“The humans said it was the end of the world. I said it was boring.” 
        Nowadays, the abandoned city Adler called FREE lived up to its name. Free of life, free of care, and free of anything worth remembering. Once proud buildings aged disgracefully. Windows all over them lost their reflection and wore years of stains, cracks and scratches. Some had even fallen loose. Sunbaked streets became black, arid deserts; stranded vehicles littered the sides, plastered in years and years of bird shit and dust, neglected so severely that not even a “Wash me” was written on any of the windshields. Places once full of life decayed, such as a cute cafe he once visited, its cuteness tainted with rotting walls and threadbare furniture. 
All the neglect made him sore. Why did it have to end like this? 
It was so different from the day of arrival when flocks of humans crossed the streets and poured in and out of buildings, how they collected at corners and marched across the roads, all with their eyes on the sky. Children pointing and laughing, some nervous and crying, parents holding them close. Oh, how badly he ached.
        “Everyone ditched Earth as they (said like “dey”) got the chance. I just don’t get it,” Adler said. 
A rogue tree root bursting from the sidewalk tripped him. He cursed under his breath at it. 
        “Don’t be so sour. Earth still has much to offer. It’s as rife with opportunity as it was sixty years ago!” Jorja threw her arms out to emphasize her statement. 
        Adler punted a chunk of concrete through an already broken store window. He cursed further at the uneven sidewalk juggling his balance. He stopped to rub his puffy eyes and held his hand out to block the sun to avoid getting his vision harassed by fireworks. His exhausted brain churned through mud to keep his thoughts alined. “Dis layer had so much potential” he yawned, “it’s. . .” Why bother complaining anymore. 
        Jorja waited for him to recharge under the September sun that beamed straight down on them. 
        Adler took the lead and they left the city. He stuck his face in a faded map of the US littered with scribbles across many crossed out states. 
        They trekked across a stretch of breathing land. Tall grass danced in the wind. 
Adler stopped dragging his feet and stomped through the green sea. They went through humps and dips, over fields and scrap heaps. They marched through rainbows of wildflowers and braved the gigantic shadow casted by the cloudbusting grey meteorite that floated above and monitored the land. 
        Adler huddled in his windbreaker to shield himself from the yelling wind. He shivered and moved behind Jorja for protection, though her lab coat flapped in his face and snapped in the wind. 
        “Had I known of the coming exodus, I’d have planned sooner.”
        “On the bright side, there’s an endless supply of useful material left behind for us to collect. Expanding our knowledge base is substantial, even if all we find is porn. Lots and lots of porn.” Jorja unrolled a crusty nudy magazine from 2017 and scanned its peripheries. She gave it to Adler, who stuck his nose inside and drank up pages and pages of saucy women, skinny women, big women, bimbos, flat chests, huge breasts, pussy and more! But it wasn’t enough. 
        He degusted the pages further in hopes of a spark—of anything at that point. But it failed to give him so much as a chub. He tucked the magazine in his backpack and sighed. 
        Is that what’s bringing him down? Jorja thought.  
        Adler grabbed Jorja’s tail and stopped her.
        “Ow! Hey~~” 
        He pointed at a sharp object sticking out of the ground in the distance. “That’s the first shelter I saw when I first arrived. I haven’t forgotten it since.”
        “Think it’s the one?” Jorja asked. 
        “Let’s find out.” 
        They approached the shelter in silence. The entrance stuck out of the ground aslant, surrounded by colorful junk in neatly organized boxes. Adler strode and Jorja hurried to stay by his side. They reached the backside and circled around to see the metal door but who they discovered paralyzed them. 
        A teenage girl sat with her back against the door. She appeared ghostly in every sense of the word, like her very being rejected color. She wore a frilly white dress and white knee high boots. Her platinum hair was secured in double dutch braids that slumped over her shoulders. Every inch of her was pristine, as if dirt was afraid to touch her.
        She opened a piercing red eye and glared at them. “You’re not supposed to be here.” 
        Jorja fumbled. “Oh, we were just~~” 
        “Quiet, scienceslut.” She pointed at Adler. “More importantly. What are you doing here?”
        Of all the damned places on Earth for a Paraphore to be. 
Immediate anger replaced his sleepiness, but he held it in. “Been a while, Spector. They got you on trash duty?” 
        Spector scoffed. “Better than the work you’re doing. Don’t you have a camp to run? I seriously hope you didn’t play the wag just to creep here.”
        He faked a smile and talked through his teeth. “I have someone taking care of work for me. I’m simply here helping Jorja find tings to sate her sciencelust.” 
        “Well, this area is off-limits. No one should be here except for me.” Spectre crossed her arms. 
        His eyes narrowed. “And why is that?” 
        She stood and tapped his snout. “That’s. None. Of. Your. Business.” 
        When they returned to the city Adler bent over and hid his face in his jacket. He let out a short yell followed by a shitstorm of horrendous, muffled phrases.
        “Okay,” he sighed, “I’m cool. I’m not going to flip out. I won’t be petty about this,” He said. He growled at the end of his sentence. 
        He paced left and right, while Jorja looked concerned. “Are you going to be all right?” She asked.
        Adler unraveled. “It’s nothing. None of this means anything anymore. I seriously believe this plan can work after sixty-six years. I take too long, I have too little time. No matter what I do, it ends in a gigantic fuckup.” He looked like he was going to faint. 
        Jorja clutched his face. “Don’t get yourself worked up!” 
        He had heavy bags under his eyes. His mind became a murky snowglobe of scattered thoughts and emotions. Exhaustion aged his scaly face by thirty-three years. “I don’t want to fail again.”
        “That’s not going to happen. You need to believe in yourself, like we believe in you.” She rubbed his shoulder. 
        “If Spectre is there, then we can’t return. I can’t risk this ending up like last time. Who knows what she’s guarding. Unless. . . No. Forget it.” He pushed a horrible memory away. 
        The dust settled in Adler’s brain and his gaze sharpened. His thinking became clear. He rifled through a tattered fanny pack strapped to his tail and yanked out another folded map. He unfolded it carefully. “I made this years ago. . .”
        He showed Jorja a map defaced by smudged gel ink scribbles. A large, aggressively drawn circle sat on top of a location with an address beside it written in marker. Faded ramblings surrounded it all. 
        She inspected the map. “Montana? That’s over a thousand miles from here.”
        The gears inside Adler’s head grinded. “I went there years ago to check out a crime that had occurred. Police said it was a shootout. They didn’t say anything else. All I know is there’s a bunker and a burned down house. This was before I had other plans. I’m certain it’s there. I didn’t want to go back because of the last bunker we checked out.” 
        “I don’t want to think about the stench.” Jorja looked away, as if the scene was right in front of her. 
        Adler dropped his ass on the subaked hood of a car. It dropped to one side and whined. 
        “If this is our last chance, we have to plan carefully, get everyone involved.” 
        He added. “More importantly, we have to act fast, before anyone else gets in our way. It makes enough sense—some hicks get in a shootout over shelter the day of arrival and whoever wasn’t hole-punched gets in the bunker, where I hope they still are and alive. What do you think? Delusional or desperate?” 
        “Desperate,” Jorja said. “But it’s the only option we have.” 
        Adler smiled. “Good. You’re going to investigate for me. I’m returning to camp to catch up on some much needed rest. You can take the car to Montana. Get there as soon as possible. You have the stuff, right? Of course you do. What am I saying? When you get there, mark an entry point. Put it somewhere non-conspicuous.” 


        Adler took the long way home. He sleepwalked half of the way until Jorja contacted him days later. She told him, “It hasn’t been touched. No smell of death.” 
        He had the best sleep in weeks—no, the best sleep in months. No nightmares. No voices shaming him. No drowning blue kittens. 


        Adler arrived at the camp a week later. 
        The stars glided across the coming night sky as dusk shrouded the sky in a twinkling black blanket; he ambled through the entrance under a sign dappled with colorful paint vomit that read: 
        
        WELCOME TO CAMP DOGMAW!!! (est. 2036)  
        
        He drew in a fresh breath of air. The crisp scent of pine and dirt welcomed him.
        Bunches of twigs and pine needles crunched under his boots. A breeze flirted with him and caressed his face. October was coming. This was peace. This was home. Nothing bad ever happened here. 
        Laughter caught his attention. The campers were still awake.
        He strode into a clearing and found eightteen campers sat evenly around a fire. On the opposite end sat Kayden, his second-in-command, wearing a delighted crooked smile. A rodent boy, named Ezra, clung to his side, staring up at him with starry eyes that twinkled from the fire. 
They all laughed, talked over one another, and tossed marshmallows over the fire to peg someone in the face, until one, two, then three boys noticed Adler in the shadows. 
They greeted him, getting louder as each boy caught sight of their head counsellor and joined the ensemble. All together they sang: “Hello, Mister Serpentine~!” 
Kayden noticed him last. His smile wavered.
Campers spilled around the fire and surrounded Adler in a hug-puddle. All except for the rodent. He greeted every one of them by name. 
Kayden whispered something to Ezra, who so desperately wanted to sit on something else. Whatever he was told, he looked deeply disappointed.
“Unfortunately, Mister Serpentine has come at a late hour. Campers,” Kayden stood over them all, “Say your goodnights and tuck yourselves in.” 
One by one, the campers departed, with Ezra catching up last because he had a limp. 
        The fire crackled and lashed out between Adler and Kayden as a breeze disturbed it. Kayden motioned for him to sit. 
They stared at each other over the dancing flames. The silence grew awkward immediately. 
        Kayden’s gaze skewered the flames and gnawed on Adler. Bright orange eyes permanently half-empty that seeked to devour everything. 
        “Tell me the bad news first.” 
        Adler stared back, cool and collected. “We ran into an unexpected obstacle on our trip to the first site I wanted to investigate.” He dropped his gaze. “A paraphore.” 
        “Where have I heard that before?” 
        “Don’t start. We were-- How did you know I had bad news?” 
        The fire weakened and cowered in the growing darkness. 
        “I learned from Paraphorum four days ago. Someone told on you,” Kayden said. His voice lacked any life. 
        Adler’s composure crumbled. “What? That can’t be. We left as soon as we got there. What did it say?” 
        Kayden explained to Adler that, on September 7th, a suspicious individual was reported lurking around various locations near the Grey Meteorite. The situation will be investigated, though no evidence of ill intent was found because he was with a trustworthy contributor to the Interphore. 
        Adler’s chest tightened. “Various locations?! B-But Jorja is our liaison. We should have nothing to worry about. They trust her.” 
        “We have a shitload to worry about. If they question you, they’re going to want to question us! If they find out what we’re really doing, everything is going to go to shit. We’ll have nothing.” 
        And we’ll all be lost because of you. Failure. 
        Adler’s head spun. “What?” 
        “Don’t start flipping out on me. We need to. . .” Kayden’s voice faded and his face distorted into a dark smear. 
        You can’t possibly do it on your own!
        No. Not here. Please. Anywhere but here. 
Adler covered his ears and looked at the ground. His stomach did backflips and he lost touch of his surroundings. Smoke burned his nostrils and flooded his lungs. His heart beat out of his chest. 
        Daddy, where are you? Don’t leave me! 
        “Stop it,” Adler begged. 
        He had no idea when he ended up on all fours. The ground broke apart beneath him and he clawed at it for dear life while a droning hum deafened him. It came from inside his head and poured out of his eyes and turned his vision into a messy blur. Distant screams came from all directions. No. No. No. No. Please. 
        Kayden picked him up by his shoulders. His vision cleared, as much as he’d rather be looking at a sight more pleasant. 
What he mistook for screaming was the breeze tickling his ears. What he thought was darkness consuming him, the fire had simply become starved, spitting few embers aloft, adding to the stars in the sky. He merely caught a whiff of the smoke. 
        “Don’t flip out on me. Are you steady?” 
        Adler grabbed Kayden’s neck. He looked at him with crazed eyes. “Don’t say it like that. I’m not losing anything.” 
        Kayden tried to look apologetic. “It won’t happen again,” he croaked, “but if it does, you can do worse than this. You could do with losing that PTSD, you know.” 
        He set Adler down on a log with his back against a tree. He breathed deeply and rebuilt his mental foundation. “Amnesia couldn’t get rid of everything when they assimilated me, not like I deserve to be cured. The good news is Jorja found a shelter in a location I sent her to investigate far from where Spector or anyone else is. We need to get this done fast if they’re coming for me. Before they suspect anything else.” 
        Spector’s name repulsed Kayden. “Who the fuck does she think she is? Paraphores. All they do is meddle and get involved in matters that shouldn’t involve them. And now look at what’s become of morals and social integrity.” 
        Hypocrite, Adler thought. 
        “How soon can we initiate a plan?” Kayden asked. 
        “As soon as tomorrow, if the rest of our cadre comes on time. We’re waking up early.” Adler glanced in the direction of the campers’ tents. “Go check on them before we go to bed. Make sure they haven’t collapsed into a sex pile.” 
        Kayden sneered. “Oh please, don’t dirty your hands, Mister Serpentine. You mustn’t soil your mind with such depravity!” 
        Adler ignored him. 
        In the distance, Kayden snapped: 
        “Set your tents back up! That rope isn’t for tying and fucking each other! I don’t care if you’re good at it! We don’t hand out badges! Now!” 
        The fire crackled nervously at Adler’s feet. He watched it quiver before looking up at the stars. 
        He let his troubles slip away and pushed a piece of wood into the fire. While it engulfed the wood in ravenous tendrils, he impaled a few marshmallows on a stick and roasted them, and, while waiting, stuffed more in his mouth. 
        He shoved a fat, toasty, gooey load of marshmallows in his mouth, filling his cheeks with tongue-burning sugary goodness. He pried the stick from his lips and chewed slowly. 
        “Mmf! Shhho good~!” Adler mewed, like a total sweet-toothed slut. 
        When he was done, he snuffed the fire, suffocating it with handfuls of dirt. All that remained was a pathetic flicker, which he stomped beneath his boot, twisting his foot as it let out a dying wisp of smoke. 
        He joined Kayden to check on the campers one last time and caught a few stragglers straddling each other. Adler will be damned if he let his boy step out of line while he was away. 
They put them in their rightful places and tucked some of the younger boys together in the same sleeping bag and said their goodnights. 
        “Just good dreams tonight,” Adler whispered. “Cute and happy dreams. . .” 


        They awakened at the asscrack of dawn. 
Adler slithered out his sleeping bag and stretched, extending his arms and legs. He dropped his lower back and stuck his ass up high (and in Kayden’s face), bullying his nose with smoky, outdoorsy feline assmusk built up over the week. 
        They snuck past the sleeping camper’s tents. Each had its own unique and adorable design: glittery paw prints slapped across the outside surrounding half-decent finger paintings of naked bois in lewd poses embellishing the fabric. All of which were shamelessly obvious, much to Adler’s annoyance. 
        They reached the edge of a dazzling crystal clear lake in the middle of the camp. Out in the distance, a small island floated in the center. 
Adler helped Kayden push a dinghy into the water and they set off for it, with Kayden manning the oars. 
        “I wondered when you’d pay your special boi a visit. Nervous?” Kayden rowed swiftly. 
        Adler shook an uneasy look off his face and answered. “Just motion sickness.” He looked straight ahead. He focused on the water lapping the sides of the vessel to pull his mind from the circus in his gut. 
        They hit land and scraped to a stop in mud and crunchy pebbles. Adler flew forward and ate shit in cold mud. 
        “We’re here.” 
        Kayden leaned over to check on Adler and met a mud-caked face that contorted with anger. 
        A hissy sigh rushed through his lips. He jumped to his feet and rinsed his face clean with lake water, washing off any other lake gunk, as well. He grit his teeth at the biting cold, though it helped soothe his frustration. 
        Avoiding further chagrin, Adler shoved the dinghy back into the water with his foot. “Get breakfast ready for the campers.” 
        Kayden nodded and rowed away. A smirk grew the farther he got. 
Ideas for breakfast popped in his head. Pancakes stuffed full of blueberries? Something fruity? He settled on the camper’s favorite: a hearty serving of eggs and big, juicy sausages. Adler won’t be there to tell them to stop eating so sexually. 
        In the middle of the island, in the middle of the lake, in the middle of the pacific northwest, Adler came upon a landmark after passing loads of danger signs: a collection of small rocks surrounding one large rock. It looked like a small dom/large sub rock gangbang, viewed by a fat old tree that intruded on other trees’ personal space and fondled them with its branches. 
        He moved the large, fake rock, uncovering a circular metal hatch embedded in the ground. 
        Worms and bugs scurried out of stomping range as he squatted and grabbed the handle tightly. He fought until it squealed in defeat and gave way. He opened the hatch and stared down a long, dark, and disappointingly narrow shaft. 
        He dove in head first and crawled inside using a ladder fixed to the inside of the shaft. Being part cat, sliding inside was easy, except for his fat ass clogging the entrance. For a moment, he rethought marshmallows and s’mores as a means of catharsis, but he reached the bottom before guilt set in. 
        With boots on the ground, he entered the darkness. He dragged his fingers along a wall, touching invisible bumps and rough shapes on the cool concrete surface. 
        His stomach interrupted the silence. He wished he had eaten something before coming here. 
        Maybe I should start eating less, he thought. 
        Adler kicked something. A deep groan reverberated off the walls. It was a metal door.
        He grabbed another circular handle, and, to his satisfaction, this one turned without a fight. 
        Pale orange light spilled out into the corridor, revealing the metal door as the type found on large ships. Warm air followed, caressing his face. Before his eyes could adjust, a small figure charged at him and took him down in a ferocious hug. A young sphinx hugged him tighter than the gravity on Earth kept objects on the ground, hard enough to crush diamonds. 
        A litany of needy whining and purring buzzed in his chest. “You finally came to visit,” a muffled voice said. 
        “Easy. I’m here now, Author. It’s so good to see you again.” Adler rubbed his scalp.  
        Author caressed his love handles. He whined and croaked. Poor boy was touch-starved. “Are you okay after what happened last night? Please tell me you’re okay.” He nuzzled his chest fiercely, soaking his shirt with warm tears. 
        Adler knelt and hugged Author. “Don’t worry about my episodes. They rarely happen anymore. I feel great today. Even better now that I get to see you again.” 
        Author hid his face in his neck. He pouted. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry when I saw you again.” He rubbed his eyes and sniffled noisily. 
        “I should be the one crying. I’ve been a bad dad. Just when I think I’m getting somewhere, I slip up. I’m not going to let you down.” 
        “You haven’t failed yet. Camp Dogmaw has turned out well over the past decades. You’ve succeeded there, you can succeed again!” 
        “That doesn’t compare to how important your work is. Know why?” Adler met his eyes. 
Author’s eyes encased swirling, glowing clouds of cyan. 
        “Why?” 
        He booped Author. “Because you’re our amazing narrator and we all love you.” He kissed his forehead. His tail whipped side to side madly. 
        “I knooow~” Author blushed. He bapped Adler on the snout. “You’re making me melt here.” 
        His scrawny fingers entwined with Adler’s and he led him into his room. 
        Author pranced around a buzzing lava lamp sitting in the middle of the room and dropped his butt on his bed—an old kid-sized mattress on the floor—knocking over a mountain of colorful origami. Adorable cat-themed decorations festooned the walls. A barrier of paper flowers and stacks of books ranging from for kids to complex literature surrounded his bed, which was covered in stained purple blankets, guarded by a big stuffed fox that had been thoroughly humped in every position imaginable. Plastic glow-in-the-dark stars stuck across the ceiling. Some peeled away through the years. 
The room smelled a tad stale.
        He sat with his legs spread out; his blue and white paw print raincoat opened up and revealed he was naked underneath. His little kitten cock jiggled between his skinny thighs inside a dingy metal chastity cage. “What can I do for you? D’ya come down here to hide from that eyeball guy?” 
        Adler shook his head. “I need you to contact Jorja, Tyrin, and Jericho. Tell them to come to camp immediately.” 
        “On it. Jorja’s already on her way back. As for Tyrin and Jerry, they’re on other layers. Ren’s brothel and the island.” 
        Adler tightened. “He should be exploring discreetly.”
        “He’s exploring someone all right. He’s at one of those fuck stations. You don’t see them, they don’t see you, you know? Think of it like a civil service. He might be one of the few people keeping that place afloat.” 
        Adler scowled. 
        “Eheh. Anyway! I wish everyone good luck on this operation. Tell Kayden I said hi!” 
        “Sorry he couldn’t come along.” Adler embraced Author one more time. 
        “It’s okay,” he said to his chest. “You’re more than enough to make this a whole reunion.” 
        He barraged Author in kisses before leaving. He put everything back the way it was and left. 
He strode to the edge of the island. It was at that moment he realized he had no way to get back to camp. Fuck that. 
        He walked forward, feet sinking into loose mud that filled his boots until he lumbered through knee high water and reached a sudden drop. He swam back as best he could with his clothes weighing him down. Lucky for him he had a slit, so his dick didn’t have to jump inside him for safety from the ball-biting cold. He sprayed water from his mouth along with shaky curse words as he carried on a hundred more feet and reached land. 
        Adler crawled out of the water. He shook himself dry. His drenched clothes sprayed droplets everywhere. 
On his way to his cabin he stumbled into a camper slurping on a thick sausage, who was alerted by the commotion. He stopped and stared down at the gecko, no older than eleven. His eyes glued to Adler’s clingy clothing. His wet Camp Dogmaw t-shirt revealed details of ventral scales underneath and accentuated his pudgy belly. 
        “Are you lost, Dez?” He asked, still huffing from the swim. He unintentionally sounded annoyed. 
        Dez’s eyes stayed below the neckline. “N-No! I heard splashing and thought someone was in trouble. What are you doing all the way out here, Mister Serpentine? Isn’t that island dangerous?” 
        “It most certainly is.” Adler grabbed the hem of his shirt and wringed it, showing some skin. “Unfortunately, I had another sleeping spell and that’s where I found myself.” 
        Dez stared harder. “You sleepwalk?” 
        He nodded. “I trust you won’t gossip to the other campers about this. Keep this between us and I’ll reward you.” He licked his wet lips dry. 
        Dez obliged and earned a head rub from Adler. 
        He jogged to his cabin and saw no one else coming. His boots squelched loudly, but the mud felt good between his toes. That’s fine, he thought. I’ll change before the others come, maybe write in my journal about last night’s dream, with the boat sailing over the ocean. How did it go? Forget it. 
        He kicked the door open. He dropped his shirt with a wet slap. He bent down and untied his laces. 
        “Good morning, Adler.” 
        He gasped and stumbled backwards. He tripped over his laces and his tailbone bashed the corner of a table and shoved it backward, screeching across the wood floor. He stared in utter disbelief to see a young fox sitting on an armchair in the corner of the room. 
        “Cart?!” Adler rose. He stared wide eyed. “What are you doing here?” 
        “I took a break from work to come and visit you. Please, do not let my presence interrupt you.” He sat up and grinned. 
Even with his blue bangs obscuring his eyes, Adler felt his vision groping him. 
        He peeled his squelchy boots off his feet. “A notice would have been nice.” 
        “That is true. However, I believe unexpected events are much more thrilling.” 
        He pulled up a wooden chair and sat opposite of Cart when he slouched again. He had no underclothes beneath his gay pink oversized turtleneck. His legs dangled and kicked the air, bouncing his flaccid little fox cock sat comfortably upon his fuzzy little coin purse. 
        Adler focused on his mouth, stretched happily into a :3 face. 
        “I hope you know why I am here.” Cart hopped to his feet. 
        Please tell me you’re not here for the investigation. “If you came to fool around, I’m going to have to point you in the other direction. I don’t allow sex at my ca~~” 
        Cart pounced on him and grabbed his shoulders. His knees planted on his thighs. “The bunkers. What business do you have with them?” He peered at him through his bangs. 
        Adler tightened. “Nothing. I’m only around to help Jorja find stuff.” And she could be here any fucking second. 
        “Do not lie to me.” Cart slapped his cheek over and over again to get answers loose. It just pissed him off more. 
        His foot drummed the ground. “I’m telling the truth.”
        Out of nowhere Cart smirked. “I know what your intentions are. Come clean and it will be easier for all of us.” 
        “What do you suspect I’m up to?” Adler boiled. 
        “You’re after one thing and one thing only. . . porn! I am certain you have accumulated a tremendous amount from all your searching.” 
        Adler’s heart felt like it was going to fall out of his ass. Technically, Cart was correct. “Okay. I’ll ‘fess! I’ve collected a ton of porn while going out with Jorja. I can’t help it! I keep saying I’ll go out to clear my mind, but I keep coming back with more and more. Human porn is so hot. . .” 
        Cart patted his head with a floppy sleeve. “Do not feel ashamed. We all have our desires. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to deal with such cravings during work, surrounded by bois every single day.” 
        “Uh, yeah. . . It eats away at me constantly.” Adler dropped his gaze to view Cart’s frame. He caught a whiff of him. He reeked of paint and sweat, but sweat was nice, and so was his sweet fox musk. He tested the water and grabbed his side gently. Cart tensed and his tail wagged. His thumb sank into his squishy tummy. He stopped when Cart shivered. 
        Adler hooked his hands under Cart’s arms and gave him sweet uppies. His legs dangled and his arms straightened out.
        “That clears everything! I apologize for getting so up your ass about this. I would have sent a friend to interrogate you on my behalf, but I missed you.” 
        “Aw. Really?” Adler shook his head. “Never mind. I’m glad I could clear things up. Thanks for coming. Now, I seriously have work to do. I’ll see you later.” 
        Cart nodded. His blue curl bounced as he spun and headed for the door. “Farewell, Adler.” 
        Adler ran over and spun him around. “Not just yet.” He kneeled, their snouts inches away from touching. 
Cart’s bushy tail wagged. He leaned forward and kissed a card. He recoiled in utter confusion. 
“This is for you,” Adler said. “It’s an invitation to an event we’re having on the last day of camp. I want you to be our guest of honor. There will be painting!” 
        Cart’s thrill remained. “I will be there! May I bring a friend?” 
        “Bring whoever you want. I trust you’ll bring your special paints.” 
        Cart nodded. “Regular paint is not as interesting. The way mine seep down my body is just. . . different.” He embraced himself. 
        “O-kay. I’ll catch you later.” 
        Adler shut the door and fell back on it. He slid to the floor, sighing all the way down. Of all the damned things. They really sent someone to question me so soon?  
        He had no qualms about spilling the wrong truth to Cart. He wanted the truth, he got it. Because of his and Jericho’s collecting, there was decades worth of porn stored in the R.R.R. 


        Jorja, followed by Jericho, followed by his brother Tyrin, all arrived minutes later and greeted Adler. 
        “Sorry for the delay. I had an unexpected visit.” 
        “We have Auth to thank for warning us to stay back. Bless his quick thinking!” Jericho trilled. His silver cross necklace winked in the light. 
        Adler told everyone of the news Kayden shared last night. They all looked at each other concerned, but he assured them. 
        “Cart came to interrogate me, but everything is fine now. Did you mark the site?” 
        Jorja nodded while she organized material Jericho retrieved from the Archiepelago: sheafs of sweetgrass, metal scraps, and chunks of purple rock. 
        “Take everything but the rocks and scraps, Jorja. I have a super secret project planned,” Jericho said. 
        “That’s thoughtful, but we already have enough sweetgrass,” Jorja said. “Unless this is for. . .”
        Everyone collectively looked at Adler. 
        “What? That shit’s dank. Jericho is only looking out for me because I’ve been stressed. Haven’t you?” Adler came onto Jericho and played with his necklace. “Such a worthy contributor~.” 
        Tyrin cut in between them and passed a jerry can to Adler. The smell of sex and cheap perfume stung burned their eyes. “Don’t forget this, man.” 
        “Is that what I think it is?” Adler asked. 
        Jericho nodded proudly. “Fresh from the island! In case we need more from travelling back and forth.” 
        Adler wanted to slam Jericho on the table and plow the holiness out of him right there. No. That can wait. Everything came together perfectly. 
        “Excellent excellent excellent! We’ll need it for the job we have to do.” 
        “So soon?” Jorja cut in. 
        “Tonight: I want Jericho and Tyrin prepped for dispatch and sent to Montana. You stay behind and provide backup if needed. Understood?” Adler checked everyone’s faces. 
        “Salvation awaits!” Jericho bursted. 
        “No objections,” Tyrin said. 
        Adler left and returned with a metal case. He dropped it on the table and pulled out two tranquilizer guns. “Delicate procedures require the proper tools.” 
        Jorja cut in. “And like all delicate procedures, we want whoever is inside that bunker extracted alive. Shoot only once. The darts we made use a potent sweetgrass formula.” 
        Tyrin expertly spun his gun on his fat index finger and pointed it at invisible baddies. “No sweat. This’ll be like my old job, only less cruel.” 
        “Back on the island?” Adler asked. 
        “Yup. I worked as a security guard at a bank for some rich greasebag.” 
        Jericho says, “Snagg was the worst.” And he quotes: “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” 
        “What’s the plan of attack?” Jorja asked. 
        “When night falls, go to Montana and find the location of the bunker. It’s east of the skeletal remains of a burned down farm house. Find a way inside and safely extract anyone still alive and bring them back here.” Adler paced. “Sixty-six years is a long time to stay inside those concrete boxes. Make sure this goes smoothly. No fucking around.” 
        “For the Uniphore!” Jericho chanted. “One heart, one goal, hand in hand we walk the path together. May Adler and God lead us to eternal glory.” 
        They said in unison, “For the Uniphore!”