It's their only option.

There's a long moment of silence, broken only by the muffled grunting of Cumbucket getting fucked up the ass. She lets out a pained cry as Lily gives her an extra-hard thrust, and suddenly one of the women stirs. She's one of the younger ones, a white woman in her mid-20s, and she moves with an impulse she's clearly trying not to think too much about, an only quasi-rational fear that propels her to pull off her light cardigan and fumble at the zipper on the back of her dress. Jaz, standing behind her, grins and squats to yank it down, and the woman practically tears the dress off her body, kicking her pumps away as she pulls off her bra. As she does so another woman, this one perhaps in her 30s and a dark-skinned Black woman, begins to undress with cool but direct, rapid motions, her eyes hard. As the white girl scrambles forward, darting across the gym to kneel in front of the risers, two others being to strip. The Black woman stands and crosses quickly to kneel, lips tight, next to the shivering white girl, while the last two - a matronly white woman, perhaps in her late 50s, and a much younger blonde woman who struggles with the complicated ties on her strappy party dress. As the older woman shucks the last of her clothing and hurries forward the blonde moans, "No no no no - ", actually tearing the last of the ties on the dress and nearly tripping over her own underwear as she yanks the thong off, staggering toward Grant. She collapses to her knees beside the other three as he steps down from the risers.

"P-Please," she whispers, eyes wide as he stands over her. "Please don't - please, I - I just had a hard time with my dress, I - "

Grant glances toward Mary and sees her shakes her head, ever so slightly. He remembers what she said to him before: "You have to stick to the rules you set down perfectly, at least this first time. The free women have to know you aren't fucking around - that you'll come down on them if they disobey you." He sighs inwardly. "Sorry. Three's all I have room for."

"But - but - but - but no one's even gonna want her!" the blonde cries, whirling wildly on the older woman. "Why'd you even - what are you good for now, you - "

As she starts to lunge, Grant grabs her arm firmly. "I claim you," he declares, and the blonde woman sobs, then sags slightly, jaw dropping open as her brain rewires. Grant pulls her back to a slouched kneeling position and releases her, looking over the other three nude women. "Well done," he says. "You three get to stay unclaimed, at least for now. I won't be too hard on you, but I do expect you to follow my rules. You'll have to contribute to our efforts to stay alive in this new world and in exchange you can keep your own mind. Understood?"

They nod - the older white woman calmly, the Black woman determinedly, and the youngest one fearfully. Grant folds his arms. "What're your names? And why did you surrender to me?"

The Black woman speaks up first. "I'm Natasha. Or Nat. I figure, if you can stay free...stay free. Where there's freedom, there's options." Grant nods.

The older woman says, "My name's Opal. I have...I have grown children I would like to see again. Some not too far from the city. I have to find a way to see them, and...and I need to be free to do that."

Grant frowns. "I can't promise you anything. But we'll try our best to reconnect you if possible." He turns to the last girl. "And you?"

"I...I'm Alice," the girl whimpers. Her eyes are wide, her sloped breasts trembling as she looks fearfully at Cumbucket's punishment. "I...I just...I just don't want..."

"You don't want to become a fucktoy?" Mary asks loudly, stepping forward. She walks slowly up to the kneeling woman, towering over Alice, who flinches away. "Good news. You don't need to be...yet. Grant's a good man - he won't touch you against your will. Even Cumbucket, there, is doing this because she wants to - aren't you, Cumbucket?"

"Aaah! Ah! Y-Yes...Please..."

"Lily, enough," Grant says. "I think she's learned her lesson." Lily, teeth gritted, gives Cumbucket one final, savage thrust before pulling back, slapping the other woman's ass with a grin as she steps away. Cumbucket lies on the riser, shaking slightly and weeping, and Grant goes to sit next to her, stroking her hair. At his first touch she stills slightly, letting out a soft sigh that seems to be mingled contentment and longing, and wiggles closer to him. Grant shakes his head slightly as he pets her. Claiming really does something bizarre to them, doesn't it...

Mary's continuing her lecture: "This is a different world, ladies, and if you want to remain free in it, you'd better learn to abide by the new rules. You'll stay free under Grant's protection...but you've got to earn that. Earn it by making yourself useful, contributing to our shared survival...and by not doing anything stupid or dangerous that could get us all killed. Remember that Grant can claim you in an instant, and that if you want to keep that freedom, you have to be more valuable to us unclaimed than claimed." She reaches down and strokes Alice's hair with a tight, wry smile. "I suggest you start thinking about how you'll do that."

Grant lets Mary play the bad cop - she made it clear to them when they were planning this that she felt that was her role. Cumbucket seems to have mostly recovered now, so he stands and crosses the room to one of the two remaining women, a white woman in her 50s with long, flowing hair and chunky earrings. She regards him coolly as he reaches out and touches her shoulder. "I claim you," he says, and sees her stiffen, then relax. "What's your name?"

"Daphne...Daphne Carter," she says wryly. "Goodness, that does feel strange. Right, though."

"Why didn't you try to stay unclaimed?" he asks her.

"I figured that you wouldn't see me as valuable," she admits, "And frankly, I expect that given what's going on...most men will leave an older woman like me alone." She meets his eyes steadily. "I can tell that you're a good man - the best of men, really - so I figure if you've claimed me, you'll take responsibility. You won't leave me to die."

Grant swallows. That's...a bit more intense than I was prepared for. "I won't," he murmurs, and crosses to the other woman. This one is in her late 20s, he'd guess, a slouching woman with long black hair, a trim waist, and absolutely enormous, almost absurd, breasts. He can't help but smile as he takes them in, though she flinches slightly away from his hand as he puts it on her head. "You're mine, now." She, too, stiffens, then sighs.

"Yeah, I...I figured that would happen," she mutters, blushing scarlet. "Guys only...only ever want one thing from me."

"Oh, come on. I bet that's not true," Grant says almost reflexively.

She sighs. "It...kinda is. But that's ok. I mean, if you...if you like my breasts..." She glances up at him, dark eyes uncertain. "If you like my breasts, that's...ok with me. I don't mind if it's you."

Grant laughs. "Well, I do like 'em," he says with a chuckle. "And I'm glad you want me to like 'em."

She nods, clearly embarrassed by the fact, but she smiles. "Th-Thanks. I'm...Sophie. Navarro."

"Nice to meet you, Sophie."

Olivia, who had left after Grant claimed Cumbucket, returns with a terrified, still bound and gagged Jen in tow, leading her over to kneel by the other unclaimed women. Grant stands, looking around the room as the newly claimed Sophie and Daphne get to their feet. All of his claimed women look, to various degrees, content and excited about the situation; the new ones are a little less certain, but as they look around the group and get a sense of their numbers, he sees their smiles and confidence grow. Mary steps to his side, beaming.

"Twelve women claimed, and four unclaimed but taken," she says. "Not bad considering there were only five of us."

"Yeah, you did really well!" the short Latina woman they claimed this evening exclaims. "Good job. Grant must be, like, a tactical genius."

Grant laughs. "Well, I do my part, but a lot of it is thanks to Mary here." He slings an arm around Mary's shoulders and pulls her close to plant a kiss on top of her head. Mary smiles, looking almost embarrassed at the praise, and presses herself against his side affectionately.

"You know, since we're in here and relatively secure, we could rest here for a moment," she murmurs. "The...troops, so to speak...deserve a little reward for their hard work..."

Grant glances down at her, eyebrows rising. Oh...that gives me an interesting idea...