Hardstorm Ahead

This story takes place in the near future after a brief nuclear war. There is a lot of plot, so if looking for instant gratification look elsewhere. The story follows the survivors in a fictional town with references to non-fictional places.

Travis

Outside Hardstorm: August 1st, 2052.

Travis looked out through the window of the SUV. The rain pelting the roof of the vehicle was a steady chorus to the thumping of the wipers on the windshield. The steam ahead of them not only burst it's banks, it had taken the bridge downstream with it.

He turned his head and looked at Amanda who had a look of devastation on her face. His camo jacket several sizes too large for her was unbuttoned down to her upper chest, hinting at just a bit of clevage on her braless body.

Yesterday they had been part of a group sent out to warn the outer reaches of the county that a hurricane was on its way. They had found a house on fire and no one was around. On further investigation it appeared that the homeowner made a run for it from some attackers and didn't make it. When Travis and his group ambushed the assumed atrackers when they returned, he and Amanda had gotten left behind. When they began to fall back Amanda had twisted her ankle and fallen down the hill, Travis went back to get her and the car they were to escape in was seen and shot up.

Travis had to carry Amanda as they hiked back the way they came in, by then the rain had started, and they made it to a nearby farm that night owned by Gabe Mitchell who was with them during the ambush. The farm was deserted but they found the SUV they were in now and spent the night in the vehicle.

"What do we do now?" Amanda asked as she stared ahead out of the window.

Travis looked over at Amanda and took out his pistol, "take this I'll go have a look around." He picked up the rifle and stepped out into the rain. He had hoped they would get across the bridge and link up with the rest of the militia who he guessed would have set up an ambush position on the other side to prevent the attackers from getting across, but he didn't see any sign of life on the other side.

"SAM! SARAH!" He shouted out across the torrent. He scanned the woods with his eyes seeing nothing. He looked back at Amanda.

"

Travis?

" He heard softly from across the river and he turned back to see Sarah on the other side standing in the road. Someone else in uniform was approaching behind her, he couldn't quite make out who it was.

Travis cupped his hands together and shouted, "SARAH, SOMETHING STRANGE IS GOING ON!"

"

I know... they left Laketon... night and went south... who were they?

" Sarah was shouting, but Travis could only make out half of what she was saying over the roar of the overflowing steam.

"DON'T KNOW!" Travis stood there trying to think of what to do next. They could not get across the stream now and it would probably take a day or more after the rain stopped for the water level to drop before they would be able to ford the steam. "HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU HAVE OVER THERE?"

'Ten' Sarah held up her hands, she was probably having the same trouble hearing him. "

How's Amanda

?"

"OK, JUST TWISTED HER ANKLE, KEEP AN OUTPOST OPEN WE WILL FIND SOMPLACE SECLUDED TO STAY UNTIL THE WATER DROPS!" Travis replied.

"

Do you... supplies

?" Travis could tell it was the farmer Gabe Mitchell next to Sarah. He had changed into one of the militia uniforms that blended in so well with the woods here.

Travis thought for a moment and shouted, "SOME M4 AMMO AND SOME FOOD!" He pointed to his rifle in case they had trouble hearing.

Travis watched as Sarah and Gabe discussed something between themselves. He was unsure of where to go now that they couldn't cross the creek. Sarah had turned to talk to someone in the woods and Travis watched as they climbed out onto the road and started jogging the opposite direction.

Travis debated himself on if he should tell them what he found out as he waited for the runner to return. With not being able to hear each other clearly it could be a challenge to understand what he was actually saying. But they had to know. He cupped his hands together and shouted, "I DON'T THINK IT WAS A GANG YESTERDAY! I THINK IT WAS MILITARY!"

Sarah and Gabe talked to each other for a moment before replying,

"why?"

Travis heard them call the apparent leader 'sir', even if that didn't necessarily mean military, Travis had a gut feeling. "BECAUSE..."

KAHHHHHH-WOOOOOO! WOOOOOO!

A thunderous chorus rang above them. Travis looked up in time to see the encore.

KAHHHHHH-WOOOOOO! WOOOOOO!

A squadron of A-10s had just flown south down the valley at extremely low altitudes. Travis could barely make out the "KYANG" on the side of the fuselage.

He pointed up, "THAT'S WHY!" He knew something was definitely up now. It could have just been a rogue unit scavenging their way from town to town, but it was clear now that this was more than that.

Amanda lowered her window and called out to Travis, "what was that?"

"Four jets, heading south." Travis said turning towards her while adding, "they were ours."

The A-10s were all but mothballed by the time the first Russian made drones showed up over Israel. The war with Iran was an ariel affair, neither country could launch ground forces as all the surrounding countries were war weary and decided to remain neutral. An Israeli captain in an A-10 made history becoming the first drone ace as he took advantage of the drones being pioleted remotely from afar, while a human pilot could fly under radar, attack the drones with the 'conventional' gatling gun, and return to radar protection before the drone could registrar that it was in danger.

The face of ariel combat had changed in one afternoon. Cash strapped the United States had spent years building thier drones for a war that they could dominate the battlefield. Being taken down by a 'cheap' plane was a topic the Air Force refused to debate. The Army took no chances with its funds and resurrected an old design that was proven to work in close support and now a drone deterrent. In the Third Iraq War, the A-10s scored so many drone kills that the other branches soon followed. The icing on the cake was that no A-10 was ever lost to a drone.

Amanda looked worried but she put the window back up without saying anything. When Travis turned back the third person had returned carrying an armful of supplies.

It was one of the younger guys in the militia and he walked up to the waters edge before stopping and putting everything down. He picked up an ammunition magazine and after setting his feet he wound up and threw. It tumbled end over end and splashed about five feet short into the muddy current.

His second throw ended up makng it as well as his third and fourth. After another water landing the last one made it. Travis now had these four and the two from Amanda, plus a reload from his incompatible M8 magazine.

The kid next picked up an MRE that the regular army guys had brought with them that they were saving for emergency situations. It didn't even make it halfway across as it didn't have the weight.

Travis watched it float downstream and shouted out before he thew another, "STOP, WE CAN MANAGE, DON'T WANT TO WASTE THOSE!"

He returned to his spot in the woods as Gabe and Sarah talked to each other.

...check on Bill... didn't see... yesterday.

Gabe shouted across.

Travis gave a thumbs up to signal that he heard. He had heard that Bill was a bootlegger, into guns, and reclusive, a bad combination for someone in uniform to show up unannounced. But his hidden driveway was nearby and could be seen from across the stream, so if anyone could find it they wouldn't get too far with the militia staking out the other side.

"We... someone here... water goes down."

Sarah shouted across.

"Take care... Amanda for me."

After a pause she continued,

"If Bill's... knows you're coming... he knows... better then me."

Climbing back into the truck Travis answered Amanda's questions about what they were going to do. Travis wasn't too excited on heading up to old Bill McCoy's house but Amanda didn't seem to mind. He was reminded of what she had said yeaterday about having meet him before. He suspected then that she had left out some details, but she didn't give any indication of that now.

He reversed down the road a ways, stopped, and turned into the driveway heading up the mountain.

Amanda looked quietly out the window as Travis drove. He looked at her and thought of last night. She had slept against his chest naked under the blankets in the back of the truck. When he woke up her hand was on his cock and she was asleep. He was rock hard and had been dreaming about Sarah. It didnt help matters that since Amanda's clothes were still wet from being outside all day yesterday in the storm that she had stuck her naked ass in his face as she climbed into the front of the truck. Her pussy was inches from his face and he had been thinking about it all morning.

He and Sarah had been good friends as kids, but hadn't seen each other for years before the war a few months ago. Sarah had gone off to college and Travis had joined the army. Since reconnecting they had been almost inseparable, but when he was away unexpectedly for a week and no one knew where he was Sarah seemed to have grown distant to him after his return, while spending more time with Amanda.

Amanda on the other hand had meet Sarah in college. They had been best friends for years. They worked together after college and when they lost thier jobs during the economic collapse before the war, they both moved back to Sarah's hometown. When Travis was put in charge of the militia, Sarah joined and Amanda followed along. The morning Travis had left for that week he was gone, he surprised Amanda in the shower when he thought it was Sarah. Startled while masterbating, Amanda fell on top of him and ended up giving him a blowjob. Ever since his return it seemed like Amanda was giving him the full court press.

They arrived at a gate a mile into the woods. It was closed and the woods pressed in close making bypassing it in the vehicle impossible.

Telling Amanda to stay put, Travis stepped out into the rain again. He approached the gate and found it locked by a magnetic lock. A little red light was on next to the the lock and a green light next to it was off. He looked down the driveway and could only see a few dozen yards before it curved away to the left. It was out of place since the power had been turned off for the entire town during the hurricane.

He was considering if he should carry Amanda the rest of the way or go alone when the light suddenly switched to green. He was able to swing the gate open easily despite its size. He returned to the truck drove through and got out to close it again. As soon as it closed the red light turned back on.

Upon getting back in the second time he told Amanda, "I think he knows that we are coming."

"It doesn't surprise me, he knew I was with Sarah before we even knew he was there." Amanda replied. While Travis was curious because of another vague reply about Bill McCoy he left it at that.

McCoy Homestead

The uphill climb of the mountain leveled out on what was an old farm now wooded over except for a small clearing. A stone house with a brick addition sat off to the side as the drive continued past to a barn at the edge off the woods. The barn was large for the area suggesting that this was a productive farm at one point, odd as it might seem because of its elevation above the valley they just climbed out of. As they got closer he could see that the barn had a dozen or so cylindrical shapes above its roof.

Travis parked about twenty yards from the house and turned off the SUV. The house showed no signs of life.

"I'll have a look around." Travis told Amanda. He stepped out into the rain and took a few steps towards the house.

"Travis Friar I assume, and Amanda again, it's always nice to see a pretty face, heh, heh." It came from the edge of the treeline next to the house. Travis looked up and saw a well hidden blind just above the branches of the trees. "What brings you to my neck of the woods during this storm?"

"The bridge was taken out by the storm, we were stuck on this side." Travis replied. He watched as Bill climbed down from the blind, a rifle was slung over his shoulder.

"So what is this I hear about you and your boys ambushing some military unit?" He paused after seeing the reaction on Travis' face, "I guess I should explain why I know that heh, heh."

Travis carried Amanda inside and went back to get thier gear and wet clothes from yesterday. When he returned Bill was laughing at something Amanda had said. He was surprised to see the power on, the magnetic lock was one thing, it could have easily been battery powered. She looked at him and shrugged.

"Heh, heh, these girls of yours are a hoot." Bill coughed and noticed Travis looking at the lights, "ah yes, I'm sure you noticed the barn, those are my wind turbines, custom made of course." Bill described using a 3D printer to make the blades and the housings out of plastic. He used magnets and wiring to create electricity.

"How did you figure all of that out?" Asked Amanda.

"I'm not some country hick my dear, I used to be a mechanical and electrical engineer for Ford. That is until they didn't need me anymore." Bill got up and made for the next room, "I can get you something to wear until you clothes dry, young lady heh, heh, unless you don't need any."

"Thanks, but I will have to stick with the clothes option," Amanda replied adding, "for now." She worked a laugh out of Bill on that one as he disappeared deeper into the house.

Over the next several hours to Travis' surprise, Bill entertained his unexpected guests with his life story. He hadn't been layed off by Ford like they initially assumed, but was able to retire early after being the lead engineer on the project to make a viable fuel cell. This was a few years after Ford offered a percentage of sales to anyone in the company that contributed to a patent. Even at 1% of sales after the economy collapsed, William McCoy was still getting checks in the seven figure range every year, "not that there was much left after taxes," he was sure to point out.

The biggest revalation was that Bill had been tapping into the National Weather Service satellites and been downloading pictures of the storm in real time. Bill explained that the internet was never down, just that the servers that most cable companies used were taken offline or destroyed. He had been in contact with several other engineering colleagues of his that had been spending thier time trying to maintain as many satellites as possible. When then government dissolved and private industries collpased so many systems were left completely unattended it was easy for them to slip in undetected and make adjustments as needed. When Travis asked how were they able to do this, Bill simply replied, "we designed them."

From the weather satellites Bill had been taking pictures to analyze the path of the storm and destruction that it left behind. The resolution of the photos were amazing, Bill was able to zoom in on neighborhoods and towns in great detail, but Travis remained silent in thought at the last photo Bill showed them.

"Where was this taken Bill?" Travis glanced down at the time stamp showing just before sundown two days ago.

"About 90 miles south east of here, a little north of the gap." Bill flipped him another photo. "This one is a red line of its direction before it got dark and didn't show up anymore." The photo was zoomed out and started well east of the ridge and ended a few miles east of the ridge just south of where they were now.

"Why are there so many planes?" Amanda asked.

McCoy Homestead

: August 2nd, 2052. 00:33.

Travis hung the drenched poncho by the door of the barn as he came inside. Bill had set them up in the loft of his barn where his only extra bed was since his house was full of his "experiments" as he described them. Travis had just helped Bill check the perimeter of the security system he had around the farm. They didn't expect any trouble but it was best to be prepared. Despite his attempts to convince Bill that it would be safer on the other side of the stream when the water went down, he refused to leave.

The light to thier room turned on as he climbed the steps to the loft. It was isolated and shut off from the exterior of the barn so the risk of light getting outside was minimal.

"Travis?" He heard softly from the room.

"Yes, its me." When he entered he set the rifle against the wall. Amanda was sitting up in the bed looking at him, he couldn't help but notice that she was wearing her now dry tank top from yesterday apparently without a bra as her nipples were burning holes through the fabric, below her waist was covered by a single sheet. She moved a stray hair out of her face and turned her head into the shadow the sole light was casting while he stared at her. He realized he was staring and guessed she was blushing. He noticed the wet bag on the floor by the nightstand that was once the ice pack that Bill had given her, the crutches rested againt the wall, "how's the ankle holding up?"

"It's still sore but the swelling has gone down I think." She swung her legs out to the side of the bed and stuck her injured leg out from beneath the sheets, the black and blue ran halfway up her lower leg.

Travis kneeled beside the bed to get a closer look. He took her heel in his hand she winced at the touch, "how much can you move it before it hurts?"

She curled her toes and moved it down and back about half an inch, "fuck, that hurts." Amanda gritted her teeth and looked down at him, "its not too bad is it?"

"Nothing permanent but you might be on the sidelines for a few weeks." Travis looked up at her, Amanda's green eyes stared back at him. Her shoulder length black hair framed her face as she smiled at him.

He wanted her, the weeks thinking about the blowjob she had given him, the memory of her naked body leaning over his as her mouth decended on his cock was stirring his blood flow in his groin.

Amanda's other leg wiggled out from underneath the sheet and she slowly spread her legs apart the sheet rose up her thighs.

"Amanda, I..." Travis started as he put his hand on her knee.

"I need to thank you for saving me," she said cutting him off, "If what Bill said was true then we might not get the chance again," she licked her lips and continued, "plus you owe me one."

"One what?" He asked dropping his hand.

"Orgasm." She pulled the sheet off of herself revealing her naked lowed half to him. She pulled her top off and threw it to the floor revealing the breasts he had seen glimpses of before now on display.

She reached for his shirt and started to lift it off of him, "we shouldn't," he began but let her continue. Over his head and next to hers on the floor she reached for his belt, "Sarah will..."

"Sarah would join us if she were here," Amanda cut him off again, "we both love her, and she loves the two of us, and now we will..." she fished his quickly hardening cock out, "enjoy ourselves tonight."

Amanda sunk down on his member while moaning in pleasure. Her fingers had found her clit and played with it as she came back off of him. She guided him to the bed and he kicked off his boots with his pants and boxers before laying down beside her.

Travis was conflicted but let her continue, she licked the underside of his shaft with every motion of her head. She repositioned herself so that she was on her knees with her ass pointed towards him. She swung her good leg over his head and settled her pussy above his face. It was inches away from him for the second time that day, but now she was wet and her lips were slightly parted inviting him in while her clit was peaking out from its hood.