FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

14 years earlier

"Alright Allen now don't go running off, stay on the playground" my dad said as I started running towards the playground at the local park. Dozens of little paws scampered around the playground swinging, running, and laughing. Off to my right were sets of swings. Some of them had kids pumping their legs to swing as others had a parent pushing them. To the left was what seemed like a castle with slides all over. I ran for the castle. Kids ran in all different directions.

My tail wagged as I climbed all the way to the top. I saw the slide and looked around for my dad. He was lost in the sea of other parents talking and keeping their eyes one the kids. I looked down the slide and sat at the top. Just a shift of my weight was all I needed as I soared down the plastic runway to the wood chips awaiting at the bottom. With a plop, my footpaws kicked out some of the wood chips and my rump collided with the ground.

Just as I stood up, I heard a noise behind me, no sooner had I heard the voice when I was knocked off of my paws and with a yelp, my nose met the ground below. Someone above me lied on top of me. I was more scared than hurt, but I teared up anyway. The weight on top of me lifted itself off.

"I'm sorry," came a high-pitched voice of another kid as a paw took a hold of my arm and helped me up.

I stood up and wiped my eyes. I blinked a few times to see who it was. In front of me stood an orange kit. He seemed the same age as me. His fluffy tail swished back and forth with a smile across his muzzle.

"Oh wow!" the fox said staring at my shirt, "you like Superfox too?"

I look at my shirt that displayed the Superfox symbol across the chest. I nodded shyly to the fox and kept my head down.

The fox tilted his head a little, "you wanna play? I'm about to go on the other slides."

I paused for a moment before looking up at him and nodded.

"Cool," he said as he extended his paw out, "my name's John."

*******

I was frozen to the stop. My senses ceased to exist. Time became irrelevant. I stood as a soulless surrogate holding a gun to the same fox that I met on the playground that day. My gun aimed right as his head. The metal ring from the gun resting on the back of my head was the only thing that I could physically feel at the moment. I had no thoughts; I was just scared out of my mind.

"Well," Franz said as he stepped next to me, "we're waiting."

I kept my gaze on John. He looked right back at me scared and helpless. Tears formed in his eyes as he saw me holding the end of life right in front of him. The tears started to creep up on me, but I dare not show them. I tried to think of a way out of this deadly conundrum.

"He doesn't have the balls to do it!" the bunny yelled, laughing. "Just as I assumed, he's all look, and no bark."

My legs shook and my breathing became irregular. How the hell was I suppose to get out of this? My eyes flicked back and forth searching for Zig, but he was nowhere to be seen. I'm sure he was just as unsure of what to do as I was.

Franz bent over and leaned is head in next to mine and whispered, "The first kill's always the hardest. You need to know what it's like to take someone's life. This is how I know I can trust you."

My voice started to shake as I spoke against my will, "I c-can't." It was a simple statement, one that could've ruined everything that I worked for, but it was all I could think of saying.

Franz stood up and said in a booming voice, "There comes a time in everyone's life where you have to go to the extreme, do something that you've never done before," he then turned to me, "this is your time; tonight, right here, right now. You have to prove that you're a man."

I still had a scared look on my face and he noticed this because he stepped up to me and took the gun out of my paw. I was scared that he would kill John. Instead he just held it in his paws.

"It's actually easier than you think. You got to clear any thought that your victim doesn't matter, then you got to point the gun at them..." He then raised the gun, turned at one of the topless otters and fired his weapon. The female otter got hit right in the chest and fell on her knees, then on her face. Franz continued, "...then you gotta pull the trigger." He stepped towards his newest victim. "Sometimes, you gotta replace a living being with an inanimate object. Do you think I thought of her feelings? Did I think about much of a good fuck she was, or the fact that she was someone's daughter? No, all of that is just bullshit that separates the men from the boys. She was nothing, IT was nothing; just target practice. Over time you'll be able to learn this until it becomes second nature to you. Then, and only then, will you be a man. Just get rid of the fucking bullshit that holds you down, and you can take control."

I looked at the now dead otter. The other otter squealed as she saw the other go down in fear that she was next. Franz though, did not fire again. He proved his point. I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't possibly go through with this. I had to find a way out. I could find another way to stop Franz, but how?

Franz looked back at me and held the gun out in his paw. "Now, show everyone that you're a man."

Paw shaking; I took a hold on the gun. It somehow felt heavier than before. I stared at the object that could change my entire future. A nudge in the back of my head reminded me of the gun still aimed at me from behind that was ready to fire if I did not follow orders.

I wrapped my paw around the handle of the gun and my paw brushed the trigger as I thought of some way out of this. No thought came to me though.

"Well?" Franz asked, "Are you a man or not?"

I glanced down at John, still on his knees with tears in his eyes. Just then, images came flying through my head. I thought of John and Mike. The three of us laughing and eating milkshakes, when I came out to Mike under the tree, the panther and bear in the alley, Mike nearly sacrificing himself to save my life, Kyle's smile, our first kiss. I knew right then what I needed to do.

I gave John a slight nod. "I am a man," I said in a steady voice, "and I'm doing what a man needs to do."

Before I could let anyone react to what I said, I shoved the guy behind me and turned. One of the hyenas stumbled a few steps back in surprise. I raised the gun and fired two shot right in his chest. The hyena dropped his weapon and collapsed. Everyone seemed taken aback by what I did. I turned to the other hyena who reached into his pants, but I shot before he could pull out his weapon. His gun came out of his paw as he yelped in pain, grabbing his side. I turned to see the bunny with his gun raised at me, but then two shot went into one side and out the other as Zig had his gun out.

I saw John as well as the other female otter and vixen dove for the ground in hopes that they would not get hit by a stray bullet. John crawled under the table with his paws covering his head.

Before I could run over to run to John, the otter with an eye patch on shot his gun at me. I tried to move out of the way, but I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder as though someone hit it with a sledgehammer. I dropped to my knees and shouted in pain for a second. Next thing I know, the otter goes down thanks to Zig's shot right through the head. I looked around for Franz. I had his gun so he was unarmed.

I saw him run for a stray gun lying next to the hyena writhing in pain. I lifted my gun at him, but I found that I ran out of bullets. I went after the gun as well, the pain in my shoulder forgotten by all of the adrenaline. Franz got to the gun first, but before he could turn around and shoot, I swung the end of my gun and made contact with his head. I kicked the gun out of his hand and watched it slide across the floor. I ran after it, but Franz got a hold of my tail and yanked me back.

I yelped and fell to the ground. I turned to meet his fist collide with my muzzle. I felt my nose break instantly as a stream of blood came out. My vision blurred for a second as I saw Franz make another move for the stray gun. I kicked one of his feet and he tripped and fell on his face.

A shot came from behind me, followed by a yell from Franz. I looked at Franz to find that he just got shot in the knee. I heard Zig's voice pipe up, "Franz, you're under arrest, you mother fucker!"

Two bangs deafened my ears as a couple of shoots came off. Two holes came from Zig's chest as he fell to the ground and dropped his gun. I looked horrified to see the coyote from the entrance held a gun, smirking. I looked into Zig's face as he took a couple of weak breaths and pushed his gun towards me.

I reached for it with my left arm and heard a shot go off. The bullet went in and out of my left forearm. I lowered my head and yelled in pain. A second shot fired, but missed. I threw my other arm out for the gun and grabbed it. I turned the gun and fired three shot. Two of the shot hit its target and the coyote fell.

I took a few deep breaths to try lower my heart rate. I could hear it pounding in my ears. My eyes flicked over towards Franz who was still in obvious pain. Anger filled me and deadened my own pain for the moment as I stood up on my haunches.

I glanced over at John, he was still under the table with the otter crying on his shoulder. John seemed absolutely terrified, but was unharmed. He never looked up at me. I'm sure he couldn't believe these last few events. I turned towards Zig. He laid on the floor in a small pool of blood. I cautiously bent down and put my paw on his neck to feel a pulse, but I did not find one. He was dead.

My breathing stopped for a moment as I looked at the lifeless body laying in front of me. I started shaking again as I thought of Zig who spent years undercover for this assignment, only to end up laying facedown into his own blood. It was hard to watch and I had to look away.

I turned me head back to the one that I came for. Franz looked back up at me. He didn't beg, he didn't seem scared, he had an angry look on his face, but he didn't do anything but look at me. He grimaced at the pain of his gunshot wounds but said nothing.

"Come on, do it!" Franz yelled, his teeth gritting. The anger inside of me rose to a maximum as I stared at him. Franz continued, "You don't got the balls to do it." He sat up a bit and seemed to forget all sources of his pain.

That statement made me think of what needed to happen. I raised my gun, aimed right at this head of this asshole.

"Allen?" I heard a familiar voice say.

I looked over to see Kyle standing there with a scared look on his face