Quaranteam
Chapter 9
The next day Andy was struggling to figure out a plan. He’d been running it around in his head for hours, trying to see some easy way through this, but he kept coming back to the same inevitable point—he needed Phil’s help.
God, he was tired of having to ask Phil for help.
“You’re vexed, Andy,” Niko said to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
He’d been sitting at his desk, and he looked back over his shoulder to her. “How can you tell?”
“You’ve been looking at that computer screen for almost an hour and haven’t typed a word, babe,” she said, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “That’s vexed. We haven’t been together long, but I recognize when you’re vexed. I do the same, when I’m thinking very hard about something. I stare and I fret, while I’m vexed.”
“You seem rather like a badass, Niko. You sure you’re going to be okay, being saddled with a square like me?”
She laughed. It was a sound he was quickly learning to love, confident and yet still somehow a little cheeky. “You’ve been keeping this house together despite all the chaos. That doesn’t seem square to me.”
“You know I’m like a dozen years your elder, right?”
“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. So how can I help? What are you vexed by?”
“Last night, our little voyage out, we brought back a new girl for Eric. She’s Lily’s former roommate. She was supposed to be with someone else, but apparently the man she was paired up with has a history of domestic abuse, and so Lily insisted we rescue her and paired her up with Eric so no one could pull her away.”
“So you’re trying to figure out how to tell the government about how she’s paired up with someone different? What makes you think they’re even going to notice?”
“She’s a weather reporter on one of the local news stations, so people are going to notice. I think I’ve got a solution, but I just hate to do it. I feel like I’m always leaning on this friend to help us out.”
“Oh? Someone you’ve told me about?”
“Phil. I’ve mentioned him. In fact, you should probably meet Phil. I’m just tired of constantly asking him for help.”
“Do you really ask him for help a bunch, or does it just feel like it and you’re overreacting?” she grinned.
“Probably the latter, but it doesn’t always feel like that.” Andy grabbed his phone and loaded up the Signal messenger app. He and Phil used it to keep their communication private. -Meet up in an hour at the usual spot?—
Almost immediately he got a response. -Make it 2.—
“Okay, looks like I’ve got a meeting set up. Phil’s been our man on the inside for this whole pandemic. He works for a company that contracts for the military, and while he can’t tell us exact details about what’s going on, he can help paint in some of the corners. Phil’ll know how to get all this sorted out.”
“How long have you two known each other?”
“Nearly 20 years? He’s good people. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Sure, lemme go throw some pants on.”
A couple hours later, Andy and Niko had headed back to the park to meet up with Phil, who didn’t bring Audrey with him. He was dressed wrapped in head to toe, much like he was the last time, a mask over his face and goggles over his eyes, with a ballcap pulled down over his jet black hair. Andy was dressed much the same. Niko didn’t feel the need to wear goggles, and had her hair drawn back into a ponytail. Phil kept a good distance from them, pushing his vape pen behind his mask to take a drag from it, then tugged the mask down briefly to blow out a cloud of vapor into the air. “So what’s the 911 call about, Andy?”
“First, let me introduce you—”
“Airman Redwolf,” Phil said, cutting him off.
“Mr. Marcos,” Niko replied. “Didn’t know your name was Phil.”
“I’m surprised you even remember me, Airman. You were pretty out of it when I sort nudged you towards Andy.”
Andy cocked his head. “You sent her my way?”
“She’s part of our tribe, Andy. Geek cred through and through, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have her kept in the family, so I just made a connection in the system. She had decent odds to end up with you anyway, but why take a chance, right?”
“Guess I owe you one then, Mr. Marcos,” Niko said.
Phil swiped his hand in the air. “Then I’ll call in that favor to insist you never, ever call me Mr. Marcos unless we’re at work. Deal?”
“I can make that promise.”
“This what you called me about, Andy?” Phil said, finally stepping a little further back, pulling off his mask so he could just continually draw from the vape pen.
“Nah. I’ve got a bigger problem. So Eric’s picked up a runaway.”
Phil frowned a little bit. “How do you mean?”
“So Eric’s partner, Lily. She had a roommate before the whole pandemic, name of Jenny. Now apparently Jenny was set up with some guy.”
“That’s how it works, Andy.”
“I get that, Phil. But it turns out the guy she was set up with was some kind of domestic abuser.”
“Wait, what?” Phil scowled. “That sort of thing should’ve shown up before he got paired up with anyone.”
“I dunno. Maybe it didn’t get reported before, maybe this was his first time and he was trying it on. But before Jenny could get imprinted on him, he tried to take a swing at her.”
“Fuck. She okay?”
“She’s got some self-defense training, so she got away from the guy unscathed and went into hiding.”
“You get the guy’s name?”
“I can have Eric send it to you. But that’s not the big concern. The big concern is that once we rescued her, she imprinted onto Eric. And she’s a talking head.”
“Shit,” Phil said, taking another drag. “News?”
“Weather.”
Phil swiped a hand back in the air again. “Send me her name. I’ll get it taken care of. Don’t even trip about it. That’s the least of our problems right now.”
“Shit getting bad, sir, I mean Phil?” Niko asked.
“You have no idea.”
“How bad?” Andy asked.
“We’re looking at ten to twenty before it’s all done.”
“Ten to twenty million people dead? Jesus!”
“No, percent. We’re talking ten to twenty percent of America dead, mostly men. We’re guessing it’ll end up around sixty million dead before the vaccine’s in full effect in the middle of next year.” Phil took a heavy drag, and the news hung in the air like a guillotine’s blade. “The news is going to break any day now how fatal the new mutation of the virus is getting, and then everything’ll be crazy. The army’s going to be deployed here on US soil and martial law’s going to go into effect. President Pelosi’s at least been quick about it, and she’s bunkered down. News hasn’t broken yet, but the orange gooomba died on the operating table a couple of hours ago. Looks like milquetoast will be next in a couple of days.”
“Forty or fifty million men dead? That’s nearly half of the male population!” Niko said. “How the hell are we going to recover from that?”
“We’re going to have to pair up a lot more women with the remaining men, and encourage them to have a whole shitload of kids,” Phil sighed. “But even with that, it’s going to be a fucking mess for a generation. Which reminds me, when you go home, I want you to start packing up your things.”
“Packing?” Andy asked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, start figuring out the absolute minimum you would need to take with you if you had to leave in a hurry, and then get anything that might take a few minutes packed up. Anything else, just have it at the ready.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Nah, but it wouldn’t hurt to be a little prepared.”
“What’s happening, Phil?”
“I can’t tell you that yet, but the world’s gonna keep on changing, and it doesn’t hurt to be ready for it.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“You’ll actually be very happy after it happens, man. Trust me.”
“If you say so.”
“Trust Big Daddy Phil.”
Andy rolled his eyes. “I trust you about as far as I can throw you, and that ain’t very far.”
“You’ll see.” His watch beeped and Phil turned it up to look at it. “I gotta get back into the office. Send me Eric’s new girl’s name and the guy she was supposed to be hooked up with, and I’ll make a few edits into the system.”
“You know Phil, there are days it feels like you’re seriously into some black bag shit.”
“Only some days?” Phil said, taking one final drag off his vape pen before blowing a huge cloud up and into the air. It smelled vaguely of cinnamon buns, Andy noted. “Then I gotta up my game again. I’ll see you soon, brother.” He pulled his mask back up and headed back to his car.
Andy and Niko watched him go, stretching out a little bit. “So you worked with Phil, huh?” Andy asked her.
Her face scrunched up a little. “I was part of their security detail until I got exposed to the virus and then got quarantined. When the symptoms started to get severe, they used us as test cases for vaccinations and tried to pair us off. They were having trouble finding someone to match me with, based on my stated preferences before I got drugged.”
Andy smirked a little behind his mask. “I knew I wasn’t exactly what you were looking for.”
“You’re a little older than I initially wanted, Andy, but I don’t have any complaints now that I’m with you. I was also a bit leery about sharing a partner with anyone, but it seems like that’s going to be SOP moving forward.”
“SOP?”
“Standard Operating Procedure. If Mr. Mar—if Phil’s right about those casualty numbers, they’re going to have to pair up a LOT of women to individual men. I bet you’re going to get a bunch more than just the one more you’re expecting.”
“Jesus, that’s a whole lot of personalities to keep in balance,” Andy grumbled. “I dunno if I’m up to that.”
“You don’t have to do it alone, stupidhead,” she teased. “You’ve got Ash and me to help manage the cavalcade of women you’re going to be saddled with. We’ll try and keep everyone from killing one another and manage your time, although we’re definitely going to have to continue getting you into better shape.”
“Lauren’s started in on that, but frankly, I probably need to eat better.”
“And cut down on the soda. You’ve got a full nest to look after.”
“This scares the shit out of me,” he sighed, leaning his back against a tree. “You know that, right?”
Niko strolled over to him, a coy playfulness to her stride, as she moved close. “I know how to relax you.”
Andy arched an eyebrow beneath the goggles. “What, here?”
“Who’s going to see?”
“We’re in a public park, Niko!”
“Ask me if I give a fuck,” she said, as she dropped down to her knees, nuzzling her face against the crotch of his jeans.
“Alright,” he laughed, “Niko, do you give a fffff—”
His sentence was cut off as she pressed her mouth down along the length of his cock until the head of it was pressed against the back of her throat. She held it there for a good moment, long enough that he could feel her suppressing her gag reflex, straining back tears before she drew her head back and gasped in a deep breath of air. A playful giggle rolled from her lips, saliva dripping from them. “No sir, I fucking do not. But the faster you give me what I want, the faster we can go home,” she said, moving to kiss at his balls, suckling on his nuts for a moment before moving her lips back to wrap around the head of his dick. “Now hold my hair back and fuck my face.”
Andy reached down and grabbed her silky ponytail with one hand, the other moving to curl his fingers against the back of her head as he pushed her face back down onto his cock. In response, she let out a wanton moan onto his cock, her hands reaching back to grab his ass, helping push her lips down to the base of his shaft, his balls pressing right against her chin.
His hand holding her ponytail pulled her back, sliding her lips back to the head of his cock before pushing her face back down again, feeling her fingernails sinking into his jeans a bit more in response. He could swear he saw her hips thrusting forward beneath him, her legs spread wide, her knees almost pressed to the inside of his ankles.
The pace quickened, as he thrust forward into her face while tugging her down onto each shove, whimpers that sounded delighted shivering across his skin between the sloppy sounds. He finally pulled her head back, letting her pop her head off his cock, just in case she wanted to tell him to stop, tell him she’d changed her mind, or whatever. Instead, she turned her eyes up to him. “Don’t fucking stop. Fuck my face. Gimme that load of hot cum right against the back of my fucking throat. Please?” Her brown eyes were peering up at him as she licked her lips, and he could feel her struggling to try and lean even closer to him.
He started to pump his cock into her mouth again, and suddenly he felt one of her hands slide away from his hips. He could see it push down the front of her jeans, and almost immediately, it came back up again and raised into the air towards his face. Her fingers were glistening, practically soaked, and he could smell her cunt on them as he leaned forward to lick them clean.
Just as he did, he felt his balls draw up and his hand on the back of her head pressed her face down to the base of his cock as that orgasm shredded through him. He knew his cum was blasting into her throat, and could feel her spasming and trembling against him. It still boggled his mind, knowing that his orgasm triggered one immediately in his partner, and far more intense than he’d ever been able to bring a woman to before.
His hands let go, giving Niko back control as she drew back, groaning in a carnal sound he hadn’t yet grown accustomed to. Instead of pulling away, though, she started licking up, making sure to catch any loose jism or spittle from his shaft, her gaze never once leaving his, as she smirked while her tongue slathered him up. “See? Don’t you feel less vexed?”
He couldn’t help it and started laughing, and it was infectious, because she immediately began giggling with him, even while she was lapping up the last of his spunk. “Okay, yes, you got me, I am certainly less vexed. How about you?”
Niko smirked a bit, giving his cock one final lick before she pulled his boxers and jeans back up, rezipping and buttoning them up for him. “By now, you have to understand that your sperm is like a magic formula to us, your partners. It’s exactly what we need and want every day. It’s like giving a junkie a fix. Of course I feel better.” She tugged up his shirt and kissed his stomach before pulling herself back up onto her feet. “I’d have kissed you but—”
“I don’t mind that you just blew me, Niko,” Andy chuckled.
“Oh, that’s not it at all. I just didn’t want to share,” she said with a wink, tapping one of her fingertips on his nose. “Girl’s gotta keep every drop to herself any chance she can. Normally we try and pass a little of each load around, but here I get one all to myself. So I’m savoring that taste lingering on my lips. But we should get back to the house.”
“Fair enough.”
As soon as they got back to the house, Lily was waiting for them by the garage door. “Are we okay?”
Niko smiled at her and gave the plump girl a huge. “Andy’s got you covered, don’t worry.” She rubbed her spiky hair and then headed into the house, leaving the two together.
“So get me the jackass’s name from Jenny, and I’ll get it to our friend Phil, who’ll make sure it gets entered into the record that he’s a domestic abuser.”
“Hopefully that means he won’t get paired with anyone then.”
“Well, based on what Phil said in the Discord channel a week or so back, it’s more likely they’ll pair him with someone who can beat the shit out of him,” Andy sighed. “Or, someone who’s into that kind of thing. People are into all sorts of weird things out here.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Lily said, exhaling a deep breath. “Jenny’s been nuzzled up to Eric all morning, practically unwilling to let him go. I wasn’t planning on sharing him with anyone, but if I have to share him with someone, I guess Jenny’ll be okay.” Andy realized a second later his face must given something away. “What’s with that look? You heard something else from Phil, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty fucking scary out there, Lil.” He shook his head then looked up. “You’re probably going to be sharing Eric with quite a few other women. Men are dying left and right, and they’re going to have to figure out how to keep the country afloat. That means the traditional family unit design is out the fucking window.”
“How bad can it really be if they’re keeping it quiet?”
“It’s about to boil over. The estimate is we’re going to lose nearly half the men in America.”
Her eyes looked to him as if she was waiting for the joke. When it didn’t come, and the silence had hung in the air an uncomfortably long time, she finally spoke again. “Half? Fucking half? Fucking HALF?”
“Yeah, I can’t say I’m thrilled about it either, Lily. I’ve got a lot of guy friends, and the idea of half of them just being fucking gone isn’t exactly news I wanted to hear when I got up this morning, but I got it anyway.” Andy tossed his hands up into the air. “And we can’t fucking tell anyone! The news will out in a few days, but we have to be quiet about it until it is. Also, apparently we need to start packing.”
“Packing? What for?”
“I guess we’re going to be moved at some point. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Soon enough came the very next day. Andy and his usual gang of friends had a Discord channel they hung out on regularly, and they’d been using it for news on each other. And Phil poked his head in just before noon with a simple message:
“@DruidGun 15 minutes.”
The household had spent part of the day before figuring out what essentials they would need on short notice. When the knock on the door came seventeen minutes later, they’d already gotten the cats loaded into their carriers, and their computers packed up.
Standing outside of the door was Dave, flanked by two armed soldiers in hazmat suits. “Hey Andy. We need you folks to load all your shit up into your cars and follow us. We’ll be outside in the truck. Don’t worry about anything you leave behind. We’ll have it brought to you later, but right now, we’ve got to get you safe.”
“How the hell are you going to do that, Dave?” Andy asked, as he heard people moving behind him. “Where are we going?”
“We’ve set up a little bubble village north of Pleasanton, a sort of gated community where we can keep everyone inside safe. Nobody other than military personnel will be let out until after the vaccine’s widely circulated. Anyone who comes in to add to the community will drive in trucks worth of supplies. We’ll even have some basic services like restaurants and movie theaters inside of the walls, so people can get some taste of normalcy again.”
“That sounds pretty good.”
“Beside,” Dave laughed, “I’m sure it’s starting to feel pretty crowded, all of you people inside of this tiny condo. You’ll like your new digs. Okay, we’ll meet you outside.”
Andy got into his car, feeling very snug, with the two cat carriers in the back seat between Niko and Lauren, with Aisling in front. Eric, Lily and Jenny took Eric’s car. Sure enough, the camouflaged truck was idling outside.
It was nearly an hour drive up to an area of the Bay that Andy had only ever driven past, somewhat wooded, with only a single road leading up towards an enclave. He’d never seen a private residence area with a full military guard checkpoint. The guards outside were holding automatic rifles, and looked ready to mow down anyone The truck pulled over at the gate and Dave wandered back to stand alongside Andy’s car, motioning for him to roll down the window. “Here’s where I leave you, my friend. I’ll be let into the complex in a few days, after I get all the high value locals we’re going to keep in New Eden.”
“New Eden?” Andy said, cocking his head to one side. “Jesus, that’s a little pretentious, isn’t it?”
Dave shrugged. “Yeah, maybe, but when have military people ever been good at naming shit?”
“Yeah, okay, fair enough.”
“Just follow the Tesla waiting on the other side. It’ll lead you up to your new home.”
Dave waved for the guard to open the gate. As the metal gate opened, Andy could see a white Tesla X on the other side. Andy pulled his car through the gates, and Eric’s car followed in behind them. The drive was through semi-wooded area, but Andy could see insanely nice houses through the trees in some of the areas.
After about five minutes, they turned onto a driveway that lead up to one of the most expensive looking houses Andy had ever seen with his own two eyes. It looked like it was three stories, and it screamed money. There was a five car garage off to one side, but the Tesla pulled to a stop in front of the building.
Andy and the girls hopped out of their cars, as Eric and his girls hopped out of their car behind them. A woman in her early forties dressed in fatigues popped out of the Tesla and smiled at them. “Welcome to your new home!”
“Heh,” Eric said. “I don’t know that it’s big enough for all of us.” He was obviously joking.
Someone should have told the officer. “Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Yang. This is Mr. Rook’s house. Yours is next door.”
Nobody knew quite what to say to that.