Quaranteam: SE - Team Davies Ch. 10 (Beta)

Quaranteam: Southeast – Team Davies

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

This is a Beta Release, and may change prior to Final Release.

Chapter 10

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

***Gainesville, FL – 0630, Monday, August 10, 2020***

“Mmmm, I love the taste of your sweat after you’ve worked out,” Jan groaned as she rubbed Miles’ cockhead around her lips before plunging her face forward again, taking him all the way into her throat. She was humming softly with pleasure as she rubbed herself with one hand and used the other to hold the base of his cock, occasionally corkscrewing her hand up and down the shaft, following her bobbing head.

“Is this how you start all new school years?” Miles asked her, a slight tease in his voice as he moaned in pleasure.

Taking a quick breath, she retorted, “It sure as hell is from now on!” and bobbed on his shaft several more times. “Might be how I start every school day,” she added as she came up for air again, before plunging him back into her throat once more, swallowing rapidly as she wrung his shaft with both hands.

“F-u-u-c-c-k!” he groaned, as she put him over the edge, and he shot at least nine volleys of hot cum down her throat. Jan just managed to back off enough to be able to breathe before she was seized by the serum-induced orgasm, making her spasm and hunch before him, until she finally relaxed. Softly milking his cock, she sucked every last drop that she could coax from him, before she stood up, giving him a quick kiss and flashing him her devilish smile before she stepped over to the adjacent showerhead to finish her shower.

“Hurry up in there!” He heard Debra call out as he was rinsing off. Leaving the shower running, Miles stepped out just as Debra slid past him, giving him a quick kiss as she stepped into the shower.

Grinning to himself, amazed – not for the last time – at how his life has changed in just a few weeks, he finished toweling off quickly, ran a brush through his hair, and stepped out of the bathroom entirely, making room for the other women to enter and begin their morning routines. Stepping into his closet, he grabbed his uniform, socks, underwear, and undershirt and made his way out to the bedroom to dress.

He could hear Penny across the house in the kitchen, calling out to the kids to get them moving for their first day back in school. Even though they were doing home school, they were still excited, and Jan and Penny were making a big deal out of it.

Jan smacked him on the ass as she walked past him, moving up to her dresser to get out her undies. He noticed that she’d pulled out a pair of ‘period panties’ – special thongs with absorbent linings that he knew some women preferred to wear during their cycle - and made a mental note to pick up some chocolates and pickle juice for her today. He could hear his inner scout reminding him to “be prepared”.

Dressed, he made his way to the kitchen in time to get a quick hug from Sean and Trent as they thundered down the stairs for breakfast, tousling both of their heads in the process. Turning into the kitchen, he saw the twins and Ellie were already at the table. He walked up to each of them, bending over to give them a quick kiss atop their heads, before he walking up to Penny, sweeping her up into a big hug, and giving her a theatrically huge kiss, ending it with a loud ‘mwah!’, making the kids giggle or say ‘ewww’.

“Morning, Sailor,” Penny purred at him, batting her eyelashes and bumping him with her hip. “You come here for food, or just to molest me?”

“No time for fun right now, so raincheck. You need any help with breakfast for the kids?”

“I’ve got this. First day of school, they all get bacon, eggs, and buttered toast. Tomorrow, they’re back to cereal,” she grinned at him, caught up in the enthusiasm for the start of the new school year.

“It’s a good thing I’d ordered four new laptops for school last week. I’ll have Sean use his gaming system for today, and get another two or three laptops on order, plus gaming rigs for the twins,” Miles told her while he was putting more bacon into the frying pan, having pulled out what she’d already cooked and placed it on a paper towel to soak up the grease.

As the bacon started to sizzle in the pan, he turned to the two new additions to his household before asking them, “Noah, Emma, did you two sleep okay last night? I know sometimes it can be hard sleeping someplace new.”

The twins nodded as one, with Noah replying, “Yes sir, Mr. Davies. Your guest bed was fine. I kinda miss my old room, though.”

“Yeah, me too. And I miss my stuffed bear,” Emma added.

“First off, please call me Miles. Tell you what – I’ll swing by your old house later to see if I get you some of your things, okay? If I’m able to get in,” he added.

“I can give you the door code, Mr.… uh... Miles,” Noah volunteered, a small spark in his eyes. “It will open the front door for you.”

Miles hustled to fix breakfast sandwiches for his other partners, knowing that Penny and Jan would make their own breakfast after the others were gone. By the time Debra, Ava, Sophia, and Maddie joined them in the kitchen, he’d prepared bacon and egg sandwiches for them all. He noticed as Maddie and Ava added slices of cheese to theirs, making a note for the future, and smiled as he watched them all grab glasses of juice or tea to wash their food down. In less than ten minutes, the group finished eating, grabbed their laptop bags and headed for the garage.

He watched as each of the women gave quick hugs and words of encouragement to each of the children as they headed out to the garage. Turning to Penny and Jan, he added in a low whisper, “I’m going to swing by Joseph Meyer’s place on my way to the office. I’m not sure what I’ll find, so I don’t want to set expectations. Love you both,” and he gave them each a final kiss before turning, and once again kissing each of the kids on top of their heads as he made his way to the garage. “Good luck on your first day back in school, kids. I hear you’ve got a great teacher!”, to which they all laughed.

“Ava, I’d like you to take Sophia and Maddie in the HUMVEE with you. I need to run a quick side errand in the Beast,” Miles told them, adding, “and I’ll take Deb with me. See you all in a bit.”

Having grabbed the keys to the Beast on his way out, Miles unlocked the doors and began dropping the rear seats into their stowed positions.

“What’s the plan, boss?” Debra asked him, mirroring his moves on the passenger side.

“I want to stop by the twins’ old house to see what we can salvage for them from there. Maybe their beds, clothes, whatever looks good enough to keep. We can get more as we go, but I’m trying for a quick win, here,” he explained as he turned to go over to a locked cabinet on the back wall of the garage. Keying in a code, he opened the door to reveal several firearms within, grabbing a pair of pistols, extra magazines, and a shoulder holster for each.

“Jesus wept, Miles, do you have guns stashed everywhere?”

He just raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a look that clearly told her that was a silly question as he offered her a weapon, spare mag, and holster. Taking the weapon, magazine, and holster from him, she slid on the holster rig and adjusted it to her comfort. Next, she did a quick press-check on the gun, making sure a round was in the chamber before jamming it into the holster under her left arm, and then adding the magazine into the rig under her right arm. Swinging her arms around to check the comfort and fit of the rig, she seemed satisfied and climbed into the passenger side of his SUV.

Having strapped on his holster, and checked the weapon, he was also set and sliding behind the wheel as she asked him, “What are you worried about, Miles?”

“Remember that first night when you and Ava came to live with us? That fire? It turned out to be just a meth lab that burned down after the chemist died. As it turns out, Joseph’s house is only a few blocks from there. Not the best neighborhood under normal circumstances, so I’m being cautious.”

Nodding her head, she buckled her seatbelt and reached over to turn on the XM radio, setting it to the nineties channel, then sat back. “You know I’m soaking wet now, right? You are sooo getting fucked the first chance I get.”

He just grinned and put the SUV in gear, closing the garage door as he headed out to the main road.

****

The fire from the meth lab had engulfed several neighboring homes, taking out any trees along the way. The amount of Spanish moss hanging on the surviving trees at nearby homes made it clear how the fire spread so easily. Driving past the site of the fire, Miles turned down a side street the next block over, then backed into a driveway halfway down the block. A dirty Chevy Equinox, covered in soot and ash, was parked in the driveway.

As he exited the vehicle, Miles was surprised at the deafening quiet surrounding them. He heard no dogs barking, no windchimes, no crying babies - the block was very still. This made him very uncomfortable. He paused to carefully survey the area, looking for any signs of life or activity. Seeing nothing, he stepped over to the front door, about to knock before entering the code on the deadbolt, when he noticed the door was already cracked open. The wood was splintered away from the doorjamb, indicating a forced entry – likely kicked open. Making sure Debra saw the door, he unholstered his weapon before pushing it open, cringing as it creaked on old, rusty hinges.

“I’m with the military, and I’m coming in. I’m not looking for trouble, but I will absolutely fuck you up if you make me!” he called in through the open doorway. Hearing nothing, he cautiously stepped inside and quickly slid to one side, out of the illumination, pausing for his eyes to adjust. When nothing moved and all remained silent, he motioned for Debra to follow him inside.

Looking around, the house was a mess. It looked like a scene from a movie where the place had been tossed, with items strewn all over the floor. Many small nicknacks lay in pieces, broken by whoever went through the home before them. Shaking his head, Miles flipped on the lights in the kitchen to give them some illumination aside from the light coming in through the windows. The cabinets were open and bare, as was the refrigerator. Turning back to the living room he’d just passed through, he noticed there was no sign of a television or any electronics.

Motioning around, he spoke softly to Jansen, “Looks like maybe looters – what do you think?”

She looked around and nodded, “Yeah, they’ve really ransacked this place. Not what I’d have considered a prime target, either.” She shook her head in a mix of disgust and anger.

Making his way to the bedrooms, he quickly found a pair of laundry baskets.  Turning to Jansen, he asked her to help him out. “You take Emma’s room, I’ll take Noah’s. Focus on clothing first, then we can look for keepsakes – family pictures, that sort of thing. I doubt anything of any value is left, but we’re looking for personal items that might not have been taken.”

Nodding, she took the basket he offered her and stepped past him into the next room, which looked to have obviously been a girl’s room.

Going to the dresser, Miles quickly went through what remained of the drawers, grabbing all the clothes he could, as well as Noah’s Cub Scout Handbook and uniform pieces. Seeing a family photo in a frame on the floor, he picked it up, carefully dumping away the broken glass, and placed the framed photo into the basket. Moving to the closet, he found a hoodie and a few nicer clothes hanging in there, as well as a case filled with a mix of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Grabbing the case and the clothes, he did a final check around the room. The bed looked pretty worn but the pillow was one of those new ones he’d seen on TV. Grabbing the pillow, he hesitated, then decided to leave the bedding – the rest of it looked questionable at best.

Heading back out of Noah’s bedroom, he glanced up as Debra was coming out of Emma’s room carrying a basket piled with clothes, cub scout uniform and handbook, and a teddy bear on top. “Did you happen to notice if her pillow looked new?”

She shook her head, “No, I didn’t. Let me check. If it looks like it’s in good condition, I’ll bring it along.”

Miles turned to head back out to the SUV, pausing to check outside first. Seeing no one there, he exited the house and loaded the items into the Beast. Returning to the house, he made one last pass through the inside, checking each room for anything that might be of sentimental value to the twins. He discovered a photo album in their father’s bedroom and grabbed it up. Looking around, he failed to see anything that he thought he should take.

Leaving the house for the final time, Miles made sure Debra was also out before pulling the door shut. It wouldn’t latch, of course, but he didn’t feel right just leaving it wide open. Laying the photo album on the seat in the middle row, he stepped back from his vehicle and looked up and down the block. It was still way too quiet.

“Wait here. I want to check something,” he told Debra as he walked across the street, checking the front door of that house. After a moment, he walked to the next house down the street, checking its front door as well, then came back across the street to check the door of the house next to Joseph Meyer’s home. Shaking his head, he walked back to his SUV.

“Get in. We need to call the police,” he informed her as he shut his door and unlocked his cell phone.

*** Gainesville, FL – 0930, Monday, August 10, 2020***

Passing through the gate, Miles turned to his left and headed to Building A-33, looking for his reserved parking spot. His mood, which started so good this morning, soured quickly after his conversation with the Chief of Police for the City of Gainesville. The moron couldn’t grasp what a slippery slope the community was on if mass looting was allowed to continue unabated. What happens, he thought to himself, when the looters kick open a door with people inside? What if it’s just children or a few women? What if it was his home, and he wasn’t there to defend it? Miles was furious, having to consciously pull himself away from entering a blind rage. This situation was simply untenable and needed to be resolved.

Entering the building, Jansen hot on his heels, he nodded to the desk sergeant as he passed her. “Morning, Kozlowski. Is the General in?”

The non-com looked up at him, giving him a quick smile. “Morning, Captain Davies. I believe General Palmer is on a call at the moment. Would you like to leave her a message?”

“Yes, please,” he answered tightly. “Would you let the General know that I would like a few minutes of her time this morning to elevate her awareness on a matter of some importance? Thank you. I’ll be in my office.” Miles nodded and walked past her, badging through the door behind her and heading back to his desk.

“I’m going to grab some coffee before I head back there,” Debra informed him before asking, “Need me to get you anything, sir?”

Miles turned to look back at Jansen, who was giving him an innocent smile. “No thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll make myself some tea in a moment.” He smiled at her, nodding as he turned back to continue on his way.

****

Miles picked up his desk phone on the second ring. “Captain Davies. This is an unsecured line. How may I help you?”

“Kozlowski, sir. The General can see you now.”

“Very good, Kozlowski. Please tell the General I’m on my way.” Hanging up the phone, he grabbed his Yeti tumbler, topped it off with a fresh refill of tea, and headed out the door. “Headed to see the old man. Should be back within the hour,” he called over his shoulder to the others. He could almost hear their giggles from out in the hallway.

A few moments later, Miles leaned into the General’s doorframe and rapped sharply on the door three times.

Palmer looked up from her laptop and waved him in. “Come in Captain. Close the door.”

The General waited for the door to be fully closed before she greeted him less formally. “Miles, you look pissed. What’s eating at you?”

Taking a seat, he scowled, marshaling his thoughts. “Good morning, Martha. I wanted to bring something to your awareness. Yesterday, my team and I took in a pair of orphans, becoming their foster care providers. This morning, I went by their father’s house – he’s deceased, and the mother left years ago – the house had been broken into and looted. When I checked the neighboring homes, all empty, they’d also been looted. So, I put in a call to the Gainesville PD, who informed me that they have insufficient manpower to look into the matter.” Miles sat back in his chair, trying to maintain his composure despite the outrage he was feeling.

The General sighed, steepling her fingers in front of her before she answered. “I was wondering how long it would take. We’ve seen this pattern develop before, under similar circumstances. Houses are abandoned following the outbreak and teaming process. Folks, some who’ve fallen through the cracks, others who were already desperate, take matters into their own hands. Local law enforcement is as impacted by loss of manpower as everyone else, so they’re not equipped to deal with these types of things effectively. One of two things usually happens from this point; either crime spirals out of control until riots begin, or the National Guard gets called in to help lock things down. Neither is a particularly attractive option to me.”

Miles leaned forward, an idea forming, a bit of excitement building in his expression. “What if we try to engage the local community – communicate with them what we’re planning to do but bring them into the process? I’m finding it difficult to acquire sufficient resources to carry out Tranche 1 activities at scale as it is – if we mobilize a sizeable chunk of the local population to assist, that will speed things up, as well as give them a role – putting their skin in the game, so to speak.”

She nodded, continuing to pull the thread. “It would also allow the locals to ‘earn their grub stake’ in the process. We’ve been mulling over ideas about how to deal with legacy legal matters such as property ownership, mortgage notes, and the lot. Assuming we can clear the legal hurdles to free up properties for ‘reassignment’, how do we handle concepts like ‘affording’, ‘purchasing’, or otherwise earning new homes, after essentially snatching the old ones from folks – tenants, landlords, and homeowner alike.” The General paused, letting him digest the concept, before continuing. “But, if we were to borrow a page from Habitat for Humanity to implement a policy that teams must contribute to the overall efforts of Operation Endure to have a home at the end of the process, that would go a long way to soothe minds and pacify purse-holders.”

Miles nodded in agreement, envisioning the long-game merits of where she was going with her reasoning. “Good. I like it. Meanwhile, I’d like to address the public somehow, to communicate the overall plans and purposes behind them. How can we go about this without jeopardizing the long-term communications strategy for how POTUS plans to manage these details on a national level?” The limitations of the NDA they’d all signed were at the forefront of his thinking.

“We can’t unless we’re willing to go into a full communications lockdown again – this time until POTUS is ready to go public with all of this. However, given how badly things are going to shit beyond this immediate area, that might not be a bad idea.” Pausing to take a deep breath, the General leaned back and thought silently for a moment, before leaning forward again, this time with certainty in her expression. “Tell you what – here’s my proposal. You go back to your team and begin wordsmithing a public presentation to outline the basics of Operation Endure, as well as when, where, and how you plan to engage the local community to assist. Treat this as a likely town hall scenario, where you will be addressing local politicians – those who’ve survived – as well as any remaining business owners, and all the other regular folks who might attend, or tune in. I suspect this will be delivered via some sort of secure, regional broadcast. While you’re doing that, I’ll see what needs to be done concerning compartmentalization of information. Be ready to brief me and the local leadership first thing tomorrow. We’ll meet back here at 0900.”

Leaning back, satisfied that the matter at hand was addressed, the General took the liberty to ask about less pressing matters. “You mentioned bringing in some foster kids. How did your team take that?”

He smiled, shaking his head. “It was their idea. Truth be told, all six of them had a chat with me about kids on Saturday. At least four of my partners – your daughter included – informed me that they want to start making babies. Penny, my first partner, admitted she wasn’t sure she felt the same need, having already given birth to two children, but was more concerned about the number of local kids being left without anyone in the wake of this mess. So, we went yesterday to meet with the local social workers, and we found a pair of twins - a part of our Cub Scout Pack – who’d been left orphaned. So, one thing led to another, and I now have two more children in my care.”

“What about the sixth partner?” Martha asked, curious about the dynamics within his team.

“Jan isn’t in as much of a hurry, but I think she’ll want at least one more, eventually. She told me she’d always wanted more children, but things didn’t work out with her son’s father. I think that problem has been resolved. She’s a schoolteacher, you know. Today was our kids’ first day back to school.”

Martha looked confused. “I thought all the state schools were closed through the end of the semester; virtual schools included. Is that not the case?”

“You’re correct, but Jan has all the necessary material on hand, so she’s put together a program for the kids to keep them on track with where they’d have been if classes hadn’t been canceled.”

Martha chuckled, shaking her head. “You’ve got your hands full, Miles. Sounds like you’ve got a really good team shaping up.”

“What about your team, Martha? I’ve not asked before, but since we’re family now, as it were, I’ll hazard the intrusion.”

“Oh, David is working very hard to adjust to having a harem,” she replied sarcastically, the look on her face reminding him of similar mischievous looks he’d seen on Sophia – like mother, like daughter, he supposed. “Two of the women added to our team lost teenage children and husbands to DuoHalo, so it was a bit rough at the start, as I’m sure you can appreciate. Still, we’re managing.”

“I’d love to have your team over for a barbecue soon - perhaps this weekend?”

“That would be nice. Let me run it past the others, and I’ll let you or Soph know by tomorrow. I’m looking forward to visiting you anyway – my daughter goes on and on about your… Outhouse, is it? You have an experimental building in your backyard. I’m struggling to imagine who on earth does that, so I want to see it for myself.” The smile on her face assured him she was half-teasing.

Rising from his seat, he smiled wryly and shook his head. “Well, I am glad to hear I’ve made such a good impression on your daughter. Martha, thank you for your time this morning. We’ve both got a lot to do, so I will get moving and make sure you’re not waiting on me or my team.”

“One more thing – I’d almost forgotten,” the General managed to look chagrinned. “Check your inbox. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development emailed me and copied you to provide the contact information for your new HUD overseer. Make it a point to reach out to her today to sync up. And try to get on her good side, won’t you?”

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll see to it this morning.”

“My door is always open for you, Miles. Talk to you later.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.” He quipped with a grin, snapping to attention briefly before smartly executing an about-face and exiting her office, hearing her chuckle as he shut her door behind him.

****

As soon as the Zoom call connected, Miles struggled to suppress a grin. Deputy Assistant Secretary Marion McFadden somehow reminded him acutely of Roz from Disney’s Monsters, Inc. It was her disinterested, half-closed eyes that generated the mental image. Fortunately, that was the limit of the similarity.

“Captain Davies, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name,” the DAS offered right off the bat.

“I’m sorry, Deputy Assistant Secretary, but have we met?” a confused Miles replied.

“No, no, we’ve never met in person,” McFadden assured him, “but one of my assistants – Julia Connoly – briefed me on you some time ago. Julia graduated a few years back from Florida and is now a senior member of my Resilience and Disaster Recovery Team. She remembers you quite fondly as one of her favorite professors back in college. She claims you really changed the way she thinks about how communities should be built in order to be more sustainable.”

“I remember Julia in my class – that’s been a few years ago!” Miles chuckled. “As I recall, she came up with some pretty novel ideas of her own. How is she doing now?”

“She’s proving to be a very good assistant – quite innovative, and still coming up with novel ideas,” the DAS effused. “Now, let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we? Please give me a rundown on your short- and long-term visions for Operation Endure, and don’t be afraid to go into the details. I’ll let you know what’s too deep.”

For the next ninety minutes, Miles briefed McFadden on the major elements of his vision, beginning with the need to get Teams assigned as soon as possible into existing shelters large enough to support them, and then spent a considerable balance of the time discussing his long term vision of the Poly-Pods. McFadden asked many questions, impressing Miles with her depth of knowledge in this subject as well as her level of interest.

As the briefing came to a close, McFadden informed Miles of a few key pieces of information. “Miles, as you’re no doubt aware, there are several similar engagements either already underway, or being planned, throughout the rest of the country. Different regions will have different challenges, but it sounds to me like you’ve got a good handle on the issues specific of your region. I’d like to continue to have these briefing sessions – please schedule a recurring call with me every two weeks so that you can keep me apprised of your progress. Also, please let me know ASAP should you encounter any serious blockers, and we’ll work together to figure out a workaround. Finally, I’m going to grant you a starting budget of $5 Million to cover expenses associated with Tranche 1, and possibly get you into Tranche 2. I’ll need some budgetary estimates from you pertaining to costs for the remainder of your initial Proof of Concept, and we’ll get that funding set up once we vet the estimates. Questions?”

No ma’am, not at this time,” Miles assured her, pleased that McFadden was tentatively in agreement with his approach, and that she’d arranged an initial bucket of funds to get him started.

****

The rest of the day flew past, with Miles and his team shifting gears to determine which activities from Tranche 1 would best benefit from gaining additional civilian workforce, as well as how best they could get a jump on some of the retraining activities needed for later Tranche efforts. Miles focused on putting together a briefing for the public of Operation Endure, to include an overview of the major work elements and a rough timeline for each phase. He was confident that Martha would work out the details regarding when and to whom he would deliver the briefing when he wrapped up for the day.

Miles possessed the presence of mind to send his partners home in the HUMVEE while he made a side trip to a grocery store on his own way home, picking up several different chocolates – he’d heard of multi-female households syncing up in their cycles and decided to be prepared – as well as a few jars of pickles, both chips and spears. Grabbing one or two other items that were on his Alexa shopping list, he checked out and headed home. The HUMVEE was parked in the driveway instead of the garage – when he backed in, he could see Penny’s Ford Fusion Hybrid parked in the garage. Miles made a mental note to look into whether or not he needed to install a charging station for EV’s.

As he walked into the kitchen, he caught part of a story that Jan was telling the others. “…and shit was scattered all over. It’s as if they wanted to make sure that no one else would want anything they left behind, fucking assholes! Fortunately, I’d already brought over my more valuable things, but there was still stuff there that I’d have liked to have kept, damn it. Now it’s all gone. I hope those fuckers die choking on their own fucking vomit!”

Miles glanced around, verifying the kids weren’t in sight, before walking over to place the bags of groceries on the table and turning to hug Jan. “Let me guess – someone broke into your home and looted it?”

“Yes, those fucking chicken-shit asshats! There was no reason to make such a mess – they didn’t take everything, but what they left, they trashed. Jackals!”

“Sounds like you-know-who’s house from this morning, Miles. As well as the neighbors.” Debra added at a subdued volume, not wanting to alert the kids – especially the twins.

Gritting his teeth at the memory, he snapped his fingers. “Thanks for the reminder. I left the baskets out in the Beast. Be right back.” He turned and went back out to the garage, returning to the kitchen shortly, carrying the two overfilled baskets.

Eying the contents, Penny reached over to take one from him. “Let’s separate the non-clothes, and I’ll wash the clothes now, just to be safe. And that bear looks like it could use a cleaning as well – let me check the tag…. yeah, it’ll be fine.” Taking both baskets, minus the photos, album, and a few other non-clothing items, she went to the mud room.

“I noticed you brought your car back, Penny. Was your house safe, or any signs of intrusion?”

“No, but after seeing Jan’s place, I didn’t want to leave it there anymore,” she called out from the mud room. “We’ll go back tomorrow with both SUVs If you don’t need the Beast and empty out the rest of our things.”

“Okay, but when you go,” Miles advised, walking over to the mud room door so he didn’t have to shout, “I’d prefer it if you were armed, just in case. Or even better, I can come with you instead of Jan, so that she can be here with the kids. Which reminds me – I definitely want to show all of you where the tactical traps are so that you can get to a firearm if anything should happen. I’ll make sure I sit down with the twins later tonight to begin teaching them basic firearm safety, beginning with ‘Don’t mess with my firearms – they aren’t toys’.”

Jan looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. Miles noticed, dreading what it would likely lead to, but asked her anyway, “What are you thinking, dear? It’s okay to voice your concerns. I’d rather we discuss them than pretend they don’t matter. Plus, I always - “

“Reserve the right to get smarter,” both Maddie and Sophia cut him off, making the other women look at them in puzzlement.

“Exactly,” Miles confirmed, grinning at his former students.

“We’ve heard him say that phrase over and over – it was even on our bullshit bingo card for his class,” Maddie explained, looking chagrinned at the last.

“Wait. What?” he blurted out, looking wounded.

“Look, Miles, I know you have strong feelings about guns. I get it. And I also know you want all of your team to be capable of protecting one another. I am totally on board with that thought,” Jan explained to him carefully.

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” he mumbled, a look of concern in his eyes.

“But… I am a bit concerned about you showing the twins your arsenal. We don’t know them very well yet,” she went on, carefully making her case, knowing her man felt strongly about the matter, “and we have no idea what might traumatize them, or go against how their father has raised them thus far. If you don’t mind, I’d like to suggest other options, like maybe getting a dog or two to help with guarding the family.”

Miles rocked back on his heels, stunned momentarily by having a blind spot so casually revealed to him. “A dog,” he repeated simply, looking nonplussed. “Now why the fuck didn’t I think of that? I’m gonna be honest, here. I haven’t had a dog in decades. No pets, of any kind. Just never happened.” He scratched his head for a minute while the others just watched him with amused looks on their faces. “Okay, but I’m going to leave it to you two,” he pointed at Penny and Jan, “to pick out the dog. I’d expect the pound will have several rescues; all things considered. Just make sure it’s house-broken and good around kids. Fixed might be good as well. I’ll look into adding a doggie door once I know what size we’ll need. That work?”

Jan nodded her head, while Penny tapped her on the shoulder. When Jan turned to look at Penny, she held out a hand to Jan, one eyebrow arched. “Told you. You owe me a dollar.”

Miles raised his eyebrows but decided to head back to the bedroom to change out of his uniform rather than attempt to pierce the veil of feminine mystery permeating his home.

****

Later that evening over dinner, Miles asked the kids to tell him about their first day of school. They all started to chime in excitedly, each giving short, quick stories about some new class they were taking, and how it was neat to be challenged to look things up on their own, or in some cases, to help check each other’s work. Much of what they were describing brought distant memories back to him, and he smiled at their description of these ‘new’ experiences as if no one had ever done such things before. He made it a point to listen intently to each of them, asking a few questions, and being very interested in their responses. When he’d heard from each of them at least once, he steepled his fingers in front of him, leaned over, and mimicked, “Excellent,” in a creepy Monty Burns imitation. Sean and Ellie laughed at this, while the other children looked confused.

Jan simply shrugged and offered, “We usually opted to watch Myth Busters at our house instead of the Simpsons.”

Miles feigned a mortal wound, giving Jan a comically shocked look, before turning serious and replying, “I can see that. I just don’t watch broadcast TV anymore, so I don’t have to make such choices.” He ducked his head as Jan tossed a dish towel at him.

Turning back to the kids, he waggled his eyebrows, telling them, “I gotta say, I’m definitely looking forward to Parent-Teacher night!” which, of course, resulted in much laughter.

About then, Penny walked in from the dining room where she’d been folding clothes. “Noah, Emma, can you please come get your clean clothes so you can put them away? Oh, and Emma, I have something here for you,” she smiled at the little girl, holding out her teddy bear.

“Bosco!” the girl cried, running to Penny to snatch her bear. “Oh, thank you for finding him! I was so afraid I’d never see him again!”

Penny just smiled at the girl and pointed to Miles, nodding her head in his direction. After a moment, Emma realized what Penny was trying to tell her, and turned to grapple Miles in a big hug, squeezing him with a surprising amount of strength. “Thank you, Miles. For getting my Bosco back for me. Thank you.”

Miles just hugged her back, choking back a sob that suddenly crept into his throat. Closing his eyes, he just held the girl for a moment, before kissing her on the head and telling her, “You are most welcome, Emma. Now, do as Penny asked and go put your clothes away – that’s a good girl!”

Releasing her, he turned to her brother. “I almost forgot – I picked these up for you this morning when I was getting your clothes,” he told Noah, handing the boy the case of toy cars.

Noah peeked into the case, then closed it and held it tight for a moment, before stepping closer to Miles and hugging him with one arm, holding the case with the other. “Thank you, Miles. I’m so glad you brought these to me.”

Tousling the boy’s hair, Miles stood back to let Penny hand him his basket of clothes, shooing him on his way afterward.

Standing there, looking after where the twins went with misty eyes, Miles just scratched his chin. “You know, sometimes it’s the small victories that mean the most.”

Silently, each of his partners came to him to hug him or plant a loving kiss on his lips.

****

Miles couldn’t sleep. Worries kept chasing one another through his thoughts, and every time he got close to sleep, another troubling thought emerged. What if the government couldn’t figure out a way to reappropriate the homes the Teams needed? What if the looting turned more violent? What if the people weren’t willing to pitch in and help out? What if he couldn’t convince the locals to invest in their own future? What if….? One fear after another chased themselves over and over through his overactive imagination.

Eventually, he gave up and eased himself out of bed, being careful not to disturb his partners. Going into his den, he sat down in his chair to try to find some peace of mind, seeking to chase away the concerns that were plaguing him. Looking up at the picture of Beth above his desk, he thought once more of her, and eventually of Marcus. He closed his eyes to focus on the memory. They were stationed in Norfolk. The Enterprise was in port between deployments, and he was watching Beth’s attempts to spoon-feed their infant son. Both Marcus and Beth were covered in carrots – evidently, the boy hated carrots. He’d fussed and flailed so much that they ended up everywhere. Beth was laughing as she wiped away the mess from around her face, and Miles was handing her a cloth to help clean herself and Marcus.

This memory gave way to another, a few years later, when he was in between duty assignments. He’d just rotated off his tour of duty on the Enterprise and was studying up to be the Weapons Officer for the guided missile cruiser Normandy. Beth walked into the living room where he was studying, dressed only in a babydoll nightie, and she gently took his manual from him and set it aside, sitting sideways in his lap and wrapping her arms around him. Giving him little kisses along his jawline, she moved down to his neckline, then back up to breathe hotly into his ear.

“Miles,” she whispered into his ear in a sexy voice, “I’m very fertile right now.” She kissed back down his neck to his collarbone, unbuttoning his shirt. “I want another baby, sweetheart,” she groaned, as she pulled his shirt up, helping him remove it. “Let’s make one, right…,” working to undo his pants, “fucking….,” she lowered his boxers, swinging her leg over his, “now.” She sat down, fully impaling herself on his manhood, straddling him, riding slowly but purposefully on him. He leaned back, luxuriating in the feel of her hot, slick tightness, gliding up and down on him, coaxing her need from him.

His dream shifted. Now, it was Ava riding him, straddling him in his chair, hot breath in his ear as she whispered urgently to him. “Please, Miles, I want a baby. Please, mi amor, put a baby in me,” her hands holding his face as she leaned in to kiss him.

The image shifted again, this time to Penny riding him reverse cowgirl, as Jan knelt between their knees. Penny’s head was turned so she could whisper hot nasty things into his ear. “Make me your woman, Miles. Etch your name into my womb forever. Mark for all time that you’re the owner of this pussy. Fill me with your seed, so that Jan can suck it back out of me. Give us this day our daily dose…”

The dream slowly faded, as Miles swam towards consciousness again. The first thing he noticed was the scent filling his nostrils. It was a sweet, honeysuckle aroma that he recognized. It was the shampoo that Sophia preferred. Opening his eyes, he found himself gazing into his young partner’s eyes. Sophia was in his lap, arms around him, just watching him.

“When I woke up and you were gone, I came looking for you,” she explained to him softly, in almost a whisper. “I found you here, but you were having a dream. I decided to stay with you, to comfort you.”

Now fully awake, Miles realized he was fully inserted into Sophia. She wasn’t moving, just sitting there, impaled upon him, holding him. He flexed his cock in her, evoking a soft moan in response.

“Thank you for being here, Soph. I appreciate you looking out for me,” he told her softly, keeping his voice down. With a smile, he raised one hand to sweep a loose strand of copper hair out of her eyes. “Is there anything I can do for you now that you’ve protected me from my dreams?”

She just leaned in to give him a soft, full kiss on his mouth, eventually parting her lips and exploring further into him with her tongue. As their kiss deepened, she began to slowly undulate in his lap, moving her hips back and forth, making contact on all surfaces of his cock while doing so.

Miles moaned softly into her mouth, moving his hands to her hips and guiding her to a more pleasurable rhythm. Satisfied with the result, he slid his hands up to her breast so he could play with her nipples.

“Mmmmm, that feels nice,” she moaned as she broke their kiss, her breathing deepening.

Leaving her nipples for a moment, he simply gripped her tits, squeezing them just enough to make her breath catch, but not enough to hurt her. Using his hands on her breasts to guide her pace, he set her to a more up-and-down motion, while he shifted his hips beneath her.

“Oh, god, that feels so good. Miles, I could do this… unhh… forever,” she panted, just a little louder.

He could feel her picking up her pace and moved to match it. Still gripping her breasts, he continued to use his hands to guide her up and down, feeling her body’s response to this additional ‘manhandling’. He was beginning to feel the old familiar tightness in his balls when she sucked in a breath and held it, biting her lip while squeezing her eyes shut. Feeling her walls quivering around him, he watched as her torso convulsed until she let out her breath with a whoosh and started moving again.

Leaning up to kiss her, he gripped her breasts tighter, now using his thumbs to flick her sensitive nipples. Hearing her moans of pleasure, he continued to quicken his pace, moving her up and down faster now, bucking his hips to meet her with each stroke. As he felt her begin to tighten once more around him, he gave one final, mighty thrust with his hips and exploded deep within her tight wetness. Rope after rope of his seed splashed against her cervix as he gave her his all, causing her to lurch into powerful convulsions as she fought to remain quiet.

In his mind’s eye, Miles could picture the spray of his swimmers now on their way up into her womb, seeking their target, pummeling against it like mindless attack drones, until one finally penetrates her egg. He smiled at the thought, opening his eyes and kissing her again.

Returning the kiss, she sighed into him then moved her head to lay it upon his shoulder, closing her eyes and relaxing into him. They remained that way for a long time until he imagined that he’d slipped back into a dream – a dream in which he once again heard his departed wife’s voice, as she sought to soothe him. This time, however, the dream was different. This was not a memory of the past. Beth was soothing him, brushing her fingers through his hair the way she’d always done while assuring him to be at peace. “Love these women as you have loved me, darling. I know I will not lose out because of them. We will both grow, not be diminished, my love. Make babies with them, as you did with me. I will always be here for you.”

Surprised by the vividness of his imagination, he smiled to himself, choosing to see the good in it, whatever it was. He loved his wife. He loved the sons that she’d given him. He loved these new women and the added children who’d come into his life. And he would love the new children that they would create together. He understood that his capacity to love was limitless and that this was good.

 Turning his gaze down to Sophia in his lap, he softly stroked his hand along her back, gently rousing her so that they could return to bed. Feeling as if an immense weight had shifted – no longer crushing him down with its enormity, Miles rose from his chair and walked hand in hand with Sopha back to the bed, where they each crawled in and wrapped themselves in the comfort of the other members of their team who were there. Miles was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

***Gainesville, FL – 0930, Tuesday, August 11, 2020***

The conference call between the General, her JAG Liaison, Capt. Swami, Miles, and the Mayor of the City of Gainesville lasted less than thirty minutes. After a brief dick-measuring contest, Miles cut through the bullshit and drove straight to the point. “Madam Mayor, you are no longer able to police your city. Your citizens are already dealing with major stress factors, but a lack of law enforcement could create a tipping point. I’ve been told of other cities that hit this point and no longer exist as a result. It’s up to us, right here, right now, to decide whether Gainesville will continue to exist, or will simply cease. I know the outcome I’d prefer, but I cannot seem to fathom what you want. I’m not going to pussyfoot around and blow smoke up your ass. Either let us work with you to save this city or let me know that you won’t, so I can get my family the fuck out of here.”

General Palmer raised her eyebrows at his bluntness but remained silent. The newly minted mayor, Cynthia Curry, served as the City Manager before recent events. She was clearly out of her depth on the call and eventually raised a hand to call for calm.

“Look,” she exhaled, “emotions are running high, and that’s not going to get us anywhere. Captain Davies, I’m familiar with your reputation as a straight shooter from your former capacity on the Governor’s Advisory Council, as well as some work you’ve done in the past with my predecessor, and I understand your passion, so let’s cut to the chase. What is it you’re wanting to do, and how fucked are we if we don’t?”

Miles laid out the basics of Operation Endure. It was a bold, long-term vision that would reshape the community, top to bottom. Teams would be assigned interim housing according to their needs from the existing inventory of homes. Entire tracts of properties would be targeted for demolition while a few would be renovated. The whole concept of a home would change and evolve, and the local community would be brought in to supply the workforce. This would be a largely local effort, with very little outside labor to assist.

Mayor Curry listened attentively to Miles’ plans, occasionally jotting down some notes. When he was finished, she asked him, “So, what if we don’t do any of this?”

“My gut warns me there will be trouble. People have been thrown into a situation with very little preparation or follow-up. Worse than that, our society has been shaped around the nuclear family, and Teams represent a significant departure from that model, meaning the existing inventory of housing simply isn’t suitable in the long run, based on modest projections.”

Blowing out a breath in frustration, Miles continued, “This situation is something that goes against the culture in which most of us were raised, so it’s not going to be an intuitive shift in behaviors. Folks will need to be taught how to survive and thrive in a new culture in which most are not well-equipped to succeed. Jobs are few right now, with so many closures, and most folks were struggling to get by before these latest events. I think we’re at an inflection point. We can either get ahead of the curve and give hope to the people most impacted by this mess, or we’re going to see a rise in unrest that leads to a total breakdown of civil society.” He paused to observe her body language before putting a final point on the board. “We can either sit back and watch shit go from bad to worse, or we can stand up and lead folks from bad to better. What’s it going to be?”

The mayor closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing her temples. She reopened them and shifted her gaze. “General, you mentioned the Air Force has seen similar situations like this unfold. What was the outcome where no actions like those that the Captain is proposing were taken?”

Palmer leaned forward to stress the point she wished to make. “Madam Mayor, nothing like the actions that Captain Davies is proposing have been tried before. Early on in the pandemic, large numbers of contractors were engaged to retrofit existing multifamily structures in places hit the way that Gainesville has been. Failing that sort of intervention, most small towns simply ceased to exist. In some cases, anarchy reigned, and the city literally burned to the ground. There have been no prior examples where the local community has been included in efforts to rebuild and adapt. That’s the part that is so innovative about the Captain’s plan. Today, there are no armies of contractors waiting to help us. Gainesville is on its own, with only the limited resources the Air Force has in play already. We either do this ourselves, or, well, I’ve told you the alternative.”

“Okay. Point taken. How would we proceed, if we were to undertake what the Captain is proposing?”

The remaining five minutes of the call were spent planning the public town hall session where Miles would outline his plan to the community leaders, and the citizenry at large.

As he packed up his laptop and prepared to leave the conference room, the General stopped Miles for a moment, looking him in the eye. “I’ll say this about you, Miles. You’ve got balls the size of church bells.”

He smiled, recognizing the reference, and nodded his head as he picked up his things. “So, we're on for this weekend, Martha?”

“I wouldn’t dream of missing it, Miles. We’ll be there on Saturday afternoon. Now go save the city.”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you, ma’am,” he responded as he nodded her way and left the room. He was positive that he heard her snort ‘wise ass’ under her breath as the door closed.

As soon as he’d gotten back to his desk and logged into his AFNet seat, Miles saw the email from Lt. Governor Nunez, introducing him to Stefanie Cox, Committee Chair from the Florida Office of Adoption and Child Protection, and Alison McFee, General Counsel from the Department of Children and Families.

Miles added their contact information to his address list in his email client, then sent an email to both women to request their availability over the next few days for a Zoom call to kick off their conversation about the orphaned children from the recent outbreak in Gainesville. He wasn’t sure what to expect when they finally met, but he sure as hell planned to do his best to help those kids…

***Gainesville, FL – 1630, Tuesday, August 11, 2020***

The young woman looked exhausted, at least that part of her he could make out above her N95 mask. She struggled to hold the leash of a very large puppy that was struggling to get to the new strangers confronting it.

The woman at the animal shelter – her name badge read ‘Nicole’ - took their information quickly, and then brought them back to where the abandoned animals were kept. “They are usually only caged at night, but because of that thunderstorm that passed through a little while ago, I got them all put away early. Lord almighty, you should’ve heard them howling then, with all the thunderin’ and lightenin’, whew golly!”

The shelter worker let them wander up and down the rows of caged animals until they came upon the cage of a particular ball of energy. The puppy in question was only eight months old. In addition to his age, the placard above the cage door indicated his name was “Barney”, and that he was a Rottweiler, neutered, house-trained, and well-behaved with children and other animals. Jan immediately asked if Barney could be let out of the cage so they could interact with him.

After connecting a leash to his collar, Nicole let Barney out, whereupon he immediately began hopping up onto his hind legs while putting his forepaws on Jan’s legs and trying to lick her face as she bent down to pet him.

“Oh, he’s adorable!” she enthused, obviously taken with the animal. Barney was mostly brown, with a white stripe running up his snout between his eyes, and a splotch of white fur in the center of his chest. His eyes followed Jan’s every move, with his ears perking up as she turned to talk to the others. “Penny, Miles, I think I’d like to bring this one home. We can maybe look for another later, but I’d like to start with him. What do you think?”

Nicole leaned in with the leash and informed them, “There’s a dog obedience class that we hold every few weeks. We’d stopped the classes during the COVID lockdowns, but with folks around here being vaccinated now, we’ve picked up again. Class starts next Wednesday evening if you’d like to bring him. The class itself is $35 and only takes 4 weeks.”

“Miles, I promise I will bring him to the obedience classes and make sure he is trained to be safe around the family. I really like him.” Turning to the dog, she leaned in and beamed, “What do you think, Barney? Do you want to come home with me and my family?”

The dog woofed, its tail wagging fiercely, as it leaned forward to lick Jan’s face. Laughing aloud, she gave the dog a good rubbing on his back.

Seeing the others weighing their decision, Nicole sweetened the deal further. “I can send him home with you today with a 25-pound bag of food for him, as well as a sleeping cushion and a retractable leash. What do you think?”

Looking at Penny with a shrug, Miles turned to Jan and simply nodded. “If this is the dog you want, Jan, then I’m all for it.” Turning to Nicole, he continued, “What do you need from us?”

Jan and Penny both smiled, as Nicole began to lead them back to the office to complete a few standard forms.

Leaning over to pet the dog, Miles smiled at it. “Let’s go home, boy. Time for us to introduce you to the family you will protect with your life.”

****