Of Beating Hearts pt. 1
ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!!! this is the first furry story ive ever attempted at writing haha It's for my Senior English class where are supposed to create a dystopic society due to the fact we are currently reading 1984 by george orwell!
I hope you all enjoy, it will be a 3 part series cuz we have to upload 3 different sections to the teacher haha.
I felt an aching pain as the cold breeze seeped into my bones. Not that I cared, I have felt this sensation so many times it has been reduced to nothing but a dull nuisance. Walking down the street, I look up and see the broken down, worn, and weathered buildings towering above me. All around me it's the same cold, hard, rusty ghetto called the District that we are forced to live in. There are 8 districts in this city, taking up almost a third of the area. They are all festering piles of garbage; much like the one I am currently residing in, District 6 to be exact. Looking out beyond the borders of District 6, we are surrounded on almost all sides by tall buildings. All of them are new, all of them are shiny, and all of them are mocking us.
Sighing, I take my gaze away from the depressing site of the glorious city versus the ever-so-disappointing District. I continue walking, that dull pain prodding at the back of my mind. My thoughts began to wander, but were yanked back into place when my left arm ran into a piece of protruding pipe from a torn down wall that ripped my already torn jacket just below the shoulder. I muttered an obscenity as I checked to make sure it wasn't too bad, for this is the only article of clothing keeping my torso out of the cold. To my dismay I saw that the rip was wide enough that my fur was peeking through the gap. I say fur because I forgot to mention I am a wolf. Gray fur, muzzle, teeth, tail, and everything else except for the fact I walk upon two legs because my body, though covered in fur, resembles a human's. These districts are made for animals like me, although the humans call us "furs." Survive and adapt is the code of nature, I guess evolution's version of adapt was to make our ancestors closer to humans. Let's just say the people didn't like that very much.
"Damn it..." I curse as I shake my head trying to rip away the unpleasant story of the past that seems to cling into my brain, digging its nails into my conscience. I wipe my muzzle with my sleeve, rub my paws together, and then continue on my frigid journey. I was still seething about my jacket because now my shoulder was aching from being exposed to the freezing weather, though my fur did a little to help. Very rarely do we ever find clothes at all, let alone clothes meant to keep out of the cold. The only time we are able to find clothes is on the almost non-existent occasion where they expand our district to some of the abandoned homes and buildings that surround the district, leaving whatever was left behind there for us. Mobs manage to take whatever is left within minutes, though. That's how I got the clothes on my back for I wasn't able to get to anything else and left before it got too violent.
WHAP! I slapped myself to get these lingering thoughts out of my head and decide to grit my teeth and push through the rest of the way to Jared's place. At around sunset, I reached a 10 story intimidating apartment complex and pressed the button on a large metal grid next to the tab that read "Jared McArnold". Above the metal grid a speaker came to life and Jared's familiar voice sailed into my pricked up ears. "Hello?" he inquired. "Hey, pretty boy!" I yelled. "Let me in!" I could feel his eyes roll, "Danny, that you?" I just barked as a response. The speaker clicked off. I heard a loud buzzer as the door to the complex opened. Just as I pushed the door open, I heard a resounding crash behind me.
I whirled around to see a young female cat on the ground across the street, her head split open from a glass bottle, now broken, that had been thrown. A pool of blood began forming around her head, like some sick version of a halo I have seen depicted on humans in paintings. A few humans sped by on motorcycles, turning around to come back for more. There was a brawny lion that whirled around on my side of the street in front of a small trading shop, his eyes darted and searched until they came upon the girl across the street. "Jenny!" He gasped and bolted across the street, "oh no." He dropped what he was carrying and tended to the lifeless Jenny, who at this point I assume was his lover. His tear filled eyes looked at the bikers, now on their way back down the street. "You bastards!" he screamed, standing up, his expression filling with rage and hate, "I'll make you pay for this!" The bikers panicked and tried drifting to turn around quickly but the lion ran and dove, tackling one of the four bikers off of his bike in mid-drift, causing the bike to go flying into the wall of a building, crumpling on impact. When they hit the ground the lion dug his claws into the man's throat and tore it out showering the ground with more blood. Suddenly a spotlight shined down from one of the towering human buildings onto the now blood-covered lion. I looked around at all the other furs, who during this whole time had just gone about their daily business. I looked down and sighed for the millionth time today. This was a common occurrence in the Districts. No matter the circumstance if a fur does anything at all to any human, they are taken and never heard from again. Rumors circulate that they are publically executed. I shuddered, pulled myself away from the disturbing scene and stepped inside the complex, slamming the door behind me.
I climbed up three flights of stairs and made my way down a damp hallway dimly lit by a few dying light bulbs. Finally I reach the room 313, Jared's apartment. I put the event I had just witnessed in the back of my mind and managed to force a smile as I gently knocked rhythmically on the door. I heard some shuffling from the inside before the door flew open, "Danny-boy!" exclaimed Jared as he opened the door, beaming showing his teeth. Jared was a husky. Although you could barely tell with his dingy fur from years of growing up cold and sad. His smile greatly contrasted his appearance. His bright shining expression of supposed happiness was accompanied by a starving, skinny, wiry frame with matted fur. Although his initial appearance wasn't exactly enticing, he was actually quite handsome. "Come on in!" he motioned for me to enter.
I obliged and stepped through the doorway being greeted by the smell of dirty clothes and sour food, although around here you don't get much better. I laughed, "My nose definitely hasn't grown accustomed to the smell." Jared just rolled his eyes again, "Oh, well you're quite the charmer". "Indeed I am," I replied moving closer to Jared, wrapping my arms around his waist. At this I heard Jared grumble. I regrettably pulled away and placed my hands onto his shoulders, "What's wrong". Jared looked away, "I'm sorry I'm just not in the mood..." He moved closer and placed his head into my chest given that he was shorter then me, "I'm sure you witnessed what happened outside just before you came in. I'm just... not in the mood." I nodded, "Yeah, I know... I'm sorry..." I peeled my ears back and looked at the ground. "Aw, it's okay" he cooed as he snaked his arms around my torso.
It broke my heart to see him this way. I wish there was a way I could get Jared out of here and give him the life he deserves. Unfortunately The Districts are constantly guarded and the only laws letting anyone in or out only apply to furs. There wasn't really a physical barrier, but there is nothing surrounding us but the human city, New York City I've heard some people call it. Any fur caught in the city would die for sure. I pulled myself back to the reality and the husky currently in my arms. I rubbed his shoulder and spoke softly, "Hey Jared, let's go to bed we got a hard days work ahead of us tomorrow. We do want to get food for us, don't we?" Jared just squeezed me tighter and nodded. I followed him to the bedroom where we climbed into his small bed, pulled the thin sheet over us, and shut out the light. I wrapped my arms around him once more and fell asleep to the hypnotic pattern of his breath, to be cast into a dream even though I knew I would wake up to a nightmare.
Explaining stuffz will happen all next chapter (thats what we were supposed to do with the assignment haha)
I hope you all enjoyed the first part PLEASE give feedback for this is my first actual attempt at a story :/