The Barren Harvest Garden

Pal checked her Geiger counter, and shook her head with a grin at the reflex. She hadn't needed it for a few years now, but it had become reflex, every time she went somewhere new, every time she felt nervous, to check for the radiation that had been thoroughly scrubbed from the world. And then her grin faded as she looked at the city before her. What was left of it.

Yes, someone or something had managed to clean the Earth, even fix the deadly winters that had resulted... But it was too little, too late. Nobody could talk to each other. Many people had died. Many more had died in the chaotic years since that final war, that final, stupid war. It was only a small consolation to her that the arrogant, bigoted fools who'd started it all were the first to die.

Still... She was on her own now. The small group of younger survivors, now their mentors, their adoptive parents were gone, had decided to go their separate ways. Some went in groups, like Micah and Tara. Others, like her, went alone. But all of them had the same goal... A new community to join. Somewhere. Anywhere. Anywhere?

It had been six months, and her rations were running low. So she had come to the city, to find more.

At least it isn't raining. I was stupid enough not to pack a poncho. Tossing her long brown hair irritably, she hefted her pack, and started walking. The road was cracked, heavily cracked, and overgrown... But it was a road. It was easier to traverse than the rocky outcrops that surrounded the city. What was it called again? She... She'd forgotten. She'd never really been there, never really knew anyone there, so she'd never bothered to memorise it. Another thing lost.

Still... The weather was clear, the animals had stayed away, and it didn't take her long to reach the first of the crumbling buildings. The street sign had faded, but, looking in through the window, she saw the chairs, the cracked sinks, the broken mirrors... A salon. Well, she thought, I'm in need of a haircut... She grinned. It looked stable, although she probably wouldn't be safe going any higher, and, more to the point, it didn't look like it had been looted. She stepped over the window frame, and put down her pack.

Curlers, dryer... Pfah, useless... Trimmer... AHA! They weren't in the best of condition, but she pulled forward one of her locks, and snipped experimentally. And, looking critically at the line of the cut, she smiled. It was the little things that kept you going, sometimes. So... Short, shoulder... Pixie cut. Yessss... Sitting in one of the chairs, she set to work...

* * *

She'd had a mirror in her pack, thankfully, and, as she looked for storefronts, places that might have food, tinned or otherwise... Maybe even firewood... She briefly pulled out the mirror and admired her look. She'd never been that good at cutting her own hair, but, for all that... It looked nice! Placing the mirror back in her pack, she spotted one of those food, thrift, and knick knacks stores... The brand wasn't important, would never be important again, what was imporant was...

A loud noise immediately set her on alert, diving into the store and hiding herself behind a wall. Not only did it sound like nothing she'd heard before, it was a mechanical sound. And images crossed her mind, fantastical images of all sorts of horrors. The unknown was even more terrifying these days. The unknown could very well kill you. And she waited, breathing as slowly and quietly as she could, as the noise grew closer. Rising noise. Falling noise. WHAM. And again. And again. Even before it came into view, she understood what she was hearing. And when it did...

It towered in the street, a four legged, almost insectile thing, painted dark green and yellow, and its head and chest glowed as it twisted around. Searching. Seeking. She kept out of the way, and only peeked in between its swinging searches, but from what she could see, it was only moving slowly because it was searching. Those legs were built for moving, and moving quickly, and it was only because those legs were taller than the store she was in that she only felt a moderate urge to run. But it seemed not to have noticed her, and so she waited, keeping as quiet as she could.

After what felt like an age, it stopped twisting around, and lowered its body... A clank, something dropping to the ground, and it lifted itself back up, before striding down one of the streets, twisting its body once more as it surveyed its path. And she let out a shuddering breath.

Worry about whatever it dropped later. Food first. Wood first. Nights were still pretty frosty, and she would need to find shelter... Preferably somewhere this new, dangerous element couldn't reach. Reflexively, she lifted her pistol from its holster, and checked it. Loaded... She'd cleaned it a few days ago... She'd keep it to hand, from now on.

Just in case.

* * *

It didn't take her long to find what she needed. The Geiger counter didn't even blip over the tinned goods, the use date was still in the future (She wasn't looking forward to when that would change, in a year or so's time), and they had firewood bundles. She put the tins in her backpack, and tied the wood to it, hefting it with a grunt. It would do. She didn't like everything she'd picked up, but the times had passed for her to be fussy. Still...

Nearing the entrance, she looked suspiciously at the object that insectile monstrosity had dropped. It was flat at the base, pretty thin, with some kind of translucent blue material in the center. She'd seen landmines and shaped charges (Almost run afoul of both, in fact), and this didn't look like either of them, but...

Pal shook her head. It was in the middle of the road. What the hell could it do? She adjusted the pack on her shoulders irritably, stepped outside, and, as it beeped, she felt a wave of heat. Her body was hot. Her cheeks were getting flushed, and the sensation, the feeling as if someone was running a wand all over her body, made her fall to her knees. It was... It was overwhelming, she was having trouble moving, having trouble even kneeling, it was so intense, and...

Her reflexes saved her. Even with her body being overwhelmed, with her conscious thought assailed by stimulation, she had drawn her pistol and fired at the only thing that was new, the only thing she'd thought was dangerous... The device. And, through sheer luck, her first shot had broken that translucent inset. She put the safety back on and sat there, breathing rapidly, shaking her head to bring her mind back into focus.

That was scary. It wasn't lethal, but it was scary all the same, because she knew, just from that brief exposure, that she would have been incapacitated quickly. And, although she couldn't hear that mechanical whine, the thumping returning, she understood exactly why it had put this here.

A trap. A trap specifically for humans.

She looked back at the device, and memorised how it looked. If she even glimpsed one, she would take another street. And she would be hunting for the darkest doorways or windows to hide in, in case the trapper returned.

* * *

She'd eventually managed to find a subway, just as it was getting dark. She'd even found one of those spring charged torches, still working, and, despite her worry that the place would crumble on her, the airflow was good, and it was... Well, it was somewhere whatever the hell that was couldn't reach, or place another nasty trick in. Soon enough, she'd adjusted herself, and cooked her first non-ration meal in ages.

Mmmm, canned meatballs and potatoes. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Being canned store goods, it was bland, but it was going to fill her stomach, and, compared to those dry bars she was used to... It was good. It made her feel a little better that the smoke was blowing into the tunnel, rather than up and out. Safer. And it gave her room to think. Room to breathe.

Whatever that was, it was trapping humans. And she knew nobody could make that sort of beast even before the last war. Certainly not something that seemed like it could switch easily from pondering to agile, and definitely not anything that induced pleasure from a distance.

Ergo, whatever built it wasn't human. Whatever built it was hunting humans. And she would have to assume whatever built it was hostile, because it was better to think that, than, for example, be crushed underneath a giant robot leg. Or worse.

She tried very hard not to think about that "worse." After all, if aliens had seen their media, somehow, they would know that humans had three obsessions with aliens: Fucking them, killing them because they were different... And dissecting them. None of these options seemed appealing.

Nothing broke the silence of the night save that crackling fire, though, and soon, her belly was full, pleasantly so, and she'd used one of her bottles of water to clean the pans she'd used, replacing them in her pack.

The fire would last the night, and she was, for the moment, safe. She thought for a moment about playing with herself, relieving the last of that lingering heat, but she irritably shook her head. Time for that when she was definitely safe. And besides, she was exhausted. Setting out her bedroll, she chuckled tiredly, and her voice broke that quiet, a self reassurance, a joke for herself to set her at ease.

"Who knew that being hit with 50 magic wands would tire a girl out? Today I Learned." It wasn't long after she laid her head down, and pulled the blanket over herself, that she slept the sleep of the just.

It hovered silently through the streets. Something had broken one of the Devices. No animals existed in the city, so it could only be sentient. And sentients needed to be found. But it was not built for capture or transport. It was built for scouting, for seeking out sentience... And making the Trappers and Carriers' jobs easier. The pheromonal trail was faint, but traceable, and it floated its way down streets, noting the patterns for its masters, the tactics of evasion they had used. The masters would adjust. Adapt. Improve. And soon, it found its quarry.

The sentient was exhibiting deep sleep patterns. Optimal conditions. It lowered itself, silently hovering in front of the sentient's face, and a light beam shot from it, gentle, soothing. As gentle and soothing as the low, tailored frequencies it had been programmed with...

The sentient would awake in a few hours. It had plenty of time to perform its duty, and leave.

* * *

When Pal awoke, she irritably noted that she was still horny. This wasn't a good time to be horny, she had to get out of the city, where, hopefully, there weren't any more of those things... But not dealing with it was going to make her irritable, and once she was out of here, she was going to jill off so fucking hard... Hefting her pack, she looked warily around. She still had firewood, the place looked undisturbed... She was going to miss feeling this safe, at least until she got out... Well, preferably out in another direction than she came in. She was, after all, looking for people, not looking to make her journey longer.

She didn't even notice the device until she'd already gotten up the stairs. And when she did, she froze, expecting to be paralysed once again, and... She blinked. Stepped closer. Prodded it with one toe, experimentally.

Nothing. Not even a beep. She frowned. What had changed between then... And now?

Even though it was one worry replaced with another, it was a lesser worry than having to watch her step on every damn street. She even found another one, just a short distance away, and... Nothing.

Well, nothing for it except to start walking. Picking a direction, she strode forward. Hopefully to the city limits. Hopefully... Out of this fucking nightmare.

* * *

It hadn't been a short route to the city limits, and Pal was getting sick of hiding. She'd encountered three of those big Trappers, and something else, something that had both frightened... And aroused her. A Carrier. Because it certainly carried things.

And those things distinctly looked like people. It was somewhat hard to tell, because this bee-like, segmented creature's pods, inset into its sides, were filled with amber fluid... But she could see, from her hiding place, shadowy forms, definitely humanoid, if not human, suspended, and... And they were slowly writhing.

They were safe. They were warm. They were happy. She didn't know how she knew that, but she knew, and she almost stepped into view then and there... Because, even trapped as they were, carried to some unknown destination, for some unknown purpose (That "unknown" being the terrifying part)... They were what she was looking for. Community. Togetherness.

But she'd stayed hidden away, and soon, it had hovered by, gently droning as it hovered down the street.

She couldn't take much more of this.

* * *

Pal could see the city limits. See one of the overpasses, crumbled except for its pillars, in the distance. But night was drawing in, and the Trappers had been thicker here, on the outskirts, than they had been anywhere else. It was almost as if they knew she was here.

Time to find another safe spot. There'd been no subways for a few streets now, so she would have to take a risk... Going a bit higher. It didn't take her too long to find a small tenement, and, trudging up the fire escape, her anxiety lessened as she found a small apartment that seemed free of debris, with small windows, and... Well, the building seemed more stable than the others. So she settled herself down, set out her bedroll... And started at the figure in the doorway.

She wasn't human. She was a goddess, and the heat that had been burning in Pal rose to a crescendo as she looked up at her. A small part of her was panicking, noting the plastics and metals that made her body, the unnaturally slim waist, the black, glossy mask where a face was meant to be. But that part of her was quiet compared to that irrational need to worship, to show this woman how much she needed companionship, she needed her.

She walked calmly into the room, swinging her hips seductively, and Pal let out a long, drawn out moan of desire as she knelt, still looming over her, and took her head in both hands. And started unbuttoning her shirt with two more, previously unseen. Pal, also, was needed. She knew that without any words exchanged. She was going to be allowed to worship, and be pleasured, and it made her shiver with anticipation as she was undressed, still firmly held, eyes to facemask. The vision stood, once Pal had been undressed, and knelt herself, leaning back with her knees spread, and inexorably pulled Pal to that gleaming crotch...

It was warm, and amber fluid, so delicious to the taste, coated Pal's tongue as she eagerly licked. She was being held, firmly, tenderly, as she was bent over by this goddess to serve, and she was happy to worship, uncaring of anything but that golden wet mound... She didn't even question how hands reached to cup her crotch, to slip between her cheeks and caress her asshole... She was chosen to worship, and worship she would...

It was sickly sweet, but that was delicious to her, and her goddess clearly showed pleasure, because she was gently pushing, bucking, and modulated, crackling moans sprung forth as she was eaten out, melding with the moans of Pal, and her noisy appreciation of that delicious pussy.

She wanted to be touched more, because those two hands alone were setting her on fire... She was getting wetter, and gasped as two gleaming fingers pushed their way inside... And then two more into her ass... They felt heavenly, and Pal could hardly keep licking (dammit Pal, it's just like that mine, get out get out get out), she felt so good... Her goddess tasted so good, and she felt hot, and wanted, and even as she was becoming more exhausted (sedatives, you silly bitch, move!), she could feel that orgasm approaching...

Her goddess came first, and Pal's tongue eagerly lapped at the sticky juices, greedily drank them down, and then she was cumming, wanting to curl up from the intensity, but she was held, held so firmly, and it was everything, it was wonderful, it was...

Going dark. Good job, jackass... You got seduced and sedated by a lesbian game hunter... Her thoughts had cleared, but it was, of course, too late...

* * *

She awoke in a haze of amber, covered in warmth, and as naked as the day she was born. It was gellid, but she could breathe, although she couldn't move very much, and she could clearly hear a steady, reedy drone, and see the street below her, and...

"Ohhh, shit..." She clamped her mouth shut suddenly, realising what she'd done, but... She shook her head as best she could at the foolishness. She could breathe in whatever this was... Why wouldn't she be able to talk? Still... Caught. Caught by whatever it was that was corralling her, her and her fellow human beings... Ruefully, she remembered how easily she had been caught, and wondered why it had been so easy. The form wasn't exactly her type, but somehow... It had been exactly what set her off, made her go crazy with desire... Another trap?

Nothing for it now, she supposed. Nothing for it except to wait and see what the hell was going on, and, slim though the hope may be, look for avenues of escape when they presented themselves.

The warmth increased, and Pal gasped... But it wasn't that intense feeling, like the other times... It was a warmth that pacified, that made her brain muzzy with happiness and comfort... She was still, in some sense, alert, but it seemed she was going to be comforted, before she went to her fate... And so, she slept...

* * *

And when she awoke, she was still in that amber bubble, but... Elsewhere. It was a low, blue light, and, looking around as best she could, she could see rows upon rows of bubbles, with other, human forms inside, more still than the ones she had seen before. And, of course, she was still trapped.

She was going to die, then. Die, and be prepared like some kind of... The light intensified, and, looking back, she saw a door open, and the figures that stepped inside were not human. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

They were insects. Tall, taller than a human, slim, and adorned with devices that glowed and chirped, aiding their movements, moving with their chitinous forms. And the one in front, they had a small device in front of their mandibles, a small device whose purpose became clear once they stood in front of her... And the being talked.

"We apologise for the confusion, Palomina Asterra. As you may understand from our form, humans would be... Loath to interact with us. Something about the unknown being terrifying in these times?" She nodded, dumbly. She could hear the clacking and chirruping and scraping that made its real voice, but whoever they were, their translator had nuance, giving contrition, self deprecation, and amusement to that being's voice. Still, something annoyed her.

"Okay, sure, I understand. Especially since a lot of people don't like things that remind them of insects. Still, how do you know my name, and why the hell would you be going to such effort to..." She blinked... Nobody talked to their trophies before preserving them, so what were they-