FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Cody checked the contents of his pack one last time the morning of the expedition: water, carbohydrate and protein concentrates, first-aid kit, an extra pair of socks, flashlight, and stone knife. This expedition to the surface wasn’t supposed to be long, but it had been over a hundred generations since anyone from his community had ventured out of their subterranean cavern. He wanted to be prepared.

No one knew what they would find outside, but most likely it would be the ruins of their ancestors’ civilization, overtaken by nature. Cody was actually pretty excited by the idea of getting to see an actual tree and, even more so, getting to see animals! The records their ancestors had brought with them close to three thousand years ago, carefully preserved in the artificially lit, cool, dry cavern, spoke of multitudinous different species and even had some pictures! However, no one had seen anything beyond insects and spiders that crept into the deep caverns since the last humans had been driven under ground by the nuclear fallout and ravaging diseases engineered for maximum mortality. Some people pessimistically claimed that nothing would have survived the outside world, but others said many species may have.

The twenty-five-year-old met the rest of the expedition group in the main cavern where most socializing took place. The bright LEDs shone down from the high ceiling, the only light Cody had ever known. The lights were part of the reason they were heading outside. While centuries worth of the long-lasting LEDs had initially been stocked and protected from corrosion and had lasted longer than anyone had thought possible, the last strands were finally giving out. More importantly, there were only a few packs left of the grow lights needed to produce food in the subterranean caverns.

Cody knew from his schooling that their cavern was located in what had been known as the United States of America, in a State called Kentucky. Their cavern was part of the Mammoth Cave system.

“Everyone here?” Ms. Brenda, the expedition leader asked in her warm, pleasant tone.

Cody and the others quickly counted each other: eight in all, everyone assigned to the mission. While the caverns sustained around four hundred people, they hadn’t wanted to send too many. If any of them caught one of the weapon-grade diseases that might still be out there after all this time, none of them could return.

“Let’s get going then,” Ms. Brenda said. “Miles, you take the lead.”

The tall, thirty-something took out his flashlight and led them up the winding tunnel toward the exit. About halfway, they passed the remnants of the stone barrier that had blocked out the rest of the world. Cody had helped take down the thick, stone wall over the past couple days. As he stepped beyond it, he felt a flutter of excitement. They were really doing it! They were really going outside. Before long, they began to hear the trickle of water, and then a faint light began to ease the utter blackness of the cave. Finally, a bright opening appeared! The expedition made their way carefully but quickly toward the sunlight, emerging out of a gaping hole with a little stream running into it.

Enormous trees, centuries old, towered above them as the emerged from the cave. While everything was calm and still, it incredibly lively compared to the silent cavern: the rustle of the wind through the leaves, the dance of the sunlight on the forest floor, chirping of insects! The air was so fresh and clear! No one would have imagined this world had been the ones humans had abandoned choked with pollution, with natural habitats nearly annihilated.

Ms. Brenda took the lead, and they began their way through the trees, treading softly over leaf-litter and through the underbrush. At first it seemed the pessimists had been correct: aside from insects, the forest was quiet. The sudden flutter of wings and a cry turned all their heads sharply! Was that a bird?! It was gone in an instant, but hope soared in Cody’s chest! There were some animals after all!

“Hold on, do you-all smell that?” Meredith asked a few minutes later, causing them all to halt. Cody sniffed, and the faint scent of smoke tickled his nose.

“A fire?” Miles asked.

“There can’t be people out here, can there?” Meredith demanded.

“It depends,” Ms. Brenda said. “Maybe some people came up sooner. That’ll make it a lot easier for us as long as they’re friendly.”

Standing a head taller than the rest of them, Miles lifted his nose and sniffed again. “I think it’s this way,” he said, pointing to the right.

“Lead on!” Ms. Brenda told him cheerfully.

Before long, buildings did begin to appear through the trees. Houses, Cody thought, but there was something odd about them. The closer they got, the more obvious it became that there was a bizarrely wide range in sizes amongst the structures! Some were clearly large enough for a human to inhabit, but others looked like doll houses and everything in between. Disconcertingly, while the houses looked lived in and the dirt streets were clear of weeds, no one seemed to be around.

“Hello?” Ms. Brenda called cautiously. “Is anyone here?”

A creek sounded, causing them all to jerk their heads toward it. Slowly, the door on one of the smaller sized houses began to open. However, what peaked out wasn’t human but some small, bipedal furry creature with triangular ears. All members of the expedition stared at the creature in amazement. Cody crouched down and held out his hand. The creature slowly approached him and sniffed his hand, gaping its mouth. Cody tried to pet its head, but it ducked and caught his hand in two remarkably hand-like paws.

“Hello?” the creature spoke. “What are you things?” The creature spoke in a strange dialect that was nevertheless obviously English!

Cody and company were flabbergasted.

The creature cocked its head to the side in confusion, “Hello? Do you understand?”

“W-we understand,” Ms. Brenda stammered. “I’m Brenda, and these are the members of my expedition. Are, are you a cat?!”

The gray tabby nodded and put a hand to her chest, “Cinder. What are you?”

“We’re people,” Brenda stated.

The cat cocked her head to the side again and regarded them in confusion with her yellow-green eyes. Aside from standing on two legs, the cat didn’t look quite what Cody remembered from pictures. Maybe her head was bigger, or at least her cranium. Cody suddenly noticed that more furry creatures were emerging from the other houses! Like the houses they varied in size from only a pound to more than twice his size. If he had to guess, he would say there were animals of feline, canine, vulpine, and mustelid families. All stood on two legs, and all eyed the party with a cautious interest.

Ms. Brenda held up her hands, “We don’t mean you any harm,” she said calmly but with a little quaver in her voice. While the vast majority of the animal people were small, they greatly outnumbered the expedition party.

“Are you hungry?” the cat asked.

“We ate before we left, but we, um, we’d appreciate it if you’d like to share your food,” Ms. Brenda replied diplomatically.

The cat turned, motioning with its hand, “Come.”

After a brief hesitation, Ms. Brenda led them after the cat, deeper into the town. The cat wasn’t wearing clothes, and the lack of certain anatomy told them the cat, Cinder, was female. Cinder led them to a market with animals standing at stalls with baskets of delicious-looking fresh fruits and vegetables! A few stalls were cooking something that smelled strangely savory but not unpleasant over a charcoal grill. Cody eyed the red and brown misshapen chunks with curiosity.

“Take what you want,” the cat offered.

“Thank you,” Brenda said warmly.

The humans began to examine the fruits and vegetables. Only a few were familiar.

“What’s this?” Cody asked, pointing to a large, red fruit.

“An apple,” Cinder answered.

“How does it taste?”

“Sweet.”

Cody took the apple and bit into it. The sweet and tangy flavor exploded onto his tongue! “Mm-mm, oh my God! That’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted!” he exclaimed.

He crouched down and petted Cinder’s head. She allowed him a few pets before she ducked away.

“Thank you, Cinder! The upper world is amazing! I never thought we’d find creatures like you! I hope we can be friends.”

Cinder smiled softly but still looked a little uncertain. “Do you want any meat?” the cat asked him, pointing to the cooking brown lumps.

“Meat? Is that what that is?” Cody asked curiously. “You mean like animal tissue?” He’d read about how people used to eat meat, of course, but there were no animals in the caverns and few enough bugs.

Cinder blinked at him slowly. She then opened her mouth and pointed at one of her long, sharp canine teeth. Amused, Cody opened his mouth and pointed to his own canine.

“Ah,” said the cat. “You’re not carnivores.”

Cody let out half a laugh, “Hah, I guess not.”

Cinder nodded, “You’re prey then.”

At those words, all hell broke loose. An enormous puma leapt toward the humans, and with a mighty swipe of its razor-sharp claws, opened Miles’ throat! With Miles’ blood splattering on the ground, the puma pounced on and pinned two more of their expedition, quickly killing one with a bite to the neck. A pair of coyotes seized Cody by the arms, and three wolves grabbed Ms. Brenda and two of the other humans. Meredith made a run for it, but a lynx tackled her, knocking her to the ground where a pair of red foxes finished her off. Cody, Ms. Brenda, and the other three surviving humans stared at their slain comrades in horror.

“W-why?” Ms. Brenda managed to choke.

The cat blinked at them slowly then opened her mouth again to show her fangs. She pointed to herself, “Predator.” Then she pointed to them, “Prey.”

The predators tied the remaining five humans by arms, legs, and neck to some wooden stakes planted in the middle of the market. Meanwhile, other predators built a fire in a stone fire pit nearby while still others began to strip and clean the carcasses of the three dead humans. The surviving humans could only watch with horror and dread as the predators dissected and prepared the bodies for cooking. They prepared everything from meat to viscera, and what wasn’t put on skewers for roasting when cleaned was cut up and thrown in a large pot with vegetables to make stew.

After several minutes, Cinder sauntered over by them and stared up at them, blinking slowly. “What are you?”

“I s-said we’re people!” Ms. Brenda protested desperately. “We’re not food!”

The cat opened her mouth and pointed to her fangs again. “Predators eat prey,” she said matter-of-factly. Then she shrugged, looking a little apologetic. “Sorry.” She then clarified her question, “What is your species?”

“W-we’re humans!”

“Humans?” the cat didn’t seem to have any idea what that was. “Do humans taste good?”

“What?! H-how would we know?! We don’t eat each other!” Ms. Brenda protested.

The cat shrugged, “I hope you do. You smell funny.”

Cody couldn’t take it anymore! “No! God, please no!” he wailed desperately, tears streaming down his face. “Please don’t! I-I don’t want to get eaten! Let us go, please!”

“Shh, shhhh,” Cinder shushed, patting the air with her hands. “Don’t be scared. It will be quick.”

Cody continued to sob. “ I-I thought… I wanted… Please don’t do this! I don’t want to die!”

A black cat skipped over to them with a plate and handed it to Cinder, “Hey Cinder, try this!”

Cinder took a piece of the cooked meat, human meat, and tore a chunk off with her sharp fangs. She chomped on it a bit and gulped it down. Then she looked up at the humans with a happy smile, “You taste good!”

One of the other three humans groaned in despair. Cody suddenly realized that if they’d tasted awful the predators might have let them go, and his heart sank into his stomach. They really were going to get eaten. He’d gotten his wish to see animals, but it was like it had been granted by an evil genie. He stared at the multitudinous different species of predators, all enjoying their first taste of human flesh, and he had the sinking feeling his species was doomed.

With the whole village getting in on the feast, the first three humans didn’t last long. The enormous puma stalked over to the five remaining humans and eyed them hungrily. Trembling with fear as he stared at the puma’s deadly jaws, Cody felt like her might throw up.

“Which one?” the puma asked Cinder with a growl.

Cinder, who was gnawing meat from someone’s radius and ulna waved her gruesome baton at the man next to Ms. Brenda.

“N-no!” he cried.

The puma bent down, and its jaws bit down on his neck with a sickening crunch. He instantly fell still. The puma untied the body and carried it off to be cleaned and cooked like the first three.

Cinder looked up at Cody with an amiable smile, “See? It’s quick! No suffering.”

Cody swallowed and nodded weakly. He could almost feel those terrible jaws around his neck!

“Are there more of you humans?” the cat asked.

“I-if I tell you where? Will you let me go?” the man next to Cody pleaded.

Cinder considered him for a few seconds, “Maybe.”

“Don’t you dare tell them, Richard!” Ms. Brenda snapped.

“Shut up!” Richard shouted back. “I-I don’t want to die like this!”

The puma tromped back over for another, and Cinder pointed to Ms. Brenda and then smiled up at the man sweetly, “Go on, Richard.”

Cody couldn’t bear to watch, but he heard a scream and then another sickening crunch.

“B-back through the woods. There’s a cave-opening with a stream. They’re down there! You just have to follow the tunnel down!”

The cat nodded, “Thank you, Richard.”

The man looked down at her expectantly for a few seconds before asking nervously, “A-aren’t you going to let me go now?”

“No,” Cinder said with a happy smile. “You taste good. We will not let any of you go.”

“B-but you said-“

“I say’d ‘maybe’,” the cat cut him off with an amused twitch of her whiskers.

The puma tromped back over, and she pointed to Richard.

“No! You said-akk!” A crunch ended his protests.

Now only Cody and a woman he thought was named Ashley were left. He stared down at the cat fearfully.

“Do you want to be next?” the cat asked him genially.

Cody felt his stomach clench, but he nodded. Whether it was an act of pointless chivalry or if he just wanted to get this over with, he didn’t know. Cinder nodded and gave him a friendly smile. However, the predators were currently busy with the previous three humans, and all Cody and Ashley could do was watch and wait their turn. Cody could hear Ashley crying, but he didn’t know what to say to comfort her. Maybe there was nothing he could say.

Cinder scrambled up his stake and perched, crouching on his shoulder. She gave his head what she might have intended as a comforting pat. “It will only hurt a second,” she told him softly. After a moment, she added, “I’m glad you came up here to meet us. I’d never seen a human.” She grinned toothily and added, “Nor tasted one.”

Cody let out a moan. “Please let us go. Don’t do this. I-I don’t want to die,” he whined.

Cinder ran her fingers through his hair as she petted his head, “I’m sorry, but predators need to eat too. I hope you can understand.”

“B-but we’re people! We aren’t prey!” Cody protested.

Cinder gave him a funny look. “You really did just pop up out of the ground, didn’t you? Prey are people too. We aren’t denying that you “humans” are people, but you’re not carnivores. Rabbits and mice are people too, but they’re prey, as you are.” She shrugged, “That’s just how things are.”

“Y-you mean other animals can talk too?”

The cat nodded, “All mammals and birds can talk. We eat prey because we have to, not because we don’t think they’re people too. So do you understand?”

Cody nodded weakly, feeling sick to his stomach. How could he judge what carnivores did by necessity, even when it was him who was to be devoured. This world was unforgiving, governed by cruel necessity. Maybe they had been better off in the cavern.

“W-we didn’t know. Can’t you give us a chance?” He pleaded. “Let Ashley and me go so that we can explain things to the others. If this is how things are, we should have a chance to know and adapt.”

Cinder stroked his head and gave him a sympathetic smile. “Think about it from our point of view. If you humans know so little that you’ll march into town for dinner, that’s a good thing for us. Look at how happy everyone is. We don’t get to share a feast like this very often.”

Cody looked at the predators who did indeed seem to be having a blast: chatting, romping and playing. There was an air of celebration as they cooked and devoured his companions. How many more people from the cavern would stumble into this place? How many would be welcomed with open arms to their demise?

“They’ll figure it out eventually,” Cinder said, seeming to read his mind. “They’ll realize they’re prey and act like it.”

Cody wasn’t so sure about the last part, but he nodded. Part of him had accepted this, his death and devouring, but mostly, he was afraid. He didn’t want to die, to be nothing but food for these animals. “I’m scared,” he whispered.

Cinder petted his head and gave him a nuzzle. “I know. I’m here. I’ll eat a whole lot of you if that will make you feel better. Then you’ll go to someone you know at least a little.”

Cody glanced at the cat’s little belly, already plump with the human flesh she’d consumed. Would it make him feel better to think it would be Cinder eating him? Realistically, she could only eat a little of him, but if he thought about it as being eaten by her, maybe that would be easier to accept. She’d tried to comfort him, at least.

“I just want you to stay with me,” he murmured.

Cinder nuzzled his head. “I will.”

Finally, when the previous three humans’ meat had been cooked and divvied up, the puma tromped back over.

“Are you ready?” Cinder asked softly.

Cody nodded nervously, and Cinder waved the puma over.

“Make it quick, Bluff. I like this one,” she meowed.

Bluff nodded impassively. The enormous puma leaned down toward him, and he shut his eyes. He felt Cinder still petting his head, crouched on his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Keep your eyes shut. It’ll only last a second.”

He felt the puma’s hot breath on his neck and then the touch of its fangs on his skin. There was a sudden sharp pain and then nothing.

* * *

Cinder watched as the puma untied the “human’s” body and carried tossed it over his shoulder to carry it away. She was glad he’d been able to understand this. Prey were predators’ food whether they knew it or not. She looked up at the last human with a satisfied smile. She wonder how many more of these new prey would wander into their village for dinner.