FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Jenna woke up to the sound of multiple gunshots. She'd gotten less than five hours of sleep, and the sun was out, but it was better than getting none. She sat up on her bed and rubbed her eyes, seeing that Bizzy was awake. "You heard it too?"

"Buiz." He nodded. It woke him minutes ago. Something was going on outside.

"I'll be back." Jenna started to get up but felt a tug on her arm. She looked down and saw Bizzy holding it while staring at her. "I'm not leaving the grounds... I promise." She felt his paws slip as she left.

She didn't have to dress since she'd collapsed in bed last night shortly after Ray left, so Jenna put on her shoes and headed out, walking toward the western wall and noticing not a single person or pokémon outside. It was as silent as it was outside the base, and she didn't have an idea why until she saw a defender with a rifle run past her.

"Back inside!" he shouted.

"Wait, what's-" Jenna watched him run toward the northern wall. This had to be an emergency. He was in a hurry. She kept walking while more gunshots rang, growing louder the closer she got to the wall. She sped up to a jog when she made out Harrison power walking ahead. "Sir!" she called.

He recognized that voice and turned around, waiting for her to catch up. "Jenna, what are you doing out? It's not safe right now."

She stopped. "Are we being ambushed?"

"Yes, fortunately just by infected. Unfortunately, by a lot of infected. We have five defenders at each post. They've been rushing us in waves ever since we heard a gunshot some miles out last night, and our gunfire is bringing in more."

"Let me help."

"Pardon?" Harrison squinted. Jenna had never offered her assistance with defender positions. "You should be taking it easy. You're in bad shape."

"I want to help."

He didn't want Jenna on the frontlines, especially not while she was healing, but she seemed confident that she wanted to. More help on the platforms wouldn't hurt, either. "Quickly."

They jogged the rest of the way, stopping at a small locked shed a couple of blocks before the post, where the repeated gunfire was louder. Harrison opened its door with a key and grabbed a green plastic box, handing it to her.

Jenna took and held it with both hands, watching him relock the shed. This had to be a defender's outfit.

"Put that on and go to the western wall. That's where most are coming in from." Harrison continued, leaving her to change.

That made sense, considering it was the direction of one of the town's main entrances. Jenna looked for a private spot to swap outfits and jogged to an abandoned building nearby. It used to be a restaurant, judging by its tables and chairs, booths, and kitchen.

She went to its restroom and shut the door, setting the box on the floor and opening it. Inside was what Jenna expected: a standard-issue defender's outfit. Its top had built-in bulletproof plates for protection.

She swapped her clothes with it, looking herself down, then into one of the mirrors in front of her. She pulled her gloves, forming a subtle grin. She didn't look half bad but would never have expected to be wearing it. Jenna felt better in it, though. She felt better about herself.

She shoved her worn clothes inside the box and kicked them under a stall, jogging outside to the wall, where the gunshots were louder than ever. She almost got hit by an empty magazine tossed from the upper platform but stepped aside in time.

"Jenna, what the?"

She turned and saw Jan closing a supply bin under the post, attaching more magazines to his belt. She could tell it was him by the bandana he always wore on duty. "Hi."

"If you're here to help..." Jan grabbed a utility belt to go with her outfit and four magazines, along with his rifle. "I'll grab another for myself. Just get up there and melt."

She nodded, taking all of it and stepping aside. Jenna set the magazines and rifle down, fit the belt on her waist, then attached the ammo. Afterward, she stuck one into the rifle and tapped it, then cocked the gun, slinging its strap over her shoulder.

"Okay..." Jenna took a deep breath and went to the platform on the right, climbing its ladder and standing on top. She saw hundreds of dead people and pokémon scattered along the ground, with many injured grunting and still attempting to reach or crawl to the wall. Gallons of blood stained the pavement. "Jeez..."

More waves were coming, too. Jenna looked to her left and saw four people on the scaffolding actively shooting incoming hostiles, three with automatic rifles and one at the end with a light machine gun mounted on the railing.

She stood beside one and left distance between them, raising her rifle and gazing down its sights at the infected. She glanced at the person beside her multiple times and realized it was Abby, which wasn't surprising since she was assigned to this post during the day.

Jenna targeted a young boy with torn clothing, holding the gun's stock steady against her shoulder and brushing her index finger against the trigger. When he got closer, she gripped the rifle and held her breath, pulling it and spraying bullets in his direction. She struggled to deal with the recoil but gained control of it for the most part.

Several shots hit the boy's chest area and others in proximity but didn't do much beyond slowing them. "Resilient..." Jenna would have to aim for their heads to deal lethal damage.

"Spare a mag?"

Jenna heard and lowered her rifle, glancing at Abby and taking two mags off her hip.

"Is that Jenna?"

She grinned while handing her the magazines. "Third time I've heard that today." Jenna focused on the task at hand, seeing that more infected had closed in. She looked through one eye, grounding her boots and training the rifle's sights on an aipom. Moving targets would be difficult to hit for her, so she waited until she felt she had an accurate shot, then pulled and held the trigger, sending a burst of bullets at the pokémon.

Jenna watched it fall onto its face and slide across the pavement before stopping by another body. "Yes!" she whispered, grinning at first, but it faded. She adjusted her hold on the rifle and aimed at her next target.

---

Jenna climbed down the platform and retired her equipment, weapon, and belt. It was late afternoon. She'd been shooting for hours and was sweaty and exhausted. She held her lower back, shutting her eyes for a second. Her palm and head hurt something awful as well. She'd done a lot today-- possibly too much.

"Good work out there," Jan said while putting away equipment. He wanted to tell her she actually did something helpful today but kept that bit to himself. The last thing she needed was an insult to injury.

"Thanks," Jenna replied, then started her walk toward the building she changed in. She felt terrible for leaving Bizzy alone for so long and hoped he didn't worry again.

"Jen Jen."

She glanced behind her and saw Abby. "Hey."

"You a defender now?" She sped up to walk beside her.

"Oh, no, I just wanted to offer a hand."

"How come?" Abby was curious, having never seen Jenna working at a post before today.

"I'll tell you la-"

"Ah-ah, you said that last time." Abby didn't want to be a nuisance, but she was tired of being left in the dark. "Speaking of... what happened to you that day?"

Jenna didn't want to bring up the events but kept her word and told Abby everything on the way home. They stood on the road in front of Jenna's house after arriving.

"I'm doing okay, though, I swear." She held Abby's hands. "I have to find out how to overcome this on my own."

Abby ensured she was gentle with Jenna's injury. "You really should have told me all of this sooner... I'm mad at you for that." Abby glanced at her hand, then up at her face. "You sure you're all right, though? You haven't even given me a smile."

That brought a small one out of her. "Yeah, now let me rest. You should get some too." Jenna released her hands.

"When my shift is over. Talk later, Jen." Abby turned around, but not before kissing at her twice.

Jenna rolled her eyes and picked up the box with her clothes, going to unlock her door. Upon opening it, she didn't see Bizzy anywhere. Jenna hadn't been good to him recently.

She set the box down and went to her room, standing in her doorway. He was sitting on the center of the bed and didn't look up when she entered. "Bizzy..." Jenna sighed and slipped off her boots, then sat on the mattress and scooted in front of him. Had he left the bed since she'd been gone? "I've been a terrible trainer, haven't I?"

He raised his head. He noticed the outfit she wore and assumed she took a shift today.

"I'm really sorry, Bizzy. I'm just going through a lot. You know I'd never neglect you intentionally." She didn't want to lose her pokémon too. "This'll all blow over soon, okay?"

He nodded and raised his paw. Bizzy understood. He just missed her.

Jenna took it into her hand and rubbed the top of it with her thumb. "You're great. Let me change."

She went and showered again, then slipped into a pink tee and pajama shorts in the restroom. Jenna stood by the counter and unwrapped her hand, studying both sides of its injury. The stitching was intact, and so far, it didn't look infected, but she'd greatly irritated her palm today. "Ahs, fuck..." She gritted her teeth while touching the swelling with her finger that had grown around the entry wound from the day's strain on it. It hurt when she moved her fingers as well. Jenna wasn't supposed to be active for a week, but she couldn't lie in bed for days and drown in her sorrow.

She rewrapped her hand with new gauze she kept in her cabinet, went to grab a snack from the kitchen she'd share with Bizzy, and finally went to her room and got under the covers while snuggling him. The water at least soothed some of the pain and livid bruising on her lower back and sides.

Jenna yawned and closed her eyes but didn't feel at rest and knew why. It'd been on her mind since she woke up at the base, and she couldn't sleep until she resolved what plagued her.