“Gross!” Cassie was pouting pathetically in the corner. Her entire body was covered in Squirm juices, and her disgust was palpable. It wasn’t nearly as bad as what Monica was going through, however, which only sickened the Wolfkin even more.

Monica had come to after briefly passing out from exhaustion, and Lorelei could read the words written in Reverie that were inscribed on her lower back and buttocks. She could also make out the decretive sigils along the woman's lower back. Lorelei had seen them before, they were commonly used to separate and mark breeding slave stock.

The bar code on Monica’s butt cheek was accompanied by a serial code, registering her and the genetic sample she had been given. The marks on her lower back was a common branding to single her out as a breeder, not a worker or plaything.

As was common with breeders, Monica was already showing the typical signs of physical discomfort; whenever she tried to wear Konrad’s coat, or a spare bodysuit, her skin broke out into a vibrant rash. She eventually gave up, and then found another…weird way to cover herself. In truth, Lorelei could tell this was purely to upset Cassie.

After seeing Squishy wrapped around Lorelei’s throat, Monica was inspired. She let the larger, thicker, Squirms wrap themselves all over her; around her stomach and chest, her groin and legs, even letting them run up and down her arms. The Squirms seemed to languish against her bare skin, happy to latch themselves and cover her most sensitive areas, while ingesting the moisture and excess sweat. While it certainly wasn’t a long term solution, the mercenary seemed rather calm about letting the long pulsating creatures smother her sensitive skin.

“At least I’m not cowering in the corner,” Monica sneered at Cassie. “It’s kinda strange actually, not really sure how to describe it, but it’s nice having something warm on me.”

“I know you’re trying to provoke her, but you seriously should find something else to wear,” Konrad said to her.

Monica just waved him aside. “Then find me something that doesn’t burn my skin!” Monica scowled at their leader.

Lorelei felt terrible for her, but she had her hands full at the moment. Wrapping Theo’s hand in layers of gauze, after applying enough disinfectant to burn a hole through the floor, figuratively speaking of course, and caring for his bloodied shoulder had taken a lot of time.

He looked over to her, pleading silently for more morphine, or something to dull the pain.

"Don't worry, we'll get you back and fixed up in no time." Lorelei tried to comfort him, admiring how hard he tried to seem tough. "Fingers can be replaced, even regrown, and scars are sexy."

Theo blushed at that remark. "You...think...so?" He spoke through gritted teeth.

Lorelei grinned. "Of course!"

“Can we go home now?” Marci slithered over to her side. The small Squirm she had adopted, Slinky, seemed comfortable nesting in between her voluptuous cleavage, its head poking through the open zipper of her suit from in between her breasts.

“We push forward,” Konrad answered coldly.

“Seriously!”

“We push forward,” Konrad’s voice remained stern.

“B-But we!” Marci was stammering before she was cut off.

“Don’t you get it?” Konrad waltz over to Marci. “We can’t go back.”

“But look what happened to—”

“That’ll happen to all of us if we linger here any longer! We can’t recover are tracks!” Konrad’s composure was resolute. “We must push forward. We’ve come too far, we’ll contact the Narcis once we get a radio signal outside, and find a better route home, but only after reaching Ruddsturm.”

Marci jerked back, terrified.

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Konrad disregarded her, turning around to address everyone else. “Everyone, get patched up, eat something, and get ready to move. We can’t afford to linger here. Fifteen minutes, and we’re leaving these damned tunnels.” Konrad grabbed one of his duffel bags and threw it over his shoulder.

Lorelei knew he was right, but she also knew none of this was going according to plan. Still…she supposed it could’ve been worse. Looking over to Victor’s mechanized cyborg corpse, she knew that could’ve been Theo!

“Hey,” Monica walked over. “So, do me a favor, what the hell is this tattooed on my back?”

Lorelei swallowed a thick ball of saliva. “I’m…I’m not sure…” It was a partial truth. She recognized most of the markings, but she was never privy to the sample codes.

“Lay it on me straight.” Monica studied Lorelei’s face, knowing full well she knew more.

Lorelei cleared her throat, looking over to Theo who was half asleep from the morphine in his system. She only gave him enough to ward off the pain while she finished bandaging him up. He would have to get up and move soon, so she couldn’t give him a full dose, which pained her dearly. Seeing him in such pain was agonizing.

She looked back to Monica, not sure how she felt about seeing several Squirms around the woman’s breasts. Squishy kept itself coiled around her own neck, her head resting along her collarbone with mild interest. Lorelei decided to try to be honest with her, even though she wasn’t sure how the mercenary would take it. “The blossom rose wings on your back are the mark distinguishing breeding slaves.”

The words hung in the air for a moment. It was then that Lorelei noticed the Squirms seemed to latch around Monica’s nipples, never leaving them, even as they glided around her breasts. They must’ve enjoyed whatever moisture was there.

“Fuck,” Monica slumped forward. She sat next to them and rested her head in her hands.

“The barcode is made up of three sets of Reverie numbers,” Lorelei continued. “The first is your unique identifier, the second is supposed to signify the date, and the third is the…sample you’ve received.”

“Sample?”

“For artificial insemination. Yes.” That was the part that Lorelei wasn’t so sure about. She had no way of knowing which sample had been given to her, or how the unique identifiers were chosen. She only knew Monica was likely carrying someones genes inside her.

There was a long drawn out pause as Monica seemed to weigh Lorelei’s words. “Shit,” was finally her only response.

“It might not be all bad,” Lorelei tried to comfort her. “The machines could’ve been too damaged to give you a valid sample, or the sample itself might’ve been too degraded in the first place.”

“Stop saying sample, they’ve shot me up full of spunk!” Monica groaned.

Lorelei whimpered. “I’m so sorry”

“Ain’t your fault.” Monica looked over. “Besides, not really a vulnerable time for me anyway, so it probably won’t take.”

Lorelei wasn’t so sure. “Redever…semen can be especially strong. It was rare for a breeder not to be inseminated on the first try.” Lorelei felt even more sorry for her after saying that.

Monica just shrugged, not letting that get to her. “Hey,” she eventually inquired. “Since you were…indentured, do you have a mark?”

Lorelei could remember the phantom pain where she had been tattooed in the distant past. The sickle patterned marking once decorated her shoulders. She was happy to get them removed, it was the first thing she saved up for after the war, and Lorelei was sure to have them gone before returning to Voxsturm.

“I did…but I had them magically removed,” Lorelei answered.

“So that’s a thing, good to know they can be removed.” Monica got up, and searched around for the spare jumpsuit Konrad had given her. She scrounged one up from a ruck sack and began tearing it apart, cutting it in small slices that she could then bind around her chest, and use as underwear. “The pink ink is not my style, it’s definitely gaudy compared to my others.”

Monica flexed, showing off her other tattoos on her arms and biceps, which only made Lorelei grin, and Marci snicker.

“It’s kinda painful, having them removed.” Lorelei rubbed her shoulders, reliving the memory.

“Shit, sucks.” Monica finally yanked the Squirms off her body, throwing them to the floor, then motioned for Marci to help her tie the makeshift bra around her back.

“Yep,” Lorelei agreed. “But I’m sure you can handle it.”

Konrad’s shadow encroached over them, but this time he seemed less like a vengeful spirit, and more like a concerned parent. He looked over to Monica, then to Theo who was barely keeping his eyes open.

“Hey?” He directed his attention toward Lorelei. “Has anyone seen the vampire and her partner?”

Lorelei was struck by the question.

“What?” She looked around, noticing both Laura and Lucy weren’t in the room.

Marci finished helping to cloth Monica in the straps of torn fabric, then searched around. Her eyes met Lorelei’s in fright. “Wait, I don’t see Mike anywhere!”

“Damnit kids, what did I say about staying together in a group,” Konrad sighed. “Cassie, your with me.” He then looked over to Lorelei. “Hold the fort here. If we’re not back in thirty, proceed without us. Open the doorway, get outside, and signal for help. Lead the survivors back home.”

“But what about—” Lorelei started.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back. It’s just a precaution. If there are more of those things down here…well, don’t worry, we’ll find where they ran off too.”

“You’re not leaving without me this time.” Monica picked up her spear.

Konrad looked at the mercenary, seeing the spite in her eyes, and relented. “Fine, then Cassie stays behind. Can’t leave the wounded without some protection.”

“Fine,” Monica grinned. “I’ve got a score to settle anyway.”