Forbidden Future

Embrace the Future 1

Forbidden Future More than fifty years ago, wicked winds, carrying deadly diseases, swept across the land, and their ancestors fled to a protected valley. But now the easy-to-gather food and fuel are used up, and the people struggle to feed themselves. The goods their ancestors had brought with them are worn out, and life is hard trying to feed and provide for themselves. Zuri, Udo, and Tau love each other, but have to meet in the forest to make love. The people decide to go to the city to look for food and fuel. It’s Zuri who finds the ancestors’ truck and asks for a gift in return—that she, Tau, and Udo could be together. Their request is granted. Then everyone plans for the trip to the city. It’ll be very dangerous, but the three of them will be together. But will they find any food? Will they even survive?

Genre: Futuristic, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction Length: 21,075 words

FORBIDDEN FUTURE Embrace the Future 1

Berengaria Brown

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

FORBIDDEN FUTURE Copyright © 2012 by Berengaria Brown E-book ISBN: 978-1-61926-836-4 First E-book Publication: July 2012 Cover design by Harris Channing All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of Forbidden Future by Berengaria Brown from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Berengaria Brown’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Brown’s right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION For J1, J2, and L. The future is yours. Step out and claim it, and make it into whatever your dream is.

FORBIDDEN FUTURE Embrace the Future 1 BERENGARIA BROWN Copyright © 2012

Chapter One He limped slowly up the long hill, leaning heavily on his cane. From time to time, he stopped, breathing heavily, but he always began walking again, a little slower perhaps, the cane digging deeper into the grass as he leaned harder on it, but he persisted all the way until he finally reached the top. When he arrived there, he rested both hands on the walking stick then lowered himself to the grass, dropping the last nine or ten inches onto his ass with a slight thump and an expletive. Dammit, I don’t know why I come here. It always makes my knees ache, and I always have to rest. Yeah, and getting up is always a bitch. Gonna be a helluva bitch again today. He smiled. He knew why he came. It was the only connection left to his childhood. A world long gone that almost no one else could remember. He was only fifty-eight years old. Not so old perhaps, but these days, few people lived past forty. Life was just too damn hard. He had a dim memory of attending an eightieth birthday party. For his grandmother? Or likely his great-grandmother. Who knew anymore? But what he did know, what he still saw clearly in his mind, was the crowd of really old people, people in their eighties, nineties even, who’d been at that party.

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Ah yes, it was more than fifty years ago though. Before everything had changed. Before… He looked around him, taking in the panoramic view he’d expended so much pain and energy to see. Every time he came there, he was aware it might be the last time. The last time he could look into the distance and see the high buildings of what had once been a city. It was crumbled now, ruined, with wild grasses growing up in the cracked buildings. With houses and apartment blocks fallen down over what had once been freeways. The people he lived with—or more accurately, the parents and grandparents of the people he lived with—had escaped from that big city and made their home here, next to a fresh-flowing river, in a lush valley where crops grew well. Where they were protected from the wicked winds that raced across the land, destroying houses and pushing down trees. Winds that for the first ten years had carried diseases that killed anyone exposed to them for too long. Winds that even now sent everyone scurrying indoors to shelter until they blew themselves out, even though no one had died from wind-borne diseases for many years now. No one knew exactly what had happened. He was much too young then to understand more than the desperate scramble to leave the city and travel as far and as fast as they could. Until they came to the valley, and there they stopped and hid and sheltered and stayed, building a new home. But he remembered the city and yearned for its conveniences. For lights that went on when he flicked a switch. For foods that stayed cold on hot days, and for the ability to heat and cook food in moments, instead of it taking hours. The young children thought his stories about his childhood were just stories since almost no one alive had lived in the city. But although he’d only been a child then, his mind was not deranged. His memories were clear. However, he’d learned not to speak of them anymore. So here he came to look, to remember, to wonder what the children growing up in the valley

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would have for their future. So much hard work to produce food and fuel, and so little time to appreciate anything of beauty. No time for joy or learning. What would their lives hold? As he sat there, he came to a decision. He would insist on all the children being taught to read and write, would teach them himself maybe. Even though everyone’s days were full of the hard work needed just to stay alive, and fuel was much too scarce to be wasted lighting the village after dark, he would find a way to instill basic literacy in the newest generation. If they were ever to have time for leisure, ever to be able to provide more than the basic necessities, it would only happen through people trained to think of more than mere survival. People trained to appreciate beauty and learning. It was up to him. He would rise to this new challenge. **** Their clothes had been dropped haphazardly on the grass, and Udo had two fingers in Zuri’s anus, stretching her for his cock. Tau’s hands were on Zuri’s breasts, his lips moving across her neck and jawline as he kept her aroused and wanting them. But she always did want them. Udo was endlessly amazed at how she welcomed them both into her body whenever they had the opportunity to be alone with her, which wasn’t nearly often enough for his wishes. The meaning of her name was “beautiful,” and Udo had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. Not that he’d seen all that many women, their village was not large, but Zuri far outshone all others, with her wild black curls and deep blue eyes, even though she was getting thinner from the never-ending work and the barely adequate food. After they’d fucked—always the most important item on his agenda!—they needed to talk about getting more food for their village. Everyone was always a bit hungry, and soon the need for a larger food source would become critical. But he

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couldn’t think about that now. All he could think about was getting his cock deep inside Zuri and fucking her brains out. And his, too. Zuri whispered, “Now. I’m ready now. I want you both right now, please.” Tau lifted her left leg high on his hip and thrust his cock deep into her cunt. Zuri wobbled a little with the force of his penetration, but Udo held her hips tightly until Tau was fully seated inside her then moved one hand to part her ass cheeks. His cock rested at her entry, and she nodded, so he thrust deep inside her, pushing hard past the outer ring of muscles, into her tight heat. Oh gods, she felt good. His dick damn near burst the moment he entered her. Her tissues gripped him just right, stretching around him as he slid in and out again, yet always clasping him firmly. He could feel Tau’s dick through the thin wall dividing her two channels, and that was almost enough to make him come as well. Knowing his best friend was feeling everything he felt made them closer, more like genuine partners than just friends. Udo wrapped his arm around Tau, pulling him and Zuri harder against his own body. Zuri’s spine pressed into his chest. Every little knob on her spine made a separate indentation in his chest, and that was as sexy as hell. Although seeing her grow round and less bony would be sexy, too. He could remember holding her hips last summer and reveling in the flesh there. Her breasts had been bigger then, too. Dammit, they had to find more food. But not now, not when he and Tau were slamming into her in a synchronized beat with each other, both in together, their cocks filling and spreading her walls, both out together. She was making cute, little moaning and panting noises, so he knew she was close. And his own dick was ready to burst, his spine already tingling in a way that warned him he couldn’t hold on much longer. Udo lowered his arm from Tau’s waist to his ass. He pressed his body harder into Zuri’s, hauling Tau an inch closer to him, then thrust

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his finger deep into Tau’s ass, twisting it to find his prostate gland and ping it. “Ahh,” groaned Tau, his strokes suddenly going ragged. Udo smiled and withdrew almost totally out of Zuri then slammed into her as hard and deep as he could. His orgasm rolled through him, and jet after jet of cum poured into Zuri’s ass. Her inner muscles gripped him tightly, and then he felt her body throbbing and rippling. She’d come. Good. He pumped into her again, releasing the last of his seed, then rested his head on her neck, kissing and licking her soft skin. She smelled good, a little sweaty, but mostly of the clean, earthy forest. Tau released her leg, and she stood upright between them, her cunt and ass still quivering around their cocks. “Gods, you’re good,” she whispered. “It’d be even better if we could do it every night in a bed,” said Tau. “It’s a big enough risk of me getting pregnant already. Every night and it’d be sure to happen,” Zuri answered. “Yeah, we need to talk about that. Banning sex to prevent more kids being born is stupid. Everyone’s going to break that rule and likely sooner rather than later. Not to mention the kids we have are going to keep growing and become adults that need more food anyway. So the question is working out how to increase our food supply in the valley, not kids or sex. We need to keep animals as well as grow grain and vegetables. The ban years ago on pet animals was another stupid rule. We don’t need pets as such, but we need to farm and harvest animals. None of us is getting enough meat for good health. We all need protein, and especially the kids need protein or they won’t grow healthy. A cup of milk each every couple days for the little ones is not enough.” Udo stopped, aware he’d just given a longwinded rant, but he felt really strongly about this. Not just the ban on sex and babies, but the lack of thought and planning for the future. The village leaders were reacting to the situation, not acting proactively to solve the problems.

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After more than fifty years of cropping, the valley, once so lush, no longer gave such abundant harvests even though they rotated their crops and left fields fallow one year in four. Also, the rabbits and other small animals in the woods had been hunted so heavily there were few left, and the ones that were had developed good instincts to avoid capture. Even the fish in the river were smaller and fewer than in years gone by. And that was not looking at the problem of fuel. The only time they could avoid cutting down trees to feed their fires now was when the wind blew them down. In the past, their parents had never cut down trees. There’d been plenty of dead wood. But that had all been used up long ago. People no longer had fires in their huts except in the depths of winter. This was another example of the village leaders reacting to the situation, instead of seeking a solution. And stupid, too. It was far too cold for the old and the very young not to have a fire, long before the snow started to fall. Zuri pulled her shirt and skirt on then slipped her feet into her shoes. “Do you think Old Luke’s stories are more than just stories? Do you believe we could find answers in the city?” she asked. “I do,” said Tau. “I used to listen to his stories all the time, and they were consistent. If he was making stuff up, the details would have changed, but they never did. The main problem would be that most of the stuff from there would be destroyed by now. I mean obviously there’d be lots of wood we could use for our fires, but how would we get it back? He spoke of huge trucks, but no one could drive them, not even him. Besides, they’d never work now, not after all these years.” “I don’t know. Not everyone would have left the city. People may still live there with all those things Old Luke talks about. Refrigeration and electric lights and trucks,” said Udo. “If people live there, won’t they attack us if we try to take their stuff? We’ll just end up in a war,” said Zuri.

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“Damn. That’s a point. We’d need to go to an area where no one lives now, so we were not stealing some village’s possessions or hunting in their fields,” said Udo, suddenly dispirited. “And before we go, we need to build a wagon to bring stuff back. It’s no use just a few men walking and taking only what they can carry. That’d be a total waste of time. But if we could keep the construction not too heavy, our four cows might pull a wagon for us.” Tau was looking excited now. “We must get back to the village. Are you going to say anything to the leaders?” asked Zuri. Udo pulled on his shirt and pants then shoved his feet into his shoes. “Not today, but soon. We really need to plan an answer. The village can’t just keep going on as it is now. It’s not sustainable.”

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Chapter Two Food in the village was cooked, served, and eaten communally, and always had been, as far as Luke could remember. Although for many years, the villagers had been permitted fires in their own huts, and sometimes his mother had baked him treats such as cakes slathered in honey. He also remembered lying on his little bed, close to the fire, toasty warm on the coldest nights. Now, fires were only permitted in huts in the middle of winter, and his old bones ached almost all year round, despite his three thick blankets. Whenever the men chopped a tree down, they planted the seeds for two more, but trees took a mighty long time to grow, and despite rationing their fuel use, everyone could see the trees were being cut down faster than they were being replaced. Already a group of women was growing tree seedlings in a garden bed on the edge of the forest to try to speed up their growth. Luke looked at his empty bowl and sighed silently. Damn he was hungry. The long walk had built up an appetite. Normally the food allocated to him was fair enough. He was old and nowhere near as hungry as the young men and women who worked so hard all day long. But he was damn tired of never feeling full, of always wishing for more. And his belt was already on the tightest hole. Soon he’d have to get out his knife and cut a new hole or his pants would fall down. When he was small, people had always wanted to be thinner. But that was when there were evil, but delicious things like ice cream and chocolate. His mother had missed not having chocolate once they’d come here. Personally he missed ice cream. He could barely

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remember the flavor now, but he could remember its cold smoothness sliding down his throat. Some hot days he craved the stuff. Right now he’d settle for a stale piece of bread to fill his belly. Not gonna happen, unfortunately. Food was scarce. Fuel was scarce. Simply keeping alive was taking all the villagers’ time and energy. And he wanted to teach the children to read and write! But unless the people began to think in new ways, the village was doomed. All these people would gradually die. If the children could read, there might be a chance they could find new ways to live. If they could create things…Not bring back the past. Obviously the past had gone wrong in a major way. But devise a new pathway forward. And the only way he could imagine that happening was with a new generation and new ideas. For sure the current village leaders couldn’t think of anything new. They were stick-in-the-muds all of them. But perhaps that was because they were always so tired, and hungry. Luke stared at Andy, the village headman. He was a good person, fair in his decisions, but he’d never tried anything new at all that Luke could think of. Some of the previous leaders had tried new crops. They’d saved the seeds from nuts and berries gathered from the forest and grown them themselves. But back then the rabbits had eaten a lot of their tiny plants. That was no longer a problem. The rabbits hadn’t touched the tree seedlings. In fact, the men struggled to catch rabbits anymore. The bunnies—and other wild animals— had moved deep into the forest. Or more likely were almost hunted out. Enough thinking. Everyone had eaten. Now it was time for him to speak. “I want to teach the children to read and write. We all used to have these skills, but over the past ten or twenty years, they’re dying out. If the children are to develop the village, to lead us in the future, they need to be literate. I’m willing to teach them, but if another person would prefer to be the teacher, that’s okay by me.”

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“The children don’t have time to waste on such useless, outdated things. Their labor is needed in the fields. It’s all we can do to feed everyone now,” argued Andy. “The children don’t work in this hour between dinner and darkness falling. I could teach them at this time every night,” Luke replied, having expected this argument. “Reading is of no use to us. Those moldering old books in the storeroom can’t help us feed our people. They won’t bring the deer or the fish back here, or make the grain more fruitful,” scorned Arthur, a young man who was barely literate. “But if someone read those books, they may tell us how to make the grain grow better or give us new ideas of things we can try to increase yields,” answered Luke. The argument raged for a long time, with most of the village siding with either Luke or Andy. Then Udo spoke. “I agree the children should learn to read. I also think we should build a big wagon and go to the city to find out what is there that could help us. Maybe they have other crops that will grow better here. At the very least, we could bring back a lot of fuel, and be warm this coming winter. While we’re there, we could find books specifically on agriculture and bring them back, too.” “Clothing and blankets, too, as well as books and wood. If we built a big enough wagon, it would hold a lot of things that would make our lives better,” added Tau. “Our ancestors fled from the city because people there die. If we go back, we’ll die,” said Andy. “Why should we? There haven’t been winds bringing illnesses in ten years or more. Even when the winds come, they don’t blow down many trees now. They’re much less fierce than when our ancestors fled from the city. That was two generations ago, and the world has changed,” said a young woman. Again the argument raged back and forth, but this time there was definite leaning toward the idea of a trip to the city. The women

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wanted clothing, blankets, and metal cooking utensils. The men liked the idea of plenty of fuel and some new tools. A few were even interested in books and finding other things that might make farming easier. Finally Andy called a halt to the discussion. “Very well, you may build a big wagon. Even if no one goes to the city, such a thing would be useful here in the valley. But it’s only to be constructed after all the usual chores are done. And I haven’t agreed to a journey to the city. We’ll talk about that again after the wagon is built.” “Can we learn to read?” a little boy asked. There was a long moment’s silence before Andy replied, “Only after your work is done each day.” Luke couldn’t resist smiling. Tomorrow he’d go into the storeroom and find some simple books. And while he was there, he’d look for books about farming, too. **** When Luke found a box of books for young children in the storeroom, he was excited. But his excitement soon turned to dismay. The children in these stories all traveled with their families in boats, airplanes, and cars, played with electronic games, watched television and movies, went shopping, or played in the park with a dog. None of the children in the village would understand any of these things. Finally he chose a child’s picture dictionary and decided he would write his own textbook, with stories that had meaning for these children, using the kids’ own names and lives as the basics of his teaching. He found no agricultural handbooks, but there was a thick encyclopedia which he thought might have some useful information in it, if people could guide him as to what exactly to research. After dinner that night, the children gathered around him as they did when he told stories, but this time he had had a bucket of soft dirt

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and a dozen thin, straight sticks. He tipped the dirt onto the ground, smoothed it, and wrote his own name. “My name is Luke. L-U-K-E,” he began, drawing the letters carefully. “There are only twenty-six letters. With those twenty-six letters, we can make every word there is.” The children were enthralled, and by the time darkness fell, each child could write the first letter of their own name. Luke was satisfied with the beginning of his lessons. He wasn’t stupid. He knew not every child would continue to be interested. But as long as enough of them gained the desire to learn more, perhaps the village could be saved. Or perhaps this venture to build a wagon and go to the city might save them. How he wished to travel to the city. But he’d only be a burden. Such a long walk was beyond him. And although he could sit on the wagon on the way there, he’d have to walk home, and that wasn’t possible. Dammit! **** Zuri craved the men’s touch. She only felt truly alive in their arms. Walking and talking with them in the fields and around the village was enjoyable, but her body thrummed with life and joy when they stripped her and touched her. Only when their cocks were inside her did she feel there was hope for the future and a reason to live. The more they fucked her, the more she wanted them, needed, them. Yet every time their seed filled her, she worried she’d become pregnant, which was forbidden. Well, fuck the rules. I’m not giving them up. They’d known each other all their lives there in the valley. Although, since she was five years younger than them, they’d never played together as children. But over the past year, the attraction between them had become intense, developed into need, desire, lust. Zuri knew the two men had enjoyed sex with each other before she’d

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joined them. But now they were a triad, and that’s all that was important to her. Right then Udo was supposed to be helping the men design the wagon, but Zuri lured both men into the forest. It was almost dark, so they couldn’t go too far, just far enough to be alone. As soon as she could, she pulled Tau’s pants down, dropped to her knees, and sucked his cock deep into her mouth. Ah gods, he tasted good. A little salty, a little musky, all man. The more she sucked, the larger he grew, filling her mouth, his cockhead pressing against the back of her throat, encouraging her to swallow him down. She smiled around his shaft as he groaned when she did. She let him slide out, and turned to Udo. Udo was already naked, his cock in his hand. As he tugged on it, a drop of pre-cum moistened the head. Yum! Udo pushed her back against a tree and lifted her skirt, sliding his fingers deep into her cunt. Eagerly she clenched on them, loving his touch but wanting so much more. Meanwhile, Tau had unbuttoned her shirt, and his mouth was working on her breast. She’d lost weight in the past six months—everyone in the village had—and her breasts were smaller now. Tau could take almost her entire breast into his mouth, and he pushed her nipple up to the roof of his mouth. That was wonderful. Cream flooded from her pussy onto Udo’s fingers. “That feels so good,” she murmured. “It’s gonna feel even better soon,” said Udo, twisting and turning his fingers inside her, until he scraped them over that special spot that always drove her wild. Zuri pushed her breast deeper into Tau’s mouth, holding his head tight against her chest. “I want you in me when I come,” she pleaded. Tau stepped to the side, still with his mouth on her nipple, and Udo drove his cock into her pussy. The few moments between when he took his fingers out, and when he thrust his cock in, almost made her cry with loneliness, but then he was pumping into her, hard and

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deep, and she was coming, coming. “Ahh,” she sighed as the wave of release rolled over her. “Again,” he ordered, driving into her harder, deeper. Tau slid his hand under her skirt to her ass, fingering her anus, then sliding inside it. Oh gods, she loved it when they did that. Being possessed fore and aft was such intense pleasure. She didn’t know whether to lean back onto Tau’s fingers or forward onto Udo’s cock, but the men held her tight, working her between them, and a second orgasm was rising, rising, exploding through her. Tau bit her nipple and shoved a third finger in her ass as Udo tilted his cock and slammed deep in her, and the orgasm roared through her, harder this time, driving her higher and shaking her bones. Suddenly Udo stepped out of her grasp and turned to the side, pulling on his cock, shooting his seed on the ground. “What?” “Gotta try to protect you. If we’re gonna fuck as often as we want, we have to lessen the amount of cum that gets inside your cunt,” he gasped, as jets of seed watered the ground. “Sucking you off won’t make me pregnant,” she said, looking at Tau’s engorged cock. “No, thank the gods,” he replied, pushing on her shoulders. She dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth again, licking up his shaft, flicking her tongue in the little slit on top to taste him once more. His cock as was as long as she’d ever seen it, so she knew it wouldn’t take much to set him off. She sucked the head deep in her mouth, right to the back of her throat, then licked up and down the shaft, pressing her tongue into the long vein, loving how he throbbed against her tongue. Then she took each of his balls into her mouth, one after the other, reveling in their rougher feel, their hairier aspect. Tau’s hair was reddish-blond, both on his head and his body, whereas Udo’s was a light-brown.

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Tau’s cock was standing straight up from his body, and she knew he was more than ready to come, so she sucked him deep into her mouth another time, scraping her teeth lightly over the spongy head of his cock, before hollowing her cheeks and exerting some force on him. Enough, she hoped, to entice him, but not too much that it would hurt. She must have guessed right because a blast of hot cum filled her mouth, and she had to swallow quickly before letting him out a little way and sucking him again to draw more seed from him. He gave her two more bursts of cum then leaned heavily on her shoulders. “Gods, you’re good at that,” he said. “Lots of practice,” she said, grinning back at them both. “Yeah, and if these stupid rules continue, you’ll be getting even more,” sighed Udo. “And ass fucking. Everyone in the village is gonna be humping doggy style,” said Tau. Udo got dressed, and Tau pulled up his pants, while Zuri buttoned her blouse. It was too big on her now. Maybe they’d get some new clothes when they went to the city. Fabric didn’t seem to perish the way some other things did. Most of the people in the village were still wearing clothes brought to the valley by the original settlers, but the fabric supplies were almost at an end. There were no new blankets or small children’s clothes left, and many common items like socks and underwear had been all used up years ago. The ancestors must have brought wagon after wagon of supplies because the storeroom was full of stuff, yet they’d been using and wearing out equipment for over fifty years. “How did our ancestors get all the supplies and equipment they brought to the valley here? Did they bring many wagons? If so, why do we need to build a new wagon? Why can’t we just fix up one of theirs?” she asked. Both men stared at her. “Gods, I never thought of that,” gasped Tau.

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“Me either. But it’s a question we need to ask the village leaders. If there are wagons hidden, it’s time to get them out.” **** When everyone finished eating the next evening and was still sitting outside around the campfire, as they did each night except in the depths of winter, Tau and Udo stood up and directly faced Andy where he sat with the other leaders of their village. “When our ancestors came here, they brought a huge amount of items with them. Even now, more than fifty years later, the storeroom holds boxes and cases of goods we’ve never used,” began Udo. “So how did they transport all these things here? We know they didn’t make several journeys. We know they fled fast from the evil winds. That means they must have come in one of the huge trucks Luke and Molly have spoken of or else with many wagons. It would be much easier for us to mend one of those wagons than to build a whole new wagon ourselves,” continued Tau. “The people came on a bus, and the luggage came in a huge truck,” said Luke slowly, as if remembering. “Yes, that’s right. My grandfather helped load the truck,” added Molly. Molly was one of the oldest villagers, likely in her mid-forties, but unlike, Luke, she hadn’t been born when they’d come. As a teenager, she’d cared for her dying grandmother, and she knew all the stories of the village’s beginnings and their previous life in the city. Tau nodded at both Luke and Molly. “Where is that bus and truck now?” He watched Luke, thinking he’d be the more likely of the two to know, but it was one of the teenage girls, Adena, who answered. “I don’t know whether it’s a bus or a truck, but it’s a big machine, and it’s in the cave where my father found the bear cub long ago. He took me there as a child to show me the cave, and when we looked deeper in the cave, we found the…thing.”

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“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” asked Andy crossly. “What for? At the time there was no use for it, and no one knows how to make it go anyway. But if someone now could make it go, it’d be a lot better than walking, and we could fill it with fuel and food to bring home,” said the girl. “Where, exactly, is the cave?” asked Andy. Adena explained, but most people weren’t listening. They were arguing about whether or not it would be possible to make an old machine, a huge machine from fifty years ago, work again. Luke hauled himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane, and raised his hand in the air for silence. “The person in charge of a vehicle like a bus or car or truck used to have to keep the papers to do with the vehicle in the glove compartment—a kind of little box—in the car. It’s likely the papers will be in the vehicle, and people who are good with machines may soon know how to work it. At least enough to know if we can make it go. Tomorrow I will look through the books in the storeroom to see if there is one about cars.” “See if there is fuel for the vehicle, too,” suggested Udo. “First thing tomorrow we’ll go and look at this bus. Or truck,” added Tau. He half expected Andy to say they couldn’t go until after all their chores were done, but when he looked at the village headman, he could see Andy was as eager to see this new wonder as everyone else. Good! How wonderful of Zuri to have made the connection that there had to be a vehicle. If they could get it to work, it would be excellent. Even if they couldn’t, maybe the village’s four cows could pull it. That would save them building a new wagon, and surely all they’d have to mend would be the wheels, which wouldn’t take so long. But hopefully, with luck, they’d get it to work. ****

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The children surrounded Luke, wanting to know what a bus and a truck was. He pulled out the picture dictionary and showed them. Instead of wanting to learn to write their names, tonight they all wanted to write “bus” and “truck.” He was grateful for their enthusiasm and used it to teach them much more than a few letters. He told them how, once they could read, they’d be able to learn how to drive the vehicles and how to make them work if they were broken. He explained that, just like the pictures in the dictionary, there’d be pictures explaining how to work the bus, but they had to be able to read to understand the instructions. He taught them the words of the few parts of a car he could remember, steering wheel, brake, tires. The villagers had wheels on their wagons, but only iron rims, no tires, so that was a new concept to the children. “The tires may have perished. I don’t think such things would last for fifty years. But the wheels themselves, and the body of the vehicle, should still be fine, having been sheltered in a cave all this time. The question will be whether the moving parts are broken or not. Tomorrow when I look in the storeroom, I’ll check to see if there are machinery parts as well as fuel for it. I just hope I can recognize what they are,” he said. “Don’t you want to go and see the bus itself?” asked a little girl, Ayan. “It’s too far for an old man to walk. But if we can get the bus, or truck, to work, I would like to go to the city with the people who go,” he said softly. The child came and gave him a hug. “I’ll tell my daddy he has to take you,” she said seriously. Luke smiled and hugged her back, deeply touched. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

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Chapter Three Most of the village gathered after breakfast to walk together to the cave. Although everyone knew the story about the bear cub Adena’s father had captured, few had been to the cave as it wasn’t on a regular route for fuel collection or near where the forest fruits grew. Zuri wondered if the bear cub had been one of the reasons the village had banned the keeping of pets. She remembered her mother telling her the cub had been killed and eaten, but many had wanted to keep it as a pet. Back then the village had a few dogs and chickens as well. The chickens had been killed when they got too old to lay eggs. The dogs had died of old age, but no puppies were permitted. Zuri guessed old dogs didn’t have puppies anyway. It was about an hour’s walk to the cave, and Arthur, who was leading, had to backtrack at one stage to find the entry, which had been partially grown over with brush. A couple of men hacked the brush clear, and the women bundled it up to take back to the village for fuel. A bonus addition to their outing. Every bit of extra fuel was good. Zuri walked through the opening, which was higher than the top of her head, and quite wide. Even with her arms outstretched, she couldn’t touch the sides. Inside they all stood and waited until their eyes adjusted to the semidarkness, then moved forward. The first cave had a hard dirt floor and led into an inner cave. Here there were signs animals had used it as a home, but not very recently. Zuri hoped the men were taking note of it as a possible place to check for food come spring.

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The wide tunnel narrowed a little and curved until it was hard to see. Zuri let her hand run along the rock wall as she walked slowly forward. Then the passage opened up wider, and they were in a big area with the…bus. It was a bus. It had rows of seats for people to ride in, and it was yellow. Even in the dimness, it was clear to see it had once been a bright-yellow and was still a strong color. A truck would have been better for bringing things back to the village, but it was a big bus, and Zuri imagined filling it with wood and clothing and food. Bags of grain and crates of fruit. And chickens. How wonderful it would be to eat an egg once again. People were swarming all over it, climbing through the open doors, and the men were already talking about the engine. Zuri stood silently back against the rock wall of the cave and thought. If the bus was here, why wasn’t the truck here, too? Surely the ancestors wouldn’t have wanted to find two separate storage places for the vehicles. This was a big cave. There was plenty of room for more things to be left in it. Quietly she followed the wall around. When she came to another wide tunnel—it would need to be a big tunnel for the truck to fit through, she reasoned—Zuri scratched an arrow in the dirt with the heel of her shoe to show which way she’d come. She walked into the passage, running her hand along the wall as she had in the first tunnel. It was short and opened into another cave. And there was the truck. It was huge and a dirty-white color. It was a big step up off the ground to get to the seat where the driver would sit, but she scrambled up. Once there, she looked at the knobs and dials and understood driving such a thing might not be simple. She saw the glove compartment and, after several attempts, opened it. There were a lot of papers there, including a book with pictures of parts of the truck. So Luke was right. All people needed to do was read the book carefully and follow the instructions. If it could be made to work, of course. Zuri replaced the book in the compartment and shut the tiny door, then slid down out of the truck. Time to tell the leaders what she’d

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found. Or should she look farther? Maybe there were more things here, too? Zuri couldn’t resist. She walked over to the wall and began looking to see if there were any more passageways. **** Tau was excited about finding the bus. Andy was holding the little book with pictures in it of the various parts of the bus and its engine. That would make it much easier to see what worked and what might need fixing. Hopefully, once the parts were lubricated and cleaned, most of them would work just fine. He watched Udo kick the tires. They were flat, but he couldn’t tell if they were perished or just needed air. The light wasn’t very good there. Anyway, the bus would work without tires. They’d used wheelbarrows without tires for years and years before the rims were too damaged for the wheels to turn easily. Tau looked at the seats. They seemed to be bolted in such that taking them out would not be too hard. If they took out half the seats, they’d be able to fit in much more fuel and bigger items than they could stow with the seats there. Just leave enough seats for the people to sit in, and all the rest should be removed to make extra storage space. And there was a luggage compartment underneath the bus as well, which would hold quite a bit of stuff, too. All in all, this bus was much better than a wagon, even if they couldn’t make it work and the cows had to haul it. “We ought to push the bus through the passageway into the first cave, by the entrance. That way it’ll still be protected from the weather, but we’ll have plenty of light to see to work on it. If we leave it here, we’ll have to burn torches all the time, which will use a lot of wood,” said Arthur. “Someone will need to steer it though so it doesn’t bang into the walls,” added Andy. “Me, me!”

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“I will.” Most of the young men wanted to steer the bus, but Andy shook his head. “You’re all strong, and we need you to push.” Andy cast his eyes over the crowd, finally pointing to Adena, who was both short and slender. “Adena, you can steer. You understand the basic premise? You know what to do?” Adena looked overawed, but she nodded seriously. The crowd ranged themselves along the sides of the bus, with a group of the strongest behind it. The children were ordered to stand out of the way, and then Andy called, “On the count of three. One. Two. Three, push.” The people heaved, and the bus rocked on its wheels, but it didn’t go forward. “Again. One, two, three,” roared Andy. Several more times, they all pushed together, and the bus moved an inch or two, but that was all. The people rested, many of them rolling their shoulders and puffing from the effort they’d used. In the stillness, the piping treble of little Ayan rang out. “The brake. Old Luke said there was a brake, and that stopped the machines moving when the driver didn’t want them to move. You have to undo the brake.” “Dammit, she’s right. We should have thought of that,” said an older man. Andy and Arthur pushed their heads into the driver’s compartment to locate the brake. After some muttering, they found it, and Adena released it. That time, when the people pushed, the bus moved faster than they’d expected, and Adena had to grab the steering wheel to keep the front of the bus pointed at the middle of the tunnel. Their progress was a little erratic, with Adena overcorrecting a few times and the people on one side of the bus having to flatten themselves against the wall of the cave at one stage, but they made it safely through the passage, across the cave where animals had been, and into the first

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cave where the light seemed much brighter after the dimness deeper inside. Arriving there, the people crowded around again, eager for a closer look now visibility was so much better. Udo and Tau stood back from the crowd, Tau looking all around them. “Where’s Zuri?” he asked. Tau watched Udo’s gaze repeat the scan he’d just made. “Not here.” Without a word, they turned together and headed back deeper into the cave. She wasn’t in the animal cave, nor in the passage, nor in the chamber where the bus had been. Tau followed the walls one way and Udo the other. They met up at a wide passage leading deeper into the cave system. Silently Udo pointed to the dirt floor. An arrow had been scratched into it. “You reckon she left a message for us?” “I don’t know, but she’s not outside, so this is the only logical place to look.” “Well, there was one very narrow passage on my wall. But I decided to leave that to check later.” “I agree. Let’s follow the arrow first,” said Tau. Tau rested his hand on the wall very lightly, just as a guide, but Udo walked beside him not touching the other wall. It didn’t matter. This tunnel was very short and opened into another spacious cave, with the truck in the middle of it. “Of course! How stupid we are. Old Luke said there was a bus and a truck. Of course they would be together,” said Tau. He rushed over to the truck and climbed up into the cabin. The back where the luggage went was shut, so he didn’t think Zuri would have gone inside it. So where was she? Suddenly he was worried. She’d led them to the truck, something they should have thought of themselves, but where was she now? Old Luke hadn’t mentioned any other machines. “Where is she?” Tau’s voice was scratchy with worry.

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Udo laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “We’ve gotten ourselves an explorer. I reckon she’s kept going.” “What for? Luke didn’t say there was anything more.” “But he was just a little boy back then. He wouldn’t have known everything. Let’s check out the walls for another passage,” suggested Udo. Tau took a deep breath and nodded, then they circled the room. This time there were two possibilities. They walked a little way into the first tunnel, but there was no arrow scratched in the dirt, so they returned to the cave with the truck and tried the second passageway. This time, to Tau’s great relief, there was an arrow. He may not have found her, but at least he now knew he was following her. This passage was short, too, and opened into a rectangular space with phosphorescent rocks in the roof, giving a gray glimmer of light. Along one side wall was a row of double bunks. In the center of the room was a long table with benches to sit on each side of it. And stacked against the other walls were crate after crate of supplies, piled head-high. When Tau turned back to the entryway, he saw there was a big metal sheet there, obviously meant to be a door to close off the area. “Gods! We’ve found their secret hideaway. The place they would come to if they were attacked,” said Tau. “Actually I found it. You just followed my signals. Or I’m guessing you did,” came Zuri’s muffled voice. “Zuri? Where are you?” asked Udo. “Here.” A hand waved from behind a pile of crates. “These ones are water in bottles. To my right are tins of food. I haven’t had a chance to look at the ones on the other side of the room yet.” Tau rushed across to Zuri. “We were worried about you,” he said, tugging her into his arms. Udo was right behind them, bear-hugging both of them from behind. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Let me out. I want to look at more crates.”

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For the next five minutes, they spread out, looking at the piles of crates around the room. Udo even climbed up to check some of the top ones. But although the arrangement might have looked haphazard, they were all stored very logically, all the water together, the food in one place, a group of boxes of clothing, and other crates of farm equipment, household utensils, and machinery. “I wonder if there are tires for the bus?” said Tau. “Underwear,” sighed Zuri happily. “But is this old food edible? Maybe it’s gone bad after so long,” said Udo. “Some of the old people said they ate canned food they brought with them for many years, so I think it lasts for a long time. But likely not this long. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. When we open the cans, we’ll soon know if it’s rotted or not,” said Zuri dismissively. “We must get back and tell Andy what we’ve found,” said Tau. “What I found,” corrected Zuri. “Yes, the work is yours, so the credit is yours.” Tau looked at his beautiful Zuri. A little too thin these days—gods, they all needed a decent meal—but still smarter than the pack of them, and still stunningly beautiful. He loved her so much it hurt, and his dream was for the three of them to be able to be together all the time, accepted by the village. Udo must have been thinking much the same thing because he spoke slowly and hesitantly. “Zuri, when you tell the village what you have found, you are giving the community a great gift. In return, you could ask for something you want.” Zuri frowned and looked at both men. “You aren’t talking about socks are you? Gods, how I miss not having warm toes in winter. You don’t even mean the fact that I want to go to the city with the men. You mean something much bigger. Something important to all three of us. Yes, now would definitely be the best time to ask for that. While they are surprised and, hopefully, grateful to us.” She nodded again and turned toward the exit. “Let’s do it.”

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Chapter Four Luke was tired, aching, and dispirited. As soon as the villagers had left, he’d propped the storeroom door wide open so there was plenty of light to see right to the back corner. Then he’d started at the back left corner and began working his way methodically around the room. Many of the crates were familiar to him. There were the books he’d been looking through just yesterday and the boxes of farming implements the village had been using all along. Spades and rakes and hoes and brooms, very few of any of them left now, and a crate of broken ones still with good parts to be used to join together to make workable ones. Then there were the boxes of clothes. Not much left there either, just some very big men’s pants, and sweaters, and coats. No one was large enough to fit them, although some of the women had talked of cutting them up and making children’s clothes from them. But there were still many crates and boxes he had to open and look at. Some held things he could not identify. If he thought there was a chance they were parts of a bus or truck, he looked at the pictures in the encyclopedia. Only one crate looked hopeful, and he dragged that to the doorway. The storeroom had been searched many times for food, so he knew he wouldn’t find anything edible or that could be cultivated for food. By midday his knee was aching up a storm, and his back and arms were sore, too, so he hobbled out to the cooking fire and sat in the sun for an hour. One of the young mothers, Faye, gave him her baby to hold while she got him some food and a drink of cool water.

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“You haven’t found anything?” she asked. “There’s a box of machinery that may be useful, but I don’t know. Nothing else yet though, but I’m barely halfway through the crates so far,” he said, wondering how he’d keep going with his knee aching so badly. “The babies will take a nap soon. Jenna and I can help you for an hour or so while they sleep.” Molly joined them. “I have no strength these days. I’m always tired. But I’ll watch the babies while they sleep,” she said. “Oh, thank you. Ben might sleep as long as two hours. He nursed well just now, so his little tummy should be full,” said Faye. “Cara is still fussing,” sighed Jenna. “I don’t have much milk anymore, and water doesn’t fill her up.” Luke felt the women’s pain. Who was he to complain of hunger when these young women needed food far more than an old man like him did? If they could get to the city…If they could find some food or learn to grow new crops that would feed them much better than the old ones. He must place his hope in the village making the truck go again. Or bus, whichever it was Adena and her father had found. Sighing, he leaned hard on his cane and stood. “I’ll be in the storeroom.” “I’ll put Ben down to nap right now,” said Faye. “Here, give Cara to me. I’ll rock her, and likely she’ll sleep soon, too,” said Molly. Luke had dragged an empty crate up to the box he’d been looking through, so that marked his progress around the room as well as providing him with a seat when he looked through the lower boxes. He scanned the small room, mentally weighing up the piles of boxes he’d checked and those still to do. He confirmed his guess that he was about halfway. With the two women helping him for an hour or so, he should be able to finish before the evening meal. The real question was, would their work be a total waste of time, or would they find something useful?

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He showed the women the pictures in the encyclopedia then said, “But any machinery that you don’t know what is does, ask me. Likely I won’t recognize it either, but we’ll put it in the crate by the door in case it’s something that may help.” They worked in silence for maybe fifteen minutes, and then Faye squealed happily, “Oh look. Pipes. At last we’ll be able to extend the irrigation system to the vegetable garden instead of carrying buckets of water.” “Awesome” said Jenna, rushing over to look. The two women pushed and dragged the crate of pipes near the doorway, before returning to their task. I hadn’t even thought of that. I wonder if there’s anything else that we should be using that I ignored. Luke sat on his upturned crate and thought of the many boxes and crates of equipment he’d looked at already. No, he didn’t think he’d missed anything. Most of it was supplies people had looked at many times before and found no immediate use for. Maybe to do with things they no longer had. Luke looked through the next crate while wondering what other things had disappeared from their lives along with ice cream and chocolate. Children’s toys, he supposed. He knew he’d had a whole box of toys in the city, but had only been allowed to bring his few favorites when they left. Balls. Big balls, small balls, round balls, oval balls. Everyone, boys and girls, had played ball games—football, baseball, many other ball games. He’d brought a ball with him, but it got a puncture not long after they arrived. But he hadn’t recalled seeing a ball in—decades. Luke shrugged and concentrated on his task. Finally he had to stop. His knee was aching so badly and was so stiff, he couldn’t put any weight on it. Jenna and Faye dragged a few crates over to him where he sat, so he could look through them, and then Jenna rushed off to check on Cara. “She worries about her because she doesn’t have much milk anymore,” said Faye, excusingly.

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“It’s a valid worry. The baby’s too small to begin eating food yet.” “If only the cows produced more milk, she could mix some with water and give Cara that. But there’s not enough milk for the older children as it is,” sighed Jenna. They worked in silence a little longer, and then Jenna came back. “She woke, but Molly sang to her, and she went back to sleep. Molly said she’d come and get me when Cara wakes up.” They were almost back to where Luke had started, and the first few crates the women pulled down off the pile were empty. Under them was a box with sewing supplies and yarns in it. Jenna pounced on it. “I bet there are things in here we could use. Trust the men not to look under the empty crates and find it.” The final crate had old newspapers in it. “I wonder why they kept these?” asked Faye. “We could burn them for fuel,” suggested Jenna. “I think we should read them. I expect they tell the story of why your ancestors left the city,” said Luke quietly, determining that he, at least, would read them. He dragged the box to the doorway. “Oh, yes. That’ll be it,” said Faye. Luke’s knee had never been that sore before, and his whole body ached. “I think I’ll go to bed.” “I’ll make sure someone brings you food tonight,” said Faye. “Thank you.” His leg wouldn’t move properly, so he dragged it behind him, pulling himself forward on his cane, the short distance to his hut, a small, wooden hut that had housed him ever since his father had built it just after they’d arrived there. Inside nothing had changed. His child’s bed and outgrown clothing had long ago been given to another family, and the few cooking utensils his mother had owned had also been donated to the communal supply. But the hard-packed dirt floor, the rocking chair, the table, his parents’ bed, all were as they’d originally been. He sank onto the bed, kicked off his shoes, and pulled the blankets up over him. He was exhausted, and his labors

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hadn’t been very helpful. But he would read those newspapers. He’d longed for years to know the cause of the strife that had brought everyone there. **** Zuri spent the walk back to the exit, thinking. She didn’t want to sound rude or disrespectful, but it was important she stated plainly what she wanted, and that was permission to live openly with Udo and Tau. So therefore instead of making a public announcement, it would be better to take Andy aside and tell him privately, so she could bargain with him without everyone else arguing and interrupting. Having decided on her plan, she walked faster. Or maybe it was because there was more light the closer they got to the first cave, they automatically moved more quickly. It was funny, when they’d first stepped inside, it’d seemed so dark, but now it seemed positively bright inside. The people were still all milling around the bus, talking and laughing happily. Zuri, followed by Udo and Tau, waited close to Andy, and when he turned away from the group he’d been speaking to, Zuri spoke very quietly to him. “Andy, there’s something you need to see.” He gave her a piercing look, but she met his gaze with her face blank, keeping her excitement inside her. He nodded, and she led the way back through the caves. When they passed the cave that had held the bus, and entered the short tunnel to where the truck was, Andy spoke. “Are there dead bodies here? Is that what you wish to show me?” “No. It’s something good, not bad,” she replied. Andy grunted, but she was already walking out into the cave. “The truck!” “Yes. I went looking for it because I thought surely the ancestors wouldn’t have wanted to find another hiding place when they already

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had such a good one. So where the bus was hidden, the truck would be nearby.” “Good thinking, girl. I know you want to go to the city with the men, and I know I still haven’t said we will make such a dangerous journey, but if we go, you may come with us. Finding the truck means you deserve to travel, too.” “Thank you. I also found something else as well. Not dead bodies,” she joked. “More? But Luke and Molly only spoke of a bus and a truck.” “This is different,” she said, walking to the passage. Andy and the men followed her, although she saw Andy casting longing glances backward at the truck. He can look more at it later. I want to show him everything and tell him what I want in return before anyone comes looking for us. “Gods above!” swore Andy when they entered the final cave. He walked slowly around looking at everything, peering at the stacked crates. “The bottled water will be good for the journey. That way we won’t have to rely on finding clean water in the city or risk imposing on some other village’s supply. The canned food will mostly be bad. But some things may be edible. Clothing! The women will be ecstatic to see that. Hmm, I wonder if some of this machinery will make the truck go. Excellent. Excellent. Zuri, a good day’s work indeed.” “Thank you. Andy, may I ask you something in return for finding all these things?” He stared at her then nodded sharply. “But I may not necessarily agree,” he said. This time it was Zuri who nodded. “I love both Tau and Udo. I want your permission to live with them both.” Andy nodded yet again. “I know. I’ve foreseen this coming. Some people won’t be very happy, but everyone knows the three of you have been together for some time now. I’ll tell the village tonight, after they all know about these supplies. Hopefully, they’ll be in a good mood.”

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“Thank you, Andy.” “Yes, thank you. We love her so much, we can’t bear to be away from her,” added Udo. “Right. I’ll go back and get the people. We’ll load everything into the truck, then push the truck to the first cave beside the bus where there’s good light and the men can work on them together. Meanwhile, find out how to open the doors at the back, and take the brake off and things like that. Zuri can steer it.” **** By the time the people returned to the village, it was almost dark. The few women who’d remained behind had the meal cooked and ready, sitting on hot stones keeping warm beside the fire, which was already starting to die down a little. The fire was in the center of the village, surrounded by chairs and logs to sit on, and was where they all gathered morning and night, except in the coldest time of winter. Everyone walking to the village was carrying something, even the children. Most children had several items of clothing in their hands. A group of women was dragging a pile of brush for the fire. Several men held spades, rakes, and hoes, and another group had a large crate on wooden poles they were carrying on their shoulders. Six or eight of them were taking turns to help carry it, so it was obviously very heavy. The noise and excitement encouraged Luke to crawl out of his bed and join the women at the cooking fire. He still ached all over, but his knee wasn’t as painful as it had been, and he was hungry and looking forward to a meal, too. Jenna helped him lower himself stiffly onto a seat by the fire, just as Ayan ran up to him. “I told them about the brake,” she said excitedly. “You remembered what I’d said? Well done. And what have you there?”

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“New clothes for winter. Two pairs of woolen socks and a sweater as well.” “There were clothes in the bus? Or was it the truck?” “Both! We all found the bus, and then Zuri found the truck and crates and crates and crates of things. Although they say most of the food will be bad, but we brought one crate of cans here to test them out.” “Canned food. Let me think. Little one, will you bring me the encyclopedia from the table in my hut? We can look up canned goods in it and see if it lists a shelf life.” She handed him her socks and sweater to hold, and he rejoiced in the lovely feel of clean, fresh wool, rubbing it on his cheeks and hoping he didn’t look foolish. But something new and unused was so unusual for them all. Ayan brought the book to him and leaned against his side as he opened it and looked through the pages. He stopped at various words and pointed them out to her, wanting to entice her to continue learning to read. “It says people have eaten food from cans ten or even twenty years later with no ill effects, but that acidic food and food in sugary syrup are the most likely to be safe to eat. You mustn’t eat anything out of a can that has dents or holes in it,” he finished. “None of the cans was damaged. I thought to look for that,” said a woman firmly. “Does it say anything about milk powder? I brought a can of milk powder for the children,” asked another. Luke looked through the book but couldn’t find anything. “I’m willing to be a guinea pig. To taste a small amount of something and wait until tomorrow to see if I get ill. If I’m still well, it should be safe for others to eat.” Several other people also offered to test the food. It took a long time to find a can opener. The village had a number of them, but there’d been no canned goods for four years or more, maybe even longer, and no one could remember where the can openers were.

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Finally Molly found one at the very back of a shelf, and the first can was opened with the entire village gathering around to watch. It was the milk powder, and it looked and smelled how those who could remember it from the past thought it should. The woman who’d requested it made up a glass of milk, and Luke drank half, and Molly drank half. Both said it tasted fine, but everyone agreed it mustn’t be given to the children until at least that time tomorrow. “If you’re going to get sick, surely it will happen by then,” said Jenna, looking longingly at the can. “Cara is just a baby. I think you should wait even longer before giving her any,” whispered Luke. Jenna nodded. “But it offers her hope. Maybe with milk powder, she’ll be more settled, less hungry.” Luke patted her arm. He hoped all the food was good. It wouldn’t last forever, and he suspected Ayan’s “crates and crates and crates” might be an exaggeration, but even a few good meals would help them weather the time until they could go to the city. The can of fish they opened smelled funny so was discarded, and a can of peas was slimy and was also discarded, but a can of tomato soup looked good, and when it was mixed up, two of the older men shared a cupful and pronounced it good. People were keen to open more cans, but Andy said no. “That’s enough experimenting for one day. Tomorrow four of our number may be ill. We don’t want to risk anything more.” That made sense, thought Luke. Six men were chosen to work on the vehicles, and they were to take the few helpful books Luke had sorted out and the box of machinery with them. Most of the men not chosen wanted to argue, but Andy was firm. “No work was done in the fields today. It may take months to make the vehicles work, if they ever do work. Meanwhile, the weeds are growing, the slugs are attacking our crops,

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and there’s no guarantee the canned food will be of much use to us. We must concentrate on the crops.” Andy waited until the muttering died down before speaking again. Luke watched the people and knew they understood what Andy said was right. But everyone was hoping the cans, or at least many of them, would be good to eat. When the people were quiet, Andy said, “We owe Zuri a debt of gratitude. If she hadn’t looked to see if the truck was hidden, too, we never would have found it or the crates of goods. She’s asked to form a partnership with both Udo and Tau. She’s brought us so many good things we can’t reasonably deny her request. From today, Zuri is married to both Udo and Tau. This is my decision.” Luke grinned. He hadn’t seen that coming, but he had seen Zuri sneaking off into the forest at dusk with Tau and Udo, and guessed they weren’t going berry picking. Well, good luck to her. He wished her well. Luke clapped loudly. Soon others were clapping, too, and offering their congratulations to Zuri. A few people looked offended or just astonished, but Luke thought they’d come around to the idea. Especially if enough of the canned food was usable.

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Chapter Five Tau and Udo helped Zuri carry her possessions from the hut she shared with two other unmarried women to the hut the two men shared. When her mother had died three years ago, she’d inherited her clothing, but her mother had only owned three skirts and four blouses, which, added to Zuri’s three of each, wasn’t a lot to carry. Zuri also had a very old, thin dress she slept in, the hairbrush she and her mother had shared, and a thick coat that had once belonged to her father. He’d died so long ago she could scarcely remember him, but sometimes she thought she could recognize his scent, still on the coat. She left the mattress on the bed for someone else to use but kept her two blankets. In the middle of winter, she often needed to wrap them around herself when she went outside, even with the coat, and wearing two skirts, one on top of the other. She also brought her own pillow, knowing the men didn’t have an extra one. “My mother had sheets and pillowcases when I was small. She’d gotten them from her mother. But they shredded into rags a long time ago. I wonder if there are sheets in any of those crates.” “I thought you wanted socks?” joked Udo. Zuri pretended to think. “Yes, you’re right. Socks would be much more practical.” Inside her was a big bubble of happiness that kept bouncing up and down in her stomach, then sliding up to almost choke her. At last she could spend a night in a bed with the men. They’d had sex many times, in many different ways, so it wasn’t a real wedding night, but being in a bed, not having to go back home straight after fucking, that was a special joy she was looking forward to.

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In Udo and Tau’s hut, the men bustled around making room on the shelf for her clothing, hanging her coat on the hook behind the door, adding her two blankets to the pile on the bed. She put her hairbrush down on the table with the washbowl, where the men had a cake of soap and the very sharp knife they used as a razor. She’d never really thought about that before. Many of the men in the village grew a beard as shaving was a struggle, but Tau and Udo were always clean shaven, their cheeks never even a little bit prickly. Suddenly she understood and appreciated how much effort that must be for them and was grateful. Then the men were surrounding her, and hands were pulling her skirt down, while other hands unbuttoned her shirt. Joining in, she unfastened Tau’s pants and pulled his cock free, pushing at his pants to make them slide down his hips, before turning her attention to Udo and freeing his cock as well. Udo kicked his feet out of his pants, his hands resting on her ass, cupping the cheeks, massaging them, a finger sliding into her anus just the way that always turned her on in an instant. Zuri shivered in anticipation as Tau teased her nipples, while Udo worked her ass until cream was dripping from her cunt onto her inner thighs. “Since we have all night, shall we start with doggy style? I’ll fuck Zuri’s ass, and you can fuck mine,” suggested Udo. “Sounds like a plan. Then later we can both fuck her together.” “What are you waiting for?” Zuri asked hoarsely, pushing at Tau to walk toward the bed. “Absolutely nothing.” In a moment they were on the bed, Zuri on her hands as knees as Udo kept working on her ass, and Tau behind him, stretching and preparing Udo’s ass. Zuri wished she could touch them, but they’d said they planned to fuck several times that night, so next time she’d make sure she could

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have a more active role in their lovemaking. Meanwhile, she pushed back on Udo’s fingers, letting him know she was ready and aroused. “All right,” Udo groaned, and Zuri knew then that it was doubly arousing for him, touching and being touched simultaneously. Udo pressed his cock at her rear entry, and she slammed back hard onto him, forcing him deep inside her in one thrust. It hurt a little, it always did, but it was well worth it, as she was assured of a huge orgasm later. Udo bent over her, covering her back with his chest, wrapping his arms around her with one hand firmly on her breast, the other at her lower belly where he slipped a finger deep into her cunt. “Ahh so good,” she murmured softly. “Going to be even better,” he replied, as he often did. Zuri waited, her body tight against Udo’s, and she knew when Tau’s cock penetrated Udo’s ass. Not just from the tiny noises both men made, but she could feel the thrust through Udo’s body. Finally, both men began pumping. They always moved in time with each other, and Zuri loved that, as it truly united them as a threesome. Tau’s hand was on her hip, and she lifted one arm from the bed to rest her hand over his, but the men were stroking into her so hard she couldn’t support herself on one arm, so she lowered her body until her forehead was resting on the mattress, giving her the stability she needed to hold Tau’s hand. She clenched her inner muscles, gripping Udo’s cock in her ass and his fingers, three of them now, in her cunt. Then she released him and pressed back onto him as both men sped up, thrusting deeper and harder now, the bed rocking with the force of their efforts. Sweat sheened her back where Udo leaned against her, and she could feel sweat on Tau’s arm against her side. Deep inside her the orgasm was building, and Udo’s wicked fingers in her cunt were making it grow fast and furious. Desperately she pushed back onto Udo’s cock, then forward onto his fingers, gripping his cock with her inner muscles and holding tight

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to Tau’s hand, noticing his strokes seemed a little ragged and uneven now. Then the orgasm burst over her, a huge one as she’d predicted, shaking her until she had to let go of Tau and put her arm on the mattress as her body had no more strength to support herself. She felt the burst of hot cum in her ass and knew Udo had climaxed, followed by a sudden heavy weight, which told her that Tau had come, too, and was resting on them all. The men pulled out, rolling her in their arms, and she was tucked between the two of them, blankets pulled over their sweaty bodies, and Tau’s voice in her ear was saying, “Rest now, my beloved, because we’re gonna fuck again and again to celebrate our wedding night.” She didn’t sleep for long. She was much too excited at being with the two men she loved so much at last. Each of them took her cunt, one after the other, bringing her to orgasm then shooting their own seed on her breasts and rubbing it into her skin. Finally, just before dawn, Tau possessed her cunt and Udo her ass together, as they brought her to the biggest climax of her life, fucking very, very slowly, until every nerve ending was screaming with the need to come. When she finally couldn’t stand the tension any more, Tau bit her nipple and Udo pinched her clit, and her entire body flew apart with ecstasy, quivering and shaking until she thought her bones might break or the top of her head would fly off. She bit down on Tau’s shoulder to stop herself screaming her release for the entire village to hear. This time both men filled her with their cum, sealing the best orgasm she’d ever had, and with it, their love for each other. **** No one had gotten sick from the foods they’d tested, and within a week, baby Cara was contentedly sucking on powdered milk instead of whimpering and crying. All the children were given milk from the

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four cows in turn. But the cows were getting older, and no longer produced enough milk, so there was usually only enough for half the children each day. Now the ones who missed out received a cup of powdered milk instead in addition to their regular food. The people quickly worked out which cans probably had food that had spoiled and opened them, checked, and discarded them, putting in the cooking pot just the few that had lasted. No one opened the cans they were reasonably certain would be good, saving them for winter. And every day the group of men worked on the bus and the truck, learning what all the parts looked like, what function they served, and how to make them work. Stored in the cave had been many big cans of diesel fuel, but it was difficult to know how much would be needed for the journey to the city and back. Luke’s encyclopedia gave them an idea of how many miles per gallon the vehicles would use, but the maps of the area they had were very old and very rough, so it was almost impossible to calculate the distance. Besides, it was most unlikely they’d be able to drive straight down the old freeway. A favorite topic of conversation was whether they should travel in both vehicles or just one, and if only one, whether it would be the bus or the truck. The truck meant they could bring far more things back with them, assuming they found goods and equipment useful for the village, but the bus would give them a much more comfortable journey and more pairs of eyes able to see out and watch for danger. Udo wanted to take the truck. “We can cram four people into the cab, which is plenty of eyes to watch for danger, and the rest of the people can sit in the back with the equipment. It means we won’t be limited as to what we take and what we bring back.” Zuri and Tau agreed with him, but other people had strong arguments for the bus, and Arthur wanted to take both. “We have plenty of fuel, and with both we aren’t limited as to either how many people come with us or what we take. If we find a lot of things to bring back, that won’t be a problem either. We can go looking for

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warehouses now we know what kind of canned goods are likely to still be edible, too.” Other men had laid the pipes Faye had found in the storeroom, and now they had a simple watering system from the river to the vegetable garden, which saved much back-breaking work carrying buckets of water to the growing plants. In the evenings, Luke taught the children to read and write, using parts of the vehicles for words or terms about the journey some of the adults would soon be undertaking. Even older boys and girls had joined his class now. Many of them could read and write, but not very well, and not using all the words he was teaching the younger children. Some nights he would bring out one of the very old newspapers from the storeroom and read them a little bit about the past. Zuri always liked to listen to those stories, too, and Udo noticed Luke chose the stories quite carefully, and thought about what else he wasn’t telling them. “I wonder if he’s found out yet what caused the bad winds to come,” asked Zuri in bed one night. “I don’t think so. He’s only about one third of the way down that box of papers, although he’s rearranged them all. Likely putting them in date order or something, I guess,” said Tau. “He’ll tell Andy when—if—he does find out,” added Udo. Udo hugged the other two close to his body, reveling in the fact that they were all together at last. “When do you think we’ll go to the city?” asked Zuri. “It’ll have to be in the next month or thereabouts. We have to allow enough time to go and come back before winter gets too bad. I don’t think the bus or truck will work so well in snow, and the men won’t want to have to shovel the road for it,” said Tau. “Good point.” ****

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The day the men returned to the village reporting the engines of both the bus and the truck worked, Andy stopped pretending he hadn’t yet decided whether or not a journey to the city would be approved. From then on, all the talk was who would go and who would stay behind. Most of the men and about half the women wanted to go, but everyone knew enough people needed to stay behind to care for the crops. The journey to the city wasn’t guaranteed to bring back food, and the crops were likely their only hope of survival through winter. Udo and Tau were quite confident of bringing back fuel for their fires and things like clothing and bedding, which shouldn’t have been damaged by the passing years, and the books Luke was so keen to read to find out how to improve their crops, but food was a different situation altogether. “Any animals will belong to the people there, and stored food will surely have been gathered over the past fifty years,” sighed Tau. “The people may even have divided the city among themselves, and if we enter someone’s territory, we may cause a war, or at the very least be told to leave,” added Udo. “We have to look though, don’t we? If people had looked in the cave all those years ago when Adena and her father first saw the bus, we wouldn’t have been hungry the past six months and may have had all sorts of new crops and farmed animals to feed us,” said Zuri. “Exactly. And until we look, we won’t know. At least with a vehicle we can cover a lot of ground and search much farther than we could on foot or just with a wagon,” said Udo. “We need to check those old maps Luke found and try to guess which zones of the city would have warehouses and where the farms were,” added Tau. “I think Luke has already been doing that. He said the farms were on the outskirts of the city, so we should pass them on the way in and

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be able to hunt wild animals on our way home again, last thing,” said Zuri. Udo nodded. “That makes good sense because we wouldn’t have to feed and look after them in the city then.” “Has Andy given any indication of how many people he will allow to go to the city?” asked Zuri. “Not as such, but I know he’s not going to agree with Arthur’s plan to take both vehicles. That would allow almost the entire village to go, and he’s been quite adamant that won’t happen.” But when the men checked all the tires, there were only enough good ones for one vehicle to travel safely with adequate spares, so the argument over whether to take the bus or the truck flared again. “We’ll take the truck because it gives us the biggest space to bring back food and equipment. People will just have to take turns sitting inside,” Andy decreed. He also announced an absolute maximum of ten people would go, including Tau, Udo, Zuri, Adena, Arthur, and Luke. Some of the men grumbled, but almost everyone agreed that since Zuri had found the truck and Adena had found the bus, they had to be included, and Luke was their best hope of remembering things from the city. Finally four more men were chosen, and the planning of what to take with them and where to search reached fever pitch. Because of his age and bad knee, Luke was their scribe, the one who would keep the lists of what they had and what they needed and where to go. Andy was insistent that all those going would be granted a turn at driving and turns in the seats. No one was to be left to travel in the back all the time. “Arthur is in charge of this journey, but all participants are to be treated equally. If I find out some of you are being unfair to others, there will be consequences on your return,” he said sternly, looking at the men. “Why don’t you go and supervise them?” asked Molly. “There’s no guarantee they’ll find food. Our crops must be tended to, and I want to oversee that work myself. I’d like to go and see the

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city, but Arthur can take charge, and Luke will help him with the written side of things,” was the reply. Udo nodded. Arthur wasn’t very literate, but he wasn’t stupid either. He’d listen to old Luke when it came to maps, lists, and strategies. They’d tested the bottled water, and although it tasted different from the water in the river, it hadn’t made anyone ill, so they counted out a bottle per person per day, assuming on a travel time of two weeks. “We may find plenty of good water, but then again it may belong to someone else,” said Arthur. “It’s best to take the bare minimum we’ll need with us.” They followed the same pattern with food, taking the bare minimum they’d need, hoping to find things to eat on the way. They didn’t take any wood, certain they’d find something to burn to cook their meals, and the canned food they took with them could be eaten uncooked if necessary anyway. “Cold soup? I hope we find wood,” groaned Udo. Tau and Zuri just laughed at him. “I hope we find chickens and socks,” Zuri joked. “Sheep would be even better. Or cows,” said Tau. “Would they still be around after all this time? Surely they’d belong to villagers,” said Zuri. “They may have gone wild. It’s possible we’ll find some feral ones on the way, although they may be hard to catch,” said Udo. “Something else we need to plan,” added Tau on a sigh. **** Luke made Arthur a map of how he thought the truck could be driven from the cave to the old road, and Arthur and Ghedi, with two other men, scouted the route, finding Luke was very close to accurate. They only needed to make a few minor changes where trees had grown up, blocking the track.

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The truck was loaded with food and water, and those going to the city added a change of clothing each, plus their pillow and a blanket, and then all was ready. “The truck is good in that we can sleep safely inside it. The bus would have been better to travel in, but sleeping sitting up would have been uncomfortable,” said Zuri. “Safety is important, though. Inside the truck we’ll be much harder to attack. With the bus, we could see people coming, but they’d break the windows very easily by throwing rocks at us,” added Tau. “Is anyone taking weapons? Do we even have weapons?” asked Zuri. “Andy is adamant that we avoid conflict where possible. We have our own land, our own village. We won’t steal from other people. Our aim is to find things no one has already claimed. But having said that, I’m sure Arthur will have something we can defend ourselves with if we have to,” said Udo. “I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight. I’m so excited to be going to the city,” said Zuri. “We planned to do other things than sleeping anyway,” said Udo, wrapping his arms around Zuri and pushing one of his legs between her thighs. She responded by rubbing her cunt on his leg. “Time to get undressed,” he said hoarsely. Zuri could feel his cock growing and swelling against her belly even through their clothes and glanced over her shoulder at Tau. He was pulling his pants off. “Looks like the party’s about to begin,” she whispered. As soon as Tau was naked, he leaned against the back wall of the hut. “Slide onto my cock and ride me,” he ordered Zuri. She grinned. It was fun when he played at being bossy. She turned her back on him, wiggled her ass and hips, then said, “The floor is looking a bit dirty. I really ought to sweep it.”

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She took three steps toward the corner where the broom rested against the shelves and found herself caught up in Tau’s arms, thrown over his shoulder, and his hand slammed hard against her ass, smacking her over her skirt. Happily she rubbed her cunt against his back, trying to get some pressure on her clit. Udo hurried over and lifted her skirts up to run his hand over her butt, before both men placed her facedown on the bed. Udo pulled her skirt down and off her legs, and Tau slapped her ass three or four times. Hard enough to leave a red mark and make her flesh sting, but not hard enough to bruise. “Who’s a naughty, disobedient woman then?” growled Tau in his playful voice. “Not me. I was going to sweep the floor for you like a dutiful housekeeper,” replied Zuri. Udo snorted, sliding his hand under her body, inside her shirt, to grip her breast and tease a nipple. Tau kneeled on the bed behind her and ran his hands over her ass, gently soothing the warm flesh, then slapped her hard again low on her ass with a stroke that ignited heat right into her cunt. Next he licked and laved her flesh, puffing his breath over the wet areas. Finally both men lifted her up, Udo helpfully pulling her shirt off, and Tau asked, “Now will you ride my cock?” “Hmm. Let me think,” she teased, watching her men’s faces. Then she dropped her gaze to their cocks. Oh yes, they wanted her real bad. Grinning, she said, “I suppose standing-against-the-wall sex could be fun. Very well then, I’ll ride your cock, Tau, and Udo can take my ass.” The game ended right then and there, with Tau grabbing her and thrusting his cock deep into her cunt before half carrying her so he could lean against the wall. Zuri balanced herself against him, sticking her hot ass out so Udo could stretch her rear entry for his cock.

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There were a few moments when she could hear the rustle of fabric as Udo stripped out of his shirt and pants, and then his fingers were in her, warm and wet from his saliva, sliding inside her ass as he scissored the opening to widen it for his cock. Tau grabbed her attention by thrusting his tongue in her ear, making her giggle, then biting along the edge of it just hard enough to nip and keep her mind focused on him. Zuri responded by licking down his chest and sucking one of his flat, brown nipples into her mouth, then biting on it in return. Then she sucked it again to soothe it before turning her attention to his other nipple. This time she licked wet circles all around it without touching it, until he pressed her head against his chest, silently demanding she suck him there, too. She loved the games they played like this. The sex and the orgasms were always excellent, spectacular even, but being together like this, able to talk freely to each other and play sexy little games was almost as good. They’d bonded as a triad before they’d received Andy’s approval to be together officially. But back then they’d never had the opportunity to just spend time teasing each other and enjoying fun little games like this. Zuri cherished these moments, knowing once they headed for the city there’d be neither time nor opportunity for such things. Their attention would need to be on survival, searching, providing for all the people in their village, not on being together like this. So she deliberately wiggled her ass back and forth instead of pushing onto Udo’s cock, and took her mouth off Tau and grinned at him as she did it. “Does my beloved need her ass spanked again,” challenged Tau. “Well, don’t hit me by mistake,” said Udo, who was pressed behind Zuri, almost covering her about-to-be-spanked ass. Naughtily Zuri stretched an arm backward and swatted Udo’s ass. “What’s that saying of Molly’s? Something about sauce for the goose being sauce for the gander?” she asked.

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Udo moved back and slapped her high on her thigh, then pressed his cock at her rear entry. This time she pushed back for him to press past the ring of muscles and slide deep inside her. “Enough foreplay. Let’s get fucking,” said Tau. “Gods, yes. My dick is dying here,” said Udo. The men gripped her tightly between them, pulling out and pushing in together, fast and hard, the games they’d played evidently having used up all their patience. Zuri let them set the pace, loving being held so tightly encompassed by hot, hard male bodies, enjoying the sweaty slide of chests and backs against her skin. She especially enjoyed their cocks filling her and emptying her in quick succession, the stretching of possession, the emptiness of loss, quickly replaced by fullness once again. The rhythm was addictive and passionate, erotic beyond comprehension. She loved both these men so deeply, and she loved the way they made her feel so precious and desirable as they fucked her in tandem like this. Even though the men held her firmly sandwiched between them, standing against a wall, she had more leeway than when they fucked lying down. Zuri widened her legs just a little, clenched and held their cocks deep inside her, wiggled her hips and ass, and slid her foot up and down first one of Tau’s legs, then one of Udo’s. Both men groaned when she gripped their cocks so tightly, then groaned again as she loosened them. Grinning, she waited a few heartbeats then rolled her hips in a circle, making their cocks slide over all her inner tissues. “Gods!” said Tau, lifting his hands from Udo’s shoulders and grabbing her hips tightly. “You’re killing us here,” added Udo. Udo moved a few inches closer to her back, his body now tight against her skin, and gripped Tau’s hips, holding the three of them in arms like iron bands. Both men increased their pace, slamming into her, pumping their hips fast and furious.

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The orgasm that had been building deep inside her, suddenly flared to life like a fire with new wood thrown on it. Any thought of playing or teasing left her instantly as her mind focused on the intense feelings deep in her belly. Tau pressed harder against her from the front, making sure his cock hit against her G-spot as he powered in and out of her. The flames roared through her body, igniting every nerve ending as they did. Her breasts ached, the nipples rock-hard points pressed into Tau’s chest. Then she exploded, her body shaking, her bones melting with joy, held up only by the two men supporting her. As her cunt rippled around them, they both pulled out from her, jetting their seed on the floor and over each other’s bodies. Once again, she was filled with appreciation for their love and care of her. Evidently they’d only been holding off until she climaxed before letting go themselves. Truly she was the luckiest person on Earth to have not one, but two such men as these.

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Chapter Six All ten of them had learned how to change the truck’s gears in the days before they left. But driving was quite different from sitting in the stationary vehicle practicing. They had a few near misses as they took turns to drive the truck out of the first cave and along the faint track to the old freeway. Evidently the people who had put it there were much better drivers than them. The truck definitely fit through the space, but the driver needed to steer straight and carefully, something not all of them were good at yet. Arthur was insistent that everyone become proficient with driving as soon as possible, and definitely long before they reached the city, so each person only drove a couple of miles at walking pace before swapping out for the next one. It made their journey very slow, but Luke knew Arthur’s plan was best. Who knew who would need to be able to jump in and drive in an emergency? Luke was also not surprised to find the two women were actually better drivers than any of the men except Ghedi. The men wanted to rush, so grated gears and overcorrected the steering, whereas the women took it slowly, carefully, methodically, and everyone could see their techniques were better. Soon the men slowed down, too, and became much better at driving. After a few hours, Arthur agreed they could move faster than walking pace, and he had the women drive first. This far out from the city, the road had many potholes and weeds growing in it, even a few small trees in places, but although they had to steer from one side of it to the other, they made steady progress.

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Luke kept one eye on his map. He’d spent many hours perfecting a map of the journey to the city then had painstakingly made copies of it, giving one to Arthur and the other to Zuri. He figured those two would likely not be together if there was trouble, so hopefully one of the three maps would survive to guide them back home. Nevertheless, he had a pencil in his pocket to alter and update his copy of the map if needed. He also had a notepad, collected from the crates found in the cave, on which to write down where they found useful things and how to get back to them, plus a spare pencil with his change of clothing. Everyone had agreed Luke could stay in the cab, not just because he was their official navigator and recorder of messages, but also because his stiff knee would make sitting on the floor of the truck a burden for him. As well as Luke, sitting in the middle, there was the driver and a watcher. Once they got close to the city, they would all squeeze up and have a second watcher as well. Around noon, they started looking out for a stream or river so they could stop and have a drink if not some food, and about half an hour later they passed through a forested area. Arthur thought it was too dangerous to stop among the trees, but agreed that with so many trees there’d be a water source as well. After they emerged from the trees, Udo, who was watcher at the time, saw a smallish lake, and Ghedi, who was driving, pulled carefully off the road and down a faint dirt track toward the water. Everyone got out of the truck very warily, but there was no sign of people or wild animals, so they sipped some water from the lake, pronounced it tasted fine, and drank. Even Luke enjoyed standing up and walking around a little, after sitting in the truck cabin all morning. It was Adena who saw there were some fish in the lake, so Luke wrote a note that if they found something they could use as netting, they could catch the fish and take them back to the village on their way home.

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Relaxed and happy, although a little hungry, they climbed back into the truck and, with Collin driving now, made their way back to the freeway. There’d been a lot of discussion about whether they should hide the truck to sleep at night or park in the open where they could take turns watching for trouble, with good lines of sight in every direction. Finally Arthur decided hiding themselves was the better option, but with two people always on guard during the night. It was a little earlier than they’d planned to stop when they saw an old house and barn, somewhat dilapidated. It was evident the rain had gotten through the roof and parts of the building had rotted, but they agreed it was a suitable hiding place for the truck. Three of the men forced the barn door open, checking the dark space carefully for people or wild animals, and then Adena reversed the truck and backed it inside so they could make a quick getaway if they needed to. She as the only one, apart from Arthur, who’d managed to accurately reverse the vehicle, something Luke knew Arthur intended to have them all practice, but it still made him feel good that the young girl was a natural at driving the big vehicle. Collin, Ghedi, and Tau went together into the old house and found no one there and no sign any people had been there for a long time. They came back with an armful of thick, fleecy blankets, and the news that there were some foods in the pantry they thought would be good to eat. Udo and Adena stayed to watch the truck, with Luke pointing out if they beeped the horn everyone would come running back to them. Then the others went into the house, searching it more carefully, but finding most of it musty and half-rotted from the weather. However, the roof over the pantry had not been damaged and the foods there looked untouched. They made no attempt to gather any of the cans they guessed would be no good, but picked up a bag of rice, as they could check the grain before cooking it, and a giant tin of tomato soup.

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Zuri grabbed a big cooking pot and a wooden spoon, and the men ripped half-rotted floorboards from one of the rooms so they could build a fire. Luke gazed up at the roof and said, “I wonder if there’s a basement or an attic? Has anyone looked?” “Good point,” said Arthur, and he and Ghedi began searching for a door leading to stairs. A couple of the men stayed with Arthur while the rest dragged the wood back to the barn. While Udo and Collin built a fire, Tau took the cooking pot to a tiny lake almost in the farmyard to get water. Adena and Zuri poured some rice out onto a patch of concrete and checked it, but it didn’t seem at all spoiled. Luke volunteered to taste a few grains and pronounced them crunchy but normal in taste, so as soon as the water was brought, they tipped several handfuls of rice into it added the can of soup, which Luke had opened, and put the pot on the fire. “Tomato soup rice, an unusual meal, but we’re all hungry, so I expect we’ll enjoy it,” said Luke. **** The next two days followed the same pattern. They were able to drive a little faster, but not very fast, as the road surface was quite degraded, and small plants grew up here and there. They swapped drivers every hour, and everyone could now reverse the truck reasonably well. Each night they found a place to stay, and there was always something to take home with them, but not much. The house they stayed in the second night didn’t have a basement either, but it did have an attic with a trunk of old clothes, from which they’d collected a pile of baby clothes and two new pairs of men’s shoes. There’d also been a long, lacy dress, but regretfully Adena and Zuri could think of no good reason to take it. Collin’s sharp eyes had spotted some animals in the distance on the second day, and Luke had noted down exactly where they were for them to try to catch some on their way home. Collin thought they

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were sheep, but since Luke was the only person who’d seen a live sheep, and he hadn’t been sure, no one could be certain. But animals were animals, and food was something their village desperately needed. The third afternoon, the cabin of the truck was cramped with four people in it, but they were close to the city then, and everyone was hyper-alert. They’d traveled through the area Luke had thought should be farms, but had seen no signs of animals, apart from the ones the previous day, so that was disappointing. They were all tense with worry and hope, and Zuri, who was driving, was terrified she’d do something wrong and endanger everyone. They came to a wide road on their left, and Luke directed Zuri to turn there. “This should take us to the warehouse district, where our best hope of finding food is since we didn’t see many farms or animals,” he said, patting her shoulder gently. “Thank you,” she whispered, knowing he was encouraging her, and grateful for his kindness. Driving the truck at this critical stage of their journey was a huge honor but also a big responsibility, and she was very aware that her reactions needed to be as sharp as they’d ever been. Zuri grasped the steering wheel lightly, her hands at the ten to two position as she’d been taught, her gaze flicking from side to side, alert for any movement that might be seen, as well as watching the road, which was no better and no worse than it had been for most of their journey. Luke was watching the odometer to know how many miles they’d come along the road, although since they weren’t traveling straight down the road, having to dodge trees and potholes, Zuri knew their mileage wouldn’t be the same as the maps. “The turn off to the right should be soon,” said Luke. “There” said Ghedi and Arthur together.

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Zuri saw it ahead and smoothly made the turn into what appeared to once have been a gated area, the high metal fence tumbling down in places, the gates wide open, one having fallen off its hinges. “Because the gates are open and one is broken, I’d say people have been here before, but there may still be things we can find,” said Luke. “If not, we’ll keep looking,” said Arthur, determinedly. Zuri drove slowly toward a huge, concrete building. So that’s a warehouse like everyone has been talking about. Wow, it’s enormous. She drove to the end of the area then turned the truck around, facing back out. “What do you think, Luke? Try to open a door near the back here, on the grounds that people may have started looking for things at the front?” asked Arthur. “I’d go for one of those wide, roller doors. If we can force that open, we can drive the truck right inside.” “Oh good idea.” Zuri drove very slowly back along the building until they came to the kind of door Luke meant. He pointed to it in case she hadn’t guessed what he was talking about. Again she was touched by his kindness. The old man was a treasure, so thoughtful and understanding. Arthur jumped out of the truck, and four men joined him. The rest stayed on watch. “Honk the horn if you see danger,” Arthur said tersely. Zuri nodded. The men tested the door, and then Arthur pulled some metal bars from the back of the truck, and the four men began forcing the roller door away from the wall. With four of them, it didn’t take long, although the metal squealed really loudly as it came free, so anyone in the building would have heard it. Zuri turned the headlamps of the truck on and pointed the front of the vehicle into the building, but it wasn’t dark. There was plenty of

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light coming through the clear ceiling of the building, so she turned the headlamps off again. Where they’d entered had once been some kind of store selling plants, but many of the pots had fallen over and the plants were just dust and a few twigs now. There were also wheelbarrows—Zuri knew the men would want some of them!—and all sorts of things she couldn’t identify. Luke pointed to wheels holding narrow tubes of piping. “Hoses. If we could figure out a way to get the water from the river through those hoses, it would make watering the crops much easier,” he said. She nodded, trying to concentrate on the vehicle when all she wanted to do was look around her. Arthur had the men pull the roller door down again and jam it shut, and then he divided them into teams to search the warehouse. Each team took a wheelbarrow and was told to make a lot of noise if there was danger so others could come and help them. Zuri and Adena were left with the truck, and once again told to lock the doors and honk the horn if there was trouble. “Damn it. I want to explore,” said Adena. “Yeah, me, too. We’d notice things the men might miss. But we’ll make sure we get a turn tomorrow.” It was surreal sitting in the truck waiting. After a while, Adena climbed out the window and stood on the roof of the truck, looking around the warehouse and calling out what she could see to Zuri. Finally she climbed back inside. “I don’t think anyone has been here for a long time. I don’t think we’ll find food here either, but we’ll get some useful things like those wheelbarrows though.” Zuri agreed. The group Luke was with came back with bags of fertilizer, which Luke said made crops grow better. They didn’t know whether it would still work after all this time but thought it was worth bringing the twenty large bags anyway as the truck had plenty of space in it.

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Other teams found a few useful things, but apart from the wheelbarrows, nothing exciting, although they loaded in three of the big wheels with hose-piping on them in case they could make a watering system from it. At night they all slept together in the back of the truck, with the men taking turns to go on watch, and Zuri tucked up tight between Udo and Tau, wishing they could do a lot more than just hold her tightly. **** The second warehouse they found had been the scene of some kind of trouble as it was burned almost to the ground in places. They only gave it a very perfunctory look inside, knowing anything worthwhile would have been taken or destroyed. Certainly they saw nothing at all usable. The road to the third building was very rough and overgrown, leading them to hope it was untouched. Once again the men forced a roller door, experts at doing it without much noise now, and drove inside. The building looked untouched with aisle after aisle of all sorts of things. Teams were allocated, each given a wheelbarrow, and sent off. Zuri and Tau’s sector had bolts of material. Tau stood back and let her decide. The prettiest ones, were, unfortunately, not functional. Zuri fingered delicate laces and chiffons, sexy, slinky silks, and other fabrics she couldn’t name. But she shrugged resignedly and loaded the wheelbarrow with serviceable woolens, polar fleece, and sturdy cottons. She added all the containers of pins and needles off a shelf, and the half dozen pairs of scissors she saw, too. When it came to the reels of thread, she picked up the display rack and sat it on top of the wheelbarrow. On the way back to the truck, with both of them pushing the overloaded wheelbarrow, Zuri saw some small plastic boxes. “Oh. They’d be perfect to transport the pins and needles in,” she said,

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grabbing a box off the shelf and piling the little packets and containers into it. “Grab another one for the thread and a couple more for other people,” suggested Tau. “But it’s not our sector.” “Yes, but other people may not have thought about how to transport little things that’ll get lost in among all the bigger stuff we gather. And it’s a much more convenient way of transporting these reels of thread.” “Good point,” Zuri agreed, picking three more containers off the shelf. One team had found mattresses, and everyone went to that sector to carry them all back to the truck. They took everything out of the truck, which didn’t take long, covered the floor with two or three layers of mattresses, then loaded their things back in again. “Now that’s going to be nice to sleep on,” said Zuri happily. In the back storeroom of the warehouse, one of the teams found wooden packing crates and pallets, which they pulled apart to make their campfire. There was no river or lake nearby, but a couple of the men climbed into the roof and found there was a big water tank there. Molly had told them about such things before they’d left on their journey. They filled the cooking pot and brought it back to the campfire and ate rice again. No one complained. They were all hungry. Ghedi jumped up. “Those mesh things we saw. We could use them as fishing nets.” A couple of the other men followed him back into the maze of aisles and came back soon with the mesh. Luke looked at it carefully and said, “I think people used it to keep the sun off their plants. I remember seeing some over a…hmm…fernery, I think it was.” People started talking about plants, which inevitably led to the topic of needing to find more food for the community.

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“I wish we knew where we could find some animals we could breed for food,” said Arthur in frustration. A quiet voice said, “If you promise not to take anything of ours, we can lead you to some chickens and sheep.” Zuri jumped in fear, her heart almost beating its way out of her chest, sweat sliding over her face and down her breasts as if she’d just run a long way. Udo and Tau moved up beside her, flanking her, each one with a hand on her shoulder. Arthur stood and turned to face the voice. Everyone’s head followed his actions, and then Zuri could see, in the shadows, a large man, with perhaps another person behind him. Ah yes, he’d said, “ours” not “mine.” “We aren’t here to steal anyone’s possessions, but to scavenge that which belongs to no one,” said Arthur, his voice firm, his body still. “That’s what we thought. We’ve been watching you for several hours now,” said the man. “We” again, noted Zuri. “No one here will take anything that belongs to you or your village,” said Arthur, glancing around his people. Zuri nodded in agreement and noticed many others did, too. Some even said, “Yes.” The man stepped into the light, revealing himself to have blond hair and blue eyes and to be at least six feet tall, possibly even taller. Behind him came a brown-haired man a few inches shorter than him, and last was a brown-haired woman. None of them was fat, but they weren’t underweight either, so Zuri assumed they had adequate food in their village. Maybe they did know where her people could get some chickens and sheep to breed for food. Taking a deep breath, Zuri said, “Have you eaten? I can cook you some rice.” “Thank you, but we brought food with us and have eaten already,” replied the woman.

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Arthur took charge again. “Please join us for a drink of water at least, and tell us about your village. Do you live near here?” Adena poured them each some water, and the three people sat together on the opposite side of the campfire from Arthur. Zuri knew they’d identified him as the leader, and the person they should speak to. “My name is Koby. We moved into this area a year ago and have a farm not far from here where we keep a few animals and grow vegetables. We saw your truck and wondered why you were here, instead of at the grain warehouse, but now we understand you need more than just food.” “Grain warehouse?” “We can get grain near here?” “It’s about a half mile farther on. We get all our grain there. A bag of rice and a bag of wheat, a couple bags of corn, lasts us for a month or more,” said the woman. “Don’t you want to stockpile your own supply in case other people find it, too?” asked Adena. “Is it all good? None of it has gone bad after all these years?” asked Luke. “It’s been stored properly, and it’s no more than five years old. Maybe even not that old, so it’s good to eat. And if other people need it, they’re free to take it, as we are. We can move on,” added Koby. “Only five years old?” “Where did it come from?” “Are people selling grain?” “But you can’t move on until all your vegetables are harvested, and how will you transport them safely?” Half a dozen people spoke at once, peppering the newcomers with questions. Koby held up his hand and laughed. “One at a time, please. But how about you tell me a little about yourselves first?” Arthur introduced each person, then told them about their village no longer being able to feed themselves as the fields were getting run

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down and the animals had died or been eaten. “Only recently, Adena and Zuri led us to the vehicles and some canned food and bottled water and other things, stockpiled for over fifty years, that enabled us to come looking for food and supplies,” he concluded. “Fifty-year-old canned food and water? I think you’ll find it’s much fresher than that. I can’t believe it could be good to eat after so long,” said the second man, who Koby introduced as Pagan. “It was stored in a cave with the vehicles, so in an even temperature with no contaminants,” said Luke. “Everything had been there since our ancestors first journeyed to the village,” added Adena. “May I see the bottles? Each district designed their own shape and size. I might recognize where it came from, which would tell us when it was manufactured,” said the woman, Ruby. One of the men climbed into the back of the truck and returned with a bottle, which he handed to Ruby. As soon as she saw it, she laughed. “No, that’s a Mountains bottle. See the tiny picture of a mountain here. They were still operating until about five years ago.” “Luke, when did the canned food supplies we originally had run out?” asked Arthur. Zuri watched as Luke counted up dates in his head, his lips moving silently. “Winter four years ago.” “And when did Tom break his ankle and stop going foraging for us?” “About three or four months before that.” “Are you saying such things were freely available up until four years ago? And that Tom, and presumably at least one other person from the village, knew this and was bringing in food without telling any of us? Not just getting things from the forest?” asked Udo. “I reckon that’s why Tom broke his ankle. He went out alone after his good friend George stopped going with him. George got too old and frail to leave the village. Tom went alone and broke his ankle,” said Luke.

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“And no one told us about it. They lied to us and said it was food we’d had stored since the beginning,” said Udo. “Which is why we believed this water was stored, too,” added Collin. “Why did they lie to us?” asked Adena, her faced creased as if she was about to cry. Luke answered, “I expect the leaders didn’t want us to know we were never self-sufficient, that we relied on scavenging to bridge the gap.” There was silence for a while then Koby said, “Tomorrow we’ll take you to where there’re many chickens and some sheep. I think it used to be a farm, and the animals are tame and stay there.” “Is it at your village? Will the other people be happy about us taking some animals?” asked Zuri. “We no longer have a village. We…left,” said Pagan, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “But you’ve obviously learned to feed and care for yourselves more than adequately,” said Luke gently. Koby slung his arms across Pagan’s and Ruby’s shoulders, hugging each of them to his sides. “We three are together. Some people weren’t happy about that.” Again it was Luke who spoke, gently and wisely. “Zuri, Tau, and Udo are together. We have accepted them for the fine people they are. You three are welcome among us as well.” “Especially if you can get us meat and eggs,” said Ghedi, his face split by a broad grin. The tension was broken. Everyone laughed, and then Arthur started asking questions of Koby about where the grain and animals were located. Luke brought out his maps, and one of the men quietly replenished the fire, making it burn bright enough for Luke to write notes. ****

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Koby, Pagan, and Ruby stood by the side of the road, waving to the dusty white truck as it drove slowly down the dirt road leading to the highway. Once again Koby was in the middle, guarding Ruby and Pagan protectively. “They’re going to have trouble keeping those chickens in the truck whenever they get in and out.” Ruby was almost giggling. “They’ll hold them. The real fun will be once they net some fish back at that lake and have to transport them in the crates they’re using for chicken nesting boxes,” said Pagan, his brown eyes sparkling with happiness. “It’s going to be lonely by ourselves again. I love you both beyond everything, but it was lovely to talk to other people once more. I miss not seeing any other women.” Ruby’s mouth turned down, and she was no longer laughing. “We can’t go back though. We’re not welcome,” said Koby, hugging both his partners tight to his side. “I know. Besides, it’s more than time we collected our own grain and returned home. The tomatoes will be ready to pick,” added Pagan. “And we can fuck in a real bed again,” added Koby, turning them toward their own vehicle. **** It had been two days since Arthur’s group returned to the village, happily wheeling in barrow-loads of chickens, grain, and other goods for those who’d stayed at home to marvel over. They would need to make several more trips back to the cave to finish unloading the truck, but that night, Zuri, Tau, and Udo were in their own bed, naked, and both men were slamming into Zuri as if they’d never had sex before, instead of only abstaining for two weeks. Zuri dug her nails in Udo’s shoulders, twisting her hips and clenching her inner muscles on both cocks as the orgasm rose inside

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her. It’d been so long, and she needed them so much. She let go with one hand and reached behind her to grip Tau’s thigh. His muscles were so lean yet strong, as he pumped powerfully into her ass, causing that wonderful excitement deep inside her to rise higher and higher. “I love you both so much. I’ve missed us being together like this,” she said softly. She slid her foot up and down the men’s legs, wanting to take a more active part in their lovemaking then buried her face in Udo’s shoulders, breathing in his scent, reveling in it, before pushing back hard, driving Tau’s cock deeper into her ass. Both men were panting now, and Zuri could feel the sweat running between their bodies, bodies pressed so tightly together from hip to breasts. “I love you both, too, always and forever,” said Udo as he thrust deep, and cum poured from his cock into her cunt. “Always and forever,” echoed Tau, pumping once, twice, then jetting his seed into her ass. “Me, too,” Zuri whispered, her body shaking in a wonderful orgasm. “Always and forever.”

THE END WWW.BERENGARIABROWN.COM WWW.BERENGARIASBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Berengaria is a multi-published author of erotic romance: contemporary, paranormal (ghosts, vampires, fairies, and werewolves), and Regency-set historical. She loves to read all different kinds of romance, so that is what she writes: one man/one woman; two women; two men; two men/one woman; three men; two women/one man…Whatever the characters need for their very hot happily ever after, Berengaria makes sure they get it.

Also by Berengaria Brown Ménage Amour: Elinor’s Stronghold 1: Pillaging Elinor’s Castle Ménage Amour: Elinor’s Stronghold 2: Defending Rhyannon’s Inheritance Ménage Amour: Elinor’s Stronghold 3: Restoring Garnet’s Heart Ménage Amour: Elinor’s Stronghold 4: Bringing Claire Home

For all other titles, please visit http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown

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