The Protagonist System

164 A Life Away From Life

Our trip out of town went unnoticed and we rode away without anyone catching on to what we were doing. Tammy felt guilty about that for a while and there wasn't really anything I could say to make things better. Jenkins was right and we had to get away from there without causing a panic.

If the others came to the same conclusions as we did, they would be freaking out about the town suddenly ending. The worst part about that was if we stayed, they would demand we try and stop it before they would blame us for it when we couldn't, because it couldn't be stopped, not after what had happened.

The trip back to Colorado took a lot longer with having two more people along and two more horses to buff up and enchant. Neither Jenkins nor Janine asked me what the potions were or why the horses started to visibly grow muscles after only fifteen minutes. Hermes was particularly happy, because both of the new horses were female and he wouldn't have to stomp on any potential rival.

We stopped to eat and it was quiet while I shared one of the prepared meals. It was one of the benefits of over-packing for trips to have lots of extra food on hand in case anything unexpected happened. Janine and Jenkins made appreciative sounds as they ate and Sandra and Tammy looked a little bit happier. Good food soothes the soul, apparently.

I had been subtly erasing our tracks the whole way, just in case anyone tried to follow us. It was a basic hiding strategy to conceal our location and I always did so, even when we didn't leave obvious tracks behind us. The last thing any of us needed now was to be hunted down and found.

We eventually arrived back at the hotel and Janine and Jenkins laughed when we rode the horses right inside the hotel, just like Tammy had the first time, and we entered the stable. I helped Tammy and Sandra off of the horses and Jenkins helped Janine, then Sandra took the reins of our horses and Tammy took the reins of the two that our two guests had ridden.

“We'll handle getting the horses settled and unpacking the saddlebags.” Tammy said.

I shook my head. “You need me to help with the unpacking, considering how much there is.”

Sandra looked from me to Tammy and then at the things the horses were carrying. “Actually, he's right. Even if we grab a couple of those cart thingies, it's going to take more than a few trips to get all of this upstairs.”

Tammy's eyes did the same movements and realized how much we had managed to bring with us. “If we're unpacking, who's going to show Jenkins and Janine where they're staying?”

“Hey, I did it the last time. Sandra can play host this time.” I said with a chuckle.

Sandra softly laughed and handed me the reins. “I'll be quick and then I'll come back down to bring over the cart thingies.”

“They're luggage carts.” I said and gave her a quick kiss.

Sandra took Janine and Jenkins by the arms and led them out of the stable and across the lobby to the elevator. It dinged when she pushed the button to call the elevator and the doors opened right away.

“You have power, too?” Jenkins asked, surprised.

Tammy and I exchanged amused looks and then started to unburden the horses. We had a lot of work ahead of us and it would keep us busy for a while. The horses made happy sounds as we worked and Sandra entered the stable sometime later with two of the carts and looked like she was muffling her laughter.

“I guess Janine liked the Executive Suite across from the Presidential Suite?” I asked and Sandra laughed loudly.

“She cut the tour short when they reached the bedroom with the king sized bed and pushed Jenkins onto it.” Sandra informed us and we laughed as well, because Sandra had pretty much done the same thing to Tammy when we first brought her into our bedroom.

I started loading Tammy's things onto the first cart. “How long do you think they'll go at it?”

“Janine was almost naked when I left and Jenkins looked shocked she could strip so fast.” Sandra said with a huge smile on her face. “They won't be leaving that room for at least an hour or two.”

The three of us worked and loaded up both carts. Sandra and Tammy complained that I was overstuffing them and I said I'd handle pushing them, since they were going to two different destinations anyway. One to our room and one to Janine's.

Well, it was actually a guest room I had prepared for when guests visited, and now it was going to be a permanent living area. I guess that meant I was going to have to prepare another room for guests, assuming we would even need one. None of us wanted anyone else to find us or where we lived.

That was why I had picked a place so far from everyone else. Travellers would have to go quite far out of their way to even find the place and then would have to search through the town to find the building, which was under wards, charms, and spells to hide and disguise it. Who would want to look through an old burned out ruin of a hotel, anyway? No one.

We didn't see Janine or Jenkins until the next morning when Sandra knocked on their door to ask them if they wanted breakfast. They did and followed her into our suite.

Janine let out a squeal at seeing the more expensive set of rooms we lived in. “IEEE! This one's even better than ours! It's not fair!”

Sandra laughed and hugged her friend. “We've been living here for well over a year and it's our home.” She said and sat Janine at the dining room table. “We're not switching rooms.”

Janine pouted and I placed a plate of pancakes smothered in syrup in front of her, which changed her pout to a happy smile. “Thank you, Eli.”

“I only prepared your room for guests to stay in and it wasn't designed for a permanent tenant. I'll have to claim Jenkins for a few days to open up the wall to the next room to add a kitchen for you.” I explained and put a plate in front of Jenkins.

“Where are you getting the cabinets and appliances?” Jenkins asked and dug into the pancakes.

“I reclaimed and refurbished things from the surrounding area. I had to go all over the place to cut off the natural gas pipelines and found a bunch of stuff to make our home better.” I said and sat down with my own plate. Sandra and Tammy had been served first and were enjoying their food.

“That was smart.” Jenkins said.

“There's a lower chance of being found if the entire area looks like it doesn't have power.” I agreed. “I've even taken to removing any clues that there's anyone at all around, let alone infected.”

Janine paused eating. “How did you do that?” She asked and licked her lips. “These things are delicious, by the way.”

“Thanks.” I said with a chuckle. “My first experiments with my homemade weed-killer were on the other buildings for several blocks.”

Jenkins put his fork down, his food gone. “Is that why everything seemed so old and dry?”

“Despite the snow and cold weather, you mean?” I asked and he nodded. “Yes, that's why. I was even more careful in the early stages of testing, because I didn't want to deny the horses some good grazing areas.”

“We even track the spread of the chemicals after the treatments.” Sandra said and finished her own food. “It's pretty interesting to see the difference between a strong growing vine and the old dried up version that used to be the same vine.”

Tammy and Janine finished eating as well.

“Have you... tried it on...” Jenkins didn't want to say it, so I did.

“On the infected people? Technically.” I said and he gave me an odd look. “You see, they aren't actually infected people. They're dead.”

“Wh-WHAT?” Janine gasped in shock.

“It doesn't take long for the infected host to die and the fungus takes over. It keeps moving the body around, imitating the life it took over, to catch more hosts to infect and take over.” I explained and the others stared at me, as if they couldn't believe it. “Before you ask, this isn't my personal research. I stole it from the resistance labs I raided for supplies.”

“So, they... they really are...” Janine stopped talking and Jenkins put an arm over her shoulders.

“Unfortunately, yes. They really are zombies.” I said with a sigh. “They are only dead bodies being animated to hunt and bite more people to spread the fungus, so they in turn can hunt down and bite more hosts, and so on and so on.”

“Eli.” Sandra said, her frown letting me know I went a little too far in explaining things.

I had to fix that quickly. “But, none of us have to worry about that here. I've cleared out the surrounding eight blocks of all fungus related growths and infections.”

Both Jenkins and Janine sucked in sharp breaths at that declaration.

“B-but... we saw...” Janine started to say everything was still covered in vines and growths.

“It's all fake.” I said, a little proudly. “I couldn't leave the place bare after cleaning everything up. That would have been a huge giveaway that someone was here in the area.”

They just stared at me and looked too stunned to say anything.

“As long as you're careful, you can go on walks and enjoy the outside without worrying about the danger. Just don't go past the clearly marked barriers.” I said and they nodded. I stood up and smiled. “So, who wants to go swimming in the underground pool?”

“Th-the wh-what?” Janine asked.

“It took a lot of work to clean it out, since it was one of the main fungal growths in the area.” I said and they kept staring at me. “It's a really nice pool, too.”

Sandra rolled her eyes at me and stood as well. “Come on, Janine. Tammy and I can show you some of the bikini things Eli came up with for us to wear and you can borrow something.”

The three women left the table and went into the large bedroom and out of sight.

“Who are you?” Jenkins asked, his voice stern.

I answered his question with one of my own. “What do you mean? I'm Eli Williams.”

Jenkins shook his head. “No, that's not what I mean. You do things that don't really make sense and I just chalked it up to your odd personality. Also, the world is weird enough as it is and asking too many questions can usually get you killed.”

I did not joke about him just asking me a question and the possibility of him dying for it.

Jenkins must have seen something on my face because he squinted his eyes at me. “But, you? You're only 15 and can move around like a well-trained SpecOp agent, can work around technology and vehicles like an experienced mechanic, can handle horses and make them into oversized beasts that can lift twice a normal horse's capacity, and you can travel across the country by yourself and survive.”

I wasn't sure how to respond to that to make myself seem less important, knowing that after what happened at the town, he was never going to believe that I wasn't.

“So, Eli. Who are you?” Jenkins asked. “Who are you really?”

Everything slowed down and came to a stop as it all greyed out.

World Paused.
You have reached a minor pivotal point nearing the end of the story and your choice here can change how things progress. Will you chance the truth or will you weave a tale that will distract your only male friend in the world?

Current choices:
Pick an unlocked world to go to.
Pick a new world to go to: Show List ( Current total: 2001)
Resume this world and finish the story.

I read over the options again and debated it, then nodded. I didn't want to move on without finishing this world, considering how things were going. I had two women to take care of now and leaving them to go somewhere else and leaving them behind and our lives unfinished? That just didn't sit right with me.

Resume world option chosen. Unpausing world.

I sat there in front of Jenkins and thought about how to answer, then inspiration struck. It gave me the perfect response and I gave him my best smile. “Me? I'm the protagonist.” I said and motioned around me. “And this? All of this is my story.”

Jenkins sat there, his expression blank. “That's not funny.”

“Sure it is.” I said and chuckled. “All the shit that's been happening to me? It's all part of the story and keeps things interesting, doesn't it?”

Jenkins frowned. “Eli, you can't seriously think...”

“Why not? Aren't we all the protagonists of our own stories?” I asked, cutting him off. “We all believe our own lives are the center of our universes and without us, would there even be a story?”

“The question you need to ask yourself about that is would anyone care about the story without you in it?” Sandra asked and put a hand on my shoulder. “The answer to that, is no. Without you in it, the story doesn't matter.”

I turned to look at her and gasped at the sight of her wearing a slick one piece yellow bathing suit that was almost see-through. My eyes darted to Tammy and she wore a modest bikini that covered more than her normal bra and panties did; and yet, she looked even sexier with how she was displayed.

“He still looks at you like that?” Janine asked, clearly surprised.

“Why wouldn't I?” I asked, not taking my eyes off of my wife and our live-in girlfriend.

“You've been together for...”

“Time is irrelevant.” I said and stood to take Sandra into my arms and then pulled Tammy in to have a three-way hug. “If you love someone, it shouldn't matter how long you've been together.”

“Or how long you've been apart.” Sandra said and kissed Tammy's cheek and then mine. “It should only matter that you're together now.”

“And always.” I added and kissed her, then kissed Tammy. “I'll meet you downstairs at the pool after I grab the beach towels and change into my shorts.”

Both women blushed slightly and let me go. They left the room with Janine, whom Jenkins was staring at, as if he had never seen her before.

“Did... did you see that?” Jenkins asked and motioned at the suite's closing door.

“No, I don't know what Janine was wearing.” I said truthfully, since I hadn't even looked at her, and patted his shoulder. “I'll get you a pair of shorts and you can go hunt her down.”

Jenkins nodded and started to strip off his clothing right there. I chuckled and went to my closet and grabbed two pairs of shorts. I went back out to the living room and tossed him a pair and went into the huge bathroom. I quickly changed and grabbed six towels and went back out to the living room, saw the throw pillows on the couch, and added them to my arms as well.

Jenkins was still too distracted by Janine's display to bother offering to help me and that was fine. He was smitten with her and we left the suite and rode the elevator down to the underground floor. We stepped out and saw three beautiful women that were dripping wet after taking a quick dip into the heated pool. We stood there and stared at them with our mouths hanging open.

“You're right, Tammy. I love seeing that look on a man's face, too.” Janine said and sauntered over to Jenkins, took two of the towels and a pillow from me and handed them to him, and led him over to the side of the pool she had claimed as theirs for the day.

Sandra and Tammy walked over to me, their hips swaying and with smiles on their faces. They led me over to the other side of the pool and set everything out, then proceeded to kiss me passionately for several minutes each. With my mind thoroughly distracted, I completely forgot there was anyone else there and started having fun with my wife and girlfriend.

Our suits were quickly dropped to the floor and then so did we, with me burying my rock hard erection inside Sandra and my tongue inside Tammy, making both women moan with pleasure. We wouldn't go swimming in the pool until two hours later and none of us complained. We had a lot of down and dirty fun during the delay, after all.