Quaranteam - North West Ch. 05

I drove slowly around the workers, out onto the highway and then back around to park on the other side of the trucks, between the workers and our guests from the Band. Erica squeezed my arm as I dismounted, and she quickly followed as Vanessa fell in beside us in her chunky work boots, slim-fit work jeans and long sleeve t-shirt. She looked the part of a construction worker, and even a foreman with the extra notepads and carpenter pencils stuck in her reflective vest pocket.

"Kara," I said by way of greeting.

Kara was glaring at me from behind a bandana tied across her face. Her silky, long black hair was tied back in a thick braid and her warm, tanned skin was mostly covered up by the beige work shirt she was wearing. The other two women were similarly dressed, each one with the Community Center logo for the Rez emblazoned on the left breast of their shirts. The two hulking men stayed in the back, doing their job of glaring at me angrily to an admirable degree.

"Harrison, what the fuck is this?" Kara demanded, gesturing at the work crew and the expanded driveway.

"Well, even though it's none of your business," I said, keeping my voice as even as I could. "This construction is because the Feds are developing my land. All of it."

Kara's eyes went wide, and I could only imagine her jaw going slack behind her bandana mask. She looked around quickly, then up the slope towards my home and back. "You wouldn't," she said.

"I did," I sighed. "I didn't go looking for it, but it was the only reasonable choice."

"Youcan't," she said again, eyes starting to steel over.

"I'm sorry, Harrison," Vanessa interrupted. "Hi, I'm Vanessa Colson, I'm the Site Super right now. Is there something I can do for you, or-?"

"You can stop working immediately," said one of the other women. "This land doesn't belong to the government,or the Blacks. This is tribal land."

Receiving backup, Kara nodded sternly.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Same shit, different year. My Dad almost went bankrupt fighting your lawsuits, and my Grandfather before him. The Band has made my family miserable for generations, and you've lost every single time. The State court declared you have no standing whatsoever over my land."

"Your family hasmurdered our people for generations!" Kara shouted. "You stole this land from us."

"And you've murdered us," I said back. "But there hasn't been a death in eighty years, Kara. Eighty years! And the State recognized the original bill of sale, my great great great Grandfather purchased this land fair and square and youknow it. But this isn't my fucking problem anymore! You want to sue? It's not going to be my Dad, it's not going to be me. You're going to be squaring off against the Feds, so go ahead and have fun with it."

"Fuck you, Harrison," Kara said. "Standing by your murdering family line. You could have made something of yourself, could have made a difference. Righted the past."

"Alright, this is just edging into harassment territory," Vanessa said. "Look, unless you show up here with a legal writ saying we need to halt work, there is no way in hell that I'm stopping work."

"We'll make you stop," the other woman said. "We'll stage a protest, bring in the media. I'll tell everyone who will listen about my grandfather and great uncle and how they are buried in unmarked graves in those woods."

I grimaced, realizing that behind the mask was Feather Callingwood, a long-time activist for all sorts of issues on the local rez and one of the featured 'witnesses' that had been paraded out during the last lawsuit, telling the oral history of her family. "Feather, you can try anything you want," I said. "But I'm telling you, there ain't no unmarked graves up in those hills. Not because there weren't any - I believe you. I believe your grandfather and his brother trespassed, and my great-Grandfather and Grandfather killed them and buried them. But my Grandfather was a spiteful sonofabitch, and he went to some pretty ridiculous lengths to clear out every single body that wasn't a Black. And he's fucking dead and in that ground now, so there's no one to blame except ghosts."

She glared hate at me, and I just shrugged.

Kara was fuming as well, but she held it in better, because as Feather looked about ready to rush at me Kara signalled and one of the big men put himself in front of Feather and after a brief, whispered conversation they went back to the van and inside. Kara then signalled to the others, who hesitated but turned back towards that truck they'd come in, leaving just Kara facing off with me, Vanessa and Erica.

"So what?" Kara asked. "You go off and join the military, and now you just lick the heels of the government?"

"Hardly," I said. "They made me a deal that was too good to refuse, with a stick too big to ignore."

"So you're a sellout, then," she said.

"Sure, Kara," I sighed in exasperation. "I'm a sellout. After six generations, I decided that rather than give in to you I would just blow the whole thing up out of spite. Does that really sound like me?"

"Fuck you, Harrison," Kara said, but I could see the conflict in her eyes. "We'll be back. Feather isn't wrong, we'll protest this thing into the fucking ground. We'll march on Portland. Hell, we'll march on DC if we have to."

Erica snorted, which raised Kara's ire again. "What? What does the white woman have to say about my people and our persecution?"

"Jesus Christ," Erica said. "This isn't a fucking race thing. I'm snorting at the fact that you think you can protest this away. After what I've seen, with the resources I know they are throwing behind this? All I've got to say is 'Good Luck.'"

Kara set her jaw stubbornly, I could tell it even beneath her bandana mask, and turned on her heel and stalked towards the truck. And I wanted to see her go. I really did. But also there was history.

"Kara," I called after her, and she turned back. "Kara, this pandemic is serious business. It's bad. Just... be careful, alright?"

"You think I don't know that, Harrison? All of our community programs have had their funding shut off, and have to operate under the radar because they're technically illegal. We haven't been able to staff our medical clinic for two months; all of our volunteers are worked to the bone in the city even if they did have the time. But if it's as bad as you say, where the hell are your masks? Where's your 'be careful?'"

"All of our workers are being tested frequently," Vanessa said. "Quarantine before they come on-site, and no close contact off of site once they are working."

"Sure," Kara said. "And what about you, Harrison? And who's this, your white whore?"

"Erica is my girlfriend, Kara," I said. "And is living with me. And part of our deal with the Feds was getting into an experimental vaccine program."

Kara's eyes hardened. "Of course it was. Because why offer that chance to the people who actually need it the most?" She stormed off, and I knew it wouldn't be long before I saw her again. Likely with a picket sign.

The Natives reversed and drove off, heading back up the highway towards the reserve.

"Alright, what the fuck was that?" Vanessa asked once the vehicles had travelled around the bend.

"As you could probably tell, there's a long and unsavoury history between my family and the Reserve," I said.

"Don't bury the lede, Harri," Erica said.

"I'm not. There is also history between me and Kara. We... dated in high school. First loves, first- yeah. I didn't care it pissed off my Dad, she didn't care it pissed off her parents either. Then she took this internship for course credit in our senior year with the Elders on the Rez, and I guess they knew about us, and they told her all about the history between my family and the Band. She cried as she broke up with me, but said she couldn't 'betray her people.' It always sounded like brainwashing to me. She ended up becoming a paralegal after college, and I joined the military. Life went on, and I never heard from her until my Dad finally passed. Then she came back around, as a representative of the Band, trying to get me to give up the land despite the legal wins. And for the past five years, maybe every 18 months or so, she's filed lawsuits for one reason or another and they've always gotten tossed out because there's no new evidence or reasoning."

"Fuck me, that explains the whole 'white woman' schtick," Vanessa groaned. "Now I know what you meant by battle armour, Erica."

"I wasn't about to just let her try and walk all over Harrison without showing up," Erica smirked.

Vanessa breathed in deep and then out slowly. "This isn't just going to go away, is it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not likely. I don't know how fast they'll move, but they'll dosomething."

"Fuck," Vanessa said. "Guess I need to make some calls."

"Sorry it's landing on you," I said.

"No, it's really not," Vanessa sighed. "I just know I'm going to get an earful of it anyways. I wish my brother was here, he's negotiated a bunch of contracts for industrial sites with Native groups before."

"I don't think some guaranteed jobs are going to cut it here," I grimaced.

"Yeah, didn't sound like it would," Vanessa nodded. "Alright," she turned to the work crew that had been listening and chatting, their work forgotten. "Shows over, y' bums. Remember those deadline bonuses? You want to hit those or what? You ugly mugs gossip more than a knitting circle after someone announces a divorce, Jesus Fuck!"

Erica gave me a soft smile and took my hand. "You handled that well," she said quietly.

"Thanks," I said. "I wasn't sure how I'd do. Telling her about the Feds could have been my breaking point."

"Well, it wasn't," Erica nodded and pulled me into a hug. "Can you imagine if you told her the details of the vaccine, though? Her head might have popped right off."

"I know," I said, hugging her back. "But that's also what worries me."

* * * * *

By the end of the day the barn was empty, the vehicles were moved into a makeshift parking lot next to the RVs, and the house was sitting with the windows and doors open, everything of any significance piled into the storage containers. More office portables had been moved in, and some of Vanessa's 'Gorilla Crew' had already gotten to work setting them up. Soon there would be a small complex of portable offices to manage the construction site. A tree-clearing crew had also shown up late in the afternoon, starting to walk around with the surveyors, marking out areas where they would start work in the morning.

I sat in the empty living room of the house I'd grown up in, looking out the front windows at a skyline that hadn't changed in thirty years, and then changed all at once in three days.

"Hey," Leo said behind me. He was standing in the kitchen doorway, leaning his hands on either side of the jam. "You OK, buddy?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "I'm fine. Just feels weird."

"I can only imagine," Leo said. He walked over and sat down next to me, offering me a beer he must have brought from the RVs. "You know, Erica and I never lived in a house longer than five years growing up?"

"I didn't," I said. "I know you mentioned moving, but I never put the timeline together."

"It's true. Our Pops was always looking for the better thing. Better house, better job. Better wife, when he got tired of our Mom - not that I fully blame him, the piece of work she was. But this has been the best home I've ever had, living here with you. So thanks," Leo said sincerely, and lifted his beer.

I clinked bottles with him and smiled. "It's been good having you, brother."

"Not your brother yet," he said. "You haven't put a ring on my sister's finger."

"It's been three days, fucker," I laughed.

"Yeah, but you love her," he sighed. "Can't fucking hide that, even when I'm trying not to see it."

"And what about you?" I asked. "You and Danielle are as all over each other as Erica and I. Maybe even more. Did I see your RV rocking in the middle of the afternoon?"

"No," Leo scoffed, then let a smirk slip through. "Maybe."

"You dog," I laughed.

"It's not the same though, I think," Leo said after taking a drink. "Danielle is- Fuck, she's just way out of my league on every level. Physical, mental, ambition, you name it. We fit, and it's awesome,but we're still getting to know each other. You and Erica? You don't need to do that."

"Are you trying to tell me to propose to your sister?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey man, you did say the upside was getting you as a brother-in-law," he grinned. "I'm just trying to get there as quick as I can."

We laughed and chatted as we finished our beers. I made no promises about a ring for Erica - we were in love, sure, but we were also in the wildest honeymoon phase I could think of. 'Hey, the world is ending, and here's a chemical that will save your life but it makes you entirely dependant on the sexual satisfaction of your partner' didn't make for a convincing argument for a long-lasting relationship to me.

Plus there was Ivy to consider, still zonked out in the RV with the imprinting process.

Leo eventually left me to my brooding, teasing me on the way out as only a real friend could, and I wasn't alone five minutes before new footsteps came in behind me and Erica slid to sit down, hugging me from behind.

"Hey," she said, resting her chin on my shoulder and looking out at the sunset with me.

"Hey," I replied.

"I left a note for Ivy in case she wakes up," Erica said. "I knew you'd want to spend one more night here."

"Thanks," I whispered.

We spent the night camped out on the living room floor, nothing between us except a single blanket. We mostly talked, and Erica slipped out twice to grab us beers from the RV. She came back once giggling and scandalized because she'd almost stumbled into Danielle fucking Leo in nearly the same spot on the lawn as we'd been fucking the night before.

And we made love, there on the floor. It was slow and pleasant, and we didn't try to compete with each other. And after I came inside of her, she hummed a tuneless lullaby to me and stroked my hair as I rested my head on her bosom. And then she whispered naughty things to me, and told me if I was going to be fucking our little fuckbuddy in the ass regularly, she was going to need to get her own ass ready for me too - she just needed a few days, if I could wait that long. And all of that led to another session on the floor, and then all too soon we were waking up with the first sliver of light stabbing through the back kitchen window and slicing a beam of light across the house.

We had to dress quickly, since we could already hear the rumble of vehicles on the driveway.

By six o'clock there were already two dozen workers in the area, and by six-thirty an excavator and a bulldozer were being unhitched from the flatbeds that had trucked them in, and three dump trucks were on standby.

"Morning," Vanessa said, trudging toward Erica, Leo, Danielle and I as we stood in front of the RVs.

"Morning," I said. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," Vanessa nodded.

"I'll get it," Erica said, trailing her hand over my shoulder as she dipped back into our RV.

"Not quite the exciting hello I got yesterday," Vanessa commented with a smirk.

"What happened yesterday?" Danielle asked.

Vanessa told her side of the story, putting a blush on Leo's cheeks and making Danielle giggle and bite her tongue cutely. Erica came out most of the way through the story, another steaming travel mug full of coffee. "Two and two, right?"

"How'd you get my coffee order so quick?" Vanessa asked.

"I asked around," Erica smiled. "Feel free to come over whenever you want."

"I appreciate it, and I'll try not to rub it in the Gorilla's faces too much."

We stood, quietly sipping and softly chatting until one of Vanessa's crew came around the building and waved at us. Vanessa turned to me. "Ready? Any last things to do?"

I shook my head. "No, go ahead."

Vanessa waved back, and the guy disappeared.

About five minutes later, a guy came out the back of the house, having done a final check to make sure no one was inside, and radioed to the excavator.

The demolition didn't take as long as I thought it would. Chomp by chomp, the house started to dissolve, collapsing in on itself.

"Erica?" Ivy asked. "Harrison?" She was dressed, thank God, and wasn't pulling a Danielle.

"Hey, honey," Erica said, leaving me to go whisper with Ivy on the steps of the RV where she was poking her head out. I turned back to watch my childhood continue to disappear.

Then I had Ivy hugging me from the side, and Erica slid in on the other and hugged my arm, resting her cheek on my shoulder. I put my arm around Ivy, thankful that even if everything was changing, at least some of the changes were turning out to be silver linings.

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Thanks for reading! Votes are appreciated, and comments are even better.

Quaranteam: North West is an ongoing series that will continue to see updates moving forward. If you have enjoyed the series so far, definitely make sure to check out CorruptingPowers main series and other spinoffs. For similar Harem-y themes, you might want to check out my other series currently releasing.

Cheers!

~Break.

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