Chapter 6: Escape to Danger

December 7, 2023 8:26 AM


Sanders laid there on his panty mattress for a little while, unsure what to do. It was pitch black inside, at first, but slowly his eyes adjusted enough to kinda see. He could hear Lutice still moving around the room and knew trying to escape with her still here was pointless. Of course, he had a bad feeling that trying to escape was going to prove futile as well. Trying to push the drawer open would be like trying to move a building with his bare hands.

Finally, Sanders heard the door open and close. He waited for a few minutes, listening for any sounds, before trying to stand up. The panty gave way under his feet, making standing difficult to say the least. Giving up on that, he crawled toward the dresser. He slid down the edge of the folded panty to the floor and headed to the wall. He looked up and saw a bit of light coming through the space between the drawer and the dresser. He pushed against the drawer, but it didn't so much as budge. He even tried ramming it, but only got a sore shoulder for his troubles.

Sanders cursed as he realized he was not getting out that way. There might be a way out further into the drawer, but he could barely see here near the crack. If he went too far back he would be lost in a maze of panties. Fuck...he might really be trapped this time.

Just as he was about to head to the back to try his luck, a loud bang came from outside. He looked back at the dresser in confusion before another bang came drifting through. He pressed his ear against the wood to hear better as a third bang rang out. This one was followed by a thump as something hit the carpet which, itself, was followed by a louder thump.

Someone was in the room... Sanders began to back away from the wood, unsure if he should try to hide or not. Whoever it was hadn't used the door, but that just meant it could be anyone. Course, would being found by whoever really be any worse that being stuck in here? Lutice was going to come back at some point. While the thought of another wild night like last one was appealing on MANY levels, the thought of doing such with Lutice at her full size sent a shiver down his spine. And that was assuming she didn't pit him against another killer robot or fuck knows what else.

Sanders' thoughts were interrupted as he heard something. He put his ear back to the wood and could just barely hear...something. Sounding like...a hose? No...air escaping? No...sniffing? Yes, something was sniffing! Wait...sniffing?

Sanders was utterly confused now, but got no time to think as another thump, this one a bit farther away, echoed in. He could barely hear the sniffing now before a low noise came behind it...was that...a meow? A second meow, this one louder, came from outside, sounding lost and worried. Sniffing, meowing, falling from the ceiling...PYRRHA! That was right, they had said she had escaped into the vents!

"PYRRHA! PYRRHA!!! I'M IN HERE!!! PYRRHA!!" Sanders yelled, trying to get her to hear. He put his ear back to the wood, but didn't hear her coming closer. Dammit, she couldn't hear him. He had to get her to come over here, though, before Lutice got back. There had to be some way for him to get her attention! Some...dammit would she stop snif-

Sniffing...she had been sniffed...no, smelling for him! If she got a whiff of him, she might be able to follow it back to here and get him out! He had to smell more and Sanders only knew one way to do that. Dropping to the ground, Sanders began to pump out push-ups like mad. He needed to get one hell of a sweat going if he wanted her to notice him. And, to be honest, he had been lagging behind with his workouts.

It didn't take him too long to get a good sweat going. He flopped to the wood to catch his breath as he tried to get his heart-rate back down from manic. Well he had gotten the smelling more part done, but Pyrrha didn't seem to have noticed yet. Sanders wasn't sure what she was looking at, but it wasn't the dresser.

He looked back and noticed the large red panty sitting behind him. He smirked as he got another idea. Grabbing a bit of the panty, he began to fan himself with it, trying to blow his scent out through the crack. Of course, she sheer size of the panty made this itself a work-out and Sanders grumbled a bit to himself. Should've just done this from the beginning...

It wasn't long before Sanders arms felt like jelly and his energy was near its limit. He hadn't eaten at all today and he was running on fumes and adrenaline for the most part. He gave one last pump, before he collapsed in a heap onto the panty. He laid there, smelling the lingering detergent smell of the panty. Well, at least Lutice washed them... He was about to just pass out and say fuck it when the dresser suddenly rocked a bit. Sanders sat up just as a loud noise came from up above him.

Sanders looked up and saw a shadow moving over the light filtering in. His hope soared as he shifted around.

"Pyrrha! PYRRHA! I'M IN HERE!" he yelled up. This time, he got an answer of a happy meow as he heard Pyrrha's claw beginning to dig into the wood. Of course...she had found him, but didn't know how to open the drawer...fan-fucking-tastic.

Sanders was about to try and shout up instructions when the drawer shifted a bit. Sanders glanced around in confusion before it shifted again. Sanders blinked as he suddenly found the small amount of light filtering in become a good blinding beam. He blinked away before looked up just in time for the dresser to shift forward again. The opening expanded to reveal Pyrrha's large face looking down into it. She looked around before her eyes settled on Sanders.

"MEOW!" she cried before her hand wiggled its way into the drawer. Sanders didn't even try to resist as it wrapped around him and pulled him out of his panty prison. Only to replace it with one made of lips, tongues, and flesh as Pyrrha kissed, licked, and nuzzled him like a child finding her long lost pet. Sanders was soon drenched in her saliva and more than a little battered from her rougher than usual nuzzling. He tried saying something, but Pyrrha always buried his face in something before he could get more than a word out.

Finally, Sanders' stomach did was his mouth couldn't and groaned. Pyrrha stopped as his stomach growled again and began to look around. Sanders whipped the spit off his face as he finally got a chance to talk.

"Glad to see you too, Pyrrha. Or I was, yuck," he said as he whipped off more of her spit. A few licks was one thing but she had practically bathed him in licks and kisses. He had needed a bath, but this wasn't what he had in mind... The fact he had nothing on save his boxers made it worse. Hopefully, Lutice had left his stuff on her desk.

Before he could say anything else Pyrrha turned to the edge of the dresser and leap down off it. Sanders grabbed her fingers as his stomach went rushing to his head from the fall. Pyrrha landed with ease, as her hand cradled him from the fall. Sander was uninjured, save for seeing his life flash before him, but didn't release his death grip on her fingers. While he was still in shock, Pyrrha began to sniff the air again, probably looking for some food. Sanders shook off the shock as he looked around the room for the first time.

Lutice's room was, oddly, well kept and neat. All her dirty clothing was put away in a hamper and the carpet looked to have been vacuumed recently. Her bed was made and the sheets looked well taken care of. Her nightstand had a lamp on it and a picture of some people Sanders didn't recognize, Lutice's family maybe? The dresser looked rather tidy to, though he couldn't see the top of it from down here. Beside it was a box- wait.... OF COURSE! Lutice had gotten the robot and those weapons from there! It might have some field rations too!

"Pyrrha, over there!" Sanders said as he pointed over to the box. Pyrrha glanced at it and moved toward it. She gave it a confused look and Sanders sighed as he got ready to explain how to open it. Before he could, though, Pyrrha reached down and began to push on it and turn it a bit, almost like she was trying to open it. Damn she learned fast.

"No, not like that. Grab it there. No higher...no...here, there right, Yes! OK, now lift up. Up! That's it!" Sanders said as he got her to grab the lip of the box and lift its top off. As Pyrrha dumped the top to the ground, Sanders smiled as he looked inside. Just as he was hoping, it looked to be a mobile storage box.

Mobile storage boxes were almost like warehouses stuffed full of all kinds of useful stuff for normal sized people. They were usually made of four sections, each linked by a door, with differing stuff in each room. Even better, they were designed for giantesses to carry allowing them to be brought into areas quickly. Mainly they were used either to transport things to the outlying farms or as mobile command centers in disaster relief, but occasionally the Rangers would use one if they were going on a particularly long patrol. Sanders wasn't sure why Lutice had one, but considering she had tried to keep that shrink ray he had a guess.

Sanders got Pyrrha to put him down in it and he quickly went about looking through it. Unfortunately, the stuff in the box was anything but organized and looked to have just been piled in. Most of it was stuff that he wanted to take when he left, but he could worry about picking on the choice stuff AFTER he stuffed his face. It took him a few minutes of looking, but finally he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a ration bar and quickly tore the wrapper off. The ration bar was about as tasty as a cardboard box, but it was the best thing he had ever tasted at that moment.

Four bars later saw him mostly full and Sanders ready to actually look through for some useful stuff. He decided on some rope, a new shield, a flint and tender box, a couple of spare ration bars, three doses of nano-bots, a medkit, a backpack to put all this shit in, a knife(he had learned his lesson with that robot), and night-vision goggles. The rest of the stuff was either large parts he didn't have a use for, more of the stuff he had already taken, or things like a wrist computers he dared not take. As useful as one would be, the risk of being tracked was too great to use one. With all of that stuffed into his backpack, he got Pyrrha to pick him up.

"OK, now that I'm not starving, lets see if I can get my clothes back," Sanders said more to himself. He pointed to the desk and Pyrrha headed over. Thankfully, she climbed onto the chair and then the desk rather than leaping all the way up it, making for a less sickening ascent. Sanders smiled as he saw his stuff right where he had left it, next to the wreckage of the robot.

Sanders got himself set down and began pulling on his old stuff, welcoming the familiar feeling and weight of his armor. It was a good reminder of the burden Isabella, Manchent, and that strange woman had given him. He closed his eyes and the map flashed into his mind, clear as day, followed by the phrase, and the picture of the woman's brother. None of them had faded at all and it was almost like he was staring at them at that moment. He didn't know if that should worry him or not, but it was his only real chance of finding help. He couldn't trust anyone in the Society and anyone who helped him in New Atlanta would be in dire danger. The Resistance was his only chance for help and this was his best chance of finding them.

He was about to climb back onto Pyrrha, who was sniffing at the spot Sanders was pretty sure he had fucked Lutice... when he glanced back at the robot. He moved over to it and looked into the hole he had ripped out of its top. Wires dangled out of the hole while a belt like thing seemed to go right where the gun should have been. He turned the belt so he could see down into it and his eyes widened. Bullets...lots of them. Sanders grabbed up his mace and began to pound on the robot again, using it to smash and leverage out the belt. Finally, he got what the belt was hooked to to slowly come out. He pulled it free and smiled in joy. A drum...a drum full of ammo. He rushed back to the machine gun and brought it back. The belt fit the gun like a glove. Son of a bitch, he had himself a machine gun with enough ammo to fill Pyrrha with lead.

It was not all perfect, though. Him ripping the gun out had ripped the belt as well and now it wouldn't stay on. He could feed ammo into the machine gun the old fashion way and it held twenty rounds of ammo in itself, but once used he would have to reload it manually. Rather time-consuming at the best of times. In a fight...well. Still, it was better than nothing.

Of course, there was the problem of bring the drum along. It was heavy and nearly as big as him. There was no way he could carry in anywhere save his back, and his backpack was already there. Not to mention, he doubted he could carry both. He glanced over to Pyrrha and then back to the storage box as an idea formed.

"Pyrrha, come here a second," Sanders said with a smile.

A few minutes later, and some rather inventive use of stuff, Sanders had rigged up a "necklace" for Pyrrha with the barrel of ammo as the "jewel". He closed up the belt and taped it onto the barrel with duck tape to make sure ammo didn't just pour out. Finished with that, he made sure the rubber he had used for the necklace was more than strong enough. It took a bit of doing to get Pyrrha to put it around her neck, but he got her to do it eventually. For her part, Pyrrha thought it was some kind of new toy and swatted at it as it dangled from her neck. The fact it didn't snap from her "playing" was proof enough that it was solid, so Sanders was sure it wasn't going anywhere. With his drum of ammo ready to come along, Sanders got back to their next problem. How to get out of here?

The vent Pyrrha had come in from was out as it was way up on the ceiling. The door leading out into the hallway was probably a poor idea as well. Sanders had heard footsteps going by every so often as he had worked on the necklace. They were very likely to be spotted going out that way. He then glanced at the window and remembered he had not felt Lutice climb any stairs when she had carried him to her room. If that was right, they were still on the first floor and could hope right out the window!

Sanders had Pyrrha put him back on her head and got her to head for the window. Looking out, Sanders theory was confirmed as the ground was only a short...well short to Pyrrha, drop out the window. Lutice had it locked, but Sanders managed to force the latch open, with some help from Pyrrha once she saw what he was doing. With it unlocked, Pyrrha raised it up and plucking Sanders from her head. She held him close as she dropped down. Sanders swore as his stomach shot up into him again before they lurched to a stop. He grunted a bit as his stomach rolled a bit, but he gulped down the bile. Pyrrha lifted him back up onto her head as Sanders tried to keep the ration bars down.

Sanders laid down to hide in her hair as they looked around. It looked to be about mid-morning and things were a lot calmer today. Where as yesterday had seen the base a whirlwind of activity, today it seemed more business as usual. A few giantesses were still moving about the area with catgirls and fairies, most likely hunting stragglers, but nowhere near the number yesterday. Likewise, the perimeter of the base only had a few giantesses patrolling it and he didn't see any tiny figures. Good, he didn't need to worry about Pyrrha stopping for a ...snack. The thought of what happened last time sent a shiver running through him along with a bit of bile.

"Alright, Pyrrha. Let's head for the perimeter, nice and slow. Don't want to draw attention to ourselves yet," Sanders said using her ears to aim her toward the perimeter. She started heading that way and Sanders held his breath. If they could just get close enough to the edge, they could make a break for it and try to give them the slip. Pity all the drainage ditches in the area had either been sealed or narrowed down to the point even HE couldn't get through. Made the base flood a bit when it rained hard, but was worth the inconvenience to not have Resistance using the tunnels to sneak up on them.

They were about halfway there when Sanders heard a giantess yell out a HEY! His heart skipped a beat as he risked a look in the direction of the voice. He let a sigh of relieve as he saw the yelling giantess moving toward another catgirl. It looked to be trying to dig something out from between some large boxes, but wasn't able to reach it. The giantess moved one just enough for the catgirl to get in. Sanders turned away, knowing what was going to happen next.

What the hell had the Resistance been thinking attacking the base like that? And what was he thinking, thinking they would be any help? They had been slaughtered out here and for what? To take down less than ten giantesses? There were hundreds of them on the base and plenty of women more than happy to take their place like... Sanders' hands clenched into fists as he had his answer. No matter how unlikely, he was still going to fight and, dammit, he was going to WIN!

The activity with the other catgirl was a boon as most of the giantesses were focusing on that. They neared the perimeter and were almost across it before Sanders heard another giantess yell. This time, there was no dispute it was at them.

"No! Hey, NO! Get back here!" a giantess' voice boomed out from their left. Sanders grabbed hold of Pyrrha's hair and braced his feet.

"Go, Pyrrha, run!" he yelled and run she did. Pyrrha took off at a full sprint toward the highway a few meters away. Sanders held on for dear life as her steps tossed him about. He glanced back and saw the giantess who had yelled at them starting to give chase. Her longer strides would give her a speed advantage and it would only be a matter of time till she caught up. Sanders had to figure out some way to lose her.

Sadly, all they had in front of them was open ground all the way to the highway, which was even MORE open ground. All the old wrecks and such had been removed from this part of the highway leaving them nothing to use. Dammit, there was nowhere to hide or duck under or anything out here! Sanders swore as he glanced back to see the giantess starting to gain on them.

Thankfully, none of the other giantesses were coming after them. The rest looked happy enough to let the one chasing them deal with them. They couldn't lose her...but maybe they could deal with her. Alone, Sanders would stand no chance against a giantess, but with Pyrrha...

"Pyrrha, that way!" Sanders yelled getting Pyrrha to turn a bit toward a large slope nearby. It lead up to another highway that went over the first. If they could get over that slope and beyond it, they would be out of sight of the other giantesses. Then, if they could manage to bring the one chasing them down, they could slip away before anyone realized what had happened. It was risky and hinged on them taking down a giantess in light combat gear, but Sanders didn't see any other choice.

Sanders held on tighter as Pyrrha began to scramble up the steep slope. He looked back and saw the giantess closing in on them. Pyrrha managed to scamper up high enough to get out of her reach before the giantess got to the steep slope. She swore before she began to give chase, slipping a bit on the loose dirt. Pyrrha, however, proved to be more sure-footed and slipped only once. Sanders held onto her hair and tried to stay out of sight as Pyrrha climbed to the top of the ridge.

Pyrrha was breathing rather hard by this point, but so was the giantess tailing them. The climb had slowed her down a good bit, giving them a bit of breathing room. Still, they couldn't rest too long, they needed to get out of sight before the giantess caught up to them.

"OK, Pyrrha, down the slope, nice and easy," Sanders said as Pyrrha moved to the other side of the highway. She slowly made her way down the slope, careful not to fall. There was a close call or two, but Pyrrha caught herself quickly. He was going to have to remember Pyrrha was a lot more sure-footed than a normal person. That could be an advantage that won this fight for them.

He looked back once they were halfway down and saw the giantess come over the hill. She groaned in annoyance as she sat down and began to slide down the hill after them. Damn, Sanders had hoped she would try to walk down the slope like they did and slip. No such luck with her coming down like that.

They reached the bottom well before the giantess, but it was still a long sprint over yet another highway to the city proper. Even worse, the highway was lowered down into a depression, meaning they would have to climb up to reach the city. Sanders wasn't sure if Pyrrha could out climb the giantess when the climb was a sheer vertical climb, and didn't want to risk being wrong. If she caught them and pulled them off... No, they were going to have to make their stand here.

"Go Pyrrha, but not too fast," Sanders said getting Pyrrha to run, but not sprint toward the other side of the highway. They had reached about a quarter of the way when the giantess had reached the bottom and took off after them. Sanders watched as she got closer and unhooked his machine gun. He wasn't sure how effective it would be on a giantess, but he wasn't just going to sit here and do nothing.

As the giantess neared them, Pyrrha turned to face her on her own. She crouched down and gave a low growl before hissing at the giantess. The giantess was undeterred as she slowed to a stop and shook her head.

"Oh shut up. Make me have to chase you and then hiss at me. Going to make sure your handler teaches you a lesson," the giantess said as she started to walk closer. Sanders knelt down lower into Pyrrha's hair to hide and tightened his grip on her hair. He waited till the giantess was nearly on top of them.

"Attack!" he hissed out to Pyrrha and the catgirl sprang forward. Sanders held on as wind buffeted him as Pyrrha leap forward onto the giantess. The woman yelled in pain and shock as Pyrrha began to claw and bite into her chest. Sanders was slammed into Pyrrha's head as she and the giantess wrestled with each other. Fuck, why hadn't he just had Pyrrha put him down?! STUPID!

The world became a scene of utter chaos as Sanders was thrown around. Every so often he would see the giantess and her hands trying to grab Pyrrha while Pyrrha's claws sliced into her. But it was so brief he had no idea what was going on or who was winning.

The giantess gave a cry of effort as Sanders felt them lifted away from her. He looked forward and saw the giantess had gotten her arms around Pyrrha's waist. Fuck, that was really, REALLY not good. Pyrrha clawed at her arms, leaving a number of nasty cuts in them, but the giantess did not let her go.

"FUCKING CAT!" the giantess yelled before raising them up over her head and tossing them straight down to the ground. Sanders tried to hold on, but the speed of the throw was just too much. His hand slipped off some of the strands of hair and yanked out the rest as he found himself free failing in the air. Sanders bite back a scream, knowing being spotted would end him just as quickly as the fast approaching ground. He looked around in panic for something, ANYTHING to grab onto. He looked down and saw the shoulder of the giantess slowly going back up from her toss.

Sanders twisted in the air and stretched out to the bit of shirt dangling off her shoulder. His hand dug into the fabric, trying to slow him, before catching on the thread of the cuff. He screamed in his mouth as his arm was nearly pulled out of its socket stopping him, but stop he did. He looked down at the dizzingly high drop and nearly passed out just for the sight. His light-headedness faded, however, when he saw Pyrrha gasping in pain on the highway. Before she could recover, the giantess kicked out and sent her rolling away, doubled over in pain. Sanders held on for dear life as the giantess shifted with the kick, barely keeping a hold on, but no longer feeling ready to pass out.

"Owww, FUCK! Screw taking you back! Going to fucking kill you, you stupid animal!" the giantess said as she looked at the cuts on her body. Sanders managed to shimmy around to the side of her shoulder and out of sight. He felt her starting to walk over to Pyrrha and swore under his breath. He had to do something or this giant bitch was going kill her!

Sanders gritted his teeth as he climbed up to the giantess shoulder. He crawled up onto it and stared at her face. He smiled as he got his target and stood up. He raised his gun and stomped down on her shoulder. The giantess stopped as she turned in confusion to her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw Sanders and the gun in his hand. He didn't say a word as he fired a burst of fire straight for her eye. The bullets punched through her eye causing a burst of gore to come out of it. The giantess screamed in pain as she reared back, blasted Sanders ears to ringing. Both of her hands came up to her head as Sanders was thrown forward by the movement. He keep a grip on his gun, but found himself slipping off her shoulder.

He looked up to see her hand came flying down toward him, ready to crush him. Sanders swore as he rolled off her shoulder to avoid the hand, only to find himself free falling again. Sanders took out his knife and plunged it into her shirt. The knife cut through the fabric, but began to slow as he held on with all his might. Finally, his descent slowed as he reached about halfway down the back of her shirt.

The ringing in Sanders ears began to fade as his hearing came back. The giantess was still screaming in pain and now rage as she was looking around herself.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU FUCKING ANT?! YOU FUCKING SHOT OUT MY EYE!!! MY FUCKING EYE!!!! I'M GOING TO BITE YOUR LIMBS OFF ONE BY ONE YOU DAMN TINY!!" she was bellowing out, causing Sanders to cringe in pain from the sonic force. Dammit, he needed to get some ear plugs or something.

He couldn't see if Pyrrha was alright or not since the giantess' body was in the way, but he had to assume she was not. He only had two more bursts of fire before his gun was out. And once it was out he was royally fucked. He had to hit something that would take her down or at least cripple her. But what?

He looked up and had his answer. Her neck...if he could climb up and shot out the back of her neck, he could sever her spinal cord. Even if it didn't kill her outright, it might paralyze her which would be just as good, if a bit morbid. Sanders slung his machine gun and started to climb up the giantess' shirt to her neck.

"DAMMIT! Little bastard!" the giantess growled before starting to spin around. Sanders swore as the momentum began to pull him from her shirt. He stared down at the ground hundreds of scale stories below and tightened his grip in a blind panic.  She stopped the turn and Sanders' momentum slammed him into her back, grunting in pain but keeping his grip.

"There you are!" she yelled as Sanders shook off the daze from the impact. He looked up to see her hand coming down toward him, ready to snatch him up. Sanders reacted on instinct and fired his second burst into her hand. The bullets raced forward, bounced away an inch from her hand as her shield deflected them. FUCK, she must have turned on her shield!

Her hand came racing toward him and Sanders had no time to try and climb away from it. He looked down and took a deep breath as he let got. He fell away from her shirt just as her hand closed on the spot where he had been. Sanders rolled and saw her ass racing up toward him. It jutted out just enough for him to land on the edge of it. He had to grab it or there would be nothing between him and the pavement save open air.

Sanders spread his arms and legs to slow his fall and got both hands ready to grab on. He landed onto her, thankfully, rather soft rear and tried to dig his hands into her jeans. His hands couldn't get a grip on the fabric and he began to slide down till his foot caught onto her pocket. He nearly went tumbling over as the rest of him keep falling, but he managed to grab hold of a nearby stitching and stop himself. He shifted himself around and got into an upright position.

The giantess didn't seem to have noticed him landing on her rear as she keep tapping her shirt for him. Sanders let out a breath of relief as he looked for some way to get back up. He still needed to reach her neck. Unfortunately, with the giantess patting her back, trying to climb up her shirt would be suicide. He was going to have to wait till she gave up.

"Dammit, where did you go? Fuck it, probably fell off. Time to deal with that cat," the giantess boomed out as she turned back to Pyrrha. Sanders cursed as he looked up. Dammit, there was no way he could reach her neck in time to stop her. Pyrrha was already hurt from before and he had no doubt the giantess would kill her. He had to stop her, but how?

Sanders held on as her rear shifted with her long strides. Sanders swore as he tried to think of something to do, but was drawing a blank. The giantess stopped and he heard a soft hiss come from in front of her. Dammit, no time, only one thing to do!

Sanders pressed the gun right into the giantess' ass and pulled the trigger. No shield stopped the bullets this time as they blasted into her skin from point blank range. Blood erupted out along with a yell of pain from the giantess. Small as he and the bullets were they were not life-threatening, being more like the size of a needle's point. But having a needle blast into your ass still hurt like a bitch, doubly so when it was a burst of them. 

The giantess' whipped around, nearly throwing Sanders off her pants, and tried to look down at him. Both of her hands came around and raised up to smack into her rear. Sanders swore as he tried to climb up to avoid them, but slipped on the blood leaking from the wound. He glanced back in panic at the hands before a large figure leap past the hands and up to the giantess' head. Sanders looked up to see Pyrrha grab onto the giantess' shoulders, her claws out.

"Wh-" the giaintess started to say before it turned into a gurgle as Pyrrha's claws raced forward and raked her throat. The giantess hands shot up to grab her throat as Pyrrha bit into it and clawed her hands away. The giantess gasped and gurgled in terror as blood began to run down her body. Sanders held on as the giantess thrashed around a bit longer before her movement slowed. Her gurgling stopped as her legs gave out. Sanders yelled in panic as the giantess began to fall forward, taking him with her.

He braced himself as the fall speed up and up and up, and Sanders had to hold on with all his might not to be thrown off by the wind. The giantess' body slammed to the ground, blasting out enough sound to blast out Sander's eardrums. He came flying down into her rear with enough force that he was sure he was dead. However, the woman's plump rear acted like a massive airbag and Sanders sank into it rather than crumble on it. The flesh pushed him back and sent the world spinning as Sanders screamed in terror. He came down on the same yielding flesh and slowly came to a stop. Sanders laid there for a second, still unsure if he was dead or not.

He slowly picked himself up and looked up. The giantess' body was laid out before him like an island in a sea of concrete. She was laying on the ground on her stomach, blood slowly pooling out from her neck. Sanders didn't need to see her unmoving chest to know she was dead. Pyrrha had, literally, ripped her throat out. Pyrrha... Shit where was Pyrrha?!

Sanders looked around and spotted her off to the side. She was laying on the cement, looked rather hurt from the beating she had taken. Being thrown to the cement and then kicked away had left a really nasty bruise on her leg and her side. She looked to have hurt the leg worse jumping onto the giantess as she was crawling along without it.

She was looking around for him before her eyes settled on him. She crawled over to him and gave him a happy lick. Sanders let her and gave her cheek a kiss in return.

"Good to see you too, Pyrrha. Sorry you got hurt, I should have thought of a better idea than this," Sanders said, though Pyrrha just nuzzled into him in response. Sanders looked past her giant face to the bruise on her leg. Already it was beginning to swell and Sanders could tell it was going to slow them down. They couldn't afford that, not at this junction. Sadly, the med-kit Sanders had was meant for normal-sized people. Pyrrha was so huge compared to that, that nothing in it would do a damn thing.

Sanders got a confused look as he got a sense of deja vu from this situation. Had he been in this situation before? No...and then he remembered. Aviel and Flonne... they had been in the same situation and Aviel had used the nano-bots on Flonne. The same nano-bots that had reacted with her healing power to reveal the truth about her past. The same nano-bots that were not meant for monstergirls.The same nano-bots  he had to decide to use or not.

Sanders stared at Pyrrha as the sounds of someone yelling came from the base. He knew what choice he had to make.

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January 11, 2024 6:55 PM

Sanders had stopped his story at that point. He took a deep breath thinking back on that moment. He moved on from it, these two didn't need to hear about that, and continued with what little was left.

"After that, we got into Atlanta proper. It wasn't too hard to avoid what few patrols there were. We got into the old drainage tunnels and used them to slip out of the city. Took us, two, three days or so. Not real sure, was hard to judge time down there. Anyway, once we got to the suburbs it was simple to avoid the patrols. I know where all of them are and how they operate so it was easy to avoid them. Then it was just following I-75 till we got here. Still, it took nearly a month to do..." Sanders said. Nearly a month of having to make due with whatever they caught or found and living in holes or old abandoned houses. A miserable month to be sure.

"When I got close to where the image in my head showed Hope was, I decided to leave Pyrrha behind. I left her in an old gas station a few miles back and continued the rest of the way on foot. Or I was, but your people jumped me moments after I got out of sight of the station. You guys probably know the rest," Sanders said hoping to whoever that they believed him.

Sanders had told Darius and the larger man nearly everything. He had told them his side of the botched rescue of Manchent, the large man glaring at him the entire time; Isabella's constant trips out into the wilds; her demise at the hands of a shrink device, Darius seemed to listen very closely to that part; his escape thanks to Pyrrha; his meeting with Darius' sister; and their killing of a giantess to escape. He left out the part with Lutice and the robot, having no wish to talk about that with two strangers.

Darius stared at him after he finished, his face blank of all emotions. Sanders had no idea whether he believed him or not. All he knew, was this Darius looked nothing like the smirking one that was still in his head. The large man, however, was easier to read and shook his head in disbelief.

"A good story. Did your bitch leaders come up with it or did you, spy?" he said moving closer to Sanders.

"What?! I'm no spy! I am te-" Sanders started to say before the big man interrupted him with a smack across the face. Before the big man could say anything, however, Darius spoke up.

"Derek, stop. Sanders is not a spy," Darius said getting Derek to whirl around to him. Sanders heart leap up in hope for the first time since his capture hearing that. Darius still stared at him with that icy gaze, however.

"What?! You believe all of that nonsense?! Darius it-"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Derek," Darius interrupted him with a harsh glare. "I said he was not a spy. I said nothing of believing his story. And before you ask, I know he is not spy because of this," Darius said. He didn't move or do anything, however, and the cell was silent.

"You...supposed to be doing something?" Sanders ask getting a glare from Derek, though he didn't hit him this time. Darius shook his head.

"Because of the silence. Our scouts said that he made for Hope in a straight line, only deviating when Society patrols forced him to. That path is too perfect to be just a coincidence. Therefore, we can assume he did know where Hope was. Which means, if he was a Society spy, the Society would know where we are. And if they did, what would be happening?" Darius asked.

"We would be under siege already..." Derek answered before nodded to himself. Sanders was glad Darius was in here too or Derek probably would have beaten him bloody before either of them had thought of that, if not killed him outright.

"Well if he is not a spy, what is he then?" Derek asked going back to giving Sanders a suspicious look. Sanders guessed he should be happy he wasn't giving him a death glare anymore...

"That is the real question," Darius said as he stared at Sanders.

"I'm someone trying to help you! Whatever Manchent left has to be important if the Society was willing to kill their own to keep it unknown! I know you're smart enough to see that!" Sanders said trying to get Darius to see reason. Dammit, why did he just stand there staring at him without any emotion at all?!

"Sounds like a lot of bullshit to me," Derek growled out. Sanders turned to return the growl as Darius nodded.

"I am inclined to agree. We have wasted enough time with this," Darius said before turning back to the door. Sanders eyes widened as he realized they were not going to help AND leave him to rot down here! Dammit NO!!

"You're just going to leave me here! I fought my way through the entire Society base, surviving a giantess AND a catgirl attack, even brought a fucking message from your own damn sisters and you are going to just LEAVE me here to rot?!" Sanders said trying to break the wires binding his arms and legs. They held firm though, keeping him locked in place.

Darius stopped and glanced back at him.

"I never said anything about leaving you here. Derek," Darius said getting a stunned look from Derek. The big man gave something between a growl and a sigh as he bent down and undid the wires binding Sanders. Sanders sighed in relief as he tried to rub feeling back into his wrists and ankles.

"As I said, you are not a spy so I see no reason to keep you here. Besides, that catmonster might come looking for you if you are gone too long. I have enough issues to deal with without it adding to them. You can leave if you like and go on your...mission. But I have more important things to do than go on wild goose chases," Darius said before banging on the rock. The rock began to slowly shift as Sanders stormed after Darius. Derek, however, was in front of Sanders in an instant, blocking his way. The big man towered over Darius by a good scale foot and glowered down at him.

"So that's it? I came here to get help and you are just going to wish your hands of it? I have had a map to this place, your face, and that stupid phrase burrowed into my head for you just to say "fuck it?" Your sister must be so happy her brother is still out here doing what needs to be done to save her rather than sitting on his ass and waiting for the e-" Sanders had just gotten the last words out when Darius wheeled on him, an actually decently made pistol in his hand. He pointed the gun straight at Sanders as Derek stepped aside.

"Don't ever, EVER, talk about my sister or me not doing enough to save her again. You know NOTHING about what I have done to get her back," Darius said with a glare of utter hate on his face. Sanders was taken aback by it, but not enough to back down.

"And yet she is still in their base, trapped in a tube being subjected to Go-" Darius' pistol smashed into Sanders' jaw sending him reeling to the side. Sanders grabbed his jaw and worked it to make sure it wasn't broken before spitting out a wade of blood from his mouth. Darius was glaring even more intently at him now.

"That's right...beat the guy who came to help. That will help your sister and everyone else," Sanders said, expecting another blow. It never came, though as Darius just glared at him. Finally, he turned away from Sanders before hiding his gun away in his shirt.

"Well, my other theory about who you might be seems to be unlikely now as well," Darius said as he whispered something to Derek. Derek gave Darius a shocked look and shook his head. He started to whisper something back, but Darius ignored him.

"You are not a spy and very much not a coward. You were not sent by the Society and you are not simply trying to flee to the North to escape them. Which leaves me with only one real conclusion to make. You are, indeed, here to help and, at least, believe that there is something in Lindale that could assist us further," Darius said. Sanders was stunned for a moment by that. He...he believe him...Holy shit, he believed him! Sanders had to resist the urge to jump in the air or cheer as he felt the sweet feel of success and relief hit him.

"However,that doesn't mean I can help you," Darius said dashing Sanders hopes just as they were getting raised. His eyes leap up to stare at Darius in disbelief. He believed him and STILL wouldn't help?! This son of a-

"Before you overreact, let me explain. The Phoenixes, this group I run, are coming very close to being in an all out war with the Society. Their patrols are moving up on our southern border with alarming speed. At the same time, the Snakes are fleeing a Society attack force that wiped them out. This would not be a problem expect they are leading said force straight to our eastern border. If any of our bases in those areas are found, the Society will not rest till they find the rest. Eventually, they may even find Hope itself. With things looking so dire, I can spare no one to go with you on what is, very likely, a pointless mission," Darius said before turning to leave. Sanders felt crushed as he listened. Dammit...he couldn't even get mad at Darius for saying no. Darius had his own people to consider and Sanders knew enough about how the Society dealt with Resistance members to know what being found meant.

And then something in his head clicked. It was something Darius had said. "With things looking so dire"... But what if things were not so dire?

"Wait," Sanders said getting Darius to stop at the door. Derek sighed as he turned to glare back at him. Darius didn't turn, however.
"What if things were not so bad? What if Hope was safe for the moment?" Sander asked.

"Then I would have time to indulge a potential waste of time mission with a chance of finding what Manchent wanted so desperately to tell me," Darius said  without looking back. Sanders understood perfectly now and knew what he had to do.

"Then tell me what Pyrrha and I can do to help save Hope," Sanders said. Darius turned back to Sanders and gave him a familiar smirk.


Report from Scout Lindsey, Commander Darius' eyes only:

I have been tracking the Sphinx for three days now. It has made no move to attack, devour, or harm the Puzzle. In fact, it has done quite the opposite. When it hunts, it always brings food back for the Puzzle and uses its own body to warm the Puzzle during the night. At this point I must agree with Scout Lewis' assessment. The Sphinx is protecting and serving the Puzzle. I have even seen the Puzzle riding the Sphinx on its head, using its ears to steer it.

Also, both have yet to deviate from their course. They are still moving almost directly toward Hope. The Sphinx has, on more than one occasion, gone off the wrong way, but the Puzzle has already brought them back on the path within a few moments. Again, I must agree with Lewis. The Puzzle is heading directly for Hope. Please advice.


Response:

Capture the Puzzle at all costs, but do not harm the Sphinx.