John spent most of his time laying corrugated iron on the framework and welding it in place. He prepared meals at his leisure, but seldom took more than an hour or so away from the work of building the silo to his satisfaction.
  One of the tasks he placed priority on, was building a workshop on the second level down. Once the floor was in place he moved the woodworking tools he had purchased onto the level. Once the shop was set up, the job of cutting and fitting fixtures for the other levels was streamlined greatly.
  Four bales of hay purchased from a farm on main road leading by the silo road provided him with a rudimentary firing range. Once a day he'd practice his shooting. Wearing an old set of headphones because he'd forgotten to purchase hearing protection. He got pretty good with the old python. He'd practice swinging to the side and hitting a bulls eye, just for fun.
  He didn't ever expect to have to use the gun. He just did it to give him a break from the monotony of work. It became a daily exercise. After a solid month of this he could hit the bulls eye seven out of ten shots. He gave it up when a slug passed through a bail and ricocheted. It zinged past his head on one side, ricocheted off the curved wall and zinged past his head on the other. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he'd been shooting the higher velocity .357's, instead of the 38's.
  "That's about enough of that shit." he told himself.
  He re-applied himself to the problems of the silo.
  He solved the problem of lowering heavy objects to lower levels through the use of trap doors on each level.
  It was weeks before John cracked the hatch again.
  One day he got a hankering for a drink of scotch, but discovered that he was out. It seemed like as good an excuse as any to go to town.
  John cracked the hatch and emerged from his refuge to find a light skiff of snow coating the world. He squinted at the bright sun reflected off the white landscape and shivered a bit from the cold. A quick trip back inside brought him out again wearing a parka and sunglasses.
  He had to jockey the snowmobile trailer around and unhitch it to free the car, but he should have done that in the first place.
  Finally he was fishtailing down the road into town. It occurred to him that he needed a better winter driving vehicle, but his dollar supply was getting low.
  He was down to a paltry $38,000, and the next years allotment wouldn't come in for months. The absurdity of the thought struck him like a rock. $38,000 was more than he had earned the entire year before.
  When he got to town he bought a whole case of good scotch, and searched around for a good -used four wheel drive.
  He located a fairly nice mid-seventies Toyota Land Cruiser that had a Chevy 350 CID V-8 engine shoe horned into it. He test drove it, but didn't like the gear ratio. He bought it anyway and arranged for a shop in town to install a Chevy 5-speed tranny to match the engine. He lined up several other modifications with several shops and negotiated with each to deliver it to the next one. When he came back into town he would have a deluxe four wheel drive waiting for him.
  It was evening by the time he was through in town. He sought out a good steak dinner and then headed home with his case of scotch and a few bags of groceries.
  John's mind was on his new vehicle as he headed out of town. He was almost to the turn marked only by the lonely single set of tracks leading to the silo when it happened.
  Entirely without warning, there was suddenly somebody waving their arms in front of the car. John slammed on the brakes. The anti-lock kicked in, but even that wasn't enough. He was still traveling faster than a walk when he thumped the body off his fender onto the side of the road.
  John just sat there for a moment and shook.
  Had he killed the hitchhiker?
  There was only one way he could find out. He forced himself out of the car and walked over to the ditch, fearing the worst.
  To his surprise he found it was a girl. The tight jeans told him that much. She was lying face down in the snow, unmoving. He gently rolled her over and found a pretty young face, about 15, eyes closed and unresponsive. A scuff on her forehead from the rock her head had hit. His heart sank.
  A quick check of her pulse sent a wave of relief over him. She was probably okay, but might have a concussion from the way she had landed. He checked all her limbs and found no broken bones. Her hip would probably be bruised real good from where the car had bumped her.
  Why the hell had she done it? He would have stopped for anybody this far out.... What the hell was she doing out here in the middle of nowhere?
  All these questions would have to wait. She may have needed attention right then. If she was worse than he was equipped for at the silo, the drive back into town would be too far anyway.
  Getting her warm was probably the best way to stabilize her until real help could arrive if needed. His silo was the best answer, if for no other reason than to get her out of the elements and get to communications. He mentally vowed to get himself a Cellular phone, even if he never needed it again.
  He carefully picked her up and carried her to the car. He noticed that her clothing and body stank like she had been on the road for a long time. He didn't care. He wasn't about to leave her out in the cold to die.
  John pushed it to the limit all that way back to the silo. He hit the brakes as he triggered the gate closer remote. He climbed out and opened up the hatch. He did his best to carry her inside. From the way the entrance was configured, he ended up using a fireman's carry to get her inside. His hand on her legs to balance her.
  Once inside the elevator he set her down. A quick check of her pulse and a once over in the light told him that she was in no immediate danger.
  He left her propped in the corner of the elevator, then went back out and retrieved his scotch and grocery's and put away the car. He sealed the hatch and then sent the elevator on it's decent to the apartment.
  On the way down he studied her.
  Under a dirty face she seemed to have the vestige of a black eye. It seemed more like a fresh wound rather than an older one. This girl had had a hard time of it.
  The elevator arrived at the apartment level. He picked her up again and was going to put her on the bed when his nose reminded him how much she stank. Instead he carried her to the bathroom and set her down on the toilet.
  She was wearing tennis shoes, tight, worn jeans, an oversized T-shirt and a light jacket. John wished the hell she were awake to wash herself, but he wasn't about to put her in his bed while she smelled that bad.
  Feeling guilty, he began stripping off her clothes. Bruises on her arms looked like they probably came from a strong grip holding her. He had a hell of a time removing her tight jeans.
  When she was dressed in only her sports bra and panties, he drug a resin patio chair into the shower and set her in it. Her skin was cold from exposure.
  Just to be on the safe side he went and dug into his medical kit for a blood pressure cuff. She was okay, but shivered slightly. He adjusted the water to a comfortable temperature and then a bit warm. She needed to get warm fast. He stripped down to his shorts and turned the stream on her. She didn't respond consciously to the water, but seemed to stop shivering a bit.
  John began to soap up her body. She seemed to be quite dirty, probably hadn't bathed for days. He shampooed her hair and finally decided that what she really needed was the hot tub.
  To keep soap out of the hot tub, he stripped off his shorts, then her bra and panties. She had medium-large breasts for her age, but they had bruises on them too. He felt a pang of guilt as he stripped off her panties and saw the small, blonde tuft of pubic hair. His growing member reminded him of how long it had been since he had seen female flesh exposed, let alone flesh as young and firm as this.
  His erection grew as he felt her tender body against him while he carried her to the tub. The hot tub had several seats built into it, which solved the problem of what to do with her. He propped her up in one, and then sat back himself to soak.
  He couldn't help himself as his eyes returned to her nude young body again and again. He half expected her to wake up screaming, but she showed no signs of movement. His erection screamed at him to take advantage of the situation, but he didn't. He just watched her as he let her soak a good twenty minutes. When her face showed a flush from the heat, he finally lifted her out.
  He set her in the resin chair as he carefully toweled her and then himself dry. His erection was as hard as he ever remembered it as he carried her to the bed. He pulled back the blankets and set her in it. Then he sat for a while examining her nude body.
  She appeared to be about fifteen, but could have been anywhere between thirteen and seventeen. Her hair was blonde, cut short. She had blue eyes, which were responsive to light, but with slightly uneven pupils. Her breasts were probably a firm C-cup. Her waist narrow and her hips just starting to reach their full spread. Her small tuft of pubic hair was soft and blonde as well. Her legs were long and sleek. She was lovely, too damn lovely.
  John dug out an oversized T-shirt and pulled it over her, then pulled a pair of his jockey shorts onto her. They were way too large, but the elastic would keep them up. At least she was covered. John put her under the covers and softly kissed her forehead. A little seepage of blood from her forehead prompted him to the first aid kit for some antibiotic ointment and a gauze patch. Once she was doctored he went in search of his scotch.
  He sat back in a terry cloth robe with a Scotch on the rocks and looked at her for a long time.
  Why the hell had she been out there? Why had she jumped in front of the car? Where did her black eye and bruises come from? They would probably explain why she was out there.
  Some asshole had hurt this tender child. What she needed now was help. John decided he would do his best.
  He finished his Scotch and pulled on a pair of Jockey shorts himself before he climbed into bed beside her. He usually slept in the nude, but she might come to in the night and freak out.
  He was painfully aware of her tender body in the bed next to him. His erection didn't subside at all before he slipped into sleep.