FSE

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[note – still day 29]

Was there ever a better way to slowly wake from a nap? The warmth of company, darkness, and distant sounds of partying furs comforted me. There was no sign of the invading refugees. Of more importance, was the heavy, relaxed arm around my middle and the nose tucked right up to the skin of my nape. Wulfy warmth pressed all along me; his half-hard cock rested between my nude thighs, nestled in the fur there.

When I shifted to stretch my stiff arms into the dark air, the heavy arm around me tightened, and there was a muffled groan into my napefur. Even as I pulled my paws back to my furry chest, he growled in protest at my movement. I held in a snicker, which turned him making a contented sigh and a nose nudge.

Shivers rippled down my core and gathered warmly in my groin as I came awake. Even though I breathed steadily, I grew excited at the slight pressure of him. Would he take me moaning and crying out? Would he enter my willing depths and fill me with his wolfy seed?

Whatever his intention, I was willing. However, whatever his intention, he was… taking his sweet time. He grunted softly, nesting his hardening length deeper in my fur. He stilled, and I whined my impatience, trying to lean back into him. But when his paw reached around to anchor my hips against him, I sighed in contentment, feeling his firm body.

He licked deep into the fur of my nape, reaching the skin, causing a rippling shiver down my body. I curled my toes, wanting the good feelings more intensely. I wanted to feel him knotted inside me, throbbing and pulsing seed into my depths. His muzzle grinned in my napefur, causing a warmth and feeling of rightness within. He shifted and put his big head on my shoulder, rubbing firmly with his whole head.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a snickering giggle.

“Mine,” he grunted out, rubbing against my shoulder and side even harder. “All mine.”

“Yes, yours.”

“My mate, my life.” He grunted, pushing against me, “Claim you.”

“Consider me claimed,” I said, grinning.

His response was a groan into my nude shoulder and a damp poke into my lower fur. I whimpered and dug my blunt-clawed fingers into the sheet beneath us. In the thread of light from under the door, shadows flickered when someone passed by, but in the darkness, there was only one Shadow on my mind, only one deep in my heart.

I could let go of the day, of the confusion, because I had him. I didn’t need more in my life. Furdom had shattered, and maybe I had shattered with it. Shadow had already been shattered long before the Curtain. Somehow, we had put each other back together, stronger.

“You’re getting distracted, Foxy,” said a grumbling voice in my ear. He grunted and tucked his chin over me, slowly humping his emergent cock between my dampened thighs.

An involuntary whimper parted my lips. His paw had come moved from my hip to cup me gently. My hips bumped me into his paw, and I struggled to find friction there.

“Now, Wulf. I’m ready,” I whimpered, burying my nose into the pillow.

He snickered into my ear, licking the base of it and making me shiver to my toes. “All things in good time, Noble Foxy.”

I groaned, feeling the grinning muzzle in my napefur. I swear. This Wulf; if he didn’t-

I was flipped onto my back - not entirely shocked, just surprised. He nudged my legs apart and settled between them.

Having his body between my legs, weighing onto me, fulfilled some deep part of me, warming me all through with a feeling of… rightness. Well, that with the heat and hardness building down low. I wriggled around, where I could get leverage to move.

With a lust-laden chuckle, Shadow leaned in close to kiss, and pulling my legs over his hips, robbing me of my little leverage. I was at his sweet, wild mercy, and I loved it.

But when he took his time kissing me and bumping against me gently, I followed his lead. We slowed down, tasting each other, enjoying our mingling presence. He ducked his head, and I set myself to some serious wolfy ear-licking. I made firm, steady licks to his ear, and he sighed into my chest. He rested his upper weight on his elbows, soaking in my attentions and - should I say it? - Love.

I licked the rim of his ear, and he shivered in his slow humping movements. I nibbled on the edge by the base, and he groaned, clutching me closer.

When he pulled back, I could make out little in the darkness of the tiny room. My eyes conveyed my feelings and deepest affections. I could see some, but few details, even with my foxy night-vision. Yet, something had been conveyed between us. Something in the realm of acceptance, trust, and love.

Had I ever felt more right about someone? Such a ‘rightness’ being with him? Such depth of affection?

A smile pulled at my lips, slowly turning into a grin. He was grinning too, almost a smirk. He bumped his hips a few times, as if he knew exactly what is was doing to me. Oh, he did.

My paws went to his back, pulling and urging him to do something, to have more of this rightness. Hmmm… Wulfy rightness. That sounded-

-And he was kissing me again, stroking a careful paw down my side and over my hip. I reached up behind his head, pulling him gently towards me, increasing the depth of our slow kiss.

Warm Wulf-depths, my tongue explored, licking behind his front teeth; an intimate taste of him. We were both hard and slowly moving together, chasing the good feeling of rightness. Granted, it was mostly him moving us, as I was almost immobilized, my legs around his hips. There was no hurry, just us and the building heat, that and my tail trying to show my happiness between his legs.

I whimpered when the ear he nipped caused a shivering ripple down my spine. Only the small shift of my hips was possible through his firm grip, hindering my movement.

He hummed his joy and lust in a beautiful sound, rumbling a frequency all through him, through me, and through my excited cock. My whimper showed I felt the same - the rightness, a joy of being together, of being safe in the dark, where only we mattered.

But the heat built, and neither of us felt like holding back forever. He stretched me with welcome fingers, working in lube he’d managed find somewhere. He licked my chin, and I tilted my muzzle back, allowing him access to my vulnerability. He nipped along my neck, working his finger deeper. Spreading. Stretching. Teeth gently nipped along my jawline, moving towards my sensitive ears. He didn’t stop there.

Straightening, his fingers removed. He angled his cock’s head, resting it against my hole, prodding. The pressure and the stretch, with me trying not to tense as he pushed in past my guarding ring. I gripped the narrow bed’s edge, moaning when he nudged past and rested while my body’s breathing and inner tension adjusted to him.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, Tyler,” he said, stroking appreciative paws down my side. “Just let it happen.”

I moaned something, might have even been words, and when he leaned in close with a smile, I brought my head up and seized his lips in a needy kiss. He didn’t seem surprised, yet he was holding back. Intensity burned in him too.

I did all I could to wriggle around, to chase the intensity I knew could grow. He continued kissing me with the same slow rhythm his hips encouraged, shifting the bumps in mine.

After a few slow ventures into me, I whimpered out a long, “Why?”

He hummed above me, stroking fingers along my muzzle. “Because you’re worth savoring, mate.” He grunted, and seemed to be having trouble staying sane before he spoke again, eyes burning, “Because you’re you.”

He leaned in closer. It wasn’t ideal for his movements, but brought his large wolfy head near mine so he could touch our foreheads and swipe my nose with little licks. A moaning giggle escaped my muzzle, and I raised my head to him to catch every gesture of his tongue. He chuckled and nuzzled at my muzzle, giving up all pretenses of thrusting, letting his natural body movements shift him inside me.

I felt gathered up, warm and cared for. Loved. The need and the lust didn’t matter. The heat between us and the eager twitching of his cock didn’t matter. What mattered was us, what connected us, and our tender hearts.

In that posture, we kissed, long and lingering. I wiggled, feeling him shift inside me and instigated a round of tickling. He tried to hold in laughter, but I knew all his sensitive spots. He turned to tickling me back until I was gasping for air, clenching on him, and begging him for relief.

We savored each other, feeling our connection, our mating. In the end, it did gain heat, and the goofiness shifted. The gazing into eyes turned into suggestive staring, lewd shifting, and dirty snickers.

With a groan, and bumps inside me, he loosened his firm control; my urgency rose too. He reached between us, stroking me with purpose, gazing at me in the dimness.

He tucked his nose into my shoulder, grunting with each breath into my neck, thrusting while his paw worked me. His thrusts turned short, focusing on deeper, deeper shoves. His knot expanded in me, and I prepared myself.

But when he drew his head back, it was not to bite into my shoulder, it was to touch noses in final intensity. Our eyes met; his body shivered. I gripped hard to his back, feeling my climax take me. With a whine turning into a groan, his body clenched, finishing in me. His last thrust shoved in hard, not relinquishing our tenuous nose-touch.

It was intimate, delicate, looking into each others’ eyes while our bodies heaved breaths. A flash of gold color from his eyes caught in mine, in the tiny room’s dimness. There was an open vulnerability there I’d never seen before. I looked deep into Shadow, and he gazed deep into me. Understanding and rightness merged into an unnamed connection.

The moment didn’t last. He smirked and slumped his weight on me. He snickered into my ear, quickly turning it into a laugh. I made a questioning, breathless noise, and he turned into my ear.

“The noises you make,” he whispered.

My eyed widened. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. It was like you had no awareness,” he snickered. “You loved it.”

Did anyone hear!?” I asked, but he only chuckled.

It was useless to ask further. Furs had heard, and my embarrassment couldn’t fill me redder. So much so, I felt a little lightheaded. I plopped my head back into the pillow beneath while Shadow mumbled and nibbled my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I grumbled through my tense throat.

“Worshiping the body of the one I love,” came the clear but quiet answer.

I relaxed downward, feeling all the rightness come with the physical connection with Shadow. I draped my arm across my face to hide my warm smile.

“Shadow?” After his hum, I continued, “What do you feel. I mean right now?”

“Love.”

A wider, happy smile pulled at my lips. “I mean, what else? What does your body feel like? What does your mind tell you?”

“I don’t know….”

“Please…?” I drew out.

He shifted most of his weight to his legs, moving his knot inside me. He raised one of my legs over his shoulder, so he could kiss the side of my knee. He was silent, gathering his words.

“I feel a warmth deep inside whenever I look at you. Not lust or feelings in my cock, just… somewhere deep, deep within me. A happy tingle a little like after a good sneeze.”

“I’m a good sneeze, huh?” I snickered, poking at him where I could reach.

“You’re my foxy, my mate, and above all you’re mine.”

He leaned in closer with a playful growl, claiming my lips as he had claimed me. I hummed my happiness into his muzzle, touching his heavy jaw with tingling fingers. With a great sigh, he relaxed over me.

I clung to him, feeling deeply fulfilled. Nothing mattered besides us, the darkness, and the rhythmic twitches his cock made deep inside, still pumping bits of Shadow into me. I was his in every way, and he was mine too.

Shadow licked my ear twice, settled over me, and shifted so less of his weight was on me. He was quiet. I was quiet.

“And all was well in the world,” I whispered to myself.

“Hmmm?”

“I feel I’ve heard the line somewhere. Don’t you think it fits?”

“Hmmm.”

Guess he didn’t feel the need to speak. My whole being concurred.

***

I was jolted out of my daze by sounds I’d thought I’d left behind: screams. Shadow was rigid behind me, frozen in alarm. This couldn’t be happening. Had zombies breached the base, attacking those within?

I listened closer, my sleep-mind clearing. Not so much screams, it was shouts. Most were scattered chaotic sounds but not the broken and rash voices of the zombies. Joined calls came from outside the door. “Stop the conspiracy - want our lives back!”

Shadow and I scrambled out of bed and into gray-issue shorts, scared of what we might find. Shadow cursed under his breath about his missing bat as he shoved my precious items off the narrow dresser into his slouching backpack. We both stumbled to the door, and Shadow’s paw twitched, missing the bat. We both hesitated, neither of us touching the doorknob. We glanced at each other, waiting for the other to take the first step forward, to find how our lives might go from there.

I took the final step forward, grasping the doorknob myself. Shadow moved in right behind me, ready to back me up. One twist of the doorknob, cracked the thin doorway open to reveal what was beyond.

It wasn’t the peaceful aftermath of the Curtain Events. It was pure chaos as furs attacked furs. Feathers and fins tried to get away from the mobbing, upset furs. Anyone in gray or camo gear was set upon by angry civilians.

Further down the hall, mob members were opening each room and pulling anyone within, out to join the fray. Chaos ruled, and bodies got shoved by both sides into walls causing occasional blood to splatter.

Furs attacked each other in the confusion. Calls against conspiracy and against the Event were screamed. Three furs tried to start a new chant, but were overrun by even angrier calls, more intent on physical outlet for their frustrations. Old species rivalries revealed in the mob’s frustration - even the mob members attacked each other, taking advantage of the chaos.

Shadow and I ducked back inside to change into our old, smelly t-shirts. At least they had a non-gray color. It was hurried, and we’d have to hope they didn’t notice our issue-gray shorts. He grabbed his backpack and pushed me out in the hall, starting to bark conspiracy protests too. I gawked at him before what he was doing occurred to me, and I joined in, repeating slogans with him.

He tried to blend us in, pushing us towards the elevator, and the promise of escape. I pumped my fist along with an excited dingo, grinning together. It was exciting and scary all at once!

The military personnel were far out-numbered by the civilian protesters. Paws and hooves pummeled anyone in camo gear or issued grays. Shadow shifted his backpack away from an excited fur and pulled me in front of the elevator. I tried to look over the mass of moving bodies, but couldn’t see anyone else I recognized. There were too many faces to organize them in my mind.

When he smacked the button to go up, the dingo next to me turned suspicious.

“Need to check the upper levels,” Shadow said before I could fumble anything out. “I feel we missed some of them slimy bitches.”

When the dingo went back to his manic grin and shouted, “Stop the conspiracy - want our lives back!” I joined in by the end. He turned and joined more of the mob heading towards the big common room. There were vulnerable individuals there; there must be. I didn’t know if we should escape or-

Shadow grabbed my arm, yanking me into the open elevator. ‘Guess we’re escaping.

The elevator doors closed, and I huffed out my relief, my shoulders sagging. Shadow grinned next to me and scrubbed my head with a firm paw. His tail was wagging in his excitement, while mine drooped in nervousness.

“No worries, okay? We’ll get out, and everyone will be safe,” he said with conviction. “We don’t know where anyone is in the base right now. We need to focus on ourselves, so they can focus on themselves too.”

I nodded, my worried state visible as the elevators rose through noisy underground levels. The maintenance panel had been jerry-rigged to keep the thing functioning. We rose, and the sounds of chaos dimmed. Rising, rising, towards our new future, perhaps one without the Curtain… without the Event.

It was quiet when we reached the surface level. The doors opened, and an arm slumped through the elevator opening into the elevating chamber. I bit back a yelp.

Shadow held me back against the elevator’s button-board, taking the first look outside. I took a peak around him, beyond the elevator door. At the end of the hall I recognized from our original bunker entry, a military truck blocked a thick blast-door from shutting. It was empty… but not of the dead.

Stilled, Curtain-wracked bodies crowded right up to the elevator. Some furs had managed to invade the base through the elevators and possibly stairs, while others had not made it to safety. It was clear – furs died when there was not enough elevator trips or stair capacity to let them escape the Curtain.

Sick nausea rose. Bile filled my throat, and I swallowed hard to stop myself vomiting. What a waste of life, of potential, of… furs. The youthful, the elderly, adults holding cubs….

I covered my muzzle and looked at the wall, trying to disperse images of their Curtain-gifted rictus snarls, of the smell of fluids from noses and ears. It was a glaring reminder of what the Curtain was, what George had done, knowingly or not. It had me recalling my loved ones from weeks ago, in a way I thought I’d stabilized. My mom. Kaylee.

“Nothing we haven’t seen before, Foxy,” said Shadow, stepping over a stilled arm. He waved a black paw, gesturing me forward.

Clenching my teeth and holding back tears, trying to ignore the sights and knowing what they’d all smell like in-

“Focus, Tyler.”

My breath shivered out of me, and I stepped away from the closed elevator doors, careful of scattered paws and footpaws of the dead. I stepped over one twisted body, another body, stepped on a few when there was no other way, trying to ignore the give of their dead flesh. Past more and more, unwilling to count them in their tangle. They thinned near the thick blast doors. Beyond, lay a large hallow carved into the mountain where several robust-looking vehicles waited.

This was the cost of not letting the masses in. This was the very reason the mob was raiding underground – the uncontrolled future, the immediacy of death. They were frustrated and scared, not evil. They too wanted safety and acceptance.

Beyond the cavernous entry, a metal fence was crushed beneath the flattened tires of two ancient buses. More decrepit buses and a few military vehicles were scattered nearby. Did they contain bodies of those unable to find shelter within the bunker in time?

Shaking my head clear, I breathed in the fresh, afternoon air. Was everything over? Would things return to normal? It couldn’t after such a huge loss of the lives needed to keep civilization up and running.

We slowed our hurried steps away, pausing to take in the late afternoon warmth. It was a bit hot, and birds trilled in the trees. The grass, crushed by hundreds of footpaws, slowly separated, recovering.

I breathed, appreciating the scent of crushed grass and summer. “What now, Wulf?” I asked, turning to Shadow.

But his back was to me, facing the cavern and elevator, where the masses of the dead were concentrated. “Dammit,” he growled.

I turned back to face the bunker, gritting my teeth in frustration and building anger. Stalking forward and kicking off a dead fur’s arm was Helaina, followed by the angry Peter and the withdrawn Michael. Behind them the wolf Shadow had recognized emerged from the thick tunnel.

The wolf. He was the one who had guided us to our room on our first day in the bunker. He was the wolf Shadow had said was in his old pack. The pack whose members had either abused directly or neglected to do anything about it.

The horse didn’t look like he wanted to be there, looking more guilty than angry. Peter and Helaina, on the other paw, looked furious.

“Disgusting!” snapped Helaina, holding up a footpaw, which was dripping some fur’s bodily fluids. “You!” she snarled.

Shadow cringed away from them, stepping closer to me. I thought it was Helaina, but his gaze was focused on the wolf approaching behind the three.

The wolf. What was his name? Shadow had said the male was from his old pack. I narrowed my eyes at the gray-patterned wolf. I didn’t care who he was; my Wulf was uncomfortable with him.

“Hold up, boys. You’re in big trouble,” said Peter while Michael behind him looked uncomfortable.

“You!” yelled Helaina. “You ruined everything! You spleeny dwarf fox!”

A dwarf!? I wasn’t that small!

I showed some rude teeth. “They prefer the term Little Fur, and I’m not one, you shallow bitch!”

“Excuse me? I’m not!” she said with a firm growl as they closed the gap, approaching us.

“Are you sure?” I growled back. “I call it like I see it. You sure act like one.”

“You little-”

“Excuse me,” growled the wolf.

His name was Amarok. I did remember!

“This is the culprit you three wanted me to apprehend? This fox?”

“Yes!” snapped Helaina. “The things he’s done….” She shook her head.

But the wolf didn’t look convinced. “They’re the Listeners who arrived recently. Tyler and Shadow. What’s your real name, wolf?” he finished with a chuckle, taking a longer look at Shadow. Then his skin paled around his black nose and in his ears. He took a step back, ears flattening. “It can’t be….”

Shadow’s ears and tail tucked tight, in his horror and embarrassment.

I shook my head. “You’re not allowed,” I whispered.

“What?” said Helaina with a slight head shake.

“You!” I addressed the wolf, Amarok. I took a step forward, tucking Shadow behind my back. I pointed a paw at the gray-patterned fur. “You are not allowed to stand there, thinking you’re blameless.”

“I-”

“There are no excuses for what you and others allowed to happen to Shadow!” I screamed at him.

Helaina tried to take the spotlight again with some mumbled crap, but I was furious.

“He was a pup!” I yelled at the male wolf. “A pup! And you allowed things to happen to him. You want to stand there and accuse me of whatever they’ve made up to blame on me?”

The wolf hesitated. “They said you’d tricked them, thinking a house was safe….”

“Oh? Did they tell you they lured me and Daws into a house - on purpose! – and shut themselves safely away while the zombie things attacked us!? Daws died because of them!”

“Daws is dead?” The big male looked unsettled, angry. He turned to the three. Two. Michael could just be seen, slipping back into the base. Coward.

Helaina tried to smile. “We- We didn’t know…. We just wanted Tyler out of the picture…. We didn’t mean anyone to die, of course,” she hedged.

“Really!” I snarled, raising my paws, in disbelief. “Someone died because you wanted me gone. Or dead, correct?”

She didn’t say anything, just buttoned up. Shadow cleared his throat behind me, and I could hear anger gathering in his voice. “You would have my mate die?”

“Mate?” It was Helaina’s turn to pale at the ears and around her pretty black nose. “But, Shadow,” she whined. “Why? We’re so perfect for each other. Why ruin it with… him? He can’t even give you pups?”

That did sting a bit. I could never give Shadow pups. His heritage, his Alpha bloodline would-

“Don’t let your mind carry you away, Foxy,” said Shadow, stepping next to me to face the three remaining furs.

Peter spoke up for the first time. “Faggots,” he said, stepping in front of the shocked Helaina.

“That’s rich, coming from you,” snarled Shadow, straightening and looking down his muzzle at the ferret. “You tried to rape Tyler!”

“He’s a little faggot! Deserved what he-”

His words were interrupted by Shadow’s fist. The ferret stumbled back, barely holding his footing. Shadow almost launched to follow through, but I held him back.

“Let it go, Shadow. He’s not worth it. I just want to forget it ever happened….”

While Peter cradled his jaw, Helaina pulled him away. Shadow shook his head, but not to shake me off. He turned to me, his eyes blown, a fierce growl in his voice.

“You can’t do that to yourself, Tyler. Accept the past, it’s past, and you have to keep moving forward. But things did happen. Someone needs to pay!”

I gripped his arm firmly. “It’s enough, Shadow. I have you, and you’re enough.”

A faint smile appeared on the black, scarred muzzle. He kissed my cheek, right there in front of everyone. We shifted to leave this place.

“Shadow…” came the hesitant voice. Amarok. The big male’s eyes shifted to Shadow, somewhere behind me. “I’m sorry, Barda-”

Teeth snapped next to me.

“I am not that wolf!” snapped Shadow, eyes blazing. “That wolf died in the shed. I was born under the full moon. I’m Shadow!”

“Wulf. You are both of them. The past happened. I know it hurts, but it happened.”

Shadow glanced at me, his ears and tail still. His shoulders relaxed, causing the backpack to shift on his back. “You’re right, Tyler.” He smiled. “I’m me.”

I patted his arm and let go. “And you know what you want to do.”

“I do,” he agreed.

When Shadow turned to Amarok, it was with firm determination. While Helaina stared at her footpaws in some kind of spaced-out denial, Shadow met the male wolf’s gaze.

“I understand you felt powerless in that situation, in that pack. None of us knew any better. We do now. You did nothing, like so many others, when I needed my pack the most. I will forget you after this. I want to move on.”

“Do you forgive me?” the older wolf couldn’t hold Shadow’s gaze.

“I don’t know….” Shadow paused. “Yes. Yes, I do. That pack was a mess, and my father….”

“I should have known better. I tried to think things weren’t happening, but I knew….”

“I understand,” my Wulf said. “I don’t like it, but I understand. It was a fully traditional pack. We didn’t go against the Alpha, in anything.”

“Until it was too much,” he agreed solemnly.

Shadow hesitated. “Were you there?”

“When?” asked Amarok. “Oh their last moments?”

Shadow nodded, looking apprehensive.

But Amarok shook his head. “I left shortly after you did. I wandered around, doing odd jobs and ended up joining the military. Ended up here.”

Shadow nodded, looking thoughtful. “I’m glad. I wouldn’t have wanted you to see that. I heard it was pretty vicious.”

“I heard that also.”

I reached over and put an arm around Shadow. He startled slightly, then relaxed into me. He turned his muzzle and snuffled into my neck, making me snicker as he inhaled my scent. This wolf….

Before we could move to leave, I spotted more furs exit the base entry. This time I relaxed, recognizing the furs, waving happily to see us.

Burt clomped up to us, pulling us both into a massive hug. “I was so worried!” he snorted, trying not to cry. “Everyone went out to this secret base, and I knew you two would be here.”

Helaina and Peter looked more uncomfortable, moving further away without a word. When Burt let us go, I felt so brave and happy, I kissed and hugged Shadow myself.

“Not what I wanted to see,” grouched a familiar antelope.

Before I could retort something smart, Howard chuckled, saying in his quiet, measured voice, “You did the same to me last night behind the latrines, if I remember correctly.”

“Howard! Rusty!” I said with a laugh. “What are you doing here?” I asked, sharing a shy wave with Rusty.

“This silly goat,” sighed Sanway with a wide eye-roll. “He was up all night, worrying about you two idiots. Didn’t hardly get any sleep at all!”

It would mean they spent the night together, right? I snickered at the two while they continued to gripe at each other. The springbok seemed to realized what he’d said, blushing up to his ears. Rusty blushed hard for no apparent reason. Howard chuckled and pulled Sanway close by his thin waist.

“And Burt was very worried,” the brown and black goat said. “Then Rusty wanted to help. So we’re here,”

“Michelle and the others?” I asked.

Burt rubbed a horn, looking worried. “They stayed back at the refugee camp. Michelle wanted to come, but….”

“I understand, Papa Burt.” I chuckled and boldly patted the big fur’s arm. “Someone needs to look after little Maggie and Brynn.”

“And keep an eye on the idiots there,” snapped Sanway. “Make sure they don’t go overboard there and lock furs out.”

“Like they did here?” I growled, glaring at the bodies as if they were the ones at fault.

“I hadn’t realized….” Burt muttered, avoiding looking at the bodies himself.

I took a deep breath. “Anyone we know not make it in the base?” I asked, feeling a bit selfish in wanting to know.

While Burt shrugged and looked bothered, Howard shook his head and spoke up. “At some point I saw the two furs who’d come with us on the bus. That hound Ethan and the otter medic Kaz, who came with McStanz - I saw them down there. Other than that, it’s just been us.”

Count on Howard to keep track. Furs, numbers, times, anything. Goat loved details.

“They can find their way back to the refugee camp,” said Sanway. “Let’s get out of here before things get complicated.”

I actually agreed with the antelope on something. How surprising, though a somewhat unpleasant surprise.

We hurried to the vehicles, leaving behind a softly crying Helaina and a pensive Peter near her. The four familiar furs piled into one military vehicle. Shadow pulled me to the side, where a few more rugged vehicles awaited drivers. It took him a moment to find a smaller military vehicle with keys ready. He hopped in the driver’s seat, bringing the car around to the exit. Shouts sounded behind us, but we left them and the base behind in a rising plume of dust. Burt and the three followed in theirs.

The daytime filtered through trees, shining between the curves of land in the golden light. Golden light lit the foothills surrounding the mountains to the East, where Featherdom lay. Hope might come to us in such a gilded beauty?

It was bumpy and imperfect on the one lane road.

Shadow glanced at me, gripping the steering wheel. “Where to?” he asked.

I hesitated, staring at broken light through the spreading trees. “Back to the refugee camp?”

“Why there? Why not some place quiet like the farmhouse we found? Why not even to Featherdom, dammit! Why back there!?”

“Shadow are you okay?”

He stopped the vehicle, letting the car idle in the dimming light. Burt’s vehicle stopped behind us, and the big bull stuck out his head with a questioning gaze. Shadow didn’t turn on the lights, so there was only a red brakes glow in the increasing dimness. “I can’t let them take you away again. I won’t.”

“And I won’t let them either. We’re adults with rights.”

“Says who? This is a whole new system, a whole new set of rules for everyone.”

“Exactly. I don’t think we can simply run from this. Also… we have furs we care about back there.”

Shadow gripped the wheel in tense paws before letting out a long sigh. “You’re right. It doesn’t feel right to leave them.”

I grinned. “Who knew the independent Shadow would care so much about everyone?”

His smirk was weak but real when he said, “I care.”

“I know you do. It’s just safer for you to pretend you don’t.”

He shook out his head and shoulders, making his fur fluff. Turning his smirk forward, he said, “Fine. Stupid-head camp it is.”