FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Living in the south had never been a problem in the past. Sure there were racists and sexist undertones all over the place, but it was never a deal. Till the virus hit. Then humanities racist tendencies came out to shine like the sun had come up.

Most fled to the north as soon as they had the chance, the rest went to other countries. Seeking safety in places where the locals were more accepting or the governments were more progressive and protecting. The few that remained lived in fear for their lives. it wasn't easy to get by when people saw you as a stupid animal.

Samson had never paid any attention to the redneck morons around him. Born in a different state, his parents had divorced and moved when he was young. He then had grown up with his Mother, Step father and step siblings. Eventually finding his own place when he was 18.

His days were spent simply doing his job, earning his pay, hoping one day to get out of the backwater hole he was forced to call home. It wasn't easy to do, the local business owners paid as minimum a wage as they thought they could get away with, barely enough for rent, bills and food. Thus they had their workers over a barrel, they couldn't afford to go anywhere to seek better employment, and if they tried to push for better wages, they were fired.

However Samson had managed to do it... just. He had needed to skip meals and cut back on virtually everything. No lights at night, cold meals, no heating or cooling, and washing his laundry by hand, but he had saved up enough to escape.

He was roused from his packing -what little he had to pack- by what he called a 'redneck mating call'. Drawn to his front window, he spotted the worst offenders in town, known for being drunk and disorderly, running down the road, most carrying large hunting rifles.

"C'mon boys! We got ourselves a new hunt!" one screamed out as they ran. Samson shook his head and sighed, returning to his packing. Another Changed had wandered into town and been spotted. It happened from time to time, and the local morons, most of whom Samson swore had a higher shoe size than brain cell count, would run them out by gun point.

They called it a 'hunt' and it truthfully wasn't far from that. They were usually too drunk to actually shoot the poor people they were chasing, but that didn't stop them from treating them as naught but prey. Secretly Samson hoped that one day the bigots would catch the disease and be changed too, but he knew it wasn't a condition one should wish on anyone.

The Mayor had once said that they would put a stop to the hunts. Everyone knew it was a bold-faced lie, but nobody in town was going to say it. Especially seeing as the mayor was sometimes involved in the spectacles.

There was a clatter from his back yard as he finished up packing and he heaved another irritated sigh. He made his way to the back door and heaved it open, expecting to see one of the drunken Yokals, passed out in a bush again. What he didn't expect was to find a Lion Changed, wearing an expensive looking suit.

He looked worse for wear, blood matting the suit on his side where Samson assumed he had caught a bullet. He was breathing hard, clutching his side and barely managing to lift his head. Clearly it was the Changed that the locals had been trying to track down, and they were bleeding out in Samsons backyard.

"Oh for Fucks sake..." he grumbled before he rushed out and grabbed them "C'mon inside! Quickly before they fucking track you back here!"

The feline groaned and winced as he helped them inside, not caring about the blood he had on hands as he carried them through to the bathroom and laid him down in the tub. Samson quickly rushed to close the windows and lock all the doors, knowing that if he was caught with the Changed, they would probably shoot him too.

"Clothes off Kitty... and don't you dare scratch me." Samson said irritably as he reentered the bathroom and the lion rolled his eyes.

"N...Normally I'd say 'take me to dinner first' but I assume that's reserved for your cousin," he replied as he started trying to get his suit jacket off.

"Ok, ok, I'll drop the cat puns, and you stop the redneck ones, deal?" the human said as he pulled out his first aid kit "I wasn't making a joke about being scratched though. This WILL hurt like a motherfucker."

"Noted..." the lion grumbled as he managed to get his shirt off, hands returning to hold over his injured side "N...names Dilan by the way."

"Samson," he replied and shook the feline's hand before rummaging through his first aid box and pulled out the Dettol "Ok Dilan, I have one recommendation..."

"Y...yeah?"

"Don't scream."

"Wait what?" Dilan asked before Samson pulled his hands out of the way and poured a heaping portion of the bottle over the gunshot wound.

Samson wasn't doing it out of malice, and he genuinely felt guilty when he watched Dilan's eyes go wide and mouth open in a silent scream of agony. The human was holding as tight as he could to the lions furry wrists, watching as his claws extended the instant he started to pour. The feline squirmed and struggled, and while it was only for a moment, the burning sensation had to be agony.

"Shh, Shhh! It's done!" Samson said while the lion hissed, capping the bottle and putting it to one side. He next pulled out gauze pads and bandaging, placing one of the large pads to the wound to try to stem the bleeding.

"G...G...Gonna sue..." Dilan said between pain filled pants, trying to help by applying pressure to the gauze over his wound.

"I don't have anything worth suing over," the human replied as he started to wind the long cloth bandages around the lions fluffy middle "Other than my car, and even that isn't worth much."

"W...Wasn't talking about You..." Dilan growled out softly.

"Right... well you do you..." Samson said with a shrug as he finished getting the bandages in place "I think we should get you to the hospital however... I assume you can't get to your car so we will take mine... sorry if the ride is rough."

Getting Dilan into the car wasn't difficult, keeping him hidden in the back of his bomb of a sedan was the hard part. As much as Samson wished he could just call for an ambulance, there would be too many questions, and it would draw too much attention. The hicks would be drawn by the pretty lights to see what was going on.

"Thankyou." DIlan said to Samson as he started to drive.

"It's fine."

"M...My car was at the shopping centre, my keys are in my jacket... it's yours if you want it, I'm certainly not going back for it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... I'd rather not risk my life for a car of all things..."

The hospital was in the next town over, and thankfully the ride was quick and without incident. Samson discovered later that the lion had left one hell of a misdirection at the other end of town. Rushing Dilan inside, they admitted him easily enough to the emergency ward.

Sadly good deeds seldom go without a punishment. It was that night when his changes began. Samson tried to ignore them at first, which evolved to trying to pretend it wasn't happening as time went on. He had gotten his booster shot for the virus only a few months prior, but everyone knew that it didn't make infection impossible. The shot only slowed the progression of the infection, and slightly reduced infection chances.

The changes were excruciating, and he struggled to do so much as cook food or get to the bathroom as they progressed. Getting take out food delivered when it hurt too much to even think of preparing anything to eat. He had needed to wait till they had left before peeking out the door, reaching out to snag it as quickly as possible.

It was two days later when he finally felt like he was able to head out of his house to check his mail box. Gone was his healthy human skin and young looks. His body was covered in a thin brown fur coat, with a white patch on his belly, crotch and inner thighs. He stood on two digitigrade legs ending in tough cloven hooves.

He had needed to cut holes in his pants to make way for the fluffy tail that poked out behind him. It had been difficult to make the adjustments with his new fingers, ending in a tough keratin like his hooves from the last knuckle on. Only the underside of his fingers, where the print had been, was left exposed. His face was pushed out in a lithe muzzle, pointed cervine ears atop his head, flicking a little as they tried to take in the smallest sounds they could. Between his ears was a large, four prong, rack of antlers.

He barely got to his mailbox when he heard the familiar 'mating call' and his blood ran cold. His head snapped in the direction of the voice, one of the local teenagers, well known for being part of the hunts with his father.

"That's one I can put on ma wall! Look'er the rack!" they called, raising their gun to take aim.

"FUCK!" Samson swore and tried to run back to his house. However he was forced to change direction when a bullet blasted a hole in the sidewalling. He at least had speed on his side as he ran through the gardens and into the vast park that split the town in half.

He could hear them behind him giving chase, causing his heart to pound all the more as he ran. Finally after another gunshot that missed completely, he dashed into the thick trees of the park. He knew he still wasn't safe yet, they remained on his trail, and sometimes traps would be laid in the dense foliage to capture any unsuspecting Changed.

The one advantage he had was he knew where he was, and where he was going. Ducking this way and that as he tried to make his way towards the local shopping centre. There waiting for him was the car that had belonged to Dilan, the key resting in his pocket.

He attempted to stay quiet as he ran, hooves treading lightly on the ground as he tried to escape the human chasing after him. There was another bang of gunfire, the bullet only just missing the fleeing deer and blasting a chunk out of a nearby tree. His antlers knocked against low branches and twigs as he darted through the trees, zigzagging this way and that in hope to throw off the attackers shots.

Another bang echoed off the foliage as the gun went off behind him. He yelped as it clipped his left shoulder, the large bullet size doing a sizable amount of damage even if it hadn't embedded in his flesh. He fell to the floor and tumbled, his left arm not responding when he tried to command it to work.

He came to a halt against the base of a tree, shifting to a sitting position, he gripped at his wounded shoulder and looked up at the human as they approached, gun raised once more.

"Looks like I don't need Pa's help fer this un!" They said with a grin "Yer hide will look gewd on ma floor and head on ma wall!"

"I...I'm..." Samson started defiantly, the human getting closer slowly till he was standing over the prone stag.

"Yer wat?"

"I'm NOT in Season!" he called, he kicked up with all the strength he could muster, getting a direct hit between the human's legs. They dropped their gun and gripped at their injured crotch before collapsing to the floor on their side. Samson took his chance and got up, running off once more into the trees and towards the shops.

He looked out from the treeline in time to see the bulk of the 'hunters' running in the direction of his home and where the prone teen was. Once it quietened down enough, he dashed across the parking lot, pressing the unlock button on the key to find the car. A nice looking convertible blinked its lights in response to his button presses.

When he tried to get into the car, he banged his rack against the roof. Resigned to being exposed as he fled, he was quick to retract the roof and start the engine. Samson barely spared time to get his seatbelt on before tearing out of the carpark and out of town.

He knew his first stop would need to be the hospital, while he wasn't bleeding badly, his shoulder needed attention urgently. Driving was difficult with his left arm still not responding properly. The car at least had an automatic gearbox, which meant he didn't need to change gears, but turning corners was a tricky affair.

Pulling into the hospital car park, he rummaged through the car to see what was there before heading inside. He managed to find a business card for Dilan, declaring he was a lawyer from a large firm, based several states north. He pocketed it before locking up and made his way in. Inside the hospital he was rushed into the emergency ward for Changed, where they stitched his wound closed and put his shoulder back into its socket.

Of course, the authorities wanted to know what was going on, the deer assuming they had been told by the hospital that he was suffering from a gunshot wound. The police questioning he received about his injuries irritated him somewhat. The fact that it was the second such injury in less than a week, he thought they may take action. However he was simply warned to get out of town as soon as he was able to for his own safety.

Stuck in the hospital at least for the night, he was at a loss as to what to do. He wanted to get his belongings, but at the same time didn't want to risk his neck going back home for them. The local police were obviously useless, more interested in just keeping it all quiet than actually helping those that needed it. Samson grumbled a little before pulling out the business card for Dilan.

"Dragon's fury Law firm, Dilan Speaking."

"Hey Dilan, it's Samson," he started slowly and sighed "The one who helped you get to the hospital the other day?"

"Oh yes, I remember, I had been meaning to try to get your number to thank you... how did you find mine?"

"I... found it in the car you left me... um... I may need some help... and couldn't think of anyone else to turn to..."

"My help? Why... wait... did you..."

"Yeah... I changed... I'm currently laying on a hospital bed in the same hospital I left you in."

"Ah... I'll get you the number of a good support group I know... wait... hospital? still?"

"I changed at home... when i left my home well... apparently I would have made a nice trophy on a wall and rug on the floor..."

"I see... I will talk with my boss, and I'll see if we can head down to you later this evening if we can manage it. In the meantime, tell me everything."