Agenda 21 - 5. Chapter 5 - "Back In The Light Of Morning"

Chapter One: The Culling
(Part Five - "Back In The Light Of Morning")

I could hear their footsteps approaching from above. Milo and Ricky seemed to almost be in a mad rush to ruin my paradise. So I kissed Jordan's indescribably soft lips and got every last bit of joy out of this moment as I could possibly muster before it was over.

"Noah? Jordan? Hey, where'd you guys go?" Came Milo's voice as he felt his way down the dark stairway.

Our kiss increased in intensity as the approaching danger gave us an added thrill. I had never kissed anybody before. Never in my life. There's a part of me that always wanted to find a boy that was...like me. But there was an equal part of my common sense that always figured that it would never happen. What were the odds, you know? And to have that boy be Jordan Chadwick??? I'd have to be some sort of insane lunatic to ever put my faith in something like that being a credible result of wanting it so badly. Things like this just don't happen.

And yet, here we are.

I could feel Jordan trembling gently in my arms. Our chests pressed together, I could feel the excited pounding of his heartbeat. Mixed with the sensation of his staggering breath on the side of my cheek. I'm sure that Jordan was just as much of a kissing virgin as I was, but something about the sensual act came naturally to us. Even when our tongues tenderly collided, and began an involuntary dance all their own.

It was hard to keep my breathing to a minimum. My whole body was surging with an electric pulse that made it hard for me to stand still. I felt incredibly strong and unbelievably weak at the same time. I just closed my eyes and fell into the feeling. Drifting away from the rest of creation, Jordan's fingers interlocked with my own. Soft. He was so soft.

"Noah?" Milo sounded a bit more concerned this time. As if he was lost without me. He tends to panic over some of the tiniest things sometimes. And when he panics, his breath gets short...and the last thing we needed was for him to have a minor asthma attack while we were out here in the outskirts.

But I didn't want to stop. It was almost like I couldn't stop! In fact, I stepped in even closer to Jordan, pressing the back of his shoulders up against a nearby wall and kissed him with even more of a fever than I was before. I felt my hardness straining inside my pants, eager with the promise of getting even more out of this spontaneous gift from God. And as my rigid shaft touched his own for the first time, a bolt of lightning shot through me, and I made the mistake of whimpering out loud from the startling rush of it all.

"Where are you guys??? Noah???" Milo whined, and Ricky was now reaching the ground level too. This shocking little moment between us was almost over.

I didn't want it to end. My brain was counting down the seconds, wondering just how long I could keep my lips pressed to his without us getting caught. Oh God, I'd never hear the end of it from Ricky if we got caught. Nor would I ever be free from an endless parade of questions about being gay from the insatiable mind of Milo if he ever got wind of it. Still, I wanted to keep our magical liplock going for as long as I could. Down to the last tenth of a second. Please...oh please let the darkness shroud our intimate connection for just a FEW seconds longer!

Inevitably, Milo's voice and Ricky's following footsteps were too close to us in the dark for us to not be seen or heard...and we regrettably parted ways.

Jordan and I were both breathing hard. I couldn't see his face but I could imagine it. His lips slightly parted, eager look in his bright green eyes...panting quietly as his cheeks displayed the cutest of boyish blushes. I didn't need to see the look with my eyes to have the expression inspire a warm smile.

"Hey!" Ricky called out. "Where are you guys?"

"WHAT???" I said with an aggravated growl. "We're right here. What do you want?"

"What do we want?" Ricky asked. "We want to get out of here. What do you mean, what do we want? What are you two doing way over there anyway? The door to the outside is this way."

"We're coming. Just...go ahead. We're right behind you." I said. I didn't hear any footsteps at first. Were they trying to adjust their eyes to the darkness? Were they really going to make that much of an effort to intrude on our special moment? Dammit...whatever. Fine. "Go!" I said. "Once you guys open the door, I'll have enough light to follow you out. We just took a wrong turn, that's all. I don't want to trip over anything."

I guess that was enough of a hint for them to leave us alone. Temporarily, anyway. I heard their footsteps shuffling away, and I gave Jordan one last secret kiss on the lips. Almost as if to let him know that we'd have a better time to maybe...get back to this later. But for now? I needed to adjust this obscene bulge in my pants before it gets exposed to the morning sunlight. From the sounds I heard in front of me, I think Jordan was doing the same. Which was, you know...hot.

Milo used his wiry arms to tug on the warehouse door and pull it open. The sunlight poured into the dusty old place, blinding when compared to the cloak of darkness surrounding the glowing door frame. Milo stepped outside and took off his glasses as he squinted at the sight of the brightening sky and rubbed his eyes. I watched a silhouette of icky walk out afterward, and Jordan and I held hands all the way up to those last few steps, when our private feelings were exposed to daylight. Then, sadly...we had to let go.

Already, I missed the breathless exhilaration of his touch. But seeing those bright blond locks come into view again, drenched in sunlight and slightly out of sorts from our short lived make out session...it was more than enough to get me swooning and swaying all over again.

I was shaking like crazy once we started walking again. My heartbeat throbbing on both sides of my throat, my legs feeling like they had been drained of all their energy. My body seemed to be completely out of my conscious control. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. The only thing cuter than seeing Jordan being cool and calm was seeing him acting shy and awkward. He could feel it too. I know he could. We kept taking little peeks at one another, trying to keep our increased fascination with one another just between us, but...I don't know if it worked. Every little glance that we shared, every time our eyes connected and he smiled at me, a rose colored blush deepening on the soft skin of his cheeks...it was like a full body orgasm for me. The entirety of my being just reacted to him in the craziest ways. I couldn't help myself. The love that I had been fantasizing about for oh so long had finally revealed itself to me. And it DIDN'T disappoint! It was everything I always dreamed it would be and more.

How am I supposed to go from experiencing the most AMAZING moment of my entire existence to the colorless 'blah' of normal life again? What just happened in there? He kissed me! He held my hand on the roof and we watched the sunrise together. And now we're walking down the sidewalk together and he's looking so pretty and so sweet and...AHHHH, he just smiled at me again!!!

My pulse was racing to the point where it was causing me to shake. My lightheaded stumbling nearly causing me to trip over my own feet and land flat on my face. Just imagine what would have happened if we had come out here alone. Oh my God, Jordan and I could have stayed in that dark warehouse and tongue kissed until we both ran out of breath. Maybe even MORE!

I didn't know what to do! I've been dreaming about boys since before I had any kind of sexual thoughts to associate with their presence in my life. The idea of...you know...'sex' was just a far away goal that you didn't know if you'd ever attain it or not. Like a little boy saying he wants to grow up to be an astronaut. A yearning without the promise of an actual payoff in the foreseeable future. But...NOW what do I do? When it came to sexual intimacy, I never had actual 'access' to such a thing before. Dreams are easy. Reality takes work. And...and sophistication, and finesse, and...and some idea of what the fuck I'm DOING!

Oh God! He just smiled at me again! My heart can't take much more of this! All he's doing is glancing and smiling in my direction, and it's taking every last bit of will power that I possess to keep a monstrous erection from blowing up to full size and ripping through the front of my jeans. This is crazy! I don't know if I'm cursing the fact that Jordan and I can't be alone right now...or if I'm secretly thankful that Milo and Ricky are here to stand as a buffer between us while I figure out what my next move should be. I mean, we just kissed, right? So, like...what does that mean? It's not like I can just say, 'Yay! I've got a boyfriend!' Because I don't. Er...do I? I would LOVE to have a boyfriend! I would love for that boyfriend to be Jordan Chadwick, that's for damn sure! I want that more than anything! But...how exactly do I make that happen?

Should I just not say anything? I might sound like a total geek if I went out of my way to ask him if we can be boyfriends, right? Maybe I should just assume that we're both on the same page, as far as what we're craving is concerned. Then again...if I don't say anything, maybe he'll think I'm not taking it seriously. Or that I'm just fooling around, and that my heart isn't ready to burst wide open and spill every last drop of love and desire I have out at his feet. If I don't ask...what happens if I assume too much? Then I'll look silly for sure. I mean....right?

Jesus! I've been imagining this exact hot and horny scenario happening ever since I first laid eyes on him, and now I'm completely lost as to how to handle it. In my wet dreams, my brain always skips to 'the good parts'. How do I do that in real life? You know...skip to 'the good parts'?

Ricky must have taken my giddy infatuation as an opportunity to play the leader of the group, because he started guiding us through his infamous little 'shortcuts' through parts of the city that we really didn't need to go through. Not when we were trying to keep a low profile. Normally, I'd have my better wits about me, and I'd tell him to avoid half of the streets he was taking to get home. Not today though. I was too preoccupied with my own passions to really argue about it. With Jordan and I playing peek-a-boo every few seconds, and my shaft getting hard and going soft and back to getting hard again, I'm surprised that I was able to walk straight at all.

By the time I started paying attention to where we were, Ricky had steered us right down one of the main streets of town. When I noticed it, I almost stopped dead in my tracks. It was an uneasy feeling that instantly swept over me and my defenses went up. There were a few stores lining both sides of the street, some cars...dusty and old...some with their windshields bashed in or their side doors dented and covered in rust. And yet, they were still parked at the meter as though they were waiting for someone to run out to spend a few more quarters in the machine to keep them from getting towed. Normal/abnormal...that's how I would describe the sight of it.

"We shouldn't be here..." I said under my breath. One way to get yourself robbed, kidnapped, or just plain murdered, around here...was to be caught wandering around places that others might see as a possible treasure chest of supplies. Stores, markets, and pharmacies, especially. I think this one street had a little of each.

"What are you worried about? It's fine. It's a shortcut. I swear." Ricky grinned. "Quit being a bitch!"

"No, seriously, Ricky...we should get out of here. Why take any risks when we don't have to?" I told him.

"What risks?" He said. "Come on, dude! We all know that 'Apocs' don't get up this early. They're all probably laid out somewhere from a long night of drinking and porno sex! We've got nothing to worry about. Besides, if there are any boy rapists out there, they're gonna go for Milo first! Hehehe, he's the most girly boy out of the whole group!"

"I am NOT!" Milo said. He's so used to being picked on, I don't think that he took a whole lot of offense to Ricky's bullshit, but felt the need to defend himself anyway.

"Awwww, I hope I didn't hurt your pretty widdle feelings, buttercup!"

Jordan said, "Actually, Noah's right. We should probably get out of the middle of Main Street." He agrees with me. I sighed to myself, feeling another wave of adrenaline threatening to bring me to my knees from the stimulation. UGH! He's SO beautiful!

Rick started walking again, telling us, "Hey...the only thing slowing us down is you guys. We'd be halfway through town if you'd all quit yammering and just come on."

Jordan and I looked at one another, and figured we could follow him for now. But we're NOT letting him make any more decisions or take any more shortcuts. That's for certain.

I wish I could reach out and take hold of his hand again. Being a part of him through physical touch was such a blast. If I thought we could get away with it unnoticed, I would have. In fact, I was almost considering putting up with the ridicule, just for the chance to feel his flesh and mine rejoin in another affectionate union. More kissing would be awesome too, of course. But that goes without saying.

Jordan and I were sharing an extended moment of eye contact, both blushing as a sheepish grin blossomed on our faces...when Ricky decided to inform us, "I've gotta take a piss! Hold up!"

Not only did he say that out loud for all of us to hear, but he suddenly just unzipped his pants, fished inside to pull his dick out, and he started peeing right there in the middle of the STREET! I groaned as I turned away from him, saying, "What the fuck, Ricky? HONESTLY???"

"Hahaha! What? Don't be jealous of this sweet meat, Noah! If you had one like mine, you wouldn't be hiding it away like you do!" He smirked. "Back to nature, bro!"

Milo came over to stand by my side, and he meekly asked, "He's just messing around right? There aren't and 'boy rapists' out here. Right?"

With a chuckle, I said, "Milo...dude...what did I tell you about letting people like Ricky get to you? There aren't any 'boy rapists' out here in the dilapidated streets of Chicago right now."

Turning to Ricky, who was thankfully turned away from us while he relieved himself, Milo shouted, "YEAH, you jerk! There aren't any 'boy rapists' out here!"

"Shhh! I didn't say, 'start shouting and draw more attention to ourselves'!" I grinned.

Milo covered his mouth with his hand, but I could tell he felt better, not having to worry about it. I gave him a half hug to let him know he was going to be alright as long as he stuck with us, but I really did want to get out of the middle of town. I don't like being exposed like this.

In a world like the one we live in, we revert back to the same instincts that most animals at the bottom of the food chain use on a daily basis. We've become the frightened mice, the nervous squirrels, of the world. Running and hiding and scampering through the cracks and crevices provided to us to keep from being picked off by predators that are way too big and strong for us to fight off...if it ever came to that.

"Hey, LOOK!" Ricky called out.

"Nobody wants to see your penis, Ricky!" I said, head still turned in the other direction.

"Not that! Up there! Look? People!" He said. Something that definitely got our attention.

Jordan, Milo, and I, all looked to where he was pointing, and sure enough...watching Ricky urinate in the street like some animal...was a small family of people watching from a window in one of the apartments above an old coffee shop.

It was always a shock to see other people who seemed to have survived the initial culling of the population living outside of our small community. It looked like an older man, completely bald on top, with his frail looking wife and two kids that looked a few years younger than we were. A boy and a girl. Such solemn expressions. A family that looked as if it had abandoned all hope a long time ago and was just waiting to die of old age. Whenever old age decided to come and claim them, that is. Those poor kids have a long way to go.

Jordan said, "Don't pee right in front of them, Ricky. That's rude."

But Ricky just giggled, "Don't worry. Look! They've got plastic and duct tape all over the windows. They're still scared of the virus. Bunch of 'fraidy cats! They're not coming out HERE! Hehehe!" Ricky finished up and actually wagged his dick at them a few times before turning around to pull down the back of his pants and moon them. "How's THAT for a show?" He said, taking deep exaggerated breaths as he hollered, "Mmmm, you should try taking in some of this GREAT fresh air!!! It's GREAT to be immune to the super flu, ain't it? Hehehe!"

"Ricky!" I said. "Knock it off. Come on...let's just go."

"What? They're all holed up in there like it matters anymore. That kid's probably up there fucking his sister to try to keep the species going! Hehehe! They can take a little teasing, right?" Ricky said. His persistently morbid sense of humor kicked in when he looked over my shoulder to see the front wall of a nearby building on the other side of the street. The bricks had been riddled with bullets. Deep circles in their surface, sprayed back and forth over a rather large area. It was something we were used to seeing whenever we came into town, but something about it still gave me the chills. Ricky ran over with a grin and stood up against the wall in front of the bullet holes with his arms stretched out. "Hey, guys! Guess! Who am I?" He said, and he began to shake his arms and legs in a violent matter. "Tatatatatatatatatatatatatat! Blaaaaaaahhhh!" He shouted, sticking his tongue out at the end. "Who am I?" I didn't answer him. I just wanted to get away from this place. "Come on, guess! Who am I?" He said again. "EVERYBODY! Hehehe! Get it? Because everybody's DEAD! Friggin' everybody!"

"Nice, Ricky..." I said sarcastically. Jordan and I continued walking, not indulging him for fear of making him even more unpleasant to be around.

"Hey! You know it was funny!" Ricky yelled after us. "Whatever. You guys have no sense of humor. Say, at least we beat the war on terror, right? Nothing left to terrorize now, is there? Except for maybe Ma and Pa Kettle back there and their set of sibling fuckers!"

Sometimes, it's better to just ignore Ricky altogether. It's not like he's going to change. It simply wasn't worth the frustration. Besides, I'd much rather be giving my blond angel all of my attention right now.

"MINE!!! I called it!!!" Milo shouted. His squeaky voice scared me as he exploded right next to me. I watched him dash forward in the middle of the street, bending over to swish his hand through a small pile of trash to lift up something that he obviously thought had some value to it. Looking closer at it, it looked like a 20 dollar bill. I don't even know how Milo even saw that from so far away. He didn't even have to lift up his glasses this time. "Whoah! I'm keepin' it!"

Ricky scoffed, "What for? It's not really worth anything anymore. What are you planning to do with it?"

"I dunno..." Milo shrugged, smoothing the wrinkles out of the bill before putting it in his pocket. "I'll just save it. Who knows? Maybe when society gets back on its feet again, it'll be worth a whole bunch. You know...like a relic from the old system or something."

Ricky chuckled, "Society isn't getting back on its feet, twerp. The old system is long gone. The battle for humanity is WAY over...and humanity lost." Ricky looked around and picked something up off of the ground as well. "Ya see? We don't need money anymore! Everything in town just costs a 'brick'!" I saw Ricky raise his arm up, but didn't shout out until it was too late. He took the brick in his hand and hurled it at the glass window of a nearby store...shattering it to pieces with the LOUDEST, cringe worthy, noise that I could possibly imagine! I swear, it must have echoed for several city blocks at least.

"RICKY!!! Jesus Christ, man!" I said.

"What are you DOING?" Jordan asked.

"Nothing! I figured...as long as we're here, we might as well do a little shopping. Hehehe!" Ricky beamed. "Come on, pipsqueak! Let's go get us some free shit! You can leave your 20 dollar bill on the counter if you're feeling guilty about it."

it was SO obnoxious of him to do that, and all I wanted to do was get back home at this point. But before I could scold Ricky any further, Milo left my side and started heading towards the busted window. "What I see I get to keep! No taking my stuff!"

"If I feel like taking it, I'll just take it!" He smirked, following Milo's lead.

"Unh unh! Noah! Come on! You too, Jordan! There might be cool stuff in here..."

"Milo! Dude, don't..." My protests weren't going to do any good, were they? Shit.

Jordan looked at me, and with a grin he said, "I guess we're going shopping then."

"Not you too! Ugh!"

But...once Jordan held his hand out for mine...I turned to jelly all over again. "Five minutes. No longer." I stated, as if I'd stick to that if Jordan decided otherwise. I suppose shopping is the activity of the day. My arguments were only going to fall on deaf ears at this point.

Still...the quicker we do this...the better.

I don't like being out here like this. Call it a gut instinct, but I'd much rather be closer to home right now. MUCH closer.