Annie2002

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

"As badly as I smell," the stranger said, "I doubt I'd smell you, sir."

Bran had to laugh at the man's self-deprecating comment. "I'll make a tub and some water made available for you. And a kettle for heating it, of course."

As he ate, King spoke of the places he'd previously lived -- visited, really. Bran knew of Newfoundland, though not specifically of the settlement of New Eastport. Nova Scotia and New England were also familiar names. He'd heard of North Carolina and South Carolina, so he safely assumed that the Carolines were the same general area.

New Memphis was unknown to him entirely, though. Bran knew of the Mississippi River, but as King hadn't mentioned it in particular, he didn't understand that the mighty river that had once divided the eastern and western portions of the United States -- also a familiar term -- was now a wide, inland-reaching bay.

"The Bug," King continued, "It's still out there, unfortunately. It pops up once in a while."

He talked about how it was less frequently found yet also more deadly when it was. This news only made Bran more convinced that keeping King in quarantine had been the right thing to do. He and the Elders would have to decide whether the news that the Bug was quicker to appear would mean less time in quarantine for the stranger.

"As far as the wars go," King continued, "those are over."

Bran wasn't sad to hear this news. It hadn't just been an apocalyptic pandemic that had doomed Humanity; ever-increasing global warming and nuclear war had struck as well. To hear that peace was more common now than conflict was a relief.

King spoke of how Human population was rebounding but also spreading out into areas that had been depleted by the ravages of the Bug. This Bran didn't care for. Even though King told him that Greenland was likely safe from infestation by emigrating populations, Bran couldn't help but think to himself, Well, if YOU got here, others can, too.

When the newly arrived stranger spoke of trying to reach Ireland or even England, Bran asked, "Is that still your destination. I mean ... if you wish to leave, I can speak to the Council about it. We didn't lock you up in the quarantine hut because you're a prisoner. We did it to keep our village safe."

Bran wasn't entirely certain which answer he wanted to hear from King: stay or leave. Taking one more person into the community would not present any sort of hardship, particularly if he was healthy, fertile, knowledgeable, and hard working. Bran suspected that Tyka the Matchmaker was already going over her breeding rolls for the best candidates to be seeded by an entirely new bloodline. And it seemed pretty obvious to Bran that his own daughter had eyes for the man from afar.

At the same time, though, King had every right to depart the island and continue his venture to reach what had once been called the British Isles. Of course, the village would have to construct an appropriate vessel for him, as their current boats were only made for fishing in the waters just off the shore.

Not wanting King to think that he had an agenda aimed at getting him the hell off his island, Bran clarified, "If you do decide you want to remain here for a while, you'll just have to continue your quarantine until the Council feels it's safe for you to exit it and mix with the rest of the village. It's your decision."

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

(OOC: For anyone reading along, Annie’s father, Bran, is a shared character. My turn to write him. :) )

The next morning:

Bran exited his and Annie’s hut and took a short walk up the rise to the east. The hillock hid the village from the sea, a decision that had been made generations earlier for security reasons. Bran often wished his ancestors – the original Elders – had placed the village within sight of the ocean. He loved the view of the vast sea.

The sun was just rising as he arrived. Unsurprisingly, he found his daughter already here in what he knew to be her favorite place in the world. A few steps to the right was a stone, engraved to mark it as her mother's final resting place.

Bran’s wife, Emma, had died during childbirth, as had her seriously premature child, a daughter who would have been Annie’s only true sibling (meaning Bran had been the father, not some other breeder). Bran had never considered remarrying; he'd dedicated himself to the upbringing of Annie, who'd been only six years old at the time.

“Are you going to see the stranger?” she immediately asked upon seeing her father coming. “Can I come?”

“No,” he answered softly as he knelt to tip her head back and kiss her forehead, a typical greeting between the two. He could see the disappointment in her expression but ignored it. “Some of the Elders and I are going to take a walk with him. There are things to be discussed.”

He kissed her a second time, rose, and said as a consolation, “Get your traps checked, and–”

“Already checked them, Papa,” she cut him off. Jumping to her feet, Annie, asked with excitement, “So, can I go?”

Bran couldn't help but laugh at his daughter's enthusiasm. He gestured her into his arms, gave her a long, tight hug – she murmured into his chest, “Can't breath” – then released her and compromised, “You can walk with me down to the stones, but you stop there.”

She agreed, and they headed down the hillock, then down the shore trail. Some of the Elders, as well as some younger men and fewer women – all armed with spears or bows – were already gathered; others would soon descend the trail, too.

The stones about which Bran had spoken were stone cairns – small in height, just 3 feet high – that encircled the quarantine hut to indicate a safe isolation distance. The others were gathered there, waiting.

Bran was the first Elder to have dealt with the stranger; the newest of the villagers to join the Elders Council; the youngest of the current Elders, which sounded like a contradictory oxymoron; and the most prolific breeder of the bunch of them, something that was publically praised as worthy of great respect and privately the source of teasing barbs about Bran being a man-slut.

With the exception of the latter, those traits were the reason for the Council choosing Bran to be their liaison between the ruling organization and King. He'd accepted the responsibility without question, of course, as he had lots of questions to ask of the stranger, as well as statements to be stressed regarding the man's stay here, if King was allowed one.

After a lengthy discussion with the Elders, Bran moved to stand with a pair of guards on the door side of the quarantine hut. They told him that King had been awake for some time, asking for food and answers regarding his fate.

“Mister King, you may come out,” Bran called after excusing the two guards. When the man exited the hut, Bran showed him a basket, explaining, “Food, water for drinking and washing up if you need … and some mate.”

The last item mentioned was pronounced mah-tay. Not knowing whether or not King knew what it was, Bran explained, “It's a hot caffeinated drink, a tea of sorts. You won't like it–”

Bran smiled and chuckled softly, adding, “--but it grows on you. I have some sweetener, too. We trade dried and smoked fish and things made of sea shells and the like with a village located inland … over the range.”

He nodded his head toward the steep mountain range that ran north-northeast to south-southwest for as far as the eye could see. Some of the peaks were over 2,000 meters high and were impassable, but there was a pass that led northwest through them that, while still a hard walk, was used by the people of this village and others inland to conduct trade and arranged breeding as well.

“Why don't you take a walk with me, Mister King,” Bran offered, already turning toward the trail leading back to the beach. “We have many things to discuss. I hope you won't find me unfriendly if I ask you to maintain your distance and walk downwind of me when possible. I promise not to fart into the wind.”

They descended the trail to the beach, where Bran set the basket on a squat, flat topped boulder. He positioned himself upwind and said, “Please, eat. One of the Elder’s wife is quite the cook. There's bread, meat, cheese, fruit. Goats milk. The mate, as I said, it should still be warm at least. It's the only caffeine drink left in our little part of the world, to the best of our knowledge.”

Bran paused, becoming a bit more serious sounding as he continued, “Speaking of knowledge...”

He waited until he had King's attention before beginning his inquiries. “What can you tell me about what's happening out there in the world? First, where did you come from? My daughter said something of Newfoundland. Is that where you are from?”

He paused for an answer, then continued, asking about the Bug and the wars that had nearly wiped out the Human Race. He wanted to know how many people had survived, whether or not Human population was rebounding, whether or not technology was doing the same, and more.

Lastly, and with a serious tone, Bran asked bluntly, “Should we worry that – like you – they will be coming here, too? I mean no offense, but … honestly … we're happy with the way things are now. We have no desire to once again be part of that world out there.”

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

“Me…? Really?”

Belle giggled at Bran’s surprise. She'd expected it, despite Tyka telling Bran that she'd suggested he father Belle's first child. And Belle had talked to Bran about it a few days ago, too. It had been a very brief conversation, with her asking if Tyka had spoken to him, Bran saying yes, and Belle nodding before turning and hurrying away.

Still, Belle understood his surprise. She was, in fact, the sexual target of many young and older men. Most of them were all about the sex, though, using the Clan’s tradition of arranged breeding as a way to put their cocks inside women who often would not entertain the thought of parting their thighs for them.

Not every Clan did things the way Clan Kyst did, of course. The Coast Clan had instituted arranged breeding shortly after its creation, to ensure healthy, strong children in a time when the future of the Human Race was in doubt.

Other Greenland communities – whether they called themselves clans or not – had taken this path. Some had stayed with the old ways. Some operated somewhere in between, often with the help of Clan Kyst’s breeding males.

Belle knew that Bran had fathered many healthy children, of course. Breeding itself was kept generally private. But the birth of a new, healthy child was celebrated, as was the parentage.

Belle knew that Bran had fathered at least a dozen children. Annie was his only Clan Kyst child. More than that, though, she was more than just his afkom, his offspring. She was his daughter.

Bran had married Annie’s mother, Nina, and begun a family with her. Honestly, Annie had been a surprise. Nina had had twelve arranged breedings over six years without a single conception. She'd been written off as a breeder, something that had been disappointing to Nina and others as well.

Bran had fallen in love with Nina and married her despite her shortcomings, as villagers such as Tyka had called it. Ironically, Nina birthed Annie just two years into the marriage. Annie was considered by many as a miracle. Others considered Bran the miracle, with plenty of lewd jokes having been told about his seed.

After Belle tempted him with what his daughter had said about the stranger, Bran told her about fathering her child, “It would be my honor, Belle.”

She smiled wide, telling him without any sense of embarrassment, “Annie thinks the stranger might have a big cock.”

She laughed loudly enough to gain the attention of the other two guards. She waved them to go back to their own conversation. She stood, looking down to Bran with a wide devilish smirk. She wanted to ask him if he had a large penis, too, but couldn't bring herself to say the words.

“I have to pee,” she did say, suddenly rushing off into the darkness as she told Bran over her shoulder, “My replacement is due soon. Cover for me!”

She probably should have returned, but she wouldn't. It had been Bran’s order to post guards on the quarantine hut all night, so in Belle's opinion, he could share some of the responsibility.

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

“What did my daughter have to say about this man?” Bran asked Belle. “If telling me wouldn't violate any sort of confidence, I mean.”

Belle giggled like a young woman would when asked such a question by such a man about his daughter. “I don't know if I should tell you or not.”

The other two guards laughed about something they were discussing in whispers from their own guard posts. Belle wondered whether if it was about her and Bran, but a moment later she overheard some of the conversation and concluded it wasn't.

She looked to her best friend’s father, again smiling. There would be something that others from the village could talk about that involved both Belle and Bran, but that time was still months away, if ever.

“I informed Tyka of my choice this morning,” she whispered to Bran. He looked at her with an expectant expression. Her lips widened in a delighted smile. “I chose you, if you are willing…”

Belle didn't know what to expect from Bran, but she hoped for his acceptance of her offer to let him father her first child. Tyka, the Clan’s matchmaker, was the one to suggest Bran for the duty, despite him being not just her best friend’s father but also 5 years more than twice her own age of 19.

There were plenty of younger men – from this village and others – who would have loved the opportunity to be the first to fill Belle’s garden with their seed. But for most of them, it would have been more about just wanting to fuck her. She was a beauty and a virgin, as was Annie, and men both young and old ogled her without shame.

Bran was a healthy, fit, handsome man who had proven himself to be a successful breeder. Each of his children had been healthy, fit stock, and any woman in the Clan would be happy to bear his child. Additionally, Belle and Bran were well separated from one another genetically, with no known blood relative shared by them back to the founding of the community which, correctly or not, called itself a Clan these days.

“You accept,” Belle tempted Bran with a devilish smirk, “and I'll tell you what your daughter said about the stranger.”

She giggled again, knowing how badly the man wanted to know what Annie thought of King.

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

It was nearly dusk before Annie and her fellow searchers returned to the village, and the first thing she did was seek out her father, asking anxiously, “So, what happened? What did he say? Tell me, please, Papa.”

“There's nothing to tell, Annie,” he responded after taking a moment to study her face and consider her anxious excitement. “We put him in the quarantine hut. That's it.”

Annie was disappointed, to say the least. She'd hoped to learn something about the stranger, anything. She gave her report about what they'd found up the beach – gruesome details included – and answered any questions her father asked; the one he asked repeatedly in different ways was, of course, whether or not she had touched anything foreign, to which she had repeatedly answered no.

“What is it about this man that has you so uneasy…?” he asked before then adding, “... excited?”

Annie felt a blush fill her cheeks before she defensively said, “Nothing! I'm … I'm not excited! I'm … curious!”

“Strangers have come to our village before, Annie,” he reminded her.

“Not like this!” she pointed out. “The others … they always arrived with someone we knew … someone from a Trading Village … someone we trusted. This man…”

After a moment of his daughter not completing her sentence, he asked, “What about this man?”

Again, there was silence for a long moment before Annie answered, “I dunno.” She hopped up, saying, “I have chores to do before dark.”

She was moving for the door as her father said sternly, “Stay away from the quarantine hut, Annie. You understand what happens if he is sick and–”

“I understand, Papa,” she cut him off, smiling. “I'll stay away.”

And she did, too – barely! After her chores and dinner, Annie went to sit with those tasked with watching over the stranger. There were three people stationed separately about 30 feet from the quarantine hut such that each could see the other two at the little campfires keeping them warm and the night illuminated.

They were supposed to keep quiet once night fell to allow the other villagers – and the stranger – to sleep without distraction, but that wasn't what happened. They chatted with each other with muted voices and occasionally peppered each other with little pebbles, particularly when one of them threatened to drift off.

Annie sat for a while with Belle, the only female who took a turn watching over the stranger. They whispered to each other about King; Belle hadn't seen the man before he entered the hut, so Annie described him in as much detail as she could recall – which turned out to be a lot, including her opinion that after the two of them had talked a while on the beach, that Annie thought she'd seen a bulge grow in the front of King's raggedy shorts. The two young women giggled together about that, telling the other two guards to mind their own business when they wanted to know what was going on.

Annie’s father arrived after a while, telling her to get to bed. She did as told, hesitating with the desire to tell King goodnight. She kept it to herself, though, instead simply hugging her friend goodbye, kissing her father goodnight, telling the other guards they were idiots – they'd teased the girls about the handsome strangers, as boys do – then headed back to the hut she had shared with just her father since the accidental drowning of her mother three years earlier.

When her father didn't immediately return, and with her thinking firmly set upon the handsome stranger, Annie found her hands caressing themselves over her young, firm, and otherwise untouched body … over her modest breasts with their sensitive and ever-pert nipples … and down between her thighs to the warmth and wetness of her womanhood.

She'd only recently discovered the joy of masturbation, and what with the solitude of the moment and the fresh visual of these stranger in the quarantine hut, Annie took a few minutes to pleasure herself and, for the first time in her life, achieve the wondrous euphoria of orgasm. After her heart had ceased pounding and her breathing had returned to normal, she drifted off to a deep, peaceful sleep.

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

"I understand your caution," the stranger said. "I really do." He agreed to Annie's father's demands that he do as told, then -- as he was departing under Paul's escort -- he looked up to Annie, smiled, and said, "See you again soon, I hope."

Annie tried not to smile but failed. She was happy the man couldn't see her expression what with the sun to her back. Looking to Paul, though -- standing off to one side enough to not have her in silhouette -- Annie could see that that man who yearned to breed with her when she came of age did see the smile ... and didn't like it. The smile faded, but as the pair headed away up the trail, it returned again.

"Annie!" her father barked. She looked to him sharply, realizing in the back of her mind that he'd already called her at least once, possibly more. Bran told her, "I need you to go with the search team heading north."

She pointed a hand toward the trail and the departing pair of men, beginning, "But shouldn't I--?"

"No!" he cut in, adding, "You shouldn't. You should do what I told you to do."

She nodded to him reluctantly, took one last look at the handsome stranger walking up the trail, then descended from the boulder to join the team of three heading up the pebble beach to the north. Over the next five miles, they would find only scattered, infrequent debris before finally coming across three bodies in close proximity to one another.

It was a gruesome sight, not because they were dead but because they were already being fed upon by predators and scavengers: a single wolf and several crows which the canine couldn't give a moment's notice ate upon one corpse, while the other two -- a couple of dozen yards away -- were being devoured by a variety of sea birds and dozens of crabs respectively. It was a prime example of Mother Nature at work, Annie mused to herself.

"We go around them," the leader of the search team ordered. When one of the others asked about killing the wolf -- they hunted the flocks of a village with whom Annie's Clan traded -- the leader said, "No, leave it be. Maybe this will sate it for a while."

They headed up from the surf, bodies, and diners, circled around the scene, and continued onward. They found one more body half a mile later, this one being eaten exclusively by sea birds. Again they passed by at a distance and continued onward. They'd covered another five miles before they turned back; once they had to wade out into the surf up to their chests to get around a rocky outcrop, while another time they'd had to climb up and over a short, moderately steep cliff to continue onward.

Darkness had fallen by the time they'd returned to the village.

++++++++++++++++++++

Paul had called out to the other villagers before him and King to clear a path. It was an order they obeyed immediately upon seeing the stranger he was escorting at spear point. The quarantine hut was the first of the structures they neared, a good hundred yards from the rest of the village. They hadn't had to use it in over ten years, the last time that a visitor -- a friend, not a stranger -- had arrived at the village with a fever and sweats, two of the Bug's symptoms. He'd turned out to be just fine and continued to visit the village for trade even today.

"In there," Paul said, jabbing his spear in the direction of the hut. "I'll have food, water, blankets, and clothing brought to you."

Paul didn't bother to inspect the hut first, and both men leapt in surprise when -- upon King opening the door -- a raccoon leapt at them, hissing, before hurrying away, followed by her four younglings. Inside, King wouldn't find much: four walls, a reed floor, a ceiling that leaked when it rained, and a bed mat that now smelled of the camp robbers.

"As Elder Bran said, if you do as said, you will be fairly treated," Paul said after King had entered the hut. He added, "This is not punishment. This is not imprisonment. This is quarantine. We cannot chance the Bug or anything else getting to our people."

If King had nothing more to say or ask, Paul would close the door and post up on guard outside. If the stranger did have more to say, he would do his best to respond.

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

“I'm not going to hurt you,” King told Annie. “I'm not a threat.”

She wanted to believe him, but she couldn't take that chance, thus the alert on the horn. Annie had never seen a stranger from a strange land. Every person she'd ever met had been a resident of what remained of Greenland, and nearly all of them had come from no more that 200 kilometers away, barely a fifth the length of the island. Annie’s world was, to say the least, quite small.

The figure coming up behind Annie was Paul. Paul was the son of one of the Clan's most important Elders and -- because of this -- was also the leading candidate for being the first to seed Annie’s womb when she came of age. She didn't care much for him; she found him arrogant and aggressive. She certainly wasn't eager to have him between her parted thighs, thrusting hard and deep until he emptied his balls inside her.

“Did he get near you?” he asked Annie with a concerned voice upon reaching her. His meaning was actually Did he touch you? Did he infect you? Paul's concern wasn't for Annie's health really. It was for his own future, specifically as the father of Annie's first child.

“No, he didn't get near me,” Annie responded. “I don't think he's sick.”

“You don't know that!” Paul stressed. He was right, of course; the incubation period for the Bug was long, perhaps months long. It was why the virus had been so successful at spreading across the world. “He'll have to go into quarantine … or leave."

"Quarantine!" Annie said without hesitation. She saw how Paul reacted to her response and, just as quickly, covered for her excitement about the stranger with, "I mean ... Papa's going to want to question him ... before he gets sent away."

Annie's father, Bran, just happened to be the second man to arrive on the scene. He'd been down the beach hunting seals, unfortunately unsuccessfully this day. As he neared the stranger, he leveled his spear and ordered, "Don't move! Don't get close to anyone!"

“I'm not going to hurt you," King repeated. "I'm not a threat."

"Who are you? Where'd you come from?" Bran asked, slowly circling the man from a distance of no less than 10 meters. He saw no signs of infection, but like Paul had said earlier, you just couldn't know for sure until after a suitable quarantine period.

"I'm just a survivor of a shipwreck," King said. "I'd like to search for my companions.”

By now, there were almost a dozen Clansmen on the beach, watching the goings-on. Bran, who was one of the youngest Elders and well respected, ordered everyone to stay back. Then, to Paul, he said, "Take him to the quarantine hut. Post a guard. No one goes in until I say so. Get him food, water, and blankets."

"Yes, Elder," Paul said, stepping out of the path between King and the village uphill. "Let's go."

Bran told the stranger, "I will send search parties up and down the beach to look for your friends ... so long as you follow this man's instructions and don't give us any trouble. If you do ... give us trouble, I mean ... Paul has permission to put his spear through you. Do you understand? I can't take a chance that you are infected with the Bug."

He waited for King to respond. If the man agreed to the orders, Bran would gather armed villagers and do as he had promised. If the man didn't agree ... well ... he'd have to figure that out when it happened.

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

It was true that Annie was unfamiliar with the name Newfoundland. One of the things the stranger would discover about her people – if he was allowed to remain, that is – was that they had lost much of their knowledge of the world beyond their own island.

Ironically, that loss of knowledge had been intentional, not an unfortunate result of the isolation of the apocalypse. The Elders of generations gone had made the decision that their people were better off not believing there was more out there to be seen and explored.

He asked, “Can we walk the shoreline? I'd like to see if anyone else made it. I can't believe I'm the only one.”

Annie stood tall on the massive boulder above King, studied him for a moment, then pulled out a horn and blew into it several times. She told him, “You have to wait. I have to show you to others.”

Over the next couple of minutes, Clan members alerted by the specific pattern of horn blows would rush to Annie from the village hidden just beyond a curve in the cliffside to the north. They would be armed with bows and spears.

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

"English," the stranger said, expanding, "English, yes. I speak English."

Annie found his accent and manner of speaking odd and knew he wasn't from any of the villages of which she knew. He stood and looked about, adding, "My name is Craig. Craig King. People call me King."

She considered not sharing her name with the stranger but, after a long moment, said in her best English, "My name Annie."

"Where am I?" he asked, again looking about himself. "And ... where's everyone else? There were 36 of us aboard the Elizabeth. Am I the only one who made it?"

She didn't understand about what he was speaking when he spoke of something called The Elizabeth as her people didn't name their boats. She addressed the other part of his inquiry. "You are the first person to come from the sea. Did you swim here?"

"Aftermath" (closed, but feel free to read along)

Annie

Physical Description:

• 15 years old
• Pretty, with fair skin, freckles, and long wavy auburn hair. (Think Rose Leslie/Ygritte of GOT.)
• Well curved with a modest bosom and wide hips, perfect for breeding (which will have to wait until she comes of age).

Personality:

• Bold, courageous.
• Flirtatious.
• Intelligent and knowledgeable.
• Loyal and faithful to her family and her Clan.
• She takes after her Papa, a hunter, more than she does her mother; her sisters are more domestic in nature, while she prefers to be running around with a bow or spear in her hands.

Her Family and Clan

• She is the middle child of 5, as well as the middle aged of 3 girls.
• Her clan has 30+ members.
• Her village -- located at the yellow dot on the southeast coast -- lives off fishing and hunting, as well as trading with other Clans on the shores to the north and south or inland through the pass in the mountains.
• The village is led by a Chief who is elected by secret ballot -- colored pebbles dropped into a bowl and afterward counted. The current Chief happens to be the village's eldest male, not that that has anything to do with who is in power. This Chief -- very well respected -- has been in place for over two decades, since the last Chief -- his uncle -- died from a fall.

Her personal history:

• She was trained to hunt and participates as such almost daily.
• Being beautiful and of the appropriate body style, she had been receiving offers of breeding since she entered puberty, even before (though her father said nothing to her about those offers).