The barren wasteland stretched out before them, collapsed buildings and a desolate landscape scarred by the ravages of war and time. Scorch, Twitch, Ember, and Vixen, a motley crew of raiders, trudged their way through the crumbling ruins, their footsteps echoing off the dilapidated structures that loomed like skeletal remnants of a long forgotten era.
 
 
“Listen up, you lot!” Scorch, a tall woman with a shaved head and scrappy black armor barked back to her team. “We ain't here for a damn picnic. Get in, snatch the loot, and get the hell out. Clear?” She adjusted the two thick leather belts that ran across her chest and over and under her right shoulder, barely enough to cover her breasts, let alone be anything protective. “Ain't no time for dilly-dallying. We're here to do a job, understand? Twitch, you hearin' me?”
 
 
The scrawny young girl jumped in surprise and nearly dropped her gun, scrambling to catch it out of the air before putting it back into its holster. “Y-yes ma’am! Grab the caps and run, I can do that, you can count on me!” Unlike her boss, Twitch’s skin was still pale and scarless, hair long and clean. She covered herself modestly and wore a pink pre-war dress with hide boots. She might have passed for a common settler if not for her choice of peers.
 
 
“Did we really have to bring her along?” the lagging woman at the back whined. “She's fresh out of that cushy Diamond City life. Probably never even fired a pipe pistol before, let alone that six shooter.” Vixen pressed a gloved finger to her temple before pointing an accusatory finger towards Twitch. “I know we’re short on hands but are we really sinking this low?”
 
 
“Oh calm yourself, you always complain about where we get our hired hands like you didn’t grow up on a manure farm.” Ember chuckled to herself as she cradled her pregnant belly, the only part of her body not draped in ammo belts and pouches. “Warwick wasn’t it called? I heard it was a nice place once you get over the smell.”
 
 
Twitch shyly giggled at Ember’s off-handed comment, but her smile vanished when she saw
Vixen had raised her lip and was clenching a fist at her. Scorch shot Vixen a warning glare before turning her attention back to Twitch. “Enough with the whinin',. We take what we can get in this wasteland.”
 
 
Vixen rolled her eyes, the heavy plates of her armor creaking against her toned frame as she muttered under her breath. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when she gets us all killed."
 
 
"Good, 'cause we're here," Scorch announced, squatting behind a short brick wall. “This is it, The Castle. Used to be Minutemen turf, now it's overrun by a small army of man-eating crabs.” She looked back to her team while making pinching motions with her raised hands. “Word on the wasteland is those wannabe heroes left most of their shit in the armory. Fair game, if you ask me."
 
 
“You really think we can take on a fort full of Mirelurks? Just the three of us? I call bullshit.” Vixen grimaced as she looked up at the castle on the hill, then back down at Twitch. “Have you ever even seen a Mirelurk?” She sneered, giving a fake smile when the girl timidly nodded no. “They’re as slow and as dumb as they come - probably even dumber than Scorch” She gently grabbed onto Twitch's wrist. "But let one of those bastards get their claws on you, and you're FUCKED," she tightened her grip suddenly, causing Twitch to yelp in pain.
 
 
“Stop scaring her, she's jumpy as is already.” Ember spoke in a motherly tone. “It's an easy job, we get to take what we want and nobody is trying to shoot us.” she mosied over to pet Twitch’s hair, her breath steadying as she calmed down. “But mirelurks are serious business, how do you intend to deal with them, Scorch?”
 
 
“Simple, we don’t.” She refused to elaborate for a few seconds while the rest of the party looked at each other in confusion. Mating season's over, and those Mirelurks should be hunkered down for a nap after laying their eggs." Rising back to her feet, she turned to face the others. "Long as we don't mess with the eggs, we should be in the clear." She dusted her hands on her thighs and began nonchalantly marching towards The Castle.
 
 
Vixen, Ember, and Twitch stood frozen in place, their eyes locked on Scorch as she confidently swayed through the front gates and into the courtyard. Surprisingly, there was no clicking of claws or the scuttling of chitinous legs. Twitch glanced nervously at Vixen, her eyes wide with apprehension as if expecting to hear screams of agony any moment. Ember, her hands resting protectively under her pregnant belly, did the same. Twitch cleared her throat, breaking the tense silence. "Shouldn't we, uh... do something?" she stammered out.
 
 
“Uh, yea. Lets go.” Vixen gulped as she dragged her feet forward, reaching back to the laser rifle she kept on her back and holding it close to her chest. Leading the way as Twitch shuffled after her, followed by Ember lumbering on heavy legs.
 
 
It was nearly empty as the scantily clad woman stood proudly in the center. “See, what’d I tell ya?” Scorch raised her voice as the other three suddenly froze in place. “Ah, don't sweat it, mates! Once those beasties are snoozin', they ain't got a clue what's goin' on.” With a smirk, she clapped her hands and stomped her feet, setting the example. "See? We're in the clear!"
 
 
“Well, if they’re not going to come out…” Ember threw her heavy machine gun back over her shoulder, letting her tired arms sag back to her sides. “Lucky you got that pistol, Twitch. I don’t think I could go another day carrying this and the baby at once, my back is killing me!” She put her hands on her hips and pushed down, stretching as far as she could.
 
 
“This must be the armory then,” Scorch raised a dirty fist and pounded on the thick metal door, listening in as the sound reverberated across the slab of iron. “The drunk I was talking to said that there was more than one way in, split up and look for it, will ya?” She waved her hand towards the other three entrances into the main wall. “Whoever finds its first gets ten caps!”
 
 
The three cautiously walked towards the dilapidated stronghold splitting off into each separate entryway. Vixen stomped up a flight of stairs, Twitch squeezed her tiny body through a wall of rubble into the bunker below, and Ember laid herself out on one of the many mattresses left behind,"You two be careful," she panted, her heavy eyelids drooping as she settled down. "Wake me if you find anything interesting,” she murmured, falling asleep as her heavy chest rose and fell.
 
 
Reaching the top of the stairs, Vixen found scattered concrete remains dotting the top of the wall. “Artillery, eh?" she muttered, a bitter edge to her tone as she surveyed the rusty metal tubes. "Would've been bloody useful a few weeks back." Running her hand along the corroded surface, she grimaced as a layer of rust crumbled beneath her touch. "That damn behemoth wouldn't have stood a chance if we'd had one of these," she growled, kicking a pile of rubble and sending dust billowing into the air. "Most of the gang'd probably still be kickin' if we had, damn it."
 
 
Vixen walked along the battlements, idly talking to herself while kicking stones off the side. Still can't wrap my head around why Scorch dragged those two along," she grumbled, sitting on the edge and kicking her feet while staring into the ocean, "Ember might have the know-how, but she's practically ready to pop a kid out any minute! And that flowery little girl... I bet she's never missed a meal in her life. Doesn't have a clue what it's like to scrape by, doesn’t understand what its like to have to kill or fuck for your next meal…” with a huff, she scooped up a handful of small masonry fragments and hurled them at one of the lumpy boulders lining the shore.
 
 
"Just gotta find a way in, and then I'll get paid," Twitch whispered to herself, her voice barely above a timid murmur as she warilly stepped over a landmine and settled onto the ground behind it. "This isn't forever. By the end of the day, I'll be back in town with enough caps to last me a month." She nervously fiddled with a bobby pin, her fingers trembling as she attempted to pick the lock on an old steel door. "No more Vixen, no more Scorch..." With a soft sigh, Twitch opened a wooden drawer and carefully tucked a packet of bubblegum into her shirt. "I'll miss Ember, though... she's so nice…"
 
 
Startled by a rustle behind her, Twitch let out a high-pitched shriek, her heart racing as she fumbled for her gun and fired blindly into the darkness. As the ringing in her ears subsided, she realized with horror what she had done. In front of her lay a Mirelurk nest, one of the eggs cracked open, its green yolk oozing onto the ground. Twitch winced, her eyes widening as she winced through her teeth. "Oh no... I, um... probably shouldn't have done that..." She quickly holstered her pistol, feeling a knot of guilt twisting in her stomach as she hurriedly retraced her steps back to the surface.
 
 
Pushing through the loose pile of debris, Twitch timidly made her way down the dimly lit halls of the bastion. Cupping her tiny hands around her mouth, she let out a timid cry for anyone who might hear. "Ember? Scorch? Vixen? Hello?" Her voice echoed softly through the empty corridors. Rounding a corner, she stumbled upon a room filled with musty old mattresses atop creaky bed frames. On one of them lay Ember's hefty rifle, untouched. But Ember herself was nowhere to be found. Twitch's voice quivered as she called out again, "Ember? You forgot your rifle! Where are you?" But she heard only the sounds of the ocean in return.
 
 
Suddenly, a clawed arm shot out, seizing Twitch's leg with a firm grip, yanking her off her feet and pulling her away. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Twitch shrieked, her voice trembling with fear as she struggled to break free, grasping desperately at anything to anchor herself. Before she knew it, she was thrust outside, the blinding sunlight assaulting her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness. In the courtyard stood Scorch, Vixen, and Ember, their faces twisted in terror as they struggled against the relentless grip of over a dozen hard-shelled Mirelurks, each one forcefully restraining them in place.
 
 
"Well, can't say I didn't expect somethin' like this to happen," Scorch muttered dejectedly, her head bowed in shame as two pairs of claws held her shoulders in place, while a third reached out and snapped the belts covering her chest, leaving her perky breasts exposed.
 
 
Vixen kicked and screamed in defiance as three Mirelurks struggled to restrain her, their mandibles clicking in agitation. Three more creatures joined in, immobilizing her muscular legs as they systematically tore away the armored plates from her body. "WE'RE ABOUT TO FUCKIN' DIE, AND YOU'RE GIVIN' UP? THIS WAS YOUR IDEA, DO SOMETHIN'!" she yelled in rage and despair. When her legs gave up on her, she resorted to biting and headbutting, only to be met with a tenderly placed pincer around her neck, silencing her protests, if only for a moment.
 
 
Ember, surprisingly, was still fast asleep even with the commotion. She had been dragged outside and lay on the pavement, surrounded by loose rounds as a smaller mirelurk took on the duty of delicately crushing and pulling off every belt, pouch and satchel. Clicking its claws as it stood over her belly defensively. Before running it through the center of her cloth shirt. Flaying it off and letting her sloshing teats heave outwards.
 
 
Meanwhile, Twitch was a sobbing mess, collapsed in a heap of tears. A lone mutated crustacean kept a firm grip on her arm, its mandibles clicking together ominously whenever she tried to pull away, squeezing a little harder each time. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," she whimpered, casting desperate glances at the other raiders and back to the Mirelurk. before its mandibles suddenly stood still.
 
 
Rising out from the sea, a lumpy head covered in barnacles and seaweed, followed by a massive shell with serrated arms protruding from its bulk. With a guttural roar and spits of seawater, the creature lumbered onto the shoreline, it roared and spat and gurgled at them all.
 
 
“Mirelurk Queen, it figures as much. I guess one of us really did touch the eggs” Scorch’s head doesn’t move but Vixen makes the painful effort of twisting herself between the sharpened edges just to watch Twitch whimper in pain. “You little bitch… YOU LITTLE BITCH! YOU HAD ONE JO-” The air was thrust from her lungs as several pairs of claws and mandibles were replaced by one large one. As the queen picked her up, squeezing her between its graspers. It watched as she squirmed and idly kicked before it opened its mandible and threw her in head-first.
 
 
Several subsets of jaws got to work holding her down and pushing her in as her muffled screams were drowned out by the sound of clicking chitin. “I AM NOT- STOP- I CAN’T-” Her abdominals flexed and legs pushed against the dozen pairs of mouthparts before they were folded up and sent down. Silence.
 
 
Not even a moment passed before it began slowly crawling to Scorch. Instinctively the lesser lurks let her go. But she remained kneeling on the ground. She lifted her head up to the queen, before looking back to Twitch. "Never thought I'd bite it like this," she growled as the gigantic crustacean hoisted her up by an arm, dangling her above its gaping maw. "Always figured I'd go out guns blazing, or at least swinging." The swirling vortex of independent teeth crawled up her legs, tearing away at what little cloth remained wrapped around her curvaceous ass. She looked at the young girl and chuckled. “If you get out of this, try not to fuck up again, we clear?!”
 
 
It finally let go, and Scorch plummeted down into the depths. The behemoth chortling as it choked her down. Clicking its claws and mandibles together as its lesser limbs cleaned around its face. Ember still rested with her hands over her belly. Twitch tried to yell out, tried to scream for her to run. “Ember! AH- Get out of heRGH-” Every time she made a sudden sound, the claw would tighten. She was forced to watch as the mutant lobster gingerly picked Ember, careful not to disturb her. Before plopping her whole into its jaws.
 
 
Her hips were wide, and her thighs plump. They took up all the space available and then some, getting stuck. The creature's mandibles extended, attempting to push down on her, pressing against her belly, but slipping against it instead. Slathered in saliva, she was enveloped and massaged from all angles. She let out a low moan as she began to slide, inch by inch. Her cheeks were sucked in, and her lubricated belly was soon to follow. With one final, audible gulp she plunged. Her hefty body visibly pushed out the layers of chitinous shell as she descended.
 
 
Twitch was let go, and she fell to the ground, nursing her arm. It was sore, and she had started losing feeling in her fingers. The queen was on top of her now. With a spray of its acid her clothes melted off her body. Her gun fell to the ground, as did the bubblegum. Her white skin felt cold as the sun gleamed off her bright pink nipples. "P-please, let me go..." Her voice trembled with fear as the creature gently seized her. Her feet lifted off the ground, and soon she was floating above the gaping maw that had swallowed the others.
 
 
With a final, desperate plea, she whispered softly, "Please... someone help me..." before a rush of wind and sudden darkness engulfed her with a guttural gulp. She soared down the tight, wet esophagus, landing on something warm and soft. Opening her eyes, she found herself nestled in Ember's lap, her face pressed between her swollen, leaking breasts as her legs wrapped around hers waist. She felt Ember’s babys kicking against her own belly as she looked around. Surprisingly, she was still out cold.
 
 
Scorch's voice echoed from beneath them. She lay prone on the stomach floor, wedged between Vixen's sturdy legs and Ember sitting squarely on top of them both. "At least we don't have any regrets," she added, though the churning organ around them was already beginning to squeeze and contract.
 
 
Vixen, trying to spit out stomach liquid as quickly swallowed it, shrilled out. “No regrets? I regret coming here with your dumb ass, and I regret being swallowed by an oversized fucking bug!” She tried to lift herself above it all, but the weight of Ember was too much, and she crashed back into the smooth muscle below. Ember's swollen teats slapped against her pregnant belly as Twitch clung to her, “and I regret getting stuck under you three! Couldn’t I have gotten eaten last?!”
 
 
Almost on que with the last morsel falling in, the digestive system immediately got to work. Within seconds what little free space was left for the steaming pile of girl meat was shriveled. Shrinking around them as they yelled in discomfort. As they were squeezed, churned, and digested, Twitch sniffled, her voice barely audible "I-I don't want to be here anymore," she gasped, her grip on Ember tightening as she felt the pressure intensify.
 
 
The Mirelurks dispersed, retreating to their posts and burrows, their duty of defending the nest fulfilled, the intruders dealt with. Now, it was time for all to rest once more. All, except the queen.
Her abdomen extended outward to the point where the chitinous plates gave way to the soft tissue underneath. But as her stomach gurgled away and the pushing, poking, and groaning of the prey within subsided, it slowly started to shrink. Smaller, tighter, more compact. Until, with a final, barely audible "Aaaaannh~!" all went quiet.
 
 
 
 
Returning to the sea, she dipped back under, disappearing below the waves. It wouldn't be the first time she had devoured intruders, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.