FSE

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"Hey, where did Aaron run off to?" I called from under one of the 3 abandoned cars we had found on our way up to the mountains. Positioning the empty gas can underneath the gas tank of the car, I carefully pushed the point of a hunting knife to the plastic tank. Before Aaron had traipsed off to wherever, he'd been kind enough to 'unlock' all the cars for me, so I could pilfer what supplies I could. This one I was under had about a quarter of a tank of gas left; it'd be old, but I was sure it'd still serve its purpose. With a sharp rap on the back of the knife with a rock, I punctured the gas tank. I pulled the knife out and found the side of the tank, puncturing it to make an air hole for fast draining. As the steady stream of fluid fell into the gas can, I scooted out from under the car to find out where everyone was.

Aaron was nowhere in sight, much to my annoyance. David, not capable of going much anywhere on his own, was sitting on the trunk of our car, arms folded in obvious contempt of having to be stuck with us. Wiping some grime on my pants, I searched for my favorite cat, John. I looked up the hill we'd found these cars at the bottom of, and there was the great lug, up at the top acting like he was looking for something. I shook my head and smiled, jogging up the hill to meet him. "What's the deal, John?"

John turned to face me, "Aaron thought he saw someone up here, and ran to see who it was. I think he's hoping that it was Clara." He shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. A sad look came to his furred face, ears turning back slightly, "But she's dead...that's the only thing she could be."

"Yeah..." I said half-heartedly. I still wouldn't admit to myself that she wasn't coming back. there had to have been some way she survived, but all the scenarios in my mind lead to one thing; her lying back on the pavement, dried blood covering everything whilst flies and other insects buzzed over the festering corpse of our group member. There was no chance for her survival. "Well, can you go make sure David doesn't do anything stupid? I feel like he's finally resigned to just deal with this 'hell' that he's in, but you never know. I'm gonna go see if I can find Aaron."

"Alright, I caught sight of him just as he slipped into these woods along the road here," John gestured to an opening in the forested area before heading back down the hill towards the cars. Never too cautious, I hovered my hand by the pistol at my hip and made my way into the forest.

"Aaron! Aaron, I'm done with the cars down there; we've got to get going." I called out. Rustling of wildlife was evident as I went on, but I couldn't make out any human-like noises. Aarons scent hung in the air, however, and thanks to my heritage, I would be able to follow that. It was odd being in the mottled light of the forest, the cool air rustling the leaves above me. Where was Aaron? Had he really gone so far in such a short time? His scent trail just led deeper into the forest, and was soon accompanied by a scent I swore couldn't be there. "This has to just be my head playing tricks" I murmured as I continued on, moving through the underbrush.

I heard rustling, and the sounds of quiet talking! Had I found Aaron, or another group of people? Would they be friends or foes? Wait, was there someone behind me?

A sharp pain lanced through my head...

Blackness engulfed my vision and I fell to the forest floor.

***

"Uhg, my head" I mumbled groggily as I came to. The back of my head throbbed dully where I'd been hit, and I had a bit of trouble getting my vision to focus.

"I still can't believe you did this! He's my friend!"

"Hon', how was I supposed to know?"

"I did tell you two members of my original group were Furries."

"And I should know that this one here, out of all the others, is one of the two specific Furries?"

Who the hell are these people? What are they talking about? Am I supposed to know them? I thought, my brain still trying to pull itself together. One of the voices sounded pretty familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. They both sounded female, but one was distinctly southern. I placed a few pieces together; the southern one must have hit me, because the familiar one was asking why Southern had done it. Familiar answered Southern's last remark, "No, I guess not. I'm sorry. You were just being cautious."

A new voice, male, and also one I vaguely recalled, spoke up. "Ol' Fox-Face here has a pretty hard head, but you didn't have to knock him out for an hour. I'm glad I got John to come, or he'd probably have thought Keon had died or been eaten." I tried opening my eyes more, but my vision was blurred and the light made my eyes water. A figure with a tail, another furry, knelt down beside me and took my hand and placed one of his on my shoulder. I shifted a bit, trying to force my body awake.

"Keon's awake finally!" the figure beside me burst elatedly. "I'm so sorry I didn't go with you, Keon! I could have made sure she didn't hit you, or hit me instead." John said to me, my brain finally placing voices to names; all except one.

"John, don't worry. whoever hit me was good enough to go unnoticed, you probably wouldn't have been much help." I said, looking up into his smiling furred face.

Aaron spoke up again, "Today is just going to do wonders on your brain; first you get bashed in the head by Shay, then the dead come back to life." I looked over to where Aaron was leaning against a tree with someone in his arms. I knew that someone, and I wanted to believe with all my heart that it was true, but it couldn't be...it just couldn't be her.

Clara broke away from Aaron gently and walked towards me. "Hey Keon." She held out her hands in an open gesture, "Surprised? I'm not dead." She chuckled.

"I can see that, but...how? We all heard the third shot!" I sat up and tried to get to my feet, but John pushed me back against the tree I had been laying against.

"That would be because of me, and sorry about your head. I wasn't sure whether you were friendly..." a black lady who was Southern's owner stepped into my field of view. She had to be Shay, as she was the only one here I didn't know, and that was the only name without a face.

I grimaced and chuckled halfheartedly. "Well, it certainly hurt, but I can understand the caution. I'm not one to hold grudges." I looked over to Clara and smiled. Clara really wasn't dead. She wasn't just another smear of blood and guts left the the wake of mindless monsters. She was here; with Aaron, John, I, and Shay. We were finally all together, and no one much worse for the wear. "Clara, I'm so glad to see you. I thought you were dead. I couldn't think of any other possible outcome after hearing the third shot go off. I never wanted to believe you were dead, but in a world like ours, it often hurts more to keep your hopes up..." I trailed off, looking over at John, who I'd constantly hoped wasn't dead, wasn't gone. It really had hurt so bad, but by some miracle here he was next to me.

Clara walked forward, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a warm embrace as she knelt down. "I'm glad I'm here too, Keon. I thought I was as dead as you were sure of, until Shay saved me. I was worried I'd have to find a new group again..." It was her turn to look away.

"We've only known each other for a short amount of time, but I want to promise you something." I grabbed Clara's shoulders, "I promise that I will always be there for you, always have your back."

I wasn't sure what kind of mood I was in, maybe Shay had knocked a screw loose with her blow. Whatever influenced me, I raised my voice to the others as well, "That goes for all of you. Even you, Shay; if Clara trusted you then I will too. We are all we have, and I know I will do my part and always do what I can for any of you. I don't normally talk a lot, but I think it needs being said; Stop thinking we are alone out here, that we've lost our families and are just trying to survive. Yes, we are trying to survive, but we do have family, one we have grown here, for ourselves. You are my family now, and I hope you all will reciprocate this. Even that crippled bigot back at the car is part of our family. We need all we can to survive, and most of all we need each other, because we are all we have to live for." With a curt nod to signify the end of my speech, I grunted and hoisted myself off the ground, dusting myself off in the process.

Shay smiled slightly from where she stood at the edge of the group, "I don't know if I'm ready to be a part of a family quite yet, but if you'll have me I'll certainly join this group you've got going."

Coming forward from his tree, Aaron put an arm around Clara. With a grin and a peck on her cheek, eliciting a bright blush from Clara, he chuckled, "A family, huh? I guess I can deal with that."

I smiled and slipped my own arm around John, pulling him closer and twining my tail with his, "Good, I wasn't going to give you much choice. You too, John. I can't go losing you again."

"I promise I'll never leave you willingly. I never wanted to leave in the first places, but was in no position to do so." John murmured happily, hugging me tightly.

I now imagine that Shay probably felt rather out of place, for she stood up and cleared her throat, catching all our attention, "This is a happy reunion, I'll admit, but I think if we have anywhere to go, we should certainly head in that direction. Staying in one place for too long is never a good idea."

Clara nodded in agreement, "Yes, let's get back to the car and to my brother; I'm sure he'll be happy to see me back from the dead."

I laughed, "With him, you can never tell how he'll react."

Everybody chuckled at that remark, the truth behind it ringing clear to all who knew David.

*** *** ***

"Where the hell have you all been? Just because I can't get anywhere doesn't mean you can just leave me as Infected bait whenever you wish!"

"David, you just can't calm down about anything, can you?" Clara asked, sounding serious though a smile played across her face.

David looked at Clara unfazed, "No I cannot calm down. How would you feel being left alone, helpless against the Infected?"

"I think I know that feeling just fine." Clara looked a little hurt, but I guess she shrugged it off.

"Oh? You wou.....Wait...Clara? Clara?! You are alive!?" David nearly fell over trying to make his way over to Clara from his sitting spot on the car. "Clara, I thought you were dead! I thought I lost you too...I can't lose you..." Clara had caught David, after which he hugged her tightly, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

I leaned over towards Aaron and whispered in his ear, "I guess he actually has feelings; I wasn't so sure." Aaron cover his mouth to hide his smile as he stifled a chuckle.

Clara broke the hug and held her brother at arms length, looking him in the eyes, "I'm here now. It's alright, you didn't lose me. We are all together again, like a family; all of us, including Aaron, Keon, and John. We are all we've got now, and though you may not like it, you don't have a lot of choice. I care for you, but it's hard when all you do is hate and yell and make trouble. Can you handle being in a family again?" David looked back, intense and silent, then slowly nodded, though he seemed pained by doing so.

I looked over at the angle of the sun then over at John, who, as always, knew exactly what I was thinking. "I think we should probably get going soon. It's going to be dark and we should at least find a different place for the night. I haven't seen any Infected, but that can be both a good and bad sign." He spoke aloud in my stead. I nodded, watching the others agree as well.

"Well, there are six of us now, how will we fit in the car?" Aaron spoke up, bring a valid point. Everyone looked to me, I guess since it was my car.

"Uuh..." My moment of talkativeness well past, I felt uncomfortable in the spotlight. "I think we can fit all of us, it'll just be rather compact in the back seat. David should probably ride in the front with me, since that will give him more room for his injured leg. The rest of you will just have to squish into the back."

Aaron opened the car door and started to get in. "Whatever you say; the car is still our best option for getting places, as it is fast, and we are not."

Clara got in next, followed by John, and the Shay was last. Before she got in, she turned to me, "So, any plans for where we're going?"

"Yes," I answered as I got in the drivers seat. I pressed the start button as David got in last, adjusting himself as well as he could to be comfortable with his bum knee. As all the doors were shut, I shifted into gear and rolled off.

"You said you have a plan. Where?" Shay asked again.

"High into the mountains." Silence followed, but there was no objections. Hesitation, maybe, but no objection. Going high enough into the mountains meant safety from the Infected, after about 8000 feet or so, something about the altitude bothered them, and they wouldn't venture farther. I didn't know why this was, and I didn't care. There would also be a lot more people, who had also escaped to the high ground.

Not all of these people were so nice. Many were not nice at all, as this world was no longer nice in return. We could be murdered, or pillaged, or sold, or any matter of other things.

It was a chance I was willing to take.

I looked up at the mountains looming so close ahead; The Rocky Mountains, one of the last sanctuaries for Humankind and Furkind.

Would we, the bruised, battered, and beaten, actually manage to find sanctuary there? Only time would tell.