FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

*CHAPTER 41 * Escaping the sands Part II

The orange furred alien ran through the corridors of the complex. His confidence of escaping that dreadful place had almost vanished as he saw Zonda lay motionless on the ground from the camera room. What had happened to him?

He knew that if they didn't continue with the plan, they would be as good as dead. Ginetta wasn't a warrior; he didn't have experience on life-threatening situations. He was not strong. He feared of the consequences that the situation could bring.

Cautiously but less organized and stealthy than Zonda, Ginetta continued his way. Before he could reach to the generator room, he found himself with a group of guards who were apparently in search for something. His only option was to act as natural as possible, but the fear on his eyes was evident.

The guards looked around, talking through their com devices. Ginetta just watched them when he suddenly noticed with horror that the door to his lab, just a few meters away was not fully closed.

What if they are looking for the guard that we tied up?

Ginetta thought to himself. Without thinking it too much, he walked to the door to close it and lock it. Just as he placed his hand-paw in the door knob, he heard someone calling him.

"Hey you. I need to talk to you doctor!" One of the guards yelled at him.

Ginetta looked back as he saw the guard approaching him. His eyes were wide opened. He did very little to conceal his fear. The fear added when he realized that the guard might notice his nervousness, creating a cycle that frustrated the sensitive creature.

"Have you seen the arena security manager?" The guard asked violently. Ginetta knew that he was talking about the guard that was tied up not even a few meters away inside of his lab.

Ginetta didn't respond as he pulled the door knob to fully close the lab.

"I asked you a question!" the guard yelled, making Ginetta jump startled.

Ginetta knew that they would eventually stop by the security room and discover the two sedated guards, if they didn't discover the stunned guard in his lab first. He had to think fast.

"He was taking a body for elimination." Ginetta replied softly. "I heard that he went to the auxiliary generators outside of the complex to verify something." Those were the only words that Ginetta could come up with.

The guard looked at him with a suspicious glare, often driving his sight towards inside the lab. The guard was suspicious of something and took his glare right back at Ginetta's eyes. Ginetta felt like he was going to pass out from the fear, when all of the sudden, another guard spoke.

"That's probably why we don't get an answer. The reception is terrible outside." The other guard said. Ginetta felt a sudden relief.

"Should we go look?" the guard again spoke.

"Yes, let's go. We need to confirm the disposal of the body." The guard in front of Ginetta said.

"He probably got distracted by something important. Let's go ask for the confirmation personally."

The group of guards continued their way. Ginetta was recovering his breath, knowing that at least his excuse will buy him a few minutes before the guards notice that there was something going on. Ginetta got in the lab, grabbed something, and then got out securing the door behind him. He then continued his way.

Finally reaching the generator room, Ginetta thought the worst. He looked around until he found Zonda already tying to get up.

"Zonda; what happened? Are you alright?" Ginetta asked very worried.

He managed to help Zonda sit and rest on one of the many panels in that room. Zonda's breathing was slow and irregular; signs that his body was going through tremendous amounts of stress. Ginetta pulled out a syringe that he had just gotten from his lab and jammed it in Zonda's leg.

"This will help you recover. Your body has gone through a huge effort and you're suffering from it. This will reduce your stress levels, give you energy and restore your vital functions."

"Thank you, my friend." Zonda muttered. He felt how his heart went back to normal rhythm and it was evident that his breathing became stable again.

"You were showing signs of a heart attack, Zonda!" Ginetta said worried. "How old are you?"

"Not even half my total life span. I have suffered from this before, but was supposedly cured. When I was a youngling, I got infected by a parasite that literally eats the heart muscle. My heart got damaged really badly, but they treated it." Zonda said. He clenched his chest as he took deep breaths. His eyes were closed. "This wasn't supposed to happen again. Not now."

"This entire situation might have triggered old weak points in your heart. Please breathe slowly and rest for a while. I'll take care of everything."

"No. We most continue." Zonda said as he tried to get up.

"Zonda; no," Ginetta stopped Zonda. "I won't let you die. Thanks to your effort, many will be saved. You don't deserve to die. Please let me take care of this."

"What are you going to do? It will be very hard for you to do this by yourself."

"I'll run back to the control room. From here you will be able to help me by destroying the generator. But please stay calm. I will call you when everything is ready, ok?"

"Ok. But please be careful." Zonda said while gently placing his hand-paw on Ginetta's neck. "And thank you. There is no way I would've made it without you."

Ginetta smiled while placing his own hand-paw on Zonda's.

"It was nothing, my furred brother. Furred ones should always protect each others from the unfurred ones. It doesn't matter if we are not from the same galaxy. We know true peace, and we should defend it."

Still sitting on the floor, with his target on sight, Zonda prepared his weapon. Ginetta ran back to the security room.

Meanwhile, at the arena; Morrison and Alpha fought with all their strengths.

"I don't know for how much longer I will be able to hold this." Alpha panted heavily.

"You are doing a great job. They are falling for it." Morrison replied.

"What is Zonda doing? How do we know he made it?" He then said really worried. The thoughts of his brother not making it haunted his mind since their plan had begun.

"Relax, Alpha." Morrison replied as they once again held each other in a lock. "The arena security manager hasn't returned. That tells us something."

But something unexpected happened as Turann suddenly got up and directed to them.

"This is the most fascinating fight we've ever had. I congratulate you both. However, if this fight doesn't end soon, one should fall. I will give you five minutes to end this match. Give your best effort because by the end I will decide who stays and who dies." The horrible bloated man said as he waved a controller on his hand. "I will personally end your lives."

This made Alpha and Morrison feel a cold bolt of electricity on their backs. They knew they had a deadline now. The worst part was not knowing if Zonda would make it before. They had no choice but to continue their plan and hope for the best. The sudden burst of adrenaline made the human and the Retcan fight with strengths that they didn't even know hat they still had. Kick after kick; punch after punch. Both gave a spectacle like none other gladiator ha given the audience before.

Running his way back to the security room, Ginetta didn't care anymore bout if he encountered guards or not. Fortunately, all the guards were too busy slacking off their jobs to watch the fight. Ginetta finally made it.

"Alright, I'm here. Standby, please." Ginetta informed Zonda as he ran directly to the main security terminal.

"Understood, Ginetta; I'm locked to my target." Zonda replied. His voice was much stronger now. Ginetta made a great choice of medicine for him.

Ok, here it goes... Ginetta thought as he started operating the panel. His hand-paws trembled as he swiped across the systems until he got where he wanted. He suddenly remembered that this was just a theory. There was a fifty/fifty chance that this might work.

He made it into the maintenance menu options and as his finger was about to confirm the operations he stopped. If this doesn't work, we are dead.

"Ginetta, are you done?" Zonda spoke through the com device.

"Get ready to shoot, Zonda." He replied nervously.

Closing his eyes, his finger dropped on the confirmation button. A beep confirmed his selection and soon the screen flashed with a warning sign. The terminal asked for a confirmation code. There was no way back now.

"Zonda, shoot the cables!" Ginetta ordered.

"It will be done!"

Back at the generator room, Zonda raised the rifle and shot several rounds at the cables coming out of the generator. Lights started flickering as sparks flew out of the generator. All the panels in the generator room shut off. A flow of darkness started invading the complex as all electronic terminals, lights and monitors shut off. Soon, the security room was engulfed in darkness. Being an underground facility, darkness was absolute.

"Did it worked, Ginetta?" Zonda asked through the com device.

"We will have to wait." Ginetta replied. His heart beat faster than it ever had.

Back at the arena, the situation got intense. The area would now be pitch-black if it wasn't for emergency lights hooked up to an independent energy source.

"Your brother is a true hero, Alpha." Morrison said as she kept on fighting. The plan wasn't a success just yet. They had to wait a little longer.

"Morrison, the light on your collar; it went from solid green to flashing orange." Alpha said is he too followed with the enactment.

"I know. Just ignore it for now. The only way we can take them off is if they turn off completely. I just hope that Zonda figures it out."

Chaos filled the private box. Turann was enraged that such failure had happened at the middle of the tournament. He knew that something was wrong.

"What is going on?" Turann yelled furiously. He tried desperately to get in touch with the security room but there was no response. He stared down the arena and saw how Morrison and Alpha still fought. This gave him some relief, but his schizophrenia started to invade him.

"General Verznost, check what's going on!" Turann ordered.

"As you wish my Lord," the horrible human replied. He got close to Feastus and pulled out the knife that was still buried in the armrest. Feastus quickly grabbed his arm to confirm the serious damage done to it.

"What's wrong Turann?" Feastus uttered while moaning of pain. "You seem scared. You didn't think that your reign would last forever? No reign does." Feastus said as he laughed manically.

Turann just watched furious at Feastus, but he was more focused on the situation. He kept a close eye on the fight below. He noticed that the collar system was in standby for some reason and he couldn't activate any of the collars while this was going on.

Back at the security room, Ginetta was anxiously waiting for the energy to return.

Please let it work.

Not two minutes passed when he suddenly heard a humming noice coming from all around the place. Light suddenly returned, illuminating not only the halls outside, but the room where he was.

The moment of truth had come. They would all die, or they would live. Two things could happen: the terminal would reboot itself normally and return to the screen it was before, keeping the collars in standby. This would mean the end for them because the time limit to input the code would end, activating the security countermeasure. The other situation would be the one he hoped for; the complete failure of the system that would provoke the collars to fail to connect to the terminal for a few seconds. This would be their salvation.

After a few seconds, he saw nothing different, when all of the sudden, he felt a slight vibration in his neck, followed by a beep. He immediately looked at his reflection on a window of the security room and saw no light on the collar.

"Now, Zonda, take it off!" Ginetta yelled through the com system. He immediately took the collar off and threw it far away. He couldn't believe the sensation that freeing himself from that deadly device was giving him. But he realized something very important; this was not over. He ran to the main com device and spoke through the loud speakers that surrounded the whole complex at the same time that he released the locks to all the doors.

"Gladiators, listen to me! Take off the collars! I repeat; Take off the collars! You have less then ten seconds, if you don't you will die!"

The voice of Ginetta echoed through the whole complex, including the arena. Morrison and Alpha immediately stopped fighting. Morrison reached for Alpha's neck and took his collar off, throwing it far away. She then grabbed her collar and yanked it off. Turning around to face Turann, she threw it to the private box. As it was about to hit the protective window, the collar detonated. Many detonations were heard all across the complex as the collars exploded one by one after the security countermeasures activated after the system failure.

"Your brother is a hero, Alpha. I owe you two my life. All of us owe you our lives." Morrison said as she kept her sight on Turann. As the cloud of smoke and dust dissipated from the explosion, the private box was again visible, revealing a furious Turann. But something in his eyes was different; he was full of fear.

"You won't get away alive! You will pay!" Turann yelled through the speakers. He ran out of sight, fleeing from his private box.

"This is not over, Alpha." Morrison advised. "Get a weapo..." She barely managed to say when Alpha was already heading her way with a couple of spears and some knives.

"Way ahead of you human," Alpha smirked as he gave her a spear and a couple of knives.

That cold sensation of not knowing if their plan was going to work, magnified by the fact that their lives were terribly at stakes was replaced by a sense of warmth. But they knew that the guards were coming. Their fight for freedom was still going. The most difficult part was done, but they still had some fighting ahead of them.

At the arena, the crowd was going crazy as everyone tried to escape the place, knowing the possible consequences of the situation. The doors to the exit were shut before they could make it out. Turann wouldn't let anyone out until the situation was dealt with.

Back at the security room, Ginetta was still breathing heavily as he tried to recover from his closest encounter with death so far. He couldn't believe that after almost eleven years, he could feel his neck free from that dreadful collar. He smiled as he caressed himself in the neck.

"Well, well... Isn't this a surprise?" A rash voice was heard close. Ginetta's body once again filled with an enormous sense of fear, as he knew that voice perfectly.

"Verznost?" Ginetta said. His voice broke as terrible memories invaded his mind.

"Of all the possibilities, I never thought that my little personal toy would have the backbone to pull this off." The general said as he approached the terrified alien. He juggled with this massive knife as he walked relaxed towards his victim.

"Please, don't hurt me." Ginetta begged. He fell back on his behind after he tried to walk back from the danger. There was no way out of that room.

"You know Ginetta; personally I haven't had so much fun with another runt, than I had with you. I always wanted to kill you; see your little guts being spilled in front of you. But there is something about you. The way you show fear is exhilarating. Plus, you're the best pleasure toy I've had so far." The horrible human said, reminding Ginetta the most horrible moments of his life; lived thanks to this soulless, putrid monster.

Ginetta's body shook uncontrollably as the man finally got in front of him, staring at him with his only good eye, as the other was covered in a thick scar tissue. Ginetta didn't want to think what was going to happen to him. All the effort and he would end up being brutalized by that monster.

Before he could react, the human delivered him a kick right in his face, almost knocking out the alien off his sense. Dazed by the impact, feeling how his mouth filled with blood, he was grabbed by the neck and lifted in the air.

"I think I don't need you anymore. When this is over, I'll get myself that little rat that is fighting right now in the arena. He will prove to be a very good replacement toy. What I like about him is that at least he will give a fight. You, runt; you are no fun anymore."

Ginetta barely recovered from the hit he got, but he started focusing again. He saw how Verznost took his massive knife close to his belly.

"Now let's see how your lovely insides look like, shall we?"

The horrible human lifted Ginetta's sweater revealing his stomach. He then placed his knife in Ginetta and started pressing harder and harder. The furred alien tried to let go of his grip but it was impossible. He scratched the human's face with his claws, but the human just laughed and moaned disgustingly in pleasure. The knife had buried at least an inch now in Ginetta's body. He yelped of agony as the intense pain invaded his body.

"Let my friend go, you monster!" A voice was heard across the room. Before the human could react, a fire was shot, landing in the General's leg, making his kneecap explode from the other side.

Zonda had made it to the security control room.

Verznost immediately took the knife out of Ginetta and threw it at Zonda. The knife impaled the Retcan in the shoulder, going through completely.

"You will be next, runt!" the abominable human yelled. Before he could turned at Ginetta again, the orange furred creature had pulled out a syringe from his pocket and drove it through the human's eye with all the strength he had left. This time, the sadist general Verznost wasn't laughing. He let go of Ginetta who ran to aid Zonda.

But it was not over yet. Verznost, although blinded and faintly numbed by the sedative, was still standing. He took his sidearm and started shooting blindly all across the room.

"Grab the gun." Zonda said in pain.

"Zonda, wait I can't use it!" Ginetta replied nervously as he tried to help the injured Retcan.

"Just do it. He will kill us if you don't!" Zonda demanded furiously.

Ginetta took the rifle and aimed at the blinded general who tried to reload his side arm. Ginetta slowly squeezed the trigger, hesitating by his peaceful nature. But the horrendous memories of the despicable acts of sadism and sexual nature that the monster had done to him all those years fuelled his determination. Ginetta pulled the trigger three times, hitting the general in the chest with two out of the three rounds.

The General fell to the ground, though apparently still alive. Ginetta dropped the weapon, shocked of what he had just done.

"It was him or us Ginetta. I could sense a huge evilness like I've never felt before in that human." Zonda tried to calm Ginetta as he tried to get up. The knife hadn't hit any vitals, but the pain was not doing his already fragile body any good.

After Ginetta finally managed to react, he aided the injured Retcan. He helped the Retcan to walk out of the room. They needed to get out of there.

As they walked down the corridor, a projectile hit close to them, missing by a few inches. Looking back, they saw the General dragging himself towards their direction.

"Bullet proof vest, animals!" Verznost yelled. "I will eat you while you watch!"

Worst yet, from the opposite direction, a group of armed guards came running towards them as well. Ginetta and Zonda dropped to the ground. The orange furred alien embraced Zonda in fear. He felt how their luck had just run out.

"Be strong, Ginetta. We did our best." Zonda told the orange alien as he returned the embrace. For a second he just hoped that he would have a chance of meeting Ginetta in their next life; away from a horrible situation like the one they just lived.

As both furred creatures closed their eyes to wait the inevitable, many gun shots were heard around them. Furious yells thundered across the tight corridors of the complex. After a few seconds, Zonda felt how they were surrounded. But the gun shots had subsided.

Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed a large group of humans and other aliens surrounding not only the General, but the group of guards. They had brought them down.

A very large blue-skinned human walked towards the small aliens, kneeling before them.

"You are responsible for this, I see." He said. His voice reflected serenity. "My name is Üllas; Emperor Üllas. You two are safe now. Your brave and noble effort will be greatly rewarded..."