CHAPTER THREE: HUMANITARIAN AID
Rom and Ram cuddled and slept quietly in the corner of the train car as Linda pried another nearby crate open. she frowned as she looked through the crate's contents.
"Eh...no clothes." Linda mumbled with frustration, "Pleeeeenty of balls...but not a single article of clothing."
"I figured this would be the part where our plan goes to shit, chu." Warechu mumbled as he stared at the ground, "Why don'cha just pull out a buncha coats from your hoodie?"
"There are limits to what you can fit in a hooded jacket." Linda sighed as she shook her head, reaching for another crate, "You've pretty much seen everything I've managed to fit in there already."
"Well, I'm not sure what we're gonna do now." Warechu groaned.
"How about you get off your lazy ass and help me look?" Linda sneered as she looked at some tennis rackets in the crate with a scowl.
"Because I don't wanna waste time, chu." Warechu replied. A loud CRASH noise blasted throughout the train as it bumped and skidded, causing several crates to slide and crash near the front of the car. The twins shrieked as they crashed into a pile of damaged crates. Rom cried loudly when she saw several crates sliding directly towards them.
"Crap!" Linda yelled as she saw the box sliding towards them. She lunged for the twins, almost crashing into them as her arms wrapped around them like a boa constrictor on caffeine. She yanked back hard, causing the three of them to fall backwards onto the floor before the crates crashed into the spot the twins were sitting mere seconds before. A loud honk-sounding wub burst from the train for a few otherwise silent seconds before the train came to a complete halt. Linda smiled nervously at the frowning Rom in her arms.
"Heh...sorry for saying that bad word." Linda chuckled, "I was just worried."
"You still shouldnt've said it." Ram said angrily, "You promised you wouldn't!"
"It's okay, Ram." Rom cooed as she placed her right hand on Ram's face, "Miss Underling was just really scared."
"Aww geez!" Ram sighed as she rolled her eyes and pushed Rom's hand away, "You're already calling her 'Miss' Underling? What's next? Are you gonna have a crush on her, too?!" Rom's face turned beet red as she shook her head vigorously.
"Nooo! Nononononono!" Rom pleaded, "I...I don't have a crush on anyone, Ram!"
"Yeah right!" Ram squeaked angrily, "I already know you have a crush on Ne-"
"Will you broads shut up, chu?" Warechu moaned painfully as he tried to free himself from Linda's underside, "Get offa me!" Linda smirked as she stood up, placing the twins next to her before she let go of them.
"Karma for jumping on me crotch first." Linda laughed with a hint of cruelty in her voice.
"Pfft. YOU are the one bringing up karma?" Warechu scoffed. Linda had ignored Warechu, and looked out the train car. She frowned when she saw that the glowing green lights on the sides of the Leanbox train had turned a dark, dangerous red.
"Bad news girls," Linda said loudly, "The train broke down." Everybody else groaned.
"What are we gonna do now, chu?" Warechu asked in an exasperated tone.
"We'll just have to hoof it." Linda said, "They'll probably inspect the whole train, and they don't like stowaways."
"Aww! That'll take too long." Ram complained, "We'll be old ladies by the time we get to Lastation."
"Oldies." Rom said, shuttering at the thought.
"Oh suck it up and live a little," Linda grumbled as she walked to the other side of the train car, "We'll get there faster if we start now." Linda grabbed the door on the other side, and she moved towards the corner.
"Where are we, anyway?" Ram asked as she looked out the already opened door, "All I can see out this door is a big, red, rock wall."
"Well, let's find out." Linda said as she jammed her crowbar in the crack of the train door. She yanked back as hard as she could, throwing the train door wide open. What lay before her was a vast, tan desert. Dunes rose and fell across the landscape, broken only by the prescience of thoroughly eroded red rocks scattered to and fro. The sky was blue and cloudless as the sun poured its unshielded golden heat upon the already burning hot sand that waved and sank. There didn't seem to be any sort of organic life outside at all...with the exception of a snake that quickly slithered inside of a small crack in one of the rocks. Linda frowned at this sight.
"Ugh, this is no good," Linda groaned, "There's no way we'd survive a trek across the desert without food and water...and there's none in this car." Everybody groaned with frustration again.
"Yep. It's going down the pipes alright." Warechu sighed.
"If we die out here, it's your fault!" Ram shouted accusingly at Linda.
"Miss Underling..." Rom began to snivel.
"Please, calm down, everybody," Linda said loudly as she turned to face her crew, "We'll just quickly look in the other cars. Maybe we'll find some food and water somewhere else on the train." Warechu, Rom, and Ram all widened their eyes as they looked behind Linda, as if they were all about to get run over by a truck.
"Hey, c'mon." Linda said reassuringly, "It's not that big of a-" Linda was smacked forwards by a powerful force, causing her to crash face first at Rom and Ram's feet. She rolled onto her back and looked where she had stood mere moments ago.
The figure that stood before her could only sort of be described as a human being. She definitely had the general shape of a young, curvy, average-busted human woman, but that's where the normality ends. The woman had three legs, but one of which was short like a toddler's leg, and protruded from her rear as if it were a tail. She had three arms, the third of which protruded from just below her navel; it looked like a right arm, and seemed fully functional. The girl had three breasts, which were all noticeably different cup sizes, with the smallest being in the center. Her face was practically covered in eyes wherever there wasn't a mouth or nose, each one either a dull green or faded blue. Her long, barbaric messy brown hair draped over her back, swaying in the desert wind outside. Her pale lime skin was covered in large tumors and calluses, some of which throbbed and twitched. She was wearing seemingly whatever clothing she could fish out of the garbage; ripped up jeans that were missing the entire right pant leg, showing off a bit of her faded, bleach stained pink panties occupied her legs. Her deranged bosom was covered by some crude brassier cobbled together from small cooking skillets and a leather belt. She wore a single crusty brown hiking boot on her left foot, but her right foot was clad in a tight, red and white sneaker with a yellow star on it.
Perhaps most importantly, this girl held a large two-by-four piece of plywood in her two "normal" hands. She growled and drooled menacingly at Linda. Linda just blinked at her.
"A mutant." Linda gasped. The mutant girl punched Linda square in her face with her middle arm.
"Fuck you!" The girl gargled out in a gravelly, six-pack-of-smokes-and-a-shot-of-whiskey-a-day-for-ten-years voice, "Linda, bitch ass motherfucker!" Linda's eyes sparkled as she looked into the mutant's "original" eyes. Warechu shuddered as he stepped forward.
"Lime?" Warechu asked quietly, his voice high and shocked, "Is that really you? What happened?" Lime, the mutant, glared at Warechu.
"Fucking glowy thing." Lime spat, "Linda too stupid and weak to learn it, so I try. Stupid fucking Linda. Stupid fucking Sam." Linda scowled as she climbed to her feet, standing between the mutant and the shuddering Lowee twins.
"Nobody said that YOU had to go there, too Lime," Linda argued back, trying in vain to hold back a tear, "What happened to me and Sam should have been a warning." Lime merely spat a mucus-filled mutant loogie right in Linda's face, who wiped it away.
"Just what are you doing here anyway, Lime?" Warechu asked with trepidation, "I mean...what's in this train that you could want?" The mutant girl smirked smugly, revealing her yellow, rotting shark tooth-like fangs.
"Want supplies," She said bluntly, "We want steal eat drink."
"'We?'" Linda asked hesitantly, she saw several more freakish mutants in similar states of dress crowd both of the train car doors, and the whole gang could hear pattering footsteps on the train car's roof. Lime looked past Linda at the trembling, whimpering twins. Her smile widened as she drooled even more.
"And me just found yummy meat." She said in a low, creepy tone. Linda got back between Lime and the twins.
"Y...You can't have them!" Linda shouted angrily, "They're-" Linda was beaten aside by Limes' two-by-four as she lunged for the twins. Rom and Ram shrieked as they were violently grabbed by three, powerful, muscular mutant arms. Linda tried to stand up, but was smashed back to the ground by a horde of other wheezing mutant bandits who had already started to bind her arms and legs together. Warechu squeaked frantically as he was grabbed by two young, twin mutants who didn't seem to understand the concept of sharing. After tying and gagging the twins once again, Lime turned around, and kicked Linda square in her mouth.
...
...
Blanc woke up to Mina shaking her body, a worried frown upon her face.
"Blanc, wake up." Mina said quietly, but urgently, "You've got to get ready for the speech." Blanc yawned as she stretched out her arms.
"Did Rom and Ram get ready yet?" Blanc asked slowly, "They usually like to wait till I get up before they take a bath."
"They weren't in their room," Mina admitted, "They weren't anywhere in the Basilicom, and Rom left her bed in a very messy state." Blanc shrugged as she slowly got up.
"Maybe they were really excited at the idea of another day at the festival," Blanc suggested, "They DID say that they didn't want to be a part of the speech."
"But I promised they could open presents with you if they did," Mina fumed, "Something is horribly wrong."
"Don't be such a worry wart." Blanc sighed as she made her way towards the bathroom, "Besides, Marvy will be able to track them down if we can't."
"It's my job to be a worry wart." Mina stated, "You have a speech to give, but..."
"But...?" Blanc asked as she started to fill the bath tub with water. Mina swallowed as she fought back a cold chill on her spine.
"I...I'm going to go look for Rom and Ram," Mina said, "If you see them anywhere..."
"They'll be fine, Mina." Blanc said in an exasperated tone as she slowly stripped out of her clothes, "They love getting into trouble. I would know." Mina walked out the door into the public portion of the Basilicom. She turned to a blonde girl dressed in maid attire, and nodded.
"I'll leave the rest of the preparations to you, Financiér." Mina told her. Financiér nodded.
"Hope you find those little rascals soon," Financiér chuckled, "It's going to be embarrassing enough to not have them present at the speech." Mina sighed as she headed out the Basilicom door. The streets, once empty at night, were now packed with people in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. They were all excitedly moving towards the city square, where Lady White Heart, and presumably the White Twins would give their annual Winter Festival speech. She looked frantically among the crowd as a cold sweat began to form on her spine. Mina gently slapped herself as she recomposed herself.
Just looking at everybody won't get you anywhere, Mina thought as she regained her composure, Just think about the place they are most likely to be. Mina turned right and started to head for the festival grounds at the side of the Basilicom. A few people turned their heads towards her, but none of them approached her. Mina passed by the wing of the Basilicom that housed the twins' room when she noticed a dumpster in all of its rusted, faded green glory. She slowly approached the dumpster, and looked inside of it. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of all the cardboard, cotton, paper, and other soft materials, which were all caved and pressed down around the center.
"This isn't supposed to be here." Mina whispered harshly to herself, "And all of these soft things...they're like a mattress..."
...