2665 words.
Chapter 3.
"Kill him."
The last words her mother had said to her. She remembered how terrified she'd been of the human, with his rifle pointed right at her. She still perfectly remembered seeing her mother's eyes close, still focusing on her, and her last exhale.
She remembered looking up to the human, waiting for him to deliver the killing blow, knowing she could not hope to defend herself from him. Instead of killing her, he'd offered her food. That had been the start of their relationship, although they hadn't known it then.
Her and her mother had gone foraging in hopes of finding food, both of them starved. Her mother had been giving her whatever food was available, but the males had not been able to provide any.
She would have died that night with her mother if that human hadn't given her some food. She'd gotten a whiff of his scent when he'd handed her that food can, and it had made her curious.
The wind blew against her face as the Humvee drove through the destroyed city, carefully weaving around destroyed cars and debris in the road. Sat in the turret ring was a fully grown White Spike. Well, not quite fully grown.
The human had tried his best to care for her. She could smell it on his scent, how he had slowly grown to care for her. Her metabolism in her early stages was ravenous though, and she had only been able to grow and put on so much weight with what he was able to provide.
She was nowhere near the size of her mother. She was bigger than a male, but not by very much. This was as much as she would grow too. This was going to be her final size. She didn't mind though, she was still plenty big enough to defend the human from any males that might try to attack him.
None would though. They were all dead, and they were completely subservient to the females, all she had to do was utter one protest at them and they would instantly halt whatever they were doing. Her scent was also coated all over the human too, which would also cause any males to halt their attacks.
She thought back again to those early days. She'd tried following the human, but she was still too scared of him to try approaching. She'd hid in that building the human had been in, tracing his steps with his scent.
It had been a horrible night, her mother not around to keep her warm, and hardly any food to eat. The cans of food had proven too stubborn to open on her own, she'd cut her arms up trying to.
And then the human returned again, giving her some more much needed food. She had still been scared and nervous, but eventually she had grown to trust the human, despite everything her mother had taught her and told her to do.
She still remembered that first night with him, how safe and comfortable she had felt. She remembered how she had moved closer to him during the night as he slept, eventually crawling onto his chest, hoping he wouldn't wake up from her claws.
Her species were pack creatures, sleeping alone felt unnatural to her. The human had woken up before she had, she didn't know if he had been surprised, but he hadn't woken her up, or tried to move, and eventually she'd woken up on her own, finding the human had set his hand on her back at some point.
She enjoyed his warmth, and being close to him, she had been very happy to find out the next night that the human didn't care when she put herself close to him.
The Humvee started picking up speed as they got to a patch of road that didn't have any obstacles in it, the White Spike feeling her tentacles wave behind her as she looked around the area.
Sat in the driver seat of the vehicle was the human that had been caring for her the entire time. She had traveled with him everywhere he had gone, too scared to leave him alone lest something happen that she could have prevented.
The days and weeks following that first night had been busy as they went trying to find food for her, her appetite steadily increasing as she grew, the human remarking several times how fast she was growing.
Within three months she was almost fully grown, and it was a few weeks after that he decided he wanted to travel a bit farther. They had wandered around several streets, the human looking into every vehicle that appeared in good condition, but having no luck trying to get them running.
After about 30 minutes she spotted a Humvee that was in perfect condition. It was this one they were now riding in. She had been too big to fit into the Humvee, the human laughing as he watched her struggle to get herself out of one of the doors.
The turret was cramped too, her legs pinched together as she stood in it, her claws resting on the roof of the vehicle as it bounced on the cratered road. He had been driving for about 15 minutes now, the Spike not knowing where he was going.
Neither of them knew each other's languages. All he heard from her were grunts and screeches, and while she had grown to understand some of the more common phrases he spoke, much of his language was still a mystery to her.
He actually had told her where he was going, something about a… police station? He had also mentioned something about a shower, though she knew nothing of what either of those words were.
She had tried to pass the time by messing with the weapon in front of her. She had pressed about every button and pulled pretty much every handle there was on the thing, including the one that fired the weapon.
The man had swerved when she'd done so, and she'd been just as surprised as he had been, a loud screech coming from her as a few rounds flew out before she let go of the weapon. Several shaped pieces of metal had also flown out of the weapon when she'd fired it, the Spike seeing them fly off to the right, landing on the ground.
She had left the trigger alone since then, much to the relief of the human inside the vehicle.
As they rounded a corner in the street she spotted a formation of vehicles in the distance. The human uttered an exclamation of excitement when he spotted them, driving towards them as fast as he safely could.
Ahead of them were several black and white vehicles, lightbars attached above them. They were arranged in a half circle around the entrance of a building, and there could be seen countless spikes embedded in the vehicles and the building beyond.
This was the police station, and it had been the site of a deadly last stand as officers and military tried to defend the place while civilians retreated from the city.
The Humvee slowly pulled up as close as it could, the engine shutting off as the human stepped out. The White Spike growled as she weasled herself out of the turret, climbing over the vehicle, stopping to stand on the engine as she looked over the area.
She didn't know how much time had passed since the battle that had taken place here, but she could still smell the death that reeked in the air. Many of her kind had died here, and she could also smell the iron scent of human blood around where the vehicles were.
"God, I hope this place still has running water."
The human started walking towards the entrance, the White Spike jumping off the truck as she followed close behind. Water. She recognized that word. It was what both her and the human drank all the time.
They walked into the dimly lit interior of the station, the man turning the flashlight on his rifle on, scanning it over the area. The place had been completely torn apart, bullet holes and spikes in every single wall, chairs and tables completely crushed and destroyed everywhere.
There were weapons scattered all around the area too, some of them also destroyed. The scent of death was stronger here, the carpet floor below them holding onto the smell, letting it stay longer than it would have normally.
They continued walking, the man soon spotting something that caught his interest. They were in a more barren portion of the station, her claws striking on concrete flooring as she followed the human into a cramped hallway.
It was a dead end here, but at the end of the hallway were two doors, the human making his way to the one on the left. They were open, the Spike seeing these ones were significantly stronger than a normal door.
She squeezed through the doorway, stopping when she bumped her head into the human. He was standing in front of the wall, and she turned, seeing a thick glass pane set in the wall. There were metal wires running all along the inside of the glass, strengthening it, helping to protect what was on the other side.
On the other side were countless racks of weapons and ammo, the human making his way into the armory, stepping through the doorway leading into it, this door also heavily armored. She tried to follow, but it was too cramped inside. She let out a sad whine, returning to the window to watch him look over everything.
He compared his rifle to the pristine ones sitting on the rack in front of him, and he unloaded his, setting it on the ground as he grabbed a new one off the rack. His weapon was old and beaten, far past its prime.
Normally police departments wouldn't have weapons this advanced, but this department was where the SWAT team for the city was stationed, and there was a surplus of military weapons available to be distributed out, too many weapons and not enough hands for them.
He took the magazine from his old rifle, slotting it into the new one. This new one was the same as his old rifle, so the magazine slotted in perfectly. There were plenty of spare magazines available too, the man filling them up and stuffing them into the pockets on his vest.
He turned to the window, seeing the Spike peering through at him. His eyes widened as he looked below the glass, seeing a table with tools for adding attachments to weapons. Below the table were labeled boxes full of attachments for multiple weapons.
He quickly made his way over, spending the next few minutes customizing his weapon.
The White Spike watched him curiously as he worked, tilting her head as she watched him screw on various things to the weapon. Eventually he made his way out of the armory, a happy look on his face as he sported his new and improved weapon.
He looked further down the hallway, seeing another open door, above that was a sign that said, "Changing Room." Curious, he made his way over. He heard the Spike following behind him as he made his way to the room, and when he entered it his eyes widened.
It was the room where the SWAT team would change into their tactical gear. Uniforms, body armor and helmets sat on racks everywhere. He was surprised to see so much of it here, the police must not have had much time to prepare.
There were three racks that were missing their equipment, the man seeing a helmet lying on the ground near one of them. Whoever had donned the gear had clearly been in too much of a hurry to bother recovering their helmet.
He looked down at his own uniform, taking in the state of it. His clothing was in halfway decent shape, since he'd looted it from nearby stores, along with his boots. There were no stores around that sold or held ballistic vests though, and his was on its last legs.
He moved over to one rack that had a uniform and vest on it, sighing in relief when he saw the uniform was close enough to his size. He set his rifle on a table in the center of the room, quickly taking his vest off.
He started unbuttoning his shirt, but paused, turning to the doorway. Standing in the doorway was the White Spike, her eyes fixated on him. This wasn't new to him. She was almost constantly watching him, or in contact with him.
He had almost never left her sight once, not unless either of them had to go to the bathroom. She would run off somewhere and do her business, but he had to shoo her off whenever he had to go.
Personal space was not a thing for her either. She would usually press herself close to him whenever possible, and when it was time to sleep she was all over him. It had been cute when she was tiny, the man finding it entertaining to see her sleeping on his chest.
Not quite so now that she was fully grown. She weighed a lot, and she would usually have an arm or two draped over him, or sometimes she'd pull him close and clutch him with every appendage, depending on how she was feeling.
He didn't blame her. They were pack creatures, it was probably natural to her to sleep next to other creatures. There were some nights when it was awkward though.
He sighed, stripping his shirt off, knowing she was not going to go away. It was always a pain trying to change clothing when she was nearby. He then kicked his boots off, pulling his pants down afterward. He kept himself turned away from the White Spike, trying to preserve at least some of his modesty around her.
In the doorway, the Spike was tracing her eyes over the human in front of her, watching him step into the clothing that he had pulled off the rack he was standing in front of. He always turned away from her when he was changing, it made her curious about what he was hiding.
He took his shirt off when he would go to sleep, the Spike enjoying his warmth. She had wanted him to take off his pants too, but he had refused to, much to her disappointment. She didn't quite understand why. To her it was completely natural, maybe humans were just different in that aspect.
She watched him take a vest off the rack, strapping it onto himself then grabbing his old vest, taking all the gear off of it. Within a few minutes he was done, and he started walking towards her. She awkwardly backed up, the hallway too tight for her to turn around.
They made their way back the way they had come, the man taking them through the guts of the station, looking for the other thing he had come here for. The further they got into the station the less destroyed it was, the two of them eventually entering a tile hallway that was completely untouched.
There was a sign up above, the man nodding his head when he spotted it. "Yes! The showers, finally! God, I hope these still work."
He walked to a closed door, hesitantly pushing it open, shining his light into the dark room. The White Spike pushed in past him, finding that they were in a room full of small cubicles, weird objects jutting out of the wall in every cubicle.
He walked up to the closest one, moving below the metal pipe, grasping at a handle that was at waist height.
"Moment of truth."