Cataclysm - Temptation

Story by Leo_Todrius on SoFurry

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#2 of Cataclysm

Written by and

Commissioned by beardbear

When two friends come across a mysterious stranger while crossing the wasteland, they learn of a mysterious place called New Haven. With the promise of advanced medicine and healing, they set out on a journey that will forever redefine their lives.


Cataclysm: Temptation Written by Leo_Todrius and Trickster_D Commissioned by Beardbear

For decades the forces of nature had been kept at bay, but without mankind reinforcing its artificial boundaries it was a losing battle. Hot wind blew dust through the city, etching away at paint and signs. Some of the city's massive skyscrapers had burned down like mesmerizing pyres fueled by office paper and left over chemicals. Those that remained had gaps of missing window panes, showing collapsed ceiling tiles and cables running through like the organs of a once advanced civilization. The dead skyscrapers towered over the sludge choked rivers, the streets filled with rusted cars and the creeping purple vines strangling the remains. It was a world past its end, a world where only a few had managed to survive.

Far below on the street there was movement in the narrow band of sunlight that penetrated the sea of shadows cast from the ruins. Navigating through the dust and wind, two figures traversed the landscape. They were wrapped in brown and khaki cloth to blend into the landscape and their backs were loaded down with packs full of purloined supplies. The one in the lead signaled to the other that they would round the corner and reach their destination.

The guy on the back was the taller of the two: he had an athletic build, although he walked with a slight gait. He looked like he was in his late twenties or his early thirties, with a wide face, deep, liquid, melancholic eyes and a short mane of wiry black hair. His light brown skin betrayed a mixed and complex heritage, but in the world after the cataclysm, concepts like "race" and "discrimination" were things of the past... The only thing that counted was to survive.

"How could this happen, man?" Diego asked, his deep, musical voice carrying a somber, almost funereal tone. "What's the point of living in... in a world like this?" The tall man sighed, shaking his head. "I just... I dunno, I just don't think I can go on with this kind of life for much longer. My leg hurts like hell, and..."

The man's compatriot came to a stop at that. He reached up to brush a fringe of blond hair out of his face, revealing the oddly violet eyes that had been a side effect of growing up in a wasteland. He turned around and looked at his friend, the man he had grown up with.

"We'll find a way to treat your leg... It'll get better." Sam said softly, "As for the rest, we can't... just give up. How many hundreds of years were there humans? Even if it does end, it shouldn't be because we just gave up... We should leave a better legacy than that, and if we can... find a way to not end." Sam said, looking into Diego's eyes. The taller man nodded, before pulling the other man into a friendly but long hug.

"Thanks, man..." he murmured, resting his head over Sam's shoulder for a moment. "I could've never made this far without you... You give me strength, you always have." Diego tried to smile at his companion. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden..." His eyes darted towards his leg: the limb had broken some months ago, and of course - with no doctors or hospitals around - it hadn't been able to hear correctly, forcing Diego to walk with a limp and even use an old steel pipe as a cane of sorts from time to time.

Sam turned forward and led on once again. It had become the norm, though it hadn't always been so. He had grown to a good height, but he was still very lean and it was hard to put on muscle. He'd made a good scout, but leading had been something he'd once relied on Diego for. Now he was the one fording the trails. While they had grown bolder in their raids, the city had once been a hot bed of mutant activity. It wasn't the sort of place they camped out long term in, but even that had changed. The mutants had left, leaving the city empty.

The travelers came to a stop. Sam looked at the store front, trying to make out what was left of the dust etched signs. He moved over slowly and tried the door. To his surprise, it eased open. Sam grinned wider and pulled the door open, peering inside. The room beyond was wide and spacious. There were a few runs of chairs facing toward the walls of the building where doors to restrooms were. Metal doors remained intact, sealing off a cash room and a small store of sorts.

"It's an old greyhound terminal... A bus station. We could rest here, get our strength back, maybe find some old junk food." Sam offered with a grin. Diego nodded, looking grateful and relieved.

"I could use some rest," he said while looking around. "Do you think it's safe enough, though? I mean, I know that the mutants had left, but... Do you think the radiation levels are okay, Sam?" Diego gulped: despite his size, he often let paranoia take advantage of him, especially since the leg accident. Sam opened up a pouch on his belt and fished around before he found a small plastic disk with a yellow interior. He looked around before tossing it into the depot. The disk hit the floor and slid in. Moments passed by and the color on the disk faintly faded, taking on a more greenish hue.

"Looks like they might have used a bit of lead in that paint, it's safer than it is out here." Sam replied, trying to calm the fears of his friend. Diego nodded again: after all, he trusted Sam completely.

"Well... let's hope for the best, then," he said while heading inside. The interior of the bus station was decrepit and run-down, and there were even the remains of an old fire in the middle of the room, but it looked like an hotel suite when compared to the places the two young men were used to sleep into. "Home sweet home," Diego murmured in a half-joking, half-heartbreaking tone. "Let's hope we can find some food around here, I'm starving..."

"I think while I have a bit of energy left I'll get started on those locks. Looks like no one cracked them yet. Why don't you sit down and rest." Sam offered with a friendly smile.

****

Under the tumultuous sky, where toxic clouds of impossible colors chased each other, the two young men had resumed their slow, seemingly never-ending march. Diego was gritting his teeth, feeling the already tiny amount of energies he had still stored inside his body escaping with every clumsy step: the previous night had been a living hell, his badly healed bone sending wave after wave of throbbing pains up his leg and through his whole body, depriving him of the sleep he so badly needed... But of course he couldn't tell that to Sam; so he kept push forward, trying not to lose consciousness, focusing on the simple and yet incredibly difficult movement of his own feet.

Normally Sam kept good track of Diego's progress, knowing not everything was right but not letting on... but their walks had reached a dangerous impasse. There had been movement in the ruins behind them but their only way ahead was a bridge. Sam was hesitant to narrow their escape routes so much, but it seemed they had little choice. He took a deep breath and moved forward, following the cement path, peering out to the murky greenish brown slime crawling at a snail's pace below the span.

Diego nearly tripped over a rock and let out a short, broken cry of pain before the hand he wasn't carrying his makeshift cane with covered his mouth frantically; he looked at his companion with a nervous glint in his eyes. "Do you think... Do you think it's gonna be there? Past this bridge?" he asked, his voice hopeful and quivering.

"If what we learned from Beck was any clue, then yeah... It's gonna be there. We just have to-" Sam trailed off, pausing. Something wasn't right. There was a sound, a smell... His eyes searched around before he gasped. Having been alerted from the sound, something had sought out those that dared to cross the bridge. Squirming, slick translucent reddish purple tentacles started to slip up over the edge of the deck, extending towards the lone humans. Diego looked at the bizarre appendages, his eyes wide and his forehead covered in sweat.

"S-shit... W-what should we do, Sam? I don't think we have enough salt for one this big..." he murmured, his hand still rummaging into his backpack.

"We have to run, just... get across the bridge before it can seek us out. Come on Diego!" Sam said. Diego nodded, his teeth burying into his lip.

"O-okay!" he exclaimed, darting next to his partner, ignoring the searing pain coming from his maimed leg. It was a matter of life and death, after all... And a really unpleasant death, to boot. The Laughing Guys - that was what that particular type of mutant was known as, because their cries remembered the creepy, high-pitched laughter of a deranged kid - were known to be particularly sloppy eaters, after all.

The two advanced across the bridge, but it became immediately apparent to Sam that Diego's condition had only gotten worse with time. Their pace was unsteady, uneven and the tentacles were stretching further and further into the road. It felt as if the other side was only getting further away, but still they tried. Somewhere at the back of his perception, Sam became aware of a different sound... A deep, guttural growl of a machine. It had been growing louder for some time but he had been too focused to notice. Still, as it closed in on the bridge there was no ignoring it any longer.

The motorcycle was a beast, hundreds of pounds of metal and fiber glass finished in browns and chrome. Its rider was wrapped in bandannas and cloth to cover his exposed skin. He sped onto the bridge, running over bits of tentacle, screeching to a stop by the two boys.

"Get on." Came the gruff voice as he scooted forward, making as much room on the seat as he could.

Diego, his vision covered with a curtain of countless black spot, his leg twitching and unresponsive, somehow managed to climb on top of the motorcycle, and leaned against the wide back of the rider, letting out an exhausted sigh.

"T-thank you..." he murmured, his cheeks wet with tears. Sam rushed over and hopped on, tripping a bit as a tentacle slid across his left ankle. He tucked into the bike tight as it jolted forward, swerving to avoid more and more of the extending appendages. The bike sailed across the bridge onto the other side, roaring through the city. Sam looked around avidly, sandwiching Diego between himself and the driver. Traveling by motorcycle was dangerous, the sound alerting any mutants in the area to their presence... but they were sure covering a lot of ground quickly.

Diego relaxed, his adrenaline level dropping down quickly now that the danger was being left far behind them; the smell of the mysterious driver was weird and new, but strangely comforting, and being confined between him and Sam made the young man feel secure and protected for some reason. Without even realizing it, he rest his head against the driver and fell into a brief but regenerating sleep. Sam was surprised, but the surprise ebbed as he realized just how bad Diego had gotten. If there was any hope, they might have to rely on the kindness of a stranger a bit longer.

****

The fire crackled gently, the wood shifting. The horizon glimmered with the last light of day, but the countryside was quiet and still. Crickets chirped away from their secluded positions in the scrub brush. Diego had been laid out on an old battered sleeping bag after their run while Sam poked at an old can of beans with a broken plastic spork. Their rescuer had been gone for nearly an hour before he returned, carrying with him a plastic tank full of fuel. No words had been shared as the bike was filled back up.

Diego opened his eyes, his vision hazy and unfocused in the beginning; his pupils followed the paths traced by the sparks in the air above the campfire for a bit, before he realized that Sam was right next to him. "H-hey..." he murmured, his throat parched, his lips cracked. "A-are we... still alive?" He tried to get up, but another stab of pain through his legs dissuaded him from further attempts.

"Yeah, we're outside the city... Just, rest up Diego. You don't need to push yourself." Sam said softly. It was clear that the guise of everything being alright was crumbling between them. Still, the debilitated young man managed to raise a trembling arm and caress the side of Sam's face in a tender and quite unexpected gesture.

"T-thank you, man... I wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for you..." he whispered, his eyes watery and his cheeks flushed.

"Well, and... and Brant." Sam said, glancing over. He'd barely gotten a word out of the stranger so far, but as the bike was done being gassed up the biker moved over to sit back down next to the fire.

"So, what happened to your leg, kid?" The biker asked, reaching up to untie the bandannas covering his skin. As the cloth came away, it revealed the face of a thirty five year old man. He had a short cut chestnut brown beard and the hint of freckles across his nose and upper cheeks. His hair was mid length and a bit greasy, but that much wasn't uncommon in the aftermath of the cataclysm.

Diego looked at Sam for a moment more, his eyes becoming sad and a bit watery once again. "I... I was reckless," he murmured, his lips trembling a bit. "I did some sort of stupid shit... Climbing buildings, parkour... No one was around to tell me it was wrong, so, well... At first it was to find food and useful stuff, but then I began to push myself to my limits just because I could. Well... At least until I fell from the second floor of a building and broke my leg." The young man let out a small sigh. "I thought I was free, that I was immortal... But now I know. I'm weak, and pathetic, and this world will probably kill me very soon. Unless I find some way to fix my leg, but..."

"But you haven't made it to New Haven yet?" Brant asked in his simple and flat way. Sam's brows furrowed.

"New Haven, that's... just a myth." Sam replied. Brant shook his head.

"No myth, it exists..." Brant replied, glancing at Diego, "You probably didn't even tell your friend here about it, did you?" he asked.

"I-I..." Sam muttered, looking uncertain. Diego looked up at him, confused.

"New... Haven?" he murmured. The two words rolled on his tongue and left an aftertaste... An almost sweet one. "What are you talking about, mister Brant?"

"Oh god, don't call me mister... Reminds me of my dad." Brant murmured, "But New Haven... Right at the end, during the fall, they were developing some of the most sophisticated tech out there. Transportation, hydroponics... and med tech." Brant replied. Sam was silent at that.

"And it really exists?" Diego asked, a sudden urgency in his voice. "Have you seen it, Brant? Do you think... Do you think they could heal my leg?"

"I saw it from a distance once, but it's a dangerous journey... It's on the other side of a hot zone." Brant replied.

"A hot zone, it's... still just a myth, we can't risk it..." Sam murmured softly. Diego nodded, incredibly slowly. His skin, despite his natural complexion, looked awfully pale, and his eyes were sunken.

"Y-yeah... I don't want Sam to risk his life because of my stupidity," he murmured, before looking at his companion. "You should go with Brant. I... I don't think I can go on anymore. Not like this. I would be... I would be just a burden, Sam."

"It... it isn't risking my life, it'd be risking ours. I don't want to lose you, I-" Sam paused, "But that's me being selfish, isn't it? We need to give you every chance to thrive." Diego looked at his companion with a hopeful stare.

"T-thank, you, Sam..." His fingers grabbed his friend's hand and hold it tight. "I know it's asking too much, especially since you already saved our lives, but... do you think you could help us, Brant? Maybe, thanks to your bike, we can find a way to circumvent the hot zone around New Haven..."

"I don't have anything better to do." Brant chuckled before sobering a bit, "But you'll have to do whatever I say so I can keep you both alive." he said more firmly. Diego did his best to nod.

"Yes, I promise I will!" he even found the energy to exclaim; he still held Sam's hand and for a moment he relished in feeling the warm skin of his friend against his own. "And maybe we will find a place for us there, right, Sam? For the two of us. Maybe we could stop wandering through this endless desert..."

"Even if we can't, if it has advanced transportation, we could find the best place we could and settle there." Sam said. False hope was dangerous, but right now it was the only hope they had. It was true, they couldn't keep wandering with Diego's injured leg. If this motorcycle was the way forward, they'd have to follow it through anything.

****

The planet had been irrevocably changed after the cataclysm. The temperatures had spiked to scorch the planet, radiation and chemicals had rained down on parts of the world and anomalies cropped up across the continents like geysers. Humanity had fallen, as had most of the animal kingdom... and yet life continued. New plants and animals had been increasing steadily over the years, and to Sam it was rather perplexing to look out across the dry, parched grasses to see lush blue leaved succulent plants scattered like wild flowers.

Dust stuck to Sam's face around the goggles Brant had managed to scrounge up, caking his hair as well. After just four days travel on a motorcycle he was starting to look the part. It was an odd feeling when they stopped as he'd grown used to the constant powerful vibration of the engine between his legs. They'd even made two refueling stops at more hidden locations. As the bike slowed down once more, Sam knew it wasn't for fuel this time.

"Water?" Sam questioned and Brant gave a long nod.

"Safe water, clean source from a melting snowpack." Brant said, bringing the bike to a stop, "I'll stay with your friend this time, if you want." Brant offered. Sam looked at Diego with more concern. He was spending more and more time asleep, trying to recover. Sam gave a slight nod as he slipped off the back of the motorcycle and moved to unstrap the jugs from the side. In moments he was heading off toward the gully in the distance.

The silence swept in around Brant and Diego. Brant glanced over his shoulder before he reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a small flask. He unscrewed the lid and brought it to his nose, taking a slight sniff before he closed his eyes and smiled a bit.

Diego blinked a couple of times, his parched tongue emerging from his mouth to try and give some relief to his cracked lips; his dark eyes moved to the biker, and he let out a small sigh of relief, as if he had been afraid their savior had been only a byproduct of his feverish visions. After some seconds, his stare focused enough to recognize the object that Brant was carrying in his hand.

"I-is that alcohol?" he asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. There weren't many chances to drink something like that, in the new world... After all, brewing liquor cost time and resources, and none of the survivors had either of those two things anymore.

"No, it's actually a... well, you could consider it sort of a medicine. I found it the last time I got close to New Haven... There's not much left, but do you want some?" Brant asked, looking deep into Diego's eyes. The young man pressed his lips together until they became paler; his eyes shifted around and his brow furrowed: it was clear he was experiencing some serious inner turmoil.

"I-it's... That would be too much to ask you, Brant," he murmured. "I mean, you saved our lives and you're even bringing us to New Haven, and..." A pang of pain jolted through his body once again, making Diego cringe his teeth. "D-do you... Do you think that would help me? Or at least stop the pain, at least for a bit?"

"I think it'll help for a bit for sure... Go ahead Diego, you need a break." Brant said, offering the flask over. As Diego took it into his hands, he could smell a potent spicy musk coming from it, a scent closer to exotic cheeses than alcohol; the man sniffed deeply, already feeling a bit intoxicated, even though it was a kind of exhilaration different from the one caused by alcohol: it made him feel hungry, for some reason. Hungry and warm... It was something unexpected, but nonetheless pleasurable.

"Seems... good," he whispered, before taking a sip. The taste that irradiated in his mouth and down his throat was compelling and unique like the smell, but multiplied tenfold: it was so weird, so strange, so completely different from the canned food he and Sam usually satiated their hunger with. It also felt different. It was thick but slick, oily but clean, pungent and earthy. What was most important, though, was that the constant throbbing pain in Diego's leg dulled and faded away as if it had been washed off by a cool spring.

"Oh... Oh god..." Diego exclaimed, his hands and lips trembling. "The pain... It's... It's gone!" The metal flask almost fell on the dusty ground, but his fingers managed to clutch around it; he greedily brought it back to his lips and started to drink with abandon, trying to get as much of that mysterious and miraculous substance inside his body as possible. "Mmmmh..." A moan that sounded almost sexual in nature escaped his lips; his cheeks were flushed, his eyes a bit unfocused, and a wide contented smile appeared on his mouth after a while. "Man, that was good..."

Brant was merely grinning to himself, leaning back a bit in watch. Diego's body had taken to the medicine to an amazing degree. Every scrape, every cut, every bruise no longer hurt - but he wasn't numb. If anything, his body felt sensitive. No longer inhibited by pain, he could feel every thread of fabric rubbing over his nipples and groin, stimulating him. He could smell Brant's natural scent, he could feel the warm sweet wind on his skin. It was as if he was finally, truly alive.

Diego looked at the biker with new eyes: now that the pain wasn't hindering his thoughts and obfuscating his mind like a venomous fog, some of the feelings that were subdued and suppressed during the previous months were emerging rampantly... And with them, some needs too. The young man moved closer to Brant, his hand extending to caress the man's rugged cheek. "You're so handsome, Brant..." the latino youth murmured with an innocently wicked grin on his face.

"And you are so irresistible. I am glad I was finally able to bring a smile to that face..." Brant whispered. Diego leaned over and kissed the biker, slowly and passionately.

"We need some more of that stuff, Brant..." he murmured. "Sam should have his share too..."

"Well, it may not be as hard as you think, but it is... you would need to keep a secret, even from your friend." Brant whispered. Diego's eyes glimmered in excitement.

"A secret, mh? Count me in, stud," he replied, before licking the contours of Brant's ear. "Fuck, I feel so free and so liberated, so right... I don't know what was that stuff, but it's like the ambrosia of the gods..."

"Then maybe you should get some more." Brant whispered, reaching down to unzip his pants. As he reached in, more of the earthy scent escaped. Brant fished around before he started to withdraw his half hard, thickening member - a member that did not look at all human. It was too long, too thick and the head was flat and wide. There was even a thick ring around the middle, the flesh darkened with mottled splotches. It was the manhood of an equine, a horse rather than a human... and more of that salty, slick liquid was leaking from the tip.

"F-fuck..." Diego breathed, watching the inhuman member in awe and wonder. "What the hell happened to..." His eyes stared into Brant's eyes. "If I suck it... Will my dick become like that too?"

"Do you like the look of my rod? Do you want to feel it?" Brant groaned, "Yours might change some, I don't know into what... but the biggest changes will come in New Haven. Your leg will heal and we will all become something so much better, so much stronger... and Sam will thank you for surprising him." Brant grunted, precum gushing out as he imagined their coming changes.

"Oh, I'm positive he will," Diego replied, before leaning forward to lick the dense pre and shudder in pure pleasure: the taste was a bit muted when compared to the actual cum, but it still made his tongue throb in ecstasy. "We have to be quick, before Sam comes back..." he added, a big smile on his face. "I hope that my dick will become at least a bit like yours... Did it feel good while it changed?"

Brant reached out, a hand caressing Diego's head as he drew him down toward his shaft, nearly drooling into his beard. Diego had fallen so easily, it was good to have an apprentice... But he wanted to see Sam caught off guard too, to see the change rip through him and create a new being. He was going to get the best of both worlds and that turned him on. Brant groaned, pushing his horse cock into Diego's mouth, watching the lips spread wide around it.

Diego sucked and slurped with glee and abandon: he didn't care about the fact that Brant's magical sperm had apparently fixed his leg, or that the biker had a horse dick that he was currently busy pleasuring; all those strange occurrences paled in comparison to how good Diego was feeling, and that was the only thing that mattered to him... Of course, until he would get the chance to have Sam experience the same sensations, too. Brant grunted, pushing his horse dick deeper, letting it bash and brush the back of Diego's throat before threatening to choke him. Brant wanted to use the kid's esophagus like a sex sleeve, stomping his booted foot and groaning, imagining what his own mutation would look like when it was all done.

Despite Diego's inexperience, it didn't take long for him to stimulate Brant enough and make him steadily approach the inevitable climax; the young Latino man, finally happy for the first time in months, braced himself, waiting for the second serving of the wonderful fluid that - he was sure - was going to change his life forever. Brant grunted louder and louder, his fingers flexing before he threw back his head and let out a snort of pleasure as his huge cock throbbed and he flooded Diego's throat with incredibly potent sperm - sperm he knew that Diego would gulp down for the rest of his life.

****

The rest of the ride had been unusually pleasant for Sam. Diego seemed to be doing a lot better at staying awake and holding on and Brant was a little more talkative. He didn't know if it was the hope of what New Haven could provide, but whatever it was Sam was happy. It was also the first time he'd sat in the middle of the bike with Diego behind him.

The Latino man, on the other hand, had also become a lot more touchy-feely than the past: when the three of them rode the bike together, with Sam in the middle, he often pressed his body against that of his friend a bit tighter than the usual, or casually brushed his cheek against Sam's. It was as if he was trying to be affectionate and tender, when not downright flirty. Sam was a bit surprised by the closeness but it made for a relaxing change of pace - one that had lulled him into perhaps too much security.

Sam was caught off guard as he spotted an unusual sight on the horizon. The dry, desiccated ground had cracked out and collapsed into a sinkhole, a sinkhole that had filled back in with a faintly glowing green sludge. A shiver ran down Sam's spine. He looked around frantically, spotting a few more of the holes in the distance... and a large building complex on a slight hill. Brant grinned wide as he spotted it as well.

"New Haven..." he whispered in reverence and awe. The building was in impressive shape. The metal had not rusted or deteriorated and the outer shell had been embossed and engraved so none of the finer details had been etched away as paint would have been. It was the first structure that still looked new that any of the men had seen in years.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find more people in there!" Diego exclaimed, unable to contain his optimism. "And then they'll heal my leg, right, Brant?" he asked the biker, even though to be honest the Latino man seemed in a much better shape than before: he looked healthier and his shoulders seemed even a little larger, and even some parts of him that weren't supposed to grow had swollen: his forehead appeared to be strangely bumpy under the right light conditions, and even his pants were a bit strained, as if Diego's equipment had enlarged overnight. It was clear that travelling by bike was helping him a lot... Or, at least, that was the most logical explanation. As they approached, Brant finally brought the bike to a stop.

"So... if you found it before, how did you not go in?" Sam asked slowly.

"There are barriers to protect the facility; some from before the fall, some at the end. I also think it'll take a couple of guys to breach." Brant replied.

"Well, of course," Diego said while waiting for his friend to help him climb down the bike. "I'm sure that whoever is inside doesn't want people prowling around... I mean, if someone's actually inside there." Sam squeezed out from between the two men and moved to offer Diego his hand.

"After all these years, in a hot zone? Do you think it really is possible?" Sam asked reluctantly. It seemed the closer they got, the less in favor of false hope he was. As Diego's feet touched the ground, though, a familiar wave of sensation washed over him. Heat, throbbing heat that seemed to settle in his groin, the swollen bumps on his forehead and his nipples. Brant too, it seemed, was closing his eyes and basking in the sensation.

"Why not?" Diego replied. "Can't you see the energy of this place, Sam? It's all around us!" The young man exchanged a knowing glance with Brant, who was standing nearby. "So... Where's that barrier you were talking about, man?"

"It's a security system, it's got three control nodes beneath the building's struts." Brant replied. Diego grinned at him.

"Well, we should get moving, before, you know..." the Latino boy told him; he could feel the bump on his forehead pressing against his skin to emerge... But it wasn't the right time, not yet. "I mean, there's no real point in waiting here, am I right?"

"Yeah, probably best not to stay in the open." Sam agreed, looking around. Brant merely grinned to himself as he led them on toward the structure. The dried, desiccated ground beneath their feet started to feel crispier as they approached the structure and waves of energy swept through Diego. He felt his muscles swell with strength, his brain sear with pleasure and his head throb as the bulges engorged even further. The young man had to restrain himself in order not to indulge in those unearthly pleasure there in that exact spot: he bit his lower lip, took a deep breath and walked alongside his friend, trying to look as nonchalant and inconspicuous as possible.

"Aren't you happy, Sam?" he asked with a big smile. His teeth too looked slightly different, as if they were a bit bigger and flatter than before. "Maybe we have found our place! That'd be great, right? No more wandering around, no more risking our lives..."

"It would be nice to find a place... All the way out here, we might still have to go on food runs, but..." Sam trailed off, looking at the building. It was manufactured rather than built, panels assembled into place, but the struts that Brant had mentioned were fairly substantial. The building had been built on 'stilts' of sorts, keeping it a few feet above the uneven terrain beneath so it could all be level - but it was more than that.

The struts that held up the building were massive, plunging down into the bedrock. They were thick and covered with a variety of panels and cables and tubes. Brant led the pack, though the internal heat in his body was making it harder to walk. He could feel the bulge above his ass cheeks growing larger, his feet becoming more numb. There was every chance he would never ride a motorcycle again, but if he could live out his days here with his two new friends, that might not be so bad.

The trio approached the base of the structure, bypassing the stairs, heading for the underside... but as they approached, it became clear there was a soft azure light spilling up from the cracked and exposed rocks. While many pools of radiation had fallen away, this one seemed aggravated, as if the Earth was fighting it or had resisted. Brant kept going, but Sam stopped and gasped as his eyes fell across the pool of gelatinous glowing blue slime.

"Fu... Fuck... Oh god..." Sam whispered, panicking slowly as he looked around and tried to back away. Diego, cocking his head in confusion, grabbed his friend by the shoulder.

"What's the matter, man?" he asked in an innocent-sounding voice; of course, he had seen the blue glow too, but he couldn't certainly allow Sam to get away. "Don't be afraid, it's alright! Brant wouldn't have brought us here if it wasn't safe... Right, Brant?"

"Fuck what Brant thinks... We... We don't even know him, he just showed up one day..." Sam murmured.

"Well that's rather rude... If I hadn't shown up, you'd be a sucker covered corpse in a slime river, or worse, trying to pull in your own victims with your new tendrils." Brant replied, although deep down he wouldn't have minded having a tentacle friend if that's what it came to.

Diego nodded. "He's right, you know. He did save our lives, so I think you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt." With an absent-minded gesture he scratched the impressive bulge in his pants through the cloth for a moment. "Is it gonna take much longer, Brant?" he asked, a certain urgency in his voice. Sam stared at Diego in shock, realizing in a few moments how much his friend had truly changed. Diego's cheeks were filling in with dark black stubble, there were obvious lumps on his forehead and even his fingernails had turned black and thick, widening and blunting.

"We have to get him closer if we want real results." Brant replied, tilting his head, feeling the beard on his face growing centimeters each second as if it was unspooling from some internal source. The back of his pants bulged out as something long and thick started descending, forced into one of the pant legs. His shirt rippled too as new masses formed to either side of his groin.

Diego panted a bit, his tongue looking thicker and longer than before, barely fitting in his human mouth; he let out a weird noise that sounded like a mix between a moan and a bellow. "O-okay..." he murmured. "But it's a bit difficult to... keep myself focused..." The energy coming from the earth depths was heavily affecting his body, even though he still looked like the old Diego, for the most part.

"I'm... I'm not getting any closer, we... have to get out of here if there's any hope, we..." Sam paused as he heard creaking and cracking. Diego's balance suddenly shifted as one shoe exploded, a writhing mass of flesh and bone extending. His feet were webbed together, pulling them tight as they started to fuse. The thick black toenails began to soften and spread like molasses, covering all of the toes until it seemed to be one uniform mass.

More tearing sounds came up the back of Diego's shirt as his shoulders and ribs pushed out wider suddenly, unable to be contained. His back was broad and muscled, but it was also unusually hairy with a trail of black fur going down the back of his neck and spine, thicker hairs spreading out inch by inch as a new lump formed above his ass cheeks.

"Mmmmh... Y-yeah..." Diego could feel his body twisting and reshaping at last; his biceps and triceps started to inflate like long balloons under his pulsating skin, his arms going from thin to muscled in the span of some seconds; in a horny daze, the Latino man brushed his arms with meaty hands - tipped with nails that looked more like tiny, flat hooves, dark and strong - enjoying the sensation of the fur growing from his skin in the shades of black and dark brown; it was so manly and virile, but also beastly... with strong, powerful arms like those, no one and nothing could have hurt him again.

Both Brant and Sam watched in awe and horror as the changes ripped through Diego. The black fur pushed out from his upper lip and cheeks and chin like an instant beard, but it was spreading - and so was Diego's face. His lower jaw pushed forward and his nose followed suit. The fur crept up around his eyes as gushes of blood escaped for only a moment, running down from where two thick bony horns pushed out from his skull. Each horn felt like its own erection finally coming in.

With each moment, Diego's face pushed out into more of a muzzle. His nose broadened and flattened, widening out, flaring and becoming animalistic. His ears stretched into points, creeping up slightly on his head before flicking around. The fur grew seamlessly into his hair and swept down over his thick, muscled neck. Even his pants strained and groaned before more fabric split out. The scraps fell down across furry, bestial legs and a massive cow cock flopped down over furry balls. Even the lump behind his ass was stretching out into a new tail, a puff of black growing out of the end.

"Moooore.... MOOOOOORE!" the changing Latino man screamed, feeling the transformation all throughout his body like pure energy coursing through his limbs and his very mind. His big hands cupped around his pecs, that were still expanding into meaty blocks of muscle, topped by a duo of large, dark brown nipples, the same shade of good cigars. As if the mutation was unsure of his gender, the changing bull beast began leaking a few drops of pearly liquid from his engorged nipples. Even his abdomen was still mutating, with a thick treasure trail crawling up from his inhuman cock and spreading all over his powerful and compact abs; they weren't perfectly defined, but what they lacked in definition they compensated in sheer power and strength. A human no more, Diego was now a creature mighty enough to survive even a post-apocalyptic world... And he certainly wasn't shy of spreading that gift.

"Bring him... to me," he said, his voice now deep and resonant, looking at Brant. "I want him... to taste." Brant only grinned, reaching out to grab Sam. Sam kicked at the biker and knocked him down. Brant skidded on the ground and doubled over, groaning. It was enough for Sam to hesitate, but as two horse legs pushed out of the waistband of Brant's pants, he gasped even more. Bones started to crack and shift and pop as new vertebrae formed in Brant's back. The distance between his waist and his taint was growing immeasurably longer bone by bone. His pants tore apart, letting a massive horse cock unfurl across the ground, pulsating with vitality as it was drawn back further and further from the oddly human torso.

Sam turned to run, leaving Brant behind. His feet pounded into the dirt as he moved for the bike. He knew he'd seen enough to get it to work, to get away.

Even though Diego had just managed to get used to his new, immense body, he certainly couldn't let his friend and travelling companion get away that easily; with a snort, he trotted in his trail, his big heavy hooves pounding against the radioactive ground. Each of his steps covered much more distance than those of a human, and even though he now probably weighed a bit less than a hundred pounds, he moved with a strange, alluring grace.

In his pursuit of Sam, Diego realized something awkward. His friend wasn't nearly as far away as he seemed... he was slightly smaller. Shorter, mainly, but his clothes were baggier and his running was getting more uneven. Somewhere in the minotaur's mind this only made him an easier target. Diego extended a powerful arm and grabbed the young man easily by the neck, pulling him closer before pressing his face against one of his pecs; the resulting pressure made his nipple gush out some more pearly white liquid, that splattered over Sam's cheek.

"Drink!" the minotaur ordered. "Drink!"

"Diego, don't make me, let me go! I'll always remember what we had..." Sam squirmed and writhed. Diego looked down at him, and his eyes - despite being larger and a bit rounder than before - were identical to his human ones... And they looked a bit sad and confused.

"Sam, I..." he grunted, making his tongue click against his flat teeth. "I just want to share this with you. This world is different now, so what's wrong in adapting? In evolving? Even if I look different... I'm still me, Sam. I still love you exactly like before."

"You... love me? Really?" Sam asked softly, looking into Diego's eyes - the one thing that hadn't really changed about him.

The minotaur solemnly nodded with his enormous head. "Yeah, I mean... I thought it was kind of obvious," the beast smirked. "You took care of me when I was sick and hurt, you are so kind and strong and generous." His other hand gently caressed Sam's hair. "I just want you to be stronger, to never care about surviving in this world anymore... and start living."

"And this is it? This is... my god, your fur is so soft..." Sam whispered, realizing he had been gingerly petting the minotaur's arm. Diego grinned, enjoying the touch of his friend's fingers on his pelt.

"Drink from me, Sam," he repeated, this time in a less commanding tone. "Your body will change too, you will become like me... Well, maybe not exactly like me," he said, eyeing in Brant's direction for a moment. Sam leaned in and nuzzled one of the swollen nipples, his lips parting as his eyes slid shut. It felt so strange and weird, and yet so right to be sucking such a fat manly nipple in a chest of fur. He eased in slowly, murmuring gently.

A few feet away, Brant slowly struggled to get up, maneuvering four distinct horse legs beneath his furry lower body. The changes stopped at his waist, though, with the exception of his longer hair, beard and slightly pointed ears. Brant rose up, stretching slowly, his horse tail flicking beneath his beastial sized flanks. He looked at himself in wonder.

Diego let out a tender and soft mooing noise as he stared at the sexy centaur the biker had become - quite the appropriate metamorphosis indeed - and his bestial cock began to drip dense pre; he couldn't wait to see what creature was hidden inside his friend, though it was sure it would be the perfect expression of his strength and stamina; once again, though this time more gently, he urged Sam, pressing his mouth against his turgid, swollen nipple.

Sam's resistance melted away bit by bit as he gave in to the situation. It felt ludicrous, crazy to fight it. Even if this was bad, he'd lost his only living friend to it. Was there even a point? And if it was good... why fight? Either way, there was no going back. Sam pressed more and more into Diego, shivering as warm, thick, salty cream started splashing into his mouth and down his throat. Blood was rushing to his shaft, causing it to engorge and swell. In the midst of that elation, Diego suddenly felt hands on his shoulders as Brant came up behind, massaging the minotaur's back. The minotaur brushed his huge horned head against the cheek of the newly-turned centaur in a tender gesture.

"I'm so grateful you found us, Brant... This is the best thing that could have happened to us," he whispered.

"It was the least I could do... Us survivors have to stick together, right?" Brant asked, but Diego was already too distracted. The sensation of Sam sucking from his dripping nipple was almost orgasmic, and his thick bull dick was becoming harder by the second, sandwiched between his body and that of his changing partner.

And, indeed, Sam was changing, thanks to the unearthly milk-like fluid that Diego's pecs were producing: the effects of the hot spot had already made him slightly shorter than before, but the direct exposure to the mutagenic fluid flowing into his stomach forced his whole body into a strange overdrive. A warm, tingling energy coursed through his legs and arms, compressing his muscles, making them more compact, larger and stronger; Sam twitched a bit while the skin of his arms tickled and a veritable forest of hair bloomed, covering the solid biceps and triceps in a thick, virile pelt.

Sam started to hump against Diego, unable to resist, but his delicious food source was getting further away as his body diminished. He reached up a hairy muscled arm around the bull's neck, hanging on so he could keep feeding. Sam felt so much more physical and brutish, unable to comprehend what sorts of changes were washing over him as it all felt so contradictory and amazing at the same time.

The sensation of Sam sucking Diego's nipple began to get a bit different, rougher and more savage, the skin of his pec being massaged not just by the changing human's skin but by something else. The minotaur, curious, lowered his stare and almost gasped in wonder: the face of his travelling partner was changing and evolving, thanks to the effects of the incredible fluid he was producing. Cheeks that had barely sported a short stubble were now covered in short, resilient hairs; and, as Diego stared, the two patches of facial hair collided, spreading around his mouth and almost submerging his lips, before hiding his chin under a forest of virile fur. It was a magnificent short beard, perfect and manly... But that was just the beginning.

After years of insecurity, putting on a brave face, Sam was starting to feel true confidence. He sucked and even bit that nipple before feverishly trading to the other side. Every bit of mass he lost in height he was gaining as muscle and hair. His blond hair was growing longer, the hairs were pushing out of his face inch by inch - and he was relentlessly hungry. Realizing the predicament of having a shrinking man hanging off of a towering minotaur, Brant circled around the two and brought his fully equine flank beneath the dwarf. Sam shifted upwards until he was properly seated and wrapped his powerful legs around Diego's waist, pulling his partner groin to groin where they could hump and grind in peace.

The more Sam sucked, the more his beard - the very symbol of being a proud, strong dwarf - grew: it connected with his hair creating a set of bushy sideburns, and then exploded downward, lengthening at breakneck speed: three inches, then six, then nine... Less than thirty seconds later the beard was already one foot long, and it didn't look like it was going to stop growing soon. And while it lengthened, it also expanded, becoming unruly and wild, thickening. Diego, letting out a soft moo, caressed the magnificent beard with a huge hand, enjoying the rough but extremely pleasant texture under his fingers, burying his phalanxes inside the savage pelt of blonde fur.

"Diego!" Sam howled, milk spilling out of his lips and into his beard. Cum leaked from his fattening cock as well. He groaned, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, "That... that felt so fucking good... Oh god, how sensitive is it?" he panted. It was clear to Diego that Sam's voice had dropped a few octaves, but it was still as excitable as ever.

The minotaur grinned, winking at him. "Dunno, but... want to discover it?" Even though Sam's new body was heavy and solid like a rock, it was easy for the massive minotaur to lift him to his muzzle; Diego kissed the dwarf, pushing his fat cow tongue inside his mouth and coating it in dense, salty bovine saliva, as his free hand brushed and tugged the long sexy beard, trying to give his friend and partner the most pleasure possible.

Sam gushed like a geyser, his hard dwarf cock spraying cum across Diego's furry stomach. Sam sucked on the minotaur's tongue and played with it, loving how huge and over sized it was in his mouth. His fears were gone and all that was left was the craving for more pleasure from his sexy mate.

"F-fuck..." Diego groaned as the kiss ended; the smell of Sam's sticky dwarf cum over his fur was intoxicating, and his own bull dick, like a gardening hose, spurted squirt after squirt of pearly gelatinous spunk all over the ground in front of him, some of it even splattering over Brant's front hooves. "M-man, this is so... I never..." Words failed him, but they weren't necessary: the minotaur immediately started frenching his dwarf partner again, still playing with his thick beard. With his eyes, however, he invited the centaur to come closer, to enjoy the ride too.

It was difficult maneuvering around, but Brant was playing with his own long beard, feeling how it trailed down all the way to his navel. Such play didn't keep him from reorienting beneath Sam though. Soon the dwarf was hiked up higher and Diego felt two thick, fat, meaty horse cheeks against his bull groin. The cow cock was sandwiched beneath the horse tail before it brushed a swollen, undulating hole quivering in anticipation. Brant was speechless, but he knew the minotaur would give him the satisfaction he craved.

Diego, despite having just cum, was still feeling hornier than ever; while still kissing Sam passionately, he redirected his massive cock head to be in line with the centaur's pucker and started lubricating it with some leftover cum before pushing inside, with gentle but firm gestures, mooing in ecstasy inside the dwarf's mouth.

The centaur backed up inch by inch until the minotaur cock was buried inside and the dwarf was neatly seated backwards. Sam reached up and grabbed Diego's thick, muscled pectoral muscles and pulled them tight around his dwarf cock, feeling the cow fur rub all over his fat meat. Sam grunted lewdly, sweating and panting and moaning, in love and harmony with his new body. The kind and polite Sam had been burned away by the radiation, but his attachment to Diego was as strong as ever.

As Diego fucked the tight hole of the centaur with reckless abandon while feeling his dwarf companion fuck his pecs, his mind was clouded in lust and beautiful ecstasy: all the pain, all the doubts and all the weakness he had felt during the previous months had vanished thanks to Brant and his wonderful discovery. He had been changed by the apocalyptic land, his frail human body warped and evolved beyond recognition... But Diego was still there. He was just different. Stronger, wilder, freer.

"I really hope you both feel as good as I do..." Brant murmured, "Traveling this land alone I saw that there was no way for humans to survive, but I didn't want mindless beasts either... I wanted to preserve some of what made us great and bring it into a new age. Feeling you two like that, I think I succeeded." Brant grinned. Diego, while not stopping to push inside the centaur's welcoming rump, grinned back at his words.

"We need to find other people," he said. "We need to give them this gift, to reclaim this Earth. But first..." the minotaur slapped Brant's flank in a joking way. "There's an ass I have to claim as mine."

"Oh trust me, it's already yours..." Brant groaned, pushing back, taking it deep. It was amazing how far away his ass was from his head, and yet how immediate the sensation was. As Sam groaned and howled and came all over Diego's chest again, it was clear the unlikely trio had found a good balance among themselves.

"F-fuck..." Diego snorted, once again exhilarated by the strong smell of dwarf cum; his dick sprayed for the second time in a handful of minutes, coating the inside of the centaur's rump in hot bull cream. "Well... I marked it anyway," he panted, showing his big flat teeth.

"The first time of many I'm sure... But I think you guys will have to get used to riding a horse instead of a hog, I don't think my bike can carry us as a group any more." Brant chuckled.

"I don't know, I'll fit better than ever." Sam smirked, still panting in the afterglow of lust. Diego nodded.

"So... Should we get going? Or should we stop here at New Haven for a bit?" his heavy bull head pointed at the strange building behind them. "Recharge ourselves before we start changing this world?"

"I think we could try and get in, could be some neat stuff for our travels inside." Brant mused, stretching a bit.

"I could use a little recharge, maybe another round too." Sam grinned, running his fingers through his dense beard. Brant smirked and slowly pulled off of Diego and Sam yelped, swinging around to grab onto the centaur's back. He was still unused to his new size, but it felt oddly right riding the centaur.

"Come on Diego, nothing's holding you back any more." Brant said, waving for the minotaur to catch up to them. Diego nodded.

"You're right." His leg was now strong and powerful, just like the rest of his body... And with a body like that, he felt like he could walk the entire world and back. "Let's go inside... We have preparations to make, and an Earth to take back, after all."