Quaranteam: SE - Team Davies Ch. 12

Quaranteam: Southeast - Team Davies

By 2charlie

The Quaranteam Universe is the creation of CorruptingPower, used with permission.

Thanks to BreakTheBar, AgathonWrites, RonanJWilkerson, The_Licentious_Laureate, BronanTheLibrarian, OtterlyMindblowing, SilverRyden, BirchesLoveBooks, Reader737b, and the other QT Writers for their feedback and contributions to this work. Be sure to check out their work.

Dramatis Personae

Team Davies

Joshua 'Miles' Davies - Captain, USN [DOB: 07OCT1980] Sustainability Subject Matter Expert, in charge of Operation Endure, Cubmaster for Pack 479, Asst. Scoutmaster for Troop 479(b)

Sean Michael Davies - [DOB: 08MAR2010] Miles' son, Arrow of Light scout, Den 4, Pack 479, 5th Grade

Penelope (Penny) Jade Sommers - [DOB: 09SEP1984] Miles' former sister-in-law, first partner, Asst. Scoutmaster for Troop 479(g)

Elise (Ellie) Crystal Sommers - [DOB: 01APR2010] Penny's daughter, Arrow of Light Scout, Den 4, Pack 479, 5th Grade

Janet (Jan) Alicia Seward - [DOB: 02JUN1990] Miles' Second Partner, Elementary School Teacher, FL Virtual School, Committee Chair for Pack 479

Trent Albert Seward - [DOB: 03JAN2012] Jan's son, WEBELOS scout, Den 5, Pack 479, 4th Grade

Debra Hanna Jansen - 1LT, USAF [DOB: 18FEB1996] Miles' Third Partner, 144th Medical Airwing, TAD Operation Endure

Ava Marie Chavez - 2LT, USAF [DOB: 17AUG1998] Miles' Fourth Partner, 22nd Logistics Wing, TAD Operation Endure

Sophia Anne Palmer - [DOB: 14FEB1999] Miles' Fifth Partner - Senior, UF, Sustainability Engineering Program, Intern on Operation Endure

Madison (Maddie) Abigail Jeffries - [DOB: 21JUL1999] Miles' Sixth Partner - Senior, UF Electrical Engineering Program, Intern on Operation Endure

Noah Meyer - [DOB: 20NOV2012] Fraternal twin to Emma, Bear Cub, Den 6, Pack 479, 3rd Grade, Fostered by Team Davies

Emma Meyer - [DOB: 20NOV2012] Fraternal twin to Noah, Bear Cub, Den 6, Pack 479, 3rd Grade, Fostered by Team Davies

Team Palmer

David Edgar Palmer - [DOB: 21JUN1977] - Civil Engineer

Martha Caryn Palmer - Brigadier General, USAF [DOB: 01MAY1978] David's wife, Commander, AF Central Florida Regional Operations

Guinness O'Connor - [DON: May 25, 1985] David's 2nd Partner, Literature Professor from USF

Skyler Hurley - [DOB: Nov. 11, 1992] David's 3rd Partner, Computer Science Major, USF - Incident Response Planner

Alison Eaton - [DOB: Dec. 28, 1993] David's 4th Partner, Medical Engineering - Miami University - Artificial Heart Valve Engineer.

Angelina McCann - [DOB: Feb. 29, 1996] David's 5th Partner, Social Media Consultant, Influencer

Brandi Dickson - [DOB April 11, 1999] David's 6th Partner, Sustainability Engineer - UF Grad, Former student of Miles, classmate of Sophia

Chapter 12

All Characters depicted in sexual situations in this story are over the age of 18.

**** Gainesville, FL - 0645, Friday, August 14, 2020****

Miles rushed across his backyard to the pool enclosure, then walked quickly around his pool, weaving his way through his fitness equipment to the French doors that opened out from the master bedroom. Today was a big day, and he wanted to make sure he was ready.

Trying the latch on the door, it was locked. Miles tapped softly on the door, and a moment later Jan's beatific smile made his morning even better than it already was. Unlocking the door, she let him in, and he gave her a bear hug, picking her nude body up and twirling her around, making her squeal like a little girl before setting her back down, and then closing the door behind him. Looking around, he saw the bed was already empty. He could hear water running in the master bath, so he assumed that at least one of his partners was in there. Raising his eyebrows inquisitively, he looked at Jan.

"Oh, right - Penny took Barney for a walk. I am about to wake the kiddos and get them moving, and Deb and Ava are in the bathroom getting all gussied up for today," she informed him. Leaning in closely, she added conspiratorially, "Oh, and although my visitor has passed, it seems Ava's arrived last night, and she's a little disappointed about not being preggers yet. Make nice to her today, yeah? You and I can do some fun stuff later, but right now, she could use a little attention."

"Thanks, Jan. You're the best!" he told her, meaning it, and leaned in to kiss her, reaching for her breasts.

Swatting his hands away, she took on a scolding look as she whispered to him in a mommy's voice, "No time for that right now, mister! You've got to go get ready, so you look good for your team. Now scoot!" With that, she turned and hustled away, grabbing a robe as she went, leaving him grinning as he watched her go.

As soon as she had gone, he pivoted and headed into the bathroom. Seeing two of his partners in the shower already, he stepped over to the sink and grabbed his razor. Shaving quickly, he brushed his teeth, glancing at them in the mirror every so often.

As he was finishing his teeth, Deb stepped out of the shower, telling him, "Hurry up, dear - I left the water on for you."

Rinsing out his brush, he grabbed a towel and stripped, tossing his shorts into the hamper as he hung his towel on the hook just outside the shower enclosure and stepped inside to find Ava just soaking under the spray of one of the shower heads. Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him, just holding her. He could tell by the movements of her back and shoulders that she was quietly crying, so he bent over and kissed her neck, asking her, "What's wrong, love?"

Turning to him, she mashed her magnificent breasts against his chest and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment, just returning his hug. Eventually, she drew in a deep breath, calmed herself, and leaned back to look at him.

"I got my period last night, baby," she told him softly, looking him directly in the eyes. "I was hoping that you'd already put a child in me. Knowing that it's not so, makes me sad."

"Shhhh, don't be sad, Ava," he soothed her, stroking her hair with one hand and rubbing her lower back with the other. "We'll get there, you'll see. These things take time, but I'm committed to getting this done for us. I promise I don't mind all the sex we're gonna have to have to get you pregnant. Truly, it's no trouble at all."

Laughing at him, she punched him softly in the chest. "You're such a fucking squid," she chuckled, looking relieved that he wasn't upset.

"Have you washed up yet, or do I get to wash you this morning?" he asked her, reaching for her shampoo.

"I've already done all of that. I need to dry off, do my hair and make-up, and get dressed. Give me one more big hug, and I'll leave you to it."

Setting down the shampoo, he wrapped her up in a hug once more, rocking her slowly back and forth as he whispered his love for her into her ear. Finally, she pried herself from his grasp, stood on her tiptoes to give him another kiss, then turned and exited the shower.

Left to himself, Miles hurried through his shower, washing his hair, soaping down, and finally rinsing off. Shutting off the water, he grabbed his towel and stepped out to get dry and dressed as well.

Today, because they were going to be hosting the Town Hall event later that afternoon, all three were wearing their branch's Service Dress Uniforms. For Miles, that meant he was wearing his Service Khakis, which consisted of khaki trousers, a short-sleeve khaki shirt, complete with ribbons and surface warfare pin above his left breast pocket, nameplate above his right breast pocket, eagles on his collar tabs, gold belt buckle, black oxfords, and his khaki garrison cap. The women were both wearing their Air Force Service Dress uniforms, which consisted of Air Force blue skirts, light blue blouses with soft rank loops in Air Force blue on their shoulders, ribbons above their left breast pocket, nameplates above their right breast pocket, black pumps, and peaked service caps.

The three of them entered the kitchen to a bevy of wolf whistles, which the children happily joined in.

Sean stepped over to his father and gave him a quick hug, a strange look on his face. "I haven't seen you in that uniform in a while, Dad," the boy said, and he ran a fingertip over the shiny new rank insignias on Miles' collars.

"You like my eagles, huh?" Miles asked him with a grin.

"Captain Davies," the boy said, accentuating the rank. "I like it." Hugging Miles once more, he went back to his seat at the table, resuming his breakfast.

Ellie came up to him next, also wanting in on the hugging action. Holding her arms around his shoulders, she quietly spoke into his ear, "Momma's right. You do look handsome in that uniform, Uncle Miles."

"Your momma says that, huh?" he teased her, then added, "Don't tell her I told you this, but your momma's amazing. And so are you!" He gave her an extra squeeze, kissing her on the cheek before sending her on her way.

Not to be left out, Trent and the twins both came up to Ava and Debra, giving each of the bemused women big hugs. Trent just looked from one woman to the other, gave a low whistle, and said, "Hubba, Hubba!" before he blushed and hurried back to the table. Emma and Noah each gave extra-long hugs to the two women, then gave Miles a quick hug and scampered wordlessly back to their breakfasts.

Penny and Jan both approached Miles as he filled his Yeti tumbler with freshly brewed tea. "My goodness, y'all look very nice in your service uniforms!" Jan exclaimed, giving each of the women a hug.

Penny leaned close to whisper in Miles' ear, "Just an FYI - Ava's not the only one to get her visitor last night," kissing him deeply afterward.

As she pulled away, he pulled her back in for another kiss, then leaned back and looked her in the eye. "If things go as I expect, we'll be going back to some sort of lock-down, perhaps even martial law after the town hall. Any shopping you need to do, place your order first thing and try to pick it up no later than 3 pm today. And stay safe!"

He gave her another quick hug, then turned to Jan and gave her a hug and a kiss. Leaning back from her, he got a mischievous gleam in his eye and just stared deeply into her eyes, making her blush as he silently communicated his intentions to her for later.

Seeing no sign of his other partners, he grabbed his laptop backpack and headed to the garage, his two officers in tow. As he passed through the laundry room, he started singing, loud enough for Jan to hear, "I've got it made, got it made, got it made..."

He almost lost it when Debra and Ava chimed in a moment later, singing, "I'm hot for teacher!"

**** Gainesville, FL - FOB Waldo - 1100, Friday, August 14, 2020****

Miles was pleasantly surprised when he returned to his team's offices after having met with General Palmer and her staff. Sophia and Maddie had joined them after all, even though he'd told them they could take the day off if they wanted to. Both were dressed very nicely in sharp-looking business attire. Maddie was in a no-nonsense black skirt, burgundy blouse ensemble, with matching burgundy heels and purse, while Sophia was wearing a charcoal pencil skirt and matching jacket, with a coal-black blouse, black heels, and black purse. Both had applied a minimal amount of makeup - the epitome of professionalism - perfect for the day's upcoming events.

"Okay, gather around so I can give you all a quick update based on the meeting I was just in," Miles said, pulling up a chair in the middle of the room.

As the others pulled their chairs around into a circle so they could all face him, he began to lay out the key points from the staff meeting. "First, we will be going back into a lock-down, that will probably last until whenever this shit gets revealed to the nation - to the world, I guess - regarding the existence of DuoHalo, the current vaccine, and its inevitable impact on society. It is a priority that we keep all information contained regarding our activities in Gainesville, as well as why they are necessary."

He looked around but saw no questions, so he continued. "The military will be largely in charge of instituting the lockdown, with support from the National Guard. Local LEOs will continue to do their assigned community policing - their numbers are too thin to do that job AND enforce a lockdown."

Glancing again at his notes, Miles continued, "Second, a curfew will be put into effect, beginning this evening. All non-emergency traffic will be subject to stop and arrest between 10 pm and 6 am."

He looked down at his notes for a moment before continuing. "Third, barricades will be put into place to stop or limit traffic into or out of Gainesville. Three of the four exits from I-75 will be blocked off using concrete barriers, and the fourth will have a manned checkpoint preventing access unless authorized - which will be limited to supplies, food, etc., but preventing lookie-loos from coming to check out what's going on. Similar barricades or checkpoints will be put into place on surface roads leading into Gainesville from neighboring communities, such as 441 southbound from Hague, 24 from Fairbanks, 20 from Hawthorne, 441 northbound from Micanopy, Archer Road, and Newberry Road. Chances are, anything small will be blocked outright, but a few of the larger arteries will have checkpoints to enable limited access - again, for necessary traffic, not tourists."

"What about internet and cellular services?" Debra asked, with the others nodding, looking concerned.

"I asked about that. I think we're at the point where that won't be necessary. If I understand it correctly, the government has sufficient capacity built up to actively censor unwanted traffic in real-time."

The ladies all shifted uncomfortably but restrained themselves from further comment.

"As for the Town Hall, we are limited as to what we can discuss with the civilians. We can outline Tranche 1 activities for now, but not beyond. With any luck, this will all become public knowledge before we get very far into Tranche 2. The mayor will be asking the big box stores and small shops alike to understand what is going to happen so that they can make informed decisions about how they need to adjust to the new dynamic."

Reviewing his notes, he continued, "We won't be asking for more than about one hundred or so headcount as a workforce for the reclamation efforts, with another hundred or so to handle the sorting and organization of the Haves-Needs market. Those efforts will be prioritized for now. We can continue to work on the Identify and Assess tasks, but with only a few additional headcount to assist for now."

He paused, seeing frustration in the eyes of his team. Maddie spoke first. "I can get the job done with 200 assets, but it will go slower than I'd hoped."

Miles nodded, understanding her concern. "I suggest you take a modified approach - consider two crews of five to perform street-sweep ops. That's ten streets at a time. It's a start. Also, just for your awareness, the Air Force will be assigning physical security details to each of your teams - likely two- or four-person details to provide security from any criminal elements we may find ourselves competing against."

Maddie looked concerned at first, then nodded.

Ava spoke up next. "Are we shelving the repurpose efforts, sir? I noticed you didn't mention any resources that had been earmarked for that effort." She was composed, but he could tell she was disappointed.

"Don't worry, Ava. I've got your back. Instead of asking for general help resources, I'm going to suggest to the Mayor that some of her resources could better support your efforts - after all, with the lockdown, there's likely going to be certain public service centers furloughed, so we should ask to leverage some of her benched resources - it seems to me that those folks will possess skills that could be helpful to your tasks."

Ava looked like she was considering this for a moment, then nodded. "That might work, sir."

Miles looked at her with an odd grin for a moment before adding, "This is all a big gambit, after all. Every part of it pits risks versus rewards. We can only do our best."

Looking back down at his notes, he continued. "Those are the big items. We're going to ask for volunteers to begin to show up next Monday morning at 0800 to start putting together the reclamation teams and help organize the warehouse."

Flipping the page in his notes, he stabbed a finger at an item. "We will be requesting trucks to be delivered by 0800 Monday, which will be divided up between the reclamation teams, and should know which storage or warehouse facilities will be made available for the sorting teams no later than end-of-day today."

Looking up, he looked at his partners, turning to the youngest. "Maddie, do you need help coming up with a list of what you think we'll need to set up the Haves-Needs shops? I'm thinking of things like shelving, big tubs, clothes racks, things like that. If you like, we can all help you brainstorm it during or after lunch."

Maddie shook her head. "Not necessary, thank you. I reached out to a local who runs the Goodwill shop over in Newberry. He gave me a pretty comprehensive list of what I should expect to need to start up something like what we're imagining. Shit that I'd never have thought of, to be honest. Anyway, I put it all into a spreadsheet that I will share with the hardware owners this afternoon."

"That's good thinking. You know, after we go into lockdown, your Goodwill contact won't be allowed to travel to Newberry. Maybe you can poach them to help run the warehouse. Food for thought." Miles checked his notes again, saw nothing new, and then looked back up, "Okay, anything that I am forgetting, ladies?" he glanced around, making eye contact with each of them. No one spoke up.

"Okay, so we're learning as we go. I don't want any of you to be afraid to find out we've made a mistake, miscalculation, or some other error. This whole program is an exercise in putting theory into practice. There's no blame for getting smarter. But, we can't fix it if we don't know it's broken." He looked around again, seeing them nodding their heads in agreement.

"The minute you suspect something might be off, bring it to me, and we'll sort it out. I need you all on the same page with me on this. I expect mistakes - it's human nature, and we're blazing trails here, so we're bound to make them. The test is how we respond and recover. Please remember that."

Standing, he grabbed his garrison cap, saying to the group, "I'm hungry. Anyone else hungry?"

**** Gainesville, FL - City Hall - 1700, Friday, August 14, 2020****

The crowd that had arrived to attend the town hall was huge - too large for the venue by far- and included many folks who weren't included in the Zoom invitation. Many of the folks visiting were advised to go back home to watch the meeting on TV, as it was going to be televised via the local cable network. After many had refused to depart, they were ushered into an adjoining courtroom with a large video monitor so they could still see and hear what was going on in the smaller meeting chambers.

The initial meeting with the mayor had gone as expected. Following the opening benediction, a surgeon from Shands Hospital reminded those in attendance that DuoHalo was still a very present threat and that all in attendance should be sure to reinforce their resistance as soon as practical after the meeting. General Palmer had set the expectations of the Mayor, her staff, and the community leaders appropriately by explaining the continued need to ensure that word did not get out prematurely about either the existence of DuoHalo or the Vaccine until logistical preparations were complete. This dovetailed nicely into the matter of the resumption of lockdown, including a ninety-day travel ban. This topic ruffled quite a few feathers, with many individuals voicing their dissent and more than a few suggesting the lockdown and related measures were unconstitutional.

The General maintained a calm demeanor and reminded all those present that they were legally in uncharted territory, but that she was certain that all of their actions would be subject to judicial review. It was her responsibility that the necessary steps were taken to ensure the health and safety of the community were maintained within the limitations of the global situation.

"Now that we have covered the ugly part of today's meeting," the General said as she motioned for Miles to come up to the podium, "I would like to introduce you to Captain Davies, who will discuss his vision of hope for a better tomorrow."

The General stepped aside, and Miles stepped up to the microphone. Looking over at Jansen, he nodded, and she began presenting the slide deck, which was simultaneously displayed on the large screen behind him while shared with the attendees on the Zoom call.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here to talk with you today about one of my favorite topics - sustainability. My initial focus for this conversation deals with sustainable living, in terms of homes and communities." Turning to gesture at the slide displayed on the screen behind him, he went on, "Housing across America was not designed with Teams in mind. The average family home ranges from two to four bedrooms, with one to three bathrooms. Every aspect of the home is centered around the standard nuclear family, consisting of the mother, father, and two point four children." This got a chuckle from those in attendance.

"Now we get to the crux of the matter. Teams, as we are learning, will be much larger than families of old," he said gravely, pausing for a moment to allow this thought to germinate. "The average kitchen was not designed to support the needs of a large number that will become the new norm in Teams. The average dining room table will be half the size required, or smaller. The average dishwashing capacity will be insufficient to wash all the dishes used in one meal. The average laundry capacity will be significantly less than what will be needed to keep up with the number of dirty clothes, towels, and sheets that a Team is going to generate every week. And let's not even start on the bedroom situation." He paused, another chuckle rolling through the audience, as well as a murmur of agreement.

"I'm equally certain that, given the interruption in supply chain and manufacturing, both here in America as well as abroad, we can be certain that Amazon and Walmart aren't going to start suddenly stocking their shelves with gargantuan capacity washers, dryers, or dishwashers." More murmurs of agreement. "Industry is always prepared to remind us, if we cannot scale upward, we must scale outward. This means we need to double or triple the capacity of these capabilities within the new Teams households by adding more washers. More driers. More dishwashers. More chairs at the table - hell, more tables. And more beds." He paused again to let this fully sink in.

"So, here's where we come to the first part of my agenda for today, the first part of what we have called Operation Endure. It's simple. Traditional family housing is too small for Teams. The first step is already underway. We are working diligently to ensure all Teams are placed into homes with sufficient bedroom and bathroom capacity to support them in their current state. But - and you need to really understand this part - this is only a temporary measure. Teams will grow. The homes and apartments that are being used as an interim solution will burst at the seams once folks start having babies. And we know that folks are going to need to start having babies. Thus, we need to begin efforts to address current shortfalls while planning for the inevitable future. Housing is going to be temporarily addressed, but capacity within homes remains a challenge. To deal with that, we're proposing that an effort be made to visit each and every abandoned home and recover as much as possible that can be reused. Clothing, furniture, dishes, diapers, strollers, cribs, flatware, appliances big and small. Everything that can be salvaged will be gathered and made available for distribution via what we are calling our Haves-Needs center."

A council member interrupted, stating, "But we're talking about other people's property here! You can't just help yourself to -"

"Yes, we can. And we will. We don't have any alternatives. If you need to assuage your survivor's guilt, consider the law of the sea as it applies to salvage. I encourage you to contemplate our reality. There are insufficient resources available to try to track down next-of-kin for all those who have recently passed. We are already seeing a massive uptick in looting, and squatting is likely not far behind. Time is not on our side, so alternative action is absolutely necessary. We are in the triage phase of an emergency response." Miles gave the council member a hard stare, then looked around at the others present, attempting to gauge their reactions.

The recalcitrant council member looked like he had more to say, but held his tongue. Just then, a local business owner stood up and shouted from the back, "George Duffy, of Duffy Auto Parts," the man announced himself before continuing, "You're pretty comfortable just seizing folks' property, not caring about properly compensating them what's losing everything. You're talking about peoples' homes, and their possessions, like they're all just free for the taking! I say you're a thief, and your whole goddamned program is criminal!" Several folks throughout the audience seemed to agree with Duffy, as there was a general murmur of agreement.

The mayor shot upright from her seat at that comment, wanting to shut down this line of conversation. Miles, however, decided that he needed to meet it head-on. He placed his hand over the microphone and caught the mayor's attention, motioning for her to let him address the matter.

Turning back to the Duffy, Miles squared his shoulders and looked him in the eye for a long moment, before panning his gaze around the crowd. "Under normal circumstances, Mr. Duffy, I'd agree with you," he stated evenly, keeping any irritation out of his voice. Continuing to survey the crowd, attempting to gauge their reaction, he continued, "But these are not normal circumstances. We are staring into the abyss, folks, and it's staring right back at us."

The business owner looked like he wanted to say more, but Miles pressed forward. "Each and every one of us was recently given an ultimatum: adapt or die. No one in this room today told the folks from the Air Force 'No thank you, I'll pass' So I'm pretty sure we're all in this to survive. So, let me ask you, sir - have you changed your mind?"

Duffy looked confounded for a moment and appeared to be considering a retort before Miles spoke over whatever he was about to say. "We don't have the luxury of time to address our primary requirement for survival. And, in case you're not familiar with the Rule of Three's for Survival, I am talking about shelter."

A middle-aged woman near the front of the audience stood and spoke. "Amy Welker, Student Services at UF," she introduced herself. "What are the 'Rule of Three's' you just mentioned? Is that some new restriction we need to be aware of?"

Smiling just a bit, Miles shook his head and explained, "No, Amy, it's a basic survival guide I teach the Scouts as part of their Wilderness Survival merit badge course. The Rule of Three's for Survival is meant to help a survivor prioritize their needs. It teaches that, in a hostile environment, a person can go three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. The top priority, as stressed by the rule, is to address shelter."

Duffy, still standing, scowled. "You're using some lesson from Scouting to justify stealing homes and stuff?"

"No, Mr. Duffy, I am prioritizing addressing everyone's need for shelter," Miles replied, stressing the last part. "I think it's a pretty safe assumption that everyone in this room is now living with more people than they were a few weeks ago, yes?"

A murmur of affirmative responses came from the crowd. "And how many of you think that your current housing is large enough to accommodate the number of people now living under one roof? Don't be shy - show of hands?" Miles asked, raising his own hand while waiting for the crowd to respond. A few others in the crowd raised their hands as Miles had done, while most kept their hands down. "Okay, now, assuming you start having children, as I'm certain the government is going to ask of most of us, how many are still satisfied that their home will be big enough in the next year or two?" He dropped his hand and waited. Throughout the crowd, hands began to drop as understanding began to sink in.

"Any home builders in the crowd - how long does it take to build a large family dwelling?" Miles asked, looking around the crowd for a responder.

Near the back, an older gentleman stood, skin darkened from years of sun exposure. "Roy Cox, of Cox Construction," the man introduced himself. "If I've got approved plans, all permits arranged, financing in place, and the weather holds up, it can take three to six months to build an average five- to six-bedroom home."

Miles nodded, then asked, "And what about a ten-bedroom, five-bathroom home, Mr. Cox?"

"Longer!" he shot back immediately, then looked around the crowd, daring anyone to say otherwise, before he returned to his seat.

"Exactly. Now, from any realtors in the room," Miles continued, attempting to connect the dots, "How long does it take to sell a home that no one wants, in a down market?"

"What do you mean, a down market?" Duffy challenged, still standing near the back.

"Simply put, Mr. Duffy," Miles explained patiently, restraining his temperament while in front of the large audience, "I don't think anyone is in the market for a small home right now. Teams are looking for larger domiciles, not small, starter homes. The days of the nuclear family are gone - perhaps for good. Housing requirements will have to evolve to keep up. The older designs, the smaller homes, just aren't enough anymore. So, back to my question - how long to sell a house that no one wants?"

"Mary Elsworth, Homebuyer Realty," came a call from the middle, where a tall, sharp-dressed woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties stood. "Months, maybe years, if it sells at all. Unless some big investor comes along to buy up all the homes in an area to demolish them and build something else."

Stabbing a finger in the realtor's direction, Miles agreed with her loudly. "Exactly! A long time, maybe never, unless someone wants to tear them down and build something else." He looked around for a moment, ensuring that everyone was listening, before he turned back to the realtor. "Mary, in your experience, how long does something like that last bit - the buy, tear down, and rebuild part - how long does that normally take?"

"Captain, I've seen shit like that take years," the woman said confidently before sitting down.

"Years," Miles repeated quietly, barely loud enough for the microphone to pick it up. "Years we don't have," he stated more audibly.

"Look, folks," Miles reasoned with all present, "to do everything I'm being asked to do in the normal way - the way we used to do things - would take a very long time, and most of us would agree that we, as in society, would rather push forward and adapt to our new reality and get back to living than take years for all of these processes to complete the old way - processes not designed to address a situation like what we're in today, I must point out."

"I love the Constitution," he said obliquely, seeming to have changed the subject. "Fact is, I took an oath to defend it. And I believe it is our laws that make America a good country, that differentiate us from a third-world banana republic. But this is not a normal Friday, in the middle of a normal August. We have the fortune - or misfortune, depending on your perspective - to live in unusual times. Our normal laws weren't designed for such situations, which is why people with critical thinking skills are required to lead us right now. People who can visualize a way through these challenging times, a path to what will become the new normal, and can guide us all through the changes to come. That is why I'm speaking to all of you here today. I have a vision of what our tomorrow will look like, and I have a plan to get us from where we are today, to where we need to be tomorrow. Mr. Duffey, bear with me a bit longer, sir. I know change can be daunting, and I understand your perspective," Miles looked the man dead in the eyes for the final part. "But I'd really like for you to hear me out, then decide for yourself if you can come to terms with my plan, or not."

The rest of the crowd held their silence, looking back at the Auto Parts man who'd raised his objections in the first place. Eventually, with nothing else to offer, Duffy scowled and sat down at last.

Satisfied that the crowd saw wisdom in action, he continued where he'd been before the interruption. "Those survivors currently assigned to Teams have most likely revisited their homes and picked up whatever they needed. Those who have passed have left much behind that must be dealt with reasonably and rationally. In some cases, quickly. It is incumbent upon us as a community to come together in this effort, lest individual Teams come to feel as if they have been abandoned to survive as best they can. Consider for a moment the anarchy that awaits us all if we choose that path. I'll wait."

Again, he paused, looking around from face to face. He saw many grim faces looking back at him, some ashen, but no one seemed to want to challenge his course of action any further.

"Good. We find ourselves on the same page. Now, I've come here today with a plan, but I'll need help from you to make it feasible. My plan has several moving parts and multiple phases. It will likely take several years to complete, but if we are successful, we will have completely redefined housing for Teams and will have restructured neighborhoods into sustainable micro-communities, each serving to support one another."

Looking over at his staff seated nearby, he nodded at them, then turned back to the assembled audience. "I have brought my staff here today to give details and answer questions about the first tranche of efforts in Operation Endure. Allow me to introduce them to you. First up, from the U. S. Air Force, I present First Lieutenant Debra Jansen." Debra stood up briefly, waved out at the audience, then took her seat. Miles continued, "Lt. Jansen will be working with resources from the city's staffing pool to identify existing housing that can quickly be leveraged to better host Teams here in Gainesville."

Turning slightly, he pointed toward Ava. "Next, Second Lieutenant Ava Chavez." Ava stood, nodded to the audience, then sat again. "Lt. Chavez will be in charge of organizing the assignment of Teams to the homes identified by Lt. Jansen. If necessary, Lt. Chavez stands ready to identify alternate shelters, should any problems arise with the existing inventory of homes."

"Third, may I present to you, Miss Sophia Palmer." As had the others, Sophia stood, nodded to the audience with a slight wave, and then returned to her seat. "Miss Palmer will be in charge of habitat retrofit activities to enable existing homes to better support Teams."

"Lastly, and most important for our conversation today, Miss Madison Jeffries." Maddie stood, a big smile beaming as she nodded and waved to the assembly, then sat down again. "Miss Jeffries will be organizing the reclamation activities that we need your help with the most. Miss Jeffries, why don't you join me at the podium and walk us through the Reclaim phase of Operation Endure?"

Maddie stood up quickly and walked over to the podium, where Miles stepped back and yielded the microphone to her. After she lowered the mic, she began outlining the aspects of Reclaim. "This part of the operation entails many of the elements you might expect to find in the first half of a family being relocated. Field Crews will go out to homes and pack everything that is within the home, bringing all the recovered items back to a centralized sorting and storage facility. Our assumption here is that survivors will have managed to reclaim their personal effects. Sorting Crews at the central facility will then go through each of the boxes, sorting out the contents into general categories and placing them on shelves, just like you might find at a thrift store. We will be executing this process across neighborhoods throughout Gainesville, gathering everything that can be repurposed and bringing it back to the hub facility. To accomplish this, we have acquired a warehouse suitable for our program on the 2700 block of NE. Waldo Road. That will also serve as our vehicle storage lot - all moving vehicles will be locked into a secure parking lot each night."

She paused, looking for any indications of concern from the audience. All were focused on her, so she continued. "We will put together tiger teams to go block to block, entering homes to recover goods for repurposing. This will not be a quick task, so we will need volunteers to assist in the effort. We have reached out to the big box hardware stores for donations of supplies needed to establish a Haves-Needs warehouse. In addition, we have acquired a dozen donated cube vans and assorted moving trucks from the local U-Haul and Ryder stores - thank you to you both. The Air Force will be sending out security forces to keep our Field Crews safe. What we need now are volunteers. I am asking for at least two hundred people to sign up to help with this effort. We plan to get started next Monday. Please see the screen for a URL where you can register to be a part of this effort. Questions?"

One of the council members raised her hand, and asked, "Will the volunteers be paid?"

Maddie nodded her head in affirmation, "Yes, in two ways. First, each volunteer will be paid an hourly sum - I think we had settled on twenty dollars per hour. Second, each volunteer will receive vouchers that can be used at the Haves-Needs market to acquire items of interest."

Another hand went up, the person behind it asking, "What about after this phase is done?"

Miles stepped forward to the microphone, and Maddie stepped aside to let him field that particular question. "There will be several more phases, each of which will heavily involve the local workforce. That is one of the things that makes Operation Endure different. We cannot simply rely on assistance coming to us from elsewhere. We need to help ourselves, right here. In the long run, I believe it will make Gainesville a much more resilient community, but I'm not going to lie - this will take focus and effort." He stepped back, allowing Maddie to return to the microphone.

"The URL I mentioned has additional details, as well as my work email address, so feel free to reach out to me if you should have any questions."

Another councilman spoke up, "Wait, I thought we were going into another lockdown. Will our email work?"

Miles stepped forward once again to answer this question. "As I understand it, we won't need to interrupt communications like we did earlier. But, you are all cautioned to avoid discussing these matters with folks who are not in this area. Without going into detail, I can assure you that any attempts to do so will be blocked, and continued attempts will lead to more extreme measures. Now, are there any additional questions for Miss Jeffries?" He paused, but no other hands were raised.

After a brief wait, he turned to Maddie, saying, "Thank you, Miss Jeffries." Turning back to the audience, he added, "One last thing before we wrap this up. The Mayor's office and my team will be setting up an advisory board. I expect this to begin within the next week or two. I highly recommend folks from the business community who want to participate request a seat on that board. There will be a form for you to complete at the URL Miss Jeffries mentioned earlier. As I've been trying to indicate, this operation will require action from all of us. More hands make for lighter work, I always tell my scouts. I look forward to working with you in the future. Good evening." With that, he stepped away from the microphone and gave Debra the signal to kill the presentation.

The town hall broadcast was wrapped up by the AV crew from the Mayor's office, and the Mayor herself came over to speak with Miles and his team. "Well, that got pretty tense there for a bit, but I think you handled it about as well as we could have hoped," Mayor Curry said. "I pray this works half as good as you're expecting, Captain, I honestly do. We need to chalk up a 'W' real soon."

As the group gathered their things and prepared to depart, Miles glanced toward the exit. What he saw there concerned him - there were several business owners in a group, listening to one speaker. It was that fellow who'd stood up and protested their intentions during the town hall meeting, Mr. Duffy. Too far to overhear what was being discussed, Miles was nevertheless concerned to see many of those around him nodding in agreement at whatever he was saying.

**** Gainesville, FL - 2000, Friday, August 14, 2020****

Chocolate was definitely a man's best friend. Miles brought home a couple of packages of Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars, plus two jars of pickles - he'd read somewhere in the past that pickle juice was good for helping to reduce menstrual cramps, and Beth had sworn by it after she'd given it a try. Penny had prepped multiple pizzas for him to cook out on the hibachi grill, and she and Jan had already worked their way through one of the alternate bottles of Moscati left over from the previous night's wine tasting.

Miles was enjoying a black cherry hard lemonade while grilling a half-dozen pizzas when Jan came out to check on him. He was careful not to scorch the pizza crusts as he also watched the temperature rise on his wood-fired smoker. He'd moved the smoker into the pool cage from the shed off to the side of the house when he got home from City Hall and was stoking the fire so he could add the two briskets and pork butt he'd had put aside for the upcoming Barbecue. The two dozen chicken breasts could go into the smoker tomorrow around noon, but the briskets and pork would need to start smoking before midnight.

Wrapping her arms around him from behind, Jan hugged him fiercely, then started to bite his shoulder while she ran one hand down to his waistband and slipped it into his shorts. "I hope you understand that I need some loving after dinner, mister," she purred into his ear as she grabbed his cock and held it.

Turning his head, he raised one eyebrow and grinned at her, assuring her, "I've been looking forward to reacquainting myself with my favorite Committee Chairperson all day long!"

"Really?" she laughed at him, squeezing him as he hardened in her hand. "I've got ahold of your dick, and you're thinking about Scouts?"

"What can I say? All of you keep me so busy, I'm learning to multitask!" he laughed, leaning over to kiss her afterward.

Stroking him for a moment longer, she withdrew her hand and slapped him on the ass. "Focus, Miles. Please me tonight, plan scouting later!" she admonished him jokingly, turning to inspect the smoker. "You know," she said, running a finger along her chin, "You should put together one of those smoker trailer rigs so that we can barbecue meals during pack camping events. Heck, maybe we could sell smoked meats annually for fundraising."

"Now who's planning for Scouts?" he teased her, chuckling as he did so. It made him happy that she was now part of his family, as Jan had always been good at planning and organizing things for the Pack that he didn't always have the time or patience to do himself.

"I'm just hungry for your meat," she teased as she turned to go back inside.

"Please let everyone know the pizzas are almost ready. Two minutes."

"Two minutes. Got it," Jan said as she sashayed away, leaving him to drool at her damn fine hips.

Pizza night was a hit with the kids. Penny had cooked up several loaves of garlic bread, some with cheese, and had set baskets of the bread at each table. Debra had made up a few pitchers of tropical punch Kool-Aid for the kids, and the women all had libations of their choosing - mostly wine, while Miles had his large tumbler of sweet tea.

After he was finished with his dinner, Miles stepped back out to his outdoor kitchen. He'd been resting the brined briskets and the pork butt on the counter out there since before dinner and wanted to check to make sure they were at ambient temperature, and that his smoker was up to temperature. Putting on a pair of thick leather gloves, he opened the hatch to the smoker and placed both briskets onto the rack, inserted the leads from the digital meat thermometers, and then closed the hatch. He checked to make sure the temperature alarm was set to 170°F, then took off the gloves and washed his hands.

Looking in on Penny and Ava to make sure they tried the pickle juice, he then set an alarm on his watch for three hours and headed upstairs to check in on the kids. Seeing Trent and Noah playing a racing game, he looked around for the others. He found Sean and the girls in the home theater, watching 'The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies'. He caught Sean's attention and let him know that, since it was Friday night, they could stay up just a little late, but bedtime was right after the movie ended.

Sean ran over and hugged him. "Thanks, Dad. Love you!"

As the boy returned to his seat, Miles smiled. "Love you, too, Champ. Love you, too."

Closing the door behind him, he went downstairs and headed to the Outhouse. On his way over, he passed Maddie and Debra soaking in the hot tub. They each raised a wine glass toward him in a mock toast, waving at him.

"You'd better not keep Jan waiting, Miles. She's going to eat you alive as it is," Debra called out to him, laughing.

"Don't worry - I'm on my way. I'll check in with you girls afterward - I have to return in a few hours to wrap the briskets. Love you!"

"Love you, too. Now double time it, mister."

Hustling over to the door, he entered the dimly lit lower level of the Outhouse and took the stairs two at a time, smelling something fragrant and erotic somewhere ahead. Arriving at the top of the staircase, he noted that, aside from the night lights, the only lighting was coming from the nearest bedroom. 'This room seems to get a lot of use, lately,' he thought wryly to himself as he entered the room.

The room was dimly lit by scented candles, the quiet flicker of the flames casting little dancing shadows in the corners, the aroma calming him, soothing away his tension. Jan was waiting patiently for him, sitting up against the headboard, wearing a lacy half bra, her left hand idly pinching and twisting her nipples, and her eyes twinkling at him, her face a mask of mischief.

Closing the door behind him, Miles slowly disrobed - not putting on a show, but not rushing like some desperate schoolboy - and climbed into bed beside Jan. Scooting over to her, he let her wrap him in an embrace, pulling him to her, and engulfing his mouth with hers. Letting his hands roam along her curves, he lost count of the number of ever harder heartbeats that passed during their kiss, their breathing getting heavier as their passion climbed.

Finally, Jan raised her hands to his shoulders and pushed him to lay flat on his back, then began to move her head down toward where he was tenting the covers.

"Hang on, now. I'd like to pleasure you as well if you don't mind," he said to her softly, using his hands to guide her hips up to bring her already-dripping mound over his face. Looking at him upside down with a smile for a moment, she lowered her pussy to his mouth, then commenced to devour his cock. Unable to see exactly what she was doing, Miles contented himself with licking and sucking around her pearled nether, gathering the dew from the short hairs on her labia majora before nibbling on her more delicate inner lips.

Her smaller inner petals had already parted in anticipation, her juices flowing slowly at first, then more as he probed every nook and crevice, before at last her directed his attention to the area around her clitoral hood. Taking her clit briefly in his lips, he sucked gently on it, getting her to moan around his cock, sending shivers up his spine in return. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he hugged her to him, diving his tongue deeper into her, and then returned once more to her clit, this time beginning to lash at it with his stiffened tongue. He could see her moist canal open slightly as she humped slowly at his face, changing her angle to encourage him to make more contact with particular spots as she increased her pace on his cock, wringing her hands around it as she bobbed faster and faster.

Wanting to push her over the edge, he moistened a fingertip and thrust it into her asshole as he latched onto her clit, humming softly as he battered it with the tip of his tongue. Feeling her begin to tense up, he plunged his finger in and out of her ass. For her part, not to be denied her prize, Jan dropped down onto his cock and swallowed, taking him to the hilt, wrapping her tongue around it as she descended.

Both reached their release simultaneously, with Jan's climax compounded by the serum's effects. Miles fired volley after volley down Jan's throat, as she drenched his face with her juices, her toned body flexing and convulsing atop him as if she'd bitten a live wire.

Eventually, both came down from their peak, relaxing, and Jan turned around so that she could lay in Miles' arms, still casually playing with his cock as he rubbed her back. After a few moments of aftercare, she moved up slightly to kiss him again, her hunger not yet sated.

Spending a few moments to lick her juices from his face, she began to slide back on top of him, this time, guiding his hard member in between her thighs, aligning herself properly as she maintained their combined arousal.

"Miles, dear, I could let you eat my pussy all night, but then I wouldn't get this cock of yours where I want it the most," she purred, letting out a quiet oof as she impaled herself upon him, sliding down to the base and settling there for a moment, squeezing him with the walls of her tight canal.

"Jan, there's no possibility of me ever getting enough of you. The best I can hope for is to get enough of you for now," he told her lustily as he began to buck his hips beneath her, pistoning himself in and out of her incredibly tight, hot snatch.

Riding him hard, Jan alternated back and forth between rocking her hips and bouncing up and down, as she felt herself on the climb again, her vaginal muscles tightening, that familiar tingle building.

Releasing his hold on her hips, Miles brought his powerful hands up to grasp her breasts, squeezing them firmly while pinching her nipples. He found that her moans got louder when he pushed her breasts upward, especially when she was rocking her hips on him. He'd done this enough to know that she was only a few strokes away from her peak, so he thrust harder into her while tightening his hold on her ample bosom. True to form, Jan pitched her head back and wailed as she came on him, slowing her movements to a stop as her pussy walls clenched and released him.

As soon as she relaxed, Miles rolled them over, taking the top position. He started slowly, making sure that Jan was ready for more. She opened her eyes and smiled her wicked grin at him, moving her hands above her head, silently asking him to hold her there. Returning her grin, he reached up and grasped her wrists, holding her arms there tightly. She closed her eyes and moaned as he pinned her arms, turning her head from side to side and thrusting her hips up to meet his strokes.

Miles picked up his pace, beginning to thrust deep and hard into her. When Jan stopped thrashing her head, he fixed her eyes with his lustful gaze, holding her attention as he railed her fiercely. Her breasts shook beneath him from the force of his thrusts, and her moans became non-stop. They were both beginning to patina with sweat, and her face, neck, and cleavage took on a deep shade of red as her body grew taught, another orgasm about to hit her. Seeing this, Miles allowed himself a feral grin as he tapped into his reserves to fuck her harder still, the whole bed shaking with his efforts.

"Ohh! Ohhh!! Oooohhh!! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Oh, Miles, fuck me, baby! Fuck me! Ooohhhh!!!!" Jan cried, her voice raising to a near-scream with her excitement as she writhed uncontrollably beneath him.

With a grunt and a final mighty thrust, Miles plunged himself all the way to her cervix and unleashed a flood of searing hot cum against her tight, hot depths. The contact of his cum launched her immediately into the stratosphere as her impending orgasm was dialed up past eleven. Screwing her eyes shut, she drew in a deep breath and howled her ecstasy, hips bucking uncontrollably beneath him.

Bending down to her, he clamped his mouth onto hers, driving his tongue in and wrestling with hers in their combined passion. Easing himself down off of her, he released her wrists and wrapped her in his arms. Turning away from him, she pressed her back against him as they lay there, spooning, as she worked to catch her breath and regain her senses.

"You know," she said softly, wriggling her hips against him, "I don't think I'll ever grow tired of this. I'm officially addicted to you and your dick, good sir."

"I'm glad," he said in a strong voice, full of conviction, "because even if they figured out tomorrow how to unpair teams, I wouldn't want to go back to the old ways. I've been lonely enough these past few years. Now I am the one addicted to you, and to the others. I can't imagine a future without any of you." He hugged her more tightly as he said this last bit, and he felt her squeezing his arms with her hands.

"That's good, mister," she said with a slight catch in her voice, tears beginning to well in her eyes, "because you're never getting rid of us."

They lay in each other's arms, basking in the afterglow, until the alarm on Miles' watch began to vibrate. "Time to wrap the briskets," he explained, gently removing his arms from around her.

"Go see to the briskets, then," she said with a contented sigh. "And then go check on the others. I can't hog you to myself all night. I'm just happy I got you first!" she said with a little giggle, wiggling her ass at him.

**** Gainesville, FL - 0610, Saturday, August 15, 2020****

The vibrations from Miles' watch alarm had awakened him at midnight, and again at 3 am, and each time, he had turned the briskets and added another log to the firebox. Everything had checked out, and he had returned to bed to grab a bit more sleep. At 6 am, his watch alarm woke him once more, and this time, he put on shorts, a t-shirt, and his cross-trainers before he headed out to the lanai.

After turning the briskets once more, he inserted a digital thermometer into the pork butt and placed it fat side up directly onto the grill in the smoker, checking to make sure the temperature was still at 250°F. Throwing another log into the firebox, he went back inside to brush his teeth and grab a bottle of water, then went out to go through his regular fitness routine.

Just as he was finishing the last of his routine, a few of his partners began to trickle out from the bedroom. Jan had come over earlier as he was rowing, flashed him, and then went inside to shower and start prepping breakfast for the kids. Now, Ava, Penny, and Sophia were making their way out to begin their exercise routines.

Checking that the smoker temperature was still good, he made his way inside, stripping off his sweaty clothes and heading straight for the shower. As soon as he stepped inside, Maddie snuck in and joined him, inhaling deeply of his musk.

"Mmmmm, you smell of sex and smoke and sweat!" she said, looking up at him with lust in her eyes. "Jan's right - that is a helluva combo!"

"Is that what Jan says? Hmmm, I didn't think anyone else in this house was on her page of perverted. Good to know she's got company, I suppose," Miles said, smiling at Maddie as she dropped to her knees.

Licking her lips, Maddie brought her mouth to his cock and licked the head, then licked around the head, and finally engulfed him. Hollowing out her cheeks as she sucked on him, she began to move her head up and down on his shaft, getting him nice and hard. As soon as she'd gotten him stiff, she stood up, turned around, and placed her hands on the back shower wall, wiggling her ass at him in invitation.

Stifling a yawn, Miles shuffled forward and grabbed her marvelous hips, lining his rod up with her dewy cooch, then stepped forward. He was amazed at the ease with which he slipped into her well-lubed groove, sliding in until fully hilted. Pausing there for just a moment, he flexed his cock within her, watching her shudder and hearing her moan with desire at the sensations this generated.

Reaching down, he grabbed her legs just above her knees and picked her up, leaning back to better support her weight, and began lifting her up and down on his shaft. Maddie let out a squeal as she was lifted off her feet, but then began moaning with pleasure as he dropped her again and again on his rigid pole, fucking himself up into her, hammering away at her tender muff with abandon.

It did not take long for Miles to feel the tingle in his balls, the tension rising along his shaft. Without hesitation, he continued to plunge into Maddie from below as he worked her body up and down. Maddie had settled into one long moan, only interrupted by her occasional need to breathe. As soon as Miles started to cum, he dropped her low onto his cock and held her there, as deep within her as he could manage. The second his jism made contact with her walls, her moan turned into a yelp as she spasmed within his arms, riding out her powerful orgasm.

As soon as she had settled down, Miles lifted her off of him and gently set her back onto her feet. When she turned around, he hugged her, kissed her, then pulled back. "I'm sorry, dear, but I've -"

"Got things to get done," she finished his statement. "I know. Me too. I've got some housework and laundry that needs to be done, and Sophia's nervous, so I've got to help her work through this as well.

Giving him a final kiss and a playful tug on his softened member, she twirled and was gone, leaving him to finish his shower.

Shaking his head in amusement, he grabbed his bottle of American Crew and started washing his hair, thinking of everything he needed to get done.

****

The day passed with blazing speed. After his shower, Miles wrapped the pork butt in foil and set the dozen chicken breasts out to thaw. He planned to get the chicken breast in sometime around 1200 to give them plenty of time to cook.

Making sure he'd double-checked everything with the smoker, he threw the creeper into the pool to give it a good cleaning. He then set off to find Penny to see if she needed his help with anything.

Penny had given cleaning tasks to the children - the kids had grumbled about the chores but fell in line when Penny pointed out that everyone in the house was pitching in.

Maddie, true to her word, was busy doing the laundry, and Sophia and Ava had gone over to the Outhouse to give it a thorough cleaning. Jan was doing some cleaning upstairs in the home theater, and Debra was helping Penny in the kitchen.

When Miles asked what he could do to help, she handed him a can of furniture polish and a rag and asked him to please clean the coffee table and end tables in the living room and then the dining room table. After he had finished that, she made him check on the smoker, set a timer, and go off to his den to take a nap.

He had been asleep for perhaps twenty minutes when the pocket doors to his den opened, then shut. Opening his eyes a crack, he watched as Sophia approached him in his oversized recliner. Kicking off her shoes, she crawled into his lap and spread a light blanket over the both of them, snuggling up to him.

Wrapping his arms around her, he indulged in inhaling deeply of her scent, enjoying the smell of her shampoo as well as the perfume she had applied that morning. Holding her close, he closed his eyes again, content to rest with her in his arms.

**** Gainesville, FL - 1630, Saturday, August 15, 2020****

The briskets and pork butt turned out perfect. After being removed from the smoker and allowed to rest for about an hour, Miles had unwrapped each, removing the bulk of the fat from the briskets with his gloved hands, then doing the same with the pork butt.

Penny brought out several large disposable aluminum pans, and Sean and Ellie came out to watch what he was doing, as did Sophia and Ava. Miles set each brisket into a pan and then proceeded to pull them apart, using a large pair of 'bear claws' - plastic utensils designed for shredding meat - getting the meat shredded quickly. He then did the same to the pork butt, leaving him with two pans of pulled brisket, and one pan of pulled pork.

Next, he pulled a case of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce from the cupboard beneath the counter and opened a half-dozen bottles. Lastly, he pulled out small resealable containers and put small portions of each meat into the containers, just in case one of his guests didn't want barbecue sauce. Setting the small, sealed containers aside, he took out a pair of large spoons from a utensil drawer and called Sean and Ellie to come over.

He stationed them each in front of one pan of brisket, taking the pan of pulled pork for himself. He explained to them that they were going to add barbecue sauce to the pulled meat. He then demonstrated the method he wanted them to follow, pouring one and a half bottles of sauce into the pan, and then stirring it in with the spoon. He was careful to show them the need to frequently turn the meat over to mix the sauce in thoroughly. Having demonstrated the technique, he instructed them to pour their sauce into their pans and get busy, stepping in occasionally to assist them.

As soon as he was certain they had the process down pat, he stepped over to the smoker, once again donning his heavy gloves, and removed the foil-wrapped chicken breasts. Bringing the chicken over to the counter, he covered the pulled pork with a sheet of foil, set it aside, and placed another pan on the counter. After cleaning the bear claws, he turned to see if Sophia or Ava wanted to give it a go - both indicated they would prefer to observe the master at his work.

Grinning to himself, he made quick work of shredding the chicken and, as before, set a portion of the meat aside in a small, sealed container. Instructing his two helpers to cover their pans with foil, he quickly mixed barbecue sauce with the pulled chicken, covering the pan with foil just as the doorbell rang.

Jan called out to say that she would get the door, so Miles focused on completing the task at hand. He had Sean and Ellie each bring their pan of pulled brisket around to his side of the counter, where they lined up the pans in a row.

The plan would be for the diners to self-serve, grabbing their choice of meats from the pans, and then helping themselves to any of the various side dishes that the women working inside had prepared.

Once the food lines had been set up, with tongs in each of the meat pans, he sent the kids inside to wash while he finished cleaning up the food prep area, shutting down the smoker, putting the various tools that he had used into the sink to be washed, then washed his hands so he could go meet Team Palmer.

Stepping into the house through the living room French Doors, he saw a man who looked only slightly older than himself standing in his foyer, surrounded by six females, including Martha. Stepping up to the man, Miles reached out his hand in greeting. "You must be David. Hello, I'm Miles. Welcome to Casa Davies!" he said, shaking the man's hand firmly.

"Hello, Miles. I've certainly heard a lot about you, from Martha as well as Sophia, so it's good to finally meet you in person," David responded, then turned to introduce his Team. "You know my wife, Martha, of course. These other fine ladies are new additions to our household. Allow me to introduce Miss Guinness O'Connor, Miss Skyler Hurley, Miss Alison Eaton, Miss Angelina McCann, and Miss Brandi Dickson." Miles dutifully shook each of their hands, welcoming them into his home. He got an extra hug from Brandi, as she'd been a former student, albeit a quiet one that he couldn't seem to recall.

Penny had already made introductions for most of the Team, with Ava and Sophia having entered the house just before Miles. She informed the guests that they would get to meet the children shortly, but they should all follow her into the kitchen for some pre-dinner refreshments.

The younger partners from Team Palmer all followed Penny, while Martha and David held back for a moment, hugging their daughter. Afterward, David turned to Miles and said, "Martha has been going on all week about your marvelous porta-potty, or whatever, and insisted that I ask you to show it to us right off the bat."

"Outhouse, Dad! That's what we - Maddie and I - nicknamed it because it's outside, out back," she told him with an exasperated smile on her face.

"Of course dear, I was merely pulling our host's leg. But I - that is, we - would very much like to check it out, if it's not too much trouble," David responded to his daughter, with a smile fathers reserve for their offspring.

"Certainly, we can go take a look at it now. Sophia, would you care to lead the way? By now, you know it as well as I do."

Smiling with pride, Sophia asked her parents to follow her, and she led them out to the lanai through the French doors in the living room, weaving their way past the cooking countertop.

"Miles, the food smells delicious!" Martha exclaimed as they passed by the meat pans.

"I should hope so," Sophia quipped. "He was up every three hours all night turning the meat and adding wood to the fire. Poor man needed a nap earlier, but we took care of that, didn't we dear?"

David and Martha smiled in amusement as their daughter led them out through the rear of the pool enclosure, then on to the Outhouse. Miles just grinned and followed them in silence, enjoying how Sophia showed her parents around with pride. He was glad to see how much she truly cared for her life with him and his Team.

Martha and David were very impressed by the end of the tour. Turning to Miles, David patted him on the shoulder. "You do get into your hobbies, don't you, Miles? This is all very impressive. Is this what you imagine the Team homes of the future will look like?"

"I guess I do, thank you," Miles replied sheepishly, before adding, "And no, not at all. Let me show you both something - if you'll follow me," he said, leading them into the hobby room to the PC he kept there, where he opened his AutoCAD program. After sorting through multiple files, he brought up several three-dimensional renderings of a concept living unit he'd been working on. Moving the images to the 32-inch monitor, he stepped back to let them see the renderings as he explained them.

"The first image in the top left corner is what I am calling the 'core living unit'. Think of it as a central hub for the rest of the home," Miles explained, deeply in his element now. "It contains all of the basic requirements starting with the heart of any home, the newly imagined kitchen - much larger than a traditional kitchen, with double the cooking capacity, refrigeration, dishwashing, pantry, cabinets, and counter space. Immediately adjacent is the space for multiple tables, seating for up to sixteen."

Sophia pointed out additional features for her parents. "You can see that the other core service rooms radiate outward from the kitchen, with minimal usage of connecting hallways. You have a large utility room capable of holding multiple laundry stacks, an oversized living area, which could notionally support twice the amount of seating furniture of a traditional family residence, an oversized pantry that could double as a prep kitchen, and the master suite, which includes an oversized bedroom to support Teams that prefer to sleep in one large bed," she blushed slightly at the mention of sleeping in one bed but then moved on before her parents could ask any questions about her preferences.

"There will be plenty of room for multiple dressers and an oversized walk-in closet. You might notice that there is a doubling up or more of everything in the master bathroom - two commodes in separate closets, a very large shower bay with multiple shower heads, multiple sinks, and vanities. Attached to the master suite we have a large den that can be configured to support multiple home offices. There is the large entry foyer with an extra-large coat closet, and finally, the bonus room which could be configured to support multiple purposes, from a formal dining area to a home gym."

Martha was observing her daughter closely, noticing how her body language and speech patterns had already started to mirror the man she had chosen to partner with.

David, meanwhile, was leaning in to study the diagram closely. "So, what if I need more bedrooms or a garage? How would that work?"

Miles started to respond, but Sophia pointed to the next rendering as she replied, "I'm glad you asked. As Miles mentioned, this is meant to the be core unit, but he's envisioned the ability to expand the capacity of the home in an as-needed way. You see these spots along the walls? Those are standard expansion nodes, which will contain basic connectors, for utilities such as power, water, wastewater, and HVAC, all in a standardized junction. Each additional living module comes complete with a booster HVAC unit, expanding the capacity incrementally."

Sophia was speaking to her parents as if lecturing a class, something which impressed Miles - she's going to be good at this pitch, he thought to himself.

Sophia continued, "At any of these points, an expansion module can be added to the home to extend it in many ways. Need more bedrooms? We have an expansion that adds two bedrooms and a Jack-n-Jill bathroom. Want to add an attached garage, you can do that - we have two- and four-bay garage units and can expand them horizontally as needed."

Miles interjected at this point, seeing pre-verbal tension in David's face. "We can also expand vertically. The units can have additional rooms added as a second floor so that we can manage a considerable amount of elasticity within a standard lot size of an acre."

"An acre lot?" Martha spoke up at this point. "That seems awfully generous."

"Well, we could go with a half-acre if that works better, but I'm looking at the long-term. Quarter-acre lots won't do - not enough room for the large Teams," Miles insisted, "As we start to develop neighborhoods based on this type of housing, there's gonna be a lot of kids. And there's gonna be pets. Where space permits, we should give them room to play."

"What about in larger urban areas?" David asked.

"For the larger metropolitan regions, it's more likely that we will be forced to reimagine apartments similarly - make them modular to allow for some elasticity." Miles moved over to a stack of drawings he'd been working on, pulling out one that showed a large building with what looked like drawers in it. "The building itself can become sort of a housing rack - like a computer rack in a data center, where housing modules can be added or removed on an as-needed basis." He stood back for a moment to let David inspect the drawing.

"I'm still working on that concept, but if you want to see more of the type of home and neighborhood that I'm envisioning for Gainesville and similar areas - places where we have room and requirement to stay closer to the ground - step over here."

Miles led them over to the table next to his shelves of 3-D printers. Picking up a few boxy items from the table, he held up a large 3D printed octagonal structure. "Imagine this is your core living unit," he said, placing the box down onto his work mat. "Now, imagine you need to add extra rooms for children," he lifted another 3-D module and then snapped it onto the core unit. "You can conceivably add on expansion units as necessary, growing the Team home as the Team grows."

Turning to the back wall, he pulled a sheet down that was covering a large printout of a neighborhood. It looked like a large circular subdivision, with the road forming a large circle while having a common entrance into the neighborhood. Running around the outside of the circle were ten modular home units in various stages of expansion, each on a large lot. On the inside of the ring, he had what appeared to be a large community center, a playground, a neighborhood garden, and an additional two housing units. One was labeled "seniors", and the other was labeled "orphans".

Martha and David both leaned in to give this new artifact a closer look. "This is what you're ultimately planning as part of Endure?" Martha asked him.

"I think so, yes. I always reserve the right to get smarter, but this is the general direction I am heading," Miles replied, looking at his concept with satisfaction.

David pointed at the two homes inside of the circle formed by the street. "What are you planning for these two structures?"

"Well, as I was reviewing data that my team had gathered about the survivors, I noticed two patterns that gave me concern. First, there are a lot of orphans. A LOT. I foresee there being more than we will be able to get adopted out. So, I am incorporating a sort of pod-governed micro-orphanage into each poly pod - that's my name for this community until I think of something better. In essence, I envision up to twenty pre-teens who are assigned to live in this unit. It will be the shared responsibility of the ten teams living along the outer perimeter of the circle. Think of them as a sort of community foster home. The teams can rotate through who is providing meals and looking after the kids - I can see different pods adopting different options, but they will all have shared responsibility for the kids until they reach the age of majority and can move out."

"Then what?" Martha asked. "Where will they go then?"

"Fuck if I know, Martha," Miles replied with a sad smile. "I'm trying to solve today's problems. That's one for tomorrow. If I had to guess, we would see a resurgence in trade schools and likely some sort of return to organized labor training and apprenticeships as we try to rebuild the key craftsman skills we are at risk of losing during this crisis."

David nodded. "And what about this other one? This one you've marked 'seniors'?"

Miles nodded, looking thoughtful as he organized his response. "The other thing that stood out to me as I was looking at the survivors was the number of seniors. Those over 60, for a starting point. Teams that would likely not produce children, but still have so much to offer."

"Why aren't you assuming we would pair younger women capable of bearing children with the older males?" Martha asked him.

"That feels wrong, to me. I mean, sure, an older male can still conceivably father children, but what happens when he ages out? Assuming no accidents, the average American male dies at what - age 76? Women live longer. What future are we condemning those women and children to, given that their males would expire long before they would, all things being equal? I mean, maybe we'll find a way to reassign them, but still, the family unit is changing, and reassignment means tearing that family apart. It doesn't seem likely that one man will assume partnership of an entire legacy team, so kids who had been growing up with half-siblings will be split up, and the women will have to endure at least one painful reassignment."

He paused, trying to rein in his emotions. Martha took David's hand, and Sophia hugged Miles from behind. Drawing in a deep breath, he let it out, looking sad for a moment. Finally, he looked back at David and Martha. "I don't want to exclude our seniors - instead, I want to ensure they have a place in each poly pod where they can lend the benefit of their wisdom and remain relevant for as long as possible."

Martha nodded, then decided to change the subject. "So, I don't know about you all, but I am getting hungry! And thirsty! Miles, has anyone ever told you that you can talk the ears off a donkey?"

Shaking his head with a grin, he said, "That's a new one on me."

Sophia led them all back to the main house, where dinner was ready to be served.

****