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Always Affect You

by Skipai (c) 2021

Authors note: I was not sure where I was going with this story, I suppose I was trying to get my head straight what with current events, the loss of a family member recently last month and in a way, this is just what is going on within me right now. I am not calling for a ban on meat, which was not what this was about, I just do not know what this really means still even for me. So please be understanding when you do read this, I am going through some stages of recovery and take this story as it is. If it means something to you, even differently that is fine. I was trying to explain what this means to me even if it is lacking in explanation. Enjoy.

When things start, no one really began to realise, it was all just made to look as if those that were saying something was happening were insane, or that they were just making it up. And slowly over time the ones that were ignorant of the issue were just like a frog inside a pan of water that was slowly being heated up until the time was right for you to become part of the system that was out to get you and boil you alive.

The water drizzled from a broken drainage pipe high above the building as the sound of the droplets splashed about onto the pavement below while the rat panted heavily against the cold brick wall.

His chest puffed outwards as the male rat inhaled, gulping down air as the fur on his body stood on end, his long slender fingers, stained with blood and bruised pressed hard against the hard brick surface as the sharp ends of the claws scraped against the hard surface as tiny red specks dropped downwards.

The hard thud against his ribcage, his heart trying it is best to either burst out and if not, then it was the sensation of it trying to regurgitate and slam out from his mouth. Then the loud sound came above as the rodent looked up to see a helicopter fly overhead as the bright white light moved about. The rodent pressed himself against the brick wall, daring to try and sink into it, to vanish as his eyes stared blankly upwards, then his right ear flicked about as it caught a sound and heard some noise further away to the left of him. The loud crackle and electronic sound of the radio speaker blared into life. The rat knew that he could not stay there but the helicopter was still hovering about as it searched about.

It all started a decade ago when a new political party came about that was all for bringing back the old days of predator species that felt that they were all being wiped out, that they were unable to hunt and control the prey species due to the new cancel culture.

No, it started long before then, but no one took it seriously, no one thought, not even some of the predator species that just shrugged, rolled their shoulders as they denied that there was a problem, that the prey species were just panicking as it was part of their nature.

"Oh, you're just being paranoid." The fox said to the rat as he laughed while holding a glass bottle of ale as they both sat at the bar. "It won't come to that, it's just a new party that won't get anywhere, besides, that particular leader is just an arse."

That is how most of the conversations happened when he tried to warn them, that he was being too paranoid, that he was safe, that everything was fine. The rodent found himself slowly losing friends as they began to get fed up with his warnings, that he should get a life and stop worrying.

The urge to either just run or fight was making the rat start to go crazy, he could feel parts of his brain began to shut down as the automated systems within his biological organ began to stir into life as the rat looked back towards the sound where he knew danger was approaching him and the loud sound of the helicopter engine was humming away as the bright white light moved about overhead. The rat snarled, muttering under his breath. "Move you bastard."

One moment where he had tried to get his best friend to take the threat seriously just failed and fell to the ground like a dead weight. "Oh, will you just shut up." The fox said back to him with bared teeth. "That's all I hear from you these days, you are just insane, a paranoid bastard. This won't ever happen, why can't you just get that through that thick head of yours."

"But I'm trying to-" The rat tried to reply before he felt the fist of the fox go up against his nose and his friend just punched him, the stinging pain and shock made him fall to the ground as the vulpine stood over him with a scary look on his face, the sharp fangs were shown as his friend, soon to be an ex-friend snarled at him. "I can't do this anymore, just fuck off will you. You're just no fun anymore to hang about with, we're done." And then a friend from childhood turned around as the thick red and white tipped tail swished and the fox walked off into the distance, the rat never saw him again.

The light moved on as the helicopter moved away as the rat quickly ran down the alleyway as his entire body ached, the rodent could hear those behind him start to move quickly as flashes of light from their torches caught the sight of him as his shadow danced about in front of him.

The loud sound of the helicopter came back as the bright white light flashed into his eyes; the rodent reached up with his hand paw to shield his eyes as his face winced...

The audience that sat down in front of him as the rat stood there behind the wooden podium as the bright stage lights shone into his eyes, the male rat shield himself for a moment until his vision improved and then slowly, he grasped the side of the podium and began to speak. "The threat that we are facing this election is one that we cannot take for granted, we cannot ignore. Our own safety is of the most importance that we take the threat of this new political party that has been gaining strength in support each day. We are living things, we are not food, we have rights!"

The rat turned to look at the others that were sat on the stage who had spoken or were to speak after him, before he turned his head back to the audience again. "So, I implore you, like the others to get out into your community, educate those to know what is coming and to get out to vote this election as our very existence, our importance and rights are at risk." The sound of applause was loud as the rat looked at the group in the hall were clapping, then the rat saw someone else right at the back as he shielded his eyes from the spotlight to get a better look and saw two wolves sat there with a frown on their face. Both wore suits as they got up and left the room quietly before the rat was able to speak anything about it.

The water was becoming warm but not threatening, when the party won the election and those that had tried to warn everyone that something was going to happen. It did not and him and the others that called out the warning were slowly and systematically destroyed in both their lives and reputation.

It was brutal, the full hunt that came to those that had spoken out after the election, the onslaught from the press, the media that started their smear campaign against him and the others. The rat quickly found himself alone, no one wanted to employ, the party quickly began to infight and then collapse so that when the next election came, they were unable to even get one person to stand up against the party that had got into power.

Then slowly, things started to occur, people began to go missing, not many, but now and again some of those that were still loyal to the cause met to discuss about someone that they knew had vanished, taken in the night to never be seen again.

Then slowly the whole meat shortage that had gotten worse over the years had started to improve. The rat watched as he saw the news about a new procedure to get the cattle to be more productive, but he did not really want to believe, the way the reports were done were very convincing.

It was only when the group found out years later what was going on, most of the population was for it or that they decided to ignore the truth as it didn't affect them, the ones that were affected tried to get back to oppose it again but by then there was nothing that could be done, the kidnap squads started, the papers began their smear campaigns and classed most prey species as terrorists.

Even he got to be on the top list of people to be found for made up crimes, a few bombs here and there on predator homes and soon, the rodent was on the run, no friends to help him and therefore he was busy running down a wet alleyway with the bright lights of the helicopter and a squad of kidnappers running behind him as they started to close in.

The site of the clearing ahead, before the place known as the warren was just in reach. The rat pushed hard as the thighs in his legs burned, the rodent ignored the sudden pain in his ankle as he felt it sprain, just his mind looked ahead to where he wanted to get away, to find safety, to live.

A large thud came to the side as soon as he left the alleyway, the rat tumbled onto the pavement as he grunted in pain and looked up to another large male rat, black fur and in full body armour. "What...?" The rodent snarled at him as confusion came about the fallen rat on the ground, he spoke again. "What, why?"

The large black rat snarled and knelt before he grabbed the throat, lifted the rodent, and snarled. "You're a monster, a terrorist." Before the rat could defend his honour, the large fist of the bigger black rat smashed into the temple and the lights went out.

The cold splash of water was the next thing that the rat could sense, the sickly way his brain came about as the male rat turned around and vomited onto the cold grated floor, his fingers slowly registering that the grate was metal. With his head spinning, the rodent coughed as the pain in his head throbbed painfully.

It was then that he noticed several things, the first was that he was naked, all his clothes were nowhere to be felt on his body, then the strong stench of bleach. The rat sniffed as the stench made his stomach hurl and the rodent dried heaved, gasping loudly.

Before any more time was given for the rat to recover, two large males walked over, roughly grabbed the rodent by the ankles and then clanked some metal chain about the lower legs. The chains gripped about the legs tightly as the rat groaned, then he scrambled as his claws tried to grasp onto the metal grid as his legs were roughly lifted into the air.

A sharp pain came to his side as he coughed and then he saw the floor fall beyond his grasp as he was hoisted up high above the ground and hung there as the sensation of blood came rushing down to his head. With the throbbing headache, the rat felt his head pain gain in strength as his eyes throbbed, the sight of the vessels on his eyeballs were seen clearly in his vision as the heart continued to pump his blood about the body.

Then the rat saw the male fox who came into the room, the large rusty knife held in the right-hand paw, the rubber blood-stained apron. The rat squirmed about as the chains above him clinked about. The two wolves moved to grab the arms, quickly pulling them back painfully as they tied them behind the rodent's back and then held the male rat in place as the rodent felt sick, repulsed by the touch on his body as he felt a cold sick feeling come over him as he saw the fox approach him with that knife, the only thing that the rodent could not keep his eyes off it. The brain screaming in his head to not look at it, but he just could not stop looking at it and so the feedback went around as the panic grew.

A sharp pain came to the side of the rodent's neck and then all the fear, the panic quickly faded away as the sensation of the warmth came all over the rodent as he just felt happy. The fox looked at the rodent for a moment, lifted the knife up as the other hand paw moved to grip the side of the head, the claws gripped at the fur and then the blade was quickly moved across the neck.

The head of the rat fell as the thick crimson blood splashed down onto the grate floor as the fox took a step back as the happy rodent gurgled and twitched about. Then the fox face turned to confusion, then fear as the eyes stared at one part of the rodent body, the back as the torso moved about freely now and saw the birth mark. The sound of the large knife clattered to the ground as the two wolves looked at him. "What's the matter?"

The fox shook his head and swallowed. "Nothing." The vulpine picked up the large blade, turned around and quickly left the room as the two large wolves waited until the body had stopped bleeding and began their task of removing the innards.

As soon as the door was shut, the knife was thrown as it clattered to the floor, the blood splashed about as the vulpine felt sick, his body crashed into the door as the body slid down, the bloody hand lifted to hold onto his face as that sick feeling swelled up within him.

"We'll always be friends, won't we?" The rat said as he looked to his friend, both sat at the oak tree in the grass within the school premises. The fox smiled and nodded his head. "Friends forever." The rat held the paw of the fox and smiled. "And you never harm me, right?" The fox shook his head. "I'll never harm you, not ever."

The image played about in the head of the fox as he felt the sticky blood of the friend, he had promised so long ago against his cheek fur and skin underneath, the iron stench of the gooey liquid. The fox lurched forwards and threw up as he placed both hand paws onto the cold tiled floor.

The sight of him looking down at the rat after he punched him in the face. The way he spoke to him as he ended the friendship, not believing that his friend was in danger, all those lives, most were criminals, terrorists. The papers and all said so.

The fox believed it as with everyone else, he ended his friendship, something that showed signs of being something else, something closer. The fox got up and pulled off the rubber apron, looked at the knife and slowly he got dressed properly and left the factory, never to be seen again in such a place.

It was ten years later as the two officers broke into the apartment, the stench that had been reported by others in the apartment block. The lion and bear quickly held their noses as they saw the very thin fox that had decomposed on the only chair in the room, a small table with an envelope rested on the photograph, faded that showed the fox smiling to the camera next to the rat as they stood at the beach.

"Dear Tam,

If only I had listened to you at the start, took notice of your paranoia that was a call for help. I failed you back then when really, I should have taken more notice, same as everyone else.

I can never forgive myself for what I did, to kill you in that place, to think that you became food, just to appease those that ate meat, to ignore that the meat was those we loved, we talked, we laughed than fix the problem.

I never ate meat again, this I know will eventually kill me, I am so sorry.

Tod."

The lion shook his head, screwed up the note and tossed it into the bin. "Stupid git, getting all sentimental over some meat." The lion looked at the bear. "Have you tried rat meat, it's quite sweet and juicy. We should get a rat burger after this gets sorted right?" The bear smiled, nodded as the lion lifted the radio to his lips and spoke. "Control, we need a coroner here to confirm a death. No, nothing seriously, looks like suicide from not eating."

As life moved on, elsewhere, the male fox stood nearby the tree that he suddenly saw himself at, the fox looked about as though trying to figure out how he got to be in the school grounds again, how did he get there. He knew he was lost, that there was something that had weighed him down, a big guilt that felt like a heavy evil weight within him.

Then someone came up alongside him and smiled softly. "Was quite nice here, wasn't it?" The fox turned to the sound of the voice and stumbled back as he saw the rat still staring at the tree. The entire weight of his body began to overpower his legs as the vulpine fell to his knees and then felt wetness on his face.

The rat knelt in front of the fox and smiled. "Tod, it's okay." The fox wept. "No, it's not. I didn't believe you, I should've believed you, why didn't I believe you."

Tam looked at Tod as he held the fox gently with both of his warm hands, the rat spoke quietly and softly, something that Tod did not like, there was no anger, at least yell at him. "I wasn't exactly great at not sounding as crazy at the time, it pushed you away. I do not blame you."

Tod tried to look away. "I killed you though." Tam shook his head. "Yes, but I forgive you, you've paid for that in your own way, though I wish you hadn't." Tam pulled Tod into a hug as the fox wept, then Tam began to cry as he held his friend close.

"But no one will listen!" Tod said as the rat smiled and moved to the side while still holding onto the fox and looked at the tree which started to show something in front of them. The sight of the large bear in the room where Tod could see his dead body, reach down to the bin, took out the letter as the large bear read it before slowly walking over to where the photograph was on the small table and stared at it. The bear spoke. ", think I'll pass, don't fancy that tonight. Got something else to do." The lion who was not looking but just stared outside the window. "Your loss."

The vision changed again as Tod sniffed and looked at the large bear move through a dark alleyway and then knocked on a door. It opened and a rabbit stood there in fear. The bear just smiled without showing his teeth. "It's okay, I came to help, please let me help." It took a short while, but the rabbit moved to the side as the bear entered the building, the door closed again.

Tam looked at Tod, "You did more than you realised, you planted a seed, you injured yourself along the way." The rat moved to go in front of the fox again as the rodent knelt there. "Tod, I forgive you. I forgave you the moment in my dying moments the look on your face when you realised who you killed. That seed you put there, it will grow, others will know on not to kill intelligent species just for food. So, please forgive yourself."

The warm rat hands held onto Tod's as the fox looked down towards them and then slowly back up to where the rat was and nodded his head, the weight of guilt crying out in pain as it began to fade away, forbidden to be where the fox was and the two embraced each other as Tam spoke into the closest ear of the fox. "I love you." Tod wept as he replied. "I love you too." The words barely getting out as the fox just cried and there the two remained for a long time, enjoying each other's presence after so long as they both helped to heal their pain as their souls started to dance together for eternity.