Laughter drifted up from the once ruined mess hall, loud voices filling the silence of the night as the moon rose higher. The place practically glowed from the lights, making it easier for the silent, passive observer high up in the night sky to focus on it. The drone flew in a large, lazy circle, similar to the large avian predator far below it. Its eye of glass, metal and plastic, watching impassively the events of this anomaly of the wastelands. Yet they were not the only sets of eyes watching this night.


    From the darkness of nearby buildings, if one looked closely and were not inebriated, the faint flicker of light reflected from eyes of all types. Eyes with round pupils, slitted and even compound, watched the glittering light from the building. They could smell the scents lacing the air, the unknown spices mingling with cooked meat. Some held only hostile thoughts, some curiosity and some of greed.


    High above, the silent watcher saw the dark shape of the avian flare its wings, and begin to dive.


    From below, beings with sensitive auditory organs looked up sharply in alarm.


    Within the ruined building, an old mutant raccoon told a dirty joke that had others of its kind laughing loudly and a human doubled over and in tears.


    The Drunga had spotted the lights, had picked up the scent of food, and had flown into this ripe paradise of a hunting ground. Its limited mind slightly wondered why more of its kind had not found this place. It had spotted signs of the small furred and scaled ones, so food was plentiful, and it could spot a large body of water within easy flying distance, yet when it had arrived in the area, its calls of challenge had gone unanswered. It had been ready to roost for the night and begin hunting in the pre-dawn hours when it had spotted the lights.


    Its curiosity had led it to a bountiful meal, so it had flown several wide passes over the light before picking its target, flaring its wings and dropping into a steep, nearly silent dive.


    From above and below, the observers that had spotted the Drunga watched as its wings folded close to its body, its serpentine head tucked back close to the body and its viscous looking talons closed tightly as it fell upon the building.


    The Drunga did not see it, its eyes were focused on the rapidly approaching specs moving about.


    The silent observer high above noted strange movement before a sensor began to scream in alarm.


    Only the observers with the keenest of eye sight could possibly see it, and even then it would be incredibly easy to miss.


    Wait for it…. Wait for it… Soon the Drunga’s simple bird brain thought, a little close and then flare the wings, slow the fall and swing the talons down to grab and crush.


    Four little dots appeared on its large body, faint little spots of a reddish light that were nearly invisible amidst the ruffling feathers. Then its body began to break up, chunks of flesh exploding outwards in a spray of blood, feathers and flesh. The force of the impacts threw its body off course, and sent it spiraling down to crash into an overgrown street.


    The unseen observer high above banked away sharply, climbing for even more altitude and distance as its mechanical brain erred on the side of caution.


    On the ground, the hidden observers ducked back, shocked by the unexpected sound of gunfire. Some decided that perhaps easier prey could be found and slunk off into the dark. Others watched with greater interest in this strange place.


    Inside the mess hall, two of the older Rakus were helping a younger, bandaged one up off the floor where he had fallen, startled by the unexpected gunfire from above. A mentor-like figure laughed and ribbed the younger for setting a new high jump record from a sitting position.


    “I’m sorry man, I should have given you a heads up about that, but in all the excitement today it totally slipped my mind” Thomas said while pouring a new drink to replace the one that Delvik had spilled when the auto turrets went off. He looked at the gathered group and smiled, “I guess the scavengers will be eating well tonight,”


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Delvik accepted the drink and apology, “Yes, a warning would have been good. Is that one of those things you mentioned having been up to while I was away?” he asked.


    “Yep,” Thomas replied, “Had some of the spider bots build some towers and then strapped a home-made auto turret to each one. I remembered our first sitdown meal while I was cleaning this place up and figured we would need to keep those geese from hell away.”


    The older Rakus nodded appreciatively, “I approve, nasty birds deserve bad surprise” Gerv said as he fingere the talons that decorated his necklace.


    “So Thomas, what other surprises do you have in store for me” Delvik said questioningly


    Thomas smiled and turned to a large pan filled with a bubbling liquid, “well, first I have some curry. Something delicious to warm us up,” he said, and with a laugh continued, “and I do believe that mister Indral was about to tell us a wonderful story. Something about a young apprentice who...” A loud humming sound interrupted him.


    Burr-zap


    “Actually, that reminds me” Thomas said as the humming sound increased in pitch


    Burrrrr-zaaap


    “Delvik, buddy, did you happen to..” Burrrrrr-Zaaaap, “..forget to tell me…” BUUURRRR-ZZZAAAPPP, “..about something.”


    The humming reached an intense pitch, a charge could be felt in the air and hair and fur could be seen rising on various beings.


    BUUUUURRRRRRRRRRR-ZZZAAAPPP-ZZZAAAPPP-ZZZAAAPPP-ZZZAAAPPP


    Thomas seemed to flinch at each loud zapping, his body visibly shivering as the hum began to die down. He placed both hands on the counter and leaned in towards Delvik, “perhaps, oh I dont know, something about the GIANT FUCKING BUGS!” Thomas said, ending in a shout.


    Delvik placed both paws on the counter and leaned towards Thomas, “You asked about dangerous things, I told you about dangerous things. Bugs are annoying. They are NOT DANGEROUS!” he shouted back


    The two locked eyes, looking angry, nearly snarling at each other. The others backed away in alarm, Indral began to move forward to separate the two, but stopped and began chuckling softly to himself. Indral did not see any anger in their eyes, in fact he saw them both fighting to not laugh. So, he thought, this was the friend his apprentice had made amongst the Humans. He had had his doubts about the Human, still did if he was being honest, but he could recognize friendship when he saw it, and so, with a loud thwak, his paw slapped the counter.


    “Fight or kiss, either way get off bar so adults can drink” he said sternly to the two.


    Laughter once again filled the building, and Thomas told them of his adventures in cleaning up and modifying the building as they ate. The Rakus were suitably impressed with both the food and the story, less so with some of the robot design choices, but the overall results were undeniably impressive. Thomas showed them the strange metal tree shaped structures around the outside, metal poles with metal rings that ran from the top to nearly the bottom. “I found the design in some old files. They’re surprisingly effective for such a simple design.” he explained.


    Thomas showed off the metal shutters that could close off and seal up the building, “or as I like to think, keep the unwanted critters outside where they belong”.


    “Now, to cap off the tour, take these and follow me outside,” Thomas said before leading them all outside through the main entryway. Thomas turned to face them and smiled brightly.


    “First, I want to thank you all for rescuing Delvik, and trusting in me enough to bring him here. We may not have known each other for a very long time, but he is the first person I met here, even if he did try to kill me,” Thomas said, “but even with that, we were still able to sit and share a meal and get to know each other, and that spark kindled a friendship that I hope burns for as long as we live. So thank you all, my home is your home if you wish.”


    Indral and the others gave respectful nods of their heads, and Indral spoke, “When I learned my foolish apprentice had befriended a Human, I did not know what to think. I was concerned it was a trick, a trap for our people, but having seen you, having spoken with you, I no longer have those concerns. We would be happy to stay here, and i am sure Dulc would murder me if I tried to take him away from that bar” he finished with a chuckle.


    Thomas laughed, “He is more than welcome to the bar, in fact I was hoping you would be staying. I know next to nothing about this world, only that it is broken and I don''t know if it can be fixed, but an old friend from before I came here once told me, “If you can’t fix something entirely, start with one small part and try to make it slightly better”, and i think we can do that here. I hope we can at least.”


    Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote, “and so, taking my old friend''s advice, I want to make this into a place where people, all people can come and relax in safety. Where they can get a warm meal and a cold drink and just be at peace for even a short time.” he said, “So, will you help me with this? I know it''s selfish to ask, and you don''t need to answer right away, I just wanted you to know my plans.”


    With the press of a button, a series of tubes attached to the outer wall flickered to life.


    “I would like to welcome you all officially to the “Post Apocalypse Bar and Grill”, a place that I hope will bring a little happiness to this broken world.”


    As the others stared at the neon sign, Thomas looked up into the sky. Thank you for the idea Alex, he thought with a whispered prayer to his old friend.