FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Cabin: A Tale of Terror

Part 3: The Escape

By Bunny Hops

Characters:

Simcoe: 23 year old male bunny, green fur, skinny-fat

Basil: 23 year old male opossum, athletic twink

Guin: 22 year old male moon bear, stocky build

Felix:23 year old male arctic wolf, tall and muscular

Acetate: 23 year old male kobold, green and blue scales, short and stocky

Setting:

Mid-October, 2010, in the secluded western foothills of Adirondack State Park in upstate New York.

The opossum ran ahead, dragging the green bunny limping along behind him. Dark clouds had rolled in since they were last outside, blocking out the meager light given to them by the the stars and the moon; a light rain, barely a mist, had begun to fall. The Asian moon bear's hateful proclamations rose above the roaring crackles of the structure fire they were escaping, "I'm going to kill the both of you fucking faggots, just you wait!"

Simcoe and Basil were astonished at how quickly the cabin was being engulfed in flames. The growing fire was casting shadows across the wide expanse of the river to the surrounded wooded hills. Escaping past the cabin's little back patio adorned with Adirondack chairs surrounding an anemic fire still smoldering in a cast iron fire pit, the bunny and opossum fled towards the river.

The rear of the property ended in an eight-foot cliff directly to the gently lapping waters below. To their right was the heavily wooded forest they had hiked through just the previous day to get to the cabin, and to their left was a snaking path through to the kayaks and canoes they had used to earlier that day.

Both paths were seemingly blocked as Guin bounded out of the cabin's sun room, tangling himself in the flimsy screen down as harsh flames flickering across his back. He held a strong grip on his pistol, waving it wildly as the fire grew exponentially brightly at his back.

"Get back here," Guin yelled into the night, "I won't let you get away with this!"

Simcoe grabbed Basil's paw and shook it until he got his attention. Motioning towards the cliff, the bunny indicated to the opossum to flee towards the water. Basil agreed with a sharp nod and the two slid down the ledge of the muddy cliff. Only when their bare footpaws were soaked by the cold river water did they breath a sigh of relief.

"I don't think he saw us," Simcoe said hopefully. Guin seemed pretty literally blind with rage, not to mention his night blindness from the fire. But they couldn't be too certain, since they had been undoubtedly illuminated by the flames. "We need to get to those boats," the bunny continued, speaking to his friend but mostly working to himself out what to do next.

"Boats?" Basil asked, still in a daze from the complete disaster falling around them.

"The canoe," Simcoe said, grabbing Basil's attention. "We need to get out of here. We can paddle it downstream or just float along the current."

That seemed to knock the opossum out of his stupor and he nodded in agreement. They had a plan, at right now that's all that mattered.

Cautiously they shuffled their way along the shore, staying as silent as possible as Guin screamed and howled in anger as the cabin burned. The bullet hole in Simcoe's thigh burned with every movement, sending electric shocks of pain down his his leg, but he soldered on. The light from the uncontrolled fire illuminated the waves all across the wide expanse of the river. If anyone was within sight it must have been causing alarms, but even with the fire's glow over the horizon these parts of the Adirondacks were secluded enough that it was doubtful anyone was around to notice.

The path around the cove deepened and the two fleeing furs found themselves waist deep in the freezing wasters as they inched their way towards the canoes. Even over the crackling howl of the cabin's fire, they could hear Guin's guttural cries of exasperated frustration as he failed to fine the pair to enact his retribution.

Basil grabbed Simcoe tight, causing them both to halt. The bunny hadn't been paying close enough attention, being more preoccupied with the searing pain in his leg than his surroundings, but the opossum was well aware when the bear got too close for comfort. Simcoe and Basil could see Guin bound up towards them. They were well hidden down in the riverbank surrounded by trees and shrubs, but he was too close for comfort. What had gotten into him? He was never like this in college. Never violent or evangelical. Hell, he wasn't even religious. But now, there he was, spouting slurs at them and killing their friends without remorse.

The two hunkered down and watched as Guin paced back and forth, anguish on his face and anger in his bones. Finally he made his way back towards the back patio of the cabin and they were able to continue their journey to the canoe.

Simcoe's thigh ached concerningly. Where the bullet that pierced his thigh burned, even while submerged in the river's numbingly cold waters. Blood oozed steadily from the wound, but not at an overly alarming rate. The bullet hadn't seemed to have hit an artery so the wound should be fine as long as it didn't get infected, Simcoe reasoned. Still, with each step, each movement of his leg muscle, the wound screamed. Occasionally the muscles in that leg would cramp up like a Charlie horse just to add to his discomfort. He desperately wished to be off on a boat with Basil already.

Finally they had made it to the dock where the boats laid just on shore. The kayaks Simcoe, Basil, and Acetate had used earlier were stored on racks a couple dozen feet up the bank, but the canoe Felix and Guin had used was discarded with reckless abandon still touching the waters. The boats were easy to see in the moonless night since the cabin was now fully engulfed in flames, illuminating the world around it. But, more concerningly, that meant that Basil and Simcoe too were illuminated. They needed to hurry to get the canoe in the water before Guin became aware of their actions.

Basil scrambled up the pebbly shore to grab the far end of the canoe and Simcoe took control of the end already in the water. Luckily both oars were still in the body of the boat, so all they needed to do was shove off and be on their way. Simcoe struggled to get into the vessel; it teetered aggressively as he flung himself over the side and threatened to capsize. Basil was there to right the boat and ease himself expertly into the canoe. Using the oars to dig into the shallows, they were able to set off into the river as the trees around the cabin ignited.

Somehow Guin must have spotted them casting off. The bear had a deep gravely voice that cascaded through the night, above the roaring fire that was now alighting trees ablaze, and through the bunny's bones.

"There you are," he shouted from knoll that housed the cabin, "You can't escape from me!"

The bear fired two haphazard rounds at them as they ducked low into canoe

/Good,/ Simcoe thought. He had been counting the rounds fired and that made six. Revolvers all had only six rounds, right? That's why they called them "six shooters". Right?

"Go, go, go," Simcoe shouted as he dug his oar into the water and frantically paddling them away from the psychotic moon bear. His movements were not graceful or efficient, but they just needed to get as far as they could from Guin. Anything after that they could manage.

It was a good hundred feet from the cabin to the dock. Simcoe and Basil were able to travel twice that distance into the river before Guin was able to get to the beach. Still keeping low in the canoe, the two cast backward glances to see the bear's hulking girth backlit by the raging fire behind him. The bear didn't venture out on the floating dock, but stayed on the rocky shore as the trees to either side of him licked flames into the air.

The canoe was moving strikingly in the direction that Simcoe was paddling, which made him notice that Basil had stopped moving, allowing his oar to drag in the water.

"You okay?" Simcoe asked with deep concern, knowing the answer was undoubtedly "No."

"Yeah, yeah," Basil manged between raspy gasps as he overexerted himself trying to flee. "We just need to get away."

Looking back to the shore Simcoe was able to see the Guin had been entrapped on three sides by the inferno. His only escape was into the the river, but he recoiled at entering the slow moving river waters, even entering a toe. Simcoe know he couldn't swim, but he couldn't know how the fear of downing so consumed the bear. The bunny watched in fixated horror as the fire first singed the bears dark fur down to the skin, blistering the fragile flesh until it too eventually ignited. He screamed in pained, but still refused to escape into the quenching waters. His skin boiled and sloughed off as even his muscles cooked. Guin refused to let go of his absurdly large pistol even as the flesh of his face gave way to expose his bare skull. He howled in pain as his eyes boiled out of his skull and his lifeless body collapsed in the a pile at the edge of the shore, still gripping his firearm.

Simcoe knew he should exclaim horrified disbelief, but he was too shocked but what he had witnessed to produce anything emotion beyond a stupefied gasp of an exhale. "Jesus Christ," he eventually managed to mutter under his breath. He had to physically shake his head to release him from his horrified stupor and bring his attention back to Basil.

It was only when Simcoe notice the canoe shifting to point towards the left-hand shore -- the side he was paddling on -- that he realized Basil had stopped paddling. The opossum was limp, one arm dangling off the side of the boat but with his paw still managing to keep a grip on the oar as it grazed the water.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Simcoe jostled the boat as he maneuvered to his companion's side.

Basil's eyes were unfocused as they met Simcoe's. The opossum's pointed maw grew a toothy grin as he reached up to cradle the green bunny's cheek. Love was clear in his eyes, but he didn't say a word.

"What happened?" Simcoe asked rhetorically as his furry paws groped at the opossum's clothes. Simcoe couldn't help but think about how thin and inadequate both their clothes were. He only now realized that a cold rain had begun to fall, and must have started since their journey along the river bank. It was still a light pour, but it had soaked through their clothes, masking the Basil's own blood soaking his apparel.

One of Guin's hate filled erratic shots had evidently hit it's mark, sneaking it's way between two of Basil's ribs and rattling around his chest cavity.

"No. No, no, no; nonononononononono," Simcoe's utterances were devotionals to a god he no longer believed in. He ripped open the Basil's shirt as the opossum went rigid from the pain. Simcoe spotted the wound in his chest. A tiny little cavity of red in the normally white fur. Simcoe instinctively applied pressure.

The opossum gasped in pain and embraced the bunny. The boat rocked as panic set into Simcoe's bones. Basil was still warm and conscious if barely, which was a good enough sign.

"It's okay," Basil managed weakly, fooling no one. "It's not as bad as it seems."

"Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah," Simcoe agreed. "We just need to get further downstream. Get some help. They'll patch you up just fine."

Both were perplexed at the cliched words that flowed from the bunny's mouth and couldn't help but giggle through the torment.

"Just keep applying pressure," Basil said with undue optimism. "I'm not going to die in a fucking canoe, he joked.

~***~

Basil died in that fucking canoe.

Simcoe applied more pressure on the wound but knew it was futile when the blood stopped flowing. Basil had no final epitaph, he simply looked into the bunny's eyes one last time before his own eyes went dull and vacant without any fanfare. He was just gone.

"No," Simcoe quietly said in disbelief. "No no no." His voice cracked in anguish as hot tears streaked down his cheeks.

~***~

Simcoe was silent in his torment as the canoe floated down the river. It took until past sunrise before he traveled past his first occupied abode. A retired hyena couple occupied the estate, and they assisted him getting Basil off the canoe and called for help on their miracle landline. From that landline Simcoe was also able to learned that the raging inferno from the cabin quickly had alerted the Park Rangers and firefighters into action. With the close proximity of the river to the blaze they were able to put it out in due time with helicopters and had sent a rescue team out to put out any embers and find any survivors, but they had yet to arrive.

The hyena coupled dotted on Simcoe as he waited for the ambulance to arrive and take him and Basil's body away. He warmed his paws on a hot mug of Earl Grey but couldn't manage more than a couple of sips of the delicious beverage. To be called "numb" would be disingenuous to how Simcoe felt. He felt less than numb; an out of body experience, but more ripped from his soul than floating out of his mind. He had been so looking forward to this weekend since Basil had first suggested it, but in sort order it had gone from heaven to hate crime.

~***~

After surviving all that Simcoe managed to get an antibacterial resistant infection in his bullet wound and spent a month in a hospital in Utica.

The saving graces from his agony were the frequent visits from his friend. After everything, Acetate managed to survive. As he told it, "It was inevitable. I'm plus five fire resistant after all."