Dead Time Book I

By Jeff Brown

At the onset of the zombie apocalypse, a small group survives the initial onslaught with the help of a friend from the future. They follow his plan and make their way across the country, protecting the person they are told has the solution to the zombie plague.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365441134

Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown created the beloved character of Flat Stanley as a bedtime story for his sons. He has written other outrageous books about the Lambchop family, including Flat Stanley, Stanley and the Magic Lamp, Invisible Stanley, Stanley’s Christmas Adventure, Stanley in Space, and Stanley, Flat Again! You can learn more about Jeff Brown and Flat Stanley at www.flatstanleybooks.com.

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Dead Time Book I

DEAD

TIME

A Novel

By

Jeff Brown

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents

either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any

resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is

entirely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-1-365-44113-4

Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Brown

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions

thereof in any form whatsoever. For information contact Jeff Brown c/o My Lair Workshop, 106 North St. Enterprise, MS 39330

First publication September 2016

This one is for those gracious few that never

stopped believing in me or in the power

of the written word.

Kim Chancelor

Memory Cook

Lynn Sattesahn

Tim Dunaway

Sydney Woodson

Jamie Adams

Magan McClellan

Timothy Rochel

Melissa Green

Ben Boyd

Chelsea Price

Michael D. Graves

Scott McGehee

Jacob Rosenthal

Theresa Smith

Wendy Mader

Catherine Farrell-Kelly

Fran DeRosier

Sue Dieckhoff

Stephen Simpson

Eldon Blalock

Tisha Rushing

Larissa Hegwood

Judy Zundel

Doran Ingersoll

Johanna Gremillion

CHAPTER ONE

It was nearly midnight when I finally arrived at the party that I’d helped pay for. I

parked my car, an older model blue Toyota hatchback, in a space facing the wide field

across the wide gravel lane from the massive house we’d rented for the weekend, stopping

between a pristine black Mercedes sedan and a battered old Ford pickup.

The Mercedes, I knew, belonged to Rene Sawyer, daughter of the most prominent

businessman in the county. She’d received the car just a few months earlier as a Christmas

present and a replacement for the BMW she’d driven for a little less than a year before that.

It must have been nice.

The pickup, a rapidly fading dull yellow showing large spots of rust and a mismatched

red tailgate, was the property of Brad Porter, possibly the heaviest drinker that had been

invited to the party, but he had been told to bring his own, that we weren’t providing alcohol

for him. It didn’t really take that much for him to get drunk, but he just didn’t know when to

stop. He would drink until he threw up then drink until he threw up again. He kept going until

he finally passed out in a place that was usually inappropriate and inconvenient.

As I parked, just before turning off the headlights, I saw movement in the wide field

in front of me. I turned off the lights and shut off the engine then sat there a few moments to

let my eyes adjust to the darkness. There was plenty of light coming from behind me and

that didn’t help. The house was so brightly lit that the figures in the field were almost

perfectly visible. I shook my head and climbed out of the car for a better look, just to make

sure.

There were four of them, less than forty yards away, just before the tree line at the

other side of the field. They weren’t the brightest people I’d ever met and most likely thought

that they couldn’t be seen from the house and the parking area in front of it.

The first one I recognized was Alison Weeks. She was the tallest of the two girls and

the one with blond hair. She had it pulled into a ponytail to keep it out of the way as she

knelt in front of a guy that I assumed was Jake Reynolds. She’d been after him for quite a

while and there was no better opportunity than the night after the jazz band concert. I could

tell by the seeming glow of her pale skin that she was naked. She was facing away from me

and in the bit of moonlight that reached the field her ass looked much like a smaller version

of the moon itself, but with a large crack running through it. She knelt in front of Jake and

her head bobbed back and forth, the ponytail slapping against the middle of her back with

each rapid motion.

I shook my head and started to turn away, but she chose that moment to stand up

and face me. I watched a few seconds longer as she bent over and Jake took her from

behind.

A few yards to my right were two more people. Tammy Nichols was Alison’s best

friend and constant cohort. They did practically everything together and it was no surprise to

see them side by side. She was on her hands and knees, her profile toward me. Her slim

form and the mass of curly, dark hair that she held away from her face with one hand were

the things that let me identify her. I assumed the guy behind her was Stan Martin. They were

both singers in the jazz band and she’d been chasing him around all week. Tammy was

notorious for chasing a guy until she finally got what she wanted. Then she would move on

like it had been nothing. Thankfully, she had never had such an interest in me.

I didn’t waste any more time watching their activities. I had no interest in their sex

lives. In fact, I knew way too much about them. My position with the band involved mostly

stage sets, sound, and lighting. Alison, Tammy, and one of their gay friends, one that hadn’t

been invited o the party, had taken on the roles of set decorators. While they were on the

stage painting and building, they talked incessantly. And most of their conversation revolved

around their sex lives.

I knew more than enough about those two and turned away after just a moment then

started toward the house.

It was a massive two-story construction with multiple bedrooms and plenty of party

room. It was near the center of the Parker Winston State Park located just under ten miles

outside the city limits of McLain, Mississippi in an area that was well away from the

campgrounds and other rental houses and cabins in the park, the most isolated location

available. We’d chosen it for that reason and for its size. Several of us had pooled our resources to rent it and we had each reserved a bedroom for the duration. Anyone else that

wanted to stay overnight would be granted permission at our discretion. I really didn’t worry

about anyone else or care who spent the night. I just wanted to make sure I had a place to

crash at the end of the night, which looked like it would end up being closer to sunrise than

I’d planned.

I squinted as the harsh lights from the house hit my eyes. They were way too bright

after trying to stare at naked people in the dark, but my eyes adjusted quickly. I didn’t plan

on spending much time in the darkness anyway. I just wanted was to get inside, have quite a

few drinks, and see if I could find a girl to spend the night with. I had a few candidates in

mind, a few that I’d grown to know over the past several months. But there was one girl that

had been rather elusive and was one of the few that I really hadn’t spent much time with. I

would count the night a success if I just managed to talk to her before the party was over. I

actually doubted she would be there. I knew she’d been invited, but I’d never heard anything

about her response.

My eyes began to adjust after a few steps and my heavy shoes crunched gravel with

each step toward the front of the house. I looked up and saw a few people standing on the

wide front porch. All of them were smoking. The house had a no smoking inside policy and

we would lose our deposit if that happened. We’d made sure that everyone knew the policy

and would take their smoking outside.

I recognized one of them and he smiled his goofy, almost maniacal, little grin as I

walked toward the steps leading to the porch. Jason Anderson was the band’s drummer and

the one of the heaviest drinkers I’d ever seen, second only to Brad Porter. Jason was almost

always at some level of intoxication, but he never really lost control. We’d been friends for

quite a while and played together as often as possible. I played guitar, but I didn’t play in the

school jazz band. It wasn’t my kind of music.

I was actually the oldest student affiliated with the band at that time. I was twenty-four

years old and had been at the school for three years. I’d spent three years after high

school traveling and working, but that’s a very different, very boring story. Jason was

finishing his fourth year and he had started immediately after graduating high school. We’d

met at the end of the first day of band camp my first year, went to his house for beer, and

we’d been friends ever since.

About time, you bastard, he said with a snicker that caused his head to bounce

slightly as I mounted the steps. There’s a bunch of crazy shit going on.

I nodded and stopped beside him then said, "Yeah, I know. I was just watching some

of it."

He chuckled and pointed toward the field with the lit cigarette in his right hand, Yeah, we’ve been kinda watching them, too.

He shook his head slowly, Crazy shit.

Jason was a couple of inches shorter than me, and I stood just an inch over six feet

tall. His hair was a medium shade of brown, a bit darker than my own, and he had sea green

eyes where mine were slate gray. He wore a dark brown t-shirt with the logo of one of his

favorite bands emblazoned across the front in dark colors and faded jeans that were

tattered at the hem of each leg with a couple of stylish rips at the knees. I wore a plain black

t-shirt and black jeans, the same thing I’d worn to work the show earlier that evening, typical

stuff for a stage hand. I had decided not to go home and change, preferring to spend as

much time as I could at the party.

I decided it was then time to go inside and see just how much craziness was going on

in there. Jason assured me he would be in after another cigarette. He would need another

beer by then as well.

I left him and the two guys that were standing at the other end of the porch, two that I

had never seen before, and went inside.

The front door opened on the massive living room and it was nearly filled with people,

most of which I didn’t know. There were a few that I did know and they weren’t doing

anything that I wouldn’t have expected. I didn’t see enough wild stuff there and figured the

back deck would be the better place for those things to happen.

As I entered, I was first struck by the intense volume of the stereo that sat on a

wooden stand in a corner of the room. I carefully navigated my way through the living room,

walking carefully around the widely spaced furniture and small clusters of bodies, past the

reeling drunk people and avoiding the people that were trying to convince anyone that would

listen just how important they were. I finally made it into the kitchen and it was there that I

witnessed the first real bit of craziness. It restored my faith in the ability of my friends to hold

an insane party.

Jennifer Kelly stood in the kitchen at the refrigerator, holding the door open and

leaning over into it as if looking for something specific inside. It would have seemed like a

normal, typical party scene if she had not been standing there wearing nothing but a pair of

socks. I hadn’t quite expected that of her. She had always seemed rather conservative to

me, but a good party and enough alcohol could cause people to do things that they would never do in any other situation.

Jennifer was fairly tall and lean, extremely attractive, with a shock of shoulder length

pale blond hair and wide-set eyes that were as blue as a clear summer sky. The pale flesh of

her rather large breasts stood out in the light cast from the small bulb inside the refrigerator,

her nipples erect as the cold air from the refrigerator wafted over her skin, but it didn’t

appear to bother her at all. I guess she was too drunk to feel it. I stared at her for a long

moment then took another step into the room.

What are you looking for? I asked calmly.

Without looking up, she said, "I can’t find my clothes and I thought they might be in

here."

I shook my head and moved a little closer.

Jennifer, I said even more calmly. "I don’t think you left your clothes in the

refrigerator. Where were you before you came in here?"

She stood up straight and turned to face me. She placed her arms on shoulders and

leaned forward, her breasts resting against my chest as she looked up at me and said, "I

was upstairs in one of the rooms."

I nodded and took her hands in mine, Come on. Let’s go see if we can find them.

Her long fingers intertwined with mine and she stood up, wobbling only slightly. I let

go of her right hand, shifted my left to her left, and placed my right arm around her

shoulders, I led her toward the back staircase. She walked slowly and staggered after just a

few steps. I slid my arm from her shoulder to her waist, pulling her closer to me. She was

way too drunk to try walking and I didn’t want her to fall and injure herself. She relaxed a

little as she leaned against me then pulled her left hand free of my grasp and draped her

arm around my shoulders, resting her head against my shoulder. With her weight against

me, I felt the weight of her breast through the thin material of my t-shirt. It felt rather good,

but I wasn’t interested in Jennifer. She was a friend and she’d turned eighteen barely a

month earlier. She had graduated high school a year early and had almost finished her first

year of college. She was a smart girl, but could be quite ditzy at times.

We left the kitchen through a second door and entered a wide, short hallway. There

was a set of double doors at the end the hall that led to the deck and I could see the

shadowy shapes of people moving around outside as I looked through the small panes of

glass set into the door. The rear staircase was just to the left of those double doors and I

hoped we could make it to the stairs before anyone saw us together, especially that one girl I

hoped to spend a little time with that night.

We stepped out into the hallway, walking sideways through the narrow kitchen door,

and faced another door in the hall, the first floor bathroom. There was also a small bedroom

behind the kitchen that someone would be using that night, but I didn’t know who had

ended up with that one. I walked slowly, trying to keep her as steady as I could and finally

neared the back door. I angled toward the stairs, but Jennifer saw the activity outside and

tried walking toward the door.

Maybe I left them on the deck, she said distantly.

I don’t think so, I countered and pulled her toward the stairs. "Let’s try upstairs

first."

She nodded, smiled, and let me guide her. I tightened my grip on her waist, my

fingers sinking as gently as possible into her soft flesh, and looked down at her as she did

her best to place her feet properly on the stairs. Each step seemed to take forever. I started

to feel a little frustration and almost just picked her up and carried her the rest of the way,

but I really didn’t want to take the chance that I might be seen. Most everyone knew that

Jennifer and I were friends, but the wrong person seeing us might give them the wrong idea.

I wasn’t taking Jennifer upstairs to have sex with her and I didn’t want any rumors to get

started. I was just trying to help, so I held onto her and let her walk at her own pace.

The stairs curved slightly to the left and she leaned more against me. She reached

for me with her right arm, looking up at me and smiling. That caused her to turn toward me

and both her breasts then pressed against my side. That caused me to stagger to the left

slightly, but I held on and kept her moving forward. It was tedious, but we finally reached the

upper floor and there were a couple of people standing in the wide hallway that I hadn’t

expected to be at the party. I had hoped to find Jennifer’s clothing without being seen, but

that was out the window as soon as those two girls looked in our direction.

Lora Carr and Kim Stone, both dancers and part of the show, stood outside a door on

the left side of the hallway, appearing sort of anxious about something.

As stage manager for the production, it had been my responsibility to make sure that

people were ready to enter the stage at the appropriate time. That meant I had free reign to

enter dressing rooms to announce their upcoming entry and to make sure they were ready.

The night before, I’d gone into the dancers’ dressing room to let them know that their performance time was approaching and found Lora still in the process of getting dressed,

wearing only a tiny blue thong. She had an amazing, compact, perfectly proportional body and hadn’t seemed at all embarrassed by my presence or with her state of undress. She was fairly

short, just a few inches over five feet tall, with thick, luxurious brown hair that fell to just past

her shoulders.

Her best friend, Kim Stone, was a few inches taller with shorter, darker hair and fairly

small features, narrow hazel eyes, and narrow hips. She was definitely attractive, but not

quite as attractive as Lora.

They were standing outside one of the doors along the hallway and just happened to

be looking toward the stairwell as Jennifer and I walked up. Lora’s eyes grew wide as Jennifer and I stepped onto the carpeted hallway. Lora took a step toward me, her eyes opening wide.

I need your help, she said anxiously, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet

and casting a cursory glance at Jennifer.

Give me a minute, I said and cut my eyes toward Jennifer.

Oh, she said. Sorry.

I shook my head, realizing that Lora thought I was taking Jennifer to one of the upstairs bedrooms to have sex.

She can’t find her clothes, I said quickly, not wanting to give Lora the wrong idea. Give me a minute to help her then I’ll help you.

Okay, Lora said with a nod. Just, please, as quick as you can.

I nodded and walked Jennifer to the last door on the right, just beside the door that led to the small room adjacent to the balcony. The doors to both rooms were open and I took her into the larger bedroom, the one that I had reserved for the night. I walked her to the bed, sat her down, and stood up. She immediately fell back on the bed, her arms falling straight out at her sides and her legs spreading slightly. I looked at her for a second, to make sure she wasn’t going to get sick, then turned away and began the search.

I started with that room, but it was clear. I next went to the door opposite the one Lora and Kim stood in front of. It was a closet and a quick inspection revealed nothing more than a broom and a mop. I closed the door and we moved on. I glanced at Lora and Kim, thinking there may be something in the room behind them.

Lora shook her head and said, Bathroom. This guy’s been in there for half an hour.

I nodded and moved on to the next door. It was bedroom and it was occupied. The two people on the bed, limbs entangled, didn’t notice my entry or my search. They were almost completely hidden by the bed’s covers and I couldn’t identify either of them. I looked around the room quickly, as quietly as I could, and saw a pile of clothes on the floor on the other side of the bed. The two on the bed seemed to have shed their clothes on the bed itself and the pile on the floor looked like it would belong to Jennifer. If not, she would at least have something to wear and someone else would have to worry about walking around naked.

I gathered up the clothing and moved back to the hallway.

Lora and Kim still stood outside the door, now to my left. I held up a finger to indicate

that I would be with them in just a minute then walked into the room where I’d left Jennifer.

She had moved her arms. Her left hand was clamped to her left breast and her right

was resting between her thighs. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open wide as she

moaned lightly.

I took a deep breath and walked over to her. Her breath came in sharp hitches and with each intake, her breasts bounced lightly. I stood there a second then shook my head and spoke her name. She didn’t respond and I took a deep breath, growing frustrated with the situation. I reached down, grasped her right wrist, and gently pulled the hand from between her legs. She gasped as I did so and looked at me angrily.

Put your clothes on and maybe you’ll find a guy to give you what you want.

She didn’t say anything, just slowly sat up. I held out the clothing to her and she began sorting through it. She quickly discarded the bra and panties, choosing instead to wear just the shorts and sleeveless white shirt. She also refused to put on the shoes. It was close enough for me. She sat back on the bed, flashed me a brief smile, then fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes. I watched her for a moment to make sure she wasn’t going to get up and start running around then I quietly left the room and returned to Lora and Kim to see how I could help them.

The night was already turning into a series of mercy missions and I really didn’t want

that. I had always been the one others came to with their problems and I always listened, always tried to help, but it had never done me any good.

CHAPTER TWO

Lora and Kim waited anxiously but patiently at the door to the bathroom. They both stood with their legs clenched tightly together and their hands clasped together in front of them. I figured they really needed to go to the bathroom and I wondered for a second why they hadn’t gone downstairs and used the one beside the kitchen. Then it dawned on me that they most likely didn’t know anything about the house’s layout.

I had only been upstairs twice before, once when we’d first checked out the house and the day before when we’d been moving our stuff in to set up for the party. I had only taken a brief look into a couple of the rooms, bedrooms, when I’d been deciding which one would be mine. I didn’t know what was beyond the door they stood in front of, but I first assumed it was a bedroom and there was a guy in there that Lora didn’t really want to deal with. I didn’t know why they were so desperate to get in there since they hadn’t chipped in for the rental and would only be staying if they were invited by someone that had.

I walked over to them and Lora heaved a sigh of relief. She stepped quickly away

from the door and looked at me, almost smiling.

Please, she said with a plaintive quality to her voice. "Get him out of there. I really

need to go."

Okay, I said and reached for the door knob.

I had been expecting it to be locked and have to either knock on it until the occupant of the room decided to open it or somehow break into it. Fortunately, it was unlocked. The knob turned smoothly in my hand and I pushed the door open. As I looked inside the room, I realized why Lora was so anxious to get inside. It was the upstairs bathroom. I then recalled her mentioning that fact, but I’d been too consumed with trying to settle Jennifer’s dilemma to really pay attention to what she’d said.

The first thing I saw was the toilet. The tank at the back of it had a small crack at one corner and a thin rivulet of water slowly seeped along its side. A small wooden rack that held a small stack of hand towels rested on top of the toilet but was slightly off kilter. It leaned to the right. I frowned, not seeing anyone, then looked to my right, past the door. The large bathtub, beige plastic, was completely visible. Then I saw the shower curtain and rod lying in the tub, the plastic rings scattered around the floor, and the clear plastic knobs for the water controls lying on top of the curtain. I took a deep breath, not believing that someone would do something like that.

Then I saw the person Lora wanted out of the room. He was seated on the floor behind the door with his eyes closed and his head leaning against the edge of the bathtub. It was Brad Porter.

His legs were slightly spread and a thin line of darker cloth ran down each leg of his pale gray sweat pants, creating a nearly perfect V formation. He had pissed himself.

I shook my head and nudged his battered and filthy tennis shoes with my foot. His eyes flew open, but he couldn’t quite focus on anything just yet.

What is it? he asked quickly, his speech drunkenly slurred.

Get up, I said rather harshly. Other people need to get in here.

Huh? he said and looked around, those his eyelids had dropped to half-mast.

I shook my head and grabbed him by the arms. I pulled him roughly to his feet and held him there. I didn’t think he would be able to stand on his own. I started to turn him and lead him out of the room, but he pulled away from me and staggered out the door. I heard Lora gasp and I walked out behind him. He turned around as Lora and Kim started giggling.

They had noticed the twin wet streaks in his pants and laughed as he staggered away toward the stairs. I smirked and took a step back. He was now someone else’s problem. I looked at Lora and stepped out of the doorway.

There you go, I said and took a step toward the stairs.

She grabbed my arm and I stopped. I looked at her as she looked up at me with an extremely innocent expression on her face.

I need you to stay here and protect me, she said. "I don’t think the lock on that door

works."

I nodded and relaxed slightly. I began to move back toward the room and said, I’ll stand guard.

She shook her head and pulled me into the bathroom with her and Kim.

Before I could react, she closed the door and pushed me back against it. Her look of innocence was gone and a nearly feral expression had replaced it. She smiled wickedly as she reached around me and fumbled with the door knob. After a second, I heard the click of the lock being engaged.

Lora, I said and shook my head, taking a step back. What are you doing?

It’s okay, she said. We’ve been kind of waiting for you. I’m just glad that you weren’t trying to hook up with Jennifer.

I took a deep breath and waited. I was almost certain she would start laughing and tell me it was all a joke, but that didn’t happen. She stood up straight and kicked off her shoes. As she started unbuttoning her shirt, she said, I’ve been wanting for this for a long time.

I was shocked into immobility. I had never expected anything like that and I wasn’t sure how to respond. Lora moved to the center of the room and continued undressing.

Within just a couple of moments, she stood there completely naked and looked up at me

with fire in her eyes. Of course, being a completely heterosexual male, it was impossible for me to do anything other than look at her body. It was as perfect as I could have imagined with absolutely no tan lines at all. She was a perfect bronze goddess.

Then I glanced at Kim. She had taken a position sitting on the edge of the tub, holding her knees tightly together. She looked up at me and smiled, her thin lips stretching to reveal her gleaming white teeth.

What about Kim? I asked as Lora dropped her black lace panties on the floor and faced me.

She glanced at her best friend and shrugged, We’ll see what happens when I’m done with you.

Kim nodded and I relaxed, just letting it happen. Lora advanced on me and I let her undress me as well.

I hadn’t expected anything like that to happen. As amazing as Lora’s body was, her skills were even more amazing. I let her take control and do what she wanted, and she did everything I had ever imagined a woman doing to me and she did it without complaint. The situation was completely her idea.

At one point, as I lay on my back with Lora atop me, I looked over at Kim. She still sat on the edge of the tub, but she had unzipped her jeans and had shoved her right hand into them.

I don’t know exactly how long we were in there, but it hadn’t been long enough. She finished what she wanted to do then stood up and began dressing.

As I stood up and started dressing, I looked over at Kim. She had apparently finished what she’d been doing as well and had straightened her clothing. She sat there with an intensely satisfied look on her face.

Now what about Kim? I asked.

Lora, leaning over to pick up her jeans, looked back at me and said, She’s fine. She got what she wanted.

Then, seeming almost as an afterthought, she tossed me her panties and said, Keep these as a souvenir.

It had been a long time since I’d even considered the idea of collecting panties as a sign of conquest, but it was apparently something important for her. As I started to dress, she opened the door and walked out, leaving the door open. I was standing there with my underwear in my hands. Kim then stood and walked past me, running her hand across my crotch as she did. I thought it a little strange that she didn’t want to go any farther. I wouldn’t have turned her down, but she apparently preferred to just watch.

Then she stopped and faced me. I wasn’t quite ready for another round, but I would’ve given it my best. She gave me a gentle squeeze then she kissed me and pulled my right hand to her left breast. I gave it a gentle massage and she released me after just a few seconds. Without a word, she turned and left the room. I shook my head in disbelief and quickly dressed before anyone else walked by. Finally, before I left the room, I wadded the panties Lora had given me and stuffed them into a pocket of my jeans.

I checked my hair in the mirror over the sink beside the toilet then left the room and returned to the first floor. While I’d been in the bathroom with Lora, someone had changed the music on the stereo in the living room and turned it up. The music blasted through the room and was too much for me at the moment. I had no problem with loud music. I frequently attended concerts and tried to get as close to the stage as I could, but after three long nights of lengthy performances with an overly loud sound system, I was ready for a little quiet, at least musically.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and considered going into the living room to join the festivities, but quickly decided against it. I wanted a little quiet and I figured my best chance of that would be on the rear deck.

First, though, I went in the kitchen to finally get my first drink of the night. As I reached the door and started to open it, I paused and hoped that Jennifer was still upstairs and wouldn’t be standing naked at the refrigerator again looking for her clothes.

I pushed the door open and walked inside. The room wasn’t quite empty, but the guy that stood there beside the gleaming white refrigerator was at least completely clothed. His name was Brent Norris and that was pretty much all I knew. I had seen him around campus, but had never spoken to him. I didn’t think he knew anything about me and I had no idea who had invited him to the party, but I knew that hadn’t contributed in the rent for the place. He didn’t say anything to me then, either. He gave me one disparaging look then walked out of the room, back into the living room. The heels of his well-worn cowboy boots clicking on the tile floor as she swaggered through the door. I shook my head and went to the fridge. I pulled out a can of beer and started for the deck.

Outside was more insanity, but just the type of insanity I’d been looking for when I’d first arrived.

The deck was huge. It stretched the entire width of the house, nearly a hundred feet long, and was at least forty feet wide. The wide planks of treated wood were close together, looking almost like the tongue-and-groove wood of typical house flooring. A waist-high railing extended around the perimeter with the exception of two wide sets of steps at each end that led to the open yard behind the house. Lighting fixtures mounted at regular intervals under the eaves of the gabled roof cast bright illumination on the deck and just a few yards beyond the deck.

At that moment, the deck wasn’t too crowded, but there were enough people there to identify it as a real party and to offer a little entertainment for me.

A few people were clustered near the center beside the rail, some seated in the high-backed wooden chairs that had been left with the few tables spaced around the area and some sat on the rail. They all had drinks in their hands and they were ignoring the other things going on around them.

To my right, near the edge of the deck, four people sat around one of the tables, two guys and two girls. The guys had their backs to me and I didn’t immediately recognize them, but I did recognize the two girls that faced me. One was Natalie Cooper, a rather short girl with shoulder-length, perfectly straight, jet black hair, a darkly tanned complexion, wide brown eyes, and fairly large breasts. She typically wore low-cut tops and revealed a good bit of cleavage, but that was nothing compared to what I saw when I looked at her that night.

The other girl, seated beside Natalie, was Rene Sawyer, the owner of the Mercedes I’d seem parked beside. I couldn’t believe that Rene, the girl that most considered to be one of the biggest prudes on campus, was sitting there and participating in the game I was seeing.

The two guys were Cody Reed and Jimmy Taylor. I recognized them as I moved closer to the side of the deck. Cody Reed was a tall, skinny, rather obnoxious guy that somehow managed to get the best-looking girls in the most compromising situations, but he never got anywhere with them. The other was Jimmy Taylor, one of the guys that worked with me in setting up the stage and running the show. He was a little shorter than Cody with darker hair and small wire-framed glasses.

All four of them were completely naked. Rene sat there slowly shuffling the cards. Each had a beer can beside them and there were several more, obviously empty, on the floor around them.

It amazed me that no one else was watching this spectacle and I wasn’t going to miss a moment of it trying to get someone else to view it with me. I moved to my right and leaned back against the wall, slowly sipping my beer as the game began to unfold.

Natalie then leaned slightly forward, her large, breasts pressing against the edge of the glass-topped table, and she said, Okay, guys. Last hand and here’s what we’re going to do.

The guys looked at her, their eyes wide. Rene continued to shuffle as Natalie continued, The loser has to do the one beside them.

Cody leaned forward and asked, What do you mean?

Natalie grinned and said, If I lose, I’ll go down on Rene and you guys get to watch.

Same here, Rene nodded toward Natalie and said. If I lose, I go down on her.

Jimmy shook his head, But if one of us loses…?

Natalie’s grin faded slightly and she said, If you lose, you go down on Cody and we get to watch. And we may have a little fun after that.

Okay, Cody said quickly.

Jimmy gaped at Cody and shook his head, Uh-uh. No way.

Rene looked at him, still shuffling slowly, and said, If you don’t agree to it, we’ll get dressed right now and go find someone that wants to have some fun with us.

I knew that Jimmy had the hugest crush in the world on Rene and would do just about anything to get closer to her, or to keep her from going to someone else. He finally nodded and agreed to the terms.

Rene began dealing and said, Standard rules.

I’d thought they were playing poker, but as the hand started I saw that they were playing blackjack. Rene dealt each of them a card, face up, then looked around.

I could see the cards from my vantage point. Natalie had been dealt a four of clubs. Cody had an eight of hearts, Jimmy a seven of clubs, and Rene a nine of diamonds.

The next round was face down. Each of them lifted a corner of that card and looked at it. Natalie nodded and said, Hit me.

Rene dealt her another card. She looked at it carefully then nodded, Stay.

Rene looked at Cody. He said, Hit me.

Rene tossed a card face down. He lifted the edge, looked at it, then said, Another.

She dropped another card in front of him. He looked at it and sat back as he said, Done.

Jimmy looked at his cards for a long moment then finally said, Hit me.

Rene placed a card on the table and slid it slowly toward him. Jimmy reached out to take the card and their fingers brushed briefly. Rene quickly pulled her hand back and Jimmy pulled the card closer to him.

I saw the expression on Rene’s face change at the moment of contact. She had been seeing it as just another game, but the consequences had suddenly struck home with her. She looked like she didn’t want to follow through with what they’d just agreed on, but she kept going.

Jimmy looked at his card, frowned then nodded slowly and said, One more.

Rene pulled one from the top of the deck and dropped it in front of him. He took it and looked at it then shook his head.

Rene looked at her cards again and said, I’ll stay.

Natalie picked up her cards and smiled, Okay. Let’s see what you’ve got.

Cody looked at her and said, You first.

She spread her cards on the table. To go with the eight, she had a seven of spades and a jack of diamonds, a total of twenty-one. She smiled and said, Blackjack.

Cody and Jimmy groaned as Rene smiled.

Cody shook his head and slowly turned his over. He had the eight of hearts and had added a five of clubs, two of hearts, and a nine of spades. His total was twenty-four.

Jimmy groaned and turned his over, flipping them quickly and sitting back. He had the seven, a three of hearts, four of spades, and eight of diamonds. His total was twenty-two.

Rene was next and flipped her two cards over. The nine of diamonds and ten of clubs

totaled nineteen. Cody had the losing hand.

Natalie looked at him, grinned, and said, Go for it.

They sat there in silence for a moment then Cody looked at Jimmy and said, Sorry, man. We agreed.

Jimmy shook his head and snarled as Cody pulled his chair back and leaned over toward him.

I couldn’t watch any more. I really didn’t want to see that.

I turned away and glanced to my left. I looked at the hot tub set into