When the Lights Went Out Ch. 02

Megan felt her lust grow as Brandon's cock did its part to appease the ache in her bottom. She felt her climax rise like a phoenix from the cold ashes of her previous rolling orgasm. It washed over her like a flood, making her body shake; pure delight pulsed throughout her body. Then it slowly dispersed, leaving her completely fulfilled.

A couple of minutes later, she felt the now familiar throb as Brandon's cock began to erupt like a geyser. She felt the warmth of his semen as it once again bathed her cervix.

With them both getting what they needed, they just sat together for a while holding each other. Megan softly crying tears of pure joy against Brandon's chest.

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Not feeling particularly tired, the couple laid together under the sleeping bag. Megan asked, "Brandon, do you know what happened?" She was referring to what caused the lights to go out. She knew it was from an EMP, an Electro Magnetic Pulse, because her father told her before he and her mother were shot dead on a road just on the Indiana side of the border with Illinois. She had no idea what an EMP was though.

Brandon, who had been an intelligence officer with the US Air Force said, "Well, you know about the EMP. That was a coordinated attack between North Korea and Iran. Anyone in the Intelligence field could have told you that they were acting as a surrogate for Red China.

"But to really understand, you have to look at what was really causing the tension between the superpowers. In 2005, the world was at a critical juncture. The production of regular 'sweet' crude oil had reached its peak, and went into a decline. Instead of causing a collapse of economies as some expected. It caused a sharp spike in oil prices that caused the 'great recession'. So we started tapping into unconventional oil sources like tar sands and shale oil.

"It was though by the Obama administration that shale oil would cure our oil needs well into the future. Only, there was a dirty little secret that Bush, Obama, and Clinton ignored. Oil wells created from Fracking, or breaking up the shale to allow oil to seep in, was wonderful for the first year, but after the first or second year, production would drop to only 10 to 15% of the initial new wells production level.

"This meant that they had to keep drilling more and more wells to meet the still growing need for energy. Only, they were hitting all the high productive fields first, slowly the bright future began to dim. Fortunately, natural gas made up for some of the need. Hillary's policy of converting semi-trucks to nat gas was making a difference, and helping take the pressure off of oil. But, it wasn't doing a lot of good for China, another large importer of energy.

"Not to harp on my political preferences too much, the best thing that happened was Hillary was voted out of office after her first term. Her career was killed by the energy recession. That's how we ended up with Thomas Carver as President. Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of time to reverse the deep cuts that Obama and Clinton made to our military. It left us weak, and vulnerable to the very attack that took us, and the rest of the world down.

"Iran and North Korea, acting under the Chinese umbrella, launched missiles from cargo ships off both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. When the nuclear weapons detonated high up in the ionosphere, just at the right altitude, the energy was magnified the same way a laser works. The resulting pulse of electromagnetic energy instantly fried any electronic equipment not protected by a faraday cage. It also overloaded the power grid, frying any electrical device connected to it at the time. The pulse hit power panels so quickly and so hard, that circuit breakers were too slow doing their jobs.

"In response, President Carver launched an all-out nuclear attack against the two rogue nations. In addition, knowing we were crippled to the point of taking decades to recover, Carver took the only option he had open to him. He launched EMP attacks against friends and enemies alike --putting the whole world on an equal playing field.

"China and Russia, both seeing the EMP attack as an overt aggressive action, launched missiles at the United States and its allies. The US, the UK, and France unleashed an all-out nuclear response.

"Even though we had an anti-ballistic missile safety net in place, it was only about 50% effective. So, our entire military was nearly wiped out as military base after base was destroyed. Army bases that survived, broke down with race riots. Blacks rising up against their fellow white soldiers. Washington DC and New York city were both reduced to rubble.

"Cyber-attacks took down what few computer networks that were left standing after the EMP flood. Civilian networks were all fried with the first EMP salvos, so all the markets ceased to exist."

"You saw the result of the panic and chaos after the lights went out. Cities became blood baths, people killing each other over loaves of stale bread. The cities went through their food supplies in a matter of days. Those who stayed, which as far as I know were estimated to be around 80 to 90 percent, starved to death.

"A lot of people perished from radioactive fallout. I was up at Whiteman AFB when the shit hit the fan. I deserted. I knew it was just a matter of minutes or hours before the base was turned into a patch of glass. Our B2 bombers went out, but would never be coming back to the demolished air base. I just barely avoided being caught in the blast that wiped out the base. Fortunately, I wasn't facing it when the bomb went off, or I would have went blind. I had trouble seeing for days as it was.

"The only military presence surviving the day long war was in Hill AFB, Utah; Joint Base Lewis/McChord, Washington; and Barksdale AFB, in Louisiana. Army units surviving, from what I understand, simply dissolved after the race riots, taking all their small arms with them. Without oil, heavy weapons became giant paperweights."

Megan laid by Brandon with her mouth open, "There was a nuclear war? I didn't know anything about it!"

Brandon said, "Well, unless the fallout got you, or you entered an area that had been a target, there would be no reason for you TO know." Then he continued, "The radiation from fallout dropped to background levels after about a month after the war, so other than the cesium in the soil in the affected areas, almost the entire country became safe to wonder around in. As long as you stay away from the destroyed military bases, you should be pretty safe from radiation.

"The real danger was from the release of some biological weapons. Fortunately, they were designed to affect locals, and not to spread disease among the population. The only exception to this was a Russian attacked against NATO with small pox. So far, that disease has stayed in Europe. If it was to come to America, it could kill 80 to 90% of those exposed out of those who haven't been immunized.

"The biggest danger to everyone now is the roving bands of neo-military groups, who rape, pillage and plunder everywhere they go. But, now that there are the fiefdoms, they aren't being as successful as they were initially. They began to be starved out. I haven't seen a roving band or gang in well over a year.

"From what little I've gleaned, the fiefdoms are now fighting one another, vying for what little resources are left. As long as they keep fighting each other, they are no danger to us here in Sherwood Forest. I love the Ozarks.

Megan looked at Brandon in horror; she whispered in a shaky voice, "So, there is not chance in hell of a recovery." It was a statement, not a question.

Brandon said, "Well, from what I gather, there is the Nation of Deseret, what used to be Utah. The Mormon's and their food storage saved their bacon. They have their entire national guard and the F-16's from Hill AFB to defend themselves with. I heard they were buying up small arms and ammunition by the truck loads. They even recovered 6 or 7 C-17's from McChord AFB.

"The other thing I heard was that they had oil wells operating on their eastern border with Colorado. So they have diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel to assure their existence. They are the largest confederated group of people left in the world as far as I know. Thank God they don't believe in proselyting with the barrel of a gun.

"That said, from what I've heard, they have become a sanctuary for religious types from all over the country. From what I understand, the Salt Lake City area has doubled in population over the last 3 years. As you might have guessed, they are ruled by a democratic theocracy."

"It's even said that they have their electric grid back up and running. They've been buying up electric devices that are still in working order by the box cars. They even have the trains up and running between them and eastern Idaho. The Snake River Basin is their bread basket.

The only other large groups of people I've heard about are Burlington, Vermont; Key West, Florida; and Medford, Oregon. Each of those communities has been able to get their hands on weapons enough to defend their semi-democratic communities.

Megan looked at Brandon with wonder, "How do you know all of this stuff?"

Brandon said, "A lot of it was my job in the Air Force. Information about after the war, that was from my Ham Radio."

Megan bolted up into a sitting position, exposing her breasts to the cold air. She exclaimed, "You have a ham radio! Why haven't I seen it?"

Brandon shook his head, a look of chagrin on his face, "It burned out a key component a year ago. It hasn't worked since. I don't have a replacement component." Then he added, "I packed it and my antennae up and it's in the storeroom."

Brandon studied Megan's face, he finally asked, "If something ever happens to me, promise me that you will try to make your way to Salt Lake City. I want to know you would be safe if I'm not around. Will you promise me that?"

Megan thought about it, being around a bunch of religious zealots really didn't appeal to her, but the safety in numbers did. She said, "Yes, I promise, but nothing is going to happen to you. Don't even talk about it. Don't jinx us."

Brandon made a zipping gesture across his mouth. "I have your promise, enough said."

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Megan and Brandon were just getting back to the campsite after spending most of the day tending the large garden. Megan was bent over to stir their evening meal, a venison stew, which was using up the previous summers potatoes and carrots that had been stored in Root Cellar that was just east of the bunker.

Both Brandon and she jumped when a loud voice yelled out, "Hello in camp!" Both of them scrambled to grab their ARs. Brandon yelled out, "Advance and be recognized!" Then he added, "Keep your hands up where I can see them."

A big burley man came walking up to the camp out of the brush to the north. He had his hands in the air and a big smile on his face. He belted out, "Brandon. You old goat! How the hell are you?!"

Brandon set his AR against the bench and walked towards the man, "Dustin! You must have learned to use a can opener, you haven't starved to death!" Brandon wrapped the other man in a bear hug as the two men pounded each other on the back. Brandon stood back, "I see you've been getting along pretty well."

Then remembering his wife, Brandon turned to Megan and said, "This is Megan; she's my wife." Dustin walked over and took Megan's hand and kissed it. Megan noticed that he was checking her out from top to bottom. His ogling was making her just a bit uncomfortable.

Dustin turned to Brandon with a look of real concern, "What happened to Elizabeth?"

Brandon scowled, "I trusted the wrong guy, and the son-of-a bitch shot her, he was about to shoot me too, but I beat him to it. I fed his ass to the coyote's"

Brandon turned to Megan, "Dustin and I go way back. We started building our shelters about the same time. We both belonged to a survivalist group that used to meet up in Branson."

Dustin put his hand on Brandon's shoulder, "Brandon here is one of the smart ones." Dustin's statement implied he was one too. He continued, "Brandon knew enough to use the landscape to hide his stuff."

Brandon asked, "So, how had it been for you and Melissa?"

It was Dustin's turn to grimace, "She died from an infection. She cut herself with an axe and it went septic. She died two years ago. I've been going it alone ever since." Then he started gawking at Megan's body again, "So, how long you two been married?"

Brandon smiled, "She tried breaking into the bunker about 7 weeks ago, and we said our vows just recently." He didn't feel it was necessary to tell his friend about her being pregnant. He really didn't have a need to know. Then Brandon asked his own question, "So, what brings you down this way?" Dustin's shelter was a good 30 miles to the north.

Dustin scowled, "Well, someone raided one of my caches last fall. It seems they toted it away, almost 5 miles, during the winter. It was my biggest collection of food. I'm out trying to track the varmints down. It seems that whoever they were, they headed this way. I suspect a small group. To move all that stuff that far, it almost had to have been." Megan felt the blood in her face drain.

Brandon said, "Well, Dustin, other than Megan, I haven't seen a soul around here, that is until you dragged your sorry carcass in here."

Megan offered, "Um, would you like a bowl of stew?"

Dustin grinned at the girl, "I sure would, you cute little filly." Brandon noted the familiarity and the glances the Dustin had been giving Megan. He was going to have to watch his friend. Friend or not, his number one priority was to protect Megan.

The three of them sat around the fire eating two large bowls of stew each. Megan though how wonderful it would have been to have a couple rolls to go with it. Without any viable yeast, those were out of the question. Later, when she wasn't so tired from working, she would try her hand at making baking soda biscuits.

Megan just sat back and listened to the two men chat amiably, bringing each other up to speed with what they had been doing over the last 3 years. Brandon invited the man to spend the night in the large tent, but Dustin pointed to north, "I have a campsite across the creek about a quarter mile downstream. I just felt like since I was in the neighborhood, I would drop in to say howdy."

Brandon invited, "Well, you're welcome to hang around for a few days, before heading back."

Dustin shook his head, and while staring at Megan's breasts, he said, "No, I think I'm pretty close to finding the rats who took my cache, I'm going to keep following as long as I can, if I catch up with them, they won't be long for this world." Megan tried hard to keep her breathing nice and even. The man was talking about her.

Megan took the man's bowl when he had his fill; she took all three of their bowls down to the creek to wash them, leaving the men to chat about old times. She was happy that Dustin was going to be moving on, he was giving her the creeps – Brandon's friend or not.

Dustin had left about 8:00pm, just as it was getting dark. There was a full moon, so no need for a flashlight. All the batteries had been used up years ago anyway, so there wasn't reason to have a flashlight anyway. Brandon still had a four of the self-generating lights left, after starting out with 12 originally.

That evening, after another wonderful session of love making, Brandon recounted to Megan how he and Dustin had collaborated on how to build a proper shelter, and what things to stock pile. Brandon had given Dustin the idea to cache supplies, so if he was to get raided, he could retreat and still have the majority of his stored supplies available. Dustin had given Brandon the idea of the trip alarms. Megan tried her best to look interested.

After three days after Dustin's visit, Megan started to relax. She knew she was the person that Dustin was trying to track down, and he seemed to her to be a vengeful man. She would hate to run across the man alone. She was sure he was the same kind of individual that she had been running across as she tried to survive over the last 3 years, a man who had gone feral.

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It had been a week since Brandon's friend visited. Life had gotten back to normal, meaning working from sunup to sundown to prepare for the next winter. The goal was to not have to tap from Brandon's stored supplies, to be self-sufficient, self-sustaining. Every year, Brandon was getting closer and closer to that goal.

Brandon had been working on clearing another meadow up the creek from the campsite where he could till it up to grow winter wheat. He figured an acre would grow all the wheat Megan and he would need. He was hoping to grow enough to use to barter with some of the other survivalists in the area. He had Dustin in mind when he came up with the idea. He knew of at least a half dozen guys he knew back in the planning days, all within a 30 to 40 mile radius.

Brandon decided while he was working the field, that Megan and he could divide and conquer; he asked her if she would go back to the bunker and do a wall to wall inventory of their equipment and supplies. Megan had agreed to do the job, and after breakfast she headed for the bunker.

Brandon grabbed up his fire-axe and headed for the clearing. As he walked, something was bothering him; something was making him feel uneasy. It was the same intuition that had kept him alive and well for the last 3 years. He was careful not to get so absorbed in what he was doing that he wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him. Later, he would take a break to go check on Megan and remind her to always be aware of what was going on around her.

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Dustin, who had looked for nearly a week came to the conclusion that the trail had gone cold. Trying to follow someone weeks later was tough, it taxed his tracking skills to the maximum. But now, there was no trail to follow. That meant only one thing, Brandon's new flame was his sneak thief. If the little tart thought she was going to get away from stealing from him, she had another thing coming, and he knew exactly what that thing was going to be.

The man had circled back and had been watching Brandon's camp site for a full day. He was looking for an opportunity. On the morning of the second day, that opportunity presented itself; he was ready to make his move.

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Megan was inside the bunker, she had found a pad of paper and a pencil and had started her inventory. As much as she loved Brandon, the alone time was absolutely splendid. After being alone for much of the last few years, she was comfortable with herself as her own company.

She let herself do a little woolgathering, she daydreamed about the marvelous job that Brandon had done between her legs that morning. He had driven her to another rolling orgasm, which caused her to writhe in ecstasy for a good 4 or 5 minutes, before she had to call him off. Brandon had a magic tongue.

Megan was feeling her panties getting wet just from thinking about it. Brandon sucking, kissing and licking her lips. The feel of his ministrations to her love button was heavenly, especially when he added a 'G' spot massage to the mix. Megan was subconsciously contracting the muscles up inside her vagina as she reminisced, which in itself was adding to her arousal.

She had most of the major items in the main room identified, she moved over to the chest of drawers to start counting clothing items. To her delight, Elizabeth had been just a size larger than Megan, so she inherited a dozen pairs of jeans, and even more pull over tops. The real blessing was that she was able to swap out her entire panty collection. Her old ones were really on their last legs. Having new panties to wear was superb. The panties were the one thing that fit her spot on. She save her old panties to use up the next time she started having periods.