The Protagonist System

124 Nighttime Antics

Amy was in heaven. Good god, she was almost floating! Her mind and body had been flooded with so much of everything that she almost couldn't think straight. Rick had been... attentive wasn't the word. He was responding to her every reaction like he was a bloodhound and she was a fox trying to avoid being caught. He always caught her, every time she moved, and she loved every second of it.

The tingles were the best and the worst, because her shivers let Rick know exactly how much she had been enjoying him. Amy wasn't really embarrassed about that, even if she had wanted to hide some of her reactions. She thought she wouldn't have any real power in the relationship if he knew he could nuzzle her neck a certain way and she would let him do whatever he wanted to her.

Amy would also never admit that her sister was right. She really was acting like a slut for a man that somehow knew how to work her over so well. It was also a lot of fun. There hadn't been a lot of fun for her, either naughty or innocent, for the last two months.

At least she wasn't that far gone to let him finish inside of her, despite thinking it would feel a whole lot better than what he usually did. That Rick had a 'usual' technique with her already, after only one night, almost made her laugh. Of course, getting pregnant right now would be horrible, because who wanted to bring babies into the world while it was ending?

Rick pulled out of her and his much whiter and healthier fluid splashed onto her back. Amy gave him a very sultry look over her shoulder as he finished spectacularly, even though it was his fourth shot, then he laid down beside her while he very kindly used a napkin to wipe up the mess and cleaned her off. Again.

Who was this nice guy and why couldn't I have meet him years ago? Amy asked herself and then answered herself a second later. Oh, right. He was married.

Amy's eyes went to his hands as Rick hugged her from behind and pulled her in close. She saw the white line on his ring finger and she really was glad that he hadn't tried to get back with his wife. Just because the world was ending, that didn't mean all of their other problems had magically disappeared. It would have been a disaster in the making, especially if Rick hadn't realized his wife had been cheating on him with his best friend.

I wonder how long that has been going on behind his back? Amy asked herself and didn't hold back her sigh of contentment as Rick snuggled into her. Being the little spoon was really nice and she hoped this first date wasn't going to be the last.

*

I waited for Amy to drift off to sleep before I cast a cleaning spell on her. My magic was still pathetically weak; but, I could almost feel it stretching after each spell I used. I had to wait a few minutes before I could cast it on myself and then I waited another few minutes to cast Sleep on Amy, just to make sure she wasn't going to wake up when I opened the back of the van.

I waited for another few minutes as I dressed and then I cast silence on the moving van's rear door that slid upwards on tracks. I didn't want to leave her vulnerable, so I only opened it enough to slip out after laying down on the floor, grabbed the multiple napkins I had used, and closed and locked the door. I would be back long before she woke up from the basic sleep spell.

It was fairly late at night and everyone but the guy on watch was asleep. He sat on top of the RV wearing Dale's binoculars, and waved to me. He was one of the helpers I had earlier, so I waved back and mimed going for a bathroom break. He gave me a thumbs up and pointed to where I needed to go. I gave him a wave in thanks and moved off towards the designated spot and tossed the used napkins into the designated garbage pit.

The bathroom wasn't my only target, however. I did relieve my bladder, since my pipes needed cleaning out after all the fun, and I cast Stealth on myself as I moved off through the surrounding woods towards where I knew Carol, Ed, and Sophia had their tent. How did I know where it was? It was the only large family tent that didn't have part of a normal bed sticking out of it that I had noticed during my date with Amy.

The thing that surprised me was that Merle hadn't come over looking for his rifle. Maybe when he said later, it wouldn't be until he needed it for something like guarding the camp or hunting? That reminded me of a few things I had decided while looking over the camp, mainly more defenses. I would have to make a trip to the construction company to get the backhoe tractor I had used before.

On the plus side, with most of my inventory empty, I was sure I could store the police car safely. I could also do a few runs up and down the highway nearby with the siren blaring to clear out any stray walkers in the area. Better safe than sorry, right?

As I approached the tent, my stealth spell was still working, so I settled near the left side and cast silence on the tent. I took out a knife and made a small cut near the ground, just enough to peek through, and saw I was lucky and was behind the large man as he slept in his sleeping bag. I took out a small screwdriver with a very sharp and pointed head, then cast sleep on the man.

His heavy breathing eased off, letting me know he wasn't faking it, and I sliced the hole big enough to slip my hand through. I lined up my attack and jabbed as hard as I could into his neck. Ed caught his breath for a moment and that was it. I lined up again and jabbed right beside the last puncture, as if a snake had bitten him, and he didn't react.

My attack hadn't killed him, though. That wasn't what I had planned. You see, if he died while asleep, he would probably turn before morning and become a walker, endangering Carol and their 13 year old daughter, Sophia. No, what I did was cripple the abusive bastard and severed the nerves in his spine.

I normally couldn't get away with the snake excuse, except this quarry had a few of them. None of them were poisonous, so everyone would know the man wasn't going to die from just the bite. I just had to hope that Carol didn't take things into her own hands when she woke up in the morning and realized her husband could no longer raise his hands against her.

With my gruesome task completed, I made my way back to the bathroom area, dropped my stealth spells, and walked back across the camp to the van. I waved at the guy on watch to let him know I was okay and he nodded. I opened the back of the van just enough to slip back inside on the floor, then I closed and locked it. Amy was still out and didn't react, so I undressed and slipped back into bed with her.

To cuddle or not to cuddle? I asked myself and thought about what was going on in the world. It's definitely okay to be clingy.

Even asleep, Amy let out a soft sound of happiness as I hugged her with one arm from behind and held her tenderly. Her own arms hugged mine automatically and I drifted off to sleep with my mind at ease about everything.

*

Carol woke up in the morning and was surprised Ed wasn't looming over her or threatening her to behave. He had been worse last night after seeing the new guy... an actual sheriff and not a deputy like Shane... talk to her. The bruise forming on her cheek throbbed and she wondered if Ed would hit her again after she made breakfast.

She opened her sleeping bag and sat up before she turned slightly to look at her husband, only to see wide eyes that were full of panic. His mouth opened and closed several times as his chest barely moved up and down while he took shallow breaths.

“Honey?” Carol asked with the dull tone she usually used when talking to him. “Are you okay?”

Ed couldn't respond and he couldn't move anything except his eyes and eyelids.

Carol easily noticed this and leaned over him, looming in the same way he usually did over her, and a small smile grew on her face when he didn't move. “Honey? Can you move?”

Ed couldn't shake his head no and he couldn't even grunt, because he was only getting enough air to breathe. He didn't know what happened to him and he couldn't feel anything, not even his throat!

Carol's smile didn't lessen as she leaned over a little further to look behind him. She saw two small trickles of blood coming from the top of his neck. “It looks like a snake bit you.”

Ed's eyes couldn't really react any more than they already were, so her words didn't seem to shock the man.

Carol's smile changed to look slightly deranged as she gazed into her husband's eyes. “Don't worry, Ed. I'm sure a doctor or a nurse will show up here eventually. Until then, I am going to take good care of you.”

For the first time in his life, Ed felt true terror and watched as his loving wife hefted the length of metal pipe he used to beat on walkers that approached the camp. It was almost a relief that he couldn't feel anything as Carol took aim at his legs and swung.

The meaty thump was music to Carol's ears and she swung again and again, her huge smile almost splitting her face.

*

I woke up to the feeling of soft kisses on my lips and face. I opened my eyes and Amy was pretty much nuzzling me, probably half asleep, and she looked really happy with my arms still wrapped possessively around her.

“Morning.” I managed to say between kisses.

Amy barely stopped her ministrations as her own eyes opened fully. “Morning.” She said and turned enough to face me while she kept kissing me.

I wasn't going to turn down such a blatant invitation and returned her enthusiasm, then she turned all the way around and spread her legs for me. I slipped inside of her again easily and we had another great time. I restricted myself to only the once, even if my hard-on didn't wane at all.

Amy gave it a pat and promised to take care of it later when she had the time. When she realized she had said it to my dick and not to my face, she blushed hard and gave me a surprised look. I couldn't help it and laughed pretty hard at her expression and she quickly joined me.

Some cleaning wipes later, since I couldn't do magic in front of her, we both dressed and left the back of the moving van. I grabbed some of the dry food supplies and added some kitchen utensils on top and Amy gave me a questioning look, so I asked her for a good sized frying pan for homemade pancakes and she nodded and walked off at a fast pace towards the RV.

“Dad!” Carl shouted when he saw me and there were several groans from around the camp.

I barked a laugh and knelt briefly to brace the boxes of supplies to give him a one-arm hug. “I'm making pancakes for everyone, so thanks for giving them a wake-up call.”

Carl wasn't embarrassed at being called out for yelling and took the larger box of flour from me. “I think we might have some jam left.”

I pretended to reach inside my jacket and pulled out a large plastic bottle of maple syrup. “We're going with the rich stuff today.”

“YAY!” Carl yelled and more groans came from around the camp. “SOPHIE! PANCAKES!”

“Yay!” A young female voice responded from the tent where Carol and Ed stayed and then a cute blonde girl shot out of the tent and ran over to us, giving Carl a hug and making the kid blush.

Amy was softly laughing as she met us by the unlit campfire carrying a large frying pan, a big mixing bowl, a large wooden spoon, and some butter. “He's as good as a foghorn for getting attention and we're lucky we're in an area that catches the echoes.”

I smiled at that and set down the things in my arms beside the fire pit. “I've never overslept and it's all thanks to this guy.” I said and rubbed Carl's head and ruffled his hair.

“Daaaaad!” Carl complained, even though he didn't push my hand away. Sophie beside him had an odd look on her face that I didn't miss.

I gave Carl a quick hug and then let my hand reach over and patted Sophie's head, earning a blush from the girl. “I'll have a large batch whipped up pretty fast, so you won't have long to wait. Amy? Can you start the fire for me?”

Amy nodded and easily did as I asked. She used a small squirt of firestarter fluid and lit the half-burned logs before she put the rack over the top of it and set the frying pan on top and dropped a dab of butter on it.

While she did that, I added the right amount of flour for a large batch of pancake batter to the bowl, a sprinkle of baking powder to make them fluffy, a dash of salt, a handful of granulated sugar, and nodded to Amy to drop a bit of butter into the mix.

“Any chance there's an egg or two in the RV?” I asked and she shook her head. “Then it's a good thing I brought a crate of them with me.”

Amy's mouth dropped open and she stared at me as if my skin was blue and she was trying to figure out what I was. It made me laugh.

“We're not wasting them if they're used for pancakes to feed everyone.” I said and handed her the bowl. “Mix that up and I'll be right back.”

Amy held the bowl with the unmixed ingredients inside and didn't move or say anything.

“I'll do it!” Carl shouted and tried to grab for the bowl.

“NO!” Amy yelled and dove out of the way of his grabbing hands, miraculously didn't spill any of it, and rolled to a stop on her knees a few feet away. Carl stuck his tongue out at her and Amy looked smug as she started stirring with the large wooden spoon after mulching the butter.

I barely held in my laugh at the scene and walked over to the moving van to climb into the back. I pretended to move some things around as I reached into my inventory and pulled out one of the crates of eggs I had taken from the hospital cafeteria's industrial fridge. If I was lucky, no one would ask why they were still cold and I added a bag of paper plates and a box of plastic forks.

I locked the van back up and went over to the campfire. The other kids were there already and I was happy that Carl had made friends with them. I also noticed that they were talking back and forth so quickly that it was almost too hard to follow.

Amy saw me looking at them and whispered that they were always like that and I'd get used to it. I nodded and opened the crate and added several eggs that the pancake recipe needed and used my water container to add enough liquid for the batter. The key to good pancakes was to not overbeat the batter and to not let any lumps form.

The frying pan was hot enough when we were done mixing and I used a large ladle to scoop out four smaller pancakes and they started cooking right away and fluffing up. As I waited to flip them over, most of the adults came out of their tents and Dale came out of the RV. Not surprisingly, most of them looked well rested.

“Those mattresses were the best, Rick.” Juan said as he sat across from me and his wife Miranda sat beside Amy as her eyes went to the dress. She smiled knowingly, because there were not a lot of wrinkles on it, not like there should have been if worn for a longer time than it had been.

Amy gave the woman a very happy smile back and leaned in to whisper to her.

I didn't miss the byplay as I cooked and started handing out pancakes to the kids, making them giggle and laugh as I pretended to complain as I 'accidentally' squirted too much maple syrup onto their plates. The adults easily understood what I was doing and looked grateful for it as the kids dug into their food with enthusiasm.

Amy apparently couldn't resist bragging about our date last night, probably because she was so outgoing and wanted to bring everyone's spirits up. I should have warned her that she might bring their spirits down instead if she wasn't careful about how much she shared, then realized I was okay with that. If it gave the other women ideas about how to coax their men into doing more for them, then I was all for it.

Every little bit of happiness counted these days.