I wish to apologize to my readers. The last couple of months has been rough but I want to assure everyone that I have not abandoned ANY of my fics, they may just take a while to be updated.
Deathtouched - Chapter 30
Warning: Lemon in this chapter.
Zoe heard Gabriel throw up but she wasn't bothered by it. She was too busy building a towering rage. "My Love, stay here and guard the kits, there's something I have to do."
Spitting as much of the vomitus out of his mouth that he could, Gabriel responded. "Baby," He croaked, his throat still burning from the acid he'd just heaved up. "It's not safe."
Zoe turned her eyes to look at her love and he noticed that her eyes were glowing. That was when he felt the chill beginning to emanate from her. Yeah, it wasn't safe out there, but it wasn't Zoe that needed to worry.
Opening the door, Zoe walked out and stood next to Stan who knelt, sobbing at the loss of his beautiful daughter. Zoe's head was down, seemingly broken, but her paws were balled into fists.
"Hey! Lookie here! Chocolate is on the menu tonight boys!" The leader bragged.
Zoe raised her gaze to the leader and the leopards that weren't too busy laughing saw her eyes. Their paws dropped to their revolvers but froze when Zoe spoke, her tone flat and emotionless. "Your being carnivores doesn't excuse you from the casual cruelty you inflict on others. I am Zoe Bree Darkwater, I am the High Priestess of Melinoe, The Oracle of Apollo, The Chosen of the gods, and I am your death!"
Even though she was still 20 feet from the leopards, they felt chilled to the bone even before she started speaking. Then she thrust her paw out to the leader even though she couldn't hope to touch him. What the other leopards couldn't see was her astral paw closing the distance between the two mammals. Zoe's paw grasped the leader's soul and pulled. His compatriots saw their leader suddenly collapse and started to draw their weapons, but Gabriel already them in his sights.
One leopard went down with a dart centered over his heart, the other two had drawn their pistols, but when they fired at Zoe, she moved. They froze in shock at seeing the doe move from one area to another faster than they'd ever seen a rabbit move before, even ones that were running for their lives from them. That gave Zoe and Gabriel enough time to take out the other two, Zoe once more pulling another leopard's soul out of his body. Zoe gazed at the two spirits she held in her astral paws, both looking terrified. For the first time ever, Zoe noticed that she could actually read their souls, the atrocities that they had committed on other mammals, including the flaying of Penelope Owens while she was still alive.
"For your numerous, and unnecessary, acts of cruelty to other mammals, I consign your spirits to Lord Hades for judgement. I pray he offers you no leniency."
Unseen by the others, her astral paws threw the two spirits down and knew that Lord Hades awaited them in his realm. Zoe then turned to see the other two knocked out from Gabriel's darts. Kneeling in front of Stan, she took him into her arms as he leaned into her with sobs so forlorn that she easily found herself crying with him.
Gabriel went out and collected all of the weapons he could find on the leopards, stashing them in the barn for now. Then he tied the two still living leopards up with every bit of rope that he had and darted them again for good measure. He turned toward Zoe to see Edith stumble out of the house, followed by her children, to form a group hug around Zoe and Stan. Gabriel sniffed and realized that tears were flowing down his own cheeks.
Zoe knelt between the parents and held out her paws to them. After a few seconds, they placed their paws in hers. "My order is responsible for the funeral rites among our people. We cremate our dead so, with your permission, I'd like to perform the rites for Penelope."
Edith and Stan were still too overcome with grief to speak, so they simply nodded their agreement. Zoe organized the older kits to bring her what sticks and limbs they could find nearby while she raided the wood pile for some of the smaller chunks of wood and built a small pyre in the back field well away from the house. Then she asked them to bring the heaviest stones they could lift and set them at a spot she pointed to about ten feet away.
Zoe cut away Penelope's pelt from the shoulder of the leopard she'd killed, feeling no remorse whatsoever. Especially when she noticed that the bandoleers, holsters, and pants the tigers were wearing were all leather. With great reverence, she carried the pelt and laid it atop the small pyre and then helped Edith to where the service would be held. Gabriel helped Stan the same way, the children old enough to walk following after them.
Zoe began the traditional funeral song with Gabriel singing along the best he could, not remembering all the words. Stan and Edith didn't know the words at all so they just listened. When she finished, Zoe spoke. "It's hard enough to lose a young one through accident or misadventure. To lose one through violence is worse, but to lose a child through a deliberate act of malice is crushing to the soul of the parent. I pray that the spirit of Penelope Owens finds peace beyond the veil until she is next tied to the Great Wheel."
Zoe then took the torch she'd cobbled together from a stick and a strip of cloth torn from one of her blouses. Lighting it with a safety match from their survival kit, she put it to several areas around the pyre as she walked around it, trying to get it to burn evenly. She tossed the torch into the pyre when she was done and silently stood at the head. It didn't take long for the makeshift pyre to burn down, Penelope's pelt having been dried and cured. Not having an urn for the ashes, Zoe placed the stones atop the small pyre to commemorate the young doe's grave.
The Owens retreated back to the house to be alone with their grief. Gabriel retrieved their gear and put it in the barn where he planned for him and Zoe to sleep tonight. When he joined Zoe still standing next to the grave, he asked her.
"How did you do that?" Still staring at the mound, she replied.
"I am the High Priestess of Melinoe, Goddess of Ghosts. Souls are nothing more than ghosts... spirits... tethered to a body and, as her High Priestess, my goddess has given me the ability to control spirits, to send them on their way."
"But your eyes, they glowed. And the chill... it was sunny outside, not a cloud in the sky, yet I felt like I was going to freeze to death."
For the first time since their conversation began, Zoe looked up at her boyfriend and caught his eye. "I don't know Love. It seems to happen when I get angry, the last time was when Eric, the High Priest of Zeus, insulted my goddess. I didn't know about the eyes."
Zoe's face fell and she asked him hopefully. "Do you still love me?"
Her answer was his gentle kiss and a light caress of her left ear. Zoe butted her head against Gabriel's lower chest and he held her as she cried.
"She looked a lot like Candace." Zoe said when her sobs had finally died down.
"Who?"
"Candace, cream colored fur, white belly. The second doe I ever slept with."
"Ah, I remember seeing her, pretty."
"Yeah, she is. Her and her wife wants to sleep with you."
"You're joking!"
"Nope."
They fell quiet and held each other for awhile, seeking what comfort they could. Zoe took a deep breath and said. "I'm not finished, those two you darted will be waking up soon and we can't have leave them or their car here or else the Owens will be made examples of."
Gabriel felt his stomach twist at the thought of what would be deliberate murder.
"Are you sure you have to kill them?"
"I'll read their souls first and see. But you don't know what the other two have done and I don't see how the other two couldn't be complicit. Gabriel..." Zoe looked up at him and he could see the pain and horror in her eyes. "The Owens think that all of their older children were taken to be servants of groups like the ones that showed up here. But the truth is that they were all tortured and eaten, the lucky ones were dead when the leopards started their feast. Just like in my last nightmare. And did you notice their pants, bandoleers, and holsters? Leather, the treated skin of other mammals!"
Gabriel felt his gorge rise again, but he had nothing left to give, so he swallowed the best he could.
"I have to do this, my entire being screams for it to be done as if all of the gods are in accordance with it, the Goddess Nemesis the loudest of them all."
"Well, if you're going to do this, I'll be there with you."
"Are you sure Love?"
"I don't want to be anywhere else but by your side."
Zoe reached up and stroked his muzzle before pulling him down for a chaste kiss. She turned and walked around the house to the front of the house where the two tied mammals lay next to the two dead ones. The tied leopards had woken and were trying to unsuccessfully get out of their bonds. Zoe sideways at Gabriel who shrugged and said, "Junior Ranger Scouts."
When the leopards saw them, they struggled even harder to try and escape their bonds.
"Please lady! Don't kill us! We were only doing what Cal told us to do!"
"Yeah lady! It wasn't our fault, honest! We only went along or he'd end up killing us too!"
"Please let us go! You'll never see or hear of us again, we swear!"
"Mister, tell her we'll leave the kingdom, go somewhere else!"
"We'll go over the Tempest Ocean! We promise!"
They continued to beg, fear and desperation masking their features, yet Zoe said nothing. Gabriel, standing right next to her, followed her lead. He wouldn't have responded to the leopards exhortations even if he could have understood what they were saying. He'd only gotten to 'hi' 'goodbye' and 'how are you' with Stan before they'd shown up.
To the mundane eye, Zoe stood rock still. But Gabriel observed the leopard on the right suddenly stiffen, his eyes wide and staring into the distance. If he'd been able to see into the astral, he'd have seen Zoe's avatar there reach out and pull the leopards soul toward her, but leaving it tethered to his body. The leopard tried to get away, but the giant rabbit in armor had him by the throat and wouldn't let go. His claws only made screeching sounds as he tried to claw her. And when he went for those glowing white eyes, his claws simply skittered across a helmet that would suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Zoe read his soul as easily as she would a manuscript and could tell that the leopard had lied in order to save himself. When she spoke to him in the astral, her mortal self repeated the words.
"You knowingly and with a sick joy took part in the many abominations that you and your friends committed. Even in the days where our natures dictated our actions such cruelty was unknown. Lady Nemesis and Lady Themis are in agreement on this and I consign your spirit to Lord Hades for judgement."
With that, she pulled the soul completely out of the leopards body and threw it down, sending it to the Underworld. His body, deprived of the life giving energy provided by the soul, couldn't function anymore. Gabriel saw the leopards body stop twitching, stiffen, then gasp as it breathed it's last, relaxing in death.
The other leopard was in a panic now, struggling frantically against his bonds. Zoe still didn't seem to move but he saw the last leopard begin to twitch and knew that his girlfriend was doing her thing again. Mere seconds later, he heard her sigh before speaking.
"Your joy in the despicable acts you and your friends committed were more from the enjoyment the power over them gave you. Yet you still enjoyed the screams of your victims even as you tore out their entrails with your teeth, you relished their cries for mercy. As you had none to give to them, neither do I have any to give to you. I consign your soul to Lord Hades for Judgement."
Gabriel watched as the last leopard's body repeat the same actions as the previous one before it too stilled. Zoe leaned into Gabriel's side and he placed his arm around her.
"I can't even feel bad about doing that My Love, these mammals were cruel for cruelties sake. At least their ancestors did it out of need and not just because they could."
"I agree with you Baby. Children! They killed and ate Children! A pestilence on Predburg!"
"You can't paint them all with the same brush Love. Most of the common citizens may just take the fact they're eating sentients in stride, maybe even buying the meat in stores not knowing the exact origin. These were the enforcers, the bullies, that the nobles in Predburg use to keep their slaves in line."
"I wish I could argue with you, but I can't. It just makes me so angry that the casual cruelty, the acceptance, of what they're doing."
"Baby, if you grow up knowing nothing else, how are you supposed to know it's cruel? Some mammals might come to that realization, but most wouldn't."
Zoe felt something shift within her and she knew. Gabriel felt his girlfriend stiffen and heard her gasp.
"What is it?"
"I know. Baby, I know!"
"Know what?"
"My destiny, the prophesy, I know!"
Gabriel turned Zoe toward him and looked at her. Zoe's face was awestruck, her jaw hanging open.
"Baby?" He asked, worried a little.
"The prophesy! It speaks of me bringing a brighter future! But it's not for Zootopia! It's for the kingdoms here! It's my destiny to bring them more in line with how Zootopia is, to learn to work together! Think about it! Zootopia is so far ahead in tech and innovation, here they're relegated to the steam era. They're stunted technologically because they may be eating some of their most brilliant minds!"
Deep inside himself, Gabriel knew that what Zoe was telling him was the truth. He was both happy for her and yet saddened. His poor girlfriend already had a great weight on her slender shoulders and he was afraid that more may make her break her metaphorical back. But if he could help her carry the burden, take some of that weight off of her, then he would.
"How can I help?"
"I don't know? Love me?"
"Already done."
Zoe sighed and then turned back toward the corpses. "We'll need to take them somewhere and bury them, they can't be found here."
Gabriel nodded, walked over to the head of the first leopard and grabbed the body by the armpits. Zoe grabbed the ankles and they headed over to the back seat of the car. When Zoe gasped, he looked to see her looking at him in horror. No, looking behind him. Turning his head, Gabriel dropped the leopard in shock. The seats were all covered in fur and a small net hanging from the ceiling held white skulls, mostly of small rabbits.
An anger stronger than he'd ever felt before gripped him and he had to get away. He stormed off toward the fields, crying and growling at the same time. Zoe let him go, knowing he needed to come to terms with having to see horror after horror. Not wanting the Owens to suffer anymore grief, she took it upon herself to use her survival knife to begin cutting the thongs holding the skins together and pile them on the now bare seat.
At some point Gabriel joined her and began doing the same, his face set in a determined expression. Together they carried the pelts and skulls away from the farm and held another service. By the time they'd covered the mingled ashes with stones, night had fallen and the mates, weary in body and soul, made their way back to the house. Zoe knocked lightly on the door before a grief stricken Edith opened the door, her eyes red from crying. No words were spoken as she stepped to the side, letting these two non-strangers into her home. Sitting at the table, Zoe and them talked.
"We're going to take the leopard's corpses somewhere away from here so they won't found anywhere near you, if they're found at all. But I would suggest that you give serious consideration to evacuating. If you head west toward the mountains, you'll find a small pond. Continue west from there and camp in the foothills, there will be food you can forage there until my boyfriend and I can lead you through to Zootopia."
The two adult Owens looked at each other and seemed to reach an unspoken agreement. "No. We appreciate the offer and everything that you've done for us, but this is our home. This is where our daughter is buried and here is where we'll stay. If you can get rid of the bodies, we can make it look like they were never here." Stan told them.
"And since there was no blood spilt, it will be easy to wash away their scent from our land. Let whoever comes after wonder about the lost Wraiths." Edith added.
"Why do you call them Wraiths? I'd think Reaver's would be more appropriate."
"We call them Wraiths because death follows them." Stan informed them.
"My boyfriend and I will sleep in the barn tonight and then leave in their vehicle first thing in the morning. This night will be for you and your family. The Owen's ten year old boy, whose name turned out to be Ben, walked into the tiny dining area and asked, "Is our sister ever coming back?"
Zoe's heart wrenched at the yearning in the little boy's voice and she slid out of her chair and knelt in front of him. "Ben, our religion teaches that there is an order to the universe, what we call 'The Great Wheel of Life'. Think of a wagon wheel that turns. The gods put us on the wheel and we stay on it as it turns. At some point, we will die and the gods will then put us on the wheel again at another point. So yes, Penelope will come back again as the gods will it."
Edith tucked Ben back into bed and the two lovers bid them a restful night. As they lay together in the barn, Zoe snuggled deep into Gabriel's arms, they talked.
"Baby?"
"Yeah Z?"
"Did I ever tell you that my human father was a psychologist?"
"No, you never really talk about your old parents much."
"I try not to. Now it seems like a dream that happened to someone else. But my mom, dad, and I were watching a movie once where a group of people had faced a horrible event, and then later on paired up. The movie making it seem like they were having sex. When I asked my dad why they did that, my dad said that it was what they call 'a life affirming action', showing that life can be good even amongst the horrors that are experienced."
"Yeah, I've heard something like that before."
"Good." Zoe said as she ran her paw up under Gabriel's shirt and started caressing his fur.
"Then would you please make me feel alive?" She asked quietly.
"Are you sure my Love?" He asked.
"Life is too short, especially here on this side of the divide. I don't know what horrors we'll run in to in the future, but right here, right now, I'm in your arms and I don't want to waste any more of our time together."
"But what if I get you pregnant?" "
"Then it will be as the gods will. But for the sake of all of them, take me!"
Gabriel growled at that and smashed his lips onto Zoe's dominating her completely.
Warning: Lemon start
Zoe shivered in instant passion as Gabriel took control of her from the instant their lips had met, rolling over until his was atop her. Her paws swiftly ran over the fur on his chest and stomach as his tongue swam over hers. Gabriel's paws practically ripped her clothes off of her, eager to take his mate at last, him needing this 'life affirming event' as much as she did.
Everything that had happened to them, the denial and the horrors they'd witnessed culminated into a frenzied act of passion. Making love wasn't possible for either mammal at this point. Gentle caresses weren't something either mammal considered as Gabriel pawed at Zoe's breasts, pinching and pulling at her hardened nipples in a painful way, making Zoe grunt and moan into his mouth.
Zoe spread her legs wide as she reached between them, seeking the erection she knew was there but not quite reaching it on the much larger mammal. Feeling her paw grasping in the direction of his nether's, he hunched his back and thrust himself into her paws, grunting and then sighing as he felt her paws grasp him.
He pulled his mouth off of her, both of them breathing hard and he snapped his mouth down onto her left nipple, making Zoe cry out her first orgasm when he nibbled on her tender nub of flesh, still sensitive from where she'd been breastfeeding. Gabriel pushed his paw down between her legs to cover her center. She was beyond wet, she was drenched, her fluids dripping down between her ass cheeks coating her sphincter.
She was so soaked, that he thrust two fingers into her to the hilt without pause, making his doe shudder and squeal with another orgasm, the flush of warm fluids from her pussy coating his paw. He couldn't wait any longer. He grasped his cock and lined himself up with Zoe's opening, placing the tip just inside the entrance. Grabbing both of her ankles in one of his large paws, he pushed them up and back until they were on either side of her gorgeous face.
It took every last shred of his self control to keep from slamming himself into her to his knot. He quickly covered her muzzle with his other paw because, even holding back, he still pushed himself into her roughly, moaning loudly at how tight she was. Her walls gripped him like a vice and he heard her shriek, her back trying to arch away from his cock.
Zoe was back to herself when she felt his paw cover her muzzle just before she felt herself be painfully stretched when her lover buried himself in her to his knot. Pain flooded through her and she instinctively tried to escape it, but she was trapped underneath her coyote. Gabriel didn't hold back either. As soon as she felt his knot pressing against her already sore pussy, he pulled back and slammed into her again, and again.
Zoe was still crying out in pain, but her volume was lessening as her body adjusted to Gabriel's size. She grabbed his paw and moved it off of her muzzle, not being able to breath very well with it there. "Oh Gah ah ah ah ah ahds!" Zoe cried out as her love pounded himself into her and she came again.
Nick had never been this rough with her before and she was loving it. There was something fundamentally free about being taken like this. She heard his grunts getting louder and his knot was hitting her abused opening with more and more force. She knew that he was getting close, so she grabbed her blouse laying nearby and stuffed it into her mouth.
Only a few seconds after she was done he growled loudly and knotted her. The pain she'd felt earlier wasn't as intense as this was, it feeling like she was being split in two, and she screamed through her makeshift gag. Zoe came with such intensity that she passed out, her head rolling to the side, her body still shaking.
Gabriel could feel her walls flutter on him when she came but try as he might, he couldn't hold back. He could feel his climax building until it finally hit and he knotted his mate. He could feel the first couple of inches of his cock enter her cervix as he unloaded his first stream. Grunting as his own body jerked in his orgasm, he was filled with the need to impregnate Zoe. He wanted her to carry his cubs and he wanted her to do it now!
When he came back to his senses, he looked down at his comatose bunny and was terrified for a second that he'd killed her. But he could hear her breathing and see her chest rise and fall. He pulled the blouse out of her mouth and wondered how she'd had the presence of mind to gag herself before he knotted her. Her scream would have easily been heard in the house and Stan may have thought that he was murdering her.
He sniffed, but could smell no blood, so he hadn't harmed her with how rough he'd been. He was thankful about that as well. He looked down and confirmed that, indeed, he could see the bulge of his penis inside her, as well as a slight bump where his cum had filled her, his knot preventing it from leaking out.
Taking his doe in one arm, he held her against him as he rolled over onto his back, letting her lay on his stomach and lower chest. He luxuriated in the feeling of his cock in her hot, tight passage as he stroked the fur on her back. He trailed the fingers of one paw down past her tail and touched her soaked sphincter wondering what it would be like to bury himself in her there.
He pushed the tip of his finger into her, eliciting a moan from his Cuddle Bunny, smiling he pushed it in further and heard a "Ohhhh" escape her lips. He slowly sawed his finger in and out of her back opening while the fingers of his other hand carded through her fluffy bunny tail. Zoe woke to find that she was laying on her lover, still impaled on his cock. She felt like she had a full belly and wondered how much semen she held inside her. Her belly wasn't the only thing that felt full as Gabriel's finger plunged into her backside over and over.
"Oh gods that feels incredible!" She gurgled, unable to even speak clearly. Her mind conjured the image of her laying like this, knotted by Gabriel, with Nick being knoting her backside at the same time. She found the image so arousing she was determined to experience it for real at the first opportunity.
"I'm glad you like it. I'm tempted to knot you there as soon as I slip our of that amazing pussy of yours."
"I wouldn't say 'no' to that, but you'll have to put me into the car tomorrow because I'm not sure if I'll be able to walk for a day or two after tonight. I know it took three days after my first time with Nick, and another three after that before I could walk without a limp."
"I wish I'd have thought to bring lube. If we had, I would have knotted this..." here he shoved his finger into her hole hard, jostling her enough that she groaned from the pain of his knot trying to exit before shrinking down "... already."
"I thought the same thing days ago." Zoe whined when he pulled his finger out and then returned to stroking the fur on Zoe's back and sides. She felt empty back there now, but she really enjoyed how she was now, boneless, resting on her boyfriend. She smiled as she remembered Judy's proposal to Nick and she understood how incredibly intimate it could be.
Why not? She giggled. Not... knot... that's funny.
"What's so funny?"
"Just an idea I like that popped into my head."
"And what was that my Love?"
"Gabriel?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you marry me?"
Gabriel was startled for a couple of seconds, the question he'd been hoping for completely unexpected. So it was understandable the he'd hesitate before telling her "Baby, I would love to marry you!"
It took longer than expected for Gabriel's knot to go down enough that he could pull out of her and even then it was to the accompaniment of Zoe going "Ow! Ow! Gods it hurts! Ow!" When he'd pulled completely out, his semen flowed out of Zoe like water from a broken dam, soaking the floor of the barn. Zoe looked down between her legs to see the large puddle of white cum and wondered how much was still inside her. Well, she'd wait and see if she was pregnant or not, but the idea of carrying Gabriel's cubs appealed to her.
Lemon end
Zoe couldn't stand, so Gabriel carried her to the well by the house and pumped water into the bucket and cleaned her up before cleaning himself. Gabriel looked and sniffed, but couldn't detect any blood coming from Zoe.
"I'm sorry I was so rough Baby."
"Don't be, I really enjoyed it. There's something liberating about just being taken like that."
"But I hurt you." He said, but he didn't sound especially remorseful. The implication of that tone sent delightful shivers down Zoe's spine to her crotch.
"My wives and I like to be hurt that way most of the time."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Not sure about Nick yet, but it could prove interesting to find out."
"I'm looking forward to it as well."
oooOOOooo
They left early the next morning after restocking as many supplies as they could including water. Stan and Edith were already up as farmers tended to be. Both couples exchanged goodbye's with Edith impulsively hugging the younger doe as Zoe sat in the passenger seat, her prediction of not being able to walk proving to be an actual issue.
It hurt to sit on the bare seat, but it was the kind of hurt she liked. It took a while for Gabriel to figure out how to get the fire started again under the boiler and even more time for it to build up steam. It would have taken longer if Stan hadn't given helpful hints, having seen such things done during previous visits from the Wraiths.
As that was happening Gabriel familiarized himself with the controls, Zoe pointing out which gauge was for what.
"How do you know that?" He asked her before adding "Never mind, Chosen right?"
"Yep." She said with a self satisfied smirk.
"Be careful or I'll spank you and then find out what if feels like to knot your ass."
"There you go, making promises again."
And then she laughed as her newly minted fiance gave off a lustful growl. She wondered how long it would be before they found out.
The car didn't move fast at all, maybe 20 miles an hour, and it wasn't very maneuverable either. There were no suspension to speak of so Zoe was forced to stand, it being too painful to sit through the bumps. Although doing it while having sex might be interesting. And it was hot, too hot with the doors closed and the boiler going.
They traveled for an hour before stopping to bury the leopards. Even if she'd felt able to do so, she wouldn't have held the rites for such mammals. She did feel bad that she wasn't able to help Gabriel bury them. He told her not to worry about it, she'd more than made up for it the night before, giving her a lascivious grin.
Both mammals drank more of their water than normal. Not that it mattered very much when, about four hours later, their vehicle ended up slowing down and coming to a stop. No matter what Gabriel did he couldn't get the contraption to go again.
"I think we should have filled the boiler with water, we can't generate enough steam anymore to get this thing moving."
"I'm surprised that you didn't know that before." Gabriel mumbled, irritated with the primitive machine and not Zoe.
Zoe however, felt like he was mildly admonishing her and replied, "I'm sorry Love. But in my defense, Lord Hephaestus is known to be a bit absentminded."
"I'm not blaming you Baby, I'm just frustrated with this crappy piece of ancient technology."
Gabriel carried Zoe plus all their gear away from both the car and the road before finding a good camping spot. He then went back, alone, to clear their tracks and scent from the vehicle by standing upwind and spraying it as well as the area they'd been in with insect repellant. Any canine sniffing around wouldn't be able to smell anything for a long time after getting a whiff of that.
They lay together in their sleeping bag, Zoe snuggled in against Gabriel's chest.
"I'm going to have to hunt tomorrow, I'm almost out of the protein bars."
"I'm sorry Baby. I wish I could help you somehow."
"Don't worry about it. There's no other place I'd rather be."
Zoe sat hidden in a thick, pungent bush that she didn't know the name of until it popped into her head that it was called, appropriately enough, a stink bush. Gabriel assured her that not even a canine would want to get within 20 yards of her location, wrinkling his nose and trying not to breath too deep. She didn't care for the smell either, but her fiance insisted.
She'd tried to walk some earlier, but she was still too sore to move very fast, so sitting her was the best she could do. Gabriel told her to keep her pistol out just in case, but she countered with the fact she was better with her goddess than anything made by mammal. But, to set his mind at rest, she kept the pistol in her paw.
A/N: Some dark content, but justice was served in the end.
We all knew that something would happen with Zoe and Gabriel on this trip and it finally did. More to come!
