Before we arrive, we see something large and black drooping over the fire. It is an enormous wolf, the one that attacked me on the road as I left McDonaldland. Standing in the middle of the camp, it yawns widely and licks its lips. My first thought is that it is attacking the camp, but then I notice that it is just standing there, relaxed.
Talon approaches the wolf. She lifts her hand and the beast presses the side of its muzzle against her palm. Petting its whiskers, Talon hums to the creature, staring into its immense eyes.
The other girls come to the wolf as Talon waves them over. They pet its legs and neck, whatever they can reach.
The wolf just closes its eyes and enjoys the rub down.
“Talon has a way with the big sisters,” Nova says. “It’s like she can communicate with them. Tame them.”
There are more of them beyond the camp, peeking in from the woods. I see rows of giant eyes, peering in from the shadows. Talon calls the other wolves forward to meet their new sisters.
I stay back, far away from the wolves. Nova leaves my side and enters the camp to pet the black wolf next to Talon. I watch her as she rubs the beast’s lower lip and fingers one of its teeth. The black wolf catches me watching Nova. It growls at me under its breath, as if telling me that I don’t belong.
We catch up to the Warriors several days later. Talon found an abandoned camp and we followed their tracks day and night until we finally caught up to them.
When we arrive, the women all come out to greet us. They are introduced to their new sisters and praise Nova and Talon on such a daring escape. Neither Nova nor Talon tells them it was I who was responsible for getting them out. I am pretty much ignored by the group.
Only Krall comes to greet me. He shakes two of my hands, crosswise, and asks me to tell him all about my experience. When he hears about how the Outlanders are using wolves to give meat to McDonaldland, he becomes troubled.
“It’s just as I suspected,” he says, his hand pressed against his forehead. He leaves it at that.
When I see Guy, all he does is nod at me. He is busy watching Ashley do handstands for him. He congratulates her for such an acrobatic feat as he combs his large mustache with a fork.
Casper comes up to Nova and I.
She asks, “Venus is really dead? She didn’t make it?”
I nod at her and then she looks at Nova.
“She’s gone,” Nova says.
Casper’s eyes dart away from us. She slinks off to her tent. With Venus dead, she’s now the last of The Griddler Girls.
When Pippi sees Nova and I, her mouth drops open. Pippi approaches us and gives November a long stare down. Nova looks ready to stick a spear in her belly like a pig.
Pippi looks at me and says, “Come.”
She points at the ground in front of her.
I look at Nova for help, but Nova is too busy glaring at Pippi to acknowledge me. Not sure what else to do, I go to the red-haired wolf girl.
“You’re still my property,” Pippi says as I approach her.
She kneels me to the ground, then says, “Wait in this spot until I return with your leash. If you move an inch you will be punished.”
After Pippi goes into her tent, I turn and meet eyes with Nova. She doesn’t say anything. She just turns and walks away.
Talon sees me standing obediently in the spot Pippi left me. She approaches and says, “Don’t worry. You won’t belong to her for much longer. I promise.”
I nod at her, trying not to move an inch.
Pippi returns and looks me in the eyes. I notice that she has decorated her newly formed muzzle with two hoop-shaped lip piercings similar to Casper’s.
As she leashes me, she says, “I’m mad at you for running away like that. You hurt my feelings.”
She looks at me like she wants me to apologize, but I don’t say anything.
“I’ll forgive you this one time,” she says, “but don’t you dare ever do it again. You’ll have to make it up to me tonight.”
She brings me to a new cage near the middle of the camp. It looks like it had just been built a few days ago, to replace the one destroyed by Alyssa. As Pippi puts me inside, I see Talon, Casper, and Hyena coming toward us.
Pippi turns to Talon and says, “I want to wear the ceremonial robe tonight.”
Hyena raises a gun to her.
“You won’t be wearing the ceremonial robe,” Talon says. “You’re under arrest for assaulting one of your sisters, resulting in her capture and nearly her death.”
“What?” Pippi cries.
“Nova said you pushed her from Apple’s vehicle during her last raid so that she would be taken by the Meat. This is a crime that will not be taken lightly.”
The red-haired girl stomps her feet. “That bitch is lying!”
Pippi looks at me as if I will come to her defense. By the look on her face, it seems as if she really believes that she’s innocent.
Grandma finds Pippi guilty. Just as Nova was punished, Pippi gets stripped of rank and all possessions.
At dusk, she is put through the Trial by Claw. The wolf girls cut into her one at a time. Unlike Nova, Pippi cries like an infant as she is being cut. There are not many who go easy on her. It is as if they all had built up so much rage against Pippi over the years that they are thrilled to finally be able to take out their frustration on her, physically. Even her best friend, Slayer, gives her a good slash across her belly. The fact that she is crying only seems to make the women attack her more brutally.
By the time Nova’s turn comes around, Pippi is already bloody from head to toe. Nova steps up to her and looks her in the eyes. She just glares at her, then turns away. It takes a strong individual to just walk away from this. I bet this is the way someone like Nova proves to her sisters that she is the better person of the two.
As Pippi relaxes, wiping the blood and tears out of her eyes, Nova swings around and sucker-punches her in the stomach. She punches open-handed, with her claws out. Nova’s fingernails stab deep into Pippi’s stomach, all the way to the knuckles. Before she lets go, Nova twists them, cutting a circle on her belly, as if she’s trying to rip out her liver. Pippi screams, louder than the time Nova was cut during her ceremony.
When Nova’s claws are released, Pippi falls to the ground. She curls into a ball, weeping, quivering in the mud. Nova spits on her and leaves the circle, she marches out of the camp and disappears into the woods. The other sisters disperse, leaving her in the dirt.
This time, Grandma does not help the victim of the Trial by Claw. She does not pick her up and heal her wounds. She just leaves Pippi in the mud to rot, too disappointed in the girl she raised as her own daughter to even look at her.
Talon comes to the cage and releases me.
“You’re no longer Pippi’s property,” she says. “I claimed you and I am letting you free.”
“Thanks,” I say.
She gives me a nod and returns to her tent.
I cross the camp and approach Pippi. She’s still crying, face down in the mud. When she looks up at me, I offer her my hand. She takes it cautiously, her furry fingers curl into my palm, and I lift her to her feet.
Her watery yellow eyes gaze into mine as blood flows down her face.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “But you deserved it.”
Then I walk away.
I’m called into Grandma’s tent. She sits me down on a dusty feather cushion. Then she lights up her pipe. Four wolf girls are standing behind me. The only one I recognize is Talon. Pippi is also in the room, lying on a cot with her back turned to the group. Her wounds are bandaged. It appears Grandma finally helped her after leaving her in the mud for a couple hours.
“So you are no longer property, Daniel Togg,” she says. “I assume you will be wanting to stay here with Nova?”
“Yes.”
“Her sisters have sensed something is troubling her,” she says. “She’s going to need you.”
I nod my head.
“Now, we need t
o assign you a place among the Warriors.” She smiles and leans her head back. “Your brother tells me that you take after your grandpa.”
I smile.
“Your grandpa used to make this amazing wine out of wild berries. We called it Wolf Juice. You wouldn’t by any chance know how to make it would you?”
“He taught me everything he knew about brewing and winemaking,” I say. “I’ve never made wine out of berries but I’m confident I could do it. I can make alcohol out of pretty much anything.”
Grandma widens her teeth in a smile.
“Our sisters could really use something to lift their spirits about now. Wolf Juice would be perfect for that. When your grandpa was around, every night was like a celebration.”
“You were friends with my grandpa?”
“We were more than just friends,” she says.
Grandma tells me about the day she met my grandfather. It was over fifteen years ago. He was captured in a raid on the mutant camp, back when the Warriors were far more powerful than the Outlanders. One of the men captured was my grandpa. He was an old man. Much older than any mutant they had ever captured before. They didn’t know what to do with him. None of the wolf women wanted to have sex with him. He wasn’t able to do much physical labor. Even trying to feed him to their big sisters didn’t work, because the giant wolves didn’t find him very appetizing and wouldn’t go near him. So he was just a burden to the Warriors.
His owner was tired of wasting food on my grandfather and was about to just kill him, when Grandma decided to purchase him for one can of food. Grandma says she used him for company. Being the leader of the Warriors, Grandma had to always be strong and flawless. She didn’t have anyone she could share her own problems with. So my grandpa became her confidant.
He was a wealth of information and could tell her all about the old world, before McDonaldland. He told her about his family and taught her how to make use of all the seemingly useless supplies they obtained from raids on Fry Guy vehicles. He taught her how to make little sculptures out of McDonald’s straws. He taught her how to make ropes out of McDonald’s napkins.
Eventually, Grandma and my grandfather became lovers. Because Grandma had gone through menopause, she could have as much sex as she wanted without transforming into a bigger wolf.
My grandfather was then freed and became a member of the Warriors. He was Grandma’s advisor and was a major help to the Warriors. He taught them how to build cars by combining the solar-powered McDonaldland cars with the scrapped vehicles that litter the ruins of the old world. Originally they were only getting their vehicles by hijacking Fry Guy supply trucks. My grandpa showed them that gas-powered cars could go faster than the Fry Guy vehicles, which only reach up to sixty miles per hour. They only needed to raid the gasoline supply run going between the Outlander camp and that far away community down in Texas.
But his most important contribution was making Wolf Juice, because it made life in the wasteland so much more enjoyable. It was a golden age for the Warriors.
“That’s why it will be so wonderful if you can bring us Wolf Juice again,” Grandma says.
“So what happened to my grandfather?” I ask. “How did he die?”
“Natural causes,” Grandma says. “He was an old man, even older than myself. He died in his sleep after a Full Moon celebration. He died happy and content, without a regret in the world.”
That makes me happy. Grandpa lived his life the way he wanted to, without compromise. And, in the end, he came out on top. That’s exactly why I followed in his footsteps.
“So we’d like you to become our official winemaker,” she says. “Are you up to the task?”
“Definitely,” I say. “It will take some time to grow a yeast culture, find the berries, and ferment the wine, but I can do it.”
“Excellent,” Grandma says, slapping her knees, ready to say her farewell and send me away.
“There’s just one more thing,” I say.
Grandma nods.
“I met a group of rebels within the Outlander facility,” I say. “They need your help.”
I tell Grandma all about the attack on McDonaldland. I also tell her all about what goes on within the Outlander Facility, what they do to their captives, and how they are capturing their big sisters to use as meat to serve to McDonaldland. Grandma listens to everything I have to say before speaking a word.
“Because these men helped save Talon and several other sisters,” Grandma says, “I am open to the possibility of helping them. However, I will not make this decision on my own. I will call a meeting and allow you to attempt to convince our sisters. If the majority is in favor we will fight.”
The Warriors gather in the center of the camp. Grandma lets me explain the situation. As soon as I finish speaking, it seems as if there is not a single woman who is in favor of the idea.
“There are many innocent people who will die if you do not help,” I say.
“Many Warriors will die if we do help,” Slayer says. “We’ve already lost so many.”
The wolf women stomp their feet in agreement.
“We wouldn’t stand a chance,” Apple says.
“I know McDonaldland is your enemy,” I say, “but it is the lesser of two evils. If you help save McDonaldland then maybe they will return the favor. Perhaps they will give you food and supplies rather than the Outlanders.”
Hyena steps forward and says in her cackling voice: “We are against everything the walled city stands for. They are an even bigger enemy than the Meat. I would love to see the city fall.”
Several Warriors cheer her words.
“Just let the two armies destroy each other,” Casper says in a croaking voice. “Then we can kill the leftover Meat while they’re weak.”
The wolf women clap their paws and stomp their feet.
Grandma steps forward.
“Let’s hear from the women who are indebted to these men,” she says. Then she waves Talon forward. “What do you think we should do, Talon?”
Talon gives pause. “I am grateful that these men rescued us from imprisonment, but I would rather have died there than risk the lives of my sisters. We are just not ready to do battle with such a large force. We just barely survived the last attack.”
Grandma rubs the hair on her chin.
“Nova,” Grandma says. “What do you think?”
Nova creeps into the crowd from the background. She looks at me with cold eyes. Then she says, “We didn’t ask to be rescued. We owe the men nothing.”
Then she steps away.
Grandma looks at me, then looks at the crowd. “Is there anyone who thinks we should join this fight?”
Grandma scans the crowd. The wolf women look around to see if anyone thinks it would be a good idea. Only one woman steps forward. It is Pippi.
“I think we should go,” Pippi says.
They all gawk at her, confused. Grandma asks her to explain.
Pippi says, “We’re the Warriors of the Wild. We don’t back down from fights.”
Grandma says, “There’s a fine line between bravery and foolishness.”
“I’ll kill Meat any chance I can get,” Pippi says.
The other women don’t seem swayed by Pippi’s argument. Of all the women to come to my aid, it had to be Pippi. She’s so unpopular with the other Warriors, especially now, that most of them would side against her just out of spite. I quickly realize there is no way I am going to be able convince them to fight for McDonaldland.
After the meeting concludes, I go to Nova and Talon.
“Why didn’t you want to help?” I ask them. “McDonaldland might be a corrupt place, but it was your home.”
“It doesn’t concern us,” Nova says.
I go to Talon. “Your husband and children live there. How could you do nothing to protect them?”
Talon turns and walks away. I follow.
“I know they are more important to you than anything,” I tell her. “Are you really going to just
sit back and let the Outlanders attack their home?”
She doesn’t turn around.
Nova grabs me by the shoulder and says, “Daniel, stop.”
“They could die,” I say.
Talon keeps walking.
Nova pulls me away and looks at me.
“Don’t!” she says.
“Why won’t she listen to me?” I ask.
“Daniel,” she says. “Her family is already dead.”
Nova tells me what happened to Talon’s family.
Two years ago, during a raid on the supply run between the Outlander facility and the southern community in Texas, the Warriors attacked a group of mutants. They were going after a tanker of gasoline. Talon, being the fierce and brutal warrior that she is, jumped into the back of an Outlander truck, swinging both axes at the men who were firing at her.
She didn’t know that her husband and sons had been cast out of McDonaldland after contracting the parasite that caused them to grow multiple limbs. She didn’t know that they had become soldiers in the Outlander army. She didn’t even recognize her own sons, who had grown up to be young men, sitting in the back of the truck she was attacking.
Talon dropped into the backseat of the truck, hacked one mutant’s head off, sliced another one in half, split one of their skulls open, and then drove her axe down into the driver’s stomach. She didn’t realize her sons were in the truck until the driver looked back at her.
Quivering and coughing up blood, the boy realized who his attacker was.
“Mom?” he said with a wheezing voice.
It was her youngest son. Only eight years old when she left the city, now he was a teenager. Before the boy lost control of the vehicle, Talon jumped into the driver seat next to him and pulled the truck over, leaving the battle.
Once on the side of the road, Talon noticed her oldest son’s decapitated head in the seat next to her. She jerked her vision away from it to prevent herself from screaming. Her dying son wept as she held him in her arms tight to her chest, her axe still inside of his belly, her tears dripping onto his face. They didn’t say anything to each other. He just glared up into her wolf-like eyes, two mutant arms holding her by the sleeves. As he died, Talon pressed her wet snout against his forehead and dug a fingernail under her own kneecap.
Warrior Wolf Women of the Wasteland Page 19
