-Lain-
Looking at my map, we should be just outside of Louisville, which is right in between us and the Base. Being a big city, I obviously have no intentions of just walking straight through it to get there. I may be stupid sometimes, but I’m not suicidally stupid.
And apparently the convoy was in agreement with me on this, as their trail takes them off the highway and through the normal streets and roads heading dead south. Most likely they are wrapping around the city and then heading west towards the base. This is a bit concerning because it means that the military has failed to hold the city despite it being so close. I can only imagine how the situation is inside of the city if the army couldn’t even hold it.
At our current location we are in a small town that borders the city to the east, having stopped at where the convoy turned.
Sitting on a broken chunk of concrete I check over my map. It’s not the most detailed map in the world, but it does at least show what areas should be wooded. Of course that was back when the map was made, but if I make some very rough estimates about how quickly the trees are expanding, most of the areas down south of us should still hopefully be farmland that hasn’t been taken over yet. With just a bunch of patches of woods spaced about.
This is reassuring as typically speaking, the further you are from the woods, the safer you are. It also looks there are only a couple of towns between us and there, so are chances to do some looting will be scarce. Those small towns will probably already be cleared of most valuables.
I look around at the town around us, it doesn’t seem like much, but we might as well hit up some places as we go through it. Besides some farmhouses, we probably won’t be getting many opportunities to go shopping.
Besides, we are already so close to our objective and it’s not as if rushing is going to get me in that base any sooner. I still need to figure out how I am going to convince some soldiers to talk with us without gunning us down after all. I would also like to take some more time to teach Sky some English. If she is able to talk, it might help persuade the soldiers that she isn’t just some monster, but a person. I’m not sure how much it will help, but it has to worth something.
Folding up my map and storing it away, I get up from my throne of rubble and let Sky know that we are heading out.
The entire time that I was checking the map, Sky was chilling nearby and watching some racoons fighting over some trash in a dumpster while she just relaxes and chews on one of those blocks of bear meat.
I swear that girl really likes her meat. She’s already downed like four of them over the past couple of days just by herself. And each one of those things is like a solid brick of meat. The bear had so much on it, that even with how much I took, I probably barely put a dent in its weight.
In Sky’s basket is already enough meat to keep a family of four fed for a couple of weeks, but she just keeps packing them away.
It really makes me wonder where all of it is going. She doesn’t seem to be putting on any weight… Is she just burning it faster than her body can store it? We are doing a lot of walking after all…
As I walk next to her, I can’t help but watch as she munches away at her brick.
Is she getting taller? Maybe a little? Hmmmm, could just be my imagination, who knows. Besides, the whole point of giving her all of that meat was to help make her happy, and she definitely looks like she is when tearing through that slab of meat.
...
As long as she is healthy and happy, that’s all that matters. It’s the least I can do after making her tribe abandon her...
Looking up from the happy little Sky, I see a pharmacy and decide that that is as good a place as any to start some looting. Might as well hit up some places as we pass through, as finding some pain killers would be nice.
Thankfully I don’t need them for myself. That damn migraine finally passed after some time, and I no longer feel like I have a monkey banging some cymbals on my brain.
Besides my broken horn feeling a bit itchy, I honestly feel pretty good all around. My horn is probably just slowly growing back, so I give it a scratch and move on.
Regardless, stuff like painkillers is just way too valuable to pass up on, so searching pharmacies is a must.
Sky, seeing us turn towards the store grows noticeably excited as she realizes that we are going to do some looting. She quickly packs up her meat and cleans off her hands before we get to the door.
Kobolds really love to scavenge, don’t they? Sort of reminds me of Jawa’s. Little scavenging traders that won't hesitate to steal your unattended property. Definitely cuter than them though, so they got that going for them…
Stopping at the door, I can tell that Sky just wants to charge into the building, but she’s already learned to hold back with me and checks to make sure it is clear first. One of the gas stations we camped out in had a family of raccoons [Normal] living in it and they were not happy to have her come running through their home.
I didn’t want to just kill a bunch of raccoons when they are basically harmless - not to mention really cute. So, it ended up turning into a bit of a game with me chucking the critters out of the building as Sky ran about getting chased. The raccoons ended up picking a nearby dumpster to camp in for the night and I threw them one of my packs of bear meat as an apology. Sky has thankfully been much more careful about entering buildings ever since.
Peeking through the door, I make sure that there are no current residents in sight and then enter. Sky enters right after me, hugging the wall and checking corners, as if expecting to get jumped.
I leave her to her bit of paranoia and head into the store, walking along the destroyed aisles and giving a final check to see if anyone is inside. With everything looking clear I call out for Sky and then head to the back to search the drug section and the pharmacy.
I go through the aisle, but it seems as if everything of worth from cold meds too sleep aids have been cleared out. Jumping the counter into the pharmacy, I also find very little of use. What I do find either has really long and scary names with a book’s worth of side effects or are stuff like stool softeners.
Deciding that this stuff is better left for someone else to find, I leave it all behind and head back into the store proper. While I was in there, Sky was apparently examining a stand with a bunch of walking canes and umbrellas. Drawing one of the canes, she starts swinging it about like it’s a sword, but eventually she seems disappointed with it and sets it on ground.
Next, she grabs one of the umbrellas, but she seems a bit confused about its purpose.
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Walking over to her, I show her how to make it unfold and explain to her that you hold it over your head to keep the rain off.
She seems completely fascinated by how it folds and unfolds, extending out from the handle. I help show her how to make it travel sized again and then she happily stores it and the other two umbrellas away. Probably to be traded along with the bear teeth.
Hopefully we can run into another troop of Kobolds soon. Sky is going to blow their minds when she shows them her wares.
Going through the store there is honestly not much left in here. I manage to find a bottle of fruit punch in one of the coolers. It’s warm, but not bad, so I drink half of it and give the rest to Sky. Her eyes dilate as the sugary fruit juice flows over her tongue and soon she is chugging the whole thing. Finishing off the bottle, she starts tearing through the coolers trying to find another one, but all she ends up finding are busted cans and empty shelves.
“Sorry Sky, looks like that’s all they had left. Let's go hit up some more places.”
Calling for her I wave for her to follow as I leave the store. We hit up a number of other places as we head south. One that we visit is a gas station where I surprisingly find some bags of chips, I leave them closed in my bag to enjoy latter.
Further down the road we visited a big department store. Entering made me remember being chased by the dogs, but I forced down my fears and went inside.
Luckly there were no dogs inside, but I did run into some mutated rats that are almost as big as Sky is tall. When they saw me, they hissed and charged, throwing themselves at me with reckless abandon. They are hardly dogs, and honestly not that much scarier than goblins, so I just kick them aside and catch one in the air before breaking its neck.
Sky watches from behind as I basically stroll through what would have probably been a life-or-death fight for her. Although, I have to admit that I partially did it in such a showy manner because I knew she was watching. I like being able to show off every now and again, and the admiration in her eyes just goes straight to my bloated ego.
Besides the rats, I don’t find much except for a small pair of shorts that I think might be able to fit Sky. I’ll have to takes some time to modify it for her and see if it will fit. Getting it to accommodate her tail might be rather tricky, as hers is like a big fluffy lizard tail and is rather thick around the base. Still, it will give me something to do, and I really want to see her dressed up in cute clothes.
Sky herself ends up finding a couple of dolls and toys in toys section which she shoves into her basket. At first, I thought that she wanted them for herself, but I quickly realized that she just wants them for trading.
I guess it makes sense, I haven’t seen any yet, but surely Kobolds have to have kids to. I’m sure their kids would like some toys just as much as human kids do.
Luckily for Sky, she has no trouble stuffing them into her basket considering how she has been cleaning up the meat in there. Looking at how much she has already managed to eat, I can't help but think, 'Eh, even if she ends up running out, I can just give her the meat that I packed away. it’s not as if I’m going to eat it all anyways. Besides, she seems to love it, and I wouldn’t want it to go to waste.'
We later leave the department store and are thankfully not chased around by dogs, which does wonders for my nerves. The entire time I was in there, I ended up being on edge, just waiting for a pack of giant freaks to come breaking in. Finally, back outside, I can let out a breath full of relief as I guide Sky back to the road.
Looking back at her she seems to be having a really good time so that makes me happy. Although, I have to say that she has been a bit off while she is scavenging these past couple of days. I don’t know what it is, as it’s just a feeling. But I think that she might be looking for something specific and isn’t satisfied with her results so far.
Hmmm, well. I’ll just have to leave her to it. Hopefully she will be able to find whatever it is she is looking for. As long as she is having fun in the meantime, that’s all that matters.
Nearing the end of town, we come across the last big store in the area, after that, it is basically nothing but more open road for us.
The place is entirely marketed towards farmers and people that need supplies for their tractor. My parents brought me to one some time ago when mom was first getting her garden set up in the backyard. The place sold baby chickens and ducks and they were very cute. I wanted to get some, and dad was for it, but apparently the area we lived in didn’t allow people to keep chickens on the property.
With Sky following behind me, we head over and clear the store. Thankfully it’s just more rats in there, so I clear them out with little issue and soon we are searching for goodies.
Is there a rat nest somewhere nearby? We’ll have to be careful to stay away from it. I can handle a few rats and keep Sky safe with little issue, but fighting a whole nest will make that rather difficult. Although, it is probably somewhere in town, so we might have already passed it by now.
At some point Sky ends up wonder off while I am looking through the clothing section. I’m not too worried about her, as she knows to call for me if she needs me. I would still prefer for her to stay close, but I’m not about to go putting a collar and a leash on her. She’s my little buddy, not my pet. Although, she might look cute wearing one…
Their clothing selection isn’t much better than most places, having already been mostly cleared out. Not finding anything for myself, I do end up finding some small overalls that I could perhaps modify for Sky, so I gleefully pack them away for latter. The idea of Sky dressed up as a little farmer girl has me all giddy as I walk off to explore elsewhere.
My walk takes me passed aisles full of spilled seed and feed, and eventually I find something that catches my eye. Walking over I pick it up off the ground and find myself holding a whip.
Last time I wasn’t allowed to play with these, but my parents aren’t here to tell me no this time.
Giving the whip a swing and a pull with a big smile on face, the whip cracks against the air with a loud smack. A shiver runs up my spine as I hold the leather handle in a tight grip.
Oh, oh that was nice, I think I might like that…!
...
Wait wait wait, calm down Lain! Put the whip down! We are not opening that door today, no thank you! Next thing you know I’ll be wearing all leather and high heels.
With a fearful shiver at the hidden potential within me, I delicately set down the whip on a nearby shelf and back away. Walking away from the whip and a potential future of tight leather and red n' purple pleasures, I wonder off to go and find Sky.
It doesn’t take long until I am hearing the sound of what I think is heavy steel being dragged on concrete. Feeling curious, I head in that direction and find that it is coming from the tools section. Following the sound of the noise, I soon find Sky busily dragging a massive sledgehammer behind her.
I call out to her, “Sky, what are doing? Don’t you think that’s just a bit too big for you? The handle alone is about as tall as you are…”
Happily turning towards me, Sky calls out to me. She looks incredibly happy with herself as she continues to drag the heavy hammer towards me. Not wanting her to strain herself I meet her halfway and give her a pet on the head.
“What are you doing you silly girl?” I ask her with a smile.
Not responding, she bends over and grabs the hammer close down by the head and fights to lift it with shaking arms before presenting it to me.
Is she giving it to me? Why? I mean, it is pretty cool, I will admit that. But I don’t think that I need a big ass hammer…
I look at Sky and I can’t help but catch the glimmer of hope in her big yellow eyes. She really wants me to take this hammer.
Wait… Is this why she has been looking like she’s been searching for something…? Didn’t she try to give me that knife back at the Humvee?
...
She’s also, been looking at things that look like, or could sort of be used as weapons…
I reach out with one hand and easily accept the heavy hammer from her shaking arms. The moment that I take the hammer from her, her eyes light up like a kid at Christmas and she starts to vibrate a bit.
Resting the head of the sledgehammer on my shoulder, I kneel down and pull Sky into a one-armed hug. Planting a kiss on her forehead, I tell her, “Thank you for the gift, Sky. It’s really cool. I’ll be sure to take good care of it.
Happily, the little vibrating Kobold in my arm starts pushing against me and nuzzling into my chest like she is trying to burrow into my heart.
Giggling a bit, I pet her back and give her a squeeze. After a little bit of letting her release her happiness into my chest, I stand back up and give her a smile. “Alright Sky, come on. We still have a lot of ground to cover and then I can find us a place to stay until I can figure some stuff out.”
Reaching out my hand for her to take, we walk back outside and hit the road.
We still have quite some distance to cover, but at least I have a cute little friend to travel it with me.
Two days later, Lain and Sky will finally reach their destination, finding a good place they will settle down as Lain plans out how she will get them safely into the base. She will see her family again, even if she has to clear a city of monsters to do it.
-End of Book I-
The Journey South