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Garret's Journey

A light breeze blew through the valley, or what used to be a valley in any case. These days it was more like a desert, with pockets of dead earth, ash, and dust strewn everywhere you looked. There were no trees, there were no shrubs, not even scraggly grass. Indeed, there didn't seem to be a single sign of life at all. This is how it had been for some time now, but eventually things tend to change.

A random patch of dead soil shifted and rattled around, as something pushed up against it from below. Rusted metal broke the surface and arced upwards, revealing a hatch of sorts to some long forgotten below-ground structure. All was silent again for a few moments, then a lone green snout poked out of the hole. Nostrils on the end of the scaly snout flared open while its owner sniffed the air, and quickly shut tight again. The air quality was poor, that much was certain. That unfortunately, was to be expected.

A large backpack was shoved up out of the hole in short order, as well as some random supplies and the like. Eventually a figure emerged, dragging its lanky frame up and onto the dirt. Already it was coughing, clearing its throat and rubbing at a bright red dewlap hanging in the usual place. It appeared to be bipedal Iguana, which was good considering that's exactly what it was. He, as it turns out, was wearing nothing more than a loose fitting coverall, with a hole cut in the back for a long reptilian tail.

The creature looked almost longingly back down into the hole, then gathered his supplies, and wandered off into the wastes. The door to whatever was below, he left open. Apparently nobody else was coming out. The lanky creature seemed to already be struggling under the weight of his bag and other supplies. Apparently he didn't have much choice however, and so he continued on into the desert. If his knowledge of the ancient skies were any use, it would likely be night soon. He knew he had to make at least some progress today, before setting up camp.

So the bipedal reptile just kept on putting one large clawed foot in-front of the other, and held onto his backpacks straps with clawed hands. He knew this wouldn't be easy, but it was struggle and grasp to what little life he had, or give up and die like all the others... And that just wasn't in his nature. So he kept on walking, for hours on end, looking around at his new world. It was definitely a big place, this, if a little lacking in scenery. Something or another loomed in the distance, piquing his interest. He shuffled off in that direction, hoping to at least find something or another to camp by for the evening.

Just as darkness started to fall, he found what he was looking for, and decided to make camp. It was a ruined building, or at least it used to be ruins. Now it was just a big pile of rubble. But rubble or not, it provided a space out of the wind, which was starting to get a little chilly. The Iguana let his bag drop off his shoulders with a sigh of relief, and stretched to get all the kinks out. Then he went to work putting up a rather space-aged looking tent, obviously something from a long time ago. It was big enough for him and guests, and provided more than enough room for his stuff. And it was really easy to put up too, seeing as it was self erecting.

Once it was out of its restrictive packaging, it literally blew itself back up to size, and that was that. It took mere minutes to put everything inside, and soon the weary reptile was safe and warm inside his portable shelter. A battery operated heating unit was soon turned on in the middle of the tent, allowing him to both warm up again, and heat up some rations. It wasn't the best food in the world, and he couldn't even identify what exactly it used to be, but it was hot. And seeing as he was hungry, it tasted fantastic.

As it became fully dark outside, he turned on a small reading light, and fished out a leather bound book from his belongings. Fishing out a writing implement, he hunkered down and began to scribble away inside...

"Journal entry, day 1.

And thus begins the adventures of Garret Greenscale, lone survivor of civil defence shelter #47-A. That doesn't exactly have a fancy ring to it. I have no idea how long exactly I'll wind up surviving up here, but anything is better than dying alone in the dark of that old shelter. No doubt I'm dying a little right now, just being out in this wasteland. Surely there's still lots of Radiation, and I have no way of measuring it. That's really what landed me in this situation, the Radiation. And boy, is it ever a long story. But I have nothing but time, so I might as well write it all down."

Garret stretched again and assumed a more comfortable pose, thumping his large tail around this way and that while he wrote. It was comforting, in a way, putting it all out there on paper. Even if nobody ever found this record. With a sigh, he kept on writing.

"I suppose anyone still alive likely knows what happened, or at least has a pretty good idea. The long and the short of it, was that we were all bitch slapped by a giant rock. We knew the asteroid was coming, but we just couldn't do anything about it. Not enough time or money had been thrown at the subject of space travel over the decades, and so our self-saving attempts were limited at best. We tried to send a ship out to the asteroid to do something about it, but it didn't get built in time. We tried firing all of our old nuclear missiles at the thing, but that didn't accomplish much.

In the end, the rock came crashing down anyways, and ended the world. As a bonus, the impact caused many nuclear and fusion power plants to explode, blanketing the world with radioactive fallout. What few people survived, did so underground in old civil defence shelters built during the last world war. They were never used, and were still in relatively good shape. But there weren't nearly enough to go around. I don't even know how many shelters there actually were in the world, but I know ours held 20 families. It was cramped living, but we made do. The trouble was, they weren't meant to last for decades. That, and like I mentioned above, the Radiation.

As everything on the surface died in the nuclear winter, more and more of the still running plants melted down, turning the surface of the planet into a very toxic wasteland indeed. I was born mere days before the world ended, and as a child we were already having problems with radiation seeping into our shelter. People got sick, people started to die, and over the years there was almost nobody left. My parents died when I was still a teenager, and by then there was only 10 of us. A few of us were still in good health however, and the lone surviving doctor began running tests while he still could.

It was determined that many of us were resistant to radiation, and could likely live a lot longer even with the toxic levels already building up in our shelter. The doc was right, and quite a few of us just kept on living for a few more years. At the end of it all, there were only 6 of us still left, and nobody wanted to leave the shelter. Supplies were low, systems were failing, and we'd likely all die in a few years, radiation or no radiation. While I planned to leave, the rest took the easy way out, and killed themselves. I was left all alone for weeks while I did what I could for the dead, gathered supplies, and studied up on whatever subjects I felt would be useful. The lights went off yesterday, and that's when I decided it was time to leave. So here I am, all alone in a nuclear wasteland. Despite the apparent radiation however, I feel fine. Gotta love genetics."

Garret continued scribbling notes about how he was visibly different from the others as well, what with his red dewlap while everyone else had a green one. Plus while theirs only puffed up when aroused, he could stretch his out at will. The doctors had long since identified it as a random mutation in his genetic code, probably unrelated to his radiation resistance. All it supplied was a little amusement, as he could puff up a big red ball under his head, and squeeze at it. It also tended to puff up on its own when he was spooked, or horny, much like the rest of his species. So, at least it functioned right in that respect.

He had it swollen up nice and big now, using it as a pillow to rest against as he wrote. Eventually he yawned, and decided that was enough journal writing for now. There would be a lot of opportunity to continue writing in the future. He turned off all of his little gadgets, set the heater to low, and crawled into a light weight sleeping bag for the night. He continued to use his puffed up dewlap as a pillow, as he'd always found it the most comfortable way to sleep.

The next day in the wastes beckoned, as did the next, and the next, and the next...

* * *

Days later, Garret was still walking. He really had no idea where he was going, and not much of a plan other than staying on the move. Some nights he slept in his tent out in the open, others he didn't bother with the tent, and instead found a culvert or small cave to hole up in. He had old maps of the area with him, but they were all but useless. There were no landmarks to work off of, no cities left, not even ruins. The roads were gone as well, which meant endless trudging over the sandy dirt. It was slow going, but he wasn't really in a hurry. He had food and water, and a water filter which could convert most sources into relatively clean drinking water. Out of practicality, he'd already begun collecting his... leavings for water scavenging. It was disgusting, but it could mean the difference between living or dying from dehydration. He opted for living.

From the maps, and a compass, he at least had one good idea on where to go. There was a river not far away on the map, which led out to the ocean on the eastern seaboard. There also used to be many towns along the way, which might still have enough left standing to provide something or another in the way of supplies. There might even be survivors. So, it was definitely worth looking into. One evening Garret found several destroyed buildings all piled up together, and even the slightest hint of old asphalt poking out of the dirt. It looked like sound shelter, so he set up his plus sized tent once more, up against part of a ruined wall. There was still some daylight, so the scaled critter decided to go out and have a look around.

He poked his snout into this and that, finding more and more destroyed rubble within broken down walls and the like. By pure luck, one of his foot-falls landed on something much harder than the dirt, and it made a clanging noise. He knelt down to brush away dirt and broken bits of concrete, and found a large metal hatch just sitting there all by itself. It was likely part of a cellar or shelter that used to be inside the buildings that stood here, before they were blown to bits. Carefully, he lifted up the latch and pulled the door upwards, revealing a dimly lit staircase. He had thought ahead to bring a light source with him, and promptly turned it on as he wandered on in to the dank basement.

There were shelves along one wall, stocked with caned goods and what looked like containers of water. Quite a lot was missing from the shelves, so either the place was poorly stocked, or it had already been raided a few times over the years. Either way, it didn't really matter. There was potentially usable supplies, and that left Garret delighted.

He continued to search around, finding dusty boxes filled with old blankets and clothing, which had long since rotted away. There were cots and bunks folded up against another wall, but their mattresses were just as rotten as the other fabrics. At the back of the shelter he found a small room equipped with a chemical toilet, which was still ready to go. All it needed was a little cleaning, and more fluids. There were likely tanks of the stuff somewhere down below. What really completed the picture was a small cache of medical equipment and even a radiation counter, which had a wind-up battery pack.

Garret decided he could use a rest from all the walking, and should just stay put for a while. He couldn't carry all the food and water, so he might as well use some of it up first before moving on. There was always the chance that the piles of rubble could shift and bury the hatch to the shelter, so he figured it was safest to stay up in his tent for now, until he could do some house work up top.

That night, lazing on his puffed up dewlap as always, he made another entry into his journal...

"Day 12,

I seem to have found a cache of supplies. I don't know if this was a public shelter, or a private one owned by some store-keeper or something of that nature. For all I know they were just using it as a pantry, and had some emergency supplies left over from the last big time of crisis. Either way, I think I'm going to stay here for a few days, and rest. I'm feeling better today, but boy was I ever tired after the first few days on foot. I think I'm getting used to it though. Every day, it gets a little easier."

"Day 13,

I've managed to get some of the old medical equipment working, and I've wound up the radiation counter. As I expected, the area is still very toxic with fallout. However, I don't seem to be building up much of a dose. As far as I can tell with my crude understanding of this equipment, I am absorbing the radiation, but my body is getting rid of it again, somehow. This is likely a part of the mutations the old doctor from my shelter was talking about. So I've got a funky dewlap, and I absorb radiation. What's next? Growing horns when I'm angry?"

"Day 15,

All the supplies here are irradiated, which might be why they've been left behind. But rads don't bother me any, or so it seems, so I've been helping myself. The canned goods are still perfectly edible, and the water is potable. I may have just hit the jackpot here. I sure could use a shower though. I feel stronger by the day, taking a break like this. Maybe I'll move on soon, once I figure out how to transport more of these supplies..."

It took days of poking around the ruins, but eventually Garret found something he could really use. It was an old push-cart, equipped with wide wheels made out of solid rubber. They weren't in the best of shape, but they were still holding together. A few simple modifications to the front of the cart made a push-bar for him to grab on to, and haul a larger load around. He could put his bag in the cart, and likely carry twice as much cargo as before. It wasn't the most pretty of arrangements, but it was definitely better than just staying put until the supplies ran out. Besides, he was feeling great and ready to hit the road again. In fact, he was feeling more than great, he felt amazing. It was curious, considering the situation he found himself in. But it was the truth, all the same. He felt strong and well rested all the time, even if he didn't sleep much. It was something to ponder while he walked.

In the morning on his twenty first day topside, he loaded up the cart with as much as he could carry, and resumed his journey East. He moved faster than he did before, even with the added cargo weight. He figured that having wheels was likely helping with the load, as all he had to do was continue adding forward momentum. The wide tires provided nice grip and weight distribution in the dirt and dust too, which definitely helped. That night he slept under the cart, rather than bothering with putting up the tent. There was just enough space for his sleeping bag, and the ground was sufficiently padded. As he went to remove his cover-all however, he noticed something strange.

He didn't remember fitting the garment so... snugly. It used to be somewhat loose on his frame, now it felt almost skin tight. The portion that covered his upper arms were tightly stretched against muscle that couldn't have been there before, and it was the same for his legs. If he didn't know better, he would have said he'd been putting on mass and size at an advanced rate. Upon further reflection however, he had been working out a lot, what with digging through rubble, walking who knows how many miles daily, and with a very heavy bag on his back. He was likely just getting into good shape for the first time in his life. And besides, shouldn't he be happy? After all, being a little more broad and strong in this world would likely be an advantage.

He decided to leave his cover-all on for the evening, and once more puffed up his dewlap into a comfortable pillow. Rumbling to himself as he cuddled up against the big red distended bit of leathery flesh, he soon drifted off into a very pleased slumber.

Once more, he entered into a state of fairly steady repetition. He got up, he packed up his things, and he started walking. At one point or another he'd stop to have food, have a drink, or use the facilities. Sometimes he'd stop at a pile of rubble and look around for things, sometimes he'd just keep going. Eventually he'd pack it in for the night, and enjoy a nice deep sleep during the dark hours. All the while he kept a close eye on his health, and continued physical development. After weeks on the road, Garret was definitely not looking like the lanky reptile that crawled out of a shelter some time back. He was ripped, to say the least, and had put on at least a foot in height. He measured himself nightly against the length of the cart, and had been scratching a chart of sorts into its metal sides. He definitely felt it as well, after each new inch introduced itself to his frame. He was usually sore after a nightly growth spurt, but the pain went away quickly.

He wondered if this had anything to do with all the radiation, and how his body was dealing with it. He had nothing to go on medically however, and could only continue to log his size and make guesses at his weight. After the first month it just became a fact of life, and by the second he didn't even notice much anymore. Pushing the cart had become trifling work at best, even with having it loaded up with even more supplies from more successful looting. At best guess, Garret was easily 7ft tall, and built like a titan. He took somewhat guilty pleasure in his body, and was always playing with himself on a nightly basis. It had become a ritual to pleasure himself manually before bed, making very large sticky puddles in his wake. Then he'd fall into a pleasant afterglow and relax on his puffed up dewlap, usually cuddling at it with a lewd expression. One evening he discovered that having his ruby red dewlap puffed up as far as it could go only increased his pleasure, as he'd cuddle and rub up against the thing as much as he could, while tugging on his length furiously with a free paw.

The release was always glorious.

It also likely led to him developing a bit of a fetish for big air-filled round things. And he had one that was built in, which was just awesome.

The huge, ripped, horny reptile kept up a steady pace, and eventually found what was left of the river heading east, towards the distant shores of the ocean. He'd get there eventually, but still wasn't in any hurry. One night he was digging around in yet another pile of rubble, when he heard sounds coming from the distance. It sounded like more rubble tumbling down here and there, but there was a glimmering hope in the back of his mind that it could be another survivor. He hadn't seen another living thing yet, and would be happy to even find some random lower life-form rooting through the garbage.

Quickly and quietly, Garret slunk over the rubble and had a look around, trying to spot the source of the noise. He soon found it, not too far off in the distance, and nearly wept. It was another lizard, like him, dressed in rags and busy rooting around in a pile of filth. The creature had little more than a small bag about its person, and was looking rather thin. Or perhaps that was just his mixed up judgement at work, seeing as he was as wide around as a barrel. He pondered how he should approach the stranger, as he didn't want to scare whomever it was off.

He decided on the direct approach, and carefully came down the rubble pile, not bothering to hide his approach. He obviously made enough noise, as the figure looked up in alarm and raised what looked like a weapon. It was probably a looted pistol, something Garret most definitely didn't want to get shot with. He held up his clawed hands and carefully advanced into the light of a camp fire, obviously set by the fellow traveller.

"Woah there! Put your weapon down, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just surprised to finally find another person out here."

The stranger kept the weapon trained on Garret, but didn't seem disposed to use it. Eventually Garret heard a sigh from the figure, and the weapon was lowered. He heard a somewhat weak voice call out to him.

"Alright, you can come over. But no funny business!"

Garret put his hands down and continued sauntering up to the figure, smiling all the while. Eventually they wound up standing before one another, Garret towering at least half a foot over this other critter, whom judging from a casual glance, was male. They stood there silently for a moment, then Garret stuck out a big meaty paw, and awaited the proper response. The two shook, and exchanged greetings, while the big fellow noted that the lanky guy was quite underfed. No doubt he'd had less luck finding food lately.

"Nice to meet you! The name is Garret, I'm from civil defence shelter #47-A. I'm new to these parts, and following the river to the coast. Yourself?"

The figure flipped a half-rotten old hood further back off his head, revealing a very dirty snout indeed. But that was to be expected, as there weren't exactly showers easily at hand.

"I'm Earl, and I guess I've been up here a lot longer than you have, big guy. I never made it into a civil defence shelter, or so I'm told. My family took shelter in a small bunker under their house, when I was still a hatchling. We didn't have much down there, and only managed to survive a year or so before we had to leave... I've been wandering alone for years. You must have just come out of your shelter."

Garret admitted that he'd only been on the surface for a few months.

The two chatted for a while, gradually warming to the other, before Garret excused himself to go get his supplies. Earl definitely looked amazed when the larger lizard came back hauling his over-loaded cart, and was more than happy to accept the food and water which was offered to him. He ate like he was half starved, and really was. He admitted to Garret after seconds that he'd not eaten for days now, and the last thing he ate was half a pack of dusty crackers.

The two made camp near the fire, and Garret put up his tent. There was more than enough room for two, so Earl was invited to come in and enjoy the extra shelter. He arched an eyeridge when Garret puffed up his dewlap and used it as a pillow, then broke into a grin.

"That looks comfortable. I wish mine did that. It only puffs up when, well... you know."

Garret nodded with a big smile on his face, rumbling quietly to himself as he cuddled up against his own bloated red sphere, squishing it this way and that. He felt a familiar sensation down below as he enjoyed the bloated sack of air, and decided he should probably not gross out his new companion on the first night. With the slightest twinge of regret, he let his dewlap deflate, and curled up in a ball to go to sleep. His arousal was obvious however, as the musky smells filled the tent, causing Earl to flare his nostrils wide with surprise. He looked over at the huge musclebound lizard, and softly chuckled to himself, thinking he'd found a real strange one this time. But he was obviously good at the business of survival, so he figured he'd keep him.

With that, Earl also curled up and went to sleep. There would be much to do in the morning, as there always was when forming a new partnership.

* * *

"Day 54,

Earl proposed a partnership, which is apparently a very serious thing on the surface these days. I came out of my hole expecting to find nothing left, and there's apparently a crude civilization around what's left of the continent. One of the big laws of the land, involves partners. Namely, if you partner up with somebody, you share everything. Food, water, shelter, whatever. If you find it, it belongs to your partner too. There can be as many people in a partnership as you want, but usually its just 2 or 3 individuals. Going back on your word within a partnership will earn you a black mark in no time, and you'll be on your own again. Folks treat is very seriously.

I was encouraged to think about it for a while, and I wound up sleeping on it. In the end I figured sharing my stuff was a small price to pay for keeping Earl around, especially seeing as I intended on sharing my goods anyways. There was something to be said for safety in numbers. So that was that, we shook on it, and carried on. I let Earl ride in the cart for a few days, because he was quite weak and likely sick from malnutrition. A few days is all it took though, and soon he was walking along beside me, or helping to pull the cart. He finally started to fill out again, which was a relief. Seriously, if that lizard was any thinner, I could have snapped him in half like a twig."

The two travelled together, ate together, talked together, and slept together. Neither of them had been raised with any prudish behaviour, which suited them well. Sleeping in close proximity only made sense in such a situation, as it helped preserve body heat. Plus there was a psychological benefit of having a warm body close by that cared about your continued survival.

Garret found it nice not to be alone anymore.

One evening the big burly reptile was standing not too far away from their camp, enjoying his stretched out dewlap and tugging on his length rather lustily. It had been a few days now since he'd enjoyed his evening self-pleasuring, and he was looking forwards to some quality time with his Iguana Sausage. He didn't expect Earl to come out of the darkness, naked and apparently happy to see Garret in more than one way.

As he watched, Earl's dewlap puffed up into a big emerald ball, and wobbled there against his chest as he walked forwards. This only caused Garrets ruby red sphere to stretch out even larger, from the mutual arousal. Earl walked right up to the larger lizard, and rubbed up against his side, briefly squeaking their spherical dewlaps together. The effect was electric in both parties, only increasing their obvious arousal. Earl leaned his frill-lined head up against his larger friends shoulder, and let out a happy sigh.

"Partners can do more than just share supplies, you know. There's something to be said for sharing amusement as well, in one form or another."

Garret needed no further invitation. In no time he had his rather plus-sized lizard length lodged deeply up his friends tail vent, and was busy pounding away. Both their dewlaps squeaked and groaned against their chins and chests, as they went through the motion of mating. Garret hadn't had much in the way of relations before this, and had only once before slept with another male, but he knew what to do all the same. Earl meanwhile had been aching for a good filling, and was having the time of his life. He knew Garret was different, both in size and temperament. This was definitely going to be an interesting partnership.

Garret slid his length in and out of the opening provided, while Earl gasped and all too soon released his sticky load onto the ground before them both. The larger fellow meanwhile hissed and hugged around Earl's middle tightly, as he went off like a cannon. Earl sucked in air with surprise as he felt his insides gurgle and churn, and looked down to see his taut belly stretching out like a second dewlap. It sloshed and blorped as it filled, making him look like a female heavy with eggs in no time flat. Garret apparently had a lot to give, as he filled his friend with litre after litre of his potent goopy seed. Eventually he was spent, and the two collapsed into a heap, huffing and laughing in the afterglow.

That night they slept entwined together, both managing to use Garrets plus sized dewlap as a pillow. Earl was still quite bloated, and would likely stay that way for some time unless he let it all drain off. It was something to worry about later. For the time being, they both cuddled up tight, content with the company of one another, all wrapped up tight under Garrets un-zipped sleeping bag.

The two enjoyed many such nights together, whenever the mood struck them. Earl wound up staying all bloated and sloshy almost on a full time basis, and stated that he rather liked being so round. This was fine by Garret, as it gave him yet another big round thing to enjoy. Earl meanwhile was noticing his friend continue to put on more muscle mass, to the point of clothing failure. One day while they were digging in ruins, they both heard a tearing sound. Garret raised his arms up to try and see where it was coming from, and things only got worse. Just a little bit of flexing was shredding his already worn and abused cover-all, and it rapidly failed all together. In short order he was wearing nothing but scraps above the waist. Shrugging, he did the practical thing, and sliced the shreds off until he was just wearing pants.

Upon looking at the damage his legs were doing, he completed the job and converted his formerly skin-tight outfit into a tight fitting pair of shorts. He made a mental note to try and find something else to wear at some point, especially if it started to get cold. Earl admitted he didn't mind getting to stare at such a hunky lizard all day long, which only made Garret flex and show himself off whenever he got the chance.

The big guy eventually told Earl about his odd mutations, namely the dewlap thing, and how his body apparently just dealt with the Radiation. He assumed Earl had similar resistances, else he would likely have died by now. Garret had long since calculated any any normal lizard on the surface would have likely gotten a fatal dose of rads within a month. That they were both alive, said quite a lot. Earl agreed and admitted that he'd long since figured he must have some kind of immunity to it, because it just didn't seem to do anything. The wind-up radiation counter proudly proclaimed that both of them were radiation free, even though there was a somewhat toxic background count all around them.

Garret mentioned that he'd been growing larger and bulkier ever since he left the shelter, which was likely a side effect to the rads. So far it didn't seem to be a bad thing, and neither of them complained. Earl decided to show off a little trick he'd picked up, after years on the surface. He looked over at a bunch of lumber they had collected for a camp fire, and suddenly belched a moderate sized ball of flame at it. It stuck and ignited, whipping up into a good sized fire rather quickly. Garret was somewhat alarmed, but then laughed and gave Earl a pat on the shoulder.

"Say, that's quite the trick! I guess we won't have to waste lighter fluid anymore. When did you figure out how to do that? And is it another mutation?"

Earl shrugged, and tried to think back through his memory.

"It started after a few months of living on the surface, same as with you and your bigness. I guess it might be related to the radiation, and mutations. I spoke to a doctor once about it, years back. He thinks all the survivors on the surface are mutants, and we're all rapidly going through a sort of forced evolution. I'm not the only lizard I've met who can belch flames, and you're not the only one I've met who was oversized."

Garret digested this, and wondered what else might pop up as time went by. It was possible that he might develop the flame-breath as well, and Earl might enlarge and bulk up. But neither of them were genetics experts, so they tabled the matter. Earl meanwhile amused himself by playing with Garrets back spines, which had a tendency to stick out more now that the restrictive clothing wasn't in the way anymore. The tickling was taken as foreplay, and soon Earl was getting filled up even larger with lizard seed.

Afterwards Earl sat his plumped up and heavy hide down on Garrets chest, and rubbed at his dewlap. This sent the larger lizards eyes rolling up into the back of his head, and made the ruby red ball swell up even larger still. Garret most definitely enjoyed the fetish filled massage on such a delicate part of his anatomy, and laid there in a state of bliss for the rest of the evening. They fell asleep together, the now rather fat looking form of Earl curled up happily atop his plus sized friend, using the dewlap as a body pillow. Garret decided to let him be, and went to sleep there on his back, spines digging into the ground somewhat. As an afterthought, he entwined his thick tail up with that of his friends, and both rumbled softly to themselves as they slept.

It was great to have a partner, in multiple senses of the word.

* * *

It was late one afternoon when the duo found themselves standing on a dusty hillside, looking out over endless ocean. To their left was a river, busy splashing questionably clean water out of its mouth. The ocean had seen better days, that much was clear. There weren't many waves, the water looked dirty close to the shore, and there didn't seem to be much in the way of sea life.

It was likely not the most habitable of places, minus what was off to their right. The two were busy staring off in that direction in short order, rubbing their chins in thought. It looked like there was a whole town there, though it was in an advanced state of decay. Though with so much rubble, there was sure to be something of value buried inside it all, or even an emergency shelter. Most old cities above the size of a village tended to have at least one old civil defence shelter kicking around from decades prior.

Garret nodded his big head in thought, and glanced over at a relatively flat patch of dirt near the outskirts of the ruins.

"Well, this is definitely better than finding nothing at all out here. What say we set up camp over there by the ruins, and see what we can find? We've still got lots of supplies... I bet we could spend a few days here."

Earl nodded, resting his arms on his rather ample mid-section in thought. He'd never bothered draining himself after multiple high-pressure stuffing sessions, and wound up putting on quite a deal of weight as a result. It didn't bother him though, and Garret sure liked his squishy friend. Earl was even starting to put on more muscle mass, which was likely from helping to push the heavy cart for weeks on end. He was still shorter than Garret, so the pair were reasonably certain there had been no further radiation fuelled mutations... yet, anyways.

"Sounds like a plan, Garret. I wouldn't mind staying put for a few days anyways. We could both use the rest."

The two turned and went back to their cart, and dragged it along down the hillside, towards the clear patch near the ruins. At least setting up camp was still easy. Garret tossed out the self-erecting tent, and Earl put their sleeping bag, and a few other items inside. They had managed to scavenge a few blankets during their trip, which were fortunately sealed in plastic. As a result, they were warm and dry, and still in good condition. They also had some big cinder blocks and various slabs of metal they kept in the cart, which made a very good table and chairs when stacked together. It wasn't pretty, but it was certainly more civilized than just eating on the ground.

With some daylight left, the two left their camp and went to the nearby border of the ruins, and began digging around. Most of the outside layer was just garbage, broken chunks of cement and plaster, and other such detritus. It was past the first foot or two that you'd start finding anything intact, or at least partially usable. The two didn't find much of anything right off the bat, but there was the odd thing that could be usable. Several bricks were still intact, as well as various blocks, and other such items. And who knew when you might need such a thing? They took a few armloads of swag back to camp, and plopped it all in a pile near the tent.

It was getting dark, so they decided not to bother with a second trip that evening. Earl had gathered some broken up wood scraps that would burn nicely, and piled them up near their table. Huffing in a big chest-stretching gout of air, he belched out a ball of fire, and lit the wood ablaze rather expertly. It was handy having a living lighter around, that much was sure. Garret busied himself heating up some canned goods, and Earl set the table. This involved little more than fetching out two empty cans to be used as glasses, and filling them up with water. The water was room temperature, but at least their canned beans were fire-warmed. They shared a tin of preserved fruit for dinner, and eventually retired to the tent for the night.

As was the case these days, they slept cuddled up together, in a nest of warm blankets, pillowed on Garret's ever useful dewlap. It was a comfortable life they had, with all the little enjoyments here and there. Sure they had to constantly dig up ruins to stay fed, but it was better than nothing. Besides, it really was the only game in town. Garret certainly thought it was better than dying alone in an abandoned shelter. Besides, he'd found a great friend in Earl.

Bright and early the next morning, the two got up, and decided to have another crack at the ruins. They stayed within sight of their camp, just in-case somebody else happened to show up, and help themselves to their hard earned goods. It hadn't happened yet, but Earl had told many the tale of nearly getting robbed by sneaky figures in the night, or even the day. Not everyone was eager to work together, after all. They continued digging up trash, useless garbage, and broken things, plus the odd intact brick or block. They both wondered if they'd have a use for any of what they'd found so far, but the matter was kept silent for now. More than once they'd found large stacks of potentially useful things, and had to leave it behind because there was only so much room in the cart.

Eventually they had a huge pile of bricks, another sizable pile of fairly usable cinder blocks, and had even started unearthing bags of cement. Garret sat before the pile of swag one morning, tail thumping back and forth in thought, as he went through his own memory. He'd read many helpful books back in his old shelter, and one of them was about building old fallout shelters. Most of them were little more than holes dug in the earth, followed by lining the walls with bricks and the like, and filling it all in with concrete. Perhaps they could skip the hole part, and just build surface structures.

With Earl still digging around in the ruins, Garret got to work. Using a metal bar he'd found in the rubble, he began to draw lines in the dirt, trying to keep them as straight as possible. His measurements were crude, but sound, especially when he started counting off lengths by the size of a cinder block. He placed blocks down, and gently pressed them into the soft dirt a ways with his feet, marking off an area 20ft square, or there about. Then he fetched out several scrap buckets from the cart, and using water from the river, began mixing up batches of concrete. It took a while, but he soon filled the interior of the bricked off area with fresh concrete, right up to the level. He filled the inside of the bricks themselves for good measure, hoping they'd stay put long enough to help with his little project.

Earl came back sometime later, to find a very happy Garret walking along the outside of his improvised foundation, checking this and that, making sure it all set right.

"Garret, what the hell are you up to now?"

Earl was amused to say the least, as he watched his friends continued antics. Garret didn't mind in the least however, and walked over to plop a thick arm over Earl's shoulders, and wave the other hand around in a grand gesture.

"What you see here, my friend, is the start of some real progress. We're going to be staying here for a while, right? Well I'm going to try and build something, just for the hell of it. Who knows, maybe it will stay upright, and wind up being useful."

Earl shrugged and looked over the still drying improvised foundation, noting that it was at least quite flat and reasonably on the level.

"Well, whatever keeps you happy. I'm going to go back and scrounge around some more, you coming?"

Garret went along, as there was nothing more to do until all the concrete dried. They lucked out and found a bunch of rusted sheet metal all stacked up in the forgotten ruins of what appeared to be a factory, and busied themselves hauling it all out of there. The metal would certainly be usable somewhere, and worst case they could try to turn it into other things. Garret thought it would be useful in his building attempt, and wound up stacking it all with the rest of the supplies.

They spent many such days around the ruins, with Garret puttering away at masonry, and Earl looking around for things. As the brick walls of the structure started to take shape, Earl took an interest and decided to help out. He'd never done any construction before, but neither had Garret. With a little instruction, and some brain storming, they both figured out what to do, and even sketched out some additional drawings in the dirt.

They built the walls 10ft high or so, giving more than enough headroom. They also managed to create small windows on two sides, and left a big yawning doorway on the third. The west-facing wall was left windowless, as Garret felt they might add on to the building later, if they wound up staying. The roof was crossed with precious steel beams also looted from the wastes, which were then bricked off, and covered in the rusty sheet metal. Finally Garret managed to cover the exposed metal surface with a thin layer of concrete, and let it dry in the warm sun. The result was what looked like a small warehouse, which was poorly lit, and even had a somewhat level floor. But to the duo, it was a palace.

The walls were thick, and seemed to be rather sturdy. More concrete held all the layers of brick and block together, producing something that likely could have survived a moderate earthquake, and certainly would resist storms. They made doors out of sheet metal and wood scraps, which could be shoved into the hole from the inside or out, and be held in place by spare cinder blocks leaning up against them. It was all quite crude, but it certainly got the job done. And despite the hard concrete floor, it was actually more roomy than the tent.

Earl managed to wrap up some of their blankets with old plastic and other such goodies, and made a soft pad to sleep on. That night they broke camp, and packed everything into the brick building. It was warm and dry inside, and the two felt quite secure cuddled up together in the dark. It was certainly better than a tent and some dirt to sleep on, that was for sure. As they drifted off to sleep, it was agreed that perhaps they'd stay longer, maybe even make a home for themselves. They could always pack up and leave again later, maybe head south if supplies proved difficult to obtain. For now though, they had a home, and that was good enough.

Earl licked Garret on the back of the head, and cuddled his fat belly up tighter to his titan-like friend.

"I must admit, you did good with this place."

Garret rumbled and thumped his tail around, hugging up his pudgy friend quite contently.

"Don't forget, you helped too. But thanks all the same. I hope to do even better next time, if we wind up staying. I bet I could add a room or two to this thing..."

They talked late into the night, before eventually nodding off entirely. Things were looking up!

* * *

Weeks later, things were looking up for the little colony of two. Earl had been busy digging up all manner of useful scrap material, food, equipment, supplies, and anything else he could get his pudgy paws on. Garret meanwhile had been building, in between helping with this and that around camp. The single garage like dwelling had since expanded into a 3 room dwelling, with functional doors and windows. There was no glass to be had, but storm shutters did the trick. The two had even met another wandering soul, whom apparently came from a trading post quite some distance away down the coast.

They let the wandering reptile stay for a few days, then he went back on his way down south. No doubt to spread the news that there was something happening up north a ways. From what the duo had been told, the trading post down south was little more than tents and people squatting in holes, but it did bring in business.

That was one of the reasons Garret decided to beef up the doors on their dwellings. The last thing they wanted was to have somebody just walk in during the night. The two had many ideas on what to try and set up next, from running water to generating power, and even farming. They had found dried seeds for various plants kicking around the ruins, and Earl was eager to see if they could be grown. They had supplies to spare, but things would be much more stable if they could make some food, rather than just find it all the time.

After 2 solid months of staying in one place, another visitor showed up. It was a fairly well built reptile, whom looked much like Earl minus the big belly. He informed the duo that he'd heard of the colony that was getting started, and wanted to join it. Anything was better than just hanging around the wastes, waiting to starve to death. Garret and Earl spoke about it for a few minutes, and realized that they might just be starting something quite big. They agreed to let the newcomer in, and soon Earl had somebody else to help dig through the ruins.

Time passed quickly for all involved, and things practically changed by the day. Garret managed to find the parts to make a wind turbine, and soon the small gathering of reptiles were raising it up high on a tower made of scrap metal. More visitors kept coming and electing to stay, and before the year was out, there were a dozen reptiles living in the improvised colony. Garret had all the help he needed to build more brick dwellings, and soon wound up with a few simple bunkhouses all lined up with the Garage and attached house. It was very simple and very rustic, but nobody complained. With the help of so many other bodies, they soon rebuilt one of the old water pumps from the ruined city, and moved it into town to pump and clean river water. When every dwelling had running water and electric lights, they agreed that they really had rebuilt a little slice of civilization.

All of the reptiles present showed signs of mutation, and all eventually ran the gauntlet from 8-10ft in height, and were generally built like strong-men of the old world. Earl grew into his body quite a bit along with everyone else, and soon treated Garret to many the sloshy filling whenever they had time. It didn't take long for there to be two rather fat and buff lizards around town.

Garret found that he rather liked having such a big gut, and much like Earl, decided to keep it all in and stay fat. This suited them both fine!

Late one night, Garret sat down at a little desk he'd made inside his home, and fished out his old journal. He'd not had time to write in it for months, and decided now was a good a time as any.

"Day... who knows?

I've honestly lost track of the time. I believe its nearing the end of my first year on the surface, and we've definitely accomplished a lot. What began as a partnership of survival between Earl and myself, has bloomed into a village full of relatively like minded individuals. We have running water, we have power, and we have enough warm bodies to keep raiding the ruins all around the area for more food and supplies. Any day now we're going to hopefully see some results from the farming project, which Earl took over and made his baby.

He got some help making a greenhouse of sorts, and spent quite a lot of time finding dirt that was hopefully clean enough to grow crops in. While we all seem fairly immune to the poisonous effects of the radiation, plant life is likely still going to be affected. I suppose only time will tell at this point. Somebody came into town yesterday with an old vehicle of all things, still in working order. It was about ready to fall apart, but I think we've got the scrap to help keep it going. I've always wanted to drive a vehicle!"

Garret made a point of writing stuff down again, especially if anything interesting happened. Time continued to pass for the little village, which continued to grow. The trampling of many feet wound up making a single dirt road in the middle of town, with buildings on either side. That combined with the multiple wind turbines providing power, earned the community the title of Windy Lane. A full two-dozen plus sized lizards now called the village home, and the group fortunately had some females as well. Most of them were already with eggs, and the one or two remaining ladies were doing their best to get knocked up and continue the species. Despite their close relationship, Garret and Earl had most definitely done their part in contributing to the gene pool. It would be some time before they'd have to worry about small mouths to feed, which was fortunate.

The farming project wasn't working out so well, producing only scraggly little plants that could barely spit out a few more seeds for future plantings. They were still dependant on raiding the ruins of the old world for food, which was becoming harder and harder to find. The use of their rebuilt truck sped things up a tad, as scavengers could head over to ruins out of normal walking distance, and make it back quickly. Still, everyone knew digging around in the rubble would only feed them for so long.

"03/15/2112"

Well, we at least have a better idea of date and time, ever since one of the scavengers found a functional clock in the ruins. It appears to be one of the old atomic clocks that we used to have in the civil defence shelters, though a little more advanced. Its quite basic, seems self powered via nuclear battery, and has no moving parts. While knowing dates and times aren't really important to us at the moment, its still something nice to have. We decided to keep the unit attached to one of the central wind-turbine towers, so everyone could see it. If nothing else, its something bright and shiny to look at. Our most recent building project was just completed the other day, and its definitely a hit.

A big stone lined pit was dug off to one side of the village, and a bunch of old electric hot water heaters were chained together nearby. The result was a constantly running warm pool of water, that anyone could hop into and enjoy. Barely anyone had bathed much in recent memory, so it was quite welcome to finally get all the dirt off. Everyone certainly had much brighter scales after the system was finished. It doesn't matter what time of night it is, you can usually find somebody in the pool enjoying themselves.

I should take Earl there sometime, and perhaps have some fun with the water hoses..."

It was the middle of summer when one of the long distance scavenger parties came back from far to the south, with quite an interesting report. Garret was busy in his house, seeing how much water could be pumped into Earl when a messenger knocked on the front door, and came on in. No comment was made upon seeing the rather bloated lizard still swelling on the ground, panting and making quite the sticky mess on the floor. Garret smiled at the messenger, and almost asked if he wanted in on the fun.

"Hello there, did you need something?"

The younger fellow blushed somewhat, barely able to take his eyes of Earl's swelling body. Once Garret cleared his throat, the messenger averted his eyes a bit, and spoke up.

"Yes, hello sir! I was sent to tell you that the supply mission is back, and that we found something you might be interested in. The party is out cleaning up in the public bath. Join us whenever you'd like, and we'll tell you all about it."

With another glance at Earl, the obviously aroused messenger scampered off, likely to take care of business. Garret snickered and turned his attention back to his friend and mate, whom was still busy slowly swelling up on the ground, leaning against a very round and sloshy belly. Garret felt his ruby red dewlap puff up all on its own from the sight, which was soon joined by another swelling part of his anatomy. Still, he supposed he had a job to do. He didn't like it all that much, but the village had named him Mayor behind his back. So, he was in charge. Waggling his large tail around, he threw a wink at his expanding lover.

"Duty calls. I trust you'll not go anywhere for a while? I'll be back quick, I swear."

Earl gasped as he went off like a cannon once more, making even more of a sticky puddle against the rear of his bloat. Smirking at Garret, he continued to lay there and slowly puff up larger.

"You're evil, you know that? Hurry back! Its your turn with the pumps soon, slim."

Garret laughed and patted his rather ample belly as he walked out the door, not caring that his arousal stuck out for all the world to see. If anyone cared about his open horny nature, nobody bothered to make comment. He found the scavenger party relaxing in the warm waters of the public bath, and slid in to the waters to join them. They all waved and greeted him warmly, obviously pleased with themselves.

"Hey boss! You wouldn't believe what we found, during the last leg of our trip. We were digging in the ruins, and found an old military base by the looks of things. We're fairly certain we found a missile silo and everything. Its crazy down there! The beauty part, was all the supplies. There's enough food and water to keep us going for years."

That was good news indeed! Garret smiled and shook their hands in thanks, adding the odd hug and scritch for good measure. He wasn't sure what to make of there being a missile silo, but all the supplies were most definitely a good thing. Perhaps they didn't have to worry quite as much anymore. He hadn't told anyone, but they were usually quite low on food. It had only been convenient timing on the supply runs over the past few months that kept the citizens from going without regular meals.

He let the salvage team know that they should rest up for a day or two while everyone else distributed supplies, then he'd be joining them on the next run down south, to check out this facility for himself. With that, he went back to his home, and found a much bigger and more taut Earl wriggling there, looking like he was about to burst.

Garret's dewlap fwoomped up huge against his neck and chest, and the horny reptile advanced on his swollen friend to complete their fun and games. The hose was turned off and removed from the tail-vent of Earl, and soon replaced by a very large and very turgid Iguana sausage, supplied by Garret. Earl howled at the additional stuffing, and said he felt like he was going to burst as Garret's sticky load was added to his bloat.

The two slept on the floor that night, Earl being too big to move, and Garret wanting to cuddle up to that huge bloated gut for as long as he could. Theirs was a great relationship, filled to the bursting point with mutual adoration.

The next morning Garret and Earl said goodbye for the time being, with Earl doing his best to deflate himself back down to a mobile state. They exchanged nuzzles and various smooches on the snout, then Garret was up in the truck with the rest of the salvage team, and off into the distance. Earl made a mental note to bloat his lover up to huge proportions when he came back, weather he liked it or not. Why not share a good thing?

Days later, the team arrived at the ruins in question, and Garret was soon amazed by what they had found. There was indeed a facility of sorts underground, with more than one silo upon further inspection, and even advanced living quarters. It looked like a very modern defence shelter, with amenities far in advance of the stuff they'd managed to cobble together in Windy Lane. There was no indication of why it wasn't in use, or even what it was doing here. But they had many corridors to poke their snouts into, and many rooms to explore.

The team split up and looked around just about everywhere, before locating a central control room for the whole place. It was filled with computers and various instruments, and even had an active power source beating away somewhere far below. Garret remembered how to navigate around old computers thanks to his time in the shelter, plus having read many books on the subject of computing in general. He found old daily logs, notes about what this place even was, and finally emergency notices dated some decades back. A picture began to form, as he read through the old documentation.

The place had been fully staffed, fully operational, and ready for just about anything. They weren't expecting the hell that was unleashed on the planet so many years before, and the radiation that seeped into the structure from above. Its occupants were forced to abandon it, less they die from radiation poisoning. They never came back either, which was why there was still so many things still sitting around, ready to be used by the citizens of Windy Lane. Garret sent most of the party back with a truck load of supplies, and continued digging around, learning more and more about this ancient structure.

Soon it was learned that this wasn't a military base at all, and the silos didn't contain missiles. They contained rockets, made for launching cargo and crew up into space. This was one of the many control centres and central storage facilities for the old space program, before everything was destroyed. It was built underground simply to preserve local nature and beauty, and had once been topped with lots of green foliage. Now it was simply another underground bunker topped with dead ash-filled dirt like everywhere else.

An inventory of supplies and equipment soon proved there was enough space here for everyone living in the town. Not only that, they'd likely be far more comfortable too. Plans began to form in Garrets head, even as the silos were opened, revealing fully equipped passenger rockets just sitting there in their moorings, waiting for a launch that was decades overdue. A second functional passenger vehicle was found in the hangars of the huge facility, and Garret sent it and a few more of the salvage team back home again, with the good news.

He also sent instructions. Everyone was to pack their things, and move down to the facility. It would mean abandoning the home they had built, but he hoped they would understand. Everyone would likely live longer if they stayed in this place, with its stockpile of food and water, plus medical supplies and ample amenities. It would take some time to get everyone down here, but it would get done, he knew that for a fact.

Things were definitely looking up, for the little collection of wasteland survivors.

* * *

With a project on the brain, time seemed to just speed on by for Garret, and many of the others. For everyone else, it was business as usual. They dug around for supplies while they still lived in Windy Lane, or got trucked down to what was fast becoming their new home. People complained at first, of course, what with not wanting to give up what they had all spent so much time and effort putting together from the ruins. But after a few days of warm beds, hot showers, and fresh cooked meals, they grew to love the huge facility.

There was a big kitchen equipped with still functional deep freezes, and even some formerly prototype stasis units. When the fields were dropped, curious lizards found cuts of meat and fruit, which were still as fresh as the day they were put inside. Rations were increased, and everyone ate well, glutting themselves at times while they were at it. Earl arrived with one of the truck-loads of migrants, carrying a few items from the old house he felt would be nice to keep. The first thing he did was question Garrets decision to move down here. The second thing he did was have sex with him in the shower, making good use of the attached water wands for added swelling fun, too. Garret didn't mind either situation one bit.

It took the better part of two weeks, but the last Windy Lane citizen was evacuated, and they left their village deserted. If there was anyone else out in the wastes, they could make use of it next. The people were soon assigned new jobs and duties, as they hardly needed to dig around ruins for their next meal anymore. Even with their over-eating, there was likely enough food on hand to keep the few-dozen mouths fed for years. Garret didn't want them staying there that long.

After giving everyone a few days to settle in, he arranged a feast for all present, followed by a brief announcement. He told everyone what this facility was for, about the launching craft still on standby in the silos, and some new information he'd only just stumbled upon.

In addition to a fully functional space station still in orbit, there was a deep space craft docked there just waiting to be used. According to the logs, it had been waiting to carry another load of colonists to Mars, which was still a limited colony back before the great disaster. There had been no communications received since the world ended, likely because there was no-longer anyone in orbit. Old computer records indicated that what limited crew were present on the station, came back down after several months of no-contact, to hopefully try and survive on the surface. It was clear they never made it.

Garret let everyone soak in all this new information for a minute, then laid out the plain he had in mind.

"You see, there's still a colony ship up there, just waiting to be used. All the history books I read as a child said those things were largely automated, so they didn't have to send highly skilled pilots and scientists to what was then just a developing farming colony. So here's what I propose... We learn what we can about how these launch vehicles work, board them, and blast off to the station. Once we're there, we pack whatever supplies we can, and take the colony ship to Mars!"

He ended with a big grin, but only met blank stares. A few people cleared their throats, and the rest wound up grumbling about how that all seemed rather excessive. One of the former long-range scouts spoke up, waving a clawed hand around for effect.

"But Garret, why should we leave? We have everything we need right here. Heck, we probably won't have to go scavenging for years."

Garret shook his head and sighed, having expected such counter-arguments.

"That's just it though. In a few years, we're back to digging in the dirt for old canned goods. Then what? We move somewhere else? Go even further out in the wastes to try and feed ourselves? We'll all starve to death at that rate. This planet is DEAD. We need to get the hell off it if we're going to stay alive."

Some nodded at that, while others were still unconvinced. The meeting eventually broke down into many smaller conversations, and wrapped up entirely for the night. The matter was tabled for now. Still, with not much else better to do, everyone soon found themselves at a computer, reading about the world gone by. The idea of blasting off to a potentially better world was fantastic, but it was also infectious. The old history made one point quite clear, namely that Mars had become self sufficient a year or two before the disaster that wiped out Terran civilization.

It seemed entirely likely that the Mars colony was still there, and likely still doing just fine for itself. There was the question of why there had been no recorded communication from the colony for all these years, but the answer to that was likely in orbit. The signals would have been directed at the space station, then re-directed back down to communication facilities. It was possible that the departing crew and simply turned everything off on their way out the door.

Garret spent his time reading, learning, and enjoying various romantic encounters with both Earl, and other interested parties. They weren't the only two that enjoyed a kinky time in the shower, or with a water hose, or with a puffed up dewlap. They had plenty of time to enjoy themselves now that they weren't so busy with the business of survival, and they made good use of it. Garret hoped they could all get off planet before long, as the females would likely start laying eggs soon.

He felt it would be best if the eggs were kept outside such an irradiated environment. There was no telling if they would be born with the immunities of the adults, or with crippling or even fatal deformities. He soon learned that the orbital launch vehicles all had robot pilots, which could take the group to various docking ports on the space station high above. There was enough cargo space on all the ships to launch everyone present, plus quite a deal of food and water. It was a long-shot at best, but it was likely the best chance they had.

Gradually, everyone came to accept that fact. As more people got on-board with the plan, they encouraged others to do the same. Soon herd mentality kicked in, and all present decided to go for it. All too soon, it was time to put their plan into action.

Weeks later, they had packed the orbital vehicles to the gills with supplies, and themselves, careful to stay within operational weight limits. They had three launch vehicles, which had more than enough space for their crew of soon-to-be colonists. Garret travelled from one silo to the next, making sure all the systems were good to go, before sealing himself in with the rest of the lizards. On queue, automated timers opened the silo doors, and ignited the powerful rocket motors.

If anyone was left on the surface of Terra, they might have seen three bright lights take off at an angle, and head for high orbit. The collection of reptiles were pressed uncomfortably into their launch pads for several minutes, before the acceleration let off, and they entered free fall. Lucky for them the lot had found a supply of medication to prevent upset stomachs during weightlessness, thus nobody was drop sick.

Their craft detached from the boosters on queue, and continued speeding along on pre-programmed flight paths. Hours later, all three carefully approached and docked with the huge orbiting space station. The whole mission went off without a hitch, which was a credit to the long dead scientists buried in the ash far below. When the craft docked, the station turned itself back on again, recycling air, turning on lights, and even brewing coffee in the station commanders quarters. It was somewhat stale coffee, but it was hot and enjoyed by all that bothered to fetch cup.

The group spent a few days leisurely packing the larger colony ship with their bounty of supplies, finding quite a lot of other cargo already stored for the trip that never happened. There was farming equipment, seed, small machines, solar power cells, and even a few advanced wind turbines. Everything a developing colony needed to advance technologically. Still, there was more than enough space for all the extra food and water, plus room to spare for the colonists. The ship had been designed to hold 100 people, and was roomy with the 43 plus-sized mutant lizards currently occupying its holds.

Everyone was quite pleased with the gravity plating that existed in the station, and in certain parts of the colony ship. They didn't have to worry about being sick to their stomachs in micro gravity, during the weeks they'd be in transit from one planet to the other. As an afterthought, Garret and a few others looked around the command room of the station, and managed to turn on all the communication equipment once more. As if on queue, a flood of data started pouring forth onto computer screens, and audio blared forth from the master speakers.

"Hello! Hello?!? Just what is happening over there? This is Mars Colony, calling Terra Station Prime. I repeat, Mars Colony calling Terra Station Prime. We lost contact with your data feed, and haven't heard anything in days. Please respond!"

It was apparently an automated recording, as the message repeated after a few minutes. Earl and the others looked to Garret, then looked to the broadcast panel in the middle of the room. Garret sighed and picked up the microphone with one plus sized clawed hand, and depressed the button to reply. He cleared his throat, and did his best.

"Hello? This is Terra Station Prime, sort of. Is there anyone still there?"

Everyone sat and waited, enjoying the odd snack and hot beverages. They all knew there was the speed of light delay between the stations, and that it would likely take as long as 20-30 minutes for their message to arrive. Terra and Mars were closer in their orbits at present, according to some of the monitors. Not long after Garret finished his little introductory message, a new display popped up, indicating a 15 minute delay between transmission and reception at the other end. And there was no telling if anyone was even sitting in a radio room at the other end, waiting for their call. It might be some time before they received a message back.

Some of the gathered lizards came and went, checking on family or friends in the rest of the station, or on the main ship itself. Garret and Earl got some lunch together, and happily dined on a table off in one corner. Everyone nearly jumped out of their hides when the return reply blared through the speakers, causing many the Dewlap to puff out with surprise. Garret scrambled to turn down the volume a bit, and listen as the message came through.

"... received your communication, and are glad to hear from you! We'd all given up hope of ever hearing from any survivors. What is your status and situation? Who are we speaking to? Reply when you can, an operator will be standing by from this point forward."

Thus began a delayed dialogue of sorts, where Garret spelled out the situation. He confirmed what their telescopes had observed decades prior, namely the asteroid wiping out the vast majority of life on Terra. He talked about how many had survived underground, only to die later from the radiation. Windy Lane was brought up, as well as the number of gathered survivors they had at the station. He discussed their plan to fly there in the colony ship, and hopefully join the citizens of Mars. The martians were receptive to the idea, and were all too willing to accept some fresh blood and strong bodies into their community. There was barely a thousand people living in domed communities on the red planet, still busy with the business of Terraforming the place to more lizard-friendly levels. Inbreeding was a bit of a problem, and the continued success of the colony would really be helped along by those outside the local gene pool.

Garret mentioned that they were apparently bringing along a ship full of farming supplies and industrial components as well, which left the techs on the other end overjoyed. They could definitely make use of whatever was brought along, even if it was just shovels and elbow grease. Plans were set in motion to receive the new colonists when they arrived, and find them places to stay. There was only so much room in the domes, and new ones hadn't been completed yet. Garret decided to leave out the subject of their radiation filled mutations, until they got there. No doubt they had better medical facilities on hand, to diagnose any potential problems.

It took a few more days to settle everything, and get the ship ready, but soon they were all strapped in and ready to blast off. The launch went off without a hitch, and the huge ship dove through the void, powered by its fusion power plant at the aft. The former citizens of Windy Lane bid farewell to their ruined planet, and that was that. Nobody looked back. Conditions on the ship were some of the best they had ever experienced, filled with food, fun, games, love, and all manner of shenanigans.

Weeks later the unnamed colony ship tore its way through the still somewhat thin atmosphere of Mars, and eventually came to a graceful landing at a rather disused spaceport. Lizards in pressure suits came out to meet the craft, and hooked huge flexible plastic tubes onto its air-locks. Pressure was brought up, and soon the tubes ballooned into large walkways with breathable air, and more than enough pressure to feel comfortable in. Garret and the others had been advised to bring down their on-board gravity to Martian norms on route, so suddenly being a third their weight wouldn't be such a shock to the system.

The new colonists carefully exited the craft, and walked through the pressure tubes to the main hangar, where they were met with various looks of disbelief. All of the gathered reptiles were pretty tall, thanks to years of low gravity letting their bodies elongate. But they were lanky in comparison to the massive survivors of Windy Lane, twig like even. Many the jaw yawned open wide in awe of the powerful creatures that had come to join their colony. Garret cut off the peep show by waving a huge paw to get their attention, and spoke up.

"I'm sure you're curious, but we could really use your help right now. We have freshly laid eggs on board, and several ladies who are still heavy with eggs, and could use help disembarking."

That settled the situation for the time being, and all gathered went to work. The lizards from Terra were taken through the spaceport and shown to various quarters inside the domed city, while the Martians busied themselves unloading cargo, and helping the egg-laden females. The already laid eggs were taken to a central hatchery, to be looked after by den mothers and doctors. Garret and the others were in awe of the domed city, and the progress that had been made. Everything was lush and green, with plant life hanging everywhere you looked. There were large patches of what appeared to be grass here and there in open areas, plus fields being worked in the Martian sunlight.

Every building had garden boxes on balconies, which faced in towards the centre of the dome for the most part. Most dwellings were only a few floors high, but they did the job. The centre of the dome was held up in part by a huge cylindrical building, which functioned as apartments, workshops, and places of business and or government. Off in the distance one could see other domes just like it, containing more or less buildings, for various things.

For the time being, the group was kept all together in the hospital, so they could be examined. As the days went by, doctors confirmed their mutations were apparently harmless, and rather beneficial. They were a stronger line of the breed, capable of doing the work of several Martian born lizards. Most of the doctors felt that after a few generations, they would likely be the dominant breed, and eventually everyone would look like them. Perhaps a little less musclebound, due to the lower gravity and thus less need for muscular development. It would definitely be something to keep an eye on, and likely write many papers about.

Garret and Earl wound up joining a large clan-family in dome #3, but remained quite close with one another whenever time permitted. They were quite content with their new lives, and their adoptive family was happy to have two big strong men working the farms. They were drilling for more ice and planting new crops of Parsnips, which loved the low gravity and sandy soil they were exposed to. They grew like weeds, and happily fed many the hungry mouth. Out of consideration for their past relationship, the duo were given their own quarters in the family house, and a big enough bed to hold their combined bulks. Earl hooked a water hose up to their shower unit, and was soon busy making love to Garret even as the larger lizard's belly began to swell and grow with the liquid bounty...

As Garret sprawled out and held on to his expanding gut, he reflected on his life up until this point. They had all come a long way, but he felt delighted in the knowledge that they had made the right choice after all. Then his thoughts went to more pressing matters, as Earl wiggled his way in past the still pumping water hose, and only added to the swelling problem.

They were certainly going to have quite a mess to clean up when they were done.

* * *

Decades later, the Mars colony is still going strong. Their numbers of grown, and as predicted, the more dominant mutant Terran breed of lizard soon started to take over the general gene pool. They had stronger and healthier children, and were looked on as more favourable mates than most. Eventually the lines mixed together, creating a unified Martian breed. They were quite tall, quite well built, and had a rather odd tendency to develop huge ruby-red dewlaps rather than the normal green ones. Scientists suspect a common ancestor had something to do with the favourable, and rather cuddly mutation.

Terra remains a lifeless cinder, and will likely be one for some time. The Martians keep listening however, just in-case another batch of survivors should happen to dig themselves out of the ashes, and find their way through space. Plans are on the table to start their own space program, and perhaps head out deeper into the solar system. After all, they had already learned the hard way why it was a good idea not to have all your eggs in one basket.

Their future was a bright one!