"The Man Who Fell From The Sky" (closed)

[such_a_bad_man]

Colin hadn't really thought about the tree he spotted in here until she poured out the water she used over it. It did seem a bit out of place; it didn't get direct sunlight until the sun was directly overhead, most likely. But a regular supply of water that Kara seemed to provide had the plant looking healthier than anything he'd seen on the way here. It seemed there was an instinct for nurturing life in Kara after all.

He was glad that she handed him the "Key" she had been using to secure the shackles. He'd seen the procedure enough times to open them and let his legs free without issue. Passing the tool back to Kara, Colin got up, glad to have his full range of motion back. As he figured, he was going to have his "bath" in the same fashion that Kara had moments ago.

There was no point to stand on modesty as Kara took her position to make sure he didn't go anywhere. He didn't figure he'd get any privacy so he started stripping down without any grousing or grumbling. He managed to find a bent piece of metal that didn't look too rusty and he hung his clothes from that. He didn't think it would last long, but he wanted to keep his clothes as clean as possible for as long as possible.

Soaking the wash rag, Colin couldn't help but feel like he was on the Eriksson all over again. Sure the water was tepid, but it felt so nice against the heat they had dealt with all day. Feeling it evaporate nearly as fast as he applied it, it was also helping to cool him off a bit more. As he washed his crotch, he realized that Kara wasn't joking. The waste tube in his suit hadn't quite gathered everything and he felt the change as he scrubbed around his cock and taint.

"Ah, much better..." he sighed, rinsing the wash cloth in the pan before continuing down his legs. As he finished up, he stepped out of the pan. He did his best to wipe his feet down into the pan so as not to waste the water before stepping onto the towel. He dried his feet and slipped his socks and shoes back on first before picking up the towel, giving it a shake and drying himself off.

Once he was clothed, part of him wondered how long Kara had been staring and where she had been looking. He didn't ask, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know.

"So, would you rather have the Beef Stroganoff or the Quesadilla meal pack tonight?" Colin asked, picking up the oil pan. "And what use did you have in mind for this?" He asked, holding up his used bath water.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Most people probably wouldn't expect a woman who had been so horribly treated sexually would take an interest in watching a relatively strange man strip and bathe. But Kara's mistreatment over the years hadn't done anything to dampen her sexual needs. Her eyes never left Colin as he stripped, bathed, and dressed again. He had a nice body, despite the centuries of cryostasis, which he'd explained to Kara over a meal yesterday. He exhausted on their trek faster than she'd expected. But again, he'd explained that.

Of course, Kara wasn't entirely at her best either. With mother, Kara had eaten better than many in the city and nearly all in the Wasteland. Since escaping two years ago, she'd lost 10 pounds. It showed on her now 109 pound, 5'6" frame. She wasn't gaunt by a long shot. In fact, she looked very slim, fit, and muscular. But any more weight loss and she'd be losing muscle, not fat. She didn't see that happening any time soon now, though. The food she'd pillaged from the ship was going to keep Kara's belly full for weeks, possibly months. Of course, that was assuming she sold Colin soon and didn't have to share it with him.

"So, would you rather have the Beef Stroganoff or the Quesadilla meal pack tonight?" Colin asked.

She smiled at the names of the packaged foods. They were so strange. Lizard, snake, cactus, dog, termites; these were the simple names of food Kara knew so well. She asked Colin to speak the names again and to explain what they were. She told him with delight, "The second one … and pudding! There is still a pudding, yes? The brown one?"

Regarding the dirty water, she pointed to the tree again. They stoked the fire and sat opposite one another again. Kara didn't make Colin don the shackles, but she did sit with her rifle across her lap, ready for quick deployment. After a long, quiet moment, she asked him with a longing tone, "Tell me about your world. Before the War. What was it like?"

If he was willing to reflect on his lost world, Kara would ask him about the food, the water, the homes, the women, the vehicles, and so much more. For as long as he was willing to speak, Kara was willing to listen. If he chose not to back to that time, she would appear disappointed. But she wouldn't push him. Kara understood loss.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

"The second one … and pudding! There is still a pudding, yes? The brown one?

Colin had never found anyone as enthused about pudding as Kara. Then again, she probably didn't have much in the way of sweet foods in this kind of world. He nodded as he unpacked her dessert and hooked it into the water supply to get it mixed.

He retrieved the meal packs from their spot next to the fire and opened them up. He shows Kara her steaming packet. "Give it a minute..." he warned as he started mixing his Stroganoff. He smiled as Kara inspected her new meal. He wasn't sure his description would do it justice so he wanted to watch her reaction.

He sat back, enjoying the food for a while. Then, Kara asked the hard question.

"Tell me about your world. Before the War. What was it like?"

Colin finished his bite and cleaned his palate with a swig of water. He sighed, wondering how he could answer it in a way that made sense to someone like Kara.

"It was a lot smaller." Colin began. "It wasn't physically smaller, but much more interconnected. Seven and a half billion people, all trying to live their best life. There were people that lived in great wealth but so many people living in great want. And you couldn't want for anything if you had the money: fruits from far flung countries, recreation travel anywhere you could afford. But our governments tried to do right by the people. We built great big projects, raised buildings that scraped the sky, fired rockets to the moon and Mars... We even had missions in progress to reach the moons around Jupiter. And then there was the Eriksson..."

Colin takes another sip. "Humanity was finally ready to step outside the solar system. We were ready to reach for the stars. And then the missiles flew..." Colin sighed, staring at the fire. "You know, I watched the attacks from the Eriksson. It was like watching a horror movie; I couldn't look away..." Colin confessed. "We lost so much that day. I hope that humanity can get back there again some day. I'd like to see it again."

 

[CutiePie1997]

"It was a lot smaller." Colin began.

She had a fair idea of what he meant by that. A 21st century anthropologist could look at a Roman chariot and understand what it was, how it worked, and roughly how fast it could go behind the right horses. The same was true about Kara's era of people looking back at the automobiles, trains, and planes scattered about the roads and rails or sitting at airports or airplane graveyards. There was still a lot Kara didn't know, such as what kept an aircraft in the air. Few people understood that. And around here, those who did worked for Mother.

"Seven and a half billion people...", he went on.

Kara couldn't even imagine that many people. No one she knew had any idea how many people were still alive today across the world. She'd heard the Brains discussing things she didn't understand once: payload yields, wind dispersal patterns, cross-equator radiation transfer. That last one she'd heard when a Brain was trying to explain to Mother that places such as Australia, South Africa, and Southern Argentina might have escaped the tragedy of 95% or higher death rates. Kara didn't know where those places were, of course. But that didn't prevent her from fantasizing about a utopia still existing on this planet.

"You know, I watched the attacks from the Eriksson. It was like watching a horror movie; I couldn't look away..."

"I saw one once … when I was a little girl," she cut in as Colin was talking. He obviously didn't understand about which one she was talking. "A hole … in the ground ... where a bomb went boom. Papa took me--"

Kara's voice cracked at the mentioning of her long dead father. She cleared her throat and blinked away the threatening tears. She pointed to the southwest, toward Las Vegas and Colin's Nellis Air Force Base. Speaking of a mountain top from which what had once been Sin City could have been seen she said, "He took me to the Mountain of the Dead. You can see the hole from there. Not good. But Papa had a … a … what's it called...?"

She made gestures indicating a long tubular shape as she explained, "Look through...? To see far away things close...? I could see the ground circle on top. Papa called it a crater rim … or rim crater … I don't remember. I wanted to see closer, but Papa said no. Said that people melted if they got to close."

She chuckled a bit. She didn't realize that her father's description of the effects of high dose radiation wasn't that far off. An exposed person's internal organs and skin layers sometimes looked like they were simply melting away. She went on about her father, "I thought he was just trying to scare me … like Mama did when she said men from outer space ate naughty girls."

Kara laughed again, then even blushed. She couldn't believe she had asked Colin earnestly whether or not he was here to eat her. She pointed to the southwest again and continued, "From there you could see the hole. Father said that once upon a time the City of Light was there. Now … just a big hole."

"We lost so much that day," Colin finished. "I hope that humanity can get back there again some day. I'd like to see it again."

Kara didn't understand what he meant by that. Get back where? She hadn't experienced any sort of life as Colin had when he'd been her age, of course. All she'd ever known was the Wasteland, Mother's relatively heavenly estate, and a couple of oases around which were built little Freetowns.

"I'm sorry, Colin," Kara said seemingly out of nowhere. "That I have to sell you to Mother."

She didn't say anymore, instead standing and walking about gathering some things. When she returned, she dropped the ankle shackles near Colin's feet again. One bracelet of a pair of handcuffs was closed through the mounting loop on one shackle, much like she'd put the piece of rebar through the night before. Kara gestured to a piece of concrete that had a lifting look of curved rebar in it, just a couple of inches from the ground. She explained that he needed to make a bed, put on the shackles, and cuff the other bracelet through the eye hook.

It wasn't entirely the most secure situation. No, Colin couldn't get the cuffs off the shackles or off the eyelet. But he might be able to force the shackles open if he had a piece of metal about the shape of a butter knife or flat head screwdriver. Kara might have thought about that if she hadn't been so tired.

Once had his bed made, she told him, "I'll be watching you."

Then, she seemingly just walked out of the building and into the night...

 

[such_a_bad_man]

As Kara tells her story about visiting the crater where the City of Light used to be, Colin sinks down a bit. So many people he knew lived and worked at the base, not to mention all the people and tourists that had no idea what was coming. If Las Vegas was a target then how many cities were hit? Could there still be pockets of civilization out there? Would it matter for someone in his position?

Colin weighed these questions as he fidgeted with his food. Suddenly, he wasn't so hungry. Still, his training reminded him that he needed the calories, even if he didn't feel like eating. He managed to finish his pack and tossed it away as he sat back against the post behind him.

"I'm sorry, Mack, that I have to sell you to Mother." Kara said in the lull between them.

He lifted his head and looked over. He wasn't expecting that. He had resigned himself to the fact that she was doing the cold calculus of living out here and didn't feel either way about it. This was not expected.

"If you feel bad about it, why go through with it? We could work together and survive better as a pair rather than you dumping me somewhere for a bunch of stuff you can't carry with someone you know you can't trust..."

Kara didn't seem to want to listen. She dumped the manacles back down on the floor again, and waited for Colin to lock them back on his legs again. Colin looked around and sighed as he saw the enormous block on the floor with the eye hook in it. He locked the cuff in that, ensuring he wasn't going to go anywhere tonight; the block looked way too big for Colin to carry. He unfurled what he'd been using for a bedroll and by the time he looked back for Kara, she was already out the door it seemed. There was nothing to do but conserve energy so Colin laid down and tried to sleep right away. They were probably in for a long day of walking tomorrow so he tried to conserve his strength for that.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Kara made a circle around the 40,000 square foot building, checking her trip wires. The sound makers would alert her to any movement into or out of the building. She wasn't worried about Colin escaping. Kara was almost positive he couldn't get loose. She was wrong about that. But she'd never know of her lack of security regarding him this night. In the morning, she would find him still snoozing attached to the concrete block.

The sound makers would obviously detect the intrusion of a person other than Colin. But that was an unlikely concern out here. Kara and the rocket man were three days walk from the nearest Freetown and seven days walk from Mother. No one but a mad woman like herself had a reason for being out here.

No, the sound makers were mostly for detecting animals, particularly predators, such as coyotes, mountain lions, and hyenas. Yeah … hyenas! And lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! An exotic big game hunting preserve had operated to the south of here in what had once been Arizona. Hunters with deep pockets could go there to shoot Africans and Asian cats, all sorts of antelope and deer, giraffe, and all sorts of other creatures, most of them not native to North America.

Somehow, a breeding population of many of these species survived the radiation and escaped. They now thrived here in the Wasteland and, presumably, elsewhere in the Southwest. Kara had nearly been eaten by a Grizzly once. Another time she'd been run up the side of a cliff by a lion that, thankfully, was already injured and unable to climb up after her. She sat and slept there for six days before the lion simply disappeared in the middle of the night. She'd been lucky, though. The older cat's injuries had been sustained in a fight with a younger male who'd taken over the pride. If it had been the new male who'd found her, she would have been pulled down by either him or his girls.

Once the alarm system was set, Kara slipped quietly back inside the building through a different access. She climbed a ladder along one wall until she could look down on Colin. He was already laid back on the concrete, presumably asleep. His face was illuminated by the fire. Kara once again found herself conflicted about the man. If you feel bad about it, why go through with it? His words stung. We could work together and survive better as a pair... Kara wanted to believe that so badly. She liked Colin. He was a nice guy. He was a good looking guy. He was a smart guy. But he was a walking, talking fortune, too! Kara would never get another opportunity like this.

She took a blanket and what counted for a pillow from an inconspicuous box on the landing, wrapped up, and went to sleep. The night passed with only a few moments of consciousness, the result of distant sounds or concern about her hostage. An hour before sunrise, Kara quietly descended to the ground. She circled back around and walked into the makeshift camp site. She would wake Colin if he wasn't already. As they had the day before, they ate and chatted. They talked only briefly on the whole selling you to Mother issue before Kara's attitude said she didn't want to discuss it.

Kara had uncuffed Colin from the block but left the shackles on. If he needed to pee or poop, she would gesture him to a spot outside. Since he would have no water or supplies, Kara wouldn't even leave the building. She's just make sure she could see his head over the top of which ever bush he chose for privacy.

Back inside, she would return to quizzing Colin about some of her treasure. She was amazed at some of the devices. Some times it made sense to her that such things had been invented. Other times she just shrugged, asking why someone thought they needed such stuff. As they went through the pillage from the ship, Kara separated the items into 3 piles: leave here, take to trade, and take to use along the way.

"Time to leave," she told him an hour or so after the sun was fully above the distant mountains. She tossed him the locking mechanism to the shackles. "We need to make the next shelter by a couple of hours after midday … before it is too hot to travel."

They headed northeast, toward a Freetown called The Gulch. It was an clean water oasis hidden in what was essentially a crack in the ground. From the surrounding plateau, it was impossible to see it until you were practically standing on the cliff's edge, looking down. Kara was eager to meet with a man they called the Wizard. He was probably the smartest man Kara had ever met who wasn't one of Mother's Brains, whether voluntarily or not so much so. He created marvelous things out of old tech', and Kara hoped he would have an interest in her loot from Colin's ship.

They'd been traveling for about two hours. Colin was again out front. He was carrying the take to trade pack, while Kara was carrying the use along the way one, which contained the food and all of the water except for what Colin would need as they trekked. Movement caught Kara's eyes and she stopped short, raising the rifle instinctively. A moment later she ran forward and leaped upon Colin, slamming him to the ground.

"Be silent!" she growled in a low whisper. She shimmied her body up Colins and wrapped her hand over his mouth. "Be silent … or we're dead."

Slowly, an odd sound began filling the air, growing steadily as its source neared them. It was a pounding sound, erratic. Suddenly, there was a flash before the pair, just fifty feet ahead of them … then another, then several more. They were sometimes nearer and sometimes farther way but all heading the same direction … fast! They were antelope -- not the native Pronghorn -- and they were moving at top speed. The feet of one suddenly landing on the ground just eight feet before the pair of them and was gone in an instant.

The reason for the antelopes' rush began quickly clear. There was an explosion of brown sand and pebbles out before Kara and Colin, from the direction from which the animals had been fleeing. There was a sad, mournful, crying sound that dug down deep into Kara's soul. She knew what it was even before the dust cleared … to reveal a Cheetah clamping its mouth around the windpipe of an Antelope just thirty feet away. The cat was looking directly at the two humans as it slowly smothered the struggling animal...

For what seemed like an eternity but was only 5 minutes, the Cheetah and the Humans simply stared at one another. Finally, the cat rose to all fours with its dead prey still in its jaws. It headed back the way it came, disappearing into the Wasteland. Kara put her ear up close to Colin's ear and whispered, "Just wait."

She kept them there another five minutes. After telling him to stay down, she finally and slowly rose up a bit. She looked in the direction of the cat's departure. She scanned 360 degrees around her, then stood tall and backed away from Colin.

"It's gone," she said in a whisper. She continued to scan the area as she said, "We were lucky it made a kill. If it hadn't, we wouldn't have seen it before it got one of us. We'll be fine now."

She gestured to the northeast … as if nothing had happened.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Colin woke from maybe his deepest sleep since waking from his Hibernation. Giving up control and letting go of worry allowed his body to relax fully and sleep came much easier last night. He was woken by Kara and Colin stretched as she did. Their morning was full of what had been their routine so far. Colin would introduce her to new flavors from the old world. She would ask questions about the things they had salvaged. He would tell stories about them and why they were important in the old world. Eventually, Kara stood and wiped her hands on her shorts.

"Time to leave. We need to make the next shelter by a couple of hours after midday … before it is too hot to travel."

Colin nodded. She was right; the high sun in the desert could bake the skin off of you back when they hadn't scorched the atmosphere. He could imagine it being much better in the circumstances. He did his best to repack things into the containers after she had rearranged them on the floor of the building. It didn't take much to figure out what each pile was for. He helped her hide the items they weren't taking and hefted up the pack of trade goods as he made ready to get underway. He didn't grouse when he didn't get the main tank of water, but he did find a refillable thermos in one of the packs she grabbed so he had that for his water supply today. Boy, what he wouldn't give for some ice to cool it down today...

The day was just as bad as the previous one in terms of the head of the desert. Even more frustrating for Colin was the lack of any landmark on the horizon. All he had was Kara's assurance that they were heading in the right direction. He didn't argue, he kept tru-

Colin felt Kara plow into him, tackling him to the sand. He landed on his back and he followed Kara's eyes. He wasn't sure what he was seeing because it was so unbelievable. It was a herd of antelope, but it was the wrong species. This was the sort meant for sub-Saharan Africa, not Arizona/Nevada!

He was amazed that none of them landed on them as they bounded across the sand avoiding another animal that had no pllace out here. There was no denying it; that was a cheetah. It seemed enough still survived out here to support a Serengeti ecosystem, but what were they doing in North America?!

Kara warned for him to be quiet and wait. Colin was in no position to argue as he watched the apex predator squeeze the life out of the antelope before carrying it off. It was striking to watch, but showed Colin that humanity wasn't the only worry out here.

"It's gone. We were lucky it made a kill. If it hadn't, we wouldn't have seen it before it got one of us. We'll be fine now."

"Yeah, but where did it come from? Cheetahs are meant to be in Africa! What are they doing in the North American Desert?!" But then, Colin remembered as he said it that places like Texas and Arizona had the largest population of big cats in private ownership when he was last conscious. It all made sense as he thought about all the zoos and private collections that Americans had. Add in 200 years and a large enough birthing population to start and what he saw wasn't that far fetched after all.

"Life finds a way, doesn't it, Goldblum?" Colin murmured, picking up his pack and getting it set on his shoulders again. Following Kara's gesture, he set off first again, leaving her to trail him and keep an eye on him. He pulled a deep drink of water from his thermos as he looked to the horizon, trying to figure out where they were heading. All he could do is trust that Kara knew where they were going.

As the day drug on, Colin saw an old building. It was the only thing for miles around and he hoped that it was where they were going. As they walked up out front, he saw it was an old Post Office building. It had to serve a very large area as there wasn't anything else out here. Checking with Kara, it seemed like this was going to be their shelter for today and he welcomed it after spending so many hours under the desert sun. Unwrapping his makeshift head wrap, he ducked in through the broken exterior doors and walked into the old lobby full of broken open PO Boxes and scattered envelopes. "Do you know what this place is, Kara? It is a place out of time even from my day. It was how data used to cross the world before e-mail and the internet. It was how you could send a present to your family in another state... well, until the overnight delivery companies showed up..." Colin explained as he walked behind the counter. "Yup... a relic of the 18th century, kept alive because physical objects still needed to be moved from here to there." He said looking around.

 

[CutiePie1997]

After the cheetah attack, Kara was full of questions: why had cheetahs lived in Africa but not here yet now lived here; what was so different between North America and Africa; why had animals been brought all the way from Africa to North America just to shoot them rather than just shoot them there; and what was a blum and why was it made of gold? Colin explained about the actor, but that only led to a whole different series of questions --

"So … he was a Fly … and he battled aliens … and he was chased by dinosaurs that didn't belong where they were … like the spotted cat … Cheetah, right?"

Kara was trying to grasp Colin's explanation of movies and acting and something he called a genre. It all seemed so intangible to her, and some of it even seemed silly. Paying money to sit in a room full of people watching make believe on a big screen...?

The concept of the Post Office, though, now that made sense to her. She'd often been asked to deliver messages between the Freetowns she visited for trade. It was how she got free room and board sometimes. Most of the communities didn't like strangers sticking around, but if you brought a message from one to the other, you were often treated relatively well. Even after the human race had nearly destroyed itself, individuals remained a social creature and desired communication and a sense of togetherness.

Kara didn't have such feelings herself, though. There wasn't a person on this planet with whom she had a desire to spend time. Other than the parents and sister she hadn't seen in years and presumed to be dead, Kara had no desire to send a letter, as Colin called it. Hell, the only boy she'd ever loved had betrayed her into sex slavery. She would have been happy to see the rest of the human race eaten by a herd of spotted cats.

"Yup... a relic of the 18th century, kept alive because physical objects still needed to be moved from here to there."

Kara's face spread with a guilty smile at Colin's comment. He was moving her physical objects for him because of her need to keep alive. She wondered whether or not that was what he'd been implying. Maybe. Or maybe he'd only been talking about the post office. She followed his gaze around the lobby. Without a previous knowledge of what the building had been, only the very intuitive would have known the organization's purpose. Most of the paper products -- letters, post cards, etc. -- had been burned for fuel; most of the cardboard boxes had been used the same way or -- rolled and filled with fat or oil -- turned into torches and slow burning room heaters. Kara couldn't read the posters on the wall, so the postal theme images hadn't been very clear to her in previous visits.

"You need to sleep," she told Colin after pulling the shackles from her pack and dropping them before him yet again. It wasn't even close to dark yet, perhaps 4 or 5 pm. But she explained, "Our destination tomorrow is farther than this … post office was today … so we will need to leave at the dawn of crack."

Kara ignored Colin's expression at her misuse of the idiom. It hadn't been the first time today she'd said something that he either corrected or laughed at. A great deal of his language, this English, had changed or been lost over the past 200 years. She listened close to Colin as he spoke, not just because she didn't always understand but because she was intrigued in the differences in how they spoke. Colin used a lot of big words Kara had never heard. He used single words to describe things that she spoke of with two or three words, often a noun with adjectives, not that she knew what a noun or an adjective was.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []​

It was going to be another night like the last Kara anticipated. Kara didn't worry about intrusions by people or animals this night. The post office windows had decorative but very effective bars upon them. And Kara and Colin very easily blocked the doors with some furniture. She cuffed him again, though, this time to a vertical metal pole. Once Colin was settled in, with a small warming fire burning in a metal container near, Kara took a short stroll around the building.

She set herself up in an office adjacent to where Colin was. She could see him through a crack in the partially damaged wall. Again, as it often did, her mind raced with contradictory thoughts concerning the man. She tried to shrug them off as she stood, stripped, wetted a rag, and gave herself a rag bath. When she was finished and about to redress, Kara went back to the crack to look out upon Colin. Kara had no light in her space; he had the fire in his. He couldn't see her. And a wind had begun whipping up outside. The howling filled the building. She knew he couldn't see her or hear her...

So … Kara let the hand that had already begun caressing over the bare skin of her body slip down between her thighs. Her fingers to her own womanhood had been her only desired touch for which Kara had yearned since before Mother. It was a familiar touch, and within a minute she was close to orgasm. She dropped her clothing to the floor before her, knelt, and peeked through the crack again. She imagined Colin's cock up inside her as she did her best to contain her gasp at the orgasm that exploded within her...

A minute or so later, as her breathing and heart were returning toward normalcy, Kara stood, dressed, and lay down. Only then did she realize that the winds outside had ceased at some point prior to her moment of ecstasy. She couldn't help but wonder whether or not Colin had heard her. She wasn't a screamer or anything like that. But even her gasps could sometimes be heard a ways off. Naw … he'd surely been asleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []​

She rose with a start as the light or morning struck her in the face. Crap! The contentment from the previous night's orgasm had let Kara oversleep. Even Colin was awake and ready to be unshackled when she finally got out into the lobby. They ate, packed, and were on their way within ten minutes, but it was still 3 hours later than preferred.

The terrain got less flat, then rockier, then downright hard to navigate at times. The weight of the packs didn't help. At one point when they reached a cliff wall, Kara had them hide half of the weight in a wall crevice she used sometimes. Behind a thick bush, it was hidden well enough that no one had ever come across it.

Again, they were on their way. But try as they did to make up time, the sun was going down to their left rear and they still weren't there. Kara finally stopped them to set up a camp in a little shed someone had built during her century, not Colin's.

"It'll be dark before we get there," she told him. "It's too dangerous to walk that terrain at night … and their guards will shoot us before we have a chance to say Don't shoot!"

After they'd partially unpacked and built a fire, Kara hesitantly asked, "So … if I chose not to sell you to Mother … what would happen between us? You said we could survive better together. Do you mean just survive? Like … friends...? Lovers?"

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Colin didn't argue about the early bed time when they set things up in the post office. To be honest, sleep was becoming one of his favorite things. He wasn't used to this much physical labor, day in, day out. It also let him dream about home and the life he had. Memories were all he had of the old world. He got to revisit it every night.

Tonight's dream turned a bit sexy, however. He didn't mind and after being out of Hibernation for a few days now, his body had been reminding him of his other needs. He caught himself several times since he met Kara staring at her ass. Again, when everything takes so much more effort, it makes the body into a tool. He shook his head, not wanting to think about that, especially when she was set on selling him. He roused and listened to the wind outside for a bit. It was strangely musical, but it died away as soon as he started listening. Before he could lay back, however, he swore he heard a noise. It was an unmistakable noise and he glanced at the diving wall. He figured that Kara was patrolling again, but if someone was making that noise, it better be her if they are this far from other people.

He listened for it again, but another one never came. Maybe she found a strained muscle as she moved in her sleep. He figured she would be calling if she needed help so he laid back down, returning to sleep. A sleep he was pulled from by a slightly panicked Kara. He did his best to strike the camp quickly and join her outside. They did what they could to make up the time, but as the sun sunk lower and lower, the more scared Kara became. He made a mental snapshot of the hiding place for the gear before hustling up the hill with Kara. He frowned as they would have nothing but a cramped shack for shelter that night. Still, it was better than nothing.

The pair curled around a fire for the night. They made do with what they still carried and John was ready for sleep when Kara had a question for him.

"So … if I chose not to sell you to Mother … what would happen between us? You said we could survive better together. Do you mean just survive? Like … friends...? Lovers?"

Colin sat up slowly, looking across the fire at Kara. "Well, what happens between us is largely up to you. You haven't been cruel or careless. You have the spark of curiosity that I like to see in people. I'd very much like to be your friend under different circumstances. Lovers? That's something you'd have to find out for yourself. For myself, I could think of worse partners." He offered with a warm smile.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Kara listened to Colin's response. The first part, about not being cruel, made her smile. She'd had him shackled and/or covered by a gun almost every moment they'd been together. Some might think that cruel. Others, particularly those who knew Mother, might have thought it more like baby sitting, not that Colin was a baby, of course.

"For myself, I could think of worse partners."

Kara had to actually look away as she felt a blush fill her face. It had been a long time since a man who wasn't about to force himself upon her had told her she was worthy of being his lover. When she thought her emotions were back in check, she changed the subject, asking, "Did you have a wife before...? Before the War?"

She might have asked Colin that once before. Kara couldn't remember. Her mind was elsewhere. Her mind was on how her desire to mount Colin's cock was confusing the whole sell him to Mother issue. She listened to his response. Then she stood and -- not for the first time -- tossed him the shackles.

"If you think it would be more comfortable, you could put on just one and put the other around that," Kara said. She pointed to an old but sturdy tree trunk about the diameter of Colin's ankle. It was practically petrified and almost as hard as rock. It'd hold him she knew. "I'm gonna look around, then come back."

Kara headed out into the twilight. She looked about the plateau, then moved to the edge to look about the shallow valley across which they'd walked. Tomorrow they'd reach The Gulch. The Patriarch of the Freetown didn't abide slavery. Kara would have to shackle Colin someplace outside the crevice that split the plateau. But where? She'd been contemplating this issue since leaving the drop ship. She didn't know of a spot where he would be safe from the elements and free from the possibility of being happened upon by Gulch scouts, hunters, or gatherers. She could leave him here, of course. But that would mean leaving him shackled and unattended for two full days.

Or...

Kara returned to the little shack and stood over Colin for a long moment. He'd made his bed but hadn't yet gone to sleep. She leaned the rifle against the wall. She unbuckled the equipment belt from which hung her machete and set it aside, too. Then, one after another, Kara removed her gloves, her boots, her knee guard, her shorts, her panties, and her top. She'd earlier removed the goggles and breathing mask, and when she'd dressed this morning, she hadn't donned her bra at all. Now, as she simply looked for his reaction, Kara stood before Colin in nothing more than her stockings and a bit of a hesitant expression.

No one would call her the picture of womanly perfection. At least not by the standards Colin surely remembered from the 21st century. Her muff wasn't trimmed, though compared to most women it was a relatively small patch of also relatively short little curls. She hadn't shaved her legs since she escaped Mother's care. But the hairs on her standing appendages were short, sparse, and light in color, so Colin might not notice them unless he put his hands upon her legs. There was a noticeable difference in cleanliness between the portions of her skin that had been exposed to the ravages of nature and that were exposed only now.

But if he could get passed her lack of civilized hygiene, Colin would see a very fit, very sexy body. Kara's B-cup breasts were firm with not a hint of surrender to gravity. Her belly was flat, her waist narrow, her hips wide; she had the hour glass figure of a runway model. Although he couldn't see it as she stood full frontal to him, Kara's ass was fit and firm from the exertion of daily, desert walks. (Of course, he'd already been eying it often when the opportunity came to him. But Kara didn't know that.)

She moved to him, dropping to her knees to unlock the shackle on his own ankle. Next, Kara unbuckled his trousers, told him to lift, and pulled them and his underwear down to midthigh. And moving to sit in his lap, she whispered to Colin, "I wanna feel you inside me."

 

[such_a_bad_man]

"Did you have a wife before...? Before the War?"

"No, between preparing for the mission and everything that went into that, I just never had time for a serious relationship."

Colin thought back and couldn't remember if they had covered this in some fireside chat over the previous nights. They had talked for hours around the fire about all sorts of things. He told her stories about the Old World. She told him some things about the New. He didn't figure he'd use a lot of it; he did know that he didn't like the sound of working for Mother with each passing story.

When she brought out the shackles again, Colin sighed and resigned himself to another night locked to an immovable object on a bed he feels getting dirtier and dirtier with each night. He locked himself in and did his best to get comfortable. It was early in the night so while Kara did her perimeter walk, he sat back, trying to reorient his mental compass as he looked at the stars through the window.

When Kara came back in, he figured they would chat a bit about their usual topics. He never imagined that she would do what she did. He sat in stunned silence as Kara stripped down, one piece at a time, in front of him. He swallowed as he watched, unblinking. As he figured, Kara had a beautiful, if unkempt, body. She was young and fit and, like him, in need.

He didn't argue when she dropped down to free his leg or when she helped slide his pants and underwear down. He bent his knees, putting his feet flat as she climbed onto his lap.

"I wanna feel you inside me."

It sounded so matter-of-fact that it stunned Colin to hear. He peeled his top up and off. He drew her to him, wanting to feel her naked body against his. Leaning in for a kiss, Kara pulled away. He nodded, realizing what this was. Instead, he kissed her shoulder as he ground his hips against hers, feeling her growing more and more wet as he moved. Slowly, he helped guide her up against him a little to make room. He guided his tip to find her opening. Probing gently, he groaned a little as he felt the tension before popping inside her.

Gasping, Colin felt her tighten around him immediately. Maybe he wasn't the only one that had going without for a long time. Angling her back to lay against his thighs, Colin started guiding her up and down his hard shaft. He laid his head back as he felt her learning the pace he liked and took over bouncing on his cock. "Ohhh yes... Kara..." He sighed, his hands now sliding up to caress and tease her perky breasts. Her hard nipples dug into the palms of his hand as he massaged and teased them.

It all felt amazing and Colin forgot about the world beyond this small room for a little while. He was surprised at how long he lasted; after 200 years of Hibernation, he figured he'd be ready to burst, but his body was waking up in all sorts of ways. He lifted his hips, pushing up into Kara as she slid down. It wasn't going to take much more.

"Do you want it inside?" Colin asked, curious about birth control all of a sudden.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Kara grimaced and groaned with a bit of pain as Colin pushed inside her. It had been quite a while for her. Not 200 years, of course. But almost 200 days maybe. No ... no, not that long, she remembered. There had been that guy at the barter post from whom she'd gotten ammo for the rifle. He'd gotten the better of the deal. But then, men usually did, didn't they?

Her hunger was obvious, though, as she began quickly and energetically rocking in Colin's lap. Kara matched her movements to his, feeling him sink deeper and deeper inside until their groins were slamming fully into one another. Her breathing quickened, becoming louder. Kara closed her eyes; she'd never before wanted to look at the men fucking her because more often than not she was being raped or otherwise forced.

"Ohhh yes... Kara..."

But she opened her eyes now. She stared directly at Colin as she studied his obvious pleasure. She laid her hands over his own as he caressed and groped her tits. Her nipples always swelled dramatically when she was excited and his palms and fingers upon them only excited her further.

"Do you want it inside?" Colin asked

She was a bit surprised at the question. Kara knew what he meant, of course. It was just that no man had ever asked her that before. Her first and only real lover had wanted to have a child with her, and Kara had felt the same. After that, no man who'd ever fucked her gave a rat's ass whether or not he knocked Kara up. Mother had had a doctor on her staff of Brains, and the Doc had had remedies for preventing pregnancy amongst the sexual servants. Right now, though, Kara wasn't concerned about it. She knew where she was in her moon cycle, and pregnancy wasn't an issue at the moment.

She continued to rock to and fro in Colin's lap without hesitation. And a moment later he came. Kara didn't slow her movements, though. She was close herself. She actually intensified her ride upon the space man's cock, even reaching a hand down to manipulate her little button of delight for a little extra kick. And just about the time Colin's own orgasm had ended, she forward against his body and gasped out loud and long as the euphoria exploded within her Kara's skin was flooded with goose flesh, and her body trembled deep to the core. Her mind was lost to the ecstasy; all she could do was just lay there against Colin, clutching her arms around his head, her breasts flanking his mouth as she pulled her face to her bosom.

She didn't know how long she just sat there in Colin's lap. She'd never in her life experienced such an orgasm before. Not even with her teen lover, with whom she'd had sex for over two years before he betrayed her to Mother. She just clutched him close to her bosom until her breathing and heart rate were somewhat near normal. Colin still felt nearly fully hard within her, and Kara contemplated starting it up again. But her mind was now able to form thoughts once again, and she her brain was swamped with competing thoughts about what she had just done.

"Let go," she whispered softly. "Please."

Kara reached to his hands to urge them from her body. She shifted her knees to enable her to lift off Colin, then did so. She grimaced as he cock slipped out from within the clutching muscles. She stood, stepped back, and turned away. Gathering up all of her clothes and grasping her small personals pack, Kara stepped out of the shed a few steps and out of Colin's view. He was no longer shackled, so if he pulled his half-down pants and underwear back up, he could come outside if he wished.

Outside, she pulled one of her bath clothes from her pack and cleaned between her thighs. She then donned all of her clothes in reverse order until she was again fully dressed. She hadn't brought the machete or rifle, which she now realized. But Kara didn't go back for them, though. Fucking Colin had been about making him believe they were partners now, not master and slave. Now, they could walk into The Gulch together tomorrow, do their trading, and leave without risking the ire of Wizard.

Then, after they left and headed for Mother's locale, Kara could return to guarding Colin and shackling him again.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

It felt like heaven when Colin finally hit his climax and came deep inside Kara. He didn't really fathom how long his first orgasm in 200 years went on, but as it tapered, he heard and felt Kara's insistent breath on his shoulder as she peaked as well. From the way her body moved, it must have been a good one for her. She curled her arms around Colin's head, drawing his face into her bosom. He didn't mind; he languidly kissed and licked one breast then the other as she lay there in the afterglow on top of him. He was content to fall asleep like that, but Kara didn't, it would seem.

"Let go. Please."

Colin was a bit confused, but let go of Kara at her urging. He kept his place as she climbed off of him and gathered her clothes. He frowned as it seemed like the intimate moment had passed as soon as it had begun. Tucking himself away and closing his clothes, Colin leaned back and tried to understand what happened. He slowly came to the conclusion that Kara had needs to fulfill. To be honest, so had he, but he was hoping it was about more than that. From Kara's behavior, it seemed it wasn't. He was still property, after all.

Colin sighed and went ahead and resecured himself to his spot. He lay back on the bedroll and tried to pretend he was sleeping. He didn't want to have an awkward conversation with Kara when she came back in. He figured her behavior tomorrow would show him what tonight was all about.

 

[CutiePie1997]

When she returned to the shack's interior, Kara found Colin seemingly asleep in his made bed. He'd reattached the makeshift shackles to one ankle and the old, dead tree. She thought it would strengthen her story to loose him once more. But as she had been so often already, Kara found herself conflicted. She needed to sell Colin to Mother. She needed the wealth she could gain from turning the man who fell from the sky to the woman who had the resources to collect such people. With what Mother would give her -- payment and amnesty both -- Kara could buy a Stake in The Gulch and become a permanent resident, with no further fear of some bounty hunter snatching her during the night.

But...

Kara really liked Colin. He was the first man since her teenage crush years with whom she could see herself spending an indefinite amount of time. He was intelligent, interesting, friendly, flirty … and he could fuck. That had been a mistake, she told herself, not really believing it. Kara had told herself that fucking Colin had been about fooling him into believing that she wouldn't sell him to Mother. But she knew it had also been about something far more basic: her need for joy of sexual ecstasy. And now … now Kara wanted more of it.

I need to sell him to Mother, she told herself again as she looked down on his sleeping form. Almost immediately she countered her own brain with, But I want to keep him, too. She almost laughed at the thought keep him … as if he was a lost puppy. Kara wanted to curl up to her lost puppy, to be close, to keep warm. But she didn't. Fucking was one thing; snuggling was a totally different animal.

As opposed to the peaceful sleep she had the night after masturbating to fantasies of Colin, Kara slept poorly and fitfully this night. She finally gave up on it as the first hints of dawn began to color the sky. She gathered wood and debris for a fire and had flames beginning to kick high as Colin awoke.

"You sleep very soundly after sex," Kara teased, pointing to the shackles she'd removed earlier without his waking. She warned playfully, "One night after we do that again one of the Yellow Cats … what did you call them, Lions...? One of them is going to eat you up while you dream happily about the fun we had."

They put together a breakfast, for the first time entirely out of the drop ship loot as she'd neither put out snares nor gone hunting either. As they ate, Kara addressed her concerns about her future … and about Colin's, too. She explained how the compensation for turning him over to Mother could set her up for life in The Gulch or one of the other Freetowns.

"It's not that I couldn't pay my way in one of these communities," she told him with confidence. "I can hunt … do other things … simple labor, patrols … sex."

Kara would never turn to a full time life of prostitution, of course. But since her escape from Mother 2 years ago, she had been known to trade sexual favors for things she needed. She continued, "The problem is that I would forever be looking over my shoulder for Mother's bounty hunters … or for Brutals, though, they don't usually work this far out from St. George."

This wasn't the first time Kara had talked about the base city of Mother's little empire. But it was the first time she'd mentioned it by name. Once upon a time, before the war, St. George had been the seat of the most southwesterly county of the State of Utah. It had had a population of over 200,000 people then. Most had been killed or run off by the radioactive cloud that rose from the strike on Las Vegas. The city itself would nearly burn to the ground six years after the war. Rising global temperatures, a lack of professional fire fighters, and an abundance of lawns and forested areas that were no longer being watered regularly had turned the town into a tinder box. One night, lightning struck, and eighteen days later, the only thing to survive untouched was a three block section of downtown that was now Mother's estate.

Ironically, the aquifer beneath St. George escaped the radioactive pollution that so many parts of the world suffered. Mother's grandparents had discovered this invaluable resource nearly 60 years ago. They'd been Romani -- gypsies, what others had called them for more than a millennia -- who had survived the nuclear apocalypse. They'd spent the aftermath years travelling north and south through the Plains and Rockies, living much as their ancestors had. They traded, they stole, they conned, they gambled, they repaired, they fucked. They did what they needed to do to survive.

Finding St. George's clean water, though, changed everything. The Romani secured it with fortifications, armed guards, and a relatively loyal citizenry that now numbered over 1,500. The people who would slowly migrate toward St. George would do anything for the Mother to ensure that they themselves got a daily share of the human body's most important need. Oh, people had tried to take the well from Mother and her ancestors on occasion. There had been at least a dozen armed attacks on the original well. Those assaults had failed, though, lives had been lost on both sides.

And people had tried to tap into the Aquifer with their own wells, too. The Romani had quite an intelligence network throughout the St. George area, though, and eventually they always learned of the new wells. More often than not, they wouldn't act until all of the hard work had been completed. Then, they'd assault the location, kill all connected to the well, and add it to their growing utility.

These violent tactics against what they perceived of as threats to their power had been the source of the name for their armed force, The Brutals. Today, Mother controlled six wells in and around St. George. They were the original source of her family's power, though, the Brutals and the Brains added a great deal to her control as well.

"Mother doesn't take kindly to betrayal," Kara continued. "I was essentially a slave … and I escaped … and she will want to make an example of me. She will parade me through the streets of St. George, requiring the entire population to come out to watch. I'll be raped by her Lieutenants in the public square … I'll be whipped … and then I'll be returned to my duties for her, to live out my life in shackles."

Kara was staring at the flames dancing in the fire as she spoke. Her description of her fate might have sounded overdramatic. But she had seen others face a similar punishments in the past. Without looking up, she finished, "If I sell you to Mother … she might forgive me … give me amnesty. But..."

She looked up into Colin's eyes, contemplated her sincerity in what she was about to say, and told him, "I don't want to do that anymore, though."

The only choices Kara saw ahead of them were basic: sell Colin and hope Mother gave her a pass; or don't, and spend the rest of her life wandering the Wasteland with a Colin. Neither were very appealing ideas. Fucking Colin every day, now that could be nice. But he didn't know the Wasteland. Hell, he didn't know this world. Could he survive, even with Kara's guidance? But, he was smart and knew things that most of the people of this time didn't know. He might be the greatest partner Kara could ever have. Hell, maybe if they could find a place to hide out from Mother, they could create a nice life.

But it always came back to Mother. They would have to travel a great distance away from St. George to escape her reach. It could be done, of course. But Kara didn't know Colin. And she didn't know anything but the Wasteland.

It was all making her head spin.

She asked Colin, "What do I do?"

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Colin slept so deeply that night. Between the hustle up the ridge and his first sex in ages, his body was out like a light as soon as he laid down. His dreams changed that night; he saw a future where he and Kara might set up a house somewhere, but it was all oblierated as the mushroom clouds lingered on the horizon. He woke to the feeling of warmth nearby and a grinning Kara looking down at him as he slept.

"You sleep very soundly after sex. One night after we do that again one of the Yellow Cats … what did you call them, Lions...? One of them is going to eat you up while you dream happily about the fun we had."

Again. She said again, meaning that last night wasn't going to be a one off... right? or so he told himself. Sitting up, Colin saw that he was secured to the tree again. He hoped she would let him sleep without it, but that was a long shot. Sitting up, they started in on breakfast again. It was all rehydrated food, which he didn't mind. Three was a strange metallic taste to the meat Kara would find; he hoped it wasn't lingering radiation, but the Geiger counter never hinted that it was bad.

This morning, their conversation turned to Kara's plan in more detail. After last night, it seemed like she wanted to justify herself to him. It made sense; such intimacy must have meant that she cares what happens to him. From the sound of it, she wants out from under Mother's thumb, but she can't manage it without handing him over.

"It's not that I couldn't pay my way in one of these communities. I can hunt … do other things … simple labor, patrols … sex."

It still struck him how casually she'd offer herself up, but as he thought about it, it made sense that everything would be on the table when it was so hard to survive these days. He didn't think any worse of her for that, but the more she spoke, the more she revealed how this decision to sell him was eating at her now. It was a tough call; Mother sounded like the sort that wouldn't let things go. That's how people in power stay in power. Either they are magnanimous in their charity or they rule through fear. Colin's stomach turned as she listed off what she would do to maintain that fear over her Estate. He could see what wrestling with this decision was doing to her so he wasn't too surprised when she looked at him, pleading for help.

"What do I do?"

Colin swallowed. He wasn't expecting Kara to dump this in his lap, but if she was serious about him being her partner going forward, it was his problem now too. He reached over, laying his hand on hers.

"I think the best way you get back at someone like Mother is you live a long, fruitful life away from her. You find one of these Freetowns and you settle down, you make a life... with me or without me, that's still up to you. But I think our combination of talents would make any community glad to have us. And if Mother won't let it go, we deal with it when it happens, but what we will not allow is letting her dictate how our lives are lived. She doesn't deserve that power. She may have the water and a town, but she's got bigger problems than worrying about where you went. In time, you'll fade into memory. For now, we need to pick where we are going to go. You know the area better than me, what would you recommend?" He asked, sitting back.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Kara listened closely to Colin's advice. She so wanted to follow it. But could she? She knew what Mother was like; he didn't. Oh, Kara could tell him horror stories all day long. But until he actually saw the woman in action...

"There is a Freetown in the Rockies," she suddenly found herself saying. Kara hesitated a moment. She had to know she was serious about this before suggesting it. She could feel her heart beating with excitement already. Finally, she looked up to Colin and continued, "They call it Split Rock. There was an earthquake, prior to or after the war, no one really knows. A narrow, tall ridgeline literally split creating a narrow gap … a pass, through which a trail was blazed. I've never been there, but people I know have been. They say it's guarded … that people like the Brutals and the Bounty Hunters can never get in there."

She hesitated again, then smiled a bit wider. "We could get there, though. You an me. We sell the stuff from your ship … the stuff we have now, then go back for the stuff we hid. The Wizard at The Gulch, he'll give us all we need to get to the mountains. We buy a Stake … maybe forage … make things … hunt."

Kara laughed, surprised at what she was saying. "Would you do that with me, Mack? After how I've treated you...? Would you run away with me, not knowing where we were going or if we'd get there or if we'd even be accepted?"

Before Colin could even answer, Kara stood and began taking off her clothes. She needed the man inside her so badly … and honestly, she didn't really even care whether or not he wanted to fuck her again.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

"There is a Freetown in the Rockies."

Colin listened to her speak about Split Rock. It made sense that people would retreat to the mountains; it would be more temperate and any rain that falls on the windward side of the mountains could be collected as a water supply. It would be easy to defend as well. The idea of Split Rock sounded like just what they would need. But then Kara asked the big question.

"Would you do that with me, Mack? After how I've treated you...? Would you run away with me, not knowing where we were going or if we'd get there or if we'd even be accepted?"

Colin reached out, taking her hand again. "You could have done so much worse to me. While we work together, you've treated me like an equal. I realize what your end goal was going to be, but it was an act of desperation. I can't blame you for trying to survive. I also can't hold it against you now that you feel the need to change. If Split Rock doesn't work out, we try some place else. What we will not do is give up."

Something changed in Kara's eyes and she started peeling her clothes off again. Colin was a bit surprised, but didn't resist as a naked Kara climbed on top of him, pushing him back onto the floor beneath him. She slid down, opening Colin's pants and pulling him free again. Colin was a bit surprised as she slid him into her mouth and sucked him to full length. Colin's eyes fluttered shut as her head bobbed up and down, drawing him to his full length with each beat of his heart. Swallowing hard, he watched her move, enticed by that work hardened body of hers.

She didn't waste time once he was hard and climbed back up. With one hand behind her, Kara guided him back inside her needy pussy. Colin groaned as he felt how wet she was for him already. He sank in completely and Kara's whispered gasps slipped out again.

Much like last night, Colin didn't have to move much. Kara seemed excited enough to chase her own bliss with Colin again. She moved a bit faster and harder today, her breathing still controlled to not be too loud. Colin couldn't help by reach out and tease her perky breasts, teasing her nipples as she rode him hard. He could feel like this time was different from last night. This one didn't feel like Kara was scratching an itch; there was something else behind her eyes.

"I don't do this sort of thing lightly..." Colin admitted, hoping she knew that this was about more than cumming for him. He hoped these moments were allowing Kara to be more vulnerable with him, to start something meaningful with him.

He must have said the right things as Kara's breaking was slowly shifting to shuddered moans. She clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle them, but there was no denying that she was racing to an even bigger release than last night.

 

[CutiePie1997]

"I don't do this sort of thing lightly..."

Kara didn't immediately understand what Colin meant by that. She'd never had a man confess feeling that fucking was anything more than gratification for oneself. Hell, even her one and only true love at a teen had wanted to fuck her only for his own gratification. Kara hadn't know that at the time, of course; she'd thought they were both deeply in love with the other, that it had been a two way street.

When she finally got what he meant, Kara gave him the best smile she could generate what with the pleasure causing that sex face … then pressed that face down to Colin's to give him his first kiss in over 200 years. Her lips parted as she pressed hard to him, her tongue finding his, her mouth almost eating him. The kiss was almost as much animalistic as it was erotic.

Her ride upon Colin's cock only intensified: harder, faster, deeper. Her moans quickly became soft cries … cries she at first tried to silence with a hand over her mouth. Then she pressed her face into the crook of Colin's shoulder and neck … her lips were parted still as the cries yearned to escape … she bit into him, the sort of bite that would leave a super-hickey in the morning, not that Kara knew what a kickey was to begin with...

...and then she erupted. Her body exploded in a deep tremble that caused her to almost jerk against Colin's torso. The waves of ecstasy flooded through Kara's body as her arms, wrapped under his pits and around to the back of his neck, pulled the man from the sky hard against her. Her movements at their matched groins ceased as Kara simply enjoyed the euphoria rampaging through her...

...and then...

She kissed him passionately again, sat up tall and straight to get the fullest extent of his erection … and started again. She took his hands into hers, fingers interlaced, and rode Colin slow and consistently, watching him intently until he, too, found his joy. She dismounted, peeled all of his clothes off and the rest of her own, than mounted him yet again.

"I've never been so happy," she whispered to Colin after she drove herself to a second orgasm and then collapsed upon him. She just lay there for the longest time, holding him tightly.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []​

Kara didn't remember a lot of the details of what followed. She only knew she awoke in his arms … and in deep contentment. She rolled over atop Colin, kissed and ground him to stiffness, and yet again drove them both to orgasm. They meshed so well as lovers. Kara was suddenly feeling like a fool for having ever considered selling Colin to Mother.

They took time to bath one another, standing there in the cool morning air. Kara had never done this with a man before. To a man, sure. Even to a woman; Kara used to bathe Mother nearly every day once she'd become the woman's Chambermaid. But to have a man so caringly run a warm, wet rag over her flesh, around her curves, between her thighs … oh … it was one of the most sensual things Kara had ever experienced.

"The Gulch is two hours from here, give or take," she told Colin once they were dressed and heading out. "It's best if we don't flaunt our relationship status."

Kara thought she caught an odd reaction in Colin's face to the words relationship status. She couldn't have knows that back during his era, relationship status had been a thing on social media sites, mainly because she had no idea what social media or even sites. Maybe he'd tell her about it one day after yet another love making session, when she asked Colin to tell her about the olden days.

"There will be men in the Gulch who will treat me better if they think I'm going to have sex with them," she explained without shame or concern as they began the trek. "We'll visit the Wizard first … show him what we have. If he likes it, he'll ask about what I have stashed. I always have something stashed … he knows that. We'll tell him what and who you are … you can explain what we left back in the crevice. He's smart, smarter than me … and he'll believe you more than I did at first. He might give us what we need before going to the crevice. He trusts me, and he knows I can't hang around … bounty hunters."

They were crossing a wide open plateau. There was nothing to see for almost two hours other than open desert. There were an occasion clump of trees and short shrubs where the hard bedrock sometimes trapped the very infrequent rains long enough for the plants to suck up the moisture.

Kara was beginning to become conspicuously more tense. When she realized that Colin had noticed this, she explained, "This is where the bounty hunter lay in wait. They can't go into the Gulch. But they know that people trading with the Gulch have to come from one of three general directions. This is one of them."

She stopped to drop her pack, dripped oil on the metal zipper to loosen its dusty, rusty teeth, and opened it. She pulled out a revolver that had been an antique even during Colin's era of the 21st century. It was a Colt M1917 .45 caliber six shooter. It was rusty, and the original wood handle had been replaced with one that had apparently been carved by hand with a pocket knife.

"It doesn't look like much," Kara said, letting the cylinder fall open to reveal the 2 rounds inside it. She offered it out to Colin, finishing, "But it works."

They walked two more miles until the seemingly endless and unchanging plateau seemed to be developing a dark line across it from left to right. Closer, that line revealed itself to be a crack in the ground. And getting up to within 50 yards of it, that crack suddenly revealed itself to be more than 100 feet across and nearly 200 yards long.

"Put it here," Kara said to Colin, gesturing to the pistol she had only just given him just an hour earlier. She laid her own rifle atop a large stone, gestured him to do the same, then took his hand and led him back the way they'd come some 20 feet or so. "We have to wait."

Several minutes passed before two men suddenly appeared, seemingly from out of the desert itself. They were Sentries, and they'd been watching the pair approaching for most of the last two hours. They'd emerged from a little pill box that was so well camouflaged in the sand and scattered shrubs that even if Kara had pointed it out to Colin, he likely wouldn't have been able to distinguish it.

"We've come to see the Wizard," Kara called out, having no idea of the similarity to her comment and that of Dorothy from the Oz movie of so many centuries earlier. "We have things to trade. My name is--"

"Kara," one of the men filled in. He peeled off the head covering that protected him from the sun and perspiration causing heat. He smiled at Kara's recognition of him. "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has been, Dexter," she said. She took Colin by the elbow and urged him forward. They stopped ten or so feet short of the men, who had collected their weapons. She gestured between the men. "This is Colin. He is my traveling partner. This is Dexter and Remo."

The second sentry didn't pull off his hood or even lower the scarf covering his face from the nose down. Even so, it was easy to see the deformation of his forehead and eye sockets, almost so much so that his left eye was unusable.

"How's Beth?" Kara asked the man with the birth defects. Remo had already slung his rifle, and he used both of his hands to answer with a form of sign language. Kara laughed. "Twins! Twins … unbelievable."

She looked to Dexter with an expression of concern. But the man smiled and told her, "It's okay, you can ask."

Kara looked back to Remo and asked,"And they are both healthy?"

Remo nodded and signed again. Kara congratulated him, stepping forth to hug him. Their weapons were returned to them, and Dexter told them to go ahead and head forward. Once they were out of ear shot of the sentries, Kara explained to Colin, "Remo's first two wives birthed deformed children. There is still a problem with radiation out here in places. None of his children reached four years of age before dying … or … being shown mercy, if you know what I mean."

She glance over her shoulder to see that the men had already vanished, once again in their hiding place. "The Wizard told him he needed to keep trying … that he wasn't the cause of the deformations, even if he himself was deformed. It's good to know that his third wife was able to birth him healthy children."

They paralleled the edge of the crevice for several dozen yards until they arrived as a decline. It was a second crack in the ground that had been carved and chipped away at to create stairs heading down into the plateau. There were more armed Sentries here. They only gestured Kara and Colin by them, already having been alerted by the first sentries.

The pair were descending through a narrow crevice when the path took a turn to the right. Suddenly, The Gulch was before them. They were now 50 feet below the level of the plateau above, with nearly sheer cliffs rising to their left and right. The original crevice cutting through the bedrock had been 200 yards long. Only about half of it, though, had had a relatively flat floor that would be easily traversed. Over decades, though, rock had been carved from the floor and from both ends. Now, people could walk or even push hand carts not just the original 200 yards but into an additional 50-70 yards at each end.

And drilling and carving had taken place in the walls as well. There were now more than 200 rooms in the walls of the cliff: homes, shops, storage rooms, community spaces, and more. Some of them extended back into the cliffs more than 50 yards.

But it wasn't just the construction that was spectacular. There was green … every where. The Gulch was laid out west to east, which meant that the north wall got indirect sunlight all year and direct light on much of its higher reaches for as much as 5 months a year. All throughout that north wall, edible plants were growing, so much so that that cliff wall was almost totally hidden. The south wall had plant life on it, too. But those plants were the type that needed less light to thrive.

"Hello, Rita!" Kara said with excitement as an older woman came out to greet her. Kara made introductions, explaining that the other woman was a Healer. "We're looking for the Wizard, Rita. Is he in his lab do you know?"

The woman sent the pair off toward the opposite end of the crevice. But when they were nearly there, another woman with whom Kara was familiar told her that the Wizard was away for the day. Kara took Colin by the elbow and led him to a little hole in the wall. Beyond it, though, the narrow portal opened up into a large storage area, 50 foot deep, 30 foot wide, and 12 foot tall. But it hadn't been a cave; it had been entirely carved out, with the natural rock left to serve as 20 or more columns, almost like the interior of an ancient Greek temple, prior to the popular use of arches by the Romans.

A man there greeted the new arrivals happily. Kara introduced, "Quinn, this is Colin, my traveling partner. Colin, this is Quinn … the money exchanger."

The pair got out some of their loot and laid it out for Quinn's survey. He made some offers, to which Kara haggled. They settled on an exchange. Quinn's assistant -- who was armed and also acting as security -- began taking possession of the items while Quinn handed Kara a stack of Chits. Once upon a time, they had been poker chips for an Indian casino located in Utah. They were unique, so The Gulch used them as currency to make commerce easier. Ironically, the idea had come from Mother's grandparents back when they first reestablished St. Cloud.

Kara took Colin to where a woman was drying antelope meat. They traded Chits for a meal, then crossed to a man who was brewing a rather nasty but still effective alcoholic beverage made of desert root.

"I'm gonna take a nap," Kara said. "Let's get a room."

She led Colin up a carved stairway ascending the side of the south crevice. They passed into a little opening in the wall that became a 60 foot long manmade tunnel. Somewhere near the end, the sounds of a woman in ecstasy could be heard coming from one of many little caves carved off of this bigger cave. A woman sitting at the entrance took another chip from and pointed Kara and Colin to a little hole, across which was a cloth door cover. Inside, they found a padded mattress atop a wood plank bed. Kara unfolded a stack of bedding -- presumably clean and unused -- and made a bed. She turned to look to Colin with a smile as she began stripping again.

"Keep it in your pants while we're here," she said with a flirty smile.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

That morning did not prgress as Colin had expected. He saw Kara give herself over to a full-body orgasm for the first time. Then, she did it again, fell asleep, woke up and did it one more time. Colin had never been so thoroughly fucked, but it felt amazing every time. Kara's tight petite body drove him crazy every time now and he was so glad that he said what he did.

It seemed to take purchase in her mind as she had him wash her body afterward before they set off. It felt so nice to caress and touch Kara's body as he washed it, bending her limbs and body just right to clean her completely. When she reciprocated, it was clear now that the dynamic between them had changed and for the better. He knew deep down that Kara was a good person; she was a survivor first, though. That was why she did what she did.

Now, they had a plan for a life together. As they dressed, Kara explained about The Gulch, the nearest Freetown to where they were. He listened, trying to piece together where it might be from his old geography classes when he was a kid. The terrain probably changed so much due to the war so he couldn't be sure. He frowned at the idea that they had to play it up that they were just traveling companions. Now that it felt like they had become a couple, he didn't want to hide that intimacy, but if it was necessary where they were going, he could put up with it for a while.

Once dressed, they headed out again. As Kara explained, they left the things in the crevice behind and walked up to the top of the plateau ahead. Once on top, it seemed like the damn thing stretched to the horizon in every direction. If the Gulch was up here, he couldn't figure on where. It was easier to watch Kara today as she didn't cover him from 30 feet back anymore; she walked beside him, her rifle at the ready. He couldn't help but notice when she put her head on a swivel as they kept walking.

"This is where the bounty hunter lay in wait. They can't go into the Gulch. But they know that people trading with the Gulch have to come from one of three general directions. This is one of them."

Colin nodded, understanding right away why she was so nervous. When she stopped to produce a pistol for him, he didn't argue. He was a pacifist in his past life, but that life was long gone. Now was not the time to be timid if bounty hunters jumped them. He kept the gun in his hand at his side as he looked around to his side of the pair. With the lack of terrain and the obvious clumps of cover, he felt like they were a bit too exposed if people were hiding in those bushes, but soon enough, it felt like they had made it.

The crack in the earth was a bit surprising, but Colin understood why he didn't see it the closer he got. It was layered in such a way to provide an optical illusion from afar. At the right angle, the plateau looked like it continued unbroken, but the closer they got, the more obvious it looked. Colin followed protocol, figuring that he didn't need to know the whys and if he lingered too much, he might get shot in the ass for his trouble.

He stood back, hands raised, as he listened to Kara catch up with the guards. The one poor soul that had to resort to sign language told him all he needed to know about the risks of radiation poisoning around here. Maybe the hot spots weren't as calm as he hoped they would be. He was glad to hear that new life continued in this place. Hearing that humanity was welcoming a new generation told him that there might be hope yet for the species.

The walk down into the canyon was breathtaking. It felt so good to see so much greenery in this place. It also helped to cool the already shaded valley from above. The Gulch was the closest he could figure to being back in his own time at least climate-wise. As they walked through the town, Colin didn't really listen to Kara's conversations. He was more struck by how this town operated much like the ancient Pueblo societies. They recognized the benefits of the shelter of the stone as well as the cooling such residences would provide. It worked thousands of years ago and it seemed to be working today. He smiled at the cyclical nature of human society on display before him.

He followed along, shaking his head a bit at the irony that casino chips from reservation lands were the new currency in this new world. "Wonder how many of those it would take to buy Manhattan..." he muttered to himself as he walked with Kara as they found dinner, liquor and a place to stay for the day. He hated that they lost some of the things from the ship, but honestly, they would do this town much more good than they would for them. A weather station and a barometer would be of much more use to a farming community than two people hiking from town to town.

Colin couldn't help a chuckle as Kara made a bed with fresh linens. It made sense that she would save this for a place where they could be off the ground. He was about to undress and join her when she looked at him grinning.

"Keep it in your pants while we're here."

Colin chuckled and looked at her as he pulled his jacket back on. "If it's like that, maybe it's better that I don't join you right now. I'll take a look around; see what this wonderful little town can offer us." He said, stepping back through the cloth-covered doorway before he ruined Kara's plan. Walking back to the main path through the crevasse of The Gulch, he walked as far as he could each way. Along the way, he saw people spinning yarn. He found the sheep that provided it and smiled as he saw that there were still some domesticated animals around. What struck him was the clever way that the plants along the rim had been planted. The plants that could handle the mid day sun and heat were higher up the wall while the most temperate plants were further down.

As he walked toward the other end, he saw that there were more food preparation areas that way. The prevailing wind carried the smoke and bad smells away so it seemed a lot of thought and preparation went in to laying this place out. He paused as he stopped and snacked a bit on his dinner. Chatting with the people that worked the cooking fires, he tried to find out what they had access to. He hadn't noticed any bread to speak of and the cooks said that any wheat that they might get came from Mother and St. George. He frowned. If she had an aquifer, she probably had the means to irrigate crops. This sort of land down in the gulch didn't get enough sun to do any serious agriculture, but he did find that they still did some canning as he saw that one of them had a few glass containers of various jams made from the berries that grew up on the rim. He smiled and tried to negotiate for a jar, but it sounded like it would eat into a fair chunk of his remaining Chits. He resigned himself to letting it go for now, but he'd be back.

Walking along the path, he paused to listen to some music makers. It was fairly rudimentary, but it was a sign that the creative spirit was still alive in places where you could have some leisure time. He smiled as some of the younger people danced around them, but Colin continued on. He sat out front of the place where they had found a room and decided to people watch. It was another way for him to learn what life was like for people in places like this these days.

 

[CutiePie1997]

"Wonder how many of those it would take to buy Manhattan..." Colin muttered regarding the Indian casino poker chips.

Kara gave her lover a curious look, not understanding. She had no knowledge of Manhattan, of the handful of beads that had been traded for it, or even of the Indigenous peoples who had occupied this vast continent prior to the arrival of the white man. One of the great ironies of the post-WWIII Southwest was that race, ethnicity, and color had very little meaning anymore. There had been far too few people left alive after the apocalypse for most people to be choosy about who they liked, who they hated, who they fucked, or with whom they built a new civilization. By the time the first century or so had passed, the people of the Wasteland were essentially just one people. Who could have known that it would take a nuclear holocaust and the near extinction of the human race to finally bring an end to racism … at least, here in the Wasteland.

"If it's like that, maybe it's better that I don't join you right now," Colin joked about Kara denial of his attendance in her rented bed. She laughed and agreed with him when he said, "I'll take a look around; see what this wonderful little town can offer us."

"Don't take any wooden nickels," she warned him. She didn't know what that meant; her father had often said it when she was a little girl, and Kara knew it meant don't get cheated. She reassured him, "You are safe here, Colin. The people of the Gulch are good people."

She laid down in her panties and bra, covering herself with some of the finest bedding made in this relatively primitive era. She was sound asleep in under a minute. Kara felt safer here than she did anywhere in the Wasteland. There had never been a kidnapping by Bounty Hunters or Brutals in the Gorge in her lifetime. And if someone was to try something, she had the pistol under her pillow, her dagger under the blankets, and the rifle upon a little shelf that was over the doorway, not easily within view of some intruder.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] []​

The Gulch was one of the most interesting of the Freetowns Kara had ever visited. If she'd lived in 1960s America, she might have called it a hippie commune. Oh, sure, there were armed guards on the plateau guarding the three approaches, and there were guards below the plateau guarding the two entrances. But the weapons down on the floor level of the crevice were by design out of sight and seemingly absent. The feel one got of the Gulch was that it was one of deep seated peace and tranquility.

As he walked about, Colin would find things that would have been common in his era: sheep, goats, chickens, geese, and ducks; hydroponic and dirt based vegetables, herbs, miniature fruit trees, and leafy plants; barbeques, smokers, and ovens; canned, dried, and fresh foods; and so much more. And that was only the food. There was music, dance, art, and story telling, from both books and from oral traditions. In one cave carved out in the wall, children ages 3 and up were being taught to read, write, and count; in another, some of the older children were learning more advanced mathematics as well as physics and geometry; and in a third, youth and adults alike were sitting in a circle, each with a different 21st century book in their hands, as they read about and discussed the issues that had resulted in the world in which they now lived.

When Kara's awoke from her nap, once again hungry and thirsty, she dressed and headed out to look for Colin. She left all of the weapons behind as she was only allowed to carry them in the Gulch on three occasions: if arriving, if departing, or if told to arm for the defense of the community. She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down to find Colin just watching the strange new world in which she'd introduced him. She smiled. She would never have imagined being here like this with someone like him. Sure, she barely knew him. But Kara felt good about this.

A small group of people carrying easels and paint kits began setting up along the canyon wall a few yards to Colin's left. Some had canvases; others had sheets of metal or wood or plastic; still others had anything from metal hub caps to plastic garbage can lids, to broken or whole sheets of glass. As they set up, one of the women with no painting equipment glanced up, recognized Kara, and smiled. Kara was feeling mischievous and jabbed a finger downward in Colin's direction. The woman looked to the stranger, looked back to Kara, and winked. She moved through the people setting up and took Colin's hand.

"Come with me," she said, urging him to his feet. She smiled playfully as she explained, "You are loitering … and you must pay a fine for doing so."

She pulled him through the painters, most of whom greeted him in one way or the other. She sat Colin on a chair that was upon a dais cut from the stone wall. The semi-circle of artists . "I am Carlotta. Who are you?"

After Colin spoke his name, Carlotta told the artists, "Please welcome our new friend, Mack."

Almost in unison, the dozen and a half men and women spoke back, "Welcome, and great joy, friend Mack."

From her position hiding out of Colin's view, Kara watched with great joy and Carlotta first maneuvered Colin's body into a position that would make painting him a joy … then … asked him casually, "Please remove your shirt."

The art teacher explained that today's lesson was on painting the human body. She chucked, explaining, "I don't mean that they are going to actually paint your body. They're going to paint your image … on their chosen template with their chosen medium."

She got Colin out of his shirt … and then she pulled a string on her long flowing dress and let it fall to the ground. Her deliciously nude and well curved body was within reach just before Colin's eyes. Carlotta sat on a large pillow she placed between Colin's thighs, pressing back into his groin so tightly that he would feel her against his cock and balls. She asked Colin for the hand nearest to her and positioned it over her shoulder and collar bone. His finger tips just barely touched the upper roundness of one full, firm, Double D cup breast. Carlotta laid one of her hands between her thighs in an erotic way, the thumb and index finger close to but not quite touching he womanhood. The other arm wrapped around one of Colin's calves, her hand grasping his shin.

As if this was nothing special or unique, she began describing to the painters how to use the light, to pick their colors, how to make the best use of their chosen medium and surface type, and more. She peeked back up to Colin after finishing with her instructions to ask, "Are you comfortable, friend Mack?"

Kara could see Colin's expression, and she was loving it. She would wait for several minutes, to ensure that he wasn't going to sudden run off, before she descended the stairs. They made eye contact, and Kara only smiled before turning away and heading off toward a particular shop that offered a particular product. The merchant there, Ulee, had what she needed, ammunition for both of her firearms. But the price he wanted was out of reach until and unless the Wizard was interested in some more of the 21st century items she and Colin had brought or had hidden for future trade.

"How is your family, Ulee?" Kara asked, pronouncing the man's name OO-lee. "Your wife is well...? Your boy? Your girl?"

They chatted for a moment, and Kara's ever working and ingenious mind came up with a way to lessen the cost in Chits for the ammo she sought. They made their plan for the evening, and Kara returned to the artist's circle just in time to find it breaking up. The artists thanked friend Mack, and either departed or engaged their teacher in conversations about their work. Kara waited for Colin to retrieve his shirt and descend the dais to come to her.

"You looked like you were having fun," she said with a wide, teasing smile. She took him by the elbow and said, "C'mon … we've been invited to dinner at my friend Ulee's home."

She didn't take him immediately to the merchant's home, though. Instead, they went to another carved out cave in which was The Salon. Either in the open or behind hanging or standing barriers, there were 21st century claw foot bathtubs, barber's chairs, and other items. Three women and a boy were helping residents and visitors with baths, haircuts, manicures, shaves, and more.

"We need to clean up," Kara told Colin. She told the hostess she wanted baths and shaves for both of them, then handed over $4 in chits. When they were done and standing there in only their underwear, Kara moved Colin to a wall full of used and sometimes recently hand-made clothes. She handed the hostess another $1 chit, telling Colin, "Pick something nice for dinner. We're only renting them, so, don't look for desert wear."

When they were finally dressed, Kara led her lover to a home at the far end of the canyon. Through an actual wood door in an actual wood frame, they found a 220 square foot home divided into three small rooms: daughter's bedroom, parents' bedroom, and -- the first they entered -- living area, which was half the square footage and also served as the younger boy's sleeping area.

"Ulee, Greeta, Inga, and Hans," Kara began, gesturing to the family's patriarch, matriarch, 19 year old daughter, and 10 year old son, "This is my traveling partner, Friend Mack."

Greetings were made, with each of the family members calling Colin Friend Mack. Each of the four have very unique approaches to him. Greeta welcomed Colin to her home with a bit more eagerness than what might have seen normal. With a bit of suspicion, Ulee asked Colin about his origins, not having been told by Kara that he was the man who'd fallen from the sky. Hans excitedly showed Colin the model of a windmill he'd made from bits of woven grass stems. And Inga … well, she just sort of stood there in silence, studying Colin and diverting her eyes anytime he looked her way.

They sat down to a dinner that was relatively extravagant for the times. There were three days worth of calories and other nutrients spread before the guests. They ate and talked about business -- Ulee's trading shop and Greeta's fiber spinning -- and more. When they were done, the patriarch got out a small decanter of berry wine that was far better than that afternoon's ale. Ulee sent his boy off to spend the night with friends, and his daughter made her farewells before going off to do some errand for which she'd shown some obvious reluctance.

An hour later, Inga returned. She was dressed in different clothing, and her hair was wet and pulled back in a pony tail. She greeted the guests once again, forcing a smile to Colin before hurrying out through the hanging cloth that was essentially the wall between her bedroom and the living room. There was a sudden awkwardness in the room, with the conversation having ended.

"Ulee and Greeta are yearning for a grandchild," Kara told Colin, renewing the conversation as she turned to face her lover. "Inga's betrothed … former betrothed … he, um … he was unable to help with that."

Kara gave Colin a moment to understand where this was going. She wanted to move out to the edge of her seat and take Colin's hands in her own, to reassure him lovingly. But as far as Ulee and Greeta knew, Kara and Colin were just traveling partners. She went on, "I told them that you have fathered other children in other Freetowns … that they were all healthy children, with no deformities … no weaknesses. They have offered us trade for your services."

She almost said stud services but didn't. What she was asking wasn't that uncommon in this day an age. In Colin's era, it would have been accompanied with a stack of legal documents regarding custody, responsibilities, support if any, and more. But today...? Not so much so.

Kara finished with, "Inga is at that prime, fertile time in her moon cycle."

 

[such_a_bad_man]

As Colin was wrapping up his food, he looked up to see a collection of artists, or so he assumed, walking into the open area to his left. In looking over, he must have caught the eye of the leader as she walked right over.

"Come with me. You are loitering … and you must pay a fine for doing so."

Colin smiled and chuckled a bit while he was being hauled to his feet. He usually didn't like being volun-told to participate in activities, but this woman was being so warm and friendly about it that he couldn't help but join in. Plus, from the look of things, it was going to be an art class. It made his heart swell to know that art was still a pursuit in this post-apocalypse society. He was more than happy to participate.

"I am Carlotta. Who are you?"

Colin smiled at the bubbly, curvy teacher and looked around at the students. "Uh, you can call me Mack. Most people call me Mack." He answered.

He was a bit startled when the circle addressed him at once as "Friend Mack". He nodded to them in turn and followed Carlotta's lead. He took his spot in the middle of the circle, figuring that it was still the same way these days. Since it was an art class, he wasn't shy about shedding his jacket and shirt. When Carlotta so easily came out of her dress, Colin's eyes widened at how nonchalant she was about stripping in front of the class, but also in front of him.

Colin swallowed as she lowered her full curvaceous ass down against his lap. He bit his lip as he felt her grinding back against him, but that turned into a full blush when he realized the pose. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. This was a new society and clearly they didn't have any hang-ups about sex or nudity like his life before the war.

It didn't help that she seemed to like grinding back against his cock. TO be honest, he liked it too. He really like Kara, but they weren't supposed to look like a couple... would she mind if he got a little friendly with Carlotta? He sat and thought about that, trying not to move as he held the sexy pose with her. "Now either you're doing that on purpose or you can't feel that...." he finally had to say.

Carlotta smiled back at him over her shoulder. "Maybe I need the tension on your face to make this pose work..." She said innocently, but the smirk on her lips told him a different story.

Colin chuckled and leaned into her a bit more, making the embrace look a bit more sensual. The students seemed to like that and so did Colin. Before long, however, it appeared that the class wrapped up. He didn't get much of a chance to thank her before Carlotta began speaking with the students.

As Colin pulled his top back on, he saw Kara looking up at him with a smirk on her face. She looked rather proud of herself for some reason. He walked down, returning her smile when she told him about their plans for tonight.

"You looked like you were having fun. C'mon … we've been invited to dinner at my friend Ulee's home."

"Sounds great..." Colin said as he followed along with Kara. It seemed that tonight was as close to a formal dinner as he could expect if their first stop was a place to get a bath and shave. It was hard not to stare at Kara's naked body before she slipped into her bath, but he had to remember that they weren't supposed to be a couple in front of the people here.

The ladies that plied their trade here took such good care of Colin. He sighed in the warm water as the surprisingly sharp razor glided over his face. It was his first shave since leaving Hibernation and it was so heavenly to be clean if only for a moment. He was about to pull all his clothes on when Kara indicated that they were renting nice clothes for tonight.

He shrugged, trying not to think about it too hard. He was still learning how customs and society worked now so he didn't stand on his former behaviors anymore. He found a nice top and jacket as well as some pants that fit nicely and dressed in them. Before long, they were headed to Ulee's house.

Colin paused in the doorway, marveling at the wood of the door and frame and how intact they seemed. He stepped through finally, listening to introductions and greeting Ulee and his family. He couldn't help but feel a cool attitude from Inga, the daughter, at his presence. Maybe she didn't like older men. He tried not to think of the bad experiences that she might have had to lead to such an attitude.

Dinner was delicious and maybe the best food that he and Kara had enjoyed since he woke up in his ship. When the berry wine was poured, Colin enjoyed the flavor. This was more his style than the engine filter "beer" they had before. The children left the home as they relaxed following the meal; maybe Ulee and his wife had plans after he and Kara left.

But then, an hour into their post-dinner conversation, Inga came back. She was dressed very differently. In fact, Colin remembered seeing that dress in the same place he got his clothes for tonight and there was no mistaking the smell of the soap. He let it go, but soon, the discussion confirmed what had come to his mind.

"Ulee and Greeta are yearning for a grandchild."

Kara said it so easily. Colin's eyes fell on the cloth barrier that separated the girl's sleeping area from the rest of the house. He did listen to them speaking, about how she wanted to have a child. Through it all, Colin wondered if it might not be better for her to be a part of this conversation.

"Inga is at that prime, fertile time in her moon cycle."

"Then shouldn't we check with her to make sure she's ready to be a mother. Shouldn't she be the one to be asking this?" Colin finally said. For once, he didn't feel like this was the right way to be going about this, even in this new reality of the human race.

"I know it's not my place; I'm not a family man, but it's her body and her future. Shouldn't she have the final say in all this?" Colin asked, looking at Ulee and Greta.

 

[CutiePie1997]

"Then shouldn't we check with her," Colin asked about Inga, "to make sure she's ready to be a mother. Shouldn't she be the one to be asking this?"

Kara might have thought Colin was making a good point, if that was how such things were conducted now in Kara and Inga's world. Inga had recently turned 18, and in Colin's long gone world, that would have made her an adult, legally. But this wasn't Colin's world. What gave Inga the right to make such decisions was her ability to fully and consistently support herself: secure housing, feed herself, pay her community contribution -- aka taxes -- to The Gulch, and more. Until she was able to do all this, her parents decided what rights Inga did or did not have. And until she was able to do all this, if they wanted her to conceive and birth a child, it was their decision, not hers.

"I know it's not my place; I'm not a family man, but it's her body and her future. Shouldn't she have the final say in all this?"

This was all moot, though. Because before Ulee or Greeta could say anything and before Kara was able to explain any of this, the curtain separating the room in which the adults were sitting from that in which her small bed lay against the stone wall opened.

"I would like to give my parents a grandchild, Friend Mack, for it would make them so very happy," Inga said in a soft voice. When Colin looked to her, she clarified, "I would like to have a child … for ... it would make me so very happy. And … and I would be very pleased … if you would consent to helping me make that child … Friend Mack."

Kara looked to Colin with a hopeful expression. She showed no sign of jealousy over having her new lover fuck this younger woman. This wasn't about fucking for pleasure; this went far above and beyond something as basic as sexual satisfaction. This was about community … about the Human race … about love for a child.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Colin turned to look at Inga as she walked back out. He scolded himself as he realized that she wanted this as badly as her parents did. Also, as far as someone with dreams of saving the world, adding a healthy, living baby to the world these days was imperative. He chided himself a few more times before getting up.

Colin crossed to where the young woman stood, hugging herself after laying out her thoughts about it. He took one of her hands in his and held it between his bigger hands. Looking down into her eyes, he nodded.

"Very well, since you and your family have come to this decision, I will play my part in it. I hope that I can give you what you want," Colin promised, leaning down to kiss the waif's hand. Standing back up, he smiled warmly at her.

Turning back to the others at the table, Colin looked at Kara. From the look in her eyes, he knew that she had no problems with this as far as their relationship was concerned. He nodded and looked to Ulee.

"I have a room down the canyon if you would prefer. I don't feel right kicking you out of your own house..." He says, smiling sheepishly as Colin felt suddenly bashful about what he was being asked to do.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Inga's face exploded in a fiery blush as Colin took her hands in his. He told her, "Very well, since you and your family have come to this decision, I will play my part in it."

She murmured ever so softly, "Thank you, Friend Mack."

Colin spoke of the room he and Kara had down the canyon. But Kara chuckled a bit as she stood and walked over to him. As she pulled him aside, all of the others went into action: Inga began gathering candles from various horizontal surfaces, Greeta went through the cloth wall into the bedroom (to make the bed with special sheets, though, Colin wouldn't know that, of course), and Ulee began pouring hot water from a metal pot over the fire into ceramic cups before placing them on a tray for transport to the bedroom.

"You, um … you're new here … Mack," Kara told Colin in a corner of the little home as the others worked quickly. "So … you couldn't understand this … but … well..."

Kara glanced over her shoulders to Inga's obviously joyful father, then back as she explained, "They have to be here … for their daughter's safety. Don't get me wrong … no one thinks you're going to hurt Inga. But … it's just the way it's done. They'll be out here with me. Yeah, I have to be here, too. I'm the one making the deal. I have to verify that the service had been done before I get my payment."

Kara's lips widened and she laughed before leaning in closer to say, "I'm getting paid for offering them stud service … stud."

Greeta emerged from the bedroom, and as she pulled the cloth opening back to reveal the bed beyond, she said politely, "My daughter is ready for you, Friend Mack."

Kara turned Colin toward the opening. Beyond it, the already naked and bejeweled Inga of the Gulch was waiting for the father of her future baby to join her in the breeding bed.

(OOC: I just noticed that the image for Inga will not show on my phone, only on my computer. If you can't see it on your device, do a search for Cassidy Cole … and then find a quiet, out of the way place to masturbate.)

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Colin swallowed, suddenly nervous. He couldn't get the thought of Inga's parents being in the next "room" out of his head. He tried to listen as Kara explained what was happening and what this all meant, but he couldn't get over how public this was going to be.

"I'm getting paid for offering them stud service … stud."

Colin couldn't hold back a laugh at that. To be honest, it was what he needed to hear. Something to break the mood helped him breathe deep and relax again. He looked down at the tray that Ulee had left with the tea and teapot. He was about to ask about it when Inga's mother, Greta, walked back out.

"My daughter is ready for you, Friend Mack."

Colin nodded in response and walked inside. When he turned to look at Inga, he was blown away by what he saw. She was gorgeous and honed by a hard life like Kara had been. Her full firm breasts sat high with no inch of sag. He was starting to wonder if all women from this time were beauties.

He smiled at the slightly nervous young woman. "Inga, I want to thank you for choosing me. I appreciate the level of trust you already have for me."

Colin was about to continue when Ulee walked in after him. He placed the tray with the cups and teapot on a bedside table. He pour some of the steeped tea into the cups before turning and leaving. Colin followed him out, blushing a little as he saw Greta lingering in the opening dabbing at her cheeks as she smiled at her daughter. Kara helped guide her away with her husband Ulee before she stuck her head in one last time.

"Good luck," she said smiling as she closed the flap behind everyone.

Colin was a little awkward at all the routine and ceremony that seemed to be going on, but watched as Inga sat up and took a cup from the tray. She carefully placed it in Colin's hands before taking one herself.

"We are to drink these together," she said, sounding a little more confident. She held hers up, waiting for Colin.

Colin took it to be a toast and tapped his cup to hers. "To your happy and healthy baby..." He said, making a toast. Inga smiled, looking a little embarrassed as it seemed like he wasn't supposed to do that, but she didn't mind. The pair took deep sips from their cups and set them aside. Colin wasn't much of a tea drinker back in the 21st century so he tried hard not to make a face as he set the cup aside. He managed to get it down as he looked into Inga's eyes.

"Is there any more you might like to ask me?" Colin asked, his voice quiet. Inga shook her head. Colin nodded and stood up from the bed. "Then, allow me to show you that you need not worry." He said. The discussion that Kara had with the guard on their way in had stuck with Colin. He wanted to make sure that Inga felt at ease that he could deliver on his promise.

Colin looked down at Inga laying on the bed as he started to disrobe. He slid off his jacket and hung it on a chair in the room. A few buttons later and he laid his shirt on top of it. As he stood there, Inga slid off the bed.

She crossed to him, still naked for him, and slid a hand up his chest. It wasn't so much a cress, but a test of his musculature, or so he told himself. He was glad that the sensor suit helped with his muscular atrophy; he didn't want her to feel 200 years of sag.

Inga's hands moved down, taking over from Colin, as she opened the toggles on his pants. She let them fall as she stepped back and gauged Colin's manhood. He saw her swallow and bite her lip before looking back into his eyes.

"Do I meet with your approval?" Colin asked quietly. Inga walked over, taking Colin's hand and leading him back over to the bed. She sat down on the edge before pushing herself up to lay against the pillows. Colin followed her up onto the bed, laying over her as she spread her legs without a word. Colin lay himself over her as he leaned down to kiss her softly. He looked in her eyes as he pulled back. "Sorry, I should have asked first..." he said, looking deep in her eyes as he brought his hips closer. The heat from her young pussy spread along Colin's cock as the tip brushed her slit.