Mad World - Descent Ch. 04

Chapter 4- Alliance, pt 2

Journal Entry, May 5, 2031-

Gail drove us back to her home in Kahlotus. It was a small three-bedroom house. Very basic, and very low middle class. There were pictures on the walls of Gail's home. Family photos of her husband, Gail, and Onatah separately. Some were of just Gail and her husband, and the rest were photos of Onatah and her father. He seemed like a good man who loved his family very much. Gail watched as I picked up a wedding photo and looked at the happy couple. She didn't say anything, instead, she moved further into her home and made her way to the kitchen.

"I'd offer you a meal," She said from around the corner, "But without power, I have no stove, no refrigerator, no air conditioning, and no lights."

Setting the wedding photo down, I walked into the kitchen and said, "My condolences on the loss of your husband."

Gail took a deep breath before releasing it in a long low exhale as she stared at her cabinets. After a while, she mumbled, "Thanks."

She wiped her eyes and nose. I hadn't seen her tears, but then, I guess she didn't want me to see them. Once she was composed, she turned to me and added, "My condolences on the loss of your wife--and children."

The thought of them hit me like a heavyweight boxer who knows his craft. It was as if I was seeing the Tri-Cities' devastation all over again, and my world was rocked once more.

"Yeah," I croaked, suddenly emotional and struggling to contain it, "Thanks."

Turning around I left and went to lie down on the couch. I suddenly felt weak and tired beyond anything I have ever felt. Esmeralda and Fernanda were nearby, watching me concernedly ever since we saw the devastation that was the Tri-Cities.

"Everyone eats at the tavern," Gail said as she walked into the living room, "That's how it works now. That's how Paul and the council keep control of everyone."

"Esmeralda. Fernanda," I said, my voice thick with emotion, "I am not hungry. Why don't you go with Gail and get something to eat? It's been a long day."

Esmeralda and Fernanda both looked concerned, but finally, Esmeralda replied, "Okay, if you really want us to?"

I nodded that I did, and they gathered the other girls and left. Later, I moved to the floor and set a pillow under my head as I looked out the windows of Gail's living room. I must have fallen asleep because I awoke in the middle of the night to find Esmeralda and Fernanda lying naked beside me on the living room floor. Without central heating and cooling the house was too hot and stuffy during the day, but cold during the night. It helped that I was still fully clothed except for my boots. One of the ladies beside me must have taken them off in an effort to make me more comfortable. I wondered though how Esmeralda and Fernanda could stand being naked with it so cold. Laying across us was only a very light quilt that provided only a little warmth, hardly enough to ward off any chill of the night. Both women had the slim coverlet drawn up high on their legs exposing them to their mid-thighs, while the top of the quilt was pushed down below their breasts so that the only parts of their bodies being kept warm were their bellies and behinds.

I had to smile. Esmeralda and Fernanda had proved to be loving and considerate partners. It warmed my heart and made me grateful for their companionship. Our first meeting may have been circumstantial, but it had been nothing short of a boon to me to have saved these women and kept them at my side. And so, in that moment of self-reflection, I recognized the glowing embers of growing affection within my heart for these two beautiful women. The thought startled me more than a little and I felt distressed and guilty for betraying Eleanor's memory. Part of me, though, knew my feelings of guilt were ridiculous. Part of me knew I had to move on. Our vows were "til death do us part" and my beautiful wife and children were dead. I could not change that no matter how I wished and wanted to.

Each woman, mother and daughter, was cuddled up close to me, their bodies pressed against mine for additional warmth while also using my shoulders as their pillows. This allowed me to wrap my arms around their backs and rest my hands on their hips, in the small of their backs, and the upper rounds of their ample ass cheeks. I gave them a little squeeze that they didn't perceive within the dreams of their rest before I too joined them in sleep once more.

----(!)----

Journal Entry, May 6, 2031-

The next morning, Esmeralda and Fernanda were still asleep at my side with heads on my shoulders and breasts and bellies pressed against me while they each had one leg draped over one of mine. When I opened my eyes to stare out the window at the sunlight beaming in, I found Gail already awake and sitting in a chair staring at me, Esmeralda, and Fernanda. I remained silent as our eyes met and let Gail speak first.

"They clearly love you." She said softly so as not to wake Esmeralda and Fernanda. She paused after that as if she were expecting a response, but when it didn't come she continued, "Strange. I never would have thought I'd see a mother and daughter willing to share the same man. I don't get it. However, even more perplexing to me is why would you betray their loyalty by taking more women for yourself who you don't know, nor love?"

"I wouldn't," I answered in a voice only a little over a whisper before moving to kiss and smell Esmeralda and Fernanda's hair. I gave them another little squeeze of affection before continuing, "When we came here I had no intention of procuring more women. Girls mostly. However, Paul hasn't really given me a choice, has he? His hard-sell tactics incline me to think that I have no real choice. Either I take four of his women and join the community, or we will be made to stay here."

"That would not have happened," Gail denied with a shake of her head.

"Still," I said, "It was the feeling I got from his insistence that we stay here in Kahlotus, and the fact that he has already enslaved you all."

"Well!" Gail mumbled in dissatisfaction, "I guess the question is, do you really want us then?"

"Me?" She amended after a short pause to cover her feelings of anger and hurt over being rejected.

"Yes," I answered as Esmeralda and Fernanda began to stir, then nodding to them I added, "And, they want you to join us as well."

"Why?" Gail asked.

"As for them, I don't know," I said, "As for me..." There was a pause as I tried to understand why I wanted them myself, "Well, I suppose I want you and the others because I want to rescue you."

"I don't need rescuing," Gail said defiantly, "We--don't need rescuing!"

"Okay," I replied, drawing out the word as I recognized her sudden insult and anger, "I misspoke then. I guess I just want to be a rescuer. A knight in shining armor. However, these aren't times for knights and would-be rescuers, is it? It is more of a return to barbarism."

I paused when the realization hit me and I thought it over, then continued, "Yeah, barbarism. I think that fits our post-apocalyptic world now, and we barbarians own our women and do with them as we will. So, here's the deal. Paul wants us to be part of the community while I want allies. To do that, you, your daughter, Alisha, and Bianca are the bribe for my loyalty to this community. Esmeralda and Fernanda like you four best given the metrics I gave them. You are all exceptionally beautiful, and I like you four personally as I know you."

I paused again and searched Gail's expression while also searching my own thoughts and feelings before continuing, "I do not think Esmeralda and Fernanda want a husband. Not really. I think they want a protector. A guardian. An owner who will satisfy them sexually, give them children, and provide for them physically. They want safety. Security. I give them that. If you want that as well I can provide the same services to you, companionship, sex as often as you desire, children, food, clothing, safety, and security to the best of my ability. However, I do not want a wife. I already have a wife and until I know she is dead definitively that is how it will stay."

Gail looked at me for a long time until Esmeralda and Fernanda woke up, stretched, and looked around. Slowly, they found their clothes and started putting them on. Gail watched them, and me. They still carried their postpartum weight in their bellies though they were losing it fast. After a while, I added, "The one thing neither you nor those little girls in there need fear is that I will force myself upon you. That! I promise."

Gail seemed to have come to a decision and stood up. I hadn't noticed before, but I could see that she was wearing a short robe that barely covered her hips and exposed her long, thick, shapely legs. She had held it closed while she was sitting with her legs crossed in the chair, but now she let it fall open revealing that she was completely nude beneath. Her copper skin seemed to glow in the morning sun. Her hips were broad, her belly flat and firm and feminine with a beautifully rounded swell to her lower belly. Dead center of her belly, perfectly centered between her pussylips and the bottom of her sternum, she had a mesmerizing navel shaped like a cat's pupil with a red coral stone cut into the same shape fastened to the top of her navel and dangling like a chandelier in the hollow. From there, the defined indentation of her linea alba led from her navel up to her sternum splitting her belly into a beautifully feminine two-pack. Below her navel, her linea alba split the roundness of her lower belly like a drawn line leading to a thatch of long, thick, glossy black pubes standing proudly on her otherwise smooth, coppery pubic mound.

Gail's eyes looked--haunted as she let her robe drop to the floor. Standing there naked in front of me, Esmeralda, and Fernanda, I saw that her shoulders were slim. Her ribcage was small, her underbust being 34-inches while her breasts were very firm B-cups. Her waist was waspish, V'ing into a small 26-inch waist before sweeping out to very broad 40-inch hips with an ass that was not quite as thick and round as I am used to from first Eleanor, Esmeralda, or Fernanda. Instead, her lower back sloped out like a ramp to teardrop-shaped cheeks in profile. From behind, Gail had a defined rhombus of michaelis with beautiful dimples of Venus while her actual ass swept down and around from her hips like a beautiful upside-down heart. Of course, Eleanor, Esmeralda, and Fernanda all had upside-down heart-shaped behinds as well. The difference was in Gail's profile, where Eleanor, Esmeralda, and Fernanda's asses bubbled out like large capital-C's, and Gail's lower back and ass made a very lazy and sensual S-curve. This made Gail very beautiful and unique in her own very special way.

Holding out her hand to me, I took it and before I knew it she pulled me to my feet. Gail didn't let go afterward though, instead, she held onto my hand and gave me a slow sultry smile before leading me to her bedroom while Esmeralda and Fernanda sat on the couch and watched.

We didn't speak. Not one word the entire time we were in her bedroom. There was communication though. A smoky glint in her hazel eyes as she took my clothes off. The slight curl of her lips into a smirk when she found that I was already aroused. The touch of her fingers and then her hands on my chest, shoulders, and back as she explored the parts of my body she found appealing. She made a complete circuit around me as her fingers traced caressing lines around my waist, across my bottom, and down my abdomen where she combed her fingers through my pubes before grabbing my hardened dick and balls.

Gail's smirk deepened to a grin before turning into a frown as thoughts of her dead husband invaded her mind. I watched her struggle with her emotions. Thoughts of her desire for companionship with me warred with thoughts of her dead husband. I imagined they were similar to my conflicted feelings. Lust. Attraction. Guilt. Remorse. Grief. I watched Gail as she mastered her feelings and locked them away to be dealt with at another time. I imagined that my expressions were just as interpretive to her as her feelings were to me as my eyes roved her naked body.

Reaching out, I caressed the parts of her body I found most appealing. Her buttocks, hips, lower belly as I dragged my fingertips through her raven pubes before moving up to her navel and then her breasts. Her taut nipples passed between my fingers and before I moved a hand up to caress her cheek before cupping her chin. I wiped her tears away with my thumb before letting my fingertips glide down her neck to her shoulders.

I used both hands to trace the lines of her collarbones, following the curves of her shoulders before finding my way to her breasts. I used one finger to trace a line from her clavicle down her sternum to her belly and then to her navel. I moved down to comb my fingers through her black pubes once more while moving my other hand around her waist to run a finger up her spine. Her body shivered as my fingers ran down to her tailbone and grabbed a handful of one ass cheek. I ran one hand through her pubes and found that they stopped naturally just past the beginning of the slit of her pussy leaving the rest of her outer labia soft and smooth covered only in short, soft, transparent body hair.

Gail shuddered again softly and sighed contentedly as my fingers brushed across the slit of her pussylips. She was so wet that she was starting to dribble as I reached her teardrop-shaped vaginal opening. Slowly, I withdrew and brought my hand up to smell her womanly fragrance before tasting her nectar. With a growl of lustful need, Gail launched herself into my arms. Our mouths met in as hot a kiss as I've ever experienced. Her hands were all over me while mine were all over her. Then, I swept my arm behind her knees and picked her up in a bridal carry.

Gail was no lightweight, and yet, in the moment, she was but a feather in my arms as I carried her to her marriage bed and laid her down. She immediately crawled backward to the center of the bed as I followed her like a prowling lion. She spread her legs and instead of moving up to kiss her mouth, I moved down and locked my lips onto her clitoris. Gail gasped as her abdomen tightened, she arched her back as her muscles constricted, thrusting her pussy even more firmly into my mouth and against my teeth. She hissed and moaned and gave me a look of aching lust begging for more. She spread her legs wide open and fell back and closed her eyes as she gasped and moaned and hissed as I licked and sucked and nibbled.

Over the following twenty minutes, not one sound came out of her kissably plump mouth that was recognizable as decipherable speech. Instead, there were gasping moans, hissing intakes of breath, whimpering exhales, and periodic raising of her head in order to shoot me hot, open-mouthed, looks of pure lust verily shouted at me her thoughts, feelings, and what she wanted most in this moment. As far as I could tell, she had never experienced sex like this, and so, with a sense of pride, I couldn't help feeling warm love for the memory of my lost Eleanor who had always been as sexually adventurous as me, and always willing to experiment.

At length, I brought Gail to climax leaving her gasping. Afterward, I licked her thighs and her outer labia and nibbled her pubic mound as she regained her composure. Her second climax took longer to reach and I was forced to use light teasing of her clit while focusing on her vulva, licking the walls of her vagina, nibbling her outer labia before she moaned and nearly ground her clitoris into my teeth as she wailed in orgasm.

Forty minutes later, Gail's third climax left her moaning, shuddering, and gasping for breath as I had spent a long time edging and building her climax to its very peak. Only then did I finally release her pussy from my lips and slowly kiss my way up her body until I reached her wide, overly full-lipped mouth. By the time my lips met hers, she was struggling to kiss me with such passion that it threatened to draw blood. She moaned into my mouth as she gave me a half-lidded, sexually intoxicated look begging me to penetrate her as I slid my long, hard dick inside her hot embrace.

Gail gasped and moaned as her body quivered and twisted beneath me as she instantly climaxed for her fourth time as I found myself fucking her hard and fast! She howled as her orgasm tolled with her body like church bells, and then she growled and stared up into my eyes, her mouth open in an orgasmic-O, as her brow furrowed. Her breath was caught in her throat as the arteries popped from her neck and veins throbbed in her forehead as she climaxed over and over again. However, her hazel eyes never left mine!

Slowly, her body tightened down around me as every muscle in her abdomen and vagina contracted. Her hands were on my shoulders. Her legs wrapped around my waist. Her abdomen undulated, stretching, and constricting, as she rolled and thrust her pelvis, pussy, and vagina up to meet my every thrust. My balls slapped her ass cheeks as her vagina tightened and relaxed and sucked me deeper while squeezing me harder and harder. Finally, Gail gasped for air, her eyes crossed as her mightiest orgasm wracked her already impassioned body, and finally, I came!

Gail's eyes rolled in her head, she moaned in wailing ecstasy, and then her eyes locked onto mine once more and our souls bonded as I ejaculated all of my sperm inside her. She accepted my contribution greedily as her womb seemed to suck my seed deep inside and lock it away. Finally, with my strength completely spent, I collapsed upon her and kissed her as she kissed me in return.

----(!)----

When we finally left Gail's room Esmeralda, Fernanda, and all of the girls were standing outside. From their blushes, it was obvious that they had been listening in on Gail's last and very vocal orgasm.

Feeling abashed, I glared at them and said, "Alisha, you're seventeen, in one year that is what you have to look forward to. Ona, two years. Bianca, five. Unless you decide you don't want me and rather have some other man. Maybe, my son."

"You have a son?" Bianca asked excitedly.

"I do," I answered, "He is elsewhere holding down the fort while we leave to make contact with my wife if possible."

"How old is he?" Ona asked.

"Twenty-one," I replied.

That set Ona and Bianca to talk excitedly with each other about the possibility of having a husband a lot closer to their age. Only Alisha looked at me shrewdly. Finally, she asked, "Is he as good a lover as you?"

I could only shrug and say, "I don't know. However, he has already taken Esmeralda's daughter, Marisol, as his wife and has one child by her, Marie Ellen."

Alisha smirked at that and her voice was lewd and all too knowing as she said, "That doesn't verify his skills, all it does speak to his potency. Pregnancy is almost as inevitable for a woman as a man's release. Pleasure from lovemaking is not. I think I will wait and accept you as my--partner. I want to orgasm like Missus Muller did when it is finally my turn, and with you as my husband--owner--whatever, I know I will have a man who knows how to pleasure me while you're pleasuring yourself."

"As you wish," I intoned neutrally as my admiration for her increased greatly.

The girl was fearless, determined, and knew what she wanted. Or, at least, she knew what she didn't want. Looking at the other two girls I saw them very much as little girls. Turning my head to look at Gail, who was standing with Esmeralda and Fernanda talking quietly, I asked, "Gail? How would Paul react to finding out that I live close by but don't want him to know where exactly?"

"Not well, I imagine," Gail replied.

"Would he hold us as ransom until my son came to bargain with him, or would he be willing to make an alliance?" I asked.

"What kind of an alliance?" Gail asked.

"One of mutual benefit," I replied, "Trade mostly. An ally outside the community who can respond and come to their aid should they be attacked by marauders, slavers, or other nefarious individuals. Someone who is not locked in here behind whatever walls he erects and can flank any attack directed at this community."

Gail thought about my proposition long and hard before shaking her head as she said, "I think his first reaction will be negative. He needs men to offset all the women and children draining the village's resources, as he and the council see it. He also needs fighters against occasional raids. However, if you found a way to alleviate the village's issue of having a constant resource drain, namely, all of us widows with small children while also offering a strategic alliance, then I think he would go for it. I think he will appreciate the strategic sense of it."

"Alleviate the village's problem of having widows, pregnant women, and children to feed," I mumbled as I mulled the problem over before asking, "How am I supposed to do that?"

Gail looked at me with hazel eyes and an expression that was determined, "That may mean taking more women, girls, and children than you want as your--women. I know you did not come here seeking wives, women, or slaves for you or your son. However, if you see any value in us and you really do want to rescue us, then you would need to try and negotiate for all of us."

"Ona and Bianca could be two of Nathan's women," I mused thoughtfully before saying, "There are forty-six of you. Thirty-four women and twelve children. What is the breakdown of the widowed mothers and young girls exactly? How many are pregnant, and who?"

"That would probably be for the best," Gail agreed, "Your son and the younger girls are more likely to connect in emotional maturity since their ages are closer. He is also more likely to breed them now at their current ages instead of having to wait until your pre-apocalyptic moral compass allows you to. And he is also more likely to see them as women, instead of as children, or daughters."

"True," I agreed.

"As for the breakdown of currently enslaved fertile females," Gail continued, "Counting me, Ona, Alisha, and Bianca. Well, a lot more than there were a year ago. As you know, most of us have had to compromise our--morals--in order to feed us and our children. Also, as you know, the village council decided to marry a whole lot of the unmarried younger boys and girls to each other as well as off to some of the widowers and single older women. However, the raids were not kind and many of those boys died after having gotten their new wives pregnant. And then, there are the widows who have gotten pregnant from the few remaining men in the village from their prostitution."

I nodded as I followed along and Gail continued, "I guess it would be best to break us all down by families. First, there is me and Onatah. I am not pregnant thankfully and Onatah is a virgin..."

Fernanda grabbed a notebook and started writing down names as Gail went on, "Helena Schmidt is the oldest of us. She's forty-five and has twelve children."

"Wow," I mumbled, "She's nearly as prolific as Elaenor was."

Gail paused to look at me before continuing, "Her three oldest daughters and sons were married by the council. That left her with six children under the age of thirteen. Her oldest daughters' husbands were killed later during raids leaving them widowed and pregnant. Also, in an effort to keep her twelve-year-old from being taken by the council and to feed themselves, Helena was reduced to prostitution and is now pregnant. So, just in Helena's home, there are now four pregnant women and six children."

"How old are Helena's pregnant daughters?" I asked.

"Elaine is twenty-three," Gail replied, "Julianna is twenty-one, and Kennedy is nineteen."

"Okay," I said, "Nathan is twenty-one, so they are right in his age range. Fernanda, what's the count so far?"

"Counting Gail, Ona, Ali, and Bee," Fernanda answered, "Fourteen. One woman over forty and pregnant. One woman over thirty, not pregnant. Two women over twenty, pregnant. Five girls over the age of ten, one pregnant. And five children."

"Yes," Gail agreed, "The next oldest widow is Elizabeth Cuthord. She is forty and has ond daughter, Francine Cuthord. Francine is twenty-four. She was one of the young unmarried women married off to one of the local young men. He died in the raids and now Francine is back with her mother. Neither woman is pregnant, yet."

"Okay," I said, "Go on."

"The next oldest widow is me, and I only have Onatah. Neither of us is pregnant," Gail said.

"You and Ona are already accounted for," Fernanda said absently as she continued making notes.

"After me, then," Gail went on, "Is Desiree Wolf. She is Paul's sister-in-law, however, Paul's wife, Deloris, is a grade-A jealous bitch and will not let Paul take her in and care for her or her children. Desiree is also thirty-eight, like me but only a few months younger, and she has six children. Her two oldest, Bethany and Diana, were taken from her and married off to their boyfriends who were killed by raiders. Both girls are pregnant and are now back with their mother. Desiree and her two oldest daughters have been prostituting to feed her children and to keep Deloris through Paul and the council from taking any more of her girls and making them prostitutes. Somehow, luckily, Desiree has not gotten pregnant yet."

"How old are her daughters?" I asked.

"Bethany is the oldest being eighteen," Gail replied gravely, "Diana is sixteen. Eleanor is fourteen. Rachel is twelve. Jessica is ten. And Anastasia is eight. Jon, there have been whispers that the council is going to start selling our girls as young as eight to some of the men. Desiree is scared to death that they are going to take and rape all of her daughters."

"I won't let that happen," I said in a low, grim voice.

"Good," Gail sighed, "Thank you."

"What's the count, Fernanda?" I asked.

"Twenty-one," Fernanda answered without looking up from her notepad, "One woman over forty, pregnant. Two women over thirty, none pregnant. Two women over twenty, both pregnant. Ten girls over the age of ten, three pregnant. And six children."

Meeting Gail's hazel eyes I said, "Continue."

Gail nodded, "Heidi Koch is thirty-five, doesn't have children, and isn't pregnant. Gladys Bauer is thirty and has one daughter, Irma Bauer. Irma is fifteen and was married to one of the high school boys she liked best who then died after getting her pregnant. Next, there is Paola Muller. She's my sister-in-law. She's thirty years old and has four children. Her oldest, Octavia, is ten. The rest are younger. The next family is Bethany Schmidt, one of Helena's sisters-in-law. Bethany is twenty-seven, is currently pregnant, and has two children by her deceased husband. Her children are four and two. The next family is Ilene Schmidt, another sister-in-law to Helena and Bethany. Ilene is twenty-five, is not pregnant somehow despite being very popular with the men, and has three children ranging in age from five to one. Next, there is Alisha and Bianca Schmidt whom you already know and have accounted for. Alisha is seventeen while Bianca is thirteen. Alisha is not pregnant while Bianca is. And lastly, is Louise Muller. She's my niece. Her parents both worked at Hanford before the world went to shit. They're dead. She's been living with me but there is only so much I can do. She's seventeen so the council has her prostituting just like the rest of us, and is therefore also pregnant."

"What's the count and breakdown, Fernanda," I asked.

"Thirty-six," Fernanda answered, "One woman over forty, pregnant. Five women over thirty, none pregnant. Five women over twenty, three pregnant. Twelve girls over the age of ten, six pregnant. And thirteen children."

"Is that everyone?" I asked.

"Of the enslaved widows and orphans subjected to prostitution, yes," Gail answered with a nod of her head before adding, "Of course, there are the council members' families and those households that still have men. They and theirs are fine though. Paul, and Deloris especially, make sure that the favored are never subjected to such humiliation as selling themselves or their wives or daughters for credit or food."

With a grunt of disgust, I stood up and said, "Let's head to the tavern and eat breakfast, then I'll approach Paul with my offer."

----(!)----

It was a twenty-minute walk from Gail's home to the tavern. As it turned out, her home was not far from where I parked my truck. Once inside the tavern, we sat down and were served small plates of eggs and bacon alongside coffee and fresh milk. Enjoying the coffee, I knew that at some point stored food stuffs and amenities such as coffee would run out. With all infrastructure destroyed there was just no way to get imported goods like coffee anymore. Lost in thought, it was while we were eating that Paul showed up and sat across the table from me after Esmeralda, Fernanda and Gail. The girls were seated separately at a booth. Paul sat there watching me, while every now and again cutting his eyes to Gail. Finally, he said, "You fucked her, didn't you? Gail, I mean. You fucked her? I can see it in the way she looks at you and then at me. She is already ready to come to your defense should the need arise."

"She's mine now," I said.

"Good," Paul verily purred as he looked at the three teenagers and asked, "What of the others?"

"They're mine too," I said.

"So you bred them as well?" Paul asked.

I didn't dignify that question with an answer and instead said, "Paul, I have a proposal for you."

"Oh?" He replied, somewhat sarcastically but also somewhat curious, "And what is this proposal?"

"An alliance," I said.

"Alliance?" He repeated suspiciously, "But by accepting these women you have already pledged yourself to us."

"I have to a degree," I agreed, not arguing the point at all and instead continued, "However, I was not completely forthright with you when we first arrived. You see, my wife and I, about twenty years ago, after the societal, environmental, and political upheavals in 2010 to 2012, decided to not only prepare bug-out bags in case of a disaster, but also bought land and built a dooms-day bunker."

"So, you weren't on your way back to the Tri-Cities?" Paul asked in grim-voiced displeasure at having been lied to.

"No," I said, "I was on my way back just as I said. First, to Highway 395, so that I might try to contact my wife who is, or was, in Hood River."

"So, that much, at least, was true," Paul grumbled.

"Yes," I said, "And from there I wanted to see if anything remained of Tri-Cities. Yesterday, while we discovered that Connell was bombed. We proceeded to the Tri-Cities and discovered that it too was bombed. As far as we could tell, nothing is left before we turned back."

Paul nodded as if he had expected it, then asked, "So, where is your dooms-day bunker?"

"Close, but not too close. Out in the middle of nowhere. That's as much as I will say," I answered, "What I propose is this. An alliance of mutual benefit. Your current population is hovering around seventy-six individuals. The widows and orphans you have indentured and relegated to prostitution in order to eek out enough food and water to survive the last year number roughly thirty-six women, girls, and children. I will take all of them, thereby reducing you population to fourty. A population easily managed and maintained by your current stores until it is capable of supporting more people. Also, I will be taking your undesirables which should boost moral and lessen hostilities."

"You will purchase all of the prostitutes and their children?" Paul asked in dumbfounded surprise.

"Yes," I answered.

"What will you do with them? Do you even have the ability to support and feed so many?" Paul asked.

"With all due respect, Paul," I replied in an even voice, "That is none of your concern. Just know that I will take all of them off of your hands so that you no longer need to provide for them."

"What about their debt to this town for what it has done for them over the last year?" Paul asked, "Where is our recompense for that?"

"Where was your recompense when you offered me any and all of the women I wanted earlier?" I asked, "What more do you want from these women? You've taken everything they own, even their dignity. You will give me all of these women. All of them to keep and use for my own carnal appetites as I see fit. In exchange, you will no longer have a resource sink eating up all of your food. Also, you will have an ally outside of this village's immediate vicinity but close enough that if you're attacked we can come to your rescue and hit the enemy from behind. I believe that is more valuable than any debts these women own you. However, if you require an actual transaction of goods, then let's calculate what these women's property is worth. I certainly don't need their homes."

"They have already leveraged their properties against their debts," Paul said, "No matter what, their homes and cars and furniture and whatever else is the town councils."

"So," I said, "You really did steal everything from them before enslaving them. Well, at the least, they should have some personal items and clothing."

"Nothing," Paul said again, "They own nothing. They leave with nothing."

I looked around the room at the women and felt a great swell of pity for them and what they had suffered. Turning back to regard Paul I said, "Fine, if that is how you want to be? Fine. However, an alliance is a two way street and I am the only one taking on all of the responsibility and debt you and your village no longer want. If you want this negotiation to continue then you're going to need to allow me some concessions."

"What kind of concessions?" Paul asked.

"First," I said, "I want my women to be allowed to keep all of their most intimate items. Clothes. Personal care items. Personal family memorabilia."

"Okay," Paul agreed easily.

"Second," I said, "Some of the women here, Helena Schmidt for example, have children who are married to three older women. I want you to give them the option to come with us."

"We need strong virile men and women to help support and grow our village," Paul said sadly as he shook his head, "I can not agree to that."

Cocking my head to the side I grinned impishly as I replied, "Okay. Then, instead, I want you to allow Helena to leave her home to her sons. That way, they will have a familial connection to their mother and father and a better start to their lives."

"That is feasible," Paul agreed.

"Third," I continued, "I want two milking cows and a bull. I want some chickens for eggs and a rooster."

"That is not easy, but I think we can manage it," Paul agreed, but then continued, "However, I feel that is the end of your allowances, Jon. Your procuring our whores is only worth so much."

I looked around the room at all the women again as I considered my options. Some of them looked nervous while others looked hopeful. All of them were scared. Turning back to Paul, I said, "Fine. I think I have what I want."

"Good!" Paul sighed in relief, but added a second later, "However, I have a concession of my own."

"What would that be?" I asked warily.

"It can't just be the whores that you procure," Paul said, "I want you to take two of my daughters as one of your wives. So that our alliance is sealed in blood. So that we are family."

"I am not taking any women as wives," I said firmly, "Not Esmeralda or Fernanda, nor any of these women. I am certainly not taking your daughters as my wives."

"I misspoke," Paul replied hurriedly, "I simply mean that I want you to take them as your women."

"I will not accept any dogs you are trying to offload," I said before nodding my head toward the women around the room, "Look at them. Every one of them is beautiful. If your daughters are beautiful in form and personality then I will accept."

"Have Esmeralda and Gail choose for you," Paul purred confidently, "I have three daughters. You may have any of them you want. You may have them all. It's your choice."

"Agreed," I agreed.

Leaning back, I reeled at the prospect of so many women dependent on me and Nathan. Turning to Esmeralda and Gail, I gave them their instructions, "Esmeralda, if you would please, take all of these women and find all of the others. Explain what is happening and have them start packing their clothes and personal possessions. Gail, if you would, will you go and interview Paul's daughters and choose two to be my--concubines."

Paul smiled happily.

"About time!" Gail grumbled to which she got a sharp look from Paul.

"What?" Gail sneered, "How many women have you sold to slavers? How many of us have you fucked, while your wife and daughter sit happily in you little castle safe and secure?!"

"Esmeralda. Gail," I said as I looked at Paul with a very neutral expression, "Let's get moving. Fernanda, if you please, help your mother to round up the younger women and children."

"Yes, master," Fernanda purred lustily as she rose up and followed after her mother.

"She is very devoted to you," Paul said of Fernanda as she walked away, following after Esmeralda.

"Amazingly so," I agreed.

"Well, now that that is settled," Paul said finally as he held out his hand for a shake, "Old man Cuthord had a ham-radio. He died a few years ago, so I will speak to his family about procuring it for you. That way we have a way to communicate."

"That would be good," I answered.

"So," Paul asked, "You have a generator to power it?"

"I have a few solar panels," I replied, "Enough to power a radio at least."

Paul nodded

"Good!" I said, "Then I hope our alliance is long and fruitful!"

"Yes, exactly," Paul agreed with a smirk as he shook my hand before leaving to go gather the livestock, and the ham-radio.

----(!)----

It took the better part of the rest of the day before Esmeralda, Gail, and Fernanda rounded up all the women and children. The first to return was Gail with two women. The first was a very beautiful blonde with her hair cut into a short pixie style. She had gray-green eyes, milk-white skin, and a pear-shaped body. She wore a tight flannel with nothing underneath highlighting that she had very small, but very perky, 32 B-cup breasts. She had a 28-inch waist that swept out to 45-inch hips, several inches wider than her shoulders with an ass that was very, very large, and very, very round. It was a perfect upside-down heart.

"Jon," Gail said, as she gestured to the blonde and continued, "This is Frieda Wolf, Paul's oldest daughter. She was married, but divorced when she caught her husband with another woman a few years ago. She's twenty-eight and had three children before--well, you know. They were with their father in Spokane when it was nuked."

"My condolences for your loss Frieda," I said as I stood up and shook her hand.

Frieda took my hand and shook it firmly. Her gray-green eyes were hot with anger and repressed grief as she growled, "My father thinks that he will have a spy in me by giving me to you. He is wrong. This whole thing is wrong. I am no horse to be traded to the first man he finds that will take me. However, since he and the council seem to think they can trade me--trade us..." She said as she gestured to her sister she continued, "Well, if I am your property now, then that is what I am. Your property." She finished with a bitter sneer on her otherwise beautiful mouth.

"I understand," I told her sincerely.

I was about to ask Frieda sister for her name when Esmeralda came in with a large group of women and children following behind her. There was a collective sigh of relief from women and girls when they saw me with Gail, Frieda, and her sister.

"Hi, I'm Elsa Wolf," Frieda's sister introduced herself.

"Hello, Elsa," I said warmly, "It's nice to meet you."

"Elsa," Gail interrupted, "Is twenty-four, unmarried, and apparently a virgin."

"Good to know," I said as Elsa blushed.

In the intervening silence, Esmeralda also made introductions. The next woman to approach had long curly brown hair, medium brown skin that made me think of my eldest daughter, Reagan. She had golden-brown eyes. She was very, very plump. Very plump! Not fat. Not obese. Just plump. Her breasts were the size of two long and oversized watermelons. They must have been at least J-cups by European measurements. She was also tall, almost as tall as me. Her waist was thick, 30 maybe 32 inches, while her hips and buttocks were a whopping 50 inches. Her thighs were thick and curvaceous. Hell! All of her was thick and curvaceous!

"This is Heidi Koch," Esmeralda said, "Heidi is thirty-five and was married. Her husband died last year. She is very friendly, strong, and supple. She has no children, but she just found out that she is pregnant. There's no telling who the father is. One of the men here. No one in the Koch family wants to take on the responsibility of providing for Heidi since she's technically not family anymore."

"My condolences on the loss of your husband" I said softly.

"Thank you," Heidi said as she held out her hand for me to shake. She looked at me curiously before asking, "So, you're really taking all of us? Even knowing that we are nothing more than whores now, and that a lot of us are pregnant? You truly don't care?"

"Yes," I replied softly but firmly, "I am taking all of you as my women and property. You mine now. And no, I don't care that you were made to prostitute yourselves just to survive. You did what you had to in order to provide for yourselves and protect your children. As for being pregnant, well, a pregnant woman is the very definition of new life. New beginnings. Fertility. And growth. I truly don't care that you're pregnant. Your children are now my children. Together we will grow and survive this new world we're in."

"Thank you," Heidi cried happily.

Frieda and Elsa were nodding behind her in agreement. I could only shake my head as I looked at them and said, "I'm only one man. Hopefully, you all will have many sons. We will survive this. I promise."

The next woman to walk up looked tired beyond belief. On her hip she carried a baby, while she pushed a stroller with a little boy and a little girl in it. As she stepped up Esmeralda introduced her, "This is Ilene Schmidt, and these are her children. Ilene is twenty-two. She married her husband at sixteen and a year later Jaiden was born."

"Please, sir!" Ilene broke in exhaustedly, "Please! I will do anything you ask, just get me out of this hellhole!"

"I will," I promised.

The next woman to walk up could have been Ilene's twin sister. However, she wasn't, as I found out when Esmeralda introduced her, "This is Bethany Schmidt. Ilene's and Helena's sister-in-law. They married brothers. Bethany has two children. A boy and a girl, and she is pregnant."

I nodded to them both, just as a woman with a look of extreme self-importance exuding from her in waves walked in. She stalked up to me and declared, "I'm Deloris Wolf. I'm the Mayor's wife."

"Nice to meet you," I said as I stood up and offered my hand.

She rebuffed my greeting with a glare before looking me up and down and saying, "Paul was an idiot to let you take all of our slave girls."

"And yet, he did," I replied evenly.

Deloris sneered, but then calmed and asked, "You're taking them all?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Good!" Deloris growled, " As long as your taking Desiree Wolf, and her spawn then I am happy."

"She's a Wolf," I remarked, "You're family. You and Paul should have taken her into your household and cared for her."

"She is no family to me!" Deloris growled, "There is no way in hell that I am going to let her move into my house and sidle up to my husband. Take her and her succubus daughters!"

"Not to worry," I said, "I am."

"Good!" Deloris huffed as she calmed marginally.

"Then there is Helena Schmidt. She's a right whore and succubus too," Deloris continued in a sneer turned into a vicious smile, "She's forty-five and still as prolific as ever, breeding little demon spawn like a rabbit on stimulants. As you can see she's already very pregnant again! Also, make sure you take her three oldest succubus daughters. Like their white of a mother they too are pregnant, god knows who the fathers could be. Their husbands who were killed in the raid."

"You bitch!" One of the girls growled, "You know good and well that my husband is the father of my baby, you good for nothing piece of shit!"

Deloris smiled at the girl's reaction while watching me for my reaction, and I knew I should grimace, but I couldn't. Not for this mean ass bitch of a woman, so I cut her off, "Look, you know what, I don't care what you think of these women. I am taking them all. Now, please leave. I find you to be an unpleasant person and I truly hope I never see you again."

Deloris gasped at the insult, but since there was nothing more to say she turned and stomped out. Turning to Esmeralda I looked at her to finish her introductions while Gail helped Fernanda organize the children. Two girls approached and stood beside Esmeralda.

"This is Irma Bauer and Louise Muller," Esmeralda said, "Irma is fifteen and the least silly of the girls her age. Louise is seventeen and Gail's niece by marriage. Irma's mother is on her way, while Louise is an orphan."

I nodded having heard about Louise's circumstanced earlier from Gail. There was still a lot of women and children to meet, but I had a feeling that is was time to get moving. So, standing up, and looking around the tavern at everyone assembled I said, "Stay together and follow us to Gail's house. It's time we got out of here."

Gail and I took the lead, followed by Esmeralda and Fernanda, and then the rest of my newly acquired tribe of women and children.

"You understand that you are mine now, right?" I asked Gail just to make sure we were on the same page, "Whatever debts you had that got sold to me is done. You're mine, and so are all your possessions."

"I know," Gail replied in a low mumble, "After the power went out, everyone ate what food we had in our refrigerators and pantries. I think most of us thought that everything would be back to normal within a few days. We only had enough food to last a week or so. After a month of severe rationing, every household without a man or an experienced hunter and forager was completely out of food and water. Everyone, that is, except the members of the town council, and their families. There are rumors that they have access to granaries. Others say they have a massive cellar full of food. None of us know for sure. What I do know is that they immediately took control of the grocery store. The long and short of it is, all the rest of us had no food while Paul and the city council did. So, to get food most of us had to barter what we did had. Clothes. Blankets. Jewelry. Weapons. When nothing was left our last resort was prostitution."

"Well," I said, "You're not going to have to worry about that anymore."

"Yes," Gail replied, "Most of us could see what Paul and the council were trying to do. I refused to sell my car and home. I may be indentured, but by god, I was going to have a home!"

"Well, you have a home with me now," I said.

Gail stopped and looked at me for a second before she said, "You sold my car and house didn't you?"

I gave her a solemn nod.

She nodded and mumbled, "I don't want to be here anymore anyway."

"Neither do we!" Came a chorus of agreeing voices from behind Esmeralda and Fernanda.

"Good," I said as I turned to look at the other women, "Good!"

Still, I saw her wipe tears from her eyes when we returned to her home and she started packing her clothes and photos of her late husband into suitcases and garbage bags. Ona did much the same with her possessions. There were a few things that Esmeralda said Gail had that would be needed, like spices, silverware, and dishware for the extra mouths we were taking on. It was a common theme after I sent Esmeralda and Fernanda with a few of the widows that lived nearby to help them organize their exodus of Kahlotus.

Many of Gail's possessions were packed into her car, one of the few late-models that survived the EMP because it didn't have a computer system in it. As the widows and children arrived and sat on Gail's lawn. Halfway through packing, Paul drove up in an old truck loaded up with large bags of corn and flour, several five-gallon cans of gas, the ham-radio, and a whole butchered cow.

"There are also three cows and three sheep. One male and two female of each," Paul said, "However, we will hold on to those until you come back with my truck and Gail's car."

"Good enough," I said.

Paul smiled before we shook hands. It was a good thing that at the moment women were a burden to this town. Otherwise, even if I had wanted them, acquiring all of these women and an assortment of children would have been very expensive. None of the women spoke to Paul even as he flashed a grin at them and made eye contact like he was a benevolent benefactor come again. He pulled his daughters aside. Spoke with them in an undertone and hugged them before he left. Once everything was packed into Gail's car and Paul's truck, we left Kahlotus.

Gail drove her car while Frieda drove her father's truck. Me, Esmeralda, and Fernanda were left with the rest of the women and children who could't fit into Gail's car or Paul's truck. Together, under the cover of night, we marched across the back side of the neigborhood Gail's home was built in toward where I left my truck on the side of the road. It was I tight fit to put so many small children in the cab of the truck while the women sat with older children and infants in the bed of the truck. Still, somehow we managed. In a slow procession I caught up to Gail and Freida and made our way back to the compound.

----(!)----

Journal Entry, May 16, 2031-

Once we arrived at the compound Helena, as the oldest of the women from Kahlotus, along with Gail Two-Crows, Elizabeth Cuthord, and Desiree Wolf took the lead of their group. While I pulled the truck into the garage Gail left her car parked outside. We got out and Esmeralda and I walked hand in hand to the edge of the garage and smiled as Helena and her companions stared open mouthed at their new home. I was very proud of it, but as I stared at their expressions I took another look and could see how it must look like little more than a man made cave. All there was to show for it was a rectangular hole at the end of narrow ravine.

"The garage is hidden from view of anyone in an aircraft above," I said as the women piled out of my truck and Gail's car, "We are also a mile or so from the county road. Far enough so that no one knows to look for us here unless they know exactly where we are in the first place."

"So, we are safe?" Desiree asked.

"Safer than Kahlotus," I replied.

We walked in through the garage and down the long hallway past the workshop and utility rooms where the pumps and plumbing were. There was also a room with the inverters and batteries for the solar, water, and wind turbine power was stored. The women collectively gasped when they saw the garden and the dedicated lighting for growing underground, but it was the whispers of, "Oh my god!" immediately following the women seeing the communal bathing room that they were most impressed with.

With a proud smile I led the women into the narrow bathing chamber and explained the design features, "The water comes from a well. From there the water is pumped up above the complex into buried cisterns. I built the bathing room here on the bottom level so that there would be plenty of drop and reduction in pipe diameter to create enough water pressure for the whole bathroom to operate simultaneously. I also built it on the bottom level so that if a pipe were to burst the flooding would go directly out the garage instead of flooding the rest of the compound. Now, inside the bathing room there is a standing bathtub on one end of the room..."

I paused for a moment as the older women broke away from the group and approached the bathtub with reverence.

"My wife insisted that she have a bathtub," I said as the women nodded appreciatively as they ran their fingers down the lip of the tub.

"On the other end of the bathing room," I continued after a few seconds of watching, "There are a dozen showers for quick bathing, or washing off dirt and sweat before soaking in the pool."

"Is the water heated?" Elizabeth asked in a breathy, almost excited voice but with a hint of hesitation as if such a thing was too good to be true.

"There is hot water, yes," I replied then amended, "However, the pool is not heated year around. It would take too much power or wood to keep it constantly regulated. So, that is why Eleanor wanted a bathtub."

"Oh my!" Desiree started to cry.

"This is wonderful!" Helena purred, "Just wonderful! None of us have had a hot bath in so long..."

"So long!" Many of the others agreed excitedly.

"This is, by itself, enough of a reason for me to have become part of your--ménage!" Helena finished but this is where the ladies quieted in demure disagreement leaving her claim wholly singular in its application to her. As we all stood there in the middle of the bathroom Helena looked around at her cohorts and gave a resigned chuckle.

She turned back to me and didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by the idea of being in a ménage, and everything that would mean. Being a concubine. She was not embarrassed at all, if she ever had been. No, as a matter of fact, she seemed to be struggling to keep from actively purring. I got an all too familiar feeling that she was altogether a different creature than her companions. She reminded me of Eleanor. A very primal, very sexual creature open to new ideas that challenged everyone's beliefs of what is, or was, socially acceptable.

"I think that is a bit much, Helena. Not everyone feels as you do," Elizabeth objected, but there was no strength in her words as she gazed longingly at the bathing room.

"It is completely open," Gail stated, gesturing around the room and to the open doorway before continuing, "Does that mean it is truly communal? Gender wise, I mean?"

"Yes," I answered, "It shouldn't be too difficult. The only other males other than Nathan and myself within this compound are your own sons."

"I'm not bathing in front of my son!" Someone objected but it was lost in a multitude of protesting voices crying, "That is gross!"

"I'm not going to bathe with you!"

"What the hell!"

"That's incest!"

"I don't even bathe with my daughters!"

"The next thing you know, he'll be insisting we have sex with him in the bath!"

The children looked frightened, some of the babies started to whine as the older women's hysterics continued until, suddenly, Esmeralda yelled, "Hey!"

The protesting stopped, and the children were slowly reassured and hushed. Once there was silence Esmeralda continued, "It was strange for my daughters and I at first as well. Bathing with Jon and Nathan, we didn't know what to do, or think either. It seemed terribly invasive, a violation even. However, we got used to it, and it has turned out to be neither invasive nor a violation."

"As a matter of fact, we got used to it very quickly," Fernanda added with a loving smile for me, "And, we grew to like it. Once you're used to it, you can bathe with your man anytime you want to!"

"What if we do not wish to bathe with our-- with Jon, Nathan, or our children?" Elizabeth asked pointedly.

"In that case," I said, "It should be an easy matter to establish a bathing routine that segregates Nathan and myself from you. Also, this is the only bath we have, unlike the restrooms. So, I know you don't like it, but we are all going to have to learn to share."

"What about the restrooms?" Desiree asked.

"Please, God!" Gladys Bauer exclaimed, "Please tell me you have more than one bathroom in this place!"

"There is," I replied and almost laughed at Gladys' suddenly relieved expression before adding, "There are three restrooms. One here on the first level and two upstairs in the living quarters. Three containers were used for the restrooms. In each container there are multiple private stalls. However, like the bath, they are not sex specific. Here, let me show you."

Leaving the bathing room, I led the women upstairs to the common room. It was a large room made up of several containers welded together making it large enough to hold sixty people comfortably. I pointed out the galley kitchen off to the side and the dining room, more of a cafeteria capable of seating thirty people comfortably. Several of the women looked amazed at the size and scope of the bunker.

From the common room I led them down the hallway and the living quarters made up of two 45-foot long containers. Actually, the whole compound was made up of 45-foot shipping containers. I pointed out my room at the entry to the living quarters, and then gestured into the rooms adjacent and opposite of my room.

Gesturing as I walked, I explained, "The idea that Eleanor and I had as we were building this place was that the oldest children would be roomed the furthest away from us while the youngest were roomed closest. Therefore, you will find the nearest rooms to be decorated accordingly while our room is unique. Only for the two of us. Most of the other rooms have small standing wardrobes separating three single-wide bunk beds."

Elizabeth looked down the hundred and thirty-five foot long hallway and started counting doors. The dim 40-watt light bulbs were dim so she stopped after only a few doors.

"Damn! This place is big!" Desiree exclaimed in an impressed mumble.

"How many containers make up the living quarters?" Elizabeth asked.

"The whole wing is made up of forty-nine containers," I said proudly.

"This must have cost a fortune?!" Gail gasped while gaping at me.

"Not as much as you would think," I said, then added, "At least, not until the current Administration destroyed the economy."

"You mean the previous Administration," Desiree retorted defensively.

"I said what I meant," I replied coolly and quietly, squishing all conversation to an awkward silence.

After a few seconds of the women looking at me, some of them clearly startled, while others looked concerned. Neither Helena or Gail were of those groups. If anything they looked amused. Either way, feeling as if I had just smashed the little rapport that was growing between me and the women to nothingness, I apologized, "Ladies, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up politics. The fact is, it doesn't matter anymore what any of our political leanings might have been in the past. The reality is, the government tried to kill all of us. And despite that, none of it changes what we must do now, which is to survive. So, from now on, I will leave politics dead and buried in the past. My priority is protecting and providing for all of you, whether you like me or not."

"What does that mean?" Paola asked, then expanded her question by adding, "Whether we like you, or not? What does that mean?"

I took my time meeting the women's eyes before replying, "It means that I am your owner. It is done. There are no reversals. No take backs. You, your children, your possessions are all mine. However, just because I own you, just because you are my women, for better or worse, doesn't mean that I am going to force you to love me or have sex with me."

Taking a deep breath, I looked at Gail specifically before I continued, "I am no knight in shining armor come to save you and set you free. If anything, I am a barbarian. I saved you from your fate in Kahlotus, but don't mistake your situation. You're property. You're either mine or you're Kahlotus' or you're someone else's. In procuring you I've made certain that your owner is a man that will neither molest you, nor your children. I have done what I can to make sure you will be cared for to the best of my ability. The only thing I ask in return is that you contribute to the running of this household. Though, I guess, at this point, it would probably be more accurate to call us a tribe or clan rather than a household."

"Who's in charge of running the domestics of this--ménage?" Frieda asked.

"I am!" Esmeralda said in her thick Spanish accent loud enough that everyone could hear, "Jon has no desire to remarry, for now. As far as he is concerned, he has a wife that is somewhere in Oregon. Until he knows for sure that she is dead, as his first concubine, and the mother of his first post-apocalyptic child, I am the matron of my owner's house."

"Wait! What?!" Elizabeth gasped in shocked annoyance, "Why? You're younger than most of us here. Why should you be in charge and not one of us? Helena is the oldest of us. She should be in charge."

"Why?" Esmeralda asked softly as she leveled her gaze at Elizabeth and Helena then the other women before adding, "Gail understands this, don't you?"

"I do," Gail answered.

"I accept that Jon loves his wife and could possibly always love her with no room left for me or Fernanda, nor any of you," Esmeralda said in a loving purr as she looked up at me, but everyone could see, even me, that she was hurt by the idea and desired more as she continued, "However, should the day come that he is willing to take a new wife, I have first claim. I have been with this man for the last year. I have loved him and supported him to this very day. I have carried and given birth to one of his children, and I hope I will give him many more. I will never stop supporting him. Fernanda, my daughter, Jon's second concubine, has been here for him as well. We love him, and, I hope, one day, he will love us in return. However, until then, I accept that he has given us as much of himself as he can."

Esmeralda paused before pointing directly at Helena, Elizabeth, and all the rest of the women before growling, "You. All of you. None of you were here. You are all new to my owner's tribe. Therefore, no, I will not have my investment in this man diminished because you think you're better, nor because you're supposedly more educated, or older. I was running this house just fine before you arrived."

"That's not to say that you are unwelcome," I said as I pulled both Esmeralda and Fernanda in for sidelong squeezes, "Esmeralda has worked diligently to make sure that all of you got out of Kahlotus. She has gone above and beyond to be supportive of this--ménage we find ourselves in."

"Not a hard leap for you three," Heidi Koch sneered as she glared at Esmeralda, Fernanda and me, "Polygamy. Incest too, for that matter! Esmeralda was already sharing you with her daughter. Tell us, do they bed you together, or one at a time?"

"That's none of your business," I said firmly to Heidi before directing my glare to the rest of the women, "All you should concern yourselves with is what your relationship with me is going to be. As for me, I'll tell you all right now that I was not looking to bring home an army of women and children forsaken by their community. As for Esmeralda, not only has she shared me with Fernanda, but now she is also sharing me with all of you. That is a very great sacrifice on her part, and you should not disrespect her generosity. After all, just a year ago none of us would have imagined we would be here in this situation. I also imagine none of you were anticipating losing your spouses. Not only them, but also your extended families and community because they did not have the foresight and loyalty to see that you are the bearers of the generations that will come after us. So, here we are. Thrown together for better or worse."

I paused to glare at all of the widows, mothers, daughters, and children as I took several deep breaths before continuing, "Just as Esmeralda said, I told her I already have a wife. Her name is Eleanor. She is the only wife I have and the only wife I ever wanted. The evidence so far suggests that she is dead. However, until I know for certain, I have no interest in taking another wife. Until then, Esmeralda is my matron concubine. Nathan and I, as your men, have our roles to fulfill and we will fulfill them. However, while we do our duty, you all must do yours, and that is to help us maintain our new tribe. So, someone must organize and lead you. Esmeralda has my full support in this matter, the only authority higher than her is me. After her is my son, Nathan, who is my heir and the head of his own household. I hope that clears everything up concerning hierarchy. Esmeralda will establish her lieutenants from the matron widows to help her maintain order within the compound. As for Nathan, Marisol is his wife. She is the matron of his household. His concubines must answer to her while she in turn answers to Esmeralda who in turn answers to me."

"I think you've made the hierarchy very clear," Helena purred as she gave me a knowing smirk. Helena, of all the women, was the only one that looked amused, which I found baffling and intriguing.

"If this question of hierarchy is settled," I said as I looked from Helena to the rest of the women, "Then let's get all of you settled in, shall we?"