The Ruin of Mankind

Hunching further over the handlebars, Cali gave her bike a bit more throttle as she covered the final mile towards Guttergrudge, kicking up a large cloud of reddish-brown dust behind her. As the name might imply, Guttergrudge was certainly no luxury resort, but it was one of the larger settlements in the southern wastelands which Cali called home. She never permanently resided in one place, however, instead choosing to roam between town, picking up and completing bounties as she went.

Upon reaching the outer gate which was fabricated from the same rather flimsy sheet metal as the walls, Cali brought the roaring beast below her to a halt. Pulling down the orange bandanna covering the bottom half of her face, she waited until the sentries posted at the gate recognized her and let her in.

Being one of the very few women seen around those parts, and certainly the only one working as a bounty hunter, Cali was practically a local celebrity. The high profile came with more cons than perks, but she'd made examples of enough scumbags who'd tried to take advantage of her in the past that most of them knew not to mess with her by now.

And in case that wasn't enough of a deterrent, the three severed bandit heads covered in distinctive tribal tattoos dangling from the side of her bike served as an excellent reminder that she could handle herself in the wasteland. Making a quick stop by the bounty office, which was really little more than a shack, Cali exchanged her gruesome trophies for a fistful of bottlecaps and took note of the newly posted bounties before turning in at the local tavern for the night.

The next morning, she rode back out into the wasteland at dawn with a fresh tank of gas, the rising sun still at her back. She was headed east towards Bloodridge, a ghost town ever since the cliff that it was built upon had collapsed, taking half of the settlement down with it. A travelling merchant had posted a bounty, claiming that outlaws had robbed him of his entire stock of weapons and other valuable goods around that area. The promised reward was half of whatever was recovered, and it wasn't too far out of her way, so Cali figured that it could be worth it. Gear played a big part in staying alive, so she was always looking to upgrade and expand her arsenal. One could never have too many weapons in this day and age.

That was doubly true in Cali's case, since she knew that it worked both ways and the bandits and outlaws had placed a hefty bounty on her head as well - or rather, on her entire body, since the payout was much larger for capturing her alive. And that was just in addition to every creep in the wasteland wanting to claim her as their own personal fucktoy, whether they dared to act on it or not. Basically, it meant that she constantly needed to remain on high alert, ever vigilant of threats.

After scouting the area from a distance with her binoculars, failing to notice any signs of life, Cali rode up to the outskirts of the abandoned settlement to take a closer look. Clad in all black leather with her sawed-off shotgun strapped to her thigh, assault rifle slung over her back and machete hanging from her belt, she was ready for any potential surprises as she began investigating. Making a thorough sweep of the area, Cali kept one eye out for danger and the other one out for recent tracks or any other clues that might lead her to the stolen goods, hoping that she wasn't just wasting her time with a wild goose chase.

X X X X​

"This should be enough caps for your effort."

Two shrouded figures stood under the dim lighting of the moon in the vast wasteland about a mile from Guttergrudge. One of them, a roaming merchant whom always returned to the settlement after a day's work, would extend his frail hand outwards to the other. The deep and gruff voice belonged to the hooded figure standing before the overweight salesman; a tan colored duster clung to his gigantic figure with the attached shawl thrown over the male's face. A complete palate of black shadow covered all distinguishing facial features but the radiant glow of slate blue eyes. The mysterious figure would place a few bottlecaps, which emitted a metallic rattle upon falling, in the merchant's opened hand before he spoke again.

"Make sure it's posted by morning, now go."

It was then the two parted ways and the morning began to welcome all survivors to another day. As the sun peaked over the horizon of the ruins of civilization, the vultures took to the skies to find what had been slain overnight. The ominous birds circled the dead corpses in various areas of the dusty wasteland of California; wolves were dragging their prey home into the myriad of underground shelters they found refuge in. Large waves of arid dust would follow the currents of the wind much like the swells of the ocean. There was nothing for miles between the colonies of Guttergrudge and Bloodridge. An abandoned house here or there, which had been decimated by the Great War, or a desolate gas station that lacked the valuable resource fueling Cali's hog.

However, it wasn't that long before Cali would come in eye-shot of the collapsed city on a hill everyone called Bloodridge. It was the destination her contract marked out as to be the area in which the merchant had been attacked a few days ago. Because of it's history, half of Bloodridge's houses had been found at the base of the tall hill in pieces. Weather had finally done in a section of the hill that had been unsound years after societal collapse sending the residents and their homes to a sudden death one night. Ever since the incident, much of the population cleared out in fear the rest of the hill could possibly collapse under itself.

The sight through Cali's binoculars would yield nothing out of the ordinary. Every house remaining on the hill was decrepit looking. In fact, they looked more like shacks built of fragile wood than what had been considered homes before the war. Mail boxes were laid out across the small streets that outlined the unkempt yards. Fences were incomplete or outright destroyed; cars were abandoned at every corner, and lamp posts were nothing but covered in sand. A single road would lead right up the slope of the hill and into Bloodridge. The fortified walls that surrounded the city did nothing to keep anyone out - they had long since been maintained once the residents left.

Cali would startle a few black birds perched atop of a broken bench that surrounded a make-shift campfire in the middle of town. The sound of a screen door flapping in the strong breeze could be heard occasionally, but there was no activity besides her own. That is, until she caught the attention of a man aimlessly standing in the middle of the road with his back to her. Said man only had on a simple pair of brown pants that hung from his very slender hips. His back was equally skinny and the sight of bones could be seen poking against the flesh. The bald figure was covered in tattoos, with a large metal collar clasping his neck. It was a moment later that the man turned, and noticed Cali marching up the road in her search for clues.

"Turn away! Now!"

Suddenly, the frail male would dash for her. His bare feet would thud against the pole-hole littered street as he began to sprint with the sway of his arms. He didn't seem like a mutant, nor a ghoul. Instead, he was a man with a rather deranged look in his eye and a blinking collar around his neck. He was getting closer, and closer to her... what would she do?

"Leave! They'll get you too!"

By the time that Cali stepped into Bloodridge through one of the many gaps in the ruined wall which had once surrounded and protected it, the sun had already risen high up into the sky, its scorching rays relentlessly beating down on her. Having resided in the Californian wastes her entire life, she was about as well acclimated to the high temperatures as a person could get, but that didn't stop her from feeling as if she were cooking under her leather. Wiping the matted strands of hair and beads of perspiration from her brow, Cali kicked herself for leaving her water canteen back with her bike, but she didn't feel like turning back to get it now.

Making her way up the main road leading to the town's center, or at least what was left of it, Cali was filled with the same eerie feeling that she always got when exploring pre-cataclysm ruins. Even though she'd been born decades after the world had gone dark, places like these still filled her heart with the strangest sense of nostalgia. She realized that it was irrational, but that didn't make it any less unnerving. Maybe it was because she'd seen photos of the Old World and just couldn't wrap her mind around how they'd gone from that to the world that she knew. It seemed impossible.

The sudden flapping of wings snapped Cali out of it, her eyes darting towards the small flock of black birds that she'd just startled. Her heart rate spiked for just a moment until she realized that it was nothing, and that the area was still dead except for the birds and tricks that the wind liked to play. She did, however, take note of the campfire. Even from a distance, she could tell that it was recent by virtue of the fact that it was only covered in a very thin layer of sand, but she wanted to take a closer look. In all likelihood, the campfire had either been made by the merchant or by the outlaws who robbed him, and either way it was the best and only lead that she'd found so far.

However, before Cali could make it that far, she caught sight of the figure standing further up the road from the corner of her eye. In a single swift motion, she wheeled around to face the stranger and pulled her shotgun out of its holster, keeping it pointed towards the emaciated man with one hand. The tattoos gave him away as belonging to one of the many gangs of degenerates roaming the wastes, which made sense since they were pretty much at the top of the list of suspects for who could have robbed the merchant, but in spite of that the situation still felt far from right.

Why hadn't she noticed anything when scouting the town out earlier? Why was he just standing out in the open like that and warning her to turn back instead of laying in wait to ambush her with his buddies? And what was up with that metal collar? Too many questions that Cali didn't have answers for, and she didn't like it. Had the man been armed, she would have been very tempted to shoot first and save the questions for later, but since that wasn't the case she decided to hold back. He could have valuable information.

She'd already taken note of how skinny he was, but when he turned around, Cali truly saw just what a miserable state that the bastard was in. He practically looked like a walking skeleton covered with a paper-thin layer of skin, about as close to looking like a ghoul without actually being one. More importantly, she also noticed the little blinking red light on his collar, and blinking red lights on unknown objects were generally not a good sign. They were usually a good indication that said object could potentially go boom.

When the man repeated his warning and took off sprinting towards her, Cali glanced around her surroundings as she took a few steps back, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. It wasn't hard to find what she wanted, one of the hundreds of bricks laying around throughout the scattered debris. Sliding her shotgun back into its holster, she bent over to pick the brick up almost lazily and the waited a couple more seconds for the stranger to get a bit closer before hurling it at one of his legs. Normally, it would have just been enough to leave a bad bruise, maybe a fracture, but with how frail the man looked, the heavy projectile might have shattered his tibia as it made impact.

He went down hard with a loud wail, his body skidding briefly over the harsh sand before coming to a halt. Cali kept her distance, moving closer to the edge of one of the dilapidated houses just in case she needed to find cover fast. "Who's they?" she called out, hoping to extract some information out of the man. "Your little friends turn on you or something?"

The frantic and otherwise distraught male would extend both of his arms before him while pursuing the attractive female. It was becoming increasingly obvious that there was no reasoning with the tattoo covered victim. He took on the appearance of a feral ghoul in the way her was dashing for the woman despite the fact that she had taken up arms with a sawn-off shotgun. Not even the fact that he could be killed by slugs slowed the male down. His voice grew higher pitched as he nearly tripped on a pot hole in the street and was sent stumbling forwards in mid-stride, "They're coming for you! They're HERE!"

Aforementioned collar strapped to the frail man's neck would begin to blink much more erratically now as he closed in. However, Cali smartly grabbed hold of a brick across the floor and used it to deter him from getting any closer. A sickening crack! could be heard when the heavy block impacted the desired target: the male's shin. Indeed, the wrinkly-skinned captive would wail out in pain as his leg buckled underneath him. Without a second delay, his body went face first across the cement road; the head slammed right unto the surface while the body followed in a long slide. Blood could be found smearing the roadway where the male happened to cross before stopping in natural momentum. Her words fell upon deaf ears for the gang member had gone unconscious. His body remained un-moving there in the middle of the road as Cali took cover near a house. Her words were answered only by the birds flying overhead.

Birds... and the sudden sound of the collar beeping audibly now. A moment later, and a loud explosion rocked the neighborhood. Pieces of concrete were sent flying into the air in debris, and the body the collar had been attached to was severed into a million pieces. A bloody, pink mist of where the corpse happened to be now floated up into the air with the sandy breeze of the wasteland. So much for getting information from the unknown captive before he died. Now she was left with nothing but a blood trail across a ruined roadway.

"No, that collar was meant for you, precious."

An eerie, unnerving voice could be heard behind her along with the rattle of equipment. A slender male stood behind Cali, having sneaked up behind her when the explosion rang out, with a ratty, knock off AKM rifle clutched in his hands. The barrel of the Yugoslavian weapon would be trained upon her head. It's wood stock and metal finish had seen better days. The sling attached to the rifle looked as old as the man holding her up. His hands were filthy, nails almost covered in black dirt. Said male's skin was dried up and overtly tanned from the beating of the sun on him day-in-and-out. Halbred, the man behind her, was also bald with tattoos covering much of his aged skull. He was mostly exposed except for the leather bandoleer running across his gaunt, bare chest that held some spare ammunition. A ragged pair of black jeans hung low over his slim waistline and twig-like legs; a leather ruck sack was slung behind him. Both brown eyes narrowed with interest on the female, as he jerked his rifle in direction of the road. "Move!"

Another man whom went by the name 'Red' was already walking out toward the road from the opposite end of the street. A tan colored duster hugged at his voluminous form. Many things could be made out despite the fact that his clothing was not the most form fitted; Red's shoulders were mountainous in scope, his pectorals boomed forwards against the duster's fabric, and his arms were equally titanic. Said duster's tail end would flow and lick at the back of Red's boot-clad heels. The hood to the item of clothing was left bunched up around his neck to expose those short-cut, dark brown colored strands of disheveled spikes. A black bandanna was tied around the lower half of his face, which started at the middle of the nose and ended at the end of his neck. Matching aviator shades covered both of the man's slate colored eyes in large oval design.

The sight of a diamond patterned hilt could be seen poking over the right shoulder in what looked like a Japanese blade. The length of the hilt strapped to his back was almost that of a no-dachi considering it spanned passed his hip. With every footstep, the blade rattled behind him, and the AK-105 rifle he held down in his gloved right hand at his side would do the same. Using his free hand, Red would pull on the bandanna so he could speak while Halbred escorted her over. His voice was so deep and raspy.

"I would have shot him right away, if I were you..." A twisted grin would begin to crawl along the male's handsome face as his eyes set upon her under the cover of his shades. "Now, do me a favor..." He'd point to the floor at her feet, "... drop your weapons... slowly... right there. My partner has a really bad habit of shooting things that make him nervous. I'd hate to kill one of the only bitches alive in the world... A mighty fine looking bitch, at that."

A second after beginning her questioning, Cali groaned in displeasure as she noticed the way that the collared man had gone limp and silent. Clearly, she wasn't getting answers out of him anytime soon, and there wasn't any time to wait around for him to regain consciousness. Not just because she had no intention of lingering in Bloodridge for much longer, but also because of the way that the metal collar was blinking more rapidly and even beeping. If Cali hadn't been entirely convinced that it was a bomb before, then she certainly was now.

Dashing around the corner of the nearby house, she crouched down against the wall and used her arms to cover her head right as the explosion went off. The ground and the house shook and the sound of the blast was loud enough to make her ears ring slightly, but other than that Cali wasn't really any worse for wear. Rising back up to her feet, she peaked back out into the street, seeing exactly what she expected. Bloody guts splattered all around the small crater left in the concrete and a cloud of dust with a pinkish hue to it where the body had been.

Disappointment aside, the dead man's ominous warning still lingered in her mind. Cali barely had any time to try piecing together what in the hell was going on before a creepy voice coming from behind pretty much let her know that she'd been ambushed. She couldn't see the barrel of the weapon being pointed at her, but the chill crawling up her spine let her know with absolute certainty that it was there. With an exasperated sigh, she let her shoulders droop and rolled her head back lethargically until she was staring up at the clear blue sky overhead. This would be far from Cali's first time being held up at gunpoint, but it was never an enjoyable experience, and she absolutely abhorred letting anyone get the jump on her.

Holding her hands out to the sides, she slowly turned around without making any sudden movements to see who she was dealing with. Another mangy raider, looking somewhat similar to the one who'd just gotten blown up except for the fact that he was carrying a rifle instead of a collar. He also didn't seem to be extremely malnourished, although he was still pretty scrawny. If it was just him, then Cali wasn't too worried, she'd gotten out of worse predicaments plenty of times before. Obeying the growled command to move back onto the road, her mind was already racing, trying to come up with an idea or a plan.

That was when she laid eyes upon the second guy. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening incredulously as she looked the monster of a man over. It was like an indomitable mountain of muscles walking straight towards her. Standing at five feet and ten inches, Cali wasn't exactly short, but she felt minuscule when the huge man closed the distance, towering over her and blocking out the sun. Even worse, she could tell by the way that he carried himself that he knew how to use the AK-105 that he was carrying as well as the long blade strapped across his back. Definitely not your typical wasteland punk.

"How thoughtful of you," Cali replied flatly, using her sarcasm to mask the nerves and fear coursing through her lithe body. She needed to do something, and fast, before the pair of raider bastards could disarm and restrain her. She pulled the strap of her M4 rifle up over her head and obeyed Red's command to the letter, lowering it down to the ground extremely slowly in order to buy herself a few more seconds of time. Cali went for her belt next, and that was when she made her move, using a little sleight of hand trick that she'd picked up along her travels to subtly pull the pin out from one of the three flashbang grenades attached to the leather strap.

She tossed the belt down at Red's feet, counting the seconds in her head. Three, two, one...Cali twisted her body around suddenly just a moment before the concussive blast went off, tucking her head in and covering her ears as best she could with her hands. The thunderous BANG was still loud enough to leave her temporarily deaf and disoriented, and the bright flash of light affected her vision very briefly, but she wasn't rendered completely blind as she would have been had she been facing towards it. Pulling the shotgun from its holster, Cali fired off two slugs behind her without looking to cover her escape, not even hearing the gunshots although she did feel the recoil.

It wasn't easy leaving her rifle behind, but sometimes necessary sacrifices had to be made, she knew that very well. Having memorized the short route from the road to the house where she'd taken cover just a couple of minutes earlier, Cali retraced her steps, sprinting as quickly as her long legs could carry her. Her hope was that she could make it behind the house before her attackers regained their senses. The fence leading into the backyard was already broken and laying on the ground, covered in a thick layer of sand, so she was able to pass through unhindered.

As soon as she found cover behind the house, Cali reached for two new shells from her weapon's sidesaddle and cracked the gun open to feed them into the double barrels. By then, she'd gone from being completely deaf to just hearing a constant ringing sound, which wasn't any more helpful. It would still be a few minutes before she regained her hearing, a good deal longer than that before the thudding pain in her head went away, if she was even still alive that long. She was confident, though. Nobody had ever gotten the best of her before, and she wasn't about to start letting it happen now.

However, her odds against two men carrying assault rifles while only wielding her shotgun weren't particularly great, so she decided that the best course of immediate action was to get back to her bike which carried plenty of spare weapons and ammo. Running to the opposite corner of the house, she quickly glanced around the corner to make sure that it was clear before dashing across the gap over to the next house. She just needed to keep doing that, making her way further down the inclined slope that Bloodridge was built on until she got close to the entrance where she'd stashed her ride behind a pile of debris, camouflaging it with a large tarp painted in neutral tans and greys.

Halbred kept his eyes narrowed upon the back of the female as he gripped unto the wood paneling of the rifle. His frail finger brushed over the polished metal of the curved trigger to the rifle in anticipation of possibly having to use it against Red's wishes. Red needed this woman alive for reasons he'd possibly describe later... but for now, the obvious reasons did not need to be stated. The barrel's compensator remained trained upon the busty bounty hunter; Halbred's footsteps could be heard by the rattle of the bandoleer crossing before his chest. There was a lack of soul in the goon's eyes, and if Cali was able to peer into them, she'd see a man lost without mere cause. Halbred was here and living in the moment, but beyond that, there was no scope. He'd remain mostly silent when Red stepped unto the road and took over the situation.

Red would playfully wink toward her from under the lenses of his aviators when she spoke of his kindness with a deep sarcasm eating at her words. However, after he said his peace, the muscular brute was more focused on making sure she disarmed than conversation about how their was going, or what was for lunch. The first weapon, her M4, would be observed as she pulled the ratty strap from around her head. Even as she threw it upon the floor, the leader of two would remain motionless. Only the tail end of his duster would whip about with the gusts of dry wind behind him during the disarmament. However, it was then that Cali decided to make her move.

The subtle pull of the pin connected to the trigger of the flashbang would go noticed by the alerted Halbred behind her. Despite noticing an unusual motion of her hand when she began to pull the belt from around her waistline, the wrinkly goon didn't notice it happened to be a fucking flashbang! Instead, he took a step forwards from behind and jerked his AKM in her direction while barking out; saliva would spout from his lips from his sense of urgency, "Hey! What was th~" Red noticed the sudden fling of the pin's connector flying out into the air and coming to bounce across the floor audibly before the belt made it to his feet. Being that Red had once been apart of the U.S. Navy SEALs before the Great War broke out, he knew exactly what this meant. There was no time to react but turn his shoulder to shield himself as he shouted, "Motherfucker!"

The sound and flash would disorient all of them despite the fact that Red happened to turn his shoulder to the bulk of the blast. Tinnitus began to take hold of Red's own hearing in a sharp ringing that wasn't about to fade anytime soon. He'd stumble away from the belt and discarded M4 as Cali turned and fired two blasts from her very inaccurate sawn-off shotgun. Halbred would be ran past by her as she fired said shots as he dropped his rifle and clasped his hands upon both ears. The scrawny male would fall unto his knees screaming after never experiencing such a sensation before. Halbred's bald forehead smacked the pavement before falling over in a fetal position... his AKM would be laid out across the pavement.

Red would growl angrily under his breath and begin to march toward Halbred as the outer wall of the house behind him began to actually collapse after Cali's two slugs damaged it's structure. Every inch of Bloodridge was on the verge of destruction. Grabbing Halbred by the arm, Red would begin to forcefully lift him to his feet, "SHUT UP! YOU FUCKING INBRED PIECE OF SHIT! ON YOUR FEET." Halbred would stumble some upon getting his footing, as Red handed him his AK-105 and pulled the sword from his back, too. Both items would be shoved into Halbred's chest; it was obvious Red was fed up with incompetence. "Get the others, and surround the fence. Now! You hear me!?"

Halbred would narrow his gaze, and Red would yell again, "Get the others, and surround the damn walls. She doesn't get out. No one fucking shoots her, either. I am going to go get her... ALIVE! Keep my shit safe." Halbred nodded, picked up his own AKM from the floor, and began to usher himself and the arsenal towards the gate where her bike was parked unbeknownst to them. Halbred could be heard shouting at the army that was approaching the gate, giving them orders Red issued.

Meanwhile, Red would chase after the female now... moving in direction of where he saw her vanish off to last. It was when she placed her back to the wall of one of the houses as she ran between them, that she'd notice a mass grave in one of the back yards. Bodies upon bodies were piled up or half burnt, with more laying in the grass nearby. Most of them were naked and covered in tattoo's, or items of junky armor akin to that of the raider culture.

A moment later, with her back to the wall, she'd find a loud boom from behind her. Red came crashing right through the weakened wall of the house behind her, which was no better than some pathetic shack. The wall fragmented into pieces as the muscular male tried his best to wrap his massive arms around the female in order to tackle her down to the floor with his heavy weight... and he had plans to pin her down and begin to unleash punch, after punch, with his hand while trying to control the shotgun she had.

The adrenaline and fear coursing through Cali's veins kept her moving at a brisk pace as she dashed from one house to another, pausing only briefly to peer around each corner before progressing onward. She knew it was likely that those two assholes hunting her had watched her walk into Bloodridge, and if they had any brains at all, they'd split up so that one of them could cut her off at the entrance where she'd stashed her bike, so she needed to hustle and get there first. It was dangerous, and Cali didn't like being forced to act so recklessly, but being trapped in that ghost town while outnumbered and outgunned wasn't exactly an appealing prospect, so risks had to be taken.

Speaking of risks, she was still admonishing herself in her head for being so stupid. There was one thing that the brute with the sword had certainly gotten right, which was that she should have immediately put a slug into the collared man's chest and high-tailed it the fuck out of there immediately. Whatever was going on in Bloodridge, that should have been more than enough of a red flag for Cali to figure out that it was bad. She should have backed out right away and reassessed the situation before doing anything else, and maybe that way she wouldn't have gotten blindsided.

Fuck it, you'll have plenty of time to scream at yourself in the mirror later, focus on getting out of here!

She wiped some sweat away from her brow before it could drip down into her eyes just as she reached the very last house, after which it would only be a short run to the remains of the town's main gate. When Cali rested her back against one of the house's uncollapsed walls to collect her thoughts and catch her breath for a moment before heading into the final stretch of her escape, that was when she saw the huge ditch dug into the backyard. She brought the back of her hand up to cover her mouth as a horrified gasp escaped her shapely lips at the sight of the countless dead bodies piled in and around the mass grave.

The bounty hunter had seen more than her fair share of fucked up shit in the wastelands, but this definitely ranked way up there. A sensation of pure dread lanced up her spine at the thought that the two goons chasing her were responsible for this, or part of the group that was, since it clearly couldn't be the work of only two men. Shock and fear left Cali momentarily paralyzed, and the timing turned out to be especially awful for her, since it was at that exact moment that the brute from earlier bullrushed her right through the wall.

Yelping suddenly in surprise, it was too late for her to evade the man's grasp by the time that her brain registered what was happening. The best that Cali could do was twist herself around so that she at least landed on her back rather than her stomach, giving her at least some chance to defend herself. Every bone in her slender body was rattled as the beast of a man slammed her into the ground, and then the wind was just about fully knocked out of her when he landed on top of her with all of his weight. Instinctively, Cali tried to aim the shotgun that she'd miraculously managed to hold on to at Red's torso, but he was able to wrap one hand around the shortened barrel and point it away from himself before she could get a good shot.

Cali sure as hell wasn't overpowering the man anytime soon, and she had other pressing concerns in the form of a massive fist barreling towards her face. Rolling her head to the side, she just barely managed to avoid being knocked out cold, but the vicious punch still caught her squarely in the left shoulder. She gave out a loud cry as a wave of dull pain spread though her muscles and a sense of panic swept over and through her entire being. Still, Cali was able to remember one of her last lines of defense that she'd designed specifically for dire situations such as this one.

Bending her middle finger on her gloved left hand as far as it could go, she pulled the piece of clear fishing line attached to it taut, causing the spring loaded blade concealed under the sleeve of her jacket to shoot out. Cali had fabricated the mechanism herself. It still needed some improvements, since it jammed about one out of six or seven times, but thankfully it decided to function properly on this occasion. Doubting her ability to dodge her attacker's fist a second time, Cali forced herself to fight through the agony wracking her arm, groaning hard as she slashed and stabbed up at him wildly with the energy of desperation, going more for volume than precision. With the way that it was nearly impossible to breathe under his weight, she didn't have very much time left to get the son of a bitch off of her before she ran out of steam.

Red's bold move paid off: his massive arms curled around the lithe frame of the female after busting through the paper thin walls of the wooden house to her back. The two were immediately forced into a scramble, and the muscular brute had her back to the floor while his weight pinned her down much like a wrestler would. Red's v-cut and diamond crafted hip muscles planted themselves right upon her own in order to negate her any leverage. A moment later, and he'd find himself mounted atop of her, with his tree-trunk legs straddling her smaller waist. Red's shadow engulfed the female within it, and now it was his word. She was welcomed to the sound of his erratic breathing amid the struggle.

There was no doubt that Red was quick to use his left hand to grab at the center of the shortened weapon in order to divert its aim away from his own torso. With his large and calloused hand curled about her shotgun, Red would slam it across the ground in an attempt to dislodge it from her grip. "Grr! You stupid bitch!" The frustrated leader would snarl down at her with his gruff pitch; it was becoming increasingly obvious that Red despised those whom resisted his control. Bloodridge had long been abandoned, but a homeless gang roamed through it and called it home for weeks until Red found out. Considering the town was so close to his own encampment, Red ordered the slaughter of the rival crew, which is the reasoning behind the mass grave just a foot away from the wrestling duo.

His slate blue eyes narrowed with the lowering of his sweaty brows. Red curled his massive right arm over his shoulder once the shotgun was held out of the proper trajectory to hit him using his other hand. With the lunge of his voluminous upper body downward, the brutal man send his fist firing toward her jawline in his fit of blinding rage. However, he only felt a partial jolt of pain surge through his pronounced knuckles instead of a full impact. The follow-through of the blow would smash into the sandy earth beneath her, which also kicked up the dead grass under that blanket layer. Withdrawing his hand for another punch, it would curl over his shoulder again before launching forwards. Red found out the hard way that she had a blade that now protruded from her palm.

It would slice into his right forearm on it's way down in a fair cut, but it wasn't enough to warrant panic. Blood would begin to dot the woman's face as his fist hit the floor besides her head without touching her on the second time. Her attack threw his own off-course, which cleared her of additional damage for that second. "I almost doubt your fucking worth!" He'd bark down to her as he noticed the trail of crimson beading along his massive forearm. Red pulled his hand back and threw her shotgun across the grass now that her focus was off of it. It clattered across the floor and accidentally fell into the pit of the mass grave. No matter, Red would continue his assault.

With both hands free, he'd grab the wrist of her hand which wielded the blade from her sleeve. Red would attempt to quell the desperate flailing in order to not get cut again, while using the other arm to assault her as he had before. His fist balled up, and instead of going for her face, he'd reach outwards from his side before slamming those knuckles right into her lung area... he'd try to repeatedly jam that balled up fist of his into her side in order to knock the fight out of her while the other wrestled with her bladed arm, in an attempt to not fuck this up. She could see the intensity in his own eyes as he shouted, "Give up! The last free bitch in California... you're all fucking mine!" His fist trying it's best to keep crashing into her.

As the struggle intensified and Red succeeded in prying Cali's shotgun away from her, she forgot about everything else. The bounty that she'd come to complete, retrieving her weapons, making it back to her bike, none of that mattered anymore. Her entire world had been reduced to the outcome of her deadly wrestling match against the colossal raider that was currently on top of her, trying with all of his more than considerably might to beat her into submission. There were several possible outcomes, but the only good one for Cali - the one where she somehow came out on top and was able to escape - was seeming less and less likely with each passing second that she didn't get her assailant off of her.

Panting heavily through her open mouth, she sucked in whatever precious air that she could with his freakishly muscular thighs applying a vice-like pressure to her lower torso, trying her damnedest to make the most of it. A sliver of hope crept into the bounty hunter's rapidly beating heart when she felt her blade connect, slicing through flesh and muscle and succeeding in giving the raider pause, saving her from any further blows like the one that had nearly dislocated her shoulder. Droplets of her foe's blood began raining down over her face, forcing Cali to squint to avoid getting any in her eyes, although her lips remained parted and soon a very distinctive metallic taste filled her mouth as blood dripped on to her tongue.

"Get...the fuck...OFF ME!!" she shouted in frustration, taking another wild stab at him with her blade. Unfortunately for Cali, tendrils of fear encircled and constricted her heart even as the raider's large and powerful fingers wrapped themselves around her delicate wrist. He squeezed so hard that she groaned in pain as the rail mechanism hidden beneath her sleeve was pressed into her flesh, and it was more than obvious that he could snap her wrist like a twig if he so desired. Still, Cali couldn't give up, she knew all too well what the consequences of being captured were for women out in the wasteland.

Giving up on her left hand since she knew that it would be impossible to pry it away from the raider's grip, she focused her energy elsewhere, reaching up with her one remaining free hand in an attempt to swipe her nails over his eyes as viciously as she could, hoping to blind him. At the same time, Cali planted her heels into the dirt and pushed up hard with every muscle in her body, trying desperately against all odds to buck her much larger and heavier assailant off of her. With all of her weapons and options having been stripped away one by one, it was looking estremely grim.

And it only got worse as what felt like a battering ram crashed into the side of her chest. Cali's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she opened her mouth in a silent scream, her feet flailing and kicking futilely at the ground. As pure agony spread throughout her chest and lungs, threatening to paralyze her, she made one last ditch effort, managing to sink her teeth into Red's arm with which he was pinning her wrist down, biting down as hard as she could through the thick material of his duster. That only lasted until a second fist slammed into her already battered side, sapping her of every remaining ounce of strength and willpower. Cali fell back flat on the ground, her face contorting with anguish as she wheezed desperately for air, clutching her free arm against her side in a feeble attempt to protect it from any more brutal punishment.

Her words fell upon deaf ears; Red was not about to stop his assault until victory was obtained. The intense and focused look in those crystalline blue eyes would be unmistakable as they glared down at the female underneath him. Their fight was mostly a blur of actions which seemed to take place in a longer time frame than it truly took to achieve them. Cali's last actions would leave a permanent mark upon the male who wished to keep her as his captive: her nails would find their tips digging into the right cheek of the muscular Adonis trying to end her plight. Four nice lines would be drawn across his cheek, beginning from the far corner of his brow toward the nostril of his nose. Blood began to trickle from the plots of his injury and stained her clothing upon their decent from Red's tanned complexion. A sharp growl would escape the brute in frustration to being cut open again. As much as he wanted to mark her, she was also "staking" her soon-to-be-master with her own transfiguration.

However, it became no easier to try to buck her hips from under his own despite his wound. Red ground his muscular hips downwards to force hers to plant themselves into the dirt; both thighs clutched either side of her waist to give him the leverage he needed to accomplish the feat. "God ~" He'd fling in that first punch, as his curled knuckles slammed into the side of her torso with an audible thump! He'd bark down to her again as he issued another thudding punch, "... DAMN!" Again, he'd curl his fist and leverage it outwards before sending it toward her rib cage for a third time, "... you!" His breathing was heavier as his bloody and bruised fist impacted her free arm, which forced it to shove into her own ribs upon the hard collision. There was red in the man's eyes much like a bull who could not be torn from it's objective. Just as he began to wind up for a fourth punch, the sound of Halbred's voice behind him would draw him pause. His fist remained extended outwards as if he was deciding to send it toward her body still.

"Red! Red ~ you said we need her alive!" Halbred would stop when standing behind the muscular male towering over the now vulnerable female. Red would still remained paused as he loudly breathed in-and-out with the rise and fall of his mountainous shoulders. It was increasingly obvious he was extremely unstable and the shortest fuse known to man. He put up with no disobedience or error. Sweat rolled from his brow as Red yanked the bladed device from her sleeve and also tossed that unto the grave after digging it from her arm. She'd hear one of her last weapons fall into the pit, before he used the same hand to grab the bottom of her chin. Pushing at the bottom of her chin with his opened palm to force her to arch her neck from the floor, Red's other hand dug into his duster while catching his breath much like a police officer detaining a running suspect. "This stupid bitch thought she could kill me... she fought more than I thought, Halbred." Halbred took a step back and looked over his shoulder, "The men... they're in position around the fence but it looks like you have her..."

Halbred could make out the blood dripping unto Cali, but it wasn't hers. He didn't say anything for now. Red would withdraw a black colored shock collar from his duster and begin to pull it around her neck while he held her chin up-wards by shoving his opened palm into it. The collar was a thin width, with a buckle laced at the back of her neck (which was fairly difficult to get to by herself quickly,) a small transplanted device attached to it would provide the shock needed if Red deemed it so. After she had been detained by the collar, he'd speak up with his gruff voice, "I do... she's all fucking mine now... ain't that right?" Halbred held back a gasp when he noticed Red's face and arm, which were both trickling blood still. Red didn't care nor did he seem to even be bothered. Halbred would mutter, "... boss, boss... she got you... she got you good..." Red would snarl and look over his shoulder while he let go of her chin, "Shut your damn mouth. This is the last free woman in the whole damn State. I know it..." He'd look down to her while still straddling her hips.

"Now tell me, slave..." He'd crack his bruised knuckles before his chest while his grin tugged along dried lips. "I'll shock you... fuck your ribs up... but you know what, I feel generous..." A sadistic lick to his bloody bottom lip would be given as he curled his right fist up tightly again, "Tell me you're my bitch and I'll stop right now. You better fucking convince me too, or I'll make sure to really punish you." Halbred would pick up Red's shades from the floor, which had been somehow intact.

The arm which Cali had tried to protect her side with proved to be marginally effective at best, barely softening the blow to her ribs and internal organs in exchange for even more dull pain spreading through her forearm. Despite her vision going blurry, the bounty hunter could still clearly make out the unquenchable fury and rage flaring up behind the raider's clear blue eyes. She'd assumed that he wanted her alive after going through the trouble of trying to capture her earlier rather than riddling her full of bullets right then and there, and considering that women were one of the most sought-after commodities in the wastelands, but that crazed look in the man's eyes along with his upraised fist made Cali believe that her lifeless body would soon be getting dumped alongside the others in the nearby grave.

She'd probably have been right, too, had it not been for the other raider showing up and convincing the brute straddling her to restrain himself. Conflicting emotions clashed withing her, one part of her being relieved to still be alive while the other was more cynical, believing that death would have been preferable by far compared to the fate which surely awaited her now. Cali didn't want to give in, she wanted to keep fighting, but her tank was on empty and her muscles refused to listen to her as the raider pushed her jacket's sleeve up before brusquely ripping away the harness securing the concealed blade to her arm. The only weapons that she had left were the knife tucked into her boot and the razor blade hidden inside the lining of one of her leather gloves, neither of which did her any good now.

Still gasping for air and writhing in agony underneath the mammoth of a man's weight, Cali's mind only registered fragments of the exchange between the pair of raiders. She did pick up on the most critical detail, which was that there were even more of them. Something that certainly did not bode well for her, since it would make any attempt to escape that much more difficult. Her chin was suddenly pushed up, forcing her to extend her neck out, making her feel even more vulnerable than she already did as the raider put some sort of collar on her. The only marginally good news was that it didn't seem to be the same sort of metal bomb-collar that she'd seen in action earlier, although frustration and indignation still flared up violently in the pit of Cali's stomach at the thought of being collared by any man.

It pissed her off even worse when the bastard referred to her as his slave and demanded that she submit to him. His threats were most definitely not idle, Cali recognized that much, but her pride kept her from complying, even if it might have been wiser for her to save herself any more punishment by just playing along until she could recover and seize an opportunity to turn the tables like she'd done plenty of times before. She said nothing for a few seconds, forcing herself to glare up defiantly at the raider even as burning pain soared through her chest every time that she inhaled or exhaled through her mouth. "Pretty sure...that's your bitch...standing right behind you," Cali retorted with some difficulty, her voice slightly hoarse as she nodded her chin towards Halbred.

Her answer would force the wicked grin crossing Red's lips to remain there in a sense of frustration. Instead of immediately responding to her comment, Red wiped his bloody cheek using the forearm of his right hand. Crimson would now stain across bare flesh of his appendage because of the action. Halbred smirked from behind the muscular brute towering over Cali and spoke up in his eerie tone, "I think that's the wrong... answer..." The goon would step back as Red's sword rattled at his back, with the elongated hilt poking from over his shoulder. The set of AK family rifles were also slung behind him: Red's AK-105 and the AKM. It almost seemed impossible for a scrawny male to carry the brunt of such weight, but Halbred managed.

"She's got real fight in her, that's for sure." A few nods of his head would display the thoughtfulness of his nature right now. Red was formulating a plan to break the woman into a mindless playtoy... but it seemed like they were light-years away from getting to that point. Would she die before he would be able to get her there? Most likely. A hard swallow would shift the large throat of the leader as he took in a deep breath between his exhaustion of having to wrestle with the woman. Cali would find it harder to breath the more she rested across the floor, as every gust of wind blew arid sand right into her mouth. Red was experiencing the same, as the currents surrounding Bloodridge only grew stronger the longer they were outside. Every whip of the wind would bellow out a shrill noise with the growing strength. Halbred would comment as Red reached down to plant his herculean hand across Cali's neck in order to hold her to the floor. "It looks like rain is rolling in... not good... who knows if it'll be like last..."

Red would keep her pinned down by her neck, with his calloused hands digging into her flesh and collar, as he looked over his shoulder. "Go get the men, and have them bring the damn jeep here, now. We'll make our way back... as for this bitch, I am not done yet, apparently..." There was always a chance for acid rain, and no one wanted to get caught in it. A grin would begin to spread across his face now as Red used his free hand to brutally grip at her top. One item of clothing at a time, he'd begin to rip and tear at her. She could hear his groans of physical exertion and impatience with every rip of her leather. Said action also had the sinewy arm of his bulging at the bicep and forearm. Blood continued to run across his amused smile from his cheek as he proceeded to yank and pull at the woman's clothing in a frenzy while the other hand squeezed harder at her neck in order to try to quell her fight. So much so, that the choking would become a serious issue. Between the hand clamping on the whole diameter of Cali's throat, and the collar beneath it, she'd find no airflow. Nothing. She was cut off as he ripped at her clothing.

"I'll fucking teach you... right..." He'd grunt again as her chest became bare, and he'd soon be working on her pants. Again, the sound of her attire being shredded joined the heavy currents of cold wind that was rolling through to signify the downpour coming. Every cloud that now began to shift overhead was absorbed in a darkening hue that was only getting worse. "... now... and maybe you'll fucking see my point before the rain." Considering she was so crafty, the man knew he had to strip her completely in order to disarm her. It was only when she was completely naked and her clothing was in tatters across the floor that he'd let go of her neck. However, she'd come to find out she'd find no refuge in being able to breath. It was one punishment, after the other...

For it was when he released her neck upon being naked that Red stood up and reached into his duster using his bruised hand. Blood soaked fingers grasped the tiny black controller to her collar tied to her neck. Bringing it before his chest, Red would step back and push down on the button with his thumb to send harsh volts of electricity through her body from the origination of her neck. The collar would undoubtedly jolt her much like as if she was getting hit by a police's tazer, and it was undoubtedly not fun. As he held the button down, he'd notice the weapon that spilled from her boot which had been laying upon the floor. Red released the button, kicked aside the blade, and spat toward her, "Crafty little bitch... tell me what I want to hear..."

Again, he'd press down on the button to send another wave through her as the sound of an armored jeep could be heard grumbling its way to their location. The raiders had found a Wrangler earlier on, and bolted metal plates over it's construction. A roof had been constructed between the bars full of iron plates and bulletproof glass... it was one of many vehicles the gang employed in their operations. Said jeep would come to a stop behind them, with four or so raiders watching from the sidelines as Red stood over the female. "Say it!"

Wincing in discomfort as her assailant's robust thighs continued to crush her narrow waist, Cali could only look up at the terrifying, bloody face glaring back down at her, sporting the most sinister grin. Droplets of blood from the cuts along the brute's arm and cheek still thudded lightly over the leather surface of her jacket, but he clearly seemed too engulfed by maddening rage to be concerned. The creepy fucker standing a few feet away was undoubtedly right about the answer that she'd given being the wrong one. A small part of Cali was tempted to give in now, to save herself from any further punishment, but the considerable ego which she'd developed over the years of being a highly successful bounty hunter refused to allow it.

Besides, she wasn't stupid or naive enough to actually believe that she wouldn't be harmed as long as she just spoke the words that the monster mounted atop of her wanted to hear. A couple of years ago, Cali had stumbled upon a pack of scumbags just like the ones that she was dealing with now who'd captured a young woman, maybe twenty-one or twenty-two years old, keeping her for 'entertainment' at their camp. Sneaking into the camp late at night, Cali was able to mow them all down before they could realize what hit them. She thought that she'd managed to save the poor captive, but the first thing that the traumatized girl did after Cali had untied her was to borrow the pistol strapped to her savior's thigh so that she could put a bullet through her own brain.

And now, barring some sort of miracle, the same dreadful fate that had befallen that girl awaited Cali. She turned her head in the opposite direction of the wind, spitting out the granules of sand that had been blown into her mouth while she gasped for air. As if on cue when Halberd mentioned the weather, she could the shade being cast down by the dark clouds in the sky sweeping over her, providing her with a tiny bit of relief since she felt as if she were burning up. It wouldn't keep being any relief at all if it started to rain, however, and the wasteland's precipitations were more often acidic than not. Either way, that was by far the least of Cali's problems.

Her hands shot up instinctively to take a hold of Red's wrist when he suddenly grabbed her by the throat, struggling to make him let go, but she may as well have been trying to move a mountain with her bare hands. Even at full strength, the slender bounty hunter would have had absolutely no chance of overpowering the colossal man, much less now when she was so winded and sore that she could barely move. Pressure immediately started building in Cali's face as he squeezed her neck, causing a new rush of panic and adrenaline to shoot through her body. Planting her heels and shoulders into the ground, she futilely pushed up, trying to buck the monster off of her, but he was nothing short of immovable.

Her eyes shot wide open once again, filled to the brim with shock and genuine terror, and for the first time ever, Cali felt utterly powerless. Her hands slipped from the raider's writs up to his thick and calloused fingers in a pathetic attempt to pry them away, but the tiny amount of strength that she had left was waning with every passing second that he choked the life out of her. Croaking weakly as her eyelids began to droop, Cali's struggles grew increasingly jerky and erratic, but at best it only made Red's task of tearing her clothes away marginally more challenging.

By then, Cali was only vaguely aware of her jacket being torn open and the black sports bra that she wore underneath being viciously ripped off, causing her generous 34D breasts to spill out and flop around while she writhed and spasmed. Her nipples were a darker shade of pinkish-peach than her pale flesh with areolas just under two inches in diameter and a perky nub roughly the size of a nickel at each of their centers, both of them standing fully erect with fear. Cali's face went to a dark shade of crimson while the raider got started on the lower half of her body, her struggling having all but stopped. The leather pants that she wore were torn away as if they'd been made of paper, followed shortly by her boots, gloves, and finally her red panties which wedged deeply into her slit as Red yanked them up before they eventually snapped. If Red too the time to admire his own handywork, he would be treated to the sight of Cali's mound, covered only by a neatly trimmed patch of short pubic hair.

As for Cali, the only concept swimming around through her barely conscious mind was the certainty of death until he finally released her right when she was on the verge of blacking out. Her amber eyes suddenly shot back open as she greedily inhaled as much air as she could, clutching at her bruised throat with both hands while she lay there completely naked. Before Cali could have more than a few seconds of respite, the voltage being pumped through her by the shock collar sent her writhing and rolling uncontrollably over the ground, sand clinging to her flesh that was damp with sweat. The sudden and intense burning pain drew a loud scream out of her which felt like shards of glass passing through her injured throat.

Just when she thought it was over, another shock wracked her abused body, leaving her muscles burning and paralyzed as she lay on her back, her toned stomach rippling and her chest heaving up and down as she coughed and gasped for the precious oxygen that she'd been deprived of. Cali's head was still feeling heavy and pounding when she heard the raider bark at her again to obey him. Rolling her head over towards him, she noticed the jeep and the additional men, causing her to feel even more humiliated than she already did. As much pain as she was in, though, she still stubbornly refused to give him the satisfaction of breaking her.

With great difficulty, Cali managed to lift one arm up towards him and raise her middle finger nice and high, finding a tiny amount of solace through telling him off in front of his men even if she fully expected to pay for it.

X X​

Cali was proving to be the single most defiant female to have wandered the wastes. Just as Red thought he earned her obedience, Cali shifted her head and raised up her middle finger in a show of pride. After two rounds of electric shock that surged from the tight collar bound to her neck, the huntress was still able to show Red he would not get gratification from the work he's done. Her belligerence would earn her a hearty laugh from one of the overweight Raiders hanging off the edge of the Jeep with one hand. However, the others nearby were not so foolish... they hushed and shot daggers toward their amused counterpart in spite of Red's amplifying frustrations.

It didn't take more than a second for the muscular Adonis towering over her to spin on the heel of his boot and reach for his thigh holster. A battle-worn SIG P220 handgun would be withdrawn with the audible brush of metal against the kydex material of its housing. Just as he came to face the Jeep, Red's arm was already extended while holding the weapon. His finger brushed over the trigger with a crisp pull; a loud gunshot would send the remaining vultures into the sky within the abandoned encampment. An empty .45 casing would eject from the chamber and dance across the floor as the raider fell from the vehicle in a sickening thump! Red would holster the sidearm under his duster and comment, "Anyone else?" His slate eyes scanning over the others intently as Halbred approached the leader of the syndicate.

Halbred would pull the sling of Red's AK-105 from around his neck before extending his arm out with it in hand. Red would grab the Russian made assault rifle by the plastic hand guards before throwing the tan colored strap around his shoulder. The muscular Adonis's back would be turned to the writhing female laid out upon the floor in physical exhaustion as he let the rifle hang behind his right arm. Red then collected his shades, and slid them over the bridge of his nose cooly as blood dripped from his face, and now the Jeep that sat idly rumbling because of his fresh kill. "God damn women... no wonder they're going extinct." Halbred would laugh at Red's joke in spite of not being killed. After his words, Red spun around and began to confidently walk toward his newest slave. Without a word more, the man would lift his rifle up in both hands and slam the butt stock across her forehead to render her unconscious for the trip back to camp. There would be no breaking her before the rain. Cali was tough.

Hours Later

Much to the chagrin of Halbred, the ominous clouds closed in over the convoy of raider vehicles that traveled back to camp. A total of five different armored cars formed a perfect bee-line and shadowed one another over the difficult terrain. A large dust cloud would find itself lifting in the wake of the metal clad cars and SUVs. Rain was pouring against the iron enforced roofing of the vehicle in which Cali was laid out in the backseat of. If she was coming in and out of her unconscious state, she'd be welcomed to the gruff voice of Red discussing politics of the camp with Halbred behind the wheel. Her body was kept naked and collared with that black shock collar around her.

Thunder could be heard rolling across the skies from miles away while the rain only seemed to grow more intense by the ticking minute. The old and often repaired suspension of the Wrangler was heard creaking loudly upon hitting a hard dip or bouncing around the turbulent terrain. It seems as though Cali was being brought right into the heart of Red's own camp, and for reasons she'd already come to know. Cali now belonged to the man who she marked and scarred.

Soon enough, the convoy of cars approached the very front of the sprawling encampment build upon the strip of what had once been a downtown district. The roadway underneath the cars was barely visible under the sandy overlay, but street lamps still stood tall. A mocking 'LAS VEGAS' sign would be the first landmark into the camp. An iron ladder ran up the backside of the billboard in order to provide a way for the marksmen defending the perimeter to seek a high ground. In fact, two men could be seen at either side of the catwalk surrounding the otherwise Nevadian logo clutching .308 Winchester caliber hunting rifles.

To protect Red's camp, Blackwater, a wielded fence patched with slabs of iron and plates of aluminum could be seen surrounding the large living space. Shacks, ruined houses, piles of pre-war trash, abandoned vehicles, pitched tents, lit barrels, and drunken raiders could be seen on either side of the road while the train of vehicles continued through. There were many of them... hundreds of violent criminals found sanctuary in the walls of Blackwater. Cages stuffed with women on all fours, others being escorted with a leash across the street, and a few others even being piled upon publically by raiders was commonplace. The moans and groans of the women being raped echoed along with the rumble of the vehicles passing by. Cheers and laughter from male voices accompanied the working women whom had been captured against their will. Blackwater was a cesspool of many different raider crews assembled under one roof, all lead by Red.

Large amounts of construction equipment, catwalks, and other items scattered about the area to hint to the fact that something had been in-the-works before the Great War spoiled the plans. Now, the space was used by the men whom wished to control the world and it's remaining women. Red's vehicle would come to a stop before a spacious, two story office building labeled 'The Capitol.' It happened to be his place of personal refuge. Red would wave off the other cars to return home as their own came to a stop. The rain still pattered harshly outside, as he impatiently pushed open his door and stepped out. One of the dirty, barely clothed raiders would jog over under the thunder and precipitation to meet Red as he rounded toward the rear of the Jeep, "Sir! Are you okay? Your face!"

Red would snarl as he yanked open the rear door to the Jeep to expose the bed of it, where his beautiful starlet was to be laying. "You've never seen a cut before, Ghost? I'll handle this... you make sure the assholes get indoors. The acid might be coming soon between all this fucking rain!" Thunder again rolled out in the sky as Red began to pull on Cali's ankles so he could drag her toward him and attempt to throw her over his shoulder so he could escort her inside the Capitol building victorious.

The tension in the air was thick and palpable as Cali defiantly kept her middle finger pointed up towards the sky, only the rumbling of the jeep's engine and the spirited laughter of one solitary raider disturbing the dead silence which seemed to have enveloped the ghost town. Cali watched as the one who'd wrestled and collared her - presumably the leader - produced a handgun that looked to have seen more than it's share of action. She reckoned that it was pretty much a coin flip whether the weapon was intended for her or for the dumbass who'd dared to have a laugh at his boss' expense.

Again, the emotions that Cali experienced in reaction to her possible death were mixed. Her heart wanted to live, but the logical part of her brain kept reasoning that death would be a kinder fate by far compared to what those animals planned on doing with her. She held her breath and shut her eyes until she heard the gunshot, followed by the familiar thud of a lifeless body hitting the ground. She opened her eyes again just in time to see the bloodied leader striding towards her, now carrying his AK-105. Straining, Cali tried to push herself up with her elbows, not really sure what she was even aiming to accomplish, but again she found her aching muscles to be unresponsive, and seconds later the butt of the raider's assault rifle would come crashing down on her, making the world go dark.

It wasn't until some indeterminate amount of time later that Cali stirred from her unconscious state, whimpering quietly and hugging herself in response to the loud rumble of thunder overhead. Briefly, she heard a gruff voice without being able to make out any of the words before slipping into an uneasy sleep, succumbing to her exhaustion.

She could still hear heavy raindrops pummeling the roof above her head, only it wasn't the Jeep's roof anymore. Cali recognized the worn, cracked dashboard of her father's rickety old sedan. Tears clouded her eyes as she turned to her left, seeing the gaunt look on her dad's face as well as the dark red stain that had spread over the front of his shirt. He was breathing hard, fighting to keep his eyes open as he leaned over the steering wheel, trying to keep the car on the road. It was the dead of night, the headlights had been shot out, the windshield wipers didn't work and he was bleeding out from the bullet lodged in his stomach, so it was no easy task. Outside, thunder kept booming louder and louder, as if they were getting closer to the epicenter of the storm.

The memory faded and a glowing neon sign became superimposed over the image of her father as Cali's eyes flickered open again. Her knowledge of geography wasn't the best, nor did she have all of her wits about her at the moment, but she still knew that they couldn't possibly be in Las Vegas. Which could only mean...

Thunder struck again, followed immediately an even louder sickening crack as a body rolled over the car's hood, smashing the windshield before flying over the roof. Cali's seat belt snapped her firmly into the passenger chair as tires screeched over the wet pavement and the car went careening off the road and into a shallow ditch where it flipped upside down. She screamed hysterically through the whole crash until a familiar hand gripping her arm silenced her.

"Cali, listen to me." His breathing and voice were both ragged, and he sounded more solemn than Cali had ever heard him before. "Up- Up this slope, into the woods. You have to make it into the woods and find a good place to hide, you understand me?" he asked, struggling to unlatch his daughter's seat belt as they both hung upside down. Even through the storm, she could already hear the dull, mindless moaning of the pack of feral ghouls shuffling towards the upturned vehicle. At twelve, she was old enough to understand that her dad wouldn't be coming with her, but she couldn't accept it. Tears streaming down her eyes, Cali untangled herself and climbed down from her seat, getting right-side up before reaching frantically for her father's seat belt buckle. She tugged at it ineffectively for a second until he reached out to grab one of her arms and stop her. "Please Cali...this isn't the time to be stubborn," he implored her, his own eyes wet with tears now. "Remember what I taught you, and most off all, remember that I love you." She saw him wince in agony as he stretched his injured body just to give her one last kiss on the forehead. "Now go."

Into the dark, cold night she went. Alone.

The cracking of thunder still reminded Cali of her father's screams as the ghouls tore him apart, the memory haunting her even to this day. She slipped out of the nightmare only to find herself in hell instead. The screams that she could make out now weren't her father's, but those of other captive women. Captive women like her. Blackwater. She'd never seen it herself, but she'd heard about how it was where most of the women who fell prey to raiders ended up to be broken into mindless slaves and used. That had to be where they'd taken her.

When the Jeep stopped, its engine going silent, Cali lowered her eyelids to make like she was still asleep. Red would find her naked body damp with cold sweat when he dragged her out of the back seat and tossed her over his shoulder like a bag of cement. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself not to make a sound wghile he manhandled her, pain flaring up from her many bruises. The son of a bitch had been stupid and arrogant to leave her hands untied, so she prayed that she might get some kind of opportunity to punish him for that. For now, Cali did her best to maintain the illusion that she was sleeping and the element of surprise as her heavy breasts hung upside down, pressing up against the raider's muscular back while he carried her into some building.

Red found no resistance from the female as she was forcibly thrown over his mountainous shoulder. The male's herculean sized arm would curl around her naked waist in order to support her weight properly. Even in her moment of feigned unconscious nature, the brute enjoyed the heavy feel of those ample breasts mashed against the rock hard stature of his back. Cali possessed the body that any woman would grow green with envy of. It deserved to be plastered over magazines and shared over the once-active internet. She could have been a sensation anywhere she went, but now she was Red's personal model. His personal toy. His satisfaction.

At that end, the rain continued to tumble over the summit of the tyrant while leading his slave toward the Capitol building. Thunder would crackle across the horizon, and Red's boots audible sank into the wet mud underneath. Halbred would be seen pushing his own door to the Wrangler open and stepping out as Red came a foot from the main entrance. The Capitol was an impressive building when compared to the others surrounding it. It had been mostly unharmed through the Great War without residual structural damage. Many of the windows were still intact, and the roof itself was sound. The unmistakable hum of a gas generator could be heard grumbling behind the office building, which only meant one thing... the Capitol had power. Vines found themselves crawling up the walls from the ground floor, and the peach exterior paint was far from fresh.

The double doors leading into the two story building would be shoved open via Red's elbow. He'd push his weight into parting open the entrance and stepping inside to escape the rain that still clamored behind him. In lobby they were immediately faced with two armed guards standing on opposite ends of a staircase leading to Red's quarters. Said lobby was a squared room, with a long-abandoned receptionist desk to the left, and a waiting room on the right. Aforementioned stairs were a few feet away from the main entrance on the fair wall. A single set of exposed stairs led up to the balcony over-seeing the lobby, and a single room which had interconnected areas open to it.

Both guards would bow their heads, one of them with a grin, upon seeing their boss come home with a prize. Red would lick his bottom lip while still holding the woman over his shoulder with his one hand. Cali would be smart to still act unconcious, for now was not the time to try anything in front of two guards holding what looked like an AR-15 and a Mossberg shotgun. Confidently marching up the stairs one wet, echoing step at a time, Red would soon find himself on the balcony. He'd look down to the lobby after ascending the stairs to find Halbred closing the lobby door and locking it. The bald headed goon slept by the receptionist desk on more occasions than not to be able to be close to the leader in case orders needed to be dispatched to the armies around Blackwater.

Red kicked open the single door upstairs, which exposed the initial room. It was an office, with a largely tarnished oak desk in the middle. A ratty office chair was behind it, and a pre-war computer monitor was actively glowing in front of it. The alien buzz of an active computer could be heard under the desk as it's old fans spun rapidly to cool the tower. Shelves holding a myriad of books sat on the far wall behind the desk. There were two openly connected rooms to the office, the right happened to be Red's bedroom. A King sized bed had it's creaky bed-board up against the wall, a iron cage sat beside it, and some chairs and couches occupied the other end. To the left of the office was his playground for the slaves. A matching iron cage, formed in a checkered pattern, was in the middle of the room. Chains and shackles dangled from the wall or laid about the floor. An endless amount of toys and whips were either hung up or laid across trays. He could do anything he wanted to a woman there.

However, the cage in his bedroom was her first destination. Red would kick the door to his office closed, and quickly walk to his right from the office. Before she could even come from her acting, the woman was harshly thrown into the iron cage sitting next to his bed like a common household pet. When her body slammed unto the unforgiving bottom of the purpose built cage, Red would grab the top-lid of it and seal the item closed. His calloused hands would clutch the padlock that had been kept undone, only to use it to secure her fate inside of the squared housing. An audible click of the lock meant she wasn't going anywhere, as Red took a few steps back to examine his trophy. It was the first time he'd even get to relish in the fact that he now had the last free-woman this side of the country.

A deep breath would be traced by a wicked grin that was growing upon his handsome face as he simply stood there in awe. His right hand would reach up and pull the shades from the bridge of his nose. Those dark brown strands of hair were dripping droplets of rain from them and unto his duster. Red casually tossed his shades upon the dresser next to him, and collected his pack of cigarettes sitting there. One would be withdrawn from the pack after he shuffled it against his hand, and soon slid between his lips. Piercing blue eyes kept upon the woman, as he brought his lighter toward the end of it. As the cig hung from the very corner of his lips, one hand cupped before it and the other flicked the lighter a few times.

After the job was done and cigarette glowed orange, the man tossed the lighter and pack upon the dresser near his shades. His grin was still ever apparent as by now she had to be awake and conscious after he threw her so viciously inside. Red grabbed a chair, and loudly dragged it across the floor. It would stop in front of her cage, where he'd have a seat and lean atop of his knees with those massive elbows. Pulling the cigarette from his lips in between his thumb and index finger, the man would exhale off to the side slyly while eyeing her. His voice was deep and rough. This was their first time alone, in a more... intimate setting. "Such an interesting girl... now stuck in a cage... not so tough anymore, hm?" If she looked closely, she could see he held the control to her collar in his other hand in front of his lap.

Red would narrow his gaze as he took another drag. Again, he'd pull it from his lips and exhale deeply while speaking, "Tell me... did you have a boyfriend before all this? ... maybe a husband? Maybe your father fucked you because he couldn't help himself?" Red was trying to strike a nerve. Trying to rile her up. Maybe he wanted the satisfaction of taking something from someone, even if they were dead. The sound of the rain and thunder continued... his foot tapping against the floor impatiently. Red's hand brushing over the button, just ready to shock the fuck out of his slave. Another drag was taken.

"I want to know more about my play toy before I take pride in breaking her down... You know, the last girl who was in that cage..." He'd point toward her with the hand that held his smoking cigarette, "... the last girl... I fucked her... make her suck my dick constantly through the bars... made her understand her new purpose in life... but one day..." He'd scratch the side of his head with a smirk, "I fucked her so hard... she just... didn't wake up. Gone... done... she wasn't tough enough..."

Gritting her teeth, Cali fought back the urge to tense her muscles or to groan in discomfort as her bruised midsection pressed against Red's powerfully built shoulder. The pain didn't bother her nearly as much as the humiliation of being paraded around like that. The bounty hunter couldn't see very much, even when she peaked her eyelids open slightly, but she could just imagine a bunch of depraved perverts letting their gazes roam all over her.

The rain felt freezing as it poured over her back, so Cali was glad when they reached some sort of cover. The night's darkness was replaced with the soft yellowish glow of lights, so whatever building that she was being taken into actually had power. Not too surprising, considering that even the ironic Las Vegas sign that she'd seen on the way through the car window was brightly lit up. It made Cali sick to think that these scumbag raiders lived better than pretty much anyone else in the wastes. Even after all the work that she'd put in and the dozens that she'd taken out, they just kept spreading like an unstoppable plague. With most people struggling just to get by, it was probably a breeze for them to recruit new members to replace any that they lost and then some.

Stealing a few glances of her surroundings, Cali could see that she was in a large, open space. The only other thing of note was the shoddy desk on one side of the room, making her suspect that they were in some sort of hotel or office building from before the war. Only very few buildings from that era still survived, and this one seemed better maintained than most. Cali had been inside of a few similar buildings, mostly when she was younger. Her father would take her out scavenging, taking the time to also teach her the skills that she would need to survive if something were to happen to him, and offices were a prime hunting ground for them. Her dad had worked with computers before the war, and ever since then he'd been collecting parts to create and expand a small network in the settlement where they lived.

Other than knowing the general layout of this type of building, though, Cali's experience wouldn't be very useful. On the other hand, she saw the backs of the two guards standing at the foot of the staircase while she was being carried up to the second floor, and that was quite useful information to have. Only two guards, that wasn't so bad. Of course, even if she did manage to escape from Red's clutches and get past the pair of guards, she'd still be stuck in the middle of raider central, but one step at a time.

As she was being carried through a smaller room, some sort of office that had been converted into a living area, Cali's heart sank into her gut when she caught a brief glimpse through an open doorway. Chains, shackles, whips and various other unpleasant looking instruments. She gulped hard right before being unceremoniously thrown to the ground. She groaned hard as she landed painfully and ungracefully on her side, noticing that she'd been locked inside of a cage only after her captor had already closed and locked the lid.

Another particularly loud crack of thunder from outside startled Cali as she pushed he back against a corner of the cage. She sat with her legs together and her knees pulled up against her chest, covering herself up as best as she could without making it too obvious that she was trying to do so. Even sitting down, the cage was so small that she could barely keep her spine straight, and it was obvious that she'd be forced to sleep in a ball on the floor like a dog. As far as she knew, she wasn't claustrophobic, but she didn't enjoy being stuck in such a small place any next than the next person, and obviously she hated being deprived of her freedom even more.

She just glared silently at Red as he took a seat in front of the cage, getting comfortable while he mocked and taunted her. Of course she hadn't had a boyfriend or a husband before the war, she'd just been a child back then. Hell, she barely had any memories at all left from that time, and they were hazy ones at that. Cali couldn't even remember her own mother's face or voice, although her father had told her that they looked very much alike. Her father. Cali's amber eyes lit up with anger and loathing when the raider dared to imply something so disgusting about him. If not for those fucking metal bars containing her, Cali would have made him regret those words.

As for the story about the last girl who'd been locked away in that cage before her, it made the blood in Cali's veins go cold, although her face remained stoic in an effort to appear unfazed. "You try to put your tiny dick anywhere near me, you're not getting it back," she growled threateningly. "We'll see how hard you fuck anyone after that, you fucking piece of trash!" As unlikely as it was, Cali could only hope that the raider took her threat seriously enough to keep his hands and cock away from her.

There was no denying a few things: Red struck a nerve with his comment about her father, and she was clearly wary of his sexual threat. The look on Cali's face proved she was scared yet hostile to Red's advance because of what he had disclosed to her. Slipping the cigarette back between his lips, the muscular Adonis would begin to stand up from his chair as she spewed a warning to him. Red turned his back to Cali and began to undo the buckles of the duster in which held it upon his gargantuan physique. Cali was welcomed to the metallic rattle of those fasteners his calloused fingers brushed across under the patter of the rain smacking the roof outside. Smoke drifted from the very tip of his cigarette and wafted over his broad shoulder.

"Piece of trash, hm?" Needless to say, Red still held unto the small, black box which had a single button upon it in his left hand. The device was small enough to be able to hold unto while he performed other basic actions such as removing the duster. On that point, the tan colored item would crack free and become loose over his chiseled body. Red's right hand would begin to simply pull it from his frame. The worn fabrics brushed across his shoulders, arms, and hard stomach to expose a simple tank top underneath. The black tank ran it's thin straps over either of his shoulders and hugged the lined protrusions of his shoulder blades. Even the flimsy, sweat flavored fabric of said tank had a hard time following the generous slopes of his pectorals in which casts their own fucking shadows over the man's cobblestone-like six-pack. The ripples and grooves of his stomach were outlined by the rows of perspiration in which had met the material.

Now she was given a view of the myriad of multi-colored tattoos that had been drawn into the flesh of both arms. Red's appendages were both sleeved in military lore, dragons, and other items in which painted a portrait of the male's interests. Said ink ran from his knuckles, all the way to the side of either portion of his neck. A pair of dog tags nestled between the valley of his pectorals. To go with his history, if Cali looked over her shoulder toward the nightstand, she'd find three decrepit photo frames.

One of them was of Red standing before his DEVGRU-7 buddies: his team of Navy SEALs all lined up in front of a helicopter atop of an aircraft carrier. Red was in the middle with his gear and rifle, along with a handsome smile. The second, in the middle of the three, was what looked like Red, a beautiful wife, and son in a facial close-up. All three stood close, with his wife bearing a bright smile and long, black hair. His son was athletic looking and resembled much of a youthful Red. The last happened to be a picture of Red's father, whom also shared similar traits with the wrinkles lining his forehead. Red's father wore what looked like an Army uniform due to the badges and insignia over his shoulders.

Red would pull apart the sliding doors to the walk-in closet along the wall, to Cali's immediate left. Again, he hadn't shocked her yet surprisingly. He'd hang up his duster between his Navy uniform and other equipment from the pre-war era. "A chem-junkie from a clan living within these walls mentioned he had some sort of drug..." Red taunted, as he pulled his cigarette from his lips and looked over his shoulder. "... said it could wipe a girl's memory clean. Like that..." He'd snap his fingers to enhance his point. "Told me I should use it on you before I set out to the ambush. We all knew you'd put up a fight..." Said Red, as blood still trickled down his ruined cheek. He'd point to his chest with cigarette in hand; smoke drifting from it, "... I refused. Figured you'd be so much fun to break. And look what I get..." He'd motion to the scar running across his face.

An almost regretful smirk would spill from him as he shook his head. Red would slip his cig between his lips and yank the tank top over his head with the stretch of his impressive array of muscle. Discarding the tank into a basket on the floor of the closet, he'd then slide the doors closed. "I am almost starting to think you're not worth the hassle. I could just shock you until either you die, or the collar shorts out. I might take pleasure in it..." A sigh would part from his lips as he held the control in his left still. His cigarette dangled from his lips with every word. Making his way back to the dresser, Red would pick up a bottle of Jack Daniels by it's neck. Pulling two glasses over toward him by their brim using his fingers, the brute poured some of the alcohol into each one. He'd look over toward her as he also soaked a torn t-shirt he pulled from the dresser's drawer he'd never use anyways.

Said shirt would be dabbed over his bleeding cuts with an initial growl of sharp pain at first. However, he pressed the item of clothing tighter to his face to let the alcohol find its way to the bacteria in which could infect the injury. Halbred would walk into the room with two trays of food, and place them on the bed next to them with a smile. "Compliments from the cook... boar steaks and mashed potatoes." Red would hold the cloth against his face and use his other hand holding the controller to dismiss Halbred, "Out... can't you tell I am busy?" Halbred left without a word, and Red would stroll toward the trays.

Red ran the rag over his arm with another snarl of pain, before picking up a single tray of the two. He'd place it on the floor before her cage and point to it with a narrowed gaze. "You'll eat when you look up to me and tell me what I want to hear." It was then that the man pushed on the controller and held it. Food was right there for her to eat, and it had been close to a day since they had anything. He was starving himself, too. But the man had the luxury to eat when he wanted... his thumb sunk hard into the button and refused to let go as he stood there before her cage with a growing grin. "I'm not letting off until you tell me who your master is!"

If the raider had been concerned at all about her threat, then he certainly didn't let it show. Cali felt like the prey being sized up by a hungry predator while he stared at her through the metal bars, the whole room filling up with the scent of cigarette smoke. The bounty hunter was accustomed to being on the opposite side of that equation, and the role reversal certainly did not sit well with her at all. She despised not being able to do a damn thing to improve her situation, instead being forced to sit there in that cage, drowning in her own frustration and helplessness.

Perhaps worst of all was the complete uncertainty in regards to what was coming next. Obviously, Cali had at least a general idea of what her captor planned on doing to her, but that didn't prevent her mind from stressing about the specifics. She'd done her best to avoid staring at the little black box held in the man's hand while he was facing her, unwilling to show that she was frightened of being shocked again, but the threat of it constantly lingered within her head. If Cali could at least know if and when Red was going to shock her, it wouldn't be nearly as bad, but not knowing meant that she was left perpetually on edge, her body tensed in anticipation of the harsh punishment that could be inflicted upon her at any moment.

As she watched the raider stand, turn his back and peel off his duster, revealing even more of the herculean physique that she'd already gotten much more than a taste of when he'd mounted and brutally beaten her until she could no longer move, Cali was visualizing herself plunging a large knife right in between those two pronounced shoulder blades. The myriad of tattoos covering most of the brute's arms were nothing too out of the ordinary, especially for raiders since they certainly loved their ink, but something else behind Red caught the bounty hunter's keen eye.

A trio of worn picture frames propped up on the nightstand next to the bed. Squinting and leaning her head forward slightly, she confirmed that the photos did indeed belong to Red and not to one fo the office's previous inhabitants, or even to whomever the office belonged to before the war. For some reason, it came as a bit of a shock. The raider was older than her, old enough that he must have been a young man already before the world went to hell, so Cali should have realized that he'd had a life before all that, but still. The dichotomy between the smiling young man surrounded by his family that she saw in the second photo and the heartless brute who stood before her now seemed so extreme that it was impossible to consolidate the two into the same being.

Her eyes wandered back towards the now topless man as he began to speak. His pectoral and abdominal muscles were so incredibly well defined that they seemed to be forged from steel, unlike anything else that Cali had ever seen before. She had no idea whether or not he was actually telling the truth about the drug that Red described actually existing. It definitely seemed like a stretch, but just the thought of having her memory wiped away was enough to send a frigid tingle down her spine. Not finding out was by far her preference in that case.

She also took note of the pair of metal tags hanging from around Red's neck while he threatened to electrocute her to death. It only confirmed what she already knew after seeing the picture of him surrounded by a bunch of other soldiers, and it also helped to explain how he was so much better than most other raiders Cali had encountered. To think that years ago, just after the war, her father had taught her that she could trust anyone with a golden badge or a pair of silver dog tags if they ever got separated and she found herself alone. Maybe it had been true then, but there had been plenty of time for humans to devolve into animals since then.

The aroma of cooked boar made Cali's mouth water almost immediately as the leader's second in command walked into the room carrying a pair of trays. Her empty stomach growled loudly, but of course, she knew that it couldn't possibly be so easy. Even after Red had shooed the bald man away and leaned down to place one of the trays in front of her cage, she knew that it would come attached with strings and a price, and she was right.

Before she had a chance to react in any way, the high voltage surging through her body ripped a scream of agony from her still very sore throat. Her hands shot up to grab the collar, trying in vain to pry it away from her throat as searing pain continued to wrack her body. Shaking and spasming as she fell on her side, Cali could only continue to shriek louder and louder as the raider kept the button of the remote held down, this time refusing to let off like he'd done back in Bloodridge. The cage rattled loudly as she kicked at it wildly with her feet while trying desperately to resist the urge to surrender, but even she had her limits.

Cali hadn't the faintest notion of how much time had gone by - thirty seconds, a minute, maybe more - but the pain finally became too much to bear. "GGHHAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! YOU!! YOUUUUU!!! NNNNGGGHHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" she howled involuntarily, still clutching at her collar with her fingers while writhing violently on the floor of the cage, unable to even breathe. Would the raider actually let off as promised, or would he fulfill his earlier threat of pumping his victim full of electricity until either she or the collar ended up fried?

Red presided over his actions with thumb still mashed unto the button of the controller. Ultimately, Cali's life was in the hands of a psychotic tyrant. The growing grin that was taking hold of the man's dried lips only hinted to half of Red's amusement on behalf of Cali's writhing in pain. He was intent on breaking her by whatever means necessary. To that point, there is a reason why the man earned the nickname he goes by. Just like a bull, Red tunes out and further becomes agitated by brutal violence. It was a case of Red seeing 'red.'

Without intent of letting off, the brute keeps observing his slave's actions within her iron cage. However, there was no mistaken the uncanny similarities between Cali and the wife pictured on his night stand. Red's eyes soften for reasons unbeknownst to her, and only relevant in his reclusive mind. Her screams and agony fall upon deaf ears while Red seemingly fades out for a moment. Warm yet dried lips flatline from their previously mused expression; his mountainous shoulders still. Brows carefully narrow as thoughts seemingly rack through his calculated mind. Her loud kicking of the cage and outbursts of pain would not be enough to bring the muscular Adonis back to Blackwater. Just like the smoke that was drifting from the end of his cigarette, Red was out to sea. It was only the keyword of 'YOU' that brought him back.

Red's thumb would release the button and the electricity flowing through Cali's body would relent. A hard swallow shifted the throat of the tyrant standing above her; his shadow engulfing Cali and her iron housing. She was given the time to breath and recover as Red threw the controller atop of the dresser. There had to be some temporary closure for the beautiful bounty huntress to hear the box tumbling across the wood surface. Piercing blue eyes remained upon her naked body for a moment. Red's right hand would reach up to collect the cigarette from the corner of his lips using the pinch of his index and thumb. After it's withdraw, said cig would be ground into the ashtray next to the controller. The remaining smoke slowly wafted from the glass item while the embers of the stick died out... much like the fight within Cali.

"You've earned your dinner." The brutal male muttered down to her as he nudged the plastic tray closer toward the edge of the cage she was locked in with his foot. Now Cali was welcomed to reach out and grab the dirty plastic fork that had been stuck into the heap of mash potatoes. Red turned his back to Cali after offering up her food without further punishment, and returned to the dresser so he could pick up both glasses of Jack. He'd run the risk of further upheaval, but Red decided to return to Cali in order to place the glass next to her food. She'd be a fool to bite the hand whom fed her, and also provided her alcohol to help numb the shock flowing through her body. "Drink the alcohol in increments since your heart rate is already elevated. It should help bring it down and numb the pain..."

A few steps back, and Red would sit down atop of the chair he had pulled over earlier. One of his feet extended forwards as he slouched in his seat. The other remained closer to his body. Red's own striated abdominal muscles were on full display in his aforementioned slouch, which only further showcased them and the marble hard pectorals in which tensed up some. A deep sigh would spill from his lips as he brought his own glass of whiskey up to his lips for a brief sip. Red ran his thick forearm across his lips afterwards and enjoyed the hit of the alcohol flowing into his system without food to absorb it yet. His eyes were upon her as he spoke, "You've done this to yourself, bitch. I told you, all you had to do... was let your pride down. Tell me you're my bitch, and we'd be moving unto better things."

Another sip would be taken before his glass was lowered in front of his chest, "While you eat my food and drink my bourbon..." Red would point toward her lazily with the hand that held his glass; index finger extended from curling around the item to point toward her instead, "I want you know your name... I want to know about you before the war. If you don't tell me everything, I'll give it to you worse. Longer... harder... so..." A third sip would be taken with a sigh. "Start with the fact of saying you're my bitch, give me your name, and what is it that makes you. I already got the bounty hunter bit, so spare me..." He'd dismissively wave his hand with the glass, "You've killed a few of my associates already. It's how I came about finding you... everyone spoke about your beauty so much... you look like her..." He'd point to the pictures on the stand behind her. "So naturally, you're now mine beyond reason... I want to know about you before I mold you into my servant."

With the shock collar finally being disabled, Cali experienced the cool rush of air filling her lungs as she gasped desperately for it. The collar wrapped tightly around her throat caused her a considerable amount of discomfort, though not nearly as much as the lingering effects of the electricity still coursing through her system, making her feel hot, numb and tingly, as if there was an entire colony of ants crawling around beneath her skin. Doing what she could to pry the leather collar away from the front of her throat, trying to grant herself at least the tiniest bit of relief from its pressure, Cali could only lay there in her cage for several seconds until she began to recover physically.

Mentally, however, the shame of having been forced to submit and to admit that the raider was her 'master' would leave a far longer lasting scar. Cali hated herself for breaking instead of continuing to resist, for being too weak, but at the same time, she realized that she was better off living to fight another day in this particular case. Trying to rationalize it to herself, she figured that she was better off telling her captor whatever he wanted to hear and avoiding any further injuries for now so that she might have a better chance of eventually turning the tables.

Much to her own irritation, Cali couldn't keep from panting and groaning heavily for some time after the electrocution, her heart still beating a million times per minute even as she struggled to raise herself back into a kneeling position. Without any hesitation, she reached through the bars to grab the cup that Red had just placed on her tray, gulping the entirety of its contents down in a single go. To hell with that motherfucker's advice, she ignored it out of spite even if it did make some sense.

Regardless, the strong hit of the alcohol burning down her throat was a welcome distraction from the pain and numbness everywhere else in her body. Having spent way too nights after a long day of hunting in various bars, saloons, casinos and pool halls that could be found in every settlement of the wastes, even the most shoddy and impoverished ones, Cali had enough of a resistance built up that a single glass of Jack's wasn't going to get her drunk, but she'd at least get a slight buzz out of it. She hoped that it might make swallowing her pride a little bit easier, but she doubted it.

"Cali. My name is Cali," she said, a dejected expression upon her face as she placed her hands in her lap and looked down at the boar steak to avoid having to look at Red while speaking the next words. "I'm..." It was even harder to say than she'd imagined. Cali would probably have had an easier time pulling her own teeth out by hand. "I'm your...I'm your bitch," she finally forced the words out through gritted teeth, a slight flush creeping up her chest, neck and cheeks even as she did so.

"I was just a goddamn kid before the war, I don't even fucking remember," Cali spat bitterly. She'd been old enough when the war broke out that she should have been able to remember, but the whole experience had left her so traumatized that her whole life before that point had pretty much been erased, a fact which had bothered her greatly ever since. "I probably liked playing with dolls and hated doing homework, your guess is as good as mine."

Wisely, whoever had prepared the meals hadn't included a knife on her tray, not even a plastic one, so she was forced to grab the steak with her hands and pull it through the metal bars to take a bite out of it. Manner weren't exactly a priority in the post-apocalyptic world, however, and having to eat like an animal wasn't nearly as humiliating as having to kneel there naked in that metal cage, so Cali didn't let it stop her from filling her empty stomach.

The comment about her resembling the woman in one of the pictures on the nightstand came as a surprise to her. The thought hadn't crossed her mind, although they did both have dark hair cut to a similar length, and there was maybe a slight resemblance in their facial features. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, Cali had no clue yet. "I bet they'd be real proud of you," she said to him, referring to the people that she presumed were Red's son, wife and father as she nodded towards the photos behind him. "I'm sure your wife's rolling in her grave." Cali regretted her words as soon as she'd spoken them, expecting that the brute would make her regret them even more very soon.

Fuck...

Apparently, holding her tongue and telling the bastard what he wanted to hear wasn't quite as easy for her as she'd anticipated.

"You stupid bitch..." Felix would smirk while shaking his head slowly; Cali did the opposite of what he had told her when it came to consuming alcohol in her current state. "... what did I tell you just a minute ago?" For a fourth time, the muscular brute would tip back his glass after leaning it against his bottom lip. The shift of his large throat would hint to consumption. It was then that Red's glass ran dry and he lowered it empty before his burly chest. "Figures, you never listen in the first place." A disgusted snort would be expressed in her direction before Red began to stand up with a sore groan from his exhausted muscles. Again, he'd be seen towering above her cage as the rain continued to audibly assault the raider paradise from the outside. Ominous thunder crackling through the dry air would only remind Cali whom she was dealing with and what situation she was in.

Red couldn't help but smirk when she lowered his eyes and professed that she was his bitch. Immediately, a show of submission and shame took hold of the once prideful woman. It almost could make Red rock hard beneath the torn and tattered jeans, that hung low over the v-cut hips and washboard lower stomach, just at the implication of her words. "Cali..." The man would mutter while turning his back to her again; Red was satisfied that she was beginning to break open that first barrier in which prevented her from complying at all. Thudding footsteps led the brute toward the dresser, where he'd pick up his pack of cigarettes again. Much like an addicted user, Red pulled another cigarette from the carton after popping open the top. The unlit item would be slipped between the corner of his lips, and he'd turn to face her again. Brows narrowed as he took hold of the lighter; Red's gaze upon her.

"Watch your goddamn fucking mouth!" The cigarette nested at the corner of his tiers shifted and bobbed when Red barked out his command. His tone was naturally authoritative and powerful, much like a drill sergeant training his recruit. One hand cupped before his cigarette again, and the other brought the lighter under it. In two attempts of flicking the spur, Red would accomplish in lighting the end farthest from him. Carelessly tossing the lighter back upon the drawer, the man would step over toward her while taking a drag. "You better watch the way you address your master or I'll put you back into your place." Red's oceanic eyes were still focused with the frustrated twitch of his brows.

Pulling the cigarette from his tiers and lowering it at his side, he'd speak up while exhaling, "What a fucking childhood. You don't even remember some of it? Not even of your fucking family? Nothing? Dolls and hating homework? You trying to mock me?" It was true that Red happened to be much older than Cali. Said man must have been almost double her age but his build and features looked more like their thirties. There was not an ounce of salt in his dark brown hair. A laugh would spill from him, which had Red's massive shoulders shifting up and down with every inhale. Pointing to her with the hand that held his cigarette, he'd comment back. "And then you eat my food. You're one fucking entitled bitch, aren't you? We're going to ~ "

And then he paused when she spat out her nasty insult while eating. Red simply stopped. Speechless. Unmoving. There was a flat lined expression worn across his face. The cigarette in his hand, down at his side, had smoke drifting up toward the ceiling. Red was calculating how he should punish her... how far he should go. He was beginning to see 'red' all over again, and there might be no stopping his violence one day. From speechless, to slowly nodding his head with a angered expression as if to tell her, 'okay, I got you now.' Red would slip the cigarette between his lips and begin to walk from the room. "You're about to fucking meet her." With his threat, the male vanished from the bedroom.

It would not take long before the male was marching back inside. In his right hand looked to be some sort of lengthy wiring. The bulk of his calloused and large palm covered up what the device truly was, but it wasn't anything too obvious. Snatching the controller from his dresser in the other hand, Red then turned to face Cali. "You're going to pay, and there is nothing anyone can do to save you. When you finally realize pleasing me will be the equivalent for you, your life will be much easier. Now, for that fucking comment of yours..." Red spoke with the shift of his cigarette as he marched over to the cage. The controller to her collar was pocketed in his jeans so he could free up one hand. With it hand free, it dove quickly into the cage and grabbed a fist full of her hair. No amount of nails or fighting could get him to let go, as he immediately used that grip to shove her down unto all fours. He'd grunt in the strain of yanking her down, so that her ass could push to the cage behind her and her head to the opposite end.

When he accomplished that, the brute would shove what he had brought into the room right into her tight, pink folds between her thighs. She could feel what seemed to be an oval like object finding itself parting her cunt and entering her without any permission whatsoever in his brutal yet calculated actions. Hot ash of his cigarette fell unto her back with his every move, burning her skin before they grew cold. The oval object inside of her was about wrist thick, but not long in height. A wire ran from it's backside and out of the cage in his right hand. Letting go of her head, the male would stand behind her and push down on the button similar to her collar. The wire connected from controller to the oval inside of her began to pulse violently. Said device was similar to the collar in which it began to fiercely vibrate in order to bring out more than just pain within her. However, it was charged to move faster than some average dildo or typical vibrator. It's very end was touching the inner folds of her pussy while the rest had been inside of her, which gave it a maximum effect in trying to paralyze her with pleasure.

Red wanted to enjoy watching the woman moan and break, which seemed almost more humiliating that being hurt. He wanted to see if this would be more punishing to her, considering now she would possibly be showing signs of pleasure in front of him. Red was also waiting for the time to possibly shock her, pending the outcome as he stood behind her with his grin. "Now lets here you fucking moan for your master." He didn't stop the pulsing. It only got stronger the longer it was on. Maybe she'd squirt to show him how much she loved the treatment. "I'll leave this on until you fucking become a brainless slut if I have to, you dumb bitch!" Just itching to shock her using the collar, but he wanted it to be a surprise again so her body would be unprepared.

Even without seeing Red's reaction, Cali already knew that her mouth had just gotten her into even deeper shit than she was already in, but the expression upon the man's face confirmed it beyond any doubt. The stillness and vacant expression displayed by the raider was far more alarming to her than any sort of overt display of anger, like the calm before a terrible storm - a storm infinitely worse than even the one currently raging outside. Behind that seemingly dispassionate body language, Cali knew that the man was seething, and she couldn't even really blame him after what she'd said. As if landing right on cue to add even more tension to the situation, a loud thunderclap made Cali gasp out loud and retreat away from the bars.

When the man stormed out of the room with a growled threat, she suddenly lost her appetite, dropping the half eaten steak back down on the tray as tiny goosebumps spouted up all over her arms and legs. Cali had no doubt that Red had only left to fetch some other device or weapon that he could torture her with, presumably one that was even worse than the shock collar. Considering that the collar had already proven to be excruciatingly painful, that thought was nothing short of unnerving. And again, the feeling of uncertainty and a complete lack of control regarding her own fate was the most unbearable part of all.

Instinctively, the bounty huntress attempted to take refuge in the corner of the cage furthest away from the raider when he reappeared through the doorway, but obviously that wasn't going to accomplish much since the metal enclosure was so tiny to begin with. Cali's heart sank when she noticed the length of wire coiled in the man's fist. She didn't know what it was for, but she could only guess that he was planning to electrocute her with something even more powerful than the collar, maybe a car battery or something. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood up as he swooped in towards her, one of his thick arms barely even managing to fit through the metal bars of her cage.

Cali threw her hands up in self defense, but it was too late. He already had an iron grip on her hair, and even as she screamed and yanked her head away from him as hard as she could, Cali only succeeded in sending a harsh jolt of pain through her own scalp. Her hands moved to grip the man's wrist, barely able to encircle it even with both of them, but it nothing to dissuade or impede him from shoving her down so that she needed to pull away and brace herself with her elbows.

Her legs naturally spread wider so that she could get into a more stable position and maintain her balance, but that also had the unfortunate side-effect of giving her assailant quite an eyeful. Cali's plump outer labia parted slightly, revealing her delicate inner folds which were small enough that they normally didn't peek out. The cool breeze that she felt between her legs was immediately followed by the sudden sensation of something being rammed through her tight vaginal opening in one brusque motion.

A confused and horrified squeal escaped Cali's lips as she felt the forceful stretching of her opening and a rough friction against her sensitive inner folds. It was her first time ever being penetrated without her pussy being wet or dilated at all, and it wasn't pleasurable. Outrage and fear coursed through her simultaneously as she reached back with one hand to remove whatever it was that she'd just been violated with, but the raider caught her arm by the wrist and twisted it to prevent her from doing so.

That was also the point at which the device was activated, but rather than pumping Cali full of electricity like she'd expected, it started to vibrate. Violently. It was unlike anything that she'd ever experienced before. She'd only ever had sex a handful of times, and never had anything other than fingers or a penis been inside of her, but this was something else entirely. It felt like every inch of her inner walls were being rocked by a jackhammer while her folds fluttered around the tail end of the toy, pumping her full of more sexual stimulation than she knew how to handle. Worst of all was the way that the vibrator's size and shape caused it to press right up against her g-spot, pummeling it tirelessly.

Cali's eyes and mouth all shot wide open as she continued to squeal hysterically, the her ass bumping against the side of the cage as she thrashed around, trying to get away from the vibrator's assault, but there was nowhere to run her hide. Conventional pain was something that the bounty huntress was more accustomed to, so she was better equipped to resist and endure it, but she wasn't at all prepared for this. The stimulation was actually so overly intense that it was like torture in a way, but the particular brand of agony being inflicted was a completely different beast.

Even through Cali's mind was screaming to get the vibrator out, her body reacted in the completely opposite direction with her pussy tightly clamping down around the oval intruder. Within only seconds, her stress level skyrocketed even higher as she began to feel this bizarre pressure rapidly building up inside of her, similar to the need to pee but distinctly different at the same time. Her squeals evolved into strained growls and grunts as she writhed around and struggled desperately against the overwhelming mixture of pain and pleasure, but it was very obviously a losing battle.

With the one arm that Cali was still supporting herself giving out, her upper body fell flat on the ground, her tits being crushed beneath her own weight while her ass remained raised in the air, gyrating erratically every which way. As the pressure inside of her approached unbearable levels, Cali squeezed her knees and thighs together, trying to stem the tide, but that only worsened the situation by making her pussy tighter. She could only clench her eyes shut as a tidal wave of shame washed over her just moments before an orgasm was brutally ripped out of her.

"NNNNNNGGGHHHHHHH!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH...AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Cali screamed, her free hand gripping tightly around one of the bars in front of her as every muscle in her body tensed up against her will not even a minute after the ordeal had started. An even louder howl followed a second later when she was brought over the edge.

"FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!" Her toes curled as the most agonizing ecstasy pulsed from her cunt and lower abdomen out through the rest of her body, robbing her of any remaining self control. Cali wanted to die as her inner walls began to spasm around the vibrator, each contraction being accompanied by uncontrollables spurt of her orgasmic juices, burning though her cunt like blissful fire before spraying all over the floor behind and underneath her.

And if she thought that the stimulation from the vibrator had been painful and overwhelming before, it was nothing compared to how indescribably intense it got immediately after the peak of her climax when her sensitivity was multiplied several times over. "GGGHHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! AAAAAAAHH-AAAAHHHHHHHHH-AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!! SSSSTTOOOPPPPPPPP!! OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH GGGGAAAAAAWWWWWDDDD, PLEEEEEAAAASE!!! TAKE IT OUT, TAKE IT OUTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!" she wailed in utter desperation, her body twitching and thrashing against the cage as if she were possessed.

There were no words to describe how much of a pleasing sight it was to witness the beauty shift unto her elbows and knees. Red's observant blue gaze soaked up every curve of the bounty huntress from behind; the humps of her ample ass and the outsides of her generous bust. Every line and gentle ridge of her back that flowed into her delicate neck was truly something to worship or slide your hot tongue across. Cali's spine was something in which looked more of decor than function. Red's eyes did her the favor while his bottom lip was pulled into his mouth by way of his pearly white row of teeth. He find himself sucking hard at his bottom lip while unceremoniously plunging the oval vibrator between those subtle lips. Red's knuckles brushed against the back of the woman's lush thighs upon exiting the cage, only to bolt back in at her first sign of resistance.

Indeed, her hand that was attempting to reach behind her for the wiring leading to the oval would be kidnapped en route. Cali was welcomed to the rough feel of his calloused palm and fingers curling around her wrist before her hand made it past her own hip. A hard twist and a shove to her hand would have it contorted across her lower back in order to render it out of the picture. Cali was now a complete prisoner to the man and his game. She could feel the shadow of his muscular and rock hard body towering over her from behind. His raging and monstrous cock twitched to life against the inner portion of his jeans' denim just as Red pushed the button to the play toy lodged between her pussy's inner fold. As if he had penetrated her himself, the brute would let out a baited breath that sounded more like a gasp he had been holding in for minutes now.

"Nnmmm, look at that... your fucking body knows exactly how I want it to react..." A pleased grin would begin to sadistically grow across the handsome male's lips from behind her as her body thrashed about in the iron cage. Thunder crackled in the background in an attempt to mute her screams. Despite her body's erratic behavior, Red's finger still mashed atop of the trigger. There was no remorse in those eyes as he simply stood there with his all-telling grin. "That fucking ass of yours..." He'd mutter under his breath while observing it hitting either side of the cage. There were big plans in the works tonight, and this was just phase one. He wanted to literally transform the bounty huntress overnight into a full blown play thing. Brows narrowed while grin remained; his muscles visibly tensing on the outside with anticipation of what may come. Pectorals dented up at their corners, and his thick forearms flared outwards in unseen definition... particularly the one in which held down the button to the vibrator swimming itself inside of her. "Look how fucking tight you are, bitch. I can't fucking get this thing out if I tried right now!" To accompany his humiliating words, the man began to laugh while she yelled in a mix of emotions.

Red's shoulders would be found bobbing again with the inhale\exhale of his laughter. Said mountainous shoulders drew such an outlying shadow of obvious muscle that she didn't have to look back in order to see his amusement. The sight of Cali falling face-first unto the flooring of the iron cage only had Red's hard cock trying to escape from the zipper of his jeans. A massive and wrist-thick outline of his dick could be made out against the inner thigh of his right leg; he was taking pleasure in watching her nude body move and position itself. It seemed like he happened to be a fan of the face down, ass up position as her large tits crushed unto the dirty beams beneath them. Cali's gyrations, groans, and pleads fell upon deaf ears. Instead, the oval vibrator lodged inside of her continued to pulse harder than anything she'd ever experience. Every summit of it's countless menstruation would hit her g-spot at it's peak. Cali's grip upon the iron cage would only force it to audibly quake along with her body as Red mercilessly stood his ground without intent to stop.

It was when she suddenly began to squirt minute amounts of clear liquid was when she received another reaction, "... that's it. Give me what I fucking want, bitch. Good girl..." He'd laugh when she began to spray the floor, and his finger still remained upon the button. "Good fucking girl... let it flow..." The man humiliated her while noticing some of her fluid even found itself dotting the top of his boots. Red's words of encouragement came out in a coo, trying to get more of her to follow the lead. However, it was the next patch of screams that grew louder. Cali was obviously more sensitive after having squirted like an erupting volcano. Red would slide his hot tongue across his released bottom lip and pull the oval from her dripping insides now. She'd find the item sliding across her outer folds before coming to dangle across the iron cage behind her. At times, it even brushed the back of her thighs and stuck there because of the goodness she coated it in. However, she was far from done. Now it was Red's turn to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

"Now it's about time to get to fucking sink my dick into some tight pussy..." She'd find her arm twisted even more intensely behind her back. He'd let out a 'hmph! and shove her arm inwardly higher along the center of her back. If she decided to fight one bit, her elbow might just get dislocated in the process. It was Red's way to tell her she'd better not even fucking move, as his other hand placed the remote atop of the cage. When free, said hand then audibly began to drop the zipper to his jeans. She was welcomed to that all-telling sound, 'zziiipppppp.' With the jeans' button released, Red's heavy piece of meat suddenly came flopping unto the top of her ass. She didn't need to look back... the heft of it hitting her skin would only tell her she was in for one hell of a ride. It had to be nine inches in length, and the width of his forearm. Heavy balls rested against the surface of her cunt while those v-cut hips leaned forwards to allow those bits into the cage. "You'll make a good fucking cock sleeve... give me this cunt!"

On cue, right after his words, the man grabbed hold of his monumental pole using his free hand. He could barely wrap his own palm and fingers around the whole meaty, vein covered circumference. First, Cali was welcomed to the brush of his mushroom shaped tip coming to ignite her hooded clit's location. A few expert and brisk brushes of his cock's slit against that dripping clit would be issued, which also coated his eager dick in some of her fluids to make his own life easier. Another moment later, and the muscular brute angled his twitching head right up against her abused entrance, and his diamond cut hips gave a good push. With a loud groan of bliss, the male threw his head back and also arched his back.

The action had blue eyes looking up to the ceiling, his ripped abdominal muscles pushing forwards, and his protruding shoulder blades pushing forwards. Inch by inch, he audibly stretched her open to accommodate such a godly girth. It was then that he threw her arm away from behind her when he invaded her tight cunt, only to grab her by the hips with both hands submerged into the cage. Using the hard grip curled around either side of her waist, Red began yanking and thrusting away uncontrollably. His hips impacting the cage, and her ass being forced to meet them every time. She was welcomed to a animalistic grunt every time he pulled her back and shredded her insides without patience or remorse. He was brutal and unforgiving. She was his.

"Mnmh! Mnhhh! Nnhhh! FUCK! If you don't... mnhh! Mnnhh! ... please me now... mnhh! I'll fucking put the vibrator back in... and keep it running all night! Mnhh!"