Kaskatan Nights: Verdant Bunker
Chapter 2: “Home” Again
Yet more furry-Adventure-smut by 2020 KeenYeen

The tone sounded again, a droning noise that started harsh and rang softer until it was gone. 

“I wish she’d stop,” muttered Mocha as she stood on one side of the bench in the shower room, her fur still matted and wet from their interrupted shower. “We already know it’s time to get ready…”

Rune echoed her sentiments. “You’d think that there’d be a way to answer her from in here,” he griped, standing before a panel on the side farthest from the entryway. A slot opened with a small hiss, and he reached in, retrieving a fresh set of clothes for himself. Turning, he saw Mocha staring in an almost predatory manner at his naked rear, her blue-and-gold eyes unblinking. Rune smirked and covered it with his red, bushy tail. 

“Jerk,” Mocha huffed, looking away to pull up the black, somewhat baggy pants that made up a part of her clean uniform. There were stitches along one of the thighs, a battle scar from a previous danger. Looking up, she spotted Rune shiver at the sight as he approached. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.” she reminded him.

Rune agreed , “I know. You’ve told me, but if I’d been paying attention…” and set his clothes on the bench to join her in getting dressed, putting his boots on the floor. “You wouldn’t have a scar there now.”

Mocha stopped, her ill-fitted tank-top half-way down over her shoulders. She reached out and took Rune by the shoulders, holding him there and stopping him from completing his task. The tone called out again, and her ears pinned back. Mocha closed her eyes and growled in frustration. 

Rune stared up at her. For a moment he felt a small amount of fear, but whatever aggravation that she was feeling, Mocha said nothing about it, and instead he felt himself pulled into a deep hug, finding himself surrounded by warmth and softness thanks to his mate’s prodigious chest. He heard her sigh again, the growl subsiding. 

“I forgave you. You’re still forgiven. You need to let it go, though. You learned something that day, and we’re both alive,” she told him, looking down the length of her sternum at the half-covered-by-boob vulpine male. Suddenly, a small look of surprise crossed her snout. She frowned, then pushed him away and held him at arm’s length, “... I know what this is about…!” she exclaimed quietly, “... Look, I was kidding earlier. I KNOW you killed that bug! I saw the knife… and you know what else?” she asked.

Rune shook his head, bewildered. She had hit a nail he didn’t even know he had. 

“I’m proud of you…!” she said with a grin, “You’re turning into a little foxy killer!” and booped his nose. 

Rune was completely lost. Not only had she figured out what was -actually- going on in his head, she had also changed her demeanor entirely and turned the tables on his expectations. He felt a blush spread across his face. Seeing her smile and her acting this way it…

“... G-geeze, Mocha…” he said, looking away and scratching his chest, “... what the hell…”

Mocha snickered and patted his head, which he responded to by brushing her hands away, hissing. “Stop!” he added with a laugh, pushing the hair out of his eyes that had been moved around by Mocha’s massive hands, “... I can’t handle it when you get like this… It’s… it’s really ho~ot…” he whined, looking up from beneath the mess of hair. 

“What… you wanna do it again…?” she asked, grinning cheekily, “... I’ve still got roo-”

The tone called out once more, and Mocha finally lost it. 

“WE GET IT, PENELOPI!” she snarled, standing straight up and releasing Rune as she barked at the entrance from where she stood, “We’re GETTING DRESSED!”

Rune’s ears pinned back involuntarily. “Mocha, you know she can’t help it…”

Mocha turned her anger on him. “It’s FUCKING ANNOYING,” she barked, “YOU… ARE F-”

Rune turned away and headed for the door, taking his clothes with him. Everything he had felt in the moment, the tenderness of it all and the way HE was proud of her for controlling her anger a little better than before, had been shattered in a mere second when Mocha turned on him. 

“... Fffffuuuuck…. Ing… dammit…” he heard her say as he pulled the lever on the door to release the locks and step out. Stopping on the other side, he looked over his shoulder and frowned. “... I’ll be in the cockpit.” he said, but he stayed there for a moment, waiting for a response. 

The large female wolf frowned and pinned her ears back as well. “... I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it,” she began.

Rune looked away and nodded, “... We’ll talk about it later…” he promised, then smiled a little, though it was an unsure and sad one, and he lifted the lever on the other side, shutting Mocha in the bathroom with her thoughts. 

Left alone, the wolfess felt anger boiling up inside her as a growl gathered at the base of her throat. Rage started to take over as she clenched her fists and bristled at the door. She felt anger at the door, wanted to run over there and rip it open and do… something, ANYTHING. Violent thoughts filled her head and just as they reached a crescendo, Mocha closed her eyes, the growl subsided, and her anger sunk into her belly. 

“... You know what I was going to say…” she sighed, pulling her shirt down the rest of the way, “... But not why…” as sadness pooled in her belly, sinking and filling her with a smothering weight that made her heart ache. “... Wilds around… why did I even start?”

“I didn’t have to…” she thought, frowning as she stared down at her boots. “I didn’t have to get angry at PENELOPI.” Mocha reached down to pick up the primarily black-leather-and-steel foot coverings. “This is my fault… but… I didn’t… I didn’t want to tell him he was annoying because… Well, I did… want to…” 

Mocha felt the muscle around her right eye twitch as her head started to hurt. “... I have to tell him what I really meant…” she resolved, putting her foot up so she could slip a boot on that foot and push the clips down to secure it to herself. She felt her frustration melt away and dropped that foot to lift the other, the twitching and headache almost immediately subsiding. It brought her some relief to have a plan, but the plan in question filled her with dread. 

“What if I can’t explain myself?” she asked no one in particular, only to hear the tone again. This time, however, she took it as an answer, “... Persistence. Got it… Thanks...” she added with a low growl and pulled her other boot on roughly.

==in the cockpit, a few minutes before==

Rune sat back in his chair and put the rest of his clothes on. Boots. Cargo pants stuffed into those boots. White tank top tucked in. Belt holding it all together. 

“We are approaching the East Gate,” a synthetic, female voice said, filling the room with her tinny notes. “Please prepare your documentation and stow and secure any weaponry. Do not equip your expedition gear, except your light respirator. No helmet. The current conditions outside are…”

Rune tuned her out. “Thank you, Penelopi,” he said, the voice stopping immediately. “We will be ready.”

Penelopi returned his thanks with a “you are welcome,” and went silent. 

Run’s attention turned to the view outside. The windows looking out from the cabin were dirty but not so much that he could not see outside. Both he and Rune made sure of that by washing the exterior whenever they could. When they couldn’t, they only washed the windshield and side-windows of the cabin. Fortunately there were no other windows on the vehicle, so it never took long, nor did it take an excessive amount of water… when they found some. 

Beyond that glass, however, was a wasteland. The dirt and dust stretched for as far as the eye could see, and the world was painted in a sick, gray hue, finely ground up by clouds of Fog, which spread the Plague. The Plague, he had learned as a child, didn’t just affect Anthros; it also affected Wilders, the animals caught in Fog, and even the very ground itself. The air was toxic, and when it wasn’t overcast with horrible, roiling, sickly-green acid rain clouds, it was exceedingly hot or bone-chillingly cold. However, even with the Fog eating everything and the Plague killing what was left, the world outside wasn’t lifeless nor a mere flat plane. The ground cracked and crunched beneath one’s feet, and small herds of (mostly) inedible creatures loped across the fields in search of something to eat. Horrible abominations stalked the few existing fields of adapted grass and inhabited the bare remains of buildings from a time and civilization long forgotten. One might have mistaken the dwellings for natural formations, except for their contents, if they had any, which were often esoteric and strange. 

In fact, it was exactly those kinds of constructions which lined either side of the path that Penelopi’s gargantuan wheels trundled between, crushing the weakened pavement as it went, like so many before until the road itself had too become dust. Like everything else. A massive wall loomed in the distance in the distance, spanning beneath an ever-present thundercloud of immense size.

Rune’s ears flicked atop his red-furred head as he turned his head to face the door, the airlock door’s hiss announcing the arrival of his love. He watched Mocha as she entered, shutting the door behind her by pulling the lever on the wall upwards. A mechanical ‘chunk’ and the following hiss told him that it had sealed properly. He watched Mocha pad across the rough metal flooring of the cabin, to settle in the chair next to him, but she neglected to look at him. Deciding she was not ready to talk to him, Rune turned away and faced the front windscreen again, watching The Wall, their destination, grow ever larger and more imposing, a gray bastion against a darker, sometimes even black, background. 

To his surprise, it was Mocha who first spoke.

“Rune…?” she said, in a voice laced with submissive tones, “... Rune, I didn’t mean what I said… at least, not the way you think…”

Rune frowned. “And what did you think -I- thought?” he asked, glancing over at her to his left from where he sat in the front of the vehicle, “... That I’m an annoyance? That I can’t get my shit together?” he asked flippantly, “Or that I actually try to think about what I’m going to say before I SAY it?”

That one hurt. Even Rune could feel it. A pained look crossed his face, and he shook his head. “... I didn’t mean that…”

Mocha nodded and reached out. Her hand was heavy. She squeezed a little. 

“... I know…” she whispered, “... Can I explain what I was trying to say?”

Rune nodded.

“... I do think you’re annoying…” she told him flatly, to which he frowned and bristled visibly, “... but it’s not because of anything that… like…” her head started to hurt, “... it’s not because you can’t fight… or…” He frowned harder, and Mocha redoubled. She sighed and whined a little, trying her best again, “... I just… I want you… to…” 

Rune could tell she was struggling… and he hated to see that, because he knew why she was struggling, and what she was struggling with. To an extent at least; Mocha had explained it once before. Feeling the seed of empathy sink low in his stomach, the green-eyed vulpine looked directly at her and caught her ice-blue, yellow-ringed gaze and reached up. Clasping her arm with his smaller hands, Rune swooped his head down and then up in a small arc, eyes still locked with her own. “Go on… I’m here…” he promised, ears forward and up to show his attention. 

Mocha blushed and nodded a few times, almost imperceptibly. She felt the fog in her brain lift a bit as she thought for a moment longer, then chose her words carefully. Tilting her gaze towards the ceiling, she began again. “... I am… annoyed with you when you second guess yourself… But…” she stopped, looking to Rune for a moment, who had not changed his expression or looked away at all. Heaving a heavy sigh, she began once more. “... It’s not because I think LESS of you when you do… It’s because I know you are… hurting… inside. Hurting yourself. You are amazing and I wish you saw yourself how I see you…” she told him, pinning her ears back as she shrunk a bit in her seat, drawing her head towards her shoulders, “... Does that make sense? Please tell me it does…”

Rune stood up and let his arms fall to the sides as he leaned forward. Reaching out, he clasped himself around her neck and snuggled into her as he gave her a hug. “... I think it does…” he told her, “... I’m pretty sure it does…” he added in a lower, softer tone. Mocha wrapped her arms around him and then pulled him up into her lap. There they sat and gazed at each other for a moment, before turning their attention to the outside and the megastructure they were approaching. 

“It’s never any better…” Rune noted as he glanced along the length of the great wall, “It doesn’t matter how many times we go out and come back, it just never looks any better.”

Mocha stared at the grey expanse around the wall’s base. Some buildings remained standing, but even many of those had crumbled into little more than dust. A greenish, thick fog swirled around, lapping up against the wall like waves on the beach. Even from their distance away, far enough that even the gate was barely visible, the Fog looked thicker than anywhere else. 

“It actually looks -worse-.” she noted, furrowing her brow, “... One day we’re going to come back here and there won’t be anything left.”

Rune shook his head. “No… The Wall has held up longer than anyone can remember. It survived The Fall. Every raid and storm… it’ll be here long after we’re gone, too.” he reasoned.

Mocha frowned at that. “Even if there’s no one living behind it anymore by then…” she muttered. 

Silence filled the room. Rune tried to shrug  it off, but instead shivered at the notion before taking his eyes off the bleak and dry landscape. “Whatever. By then, I’m sure Amrand will have found a new place for us all. Maybe we’ll even be the ones to discover it,” he chuckled. 

Mocha closed her eyes and sighed. It was no secret to Rune why though. For the past seven years they had searched, following every little lead that they could find. They’d chased Amrand’s suppositions, done their own investigative work, sought after local legends and even found maps and dataslates filled with information… and so far none of it had equated to much more than empty hopes and slowly disintegrating dreams. The world, it seemed, was dead. Or if it wasn’t, the cancer that was The Fog would soon kill off what was left, including them. 

Mokosha looked down to Rune for support, but said nothing. Rune of course knew what was going on in her head. 

“It’ll be fine.” he promised, “Even if we haven’t found it yet, there HAS to be somewhere where things aren’t just…” he reached out with one arm to sweep across the field of view which the Crawler provided, “... this. I feel like it’s just statistically improbable for EVERYTHING to be absolutely fucked,” he added with a smile that slowly turned into a confident grin. He couldn’t be sure why. 

Fortunately, Mocha felt her worries melt away a little. That small amount of bravado in him, even if she knew it was probably bullshit, made her feel a little better. As long as he was there, with her, then they could survive anything… or at least not die alone. 

“Yeah, I guess…” Mocha said quietly, just barely cracking a smile herself.

Twenty minutes later, the wall stretched beyond the viewport itself, dominating everything, with its gate equally imposing. Made up of thick layers of steel, the grand, horizontally oriented teeth of the East Gate reminded Rune of a great warrior, teeth gritted against the nearly two-century long onslaught of the Fog. Like a massive, shield-bearing protector, head twisted sideways in monumental effort. 

Mocha had no such thoughts. To her, it was merely a gate -a big, impressive gate, but nevertheless a gate and nothing more. And gates could fail, or break, or be broken down. 

“Approaching East Gate,” Penelope announced, her voice coming through the interior intercom in its usual, tinny notes. “Please have all documents ready including your passport, cargo manifest, and external mission logs. Unload all ranged weaponry and remove all melee-class weaponry from your person. Secure all weaponry and non-essential equipment, then prepare to be boarded. Thank you. Approximate time until gating: Five minutes.”

Mocha snorted in aggravation but kept her thoughts to herself as she and Rune stood up and began their final approach procedures in silence. 

Five minutes later, the Crawler came to a halt. Penelopi’s voice rang through once more. “Gating in fifteen seconds. Please take your seats and prepare to hail East Gate Garrison.”

“Copy, Penelopi,” Rune said, making a long stride from the weapons locker towards the communications station at the front of the Crawler. He spun and fell into his seat, put on his seatbelt, and leaned forward to press a button on the slanted console spread out before him. Mocha joined him quickly and strapped in as well, pulling a filter-mask up over her face which only covered up her snout and left her eyes visible. She nodded, giving him the signal to begin. 

“East Gate Garrison, this is vessel P-Three-N-E-L-Zero-P-, requesting clearance. We are post-mission with mission ID: E-526.  Personal ID: 37-95DC. Secondary Personnel IDs number as one. ID follows: 37-96WC.” 

Mocha pinned her ears back and bristled at the ‘W’ in her ID, but remained silent.

“ We have inspectable material and weapons on board. How copy? Over.” 

A voice, male, came through the intercom, similar to Penelopi’s, but clearly Anthro thanks to the non-digital way their speech came through. “This is East Gate Garrison. All-copy, five-by-five. Pull up to the designated zone for initial scan. Are you prepared to be boarded? Over.”

Rune saw Mocha roll her eyes. He paid it no mind.

“We are. All weapons secure. Cargo secured and documents are ready. Over.”

“Understood. Approach the designated zone. Over. Out.”

With that, a set of massive spotlights flooded the space between the Crawler and the East Gate, flooding the cabin of the vehicle with a near-blinding light. A series of fans on either side of the gate activated, blowing the Fog away from The Wall. Some of the Fog was blown upwards and over the Crawler as well, pushed away by massive fans which operated underground, while another set above, placed across the top of the gate, blew it backwards and away from the wall as well. It wasn’t long before the ground was exposed, revealing a cracked and pitted surface made entirely of stone squares. As the last of the Fog dissipated, a series of alarms sounded. Bright red lights, evenly distributed along the vertical sides of the East Gate, began to flash. Mocha pinned her ears back as The Wall’s weapons turned on them but did not fire. Both their gazes turned to observe a wreckage that had been pushed off to the side recently. The scrape-marks along the stone slabs which made up the roadway told them that the Crawler’s destruction was recent. Neither of them hazarded a guess, even internally, at what the dark stains which accompanied those scratches might have been. 

A thunderous mechanical noise rumbled through Mocha and Rune’s bodies, shaking the Crawler. It was replaced by a scraping, teeth-grindingly harsh metal-on-metal noise that Rune swore he felt in his very bones as the gate’s two, toothed sides separated, revealing more metal behind it. Whereas the metal receding into the wall was rusted, pocked, and marked by ages of abuse from the outside world, the metal revealed behind it was marked only by weapons fire and a thin line of damage lining the outer door's seams. It too began to move, though it sunk into the ground instead. Another wall was revealed, similar to the first, in that it was toothed as well, but pristine by comparison. Or at least, one could assume as much safely, since it too began to separate before the second had finished moving. The entire process was painstakingly slow, but was made slightly faster by the fact that the first and third gates only had to open just enough that their Crawler was able to pass through, while the second gate had to lower itself completely into the ground. 

“Stupid fuckin’ design.” Mocha commented into her mask, which muffled her voice somewhat. “You’d think they could have put a small door or something at the bottom…”

Rune nodded. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t heard before, but just as before, he nodded and raised his eyebrows in agreement. Penelopi chimed in as soon as the gate was open. 

“Manual controls unlocked. Please proceed to the designated decontamination zone: Alpha 2.” 

Rune grasped the two joysticks which controlled the massive vehicle’s direction, and pushed forwards. The vehicle lurched and then stabilized, Rune thankful not for the first time that the Crawlers were driver-assisted, even in manual. 

As they passed into the gate’s open maw, Mocha looked around, observing for the umpteenth time the sheer thickness of the Gate’s combined depth. Despite the length of the Crawler, which was as a yacht might have been compared to a car, the Gate was that much deeper. Two or three Crawlers could have fit, one after another, between the outside of the gate, and the Wall’s interior. Mocha shivered, entertaining unwillingly the idea that they should get stuck between those ‘teeth,’ and crushed by such masses of steel. 

Fortunately, Mocha could not recall a single story of something like that happening, and soon they were free of that frightful twilight zone, their world opening back up once more to reveal the Gatehouse. Rune pulled forwards and away from the Gate itself, which closed slowly behind them, and into one of what was likely hundreds of different, designated places where a Crawler could park. It had to be something close to a hundred or so, but neither Rune nor Mocha had counted or asked. Besides…

“Empty again.” Rune observed, “... It would have been nice to catch up with another team while the gate guards decontaminate everything.” he sighed. 

Mocha shook her head in mutual disappointment, “If they hadn’t made this space so big… they could have made a smaller gate…” she huffed. 

Rune pulled into the spot he had been told to by Penelopi, marked with a big ‘A-2’ on the ground, illuminated by more giant spotlights. People were already waiting for them. People in silvery hazmat suits were lined up in front of where the Crawler stopped, with long, gun-like spray-nozzles in hand, each attached to a long tube. They disappeared beneath where Mocha and Rune could see as the two heard the telltale sounds of fluid being sprayed against the outside of Penelopi. Foam began to form at the base of the windshield, with each layer of spray added turning into a thick, mucky-colored mousse that was impossible to see through, and darkened the interior of the vehicle with every new layer.. The two remained in their seats, and soon all they could see were vague outlines of one another, and the glow of the panel layout before them. 

“It’s so romantic.” Mocha scoffed.

Rune snickered, “Wanna make out?” he asked. 

“They’d probably think I was eating you.” she commented, her voice rumbling unhappily.

Rune reached out to put his hand on Mocha’s. She didn’t move. Eventually, Rune took his hand back. He understood that Mocha was on edge. She was always on edge when they returned.

Her nervousness was not unfounded.

Penelopi spoke through the intercom the entire time, rattling off what was going on outside, but neither of them paid her any mind. They had heard it all time and time before. Suddenly, the sounds of fluid stopped, once it reached the center of the roof of the Crawler. Rune and Mocha sat in silence for what seemed like forever, relieved when the sound resumed, and the froth on the windscreen began to wash away, revealing the world outside once more.

More waiting. As the water washed away, there was little else that they could do. Then silence. A light on the front control panel started to blink. 

“Cargo bay. Finally…” Mocha muttered impatiently. 

Rune simply nodded and put his mask on, covering the lower section of his face in preparation for what was to come. Another fifteen minutes passed. Rune began to fidget in his chair, something which Mocha reached out and touched him to stop, shaking her head warningly. Just then, they heard the airlock release, its signature ‘thunking’ noise, followed by the hiss of air from the outside rushing in. In stepped someone who was clearly a soldier. Fully clad in combat gear complete with hard, exterior armor and as many pouches as a person could ever want, each filled with ammo, a radio, or who knew what else. 

“Probably grenades. Or worse.” thought Rune. 

He never asked.

One stepped in, gun up. Then the other. They spread through the room until there were four of them. Four barrels. Two at Mocha. Two at Rune. Neither Rune nor Mocha moved, though Mocha’s fur stood on end. A low growl gurgled in her throat, but she did not dare to show any further aggression. A fifth person entered. Less heavily armored than the previous four, they only had a pistol, and thankfully it was holstered. Rune relaxed and exhaled with relief. Mocha quieted down completely, but kept her snout scrunched at the two soldiers whose weapons were pointed at Rune, ignoring the other three. 

The fifth one stepped forward, clipboard in hand. “Perune Da’Vimartos.” announced the helmeted individual, “Please stand by for personal inspection.” said the male, with a voice which denoted a jaded outlook on their job. “Do not move. If you move, you will be shot.” he told them both, looking down at the dataslate, scrolling with his right thumb. The male looked up, and Perune could tell that the male was looking at him, and only him. “Any states to declare?” he asked, “Sicknesses, psychological conditions…?”

“None.” said Perune, frowning. 

“What about with that one?” asked the officer. 

Mokosha bared her teeth a little more, exposing her canines fully. Her hands gripped the seat. 

“Her name is Mokosha.” Perune told the officer, “And you can ask her yourself.”

The officer looked down at his datapad. “ID number 37-95DC uncooperative. Noted.” he looked back up, and saw Mokosha’s twisted snout. Tapping on his dataslate, he looked down again, “37-96WC highly aggressive. Typical Wilder.” he muttered. “She’s rubbing off on you, Da’Vimartos. Better watch it.” he looked up again and made a motion with his hand. “Scan them!”

Mokosha looked away and closed her eyes. Perune stared at the officer.

“You’re lucky.” Perune told him flatly. 

The officer turned around and clipped the dataslate to his chest, “I know.” he said, “Pray it stays that way.” he said, and left through the airlock as two of the remaining soldiers clipped their rifles to their chests, letting them hang at an angle, and pulled both pistol and a handheld scanner from their uniforms. Pistols pointed at Mokosha and Perune’s heads respectively, they were quickly scanned by the soldiers, who pocketed their scanners, replaced their pistols back into their holsters, and announced that the two were clear. Everyone in the room relaxed. The soldier who had been watching Mokosha, rifle raised the entire time stepped forwards, his rifle down now as well. 

“Dataslate.” he said, holding out his hand. “Sorry about him.”

Rune noted his rank. He was a sergeant. Most likely the squad leader of the receiving team which was ‘serving’ them. 

“Save it.” Mokosha said, unbuckling herself from the seat to stand up. One of the soldiers went for their weapon, reacting, but catching himself before he finished the motion. “You’re all the fucking same. Just take my fucking papers. I’m going outside.” she snarled, tossing the dataslate at the sergeant’s feet, which clattered past him and towards the more nervous of the four, stopping at his metal boot-tips. No one said a word or made any more moves until Mokosha had stepped out the door and climbed down onto the concrete below, leaving Perune and the soldiers alone. 

“Way to go, newbie.” snarled the sergeant, “Pick that tablet up and start checking the information inside.” he then turned to face forwards again, shaking his head as he approached Perune, “As if we didn’t have enough trouble lately, I get a new guy who listens too much to barracks stories, and an officer who has all the personality of a gnasher.”

Perune, unamused by the lamentations of the sergeant handed him his pad, which the sergeant handed off to another soldier. “Let’s just get this over with.” Perune muttered, unbuckling himself from the seat to stand, and pass towards the airlock.

It didn’t take long to go over what they’d found, and soon enough the Crawler was relieved of its load, and any dangerous elements, including their weapons. Their re-entry tasks complete, Perune signed off on one last sheet, and began to walk around the outside of the Crawler, looking for Mokosha, and any damages that he might need checked out later. 

“No doubt Mokosha is doing the same.” he thought to himself as he walked between the massive wheels and did a quick examination of the suspension systems and undercarriage, marveling as he always did a the fact that the ancients could make machines of such a size as to dwarf their riders completely. Each individual spring was larger than he was both in width and height, and the vehicle was build high enough off the ground that he could easily crouch beneath it thanks to tires which he’d have to stand on top of Mokosha’s shoulders just to see over the treads. Checking each tire and the slanted, boat-like undercarriage of the massive, boxy, armored vehicle, Perune spotted Mokosha on the other side and abandoned his inspection to check on her.

Bending low to walk beneath the vehicle, using the undercarriage to help himself along, he arose on the other side of the vehicle, and was greeted by the unwanted sight of three soldiers. These were unlike the first five though, each kitted out with a suit that made them taller, stronger, and much more heavily armored than their compatriots. They were also equipped with heavy shotguns that could practically blow a person’s body clean off their own legs, like in some kind of sick cartoon. Unmoving, they stood like statues, but Perune was certain he knew what they were watching. Or rather, who, and so he turned his attention to Mokosha, who was completing her own checklist of inspections. 

“They’re jumpier than usual.” Perune stated as he came up beside Mokosha. “Something must have happened.”

Mokosha didn’t say a word, frowning deeply the entire time as she picked at some crusted mud between one of the springs behind the second-front-right wheel. She didn’t want to talk about it. Fortunately, Perune picked up on it and sighed. 

“Checks are done on my side.” he lied. He knew Mokosha would pick up on that, but he was also certain that she would have no qualms about leaving the area and letting the techs handle whatever might be wrong with the vehicle. They were due for a minor refit anyways. “... Wanna get out of here?”

Mokosha snorted and flicked some of the dirt off her fingertips, rubbed her index finger and thumb together, then brushed off both her hands on her pants. 

“Whatever.” she muttered, passing by him, hunched over and angry still, “The sooner we report to Amrand and tell him we found -another- fucking lead… the sooner I can hide in our phu.” she spat.

Perune watched her walk away, frowning. He looked to the powered armor clad soldiers who still stood off to the side, unmoving, their external sensors glowing menacingly where their heads should have been. Always red.

Always watching.

“Why did they have to make them look so menacing… ” he wondered under his breath, looking away from the unmoving, plated, animal-skull-like plating that dominated the space between the armored soldier’s gargantuan shoulder pauldrons. 

===A Few Minutes Later==

“It looks bad.” Mokosha frowned, staring out ahead of the Crawler as Rune directed it with subtle pulls and jostles of the joysticks which controlled it. Her gaze followed the horizon as acid rain started to fall against the windshield. “More buildings have collapsed.” 

Peune’s eyes were on the road, but even he noticed the crumpled pile of grey, pitted rubble and twisted rebar as they passed. 

“Feels darker too.” he noted, “... But I can’t really be sure if that’s true. We saw sunlight last time… so maybe everything just feels darker.”

Mokosha shook her head, “No, I think you’re right.” she countered, looking to him with concerne, “The clouds are thicker… you don’t think…”

Perune didn’t like to think about it, and shook his head, “Amrand will tell us, I’m sure. I just hope we’re both wrong.” He turned on the windshield wipers and looked around at the sides of the two-Crawler width roads. Mokosha was right, though. It did look worse. A few of the stores that they used to frequent had fallen in, the acid rain and time finally having taken its toll. One of the old residential buildings, the kind that no one dared use anymore, was also nothing more than a sunken-in roof with a few walls remaining. Perune furrowed his brow. The buildings had been sturdily, if not plainly built out of concrete, steel, and glass, but no matter how well constructed they had been, untold centuries had come and gone. The angular buildings simply could not last forever. Not in the acid rain that plagued The Alcove. Even the roads were cracked and pitted from the mildly caustic precipitation.

“No one bothers to clear them.” he mused suddenly, “... why should they?” and then the thought disappeared into the recesses of his mind. 

Mokosha watched as children played in the acid rain puddles, equipped in full hazmat gear. She could only tell that they were children due to their size and the way they moved. The brown wolfess’s hand moved to her stomach. She closed her eyes and fought back against the ache in her heart and her belly. 

“What would a monster need with kids anyways…” she whispered loud enough for Perune to hear. She felt his hand on her other one, which had been laying on the armrest. Turning that hand upwards, she took his and grasped it, squeezing. 

Neither of them spoke anymore for the time being. Not until they reached the P-H-U district and parked their Crawler at the edge with the ten or twenty others which also rested their aging, rusting frames there. 

“There were more last time.” Perune sighed, as he stood. “There used to be fifty or sixty at a time, and we had spares…”

“There are always less every time, Rune.” Mokosha said. She stood and moved to a nearby locker, joined by Perune where they both began to slip on their own hazmat suits. She shook her head and headed towards the door outside, waited for it to open with a hiss, then stepped out onto the balcony. “Next time there might be none left.” 

“Penelopi. Lock up.” Perune commanded, looking over his shoulder as he and Mokosha left. 

Out on the balcony, the two stared out at the rows upon rows, hundreds and hundreds of hard-shelled, tent-like structures made from basic, geometric shapes. All interconnected, most of the habitations were lined up along a central hall, with long foyers connecting them and perpendicular angles every twenty or so units, creating a massive, grid-like structure in which almost everyone in The Alcove, the area behind The Wall, lived and died. Many of them were rusting heavily. Some had holes in them, and were entirely abandoned. A few of the walkways had collapsed in on themselves over time, and had been blocked off. None of this was new to either of them. Mokosha shook her head again.

“I hate coming back here.” she told Perune, staring out over what little was left of civilization. “People hate my kind for surviving out there. They hate it here because they can’t live like the Ancients. They hate each other for taking up resources-”

Perune started down the ladder. 

“-and they hate US for going out and risking our lives to find something better FOR them, because they assume that it’s super comfortable inside a Crawler. Which is it. To a point.” she admitted. 

Perune popped his head over the edge of the balcony. “You’re not wrong, but… I hate to too, you know.” he reminded her, “... It’s like nothing we do seems to matter.” he said, and hung there on the side. “I don’t want to talk about it here though. Let’s go report in. I hate trying to talk to you through this suit.”

Mokosha nodded, and the two headed down the ladder one after another, their feet splashing into the semi-caustic puddles that had collected on the ground since the rain began. Evening was approaching, which meant that the lights on the street were on, outlining everything in red, blue, and sickly yellow dots that helped people navigate the roads and sidewalks at night. 

“In the Alcove… you never seen the moon.” started Perune.

“In the Alcove, you never hear a tune.” added Mokosha.

Perune began to walk. “The light above would reveal us here.” he recited.

Mokosha took up a place beside him, “And sounds below will attract our fears.”

“But behind The Wall we shall survive.”

“And if it falls then we all shall…”

The two continued on in silence, passing by more collapsed storefronts, broken-down vehicles, and trashed lightposts. There was no one on the street now. Even the children had gone inside. The few cars which remained were well hidden beneath precariously tilted shacks, or parked in structures which only the heavens above knew would stay up, or come falling down in the middle of the night. 

“... and yet The Wall remains. It’ll be here long after we’re all gone.” thought Rune. 

Mokosha had no thoughts like that. She knew it in her heart that The Alcove was dying. She had known it since they arrived.

Looking up from behind the elongated mask, which accommodated her snout the same way Perune’s dide, Mokosha spotted through the rainy dark the three story building which served as their commander’s headquarters. 

“I wish we could go home.” Mokosha stated suddenly, “Our real home. Back with your parents.”

“It’s been twelve years, Mocha.” Perune reminded her, “There’s no guarantee that Vimartos is even there anymore. Or that Mom and Dad are still alive.” 

“We should see if they’ll let us come back now… it’s been a long time.”

Perune shook his head as they reached the edge of the imposing, three story tall building. Square and flat like all the rest, it was the very definition of utilitarian with the only color other than ‘concrete gray’ being the rusty, ever-perpetually repainted red and white communications tower that sprouted out of the top like the worlds ugliest plant out of the world’s most boring pot. “I’d like to see them too.” he told her, “But we’re needed -here-.” 

“... What’s going to happen when we’re not needed here anymore?” Mokosha asked. “When we come back and there’s no one at The Gate to open it for us?”

Perune pushed a button on the side of the wall. A small hatch opened up, and both of them slipped their dataslates inside. The hatch closed and the main door to the building slid open. 

“I really don’t want to think about that.” Perune told Mokosha, looking back and up to her with a frown, “We had friends here once. Some day, they might come back too.”

Mokosha sighed behind her visor, reserving her thoughts for another time, and the two stepped inside.