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Stretching I felt great. My kittens were happy, my mates were happy, my body was telling me it was very happy to be carrying kittens again and, above all, we were safe.

I sighed standing and pacing out the front of the hanger, stretching again when the sun hit my fur. Sitting down I began to clean my fur of the smells that had soaked it from the previous evening, I would have felt embarrassed at the celebration if the people didn't seem to appreciate it so much. Still today might be the day the Sergeant's boss told him what to do about all this.

My head was resting in my paws and a nice nap was almost upon me when I heard footsteps approaching.

Being downwind I said, without opening my eyes, "Morning Sergeant, what brings you here this fine morning?"

Hearing him sit down beside me and the clink of some glass I decided I should investigate.

He had a little bowl, a whiskey glass and a crystal decanter of very golden brown liquid. Without a word he poured a measure into the bowl and his glass, downing his measure quickly and re-pouring. Figuring there was a reason for all this I began to lap at the liquid, feeling it burn a path down my throat but at the same time warming me.

He threw down his second, then finally spoke, "Quarantine zone is all of Victoria, the whole state has been given up. Military has called in everyone they can and are trying to build a fence halfway up New South Wales and South Australia. The said they ain't sending no one down here, they count us as lost David." he said, I could hear the crying of a man who has been told he has failed his duty. "FUCK!" he yelled, downing another glass of the fiery whiskey.

I drank that liquid flame down to the bottom of the bowl and looked up at him, he poured more for me.

Finally finishing that I continued looking into my bowl, thinking, "So we survive, surely there are people the cats missed, families living in basements, farms out in the middle of nowhere, those kinds of places." I said, "They won't be able to hold out long, we have to look for them."

He had already poured another for me but had stopped himself from another, "Your right, shit now I know why that Corporal followed your damn orders, your a natural." he said, "All right Queen, so what? I don't dare send out my boys, they will get swarmed by the cats and spend the rest of their days mindless."

Finishing my third I said simply, "Then we pool resources. We have the bus, its a pretty solid vehicle and I assume you have plenty of diesel. Build a squad of your second best shooters, throw in someone who can work heavy weapons, do a bit of welding and we go out there and find people, part cat or human, and bring them back to safety."

"Yeah...yeah that could work, with a few of you thrown in for close fighting, a small mobile squad has a good chance out there. Ok, I will pick a team, you pick yours. You go out and find me survivors and bring them back." he told me.

I grinned at him, "The bus needs some work, do we-" I started.

"Don't worry about that ma'am, a few of us boys in the shop will be able to get that bus how you need it, just worry about your people. Leave the technicalities of the thing to me." Steve said from behind me, at the open doorway, Jake just behind him.

The Sergeant looked down at me questioning, I winked back at him and nodded. The smart arse just smiled. "Settled then, why don't you plan to head out just past fourteen hundred?" the Sergeant said but clarified at my blank look, "That's two pm Queen."

I would have gotten annoyed at the name but the way it was spoken made the cat within me purr deeply and feel pride. I sighed, something I was doing a lot lately, "Alright, that's in another four and a half hours, can you have my ride done by then?"

"Yes ma'am!" the private said. He was about to turn away when he stopped and asked, "I have to ask though ma'am, how did you know the exact time?"

Sparing a quick glance for the Sergeants watch that was in plain sight, I said, "Cats instinct, you get it after a while." rose and walked back inside the building, leaving Jake laughing her arse off at her former commander and her recent lover.

My pride was all gathered around the door, they had been listening.

Scanning around I already had my mental list.

Sally and Jenny would remain with the little ones, Molly would be driving, Rough would be at my side for the 'close fighting', Jake would be our liaison with the soldiers and generally be the cat-on-the-spot.

I explained to each of them what I wanted, Molly was practically bouncing in place with excitement, even Sally was smiling and purring at the sight of her.

"Love, I -" I started explaining to her, my first and biggest love, but she cut me off with a chuckle.

"Go, save people, let me look after the little ones. I will ask one thing before you go though, one, little favour." she said with clarity. I inclined my head, "Rough. I am ready again and I don't want to wait around here going mad with need in the meantime."

I held her eyes, "What?" she asked, I maintained the eye contact, not letting her break away nor have a hint while the big cat, moving silently, worked up behind her.

As I watched he settled his weight on her hindquarters even as she squealed and, realising the intent, raised her haunches up.

Loath as I was to leave her, I knew she would be fine at Rough's mercy. "Mo, come with me we are getting some changes made to the bus and I want your input." I told my younger mate.

She dropped to all fours, something she had started doing more of since we arrived, and padded along beside me.

Following the smells of burning metal we located the motor-pool and our bus, already being worked on.

"Cool." was all Molly had to say when she saw the machine-gun mounts in the windows, themselves now modified to give less access but still allow vision and fire.

"Oi, Bastard!" I yelled loudly, almost in a roar.

One of the welding machines stopped fizzing and soon Steve lifted his mask and said, "Ma'am, your chariot is not quite done yet, you will have to wait a bit longer."

"Not my chariot Steve, this ride belongs to this fine young cat. What we are here to do is request some changes be made to the drivers area." I said.

He began walking back to the door of the bus, "Yeah we noticed that, I guess claws are more useful for holding on with than fingers but we were all wondering, why did you butcher the seat?" he asked, beckoning Molly up into the work-in-progress.

She smiled at him, showing the tips of her fangs and with much aplomb, alighted in the chair and put her tail down between the carved up seat cushions.

"Ok, yes I understand a bit better now, show me how you prefer to hold the wheel." he asked and hummed and hared over her demonstration. "I think we can sort something, step out and over to the side, I will be right back!" he instructed.

He was gone for a very short amount of time but came back with a very odd looking chunk of black woven material, "How is this to hold miss." he asked Molly.

I watched her dig in her claws, pull at it, push at it, working it around and generally trying to ruin the stuff. "Its pretty good, what is it?" she asked him.

"That is the spongy material we pack into truck tires to stop them from fully deflating even when they have no air in them." he told her. "We can have that on the wheel, stick, pedals, heck any of the controls. As for the seat..."

"What about some hessian?" Molly asked, "You have any bags for sandbagging?"

The man laughed, "Of course, we can have that stitched and a fine car seat cover indeed for your enjoyment. Now we have added weapon lockers and such along the inside of the bus, it can still carry the soldiers plus a dozen more or so but it can also carry enough weapons and munitions so that you can stop nearly any swarm of those bastards."

We left the engine heads to complete our little touring bus and made our way to the Sergeant's 'office'.

"... and furthermore I expect you all to respect David, and I would advise you to refer to her as Queen, their own word for 'Lieutenant with their head on straight', and do as she says if there is a shit fight. She knows the beasts a lot better than we do, learn from her and we will know them better too-" the Sergeant cut off when he saw Molly and me in the doorway. "I was just briefing the men on their expected roles on this mission Queen, would you mind adding anything you feel might be important?"

I smiled and paced up to the front, lifting myself up to plant my big paws on the table that the Sergeant had been behind. "First and foremost, I am not coming back without every one of you, there is no 'sacrificing yourself for the team' bullshit, I don't care what the Sergeant has told you I will not lose anyone." I drew another deep breath, it seems cat lungs are well suited to this work, "First rule is if any of my team calls for a kill on a target, you shoot it and shoot it till it stops moving, no exceptions. We take no prisoners. If you can't abide by that, please leave now." I said, none left, of course.

"People can survive this and return to normal right up till the last change, that is, looking like me. If they resemble anything like Molly here" I had her stand up and turn around, then I had her turn while on all fours, "I expect to be able to bring them home. Protecting children is always a number one priority, baring your own lives, if the child is near a male cat, they are gone and will change in moments, just having them on the bus with Rough's smell may even trigger a change in them." I thought quickly and moved on, "Speaking of which, even if he looks to be doing something wrong, you are not to shoot the big prick, both Molly and myself are quite fond of him and you don't want to see us pissed off at you. Also, avoid contact with him unless you want to be speaking with a squeaky voice for a week. Getting some of his musk on you will turn you female and make you a little horny, avoid it, but if it can't be helped, its not permanent." I turned to Molly, "Anything to add Mo?"

She stood up straight, "The bus is my baby, I drive it, that said though, if we need to move in a hurry I will not be upset if a big strong soldier saves the day, but I warn you, the seat will likely be pretty heavy with my scent, it may have untoward... complications, possibly similar to the musk Queen mentioned." she finished with a toothy smile.

"Well that about wraps it up then gentlemen, get your gear prepped and be ready to move out at thirteen fifty hours, dismissed!" the Sergeant said and the soldiers followed his command and left. Once they were all out of the room he laughed, "'don't care what the Sergeant has told you', fuck Queen you just took the hearts of those men right then and if you hold that ideal, which I think you will, you will have earned it. Don't come back without my boys. If some of them need to be changed, well, I briefed them on that, they have all agreed that if needs be, they would rather fight and survive and have a chance to become human than sit huddled up in here and wonder if there was someone just down the road, just like your Jenny, who they could have saved. Go out there damn you and bring me back some souls."

It was as good as a dismissal as we would get, and we both left the room with grins, "Not such a hard arse is he?" Molly said to me.

Purring, I didn't need to respond.

Asking around the soldiers we eventually found Jake, at the firing range.

The loud staccato firing of a steyr was clearly heard as she took stock of her changed skills. We padded behind her, quiet as mice, and just watched.

After several clips of ammunition were fired she said, "Molly, why don't you get down here and I will teach you how to shoot this thing too?"

Letting out a little squeal of delight she dove down beside Jake and the more human cat girl leaned over her, putting the gun against her shoulder.

Padding away to give the two pride-mates some time I thought about what it would mean to save and protect the humans we would find, and I found within myself that little bit of pride that all humans have when they see how amazing we can be as a race. It was something I thought was lost.

Passing time relaxing I heard Molly call out, "Come on Queen, we got work to do!"

Lifting my head I looked around, seeing the bus, looking very business like, troops marching onto it, Jake and Rough standing there, pressed close just near the door, giving the soldiers some room.

I got up, "Yeah yeah, time to earn my pay check I guess." Molly laughed a bit and scritched my ears as we walked.

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I am sorry if I haven't been able to reply as much as I would like to faves and votes, its all getting overwhelming, you are all awesome :3