This choice: The post-apocalyptic explorer • Go Back...Chapter #4Nuclear Winter by: Unknown It had been almost a hundred years since doomsday, and humanity was still kicking. Over 10,000 thermonuclear bombs detonated over the course of a single day, throwing up enough ash to completely block out the sun for centuries. The few that survived the initial blasts were subject to seemingly eternal night and critically low temperatures… and yet, through the natural perseverance of man, a few managed to survive. They became a new breed of mankind, where all the petty distractions and meaningless drama of the modern world was replaced with pure, raw, brutal survival.
Of course, things have been getting better as the century progressed. A bit of sunlight was able to poke through the clouds of ash, and natural wildlife have been breeding to the point of restoring their numbers, although they were a bit mutated nowadays. Clayton was just a teenager, so this was the world he’d always known. He had no memories or nostalgia for the way the world used to be, before the bombs. Really, he had no reason to believe the world hadn’t always been this way. He had grown used to this world, and quite proficient in surviving its harsh conditions.
Clayton was travelling through Texas at the moment, though the state was unrecognizable now. He had to trudge slowly through thick snow, wearing two extra layers of thick clothing beneath his winter parka to help him survive the subzero temperatures. Even with all the extra protection, he was still absolutely freezing. This was partially because he had accidentally walked headlong into an intense blizzard! The wind was blowing so loudly it strained his ears, and he continually had to wipe snow off his goggles just to be able to see. He knew he had to find shelter to survive, but he seemed to be in the middle of an empty field of some sort, with no salvation in sight.
He unfortunately had to abandon his rucksack, containing all his supplies, and his only weapon — a rusty single shotgun — in the snow, just because they were slowing him down. He could come back for them later, he reasoned, once the blizzard had passed. While he tried to stay calm and focus on the task at hand, he could hear his breath becoming more and more panicked and belabored as the situation began to seem hopeless. All he could do is stumble through the snow blindly, hoping he would just bump into his salvation.
Unfortunately, he ended up stumbling into something much different — a cliff! “Shit!” He cried into his neck gaiter as his footing slipped, and he went falling over the edge! Luckily, it was only a ten foot fall… but unluckily, he landed on his left leg in just the wrong way, hearing a sickening crack as pain flooded his body. As he lied there, groaning in the snow at the bottom of the cliff, he grabbed along his leg to realize it was broken! To make matters worse, his goggles and facemask fell off during the fall, leaving his face exposed to the freezing temperatures. He felt around desperately for them, but without his goggles, he was completely blind. He rolled over onto his back in the snow, realizing how doomed he was.
“H-help!” He cried out. With his busted leg, his only chance now was to hope some kind soul was around to assist him. He knew it was futile — he was in the middle of nowhere! “Help, somebody! Please!” His exposed face was starting to freeze at a terrifying rate; he cried, only for his tears to freeze against his face. Eventually, his entire head started to feel numb, and his thoughts started to jumble together as he lost his senses. The unrelenting sense of brutal cold eventually sent the boy into a state of half-consciousness, from which he believed he would never wake…
Eventually, his numb mind could vaguely hear the sound of two, feminine voices, speaking over him in concerned tones. Soon, he felt strange, furry hands grab him by the arms and start dragging him slowly through the snow. He was too out of it to even register it at this point, though, so instead of reacting, he just drifted off to sleep…
┄┄┄
Hours later, Clayton woke with a start, as if shaken from a nightmare. At first, that’s exactly what he thought it was — just a terrible nightmare — but that hopeful thought was wiped away when he noticed his leg was still broken, his face still felt numb, and most concerningly, he had no idea where he was. He seemed to be in some kind of old, refurbished doctor’s office; he could still hear the blizzard raging outside. He was lying in some kind of hospital bed, and when he looked down, he noticed that his broken leg had been wrapped in thick bandages.
He leaned back, sighing in relief. Some good samaritan had rescued him in his time of need. He was almost excited to meet the people who lived here, and learn the history of this place. It didn’t take very long before someone came into check on him… though they certainly didn’t look like he expected.
He had never seen a mutant like this before. She had a face with a snout, reminiscent of a wolf, and light grey fur covered her entire body. Instead of hair, she had big, fluffy ears atop her head, and he noticed that she had a tail which wagged involuntarily behind her as she walked. She was wearing a teal pencil dress reminiscent of a scrub, with a white apron on top, which had a red first aid symbol printed on the front, leading him to believe she was some sort of nurse. For whatever reason, she was also wearing white fishnet stockings down to her boots.
She was obviously well-fed; all of the human women he met in the wasteland were scrawny and lanky, but this ‘nurse’ was downright voluptuous, with large, firm breasts that pushed up against the front of her dress, and thick, full hips. “Oh, good, you’re awake! Why, we were all so worried,” she said, sitting down on a chair by your best, crossing her slender legs as she sorts through her supplies. “How are you feeling? Do you have any sensation in the face?” From the sound of her voice, she was probably in her late 20’s or early 30’s, likely a full decade older then Clayton.
“It’s starting to feel a little, uh, prickly, I think,” Clayton says. He desperately wanted to ask her why she was so severely mutated, but he figured that would be rude. Besides, it’s not like she was deformed or anything; she actually had quite a perfect body, and if it wasn’t for her strange fur and snout, Clayton would probably consider her the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.
“Mhmm. That’s a good sign,” she said with a smile, as she gently applied a warm sponge to your frigid nose. It felt rather nice. “You’re lucky we found you so quickly. That was quite a storm.”
“Y-yeah,” you said, looking around, still wanting an explanation. “What is this place?”
“This? Well, kiddo, you’ve stumbled upon Karnes City. Or, as it's called nowadays, 'Furtown',” she smiled. “Now, I can see the way you’re looking at me. I know you’ve probably never met a mutant like myself before. You should know that everybody in Furtown is like this, though — so if you have any questions, you should ask them now.”
He looks at her strangely. “Everyone’s… like you? What do you mean?”
“The term for the condition is ‘anthropomorphism’. Prior to doomsday, a few women in Karnes City were involved in a clinical trial, which experimented which fusing human and animals genetically,” she explained. “They all ended up looking like… this. At first they thought the experiment was a disaster, but when the bombs fell, it turned out this was actual the ideal body to surviving the conditions of a nuclear winter. Thus, only those few women survived…”
“So you’re all… 'anthros'?”
“Indeed,” she nodded. He can tell she’s had to explain all this before. It was like she was reading from a script. “I’m sure you came here to answer our request for mates, right?”
He raised a brow, uncomprehending. “I came here investigating some radio signals, but I didn’t hear anything about ‘mates’.”
“Oh… dear,” she frowned, her face going flush, as if panicked. “W-well… you see… as a side-effect of our mutations, us anthros are only capable of giving birth to other females. This is almost entirely a female society.” She explained, averting your gaze, already a little embarrassed. “In order to carry on our genes, we need… human males.”
Clayton stared at her, unsure of how to feel about this. “So you want me to…?”
“W-well, I mean, you’re under no obligation! You’re not going to be forced to do anything!” She insisted. “But, uh… males are so rare to find, your, err, 'seed' is considered a very valuable commodity around here... so if you decide to do any 'favors' for the girls in town, I'm sure they'd make it worth your while.” She coughed, trying to change the subject, obviously feeling a little awkward. You could see her blush through her fur. “Really, though, right now you should focus on getting some rest. We found you just in time, so your injuries won’t have any permanent effects.”
“Mm. That’s good news, at least,” Clayton say as she stands up, giving him some time to rest. “Thank you!” He calls as she walks out, before the door shuts behind her, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He lays there, listening to the clock ticking in the background as he considers his situation. The more he thought about it… the more 'Furtown' seemed like a paradise...   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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