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Guns, Grease and Gears;

Tales of the Post Apocalypse

by Mog Moogle

"Blood and Sweat."

Johnny watched as the bent can spun off the wind-worn log with an audible plink. He smiled at himself as he lined up the bottle beside it and squeezed the trigger. The base of the brown glass shattered and the neck dropped onto the log then to the ground. The next target was another tin can. He moved the top of the front sight up into the notch on the rear and gently squeezed.

Before the hammer on his revolver was half way back, he heard a loud report behind him and felt his fur on his left ear ruffle. He crouched down as the can shot back off the log, then several more shots and plinks as it was carried back and forth as it was impacted by bullets. It tumbled through the air until the shots were silent and it dropped to the ground, skidding to a stop.

"Jesus, Colt!" Johnny said as he looked back toward the car at the wolf casually leaning against the passenger door with his pistol pointed at the back of his head and smoke trickling from the breach and barrel. "You almost hit me."

"You're too slow," Colt said as he holstered his gun. "You were dead before you got your first shot off, kit."

"This isn't easy, you know?" Johnny huffed and holstered his revolver and turned to face the wolf. "I'm just getting used to how this thing works."

"Your reloads are sloppy, your target acquisition is sloppy, your posture is sloppy. If you don't shape it up, you're going to be a sloppy mess in a pool of your own blood."

"I thought you said we were going to take baby-steps with this. You know? Let me get used to shooting before you let me get used to fighting."

"Shut up!" Colt yelled as he stepped toward the fox. "This isn't a game. You've had your baby-steps. Your parents were murdered in front of you because you were weak," Colt grabbed the collar of his leather jacket roughly and jerked him close, lifting his feet off the ground. "You've been shot at, you've shot and killed two others, but you're still weak, too. If you don't get that sand out of your pussy, you'll be as dead as that bitch and that bastard you called parents."

Johnny moved his paws up to Colt's forearm and tried to pull it off, but the wolf's muscles were like steel. He couldn't move it at all. "Let me go," Johnny said, barely above a whisper.

"Why should I? The strong own the weak. That's the way it is."

"Let ... me ... go," Johnny repeated, a little louder through clenched teeth.

"You're nothing but a bitch. And you'll never be anything but a bitch until you learn to be strong."

Johnny snarled at the wolf and squeezed his forearm with his paws as tightly as he could. He growled and pulled the wolf's arm as hard as he could, but it still didn't budge. "I'm not joking. Let me go."

"You want it? You have to take what you want in this world, Johnny."

Johnny's snarled faded and his ears splayed back. He felt his cheeks heat and his grip on Colt's arm loosened.

"'The fuck's your problem now?" Colt yelled.

"That's the first time you've called me by my name," Johnny said softly.

Colt snarled as if his comment enraged him. The wolf lifted him farther off the ground above his head. Johnny's feet kicked a little as he looked down at the wolf.

"Sentiment will get you killed, bitch," Colt growled and tightened his fist, tugging the fox's fur through the thick leather and his undershirt.

"No," Johnny said.

"What?"

"No, that's not true."

"'The fuck you say to me?"

"You're the only reason I have for going on. The only reason I'm putting myself through this. It's for you."

"You're talking nonsense, kit."

"I want to be strong so I don't put you in danger. I want to protect you the way you've protected me."

"I should have killed you," Colt said before drawing his arm back and then roughly tossing Johnny to the ground.

The fox landed on his rear with a small yip. He coughed as the dust kicked up by his impact flooded his lungs. Johnny looked up at Colt's faded blue eyes. The wolf's snarl was still cemented on his face. He watched the wolf scoff and then walk past him.

Johnny slowly stood up and turned around to see the wolf stop at the log then pick one of the cans up off it. Johnny kept his eyes on him as he dusted himself off, watching the wolf put the can on top of his head. Colt's stare locked with his and Johnny swallowed hard.

"You need to learn to make a shot when it really counts," Colt told him as he drew his pistol and pointed it at Johnny. "You got one shot to take this off my head. If you're low, you will kill me. If you miss outright, I will kill you."

"I ... I can't do-" Johnny was interrupted as a bullet impacted at his feet, causing him to jump back.

"Draw your gun, take the shot." Colt frowned at Johnny's expression. "You want to be strong? You want to watch my back like I watch yours? I need to know I can really trust you with my life."

Johnny sighed as he palmed the stock of his revolver and pulled it from the holster. He lifted it up and lined the sights. He took a deep breath to steady himself, but jumped sharply as he heard Colt's pistol fire again and the round parted his headfur.

"Dammit, Colt," Johnny yelled. "You know the car is behind me." He looked at Colt and noticed the wolf wearing a little smirk at his comment. Johnny felt a little at ease at Colt's gesture. He lined up the sights again and closed his eyes.

"You better be keeping your damn eyes open," Colt said, causing the fox to open them again. "Don't think, just do it."

Johnny squared his shoulders, focused on the can and squeezed. The can was lifted up behind the wolf and fell to the ground. Johnny watched as Colt holstered his pistol and then ran his paw over his headfur. The fox collapsed to the ground on his knees and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the gun in his paws and shook his head.

"Your posture is still sloppy," Colt said as he stepped up to the fox and put his paw on his shoulder.

"Go fuck yourself, asshole," Johnny replied.

He looked up at the wolf as he heard him chuckle. He couldn't help but lay his cheek against the wolf's paw. Colt's paw squeezed his shoulder gently before it pulled away, brushing the back of it against the fox's cheek. Johnny looked up at the wolf's face and noticed a little dampness on his forehead.

Johnny rose to his feet and holstered his revolver, stopping Colt with a paw on his shoulder before the wolf could walk away. He looked at the up over Colt's curious stare to the wolf's headfur where a little patch of crimson soaked through.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asked. "I ... think I might have hit you."

"You did," Colt replied. "It's just a scratch."

"Oh no, I'm sorry," Johnny said worriedly.

"I said it was just a scratch. Don't sweat it, kit."

"Still ..." Johnny recoiled when Colt eased out from the grip on his shoulder. He watched the wolf turn away and put his paws on the roof of the car and lean over.

"Kit," Colt said softly.

"Yeah?"

"You really meant all that you said about me?"

"Well, yeah."

"That scares me," Colt said before turning around and facing the fox. "Any day out here can be our last. Either one of us. It's why I don't let myself get attached to anyone. It's why I've hardened my heart all of my life. You didn't have to grow up like that, and for the first time, I'm worried that my death might hurt someone."

"I think I know why." Colt furled his brow and stared into the fox's eyes as if he was trying to pull the meaning of the statement out of the fox's soul. "I don't think your heart is as hard as you think."

"You don't really know me, kit." Colt leaned back against the car and shrugged his shoulders. "You don't know if I'm just stringing you along. You don't know if I'm going to use you for all your worth then dump you somewhere."

"I know that isn't true," Johnny said as he stepped a little closer. "If you didn't care about me, you wouldn't be teaching me these things. You wouldn't put up with me tagging along. If you were really that heartless murder you claim to be, you'd have cycled that slide and pulled the trigger again. I'd be bleaching in the sun with those raiders, my friends and fam-"

"Stop," Colt interrupted. "I'm still not what you want. Hell, I don't even think you know what you _really_do want."

Johnny sagged his head and sighed. He looked back up at Colt and shook his head. "So, what do _you_want?"

"What?" Colt cocked his head to the side then huffed, trying to dismiss the question.

"What do you want?" Johnny asked. "Why do this? Why do all of this? Keep a car older than the Wasteland running, fight and kill to survive, claw the next sunrise into the sky every single day. What are you living for, if no one else? Wouldn't it be so much easier to quit?"

"I ..." Colt paused as he looked at the ground then back up at Johnny. "I'm not having this conversation."

"It's a simple question."

"No. We're not talking about this."

"Colt?"

"No! I ... I don't know," he admitted. "I've been surviving in wastes for so long, I don't know how to do anything else."

"So why not try and live for someone else?"

Colt looked at Johnny as a dry chuckle escaped from his muzzle. He reached for the fox and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling him forward until their chests pressed against one another. He was muzzle-to-muzzle with the fox. "You are the most persistent vixen I've ever met."

Johnny blushed deeply and opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off as Colt pressed his lips against his and pushed his tongue in his mouth. Johnny yipped into Colt's muzzle, but the wolf was undeterred. Johnny felt his paws release his collar and slide down his sides. The fox responded by closing his eyes and easing his paws around the wolf, feeling the rough texture of his leather jacket against his fingers and paw pads.

Johnny gasped for breath when Colt pulled away from his muzzle then moaned sharply when the wolf bit his neck. His heart was racing and his head was swimming. The emotions that swirled in his mind were better than anything he'd ever felt. His first kiss with the handsome wolf, Colt holding him tightly, it all seemed perfect.

Johnny was surprised when Colt released his neck and put his paws on his shoulders and pushed him down. The fox lowered to his knees and was staring at the wolf's bulge in his jeans. His cheeks and ears burned hotter than the black leather on his back as he watched Colt pull down his fly and fish out the red veiny rod.

Colt's musk hit his nostrils with the force of an explosion. Johnny's whole body quivered as it permeated him to the core. Days upon days of pent up lust surged through him as the object of his desires and fantasies stood erect in front of his face. He closed his eyes and eased his head forward.

He parted his lips and the tip brushed against his tongue. The pungent masculine taste seemed overwhelm everything else. The scent of Colt's musk enhanced the flavor of it in his mouth, and Johnny moaned.

When he did, Colt grunted above him and moved his paws to the back of the fox's head. He bucked his hips forward in the eager fox's muzzle and pushed all seven inches of his cock inside. Johnny felt the tapered tip against the back of his throat. He instinctively swallowed and Colt showed his approval with a throaty moan.

Johnny smiled as his lips rested against the wolf's sheath. He stayed like that for a moment but soon realized he didn't really have any clue as to what to do next. He moved his tongue along the underside of Colt and the wolf bucked against him. It wasn't too long before Colt moved against him again, holding the back of his head while he fucked his length against his tongue and back of his throat.

Johnny moaned as the wolf took his face. The new sensations running through him as the wolf used his muzzle like the raccoon's cunt. Johnny hoped that it was at least as good as her pussy. He was a little surprised when Colt suddenly gasped and pulled his member out of Johnny's muzzle. He looked up at the wolf puzzled.

"Watch those teeth, kit," Colt told him as he looked down at him.

Johnny splayed his ears and whimpered softly, but wasn't able to regret the accidental scrape too long before Colt thrust back against his lips. The fox opened his mouth a little wider. He murmured softly as Colt resumed fucking his muzzle.

The wolf pushed in as deep as he could go before nearly pulling all the way out and thrusting in again. He bumped his sheath against Johnny's lips until the bulb at the base of his shaft began to swell. The curves of his length soon became too big at the base for Colt to get it all in and the tip stopped hitting the back of Johnny's throat.

The fox tried to get his mouth wider to accommodate the newly added girth, but it would never slide past his lips. With as much determination as holding his revolver up time and time again, aiming down the sights or making his case to stay with the wolf in the first place, he tried one last time.

His aching jaw complained as he let his lips slip away from the shaft of Colt's dick and he yawned his maw as wide as it would go, but the fox's canines scratched against the wolf's sensitive bulb on a thrust in and Colt hissed in pain.

"Dammit!" Colt said aloud as he pulled his cock free of Johnny's mouth again. "I told you to watch the teeth. Do I have to teach you to suck cock, too?"

"I'm sorry," Johnny said as he felt his heart sink.

"Get up," Colt demanded.

"But-"

"Bitches don't talk back. Get up," Colt repeated.

Johnny wrapped his paws around Colt's hips to stabilize himself as he rose to his feet. He left them there as he shied his gaze down to avoid eye contact with the wolf. He could see Colt's member still erect as it hung out of the fly of his jeans. He wanted it back in his mouth so bad.

Colt suddenly knelt down and Johnny was looking at the top of his head. He felt guilty as he saw the dried patch of blood in his headfur where his bullet had scratched his scalp, but that faded quickly as Colt fumbled with the fly of the fox's jeans.

Colt worked his zipper down and pulled the fox's pent up member free of the fabric. Johnny opened his mouth to say something to the wolf, but he was cut off by a sharp gasp as the wolf engulfed him to the base. The wolf went to work bobbing on Johnny's member immediately.

Johnny's eyes were wide as electrical surges of pleasure shot through his entire body. He moved his paws down to Colt's head and rubbed the back of the wolf's ears. Every time Colt would pull back, he would slurp Johnny's length and on the descent, he would swirl his tongue around its girth.

It was so intense and focused that Johnny felt his legs getting weak. He didn't think he was going to be able to remain standing and struggled against his body's urge to collapse. It took everything he had to not buckle and fall on top of the wolf. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he let out a long groan.

"Pay attention!" he heard from the wolf.

Johnny looked back down to see the wolf briefly scowl at him, but take his cock back in his muzzle as soon as he was focused on him again. Johnny kept his eyes open as he watched. His mentor was teaching him, and he knew that to make Colt happy, he would have to observe how Colt worked his cock with his mouth.

He made mental notes of the slurps, tongue flicks over his small opening and gravely moans as the wolf continued his lesson. The whole time, it was almost more pleasure than the fox could process. His vulpine knot swelled quickly, and even though Colt could easily take it in his mouth, he felt the wolf purposely keep it out.

Colt would slide his tongue up underneath the knot. He brought his paw up to it and stroked over the top with his fingers while he kept sucking. He never once let it go between his lips, and he never once let his teeth even come near Johnny's sensitive flesh.

It was obvious to the fox that Colt was teaching him how to take care of his knot, and not how to fuck a muzzle. It didn't matter to Johnny though. The intimacy was still there, perhaps even more so since he was being tutored while receiving the blowjob. But his body was approaching the point of cutting the lesson short.

Johnny grit his teeth and grunted. He tightened the muscles in his backside and thighs as he tried to stave off his orgasm. His attempts were in vain against the efforts of the wolf however, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer.

"Colt ... I," Johnny paused as he squeezed the wolf's ears, "I'm going to cum."

Colt seemed to pay his warning no mind, and it even felt like the wolf started working him a little harder to encourage the orgasm. Johnny couldn't hold it back any longer and he cried out as his member twitched and pulsed. His vulpine seed sprayed in the wolf's mouth. Johnny kept his eyes open the whole time to observe the wolf as his orgasm poured over Colt's tongue.

Colt had stopped moving his muzzle, but squeezed against Johnny's knot every time it throbbed. After a few moments, the orgasm subsided and the wolf kept his lips tight around Johnny's cock as he pulled his muzzle off him. He stood up in front of the fox and Johnny looked up at him.

Colt opened his muzzle and showed off the pool of white in the middle of his tongue. He then closed his mouth and said, "This is the important part," around the mouthful of the vulpine spunk. He leaned his head back and swallowed, opening his mouth again to show none of it remaining. "I expect you to swallow it with my cock still in your mouth, though."

Johnny blushed furiously and nodded softly at the wolf. "You ... uh, are really good at that. You've done it before?"

"Nope," the wolf replied. "I just know what I like when I'm getting a blowjob."

"I, uh, I'll try my best to be that good," Johnny said before he started to kneel down again, but Colt's paws on his shoulders stopped him. "But you didn't finish."

"Don't worry about that, kit," Colt said as he released his shoulders and then tucked his flagging erection back in his jeans. "Zip up. We got more shooting practice to do."

Johnny looked to the side with his ears back and his brow furled. Sometimes, Colt just plain confused the hell out of him.

"Vagabonds."

The greens of sprouting crops were a nice change to the landscape for the fox. It had felt like a lifetime ago since the last time he saw actual fields. He looked out the window and sighed longingly as he remembered his farm. Looking over at Colt, he cocked his head at the wolf's expression. "What's wrong?"

"I ain't never seen crops this green, kit."

"Yeah. Nice, aren't they?"

"Kit, if something looks to good to be true, it is."

"They're just fields, Colt," Johnny said as he looked back out the window.

"I'll remember you said that. Keep that gun handy."

Johnny looked over at Colt and sighed. The fox shook his head as he looked back out the windshield. He noticed a white wall spanning the small road they were on. "What's that?"

"A settlement," Colt replied. "That's why I said to be ready."

"Not everyone is looking for a fight, you know?"

"And only the unprepared are caught unaware," Colt glanced over at Johnny. "Paranoia isn't a mental condition, kit. It's what keeps you alive out here."

Johnny nodded then sighed again. He didn't know if he'd ever wrap his head around that aspect. Being distrustful wasn't how he was brought up. He looked out of Colt's window as they pulled up to the gate and a coyote in casual clothing with no visible weapon walked up to the car.

"Wow!" he said excitedly. "This is a car! A working car! How long you had it? How fast does it go? Do you use bio-fuel?"

"Whoa," Colt said to stop his rapid-fire questions. "It's a car, it's fast enough and it runs on 'tricity like any Chrysalis model."

"That's somethin'," he said before looking up at the top of the three story high gate. "Hey, Billy! You see this? These guys got a working car!"

Johnny and Colt both looked up but couldn't see anything beyond the roof of the car in front of the tall gate from their sitting positions. Johnny chuckled as Colt rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Yeah, look," Colt said to the coyote, "we'd like to trade for some supplies. Food, water and the like."

"Ah," the coyote said as he put his paws on the door and looked inside at the two, causing the wolf to snarl at the foreign paws touching his car. "Well, I just gotta ask a few questions 'fore you come inside. What brings you to Desert Aire?"

"Like I said, trade."

"It looks like you got lots of guns in there. You boys packing?"

"Obviously," Colt said before looking over at Johnny and shaking his head.

"This is a gun-free town. You're going to have to surrender your guns if you want in."

"Then how the fuck am I supposed to sell what I got? You know what, fuck it. Let's go, kit," Colt said as he moved his shifter into reverse.

"Whoa now, hold on there," the coyote said before Colt could engage the clutch. "If you're arms dealers, you can see Captain Mitchell right inside the gate. You can buy a license from him to trade, but we don't buy nothing hot. So if you got any of these by hitting those big caravans down south, we ain't interested."

"None of these guns have 'runners stamps, and I own them all."

"All right, then. Talk to Captain Mitchell in the shack right inside the gate. You can barter your trade license there, and he'll secure your cargo and your personal weapons." The coyote eased off Colt's car and looked back up at the top of the gate. "Open 'er up, Billy!"

The gate in front of them creaked as an electric motor activated and it began to slowly slide into the wall on the tracks it was nestled in. Johnny saw Colt lean over to him.

"I got a bad feeling about this place, kit. I don't think this is a good idea," Colt said quietly. "What do you think we should do?"

"Me?" Johnny asked as he looked at the wolf.

"Consider it your first high-stakes judgment call. We going in, or are we getting out of here before we're trapped behind a big ass wall and gate?"

"I ... I don't see any reason why we shouldn't," Johnny said. "They don't look like slavers, raiders or anything."

"That's why you still got a lot to learn," Colt said before sitting back up in his seat. "Guess you're learning the hard way."

Johnny shook head head and scoffed. He couldn't understand Colt's resentment for furs that looked like they just wanted to make a decent living without dealing in furs, guns or drugs. When the gate locked into place, Colt eased it in over the recessed track in the roadway. He stopped at the small, new looking shack right inside the gate.

The two got out of the car as the gate rumbled again and started to close behind them. Colt walked over to Johnny and nudged him with his elbow as he looked up toward the top of the gate.

"Metal staircase to an operator's box," Colt said as he looked over the perch at the top. "Make note of it, kit."

"Why?"

"Just do what I tell you," Colt said in an annoyed tone. "Looks like there's a toggle switch for the gate direction and a push-button circuit connector. They obviously have electricity to run the motors that can move that big ass flood gate."

"Why do I need to know that?"

"In case we have to get out of here, quick."

Johnny shook his head as he looked up at the perch then looked at Colt and nodded. The wolf was still alive after all this time. He didn't really feel like there was any need to worry, but he took mental notes of what the wolf said just as he was instructed to do.

"Hello there," they heard call from their right. A bobcat in a clean and pressed police uniform with brass bars on his collar and an old world style police hat walked up to them. "I'm Curtis Mitchell. Captain of the Desert Aire Police Department. I handle all of the paperwork for newcomers. If you don't mind, I need to take your sidearms there."

Colt reached down and put his paw on the stock of his pistol, but stopped when he heard a shotgun rack its slide. Johnny looked over to Colt's left and saw a cheetah in the same police uniform holding a shotgun up at the two. The stripes on his muzzle and spots on his face made Johnny shudder. It was the first cheetah he'd seen since the raider that killed his parents.

"I'll just get those myself, if it's not too much trouble," the bobcat said as he walked behind the two and pulled the pistols out of their holsters. When he did, the cheetah lowered his shotgun and Johnny breathed a sigh of relief. "Never know who you can trust. I'm sure you understand."

"Only too well," Colt said.

"Wow, these are some nice looking pistols you two have," he said, still standing behind them. "They look custom made, lock, stock and barrel."

"They are," Colt said. "Both of them are one-of-a-kind. Please be careful with them."

"They'll be right here in the guest locker, sir. Don't worry about them a bit. Now, I don't suppose you're carrying any back-ups or drop guns, eh?"

"None on me," Colt said. "Can't speak for the kit."

"You, son?" Captain Mitchell asked.

"No, sir. That's my only gun."

"All right then. Go ahead and spread your legs for me and hold your arms up a bit."

Johnny looked over at Colt who did as he was instructed, all the while glaring at him. Johnny complied as well and the bobcat started patting him down. When he was satisfied that Johnny wasn't carrying anything else he moved over to Colt.

"My, you got some muscles on you, don't you?" the bobcat remarked as he ran his paws over the wolf's body in his frisk.

"Don't get any ideas," Colt said.

"Oh, no sir, nothing like that. Just most of the types we get in here from out in the wastes seem a bit ... peaked."

"I just drank my milk when I was a pup," Colt snarked.

"Looks like it," the bobcat said as he stood back up. "All done. Lets step over to the office and we'll get your paperwork started."

Johnny and Colt dropped their arms and followed the Captain to the small open door of the shack. When the bobcat stepped inside, Johnny saw him pick a keyring off his duty belt and unlock a padlock on a locker. It was empty, but had padded slots for rifles on the bottom and shaped indentions on the top with the same padding. As he was putting the pistols in the locker, Johnny felt Colt nudge his arm again

Johnny looked over at the wolf and saw him gesture with his head toward the bobcat. Johnny looked back at the officer as he secured the pistols and closed the door of the locker, snapping the lock shut and pulling the brass key back out of the lock and clipping the ring back on his belt. He then turned around and faced the two.

"Now, I got some forms for you two to fill out. The day pass is one-thousand even. That will give you access to all our businesses, the Columbia River reservoir and one night stay at our world famous hotel. I assume you two can write?"

"I can," Colt said. "A thousand dollars for one day? Kind of steep, isn't it?"

"Just a formality to keep the riffraff out, you understand. Not having traded with us before, I assume you don't know about our currency?"

"I have script. NCR and caps."

"Mmm, well we're a long way from both. Luckily, we do take barter. What's worth a day in Desert Aire, hmm?"

"Pre-war AKM, full magazine. Aftermarket mil-spec picatinny rail."

"That seems a little light, doesn't it?"

"That will get me a month's worth of food anywhere in the wastes, officer."

"No optics?"

"Two months worth of food," Colt said and folded his arms.

"All right, all right. You got yourself a day pass and a trade license." The bobcat picked up a clipboard and handed it to the wolf. "And you, son?"

"Me?" Johnny asked as he looked at the bobcat.

"Yeah," Captain Mitchell said. "Your friend's paid for his stay, how you paying for yours?"

"I don't have anything."

"Hmm ... tell you what. You get your friend here to throw in those optics and-"

They both jumped a little at the sound of the clipboard hitting the desk.

"Give us back our guns. We're outta here," Colt said as he folded his arms again.

The bobcat sighed and shook his head. "Don't be so hasty, friend. We like boosts to the economy. I might be able to get your fox friend here in on your pass, but I'll have to register him as your spouse. That means you'll have to share a room at the hotel and they don't have two bed rooms."

"Fine," Colt said as before looking over at Johnny. "Looks like you get to be my wife for the day."

Johnny blushed furiously and then nodded softly.

"Great," Captain Mitchell said, "Don't forget to celebrate your honeymoon by visiting one of our fine restaurants. We have the best cuts of steak anywhere."

"Oh, look at that, kit," Colt said sarcastically. "Officer Friendly here's got jokes."

"It gets me through the day," the bobcat said. "Now, if you'd be so kind as fill out that form, sir."

Johnny watched as Colt sighed and picked the clipboard back up. He watched Colt's paws move the pen attached by the bead-chain and fill in the various boxes. Johnny didn't know what Colt was writing since he couldn't read. When Colt was finished, he handed the clipboard to the bobcat.

"Mm-hmm," the officer remarked as he looked it over. "Oh, Chlamydia? Is that cleared up?"

Johnny looked over at Colt and splayed his ears back as his eyes went wide.

"Yeah, why? You like keeping your whores clean?"

"Prostitution is illegal in Desert Aire, sir," the bobcat remarked, which caused Colt to roll his eyes and shake his head and Johnny to chuckle at the wolf's response. "Also, gambling, drinking and drug use. We're a clean community."

"You gotta be shitting me. It's like Vault City all over again."

"Yeah, well ... it's why you southern merchants have places like New Reno and New Vegas, right? Oh, and I'm going to have to ask you to watch you language, too. Swearing in the presence of a minor is punishable by thirty days of hard labor."

"Fuck," Colt said as he threw his arms up in the air. "And why the hell shouldn't I just leave, right now?"

"Because you're in the Palm Springs of Washington state. Well, you know, if Palm Springs was still standing. There's plenty of wholesome options for entertainment here. We have a theater with a large selection of holomovies, a theatre with the latest Broadway plays, the marina, the hotel, the restaurants ... It's the greatest place to live in the whole US of A."

"Okay, enough of the travel agent bullshit," Colt said. "There is no Broadway, no US of A, no old world," Colt looked over at Johnny, "This place is really starting to creep me out, kit."

"It seems kind of nice," Johnny commented, then shied his gaze away under Colt's harsh stare.

"You seem pretty well educated," Captain Mitchell said to Colt. "For a waster that is. You grow up in Vault City that you were talking about? Go to school?"

"Boneyard, Followers of the Apocalypse. It's all on my form there."

"Hmm ... shame."

"What is?"

"Uh, that you decided to be a trader instead of a teacher, of course." Captain Mitchell rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "Anyway, you're all set. We'll inventory your merchandise, price it and you'll get a cheque to cash at First National Bank so you can buy what you need at the shops." He keyed the radio microphone hanging from his epaulette and then chattered back at the voices that responded to him.

Johnny looked over at Colt again. The wolf was very uneasy and it was starting to make the fox nervous. The wolf watched every movement of the bobcat without ever pulling his cold stare off the wall behind him. "It still seems like a nice place," Johnny commented quietly.

"Okay," Captain Mitchell said after his exchange on the radio. "I have two officers on their way to take the inventory of your merchandise. If you'd just hand me the keys to your-"

"No one touches my car," Colt said. "The ignition switch is wired to overload the motor and power cells if it's not keyed a specific way. Ever seen what one of those micro fusion reactors will do if it explodes?"

"Ah, well ... I'm going to have to ask you to disable that while you're here."

"It's hardwired. The connections are soldered in. You try and break the circuit it'll trigger an interrupt and produce the same result."

"Well, that's not a very nice feature," the bobcat said. "You pull your car up beside the tables here by the shack then. Lay out all of your merchandise on those tables and we'll take our inventory."

Colt huffed and turned to walk out of the shack. Johnny watched him for a moment before the bobcat clearing his throat pulled his attention back to the officer.

"You're friend is a little uptight," he commented.

"He's not used to nice communities. I don't think he knows how to feel safe."

"Just another reason why Desert Aire is such a good place to live. No crime, no poverty, prosperity for all."

"It does seam idyllic. I didn't think anywhere like this still existed."

"We've all worked hard to make it that way, and we work hard to keep it that way."

Johnny nodded and looked out the small window as he saw the car pull up. The bobcat made his way past the fox and Johnny followed him out. Colt motioned the fox to the trunk and the wolf handed him a few rifles and pistols, then gathered a few on his own before closing the trunk.

Johnny couldn't help but notice the other two uniformed officers approach them and watch them closely as they moved the various rifles and pistols to the tables and laid them out. He saw the bobcat stop at one of the rifles in particular and pick it up. He looked it over, then back at Colt. The wolf gave him a small nod and the bobcat smiled.

"You weren't kidding, sir," Captain Mitchell commented. "I don't even see any rust on this rifle. You said it was pre-war?"

"Yeah. These all are. The only 'runners guns I own are the ones in your locker."

Johnny laid out a few more rifles on the table but stopped when Colt sat the blued .44 magnum revolver down beside the bolt action rifles he'd just placed there. He looked up at Colt then down at the revolver. "You're selling it?"

"Yeah. We're good on everything we need except food and clean water. I'm selling everything I don't need."

"I just thought ... there'd be some sentimental value to that one. You know, popping the cherry?"

"Not for me," Colt said then looked down at the fox. "Why, is there for you?"

"I'd ... like to keep it."

Colt scoffed and scooped it back off the table. He watched as the wolf walked back to his car, lifted the rear deck lid and put it in the trunk. Johnny sighed softly. He didn't know why he wanted to keep it, but something told him that he should.

Johnny watched as the bobcat and another officer walked down the table, making little notes on clipboards as they looked the weapons and boxes of ammunition over. After several minutes, the bobcat took the other officer's clipboard and scratched something on his form. He walked over to Colt and pulled a slip of paper off it and handed to the wolf.

"Four thousand dollars?" Colt said before looking back at the table then at the bobcat. "These are worth three times that much."

"Sir, respectfully, a piece of fruit isn't going to cost you eighty caps here. This is more than fair market value for your goods. If you leave our shops with less than half a year worth of supplies, you're tastes are a lot more discriminating than your rusted car and tattered jacket imply." Captain Mitchell paused as Colt snarled. "Oh, and you'll need to leave your car here. It'll be under guard, but with all those weapons still in your car, we can't have you driving them around town."

"Well, if you're bullshitting about the food and water I can get with this, I will not be happy."

"Lying is a week in the stockade, sir," the bobcat said and smiled. "Telling a fib about what you're guns value isn't worth the fine, punishment and more importantly, my career."

"Lying is illegal ..." Colt said before shaking his head. "Where's this bank, then?"

"It's just up the road. Brick building, white pillars," he told Colt. "Oh, and this is Officer Smithe. He'll be your escort while you're in town. If you need help finding anything, just ask him."

Johnny saw the other officer that was inventorying the guns, a young lion in an equally pristine uniform, walk up to the two and smile. He glanced up at Colt, who was just shaking his head.

"Well, Smith," Colt said as he gestured up the road with his paw. "Lead on."

"After you, sir," the young officer said. "Oh, and it's Smithe, not Smith."

"Whatever," Colt said over his shoulder as he walked around his car and up the main street.

Johnny followed Colt, coming abreast of him as he looked at the buildings on the sides of the road. They all had fresh coats of paint, not one of them had broken windows, little flower gardens under immaculate glass pane windows, and not a single plank out of place on the siding.

"Is this what everywhere looked like before the war?" Johnny asked the wolf.

"Kit, before the war, Alaska was in ruins, most major cities were devastated from riots, Canada was rubble and the US destroyed everything in their path as they pushed from Nome to the Yangtze."

"But the little towns like this? Wouldn't they have looked the same?"

"Not if the holotapes I read in the Followers archives were true." Colt huffed and looked down at the fox. "What do you see out of place?" Colt asked in a hushed voice.

Johnny looked around. Furs crowded the streets. Children played with each other. Every time he made eye contact with a resident they smiled at him. "These furs look happy?"

"No prey," Colt commented. "Not one mouse, rabbit, equine ... no prey at all."

"Is ... is that odd?"

"It's eerie," Colt replied.

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know," Colt sighed and shrugged. "There is something very not right about this place, though."

Johnny shook his head. The fox was enjoying the warm greetings as they walked up the street. When they got to the bank and walked into the lobby, the fox was amazed at the clean carpet, well lit interior and friendly tellers. It didn't take long at all before Colt was holding four crisp $1000 bills instead of the slip of paper the bobcat had given him.

They made their way to a building that looked like a functioning supermarket. Johnny chuckled as he pushed an old world style shopping cart as Colt picked various things off the shelf and dropped them in basket. All the while, the lion in the uniform followed a few feet behind them.

They lugged their haul back to the car and loaded the food and water in the trunk. Colt made a quick mental inventory of everything in the passenger compartment under the supervision of their escort to make sure that nothing had been disturbed. Afterward, Colt pulled a cigarette out of his jacket and put it between his lips.

"Smoking is illegal, sir," the lion commented.

"Big fuckin' surprise," Colt commented before pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and tucking it back in his jacket.

"If you want my opinion, I think you should head to the theater," the young officer said. "I really enjoy getting paid to watch movies."

"Nah, where's this hotel at?" Colt asked.

"Not too far from the reservoir, right next to the marina." The lion smiled and chuckled. "We should rent a sailboat. I haven't gone out on the water in months."

"Look, cub. We're not here for a holiday. We don't want to go boating, or to the theater, or the theatre. We're here to sell our shit, get enough food to last awhile then head back down south, where things aren't window-dressing and smoke-screens."

"Well, if you leave without eating at one of our restaurants at the very least, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"I'll take my chances," Colt said and stood up off his car and started walking.

Johnny looked at the lion and shook his head, but the lion just gave him a soft smile. They walked back to the hotel that fronted on a side street off the main street. Johnny could see the blue water behind it with a few triangular shaped sheets of canvas on the masts of boats moving about over the surface. "Wow," he said aloud.

"Quite a sight, innit?" the lion asked.

"It's beautiful. I've never seen water so clean."

"Best thing about being up here," the lion said. "The snow melt keeps our water fresh."

"I've never seen anything like this. Every building has power, every place is clean and looks brand new."

"Bio-diesel generators. All those fields you saw make our ethanol."

"What's ethanol?"

"Ethel alcohol, kit," Colt said as he looked up at the two story building. "Kind of a waste of food, isn't it?"

"Ah," Smithe said and then chuckled. "I much prefer steak to corn."

Johnny and Colt walked into the lobby of the hotel and it was even more impressive than the bank. The red carpet with floral designs on the trim felt plush on Johnny's foot pads. The crystal chandelier in the middle sparkled with light and the front desk was a rich, dark exotic wood from trees in jungles long since extinct.

They approached the counter and tigress in a pantsuit with a golden name tag greeted them. She handed the wolf a key to the 'bridal suite' after reading his day pass. The wolf looked at the tag on the key and shook his head.

Johnny and their lion escort followed the wolf up the stairs and down the hall. He stopped at the last door at the end and the unlocked the room door. Opening it up, he peeked in and then looked back at Johnny and the lion.

"You have to escort us to bed, too?" Colt asked. "Don't know if you noticed, but this is the bridal suite, and the kit and I got some consummating to do."

"Oh, uh," the lion said before he coughed and looked away. "No, I'll just ... be out here, if you two need to go anywhere."

Johnny yipped as Colt grabbed his wrist and drug him inside. The wolf closed the door behind them and moved the chain-lock into place. Johnny looked at him curiously as he put his ear to the door and stood there listening for a moment. He tried his best to hear what Colt was listening to, but he couldn't make anything out.

Johnny looked back toward the room and went wide eyed. The bed was big and plush. There were a few armchairs, a table, a big vanity and a desk in the room. The whole room itself was bigger than Johnny's farm house and it had a balcony that looked out over the reservoir.

He padded over to the bed and ran his paws over the comforter. It was then that he noticed a large mirror with an ornate frame on the wall beside the bed. He let his imagination drift to the thoughts of what he and the wolf would be doing while he got to experience it and witness it at the same time. He jumped a little as he was pulled from his fantasies by Colt's paw on his shoulder.

"Our escort just radioed that we're in the room," Colt said in a hushed voice.

Johnny looked back down at the bed then up at the wolf. He shook his head and then folded his arms. "So?"

"So, go check if we can get out and off that balcony if we need to."

"Colt, can't we just enjoy this? A nice bed, nice furs ... a big mirror." Johnny stopped as he saw the wolf furl his brow at the fox. "I mean, they've gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. We got enough food and water to spend dozens of uncomfortable weeks on the road. Let's just have this for us. Just for one night."

Johnny watched the wolf as he put his right boot up on the bed and slide his paw inside of it. He pulled out a little revolver that wasn't any longer than Johnny's index finger. Colt pulled Johnny's paw out and slapped it in his palm.

"It's .22LR," Colt explained, "You have four shots. If you need to use it, push it under their armpit and pull the trigger four times. Hopefully that will be enough to kill whoever is attacking you and you can get their gun."

"Colt, no one is attacking us," Johnny said as he looked down at the tiny gun in his paw. He looked back up to see the wolf pulling the pistol out of his jacket from the holster sewn in to the inside. "No one is attacking us, right?"

"Not yet," Colt said before pressing the slide back to check the chamber, "Go check the balcony, like I told you to."

Johnny tucked the small revolver in his jacket pocket and shook his head. He was growing increasingly sure the wolf was being over paranoid, especially as he looked out the window over the vista of the crystal blue water, furs on the beach and the sailboats darting about. He looked down at the three families by the water's edge.

The children were splashing around in the water, laughing and yelling at each other. Two sets of parents watched over them while the third sat curled up on a blanket over the sand in each others arms. Johnny smiled at the scene, but it faded slowly as he realized something.

There wasn't one mouse, rabbit or equine among them. There were no prey.