FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Infected howled in pain as a bullet whizzed through its head and he fell at my feet. I blinked and glanced at my hand. The fingers were trembling and I quickly took my finger away from the trigger. Glancing around, I searched for the source of the gun fire.

"Hey, dumb ass," a voice yelled. "Up here!"

I glanced up and saw a woman waved at me from the second story window of the building.

"Use the dumpster," she pointed down. I ran over, scaling on top of the dumpster before the Infected could reach me. She reached down and I jumped, grasping her hand. Quickly and with great strength, she pulled me up and I rolled into the room. I sat down, leaning back against the wall.

"Thanks," I gasped, my breathing shallow. I felt my entire body shaking rapidly. For the first time, I glanced up at my survivor. She had a lovely chocolate skin tone with beautiful black eyes that stared down at me with disbelief. Her raven black hair was long and sleek and was pulled back into a ponytail. A rifle with a scope was resting on the wall beside her. So that was the gun that she shot.

"Are you stupid or something?" she asked. Her voice had a warm, thick Southern twang to it. It made me smile for a moment as I remembered I once had family members down south - in Louisiana, if I remember correctly. "Didn't you have a back-up plan or something?"

"That was the plan," I sighed, the adrenaline finally starting to wear off. She whistled real low.

"Damn, girl, do you have anything to live for?" she shook her head. She kneeled beside me, squeezing my shoulder.

"I was helping my group get out," I titled my head back against the wall. "My brother was injured. He got shot in the knee when another group was chasing us. There was no way he could've ran away from that horde."

"Either you are really brave or really stupid," she stared at me.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "Doesn't matter now; they got out."

"Do they think you're dead?"

"Yeah, thanks to your shot. I only had three bullets left," I glanced at my gun.

"But you have a katana?" She gestured to where I had taken it off and placed it beside me. I glanced at it, touching the handle.

"There were too many," I shook my head. We sat in silence for several minutes. She got up and was looking around in the two backpacks she had. Without a word she threw a water bottle over at me. I caught it. "Thanks."

"You know, I had a daughter who would be about your age," the woman stated.

"Did she...?" my voice trailed.

"Yeah," she nodded. "She died about two years ago. A group of Infected got her and some other from my group." She sat down at one of the chairs.

"Where's your group?" I cocked my head.

"All dead or gone off with other groups," she sighed. "There was one huge group that came through here a couple days before your group showed up."

"Were you watching us?" I asked.

She nodded, "Of course I was. You were a small group and not a threat. But I noticed you had some Furs with you."

"What about them?" I narrowed my eyes, my fingers wrapping around the hilt.

"Don't worry, hun," she held up her hands. "I had some Furs in my group, too. They don't get infected like we do. So when an Infected gets them, it ain't pretty."

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Sometimes the Infected will just bite you maybe once or twice," she explained. "But that's because you are human. They actually don't entirely like the taste of our flesh unless they are really, really hungry. But when an Infected gets a bite out of a Fur, they go crazy. I watched it happen. There was nothing we could do. The Infected just started eating them like wild animals. It was horrid."

"So do the Infected find the Furs to be like food?" I asked.

"Guess so," she shrugged. I stared off into space. My head soon became filled with images of Keon being ripped apart by Infected. My body shuddered and I squeezed my eyes shut. Curse my imagination. "You okay?"

I nodded, "I'm fine. What's your name?"

"You can just call me Shay," she held out her hand. "What's your name?"

"It's Clara," I stood up, using the wall to help me up. "So, Shay, would you be willing to join me?"

"I'm all alone," she shrugged. "It would be nice if I could have someone to talk to. Are you going to try to find them?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Are you okay with that?"

"Don't worry about me, Clara," Shay smiled. "It would be nice if I could be in a group again."

"Is there a way out of here without getting caught by an Infected?" I inquired. She handed me one of the backpacks and I slid it onto my back. She did the same and picked up her rifle.

"Oh, yeah," Shay nodded. She picked up another rifle from behind the kitchen counter and handed it to me. There was a strap and I swung it over my shoulder. I took my katana and strapped it to my belt.

"Alright, let's go," I smiled.

"Where are your friends headed?"

"Well, when I left them, they were heading to the mountains," I explained.

"Yeah, with the rest of human kind," Shay rolled her eyes.

"Do you think it was a bad idea?" I frowned.

"Not entirely," she shrugged as I followed her down the stairs. "It's just that I've been watching every group go by and up into the mountains. The more people there are it is more likely that the Virus will infect the people."

"I guess that holds some truth." I shrugged. We quietly went down the stairs and Shay glanced out the window before slowly opening the door. She stepped out cautiously, her head swinging from side to side. I followed a few feet away. The sky was clear and there were a handful of Infected aimlessly roaming about over at the street. We quickly and quietly ran between the alleys and would watch the Infected for a moment before we moved again. It took us an hour or so to get out of the city and to the highway. I glanced back, as if I was hoping for some sign of the others.

"C'mon," Shay said quietly, placing a hand carefully on my shoulder. "Let's find some shelter in the woods. We'll follow the highway and look for signs of your friends." I nodded and turned to follow her. We jogged into the trees. It was odd how I felt a sense of security once I was surrounding by the solid wood. "Did your friends take the car?"

"Not that I know of," I shook my head. I picked up my space so I could walk beside her. "They were going to walk when I left them."

"And what if they went back at got it?" she glanced at me.

I began to laugh, "Then screw them." I meant it jokingly. I watched Shay smile and a slight chuckle left her lips. "I would wonder why they couldn't think of that before I left and risked my life."

"Maybe they wanted to get rid of you..." Shay trailed. I turned towards her, hoping to see something in her face that meant she was kidding. There was nothing. She was serious. I stopped for a moment, scrutinizing the ground as I thought briefly. "Sorry, Clara, I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, it's okay," I shrugged and began to trail behind her again.

"How old are you?" she questioned.

"I'm 17..." I answered. "But my birthday is in three days."

"I'm 38," Shay smiled. "I'm ancient." I giggled. "I'm honestly surprised I lived this long."

"Why's that?" I studied her.

"I couldn't do much the first several years," Shay started. "Well, they really wouldn't let me do anything. Since I was a woman the men assumed that all I could do was watch over the children and cook. But you seem different. The men in your group treat you differently, fairly."

"I'm a good shot, that's all," my eyes avoided her gaze as I felt them burning into me.

"So do you have a crush on any of them?" Shay asked.

"Well one of them is my brother and the two Furs are in love from what I could see. So that kinda just leaves Aaron," I felt my cheeks flush red.

"Since we have some time, you should give me all the juicy details," Shay smiled encouragingly back at me. I noticed we were heading in the direction of the house. Maybe Shay wanted to make sure if my group got the car or not.

"I guess I'll have to start from the beginning," I sighed. "My brother and I were the only ones who survived out of my family and even the neighborhood we were in. We really had no destination in mind and traveled more city to city, state to state, finding and rescuing as many people as we could. At one point in time we had 25 people in our group."

"That sounds like a nice group," Shay commented.

"They were, they were all very good people," I nodded. "But then another group of people attacked us, killing 14. But they also left their injured and dead behind. Aaron was found and brought to my brother who was the leader at the time. He was going to kill Aaron, and I stopped him."

"Why?"

I paused for a moment, thinking of a good reason why I had decided to save Aaron, "At first, I guess I just figured that it was a spur of the moment, but when I reflect back I guess I just didn't want our group to be like the one that attacked us. By just killing because you can, where is our humanity then?"

"You raise an excellent point, Clara," Shay nodded as we rounded the corner onto the street. "I'm surprised anyone has any morals in this hell of a world anymore." I nodded but we stopped in front of the house. I stared at the ground, hands shaking before I clinched them together in fists.

I cursed under my breath, "So they did come back." My eyes strayed to where the car should have been. Shay squeezed my shoulder and she moved into the house. I waited outside, letting my anger ebb. It didn't take long as I really had nothing to be mad about. In fact, I would have done the same thing if I was in their shoes.

"They got everything out of the house as far as I could tell," Shay came back out.

"Well, they would still be headed up to the mountains," I noted. "So we might as well just follow the road up and hope we can reach them."

Shay nodded in agreement, "But, we need to stay in the woods if we can. I've studied the Infected for a while and they much prefer the level ground. I assume it is because their bodies are decaying so the rocky terrain off of the roads and such are more treacherous for them."

"So you are saying we'll be safer in the forest?"

Shay made a face, "Maybe from the Infected, but there are still wild animals out there that could take us out."

"So we'll just be much more cautious," I smiled. "Plus we have these guns for a reason." Shay nodded with a gentle smile. She gestured for me to follow and we started making our way to the road up the winding path to the mountain cities.

~*~

How many hours had we been silently treaded through the forest, keeping that black streak of unnatural pavement in our sights? My feet had become numb and sore. Shay had decided to stop and we created a small encampment. With much relief, I sat down on my bed of soft pine needles, watching as Shay gather necessary supplies for a small fire. AS she set it up, she let it smolder before adding dry, broken branches to spark the embers into decent sized flames. She picked up her hunting rifle and machete.

"There should be a hunting knife in your bag," she pointed. Grabbing my backpack, I searched through it until I found the Bowie hunting knife.

"Where are you going?" I blinked.

"I'm going hunting, why don't you come with me?" Shay offered. I immediately scrambled to my feet and grabbed my rifle. She laughed, "You're a little eager."

I became flustered, "Well, in my group, I was never able to do much. My brother was being a jerk or maybe overprotective, but he didn't let me go out with them much."

"What a shame to waste a good shot," Shay clicked her tongue. "Let's get going, kid." I ran after her and we walked maybe a mile or so inward. We came across a lovely little meadow with a small creek running through it. As we waited patiently, I picked flowers, creating a small wreath out of the little white daisies. I stared at it blankly, unsure what to do now.

At least, my mind was comforted by the fact that my brother and the others would be okay now. They had gone back to get the car and the remaining supplies. Now they were headed off in the car to who knows where. I stared up at Shay, who was intently watching the meadow. If I never did find them again, at least I wouldn't be alone in this world.

"Clara," Shay said excitedly. "Look over there." I turned to the meadow to see a large buck enter the grassy area. His tan pelt rippled as he walked like water reflecting the sun's rays in a rushing river. His muscles were toned and his tail flicked. We watched in awe and silence as he neared closer to the creek. His large ears flicked forward as his beady eyes surveyed the area before he dipped his neck to lick at the babbling water. He had a glorious rack on his head that reminded me of bare tree branches in the winter.

I quietly prepared a bullet and took aim at the large creature in front of us. It almost seemed a shame to kill such a beautiful creature, but we had to live and sacrifices had to be made. "Sorry about this," I whispered.

The shot echoed throughout the mountains, bouncing off the flat rock faces. We watched the buck fall with a small yelp of pain. Shay walked up to him, ending his suffering. "Good job," she stated.

"Thanks," I joined her, staring pitifully down at dead deer. "Now what?"

"Now what?" Shay glanced at me. "You're telling me you've never skinned a deer before." I shook my head and she sighed dramatically. "Well then you get to learn something today."

I followed her as she picked up the deer and took it to the side were it had entered the meadow. I offered her the rope from my pack and she tied it around the deer's neck. I climbed up into a nearby tree, lifting the deer up until Shay ordered me to stop and tie the rope. Jumping back down, Shay took out her machete and quickly began to open the belly of the creature. My body shuddered as I heard her breaking the ribs. I had to turn away and brought my hand to my mouth. Shay started to take out the internal organs and placed them near a rock.

"Now, apparently, the heart is one of the best parts," Shay commented. I turned and nearly puked as I saw the buck's heart in Shay's blood-covered hand. She laughed at me. "So you can handle Infected but not this."

"This is completely different, Shay!" I insisted. She chuckled again.

"Why don't you start skinning the deer since I'm done here?" Shay gestured to the hunting knife. I pulled it out and moved to the back of the buck. I knew enough that I had to start at the neck and cut lightly into the skin. I began to slowly separate the skin from the muscle. After Shay was done with cleaning out the heart and wrapping it in leaves she found, she came and helped me pull off the skin. It took some delicate work and time, but we had skinned the dear completely. Shay instructed me in which parts of meat we should cut off and she would hand them to me to wash off before wrapping them in similar leaves for easy transportation.

"Are we just going to leave it here?" I glanced at the carcass as Shay worked on sawing off the antlers.

"Think 'bout it," Shay muttered. "If we leave this here, it will draw any dangerous animals away from us."

"And then we won't have to worry about being killed in our sleep," I agreed.

"Exactly," Shay smiled. She finally managed to get the antlers off and we jogged back to our camp. I added more firewood as Shay prepared the meat for cooking. Sitting back, we watched the meat cook in silence, listening to the crackling and popping of the wood and fire along with the soft breeze that would rustle the leaves from time to time. Shay would tenderly touch the venison from time to time to check its progress. "It's ready, Clara," Shay smiled. I nodded and tentatively took the steaming piece of meat.

"Thank you, Shay," I glanced up. "For everything you've done for me."

"Don't worry about it," Shay ruffled my hair. "You remind me of my daughter." I smiled, looking back down at my food. I took a small bite out of the meat. It was still very hot and I tried to keep from burning my tongue as I took another bite.

"This is really good," I nodded.

"It's better than what I have been eating for the last several weeks," my companion commented. I did look at her, but decided that it was best to leave that comment alone. We ate in silence while the night continued to darken. There were the sorrowful howls that appeared to come from the direction of where we shot the buck. We glanced up at the direction from which the sound came then at each other.

"I guess you were right," I muttered, devouring the last final scraps of my meat.

Shay nodded solemnly, "I'll take the first watch tonight."

~*~

My dream was cold at first until it morphed into another scene. A full moon shone high above me as I stood in the sandy shore near a great lake that stood as a reflecting mirror. As I turned, my auburn hair free in the wind, and the light blue summer dress I wore spun around my body. Off in the distance, I could see the bright lights of a city.

"Clara," Aaron's voice made me jump. I turned back around to see him standing near the lake. He smiled at me, his hands stretched out towards me. I took them and he drew me closer to them. "I'm so happy you are alive."

"I am, too," I smiled warmly at him. He leaned down close to me, almost kissing me, but all the sudden he was gone. I frowned and glanced around.

"Clara!" David's voice made me whip around. He was on the ground, crawling towards me, covered in blood and wounds. My voice caught in my throat. His face had a huge gash on it and blood spurted out of his mouth as he gasped to try to breath.

"David," I stared at him in shock. "David, what happened?" I tried to reach for him, but even as we were trying to get closer, we were getting farther apart. Then all of the sudden, Infected swarmed around me to attack David who screamed bloody murder for me to save him. But I couldn't. All I could do was stand there, frozen in fear. My screams became mingled with the gnashing and ripping of the Infected as they devoured my brother in front of me. As I collapsed to my knees in the sand, they all faded away to leave me alone. Tears streaked my face. I felt a paw on my bare shoulder. Lifting my head, I looked up to see Keon staring down at me.

"Clara, are you okay?" He asked. He offered a paw and I accepted it. Keon helped me to my feet, staring into my eyes.

"I'm fine," I wiped away my tears. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

He cocked his head and stared at me sadly. He opened his mouth to say something but he suddenly fell to his knees, mouth open in pain. I stared down in shock as I watched an Infected took a bite out of Keon's back.

"Damn it!" I screamed. "No!" Keon howled in pain and took a swipe at me. I knew he didn't mean to but his claws crossed over my face. I fell to the side, blood clouding my vision. I tried to smear it away but it kept flowing. I tried to scramble back over to Keon but another Infected push me aside. They ignored me like I didn't exist. They were completely focused on Keon. His bones glistened and his spine soon became exposed. He stared at me, the light quickly fading from his eyes as he died in front of me.

"Keon!" I screamed, waking with a start. Shay was kneeling beside me, eyes filled with worry.

"Clara, are you okay?" she frowned. I collapsed into her chest, crying. Her strong arms surrounded me and I had sobbed uncontrollably. "Shhh...it was only a dream," she whispered, trying to comfort me. "It was only a dream, baby, it wasn't real."

"They were all there," I muttered. "They all left me! They all died!"

"No, don't worry, they are still alive," Shay stroked my hair.

"They ate him," I shook my head. "It was horrible." She rocked me back and forth until my sobs and been reduced to whimpers.

"You should go back to sleep," Shay suggested, putting me back down on the soft pine needles. I curled into a fetal position and passed out into a cold dark where nightmares couldn't reach me.

~*~

The next day we had continued to walk without a pause, except when we found water. We would always drink and refill our bottles with fresh water before moving on. Miles and miles we tread and we always kept the road to our right and in our sights. There was an occasion where we would see the Infected roaming on the streets, but they seemed lost and would just go in circles, waiting to die. By the time night had fallen, we had nearly walked our feet off.

We quickly made another simple encampment and started a small fire. Shay began to cook another two pieces of meat. We were able to keep it cool by soaking the leaves in the water we found incrementally. I took off my shoes and socks, grimacing as I gently touched the few blisters that had formed on both my feet.

"Damn," I hissed.

"I think it's best if you rest your feet for a while," Shay pointed a stick at me before she placed it in the fire for kindling.

"Yeah, no kidding," I shrugged; bursting one with a wince and seeing the clear liquid run off into the grass. "I guess all that walking on that terrain was more than my feet could handle."

"I take it you aren't used to walking around in mountains,"

"Not really," I bit my lip, stretching my legs out. There was a silence that fell between us for a moment.

"About our dreams last night," Shay started.

"I really don't want to talk about it," I murmured.

Shay shifted a little bit closer, "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Well, I was by the shore of a lake...it was a big lake and one in the mountains because of the pine trees around it. Then there was a city full of lights behind me." I explained.

"So maybe it was a city up in the mountains?" Shay inquired.

I shrugged, "Maybe, but when I turned back around Aaron was there. He vanished before he said or did much. Then David, my brother, called out to me and he was crawling towards me covered in blood...yet...he was getting farther away. I tried to go to him but then Infected swarmed and devoured him before my eyes. I fell to my knees and all sound stopped. That's when Keon appeared."

"Is he one of the Furs?"

"Yes, he saved me actually," I nodded. "He asked if I was okay and I said yes, but before he could say anything else an Infected took a bit out of him. In his pain he accidently slashed me across the face and I could barely see, but what I could see...it was unbearable."

Shay rubbed my back, "You're afraid of losing them aren't you?"

"I guess I am," I sighed. "I never thought much about it, but now that I don't have them...I'm even more afraid of losing them."

"I guess the saying is true that you don't know what you have till it's gone,"

"You're right," I frowned. "I should have never have left."

"But think about it, Clara," Shay insisted. "If you hadn't had left, your group might have been found by that horde. You might have had to abandon your brother and watch him be eaten by the Infected. Plus, I would have never met you and had the opportunity to join another group."

"Everything happens for a reason, right?" I titled my head. "Or as my parents would say, everything happens under God's will."

"Your parents were wise people." Shay smiled. "I'm sure they would be proud of you and David."

I smiled for a moment. Shay walked back over to the fire to check on the meat. At least it was done so we were able to eat along with a can of baked beans that Shay had recently found. It was nice to have a warm meal in my stomach. Shay said she would take the first watch again, so I curled back up to fall asleep.

I only slept three hours until I was startled awake by another dream. This dream was filled with fire, children screaming, bodies burning, people crying. Shay glanced at me from her rock with a sad expression.

"I'm going to get some more firewood," I sighed, getting to my feet.

"At least take your katana with you," Shay suggested.

"Don't worry," I grabbed it and began to venture into the woods. There was still some light out for the sun had not yet set all the way behind the stony peaks. For some reason, I made my way to the road. Glancing around, I walked onto the asphalt in my bare feet. There weren't any cars in this part and there weren't any Infected around either. Lying down on the warm pavement, I breathed deeply, staring up into the pink and orange sky. I stayed there for several minutes before getting back up again and walking down the road for a little while. Coming over a crest, I noticed figures down at the bottom of the hill. There were about four cars there and one of them was running. Four maybe five figures were moving around, I really couldn't tell. They were too far away and the light was fading quickly so I couldn't make out who they were.

"Hey," someone called out. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled and I ran into the nearby trees several feet in. Unsheathing my katana, I listened for their approach. Two had followed me, but I wasn't willing to take any chances whatsoever. From behind my tree, I watched one of them cautiously enter the trees, glancing around wildly for me. As the figure almost came around to my tree, I swung my blade out, stopping before I hit his throat.

"Don't make another move or I'll slit your throat," I threatened.

"Hey, chill," his face was covered in the darkness as was mine. The trees hid the sunlight and our identities. "I just wanted to talk. We haven't seen people in nearly three days now."

"So you aren't going to kill me and take my things?" I scrutinized.

"Of course not," he chuckled. That laugh... "Hey, you sound familiar."

"What do you mean?"

No it couldn't be...could it?

"Clara?" he exclaimed.

"What?" I let my blade drop. "How did you know my name?" There were no words only a rush. I was quickly shoved into the tree, losing my grip of my katana. His hands held my shoulders and without a second thought, he pressed his lips against mine.

Aaron.

~*~

---

Thank you everyone for reading Maeve's and my work. Please, don't forget to comment! We both enjoy hearing whatever you have to say, so go ahead and say it ^_^

You can always email any comment directly to me at sebastian_fox[at]ymail.com, should you be someone who doesn't like to comment publicly.