Grant, Mel, and Olivia explore the building.

"I don't think there's anyone in here," Mel says. Her ear is pressed to one of the doors on the sixth floor, listening hard. "I don't hear anything..."

"Let's move on, then," Olivia says. "We can leave the note." Mel nods, and as she steps away from the door Olivia steps forward and presses a sticky note to the door just below the number. In her neat handwriting, it reads:

If there's anything you need in these uncertain times, come see Grant in Penthouse B.

The note had, of course, been Mary's idea. "You can't just take control of everything," she'd explained before she and Jaz headed out. "At least not yet. For now, just get the lay of the land and establish your...presence. See if they need anything. Offer some food if they're low. Let them know you're here and willing to help. Act like the authority figure, and you'll become one." She'd kissed him on the cheek. "And, of course, claim any women you think you can get away with!"

On that front they haven't had any luck so far; mostly they've encountered empty apartments. One door on the seventh floor had opened to an elderly man and (staying far back from the door) his wife. First he'd told Mel that she should get back home quickly. Then, when he'd seen Grant and Olivia and realized what was happening, he'd told Grant in no uncertain terms what he thought of men who went around "claiming" women or whatever the TV had said.

"I'm just trying to keep everyone safe, sir," Grant said wearily at the end of the tirade. "If you need anything...we're in Penthouse B..."

"Don't you knock on my door again," the man had snarled, lined face wrathful. And he slammed it.

So they continued through the seventh floor and down onto the sixth. So far most of the doors have been silent. Occasionally Mel's reported hearing what might be noises, but if they are, the people aren't coming out. So they've left their note and moved on.

"The apocalypse is more boring than I'd thought it would be," Olivia comments, stretching as they move down the hallway to the next door. Grant catches Mel looking enviously at Olivia out of the corner of his eye. Olivia is eye-catching; she's finally changed out of her bikini, but the only thing available was some of Mel's clothing, and Olivia fills out the tight white tank top she has on in a way that Mel clearly wouldn't. None of Mel's shorts had fit her, so she has on a light blue skirt.

"Where's your apartment, again?" Grant asks her. "We could stop and pick up anything you need."

"Oh yeah, that'd be nice. I was on 4."

Grant nods. "I'm on 3...I guess we'll both get to grab some essentials."

"It'd be nice to have a toothbrush." They hang back as Mel knocks on the next door.

"Hello?" she calls. "Is anyone in there?" When there's no immediate response, she presses her ear up against it. "Hold on..." She flushes slightly. "I, uh, I think there's someone in there."

"What do you hear?" Grant asks.

"Moaning." Before Grant can reply, Mel pounds on the door again. "Hello! Anyone home??"

"Y-Yeah! One sec," a male voice calls, sounding slightly ragged. Grant winces and Olivia snorts as Mel beams and steps back from the door.

A few seconds later they hear footsteps approaching and the door swings open. A tall, dark-skinned Latino man stands there, looking disheveled and slightly put out, his clothes rumpled. "Hey what can I do for...oh, shit!" He straightens up slightly as he sees Grant and Olivia off to one side, shifting to fill the entire doorway. "Whatcha want, man? The only woman here is claimed already..."

"I'm not looking to claim any more women," Grant lies, holding up a hand. "Just...just trying to make sure everything's ok here. Everything's going crazy, and we need to stick together in this building. You got food? You doing ok?"

The man relaxes slightly. "...Yeah. Yeah, man, I dunno. It's...fuck," he lets out a breathy laugh. "This shit is bananas, right?"

"It sure is," Grant says with a chuckle. "Don't know what's gonna happen."

"Me neither, man. Me neither. I wasn't gonna do nothing about that text, but then...we heard on the news and from some folks we know that it was real, and...Jenny asked me to claim her. So, since she asked..." He shrugs awkwardly.

"Hey, you did the right thing, man," Grant says reassuringly. "We think that with her claimed, no one else can claim her."

"Yeah, that's what it sounds like, right?" the man asks.

Just then, there's a plaintive call. "Miguel? Baby? What's going on...?"

"You can come out, babe!" Miguel calls. A young woman appears at the end of the hall, short but curvy and nude except for a pair of glasses. Miguel's eyes widen as she pads down the hall toward them. "Yo, I figured you might, y'know, put on some clothes first?"

"Why?" Jenny asks carelessly as she arrives and slips her arm around his waist. "Hi there. I'm Jenny. I belong to Miguel." Her short blonde hair hangs around her ears, disheveled, and her skin is slightly shiny with sweat. Her pink nipples stand erect from her full breasts. Grant can feel himself hardening at the sight - and at the careless way she drapes herself, nude, from Miguel.

"You aren't embarrassed or anything?" Miguel asks her.

"I mean if you want me to cover up I will! But why shouldn't people see what a man you are? You claimed me, and all of this is just for you." She snuggles into him slightly and presses a kiss to his cheek.

"Grant claimed both of us," Mel puts in, sounding eager not to be outdone. "And some more women too...he's really good at this."

"Enough, Mel," Grant says gently.

"I'm just saying, she looks really sexy but you've also got - "

"Enough." She falls silent as Grant sighs internally. She's getting to be a bit much. "Like she said, I'm Grant," he says ruefully to Miguel. "This is Mel, and that's Olivia."

"Nice to meet you all," Miguel says with a nod, clearly distracted by Jenny pressing herself into his side. "I, uh. I'm sure I'll see you around." Jenny is tracing her hand down his shirt and over his crotch, stroking lightly and teasingly through his pants.

"Yeah, we're in Penthouse B," Grant says. "Like I said, we gotta stick together. So if you need anything, don't hesitate to knock."

"Yeah man. Uh, you too." Grant nods and turns to go, but as he does Miguel asks, "Hey, uh. How...how many women have you claimed, exactly?"

Grant glances back. Jenny is pressed into Miguel's side, stroking him openly through his pants now. He does a quick mental count. "...Five."

"Five! Damn!" Miguel gasps. Jenny glances up at him, green eyes wide.

"You want more women, baby?" she murmurs. "You want more pussy?"

"What? N-no, babe, you're...you're enough for me," Miguel stammers, not entirely convincingly.

"It's ok if you do," she murmurs. "That's ok...it's natural...you deserve it!" She smiles up at him. "But it's so sweet of you to say that...let me try to be enough..."

"Well, we're gonna leave you to it," Grant says hastily as Jenny drops to her knees and begins working Miguel's fly. "Nice to meet you both."

"Yeah man, you too. I - haaaa! - I'll see you," Miguel finishes, sounding slightly strangled as Jenny frees his cock and dives onto it. Grant hurries away, trailed by Olivia and Mel. He hears a wet **** noise from Jenny, then the sound of the door closing behind them.

"Well, they seem...happy, at least," he mutters.

"Of course they are. He's got a fucktoy, and she's got a master," Olivia says with a smile. Before Grant can reply, Mel seizes his hand.

"And he's so happy just with the one girl! Grant, you're doing so great. Five already!" Mel's eyes are wide, pupils large, as she hangs onto his hand and snuggles against his arm. "It's...really sexy. And the way that girl just got on her knees for him..." She gazes up at Grant imploringly. "Please, Grant. I know you fucked Olivia and...and my mom, earlier. And Olivia makes sense, she's like, super hot..." Olivia shrugs modestly. "But please, won't you fuck me? Or let me suck you off, at least? I just...I really wanna be like that girl, making you feel good, ready for you whenever...Please, Grant?"

Grant hesitates, an admittedly uncomfortable hard-on straining against his pants as Mel pouts up at him.