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" What must fate have in store, for beasts like us?" The voice he heard upon awakening made him tremble with mortal fear. The fear one only received when encountering something that defied all of God's creations. It was a fear James had experienced before, many times and more than most should. But with a single voice he had never felt dread come so quickly back to him, as his eyes blearily snapped open. The smallest movement of his hand on loose dirt triggered its reaction, the sounds of it deeply echoing from inside the cavern he was now in, lit up by some unknown source. " Hmmm? You are awake?" "Wh-...wh-wh-whhhh...wha...where am I?" " Back to the realm of the living...unfortunately." Slowly turning his head upon hearing the deep clumping steps of something huge approaching him, he saw he was most certainly within an underground cave system of sorts, a fire warmly flickering across the cave's walls. What he saw now approaching made his heart twitch in a near-primal panic. "HHHH-H-H-Hhhhh-holy...sh-sh-shit..." Standing before him was a most terrifying beast of at least ten feet tall. James had seen demons before, but this thing looked like the truest example of one. A horned head with a vile long jaw, claws the length of sabres each reaching out to at least 12 inches upon a long-limbed pale body. The creature resembled the offspring of a gargoyle and Satan himself, its voice much deeper than the bowels of Hell yet with a clear intelligence despite its well-exposed teeth. A voice even deeper than that of Scissoraptor, a primal guttural growl echoing in the back of its throat. " Do not fear me. I am only your foe if you choose to fight me." "Wh-wh-what...what the fuck are you..." " You have never seen a beast such as me? Hmph...fitting considering I have never seen a beast such as you." "Am...am I dead? I feel...I feel like I'm dead, are you here to take me?" The demon smirked with an odd grin showing two rows of long crooked teeth, each of them the length of James' skull. " I only kill the unreasonable...or the weak. The humans who travel the land slaughtering all who breathe under this sickening sky, both man and beast...I do not take to them lightly." "Is this...wait...is this really some kind of...apocalypse?" " Indeed. You do not know what has happened to this world?" "I...guess not, no but...nnngh fuck my head." " Here." The beast offered him a strange small bag that when opened smelt absolutely foul, forcing James to almost retch if he had anything left in his stomach. "Wh-WHAT is that, holy-GUH!" " It will heal you." "More like...poison me." " If I wanted you poisoned I would have left you to your fate. Eat." "Oh...a-alright wait...left me?" " Eat. Believe me if I wanted you dead, I would have slaughtered you already."

His words did not give him confidence. He took the bag before eating its contents of crushed flower and hard ground root, settling poorly with his stomach but not making him vomit. It wasn't the worst thing he ever smelt but it came very near to it, the urge to hork being restrained by the sudden sensation of a blurry inkling of no perception. His eyes felt drained, as if something sucked the life out of them, turning the world to a faded peeling of brown and amber. But not enough for him to stop speaking as he clasped his head feeling lightheaded, but a lot less achey also. "Nnngh...ohhh...fuck my head...did you just give me drugs?" " Of a sort but it is medicinal, it will weaken your perception for some time but it will heal you." "Um...th-thanks. You...you live here alone?" " Yes. As far as I know at least...there are those who were like me...and others who are less. All animals follow the basest of instincts, so if all else fails I can at least revert to that...a lot more prominently than most humans can." "What...happened to me...how did...how did I end up here?" " You were attacked by radscorpions after wandering into their nest, or rather falling into it. A very foolish thing." "I did? ...fuck...I don't remember that, I mean...all I know is I...I felt like shit like I wanted to...maybe...jeez I can't remember a thing but my body...it feels so empty. Not, hungry empty but...just empty." " You were badly poisoned, almost killed because of it. You may feel rather strange for a bit, I managed to give you some antidote I made for their venom so you will not die just yet." "What do you mean not yet?" " ...we all die someday, creature." Cryptic words spoken in a demon's voice did not help his rather fractured state, confused enough as he was being in a cave from which he saw no other object of interest. All he saw was a huge roaring fire, and two tunnels going into complete and total darkness, one on each side of him. He had no idea how deep beneath the earth he could be, or where he even was. Not that he had any real reference in this deadened wasteland, huddling up towards the fire as a need for warmth came burning through. "So you...saved me? Wow um...th-thank you, I-...god, fucking scorpions, really? I mean I see a lot of giant insects all around this place, they never seem to wanna bother me until those guys came in." " Insects are murderous, moreso than us. They have no space in their hivemind for morality so if any avoided you, it was because they were too focused on one other thing than just to kill. Be thankful of that." "Yeah, until I fall down into some nest." " That was your doing." "I...I guess. So...who are you?" " My name...is Gruthar." "...that's an odd name." " I was named after my grandfather, if you so find it odd then you should take it up with him, were he not dead. What is your name, creature?" "James. James C-campbell...I...how did I...get here exactly?" " Before you fell off a cliff and down into the scorpion's nest, I found you wandering through the desert after exiting a house, steeped in human blood." "Walking? I don't...wait you mean the blood on me is not...god I don't remember what happened." " I was surprised it was not yours considering how much was on you, you also had some medicine in your satchel but it was not needed." "Wait, I got meds on me too!?" " Med-X to be precise, a very strong concentrate of it, strong enough to render a human unconscious without pain more as an anaesthetic than anything else...it would not have been prudent for you to use for any treatment." "I don't...remember taking any meds with me, I just...but...whose blood is this, I-NNNGH!"

A deep stinging pain ran through the centre of his mind, the smell of blood turning thick and wretched within his nostrils. He started to hear a child's scream from the far-off distance of the corner of his mind, not quite registering it but there nonetheless. He tried to refocus himself, centering his thoughts as he tried to wipe the blood off his face. But it turned dry in the firelight and wasn't coming off soon without water, keeping the smell on his snout sickeningly as the monster asked: " You are an unusual mutation. Where do you hail from?" "...another world." He didn't care about being evasive. Not anymore. " Hmmmm...interesting. An alien, not a mutant." "And you? You said mutant so are you like...one of those?" " They call my kind 'Deathclaws'. A fitting name that strikes fear into all but the bravest...and the most foolish. I do not quite remember our origins but I know that we are manmade at the very least. But I am different from the ones they know." "Y-...y-yeah? Because you...know how to speak?" " Hmph...precisely." "How did you...learn, just-sorry I just-...I'm just in a bad state." " You may ask more about me. It will be a good distraction from your grief." "Grief? I'm not...grief I just feel confused. Like...like I'm not supposed to be here." " We all feel strange in another place, much moreso if it is an entire world different from the one you knew." "So...um, why did you save me?" The beast had no explanation for it, offering but a simple shrug as he soon sat down by the fire, his eyes lit up pearl-white completely dead of any human emotion. Or perhaps it was a deeper emotion beyond James' comprehension. Either way it terrified him, like he was sitting with the grim reaper. He sat opposite of him, watching his face through the fire and flames. Softly he decided to ask: "You live here alone?" " You asked me that already." "Right right sorry just I...unnnngh my head." " The healing powder will take a while to wear off, do not exert yourself." "Okay...god I just wanna sleep, I just want to...put down my head and just sleep forever...but I just woke up...right?" " Yes, it has been a day since I found you." "Jeez...I just...I just remember this feeling like...I was-NO, wait! Wait I...I-i-i-i remember something, something blurry but it's there. I was....tied down on a table, like someone had kidnapped me and drugged me...that was all I can think of really. I don't...feel what happens next, you sure you didn't find me strapped down somewhere?" " No. I did not." "Then...jeez I don't remember, god...everything just sorta blacks out, now I'm just...here, with you." " And you remember nothing else?" "No...that's...that's really all I can remember but...something keeps irritating me in my brain like something niggling away, can't really place it." " You are weak and disoriented, it will come back to you. Would you like some food?" "Yes please, I'm starving." " I have some brahmin meat that will be more suitable for your constitution, would you prefer raw or roasted?" "Uhhh, roast please." " Alright, wait here." He walked over towards the back of his cave, a rather deep-looking tunnel from the barest look that James could see from the firelight's reach across the smooth walls. He wasn't even certain which way was the exit, both passages leading to eternal darkness for him. He felt as if he were out of place, out of time and in some deep primordial ancient crevice, a crack in time itself. Were he naked as the day he was born he would have no semblance of era or existence that he came from. It was in that moment he felt an odd homesickness come creeping within his heart.

James sat by the campfire, stripping himself of his clothes and letting naked warmth soothe him, try to forget everything he could. His body glowed a bright amber, his semi-sheathed penis resting inches above the ground as he crossed his legs halfway, deeply sighing as he stared into the flames. He wondered if this was how his ancestors felt, trying to wipe the blood off their claws besides firelight, deep underneath the caverns after a long day's hunt. Eventually he heard Gruthar come back, trying not to look terrified upon seeing the beastly silhouette walk into the firelight. The beast had the half of some carved mammal clearly not human in his hands, setting up a spit by skewering it with a metal rod before placing up two wooden poles shaped like a Y on each end of the fire. The monstrous deathclaw sat down beside him, his huge form easily outmatching his smaller guest by at least two feet of height in sitting alone. Once the meat had been well-roasted the raptor got to taste what was most certainly a side of beef, relishing it gladly as his stomach gurgled with gratitude. "Mmmmm thanks...you not gonna eat any?" " It is not my preference and I have eaten already, you may have it." "Wow seriously? Thanks...you know uh, for something that looks so...demonic, you seem really a nice guy." " I simply do not go looking for trouble, I stay by my den wandering occasionally with an odd interest here and there. I tend to avoid humans and their conflicts, unless one is so foolish enough to try to kill me...or if they are weak enough whilst I am in my moment of hunger." "Uhhh huh...so uh...what do you do for a living?" " I have no occupation, besides 'monster'." "Haha, I mean um...what do you like to do for fun? I mean, you seem a smart guy, not really a beast like an animal or something, you must have something to do." " Ahhhh...in that case I study cartography." "...seriously? You wanna be a heart surgeon?" " That is cardiology. Cartography is studying maps." "Wait, maps?" " Yes. Observe." Hanging upon the wall in semi-darkness, James now noticed a tattered sheet draped across the rockface, seeing lines and grids upon it where small dots indicated alongside riverbeds and promontories. He had to take a moment to realise it was actually a map of some sort, if not a very crude one owing to who designed it. "You...made that?" " Yes." "So, why the interest in maps?" " Because I enjoy learning the layout of the land, it helps me reconvene myself on where to go next, where I should go...where I should hunt next." "Uhhhh...huh.. Just...reminders and such then?" " Yes." "Right...you know this place well?" " Somewhat, my territory reaches from Middle Fork to North Fork, but I occasionally extend my search to further places. Note the bottom right of the map."

The raptor saw it had been extended by a few sheets, painted over by charcoal ink to reach further on towards a town with the word "Wilsport" on it. The deathclaw stood up and pointed at a small point north of the town. " That, is where I found you. And that there...was the house I first saw you come out of." "Huh...that's quite a long walk I made." " Indeed, perhaps a few hours from Williamsport, to that place." "Heh...yanno my boyfriend...n-never mind." " Hmmm?" "Just...no." " You are afraid I will judge you?" "No not that, just...I don't wanna talk about him." " I see..." James sat down humbly as his head sank, feeling an emptiness open up in his heart. Uncertainty poured through to fill it, making him sigh deeply which alerted the deathclaw, who asked him: " May I ask your occupation?" "I don't...have any. I mean I do a lot of things but...I don't got any." " And your boyfriend?" "...heh...tour guide. That's what I was remembering, he loved maps too, was a nut on geography." " Did he make them himself?" "Nah just, the places were already mapped out, he just guided people around." " A bitter shame. The unexplored is vastly more interesting than a place we already knew." "Yeah?" " Consider the wonder you feel when a new place unfolds before you. You see a name, a shot, a brief glance at its history. The desiccated remnants of an old car, a pile of skeletons still sitting in their seats, the box of treats left on its side almost pristine upon a table. A dog's corpse left to its remnants between car and the stream. Snapshots of history, immortally trapped through a state of death that only the great apocalypse could ever bring. They died where they fell and you can see its entire story." "Ahhhh huh?" " It is a far more nourishing venture to see than to be given a map already filled in of a place long explored by many." "So, you wanna see something new that no one else has seen before?" " Indeed. Perhaps that's why I rescued you. You intrigue me." "Don't say that please." " Hmmm?" "I don't...I don't like when people call me fascinating or interesting, just-brings out bad memories for me." " Ahhh I understand, my apologies." "S'alright...man this beef is good, what you say it was again?!" " Brahmin, they're cattle simply, nothing more than herbivorous." "Isn't that kind of difficult in a place without any plants?" " We adapt, like all creatures do." "Right...hey um...do you mind if I...stay here a bit? I mean if you want me to leave then I'll go just...I don't have any place to go so if you can direct me that'd be great but-" " If I had problems with a guest I would not have saved him in the first place." "Right just...I really have no idea where to go so...thanks." " So long as you abide by my wishes you are free to stay, there is water outside in the riverbed if you need it, but bear in mind it is unclean...most water now is." "Oh shit that reminds me um, there's a bottle of water in my stuff um, don't drink that." " I already threw it away knowing it was poisonous." "Wha-how do you know, that shit was odourless!" " I have more innate senses than you, it took a simple drop for me to know that it was infected with something...ketamine." "Hmph...wish I had that, I mean I'm pretty good at telling you what a cocktail has in it but when a drug's got no odour...ugh, should have been more careful, I'm a fucking idiot." " The past is past. Perhaps a proper sleep will do you some good, it is night now so there will be little else to do." "I guess...thanks for the food, that was really good."

He slowly put his feet up against the fire, wanting to warm them up and stretch his legs as the conversation distracted him, as well as Gruthar making an observation saying: " You are looking rather pale still." "Really?" " Yes...perhaps it's just the poison working through you but you seem very sunken, hollow eyes and pale skin. I almost thought you were dead upon finding you." "Yeaaaaaah...um, hey these radscorpions, are they normally that poisonous? I've never really been poisoned before." " A potent venom such as theirs is enough to take down most creatures...you seemed to last remarkably well however, perhaps you have a natural immunity." "Maybe...I've never gotten sick really, or ever been in hospital that much, normally it's cuz I get broken limbs or something doing dumb shit." " I see. Your arm also looks different to the other." "Amputated." " Ah...a skilled surgeon." "How come you know medicine anyway?" " I studied. There are some books I keep down in my sleeping quarters where I can further expand my knowledge. Sometimes I find them while out hunting, take them back, learn something new." "Heh...never heard of a monster who likes to read." " Some would say the same of you." "I don't like reading." " Then they would not say the same of you." "Right...so, you said most of your kind don't know how to talk, right?" " Yes, I am a rarity in itself. My father had the same gift too, his intelligence passed on from his original clan from a vault deep underground." "And your mum?" " She was one of the more beastly primal deathclaws that humans are far more familiar with." "Ahh...well...you got your dad's brains huh?" " Indeed. My father told me of how he once travelled with a human, a saviour of the wasteland. A human known as the Chosen One, according to the original tribe." "What, your dad walk with Jesus or something?" " No. A mere human mortal, guided by courage, intelligence and a bit of luck, perhaps." "Heh, sure." " Was that the same for your kind too?" "Not...really." He stared down into the flames, watching them burn away as he reminisced about his world. "My kind were kinda genetically bred in a lab like, a thousand years ago along with every other anthro...that's all I know, shit happens, we escape, we try to live out in the world and next thing you know we find humans too. Out on the wastes." " Wastes?" "Yeah...nuclear holocaust happened back in my world too, last pieces of mankind trying to rebuild over a thousand years...kinda...like this world maybe...I wonder." " Hmmm?" "...nothing, never mind. But yeah, once we met up with humans it kinda became difficult to kill an animal able to speak and think like you. That makes a lot of conflicts for humans who spent a long time doing otherwise." " I see...do you have a destination for your journey originally?" "I wanted to get back home...not that that matters anymore."

Gruthar simply nodded as James finished up his meal, the fine roasted cattle steak having a slightly metallic taste to it but still sumptuously as meaty as anything could be. " You should sleep by the fire, along with me. Rest now, tomorrow will bring a new world for us to bear." "What do you mean 'for us to bear'?" " When Man is gone from this world, the animals must inherit his sin. Rest. We will wait to see what tomorrow brings." He found it odd this beast's demeanour, of how Gruthar seemed to see the world in a rather strange lens of futility and resignation, yet at the same time having a sense of earnest pursuit towards the future. He never felt the sense of resigning to fate from him, not the essence of despair but more like acceptance of his fate itself. James himself was rather confused and in truth his own meandering observations did not make sense to himself. But instead he slept, curled up naked next to the fire and allowing the warm crackling to comfort him to his dreams. A dream of death and blood. In darkest memory he remembered everything, slowly but surely, a screaming abyss that went howling up towards his face. Violence transcended through him, and in his own little world there lived a new sorrow. A raptor stood in the middle of it, light shining down upon his face as he looked over his bloody claws, dripping towards his feet with a thick darkening puddle that soon dragged him under, turning deep as the ocean itself. He choked back the watery blood, gulping as his vision was consumed by a red thinness that flooded deep into his brain, pouring through his eyesockets. The young raptor gargled his fear, shrieking as his words didn't seem to be that of English. They were sharp and primal, pleading and whimpering, tears dripping through his bleeding eyes as he fell towards darkness. He heard his last words sinking to the abyss. My...f-family...you...you took them from me...I understand now. The rising voices of children came to him, screaming beyond the deep as a memory came alight inside him. Blood burned deep into his nostrils, thickening scents as everything back to him. Everything in one colliding rush of fear and agony, neither of which was his own. _You...are a murderer. I. Own. YOU. _

The screams sounded recorded but still high-pierced enough to stab deep through his shaking heart. That demonic whim he was now so familiar with as he huddled up his knees and began sobbing profusely, waking up with wet cheeks glistening in the firelight. Sorrow had once again come to him. But no longer did he have the comforting numbness of insanity to help him cope. Whatever thing had helped him try to cope before, it was gone now. He knew. He saw it dragged deep into the abyss, that other raptor somewhat familiar to him. He wanted nothing more, shivering at this dead hollowness inside of him. Gruthar decided not to interrupt him, leaving him be as he already woke up before James did and was simply busying himself with tasks, mainly by rearranging his den with a few basic amenities as well as taking care of the fire still burning. It took James at least half an hour to stop shaking with fear and sufferance, before resigning himself to his fate. Once he stopped crying, the beast spoke to him once more trying to keep his mind off the pain in his heart. "How are you feeling?" James did not respond, sitting up at the fire and staring into it always, never taking his eyes off it. Gruthar came near him sniffing his body softly, feeling a different change entirely in him by his aura, that innate sense a creature knew of certain kinds of emotions from one to the other. He asked again: " Are you sick?" "No," said James mutely. "I don't...I just want to stop feeling anything. I just...I just want to be dead." " ...really?" "I should have...I remember now. What I...what I did, this...blood on my face and...what I did to those...kids." " Children? Hmmmm...I see, that explains the scent on you." "I can't live with that...I can't...I can't live with myself knowing that...that I killed a bunch of kids. I never...I'd never do anything to them, never, I know I'm not the best guy or the nicest but...I tried. I really tried, j-just-dammit I f-fucking tried for once..." Weeping onto his knees he rocked back and forth, shaking softly as the beast watched his sorrowful guest. He did not speak until he heard James try to recompose himself, the raptor gasping a deep breath as he shuddered out the last of his tears. He wanted this pain to stop, a pain he already knew now coming back with full force upon him, minus the comforting numbness of insanity to help him cope through it as he asked Gruthar: "Did you...find me out there?" " Yes. I was the one who saved you, remember?" "Wha...you did, right?" " I was the one that saved you, healed you...back to this state, I followed you from the house of your sins and saw you fall off a cliff, strange to see. You fell into a dry riverbed into a radscorpion nest. You were rather...lucid in a state of madness even before the poison, before the fall even." "...why? Wh-why didn't you let me die? I remember it now...I remember just...walking, looking for a place to...throw myself in and...not wake up again. Why did you save me?" " ...I was curious." He found Gruthar's pause suspicious. " I find you fascinating, a creature that-" "SH-SHUT UP!"

He stood up shaking with fury in his eyes as tears welled up in him, glinting like fire down his cheeks. "JUST SHUT UP, DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT! I'm sick of people calling me 'fascinating' or 'unique' or whatever, everybody who ever told me that is WORTHLESS! I was just some pawn, ALWAYS I was some pawn in their fucking game and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! The last person who ever trusted me as a friend is fucking dead, and I wake up with three dead children, MURDERED, because of ME! I'm a murderer...I murdered children. I can't fucking live with that. I can't...I've done a lot of bad things, some I even feel bad about...the rest I want to feel bad about...but I don't want to live with that...you...you should have let me die." "Is that so? Do you think such a small act can-" "THIS WASN'T A SMALL THING! THEY WERE KIDS, THEY WERE FUCKING KIDS, THEY DON'T DESERVE THIS!" " If they could not survive against you, what hope did they have on these wastes?!" "Wh-what?!" " Would it not have been better or worse had you not taken their lives from this dreadful place?! Who knows how long they must have suffered upon these wastes, knowing that another creature or indeed another human, would come to them and give them immeasurable suffering?" "...you...you didn't see what...what I did." " I don't have to. I could smell their fear on you." "Then...d-doesn't that make me that other creature that gave them that suffering? H-how is that better, how is...I'm not better than anyone here, I'm just...I'm just a monster, hunting to kill...a child murderer." " You are a survivor." "I'M A FUCKING MURDERER, I'M NOT ANYTHING ELSE!" Falling back onto his knees he wept openly before the beast, sobbing heavily as he gasped tears of frustration back into his body. Gruthar picked him up by the throat, stifling his tears before bringing him up to his large horrible face, bone-thin and rigid with grim deathly pallour upon his cheeks. He didn't even struggle to lift the raptor, grasping him by the one hand but not choking him. " Do you truly wish that I had never saved you?" "G-GUH!" " Do you desire death so openly that you would even try to argue against a creature such as myself?" "Wh-what's the point?! You...you saw what I did right?! I don't...I don't wanna be that person. I don't wanna be...some...s-some murdering...but I am, I still am, always I've...just...I don't wanna live anymore. Where could I even go after...after doing that, I'm not a hero, I'm not a warrior, I thought I could be but I just...I can't. I can't be anything else but a fucking punk who wants to kill people...I'm sorry. I'm s-sorry I just can't do it anymore." " And what of beyond this world? Is there no place still for you?" "No one will forgive me. The only people I ever loved would never, ever, forgive me if they knew what I had done. I know that. I don't want them to know...please. Let them think I just died being some brave hero instead of a...thing." " I ask you again. Do you wish to die, James?" "...yes. Please...I have no one to go back to...no one to...forgive me for this." " ...very well."

The beast slowly brought him up towards his face, a thick horrid breath from his teeth-filled maw that smelt like rotting meat on a hot desert road. The raptor almost choked with bile at the scent, as the creature opened his mouth wide as if to give him the first sight of where he would go next. A throbbing cavernous maw big enough to fit both his arms inside of, but knowing clearly that it would be incredibly tight were he swallowed whole. The teeth that scraped against his back and midriff implied that he would not. Gruthar slowly slipped his tongue thickly across James' face, neatly detaching the scabbard off from his body as it clattered upon the stone soil. Getting a good taste of him first by reflex, he cautiously pushed the raptor's head in halfway to the back of his throat. Both hands went one after the other down James body, fitting him inside with the tonguetip against his midriff, naked still from the night before. James closed his eyes and waited, wanting the teeth to come down as his head was pulled in slowly. Wanting to lay down upon the slender tongue and breathe his last, waiting for the crunch that would crack his spine, rip through his organs and send blood dripping down those monstrous teeth, trickling to the back of the throat as a hot red relish. But the deathclaw simply pulled him back, slowly extricating him from his mouth and putting him back down glistening with saliva. " Before you give your life to me, I have one small purpose that you can fulfil." "Wh-what? ...oh. You wanna...rape me do you?" " ...what?" "That what you want isn't it? I know your type, big fucking monster wants to get everything out of some bitch like me fine, go on. Hurt me I don't care, rape me. Not the first time it ever happened to me I mean I deserve it, I just fucking-HLK!" " Be quiet and let me finish." He stopped James from speaking further with a tightening choke around his neck. " Since you are so resigned to fate, and evidently suffering at my expense, perhaps it would be prudent that you do me a favour. Something that shall not affect you in any way other than how swift your death shall be." "O-okay...what...kind of favour?" " A small refill of my current supplies in storage. My food has become rather low and, while I find your taste to be intriguing I must...obtain my preferred meat of prey to wash you down with." "Oh. You want...want me to hunt then? I mean I guess if I die then it...won't matter either way, but why don't you?" " Not hunt. Barter."

When morning came fully, not that James could tell, Gruthar took him to the cave exterior which was along the other dark tunnel without any real indication of which was which. The wasteland remained as dead as it had ever been, a hot wind rustling across the land as dust swirled in front of him powerfully. A cemetery seemed to be where Gruthar had made his home, morbid broken tombstones now sunken into the soil, a spanning set of shallow riverbeds dried out all around them. Gruthar indicated a medium-sized cart that laid beside the cave entrance, a red-painted affair big enough for at least three people to ride on. James wondered if it had been once part of a carriage as he looked down at what he was holding. Gruthar had given him an odd set of clothes for him to wear, which he found rather confusing considering what fate he had in mind. A blue jumpsuit with yellow strips around the neck and down the centre of his body before circling around the waist. The wrists were also yellow, and for some reason the raptor found it to be a rather familiar-looking suit asking: "Why do I have to wear this?" " So you look presentable. In the wasteland appearance is everything, and humans judge very swiftly by the first sight alone. If you wear the clothing of a slaver, then you shall be seen as such. If you wear the clothes of a doctor, you shall be seen as such." "And what does THIS make me seen as?" " You look...innocent." James raised an eyebrow at hearing this, not entirely convinced by what Gruthar was saying as he rolled it out and saw the number 77 on its back. "Question. Won't they just shoot me when they see I'm not human?" " No, because they will see your clothes, and if you speak of me, then they will know that you brought money." "That...doesn't make any sense." " You could say I am...a regular customer of theirs, normally I proffer this wearing a cloak large enough to sustain my appearance...but this will be much easier." "Seriously? You can fool a bunch of humans by wearing a cloak and saying you're...what, Samoan?" " Humans are very dull once you give them no reason to suspect." "Heh...right. Also why does this have a number on its back?" " This is a vault dweller's jumpsuit, some parts of humanity were lucky...or rather unlucky, to have been part of selected groups chosen to go underneath to the vaults. Whether they remain safer beneath or above ground is a subject to dispute." "Vaults? ...wouldn't they be safe then, from the nuclear fallout?" " Some were kept safe...some were not." He looked rather nervously at the suit in his hands but slowly he put it on, finding it oddly snug and easy to move in. It was rather non-restrictive, firm yet not obstructive or stiffening on his limbs allowing the full range of movement. His claws started feeling twitchy, as if itching for a fight, even if his heart was not into it. "Feels...kinda nice actually, where'd you find this?" " Found it, it came with the cart beside you." "...oh. That's...rather neat." " Good. Now, take this cart with you, you will require it for bringing back the meat." "That much huh? Where exactly am I going?" " There is a human settlement northwest of here at the Middle Fork Forest Preserve, that is where I trade with them on certain arrangements in exchange for meat. Follow the road from here and go west directly until you see a campsite left abandoned by the river, it should have a few vehicles left lying around. Once you do, head north following the river, and there you will see the forest preserve...what's left of it rather." "Ah huh, and what do I do exactly?" " You are to make a trade with them on behalf of a Dr. Black, for some various test subjects, just ask for the usual. They'll understand. If they ask you for the password, then it's 'sanguine'. Also, remember to ask for something fresh, young and tender. Go along with whatever they may ask so long as you get it. These are what you will be trading with." He handed James a tightly-wound bag that jingled everytime it moved. The raptor opened up the bag to find something entirely different to what he was expecting from the sound. "...um...these are all bottlecaps." " Correct, that is the currency in these wastes." "Wait, so, people just use bottlecaps for money now? Why?" " Money has become nonexistent in this place, the world now reset after the great apocalypse. As a result humans must find some new substitute. Bottlecaps are numerous...and shiny." "They are shiny...I guess. So what do you want me to do?" " You must make your way towards the Middle Fork Forest Preserve and make contact with the human camp there. You are representing a Dr. Black who requires new fresh subjects, as agreed upon our arrangement. If they ask you for the password, give them the phrase 'sanguine' in exchange." "Ahhhh huh...fresh...subjects?" " Meat, basically. They do not know my true nature and I would prefer to keep it that way." "So you make trades with some place for meat...heh...sure, why not, might as well do one good thing before I let you eat me, might as well add some seasoning to it." " I must ask also that you specifically ask for something...young and as tender as possible." "...wwwwhy?" " It is something I require. Now, do you need anything else before you leave?" "Not...really. I think I got this. What time is it anyway?" " I do not use time as a standard, there is only night and day for me." "Right...I haven't eaten anything since last night." " Is that a problem?" "...no...not much point to it really."

He sighed deeply with a forlorn wistfulness, staring at the ground kicking at it softly, watching dust ripple in the wind. A question slowly came up from his brain. " How did you even make this deal in the first place?" " As I said before, humans are very dull once you give them no reason to suspect." "You're like, ten feet tall." " If one sees no claws or face but simply a long robe, I can claim to be many things. All they think of me is that I am some horribly disfigured ghoul with many aberrations upon me. Now, this is important, you must return within the day before the sun sinks beneath the horizon...I become very disagreeable when my stomach starts hungering for meat." "Right...hope it's not too heavy coming back with all the extra weight." " You'll be able to pull it a lot more easily by wearing the yoke." "Oh great, so I'm cattle now am I?" " You are going to be meat soon, are you not?" "...you...you're really are gonna eat me? Once I get back?" " Is that not your wish? Remember what I said before that these wastes do not tolerate the weak. And if you so choose to seek death out so freely...then so be it. I have no sympathy for you if you choose death." "You...wow. You just really don't give a fuck do you?" " I am simply a survivor and nothing more, for I have no reason to be bound by human laws of self-inflicted morality. I eat, I sleep, I kill those who dare try to fight me. I also search for...no, not important." "You know you may talk like a human but you sound like an animal." " Hmph...yes. Fitting, is it not for one of their creations?" "At least you're honest, most people don't tell you when they're about to kill you." " I do not call it a merit of honour, that is simply the way I live. Now go, take the bottlecaps and barter with them, I will wait for you here." "Alright...this is fucking weird." " You are past the point to be saying that, young James." "I'm not young...I'm thirty-something." " That is young to me, now go, the sooner you return the better. And remember...you MUST especially obtain something young and the most tender. Exact words. Don't. Fail me." "And if I can't?" " If you do all that I ask you...then I shall make your death as swift and as painless as possible and I shall give you an honourable death. If not..." He took this moment to scrape his long claws against each other, sharpening them with the other hand as an ear-splitting shriek slithered down his cold talons. " Then I will have to make you part of my storage and...keep you for a while. Alive. Fresh. Slowly tearing off each and every part of you whenever I feel hungry for your flesh. I have had to keep some creatures alive for quite a long time...in order to preserve my food stock from rotting in death. It is nothing personal James...I am just simply trying to stay alive like everyone else. Now go, and please be careful. I would not want you disappearing into the wastes to become an odd skeleton for me to find again."

With a frightful whimpering at such an agonising sound, the raptor put on the yoke of his carriage and slowly began to pull out, taking both wooden handles and heading out westwards. The sun began to beat down upon his blue-suited back, the number shining thickly in the light. His scissors, re-equipped over the suit, felt cold as ever unaffected by the hot wind, the raptor sighing as he pulled his carriage along. He was starting to realise it had not painted red originally, feeling the odd texture of dried fluid across the handles. His satchel was with him also, placing the bottlecaps still in their bag inside of it alongside the odd syringes, rolling back and forth at the bottom of his inventory. He reasoned that he probably put them there and forgot ever doing so, possibly when he had gone insane or blacked out or whatever had happened to him in the aftermath of his sin. He did not care about such small details, he wasn't even sure what American state he was in at this point. He was certain of one thing however. "This better not be Oklahoma," muttered FG, "I am NOT dying in Oklahoma...heh...ehhhhh...would be nice to have a map, I wonder if my omni-tool could like, download something off a PC working here or something...ehhh not worth it. What kind of place does Gruthar want me to get meat anyway, he said a forest preserve? Isn't that like some kinda sanctuary? ...well whatever the deathclaw wants I mean, you don't go arguing with some guy called DEATH in his name...species...whatever." The carriage wasn't heavy but the effort to pull it took a strain on him, especially under the hot sun making him pant thickly as he pushed up his strength. Soon he started to forget where he was, thumping his heavy claws into the hard sands with a robotic gait, letting his mind slip from him as his body went on automatic. Too many thoughts were screaming inside his head, the death seeker in him wanting to just lay in the desert and die out once again. But he knew that took too long, he more trusted another beast to take care of him. A winding riverbed had guided him towards a new site, the wild animals of the wastes rarely ever interrupting his progress other than the few dumb bloated flies that tried to spit at him. He ignored them and walked on, seeing they did not care enough. Eventually, he found a small settlement of trailers now rotted away, cars and lunchboxes broken in decay. A signpost still remained for him to give any indication, the small gathering of trailers bone-white and hollowed sitting next to a dead river that went heading north. At least this river had water, which smelt effluvial. "Rolling Hills Campground...yep, must be it, now to just head north along the river. Wonder what exactly happened to this place...maybe Gruthar knows more about it, I'll ask when I-...tch, whutsit matter, not gonna make any difference in the end how much I know or not. Still...fact that this world had a nuclear holocaust like mine did...yanno that is strange."

He slowly put down the carriage yoke and stopped to take a breath, thinking to himself out loud as he sat on a camp picnic table mildly investigating a rotted-out lunchbox. "Why IS it that every single world I've ever been through has always got at least one human inside them? I mean, even some weird-ass places, hell even way way back on Zebes there was that...ugh, what was her name again...whatever, fact is I always end up meeting humans no matter where I am. Space, deserts, out here in the wastes which I guess is kind of like a desert...hhhhmmmmmm...well, whatever." He hoisted up the carriage once again. "Sooner I can follow this, sooner I can end this agony...fuck. F-fuck's sake." He dropped the carriage again. "What is the fucking point, I could just walk away and...and die out there like I wanted to just...j-just fuck it, why shouldn't I just drop this wagon and-...no, no that, that won't, that didn't work last time and look what happened, that guy Gruthar, said he would at the very least give me a painless death, I mean I can trust him right?! He healed me up, didn't let me die, hell didn't even EAT me...why didn't he eat me actually? Wait, no he said I was poisoned that might have something to do with it. ...hhhhh, look, jus-look, you're overthinking this, there's nothing left for you, Koopin won't take you back, neither is Sarah gonna do that either, you just can't, you've lost, it's over." He picked up the carriage one more time. "If I just do one last thing, I'll be free of myself forever...nice, and, easy. You hear that Scissoraptor?" He looked back at himself. "You want my body, I hope you still want it after a deathclaw shits me out like a fucking horse you dumb stab-happy fuckface! ...what, not gonna say anything?! HUH!? Gonna lie there like a fucking DOG on my back?! ...great. Now I'm talking to the weapon again, fuck this." He rode out towards the forest preserve on the horizon. But a far cry from being a place of sanctuary was it ever going to be. For starters it was boarded up, plated iron corrugated and near-rusted despite being an impenetrable fence, along with barbed wire, steel parts and other miscellaneous junk from the wastes. James noticed a lot of trailer parts had been harvested for this, the sight of dead trees occasionally peeking out above the encampment. The unmistakeable silhouettes of human civilisation were also apparent. "HEY!" James stopped his carriage and looked up towards the sentry. "THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" "I'M A MESSENGER OF DR. BLACK!" replied James. "WHUT!? HE NEVER SENT NOBODY BEFORE!" "I'M HIS ASSISTANT, I GOT HIRED ON LAST WEEK!" "...ALRIGHT, WHAT'S THE PASSWORD?" "Uhhh shit what was it...sang...sank...sangui-IS IT SANGUINE!?" "YEAH!" "WHAT'S THAT MEAN ANYWAY?!" "I DUNNO, THOUGHT YOU'D KNOW, I'M NOT A DOCTOR!" "WELL I'M NEW, I STILL GOT A LOT OF THINGS TO FIGURE OUT!" "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" "Ugh I hate this long-distance shit, I NEED SOME NEW SUBJECTS! DR. BLACK'S ASKING FOR SOME!" "ALRIGHT, WHATEVER LEMME GET THE BOSS! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER OR YOU DEAD, HEAR ME!?" "OKAY, LOUD AND CLEAR! ...you fucking asshat." The sentry disappeared from the top fence and left James to his own devices, humbly waiting for whatever escort he was going to receive. Eventually there came a small scouting party of gristled wretched human beings, all of them tanned and swarthy wearing mismatched armour of steel and leather pieces, like a child playing dress-up. The guns however were very real, two women holding rifles with two men holding matching revolvers, one black and one white. The man with the white gun came first asking: "You from Black?" "Sure am," said FG. "Don't look like any creature I ever seen." "It's a big desert." "Heh...nice teeth, sharpen 'em lately?" "Nice hair, did you wash it lately?" "Christ he even got a tail!" said one of the ladies. "Whut happen to you, momma get raped by a deathclaw?" "I wouldn't know, they're dead." "Smells like a deathclaw." "So do you, when's the last time any of us took a bath?" "HAH, good point." "Alright cut the crap," said the man with the black gun. "You need some test subjects?" "Yeah," said FG. "How many?" "The usual. Also I need something...young and...tender." "...really now?" "Yeah. Dr. Black said he needs something fresh and real young, what's the most fresh you got?" "Heh...well uh sadly we don't got anyone dead yet that young but-" "I need something young. If you don't have anything I'm going to have to go back to doc and he won't be happy." The raptor jostled his bag of bottlecaps temptingly at them, making their eyes tremble eagerly. "Now I know you want this so, is there anything you have?" "...yanno whut? I think we can work something out. Come on in, we'll load up the usual and get you something...fresh." "Sounds good."

The humans walked him to their encampment, a large gate of garage steel that worked by manual pulley. At first James assumed it was just some settlement of ragtag bullies or survivors out on the wastes. In truth it was a lot worse than he expected. The entire landscape of what had been once a beautiful forest preserve, was now entirely razed to death. Trees built over with god-defying houses made of sheetroof and cold iron, fire pits of smouldering earth that burnt out the roots of all that was good and peaceful of the earth's spirit. It didn't feel like a shantytown, but it felt more like an island prison in its architecture. Then he saw the people in cages. Dozens of them. Weak, shivering, harrowed corpses simply waiting for death, bleak and malnourished, not to the point of atrophy but certainly near it. Their ragged remains of clothing showed a state of existence they once had, happiness and memories, torn and ruined. Occasionally the armoured guards would take one of the caged prisoners out and toss them into a housed building, closing the door and leaving little to the imagination from the sounds within. Most of them looked too weak to fight, just simply waiting for the whim of their masters which was a look he recognised all too easily. Others however were not yet broken, more strong, more powering through the pain and suffering to one day hope for release. A bitter pang laid in his heart as he reached the central area. Most of the encampment was a winding dirt-filled road of slaves in various pens and slavers on various routes, all of them well-armed and armoured to the teeth. They had even tougher armour than the ones James had killed back in the library, more fortified with dull steel plates and buff shoulders glinting cruelly in the light like blades of teeth. In just a jumpsuit and one scabbard he felt incredibly naked, with one woman accompanying him asking: "The fuck's wrong with your arm?" "I...I lost it." "Yeah?! Who fixed it up?" "Dr. Black did." "Damn...looks fuckin' weird, like it don't fit like...like the wrong kinda clip on a rifle." "It doesn't. It works but it doesn't fit." "Why didn't you tell him not to?" "...because I didn't have a choice." "And the huge-ass scissors on yer back?" "That was my choice...and I regret it ever since." She found his words strange as he soon stopped before a much larger structure. The largest of all buildings ramshackle as they were was clearly a palace of crumpled steel, bolted iron and worn grooves giving it a moulded look, a large gunmetal throne sitting on top on a balcony. It more resembled a smooth metallic hill than anything, much more refined in structure than the rest of the place was, twisted and jagged like a shredded coke can. The man with the white gun walked in telling them to wait, the raptor putting down his carriage as he looked around the area.

The front of the house was some sort of large cleared area, almost like an arena. He started to feel a danger sense in him when he saw all the blood dried out in the sand, the circular connotations making him see how one could seat themselves up above. He didn't say anything however as the man returned, giving him a deal. "We'll give you some of our subjects, the usual but...if you want something young, yer gonna have to do the job yerself." "Myself?" "Yeah, you work for a doctor right? You can cut a body up." "I've cut plenty of bodies sure." "So, you want this?" "I have to, doc told me to get something fresh and I ain't going back without it." "Alright, lemme take that cash." James pulled it away from his hands deciding not to be so easy. "Not yet. Give me the subjects and I give you the caps." "You really wanna do this?" The guard rubbed at his revolver holster temptingly. "You ain't in a position to refuse." "I'm not refusing, I'm withholding until you complete the transaction. Dr. Black pays you often right?" "Yeah, he's a regular customer, whut about it?" "And he always gives you his fair share right? A good sack of caps?" "Yeah?" "Then if you try and take this from me without giving me shit you can kiss your ass goodbye to all these, and you can tell your boss that you're not going to be getting any more caps because you tried to be crafty. Now. Subjects. Then. Bottlecaps." The slavers smirked with a chuckle at his audacity, the man with the black gun staring down at him a good near-foot taller saying: "You willing to kill to get whut you want?" "I already have." "...didn't even hesitate." "Nope." "Welp, boss says he wants to get a little show on, so if you willing to kill to get your transaction then we got a deal. Lemme take that cart, we put it to the side, load 'em up with the usual while we get our...freshest ready." The dark chuckling gave him nothing but contempt, staring into them coldly as he took off the yoke and let the slaver carry it off, guided towards the centre of the arena as he had accurately guessed it as. People started to gather round in the seats ready to watch the show, slavers of all kinds settling in, laughing away as James was given a few instructions by one of the ladies who escorted him. "Rule number one, there are no rules. Rule number two, you try to escape the arena, you die." "And if I stay in the arena?" "You MIGHT die...not to this though, this kid'll be nothing compared to those claws of yers." "Wait, kid?" "Heh...you got some nice claws on ya." She grasped her fingers along his black obsidian lengths, feeling the blood grooves underneath as he snatched them away from her. "I bet you could gut something deep." "Keep touching me and find out." "Ooooh...keep that feistiness for the real fight big dino, yer up."

Soon the packed seats were filled, a good show ready to be given as he saw someone come out of the larger house. The upper window, which he now saw to be a balcony, was stridant with a tall powerful-looking black man with short shaved hair, wearing a bizarre suit that custom-fit to his own heavier metallic armour underneath. It made him look like an awful comic book villain, patchwork of pink, red and yellow that was meant to be suave, but in actual truth made him look rather clownish. His voice however spoke otherwise, strong and resounding with defiant glory. "WELCOOOOOOOOOME BITCHES AAAAAND QUEEEEEEERS! We just got ourselves a representative of our most loyal 'customer' Dr. Black, whut's yer name son?!" "...James." "JAMES, now that's one heck of a normal name fer sum kinda FREAK! But hey, we're all freaks here am I right? Hell, yer practically our cousin!" For some reason they found this funny and started laughing all around him, a resounding wave of mocking derision before the master of the group asked him: "Whut's with dem scissors!? You a barber AND a doctor?!" "I'm a killer either way!" "OOOOOOH! Well well WELL, somebody's ready for blood! You ready for your young an' fresh subject mister James?!" "I just want this transaction done, do I just give you the money and that's that?" "OH, you'll give me some money alright, right after you do the honours! BRING 'ER OUT!" Pulled out of a side area of the arena in the shade, the guards tossed down a young dark-skinned girl, much darker than the camp leader who was revving up the crowd of mixed thugs into some sort of frenzy. The girl was clearly no older than 10, a ragged blue dress torn from abuse with mud and bloody flecks long dried out within. Her eyes were sunken brown like murky bottles of beer, hair short and tied back into two tight pigtails almost ripping at her skull. The raptor soon realised what was going to happen. In her hand was a small bladed kitchen knife perhaps 7 inches long, sizeably sharp which she gripped more in fear than anything else, her eyes horrified at the beast that was now upon them. A freakish reptilian creature the size of an adult, long claws with a strange weapon on his back wearing the clothes of a human. Her hand shook with the blade in it. James stared her down dead in his eyes as he felt a conflict turn in him. He now realised what Gruthar meant by restocking his "supplies". And much to his great relief, he still felt rather sickened to want to leave. "LOOK AT THIS GIRL HERE!" said the leader. "SHE GOT HERSELF A NICE LITTLE SHIV NOW AIN'T THAT SWEET!? BUT WILL IT BE GOOD ENOUGH TO TAKE DOWN THIS MOTHERFUCKER, A MOTHERFUCKING DINOSAUR?!" Cheers from the crowd came as the raptor looked up, sneering at their lust for violence as he brought out his scissors. He wanted to complete his mission but at the same time felt a deep reluctance dwell on him. He knew the only way to leave was to deal with this kid, this ragged slave who more than anything was fighting to survive. He could see that in her eyes clearly. He had no words for the start of battle as he braced himself into a fighting posture, one foot back with scissors swung outwards vertically. The crowd got antsy, ready for blood, ready for violence. Ready for murder as the camp leader chanted: "FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE! FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE! FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!"

The girl ran forwards shrieking violently, terrified but throwing all she could at the raptor who simply waited for her attack. She lunged with her knife trying to slash at the leg, before he dodged to his right and stepped backwards away. He wanted to gauge her first, wanting to see how she fought, trying to buy himself some time. The girl dodge-ran her way up to him, stumbling in her step before striking against the blades, clashing upon scissors as the raptor stood firm and waiting. His eyes trembled upon waiting for her to come near, knowing that he couldn't do it. Or did he not care knowing what his fate would be? Strike one went across the way, strike two went the opposite which the raptor soon deflected by shoving her back the moment her blade touched his. She stumbled onto her back as the scissors came down from overhead, a long drawn-out strike that gave her plenty of time to roll out the way as he buried his scissors into the sand. The girl now had the perfect moment to strike at the raptor, stabbing forwards into his right leg. Her aim however was poor, and in her panic she scraped past his right knee instead of plunging into the thigh. The raptor grunted as his blood dripped out, shuddering as he swung out his blades with the flat part towards her, smacking her across the head rather than decapitate her. The girl fell and stumbled back on her feet, knife dripping with blood down her dress as she felt a sudden courage overwhelm her fingertips. If it bleeds, I can kill it. That's what she said to herself, mouthing the words that James clearly saw on her lips. He checked at his leg as he soon patted on his satchel. Then he felt something long and cylindrical roll at the bottom of the bag. He had an idea. He stood up on both feet, ready with strong determination as he brought out his scissors once again, walking forwards towards her as she readied herself in turn. Taking a heavy too-long strike diagonally, he watched her dodge to his left and try to stab upwards at his waist, the raptor backing off soon as he saw her arm reach back for the thrust before he brought up his scissors. The knife stabbed straight between the blades at the cross-section under the screw, right through the middle. He smiled at her lucky shot, but eventually pulled her forwards with a bootkick to the gut. Making sure to pull back his claws to not accidentally scar her, the heel of his foot shoved hard into her stomach knocking the wind from her body as she fell back heaving. The child's blade was still stuck inside his scissors, to which the raptor pulled it out before tossing it on the ground back to her. The crowd was getting real excited, watching this strange combat that gave more an entertainment value by absurdity rather than skill. She picked up her knife, confused as to why he had given it back as he added: "What's the matter, scared?"

She said nothing, her lip quivering at such an odd mercy from her mistake. She stood once more, blade quivering in her hand as she held it forwards. James sighed knowing that he couldn't bring himself to do it, that whenever he tried to strike down upon her head something pulled him at the last minute. Was this some small act of pity for himself? He wasn't sure, but he saw her fear and wanted to reach out to her, adding: "Stop shaking. You'll die soon enough anyway so what's the point of fear? You wanna kill me?" He swung down his blades to bring the dust up from around him, a fierce cold look mirroring in his eyes across hers feeling more confident than before. "Then kill me. Don't. Cry." Hearing his words she swallowed her fear and ran screaming towards him, teeth bared as the raptor did the same watching her feet pound on the sand. The moment she thrust forwards, he dodged to his left and backhanded her across the skull. But she dodged too, ducking down low before spinning right round to slash at his left leg, leaving both his knees to start dripping blood weakly as she shoved herself forwards desperately trying to eviscerate his solar plexus. But the raptor swung down by the tips to deflect her blade, swinging in a downwards arc to smack it away. The girl held on tightly to her knife despite the ringing pain through her wrists, swinging out to clash against the scissors that nearly touched upon her head. He made a show of some resistance, letting her occasionally push back against his guard while he in turn pushed back at hers with half strength. It made for a good show, and the slavers somehow believed the fight was going well. Even the leader watched with rapt attention at who would survive this fight. He would worry about Dr. Black later. Eventually James smacked her guard away before putting a foot down upon her blade-wielding arm, readying his scissors to thrust down upon her head. She dodged with the time he gave her, the tips stabbing straight behind her head as she rolled hard against his foot, biting violently on his ankle like a wild animal which made James roar like one in turn. He went down on his knees and grabbed at her throat, firmly without choking as one hand of his pinned down her arm holding the knife, his other hand trying to reach back into the satchel. But the little girl was a lot more wily than he expected her to, and suddenly punched him in the eye with a fistful of sand. Shrieking as he fell back trying desperately to clear his sight, she ran full speed at him with a rising shriek, signalling where she was coming from. His scissors were not at hand, but perhaps that was a good thing. He still had another item in his hand he had managed to grab unseen, waiting for the right moment as he saw her wielding the kitchen knife in her right hand.

The moment she swung forwards he dodged to his right, plunging his left hand deep into her stomach. Blood slowly dripped down his knuckles as she stopped pushing against him, murmuring in her ear: "I'm sorry...just...close your eyes, it'll all be over soon." That was the last she would ever hear before she felt her eyes suddenly droop. He forced her to close them, pressing his hand to them as he felt her breathing slow down, her arms drop dead beside him as he laid her head on the thick dirt of the sand. His claws were stained and her dress was torn further. But he was still standing, much to the whooping cheer of the slavers all around him. He picked up his scissors and holstered them before picking up the girl's body, draping it across his shoulder opposite of the scissors. "AND WHAT A SHOW THERE BITCHES AND QUEERS, THE DINOSAUR WINS! LOOKS LIKE THIS KIDDY'S NOT COMIN' HOME TONIGHT! NOW, tell me mister James, whut will you do with your new priiiize!?" The crowd dropped silent waiting to hear his response. He felt the world's eyes stare at him as if awaiting for his judgement. He felt her still warm, feeling her body remain almost perfectly still. He didn't want them to inspect the body as he swallowed what decency he had left before groping her rear blatantly. "I'll say one thing...I always did like something warm and tight." He did all he could to suppress a shiver of disgust, seeing the slavers whoop and holler at his declaration of decadence, seeming to encourage it as the escorts soon reappeared with his carriage. The audience began to disperse, the men with white and black revolvers bringing him his subjects of four dead people, three men and one woman. "This family died yesterday night," said the man with the white gun. "Freshest we ever got...you really gonna fuck her?" "I will once you let me leave, now hurry up...she's getting cold." "Sheesh fine, caps please." "Those bodies better not be infected." "Naaah they had a suicide pact, fuckin' wasters tryin' to die like little bitches." "Yeah...fucking cowards am I right?" He handed over the full sack of bottlecaps before grimacing to himself, the raptor placing the girl's body on the pile hoping none of them caught diseases that the slavers didn't know about. But either way he trod out of the slave camp with yoke upon his back, hurrying on out of the sickening place before anyone knew what was up. Not that anyone had noticed him slipping the once half-filled syringe, now-emptied, into his satchel whilst victory had come showered with praise. He headed southwards soon as he left the gates, back towards the Rolling Hills Campground to give himself some time to recover. He sat up on a picnic table feeling hunger start to gnaw at him, feeling an urge that soon made him weak, somewhat more exhausted than usual after a good fight. Whether it was his mind or body that was exhausted he could not tell. He suddenly realised however what he just did, and that he had no endgame for his small rescue mission.

"What am I doing?" asked James to himself. "What-...what the hell am I doing? I couldn't...if I'm gonna get killed either way what's one more girl to me, why didn't...why didn't I just kill her? I just...god dammit, you can't even do this right you dumb shit, what's gonna happen now? She's gonna wake up, then Gruthar's gonna...eat her...and that's better how? I mean sure she won't be suffering in a slave camp not like he fucking told me what it was, what he'd think I'd object to this?! Fucking slave trading for FOOD?! The fuck's wrong with him?! ...but then I offered myself up for food...at least I offered, these dead fuckers never offered did they?!" Rubbing his head with both hands and a deep groan of contempt, he felt tormented by his decision, wondering on whether it had just been better to kill her at the arena and give her an honourable death, rather than hoping she would wake up as soon as they had left letting her run free. It was his idea in the first place, he didn't know how long the meds took but he hoped it was not long. Then he realised he had no idea how powerful it was, even moreso on a child. She could be out for hours, days even. He cursed himself deeply before taking up the yoke once again and headed east. He hoped he had enough time for the girl to wake up, wishing gratitudes upon whatever benevolent being had entrusted him with such helpful medication. But then he realised sunset would come eventually, and it would be a few hours yet but it would come nonertheless. He needed to get back soon, and the walk would be long for him. He hoped at the very least that she would wake up before nightfall. He shuddered at what he had said before about her, sickened by his false words but at the same time knowing it threw off their suspicions easily. "Then again...I'm not exactly good and noble am I? Bob knew that...that's why he tricked me...made me his little pawn for fun, knowing I would...just...god...I'm a fucking mess, I just...I can't even do this right, I couldn't even kill somebody right...I can't. No...that's just it I can't. I can't bring myself to...nnngh...what's wrong with me? Maybe...heh, I could have let her kill me, she had every reason to. Maybe...maybe I had a chance to just let her end me, give it a real eye for eye like being murdered by a kid, that'd be real poetic justice. ...then again, she'd probably just have died back there anyway. Wait..." He sat the carriage down against a stone pillar made of natural elements, hewn by wind and carved by storm breezes somewhere at the halfway point between the lair and the slave camp. An idea had come to him. "Maybe I don't have to keep walking. I could just wait...yeah...yeah sunset's not...that far but a good few hours yet right? Yeah...maybe...maybe she'll wake up. I hope she wakes up...girl who fights that well doesn't deserve a death like this...like me." Gently rolling the wheels until the girl was completely sheltered from the sun, he huddled up against the stone base waiting for the first stirrings of the girl in the blue dress. He hoped it would be enough time, maybe before he had to return that she would wake up and he wouldn't have to give another child over to the death that awaited him. He hoped that she would come to. It was the first thing he had hoped for in the past few days.