《Arcadia》


 Prologue: A Blob meets a Girl.

    In the middle of space, a small spaceship suddenly appeared. Severely damaged, whole chunks of the spaceship were obviously missing. For several minutes nothing seemed to happen, then the engines in the back of the ship tried unsuccessfully to light up.


    A violent explosion ruthlessly tore the engines apart, and charred debris was sent through space, as the ship tumbled in distress. Small jets fired on the ships surface forcibly stopping the movement of the wrecked ship, and it began to limp forwards slowly, as if it was desperately trying to move away.


    It became clear that it was attempting to run away when another three ships appeared. Each one was an ominous black color, almost impossible to distinguish amongst the darkness of space. Without hesitation, each one aimed at the ship and fired. Several bright flashes occurred and the small ship was sliced into pieces and a short explosion tore it apart.


    Two of the black ships, soon left, leaving the third to scan the remains. It sent out a beam examining each large piece of the ship. Sensing something it sent out a pulse and destroyed one part. Seeing nothing else, the ship moved on and charged up its engine and disappeared.


    From the last part that was ruthlessly destroyed, a metal container floated out. Several minutes later, another part of the broken ship exploded and pushed the metal container. Now the floating container was floating forwards. Time went by, and soon it fell into a star''s gravity well.


    Slowly it began to speed up as it fell, as it passed a large planet, it changed trajectories. Soon it approached a planet that was surrounded by broken space debris. As the container approached, an old satellite seemed to turn on and sent out a laser at the container.


    The laser damaged the container sending it spiralling below. As it entered the atmosphere of the world, it began to turn red and then white as it raced across the sky. It missed a large floating city as it plummeted to the ground. Sending out a large boom, it crashed into the ground.


    After the crash, the surroundings soon became quiet again. The metal began cooling, and a knocking sound came. Soon a blue ooze began to pool out of the container onto the ground of the crater. An odd looking wolf came along and climbed down into the crater and sniffed at the ooze.


    The ooze suddenly smacked the wolf across its face, and it yelped and took off. A few seconds later the blue ooze coalesced into a large blue blob. It climbed up the side of the crater and looked over the edge. Surrounding the crash site was a complete wasteland.


    Old burned trees and sick looking shrubs dotted the landscape. The wolf was running full tilt away, apparently really spooked by the blob. It began moving forward, picking a direction at random. As it went, it would occasionally stop to bask in the harsh sunlight.


    As it rolled along a large bug flew along and spotted the blob. It dove and attacked the blob, the blob sensing it''s attack rolled to the side and swatted it out of the air. The wasp thing tried stinging the blob, only for the blob to crush the bug and began to devour it.


    When it finished what it was doing, it continued along. As the blob explored the area around the crash site, it soon came across some blood. It tentatively touched the blood and gently let out an ethereal glow. It began following the trail of the blood to a cave. Inside the small cave it found a woman lying unconscious against a wall bleeding out.


    A deep cut in her stomach was leaking blood, and she was grey faced. The blob approached her and sent out a pseudopod and touched her stomach. It left a trail of slime over the wound, properly sealing it preventing blood from spilling out. The blob began to look around and found an old cup among her things.


    It put a tentacle into the cup, and a clear liquid began pouring into the cup. When the cup was full, it brought it to the women''s lips and slowly the liquid carefully poured into the woman''s mouth. After she properly finished the cup, she looked a little better. Sounds came from outside, and the blob took a look and saw a group of rough looking men were tracking the blood trail.


    The blue blob rolled out of the cave at the men. The men were startled at its appearance, and one ran up and tried to stab it with a metal rod. The blob grabbed the rod and prevented the man from retrieving it. Cursing the man kicked at the blob only to scream as the blob cut a portion of the man''s foot off.


    The man fell to the ground, screaming shrilly and dragged himself away. One of the other men yelled at the blob and raised a weapon and a loud boom sounded and a metal slug entered the blob. The blob took the slug and flung it back at the man and he bitterly cursed and grabbed the fallen man, and they took off running.


    One of the men stopped and flung a ball towards the blob, and it exploded sending shrapnel everywhere. Several pieces lodged deep into the blob, but the blob did seem unharmed. Seeing this, the men continued running in fear. The blob seeing they were gone for the moment, returned to the cave with the woman.


    The pieces of shrapnel dissolved while it went back in, where it found the battered woman was slowly coming around. The blob stopped in front of her and waved. Her eyes sensing movement, started to focus and she sat up terrified and looked down at her stomach. Then she looked back at the blob.


    <hr>


    Early in the morning, Jessica set off towards the old rail camp to get some supplies. She lived with her sister, and the old water recycler had broken down. So she had to head out to get a part to repair it. Taking her old rifle, Jessica set out down the old highway.


    Looking at the sky, she didn''t see any dust clouds on the horizon. Jessica had kept a fast pace. This area was frequented by raiders, and she didn''t want to be caught by surprise. She heard a vehicle coming her way, and she quickly ducked behind some rocks.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    A ragged vehicle with a large mounted gun in the back rolled past her. It wasn''t going very fast, as several armed men were walking alongside it. Soon a wagon being pulled by a set of lizard mounts came along. In the wagon were several men and women. Jessica frowned, it looked like a violent group of slavers.


    Frowning Jessica kept silent as the group passed. Before she had left, she had asked her sister to stay in the bunker until she had returned. Hopefully, this group would not stop at her home. She was tempted to follow them and make sure, but that could be a bad idea. If they caught her, they might trace her back to her sister.


    No, it was best to head to the rail camp and alert them that there were slavers in the area. Waiting until the group had been gone for about thirty minutes she slipped out and headed quick as she could walk towards the rail camp. Luckily no raiders had attacked her while she was on the road.


    Reaching the rail camp, she showed her pass, and the guards let her in. Jessica alerted them she had seen a slaver on the road, and they said they would call it in. Heading into the small town surrounded by tall metal walls, she found herself among some ramshackle buildings.


    There were quite a few local people moving about, over the last ten years she had been coming here, the place had grown significantly. It was one of the largest towns in the area. Hopefully, it wouldn''t be too long before the council of the city started to push the raiders out of the area.


    Walking along she found the place she needed, an old parts dealer. Known only as Claw, he was a collector of all old junk. If you needed a part to properly fix something he was the one to get it for you. Of course however, his prices were pretty high.


    Opening the door, Jessica could smell old must and rust about in the air. Making her way through a variable pile of junk, she found an old man sitting behind a counter. His left arm was replaced with an old claw from a battle bot. Hence the name Claw. "How''s it going Claw?"


    "Good enough I suppose. What brings you here Jess?" Claw said.


    "Our water cycler has broken down. Do you have this part in stock?" Jessica pulled out an old rotted device and handed it to Claw.


    Examining it, he asked "Is your cycler a one thousand or twelve thousand model?"


    "Neither it''s a nine fifty."


    "Hmm those are pretty rare. Let me see if I have any in the back." Claw said and headed into the back.


    While he was gone, she took a look around to see if anything was worth getting. She was eyeing a refurbished shield generator that might be useful in keeping mutant rabbits off her small garden. It was probably out of her budget, though, and she turned to look back when she heard him coming.


    "Unfortunately I don''t have any nine fifty chargers. What I do have is a nine hundred. It''s a bit weaker, so your distilled water will take longer to get, but it will work. What you should really do is upgrade to at least the twelve hundred model."


    "Wish I could Claw, but that takes a lot of stuff to trade or a lot of cash, neither of which I have with me. Speaking of cash, how much do I owe you for this."


    "Not many are looking for that kinda model, so I''ll be generous and say eighty Arcs."


    Jessica frowned and said "that''s a bit higher than my budget will allow. How about sixty Arcs and you take these e-packs in trade?" She pulled out two old e-packs that she no longer needed.


    Claw took them and carefully examined them; he gently pulled out a cable and attached it and read some numbers off a glowing screen and said "Alright. I can do that."


    Jessica nodded appreciatively, she was a bit relieved and passed over the Arcs. Then took the cycler charger and put it into her bag. "Thanks Claw, I will see you around."


    "Hey Jess, just a head''s up, if the charger goes on those old things, it typically means the pump is the next thing to go. Make sure you keep an eye on that. If that goes, you will invariably have to buy a new water cycler." Claw called out as she left the shop.


    She waved thanks and headed out into the bustling street. Jessica had planned to do a little shopping before she returned to her home, but with those slavers so near, she wanted to make sure her sister was safe. So she headed out of town and headed back down the cracked road.


    Halfway home, she belatedly realized she was being stalked. Taking out her old rifle she cocked it and said "Don''t be following me, you are about to get shot."


    When she said that, two thug''s came out. "Look what we have here boys. Papa Bright is going to love this attractive addition to his stock."


    Jessica aimed at them and said "I will shoot. Don''t fucking get closer."


    The men held their hands in a smirk, and she sensed something off about how they were smiling. Sensing movement behind her, she whirled around and rammed the barrel of the gun into the gut of the man sneaking up behind her. He started a tug of war with her over the gun, and she fired point blank into his stomach.


    The man cried out, and when he fell pulled the gun out of her hands. Bitterly cursing she pulled out a knife and faced the other two charging men. The first man swung a bar at her in an attempt to sweep her off her feet. Jumping over it, she rammed her blade into the man''s throat. He dropped, and the other man came at her angrily.


    "Bitch, that was my brother! I''m going to skin you alive!" He yelled angrily and swung a sword at her. She retreated and attempted to block the blade. He was insanely hammering away at her, not even taking a break. Every block made her arms ache in terrible agony, fearing she was about to drop the blade, she took a chance and stepped forward under his swing. Then she jabbed her knife through the man''s chest.


    The man looked surprised and collapsed in front of her. She was picking up her knife when the first man started moving. Jessica quickly went to retrieve her rifle when the man yelled furiously "Papa Bright is going to fucking kill you!" Then he threw a strange blade at her. She attempted to dodge it, but to her horror, it turned with her and struck her savagely deep in the stomach.


    Agonizing pain immediately flared up and she fired her gun straight into the skull of the wounded man. Looking down she carefully pried out the blade and saw it still trying to get her. There was a sickly green gel covering the blade. She jammed it into the body of the man. She was leaking alot of blood, and she had to get moving, their comrades would come to check on them soon given the violent commotion they made.


    Heading off road, in the vague direction of her house, she began to feel woozy. Jessica knew then she would never make it. The blood was flowing too much. Whatever was coating that blade just made her bleed too fast. Reaching a small cave she sat down inside and wondered bitterly if her sister would ever find what had happened to her.


    Slowly she closed her eyes, not before she heard a loud boom in the distance.

 Chapter 1: Meeting some new Friends.

    When Jessica came to, she discovered herself looking at a strange blue blob creature. A little startled she sat up straight and experienced a sharp pain in her gut. Looking down she saw she was sitting in a pool of her blood. Pulling up her shirt, she found the wound was now covered in a viscous blue gel and no longer appeared to be leaking blood.


    Taking another look at the bizarre creature, she found it was about two feet in height. She could almost see through it and saw nothing inside of it. Having never seen anything like it, Jessica was at a loss for what the blob was. It was currently waving a tendril at her in an amicable manner.


    "It looks like you helped me, I guess I owe you my life. Thank you, er, what should I call you?" Jessica asked. It''s deep blue color reminded her of the sky, and she said "I will call you Skye."


    Skye looked pleased with the name and rolled next to her and picked up her old cup she brought around with her. One of its tendrils extended into the cup and a clear liquid began to pour out. The liquid resembled water, but a pleasant smell began to reach her nose, and her stomach rumbled.


    Carefully Skye offered the cup to Jessica. Accepting the cup from the blob, she hesitated for a moment. It was probably not the smartest idea to drink an unknown liquid; Skye however didn''t seem dangerous. So she opened her mouth and took a sip. When the liquid touched her tongue she found it tasted amazing, as it went down her throat she felt refreshed.


    Consuming the drink quickly, she found she was feeling better. Putting away the cup into her pack she said to Skye, "I need to get going, I''m concerned about my sister."


    Jessica shakily stood, feeling a weakness in her legs, most likely from the massive blood loss. Her clothes were now all sticky, and she worried the smell of it would attract some of the savage mutants. Carefully she exited the cave and looked around. Mercifully it seemed the slavers had not discovered her yet.


    Before she went further, Skye came around and brought her a large stick. Picking it up, she said "Thank you." Jessica watched as the blob made several motions, and she got the feeling it wanted her to follow it.


    Deciding to follow, they went about two hundred feet from the cave, when Jessica spotted a crater in the ground. It was about eight feet big, and a large metal cylinder was in its place. The metal cylinder was partly stuck in the ground and was a bit taller then her and four feet across.


    The blue blob climbed down and waved at her to do as well. Carefully she made her way down. She nearly fell on her face when Skye caught her and helped her stand next to the large metal cylinder. Looking down she could observe a hole that looked like it was burned into the cylinder.


    Leaning down, she could see a glass tube inside through the hole. Reaching out she found the metal was warm to the touch, "Did you come from here Skye?" Jessica asked looking down at the blob. Skye waved happily at her and then began to ascend the side of the metal tube.


    Jessica looked up and wondered where this thing had come from. Did it fall from one of the sky cities? She could observe one of them floating a few miles up nearby. It is possible it came from space, there was a lot of junk up there. Every so often something fell from orbit down onto the world.


    Around the metal, Jessica could see symbols engraved in the metal. Tracing them, she didn''t recognize the symbols. Perhaps this was one of those long lost secrets of the past. Skye waved at Jessica and indicated a panel on the metal cylinder. Touching it with her hand, she felt a weird tingling sensation in her hand and sucked in a breath as it stung.


    Taking her hand back, she heard a clicking sound, and the metal cylinder began to open. Skye fell off the metal tube as it spread open. Jessica looked at the blob making sure it was okay. At that point she looked into the metal cylinder and saw four large glass tubes.


    The bottom left one was broken and empty, but the other ones held a red, green and yellow ooze in them. Asking Skye "Are these your friends?"


    Skye waved a tendril in an agreeing manner and climbed again. This time it indicated a panel in the middle with an odd glowing purple crystal. "Is this how to free your buddies?" Jessica said and reached out and touched the panel with the crystal.


    An extremely acute pain hit her palm, and she gritted her teeth. Jessica attempted to remove her hand and was startled to realize she could not. A screen lit up and several characters similar to the ones on the outside of the pod began to run, and a bar began to fill up.


    Heat began to run down her arm, and she was dismayed she had made a mistake. The three tubes began to glow and looking down she saw Skye was glowing as well. At that point in time the bar extended to the end and the tubes opened with a hiss. The other blobs began to crawl out into the open and seemed to greet Skye.


    Finally able to withdraw her hand, she examined her palm and found nothing was wrong with it. Looking at the panel again, she found the purple crystal was now gone. The blobs were huddling together, then they seemed to turn and look at Jessica.


    "Greetings there. I was just helping out Skye, cause you know it helped me out. Look I need to get back home, my sister is waiting for me." Jessica said and began to climb out of the crater. The blobs took action and helped to haul her out. "Thank you."


    Looking at them, she got the sense they wanted to come with her. Sighing she decided that they did not seem to be much trouble at the moment, and at least seemed helpful. "Well if you''re going to follow me, I better give you names. Let''s see."


    The green one reminded her of the bottles of green glass she had seen, so she said "Your name will be Glass." Turning to the red blob, she said "You can be Blaze, and you" She looked at the yellow blob "You remind me of Daisy''s so that will be your name."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The blob''s looked excited by their new names, and Jessica set off towards her home. She decided to avoid the road network for the moment, as she didn''t want to attract any more slavers to her. As she went she noticed that the blobs would periodically stop and examine things.


    Despite being covered in blood, no mutants seemed to approach her for the moment. After a while, she finally reached the edge of her land. Every ten feet or so, a large metal pole was stuck in the ground. Blaze seemed interested in them and examined them closely.


    "They are part of a sonic fence system I use to keep out the fiercest mutants. Sadly it does not stop the mutant rabbits from feasting on my garden. But at least the bigger stuff doesn''t like it." Jessica explained to Blaze. She wondered if it could comprehend her. So far they have seemed to respond to simple commands.


    Crossing the sonic barrier without issue, they soon were getting close to the house. Jessica heard some shouting and snuck up behind a set of rocks with the blobs following. Taking out a scope she examined her farmhouse, and cursed internally.


    The car she had observed earlier that day was now parked on top of her garden. The wagon with the slaves was stowed next to the house. She could see several guards patrolling the grounds of the home. Examining the old well, she found it was still sealed, so her sister was still protected in the bunker.


    Several men suddenly exited her house, and a man who was limping fell to the ground. A tall man wearing an obnoxious white suit strode out. Jessica made the assumption that this was the Papa Bright those goons were talking about. Two of the men were on their knees apparently imploring him for something.


    The man with the wounded foot kept moaning, and a flash of irritation went over Papa Brights face. He pulled out a gun and executed the wounded man in the head. He bellowed an order at two of his henchmen who seized the body and hauled it towards the old well.


    Jessica''s heart rate spiked as they pushed open the well covering and tossed in the body. When they sealed the well again, she sighed in relief. Papa Bright then went back inside, leaving the two men on their knees looking thankful for being spared.


    Counting twelve men she knew that it wasn''t feasible to fight them all. Notably if they got to that gun on the back of the car. That alone would chew through any cover she managed to find. Jessica debated on returning to the old rail city. If she did, she might be able to convince the guards to come help get rid of these slavers.


    Yet she found that would be an unlikely chance. Unless the slavers threatened the city, they were unlikely to act. Her best option at the moment was to wait them out. They would likely move on seeking more slaves to capture. Yet she hasn''t really wanted to leave her sister in the dark.


    So she would wait until night and sneak into the bunker. Jessica hated the idea of them inside of their home, but had no other choice. She inspected her old rifle and found she still had four shots left. She sat down and waited with the blobs who were observing her.


    Leaning forwards she whispered "we need to be silent, those are extremely bad people. We don''t want to alert them." Jessica got the strangest feeling like they understood.


    While they were waiting, Jessica pulled out a ration bar and began to chew on it. The disgusting taste of the decades old bar, nearly made her gag. The blobs seemed interested in it, so she broke off a few pieces and gave it to them. She watched in amazement as the pieces went into their translucent bodies and began to disappear as they absorbed it.


    She watched in amazement as the pieces went into their translucent bodies and began to disappear as they absorbed it. Jessica barely produced enough food for both her and Nikki, her sister. Maybe she could persuade them to help her out with some of the physical work around the place. Before long the sun began to dip below the horizon, and darkness soon came.


    Being out in the dark was a bit scary. She had observed some of the things that liked to roam the dark, and while the sonic barrier would stop most, some still disregarded it. Jessica waited nervously in the dark for several more hours before being sure that the slavers had gone mostly to sleep.


    There was still an occasional patrol, but for the most part it was quiet. Jessica carefully snuck behind rocks until making it to the old well. Silent as possible she slid the cover aside and waved the blobs to go down the well. When they did so, she climbed onto a ladder built into the side of the well.


    Putting the well cover back above her, Jessica began to climb down into the darkness. With no light the descent was terrifying to her. Blaze began to let out a very soft red glow barely able to light the ladder. In a short time she managed to reach the bottom where she discovered the body of the man who they had thrown down.


    Examining his body, she obtained one of those tracking blades, and some power packs. Then she turned her attention to the wall. Pulling aside a dark green blanket, she looked at the vault door. On the side was a comn panel which she entered in a code. Several seconds went by and the comn went on and a voice whispered "sis is that you?"


    "Yeah, let me in Nikki."


    The bunker door opened a crack, and Jessica saw her sister looking scared. The sixteen year old was wiry, and wearing a set of old glasses they had managed to find that worked for her. Opening the door wider she let Jessica in and stared at the odd blobs that followed her in.


    When they were all in, Nikki closed the bunker door and locked it. Then went back and closed a second bunker door and locked that. Jessica went in and sat down in the low-light living area of the bunker and asked her sister "Are you okay?"


    "Yeah, I was pretty scared when those slavers came to the house. They''ve been pretty destructive to the home." Nikki waved to the video monitors. "So what are those things?" Nikki pointed at the blobs.


    "Don''t know. Skye the blue one helped save my life. The others, I found in a metal pod that looked like it fell from the sky. I gave them names."


    "So you brought things you don''t know back with you?" Nikki looked at Jessica incredulously.


    "Hey they seem pretty friendly. Smart too. That''s Skye, Blaze, Glass, and Daisy."


    "At least you didn''t christen them after their colors." Nikki said sarcastically.


    Nikki examined each of them in turn, "as long as they don''t cause trouble thats fine. You said your life was saved?"


    "Yeah, one of those slavers hit me with one of these." She pulled out the tracking blade and showed it to Nikki.


    Taking it she examined it "I think I read about these knives in an old war book, it''s meant to bleed out an enemy soldier on the battlefield. Has an ability to track a person somewhat when thrown. Wait did you get hit by one of these?"


    Jessica pulled up her shirt and showed her sister the cut that was covered by blue ooze. "Yeah, I nearly would have bled out had it not been for Skye."


    Nikki ran her fingers over it and said "Amazing, it looks like your cut is healing fast." She stood back up and looked at Skye. "Thank you for saving my sister."


    Skye waved its tendrils excitedly, and Jessica said "I''m going to hit the bed. I''m exhausted. We will talk about what we''re going to do tomorrow."


    Nikki nodded and headed off to the bunks. Jessica said, "I''m going to sleep, please keep quiet, if someone tries to open the doors rouse us up okay?" She told the blobs and went and laid down on her bunk and fell asleep.

 Chapter 2: The Many Talents of Blobs.

    After a very peaceful sleep for once, Jessica woke up in her cot and stretched. Looking down she frowned as she realized she had made a mess in the bed from her dried blood. Picking up the sheets she dropped them in the dirty laundry bin and undressed from her soiled clothes and deposited them in as well.


    Going to the back wall Jessica opened a hidden compartment and pulled out some worn clothes she kept as spares. They were clean at least. Heading into the attached small bathroom she checked out her stomach in the mirror. The blue ooze Skye had put on her had dried up and underneath the skin looked unblemished.


    Wiping off the dried ooze, Jessica felt her skin. The new skin felt a bit tender, but otherwise she couldn''t tell she had been slashed yesterday. She had to put together something for Skye, that blob had really aided her. Turning on the shower she rinsed off the dried blood and dirt from yesterday off.


    Shutting off the water, she stepped out and reached for a towel to dry her off. Jessica would have to do laundry soon. Dressing in the clothes she picked out and went out to check on how her sister and the blobs were doing. Walking into the living area, she discovered Nikki angrily speaking at Daisy.


    Daisy looked kinda sad. "What''s going on Nikki?" Jessica said walking up to them.


    "Your new friend was messing around with the Bunker computer when I entered this morning." Nikki replied annoyed. "I know it doesn''t work well, but it''s the sole thing that has books I can read in here."


    Jessica glanced it over and said "I don''t see anything wrong with it. Where was it?"


    "Underneath. It was transferring parts around and adding things."


    Going to her knees, Jessica took a look underneath and was a little surprised. The whole section had been thoroughly cleaned, and several parts looked brand new. Some she didn''t recognize the function of which had been attached as well. She flipped on the power to the computer, and it started instantly compared to the usual ten minute wait.


    Opening the menu, she found that several parts that had been corrupted were now fixed. The bunker functions now could be accessed from here, rather than her having to rely on manual controls. "Don''t be too hard on it, Nikki, it has fixed the computer up. Look, you can now access the other drive, it''s full of more books!"


    "Really? Let me take a look." Nikki took Jessica''s seat and began to pour through the books.


    Jessica stood and looked down at the yellow blob "Daisy; I know you want to help, but before you go around fixing things, please get permission first. But thank you, you did a good job." Daisy wiggled happy with the praise.


    Nikki scoffed and said "Do they even understand you?"


    "Yeah, I really get this eerie sense they do understand what we say. Please be nice to them okay?"


    "Fine, I can overlook it. This computer is now running smoother then it has in years."


    Daisy sent out a tendril and waved at the living area and seemed to say it wanted to cleanse it. "Alright Daisy you can clean, just get mine or Nikki''s permission if you want to fix or modify something okay?" Daisy seemed to agree and it began to clean up the decades old grime.


    Heading to the security room she checked on what the slavers were doing. The cameras didn''t have sound, so she didn''t know what they were saying. The original owner of the bunker had wired up several cameras all over the property. The only places there were none were the bathrooms and the bedrooms.


    Some of the ones in the house she had taken apart to fix the others as well. Outside of her home, she watched as they took some buckets of water they got from a tank in the wagon and began to clean the slaves. When each one was relatively clean, they had the slaves line up.


    When they had, Papa Bright walked out holding a device up to his head and speaking into it. He made some waving motions to his men and they lined up behind Papa Bright. They looked up into the sky, and the camera soon revealed a flying ship lowering down into her front yard.


    Attached to the side of the ship with a bunch of ropes was the metal cylinder Jessica saw yesterday. She was certain it was the same one, as she could see the same burnt hole in the side. The flying ship must have picked it up when it was coming here.


    Soon the flying ship landed, and a few seconds later, a door opened and a set of stairs expanded out. A man wearing a black suit stepped down the stairs with his hands behind his back. A pair of men in power armor followed the man down the stairs.


    Papa Bright greeted the man and slightly lowered his head. The Man nodded and waved at the line of slaves. Papa Bright nodded enthusiastically and seemed to be describing each slave as he pointed to them. The man stiffly nodded and began to examine each slave in turn.


    He forced each one to open their mouths and examined the inside with a light. Then he would examine their hands and feet. When he examined the women, he would force them to undress and examine them in an almost clinical manner. The man maintained the same expression throughout the examination.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Out of the seven slaves in the line, the man picked out five. Two men and three of the women. The other two slaves were guided back into the cage. Papa Bright and the man spent a few minutes haggling. Eventually, they seemed to come to a deal, and the man pulled out a huge stack of Arcs.


    The man then signalled one of his guards to transport the slaves back into the ship. Papa Bright proposed something and pulled out a bottle filled with a brown liquid and offered it to the man. The man took it and looked at it and nodded. He pulled out something from his pocket and delivered it to Papa Bright who looked ecstatic.


    He walked back up into his flying ship followed by his guard. The stairs slid up and the door closed, and the ship soon lifted up and flew up, out of the frame from the cameras. Jessica guessed it must have come from a floating city. She had to be careful with the blobs and not let it be known they came from the metal cylinder or they may get a return visit from that man.


    When the ship was withdrawn, Papa bright opened the small thing he got from the man and took something from it and consumed it. He stated something to his men, and one of them brought the woman slave out. Papa Bright snatched her arm and headed inside with her.


    Not wanting to think about what he was doing to the woman, Jessica hoped that now they had sold most of their slaves they would head out soon and vacate her home. Leaving the cameras for now, she went to check on what the other blobs were doing.


    Attached to the security room was the Arsenal, where she kept the weapons, of which they barely had two. Her old rifle and a broken pistol she had found in the wasteland. Looking inside she saw Blaze was doing something with her old rifle. "Hey Blaze what are you up too?"


    Blaze waved a tendril excitedly and handed the gun to her. Taking it Jessica was a bit startled to realize how different the gun was. Along it''s now cleaned up rifle barrel was a coil of metal. Balanced along its length was a set of energy packs. Opening the magazine of the gun, she saw it at present had several more rounds compared to the day before. On the side was a small lever with four settings.


    "How did you make this?" Jessica said amazed, the whole thing looked like it came directly out of a factory. "This gun looks powerful, Blaze. I am extremely happy you did this Blaze."


    The red blob wiggled and seemed to ask if she wanted anything else. Opening the storage box, she pulled out the broken pistol. "Do you think you could fix this? I would like my sister to possess a gun as well."


    Blaze seemed to agree and took the gun and went over to a pile of junk and began to sort through it. "Much obliged Blaze. I''ll get you something to eat."


    Walking down to the kitchen she heard some thumping and saw Glass hammering away at the Ration Bar maker. It was a thing from before the great war. You could put anything edible in it, and it would make an edible if unpleasant tasting bar. As a side benefit it would remove all toxins and radiation from the food as well.


    Looking it over, she saw Glass had cleaned it up and was now hammering a panel back into place. "Man you guys have been busy. How do you know how to do all of this stuff?" Jessica bent down and examined Glass who seemed to stare back at her. Then the green blob seemed to shrug and pushed a button on the Ration maker.


    A few seconds later Jessica heard a ding, and a light brown bar came out of the device. Picking it up, she noted it seemed to be a little bit bigger. Taking a tentative bite, she found while it still tasted unpleasant, it was not as bad as before. She wouldn''t mind eating these ones every day, compared to the previous ones where she could barely tolerate them.


    Breaking off a piece, she gave it to Glass who took it, and it disappeared into its ooze. "I still don''t know how much you guys need to eat. If you feel hungry, let me know. I need to keep track of our food, especially since we are currently stuck here."


    Going over to the pantry, she checked and estimated that they had enough stored for two months as long as they kept to ration bars. Assuming of course, the blobs didn''t eat too much. Once again Jessica pondered what exactly these things were. They were reasonably intelligent, able to fix and repair things. It is possible they were some sort of creature that was meant to go around and repair. She had heard of drone robots like that in the sky cities.


    Checking the water, Jessica was glad that the bunker possessed its own source of water. The water recycler in the house was on the fritz, so the slavers had no access to water here. Making them much more likely to leave the area sooner rather than later.


    Thinking of water brought to mind Skye, and she went looking for it. When she passed Blaze, she tossed it a piece of the ration bar. Not seeing it around she eventually found the hatch to the deeper level where the power plant was located open.


    Jessica climbed down the ladder and discovered Skye working on the fusion power plant. A little alarmed she said "Hey Skye, I know you and your buddies are good at these things, but I would rather not have you working down here okay?"


    The blue blob looked at the machine and nodded as if to say it was done with it. It waved at her and climbed up the ladder. Jessica took a look at the Fusion plant and saw Skye had connected several things onto it. Looking over the screen she saw it was now producing almost double the amount of power.


    Deciding it was time to get all the blobs together on the same page, she climbed and gathered them all into the living area. "Okay, I''m really indebted for you helping out around here, but before you go and repair things or change things please ask permission first. I know you want to help and I do appreciate it."


    The blobs seemed to look sorry and agreed to her words. "Now that being said, if something happens in an emergency you can help without asking us okay?"


    Nikki came in all of a sudden and said "The slavers got Jacob!"


    Her sister pulled her to the security room, and there on the screen was there neighbor''s son Jacob who was Nikki''s crush. Along with him was Doctor Melissa who went around these parts checking on the health. Jessica frowned as they both were stripped and tossed into the cage.


    "We gotta go rescue him!" Nikki said.


    "There are over ten of them! If we want to help them, we will have to wait till they go and go get the council''s help."


    Nikki looked at her and said "We both know once the slavers leave, the council won''t do a damn thing about them."


    Not able to counter what her sister said, she said "There are over ten of them, even if I get a drop on them, I don''t think I can get them all."


    "I can support you!"


    "Then you would just be captured and killed like me." Jessica said. "I wish we could do something but... oh no." Jessica said as she watched as one of the men went to the well on the camera and pulled open the cover. He looked like he was about to take a leak when he spotted the ladder.


    Nikki said, "Looks like we may not have a choice about dealing with them."

 Chapter 3: A Psychopath at the Door

    The man swiftly pulled up his pants and ran to the group yelling and pointing at the well excitedly. A pair of men walked over to the well and shone a light down the well, and talked to each other. Then they began to climb down the ladder. Turning to the camera that was at the bottom of the well, she saw the men reach the bottom.


    They tore away the green blanket and revealed the bunker door. For several minutes they tried to force open the door, but gave up after they had discovered it was locked. They subsequently had the body of the man lifted out to give them more room to move about.


    Several more men had gathered around the top of the well and were yelling down and having a conversation amongst themselves. One of the men ran to the house and entered it apparently going to get Papa Bright.


    "They don''t know anyone is within here. As long as we don''t respond to them, they won''t know for sure. They can''t get in, so they will give up ultimately."


    "What about Jacob?"


    "There is nothing we can do at the moment. His best chance is for us to inform the council."


    Jessica looked over at Blaze and asked "Hey were you able to fix up the pistol?" Blaze nodded, and Jessica went to the Arsenal and found the now cleaned up pistol. It was an old laser model, picking it up, she found it was lighter than it was before. Going back she handed it to Nikki and said "Here, take this. Just in case."


    Nikki took it and said "Thanks." She attached it to her belt.


    In the camera''s she saw Papa Bright come out. His usual suit looked a bit ruffled as he had to quickly put it back on. He casually walked to the well and looked down. He patted the back of the one who spotted the ladder and began to climb down. When he reached the bottom, he began to examine the comn panel.


    He smiled wickedly and pushed a few buttons, and a speaker turned on. "Hello is anyone in there? Based on the clothes in the house, I suspect there are two young women in there. Quite honestly, we thought you had hightailed it to the nearby city, didn''t think to look in the well for a hidden bunker. Guess I will have to in the future."


    Nikki looked at Jessica and asked "Should we respond?"


    Jessica shook her head "No, he''s only guessing that we are in here. It''s better to not let him know for certain."


    "It would be good for you to simply open the door. I assure you. I can make sure you get sold up to the sky cities. It''s a better place to be a slave. Otherwise, I would be more inclined to find a harsher place to sell you. If I have to force this door open, you are going to regret it."


    Receiving nothing but silence one of his men said "Papa Bright, maybe there is no one in there."


    "I can smell it. My bones are tingling. There are girls there mark my words boys. Go get that young man you picked up and bring him down here."


    A bad feeling began to run down Jessica''s back. Nikki said "What are they going to do with Jacob?"


    "Nothing good. Nikki, We can''t open that door no matter what happens." Jessica said looking at Nikki. "If we open the door, it''s not going to end well for us. We can''t help Jacob if we get caught, okay?"


    Nikki nodded nervously. In a short time they forced Jacob down the ladder. Two men each held the terrified looking boy. Jacob was stripped down to just his gray underwear which looked damp. Jacob must have pissed his pants when he was captured.


    A grinning man joined them as well. He was carrying a blue glowing knife and had a sinister grin on his face. Papa Bright asked Jacob "So what is your name?"


    "Jacob."


    "Jacob, my men found you coming over here. So I know you associate with the women that lived here. Isn''t that right."


    Jessica hoped he would lie. If he told the truth, it was not going to end well for him.


    "Yes, I know the girls inside."


    "Fuck." Jessica cursed.


    "What''s the matter?" Nikki said.


    "He just revealed he knew us. Which means we know him, and we might care about his well being."


    Papa Bright smiled wickedly and said "So are you close with them? Are they good-looking girls?"


    "Yeah, I''ve been wanting to date Nikki, but her sister Jessica is pretty scary." Jacob said nervously.


    "Okay, good job telling me Jacob. Here is the deal, I want them to open the door of this bunker. If they don''t open the door, Dennis here is going to hurt you. Therefore, I''m going to give you one minute to convince them to open the door."


    Jacob looked terrified and tears began to fall down his face and he began to cry "Open the door, please Nikki I need you to open the door."


    Nikki looked petrified at Jessica. "What are we going to do?"The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "He won''t kill Jacob. Jacob is too valuable as merchandise to lose when he doesn''t know for certain we are in here."


    For the full minute Jacob implored them to open the door and Jessica simply held Nikki as her heart thumped. When the minute was up, Papa Bright nodded at Dennis. Dennis gripped Jacob''s arm and prepared to cut it off. Papa Bright said "I''m a man of my word girls. This is your last chance. Get out or he will be mutilated."


    Seeing as nothing happened, Papa Bright shook his head, "Oh well, looks like Jacob here is going to be carved up." Dennis grinned and raised his blade. "No Dennis, what have I told you? Not the limbs, it decreases value."


    "Where do you want me to cut him up boss? How about his pretty face?" Dennis held the blade up to Jacobs tear filled face, his eyes filled with terror.


    "Jacob, I sell men for three reasons. First for manual labor, and you wouldn''t be suitable for that work not by a long shot given your weak ass muscles. Two for basic servant work, you could conceivably do that, but it''s low value for me. Three for bull work, which you''re not qualified for. But to be honest, when I saw you, I wanted you to be my next project." Papa Bright said smiling at Jacob in a way that made Jessica sick.


    Papa Bright looked at Dennis and said "Make him a bitch."


    "What!?" Jacob cried out. Then he struggled as Dennis cut off his underwear. Jessica forced Nikki to look away from the camera and covered her ears as best she could.


    "Oh Gods, Open the fucking door Nikki!" Jacob began to scream in terror as Dennis grabbed his penis and balls and raised his knife to it. "Please I will do anything, oh gods don''t do this. My father can offer you whatever you desire."


    Shrugging his shoulders Papa Bright said, "Of course, you will do anything, you''re just a bitch. Get on with it."


    Jessica watched in horror as Dennis began to cut. Jacob began to scream in pain, his voice becoming a shrill shriek. Nikki buried her face deeper into Jessica''s chest and began to weep. Before long Dennis tossed aside the cut off bits and said "She''s ready for you boss."


    "Take her inside and get that Doctor to check her out. Don''t want her to die before I start working on her." Papa Bright said.


    One of the men put Jacob over his shoulder and carried him out of the well and into the house. Doctor Melissa was led inside a few seconds later. Papa Bright looked at the bunker door and said "Got some coldhearted ones here for sure."


    "What do you wish to do now boss?" Dennis asked.


    "Have them bring me my black book. Looks like we need to do this the hard way."


    Jessica felt something touch her legs and looked down and saw the blobs were huddling around them as if trying to comfort them. "I don''t like how confident he his, can you guy''s go and make sure no one can get in?"


    They waved a set of tendrils and rolled out into the hallway to the front door. In the monitors, she saw a man go to the car and pull a big black book out its trunk. He began to carry it back to the well.


    "Girls did you know that only a limited number of companies actually built these old bunkers? They often included an administrator''s password to get the door open in an emergency. It''s taken me years, but I gathered most of the codes used."


    They lowered the black book to Papa Bright who took it. "Now you may be asking yourselves, if he had the code to the door, why did he do that to our friend? Well to be honest, I was already seeking a project and was going to do it anyway. You also would be shocked on how often that works to get people to open the doors. Plus it''s a lot funner then reading out a bunch of numbers."


    One of the men went to the panel and looked at Papa Bright. "Alright Bill, I''m going to read you a bunch of numbers and you type them in."


    Letting go of Nikki, she ran to the door where the blobs were working. Jessica saw Daisy messing around with the door panel and said "Daisy, they are trying to use a code to open the door. I need you to prevent them from doing so, okay?" Daisy waved a tentacle and began to probe the panel.


    After a bit the yellow blob signaled it was all good now. Heading back into the security room, she found Nikki huddled crying in a corner. Looking at the monitor, she saw Bill putting in more numbers when all of a sudden there was a flash and Bill was thrown against the wall. The panel looked like it had exploded and Bill''s hand was now burnt up.


    Papa Bright frowned and said "Get him out of here." Two of his henchmen hauled Bill out of the well.


    "Did the panel malfunction?" Dennis asked.


    "No, that was a booby trap. Mark my words girls I''m going to get in there. When I do, I''m going to find a hell to throw you in." Papa Bright said then looked at one of his men and said "Set up a shift to watch this door. I''m going to work on my project while I think."


    Papa Bright climbed leaving one man watching the bunker door. He was followed by Dennis back into the house. Jessica sat next to Nikki and hugged her. They sat that way for several minutes till Nikki finally said "What do you think he is going to do?"


    "I''m not certain. We might be forced to activate the secret exit."


    "Maybe he knows about that exit?"


    "He could. But he can''t utilize it, unless we activate it. For the moment we have food and water. We have time. They don''t. While the council may be hesitant on assaulting a moving slaver, they certainly would not one to hang around the area too long."


    "Unless he makes a deal with them." Nikki said. "The council is corrupt, you know that."


    "Yes, but they don''t want a slaver around too long, it ruins business."


    "We will see. I''m going to lay down for a bit. I''m not feeling well." Nikki got up and headed to the bunk room.


    Jessica was left with her thoughts for a moment. Looking at the monitors, she didn''t see anything of note happening and went to check on the secret exit. Well it was more of an emergency exit in case the front door became unusable. A digger would dig a path upwards and make a path they could climb out.


    The problem was, it would be incredibly loud. If they activated it with anyone above they would be able to find the exit with ease. It was also sealed completely, so Jessica could not even ask the blobs to try and make it quieter. She went to the table in the living area and began to write some plans down.


    A few hours later Nikki came to look in on her. "What are you doing?"


    "Figuring some things out. I told the guards at the city yesterday about the slavers. They will likely send out a patrol in a few days. The slavers will likely be running out of water in a few days unless they do a raid at one of the neighbors which might make the patrol happen faster."


    "So you are saying they should be out of here in a few days?"


    "Hopefully. But I don''t like how this Papa Bright knows so much about bunkers. He may know something that we don''t. I got the blobs reinforcing the door, just in case."


    "Should we have opened the door?"


    "No, Nikki, I don''t feel good about it, but we should not have opened the door. I didn''t want Jacob to get hurt, but we would have only risked our lives doing so." Jessica stood and hugged her sister again. "We will survive okay? We are survivors, you and me."


    Nikki nodded and went back to laying down. Jessica stretched her arms and went to check on the blobs.

 Chapter 4: Terror from Below.

    closer examination,   the  looked like they had  a covering of a very  metal to the  of the .Touching ,    felt  to the .


    Looking at Skye,   "Will this help  them from busting down the ?


    waved a tendril in  and  to   could stand up to a  punishment before  .walls as if to  the  would  before the  .nodded and  "Could you also  the ?


    stopped  for a  before  a tendril in a .It  at the  then made motions to   was    to .looked over the other parts and  the  to  was  modified.


    even still  this ?"


    waved an affirmative and Jessica was .secured the  for .bad people out there want to get in here  .


    waved  of the  and went to work  the bunker in thorough detail.headed to the  and  several ration bars.


    feeding the blobs,    in on her  to  how  was .asleep on her bunk, and   the  over her.Rubbing her  head,  smiled at Nikki.When her  had   she  fourteen,   to  for her .


    Still she   would  anything for her.meant  to  Jacob to fend for himself.guilt  through her, but she  back by rationalizing that if  had ,  would only risk their .


    he  his heroic nerve after that, for   like a  leaving Jessica to  herself and Nikki.


    Fixing    quite a few  of  work, and now some slavers were damaging .teeth and  to the Arsenal, where   her .


    numbers at the  were just too much for her to .was her  lesson in  , never get .weeks before  had  this   got ambushed.


    raider   her and they got into a fight.raider nearly  her with a , but Jessica managed to  her  off with the .


    raiders proved harder to , and one managed to .lucky,   not the   and   critical mistakes.on the other hand, looked prepared.actually,   to  a solid backing.


    Sometimes at ,   of those  .only  those who would  or  her or her ,  was  haunted.Slowly   her  grip on the  and  it to her .She   in on the  to  if they were up to no good.


    cage,  could be  .blonde hair was  into a ponytail, and she looked exhausted.cage a tarp was  to  the  of the .


    see each  was bleeding from the intense fight.


    looked down her .Soon a large vehicle came into view.sides looked as if  were armored, and when it  several more   of the .They  up the  and  another  of   and   to the  cage and   in.


    They  the boxes open and  to take  parts of a  machine.They also pulled  a  book.


    large car that had .frowned and wondered how many    for him.more she , the  it  her nervous.he was  then a  slaver, perhaps   another  for  in the .might   would be staying longer then she .


    thinking, Jessica  a shirtless Papa Bright  in a  of her .men  to the  car and took out a  pink box.brought inside of her .


    It was also  a , but that didn''t  them from  a  when  .


    they   to the , she  as   a  of  , and four   .man  a  and the  roared to .


    watched as they  the  to the  and  to  through the first bunker .


    watched the .seat in the , she could her banging on the bunker .


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    whispered "They''ve breached the first door, we need to keep quiet now.working on the second , but   like the blobs have  to  that  from being cut open.


    watched the Plasma chainsaw experiencing considerable trouble and  to .


    got into a  at the  when Dennis came along and  the .pissed and smacked the .got to the yelling group and  a few  to them.took a  and  to  the ''s .


    said "Oh my !s "


    looked the    but not  him, until she  a   the  chained up by Papa Bright.dressed in a pink outfit, and Jessica suddenly realized that   , but he  of .


    Jacob did so, and Papa Bright  him back into the .


    sighed and  to the blobs and  each one and  "Thank you for the .


    whispered "Why  we ?


    still don''t know we are  .gone, they might be  to hear  here.So it''s  to be silent as possible.


    Glass  a  at  and  to   to  it.led  down to the  level and to the far corner past the Fusion Plant.watched as it  a floor panel aside and  a  down with a steel ladder.


    found  before, so   a unexpected surprise.unsure of where it .whispered to Nikki, "Glass  a secret shaft down.I  to go down and  it out.monitors until  get back.


    I  if they find a way in?"


    Ask the blobs for , if they can''t   down the  and  me."


    nodded, and Jessica  to  and  up a .had a fresh ,  headed down to the  level, where   Skye  for her.want to  with me?"


    let out a  blue glow  her  the  clearly.minutes  just climbed down.


    she  her  had gotten a bit sore from the .It  almost ten  across.It was made out of  and  several large pipes running along the .tunnel  ended.


    Getting a surreal feeling, Jessica  and  to  down the .walls  a  of a woman  a  and the  written next to it.tell this wasn''t a  or the .reached the , she  the  ended at a .


    asked "Can you unlock it? The blue blob looked excited to  and reached out to the .seconds she  as  , before   physically recoiled.


    door open?"


    got the profound sense  was  of something beyond the .put her  against the ,  to  if she could  anything beyond.


    heard nothing, she  the strangest sensation that something  right behind the .permited herself be dragged away by Skye.there  something bad in , at least those slavers won''t be able to come through here easily."


    back, Skye was  onto her  and   forward.


    she got  up, Skye  the floor panel  into  and  to work on sealing it.Is that really necessary?"asked.waved that it  and continued on.Glass  and   Skye  the  down.


    Going back up she  her  sitting  in the security room.happen while I was ?"whispered.


    shook her  and  "No, they  to be  for the .


    It  to a , which  to a white door.asked Skye to  me get in, but when  attempted something really spooked .It  to even open the door, and the whole experience  me out.


    there anything else down ?¡±


    woman with a  and a .¡±


    hotly,¡°say ?


    did.


    According to what I''ve   that they were one of the leading weapons manufacturing companies.building of the .


    good.¡±


    nicest companies from what I¡¯ve .there  a hidden weapons facility down .s a   idea not to investigate a  like that.


    got slaver''s above and now  weapons facilities below.¡±


    shrugged and  ¡°Is it  to take a shower?


    Yeah, the  should be  enough for you to shower.


    said ".


    Night."


    hours observing the slavers settle in for the  before she fell .

 Chapter 5: Explosions from above

    A resounding thump shook Jessica awake from her deep sleep on the Security room''s ancient chair. Confused for a second on what had roused her, she searched the room for the source of the noise, before hearing another thunderous boom coming from overhead. Concerned she looked at the monitors and found it was past dawn, with the light starting to filter over the land.


    In the monitors she could see a new vehicle had joined the other two. This one had a large bed filled with boxes, some of which had been opened. In front of it was an open tent with a man sitting at a table looking at a case with a monitor. Several odd poles were placed all over her yard.


    As she watched, she could see that the man was making notes on a piece of paper. He then flipped a switch in the case, and another boom happened and she saw a large plume of dirt rise up off the ground. The man would look at the monitor and write some notes down.


    Nikki came in looking exhausted and whispered "What is going on?"


    "I''m unsure, it looks like they are exploding holes." As they watched the man would flip another switch and a new explosion would happen.


    "Are they trying to blow a way into here?"


    "No, the explosions are way too small."


    For the next few hours, the sisters listened to booms going on overhead. The explosions had started to sound farther away, and Jessica could no longer see them on the monitors. Jessica pulled out some ration bars and split them with her sister and the blobs.


    Going to the monitors, Jessica, the man who was under the tent, was now discussing something with Papa Bright. The slaver leader began to point at something in the distance, and the man nodded. He waved at two men who pulled two boxes off the bed and began to take out the contents.


    They began assembling the strange device, of which Jessica could not identify. When they had finished a group of men began to carry it off screen. Concerned she wondered what the hell they were up to up there. Standing up she went to check on the others to see what they were up to.


    Sitting around the living room table was the group of blobs and Nikki. They were playing a card game, and Jessica asked "Did you teach them how to play?"


    "Yeah, they picked up Battlecards really fast."


    "Deal me in." Jessica sat down and Nikki began handing her a set of cards.


    Looking at her cards, she began making a strategy for the game. For the next few hours, they played several games of Battlecards. At first Jessica was able to consistently win at the game, but as they played, Blaze began to win more and more. She began suspecting the red blob was counting the cards.


    Before she could ask Blaze about it, she heard a loud thunk coming from the vents above. Jessica rushed to the air supply control panel, and found several red blaring messages. The Fresh air intake was blocked, and when she tried to switch to the secondary pipes, she lost contact with the air pump.


    The CO2 scrubber was still functioning, and the filters were still active but the oxygen was cut off. She tried bringing up the oxygen producer online, but a red glaring message alerted her that it was broken and needed to be repaired. A squawking came from the speakers and she rushed over to the security room.


    On the monitors in front of the bunker was Papa Bright who had a wicked smiler. "How is it going inside there, girls?" He waited and received no answer from them. "Still not talking? Oh well. I''ll make sure you talk when I get in there. I''m certain your voices will be sweet to the ear, every breath you take will be filled with agony. Speaking of air, I decided to start cutting off your access to the outside. That includes air."


    Jessica clenched her fist as he continued. "That''s the thing about these old bunkers, they have some poor design choices. Leaving air pumps right out in the open, you just need to dig them up. I wonder if your oxygen producer still works, if not, you probably only have a few days of air in there."


    Papa Bright shrugged and said "I''m still going to get in there. Especially after I find that you''re sitting above an underground base. I am so excited, not only will I get you two, I''ll get whatever''s down there as well." He laughed and began to climb up the ladder.


    Annoyed, Jessica went back to the air control panel and verified they did only have a few days of oxygen left. She opened the panel for the O2 producer and found it was in parts and all broken up. Glass came over and took a look at it. "What do you think, can you fix this Glass?"


    Glass ran its tendril over the parts and looked back at Jessica and nodded. It began to move about and search for more things around the place to help fix it. Nikki came over and said "Great now he cut the air. He looks pretty serious about getting in here."


    "I''m not going to make it easy for him to get in here." Jessica said and made sure to shut the valves for the external air. No point in leaving those open. Heading back to the security station, she saw a fourth car roll up and Papa Bright met them. He pointed in a far direction and the man behind the wheel nodded and the car began to go offroad into the wasteland.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    As she watched a fifth car that was heavily armored came up, and several men donned armor and jumped on board that car. It took off towards the road and Jessica was a bit shaken. How many men does Papa Bright have working for him? She had assumed he was a small-time slaver, but he had a small army that Jessica had seen.


    The only people left she could see was Papa Bright who headed inside, and the Slaver outside the bunker door. There were a few patrols going around the house. Concerned that she was missing something crucial, she went to the computer and pulled up the schematics for the bunker.


    When they had found the bunker, she had briefly read through the schematics she found on the aging computer, but hadn''t looked at them in years. Pulling them up, she did find the air pump was located a few hundred feet away from the bunker. It had several inlet pipes, but it was buried pretty deep.


    Perhaps they used the explosions to somehow find the air pump. Moving on she found the water lines drew water from a location deep under the bunker. But based on the schematics and what she had found, it looked as though the water lines were connected to the place beyond the door she found.


    The thought of their drinking water having anything to do with that scary place made Jessica a little nervous. Yet at the same time they had been drinking it years without any problem. It was better to be safe though, Jessica went to Skye and said "Hey Skye do you have a minute?"


    The blue blob waved yes and Jessica said "I was looking at the schematics for the bunker, I think our water is connected to the place we found below."


    Skye shuddered in pure terror and practically leaped down to the water plant and began to examine each part in detail. Blaze came to check on Skye, and when Skye waved a frantic tentacle, Blaze jumped in and helped Skye work on the water plant.


    Satisfied, Jessica went to the security room and was startled to find several of her camera''s had gone offline. As it didn''t record what happened, she was unsure if something had gone awry with them. Her only two camera''s left were one watching over the bunker door and one looking at part of her sonic fence.


    Outside the fence she could see several large freaky lizards that possessed hair were pacing outside. Jessica had never seen them before and didn''t want to face them, as she guessed they were at least six feet tall. They must have been drawn over here by the sound of the explosions.


    Seeing Daisy pass by, Jessica said "Hey Daisy can you come take a look at the security panel? I lost contact with several cameras."


    Daisy waved a tendril and pulled open the bottom of the security panel and began to mess around with the wires inside. It examined each for several minutes as Jessica watched. Suddenly Daisy went still, for several moments. Concerned it might have gotten shocked Jessica asked "Are you alright Daisy?"


    It rolled out and waved a trembling tentacle. It flipped a few switches and some images appeared on the monitors, but none of her original cameras came back online. The new images captured Jessica''s attention. The first one was an overhead view of her home.


    Using the controls, she found she could zoom in and out with this camera. Zooming out a bit, she saw a parade of vehicles headed to her place. Some of them seemed a bit damaged letting off smoke. Off to the side of her property, she saw a hole had been dug. Probably, where the air pump was.


    To the south she saw a car wandering around the wasteland, occasionally stopping. Jessica guessed they might be searching for another way down into that weapons facility. Jessica took a look at the other monitors. One showed the tunnel she had discovered with Skye, it was lit up in a night vision green showing the whole length.


    Another monitor showed a large glass tank that was ominously smashed open. Glass shards could be seen surrounding the container. However, it was the last two monitors that spooked her the most.  Under a sign that indicated that the room was the cafeteria, a bunch of busted tables lay around the center.


    In the middle of the room, was a pile of skeletons that still had remnants of clothing on them. Floating above them was an eerie black cube. Looking at it made Jessica shiver in fear. It was as if she was face to face with something that would kill her in an instant.


    The last one was the one that really spooked Jessica. It showed a transparent door. On the other side of the door, she could see the tunnel she had explored with Skye. Meaning that this was the other side of the locked door. On the door she could see a black handprint.


    On the ground in front of the door, she could see the shadow of a person standing off view of the camera she was watching. A horror filled her as she realized this thing must have been watching her when she put her head against the door.


    Looking at the sky view she found the vehicles had stopped and a great deal of men began to pour out, they were all wearing armor, and were acting joyfully. They pulled out several men and women and flung them into the cage. One of the men pointed at the cage and made a motion seeming to say they will need a bigger cage.


    Papa Bright arrived outside and greeted one of the men and embraced him in a hug. At that point he escorted the man into the house. Several of the men began setting up tents and additional sonic fence posts. While she was watching them, she heard a thunk and fresh air began to pour out of the vents again.


    Going out she went to check on Glass and found it waving at her letting her know it had finished. "Good Job." Jessica leaned down and petted it. She stopped at the kitchen and brought out lunch for everyone. Nikki was sitting at the computer reading some of the books she found.


    "We lost some of the cameras. Daisy was able to hook up some more. It looks like a few come from the facility below. Whatever happened down there looks like it killed all the people in there."


    Nikki nodded and said "Some of these new books were meant for VadeTech personnel. I think this was some sort of watch station for the Facility. Makes sense that there are cameras."


    Jessica headed back into the security room and began to zoom out with the overhead view. As she did so, she noticed a billowing smoke from the east. Panning over she found the Old rail city was now on fire. Several Armored vehicles surrounded the city, and people who fled were caught and thrown into a makeshift camp.


    "Oh no."


    Nikki came up behind her and said "Looks like we can''t rely on the council chasing away these slavers. Guess we are going to have to fight our way out."


    Speechless, Jessica noticed movement in one of the other monitors and looked over to see a black slime covered skull looking up at the camera. Its whole body was covered in the goop, and it was slowly moving into the frame of the camera. She experienced the sickening sensation, like it knew she was watching it.


    Jessica took a deep breath and said "Yeah, I think you''re right."

 Chapter 6: The Escape, The Arrival, The Enemy.

    gathered the blobs and her  and headed down to the  level.was a  fit for all of them.corner where the floor panel to the  , was  in an inch thick lining of , completely sealing the hatch down.


    group Jessica  "Okay we should be  to safely speak here.easily overhear us down here.looks like the slavers above are going to be  for the long haul.they can''t get into the  at  the longer  are .


    they  the rail city?"


    Closing her  thought of some of the  she  in the  and experienced a sickening sense of .Taking a deep breath she  "I can  speculate on why.been  that other  on the  have  deals with the sky  for .


    really think they were dispatched by the Sky Cities?"


    do.have the  of  these  .that, the previous day I  Papa Bright had contact with a  from one of the Sky City.


    That''s .right, it'' only a  of  before they get in here.know your  have got the door secured , but if they   sky ... Nikki trailed off.


    makes it imperative that we  before they full   the .want to leave tonight.


    "How are we going to achieve that?army camped up above "we had just opened the door earlier,  would have been  to fight our way out.lose his dick.


    I  what  believed was best at the ."


    You   what   is best!You never listen to me. Nikki said angrily.


    I''m sorry Nikki.I''m   what  can.


    said "So what    to ?


    We  a .is   can  through all of those slavers without one.is to  off the Sonic Fence.is a  of mutants outside the .shut it down, they will swarm the ,  us  to get away.


    I had been  to connect the  to the  radio in the security room.I  because  ran out of  to . Jessica  at Blaze and "you     at the  and  if    it up and running?


    saying it was up for the .


    saidwork for the  term, but I don''t  the slavers  to those mutants.we  if they  tracking us down?


    want to  one of their .we  the  of them,  will  a large headstart.we  this , I don''t think they will pursue us any further.


    even know how to ?"


    can  , if they  ?"


    slaves and Jacob?"


    can''t  the , but we   the  in the cage free.could  the other vehicles,  it harder for the slavers to  us down.can  him.get the chance, I will  him okay?


    to  soon, because I   are investigating a  to  the  below us."


    said that, the blobs all freaked out.They were  tendrils about as if  were  in .reaction  that  thing in there   me  to be nowhere near here when    up.


    like , but maybe we should notify ?"


    listen to us."


    asked "Do  what that  cube, or the  creature ?


    nodded and  several  didn''t understand.saying those  your ?"


    say it  a downright  .saidI  it  all the slavers then.I  hope it doesn''t travel far and  hurting other cities.


    go,   you to    for us.Get as much  and  as you can  them.Hopefully, the  will muffle its .got your  for the .three  around the  and  anything that will aid our .


    began to  two .went to the bunk room and  a  with some  clothes for the  ahead.left it near Nikki, and  into the security room.Blaze was working hard on the  and carry out several .


    Looking at the , she  the   cube was no longer where it had .camera.saw a  of mutants prowling around the  of the sonic fence.


    cage of Slaves had been  to the backyard, and inside Jessica could  that Doctor Melissa was  to some bleeding slaves.number of them had jumped up to at least ten.vehicles were also  in the backyard, and she   at the  that would  the most suitable for her to .


    According to some  she  in the Rail City there was another  about five hundred miles to the east.north  a  zone they would  to go around.was the mutant forests.was the  of .


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    is."


    stood and  to check on Nikki, she  her having  the packing and was now getting dressed in a old combat uniform.survive this okay?"sister.back.


    went around  for the three other blobs.ripping  out of a  and was  them into its .see arc electricity shooting through .Glass pulled away, she  "Are you  ?


    Glass  that it , and she  to check on Daisy.was at the   , and  of  were  across the .


    go Blaze?"


    pointed at two .it  as if to  that this one would  down the sonic fence.So what  this switch ?"


    It  its tendril as if to   would  out a sonic .do what she couldn''t tell.Seeing everything was ready to  she  everyone together again.ready.dark, and they , I''m  deactivate the .


    sat in  for the next hour or so, before Jessica  back to the security room and  at the overhead view.She  the slavers had mostly .She  this  the  that was mostly likely searching for the facility entrance.


    came up to her and  "Ready?


    guards looked around for the  of .


    Sounds of  and ,  over the .drill was loud, almost unbearable to be near.bar  it would  five  to  the .


    got  the  , and the blobs  lined up  to . Jessica  as she cocked her .


    Large explosions  to happen overhead as the slavers were  to fight back.device , it had  the ;found the slavers  in an intense fight.


    were at least  a hundred of those mutant lizards.over here.dashed  to the .Daisy  and Jessica  "Open the  quickly . The yellow blob   the .


    Is that you, Jessica?"Doctor Melissa said.


    Yeah it'' me .making a break for it. Jessica , Nikki came up behind her.


    seen Jacob?"


    Doctor Melissa  her .s in the ."


    out into the  while others  hijacking the .doc   to  before they   are ."


    Nikki looked at the house hesitating and   "We don''t  .


    Jessica could  anything else there was a massive explosion to the south of the .felt a violent thump  her .body.Shit we  to go !think they just  the .


    girls ain''t going !"


    found Papa Bright was  a gun right at them.standing next to him,  to look like a .Put down your  and  in that ."


    heard an odd hum  from above.see the  cube was  towards them.Papa  "What the ?  brandished his  at it and .


    started to laugh hysterically as  too was  to be  into the .shouted and  to  Jacob down.


    yelledLet him !need !


    pulled out the  and  a blindingly hot shot at the  .cube ,  Jacob fell to the ground.


    Before Nikki could  the  opened in an impossible way.dark red  fell out  Nikki   as her  was forced upwards  the   to  her .


    Shaking free of Skye   to her .


    sister   back and  "god, Jessica , I can  it in my .  changed to a deeper feminine  "Finally I have discovered a suitable body."stood and  to  over her .


    do to my ?"said.


    So you  the  the  , I   we had executed all of them.simply carry out the .


    Fuck you.sister.


    laughed and  "No.take care of this .


    Black cube came to her  and shrunk down, and attached to her .it did so black slime  to  out .Soon  concealed her  in a thick suit of black slime.stretched out her now covered arms and  "Ah I forgot how good this .Now I have to  with you.

 Chapter 7: A Sister fights an overwhelming power.

    are you?done to my ? Jessica cried out.


    am Ni¡­ she jerked her  violently ¡°I  .AM . Euraci   towards Jessica but  and  her head in apparent agony.out ¡°Run!


    Euraci roared and  ¡°Shut UP!¡± She reached out to grab Jessica.Euraci.


    Blaze  and  into ''s .Get me you pathetic waste¡±  grabbed onto Blaze and hurled him aside into a vehicle nearby.right    wildly and Glass jumped onto Jessica as a brilliant beam of energy burst forth from ''s .


    rolled into  and  to fling objects off the  at .Stopping the ,   to dodge and  at Daisy.Glass  a tendril weakly indicating  would be okay.


    felt a strange warmth flow up from her  and into her , like a long forgotten voice.began to liquify and  over her .Glass soon followed and Jessica presently inside a  that was similar to ¡¯s but a greenish- one.


    display appeared in  of her  and she  a tingling at the  of her .Warnings were  her , as she  at the  suited thing that taken control of her .Euraci looked back at her and  ¡°I wield.


    new senses from the  unpleasant.shield  around her.Euraci dashed forward  and struck her  against the  launching Jessica  into the .forgot  the !"


    hit.display  and she   jumping up right next to her.Euraci   her   lifting her farther up into the .blocked by the  each hit sent a numbing pain down her .


    so far into the , the  below looked like .shield   against ''s constant assault.Gathering her senses,  reached out as the  failed and  her  fist.thing  her ,  roared ¡°Get out of my  you fucking bitch.


    began to fall back to the ,   her  around  and  to  on  with a  of .Euraci    of the , but was  by several strikes on her .Euraci broke free with a force field shoving  away.


    were  only a hundred  above the , when  fired that beam cannon again at .Jessica  the  force of the  and was slammed  into the  below.pain  her ,  crawled out of the   had  made.


    A mutant lizard ran up to her and strikeside,  jumped  ,  her     hard  the .


    ¡°I will not allow you take over my sister!Get the  out of ¡±Jessica  striking her   into .


    hitting me ?¡± Nikki¡¯s startled onlygrabbedJessica felt ill and  roared  her .


    saw Blaze rolling swiftly towards .touched , it  to   with her , altering the  of the  to a more violet .connected, a  of   over . With a brilliant


    black suited Euraci  into the  of an armored vehicle with an audible groan from .out of the  in the , she  a  of  light  towards Jessica.saw the    a terrible path and slice through the  and several fleeing slavers.


    know you are  there.fight her!


    SHUT UP!SHUT UP!is my !   clutching her  again.


    Dashing towards , ¡°We will  this!


    Euraci  and  at Jessica.said ¡°Nikki, I¡¯m here for you!let this    over.Come on  can  .


    black tentacle came out of  and seized  and hurled her aside.Jessica  and got back to her .Jessica  into the .color of the   to a  .Information started to  through all of it  to stay away from .


    Euraci  her  and  ¡°I was  you wouldn¡¯t be worth the effort.going to   out.


    began  from , and Jessica once more  space twist around her.felt as if a  muscle in her  suddenly cramp up, and  seemed to slow to a crawl.  Jessica began to


    appeared where she had   before.time gradually began to move back to , Jessica  a formidable pulling force  to   backwards.display once again screamed warning and a  reached out from  and  onto a  pole and wrenched  forwards.


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    very ground was  to be torn apart.saw a   floating orb radiating strong light as  were  into it.


    seconds went by, until all of sudden the pulling force stopped.


    pain  through her ,  .Warnings     the suit much longer.


    Getting to her  and ,  suddenly appeared and delivered a massive kick to her .times in the , before Eurachi   and   into the .seems we are  the  our  game."Euraci  Placing her  on Jessica''s .


    get her  off.am the ."Euraci , she  and  her  again in .


    Jessica weakly stood and  " is  than you, get out of her. With that Jessica gathered all of her remaining power and rammed it into ''s helmet.


    away trying to   up and .black suited figure stood up and the  melted   her sisters face.began  from her .Strange, This is , we are  for .minds are , we are .


    here for ."


    black suited figure looked at Jessica "Anger we  such anger towards .  reached out and then pulled ''s  "Not yet,  when there is another .Yes, how did we forget?


    figure  at the  and  "Jessica, We will discover our compatriots. It began to float, and reached out  Jacob, who  like he had gone  floated  its "take this one.Survive Jessica, for we will .


    Jessica    towards her  who was  out of .Jessica cried out and  to her .


    she was sitting down, Jessica  something  her .save Nikki?"asked.


    touched Jessica''s fore head.image of their mechanical pod appeared,  a  of the ,  one of the fusion plant.Finally  of a  chamber with a spinning crystal in the middle .


    So we   your mechanical pod?"asked.


    gathered around her and .make the  ?Eurachi manages to take again, we are  to  to fight .


    felt like she was getting better at  with the blobs.tell me what  with my ?"


    think it''s  to  and ?"image of a purple crystal changed into , and Jessica   of herself getting covered in black slime.


    asked and they .Then we   out how to  her and  my  back to ."


    body felt immensely sore, and it  to .vehicles was  nearby.recognized it as .


    Doctor, your still "


    had to  down that  when you   that .anyway?kill ?


    It  something from the weapons facility below us.kill ,   went away for the .


    need  then."


    start  towards the , several lights in the   and searchlights   over the .Doctor Melissa  "Shit we  to get out  now! She dove into the .


    followed with the blobs and  "Why  we  to get out of ?


    know it, but that Papa Bright  a  to a nearby Sky City leader.He is  to be  when   his  dead.Given    his ''s , I don''t want to    will  us.


    door behind them and  "Why didn''t we  the ?


    made up in the sky city.


    It'' only a  of  before they come down to check on this bunker.it , ''s not going to  them back. Jessica .


    Then we  the ."


    escape through one of them.


    hesitated and  down at the blobs who   at the  of  that .s not a good place Doctor."


    Yeah, and   stay here,  will ."


    Looking at the blobs Jessica  "I  to .Guy''  are   to  there.

 Chapter 8: Down into the depths of the Facility.

    The four blobs quivered in terror when she said that, then they grudgingly nodded. They crawled down to the lower level, signalling that they were going to work on getting the panel open. Jessica went to the remains of the kitchen and gathered some ration bars and looked for a lantern.


    Melissa followed and asked ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with those bizarre creatures?¡±


    ¡°You mean the blobs?¡± Jessica said finding a worn-out pack and began to stuff it with leftover rations. ¡°Not sure, found them the other day. Really handy, they can repair a ton of things.¡±


    "If I had to guess, they appear to be some form of nanotech creatures in a gel matrix."


    "What is nanotech?" Jessica asked, looking troubled.


    "It''s a type of tiny machine. Back when I lived on Theranos, a Sky City, they had some rudimentary nanomachines that could undertake trivial tasks. Nothing like these things, especially not being able to form a suit around you like I saw before I ducked down the tunnel."


    ¡°Yeah, If it really feels like it was one of their primary functions. I just found out about it, when they did that.¡±


    "You seem to be able to communicate with them. Do they speak with you?"


    "Not at first, but I''m starting to pick up images and thoughts from them. Could that red crystal have been some nanomachines that took over my sister?"


    "Conceivably, I''ve never heard of anything like that, so it''s beyond me. I would have to examine her to get an idea of what I''m dealing with."


    Jessica nodded and filled an old pack with the leftover ration bars. In one of the cabinets, she managed to find a lantern that worked as well. Heading down to the lower level with the Doctor following she asked "So you lived on a SkyCity? Why are you down here now?"


    "That is a long story" Melissa said as she climbed down. "Despite what many believe down here, the Sky City''s are not utopias. If you don''t have power, life up there can be just as hard down here. The one with the most power are the crime lords. Maybe some of the Sky cities are better, but not the ones I know."


    "I made a mistake and upset the wrong people. So I had to flee down to the ground and settled down here. Looks like I''ll have to up and leave. Papa Bright is likely to have reported he discovered me to his brother. So what about this weapons facility, do you know what''s down there?"


    ¡°Only a little bit, I saw that weird black cube on one monitor, it was floating over a bunch of skeletons. Speaking of skeletons, I also saw a freaky black goo covering one moving about within there. We are going to have to be careful; it seemed dangerous."


    Going to the corner of the room, Jessica found that the blobs had managed to remove the layers of metal sealing the floor panel to the ground. "Much obliged guys, here have a ration bar to aid you get your energy back. I don''t know what''s down there so I''m relying on you guys to help us out."


    Passing out a full ration bar to the four blobs, they greedily took it and dissolved it down. Skye lifted up the panel and looked down it making sure it was safe. When it saw nothing out of the ordinary, it waved to Jessica that it was safe to start climbing down.


    Taking a look down the dark shaft, at the very bottom, she could make out some yellow flashing lights. Using her lantern, she examined the walls of the shaft and determined that they looked undamaged. "Alright Doc, this is the way down to the facility. It''s a long climb so be aware."


    Stepping down the ladder Jessica''s arms began to hurt. Still sore from the recent fight, she had to take it slow as she climbed down the shaft. When she was halfway down, she had to take a second to rest her screaming arms. Shifting the pack on her back, she continued down.


    Getting closer to the bottom of the shaft, she heard a screaming siren in the distance that made the hairs rise on the back of her neck. Reaching the bottom, the tunnel was filled with flashing yellow lights, which made it a bit hard to look down the tunnel.


    An odd sense of dread ran through her body, and Jessica raised her gun looking around to make sure it was safe. A few seconds later Melissa climbed down and said in a sarcastic tone "Well this looks lovely." Looking up Melissa said "Come on we need to get out of here before they start looking around the place."


    Cautiously they walked down the tunnel with the flashing amber lights. Passing the painting on the wall, the Doctor said ¡°Vadetech?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s an old company that apparently built this facility.¡±


    "I''m somewhat familiar with them. They apparently were behind the construction of the flying cities. They were also partly responsible for the world going to shit too."


    When they reached the bend, Jessica peeked around the corner and was disturbed to find the locked door was now torn off its hinges and lay in pieces. Raising her rifle, she stepped forward with the doc and blobs following her closely. "This wasn''t done by the explosion. Keep your eyes open for that freak"Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Stepping through the remains of the entrance, Jessica found herself in front of what looked like a security checkpoint. There was black goo all over the place, and as she watched some of it pulsed like it was alive. "Hey Skye, is that stuff dangerous?"


    The blue blob rolled up and touched the black goo. Skye looked a little disgusted and seemed to say it was safe, it was just some waste product. An image of those things appeared, warning her, the black stuff on those things however was dangerous and should not be touched.


    Taking a look behind the security counter, Jessica saw that there was an old skeleton with rotting clothing laying down. Its skull had been crushed long ago. Melissa said "Hey take a look around that body, he may have some sort of key card that will allow us to open lock doors."


    Nodding, Jessica moved the body with her gun and found what looked like a key card under the skeleton. Picking it up she attached it to her shirt. Checking the counter for anything useful, she found a set of monitors that had been smashed underneath it. In a side drawer she found some decayed papers that turned to dust when she moved them.


    Underneath was what looked like a container for some candy. Reading the label she saw it was some sort of bubblegum that was guaranteed to never go stale. Seeing no use for it at the moment, she tossed it into her pack. Turning to the Doctor she asked "You said you saw a map of this place? Where are the exits located?"


    Melissa said "I only saw it briefly, and it''s hard to say down here, but most of the exits I saw were located south."


    Keeping quiet as best they could, they went forward. Strangely after they entered the siren stopped completely. They occasionally found another body that had turned to a skeleton, several of which had been crushed as if something stomped on them. Several of the doors they tried were locked down, and Jessica saw no way to open them, and trying the key card prompted a red error on the key reader.


    They found a set of double doors and Jessica peeked in and saw they had come across the cafeteria. Seeing the mound of dead skeletons made her not want to go in. Agreeing that they should move on, they continued onward only to hear a strange knocking sound.


    A little spooked by the sound breaking the silence, Jessica kept her gun ready. Tension filled them as the sound seemed to get closer. Then all at once the noise ceased. Waving at the blobs to keep on guard, they crept forward. As they did so, the black goo started to coat the walls.


    One of the doors they passed had been busted open with jagged metal reaching out into the hallway. Taking a look inside Jessica could see several busted up tubes. The black goo was so thick inside, it made the floor look almost alive. They continued forward and discovered a still ajar door that had been jammed open by a body. Grabbing the key card off the body, Jessica ran it over the door, and it opened.


    The door slid open with some effort, revealing a dark lab with a faint flickering yellow light in the corner. Stepping inside, Jessica was startled when some lights in the ceiling turned on. On several benches in the lab, monitors were lighting up as the computers they were attached to turned on with a hum.


    On a table in the middle of the room, she found a set of pages that had been sealed in plastic scattered about. Carefully Jessica picked up one of the pages, she found it was describing a series of experiments intent on producing the ultimate warrior.


    Using a bio-nanotech goo they had recovered from the black cube, they exposed several humans. Initial studies proved to have several problems as the individuals exposed went mad. They changed the focus to creating a berserker that they could release on enemy forces.


    Hearing a loud thump come from the hall, Jessica waved Doctor Melissa back and carefully went to go check on what it was. With caution, she peeked out the door taking a look up and down the hall and didn¡¯t see anything. Stepping back in, she turned around and was startled to find one of those freaky black skeletons was standing right behind the doctor.


    ¡°Duck!¡± Jessica screamed and brandished her gun at the creature. It charged forward to attempt to grab the doctor, only for Melissa to swing a chair at it knocking it backwards. The monster crashed against the back wall and seeing that she had a direct shot, she fired.


    The gun let out a whine and then an unpleasantly loud boom sounded making her ears ring out in pain. The gun thumped hard into her shoulder, nearly knocking her back. Where the slime covered, skeleton had been, it was exploded as the bullet shattered it and punched through the wall. The skeleton collapsed into a pile of black goo.


    Blaze rolled over and looked at it prodding it with a tendril and waved that it was dead. Going over to Melissa she asked "Are you alright? Did it touch you?"


    "No, It snuck up on me. I guess that thing was one of those who was experimented on. Where the hell did it come from?"


    Daisy looked around and pointed up at the ceiling. Following the pointing tendril, Jessica saw a vent had been opened in the ceiling. ¡°Oh great, they are in the vents that must''ve been the knocking sound we''ve been hearing.¡±


    Not wanting to hang around in this room in case, more of those things showed up and they left the room. Continuing forward they found several more labs that were working on different projects. Not having the time to check them out, they kept moving.


    When Jessica opened one of them, Blaze took a look inside and waved a tendril in an excited manner. It rolled in and began to look over the components that were laid about in the room. Jessica went in and took a look around. She found that this was some sort of firearms development lab.


    Going through the documents, she found that most were still in the development phase and were not being close to ready anytime soon. However, she did find mention of one product that had been developed after researching the remains of a ¡®project Zodias.¡¯


    Besides the name, the report did not mention anything else about what the project was. However, it described the gun as being able to fire a distinct beam of energy that was able to tear through most materials. The only downside being that it required intense energy and could at most fire two shots before needing a new energy pack.


    While she was reading Blaze had pulled open a chest and pulled out a large gun. It was so massive, that Jessica was barely able to hoist it, Melissa said ¡°Here let me hold on to that.¡± To Jessica¡¯s surprise, the Doctor easily lifted it.


    "How are you able to do that?"


    "Genetics. While it is not standard, if you expend some money you can genetically engineer your child in the womb. Which my parents did. I''m now stronger and smarter than most other humans."


    "Great. That means you carry the bug gun." Jessica said drily and moved out.

 Chapter 9: Who knew Blobs can Drive.

    After they left the gun lab with the doctor hefting the beam cannon along, they found a room labeled as a control room. Entering it, they found several bodies had been gathered in the middle of the room. They looked as though they had been crushed together with a sickening force.


    Black goo dripped from the walls, and a metallic smell filled the air. Going to one of the computers, she managed to boot it up, but found it was locked up. Jessica waved Daisy over and said "There is a security lock on this computer, can you please take a look and see if you can bypass it?"


    The yellow blob removed a panel in front of the desk and accessed the interior of the computer. Several seconds went by and then the logo of Vadetech appeared on the screen. Deciding against sitting in the goo covered chair, Jessica leaned over and began to go through the menu of the computer.


    Under one of the options she found a partial map of the facility labeled upper floors. Opening it, Jessica found the facility had over twenty floors, and there apparently were more further down. She briefly wondered just how deep this place went. Going over the map, she found most of the exits looked as if they were blocked off by the computer system.


    Trying to unlock them from here resulted in the computer notifying her several breaches of projects were ongoing and could not comply. Looking around, she found another exit they could get to. It was marked as a hanger bay that was connected to the facility with a long tunnel that was at least four miles long.


    To get to the tunnel however, they had to cross through a large room that was unlabeled. All the other routes were blocked off. To get to that large room, they would have to backtrack and head through the cafeteria. ¡°Looks like we can get out through this hangar bay.¡± Jessica said to Melissa.


    "Good, Is there anything else on that computer?"


    Jessica went through the menu a second time and shook her head. "No it appears this is not the primary control room. It has limited access to data and controls. According to this the main control room for the upper floors is on the tenth floor."


    "I am not interested in going deeper into this place. Let''s get going to that exit."


    Backtracking quickly, they began to hear those knocking sounds in the vents again. The blobs were on guard keeping an eye above them. Before long they reached the cafeteria and pushed their way inside. Jessica frowned as she saw the pile of skeletons was now missing.


    Where they had been was a trail of black goo. It went out the door where they needed to exit. Following the trail outside, they approached the large room doors. They had been ripped aside, and a sparking noise could be heard coming from within.


    When they got to the door, they found there was a set of stairs down into the room. The floor was completely covered in the black goo. They would have to wade through it to get to the other side. Looking around, Jessica did not see any of those freaky black skeletons.


    Directly in the center of the room, was a series of metallic pillars. One of them was shattered and letting out sparks. Above them was a broken glass cylinder where several tubes were attached. Melissa spoke up and said "I guess that''s where that black cube had been sealed. Wonder if it broke free during the war or before it.¡±


    "Probably during if I had to guess, based on the size of this place, no way they would have not attempted to take back this place if they were not already hard-pressed. Though given the abilities of that cube, I wonder why it stayed inside this place all this time?"


    "It is possible that it was not really awake. It is possible it was just acting out on instinct, maybe it was seeking a suitable host like your sister, but none of these people here qualified."


    ¡°If that''s the case, I wonder what made my sister qualified.¡±


    With a sense of disgust, they stepped down into the goo. Jessica found the depth of the black goo went up to her knees. Every step felt like she had to fight through the goo. The blobs crawled up and across the ceiling so as not to have to deal with the goo.


    Slowly making their way across the black goo, Jessica noticed the black goo began to move. At that point a wave of goo nearly knocked her off her feet as a giant creature rose from beneath the goo. Hundreds of skeletons had been mashed together to produce this monstrosity.


    From this thing came a sense of intense hunger and it reached out towards them. Jessica raised her rifle at the beast, but Melissa was a step ahead. A loud hum and electric arcs travelled through the giant gun activated and intensely white beam surged out and cut through the giant creature.


    With a roar of apparent pain, the creature fell into the goo sending a giant wave of the black goo over them. Losing her balance, Melissa lost her grip of the gun and it went tumbling into the black goo. Wiping her eyes to clear them from the black goo, Jessica saw Melissa struggling and helped her stand out of the goo.


    Pulling the doctor along, Jessica headed straight for the door, when the creature once again began to crawl towards them. Jessica flipped the power level of her rifle to level two and aimed and fired at the thing. A loud pulse from the gun came, and Jessica found herself flung backwards from the force of the gun, making her drop it somewhere within the black goop.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Skye dropped from the ceiling and caught a hold of Jessica. They splashed down into the black goo. Getting up, Jessica found that the creature had stopped but now several of the skeletons were now crawling out of its body. Not wanting to overlook them, Jessica began to trudge towards the door.


    Reaching the door first Melissa opened it and then grabbed Jessica''s arms. The blobs exited the room shortly after and closed the door behind them. They heard several loud thumps as the skeletons began to slam against the door. They began running down the hallway towards the tunnel to the hanger.


    While they ran, they had a hard time keeping up right, the black goo that covered them was incredibly slippery. Several times, Jessica simply slipped but was caught by one of the blobs before landing head first. Before long they reached the exit as they heard a deafening boom come from behind them as the skeletons broke through the door.


    The door that led into the tunnel was thick nearly ten inches of pure metal. Going through they closed the door behind them. With Daisy''s help they managed to lock the door. Soon after they heard some pounding on the door, that gave up after a few minutes.


    Recovering their breaths, Jessica asked "Hey can you guy''s help get this crud off us?"


    The blobs nodded, and they ran their tendrils over the pair of women slowly removing the black goop. Jessica felt them reach under her clothes and get the regions where the black goo and settled inside. It felt like a warm shower to her, and when it was done, Jessica found that she was cleaner then she had ever been.


    Melissa said "Wow that was quite the experience."


    "Yeah."


    The tunnel ahead looked like it had been carved straight out of rock. They began walking down the tunnel, as they walked Jessica felt herself start to feel exhausted from the overly intense day she had. After a while of walking, they came to a large door.


    Seeing a panel in the wall, Jessica went over to it and waved the key card she got from the security guard in front of it. A green light appeared, and the door began to rise revealing the hanger bay. Several vehicles were placed within, and a few flying craft were stationed inside as well.


    ¡°Looks like we got the first pick of the lot.¡± Melissa said.


    Taking a look over the vehicles, Jessica pointed at a large vehicle in the middle. It looked to be well armored and had big rugged looking tires that would do well in the wasteland. ¡°Let''s take that vehicle. Guys can you make sure it¡¯s operational and ready to use?"


    The blobs saluted Jessica and rolled in the direction of the car. They popped up it''s hood and began to examine the interior of it. Looking at Melissa, Jessica said ¡°We need to find a way to get that car out of here.¡±


    Melissa nodded and set off to examine the far side of the Hanger. Jessica began examining the walls and did not see another door to leave through. A little confused on how they were supposed to get the vehicles in and out of the hanger, Jessica noticed that the floor in the middle of the hangar looked odd.


    Going to it, she realized that it was a platform that could move. Looking up, she found there was a shutter on the roof that probably opened up. A nearby control panel looked like it could operate it automatically.


    Melisa walked over and said ¡°Did you find anything?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think this is the way out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Come take a look at what I found.¡±


    Jessica walked over and found Melissa digging through some crates that were lined up against the wall. Taking a peek inside, she saw several containers of weapons. ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°These look like first-generation laser rifles. Pretty crap at the time, but we could sell them for parts.¡±


    ¡°You are looking for things to sell?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I will be able to stick around this area, which means we need some stuff to trade. I might be able to make some quick cash with my medical skills, but it sure as hell will be a lot easier if we had some capital in the first place.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like your planning on coming along with me. You do know I¡¯m going to be looking for a way to help free my sister?¡±


    Melissa laughed and said ¡°Yeah, I am planning on coming with you. I¡¯m interested in your pals over there. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not planning on stealing them, what I want is to create a similar suit you were wearing.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want that?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°I want revenge. You can help me with that. I can aid you to help save your sister. Do we have a deal?¡±


    ¡°I can help you, just make sure you tell the blobs what you want. It¡¯s up to them if they decide to help you or not.¡±


    Melissa nodded, and Jessica helped to load the vehicle they were taking with several of the boxes. The car roared to life, and Jessica looked in to see Glass working the pedals while Skye was sitting behind the wheel.


    She guided them to the middle of the raising platform, and Melissa climbed into the back with Daisy and Blaze. Jessica hit a button, and the roof began retracting showing a dawn light start to settle over the sky.


    Hitting another button, the platform started to rise with a loud mechanical sound. Leaping on board, she got into the passenger seat of the vehicle and looked at Melissa, ¡°We need to get to the Sky City that Papa Bright was dealing with.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to be going to the south.¡±


    ¡°Why south?¡±


    ¡°Theranas has an outpost down there. Before we go there, however, we should hit the southern city of Burnt Sage so we can sell our gear. It¡¯s going to be expensive to buy a ticket to go up to the sky city.


    ¡°Maybe we should have taken one of these flying craft up there.¡±


    ¡°Not if you want to be shot down. The Sky City¡¯s only let approved aircraft enter their space. Cross into it without authorization they will shoot you down.¡±


    When the platform reached the top, Jessica said "I hope I never have to go down there again. Now which direction is south?" Melissa reached into her pockets and pulled out a compass. ¡°Where did you keep that? I thought the slavers took everything from you?¡±


    ¡°When they found out that I was a doctor, they pretty much left me alone. Especially after Papa Bright identified who I was.¡±


    Directing them south with the compass, they began to drive south. Periodically they would pass an odd looking mutated creature. Jessica looked over to the driving blue blob. Skye looked like it was really concentrating on driving. Feeling the warm sun on her skin, Jessica found herself dozing off.


    Jack sat down and laid, waiting for Megan to come, so he could talk to her about the plans for tomorrow.

 Chapter 10: Factory Exploration.

    In her dreams Jessica was tortured by the appearance of her sister, of how she failed to save her. The words survive tormented her, nightmares of the things from that facility crawling up and smothering her deep within the black goo. When one horrible dream ended another started.


    Thankfully Jessica was shaken awake some time later. Opening her eye¡¯s, she saw Skye prodding her with a tendril. Sitting up straight she took a look out the windshield and found they had stopped in front of a rundown factory that was rusting away.


    The area around them looked like it had once had more buildings but most of them had rotted away or were torn apart by the explosions in the war. Looking back she asked Melissa ¡°Where are we? Are we close to that city you wanted us to go to?"


    "No, apparently the energy cells in the car are nearly dead. The blobs are putting out some solar panels to help charge it up. To help charge it up faster we should go take a look around for some energy packs." Melissa said and opened the back door and stepped out.


    Jessica took a look around the area and found that it was littered with rusty metal, and some shells of old vehicles. Crooked burnt trees lined the ancient roadway. To the side of the car she saw Glass setting up a series of solar panels with Daisy helping it.


    "Where did they get the solar panels from?" Jessica said, opening her door.


    "They pulled them from some hidden compartment in the back." Melissa said, stretching her body.


    Stepping outside, she found her body incredibly sore. Turning to the blue blob, she asked it "Hey do you think you could give me that drink you gave me the other day?" Skye nodded and pulled open a compartment and handed her a cup filled with that clear liquid.


    "What is that?" Melissa asked.


    Drinking it down, Jessica said "When I was injured Skye produced this for me to drink. It helped heal me. Do you want some?"


    Melissa shook her head. "I''m good thanks for the offer. I''m guessing it''s some sort of nanomachines to help your body heal."


    Blaze rolled out from behind the vehicle and handed each of them a small laser pistol. "While you were sleeping the red one was messing around in the back." Melissa took the gun and examined it.


    ¡°Thank you Blaze. Good work.¡± Jessica reached into her pack and handed it a piece of ration bar. She did the same with the other blobs. Then she took a look at the factory. ¡°This place looks pretty sketchy. Would they even have energy packs within?¡±


    "Who knows? It doesn''t look like anyone has scavenged this area recently so we might get lucky and find some supplies. There are some building over there we can check out as well." Melissa pointed to some run down buildings a distance away.


    "Lets start at this factory then. We might have to stay inside it during the night if we can''t charge up the vehicle." Jessica said walking towards the old rotting building, with Melissa and Blaze following them. Climbing over the rusting remains of a fence, Jessica glanced into the building through a broken window.


    Inside lit by the afternoon sun, she could make out several rotting conveyor belts. Deciding it was not a good idea to crawl through broken glass, Jessica walked around the building looking for a door. Finding a large rusty door, she carefully moved it aside and entered within.


    Her gun at the ready position, Jessica slowly entered. There was some debris littering the floor, and a rank smell of rot filled Jessica''s nose. No signs of other people having been in here recently. However Jessica could see evidence of a mutant creature living here. Several mounds of what appeared to be shit littered the floor here and there.


    Jessica whispered "Looks like somethings been living here. Keep your eyes open."


    Melissa nodded and whispered back "Looks like this place made canned food." She picked up an old tin off the conveyor belt. The label had long since rotted away, leaving no way to tell what was inside.


    Alongside one of the walls was a set of stairs. It led to the second floor where some offices for the factory were. "I''m going to check the second floor. Blaze can you take the lead and make sure I don''t fall through?" Blaze nodded and carefully inspected each step.


    Following the red blob carefully up the rusting stairs, they soon reached the second floor. Avoiding the holes in the walkway, she opened the door to one of the offices. It fell off its hinges with a loud boom causing both the women to be startled.


    With her heart pounding, Jessica went silent and listened for any movement to see if the noise had alerted whatever lived in this factory. Several strained seconds went by and she didn''t hear anything. Maybe the thing was out looking for food.


    Stepping inside she found it was an old room. On a seat sat an old skeleton with a massive hole in it''s skull. In it''s lap was a large gun. Melissa examined the skeleton and said "Poor sod took his own life."If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    On the desk in front of him was an upturned frame. Inside Jessica could make out what looked like a happy family. "Must have lost his family in the war."


    Melissa pushed him aside and searched through the desk. "Not seeing any energy packs in here."


    Opening a folder, Jessica found an inventory set. Looking through it, she found a listing for energy packs. They were listed to be stored in storage room three. "Looks like they keep spare energy packs in a storage room. We just need to find that storage room."


    "Hey take a look at this." Melissa said pointing to a wall. On it was a faded old map of the facility. It appeared that the third storage room was down in the basement.


    "Great looks like we need to head underground again." Jessica said pointing at the map.


    "Before we take a look down there we should check out the other office. We might get lucky." Melissa said.


    "Good idea." Jessica took the gun off the skeleton''s lap and handed it to Blaze. "Take a look at this." Blaze waved a happy tendril and began to look at the gun while they moved to the next office door. Carefully this time, Jessica pushed open the door and laid it against a nearby wall.


    This office looked to be unused for the most part. Some filing cabinets lined the walls. Seeing nothing of importance Jessica was about to leave when Melissa stopped her and said "Take a look at that wall."


    Stopping Jessica took a closer look where Melissa pointed and noticed a strange discoloration on the wall. Going to it, Jessica felt around the edge and found a hidden catch causing a panel to swing open revealing on old safe. Examining it, she looked over at Blaze and asked "Do you think you can open this?"


    The red blob rolled up to the safe and put a tendril up to the dial. It began to spin it carefully and soon a loud click appeared and Blaze swung open the safe revealing a stack of Arcs. There was also a strange rod to the side of the Arcs.


    Picking up the Arcs she counted them out and came up with a thousand of them. The old world currency was made out of a strange material that lasted. Gold was embedded within, the higher the value the more gold. Arcs had retained value despite the fall of the world.


    "How much do you think a ride will cost up to that sky city?"


    "For the both of us most likely half a million. With the blobs it will probably cost six hundred thousand."


    Putting the Arcs into her pack, she picked out the rod and examined it. There was a button on the bottom and when Jessica flipped it, the thing began to vibrate. "What do you think this is?" Jessica asked.


    "I think you should put that back. I think it''s a stimulation device."


    "A what?" Jessica said then it dawned on her and she tossed back inside the safe disgusted. "Why the hell would they keep such a thing in a safe?"


    "Who knows. Let''s head down to that storage room." They left the office and made their way to the floor carefully down the stairs. Searching around the area, they found the way to the basement. Walking down the concrete stairs into the basement, they found stacks of pallets lined up through the area.


    Opening one of them, Jessica found they were filled with tins. She was curious as to what was inside, but lacking a way to open it, put it aside for now. They found the storage room door and opened it up with Blaze''s help. Inside Jessica found several racks of energy packs.


    Melissa began to fill her pack with ones that still had a green indicator. Blaze looked around and pulled out a large charger from the back. Jessica said "That requires an energy source. Maybe we can hook it up to the solar panels and charge up some energy packs."


    Nodding the red blob lifted it up and began to carry it. Jessica looked around and said "If we need more we can come back. Let''s get out of here."


    Loaded down with the heavy packs, they climbed up the stairs and made their way when Jessica heard some laser blasts coming from outside. Alarmed Jessica dropped her pack and rushed to the door and glanced outside. To her surprise, she saw the three blobs outside were currently fighting a large mutant beast.


    Skye was rolling around with the beast attempting to swipe at it. Daisy was blasting it with a laser gun and Glass was throwing rocks and things at the beast. The beast looked like a wolf with a body of a bull. Skye dodged to the side as it bit where it was.


    Jessica aimed her gun and fired at the beast. It screeched in pain as it was struck. It took off to the east towards the buildings. Heading out she checked on the blobs and asked "Hey are you guy''s alright?"


    They nodded and Melissa came over and dropped off the energy packs. "Here use these energy packs to get the vehicle charged." Glass opened one pack and attached it to the panel, and Jessica went back into the building and retrieved the bag she dropped.


    Returning to the vehicle she asked "How fast can you get it charged? I don''t want to stay in the area with that beast. It shrugged off those laser blasts way too easily."


    Glass waved a tentacle and she got the sense they would be able to charge it in a few hours. Jessica looked at Blaze who was attaching the charger to the vehicle. "Hey Blaze when you are done can you make something stronger? We need to be prepared if that thing returns, especially if it returns with friends."


    Blaze nodded and Jessica sat down to the side on an old stump looking towards where the beast had run off too. "Do you think we can get to the city tonight?"


    Melissa went to the vehicle and pulled out the old map and took a look. "No, we are not even halfway there. This is not a suitable place to hole up. We will have to seek a place to rest tonight."


    Taking the map from the doctor she examined their options and said "We will have to keep an eye out."


    For the next couple hours, she watched over the horizon keeping an eye out for mutants. Glass waved and signaled that the vehicle was now fully charged. Putting away the extra energy packs into the back, Jessica found Blaze waiting for her with a large laser rifle with several packs on it.


    "Thanks Blaze." Taking it she looked and found a dial indicating the power level used. A small screen on the gun indicated that the gun had fourteen shots available. Nodding she got into the passenger seat. Skye this time took the position above the pedals.


    Glass took the wheel and started the vehicle. The blobs got in and Melissa followed. As the car began to roll forward in the southern direction. Jessica saw the beast start to lope towards the vehicle "Hell no." She rolled the window down and aimed at the mutant.


    Pulling the trigger a bright flash ripped from the barrel and slammed into the beast blasting a giant hole through the creature and it fell down dead. As they drove past it''s remains, Jessica looked back and said "Good Job Blaze."

 Chapter 11: Blobs like to wear hats.

    As they drove, Jessica kept her eye out for a suitable place to hole up for the night. Looking over at Glass, she found the green blob had found a hat from somewhere and placed it on the top. It was a strange sight to see. Glass had a tendril on the wheel and another one hanging out the window.


    The sun had been nearly at the horizon before Jessica spotted an old concrete building that looked like they could secure it for the night. Stopping in front of it, Jessica had the blobs get out of the vehicle and locked it up. The building looked to be a small power station building.


    Opening a thick metal door, they found some racks. Pulling out some old blankets, they made a place where they would sleep at night. The only way into the room was the metal door making it suitable for them to stay for the night. Unfortunately, there was also no way to look outside.


    Closing the door behind them, Jessica lit a lantern and suspended it on a nearby rack. At that time she sat on the ground on the blanket across from Melissa. She reached into her pack and handed Melissa a ration bar and withdrew one for herself. While chewing she took a proper look at the doctor.


    The blond haired woman looked to be in her late twenties, though with her genetics that could be misleading. She had an unusual subtle beauty to her. Almost hypnotic in a way, Jessica watched her eat the ration bar slowly. Melissa said "Do you want to ask me something? Cause you''re staring at me kinda weird."


    "No, I was just thinking you look beautiful."


    "Not really an asset to have down here in the wasteland."


    "Still you must have had quite the number of suitors."


    "No. I made a decision not to involve myself with others. What about you?"


    "I''ve been mainly taking care of my sister. Though I was tempted once or twice. But they left for other parts of the wasteland, and didn''t want to stick around the area."


    Jessica finished the ration bar. Looking at the blobs, she asked "Do you sleep?"


    They waved that they take a rest not necessarily sleep. "While we sleep, could you set up a watch to make sure we are safe? I don''t think anything can get in here easily, but it''s better to be safe then sorry."


    Skye nodded and the four blobs got together and seemed to start planning. Melissa grunted and said "We will have to spend a while getting the cash needed for a the trip."


    "Do you have any ideas how we can quickly get the cash?"


    "Not specifically. But we might have to do some unsavory tasks to get the cash quick."


    "Like what?"


    "We might have to steal. Or something similar."


    Jessica sucked in a breath and thought for a second. "As long as it''s not against a decent person, I don''t care. I have to save my sister."


    "Good."


    They were about to go to bed when Jessica heard some pounding on the door. Alarmed she pulled out her gun and carefully approached the door. Melissa pulled out her gun as well and took to the side. A muffled voice came through "Hello is someone in there? Can you please let us in?"


    Jessica frowned and asked Melissa "what should we do?"


    Melissa said "They could be raiders. Still I don''t like the idea of not at least checking them out. Open the door. I got you covered."


    Jessica nodded and waved for Daisy to open the door. As the Yellow blob slowly opened the heavy door, Jessica had her gun raised. A man stumbled in followed by a woman. "Much obliged for letting us in. We thought we might have to stay the night outside."


    They stopped when they saw both Melissa and Jessica holding guns at them. The man held up his hands and so did the woman. "We were just looking for a place to stay the night. We don''t want any trouble."


    "Daisy do me a favor and close the door." The yellow blob closed the door. "What are the two of you doing out here?" Jessica asked.


    "We are currently heading down south to Burnt Sage. My Wife and I noticed your vehicle and thought we could spend the night with you."


    "You two alone?" Melissa asked.


    "Yeah."


    Jessica put down her gun and said "You can stay the night. There is not much room in this place, so you get that wall." She pointed towards the back wall. They nodded and set down their packs and sat down.


    "Strange to see a pair just walking across the wasteland." Melissa said looking at them. She was keeping her gun in her lap.


    "Not much choice. We had to flee some raiders from our farm. So we decided to head down south and see if we can''t get a place down in the city. Tired of having to deal with raiders."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Most everyone nowadays is." Jessica said.


    "My name is Sam and this is my wife Lisa. That''s a nice vehicle out there. Do you happen to be headed south?" Sam asked.


    Melissa glanced over at Jessica and she nodded. "We are headed south."


    "It''s tough traveling, would we be able to purchase a ride from you?"


    "Depends, what do you have to offer?"


    Sam looked at Lisa and she said "We can offer some Arcs, Five thousand for the both of us."


    Melissa snorted and said "That''s a large amount to be carrying around the wasteland. More than some farmers should have. Plus..." Melissa looked them over and continued "You don''t look like farmers."


    Sam gritted his teeth and Lisa said "


    them the truth Sam."


    Sighing he spoke "Me and Lisa used to run with the raiders. We wanted out, so we stole their stash and ran."


    "So you have some raiders on your tail?" Jessica said.


    "No. We made sure to lose them. We cut across the wasteland, and here we are."


    "What do you think?" Jessica asked Melissa.


    "As long as they pay, it''s fine with me. If I find out you''re lying to us, I''ll feed you to our friends." Melissa said pointing at the blobs.


    Lisa gulped and asked "What are they?"


    "Some mutant pets I picked up." Jessica lied and continued "Try anything and they will attack."


    Blaze waved a tentacle at them threateningly. Sam nodded "Got it, don''t want any trouble."


    "Good. I''ll take the first watch. I''ll wake you." Melissa said looking at Jessica.


    Jessica nodded and laid down on her blanket and closed her eyes. It felt like she had just fallen asleep when she was shaken awake. Looking up she found Melissa nodding at her. Getting up she looked over and saw the married couple were currently sleeping.


    Standing up she checked the door and found it was still locked. Melissa laid down and went to sleep. Blaze rolled up to Jessica and patted her. Nodding, she took a seat on an old box and waited. When it was nearly dawn, she heard something crawling on top of the building.


    Raising her laser gun, she waited for several seconds. The crawling soon stopped and she looked down again and saw that Lisa was peering at her. Jessica shrugged, and Lisa went back to sleep. For several agonizing hours she waited until she was certain it was past dawn, and woke Melissa up.


    Going over she woke the two others up and said "It''s dawn. If you want to come along, you better get up."


    Sam scrambled up and quickly put away their stuff into their packs. Melissa went to the door and said to Glass "Can you open a hole in the door so I can take a peek out?"


    Glass nodded and went over to the door and pressed a tentacle against the door. Several seconds later a small hole was formed in the door. Melissa bent down and peered out. "Looks like it''s clear out there."


    Jessica said "I heard something crawling on the roof. Some kind of mutant creature might be above us."


    Skye waved a tentacle and climbed the wall to the roof. It dug a tiny hole through the roof and peered out. After a few seconds it came back down and waved that it was safe to go outside. Melissa carefully opened the door and kept her gun raised.


    Jessica waved for the pair to go ahead of her. Going outside she saw it was early morning. "Looks like we made it through the night. Alright you two, we will take you to Burnt Sage. But cash first."


    Sam nodded, and Lisa pulled out a stack of arcs and handed over to Jessica. Placing them into her pouch, she went to the vehicle and unlocked it. "Get in the back."


    Lisa climbed in and was startled when Daisy climbed in next to her. "Don''t worry, it''s just there to make sure you don''t try anything funny while we are travelling." Jessica said. Sam climbed in and sat down next to Daisy.


    "Where did you find this vehicle? It almost looks brand new?" Sam asked.


    "A place of death." Jessica said simply and got into the passenger seat. Looking over she saw Glass was now working the pedals, and Blaze had taken the driver''s seat. Blaze had picked up a strange wide brimmed hat from somewhere. "Where did you find that hat Blaze?"


    It waved a tendril to the back of the vehicle. "


    things can drive?" Sam asked.


    "Yeah."


    Looking a bit nervous Sam strapped himself down to the seat. Blaze started the car and Melissa said "We should make it to Burn Sage by the end of the day. Were you planning on going somewhere specific in Burnt Sage?"


    "To my uncles Inn." Lisa said. "He offered me a place to come stay anytime, so I hope to take him up on the offer."


    They set off driving, and Jessica spoke with Sam and Lisa and their plans going forward. Melissa would occasionally chime in, and they had been driving several hours when Blaze suddenly stopped driving. Confused Jessica looked at where the red blob was pointing.


    Ahead of them, She could vaguely see something trying to hide behind an old house. It looked like a vehicle and Jessica''s first thought was an ambush. "What''s the matter?" Sam asked.


    "Looks like there is an ambush lying up ahead. We should go around." Jessica said.


    Melissa looked back and said "I think it''s too late. Look behind us."


    When Jessica did so, she found a cloud of dust rising in the distance behind them. "Then we are going to have to charge through. Blaze make sure you drive fast." The Red blob nodded and the tires screeched as the vehicle surged forward. Jessica ran her window down and aimed her gun out.


    As soon as they passed the old building a large car rocketed forwards. Jessica fired her laser right into the vehicle and it swerved as the engine exploded into flames from the damage. They began to race forward through the wasteland. While they were going fast, they were losing ground to the group chasing them.


    Due to all the dust, Jessica could not get a clear shot at them, so pulled herself back into the vehicle. Melissa was examining the map and said "I think we can lose them if we go through the valley. Turn up here, there should be an old road going into the valley."


    Blaze twisted the wheel hard and Jessica could feel her body twist in her chair.  The vehicle seemed to go briefly on two wheels before landing down with a loud thump and driving down an old broken road into a tight valley. Seeing the rock walls lining the road, Jessica got an idea and leaned out again and fired her gun into the walls.


    Some of the rock walls collapsed onto the road, blocking the chasers from following them. Looking back she saw Sam and Lisa looking terrified. "How are the two of you doing?"


    "I think I saw my life flash before my eyes!" Sam retorted,"I would have asked how you taught that thing to drive, but that wasn''t driving!"


    "Well we got away for the moment, wherever we are."


    Melissa said "We just need to exit this valley and then make a right. Then we will be back on the route to Burnt Sage."

 Chapter 12: Arrival at Burnt Sage

    After escaping the raiders, the rest of the ride to Burnt Sage proved uneventful. The sun was barely starting to crawl below the horizon and a murky red light filled the land, as they approached Burnt Sage. As they got closer, Jessica could see several large buildings beyond the walls that surrounded the city. The walls were thick concrete barriers that had been stacked to form a continuous wall.


    Where there were gaps in the wall, solid plates of metal were lined. Along the wall were several towers where guards kept a close watch making sure no mutant would climb over the walls. As they drove around the city, Jessica could see several rotting carcasses of mutant creatures that had ventured too close to the city.


    They found an entrance with several vehicles lined up to get into the city. As they got into line, Jessica noticed above the entrance to the city, was an old sign that had been burnt severely, the only word that could be read from it was Sage. Most likely that was where the city had got its name.


    Several miles before they had reached the city, Blaze had pulled over to let Jessica take the wheel. They decided it would be more sensible for Jessica to drive rather than let a blob drive. Who knows how the guards to the city would have reacted to that. After waiting in line for several minutes, Jessica finally pulled up to the entrance of the city.


    As a guard wearing thick body armor walked up, Jessica rolled down the window. The Guard lifted up a visor and a weary looking guard looked into the vehicle at Jessica. "There is an entrance toll of Five Arcs per person." Glancing at the red blob sitting in the passenger seat, "Ten Arcs for mutant pets."


    Jessica nodded and said "Okay, do we have to pay you? Or someone else?"


    The guard nodded and said "Payment is required in full before entry is allowed. Also unauthorized vehicles are prohibited from driving on the main streets of Burnt Sage. You are required to park your vehicle in the parking area. It is ten Arc''s per day of parking."


    Then he pulled out a pad of paper and wrote some numbers down and handed it to her. "To gain entrance to the city, you need to deposit ten Arcs for your first day. When you leave, hand this paper to the guards and you will be charged for all the day¡¯s you spent inside. If you wish to get your vehicle authorized and have a permanent parking space you will need to visit city hall."


    "Got it." Jessica took the paper and placed it on the dashboard.


    "If you are caught driving illegally, you will be taken into custody and your vehicle will be impounded. You will face a fine of ten thousand Arcs, if you can''t afford to pay, you will face servitude until you earn back the fee."


    "Understood." Jessica said, then pulled out the correct amount of Arcs and handed them over to the guard.


    "Very well you have paid the fee. You are free to enter the city. You are responsible for any action your pets take while in the city. They must remain in your area, or be secured in a safe place they can''t escape." He flipped down his visor and waved the vehicle through the entrance.


    Rolling through the gate, she turned down the road the signs pointed her towards. Soon she was on a road that went down underground. Another Guard stopped her to make sure she had a pass from the entrance before letting her through. Passing row after row of parked vehicles she had to go down several levels.


    She finally discovered a space to park and carefully pulled in and parked it. Blaze reached over and pulled a lever at the side and let her know it was the Parking Brake. Turning off the car she looked to the back and said "So here we are, Burnt Sage. You two made it, congratulations."


    "Thank you for driving us. We can pay you back for the entrance fee," Sam said.


    "It''s not a problem." Jessica said. "What will you do now?"


    Lisa spoke up and said "We will head to our Uncles. It''s probably the best Inn in the city. I can help you get some rooms!"


    Jessica thought for a moment and realized they did need a place to stay for the night. Looking over at Melissa she asked "What do you want to do?"


    Melissa shrugged and said "It does not matter to me, as long as it is cheap. Remember we came here to earn money not to spend it."


    Pushing open the drivers door, Jessica stepped out and found her legs were sore from the long drive. Stretching them, Jessica saw the blobs roll out of the door onto the concrete floor. She turned towards them and said "You need to be on your best behavior. I don''t want to get on the bad side of these guards."


    Lisa said "I don''t remember there being so many guards at the gate before. Wonder if something happened recently."


    "Maybe. We can ask your Uncle." Sam said, "we should get going."


    Lisa nodded and said "I used to live here for years as a kid, before I left with some friends. I''ll show you to the inn."


    Melissa said "Not many get to live within a city, care to explain why you decided to give it up to become a raider?"


    Lisa had a flash of shame cross her face and said "My friends joined up with a group and we did some small time projects, mostly dealing drug trafficking. Soon that group got absorbed into a larger group, and that''s when I met Sam. Since then it''s been the two of us. We decided to get out. Most of my friends are already dead, I didn''t want to become yet another one to die."Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "How romantic, two raiders falling in love." Melissa said sarcastically. "Bonding over killing innocent people."


    Sam stared stone faced at Melissa and said "We did what we had to survive."


    Sensing this was leading to an argument, Jessica interrupted "Enough! Lisa, can you lead us to your uncle''s place please?"


    Lisa nodded and led them to the far wall, where they found a set of stairs that lead up to the streets above. When they reached the streets above Jessica noticed that most of the area felt dirty and run down. It was hard to tell given the age of the structures, but the place didn''t look up like the cities Jessica had seen before.


    Confusion washed over Lisa''s face and she said "This place does not look the same at all. What happened here? Over there used to be a community farm." Lisa pointed at an abandoned lot.


    Reaching out Sam put a hand on Lisa and said "It has been sometime since you''ve been here." Lisa nodded, and they walked down the street. As they moved, night came, and flickering lights of neon signs came on. A particular atrocious one of a beer pouring down a thick liquid between a woman''s chest took over a corner.


    "That used to be a school?" Lisa said, confused. The blobs rolled behind them, gathering looks from nearby people, who all looked hard up. Jessica got the sense from some of them, if they got the chance they would straight up rob them. Being careful to keep her head on a swivel, she continued on.


    "We are standing out." Melissa said, frowning.


    "We need to be careful, not to get robbed..." Jessica said.


    They soon made it to a run down building, paint was peeling all over. It held dozens of doors to the outside. One of the doors to a room was hanging on hinges and as they watched a man stumbled out of the room and puked over the railing. A scantily clad woman came out and started to yell at the man for Arcs he owed her for coming in her ass.


    Near a sign that said office was another neon light that was flickering with vacancies. Lisa said astounded "This was the inn my Uncle runs."


    "What a charming place. You sure this is the best inn in the city?" Melissa said.


    Lisa frowned and said "It wasn''t this bad when I lived here."


    They walked forward and Jessica pulled open the door, and a bell rang waking up a dozing man behind the desk, and he shook his head and said "Thirty arcs for two hours. If you need an extension... Lisa?"


    "Hey Uncle Rick. We came to visit."


    The man rolled out from behind the desk in a wheelchair and Lisa bent over and hugged Rick. "Lisa! Look at you!" Rick looked at her and said,"Tell me how you''ve been."


    "I decided to move back here Uncle Rick. What happened here? Where''s Aunt Fran"


    Rick frowned and said "Aunt Fran was killed."


    "What?" Lisa said shocked.


    "Some raiders entered the inn and rented a room. They got handsy with your aunt, and it didn''t end well." He frowned for a moment and then said "Let''s head to the back, Just let me close here."


    Lisa headed to the back, and Jessica followed her. There was a back room with an old table and some chairs. Lisa sat down in one and her face was saddened. Sam sat next to her and rubbed her back. Jessica took a seat and Melissa decided to lean against a wall. The blobs rolled in and climbed and sat in the chairs.


    A few minutes later, Rick rolled in and went to an old fridge. "So do you want something to eat?"


    "When did Aunt Fran die?"


    Rick pulled out a bottle and popped it''s top. "Five years ago. Never a day goes by that I don''t think about her."


    "Why has the inn got so?"


    "Shitty?" Rick said. He sighed and said "The whole city''s going down the drain. I just don''t have the energy nowadays to keep up the place, and now basically the only customers I get are hookers and druggies."


    "What happened to the city?"


    "We got a new mayor a few years ago, now corruption seems to be commonplace throughout the city. I have to pay a protection fee nowadays just to keep running. You said you wanted to stay here?"


    "Yeah Uncle Rick, this is Sam, my husband, and these two are some friends who helped drive us here."


    Sam said "Hello."


    Rick looked Sam over and nodded "As long as you keep her happy, that''s good enough for me. If you want to help, that will be good." Rick looked at the blobs and said "Some interesting looking animals you got there. Never seen the like before. They safe?"


    "They obey orders." Melissa said. "Safe unless someone attacks us or them."


    Rick nodded and said "I can give you two a room. Since you''re Lisa''s friends, I will only charge eighty Arcs for the night."


    "That sounds good." Jessica said and handed out the Arcs to Rick.


    Rick clutched them and was about to speak when a banging happened up front. Frowning Rick went to investigate. A few minutes later Jessica heard some shouting and went to investigate with Lisa on what was happening. In the front office, Rick was pulled from his wheelchair and a pair of men was standing above him.


    Lisa barrelled past Jessica and aided Rick get back into his seat. "What do you two think you are doing?" She said angrily.


    "Didn''t know you got yourself a girl. Looks almost brand new, maybe I should take her for a spin in one of your rooms eh Rick?" One of the men said with a mouth full of crooked teeth.


    "She''s not for sale." Sam said, stepping from the back room.


    "Every girl is. Just got to find their price." The other man said. "You owe us five hundred more Arcs Rick."


    Rick nodded and rolled over to the desk and pulled out the Arcs. "I thought you guys would be coming over next week."


    "Change of plans. You going to introduce your guests to us Rick?"


    Rick hesitated for a second and said "She''s my niece and that''s her husband." Rick pointed at Jessica and said "This is a friend of my niece''s." He rolled over to Mark and handed the man the stack of Arcs and said "Here you go Mark, all five hundred."


    Mark grabbed the Arcs and gave them a look over. "You got a good-looking looking niece Rick. What''s your name, girl?''


    "Lisa." She said glaring at Mark and continued "I see you do that again to my Uncle, I''ll cut off your balls."


    Mark grinned and said "Feisty girl. Better keep her on a leash." Mark looked pointedly at Sam. At that point he looked at Jessica up and down. "You''re not bad looking either. If you''re looking for a job, you can come talk with me at the Bar down the street. Come along bob, we got some more stops to make."


    The pair of thugs vacated the building, and Rick said "That was the protection duo. They work for the Scorpion Kings."


    Lisa frowned and said "I''ve never heard of them. Are they big?"


    "Big within the city. They run the main brothels and the main drug pushers. They are one of the four major clans within the city."


    Melissa came out with Blaze following her and she asked "What are the other three?"

 Chapter 13: Blobs make excellent cleaners.

    Thinking for a second Rick nodded and replied "The other gangs besides the Scorpion Kings, are the Creamers, Gallery of Fools and Finally the Wounded Falcon Tribe. As you may have guessed the Scorpion Kings run this area of town."


    "I know gangs adopt some odd names, but these are quite the selection of names. I mean what gang calls themselves Creamers?" Jessica said.


    "Be careful not to allow anyone to hear you make fun of their names. That''s just asking for death. When the Creamers first came to power, Keith down the road made a crack about the creamers while he was receiving a haircut. Next day he was discovered outside of town on an oiled spike."


    Rick shook his head "That''s how I knew the guards were already corrupt. They said they didn''t see Keith getting impaled mere feet from the entrance, yeah fucking right. The Creamers gained the name from the base they hold, plus it''s their primary source of income. It''s an old Ice Cream Factory."


    Leaning against the counter, Lisa asked "That old place? Before I left I heard rumour they had found some mutants that produced drinkable milk. City council was looking to reopen the place after that."


    "The mutants didn''t work out. Didn''t produce enough milk to make a difference. So the place was abandoned, until the Creamers took over and found another source of milk." Rick said in disgust.


    "What do you mean Uncle Rick?" Lisa asked.


    "They apparently obtained some drug that causes women to develop enormous breasts. It also makes them produce milk like crazy. They''ve been taking women slaves they get and milking them to get the milk for the Ice Cream. It''s now one of the most popular products in the city."


    "Sadly it''s tough on those women, and the Creamers are always on the hunt for more women. I recommend not going into their area of control. Women there have a tendency to disappear, only to reappear working in the creamery. When the Creamery are done with the woman, they dispose of them to the other gangs as human cows."


    "That is sick. They are allowed to do that?" Jessica asked.


    "Like I said the corruption runs deep in the city. I''m not sure if the city council is run by the gangs or runs the gangs. As long as the Creamers don''t kill the woman the other gangs don''t care."


    "What about the other gangs? What can you tell us about them?" Melissa asked.


    "The Gallery of Fools gets its name from them taking over the Museum. They are the more affluent gang around the city. They run the bank and several other facilities of the city. They apparently have access to the city councils purse. While they may not have as much power as some of the others, they certainly have more then enough Arcs. I''ve also heard they have dealings with some Sky Cities."


    "What about the Wounded Falcon Tribe and Scorpion Kings?" Melissa asked.


    "Wounded Falcon has taken over a ruined airbase. They don''t have any planes of course, but they do have some old military weaponry making them the most powerful in terms of combat, of the gangs in the area. As for Scorpion Kings they maintain an old hospital as a base. Fortunately for me, they are also the easiest to deal with. They are willing to make deals and don''t like to kill indiscriminately. I just need to pay my dues on time."


    Jessica nodded and said "Thank you for the information."


    Shrugging Rick said "It''s no problem, if you two are going to stay here, it''s a good idea to know what you are getting yourself into. I wouldn''t want you to walk into the wrong area and get yourselves in trouble." Rolling over in his wheelchair, he went behind the counter and looked around and pulled out a set of keys.


    "For you, here is my best room. I haven''t rented it out in years so you don''t have to worry about catching something. I haven''t cleaned it but it''s the best room we have available." He handed the keys over to Jessica.


    "Much obliged, have a good night you three." Jessica said and left Lisa and Sam to talk with Rick. Melissa and the blobs followed behind her.


    Exiting the lobby, she looked at the set of keys seeing that they were to a room on the second floor, Jessica climbed the patched-up stairs. They went all the way to the last room on the second floor. The key slid into the door handle and Jessica twisted and found the door clicked open.


    Opening the door, she found a room covered in dust and a moldy smell told her it might have been years since the last time anyone had been inside. Flipping on the lights, Jessica sighed and looked down "I know I''ve been asking a lot of you guys lately, but do you think you could help clean this room? It so dusty in here I worry it be hard to breathe otherwise."


    Skye waved a tentacle in agreement and waved at the other blobs to get them into action. They rolled all over the place and began to clean the place. As they rolled over the carpet Jessica could see a literal trail of cleanliness as they went. Dusting off the table, Melissa took a seat and said "So what do you think of this city so far?"Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    "Looks like it has seen some better days. Not at all like the Old Rail City. We might have a hard time getting the Arcs necessary from this place."


    Melissa looked at Jessica and stated "If we want to do it by the book yeah, but if we do it another way, we could make a killing of Arcs. I''m getting the sense we will have the opportunity to get a great deal of Arc''s real fast. But we need more information before I settle on a plan."


    "Can you let me know what kind of plans you are thinking of?"


    ¡°Tell me what kind of city has four gangs with no conflict among themselves? We might be able to play them off each other and reap some cash."


    "That is possible. Of course for all we know they are all run by the city council and it won''t work."


    "Yes, which is why we need more information on the gangs. Plus we require more information on the city council. It is possible we can discover an informant. Do you think the blobs would be able to do some scouting work?"


    Jessica glanced at the blobs that were cleaning the room. "Maybe, but if they get caught, it''s going to be very obvious that they are connected to me."


    "It''s just an option to consider. I don''t think it''s a good idea for us to go into the ice cream factory looking for information. So a blob might be a better choice."


    "If we are going to do this, is staying here a good idea?"


    "As long as we''re careful, I think we will be good." Melissa said. Then looked over at the twin beds the blobs had finished cleaning. "So which bed do you want?"


    "I''ll take the first one. Wonder if the bathroom works." Jessica said and walked over and took one look into the bathroom before saying, "Don''t go in there until they clean that up." She had sworn she could see mushrooms growing on the walls before she quickly closed the bathroom door.


    "That bad?"


    "Worse then you can imagine. If it''s too much for you to clean, don''t over exert yourselves okay?" Jessica said looking down at the blobs. Blaze waved a hand and returned to cleaning the room.


    "Maybe the blobs can get a job as maids." Melissa joked.


    "Yeah, they are good at cleaning. You didn''t see it, but I don''t like the way this Mark asshole looked at me. It''s probably good he didn''t get a look at you as well. If we head out, we will have to be careful. He might try to recruit us to pimp us out. I got the feeling he wouldn''t take no for an answer"


    "Yeah, we have to be on guard with him. Still checking out that bar would be a good way to get the lay of the land. We might be able to get an inside look at the Scorpion Kings."


    Jessica nodded and undressed down to her underwear, and laid down on the bed. To be safe she kept her gun next to her head. Melissa laid down fully clothed, and said "Is it alright if I turn off the lights?"


    "Go ahead."


    When Melissa flicked off the lights, the room went dark. Jessica could hear the blobs moving about making their usual squicky noises as they moved around. Closing her eyes she was about to go to sleep, when she heard thumping on the wall behind her and moans letting her know what was going on right behind the wall.


    Eventually, after the sounds died down, Jessica fell asleep. Once more she suffered from nightmares only to be woken up when Melissa clicked on the light and said "It''s morning. Time to get up. Oh and the blobs cleaned the bathroom. The shower works somewhat. I''ve already taken mine. When you are done with yours, let''s see if we can''t go outside and get something to eat. I''m tired of eating these ration bars."


    Opening her eyes, she said "Yes let''s do that.", and sat up and looked around. To her surprise the room looked almost brand new, that was how clean the slimes had gotten the room. Even the minor damage had been repaired. Looking about she said "I wonder if Rick would be willing to pay us to clean the inn."


    "This place does need a deep cleaning, though I don''t know if his clientele will even appreciate it."


    "Maybe not, but it might allow us to use this place as a base for free."


    "Perhaps, though I would like to get a more secure location. I''m unconfident this window would block a rock" Melissa said pointing at the front window that was blocked by curtains.


    "That''s where we can rely on the blobs. Right Guys?" Daisy looked up and waved a tendril in agreement.


    Jessica stood up and walked to the bathroom and admitted the bathroom looked absolutely clean. Though she didn''t have soap, she still took a shower and rinsed off grime. While she could have asked the blobs to clean her off, she liked the feel of running water across her skin.


    When she was done, she shut off the water and found a set of clean towels nearby. Wiping herself down, she got dressed and walked out. Feeling her stomach rumble she said "I am hungry and it''s about time they got some real food. Let''s go down and see if we can''t get any breakfast."


    Exiting the room, making sure to lock it behind them, they walked down to the lobby and found Lisa behind the counter. "Already got a job?" Jessica said after greeting her.


    "Yeah, I offered to take the morning shift, though to be honest not many guests have come through so far. How was your night? Did you sleep well? I saw some of the rooms, and they are not the cleanest to be honest."


    Melissa shrugged and said "Some loud neighbors but not too bad. Is your Uncle Rick sleeping?"


    "Yeah, he is resting at the moment. He was running himself ragged so I got him to agree to sleep. He said he would be in to take over the afternoon."


    "Where is Sam?" Jessica asked looking around.


    "He''s taking a look around town, seeing if he can get some supplies to help fix up the inn."


    "Speaking of fixing up the place, we have an offer to help clean up the place. My friends are good at cleaning." Jessica said pointing at the blobs.


    "I''m not quite sure my Uncle has enough money to hire you."


    "We were thinking we could just take a room and use this place as a base while we are in town."


    Lisa thought about it and nodded. "That might work. As it is Uncle Rick, basically only will clean one room a month. I will have to speak with my Uncle, so nothing is set in stone, therefore don''t expect anything."


    "That''s fine. Do you happen to know where we can pick up some breakfast around here?"


    "Yeah, there are still some places that sell food around here. There is one down the street, look for the Bowl sign. Not sure what they sell."

 Chapter 14: The Milkshake brings all the blobs to the yard.

    seeseveralin the gutter of the.passedan, she coulda man lying under some rotting makeshift shelter, heat her toothlessly.


    said "Mostlikely, people only come out in this area at night.Melissapointed at awhoaatfor when.


    Notsure if that isor."


    buildingthat Lisa hadappeared.buildingstood out from theof the,was sparkling.


    Opening, Jessica heldandMelissa and the blobs enter then followed them in.decorsimilar themes.backa device belting out athat Jessica did not recognize.


    entered, awomanthem.Sheherhairinto a ponytail and wasa bright red lipstick.Shewaswearing a black and white outfit, though noticeably it wassnugaround her large bust.Sheand"Welcome to therestaurant in Burnt Sage, Bowls of Gratitude.My


    Tablefor six please."said.


    noddedandthem to atable in theand Jessica sat down on a plush bench that was surprisingly.tooktheof the, and Melissa sat down next to Jessica.womanthe blobs athen handed aofto the both of them.


    Hereis our, we serve breakfast only during the.specialty HM Shakesout of this worldgood. Irecommend them toto Burnt Sage.sthat you will never forget.


    asked.


    thank youfor.addseveral secret ingredients tothe most delicious milkshake you will ever taste, one truly out of this!


    said"Ican''ttheofhuman milk.


    Ilike you at first, hesitant to.Sandygleamed at them.


    onlythree.Iwillthewith toast and somebacon towith it."


    I''llaofof wheat-two with aof screaming fire."


    said "I''ll go and put in your orders.


    saidat the blobs.


    Of, we do not forbid feeding pets, what will they?"


    "Let''s go with the pancake surprise for them.platefor each of them, so four.


    pointedat theof the milkshake.well."said.


    "Itakeyourto the.startyourshortly.Sandywalked toand Jessica couldherwith thein.


    waitresshad, Jessicaat"thinktheytoof wheat-two.


    Yeahthey.really, thisstronglyme of thein the sky cities.factthiswhilewas livingthere.


    thinktheto livein one?"


    placelooks a little toto not be otherwise.


    minutestheytill Sandy came back with a large platter.Settingit on atable, sheJessica herand asmell of cooked eggs wafted into her.


    justgot in freshmeat yesterday."


    getyourfrom?"asked.


    walls.city, our boss likes to go out in theandsome select.


    Handythat."


    Hereyourof wheat-two made withhuman milk."slidainof Melissa.


    saidthank you."


    pickedup theandto cut away at the.teachthem tothat?"


    really."said.


    Thatis, Ialike.toif youanything else.meal.


    Blazetook astraw, andJessica heard it slurping down the Milkshake.Heypancakes first then."wavedaand then began tothe pancakes.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Focusingon her own meal,aof theandthey wereand tasted great.bestmealsin a.


    shewas savoring her, Jessica glanced over at Melissa andthejust basically plowing through the.Shewasn''tMelissa wasthegiven how fastwas.food?"


    neverhad human milk, at least not when Ian.be.


    saidand took another look at the red drink that was nearly glowing.tryit?"


    careful, it is."


    overand took a sip of the.said"You canthat?


    Yeah, Ihot."


    Backto the Human Milkyou''sto?meanthey doatotheto.Maybewe shouldtheblobs, just to be safe?Jessica.


    isasuggestion."


    blobnodded in.portionof theofto the.


    thinkSkye isme ifaquantity in aamount of,couldgettingbreasts."


    Mustaofin it.


    lookedat the blue blob.Yeah, but they willa larger amount to be.


    slurpingawaythen itaat Jessica and anof a huge breastedof.appearsas if theare more potent."


    explainour waitress bust size.backmustfrom walking around like that.


    meal, Sandy soon came over and"So howyour?


    was.Melissa.


    Yes, myarelationship with thein."said.


    purchaseasupply of the Ice Cream?"continued.


    Well,''m not.


    I.Thanksforus.


    bringyourover."saidandto the.


    waitresshad, Jessicaat Melissa.saidlookingfor an in with.


    Yeahwe might get a lead, and also put is into danger."said.


    cameback and"forty arcs.wantato?


    thank you."pulledout the Arcs andthem to her.needup some, is there a general store nearby?"


    Wellthereaa fewover, itavariety of.lookingsomething specific?


    goingto bethethe."


    havea hardware section in the.storeisMonumental Shack.Soyou areOld Rick out?Sandy.


    Yeah."


    That''s, it wastohis Inn turn tolike.wantto be careful, Isomethat the Scorpion Kingsatotheinto a.


    moment?"said.


    arejust cheap pros.


    keepthat in.Thanksfor the.Melissa.stooduptheand headed outside.


    areaa bit, thismore bugged.linedthe, and Jessicathey had.


    MonumentalShack wasin.wereseveraloutside the, and it felt more like a military base then ato buy things.guardswhothem through the.


    When they got inside, they could see rows upon rows of shelves. However, they had to follow a line in order to walk around the store. Armed guards were at points to ensure that you followed the line around. Several of the rows were closed off and you had to have a pass to enter them.

 Chapter 15: Shopping Trip

    As they entered, they were assigned a cart. A worker told them they could only purchase as much as the cart could hold. If they needed more, they would need to return again. The first several rows they went down were all food. Jessica picked up several packets rations just in case.


    A worker wearing a green apron was stocking fruits and vegetables in a cooled section of the store. Taking a look at what they had, Jessica was startled at how fresh and good the produce looked. She walked up to the worker and asked "Excuse me, could you tell me where you got all this produce? I had a farm, and never got as good looking stuff from it as these."


    Finishing putting down some yellow fruits onto a shelf he turned. He smiled and said in a civil tone "We are proud to say all produce is made from an underground greenhouse run by the Wounded Falcon Tribe. If you would like more information and an opportunity to join, please ask for more information at the front desk." He reached into his pocket to withdraw a piece of paper and handed it to Jessica.


    She opened it and saw it was a brochure for joining the Wounded Falcon Tribe. It seemed to be really upselling the benefits and didn''t address any negative. Jessica said "Thank you," and the worker returned to stocking.


    When they were out of earshot of the worker, Melissa said "No doubt they use slave labor for the greenhouse. Though I have to admit, that is some quality produce. Only the stuff from a sky city could beat it."


    As they walked down an aisle of packaged snacks, Daisy rolled over to a shelf and then waved at Jessica to come over. When she did so, the yellow blob handed her a package of cookies. Looking at the cover, she saw it read ''DoomCookies.'' Below that it said that they have been the best cookies since the apocalypse and now contained raisins.


    Seeing as the blob had been working hard for her sake, Jessica shrugged and placed the pack into the cart. "Gotta reward good behavior, they have been working hard." Jessica said to Melissa. They continued on to the next row, which mostly contained personal hygiene and the like supplies. As there was no soap in the room, she picked up several bars of soap. Looking at them, she found they were made a long time before the fall.


    Placing them into the cart, she spotted Skye looking at some perfume. One of its tendrils pushed it down, and it spritzed itself. Jessica got the sense that it liked the smell of the perfume, and when she smelled it, found it smelled pretty good. "Alright, you can get it Skye. But you are only allowed one thing." Jessica took the perfume and placed it into the cart.


    Standing back up, she discovered Melissa was currently looking at some makeup supplies. Jessica had never used them, but she occasionally spotted them while scavenging. Going up to her Jessica asked her "Did you want to get some?"


    "No, it just reminded me of my past back up in the sky cities."


    "How so?"


    "In some ways it''s different up there then down here. One of those is the popularity contest we had in school. Part of that meant looking good, and makeup was used to that effect. My friends and I, at the time, used to spend hours doing our makeup. I thought we were hot shit, what a mistake that was'''' The doctor reminisced and sighed "I don''t need it now." She put the makeup kit back.


    Patting the doctor on her back in a move to comfort her, Jessica then pushed the cart forward. They moved forward into an area where the store was selling alcohol. Melissa picked up a bottle and remarked "How curious, this was bottled in a sky city."


    "How can you tell that?" Jessica asked walking over.


    "Take a look at this black teardrop mark."


    Melissa handed the bottle to Jessica for her to take a look and pointed at the mark. "All the gangs that run sky cities have their own makers mark. Only a fool would imitate one. From what I know that mark should belong to the Harkron Faction. Perhaps, that''s the sky city backing Burnt Sage."


    "That could be." Jessica said, then took another look at the label and was shocked. "Look at this, this bottle is 190 proof, that shit will make you go blind. No one can safely drink this." Jessica said. Looking around most of the bottles were all labeled pretty strongly. The only weak stuff was the bottles bottled down on the ground.


    "I think you''re supposed to mix these bottles with water. It would help clean water from bacteria. Though I find it strange the sky city would be willing to send such strong stuff down here to the city." Melissa said as Jessica put the bottle back.


    "Could they be lying on how strong it is?"


    "I doubt it. It would ruin the reputation of the Makers Mark."


    After the Alcohol, they came across rows of clothing. Looking down at her clothes, Jessica said "My clothes are almost done for. I was only able to grab my backups before we left."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Melissa said "I''m not in a much better position then you."


    For the next several minutes they browsed the selection of clothes and Jessica picked out several pairs of tough looking clothes. Melissa did the same, though Jessica saw her add a dress. "What''s the dress for?"


    "In case we need to go to a fancy place for information. You should get one as well."


    Thinking it through, Jessica decided the doctor was right, and she found a red dress that would fit her and added it to the pile. Continuing on they came to a shoe selection and Melissa said "We need to pick up some shoes to go with our dresses. What is your size? Mine is eight."


    "Seven and a half."


    Melissa went over the selection and picked out a pair of red heels and handed it to Jessica who said "I''ve never worn heels."


    "Don''t worry, I will teach you how to walk in them." Melissa said and picked out a black pair for herself. Placing them into the cart, they continued onwards and entered an electronics section of the store. Glass rolled over to the laptop area and waved excitedly for Jessica to get the one it was pointing at.


    Under the Laptop, she found it''s labelled price at Two Hundred Arcs. "Alright Glass, I will get it for you. But you will need to share it with us okay?"


    The green blob waved its tendril in agreement. Jessica placed it in the cart, and Melissa nodded. "We did need a portable computer, for some of the jobs I''m thinking of we will need one."


    Not needing anything else in the electronics at the moment, they moved onwards to the Hardware and mechanics section. There they found Sam staring looking lost at a series of paint cans. Going up to him, Jessica said "Hey there Sam."


    Sam was startled then looked over at them and said "Oh hey Jessica, and Melissa. What are you two doing here?"


    "Just picking up some supplies, we will need a few things if we plan to stay here for awhile. When we stopped at the lobby this morning Lisa told us you were picking up some stuff to fix up the inn?"


    "Yeah, I thought I would try my hand in repairing the place up. Though I''m feeling out of my depth with this. Hopefully, her uncle knows how to fix things. Right now, I''m focusing on painting the place up. I''m just trying to decide which paint will go well in the rooms."


    When he had said this, Glass rolled over to a set of green paint cans and waved at Jessica to suggest them. Sensing it was just picking a color similar to itself, Jessica shrugged and said "Why not choose the green paint?"


    "Hmm that could work, I was leaning towards red, but green might be easier on the eyes. Thank you for the advice." Sam said and picked up the cans and placed them into his cart. When he did so, Jessica saw into his cart and noticed he had put several of those bottles of alcohol into his cart.


    "Sam, I don''t want to butt in and give you some unwanted advice so you can take it or leave it. Don''t go drinking those bottles, it''s not going to end well for you." Jessica said.


    "Oh, not to worry. I''m not a big drinker, plus I am not getting these to drink. I took a look through some of the rooms, and they had my skin crawling in horror. I need something strong enough to clean the rooms, and well the only thing other than this is fire. I don''t think Lisa would appreciate me burning down the place so I''ll use this instead."


    "Oh speaking of cleaning up the inn, we are looking for a deal with her uncle for the blobs to help clean the rooms."


    "You are? That''s great. It''s already a daunting challenge for me to clean up the whole inn by myself."


    "The blobs will do all the hard work, so thank them." Jessica said.


    "Of course, I''ll help convince her uncle to hire you, we need all the help we can get."


    "Much appreciated, we will see you later Sam." Melissa said and they walked onwards where the path split into two directions.


    A sign indicated the left path took them to checkout, and the right took them to weapons. Melissa looked at her and said "We should pick up a few more weapons just in case."


    "Yeah, as good as my laser gun is, it''s best to buy something for low key use in the city."


    They went down the right path and ended up in a distinct section of the store. A great multitude of weapons were lined up on the walls. They were all chained up, and you needed to get permission to get them down, but the wide variety of weapons amazed Jessica.


    She examined a pair of pistols and noticed they were made out of some ceramic material. An employee walked over and said "Those are one of the products we are testing out. While not as durable as our metal models, these ceramic guns are specialized to shoot a high temperature round into mutants."


    "When you say not as durable, what do you mean?" Jessica asked.


    "They need specialized ammo. If you use other ammo, the gun will likely break in a few shots. Typically we would have designed it not to accept regular ammo, but the section chief said to make them able just to have another option incase of an emergency."


    "What''s the point of shooting high temperature rounds?" Melissa asked.


    "To the south of the city lies the mutated forests, There are several plant mutants that like to consume people. It''s risky to carry around fire, as it can draw other mutants, so by using high temperature rounds you can kill the plants without having to carry fire."


    "Wouldn''t that just cause the plants to ignite and thus you draw the mutants anyway?"


    "Well after you fire, you''re supposed to run."


    "I see." Jessica said and continued examining the guns on the wall. In the end she picked out two pistols and a pulse gun. Melissa picked up a shotgun and a machete. The worker packed up their weapons and asked "Would you like to purchase ammo as well for your weapons?"


    Jessica nodded and got two boxes for each of the guns. They went to checkout and when they ultimately paid for everything they got, Jessica found herself down to only a thousand arcs. Looking at Melissa, she said "I think we are backtracking in progress."


    "Don''t worry, I have an idea. Let''s return to the Inn. I will divulge my plan to you when we get back into the room." They handed the bags to the blobs to carry and headed back to the inn.