Drew
let out a gasp and a whimper as he awoke to a
large deathclaw
looming over him. Its
eyes seemed to burrow into his very soul and for a moment
he thought he was going to die.
He didn’t because it was
Ayma, though it took a good few seconds for him to realize that. By
the time he did, adrenaline was already coursing through his veins
and he was half-ready to leap off the bed and bolt to the door.
“Sorry,”
Ayma said, moving away. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine,” he said, rubbing his eyes with his shaking hands.
“You just startled me, that’s all.”
“It looked like you were more than startled.”
“I guess I’m not used to staring a deathclaw in the face. Most
that do aren’t alive for very long.”
“Well, I’m not just any deathclaw.”
“That much is certain.”
“Anyway, enough that. Get up, Neka is here.”
He looked over to see the other Greenclaw standing by the door. She
had something in her hands and it took a moment for him to realize it
was a box of Sugarbombs, though it looked more like a pack of potato
chips in her large hands.
She raised them up. “Brought you breakfast.”
“Oh, thanks,” he said as he sat up and slid his legs off the side
of the bed, resting them on the floor.
Neka walked over and shoved them against his chest. “Eat up, we are
leaving soon.”
“Any
water?” he asked.
“Only from the faucet.”
“I guess that means it’s irradiated.”
Neka
snorted.
“Aww, does irradiated
water make your tummy
grumble?”
Drew decided not to complain.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” he said instead.
“We just shit outside, but if
you’re worried about your delicate little ass getting too cold out
there, then…”
“Neka!” Ayma shouted
irritatedly, interrupting her. “Be nice.”
Neka
turned on the
heel of her foot.
“Sure.
The toilets
still kinda work. Follow
me.”
He
headed out with
his laser rifle in hand,
following Neka, with Ayma walking closely behind him. She
waited outside, holding
the box of sugar bombs and his rifle
for
him while
he used the bathroom.
After washing
his hands and taking a drink
from the faucet, he
splashed his face and stared at his reflection in the grimy mirror.
From
what little he could see, he looked like shit. He hadn’t slept well
last night, constantly waking from nightmares about being eaten
alive. Thankfully,
Ayma had been a sound sleeper as she hadn’t been
disturbed
a single time by
his waking
cries
of terror.
He
splashed his face a second time before he headed back out where Neka
shoved his rifle and cereal box back into his hands.
“Are
you
ready?”
He looked at Ayma. “Yeah,”
he said. “Let’s head home.”
As
they turned for the entrance, Drew noticed that there was a Greenclaw
standing
by the shallow
ramp that led up to the exit
door.
Drew
didn’t know which one it was, though he believed it was one of the
ones that had defended him against Lotte.
“Axa,” Ayma greeted.
“Ayma, Neka,” Axa replied
before looking at Drew. “I feel I have to apologize about
yesterday. Do not judge us based on the actions of our so-called
matriarch.”
He smiled or at least tried to.
Axa was one of the ones that had stood up for him and for that, he
was grateful. After all, she likely helped convince Lotte not to eat
him.
“I hope you don’t see us as
disgusting monsters,” Axa said.
“I did at first,” he
admitted. “But Ayma and Kiki won me over.” He looked down at his
feet as images of Lotte’s gaping throat flashed through his mind.
“Your matriarch, on the other hand…” It was enough to send a
shiver down his spine.
“I know,” Axa accepted. “I
sometimes think I should have gone with the others.”
He looked back up at her. “I’ve
heard others mentioned before. Ones that left?”
“They didn’t want to stay,”
Axa said. “Though, for different reasons. Some thought Lotte was
too brutish, others just wanted to see the world. I along with the
rest stayed because we didn’t really see any other realistic
alternative. Here we have shelter.”
“Shelter in exchange for
letting your leader eat people,” Drew said sourly. “Those that
left might have had the right idea.”
Axa looked away while Neka
answered. “We weren’t always like this.”
“I know, you used to be
human.”
Ayma
shook her head. “She didn’t mean it
like that.
What she meant is that we started off more feral. It is
only in the last several
months that we have started to truly
get
our…” She paused for a moment. “Well,
get our
humanity back.”
Neka continued from where Ayma
left off. “Axa was one of the first, the same with Kiki. Glower on
the other hand still doesn’t speak. Either she can’t or doesn’t
want to.”
Ayma
cut the conversation short. “This
is something we should talk about later. We
need to be going. We
have a long journey ahead of us.”
“Of
course,” Axa replied. “We’ll
see you in a week.”
“Hopefully,” Neka said.
With Ayma taking the lead, Drew
in the middle, and Neka walking behind, the three of them made their
way up the shallow concrete ramp and out of the facility.
Outside, Ayma squatted down.
Her back facing toward him. “Climb aboard,” she said.
“Can I eat my breakfast
first?” he asked as he shoved a handful of the sugary cereal into
his mouth.
“You can eat on the way,”
Neka said. “Get on her back. I want to get there before nightfall.
And before you talk about how it didn’t take you that long getting
here, I ain’t as big as Ayma or Kiki so I can’t move as fast.”
While she was talking, he
decided to eat as many as he could before discarding the box onto the
floor. He knew if he tried to eat while on the move he would be sick.
Then again, he might be regardless since he had just eaten, though he
had to admit, riding Ayma was a lot smoother than he would have
expected.
“Done?” Neka asked.
He nodded. “Yep.”
“Then get on her back and
let’s go!”
Drew awkwardly climbed up onto
Ayma’s back and sat on her shoulders, gripping her horns tightly.
“Ready?” Ayma asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Drew
answered.
Ayma stood up and the two
Greenclaws began to run, making their way eastward.
Roughly three hours into the
journey, Neka slowed to a slow walk with a raised hand and a grunt.
Ayma followed her lead and the two moved closer together as they both
squatted down.
Drew resisted the urge to ask
what was going on and waited. He didn’t think they were tired, as
they weren’t breathing heavily, so he suspected they had heard
something.
Neka
began to creep forward, moving with surprising fluidity considering
how big she was. She moved towards a small
ridge,
her
steps slow and methodical. She
looked like a predator stalking its prey and
it was terrifying to witness.
It
only became more terrifying when her skin seemed to change color
momentarily before she practically vanished, Ayma
doing the same beneath him. Apart from the shimmering of refracted
light, they were nigh on invisible.
They had definitely either seen
or heard something and still being on Ayma’s back, he couldn’t
help but wonder what he must look like from afar. To anyone that
happened to catch a glance, it would look like he was flying.
As to what they had spotted, he
didn’t know. There was an incline and a small dirt ridge ahead of
them. Judging by the wind direction, it was blowing towards them
which meant they had likely smelled something.
A moment later, Drew found out
as the heads of a radstag popped up from the other side of the small
dirt ridge and let out a shrill call. In an instant, other heads
popped up and they all began to flee, disappearing back behind the
mound of dirt.
In an instant, not only did
Neka break into a sprint but so did Ayma. Drew held on for dear life
as it felt like she was trying to buck him off.
Neka caught the slowest of the
stags, becoming visible moments before she struck it with a raised
claw, practically eviscerating it with a single strike.
Ayma bolted past her,
continuing her pursuit. It was clear that the stags had the advantage
on the uneven ground, and with the tree line up ahead it was evident
that Ayma was going to lose them without help.
“Hold up a second!” he
yelled. “I can take a shot.”
“I can catch them,” Ayma
shouted back.
“No you can’t, they’re
almost to the trees. You’ll lose them in there, you’re too big.”
Much
to Drew’s surprise, Ayma became
visible again as she slowed
to a stop, allowing him to raise his rifle and take aim. With
a lance of energy, he struck it in the hip, sending it crashing to
the dirt.
“Go!” he yelled, holstering
his rifle.
In
an instant, Ayma was running again, and once more Drew found himself
gripping her horns tightly. With a raised claw, she
took a swipe for its head which practically exploded on impact,
killing
it instantly.
“Holy
shit you’re powerful!” Drew uttered in shock.
Without
missing a beat, Ayma
squatted down over the kill and
tore its skin
open with her claws so that she could get to the tender meat inside.
Unable
to look away, Drew watched from his vantage
point
as she ripped
away at the flesh and devoured it. The sounds, the blood, it was
genuinely terrifying to witness and it
reminded him that they were predators built for killing.
If
they wanted to, they could destroy entire settlements perhaps even
small towns.
Ayma
stopped eating for a moment. “You want some, Drew?”
“Ugh,
no thanks,” he said, trying to hide his disgust. “I prefer my
meat cooked. I’ll
pass.”
“Oh, right, sorry,” she
said before she continued eating.
He looked away as he heard
heavy footsteps coming up from behind. He looked around to see Neka
stomping up behind them with blood on her claws and face.
“Uh,” he said, looking at
her. “You might wanna have a wash. You’re kinda bloody.”
Neka grunted at him. “There’s
a stream near here. We’ll wash in that.”
Ayma stopped eating and turned
her head, almost throwing Drew off her shoulders in the process. “You
finished already?” she asked.
“I started before you,”
Neka responded.
Ayma
stood up. “Race
you to the river.”
Once
more Drew found himself holding on for dear life as both Ayma and
Neka bolted
forwards. At
first, their destination wasn’t obvious, but soon he saw the
glistening of a small river.
It was clear that Neka was
going to win, which went against what she had said earlier about Ayma
being faster. He supposed Neka was faster for shorter bursts, while
Ayma could run faster for longer.
With a huge splash, Neka dove
into the water, and not a few moments later, Ayma did the same. As
much as he tried to hold on, he found himself airborne as he was
thrown clear.
Unfortunately, he didn’t land
in the water and instead came down hard on the muddy bank on the far
side.
“Ouch,” he muttered, his
head spinning.
He heard splashing followed by
Ayma’s large horned head coming into view, blocking out most of the
sky.
“Are you alright?” she
asked.
“I think so,” he wheezed.
“I forgot you were on my
back,” she said rather sheepishly.
“It’s fine,” he said.
“Give me some space so I can sit up.”
“Sorry,” she said as her
head disappeared from view.
With a groan, he pushed himself
up into a seated position, before he slowly stood up. He turned
around to see Neka in the water washing off the blood while Ayma was
only partially submerged, looking at him with concern.
“I’m fine,” he reassured
her. “Go wash yourself down so we can continue.”
“If you are sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” he said
as he sat back down on the bank.
Ayma
moved back into the water and Drew found himself staring at her
mostly
submerged
chest. For some strange reason, seeing the water
wrap around her breasts was oddly arousing. It made it look like she
had huge cleavage.
His gaze moved to Neka as he
heard her chuckle. “He’s checking you out.”
It was at that moment it dawned
on him how strange and surreal the whole situation was. From an
outside perspective, he was hanging out with two big-breasted
deathclaws. Though he knew they were actually humans mutated by FEV
into the creatures they were today. It was evident by how they spoke
that they were more human than claw on the inside, regardless of
outward appearance.
“Yeah,”
he said smiling wistfully.
“I am checking her out.”
Both of them stared at him for
a moment before Ayma smiled. “Be careful, I’ll eat you alive.”
Images of hanging over Lotte’s
open mouth flashed through his mind. He grimaced for a moment before
forcing a smile “Promise?” he asked.
“You two are gross,” Neka
said. “Just don’t start fucking before we get to that robot
factory.”
“You’re just jealous,”
Drew joked.
He
had been so caught up in the moment that he hadn’t realized what he
was doing. Was he really flirting?
How could he still love Gemma
when
she had
the body of a beast?
He
had told her yesterday that he wasn’t disgusted by her form, but
why wasn’t
he?
Was his love for her
so powerful that he could look past her new form and into her heart?
Or
was he secretly
fucked
up and preferred her new form?
He
feared the latter might be true and he didn’t want to accept it.
“I still love you,” he
said, his voice barely a whisper.
Her smile vanished and she
averted her gaze. Neka looked uncomfortable and Drew knew that he
probably shouldn’t have said that.
“Sorry,” he apologized.
“It is complicated,” Ayma
said, looking back at him before looking at Neka. “We should
probably be going. Have I got all the blood off?”
“Yes,” Neka answered as she
made her way out of the water. “You’re clean.”
Drew
looked at her wet naked glistening breasts for a moment before he
focused on the
dirt.
He wasn’t about to start ogling other women, especially
when Ayma was right there.
Though
he suspected he might be the only person on the planet that
considered them that.
“Climb aboard,” Ayma said
once she was out of the water.
Like
before, Drew climbed up her back and sat on her shoulders, his crotch
pressed up against the back of her neck. Not a moment later they were
back on the move, heading eastwards.
Very
little was said. Drew had questions, but he decided they could wait.
He
had to focus on what he was going to tell Amy, Jack, and
Sarah.
Having
two Greenclaws
stay with them for
a whole week was
going to be the most difficult sell of his entire life.
Though
thinking about it, it would definitely be a big help. They were very
strong and tall, which meant they could help fix up some of the
production
lines
as
well as move the heavier components around such as those for the
Sentry
bots.
If
they could get past the introductions then them staying there might
actually be beneficial.
The
introductions, of course, were
the big point of contention and the thing he was fearing the most. He
had to wonder what was going through Lotte’s head when she had
suggested they
stay for a week.
He supposed he might never know. It
certainly complicated his life.
Two
hours after
they had eaten
lunch and had
the
dip in the stream, Drew saw a familiar sight ahead. It wasn’t the
factory, it was a giant red-painted rocket marking
the Mega Stop.
“We already have a lot of
history here,” he said.
“Yeah,” Neka agreed. “When
we first met, I wanted to scare you shitless, but Ayma decided to
just let you go.”
“I was already scared
shitless,” he said. “But I thought you wanted to kill me.”
“I thought about it,” Neka
said. “But I wasn’t going to. I just wanted to make you shit your
pants.”
“That’s a relief,” he
said.
“Want anything from inside?”
Ayma asked him.
“Well, we could do with a bit
more cleaning fluid.”
The
two Greenclaws
slowed to a walk as they entered the parking lot. Ayma
squatted down and Drew climbed off, stretching his legs. After
so long sitting
on her back, his legs ached.
“I think I’d like to walk
the rest of the way,” he said. “It’s only three more hours.”
Neka shrugged her massive
shoulders. “If you say so.”
Drew
led the way inside the main building and headed straight for the
warehouse. Most
of the crates were gone now, leaving a few stacked in the corner.
“Will you help me with
these?” he asked.
Ayma
did so immediately, while Neka stood in the corner.
With
the crates un-stacked, she removed the tops and peered inside.
“See
anything useful?” Drew asked as he made his way over.
“Alcohol,” she answered.
Drew peered inside and
whistled. “Wine,” he said. “If I took this crate into town it
would fetch a nice heap of caps.”
“You wanna take it?” Ayma
asked.
Drew thought for a moment.
“Neither of you minds carrying a crate, do you?”
“No,” Ayma said
immediately.
Neka
on the other hand wasn’t quite as open to the idea. “Only
if you make it worth my while.”
Drew
was cautious. “Okay, name the price.”
“You want to bring this robot
factory back online, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ve been itching to
get these hands working on something. I want to help while we’re
there and I want you to give me some bots when we’re done.”
“Deal,” Drew said without
question. “I could do with the help anyway.”
Ayma looked at Neka confused.
“What do you need robots for?”
“Robots are cool,” Neka
said with a shrug. “Besides, I’ve been thinking of going out on
my own.”
“Why?”
“Because Lotte acts like a
dictator and I wanna do my own thing.”
Drew
could definitely understand that. “Well once the week is up, if
either of you wants
to stay then you’re welcome to.”
Neka accepted the offer
immediately. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“We’ll still have to report
to Lotte,” Ayma pointed out.
“Yeah, but nothing’s
stopping us from returning after that,” Neka said.
Drew patted the side of the
crate. “Come on, let’s see if we can find one with cleaning fluid
in it. When we do, we can get back on the road.”
Neka walked over and pulled the
top off another of the crates. A horrible smell permeated the air.
“Sludge
in this one,” Neka said, quickly putting the lid back on before
moving over to the next.
It
took a few tries, but they finally found one that had what Drew
needed. With
the two crates in the Greenclaw’s
hands,
they headed out and made their way northwards.
Back
on the highway, Drew decided they had to discuss something that had
been plaguing
his mind.
“I don’t know how the
others are going to react,” he said.
“I do,” Neka said.
“Horrified and terrified. This is gonna go badly.”
Ayma agreed. “It’s going to
be tough.”
“Lotte’s an idiot for
suggesting it,” Neka said. “My bet is she wants it to go badly as
an excuse.”
“Excuse?” Drew asked.
“To come gobble you and your
friends up. I think she enjoys it.”
It
was unfortunate but Drew
feared that it
might
be
the truth. Drew was just thankful that they acknowledged
it. He
doubted it would make things any easier, though.
Drew
decided to be optimistic. “Give them time,” he said. “They’ll
come around.”
He
hoped his words turned out to be true, but there was a deep-seated
fear that it was all going to go badly just
as Neka said.
The
rest of the walk was filled with rising apprehension. Apart
from the odd comment, little else was said. At least not until the
old Robco plant came into view.
“Looks
like we’re almost there,” he said, looking at Ayma, his eyes
falling on her generous chest.
“Like the view?” she asked.
He
looked away,
focusing on the factory ahead. “You’re going to have to wait
outside while I deactivate the turret defenses. I’ll then have to
add you to the no-shoot list.”
“How
close?”
“You can move in a little bit
closer,” he said. “The range is to the edge of the parking lot.”
They continued down, stopping
by the security office by the gates. Drew took in a deep, slow
breath, trying to calm himself for what was to come.
“I’ll be back soon,” he
said as he walked forwards.
He was not looking forward to
what was to come.