FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

WARNING! READER DISCRETION STRONGLY ADVISED

The following story contains:

TRANSFORMATION THEMED PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL

AUTHENTIC DEPICTIONS OF LIFE-LIKE VIOLENCE

and

DISTURBING CONTENT NOT SUITABLE FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED

If you are under the age of 18 or it happens to be illegal for you to read such material, now is the time to seek entertainment elsewhere. We are not liable for anything!

AUTHOR'S NOTE

At one time I was a fan of Flexible Survival... I'm not anymore for very personal reasons. I have uploaded this for archival and entertainment purposes only. If for some reason you must know why I abandoned it you may send me a note or private message and I'll explain why this story will not be continued... Nevertheless, thank you for taking a look.

-Evan

Chapter 1

The last transmission to ever reach the denizens of Fairhaven was broadcast via television, radio, and the Internet:

The following message is transmitted at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, and the California State Police Department... It is recommended that the following actions be taken by all members of the public... Stay indoors and away from windows if at all possible while barricading any entryway... Gather enough supplies for sheltering up to 4 to 5 weeks... Avoid all contact with any person or animal exhibiting unusual behavior... An unidentified contagion is rapidly spreading ac--

It was at that point that all communication systems within the city catastrophically failed, along with the majority of utility services. The majority of citizens failed to head the warning, or were simply too caught up in their daily lives to even take notice... Until it was too late.

10:00 AM, P-Day plus 2... Somewhere in small town California...

...All stations this net- all stations this net- sit-rep to follow... Unidentified hostiles have breached defensive lines in the south and are converging on several small population centers to the southwest. All available 1st Marine units are to respond immediately and commence evacuation of civilians in the affected region... Thermal imagery shows- enemy units numbering in the hundreds- no final numbers. Hostiles have destroyed armored vehicles including one M1A2- expect heavy resistance. Rules of engagement remain- feral combatants, expendable. Medevac all infected showing signs of maintained or regained humanity...

The snarling beast was determined, a feral look in his eyes as he ran, keeping his eyes glued to the fleeing man who held tightly to the paw like hand of his beloved Samorn, an anthropomorphic husky collie mix.

Samorn had been nothing but a sweet, loyal, and simple minded husky less than a day ago. This bothered the man none, given the insane situation.

Around the next corner ahead of them was the main street of the town. At that moment it was filled with marines from Camp Pendleton who had managed to set up a rudimentary extraction point for the still savable remnants of the small city, ransacked by a group of mutants that escaped Fairhaven before the containment perimeter was established.

"Give me that bitch!" the man sized pursuer growled, gaining ground rather quickly, "or I'll have to make a new one out of your redneck ass!"

Quickening their pace the two rounded the street corner, trying to ignore the drooling anthropomorphic German shepherd behind them.

Down the road at the far end of the downtown buildings they could see the three dozen or so marines who had formed a wide defensive perimeter around the landing and leaving helicopters that were quickly filling with dozens of terrified people.

The marines surrounding them on all sides were firing M-16s and light machine guns at anything that aggressively approached the evac site. The vehicles and trash dumpsters they were using as barriers were covered in claw marks, deep gouges and impacts, and a lot of blood, hinting that the troops had been in combat for some time. Bodies of anthropomorphic and non humanoid creatures, most of them riddled with bloody holes or torn apart by explosives, were strewn about in the streets and on the side walks.

Upon seeing the long sought after safe haven ahead the strong man shouted in his raspy country accent, "There they are, Samorn! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

Tightening his grip on Samorn's paw hand he ran as quickly as he could, Samorn having no trouble keeping up. Unfortunately, he did not notice the beast that had been pursuing the pair emerge from behind a flipped pickup truck to his right.

With a blazing fast kick to his side the man was sent sprawling hard to the ground, his western style hat flying off. Between his labored breaths he could hear Samorn scream in a human like woman's voice as the beast roughly forced her to the ground. This shook him to his core, but he knew he couldn't just watch and hope for the marines to do something. They might shoot her as well, he thought.

Before the German shepherd could remove his ragged shorts and have his way with the terrified dog woman his ears perked up, hearing the deep and angry voice of the man.

"Yea, I don't think so, boy!" the man objected as calmly as he could, barely concealing his rage as he looked the German shepherd sternly in the eye. He brushed the dust off of his hat then placed it back upon on his head. "Last time I checked she don't belong to you," the man went on, "and trying to claim her by force isn't worth your life, now Is it?"

Letting go of his shorts with a sarcastic smirk on his muzzle the beast huffed and backed away from Samorn, then began striding up to the man to accept his challenge. His clawed digitigrade foot paws made clicks on the pavement as he stalked.

The two prime examples of muscle began sizing each other up fearlessly for a few seconds, circling each other without blinking.

"Your move, asshole," grunted the man.

"Sir!" the barking voice of a man suddenly came from down the road. It was a marine, accompanied by two more. "Sir, try to keep your distance from it, I can't get a clear shot!"

The man quickly glanced at the marines and it was all the opportunity the German shepherd needed. He lunged at the man, but was stopped abruptly by the trained draw of the man's concealed revolver. Not phased, the beast snarled and knocked the firearm out of the man's hand, leaving small cuts on his palm with his blunt claws.

"GYAAAH!" the man growled in rage and began throwing his fists at the creature's head in a furious yet focused haymaker. The beast grunted as the man landed several blows, drawing blood from the shepherd's big dog ears and black wet nose.

Stunned by the man's strength and with a swimming head the German shepherd could do nothing but watch the man deliver powerful blows to his exposed furry stomach. The blows were powerful, forcing him to bend over, coughing. He dropped to his knees and watched as the man retrieved his revolver. The man then placed the barrel to the top the beast's furry dog head, his finger tightening around the trigger.

"Go ahead- bitch!" the beast grumbled, blood dripping from his thin black lips. "If you've got the balls, do it! - What are you waiting for?"

"Aston!" a woman's voice suddenly came from over the man's shoulder. A paw like hand covered in white and brown fur and big black claws griped his shoulder tightly from behind. It was Samorn, who had recovered from the creature's attempted rape. "He didn't hurt me," she said softly into Aston's ear. "Let him go."

"Are you fucking kidding?" Aston asked. "He just tried to rape you, and you're asking me to let him get away with it? The fuck?"

"He didn't know what he was doing," Samorn growled. "You know this... I almost did the same to you... Remember?"

Aston sighed hard, shaking his head, trying hard not to let the memories of the previous day come into his mind. He lowered his gun, sighing again.

"Pussy," the German shepherd grumbled.

Suddenly two A-10 jets whipped low overhead startling everyone as they began firing their gatling guns at something in the far distance, followed by several F-18s engaging the same target or target area with missiles. The sounds of the chaos in the distance was terrifying, yet oddly calming as the deep thump of distant impacts and explosions rippled through group's ears.

"Excuse me, sir," one of the marines said as he approached. "We have to go now. The last transport out of the area's leaving right now. Let's get moving!"

Aston placed his free hand on Samorn's, feeling her paw pads grip tighter. "Were coming," Aston replied, holstering his gun behind him.

As the group began to walk away the German shepherd spat blood onto the back of Aston's blue jeans. Enraged once again, Aston quickly turned to deliver a swift and hard kick to the side of the German shepherd's head with his steel toed boot, knocking the defeated beast out cold before hastily proceeding with the marines and Simorn toward the evac site.

"Fuck sake, dude. Was that necessary?" a marine asked.

"Yep," answered Aston, breathing heavily. "I think it's the only thing that works to- to snap 'em out of their sex filled craze. Kind of a- uh- cognitive re-calibration of sorts. It worked on her, anyway."

Aston gestured an elbow at Samorn with his last statement. He gasped and stopped briefly, looking down at his bleeding palm. A slightly worried look appeared on his face.

"Something wrong?" asked Samorn who stopped as well, a hint of fear in her sweet voice.

Aston clenched his fist and shook his head. "No. I'm fine, babe. Lets move," he replied and gently stroked the side of her head before proceeding with the men. He then noticed a marine glancing back at the odd pair as they went on. "She's still my dog, ya know." Aston added, projecting his voice toward the young man.

"Uh-huh. That, she is," replied the marine with a hint of mockery.

As they approached the makeshift barrier the marines inside signaled them to hurry toward the last remaining helicopter, a navy Sea Hawk that looked as though it was already full of scared townsfolk and what appeared to be a couple wounded marines.

Oddly enough, Samorn was the one who lent a helping hand to the men as they clambered over the barrier of cars and dumpsters as quickly as they could. The marines nervously thanked her.

Aston was the last to be helped across by the beautiful husky collie woman. He was amazed at her raw strength, and briefly wondered if he truly needed to be there to guide her along.

"Well," Aston began, slowly letting go of her powerful paw, "you're tougher then you let on, Samorn. You could have taken that ass hat back there."

A shy smile spread across Samorn's black lipped muzzle as they continued onward.

"Keep your heads down!" a marine yelled to them, barely audible under the sound of the Sea Hawk's engine and whirling wind around it.

As they approached, the woman marine manning one of the miniguns exited the side door of the helicopter and ran up to the marine leading the group, who then signaled Aston and Simorn to halt and get low. Taking a knee Aston could not hear what the female marine was saying but he could easily tell that her words angered the platoon leader.

"What the fuck do you mean only one can go?" the platoon leader yelled. "Make some fucking room!"

The marine was obviously agitated by her response as he turned to face the two survivors.

He said into Aston's ear, "They can't take both of you. They're overloaded as it is. You need to decide quick whether it's you or your- dog that is staying behind with us! Do you understand?"

"Yea!" Aston replied without hesitation and looked at Samorn. "Samorn, you're going with them! You're getting out of here."

"What?" Samorn gasped, sidling up to him with a fretful look in her eyes. "No!" She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you behind in this hell all alone..."

"I wont be alone." Aston replied.

Samorn hugged him tightly, resting her muzzle on his shoulder.

"Ma'am," the female marine from the helicopter shouted, "we need someone to hold a child for us so we can have both guns on the chopper manned. Will you do that for us?"

"I'll be fine," Aston continued. He returned Samorn's warm embrace, running his calloused fingers through the soft brown and black fur on the back of her mixed breed dog head and neck, playfully making her large husky ears move back. "I love you, sweetheart," he said, resting his forehead on the top of hers while holding tightly to his hat.

"I love you too," Samorn said, choking back tears as she gazed into Aston's stern yet loving eyes. "I'll come look for you when I can! I promise."

"We'll see each other again, soon," Aston added. "Don't you worry 'bout a damn thing!"

Tears welled up in Samorn's green eyes, but she fought to keep her composure and agreed to leave with the helicopter. Aston nodded to her as the woman marine led her to her seat and helped strap her in before another marine handed her a small boy who's head, neck and arms were wrapped in blood soaked bandages. Samorn did her best to comfort the wounded child as the Sea Hawk began to lift off.

Out of the blue the roar of a jet plane engine began getting louder and closer. Looking above the evac site the men and women on the ground could only watch in sheer terror as what appeared to be a crippled F-18 on fire plummeted from the sky, sailing just a hundred feet over the evac site and crashing nose first not more than a few hundred feet down the road, prompting the marines and Aston to scramble to take cover as flames and debris came billowing toward them.

The fleeing helicopter's gunners began spraying a continuous line of rounds in both directions with some of the wounded marines onboard firing their weapons as well. A shower of spent brass shells from the miniguns and rifles rained down upon some of the marines below as the helicopter sped away.

"Contact!" a marine not far from Aston screamed. "Lots of fucking contact!"

Peering from behind one of the bloody dumpsters Aston could barely make out the outlines of the freaks racing toward the barricade through the smoke and dust left behind from the jet crash.

"Oh, fuck me runnin'!" the platoon leader grumbled. "Hold your ground and conserve your ammo! Only shoot at what you can hit!" he barked and began firing his M-16 from cover in single shots, Aston watching as the seasoned man landed several hits on the creatures before rapidly reloading.

Aston could hear the rest of the marines as they began firing their weapons as well, periodically shouting locations of targets to focus their fire on. To Aston's right a woman marine began firing her light machine gun in short bursts.

"Multiple hostiles at our six!" a marine on the opposite side of the barrier shouted, firing his rifle in long bursts down the road before reloading.

The platoon leader ordered his platoon sergeant and several others to cover the road behind them while he and the rest would handle the front sector. He then told Aston in a surprisingly calm shout that he was more than welcome to join the fight.

Aston took cover behind the dumpster and drew his revolver, opening the cylinder and making sure all chambers had a live round.

He nearly pissed his pants when a creature tumbled loosely from the top of the dumpster and plopped with a loud wet smack in front of him. Yelping he drew his feet in as close to his body as he could, not wanting to get anywhere near the thing. It appeared to be dead, thankfully, lying on its back with several bleeding holes in its chest and stomach. The creature was some sort of anthropomorphic weasel or mink creature that he could tell was a female with streamline womanly curves and beige fur covered breasts where a woman should have them.

"Oh, Christ," Aston panted under his breath, trying to steal himself.

Peeking from cover with his pistol ready Aston could see at least thirty or more mutants rushing toward the barrier from both sides.

"Oh, fucking Ch-rist!" Aston hollered, watching the nearest beasts get eviscerated by the marine's weapons. The dead beasts fell hard to the street in a bloody mess. Grenades, some thrown, some fired from rifle mounted launchers went off down the streets as well, blowing some of the mutant's limbs off.

"Shit! Lieutenant, I'm loading!" the woman marine next to Aston said as she opened the empty feed tray of her machine gun.

Suddenly a powerful stray mutant managed to dodge all incoming rounds and leaped like a big cat toward the woman from the opposite street, tackling her hard to the ground as she screamed in abject terror.

It was big, built like a centaur or something similar, only this creature had a big black panther body instead of a horse's from the waist down while its feminine humanoid upper torso was covered in black fur and had paw like hands. It had a panther like face and ears and large breasts. Between its four panther limbs hung a massive feline sheath and set of feline testicles, its arousal was obvious.

The panther taur held the marine down with its panther body's front paws, its claws digging into the woman's kevlar vest. The beast quickly ripped the struggling woman's armor and uniform away and tossed them aside as though it had plenty experience in doing such things.

With trained hands Aston aimed his revolver at the creatures upper humanoid torso, figuring that to house the creatures most vital organs.

"Hey! Bitch! Get off her!" he shouted over sounds of blaring weapons and explosions. It didn't hear him, and began positioning itself to penetrate the screaming woman's sex as she struggled in vain to pry its lower paws from her bleeding chest.

Aston squeezed the trigger of his revolver. With a loud crack and subsequent spurt of blood from the creature's humanoid furry chest it collapsed onto the woman before it could insert its cock into her.

Rushing to the scene of the attempted rape Aston and a marine lifted the dead beast off of the woman, noticing a large amount of the beast's blood had spilled onto her toned body and her face, getting into her eyes, nose and mouth.

"Help me up!" the woman marine cried, spitting some of the blood.

As Aston reached down to help her the other marine grabbed his shoulder and tugged hard.

"No!" the shaken marine shouted.

"Why?" Aston angrily asked, ducking briefly as another explosion went off.

"It's too late! ... The blood!"

Aston looked at him, his eyes wide in shock. "What? She's fine, lets get her out of here!"

"She's heavily infected," the platoon leader shouted from his new position behind a burned out car. "We can't risk taking her with us. Don't you fucking touch her!" he barked, then began firing his rifle from cover.

Aston was beside himself. His mind couldn't comprehend that he had been deprived the chance to save someone who, apart from the blood and claw marks on her, seemed reasonably unharmed.

"Air strike inbound, sir!" another marine shouted from behind a turned over vehicle, putting a radio handset away.

"Alright, let's move out!" the platoon leader ordered. "Anders, Clewley, provide cover fire and pop smoke!"

The group quickly withdrew from the about to be overrun evac site after two marines deployed smoke grenades on each street to conceal their retreat. They began moving swiftly down an adjacent alleyway, occasionally firing bursts of automatic fire back in the direction they came to discourage anything from following them. The marines stopped and checked around each corner at the end of the alley before proceeding into a wide public parking lot behind the downtown buildings.

They all tried to ignore the pleading wails of the poor woman they left behind, her body beginning to contort and twist as her infection took hold, slowly turning her into a lust filled horror much like her attacker. One of the marines was shaken severely by this and removed his kevlar helmet to cover his ears. It was a savage reminder to Aston that behind those uniforms was a vulnerable human, no different than him.

Not more than a few seconds later a squadron of Super Cobra attack helicopters began flying in from the north, laying waste to the small city's mutant inhabitants with rockets, missiles, and gatling gun turrets. Aston and the marine platoon stayed in cover behind the vehicles in the parking lot and waited for the chaos to be over. The occasional surviving mutant would arrive, but would panic at the sight of the armed marines and would flee, only to be chased and gunned down by a helicopter firing its gatling gun.

"Looks clear- thanks for the assist," the platoon leader said into the ear piece of his radio.

The helicopters withdrew from the area with one final low altitude sweep, the air thickening with the smell of burning materials and flesh. As things quieted down the marines began to secure the perimeter of the parking lot, checking the adjacent alleyways for stray creatures and moving vehicles to create a defendable perimeter.

Suddenly another mutant showed up. The panther taur creature gradually came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the parking lot and eyed the marines. Expecting her to leap at any moment the group of marines closest to her trained their weapons toward her, but she stayed put, panting heavily, causing the dog tags between her black furred breasts to sway.

The platoon leader lowered his weapon and told everyone including Aston to hold their fire before walking up to her. He tried in vain to shoo her away, shouting and pointing. She looked him mournfully in eye and tried to say something, but all she could do was tremble on her four paws. It was then that she collapsed forward into the marine's arms, her body relaxing as though exhausted, but that unfortunately wasn't the case. The marine knelt down with her, trying to support her humanoid torso. He looked her over, noticing a multitude of bleeding wounds and very severe tissue burns on her panther body as well as on her humanoid torso. He knew then that she most likely had only moments to live.

With her dying breath she lifted a shaking paw hand and forced a folded piece of paper into the marine's. He held her hand firmly for a moment as she gradually let her final breath go and went limp. He laid her down as gently as he could, brushed her feline eyes closed and broke off her dog tag.

The marine stood up looking down briefly at the paper in his gloved hand, a speck of blood on it. Knowing exactly what it was he stuffed it into a pocket without a second thought.

"You shitbird!" a marine suddenly shouted and violently shoved Aston back against a van.

Aston took a moment to collect himself. "The fuck'd I do?" he asked the confronting marine, anger in his voice.

"You just had to try and be a goddamn hero!" the marine shouted, leaning into Aston's face and pointing. "Nice work you redneck piece of trailer trash!"

"Anders!" the platoon leader barked as he got between the two and began ushering the furious marine back. "Shut the fuck up, right now! He didn't know. He did what he thought would help."

"I don't care! It's his fault and you know it, Lieutenant!" the marine insisted, nearly in tears as he pointed at Aston. "We've lost enough, and he's just gonna get more of us killed!" The marine looked at the corpse of the panther taur, knowing for sure who it used to be. "Take his gun away!" he insisted.

"No," the platoon leader shook his head. "That won't do any good."

"Fine, I'll take it!"

The platoon leader forcefully grabbed the marine by the back of his neck and shoulder, spinning him around. "You need to get your shit together, son!" the lieutenant growled in his face. "Your a fucking leatherneck, it's time you started acting like one! People- make- mistakes, and you are not compromising this mission with any more of your crybaby bullshit... Square-yourself-away! Now!"

The lieutenant let the huffing and puffing marine go with a shove and watched him storm off to be alone behind a flipped SUV. Another marine went to try and console him.

"I'm sorry," Aston uttered, glancing at the body of the poor creature. "I didn't know the blood-" he choked back a tear, intense guilt rising up in his chest. "I've gotten blood on me!" Aston looked at the lieutenant, raising his voice. "So have you! It doesn't make sense."

"None in your mouth, though, right?" the older lieutenant asked, flashing him an inquiring look.

"Well- no," Aston replied, calming a bit.

"Well- there you go. Mucus, blood, and sex fluids are the main mediums of transmission that we've seen for it. As long as you don't get any of these in you, or a large volume on your skin you should be golden. For now, I guess, neither you or I have caught it."

"But, what the hell is- it?"

The lieutenant sighed, looking away at his marines as they went about patrolling the parking lot. "I can't tell you that," he went on, "and it is not- because its classified or anything like that, it's simply because I don't fucking know, and I'm not so sure I want to. -- You need to get that hand wrapped." The lieutenant looked to his left and called for a corpsmen.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" a navy corpsman asked as he jogged up to him.

"Patch this gentleman up, would ya?" the platoon leader ordered and briskly walked away.

"Yes sir," the corpsman replied before walking up to Aston with a hastily mustered smile. "Let me fix this little problem of yours, ok?"

Aston held up his wounded hand, the cuts beginning to bleed again from gripping his pistol. The corpsman took care to disinfect and wrap Aston's hand with a bandage then handed him a pair of hard knuckle tactical gloves.

"Thanks, man," Aston said and slipped the surprisingly well fitting gloves on.

"No problem... Aston, right?" the corpsman asked.

"Yep."

"Don't let Anders get to you. His whole family is in Fairhaven where the shit's really hit the fan. We can't blame him for acting that way... Do you have any family or friends in the city?"

"My ex wife and her husband live near the industrial district. I can't imagine what... What must be going on in there."

"To be honest, what we saw just now is piddly shit in comparison."

Aston sighed and looked around, rubbing his hands together. "Is, uh, Fairhaven a total loss?" he asked.

"As far as we can tell it's ground fuckin' zero for this shit," the corpsmen explained. "We lost contact with several national guard units shortly after they were sent in. Don't quote me on this but I heard a SEAL team vanished there, too, which is frankly hard to buy. Police haven't responded to any of our transmissions in over forty eight hours, so I guess they either don't have working equipment, they're dead, - or they've joined the ranks of those- things... Unfortunately, were not going to be given clearance to go back in to rescue people for another month, maybe more. I assume our main goal for now is going to be to help with containment, and probably search and destroy missions for anything that breaches the cordon, like we're doing right now."

"Let's hope it works."

"Yea, no shit. Stay safe, buddy."

"I will. You too, sir."

"The name's Espinoza, but call me Doc."

"Alright, Doc. Thanks again."

"You are very welcome, and hey, keep your chin up."

The corpsman fist bumped Aston with his free hand and walked away to help secure the parking lot. With all the emotional stimuli breaking through Aston's stern demeanor he found himself slumping down against the van, removing his hat. He fiddled with it for several minutes, trying to fix the disheveled brim as he fought back tears. With a deep sigh of acceptance he distracted himself by reloading his revolver.

Upon hearing some commotion and voices he looked up and saw that some of the marines had their rifles aimed down an alleyway, shouting for someone, or something, to keep his or her hands where they could see them.

Aston's eyes went wide with a jolt of amusement when the German shepherd from earlier slowly walked out of the alleyway with his paw like hands on top of his doggy head. The beast got down on his knees as ordered with his head down. His fur was dusted with blotches of soot and ash, most likely from the helicopter strike.

Unable to resist, Aston strode over as the marines declared the beast wasn't a threat any longer. They told him he could put his hands down and gave him a bottle of water that he seemed to have a little difficulty drinking with his new muzzle. Nevertheless the dog man seemed happy to have found somewhere to rest, that was until his relieved eyes connected with the stern marbles of the man he fought earlier. Aston couldn't resist a smile, while the German shepherd's muzzle became unemotional.

The both of them said simultaneously, "Holy shit, you lived through all that?"

"Yes I did," Aston snickered with sarcasm. "Sorry to be the barer of bad news. Name's Aston, by the way," he said and reached his hand down.

Surprised by this the German shepherd hesitated, but nonetheless took Aston's hand and was helped up to his digitigrade paws. He began brushing some of the dirt and ashes from his fur and shorts and appeared to have something to share with Aston.

"Look, I... Um," the beast began an awkward second later, trying to find the right words to express himself. "I can't- tell you how sorry I am for trying to-"

"Don't," Aston interrupted, his tone stern. "Like Samorn said, you didn't know what you were doing, and I'm- honestly, I should be the one to apologize for almost killing you."

Suddenly the platoon leader walked by with a massive snicker. "Me too," the lieutenant said, an amused tone to his voice. "You look a little less like a rapist now." He rubbed the German shepherd's head, making him recoil slightly with his eyes tightly closed.

"Ah! Could you nah-?" the German shepherd winced, scowling at the marine as he walked on.

"You're a good boy," the marine said with a cheerful yet sarcastic tone.

"Well- your an ass!" the dog man grumbled.

"He's just trying to be friendly," Aston mentioned.

"Yea, whatever," the dog man replied and reached a paw hand out to shake Aston's. "Anyway, I'm- Um..." the dog man's ears went back, a puzzled look spread over his canine face and his eyes shifted before looking Aston in the eye. He rubbed his muzzle with the paw hand he originally intended to shake Aston's with, obviously stricken with embarrassment. "Oh, fuck. I don't remember!" he growled. "I don't know my name!"

"It's alright, calm down," Aston said, placing a gloved hand on dog man's furry shoulder. "How 'bout we call you Lucky, or Max, or something like that? At least for now? I mean- Lucky fits with you surviving that airstrike, and all..."

The dog man's face almost looked annoyed, but shifted to a glare of amusement. "I like Max. Lucky's just- too cliche."

"And max ain't? -- Ok. Max it is, then."

Max smiled and his ears perked. It seemed as though his spirits had lifted some, but there was still some obvious unease to his mannerisms.

"K, Everybody listen up," the platoon leader suddenly shouted from across the parking lot. "Evac is inbound. ETA: ten minutes. We're getting out of here. Keep your sectors covered!" As he finished informing the group he strode up to Aston and Max. "You two will go with me when the helicopters arrive," he instructed them before walking off.

Aston and Max began walking around the parking lot together, looking at all the marine's as the men and women did their best to keep something of a perimeter up. Everyone was conversing with each other, trying to pass the time.

Suddenly some of the marines joined the pair, obvious curiosity in their tones as they spoke.

"Hey. Were you a human before yesterday?" the youngest marine asked.

"Yep," Max replied happily. "I'm from this town. That much I do remember. I don't remember my name, my job, or if I had a job. Shit, I may have been homeless for all I know."

"Do you remember how you turned into- this?" another asked, gesturing up and down at Max's body.

Aston Interjected when Max's ears went back and his tail became still as a stick. "I don't think this is the best time to ask that," Aston suggested.

"No," Max went on. "It'll be better if I get out in the open. I remember being chased down some of these streets by a creature a lot like me. It tackled me, ripped my shorts down and then- quite literally Fucked me like some rutting animal. -- I remember trying to get away. Even pulling out a utility knife to try and drive it off, but in the end, well, it had its fun. After that I guess I spent most of the night in a craze, chasing people down and- doing the exact same thing to them. Sometimes even... Well... Never mind. I'm sure you've all seen that stuff at least once."

"Fuck, man. I can't imagine," the marine said, her tone shifting from curious to dull.

"The change itself was even worse," Max's eyes furrowed. "It hurt. A lot. It was like someone was breaking every bone in my body- pushing them into places they weren't supposed to go. Weird, because before that I had only seen some people moaning, like it was- they felt pleasure as they mutated."

"Exactly. I remember Samorn telling me it was like every cell in her body was on fire," Aston remarked. "Like, she enjoyed it."

"Samorn?" a marine asked.

"My Alaskan husky," Aston continued. "That was, until yesterday when those things escaped the city and swarmed my ranch before she and I could get out. I'm never without my pistol so I was able to shoot all but the bastard that grabbed her. It dragged her off into the patch of woods out back of my property. I took off after it and after about a minute I heard her whining and barking. Soon after that I found her curled up by a log in her current form with that fucker's jizz all over her thighs," Aston sighed. "I nearly threw up my breakfast... I found the fucker a little after that, laughing his ass off beside a tree, sayin' shit to me like how beautiful she was how I should have a go with her... I snapped at that notion and chased him for probably a couple hundred yards when finally he turned to attack, saying how pretty he was going to make me... So I was like, 'nope,' and shot him in the head... No hesitation... Samorn found me a bit after she heard the shot and that's when she tried to come on to me, you know, rubbing herself and..." He shook his head, once again trying to avoid those thoughts. "I didn't know what to do exactly at first so I tried to talk her down. Of coarse that didn't work and she leaped at me. I managed to struggle out of her grasp, which mind you, was not easy. I scrambled to grab my pistol then instead of shooting her I whipped her in the side of the head with it, knocking her out cold. She came to a bit later and seemed scared to death so I told her to come with me, but of coarse I made it clear that she shouldn't try anything again or I'd kill her... After making it back to the house I found my car destroyed so we gathered what we could and started trekking here on foot. We spent the night in that motel on the edge of town, barricading ourselves in until we heard the helicopters. It was kinda nerve racking to share the same bed with her in that form, but... Uh, never mind. At least she kept me warm, like usual."

Aston looked off into the distance as he finished speaking. A deep longing could be sensed as Max looked at him.

"I'm sure she's fine," Max reassured him, patting his back gently.

"Where'd they take her?" Aston asked the marines.

"To the nearest F.O.B.," a marine replied. "They'll take good care of her there. Don't worry. We are instructed not to hurt anyone that doesn't show any- I guess you could call it, feral behavior."

"What's an F.O.B.?" Max asked.

"Forward Operating Base," the marine explained. "Thousands of marines there. Any stray monster shows up there, he'll regret it! I'm sure you two will be heading there any time now."

Aston nodded and folded his arms, gripping his chin with a finger and thumb. Concern for his beloved friends filled his heart, but he accepted his feelings rather quickly, knowing there truly wasn't anything he could do to help them now.

The sound of rotors and engines grew steadily over the next minute as two tandem rotor helicopters approached the area. They hovered momentarily before descending to a soft landing in the street beside the parking lot.

Immediately the marines gathered their gear and began moving toward them to begin boarding. Most of the marine's went in one, the other squad of a dozen in the other. The lieutenant motioned for Max and Aston to board the partly loaded helicopter he stood next to.

Aston sat next to Max near the rear ramp of the helicopter and watched the platoon leader hand a crinkled, blood stained piece of paper to one of the marines boarding the more heavily loaded helicopter, saying something to him. The two marines saluted one another briefly before boarding.

"Was that paper what I think it was?" Aston asked the lieutenant as he sat across from him.

The lieutenant nodded, taking a drink from his hydration pack. "Yea. Not the first I've handled and it wont be the last," the lieutenant said in a matter of fact tone.

Soon both helicopters began lifting off and sped toward their destination with several attack helicopters approaching to providing cover...

Chapter 2

...All stations this net- all stations this net- sit-rep to follow... Population centers south of Fairhaven have been successfully secured with minimal casualties- 3rd Battalion is to R.T.B. then resume containment procedures... Be advised, rules of engagement updated as follows: when possible it is recommended that anything approaching quarantine perimeters be driven back into the city with containment fire. Do not shoot to kill until necessary. Anyone violating the R.O.E. will face court martial...

Later That Day... Marine Corps Forward Operating Base, 1/4 mile east of the Fairhaven quarantine perimeter...

To call the situation at the F.O.B. Hell, would have been a serious understatement. Every service member at the base was scrambling as fast as they could to tend to the hundreds of people rescued from the ransacked towns south of Fairhaven.

Samorn saw several of them, sadly some children, with horrible injuries ranging from burns and shrapnel wounds to deep lacerations, claw slashes and bites, some unspeakably worse. The wounded were seen first and rushed from the helipads to the medical and surgical prefab buildings set up by the dozens.

Many survivors had also begun to show, or were already showing small signs of infection; animal ears, tails, paws, hooves for feet, wings, antlers, etc, which terrified them and their families to no end as they huddled together in the courtyards of the base where they were told to wait. For some reason the infected survivors were not actively kept isolated from the uninfected.

As their mutations got worse many of the infected begged for help, but there were simply too many wounded to tend to for the available marines and corpsmen to do much more than provide bottles of water and set up some protection from the sun. Mixed into the groups of survivors were isolated civilians that had endured full body transformations, but there weren't many of them. On a rare occasion one or two of the mutants would have to be restrained and be injected with sedatives when they became violent or attempted to rape someone as their libido and new instincts became uncontrollable.

The marines and corpsman eventually worked to calm the mutated survivors by isolating them in the quarantine tent to be looked at one by one. They were promptly given drugs to slow or stop the spread of their mutations, but were informed by the corpsmen that there was nothing that could be done to reverse any changes that had occurred, much to the survivor's horror. Survivors with full mutations were given treatments to make them noninfectious, at least to an extent, and supplements to help with their inhuman libidos.

When the Sea Hawk arrived at the F.O.B. the little boy Samorn helped comfort on the trip was the first to be seen by the navy corpsmen waiting by the helicopter pad, followed shortly by the other civilians. The little boy was quickly taken from her and carefully placed on a gurney being wheeled up by a marine.

The wounded marines onboard angrily refused help as they exited the helicopter, telling several corpsman that they would take care of themselves until every civilian had been seen, mutated or not. Samorn was astounded by their selflessness and offered to help out the marine that seemed to be the worst off.

Samorn ushered him to an open spot near some cargo crates that provided some shade and got to work removing his shirt for him. She pulled a medkit from a pouch on his tactical vest and used it to quickly dress the deep bleeding wounds on the marine's belly and chest. He was in some pain but still thanked her profusely, showing no fear of her canine appearance while another marine nearby observed, making sure she was doing what she should. She did, but was dumbfounded as to where the skills to do so came from.

She glanced up as she finished taping the last bandage and noticed that the little boy had not been moved to the field hospital. She watched as the gurney bearing marine placed a stethoscope on the boy's chest, moving it from place to place rather quickly. It seemed as if time had slowed down as the marine rapidly removed his kevlar helmet, leaning his head down as if to listen for breathing. He performed chest compressions several times with an attending corpsman using a bag valve mask. Soon, however, any expression of urgency faded from the man's face. He gently shook his head then obtained a white sheet from the gurney to unhurriedly drape over the child's lifeless body. Samorn's eyes began filling with tears as she watched the marine place a hand upon the child's covered forehead, holding the hand of the accompanying corpsmen as the two men recited a brief prayer, holding their heads low and closing their eyes. An unmerciful strike of reality if Samorn had ever seen one.

"I dressed that kid's wounds myself," the wounded marine said sadly. "I thought for sure he'd make it."

"Me too," Samorn replied, wiping the tears from her eyes, trying to collect herself. "He even smiled at me in the helicopter..."

Another low point after her arrival at the base was when a few flatbed trucks arrived loaded with the destroyed remains of several military vehicles. She watched as the wrecks were unloaded by crane, stripped of munitions and washed of blood and other bodily fluids by special Marine Corps personnel wearing MOPP gear. The sight and smell of it all made Samorn sick to her stomach, knowing that these vehicles were once occupied by people that were now either dead or have been forced to become monsters against their will.

An instinct within her awakened shortly after that. One she didn't understand but she didn't fight it since it led her to work tirelessly to aid the marines and corpsman in their efforts to comfort waiting survivors. She searched for those within the crowd that were alone and formed a group of them, encouraging them to get to know one another while they idly chatted and sipped water under one of the many open tents set up in the courtyard to keep the baking sun off of the survivors.

By the time she was done she had amassed seven of them. One was a cute, somewhat sassy young woman with rounded feline ears, the beginnings of paws and a short lynx like tail that wagged happily as she spoke. Her top canines had overgrown her still human jaw, stretching past her chin, but the sudden upturning of her nose hinted that that was about to change in a moment.

Another survivor was a middle aged man with the lower body of an anthropomorphic coyote complete with a tail and clawed paws. He claimed to be an ex-soldier and would be helping out but feared passing on his infection as he did to his wife, simply by kissing her. Another survivor was a young man who had grown a coat of jaguar fur on his upper torso with ears that had begun to change as well, not that he noticed. The others in the group had little to no changes, or were trying in vain to hide them.

Another lone survivor that pulled her attention was a young man who's body had been tormented by a hermaphroditic type infection. It had progressed to the disturbing point of robbing the man of any masculine traits, his body becoming more and more feminine and woman like, but leaving his male genitals untouched at that moment. The man soon began writhing and groaning loudly as his infection progressed at a worrying speed. A wet spot had begun to appear on his shorts between his legs, hinting at something developing down there while breast tissue and stiff growing nipples tented his shirt. He groaned in an increasingly effeminate voice about the heat as he frantically tried to remove his tightening shirt, tearing it with white talons sprouting from his fingertips. His hands rapidly began to fuse and shift into eagle like talons while soft blue fur began to spread over his body rather quickly, starting at his back where it was the darkest and migrating from there to his chest and slim belly where it was snow white.

With one glance at his mutating body he began to panic. "Oh- Fucking, god. No! Please help me!" the man cried in terror and reached his four digit talon like hands out, shrieking somewhat girlishly as he saw them.

"You're gonna be all right, sweetheart!" Samorn said as she knelt to cradle his head and shoulders, grabbing one of his hands. "Corpsman up!" Samorn instinctively turned her head and barked.

The man's face began to creak and push forward, forming a dark yellow predatory beak while blue fur rushed to cover his entire head and neck, becoming dark and feathery at the back and top. He groaned, his ears forming into cat like points as they were tugged uncomfortably to the top of his head, positioned like a feline's.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for the sound of sprinting boots to be heard. Two men, one a marine and another a corpsmen, arrived wearing surgical masks and gloves along with their heavily used combat gear that didn't seem to slow them down at all. It looked as though the men had just come from a battle zone, weary but still able to do their duty.

"Alright, let me see him!" the corpsman said in a southern accent as he knelt down, setting his pack down beside him. "Moretti, take her spot. Ma'am, please let him!"

The marine motioned for Samorn to hand the transforming man over and she, not knowing what else to do, complied. The marine quickly moved to support the man's head and shoulders on his lap so that the corpsman could get better access to him.

"I'm gonna die, aren't I?" the changing man whimpered. Tears started flowing from his hybrid avian and feline eyes as he gazed up at the strong marine who held is hands tightly. The marine shook his head.

"Nobody dies when I'm around, kid!" the corpsman replied, slipping a pair of trauma sheers from his pocket to quickly snip off what was left of the man's overly tight shirt and shorts before tossing them aside. He then got the man's attention with a couple snaps of his fingers.

"Alright, buddy, I need you to focus on my voice and my voice only," the corpsman said in an urgent yet calming tone. "We're gonna try to lower your heart rate, alright? You gotta slow it down so I can give you somethin' to help." The corpsman removed his surgical mask and leaned in close to the changing man's avian face, placing a gloved hand on the side of it and rubbing gently. "I want you to breathe with me. In through your nose, out through your mouth," he instructed.

The marine suddenly uttered, "That's a beak, dude."

Sighing, the corpsman frowned up at him. "Seriously? Shut the fuck up!" he said before refocusing his attention on the infected man. "Breathe with me, slow- In - Out - Relax... In - Out..."

They continued like this for over a minute, and Samorn could tell the hypnosis was actually working. By then the man's lower body had developed into that of an anthropomorphic feline with digitigrade legs, blue and white fur, and lion like paws, but overall his transformation had ceased.

Rapidly snatching a syringe and small medication vial out of his pack the corpsman began filling the syringe part way with the clear liquid while the marine began carefully rubbing the transformed man's white furred thigh, searching for a vein or artery.

"What- is that?" the mutated man asked, fear still in his voice, but relaxed.

"It's a fancy cocktail of inhibitors and anti-viral agents," the corpsman replied, slowly inserting the needle into a vein the marine found. "It's gonna help, alright?"

"Ok."

"But, you may go through another couple changes that I can't stop. I'm sorry, but this will make you unable to pass on your infection to others with your blood or saliva, so take it as you will. You'll still be contagious if you fuck somebody, so keep your pants on until we figure that part out. K, brah?" The corpsman carefully removed the needle after injecting the fluid and disposed of it in a portable receptacle. "We'll find you a new pair that'll fit ya, soon."

The avian-feline hybrid looked around nervously. "My back's startin' to hurt, man," he spoke with rising fear in his voice. "Like, real bad!"

He gasped, lurching up from the marine's lap, hugging his hourglass figure with a loud groan. The corpsman urgently motioned for the marine to back away, but all he did was scoot back a couple of inches, shrugging as though he didn't see a serious problem.

Three bulges began forming on the developing gryphon's back, the first two behind his shoulder blades, with the third being a budding tail. All three bulges began to rapidly expand after a couple seconds, furry and feathery new limbs shooting out of his back as he let out a strange mix of a pained squawk and roar with a hint of femininity. The top two appendages shot square into the marine's face as they grew, knocking him to his back as they unfurled into a large pair of beautiful hawk like wings with light blue feathers. The tail stretched until it became a long lion's tail, blue furred and with a tuft of dark blue fur on the tip.

Letting out a sigh of relief the newly formed hermaphroditic gryphon examined himself with a stunned look on his avian face, ears perking as his talon like hands made their way to his breasts and groin. His cock had turned pitch black and knotted, gaining length and girth significantly, standing hard and dribbling a little pre. Behind that were the pink folds of a new vaginal opening, still wet from when it formed.

The combination of hormones and new sensations seemed to be overwhelming him, his body shaking with a virgin need. Taking notice the corpsman snapped his fingers.

"Hey! Don't touch yourself, man. Trust me," the corpsman said. "You don't wanna do that."

The gryphon clasped his hands together, trying hard to ignore the powerful feelings coursing through his new body. "It's so... Hard not too," he whimpered, his tail shifting from side to side.

"I know it," said the corpsman, gently squeezing one of the herm gryphon's paw pads for a moment, making the retractile claw unsheathe, observing an indentation his finger made. "Just, focus on your breathing."

Groaning, the marine behind the struggling herm grabbed his face as he sat back up, blood soaking his surgical mask.

"You alright there, dumbass?" the corpsman asked him.

The marine ripped the mask off with a grunt and spat some blood onto the dirt beside him. "I think my nose is broken," he grumbled.

"Probably," the corpsman replied. "I tried to get you to move, didn't I?" He inched up to the gryphon and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You still in any pain?"

"N- no," the gryphon replied with a tremble, "but I'm really," he gestured his beak to his groin, "you know..."

The corpsman gave a small nod and said, "Yea. You're real dehydrated anyway. Let's get you inside." He helped the mutant to his digitigrade paws and began walking him toward the quarantine tent.

The marine, stuffing tissue into his bleeding nose signaled Samorn to follow. She and the rest of the mutated survivors that were still waiting were ushered into the exam rooms of the massive quarantine tent. The massive single story structure was made of a metal frame and white tarp like material for its walls and black for its roof. It was well lit inside and had hundreds of orange and black biohazard signs posted periodically along the outer walls.

It was fairly noisy in there, but Samorn could still overhear some of the commotion outside, ranging from helicopters or jets flying by to the chatter of marines and navy corpsman outside the exam room she waited in.

The corpsman that came in to see her took blood and saliva samples first, which didn't bother her, but the sample of vaginal fluid he was required to take was not so agreeable. Nevertheless she let the man do it even though it embarrassed her to be brought to arousal in front of a complete stranger. Even he sighed nervously as he began, reassuring her that it would be over before she knew it.

"Jeez!" Samorn joked, shaking slightly as he worked between her legs using gloved fingers to dampen the dark Y-shaped folds of her canine sex. "I don't even have your phone number and your already sneaking a poke in... Eh, marine?"

The corpsman stopped momentarily, glancing up at her with a quizzical look, concealed somewhat by his surgical mask. Samorn's face was caught somewhere between a suppressed grin on her muzzle and lustful gaze in her eyes.

He snickered nervously before continuing. "I'm- uh- I'm a sailor, technically," the young man said, refocusing on his work. "Despite the Marine uniform, I'm actually a Navy man... I know it's confusing, but- the Army and Air Force have medics. We have Navy corpsmen... Ok, there we go." The corpsmen stood up and carefully scraped what fluid remained on his surgical glove into a small specimen container that contained what fluid he could retrieve from her.

"Somehow I already knew that," Samorn said softly, trembling slightly with labored breath.

"Again, I'm really sorry we have to do this," the man said and carefully removed his gloves, tossing them into a biohazard receptacle then quickly used a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Samorn crossed her legs and smiled up at him, rubbing her thigh with her paw like hand. "It's alright," she said with a lustful smile on her mixed breed face, her tongue briefly licking her black lips. "I'd let you finish if you weren't too busy." Her eyes shot open as embarrassment overwhelmed her again, somewhat suppressing her steadily increasing libido. "Oh god! I can't believe I just said that," she apologized, shifting to sitting up straight on the cot. "I'm so sorry. I bet you have a family and everything." She shook her head, folding her arms tight to her modest breasts. "I used to be just a dog for fuck sakes- this is so wrong." She buried her face in her paws, sighing hard.

The corpsman paused, looking down at her with an understanding gaze. "It's fine. Just try and relax. I've seen it a dozen times so far. Here." He patted his pockets before pulling out what looked to be a sample packet of vitamin pills. "Samorn."

She looked at him, seeing the packet in his outstretched hand. "What is it?" she asked.

"Just a collection of anaphrodisiac supplements. They'll take the edge off for a while. Maybe even stop you from going into heat while they last. A few days at least."

"Heat? ... But I... I was spade."

"Well... The infection undid that... Sorry."

Sighing she hesitatingly took the packet, tore it open and emptied the contents into her paw hand.

"Hang on, I'll go get you some water," the corpsman said and headed out of the room to find her a water bottle. Upon returning he saw that she had already popped the pills into her muzzle. He unscrewed the cap on the water bottle and handed it to her. She downed nearly half of it in one go, swallowing the pills in the process.

"Thank you," Samorn said, wiping her glistening lips with the back of a paw. "For everything. Thank you."

"It's my job," the corpsman replied, smiling at her. "You should get some rest. I'll be back in a few hours."

After the corpsman left the room Samorn decided it would be best to take a nap on the cot provided for her, doing her best to calm herself in spite of what she had seen and been through that hellish day. She couldn't fight back tears for long and quietly wept for a moment before drifting off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

The lone navy corpsmen was standing across from her as she woke some hours later. He had his back turned to her and was busy tapping away on a tablet computer. The young man was still wearing his desert pattern Marine Corps fatigues, tan boots and cap, but had since removed his surgical mask. He possessed no weapon, other than a tactical folding knife clipped in his front pocket.

"Are you awake?," the corpsmen asked.

Samorn stretched out every limb, including her tail and let out a dog like yawn and sat up. She noticed a pair of tan shorts and a nylon belt lying next to the cot. There was also a decent sized tactical pocket knife with them as well.

"I'll take that as a yes," the corpsman said happily as he turned around to look at her, placing the tablet on a foldable table beside him. "Those shorts are for you. I cut a hole in the back for your tail, if that'll help."

"Thanks," Samorn said, and began slipping the shorts and belt on. When she finished she sat back on the cot and examined the knife, flicking open the four inch clip point blade. It looked expensive and expertly honed. "Um, what's this for?"

"Your protection," the corpsman replied with a smile.

"But..." Samorn lifted her paw like hand and flexed her deadly looking claws that reflected the light as if polished. "Is it really necessary?" She gestured to her hand with a smirk, closing the knife and clipping it in her pocket.

"Of coarse. When all else fails... Anyway, it looks like you're clear. We ran a full pathogen test and we found nothing in your saliva or blood to worry about. You are still contagious- um- sexually, however, but other than that you're safe for physical contact."

Samorn fidgeted, not knowing exactly how to reply to such news. She remembered sleeping next to Aston in the abandoned motel the night of the cordon breach. She had licked him on the lips by accident, but was relieved when he didn't mutate as a result, giving merit to what the corpsman told her.

"Well... I guess that's good news," the pretty dog woman replied, shifting nervously on the cot. "Any news on my father? Have they arrived yet?"

The corpsman sighed. "I'm sorry, but the Lieutenant Colonel lost contact with the chopper shortly after they entered the commercial district of the city. We can't be too hasty to draw conclusions about what happened to them, but... I'm sure it's just a communication's problem. We've been picking up crazy electro-magnetic anomalies coming from the city ever since this all started... Don't lose hope. Ok? What was his name, uh- Aston? If he's who you say he is, I'm sure he's fine! Besides, he's with some high speed shoot to kill types. They'll stop at nothing to make sure he makes it out."

Samorn crossed her arms and hugged her white furred belly. "What now?" she asked.

"Um... Well, if it were up to me I'd discharge you, but it may take some time before we're allo-" Suddenly a voice came from his radio. "Uh, hang- hang on one minute, please," he said, unclipping his radio from his belt. "Yes, Major?" He asked into it, briefly holding a button on it.

"We need you to take her to see Secretary Karim right away," the voice ordered. "He said it's urgent."

"How urgent?"

"Very. I'd move your ass if I were you! The chopper's already there."

"Roger. On our way," the corpsman replied and re-clipped his radio. "Samorn. I'm gonna need you to follow me, please..."

The two rushed out of the tent and out into the main courtyard of the F.O.B. where the helicopter pad and staging areas were located. The sun was setting but the base was well lit with flood lights. In spite of it being night the base was still bustling with activity, but was less intense now that the survivors had been cared for. Some were standing around and chatting with each other or with idle marines, some even laughing. Samorn observed a small group of marines chatting with what at first appeared to be a giant, man sized raven, but a shifting of its wings revealed a pair of black feathered arms terminating in dark talon like hands.

Off in the distance the sound of a heavy machine gun firing a burst made Samorn pause. Somehow she was able to tell exactly the type of weapon it was, simply by the sound. She had similar thoughts creep into her mind throughout the day, but was unable to ascertain why. She could tell the ranks of service members by simply glancing at the stripes and patches on their shoulders. Somehow her mind was able to label every weapon and piece of equipment she saw; every vehicle as well. It baffled her to no end.

"Samorn?" the corpsman asked, realizing she was no longer behind him. "Are you ok?"

"Yea," She replied, shooting him a small grin. "That was an M2HB, .50 Caliber."

"Uh-huh," the corpsman replied. "Lets move, please."

"But... How do I know this shit?" Samorn asked as the pair continued toward the heli-pad.

"We have a theory. I'll have to fill you in on the ride."

"Where are we going?"

"Oakland. I can't say why right now- it's classified."

The corpsman was handed a tactical vest covered in various pouches and his M16 as they arrived at a waiting Huey. He climbed into it first and turned to give Samorn a hand. She strapped herself in as the door to the Huey was closed.

Seated inside the Huey were several US Army soldiers decked out in special forces gear. She immediately recognized them as belonging to the US Army Rangers, and an odd sense of calm overcame her. The men noticed her eying them up but didn't seem to mind. The ranger next to her smiled at her, but seemed a little put off by her canine appearance.

"I don't bite, Ranger," she teased him. "Unless you're into that." Samorn sat back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling of the cabin, embarrassment overtaking her again. "Ah, shit. There I go again."

The helicopter began powering up and took off a moment later, speeding toward an undisclosed location in Oakland, California.

Meanwhile... Somewhere over small town California...

The inside of the helicopter was near silent apart from the ever present sound of the rotors and occasional conversation among the marines. It was soothing, much like a white noise to Aston and Max.

After being airborne for several minutes Aston peered out of the ovoid window beside him, curious as to what was happening in the area. He observed mostly the dry, rocky terrain of that part of California, but would sometimes see the odd stray mutant creature trying to find rescue, avoid capture, or being captured or rescued by groups of military or specially equipped animal control and police teams. Aston thought the concept of being taken by animal control to be somewhat dehumanizing, but quickly abandoned the thought, given the creature's appearances he'd seen.

Large pillars of black smoke rose from the devastated small towns the marines and navy were finishing up their search and rescue missions in. Bodies of feral mutants littered the streets of all of the towns they flew over and Aston could see several US Army engineering and hazmat crews just beginning to dowse flames and dispose of the dead infected by setting larger corpses ablaze or sealing human sized corpses in black bags. It looked as though the state police had showed up to the region as well to block any roads leading into it, much to the dismay of several vehicles trying to get through, only to be turned away. If only they knew the hell that lay just beyond the barricades, Aston thought.

The freeways were eerily deserted, apart from a few military or government vehicles going to and from the quarantine border.

"My god... I wonder if they found any survivors out there," Max uttered, gesturing out one of the windows toward a town that was in complete ruin.

"I'm sure they did," a marine replied.

"Some of those towns look like they got hit up a lot worse than others," another remarked.

"Looks like it," Max replied. "Damn."

"The town you two were in was the worst, but we rescued about a hundred people."

"A hundred?" Aston asked. "There were over three thousand living there."

"It spread too fast, man," a marine retorted. "You should know, you were in the middle of it. Don't go blaming us, cowboy."

"I'm not saying you guys should have done more, I'm just... Twenty nine hundred people dead for nothing. You know?"

"Yea, I hear ya, man. Shit's gonna make us forget nine eleven ever even happened."

Aston tittered. "Can't argue with that."

"Oh well," the lieutenant cut in, "It's the state fuzz and Army's problem now. We're done for the time being."

Max relaxed in his seat and looked at the lieutenant who sat leisurely across from him. "Hey, Lieutenant," he began, "what are you guys gonna do with me and the other- uh, Infected- you know, when we get there?" he asked, more anxious than curious.

The lieutenant glanced at him and shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't told, exactly," he said. "I assume you'll be staying at the F.O.B. until you're cleared as noninfectious or something. I wish I knew more, buddy. I'm sorry."

Max began looking even more nervous, his ears lowering as he glanced at Aston. "I got a bad feeling..." he added softly.

"Look, don't sweat it," the lieutenant went on. "We have very strict orders about how we're to deal with the infected, and as long as I have a say in the matter, I'll-"

Suddenly a faint voice sounded from the lieutenant's ear piece, interrupting him. He stopped talking and placed a hand on his radio, looking away as he listened for a moment.

"Sir, we have two civilians on board. We should let them off at the F.O.B. first," the lieutenant spoke, briefly pressing a button on his radio. His face shifted from a calm visage to a scowl of disbelief as he listened to the officer on the other end, his mouth agape as he silently mouthed, 'what the fuck?' "Understood, Colonel. We'll make it happen," he said after about a minute with a slightly outraged tone in his voice. He removed his finger from the button on his radio and quietly grumbled an obscenity before standing up. He stormed to the rear of the helicopter and stopped next to the marine manning the ramp machine gun then quickly turned to face the rest of the group. "Ok, marines, listen up," he said loudly. "I got some shitty news... We're being redirected to the Fairhaven commercial district..."

Some of the marines showed expressions of shock, gasping and going wide eyed as they heard their leader speak. Noticing this the lieutenant gave them a few seconds to process the news.

"Yep!" he began again. "Now, I know, I know, we were told that we are not supposed to go into that shit hole for a few weeks yet, but- unfortunately, we are the only asset available for this op." The lieutenant placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head in discontent for a moment before getting his squad's attention again. "Our new objective is to exfil a team of special forces currently in possession of vital precious cargo. Our team will be going alone as to not draw too much attention. The rest will continue on to the F.O.B." The platoon leader glanced at Aston and Max, letting out a brief sigh. "We will link up with the rest of our unit once we get those boys and their package out of there. It should be a quick in and out if what I'm being told about the area holds out. I will need you to practice extreme trigger discipline! Don't any of you fire a single round unless you think your life is in absolute danger! -- Besides, we probably won't be more than a hundred meters from the chopper during the whole thing so if things happen to get hairy, we'll be able to get out of there posthaste... One last, and very important thing," his voice deepened with graveness. "If any of you happen to gain any- extra body parts: fur, claws, tail or anything not one hundred percent human during this mission -- you will not be returning with us. You will be left inside the quarantine perimeter to fend for yourselves until we move in to reclaim the city. So- lets all leave the same way we went in! Understood?"

The dozen marines on board barked, "Yes sir!" with suppressed unease in their voices.

"Just fuckin' with you about that last part," he jokingly added a second later, getting a tiny amount of amusement from their reactions. "I don't care what the Colonel says, I'm leaving nobody behind. But, still, let's try to keep our pants on the whole time. Ok?"

"Yes sir," the marines replied again, seeming less nervous than before, some chuckling.

"Besides, y'all are already so fuckin' ugly I don't think I'd be able to tell if you're a mutant or not."

The marines snickered silently at the lieutenant's last joke and began conversing among themselves as the helicopter began banking in the direction of the city, away from the security of the accompanying attack helicopters and the company of the other two dozen platoon members.

"Well... That doesn't sound good," Aston mentioned quietly, shooting Max a sarcastically worried look as he tried his best to eavesdrop on what the marines were saying to each other. From what he could hear they were regaling each other with rumors they've heard about the disturbing happenings inside the city in the previous days. Stories ranging from people turning into animals simply by wearing fur, to one man transforming into an anthropomorphic sable because that just happened to be the type of car he drove. All farfetched tales, Aston reassured himself.

The lieutenant grunted in displeasure as he returned. "God-fucking-dammit!" he bitterly whispered as he plopped down in his seat across from Aston. He briefly buried his face in his gloved hands with a long groan as the two civilians watched him with anticipation.

"What?" the marine suddenly barked as he leered up.

"So..." Aston slowly said. "We are not going to the F.O.B. I take it."

The platoon leader removed his kevlar helmet and placed it hard on the empty bench space next to him. "Uh, not yet," he replied, leaning forward to rest his head in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Max asked.

"Nothin'," the marine replied, "this just ain't our job, man." He was obviously trying to keep his anger in check as he sat up to look at Max, huffing sharply. "We're an expeditionary force, ok?" he continued. "We're meant for rapid response, reconnoitering, shit like that. We're not supposed to go flying into some fuckin' ass rape haven blind, with no backup, just so we can pick up some fuckin' spec ops cowboys and their god forsaken package, whatever it is. -- And my C.O. didn't even give a flying fuck that you two were on board. I guess you're not considered precious cargo. Just as expendable as the rest of us, but some sample- or whatever, is just the holy fuckin' grail..."

The group, including the marines manning the ramp and side machine guns looked at the lieutenant with blank and confused expressions, most likely confused as to why an officer would say such things with obvious derision in his voice.

Beginning to realize how much of a fool he was making of himself, and getting a nervous twinge in his spine from Aston's stern gaze, the lieutenant straightened up some and replaced his helmet.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked, gazing sharply at everyone as they stared. They resumed their business after an awkward second. "I'm not talkin' to you!"

"Not that you probably give a shit, sir," Aston began in a sharp tone, without waiting for the lieutenant's response. "My father was a marine. That's right. Your unit, I'm bettin',- 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division- yea?"

"Yea... 1st Marines..."

"I think he'd be damn pissed at you for the way your acting right now!"

"You think so, huh?" the lieutenant straightened up in his seat, leering at Aston.

"Look... I know all this insanity is getting to you. But dude, it's getting to all of us, so what good does it fuckin' do to- act like a jackass? You're an officer for Christ sakes, you can't lose your cool this fast. You just can't."

The marine shook his head after staring into Aston's eyes for a moment then let out a sharp exhale. "I know- you're right."

"Well, than what the hell's your problem?"

"Just..." the lieutenant shook his head slightly and began peering out of the ramp beside him. "Can't get over how stupid my superiors are being right now."

"Well you need to," Aston went on, after a calming breath. "Your men need a leader, and with what we're about to walk into, -- they'll need a good one! -- Look at them." Aston gestured toward the marines. "They're scared..."

The Lieutenant let out a small sigh and looked at Aston with a conscience stricken gaze. "I'm- sorry," he said, a softer tone in his voice, "but I've lost several marines since this all began, and some of them didn't have the luxury of dying. I can't..." He choked back a tear and looked off at the helicopter's ramp.

"It's alright man. Like I said, this situation is nuts. Just the existence of dog boy here," he gestured to Max, "is enough to make anyone's head spin."

"Dog boy? Really?" Max scoffed as he leered at Aston, a subtle smirk on his muzzle.

"Lieutenant McCray!" one of the pilots said. "We're on approach, sir! Eight mikes to H.L.Z.."

"Roger!" the lieutenant replied, wiping his eyes with his thumbs. "Well... This should be a fun learning experience."

After another minute of flight Aston looked out the window in time to watch as they passed high over the quarantine border. For him, it was the most incredible feat of human coordination he'd ever seen. At the business side of the defensive perimeter was a massive line of army, national guard, and marine corps troops in full MOPP combat gear, machine gun nests, concrete and hesco wall barriers lined with concertina wire, Abrams tanks and other armored vehicles, all creating an impenetrable wall that stretched as far as the eye could see, surrounding the whole of Fairhaven. Aston imagined that there must have been a similar barrier of coast guard and navy vessels stationed off the coast of the city's beach front to prevent anyone or anything from escaping by way of the ocean.

On the other side of the fortress like border were several army and marine corps bases of various sizes and purposes, some directly connected to the border itself, others a distance from it. All of them were swarming with troops, vehicles and helicopters landing and taking off. Aston could only imagine what those places would look like after the chaos in the city had come to a conclusion, if ever.

Aston whispered his amazement to himself as he gazed in awe at the military's efforts in the region.

"Yea," began Lieutenant McCray. "It's the largest effort of its kind in human history. So far, anyway. Every hot zone around the world is seeing something similar, albeit on a smaller scale."

"I've seen it on the news," said Aston as he relaxed in his seat. "Crazy shit..."

"The news, huh?" a marine interjected. "I'm shocked they found the time to even cover a minute of this shit."

"Well, you know," Aston happily replied, "when people around the globe start turning into sex hungry animals and killer robots they have to give it at least thirty seconds of bullshit coverage. Maybe a sidebar."

"There is that clip they keep replaying of the reporter somewhere in, like, Michigan, or somewhere," Lieutenant McCray added, "where she has no clue there's a big- leopard- taur- thing, creeping up behind her. Have you seen that? I have a feeling she shat her pants when she turned around."

"Wouldn't you?" Max asked with a chuckle.

"Yea, probably. Sane monster or not. Those taur things just, ugh!" the lieutenant cringed. "They creep me out."

A female marine added, "I think they're cute. I think I'll bribe one into letting me walk it through my hometown on a leash someday. Bring the spark back to that city!"

"Only you would want something like that," the lieutenant joked. "Dork!"

The helicopter made its way at full speed over the ruined city, far above even the tallest buildings as to not draw the attention of the various creatures, some massive and dragon like, flying among the city's high rise skyscrapers that were in various stages of ruin.

Smoke billowed from the area around the capital building and Aston could have sworn he saw the area torn apart, as if by an earthquake or volcanic eruption. Several of the buildings around the area had collapsed as well with some of the fissures that ran through the streets cutting into ruined, scorched buildings. A few of the craters and fissures seemed to be filled with molten rock, but Aston wrote it off as a trick his eyes played on him.

A curious winged creature began following the helicopter after they passed the high rise district. It appeared to be some sort of an anthropomorphic avian person with a humanoid body covered in hawk pattern feathers. It had talon tipped hands and the feet and head of a hawk with the broad wings and tail to complete the picture.

Lieutenant McCray promptly stood up and walked to the ramp with his rifle trained on the creature.

"Hold your fire," he told the ramp machine gunner and began trying to shoo the creature away, shaking his head and waving his hand.

"Want me to scare it?" the gunner asked.

"No, we can't risk it," the lieutenant replied. "If he gets too close fire a burst, but don't kill him. He's just happy to see us."

"Roger."

The lieutenant returned to his seat but kept his eyes on the avian being.

Ahead, just outside of the downtown area was Fairhaven's commercial district, comprised primarily of shops, restaurants, hotels, and middle to lower class apartment buildings. Most of the buildings were in mixed states of ruin from what Aston could tell from the helicopter's windows, some even burned completely to the ground or seemed to have been razed by large creatures or out of control vehicles.

The helicopter suddenly began to descend rapidly and began approaching a multi story strip mall surrounded on three sides by apartments. It seemed as if the avian man had flown off, but Aston had a suspicion that he would be back.

"HLZ in sight, Lieutenant. One mike out," one of the pilots said.

"Alright, marines, keep your heads in it!" Lieutenant McCray ordered. "We're not in Kansas anymore. We're down the rabbit hole poppin' acid and 'shrooms, so uh... Don't let anything you see distract you from our objective." He looked at Max and Aston and said, "You two don't move an inch unless I tell you."

"No problem," Aston said nodding subtly.

"Uh... Lieutenant!" one of the pilots said as the helicopter took up a holding pattern some fifty feet above the strip mall. "You need to see this, right now!"

Lieutenant McCray quickly stood up and walked to the front of the helicopter. Aston watched as he peered out of the cockpit's window at something, stopping dead still. Aston couldn't hear precisely what was being said but it didn't sound as though the lieutenant or the pilots were thrilled at any rate with what they saw.

The helicopter steadily turned around to begin landing on the roof of the strip mall. Aston kept his eyes glued to the rear ramp, hoping to see what was so upsetting to the lieutenant.

The roof slowly came into view, and what the group saw made the their faces go awestruck. The marine manning the ramp machine gun jolted slightly as he looked on, but quickly lowered the weapon on its turret, taking one hand off of it.

Not a single person on board the Sea Knight could conceal their shock as they gazed on at a sight more surreal than any they had seen yet. Several marines provided utterances of their astonishment.

Aston could only say, "Now... Those are fucking awesome."

Standing in a V formation on the roof were five tall figures dressed in tactical vests and the modified remains of tattered US Army fatigues with the sleeves of the shirt and lower legs of the pants trimmed off. They were not human at all, but still stood in a relative military fashion with their customized rifles slung leisurely across their chests, suppressor tipped barrels pointed down between their inhuman feet, ready to be brought into action in less than a moment's notice.

The creatures were tall, each of them somewhere between seven and eight feet in height. Their mutated bodies had taken on the from of an anthropomorphic eagle, humanoid in stature with the white feathered heads, piercing eyes, and deadly looking beak of a bald eagle. Massive brown feathered wings protruded just behind their shoulder blades and broad white feathered eagle tails jutted just above their asses, all folded at that moment. Their digitigrade legs ended in broad, deadly looking talons, while their hands stayed relatively human apart from the yellow scaly skin from just above the wrists on down, fingers terminating with short talons.

"Team, move! Set up security!" Lieutenant McCray ordered as the helicopter touched down softly on the roof, lowering the power to its rotors.

The lieutenant was the first to exit the helicopter. He steadily approached the anthro eagle spec-ops soldiers, keeping his rifle slung across his chest as if there was something inside him that didn't trust the creatures. The dozen marines exited down the ramps not a second later and took up security positions along the edge of the roof, keeping their weapons aimed anywhere a hostile mutant could come from. They stayed crouched behind the low wall edging the roof, occasionally glancing at the tall figures in the center.

"Afternoon, Lieutenant," the leader of the eagle squad said as he held a hand out to shake McCray's. "Captain Anso, 327th, 101st Airborne." It was odd how he spoke. Aston could see his beak barely open and the sides of it slightly move, yet somehow he was able to form full words.

"Lieutenant McCray, 1st Marines," Lieutenant McCray replied, some disturbance still in his voice as he shook the creature's talon like hand. "Um..." He glanced around at the eagle morphs as they went to help the marines secure the roof. "Holy, shit. You mind filling me in on- this, Captain?" he asked with a nervous laugh.

"Yea. I know it's quite the shock," the eagle man replied. "We started becoming like this shortly after we jumped out of the AC-130 and finished changing by the time we pulled our chutes, not that we really needed them." The eagle man flexed his wings. "I guess it fits with our nickname now, so we got that goin' for us."

"The Screaming Eagles. Yep..." The lieutenant looked around, at a loss for further words.

"Yea. Anyway, sorry we had to pull your unit apart for this, but command wants some government egg heads stationed in Oakland to run tests to find out why we transformed without any sort of direct contact. We've seen it happen to some civilians in our time here as well but apparently our scientists don't have any artifacts or corresponding mutants to run tests on."

"We've heard the rumors," McCray glanced around to check on his marines, having obvious difficulty making eye contact with Captain Anzo. "I guess they're true... Some creepy ass shit. Why'd they send you in, anyway, sir?"

"We volunteered, brother. On day one. We saw Americans in harms way and-"

Suddenly, one of the helicopter's gunners shouted, "Contact, right," and began firing his .50 caliber machine gun at something approaching the strip mall. Aston and Max froze in their seats, watching the marines and eagle soldiers flinch, duck and shudder from the sudden thunderous gunfire. Fearlessly the troops all rushed to the edge of the roof to confront whatever it was with their weapons at the ready.

The sound of a deep roar shook the area and the leader of the eagle squad ordered everyone to fall back and find cover. He then ordered two of his eagle men and a couple marines to stay with him so they could try to slow down the creature's rapid advance. The men obeyed, shouting and firing burst after burst at the creature before being forced to flee as well.

Lieutenant McCray sprinted toward the ramp of the helicopter as the others ran to take cover behind the roof's air conditioners and other structures. "Aston, Max, get the hell out of there, now!" he barked.

Before the pair of civilians could move a muscle in their legs a massive shadow draped over the helicopter momentarily as the creature reached the strip mall's roof. Everyone on it scrambled to all sides, aimed their weapons in the creature's direction and began firing.

Lieutenant McCray desperately gestured for Aston and Max to get out of the helicopter when suddenly a massive winged beast swooped over him in the blink of an eye, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. He managed to fire a burst of his rifle as he fell, scoring a couple hits on the beast that sparked off of its tough hide.

A trail of blood rained down on the roof as it swooped back around and Aston noticed that one of the marines had been snatched up in the monster's bat like wing talons. A short but horrific scream came from the man as the beast tore him apart above the roof, messily devouring his severed body.

The ramp gunner sprayed burst after burst at the fleeting silhouette of the fast creature, swinging the turreted weapon as fast as he could. Suddenly the surprisingly agile beast changed directions faster than anyone could react, slamming its heavy reptilian body into the front of the helicopter, destroying the front rotor. The Sea Knight lurched violently from the beast's impact and slid to the edge of the roof causing everyone in it to be thrown violently to the walls and floor of the cabin.

The beast began ferociously tearing through the cockpit with the fore-talons of its scaly, bat like wings, brutally crushing the screaming pilots in their seats in a bloody mess. It then proceeded to rapidly tear through the cockpit with its wrenching jaws, nearly removing the entire thing in an attempt to reach the bodies of the pilots. All the while the beast was being pelted with precise automatic weapons fire from the shouting men and women on the roof.

Aston tried his best to get up but the semi truck sized reptile's constant movements kept rocking the helicopter, preventing him from finding any bearing. One of the helicopter crewman managed to get up and manned his machine gun once again, moving the turreted weapon up to fire at what little of the monster's wings that were within reach. The heavier rounds tore through the wings, and punctured its tail several times, blowing a spiked chunk off the end.

The creature was quick to react. Through his blurred vision Aston watched in terror as blood and some entrails were sprayed across the floor and walls of the cabin as the side gunner was reduced to a severed lower torso of flesh by the beast's heavy reptilian tail that had forced its way through the gunner's side opening, destroying his machine gun as well. The other marine crewman dove hard to the floor of the cabin, avoiding the thick swinging limb as he drew a pistol and began firing rapidly into it, not that the puny rounds did much more than spark off of it.

Enraged, the beast withdrew its bleeding tail and turned its hulking body around. It tore into the cabin some more, trying to get better access to the potential meals inside before being pelted in the face and neck with more gun fire.

The dragon like beast roared at the marines and eagle soldiers then reared up, spreading and flapping its massive wings. It charged at them with a guttural hiss, it's powerful rear legs kicking hard at the teetering remains of the helicopter as it leaped, it's heavy lashing tail causing the lifeless chopper to begin hanging dangerously over the edge of the roof.

Screams and more intense gunfire could be faintly heard over the sound of the beast's roaring before gravity pulled the wreck of the helicopter over the edge. Aston felt himself become airborne before blacking out as soon as the wreck of the helicopter crashed hard to the street below...

Chapter 3

Various Newscasters:

...released some absolutely terrifying surveillance footage coming out of Fairhaven today. As you can see, a Marine Corps helicopter has just landed on the roof of a shopping complex, only to be reduced to mere scrap metal no more than five minutes later by a dragon like beast, similar to the ones responsible for the containment breach earlier this morning...

...our prayers and thoughts go out to the families of those men and women. Only time will tell if they ever make it out of this hellish situation alive or uninfected...

...military officials question whether to postpone the search and rescue operation by another ten days... ...or until more research can be conducted safely within the confines of the city...

...infected released from military holding facilities pose no threat, according to FEMA's director...

...Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff once again reassuring the nation that a nuclear option for sanitizing containment zones is to remain off the tables for the foreseeable future...

Fairhaven Commercial District... Minutes later...

...All Stations this net- stand by for sit rep. Due to the increase in hostile air activity following the loss of Sierra 9 all manned low altitude flights over the city are grounded until further notice. Forward O.P.s are advised to fall back to their corresponding rally points and await further instructions. -- Note, COP Bravo is confirmed compromised by an unknown agent and we have lost all radio contact. Anyone with eyes on them should report their status immediately but stay at a distance. Their commanding officer, Major Padgett, has gone rogue and violated direct orders on multiple occasions and should not be trusted. Any 40th I.D. members under his command should be apprehended and escorted out the area immediately upon discovery. You are authorized to engage should you be fired upon by his men...

A loud, sickening squelch followed shortly by the desperate groans and yelps of a man sprung Aston from his unconscious state. He gasped, shifting feebly as intense pain rippled through him.

Blinking his weary, life drained eyes he realized that he was laying belly down on hot pavement, his head cocked in the direction of a beach theme shop that had its entire front demolished by something with no intent on browsing gingerly. Several items were strewn about on the palm tree decorated side walk, ranging from cheap sunglasses to surf boards to headphones.

Shifting his head Aston saw that he was not far from the shredded metal carcase of the Sea Knight helicopter that he must have been thrown from like a spent shotgun shell as it crashed. His face had evidently broken his fall, given the blood that dripped from his lips.

A few brief flashes of his hazy vision revealed that the chopper landed part way on a now destroyed tour bus. A subtle amount of amusement rose within him in his stupefied state, after all he always hated being stuck behind those busses during his occasional trips into the city to visit friends or attend a job interview.

Slowly Aston opened his eyes all the way, blinking several times to clear them. Fear clenched his stomach like a vise as the squelch sounded again followed quickly by the groaning man's voice. This time, however, the groan was fading as if something was being pulled over the man's mouth.

Aston's muscles ached, feeling as if he had just endured a late night ass kicking after a bottle of whiskey. Steadily he moved his head to peer in the direction the squishy liquid like sounds were coming from. A sense of sheer dread engulfed him as his widened eyes fixed on the muted brown scaled beast he hoped was not there. It seemed rather unscathed from the combat it had endured earlier, apart from a dusting of soot, scorch marks, and small scars on its head and neck.

The massive wyvern was standing not more than fifteen feet away on its haunches, the steadily setting evening sun lighting its back. A thick muscled tail swayed slowly behind it, the white backward pointing spikes near the end coming dangerously close to Aston's face several times as they scraped across the pavement. The seemingly female beast was very busy with something beneath it, dragon like jaws craned down over the frozen figure of a man covered from head to toe in a thick layer of translucent yellowish goop.

The oozing fluid seemed to be hardening over the man who, from what Aston could tell, was still wearing his fatigues, but his tactical vest, helmet and other gear had been stripped and tossed aside by the creature. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the marine's rifle anywhere, and he couldn't risk using one of the grenades from the discarded tac-vest a short distance away either, not knowing what would happen as a result.

Another hacking squelch came from the beast's jaws as another gush of goop oozed forth from its throat, engulfing the rest of the struggling marine in a thick, inescapable layer of the malleable material. With great skill the dragon lifted the wriggling cocoon of fluid up in its wing talons and proceeded to shape and mold it into a rough egg like shape before positioning it between its legs near its dripping reptilian vaginal vent. Slowly, and with a deep rumble of pleasure from its throat, the beast lowered its rear, slipping the egg ever so gently into its vaginal passage. Aided by its surprisingly flexible tail the egg was sucked further in by strong muscles, vanishing into the depths of the wyvern's womb.

Aston could not believe what he was witnessing. That creature just shoved a man into its pussy, he thought. What the ever loving fuck? I've always hated this city. Now, I really hate it!

With shaking arms Aston began to painfully push himself up, scooting back inch by horrible inch toward the carcass of the fallen helicopter, trying in vain to stay silent as he did so. By the time he moved a few feet the creature began shifting its feet a bit, moving another one of its 'eggs' into position under its dripping slit with its wing talons and tail. Aston looked up to watch, not that he cared to, but he wondered if it was another marine being forced to endure whatever was happening or someone else.

His already sickened heart sank as he looked at the semi translucent egg, not seeing a uniformed man, but instead, an anthropomorphic dog. A German shepherd that could only be his new friend, Max.

"Oh, fuck... No!" Aston whispered, sheer terror filling his insides as the beast began lowering itself over Max's hard goo prison. He knew, but had a hard time accepting that there was nothing he could do for the poor guy.

With a wet sucking sound that made Aston gag, Max was forced up into the vagina of the creature. It let out a deep satisfied rumble from its throat as it finished, now with a womb full of eggs to be laid later. Aston's fear was steadily replaced by anger when he noticed that the sides of the creature's dragon muzzle were raised in a smile.

He pushed himself up to his side with a soft groan and reached for his revolver, stopping dead still as he felt an empty concealed holster, void of his shiny self defense weapon.

"Shit-Fuck!" he gasped, shifting and looking every which way, not realizing how his commotion was being registered by a certain beast's ears.

Aston froze as a deep, bass heavy growl emanated from the wyvern's gullet. It shot him a terrifying gaze of sheer toothy anger, most likely from seeing someone in need of a good helping of goop.

"Oh... Fuck my life," Aston sighed, locking eyes with the wyvern's.

The wyvern turned and positioned itself before him, lowering its body and head while gaping open its reptilian tooth filled jaws. Its heavy talon tipped feet kicked up dust as it moved and a familiar hacking sound came from its throat, hinting at its intentions as its tongue lolled out.

Aston's eyes shot open as he struggled to get to his feet. His severely aching legs made it nearly impossible to support his weight and without much choice he slumped down to his ass against the outer metal shell of the helicopter behind him. His fear of being encased like the others was quickly replaced by strange curiosity.

"You can't possibly have room for another," Aston joked, slightly shocked with himself. He could have sworn the monster chuckled in response.

The hacking reached its quick finale a second later as a stream of the yellowish, translucent fluid shot out from the dragon's throat, streaking toward Aston's face. He rapidly shielded himself with his arms, closing his eyes tightly in horror of what was sure to come.

With the swooping sound of heavy wings everything suddenly dimmed as if something was covering but not touching him. Aston flinched as he heard the sound of the goop splattering against something, but surprisingly it wasn't him. The hell's happening, he thought.

He opened his eyes, the tear filled marbles seeing the dark pattern of pouches and other items attached to the webbing of a tactical armor vest with a black and white September 11th firefighter's remembrance patch in the center of it. Looking to his left and right he saw nothing but brown feathers encompassing him. Aston realized then with an intense sense of relief that one of the anthropomorphic eagle soldiers had arrived just in time to shield him from the creature's barrage of goop.

Quickly the tall eagle soldier backed away and rapidly flapped his wings to free them of the hardening goop then crouched low, swinging his slung rifle around to fire a barrage of rounds at the wyvern's head, scoring nearly every shot. Sure enough, the bullets didn't penetrate its hide, but nonetheless, it kept it at bay for a moment.

The soothing chime of the brass shells littering the ground was interrupted by the beast's tumultuous roar, which was quickly silenced when another eagle soldier slammed talons first onto the top of the monster's head, the brazen soldier clamping down as hard as he could. His long black talons sank into the sides of the wyvern's head carapace, drawing blood that dripped continuously onto the road below.

Vigorously the wyvern thrashed its head, stomping around to shake the eagle man off. In retaliation he fired a burst of his rifle into the top of the beast's muzzle. Being at point blank range, the rounds penetrated, but still didn't do enough damage to hurt the beast significantly.

Having had enough the wyvern thrust its head up while rearing onto its hind legs, standing as tall as it could using its tail for support. The eagle soldier couldn't hold on any longer and plummeted hard to the street below with a thud. Without wasting a split second the other eagle soldier sprinted up to him, grabbed the nylon handle on the back of his vest collar and began dragging him away, all the while firing single shots at the dragon's head, shouting curses at it.

Seemingly out of nowhere, seven marines rushed into the street and gathered in a wide line formation in front of the helicopter, pelting the dragon with rifle and shotgun fire in an attempt to drive it off. A third eagle soldier swooped down from above as well, landing hard on a vehicle while firing bursts of his weapon at the wyvern's head.

The beast reared up again, shrieking and roaring as the steady barrage of gunfire impacted its muzzle and neck. Thrashing its head frantically the wyvern let out an earth shattering roar, flapping its wings to kick up dust in an attempt to gain an upper hand.

"Get some, bitch!" a marine not far from Aston barked as she steadied her M-16, placing her fore hand on the weapon's magazine with her index finger on the trigger of the mounted grenade launcher. She squeezed the trigger and the launcher jolted slightly, letting out a loud thudding crack and flash from its end. Not a split second later the swaggering wyvern's chest seemed to erupt with flame and black smoke as the high explosive round struck it, sending it sprawling to its back. It let loose a shrieking roar as it fell, the smoke quickly beginning to clear as it lay motionless for a moment.

Now realizing its defeat, the dragon slowly turned itself over and rose, turning tail and scampering away. It bellowed a few yelping growls over its shoulder before disappearing behind the block of buildings a short distance down the road with three marines giving a short chase.

"Cut it out! Cease fire!" Lieutenant McCray ordered. "Alright, we're clear. Secure the street and scavenge what you can from the helo! We're humping out in three! Get me two on overwatch, we need to track that thing down!"

The closest eagle soldier, the one that saved Aston and the other replied, "You heard him. Get to it!" He pointed at a pair of marines. "You two, you're with me," he said and began walking with the pair toward the helicopter to gather what they could from it.

Lieutenant McCray motioned for Doc Espinoza to follow him as he jogged up to where Aston sat. The two men then held gloved hands down to help him up. Aston promptly took them, groaning in intense pain as he was helped to his feet.

"Good to see you still have all your fingers and toes," said Doc, his voice somewhat sobering.

"Yea, you too, man," Aston replied, leaning back against the chopper. "What the fuckin' hell was that thing?"

"A wyvern, they're dubbed," McCray replied. "Not the nastiest thing out there, but still..."

"Are you guys ok?" Aston asked in a breathy tone, listening to the three inside as they rummaged loudly through the fallen helicopter. "I know we lost some people."

McCray nodded with a slightly saddened frown and glanced around.

"How 'bout you?" Asked Doc.

Aston caught his breath and said, "I will be... That goddamn thing has Max!"

"Yep, we know, and two of our men."

Aston sighed. "I'm sorry..."

"Three more of my marines are down," McCray began, his voice somewhat monotone. "Anzo and another airborne member are K.I.A. as well. For now, it's just the eleven of us. -- So..." The lieutenant huffed. "We're gonna go hunt that lizard down and see if we can't pull our guys out of its nest once we find it."

"You sure that's not suicide?" Aston asked with a nervous snicker.

"I'm not sure of anything right now, but we have to--" The lieutenant clearly was trying to fight back his emotions. "We have to try. We're not getting out of this any time soon, anyway. They've grounded just about all air traffic over the city for the next thirty days."

"Can't even call in a medevac?"

"Nope," replied Doc. "Any wounded will have to be humped all the way to the edge of the city or to the beach to be picked up... We're in the shit, now. For real."

Aston sighed and looked up, noticing a small bleeding gash on McCray's forehead. He and Doc both seemed exhausted, wanting nothing but for the day to be over, and Aston shared the feeling.

"How are the others holding up?" Aston asked.

Lieutenant McCray glanced around. "We took a big hit, but... They'll do their duty," he replied, watching the marines and eagle soldiers patrol the edges of the street, keeping their weapons at the ready.

"I wish I could help, but... I lost my pistol." Aston removed the concealable holster from under his button down shirt and tossed it aside in anger.

McCray let his M-16 hang leisurely and unslung a black tactical shotgun from his back which, like his rifle, was decked out with a small red dot scope and small side mounted flashlight. He held it out in front of Aston.

"Can I trust you with one of these?" McCray asked. "You're a hell of a shot, bro."

Aston, in need of a good morale boost, happily took the sleek looking weapon and slung it over his shoulder then chambered a round. "I'll do my part, Lieutenant," Aston said with a smirk. "Lets go get our boys back."

McCray smiled back and handed Aston a few extra shells for him to pocket in his jeans. Then, to Aston's surprise, he presented a western hat which he had recovered. Once again the black thing was covered in dust, which this time Aston left alone as he donned it given the situation. It was meant to block the sun anyway, so a little dirt didn't matter.

"Lieutenant!" a female marine said as she strode up with one of the three remaining eagle troops beside her. "We spotted the wyvern about one and a half klicks north, somewhere near the mall. Possibly its nesting grounds, sir."

"Are you sure?" McCray Asked.

"No," the eagle soldier replied, "but it's all we have to go on, Lieutenant."

"Alright. Good work." McCray replied before walking into the center of the group, signaling everyone to gather around him.

The eagle soldier and two marines gathering supplies from the helicopter rejoined the group and distributed what munitions and gear they could recover. Anders shot Aston a brief dirty look as he noticed the new piece of hardware slung across his chest.

"Really?" Aston asked. "Even with us being stranded, still gonna be a prick, huh?"

Anders replied, "Just keep your finger off that trigger, would ya? We don't need you playing hero army man again."

"Knock it off, please," Lieutenant McCray began. "We probably have eyes on us right now, and all this activity will draw in some freaks real quick. So shut up!"

"Sorry, Lieutenant," Anders replied, subtle scorn in his voice.

"Ok, good news," McCray continued. "We know the relative position of our target. If we can, we'll go in as planned, bust open those eggs and pull our guys to safety. However, there's probably gonna be more than one of those things protecting the nest. We'll be able to take down the small ones easy enough and we'll use our last anti-tank rocket to finish off the big one when we muster it into a good spot... But, if it turns out that there's more than one full powered wyvern there, we're aborting immediately and going full survival mode. Escape and evade. Then I'll call in the missile artillery to wipe them out."

"I doubt that's gonna happen, sir," the eagle soldier that saved Aston interjected. "The Smith Haven Mall's a pretty safe area. It's patrolled by some burly wolverine looking things that won't fuck with you if you keep out of their way. They may even help us find the nest if we ask nicely. We could even set up camp there for the night. That big beach plaza is just a stone's throw from there, too, which is another safe zone that we know of."

"Is that so? Sounds like a solid plan, Sarge."

"Another thing, the beach plaza was supposed to be the second stop after our exfil. Three members of SEAL Team Four are camped out there. I'm thinkin' we should definitely link up with them when we can... The more the merrier."

"Agreed."

"I don't believe it," Doc cut in, "the story about the SEAL unit going missing was true?"

"Unfortunately," Sarge replied, rubbing the back of his eagle head. "They didn't have to come here, but like us, they volunteered... It comes with the special forces mind set, I guess."

McCray began walking toward a wide alleyway while Doc and Sarge spoke, signaling everyone to follow. "Let's move out!" He ordered. "The sun's going down, everyone on me, we gotta hustle!" ...

Meanwhile... Oakland International Airport, USSOCOM Tactical Command Post...

Samorn and her navy corpsman friend were in a large dimly lit hanger turned command center that was occupied by dozens of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. Many of them were rushing from place to place, entering and leaving, while others sat behind desks using laptop computers or observing desktop monitors while communicating through headsets and earpieces with various units around Fairhaven.

The navy corpsman stood near a foldable desk, holding a corded phone to his ear. Samorn waited somewhat impatiently behind him, her tail shifting nervously as she awaited news on the man she saw as her father.

She hugged her waist, perking up a bit as the corpsman glanced back at her before hanging up the phone. "Ok," the cheerful young man began. "The California guard sent an MQ-1 drone in. They're saying it has a confirmed sighting of Aston. He's alive and ambulatory and it looks like he's on his way with the surviving marines to a safe area."

Samorn let out a deep sigh of relief and briefly stroked her head with both hands. "Oh, god. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She rushed up and hugged him tightly with her tail wagging happily.

"Whoa! Ok," he uttered, giving her a few gentle pats on the back. "I'm glad I could help." Samorn gave him a kiss on the cheek, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Uh... Thanks. I guess," he said bashfully, a blush coming to his face. It briefly drew the attention of some nearby soldiers, which caused some embarrassment to creep into him. "Anyway... I'm beat," the corpsman went on. "Let's go get some chow. Follow me."

The thought of food nearly made her forget about asking why the military had such an interest in her. She followed the corpsman out onto the tarmac of the adjacent runway and the pair began trekking toward the main building of the airport, still functioning since there was no mutagen infection to speak of in Oakland. Planes were still landing and taking off, and Samorn was fascinated by the sight of the planes against the night sky.

As they passed another hanger Samorn noticed it had been converted into a field hospital, this one with more specialized equipment and surgical tents. A large navy transport helicopter arrived from the nearby San Francisco bay, carrying something large underneath it by cables attached to a rig similar to ones used to transport marine animals. The end of a reptilian tail lined to the tip by a fish like fin drooped out from an end of the large black tarp that swayed slightly in the wind.

Suddenly a large flat bed truck arrived there as well with several army medics standing on it. Crewman standing on the tarmac directed the helicopter to gently lay the tarp down on the bed, the releasing of it revealed the magnificent beast it was carrying.

Ever so gently the medics quickly undid the clasps on the bottom of the tarp, causing the creature to fall a few inches to the bed of the truck, surprisingly in a gentle fashion. The barely conscious, some twenty foot long creature was some sort of an aquatic wingless dragon with large fin like protrusions on its back, bright green and blue scales, and webbed talon tipped digits on its front and rear fin lined limbs.

As the helicopter departed the medics got to work checking the many large bandages wrapped around the dragon's torso, neck and rear limbs that were stained in spots of blood. It whimpered in grievous pain, actual tears cascading down the sides of its muzzle.

A medic, showing a level of compassion Samorn did not expect anyone to show for such a creature, cradled the dragon's head in his arms, gently caressing the smooth scales while speaking to it. The dragon looked up at him, an intelligence in its heartbreakingly sad eyes. Steadily its whimpers ceased and the leading medic motioned for the truck to get moving to the hospital area.

"That poor thing," said the corpsman as he and Samorn continued onward.

"Do you think that creature used to be human?" Samorn asked.

"Probably. Kinda makes you sick to think someone's humanity can be stripped away to that extent."

"Yea, no shit... Makes me hope they can find a cure, soon."

"I don't think its possible. The virus is of an artificial variety and is programmed to rewrite its host's D.N.A. completely. It erases what you used to be, making a reverse process impossible. In other words, that poor guy or gal back there is a sea dragon 'till they die... Fucked up, but that's just the way it is."

Eventually they arrived at one of the gates leading to the parking lot of the airport and were let through by security. A line of humvees and light vehicles were parked nearby. The corpsman got in the driver's seat of a spec-ops ranger vehicle that lacked a roof or doors, Samorn soon sat next to him.

"I--trust you can eat a hamburger or something like that, right?" the young man asked.

"Of coarse," Samorn replied, buckling her seatbelt.

"Good."

He started the vehicle and began driving away toward one of the many fast food restaurants near the airport. With it being night time Samorn's canine presence didn't draw much attention, which she was thankful for. They pulled into the drive-thru of a burger joint and waited for a couple vehicles ahead to finish. After placing their order at the speaker box thing they pulled forward to the first window.

"Evening, folks. Your total is ten fifty fi-" the cashier began to say after opening the small window, stopping abruptly.

The corpsman pulled out his wallet and began handing the boy his credit card, noticing a second later that the teenager's eyes were focused wide on Samorn, who shot the boy a quick smile of her black lips.

"You all right there, kid?" the corpsman asked.

"Uh... Wow! ... Yea... Sorry... Just..." the nerve stricken boy replied, quickly taking the credit card in his shaky hands, swiping it and such before handing it and a receipt back.

The corpsman overheard the boy say after closing the window, "holy fuck! It was one of those freaks out of Fairhaven, guys. In the car! She had big tits and everything!"

Angered a little by the boy's rude comments the corpsman pulled forward to the next window to get their bag of food which, thankfully, was handed to them without the worker panicking.

A manager swung by and poked his head out of the window and said, "On behalf of Quick Burger, I want to apologize to you and your lady friend there."

"Don't worry about it," said the corpsman, accepting the bag of food and placing it in the seat behind him. "He's just a kid. Go easy on him."

Without another word the corpsman pulled away and headed for one of the beach side parks that lined the bay area. It was a small beach with only one car parked there.

They quickly pulled in, parked and headed for one of the cheap looking picnic tables, lit by the lights of the parking lot and moon above. The corpsman placed the paper bag of cheap food on the table and sat, placing his kevlar helmet on the bench beside him. Samorn sat across from him as he handed her a burger and the two famished individuals began devouring the morsels without stopping to use napkins.

"I'm Brice, by the way," the corpsman said all of the sudden.

Samorn nearly choked as a giggle escaped her muzzle. "Brice, what?" she asked, smiling wide and wiping her lips with a napkin.

"Oh, you want me to properly introduce myself? Ok! I'm Hospital Corpsman First Class Brice Da Silva. United States Navy. Currently assigned to watch over one, Samorn."

"Well than... Nice to officially meet you, Brice."

"You, too."

The two shared a quick laugh and continued eating, finishing their last few bites. Suddenly the faint sound of a young couple having a chat got closer and closer. Looking around, Samorn's eyes found the pair walking along the beach not far away, the two holding hands and giggling occasionally as the moonlight guided their way. She watched them in awe, glad to see that in spite of what was happening in the world people would not let it distract them from living their lives as they intend.

"You know, I traded a pack of smokes for a condom and gave myself an immunization booster..." Brice said.

Somehow, a blush showed through Samorn's fur as she slowly turned her had back to look at him with a perplexed gaze. "Um... Are... Are you asking for... Sex? With me? I mean, I would love to. I've been so... Goddamn horny for as long as I can remember, and... You have to be the sexiest man I've ever seen... But isn't it too soon? I mean, I just learned your name. Don't you have a family?"

"Not of my own. No. I wouldn't be cheating on anyone... And honestly, I haven't been able to get the thought out of my head either... For -- what you are, you are beautiful. A gem in a sea of coal. A goddess among devils... Insert cheesy ass pickup line here."

The two giggled and locked eyes, both pairs of marbles filled with a passion neither of them could deny any longer. Samorn reached a paw hand out and took Brice's. He enjoyed the exotic feeling of her paw pads and felt the curious need to feel them elsewhere.

Brice was nearly forced to clamber over the table as Samorn's lust became as magnetic to him as a moth to a lamp. His lips met hers as he leaned over, their fiery embrace lasting for what felt like minutes. Still holding tightly to his calloused hand she led him down to a secluded area of the beach surrounded by trees and boulders large enough to keep even boats in the bay from seeing them.

Brice took out a camouflage shemagh cloth from his gear and laid it down on the sand for them to place their clothing on. They stripped with intent, some pieces of Brice's gear not quite making it on the cloth.

Samorn released a giggling yelp as she was nearly tackled to the sand, her irresistibly shiny black lips embracing his once more. His hands caressed the incredibly soft furred muscles of her lean body while hers rubbed the short hair on his head before resting on his toned back.

She felt him, the tip of his average cock at the entrance to her folds, a gasp escaping her lips as she closed her eyes. With a loving steadiness he moved his hips to enter her. A moan of sheer pleasure echoed from her around the rocks on either side of them.

Brice kissed along her neck as he thrust into her, slowly at first, then brought his mouth to her dark nipples, stiff and chilled from the bay breeze. An involuntary yelp shot from Samorn's lips. Her claws began digging lightly into his back, the combined sensations of his cock thrusting slowly into her dark pink Y-shaped folds and his lips teasing her nipples was too much for her mind to contend with, and an animalistic lust overtook her.

She began returning his thrusts, nipping his shoulder and neck to draw a little blood while her claws raked his back. Soon the pleasure build to a peak and her orgasm rolled over her like a firestorm, her sex weeping her juices onto the sand as Brice came as well, emptying his generous load into her.

They lay panting together for several minutes to allow themselves to recover, sharing a few fondles of their naked bodies and passionate kisses. Soon, a realization hit Brice and his eyes shot open.

"Oh, shit!" he gasped, breaking off a kiss.

"What?" Samorn asked.

"Forgot the condom..." he rolled onto his back, feeling the cool sand.

"So... You took your booster, right?" said Samorn, now on her side smiling at him.

"Yea, but they're not exactly full proof, and they don't last forever."

"I wouldn't worry about it... You'd be growing fur by now if it wasn't working. Besides, I'm sure they'll make better ones soon... Then we can have all the fun we want."

Brice laughed softly, rubbing his forehead. "I guess..."

"You'd make one sexy ass alpha," Samorn giggled and embraced him, placing her paw hand on his chest.

"You think?" Brice asked, letting his hand take hers.

She smiled up at him, her eyes filled with a deep love for him. They kissed again, Brice's mind no longer fretting over infection.

With Samorn's instinct to find a mate now sated, her mind began to fill with thoughts of finding Aston and bringing him out the hell he was now forced to endure. She wanted nothing more than for her father to be safe, and soon, she would be given the opportunity to make that a reality...

Somewhere in Texas, one of the finest special forces officers America had ever produced was being picked up at an airport after just returning from the Middle East...

Chapter 4

Random Newscaster:

...protest orchestrated by human rights activists erupted in downtown Detroit this evening after a seemingly harmless mutant was shot dead by law enforcement during a traffic stop. Dash cam footage showed the ram approaching the officers and shouting in spite of several warnings to stop. Claiming he feared for his life the officer on the left promptly opened fire. The ram was pronounced dead at the scene, and his family has yet to comment. The officer that fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave, pending further investigation... In other news, power has been restored to several neighborhoods in Santa Monica following an anti-war protest that turned violent when protesters clashed with members of the C.D.C. responding to a reported outbreak of the yet to be identified contagion. Police and National Guard made several arrests and no contagion was found in the area... It has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control that all California schools be closed for the rest of the week following a case of rapid mutation at a Bakersfield high school that resulted in all staff and students being transformed into anthropomorphic raccoons, foxes, and similar woodland animals. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles school district called the recommendation an overreaction to such a small incident, however agency officials maintain that such precautions are a small price to pay for keeping our children safe. All infected that resulted from the outbreak have since been cleared as noninfectious and have been released. The school is scheduled to be reopened within the next month with funding coming from a local veteran's fraternity...

...All stations this net- stand by for sit-rep. At present we have extracted four 40th Infantry members heavily infected with what is being described as a 'Minotaur' strain, and we currently have them in quarantine outside the city. The four members are from the California National Guard unit stationed at compromised COP Bravo under the rogue Major Padgett. The 129th Rescue Wing is coordinating a joint raid of the area with the help of the 66th Rescue Squadron out of Nellis, so it's out of our hands for now. In the meantime, containment remains our top priority, but all advance teams are to keep an eye out for those guardsmen still unaccounted for...

Later that evening... Fairhaven Commercial District, half a kilometer from the Smith Haven Mall...

Determined to find their missing men, the group advanced swiftly and quietly through an alleyway between two sets of multi story buildings. It was eerily silent and relatively dark with the sun quickly setting.

No one spoke a word, with all communication between them done through hand gestures and soft in-ear whispering. The marines and eagle troops kept their weapons trained on any direction something could come from, giving special attention to the air and cross alleys.

Two survivors had joined the group minutes after they left the crash site. Upon seeing the armed men and women the pair cautiously approached with hopes of rescue, only to be disappointed by McCray informing them of the unfortunate situation.

Completely naked, save for ill-fitting bra and panties and small packs they carried, the two appeared to be in their early twenties, both having endured full body transformations into hermaphroditic anthro river otters with webbed fingers and plantigrade foot paws. They stayed in the middle of the group with two marines taking up positions on either side to protect them.

A female marine leaned in to speak in Aston's ear as they approached the end of the alley. "Watch your feet," she told him. "There's shattered glass up ahead." She then leaned in to tell the otter girls the same.

Aston nodded to her and continued on, staying in the center of the group with his shotgun slung across his chest and belly. McCray and Sarge stayed at the front and the other two eagle soldiers pulled rear security.

They neared the very end of the alley when out of the blue feminine voices and loud laughter were heard coming from the adjacent street, steadily getting louder. McCray and Sarge halted in their tracks, each briefly raising a fist up beside their heads to signal everyone else to do the same.

"Shit," muttered McCray. He glanced back and barked quietly, "Cover, now! Radios off!"

Everyone darted behind the various dumpsters and piles of debris lining both sides of the alley, vanishing from sight just in time as several mutants passed close by ahead of them. The strong looking anthropomorphic hyenas, about ten of them, were laughing and chatting as they walked by from left to right toting various melee weapons. The ones on the sidewalk thankfully did not give the alley much attention.

Aston stole his nerves and peeked up from behind the pile of bricks he lay behind that had fallen off the top story of a nearby building. He saw that all of the mutants on the street were apparently female, that was until he noticed the bulges in there pants hinting at their hermaphroditic nature. He cringed a little and sank back to cover.

"Hey, it's okay!" a marine not far away whispered. One of the cute otter girls had begun to sob in intense fear, hugging her long thick tail as if to protect herself. A male marine had unhesitatingly scooted to comfort her. "They are not gonna find us," the marine quietly went on, taking her dainty webbed hand in his and giving it a gentle rub. "We won't let anything happen to you," he assured her, "I promise! You stay strong for me, alright?"

Glancing back over the pile of rubble Aston saw that the last anthro hyena had stopped and was sniffing the air. The herm beast promptly looked in the direction of the alleyway as her nose picked up something. Another straggler appeared and strode up to her, gripping a baseball bat in her paw hands.

"You got somethin'?" the bat wielding hyena asked, her voice somewhat gruff.

"Yea," the other replied, adjusting her leather jacket that did nothing to conceal her darkened nipples. She gestured her muzzle down the alley. "Smells pretty good down there. Maybe we should give this alley a once over."

"We? Fuck that. It's probably just a cum puddle. It ain't worth no risk."

"No... I smell sweat. Human sweat. Blood too... There's somebody in there."

"So what? Ain't no way I'm going down there. It's too dark. You're askin' for an ambush."

The hyena herm sniffed the air again, reaching for a sheathed hunting knife on her belt. "I'm gonna go have a look... You'll thank me," she said, shooting the other a grin, showing off her long fangs.

"You're on your own, ya dumb bitch," the other scoffed and walked off to follow the others.

Still wearing an intimidating smile the six foot tall hyena woman approached the alley. Her muscular yet womanly hips swayed as she pulled out her shiny, bowie style knife in a backhand grip.

McCray and Sarge glanced at each other as they stayed crouched behind a dumpster and Sarge whispered something in McCray's ear. The lieutenant nodded in approval of Sarge's plan and the pair allowed the hermaphrodite to enter the alley and walk right past them. McCray then gave Sarge's shoulder a quick squeeze to signal him into action.

With a well trained stealthiness, Sarge crept up behind the hyena and drew his suppressed pistol, ensuring that his foot talons did not click on the pavement. He raised the weapon and steadied his sights on the back of the creature's head, reaching his other talon tipped hand out toward the hyena's shoulder.

He fired and a short jet and mist of blood spewed from the hyena's forehead as the round passed all the way through. The blood sprinkled across the concrete in front of the herm as her body went limp. Sarge lunged forward, his free arm catching her before she could collapse, then gently laid the lifeless herm on the ground to prevent its fall from alerting anything.

"Clear," he whispered and signaled for everyone to get up. "Let's go! We're movin'!" he quietly barked.

McCray and Anders carefully checked both corners at the end of the alley.

"Clear, left," whispered McCray.

"Clear, right," whispered Anders.

"Sarge, take everyone across. We'll cover you," McCray quietly ordered.

He and Anders took up crouched positions on the sidewalk behind what little cover there was while Sarge led the group across the four lane avenue. They gathered loosely in front of a burned out hotel whose non metal parts still smoldered, illuminating the area in a dim, orange glow.

McCray spotted the silhouettes of several winged humanoid creatures flying down a street about two blocks away, swooping up to land on the balconies of a twenty story apartment building.

"Let's get moving," he said quietly and followed the other marine across the avenue.

Before they reached the other side the pair of men were startled by the distant sound of several long roars, followed some time later by a man screaming something in protest and a short burst of rifle fire. Everyone fluttered with anxiety as they listened to the chaos and waited for orders.

"That was close!" a male marine whispered.

"Like, real close..." a female marine remarked.

"Almost sounded like Max, to be honest," Aston nervously mentioned. "That's the direction we need to head, right?"

"Yep," the marine replied.

"Well, let's not talk about it," McCray muttered and stood up. "Let's get our asses over there," He said. "Sarge, on me. It's miller time."

Sarge and McCray led the group to the corner of the next intersection, lit by the still burning wrecks of a few crashed cars in the middle of it. McCray stopped abruptly, once again signaling everyone to halt and get low, this time placing a hand to his radio.

"Colonel, I have you, but your signal is weak and intermittent, over," he said quietly but clearly into his earpiece. "Say again, please. Weak copy on your last... Negative... Roger, we are en-rout to the nest. We will provide sit-rep when we get there... Affirmative. This is Lieutenant McCray, out."

Sarge crouched next to him, his intense bird of prey stare pried at McCray's mind. "What's up?" He asked.

"A global hawk just did a pass over this area," McCray replied, a relief in his voice. "They have minimal signatures on thermal for the next few blocks. They're thinkin' the nest is in a department store a block and a half from here. Should be a clear shot there, and then to the mall unless there's something out there that can shield its body heat." McCray sighed. "Let's push on, but stay on your toes. Keep an eye skyward for the matriarch and have that AT-4 ready to trim the bitch's wings."

"Check," replied Sarge. "You've got tactical."

McCray and Sarge stood up, creeping toward the corner ahead. McCray carefully checked around the wall and signaled for Sarge, another eagle soldier, and three marines to move to the adjacent corner across the way. They moved briskly and stacked up as ordered, waiting for the go ahead to advance up the two lane street that was littered with the aftermath of a multi-vehicle pileup.

The intense stench of sexual fluids permeated the air surrounding the wrecks, making some of the group make subtle expressions of disgust. They observed torn clothing and other personal items scattered about as well and took care not to step on any of it. At the end of the block was what remained of an overrun police blockade. Several armored riot vehicles, police cruisers and S.U.V.s lay abandoned with the remains of cum stained police and SWAT uniforms everywhere around them. A disheartening scene to say the least, given the lack of weapons and body armor one would expect to be scattered there. It made some of the group idly wonder how dangerous some mutants would be if armed with a SWAT member's submachine gun and bullet resistant vest.

That's a little terrifying, Aston thought, laughing nervously to himself. Mutants might be arming themselves. Great...

After swiftly passing the heap of automobiles they stealthily continued down another wreck filled street for half a block then rounded the next corner and entered another alleyway. It was clear apart from another pile of torn clothing and a puddle of male and female sex fluids. They crept past it, everyone once again trying to ignore the potent smell.

"Okay. Objective located," McCray said as they made their way, low and slow, into the relatively clear parking lot of a single story department store with one main entrance in the front. They all crouched low behind what vehicles were present there. "The front door's untouched so the nest is probably in the loading dock," McCray went on, catching his breath. "Let's circle around back and get ready to breach. Sarge, take your fireteam left, everyone else on me. Stay loose. Eyes peeled for the big bitch. Move out!"

"Copy," Sarge replied and directed the three marines and fellow eagle to follow him around the left side of the building where they stacked up behind a metal access door beside one of the loading bays at the rear of the building.

McCray, two marines and the remaining eagle soldier stacked up on the other side of the loading bay, getting ready to make entry through the other access door. He quietly ordered Aston and Doc to stay put in the dark back lot and keep the herm otter girls safe, which they unquestioningly agreed to do.

"Breachers up!" McCray quietly barked.

Two marines pulled short handled sledge hammers from their packs and stood by their fireteam's door. They held the heavy tools up with one hand, waiting intently for the order.

"Go!" ordered McCray.

The sledge wielding marines simultaneously slammed their hammers into the doors, breaking the locks before kicking the doors the rest of the way in. As each man and woman entered the building they flicked on their small weapon mounted flashlights before disappearing into the storerooms.

Aston sighed. He and Doc stayed by the department store's tan rear wall and had their backs turned to the otter girls who sat huddled together under a thermal blanket for warmth.

"What do we do, now?" Aston softly asked, scanning his side of the wide back lot, barely able to make out the walls of nearby restaurants and other buildings.

"Like the man said," replied Doc. "Scan your sector."

"How the hell can I if I can't see anything."

"Just keep your ears tuned to your surroundings. I'm sure your backwoods redneck ears'll pick up anything."

Aston snickered. "Thanks for the encouragement... Prick!"

"Just don't use your flashlight, unless it's an emergency."

"I'm not a fool."

"I know it. Just makin' sure, homie. All this stress, you know, can make you trip."

Aston glanced back at him with a confused look and their eyes locked for an awkward second. "What the fuck was that?" Aston asked with a suppressed laugh as they continued observing their surroundings.

"Nothin'," Doc replied. "Forgot, I don't talk like that on duty."

"Not a- gangster- when you're in that uniform?"

Doc snickered. "Oh, I'm always a gangster... Not a drive-by, shooting people, type, but... Gangster nonetheless."

"I'm sorry, but no homeboy on earth uses words like, nonetheless... Just sayin'."

"Whatever, man. You know, you got a pretty good vocabulary for a hillbilly."

"Thanks again, fucker..."

"... Do you hear that?"

"Unfortunately..."

Suddenly the sound of large beating wings took them by surprise as something began landing on the flat roof behind them, strong feet making rough contact with it. The pair spun around and aimed their weapons in their visitor's direction as his or her silhouette came into view.

Though it was far too dark to see any real detail of the winged creature Aston recognized it with relief as the hawk morph they observed following the helicopter earlier that day. It folded its wings and approached the edge of the roof before perching itself on the edge. With an arrogant smile the hawk man peered its reflective predatory eyes down at the men below.

"Lovely night for a little guard duty, eh?" the creature asked, his haughty voice hinting at his northeastern origins.

"To be honest, it's a lovely night for you to move on, sir," Doc promptly replied with a hint of frustration, his M4 rifle lowering slightly. "You're giving our position away."

"Oh please," the hawk man replied, relaxing a bit. "They're ain't shit 'round here, wetback. How 'bout you relax."

"Wet-- The fuck you just call me, esé?" Doc flicked the rate of fire switch on his weapon to full auto and aimed down his scope at the bird man's head.

Noticing this, Aston placed a hand on Doc's shoulder. "Whoa! Chill out, Doc," he implored.

"I'm no Mexican, asshole," Doc growled. "I'm Guatemalan."

"And there's somehow a difference," the hawk retorted. "You're all the same."

Doc kept his eyes locked on the hawk's as he pulled a rifle suppressor out of a pouch and began attaching it to the barrel of his rifle. "Aston, watch my six," he said, bumping Aston's arm with his elbow. "I'm gonna hose this cock sucker."

"Oh, I'm the cock sucker?" the hawk man continued.

"Yea, you better believe you're a cock sucker," replied Doc, amusement in his voice that hinted at his intentions.

"Not in the slightest!" laughed the hawk. "On the other hand, you should have seen the soldier I had the pleasure of noting a ways back. Biggest Johnson you've ever seen shoved deep down his gorge. Looked like he liked it!"

Doc steadily raised his weapon and aimed it at the Hawk man's head.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," said the hawk with obvious sarcasm, just before Doc fired a burst that came dangerously close to the avian's face, making him flinch and retreat into himself. The bird man stayed like that for a moment, trembling a little, his eyes widened with shock. He then said with a deep breath, "O...kay... I take it you guys are the 'not fuckin' around' crew.'"

"Yea, that's us," replied Doc. "Now, for last time, I think it's time for you to leave. Maybe head into Los Angeles and start flailing the same kinda tongue you got around... Se if those esés'll show you the same kind of mercy."

"Fine... Point taken..."

Doc reluctantly lowered his rifle as he watched the offensive avian spread his impressive wings before taking off into the night for parts unknown. The two men shared a gaze of disbelief.

"Well, uh... That escalated quickly," said Aston, suppressing a laugh.

"Some things about people will never change, man," replied Dock, shooting him a nod.

One of the otter girls let out a shriek suddenly and pointed a clawed finger at something behind the two men. "Look out!" she cried.

Aston and Doc spun around with weapons trained on a pair of reflective eyes belonging to a silhouetted figure shrouded in the darkness of the back alley. Crouching low the two armed men shifted closer to each other and scooted back to shield the terrified girls from their visitor's ominous gaze.

"Hold it, right there!" Doc demanded, shining his rifle mounted light at the creature. "Not another inch!"

"Whoa! Let's just stand down there, fellas. It's me... Max," the bizarre creature, that had somehow snuck up behind them without a sound, said in a familiar yet bassy voice. It raised strangely altered paw hands that in spite of the paw pads and brown fur were somewhat larger than before with wicked looking white talons stretching from each finger.

It was Max all right, but his body had been dramatically altered by his experience being unbirthed by the wyvern. His head, though still dog like with German shepherd pattern fur and dark wet nose, was now more streamline and bulky with fangs that protruded permanently. Two sets of white horns stretched behind his head with the top pair longer than the bottom. His eyes were now reflective and reptilian, gaining light green irises and slit pupils. His ears, though larger, were smaller by ratio on his hybrid head and didn't respond to sound like they used to. Overall his frame had become much more muscular and about seven and a half feet tall. His neck had elongated some and thickened with muscle. A muscular tan and brown furred reptilian tail as long as he was tall that terminated with a spiked end like a wyvern's swayed slowly behind him. Lacking his shorts, his thickened legs now terminated in furry dragon-dog hybrid foot paws tipped now with powerful talons that scraped against the ground as he walked. Sheathed between his legs was his knotted manhood that had grown somewhat, but was soft and not aroused at that moment.

Both relaxing their guard and standing back up, Doc and Aston signaled him to come up. Smiling, the German shepherd turned dinosaur dog strode up to them and was welcomed back to the group with a long lasting brotherly hug from Aston.

"This sucks. I think you could take me in a fight now," Aston joked and the two friends shared a heartwarming laugh.

"Good to have you with us again, Max," said Doc, rubbing the powerful beast's shoulder. "You feelin' all right?"

"Like I just ran a marathon, honestly," Max replied. "Thirsty."

"We all feel that way. Hopefully we'll be done here soon and be headin' to the mall. I guess we can finally get some rest there. Hopefully some clean water, too. My hydration pack's been empty for hours."

"Well, good thing the sun's down and we're not baking anymore."

After a second Aston turned to Max and asked, "did you see what happened to the two marines that were taken with you? We heard you scream, and then an M-16 banging off."

Max's ears went back a little at the question, his hybrid muzzle fading to an uncertain gaze. "Yea, that was probably me..." he began, subtle sadness to his voice. He looked at Doc. "One of your men took to the change worse than I thought he would... All I can say is, those marines that went in a minute ago are not gonna like what they find."

Doc held a hand to his radio an held a button down briefly. "Lieutenant, everything kosher in there?" he asked into his earpiece. "...Lieute-"

Suddenly Sarge emerged from the closest access door and waved for everyone to follow him inside before giving Max a brief look. Sarge's avian face showed what little surprise it was capable of.

"He's a friend, Sarge," ensured Doc. "Don't worry about him."

"The more the merrier," Sarge joked.

Aston and Doc flicked on their weapon lights as they entered the clothing store, Max and the two otter girls followed. The storage area was relatively untouched, to Aston's surprise, but the doors leading to the main body of the store revealed a nightmarish scene.

From what the weapon mounted flashlights revealed the roof of the store had a gaping hole in it, obviously torn apart by the matriarchs talons and jaws. In the center of the room was the nest, made primarily of destroyed furniture and piles of fluid soaked clothing. The shells of the matriarchs 'eggs' were present there as well with pieces scattered here and there.

Two marines, a man and a woman, were near the main entrance and were working hard to console a five foot tall, ten foot long juvenile wyvern that still wore the remnants of his torn fatigues and rubber rimmed dog tags. The muted brown scaled reptile seemed to be in extreme distress, shaking its draconic head while the marines spoke to it, attempting to get its attention with questions about his name, family, unit etc. He could only chirp and growl in response as if his ability to speak was stolen by the transformation.

Aston felt a little sorry for the beast but swallowed his feelings and began looking around for McCray. Eventually he found him near the restrooms in the far corner of the store.

The lieutenant had a handheld flashlight aimed at the corpse of a second juvenile wyvern that lay with its back up against the wall. The look on the deceased dragon's face was a heartbreaking combination of despair and sheer terror, hinting at the horrible conditions it must have been in at the time of its untimely death. Several bloody holes leaked on the top of its head, the blood streaming down the sides of its open muzzle. Most importantly, still in its fully formed bloody wing talons was an M-16, the barrel of it soaked in blood.

"My god..." Aston whispered as he looked the poor creature over. He removed his hat and placed it over his chest as subtle but growing sorrow filled him.

"I tried to stop him," Max said as he arrived at the scene, "but he was too strong..."

"I don't understand. Why--why would he kill himself?" Aston asked, keeping his voice low so McCray wouldn't hear him.

"He said he could feel it," Max replied. "It was taking him over and he... He couldn't allow himself to hurt anyone..."

McCray knelt down and broke off the fallen wyvern's dog tag, placing it in a pouch on his vest that was full of several others. Unable to hold back any longer McCray placed his hands and his forehead on the dragon's muzzle, choking back a sob while whispering an apology and a short prayer.

Seeing something large out of the corner of his eye, Aston shined his light at it. It was the huge matriarch, laying dead, with several gaping wounds along its throat that it had bled out from. It lay on its back, stretched along a far wall on top of several now flattened shoe racks.

"He put up one hell of a fight with that bitch, though," Max went on. "As soon as he hatched he rushed her and ripped her throat out. I'm sure you guys heard it happen."

"Not a decent man in this world that wouldn't do the same, bro," said Aston before replacing his hat. "At least he went down fighting..."

McCray stood up after collecting himself and took a deep breath. He said softly, pointing at the nearby wall, "did you see what he wrote?"

Aston raised his shotgun, the light revealing a large message written in blood on the wall beside him. It read, "TELL MY SON I'M SORRY," in large letters.

"His little boy just celebrated his eighth birthday," McCray went on, turning to face Aston and Max with the beginnings of tears in his eyes. He shook his head slightly. "I don't know what I'm gonna tell him... I really don't... That kid looks to his dad as a hero--and I don't know what the fuck..." He rubbed his face. "I've had to tell plenty of kids that their mom or dad went down like heroes, savin' my life or someone else's, but I don't think, for the life of me, that I'm gonna be able to find the words to describe what the fuck happened here..."

McCray lost it and threw his flashlight against the wall then turned to support himself on a nearby display rack with his head held low. He fought to maintain his composure, but the loss of so many friends in one day had broken through all the discipline the man had acquired in his career as an officer.

Max sighed and slowly walked up to the grieving lieutenant. "Just tell him the truth," he softly said and placed a massive hand paw on McCray's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" McCray choked, tears reaching the threshold of dripping down his cheeks.

"I saw the whole thing, Lieutenant," Max continued. "That little boy doesn't need the grimy details... All he needs to know is that his father gave his life to stop a monster, and there isn't a dishonest thing, at all, about calling that man a hero. After all, he saved my life when the big dragon mother got pissed off that I didn't turn out the way she wanted. I guess I wasn't scaly enough for her." He briefly frowned at the corpse of the dead matriarch. "Anyway, man, we'll have plenty of time to figure all that stuff out later. This ain't the time for it... We have a job to do, marine. You're our commander. We'll do everything you require of us even if it means risking our lives. You know that..."

McCray lat out a long sigh and straightened himself, wiping his face with the sleeve of a nearby shirt on display. "Yea... Thanks," he said then nodded in agreement before giving Max a fist bump. "You had us a little nervous there, big man," McCray said with a suppressed laugh. "You still holding it together?"

"I'm still me, Lieutenant," Max replied with a subtle smile. "I mean, considering that I was just reborn as a-- uh." He glanced down at his new anatomy for a moment, marveling at all it was capable of. "Furry- dinosaur- thing... If there's, uh, anything you need me to do, heavy lifting or otherwise, just let me know."

"As a matter of fact," the lieutenant began and glanced over Max's shoulder. "Since we have a few minutes, how about you help us boost the spirits of those two otter girls we picked up? They're scared to death, and I'm sure they would appreciate the company of someone like you."

"No problem."

McCray patted Max on the shoulder and said, "you're a good friend. Thank you."

Max nodded and went off to go find the two girls who had sat together with a female marine to chat a bit. He seemed to hit it off pretty quickly with the sisters, and the lady marine had plenty to add to the light hearted conversation. Aston took the brief pause to get a little much needed water while Sarge and McCray began working out the best rout to the mall. Everyone else kept watch over the doorways and the gaping hole in the roof.

After agreeing on a safe path, McCray took a moment to check on the other marine that they had come for. He crouched in front of the juvenile wyvern who sat alone on all fours like a dog near the entrance to the store. The reptile held his head low and turned to the side with his eyes closed as if ashamed of something.

McCray slowly reached a hand out and cupped it under the wyvern's muzzle, pulling it up some. "You still with me, private?" the lieutenant asked. The wyvern tried to pull away from McCray's hand, but the tight cupping grip remained firm. "Clewley!" McCray softly barked, pulling the dragon's head up, then, with both hands. "Look at me, marine. You know I'm not mad at you."

"Marine?" the reptile asked, a deep sorrow in his regained voice. His sad eyes opened as he glanced up at McCray. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Clewley growled and yanked his draconic head out of his officer's grasp and backed away, standing up on his haunches. He used what dexterity remained in his wing talons to tear his tattered fatigue shirt the rest of the way off and tossed the scraps away in anger. "Nothing..." He barked and fell back to all fours, his new natural stance. He panted in rage as he shook his head, his new heavy tail swaying up and down behind him. "About me--could even be called a marine!"

McCray stood up and approached him with a deep yet concerned stare. "You need to square yourself away, kid," he said, trying to calm him. "You're still a Devil Dog in my book! I don't give a damn what you look like..."

"No! ... I'm not!"

"Why you fighting me, Clewley? ... You got a family waiting for you back home in Florida... Your mom. Your two sisters. That fat cat of yours... Don't throw that away!"

"They don't need to see me like this... Just wright me off as dead!" the young dragon snarled and rapidly turned tail for the door, slamming through the glass and into night streets.

"God dammit, Clewley, get your ass back here!" McCray shouted as he grabbed his rifle and took off after him.

The group followed and gave the incredibly fast wyvern chase. They ducked through nearby alleys and side streets for several minutes until they eventually emerged into one of the Smith Haven Mall's pitch black parking lots.

"Over here!" a marine shouted.

At the far left edge of the vehicle filled lot, near a three story apartment complex, stood Clewley, illuminated by the marine's weapon light. He was standing on his hind legs, staring intensely at someone that had staggered out of a nearby alleyway.

Everyone moved to surround the dragon on two sides, shining their lights to get a look at who he was peering at. It was a black man wearing US Army fatigues and a claw mark covered tactical vest. The young man carried no rifle, pack or much gear and appeared to be in some pain. White fluid dripped from the side of the soldier's parted lips and an overall look of sheer exhaustion was spread over him as he supported himself on a nearby car.

"We got a friendly! Doc!" McCray shouted as he rushed up to support the falling soldier who collapsed to his hands and knees.

"What's your unit?" Doc asked, kneeling beside the man to help McCray support him as everyone else gathered around.

"Are you 40th Infantry?" McCray asked, "National Guard?"

Checking the patches on the shoulder of the soldier's uniform, a marine said, "no. He's out of Modesto- the one eighty-"

The soldier suddenly began to audibly retch, jerking and groaning when suddenly a torrent of white fluid erupted from his throat, followed by a small amount of blood. Everyone backed away immediately, moaning interjections and curses as they avoided the splash back of the vomit that could only be the infectious semen of some creature. The soldier cried out and coughed several times.

"Fucking, Christ!" Doc groaned as he and McCray moved the soldier away from the cum puddle before letting him back down.

The group observed the Guardsman's ears slowly forming into canine points and his nose darken. Crying out in intense burning pain the soldier arched his back and spun around, collapsing to his back as a full body transformation ever so slowly wracked his body. Doc moved to cradle the writhing man's head on his lap, placing a gloved hand hard over his mouth to muffle his screams. The horrible sounds of muscle tearing and bone breaking came from every inch of the soldier's painfully slow shifting body. His amplified screams and groans almost made Doc's efforts to muffle him futile.

Everyone around could only watch helplessly as the poor man's chest began to crack and barrel out, straining against his tactical vest as his fatigues began to tear away from his thickening, muscular frame. Soon after, big dark claws burst through his gloves and tan boots as semi-dexterous front paws, and elongating digitigrade hind paws began to form.

"Doc, you need to cut that vest off him!" Sarge ordered "He can't breathe!"

Like a skilled orderly in a hospital, Doc retrieved a pair of trauma sheers from a pouch on his vest with one hand and proceeded to snip off the far too tight vest from the soon to be wolf, just in time as the changing soldier's entire frame bulked up once again and elongated. A few seconds passed, painful squelches and popping noises came from the trembling soldier as his body took on the physical frame of a feral wolf, somewhat larger than what one would see in the wild, with growing fur resembling that of a timber wolf.

Soon the man's face began to crack and push forward into a wolf's predatory muzzle, forcing Doc to take his hand away. Heartbreaking whimpers came from the soldier as his head completely shifted into that of a large wolf, shortly followed by a sharp yelp as his lower spine and hips cracked into a permanent quadruped stance. A long bushy wolf tail grew from his spine not a split second later to complete his transformation, or so everyone thought.

The new wolf craned his head to look between his legs, but Doc quickly pulled his muzzle back, somehow knowing what was about to happen. "Don't look, buddy," Doc said into the wolf's ear. "Shh... It'll be over in a second."

"Oh, you gotta be shitting me," said McCray, his horror stricken eyes fixed on the shrinking manhood between the new wolf's hind legs.

The soldier's cock and testis had become incredibly small, and rows of canine teats emerged from the light gray fur on his belly. An intense canine whimper emanated from his throat as his cock nestled into the unmistakable clitoris it was destined to become, soon followed by the shifting of his balls sinking into his body, crafting a new female womb and finding their new home as ovaries. The soon to be wolf bitch shifted and let out a low groan as new lips formed out of her scrotal skin, puffing up and darkening as they became the distinct Y-shape of a dog's pussy.

Doc glanced at Aston and angrily mouthed, "this so fucked up!" He then quickly began prepping a syringe with clear liquid from two separate medication vials, most likely a mix of morphine and a steroid to calm the shaking new female. He then began injecting the wolf bitch with the mixture after finding a vein on the wolf's foreleg, then tossed the spent needle into the darkness.

"He'll... She'll be all right, but-- we should move her somewhere safe-- the smell of her heat will attract something," Doc could barely say, clearly in a slight state of shock at witnessing for the first time an infection rob someone, not only of their humanity, but their gender as well.

Suddenly a long wolf like howl echoed from the nearby apartment complex, followed shortly by the sound of a canine voice yelping in pain. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the building, some aiming their weapons at it. The moon in the clearing sky illuminated the area some.

"Shit," whispered McCray as he stood up. "There's probably more Guard members in there." He looked back at Doc. "Go ahead and take that soldier inside..." Sighing, the lieutenant glanced around. "I need three volunteers to recon that building with me."

"I'll go," said Aston, standing and walking up with nod.

"You sure about that?"

"Hell yea, sir. I need to do something to forget what I just witnessed."

"Me too," said a female marine.

"Anyone else?" McCray asked. "I need one more."

"I'll come with you," said Max, emerging from the darkness like the beast he was. "You might need the extra muscle."

"Alright, man," replied McCray, shooting Max a nod. "I knew I could count on ya. I take it you can see pretty well in the dark?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Somebody give Aston a spare night vision goggle."

McCray and the female marine dug through there packs and pulled out pairs of compact night vision goggles that they promptly attached to the mount on the front of their kevlar helmets. An eagle soldier handed Aston a similar pair, but with straps to be worn around his head. Aston took off his hat and adjusted the traps to fit properly then activating the slightly heavy goggles. They whined subtly as they turned on, lighting up his vision with a green glow as he expected, but nonetheless, it was a relief to be able to see clearly again.

As Aston was adjusting his goggles and replacing his hat, McCray marched up to Private Clewley and grabbed him by one of his horns, nearly dragging him over to look at the soldier turned wolf bitch.

"You see that?" McCray asked in a deep, stern tone, forcing the wyvern to watch as the mutated National Guardsman struggled to cope with alien sensations her new body gave her. "Being a fuckin' lizard ain't so bad, now is it?" He gave the dragon a shove and pointed at his face, leaning into it. "You separate yourself from the unit like that again, I'll hunt you down and kill you like a stuck hog! You understand me, marine?"

"Yes, sir..." the wyvern replied and took a deep breath, straightening himself up a bit.

"I'm not trying to shame you, son," McCray went on, lowering his hand and relaxing his tone a bit. "You just need to remember why we do what we do... You gonna do your duty like I ask?"

"Yes, sir."

"Atta-boy..." McCray gave Clewley an awkward kiss on the top of his dragon head that deprived him of his train of thought. If a dragon's face could look confused, Clewley was doing it.

As the majority of the group began trekking through the parking lot toward one of the entrances to the mall, Aston, McCray, Max, and the female marine advanced stealthily toward the leftmost side of the apartment building, coming to a crouch every time they stopped. They could hear commotion coming from inside the center courtyard of the complex, ranging from shuffling, canine whimpers, to male voices. They reached a chain link gate that lead to a direct path to the courtyard but found it locked with a heavy duty padlock that would be unbreakable without drawing in every mutant for a mile.

"Shit," McCray whispered. "Let's find another way."

"I could break it, sir," suggested Max.

"No. It'll make too much noise. Let's just find a way around."

They moved on, eventually finding a portion of the fence that had been torn apart by something. McCray took out a multitool and began cutting the damaged wire away then pulled the destroyed fence section aside, signaling for Aston and the others to move in.

The building itself seemed in relatively good shape so they decided to attempt a quiet entry. Stacking up at one of the side doors McCray got to work disassembling the door's lock with his multitool while the other three kept watch.

"Ok, we're in," quietly said McCray as he pulled the lock assembly off the door completely, placing it gently in the grass beside him.

Ever so carefully he opened the door, poking the barrel of his M-16 through it. The hallway ahead seemed clear and he moved in first, followed by Aston, Max, and the marine who closed the door behind her.

"Stairs, clear. Move up!" McCray whispered as he reached the staircase at the end of hall, signaling for the group to climb it.

Reaching the second floor they stacked up at the entryway and once again carefully opened the door and moved in. A deep yet faint laugh came from the courtyard, followed by the pleading protests of a terrified man.

"In here!" McCray ordered.

Stealthily he opened a door leading into a single bedroom apartment that overlooked the central yard. After ensuring that it was clear the group gathered at the glass door that lead to the apartment's balcony.

Aston quietly slid open the door, a frown appearing on his face as the sound of the activity below became clear. The four crept onto the balcony itself that was draped in a shadow cast by the moon from the awning above, making there presence there unknown to whatever was below.

The scene in the courtyard was exactly as McCray had feared. There were two sets of torn up army fatigues stained in both male and female cum, surrounded by assorted gear and a pair of destroyed rifles and vests. Not far from that lay a pair of newly transformed feral wolf bitches, each still wearing their dog tags. One was working in a vain attempt to lick freshly deposited cum from her abused pussy while the other looked on in terror at the scene about to unfold in front of her.

Beaten and bruised, a young National Guard soldier sat before a massive bipedal wolf that must have stood six and a half feet tall, even with the slight bend in his digitigrade legs. The beast was an alpha if Aston had ever seen one, having muscles that any body builder would envy and a bright red manhood that stood hard and proud, well lubricated from his recent conquests. Illuminated by the moon above, the alpha's coat was black with an attractive symmetrical pattern of gray markings. Interestingly, his fur spiked up on the top of his wolf head and neck, the Mohawk like mane of jet black fur stretching down to the small of his back where his long bushy tail swished.

The wolf cracked his knuckles and let out a rumbling laugh as he crouched. "Three down, one bitch left," the beast said in a fervent tone, amused by the soldier's vain attempts to stand. "You know you can't resist it. The pull of that little bitch within you that craves this," he gathered a bit of his precum on a paw pad and held the clawed finger before the young man's face, letting the aroma fill his nose. "Care for a taste, my sweet, submissive little pack slut?"

Not going to submit that easy, the soldier spat blood and sweat onto the alpha wolf's muzzle. Letting out a snarl the alpha back handed the soldier to the ground before wiping the spat fluid from his face.

"Motherfucker! Looks like someone needs a lesson on how to treat their alpha!" the beast barked.

Suddenly, the sound of powerful knuckles cracking came from inches behind the alpha's head. His ears perking, the alpha craned his head and torso around to see just who had the nerve to interrupt his night of depravity. His eyes locked onto the green reptilian marbles of a crouching beast, Max the pissed off dino-dog, who still had his big fist cupped in the other.

"Yea," Max deeply growled. "Someone does!"

Before the alpha could react, Max grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and held his muzzle closed with the other powerful hand paw. With a dark snicker, Max brought the now terrified alpha's face to his furry crotch, letting the wolf get a good look at the pre dripping shaft that dwarfed his own, not only in size, but pure presentation. It was a dark shade of blue, with all the veins, ridges, and barbs meant to stimulate a bitch in all the right places, not to mention the knot that had already begun to swell with anticipation of future events.

"Soon, you'll desire nothing more than that between your legs!" Max snarled with a toothy, seductive grin and stood up. "Scream," he growled in the wolf's face, "and I'll let these warriors ventilate your pathetic ass!" Max let the sorry alpha's muzzle go but kept a sure grip on his scruff.

With the alpha no longer a threat, McCray rushed to the uninfected National Guard soldier's side and began using a medical kit to clean the cuts and marks left by the alpha.

"Doc," McCray began, holding a button on his radio, "we need you over here. Ask those mall guards if they have a holding cell available."

Aston and the marine arrived at the courtyard as well and were busy determining what to do about the two new female wolves that were obviously still sane given the pleading look in their eyes. The strange new sensations of their transformed bodies made them pant and whimper, forcing Aston's eager mind to take action.

"It's ok!" Aston said, kneeling in front of the quadruped wolf girls and beckoning to them. "Come here. We'll take care of you."

With a moment of hesitation and a glance at each other the wolves stood and approached Aston with a sense of caution in their movements. The near identical timber wolves were both greeted with a reassuring rub behind their ears. One gave Aston a thankful kiss on the cheek and sat before him, a smile of relief breaking through her fear of having been reassigned not only in species but in the gender department as well.

"Don't wait up," said Max as he walked toward an apartment's back door, pulling the terrified alpha along by his strained scruff.

"What are you doing?" asked the lady marine.

"Taking care of two problems--with one solution," Max replied, gesturing to his throbbing erection before kicking in the door.

He gave McCray a quick glance as if to ask for permission to use the alpha to sate his lust, but McCray could only shrug in response. With a grunt, Max pushed the wolf into the apartment and followed before closing the door behind him, moving a cum stained recliner to keep it closed.

"Bedroom... Now," Max demanded in a booming voice, pointing briefly as he stood menacingly before his new plaything.

"Wait," the alpha pleaded as he stood in the living room with paws raised.

"Wait?" Max snarled. "Fuck that! I've waited all day for this. Move that little ass of yours!"

"Let's just talk this out," begged the wolf. "I mean, c'mon, dude!"

"Oh you want to beg for mercy, go ahead. Give me one good reason why I should spare you. I saw the blood in grass you motherfucker! You pulled out those wolf bitches before your knot went soft. Didn't You? Do you know what damage that could have done?"

"I... I... Was just..."

"Shut up! You're nothin' but a scum bag in a world that has enough of 'em already... Time for your penance!"

Max strode up to the quivering wolf with a dark yet sultry smile. He gathered a bit of his virile precum on a talon then held the digit under the alpha's nose.

"This is about where you left off, right?" Max growled. "Is my scent... Awakening something in you? -- A little -pack slut- perhaps?"

The wolf recoiled slightly as if he found the scent of Max's dripping, potent cum repulsive, but the involuntary firming of his erection suggested otherwise.

Max let out a low laugh and said, "that's what I thought. A sweet little plaything for me, concealed in an alpha's wrapper... Well, then..."

Feeling the need to kick things into gear, Max brought his lips to the alpha's and kissed him deeply. The wolf even caught himself returning the fiery embrace for a split second and tried desperately to break it off.

"Let's unwrap you!" growled Max, giving the alpha a lick on his wet nose.

With one swift move, Max shoved the wolf into the bedroom door, nearly breaking it off the hinges as the dethroned alpha tripped and fell ass first onto the bed behind him. Max strode in and let out a growling snicker as his new playmate scooted back closing his eyes tightly in fear. The wolf was trying to ignore the fact that his arousal was building in spite of having no interest in the overpowering dino-dog to speak of.

"We have a problem to solve first," Max spoke matter-of-factly, with a hint of lustful amusement. "You see, I'm not gay, and I'm not fucking anything without the-- proper- perspective..."

The anthro wolf's ears went further back than they already were and his eyes shot open to look at his assailant. "Whu- what?" he gasped, panicking at Max's words. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying it's time for you to learn exactly how those soldier's out there feel," Max replied and wrapped his paw hand around his imposing blue manhood.

He gave it a few gradual strokes, causing it to leak more of his aromatic fluid. He let it coat his hand until it was slick and dripping with his pre, then strutted his way up to the bed.

"Wait... Fuck, No!" the former alpha begged, but Max pretended not to hear him.

He grabbed the squirming wolf by a digitigrade foot paw and quickly pulled him to the edge of the bed, letting his legs dangle off the edge. He then brought that cum soaked hand dangerously close to the alpha's proud canine manhood.

"Dude!" the wolf pleaded on. "Come on, I'll do anything! Just, donnnoooaaaaagh!"

Having heard enough of the canine's bull shit, Max began to rub his infectious cum soaked hand up and down the wolf's shaft, making the wriggling wolf groan in protest. Max's infectious cum was steadily absorbed by the canine cock, eliciting a groan of protest from the wolf.

Max ensured to coat the former alpha's furry ball sack as well for good measure, then gathered more infectious fluid on two fingers and brought them to the canine's thin lips.

"Take your medicine, slut," Max ordered in a deep, sultry voice.

The former alpha wolf panted and moaned as he felt the infection strike his manhood. "No! God, no!" he shouted as he saw his cock and balls begin to twitch and shrink, a powerful tugging sensation rippling through his manhood.

"I wasn't asking, bitch," Max said, than briefly grabbed the changing wolf's throat, slathering the tongue that lolled out with his cum.

Slowly but surely, the wolf's bright red shaft dwindled in size, making the feminizing creature groan and pant. His wolf face showed a strange mix of undeniable pleasure and sheer terror as he watched his entire frame steadily begin to lose its masculine muscle mass, his height beginning to diminish as well.

Max took advantage of the situation and lavished the slowly changing alpha's body with attention, leaning over him to caress his now effeminate body. He lifted one of the wolf's changing legs as it became long and slender with slimmed calves and soon to be dainty foot paws. Soon Max was loving the fact that he was kissing up the length of a proper anthro wolf's shapely thigh that could only belong to a female. He then slid a hand paw down the flank of the moaning wolf's steadily slimming waist and widening hips, teasing the sensitive skin to encourage the changes on.

"Oh... My god..." the wolf panted, feeling his body become more feminine and weaker by the second. He couldn't see it, but he knew that his face was changing as well. The wolf felt his lips become thicker at the end of his muzzle that was slimming down a bit with an audible creak. His head became a bit smaller overall while his ears grew to a lovable, girly wolf size.

Max leaned in and passionately kissed the feminine wolf for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the new lips the infection gave him. The former alpha felt himself enjoy this kiss as well, but the fear of what was happening to him did not diminish in the slightest, much to Max's amusement.

Ready to take the alpha's place, Max lifted and turned the girly boy wolf over, allowing him to see his reflection on a full length mirror hung from the bedroom's closet. As the changing wolf pushed himself up, he froze in sheer horror at the creature that looked back at him.

In the mirror was not an alpha in the slightest. Instead, the creature that looked back was a feminine anthro wolf with black fur with now snow white markings and a snow white belly and chest. His mane had grown a bit in length and had white tips to the hairs. It now cascaded down one side of his muzzle like an emo haircut. The fearful eyes that looked back did not belong to an alpha, after all what wolf would call himself an alpha with batting eye lashes like that. His black lips seemed perfect for pleasing the mouth and nether regions of nearly anyone, making him shiver at the thought.

Realizing his transformation was not over, the wolf grit his teeth, feeling the odd, pleasurable sensations of change return to finish the job. Max leaned over his back and lifted a leg again to allow him to see his small cock and balls in the mirror. With a gaze of sheer horror, the soon to be bitch watched as they shrank more and more. He moaned in pleasure as another truly female trait began to make itself apparent. White furred breasts with dark female nipples began to form on his chest, slowly expanding into firm d-cups, followed by the emergence of two new smaller sets below those.

"I can't imagine how it must feel," Max said into the wolf's ear. "To know that these are the last moments you'll ever be anything close to a man... Meh!"

With a dark, fang bearing grin Max pressed the tip of a talon to the small pointy cock head of the wolf's soon to be clitoris, making the former alpha yelp in shock. He trembled under the dino-dog who stroked his groin with a rumbling snicker, encouraging the wolf's forming womanhood complete its change.

With a long groan and feminine gasp the wolf's cock finally nestled itself into a proper bitch's clit, followed closely by a squelch that heralded the ascension of his testes. As soon as the balls had vanished into his abdomen to find their proper place as ovaries, the shriveled furry skin of the scrotum tightened up and shed its fur, turning a dark pink as it split and formed into the Y-shaped wet lips of a bitch's vagina.

"Perfect!" Max whispered, nibbling on the new bitch's ear.

Max let the trembling bitch's leg go and leaned down to let his chest touch her back, then reached under her shifting tail to tease her new canine folds. With a gentle touch, Max poked and stroked the lips with a talon, then ran a paw pad up to stimulate the hypersensitive clit. The wolf woman groaned in intense pleasure as waves of alien sensation wracked her. She closed her eyes and felt Max's other hand play with her new nipples, eliciting more girly sounds from her feminine muzzle.

Max licked up her neck and gripped her by her wide hips. Ever so gently, he inserted the very tip of his member into her virgin folds, causing her to let loose a long moan of ultimate pleasure. Just the pointed canine like head of his cock was enough to make her lips part to the point of straining. With short thrusts, Max inserted his entire length into her, her juices combined with his pre lubricating the way.

The feeling of all the ridges and veins rubbing along her walls made her grab and tear the sheets of the bed with her dainty little claws, unable to believe that this was the kind of pleasure she missed out on as a man. A short yelp of pain came from her as Max began to pull back. His cock barbs raked her walls in a slightly painful yet interesting sensation.

With her well prepped, Max began to thrust into her with a beastly lust that drove the both of them to a level of sexual heights neither thought possible as humans. As the virgin bitch's first female orgasm built to a crescendo, Max began to push his knot into her. With patience he eventually popped it in and gave a few more short thrusts.

The two could hold out no longer and came together, she howling like the bitch she was while Max unloaded a generous amount of seed into her waiting virgin womb.

Outside the apartment in the courtyard, Doc and a nearly seven and a half foot tall anthropomorphic wolverine had arrived. Doc gave the Guardsman turned wolf bitches an injection to help with their mounting lusts and to calm them, then made sure that the uninfected National Guardsman was all right.

The huge, burly wolverine man waited by the door to the apartment with his furry arms folded. His most notable features were his plantigrade feet, intimidating claws, and the fact that somehow his security guard pants still fit along with a belt with various gear items attached.

Soon the door to the apartment opened and out came Max who had an exhausted wolf girl under an arm. He turned her over to the guard who allowed McCray to tie her dainty paw hands with a plastic restraint.

She passed out and was promptly carried away by the guard. The group followed the wolverine toward the mall with the new female wolves and National Guardsman in tow...

Chapter 5

That night, Somewhere near Oakland International Airport...

U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Reese Young was a white man in his mid forties with an unshaven stubble and the toned build of a man who had weathered his fair share of action through the years. That night he slept on a twin sized bed in a room near the top floor of an economy hotel, still wearing his olive black polo and drab canvas pants since he had not bothered to get undressed given the insanity he had just endured.

Hours earlier he was arriving home from an intense combat tour with the hopes of enjoying some well deserved rest and relaxation; seeing his family, friends, getting a cold beer, etc. Without warning, however, he was collected by a group of intelligence officers right outside the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport terminal. As he feared, his jubilation was destroyed when they informed him that his tour of duty was to be extended without question. He climbed into the black S.U.V. and one of the business suited men handed him a classified dossier containing all the information that had been gathered about the mysterious outbreak up to that point.

The decorated soldier didn't give a word of protest as he was driven to an undisclosed location somewhere in the desert, but inside, his thoughts stewed in disappointment. Eventually he gave a reluctant dip into the dossier provided while he rode in a waiting Black Hawk helicopter. After reading the first few paragraphs he came to the assumption that someone was playing a sick joke on him. That was until he checked his smart phone.

He nearly had a panic attack as his eyes absorbed reflecting news reports straight out of a nightmare. Young even made one of the agents in the chopper punch him in the shoulder to ensure that he wasn't dreaming.

The colonel had heard nothing about the situation in Fairhaven or the outbreak period for that matter, given that he had been stuck in the cold forest covered mountains of a certain country in the Middle East up until that point, with no outside contact with anyone other than his superiors.

He was awoken from his short nap by the hotel room's phone that sat beside him on a cheap nightstand. Groaning a little he reached for the handset.

"Who the hell?" he grumbled and picked it up, placing it to his ear. "Yea?" he asked in a weary tone.

"Sorry to wake you, sir," a young woman's voice began, "but we have a Sergeant... Um... Ab- sorry, Ab-du-llahi, -did I say that right? Okay- Sergeant First class Abdullahi here to see you."

"Really?" Young's eyebrows raised and he sat up. "Does he want me to come down, or what?"

"No, he asked for permission to come up to your room."

"Oh. Um... Yea, sure, send him up. Thank you, Misses."

"You're welcome, sir. Have a good night."

He hung up the phone and rubbed his face with a moan of sheer exhaustion. Two hours of sleep only seemed to make him feel all the more drained.

"He's early," Young muttered and got up to use the restroom. He then sat on the room's sofa for about a minute or so of aimless television browsing, when suddenly a short knock was heard at his door.

"That you, Abe?" Young asked, projecting his voice to the door.

"Yes, Colonel," a familiar bassy West African accented voice replied. The voice seemed to have the slightest hint of a growl to it but Young didn't take much notice.

"Gimme a second," Young said and muted the television while pocketing his phone after sending his wife a text and stood up to answer the door.

"I must warn you, sir," the voice on the other side continued, "what you are about to see may come as a shock. Prepare yourself, my friend."

"Prepare myself for what? Let me guess, you turned into one of those-" Young began to joke as he unhesitatingly opened the door, not even bothering to check the peephole. What he saw on the other side made him wish he had at least opened it slowly.

The seasoned soldier expected to see the face of his long time tier-one partner and family friend. Instead his eyes were greeted by the sight of a broad muscular chest partly concealed in a tight fitting green a-shirt that showed off perfectly toned pectorals and abs that were covered in a dense fur.

"-whoa! Fucking god!" Young barked, jumping back slightly in acute shock. He reached to cover his mouth as he realized just how loud his shout was, not that he truly cared, given the unbelievable beast his eyes beheld.

Standing proudly at the doorway before the stunned colonel was a powerfully built anthropomorphic male tiger. Nearly eight feet tall with a peculiar coat of neatly kept black fur with white tiger pattern stripes the tiger man stood on digitigrade legs that ended in powerful looking paws equipped with retractile, karambit like claws like those on the beast's hand paws. Fangs like that of an extinct saber cat protruded permanently from the imposing tiger's upper jaw a bit, and a long black and white striped feline tail swayed slowly behind him, emerging from a hole cut in his canvas pants.

Sergeant Abdullahi, a.k.a. Abe, joked with a growl like chuckle, "I told you to prepare yourself... You never listen." A subtle smirk appeared on the tiger man's face as he placed his hand paws on his hips.

Colonel Young relaxed a little after hearing his friend's voice come from the creature in front of him. He placed his hand over his thumping heart and took a calming breath, then with a little hesitation he looked up into the powerful beast's silver eyes.

"This can't be real," he declared.

"Have your eyes deceived you before?" asked the tiger man.

Young shook is head a bit and replied, "no, but this ain't real... I have to be dreaming."

"You know very well that a nightmare of this magnitude would have woken you by now."

Young shook his head. "How the fuck did this happen to you?" he asked with a fearful sigh, his Texas accent dwindling to nothing.

"We should discuss matters inside, sir," Abe replied, glancing over his shoulder at an increasing group of hotel patrons that couldn't ignore the fact that a reverse color anthro saber-toothed white tiger just up and walked down the hall of an otherwise human occupied lodging.

"Yea, ok, come-- come on in, man," Young hesitatingly agreed and stepped aside to let the big cat enter.

Abe briskly walked in and sat on the sofa in front of the muted television that was on a news program. It showed intense footage of combat between a company sized unit of foreign soldiers and some type of a vaguely reptilian dog-like behemoth creature in the process of destroying some town in Russia. A light armor vehicle rolled into view and was shown firing its automatic cannon at the creature. The rapid volley of explosive rounds struck the beast in its side, sending it sprawling hard to the ground with several small explosions continuing to erupt from it. It was then that the armored vehicle finished the beast off by firing one of its turret missiles into it, causing the beast to vanish under a large blast and subsequent cloud of thick black smoke. A ticker at the bottom of the screen mentioned that the Russians were considering the activation of all reservists due to the increase in dangerous mutant activity in the south of the country.

"So, uh," Young began, sitting on the bed to briefly look the sitting tiger man over. "I think I may have, um-- pissed a little... How the--?" he tried to ask, gesturing his hands up with a slight shake of his head. "What happened?"

"It was an accident," the saber-toothed beast replied. He relaxed back on the sofa as he spoke and crossed his furry legs. "I was detached with a platoon of Second Rangers to assist in the hunting of a stray creature. We chased it north of Fairhaven and into a small town where it managed to infect a woman and two men by the time we got there, by, as you can assume, raping them... Most disgusting display I have ever witnessed... The infectees were quickly quarantined, and we evacuated the town to hunt the beast. Unfortunately, my big dumb fucking ass slipped and fell face first into some of the big cat's ejaculate... Just my luck, I was the only one in my fireteam not wearing a damn gas mask."

Young shook his head a little, giving the big cat a subtle look. "Wow," he began and snickered. "Did you find the- uh, cat?"

"I- was placed in quarantine while the other Rangers hunted the tiger down. From what I was told it was found furiously masturbating alone, and only wanted to be given something to calm down... So, they tranquilized it and brought it to the same isolation room I was in."

"Yikes..." said young, a little relaxed sarcasm to his voice. "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"You know," Young gestured an open hand at Abe. "This..."

Abdullahi sighed and sat forward, staring at one of his hand paws as he flexed the deadly looking claws out of their sheaths momentarily. "It was more-- say, uncomfortable, than anything... So no, it didn't, at least for me. My cell mate had a different story to tell. For him, he said it was like being torn to pieces and put back together... I, on the other hand, only felt it happen. There was no pain, only-- the fear."

"I know I'd have been scared shitless..." Young uttered, snickering nervously.

"It may have been terrifying. Afterward, however, it was simply empowering!" Abe looked the colonel in the eye. "I feel like a child once more... Although the tail can get annoying." Abe moved his tail to his side and twitched the end. "It may have improved my balance by a large margin, but I almost got it stuck in the elevator door on the way up..."

"Nice," Young joked. "Wait, you're not contagious, are you?"

"I'm not sure, Colonel. The strain I've contracted has no preventative treatments as of yet since they only recently obtained a sample. I was given an experimental drug to render the nanotech pathogens in my blood inert, and they released me along with the others in just a few hours... I can probably still spread my infection with sexual activity, but other than that, I assume I'm safe. There are new drugs they are working on that disrupt the virus's ability to replicate, therefore, neutralizing it, but none are ready for widespread distribution. They need to conduct more research, I guess."

"Who's, they?"

Abe glared at the colonel and said, "I take it you didn't look over your dossier, yet?"

"Not all the way. I'm a little afraid to..."

"Well, they- are a government contractor called R.S.X.. I know very little about the corporation, but from what I understand they are working in strict collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization to synthesize as many treatments as they can. The partnership has allowed government scientists to make strides in just the past day. Hopefully their future findings will prevent more of these outbreak zones from popping up. We've had a few- near misses- recently. One block of Dallas had to be sealed off earlier today. From what I've heard, it's full of ringtail cat people now... They may be cute, but-- like you said, yikes."

Young shook his head then rested it in a hand. "This is creeping me the fuck out," he said. "I mean, nothing's happened in Fort Worth yet, but what if something does, and I'm not there?"

"I know what you mean, brother... I found out earlier today that my daughter's been deployed to the Fairhaven zone."

"I knew she'd be."

"How's that?"

Young gave the tiger a confused stare. "Well, she's one of the best Apache pilots out there, Sergeant. Besides, they've grounded all low flights over the city, so I doubt they'll send her in there any time soon."

Abe nodded. "Still. It's a father's instinct to be terrified... By the way, I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to see Alyssa."

"Yea, I'm still stewing a little about that. If I miss another one of her games she'll never forgive me."

"That little girl loves you more than life itself, Reese... No soccer game is going to change that."

Young sighed and ran his hand through his short graying hair. "I guess... Sucks ass that we're being sent into that place. If I end up like you, heh, no offence..."

Abdullahi snickered. "None taken, Colonel. I know your old lady hates body hair with a passion. I can't imagine what her view would be on fur."

"She'd fuckin' kill me with a steak knife if I walked into the house all furry," Young replied with a short laugh. "I guess, if I have to turn into anything I should go for somethin' scaly... I saw this, like- curvy," he gestured the shape of a woman's curves with his hands, "kinda sexy lookin' dragon woman on YouTube earlier. I'm not saying I find dragons attractive, you know me, but I'm not afraid to admit I jerked off in the bathroom to the thought of-- you know, bending that scaly girl over a pickup truck."

Abe smirked and shook his head a little. "Oh, yes," Abe began. "I know exactly where your mind can go. We shared plenty of time in Iraq behind the hescos and I still have trouble sleeping after some of the stories your ass shared." The black tiger with white stripes humorously gestured a hand paw to his groin. "You should see this thing," he said.

"Um... How about, no?" replied Young, cringing a little at the unwanted mental image of tiger manhood.

"Its got these- barbs- on it now."

Young grimaced and sat up saying, "Ah! Too much, man. I didn't need to know that."

"I guess they're to stimulate ovulation-"

"Dude!"

"-In a female when retracted-"

"Fucker! Stop!"

"-In order to insure proper sperm egg contact..."

Young buried his face in his hands and grumbled sarcastically, "this assignment's gonna go by so fast... Full of-- cat penile conversations..."

"Hey, you started it fantasizing about banging dragon chicks," the tiger man chuckled. "On a sincere note, you should finish reading the information you were given. We are being assigned to a woman you should learn more about."

"Samorn?"

"So you read that part, at least."

"Yea... Hard to believe a dog can go from a- well- dog, to someone authorized to operate with tier-one's like us."

"Crazy, I know, but they have encountered similar instances of infected animals gaining knowledge and skills through direct contact with their attackers. This dog woman specifically has shown considerable abilities. We should not take the government's interest in her lightly."

"Mhm, but I want to see it proven. See her in action... And her test scores whenever they're available."

"We'll meet her tomorrow and will travel with her to Edwards when we go there for briefing. By then they should have her assessment completed."

"Yep..."

"... Read that packet, sir."

"Sure... By the way, I'm the one that gives -you- orders, remember?"

"When you read the damn packet I'll follow them, until then, I'm ordering us a pizza." Abdullahi pulled out his phone and opened a pizza app while, unbeknown to him, Young was preparing to take a photo with his.

"Smile, fucker!" said the colonel, holding up his smart phone.

Instead of a smiling beast, Young took a photo of a glowering tiger man that stared down his muzzle with no amusement to his face.

"Why the hell do you need a photo?" Abe asked as he continued using his phone.

"Cuz Mia doesn't believe me," replied Young with a childish grin as he too tapped away at his phone. "I just sent her a text that you had turned into a tiger and she said to prove it, so I'm proving it."

"Why do you feel it's necessary to show her now? I haven't told my old lady yet... You want pepperoni or sausage? Remember, I don't eat pork very much."

"She'll take it good. Besides, I'm pretty sure Alyssa'll get a kick out of the fact that Uncle Abe's a big fluffy cat now... Pepperoni."

"Pussy!"

"Fine, sausage then, asshole."

"I'll order one with both, ya big baby... Piss God off again."

"...Have you told your daughter?"

"Fuck no... I've told no one."

"They'll find out eventually, man. Mia'll probably tell your wife tomorrow when they go out together."

"Your woman has no filter over her mouth so, probably... Fuck me running! ..."

Young snickered and let a wide grin spread across his cheeks, relieved that his friend was still occupying the brain of the beast before him.

...

Meanwhile, at the Smith Haven Mall...

Aston slept silently on the cold linoleum floor next to the wall of an un-looted houseware store. The shop was on the second story near the main junction walkway that overlooked the mall's round food court and tropical plant decorated atrium.

The three National Guardsman turned some four hundred pound timber wolf bitches lay mere inches away from him like the dogs they've become, sleeping just as silently save for the occasional deep breath. Two of the wolves slept at Aston's sides with the third filling the gap at his feet.

No one else was in that section of the mall. Most of the sanctuary's occupants preferred the company of the ground floor below. Max, a couple of marines and the newly rescued National Guardsman slept in one of the hallways leading to the powerless elevators on the second floor, and the rest of the squad gave themselves similar sleeping arrangements. The two otter girls, however, joined the main group of the mall's denizens on the first floor and slept comfortably in a bed and bath store amongst a variety of furry, feathery, and scaly creatures.

Only a few of the big wolverine men patrolled the mall's corridors at that time, letting the other guards sleep before their daytime shift came around. They checked on all barricaded doors and windows and made sure that everyone calling the shopping complex home were doing okay.

Aston suddenly woke with a powerful violent shudder in his upper torso as if something was assaulting him in a dream. He frantically grabbed at his chest, gasping for air as he lifted his head off a pillow he scavenged from one of the mall's department stores.

The wolf closest to him woke as well, noticing Aston's terrified expression. "There something wrong, sir?" she asked in a caring, feminine voice as she sat up and leaned her head over to him. Her rubber rimmed dog tags swayed slightly around her neck.

Aston took a couple deep breaths and lay his head back on the pillow. He placed a calloused hand on the wolf's neck and stroked it gently for a moment.

"No," Aston replied with a shaky whisper, relaxing as best he could. "Just a nightmare, I think..."

The beautiful wolf noted the tears in the man's eyes and moved herself over to nestle up to him. She nuzzled his cheek with her wet nose which coaxed him to return the affection as he would have done to Samorn back when she was still his faithful pet.

"I know it's hard, but try to sleep a couple more hours," the wolf softly insisted. "Who knows what tomorrow'll bring, ya know? ... We'll need your strength."

Aston closed his eyes, but opened them again and looked at the wolf with a sad yet inquiring look. "Are you ok?" he quietly asked. "This is the first time I've heard you speak since... Your... You know..."

"I'm sure I will be... You know very well there's worse things that could happen to a soldier out in this city..." She gave a little smile. "It's occurred to me that I'd much rather be this big wolf than a bled out corpse... Even if I can't hold a rifle anymore I can still put this body to good use. Protecting people and keeping watch, at least..."

Aston sighed softly and looked deeply into her intelligent eyes. "I just-- can't shake how sorry I feel for what happened to you boys," he said. "Just ain't fair... You were only here trying to help, and this is what you kids got... You're only what, eighteen-nineteen years old? -- You didn't deserve this..."

The wolf smiled wider and kissed his cheek gently before embracing him in her front, semi-dexterous paws. "Shh... Just close your eyes..." she crooned into his ear. "Right now, it's time for rest, and only that..."

Aston obeyed as if hypnotized by the wolf's soothing, almost motherly voice and drifted off, this time into a thankfully dreamless slumber.

...Good morning 1st Marines, stand by for sit-rep... We had roughly a hundred nonhuman entities attempt a movement of contact this morning at about 0650. Good news is their intentions were confirmed affable so we are currently moving a small task force in conjunction with a company of 40th Infantry and 3rd Engineers to establish a safe zone for them in the far eastern edge of the plains one quarter klick from the containment perimeter. It is advised that all 1st Marine ground elements plan on doing the same throughout the day as the activity will draw others to the area. With an increase in heavy and super heavy weights in that area we are working to muster AC-130 Specter gunships to help maintain security during the construction process but Washington in all its wisdom is saying it will take some time before the planes will be in a position to assist. All containment procedures remain in effect. R.O.E. has not changed, i.e. don't shoot to kill until you have to... A.O. is still too hot for low altitude flights. Direct contact with the infected should be limited to clothing on skin. Be advised we have reduced our MOPP level for this operation, but be ready for it to raise again at any given time...

Down below several hours later... P-Day Plus 3... The Smith Haven Mall Security Office...

The shapely anthro female wolf cooed softly as her beautiful eyelids parted to accept the dim light that trickled into the room. She lay on her back, looking up at the pale white ceiling of a square room she didn't recognize. A single office style ceiling light was directly above her, but was off given the lack of power everywhere in the city.

Taking a deep breath she rolled onto her side, gaping as she caught a glimpse of her new dainty paw hands. With a hint of fear in her chest, she silently observed the slender digits and the smaller paw pads for a short moment. Soon her eyes were drawn to her shortened claws that she figured wouldn't work very well as weapons anymore, unlike the powerful paws her former body possessed.

She held back a sob and sat up on the single person bed that lacked sheets but had a simple pillow and metal frame. The alien weight, and undeniable sight of her new breasts caused her to shudder in fear, but the feeling of her breath teasing the six nipples elicited a breathy moan from her new kissable lips.

With a soft moan she grit her canine teeth and tried in vain to ignore the powerful sensation of her new female folds beginning to moisten. She tried to cross her sexy long legs to hide her vulva from her delicate vision, but she gasped in sheer pleasure at the simple action, forcing her to splay her thighs to let her heating folds breathe.

"Oh, fuck!" she whimpered and lowered her head, letting her long Mohawk of a mane cover one side of her attractive female wolf face as she stared at her slightly aroused dog pussy. "It wasn't a dream. I'm-- a bitch, now!"

A man nearby cleared his throat and drew her attention. She looked at the bars of her holding cell to see a man on the other side. He had a rather average height and muscular build and was leaning up against the bars with a gloved hand, a slung military shotgun in the other. He wore well used blue jeans, a button down work shirt and a black cowboy style hat with a pinched front and slightly raised sides. His some thirty five year old face showed years of disciplined work ethic and sported a mustache and short chin beard.

Not far beside the man stood an anthro wolverine wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt and the blue uniform pants of a security guard complete with a gear cluttered belt. A hole was cut in the wolverine's pants for his short yet bushy tail to wag freely from. He stood with his furry arms folded and a stern yet tired look was spread across his mustelid face.

"Do you wanna die in here?" the human man asked with the strong accent of a woodsman. "Cause I could just leave your ass to starve in this shit hole. You know that? Nobody'd find you 'till this hell blew over. -- But, I'm not that kind of a monster."

"Maybe not..." the girly wolf panted, a hint of despair in her voice. "But your friend is!" she snapped. "Look what the bastard did to me!"

"Hey!" the man shouted and slammed his gloved hand into the bars. "I'm the one talking here! Know your place, bitch!" He calmed himself with a huff before continuing. "Now, the way I see it is, you got yourself two choices. One, I can let this burly motherfucker over here," the man gestured to the wolverine, "unlock this cage and set you free, as long as you promise to behave yourself with the others and do as you're told... Two, I can tie your cute little ass up in the middle of the adult shop and let every critter with a dick in this building take their turn with that new pussy of yours for the ride of a lifetime... So what'll it be, sweetheart? You gonna be a good girl?"

The wolf looked down at herself and sniffed back another sob. "I'll... I'll do whatever you ask," she said, looking sadly into the man's stern eyes. "Just... Please don't hurt me anymore than you already have." Tears formed in the wolf girl's eyes.

"Everything that happened to you, you deserved for what you did! Those young men were only trying to do their jobs, and you took everything from them to satisfy your sick-ass desire to be dominant. I hate to burst your self righteous bubble, but that kinda shit doesn't fly when men like me are around." The man backed away from the cell and gestured for the wolverine guard to unlock it.

Taking a ring of keys from his belt the powerful looking wolverine man stepped up and unlocked the barred cell door. He slid it open and a metallic clang echoed through the room

"I gotta go, Aston," the wolverine said in a deep, almost growl like voice then yawned, revealing wicked fangs. "See you around, brother." Clicks and heavy steps on the smooth linoleum floor were heard as the wolverine left to go take care of things with the other guards.

Aston waved for the wolf girl to exit the cell. As he expected, she hesitated but ultimately got on her sexy little digitigrade paws and walked toward him. The way her hips swayed, and the alien ladylike gracefulness of her every movement was enough to make her feel uneasy, but she swallowed the feelings and walked up to the stranger.

"Get dressed," Aston instructed, pointing to a pile of folded clothes on the bench beside him.

She paused, looking a bit shy. "Can I have some privacy?" she asked.

"When you earn it. For now, just make yourself presentable. The guards make the rules around here, and they want their little safe haven looking good for when the boys in uniform show up in a month."

Sighing sharply the wolf woman started slowly rifling through the assortment of garments, Aston watching her close. She shot him an angry glare before pulling out a pair of panties. Quickly she slipped them on and a curious look came to her face as she found them to fit perfectly. A little twinge of unwanted arousal once again hit her loins, but she shrugged it off.

"Huh," she uttered and pulled out a v-cut crop top and tight shorts and slipped them on as well. She shuddered a little at the feeling of the top's fabric sliding across her upper nipples, but she shook the sensations off, relieved a little that her damp vulva was now out of sight.

She turned to face Aston with a slightly cocked hip and his normally stern visage lit up. He was amused by how the clothes, originally intended to cover her generously, only seemed to enhance her sexy appearance. Much of her d-cup, white furred chest was left uncovered by the crop top and it didn't even begin to conceal her smallest pair of lower breasts. Aston thought it gave her a true bad-girl look and his mildly aroused mind imagined that a little makeup would make her perfect for any rock and roller out there, even himself if she weren't infectious. He never found any animal traits to be attractive before that point, but the wolf girl standing before him was starting to tweak his mind, ever so gradually. She was innocently cute to him, but had a primal side that called out to a hidden corner of his mind.

"I had another wolf girl out there pick those out for you," he mentioned. "I, uh, guess her mind was a little in the gutter at the time."

"Too revealing?" the alluring wolf woman asked, placing her hands on her slim waist.

Aston blushed a little at the feeling of a sudden stirring of his groin. A quick shift in his thoughts suppressed his easy to manage human libido, and he silently reassured himself that he would never give in to any temptations the city offered, no matter how appealing.

"No. Not at all," he said with a suppressed laugh. "It's a little less risque than some of the stuff you'll see out there... Anyway, you got a name? One that you remember, anyway?"

Her big wolf ears went back a little then perked up. "Kinda," she began. "It started with a J. Jack or John or... Jerome, or some shit... It's too foggy for me right now."

"Well, none of those names will work anymore. You have to accept the fact that you're a woman now and a new name is a good place to start, so." Aston looked her over for a second and rubbed his short beard. "How about... Jewel?"

"Really?" she asked, slouching a bit. "That's a little too girly, dude. Come on. Don't add insult to injury."

"Fine, you choose. If your slutty mind can come up with better."

She frowned at him, but soon after sighed as her doggy mind gave up the search. "Fuck it... Jewel's fine for now," she said and rolled her eyes, letting her tail wag a bit.

"Alright. Let's go introduce you to the crew. They've been dying to meet you since last night."

A look of nervousness overcame her and she shifted a little. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yea, why?" Aston asked, having already turned to leave the room. He stopped and looked back at her, noticing that she hadn't followed. "Come on."

"After what I did... I mean, If those soldiers-- i-if they wanted to they could rip me to pieces."

"You're right, they could... I may be good with dogs, but there's no way I'm holding back a three hundred fifty pound wolf... In all honesty, though, not one of us wants to hurt you. Professionals like us," Aston shook his head, "we don't have the luxury of hate... It'll behoove you to make as many friends as you can, especially with how vulnerable your new body is, and I'm sure those wolves'll forgive you in due time if they haven't already. In the mean time just-- don't wave your tail at my friend, Max. That big man may not have a hateful bone in his body, but he's more than willing for a round two with ya, if you catch my dick... Which reminds me; he said that you only get two strikes with him, and you've used one. If you screw up again, he's gonna take away your ability to stand on two legs, like what you did to those soldiers. Unlike them, you won't be a big wolf. Instead, you'll be literally nothing but a pack slut, a breeding hole for every dog to enjoy... So If I were you, I'd do everything but piss that dragon-dog off... Unless you find the idea of walking like a real dog sexy."

Jewel scowled at him and crossed her arms, shivering again as she accidentally brushed a nipple. She lowered her arms to her sides with a huff and followed Aston out into the main body of the security office where McCray and Sarge had set up somewhat of a commander's hooch. The night shift wolverines were sleeping on crude bedding at the other side of the office, snoring a little.

McCray, Sarge, and three of the stocky yet tall wolverine men were looking over a city map laid out on a desk. They discussed places to search for supplies and marked a few locations with markers. The human lieutenant, in spite of his toned physique, was overshadowed by the powerful mutants standing around him.

"Hey, guys," said Aston as he strode up to the table with the shy wolf girl at his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist and introduced her. "This is Jewel. She's promised to do whatever it takes to atone for her actions, so, I trust we can welcome her to the group?"

"Of coarse," McCray replied and straightened himself. He reached a hand out to shake Jewel's. "I'm First Lieutenant McCray."

Her hand looked small in the marine's, but her grip was strong as she shook it.

"I'm Sergeant Brown," said Sarge, reaching his talon tipped hand out to shake the same dainty paw.

"Nice to meet you both," she said bashfully, and held her paw hands behind her back. "I'll-- do my best to help out."

"I'm sure you will, little lady," said McCray, shooting her a little smile as he circled a location on the laminated map with a red marker.

Jewel sneered a little at him and slouched. "Gotta rub it in, do you?" she asked.

"Hell yea," McCray replied with a smile. "A little hazing never hurts, buttercup."

Aston was a little amused that none of the men in the room gave Jewel's six breasts even a glance. An act of professionalism even in times of chaos, he presumed.

He took Jewel's hand and led her out of the office, down the short hallway and into the main junction of the mall itself. She was absolutely astounded by the bustling activity inside the place, a mirror opposite of the dangerous city beyond its walls. Mutants of a variety of species and sizes, instead of chasing, killing, and raping people, were lounging or wandering around the corridors and shops under the safe supervision of the wolverine guards and patrolling armed forces members.

The mall wasn't crowded by a long shot and could still hold many more survivors. All but the main two entrances were heavily barricaded to keep unwelcome guests out, at least for the time.

As she and Aston stepped out into the food court next to the atrium Jewel saw that the main junction of the mall was filled with well over three dozen people, all but a couple of them fully mutated into some creature. There were anthro felines of several domestic and big cat species including a couple taurs. Anthro canines intermingled with them, their species ranging from wolves, foxes and coyotes to domestics including a cute little Samoyed man and a sexy Polish sheep dog woman. A few mustelids and various species from the same mammal family as raccoons were hanging out there as well, including the two herm otter girls that had chosen clothing to modify for their new bodies. A couple of powerful looking anthro equines stood out, one an exotic zebra mare taur and the other a beautiful anthro Friesian stallion that seemed to take great care to stay clean.

From the biggest to the smallest, the denizens of the mall did their best to have a decent time. They managed to put aside all petty matters considering their once beloved culture center had been reduced to something of a rudimentary survival garrison. Their survival depended on having a sanctuary to return to, and everyone did their part to maintain it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aston saw a some twenty foot long cobra woman with a voluptuous anthropomorphic upper torso slithering around the non-functioning fountain between the food court and the atrium. She was chatting with a couple of anthro rodents, one a burly rat man in a hooded sweatshirt, the other a squirrel herm in a tight casual dress.

The snake like female creature was a sharp red and white scaled thick bodied serpent from the waist down and her reptilian serpent muzzle was tipped with sexy black lips that didn't seem out of place, somehow. Her head was very streamline like a snake's with red upper scales and white lower. A cobra's hood stretched from behind her small pointy ears to just past her shoulder blades but did nothing to make her unzipped hooded sweatshirt uncomfortable. Her scaly arms had some muscle to them and her fingers were tipped with sharp black claws. She had asymmetrically cut black hair that accented her reptilian yet feminine eyes perfectly. The bra she wore was strained by her scaly, black nipple tipped breasts, and Aston caught himself staring. He was slightly curious as to why she bothered with such garments when most of the mall's mutants abandoned them.

The stunning snake woman suddenly motioned for the two rodents to stop and wait by the stagnant water filled fountain when her slit pupil eyes fixed on a male marine who had begun patrolling down one of the mall's first floor wings. She slithered up behind the man while Aston and Jewel watched from a short distance. Aston noted her gray sweatshirt which had an eagle, globe, and anchor emblem on the back with the phrase, 'Proud wife of a United States Marine,' underneath it.

"Michael?" the serpent's silvery voice asked.

The marine, who turned out to be Anders, stopped in his tracks, taking a subtle pause before slowly turning as his ears recognized the woman's voice. He unbuckled and removed his kevlar helmet as he gazed up at the powerful cobra woman before him, letting his M-16 hang loosely on his front. His jaw gaped slightly, his fearful yet acknowledging eyes locked onto hers.

"It's me, Mike... Your wife..." she said delicately, her eyes somewhat sorrowful yet genuine.

"What? ... Trinity?" Anders quietly said, some shakiness in his voice. "No."

Subtle tears began to form in the snake woman's eyes as Anders brushed the dark hair away from her muzzle with a gloved hand. "I'm so sorry," she said as she felt him place the hand on the side of her serpentine muzzle. "This must be terrifying for you to see me like this."

The marine sighed, giving his wife's new body a fleeting observation with some saddened shock to his expression. "No..." Anders began and shook his head, then looked up into Trinity's eyes, somehow recognizing them. "I'm the one that's sorry... I shouldn't have left," A deep regretfulness was in his tone. "I should have taken my leave when I could have and not left you and the kids... I'm a fucking bastard, I know... I let this happen to you..."

She blinked as a tear began to stream down her face. She said, "It's not your fault, baby."

Suddenly the snake lady embraced him, letting her lower serpentine body encircle around his legs. The marine, with a little hesitation, hugged her as well.

Aston leaned in and softly said in Jewel's ear, "quite the reunion, huh?"

"Sure," Jewel sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes in boredom. "Heartwarming."

"Where are the kids?" Anders asked after a few seconds.

Trinity gently broke off the hug but kept her clawed hands on Anders' shoulders. A look of shame and sadness overcame her and she glanced down, shaking her serpentine head. "I wish I knew, honey," she replied, a heartbreaking anguish to her sweet voice. "I was in the back yard mowing when this- infection- hit. I remember being knocked down by someone, or something, and by the time I ran back into the house-- they were gone... All that was left was their clothes in the kitchen... Like they-- tore out of them..."

"Oh, Jesus!" Anders whimpered and buried his face in his hand. He wept while Trinity tried to comfort him, her battle with her emotions becoming too much for her as well.

"This way," Aston said, gently tugging one of Jewel's elbows. "We don't need to watch this."

"Humph... I guess it's pretty bad out there, huh?" Jewel mocked with a slight laugh as she followed Aston toward the atrium.

Aston cocked an eyebrow at her. "You-- guess?" he asked. "Weren't you one of the monsters contributing to all this mess?"

"A mess, you call it? I don't see it that way. It may be bad for some, but come on. Other people are living in ecstasy... Maybe you and your friends should join the fun. It'll at least make your ass less of a prick."

"Wow... Really, bitch? You saw the devastation out there. Over four hundred fifty thousand people live in this city. They're already projecting that a quarter are dead, the vast majority turned into feral horrors like you used to be, with only a handful of mutants worth saving, and maybe, just maybe, a human or two left out there hiding from God knows what... It's our job now to save as many people as we can and keep them safe for when the military moves in..."

Jewel only glared at him in response, shaking her head briefly.

"What?" Aston asked.

"Nothing..."

"No... Tell me what's on your mind, princess."

"Don't call me-..." Jewel huffed in frustration. "Do you honestly believe the military has the slightest chance to retake this shit hole of a town?"

"Yea, as a matter of fact. I do."

"Really? You sure? Because I saw countless so called soldiers get ripped to shreds in just the first few hours of this outbreak, and a lot of 'em got dicks up the ass or crammed in their mouths. Then I watched them hopelessly turn into the very freaks they were trying to kill! ... And, yea, I helped make it all happen..." Jewel smiled lewdly. "Those soldiers you- saved- from me, were a tiny fraction of my handy work... Plenty of bitches out there that were once proud independent fighting men, now stuck with fresh pussies getting plowed and bred and filled with puppies... Hehe... They may have hated it at first, but I bet they love it now. Kneeling like whores in front of their alphas to beg-"

Aston paused, turned and grabbed her arm, forcefully this time. He looked her in the eye and said in a grave tone, "If we can't save what's left of this god forsaken city, you can rest assured that we'll sterilize it with extreme prejudice! There may be no nuclear option on the tables right now, but that may change, and all those wolf and husky packs your talkin' about, will be vaporized under a mushroom cloud... Now come the fuck on! Stop running those pretty lips of yours before they end up stretched around Max's dick." He let go of the trembling wolf girl's arm. "One more thing, I would strongly advise that you not ask anyone to- kneel- ever again, because most of the people you're about to meet, view that as a good firing position..."

Two marines, Clewley the wyvern, and the rescued National Guardsman were taking a break from their patrols to hang out on the tropical plant decorated atrium's benches and flower bed walls. They chatted with each other and with a curious anthro herm fruit bat with functional looking wings that still had two usable fingers and thumb, much like Clewley's wing talons. The bat was cute, short, and at the time was giggling at a joke.

The Guardsman, a young Asian man, was doing pretty well considering his unit was in complete disarray. He was given a spare M-16 and had repaired his tactical vest some, but was without a helmet and had ditched his tattered fatigue shirt in favor of his athletic T underneath. His eyes locked onto Jewel as she approached, a slight grudge was evident in his stare but he remained seated.

Aston walked up to the group to introduce the new wolf girl, and they greeted her with a bit of an expectant smile.

"This is Jewel, everyone," Aston began and gestured to the first marine, a tanned woman in her early twenties. "This is Corporal Luzzatto," his hand moved to the next, a cheerful man with a neatly cropped mustache, "Lance Corporal Newell," then onto the Guardsman, "and the man you almost turned into a wolf bitch, Specialist Nakajima. The handsome reptile beside him is Private Clewley."

Jewel gave a nervous wave. "Hello," was all she could muster, and shot Nakajima a short nod and smile as if to present an apology for her actions, not that it seemed to work.

Nakajima stood up from the metal bench he sat on and placed a hand on Clewley's thick draconic neck. "No hard feelings... I guess," he said, frowning slightly.

"That's good," replied Aston. "We're welcoming the young lady to the squad. She'll be helping out to pay what she owes."

"Good!" continued Nakajima in a strong tone, his eyes filled with a subtle anger. "She's got quite the debt to make up for!" his eyes shifted to hers. "Don't ya?"

Aston raised a hand to gesture him to calm down. "She knows what'll happen if she fucks up again," he said. "I'm sure she won't."

After encouraging an awkward handshake between Jewel and the group including the juvenile wyvern, Aston placed a hand on the wolf girl's shoulder and ushered her away.

Not far from the atrium was an aid station set up inside a cleared out clothing store down one of the first floor wings. Several mattresses and crude beds made of scavenged bedding material were placed along the walls and a few folding tables were set up with most of Doc's equipment on them.

At that moment, Doc was taking inventory of all the medical supplies he had left, making notes on a small notepad while counting out individual items. He had stripped down to just his fatigues with the sleeves rolled up, and had placed his load bearing gear, M-4 rifle, helmet and vest on the store's counter so he could work unencumbered.

A female anthro hyena was with him, dressed in lower army fatigues rolled up to the knees on her digitigrade legs. She also wore an army issue athletic t-shit, and had a stethoscope and dog tags around her neck. Unlike most of the hyenas Aston had encountered before, she was slightly more feminine with the fur pattern, hackles, and somewhat narrower muzzle of a striped hyena. She also lacked a bulge in her fatigue pants, hinting at her pure gender.

Lying on one of the aid station's mattresses was an unconscious anthro snow leopard male with the signature fluffy tail at his side that was as long as he was tall. The leopard was being given fluids through an I.V. drip inserted in an arm. On one of the makeshift beds was what appeared to be some sort of deer or elk person with a bandage wrapped leg and belly. He or she was conscious and watching the activity around with a slightly pained expression.

A third patient, a dark and light blue anthro dolphin herm, was sitting on the floor near Doc, holding a piece of gauze to a small wound on the side of her cetacean head. She had a short dolphin's snout, a dark blue dorsal fin, and a long thick tail that ended in the signature fluke. Her arousal was obviously getting to her. Clear fluids dripped from her genital slit onto the towel she sat on. The twelve inch pale pink tapered cock that jutted from the very top of the slit almost touched her small breasts as it's prehensile length writhed slowly.

The hyena woman was preparing a damp cloth to place on the leopard man's forehead as Aston and Jewel arrived. Aston knocked on the door frame as he stepped through the wide entrance.

"How's it goin'?" he asked.

"Uh, heh... Not the worst case scenario, but I'm stretched a little thin, man," replied Doc as he finished with his inventory count.

"Jewel, this is Doc," began Aston, gesturing to the corpsman. "Doc, this is Jewel."

"Jewel, huh?" asked Doc who gave the wolf girl a quick look.

The busy corpsman knelt down in between the trembling dolphin herm's somewhat human like feet, careful not to kneel on her tail. He reached over and retrieved the bloody bandage from her and tossed it into a waste basket crudely marked 'Biohazard Only' in black marker. He then took her human like webbed hand in his and leaned in to whisper something. The dolphin took a few deep breaths and seemed to relax some after hearing whatever it was Doc told her, but her libido remained strong, clearly tormenting her. Doc quickly taped a small bandage over her wound and softly told her, "you'll get through this, okay? Just keep it together. I'll give you something in a minute to help you. Just keep breathing in deep-- slow that heart rate for me."

Doc stood up and walked over to the dehydrated leopard man, crouched, and gently lifted one of the snow leopard's hand paws, placing two fingers firmly on the wrist. Doc glanced at his watch for a few seconds then let the paw back down and nodded to the hyena medic.

"McCray say's she can join the group so long as she helps out," Aston went on.

"Oh, yea? Well, we definitely need it..." was all Doc could say in response as if the overall shock of recent events had yet to wear off. He seemed more than able to do his job, but his emotions were in obvious disarray.

"All right. We'll leave you to it," said Aston and walked out with Jewel behind him.

He led her to the edge of the atrium where one of the two big staircases and nonfunctioning escalators were located that led up to the mall's second story.

"It may seem like it, but Nakajima doesn't hate you," said Aston with a glance as they began to climb the stairs.

"Like hell he doesn't," Jewel replied. "You can see it in his eyes."

"Just give him time."

"Who was that other guy?"

"What guy?"

"With the freaky snake lady."

"Oh... He's Corporal Anders. He and I don't get along."

"I see... Long story?"

"Well... I killed a panther-taur-thing... Um... It's blood got on one of his friends. We were under the false assumption that she would turn feral, so we abandoned her. She begged for us to stay, but... Air strike came to wipe out the mutants in the town and of coarse the helicopter gunners wouldn't know what not to shoot at and they killed her too... I fucked up, but I learned my lesson."

"Which was?"

"... Trigger discipline..."

They reached the less occupied second floor and moved on to an access door leading to the back maintenance and utility halls where a staircase led up to the roof. Upon reaching the propped open roof access door the two were greeted by a clear sky and fresh air, laced slightly with several scents including the smell of gasoline from a destroyed gas station a block away.

Scattered here and there were small groups of various critters, mostly winged mutants. They ranged from a couple anthro dragons, humanoid birds; some predatory like hawks or falcons, some not, i.e. crows/ravens to songbirds to more exotic types, anthro bats similar to the one they had seen earlier, and more than a few of the commonly encountered anthro gryphons; most hermaphroditic while two were single sexed.

Patrolling low and carefully along the parapet walled edge of the massive roof were the other three marines and two eagle soldiers. They all stayed relatively low behind the wall and took several pauses to look down their weapon scopes at any activity in the parking lots or nearby streets while periodically checking the sky for airborne threats and communicating with each other through their radios. Not a shot had been fired so far that day, but the troops were taking no chances.

Joining them were several wolverine guards armed with civilian oriented rifles and shotguns scavenged from the mall's sporting goods stores along with their tasers and pepper spray. They too scanned the area below with binoculars and weapon scopes and helped to keep an eye on the sky while keeping their stocky profile hidden behind the parapet wall.

Max knelt at the center junction of the pebble covered roof near the walled edge and looked off toward the smoking city skyline just beyond the commercial district through a pair of scavenged binoculars. His body had somehow changed again overnight, having gained a powerful pair of dark furred bat like dragon wings that sprouted just behind his shoulder blades.

"Oh, shit! Is that him?" Jewel asked with some fear in her eyes, pointing at the furry dragon-dog with German shepherd pattern fur a short distance away.

"Chill out!" Aston replied, waving for her to follow him.

"Am I going insane, or did he grow wings?"

"Can't comment on the insane bit, but yea, he went from dino-dog to dragon-dog last night... Don't know how, but it's interesting."

Aston led her in a large circle around the roof of the mall to introduce her to the marines and remaining airborne soldiers one by one. The marines consisted of two men and one woman. The first was a late teens black man by the name of Lance Corporal Speller, the second a man in his early twenties named Private First Class Talbot, and the woman, Corporal Nadolski.

The two eagle soldiers; one Corporal Alekseev, the other Corporal Mitchell, were just as indifferent to Jewel's presence as the marines, but Aston encouraged a handshake nonetheless.

After introducing the last soldier, Aston turned to Jewel with a smirk. "Alright, little lady," he began. "You've met everyone worth meeting. I suggest you head back to the security office and speak with the skipper. He'll give you something to do for the day."

Jewel gave a nervous smile and trekked back to the roof access door.

As she left Aston took a glance at the creatures occupying the roof as his curiosity got the better of him. Not noticing anything he hadn't seen yet in the city he decided to join his friend.

Max shot him a quick glance as he arrived. "How's it going with the new girl?" Max asked, scanning the skyline once more.

"She'll earn her place," Aston replied as he knelt beside the dragon-dog.

"That's good to hear."

"How's the city looking?"

"Shit, man... Terrifying as expected. Saw some huge dragons and who knows what else flying around the skyscrapers an hour ago... Let's hope they don't come this way."

"Hah... No shit. I mean," he glanced back at the male and female anthro dragon couple lounging on the concrete frame of one of the many skylights. The male was a dark green in scale color, changing to a yellowish belly and chest. The female was a light gray, shifting to pitch black at her front that accented her pink nipples, and light blue stripes ran from the tip of her sleek muzzle to the tip of her tail. She smiled at Aston for a moment and he returned with a friendly nod before continuing. "We have a couple fire breathers, but they're tiny in comparison. It'd be like a little kid in Iraq throwing rocks at a tank..."

Max glanced back at the pair as well, watching as the two mythical reptiles strolled over to intermingle with some of the other winged mutants.

Suddenly one of the tall blue and white furred gryphons strode up and came to a stop a few feet from Aston. The herm crossed her arms below her amble breasts and let out a sigh. Standing, Aston saw that this particular anthro cat bird was wearing a pair of cut off army fatigue pants and had dog tags around her neck. The only thing physically that separated her from the rest was a set of claw slash like scars that ran from just past her dark yellow predatory beak, around her hybrid eye and then down her neck a couple inches.

"Howdy?" Aston uttered as he walked up to her, slightly entranced by the fact that this was the closest encounter he had yet to have with one of those striking beings.

"Hi," the blue gryphon kindly replied, shooting Aston a little smile on the corners of her beak before she continued to gaze at the pillars of smoke that rose from the epidemic stricken metropolis.

"Are-- you military?" Aston Asked.

"California National Guard. 40th I.D."

"184th, out of Modesto by chance?"

The herm gryphon's feline ears perked up and she looked at Aston with a glimmer of hope to her face. "Yea, actually. Charlie Company, why?"

Aston nodded. "We have a few Guardsmen out of your unit down stairs, and that Sikh soldier from the recruiting station's from there too if I'm not mistaken... Do you know of any others?"

"I'm afraid not..."

"... Sorry."

"Shit happens," she shot him another small grin and flicked her ears. Her tail and wings fluttered some, and Aston could tell she had yet to get used to the sensations of her new appendages. "My company just got back from Afghanistan, too," the gryphoness went on. "Over there, we got pinned down by R.P.G.s, DShK's, you name it... We made it out with one- fucking- casualty, and he lived... Pretty satisfactory tour if I may say so... Two hours after we were sent into Fairhaven to set up an evac point, I lead my company of ninety five men and women into a goddamn ambush... We got swarmed, I got separated and then... Long story short I was a- complete- dude before one of those gryphon chicks got the better of me."

"That-- must have been nightmarish," Aston said with a nervous snicker. "I've seen the dicks on some of those girls... Ugh!"

"The weirdest part is, the one that infected me," the gryphon herm briefly pointed at one of the others who in turn winked lewdly at her, "is that one right there." She turned back to face the city. "I almost shot her after she ass diddled me, but-- her apology was- um- quite sincere."

"And by apology?"

"I mean a trial run of my... New- female body parts..."

"You know you can say pussy around us right? Your mother's not here to slap ya."

"I'm a captain. I'm supposed to watch my mouth around civilians... Er, watch my beak, now. I guess." She let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Captain?" Aston asked. "...Holy shit. You out rank everyone here."

"I'm in," the gryphon shook her head a little, "absolutely no condition to lead anybody."

"That's not true. Have you spoken with-?" Aston stopped talking suddenly when he felt as if something was gingerly sliding down his pant leg. Looking down he saw that the gryphon's strong lion like tail had snaked its way around his knee and calf. After giving the tail an awkward stare Aston looked up at the gryphoness. He cleared his throat, but the gryphon ignored him. "Excuse me, Captain?" he asked.

"Yes?" she replied, glancing into his eyes for a second.

"Um... Your, uh... Tail... Ma'am,-sir-or-whatever..."

Another glance revealed what that unruly tail was doing and, embarrassment stricken, the gryphon herm released it from Aston's leg. She held tightly onto the end near the fluffy blue tuft with a talon like hand.

"Shit, I'm sorry. It- kinda does that," the gryphon said with a deep blush, rubbing her face with her other eagle talon like hand.

"Relax. It's all right," Aston replied.

Max let out a growling chuckle at the antics beside him.

"Anyway," the gryphon went on as she released her tail, "have I spoken with who?"

"Lieutenant McCray."

"Oh, not yet. I want to..."

"He's a little busy right now, but later tonight you should see if he can help put you back to work. I know your body's a little- out of it, now, but with your training and status as an officer you'll be of a lot of help. We need... Um... We need as many people like you as we can get. I mean, we have some pretty scary looking beasts here that can put up a fight should they have to, but they'll need leaders."

"Roger that..." the gryphon replied and reached a talon hand out to shake Aston's. "Captain Junger, my man."

"Aston," Aston replied, shaking the gryphon soldier's hand. "Thank you for your service, sir. I know it's hell- out there right now, but if I know anything about you boys... I feel it in my gut- that there has to be pockets of your men out there that we can still bring home."

The gryphoness gave a somewhat saddened but agreeable nod and peered at the horizon behind her. With a brief pat on her shoulder, Aston began walking away but was approached suddenly by Max.

"Hey, Aston," began the dragon-dog. "Can I have a word in private?"

"Yea, no problem," Aston replied and the pair walked to an isolated area of the roof behind a large air conditioning unit. "What's up, buddy?"

Max sat against the metal side of the air conditioner and took a calming breath. "I don't know exactly what's happening to me," he replied, "I know I'm somehow able to-- I don't want to say control my infection, but as you've seen I can at least modify it to an extent. Especially what it does to those I pass it on to."

"Like what you did to Jewel, your wolf girl."

Max nodded. "And with myself," he replied and flexed his wings.

"Yea, I saw those this morning. Can you fly with 'em?"

"Maybe. I tried hovering and it worked a little bit... Anyway, I feel that my strain should be analyzed by the military. Maybe they can create something of an antibody or something like that with it."

"That's not a bad idea... How do you plan on presenting a testable sample?"

"...Well, I could, um, deposit- some of myself in a willing participant..."

Aston's brow furrowed slightly. "Whoa, where are you goin' with this?" he asked.

"Like I said, I can control the potency of my strain along with what changes it causes, if any. I know I can dull its effects to a minimum allowing a willing carrier to be safely transferred over to the government without any harm done."

"Are you positive it'll work?"

"Yea... I'm absolutely positive..."

Aston fidgeted a little and glanced around.

"You ok?" Max asked.

"Yea," Aston replied. "I was just thinkin', if you're lookin' to test your abilities, those National Guardsman we have down there... The wolves... Do you think your infection could get them on two feet again?"

Max sighed. "Yea," he began. "It's impossible to change them back into humans, but I can at least give them back a bit of their dexterity... But I'm not stickin' my dingus in a soldier, man. I couldn't live with myself. Bitch or not-- ain't happening."

"I figured you wouldn't wanna do that. -- Any ideas? I mean, we can't let them live like that for much longer. Their condition's an offence, if you ask me."

"Yea. I hear ya... I tell you what, I'll search out a willing canine morph and temporarily infect him so he can pass the right modification of my strain onto the wolves... I'll work with Doc to make it happen so there's no funny business."

"Sounds like a plan, bro."

"... Speaking of passing things on, there is a little something I'd like to do for you, my friend. Something I think you deserve."

"Say, what now?" Aston asked and glared at him.

"Only if you're willing, buddy," Max continued. "I want you to meet up with an awesome new acquaintance of mine. I met her earlier this morning and she and I made a few tweaks to what her infection will do to a human. If you're willing to have an intimate moment with her, she'll be able to pass a little gift from me onto you."

Aston straightened up some and gave Max a confused and slightly fearful stare. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked nervously. "I'm not fuckin' some- creature, pal, if that's what your asking. You should know I intend to stay human for as long as I can!"

"And you will, Aston... You'll find out what I'm talking about when you meet her. She's a beautiful hyena morph, and more importantly, she's a psychiatrist, a medical doctor working for the V.A. so you can trust her... It doesn't have to be done sexually if you don't want. A simple drop of her fluids on your tongue should suffice... Don't look so worried. It's simply a gift from me to you."

Aston shook his head. "Whatever, dude. You're creepin' me out, suddenly." He appeared as if he were about to leave.

Max placed a big hand paw on Aston's shoulder to stop him. "You're my friend, Aston," he said. "All I want is for you to survive this whole ordeal. I have no intention of depriving you of anything, especially your humanity."

Aston sighed. "I do trust you, Max, I really do," he began, "but whatever your little experiment is... That's what I don't trust."

"I understand... If you feel it's simply too much of a risk, you know you don't have to partake in it."

Aston did trust Max with every fiber of his being. He could easily tell a good man form a bad one and Max was definitely on the good side of things. But the thought of infection, even a beneficial one, terrified him. What if something went wrong? He thought. What if the exact opposite happened and the pathogens worked against him instead of for him?

Aston rubbed his eyes and said, "... Fine. I'll have a talk to this hyena lady. If it sounds legitimate, I'll-- be your first test subject."

"That's my man," replied Max with a brotherly smile. "If she's as trustworthy as she seems, and trust me, she is, she'll come looking for you soon. I told her to wait for me to be there before she initiates the process... I won't lie, it might hurt."

Aston took a deep breath. "Well..." he laughed nervously. "No pain, no gain, right?"

"That old saying holds true sometimes... Anyway, I'll pull guard duty for a bit longer than I'll come join you."

"Okay, man... I'll see you then, I guess."

"See ya."

Aston wasn't sure if he was losing his mind as he agreed to the bizarre terms of the future arrangement with the hyena woman who may not even exist for all he knew. Nevertheless, he fist bumped Max and made his way back down to the bustling center of the mall after doing a double check of the clear sky above.

Sitting at a food court table Doc and Sarge ate a small meal together, Doc looking a bit weary but nodded to Aston as he arrived. McCray was there as well and was picking up a wired hand piece attached to a mobile pack radio on the table beside him. A longer antenna was attached to it as well.

"F.O.B. Delta-Main, this is Kilo Two-Six. Radio check, over," McCray said into the small hand piece while holding down a button on it. "Delta-Main, this is Kilo Two-Six, how do you copy? --"

"Two-Six this is Lieutenant Colonel Chaves, I have you Lemma Charlie, Lieutenant," an aged man's voice chimed from the hand piece. "Go ahead."

"Sir, we have an update on numbers here at O.P. Smith Haven. Figures are," McCray was handed a notepad by one of the wolverine security guards, "we have one hundred and forty one civilians at this time. None are in need of medevac, however Doc Espinoza informs me that he is in dire need of a full resupply and then some. He's also requested a full veterinary surgical kit and supplemental drugs specifically for libido suppression. Um... Our food ration and fresh water supply is projected to run out in three days. We will work to requisition what we can from the surrounding areas, but we should work with logistics to secure daily drop offs at the beach plaza. We're not quite black on ammo, but I would like to request a full refit as well, and based on some of the shit I've seen out there, some heavy weapons wouldn't hurt... Break."

"Affirmative, Two-Six. Those SEALs are still saying that the plaza is secure enough for both medevac and supply drops. Be advised that they have updated their numbers to nine."

"Nine civilians, sir?"

"Uh, negative, SEALs. They found the rest of their boys. Three are infected including their squad leader, but other than that, they're still operational and at this time are supervising around thirty to forty survivors."

"Wow! Roger... Uh, do you have an update on our timeline?"

"Negative, Lieutenant... We'll provide what support we can, but in the meantime you keep doing what your doing. Keep those civilians safe and try to save as many more as you can."

"We'll make it happen, sir. This is First Lieutenant McCray, out." With a deep breath McCray placed the handset back on the table and slumped hard into the chair behind him, relaxing deeply. He rubbed his short brown hair for a second and sighed.

"Anything you need me to do for you, sir?" Aston asked him.

McCray looked up at him with an amused stare. "You know you don't have to call me, sir, right?" said the lieutenant. "You're not mine for me to give orders to."

"So what?"

"Just... Fuck, I don't know... Oh, uh, you could go check on your wolves. I haven't seen them in a couple hours."

"All right..."

Aston strode off and briskly checked both wings of the ground floor and made sure not to miss any of the stores or shops that were lit by salvaged electric lanterns and candles. He asked a few mutants if they had seen the wolves, but none in either wing had.

"Where the fuck are you three?" Aston mumbled to himself as he headed for one of the staircases on opposite sides of the area separating the Atrium from the food court.

As he began climbing a staircase a large mutant began marching down the same wide stairs as he was, not that he noticed since he was in the process of wiping a little sweat from his forehead. Pressing on up to the top half of the stairs without paying any attention to what was ahead of him, Aston stopped dead in his tracks when he accidentally stuck his face between the white furred e-cup breasts of a canine creature that was obviously much taller than himself. Thankfully, the dog morph didn't mind Aston's lack of attentiveness.

It was a beautiful malamute taur, a powerful female one at that. She had a large malamute's body from the waist down and was very powerfully build, standing on four powerful paws equipped with dangerous looking claws. Her humanoid upper torso was muscular but quite womanly to an extent and sported four rows of white furred breasts, the largest being her e-cups, the second somewhat smaller and so on. Her furry arms were well muscled and her hand paws sported the same black claws as her malamute body's four paws. Her head and face, and of coarse her perky ears were that of a big female malamute. The many black, gray, and white shades of her body's fur blended there to give her an appealing, lovable visage from any angle.

After an awkward moment of having his face buried in the fluffy taur's chest, Aston placed his hands on her dog body's shoulder and backed away and inch. Looking up he was greeted by possibly the most beautiful canine face sporting a cute smile he had ever seen. He could only gape slightly as the female beast took a step back. The sound of her claws clicking on the tile stairs was hypnotizing, and he found himself unable to look away from her gorgeous fur patterns and penetratingly devious countenance.

A joyous smile spread across the malamute taur's face. "Hi there, sugar," she happily greeted, looking down at the transfixed man on the landing below her. She strutted around him, enjoying the fact that he couldn't stop his eyes from taking in every detail of her soft, lovely furred body. "Or should I say, howdy?" she playfully asked, pretending to tip a hat in reference to Aston's.

"... Yea, howdy," Aston nervously replied, returning the tip with his now crooked hat.

"Care to touch, stranger?" she asked, her bushy husky like tail beginning to subtly fan her feminine scent around her. "You know you can't resist... It's a free country, after all. Take those gloves off, and have yourself a feel." One of her hand paws reached back to stroke the fur on her lower dog body's flank teasingly as she came to a stop mere inches from him. Her flank rubbed intimately against him, and the motion pushed Aston's curiosity to the brink. "I won't tell those soldiers down there if you want to do a little more than- pet- me, you sexy country boy."

Aston couldn't resist breathing in her aroma. It was thick with the scent of heat, lust, and most of all, an infectious desire. Her fang bearing smile grew wider as the malamute taur realized the effect her scent was having on him. She leaned her upper body down, her wet nose an inch from Aston's ear.

"I've been eying you since you got here, sweetie, and I can smell all your pent up ills... I want you to know that my friends and I have your cure! My tongue has become quite adept at pleasuring both sexes," the taur lasciviously said and licked her lips. "You should ask the girly bitch I had the pleasure of meeting upstairs... It was so cute! She tried to resist me. Saying something about that she'd only been a girl for a little while, and that she wasn't ready yet..." She placed her powerful hand paws on Aston's shoulders and massaged gently. "But I know just where to lick," she said softly, with a hint of lewdness. "After all, a girl knows a girl's body best... I left her squirming on the floor, and I'm sure she'll be asking me for another go, soon."

Aston reached a hand up, cupping it under her lower jaw then suddenly gripped tightly, eliciting a gasp and expression of surprise from the malamute's once grinning demeanor. She almost wanted to pull away, but allowed the man to pull her big furry head closer a bit. Aston turned and leaned in close, his now glove free hand stroked down her enticingly furry humanoid back. He then slid his palm and spread fingers all the way the base of her long curved tail where he rubbed and kneaded. She wagged it in turn, letting loose a pleasured growl.

"Perhaps we should take this somewhere more appropriate?" Aston suggested.

Suddenly the two allowed their lips to finally meet as her arousing scent overtook any remaining shred of Aston's resistance. In spite of her muzzle, Aston enjoyed the feeling of the malamute taur's exotic and fiery kiss. He closed his eyes and let his hands caress her neck and doggy head playfully, loving the feel of her soft fur on his calloused hands. Her extra long doggy tongue caressed his in the most peculiar of ways, and the feeling of his own touching her deadly sized fangs was a sensation to be rivaled.

Aston broke the kiss suddenly as an alarm went off in his mind. He looked into her eyes and whispered, "I really shouldn't be doing this. I'm... I'm busy..."

She smiled affectionately and tightened her grip on his shoulders. "Don't worry, big boy," she began. "You're not gonna turn into a dog, unless we go too far. Not that you wouldn't make a fine specimen of a bitch-I mean... Just let me- service you. It'll lighten you up. You seem way too tense for being in this little sanctuary of ours. If my friends are not mistaken you have the same responsibility as those soldiers. Right? You can't do your job if all this stress takes you over."

Aston sighed, and realized quickly that she was right. Every muscle in his body still ached from having trekked as far as he did the day before, not to mention being thrown from a helicopter.

"Yea... Okay," Aston said with a reluctant nod. "But that's it. I can't risk being exposed to any infection. Not yet, anyway." He thought back to Max's offer, and the gift of increased resistance he was supposed to receive, but another whiff of the bitch's canine scent cleared his mind like a windshield wiper to rain.

"I understand," the malamute replied with a smile. "This way, sugar."

The taur bitch turned tail and began sashaying her way to the once popular movie theater at the end of a corridor with Aston at her side. It was a heavily barricaded and closed off area of the mall where many of its occupants spent their private time.

The glass door entrance to the theater was destroyed by ravaging mutants during the first day of the mysterious outbreak, but the broken glass and other debris had since been cleared away. The carpets were sex fluid stained, but some of it had been washed by the mall's denizens as best they could.

Aston followed her inside and into one of the theater's many auditoriums. She picked up an electric lantern on the way in and used it to make sure nothing was amiss then began moving busted seats to barricade the door.

"Wait," said Aston, a slight fear to his voice. "Why is that necessary."

"You'll see," the beautiful malamute replied, her beautiful frame illuminated only by the lantern. She looked back at him with a toothy, ominous grin. "I don't want my new bitch to think she can get away!"

Aston snickered in disbelief. "You realize I still have my shotgun, right?" he placed both hands on the sleek piece of hardware slung at his side and held it leisurely, but ready to swing it up at less than a moment's notice.

"I'm fucking joking, cowboy," said the malamute taur as she turned to face him. "It's just so we can have this place to ourselves for a minute. There'll be others lookin' to use this theater for sex... Now come on. Drop those jeans and let this lady's tongue take care of you. Lose the shirt too. This may get messy..."

With a slightly frustrated breath, Aston let his shotgun hang on its sling. His arousal began to pick up again, and he reached for his belt to undo the brass buckle. After that he undid his pants and inched them down, his eyes locked on the malamute who began to lick her lips with anticipation.

"Take a seat," she suggested.

Aston glanced behind him and saw that one of the theater seats was still connected to the gradient floor nearby and walked up to it. He turned around to find the dog taur only a couple feet away, her eyes locked on his groin.

With a nervous sigh he dropped his jeans and slid his boxers down with them, revealing his hardening manhood. He wasn't very big, about five and a half inches fully erect, but the taur licked her lips as though satisfied with what she saw.

"Not bad for a human," she joked, placing her hand paws on his hips, gripping tightly and making him twitch a little as her sharp claws touched his ass cheeks. He took no time at all to unbutton and remove his shirt, placing it and his shotgun on the hand rail beside him.

"Alrighty, sweetie," the horny canine continued. "Relax, and let this big girl take away all your stress."

Aston's arousal gave him no chance to back out and he quickly sat on the cushioned chair behind him, splaying his thighs to give the girl's muzzle room to work. She lowered her dog body and sat like a dog before him with her tail wagging happily. Her upper body leaned in, her breath making Aston gasp in anticipation.

"Is this your first blow job?" the dog taur woman suddenly asked.

"Uh, maybe," Aston hastily replied, panting as her continuous hot breaths made his arousal grow even more. "Oh, boy, this is something... Yea, I've never... Oh, shit..."

Going slow at first, the taur closed her eyes and gently licked the glans of his shaft, gathering what little pre that had begun to emerge from the tip. She then rubbed her soft black lips down the underside of his length, then swirled her tongue around its base and around the testis for a few seconds.

Aston could only breathe heavily, trying not to allow his pleasure to become audible. Seeing his feeble attempt to suppress his moans, the malamute gave the underside of his cock a little nip.

"Gah!" Aston yelped with a little jerk. "Why?"

With a suppressed laugh the taur slowly parted her jaws and, starting at the tip, slipped the human's throbbing, pre dripping length into her muzzle. Aston trembled slightly at the feeling of her mouth ridges and teeth gently caressing his manhood.

The familiar scent of her feminine arousal became apparent once again, this time much stronger. His nose welcomed the sweetness of her aroma, obviously emanating from her canine vulva that had begun to leak her clear fluids onto the carpet below.

"Oh, fuck... You smell amazing!" Aston quietly declared as time seemed to stand still. He placed a hand under the malamute taur's muzzle and stroked the top of her head with the other for a second as the sensation of having his manhood embraced by something so unbelievably exotic was draining his mind of all thoughts other than those about this gorgeous dog lady before him. She pulled her muzzle back to the tip, letting her black lips suck his length before taking it into her delightful doggy maw again.

He began to tease the servicing dog taur's ears while she slid her amazingly dexterous tongue up and down his cock. Aston savored the texture of it on his member, a pleasured look overtaking his once nervous visage.

Suddenly, Aston felt as if the two were not alone and looked up just in time to see another powerfully built female towering over him just behind the chair.

"I'm glad you agreed to come join us, stranger," said the anthro lioness that looked upon the pleasure inebriated man with a feral grin of pure lust on her feminine lion muzzle.

With a happy growl the feline bombshell stepped a digitigrade leg over the theater chair and positioned her damp feline pussy over Aston's chest. He looked up at the stunningly beautiful lion woman and felt himself unable to take his eyes off of hers.

"I-thought-we were- alone..." Aston managed to utter over his steady panting.

"Not at all," replied the lioness as she raised a powerful looking hand paw and placed a big razor sharp retractile claw under his chin. "I was just waiting for you to become more comfortable, so I can make you all the more!" A lustful purr like growl emanated from her chest as she leaned down and positioned a breast inches from his lips. "You look like you could use a drink, you hard working man. After all, you did a hell of a job helping us lock this place down." She glanced at her tan furred breasts. "Don't worry, all my milk will do is nourish you. Have as much of it as you please. I know we'll need your strength if we're to survive this catastrophe..."

The lioness' words were hypnotizing but sounded sincere and trustworthy to him, though they didn't distract him at all from the malamute lady attending to his erection. His eyes locked onto the warm dark nipple before him and his dry mouth began to salivate for the first time in hours. He felt both hungry and thirsty, having gone without any sustenance so far that day.

With slight hesitation, Aston brought his lips to the dribbling teat and closed them gently over it. The initial taste of the muscular lion mother's milk was intense, and, almost as if his body were on autopilot, he began to suckle, drawing in a generous squirt. He swallowed his first helping of the tasty fluid that only a loving female could produce, and drew another mouthful without hesitation.

"There you are, my handsome stud," purred the lioness as she began to finger herself over Aston's straddled form.

Unbeknown to the nursing and head receiving man, another mutant had arrived and had begun taking care of the malamute taur's backside. It was one of those sexy hyena hermaphrodites, lacking the leather or jeans as she strode into the orgy unfolding in the auditorium. The dog taur was obviously expecting the sexy creature to arrive and lifted her fluffy tail to fan it around in excitement.

"First you, then I think I'll have to have a go with that stud you're blowing," said the dangerous and naughty hyena. "I don't think Max will mind if his- gift- is presented that way."

Releasing Aston's cock for a moment the Malamute turned her head back and raised her dog body's rear end for the hyena to fuck proper. "Maybe, sugar," began the malamute. "If he want's to spread his horizons, but I think Max said Aston's straight... We'll have to see about that when we're done... Now, put that knot in me." With a wide grin and a quick wink up at Aston the dog taur returned her muzzle to the human's stiff, slick member.

Without needing an invitation the hermaphroditic hyena lady placed her paw hands on the rear hips of the malamute's lower dog body and positioned herself. With a deep moan of pure, unbridled pleasure, the malamute quickened her pace, teasing Aston's member in all the right places to bring him to orgasm.

She sucked and caressed him for about another minute as the hyena herm pounded her Y-shaped vulva. Finally she felt Aston tense up. With a short grunt, Aston shot his normal sized load into the malamute's muzzle, feeling a whole new wave of pleasure as her maw milked him for all he could give before she licked his entire groin clean. She and the hyena kindly and quickly separated themselves from the orgy 'train' to let the lioness be alone with Aston.

Aston let his strained breath loose and relaxed back in the chair, feeling satisfied in more ways than one. His belly was filled with just the right amount of nourishing milk that tickled his insides. Opening his eyes, he was met with the affectionate smile of the big lioness who stood over him with her hand paws on her wide cocked hips. She slid them up her muscular yet womanly waist and stretched her sexy body before him, letting out a yowling yawn.

After helping the naked man to his feet the soft furred lion woman pulled him in and leaned her head down for a deep kiss, totally ignoring the two others having their moan filled romp behind them in the warm glow of the lantern.

"I can't believe this," Aston began, breaking the kiss. He glanced away and shook his head for a second as if in shame. He reached down and pulled up his underwear then reached for his shirt.

"What's wrong?" asked the lioness, gripping his waist as if to stop him.

"It's only the second day for me in this city," Aston replied, a bit of self disappointment in his voice, "and already I've broken my promise."

Suddenly the malamute taur nearby howled in orgasm, while the hyena herm groaned, shooting her load into the dog taur.

"What promise is that?" asked the lioness after a glance back at the mating pair of mutants.

"That I wouldn't be tempted to do anything like this."

The lioness chuckled and bumped Aston's shoulder with her fist. "There's no shame in some casual fun," she went on. "Especially with a killer stud like you. Besides, you gained something from it! You feel renewed, don't you?"

Aston did feel overall a new sense of readiness, and the recognition of this sent an alarm through his recovering mind.

"Oh, fuck!" he gasped, finishing the last button of his shirt. "I gotta go."

"Keeping you from something, are we?"

"Well... I'm looking for some wolves. Big female ones that walk on all fours. Have you seen them? There are three, and each wear military dog tags."

"Can't help ya. Sorry, stud... It can't be that serious. You should stick around for a little extra time with us... Besides, my hyena friend has something important to-- present, to you."

Aston glanced at the hyena lady who was waiting for her cock's knot to soften enough to pull out of the malamute. Suddenly, he thought back to his conversation with Max about the supposed 'gift' she was supposed to give him.

"She's Max's new friend, isn't she?" Aston asked.

"Yes, she is," replied the lioness.

"That's right, cowboy," the hyena's voice suddenly said. She shot Aston a wide toothy grin as she sauntered up to stand next to the lioness. Her black knotted cock of a strong eight inches was still erect and licked clean by the malamute. She slowly stroked the paw pads of two fingers up its length. "Care to indulge?"

Aston's mind reeled at the sight of it, even though he had never considered himself bisexual in the remotest of regards. He wasn't sure if it was the combined masculine and feminine scents permeating the air upon the hyena's sudden arrival, or if it was some deep buried fantasy in the back of his mind that pressured him to gaze at it. For whatever reason, his mind pondered just what it may feel like to be on the receiving end of a sexual experience, and not the oral kind.

"Um..." Aston began, his eyes watching as the naked, somewhat butch hyena woman gathered a bit of pre on a paw pad and brought it to her plump lips to taste it. "I... I really don't..." He uttered and felt his softening member begin to pulse with need once again, steadily coming back to life as he breathed in the strong sexual scent of the creature.

"Don't?" flirtatiously asked the hyena woman as she strode captivatingly up to take the man away from the lioness. She held Aston's hands and looked him in the eye interrogatively. "What?"

Aston found it hard to breath with the smiling beast as close as she was. Unlike the other two ladies in the room, she was only a couple inches taller than him instead of a whole foot and a half, but nonetheless, she was just as intimidating.

He glanced away. "I... Oh, boy, um... I'm- straight," he replied shakily.

"So," replied the hyena, inching her black wet nose closer.

The lioness and malamute shared a grin. "Let's give these two their solitude, sugar," happily suggested the malamute and the pair ushered themselves off to a different part of the auditorium to have some privacy together.

As they moved on the hyena refocused her efforts on Aston. "Are you scared of me?" she asked gesturing temptingly to her loins with her eyes.

"No. It's not in my nature to be that way, I-- I," Aston replied, finding it hard to look in her eyes as his curiosity about expanding his sexual horizons got the better of him. "I'm just..."

"You're scared, aren't ya?"

"No... I just think... We should wait for Max. Like he said to..."

The hyena chuckled. "You're cute... He doesn't need to know about what happens between you and me. Trust me, I know confidentiality. I'm sure that big dog-dragon man told you that I used to be a psychiatrist before this city went to hell."

"Yea... He mentioned it..." Aston sighed, finally looking her in the eye. In spite of her aggressive predatory visage, he found her to be quite beautiful with her reflective hazel eyes and sinister smile, an ear accented by a small ear ring. "Ok," Aston went on. "As long as you don't get any funny ideas."

The hyena's eerie grin widened as she saw his resistance fading. She helped him remove his shirt and underwear once again and tossed his hat onto the seat behind him. Aston kicked his jeans and boots aside as her hands began exploring his muscular body. He inhaled slowly at the exotic feeling of her paws against his human flesh and shuttered as she pulled him in close by his waist to connect their lips. Aston placed his palms on her ass and gripped firmly, enjoying the exotic feeling of her tail brushing against the back his hands.

Her large warm member suddenly came into contact with his average human cock as their hips encroached on one another, the slight friction sending pangs of pleasure through them both. A subtle moan escaped Aston's lips as her claws dug in a little.

The hyena gently broke the kiss. "It's time to get you ready for your gift, my man," she whispered as a dribble of pre leaked from her dick onto the head of his human shaft.

"You lead," he replied in a breathy tone.

"It'll be better if we do this au naturel. Don't worry, It's temporary. Max's gift will ensure that... Turn around and get on all fours. Present that firm ass to me!"

Aston could do nothing but than obey the dominant beast's command. He did as he was instructed and presented his rear end to her, panting slightly in fear as he dropped to his hands and knees.

"Good puppy..." purred the hyena.

"What's, um, supposed to be temporary?" Asked Aston, unprepared for what was about to penetrate his virgin anal ring.

With a short grunt, Aston felt the hyena slip one of her cum soaked clawed fingers effortlessly into his tight resisting anus. When it was knuckle deep she began swirling it around, teasing and coating the passage in her masculine fluid. Expecting her to introduce that knotted cock of hers next, Aston braced himself, gritting his teeth, but let loose a quiet yelp of surprised when another dripping finger entered his ass.

"Wait... What are you doing?" he asked, panting heavily. The pumping and swirling finger inside him didn't hurt, but the claw scraping his passage was far from comfortable. Nonetheless, his sudden shameless curiosity coerced him to allow the hyena to continue.

"Relax," she replied. "Just granting you a chance to see how the other side feels... For a little while, anyway."

Slipping her slick finger from his taut rear she stood by and allowed her special transformative semen to do its work on the quivering man before her. Aston felt it slowly seep into his body, a hot rush of sensations spread from his groin and rear to the rest of his body.

He let out a quivering moan as he felt every last strand of his body hair steadily pull into his skin, gasping as his complexion began to lose all of its texture and blemishes with pleasurable crawling sensations. "Oh-- fuck, what's happening?" he cried with a groan, watching his arms lose some of their muscle tone and his hands steadily become softer.

"I'm not into anal play," explained the hyena in a matter of fact tone. "I'm just making the necessary tweaks to your physiology so you can receive your just desserts in a much more enjoyable way than Max had planned for you. His original idea was far too boring... A drop of my fem cum on your tongue? Fuck that noise! I'm going all out, baby. You should consider yourself lucky."

Aston sat up on his legs, an intense fear gripping his gut as he saw the changes happening to his body. He was slowly becoming shorter and his skin was completely hairless including his face. His muscles had diminished some and were steadily continuing to feminize themselves with small, cramp like pulses. A groan escaped his lips as his waist slimmed down and drew inward some, followed by the creaking sound of his hips slowly widening into a womanly curve. Finally his shoulders retracted a little with a slightly painful crack to give him an hourglass figure any model would envy, followed by the slight ballooning of his formerly firm ass.

"Christ! Why are you doing this?" Aston shrieked, bringing a feminine hand to his mouth as he heard his voice crack, quickly changing to that of a young woman.

"Don't freak out on me," said the hyena with a sinister chuckle as she palmed one of his cute, perfectly graspable butt cheeks. "I told you these changes are temporary and will go away after we're done. After that you'll be back to your normal, boring ass human self again."

"Really?" he asked, panting as he felt his hair tickle his ears as it grew to frame his now feminine face a bit. "Oh, god... No, just undo this," he pleaded in his new, feminine voice. "Now!"

"I can't yet. We have to finish. You'll enjoy this. Trust me. You'll love the aftermath even more!"

Aston moaned as several small tweaks were made to his steadily feminizing body. He hated it. Absolutely hated what was happening to him but the overall pleasure of the transformation was undeniable. His body, though lacking breasts or a vagina, was indistinguishable from a beautiful young woman.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" he asked, his breath heavy and his body trembling in fear.

"Just... Have a little faith," the hyena softly said into his ear as she appeared directly behind him. "You know Max wouldn't let me near you if I had any malevolent intentions."

Her darkened nipples and the tip of her drooling cock touched Aston's smooth hairless back as she slowly ran her hands up and down his new beautiful frame, teasing his new more sensitive skin with her rough paw pads and claw tips. Aston moaned at the feel of it all, his mind in absolute chaos from his own resistance to the unwanted change and the incredible warm sensations coursing through him.

"You're turning out perfect," teased the hyena in a soft, soothing voice. "But we're far from ready."

The hot throbbing sensation of transformation returned, snapping Aston out of his trance like state of pleasure. The terrifying yet undeniably pleasurable sensations began to flood into the flesh behind his nipples and into his groin where it was the most intense. It was like a pleasurable warmth, coupled with the massage of morphing flesh.

Aston glanced down at his nipples as they began to harden passed the point they already were. In the light of the lantern he watched them become darker and moaned at the deliciously intense pleasure such a subtle change induced. He moaned and panted as his areolas widened and the nipples themselves became longer and more female proportioned. He shook and closed his eyes, trying to ignore how unbelievably good it felt.

A low yet feminine chuckle escaped the hyena's lips and she licked the edge of the changing man's ear. He gasped as she traced his new nipples with the tips of her claws, teasing them to full hardness.

Soon after, it began. The budding of new breasts, slowly growing with an intense pressure until they reached an amble AA cup, but stopping there. After all, the hyena promised they'd go away after whatever was happening was all said and done, or so Aston's pleasure drunk mind promised itself.

The hyena cupped his new female chest and gave it an easy grip, sending a wave of pleasure through the squirming, cooing she-male. "And now for my second favorite part!" said the hyena in a subtly sinister yet mischievous tone.

Somehow, Aston knew exactly what she meant, even before it happened. He let out a long whimper and groan as the skin of his scrotum suddenly became incredibly taut, almost painfully so, forcing his testis up against his body. A sharp tugging sensation soon ripped through his cock, forcing a gasp of shock from his throat. Like a skilled craftsman the promised to be temporary infection got to work reworking his genitals. Aston couldn't pry his horror stricken eyes away from himself as his cock steadily shrank, soon nestling itself at the top of his scrotum to serve as his new clitoris and accompanying hood. His testis uncomfortably ascended into his abdomen as well, slowly one by one with an audible and subtle slurp.

Aston panted in both horror and pleasure as his, now soon to be her, new femininity developed. She grit her teeth and groaned cutely as her deflated scrotum steadily firmed up and stretched into a pair of human pussy lips, labia and all, while inside a new fully functioning vagina and womb were being created.

Without giving the new woman even the slightest respite, the changes continued, much to the hyena's enjoyment. Aston's new pussy began to radiate with a need so alien it both terrified her and left her panting with lust. As moist as it already was, soon a small amount of fluid leaked from it, slowly trickling down her thighs as she quivered in fear. She watched her new female organ begin to darken, panting and letting loose a moan of pleasure as the lips puffed up and thickened, tightening to become something belonging more to an animal than a human.

Her new vagina burned with an animal need for something to fill it, but the thought of even touching it sent Aston's mind into a fit of sheer horror. Blood soon finished engorging her female lips to make them all the more sensitive, including her already hard nipples.

What if the bitch is lying, Aston thought. What if I'm becoming her bitch? What if-

As if the hyena could read his thoughts, Aston felt something begin to probe her new nether region. She trembled, hating how good it felt for the hyena's claw to gently tease her outer dark pink lips. And that was all it was. A tease. Barely a hint at the potential pleasure her throbbing pussy could feel. A groan if intense pleasure came from her as the hyena slowly drew the teasing claw up and down her cleft, probing it a few times as new female fluids seeped out.

"That's right!" tormented the hyena in a sultry tone. "You're female now. And in heat as a matter of fact. There's no getting away from this. Fighting it will only make me go slower!" Suddenly the hyena withdrew her teasing paw hand from between Aston's thighs and brought it to her forehead as if she were embarrassed of something. "Ah, crap! I'm sorry," she began with a sigh. "I really shouldn't even be doing this to you but I couldn't resist. Let's just finish your transformation so I can change you back. Just breathe and try to enjoy it."

Aston could barely hear her words given the pleasure she felt, but when the hyena pushed her back onto all fours again the horror of it all returned. Her skin felt itchy for a split second and she began trembling. The fur pattern of a spotted hyena slowly spread over her new body from head to toe, like a wave rippling over a pond. She felt her feet snap and creak as her legs changed next, becoming the digitigrade legs and clawed rear paws of an anthro hyena. Black claws grew from her fingertips next, followed by the formation of her new paw pads.

With a sharp pain coming from the small of her back, Aston felt something alien begin wriggling around her cute furry ass; something- she- could wriggle. A nervous glance back revealed a growing hyena tail. Slowly it grew and grew, becoming somewhat bushy and the perfect length as it betrayed her fear by lashing.

Tears filled Aston's eyes as pain lanced through her jaws. She was forced to pull back her lips and gape her mouth open to allow her new, deadly looking fangs to slowly extend from her canines. Aston closed her eyes tightly as she felt the rest of her head begin to shift with short painful cracks and pops.

Without any warning, the hyena grabbed Aston's wide, trembling hips and began positioning her dripping member for the plunge. Slowly, she pressed the pointed glans of her cock to the transforming female's dripping lips, eliciting a fearful whine from Aston's changing throat. With a torturous slowness, the hyena slid her glans up and down the virgin cleft, coating it in pre.

Aston couldn't deny it. It felt so good to be on the receiving end of sexual congress. Leaps and bounds better than being a man, but still, Aston's masculine mind fought like hell to stay dominant. A loosing fight nonetheless as another whimper of lust emanated from her throat. She shook in a combination of pleasure and fear as the hyena's entire cum soaked glans was inserted.

"Awww," said a familiar female voice from close by, drawing closer. "Too bad it's only for a couple hours."

"I know it!" replied another. "He makes such a cute little bundle of fluff."

A pair of female mutants, the malamute taur and the lioness, arrived on either side of the nearly fully transformed female anthro hyena. Aston glanced at them as they knelt beside her, then whimpered suddenly as her muzzle gave one last crack to complete its extension, followed by the growth and shifting of her ears that parted her shoulder length hair.

With a slow, tender pressure, the herm hyena began inserting her thick cock, inch by agonizingly slow inch into Aston's quivering, hyper sensitive virgin womanhood. A long overdue cry of unbelievable pleasure escaped the new female's throat. She whimpered and shook as the new sensations filled every inch of her new body.

Still, her male mind held on, and a look of arrant horror showed through her otherwise pleasured visage as she felt every inch of that wonderful member stretch her virgin pussy to its limit. Every vein and subtle texture of that cock was picked up by her hypersensitive walls, driving her pleasure and terror even further.

Taking note of Aston's still present anxiety, the big malamute took one of Aston's smaller paw hands in hers and held it tightly then gave the new hyena girl a few reassuring pets on the top of her head and hackle lined back. Seeming to have a more lustful approach to the virgin female's problem the lioness began by teasing Aston's new nipples while her other paw hand fondled and caressed the new hyena's various erogenous zones, specifically Aston's new tail.

It was an overload of feminine and animalistic pleasure. Soon Aston felt her hyena lover finish slipping that vaguely canine cock inside of her, that knot pressed firmly to her taut pussy lips. The feeling of fullness, and the overwhelming sensations were simply too much. There was no way anyone could resist the amount of pure torturous pleasure she was enduring.

And then the herm began to thrust, slowly at first, letting Aston get a feel for it before pumping that member in and out of that perfect pussy as a mate truly should. Aston's mind went blank for the first time that day, unable to think of anything more than sexual bliss.

"Oh... Fuck..." she groaned, knowing there was no way to stop this. No matter how hard she tried, she was not getting away from the pleasure, and the teasing of her darkened nipples and other pleasure zones now by both girls at her sides only pushed it further.

The finale approaching, Aston dug her claws into the carpet under her paws and panted hard, letting her tongue loll out. Deliciously intense pleasure built in her loins, spreading all the way to the tips of her clawed paws to the end of her thrashing tail and gaping jaws. It was so different from the way her pleasure used to be, centered mostly in her average cock alone.

"Here it comes, Aston," said the hyena. "Don't be scared. It's only my knot. I have to get it in you before we can finish."

And a knot it was. Already swollen some it took the herm a few strong thrusts to pop the bulbous base of her cock into her mate.

Aston could only tremble, knowing very well that could have meant his demise. It hurt some, to have her already straining lips stretched to accommodate such an organ, only to have the said knot swell even larger to ensure that not a drop of the herm's seed would be wasted.

With a few short thrusts of the herm hyena's now tied cock, and a teasing wiggle, Aston was pushed over the edge into her first, and maybe last, female orgasm. Letting loose a powerful howling from her throat, Aston felt the most intense sexual sensations of her life start to run through her body. Soon she felt her vaginal muscles clench and slide and her walls spill juices all over that wonderful hyena's cock. She clawed at the ground, whimpering fearfully as the pleasure built and built to the point of making her see stars in her vision.

Soon after the herm came as well, shooting glob after glob of her special seed into Aston's fresh, waiting womb, filling the former human up to make her feel full with a powerful seed that quickly got to work performing its specialized function that in truth only a drop would do.

Feeling full and exhausted, Aston slumped to the floor below, panting as the most exquisite of orgasms held true. Eventually her blissful state began to subside and her vision went black a short time before the hyena's knot went soft...

Meanwhile, that morning... Oakland International Airport, USSOCOM Tactical Command Post...

It was a particularly beautiful day with the sun glistening off the water of the San Francisco Bay, that at the time was speckled with charter boats, ferries, sail boats and a few fishermen. Samorn stood by the edge of the tarmac and gazed at the distant city across the water, truly fascinated by it. The sound of the waves crashing against the concrete sea wall was soothing and the birds and aircraft added an ambiance that helped her meditate.

She was alone since Brice was called away for a bit when there was a need for more medical personnel at the field hospital. A group of very colorful exotic bird morphs were brought in by an Air Force Pave Hawk helicopter early that morning with injuries that couldn't be treated at just any base.

Samorn was curious about what happened to them and asked one of the pararescuemen. The man in special forces garb described it as an inexcusable hate crime committed by some Oakland townie with an itchy trigger finger. Falsely claiming that he thought they were a threat to his children the man opened fire on them from his front yard. He hit several of the humanoid birds that were simply minding their own business as they trekked through the neighborhood. The townie was arrested almost immediately after by Oakland police and according to the pararescuemen the incident made international news.

It was sad for Samorn to see such beautiful beings in pain, but she was glad someone was there to help them.

All of a sudden a strange shadow appeared against her own and the sound of strong beating wings came from above her. She turned in time to see a blue anthro gryphon wearing a simple tube top and a pair of shorts descending a few feet away from her. Samorn recognized the cat bird immediately as the man she watched transform the day before at the Marine Corps base. The gryphoness seemed a little taller than before but It may have been a trick of the light.

The beautiful herm gryphon gracefully let her lion like paws touch the tarmac with a few precise flaps of her blue feathered wings. She folded them and shot Samorn a smile before striding up to greet the beautiful dog woman that came to her aid the day prior.

"They said I could find you here," the cat bird hybrid said, the sides of her beak still curled in a smile as she stepped up. Her comely body moved with a hypnotizing stride. "I didn't get a chance to thank you."

"Don't mention it. It just came naturally," Samorn happily replied, greeting the gryphon lady with a brief friendly hug that awkwardly caused their breasts to touch. "You can fly!" she congratulated.

"Yea," said the gryphoness with a short laugh. "It was kind of scary at first, but I'm loving it now! Some air force guy told me to observe some birds and then give it a try... Good thing I listened, huh?"

"Yep... So, how are you feeling?"

"Fantastic! ... Being a gryphon isn't all that bad. I no longer have any shoulder pain, or any of my old health issues. It's a dream come true."

"I'm happy for you. Have you met up with family or friends since the marines let you out?"

"Yea, actually. My mom and dad live in an L.A. suburb... Unfortunately, they didn't get my text that I was coming to visit. You know, that whole parents with smart phones thing. Might as well give one to a lemur, heh. I guess no one told them I had been infected, either..."

"Oh... Did they take it poorly?"

"At first. My mom almost fainted, but my dad seemed ok with it after the initial shock wore off... I mean, It's not everyday your son goes away to law school then comes home with a tail and wings, right?" the gryphoness snickered then sighed, seeming a little saddened. "I don't think my girlfriend wants to stay with me though. She hasn't said it out right, but I can see the trepidation in her eyes. I don't know if she's afraid that I'll infect her, or if she's just scared of what I've become... I guess I can't blame her."

"I'm sorry to hear that... Just look at it this way, If you're meant to be together, you will be. If not, you'll find someone who'll love you for what you are. I'm sure there's a woman -or man, just saying- out there that would love someone as exotic as you."

With a blush of shyness and an irresistible smile the gryphoness nodded. "Thanks," she said.

"You are most welcome." Samorn and the gryphon herm began walking together along the edge of the tarmac, taking in the beautiful sight of the bay area. "How's your libido?" Samorn asked.

"It's fine," replied the gryphon. "I've taken the supplements as instructed whenever it acts up... How about you?"

"I found someone to help me keep mine in check. I think I'll only need drugs for when I go into heat."

The two feminine mutants began strolling past an area of the cordoned off section of the tarmac where a special forces medic was working with the sea dragon that was brought in the night before. They decided to move in and observe how things were coming along.

Some of the dragon's bandages had been removed, showing the rapid healing mutants were capable of, but the largest bandages were still present, this time without blood stains. The dragon sat almost dog like with the medic instructing him to try putting weight on his rear legs and to use his strong tail for support.

Slowly, the quadruped dragon was able to stand and walked a few meters before sitting again. The medic congratulated him and jotted down something on a notepad.

"How's it coming?" Samorn asked the medic as she and the gryphoness walked up.

The medic in lower fatigues and t-shirt glanced at them as he pocketed his notes. "Oh, we're making good progress," the man began. "It'll still be a few days before we can clear him. We're absolutely relieved he can move on his own so soon! I mean, wow!"

"That's awesome!" Samorn said and gave the dragon's muzzle a friendly nose rub. "How you doin' big guy?" she asked.

"Much better," the dragon replied. "Thanks... I just need to keep at it and hopefully I'll be able to see my wife soon."

"Where is she?"

"Wherever those SEALs took her."

The medic cut in, "that would be the hospital here in Oakland. It was pretty cool, they said on the news that the SEALs drove her there personally... She'll be discharged from there sometime this evening and we'll try to get her clearance to come here to visit."

"That would be great... I'm a little scared how she's gonna react," the dragon said and peered off into the distance.

"Don't worry about that right now, all right buddy?" the medic went on, giving the big reptile's shoulder a rub. "Right now, you just need to focus on your recovery. You're doing incredible so far."

-Nor will I refuse aid to any who seek it-

Chapter 6

Random Newscasters:

...Military officials overseeing containment efforts clarified this afternoon that the private entity known as 'Zephyr Incorporated' is not a government contractor and are urging all members of the public near and within containment zones to stay clear of their security forces at any cost. It is also being advised that you ignore all statements or orders issued by the organization and its mercenaries until some form of validity can be determined by local authorities. In spite of there militaristic appearance their mercenary patrols can be easily distinguished from law enforcement and military by noting the grayscale camouflaged pattern of their uniforms, gear and vehicles. No police agencies or military units utilize such patterns, nor do they use any style of vehicle fielded by them. Once again, Military officials urge you to stay as far away from Zephyr personnel as possible...

...In addition, the F.B.I. has compiled a scathing evidence report that links Zephyr's lax security protocols and overall poor management to the sudden release of the mutagenic nanites. Whether the release was an accident or sabotage remains unknown, however one thing does remain clear; thanks to Zephyr's lackluster approach to science and technology, the world as we know it -- will never be the same...

...Firefighters from the Bronx 45th Engine Company are hailing a reptilian mutant as a hero this evening following a two alarm fire that broke out at an apartment complex in Belmont. The feathered raptor-like male, confirmed to be an off duty police officer and single father, rushed into the building immediately following the collapse of a portion of its roof. Utilizing his powerful body the raptor forcefully cleared away as much of the rubble as necessary to reach a trapped mother and son along with three firefighters, bravely suffering minor burns in the process. He then used the broad feathers of his tail to shield the woman as he carried her out of the building while she held tightly to her thankfully uninjured son. The trapped firefighters were able to follow the reptile through the dense smoke and to safety as well. Upon emerging from the building the raptor was greeted by a cheering crowd, and the woman was photographed soon after giving the surprisingly shy reptile a friendly peck on the cheek as he received first aid. The image has since gone viral...

...Sergeant First Class Tom Nevis of the California National Guard's 578th Brigade Engineer Battalion was arrested this evening after ordering men from his platoon to beat a subdued wyvern to the point of nearly killing it. Nevis claimed his actions were in retaliation for the death of a young corporal under his command and that he simply wanted to exact revenge. The assault took place less than an hour after his unit was ordered to conduct an otherwise successful search and destroy mission within the city limits of Fairhaven. Other soldiers involved in the incident have been confined to a forward operating base until it can be decided whether or not criminal charges will be filed against them, and a replacement for Nevis' position within the platoon has since been filled. Shortly after the attack the injured wyvern was airlifted by air force pararescuemen to a military field hospital in Oakland where it is currently being treated for multiple lacerations and impact trauma...

...In other news, federal relief officials have updated the death toll from this mornings nanite outbreak in Cadillac Michigan. The skirmish between the Michigan National Guard's 126th Calvary, Alpha Troop, and a sizable cluster of feral mutants has left sixty two dead with most victims being in a fully mutated state. The majority of the cluster has since been placed in a temporary containment paddock near Buckley where they currently await treatment. Captain Renshaw, the commander of A Troop said in a statement that he is confident all mutants captured will respond well to drug treatments and that further therapy will allow them to regain their sanity within the next few days, or sooner. No National Guardsmen were killed or infected in the outbreak, however one Wexford County Sheriff and two deputies remain missing...

...As if tensions in the Middle East couldn't get any higher, the Iranian military has begun what appears to be an aggressive and systematic campaign to eradicate its country's infected minority population. Over two thousand mutants and five thousand uninfected have been slaughtered so far in the fighting, setting off worldwide protest and drawing in another round of sanctions from the United States, Great Britain, and Russia. No comment has yet been received by that nation's president in spite of increased scrutiny from coalition military presence in the Gulf of Oman...

That evening... Edwards Air Force Base, Kern County California...

"...Uh, like I said, I was just Aston's husky before this mess began," Samorn explained in a shy yet candid tone as she sat comfortably in one of the base's more private briefing rooms with her paw hands crossed on the conference table before her. She wore the same shorts as before, personal dog tags, and a partly camouflaged athletic t-shirt. The office chair she sat in was meant more for function than style but thankfully the opening in the back allowed her sore tail to move freely; a much needed relief after having it cramped during the long drive from Oakland.

The classified briefing wasn't on any of the base personnel's official schedules, and as such it took her and Brice a few awkward minutes of wandering the halls to find the meeting room. Brice suffered a moment of digestive distress as well and Samorn teased him by suggesting it must have been brought on by the fast food he devoured the night before. He excused it, however, as a side effect of the immunity booster shots, exacerbated by being encased in extremely uncomfortable and hot MOPP gear for most of the day as he helped treat the wounded bird morphs who ironically turned out to be noninfectious to begin with not that anyone had the decency to tell him...

The room itself was simplistic, mirroring its basic furniture, and only capable of accommodating a handful of people. The walls were lined with blue soundproofing material and a collection of large monitors were mounted to the wall opposite the door that at the moment were stuck on a screen saver of the Air Force's symbol.

Lounging around the simple particle board table in the center of the room and listening intently to Samorn's story was a collection of well built men, clearly special forces operators, who not only appeared interested in hearing how the beautiful canine morph came to be but were patently transfixed by her enthralling feminine visage as well. Samorn entertained herself by taking shameless advantage of their attention by using occasional hand gestures and smiling alluringly. The mesmerized yet professional operators wore moderately casual clothing at the time, i.e. polo shirts, fatigue or canvas pants, button downs, athletic shirts etc, and were all volunteers from elite Tier 1 Special Mission Units, each agreeing to be a part of what would be the most important operation since the outbreak began four days earlier.

Two of the hard hitters were from the US Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (a.k.a. Delta Force), two others from the Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and the other two were from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU or better known as SEAL Team Six). Leading the squad was Colonel Reese Young and the powerful tiger man Sergeant Abdullahi who was second in command. Seated next to Samorn as she spoke was her closest friend and 'secret' lover, navy corpsman Brice Da Silva.

"The one that infected me was this little collie fucker; about five foot six, kinda scrawny," she went on, her tail shifting slowly from side to side as she recounted her first brush with the 'plague' of the twenty first century, or at least that's how a newsman dubbed it. "I still find it hard to believe that he was as quick as he was. I couldn't dodge him, somehow, and he got a hold of my collar and dragged me into the woods behind our horse fence before my father could get a shot off at him. While that was happening Aston shot the others without a shred of hesitation, or even fear for that matter. The first to show up at the house were equine creatures- four of them if I remember right, and all were stallions of different breeds. One of them kicked down the front door like it wasn't even there, but Aston and I were able to sneak out the back without getting noticed. Aston told me to stay put before he went back inside to confront them. They had no chance and went down easy enough with single shots to the upper torso, but then these- some kind of silver, almost alien looking lizard things with no eyes came running right at us on all fours with their drooling jaws open. They were huge and fuckin' terrifying, let me tell ya, and I've got no idea how my father managed to kill 'em, but he did. I didn't see precisely what happened because it was at that point that I was taken by the collie man. Our quarter horse, Jasper, went missing at about that point as well, and who knows where the big old dummy went. Maybe Aston's uncle's house- at least, I remember him running there the last time he snuck out... I hope he's okay. I always loved the galoot... Anyway, I'm not sure if I don't want to, or if I simply can't remember exactly how things went down," Samorn continued with a slight shake of her head, her tone turning solemn for a moment, "but I remember the collie morph- raping me. Even though I only had my- simplistic husky mind at the time I wanted so badly to hate it. To hate him, but..." Samorn let out a sigh. "After he- you know- 'came' in me it felt like my whole body was engulfed in this hot, almost pleasurable energy as my cells rearranged into the form I possess now. As you've probably assumed, the nanites also sent my sex drive through the roof as they're designed to do. I heard the shot when my father killed my attacker a couple minutes after... And when I found Aston I... Well... I tried to force myself onto him." Some of the squad shifted and grimaced. "Gross, I know. I mean, I think of Aston as my father, and... It was disgusting, lets just leave it at that. - Anyway, he fought free of my grasp and pistol whipped me."

"Ouch!" one of the SEALs joked.

"Well, it knocked me out, so I didn't feel it until I came to a few minutes after," Samorn replied with a snicker. "Took a while for the headache to go away. Heh! - Anyway, after I woke I didn't know what to do. I was terrified, even of him, but he told me to relax and thankfully took me with him. He did understandably mention that he would shoot me if I tried anything again, and I can't say I blame him."

"Yea. I'd of said the same," uttered Colonel Young.

"No shit," added a Delta soldier.

Young shook his head and said, "Sorry, go on," gesturing.

"Thanks," Samorn resumed with a quick smile. "Before we started heading toward town we picked up what supplies we could carry from the house but sure enough the S.U.V. was ravaged by something so we decided to trek there on foot. It took us a good hour since we had to move carefully and as quietly as possible. Freaks were swarming the entire area, but with Aston's guidance we managed to sneak through the outcroppings and forest without detection. When we arrived the first thing we saw was the smoke over the rise and we could hear dozens of people screaming, a few tires squealing, and even periodic gunfire. By the time we found a safe place to observe the situation the sounds had transitioned into growls, roars, moans, bellows and-- I'm sure you get the idea."

Subtle grimaces and sneers popped up around the room once again but quickly faded.

"Hometown sounds like it got fucked," uttered one of the airmen. "No pun intended."

"Heh! Yea, you could say that," Samorn continued. "It was in absolute shambles. Completely unrecognizable. Windows smashed, fires everywhere, vehicles crashed into everything... A fuckin combat zone is what it reminded me of. It looked like everyone in the town was either sprawled out dead or mutated and fucking each other like their lives depended on it. Since downtown was- clearly a no go, and the residential areas were no better off Aston and I were forced to take shelter at the edge of town in an old motel room to avoid attracting the creatures' attention. Long story short, we spent the night there barricaded in until the marines showed up. On our way to the evac site we got chased by this German shepherd morph. He tried to rape me, but as you can guess by my lack of German shepherd genetics, Aston beat the shit out of him for me." Samorn let loose a short chuckle.

"Did your- father ever serve?" asked one of the SEALs.

"Uh, not exactly," Samorn replied. "Not with the military, at least. Why?"

Abe cut in, "Would his last name be Marks, by happenstance?"

"Uh, yea... How'd you know that?"

"Let me ask you this first. What all do you know about him?"

"Well, he has a history that he doesn't share with many people. I don't know many of the details myself, only what I remember overhearing from conversations between him and his uncle. Something about- being a security contractor or mercenary for a corporation working in Africa. I guess he ended up defying his employer's orders so he could protect a group of missionaries in a village, or something along those lines... Something horrible happened over there, and he never forgave himself for it... Anyway, that's all I know."

"Well, I'm sure all secrets will be revealed eventually, but until then, please continue."

"O-okay, um... Like I was saying, I absolutely hated to, but I had no choice but to leave without Aston when there wasn't enough room on the last Sea Hawk. The ride from there was fine but the departure was terrifying. Just as the thing took off something managed to knock a passing F-18 out of the sky and it passed right overhead of us as it burned to the ground... I know I'll never forget that." Samorn sighed, letting the incoming memories of the rest of that hellish day fade back into her subconscious on their own. "And that's-- pretty much it. The rest I assume is in your briefing packets."

The door was opened suddenly by a female high ranking airman in green and tan scale tiger strip fatigues. She stepped in and came to a stop, holding the door for someone.

"Atten-tion! Present- arms!" Young barked uniformly, knowing who the door must be held for.

Everyone around the table quickly followed suit, standing at attention and saluting, including Samorn, who did so without a flaw.

"As you were, gentlemen," said an aging man in a formal business suit as he strode in, the woman closing the door behind him. "And lady," he added, nodding to Samorn as he came to a stop at the empty end of the table before the monitors on the wall behind him. The group returned to their seats and gazed expectantly at the gray haired man of middle eastern descent. "Samorn, I want to extend my thanks to you once again for everything you've done over the past day and a half," he resumed. "You've shown more bravery and dedication than anyone would have expected from someone in your position."

"Don't mention it, Mr. Secretary," she replied. "I was just doing what came natural."

"I have no doubt. I know you still have a lot of questions, but in the meantime keep up the good work." He shot her a subtle but friendly smile and nodded before continuing. "And to the rest of you, I can't thank you enough for volunteering for this op. Our country owes you a debt of gratitude... Now, the following information is highly classified and is for your eyes and ears only. None of this is to be discussed with anyone other than yourselves under any circumstances. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," replied the group.

The man removed a smart phone from his pocket and tapped away at it for a moment. On the monitors behind him several images of a high tech device strapped to the bed of a military armored truck came up. The machine itself was about the size and shape of a medium sized military shipping container, was painted sky blue and white and had a complex antenna apparatus protruding from the top. The rectangular device was labeled on all sides with the overly simplistic R.S.X. Corporation logo. "This," he briefly pointed, "is the Actaeon Contingency. Only two of these devices exist anywhere in the world; one that used to be in our possession and another that was in the hands of Zephyr Incorporated. The device, once detonated, sends out a termination signal to all nanotech particles within its effective range subsequently eliminating not only the virus itself but all life forms effected by it. In other words, it was supposed to prevent this sort of situation from happening in the first place, but Zephyr and their just short of mentally handicapped security forces failed to activate the signal and their device was somehow rendered inoperable. When NORTHCOM learned of this the 19th Special Forces Group was tasked with deploying the device shown here... Unfortunately, all members of the platoon were killed or declared L.T.I. shortly after they entered Fairhaven's high rise business district, and to make matters worse, the device's G.P.S. tracker somehow malfunctioned causing its whereabouts to become unknown... That was, until yesterday when members of Delta Force gathered some very- disconcerting- intel." He tapped at his phone once more, and the images behind him changed to show photographs taken from the windows of several high rise structures showing heavily armed soldiers in high tech, bluish gray and white uniforms, clearly not US military, loading the device onto a separate vehicle. Around the men were what appeared to be some sort of autonomous walking weapon systems of the same color as their gear; essentially two legged walking heavy machine guns with small chassis firing at every mutant within range. "These ass holes are from Welkin. A private free standing army loyal to whoever pays them enough. Trust me when I say that they are not a friend of ours, and God only knows how they managed to sneak into the city without us knowing about it. Theories suggest an orbital insertion, which may sound crazy, but I'd believe just about anything at this point. Anyhow, what we do know is they've stolen the Actaeon device, and it is believed they may attempt to activate it."

"Why exactly is that a bad thing?" Asked young. "If it'll wipe out the infection I see no reason why we shouldn't build and deploy a hundred of 'em."

"Colonel, as always, we appreciate your problem solving attitude, but you need to work on your listening skills. As I mentioned, the device doesn't only kill the nanites, it kills everything infected with them in the process... And the effective range of this particular device is, well, there isn't one. Once activated, the kill signal will utilize defense satellites and radio towers to reach every corner of the globe in less than twenty four hours. And If I'm reading recent W.H.O. reports correctly, they're aren't many uninfected people left on the planet. Just breathing unfiltered air is enough to infect you with trace amounts of airborne pathogens... What I'm getting at is, if the Actaeon Contingency is activated... Billions will die... It's on you to recover the device, and destroy it! Take the gun aimed at the head of every man woman and child on earth, and break it in half. That is your primary objective... Your secondary objectives are to eliminate Welkin forces at all available opportunities, hunt down and kill particularly dangerous mutants, and conduct CSAR when and wherever you can... Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" the group replied.

"Good. That's music to my ears..." Tapping at his phone once again the secretary continued while gesturing at a map of Fairhaven brought up on the monitors. "You will insert via HALO jump from thirty thousand feet here, and you will glide into your drop zone located in the parking lot of an office plaza one half click west of the high rise district. F-35s will be on set to provide security for the MC-130 and we will have Apaches in a holding pattern around the commercial district to keep your D.Z. clear of potential hostiles. Once on the ground you will proceed to the last known location of our 19th spec-ops team, here, and report what you find. From there, you will work in conjunction with a Delta squad and small detachment of 2nd Rangers already on set to track down and eliminate the A.C.D. -- Questions?"

"Rules of engagement in relation to the infected?" asked a SEAL.

"You will defend yourselves if approached aggressively, otherwise do not engage. Once we have them ready you will be given immunizations to what's being dubbed 'casual infections.' In other words, most strains will have no effect on your system. However, there are plenty of strains we have yet to collect samples of, so keep your MOPP gear handy in case you have to make direct contact with anything- unusual... Next?"

"Sir, what is our escape and evasion plan?" asked Abe.

"In truth, there isn't one. Once you're in the city, you're there for the full stretch. You will be provided a list of safe zones where you can lay low should you have to, but be prepared to set up your own O.P. just about anywhere... Anything else?"

"Any idea who hired these- Welkin mercenaries?" asked a Delta soldier.

"Unfortunately, no. While they may at one time have been associated with them, Zephyr claims they do not outsource their security. Still we cannot be certain... If you can detain any Welkin personnel to interrogate, do it, but keep in mind, these guys are savages. They have and will go weapons hot at the first hint of trouble, and as you can see from these images they're packing weapons tech that's far more advanced than anything our R and D boys have ever seen. -- They're leader is a man known only as Vrag. He's an ex Croatian operator turned money hungry serial killer, and that's pretty much all we know about the man as of now... Um, while we're on that topic, something interesting to note is that Samorn's- father just happens to know the psychopath personally. Aston Marks is a former member of Welkin. He was trained and worked under Vrag during anti-poaching operations in central Africa. It is believed Mr. Marks abandoned Welkin after Vrag refused to send his men to help defend a nearby village from anti-government rebels."

"Forgive my interruption, Mr. Secretary, but how exactly does the government know all this about my father?" Samorn asked. "He never served in the military."

"But that doesn't mean he was never on our radar..." Defense Secretary Karim sighed. "Samorn... There is not a single operator or member of the intelligence community anywhere in the world who has not at least read something about your father and what he did."

The group, excluding Brice, around the dog woman nodded, two or three of them saying, "that's right," - "mhm," and so forth.

"I'm sorry," began Brice, "but what am I not understanding about Aston? What makes a former contractor like him so special?"

Secretary Karim tapped at his phone once again, and a list of statistics related to Aston's history came up on a single monitor. Samorn and Brice could only stare in awe at the information, their faces mustering little expression while the rest of the group paid little attention given that they already knew the gist.

"Holy shit..." uttered Brice with a subtle laugh.

"...Republican rebels," resumed Karim, "-- to this day, -- refer to him as 'Celui Qui a Tué le Diable,' or, 'He who Killed the Devil.' ... He remains a monster of legend to them, but to us he remains an inspiration... The bodies Aston buried and the lives he saved that day in the center of the dark continent proved to us all once again what a- pissed off man can accomplish when he's abandoned everything but his most primordial instincts... Instincts that Mr. Marks has spent years working to entomb within himself... I say this with strong earnestness, if you've ever crossed paths with that man and lived to talk about it, it's because he wanted you to live...

"If you have the time, and I'm sure you will find it, I want you to make a pit stop at Combat Outpost Fairhaven and pay Mr. Marks a little visit. Ask him whether or not his deadly intuition has- reawakened- in his time spent in that city gone straight to hell. If that's the case it wouldn't hurt to invite him along with you. After all, according to those few rebels that survived being exposed to his rage, he makes the devil himself seem like a kitten." Secretary Karim let lose a short laugh. "Anyway, it will take some time before we can marshal the proper resources to conduct this operation. Until then, head back to Oakland and enjoy a nights R and R. God knows you'll need it before the shit storm you're about to throw yourself into... Keep your phones on. Dismissed!"

*BONUS UNFINISHED CONCEPT MATERIAL*

Chapter 7 Old Concept One

Meanwhile, at the Smith Haven Mall Movie Theater...

The oddly comforting darkness of the theater's auditorium, flooded suddenly by the steady white glow of a battery powered lantern, was all Aston could see through eyes he struggled to hold open a mere sliver. Anyone standing nearby would have easily mistaken the man for being fast asleep, and every shred of his willpower had to be called forth to stay the opposite.

For an unknown reason he felt eerily paralyzed, unable to move so much as a finger as a previously unfelt level of exhaustion pervaded every fiber of his muscles. He could only lay motionless on his side as he listened to the steady murmur of several conversations going on all around while further comforted by whatever cushy material that was laid out for him. He wasn't sure what sort of plush material it was, but he could tell it was laid out with some care. His head and back rested against something that was pleasantly warm, luxuriously soft and soothingly nestled. It wasn't a pillow at all, he was certain of that. It was something alive, or rather, someone. Furry flesh, was the only thought that came to him. A furry somebody, but who?

And then he felt his living pillow make a subtle shift, and a hot breath washed over his face as the beast he snuggled with let out a strong exhale. He shuddered subtly when the unmistakable sensation of rough paw pads and tips of big claws became present on his chest along with the tickling of the strong arm's fur. It was a warm and undeniably cozy embrace, most likely provided by one of the big female mutants he had the faintest of memories of getting to know a little too well earlier. He could feel the points of the creature's many stiff nipples rub against his back as she shifted a little, and his exhausted mind assumed that the sensitive points belonged to a tauric malamute female who for some reason his mind briefly correlated with exquisite and well practiced oral sex.

His short lived reminiscing of that carnal act with the dog taur was interrupted when an oddly familiar voice made itself known to him, eliciting a brief yet powerful shudder of fear that spread through his torso. Feminine and penetrating, strengthened with recognizable butch and alluring qualities, Aston could have effortlessly picked the voice out in a crowd. He was positive the memories of the voice came from long before the situation in the city erupted, and his mind tried to visualize the face of the feminine speaker. However instead of the face of a familiar woman that he felt he could easily remember, the image of a feminized hyena's countenance formed itself in his thoughts. She was oddly beautiful in a primal way, yet terrifying all the same. Still, there was something familiar about her. She wasn't just some random hyena morph wandering the carcass of a fallen metropolis, Aston was sure of that. He knew she was close to him in some way, but in what, his mind couldn't pinpoint in its current state.

"...Well, based on the way we described what this strain's capable of, they're theorizing whoever or whatever Max came into contact with-- was patient zero," declared the potent female voice as the strong footsteps of the form it belonged to came to a stop someplace nearby. Every word she spoke caused the hairs on the back of Aston's neck and arms to stand on end, and a cold shiver crawled up his spine that lasted longer than it should have given the summer heat in the building. Aston tried to speculate what the strange sensations could mean to him, but he gave up faster than he'd ever given up on anything before in his life.

"Patient zero? Like, thee- patient zero?..." replied a familiar deep male voice on the other side of the auditorium. "Bullshit."

"Why would they fuck with us about something as important as this?"

"I'm not saying they are. But- the chances of finding patient zero in a mess like this are slim to none, you know that... I mean, sure, this situation may be-- extraordinary, but cut away the nanites and it's no different then the Ebola epidemic in west Africa a few years ago. We didn't find patient zero then so we're probably gonna have same kind of luck here."

"... Okay, I won't argue with you about that, but-- if it wasn't patient zero it was definitely something closely related. Max has been-- uncommunicative- about what exactly went down last night before you guys showed up at the wyvern's nest."

"Can't imagine why."

"Me neither. Who knows. We'll just have to ask him about it later... Anyhow, regardless of what it was that Max found-- it's undoubtedly the most important discovery we've made thus far, and we're that much closer to finding a long lasting solution to this unnatural fuckery."

"I-I hope you don't mind me asking, but why exactly are we testing this- uh- this 'strain' on Aston first?" Asked the approaching male voice that Aston quickly identified as belonging to Sergeant Brown, the anthro eagle soldier that saved his life a day earlier.

"Well..." continued the cunning herm mutant. "Long story short, Aston's in perfect physical condition."

"No shit."

"He's got the 'no bullshitting' personality and work history the people up the flag pole asked for."

"Can't refute that."

"... And to sweeten the deal he took to the nanite infusion without a hitch just like I knew he would... In other words-- he's the perfect human candidate."

"I guess... You're certain it'll all work out?" Brown asked, a subtle anxiety in his tone.

The herm mutant let lose a subtle impish laugh that sent Aston's mind reeling for a second. "Unquestionably," she slyly replied.

"What's the plan after he wakes up?"

"Well, it'll take him some time, probably till tomorrow morning to fully recover from the infusion."

"That makes since, I guess. He's out cold."

"Yea, in its raw form the virus takes a lot out you, but that'll change soon... Anyway, um, after we get him squared away he's been tasked with putting together a special unit halfway made of fully mutated individuals like ourselves. He'll be leading the squad, you'll be his sergeant, I'll be on medical, and Max will be serving as the group's-- resident-- field ambassador, so to speak. As of right now we've got a few candidates for Aston to check out. That marine private, the fuck is his name, Clewley- has already agreed to join."

"... What the fu-? ..."

"What?"

"That just sounds insane."

"It's not crazy, it's a simple idea."

"For what purpose, though?"

"What we do best, sergeant. CSAR, search and destroy, reconnaissance. We'll also be providing support for our SOF units operating out there in city. Support that only a mutant can provide."

"But, Aston's not military... He doesn't have the same training we have."

"So what? McCray let you read the dossier on Aston's history, right?"

"... Yea... That was some intense reading."

"Trust me when I say that everything you read- was hilariously watered down."

"How so?"

"... When my unit found him after his little ordeal, he had been shot four times and he was still ambulating under his own power."

"... Jesus..."

"Yea... The motherfucker still had that same stoic expression on his face, too... One of the eeriest things any of us had ever seen. Just some random man standing in front of that burned out church watching our chopper land; assault vest, dirty blood stained jeans, black cowboy hat. The poor bastard was covered in blood; mostly their blood, not his. He had no ammo left; he'd fired every round he brought with him, and at some point he used one of the rebel's technical mounted fifty cals against them. The hole village was littered with the bodies of countless, and I mean, countless rebels; some shot to shit, others slashed up... Aston looked like death himself, come to collect a heavy bounty. Unfortunately, some of the rebels Aston killed were no older than fourteen and mixed in with the bodies of the bad guys were most of the villagers, some of 'em even little kids, babies even. The rebels spared no one, so neither did he."

"God- damn..." Brown whispered. "...What was your unit again?" he asked. "Sorry."

"160th S.O.A.R."

"... That's right. You were a Night Stalker."

"Fuckin-A. Death waits in the dark, mothafucka!"

"For how long?"

"Nine years."

"... Impressive. You a pilot?"

"Yep. I know most choppers like the back of my hand."

"That's good to know... Anyway, sorry, go on."

"Sure. Uh, anyhow, I know I'll never forget the intense fit Aston pitched when the rangers tried to move him into my black hawk. He demanded to know that the surviving villagers and missionaries in the church were okay first... I guess I can't blame him. He nearly died trying to save them... The tough son of a bitch even refused pain meds when we finally ushered him into the chopper."

"Are you sure he even feels pain?"

"Oh, trust me, he does. But his emotional pain effects him more than anything physical... He suffered from some nasty post traumatic symptoms but I was thankfully able to take the edge off for him. They'll never go away completely, but I can tell he's doing a lot better now."

"... You're certain?"

"... Hell yes... Trust me, his combat proficiency during that op, even after being shot, - was described as being up to par with, if not beyond tier one operators. The C.I.A. wanted to recruit him right then and there for their Special Activities Division, but he refused... He's a fucking machine, on and off the field... He's the last man on earth you ever wanna fuck with. We're lucky to have him here with us."

Brown sighed. "That may be true, but... I don't know. He makes me nervous."

"Nervous? ... There's- absolutely no need to be apprehensive."

'Like hell there ain't."

"There isn't. Besides, you and Aston are friends, right? McCray said you saved his ass from that wyvern last night."

"I was just doing my job..."

"Oh, come on."

"I've only known the man twenty-four hours... I mean, yea, he and I could be tight once we get to know each other better. He's easy to get along with and all, but-- I- I just get this bizarre feeling, like a pang of anxiety when I'm around him, and it's definitely not because of his P.T.S.D.... It's something about his eyes. Like he can discern everything about you before you even say a word... It's fucking creepy."

"It's just the kind of person he is. If you'd experienced the same shit as him you'd make a pretty good judge of character yourself... Trust me, he may seem like a cold piece of steel on the outside, but he's a-- cuddly, empathetic, warm fluff ball on the inside... A fluff ball that's comfortable wearing kevlar... Took every last bit of effort on my part to break through his mental defenses... Come to think of it, it was a lot easier back when we were together... I suppose he's gotten a little stronger since then."

"So-- you're- thee Gail. His ex wife, huh?"

"... Yep...." the hyena sighed. "Aston and I-- we hit it off when we reunited back in the states and we got married a couple months after I retired from the army. But- things got sour after a few years and we split up... It was unfortunate, but at least we didn't leave on the worst of terms."

"Are you married now?"

"Kinda..."

"What do you mean, kinda?"

"Well, you've met my husband, er, I guess I should say- wife now..."

"... Oh- fuck... I feel like I should say, sorry. Which one is he, -- or she, I mean?"

"Uh... Heh, he turned into the sleeping malamute taur bitch over there."

Doc let loose a disbelieving laugh under his breath. "What? How the fuck did that happen?"

"I'll... I'll explain when Aston wakes up... I'm sure he'll wanna know what happened to Liam, too. Or I guess she goes by Lisa, now."

Doc snickered. "Wow... Please don't tell me your lioness friend used to be a guy too."

"She just sort of joined us when we made our way to the mall a couple days ago. She's nice enough."

"Sure. I've spoken with her... What about the burly t-rex lady I patched up? She was sweet but, -- she kinda scared the crap out of me. I thought her vision would be based on movement, but-- heh, I was wrong."

"That was just a movie, Doc... He- ahem- she- was in the special forces, same as me. 19th group if I remember right. She forgot her name, but thankfully her training has stuck with her. We call her, 'Sue,' now..."

"... O--kay... So uh, anyway, sorry for getting us so sidetracked. Um... What exactly did this nanite strain do to Aston, or in other words, what does it do to a human? I mean, he is still human, - right?"

"Yea, he's still human, genetically speaking. This-- refined- virus, as they're calling it, does a few things... First, your overall physical fitness level is enhanced, as you can observe. Second, your senses are somewhat refined, and third your cells will divide faster which in turn gives you an enhanced healing factor; not quite on par with a mutant, but definitely faster than a-- non-nano enhanced human. On top of all that, immunity to what is being referred to as 'casual infection' - is permanently boosted."

"... Permanently?"

"That's right. However, any significant exposure to any one strain will still result in physical mutation, so don't get too excited..."

"Oh... Do you think it could be altered to provide total inoculation?"

"... I doubt it. These crazy ass nanites shift and change and shift faster than H.I.V., so-- full immunization is probably impossible."

"... Well, that sucks."

"Look, as it is right now, this strain's far to powerful to be administered freely anyway, and the current infusion process a little-- intense."

"I

"So, getting a testable sample into military hands so R.S.X. can fine tune it into a simple injection should be our primary focus. Hopefully it won't take them very long to put it into full production."

"Let's hope. I have a feeling even after they start to manufacture it it'll only be available to military personnel though."

"Don't be so sure about that. R.S.X. is thinking we can use it to reverse any partial mutations survivors have picked up, and even allow mutants with any- 'undesirable' traits to change their forms to their liking... With a little instruction, of course."

"Kinda like what you and Max did to yourselves?"

"Exactly..." Gail's tone shifted playfully. "Do you like the new look?"

Doc sarcastically chuckled. "Sure," he replied. "You are- adorably terrifying."

--

-It was the same every night-

-Automatic weapons blazing-

-Bullets slicing through the air all around him-

-Men, women, and children screaming-

-Steel and rounds rending flesh and bone-

-The wounded child soldier, one Aston showed no mercy for-

-Haunting silence after the last shot was fired into head of the rebel commander-

-The same images, sounds, and mental echoes, every damn night-

--

The nightmare, identical to the one Aston had endured night after night for so many years, forced his eyes wide open while a powerful shudder lanced through his torso. He gasped for air, clutching his chest as tears began forming in his eyes. Nearby a large quadrupedal figure who had been lying silently silhouetted by the battery powered lantern rapidly stood, turned, and lowered her muzzle until it was inches from his face.

"Jesus, Aston!" the concerned wolf said, a caring urgency in her voice. "My, god." She quickly laid herself beside the petrified man and placed a semi-dexterous paw on his naked shoulder as she nestled against him. "Shh, everything's all right. Just relax," she crooned into his ear as she slowly stroked his toned, muscular side and back to sooth him. "It's just a dream... It'll pass..."

Once again, the motherly wolf's words cut through his suffering like a well honed knife edge. He soon drifted off again, hypnotized by her sweet voice and tender touch.

--

...All 1-M.E.F. stations this net, stand by for priority sit-rep... Recent CSAR operations east of battlespace Fairhaven have consequently driven a cluster of heavyweight and super heavyweight mutants from their usual environment in the dry plains to the residential zones northeast of Johnson State Park. Most of them were cut off during their advance via containment fire provided by air force gunships, however ten to fifteen were able to slip through; no final numbers... Any 1st Marine elements operating in the easternmost residential districts should exercise extreme caution as these creatures are invulnerable to anything short of a fifty caliber, and have been confirmed to be abnormally aggressive when searching for mates. If you are currently transporting survivors it is recommended that you hunker down in a secure building and remain there until the creatures have vacated the area if at all possible. Do not, say again, do not engage any behemoth or sierrasaur you come across unless attacked first, and shoot to repel not to kill... In addition, satellites are picking up increased Zephyr traffic in the 'urban forest' area located just south of Johnson Park. We've been meaning to secure another outpost in that area, but since Zephyr is not divulging much information about their operations all ground elements are advised to avoid the urban forest until further notice...

Chapter 7 Old Concept Two

"Anyway, it'll only take a few more successfully infused assets like him to put this project into full force. And, if everything pans out, and I know it will, I'd like to see the two of you participate in the second phase once we get clearance to pursue that sort of training. But, of coarse, that's only if your willing. I can always play with the D.N.A. of the gang in the meantime..."

"Phase- two? How many parts are there to this?"

"Three, actually, but the third phase isn't geared toward the military and probably won't start until after the situation in Fairhaven is resolved. From what they told me, it involves using these refined nanites for medical and pharmaceutical purposes... Sounds kinda interesting."

"I see... So what's this phase two about?"

"Well... The specifics may be kinda- perplexing for someone as one-dimensional as you."

"One-dimensional?" the man interrupted, a slight irritation in his tone. "Don't bullshit me, Gail. You and Max need my help with this, but I can't help you unless I have all the details. Give me the info I need or you can kiss my endorsement for this cluster-fuck of a project goodbye."

"Okay, chill the hell out, sailor!" the hyena replied. "My god. I was joking..."

"Well, I'm not in the joking mood..."

"Clearly..." Gail stifled a laugh. "Anyway, just let me explain. Phase two, simply put, has two functions," she went on. "The first and primary function is what we're calling 'controlled reconfiguration.' Which essentially means that, by infusing fully transformed survivors with refined nanites we'll be able to remove any undesirable traits from their physiology. The second function, for lack of a better term, is - shape shifting... The first function we're already implementing, the second is still a little ways off, at least when it comes to testing it on humans. Max and I have already tried it out, and it works, but we don't want to do anything too crazy just yet... I'm not sure if Max told you, but we plan to test the first function on those National Guard soldiers you guys picked up last night."

"Yea, Max mentioned something about working on them earlier, and he wants me to be there when he does. What exactly will these- um-- the fuck did you call them?"

"Refined nanites."

"That's right... What exactly will they do for them?"

"Once infusion is completed they'll be walking on two legs again. And if we're lucky, their manhood will be restored."

"... What do you mean, 'if we're lucky?'"

"Um... Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we think two of the wolves are pregnant..."

"... Jesus- Christ!"

"Calm down. We'll test them after we're done here to be sure, but if it turns out that they are, any gender restoration will have to wait until after they give birth if we want to save the puppies. Otherwise the nanites will terminate their pregnancies... I don't think McCray would approve of that..."

"... This is so fucked up!"

"Gestation shouldn't take more than a week. After that, they'll be fine... Hey, come back to me, man... I don't like this any more than you do, but this is the situation were living with now. The sooner we accept it the better."

"Finally, you say something that makes complete sense..."

"Hah! You're a dick... Anyhow, like I was talking about, the second part of phase two is, like I said, shape shifting, and it's something anyone infused with refined nanites can be trained to do, human or mutant."

"... Why would anyone want to?"

"Uh... Reasons?"

"And those are?"

"Um... Survival? Adaptation? Having some fucking fun?"

"... Whatever... I'm not partaking in it. And I doubt Aston would want to, either."

"You sure? You're getting infused no matter what."

"I know that, but... I don't need a tail to do my job."

"It would make it easier."

"How?"

"Better balance and agility, increased running speed... The pure fucking joy and pleasure of having a tail..."

"... Yea-no... No thanks. I'll pass."

"Oh, you're a party pooper," grumbled the hyena. "I think the whole idea's pretty bad ass, myself," she resumed. "I've got a few creature ideas that could give us one hell of an advantage in bringing order back to this city."

"Creature ideas?" again replied the male voice as it suddenly grew closer. "Like, - what are you talking about? Something like what you turned into? You do seem more-- I wanna say, raptor-like than you were a few hours ago."

The hyena, or raptor-hyena apparently, chuckled. "You like what you see?" She asked, a hint of lasciviousness in her voice.

"Sure," the familiar man sarcastically replied, chuckling subtly. "You are- adorably terrifying."

"Thanks, that's what I was going for... I don't mean to be nosy, but you-- you seem really edgy right now. Everything all right?"

"Uh-- fuck... Listen, Gail, I need to come clean," continued the voice that Aston quickly recognized as belonging to Navy Corpsman Doc Espinoza, who took a knee nearby and unzipped something. Doc sighed. "I know this is exciting to you and all, but, I- wasn't entirely thrilled to hear about this little project we have going on here. So if I don't share your enthusiasm about it, please forgive me. I feel like were dancing on a razor's edge, and one screw up... Who knows what'll happen."

"Yea, I completely understand, Doc. You've witnessed first hand the worst that these nanites can do to somebody, so your apprehension about experimenting with them is plenty logical... Just- please keep in mind, whatever happens, this is the first step toward finding a long lasting solution to this mess."

"I-I get that... I just-- I don't like it... Then again I'm just here to do what I'm told as a rank and file piece of mutant fodder, so what I like or don't like doesn't matter."

"Relax... How about you tell me what specifically agitates you about it."

"Well- to start, we've been working so hard over the past four days to prevent infection and now we're all of the sudden under orders to intentionally stick this nanite shit into ourselves. I know it's all for- oh, let's call it- 'science,' but-- I don't know. And to make things worse I have you here spouting off nonchalantly about how Aston or I should try our hand at- 'shape shifting,' like this is some kind of twisted video game."

"Doc! ... Please, I am taking this very seriously. Please don't think I'm not. I know my hyena visage and the attitude that comes with it can make you assume I'm some kind of a jokester, and I am, -- but I still understand the value of a life... And I'd proudly risk mine to protect another if I have to. Just like you would."

"... That's good to hear... I do trust you, Gail... I just... I don't want to be responsible if things go awry."

"They won't, trust me... Everything is under control. I mean, yes, we are taking a big risk here, but it's-- sort of our job to do that, right? We don't look for safe passage. We seek what most would consider impassable terrain and we dominate it! ... Am I right?"

"... Yea... Damn straight... Anyway, I understand phase one of this; the enhanced strength, stamina, shit like that, but could we elaborate a little more about phase two? How exactly does the shape shifting thing work?"

"Sure, um... Like I mentioned, anyone infused with refined nanites can learn to do it. It's just a matter of concentration. With how transformable flesh becomes, we believe we could create whatever we want with them, should we choose to."

"So it's like what you and Max did to yourselves?"

"Exactly. He became a furry dragon-dog, I kind of followed his example and became reptilian as well-- because I guess I'm uncreative, heh... Now, when a human goes through the process, that's when it gets interesting. The subject can revert back to his or her human form at any time, and after reversion any impure transformative nanites in their body will deactivate themselves and be broken down into simple proteins which the virus uses to self replicate. At least that's how R.S.X. put it."

"But, how would that work on a human if the virus is specifically programmed to erase human genomes?"

"... Just like a computer, anything programmed can be reprogrammed, right? ... Rather than rewriting D.N.A. like all of these 'impure' strains that are ravaging the world, these 'refined' nanites leave the subject's original genetic template untouched. Instead, it just ads things to it temporarily while working the flesh like clay... And afterward, any unwanted genes are erased completely... The possibilities are only as limited as our imagination. We could temporarily turn any human into a-- laser breathing cyber-dragon if we wanted to. We could take a mortally wounded soldier and turn him into a gun slinging- cheetah-wolf hybrid fast enough to dance through enemy fire or something like that. Who knows? Kind of cool, huh?"

"Kinda freaky."

"Again, you are a giant-fucking-buzz killer."

"Thanks."

"... Not a compliment."

"Says you..."

"Whatever... Anyway, you'll like this. As an added bonus to their basic effect, refined nanites permanently boost their host's immunity to further 'impure' infections."

"Permanently?"

"Yep. However, it doesn't make a subject invulnerable to it, so don't get too excited. Refined nanites can still be overwhelmed and replaced by an impure strain, but 'casual infection' such as what someone would experience from consensual sex or any- insignificant physical contact with an infectious substance will no longer be an issue for their host. In addition we can use them to reverse any partial mutations survivors have picked up... Refined nanites are not a-- 'cure,' so to speak, but they're something..."

"Huh... See, I'm loving the first phase of this... And the idea of helping full mutants regain some of their humanity is awesome! ... But this shape shifting shit just seems like a lethal charm, you ask me."

"Go on."

"Well, you're asking for a future doomsday scenario. Nations going to war with an unending roster of nano-enhanced super soldiers with the ability to turn themselves into shit Guillermo del Toro ain't thought of? ... No thank you."

"... Perhaps you're right... But here in Fairhaven, it may save lives in the long run."

"How so?"

Gail's voice took on a solemn quality. "... Doc," she went on. "You know we don't have the guns, nor the ammo, nor the numbers to fend off a full scale assault from any of the heavier duty monsters out there, and you know our superiors will not risk sending in close air support... We've lost too many birds already."

"Correct. But we still have plenty of fire support available to us. The Navy's 3rd fleet has more ships here than are necessary, and they're right there off the coast just waitin' for our call. I can't imagine a single creature out there tough enough to tank a fuckin' cruise missile."

"I can't imagine that either, but calling in any kind of sea to ground strike would take way too long."

"Bullshit."

"Bullshit? Where we are in relation to those ships, it'll take about three to five minutes to coordinate a strike. You and I both know a lot can happen in a battlespace in such a short period of time... We need a faster option, and a powerful creature just may be it... That's all I'm saying. Besides, nothing is set in stone. We haven't even field tested phase one of this program yet so we're some time away from testing anything that outlandish."

"...Alright, you know what?" Doc let out a slow breath. "I'll endorse this crazy ass idea, but under one condition. I'm not trying to sound like a prick, but I need to make one thing clear to you. While I'm around, we are not using pure humans as Guinea pigs. I don't care how temporary the transformation is... Anybody that's human here, stay's human here. No exceptions. Whatever the cost. You want to make yourself a monster to help us fend off an attack, feel free to make one from a full mutant, like one of your- girls. But only if they're willing."

"That's fine..."

"And, I don't know if McCray told you, but we're gonna resupply at the beach tomorrow. We'll refit, collect food and water for our survivors and grab some heavy weapons; couple of fifty-cals, some AT-4s, shit like that. Maybe some non-lethals too."

"Sounds good..."

Aston lost consciousness for a moment, but woke again when the conversation he was overhearing became briefly heated with a new voice added to it. His eyes could barely make out the silhouettes of three figures in the room, one of which was clearly not human.

"Hold on," Lieutenant McCray interrupted. "Can we please, for the love of god, stop using the term, specimen?"

"What's wrong with it?" Gail asked.

"It just-- it bothers the fuck out of me, Gail. Alright? It sounds dehumanizing. You're a medical doctor for crying out loud, and a former Night Stalker, so can you start acting like it?"

"Calm down, I... Wait, how'd you find out about that?"

"I snuck a peek at the dog tags on your key chain... Plus my battalion commander told me everything about you, so..."

"... Oh... Never mind..."

Doc's voice cut in. "Maybe you should start wearing those tags of yours again," he suggested. "Might reinstill some of that discipline you seem to have lost."

"... Alright, good point..." Gail replied. "Uh, how about we use, -- test subject?"

"What the fuck?" McCray jokingly barked. "That's even worse."

"Why?" Gail asked.

"Just is," uttered Doc.

"Aaaand, referring to us as, 'THE INFECTED,' or, 'MUTANTS,' -- is really succeeding at keeping us separated from the animals, right, Doc?"

"I don't need your sass, Gail," Doc snickered. "Okay, yea, you're not wrong, but do you have any suggestions as to what we should be calling you instead? After all you are technically 'infected' with a virus and as a result of genetic and cellular manipulation and restructuring you are technically a 'mutant.' Correct?"

Gail stifled an annoyed sound. "Again, good point..." she went on. "Well-- 'after all' we are 'testing' an experimental pathogen on someone. So the term 'test subject' is- technically accurate, right, Mr. Smart Alec?"

"... We are seriously over thinking this, aren't we?" McCray asked.

"Fuck yes," Doc replied.

The herm hyena-dino laughed subtly. "Anyway, like I was saying," she resumed, "are you happy with the results so far, Lieutenant?"

"Uh-- you- know I'm not the one we have to impress," the lieutenant replied

"Yea, I know... Joint Chiefs, State Department, C.D.C., H.H.S.... Those are the people that will decide whether or not to push this project into full effect."

"And, even after they all agree, POTUS get's the final vote... Never thought I'd ever be a part of something the president would decide the fate of."

"... You don't sound very confident about it."

"Well... I know it's not all that important, but the physical aspects are- unremarkable to say the least."

"... It's not a substitute for the gym, Lieutenant. Besides, Aston was a prime example of fitness before I infused him with the nanites, so the physical adjustments won't be very noticeable. Essentially, he's just a- sort of a- slightly enhanced version of what he used to be. Aston version 2.0, so to speak. Not that he exactly needed an upgrade. That dossier on the your phone was some intense reading, I won't sugarcoat it. One hundred fifty plus confirmed kills in one day, and another fifty unconfirmed? Who the hell else can do that? ... I bet those rebel assholes panic whenever they see someone wearing a black cowboy hat."

"Wouldn't surprise me," said Doc, suppressing a laugh.

"... We'll know for sure what this shit will really do once we see Aston performing in the field," Gail resumed. "I'm positive this will all be worth it in the end. If it works for the military, who knows what other implications refined nanites will have for phase three..."

"Like what?" Doc asked.

"... Cure cancer or AIDs or something?"

"... Maybe..."

"Rid the world of genetic disorders? Eliminate starvation?"

"That might be a pipe dream."

"Come on! It's gotta be good for something outside military solutions... I- may be thinking- too far ahead."

"Yes- that you are," Doc joke. "You seem to do that a lot."

"Blow me."

"No thanks."

"Oh, come on. You'll like it."

"No thanks. I don't like dick."

"You ever tried it?"

"No."

"You wanna try it?"

"No."

"It tastes good."

"I doubt it."

"Wanna kiss?"

"No."

"Wanna hand job?"

"Nope. I'm good."

"Wanna blow job?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Why not?"

"Have you smiled in a mirror lately? You got some scary ass teeth, girl!"

"Want me to shut up?"

"No--Wait! I mean yes!"

"Puhahahaha! ... Got ya!"

"... Wow," Dock exclaimed sarcastically. "You're weird."

"And you know you marines love it."

"That's true..."

"Anyway, uh, in all seriousness," McCray interrupted. "I-if Aston suffers no ill effects from this I personally see no reason why phase one shouldn't, at the very least, be administered to everyone working directly with the infected. Right now what's being administered are these-- nanotech-- immunizations which, unlike this, they don't last for shit, and the side effects suck."

"What kind of side effects?" Gail asked.

"Typical for any booster shot," Doc replied. "I myself quit takin' 'em when I was working back at the F.O.B. and stuck to using MOPP gear. They made me vomit, and my ears are still fuckin' ringing on and off."

"Plus they only work on strains R.S.X. has cataloged," added McCray, "and the nanites in the shots have to be recalibrated every time a new strain is discovered. It's too much of a hassle to keep up with... But this, if its permanent immunity boosting properties hold out like we hope, if anything it'll serve as a more than viable replacement. Sort of a, uh, fighting fire with fire sort of concept, except in this case it's fighting nanites with nanites..."

"... Does this mean you're confident they'll give us the go ahead?"

"I'm sure they will. We need solutions, and we need them now... Anyway, y'all I've got some shit to sort out with security. I'll be in the office if you need me."

Aston heard the lieutenant leave, and there was a brief awkward silence that was broken by Doc's voice.

"I'm confident, so long as it doesn't include its-- other-- effect," said Doc. "If these 'refined' nanites start doing that shit left and right the government will discontinue our research for sure and we'll be back to the drawing board... I guess we'll find out when we get clearance to test it again, won't we?"

"Wait a second. What- what other effect are you talking about? Refined nanites are virtually harmless. The only side effect, if we can even call it that, is a youthful sex drive, which isn't a bad thing if you ask me. Having recreational sex is good for you after all... What? Science says so. Look it up when we have Internet access again... Doc? What's that look for, dude?"

Doc nervously sighed. "... I was watching, Gail..." he said, his tone slightly heavier. "I saw the whole thing... That's why I didn't ask about why Aston's lying here passed out... I know why he's passed out... You put him through- 'phase two' - a little early, didn't you? ... Gave him a little experience of the hyena bitch variety, eh?"

"... You have got to be fucking kidding me..." a subtle nervousness tainted Gail's voice.

"No. I'm not..." Doc went on. "I was curious to see what you and your girls were really up to, so I- hid in the projection booth upstairs and observed the whole- process... Don't worry, I'm not gonna be a dick. I'll- keep what I witnessed to myself... But I will say this-- that- was the most fucked up thing I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing. And I've seen some crazy ass shit since this outbreak started."

"Was it as fucked up as what you saw happen to those soldiers last night?"

"A little more."

"What? Give me a break! At least this time the change was reversible. The shit that happened to those 40th I.D. boys can only be modified. They'll never be anything remotely human again, you know that. It's far too late."

"We'll still be able to give them back their manhood and give 'em a bipedal form, right?"

"What's the fun in that? ... Shit-sorry..."

"You're so fuckin' twisted."

"I know, and that's not goin' away."

Doc stifled a laugh. "Great..."

"Anyway, yea, Max wants to work on them sometime tonight. We're hoping to have 'em combat ready before we conduct any further work in the city, but, that's only if they haven't been mentally compromised..."

"... They're still soldiers, Gail. I've spoken with all three of them... They'll do their duty regardless of what happens."

"I'm just saying, they may be better off behind the lines, at least for a few days just to be safe. My opinion as a psychiatrist may mean something here... They've been through a lot."

"That, they have, but so have we... My best friend was killed yesterday- by one our own helicopters, but even after that I'm not givin' up 'till we're done here, -- and neither will they. Those wolves may just be National Guard but their strong enough to get through this, same as us."

"... Please, just- let me keep an eye on them for- at least a day. Alright?"

"Sure... Do what you feel is right."

"... Sorry, I just..." Gail's tone briefly darkened. "I had this patient two years ago. A former Navy E-9. Super talented man and he seemed perfectly fine. He even laughed and told a few jokes before he drove his truck from my office to the end of a dead end road with a loaded pistol to end everything... I'm not taking another chance like that again... So, you all done?"

"Yep. This is all I needed. I'll have to get a semen sample from him whenever he wakes up."

"Ooh, maybe he'll let me get it from him!"

Doc chuckled. "You are fucking psychotic..."

"... And, you love it!"

"And, I hate to admit it..."

Aston felt a hypodermic needle being carefully extracted from a vein his arm, but he was hopeless to do much more than let lose a barely noticeable wince. What the fuck happened, he thought, finding once again that the simple act of thinking was more laborious than it had ever been for him. he desperately tried to move, to open his eyes, to do anything, but the intense exhaustion pervading every fiber of his muscles was simply too much. It was a whole new level of fatigue; something he had never experienced before. He wanted to scream, but even his lips wouldn't respond to his brain's command...

"Let's go," continued Doc as he stood. "I'll go pack this on ice and check on my patients. You- should go find Max... Good luck explaining why you went ahead and disobeyed the big dragon-dog."

"Disobeyed him?" asked the hyena. "How'd I do that?"

"You'll find out..."

It was at that point that Aston felt what was left of his consciousness deplete, and he drifted under once again...

--

-It was the same dream-

-Gunfire-

-Men, women, and children screaming-

-Steel and bullets rending flesh and bone-

-The wounded child soldier, one Aston showed no mercy for-

-Haunting silence after the last shot was fired into head of the rebel commander-

-The same images and mental echoes, every night-

--

The nightmare, identical to the one Aston had endured night after night for many years, forced his eyes wide open while a powerful shudder lanced through his torso. He gasped for air, clutching his chest as tears began forming in his eyes. Nearby a large quadrupedal figure who had been lying silently silhouetted by the battery powered lantern rapidly stood, turned, and lowered her muzzle until it was inches from his face.

"Jesus, Aston!" the concerned wolf said, a caring urgency in her voice. "My, god." She quickly laid herself beside the petrified man and placed a semi-dexterous paw on his naked shoulder as she nestled against him. "Shh, everything's all right. Just relax," she crooned into his ear as she slowly stroked his toned, muscular side and back to sooth him. "It's just a dream... It'll pass..."

Once again, the motherly wolf's words cut through his suffering like a well honed knife edge. He soon drifted off again, hypnotized by her sweet voice and tender touch.

...All 1-M.E.F. call signs this net- stand by for sit-rep... Recent CSAR operations east of battlespace Fairhaven have consequently driven a cluster of behemoth and sierrasaur creatures from their usual environment in the dry plains to the residential zones northeast of Johnson State Park. Most of them were thankfully cut off during their advance via containment fire provided by air force gunships, however about ten to fifteen were able to slip through. 1st Marine elements operating in the easternmost residential districts should exercise extreme caution as these creatures are invulnerable to anything short of a fifty caliber, and have been confirmed to be abnormally aggressive when searching for mates. If you are currently transporting survivors it is recommended that you hunker down in a secure building and remain there until the creatures have cleared the area. Do not, I say again do not engage any behemoth or sierrasaur you come across unless attacked first... In addition, satellites are picking up increased Zephyr traffic near the 'urban forest' area located south of Johnson Park. We've been meaning to get in there to secure another COP, but since Zephyr is not divulging much information about their operations all ground elements are advised by MARSOC to avoid that area until further notice...

The steadily growing murmur of an approaching conversation between a pair of familiar voices woke Aston once again. Feeling a sense of comfort he hadn't felt in years he decided to keep his eyes firmly closed and laid still as he listened in, hearing and feeling what was certainly Max's heavy footsteps as the big dragon-dog hybrid arrived.

He wasn't sure of what sort of cushy, plush material he was lying on, but he could tell it was laid out with some care. His head and back rested against something that was pleasantly warm, soft and soothingly nestled. It wasn't a pillow at all, he was certain of that. It was something alive, or rather, someone. Furry flesh, was the only thought that came to him. A furry somebody, but who?

And then he felt his living pillow make a subtle shift, and a hot breath washed over his face as the beast he snuggled with let out a strong exhale. Suddenly, the unmistakable feeling of a big paw hand and the tips of big claws became present on his chest. It was a warm and undeniably cozy embrace, most likely provided by one of the big female mutants he had the pleasure of getting to know a little too well earlier. He could feel the points of the creature's many nipples against his back as she shifted a little, and he assumed that the sensitive points belonged to the tauric malamute woman who had the pleasure of stealing his oral virginity.

Aston stifled a gasp, suddenly petrified as the memory of his recent sexual escapade came flooding back into his head. His mind screamed as his thoughts were tormented by the terrifying visions of his form changing; the feminization, growing claws, the tail, his or rather her new muzzle, etc. The most horrifying of all were the images of his male sex being reformed steadily into the 'fairer' configuration.

Oh god, no way, no-no-no-no-no, that didn't really happen, he thought. But the memories of the exquisitely intense pleasure and pain of his virginal folds and walls reacting to his first penetration and the horror of discovering that his body loved the sensations while his male ego fought furiously to hate them was simply too real. Too strikingly vivid. They told him beyond any doubt that it was no dream. He had become a woman, and an anthropomorphic animal monster in heat at the same time then skillfully rutted like there was no tomorrow, which he truly feared was a possibility, at least for his identity as a man.

He let his strained breath loose and allowed the pleasant feeling of his living pillow's breath provide a slight hypnotic reprieve from his terror inducing thoughts.

"...So, yea, they're asking for us to give them up to three successfully infected-- test subjects or 'specimens' as you're calling them, and at least a pint of my jizz," Max's voice said as he entered the auditorium. "It's not too much to ask the way I see it--Um... Why- exactly is Aston naked, and why's he passed out on the floor?" Max asked as his heavy footsteps came to a stop a few feet from where Aston and his malamute companion lay snuggled together.

"Um, heh- well, the three of us decided to give him your little gift early," Aston's hyena 'rapist' replied.

"Why, -- exactly?"

"You were taking your sweet ass time, that's why."

Max growled faintly. "Dammit, I thought we discussed you would wait for me to arrive before we began the process," said Max with a stern, disappointed tone. "The lieutenant requested that I observe Aston's transformation first hand."

"Did he, really?"

"Yes!"

"Oh. Well, you should have mentioned that, cuz my friends insisted we give things a little push into action. I couldn't just tell my girls no."

"Like hell you couldn't have," Max sarcastically replied. "You at least got Aston's permission before you did anything, right?"

"Um-- were we supposed to?"

"... Uh-huh... Your job was to explain in detail exactly what the nanites would do to him, and then we would work with him see how he wanted to receive them, or if he wanted to receive them at all... It was his choice, Gail. And if I read the laws of our sanctuary correctly, infecting someone against their will is considered a form of rape."

"Yea, I know that. To be fair, the sex between he and the three of us was on the level. He didn't put up a fight, anyway. I admit, I neglected to explain- well, anything, about your 'gift,' -- and I may have seduced him into thinking it was just gonna be a little bisexual experiment between the two of us before I- you know- had my fun with him. So I guess, maybe, it was-- semi-nonconsensual... What?"

"... There-is-no-such-thing-- as semi-nonconsensual. It's either completely reciprocated by both party's involved, or its rape, plain and simple! And you raped him! Didn't you?"

"Will you relax, big fella! You knew I was horny as dick when you asked me to be included in this!"

"Yea, it occurred to me, but I figured with your special forces background you'd have a little more control over yourself than this... I guess I was wrong, huh?"

"No! Aston reciprocated the sex. I wouldn't have gone any further if he strait up demanded that we stop..."

Max let loose a sigh mixed with a growl. "Okay, okay," he said, relaxing his tone a little. "Be honest, did your infection do anything prior to its intended effect? In other words, were there any side effects? I mean, he is passed out."

"... Maybe."

"Don't lie to me. I just spoke with Doc, and he said he observed the 'whole thing' and he even seemed a little shook up as he spoke about it. He hasn't had his normal game face on since, so what 'thing' did he see?"

"Well... Okay, I may have infected him with some- 'impure' nanites at the start, but I ensured that the impurities would break down in his system soon after and pass out of his body as just protein... It was as simple as what you did to Jewel, just reversible."

Max let out a sharp breath. "What- the fuck- did you do to him?" he asked, an expectant irritation in his tone.

Gail nervously chuckled. "I-uh-well... I- slowly- morphed Aston into a fully female hyena breeding hole and fucked him like a horny dog... Please--don't--kill me..."

"You--" Max stifled an unbelieving laugh, "are skating on the thinnest ice imaginable right now. Please tell me you're joking."

"Nope- I did. And it was the hottest fucking thing- ever! I almost wish you were there to see my handiwork."

"You-" Max sarcastically chuckled again, "know damn well that I would've put a stop to it, you sadistic bitch!"

"Like hell you would have. You would have joined us. I've seen the way you look at Aston. You'd love to fuck him someday."

"... You're disgusting!" Max growled. "Aston's the closest friend I have in this situation, I would never--ever do something like that! I've earned the government's trust and I don't intend to lose it!"

"Regardless, even if you did interfere it wouldn't have mattered. I'm not sure how I know this, but stopping a temporary transformation is impossible once it starts. It can't be reversed until after the change has reached completion."

"True... But I bet Aston demanded that you stop after he started transforming, didn't he?"

"Yes. And yes, I explained that stopping it wasn't gonna happen. Hehe..."

"You really think this is funny?"

"Maybe... Wanna hear how it went down?"

"No! For fu-"

"Too bad."

"No! Stop!"

"I made sure to transform his gender first-"

"Oh, boy," Max mumbled.

"-To begin our little- therapy session, driving home the loss of his masculinity first."

"Disgusting, on so many levels."

Aston could hear the herm's tone shifting sensuously as she went on describing the way she 'raped' him. He felt a sudden tug of unwanted arousal seep through the horror he felt as she recounted the ordeal in detail, forcing his mind to relive it for a second time as Max stood by, he too forced to absorb the twisted yet unfortunately accurate recollection.

"Next, I reshaped his cunt into its proper configuration," she went on, "though not precisely a 'true' hyena's vagina."

"No, of coarse not," Max sarcastically grumbled.

"As you may know those things are a little too hard to mount."

"Really? I had no clue."

"Yea, it's like pseudo-dick, so I gave him something more akin to a cat or-- weasel, I'm not really sure. I gave him an animal pussy, let's leave it at that."

"Fascinating."

"I'll admit, after teasing his sweet new pussy I started to feel bad, so I decided to speed things up a bit."

"How merciful."

"In the end he turned out so-fucking-cute!"

"To you, maybe."

"Too bad he passed out after he experienced his first girly orgasm-"

"Ugh! Please, just stop."

"-cuz my two girls here wanted to have some fun with him..."

"Oh, god..."

"Maybe he'll let me change him again sometime later so he can join them for a lesbian threesome... What do you think?"

Aston could almost sense Max face palm as the dragon-dog began pacing in absolute frustration. The slight thumps of his steps were somewhat soothing, for some reason.

"... Oh my fucking Christ on a communion mother fucking cracker!" Max grumbled to himself as he walked around the auditorium a bit to cool off. "Aston's gonna kill me!" he growled as he came back, slamming his heavy tail against the floor in anger. "If not him, McCray will probably have me shot if he finds out about this... You should have fuckin' waited, Gail!"

"Will you relax, Max! ... Heh, - that rhymed..."

"How am I supposed to relax?"

"McCray's already stopped by, and he's happy with the final results. Besides, it worked didn't it? Just look at how he turned out. The nanites worked like a charm."

"A charm? ... Are you fucking kidding me? R.S.X. said these are the most refined nanites they've ever heard of! I wasn't expecting you or your girls to be able to play with them like a kid who's found his dad's pistol! ... What if Aston remembers the whole thing?"

"I hope he does. It's an experience only woman can have. He's lucky I let him get even a glimpse of how a girl feels at the receiving end of a good boinking."

Max let out another frustrated breath. "Whatever," he growled. "I'm not holding Aston back if he goes for his shotgun..."

"Oh, chill the fuck out, you big galoot. I took the shells out of it just to be safe. Besides, Aston's too level headed to snap like that, and I'm positive the lieutenant will be pleased to see the experiment has been a success so far. Soon your- essence, will be in military hands so they can work with these R.S.X. people to bring this god-awful mess to a faster conclusion. And maybe we'll find out who's responsible for it all so we can thank them-er."

"Thank them? I think I'd rather rip the fuckin' head off their goddamn shoulders... Tch! Thank them, what's wrong with you?"

"I meant, bring them to justice... Yea, that... That's what I meant, I swear."

"... Oh, my god..." Max grumbled in frustration. "... Hey, Aston, you awake?" he asked a short moment later, projecting his voice down to were Aston lay.

Aston didn't respond.

Gail cut in, "hey, cowboy! We managed to find a case of energy shots."

"Ooh, that might work," Max joked. "He is a caffeine junky."

Aston felt that it was time to reveal that he was in fact awake, after all the prospect of getting a little caffeine in his system sounded refreshing, but he was still terrified of what his eyes were about to behold. The memory of his sex as a girl was as fresh as it could be in his mind, and the thought of seeing himself as that hyena woman again shook him to his very core. All the talk of him changing back, a corrupted part of him didn't want to believe.

Nevertheless, he opened his eyes and pushed himself up off of his comfortable living pillow a bit, breathing deeply as his head still reeled from the best orgasm of his life. Slowly and fearfully he brought his free hand up to his face, afraid of what he would feel and see through his blurry vision. The sight of a calloused human hand, the sudden stroking of familiar facial hair, and the slightly frantic examination of his naked body made Aston's pounding heart settle as he let out a sigh of intense relief.

As the hyena promised, he had in fact become himself again, or rather, an enhanced version of his old self. His muscles were slightly larger overall, and more importantly, much more toned. Whatever the virus did, it seemed to have the obvious benefit of enhanced strength and probably higher endurance.

"Holy-- shit, dude!" Aston softly exclaimed as he scrutinized his rippling body. He may have been a strong, hard working man before, but now, he would give some mixed martial arts fighters a run for their money. Every shred of body fat he once possessed had melted away, leaving every rippling muscle open for the world to see.

Anger rose suddenly in his chest as his thoughts drifted back to what the hyena herm did to him. He huffed and steadily rose to his bare feet, taking a moment to get his bearings. Right away, as he gazed ahead, he noticed that the hermaphroditic beast had changed rather drastically. Like Max, her body had taken on several draconic features that blended perfectly with her previous hyena physiology. She was slightly taller, and had put on a bit more muscle. Her tail had become about half as long as she was tall, thick, reptilian, and covered in mostly black bushy fur, apart from the first half of the top which was tan. Her fur was mostly unchanged, still that of a spotted hyena, but her more draconic foot paws and hand paws had become visibly stronger, now sporting more intimidating claws.

and looked the herm in the eye with his signature stern expression he had been known for. "Don't worry," he began, some anger in his tone, "I'm not gonna kill you, but that wasn't funny at all!"

The hyena, now wearing a pair of army style digital camouflaged shorts, athletic ARMY t-shirt and dog tags, folded her arms. "Well, It wasn't meant to be funny, sweetheart," she replied with a smirk.

Aston stood up and shook his head, briefly rubbing his face with both hands. "Lady," Aston shook his head again, "I truly believed- believed that my life as I knew it was coming to an end when you shoved that fucking knot of yours into me," he went on, his anger still unabating. "It hurt like hell, and I was fuckin' terrified! ... Do you know what that's like? To truly believe that these few breaths you're taking will be that last ones you're ever gonna draw as a human? - That's a type of fear that I--I never knew I'd experience... And I've been in situations where people were vigorously trying to fucking kill me, and the fear I felt then, paled in comparison to what I felt just now... Do have any idea what that's like?"

Relaxing her stance the herm gave Aston an apologetic smile. "As a matter of fact, Aston, I do know what it's like," she gently declared. "I was flight medic with the 160th S.O.A.R. for eight years... I've held children as they took their last breath in my arms, and I've written more condolence letters than I'd care to admit, - a few of them very recently... I know what it feels like to be helpless. So does every- 'mutant' calling this place home... Look, I- I know I went overboard and I can't use the excuse of my infection influencing me."

"Because It wasn't!" Aston snapped. "You were competent!"

"Aston, try to calm down, man," Max cut in.

"I'm not talking to you, boy!" Aston barked at him.

"Whoa! Holy shit. Never mind," Max quietly replied, briefly holding his hand paws up and glancing nervously away.

"Aston, please hear me out," continued the hyena herm. "This doesn't excuse me, I know, but my sex drive was- 'driving' me out of my mind and besides, my friends had already initiated the orgy..." Aston could only glare at her as she sauntered up to him. "So, I figured it would be the most enjoyable way to give you Max's gift," she came to a stop in front of him and placed her paw hands gently on his waist. "As you know, this strain he produces is unique. We're not sure exactly where it came from or how he picked it up, but it's the most refined nanite form yet discovered. It's capable of some- incredible things! For example, it gave me the ability to give you the body of a top athlete. You'll heal faster, be stronger, faster, more resilient. In addition, you're now invulnerable to all forms of casual infection, meaning the only way you can be permanently transformed is if your own nanites become overwhelmed."

"Like how?" Aston suddenly asked, his curiosity breaking through his anger.

"Being covered head to toe in infectious fluid is one way, or really any overexposure to any one strain will cause mutation. Um, ingesting something infectious would be another way, or directly interacting with an infectious artifact like something from that fur store upstairs, - which we have thankfully sealed off after one of our few remaining human survivors just happened to wander past there and- kind of- turned into a really slutty pine martin after just brushing past a fur coat."

"... You're bullshitting me."

"Nope. She tried to get a little handsy with Lance Corporal Newell before one of the guards grabbed her... Uh, anyway, if none of that sort of shit happens to you, I see you coming out of this completely human. And with your newly enhanced combat capabilities, coupled with the training you've received and the experience you have, you're just short of immortal!" The herm glanced around nervously. "I'll admit, I could have granted you these abilities without depriving you of your manhood for a moment, but... Come on! It felt- heavenly, didn't it?"

Aston felt the most intense blush of humiliation he had ever shown come to his face as the beautiful hyena morph smiled at him. He couldn't help but glance away in pure embarrassment as his flaccid manhood began to stir. Soon, however, after brief moment of sheer discomposure his dominant stern demeanor returned.

"You're a fucking monster," Aston grumbled, sighing after and relaxing his tone. "But-- If I didn't forgive you, I'd be no better..."

"Oh, you liked it!" the hyena teased. "You can't hide it. I am a psychiatrist after all."

Suddenly, the malamute taur right behind Aston cut in, startling him. "He liked it, all right!" she teased as she embraced him from behind. She sat her lower dog body down and pressed the warm chest portion of it and her warm humanoid belly against his rear and back. Aston gasped, once again feeling her nipples. She then placed her hand paws on his naked shoulders and began gently massaging. "You're so tense!" the malamute sensually continued. "Relax, sugar... You are the sexiest man on earth, right now, and every girl wants some of you! This may sound mean but even those marines aren't up to par with you now."

Another familiar voice joined in. "We should definitely have another go with him soon," said the lioness who lay sprawled on a collection of shredded cardboard boxes a short distance to Aston's right. She was enjoying herself like any feline would, wriggling playfully on her back and purring, her strong lion's tail lashing out in pure joy as she held her paw hands limp over her breasts. "I think Gail's right."

"That's enough, girls," Max cut in and he walked up to Aston. "How you feeling, Aston?"

Aston sat up on his knees and gave the smiling malamute taur beside him a friendly rub behind her ears. "Pretty good," he then replied with a chuckle, looking up at Max.

Chapter 8 old Concept (Last thing I ever wrote for it)

-It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save life and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things we (I) do, that others may live-

-Official creed of the U.S.A.F. and A.N.G. Pararescue...-

Meanwhile... Fairhaven Commercial District...

An anthropomorphic jackal of average height and lean build ran as fast as his filthy digitigrade foot paws could carry him. Gripped tightly in his tan furred paw like hand was the petite blood stained wrist of an uninfected full-figured woman with shoulder length black hair who struggled to keep pace with the quick canid morph.

With genuine terror in their grimy, blood stained faces the couple whipped around the next corner and hastened down a four lane street, passing by a variety of pillaged single and two story businesses all the while dodging various wrecked vehicles.

Not far behind them, something let out an earsplitting, high pitched howl. Whatever the burly humanoid beast was it obviously wasn't giving up its pursuit, and was unfortunately gaining ground on the fleeing pair with very little effort.

Less then a moment later the unmistakable and terrifying sound of large heavy wings beating against the afternoon air came from behind them. Though a part of him felt it was a stupid mistake to, and the fact that the fear in the jackal man's mind had reached a fever-pitch, something within urged him to have a quick peak at whatever made the sound.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" the jackal man grunted through his clenched jaws as he glanced over his shoulder to see that, as he suspected, another humanoid abomination had joined the terrifying chase.

The new freak was about as big as the other, roughly seven and a half feet tall with smooth gray skin, a long vaguely reptilian tail and a pair of fur-less bat like flight capable wings. A gargoyle, for all intents and purposes, with short backward pointing horns jutting from his forehead and a vaguely feline like muzzle. His somewhat dragon like legs ended in gray skinned three toed paws equipped with long foot talons that seemed to shine in the sunlight, and his powerful looking four fingered hands were tipped with the same intimidating organic weapons.

The assailant that started the ordeal was a brutish man like beast as well with deep purple skin and an eerily featureless short muzzle, save for slit nostrils for a nose, red reflective eyes, and a wide predatory tooth filled mouth stretched into a disturbingly permanent grin. The demon like brute's tail was shorter and less muscular than the gargoyle's, tipped with a somewhat stereotypical demon spade. His head was adorned by short demonic horns as well that were a pearl white.

"The alley. This way!" shouted the jackal man as he hustled around the next corner and ducked into a narrow alleyway between two multistory buildings lined with ransacked shops. Gripping the woman's wrist even tighter he abruptly shot down a cross alley ahead then came to a swift crouch behind a metal dumpster then hugged the woman tightly in his furry arms. He placed a tan furred paw hand firmly over her mouth and let out, "Shhh!" calmly into her ear.

Several seconds of petrifying silence passed and the jackal's grip on the woman, particularly his paw hand over her mouth, did not budge a millimeter. Both of them shuddered, the woman whimpering in terror as sudden enraged shouting cursing and harsh snarls echoed from the adjacent alley. The couple's successfully evaded pursuers furiously tossed debris and trash cans aside while they searched clumsily for their eluding quarry.

A quiet moment later the jackal man stole his nerves with a deep breath and peeked around the dumpster, letting a sigh of relief escape him as he saw nothing but the vacant alleyway behind him, cluttered with nothing but bottles and other random waste.

"It's okay!" he gently said to the woman as the sounds of the freaks arguing faded into the distance. He removed his paw hand from her trembling lips and caressed her head for a moment using the same. "They didn't follow us. Let's get going."

As they stood, the woman let loose a sudden cry of severe agony. Looking back, the jackal saw that she had leaned back against the dumpster, letting all of her weight rest on one leg. With her eyes squeezed shut she looked down and seized tightly to a blood soaked cloth firmly wrapped around the upper thigh of her other.

"Shit... It's bothering you again, isn't it?" asked the jackal.

The woman nodded, placing a hand hard over the bandage as tears began cascading from her eyes.

The canid took a knee before her and said, "Okay. I'll need to set that again." He patted his knee. "Come on. Put your foot up here."

"Oh god," she softly cried in anguish. "It hurts so bad after running like that... I can barely move it! I don't--I don't know if I can go on any further."

"What? No, no-no," he softly growled. "You are not givin' up on me that easy! You're tougher than this, honey." He rubbed her side to sooth her. "Just let me retighten it. You'll be all right..."

She nodded, wiping away her tears. "Please go fast!" She meekly begged, choking back a sob.

"Shh. You know I will, baby. Deep breaths..."

In spite of intense physical and mental pressure the canid mustered a surprising gentleness to his touch as he lifted the woman's injured leg and let her ankle rest on his thigh. He checked to ensure that the area was still clear as he steadily untied the improvised bandage. He then rewrapped it tightly against the wound, eliciting a short sob of pain from the woman before he quickly tied the ends of the fabric together.

"You can do this," the jackal reassured her with a subtle smile, gently taking her hand as he stood.

Quietly the pair crept to the end of the next alleyway that opened up into a strip of various shops and other ravaged buildings dotting the edge of the Smith Haven Mall's northern most parking lot. Carefully the jackal peeked around the corners and observed that the streets and tree decorated curb lawns were clear of activity. The couple continued on across to get a better view of the lot itself, low and fast, taking cover behind crashed and abandoned vehicles periodically to check for the burly creatures that the jackal figured were still searching for them.

Reaching the other side, the couple knelt down beside an intact van that had come to a sudden stop upon one of the shallower road verges that lacked trees. This allowed the woman to rest for a moment and allowed the jackal to scout the area ahead.

The scene that revealed itself to them was an unnerving one. But in truth, the woman had little expectations that the situation at the long sought after mall would be any more favorable than the rest of the devastated city they'd seen thus far. On the other hand, the anthro jackal man had a totally different outlook. He figured that the mall would be a focal point for survivors given its safer location, being not too far from the ocean and far enough from downtown as to not attract the more dangerous creatures. A collection of survivors would in turn attract rescue or at least some form of help eventually, he figured.

Before them in the north lot was a variety of vehicles. To no surprise, some still sat in their parking spots while many others were strewn about in the isles with a varying number of their doors open. The rest were smashed against each other in various random pileups; the unfortunate aftermath of patrons attempting to vacate the shopping complex days earlier, only to be attacked from seemingly out of nowhere by a horde of freakish, sexualized monsters of a diverse hodgepodge of species and genders.

Glancing around with increasingly disheartened eyes the couple surveyed the shredded remnants of cum and blood stained clothing strewn about all over the mall's parking lots with the most of it scattered on and around the various vehicles. A handful of partly consumed human corpses dotted the area as well, the sight of which left the jackal man with a nauseous feeling in his stomach. His sensitive canine nose absorbed the cringe inducing aroma of the area, and the scents brought back the horrible memories of his own transformation a couple days earlier.

As he stood scanning the unsettling scene ahead the jackal's mind began to wander. He had no desire whatsoever to visualize what it must have been like at the mall when the outbreak first hit, but his mind had other plans and decided to act against him. It conjured up vivid pictures of hundreds of people who's only wish was to return home after the mall suddenly lost power. He shuddered as his mind momentarily erupted with the horrid images of all those innocent everyday people being chased down and tackled, or dragged kicking and screaming from their vehicles. The next flashes were the worst; those same people being savagely raped or viciously killed by something horrible that shouldn't exist. It was something he had witnessed many times during the first day, but not on such a concentrated scale.

The jackal man lowered his muzzle and closed his eyes briefly, rubbing them with his finger and thumb pads for a second. With a slight shake of his head he let a calming yet saddened breath escape his lips in his best effort to rid his mind of any dispiriting thoughts before returning his gaze to the parking lot.

Suddenly his scanning eyes locked onto the most demoralizing sight he'd seen since the chaos in the city began. His ears shot back, a sharp gasp escaping him as he saw that not far from the very edge of the lot was the body of a woman who's corpse sat against the side of a two door car parked facing a steep bank. The dead woman was dressed in recognizable blue-scale digital camouflaged Navy fatigues and black boots, now all stained with blood, the most of it being around her abdomen.

"Oh, Jesus," the jackal whispered, shifting his stance to inspect the woman better. His eyes went wide in shock and he abruptly placed a paw hand over his narrow muzzle. He stifled his tears as his eyes absorbed the horrifying sight of the dead woman's entrails splayed about as if viciously dragged from her belly by a wild dog or similar predator. From the horrifying expression frozen to the female sailor's face it was obvious that whatever attacked her wanted her to suffer as she died, for whatever twisted reason.

"What's wrong?" the woman suddenly asked, noticing the sudden look of terror in the jackal's face. "What is it?"

He glanced at her, trying to suppress his emotions some as he shook his head. "Nothing," he uttered and turned to lean against the van. "I don't see any creatures besides- me. Looks like we're ok to head over there."

"I still don't understand," the woman said, her voice a little loud for the situation. "Why do you want to check out the mall so bad?"

"Quiet down!" the jackal snarled at her, eliciting a gasp of fear from her. He relaxed his shoulders and let out a long, apologetic sigh. He realized that all the emotional stress was allowing his instincts to affect him once again. "Ah, shit... I'm sorry, honey," he apologized and briefly rubbed her shoulder. "I-I didn't mean to lose my temper... Maybe- maybe there'll be people inside."

"Yea... There probably is," the woman went on. "With the luck we've had they're probably just as fucked up as everyone else we've encountered."

"Well, the only way to find out is to scope the place out. Our luck may change. There might be an E.M.T., army medic, or somebody like that."

"Don't get your hopes up... Besides, the army's probably all but defeated by now. You saw what happened to those soldiers when they came through our neighborhood. The same's probably happened to the rest of 'em."

"Please!" the jackal interrupted, slumping in frustration. "Don't think like that... Lets just get moving. Get up, swee-," the jackal man froze mid sentence as he reached down to take the woman's hand when suddenly his hypersensitive fox like ears picked up the terrifyingly familiar sound of heavy clawed feet running in their direction. A quick glance in the sound's direction confirmed exactly what he feared. "Damn..."

"What?"

"Just- fucking run!" bawled the canine morph who, with no hesitation, grabbed the woman's hand and dashed from behind the van with her in tow. They raced desperately for the potential safe haven of the mall, but were quickly forced to make a frantic turn to dodge a sudden dead end, and then another, and another as the maze of crashed vehicles in the lot became more and more disorienting.

The beasts tailing them emitted sinister laughs and joyous calls as they gave chase. Their inhumanly large cocks were full of blood and dribbled pre as they pursued their prey once again.

Unbeknown to the freakish creatures that probably felt that the day was going to end with the satisfying sexual conquest of the fleeing couple, a nineteen year old marine by the name of Lance Corporal Speller was watching the whole thing through the small ACOG scope mounted to the picatinny rail of his suppressor tipped M-16.

"Lieutenant," began the young corporal, holding down a button on the radio clipped to the lower MOLLE webbing of his tactical vest. "I got a visual on two tangos closing in at my eleven o'clock. Break. -- They're about two hundred meters out and in pursuit of two civilians. Requesting permission to engage, over." He quickly returned his left hand to the mounted fore grip of his rifle and kept the small triangular reticle of his scope just below the first monster's head, waiting for the perfect moment to drop him. His breath was steady and slow, in through his nose and out through his mouth.

"Copy that, Speller," McCray's voice on the other end of Speller's radio channel replied a second later. "Alekseev, Mitchell, can you confirm?"

"Roger that," radioed Alekseev who was crouched on the other side of the main junction of the roof beyond the skylights. The anthro eagle shot Speller a glance. "Speller, it's your shot, marine. Smoke 'em."

"Copy," Speller replied with a deep breath. "I gotta let 'em get closer. Out."

Finally reaching one of the mall's side maintenance access doors the panting jackal tried the metal knob, dread engulfing him as the knob refused to budge. "No-no! F-Fuck!" he grunted and slammed the side of his fist against the door. A desperate glance to his left and right revealed nothing but the featureless concrete wall of that section of the building. No other door, no loading dock, nothing but concrete and brick walls with unkempt raised wall planters, uncut grass, and more of the disaster zone of a parking lot.

He was just about to grab the woman's hand and run parallel to the wall to search for another way inside when her voice abruptly echoed in his ears with a petrifying hopelessness.

"Oh no," she softly cried, gazing fearfully at something on the other side of the sidewalk a short distance away across the narrow lawn.

Steadily turning, the exhausted jackal was greeted by two sets of feral eyes belonging to the brutish beasts that had chased him and his wounded lady friend for the last hour or so. He swallowed hard and reached for a cheap stiletto style folding knife clipped in the back pocket of his slightly tattered shorts. Withdrawing the knife he moved to shield the woman who had slumped against the wall in absolute despair of the situation.

"Alright, -- you ugly pieces of shit!" began the jackal, an unexpected calmness in his tone as he eyed the monsters before him. "Come closer." He flicked open the three inch blade of his knife and raised it along with a clenched a fist, appearing ready to defend the woman till his last breath. "See if I don't cut your dicks off and choke ya to death with 'em!"

"Speller, the fuck are you waitin' for, man? You've got a perfect shot. Light 'em up!" demanded Alekseev, briefly shooting his intimidating avian stare at the lance corporal.

"Hold your fucking horses!" Speller retorted. "Not yet."

The demon like creature emitted a rumbling chuckle and stepped up onto the grass just beyond the sidewalk. "You ain't got the balls, you little fuck nugget!" he declared. His permanent, lipless and fang bearing grin grew even wider. "You really think you can hog a fine looking piece of ass like her all to yourself? -- Not in our territory! Make it easy on yourself. Give us the woman, and we'll let you slip away with- at least your 'dignity' intact."

The jackal felt the rage inside him grow to a crescendo. "Go to hell..." he growled, his breathing becoming heavy.

Another mocking laugh rumbled from the demon's throat, the gargoyle joining him. "You first!" the freak replied, cocking his head. The pair of monsters then crouched down with one foot back and their clawed hands raised, their tails lashing as they readied themselves to pounce the helpless couple.

With a short out breath Speller instinctively squeezed his trigger. It was an unconscious effort on his part; something he was peculiarly aware of but not in complete control of.

The suppressor tipping his black rifle subdued most of what would otherwise have been a significant far echoing crack, yet the shrill pop was still loud enough to startle the hell out of the pair of civilians below.

Both the fiery jackal and the horrified woman winced as the shot rang in their ears. The adrenalin coursing through their veins, intensified by a heartrending shock, acted like a drug, gluing their perception to the visceral scene unfolding not a few meters away as though it were happening in slow motion.

Speller's bullet hissed as it spun through the air at a steep angle from above, instantly lancing a small yet devastating hole through the top of the demon brute's forehead, forcing the beast's head to jerk back sharply. A thin jet and mist of blood spattered against the pavement just a few feet behind the creature, the bullet impacting there as well, sending up a vertical column of dust and tiny bits of debris a couple feet into the air.

As if he were impatient for the now lifeless and expressionless monster to fall, Speller raised his stance and fired again, this time hitting the dying demon in the chest. The freak collapsed hard to his knees first and then to the asphalt with a subtle thud, followed by a dead silence that pervaded the area apart from a gentle breeze, shocked breathing of the gargoyle and a pained whimper from the woman.

After an awkward split second of staring at the dead creature that bled out on the pavement the jackal broke his gaze and stepped forward to look up at the roof. Partly concealed behind the parapet wall above was the couple's savior, a black man in his late teens, silhouetted somewhat against the midday sky. The man wore easily recognizable brown and tan scale digital camouflage fatigues and kevlar helmet, and the dark tan body armor of a United States Marine.

An indescribable serenity engulfed the jackal's psyche, and he smiled down at the woman before turning to flip off the remaining brute. "Good night, bitch!" mocked the jackal, shooting the gargoyle freak a wide grin.

He then watched on as the armed man above trained his rifle on the petrified gargoyle creature. With no hesitation, the marine fired two rapid shots, hitting the gray skinned freak in the head. Both the jackal and the woman then watched their other pursuer fall dead and bleeding on the parking lot surface.

Not far away several other brutes who had been silently watching and waiting emerged from behind several vehicles. Speller quickly trained his scope on the closest creature, but held his fire when the small cluster turned tail and fled in fear.

"You two, get inside!" Speller called down as the echo of his suppressed rifle fire finished reverberating out through the area. "More might be on the way. Find the main entrance! Go!"

"God, fucking bless you, man! I owe you a case of beer!" ecstatically called out the jackal man as he took the slightly less terrified woman's hand again. "What'd I tell you?" he said to her. "We're safe, baby."

"Overwatch, sit-rep!" McCray radioed in.

"Two E.K.I.A.. Ground secure," the grinning lance corporal replied. He relaxed with a sigh of relief. "Civilians are en-route to the atrium." He and the two eagle soldiers watched over the pair as the jackal began leading the woman steadily toward the atrium entrance.

"Good shooting, kid," complimented Mitchell.

"That was nothin'," Speller replied.

"Aw, come on, Shortcake," added Talbot. "Don't be so modest."

"Fuck you, Talbot," Speller chuckled. "I'm only one inch shorter-"

Unfortunately, a voice the group didn't recognize came over their radio channel to interrupt their brief solace.

"Combat Outpost Smith Haven," began the male voice, "this is Dragon Fang Actual- joint pararescue ground element. We have a situation you need to be aware of... A- 163rd U.A.V. recon element reports they have a fix on a substantial cluster of feral combatants converging on the mall from the north-northeast. You should have a visual shortly, E.T.A. two mikes. Enemy numbers estimated to be platoon sized, between thirty-five and fifty hostiles with additional enemy traffic converging from all directions. We have confirmed the primary cluster is transporting captive 40th I.D. members and Fairhaven P.D. -- numbers on hostages unknown, break. - Be advised we have an advance team pushing to your pos from the west to provide assistance. They're exactly one and a half klicks out at this time so watch your fire. Out."

"O--kay... Lieutenant, did you catch all that or am I hearing shit?" Speller asked into his radio ear piece.

"I was just about to ask y'all the same thing," McCray replied with a sarcastic snicker. "I hope they fucked up and radioed the wrong outpost, heh... Regardless, I'm sending security up to clear the roof and we're in the process of moving everyone else to the anchor stores just to be safe. In the mean time, do what you can to ensure that the man and woman on the ground make it inside safely. If you think you can effectively engage any inbound hostiles without harming captive friendlies let me know and you're weapons free. Otherwise, everyone hold your fire. If you cannot engage and they get too close, make your presence known. Do not, I say again, do not let anything anywhere near the atrium or food court."

Speller felt a knot in his stomach suddenly. "... Oh, Jesus..." he muttered, his face showing no emotion as he gazed through his scope at a gut wrenching sight that steadily revealed itself a short distance away. "Lieutenant, -- looks like that Air force dude had his shit together," he spoke into his earpiece. "We have hostiles inbound from the north and they have friendlies. A lot of 'em. -- We uh-- we definitely cannot engage without endangering hostages, I say again, we cannot engage..." He rubbed the short stubble on his upper lip in frustration and slammed the side of his fist against the parapet wall beside him. "God dammit!" he harshly whispered.

"And I don't think the man and woman on the ground will make it in time," added Mitchell, the anthro eagle coming to a quick crouch not far from Speller's position.

"Fuck. You're right. They're still too far away," continued Speller. "What do we do, sir?"

"Stand by..." chimed McCray. "Dragon Fang Actual this is Kilo Two-Six, my overwatch has confirmation on your target, over."

"Copy, Two-Six," replied the spec-ops commander. "Are you- uh, by a slim chance in a position where you can safely engage at this time?"

"That's a negative, Actual- not without endangering the hostages. They're bunched in too tight and their captors appear to be heavily armed... Uh... They've got 'em surrounded."

"Can you provide a status on their condition?"

"Well, the freaks aren't carrying any of them, but they do seem a little banged up. A few are stumbling."

"They've been in the city since this madness started so that's no surprise. Any appear mutated to you?"

"No. Surprisingly they all seem human! I can't see any signs of infection from here, anyway."

"Now that- is a little surprising... No ears, tails?"

McCray audibly sighed into his earpiece. "Negative, Actual."

"Boobs?"

"There are some women among them in- case you had to know. Uh, anyway, they're getting mighty close. What do you suggest we do?"

"It may sound crazy, but try a non-aggressive movement of contact."

"... Are you sure that's - advisable? I mean, we're a little outgunned here."

"You're- not exactly up against Spetsnaz, Lieutenant. What I'm suggesting is there's a chance all they want is food, water, or maybe even medical supplies which we can get more of. Maybe they'll trade our people in for it and we won't have to fire a shot."

"And, if that's not the case?"

"Heh... Well, then my advance team will be earning their paychecks today, won't they?"

"I guess so... Alright. Perhaps we'll get lucky."

"Our advance team is almost on station. If things get hairy, be sure to use that silver tongue of yours to keep those things verbally occupied until then. All right, Kilo?"

"Solid copy, Actual. Two-Six, out. -- Okay, everyone, let these freaks close in. Sarge, get to the roof and help with overwatch. Keep your eyes peeled for stragglers and be ready to engage on my command. Anders, Doc, assemble a security team and guard the food court entrance. Max, make sure you and your gang are ready. I have a feeling we'll need your assistance with this. Move into position to surround the area in front of the atrium entrance and put your flyers on the roof at the ends of each wing. Stay out of sight and wait for my signal. The rest of you on the ground floor fall in behind me. Let's let these ugly bastards know we mean business..."

As the men went back and forth through their radios around forty humanoid mutants emerged from behind a street corner to the north and began advancing at a leisurely pace across the parking lot in a lazy, uneven circle formation, scanning their surroundings with rather inattentive eyes. All but the leader out front were armed with what appeared to be stolen military and police weapons including a few belt fed light machine guns which some held in a fashion that poorly mimicked how a service member or police officer would. A few of the freaks enjoyed themselves by jumping onto and over vehicles as they approached the atrium entrance and made all sorts of dark growls, chirps, snarls and calls as they forcefully ushered a decent sized group of captured National Guardsmen and Fairhaven police officers along with them.

The soldier's and police were at the center of the formation, walking and staggering in a tight cluster with their wrists tied behind their backs. From a distance it was a bit tricky to tell the officers from the soldiers, given that they all wore tactical vests and kevlar helmets. The only significant difference being that the soldiers wore green scale digital camouflaged gear and clothing while the officer's clothing was a solid forest green apart from their pouch covered vests and higher cut helmets which were black. The humans appeared to be in decent shape, physically speaking, able to move under their own power at least, but the spirits of the captive men and women were undoubtedly poor. At that distance those on overwatch noticed a few of them had blood stains on their slightly tattered uniforms, implying that at least some were injured.

Sarge wasted no time and rushed to the rooftop. He made his way to the parapet wall where the three marines, and other two eagle troops were performing overwatch. He joined them in overlooking the north parking lot with weapons ready to be lifted into firing position at any time. His sharp avian vision revealed that the anthro jackal man and his human companion were still forty or so meters from the atrium entrance.

The two civilians below had noticed the obvious danger approaching and were looking around desperately for somewhere to hide from the heavily armed gargoyle and demon-like creatures, some of which were freakishly human apart from demonic horns, tails, and bat-like wings or similar gargoyle-like features. Upon seeing a pair of vehicles not far away that were free of any cum spatters or blood the jackal rushed for them and once again found himself doing his best to quietly reassure the suffering woman that nothing would befall them.

Suddenly a short sinister laugh came from the mutant militia's disturbingly human like leader, indicating that the cowering couple were noticed by him as they rushed for cover, much to the jackal man's dismay.

Coming to a stop roughly forty meters from the entrance the leader held his clawed hand up for the formation to halt. He then gestured for them to force the captured Guardsmen and police to their knees, which they did in a vicious and cruel fashion. Groans and cries of pain echoed through the lot as clawed hands dug into the men and women as they were manhandled. Two or three of them were even knocked hard to their already bloody faces by the monsters who laughed at their pain. The men and women didn't need to be battered around anymore than they already had, but the creatures were absent of any perceptible pity for them.

The leader of the mutant militia himself was slightly taller than the others, very human-like but with shiny black dragon like horns that spiraled subtly from his forehead to just passed the back of his head, parting his ass length mane of silvery hair. His skin was slightly pale with symmetrical patches of purple scales that gradually blended with his human skin. A large dragon's tail with a single row of black dorsal spikes swayed slow behind him, emerging from a gaping hole in the back of his tight shorts. His digitigrade half purple scaled legs were quite muscular in contrast to the rest of him and ended in dragon-like black talon tipped paws. He was without a weapon and was clothed in only black shorts and a tight T-shirt, and a rather expensive looking watch adorned his wrist which hinted at the lifestyle he must have led before the outbreak. His friends were similarly dressed, as if wearing cheap, unappealing cotton and a stark contrasting jacket was somehow their 'gang' uniform.

The half dragon man peered briefly at the destroyed pickup truck the jackal and woman hid behind and smiled fiendishly, letting his forked tongue slip from between his dark lips some. A subtle yet foreboding snicker emanated from his throat.

"If those two try to run, just shoot them," he commanded his friends, speaking with a slight lavender lisp and making sure his voice was loud enough for the hidden couple to hear. "There are plenty more for us to choose from here." He then examined the partly shattered glass doors a short distance in front of him that were extensively repaired using cardboard and other scrap materials, not to mention roll after roll of duct tape. "Who would be the one in charge at this- encampment?" the leader shouted. "Come out, so we may discuss a fair and friendly trade! -- Any further violence is not necessary." He glanced over to where the two dead humanoid freaks lay dead then kept his eyes on the atrium entrance doors as he awaited a reply. "Well, come on!" he resumed a moment later. "I haven't got all day! Let's see some pretty faces..." He paced for a moment. "I know you want who we have here in our possession. Perhaps you have something you'd be willing to part with in exchange for the lives of these soldiers... Like," he glanced back at the captive Guardsmen and police, then returned his nefarious gaze to the doors, "some time with your females!"

McCray, Luzzatto, Newell, and Nakajima abruptly emerged from the atrium entrance, holding their weapons ready but not aimed as to not seem overly hostile. They were quickly followed by Clewley the wyvern and two mall guards armed with shotguns who stayed near the entrance itself.

Clewley let out an gruff snarl and darted to McCray's side, giving the mutant leader a harsh stare down his draconic muzzle as he stalked forward. McCray promptly placed a gloved hand on the side of the Clewley's neck and rubbed for a moment to try and sooth the growling dragon's growing protective instincts. Seeing so many comrades in arms in such impotent positions was overriding what humanity the wyvern was able to bring to the forefront of his mind.

"Oh," began the mutant leader, presenting Clewley a condescending smile. "Now, there's no need for the enmity, you adorable lizard."

Clewley let loose another brief growl and rose to his hind legs to stare the mutant leader down with his wing arms folded. Unintimidated, the leader just smiled and shifted his gaze to McCray as the fearless lieutenant came to a stop a few feet in front of him.

"Okay..." McCray began. "You have our attention. Now, start talking!"

"Straight to the point, eh?" replied the half mutant, placing his hands on his cocked hips. "Very well. I like a man of focus, and intent. -- Please allow me to introduce myself. My name- is Mislav," the part dragon part human monstrosity introduced himself with a graceful bow while his purple scaled tail swayed ardently. "I am second in command for the syndicate of brothers you see before you. We may not be as- attractive, as we once were, but I assure you we are just as strong as we were before this- let's call it, pandemic afflicted our once prosperous city... Not a big talker? ... Very well, allow me to say that when our- friend- informed us of a military presence here I was not expecting to see-- humans... Quite the surprise indeed. I-"

"Slow down!" Interrupted McCray. "What are you talking about? Someone told you about us, who was it?"

"Now let's not resort to anger," implored Mislav, briefly holding his palms up. "Let's keep this civilized, my new friend. I was provided information of your whereabouts by a-- little bird."

"... A little bird-- told you we were here? Come on!"

"That is correct, G.I. Joe. A- sweet little bird who loves to chat."

"What'd he look like?"

"Oh, now, what kind of man would I be if I disclosed a secret like that? Let's just say, he looked like a trustworthy feathery fellow."

"That's- not what I... Whatever. What all did this- bird guy tell you about this place?"

"Only that I could find some stranded military members here. And where soldiers like you are there are undoubtedly survivors your protecting, yes? Well, as you may or may not know, in this- extreme city we find ourselves trapped in, intercourse among those with remaining shreds of intelligence can be seen as a sort of currency, or even a bartering implement."

"Is that right?"

"Certainly! Fornication is the new dollar, so to speak. As such, I see no reason why a fair trade of casual copulation for," Mislav gestured to his prisoners, "added protection is inappropriate. After all, this place looks a bit difficult to defend and could use a few extra hands."

"Nah, I wouldn't say it's all that difficult. Just requires a strong sense of noncomplacency and ingenuity... After all, we spotted you coming a mile away. Well, not us, but our- friends in the sky did."

"Ah." Mislav glanced at the partly cloudy evening sky above. "Fascinating... Honestly- I figured your forces would have pussied out of this godforsaken city by now."

"Why the hell would we do that?"

"Well, after losing so many of your- brave men and women in uniform to this scourge, why would you want remain so active here? Shouldn't you just give up?" He cocked his head briefly. "Go home?"

"That's never an option 'till the jobs done, pal. And we're far from calling it quits."

Mislav gave an inquisitive glance. "Hmm! ... Admirable, I suppose... Anyhow, enough of that crap. Let's begin discussing our arrangement. For starters, what would your name be, soldier?"

"Soldier?" McCray firmly replied. "Whoa, wait a second, did you just call me a- soldier? I'm a marine, shithead. There's a difference."

"Ah, yes!" Mislav clapped his clawed hands. "'The Few, The Proud...' Yea... I've seen the commercials." The mutant glanced briefly at the marines before him. "You're not all that scary in person, you know?"

"That's cuz this is real life. Not a commercial. Appearances don't mean everything."

McCray leaned his torso a little to give the captive soldiers and police officers in the center of the mutant 'platoon' a once-over. There was at least forty of them in total, two thirds of them soldiers, the rest Fairhaven police. All still wore functional albeit filthy and slightly tattered uniforms but lacked much of anything other than their vests and helmets given that much of their gear and ammo had been stripped by the humanoid creatures that held them captive. From up close they seemed relatively unharmed save for a few cuts, scrapes, claw marks, etc., much to McCray's relief, but at least one was showing obvious signs of infection. Shifting uncomfortably the mutating soldier glanced fearfully behind himself as a growing tail strained against the back of his fatigue pants.

"Now those people," McCray went on, pointing at the captives and looking the mutant leader sharply in the eye, "the ones in camo, anyway, are- soldiers. Him too." he gestured to Nakajima then shifted his pointing finger to the half dragon, "and I'm only gonna tell you once, you're going to cut them, and those cops loose, right now!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" the disturbingly human creature retorted and wagged a finger. "Not until you present something we want in trade. And you know what that is."

"You wanna fuck some of our women, right?" Asked McCray, placing his hand back on his rifle.

"Precisely! ... The species doesn't matter. A cunt's a cunt."

"Are you sure you can't be satisfied with some food, maybe a few packages of bottled water? We got plenty of that."

"Nope! We've got plenty of that too. We want pussy, marine!"

"Can't just find yourself some out there in the city? From what I've seen, there's- heh-- quite the variety for you to choose from. How about medical supplies? Maybe you and your boys can hit up some of the un-looted specialty shops here and take whatever we don't need. Then you can go-- gallivanting through the city and find yourself some pussy."

"Oh, of coarse we could do that! But why go through all that trouble. Even when you find a pair of nether lips that strike your fancy the chick they belong to probably won't have the will, nor the ability to speak. She won't flirt. She won't even tell me how big my dick feels inside her. She'll just lay there and take it, making animal noises while my hips go through the motions... No fun! I may be bi, but I'm getting sick of tail holes."

"Well," McCray sighed, "that's too bad, pal."

"Is it?"

"Yea... Cause the only women at this- encampment-, as you called it, are American citizens, and that means that while they're here they're under the protection of the United States Government."

"Yea? So what? It's not like the suits in Washington are watching your every little move."

McCray glanced at the sky. "Well, they may be, they might not be," McCray replied then shook his head. "There's a lot of drones around... It doesn't matter anyway. I didn't join the Corps to listen to politicians."

"Why'd you join then?" the half dragon man asked with obvious mockery in his tone. "To be some sort of a- hero?"

McCray's face went intensely blank, so much so that the sight of it broke through Mislav's arrogant demeanor for a moment, prompting him to straightened up a tad.

"No," the lieutenant gave a solid reply and took a sharp breath. He stepped forward, paying no heed to the arrogant stare the creature gave him in return. "There's no such thing as heroes. Not live one's anyway." McCray's tone became grave. "If you absolutely have to know, Mislav, I joined the Corps because pompous asses like-," he briefly pointed at the half dragon once more, "you-- do exist! Antisocial fuckers that think the law doesn't apply to them even at a time like this. That there are no ramifications for what they do, when the truth rather contrary... No. We're not heroes, pal. Not by a long shot."

"If not heroes-- than what?"

"... We're living shields, motherfucker, and we're not letting you or any of your compadres touch any of the good people we have here! We'll willingly die right here right now to protect them." The lieutenant took a few more fearless steps toward the mutant leader, his eyes never breaking their stern, emotionless gaze. "You understand me? Am I getting through your thick fucking skull?"

"Humph!" Mislav blurted with a frown and turned up his narrow hairless chin. "Yea. I get it. In that case," he folded his arms, gesturing his head back, "we'll just keep these- weekend warriors and little piggies we have here and be on our way... My father will ensure that you regret this decision!" The half dragon turned to strut away, his thick tail nearly swiping McCray's feet. "What a fuckin' waste of my time!"

"Yea, no!" McCray barked. "I don't think so!"

"What was that?" Mislav asked, turning with an annoyed leer.

"I never said you could leave, asshole!" McCray replied and rapidly gestured a gloved hand to his left and right. His team, including the wolverine guards, promptly shifted their stance so that their weapon's were angled in such a way that bringing them up to fire would take less than a split second. The group spread out a few meters as well, shifting the mutant militia's attention away from the entrance.

"Are you-- are you threatening me?" pompously asked the half dragon freak, cocking his head slightly as he fully turned.

"Sir, you just orchestrated contact at a sanctioned U.S. military outpost." McCray informed the him. "You know what that means? It means there's not a chance in hell you're leaving here without our permission."

"... Are you sure about that?" Mislav added and gave his cohorts a little wave before placing the same hand in one of his short's cargo pockets.

The lieutenant watched closely as the disorganized freaks feebly attempted to imitate his team, forming somewhat of V formation on either side their leader and leaving those on the edge of the formation perfectly exposed.

"Oh! ... Cut the horse shit!" McCray barked a moment later. "Tell your men to drop their weapons, and I mean right now! And take your hand out of your pocket!"

Mislav's eyes widened with amusement and he placed his exposed fist on his hip. A dark smile appeared on his face, revealing his short fangs. "Do you not realize your position to make such demands is hilariously weak?" he asked with intense arrogance in his voice. "I am here not to wage war, you numbskull jarhead! I'm here to do business. Are you so trapped in your- soldiery self righteousness- that you can't even give up a couple of women for the lives many more? ... Well, if that's the fucking case, and you desire nothing but the war your 'cavalier' mind demands, -- you may have it!"

With a small wave of his hand the half dragon's friends lifted their weapons to aim them with a clear lack of experience in using such pieces of hardware in comparison to the well trained military members and wolverine guards who had their sights trained on the mutants in half the time.

McCray took a step forward and aimed at the mutant leader's head. He shouted, "The fuck are you thinking? Take your hand out of your pocket and tell your freaks to drop their weapons right the fuck now! I'm not playin' around, motherfucker! We will kill all of you!"

Clewley let loose a rumble from his throat and fell back to all fours. He crouched low and appeared ready to pounce the lean man-dragon at any moment, not that the freak noticed.

"There are plenty more where we came from," Mislav angrily replied. "We have the mall completely surrounded, and soon my father will arrive with the rest of our syndicate... You are outnumbered, jarhead!"

"I'm not blind, and I don't fucking care!" barked McCray. His peripheral vision picked up movement among the parking lot to his left and right. He could have sworn the sound of intermittent suppressed rifle fire echoed from all directions as well, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it came from. "I've been at worse ods than this and came out without a scratch! Now lay down your fucking weapons, and place your hands behind your heads! What part of 'we will kill you' does your fucked up head not understand? Even if you kill us there's no chance in hell my superiors will let it go unanswered. You want this whole area to get lit up to couple thousand degrees by a few air strikes? Do you? Then go ahead and fire away! If not, do as I fucking tell you!"

A maniacal laughter erupted from the dragon man, his draconic tail thrashed for a second as he backed away. "I believe that's enough of this- useless jibber-jabber!" he shouted. "If we cannot barter for what is ours, we'll just take it then!"

Fixing their various weapon sights on McCray and his team members to the best of their hilariously limited ability the humanoids were startled when suddenly everyone performing overwatch on the mall's roof decided it was time to make their presence known. The overwatch detail stood up with weapons trained and spread out as Sarge barked a couple orders to them. A handful of the humanoid freaks shifted their aim upward, most seemingly unphased by the sudden appearance of the eagle troops and marines above while a few seemed to be second guessing the validity of their actions.

"Oh, screw this!" one cowardly creature said as he unslung and dropped his police shotgun and made a brake for it with his hands raised, soon followed by another two random humanoids.

Mislav quickly noticed, the half freak stomping and clenching his fists in anger. "Gyyyyaaaaooooood---dammit! You faggot ass pussies!" He roared at them as they quite literally high tailed it away from the mall. "I'll skin you alive if I find you again!"

His rageful tirade was amusingly followed by another two of his militia members retreating fearfully without their weapons. With a growl Mislav suddenly withdrew his hand from his pocket. In it was a olive colored metal orb with a small ring and safety lever attached; easily recognizable to everyone around as an M67 fragmentation grenade.

McCray knew that blood would soon be shed, but nevertheless, he prepared himself for combat with slow, meditative breaths. With unwavering speed the lieutenant fixed his scope on the half dragon's arm holding the grenade and fired just as the freak pulled the pin. The round struck the mutant in the shoulder, eliciting a painful scream from him as the grenade fell from his hand with a metallic clang as its safely lever disengaged. The deadly object landed with a thud on the pavement beside him and began rolling away.

"Oh, shit! Fuck!" Mislav shouted as he scrambled to pick up the explosive orb. Quickly retrieving it he and tossed it away with his uninjured arm.

The grenade landed at McCray's feet but, just Mislav's luck, was heaved back by the seasoned marine. It hurled up and over the half dragon's head and landed right between the two largest gargoyles in his gang. The two dumb humanoids had no chance to react as the grenade's internal fuse finished burning.

The grenade detonated, sending short eruption of flame and a large column of black smoke and debris into the air. The two gargoyles nearby were riddled with shrapnel that sliced through their bodies, even blowing one of their legs off at the knee. Sprawling hard to the ground, the decimated freaks bled out in a matter of seconds.

"The fuck are you waiting for?" shouted Mislav as he scampered away to get behind his armed cohorts while clutching his gunshot wound. "Kill them all!"

As if on a director's cue the half dragon froze in his step as simultaneous sprays and mists of blood and brain matter erupted from the heads belonging to the freaks armed with the heaviest military weapons. The loud and sharp wet squelch of the rifle rounds slicing through skull and tissue caused the entire mutant militia to recoil in fear, providing the lieutenant and his team the perfect opportunity to dash for cover behind the brick planters and low walls situated just past the concrete, glass roofed canopy of the atrium entrance path.

The two big wolverines already there helped pull some of the team to safety just in time as the creatures in the parking lot became frantic and began firing their various weapons erratically. Some fired at McCray and his unit, while others fired at the roof and in the general direction the synchronized shots came from that killed their machine gunners. A small group of the mutants quickly gathered up the belt fed weapons from the corpses of their fallen comrades and used them to suppress the mall's defenders.

The ceaseless yet laughably inaccurate incoming rounds whizzed all around McCray and his team and sent dust and debris into the air in front of them. Several bullets struck the benches, planters, and low walls sending bits and pieces of them everywhere, but thankfully the cover held up enough to protect the group.

After a couple of seconds a more concentrated burst of rifle fire sliced through a wolverine guard's shoulder and lower side as he clambered to find better cover. The beast roared and collapsed beside Luzzatto. The thickset mustelid endured the pain enough to slide himself an excruciating foot or so until his back was pressed firmly against the planter. He placed a big hand paw firmly over his abdominal wound but ignored his shoulder.

Luzzatto, keeping herself as low as she could, leaned over to him as she removed a bandage from her medical kit. She gripped the wolverine's black furred wrist tightly and tugged, but the stubborn and scared brute refused to budge it. He took a sharp breath and growled, shooting her an angry glare as he bared his intimidating fangs.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Luzzatto shouted, gripping the nape of the beast's neck with a surprising strength. "I'm trying to help you, ya big knucklehead!"

The marines, Nakajima, and the wolverines had no choice but to stay put to avoid getting hit. Being pinned down, and with the bound friendlies still in the vicinity, McCray knew his options were severely limited. He couldn't lob a grenade or fire back without risking harm to the soldiers or police officers.

The once confident and flamboyant mutant leader went wide eyed and recoiled pitifully as his pointy ears picked up the thumping crack of several suppressed rifles firing a short distance away followed instantly by the hiss of the incoming rifle rounds, the mushy splatter of liquid, and the subsequent collapse of half of his wannabe soldiers. He hesitatingly and fearfully turned on trembling legs just in time to watch the other half of his petrified, unorganized creatures receive the same precise volley of rifle fire from the unseen team. One of the freshly killed monsters amusingly fell backward on a captive police officer who yelped in fear, fell back and proceeded to frantically scoot and wriggle to get the heavy demon's lifeless corpse off of him while a wrist bound soldier kicked it away.

Starring with disbelieving eyes, the lean man-dragon covered his mouth in a mix of rage and abject terror as he watched all forty or so of his freakish friends bleed out from small holes in their lifeless heads. "Oh... Shit..." he murmured in fear, thinking that he would be next.

McCray kept his rifle trained on the remaining creature and glanced up at Sarge, who then was standing at the edge of the parapet wall, watching the situation unfold below with his beak agape. What little shock his bald eagle countenance was capable of showing, it was showing.

"You have eyes on the shooters?" McCray asked into his radio ear piece.

"No! It came from your ten and two o'clock, but who the fuck did that?" Sarge replied through his own radio.

McCray refocused on the demon. "That P.J. team, maybe... I hope," he replied.

Less than a second later a man's deep voice came from McCray's far left, catching everyone's attention. "Hold your fire. 131st R.Q.S., we're comin' out," the man called out.

With beholden and relieved eyes McCray and the group watched as a well organized formation of men emerged like a pack of hunting wolves from behind a vehicle cluster to the west where the voice came from. Standing with their weapons at the ready the formation observed their surroundings with professional intent until one of them, obviously the leader, skillfully vaulted over the trunk and hood of two impacted cars then signaled for his squad sized team to follow him toward the mall's main entrance.

The approaching team consisted of about fifteen men, all clad in green and tan pattern camouflaged special forces gear. They carried customized rifles and wore tighter fitting helmets equipped with integrated communications headsets wired to radios attached low on their tactical vests. Everything about the men screamed a bold sense of high end professionalism. Just the way they maneuvered between, over, and around vehicles on their way across the parking lot instilled even the seasoned eagle soldiers above with a feeling of astoundment.

The leader of the pararescuemen was an early forties black man wearing a solid tan ball cap with American flag patch instead of a helmet. He wore a wired radio headset as well with dark shades, and sported well groomed short beard. As he arrived he approached were the freshly killed monsters and still bound captives were and calmly ordered his men by radio, "Okay, target secure. Set security. Get these 40th Infantry and cops cut loose and get 'em inside to be checked out. I want 'em patched up and ready for combat in three. Police all bodies in the area then take up defensive positions. Move vehicles and whatever else you find to form an exploitable perimeter around the entrance. Let's go! Get movin'!"

McCray glanced behind himself and ordered, "you know what to do, ya lazy fucks. Give these airmen all the help you can."

The spec-ops gear clad men rushed to do as ordered and were soon joined by McCray's joyous fireteam, including Clewley. A small group of the airmen used tactical knives to cut the restraints off the 40th Infantrymen's wrists and began escorting the weary yet relived soldiers inside to be looked over. Another small group collected the weapons and gear carried by the now dead monsters and went inside as well to sort it out.

Two wolverine guards approached and promptly apprehended the conceited draconic leader as well and an airman bound the creature's wrists with a plastic restraint.

"My father will not let this go unanswered, you fucking bastards! He'll kill you all!" shouted the freak as the guards forced the cursing and struggling thing inside and into a holding cell.

McCray let out a deep sigh of relief as every last shred of tension left his body. "Hot damn!" he said and happily walked up to greet the leader of the pararescue team. "You P.J.s love to make entrances, don't ya?"

"It's a vital part of the job, man," kindly replied the senior pararescueman who then signaled for two of his men to assist the jackal man who had emerged from cover carrying the human woman who's leg had begun bleeding again.

One of the airmen placed a gloved hand on the anthro jackal man's shoulder and directed him to follow while the other carefully took the injured woman from him.

"You'll be okay, ma'am," ensured the pararescueman as he gently carried her to one of the brick benches lining the sidewalk near the atrium entrance. "Does anything hurt other than your leg?" he asked as he gently sat her down on the bench to check her dripping bandage. "Did all the blood on your shirt come from this?"

The shivering woman shook her head, keeping her eyes firmly closed. "No," she whimpered and opened them. "That's not my blood... My--my leg's- the only place I'm hurt... The other blood's from... There used to be ten of us, but..." She began to cry and covered her eyes with a limp hand.

"All right-all right," calmed the airman, patting her thigh. "I'll get this cleaned, then we'll move you inside and get you comfortable. I'll give you something for the pain as well. Are you allergic to any medications?"

The woman stifled her next sob and shook her head.

"Wait, I don't mean to be rude, but are you a doctor?" asked the jackal as he and the other pararescueman stepped up.

"No, sir," honestly replied the airman as he snipped off the woman's bandage with his sheers. He quickly retrieved materials from a pouch on his vest to clean the woman's wound with. "But all pararescue and C.R.O.s are medics," he continued. "We'll take care of her, okay?"

Watering came into the jackal's eyes as the airman took professional care to clean the woman's leg wound thoroughly. Short winces of pain and panting came from her, but the woman endured it as best she could.

"Thank you, guys. So much," the jackal said a moment later. He folded his arms and placed a closed fist at the end of his muzzle as he fought back tears, a fight he quickly lost.

"You're very welcome, sir. Are you a relative?" asked the airman.

"Yea... Fiancé," he replied.

Lifting a blood stained corner of the tearful canine's shirt the other airman noticed a rather significant looking puncture wound on his side that had soaked the tan and black fur around it. It appeared to have been made by a hostile creature's claw or some sort of spike.

"Excuse me, sir," kindly began the airman. "I know you don't want to leave right now, but we should move you inside so we can get this checked out."

Glancing back at the concerned airman, the jackal sighed. "it's just a nick," he calmly replied.

"I'm afraid it's a little more than that, buddy," the airman resumed in a factual tone, giving the wound a closer inspection. "I know mutant's heal pretty quick, but you don't wanna leave this open for too long. You might end up with a totally different kind of infection, - if you know what I mean. 'This turns septic it'll impede your healing process, or worse."

The canine morph shook his head. "Fine, if you insist," he said somewhat reluctantly and gave his fiancé's hand a reassuring squeeze. He then followed the friendly airman inside to the center junction of the mall.

Both the atrium and the food court had been completely emptied of survivors by McCray's team and guards minutes before, but the area was far from silent. Upon entering the jackal noticed the spent yet very relieved 40th Infantry members sitting patiently around the center fountain just past the atrium. In spite of the mental trauma of recent events some of the soldiers smiled and worked to comfort the others that seemed worse off.

As they sat and recuperated a couple of fast working airmen joined by Doc's companion, the hyena soldier, provided what little medical attention the soldiers required. Some of the Guardsmen seemed a little leery at first of the hyena medic's mutated form but she kindly assured them that she wasn't infectious and they let her do her job, thanking her after. One young soldier recognized the hyena's voice right away and the two shared an ardent hug after she finished wrapping up a cut on his leg.

A young Asian man with a familiar face walked in a moment later, accompanied by a tall hermaphroditic gryphoness wearing cut off lower army fatigues and dog tags. The man was recognized right away by his fellow soldiers as Specialist Nakajima, but it took the men a moment to register the fact that their once cheerful and fully male company commander had been forcefully changed into the striking herm cat bird before them.

Captain Junger let the news of his, now her, transformation sink in then reassured her men that she wasn't in any way ashamed of them. The fact that the unit had been thrown into such disarray in just the first few hours of the operation and the fact that this particular squad was somehow disarmed and captured by something out of a horror film was water under the bridge. She was proud that the squad had held it together long enough to be rescued, and to keep their rejuvenated spirits high, Junger told them to keep hope alive for the rest of their platoon, and the company itself for that matter, and that they would search for them when the time was right.

The jackal man found himself taking a short pause to watch the little reunion, all the while trying not to tear up again as the arriving soldier and gryphon were then welcomed with a few ribbing jokes, hugs, and other forms of brotherly affection. It reminded him of the time before the outbreak, when this sort of thing was a common occurrence and not a rare circumstance.

Sighing, the jackal let a smile creep across his furry cheeks then continued on, following the airman leading him to Doc's aid station. Before heading down the corridor he glanced back at the squad after hearing a murmur and slight commotion.

One of the soldiers, a rather athletic looking man, had been pulled to the side and was being checked once again by the hyena medic who was crouched behind the man to inspect something straining at his rear. It was obvious that the soldier was steadily transforming and he could no longer hide the embarrassing fact from anyone. His growing tail was still concealed by his fatigue pants but was then straining them to the point of tearing the seams.

With a gentleness, the hyena medic undid the embarrassed and somewhat frightened soldier's belt, pants button and fly then, with a gentle touch, she dipped her paw hand into the back of his pants. Steadily she extracted the growing limb to let the sensitive thing hang freely. It was growing quite muscular and thick much like a reptile's with a somewhat shiny epidermis of pink scales and a developing row of dragon like dorsal spikes that were a crimson red.

"Is it what I think it is?" asked the soldier, speaking with a Texan accent.

"If you're thinkin' 'tail,' yes" replied the dumbfounded hyena woman as she stood up, observing the pink draconic tail that began to sway nervously as it continued to grow, then almost at knee level. "What- in the flipping hell did you come into contact with?"

The soldier buried his blushing face in his gloved hands for a second then rubbed his forehead. "Shit, I don't fucking know," he replied, an odd mix of fear and amused embarrassment in his voice. "It looked like a fairy or some shit about three feet tall. That's all I remember. I hauled ass after the little fart dust tried to sprinkle some magic shit on me..." He gazed back to get a glimpse of his new limb and let out a nervous sigh as his eyes absorbed the sheen of his unnaturally lustrous pink scales red dorsal spikes. "I guess I didn't get away fast enough... Oh, god!" he groaned and face palmed. "This feels so weird!"

"Why didn't you just shoot it?"

"I was out of mags, and I was alone so I couldn't bum one off somebody... Why the hell does it gotta be pink?"

"Well, that's unfortunate," Captain Junger said as she strode up. "You hangin' in there, Corporal?" the gryphoness asked.

"Workin' on it, sir," replied the slowly mutating guardsman. "I can still call you that, right?"

The gryphoness chuckled. "Well, yea," she said, the edges of her beak curled in a smile. "Don't let the tits fool you, I still have a penis."

The soldier snickered a little than made a pained face. "Oh fuck!" he groaned and rubbed the small of his back as the tail grew a few more inches in length, then one in width. His gaze shifted from his company commander to the hyena medic. "I bet you can't stop this, can you?" he asked her.

"Maybe, if we get lucky," the hyena replied. "If not, we can at least slow it down a little. Regardless, there's no way to reverse it... It's a bitch, I know."

"Yea, it turned you into one," joked the soldier with a slight laugh.

The hyena glared at him and folded her arms, obviously finding no humor in his words.

Junger frowned and gave the back of the Guardsman's head a little slap with her eagle talon like hand. "Lose that kind of tongue, Corporal!" the gryphoness ordered.

"Yes, sir," the Guardsman replied. "Sorry, sir."

Suddenly a pararescueman hastily approached. "Pardon me, Captain," he said to Junger and gave the mutating soldier a gentle tug on his elbow. "I need to isolate this man at the aid station until his changes cease, if that's all right with you."

"Do what you gotta," replied the gryphoness with a short nod to the transforming soldier. "Go with him, Corporal."

Moving with the soldier in tow the airman glanced down at the screen of a high tech medical device he held. He stopped walking suddenly. "Hold on, dude. I gotta get one more," he said then gestured for the soldier to wait. He hurried back to the main group of Guardsmen still at the fountain and quickly found the man he was searching for. "Hey," the airman said, looking at a young soldier and gesturing for the cheerful young man to follow. "You need to come with me right away, son."

"Really? Why's that?" the Guardsman asked, not budging.

"We have to move you into isolation. Let's go. Right now."

The cocky young soldier's smile faded to a visage of trepidation. He was hesitant to move but soon rose to his feet and did as the spec-ops man instructed.

Anxiety was clear in the eighteen year old's face as he and the older tail sprouting soldier were escorted along to Doc's aid station. The younger man glanced back at his friends and the look in their eyes told him exactly what he feared. Somehow, somewhere, he caught the mysterious virus without a clue as to how. Fear clenched his chest as thoughts of being forced to watch himself change into some abomination filled his head. Horrible memories of seeing many of his fellow Guardsmen mutate right before him flooded his psyche as well.

"Am-am I-?" the young man tried to ask, but stopped as the fear became too much to bear. Tears welled up in the poor kid's eyes as he looked to the airman for an answer.

"We have to be sure, kid," the pararescueman replied, rubbing the soldier's back briefly. "Try to stay calm. Breath easy. If you panic the virus will only work faster... It might be a false alarm, anyway. This tech we're using is brand new. It's not exactly foolproof."

Up ahead, not far down the wing was Doc's aid station. It was in the steady process of being expanded and upgraded with much needed gear provided by some of the pararescuemen. Doc himself was elated and offered to assist the injured anthro jackal man while the airmen worked to set up their medical equipment.

Soon after he arrived, the jackal's fiancé was brought in and carefully laid down on a mattress next to him. He smiled down at her and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead while Doc worked expertly to clean and bandage his puncture wound.

On a far side of the aid station a white tarp had been suspended from the ceiling to serve as a rudimentary quarantine room, and the two soldiers were quickly ushered inside by their airman escort.

Meanwhile, back outside, the senior pararescueman reached out to shake McCray's hand. "Master Sergeant Greer," he began. "131st Rescue Squadron, 129th Wing."

"First Lieutenant McCray, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines," McCray replied, returning the handshake than pointed briefly. "You are- not- the voice I heard over the radio."

"No, sir. That would have been our C.O., Major Rosales. He's the combat rescue officer that volunteered to lead this mission."

"That mission would be, what exactly? Or are you gonna give me some spec-ops 'hey that's classified' bullshit?"

"No, no, no. Our mission objectives are to help ensure the security of COP Smith Haven, and perform combat search and rescue of missing National Guard and civilians at every available opportunity."

"Okay... Where's the rest of your unit?"

"Pushing here right now. They're maybe, ten mikes out."

"How many more are you?"

"Another twenty men including Rosales. He and his boys are out of Nellis, the 66th R.Q.S.. Full timers. Younger boys. We've also acquired two MRAPs and an N.B.C capable Stryker from decommissioned COP Bravo to make our job a little easier."

"Kick ass, man! ... Speaking of, what the hell happened over there? From what command's told me it's been compromised, and they've extracted heavily infected soldiers from there, periodically over the past day and a half."

"Brother..." Sergeant Greer shook his head. "I'll have to fill you in on what went down there later. Y'all ain't gonna believe the shit we saw in that place, but right now, Lieutenant, we need to prepare for the possibility of an imminent attack. We have enemy Q.R.F. heading this way fast." He gestured his chin toward the entrance. "Mislav's father is not far behind our Nellis boys. Intel suggests he's got a platoon sized group of heavy weights so we're in for one hell of a fight. Major Rosales is working to conjure up close air support for us, but don't get your hopes up."

"Heavy weights, as in?"

"Big taurs, armed with stolen police weapons. That asshole's father is a, uh," Greer thought for a moment, "what did they call 'em, uh, Ebonflame Draken."

"Ebonflame -- Draken? The fuck is that?"

"Nasty black dragon creatures from near the capital. They normally don't venture this far. We'll need to take him out first. You guys have any anti-tank weapons?"

"One AT-4 left."

"Alright. That means we'll only have one shot."

"What if it doesn't kill him?"

"Well, heh. Let's hope the Major gets us that air support."

"What do you suggest?"

"It's up to you, sir, but I recommend that you and your team take up overwatch positions and be ready to cover the rear entrance in case they try to whip around behind us, which their sure to do."

"Roger that. Sound's like fun. Haven't had good firefight since Iraq." McCray turned away and pressed a button on his radio. "All right, team, listen up. We have confirmed enemy Q.R.F. converging on the mall and they're right behind a unit of friendly Air Force personal. I want everyone to take up loose overwatch positions on the roof and be ready for a whole lot of fight comin' our way. Tell those 40th Infantry boys they're to defend the food court entrance once they're prepped. Anders, take Clewley and watch our six with them."

"We heard your a bit of mixed unit here," Greer went on. "What strength is your team?"

"You mean what's left of it?" McCray asked. "God, what I wouldn't give to have the rest of my platoon here right now... Well, from my own unit I've got seven of my marines and a corpsman. We've got one combat medic from the 40th I.D. that's partnered with him." McCray briefly pointed at the roof. "The three bald eagle looking guys on the roof are from the 101st Airborne. Fuck knows how they ended up like that. -- I also picked up four kids from- C company, 184th, 40th infantry yesterday evening. We mustered up their company's captain earlier today as well. Unfortunately, he's been fully transformed along with three of the boys that we picked up last night- and trust me, dude, if you saw what happened to those three kids- your-your blood would fuckin' curdle... I'm still finding myself fuckin' shaking every time I see them."

"I feel you, man," replied Greer who gave Clewley the wyvern a glance, noting the somewhat tattered yet still functional fatigue pants the reptile wore, including his dog tags. "I take it he's one of yours?"

McCray sighed and took a moment to observe Clewley who was putting his strong draconic body to good use, pushing a few metal dumpsters to help form the perimeter. "Yep," McCray then replied. "He's kind of a hard ass, but he's a good kid. He'll do his duty... Unfortunately, the beast that changed him got another of my marines last night... He couldn't handle it and-- killed himself before his infection could take him over."

"Shit, man. I'm sorry to hear that... Messy fuckin' business we got ourselves into here, but-- for now we need to put our pain in a box so that their sacrifices don't go in vain."

"Oorah to that... You lost anyone?"

"Not since Afghanistan... I'm grateful for that much at least..."

"...Oh! That- somehow reminds me. I think you should know that I've been ordered to conduct a bit of an experiment here. I'm aquatinted with what just may be the most unique creature this outbreak has produced so far, at least that I've seen, anyway. His name is Max. Our egg heads don't have a clue how he does it, but- through some process he's able to control what his nanites can do, both to himself and to those he infects. It's crazy ass shit, man."

"What kind of experiment are- you talking about? I mean, L.T., we just came from a place where they were- conducting- one that didn't go so well."

"Sergeant, my orders are coming from all the way up the flag pole, just like yours I'm sure."

"Well, that sounds better. It seemed like that dumb fuck Major Padgett pulled his orders out his ass hole like Tiny Tim's... Nevermind."

"Uh... Ok, uh well, my objective is to have our special asset, Max, infect at least two or three suitable hosts with the weakest form of his nanites so they can then carry it back to our scientists for study. I've got one man, a civilian volunteer, being tested with it right now, and if it works with him, which I'm positive it will, we'll be able to complete the experiment and transfer our subjects over to the Coast Guard at the beach plaza when we go there to resupply tomorrow."

Sergeant Greer sighed. "I hope you know what your doing, Lieutenant," he said with a slight shake of his head.

"You and me both."

"Cause this ain't some shit you just fuck around with. You and I both know that."