FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

The strangers showed up without warning marching from the barren, cactus laden hills with the rising sun to their backs. All of them were grim and gray as they strode past the curious gazes of the villagers, toward the big adobe hall in the middle of the cluster of primitive domed houses.

Most of them only stared ahead without acknowledging the smaller statured coyote natives, as if they were zombies on the march behind their leader. He was a weathered old bobcat that looked as if he had been scarred by just about every weapon on the planet.

Mai-ze wondered what was out there beyond the hills that could cause such haunted looks. But finally she spotted one that had some spirit in his eyes. He was a tall, lean lupine wearing cargo pants and a breastplate of faded drab green complete with paulders that gave him an imposing almsot robotic silhouette. Some long, shiny and squarish weapon was strapped across his shoulder. His gray eyes swept to hers where she stood between two of her fellow villagers and she caught a smile crack at the corner of the outsider's muzzle. He dipped his head at the short, petite coyote girl and his eyes moved down to the shapely mounds under her thin, triangle-fringed dress. Just for an instant, then bounced away. She watched him a moment, an eyebrow rising with curiosity.

The curtains to the town hall were parted by a pair of spear-wielding guards as the village's leader, Shargara, emerged. She was a plump coyote woman, her curves crossed by leather pathces and bright multicolored feathers. Though she wasn't cold to the waiting strangers as she normally was. Instead she cracked a smile as she walked up and embraced their leader. Once they parted, he motioned to his soldiers and the attractive wolf from earlier brought forward a suitcase.

Peeking at the meeting from behind the town well, Mai-ze shifted her ears to better hear.

"Medicine and water purification tablets, as per our usual arrangement," The bobcat was saying, "I've already briefed my men about following your laws while we're camping here,"

"All looks to be in order. Make yourselves comfortable then," Shargara said to the strangers with a nod. She stepped closer to the bobcat and whispered in his tufted ear, to which he nodded and followed her inside the town hall.

Kent stood just out of sight of the furthest flung hut, facing the wall of gnarled dead trees and the crinkly detritus burying their roots. Through the hazy, dust-tinted sky, the sunlight glinted off his lasrifle as he scanned the surroundings...

There it is

While marching over the hills that morning, he had spotted something- a remnant of the old world. A heavily rusted and thin structure sticking just above the skeletal fingers of the treetops. He suspected it was a gas station and his mouth watered at the potential contents within, more appetizing than the stale rations he and the other rangers had been munching on for weeks on end.

At the sound of rustling scrub, Kent whirled around. It was that coyote girl from earlier, whacking away the thorny plant life in her path with a metal spear.

"Hello there," She greeted, propping the spear across her shoulders as she strolled up to him.

"Hey," He returned with a gloved hand raised.

The short coyote only barely cleared his belt ears included. She didn't seem intimidated by the huge armored wolf. Under her dress he could tell she was quite a shapely little nymph. Her sandy fur faded to white highlights, fitting in with the arid environs. He covered up his hesitation with a cough to clear his throat but seemed to recover his confidence.

"Name's Kent, but my callsign is Deathbringer," He said with a cocky grin, "Er...that's what it'll be when I get one,"

"Deathbringer huh?" She responded with a tilt to her head, "Well, I'm Mai-ze but just Mai is fine. Nice to meet you,"

She was then distracted by her reflection in his chrome plated weapon. He patted the object as if it were his own puppy.

"Found this in some old ruins and fixed it up myself. Ever see an energy weapon? It'll cut through anything,"

Whether she understood or not, he couldn't say but she nodded anyway and gazed toward the forest.

"Find anything interesting out here?"

"Actually I was about to go raid those old prewar ruins and see if it has anything good to eat,"

Mai shook her head, "Oh, we're forbidden to go near any of those places. They're dangerous. Shargara is afraid we might wake up one of those old machines,"

She hefted her spear up and at the ready, "So you'll need some backup. I'm in,"

The gas station stood at the top of a hill, a fortress above a sandy yard of shattered concrete and sprawling weeds. The wind whistled through the hollow shell of a vehicle as Kent and Mai passed, reminding her of a shell shed by the weird bloated beetles that seeped glowing ooze from the seams in their chitin.

As they passed under the framework of a shelter above the gas pumps, they approached the big square building where only a few jagged remnants and panes of glass remained of its once-shiny walls. Kent swept the front of the building with his lasrifle. He dashed in a zigzag pattern and even performed a combat roll before popping up at the open doors with his weapon aimed at the shadows. Mai casually followed him inside.

The building's interior was much the same as the outside, scorched and faded by sunlight.

"I don't think there's anything left here," Mai said, looking to the metal shelves now displaying nothing but sand.

"Not at first glance," Kent replied, "But if you know where to look..."

The wolf had walked behind the counter and was crouched in front of a door working at something she couldn't see. Just a few moments mining the lock until he struck the satisfying click. Easy. He turned with a grin only to find Mai was standing on the counter watching over his shoulder.

She cocked an eyebrow, "Good with your fingers eh? I like that,"

"It's nothing, I- huh?" His ears flattened a moment when he processed her comment.

She giggled at his reaction, patting his shoulder and hopping off the counter. She pushed open the door.

"I'm just messing with you. Let's see what we've got here.."

Only steps inside the back storage room, Kent paused and let out a triumphant "Ha!" as Mai followed his gaze to the crates and shelves chock full of strange items. It was cool back here, the only hint of the harsh outside light coming from squat windows near the ceiling.

On top of an old crate they laid out a choice selection of loot. Mai had to stand on a chair beside Kent to get a clear view of the strange old treasures.

The first thing she was drawn to was a green oblong plastic container with a square fin at the bottom serving as a stand. Only Kent knew that it was shaped like an atom bomb. Across the front were the words Flavor-Ton. Picking it up, Mai shook the object and could hear something rattling inside. That must have been the food. She raised it as if to crack it open when Kent snatched it out of her hand. Grasping the conical nose, he unscrewed it and produced a handful of red gummy candy offering it to her.

"Mm...cinnamon," She said, trying one and then shoving several more into her mouth chewing noisily.

Kent opened a package that contained a roll of chewy candy. Sweet N' Sour Launch Codes. There was some sort of game that was supposed to be played with the numbers provided on a cardboard sheet inside the package but he was more invested in the array of fruit flavors as he sucked more into his mouth. His head was pulled to the side and he realized Mai was chomping the candy from the other side. Showing mercy, she chomped her piece off before things got too awkward though there was a mischievous look on her face.

"This stuff is pretty good,"

He agreed with a nod, picking up another item. Candy Sardines , exactly what it said on the short tin container. He wound the key up peeling back the lid and found tightly packed, multicolored gummy fish sprinkled with sugar.

Mai meanwhile examined a long square candybar in a white rapper. Tundra Bar. She flipped it around and found more writing on the back next to the ingredients.

"Tundra Bars were developed by and for the troops. Our chocolate is able to withstand subzero temperatures indefinately. For the Alaskan defender with a sweet tooth,"

She frowned, "I don't get it,"

"Something to do with the war," He shrugged, taking it from her and opening it to taste a chunk. He spat it out immediately. The chocolate could survive subzero temps, but at what cost? He tossed it over his shoulder.

Time slipped on as the two talked and ate, but at last Kent glanced at his watch and figured it was time to get back to the village before his absence was noted. As good as the candy was, they were still in a forbidden area.

Stashing some of the loot in his pack, they gathered their things and ventured back outside. As they were making their way across the parking lot, Kent heard Mai behind him as she was still crunching on the bag of caramel atomic cores she carried. She offered the bag to him and he plucked one of the pieces, wrapped in bright gold foil.

"Make sure you get rid of that package before-"

Something caught his eye that caused his voice to fall silent at once. It came around the side of the gas station huffing low to the ground, its nostrils kicking up puffs of sand. A hulking mutant on four legs, shaped like a mass of muscled tumors and sharp clawed paws. A thick-necked head jutted forward from the main mass, featureless save for a toothy maw.

"Shit- watch out!"

Heart pounding, Kent shouldered his lasrifle. Just about the time his sights settled on the mutant, its bulky head turned toward them and sucked in air bulging its abdomen out to the sides with a deep growl. The trigger clicked back and a brief electric crackle was heard. The weapon malfunctioned, and the mutant was halfway toward them. A curse tumbled out of Kent's mouth as he dropped his lasrifle and fumbled for his sidearm.

"Get behind me!" He shouted at Mai, but the coyote dashed forward instead. There would be no time before she and the mutant met.

Bracing the spear against the ground, she aimed the tip at the charging beast. She jerked it up and directly into the thing's chest as it slammed into the weapon. It would have bowled her over had it not impaled itself. The momentum levered the spear up and carried it over her in an arc. It tumbled down on the concrete, with Kent falling backwards to avoid the swiping claws. Its limbs scrabbled to find purchase or flesh where they could. Claws closed on a chunk of asphalt, crumbling it like a dirt clod.

Rising to his knees, Kent brought his pistol up and unloaded it into the featureless top of the vague dome where he figured its skull was. Red soup splattered on the hot concrete and the bulky limbs of the monster shuddered, becoming limp. A few clicks later he realized his pistol was empty and robotically reloaded it while rising to his feet. Mai appeared on the other side of the mutant corpse, huffing as she looked at him.

"You okay?" She asked.

He muttered an affirmative as he picked up his fallen lasrifle from the ground, almost wanting to take his fury out on it and slam the thing into the ground. Instead he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"Let's move," He said, scanning around them but spotting no more imminent threats.

They jogged back up to the stand of forest concealing the village. Kent cast a few glances behind him as they topped a short hill. They didn't stop their elevated pace until the first of the village's huts came into view. Trotting to a stop, Kent took another deep breath as the last of the adrenaline was wearing off. It looked like they were scot free.

And right on cue, Kent caught the shine of sun on a scope and skidded to a halt. The rifle lowered. And there was something even more fearful. It was a rather cross looking bobcat.

"Weapons down!"

Out of the brush and from around boulders the rest of the rangers appeared. Of course there was quite a bit of snickering and remarks at the coyote he had tailing him. They exchanged glances.

"We heard gunshots. The hell is going on?" The bobcat demanded.

"It was me. Ran into a waste hunter,"

Kent forced the words out. Maybe he was still a bit idealistic, but the thought of outright lying was something that tasted worse than a tundra bar.

"...and her,"

He gestured to the small coyote and she waved cheerfully to the squad.

"It's true sir," She said, "He was so brave out there. Like some kind of knight in shining armor,"

Some of the other rangers looked ready to burst with laughter, while the older ones had pride on their face.

"Ah, young love in the wasteland.." Somebody commented to which the squad laughed.

The bobcat rubbed at his chin, as if he didn't know whether to chew Kent out or not.

"Well...I suppose you handled business. Fair enough. But no more of these little nature walks, got it? Stay within sight of the camp!"

"But what's this?"

A female voice sounded from behind them. It was the big coyote woman, Shargara. She walked up and plucked something from Kent's pocket. The edge of a gold foil candy wrapper had tipped her off and she held the treat in her fingers up for all to see. She lowered it, eyes boring into Kent's.

"Has somebody been traipising through a forbidden place?"

Kent gulped a dry throat. The bobcat was fuming and he braced for one of his squad leader's legendary ass chewings. Instead what he got was a sigh.

"Well, my lady. Looks like he's all yours," He then turned to look at Kent, "We follow their laws here. You'll have to take whatever punishment she sets out for you,"