“Amy we’re here. Heading your way. Don’t shoot!” Jessie emphasized the last part making sure that Amy didn’t accidentally discharge her gun being as hysterical as she sounded.
There was no response other than more crying. We neared the lantern finding Amy cradling Michael in her lap with tears streaming down her face. She was rocking him while talking to him in a low sobbing voice. Jessie had to help me physically separate her from Michael. Amy commenced to tightly wrapping her arms around Jessie breaking down into louder weeping. Jessie did her best to calm her down. I gently laid Michael’s head down on the floor sitting with him while holding his hand to give him comfort. A bloody bandage was wrapped around his throat. He looked up at me seemingly past the point where the pain bothered him.
“I contributed…protected.” He coughed up blood. A few tears rolled down his cheek.
“Don’t talk Michael. I’m proud of you for protecting Amy. Thank you.” I looked away for a moment to wipe away my own tears. “Twenty years from now we will all be telling stories to others about how heroic you were.”
“Star…”
“Don’t worry about your sister. I promise we will all look out for her. She will never want for anything. I will protect her giving my own life before I let her be harmed in any way.”
Michael squeezed my hand tightly. “Thank you.” After those two words I saw a pale blue glow before he closed his eyes. He started to have what seemed like a small seizure, but I knew exactly what was happening. I looked at Jerod gesturing for him to swiftly take the women outside. Putting his hand on Jessie’s shoulder she glanced over at me. Together they led Amy to the front door. Just as they exited Michael stopped shaking going completely limp. I stepped away from him a few feet. Aiming my pistol carefully I pulled the trigger. Searching the store I found a blanket someone had left behind in the manager’s office. I wrapped Michael’s body caring it to the back of the truck.
“We’re leaving the car behind. Let’s get back home.”
We dropped the women off at their cabin then headed over to break the news to Starlette and David. I had to knock on the door for a while to wake them up. It was difficult to find the right words but eventually told them about the conversation I had with Michael at the end. I gave them my condolences promising he would have a proper burial. At first Starlette stood there in disbelief which was eventually followed by crying when the realization sunk in of what I was telling them. She thrust her fists against my chest repeatedly saying no. I grabbed a hold of her pulling her into a hug. I told her I was sorry while she wept for a long period. Jessie walked over from her house taking over with the comforting. I began to leave with Jerod but she motioned for me to wait on her. I told Jerod to go ahead without me. He left after making sure there was nothing else we needed. I quietly told him to leave the body in the back of the truck until later this morning. Fifteen minutes later Jessie came out of the cabin. Walking back to her place she told me that she had given both Amy and Starlette a mild sedative to help them sleep. She said that David had silently moved a chair into Starlette’s room where he was planning to watch over her until she woke up. Back at their cabin Jessie asked me to stay the night. We sat on the couch in the living room talking until she became tired. I held her in my arms once she curled up against me. Somehow we both managed to fall asleep.
The following morning Amy woke me up snuggling up on my other side resting her head against my shoulder.
“Morning sunshine. You alright?”
She just shook her head no taking one of my hands in hers. Jessie was apparently already awake just hadn’t moved until after I was awake. She stretched kissing me on the cheek before heading off to the kitchen. A little while later she returned with coffee for all three of us. I could smell it had a little liquor mixed in with it. A couple cups later Amy began to tell us what had happened during guard duty.
“Everything was fine for the first few hours. Michael was thirsty and we were both bored out of our minds so we took a trip to a convenient store that wasn’t that far away. I knew they had a soda machine which I had noticed a couple days ago while driving around during the day with Kurt. We had actually gone inside to grab whatever snack food we could find that was still good. In a break room I found a weird looking key that I pocketed not realizing what it went to until later. I wanted to treat Michael with a Purple Fizzle since he had been trying so hard lately. I stepped out to get both of us a drink. As I was opening the machine up while holding a flashlight in the other hand the overwhelming smell often accompanied with the dead got really strong. A female
Fallen
came out of nowhere grabbing hold of me. I struggled with her dropping the flashlight to use both hands to keep her at a distance from being bitten. She was physically stronger and I wasn’t going to be able to fend her off for very long. Michael must have noticed I was losing the fight because he tackled her away from me. They both rolled around on the ground until Michael managed to put a knife in her skull. He dropped on top of its unmoving body breathing heavily while grasping his neck. I saw he was bleeding once I picked up the flashlight. I had to half drag him to the car since he could barely stand. I drove to the nearest pharmacy I knew of. Seeing his blood all over the car made me hysterical when I was trying to contact Jerod while driving. At the pharmacy I grabbed a lantern from the back seat which made it possible to still use both arms to basically carry Michael inside. I found bandages wrapping up the wound the best I could. You know the rest from there.”
After a little while I left with the excuse that I had some errands to run. Leaving out the back door I walked back to my house before driving over to see Amy’s brothers. They were standing around out front smoking. Apparently Jerod had already filled them in on the previous night’s events before retiring for a little sleep. I discussed with them the conversation I had with Michael before he passed away. I asked them if they would help me with a proper burial like most of us recalled before the world went to crap. I wanted to make sure that he was honored for his heroic sacrifice. They all agreed without question. We hit up the city stopping first at a funeral home to acquire a nice dark maple casket. We loaded it up in a borrowed hearse after placing Michael’s blanket wrapped body inside. There was a small cemetery nearby where I had purchased burial plots ages ago because of the peaceful and picturesque environment of the forestry that surrounded it. Borrowing a backhoe we dug a hole for the casket in the area I had purchased so as to not disturb the other graves. We loaded back up driving to a limousine rental company. Here we broke in taking the keys the nicest black stretch limo that they had. From there we drove the hearse and limo to my place parking them for later. We went back to the community neighborhood loading everyone up in a couple of vehicles. I drove to one of the really nice dress stores my diseased wife used to love shopping at. Making sure it was safe we left the women there to choose appropriate dresses for a funeral. Jessie whispered in my ear before we left that they would help Starlette pick something out to wear before leading her inside holding her hand. We acquired shirts, ties, and suits from a tuxedo rental place not far away before most of us headed back to my cabin. Sam took David to find some new combat boots because the ones he currently had were pretty worn out. A couple of us rearranged my dining room making it more suitable for a social gathering to follow the funeral. Dan put together snack trays while the rest of us set out dishes, chose a vintage Bordeaux, and did other menial tasks. Kurt went after the lawn with a push mower while I picked up trash that the wind had blown into the high grass. Jerod went in search of flowers coming back with several wild hybrid roses he had found in someone’s front yard. He told me several days later that he had a close encounter with a
Fallen
being preoccupied in thought while he was cutting those roses. Sam and David arrived with a battery powered cd player and music appropriate for a funeral gathering. The women arrived shortly after extremely surprised to see all the work we had done.
Loading everyone up into the limousine except for Jerod who drove the hearse. At the graveyard we lowered the casket into the hole before everyone gathered around. Several of us had words to share about Michael. We played the music David had picked out himself for the funeral which made the women begin to cry. David comforted Starlette. Amy and Jessie both sought me for a shoulder to cry on. There was a glance or two from the others as they noticed this fact. Starlette asked if someone would say a prayer to which Jerod did his best to oblige her wish. We each dropped roses onto the casket saying our goodbyes. This was followed by giving condolences to Michael’s sister and best friend. We then headed back to my cabin for the social endeavor.
After it was over I walked Jessie and Amy home rather than drive. On the way they occasionally whispered to each other having a conversation that I could not hear. On arriving at their home they asked me to come inside to discuss something with me. Inside having a seat in a chair across from them I waited patiently while they finished having their whispered conversation.
“Rye, we don’t want to pressure you into answering right away for what I’m about to ask you. Honestly we want you to have time to think about it before giving us a truthful answer. Just to be clear whatever your answer is we will respect your choice.” I nodded my head listening carefully and acknowledging that I understood what she had said so far. “You have always been there for both of us in so many ways since the first day we met you. We both know that if something ever happened to either of us that you would look after whichever of us was still alive. Neither of us have said it because we were not sure how you would respond, but we both love you very much. All that being said what we were both wondering is if you would consider being in a serious relationship? Perhaps even moving in together?”
I was definitely caught off guard. Not sure exactly what I was expecting the question to be. Being with them on occasion was without a doubt a light in a much darkened world. In truth I did love each of them very much for different reasons. I quietly wondered to myself if a relationship with two women at the same time could actually work. Before the United States had fallen gay marriage was a huge topic. It had finally been legalized by the Supreme Court. Other forms of marriage such as polygamy were barely being brought forward to challenge their legality. Most were afraid that coming forward would cause them their jobs, homes, and freedoms. This was definitely something I never thought I would ever have to make a choice about. I was sort of worried how the rest of the community would react.
“I’ll give it some serious thought as you suggested before answering. To be fair I haven’t told either of you that I love you because I thought it might cause problems between the two of you. Now that the topic has been opened I do want you both to know that I love you each very deeply. It’s nice to know that you feel the same way. Give me until the end of the day to make a decision.”
I kissed each of them goodbye before leaving. I walked around the neighborhood for a while by myself thinking. It felt like it was almost yesterday my wife had died even though it’s been more than half a year. How could I so easily love someone else? For that matter two other women? I found myself suddenly confused. Obviously I shouldn’t give a damn what others thought since they had no right to decide who someone should or shouldn’t be in love with. Wouldn’t three people have a greater chance of obtaining their hopes, dreams, and goals in life than two people? Wouldn’t it be less problematic when someone in the relationship required emotional support, attention, or needed help? I had never considered all these things until now. Of course it would take three people of the same views that were capable of communicating and being open for this type of relationship to really work. Somehow I found myself standing around outside of Amy’s brothers’ cabin knocking on the door. Dan who I was hoping to see answered the door.
“Hey Dan. Got a few minutes to chat. Just the two of us?”
“For you anytime brother. Wanna go for a stroll?”
“Might as well. I’ve been strolling around for a while already now.”
As we walked it took me a few minutes before I just came right out telling him the situation that I was in. I talked about the many things that had crossed my mind ever since they had proposed the idea to me earlier this evening. He eventually put his hand on my shoulder stopping me.
“You know I respect you Rye. You’re a great man. You’ve had many losses like the rest of us. Losing your wife had to be harder than anything the rest of us had to endure to be quite frank. I know you will decide for yourself what the right decision is in your heart. As far as my sister Amy goes I’m obligated as her brother to look out for her best interest even when she may not agree. If it were just the two of you I would say hell yes because I know you would treat her right. Of course I would have to tell you that if you hurt her that there would be kicking of the ass. As far as a relationship with both of them goes, the best I can do is give you advice that you can take as you will. First off to be clear I have absolutely no objections with it in any way. If you think you can handle two women then more power to you. Some of the other men might have jealousy issues seeing how as we have yet to find more survivors of the female persuasion, while you get to have a relationship with two women. That doesn’t mean there are not more women out there to find. My advice to you is that if you seriously love one another and make each other happy then damned what anyone else says or thinks. There is one thing though.”