FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was an uneventful early evening for the residents in Anthrosha; just the same commutes to work and home, same news being played, and the same songs being heard on the radio. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but unfortunately, things eventually turned for the worse. Atallah had no way of knowing he and his friends would be facing a terrible event that would change their lives. It was 5:27 pm when Atallah finally sent out the texts to his friends; knowing fully well that his parents were out of town for the entire week on some business trip, inviting them over to hang out and finally relax after their ordeal with final exams came to an end. The asiatic lion was lying down in his room, contemplating what kind of food to order for tonight and twirling a pencil in his fingers, thinking carefully.

"Let's see...Raider likes the take out from Shen's Temple, but Skylor is more forward to Muttza House. And Yasir...Yasir...damn it!"

Atallah crumbles his third piece of paper that night, rubbing his head in annoyance.

"If only they could choose one damn location!" He sighs, then chuckles to himself.

"So that's how my Mom feels when me and Dad take forever to decide."

Just as he begins to write down the eatery choices again, his phone buzzes, causing his ears to twitch. He looks over to his phone and grabs it, turning on the screen and sees a message from his close friend Raider.

[Message from: Raider L. -- Hey bud, almost at your place. Figure anything out about food and drinks??? --]

Atallah rolls his eyes and smirks.

[-- No, not yet. You, Skylor, and Yasir are so picky when it comes to ordering food. Can't you all agree on something?!?! --]

[Msg from: Raider L. -- Can't help it! We all have different tastes! ^////^ What do you figure so far? --]

[--Narrowed it down to Shen's Temple, Muttza House, and that seafood place that's right around the block from my house. Anything sound good? --]

[Msg From: Raider L. -- U know I love Shen's, but Muttza is good too. I'm pretty sure Yasir won't eat from Shell Shack. He hates fish. --]

[-- Okay, so then that leaves Shen's and Muttza. --]

[Msg from Raider L. -- We'll think of somethin. Me and the guys are pulling up now. Ttyiab. --]

As if on cue, Atallah turns to look out the window of his room and sees his friend's car pull up and park in the driveway. As the car turns off, three individuals get out and walk to the door. Atallah looks over his appearance in his mirror, and with a nod to himself, exits his room and walks down stairs to the living room and then to the front door. As he unlocks it, he is immediately wrapped in a hug from his close friend, Raider.

"Hey bud! Thanks for letting us come over!"

Atallah pats the Border Mastiff on his back, smiling at him.

"No problem. Just glad my parents were fine with it. C'mon in guys."

Raider, followed by an Opossum; Skylor, and a saluki named Yasir, enter the house with their bags and begin to unpack in the living room; setting up several game consoles and controllers.

"So A, what's the plan with food? We still haven't figured that out yet." asks Raider.

The lion shrugs and looks to the other two in the living room.

"I don't know. Was hoping you three would have that figured out before you got here."

"Well..." says Skylor, holding a cable for his controller. "...we could always order from two places. Doesn't have to be just one."

"That sounds like a plan. What say you A?" Raider asks, raising an eyebrow.

Atallah ponders for a moment then smiles back.

"I'm fine with that, as long as you all pitch in for the costs."

"Relax..." Raider says. "...we all brought cash to help pay. Does that sound alright Yasir?"

The three then turn towards the saluki, who has just finished plugging everything into the T.V..

"Uh...y-yeah. I'm f-fine with that." He replies.

"Then it's settled. Shen's and Muttza it is!" Raider exclaims. "Now to figure out what to order."

--An hour and a half later--

With several pizza and takeout boxes scattered across the counter, Atallah and his friends were all finally having a good time; all lounging in the living room playing the latest games they had with them. Raider and Skylor are busy going head to head with each other, while Yasir sits on the floor on his phone. He glances up to his friends and realizes they're one person short.

"H-hey Raider? Um...w-where's Atallah?"

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Raider nods his head over to the kitchen towards the back of the house.

"He should be in the kitchen grabbing something."

"Oh...okay." Yasir says.

Without disturbing the others, the saluki gets up and makes his way to the kitchen, only to find it empty. He looks around and then notices the back door ajar and the cool night air coming in. He makes his way to the door and then see's Atallah sitting outside, looking up at the barely visible stars that begin to light up the sky. Yasir sighs a bit, his tail wagging slowly. Atallah's ears twitch and he looks over his shoulder, then smiles as he sees his friend standing in the doorway.

"Hey Yasir, get bored in there?" he asks.

"Uh...yeah, j-just a little bit. What're you doing out h-here?"

Atallah shrugs and pats the ground beside him, motioning to Yasir to join. He hesitates, but eventually wanders over and sits beside the lion, a small blush forming on his face.

"I normally come outside when I get stressed or bored. Love to just lean back and watch the sky. What about you?" the lion says, rubbing his hands together.

The saluki ponders for a moment, and then lies on his back, sighing out loud.

"I don't know. I n-normally like to listen to t-the rain when there's a s-storm."

Atallah nods and smiles, grunting as he lies down on his back as well.

"Yeah, that does sound pretty nice. Listening to thunder is pretty nice too."

Yasir tenses up a bit, but then relaxes.

"No thunder f-for me th-thanks. Last time there w-was a thunderstorm I was s-struck by l-l-lightn-ning rem-member?"

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry Yasir! I forgot about that!" The lion turns over to his friend, a look of sincerity in his eyes.

The saluki laughs and rubs his eyes, trying to fight the urge to sleep.

"It's f-fine. Just wish th-that I would s-s-stop s-studdering."

"Well in all honesty Yasir, I think it's cute..." the lion says, then with wide eyes sits up and covers his mouth, a huge blush forming over his face.

"You...you think I-I'm c-c-cute Atallah?" Yasir says as he sits up also, his face blushing a bit.

"Uh..."

Before he can reply, a thunderous boom startles the both of them, shaking the ground and causing both to cover their ears. Atallah immediately gets to his feet, gasping as he sees a plume of fire and smoke rising into the air, coming from several miles away. Yasir gets up and covers his mouth in awe, shivering from the sudden noise. Before they both can speak, a helicopter and several police vehicles, fire trucks, and ambulances race by, heading towards the source of the explosion. Raider slides the backdoor open all the way and stares wide-eyed, calling for both the lion and saluki.

"Yo, you guys see that fucking shit?! I'm surprised the windows didn't blow out! You two okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Just...just about pissed myself." Atallah says, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He then looks over to Yasir and rubs his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

The saluki looks up and tries to control his shaking, his nerves on edge.

"Y-yeah, I-I-I think s-so. Just ver-ry s-stunned."

"Well, you two should come inside. Skylor should have the news channel on so we can see what's up."

With that, all three head inside and make their way to the living room, seeing the opossum with the remote in his hands, shaking a bit.

"Anything on the T.V. yet?" Raider asks. Skylor turns to them and shrugs, switching through the channels as fast as possible.

"Nothing yet, still haven't gotten to the news channel."

"It's channel 5. Just press #5 on the remote." Atallah says, sitting down on the couch with Yasir by his side.

As Skylor continues to mess with the television, Yasir takes out his phone and begins to dial his father. Atallah, noticing this, takes out his own phone and tries to contact his parents, only realizing his signal is gone.

"What the hell? How do I not have a signal? Yasir, is your phone working?"

"No, I-I-I can't g-get anything. What ab-b-bout you two?" Yasir says, nodding to the others.

"My phone is dead, and Skylor left his at home when I picked him up." Raider replies, a look of worry on his face. Just as Skylor gives up on the T.V., a slurry of sirens and yelling coming from outside takes them all by surprise.

"This is the A.P.F. Please remain indoors and remain calm. There is an incident downtown that is being taken care of and does not require panic of any kind. Everything is under control." the voice says. It repeats this several more times, moving farther down the street, fading out until it dissipates. The four friends all look at each other, contemplating on what their next move should be.

"What should we do, Atallah?" Skylor asks. Everyone turns to the lion, expecting an answer but are met with silence.

"Why are you asking me? I've never been in a situation like this before!"

"Just chill guys!" Raider says. "Why don't we just relax and wait until everything cools down? We should be fine."

Yasir then gets up, fidgeting his hands together. "M-Maybe we s-s-should stay h-h-here."

Before anyone can respond, the sound of screeching tires immediately pierces the silence and startles everyone, followed by yelling and the occasional horn honking.

"Why the hell did you stop in the road, asshole?!"

"It's not my fault everyone wanted to leave all at once, jerkoff!"

"Will you two just shut up!"

Before any more arguing can ensue, several gunshots are heard and the sound of screaming begins to rise, causing the four inside to look at each other.

"Guys...w-w-what is that?" Yasir says, visibly shaking from fear.

"Hey, easy Yasir. It's okay, just relax and look at me. Everything is fine." Atallah says. Before he can say another thing, more gunshots ring out in the evening air and more screaming ensues.

"We should see what's happening, in case we do need to leave...right Raider?" Skylor asks.

"Uhh...yeah...we should. Do you mind checking for us?"

The opossum stares blankly at the three before sighing and walking to the front door. As he opens the door, he is greeted with crowds of people standing outside, all staring at a commotion in the distance. He then hops on top of Raider's car to get a better angle and is met with a shocking scene.

"Skylor, what do you see?" Shouts Atallah.

The opossum can hardly speak as he sees several cops try to subdue a middle aged coyote who is attacking an elderly panther. The coyote has his teeth clenched onto an officer's arm as another officer attends to the panther, doing her best to stay calm. Just then more people begin to shower the streets, causing the officers to backpedal and try to get some distance. One officer trips and falls, then gets grabbed by the others in the street and screams out in pain. Onlookers in front of Skylor begin to run away as others stay transfixed on the scene. It's only until he notices a young woman getting pulled backwards by one of the individuals and bitten in the shoulder that he realizes what's happening.

"Holy shit!" Skylor exclaims, as he runs immediately back inside, barely having enough time to close the door and secure it.

As he shuts the door, several people begin pounding against it, trying to make their way in. In a panicked rush, Skylor locks the door and then proceeds to push the couch in front of it to secure it more while the other three step back and watch, worried looks on their faces.

"Skylor, w-w-what's wrong?" Yasir asks, shaking against Atallah.

The opossum looks up and then makes his way to the kitchen.

"We need to leave! We need to get out of the neighborhood as quickly as possible and do it now!", he says while rummaging through the kitchen drawers.

"Leave? But why? You haven't even told us what's going on outside." Atallah remarks, walking up to the frightened opossum.

"Just trust me! We need to leave and get our asses out of here!" Skylor yells, digging desperately through the cabinets.

Raider walks up to the window and peeks through the blinds, only to backpedal as he sees the carnage outside.

"No, he's right! We need to go!" he exclaims.

"But w-w-why? We sh-should be s-s-safe in here...r-r-right? Yasir says, holding onto Atallah's arm.

Before anyone can answer, more pounding is heard against the door and the window, only to then be replaced with the sound of glass shattering. The four look towards the source of the noise and are greeted by the sight of a man leaning through the window, eyes glazed over and snarling, reaching out to grab them.

"What the fuck?!" exclaims Atallah.

Soon after, the door breaks; revealing more people with bite marks and blood dripping down their open wounds and mouths, reaching out for the four friends. As if he somehow got super speed, Atallah grabs onto Yasir and runs through the kitchen and up the stairs to his room followed by Raider and Skylor, who is now clenching onto a meat cleaver. The four run up to the 2nd floor, unfortunately running into two separate rooms; Atallah and Yasir running into the lions room, while the others run into Atallah's parents room. As soon as he locks the door, Atallah pushes his desk in front of it, with seconds to spare as then pounding begins to sound on the other side.

"Atallah, w-w-w-w-what do w-w-we do!" Yasir yelps, tears forming in his eyes.

"Let me think, uh...here!" the lion says, reaching into his closet, pulling out a metal baseball bat. He then leans down and grabs something from under his bed and hands it to the frightened saluki.

"Get the window open and climb onto the roof! I'll be right behind you. Before Yasir can respond, they both hear the sound of a door breaking and the sound of shattering glass through the walls. Realizing their only barrier between them and danger could fail next, Yasir unlatches the window, pushes it up all the way and steps out onto the roof.

"Atallah, h-h-hurry! L-Let's get out of h-here!" Yasir yelps.

Atallah then hurries to the window and steps out onto the roof as well and then shuts the window behind him. Now on the roof, they get a glimpse of the carnage outside. Bodies of people lying all over the street and yards, clawed and bitten; people running and screaming in fear as they are chased through their homes, yards, and out of the neighborhood. Yasir turns away as a young man is pulled out of his car and is then bitten on the face, screaming in pain. Atallah turns to the pale dog and grabs him, leading them away from the front of the house to the back, where they find Raider and Skylor on the ground, having broken through a window to safety. The lion and dog drop down onto the grass and meet up with the others, seeing that Skylor has several scratches on his arms and his shirt torn.

"Skylor, are you okay?!" Atallah exclaims, a look of worry on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. One of those fuckers grabbed my arm and almost took a chomp out of it, but Raider smashed a lamp against it's head and is let go."

"We then locked ourselves in the bathroom and broke through the window to get out here." The border mastiff says, taking deep breaths.

"We still need to get out of the yard. It's only a matter of time until they get to the kitchen door!" Atallah says.

Atallah then walks over to the back fence and unlocks a gate that leads to an alley next to the back shed. He waves for the others to follow, handing a shovel to Raider as a means to protect himself.

"Does Yasir have a weapon?" asks Skylor.

Yasir then holds out a large machete, still encased in its holster.

"Why'd you give him that?" Raider says.

"Just so he can protect himself in case he needs to." Atallah says, motioning the others to follow him.

They all then make their way into the alley, shut the gate behind them, and set out on foot to find safety as the city around descends into chaos. As they near the end of the alley, Raider peers around the corner; sighing in relief as he sees no one around. He then turns to the others and motions them to listen.

"Okay..." Raider says. "I think the best course of action is to get the hell out of the city as quickly as possible. My uncle's vacation house isn't too far from here and I have a spare key."

Atallah and Yasir nod while Skylor tilts his head in confusion.

"Isn't your uncle's place up in the hills though?" he asks.

Raider nods and sighs.

"It is, but it's far enough out of the general public and has high walls all around it. Plus, it runs on solar power and has plenty of room and food for people to live."

Skylor nods and looks to the other two, waiting for their response.

"It sounds like a plan, but how long will it take to get there on foot?" Atallah asks.

"On foot...possibly several hours." Raider says, gaining some groans and sighs of protest from the others.

"As long as we are all quiet and move quickly, then we should be okay. What do you think guys?"

Atallah, Yasir, and Skylor all look at each other then back to Raider with mixed emotions.

"Okay, let's do it. But we all need to keep an extra eye on each other just in case." Atallah says

"Raider, you lead the way and I'll keep watch in the back. Yasir, Skylor, you guys stay in between us both. Let us know if you see anything that we don't see at first. Sound good?"

All three nod, then proceed to look to the end of the alley; watching for Raider's next move.

"Alright guys, let's get a move on." Raider states. Then as one, all four begin their trek to Raider's uncle's house, unaware of what could happen to them, who they'll meet, and what they will fight.

As the four friends make their way across town, they all cannot believe what they are witnessing before their eyes; bodies of deceased littering the ground, cars and buildings up in flames, people running in different directions, and much more carnage that can be described as a slasher film. As they round one corner they notice two furson's running out of a home and into a path of several infected, causing them to back pedal against a van and begin to fight off the others, yelling for help.

"C'mon, let's keep going!" Skylor says, beginning to follow Raider across the street.

"W-We can't j-j-just l-leave them! T-They n-n-need help!" Yasir says turning to Atallah, whose attention is turned towards the other two.

"Yasir, we can't just go help people. We need to focus on ourselves and our safety!" Raider exclaims.

Atallah looks to his friends, then back to Yasir, then towards the other two. Atallah makes brief eye contact with one of the survivors; a vampire bat with glasses and tears running down his face. Atallah then sighs and begins walking towards the infected, metal bat at the ready, and motions the others to follow.

"Yasir is right! No one should meet their demise like the people we saw. Now get your asses over here and help me!" Atallah yells, drawing the attention of some of the infected. Yasir immediately pulls out the machete and runs to join the lion, who begins swinging away at the heads of a few infected. Raider and Skylor look at each other and with a sigh, both reluctantly join in as well, keeping a close eye around them to make sure no other infected pop out unexpectedly.

"Please! Help us!" The vampire bat yells, shoving an infected furson away.

"We're almost there. Keep fighting!" Atallah yells.

One infected grabs onto the bat, causing him to scream in fear and drop his weapon.

"Fede, help!" he says.

The other furson, an emerald tree boa, reaches his hand back to grab onto the bat's shirt while holding off other infected.

"Vesper, no!" he shouts.

Before the infected can claim another victim, Skylor appears and tackles the infected to the ground, slicing into them and saving the bat from harm. Within moments, all the infected are dispatched and everyone begins to breathe easier; knowing that they are all still alive.

"Whew...that was way too close. Thanks for helping us! Much appreciated!" Says the snake.

"No problem. You guys okay?" Raider asks, leaning onto his shovel.

"A little shaken up, but I'm fine." the snake says, leaning against the van.

"How about your friend?" Atallah asks, motioning to the bat lying on the ground holding his arm.

"Oh shit! Vesper, are you alright!?" the snake yelps, leaning down and attending to the bat.

The bat whimpers and nods his head, holding his left arm; tears of pain running down his face.

Upon seeing the bat in pain, Yasir also leans down to assist the snake, who tears a sleeve off of his shirt and holds it against the bat's arm. He then looks back to the lion, a look of desperation on his face.

"Please, in that house over there! There's a first aid kit in the bottom bathroom. Can you guys get it for me?" he says.

Without hesitation, Atallah nods and runs to the house in question, baseball bat at the ready in case any infected are lurking. Behind him, Raider also joins, covering the lion as he makes his way inside.

"Anyth-th-thing you w-want me t-t-to do?" Yasir asks.

"Uh, check his head for me?" the snake says, motioning to the mark by the bat's ear. Nodding, Yasir gently combs through the bat's hair, noticing a small scrape, and then uses his sleeve to press lightly on the bat's head. Skylor walks up and leans down, looking over the trio on the ground and then looks around again, noticing Atallah and Raider running back with a large first aid kit.

"Here, we found it." Atallah says, handing the kit to the snake. He nods and begins to bandage up the bat, disinfecting the scrapes on the bat's arms and head much to the disapproval of the shorter furson.

"Ow ow ow! That stings!" the bat yelps.

"I know, but it'll help clean your wounds faster. Now hold still so I can wrap these bandages on you." the snake says, grabbing some pads and gauze.

"By the way, who are you guys?" he asks, looking at the lion.

"I'm Atallah. This here to my right is Raider. Helping your friend is Yasir, and behind him is Skylor. We live not too far from here."

Finished with his aid, the snake stands up and turns to the lion and holds his hand out.

"I'm Fede. And this here is my roommate and partner, Vesper." nodding to the bat, helping him to his feet with Yasir.

After the brief introduction, the group hears screams from a nearby home, causing Vesper and Yasir to flinch and the others to look around.

"I don't think we should linger out in the open much longer." the bat says, grabbing onto Fede's arm.

"Agreed." says Atallah. "We should get moving quick."

The four friends nod to each other and then start walking away, only for Yasir to stop and turn to the two others.

"Y-You guys sh-should come w-with us!" the saluki says.

"Yasir, we can't just tell people to join us! We don't know them very well." Raider says irritated.

The saluki then turns to Raider, a look of anger on his face causing the lion to intervene.

"Easy guys, let's all just calm down. Yasir, he's right. We can't just invite others to join our group. We don't know if they have furson's of their own to get to." Atallah says, getting a smirk from Raider.

"However, if we did bring them along, we would be a lot safer. You know, strength in numbers or something like that."

Raider frowns, then sighs as he nods his head. "Ugh, okay. I see what you mean." He then looks to Fede and Vesper, pointing his shovel at them. "You guys can join in if you want but just make sure you have some kind of weapon with you."

Fede then picks up a pipe on the ground, handing it to Vesper. "Here, take this hun."

"What about you, Fede?" The bat asks. The snake then reaches into his pocket and takes out a pocket knife, flicking it open. "I've got this. I know it's not much, but it's something."

Fede then looks over to Raider and the others, nodding to them. Raider nods back and then starts leading the way again, followed by Skylor. Atallah then motions to Vesper and Yasir to follow, letting them both pass him as he then turns to Fede.

"Go ahead, I'll follow from behind to make sure nothing sneaks up on us."

Atallah nods and follows after the others, Fede following close. The group of six then begin their trek to what will hopefully be a safe haven away from the death and destruction around them; unaware that they would all be facing even more challenges and terror ahead of them.

To be continued.....

Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to read what hopefully will be a new on going project of mine. I am really proud with how this first part came out and hope to produce even more stories (including more parts for this story) for you all to enjoy! I am open to constructive criticism so I can be a better writer in the future and also open to any ideas you all may have (including any nsfw ideas as well). I hope you all enjoyed this first snippet of what's to come and can't wait to dive in more to this series.