FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thunder faintly bellowed through the walls, but my focus stayed steered toward the empty aisles ahead. Fumbling at each decrepit shelf, I spotted several cans of food and hurriedly chucked each one into my backpack.

There must be more than this, I thought grimly. Please let there be more.

I raised my flashlight along the endless shelves. The deeper I trekked, the rottener the air smelled. I could taste foul meat left unattended by meat-eating looter. I also discovered portions of the roof already caved in.

By the time I found my way to the front of the store minutes later, I tossed my flashlight back into my bag. I also grabbed the two surgical masks in my paw and waited by pried-opened doors leading out into the white unknown. He was going to like this.

A loud cough echoed to my left, from the darker section of the store.

"Kurtis?" I spoke hesitantly. "Is that you?"

Nobody spoke. Then the shuffling grew louder until a brown-furred bunny emerged from the shadows. "It's me, dummy. My flashlight died."

Like me, the rabbit wore a dark, heavy winter coat and long snow pants, lugging a large backpack on his right shoulder. Our eyes were covered by goggles, both of which Kurtis managed to grab from our university's science labs before we left. His were green and mine black. However, his fur was browner with drooping ears. My fur was as white as ice and ears pointed straight high.

Pulling myself away from his warm lips, I curved mine and offered him a mask.

"Thought you'd need this?" I asked bemusedly.

"Wow!" Kurtis gawked, immediately putting it on. "How'd you find these two? I thought everyone would've looted 'em all by now." I pulled my pair of old surgical masks that were overused and taped together, then we tossed them aside.

"No more of those useless ones. I guess whoever was last here forgot to keep a close eye out for unpackaged pairs," I laughed with him. "How about you?"

"Nothing but cruddy summer clothes. Everything else is just...gone," he quickly glanced to the back of the abandoned superstore, sighing through the mask's insulation. "So what'd you find in the back, sweetie?"

"Fortunately and unfortunately," I chirped, "I scavenged us several cans, four unopened AA batteries, some duct tape...those two masks...and nothing else besides that."

"Think those batteries would fit with my flashlight?" Kurtis yanked the other mask from my paw and put it over my ears. "Stay still--"

"Hey, hey, hey!" I swatted his paws away. "I think so, and I think I can do this on my own." My mask fit perfectly over my maw and nose like a canid glove, and although he couldn't see it, I beamed up to the tall rabbit. "But thank you."

Kurtis smiled again and pecked between my twitching ears.

"We should get going now. It's gonna be evening soon."

"Agreed."

Kurtis tapped his mask against mine, then followed my gaze to the doors. Placing our hoods on and gripping our backpacks, we held our breaths and stepped back out into the grey.

As before, the storefront and New Hampshire (Vermont?) town sat under three inches of ash. Many vehicles in the parking lot, cars and such, rested immobile under the grey powder settling in every direction. I wondered what life was originally like in this unincorporated village now growing colder and colder. The residents here had already fled. Almost two months and food was harder to find. Storefronts everywhere were rummaged or lay decrepit under layers of volcanic ash in this eternal winter. As the sky grew duller, you couldn't tell the difference between snowfall or ashfall anymore.

Me and Kurtis started attending college when geologists reported sudden seismic activity under Yellowstone. The news used to talk about a probable super-eruption every year or so, but now it's all they'll talk about for years. By the time the Eruption occurred days later, nobody was fully prepared. Not Wyoming, Idaho, Montana or my parents over the border.

To this day, I can only hope they went north, and that they're okay.

"Benji?"

I dazed back to reality, and back to Kurtis.

"What?" I asked loudly. "You say something?"

"Huh? Yeah! You..." he coughed as the wind picked up, "you alright there?"

"Yeah," I replied, loudly again when a gust of ashen air blew by us. "Yeah, I am!"

He squeezed my paw tighter, and that was all I needed.

The winds died down a little later, and I could spot dying rays of sunlight peek through the thick clouds hovering above us. I couldn't see my electric watch due to the intensity of the wind Kurtis and I both could tell it'd be dark sooner than later and hurried further until we came to a trailer park.

Like I said, whoever lived here packed up in a huge hurry. Fenced off between their "downtown", many of the rustic trailers were ransacked or buried under a foot of volcanic dust. It was like the Earth swallowed half of the area into the ground itself and painted everything tinted white. Front yards heaped with looted items, unhinged doors swaying open, and one instance a burnt-up RV on its side. Miraculously, a few were left intact and undamaged.

Can't believe some idiots still kept their keys under a fake rock, I mused.

Kurtis fished them from his pack and hastily closed the door as fast as he opened it, then came a moment of absolute silence and hearing the howling winds outside.

Without a word we rushed into one of the adjoining bedrooms and shook away the remaining ash off our coats. Soon finished, we exited into the living room and dropped our coats onto the floor before pulling our goggles and masks away. My paws fished for solid matter in the pitch black of my pack and placed the cans on the table.

"What'd you find back there, Benji?" Kurtis asked, adding, "At the store?"

I turned my flashlight on before presenting my findings.

"Two canned kernel, three mushroom soup, one pineapple, tuna, that duct tape and..." I handed one of the batteries to him in the near-darkness, "those AA batteries you wanted."

On cue, he carefully tore the package's contents out and replaced them.

"You're the best, baby, you know that?" he asked. "Have I ever said that to you?"

"Believe me, you have," I rolled my eyes just in time for Kurtis's flashlight to turn back on. "Hey!"

"Saw that," he pouted, to which I stuck my tongue out.

"I know that, dummy," I smirked, to which Kurtis moved his eyes back.

"Anyway," he spoke up, still smiling softly, "mind handing me that duct tape? I think we ought to patch up any holes in here or on our coats." Reaching back in, I fished for the roll and handed it to the taller rabbit.

When we came into town, neither of us were picky about finding shelter. After spending God knows how many nights scurried under bridges, in the rubble of houses and such, this trailer seemed like a tropical resort. The dwelling was old, that was for sure, but a comfy bed or sofa still served at this in this new age. Only problem? We needed to be extra careful about bringing in any ash.

While taping the closed windows and any cracks, my flashlight's beam fell on something. I saw a picture frame I hadn't noticed before, resting on the drawer by the sofa. Four wolves, two female, definitely a mother & father with their cubs. Did they escape in time before the ash cloud came?

It'd been several days since we last saw any living soul. We were outside of Massachusetts on the desolate road when a group of people began flocking beside us. Dressed in either coats or rags of clothing, that covered their heads, there were three men, four women, two cubs no older than ten, all coughing and hacking and hugging themselves from the cold. I wanted to feel helpful and give them something--anything.

When it got darker, me and Kurtis stopped under a highway bridge with the group. Me and the rabbit on one side and the group opposite. By mistake, I accidentally reached in my backpack for a bag of leftover cereal.

Suddenly, Kurtis gripped my wrist. "Don't let them see--"

"Food? Y-You have food?"

It was too late. Without warning, several of them sat up and approached us.

"Can you share? P-Please! I'm so hungry!"

"He has food? Tell him to give me some!"

"They got food? Give it to me!"

They swarmed us and pleaded for what little we had, with a couple of the men looking ready to attack. Kurtis placed an arm in front of me and shouted how we didn't have enough, but they didn't listen. I remember one of the group members clearly, a wolfess with ash-covered fur sniffling and begging while holding onto her daughter. They were clearly starving, and desperate enough to do what it took to eat.

"Give it to me! Please! Fucking give me your food!"

One of the male members punched me in the cheek and snatched the food. Kurtis didn't bother getting revenge on the guy, and instead helped me to my footpaws as the others tried grabbing our bags. We ran as far as we could get before their shouts faded away.

"Done over here," Kurtis called from the back of the trailer. "How 'bout you?"

"Same," I replied, then flushed when a loud growl escaped from my stomach.

"Wow, I could hear that from back here," he joked. "Come on, let's eat. I'm starving just thinking of having corn again." He grabbed a knife from the drawers and pried the two cans open. "Granted it isn't romantic without candles or a movie, but..."

"Are you asking me on a date again?" I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I'm flattered, but I think we've got better things to worry about, Kurt."

"Might as well make the best of things, Benji," he chirped when the second one finally opened. "Mmmm, smell that?"

I sniffed the air, and my maw watered like the Niagara Falls.

"...I'll admit. It definitely smells better compared to cold soup or old bread."

Kurtis notably shook his tail. "That's the spirit," he grinned, handing me a can and a plastic spoon before guiding me to the couch. "Dinner is served, my Love."

I smiled and leaned up to peck him. "Love you too."

As we ate our food from the cans, I pulled out the emergency radio from his bag. With one fumbling paw I found the switch and tuned to the correct the frequency.

"--ordering survivors to flee south into either Mexico or Georgia and Florida into refugee zones. For those north of Washington, D.C., migrate into either Nova Scotia or Quebec City. British, U.S. and Canadian Navies will assist in evacuations to Newfoundland and Europe. Reminders go out for anyone listening in to stay safe and beware of the ash cloud's noxious effects."

"Not much of a choice for those near the caldera," Kurtis murmured.

"Or the West Coast," I added, chewing on the cold vegetable. "Mm." We sat in silence as the radio blended in with the outside, until I asked, "Can you tell me...uh..."

Kurtis tossed me a confused glare, making me gulp.

"We're going to make it, Benji," he frowned sternly. "We're not going to die here. I know you told me we couldn't make it as far as Vermont, but we need to keep...keep--" Kurtis suddenly began coughing and sighed. A little bit of ash must have gotten into him again. "--we need to keep going."

Slight relief flooded me, and I couldn't help from laughing.

"I was gonna ask if we should eat this with the bread in your pack," I explained. "It's just...been in there for days. Think it'd help give this a little flavor, big guy?"

Kurtis blinked. "Oh. Right, right," he shook his head. "Sorry, uh, let me get it."

The corn didn't taste better with the bread, but I knew my satisfied smile was enough for him. The rabbit sitting across from me loved me to death, even before we left New Haven. Looking at Kurtis, watching him chew and swallow hungrily for more he couldn't have, reminded me of the same introverted guy who met me on an online forum years ago.

We finished off the last of the bread, and decided to sleep after listening again to the radio. Nothing much was new; rumors of a refugee crisis in South America, the government-in-exile begging citizens along the West Coast to wait for rescue, the usual. Piles of bodies found under inches of ash, how it was affecting the atmosphere and advice for survivors caught in the cloud. When Kurtis recommended we turn it off, saying it, "Depresses the hell out of me," I couldn't agree more.

He opted from the bed, whether it be out of respect or in case of any survivors breaking in, I couldn't know. Nonetheless, Kurtis grabbed a large quilt from a corner closet and wrapped it around us in a cocoon. I leaned into his warm chest and relaxed when his arms wrapped me into a second blanket.

"Hey?" he mumbled into my neck, then turned to cough/sneeze before chuckling. His hot breath tickled my fur and made my ears flick at his nose. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I was gonna say the same about you," I remarked softly, clearing my throat and coughing a little. "That cough of yours has been getting worse lately."

"Forget about me," he replied, gripping my paw and clearing his throat. Hitching his breath and coughing again, this time harsher, he caressed my palm and sighed. "I'm doing alright now, but what about you? I can hear your stomach growling right now. And you're...shaking. Trembling, actually."

"I'm only cold," I reassured him. "I miss summer. Haven't gone a single day without seeing the color grey the past month."

"None of us have," he whispered, then pulled me closer into his warm chest radiating through his thick sweater. "Hard to believe it's only October, I think, right?"

I sighed and felt my mind grow heavier. "Yep...you're right."

"Benji?" Kurtis asked later into the night.

My right eye opened. "Yeah?"

"I know you weren't thinking that, alright?" he said to me in a tired yet firm voice. "I know you miss your folks. I do too. But we will make it there. Once we're in England or Europe, we'll...we'll ask for help. I mean, they have to give us help." The brown-fured rabbit squeezed my paw again, and chuckled. "Can't wait to see London for the first time. Do you think they'll give us free 'I survived Yellowstone' shirts when we arrive?"

Small laughter escaped my throat. "Wow," I scoffed. "Terrible, even by your standards."

"There's that smile I was looking for though," he formed an obnoxious grin, then turned to lick my nose. "I know things have been hard, but I'm here for you." Kurtis caressed my shoulders and nuzzled into my neck.

Still smiling at the ticklish nose, I sniffled. "Thanks, Kurt."

The taped windows grew darker and the building colder. However, Kurtis and I knew our warmth would keep us together. It'd help us survive. Tomorrow...tomorrow we would continue over to our destination and make it through this. For him, and for them.

***

Dead grass and trees, that was everything between us and Quebec City.

We'd left first thing in the morning and continued north to the border, the best sign of it being the road lined up with stranded cars and RVs on the same road we followed. Most were buried in half an inch of ash, their windows broken into bits and pieces.

Meanwhile, the main highway cut through crops and farmland long ruined by the early winter. Humid air blew around and against us, managing to pick up most of the powdery soot like the cinders from a fire. It did not stop dwindling either and mixed with premature snowfall. Both painted everything grey, including some of my facial fur. Kurtis' too, making his normally brownish cheeks resemble white war paint.

As always, we clasped our paws together and stuck close. For warmth, comfort and protection for each other. It wasn't common to find bandits or survivors like ourselves heading north too, sometimes in the opposite direction. I could count on both my paws the number of times we missed being mugged or killed. Heck, during one of our earliest scavenges near Middletown, Kurtis mentioned finding a small gas station just...littered with dead bodies. An 'utter massacre' he called it.

At last, I spotted a familiar sight.

"Hey, Kurt," I pointed forward. "Check it out."

The taller rabbit swiveled his head. "What?"

His goggles followed my gaze through the dim fog. Proceeded again by the permanent traffic jam of vehicles, came a large border checkpoint. A sign read, "US-Canadian Border Station. Please have your passport and necessary items ready for inspection" in bright letters.

Unceremoniously, we waltzed through the station and the other side, jumping a bit as a nearby power pole fell into the tree line. No guards, no alarms, and nobody to welcome us in any direction. No petrified bodies either.

Soon as we made it a mile, I spoke up.

"W-Welcome to Canada."

Kurtis laughed morbidly, still holding onto my paw.

"Can't w-wait to try your beer," he half-joked, then leaned down to cough louder. "Do you..." the rabbit cleared his throat and eye-smiled down to me, wiping away a bit of saliva from his lips. I thought I smelled a trace of blood. "Do you know any beers to recommend, or tourists traps?"

"Dunno," I shrugged, trying to forget about the crimson scent for the moment. "I'm from Alberta. I practically know as much about this province as you do." I waited. "And beers in general."

"Really?" Kurtis asked. "You never considered going to a bar in Montreal, flirting with some guys and comparing our beers to yours?"

"Nope," I shook my head, causing some ash to fall onto my shoulders and tail. "Never thought about it, to be honest. It wasn't until college I uh...came out. By then, my focus was getting my paws on a doctorate and...mmm, never mind."

"What?" he turned to me. "What is it? Tell me."

I blushed under my white cheeks, despite knowing he couldn't see through the mask.

"Then I met you on that forum, and you convinced me to come here."

"Oh," he blinked through his goggles, and looked away in the same, sullen way I've felt for the past few weeks. "I...guess you owe me for coming here then, huh?"

To an outsider, I certainly did. If I'd never met him online and spent a semester abroad, I would've been with my parents in this apocalypse. Right now, Mom would be hugging me, and Dad probably patting my shoulders in Edmonton, or seeking safe haven in the U.S. state of Alaska. We'd be homeless, but I'd be there with them. I wouldn't be half-starving on a desolate road, or have my footpaws soaking wet inside my boots, or be paranoid about shelter or food.

I remember seeing the news with my dorm mates as it happened, and it only occurred to us hours later that we missed classes. In fact, everyone missed classes that day and opted to watch everything going on. Even Kurtis, who spent God knows how much of his time being antsy about his grade, stood captivated in utter horror at everything on our screens.

Soon as the ash clouds reached Denver, panic spread everywhere. Not only were all flights to and from North America grounded, but California caught fire and reporters mentioned martial law being put in effect. The cloud reached the university days later, except by then the college barely functioned from lack of teachers and staff. Instead of following the US Army's advice to stay indoors and wait for rescue, me and Kurtis left the city. He kept saying we wouldn't survive there, and I believed him. And the year prior, the rabbit told me he'd love having me study abroad at his school, and I believed him.

However, it didn't matter to me.

As a reply, I squeezed his paw and looked back to him. "Me? I don't r-regret it one bit."

"Not once, Benji?"

"Uh uh," I shook my head, then leaned down to well away any tears.

Kurtis squeezed back and tried stifling another deep cough. "Me...Me neither."

We neared another deserted township farther from the border station, overlooking a grayed lake. This one was less buried in the ash, maybe a millimeter or so, lightening our worries a bit. The village was just...empty.

Unfortunately, there were even less things to find. As the same with many other soon-to-be-forgotten towns south of us, the residents clearly fled for universal reasons. You could find it in the streets. I tripped on dozens of haphazardly dropped clothes, cub's toys and newspapers on the ground, and Kurtis told me that the one gas station he had found was stripped of everything.

"Everything?" I asked.

Kurtis nodded as we trekked away from the limits, paw-in-paw and voices rather quiet.

"Everything," he muffled through his mask. "The other places in the town were deserted as well. This post office had nothing, there were envelopes all over the floor. I guess the residents got tired of the long lines there and decided to move, huh?" Again, I laughed and squeezed his palms. How he could keep that terrible sense of humor, I wouldn't ever know.

By nightfall we followed the grueling routine: Find a house and/or car that was secure and properly insulated. If it's the former, rush into a nearby empty room, shake off the ash, eat, shit and listen to the radio for updates before cuddling each other to sleep. If it's the latter, make sure it had no cracked windows or bodies, shake off as much ash as possible before crawling in, then eat, shit outside, hold each other and sleep until (what we presumed was) daybreak. With the latter, it didn't help with no security or properly removing any ash off our clothes without bringing it into the vehicle.

For the night we slept hidden inside a bed camper whose truck was veered into a brick building. It was like the disappeared driver was distracted, and unintentionally rammed it on his way. Luckily the short bed remained undamaged and the small door worked after Kurtis managed to lockpick it.

"I know I'm gonna get the same answer," I asked as we set up shop. "But how do you know how to do that?

"It doesn't matter anymore," he sighed before resting back. "I wasn't that good as staying away from trouble as a little cub. Mom...Mom moved away the moment I was born, and Dad didn't give a crap what happened to me. To make it to college, I...did things."

I decided not to press further, just as I had on the forums. After all, if the rabbit ever found an opportunity to tell me more about his life growing up, he'd tell me if we made it.

No,_when _we make it, I told myself. We'll get away, live our lives, and be happy again.

I kissed Kurtis' paw. "Good night," I murmured, to which he replied with, "Sleepy hare..."

Still, I relied in my rabbit as a body pillow.

The next morning, Kurtis and I had ventured into a neighborhood of suburban houses north of Sherbrooke. It was quiet, and the only noise for miles came from our rasping and footsteps along the blacktop. As we searched and navigated the sea of uninhabited homes, a church caught our eyes. Specifically, the one draped in a large, white banner.

"'All are welcome in God's sanctuary'," I read it aloud, turning to Kurtis and pointing at the mounds dotting the front yard. "Think we should check it out?"

"Might as well," he placed a paw on my stomach and stopped. Reaching out his backpack, he carefully grabbed his hunting knife. "Just in case."

I nodded. "Be careful."

"I know."

As quiet as we could, we hurried to the church's pristine doors. Closer inspection showed moved ash/snow on the ground fanning away from the entrance. I silently pointed them to Kurtis, and he gave me a knowing look. There were others.

Gripping the knife handle tight in his palm, he grabbed the knob and twisted it.

The door creaked open.

"H-Hello?" Kurtis spoke up. "Anyone here? Please, we--"

Chung chung!

_ _ He froze and so did I. Pressed to the tall rabbit's right temple was the barrel of a shotgun.

"You and your friend don't move."

I raised my paws in the air and so did he. The barrel motioned us inside and I turned to a grizzled, middle-aged Bengal tigress clutching the shotgun. Behind her, a bandaged male tiger of younger age held tightly onto a bat. Like us, they dressed in traditionally winter's clothing.

"Close the door," the tigress commanded, "then drop your weapon."

Paws still high, I closed the door and I heard Kurtis dropping the knife. My ears flattened in fear at first, and my fur prickled when I turned to see the interior of the church. Two rows of pews, an altar and a stained-glass window overlooking the absent congregation. Well, absent save for the two tigers.

"Are you alone?" the tigress asked, staring at Kurtis in particular. "We don't get many outsiders this way, stranger."

"We-We don't mean any harm," I spoke up and pulled my surgeon mask down. All of a sudden, I sneezed but saved myself from covering it with my ash-covered gloves. "We're just passing through and s-saw the banner." Again, I sneezed and held my arms close.

"Benji?" Kurtis pulled his mask off and gripped my arm. "Are you alright?"

I sniffled and gave a faux-smile. "I'm good."

The elder tigress, sighing heavily, lowered her shotgun to the floor.

"Jim, you can put the bat down." she said to the bandaged tiger. "Tell your father and the others it's fine. They're friendly."

"You sure?" Jim, I presumed, said with a feline huff. "Remember what happened last time--"

"Trust me," she growled. "Tell them they can come on out now. And get the smaller hare some hot water from the back. Poor thing."

I blinked. 'Poor thing'? Wasn't she holding a gun to us a minute ago?

"All of you can come on out now," the tiger hollered. "It's alright!"

On cue, six more figures emerged from a door at the back of a church. A fifty-something Bengal tiger in a dampened sweater, two middle-aged caribou and two teenage foxes (male and female twins). Aside from the latter canines, they all were hugging me and Kurtis, praising the Lord while giving their names all at once. Well, I didn't question it when 'Jim' begrudgingly offered me a glass of hot water.

"Thank you," I smiled.

"Don't mention it."

I carefully sipped before sitting beside Kurtis in one of the pews and began talking with the tigress as the other survivors went to do their own thing. The caribou sat kneeling at the altar with their paws clasped together, whispering verses in faint French, and the other tiger in the sweater sitting beside the elder tigress. As for the twins, they sat against the wall wrapped in an elderly blanket. They watched us and spoke French as well, with bits of sprinkled English.

"My name is Olivia," the tigress offered a paw. "You have already met my son Jim, and this is my husband Harold."

"I'm Kurtis," he shook her paw.

"Benji," I replied, then sipped on the cup again before offering it to Kurtis. "Here."

He drank tiny mouthfuls. "Mmm thanks."

We sat and talked to the three tigers. Seeing how we didn't know their stances, we omitted from telling them about us being together. Instead we went with the 'classmates' approach. When they mentioned their lives before, I couldn't help but listen.

After the Eruption, most of the township's population escaped east into Nova Scotia. Those who couldn't/wouldn't evacuate came here for sanctuary. Olivia and her family holed up in this church and joined with the parish in making this into a refuge. They managed to grab generators, food, water and enough to last the winter. A large chunk of the survivors succumbed to the hazardous effects of the ash cloud once it lingered to the coast.

Kurtis began coughing and groaned. "Is there a bathroom around here?"

"In the front to the left, but the water doesn't work," Olivia pointed.

"Fine by me," he grumbled and stormed off.

Soon as my rabbit wandered in, Jim spoke, "He doesn't seem nice."

"He can be in the right circumstances," my shoulders sagged. "We're both just...tired." Another sneeze escaped my nose, so I wiped it on my sleeve before drinking the hot water again.

"If you're both looking for shelter, you're more than welcome to stay," Olivia mentioned softly. "I mean, we keep searching for food every week or so, and...it's safer here than out there."

Half of me wanted to nod. Instead, I shook my muzzle.

"Thanks," I sipped again, "but no thanks. Kurt and I are heading to Quebec City."

Olivia and Harold glanced to each other in puzzlement.

"To the evacuation boats?" he asked. "I thought they'd left a long while ago?"

"The last time I heard about evacuations," his wife pressed, "the television talked about boats and ships sinking in New York and Boston."

"They did," I nodded grimly, "but they're still broadcasting that there're still some left waiting for survivors before they leave for Newfoundland."

"How do you know that?" Jim frowned. "For all you know it could be for nothing."

"We found an emergency radio," I replied, "and it's been telling us to go to Quebec City for a while now." Olivia's eyes lit up, as did Jim's when I pulled it out and turned it on high.

My muscles and tail tensed. "What the f...?"

"I thought you said they were broadcasting?" Jim asked over loud static.

"They were!" I shouted with covered ears. "I swear they were!"

I hastily turned the audio down and we waited until a long beep came and went.

"What are they saying?"

"Shhhh!"

"The following is an emergency update. Instructions will follow. Evacuation ships and boats within the following locations have less than seventy-two hours until final departures to their respective destinations: Quebec City, Saint John--"

"Oh my God..." Jim murmured. "They are already?"

Olivia turned to her husband. "Harold...get the kids."

As Harold grabbed the kids and spoke to the caribou, my thoughts flooded with disbelief.

"No, no, no, no!" I barked at the radio. Clenching my nails into my paws, my eyes darted to the bathroom door. "Kurt! Kurt, come out here!"

Kurtis stumbled from the door, zipping his fly up.

"Ugh, what is it that's getting everyone riled...?" the rabbit froze. Like us, his eyes widened as we heard various cities being listed off.

"--not arrive within seventy-two hours. We repeat: the following is an emergency--"

Kurtis stomped towards the radio. "Benji? What the hell's going on?"

"We need to go," I grabbed my coat. For a moment, I smelled blood, then frantically shook the thought away. "They're giving the boats three days until they postpone the evacuation efforts!"

"Postpone them...?" Kurt's maw hung open. "Are you sure they mentioned Quebec City, Benji? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes!" I grunted, frantically zipping my coat and grabbing my bag. "Either we keep moving or they'll leave us all behind."

In a flash, the relaxed state me and the rabbit wore deteriorated away.

"What are we waiting for then?" he grabbed his bag and began zipping his coat up. "I don't wanna die under all this Godforsaken ash. No offense."

The female Bengal chortled uneasily. "None taken."

Shoving the radio in my backpack, I turned to Olivia and her son by the pews.

"Thank you so much for giving us sanctuary here," I smiled softly.

"We are glad to have helped," Olivia shook my paw, offering me a saddened smile.

A sudden thought crossed my mind, and before I could stop myself, I asked, "Why not come with us? It's better than sitting here and doing nothing."

"Benji," Kurtis cut in with a creasing glare. "Don't."

"Kurt," I insisted with a tight grip on my strap. "There has to be more room for them. For God's sake, they can't just stay here--"

The female fox stood and raised a paw. "Me and Liam are coming too!"

"Emma?" her twin brother growled lowly. "What are you doing?"

"You heard them," she growled back, pulling him up to his footpaws. "We have so little time left and need to get going before the boats leave."

"We won't make it a day without masks!" he reminded her. "The ash out there will kill us like it did mère et père."

"Children?"

Our muzzles swerved to find Olivia and Harold offering them coats. In the back of the church, Jim could be seen throwing items such as food and water bottles into a few backpacks, as well as place on his own mask over his muzzle. Whether it be because of my suggestion or out of respect, Kurtis remained silent with me.

"Emma, Liam," Olivia sighed, glancing between us and them. "You both heard it. You and Jim need to follow those two, and just...run. Don't stop until you make it to the river."

Both foxes widened their watering eyes, but it was the brother who spoke up first.

"N-No, we're not leaving you!" Liam whined. "N-Not you or the Wilsons, or anybody!"

"You must escape to Newfoundland," Harold pressed them. "You must be in Europe and away from here. As far as you can, child. You and your sister. Far as you can." The elderly Bengal looked to me and Kurt with a stern glare. "The Lord sent you two here as messengers, and you will help them get here."

Kurtis coughed again, so I patted his back and helped him up.

"Come on, Kurt, breathe, just breathe and let it all out."

Kurtis coughed louder and louder before placing his mask on. Already his cheeks flushed hot and sweat poured down his cheeks, but he spoke up nevertheless.

"W-What about you? W-What about them?" he pointed to the caribou still kneeling at the altar. "I mean...D-Don't...Wouldn't you want to rather be away from here?"

Olivia heaved a sigh and held her husband's paw.

"The Wilsons have made peace with themselves, and so have we," she replied solemnly. "We will only slow you all down, and there is no chance for us in the new world. This is the end for us. Not for you or your...companion," I blinked in surprise, "my son, or the twins." She glanced to Liam helping his sister into a pair of snow pants. "Now...you need to go."

"First though," Harold nodded. "A prayer for safe journey. Come, children."

Emma and Liam sniffled from under their masks and still stepped forward. I joined in while my 'companion' remained away for a moment.

"I..." Kurtis' ears swayed as he shook his muzzle. "I'm not much of a believer...not after what's been going on...but sure." I smiled and held his paw firm as we hung our heads low in prayer.

"Lord, give us passage in these troubling times..."

***

Jim somberly led the way, his shotgun poking out of his backpack. The twins walked between him and with me and Kurtis watching the back, but our eyes did not shift forward until the church disappeared into the greyed suburbia. A few times Liam or Emma argued in French about moving back, and by then we couldn't.

We marched on. We marched through the snow, the binding ash and howling wind. We hiked between hollowed townships, around crammed highways and twisting groves of decaying tree lines. We made it further north, stopping for the night in an apartment complex near the edge of an abandoned town. Knowing very little about Quebec, I only knew there were several small villages and townships between us and the evacuation area. We needed to pass through it all, and hopefully without succumbing to ash inhalation.

The next day, I decided to talk to Kurtis. Behind his mask and under his hood, the rabbit clearly wanted to speak to me about something.

"Alright," I wheezed through my mask and gripped his paw. "What is it?"

Kurtis paused in his tracks for a moment, looking back at me. The area around us morphed from townland into open farms, leaving nothing but empty, dead roads. While I noticed this and felt reminded we both stared forward back at the other three in our group, the rabbit exhaled.

"Benji," he exhaled. "Remember what happened last time we were with a group?"

I frowned and kicked a nearby empty can. "Of course, I remember. How could I forget?"

The clawing hunger in their voices, the awful smell that was worse than us and the depraved eyes twitching for danger. Especially in the mother with her daughter cub. To this day, I could still remember the desperation in their eyes.

"That group could've killed us under that overpass," he lectured me. "We could've been mauled, or our masks looted, and where would we be? Half-dead under a pile of this shit?"

His booted footpaw kicked at a nearby pile of ash on the road.

"What are you implying, Kurt?" I creased my brows. "I wasn't trying to give them charity. That was an accident and you know it."

"I know it," Kurtis repeated me. "I don't want you feeling like we can help everyone. We can't save everyone."

Then came silence, save for the sound of the other three walking ahead by a couple yards.

"And?"

Kurtis exhaled, stifling another deep cough and hacking noise.

"S-Sweetie," he rasped while I patted his back. "I don't like how you...how you just offered them to join us. They could slow us down."

I audibly huffed through my mask, withdrawing my paw from his.

"You don't think I care about our survival?" I asked him as we continued to walk. "Of course, I freaking care. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it, but..."

"No matter what," the rabbit squeezed my paw, "I do not want to be left behind. We are not dying here because you or I need to be the good Samaritan."

My eyes widened at him through the goggles, and I wanted him to feel my deathly glare.

"Neither should they!" I told the taller rabbit with disgust. "No one deserves to be left behind in this hellscape."

I cupped my paw to my masked muzzle and sighed.

"Besides," I murmured to him softly, "Jimmy and the twins ahead, they are not like those...animals we encountered last time. Olivia and Harold too. They were nice people too. We couldn't just ignore them and live with that for the rest of our lives."

"That all changed when they put our survival on a goddamn countdown," Kurtis grumbled with each step we made. Sighing, he lowered his voice further. "Look, I'm sorry you feel that way. I just...don't want to see us get left behind."

"Say we are," I proposed. "What would you do next?"

Before he could answer, he and I caught one of the twins glancing back at us. Their eyes looked away, but we knew they listened from the way their ears twitched attentively. Jim remained focused and marched onward.

For the most part, Kurtis and I had rarely talked to them. Jim pointed us down the right roads, staying silent. From his sniffling and jagged breaths, we knew he was staying strong. However, the fox twins Emma and Liam spoke French with each other, occasionally turning their awkward attention to us, particularly me and Kurtis whenever we were holding paws.

"Do you see something?" he asked them this time.

"W-What do you mean?" Liam shivered at another gust of cold wind. "I don't see anyone."

Kurtis mildly shrugged and suppressed another series of coughing fits.

"You've both been looking behind us for the past day or so," he explained. "Is anybody...following us? Or is something bothering you?"

Liam widened his eyes and slowed down with his sister until we caught up beside them.

"It's nothing," he muttered. "W-We just...we..."

"You've been hearing us, haven't you?" I groaned. "Listen I am so sorry. He didn't mean--"

"Sure he didn't," Liam scoffed loudly and added a grunt. "I've got frostbite on my left paw, I haven't slept well the past several weeks and me and my sister are orphans while--how do you Americans say it again?--all Hell is _se déchaîne_after the Eruption. And the first foreigners we meet want to leave us behind."

"First off," I frowned, "I'm from Alberta. He's the American. Second--"

"Why defend this connard--"

"Liam!" Emma stopped and growled at him with a dejectedly curling tail.

Her brother turned to her and scoffed.

"Hey!" Jim suddenly growled ahead of us. "If you two are going to fight, do it when we get to the boats, please."

"Jimmy," Liam folded his ears. "One of them talked about going ahead of us."

The larger mammal shrugged. "Didn't hear, don't care. Either way, rabbit, you don't know how to get to Quebec City in less than a few days.

The tiger went silent, and I turned my attention back to the twins.

"Don't blame them for what he may or may've not done," she growled something in French-Canadian I couldn't hear over the wind. "I don't want to die here either. Nobody does. He only wants what's best for him and his mate."

My ears immediately heated, and Kurtis tensed while peeking away.

"I'm sorry for embarrassing you," Emma spoke up. "I just..." he glanced away from us, and I raised an eyebrow, "I certainly never expected you two to act like a real couple and argue all the time."

I gaped my maw open under the mask. "What?"

"Huh?" Emma perked an ear towards us. "What? You and your classmate aren't gay?"

My eyes traveled past her down the seemingly never-ending road, before I shook off a small layer of the ash.

"N-No, we...are," I shivered, leaning closer to the tensed rabbit by my side. "We just...we don't like to be...out. You know, not like boasting about it or anything."

Kurtis grunted a yes, but began coughing even more while trailing his eyes away from the fox twins. Of all the times for him to be uncomfortable about his sexuality to others, it had to be during the apocalypse.

Emma laughed. "Listen, it's okay," she smiled up to me. "It isn't as controversial up here as it is down where you're from, Kurtis. I know...or at least knew some who were...out and proud." We stood silent for a while, until she asked, "So you're from Alberta, right?"

I readily gave a bashful grin. "Oui compatriote."

Emma suddenly began coughing and pulled her mask off to the detest of Liam's glares.

"What? I *cough, cough*" she hacked, "I just need to take it off for a moment." The young fox wiped her muzzle and sighed. "Pretty sure it's an oven in there."

I laughed, and Liam cleared his throat after a moment.

"What region? What township?" he asked me. "You don't sound like a city boy."

Before I could readily reply, we abruptly bumped into Jim.

"Oof!" Kurtis groaned. "Hey, tiger! Watch where..."

Jim held a paw up, and silently pointed at a nearby car on the road. We hurried as fast as we could without making too much noise from the cobblestone under our soles. The area was a desolate intersection somewhere between Victoriaville and our destination. It was supposed to only be a small township, so there couldn't be any violent survivors. Right?

"What is it, Jim?" Emma whispered, leaning up to look down the empty road.

"Shh!" he hissed. "I saw something--"

Klang!

The car's window suddenly shattered with tiny pieces flying around, soon covering the ground. Jim fell screaming and roaring as his bloody paw fell limp on his side.

"Oh God, oh God!" Emma shrieked. "Jimmy, your paw--"

"Get down!" Jim growled while gripping his bloody paw. "Get down!"

At top speed, I knelt down as Kurtis squeezed my arm. Metal shrieked against metal, followed by shouts echoing a stone's throw away. I squeaked when one bullet ricocheted off the concrete near our vehicle, and a few more flew past.

"We saw you!" a booming voice, maybe that of a feline, called to us. "Come on out!"

Straining in utter agony, Jim's working paw reached for his shotgun from behind and began loading shells in. A pool of red blood pooled leaked from his wrist down to the ground, mixing in with the ashen ground. Emma and Liam hugged each other desperately, her eyes looking away as her brother comforted her.

I slowly lifted my muzzle up to survey through the broken windows before Kurtis immediately shoved my head down.

"What are you doing?" he hissed in a whisper, gripping my wrist in his paw. "Don't let them see us!"

"T-They already know we're back here, idiot!" Liam hissed, still hugging Emma to the car door. "Jim, d-did you see how many there are?"

"Hmm, I'm about to find out," he murmured under his breath, the gritting Bengal slowly raising his head up as more blood began to binge away. "Mm. Four--no, five of them. All have weapons."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jim ducked down and pointed to something behind us. "See that building there?"

I turned my head to see the two-story a mere several feet away from the edge of the car. The front doors lay ajar, and an exit sign hung at the end of a short hallway inside.

"When I start shooting, all of you run through it to the back. Find an exit into an alley and go as fast as you can. Don't stop once. Got it?"

"Quelle?" Liam gaped. "No, we aren't--"

"You are." It wasn't a question.

"Where do we go then?" Kurtis asked in a hushed voice. "If we find an exit, how do we keep going?"

Jim perked his ears through his hoodie, then pointed his barrel ahead of us.

"Behind those men is a road which will bring you to the Great Trail," he explained with eyes growing wider and more strained with pain from the huge wound. "Find a way to get back there, take the cubs and locate a long gravel road and go northeast along Route Vert. I-It'll keep you four away--"Bang! Bang! Bang!

Steel screeched above us, and the sound of footsteps rang in my half-pointed ears.

"...away from the main highway. Don't stop, keep going along it, and Quebec City will be found in less than a day. Alright?"

Kurtis firmly nodded. "What about you?"

To that, we looked again to the gun and Jim's worsening wound.

"No. No, Jim. We won't leave you behind! W-We can still--"

Bang! Bang!

"Look at me, Liam," Jim grunted while glancing to his mangled paw. "I'll be lucky to even shoot let alone make it that far without passing out. N-No, they need to be distracted, and this is..."

He began to lull his head down, but promptly flinched back up.

"Emma, take care of your brother," the Bengal grinned his visible fangs through the more visible pain. "I-I promise to try and get to you if I can. If not...go and say hello to Newfoundland for me." He cocked the weapon and stared up to the window. "God be with you four. Now go!"

In a flash, everybody ran as Jim emerged and began shooting in the marauders' direction. We didn't stop and sprinted inside the building, now a vacant café full of overturned tables. Gunfire erupted over our backs, and we helplessly watched as Jim fell to the ground bloodied and lifeless. Willing ourselves to look away, I guided Liam and Emma with me as Kurtis crashed through the exit door.

Several steps later, as we rounded a street corner, Emma suddenly widened her eyes.

"M-My mask!" she panicked between gasping breaths, "I-I dropped my mask back at the car!"

"Take *cough* mine!" Kurtis spoke up beside her.

As I was about to object, a loud ringing suddenly sounded in my right ear. Each step made only caused more pain to flare, and I forgot what I was about to say.

"Benji, keep..." a muffled voice grunted into my ear, "keep moving!"

Distant shouts came as the four of us hurried down an adjacent road. Particles of ash and soot kicked behind us, and my hood slipped off as my right ear flared more and more. Tears streaked my vision, but the pull of Kurtis' holding paw helped guide me.

Everything blurred. My mind retraced itself between then and another familiar memory. Another group along the road, fighting for food. As fast as it happened, a voice drew me back.

"...Benji!"

I widened my eyes at seeing an exacerbated, shell-shocked Kurtis staring into my eyes. It was then and there that I finally noticed the hot liquid pouring down my right cheek.

"Benji, goddammit your ear is bleeding!" he growled between several intense coughs.

Kurtis gently sat me down with my back against the inside wall of an open building. The rabbit quickly pulled out a bandage from one of our bags. As I tried ignoring the painful itching in my ear, I could see Emma and Liam near the entrance keeping watch outside.

Once more, Kurtis cleared his throat.

"Benji, are you alright?" he asked while tying up my bandaged ear. "We managed to lose those men. We're right by the trail." He paused before tightening my dressed wound. "A-Are you feeling bad anywhere else?"

I reached my fingers up and felt the crusting blood stained into my pointed ear. If I froze long enough, I could almost barely hear an audible hum.

"I..." I stuttered, my heartbeat still lodged inside my throat. After readjusting my goggles and stretching my fingers did I feel fine. "I'm okay, I think. My ear...it feels weird."

The rabbit lingering over me possessively stroked my cheek. Moving my toes and numb arms, I slowly began to stand with his assistance.

"I...I think so too," Kurtis smiled, lightly patting my back before suppressing more deep coughing fits.

My eyes widened. "Y-Your mask! It's off!" I gasped. "Kurt, what're you doing--"

"Don't worry," he murmured to me. "I gave it to Emma. She *cough*...she needs it more. Young and all. W-We'll switch every hour or so."

"B-But..."

"Don't scratch your ear too much, alright? For me?" he spoke quickly, and I slowly nodded. "Good."

"I think we better hurry," Emma mentioned. Even in a dimly shadowed interior, and despite her covered mask, I could see evidence of tears hidden by her goggles. "We...might have lost them, but...I'm sure they'll be looking for us."

Kurtis bobbed his muzzle. "Agreed. Let's move."

Without a word, I walked beside him while the fox twins followed behind. As expected, the gravel path laid visible underneath a canopy of trees, with the Great Trail running for a long way. Kurtis still coughed beside me (and the noise of gunfire could be heard far away). Otherwise, the air hung heavy with lack of animal noises.

"We should go back," Liam spoke minutes later.

Emma sighed, visibly shaking under her layered coat. "W-We can't, Liam."

"Jim could still be alive, ma sur...if-if we can..."

"He's dead, kid," Kurtis grumbled, covering his muzzle with a scarf as he clenched my wrist. "You saw it happen, and I...saw it happen.

"But we can't leave his body back there!" the fox barked a little louder.

"We don't..." he hacked and licked his cracked lips, "We don't have the time!"

We walked in further silence, with Emma and Kurtis switching the use of their masks every hour or so as promised. My eyes traveled back to them, and I almost confessed to them how I felt the same. Unfortunately, not only would it open their wounds more, but we couldn't falter. The boats would be leaving in less than twenty-four hours, and none of us wanted to be left behind for God-knows-how-long until they returned for more survivors.

"Sacrebleu..." Liam muttered, hugging onto his sister. "Jimmy..."

"I know," Emma whispered to him, sniffling audibly under her scarf. "I know."

Placing his back on, Kurtis shifted beside me in an uncomfortable walking stance. I could hear his hitched breathing, as well as the whining noise emitting from the twins. My attempts to avoid the tension soon dissipated when suddenly...

"*cough, cough, cough*"

"Kurt?" I patted his shoulder. "Kurt, just breathe."

Next came even more fits of coughing, except this time they didn't stop. Instead, they went on and on until the rabbit was left kneeling on the ground. Fear ran through my body like adrenaline at the sight of Kurtis' drained face. After pulling his mask away, his eyes became strained red, and spots of blood inked down to his footpaws.

"Kurtis!"

***

"What..." he laughed. "What was...*cough*...that...you said about..." Kurtis winched and grit his teeth, "an easy road--ow, easy!"

"Sorry," I muttered to him. "Keep talking to me. I-I don't care if it's anything stupid just...stay with us. Stay with me."

With Liam's assistance, I carried Kurtis by our sides while Emma watched the road behind us. The taller rabbit's arm hung limp over my shoulder as his footpaws dragged along the gravel. I watched them struggle standing before they limped slowly into succession.

We were so close, that all me or Liam or Emma could do was simply run with Kurtis in my arms before we stopped from exhaustion. After five or so minutes, we sprinted again as I helped support my boyfriend. We had to be only several miles away from the river. The forest was dense and overcrowded with bare branches, all either greyed with ash or dead from the lack of sunlight. Everything lay dead or dying. The only color we saw came from the empty, color-fueled pavilions dotting the way through an occasional town.

My ear hurt more with each mile we made, but neither of us could stop. My whole body throbbed from stiff pain, yet I felt sweat drench my shirt. I smiled down at Kurtis whenever his beautiful face recognized me, and then he'd smile back before slipping between conscious and unconscious again.

"Stay focused, Kurt!" I growled and huffed. "Stay with me."

"So...So sorry..." he whispered, dreary eyes drawn to Liam and Emma. "Sorry...for saying...*cough, cough*...for saying...leave y-you behind."

"Forget about that, dude," Liam grunted while helping the rabbit walk. "I would've done the same. Just...Just stay with us as much as you can."

"Yeah," I nodded, then perked my left ear at an idea. "Tell me...ngh...what my middle name is."

"...Ben...Benji..."

"Kurt!" I raised my voice, echoing across the silent forest while the fox twins grunted and panted beside us. "What's...my middle name?"

In response, the rabbit tiredly giggled.

"D-Dathan," he chuckled under his mask. "B-Benji...Dathan...Landry." Kurtis hacked and coughed up a bit more blood.

"Stay with us, Kurt!" Liam patted his back, helping him stand for the moment. "We're close, so don't fall unconscious again."

As Emma shined her flashlight on us, Kurtis still giggled. "S-Stupid name."

My ears fell once we started running again. However, I still softly smiled.

"You're one to talk, Kurt..." I half-chuckled. "Or should I say...'Kurtis Otto Warren?"

"Shut up..." he half-panted, half whined. "Remember...how I used to tease you about it?"

Through the exhausted haze and fear, I did. I remember posting about it on the same forum, and the first thing Kurtis did was make a half-assed joke.

"You can tell me about it..." I winced as more open air seeped through into my ear wound, "w-when we get to E-England."

The rabbit remained silently conscious as we half-jogged down the rest of the Great Trail. By nightfall, we pushed forward despite the perpetual dark. Emma turned Kurtis' flashlight on to lead our way along the trail, while I held mine on my right paw.

Into our trek through the perpetual dark, Liam scrapped his knee after haphazardly tripping over a rock. Blood spilled down his ankles along with a mixture of sweat and crystalline ash from the ground. Carefully placing Kurtis against a tree, I spent a good five minutes bandaging his scrape before Emma spent several more minutes convincing the flustered fox to keep going. However, it was clear Liam felt absolutely fatigued. It was visible on all of us.

"I-I can't...!" he whimpered, wincing and clutching his knee. "So tired...I can't keep going...I just can't!"

"Frère," Emma lowly growled through her scarf. "I'm tired too, but we're so close. You and I are going to get on those boats if I have to drag you."

I helped the young canine up with his sister's aid and hugged him.

"D-Don't worry, we'll make it."

Liam glanced down towards Kurtis. "What about him? Will he?"

The rabbit whined with each loud cough, making my heart ache as much as my muscles.

"I...I don't know..." I replied, refusing to show any tears. "I don't know."

We couldn't think about it. I had to dig my claw nails into my palms to stay focused and will myself not to cry. Not yet. Walking over, I knelt down with Liam and helped Kurtis to his footpaws.

"Don't worry, Kurt. We're almost there..."

"Mmmm...I'm sorry..." he murmured. "So sorry."

Through a layer of watery eyes, I nodded and nuzzled his cheek. "Almost there."

***

"*cough, cough*...B-Benji?"

My eyes widened at seeing Kurtis' eyes open. Grabbing a bottle of water from my side, I guided it to his lips before he could sit up.

"Shhh...it's okay, sweetie," I soothed, smiling as he drank every drop like a parched man in the Sahara. "Listen, you're...you're doing okay now."

Kurtis covered his chest in deep pain and spat blood into a towel provided my me. He then paused when he saw out surroundings. Unlike the previous several hours, me and the tall rabbit were in a small room with two beds and a private bathroom.

"Where...Where a-hh...?" he tried to ask, only to let out more coughing. "Are we--"

"Hey, hey, don't speak too much, dummy..." I whispered to him. "Don't move either. The doctors said you shouldn't speak too much unless absolutely necessary." Trembling in a ray of relief, I gripped his fingers in mine. "We made it, Kurt. We're...we're going to Newfoundland. We left."

Hours earlier, when we were nearing the city limits, we could see more bodies lying underneath sheets of ash. Some of them looked like they held the same idea we did before starving or succumbing to the toxins.

Dawn break had arrived the closer we got to our destination, yet the skyline of Quebec City could not be found through the morning fog. Brick buildings surrounded the gravel of the Great Trail. Kurtis wasn't getting any better. He'd stopped gaining conscious for the past couple hours, and instead lolled his head down while tripping on his ankles. Liam didn't stop walking/running with us, but it was clear the fall did more than cut.

Suddenly, I could hear it. A car in the distance. Radio chatter cutting through the wind.

A search-and-rescue convoy picked us up while on one of their last patrols for incoming evacuees. Liam, Emma, Kurtis and I were placed on a Canadian ferry overcrowded by over two-hundred furs. It was the last one floating in the harbor of Quebec City.

"W-Where are the..." he sniffed, "...twins?"

I sat beside him on the bed.

"Still alive," I reassured the worrisome rabbit. "Just topside and getting some food to eat. Liam's leg is also okay."

The doctors onboard were already flustered from how many passengers were on. Evacuating an entire coastline did that to some people. Fortunately, a nurse was able to properly bandage my ear and Liam's leg before they could get entirely infected.

Unfortunately, Kurtis...they couldn't do much for him.

"Hey...*cough, cough, cough*...what's wrong?" he asked, noticing my crestfallen face.

Whimpering and squeezing his paw in a tight vice, I slowly shook my muzzle. I decided to tell him everything else.

'Acute silicosis'. That's what the feline nurse called it when she finished examining us. She told me that due to the volcanic ash, Kurtis inhaled more than enough to permanently scar his lungs. I had lesser damage, but enough that needed years-long examination from a proper specialist.

Her whiskers never twitched and her graven face didn't falter, since she'd seen this dozens of times in the past couple of months. Who could ever joke about a serious condition?

Kurtis became solemnly quiet. "Ah...I see."

We were given options in Iceland or Great Britain for medical treatment, but it would take months until either of us were able to claim refugee status to either region. Millions had already fled into Central America and Europe since the Eruption. Millions already needed to heal from the lethal injuries sustained, as well as to find another home outside of a now-abandoned continent.

None of us said a word to each other. We huddled together in the bed while watching each other and feeling the ferry cut through the St. Lawrence River. I helped him drink food and water provided by either a nurse or the twins checking up on us. In the end, they understood to give us time alone.

What could we say to make the other feel better? Both of us lost our countries, our homes, possibly our families, and soon I would be losing him. It wouldn't be today or tomorrow, but the silicosis in his lungs were permanent like they were in mine. Of course, I knew that I would die someday, but my condition would only be a few decades while he had months at least and years at most.

The thought of it made me cling to his arms for dear life on the bed.

Why him? I screamed into my skull. Why him???

Hours of crying later came another dawn arrived over the horizon. I woke up with Kurtis around the same time and left to grab us some breakfast in the makeshift kitchen. When I returned, the rabbit sat up in bed looking through his bag, staring at a piece of paper carefully held in his paw. I set the tray down and seated myself beside him. The contents on the small paper made my heart jump, and the tears nearly overflowed again.

It was us. The two of us together in a mall photo booth. Smiling, kissing, laughing and kissing again. We were so happy that summer day, and I remembered barely containing my eagerness when I convinced him to come in with me.

Back in the present, I gripped his paw and absorbed more of the photo strip held between his fingers. I had almost completely forgotten he kept onto it.

"You looked...so dorky in that sweater."

"Hey!" I frowned at the cocky rabbit, his ears swaying from his short laughter. "I liked that sweater. You're the bigger dork."

Kurtis smirked. "That's the...*cough*...feisty little guy I know."

Rolling my eyes, I softly laughed into his paw. They were sweaty and clammy, but still held that warmth I yearned to keep cradling in my arms. To keep cradling me forever.

"I love you, Benji..." he spoke.

My heart ached, but my lips connected to his. "I love you too, Kurt."

The ferry would finally arrive in Newfoundland, but that wouldn't be our immediate destination. Me and Kurtis knew that. We didn't dwell further on the subject, and instead focused our attention to watching the sunrise through the window. After two months of bad weather and blackened clouds, the sight of the sun silenced us.

We made it. After all the trials, the distance and the pain, we survived. We went beyond the darkened skies clouding the way and found the sunlight again. We still had each other despite this horrendous new era, so I intended to be by Kurtis' side as long as I could, along with Liam and Emma.

I glanced back to the rabbit hugging me and kissed him again. Yeah, as long as we could.