Quaranteam - North West

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QT:NW continues the official Spin-Off for the Quaranteam universe originally created by CorruptingPower. You do not need to have read the original series to enjoy this one, but you really do need to start with Chapters 1-4 (I really suggest you read the original though, it's great!). Fans of the original should be pleased to know CP has approved the story and the continuity.

In this chapter you can expect some cleaning up of the homefront, and a little MF fun.

Returning Dramatis Personae

House Black

- Harrison 'Harri' Black - Sheriff of Black County, 'Jason Momoa-looking motherfucker' mountain man (mixed heritage), former Army MP

- Vanessa Peters - Construction Forewoman, Daughter of Brent Peters the head of the construction project, Brunette

- Ivy Gauthier - Quebecoise stripper, half-tattooed, Dirty Blonde anal queen

- Kara Swiftwater - Harrison's high school sweetheart, former community leader of the local Native band, Gerty's second cousin, Raven hair

- Tanaya Airington - Former rodeo barrel racer and native relay rider, petite and stoic native

- Gertrude 'Gerty' Swiftwater - Kara's second cousin, Tribal police on the Rez, Voluptuous Native, Raven hair

- Erica LaCosta - Fiancee of Harri, Italian Tattoo Artist, Leo's sister, Dark Brunette

- Kyla Bautista - Trained dancer, Phillipino Spy, Harri's Deputy Sheriff, Raven hair

House LaCosta

- Leo LaCosta - Harri's best friend and former roommate, Italian carpenter, Erica's brother

- Aria - Girlfriend of India, Stripper/Sugar Baby, Ginger, Member of House LaCosta

Military

- Lt Col Miriam Abarbanel - Military friend of Harri's, Air Force Lt Col, Jewish heritage, Commanding Officer for Valhalla Hills construction and the Oregon Quaranteam research project

- Captain Laura Bloomberg - Air Force JAG serving as Miriam's second, Blonde

Construction Crew

- Brent Peters - Vanessa's father, the Project Manager for the Valhalla Hills construction project, very overweight

Referenced Characters

- Danielle 'Dani' - Australian stripper, Brunette

- India - Girlfriend of Aria, Hippy Stripper/Sugar Baby, grew up in a commune, Brunette dreads and braids

- Julia De Luca - Helicopter Pilot, former Air Force Pararescue Pilot. Friend and Client of Erica.

- Yvonne??? - Slender Estonian brunette, very fit, secret nerd, Leo's friend

- Rachel??? - Tall, very fit black bodybuilder, looks like a superhero, massage therapist, Leo's friend

- Valerie Black-Krouse - Harri's sister, lives in Northern California with her husband and daughter.

- Kashm - Short Persian woman with an attitude, daughter of??? the Guns of Thunder Club President. Big tits, hourglass figure. Dating Chuck.

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"What the fuck was going on out here late last night?" Leo asked me as he slapped me on the shoulder before flopping down into the lawn chair beside me. It had been a rainy morning and so everyone had been slow to get moving - well, everyone except for Vanessa, Miriam and Laura.

"You heard that?" I asked him.

"I think they heard it in Portland," Leo laughed.

I sighed and shook my head.

"Well, Erica, Kara and I went up to the pond to figure some stuff out," I said. "And things got... y'know..."

"Yeah, I don't need the details about what you were doing with my sister," he waved me off.

"Right, so the problem was that our phones all died while we were up there," I said. "And we couldn't, uh, find all of our clothes. Thank fuck we managed to find our shoes at least. So we had to stumble back here in the dark half-dressed, and it turned out Gerty and Vanessa had been waiting up to make sure we were OK. You know that scene in movies where the teenager sneaks back into the house and their parents flip on the light?"

"Oh, fuck," he started laughing.

"I couldn't find my pants or shirt, so I just had my briefs on," I chuckled. "Kara had found

a

shirt, but it ended up actually being the one Erica had been wearing. And Erica was wearing her shorts but it turned out the thong was the one Kara had been wearing before. And they were each wearing mismatched shoes. So Kara had her ass out, and Erica was topless, and I was in my underwear when they turned on that big flashlight Vanessa has. All three of us froze, and we must have looked fucking ridiculous because Gerty started laughing

loud

and that got Vanessa going, and then that got

us

going. That's what you heard."

Leo was snorting repeatedly, his head down in his hand as his shoulders shook with his laughter.

It was well past breakfast and everyone had eaten already, and I'd already spent time that morning doing a short tour of my family's double RV situation. I was fucking thankful, once we'd gotten back last night, that the sleeping situation had been decided for me by the women because I didn't know if I'd have had the heart to make the decisions myself.

Kyla, still somewhat recovering from her extra-long days while I'd been in the regenerative sleep, had been more than happy to crash in the 5th Wheel because it had those 'road tour' style bunks that lined both walls. She loved sleeping next to me, but still preferred her own bed, so that worked out easy. Tanaya was another easy one, easing into things but not completely comfortable with the big social change yet, so she took another bunk. Vanessa had made the executive decision to take a bunk as well to try and give me and everyone else a break from waking up with her in the early mornings for work on the site. That left one more bunk, our bed in the original RV, and five women.

In the end, even though there had apparently been some major pressure to choose otherwise, Miriam put her foot down and took the final bunk since she wasn't Teamed up with us yet. Her winning point was that, like Vanessa, she and Laura were also planning to be up early to start tackling the whole situation of setting up her command post properly.

That left me in the bed with Erica, Kara, Gerty and Ivy. The same number of warm bodies as before all of the shit had hit the fan with the attack and the manhunt. I'd ended up in the middle with Gerty on one side of me and Ivy on the other, two very different body types providing different turn-ons. Gerty wore one of my T-shirts to bed, and Erica climbed in behind her wearing the same and hugged the woman from behind. Ivy, meanwhile, came to bed in only a thong and somehow by the next morning had lost it. She'd practically hauled Kara into a spooning position behind her so that my newest partner could lay her hand on my chest as we slept.

New people, and a new living situation, meant our morning routine was different too. Still, after weeks of doing it and being back in familiar surroundings, my internal clock had woken me at pre-dawn and I'd slipped from the bed in time to meet Vanessa as she'd been coming out of the 5th Wheel on her way to work. The look on her face, and the kiss, had been well worth the effort before she'd taken one of the ATVs to ride down to the main camp. Miriam had come out shortly after Vanessa, dressed in fatigues and fully put together, but I'd only gotten a moment to touch base with her as we held each other in a hug before Laura had come out of Leo's family 5th Wheel looking even more put together than Miriam. I'd been surprised when Dani had leaned out the door, calling a soft 'Have a good morning!' and then laughing as she realised I was standing well within view to see that she was gloriously, stupendously naked.

That

was a situation I wanted more information on because Leo, Aria and India had definitely been sleeping in their RV. But it was also one of those things that I'd let Erica loose on instead of prying it from Leo.

"So today's the day I guess," I sighed, looking up at the still-overcast sky.

"Huh?" Leo asked. "Don't tell me some other big thing is happening. Please, dear

Lord

, I'm not ready for that."

"They're starting the public rollout of the vaccine over in Portland," I said. "On the down-low, but not part of special programs or anything."

Leo frowned, checking his phone. "July 15th. And Erica and Dani got vaccinated back at the start of May. Why the fuck-" he grunted a sigh, shaking his head. "OK, so I get why it had to wait for trials and shit, and to get their systems worked out. But why keep it on the down low now?"

I shrugged. "Not enough to go around, I assume," I said. "At least not yet. Miriam didn't have enough to try and stop the outbreak on the Rez just last week, remember?"

"Yeah, but hope and the truth are important," Leo said. "People deserve to know there's hope coming."

"Persons deserve that, not people," I said. "Every individual, normal person? Fuck yeah, they deserve to know. But

people

are different. People start riots when their favourite team

wins

. People trample each other for Black Friday sales. Remember what I saw down in Eugene? People do that, not persons."

Leo looked like he'd sucked a lemon. "Well, you didn't need to go and be right and shit," he snorted.

I knew Leo was still a little conspiracy-brained when it came to all the secretive government program stuff, and I wasn't sure if it was my time in the military or something else that made me accept it more. What I didn't tell him was that some individuals didn't actually deserve to know hope was coming, because they would immediately try and abuse it and twist it. Give a real evil fucker time to examine the thing that will save people, and they'll figure out how to break it, corrupt it or take advantage of it.

Kidnappings. Hostage-taking. Preemptive murder. I could probably start generating a dozen ways that someone who knew the vaccine was coming, and what it did, could make life hell if they had a few weeks or months to dream up some heinous, self-serving shit.

And that didn't even include the likely protest movements that would disrupt the system

and

cause more outbreaks. Because this whole thing was awkwardly based on sex, and sex was... divisive.

I noticed Leo checking his phone a few times while we sat and talked a bit, letting our conversation veer away from the morose and towards the new show on Netflix that I hadn't had time to watch yet.

"Who is texting you so much?" I finally asked. Aria and India were outside and across our new compound yard doing yoga, leading Ivy, Kara and Kyla through... whatever a 'round' of yoga was called. Dani, meanwhile, was sitting in one of the other arranged sitting areas with Erica, Julia (who had apparently slept in the 5th Wheel with Dani and Laura), and Gerty as they talked about something with animated hand movements, the occasional chorus of laughter erupting from them.

"No one," Leo said quickly, flipping his phone over.

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean...

really?

"

"OK, it's someone," Leo said.

"Please, fucking

please,

tell me it's not Judith."

"

No,

" Leo said quickly. "Fuck, no. It's not Judith." His past, long-distance 'girlfriend' who had been an utter snake was not someone either of us wanted to somehow show up with the vaccine and a sheet for Leo to sign.

"Well, who is it then?" I asked. "Someone from back in Portland? Now that the rollout has started you could end up getting more partners."

"It's, uh, well it's mostly Yvonne," Leo said. "From the Falls."

"Oh," I said, raising my eyebrows. "Like, brunette, medium-height, cute?"

"Right," he said.

"And Dani knows?"

"Dani and Erica pretty much threw me at her," he said. "And, uh, Rachel. The-"

"

Rachel

too?" I asked, almost incredulous. Rachel was a black Amazonian goddess who was taller, bigger and more of a forceful personality than Leo. Her one leg was probably stronger than both of his put together.

"It's not like a

thing,

" Leo said. "We're just, uh, friends. Well, I did kiss Yvonne and she kissed me back."

"My

man,

" I said, forcing a smile as I offered him a high-five.

Why the fuck did I feel like punching him? Why did him telling me those two women, who I'd really only spoken with very briefly and seen around the Falls, make me feel... aggressive? Possessive? They were both pretty women in their own ways, but I really had

barely

interacted with them.

I swallowed the feeling, clenching my jaw, and smiling again as Leo gave me a high five with a self-deprecating smirk and shook his head. I let him change the subject, pivoting away from the awkwardness of him flirting with women who weren't his partners, and the pressure in my gut eased off.

Lunch was an easy affair, though we were definitely going to need to do a proper grocery run. Erica started gathering the shopping lists - an act that would take a while since there were currently fifteen people in the compound. Food wasn't the only thing needed, especially for Kara, Tanaya and Gerty. Not to mention any orders put in by the Valkyrie Falls ladies.

I had my own list of things I needed to accomplish, not that it was very long. While Erica got to work organising the shopping trip, I hopped onto our other ATV and started down towards the main site camp. The sky had only cleared up a little, with pockets of blue peeking through the general grey clouds threatening at least a sprinkle of rain at any moment, but with only a mild breeze it felt good to just get out and do something normal. Except even the new normal wasn't like it was before. There was a tree-clearing crew working up on top of the ridge where our houses would be, finishing up whatever work Vanessa had ordered thanks to my switch-up request. A utility crew was digging a trench headed towards the rise, ready to bring electricity, gas, sewage and internet up there. I passed more crews on the way, realising that avoiding those same trenches was going to be the real trick for a little while when getting around.

I'd texted Vanessa before I left, and I slowed to a stop outside the main camp. The fourth barracks was going up

fast,

and I had to guess that there were several hundred framers, roofers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers and every other trade ready to be unleashed on erecting the houses once foundations were poured and set. Julia's helicopter was still out on the 'helicopter pad' and looked fine, and the 'office' part of the camp had grown again, bulging out on the north side with a few more trailers. The one with the spray paint explosion was blocked from view, and it was hard to believe that whole episode with the protest really hadn't been

that

long ago. Or that almost everyone involved was dead now.

Checking my phone, I saw that Vanessa had responded to me but wasn't available. She did, however, point me in the right direction for where I needed to go so I put the ATV back into gear and swung wide around the main camp, heading down the road that had once been my winding driveway.

There were no trenches here, at least not anymore since the crews had already laid whatever pipe and wires they needed to and covered it up again, replacing the gravel on top. Half of the offshoot roads already had the same treatment. I opened up the ATV and let the roar of it envelop me as I drove at a reckless speed for a minute before slowing down as I approached the cleared area closer to the highway.

It was almost sad, the amount of trees that had been taken down. Unlike in the residential areas where clumps and individual trees had been preserved on lots, and there would be patches of proper wild growth (thankfully someone had pointed out that removing too many trees would destabilise the hilly ground and make erosion - and mudslides - much more likely), down here in the area near the highway they'd done a near-clearcut.

I knew the reasons, even if it didn't thrill me - to my right would be the strip mall area, a double block with a decent-sized parking lot, anchored by a grocery store. I had no idea how that store would fuck up the market for the one in town, but considering that when all was said and done Black County would probably double the local population of Jewell at least, I hoped it wouldn't cause too many problems. On my left, and where I was headed, would be the Air Force facility.

The RV had been pulled onto the lot and the Humvee that Miriam and Laura were using was parked alongside two more. A command tent was erected and heavily tied down in front of the RV, with folding tables in rows to provide working space and weighed down with cinder blocks on their feet to keep them from flying away in a sudden wind. Rollable side panels for the tent were currently up but could be dropped with a velcro pull at the first sign of rain. Two more seacan shipping containers formed a U-shaped outer wall to their little office compound.

I didn't see Miriam or Laura, but there were a couple of Airmen futzing around as I pulled up and they gave me suspicious, and then just plain curious, glances as they clearly started to make themselves look busy. Laura came out of the RV as I turned off the engine, smirking just a little as she glanced over the Airmen and then stomped over to me.

"Harrison," she said.

"Captain Bloomberg," I said, snapping to attention without a salute - I wasn't military anymore, so even the sharp, erect posture wasn't necessary but it made her smirk a little more. She was back to being tightly wound together, her blonde hair pulled into a severe bun, her fatigues looking like they'd somehow been starched and pressed that morning. "How's things?" I asked.

"Fucking quiet," Laura responded, shaking her head, and I relaxed my posture since she'd casually dropped an F-bomb. "Let's just say we're feeling the...

backwoods

nature of the post already. Two dozen members of the Air Force on base total, including the Colonel and myself."

"Bit of a downgrade, then," I sighed. It had to sting, for both of them, to go from being a couple of the most important people in the State to this.

"A bit," Laura grimaced. "I assume you're not here to shoot the shit with me, though. The Colonel is just on a call right now, she'll come out when she's done."

"Well, I do have one favour I could ask you," I said. And then it hit me again, that hungry, possessive urge. That thing in my gut that said that Laura Bloomberg was a

woman,

one that I found attractive, one that wasn't attached. One that I should be taking and making mine.

"I'm not

completely

bored with nothing to do," she said sarcastically. "But you've piqued my interest."

She'd 'tested out' things with Leo and Dani. She should get the real show, and taste what it would be like with

me

. It wouldn't even be a competition. "I'm hoping you can find out for me what the state of things are over at the Rez," I said, clamping down on that wild, feral feeling in my gut and chest. "And if we can go over there. Kara, Tanaya and Gerty are hoping that they can salvage some of their property, and maybe get some... closure, or something, with a look around."

Laura nodded softly, pursing her lips as she thought for a moment. "The National Guard is still in charge over there, I think. Not that there's anyone else to really

be

in charge of it. I'll make some calls and let you know tonight?"

"Sounds good," I said. "Thanks."

"You know, you keep making these jokes about how you're supposed to owe Miriam a steak dinner and all that. I think you owe me just as much," she smirked. "Eugene. Black County. Goddamn drone coverage? When am I getting my payback?"

It came at me again like a snarling wolf. "Miriam's payback is joining my team," I said, my voice dropping a little gravelly, then I cleared my throat and blinked once as I managed to shake it off before I said something I couldn't take back. "So what do I owe you? Are you calling in that steak dinner since Miriam gave it up?"