Quaranteam Hebridean Hame Ch 07

This is a story set in CorruptingPower's Quaranteam Universe. Permission has been given for me to write in this setting.

Thanks to AgathonWrites, The_Licentious_Laureate, RonanJWilkerson, 2Charlie and BronanTheLibrarian for their editing and story input. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Thanks as well as to the other QT authors who contributed to editing, made useful suggestions and whose work I would recommend you check out:

BreakTheBar, AgathonWrites, BronanTheLibrarian, OtterlyMindblowing, SilverRyden, RonanJWilkerson, BirchesLoveBooks, The_Licentious_Laureate, DisquietCertitude, 32inch, Ranthoron, Percheron, EldritchMuppet and our newest writer - 2charlie.

This story, based in Scotland during the DuoHalo/Covid pandemic, is a slower burn story than most of the other QT series.

Constructive comments are always welcome!

---VII---

Quaranteam: Hebridean Hame, Chapter 7

Tuesday, 29th September 2020

Eilean Arthriagh, Inner Hebrides, Scotland

Trying to delay what was sure to be an awkward conversation with Alison and Emma regarding Sarah's arrival, subsequent events and the finding of the pamphlet, Callum stuck with his usual morning routine and went for a shower.

He intended to avoid facing the music for as long as possible. Or at least until he felt properly clean and awake.

Standing under the hot water, Callum took stock of the previous day's events. Shaking his head in disbelief while remembering meeting Sarah and all they had learnt about the vaccine, he found his thoughts turning to how urgent her need for him had been. It had been confusing, strange, scary, and extremely hot. He'd never been tackled to the floor by a woman desperate for him, and chemically driven or not, it was nice to feel wanted - even desired - like that. He knew he'd be lying to himself if he denied taking some similar pleasure from Mira, Alison and Emma's advances on him as well, even if he didn't intend to pursue anything.

His thoughts dwelt on what happened on the hall floor with Sarah, and he felt himself growing fully erect from the memory of her riding him with such abandon, taking her pleasure from him as she needed it. Callum had never exactly been dominant in the bedroom, focusing more on his partner's pleasure. But the power element of what had happened with Sarah did tickle both his balls and his brain. He'd had the power to stop her, to take control, but had chosen not to. It was rare that he had the opportunity to just be along for the ride instead of being the one planning, organising and thinking.

Standing facing the spray, he tried to let the water wash away those thoughts. Sarah had escaped something horrific, something she would be carrying with her for a long time. It was unfair of him to expect any repetition of last night's attraction. He'd go as far as to say that it felt disrespectful. So he distracted himself with thoughts of what was happening in Fort William and what had happened to any number of people he hadn't heard from in weeks or months.

Once out of the shower, dry and dressed, Callum decided to check on Sarah before getting into whatever difficult conversation was about to occur with the ladies. He'd no idea whether Emma or Alison had been told anything yet but was willing to bet Mira would have filled them in.

Heading along the hallway to Sarah's room, Callum saw that all three dogs had followed him from his bedroom, having waited there while he took a shower. He stopped outside Sarah's door to make sure none of them would follow him into the room, using his legs to block off the gap that would appear when he opened the door.

Down the corridor, from beyond the kitchen door, he could hear the sound of urgent but quiet conversations in the kitchen, the sound of food being prepared and the occasional louder but indistinct comment from Alison.

Knocking softly on the door but receiving no response, he opened it slightly and saw Sarah still asleep on the bed. The sunlight falling around and under the curtains let him see she hadn't moved, remaining exactly how he and Mira had left her. It also gave him enough light to see that there was something on her face which hadn't been there before.

Keeping the dogs out of the room, he slipped inside and closed the door softly while pushing Karl back out into the hallway, the dog having been right behind him.

Crossing to her, Callum could more clearly see a white, almost spiderweb-like gossamer substance had appeared on Sarah's face, mainly gathered over and around her nose.

He touched it lightly, not understanding what it was. It was soft, and as he pulled his hand away, he saw it had left an odd residue on his fingers. Rubbing those fingers together, Callum found the texture unpleasant. It was oddly greasy but almost squeaky when rubbed, like wet cornflour mixed with candy floss.

Callum wiped his hand on his trousers, deciding to fetch Mira. As he did so, he realised something else had changed about Sarah's face. Her black eye had gone, as had some of the more apparent bruises on her neck. Checking further would have involved peeling back the duvet - something he didn't think he should be doing alone.

He stood for a moment, confused, as he watched Sarah sleep, taking some comfort in seeing her breathing normally.

His exit from the room was a repeat of his entry. He used his legs to block the dogs from entering as he manoeuvred through the doorway. Karl needed pushing back into the corridor while Piper and Skye pranced around. All three dogs seemed aware that someone new was in the room, desperate to investigate and say hello. He quietly urged them down the hall towards the kitchen, asking them to find 'the girls'.

They happily trotted ahead of him, Skye and Piper pushing the kitchen door open as they jammed their noses into the gap of the not-quite-closed door and forced it the rest of the way open with their bodies.

When Callum followed them into the kitchen, he felt like he was walking into a saloon in a cowboy film. All other noise in the room seemed to stop.

In view immediately before him, Mira sat at the kitchen table, holding a hot drink. Alison sat beside her, leaning against Mira supportively, with one hand on Mira's arm and another holding a mug of her own.

Catherine was at the kitchen island, toast liberally smeared with newly purchased butter and Emma's homemade raspberry jam halfway to her mouth, with the crumb-covered pamphlet in front of her.

Emma stood by the cooker, wearing one of Agnes's old aprons, holding a wooden spoon while she stirred something in a pot. Some of the recently purchased groceries had been retrieved from his car and were now sitting on the kitchen counter, already used in whatever Emma was preparing.

All four turned to look at him as he entered the room. Beyond that, the only movement in the kitchen was Skye and Piper seeking attention from Mira and Alison, who were oblivious to the tension and did not notice that Catherine was eating.

Mira looked upset and tired, as she had the night before, only with more crumpled clothing. Karl had gone straight to her when he'd entered the kitchen, sitting beside her and placing his head on her lap. Mira gave Callum a thin smile, which he considered a thank-you for the previous night's sleep.

Beside Mira, Alison looked upset, but he'd fully expected her to be more concerned about Mira than anything else. Still, something was challenging about the look she gave him. Perhaps it was anger or resentment at what he and Sarah had done or something else she'd learnt that morning. Her usual cheerful expression was missing, and she did not get up to greet him as she usually would have.

Callum's takeaway was that Emma and Alison had been made aware of the pamphlet and the events around Sarah's arrival.

Glancing at Catherine next, he noted that she was looking at him oddly, a slight frown creasing her face as she chewed her toast.

A peek at Emma showed her looking reproachfully over her shoulder at him as she stood stock-still before the cooker. The lack of any hip swaying or dancing spoke loudly about her mood. She looked disappointed more than anything else.

Callum decided to start simply. "Morning everyone."

Mira responded with a quiet "Morning, Cal."

Catherine covered her mouth as she chewed, finishing what was in her mouth before returning a polite "Good morning."

Alison said nothing but kept her eyes on him. Emma returned to whatever she was doing on the stovetop without acknowledging he'd spoken.

Callum sighed quietly to himself.

"Mira, I'm sorry to interrupt. Can I ask you to look at something?" He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder toward Sarah's room.

Alison's irritation at this question was evident as she shot him a disapproving look, her grip on Mira's arm growing tighter. Callum was unsure whether this was because she didn't want Mira to help Sarah or didn't want Callum to bother her friend while she was dealing with her grief.

In response, Mira patted Alison's hand while nodding at Callum. "You want to ask me about the stuff on her nose and the faded bruises? I checked on her earlier, and I've no idea. Catherine checked 'the book'..." The way this was said made it clear what Mira was referring to. "And it does mention the vaccine potentially having a healing or regenerating effect in some cases. Don't ask me how it does it; I have no idea. That one side effect would be a marketable product on its own."

Callum nodded and glanced at Emma, who was usually the first to make suggestive jokes whenever he had previously asked to speak to one of them alone. She hadn't even turned around from whatever she was doing.

Instead of Emma making a cheeky suggestion, Catherine cleared her throat.

"Callum, there is more information about your... liaison... with Sarah that you should know. Not regarding her healing but instead her new connection to you..." She stopped for a moment, looking hard at Callum again. "Did you use an exfoliating facial scrub this morning while showering?"

Callum, initially responding with concern to Catherine's words, instead involuntarily laughed at the ridiculousness of her question and the sudden change of topic. He shook his head, glancing around, expecting the others to look similarly amused, only to see all the women giving him serious looks again.

"Ha!" Came the eventual response from Emma. "Yeah, I see it. You look ten years younger, boss." She hadn't called him boss since she arrived on the island at the start of the year.

So she was upset, and her calling him that was a sign that their relationship had been reset? Or was it a way of her commenting on the fact that he'd had sex with the woman who might be his boss? He caught Emma's eye momentarily before she turned back quickly, the smirk on her face answering some of his questions. She was annoyed she had missed out.

Mira, meanwhile, looked confused as she scanned him from head to toe, while Alison... still scowled at him, but it was a slightly more thoughtful scowl.

Turning back to Catherine, he saw her tilting her head slightly. She also looked him up and down. "You are looking much healthier than you have done recently. I might even say you look like you have benefitted from a day at a spa. Not that you looked particularly unhealthy before."

Mira's response was directed at the room and not specifically at Callum. "Yeah, he looks much less tired than he has over the last few days. We were worried yesterday morning before he set off driving about how pale and worn down he looked." Callum glanced over at her questioningly. "You look well rested this morning, Callum." She told him with that same thin smile. Apparently, she hadn't told the others where she'd slept last night, or else there would definitely have been comments about that from the others.

Callum shrugged slightly but maintained eye contact with her while responding, "I had the best night's sleep in a long time." While true, this was the only explanation he could offer for why they might have thought his appearance had changed.

"See, the health benefits of a good fuck. I'd be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed if I'd shagged someone into unconsciousness on the hallway floor too." Emma's sarcastic response reinforced his interpretation of her feelings.

Before he could respond, Mira looked at Emma disapprovingly, resulting in the young chef shrugging nonchalantly before returning to the pots and pans she had been tending.

However, determined to have the last word, Emma called back, "Just saying what we're all thinking."

Mira ignored her.

"Back to my point." Catherine continued, trying to steer the conversation around to her original topic. "According to this document, Sarah is 'paired' with you now; you are biologically linked. She will require... intercourse..." Catherine's cheeks flushed slightly red. "with you regularly to maintain her health. In return, you gain some level of her resistance to DuoHalo. Should either of you think that you have become exposed to this DuoHalo, you are to... repeat the... intercourse... again as soon as possible. This will boost your immunity."

All the ladies had turned to him again, looking a little shocked.

Callum moved from the doorway and grabbed a seat at the kitchen table. Slumping into it, he quickly had Piper fussing at him, the dog looking up at him for attention with her big brown eyes. He idly scratched her while thinking over Catherine's words.

"Okay, so what do you mean by us being linked? What happens if she doesn't want to stay here or if last night was a one-off caused by a reaction to the vaccine?"

"According to this document, she is biologically reliant on you and you alone. If she were to encounter another male's... ejaculate..."

"Cum!" Said Emma, overly loudly. Her look of shock at the description of how the vaccine worked had gradually turned to one of anger.

"Ahem, Yes, quite. Exposure to another man's 'cum' would cause a painful and dangerous reaction. It is described here as similar to coming into contact with a strong acid, and as such, it may be fatal if the contact... is internal." Catherine paused as if taking in information herself.

"She will require unprotected sex with you at least once every seven days." She paused again and flicked through the pages of the pamphlet. "And her sex drive is going to be much higher than before," Catherine uttered the last sentence haltingly, her cheeks showing a deeper shade of red.

"It also states that one paired woman is insufficient to ensure the safety of the male. Specifically, the paired male's resistance to DuoHalo, as granted by a single partner alone, does not provide enough protection from the disease. And males cannot be given the vaccine directly. So the pamphlet refers to the creation of 'teams', one male with several female partners."

The way the eyes in the room moved from Catherine to Callum was almost humorous. It reminded Callum of an old TV advert about Wimbledon, with the tennis crowd's eyes following the ball back and forth.

The realisation that the vaccine was forcing the creation of... what? Polyamorous relationships? Polygyny? Harems? All those options and the associated implications were much less amusing.

"The more partners a male has, the safer he will be from DuoHalo. I suspect this will result in a seismic shift in how relationships operate. It will no doubt have an impact on society and the law."

All the eyes in the room were now back on Catherine.

"Soooo." Emma was the first to break the resulting silence as she turned back to face the group, a wooden spoon still in her hand. The red sauce that coated it dripped over her hand and onto the floor without anyone noticing.

Her tone showed she was having trouble believing what she was being told.

She slowly pointed the spoon at Catherine.

"You're saying that there is a deadly virus going around that's been covered up and that could kill almost all the men and a chunk of the women? And that the only way to save the men is via a sexually transmitted vaccine. And that the vaccine requires men to have multiple partners - and stops those partners from having sex with other men?"

Catherine flicked back and forth through the pamphlet for a moment as if double-checking her answer before nodding confidently in agreement. "That about sums it up, yes. If men are given the vaccine directly, it will kill them."

Ever the opportunist, Skye moved to lick up the bright red drips of sauce before sitting and attentively observing the wooden spoon.

"Well, assuming this isn't all some conspiracy theory bullshit, I guess we don't have to think hard about what the gender was of the scientist that came up with that fucking solution." Came Emma's acerbic reply.

"And Sarah will now be paired with Callum?" Mira's quiet but now thoughtful voice came.

Catherine nodded. "Yes. Her awareness of this linking process likely caused her to seek him out."

Mira visibly shuddered. "I wonder how much she knew about what was going on. The thought of getting trapped with a man who was willing to inflict those injuries... No wonder she ran."

The women nodded in agreement, all with looks of concern. "What about the other women who might be partnered with him?" Alison asked aloud.

Emma made a dismissive noise, causing Alison to cast her a warning look. "We're sure this is for real? Like, this is a real thing and not some stupid prank? All we have to go on is some tatty-looking booklet that any nutcase could have made up and the ravings of a woman who might be mental and just needed a shag."

The room fell silent, everyone's eyes not on Emma. Callum could hear the tick of the kitchen clock and the bubble of whatever was cooking in the pans.

Everyone jumped slightly when that silence was broken. "Will you just engage your brain and fucking listen, Em?" Surprisingly, this rebuke came from Alison. She held up a closed hand and started raising and counting her fingers as she spoke.

"One. Mira and Catherine have both said the book looks authentic. Two. It matches what Sarah told Callum. Three. Mira and Callum say Sarah's injuries have almost all gone overnight - and they were pretty bad by the sounds of it. Do you know of a way those bruises could just fade away overnight? Four. How else do you explain what Callum saw at the car accident? Five. Why has no one been back to collect their dogs from Nicole?" Alison paused to breathe as she glared at Emma. "Right now, that booklet is the only thing we have that explains what's going on. The government is covering it up, it looks like, and the only way to stay safe is for us to get the vaccine and match up with a man."

Callum was aware that most eyes had fallen on him after Alison's last point. There were a variety of looks on display. Mira still wore her sadness but looked at him with what might have been determination. Catherine's raised eyebrow and crossed arms, evaluating. Alison's eyes, however, were filled with hope, and despite the situation, she looked slightly pleased.

Emma, however, stared at Alison, shocked by the younger woman's outburst. Her mouth moved, but for once, it seemed Emma was speechless. Her shoulders had dropped, the spoon hanging loosely in her hand - which Skye took as an invitation to lick the spoon clean.

Whatever Emma's response might have been, Catherine interrupted it by returning to the pamphlet, turning pages, while saying, "There is a way we could check on whether this is a hoax. There is a helpline number listed." She turned to the back page of the pamphlet. "My apologies, there are two helpline numbers: one for vaccine recipients and one for medical practitioners. We could call both and check what they say against our information here."

Mira nodded in agreement, pulling out her mobile phone but briefly pausing to check that she'd not received any messages. With a small sigh, she moved over to Catherine. "I'll call the medical practitioners' helpline." She turned the pamphlet slightly to read the number. "I've some ideas about what I can say. I can ask about the bruises."