FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Alaska

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This something that's been going around my mind lately - I hope you'll find this interesting, some more serious writing from ol' Gruffy, trying to keep things going along. I do look forward to your comments and feedback, they mean a lot to me and encourage me to keep chugging along. Thank you for reading, and...have a good time!

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"HELP!

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"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

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"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

"ANYONE!?"

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"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

_ _

He felt cold.

Everything felt cold, and everything also hurt. Even his eyes hurt, when they flickered open. The light felt awfully bright and made him squeeze them tight shut. That sent sparks of pain through his skull. His head was spinning and a surge of pain went down his back all the way to his tail.

Everywhere.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

_ _

His stomach hurt. His paws felt numb and his left elbow hurt, a thick, throbbing pain.

"IS HE DEAD?!"

_ _

His feet felt especially cold. And they felt...something else too. His brain wasn't quite sure how to describe that sensation.

"HELLO! HELLOOOOO?!"

_ _

His teeth clattered together. His head felt so heavy, and what he saw between heavy-lidded slits of eyes was oddly distorted, like viewed through a cracked mirror.

"ANYOOOOOOONE?!"

_ _

Suddenly there was movement. He watched, tried to open his eyes more, and saw a black shape approach. It made him tense. There was something foreboding about the image. Something scary. His heart began to race.

"HELLO!?"

_ _

Further noises filled his ringing ears, splattering. Like a child running through a puddle, his mind screamed. He couldn't quite tell why his mind conjured up that idea.

"...hello?"

Paws gripped his arm and suddenly he felt a rush of warmth against his face. He blinked, and there was a face in front of him, looking at him. A pair of eyes, a concerned muzzle, flat ears. More warmth on his own muzzle.

"Hello? Are you alright? Can you move?"

It was a Rottweiler. The dog in front of him had bags under his eyes. His muzzle looked it was stained with something dark that stood out from the tone of the furs that covered his head. The most startling thing he realized was that the dog was wearing a black business suit, a white shirt, and even a tie, thrown askew over his chest.

"Hello?"

He swallowed.

"Ah..."

"God, you're alive...are you hurt?"

He wasn't sure. Everything hurt, but he wasn't sure whether that meant he was at death's door, or whether it was an encouraging sign. Would pain suddenly disappear in the end? Would he just close his eyes and the pain would replaced by a gentle warmth that would let him drift away. Right now he just felt cold and painful all over, and his head hurt and throbbed.

"It hurts," he said.

"I guess I have to...have to try to get out," the dog said. "Do you think you can walk?"

He looked at the Rottweiler's eyes. He had bags under them, and they made him look older than he probably was. He couldn't quite tell. Maybe the Rottweiler was younger than he was himself.

"CAN'T ANYONE HEEEEEELEP?!"

_ _

The Rottweiler's ears flicked in the direction of the shout, and he glanced over his shoulder, outside of his cone of vision, into the strange, rippling effect behind him.

"Can you come to help me?" the Rottweiler shouted. "There's someone sitting here still and he's alive!"

Alive...he wasn't sure why that was so important. Why wouldn't he be alive? He'd just been admiring the glacier through the window and he'd told Neil that maybe he could see the tracks of wild animals on the snow. Neil was there right next to him.

He looked over to his side. It made his neck hurt.

Neil was not there.

"NEIL!" he yelled. "NEIL!"

He felt panicking. Neil just wasn't there. He had to find Neil.

"NEIL!"

"Who...who are you shouting for?" the Rottweiler asked.

"NEIL!" he tried to stand up but that caused the pain in his stomach to become worse.

"Hey, you gotta..." the Rottweiler said, "looks like you've got your seatbelt still on."

"Neil...:" he gasped, "where's Neil..."

"Just a moment," the dog spoke again. He could feel the dog's paws touching his belly, there was a click, and the dog stepped back.

"I think you're good now...let's try to stand up, okay? Probably best to get a bit further away from the wreck."

The wreck? He couldn't understand what that meant.

"Neil...he...he was here..."

The dog grabbed his arm.

"I'll help you stand up, just lean on me."

"Where's Neil..."

"Was...was Neil in the plane?" the dog asked.

"Neil..."

"We'll find Neil," the dog said," come on, it's not safe here - "

'

"HELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! CALL NINE ONE ONE!"

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"Where's Neil..."

"Let me get you..."

There was even more pain, when his back straightened, shooting to the tip of his tail. It swung around behind him erratically. It hit against something hard, and that made him wince.

"Ouch..."

"Okay...now, lean on me, just...just come on...let's get you out.."

His footpaws still felt very cold, and made a funny sound when he tried to take a step. A glance down showed his blue and black hiking shoes and...water. A big puddle, several inches of it, enough to cover his ankles. A piece of paper floated in the water, as well as something yellow. Plastic.

"What...what's...where's Neil..."

"Come on!"

They took painful steps forward, and he found himself leaning heavily against the mysterious dog. The Rottweiler was leading him towards a light...a grey one, but still a light, in the ripple. They sloshed forward, and -

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! HEEELP MEEEE!"

"I FOUND ONE HERE!" the Rottweiler suddenly yelled. It hurt his ears.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?"

_ _

"I found one here!" the Rottweiler yelped. "He's walking!"

"ANYONE ELSE THERE?"

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"No!" the Rottweiler responded.

"We're in water..." he muttered.

"Only for a bit, the rest is..more or less dry...come on..."

The lakefront.

It stretched open, meandering along a curve of stones polished smooth by endless winds and waves and current. A ripple of wind even now made the water lap the edges of its natural home, as if testing the borders for an attempt to escape and further its realm. It was a shore as grey and black and mountains rising in the distance before snow capped their top and blended with the white steeliness of the overcast sky. The lake offered a bizarre mirror image of the landscape, littered in pines that reached for the heavens obscured by the clouds with not a single crack in them to allow the sun to show itself.

The bleak stretch of land along the lake was strewn with debris from the plane. Mostly white, or a dull silver, they'd been spattered across hundreds of yards. Window frames. Seat pillows, scraps of cloth, broken suitcases, another yellow life preserver, a bunch of cables that'd once been connected to one vital piece of equipment or another.

"Neil..." he muttered.

"Let's get out of the water, come on..."

A blurry orange form on his eyes field of view suddenly moved.

"NEED A PAW?!

"I think he's fine enough to walk!" the Rottweiler yelled.

"Where's Neil..." he mumbled.

"OKAY!"

"WON'T ANYONE HELP US?!"

_ _

The orange shape moved. Trying to look at it made him feel sick in his head. He started to feel faint.

"Oh..."

"Oh, be careful!"

The Rottweiler held him up. His footpaw stepped against a slippery stone and he almost lost his footing, but the dog pulled him up. Suddenly there were only stones and moss under his paws, no more water.

"Neil..."

"You wouldn't happen to be Neil, are you?" The Rottweiler called across the shore.

"No," the orange blob replied. "Why?"

"This one keeps calling for one."

"ANYONEEE!"

_ _

"Oh shut up!"

He was slowly becoming aware of others on the shore. Besides the orange blob, there were three others. One lay on the bare ground, another splash of color, while something white moved along in circles and kept making that loud noise. Someone seemed to be sitting down, a brown head following the movements of the loud white thing.

"HEEELP!"

His steps were uncertain and slow, but the Rottweiler was there for him throughout, until they reached the four furs on the shore. They became more tangible, as well. The orange blow had white paws and a white face. He was a polar bear, he realized. The shape lying down was a jaguar, looking up with a pained grimace and muttering under his breath. The strange white thing was a cat, a cougaress, wearing something that looked like a duster, covering her entire body. The voice that had previously chastised her yelling belonged to an otter who sat by the fallen jaguar, one paw clutching his chest.

"Was there anyone else on the tail?" the polar bear asked.

"No," the Rottweiler replied, "just found him. He seems pretty out of it, though."

"W-what..."

"Did the other guy come back yet?"

"No," the polar bear said, "still checking the cockpit."

"Think he's okay?"

The bear shrugged.

"Can't really get worse than this anymore," he said, glancing at the lake, "shit..."

"Neil..."

"Let's get you sitting down," the Rottweiler said, "it's okay for now."

"It's going to get cold soon," the bear said. "We're exposed here."

"Let's get you sitting..."

He was maneuvered onto a sitting position on the rocks, something that did not do good for his aching back or his neck. The movement made his head spin even more. He started to feel like he was going to throw up.

"Uhgh..."

"We're going to die...we're going to die..." the cougar muttered, "nobody knows we're here...oh my God..."

"Where's Neil..." he mumbled. Neil was meant to be sitting right next to him, staring quietly on the front of the seat in front of them.

"Fuck...Jesus...fuck..."

"Think anyone's coming yet?" the Rottweiler spoke.

"Hard to say," the polar bear replied. "It's only been a while yet. They might not be missing us yet."

"WHERE ARE THE AMBULANCES?!"

"Just -ahj...Diane, sit down!"

"I CAN'T SIT DOWN!" the cougar in the massive white fur coat replied in a shrill tone. "I HAVE TO GIVE A MARK TO THE HELICOPTERS! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE!"

She started bouncing on her footpaws, arms waving in the air while she signaled imaginary rescue forces.

"Diane!" the otter moaned.

"She's gone out of it, man!" the jaguar groaned. "She's out of it..."

"Neil..." he mumbled.

"GLENN!"

He turned. He turned to look towards another pile of tattered remains of the plane, because that was where the voice was coming from.

"GLENN!"

Grey and red, it was moving.

"Neil..."

The voice. It had to be Neil.

"NEIL!"

He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't carry him. His head gave another uncomfortable lurch, and he saw sparkles shoot across his field of vision. He felt like he was falling.

"DON'T LET HIM HIT HIS HEAD!"

He felt paws grab him, before the brilliant sparks seemed to dissolve into darkness. His throat began to burn. He made a choked noise.

"AHhh..!"

"He's going to throw up, tilt his head down, don't let him fall!"

The fox ran across the few remaining yards that separated him from the fur being supported by the Rottweiler. The wolf, wearing tattered remains of pants and a jacket, was still retching. His ears were flat and his tail flailed against the black, smooth rocks. The fox went down to his knees, dropped something to the ground next to him, and took hold of the wolf's arms.

"Glenn, it's okay, if you need to throw up, do it," the fox spoke.

The wolf made another series of terrifying noises before he spat a small amount of darkish fluid down onto the rocks and then took several deep, huffing breaths. His tail went limp, and his ears perked, while he raised his head to look at the fox.

"Neil..."

"He keeps asking for a Neil," the Rottweiler said.

"I'm Neil," the fox said, "Glenn, I'm here. Look at me."

"Is he okay?" the Rottweiler asked.

"It's probably a concussion," the fox said, "did he throw up before?"

"No, but it seems that he's not walking very well."

"Do you legs hurt, Neil?" the fox spoke to the wolf, "Neil, grab my paws."

The fox held out his russet paws. The wolf gave them a dazed look, before he quietly took them onto his own.

"Squeeze my paws," the fox said.

The wolf did as much. The fox returned the gesture, before letting go of the paws, gently.

"Okay, I'm going to look at your eyes," the fox replied.

His paws moved and almost tenderly, he spread fingers around the sockets of the wolf's eyes, to keep the eyes open while he stared at the fox. His lips moved.

"Neil..."

"You've got a concussion," the fox said, "pupils are equal, though...does your head hurt?"

"Yeah..." the wolf mumbled," I don't know what happened."

"We crashed," the fox said, "the engine failed and we stalled and the pilots tried to do an emergency landing. It didn't go very well?"

"We..." the wolf blinked, "we..."

"What about the cockpit?" the polar bear stepped closer to the trio kneeling on the ground.

The fox looked up at the larger male.

"Dead," he said," must've been killed instantly, both of them."

"Shit," the polar bear grunted.

"No...no pilots?" the jaguar mumbled.

"Little good they'd do now, anyway," the otter muttered. "There's no plane to fly."

"They could use the radio or, something!" the jaguar grunted.

"Did you see the radio?" the polar bear asked.

"Everything was smashed," Neil responded. "I can't really tell if anything was working there anymore. I didn't see a phone or a portable radio there."

"The transponder should've been giving a signal all the way until we went down," the polar bear said, "the flight control should know that we're here."

"How can you be sure?" the jaguar snorted. "What do you know about planes?"

"I know more about them than you, I bet," the polar bear said.

The jaguar sneered. The otter groaned.

"Stupid," he complained.

The cougar kept on with her bouncing.

"I'm cold," the jaguar said.

"Can you give him your coat?" the fox spoke to the polar bear. "You're much bigger than him, it'll take less time for you to become hypothermic."

"I'm cold too," the otter snorted. "Why is he getting the coat?"

"Because you're already wearing one," the fox said, "and because I say so."

"Who are you to say anything?" the otter accused.

"Because I'm a doctor, and I presume you're not," the fox said quickly.

"We're all going to freeze ours asses off, anyway."

The polar bear might've been grumbling, but he unzipped his loud-colored thick coat and even helped to drape it over the jaguar lying on the rocks and looking pained. The bear wore a thick green shirt under the coat, too. He looked like he was almost hot, compared to the others around him. There was barely any wind, but the polar bear's headfurs still ruffled. It must've inspired him to stroke his big paw through them.

"Helluva day," the polar bear grumbled.

"We need shelter," the Rottweiler spoke for the first time for a while. "We can't stay here, can we?"

The cougar was panting by now after jumping up and down for several minutes.

"But we have to be here!" she breathed. "We have to be here to be ready to give a signal! They won't find us if we move!"

"We'll make a signal," the polar bear said, "a fire or...or an SOS...something they can see from the air."

"For the helicopters!" the cougar replied.

"Shut up, Diane," the otter snorted.

The cougar wrapped her arms about herself.

"I don't like it here."

"Why don't you post that on your Facebook?" the otter snorted.

"Fuck you, Casey!" the cougar yelled.

"Diane - " the jaguar spoke before his words were interrupted by coughing.

The fox's ears perked. He moved over to the jaguar sprawled on the ground.

"Do you have trouble breathing?"

"Not really," the jaguar said, "mostly just my, my leg hurts..."

"We're all hurting," the otter grunted.

"Where are you, Neil?"

"I'm right here," the fox replied. He moved over to the slumped wolf and put his paws onto his shoulders. "I'm right here."

The wolf blinked and stared blankly at the fox, dazed.

"What's going on?"

"We're going to be here for a while," the fox replied, "Glenn, you have to be really brave for me. You don't really remember yet what happened but you'll be fine. You're just going to need to take a small rest and you'll be just fine."

"Are you speaking that for real or just to keep him calm?" the polar bear questioned.

The fox shot him a dirty look.

"It's all I can say for now," he said, "there's no knowing if he has internal injuries. He's conscious but with altered mental status. It could be concussion or something else. I just don't know yet. We'll see soon."

"Neil, were we...were we already on the plane?" the wolf asked.

"Yes, Glenn, we were going back to Anchorage when it crashed," the fox replied, "you hit your head."

"I...I couldn't find you..." the wolf's breath hitched.

"I had to leave you for a moment because I had to go and see how the others were doing," the fox said. "You were safe, so I could leave you for a little while."

The wolf nodded.

"Did...did anyone die?"

"The pilots," Neil said.

"We could have died..."the wolf said.

"But we didn't," Neil squeezed the wolf's shoulder. "We're still here. And we have work to do."

"I'm cold," Glenn said.

"I'll find you something warm," the fox said.

He didn't spend more time with the wolf. Instead, he picked up the black object he'd dropped to the stones by the wolf before and tucked it onto his belt.

"We need to gather supplies," he said, "We need clothing, especially. Can you - what are you called?"

"I'm David," the Rottweiler said.

"Ivan," the polar bear rumbled.

"And I'm Neil," the fox replied. "Can you two go and look at any pieces of luggage lying around? We had bags onboard, and they seem to have been thrown everywhere. I'll stay to look after everyone here."

"There might be something on tail section, too," the Rottweiler said, "I didn't really look through it that carefully yet, I just got him out and took him here."

"Take this."

The fox pulled the black object from his belt and handed it over to the dog.

"I found this from the cockpit, it still works," he said.

The Rottweiler studied the smooth metal cylinder and found it to be a flashlight.

"Thanks."

"Don't drop it, I don't think we have any to spare."

"I'm so cold..." the otter grunted.

"Miss, can you give your coat to him?" Neil spoke to the cougar who was huddled up in her own little world now, it seemed. Being spoken to made her shrug theatrically.

"Do you think I'm wearing much under it?" she snorted.

"Well I don't expect you came to sunbathe in Denali," Ivan the bear grumbled.

"Seventeen magazine," the jaguar snorted from under the bear's winter coat, "Diane got a spread. Four pages."

"This was meant to be my breakthrough..." the cougar mewled.

"I've lost the camera," the jaguar said.

"Oh, no..." the cougar moaned, "you'll have to book us a new shoot, Casey! But I'm not coming back to Alaska!"

She looked down at the otter, who sat heavily, with his head down.

"Casey!"

Ears perked. The jaguar nudged the otter's back with his paw. The man didn't react.

"CASEY!"

"Man?" the jaguar questioned.

"Damn..."

"Don't let him fall and hit his head!" Neil shouted.

He grabbed the otter from under his arms and laid him down onto the ground. The otter was gasping for breath, his lips open, paws falling limp over to his sides.

"Need something under his head," he said.

"Use the coat," the jaguar was already moving to pull it off himself.

"The pulse is rapid," Neil noted, fingers against the otter's throat. "I can't feel radial pulse. Pads are cold."

"What's going on?" Ivan asked.

"CASEY!" the cougar yelled.

The fox began to unbutton the otter's coat.

"I need something to cut his clothes off," he said.

"I've got this!"

Ivan stepped over with a shiny metal object on his paw. It felt cold in the fox's pads. He looked at it curiously.

"How'd you get a Leatherman to the plane?" the fox asked.

"They're not that strict around here," the bear said.

The otter was wearing an expensive-looking shirt. Neil flicked open the blade on the multitool and split the cloth with the sharp knife. He pulled the halves of the shirt apart to expose the otter's torso. His chest was going up and down rapidly. Everyone was watching him now, and the fox, leaning over him, putting his paws onto the otter's body, moving slowly, firmly.

"What's going on?" David asked.

"Abdomen, non-rigid...hips...stable..."

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?" the cougar warbled.

"HhhhhhhhNHHHHhh!"

"He's having trouble breathing and his pulse is weak and rapid, he's in shock."

The fox's paws pressed firmly over the otter's chest, from his waist all the way to his collar bones.

"He has a couple of broken ribs but..."

The fox leaned over the otter and pressed an ear against the bare chest of the man in a gesture that seemed almost intimate. He remained thus for a few moments, with everyone around them watching with trepidation.

"Heart sounds are muffled. Respiratory effort is high and..."

He put his paw over the otter's neck again.

"...pulse is weak."

"What's wrong with him?" the jaguar asked.

"I can't be sure but he's got good breath sounds and a weak pulse and cold extremities, he's in shock," Neil replied. "He's bleeding inside."

"But he walked out of it!" the Rottweiler said. "He was walking around afterwards...I told him to sit down..."

"He could've lost a couple liters before this happens," the fox replied. "I've seen it before."

"What's wrong with him??!?!" the cougar yelled.

"He's going to die," Neil said.

"BUT HE WAS JUST TALKING!"

"What's happening, Neil?"

"Don't worry, Glenn," the fox spoke to the wolf sitting nearby. "I'm helping him now."

"Is he okay?" the wolf asked woozily.

"Don't worry about it," Neil said. "I'm seeing what can be done."

The otter coughed. His entire body went rigid with it. Neil felt the otter's neck with his fingers.

"I can't find a pulse," he said. "He's gone."

"Just like that?" Ivan grunted.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" the cougar yelled.

"He died." the fox replied. He pulled his fingers from the otter's neck and looked down to him. "There's no pulse."

"Shouldn't...shouldn't we do like...CPR?" the jaguar asked.

"Even if we were in a hospital, I couldn't do a thing at this point."

The fox winced as he got up from his knees. For the first time, he too looked like he was feeling the cold in the Arctic air.

"Casey..."

"I'm sorry," he said to the cougar, "there's nothing we can do for him. But there's plenty we can do for everyone else."

"He...he's dead?" the cougar whispered in reply.

"I'm sorry."

"Fuck," the jaguar muttered," Jesus..."

"I really thought he was okay," Ivan said, "I just thought he was...shaken up...I mean...not a scratch on him."

"Blunt trauma," the fox spoke in a tight voice.

It was quiet for some time.

"We need to get warm before that's how they'll find all of us," David said.

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Thank you for reading! I look forward to reading your comments!

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