Fictional Life

REDEMPTION

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 19
Night Life

Sofiya had the hood of her rain poncho pulled over her head, though that did little from keeping the frigid rain from finding its way down her throat and after less than fifteen minutes her upper body seemed as if it were soaked all the way down to her skin. The rain hadn’t let up at all, and she now knew why the Olympic Peninsula was considered a rain forest. She hadn’t seen steady precipitation like this since Africa. Unlike that continent, Washington State was well above the equator and being wet and cold was challenging her endurance.

Richard wasn’t any better off and she knew that despite the cheerful demeanor he exhibited, her silver fox was just as miserable. Though he might be used to rough conditions from his past, that didn’t mean he liked them anymore than she did. They met up with the other perimeter watch.

“Apart from the rain, I haven’t heard or seen anything,” Hector told the other two Vulps.

“Heh! In this rain you could run a train through and we would not hear it!” Emanuella snorted without humor. “Of course I wouldn’t be able to hear anything with my teeth chattering the way they are.”

Sofiya looked at the kit fox vixen with a pang of sympathy. “Do not be forgetting there is hot coffee, tea and cider for us. Go get some and warm up.”

“Are you positive?” Hector asked, also looking miserable. He was used to the heat, and even the rain, but the present weather had the South American grey fox convinced that a new Ice Age was beginning. Even though his donor fox type was as adapted to the cold and heat, he was on the opposite seasonal change as the Furs from the other three Institutes and it had been summer when they had come to join the colony group. As such, none of the Buenos Aires Furs had their winter coats in yet.

“I am very sure,” the red fox told the others with a smile as she looked down the lane at the other side of the compound and the structure that also had the food stores, thinking that she’d heard something but saw nothing other than shadows and rain in the dim illumination of the few safety lights they’d gotten up. “I will be here until all of you return.”

“Why don’t I stay…” Richard began before his partner cut him off.

“Because I told all of you to go get something to drink. You can bring me back a hot cider if you wish,” she said with a hand to her lover’s face.

The silver fox shrugged and reluctantly turned for the Great dome with the other two, the sound that the vixen thought she’d heard earlier coming again, though with their backs to that direction and the rain on their poncho hoods, all of them were doing everything but yelling to be heard.

As the others headed into the Great Dome, Sofiya made her way to the storage dome, her sandaled feet squelching in the mud and plant debris. When lightning flashed for a moment, she saw that the door to the dome had been wrenched violently to the side, the hinges completely twisted into so much junk and the panel that had sealed the opening hung crazily to the side with a crack running through it. From the opening came a deep whuff! accompanied by a heavy, musky animal smell. Before Sofiya could even adjust her grip on the baton she carried, a large dark form burst from the doorway with an earsplitting roar.

If not for the greater agility and speed granted by her transformation, Sofiya would have been disemboweled by the swipe of the large paw and sharp, curving claws. As it was, the anthrovixen was already leaping backwards when the bear swung at her, its claws snagging the rain poncho she wore and shredding the water repellant fabric easily. Sofiya landed several feet back, going to a three-point stance while her paw-like hand tightened on the baton and wondering if it would be enough to dissuade the huge ursine.

Motion from the corner of her eye caught her attention as she faced the bear, and realized at the last possible moment that it was Richard. The silver fox had heard the roar even over the sound of the rain. Unfortunately, the bear had been alerted to the Fur’s approach by the sound of his feet splashing heavily in the puddles as he ran to assist the vixen. With surprising speed and accuracy, the bear turned as it reared on its back legs, one huge forepaw swinging out to catch the other Vulps in the shoulder. There was enough mass and strength behind the swing so that even though it should only have been a glancing hit, it was enough to send Richard sprawling.

At seeing her mate in danger, something within Sofiya snapped and the fox aspect was released in full. With a snarling leap, she darted forward and buried the prod into the bear’s side, her thumb holding the button down with so much force that the claw began to burrow into the plastic.

The bear roared with the sudden unexpected pain and swiped at the fox even though it was still focused on the other Vulps. The vixen had been expecting such a reaction and darted to the side even as she ducked before launching herself forward. Sofiya knew that she didn’t have enough mass to really affect the bear or deflect its relentless onslaught on her mate, and after raiding the food storage dome, it knew that there was easy food to be had, one of its only concerns after a long hibernation.

That the animal had recently been in hibernation aided Sofiya. With its winter slumber, the bear had lost vital weight and muscle mass and its reflexes were thankfully still sluggish. This didn’t diminish the danger the animal presented, and it had to be dealt with decisively. With a snarl, her teeth bared in determination, Sofiya landed on the ursine’s back, using her claws in hands and feet to scale the beast.

With a roar of rage and confusion, the bear tried to shake the fox that dug painfully into its hide. The pain caused the anger, the confusion came from the fox being so tenacious and aggressive. It had dined on more than a few foxes during its six years of life, and this creature, while larger than the other foxes it had encountered, along with a scent that was slightly off, should have tried to run from it. Instead, the vixen had attacked, and that was completely outside of the bear’s realm of experience. The main concern at the moment was getting the bothersome little beast off its back.

Sitting between the huge shoulders, Sofiya dug in even harder, her nose filled with the scent of the bear’s blood as her claws pierced its thick skin save the paw that held the shock baton. Still snarling in defiance, the vixen plunged the end of the rod hard against the bear’s neck, her own extremities tingling in the residual discharge that made it to her through the wet pelt as rain continued to fall on her and her adversary. The roar that the bear released was deafening and the hearty shake it gave slewed her to the side. In a desperate act, the animal tried to dislodge the fox again, its claws grazing Sofiya’s back and opening three furrows in her flesh before she could resume her perch on the massive shoulders.

There was no alternative now. The bear knew of a food source, and now it had Sofiya’s blood in its nostrils. Even as Richard pushed himself up and shook his head to clear it, forgotten by the bear for the moment as it dealt with the most immediate threat, Sofiya tossed the baton away and threw herself over the thick neck, her arms snaking around and locking across the animal’s throat as she grasped her own wrist. As the bear shook and bounced up and down, frantically trying to dislodge the anthrofox, Sofiya added to her purchase by clamping down with her own jaws on the thick, dank smelling scruff even as she began to haul upwards with every last ounce of strength she possessed.

Air was suddenly cut off to the ursine’s lungs as the arms tightened around its trachea. With the loss of air, all thoughts of food, even its anger at these strange foxes, were forgotten as it felt overwhelming fear and the need to flee. As its head was forcibly lifted up and back, it was denied the two things that it wanted the most and experienced panic for the first time in its life as it was forced to look upward at the dark sky, rain falling into its snout and bulging eyes.

Sofiya didn’t relent, and just as she thought she was at the last of her reserves, she dug deeper, her need to defend her mate and her den overriding all other considerations. From her vantage, the vixen brought her knees up, placing them at the base of the creature’s head and with a final surge of the increased strength that being a Fur had imparted, yanked up with arms, back and legs, her efforts rewarded by several deep, wet sounding cracks as the neck vertebrae finally gave way.

The final surge of exertion was all that she could manage, and as the body beneath her went limp and started to collapse, Sofiya all but swooned into her own personal oblivion as she fell with the dead bear. Even as they landed in the mud, the bear rolling partially on top of her, there was a sense of satisfaction that she had done all in her ability to protect what was hers and lay on her back, water and mud soaking into her fur as raindrops fell against her closed eyes, into her nose and open, panting mouth.

Unable to do any more than gasp for air, feeling as if she would also expire after the titanic struggle as exhaustion claimed her, she was vaguely aware of the weight of the animal on top of her moving. For a moment she welcomed the possibility of dying if it meant an end to the pain that ran hotly through her body. When a large, dark head appeared over her, Sofiya was unable to restrain the final act of defiance against the bear and swung her left arm, the limb feeling as if it were weighed down with lead. Her hand connected with the shape that blurred in her vision, fairly sure that a child could have hit with more force.

“What the hell was that for, lover?” Richard asked with confusion as he started to scoop the vixen up.

“Yakyy?...Richard?”

“It’s okay, Honey. I’ve got you,” the silver fox told the female softly as he cradled her to his chest. “I’ve got you.”

***
The titanic battle that felt like it had lasted hours…even days to the vixen had, in reality, only lasted a little more than a minute. There had been enough time for other Furs to boil out of the Great Dome and see the vixen riding the dead form of the bear into the mud before collapsing. Even as the other Vulps poured out of the dome to see what the noise was all about, many having been frightened out of a sound sleep by the bear’s raging screams, Richard was pushing past them with his mate in his arms, his face a curious study of concern and worry mixed with beaming pride and abounding affection.

“Clear that table!” the silver fox ordered as he stepped in out of the rain. “Riva! Valerie!”

The vixens didn’t need to hear their name twice, and the little fennec and bat eared foxes were already moving forward with their medical kits, Riva Weicz of the Stockholm Class 18 group only a moment behind her counterpart. Valerie would assist the other vixen as Riva had been a trauma surgeon in Tel Aviv prior to volunteering for the AHCP. Both noted the shredded remains of Sofiya’s clothing was sodden with not only mud, but also a substantial amount of blood as well.

“Victor, I need hot water and blankets,” Riva directed of her partner. “Richard, you also get a couple of blankets. Valerie and I need to work and would prefer a little privacy. Also we will need lights.”

The silver fox did as he was instructed after putting the vixen on the table that had been cleared for the limp form and had Charlotte and Siobhan hold up a make-shift screen while grabbing a couple of portable lamps and began setting them up.

Victor had a far easier job as the water that was available was already clean and purified, and was able to heat several large pots of water quickly as the two physicians began cutting away Sofiya’s clothing to assess the extent of her injuries.

As she was tended to and cleaned up, her ruined clothing winding up in a pile on the floor of the dome, Sofiya opened her eyes to find Richard looking down at her with tears in his eyes. She smiled when he cupped the side of her head with tender affection.

“What do you think you were doing?” he asked in a thick voice.

“Had to. Too much of…a danger to…everyone,” the vixen breathed. She wrapped her fingers around the silver fox’s wrist. “Was a…danger…to you.”

“You beautiful, brave, stupid girl,” he said with a chuckle. “Next time at least call for help!” There was no stemming the dampness that welled in his eyes or the drops that rolled down the fur of his cheeks. “I’ve waited thirty-three years to find you. I’m not going to lose you now.”

Sofiya smiled for a moment before her eyes fluttered closed. Richard looked up to see Riva putting away a syringe that was now empty.

“We need to sew up the lacerations after they’re cleaned,” the bat eared vixen told the male. “It will be best if she’s asleep while we do that.”

“Is she going to be alright?”

Valerie laid a hand on the silver fox’s forearm. “Most of the damage is superficial, Richard. She’ll be right sore for a few days, though, and it would be best for her to take it easy.” The fennec laid out a kit with soft plastic brush and iodine solution for wound cleaning. “In the morning you should get her set up in one of the completed domes.”

It took a little over an hour for the two physicians to remove the mud and blood from Sofiya’s fur and get the wounds cleaned and apply sutures where dermal adhesives wouldn’t work. She started to stir at the end of the process, the major work done with. She said something in Ukrainian that Richard didn’t catch, but there was no mistaking the tone and she reached up to rub at her head.

“What was that?” Richard asked as he knelt down next to the vixen.

“No more cheap vodka,” the red fox female groused. “My head is feeling as if it is splitting open.”

The silver fox looked at the two doctors who only smiled and shook their heads to indicate nothing was wrong. “Yes, cheap vodka is bad. What about a bear, though? Do you remember the bear?”

Sofiya nodded before trying to sit up. “I need a towel…or blanket.”

“Are you cold?”

“A little. I do not wish to talk to others with just my fur on, though.”

Richard cocked his head curiously but reached over for a clean blanket and draped it around the vixen’s shoulders then helped her off the table. Sofiya was a little unsteady and moved gingerly, every inch of her body protesting. Even her tail ached and she smiled ruefully at that even as she depended on her lover for support.

Charlotte and Siobhan lowered the blanket from where they had used a couple of poles and fabric to make a privacy screen and regarded their friend with the same look of stunned awe that the rest of the colonists looked at the vixen with.

“This is why I was wanting to have watches established,” Sofiya told the group, her voice sounding tired, but her words were clear. “If this is to be happening here, on our home planet, what might happen on Bastien? Yes, the Felis were there for little more than four years, but there will be much that we do not know about and there will always be dangers to guard against.”

Sofiya all but sagged into the silver fox’s arms as her strength rapidly faded and the effect of the pain medication Riva and Valerie had given her made her head swim.

“Do not be afraid of what has happened. Just remember to always be watchful. Guard against danger and keep each other safe.” The red fox vixen snugged the blanket a little tighter around her body and looked at Daniel Holt. “It is time for bears to be coming out of hibernation, yes?”

“Oh, most definitely,” the grey fox said with a nod.

“And what are the chances of this happening again?” Sofiya asked.

Daniel shrugged. “I would have to say that the odds are maybe one in five hundred, but I can’t be sure. This is completely a wilderness area. We have food and the bears that’ll be coming out of hibernation are going to be ravenous. They’ll be able to smell what we have over a great distance, so precautions are certainly in order. Then there’s the livestock and, I hate to say it, us.”

Sofiya nodded. “We must keep all stores fully sealed and any refuse is to be burned. If anyone is to be going out of the compound, it is never to be alone.”

The vixen almost fell as her legs started to give out and she was only held up by Richard.

“Other…precautions we will be discussing…tomorrow,” the vixen said before the silver fox lifted her off her feet and carried Sofiya to the pallet they had been sharing, making sure she was covered and offering to get her something to drink.

When the red fox shook her head no with a warm smile and finally succumbed to exhaustion, Richard sat looking at her for several minutes, realizing along with the others that what she had said was correct and that if this could happen here, there was no telling what might occur on Bastien. He only stirred from his silent vigil when he felt a touch on his shoulder and found Riva and Valerie standing behind him with another cleaning and suture kit.

“Now that she’s asleep, let’s take of that shoulder,” the fennec said as she parted the long tear in the male’s robe top to expose the long gouges that he hadn’t even been aware of having..

— NEXT CHAPTER —