FSE

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For the poor animals afflicted by Scourging or Demonic Plague, exposure to sunlight causes the DNA of the already dangerously unstable and highly mutated Rabies strain afflicting them to break apart even further. Rabies at that point degenerates into the Cursed Virus, a ravenous, flesh and bone eating disease that results in the transformation into an Anomaly. The pain of this process is unmatched, but a Cursed Animal that can continue to maintain his or her sanity throughout it becomes a force to be reckoned with against even most skilled enemy. Those afflicted with scourging are not so lucky.

We were pulling back into the driveway of James' house just before sunrise, maybe around seven thirty. First thing he did after stepping out of a truck was take a pack of Capri 120's out of his shredded pants and light it up, somehow it hadn't been damaged by the fight. He inhaled half the stick in one long draw and finished it on the second, immediately lighting up a second one as we went inside. Nero and Mya hopped up on the couch and curled in the corner, Shannon and Zack sat next to them, James dragged a bean bag chair out of the stairwell closet and collapsed into that, while the rest of us sat back in the same spots we had before heading out to the plant.

"I think we can all agree that op went sideways in the most colossal way imaginable", James said finishing his cigarette in one long draw.

"What did you mean when you said that you can only run from someone like him for so long?", Shannon asked.

"He was...an old friend", James half sighed, half growled, "we used to get into so much shit together and then get right back out of it. He was a mad genius, that's why I said what I did, you can only hide from someone like him for so long."

"You seemed like you were holding back with everything you had the first time he showed up", I noted, "What changed?"

"The bombs fell", James said, "he was dying of radiation sickness and decided he was going to make one last attempt to purge the rads from his system with some makeshift radiation drugs, so away to Marshal we went. I should have tried harder to convince him it was a bad idea, maybe if I had..."

"You wouldn't have had to go full Thanos on him like you did?", Shannon asked.

James leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling with that look on his face. You know the one, the one where you try to hide the pain behind the mask of humor.

"If we ever meet a wasteland creature that actually matches Thanos, make sure you record it", James said, "because if that were to happen, maybe I wouldn't be afraid to unleash everything."

My team all exchanged looks.

"James you lifted that monster, which, I should add you said weighed four tons, over your head and cratered the driveway with how fucking hard you slammed him down and then ripped his head off with most of it's spine one handed!", Benjamin squeaked, "you're telling us you were holding back!?"

James struck a silent, hard stare at Benjamin. We sat in awkward silence for about ten minutes before Shannon spoke up.

"Does it have to do with your sickness?", she asked.

He sighed, "Only once since the bombs fell have I had to use my abilities, if I can even call it that, to their fullest extent, and it didn't end well."

"What happened?", I asked.

"The day Taylor and I went into Marshal for the last time is one I have tried for three years to forget. We were on a mission looking for what we would need to make a crude version of Triamidol. Cheap and dirty with a high chance of failure, it was his last chance so we had to try. We went during the night, as I was already a Demon at the time and because it was hot as a motherfucker and he didn't deal with the heat well. He insisted on walking in and walking out, even though he could hardly stand. We helped each other, and made it into town okay. We barely get through the first store when we get jumped by the Scourged. I thought I knew fear, but I didn't. We hold 'em off for a good while until more show up. I'm cutting and shooting and chewing on as many as I can, but, fuck they just swarmed in, hundreds of 'em. They dragged Taylor out in their horde", James stopped to sigh a long sigh.

"What happened then?", Nat asked.

James looked up, the expression on his face was extreme anger. He opened his mouth like he was going to scream, but then stopped. His hide turned a shade of red that was more like terror than anger and he began to act like he was having a PTSD attack. He shook his head and stuttered for a good 20 seconds before he stood up and started pacing. After a few minutes of this, he stopped, leaned against the counter for a few seconds and then started pacing again, eventually sliding down to the floor and leaning against the living room wall, curling up into a fetal position. Benjamin started to get up, but Shannon stopped him.

"No...let him go", She said, "unless you want him to attack you."

James sat there in the kitchen, quiet for about 20 minutes before he left and went outside, quietly shutting the door behind him. I stood up.

"Arien...that's not a good idea", Shannon cautioned.

"I know. I don't care", I said, following James outside. I found him sitting in the driver's seat of his work truck, a fat cigar in between his fingers. I walked around to the passenger's side, rapping on the door after trying the handle, it was locked. There was a click, the door now opened. I climbed inside and shut it behind me. James was leaning back in the seat with one arm out the window and the other on the central console. He had taken great care of his vehicle in the years since the bombs fell, for sure. It was well kept, and the only thing that looked like it didn't have a specific place in the vehicle was a binder with a York logo in the middle of it. His keys also had an old looking "York Champion" keychain on it and the rear view mirror had a "York Master Dealer", key chain hanging from his dogtags.

"You were a York dealer I take?", I asked flipping through the binder, it was specs on split systems from 1 all the way to 100 tons.

"Mason Refrigeration sold York for 57 years", James said, "all the way back to my great grandfather. It ended with me, when the bombs fell."

"How'd you feel about the micro-channel switch?", I asked.

He shrugged, "Just another option. They still offered Tube Fin, and Micro-channel was just an option for people who wanted the York name without the cost of the higher end equipment. If I didn't stand behind their product, I wouldn't have continued to be a dealer."

"Fair enough."

"Arien, you didn't come out here to chat about my opinion of York equipment, so spit it out. What do you want?"

"Aight. You've made it plenty clear that Goliath was your friend once upon a time, I wanna know what changed. What turned you against each other?"

James took a long draw on his cigar and blew the smoke out the window, he made a face, he was debating whether or not he wanted to tell me.

"Rabies happened", James said, " According to Taylor's notes, the Rabies virus strain that mutated after the bombs has three stages, getting progressively more unstable as you progress through the stages. You have the regular Rabids, which eventually degenerate into Demons, but I can't say for sure if it happens to all Rabids, or if something triggers it, but what I can tell you is that a Scourged stupid enough to get caught in the sun eventually degenerates into a Biomass. Just a collection of runaway cell division and DNA."

"So basically, the Biomass is a form of what? Super cancer?", I asked.

James nodded, "Taylor's notes said it's a very aggressive hybrid ofNecrotizing Fasciitis, Melanoma and Osteomyelitis. Officially he was calling it Necrotizing Fasciitiosteomyelitis, but, he gave it a more simple name,the Curse, because that's what it is. Sunlight seems to be the trigger that starts it, you have to have I think about 30 seconds of continuous exposure for you to start to devolve into a Cursed. Once the process is started, I suspect that Scourged always become Biomass, but with Demons it could go either way, just depends on the given Animal."

"Those ones we fought up north were out in the sun for a whole lot more than thirty seconds", I stated.

"Those horned lizards don't seem to have that problem", James said, "can't really say why."

James continued through a long sigh.

"I was already a Demon at the time, well on my way towards being a Cursed, and to be frank Taylor was too. I think that the Scourged chewing on us the way they did expedited the process and he must have crossed that fine line at some point during that horror show. I didn't see him again till mornin'."

"What happened then?", I asked.

"Found him at my old shop, just followed the Blood Trail", James said, "he'd already changed completely into a Cursed by that time, Goliath. I didn't know it until he addressed me."

I stayed quiet.

"Our fight ransacked my entire shop, even in full demon mode, not feeling pain, organs hanging out of my gut, lashes that would instantly kill a normal, non Demonic animal covering my arms and neck, I wasn't a match. Eventually, Taylor broke me, quite literally in half from the inside and dragged me out into the street, I wasn't layered....the sun was out."

There was a moment of silence between us.

"You...became one of them?", I asked, "you were Cursed?"

"Right then and there in the street", James said, "Taylor had slaughtered a bunch of Scourged that were dead in the street. Remember in Venom when Eddie got hit by the car so Venom decided it was time to come out and play?"

I nodded.

"I imagine it looked something like that. Just remember my bones snapping back into place and the biomass pushing me up. I can't tell you how long the fight lasted after that, minutes, seconds, hours? Who fuckin' knows, it only ended when we locked fists and realized we just couldn't fight any more, we let each other go, and I think we both knew our next meeting would be the last, one way or the other."

James fell quiet again, he held up his hand. Fleshy tendrils that looked identical to the flesh on Goliath covered his hand. His 5 fingers became three with one thumb and grew longer by roughly an inch, ending in sets of the most wicked looking straight razors I'd ever seen, enough to give even the meanest Feral Dragons runs for their money. Watching the strings of bio matter engulf, twist and reshape his hands was stomach turning in and of itself, but the worst part? The worse part was the smell. It was so fucking horrible that I actually tried to puke, but forced it back down. James didn't even seem to mind the fact that his bones were being broken and reset to form these new digits.

"The Curse just isn't your run of the mill disease. The Curse twists animals into abominations that spit in the face of C-Gas."

I nodded in agreement. I'd tried to forget what I'd seen of the results of C-Gas in the Arctic, as horrible as it was, the Biomass was a complete 180 different kind of horrifying.

"The Curse twists you into something you were never supposed to be, something you're not designed to be, like an electric motor drawing too many amps. You go on full power all the time with out ever holding back, it ruins your body and wrecks your mind. I don't know if the voice in the back of my head is of my own creation, or something more sinister. I can't tell if it's trying to drive me insane, or protect me."

There was a long silence. I wasn't sure what to think.

"I don't know how I feel about that....", I finally sighed, "I'm not sure if that'll be an asset or a liability."

"I wanted to hide what I was from you guys for a reason", James said, "most Animals with heads still on their shoulders kill anything that even looks slightly Rabid on sight. I've gotten good at keeping it under control, but at the end of the day, I'm still a ticking time bomb."

I sighed, thinking very carefully about my next words.

"What's that old saying? Never leave a brother behind?", I asked.

"Even after seeing that, and knowing how much of a mess I am? You still want me to tag along?", James asked, "I don't know whether or not to be happy or to call you fucking insane."

"Maybe do both", I said, "I can't force you to come along, don't think it'd end well, especially after what you did to Goliath, but I would love to have you, we need you on our side, we all would."

"Just gimme a minute", James said pulling out another cigarette, "I don't like talking about how I ended up here, lemme finish some more sticks and I'll be in to explain myself."

I slid out of James' truck, shutting the door behind me, I went back inside, finding the rest of the crew huddled around a Tablet that Shannon had.

"Arien, you need to see this", she said.

"What'cha got there?", I asked heading over to them.

"James' Journal", Nat said, "we searched the house while you were talkin' to him."

I stopped dead.

"What!?", I whispered loudly, "why would you do that!?"

"For the record, I haven't actually trusted James from the beginning", Shannon shrugged, "I figured he had something to hide, turns out, I was right, just...not in the way I was thinking."

"What the fuck are you talking about?", I asked.

Shannon sighed, "Goliath was a personal friend of James for a very long time, a Coyote by the name of Taylor Mason."

"A dragon and a Coyote?", I asked, "How did James' Dad not skin him alive?"

Shannon clicked her tongue, "he did. He's got notes in this journal as far back as him being 12 years old and evidently he and Taylor were buddies long before that. There's entry after entry about the two of them getting into and out of quite a bit of trouble."

"I fail to see how this is important", I shrugged, "why the hell you going through the guy's Journal?"

Shannon sighed. Her fingers glided across the tablet, playing one of the logs.

"Taylor's getting worse and worse by the hour", James' voice cracked over the old tablet, he sounded like he was very concerned, "The radiation is cooking him like a microwave oven and everything I try and give him just goes straight through. He can't sleep, can't think, can't hardly even stand, let alone foot a plate carrier and rifle. He's constantly crying from the pain his Rabies is inflicting on him since I won't let him smoke anymore and we're out of salt lick. He's lost about 50 pounds just these past two weeks and gone through all the pain medication I have on hand. Our last hope is to try and cook some makeshift Triamidol, and he says we can find everything we need in Marshal. He insists on walking in and walking out. This isn't a good idea, but we're going to take my service truck and go into Marshall tonight. Even if we can't get all of what we need for the drugs, I can at least pick up what I need to service the wall pack on the Safe house."

"Don't say that asshole", another male piped up from the background. Pain was evident in his voice, yet, he still seemed to be in good spirits, "if we can't find all of what we need, I blame you for jinxing it!"

Shannon paused, drawing in a deep breath.

"2 hours ago, my best friend of 15 years was by my side. Now...he's dead. His body desecrated by an abomination that has no place in this world. I wanted to peel back the flesh of this monster, pluck my friend from within and then take my time slowly butchering that creature to death. I would have liked nothing more than to carry Taylor home on my shoulders and bury him where he always wanted. Taylor...I'm sorry my brother. I am so sorry and ashamed of the state I've left you in. I know whatever got you, it got me too. Who knows how long I've got left? I can't stand that idea, I can barely hold myself together against the Plague, whatever infected you is an entirely different ballgame. I can't live with myself knowing how I've left you. Taylor, little brother, if you're sitting upstairs with the big guy himself, I hope you can forgive me. Could you put in a good word if you can? I'll be coming to see you in about 5 minutes."

The audio log went on for about another four minutes. James had stopped speaking, I could hear his footsteps trail upstairs, disappear, reappear and come back downstairs. James sighed, checked the chamber of what sounded like a break action shotgun. BANG. I flinched. The weapon hit the floor shortly before James' body, which was quickly followed by the sound of snapping bones and flesh being ripped from muscle. The unholy screaming of a million damned souls filled the speakers and the faint rolling of lead pellets on a wooden floor could just barely be made out over it. The thing in the recording roared to the heavens for a good thirty seconds before going to pick up the tablet. The sounds of large claws clicking on the floor played simultaneously with the sound someone sloshing around in flooded squeaky boots when the creature bent down to pick up it's recorder.

At first, all he heard were growls and moans, then, it played back some of the old messages. It made some disgusting sloshing noises, then actually spoke.

"Friend. We...will avenge."

The recording stopped. There was a long silence in the room, then Shannon played another recording.

"I..it won't even let me die", James stuttered in complete fear, "I put a shotgun in my mouth and...it...spit the buckshot onto the floor", he paused for a good three minutes, "I spoke to the Devil today, and he swears he's not to blame. So, to that end, what has invaded my body? What kind of monster have I become!?"

Shannon killed the audio. More silence. Zack was focusing intently on his right arm, and Nat on the streaks of bright white light striking through the black ash atop her skin.

"I thought Medusa was a curse", She whispered.

Zack sighed, "and I thought we went through hell in the Western Trench. How long has James been enduring this?"

"Three years", James voice came from the front hallway. I snapped around, he was standing against the door frame with his arms crossed at his chest, tail swaying eagerly behind him, "If you don't mind, that tablet has some very personal information in it. Please put it down."

"Oh shit", Shannon sighed, caught red pawed, she set James' tablet down on the table, "is it too late to say sorry?"

James sighed.

"Sorry James", Eirren said, "we couldn't shake the idea we were hiding something."

He shrugged, stepping into the living room, "how much of that did you actually listen to?"

"Enough", Eirren said.

"Taylor sounded like a good friend brother", Zack said.

James wiped his eyes, I wasn't sure if his tears were for Taylor, himself, or them both. He sighed that sigh you do when you're about to start balling like a cub but still trying to keep your shit together, "yeah...15 years. Coyote's, I tell ya, you could pull the skin off their bones and they'd still jump on a grenade for you."

James gritted his teeth, tears started running down his cheeks, his eyes watered up. He whined like someone had driven a knife through his chest, "I'm in so much pain."

He just fell backwards onto the floor, landing with a loud thud, we all gathered around him.

"I fuckin' did this", he whined, "Taylor was my best friend and I let that...that thing desecrate his body, then tried to take the coward's way out. Some of the shit Taylor was ready to endure for me, and I wasn't willing to repay the favor. I left him there to rot in that goddamned plant, come morning there won't even be a body left to bury."

"James. We'll go get him", Zack said, "we don't leave our own behind."

"I second that", Nat said, "a friend of yours is a friend of ours."

"No Animal left behind", Ben agreed, "not one."

Shannon sat James up and hugged him tightly, "James, it'll be okay."

Shannon's assurance didn't seem to help, in fact, it may have just made things worse. I think that at that point, James had just...finally had enough.

"You don't understand. Failure is such a friend to me that now the very fabric of my soul is permeated with it's foul stench, everything I set out do I fuck up in some way or another. From the moment I started kindergarten I've done nothing but fuck things up for those dumb enough to call me a friend. These last six years have ripped everything right out from under me, my parents, my sister, my brothers, Taylor, my mate and my daughter. When I had nothing left to take, it took the skin off my back."

James sniffled and tried four or five times to say something else. His teeth were chattering with how hard he was trying not to start balling. Shannon hugged him tighter, he closed his eyes and just...lost it.

"What th...just...just what the fuck have I done that made my family and friends deserve this?", he asked trough his tears, shaking his head, "I..I...I just don't understand. Can't someone just explain it to me?"

He didn't stop holding back after that, he just started balling like a hurt cub. It was difficult to imagine an animal that the wastelands hadn't screwed, but damn had it really bent James over and raped him hard. Watching a grown Dragon with years of Force Recon experience cry himself to sleep wasn't something I'd seen before. Shannon and Eirren carried him up stairs and disappeared around the corner.

"Hey Arien", Ben said to me.

"Yeah?", I asked.

"Zack, Nat and I going to go get Taylor's body from the plant", he said, "we can probably be back in 15-20 minutes tops."

"By yourselves?", I asked.

"Yeah", Zack said, "James needs to have closure, and Taylor deserves a comfortable place to rest I think, after all he and James have been through together. If we go in and out the same way we came back, I think we'll be okay."

"Okay, stay safe guys. If trouble comes up, radio and I'll come out to reinforce you", I said.

"Will do", Ben said grabbing his vest, heading out the door. Zack followed.

I watched them pile into the Sequoia and disappear into the distance. I was by myself now. Nero and Mya had fallen asleep somehow with each of them managing to be on top of the other on the couch, and Eirren and Shannon were trying to keep James from falling apart. I was still having the whole rubber bones problem from the Scavenger sting going on, and since now things had somewhat calmed down, I decided it was probably a good idea to take a shower and turn in for the night, so I did just that. I was sitting up in bed reading that P-94 Manual via the lamp at my bedside when the Sat-Phone went off in my pack. I looked to my ruck, letting it ring for a second before I put the manual aside, pushed away the covers and crawled to the end of my bed. Reaching over the frame, I grabbed it out of the back of my ruck and flipped it open. It was Hunter.

"Hey Hunter", I immediately answered.

"Whose this?", Hunter asked.

"Arien", I replied.

"Okay, good. I know it's late Arien, but I promise you this is important."

"No worries", I said, "was just chilling out, been a hectic couple of days."

"I hear ya' brother, I just have one question", Hunter said, "did you happen to come across a vehicle that actually worked recently? A blacked out Ford Excursion in specific?"

"Yeah, yeah we did. It was given to us by a New York Rat by the name of Norman Tyler", I said.

"Was it stolen recently?", Hunter asked.

"Yeah", I said, "I take it our mystery Animal made his deposit huh?"

"So you know what I'm talking about?", Hunter asked.

"Yeah", I said, "we found three Toyota's that same night, one of which was my personal truck with a note that said the Excursion was being taken back to Eire."

"That's way too big of coincidence", Hunter said, "I'm dealing with something similar. Khen, the head honco from Eire, paid me a visit this morning asking me if I could look into the arrival of this vehicle. He's wondering how the hell the driver got past his security. No one in Eire ever had eyes on him."

"Neither did we", I said, "he managed to slip away from some pretty horrifying mutants after drawing them away from us in a chemical plant. Whoever he is, he want's to see us live for some reason."

"Alright", Hunter said, "I'mma let you go, but before I do, lemme talk to my little sister."

"Yeah, one second."

I climbed out of bed and walked down the hall, knocking on the door to James' room. Shannon answered.

"Yeah?", she asked quietly.

"I need Eirren, her brother's on the Sat Phone."

Shannon closed the door, a few seconds later, Eirren came out and shut the door tightly behind her, taking the phone from me.

"Hunter?", she asked.

...

"Yeah, it's been a crazy few days, but we're all fine for the most part."

...

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Eirren started back to the room, I followed her. She sat down in a chair at the back of the room while I got back into bed and started reading again. She and Hunter talked well over an hour and Eirren was close to tears when she hung up. I couldn't tell if they were tears of sadness because he had to go already, or joy that she'd talked with him for so long. She flipped the Sat phone closed.

"I've never been able to hold his attention that long", she smiled.

"Can't hold the attention of most male dragons very long", I shrugged, grinning, "us hybrids are 'specially bad."

Eirren giggled, "He tell you that Will's already got the Ford back?"

I nodded, looking up from my manual, "yep. Some impressive driving to get that thing back up there so quickly."

"Unless he flew it", Eirren suggested.

"Doubtful", I shrugged.

"I mean why not?", she asked, "we're talking about an animal who recovered your truck, James' truck and probably the trailer and Sequoia as well. If we go by that line of thinking, whose to say that he didn't also modify, paint everything and then deposit them for us to find?"

"Seems like a lot of work and resources that could have been better spent elsewhere", I shook my head.

"Unless said animal has some kind of a vested interest in making sure we stay alive", Eirren suggested.

"What interest would that be?", I asked.

"Well, when you consider the fact we have Nat and James in our roster, the way their bodies have mutated and adapted to the wastelands I imagine would be a lot of biologist's wet dreams. Imagine the hardcore anti radiation drugs that could be created from knowing how Nat's body handles the Corium contamination."

"So you think mystery animal is watching us for legitimate purposes huh?", I asked.

"Do we have a reason to suspect otherwise?", she asked.

"As of right now, no", I said. I closed my book, leaned forward and put it back in my ruck, laying on my stomach, starring at Eirren.

"What are you looking at?", she asked.

"The wall behind you", I shrugged.

"Sure", she grinned sheepishly, "I completely believe you're looking at the wall...directly behind the female you're mated to."

"Get out of those dusty fatigues and come join me", I smiled, "it's late."

"I mean it's like nine in the morning but okay", she grinned. She grabbed some things from her bag and disappeared down the hallway. I heard the shower come on. I leaned back in bed, looking up at the ceiling for a few moments, then reached down by my nightstand for my radio.

"Benjamin", I said, 'Arien, gimme a strep."

"We're on our way back", Ben said, "objective completed."

"How was the resistance?", I asked.

"Few stragglers", he answered, "nothing too bad. See you in five."

"Rodger that", I said, "Arien out."

I let the radio slip out of my paw, it bounced off the mattress and rolled back into my vest. I sat up, got out of bed and went down the hall, knocking on James' door, Shannon answered again.

"Need something Arien?", she asked.

"Yeah, you should know that Ben, Zack and Nat went to get Taylor's body from the plant, they're on their way back right now."

"He was serious huh?", James asked from out of sight.

"Yeah."

James clicked his tongue, "how long till they get back?"

"Few minutes", I said.

James came to the door, "If you leave me alone while I bury him, I'll come with you. Deal?"

He offered his paw. I met his gaze, and accepted.

"If that's what it takes, you've got a deal."

"Thanks Arien", James said.

I nodded, smiled and turned to go back to my room. I had just barely laid down when Eirren entered,wearing a tight fitting T-Shirt and spandex underwear that went down to her knees. She came over and crawled into bed next to me, resting her head on my neck.

"I'm fuckin' exhausted", She sighed.

"How do you think I feel?", I asked, "my bones still feel like rubber."

"How much further do we have to go?", she asked, "before we get to Texas?"

"Not far", I said, "probably about 1000 miles. But no telling what's between us and home."

"Home", Eirren thought aloud, "now...there's a phrase I'd thought I'd forgotten the meaning of."

"I never did", I said, "They said home was where you made it, I made mine a long time ago."

Eirren snuggled close to me, putting her paw on my chest.

"Hybrids are strange", She said, "you've got bare skin on most of your torso, but scales on your head, arms, legs and tail."

"Never bothered you before."

"You're not wrong", Eirren said, "but I never knew many Hybrids well before I met you, they were kinda frowned upon pre war, ya know?"

"How could I forget?", I said, "I got my winter gym clothes taken away by my Gym teacher once and forced to run the mile in 20 degree rain because someone told him I was a Hybrid. I almost died from that."

"Tch, asshole."

"Tell me about it", I sighed.

"Do you think James will be okay?", she asked after some silence, "Taylor's death really hurt him."

"Yeah", I said, " yeah, I think he'll be fine. Ben, Zack and Nat went to go get his body, they're probably back by now."

"Has Nat been acting strange lately?", she asked.

"I haven't noticed anything. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno, she just seems...like she's not all there right now", she said, "she smells weird too."

"Like burning flesh and metal?", I asked.

"Well, yeah, but...hmm, maybe I'm just grasping at straws that aren't there", she mused.

"Probably", I yawned, "it's been a long week."

"Least tomorrow's Friday right?", she grinned sheepishly, "wasteland will be on hold for the weekend."

"Yeah, I wish."

"Arien", the radio chirped, "we're coming in, precious cargo retrieved."

"I'll let James know", I said, "good work guys."

"Hurry back", Eirren said.

I slid out of bed and slinked to James' door, tapping on it.

"James, Taylor's here."

"Okay", he said opening the door, "get them to stay off my back while I do this."

I nodded. James went down stairs, meanwhile Zack came up.

"I guess he wanted to do it himself huh?", he asked.

"Yeah", I said, "yeah he did. How'd it go?"

"It sucked", Zack said, "when we got there, the warehouse smelled like...man I don't think I have anything to compare it to, we had to use our gas masks just to keep from puking. All of the Biomass had melted away from Taylor's body and was a writhing puddle of blood and meat. And by the way, Benjamin's radioactivity matches Nat's now, their levels of radiation have increased, the point where they can use it as a ranged weapon."

"Ranged weapon?", I asked.

"Liquid Corium behaves for the most part like really wet play dough when you have enough of it, kinda stays in one shape, but drips a lot. She can squeeze her hand like a sponge for the stuff, and it's devastating when it hits the Scourged. At some point we'll have to address this."

"Wait till nightfall", Eirren said, "it's too late for this fuckin' shit."

"Agreed", Zack said, "I'mma be taking a shower and hitting the sack."

I thought maybe I should do the same, so I did. I didn't wake up till after nine PM later that same night, and realized that Eirren wasn't in bed with me when I did. I pushed aside the covers, slipped into my fatigues and put my war belt on, sliding the REX into a second holster that I had on it before heading down stairs. I found my friends scattered about the downstairs. Eirren and Shannon were in the kitchen cooking, Ben and Zack were playing cards and Shannon was cleaning her Hi-Point. James was down too, and he seemed to be feeling a lot better than he was last night. He was on his stomach, playing tugging on a chew toy with Nero and Mya, who were both fighting to try and take it from him.

"Look's like you're feeling better", I said sitting down in the bean bag chair, watching them fight.

"One sec", James said trying not to lose his grip on the rope but still talk to me, "I'm a little busy right n..."

James opened his mouth just a little too wide, Nero and Mya seized the opportunity and yanked it away from him.

"Damnit", James laughed.

"We win", Mya said proudly.

"Yeah yeah", James grinned sitting up against the wall.

"Feeling better brother?", Shannon asked.

"Yeah I just...", James sighed, "I just needed to stop bottling it all up, that's all. Taylor's at peace now, wherever he's at."

"He is", I assured, "I don't doubt it."

"You know we're walking right into hell right?", he asked looking at me, "the ZR-5's turned the Southern US into a version of the Middle East where the heat index is on crack. I mean daylight activity is still very doable, but it's painful."

Benjamin laughed, "Pain is just weakness leaving the body."

"Like you would even know the meaning of that phrase?", Zack asked, "try losing both legs, your tail and then getting shived in the lung and then talk to me about pain."

"Why don't you all shut up because I have you beat", Nat said, "I was burned alive and had organs ripped from my gut by a bomb that still gives me terrifyingly realistic nightmares."

"Nat, try and keep a sunny disposition as you slip further into darkness yeah?", James shrugged, "no one likes a cry baby."

"But have any one of you ever stepped on a Lego?", Eirren asked sheepishly.

Without missing a beat, Nat answered, "about a million times, Joey and Tia would leave them everywhere."

"That they would", Benjamin smiled.

There was a pause between us as we started putting breakfast around the table. Nat and Eirren had cooked up some scrambled eggs and bacon MRE's and while it wasn't as great as the real thing would have been, spending it together was about all I could ask for anymore. About halfway into a rather silent meal, Zack reached down and pulled out an old picture. It was laminated, but still bore all the signs of war, like he had had it on him day in and out since before the bombs fall.

"Anyone want to question everything they thought they knew?", he asked with a smile.

"What do you mean?", Eirren asked.

"Pass it around, look at the animals on the front, then check the signatures, I realized this a few days ago, been waiting for everyone to be in one place before I brought it up."

Zack handed the picture to Ben, who turned it over several times before realizing what he was looking for.

"No fuckin' way!", He gasped excitedly.

He showed the picture to Nat and Shannon.

"Holy hell!", Shannon squealed.

Ben handed the picture forward so Eirren, myself and James could see it. The picture was of several animals all dressed in American uniforms of differing branches carrying everything from ACR 6.8's and M1903 Mk2's to M1900 LBRC Avengers. The animals were striking different, goofy poses in a war torn apartment building behind a war torn American flag. Turning it over, I looked at the signatures, I could hardly believe my eyes.

"Man I look like such an ass in this picture", Eirren joked, "what the hell was I thinking?"

"We were kids", Ben laughed, "Damn did we get dealt a shit paw after getting out of the military."

"No kidding", Zack laughed, "Imagine how much better our situation would be if we had all managed to stay together?"

"Family then, family now", I pondered aloud, "do we need more proof that the Almighty is with us?"

"Did we ever?", Eirren asked, "how come you told us you were never in the military?"

I shook my head, "I don't know. I started doing that after I got out of the Arctic, I did some horrible shit there."

"We all did horrible shit during the war", Eirren said, "was there an animal who didn't?"

"I don't think so", James said, "Arien, I know this is your call, but when we get back to Texas, if there's nothing left, let's build the new house like our hide was in France."

"Oohhhh", Shannon agreed, "I love it, let's do it."

"I can do you one better", Eirren said, "I still remember the layout of the place like the back of my paw. I could draw up plans for a Hide 2.0 sort of thing with the layout we all loved, plus lots of extra space to store all the cool gear as opposed to just having one cluttered closet for an armory."

"I did have plans for a house already in my head", I said, "I've got the drawings in my ruck, Maybe you could blend them and we could work it out together, just like we did back then."

"I'm down for that", Shannon said.

"Yes, let's do it", Zack said.

"Agreed", James nodded.

"Yep", Ben smiled, looking towards Nat, "what about you?"

"Make sure Nero and Mya can have their space", Nat smiled, "cause by then we'll have two more little puppies runnin' around."

My heart skipped about three beats, everyone else went wide eyed.

"WHAT!?", Zack yelped, "you're not saying!?"

Nat smiled proudly, "Yep!"

"That was quick", Eirren rolled her eyes, while grinning from ear to ear.

"When the fuck did that happen!?", I asked trying, and failing not to laugh.

Benjamin laughed, "She popped up the night before we got here and told me she was pregnant with twins again. She wasn't long last time."

"How the hell did the two of you even manage to conceive?", Shannon asked, "your blood has been replaced by a thousand degree liquid metal so incredibly radioactive that it fries Geiger counters on the spot! This boggles my mind!"

"It'll be fine", Nat said, "it's a male and a female, they'll be born just fine like Joey and Tia were, I can't ever replace them, but maybe, just maybe, I might beable to finally kick Medusa out of my head."

We finished breakfast on a high note, got everything cleaned up, and then began to pack the Toyota's to head out. Bagging all of the gear and supplies that we could from James' basement and loading up the space he had left in his work truck, then my Tundra and then the Sequoia, we were all set to pull out at about midnight. The moon was high in the sky, casting a bright blue glow over the barren desert. I was just finishing strapping on my carrier and helmet when James stepped out of his truck.

"Hold up guys, one last thing I gotta do."

He disappeared around the back of the house. I put my paw on the door handle of my Tundra and pulled it open. Eirren turned to look at me, and at first she was smiling, but then, her paw shot down to her hip, she pulled out her Beretta and fired a seven round burst. I ducked, hearing a head split behind me, turning to see a disfigured, multi limped Biomass with blood and brain leaking all over the sand. Behind him, less than a dozen yards out, was about half the population of the state of Pennsylvania, marching toward us in a foul smelling, bloody and diseased horde that made my brain about shut down.

"That's a lot of scourged", Zack swallowed getting out of the Sequoia with his AK already in his shoulder.

"We barely survived 50!", Ben panted, "Firing M203!"

Ben let the M203 go. The shell struck somewhere out of sight and sent a good portion of the horde up in flames. Benjamin reached into his vest to reload his launcher while Eirren joined me.

"Was it still dark when you brought me home after I got stung?", I asked, "they must have followed you and reported back. JAMES! WE NEED YOU!"

James came running around the corner, coming to join us, he threw his HCAR into his truck, "Start the trucks, Everyone but Zack and Arien load up! I'll buy you time!"

"Hey fuckhead don't think we're abandoning you to this horde!", Shannon said.

"Not a chance MARSOC!", I shouted over the gunfire, "we're in this together!"

"I'd expect nothing less Delta!", James grinned, "MASK!"

Mortar fire is scary, the sounds of gunfire from the wrong direction is scary, artillery fire is scary. In general I had heard some pretty horrifying things in the last eight years, but the voice that rolled out of James' throat after that caused the marrow in my bones to run a million different kinds of cold.

"Copy."

James made a face, like you do when you're laying in bed at night, your cold and you get those shakes that feel like your muscles are yawning. His plate carrier and fatigues quickly turned from Aird Multicam into a dark, nasty brownish red color as blood soaked through and the strings of flesh quickly spilled out from between the seams of his fatigues and equipment, engulfing him like a raging inferno. Layers of flesh interlaced with teeth that looked like Zack's fangs on steroids quickly covered his head while bones snapped, cracked broke and reshaped as James gained almost a foot on top of his height. The red skin that now engulfed him was smooth and looked mostly normal except for it's crimson coloration, not at all like Goliath, but like Goliath, James had no visible eyes in this state.

"Let's kick their asses", James said.

The voice he spoke with was his own, overshadowed with a voice that sounded like he was in pure agony that could only be bestowed in the lake of sulfur and fire. James barreled head first into the burning mob, tearing bodies in half, ripping limbs from sockets leaving carnage in his wake unlike anything I had ever seen. Blood sprayed from open wounds, soaking the sand a deep crimson and the night sky was filled with the screams of the damned as two demonic sowed the seeds of chaos through the quiet night wasteland. James managed to hold the horde's attention just long enough for us to get the trucks started and pile on. As soon as he noticed we were ready to pull out, he cleared the horde in a single leap, quickly shed whatever the fuck it was that was encasing him and climbed into his work truck, looking as if nothing had happened. I threw the Tundra in first and kicked up a dust cloud, flinging the truck onto the road and taking off towards the interstate with James' truck behind me and the Sequoia behind it.

"Like a stroll in the park huh?", James asked over the radio.