The species imperative a.., p.17
The Species Imperative: A Post-Apocalyptic Pandemic Fantasy, page 17
No one had come to harvest all the grapes this year, and the air stank with the sickly sweet smell of rotting fruit. It seemed as though the birds had multiplied a thousand fold in just a few months. They swarmed around the vineyards, gorging themselves on the purple and green fruit.
The sun began to sink beneath the western horizon, and Melissa pulled off the highway and led us down a small country lane. We drove through large wrought iron gates and found ourselves in a storybook setting. Fields of bright green grass led up to gardens bursting with color.
There was a winery pressed up against the mountainside surrounded by tall redwoods and spreading ancient oaks. There was a large cavern extending back into the mountain, and it looked to be filled with oak casks. Dominating our field of view, though when we first rode up the paved driveway, was a large manor house.
Melissa parked her quad near the house and cut off the engine. The rest of us followed suit. I could tell this was a frequent stopping place from the familiar way Melissa and the other guards moved about the area. The other women and I stared around us in awe.
The gardens were overgrown, and weeds were beginning to peek their heads out of the pristine dark brown soil, but they were still magnificent. I couldn’t help but stare as I dismounted and helped Morgan down behind me.
“We’ll stay here the night,” Melissa said, “The clinic is another thirty miles down Highway 101. If we leave at first light, we should get there early enough to have a full day of work still.”
“What is this place?” Loren asked, walking over and clutching her bag to her chest. Her big blue eyes stared around in awe at the beauty.
“Pretty incredible, isn’t it?” Melissa said, glancing around, “Mistress Hillary knew about this place. Apparently, it was some billionaire’s private winery, liked to take friends and guests up here to wine and dine them. The wine is shit, though, but don’t worry, we brought some good stuff for dinner tonight. I think Emily was planning on cooking us a feast.”
One of the women, unloading her quad, flashed a bright grin, and held up a large box of packaged food. She and a few other women were carrying stuff up into the large house. I went to move off and help, but Melissa stopped me with a light hand on my elbow.
“We should work out the… logistics of this,” the rounded little redhead glanced around at the group of women and then back at me, “Just to make sure everything is fair.”
Several women nodded at that, the older and heavier. I even saw a couple shoot envious and anger tinged looks at tiny Loren and the little Asian twins.
“No,” I said, the sharpness in my voice surprising them all. Melissa’s eyes flared with shock and then jealousy when they darted over to take in the gorgeous form of Loren.
“Very well, my Lord,” The woman said, a tinge of hurt entering her voice when she said the title, “Take whomever you wish to your bed this evening. The rest of us will keep guard.”
I’d come a long way in a short amount of time, but nothing had made me more aware of just how much change had taken place inside me than right then. A couple of months ago, even a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have known what to do in this situation, and my flailing attempts to fix things would have only caused more problems and jealousies.
Now though, I found myself shaking my head, a frown of disapproval finding its way onto my lips. I said nothing as I looked from Loren to Melissa and then at each of the other women. In each, I saw a pure and individual beauty, separate from their physical forms but not divorced from it entirely.
I held each woman’s gaze until they knew the truth of my feelings. When my eyes finally got back to Melissa, all was silent and still, except the light breeze tugging at the treetops.
“We all sleep together in one room,” my words broke the subtle tension that had built up, “Go get it set up.”
“Of course, my Lord,” Melissa said, and remarkably she stood at attention and saluted before turning on her heel and marching up the steps to open up the house.
Whispered conversations sprang up, and I felt eyes on me, but I ignored them. Instead, I took my bag and headed over to the small garage with the broad array of solar panels and antenna on its roof.
I’d already pushed the women and their issues out of my mind, hoping they would work it out amongst themselves, but not really caring. Before me was something I’d been dreaming about for weeks, and as I pried open the door, I prayed there was still power being generated by the solar panels.
The door was unlocked when I entered, and inside I found a sophisticated private security system with a bank of monitors and several computer terminals. The monitors were black, but the lights turned on and off. I found the breakers. Flipping a few that had been popped over, I was rewarded by the sound of computers whirring to life and the monitors flickering on.
I pulled my laptop out of my bag and plugged it in to charge. The thing had been dead for a day, and I felt anxiety fade that I hadn’t even registered. I had to wait a few minutes before I could boot it up, but once I did, I was able to access my log-in scripts. Connecting the systems with ethernet, I was able to hack into the main drive and access their network.
It took longer than I would have liked to get the ports and nodes to communicate correctly. Several women came to check on me, one even setting a steaming cup of tea on a desk nearby. But I was lost in the work before me. As usual, my brain got fully engaged with the problems before me as I knocked down one after another.
Finally, I had access to a broader network and was reading reams of data that scrolled down the screens. Most were encrypted, and after a bit of investigation, I learned that the local Air Force base was responsible for the bulk of the communications happening on still existing networks.
I tried to overlay a map on the triangulated locations of their bases, but the work was too imprecise. I set it aside to be worked on later and instead tried to learn all I could from the non-encrypted communications.
The picture they began to paint was a terrifying one. The bay area had devolved into a chaotic collection of factions from Vietnamese Drug Dealers, to Mexican Gangs, to the Hipster Knitting Circle. Digging through backlogs, it appeared that the disparate groups had found an uneasy truce with one another and had repelled several attempts by the Air Force to establish control over the remaining infrastructure that still functioned in some cities.
Finding the cities too hard and dangerous to infiltrate the Air Force had instead spread north and east. Stretching from Mt. Shasta in the north to the Sierra passes in the west, and even out into the deserts of Reno. For the most part, conflict had been avoided. A few passes from an F-14 silencing most opposition.
All of that had changed over the past couple of days. Information was not clear, but some terrible threat had rolled up from the south, smashing anything in its way that showed even the faintest hint of resistance. Some reports said they were cannibals, clothed in scalps, and the skins of their enemies. Others claimed they were crazy women, driven mad by lust and need.
The peninsula had been routed, and even now, fires raged across Berkley and Oakland. I was reading reports from the Air Force about missing scouts, when my connection was suddenly terminated.
When I tried to log back in and was unable to, I discovered that I’d been put under a DDOS attack by someone. Cursing, I disconnected my laptop and scoured it to make sure there was no malware or viruses on it from whomever had discovered my intrusion on the network. I found a keylogger and several other viruses that had been put on my rig. I felt stupid for leaving myself vulnerable like that.
There had been little to no security for a reason. They’d wanted someone to come barreling through their network as I had, so they could peer into my system just as I had into theirs. I sat there for a long moment and thought through the problem. Finally, I stood, stuffing my laptop in my backpack and turned off all the systems.
I stepped into the large manor house and found the living room and dining room had been transformed into a massive communal bedroom. There were piled of pillows and blankets as well as mattresses dragged out of the rooms. A warm fire burned in the large fireplace, and several women sat around playing cards and chatting as a few more fluttered around the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the meals.
Melissa saw my expression when I stepped in, and she picked up her gun, face hard.
“What is it?” She asked, causing the rest of the women to hush and look at me with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
“We have a problem,” I said and then proceeded to tell them all that I had learned before getting booted out of the network.
“That’s valuable information,” Melissa said, “But who cares if they kicked you out of the network?”
“If they could shut down his IP address,” said one of the Asian twins, “then they know our location or at least an approximation.”
“Exactly,” I said, “and I won’t be able to use my laptop to snoop around the networks anymore. I’ll need to get another rig. More importantly, though, there is someone out there with the resources and ability to control the information and communications in the region, and that’s incredibly powerful.”
“We should leave,” Melissa said, “Pack up and take off, find some other place to sleep.”
“I’ll get started!” Loren said, and a few other women began to start packing, but I raised my hand, drawing their attention, silence settling over the room once more.
“They didn’t learn anything about our mission,” I said, my words quiet but hard. I saw several women look at me with new eyes as I went on, my confidence and commanding tone doing more to turn many of them on than anything else had, “and that’s the most important thing. Better for us to get a goodnight's sleep and push on early than waste half the night packing up and moving a few miles away. No, we stay here. If they send people after us, we’ll deal with it then.”
“What if it’s the Air Force, and they just bomb us out?” One of the guards asked.
“They can’t know precisely where we are,” I said, and the Asian twin nodded, backing me up, “The best they have is an approximation, and if a plane does fly overhead we’re better off inside under a roof, than riding around in the dark.”
“You’re right,” Melissa said, she pointed to two of the guards, “We’ll set a watch though. I’ll feel a lot more secure if there are eyes on the skyline.”
“Good,” I said, “Now I’m starving, what's for dinner?”
The women began to bustle in the kitchen, and a few minutes later, they came out with platters of flapjacks, crispy bacon and bowls of hot oatmeal along with fresh berries and cream. I was surprised at the breakfast spread, but it was hot and filling and hit the spot just right. We sat around and ate, quietly talking with one another. I sat next to Melissa and pressed her for information about where exactly we were headed in between flirting with the redhead and causing her to blush.
As the meal ended, the tension in the house grew minute by minute. I could read the desire building in the women around me. I knew what they all hoped for. It was plain to see in all of their faces, especially little Loren, who sat on my other side and stroked my thigh.
“We should get some sleep,” I said loud enough for all to hear, seeing sadness and disappointment register on their faces, “We have a big day tomorrow, and I want to make sure we get there as early as possible.”
“It’s better if you’re… backed up tomorrow anyway,” Hanh said, flashing a smile to hide her disappointment, “Speaking of which, I’ll need a couple of volunteers to handle collecting Adam’s… sample. Miko, Yui, and I will be too busy for the first couple of hours.”
The Vietnamese doctor looked around and smiled in amusement when every hand went up, the women all eager to be of service. She looked to me with a raised eyebrow, and I sighed quietly. I’d been hoping to avoid this, but I knew eventually I would have to.
“Let Loren pick,” Melissa said, “She’s known you the longest. If you start picking favorites, it will just breed more jealousies and bitterness.”
The larger woman glanced down, a look of sadness clouding her features. Loren bent over and rested her hand on the other woman's, looking up at her with a warm smile.
“All will be well,” the tiny model said, and the honest kindness on her beautiful face drew tears to Melissa’s eyes when she glanced up, smiling shyly, “Hanh will need multiple samples, to be safe and there are some things I wanted to look into if there’s a spare lab.”
I was grateful to have the evening of rest, for sleep had dragging my eyelids down for the past hour. As the women spoke with one another and paired off, planning what they would look for and loot in the town, I rolled into a blanket near the fire and felt sleep drag me down immediately.
Haunting dreams plagued my sleep, and I woke several times. The last time I awoke, I found the tiny priestess cuddled up close, the little spoon to my big. Her warmth and the cinnamon spice smell of her hair were comforting, and after that, I was able to sleep the rest of the night.
Chapter 33
When I woke up, the room was still dark, with the first faint hint of morning light staining the horizon. My morning wood pressed painfully against my pants, and my balls ached with the need to relieve them. It was harder than I ever remember it being not to relieve myself or roll atop one of the dozen women scattered around me. Our mission was too critical though, and so I climbed free of Morgan’s entangling limbs and stretched.
It wasn’t until I stood outside in the cold air and shivered that my intense desire began to fade. The guardswoman who sat in a chair outside gave me a nod of greeting, her bright green eyes traveling up my body as she bit her bottom lip and gave a deep sigh before turning back to her lookout duties.
I felt a surge of lust course through me, and my hands trembled as my mind filled with images of bending the woman over right there and ravaging her body. My hands shook with desire, and the woman looked over curiously when I took a small step towards her. With a herculean effort, I turned away and walked down to the quads.
As I stood there, hands stuffed in my pockets, breath misting the morning air before me, I had to take deep, slow breaths in order for the mania and wild lust to calm down. I felt out of control, liable to do anything to relieve the hardness still tenting my pants.
I realized with a start that this was the first time I’d gone a full twenty-four hours without orgasming since I’d woken up. My balls felt full and swollen like I had the worst case of blue balls that ever existed.
The species imperative had changed or was changing me just as dramatically as it had the women. I struggled to sublimate the great need and finally got mastery over myself a few minutes later. It was like being an addict. My body craved the touch of others and its release so badly.
The women woke and packed quickly, and we munched on granola bars for breakfast as we loaded up the four-wheelers. We were back on the narrow road leading to the highway just as the sun began to crest the horizon.
We were just about to get onto the onramp when Melissa held up a fist halting us. We all heard the sound then and looked up in the sky to see two dark objects approaching fast. Twin fighter jets screamed over us, their jet engines filling the air with a cacophony of sound. We watched the two fighters bank and turned, scouting the area.
Without waiting for them to leave, Melissa kicked her quad into motion, and we took off down the highway. The jets passed over us several times, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up each time they did, wondering if rockets or weapons fire might rain down on us at any moment. Melissa seemed unconcerned, but I saw her shoulders relax when the planes flew back east.
The sprawl of civilization began about an hour later. Small towns were cropping up along the highway that grew larger and larger the further south we went. I began to grow concerned when we hit a bigger city and I saw several thin lines of smoke rising into the air. We even passed a pair of women pushing shopping carts loaded down with canned foods.
Morgan’s thin arms tightened around me when she saw the haunted looks on the women's faces, and I heard her mutter a prayer against my back. When we caught glimpses of the town through the barrier surrounding the highway, it looked grim and dangerous. There was wreckage everywhere from the winding down of society and its eventual collapse. Store fronts had been broken into, and there were large sections of town that had burnt down.
Just past the city was a small little college town that looked in far better shape. Hanh pointed when we drew near an exit on the northern edge of town, and Melissa pulled to a stop at the top of the exit ramp.
“Keep your heads on a swivel,” she said, her face a grim mask, “Anyone could be hiding in these buildings. We get to the clinic, get our work done, and get out of here.”
With a final look to make sure we all understood the danger, she gave a firm nod and motioned for Hanh to lead the way. The tall Asian took us on a winding course through the small town until we arrived in a small medical office park.
The world man had built was beginning to edge toward the wilderness, far faster than I might have guessed. Weeds were peeking out of cracks in the pavement. The shrubs were overgrown and stretching far out onto pathways and sidewalks. The place looked abandoned, except someone had broken into the small pharmacy and ransacked it, leaving pill bottles and shattered glass strew everywhere.
Hanh led us around behind one of the long buildings, and we parked our quads. My cock ached as I felt the priestess shift against me. The girl's slender form, for perhaps the hundredth time since we’d left, sparked my lust, my dick on the verge of exploding at any moment. Then she hopped off, her little white dress swirling around her slender hips. She flashed me an impish smile and winked, her pale eyes making the sight slightly terrifying.
Hanh unlocked the doors with a set of keys, and Melissa and one of the other guards went in to make sure it was empty and safe. We all piled in minutes later and locked the doors behind up. The power was still functioning in this section of town, and we feared how long that might keep up.
