FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

1.

The cracked door slowly creaked open. Small flecks of sandblasted paint fell to the floor like snow, speckling it with faded hues of purple. Brian peeked through the opening, pistol trained forward, checking his left, then his right, and behind the door itself before stepping further in.

With each trepid step forward, motes of dust jumped away from his boots, eagerly searching out new places to rest undisturbed. The footprints he left slowly vanished as he moved further in, sun beginning to hit him through crumbled holes in the ceiling, breeze tickling his face through the destroyed remains of the wall he was leaning on.

Survey the city, take a position, radio to base and report in. Those were the orders he'd been given this morning. The first part had been easy enough, though even that was an overstatement.

They'd driven him out personally, "They" being his superiors, probably to make sure he actually went where he was supposed to. The task he'd been given didn't have a good history, but he wouldn't have run off anyway. Half a mile from the limits was where they'd stopped and let him out.

"Precautionary measures, just in case. Anything larger or noisier than you would be too big a target, so you're walking the rest of the way. Do you remember your orders?"

He'd nodded. There was nothing else he'd needed to do.

"Right. Good luck, soldier. We're sure you'll do a bang-up job finding any leftover insurgents."

Those were the last words before the small ATV sped off the way it had come, kicking up large clouds of sand in the dark colors of the early morning desert.

He moved slowly and cautiously, waiting once he got behind a piece of cover before darting to the next.

Behind a pile of rocks. Wait. Find and move to a closer point.

Behind a broken down, twisted husk of a tank. Wait. Move to next point.

Move.

Wait.

Move.

Wait.

Over and over again. The same pattern, the same movements, all that changed was what he hid behind, and how close he was to the city.

It'd taken him over an hour to reach the entrance. By the time he had, he'd finally realized how stupid he was being. The city was empty and deserted, possibly even dead. There was nothing to hurt him, nothing to shoot at him or do anything else. This was the safest place he could have been sent to do anything.

After that realization he'd moved to the center of the road, walking forward unimpeded, though still with a natural caution.

The whole area had been evacuated weeks, maybe even months ago. The civilians were gone. The enemy had been decimated. The few scavengers still looting the area were either still in hiding or dead after the last shelling. The liveliest thing here now was the rubble falling from the tips of buildings.

It was also very, very quiet. Aside from the occasional, fitting tumbleweed, he'd seen and heard nothing as he had moved to the few standing buildings towering in the center of the town. He'd made it there faster than he'd expected, and eagerly figured that he could have knocked out all three of his tasks in one fell swoop if he'd worked his way up one of them..

And now... here he was.

Brian turned and grabbed a chair from the dining set in the middle of the room. They were all broken, save for the table, but this one chair still had its front legs. He slid it against the wall, where it was still standing, and sat in the shade, coughing and waving away a cloud of dust that sprayed out of the chairs cushioned seat. Once it had cleared, he was happy to see it was holding his weight. And well at that.

He unclipped his transmitter and held it to his ear, simple beep sounding out as he pressed the small red button on its side.

"Base, base do you copy?"

Nothing talked back to him.

While he waited for a response, he started to play with the coiled black wire running down from the small box of electronics. It reflected the light in an almost mesmerizing fashion, and he didn't notice at first that it had begun crackling back at him. He frantically grabbed it and smacked it into the side of his head.

"*Kzzzt* -astic, Ma- *Kzzzzt* -tion and *Kzzzt*"

With a moan Brian lifted himself from the chair he'd only just made friends with, and begrudgingly walked to where the wall had been destroyed. The military technology of today simply wasn't up to par with the building technology of old. Not yet anyway.

"Base, can you repeat? I was getting a lot of interfere-"

The small black box exploded in his hand. Brian dove to the ground and threw his hands behind his head as the loud roar of a rifle broke the silence. Bits of plastic and metal smacked onto his back as he trembled nervously.

He needed to think, quickly. He was being shot at.

Training! He had to remember his training! Find cover, that was the important thing. He needed to get behind cover before his got back up.

The chunk of wall to his immediate left was his only choice. It was large enough for him to stand behind, but nothing else. The spaces on it's sides were too big to move through safely, not if he was being targeted.

He slowly rose to his feet, staying crouched, making sure he was only moving where he was unseen by outside eyes. Cautiously standing and leaning back on the wall, he took off his cap and slowly inched it towards to his right side. As soon as the rays of sun splashed onto it another bang rang out, and it was adorned with a fresh bullet hole, aroma of hot metal and gunpowder wafting delicately off it.

"Shit."

2.

The bolt of the rifle worked its way back with a thunk, casing flying into the air. It twirled and flipped, reflecting the light as it danced, alive one final time in a world seemingly as empty as itself. It smacked into a pile of sand, soundlessly, ignored while Alyssa took another round from a nearby pouch and slotted it in, pushing the bolt forward with a striking clank.

One second. Not bad. She'd be quicker if she moved around, but she hardly cared. Not about this, anyway. If she'd given even half a rats ass about killing the person in the building across from her, she would have. It was an incredibly easy shot.

She watched him fidget behind his chunk of wall. An elbow here, a hand there, small flick of a tail off in the air to the side, then his... butt.

Yep, there it was. The unmistakable butt of an RX-19.

Nice gun. Compact, simple, sturdy, and very cheap. Alyssa could count on her fingertips the nicknames it had.

The Doctor, Medicine Man, Prescription Justice, Worlds Greatest Antidepressant, the puns just wrote themselves. That's what happens when you give a firearm an "RX" prefix, but that was besides the point. Right now she needed to stay focused.

He was pretty small for a soldier. Not awfully short, he was probably about her height, five foot eight-ish, but he certainly wasn't... built the way one would expect a soldier to be built. He wasn't rippling with muscle, he wasn't using any sort of specialized weapon, there wasn't anything special about him at all. Not in any way, shape, or form. He was just an average, black haired, pointy eared little dog. A dime a dozen. There was no doubt that he was an advance scout. Another one sent away to die, to prevent the hassle of taking care of a worthless soldier. Considering his gear, at least she didn't have anything to worry about.

Poor guy. If it weren't for the enemy colors, she might have said he was kind of cute, in a weird way.

A weird "I'm sorry I need to murder you" sort of way.

He spun out of cover with his rifle raised. Alyssa raised an eyebrow in surprise, and casually rolled away to the side, off of the bed she had commandeered and behind her own standing remnants of wall.

"You don't know where I am yet, dog. I'm calling your bluff."

There was a bang, and then a small hole appeared where she had been laying on the ground. She rolled her eyes. So he had at least half a brain... and probably only that much.

"You just couldn't have just run off? You couldn't have run off and stayed alive, and instead you're going to fight me on this. _ Great _..."

Now she was going to have to keep messing with him. Hopefully he would leave soon, most people could only handle a few near misses before they freaked out.

She didn't want anyone to get hurt today. Partly out of spite for her superiors, partly because she didn't care, mostly because killing didn't sit right with her to begin with. It was a strange, being so good with firearms but not wanting to use them the way people so often did with them.

She'd been around them her whole life. Learned to shoot young, won a few contests. Alright, more than a few contests. A lot of contests. She was the best shot in the county until her and her family had moved to the city.

Alyssa let out a depressed sigh.

This wasn't what she needed to be thinking about right now. Right now she needed to stay on target, which was_juuuuust_ barely to the left of her opponents head.

3.

"Dammit!"

Brian swung back behind cover. His enemies rifle flared again, and a bullet smacked into the wall he was hiding behind, dust puffing out of the cracks near him.

He wasn't going to let himself die here. The... he didn't actually know what was shooting at him. With the tricks of the light and the fact he was probably going to be shot, it hadn't been at the top of his list to check. Maybe some sort of fox?

Whatever he or she was, they were just as bad a shot as he was, only they had a better gun. He needed to steady his nerves.

He popped out again, rifle raised, finger twitching just above the sleek black trigger. His enemy was directly in his sights, yes, definitely a fox. A female too, surprisingly enough.

The trigger snapped back, but she had vanished again before he even felt the kick of the gun. Then she rolled back into sight, reloading her bolt action rifle slowly in front of him, taunting him, trying to get in his head with a sly look on her face.

And It was working.

Brian fell back again as another gunshot rang out. He slid down and sat on the floor, thinking, trying to keep himself calm. Being shot at was so different in the field than in training. This isn't what he was told would happen this morning. This was the exact opposite of what he'd been told to expect. Fuck.

They called it "The Suicide Pact". That damned stack of papers, clipboard in tow, that was whisked into the mess hall once, sometimes twice a week. Sometimes... even more than that.

It was always someone smaller. Someone faster. Someone who couldn't shoot worth a damn compared to the best soldiers. Someone who couldn't carry more than their own weight. They were the ones who got the dangerous jobs.

Someone expendable.

Someone worthless.

He'd known early on after finishing basic training that his name would be on that list. He wasn't a crack shot. He could barely carry his own supplies. His clothing wasn't ready to burst at the seams from muscle mass. He was just like the people he'd seen called up as the weeks had crept by. Called up never to be seen again, and it hadn't taken him long to figure out the similarities between them all.

There were no "Missing" reports, no "KIA" sheets, they just vanished, somehow. And whether it had been from some sick, twisted raffle, or a pattern he hadn't cracked, this morning it had been his own name called out to take on the job.

He'd been eating breakfast, some sort of cafeteria grade egg dish, alongside the closest things he could call friends in this place.

They'd all been talking, laughing, enjoying life despite the death permeating around them, no doubt eagerly waiting for them to draw their final breaths. They knew that though, that was why they were there. To protect through sacrifice.

Then, there was the noise. The sound of the paired steel doors at the front of the room slamming open, then shut.

Everyone knew that sound. It was a cold, energy draining noise, that radiated across the room faster than any bullet could have. Only the highest people on the totem pole were allowed to use those doors. And there was only one thing they came through them to do.

The table closest quickly went silent, seeing what had come through before all the others. After a moment, the next. Then his own. And then all the rest, all the way to the end of the room.

One after the other the merry chatter and laughter had ended, table by table all the way through the room. The sound that replaced it was the unmistakable hush of people questioning their fate, and real soldiers wondering if it would be one of their friends that died next.

Everyone had looked forward, waiting and watching as the generals flicked through their papers. One cleared his throat and spoke, eyes looking down at everyone in the room as his booming voice echoed off the walls.

" Brian... Fucking hell, the last name is double printed. There's only one Brian here, you know who you are."

Every head in the room snapped to him in an instant.

"You have advance duty."

More silence. Every set of eyes in the room were staring at him, boring into him. They were all digging for weakness, digging for an obvious sign that he wasn't worth worrying about, desperately wanting a reason not to care that he would be gone.

His heart had dropped somewhere deep into his ass as he'd gotten up and begun walking. He'd signed up to serve his country, and he would as best he was able to, but certain death wasn't a prospect he looked forward too. He wasn't crazy, or stupid.

Or maybe he was. He'd signed up willingly for this after all. But it was a necessary part of the job, and if it'd save lives further down the line, so be it. He knew he wouldn't go down without a hell of a fight.

They'd whisked him away shortly after he'd saluted them, to some completely alien part of the base. Normal people weren't allowed where he had been taken.

"Alright, Brian, we're going to level with you. We know advance duty doesn't exactly have a glamorous reputation. We know about it's... less than acceptable nickname. In all honesty, very few people have died in the field doing this. The ones who come back have always been moved to a different base for R&R, basically as a reward for completing such a risky mission."

That sounded possible. He'd wanted it to be true at least. They'd kept on talking to him as they moved, and he'd kept listening.

"To keep morale up, and quash these rumors, we're going to have you come back here once you're done. We're sending you to the safest possible place just to make sure, that little city on the horizon that got leveled last week, so you don't need to worry about anything. And yes, we'll still be making sure you get to take it easy for awhile once you're back."

That he definitely believed. Talk about a lucky break.

After the walk and talk, they'd ended up in the armory. He'd been given a nice gun, shiny and new, field rations, a pack, a canteen, anything he could have thought of needing was handed to him. There hadn't been any more talking, but that was alright. There was a silent understanding between all of them. A strange trust in one another that couldn't be put into words.

Just before they'd all gotten into the buggy to start the ride out, each of the three people escorting him shook his hand and gave him a nod. They really had cared about him. It felt wonderful to be making people so happy.

And now here he was. He wasn't supposed to be getting shot at. Sitting in the ruins, sun raging down on him, everything getting hotter and hotter as the tension grew.

Brian took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His mental pep-talk was finished. He could do this, he had to do this. He would be the hero today.

He jumped up, preparing for his next shot with a newfound eagerness. This time, he wouldn't miss.

4.

The sky blue tarp rustled gently in the weak desert winds. Small puffs of dirt flew away from beneath whenever the wind caught it's loose corners, sending it's arid claw beneath to grind away at what little was being protected.

Not that it mattered, it was only a pile of sand. Maybe a few rocks in it somewhere, but mostly sand. As dry and shapeless as her hope for the future.

In the distance a Sergeant for another group yelled his orders unhindered. Hers was still waiting for the wind to die down, so his pathetic shouting would sound more important.

"Today you will be demonstrating your proficiency with firearms!" he barked to his small crowd. Alyssa rolled her eyes again, like she always did.

Today was target practice, just like every Tuesday. That would have been fine, save for the fact that today was going to be a "special" practice, as worded by the sergeant himself, and she knew full well that "special" meant it was something stupid thought up just for her. This situation was partly her fault, sure, but it was still ridiculous.

As soon as the bus that had ferried her into this god forsaken place had begun to kick up dust clouds in the opposite direction, she'd made it obvious that she hadn't wanted to be there.

She wasn't a soldier.

She wasn't anyone's mindless killing machine.

She wasn't an expendable tool that could be thrown away once its job had been finished. She was better than this. Better than this and her countries stupid warmongering that had forced this situation.

Needless to say, her superiors, immediate and otherwise, did not appreciate the attitude. Especially her Sergeant.

In turn, he'd decided to make it obvious that he was going to do his damnedest to break her in two and turn her into a war addled monstrosity like himself.

"Private Alyssa! Step up to the line and ready your weapon!"

She was first, shocker. And when she didn't satisfy, she'd be the first sent away to do some stupid number of push-ups or other exercises. Just like always.

She moved up to the darkened line of gravel that had been churned up by a boot heel and drew her rifle from behind herself, aiming it at the tarp flapping in the wind down range.

"I want to see you shoot a god-damned smiley face into the prisoner! Now!"

It took her a second to understand what he meant, but she figured it out.

"It's a tarp. Is the dirt the prisoner? Is that what we're waging war against now? God forbid it ever get into our eyes again, this'll learn the desert real good won't it?"

She'd talked back plenty of times, but never that bluntly. Maybe she was just finally sick of things to do something about it. Her Sergeant had just stood there, mouth half open in shock.

" PRIVATE! YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS SIR, AND YOU WILL FIRE DOWNRANGE AND EXECUTE THE PRISONER! NOW!"

"You can suck a fat one now, how about that?

\ **BANG* *

Alyssa sleepily looked up from where she was sitting, dragged back to reality by her opponents wild firing. How long had it been since this started? Two hours? Two and a half, maybe? It was fucking hotter than before, that was for sure. Whoever said that the heat peaked at noon was a filthy liar.

This sucked. If she'd known she would have been hit with insubordination from her snark, she probably would have tried to hold her tongue a little better. Being stuck out here on watch duty was awful... but it could be worse. Somehow. Probably.

At least she wasn't being yelled at back at base.

\ **BANG* *

Another round smacked into the wall at the far end of her room. What the hell was he doing?

Alyssa peered through a crack to the outside, trying to see what was going on. Her enemy was standing in the open, wobbling back and forth as he fiddled with his weapon and fired blindly again, diving behind cover after a delay.

A large puff of sand floated away from where he had landed, dissipating in the roaring sunlight as it fluttered to the barren streets below them.

She'd seen this before. He was getting heatstroke.

Damn it! He was determined to die regardless of her efforts, wasn't he? There had to be something she could do to save him and let him run off. She just needed to think. Needed to think of-

"*Kzzt* Hello? Hello hello? Alyssa? Is that you being shot at?"

A strange, unfamiliar voice called out from the small radio at her side. Confused, she unclipped it and brought it to her ear.

"I'm sorry? This is Alyssa, who is this?"

Silence. Her own eyes glared back at her while she waited, reflected on the black plastic rectangle as she held it in front of her. They were filled with contempt, among other things that she couldn't place a finger on.

Finally, it crackled back at her.

"Ah! Hi there, Alyssa. This is Zed, from base. They asked me to come and check on you. I'll be over in a bit to take him out, hang tight."

They sent someone to check on her? She was flattered. Surprised, but flattered nonetheless. But Ted or whatever his name was couldn't come here, he would ruin the plan. She was set on not letting anyone lose a life here today, and she'd already put in too much work to let it get ruined. She also had far too much petty anger for her country and countrymen to let some sad sack of worthless on the other side get killed.

"Well Fred, I appreciate it but I don't need any help. He's already retreating and not a prob-\ **BANG* *"

She stumbled backwards as the bullet whizzed by her head. With an "oomph", she landed on the ground, watching a few strands of her hair flutter to the floor in front of her.

So much for that excuse.

She cursed at herself as she realized her many stupid mistakes. She'd thought her opponent was incapacitated to uselessness and lost track of what she was doing. She couldn't be wandering around while she talked, not anymore. She wasn't in the city chitchatting with her friends, that had ended months ago.

Neither were still standing anyway... Not anymore.

"It's Zed, girly, and don't try and hog the limelight for yourself. I'll be over in a little bit to take care of him, try and keep him alive until I get there. Not that I'd expect you to actually pull off a kill, why they drafted women along this time I'll never figure out..."

Zed's voice trailed off, and Alyssa could almost feel the steam spraying out of her ears. She moved the small radio to the front of her face again and began to shout, her words nearly shaking the ruins around her.

"LISTEN YOU FUCKING SHIT! DO NOT COME OVER HERE. I REPEAT, DO NOT COME OVER HERE! THERE'S... THERE's-"

She urged herself to think of something, anything, anything at all that would keep him away. Some kind of excuse, what were people afraid of around here?

"HE'S GOT EXPLOSIVES! HIS BUILDING IS ARMED AND IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!"

"Alyssa you just fucked up. You fucked up real, real good."

Oh god what had she just done?

The radio crackled back one final time, before a faraway click signaled the conversation was over.

"Uh-huh, explosives, right. Half hour tops, hun."

She was trembling with rage as she stared silently again at the radio. With a scream she threw it as hard as she could against the inside wall of the room.

Her fists were clenched, and her teeth were grinding together as a faint clunk told her the fate of the transmitter.

Nobody talked to her like that. She'd done too much in her life to be spoken down too. Now she _ had _ to get the other guy to leave. She couldn't give Zed the satisfaction, not now.

Not. _ Fucking _. now.

She forced herself to take a deep breath, then another, and another still. The nails of her fingers slowly drew out from inside of her palm, leaving behind small streaks of red that contrasted the white fur of her hands, dripping onto the floor.

Step one: She needed to keep the mutt in the other building from dying of heat stroke.

Step two: Get him to leave the damn building and scurry back to whatever hole he came from. He was NOT going to die today, not after all this work. But damn if his persistence wasn't growing on her.

Step three: Repeat step two.

Looking at his building, she tried to figure something out. There was always an way, always something overlooked that would solve a problem. Always a choice.

A breeze picked up, and the crumbling ceiling above his position lightly rained down tiny bits of cement. Yes, that would work perfectly, or it would bury him in rubble and kill him, but at least in that case she could say she tried.

It was fractured in its entirety, she could see giant cracks running through it. Wooden beams stuck out into the air where it had crumbled away, either worn by the wind or rocked from artillery, probably both now that she thought about it. If she could hit the right spot on the right piece, then maybe...

Okay, but then how would she to get him to leave? She needed something crazy, something insane and stupid and enough to royally freak him out.

Alyssa took a deep breath, tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. It was so hot where she was, and she was in the shade. She couldn't imagine what he must be feeling with the sun raging down above him. What she would do for an ice pack or less clothes.

Wait, that was it! It was perfect!

It would cool her off, and mess with him at the same time. And she was just angry and bothered and crazy enough to go through with it. Yes, this was definitely it. A smile crept across her face as she ran through her plan again in her head.

"Alright little man, let's see how you like this... If I don't kill you first that is."

5.

How was she still standing? He'd shot her three, five, no, three, no... maybe, maybe four times. There was no way he'd missed a single one in the past twenty minutes.

How was she still just standing there, mocking him, staring at him every single time he moved out to take a shot with that shit eating grin plastered across her face? How could she just be standing there in the sun? It was so hot, there was no way anyone could for that long, let alone someone covered in hair.

Hot. It was hot, he was hot, and he needed to take a drink, cool himself down a little so he could focus again. He couldn't risk moving without making sure she was down, otherwise he'd get shot, or worse.

And he sure as hell wasn't going to run away, not after all this. He would make everyone proud. He would come back to the base with people cheering and applauding for him, he was going to make sure of it.

Brian grabbed his canteen and held it over his head, letting the water pour into his mouth and down his torso, but not before the cap he'd forgotten to take off smacked him in the eye. He groaned, then slowly slid down the wall to the ground, and let his head fall forward.

Even the damn water felt like it was boiling. Everything was so hot. Why had he thought he could do this? He wasn't a hero, he wasn't a fighter, he was just pathetic. He should have listened to his mother and not come here, should have stayed at home where it was safe.

He should have stayed home.

He wished he was there now instead of here. Anywhere but here.

He wanted to go home. With it's fridge loaded with cool drinks, and his mom there to look after him... God he'd forgotten all about her with all the crazy things he'd gone through from getting on that bus until now.

What would she be doing now? What... would she think of what he was doing?

But it was just so hot, he couldn't think straight anymore. Why had he done all of this?

"Brian?"

He lifted his head and looked over the table. His mother was standing by the sink, turned to his direction, fresh look of worry in her eyes.

He was... home? But how? He'd been dying in the heat and being shot at only a few seconds ago. Or... had he? Did he daydream all of that? That was crazy, but he was really here, wasn't he? It felt like he was. He must have dozed off at the table from staying up so late packing.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked in her familiar, caring voice. It felt like it had been ages since he'd last heard it. Right now it was the greatest sound in the world.

"Oh, yeah, yeah I'm alright. Just... just daydreaming I guess."

She slowly walked over to the seat across from him, gently sitting down in the ornate wooden chair with a mug of coffee in hand. She sipped it before putting it on a coaster with a light thunk.

"I know I can't change your mind about doing it, but... I really wish you would reconsider." she pleaded.

This conversation again. This was the exact reason he'd waited so long to tell her in the first place.

"Mom, I really want to do this."

"I know, but... I just can't see you hurting people or taking orders. You've never been good at either of those things, Brian, I don't-"

"That's not why I want to do it, mom. People out there need help, and I know that I can help them. I'll get over not liking to be ordered around, but if hurting one person will save hundreds of others, then... I don't know, I'll deal with that if it happens."

She took another small drink and looked away to a window on the side of the room.

It was beautiful outside. Sunny, without a cloud in the sky. The same sun that was now reflecting brilliantly in his mothers eyes as she tried to hold back tears.

"I just... I really wish you would wait a year or two and think it over more. You only just graduated school and now you're raring to join the military, and I just..."

She stopped, looking away and rubbing her eyes clear. With a sniffle she turned back and continued.

"I just don't want to lose you like your father..."

The truth was, he'd been planning this since freshmen year. That one day in the cafeteria, that small little stand the recruiter had set up, all the incredible stories that had been recanted to them as he and his friends gathered round. Brian had found himself infatuated instantly. He even took the time to research it on his own.

With every news story headline, every page and page of history and personal stories online and in books, he found himself wanting it more than ever. It was the perfect way to make sure he could help people who really needed it, and a little glory wasn't a bad prospect either.

The day he turned 18 he'd gone to the recruiting office and signed up. They'd all saluted him when he was leaving, and it really felt like he had belonged there all his life. He'd never felt more amazing in a single moment before, and a way he thought he'd be doing his father an honor as well. His mother clearly thought the opposite.

A few weeks ago, the letter telling him when the bus to basic training would pick him up had arrived, and his mother had gotten to it before him.

He knew she wouldn't like it, but he was too dead set on going to let her sway him. But after that daydream... maybe he should stay back and think things over a bit more after all. If things could even end up close to what he saw, then... he shuddered to think of what else might happen to him.

A low rumble came from somewhere outside, getting louder before stopping behind his position. A horn from a large vehicle broke the silence, loud enough to make Brian's seat vibrate a little.

"I'll guess that's your ride..." His mother quietly murmured.

"I guess it is."

Brian rose from the table and walked away towards the door outside. His things were packed and waiting for him, resting against the wall. His whole life had been shoved inside of a single black duffel bag, and as he looked at it slouched over, bent nearly in half, he felt strange.

Up until now, every time he'd thought about his choice to leave home he'd been filled with an excitement and determination so intense he felt like he would explode from it. But now, for the first time since that one day back in school those few years ago... he felt apprehensive. Maybe even scared. Why did he feel like this all of the sudden?

He held his hand out towards the bag, but try as he may he just couldn't push it any closer. Every logical part of his brain was screaming at him to pull back, making what felt like a solid wall between him and his few things.

Brian grimaced, his outstretched arm trembling as he tried harder and harder to move it forward, but it just wouldn't give to his efforts.

Maybe... maybe he should stay home after all.

He felt the disappointment wash over him, and his grimace turned to a frown. But maybe it was for the best. He could always try again, and for sure he'd be hearing about this in the days to come. He doubted the military took no-shows very well.

The bus outside honked again. Brian opened the door and stepped outside, waving it off. The driver gave him a scowl, but left without issue. Brian gave a sigh and closed his eyes in thought, turning around and walking back through the door.

"Mom, I'm going to stay. I won't say you're right, but rethinking it for awhile might be..."

The words vanished from his mouth as he opened his eyes and looked forward, just like the house had around him. All that laid before him was an endless expanse of desert sand, as far as his eyes could see. Dust clouds kicked up here and there by thr scorching wind entwining itself around him.

He spun around, looking behind him. The doorway still stood, but behind it's open door lay only more of the infinite desert that surrounded him.

"But... But I changed my mind..." he whispered.

The wind only howled back at him, spraying grains of sand into his face. It didn't care about his words or what he wanted. He was the only thing here that did now.

Brian dropped to his knees, sand shifting around him as he landed. The wind was picking up, whipping him with what felt like shards of glass.

"I changed my mind!" he shouted to the sky, tears leaving tracks on his face as they slowly dribbled down.

"I can't do it! I can't... I can't go and hurt people... I ca- can't disappoint mom like that..."

He slammed his fists into the sand in front of him. Patches of brown appeared where his tears broke away and landed, hissing each time as they slowly made a solid line under him. His body lurched, and a loud sob escaped him into the bellowing wind.

The skies darkened in an instant, with furious storm clouds rolling over him in too quickly to describe. Thunder roared, and lightning sent its splintering tendrils across the dark purple sky.

"I don't want to be here anymore!" he screamed, barely able to even hear himself over the noise of the raging storm surrounding him.

Suddenly he felt something beneath him give, a great shuddering under him, and was terrified as he felt himself begin to sink into the swirling ground.

He stood up, or at least tried, and desperately made to clamber out of the pit developing beneath him. No matter the effort he put forth, his feet remained cemented in place beneath the rising ground.

He was eye level with the rest of the ground now, trapped in the pit that was growing faster than he was sinking into it. Each time he moved his knees or tried to push forward, he felt himself getting sucked in deeper. Now he could barely see the sky, a grey pinhole far, far above him as his waist was swallowed up and he lost control of his legs.

"No! No!" he screamed, over and over again, praying for something, anything to save him.

He cupped his hands and began to shovel away the sand from his body as quickly and frantically as he could, even though there was no place for it to go. Anything he pushed away only came rushing back down with a vengeance. Now it was at his chest and growing tighter, the air being forced from his body as his shouts weakened. Each scream left him more drained and out of breath than the last, but still he kept on.

"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to do this! No, please!"

Brian reached his free hand above him, clawing desperately at the small speck of light above him. He sputtered, blowing the sand out of his mouth as he continued to scream in terror and fear, only to be met with more ready to dive into his throat.

He coughed and chocked, feeling each grain falling straight into his lungs, making him feel like he was burning alive from the inside out. Every speck a new wildfire within him.

Piece by piece it covered his wide, panicked eyes, slowly turning his vision into nothing but darkness and agony. Now he couldn't move anything at all. He was trapped, dying, breathless in the dark as he was consumed by the pain coursing through his body.

The last thing he thought of was his mothers face, looking at him with so much disappointment and sadness, and now he wouldn't be able to change anything. He couldn't even shed another tear at the thought.

She'd been right about everything.

6.

There, that was the spot. The domino that would knock all the others down once it went. It took awhile, but she'd found it.

Alyssa took a deep breath and steadied herself, holding it in for as long as she could before letting it out and taking another. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears.

She needed to make sure she was dead on her target. Too far to the left and the side wall would give out. Too far to the right and a chunk of the ceiling would crush him alive.

"Hang on you little shit, I've almost got this..."

7.

\ **BANG* *

Brian snapped his head back, slamming it into the wall behind him. He gasped desperately for air as the world swirled around him in a haze, beginning to rub the back of his head where he'd hit it. Slowly everything came back into view, and the fog on his mind and in his eyes cleared. Enough to think at least.

What was happening? Why did he feel like he was being cooked alive? Oh god what he would give to be able to sweat right now.

\ **BANG* *

Something smacked into the ceiling above him, and shards of concrete fell onto his head and the floor in a flurry of small taps.

He was still here. Still in the sun, still dying in the heat, still foolishly trying to be something he wasn't. What the hell was he thinking when he chose to do this? He was going to die here, going to end as nothing more than a disappointment, and it was all his fault.

He should just let the girl across the roadways kill him now.

With a grunt, Brian tried to hoist himself up so he could move into the open. The ground near where his feet had been was wet, and he realized he'd been crying through his hallucination.

\ **BANG* *

Another shot hit above him. What in the world was she firing at? Before he could think of an answer, the room began to shake, a low rumbling buzzing in his ears as everything in his vision started to vibrate.

"Oh god, she's going to bring the building down on me."

Good, at least it would be quick. He wanted to be upset, but found no emotions for the moment. At least he hadn't done anything that would disappoint anyone but himself.

Brian looked up as the shaking grew more powerful. His whole body was vibrating now, and the ceiling was raining down even more sand and cement. Massive cracks appeared where he was looking, splintering through the entire ceiling with what could only be described as shrieks. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate, and felt a massive shadow fall over him with a deafening crash.

And then, silence.

Everything went cold, at least compared to before. Otherwise, dying felt pretty much the same as living had.

Unless...

Brian opened his eyes again and looked around. Aside from being caked in dust, he still felt very much alive, but much less hot, thankfully.

A quick pat down confirmed the thought. He was definitely still alive, by some miracle.

"Ha! I'm still alive! You fucked up!" he cheered to the empty room. Dust flew off his rifle as he grabbed it and stood on his feet, but then... he stopped.

She'd saved his life. By mistake of course, but still... It didn't seem right to go back to trying to end hers now. He didn't want to fight anymore anyway... he was tired, tired of fighting, of being a disappointment... tired of being who he was.

This wasn't the life for him, he'd realized that when he'd been cooking to death earlier. There were other things that were more important. Things... Things that he shouldn't have left behind to begin with. He felt like so, incredibly stupid now.

But he had an obligation. An obligation to serve his country, and to put his life on the line in the name of what it stood for, and he still wanted to. He still wanted to help the world... but this cost was just too much. There had to be a way to get out of this, without betraying the people relying on him. A way to help everyone.

He would think of something after. Right now he needed to deal with the bullets flying towards him. Maybe... maybe he could get her to run off, instead of killing her. But she seemed pretty adamant on staying. What could he do?

Maybe if he stayed long enough, she would get bored and leave. It was a long shot, but still a chance. If he'd lasted this long, then he could keep going. What else was she going to do, wait him out or something? She must have a million more important things to do than that.

His gun smacked against his shoulder. He double checked the sight and blew away what dust remained, finally stepping out of cover filled with determination. He had to get as close to shooting her as he could, but without actually...

Actually...

Without... Actually...

Brian's jaw dropped, and his head slowly rotated to the side in awe.

She was still there, still with her gun shouldered, scope to her eye and barrel trained on his position, but something else was not there, that had been before. Something very, very noticeable.

Not a single shred of clothing rested on her body, and each and every one of her curves glowed in the sunlight. She looked incredible.

He couldn't look away. Through his scope he could see each and every one of her brilliant red hairs gently being caressed in the breeze, each small movement hypnotizing him just a little more. She had one leg resting against a wall slightly above her, displaying everything to him. He barely noticed, but she had a sly grin on her face, a single eyebrow raised.

\ **BANG* *

The scope of his gun was obliterated in front of him, making him fall and slam onto the floor from the shock. He raised a hand to his eye and checked for damage, but by some miracle he was uninjured. Somehow.

"Oh my god, you clever bitch. You clever _bitch!_Well two can play at that game!" he shouted to the empty air.

Brian crawled back behind his wall and began wrestling with his clothes, unbuttoning things left and right and trying in vain to pull his shirt over his head.

Wait, hang on.

What was he doing? This was ridiculous, why did he even think that was a remotely good idea?

His arms were stuck, shirt still blinding him as he struggled to move it back down. It was a futile attempt, and with a grunt he forced it over himself and threw it to the side.

"Well... I guess that's alright. It's cooler at least."

But Brian was lying to himself, it actually felt amazing. Hell, he'd have taken off the pants too if he weren't so embarrassed at the thought.

8.

"Ha! How do you like that, you little pervert!"

Alyssa knew he couldn't hear her, no matter how loudly she could have shouted, but good god she didn't care anymore.

She felt incredible. Every part of her did. Doing something this crazy, this stupid... gosh, she hadn't been able to do anything even close to this since she'd been drafted. She hadn't even done this kind of thing before then. Often, anyway.

...okay, once. But only once.

...and only on the balcony of her eighth floor apartment. The one with the high railings.

How had she not realized this before? This... this incredible freedom that existed here in the middle of nowhere. She'd been so busy being pissed off at the world, she'd never taken a minute to really think about what was going on.

She was in a life or death firefight with a nameless mook on the other team, missing him on purpose and hoping he would just go away when she knew damn well he wasn't going to, not after all this time. And he certainly seemed to be trying to hit her, even if he was a terrible shot. Without a scope, she could only imagine how good a shot he was going to be now.

There were no rules here. There were no other people, no commanders, no sergeants barking orders, just the whispering desert winds and crumbling remains of a civilization broken in half by war.

Here she was, splayed out in the sun, completely nude, all to mess with the person two streets and a leveled office complex away. That's how it started at least, but as she'd stripped she realized it was more just to prove to herself that none of this mattered at all.

She'd realized she was completely insane halfway through unclipping her bra, too, but that hardly seemed like a problem anymore. Everyone still alive in the world was insane too, in their own special way.

The wind picked up, and Alyssa blushed as it tickled her in all of the places that had been so eagerly locked away from the suns rays. There was also an unfortunate amount of sand getting into those places as well, but the taste of freedom was overpowering enough that she didn't care. She'd for sure feel it once she started moving again, though. The walk back to base was going to be hell...

Actually, why even go back to base? She didn't want to be there, and nobody else wanted her there either. She didn't agree with the war. She didn't care about her country and it's stupidity. She could just leave. Just scavenge supplies and head north to the border, really be free again.

No more getting yelled at. No more hurting people just because she was told to. Yes, that would be perfect. That's what she would do. So what if it made her a traitor. Everyone at the base already didn't like her, and she had no family or friends to worry about anymore... or to worry about her either. Freedom or execution seemed like a fine gamble indeed. With either result she'd win.

Fuck the war. Fuck the draft. Fuck her country. Fuck it all. She was going to live for herself now. They'd taken everything from her, and she was going to take what she could from them and take off. She was sure they'd manage.

Take off to where though? Well... she'd think of that once her business here was finished. Somewhere not "here" at least.

Her enemy poked his body from his hiding place and fired, missing widely. Somewhere above her the remnants of a window shattered, sending small pieces falling in front of her that sparkled in the sun like wasteland diamonds.

"Oh come on!" Alyssa groaned.

Now he was taking his clothes off too? What the hell was it going to take to get rid of this guy!?

Though she had to admit, he looked much better without his shirt than with it.

Alright, what else could she do to make him leave? Actually, why even make him go? He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. She could totally just leave, and nothing bad would come of it. That would probably wo-

"All... a-in... -ed"

The radio she'd heaved at the wall earlier was talking to her again. She scrambled onto her feet and darted to it, sliding on the ground as she dove to grab the crackling device and wincing as the sand rubbed against her insides.

"Couldn't catch that, please repeat." she whispered. With the hand not holding onto the little box, she tried to flick away as much of the sand between her legs as she could. It wasn't working, and only served to cause her a great deal of confusing sensations.

She stopped.

"It's me." the radio grumbled back in a light haze of static.

"I'm going in now. Don't shoot at anything until I say I'm done."

Oh god, she'd forgotten about Jared! How could she have forgotten him? He was going to ruin EVERYTHING_._All of the plans she'd made without thinking only seconds ago. All the work she'd put in to make this a nonlethal, pointless battle.

No. No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOT TODAY!

She had to think quick, she didn't have much time before he'd reach the right floor and take out the enemy.

"Come on! Think! You can't let Achmed do this!"

9.

"God dammit. I can't hit a thing now."

Brian grabbed his clothing from the ground and began fumbling through it's pockets. It had to be here somewhere, not that it would do much at this point.

He couldn't even imagine what was going through her head. She had to be insane. Maybe she wasn't even the enemy, but a deranged civilian who had found an unfortunate set of clothes and lost their marbles from the conflict surrounding them. The ones with bodies like that were usually nutso in one way or another anyway.

"Ah, got it."

He pulled out a small, clasped case. He slid his fingers beneath it's hooks and unlocked it, cursing as one of his nails snapped in half and went flying into oblivion. Inside was a dusty rifle scope, a lower power than what he'd been using until that insane bitch got a lucky shot and broke his, but it would work.

He had to make himself seem threatening. If he was missing too much she would be able to relax and would never leave. As little as he wanted to at this point, Brian couldn't help but think that maybe he should risk leaving and running out of the building after all. At least he'd still be alive, if he got really, really lucky.

The scope snapped onto the rifle with a loud clicking. It probably wasn't even centered, but he could do that quickly enough. But... really... maybe leaving was the best answer to this.

He stood silently in the middle of the room, behind the pieces of standing wall, staring down at the weapon he held in his hands. Why was he doing this? He couldn't just go home anymore. He'd be sent out over and over again to kill and kill and kill. He wouldn't be helping anyone by doing that.

... Maybe, maybe once he got back he could ask for a transfer. The ridicule for leaving the front lines would be awful, but at least he'd be able to live with himself. What had he been thinking when he decided to go through with this? Why was he such an idiot, swayed by stupid, polished words of glory?

Making sure to stay out of sight, he took a few steps towards the door. He felt disappointed with himself, but there was a strange, melancholy happiness in his movement. As oxymoronic as the description was, it was the only phrasing he could think of.

\ **BANGBANGBANG* *

A trio of shots sounded, punching holes into the door that had earlier swung shut behind him. Brian jumped back and slid behind the wall he'd come to develop far too close of a relationship with through the day.

Three shots? That was different. Impressive with a bolt action, but needless. She hadn't done anything like that before. She seemed too good with a gun to do something like that, as crazy as she surely was.

He preemptively shouldered his gun once again, and swung out to view the world. His finger twitched on the trigger, but somehow he kept his training from pulling it back for him.

Across the way the girl stood, still nude and fully exposed to him, flailing her arms wildly. Was... was she trying to get his attention? Things were just making less and less sense by the second. She wasn't holding a weapon though, so why not play along.

Brian hesitantly raised his right hand, keeping it open and facing away from him in a strange, awkward wave. She seemed to notice, and began making strange movements with her hands. No, wait, she was making shapes with her fingers.

A... "V" with one hand, and an... "OK" sign with the other? V okay? What did that mean?

Brian gave an exaggerated shrug, trying to make his confusion as visible as he could. She saw it, and grabbed her head in both hands, pacing back and forth, shouting unheard words in frustration.

She turned to him again, this time holding up six fingers between both of her hands, pushing them towards him and moving them around, then changed it to the same strange "V" with her thumb and index finger that she'd been flashing him before, among... _other_things.

A "V"... and six fingers. V6? A car?

He cautiously peered further outside, holding the wall tightly as he hung his torso over the ground so far below. Looking up and down the streets, he couldn't see a thing out of place. Not that anything left here was in it's proper place anyway. Just more tumbleweeds and depression as far as the eye could see.

There was movement out of the corner of his eye, and Brian looked back up to the crazy girl. She was waving frantically at him, giving off a stronger sense of urgency.

Again she held up six fingers. He was starting to feel bad he couldn't understand what she was trying to tell him. It had to be something important for her to start acting like this... though maybe not, seeing how she'd so eagerly stripped for him earlier.

Suddenly she dove out of sight. Brian raised his weapon, expecting a surprise attack, but she dashed back into view weaponless. Instead, she was holding onto some black and white patterned fabric.

She began waving it around frantically like a flag at a racing event, and then went back to holding up her six fingers a Brian nervously blushed as he realized that she was holding a pair of panties. She stopped and held them out from her body, pointing at them with her free hand again. What the hell could it mean?

With each second she became more wild, visibly growing more upset, but Brian just couldn't figure out what he was supposed to know from six fingers and checkered pair of underwear.

Six... checkerboard.

Checkerboard six?

Checker six...

Check your six!

Brian spun around and grabbed onto his pistol. Mid turn, pistol barely unholstered, the door behind him swung open and slammed into the wall. Someone in enemy colors jumped into sight, rifle raised, blinding him with a laser.

Brian fired blindly in front of him several times as he covered his eyes, praying that he wouldn't die yet. The laser jumped to the ceiling as his attacker stumbled backwards with a loud grunt, spraying a quintet of rounds into the walls.

Diving to the side of the doorway, Brian kept his weapon trained on the opening, expecting his assailant to jump out at any time, or worse. The other guy could have grenades or anything on him, and he was stuck in a small, open room.

Everything was quiet now. Brian nervously stared at the doorway, unblinking, waiting for any possible sound or movement to come through it, but nothing was happening. He slowly inched towards the opening, staying as low as he could while still being on his feet. With one hand he grabbed the door frame to balance himself, and slowly began to move into it.

*BANG*

Just before he would have been able to look through, a shot rang out, sound of slicing air echoing in his ears. He flinched, and nearly dropped his weapon, but held himself upright this time

Even though he was trembling again, Brian forced himself to keep leaning forward, and with a final deep breath he flung himself in front of the opening, landing on his side and facing out of the room.

But nothing happened.

Laying against the wall of the hallway, just outside the room, was the enemy. Or at least almost certainly the enemy. Brian wasn't exactly eager to check tags, but the colors he was draped in meant that he couldn't be anything but, as long as he wasn't a scavenger.

Hand wobbling in front of him, Brian lifted himself off the ground and stepped towards the body, still keeping his pistol as trained on it as he could. This could be a trick. He expected a surprise attack at any moment, and he could barely hear anything with how loud his heartbeat was in his ears.

A deep gouge in the wall stared back at him, just above the slumped figure, staining it in blacks and reds. Brian hesitantly lifted a foot and prodded the body, and it fell over with no resistance. He was definitely dead. A horrifying sensation of guilt and self loathing boiled up inside of himself, quickly reaching the point of no return.

"Ohmygodohmygod I killed him! OH GOD I FUCKED UP!" Brian shouted, panicking and fidgeting uncontrollably, wringing his hands and flailing his arms as he paced and shrieked.

Why!? Why would the girl in the building so far away from him warn him about this? Who was she? What did she want!? All of these questions, coupled with the shock of killing someone else left his mind in a bewildered and numb state. No amount of training could prepare someone for what he'd done. He stumbled back to the opening at the far wall and looked out, taking gulp after gulp of fresh air.

The girl was gone, without a trace.

10.

The door to the ground floor of the towering ruins creaked open, some pieces of it's shattered glass facade falling away with the momentum. It was too quiet. No wind, no sand, nothing. No noise except her own labored breathing. At least up in the tower there had been the breeze to keep her company.

Alyssa carefully stepped around the broken... everything, and moved into the center of the spacious room. What once was a welcome desk sat to her right, broken cleanly in half, hundreds of papers and pamphlets falling out of it onto the ground.

Two grand stairwells rested on either side of it, caked in rubble, but climbable. The elevator shafts behind the desk, however, were filled to bursting, spilling their contents onto the floor in massive piles. She began to make her way up the stairs, carefully stepping over the remnants of days long past, keeping her balance as best she could as she climbed each step.

The second level provided a clear, if not dusty view of the floor below. Papers everywhere, benches and chairs strewn about in varying levels of disrepair, broken glass and dead plants all along the rotunda that was once a shield from the sandscape just beyond it.

Alyssa sighed, disgusted at the level of destruction surrounding her. Everyone in the area had been evacuated long ago, so there we no bodies to be seen, which she appreciated. But everything she saw still troubled her.

Why were the people in charge of countries so eager to start hurling missiles at each other? Did they just not think about the consequences of their actions, blind to the rest of the world in their little shielded bunkers? How many people had been forced to leave everything they'd worked for behind because of them? How many families had been ripped apart and destroyed because the people on either side of them decided they didn't like each other anymore?

She sighed and walked over to the stairwell door. She had to go up six floors, and try not to get shot by the other guy... or god forbid her own teammate. She'd turned traitor on her whole country, she'd fired at someone on her side with the intent to kill... what had she done?

Her fingers wrapped around the pull bar, and Alyssa tugged gently up to unlatch it. The door snapped open as the rubble that it had been holding back flung itself at her. She only barely managed to jump far enough away to be safe, right as great slabs of concrete slid onto where she had been standing only a few seconds ago. Her heart was pounding again. That rubble came closer to killing her than the idiot with a gun she'd been playing with for the past however many hours.

"Okay, other door then." she muttered, turning tail and moving to the other side of the balcony. The area behind the next door was clear, and she began the cautious climb upwards, stairway after stairway.

The door to the third floor came and went, then shortly after the fourth. She moved slower with each step up, silencing her movements as she swung round the fifth.

It was quiet. She was shielded from everything outside, there was no noise except her own footsteps, whenever she chose to take the next. She couldn't shake the eerie feeling it gave her.

Each step was passing judgment onto her. Each one silently echoing out her past, bearing the weight of her sins one at a time. What on earth had she become? She was a self centered murderer, tossing away the lives of those she was supposed to be helping, to aid the people trying to kill her, all on a silly whim. She shouldn't be deciding the fates of other people like this.

But in this godless, barren wasteland, someone had to make those choices, didn't they?

Alyssa shook her head and continued upwards. It was too quiet, and she hated when it was too quiet. It gave her a chance to get into her own head, and that was never good. She had too many demons stuck in there right now. She didn't even know how to feel right now about what she'd done. Just a strange numbness pouring from her core.

The door separating her from her destination stood silently, continuing the vigil of separation it had been created for.

Why was she doing this? It was time to focus, not time to personify every stupid object around her. She thrust out her hand and grabbed the handle, pulling with a burst of energy. The door wiggled in her grip, but held firm in place.

"What the hell!? What kind of sick joke is this!" she shouted, a sudden, unexpected rage fueling her words.

Again Alyssa grabbed at the door and pulled with all her might, but it still would not budge.

She screamed loudly again, her shouting echoing throughout the vacant stairwell, creating a sick cacophony that mocked her fury, laughing at her pain. She leaned back and gave a hard kick forward with another shout. The door snapping outward in an instant, newly broken latch clanging onto the tiled hallway.

Alyssa stood still, breathing rapidly.

"Oh..." she whispered.

"It was a push door..."

11.

A bang echoed into the room Brian was freaking out in, making him jump much higher than he'd ever willingly admit.

"Who's there!? Who is it!? I-I-I've got a gun!" he yelled, voice warbling like a songbirds.

Another voice spoke from somewhere out in the hallway. A female voice, but faint. She wasn't close... yet.

"Fuck, I did kill him..." it quietly muttered.

Brian shouted again, trying to be intimidating and keep this other person away.

"I'll shoot! If you come closer I'll shoot, wherever you are!"

He would have felt much better about the intimidation thing, had his voice not cracked in the middle of the sentence. Who was he trying to fool?

"Oh my god SHUT UP!" The hallway voice shouted, making him jump yet again. His pistol flew from his hand and clattered to the floor, misfiring into the wall. Brian yelped and tripped over his own feet, smacking his head on the table in the middle of the room.

"Woah! Hold your god damn fire! The hell is your problem!?" The female voice in the hallway cried out, much closer now. Brian looked up at the doorway from his new, awkward position on the floor, expecting the worst. He curled himself up and shivered.

A checkerboard cloth appeared on the side of the opening about halfway up. The same pattern that he'd seen just before shooting the soldier who's eyes were still staring at him, glossed and lifeless.

It waved up and down a few times, and then the voice called out again. Brian's brain finally put two and two together, and he realized it was the fox that had saved his life talking to him from out of sight.

"Can I come in now? Are you going to freak out again?"

Brian grunted and pulled himself off the floor.

"I'm... I'm still not really done the first freak out yet." he whimpered back.

She poked her head into the room, giving it a quick scan before moving the rest of the way inside. Brian walked back with each step forward she took, nearly falling out of the room before catching himself.

"Are you alright? Did he get you?" she asked, watching him stumble around with a perplexed look on her face.

"You-you-you-you..." Brian stuttered back, not even able to think of something to say.

"Wow, you must be a really fresh one. Hang on."

She walked closer to him, bridging the distance quickly. Brian pressed his back into the wall with more force as she neared. Any harder and the wall would have started to give way. His heavy, labored breathing would have done the same had he been facing it.

She reared back in front of him, arm outstretched. She twisted hard to the left and sent her hand whistling through the air. It collided with Brian's face at near mach speed, and the sound generated echoed far out of the building before fading, sending a flock of nearby pigeons flying away to places unknown.

In an instant his mind became clear, and his face became very painful. All the loose pieces flying about in his head suddenly snapped into place, and he could feel himself becoming less frenzied. He'd never have thought a smack to the face actually did anything like in the old movies he liked to watch, but today was full of surprises.

"You better now?" she asked.

"Thank you..." he timidly mumbled back.

The girl walked to his side and leaned on the wall with him, sighing and sliding down onto the floor. She didn't say anything, but he'd finally managed to put some basic sentences together in his head to say to her.

"Who are you?"

She turned her head to him, looking up at his face with a strange combination of sadness and bewilderment.

"Oh. I'm Alyssa."

Her jacket was unbuttoned, and small parts of her cleavage shown when the wind blew into it. Brian couldn't help but glance when it happened.

"Why... Why did you..."

"Save you? I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I tried to get you to leave but you just wouldn't. Why didn't you leave? I shot as close to you as I could, I even hit your gun, and you still wouldn't go. Now I killed someone on my side because I was selfish and didn't want my time trying to get you to leave to have been wasted, or see you killed. I don't... I don't feel anything right now. What do you think I am? Am I a monster?"

Her eyes were watering by the time she stopped talking. He slid down and sat next to her, looking ahead at the door and the corpse just beyond it. He didn't have any answers for her. He didn't have answers for himself.

"I was trying to wait you out so you would leave..."

"...Oh."

The two sat next to each other, silently waiting as the minutes passed and the shadows moved and danced. Finally Alyssa spoke, jumping up from the ground with a sudden, startling burst of energy.

"Alright! I've got it!"

Brian looked up at her, confused.

"Got what? Are we not moping anymore?"

"No time to mope. We've got to make a plan."

"What? What kind of plan?"

"A good one!"

Alyssa was nearly vibrating in front of him. She definitely wasn't coming off as stable.

"You're going to take me prisoner!"

"What!?"

Brian lifted himself up and walked towards her. What on earth was she thinking?

"Listen, I can't go back to my base. I'm a traitor and they'll know for sure I had something to do with whatshisname over there getting killed. So you're going to take me back to your base. You get applauded for being a good soldier, and I get to stop being ordered around by a bunch of idiots!"

"N-no, I can't do that! That's insane!"

"Yes, which makes it perfect!"

But Brian really couldn't do that. If he brought her back she'd be alive for three, maybe four more days tops. He knew damn well what happened to prisoners of war that weren't important. They didn't stay prisoners for long.

This crazy girl had gone out of her way to save his life even though she should have killed him instead. Now he could repay the favor.

His mother would like that. She'd like it a lot, and that's what mattered to him most right now. He came here to help people, and he would still be serving his country, this mission had just turned into a... humanitarian one. Alyssa clearly didn't have any knowledge of the happenings on her side of the artillery barrages, so she was basically just a civilian. That sounded like justification enough.

This would work out perfectly for him too. He'd be making his mother and his country proud. Yes, yes this would work just fine.

"No, no no no no, no I can't take you prisoner."

She turned around and started pestering him about his answer.

"Yes you can! You're going to bring me back and then I'll be-"

"No! Stop talking and listen to me!" Brian barked back at her, stunning her into silence.

"If I take you back as a prisoner you'll just be tortured to death!"

"What? What are you talking about? That's not how POW's are handled. They get tried and held, then they end up being used as bargaining chips in exchanges."

"The important ones do. You're... You're just a dime a dozen soldier, like me... You'd just be executed. But what if I took you back as a civilian?"

Alyssa paced around in front of him, muttering to herself. She stopped suddenly and answered him.

"No, no that wouldn't work. Word would get out about me being missing and it wouldn't take much for your people to put two and two together, slack-jawed fools as they may be."

"Hey!"

"I just call it as I see it. My side is hardly any better." she replied, daintily shrugging her indifference.

"So different plan then. You're going to escort me to the northern border!"

"What!?"

Brian couldn't understand a thing that could be going through the girls head. Each of her ideas were just getting crazier and crazier. The northern border? That was a week away on foot if they never stopped, plus it would take them straight through the front lines!

If they didn't get killed outright, they'd be hunted down and executed for desertion once either side noticed what they were doing. And they would definitely be noticed.

But... she wouldn't make it alone, it was just too dangerous. In the space of a single second Brian felt himself being pulled, almost ripped apart, by the sides trying to influence his actions. He had to choose _ now _, either to appease his conscience, or his honor. There was no satisfying both at this point.

12.

"Well? What's it going to be? If we're going then we can't wait around all day jabbering with each other. Time for both of us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and forge our own path. As stupid and cliche'd as that sounds."

"It's... not that simple." the distraught boy muttered back to her.

"Yes it is! This is probably the most black and white thing either of us have run into! I hate my side, and they certainly don't care about me, and your side doesn't care about you either! What's not simple about this!?"

"Hey! My country cares about me, just like I care about it!"

"No they don't. If they gave half a shit about you why did they send you off alone on suicide mission? If they expected you back don't you think they would have armed you a bit better? Maybe not for bear, but with more than a cheap, half-plastic rifle and some worn out combat fatigues. Don't be dumb, they definitely don't care about you."

"Stop it! They-This was all they had!"

"Sure. A military force payed with half the total expenses of it's country is working with rags. I can believe that."

"Stop! Shut up you stupid bitch, shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

He stormed back to the open wall and leaned on it, staring outside, and Alyssa immediately regretted what she'd done.

This wasn't the place to do this. He was just a kid, she shouldn't be badgering and belittling him like this. Not that she was much older, but she was weathered, nothing like the softness he still had. Like the stuffing flying out of a toy in the jowls of a wild dog.

"Hey..." She quietly murmured, as caring as she could manage. They both needed to calm down again, the spite in the room was almost as hot as the wind blowing outside. She may as well make the first move again.

"Why did you save me if you're just going to be an ass. I know what I'm fighting for, and just because you don't have that feeling doesn't mean you need to try and rip mine away."

"I'm sorry, I was out of line when I said that. Can we start over again? My name's Alyssa. I'm running away from the war, abandoning my country, committing high treason, and I desperately need help to get away. You're the first and last person I'm going to get to ask, so please..."

The boy turned back around to her. He'd been crying, there were still stains on his face from it. Now she felt even worse.

It was strange. She'd been having every feeling imaginable in strange bursts since midday. Happy, sad, elated, furious... what was wrong with her? She had never been moody like this before. It was like someone was in her head flailing their arms and smacking every button they could.

Alyssa put the thought in the back of her mind again. Hopefully whatever was wrong with her would pass in time. It was probably just stress. Stress and anxiety. She had quite the journey ahead of her now, and quite a journey behind her, too.

"Why the hell should I help you now?"

"Because I saved your life twice today and you owe me. And I know you want to get out of here just as much as I do."

The boy just stood there, silently staring at her. His eyes were filled with uncertainty and distrust.

There had to be a way to lighten the mood. Something crazy would probably do it, because why not? She'd already been doing stupid thing after stupid thing today, and it seemed to be working pretty well. She leaned in close to him and whispered close to his ear.

"How about I... sweeten the deal a little bit."

"W-what? Excuse me?"

Alyssa turned around, flashing a sly grin before her face was hidden from him, and making sure to smack him in the face with her tail. Not hard enough to hurt, not that there was enough mass behind the fluff for that anyway, but just enough to tease him.

She sauntered to the table in the middle of the room, boosting herself onto it with her arms and spinning back towards Brian. With a deft hand she threw off her jacket and tried to put herself into as seductive a pose as she could, breasts exposed, arms just behind her back, legs crossed, but with just enough space for anyones imagination to wander into her pants.

What the hell was she doing? There was crazy, and then there was this.

"Why don't you show me much of a big and_strong_ soldier you are, grunt?"

WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING?

The boy stood in front of her, eyes wide and filled with surprise.

"Uhm..." he muttered, visibly shocked and unable to say anything else.

"Well? What are you wait-"

The table beneath her gave a loud, agonizing groan. They each looked down at it as the noise echoed through the room.

13.

Another loud, anguished cry came from beneath the girl, table furious at her audacity. Brian watched on, and he and Alyssa made eye contact again as yet another tortured bellow rang forth from beneath her, and then silence. Both waited, unmoving, still staring at one another.

The table creaked, wobbling slightly left and right, crackling and snapping and screaming at the girl atop it. It heaved once more, violently shuddering before throwing splinters into the air and splitting apart in great display of wood and destruction.

Alyssa hovered in the air as the table shattered beneath her and sent clouds of dust spraying into the air around her. Brian watched as she only barely managed to look below her as gravity took hold and dragged her down, rendering her invisible in the chaos. Now everything was quiet again.

The dust cleared, wiped away by the rough, cleansing winds flowing through the ruins. Alyssa was sitting in the midst of the now destroyed table, oddly positioned and with a stunned look on her face, eyes looking to a place far beyond the room they were in.

"Owwww..." she droned, cartoon stars nearly visible circling her head.

A strange noise escaped Brian's throat. Not a cough, not a choke, but something else.

Again the strange noise came out of him, bursting through his mouth as his face contorted into strange expressions. And then he laughed.

Tears streamed down his face once again, but for different reasons. Brian laughed and laughed, harder than he ever had before In his life. Alyssa glared at him as he fell to the floor, curled and clutching his stomach in pain, but he couldn't stop.

"...You can stop now. I know, I fell down, it's not that funny."

But he kept laughing anyway. By this point he was gasping for breath, pain coursing through his body. His eyes glazed over and foggy with his tears of delight. Brian could barely even hear the girl over his own noise. No amount of pain, or suffering, or war itself could have stopped him. All of his troubles melted away a little more with each labored breath he sucked in.

"Please help me up, I'm stuck."

Brian carefully pulled himself off the ground, still unsteady from his laughing fit, and still giggling like a schoolgirl as he reached out his hand and grabbed hers.

With a heave he dragged her up. She stared daggers into him, but otherwise she was unharmed, save for her pride, of which was no doubt shattered into as many pieces as the table.

"I don't think this is the best place to have "I just met you" sex, but I'll... try and help you get to the border."

"You will? Really? I- Thank you so much! What changed your mind?"

He shrugged.

"I dunno, something's just telling me it's the right thing to do. It's too far to walk back to my base anyway, and I can't contact them and tell them to get me like they wanted either. I'll go with you as far as when I run into people on my own side, then we're done traveling together. If anyone asks, you're a civilian I rescued and am escorting to the nearest outpost. That way you get closer to where you're going, I don't get in trouble for desertion, and I get to make..."

He quietly stopped, not finishing his sentence aloud. Suddenly a pair of arms was wrapped around his torso, squeezing him firmly.

"Thank you, thank you so much. I'm so, so sorry for acting so crazy like this. I don't know what's wrong with me, but thank you so much."

"Uh... Don't mention it? I don't have much of a choice, you shot my transmitter, and I've got no supplies to go anywhere. At least with two of us we can-"

The girl loosened her grip and pulled herself back, taking her head off Brian's shoulder and looking him in the eyes with worry.

"What? Transmitter? You mean transceiver, don't you?"

"No, I mean it was a radio, but it had a GPS too. That's how they were going to know where to pick me up. I was just talking to them when you destroyed it.

"Oh. Oh no. Oh god, how long after losing communications do your commanders mark people as missing?"

"What? Uh, sunset I think, why?"

Alyssa's look of worry turned to one of panic, and she looked past Brian to the fading colors of daylight outside. She pulled back her arms and quickly grabbed her jacket from the ground and slung it over herself, making a beeline for the door. Brian stood and watched, confused.

"Why are you standing there!? We need to go!" she shouted to him.

"What? Why?"

She ran back into the room and grabbed his arm, pulling him with her as she ran through the door again.

"No talk! Run!"

He barely kept up to her as they darted into the hallway. If she didn't have a vice grip on his arm he would have been left in the dust.

When they reached the door to the stairwell Alyssa didn't even stop to open it. Instead she reared back and gave a devastating side kick in tandem with a shout, making a massive dent in the center of the door.

Its hinges groaned and snapped, and the door flew open and over the railing, tumbling down the stairway with an echoing blizzard of shrieking metal on concrete. Before it had even left eyesight and begun it's horrid song, she gripped his hand harder and began moving again, this time leaping down the stairs two or three at a time. It took all of Brian's effort not to fall and snap his neck.

He was dragged around one, two, three, then a fourth corner, spinning round and round, rushing down even more stairs. Alyssa shoulder barged through another door into the sunlit foyer of the building, but refused to stop, continuing on down the stairs to the crack in the wall that they had both come in from earlier.

"Hurry up! We need to go _ NOW _!" she barked, pulling him along even harder. His shoulder smacked against a rough piece of the wall, and Brian felt his flesh tear beneath it, but he kept running forward with the girl.

"Where are we going!?" he panted, struggling to keep his breath in his heavy clothing.

Protective? Sure. Functional? Completely. Practical for moving anywhere in a hurry? Not a chance in hell.

"Just keep running with me! Come on!"

14.

They had to get away, the both of them. The fact that_it_ hadn't happened yet was a miracle, but she doubted their luck would continue to last.

There were horror stories about entire platoons getting destroyed after running into single enemy scouts in strange places. It wasn't guaranteed to happen, barely even one in three, but even among those it was always after reports of the enemy having crazy, never before seen weaponry. Enough to take out a few dozen soldiers if they'd been caught by surprise.

But this? Brian was barely even soldier material. If she was right about this, then they'd turned him into a nothing more than a new age suicide bomber. Is this really what the enemy was doing now? Were they that desperate to get rid of dead weight? They could have just sent him home.

Monsters.

Fucking monsters.

A four way intersection rapidly approached, the second one since she'd run out of the building, dragging what she had hoped would be her savior. It still wasn't far enough away, and she picked up her pace as Brian began to wheeze behind her.

"Where... Where are we going? Where are... where are you taking me!?" he huffed and puffed, struggling to speak.

It was a good question. Alyssa didn't actually have a set place to go to, but as long as it was far away from the pair of

"Away! We're going away from the buildings! Move it!"

She ran between chunks of upheaved concrete, as carefully as she could without breaking her momentum. Burned shells of vehicles passed them in the middle of what was once a functioning road, and she and her escortee jumped more than a handful fallen street lights as they ran, some still barely flickering with life.

More and more running, rapid footsteps the only sound audible in the industrial wasteland they were dashing through, but it still wasn't enough. Just a little further. A little further and they might be safe. Might be.

"Okay... Okay I think we're good now. I... I... god I hope this is a good spot." she sputtered, with barely any control of her own breathing now.

Brian hobbled next to her and gave her a look of both frustration and exhaustion, before crumpling to the ground, his ass in the air and his face smacking into the dirt with a thud.

"Oh man, are you okay Brian?"

"Mmmphfffffmmfff..."

"What? What did you say?"

He turned his head towards her and spit out a mouthful of sand.

"Pfffffthhhhh! Aaaaah! I hope so. I've never run like that before in my life. What the hell was all that about!?"

The buildings they had been in still loomed on the horizon, sun perfectly between them, but now small enough to fit within their hands. Alyssa didn't answer Brian's question, instead locking her gaze to the towers. Brian twisted himself around and sat on the ground, also looking at what was enrapturing her.

She could hear it, barely, but definitely there. The noise she'd been terrified of so much just minutes prior. Hearing it now, she couldn't feel anything. This was either when they would die, or when they would get a second chance. The both of them.

It was joined by another, and then another still, each one whistling somewhere unseen in the sky. Soon they were even louder, enough for them all to become a single, terrifying cry as they moved.

"What is that? What's that noise?" Brian timidly asked her.

"You know what it is." she said back, her words quiet and timid.

The two stared on, watching and listening. One by one the whistles stopped, somewhere far away from them. Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief. Now though... the show was about to start.

She saw it before she heard it. A bright flash, a great orb of light shining oranges and yellows, billowing amongst the ruins just before the horizon. A loud bang shook the very ground beneath her and her new ally, followed by another blinding flash and grand sphere of destruction.

Among the shaking, the crumbling of rubble, the shattering of what little glass remained in place around them, the two buildings they stared at fell away. Each mortar delivered itself onto them, and each took away a hefty payment from it's targets.

Time almost seemed to slow. The flashes, the shaking, the echoing booms, there was nearly something poetic about it, but just what Alyssa couldn't think of. She was too drained to think right now. Too exhausted to care. This wasn't the place for philosophy anyway.

The flashing lights and glowing embers faded from the land before them, revealing the masterwork they had crafted. Each of the two buildings still stood, barely, each missing massive chunks and with great holes filled with sunset throughout them. They wavered in tandem, wobbling to and fro in desperation, holding on to what they had once been, seeming almost... fearful, of what they would become.

Somehow, they each fell towards one another, the top of each meeting the other in a final embrace. They stalled, for only a moment, each holding the other tightly, supporting the other in a final stand against the cruel winds of time.

For just a second, Alyssa thought that maybe they would stop. Maybe they would somehow save themselves, keep themselves from crumbling away and becoming just another casualty of the war. But their embrace faltered, the left first, then the right.

Slowly the two building crumbled away, toppling onto each others remnants like playing cards, making way for the night sky peeking out from just behind them.

Then... It was quiet. Not like the quiet moments from earlier, no. There was power hiding in this silence. Neither of them said anything. Alyssa looked at her new guide with a blank face. If she said the wrong thing right now, she would lose her only chance of survival, along with her only friend.

Extending a hand, she lifted Brian off the ground silently, and they both looked at each other one final time before turning away from the devastation they had only barely escaped, and walked forward.

Alyssa had a terrible feeling that the journey for the both of them had only just begun.

And that things were only going to get worse for them on the road ahead.