Chapter 19

Day Nineteen: Thursday

I awoke before the alarm and lay in my bed pinned in by my bevy of beauties. As I listened to the repetitive resonance of their breathing and felt the soft curves pressed against me, I almost drifted back into a pleasant slumber. The only thing distracting me from my return to blissful slumber was the irritating pressure on my near-bursting bladder from someone's knee. I groaned as I fought unsuccessfully to find a position without this contact. As I would move from one knee it seemed almost inevitable that I moved into another as my wives seemed to seek my body for comfort. Finally the pressure was too much and I started extricating myself from the scrum-like pile of lovelies.

Kari rolled over and almost awoke but after making some dream-crafted noises quickly settled back down. I tiptoed to the bathroom and in the still morning emptied my bladder creating what sounded like the roar of a small waterfall. That noise completely awakened me and afterwards it took only one glance at the pick-up-stick-like pile of interlocking limbs on my bed to know that it would be impossible to return to bed without waking someone else. Reluctantly I stumbled into the living room picking up discarded clothing as I went.

Amazingly once I got moving I felt somewhat refreshed and spent a few moments emptying the pockets of my mates' clothing onto the counter of the small breakfast bar. I thought about all of the things that weren't there that I might have found three weeks ago. No driver's licenses, credit cards or cash; really no need for wallets at all. There were keys and security radio earpieces and change for the few soft drink machines that were still operational. Still, as I thought about it I felt no real loss at the missing items, all vestiges of our modern, almost impersonal former society.

As I thought about my life I wasn't surprised that I felt happier than I could ever remember being in the days prior to the collapse. My present circumstance was not an accident but a result of a combination of events. I had a purpose to my life that I had been lacking prior to the collapse. As I pondered this I realized that I felt more at home in this society on the make than I had in life before the collapse. I had noble goals, I had good friends who supported me as I worked toward those goals, but more than that it seemed I had a clean slate and a chance to be a part of something new and different. I smiled as I thought of my wedding day and the surprise I had felt when I learned that men could discard the narrow-minded prejudices of the past. I was sure that in the years to come we would face severe hardships that would test the underpinnings of our new civilization, but this morning I felt up to that or any challenge.

It surprised me when the bedroom door from the room on the other side of the suite opened and Kim came walking into the living area. She yawned and stretched and then walked right past me as she went to check the coffee pot. Finding it empty she gave me an almost incredulous look of disbelief as she opened the cupboard and fished for the coffee filters. She was almost an automaton in the way she moved silently from task to task. I noticed as she reached for the coffee on the top shelf that she at least was wearing panties with her tee-shirt. My wandering eyes noticed that she seemed more grown up than I remembered, and her hips seemed to have more curves than I had noticed before.

It didn't surprise me that this look was more clinical than sexual; all of my physical needs were well met by my five wives. I knew that those who joked about me adding wives to my harem had no idea of the complex dynamics of such a marriage, although that didn't stop me from looking. I didn't comprehend myself how everything worked so smoothly but thought myself to be inordinately blessed to have met five women who not only desired me but loved and desired each other. I knew that if my wives were not to some degree bisexual I would be able to accomplish little other than resting during the day so that at night I could fulfill my marital duties.

My contemplation was interrupted as I saw Kim standing before me offering a cup of coffee. Somehow it registered that she had asked a question as she handed me the cup, but I had no idea what it was. "Sorry, Hon, I was woolgathering." Kim looked puzzled, and thinking that she probably didn't understand this archaic term, I rephrased myself, "I was thinking."

Kim smiled and said, "I knew what you meant, I was just wondering what you were thinking about so hard that you forgot to make the coffee?"

I laughed and said, "Yeah that would take some heavy thought. Actually, I felt so wide awake when I came in here that I didn't feel the need for coffee right away."

Kim took a sip of her coffee and joked, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Steve." She then smiled at me and plopped down close to me on the couch, almost spilling her coffee and mine.

She then said, "Actually I feel pretty good myself this morning. I feel so good that I almost feel guilty about it. Do you ever feel like we shouldn't be here? You know, like none of us were supposed to be here? I mean it's spooky wandering around in a place like downtown Pensacola or Birmingham and knowing no one is there but us. Doesn't that make you feel out of place some times?"

I reached over and hugged Kim close to me, relieved that she was talking in generalities rather than about her own personal loss. I thought a minute before replying, "I feel that way every time I go up and search and don't find anyone. Things seem so empty. I pass over a playground or a park and know that weeks ago there were hundreds of children there with hardly a care in the world and now no sign that they were even here. Why and how that can be haunts me sometimes and yet right now we don't have the time or the resources to discover the 'whys' or 'hows' of what happened. In the future maybe you or your children will have time, but right now there are too many other urgent concerns."

Kim kissed my cheek and said, "I never did tell you thank you. I was so wrapped up in things that I didn't appreciate that there was someone looking. Last night it dawned on me that most people would have taken what they had and lived for the here and now. That's what most people used to do anyway. You could have had a good life living here with Kari, Irene, and Julie. I hate to think what I would be doing now if you hadn't been looking. I might be still running from a pack of dogs, but more than likely I would have given up, and..."

Kim hugged me hard and said, "Thank you Steve."

I smiled and told her she was most welcome. I felt lifted a bit and was relieved. I was sure that she was going to be alright.

The room finally lightened some more and more bodies emerged from the pile on our bed. It was shortly after sunrise when Kim, Laura and I headed over to breakfast as the rest of my wives gradually began to wake. I looked at the revised duty list and noted that it was acceptable before heading for my table. Jim was in the corner talking to Sheila who was watching the kitchen and the buffet line. I laughed as I wondered when she slept. I knew she did, and yet no matter what time I got to the kitchen she was always here. She was the one truly indispensable person when it came to keeping everyone working together smoothly.

After breakfast I rode in the MCP with a still waking Kari and four or five other students to the flight line. I was scheduled to start a series of familiarization flights today that would give over half of the flight students their first flight. It was brisk and a little chilly which made it good flying weather. For the first time in a while, I was anxiously looking forward to getting back in the air. I had a feeling that someone was out there, maybe just beyond where I had last searched, and I was raring to go look.

My first flight was with Samantha Whitfield. I had appointed her training officer to help Kari without her ever flying with me. I knew that Sam, as I soon found she wanted to be called, was a little in awe of me. I don't think I have ever had as many 'yes sirs' and 'no sirs' thrown at me as she did preparing for our flight. It was funny because I didn't remember her being that way from our meeting earlier. I pulled her aside just before we climbed aboard the plane and said, "Sam, you're going way beyond courtesy with the 'sir's. I know we're both from the south and we're taught to be polite to our elders but I don't think I'm that much older than you. If we're in an emergency and I give you an order rather than a request, you can add a 'sir' to your response if you want, but until then a simple 'okay' or 'sure' would be much friendlier."

Sam said, "Yes sir!"

We both laughed and I think that broke the ice. Sam was about my age and the wife of a farmer. She wasn't beautiful but I had the feeling that if she spent more time with her appearance she could be. She had a nervous smile and an apologetic nature. Her hair was dark brown with red highlights, which was unusual enough to be the first thing about her that I noticed. She was tall, almost six foot, and looked more like a runner than a fashion model.

The next thing I realized about her was that she was observant and quick to pick up things. She asked almost as many questions as Ron had and didn't make much small talk. She was serious about wanting to fly. I found out later that she had soloed in a small airplane, a Piper Cub, when she was in college, but money had kept her from going further.

I had searched the immediate area and so there were no new areas that could be investigated in the time allotted for our flight. I talked with her about what she remembered and found that she was familiar with the instruments, and although this aircraft had more power than she was used to, she actually flew for part of the flight. Sam had a light touch and the flight went quickly. I had the feeling that she would be one of my better students and was glad that she was to be in the first class.

We returned to base after an hour and a half and Sam was at the controls right up to the point of descent for the landing. The flight had been more typical of a training flight than a familiarization or search flight. I landed the plane and we taxied back to the flight line where I was due to pick up my second student of the morning. I was feeling so good that I didn't want to leave the cockpit, but decided to check in with Kari just to stretch my legs.

My second familiarization flight was with Larry Eagan. Larry was Mike Jr's 14 year old brother. He was going to go through the ground school portion of flight training at the same time he would be attending school. He wasn't scheduled yet for formal flight training but I thought he could possibly be in the third group. Larry was a broad shouldered young man with a serious demeanor. He had brown hair with a noticeable cow lick.

This was Larry's first ride in an aircraft and you could tell it. He was strictly a passenger and I doubt that he looked at the gages inside the aircraft more than once or twice. He would have been a good observer for a search flight because his mind was totally outside the aircraft. As this was his familiarization flight, and it wasn't like he would be in my next class or two, I let him enjoy himself. I thought of this as a motivational flight that would perhaps give him a goal to help him during his studies. We headed north and then flew low over some of the nearby farms. Larry said perhaps ten words to me during the entire flight.