a gun so I could protect myself. I told him I'd like that a lot. Then he asked where I was living and I told him I was still living in my old house."

Allie giggled then went on. "I know I must have looked like a real doofus to him. He asked how I was cooking and taking baths. I told him I wasn't doing any cooking because I hadn't figured out a way, so he offered to show me his RV. I was amazed. Not only could he cook a meal, he also had hot running water. He offered to help me find an RV of my own and help me get it set up. I asked him if he had room in his and if I could move in with him. His look was priceless. It actually took almost another month before we started sleeping together and having sex. I was ready that first day, but Carl was being a gentleman."

"This is a new community you're going to be moving into, and everyone living there is going to have to work. I know you said your previous occupation was worthless now and you're right, it is. Would you be willing to work as a cook or something like that to help out?"

"Ed, I'd clean toilets with a toothbrush if that's what it took to be able to live with people again. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it. If I can stay with Carl that is."

"Good answer, Allie. I know you guys are going to be a real asset to our community. Chris is going to take you into the other room to do a quick physical on you now. You won't be rejected because of the physical, so don't worry about it."

Carl's second wife was Jessica (Jess) Rose. She was cute as a button and a lot more shy than Allie. Allie and Carl had met Jess when they were doing a little exploring of the area. Jess had heard their RV coming and had run out in the street and waved them down. "I'm sure I looked like something out of an Arnold Swartzeneger movie," she said with a laugh. "I had on a web belt with a 9mm automatic and a large hunting knife on it. I had a double barrel shotgun slung over my back and a bandoleer of 12ga shotgun shells diagonally across my chest. I'm surprised they even stopped."

But, stop they did and Allie, who was now married to Carl, asked if she'd like to join them. Of course she did. It was only about a week later when Allie asked Jess if she'd like to make it a three-way marriage. Jess said she would, but she didn't think Carl was interested since he didn't even talk to her much. Allie told her to leave Carl to her and that Carl wasn't talking to her much because he was interested in her.

Two weeks later and they were a three way. "I'm happier and feel better than I did even before IT happened," she told us. "Carl and Allie bring out the best in me. I was a reporter before IT and I hated it. I had been raised on a farm and I hated the big city life. Now, I feel like I'm home again."

"Well, Jess, I'm sure we're going to be able to use the skills you learned on the farm and we promise not to make you work as a reporter," I told her, then sent her off for her physical.

Pam Garcia was the free agent with Carl's group. Pam had met the group in pretty much the same way as Jess had. When I asked why she was a free agent and not part of the marriage, Pam said, "It just never came up, Ed. I guess if we hadn't seen your signs it might have eventually come to that, but we'd only been together for a week when we saw your first sign. I like Carl, but I really wasn't attracted to him. Jess and Allie are great, and we'll always be good friends, but I really couldn't see myself being a co-wife to Carl."

"It's not a problem, Pam. I was just curious. What did you do before IT happened?"

"Believe it or not, I was a fireman or fireperson or whatever is politically correct this week. I had just made captain when It happened. I don't know how much help my previous profession is going to be to your community, but I am strong and a good worker. I don't mind getting my hands dirty."

"Pam, we're all just kind of muddling through. I was a virologist before IT happened. Not much call for that now. Since we left California, I've learned to drive an eighteen wheeler, a bulldozer, an end loader, a trencher, and a forklift. I've dug ditches, installed a water and sewer system, and helped with installing manufactured housing. As long as you're willing to work, we'll have a place for you."

"Hey, those are a couple of skills I already have. I had to learn to drive the big rigs during my training. I've also driven forklifts and loaders. Maybe there is hope for me."

I looked over at my wives and all of them nodded. "We like you attitude, Pam. We are hereby inviting you to join our community."

"And I hereby accept," she said with a big smile.

When she had gone, we talked it over and asked Carl, Allie, and Jess to come back in. We then invited them to join us and they accepted.

There were two more family groups, one with three people and one with four, in camp at that time. We interviewed both groups that morning and invited both to join us.

Rob showed up just a little after noon in the Bell. Belinda had come over to have lunch with her new mate so she and Homer were with us when we heard the helicopter. Homer's mouth dropped open and he said, "My God. That's a sound I never thought I'd ever hear again."

Rob landed in one end of the parking lot and after going through the shut down checklist, came over to say hello. "How's it going," he asked as he came walking up.

"Great. We should have around twenty new villagers by the end of the day. Also, Rob, this is Homer Renfrow. He's an aircraft mechanic."

Rob and Homer hit it off immediately. I left them discussing the relative merits of different types of aircraft and went over to say hello to Mike and Joann.

Chris was talking with them when I went over, so I patted her on the butt and took her seat when she got up. She then settled into my lap. "What are you guys up to?" I asked.

"We were just talking about drugs," Mike said. "Chris says your supplies are fairly limited."

"They really are, Ed. We were fine until now, but I think we need to get in a big supply in case anything goes seriously wrong," Chris told me.

"So what do we do about it?"

"Well, I was just telling Chris, Rite Aid Pharmacies had a distribution center in Nitro, West Virginia, which is a little over an hour's drive from here. This is the center that supplied most of their mid-west operation. They should have any type of medications we'd want and in large quantities."

"Okay, we'll make that one of our priorities when we get back home. We can bring out an expedition in the Sikorsky and bring back as much as sixteen tons of medicines. You know, we need to be doing some thinking, though. We're bringing in food, but we're also going to be growing and preserving food. When the medications we can scrounge run out or become too old to use, what are we going to do?"

"You're right, Ed," Mike said. "It won't happen in our generation, but what about fifty years from now?"

"The obvious answer is," Chris said, "that we need to learn how to make these medicines ourselves. We have a good start. One of the people we interviewed was a chemist, Mike is a pharmacist, and Tiff is a microbiologist."

"But," I said, "None of these people were involved in making drugs. I'm sure that working together they could figure out how to do it if they had the processes. Maybe that's what we need to concentrate on. Preserving the processes. In other words, preserving the knowledge. We might also have to preserve the special equipment needed for this."

"Okay, I see where you're coming from," Chris said. "The same thing would apply to preserving other kinds of knowledge and equipment as well. Even simple things like the formulas and processes for making a good shampoo and conditioner."

"Exactly! Now, how do we go about it?"

Mike had been looking thoughtful. "You know guys, this really has to be our number one priority. You said we have over a hundred people in the village. Some of them are going to be working on construction. Some are going to be working on growing and preserving food. Others are going to be working on preserving our health. Some will be teachers. I think there has to also be a group, maybe a large group that has the primary job of preservation."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes. "God," Chris said reverently. "No matter what we do, we're going to lose so much. How do we decide what to concentrate on? This is an awesome responsibility we've taken on."

"Yes, it is," I said. "We really need to think about this. We need to get a group together to decide what knowledge we need to try to preserve and to prioritize our efforts. There are large bodies of information I think we would be better off without. Others might think they are worthwhile."