Melody stared at the naked woman who was still pointing at her like she was the one who’d done something insane. The stranger’s dark skin gleamed under the strange light, full breasts rising and falling with every hard breath, nipples still tight and shiny. Thick plant slick coated her inner thighs and dripped slowly down her calves in sticky threads. The air between them smelled overripe and sweet, like crushed fruit left in the sun, mixed with the faint musk of sex and damp earth.
“What are you talking about?” Melody snapped. “We’re in the middle of the apocalypse and you’re fine just getting fucked by a plant? What the hell is wrong with you?!”
The woman didn’t even flinch. She planted her hands on her hips, still breathing hard, still shiny with plant slick, and looked at Melody like she was the crazy one. Warm humidity clung to Melody’s skin; every breath tasted faintly floral and syrupy.
“What’s wrong with ‘me’?” she shot back. “Girl, the sky is broken, I’m single and I’m gonna die alone, and you’re out here acting like me getting some good tentacle dick is the real problem?”
She took another shaky step closer, completely unbothered by the fact that she was still dripping. Melody could hear the soft plip of fluid hitting the cracked pavement.
“I found that flower yesterday when the world turned upside down. It was just hiding in that building over there from the earthquakes,” she said, pointing at the large auditorium-like domed roof. “I touched it, it glowed, then it got real handsy and started growing like crazy. It learns real quick what you like, too. Touching that glowing flower was the best decision I’ve made since this whole shitshow started. And then you come charging in swinging a cosplay sword like some kind of rescue fantasy and kill my dick-plant spot.”
Melody opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again. The metallic tang of adrenaline still sat at the back of her tongue.
“I thought you were being attacked!”
“I was being attacked,” the woman said, dead serious. “In the ass. In a good way. There’s a difference.”
She finally seemed to notice how hard she was still shaking and leaned against the brick wall for support, one hand idly wiping plant fluid off her inner thigh like it was nothing. The slick made a soft wet sound under her fingers; the rough brick scraped lightly against her bare shoulder.
“Name’s Tasha, by the way. Since you already saw everything else.” She looked Melody up and down, oversized gray shirt, sweatpants, snake sword, general apocalypse-survivor look. “You got a name, bitch, or should I just keep calling you Cockblocker?”
Melody pinched the bridge of her nose. The faint smell of her own dried sweat mixed with the heavy plant scent.
“…Melody.”
“Melody.” Tasha tested the name, then nodded. “Alright, Melody. You killed my plant. So either you help me find another spot and then get your own, or you can stand there looking scandalized while I go have all the pleasure myself. Your choice.”
She pushed off the wall, still completely naked, and started walking past Melody toward the building like this was a perfectly normal conversation. Bare feet whispered over glowing roots; the air grew warmer and thicker with every step.
Melody stared after her for a second, then followed because she didn’t know what else to do. Somewhere behind her, Leo was still asleep in the pawn shop. She’d only left because she’d heard screaming. Now she was chasing a naked stranger into a plant-covered building while the thirteen-year-old waited alone.
The alley opened into the loading bay of what used to be a research building. The faded sign over the double doors still read NORTH BRONX BOTANICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, but the doors themselves had been forced open long enough for thick green vines to claim them. Inside, the air was warm, humid, and heavy with the same sweet-overripe scent, only stronger, almost cloying, coating the back of the throat like syrup.
Tasha plucked a pale, strawberry-shaped fruit from a low-hanging vine and bit into it without hesitation. Clear juice ran down her chin and dripped onto her collarbone. She held another one out toward Melody. The fruit smelled bright and almost candied.
“You should try these. They’re actually delicious. The plant grows them constantly. Food, water, and good sex all in one package. Scientists at this place were working on some experimental crop or whatever before everything went sideways. They must’ve finally cracked it, because this thing is the greatest invention in human history. They just didn’t stick around to enjoy it.”
Melody did a double take and didn’t take the fruit.
The main lobby had been completely overtaken. Vines crawled up the walls and across the ceiling in dense curtains. Bioluminescent bulbs hung like soft lanterns, painting everything in shifting blues and violets. In the center of the room a man and a woman were pressed together, making out hungrily while thick, glistening tentacles held them upright. One vine was buried deep in the woman’s ass, slowly thrusting with wet rhythmic sounds. Another was doing the same to the man. A third thinner tendril worked between the woman’s legs; a fourth stroked the man’s cock. They moaned into each other’s mouths, soft, broken, almost relieved, and didn’t even glance at the newcomers. The plant supported most of their weight the same way it had held Tasha.
Melody’s stomach turned.
Tasha kept walking like this was normal, still munching on the white strawberry. Juice glistened on her lips. “Told you. Once it bonds with somebody who’s… let’s just say open-minded, it starts figuring out what people actually want.”
Melody followed because she still didn’t know what else to do. Every breath tasted of overripe fruit and skin. She thought again of Leo sleeping in the dark pawn shop and forced the image away.
They passed open doorways that used to be offices or labs. One room had been turned into a shallow indoor pond, the floor covered in soft moss and low plants, lily pads floating on dark water. Two women sat in it, leaning back against the edge while thick vines slowly worked between their legs. Clear water lapped gently around their hips; soft wet squelches mixed with quiet sighs. Another room held three people simply lying on beds of soft petals, eyes closed, chests rising and falling in deep sleep while thinner tendrils rested against their skin like living blankets. A third doorway showed a young man sitting cross-legged, methodically eating fruit after fruit from a hanging cluster while a vine rested lightly across his shoulders. He didn’t look up when they passed.
“Tasha?” Melody called, voice thin.
No answer. Tasha had already moved ahead.
Melody forced herself to keep walking. Every open door showed something new: adults, mostly college-aged, completely lost in the plant. Some were being taken by two or three vines at once. Some were riding thick upright blooms. A few simply lay on petals while tendrils explored them. Moans, wet sounds, and the soft rustle of moving vines filled the halls. The air was warm against the skin, almost caressing, heavy with the scent of sex and blooming flowers. No one looked distressed. No one asked for help. No one seemed interested in leaving. They looked content. Detached. Like the apocalypse outside had stopped mattering the moment they stepped inside.
Melody slowed. The whole building was covered in mutated vegetation, full of people, loud, and not particularly hidden. Yet nothing had attacked it. That fact sat in her chest like a stone.
At the far end of the upper floor a massive central flower dominated what used to be a lecture hall. Its petals were tightly closed into a large bulb. Melody hesitated, then kept going down a stairwell choked with glowing roots until she reached the basement. The light grew dimmer; the air cooler but still thick with that sweet sticky smell.
The basement was different.
A single enormous flower dominated the space, easily three times the size of the ones upstairs. Thick vines arched across the ceiling and walls like living architecture. The flower itself no longer glowed with the same intense light. Tasha must have already absorbed whatever core it had.
Tasha had gone quiet. She stood in front of one of the large side bulbs, one hand resting on the outer petal. The petal slowly closed around her wrist, then her arm, then began to draw her in. She didn’t resist. She didn’t speak. Her eyes fluttered half-shut as the plant pulled her deeper, the soft wet sounds of the vines filling the space.
Melody waited.
A full minute passed. Then another. Tasha didn’t come back out. The bulb sealed completely. No more muffled sounds. Just the quiet rustle of vines and the distant moans from upstairs.
Something about the silence felt wrong.
Melody ran forward and tore the outer petal open with the snake blade. The petal felt cool and slightly spongy under the edge of the sword.
The vine recoiled. The bulb split wide and dumped Tasha onto the concrete floor with a wet slap. Thick tendrils slid out of her as she fell, leaving her gasping and dripping. Clear plant fluid pooled beneath her, warm and glossy against the cold concrete. The sudden rush of cooler air raised goosebumps across her skin.
“FUCK!” Tasha groaned, rolling onto her side. When she pushed herself up and saw Melody standing over her with the sword, her eyes went pure rage.
“You fucking cockblocker!”
“Tasha!” Melody yelled. “The world is ending! Wake the fuck up! This is the most people I’ve seen in two days and you’re all just having an orgy. What are you all going to do when a monster attacks? Are you just going to fuck until you die?”
The anger on Tasha’s face subsided, but the haze in her eyes didn’t clear. Plant fluid still glistened on her thighs and dripped slowly onto the concrete.
“Monsters?” she said, accusatory, like Melody was inventing things.
“Yes. Monsters. If something attacks, you’re all sitting ducks.”
Tasha snorted. “What the hell kind of drug are you on? This plant was a science experiment. It’s not a monster, more like a breakthrough in modern sex technology. They left it, so I claimed it. Not my fault they abandoned their shit. But I guess if getting rammed by a monster meets your fancy then yeah, call it a monster plant. Whatever. It’s not gonna kill us. It feeds us, gives us water, keeps us warm. So stop your whining. If you’re too square to enjoy it, then fuck off already.”
“Tasha, there are literally flying dragons and alien armies walking around New York!”
Tasha’s head tilted. Interest flickered across her face. “Are you on some kind of LSD…? Do you have more?”
Melody just looked at her in disbelief. Then she looked around again. The whole building was loud, bright with bioluminescence, covered in living plants, and full of people who didn’t seem to care that the world outside had ended. Why hadn’t anything attacked this place?
“You were outside,” Melody said. “You really didn’t see that army earlier?”
Tasha cocked her head and held her chin, thinking. Soft vines along the floor began to slide up her bare legs, cool and slightly slick against her skin. One tried the same with Melody; she stepped back. The plant didn’t restrict her. It simply fell away to the floor like an ignored puppy.
“No… I meant I was preoccupied. I was hoping others saw, but my mind was in paradise, so I didn’t notice. I do like doing it outside. That’s why I was out there. It’s so hot to think you might get caught doing something bad.” She grinned, the expression pure heat, her cheeks flushing deeper than they already were. “Do you like exhibitionists?”
“What…” Melody was caught off guard by the tone and the sudden subject change. The girl had clearly lost the plot. And Melody couldn’t help the weak feeling that settled in her knees at the sight of Tasha suddenly strutting toward her, naked and still shining with plant slick, asking about sex like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Tasha circled the frozen Melody, brushing her fingertips lightly across her shoulders. The touch left a faint trail of warmth and the sweet overripe scent of the fruit still on her skin.
“Mmm, you know… if you look past the dirt and the clothing choices, and if we did your hair properly, you are quite a looker, aren’t you.”
“I… Tasha, stop. Look, you have to get everyone out of here. This building isn’t safe.”
“Monsters. Safe… Blah blah blah.” Tasha smirked, stopping right in front of her. “You just want me to yourself then?”
“Huh?” Melody’s eyes opened wide. “I… no. I’m just trying to save you.”
“Ah, my womanly knight in workout clothes. So dashing.” She whispered the last part behind Melody into her ear, warm breath stirring the fine hairs there.
Melody didn’t really know what to do. Why couldn’t she move? Heat was already coiling low in her belly, sharp and unwanted. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought of Leo again, alone, sleeping, waiting, and the thought only made the confusion worse.
Melody’s breathing intensified at the sudden heat rising inside her.
“Mmm. I love the sound of my lovers’ breathing right before we do it. There’s so much desire in the way it intensifies.” Tasha teased. She finished circling and pulled another pale strawberry from a vine above them, biting off one end. Clear juice welled up and ran over her lower lip. She leaned in.
Melody couldn’t help it. She was already attracted, already off-balance, already too warm. She accepted the kiss.
And before it could be soft it became a mash of lips and a rush of sweetness from Tasha, her mouth full of the bright, candied flavor of the fruit. The taste flooded Melody’s senses, thick and almost electric, sending a hard rush of heat through her whole body. Her knees went weaker. The humid air pressed closer. Somewhere nearby another soft moan rose and fell.
Melody was shocked by the sudden spike of need, to fuck this girl, to be fucked by her, to taste her, to have her any way possible. It was stronger than it should have been. She grabbed the woman who was making the advance, fingers sinking into the soft slick curve of her naked ass, and kissed her like she was a drinking fountain and Melody hadn’t had water in years.