FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Time: 17:55pm.

Year: 2245, January 12th.

Location: New Vega Highway.

It barely took me five minutes to snake my way through the streets of New Vega Central and get onto the Highway; unfortunately, I did so with the worst timing possible. The sun was about half-set, painting the entire sky orange overhead whilst rain began pouring down in my direction, making it hard for me to see where I was going, as well as limiting how fast I was able to go without crashing into a building or any oncoming traffic; the only thing that made this worse was the amount of traffic present on the highway, mostly people coming to or from work.

The only lead I had for finding Elle was that she was being transported from the New Vega Police HQ over to one of the docks that lined the circumference of the city; from there, she'd be shipped back to Falsetto, where she came from, by which time it'd be impossible to get her back, especially since my only mode of transportation was a Green and Pink Motorcycle that I'd stolen directly from the Police HQ. If I was still as lucky as I was over the past few hours, she'd be transported via a Police-Van instead of anything air-based, and it'd be headed straight for the Northern Dock since it was the most secure.

I started to pick up the pace and speed across the highway, managing to fit through any gaps that presented themselves - even going so far as to squeeze between a couple of trucks - trying to catch up with Elle whilst simultaneously avoiding the Police chasing me; unfortunately, citizens are 'obliged' to make way for them, making my escape attempts useless. At the least, I was able to keep them from shooting at me, though they were beginning to catch up with me barely five minutes after I got onto the Highway.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I thought to myself as I glanced briefly into the rear-view mirror of my motorcycle, making note of a Canine that began leaning out the window of one of the cars chasing me, readying some kind of rifle.

Seeing the rifle raised and aimed at my motorbike was enough to make me speed up, regardless of how little friction there was on the road, as I quickly snaked my way alongside another truck to my right, temporarily shielding myself from the Canine's sight. My protection could only last so long, however, as I emerged from it in only a few seconds, sending the screeching sound of the truck breaking straight through my ears, as if it ignored my helmet; I began to clench my teeth and swerve out to the far left side of the road, straight into the Canine's sight again.

Instinctively, I quickly reached down with my right paw and pulled out the handgun I had stolen back in the Police HQ, whilst my left paw kept me steady as I sped down a straight section of the Highway; I quickly but calmly twisted my head and right arm back to face the cars chasing me - or to be more specific, the Canine himself - whilst keeping my left arm still as I let off a rally of shots, making the Canine duck back into the car for cover whilst the cars in front of me began to swerve quickly out of my way from the noise.

Unfortunately, my efforts only lasted so long before the Canine managed to catch up with me and get a clear shot once I withdrew my right arm and focused on the road in front of me. My ears suddenly began to ring as everything around me became quiet from the shot the Canine managed to let off; luckily, I saw the bullet strike the concrete barrier to my left out the corner of my eye, by which time I'd also managed to make out an exit to the lower streets just ahead. If anything, it'd give me some cover from the Police chasing me whilst I caught up with the ones that I was chasing.

"Let's see them follow this..." I thought to myself, suddenly jerking my motorbike to the right and swerving violently to the other end of the road, then jerking to the left and aiming myself at the exit in front of me, almost lifting myself off the ground as I rapidly descended to street level and continued following the road north.

If I was doing this right, there would be another exit back onto the Highway if I kept following the road I was on; unfortunately, the Police chasing me didn't seem to take the hint I gave them earlier, and descended with me, with barely a dozen metres separating us. I cursed under my breath as I snaked along and to the side of every vehicle I passed, trying to get as much distance from them as possible whilst keeping out of their sight; this was challenging as there weren't many vehicles on the road anyway, giving the Police enough space to keep up with me. I almost cursed under my breath again, though something had caught my attention; barely a hundred metres in front of me I noticed a large black van, the same kind used for transporting criminals; my instincts automatically told me this was Elle! I'd finally caught up with her!

A grin slowly began to form under my helmet as I gradually came closer to the van, which was almost immediately swept away as I began to think about the situation...something was wrong; they shouldn't be driving underneath the Highway; for one, this was much slower, and secondly they would have no aerial support if things got out of hand. The van must've been forced down here...but by what?

My thoughts were immediately swept aside as another shot swept past me and hit the concrete barrier to my left, making my ears ring again and silencing everything around me; I almost completely ignored this feeling as I made note of a large truck turning onto the road, right next to the black van holding Elle, completely oblivious to the chase going on behind it as it began to match its speed with the van's...

My mind suddenly began to jolt as my ears picked up the sound of gunfire again, though it sounded as if it was coming from in front of me; my eyes also picked up a number of sparks coming from the van, now barely a dozen metres in front of me. All these senses piled up in my mind until I let out a curse under my breath; this was definitely Blood Clan! I gritted my teeth and slowly reached down for my handgun again, ignoring the situation behind me and focusing on the one in front.

I was now inches away from the back of the black van, giving me a good view of the truck as I raised my handgun to the hollow cargo it was towing; I counted about four Foxes being carried by the truck, all of them with blood-red fur and armed with rifles, barely paying any attention to me. My mind only began to focus on taking the four Foxes out, and as soon as possible.

I began to slow down gradually until I was able to jerk my motorbike quickly to the right, placing myself between the truck to my left and the barrier to my right; wasting no time at all, I immediately switched hands with my handgun, now in my left paw whilst my right kept me steady as I accelerated until I was now aiming at the four Foxes from behind, all of them unaware of my presence as I aimed steadily at the one crouching down on the far left.

I quickly pulled the trigger and let off as many shots as I could, taking down one, then two, then three of the four Foxes as I strafed my left paw across quickly but calmly to the next Fox; unfortunately, I had ran out of bullets, hearing an unsettling hollow click my handgun. At the same time, I had noticed the truck beginning to come closer to me in an attempt to crush me between it and the concrete barrier; my attention suddenly turned to the remaining Fox, now turning around to meet my gaze as he aimed his weapon towards me. I wasted no time in lifting my right leg around to meet my left, my right paw still keeping the motorbike steady as I tossed my handgun away and prepared to jump onto the truck.

I let out a loud grunt as I used all my force to kick off my motorbike and onto the truck, by which time the remaining Fox was already waiting for me, brandishing a reasonably large knife in his right hand and glaring at me with Feral eyes; I quickly grasped the underside of my helmet and removed it, letting my hair be swept back over my head as I prepared for a fight.

"I see our assassin wasn't enough to kill you either." The Fox grinned, showing off two rows of teeth that looked as though they had been sharpened unnaturally; "I guess this just means I'll be the one to kill both of you."

In no time at all, the Fox suddenly lunged forwards, bringing his knife up from his waist to stab me in the stomach; I suddenly turned my helmet around in both hands and stepped to the side quickly, the knife now planted inside my helmet and rendered useless as I quickly clenched my right paw and forced it into the Fox's gut, sending him back by only one step; I then managed to force my right paw into his muzzle, gripping his lower jaw and twisting it quickly, hearing a satisfying 'crack' as it dislocated and broke. I let off one final strike as I let go of my helmet and forced my left paw into his gut again, removing what little oxygen there was left in his body, and gripped his left arm with my right, spinning him around in one smooth rotation and throwing him off the truck, into the concrete barrier, successfully mangling his body and killing him.

"That's why no one gets between me and my objective." I muttered under my breath, taking in a large amount of air before picking up one of the rifles littered about on the truck; now all I had to do was stop this truck and the van, then get Elle out of here before any more people arrived to try and kill us...perfect.

I let out a quiet sigh and leaned out of the left end of the truck, making note of the dents on the van next to me, caused by the barrage of bullets that the Foxes had let off; it was hardly surprising that none of the bullets managed to pierce the van, considering it was made to keep criminals in, and the curious out. My attention had snapped completely to the road in front of me as I noted a sign hanging overhead, reading: CONSTRUCTION AHEAD. I immediately leaned back into the truck as it made impact with the sign, sending pieces of broken wood everywhere; if Blood Clan couldn't settle for gunning us down, they'd have to crash us into something...

I quickly made my way to the very back of the truck, bracing myself against anything I could find as the truck began to slam into the black van, guiding it down the road in a suicide attempt; it was only seconds before I felt the impact of the truck - and most likely the van - slamming into something, forcing me from the back of the van and face-first into the front, knocking me unconscious as the impact continued...

***********************************

"...up...get up..." I heard a worried voice say, barely audible from the ringing that was carried through my ears; regaining consciousness, I began to feel a dull ache surging through my entire body as I tried to assess where I was.

I slowly opened my eyes and rotated my head, still lying down on a hard concrete surface; I noticed the truck barely a dozen metres away from me, now crushed by the black van which was now lying on its side with the back doors torn off its hinges. I also noticed a number of chains and broken pipes littering most of the floor, as well as one or two forklift trucks on their sides; summing up all this, I managed to evaluate that I was still in the construction site underneath the Highway, and somehow still alive. I rotated my head to meet the familiar face of a wolf, covered in red fur with long hair running down so that it was barely an inch from my face.

"Come on, get up." I heard Elle say again, now lifting me up by one arm and hauling me over her back slightly; "we have to get out of here before anyone else arrives."

"Good to see you too, Elle." I grunted, the pain in my body now starting to fade away; I slowly managed to stand up on my own as Elle let go of me carefully, letting me lean back against a wall to take a few deep breaths; "so where do we go from here? I know a place where we can hide out, but it won't be easy to reach from here."

"If I get us out onto the streets, will you be able to get me there?" Elle asked, picking up a length of pipe and tossing it to me. I nodded and watched as she picked up a length of chain, wrapping it around her right arm. "It's good to see you, by the way. How've you been doing over the past 60 years?"

"I was doing well until just recently." I sighed, forcing myself from the wall and setting off with Elle; "I'm just going to assume you've been having trouble with Blood Clan as well, right?"

"Too true..." Elle said slowly, inspecting the motorcycle jacket I was still wearing; "So...is that jacket really necessary, or is it the only one you could find?"

"It was the only one I could find in such short notice." I replied sourly, brushing the dirt off my jacket and smiling at her. "I was actually hoping you could shed some light on our little...situation."

"Got it." Elle smiled back, flexing her right arm wrapped with chains; "I just need to-"

Elle and I suddenly halted our pace at the noise coming from behind us, from the wreckage we left behind; I slowly raised the pipe in my left hand whilst Elle unravelled some of the chain in her right, preparing for the worst...and the worst is just what happened. A blood-red Fox had managed to crawl out from the truck, only it was hardly Fox-like anymore; it's back arced violently until its head was now level with its chest, and its limbs were replaced with long, muscular ones that ended with claws that looked long and sharp enough to rip through us with ease.

"You didn't think we'd give up so easily, did you?" The Feral laughed, though it sounded more like it was choking than laughing; I looked to my side at Elle, who had already begun swinging her chain around slowly, preparing for a fight.

"Please tell me this is one of your friends." Elle muttered to me, stepping to one side slowly and attempting to circle the Feral...

"I was just about to say the same thing." I replied, doing the same as Elle and circling the Feral in the opposite direction to Elle, dropping my pipe and picking up a much longer length, gripping it in both hands.

So far my plan had gone rather well; I'd managed to infiltrate the Police HQ and rescue Elle...now all I had to do was escape with her. This morning, I would have said that escaping would have been the easy part; now...I'm just grateful everything up until now had went so smoothly...