FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The blizzard lasted three days. The whole while the clouds kept the sky dark like night while loud thunder and bright lightning often startled us awake. Ice formed on the window and if you just paused and listened you could hear the wind picking up the snow and small slivers of ice and throwing them against the concrete walls of the building, it was slightly unsettling. Raf and I spent most of our time playing card games, reading, trying to beat each other's scores at the pinball game that was installed on the computer or simply exploring the abandonded hotel. This morning, we had even had a little Christmas celebration.

I had found a fake Christmas tree with lights built into it. I had set it up in the corner of the room and Raf and I had made a few ornaments out of things we had found laying around. Raf had even made an Origami star out of yellow construction paper for the top of the tree. What we had done was as we looked around the hotel, if we found something we thought the other would like, we wrapped it up and stuck it under the tree. In the course of my travels, I had found a Samsung Galaxy S smart phone, a few Transformers action figures and some Under Armor clothes that looked like they would fit Raf perfectly. Raf and I were both up at six in the morning. Getting presents early on Christmas morning had never really left us.

"So who gets to go first?",Raf asked as we sat by the tree.

"You do",I said picking up the smart phone from the pile of printer paper wrapped presents,"merry Christmas little brother."

Raf took it from me and unwrapped it, he eyes going wide when he revealed the phone.

"Oh nice!",he shouted.

"I had to get rid of the stuff you can't use",I replied him,"like the internet, but it's got Music, a Camera, Notepad, Clock and a voice recorder, you should be able to get plenty of use out of it."

Raf smiled at me,"thanks, your turn."

Raf picked up a rectangular box and handed it to me.

"I wonder what could be inside?",I asked shaking it by my ear.

"Just open it!",Raf shouted.

I smiled and pulled the paper off the box, revealing a big Swiss army knife.

"Where did you find this?",I said observing it.

"I found it in a suitcase down in the lobby",Raf replied,"I figured you would like it."

I smiled,"I love it, thank's litte bro."

Raf and I took turns giving each other gifts. Once we were done and had cleaned up the mess, we began packing up. To be completely honest here, I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to leave or not, but I had promise to keep and the longer we stayed, the more of a risk we ran of becoming infected with Agent Six, getting snowed in again, or simply running out of supplies. I pulled on my vest and helmet before turning to Raf. He was dressed in his Nike sneakers with blue jeans, the yellow and grey Under Armor shirt that I'd given him as well as his faded jean jacket.

"Got everything?",I asked,"once we hit the road there's no going back."

"Yeah I got everything",Raf replied.

"Alright let's go then.",I answered.

I grabbed the duffle bag full of guns, unbolted the door. Raf and I headed down the three spiral staircases and down to the main lobby. The sunlight was brighter than it had been lately, though the sky was still a dark, threatening grey. Snow was still actively coming down, but the ground level had receded almost completely, leaving only a thin layer of ice behind. My Chevy had all season tires and All Wheel Drive, but none the less I was worried about the ice. Raf and I loaded the bed of the truck and then piled into the cabin.

I stuck the key into the ignition and went through all the motions necessary to bring the Chevy to life. It hesitated at first, but soon the engine was humming. I engaged All Wheel Drive and began to pull out of the parking space. Since the drivetrain had been frozen the past few days, I had to take it slow. I had no way of knowing how much damage the ice had done to the transmission or engine, if I rushed it, my truck would end up with a cracked axle or engine block. I slowly drove from the parking lot and turned on to the main road.

It was like all the other town's we'd been through, absolutely deserted. There weren't any cars on the streets and the parking lots of local businesses were clustered with the white biohazzard tents, all of which likely contained dead bodies. There were warnings painted on windows boarded up with plywood, some read, "Dead Inside", "No Food", "Help Us" or even "No Gas". I turned into a gas station at the edge of town. Unlike the last one we'd been to, this one was packed with cars. From the entrance, I couldn't see a way to get to the diesel pumps. I observed the cars next to the pumps and soon discovered that one diesel pump at the end was free. I drove in front of the car behind it and placed my Chevy in reverse, backing up until my fuel tank was even with the pump.

"I'm gonna top off the tank Raf",I said undoing my seat belt,"you go inside the store and see what you can fish up."

Raf slid out of the truck and went into the store while I checked the pumps. They were still operational, so I began pumping the gas. I topped off my tank after about twenty gallons and was replacing the gas cap when a snow ball

struck me. I turned around to locate the source of the ball of snow, but couldn't find it. I turned back around and not a second later another snowball struck me. Deciding not to take anymore chances, I quickly hid behind the truck, gathering up a ball of snow myself and peering around the rear of my pickup, but I didn't see anything.

"Dammit",I whispered,"where are you?"

A snow ball struck the back of my helmet.

"Three strikes",Raf said,"your out."

I turned to face my brother.

"Am I?",I asked.

In a flash, I tossed the snow ball at Raf. It struck him dead in the chest. Raf pretended to be fatally wounded and fell to his knees before falling face first in the snow. I walked over to my brother and stood over him. He looked up at me and soon we were both laughing.

"Alright little bro",I said pulling him out of the snow,"let's get going."

Raf and I climbed back into the truck and pulled out of the gas station, soon we were back on the interstate, heading south. The sky cleared as I drove, going from dark grey, to light grey and soon it was blue. The lights on the roof of my pickup went off and my sunglasses came on. About an hour later, we came to an old town. It was something straight out of a horror movie. Many of the buildings had been vandalized, in one way or another. Many had broken windows, some had demolished walls and others had been burned down completely, leaving only concrete husks in their place. Trash ranging from Coca Cola cans and bottles to printer paper to cardboard boxes lay in the road. Some of the cars that were parked on the side of the street had smashed windows while others had been burned.

"Cameron?",Raf asked fearfully,"what happened here?"

"History lesson little brother",I said taking a corner,"when the public first learned that Agent Six was lose, there were food riots. People raided stores, broke into homes and stalled and robbed semi trailers to get their hands on as much food as they could."

"I remember you and Dad talking about something like that."

"That's what it was",I answered," the people across the street from us had their house broken into and everything stolen from their pantry."

"How come they never came after us?",Raf asked.

"Because Dad and I were Delta Force",I answered,"we took turns standing out front at night in full combat gear with our assault rifles. People would get halfway in our driveway, see that we were Delta and back off."

Raf didn't answer me.

"It's a lot to take in I know",I said.

I pulled to a stop in front of a small store.

"Get out and stretch",I said,"let's take a break and get something to eat, my stomach is throwing fits."

"Same with me",Raf said undoing his seat belt and sliding out of the truck.

I stepped out and looked around. The sky was clear and the sun was bright, but it was till cold out, forty two degrees according to my truck's temperature gauge. There was a city map posted at a bus stop close to the building we had stopped at. I walked over to it and began checking it over. According to the map, we were at the stop at 52nd street. Judging from the map, the quickest way back to the interstate was to head downtown to the light that was at the intersection of 52nd, 55th and 56th street, turn left onto 56th and then follow it all the way to the end before turning onto the Andrew Jackson Memorial bridge and take the second exit onto interstate 81.

"It's like a konted piece of string",I said huffing,"even mine ridden patrol routes in Delta weren't that complex."

I pulled the map out of it's glass case, folded it up and placed it in my field jacket and then walked back to the truck. Raf was sitting in the bed with his arms dangling over the side of the pick up.

"I'm so hungry",he moaned.

I smiled as I dropped the tailgate and fished the propane stove and pots out of their duffles.

"So ho come you didn't prime the stove?",I asked,"I know Dad and I taught you."

"I'm way to weak to do anything",Raf complained,"I haven't eaten anything all day."

"Well lucky for you chicken soup cooks quickly. We just need to find some water."

Raf and I retrieved our weapons and headed into the building we were parked in front of. Upon entrance, it struck me as sort of a quick store slash apartment building. There were several shelves that held items such as paper towels, baby wipes, tools, snacks and phone accessories such as car chargers. In the back were four empty beverage freezers. There was a clerk's desk that held a stand for shots of 5-Hour energy, novelty cigarette lighters, key chains and lottery tickets. The store had one other attribute that neither Raf or myself failed to notice, the smell of human decay.

"Damn!",I choked pulling my Shemagh over my nose and mouth,"someone fucking died in here."

"That's what that smell is",Raf choked.

I sighed, there was only so much I could protect Raf from. The first time I had smelled a rotting human body was on my first tour in Iraq. It had screwed me up so bad, our shrink thought I may have had PTSD, but later discounted the idea. He didn't need the smell of that in his head.

"Go wait for me in the truck Raf",I said firmly,"now."

Raf shook his head and went out to the truck, I then proceeded in locating the body. The smell seemed to be coming from everywhere, but seemed to be stronger the closer I got to the clerk desk. After coming around behind the desk, I located the body. It was a man who appeared to be in his fifties, though I couldn't say for sure. The corpse had all the signs that indicated Agent Six infection. The man's skull was collapsed and even though his body was decayed to the point of having thousands of maggots, I could make out the hideous blisters on his head, neck and arms. His body was stuffed underneath the counter and held in place by string, I couldn't understand who would try and dispose of a body in this manner.

"This is fuckin disgusting",I said on the verge of puking.

I quickly moved to the second floor of the building. At the top of the stair well was a large room. It was square shaped with a living area, kitchen and an Xbox One on a stand underneath the TV. In the back of the room was a hallway with three doors. Two across from each other and one in the back which was slightly open, I could see that it led into a bathroom, so I guessed that the other two must be bedrooms. There was a couch in front of a coffee table and two chairs adjacent to them. On the table was a collection of medicine bottles and other first aid kit components. On the counter in the kitchen were several blue containers marked for water. I quickly went through the contents of the coffee table, finding much that was helpful. More aspirin for the occasional headaches I had from sustaining a Grade Three concussion in combat, alcohol for sterilizing whatever I may need too and more onitment and gauze for Raf's twisted ankle.

I stuffed what I had into my backpack and then went over to the water containers. All three of them were two gallon containers, but I couldn't tell just from looking if they contained any of the precious liquid. I picked one up and shook it, dry as a desert. I tossed it down and checked another one, half full. I smiled as I checked the other one, this one was filled to the brim, all in all I had three or so gallons of water.

"This should get us till our next stop","I said to myself.

I slung my rifle over my shoulder and picked up all three containers. The next opportunity I had, I'd fill them up and we should realistically be able to live for three days off that. I quickly carried the water down stairs and out of the store. Raf was sitting in the back of the truck with his Marlin in his hands, starring out into nothing.

"You okay little brother?",I asked placing the containers in the truck and setting some of the water to boil.

"Did you find the guys body?",Raf asked.

I paused,"no, no I didn't."

He didn't need to know, not yet. Raf just sighed.

I smiled,"now I know you like chicken soup, it should be ready in about ten minutes."

Raf turned to face me and smiled devilishly,"is it like Mom used to make?"

I smiled,"if you count out of an MRE bag like Mom used to make, then yes."

Raf smiled,"it's all the same."

The soup took about ten minutes to prepare. Raf and I sat in the back of the truck and listened to Magnum 1 blare from my phone's Bluetooth Speaker.

"So where are we going from here?",Raf asked over the Black Metal that was rattling the bed of the truck.

"I found a map",I said slurping my soup,"it's a map of all the major highways in the city. From what I saw, we have head downtown to the light that was at the intersection of 52nd, 55th and 56th street, turn left onto 56th and then follow it all the way to the end before turning onto the Andrew Jackson Memorial bridge and take the second exit onto interstate 81."

I handed Raf the map.

"It's like Origami",he observed.

"More like a tangled ball of twine",I replied.

After we were done eating, we packed everything up and got back on the road. Following the map, I continued downtown from the road I was on for about three miles before I came on the intersection. The lights were flashing red, one flash every two seconds or so. I took the left turn on to 56th street. I followed it for about a mile and the came on a corner. The corner came to a road that ran along side a canal. At the end of the road was a turn onto then bridge that got back on to the interstate. I turned onto the bridge and stopped.

"Why are we stopping?",Raf asked.

"Look up ahead",I replied.

In the middle of the bridge was a large barricade, the kind the CDC used to stop people from entering infected area's. Standing in front of the barricade, was a person.