When Pauline, Sarah and Ruth walked into the motel many of the girls were napping after the afternoon by the pool. Pauline looked for Pat and give up looking for him after a while. She went to the first room she came to and took a shower. After her shower she fell on the bed exhausted from the tension of the long talk she had with Ruth. She was asleep in a matter of minutes.
Two hours later she got up, got dressed and went down to the lobby. The girls were talking and making plans, such as getting married and buying a house in the country, that Pauline knew would never happen.
Pat walked into the lobby shortly after Pauline did. She motioned for him to follow her outside. They didn't speak until they were out of earshot of the others.
"I had a long talk with Ruth," she said.
"What's her problem?"
Pauline grinned at him, "You're her problem. She realizes that you're the only man around and she wants her share. I would suspect that she has been sexually active and she expects you to be her lover."
"That can't happen Pauline."
Pauline walked into his arms, "It has to happen. Sooner or later you're going to have to bed all of the women of our group. I wouldn't advise making all of them pregnant, or even most of them, but these girls are at their prime sexually and if you don't take care of them we're going to have warfare. Hopefully, some of the girls will demand their share of you later than the others."
"I just can't get used to the idea of being the main man in the lives of three women and twenty girls."
Pauline laughed, "We adults have to stop thinking of the girls as little girls. They're all sixteen or seventeen and each of them is as much of a woman as I am. I shudder to think of the consequences if you don't take care of their needs."
"What about us?" he asked.
"I don't like the idea of this any more than you do but we have to think of what is going to happen if we ignore the needs of everyone. Do you think that I like the idea of you making love to other women?"
"Well, when Ruth becomes a real problem we'll have to deal with her," Pat said.
"Ruth is a problem right now. I talked to her this afternoon and I put off the problem for a little while but the problem is going to surface again and soon. You have to deal with Ruth as soon as possible."
"Why don't you have another talk with her?"
Pauline laughed into his chest, "My God you are one rare man. The talking is over; you have to become her lover. I would suggest that you do it right away."
"But ... I ... really, I don't know..."
"Let's go," Pauline said as she took his hand and began to lead him into the motel.
They walked back into the motel without speaking and Pauline laughed when she saw the sheepish look on his face, "You look like I'm leading you to your execution."
"Go ahead and laugh," he said irately.
Pauline called Ruth over to them, "Ruth we've going to need things for the girls. I think that you and Pat should go to one of the drug stores and get the things that the women are going to need and first aid equipment and over the counter stuff like cough medicine and creams. I'd also get a good stock of cosmetics and snacks. I'd stay away from chocolate because it will melt if we leave it in the truck. Just get the things we'll need for the trip to wherever we're going to settle. We can pick up whatever we decide we'll need when we get to Virginia."
Ruth got a big grin on her face, "Sure."
Pauline handed Pat the keys to one of the pickups, "I don't think that the Escalade is the right vehicle to carry the things you're going to pick up. It's a diesel like the pickups though."
Pat looked at her, "The Cadillac Escalade doesn't come as a diesel."
"This one does," she said, "At least it runs great on diesel fuel."
"Are you sure?"
The three of them walked out to the Escalade. Pat had Pauline pull the hood latch and he raised the hood. He inspected the engine and grinned.
"I heard that some shops were putting the Duramax diesel in these but I've never seen one. This installation is pretty professionally done. I would suspect that the dealer had this done as a draw for his high-end buyers."
"Well, get busy before the things that you're going to pick up become a problem. I'm sure some of the girls are about to run out of whatever they brought with them," Pauline said.
Pat and Ruth got in the truck. He left the motel and began to drive toward the commercial area. As they had been encountering ever since the black hole passed the cars that had wrecked after they became unmanned were a problem and Pat often had to drive on the median, the sidewalks and the lawns to get around them. Many cars had crashed into stores and they often saw small packs of dogs.
Pat pulled into a gun shop, "Ruth, do you know anything about guns?"
"We had guns on the farm and I had my own shotgun. I used to go hunting with my father. He had pistols but I never fired one except as target practice."
"I don't like the looks of the packs of dogs running around. I thought that it would take longer for the dogs to form packs and to start hunting for food," he told her, "I'm going to get some guns and some ammunition. I think it's time to start training everyone in the use of firearms."
They walked into the gun shop and Pat selected several pistols that he knew the girls that were inexperienced with firearms wouldn't have trouble with. He picked up several shotguns and rifles. the gun shop had a good stock of Leupold sights so he picked up the ones that would fit on the rifles that he had loaded in the truck.
After he was satisfied that he had enough ammunition for the firearms they continued to a drug store.
Pat let Ruth pick out what she thought they would need. By the time that she had everything that she felt they needed the pickup was half full. Several times he had to keep her from taking things that they would never need.
Ruth screamed when she saw a rat at the back of the store and that convinced her that they had everything they needed. She dropped what she had in her arms and rushed out of the store ahead of Pat. Pat opened every pack of rat and mouse poison that he could find and scattered it on the floor. He knew that the rats that it would kill were just a drop in the bucket but it would help.
"God, I'm terrified of rats," she said when he got to the truck.
Pat handed her a pistol, "Take this. If I ever see this in your hand when it shouldn't be there I'll beat you within an inch of your life. Guns are for killing. Unless you have to kill a predator that is putting your life in danger that gun shouldn't be in your hand. Never use that gun to kill rats unless they are about to attack you which isn't very likely. If you have to take the gun out and it isn't necessary you will ask my permission first. I'm not trying to be a hard ass I just am trying to make sure that no one is hurt because someone handled a gun unsafely."
Ruth nodded and put the pistol on the seat beside her. Pat put the truck in gear and began to drive. He drove to one of the better sections of the town and came to an area of high-end homes.
All of the homes and a lot of land and all of the homes had a swimming pool. Many of the homes had a sun porch. They occasionally passed a home that had burned because someone had been using fire or a heating devise when they suddenly disappeared.
Pat pulled into one of the long driveways and drove up to the house, "Let's see if there's anything that we can use in this house. While we're here you can try to see if you can get anyone on the phone."