Jessica awoke in darkness. Confused by the change in venue, she was uncertain of anything and began to cast her gaze about randomly in search of some clue as to her whereabouts.

The last thing she could remember was pain. During the firefight, she'd been struck by occasional glass or metal fragment, and taken solid shot to her right shoulder just before help arrived. Her body armor reduced most of the damage, but it was still enough to spin her sideways from the force of the shot. As she'd gone down, her head slammed into the corner of the reception desk. After that, there was nothing that she could recall clearly.

"Where? How?" she asked, her words slow, slightly slurred from her forced slumber.

Several tense, confusing, minutes passed while she tried to regain proper mental coherence. Flashes of remembered gunfire. Screams of the dead, or dying, and the cruel laughter of the invading force. Her only clear memories were of things that no one would wish to recall.

Slowly, half-remembered tidbits began to surface. Most of them involved voices giving orders, and the scent of blood and gun powder.

As her brain began to piece things together from the past, it also regained cognitive awareness of the present. Items she could not quite name before, became known to her. Given the sterile atmosphere, plain white sheets, and beeping monitors, she was in a hospital room.

Not long after she recognized her surroundings, an ASDF command officer walked into the room. Jessica instinctively tried to render a salute, but only succeeded in completely missing her forehead with her hand. Her motor functions were still a bit off.

"So, sleeping beauty awakens?" asked the lieutenant as she stepped closer, allowing the downed Officer to get a better look at the newcomer. Jessica knew her own kind when she saw one. She tried to render a salute once more. Her superior merely waved her down and replied, "No need for formalities. You saved a lot of people last night Sergeant."

"Sergeant? I'm only a private...” Jessica mumbled loudly.

The lieutenant class Officer laughed politely and shook her head. "That's just an old way of saying you've been promoted for your efforts."

"Oh? I'm not sure what to say about that," said Jessica. All she could remember doing was hiding behind a desk while drawing fire on her position.

"There's nothing to be said. Now that your brains welling seems to be going down, I can discuss the situation that occurred," said the lieutenant.

"Brain swelling?" asked Jessica.

"Yes. You took a nasty blow to the head, but the Medica on duty said you should be fine to take now."

"I see," said Jessica. "That explains why it was hard to think straight when I woke up."

"She'll tell you more about your condition later, but so far I've heard that you should make a full recovery," said the lieutenant, "I'm mostly here just to get your report on the situation last night and to inform you of your promotion."

"Mostly?" asked Jessica.

"Well, I was also curious. I wanted to meet the lone security division survivor from the 112 massacre."

"It was that bad, huh?" asked Jessica.

"Yes. Almost all of the staff and security were killed in the raid. Many tamers were killed in their sleep as well," said the lieutenant. She sighed wearily then shook her head before continuing, "The bandits only wanted Demi-Humans, pretty boys, fat people, drugs, and equipment."

"Dammit," muttered Jessica roughly as tears began to form. She'd let them all down.

"Fat people?" she asked after a moment. She understood the need for pretty boys, at least.

"Yes. It seems the bandits in their organization have determined that fat humans are a decent source of fat and protein."

Jessica shuddered. Her tears welled up even more and began to slide down her cheeks. She'd failed so many.

The lieutenant noticed her tears and the expression on her face. She took a guess. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, you know. You performed an admirable job."

"I..." Jessica shook her head slowly.

"Hey, now. All of the fatties who didn't have heart attacks are alive because of your fine work," said the lieutenant as a means of trying to boost the younger Officer's morale.

"No," replied Jessica hollowly. "I don't... Just no."

"No? You survived against all odds and brought in the aid the center needed. How can that be anything but extraordinary work?" asked the lieutenant. "I'd take an Officer like you any day."

The law enforcement Demi-Human sighed softly and said, "It's how I survived."

Jahna, the lieutenant, considered her words carefully for a moment then simply asked, "How did you survive?"

Jessica took a deep breath and let it out before turning away. It took a few minutes, but finally she admitted, "I was in the woods using the bathroom."

"Uhm... OK. Why?" asked Jahna.

Jessica winced. "I can't use public restrooms."

She then sighed loudly and repeated herself, "I just can't."

"Why?" asked Jahna.

"W-well... Isn't it a little lewd?" asked Jessica. Her face reddened and she turned away a little. "I mean, my butt would go in the same place as someone else's butt..."

"You... are serious?"

"Isn't it lewd, though? I mean... Anyone could have sat there before me." said Jessica. "I'm just not that kind of girl..."

Jahna blinked at her then shook her head slowly. She didn't like them much either, but this was a little much. "You are afraid that your butt would second-hand touch someone else's butt? Is that it?"

"Yes, ma'am." said Jessica softly. "I'm not really comfortable with the imagery. I mean... That's just icky."

Lieutenant Jahna took a moment to let the girl's words sink in before stating the obvious, "Basically, you survived because you were taking a crap in the woods when the invasion started?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Jessica, obvious embarrassment in her voice.

The sudden trilled laughter of her superior didn't help matters much. The poor dear would never live this down no matter how many medals she received for her heroic performance.

--

Meanwhile, on the road with John and friends...

The road to the Southern March was a long and winding one, but John and the girls made good time. The extra cash earned made from their assistance at the center sped them along. His team received a five thousand dollar allotment due to helping with the raid, but even better than that, he received a special permit.

He was able to use it to bypass regular hunting laws in the region he was heading to, at least for a few days. The Florida Preserve was well known for bug types, plant Demi-Humans, elves, reptilian types, and pretty much any warm weather loving Demi-Human an individual might desire to subjugate.

Typically a hunter or tamer was only allowed to capture Demi-Humans for one week in the area with a capture limit of three per day. It was a preserve after all. With the permit, John was allowed to stay an extra week, though the capture limit would still be in effect.

The Southern March presented no capture limits, but it was much farther south near the key islands. Those islands were their current destination in the short term as that was where the Orange Cup would take place.

John glanced over at Mindi as she sat in the passenger seat and casually noted her boredom. Each of the girls was allowed to sit in the front now in rotating shifts. Eventually, he would buy another truck and decide on who would get to be the driver. That sort of job position was similar to being considered a beta due to the responsibilities of safeguarding and maintaining the rig.

The Kraken glanced at him briefly then closed her eyes. She made a point of turning away from him to stare out of the window. She wanted nothing to do with the man if she could help it. She'd do her part. She just did not want him to think she did it because she wanted to make him happy.

John briefly considered asking her about her life, her goals, and her dreams. The moment passed, much like unwanted flatulence, and he turned away. She may prove to be useful in the future, but honestly he didn't see a reason to care about any of her ambitions. She possessed talents that he could take into consideration, but she'd done little to prove her worth to him.

The fact that they did as he directed the night before was what earned them the privilege of riding up front in shifts. At some point they could earn underwear or socks. If they worked hard, and dared to dream, they might even deserve proper shoes.

Was it too harsh? Perhaps it was slightly harsh, but it did seem effective. If they would just do as their obligations dictated, they would be well-clothed already. John thought of many things as the quartet continued their journey to the South. It was not in his nature to be overly cruel, yet such actions seemed to be the only method of bringing these two creatures in line.

His eyes narrowed slightly as thoughts of their former owner arose inside his mind. What the fool did was unconscionable. In some ways, these overly aggressive she-beasts were in a situation similar to his own. They had everything they needed, and were on the cusp of reaching their dreams, only to have someone else tear everything out from under them in one swift and decisive moment. Forced into a situation that was not their fault, they had nothing left and must start over anew.

John surreptitiously glanced toward Mindi briefly then looked back toward the road. He should really stop anthropomorphizing these animals. If his previous line of thought continued, he might start to think of them in inappropriate ways. At times he'd even caught himself thinking of them as if they were human!

How foolish... Such a ridiculous thing. Yet, it was an easy trap to fall into whenever he looked at them, Kara was the worst offender of all, but Tera looked quite human as well.

Thoughts of Kara and Tera made him frown slightly. He decided that it was good that Mindi was the one riding in the front at the moment. She had tentacles. People didn't have tentacles. That was a clear dividing line between human and animal.

Still, even animals deserved a modicum of decency in how they were treated. Resolved for the moment, John nodded to himself. If the two new acquisitions continued to behave, and to do as he directed, he would buy them shirts and underwear at the next stop.