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Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 11

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Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 11
The jurisdiction Issues.

Based

on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the
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"Alright, Black,"

the State Trooper Sergeant mumbled. "Come on. Meeting time."

The clanking of the keys in

the cell doors was a metallic knife in my ears. I hadn't been able to get any
sleep sitting in the cell in the back of the State Trooper outpost, and judging
by the light beaming in from the window high on the wall it had to be
mid-morning by now.

I'd sort of expected it, but

the Stateys hadn't exactly come in soft on Kyla and me. They hadn't been overly
rough either, but with multiple bodies on the property and a gun fight in a
residential area, none of them were in the mood for leniency up front. The only
thing that stopped me from being frustrated by the whole thing was that they
hadn't gotten rough or handsy with Kyla in any way. We'd each gotten put into
the back of a cruiser, and I'd sat there for about an hour as the Troopers
started to process the scene and interview Mary. They were just starting to
check the other houses on the block when Kyla and I were driven away.

We didn't get booked when we

were brought in, which I took as a good thing. Instead I was brought back to
the cells and Kyla was brought to an interrogation room; she'd claimed
Diplomatic Immunity and rattled off an ID number, and I had a feeling the
Troopers weren't sure what to do about that.

I groaned as I sat up on the

rough wooden bench that I'd been laying on. Thankfully I'd been the only person
in the cell so I'd felt safe enough to lower my mask as I tried to find the
soldier zen to relax on cue. But it hadn't come, and now here I was with only a
couple of hours of sleep in me and an adrenaline crash leaving me with a mild
headache.

The Sergeant waved me through

the cell door and led me out to the front. The station was small, just an
outpost that housed a service bay for the Trooper's cars, a couple of meeting
rooms and offices, and a break room. Most of the crime in the area was petty
theft and vandalism, public intoxication and DUI, and speeding. Or maybe it was
more than that and I just didn't know about it. I was learning a lot about the
shit people were willing to do to each other even out in what I considered the
most beautiful place on earth.

Inside the cramped little

conference room, the table was almost full already. Kyla was sitting next to
Captain Bloomberg, who gave me a quick and analytical once-over to make sure I
was alright. She looked like she was running low on sleep as well, and I
wondered how fast Miriam had woken up her second-in-command to help deal with
this. But she also looked sharp as hell in her military dress blues.

Also at the table was a State

Trooper Captain who looked highly annoyed to be there, and the Sergeant
followed me in. He had been in control of the scene; or as in control as one
could be when there were only three troopers and four dead bodies.

"Mr. Black," the

Captain said. "Take a seat, let's get this over with." He was the
kind of guy who probably played linebacker way back in his high school hay day
but had slowly started heading to pasture. His gut hung over his belt and his
moustache was silver and grey as his medical mask slipped down his chin.

I sat, knowing better than to

speak without being asked a question. I still wasn't sure what the state of
things were, so offering up any information freely could fuck up whatever
Bloomberg was working on.

"Well, we're all here

now," Captain Bloomberg said. Everyone was wearing a mask which made it
harder to really get a read on her. "Sergeant, will you be suggesting to
the ADA that charges should be filed?"

The Sergeant cleared his

throat and sat forward. "Ah, no Ma'am," he said. "Our
preliminary investigation and witness reports say Mr. Black was acting in
defense of another at their express request in a time when emergency services
were unavailable, and his actions were against clear and present looters."
He glanced at the Captain and then continued. "We are ruling our
investigation closed at this time."

"Good," Laura

nodded tersely and then turned to the Captain. "With that cleared up, the
jurisdictional matter?"

"I still think if he

wants,” the big man started, but Laura raised an eyebrow and he grumbled and
seemed to change his mind. "We were already short-staffed in this area for
the ground that needs covering, and I've lost half of my troopers already. Do
whatever the fuck you want."

"Wonderful,"

Captain Bloomberg said dryly and then she picked up a book and held it towards
me. "Put your hand on the bible."

I raised an eyebrow of my own

but did so.

"Do you swear?"

Laura asked me.

"I... do?" I

answered.

"Great," she said.

"By the power invested in me, I hereby appoint you the new, duly elected
County Sheriff for Black County. Congratulations."

"What is going on?"

I asked.

"I don't know how, but

somehow there is a new, tiny county in the state located right outside of
Jewell," the Trooper Captain said. "And apparently there was an
election this morning for the position of County Sheriff and that's now
you."

I opened my mouth behind my

mask and then clicked it shut and blinked. "What?"

"Now that that's out of

the way," Captain Bloomberg pushed on. "Jurisdiction, Captain?"

The Captain took in a breath

and blew it out slowly into his mask, clearly exasperated. "Sheriff Black,
we will extend you jurisdictional courtesy in the town of Jewell and the
surrounding area so that you may handle emergencies which our office may have a
delayed response to. In return, we hope you could help with some of the
community-related duties our officers are having a hard time keeping up
with."

I looked at Laura and Kyla,

who both nodded. "Sure, Captain," I said. "I'd be happy to help
with that."

"Great. Wonderful,"

the Trooper Captain grunted and turned to Laura. "We done here? I've got
about a hundred other things that are more important than this piling up on my
desk."

"Thanks so much for your

help, Captain," Laura said and I could hear the patronizing customer
service smile hidden behind her mask.

The Captain grumbled

something to himself and stood up, squeezing his way out of the small room and
slamming the front door of the station on his way out.

"Am I needed for

anything else, Ma'am?" the Sergeant asked. "He's not wrong, we have a
lot going on and my guys could use me out there."

"Just the return of

Sheriff Black's firearms and other property," Laura said.

"Ma'am, those are going

to be in evidence,”

"Just the return of

Sheriff Black's firearms and other property," Laura said again, a little
sterner.

"Ah, uh, yes

Ma'am," the Sergeant said and stood. On his way out I could hear him
muttering about not knowing how to do the paperwork for all of this.

"Alright," I said

once he was gone and we were alone. "What the hell is going on?"

"The Colonel thought it

would be prudent to expedite some political paperwork for the community,"
Captain Bloomberg said. "Black County became official at 8:01 AM this
morning, and at 9:01 AM a verbal election was held of all current residents of
the county. Your election was unanimous with the 78% turnout."

"I can tell you're

having fun with this," I said.

"What, me? Having fun

running roughshod over all sorts of legal and possibly constitutional issues?
I'm an officer of the court and of the United States Airforce. I wouldn't ever
dream of having fun," Captain Bloomberg said.

"She's having way too

much fun," Kyla said.

"Okay, what does this

actually mean though?" I asked.

"As much as you want it

to," Laura said, cutting to the chase. "The community that's going to
be built on your land was always going to become its own county because that
was going to help with jurisdictional governance issues. In reality, the entire
county is going to remain under the federal jurisdiction of the Air Force so
there isn't a need for any county political or infrastructure systems. But
Miriam seems to think that if we don't make you some kind of official you're
going to keep getting into shit that I need to dig you out of, so I came up
with giving you a badge and letting you do whatever it is you're going to do.
You're still the contracted security for the site, which encompasses the
entirety of Black County, but with that agreement with the State Troopers you
just made you can go looking for all the trouble your heart desires."

"This is insane," I

said.

"And yet it's

happening," Kyla said.

"Just don't do something

stupid enough that someone files a complaint against you," Laura said.
"We'll get you a badge and some more equipment under the guise of your
security work, and you can fly under the radar and help whoever you're going to
help. Or, I'm just putting this out there, you could try keeping your head down
and not making my life quite so fucking interesting so that I can handle the
two and a half feet of legal paperwork that is currently forming a new leaning
tower of Pisa on my desk."

"Thank you,

Captain," I said.

"You're welcome,

Sheriff," she said with an audible smirk.

The Trooper Sergeant came

back and met us at the front desk with all of my firearms, including the 1911
in its hard case that had been pulled from my truck. Unfortunately, the truck
itself had gotten towed since it had multiple bullet holes through the windows
and front end.

"Don't worry about

it," Laura assured me. "Miriam is going to take care of you."

"But I liked my

truck," I said.

"She'll take care of

you," Laura said again.

Outside the station we piled

into the blacked-out sedan Laura had apparently driven down in, and she was
going to give us a ride back home before heading back to Portland. I took a
moment before getting in the car, and after setting the firearms in the trunk,
to wrap up Kyla in my arms and kiss her tenderly.

"Thank you again for

last night," I said quietly to her.

"You don't need to thank

me," she said.

"Yes, I do," I

insisted. "You risked your life, and let me risk mine. You took life as
well, which I know you're feeling right now. So I need you to hear me when I
say thank you, and I meant what I said. I'm falling in love with you, more and
more."

She hugged me back, but with

her fingers clutching the sides of my shirt tightly. "You're
welcome," she said softly.

On the ride, now that we'd

gotten our phones back, Kyla began texting back home while I called Mary. She
was happy to hear things were working out, though I didn't go into details
about how exactly that had happened. Her little girl Charlie seemed to have
forgotten the whole thing almost immediately, but Thomas was asking lots of
questions and she was having a hard time answering them. She'd also found out
that many of her neighbors were missing; the police told her that it was
difficult to tell because of the looting, but some likely left the area to be
somewhere else during quarantine. Others, though, were just gone. And she'd
witnessed a delivery truck of some sort come by that morning, and it had picked
up the bodies of the men we had killed along with a half dozen other body bags
from more of the houses on the block.

That made me flinch. The diseases

weren't just in the city or confined to the outbreak on the site. It was in my
town, for sure and for real.

I told Mary that I would come

by in a day or two to assure Thomas, and that I'd try and fix what I could of
her front lawn where I'd probably torn up the grass. She, of course, said I
didn't need to do that and I told her it was no trouble.

"What did I say about

keeping your head down?" Laura asked as I hung up the call.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm just offering to fix her front lawn."

"And soon you'll be

running a soup kitchen on the site and setting up a pet rescue," Laura
grumbled. "You have a serious hero complex, Black."

"You're not even the

first person to tell me that in the last twenty-four hours," I said.
"I'm just doing the right thing."

Kyla leaned forward from the

back seat, reaching for my hand. "Harri, sometimes that's the same
thing."

I sighed and rolled my eyes,

but inside I felt my heart beat a little harder. It was nice to know a woman I
was falling for, and another one I respected, saw me in that kind of light.
Even if Captain Bloomberg was making it more of an accusation.

When we got back to the site

and the compound we saw that there was another one of the National Guard
cleanup crews working away on the office buildings, sanitizing the place and
recovering what they could of records and documents. As Laura pulled up in
front of the compound she put the car in park and turned to me. "Now that
it's official, I'm sure the Colonel is going to organize a delivery of
equipment for you sometime this afternoon or tomorrow. Just do me a favor and
try not to go overboard. Or get into situations where you need to call her in
the middle of the night again. She was happy to help, but it doesn't look good
if that sort of thing keeps happening and it's my job to keep her clean,
alright?"

"I know," I said.

"And I'm sorry for the trouble..."

"But it had to be

done," Laura nodded. "Just do me a favor and text Miriam a picture of
the kids you saved so I know what I did all this for. And throw in a nudey of
that hot chick from last time for good measure if you can."

Kyla snorted, and I shook my

head. "The kids I can do, but a picture of Dani is a bit much."

"She'll do a topless one

for sure," Kyla said. "Don't worry, Captain. I got you."

That made Laura bark a laugh

and actually crack a smile.

Everyone was coming out of

the compound at this point to welcome us back, and Laura ended up needing to
wait for all the hugs and kisses and backslaps to happen before I could get to
the trunk and retrieve the firearms. As I shut the trunk I got a view of Dani
lifting her shirt and pressing her boobs to the driver's side window as she
giggled and Kyla smirked with an 'I'll do you one better' kind of expression on
her face. When Dani pulled back she saw me looking with wide eyes and she took
a moment to wiggle her boobs at me with her tongue sticking out at the corner
of her lips in a silly expression before putting them away.

They were really great tits.

Kyla and I got a 'welcome

back from jail' party, which the girls had planned once Erica had gotten an
update call from Miriam about what was going on. I had no idea when the two of
them had traded numbers, but it was the kind of thing that I was learning to
just roll with at that point. My girls in particular rewarded my heroics after
lunch with a game of 'Whose mouth is this?' back in the RV as they blindfolded
me and proceeded to kiss, lick, and eventually blow me. Even Kyla participated
despite her usual avoidance of our group sexual dynamics, laughing along with the
others.

It was later in the afternoon

when I took a ride out on the ATV with Erica up to the spring pool that I
allowed myself to finally feel the crushing pressure in my chest and shoulders.

"Just let it out,

babe," Erica crooned as she held my head in her lap and stroked her
fingers through my hair. We were both fully clothed still, sitting next to the
babbling spring.

"I can't," I said.

"I; I don't know why." I could feel the tears somewhere behind my
eyes. The immense weight of what I'd done again. It had been seven years since
I'd left the service, and almost seven and a half since the last time I had
taken a life. It wasn't any easier now than it was back then.

"Just try," Erica

whispered. "Cry. Scream. Yell. Hit the ground. Do something. You can't
hold it in."

I rolled onto my hands and

knees and crawled the few steps to the spring pond and shoved my head under the
cold water, laying on my stomach over the little rocky rim that one of my ancestors
had built up. And then I screamed into the water. 'Shouted' would have been
more manly, but I screamed. And I screamed. I emptied my lungs into those
cooling, peaceful waters and yanked my head out, sucking in a huge breath and
dropping right back in. I did that a couple of times, then flopped back away
from the water as my chest heaved trying to catch my breath and I clutched at
the grass and dirt with my hands.

"Shush," Erica

soothed me, coming to me without a care for the water and cradling my head to
her bosom. "Shush."

When I was feeling 'better,'

which was hard to judge, we rode back without having had sex. It might have
been the first time that we'd gone out and not at least snuck in a quickie
since we'd gotten together. But it wasn't the time, not with the mental state I
was in.

And when we got back, Erica

sent me to cuddle with Ivy and she took Kyla out on the ATV, just the two of
them.

Ensconced in the back of the

RV with Ivy, my little Quebecoise lover hummed some sort of a wordless lullaby
to me as she brushed out my tangled hair slowly, and then gave my scalp a soft
massage. And when she was done she had me lie down and she laid down on top of
me, her slight form like a weighted blanket as she hugged me softly.

"Mon amour, I wish I

knew what I could say to make it better," she whispered to me in the
darkness.

"I know, I’ve," I

whispered back, my hands resting on her back.

"I; I want to do more

for you," she said quietly. "Erica, she is so strong. And Vanessa has
her work. And now Kyla, she is your partner in crime in these things. I don't
know where I fit in, Harrison. And I,” she cut herself off, burrowing her face
in my chest.

"This is perfect, ma

dulcinée," I said. "You're perfect."

"No I'm not," she

said.

"Are we really going to

argue about this?" I asked.

"Yes, we are," she

said, and then rolled off of me and sat on the bed next to me with her legs
crossed under her, taking one of my hands in both of hers. "Harri, we have
not talked about my past. Not a lot. I'm not this perfect girl you see me as. I
am not..."

"You are everything you

need to be," I said.

"But I'm not,

Harrison," Ivy said. "I have never felt like this before. All my
life, I have lived without regrets. But now that I have you, I regret; I regret
so much."

"I’ve, what are you

talking about?" I asked, sitting up and encouraging her to straddle my
lap, getting even closer so we could talk while holding each other.

"I'm not a good

person," Ivy whispered, resting her head against my shoulder so she wasn't
looking me in the eye. "Even now, I am making this about me somehow when I
want to be comforting you."

"Ivy," I said

sternly, making her look up at me because of the tone, but she found my eyes
soft and caring. "Ivy," I said again, softer now that she was looking
at me. "You could tell me you went through a cannibalism phase and I would
still think the you with me now, the one who gives her heart so fully and pours
her love on me unconditionally, the Ivy I am in love with, is a good
person."

"Then why do I feel so

guilty?" she asked, tears in her eyes.

"What do you feel guilty

about?" I asked.

"Stripping," she

said. "Letting other men see me the way only you should have. Being
promiscuous with boys in high school when I thought it didn't mean anything. I
wish I could give you the gift of being my one and only like the priest used to
talk about in bible school. I wish I could be pure for you, because I feel like
I don't deserve you. I don't deserve how good you are, and how courageous, and
beautiful."

"Stop," I

whispered, pressing my forehead to hers. "Ivy, stop. I don't want some
pure little virgin. Erica, Vanessa and Kyla all have pasts too. I want you,
Ivy. I want you. The you that is here with me, with all the ups and downs that
you've gone through to get here. I love every little scar, and every tattoo,
and everything about you, because they make you who you are. And fuck that
priest and making you feel guilty. Tell me his name and I'll give him a piece
of my mind."

She smiled at that, and one

tear dripped from clinging to her eyelashes. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," I told

her, hugging her tightly.

"What can I do for

you?" she asked.

"This," I said.

"Just this. Be with me like this."

We held each other for a long

time. Long enough that we drifted to sleep in each other's arms until Vanessa
came to wake us up for dinner.

I checked in with Kyla

quietly at dinner, and she smiled softly and told me that she and Erica had a
long talk and she was doing alright. Then she pulled me down into a kiss and
told me she needed me after dinner, and we slipped off as soon as our food was
gone and made love out on the edge of the forest close to where I'd planned my
date with Erica.

We were back and sitting

around the fire pit when my cell phone rang. It was sitting closer to Erica
than to me, so she picked it up with a grin and answered. "Sheriff Black's
phone, who may I ask is calling?" she asked in a played-up secretary
voice.

Someone spoke on the other

end. "I'll see if he's available. One moment please," she said, then
lowered the phone. "It's a Colonel Abarbanel calling for you. Should I
tell her you're busy and to call back during business hours?"

I rolled my eyes and stood,

holding my hand out to Erica.

"Transferring you

now," Erica said into the phone with a playful grin at me as several of
the other girls around the fire gave little chuckles.

I took the phone and sighed,

shaking my head at Erica's little game before raising it to my ear.
"Colonel?"

"Just calling to check

in, Harri," Miriam said from the other end. "And I'm off the
clock."

"You sound beat,

Miriam," I said, stepping away from the fire.

"Because I am," she

said. "I haven't slept since you woke me up last night."

"Shit," I said.

"Well, thanks again for answering. And for everything else."

"Yeah, well, it's the

Everything Else that has been keeping me working," she chuckled.

"Any shot of you getting

a day off and coming up to visit?" I asked.

"I would love to, but no

chance," Miriam sighed. "Not for a good while yet, anyways."

"Well, I think we're up

to a steak dinner, Champaign and chocolate lava cake for dessert on my
tab," I said. "One more favor and I'm going to have to learn how to
properly grill a full-on tomahawk steak to properly repay you. That or find
some wagyu."

"Remember that time you

saved me from my blackmailing senior officer and stopped him mid sexual
assault?"

"You already paid me

back for that," I said.

"How so?"

"You got me out of the

military, which led me to my best friend and my fiancée, and all of this."

"Fiancée?" Miriam

asked.

"Oh, right," I

said. "We haven't really made it a big thing, but Erica asked me to marry
her. I said yes. We're not sure on any logistics yet, but that's our new
label."

"Congratulations,

Harri," Miriam said, and while I could hear the smile in her voice there
was also a touch of what I thought might be... annoyance? "That's really
great, I'm happy for you two. How are the others taking it?"

"Good," I said.

"We're still figuring out our dynamics a little, but it's been weirdly
smooth sailing to get there."

"That's what some of our

reports are showing," Miriam said. "Or at least what's being reported
when people bother to ask about the well-being of households outside of 'Is the
vaccine working?' Seems like everyone is doing the best they can to make this
work."

"Well, I hope no one

else is going through the other shit we are," I said.

"Umm hmm," she

chuckled softly over the phone. "I doubt any other vaccine tester has gone
through what you have, Harri."

"So what's up with the

late-night call?" I asked. "Did you just miss the sound of my voice,
or is there something going on?"

"Yes, and yes," she

teased. "I'm sending up a care package to you tomorrow morning. Just
wanted you to know to expect it. Have fun, but don't go wild, Okay?"

"Is that a

euphemism?" I asked. "You're not sending me another partner, are you?
I don't have room in this RV bed for another body."

"Hah! No, nothing like

that," Miriam laughed. "I'm sending you some toys, buddy. And Laura
told me she gave you some warnings, but I wanted you to hear this from me
personally. Don't go getting yourself into trouble if you can help it; I don't
know if I could handle losing you after giving you the tools to get yourself
done in."

"I'll try my best,"

I promised her. "But I want something in return."

"What's that?" she

asked.

"You to get a solid nine

hours of sleep tonight," I said. "And that's a full nine. Not eight.
You need to sleep to be effective."

"I'll give you

eight," she said.

"Miriam," I said

crossly.

"Fine, fine," she

said. "Nine, as long as you're seriously promising not to get yourself
killed, you bastard."

"Done," I said.

"I'll hold you to

it," she said. "You go and get yourself killed, and I'll hold it
against you. I'll never sleep more than six hours for the rest of my life just
to teach you a lesson."

"Noted," I snorted

a laugh.

"How's the lady and the

kids?" Miriam asked.

"Safe," I said.

"For now, I guess. She's a little traumatized, but she's been that way
since her husband disappeared early in the quarantine when he went looking for
work. Her little boy is feeling it the most, from what I understand, but I'll
go over there to try and help him feel a little better."

"You know you're too

good a guy, right Harri?" Miriam asked.

"Don't you have some

sleeping to get to?" I shot back.

"Fine. I do," she

said. "Be safe."

"You too, Miriam. Thanks

for calling."

"Thanks for picking

up," she teased lightly.

When I stepped back to the

fire Erica was smiling at me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she

said, and reached over and took my hand. Then she glanced to Vanessa, who gave
her a little smirk back.

"You know I don't like

you girls keeping secrets from me," I said.

"We know," Kyla

smiled over the rim of her tea mug. "That's not going to stop us from
doing it though."

I rolled my eyes and reached

for my beer.

 

"Holy shit," I said

as the flatbed truck lowered the brand new Ford F-150 from its bed. It was
blacked out except for a white band across each side and a gold-lined 'sheriff'
decal plastered in bold letters. And 'Black County' in smaller white letters
underneath. It had a heavy duty push bar and brush guard on the front along
with a winch, a light bar on the roof of the cab and another with some spots
mounted to the back.

"Captain Bloomberg

wasn't joking," Kyla said. Everyone had come out to witness the delivery.
"Where do you think Miriam got this from?"

"Probably got it from

some other sheriff's department, or police, or something," Erica said.
"Think she could get us one of those supercharged mustangs or chargers,
too?"

"We are not

asking for more cars," I said, looking at the beauty of a truck touch down
and settle on its shocks. "Well, not yet."

I had to sign for the

delivery, along with a crate that had also been strapped down to the back of
the flatbed, which turned out to be an awkward process of the guy filling out
the paperwork on a tablet, then sanitizing it and handing it over to me to sign
with my finger, then sanitizing it again when he took it back. Once the delivery
guy was driving off and disappeared around the site offices Dani, Ivy, Aria and
India all immediately wanted to check out the truck while I went into the
storage containers to fetch a crowbar to open the crate.

They had already figured out

the lights when I came out, and we all got blasted by the siren for a moment
which was super loud. Then we got blasted by a massive air horn sound that left
our ears ringing.

"Sorry!" Dani

called from inside the cab with Ivy. Aria and India were in the back seat,
which was separated from the front by a heavy Plexiglas of some sort. I wasn't
sure I liked that, but it was what it was. Aria and India sure didn't seem to
mind as they giggled and made out in the back seat of a cop car for what I had
a feeling wasn't the first time.

When I cracked the seal on

the crate we found a little trove of police equipment. There were a couple of
bullet proof vests with 'Black County Sheriff' patches, a bean bag shotgun, a
couple of tasers, handcuffs and zip ties, new flashlights and other gear. At
the bottom was a hard case that I pulled out and opened to reveal a note laying
on top of several firearms packed in foam. At a glance I recognized that I'd
been sent an M4 rifle with attachments, an MP5, and a pair of Beretta M9s along
with ammunition for all three firearms.

"Dear Harrison,"

Erica red as she opened the note while I ogled the firearms. "Don't make
me regret this. Miriam. PS; Better make it a tomahawk steak after all."

I spent the rest of the morning

learning more about the truck and checking over all of the equipment. We set up
a little range backstopped by one of the hills and I practiced with all of the
firearms to remind myself what shooting them was like; the M4 was standard
issue military and easy to remind myself of once I dialed in the simple
precision sight I mounted to the rails, and the Beretta's were standard issue
side arms that came with underslung flashlights. I still preferred my own to
the new ones only because I was used to the grip of it, and these new ones had
a slightly different pattern in my palm. The MP5 was the big new thing for me;
a submachine gun wasn't exactly standard issue for an infantryman or Military
Police, so while I'd had a couple of chances to shoot one in the past I'd never
really gotten comfortable with them.

I ended up running a bit of a

firearms clinic with the girls and Leo, everyone but India wanting to at least
try shooting once now that the opportunity was available. I started Ivy, Aria
and Vanessa off with a couple of my personal pistols and let Dani take over
with them while I showed Erica the new toys. We prioritized safety first, and
the girls didn't do anything stupid trying to be silly. Dani then got a shot at
the new guns along with Kyla while I taught the newer girls about rifles and
they each took a couple of shots with the hunting rifles.

By the time lunch was coming

around we'd burned through a decent amount of bullets and we all had sore, or
ache, shoulders from the kick of the rifles. Dani also had a new appreciation
for Kyla, who had proven herself more proficient than the Aussie with both the
M4 and the MP5. The two of them were talking guns, wearing clear protective
glasses with their hair tied back in pony tails.

"God damn, you two look

hot," I laughed as I was packing up the other firearms.

"You think?" Dani

laughed, hefting the M4 to prop it on her hip in a pose, being careful not to
point it anywhere dangerous.

"I should take a picture

and send it to Guns and Ammunition magazine," I said.

"How about we just be

hot for you and Leo?" Kyla asked as she set down the MP5 and knelt to kiss
me.

"Deal," I said with

a grin.

"I dunno, I think I'd

make a good firearms model," Dani said as she rolled up her shirt to under
her tits and made another silly pose, this time with the M4 and the 1911 pistol
in her other hand.

"Alright, Lara

Croft," I chuckled with her. "Let's put these things away."

We got everything except the

M4 packed into the gun safe. The bed of the new truck had a hidden, locked
compartment built into it that could hold it, and I was running out of room in
the safe. When we walked back into the compound lunch was being served and my
girls were discussing who would get to christen which part of the new truck.

I ended up spending the early

hours of the afternoon fucking Ivy in the back seat and then Vanessa in the
truck bed after doing some light off-roading. Erica was supposed to be next,
bent over the hood, but I begged off for a rest as I needed to go check on
Mary.

It was weird, driving the new

truck off the property and knowing that I was the vehicle on the road that made
other drivers check their speedometers quickly and clench their butts if they
worried they were going too fast. Not that we were passing many other drivers.
Erica came with, holding my hand as we drove after quickly programming the
radio to our preferred music stations.

Mary was confused, and Thomas

was elated, by the police truck. Erica plucked him up and sat him in the
driver's seat, standing outside the open door and showing him the different
buttons. Soon enough Charlie wanted in as well and was standing on the
passenger seat and giggling away as she hit the siren button several times
rapidly turning it on and off. Once we made her stop because it was so loud she
lost interest and just played outside. Thomas took a little while longer for
the novelty to wear off, but ended up heading back into the house to leave Mary
to talk with us.

I gave her the quick rundown;

a more full version this time, about my family land and my old connections to
the military and how I was a real Sheriff at this point. The county I was a
sheriff of just happened to only consist of our family.

"You do realize this is

kind of insane, right?" Mary asked, looking at the truck again.

"That's what I keep

saying," I sighed.

"But it's real, and he

deserves it all," Erica said, hugging my arm.

It was at that point that

Charlie started wandering in the direction of the road, and the skid marks I'd
left on Mary's front yard. There was little danger even if she did play on the
road; there wasn't a car in sight and little likelihood of one based on the
number of homes that were currently taped over with police crime scene tape.
Still, there was broken glass hidden in the grass from my truck windows getting
shot out, and Mary called Charlie back but the little girl just giggled and
gave a 'come catch me' look.

"I got it," Erica

said, "Enjoy the break, Momma." She patted Mary's shoulder and then
jogged after Charlie as the little girl giggled and tried to race away.

"Harri," Mary said

quietly as she watched my fiancée quickly catch her little girl and scoop her
up into her arms as they both laughed. "I don't mean to pry, especially
not after that night, but... who was that woman you were with?"

"Oh," I said.

"Oh! No, Mary, it's; Okay, it's not easy to explain. That was Kyla, Erica
knows everything. If you want the longer story then you'll probably want a
glass of wine and some chairs."

Mary did, in fact, want the

full story and soon we were sitting out in her back yard sharing the last
bottle of wine I'd brought her. Erica did most of the storytelling, filling in
some of the gaps we'd left out when they'd been introduced, and picking and
choosing what juicy details to tell Mary about. She never got raunchy, but she
didn't hide the fact that the vaccine was making us all hornier than normal,
and I was doing a good job of keeping up with the demands of four women.

By the end of it, Mary was

blushing furiously and more than a little shocked by the scandalous nature of it
all, but I could also see her nipples had become a little pokey under her
shirt. She had some questions, mostly about how we were keeping everything
straight between us, and how there weren't more catfights going on. She'd been
a cheerleader and knew how a group of women could get, especially if they were
looking for attention from the same guy.

The two of them had finished

the bottle by the time Mary's questions were answered, and the afternoon was
wearing on. Charlie had gotten tired of playing in the backyard, but Thomas had
come out and occupied her some until he was bored too. Mary had to make them
dinner, so Erica and I said our goodbyes; I never did get to fixing her lawn,
and as we walked around the side of the house I made a mental note that I should
fix the side gate that I'd barreled through as well. I promised I'd come back
the next day with some more groceries and would bring Vanessa to help me out
and meet her.

"Harri," Erica said

once we were in the truck. "I think she has a thing for you."

"She's married,

babe," I said. "And I'm not risking what happened last time with
Vanessa."

"It could just be

you," Erica said. "We'd all understand. She's cute, especially if she
keeps getting back her regular weight. And she needs companionship."

"That doesn't change the

fact that she's married," I pointed out.

"We both,”

"We don't know

anything," I said. "Not for sure. And until that happens, I'm not
treading on anyone's wedding vows."

"Okay, babe," Erica

said, taking my hand from the wheel and holding it. "And just so you know,
I'd never break our wedding vows either. Which means they are probably going to
be pretty weird if we're going to caveat all the face-sitting and
cunt-licking."

I snorted and the truck

bounced a little as I laughed.

 

"Alright, good to know

you folks are doing well," I said. "Remember, this thing is real.
Mask up and glove up when you're going out, and try to stay to yourselves as
much as possible."

"Whatever," said

the guy standing in the doorway of the home.

"Thank you so much, Sheriff,"

the wife said, beaming from beside him. "I really appreciate you taking
the time to come out and answer our questions."

"No problem,

Ma'am," I said. "Just remember that our system is pretty strained
right now, and we want to keep our emergency lines open for the big stuff. You
can always leave a message on the State non-emergency line and someone will try
to get back to you."

"I totally understand,

Sheriff," she nodded along.

I said goodbye to the couple

and went back to my truck, stepping up into it and closing the door.

"Just one more,"

Kyla said from the passenger seat. "Though I'm really not sure why you're
doing so many of these. You said you'd help out, not do their jobs for
them."

"This is me helping out,

Kyla," I said, throwing the truck into reverse and pulling out of the
driveway. "The States are dealing with more looters, and all the other
ramped up crime, and they have to be present when the dead are getting pulled
out of places. These welfare checks are easy to manage and make people feel
better."

"Not us," Kyla

pointed out. "I've seen more dead bodies in the last three days than I
have in my life."

I'd taken a few days to get

acclimated to the truck, the firearms and my new title before I called up the
local State Trooper Sergeant and let him know I was ready to fulfill my end of
the deal. In that time I'd also fixed up Mary's place with Vanessa, who had
become little Charlie's new favorite person, and had spent time out in the
forest with Kyla as we talked through the mild nightmares she'd been having.

She'd decided the best thing

to do was to find a purpose; she couldn't dance, at least not in the
professional way she was trained, and while fucking and brushing up on her
housewife skills was a great way to spend her time she needed more than that.
So we had decided that she should become my volunteer deputy and partner and
come along with me.

The Trooper Sergeant had

needed to figure out what he could give us to do, since 'community policing
initiatives' often involved things like presence at local fairs, presentations
at schools and all sorts of things that were closed down at the moment. He'd
landed on following up on the requests for welfare checks from the community as
people had been calling in with questions and concerns about what was going on.

Kyla and I had quickly found

that there were two kinds of stops we would make; the first was like the one
I'd just done. I knocked on the door, and someone answered and was glad to see
someone in uniform there to talk to them. Half of the folks tried to invite me
in, but I would always refuse and let them know how serious things really were,
and we'd talk on the stoop or the porch. A few of them would be agitated and
try and shout me down about civil rights and liberties, but I would make a
couple of attempts to talk them around and if they refused to listen I'd wish
them a good day, and to stay safe, and then I'd leave.

The other kind of stop I

would knock on the door and no one would answer, even if there was a car in the
driveway. Then Kyla would join me, and we'd put on our vests and start walking
around the house, peeking in windows. Sometimes I would need to give her a
boost up to check higher ones. And about half the time one of us would see a
body, or signs of blood. And we'd back off and call it in, and then we'd leave.
We weren't equipped to handle the dead; EMT weren't doing it either. There was
some group organized through the National Guard that were collecting the bodies
and bringing them off... somewhere. A State Trooper had to ride with them, and
I didn't envy them that job at all.

"Where's the last stop,

hon?" I asked, reaching over and rubbing the inside of her thigh to try
and comfort her. She didn't need it necessarily, she wasn't worked up, but I
could tell she was frustrated with how little we could really do about things.
Not for the first time I wondered if maybe this wasn't the 'purpose' Kyla
needed right now.

"Head back home,"

she said. "But keep going up the highway. It's about fifteen minutes
passed us. Says it's a place called Valkyrie Falls."

I frowned. "Never heard

of it," I said. "Does it say anything else?"

"No," she shook her

head.

"Well, I guess we'll

find out."

It was a peaceful drive and

we made it with the windows down. The hot spring and early summer sun had
finally given way to our usual weather, and the soft cloud cover and the light
rains that swept through had cooled everything down to the point that we didn't
need to blast the air conditioning anymore and could enjoy the natural fresh
air. As we drove Kyla took my hand from her thigh and wrapped her fingers in
mine, leaning down to kiss my arm softly and then turning to look out the
window.

Things with her since the

shootout had changed slightly. Or maybe it was since we'd said that we were
falling for each other already. Before then, it felt like we'd been making an
effort. It had been easy to do, but we were still trying to make it happen.
Now... now it felt natural. It felt like those little touches we'd been doing
without words all the time. We could sit in silence, just the wind and the soft
hum of the radio turned down low between us, and it felt good.

"I love you, by the

way," I said.

She turned to me, raising her

eyebrows.

"Just thought I should

let you know; I'm done falling, and it's real. I love you."

"I'll never stop

falling," she said. "I never want to stop falling. Every time I think
I see who you are, Harrison Black, I quickly find you're deeper and wider than
I could imagine. I love you too."

"God, if I'd known you

would get poetic I would have tried harder to come up with something like
that," I teased her softly with a smile.

She laughed warmly and

squeezed my fingers. "I wasn't trying to be. And I liked the way you said
it."

We drove past the entrance to

the site, the booth standing empty, and continued up the highway just over
fifteen minutes before Kyla signaled I should make a left into a little side
road that looked like any other that dotted the area and led up to someone's
cabin. Instead, after half a minute of driving down the brush-lined single
lane, we came to a gate. It was black steel, covering the entire roadway, and
mounted into cement pillars that had been sunk into the ground. A little plaque
on one of them red 'Valkyrie Falls', and there was a buzzer intercom just below
it.

"Weird," I said.

I put the truck in park and

we got out. Looking around, there wasn't anything but trees and brush except
the path back to the road, and the path beyond the gate.

At the buzzer, I pushed the

button and the little speaker grill made a staticy buzz noise. We waited about
thirty seconds and nothing happened, so I pushed it again a little longer.

"Oh, shit. Hello?"

A woman's voice came from the other end.

"Yeah, hi. This is

Sheriff Black, I'm here to do a welfare check?"

"Oh fuck, um, one

minute," she said. Then, presumably without taking her finger off the
button, the woman yelled to someone. "Abi! The cops are at the gate!"

"Really? Alright, tell

them I'll be down there in two minutes," another voice called faintly.

"Alright, I will,"

said the first voice, then she must have turned back to the speaker. "The
owner will be down in two minutes."

"Thanks," I said as

I grinned at Kyla. I released the button and went and leaned against the front
bumper of the truck.

"Well, it's probably not

a cult," Kyla said.

"Doesn't sound like

it," I agreed. "It's got to be some sort of business, right?"

"Maybe it's some Bed and

Breakfast place," Kyla guessed. "It would make sense."

"Guess we'll find

out," I chuckled.

It took a little longer than

two minutes for someone to come walking down the dirt road beyond the path, and
I was a little shocked by her when she showed up. This woman had to be my
height, maybe even a little taller, and she was built. She was wearing a jacket
but it was open, showing off an athletic bra and a set of abs that rivaled any
pro athlete I'd ever seen. Her legs were clad in a skin-tight yoga pant, making
her thickly muscled thighs and calves obvious as well. She had broad shoulders,
though maybe not quite as broad as mine, and a wide jaw as she smiled before
putting a mask on as she got closer. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a
simple pony tail.

"Hi, I'm the

owner," she said as she got closer. "Can I help you?"

"Abigail Jónsson?"

Kyla asked.

"That's me," the

giant of a woman nodded. Her accent was odd, maybe nordic, though she didn't
stumble through any words and was perfectly clear.

"I'm Sheriff Black, this

is my deputy Kyla," I said. "Did you call in a wellness check
request?"

"Um, sort of?"

Abigail said. "I called in with some questions about what was all going on
and what we should be doing about the pandemic. Different news stations and
sites are saying different things."

"Totally understandable,"

I nodded. "The State Troopers are super busy right now, so I'm sorry if it
took some time for us to get back to you. We'd be happy to give you a quick
rundown of things if you'd like."

"Sure," she nodded.

"Do you want to come up to the property? I'm sure all the girls would like
to hear something official."

"As long as we stay

outside," I nodded.

"Great," she

nodded, and then she unlocked the gate. "You can drive on up, there’s a
parking lot where you can turn around when you leave instead of backing
out."

"I'll bring it up,"

Kyla said. "You walk with her."

"Sure," I said and

handed Kyla the keys.

I was already masked, so I

fell in beside Abigail as we walked. At my best guess she was probably an inch
taller than me, which meant she had to be something like six and a half feet
tall.

"So what kind of

business is this exactly?" I asked.

"It's a women-only

athletic retreat," Abigail said as we walked. "My business partner
and I bought the place a couple of years ago and built it up with money we got
from our sponsors."

"What do you compete

in?" I asked.

"CrossFit

competitions," she said. "Though I was already backing away a bit
from the big ones before the pandemic to focus more on the business. But we
provide a retreat for any woman who wants to take their physical training super
seriously."

"I had no idea you gals

were up here," I said. "I live about fifteen minutes down the
highway."

"Hmm," Abigail

nodded. "We've kept things pretty quiet. We're not looking for regular gym
goers locally, we're really focused on high end athletes. We've had a couple of
Olympians come and train for a month or two, and several national soccer
players during their off season, plus CrossFitters and weight lifters and that
sort of thing. Hey, did you see all the commotion that happened a week ago up
your way?"

"Commotion?" I

asked.

"Lots of big army trucks

and stuff," she said.

"Ah, yeah," I said.

"That; Well, that's a bit of a story I can tell you about."

We made a turn through the

trees, Kyla keeping the truck a dozen paces back behind us, and the space
opened up into a shaded clearing. The building itself looked like it was almost
pre-fab concrete in a modern style and not the cabin I was expecting. Knowing
now that it was an athletic retreat, I thought it was pretty impressive and
looked a lot nicer than a lot of the 'athletic retreats' I'd seen. Where it
wasn't concrete it was tinted glass windows, and the building itself was built
into a U-shape with a central courtyard that was fenced off from the dirt
parking lot that had almost a dozen cars parked in it, but could hold almost
double that number. Inside the courtyard was an outdoor gym with a half dozen
women pumping iron, doing chin-ups and pushups, and generally sweating their
asses off.

"Wow," I said.

"This is... wow."

"Thanks," Abigail

said, the grin behind her mask obvious. "We can max out at twenty athletes
in residence at a time, plus me and my business partner and a nutritionist chef
we had on staff, but we're down to ten right now since we went into quarantine
and several of the ladies decided to drive back to wherever home was for them
to ride this out. Think the courtyard would work for your talk?"

"Sure," I said.

"Just round everyone up and I'll meet you in there."

"Great," Abi nodded

and jogged off as I went to where Kyla was parking the truck. I didn't miss the
fact that she had a great, muscled butt that bounced as she moved.

"This place is

impressive," Kyla said as she got out of the truck and handed me back the
keys. We were both dressed in black button-down shirts and black pants and wore
the utility belts to try and make us at least look a little official; I didn't
even technically have a badge yet. We could have worn the bullet proof vests
with the 'Sheriff' patches, but that felt a little militaristic for the duties
we were doing and could put people more on edge.

"It's full of athletes

caught out here in the middle of training," I said.

"Very cool," Kyla

nodded. "You really didn't know this was here?"

"Not at all," I

said. I started leading her towards the door in the fence that Abigail had
used. "Apparently it's a well-kept secret, which makes sense I guess if
any of them are trying to stay away from cameras or stalkers or something."

"Fair," Kyla

nodded. "What do you think, should I sign up for a membership? I haven't
worked out properly in months and Ivy's routine works decently, but I could use
some weights."

"If you do, I

might," I chuckled. "I could do to pump some iron."

"Sorry, hon," she

smiled at me through the mask. "Ladies only, remember?"

We stepped through the gate

and closed it behind us, looking around at the equipment and the women that
were finishing off their sets and starting to gather. There was a variety of
equipment, but it all looked like it had been chosen to be permanently outside.
The free weights were heavy iron on stainless steel racks, the fixed equipment
made of the same metal. There were open tracks with big heavy ropes and old
tractor tires.

And then there were the

women.

They seemed to be in all

sizes, but one thing was clear; they were all fit. Whether squat and powerful,
or lean and graceful, each one had clearly defined muscles.

"Hey," one woman

said, bouncing over seemingly full of energy after she racked a couple of free
weights and shook out her arms. "So, is the world ending or what?"

"Not quite," I

said, trying to project warmth through my mask. None of the athletes were
wearing one, but if they were all quarantined together and weren't going out,
then it made sense that they could do that. "And we'll try to make sure
this little paradise you're in doesn't suffer anything."

"Cool," she said,

then held out her hand. "Josie Draper, better known as Joss the
Boss."

"Nice to meet you,

Josie," I said, peeling off my glove and shaking her hand, then taking out
a bottle of sanitizer. Kyla did the same thing.

"What, am I that

gross?" Josie asked.

"Not at all," I

assured her. "But this thing is very real, and we can't be too cautious.
Right now Kyla and I are more of a threat to you than you are to us, so
sanitize."

"Sure," she nodded

and accepted the spritz of sanitizer. Josie was a pretty women with a sharp
nose and a nice smile, though her natural expression seemed to be more of a
frown with a dominant curve to her upper lip. Most of her hair, likely brunette
based on the roots but mostly dyed a silvery blonde, was back in a ponytail for
her workout except for two shocks of bangs that framed her face. She was
wearing a peach colored athletic bra with a thin white, baggy over shirt
overtop, and lime green stretchy shorts. She also had a full sleeve of tattoos
in a variety of designs down her right, muscled arm. Her entire body was
muscled, really, though she was striking a balance between the heavier build of
Abigail and something more lean.

"What sport do you

compete in?" Kyla asked.

"I'm actually a

professional wrestler," Josie said with a flash of a grin. "I've
worked the Indie circuits for a few years and before all this I had a call-up
to try out for the big times, so I booked time out here to try and get myself
in the best shape of my life. I'm fire on the mic, and I have the technical
skills, but I lack certain assets the TV likes." She grabbed her chest,
which was certainly on the small side compared to her body proportionately.
"But then Quarantine happened, and everything went into lockdown and I
wasn't going to have anywhere to work, so when Abi offered to let us stay if we
could chip in for groceries there wasn't a shot I was passing up that
opportunity."

"That explains the

nickname," I nodded along.

"Umm hmm," Josie

grinned. "Joss the Boss, corporate queen, ready to lay the smackdown on
any bitch with the gall to challenge my authority." She raised an arm and
flexed as she grinned, her bicep impressive.

Abigail came out of the main

building from what looked like a big eating area with a few tables, followed by
a few more women, and Josie said it was nice to meet us and went back to the
group. I couldn't help a glance down at her ass, which was of course perfect.

"Sheriff Black, this is

my business partner Sara Sigurdsdottir," Abigail said, introducing us to
the other blonde giantess. She wasn't quite as tall as Abigail or myself, but
was still taller than most of the other women who were gathering around. She was
pretty in a different way than Abigail, with slightly sunken eyes and a sharper
chin, but similar body proportions.

"Nice to meet you,

sir," Sara said, her accent thicker than Abigail's.

"You too, Miss," I

said. "This is my deputy Kyla."

They said hello and soon the

two women gave way so that I could speak to the whole group. I let them know
that I was impressed with their commitment to safety and following the
quarantine guidelines and that unfortunately things were about as bad as people
were saying. The pandemic was as dangerous as the news reported, and staying
quarantined was the best option for all of them to stay safe and healthy. I ran
them through the steps to keep themselves as safe as possible, basic stuff that
they were already following, and to try and limit any outings they made off the
retreat campus. Several of the women had questions and concerns. Some couldn't
reach family members or friends and asked if I could help with that; I had to
tell them it would be best to call in a welfare check to whatever local police
department their loved ones were located near, but to likely expect a slow
response due to the overloaded system. One woman asked why Kyla and I were
still doing this if it was so bad, and that brought a little smirk from me as I
saw Kyla give me a look.

That led to me giving a brief

explanation that I was 'newly elected' to my position, and was helping out the
State Troopers. I also told, in brief, the story of the outbreak on the
construction site to really nail home the importance of following the rules.
Kyla chipped in information here and there that she thought they would need,
and fielded a couple of questions including one saucy one about if it was hard
working with a big hunk all the time that got all the girls laughing. Kyla just
winked and said she'd figured it out pretty quickly, which then got some 'ohs'
from the little crowd of women.

When they ran out of

questions, Abigail took charge and soon several of the women were starting up
their workout routines again, while others were sent inside with Sara to help
prepare the evening meals for the different nutritional needs of the levels of
athletes.

"Do you want to see some

of the property?" she asked, raising her eyebrows a bit hopefully. "I
love showing off our namesake."

"Sure," I said

after checking with Kyla that she'd be fine taking a bit more time here.
"We'd love to."

"Good," Abigail

nodded, and then turned to the women around us. "Spencer, we're heading up
to the falls. Come on."

Spencer turned out to be a

shorter woman wearing a bulky, baggy sweater that hid most of her physique. She
was very pretty in a middle-America sort of way with a roundish face and big
blue eyes, and looked like she could have fit right into a period drama about
pilgrims just as easily as modern life. She had a mass of thick, golden blonde
hair piled up on her head messily in a loose bun. She smiled eagerly when she
heard our destination and jogged off to get her boots.

The younger woman joined us

as we rounded the side of the building and found the head of a decently worn
trail marked by a couple of posts in the ground. Kyla shot me a quick look and
then joined Spencer as a walking partner, starting up the path and chatting
with her, as Abigail and I walked behind them.

"So if I could ask,

Abigail, where are you from?" I asked her to make conversation. "Your
accent is lovely, but I can't place it."

"Iceland," Abigail

said. "Sara and I both emigrated here a few years ago because the opportunities
were greater here in the United States for us with CrossFit sponsorships and
competitions. And no, not all Icelander women are as big as us. Do you know the
man who played the Mountain on Game of Thrones?"

"Of course I do," I

said. "Great show,”

"-Except for the

ending," she nodded with a smile behind her mask. "Yes, everyone
thinks so. Anyways, he is my third cousin and Sara's fourth. We aren't as big
as him, obviously, but the genetics certainly help."

"Well, I think you look

amazing, and the hard work and dedication you clearly put in is really
impressive," I said.

"Thank you," she

said, smiling with her eyes at the compliment. "But you do not look so
shabby yourself. Do you work out?"

"I did a lot, but

haven't for a few years," I said. "I really need to get back to
it."

She asked how I fell out of

it, and that led me to explain my background in football and the military, and
life since the military. I'd kept myself in the gym while I'd lived in
Portland, but ever since moving out to the family homestead, I'd stopped since
there weren't any good gyms around (that I knew of) and I had more than enough
activity outside to not put on too many extra pounds.

"You should come get a

workout in with me," Abigail offered. "See what you can do. You have
the shoulders and arms to really bulk up if you want."

"That would be nice, but

I thought your place was women only?" I teased.

"Ah," she scoffed

playfully. "The perks of being the owner. Plus, I think it would be good
inspiration for the girls to be able to drool over you from afar just a little
bit."

"Healthy competition,

huh?" I asked.

"Exactly," she

nodded. We were catching up to Kyla and Spencer on the path, who had stopped
ahead of us, and I soon found out why.

"Wow," I said, my

eyes going wide.

"This is why we named

the place Valkyrie Falls," Abigail said with a big grin.

Funerals

The funerals were held on the

fifteenth up at the reservation. I only found out they were even happening
because the State Troopers asked me to attend as a formal representative of
local law enforcement; I guess they considered it a 'community initiative' to
take the time for a funeral and wasn't worth the manpower when they were
stretched so thin.

I hadn't been sure how to feel

about the request, but I took it. And when the time came, I found out that the
girls had discussed amongst themselves who should go with me. All four of them
wanted to, both to support me and to pay their respects to the tough situation,
but they also didn't want to draw too much attention.

In the end, Kyla attended as

my deputy, while Erica attended as my fiancée.

"It's not fair how hot

you look in that dress," Kyla muttered as she looked in the rearview
mirror of the truck back at Erica.

"You could have worn a

dress too," Erica countered. "I saw that little black one you've got.
You probably look like a fucking snack in it."

Kyla sighed and shook her

head, but then reached back to undo the bun she kept her hair in when we were
'in uniform' and started fixing her hair with her fingers. "It's more of a
clubbing dress, or a cocktail dress, than for a funeral," she said.
"Plus we're here in an official capacity."

We were waiting in the line

of trucks and cars that were being let onto the Rez one by one. There were four
big, dour-looking Native men working their 'gate' and most of the vehicles were
only stopped for a couple of moments; I had a feeling anyone in the tribe was
welcome, and they were just looking for outsiders. I'd already clocked a few
confused glances at us as we slowly edged closer up the line.

"Baby, you're frowning

hard enough to crack the windshield," Erica said. "Tell Kyla she
looks pretty."

"She does," I said

off-hand, reaching a hand over from the steering wheel and taking hers in mine.

"Wow, don't overstate

it," Kyla said with a little smirk.

"Sorry," I sighed.

"This is all just; The community deserves a funeral, but this big thing is
a bad idea."

Kyla nodded and frowned.

"I'm surprised they're allowed to do it at all."

"It's on the Rez, so the

State Troopers don't have jurisdiction, and if any Feds cared it would still be
something of a nightmare to enforce," I said. "Part of me thinks I
should say something."

"And the other part of

you knows that wouldn't accomplish anything except piss people off," Erica
ended my thought for me. "We can only do what we can do. We'll wear our
gloves and masks, and we'll stay a respectful distance away at the back of the
ceremony, and maybe we can let people know how serious we're taking things and
influence them that way. And then afterwards, when we get home, you can fuck me
and Kyla a few times each to make sure we're all inoculated."

I glanced up in the rearview

mirror to make eye contact with my fiancée. "Hold on, is that why you
wanted to be the one to come?"

She smiled a little and

adjusted the bust of her dress that showed a tasteful amount of her cleavage.
"Maybe partially," she said. "I also want to make sure I'm here
to support you."

"And to show off in

front of your ex," Kyla said. "Just a little."

"Just a little,"

Erica agreed. "I'm 'the white woman with the tits,' remember?"

I rolled my eyes and thought

about asking her to keep it decent, but I already knew she would. We were also
pulling up to the gate and one of the big natives was holding up a hand for me
to stop.

"We don't need you

here," the biggest guy said as I pulled up. We had the windows down and I
could hear the muttering from the other three as they leaned back to look at
the big 'Sheriff' emblazoned on the side of my truck. Or maybe it was that
combined with 'Black County' under it.

"We're just here to pay

our respects," I said. "Officially and unofficially."

He grunted and narrowed his

eyes for a moment, looking at the three of us dressed all in black. "Hold
on," he said and stepped away to the little information booth and grabbed
a handheld radio and spoke into it quietly.

"Where's Black

County?" asked one of the other men, the youngest of them. He was wearing
a rough-looking suit that looked like it doubled as his 'going out on the town'
outfit on occasion.

"Southeast of

here," I said vaguely, not exactly wanting to draw attention to the fact
that we were that Black family, from that Black land. "This
is my deputy, and this is my fiancée. We just want to pay respects."

The leader of the group came

up, an obvious look of suspicion on his face. "Take the second right up
this road. A member of the Tribal Police will meet you and direct you on what
is or isn't appropriate."

"Happy to meet

them," I nodded.

He nodded back, patted the

hood of my truck, and backed off to let me through.

"Well, that was

easy," Erica said after we were rolling and they wouldn't hear her.

"We should really get

actual uniforms," Kyla said. "It would probably make us look a touch
more official for formal events."

"Yeah, maybe," I

said, wondering how many more of these things I would actually need to go to in
the future. How long was I supposed to be Sheriff for anyways? Did I have term
limits or anything? "Or at least actual badges."

"Harri, babe,"

Erica said, knocking on the Plexiglas barrier between the front and back seat;
I still hadn't figured out how to take it out. "Seriously, you need to get
out of your head or you're going to scare people with that scowl."

"Ugh, sorry," I

said, wiping my face and then scratching at my beard for a moment. "You're
right."

"Of course she is,"

Kyla said.

"We should have given

him a blowjob before we left," Erica sighed. "Or on the way."

"You said we should stay

appropriate," Kyla said, looking back at Erica.

"You two discussed blowing

me on the way to a funeral?" I asked, making the turn as I'd been
directed.

"We all did," Erica

said. "Seriously, Harri. You think everything just happens
spontaneously?"

I blinked, raising an

eyebrow. "At least half," I said.

"Maybe a third," Erica

shot back. "Maybe."

"My life is a lie,"

I said whimsically, making both of them snort and grin a little. I wasn't sure
if they were starting to pick up on each other's mannerisms a bit, or if maybe
they had always been this similar. Or maybe Kyla's training had her mirroring
Erica to create a stronger bond.

To be continued, Based on

a post by Break The Bar for Literotica

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