FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Written by brazy "birb" seeker

_ Inspired by K.A. Applegate's "Animorphs"_

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CHAPTER 8

We began to wander up the road with the smoking wreckage of my fathers car left behind us. We didn't bother waiting for the fire to subside, it was far too late to salvage anything from the explosion anyway.

I limped along in pain along side Mikey, practically hopping on my right leg. Something was very wrong with my other leg, but I wasn't sure what. Now wasn't the time to wonder, we had to get the hell out of there. The cops would be there soon enough, and we had to separate as much distance as possible between us and the crash for when they inevitably show up.

As we walked in silence we heard sirens beginning to wale behind us. We definitely weren't anywhere near ready to get caught and quickly leaped off into the brush beside the highway.

"Aghh damnit, this really really hurts..." I complained as we ran down into the woods away from the speeding cars on the highway, "I never thought I'd complain about going into the woods."

"I know it hurts, but come on we have to move, you don't want to get caught this soon, right?" Mikey said.

"Hey! I wasn't the one who drove us all the way across the country!" I exclaimed.

"I also didn't jump in front of a car and slip into a coma for 3 days..." Mikey said.

I made a little huff sound and looked down, slightly hurt. "I... Okay... fair enough I guess..."

Mikey beamed some and grinned, "Yeah! So, we've got to get to uh..." He took the backpack off his back and pulled out the map, it was half charred, "Somehow get the rest of the way to the west coast..."

He trailed off as the sounds of sirens flew past us on the road up the ditch. Mikey looked confident, even more so than I've seen him before. Normally he is a bit more of a follower, at least with my adventures. All of a sudden he seems so much more in control. I shook my head, thinking for a moment.

"You uhm... Are you sure? Why the west coast? I mean..." I sorta slowed my speech and stopped. Maybe he was confident for a reason. It just felt odd to me. I was always the one in control on our adventures.

"Oh! Yeah, I heard it on the radio on the drive over, practically everyone has been talking about the invasion, its been insane!" Mikey said, "Santa Barbara, that's where were headed."

"Santa what now?" I said in confusion, looking up at the road again as more sirens passed above. We had a minute to chat.

"Last time I checked the only Santa there is gives gifts, and, aghh..." I groaned some and held my side, the pain piercing suddenly. "This... this definitely isn't a gift to me."

I expected Mikey to respond with sarcasm, but instead to my surprise he looked down and shrunk some. "It's... I mean... We'll fix this, okay? We'll get you better. Once you're a bird none of this will matter."

"How do you know? What if I've got to live with this, even as an animal? What good would I be as a bird with broken wings?" I said.

"I... I just..." Mikey turned away, I swear I heard him sniffling some. "It will, I hope. I really really hope."

Mikey turned away and I looked back up to the road, trying to ignore my pain.

"Santa Barbara, huh?" I said.

Mikey nodded, "Yep!"

"No idea how far that is, right?" I said.

"Hey! I mean... I know which highway to follow at least! This one!" Mikey pointed up at the road.

I couldn't help to chuckle, "No shit, Sherlock. Any other wisdom to drop on me?"

"Hmm... You have a zit right there." He pointed at my left cheek.

I looked incredibly unamused. "What are the chances you'll carry me?"

I enjoyed a good few miles of being carried on and off for the next few hours. It was quite nice in all honesty, it gave my pained legs a break, as well as taking strain off my spine. I swear it felt like something was fractured in there.

It was strange. It was like I enjoyed it a little more than I should have. It was metaphorical almost, I was always the one planning the adventures, always making them work out. We would run off into the woods and I would always lead and point the way. I would choose the destinations I felt were best. I was always the guy in the background giving the best time to whoever's around me. Now we were on the other side of the country and I was the one being carried. Literally in this case. It was nice, albeit a bit terrifying.

"God, it's so hot, how long have we been walking? Can we take a rest?" I said, looking up at Mikey.

"Huh? Oh," He swiped the headphones off his head, he had been listening to my Walkman. "Sure!"

"Okay, you seem way, way too chipper about carrying me. Whats up? I said.

He came walked down off the road and set me down under a tree. I sat with my legs out straight, any folding hurt like hell.

"Oh nothing. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Just enjoy the ride!" Mikey said.

Something was definitely up. This was not the Mikey I knew. I looked over at him, he had sat down a few feet away, but strangely looking straight at me.

The weird thing is, he didn't stop looking at me.

"Tell me!" I said.

"Nope, not gonna do it. You are passenger on 'Travel-Mikey'." He replied.

I grumbled and wondered if he was thinking something similar to what I was thinking before. I guess there was no point fighting it, I was getting a free ride anyways.

I laid back in the grass and closed my eyes. I was tired again. Maybe it would hold the pain back for a while, if I can even fall asleep with the deep humming through my bones.

"Alright then, fine. I'll leave you to do your thing you nutcase, I'm taking another nap. Wake me up when we're dead again." I said.

"Copy that!" Mikey responded with an overly chipper tone, not even arguing with me for a moment as I went to fall asleep in the filthy highway grass. It was not the best bed I've ever slept on, that's for sure.

He was definitely planning something, I was just too tired to care. My brain calmed quickly as soon as I gave it the chance to and I slipped away to sleep.

Dark.

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! RUN!

Home. There was someone here, I could sense it. My eyes darted around my room, I felt an overwhelming sensation of someone being there, but there was no one. It was a small room, really not a room at all. Bars, vertical ones. Wait, why did it feel so familiar?

My body felt so strange. I tried to walk, but my legs weren't right, like they didn't move the same way. I almost fell head first down off whatever I was standing on. Maybe I would just stay here.

My legs didn't hurt, they didn't feel broken, in fact nothing hurt. I felt completely normal, except I wasn't me. I wasn't even in my own body, I could sense it, even in the dark. My legs, my feet, they dug into something and gripped tight. My strangely superior balance held me in place. I tried to reach out to grasp the walls, but instead I just felt a soft touch at my finger tips, the mystery bars responding with a faint rustling noise.

<Where the hell am I...>