I would have finished this chapter sooner, but I was very busy knitting my boyfriend's christmas present. You see, I wanted to be "cool" and "creative" this year and make everyone presents. Because of this notion, I decided that the best present I could possibly knit my boyfriend was the Doctor Who Fourth Doctor Scarf. For all you Doctor Who fans, (I have never seen Doctor Who myself, but I'm so awesome that I researched it for him) you know that this particular scarf is really f*cking huge. So... I've been knitting three stripes a day, and decided that today was as good a day as any to stop working on my quota and finish this chapter.

It's a good thing that he doesn't read this fanfiction, especially since he's been trying so hard to figure out what his present is.

But anyway, here's your chapter and the end of the crazy Lesko quest. I'm thinking I'm going to go back to Grayditch later on in the series, but I'm glad to be done with it for now.

"I say we deserve some form of payment," I panted, kicking each specimen through the door. "My goggles are gone. My shoulder armor is ripped. My hat was used as a chew toy. Raul used the rest of his ammunition. His shoes are ripped beyond repair. We're both lucky not to have our arms gnawed off."

Lesko observed each squirming bag dripping with green ooze. "Have you finished?"

I sniffed defiantly. "We almost died a horrible, excruciating death, buried beneath five tons of pink flab and green gunk shit."

"You nearly suffocated each and every one of them again. I do not believe this endeavor is one deserving of compensation."

I clenched my fists, feeling my face flush a fuming shade of red. "I told you before that if they didn't ooze that green whatever, they wouldn't be suffering! Now, we have been with you thick and thin—"

There was an explosion emitted from Lesko's gun, and Raul cried out in pain, dropping to the floor. I shrieked, falling beside my companion. Raul was clutching to his side with a heavy grimace. From underneath his hands his dusty blue jumpsuit was already darkening with fresh blood.

"I have to ask you to be silent now. My work henceforth must be done with absolutely no distractions. Any sudden movement or noise will make all of your so-called contributions in vain."

"You son of a bitch!" I grabbed the empty pistol in Raul's belt before remembering that it had no bullets.

"Pathetic name calling will not make this any easier," Lesko continued, gathering the knots holding back each captive into one hand and beginning to pick at said knots with the other.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The Moleroaches in each bag seemed to sense that freedom was close and began to wriggle faster. "Let them out in your hatchery or something—are you crazy?!"

With a dramatic sweep of his arms, Lesko took a step back from the Moleroaches squirming out of their bags. I couldn't tell whether his contorted face was showing horrible grief or obsessive affection as he groaned softly to them, "Yes, come on out my dearests… You are welcome here… home…"

The Moleroaches didn't have to be told twice. They swarmed around Lesko's feet, already oozing green slime from their skins. The occasional, gentle skittering heard in the wall was now frantic scratches already trying to dig their way into Lesko's bunker. Raul and I were frozen in shock. Lesko didn't seem to realize that he was in immediate danger; he stood there, with open arms, beginning to sob to his 'dearests' that were climbing up his legs. One of them opened its mouth wide around his left and bit down hard.

Lesko froze then as well, a new, surprised look on his face. Another pair of tusks dug into his right leg, followed by another, and another. "Ah…" he murmured, still more out of surprise than in pain, staggering to hold the weight of each Moleroach ripping into his flesh. Looking down, he seemed to finally realize his grave mistake. I could feel Raul grasping onto me tightly to lift himself to his feet as Lesko began to shriek in full pain. The Moleroaches dragged him downwards, and he flailed to grab onto anything he could, spilling clipboards and glass onto the floor. From the back of his lab coat slithered something long, slimy, fleshy, and brown, and Lesko's shrieks increased in both volume and pitch. The Moleroaches were on top of his thrashing limbs, and Raul began to insistently pull me up. I realized that he was repeating boss over and over again, trying to get my attention.

"Boss, we have to leave now!" He half dragged me out the metal door to Lesko's bunker.

"We can't make it out of here alive!" I gasped back, finding my footing to stand on my own.

"We still have to try," the ghoul firmly pushed me forward, towards the entrance. "I'm not dying in here after I spent all that time moaning about how bad I had it in Black Mountain, boss. It'll make me look like a wimp up by the pearly gates; they might not let me in."

"Maybe I shouldn't have graffitied Atom's church," I gasped as I heard a sudden roar of Moleroaches breaching the wall. Glancing over my shoulder, I didn't see any hordes following us.

Raul noticed my panicked, careful watch behind us and said, "They must all be after Lesko, boss."

"What the hell was that guy thinking?!"

"Keep asking me questions like that, boss. I'm a fortune teller and have all the answers."

"There was another creature in there… did you see it? What in Atom's name was that?" I stopped looking over our shoulders in order to ensure I didn't fall up the stationary escalators. "How are we going to get past the swarm waiting outside the gate?"

"Maybe we'll be lucky and they'll be crawling through the walls to get to Lesko."

"You know," I said crossly. "On our way in you were being cynical as hell."

Not for the first time, Raul's 'maybe' statement was wrong. The gate was being gnawed upon by Moleroaches piled one on top of the other, creating a few sizeable holes almost large enough for them to squeeze through. I looked around, praying for another door to open magically and give us a new route, but all I saw was the rubble and trash on the floor.

"Raul?"

"I love you too, boss."

"No, that's not what I was going to say." I bit my lip, using it as a distraction from my stomach that was tied in knots. "They're all after Lesko, right?"

"Seem to be, boss."

"Then… as long as we're not in their way, they shouldn't go looking for us." I stooped down to feel at the piles of ceiling tile pushed up against the wall. "What if we buried ourselves in this trash so that they couldn't see us? Could we wait it out?"

"I certainly hope so, boss," Raul said, dropping to his knees to gather up as much rubble as he could manage. "I don't have any better ideas."

As soon as we covered ourselves in dust, tile, and discarded tin cans, the Moleroaches began to horde the hallway. Raul and I lied there, looking at each other, so close it would normally be uncomfortable for me to breathe his stench. I didn't notice the smell of rotting flesh since my lungs seemed to have stopped working in my fear of being caught.

It sounded like a stampede of brahmin rumbling over the linoleum floor, with the occasional shriek of pain as I assumed they trampled over each other to make their way through. After what felt like hours, I took a chance in speaking first.

"I think I found a bottle cap."

"Good for you, boss, now we can die rich."

The trampling began to quiet as the Moleroaches flooded into the rest of the metro station. When the hallway became silent, Raul and I remained under our rubble blankets for a few more minutes.

"Your eyes are very green, boss," Raul muttered awkwardly.

"You don't say."

"I do." He shifted his head so the trash slid off and looked around. "Our coast is clear, boss. I think we either made it or died a swift and painless death."

"If this is death, then maybe I should go back and graffiti the church a little more," I sat up. There were a few bodies of Moleroaches, practically flat as pancakes from the excited feet of their peers.

"I don't know about you, boss, but I'm getting the hell out of this place." He stumbled to his feet, shaking what was left of the rubble still clinging to his clothes and peeling skin. Clutching to his side injury, he began to shuffle to the gate, which had a gaping hole at the bottom. I followed, pausing to stop at one of the trampled Moleroaches.

"I'm taking this," I announced, opening up my bag.

"I don't think I want to find out what it tastes like," Raul muttered, eyeing it.

"Not for eating," I answered, shoving its mangled body into the leather pouch. "I want to rub it in Moira's face that we deserve more pay than she's going to give us."