Qt: Dave in Dallas Ch 15

Hello, and welcome back!

If this is your first chapter ... you really want to go back to the beginning. I mean, sure, it will make sense starting here, mostly. You might miss a few subtle details if you don't know the backgrounds though. Your choice.

To clear up some confusion I've seen in the comments: there are two ways to move a woman from one man to another. The method know from the beginning is the Dead Man's Switch. This requires the man to be dead. There is a clock ticking once the man dies. It requires some of the dead man's sperm to activate a new dose of the vaccine. This is what the militia used on the women they captured from Bilk's mansion. This technique was taught to all emergency room personnel in a region in which the serum had been deployed. That's why the nurse, Sandy, knew.

The second method, which is not known to anyone within the QT universe until mid November, is the Sergei Switch, which allows switching a woman's bonding to a different man without the death of the first, but, as discovered in the main book, came with its own little quirk.

Once again, thank you for continuing to read my story. Thanks to Corrupting Power for granting permission to play in his sandbox. A big warm thank you to the other QT writers for their suggestions.

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Cast of Characters

David Belsus

-- 46 yo physics & astronomy professor at Eastfield college, a community college in the Dallas area. Prepper, survivalist, has a greenhouse in his backyard and lives in an outer ring suburb. Six foot, fit, short cropped hair.

Lupe Ramos

-- 32 yo former financial advisor, Dave's neighbor, got caught out of state when the lockdowns started. She spent two frantic weeks trying to get back to her daughter. Lupe has been in love with Dave for over a year. Long, dark brown hair, medium build, and a lovely smile.

Esme

-- 9 yo daughter of Lupe, prone to the occasional snarky comment. Adores Dave.

Becca Sampson

-- 18yo, Lupe's babysitter, was watching Esme when lockdowns occurred. Her refusal to abandon Esme, as her mother insisted, likely saved Becca's life, since her extended family ignored precautions and died of Duo. Esme, Lupe, and Dave are all Becca has left in the world. Short, medium build, small breasts, with short blond hair and a smile that is shy with strangers and beams with family and friends.

Janice Wheeler

-- 33yo, Dave's first partner to arrive, a librarian at Cedar Valley, another community college member of DCCCD. Slender build and medium height, Jance is 3/4 Korean, her paternal grandfather is Anglo. Medium length black hair often pulled back in a bun for work or ponytail at home.

Shawna Cooper

-- 36yo, senior meteorologist at WFAA, Master's degree in meteorology from OU, worked at NSSL and spent time as a storm chaser. Whole hog scifi nut, beginning with Start Trek TNG. 5' 10", large breasts, medium brown skin, dark brown eyes, shoulder length black hair styled like a frizzy weeping willow.

Olivia Tyler (Liv)

-- 21yo senior studying horticulture at Tarleton State University, near Dallas. Daughter of Carter and Janelle, Dave's best friends since college. Had a well-known crush on Dave throughout her teen years. Since her dad was former SF and a survivalist, Liv is skilled with several firearms as well as bladed weapons. Never failed to take a deer any season she's hunted. 5'10" long, dark brown hair, large breasts, lightly tanned, brown eyes, and a wide smile.

Melanie Ustanich

-- 22yo graduate student in IT at Tarleton, Liv's roommate, recently found a passion for cooking. Spent most of her life in foster homes, Liv's parents accepted her like family the first time she went with Liv on Thanksgiving Break. 5'8" medium length auburn hair, green eyes, small mouth with a ready, mischievous smile.

Kareena Agrawal (Reena)

-- 18yo classmate of Becca's. Popular, not always nice. She's taking this radical change in life as an opportunity to improve herself. 5'6", dusky skin, long raven hair, dark brown eyes

Vanessa Worton

-- 38yo realtor, assisting with the re-housing project in Dallas. 5'6", medium length bleach blonde hair, blue eyes.

Nicole Lassiter

-- 28yo computer security expert, imprinted to Dave the night before the raid. Formerly a high school and college track star, she only recently worked her way to walking independently after a car accident crushed her legs. 5'6", dark skin, dark brown eyes, dark hair in long thin braids that reach down to her ass.

Carmen Verratti

-- 31yo Dallas police detective, took one class with Dave ten years ago. Carmen informed Dave of the location and prior actions of the men that attacked his home. 5'4", pale skin, raven hair, brown eyes.

Natasha Larmonov

-- formerly bounded to Andrew Bilk, captured by militia raiders that killed Bilk after learning of the Dead Man's Switch. The raiders were about to kill her when Dave stepped in. A model in her youth, Natasha spent years in the charity socialite circuit before hiring on as a lingerie model once again after someone realized older women still like sex.

Peggy Spears

-- befriended Natasha when both were bound to Bilk, Peggy was also briefly bound to the militia leader, who was killed in Dave and Liv's raid on the compound while Peggy was in imprinting sleep. Peggy is a former pro golfer turned sports commentator.

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Ch 15 -- Open Eyes

October 29, 2020, 8:20pm

Travel arrangements had already been made, just not relayed to Dave. Carmen drove a medium-sized hatchback with a second row that folded down. With decent padding, it would make a reasonable bed for three. She would of course have to take it easy -- no fast turns, sudden stops, or hard accelerations. Carmen assured him she only used such maneuvers on the job, and only when they were called for.

Kittiwake came into the room with an orderly and two more nurses. The orderly and one nurse each bore a stack of hospital blankets. Working together, they transferred Peggy from the chair to the hospital bed. As Dave began to don the space suit once more, Nurse Kittiwake waved him to stop.

There's no vaccinated women waiting for imprinting on this floor anymore. It was a low risk in the first place, but now it's zero risk. Just leave it neatly on the chair there, please."

They then rolled the bed down the hall to just outside Tasha's room. One nurse remained beside Peggy's bed. The others went inside, transferred Tasha to the bed in her room, and rolled her out as well. The elevator could only handle one bed at a time, so Carmen, Tasha, the orderly, and Dave took the first descent. By the time the second group reached the outer door, Carmen had her car just outside, one door open as she worked to lower the second row.

Most of the blankets the nurse and orderly brought were used to form a semi-soft pad in Carmen's car. The ladies were laid in place. A thin blanket was tucked in around each of them, then two more blankets were draped across the pair.

With those two safely in place, Carmen got in her car and pulled around to the exit. Liv and Dave walked to Dave's truck, sitting in one of the few parking spots next to the circle.

"You good to drive?" he asked. The yawn he followed up with made Liv bark out a laugh. She held aloft a travel mug with the university logo on it.

"Unlike you sir, I partake of the water of the bean. The orderly was kind enough to make me some to go, with one of their swag mugs."

"You know, it's gonna be a real kick in the ass if the Air Force confiscates our weapons and gear. I forgot to ask earlier. As late as it is, I'll have to call in the morning. Whaddya wanna bet Big Brother 'can't find them'?"

"Oh, I insisted on getting them back when they sent me over here in the truck. It's all there, under the tarp. I've already checked."

Liv had the engine running by the time Dave hopped into the shotgun seat. Before putting on his seatbelt, he leaned over and gave her a kiss. Nothing overly passionate. This kiss was ... comfortable. Love, gratitude, and familiarity conveyed by the lips. The kind of kiss shared by a couple that had been together for a few years. Liv's eyes twinkled when they parted. Then she backed out of the parking spot and the short convoy got on the road.

The extended day and post-nut euphoria (times two) dropped Dave into a hazy, 'half here' state. Because of that, it took him an inordinately long time to recognize when they left I-30 well before crossing the lake.

"Where are we going?"

"Home."

"Are we tryin' to shake a tail?" Dave asked, turning in his seat to look behind them.

"Nope."

"Liv, I've driven to my house plenty of times from downtown. If you and the detective have some new route to get there, it's not terribly efficient. We should have hit Garland by now on the usual route."

Liv's only reply was to pat Dave's thigh and smile prettily before returning her full attention to the road and the taillights of Det. Verratti's car. Dave gave her some side-eye, for a minute, then turned his attention out the window. They'd just entered a neighborhood that had actual signs of habitation -- and recent construction. In some cases, it appeared two houses had been joined, while others seemed to have had a second story added. In every case, the lawn space was enlarged. The brown patches on either side suggested that houses had been knocked down to expand the space available to the remaining units. Then they passed two blocks of restaurants and retail shops. No big box stores, but even in the dark, what Dave could pick up from the signs suggested a reasonable mix of stores. A quick look to the other side of the car showed a parking lot that might hold a bit more than half the expected number of customers at peak shopping times. If there was a similar lot on the other end of these blocks, then someone was setting up a walking retail district, right in the middle of a neighborhood.

The left turn snapped Dave's attention forward. As the headlights swept over the street sign he read 'Varma CIR'. Here, the homes looked new from the ground up, three stories, a larger setback from the road, and ... grandiose. The houses were exclusively on the outside of the arcing road, with the large half-oval containing other buildings that Dave could not immediately determine in the dark. The astronomer in him appreciated that very few lights were on.

"Olivia, where the hell are we?" Dave's drowsiness was evident as he spoke.

The car ahead turned into a circle drive of a home near the 'peak' of the road. Olivia followed suit. She stopped, got out and closed the door. Dave emerged as well, somewhat wary, but trusting Liv -- and frankly, the detective too. He had no reason to suspect her, though little reason to trust her either.

"Liv?" There was a note of tension and sternness in Dave's voice.

The door to the enormous home opened. With a screech of "Daddy!" Esme came flying out, followed by the rest of his family. Becca, Reena, and Esme were in the lead, though Shawna, Jan, and Lupe were not far behind, and from the looks on their faces, they wanted to rush pell-mell too. Dave's chest heaved with emotion as he gave and received kisses and hugs.

As the scrum of love loosened, Lupe made her way in. She first grabbed Dave's face and drew him in for a deep kiss, full of longing. Then she released, nearly pushing him back, and launched into a diatribe. In Spanish. A very energetic butt-chewing that Dave only caught pieces of, though the overall meaning was clear from the draining worry in her face and the yearning in her eyes. It was tough to focus on those with her finger shaking in his face. He picked out a few words, like 'necessary' followed by what might have meant 'need you'. Now, 'pendejo' he knew, but the light in her eyes softened the blow.

"Para!" Dave said firmly, then gripped her by the upper arms. He pulled her in and kissed her deeply. She was stiff at first, but as the kiss continued, he could feel the angry energy drain out of her. When he separated them again, he said with a smirk, "Thanks for not breaking out the chancla." Lupe swatted him on the arm, her lips tight while she tried to suppress a smile. Dave grunted when her blow landed on his stitches. Lupe's eyes widened. She grasped his shirt sleeve and pulled it up.

"David?!! You've been shot!!" Several eyes, already fixed on him, filled with worry.

"I managed to notice. But don't worry," he adopted a rather poor British accent, "Tis only a flesh wound."

Lupe was not amused. Mel punched his good arm. Becca and Reena giggled, though both had a look of concern. Clearly Becca had been keeping up with Reena's nerd culture acclimation.

Shawna moved in to kiss his neck and hug him tightly. "Let's take this inside, shall we? It's rather chilly out here."

"Uh, sure. We should get, uh, well, we didn't come home alone."

"Oh, we know. Liv kept us up to speed by text. Our hero brought back conquests from his campaign of justice."

"She left out the part about you getting shot though," Vanessa said sourly.

Dave fixed Shawna with a despondent smile. "I'm not living any of this down, am I?"

Shawna laughed as she shook her head, her short curls bouncing and her eyes flashing with joy and relief.

"They're just in hospital gowns and wrapped in a blanket, so maybe send Esme out of view first?" Olivia suggested.

Dave nodded before kneeling next to Esme and wrapping her in a big hug. He planted a big, demonstrative kiss on her forehead. With him on one knee, Esme was slightly taller than Dave. "Back in the house now, mija." She beamed, hugged him tightly again, then let Lupe lead her away.

"Um, where's Nicole?"

"She's still out. We moved her in the backseat of my car." Vanessa replied.

"Okay, what are we doing here?"

Carmen stepped in. "The security risk for you staying at your prior home was too high. The politicians, police leadership, and Air Force folks may be unhappy with you, but they also know that you need more security. This new neighborhood gets regular police patrols, so this," she said with a wave of her hand, "is your new home. There's a lot more to tell, but it's late, and I know everyone's tired. You most of all." She moved over to her car and opened the hatch. The remaining members of Dave's family gathered around the back.

"Oh! I recognize her! She's the golfer with the big tits!" Becca cried.

Dave stared at her blankly. "Do I need to talk to you the way I talk to middle school boys? Her eyes are up there," he said with a wave of his hand towards Peggy's face. "This is Peggy Spears, and beside her is Natasha Larmonov. They're imprinting, so I don't want to jostle them too much. I'll carry them up one at a time. Do we have beds and such set up?"

Jan replied, "Yes, the movers were very helpful. We'll need to get more furniture for the other rooms, but right now we have one unclaimed room with two twin beds. Those beds were already here."

"This was originally supposed to go to some big wig's errand boy lawyer," Vanessa added. "It was ready now though, and big enough for all of us, and then some. Somebody upstairs softened the blow by promising him a place in the same gated community as his boss, so he's getting an upgrade."

"From this?!" Dave said, incredulously. Vanessa just grinned back at him. "Ok, I'll get Peggy first. Someone lead the way please?"

"Oh really?" Mel asked. "You're just gonna he-man Peggy all by yourself, huh?" She flicked the top of his shoulder, a few inches above the wound. Dave flinched from the implication, not the contact.

"Uh, okay, yeah, maybe I'll need some help."

Shawna laughed, walking towards him. "That may be the most Cro-Magnon moment you've had while I've known you." She kissed him softly on the cheek. "It's okay baby, we already know you're strong and capable. Let us help, okay?"

Dave nodded. "We can use the blankets as slings to carry them. Vee, can you help me here at Peggy's head? And Becca and Reena, take the sling near her feet?" The three ladies joined up as he'd requested. Together, the four moved away from the car, their charge gently swaying between them.

Dave was halfway to the house, when he heard the hatch slam. Looking back, He saw Shawna, Jan, Mel, and Olivia each clutching part of a blanket with Natasha resting inside. Shawna and Olivia, the two strongest, took the rear, next to Tasha's head. Vanessa guided the procession upstairs, to a room near the back. He waited as Becca pulled back the covers on the left-hand bed, then the four of them carefully laid Peggy on her side, the thin hospital blanket loose around her. He pulled the covers back over her sleeping form.

Turning, he saw the same had been done for Tasha by her carriers. Jan took care of covering the older woman. All six, plus Becca beside him, and Carmen at the door looked at Dave expectantly.

"Thank you ladies, I appreciate your help. Carmen, thank you for everything you've done today. I hope you don't have too far of a drive. I think we can handle it from here. I'll walk you out."

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

Dave stared blankly at her for a minute, trying to suppress a grin and a groan. The flat tone Carmen used erased any doubt of movie reference.

"You got your injection today, didn't you?"

"I've had one injection, yes. What about second injection?" She made a passable imitation of the original voice.

Taking a hint, Dave played along. "You keep talking in movie quotes and I'm gonna have to spank you."

Carmen's face flushed. Actually, more than just her face. From her jet-black hairline down to the neckline of her shirt, the pale young woman took on a distinctly pink hue.

Becca jumped in. "Oh yes, spank her. And then me."

"And me!" Reena rejoined.

Piling on, Shawna added, "And after the spankings, the oral sex." Then she and the two teens chanted "Oral sex! Oral sex!"

Dave rolled his eyes. "Could y'all at least stay in one genre?" The trio laughed heartily, while the others stood there with grins, not quite catching the reference. He turned to Carmen. "So you got matched to me in Oracle?"

She hesitated. "Not exactly. I was told to partner with you both as protection for you and punishment for my transgressions. They did give me the survey and ran me against you. Came up with an 81% match, which, as I understand it, is pretty good. I don't know anyone I'd want to partner up with, and ..." her face scrunched in embarrassment, "I kinda thought you were hot back when I first took your class." The pink, which had begun to fade, made its presence known again.

"Well, it's good to know you used to think I was attractive," Dave said with a sly grin.

Now Carmen's ear tips turned bright red, much of her face following suit. Then she stomped her foot. "Ok, I think you're a good-looking guy, It's just ... I know more about you now, and that's not the only reason to be here."

Dave sobered up his behavior. "Sorry, I'm a little punchy right now, and sometimes I'll put on a façade when I'm worried about something. In this case, I don't want you forced into pairing with me."

The short woman nodded her head. "Okay, I get that. Hell, that mentality is part of why I'm glad to be here. I'm sure one of the Brontë sisters could write me a better match, but that's not the real world. You're an honorable man, Dave Belsus. I like your sense of humor, and I like these ladies you have around you. The fact of the matter is, I may not have a job by the end of next week. I would gladly be your security chief and keep you safe, for your benefit, and for all of us." She circled her hand around to indicate all of the women bonded to Dave.

Dave noticed a few heads bobbing. All of the women in the room liked the idea of someone keeping any threats away from him. And she was cute as hell. Dave gazed at the ceiling, his thoughts churning, falling into place like pachinko balls. "You're sure this is what you want? There's no going back from this."