Quaranteam - Dave in Dallas

We now enter into a primary point of my initial pitch to Corrupting Power a year ago. Things are now in motion, which cannot be undone.

As always, all characters involved in sexual situations are 18 years old or older.

The following chapter may be disturbing to some readers. Buckle your seatbelts and make sure your seatbacks and tray tables are in the full, upright and locked position.

Ch 10 -- Storm Winds

******

October 28, 2020 4:18am

David's hand was halfway to the palmprint secured gun safe on the back side of his headboard before he realized he was even awake. With the vertical placement, and the... activity frequently occurring in the bed, he'd installed two Velcro loops to hold the pistol and magazine inside. He released the pistol and placed it on his chest before reaching back for the clip. Fortunately, only two hands and a part of one leg were draped over him at the moment. The four younger girls were in their rooms, leaving Lupe, Jan, Shawna, Vanessa, and his newest partner Nicole to share his bed. Nicole was one of the hands, and the partial leg. By consensus, the ladies decided she should get to curl up next to Dave for her imprinting sleep.

Gingerly, Dave slipped free of his partners' limbs and slid down the bed onto the floor. Only then did he insert the magazine and work the slide. Flipping the safety on, he padded softly but quickly to the closet to grab a pair of shorts. He decided not to wear slippers this time. He might need the extra footing.

Keeping close to the wall, he approached the bedroom door. With the door still shut, he took the safety off, but kept his finger out of the trigger well for the moment. Slowly, Dave eased the door open. Slipping through, he noticed a shape in the hallway, against the wall, at the top of the stairs. Too dark to identify an individual, the figure made the 'Join Me' signal his friend Carter had taught him long ago.

He did not raise his weapon. Sliding along the wall silently, just the way he'd practiced at least once every year, Dave approached. Proximity gave the reassurance the lighting denied at a distance. Liv crouched in the hallway, pistol in hand, wearing only a light nightgown that reached most of the way to her knees. With a quick series of hand signals, Dave told Liv to follow at a distance as he prepared to descend the stairs as quietly as possible. Liv signaled back that she should lead, but apparently had no signal for why. Dave negated the suggestion, and started down the stairs.

He reached the lower landing with no incident. His nerves had been raw as he got halfway down and the solid wall gave way to railing. Now he crouched on one knee, Liv a few steps up from the landing, but with good vision on the living room area, both of them listening.

The nighttime chirping of mockingbirds was absent. No flutter of wings or rustle of raccoons, possums, or skunks. Out here on the wild edge of the metroplex, there was always something moving at night.

Dave signaled for Liv to post up on the landing and then moved along the wall of the stairs, in front of the media center to the corner of the living room where the downstairs hallway started. He was now directly below the spot Liv had occupied when he first emerged from the bedroom. And just two steps from his secured gun closet recessed under the stairs and hidden behind a normal looking panel. Dave had only one twelve round magazine. Liv had purchased a larger safe and had a spare ten round magazine in addition to the one in her weapon. It was a bit awkward carrying it since she had no pockets, but Carter had taught a variety of firing stances, one of which allowed carrying something in the non-dominant hand. By the absence of natural sounds, somebody was outside. He did not know how many, or how they were armed, but he was sure they weren't here in the oh-my-god-it's-early hours for a friendly visit. He slid the cover for the pin pad open so he could punch in the unlock code.

Dave heard a crashing thump at the door followed by cursing. The security door worked just fine. He didn't get a chance to smile though. The glass door at the back of the living room shattered from several rounds. Dave squared his body with the opening just as two men stepped through.

The first man fell as Dave brought his weapon up. The second went down just as his head turned to his right to see Liv's position flanking their breach.

Dave heard a tinkling sound from the entry. Someone was breaking the window in the front parlor. Now he was worried. The thick pillar at the free corner of the landing would give Liv scant protection against a firearm. Dave stayed low, stepping away from his corner. It gave him protection against someone firing from the sliding door breach, but he had no angle to fire into the entryway.

With the furniture screening him from the glass door breach, he approached the arch between the entry and living room. Loud whispers drifted in from his right. The remaining attackers on the deck seemed to be hesitant about testing themselves against the defenses. He was straining to pick out words when a head began to resolve itself in the entry.

Dave fired two rounds. The body fell. He held his position, weapon ready.

Out back he heard an angry growl, "Hey, one of those women is my sister!"

The reply was too low to understand the words, but the snideness came through clearly. As did the answering gunshot.

What the hell is going on? They're shooting each other now? Hey, they don't need to be on my property for that!

The fallen body in front of Dave slid backwards.

Hands appeared from the foyer and the broken glass door, but they were empty. The hands gripped a pair of ankles of one downed man each and yanked them back to where the hands came from. This repeated for the second body near the glass door. Wet sickening sounds ensued, backed up by an occasional retching noise. Murmurs were heard. Someone said something about a marker and a bag.

"David?!" Shawna's voice called from up the stairs. That wasn't the only sound from upstairs. Roscoe was barking his head off. Furtive whispers indicated some of his family were at the top of the stairs with Shawna.

"Keep everyone up there. Open up the armory in the main closet and distribute weapons to the adults. Everything Lt. Malcolm Reed gave us is in there. Arm up and take defensive positions upstairs." That was a bluff. Hopefully enough of one to drive the attackers away. Dave was sure Shawna would recognize the name of the armory officer from

Enterprise

and catch on.

The sounds from the foyer and back deck took on a hurried pace before Dave heard footsteps rushing away. Dave and Olivia exchanged glances, and then immediately darted their eyes back to the penetration points. This happened a few more times over the next several minutes.

"Looks like we're clear."

"Yeah, just stay on your toes."

"I know. I grew up under the same guy that trained you, remember?"

"Vividly."

Cautious footsteps descended the stairs. "David, Olivia, it's Shawna. I'm coming down."

Slowly, Shawna came into view, feet first on the exposed portion of the staircase. Her pink satin nightgown falling just past her knees gave her some coverage, but made Dave aware of the cold, damp air pouring in from both breaches.

"Are you two okay? Is it safe?"

"For now. We've got two big holes in the house, so maybe keep everybody up there where it's warm unless they're needed down here." Dave paused for a second. "Ask Nessa and Mel to look out the upstairs windows. See if they can spot these guys leaving, or lying in wait."

Shawna disappeared upstairs, then came back down after a brief verbal exchange.

Shawna came down to the lower landing and spoke briefly with Livy, giving her a hug. Then she came to Dave. She hugged him fiercely. Her voice shook as she said thickly, "For a little bit there, I thought I was going to lose you."

"We held." Dave managed to keep most of the nervous tension and post-adrenaline shake out of his voice. By the look in her eye, Shawna wasn't fooled a bit. Dave led her to the beginning of the hallway, the cubby under the stairs. He whispered the passcode in her ear so she could unlock it. That had been the galling thing during the attack. His full stash of weapons had been right beside his shoulder, but he couldn't spare the attention to unlock it. Clearly, he needed to rethink his arrangements.

Shawna handed out a thigh holster for him, which he only saw peripherally as he kept watch. The weight told him immediately she'd placed two pre-filled magazines in there for him. He pulled one out for a quick check. No use him having Livy's mags.

"I go to the pistol range about every other month. Nothing fancy, but I'm a decent shot and I know the difference between ten mil and nine mil. What? It's a very satisfying skill to have, and a great way to blow off some stress."

Dave chuckled and turned his head, with a quick lean to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. Then he stepped back out to his post. He felt Shawna walking out, so he moved to the other side of the hallway so she could make her way to Livy with the other thigh holster without crossing Dave's line of sight.

She paused at his shoulder. "Dave, do you want the other weapons in there?"

Dave thought for a minute. He knew which ones Shawna had to mean. He sighed, "Yeah. A tac vest and one of the MP5's. Tac vests should already have six loaded magazines in the pockets. Get two and give the other vest and weapon to Liv. Then find out if anyone upstairs has any weapons training. You said you shoot, how good are you?"

Shawna handed out a vest first, which Dave quickly donned. "With silhouette targets, I can put four out of five rounds through the heart. Now, I haven't gotten to shoot since the lockdowns, but I was pretty regular before."

She handed him one of the MP5's which Dave quickly slung over his head and shoulder, inserted a magazine he'd pulled from the vest and chambered a round, then safed the weapon.

"Are those...?"

"Semiauto. Carter went to a lot of work to make sure we had everything we could legally have, but never anything illegal. They do have the integral noise suppressor. It was expensive as hell and took forever plus a mountain of paperwork, but it's all legal. At least in Texas."

"God Bless Texas," she said with a gleam in her eye. Shawna gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before sauntering over to Livy, a thigh holster clutched in one hand, a tac vest in the other, and an MP5 slung over her neck. A second thigh holster, with a nine millimeter and magazines was strapped to her sleek, powerful thigh. Shawna handed off the gear to Olivia, then swiftly moved back to the concealed weapons closet. She was in there for quite a while before emerging. "There was only one more pre-loaded nine mil mag, so I had to load a few or just walk around with one. The second choice didn't sound viable."

"Agreed." Dave grasped Shawna's bicep and pulled her in for a quick kiss on the cheek. She beamed at him after returning the kiss, then headed upstairs. Dave heard Liv saying something to Shawna as she passed by.

An eternity and a short time later, two sets of footsteps descended the staircase. Melanie followed behind Shawna. "Carter and Liv both took me to the range several times. I even went to a tactical course once my aim was... acceptable. But only with pistol. I've never shot anything else."

"Good enough. There's another thigh holster and pistol inside. What did Carter train you on?

"Nine millimeter. He said it was so common it made a good starting point. Once with Liv, we rented shotguns at an outdoor range and I was decent with it."

"Pistol will do fine. Shawna, help her get some magazines loaded. Has anyone called for police?"

Mel swallowed nervously. "I didn't see anyone waiting in the back yard, but the deck..."

"Yes?"

"It's... disturbing. Dave, be careful."

Dave nodded, as did Liv.

Shawna spoke up as she followed Mel in. It was tight with two adults in there, but doable. At three it would have been cramped. "Lupe called. They didn't know how long before someone responds. They're stretched thin and the night shift is the least staffed." Wordlessly, she handed over a t-shirt she'd grabbed while she was upstairs. Dave slipped the tac vest off, donned the shirt, then the tac vest again. While he dressed, he spoke with his partners.

"Fuck. Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You two take defensive positions on the stairs. One of you take the lower landing, one further up, just below the ceiling line. Then Liv and I will go out through the deck, and check the exterior all the way around."

"I'll take the landing," Mel said. "I've had training with Carter, I should be the one exposed."

"You sure?" Shawna prodded.

"Yeah."

"Okay, take your positions then." Dave kissed each one on the cheek before they walked away. When both had taken their places, Liv came over to him. Dave had one more instruction for Shawna. "Oh, and tell Lupe to call the police again, let them know we are clearing the grounds so they don't just shoot us on sight." Shawna nodded and crept upwards.

Jan came down the stairs, bearing a pair of shoes for Dave and Liv, a pair of socks stuck into one shoe for each of them. After handing over the shoes, Jan headed back upstairs. They shod themselves quietly.

"So, me on point?" Liv asked as she finished.

"No, I'll take point, you cover me."

"Dave, if anything happens to you, we're all in big trouble."

"That's why you're watching my back. Otherwise, I'd go out there solo and leave you in charge here."

"Like hell you would. I ain't some --"

"I know you are capable, but I'm still going to shield you from as much risk as I can."

Liv rolled her eyes. "Gee, I feel safe and offended all at once."

Dave stared at her stony. "Are we done here? Ready to go?"

"Shit, Dad really rubbed off on you. Yeah, let's do this."

Olivia fell in behind Dave as he headed straight for the glass door breach. Both held their weapons ready, jutting forward with the strap taut around their necks and backs. Dave paused at the breach.

"Off safe."

"Roger."

Dave examined the scene visible through the broken glass and the flapping curtain. Blood trails led out the breach from the various points where the bodies of the invaders had landed. He could see the legs of a few of them still on the deck. He turned his head to catch first Shawna's then Mel's eyes, nodded, and proceeded cautiously but swiftly out the breach. He swiveled right going out, knowing Liv would go left, just as her father had taught them for years. Each stopped at the furthest extension of the deck in their direction, scanning the deck and yard in a full semicircle, their backs to the house.

There was no damage to the fence, and no apparent damage to the greenhouse or anything else in the backyard. The deck however... well, it wasn't damaged. The bodies on it were. Each had the pants and underwear pulled down and a huge bloody mess where the genitals once were. Blood continued to ooze out of the wounds, though clearly it had poured out initially.

Dave signaled his intent to clear the greenhouse. Liv followed him. It didn't take long to clear. They emerged quickly, rescanning the backyard as they did. With Liv trailing, Dave exited the backyard through the side gate. The side yard showed no disturbance. In the front yard, they found the same gruesome sight as the back deck. Here though, they found an empty plastic baggie with blood spatter. And a few bloody fingerprints. The bag snagged under the heel of the corpse, ensuring the light wind was insufficient to blow it away.

Dave and Liv finished the sweep, checking the other side yard, which showed no signs of disturbance.

"I think we're safe, for now. These guys bugged out."

"Yeah, but why did they cut their buddies' junk off?" Dave shivered, and not from the crummy weather. Well, maybe a little from the weather. He was barely dressed after all.

"Let's get inside." Since the front door was still locked, they traipsed back through the side yard to the gate and came in through the broken glass door. "Coming in." Dave called before entering. "No sign of anyone out there." The relief on Mel and Shawna's faces was evident. Their shoulders relaxed slightly. "Can you two keep watch here? I'm gonna talk to the others, then we'll both get dressed, and then I'll call the police again."

At the top of the stairs, four of Dave's partners wrapped him in hugs muttering their relief that he was still in one piece. He could see Lupe gazing at him, beseechingly as she held Esme close, soothing her. A loud bang against a door at the end of the hall reminded Dave of other necessities.

"You better go let Roscoe out so he can see that we're all intact," Dave chuckled.

As Olivia opened the door, Roscoe bolted from the room, turning only when she bellowed "ROSCOE, HEEL." That cut through his canine brain fog of 'defense mode'. He turned to her, sniffing as if checking on her condition. Liv knelt in front of him. She placed her hands on either side of his face and began stroking his neck and back while speaking softly, in calm tones. After a few whimpers, he started aggressively licking her face and putting his paws on her shoulders.

Addressing his family, Dave said, "Liv and I need to get dressed. We need to call the police again, and we need to get those holes sealed."

"Holes?" Jan asked.

"Yeah, they busted in the sliding door and a window in the parlor. It's not quite as cold and miserable downstairs as it is outside, but it's close enough. For now, stay upstairs unless you have something you need to do down there. You can still run down to grab a book, or make meals or snacks. For tv, use the spare room that Shawna uses when she has morning shifts."

"We could just use our laptops for streaming, Dave. We'll be fine." Reena added. She looked a bit bleary. To be fair, everyone seemed caught in some whipsaw state of alert and drowsy. Not surprising, given what they'd just been through.

Dave patted her on the shoulder and kissed the crown of her head in appreciation. Releasing Reena, Dave knelt in front of Esme, who was showing clear signs of worry and strain. He enveloped her in his arms and held her close. "It's okay now, baby girl. We're all okay now." He held her, stroking her hair and back soothingly. After several minutes had passed, he loosened his grip and began to stand.

Esme's arms immediately came up, wrapping Dave in a vise-grip hug. She didn't say anything, she didn't cry or whimper. She just clutched him tightly. Dave eyed Lupe, but she just looked back at him imploringly. He reached a hand out to her and she grabbed on immediately. He looked around at the others and saw the need for reassurance was still there.

Olivia had already slipped into her room with Roscoe to get dressed. Becca, Reena, Jan, Nessa and Lupe all rushed to surround him the moment he waved his hand to 'bring it in'. Esme was wedged between Dave and Lupe. She finally relaxed her grip on Dave, and switched over to her mother. With a silent chuckle, Dave kissed Lupe on the cheek and slipped off to the master bedroom. Jan followed after him.

"I thought I'd call the police and put it on speaker so you could talk to them while getting dressed."

Dave nodded, then wrapped her in a hug and gave her a closed mouth kiss that was no less affectionate for its chasteness. Reluctantly, he released her and headed into the closet to collect some clothes. Jan dialed 911 as soon as Dave emerged. Police staffing was so low, all calls went through the emergency center. Long held habits are hard to break, though. Especially when those habits are codified in a manual. That's what they call 'procedure'.

"911, what's your emergency?"