FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I felt a minor thud as the helicopter successfully landed on the ground. Within that same minute, the officer, a black cougar who had accompanied me, opened the door and motioned for me to get out. I grabbed my bag from off of the floor and slung it over my shoulder.

When the officer got out of the aircraft after me, he handed me a folder of files. "Here, take this; they'll want to see your files. You need to get to Building C, it's over there," he said gruffly, pointing to the west at a moderately big building about five hundred yards away. I took a quick look around, we landed on the eastern side of the campus where there were other landing pads for helicopters.

I had went to a recruiting site earlier the same day and registered. Having met a recruiting officer, a middle-aged panther, I was physically and mentally tested. They asked questions regarding what I would do in various situations. He asked if I had ever shot a gun before, I shot a few rifles before, I had replied. After concluding my tests, he led me to a officer, the black cougar, and we were sent to the Marine Academy on a military helicopter. It had been so quick, I wondered why my tests had been so rushed. It had seemed that I needed to get to the academy as soon as possible. But I didn't ask the officer why.

I snapped myself from my thoughts and started making my way toward the buildings. I was about two hundred yards when I heard a strange sound. It sounded almost like someone was calling for help. Curious, I tracked the source of the noise to an alley between two small buildings. I heard the same sound again, this time it was clearly a cry for help, and I heard people struggling. I peered down the alley and saw a black dragon pinning a gray and white husky to a wall. I was about to go run in and help when something caught my attention. He looked a lot like Derek, and as I looked more closely, I realized that it was Derek. I felt my adrenaline spike and a peculiar feeling in my gut. It was fear.

What was he doing here? I felt anger surge through me and replace my fear. I broke out into a run toward them, dropping both my folder and my bag. No one will ever hurt Derek again.

The dragon was about to pummel Derek in the face when I tackled him to the ground. I pinned him down, but he recovered quickly and began to fight back. I grunted from the effort of trying to keep his wrists down. The dragon snarled and brought one of his legs up and and planted his foot on my chest. With a powerful kick, he pushed me off of him.

I was launched into the air but with a quick backward somersault, I was able to stay on my hind paws. The dragon got up growling, anger and hatred in his eyes. I returned his hateful glare. He charged first, slashing at me with his right claw. I ducked under his swing and drove my elbow into his exposed ribs. Unfortunately, his scales gave enough protection to prevent his ribs from breaking. He grunted and slashed at me again, this time using his other claw. I rolled away, but not quick enough. I felt his claws rake my left shoulder, slicing through my skin. The pain was excruciating, but I mentally put it aside; I had to stay focused. I finished my roll and turned to face my opponent.

The dragon grinned menacingly, his left claw, covered in my blood. I ran toward him and his claws rushed out to meet me. As he slashed at me again, I grabbed his wrist and with my other paw, jabbed his right biceps. I saw him try to slash me with his other claw out of the corner of my eye and quickly turned and did the same to his other.

His grin had faded and was replaced with a nervous frown, almost as if he thought he might lose. Knowing his arms were numb, I charged once more. He tried to slash at me, but I easily deflected it. Using my right leg, I kicked his left knee outward, throwing him unbalanced. In the same motion, I brought my hind paw up and kicked his jaw upward. He staggered back and fell unconscious. I was about to converge of him when a stern voice yelled, "Stand down!"

I turned and found a German Shepherd in an officer's uniform walking toward me. He was about my height and very muscular. He looked at the dragon lying on the floor and then at me, "What's going on here?"

"I was helping m-," I stopped, looking in the direction where Derek was. But instead of Derek, I found a red fox that I didn't know. Confused, I looked around quickly, but I couldn't find Derek anywhere. I turned back to the Shepherd. "Where did he go?"

The German Shepherd gave me a confused look, "Who? The fox is right here," he turned to the fox, who stood against the wall, looking very much afraid. "Is that true? Did he help you?"

"Yes, sir. The dragon was assaulting me and he helped me," the fox replied nervously.

"Hmm...very well," his paw moved to his left shoulder where there was a small microphone, "Send a pair of medics to the equipment rooms. In the alley between them. Alright. Over." His paw dropped down to his side and spoke to the fox, "Get back to your regular business." The fox quickly strode away.

I saw him turn at the end of the alley when the German Shepherd spoke again, "Are these your files?" I turned and saw the folder I had dropped. He opened it and looked through it.

"Yes," I replied in an even voice.

"Building C? You are the only one we got, huh?" he said looking at me. Then he noticed my bleeding shoulder, "Come with me, we can get you patched up at the building."

I nodded and followed him, picking up my bag from where I had dropped it as we met the end of the alley. Once we got to the building, the officer led me to the small hospital that was a part of the building. While I was getting bandaged on my arm, the Shepherd tried to start a conversation, "So, what made you decide to join the military? National pride? To protect the people you love?"

"Yeah, something like that," I muttered, looking away from him and thinking about Derek. I was sure he was back in that alley; I saw him.

"Why are you so down all the time? I don't mean to be rude, just asking," he asked with a frown.

"I don't even know you. I don't feel comfortable sharing my personal feelings with strangers," I replied looking at him.

"Well, I'm Parker. Captain Parker of the United States Marines. There, now you know me," he gave a small grin.

The medic finished my bandage and nodded toward the Captain. "Well, we should get going," the officer said turning for the door. I followed him out the door and through many hallways. He eventually came to a halt in front of a door to one of the many offices. "Why are we stopping here?" I asked.

"I want you to meet someone," he replied and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a female's voice called out. Capt. Parker opened the door and motioned for me to enter. I walked through the door and he followed me, closing the door behind us. Sat behind a desk, was a small, white Arctic fox who was typing rapidly on a laptop. Parker placed the folder that had my files on her desk.

"Dr. Tillman, this is John McKnight. He is a valid candidate for your project, the only one here it seems," he spoke up, "and we should leave soon if we are to keep on schedule."

She looked through the folder and studied me carefully, "Hmm, we will see. I've been in contact with General Anderson. He says that the situation has gotten worse and we will have to move on to the next phase sooner than I had expected. He says that recruiters haven't found anymore candidates in Oregon or Washington. We are now done with the recruiting phase."

"But ma'am, then we will only have twenty-two candidates," he said. "Will that be enough?"

"It isn't the number I had hoped for, but it will have to do," she replied, closing her laptop and getting up. She placed the laptop and my file into a small backpack.

I was lost ever since Parker said "project" and "candidate". I didn't like the sound of being part of a military experiment. I roused enough courage to ask, "What project?"

The fox turned toward me, "A project that will prevent hundreds, maybe thousands of deaths. You will be more informed when we get to Storm Base." She turned toward the Shepherd, "Are you ready?"

"I've had my things prepared, we can leave now if you want," he answered.

"Alright, I have also been prepared to leave in case of a situation like this. Let's go; I informed the pilot that we are ready to leave and he is preparing the helicopter," she said, heading for the door. Parker and I followed after her out of the building and into a standard military Jeep.

We drove to a helicopter landing pad that was occupied by a large, military transportation helicopter. Both the fox and the Shepherd climbed out of the vehicle and went toward the back of the the helicopter.

I climbed out the vehicle and shouldering my bag, followed them. Once I got in and had strapped myself into a seat, I brought my bag up onto my lap and wrapped my arms around it. The fox and the Captain strapped themselves in and placed a headset with a mike onto their heads.

"Alright, Jetson, we are ready for dust-off. You may proceed to Storm Base," she spoke clearly into the microphone. Then, like what I had done, she grabbed her pack and hugged it closely. I felt the vehicle ascend and then accelerate forward after reaching the desired altitude.

"Where's Storm Base?" I yelled over the loud sound of the spinning rotors at Capt. Parker.

"Alaska, it's remote from the other cities though. That is where you will be trained. ETA is five hours," he yelled back.

I frowned. Alaska? It's so far from home. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back; I was tired from today. I thought about seeing Derek here, the husky I saw looked just like him. But then, why was there a fox instead of a husky? My mind must be playing tricks on me, probably from exhaustion, I eventually concluded. Even though I banished the thought of seeing Derek at the academy, I couldn't help but continue to think about him. I hope he is doing alright...I miss him so much, I thought sadly to myself.

Yesterday I was with Derek. Today, I left the home he had given me. It had been for his own good though. Now, I'm moving hundreds of miles away from him. But we will never truly be apart, I chided myself. I had a picture of him, of us, and that's all I really need to feel like he's with me. With my last thought focused on picturing Derek, I slowly slipped unconscious.