Have you seen the News?


>Be Anon
>You were born in what you could only describe as a city of concrete.
>Everyone lives in large, square apartment buildings.
>You go to school in a large, square building.
>If you would look out the window from your Dad’s apartment on the 27th floor you would see nothing but a field of gray.
>At the very least, your city isn’t too far from the Sea.
>Your Dad takes you there every Summer.
>The same thing couldn’t be said for the rest of the cities throughout the entire country.
>They’re all the same modern, gray cities.
>But your Dad took you to live here, down near the southern coast.
>He said it was safer.
>There’s a lot of different types of people that live up North.
>And they don’t necessarily all like each other.
>So after you were born you both moved down here to be “among your own people”.
>Well mostly your own people.
>There were others living in this city.
>But it would be wrong to call them “people” you guess.
>They were Anthros.
>Anthros were actually less than two percent of the population.
>Out of all the ethnic groups they were the smallest.
>In fact they were entirely concentrated in this one city.
>But they weren’t segregated.
>No one was.
>Throughout the entire country, every school, every church, and every store was completely integrated.
>As decreed long ago by the Great Leader.
>“Many Peoples, under one banner!”
>You repeated that phrase and a multitude of others quotes from the Great Leader in school and learned to memorize them.
>“Everyone is equally hungry, everyone is equally cold, everyone shall be equally loved”
>At least, that was the theory.
>As you got just a bit older, you did notice that your ‘people’ and the Anthros did stay in their neighborhoods, and there had to be a good reason to pay a visit.


>Your knuckles cracked against another boy’s face as you knocked him down to the ground.
>He looks ready to bounce back up, but you pin him down with your knees and yank his hair.
>“I swear, if you ever make her cry again. I’ll give you a real beating.” You snarl.
>You get up off of him and finally let him rise slowly.
>He sulks back to two other boys, his pride wounded.
>You should have hurt him more than that.
>He made fun of your best friend.
>He made Krasna cry.
>The only reason you didn’t just start hitting him right then and there was because it would only make her more upset.
>Plus your Dad might give you a lashing too.
>You huff and walk back to the slide where she is sitting.
>Even the playgrounds here have concrete ground.
>She wore a light blue dress with a black bow tied around her head.
>The bow was why he was making fun of her.
>But the real reason was because she was an Anthro.
>A rat anthro to be exact.
>There were always snickers about whether her mom made her lunch from the dumpster.
>Even other Anthros joined in at her expense.
>After all, a Rat isn’t as graceful or as beautiful as a Wolf, or some big stupid cat.
>But you liked Krasna.
>She had short, chocolate brown fur that was soft to the touch.
>Plus she had that long, pink tail that she more often then not used to tickle you when you weren’t looking.
>And of course there were her solid, jet black eyes.
>Other people said they looked creepy. You thought they looked cool.
>You sit next to her on the edge of the slide.
>You wrap an arm around her shoulder as she sniffles and wipes away her tears.
>“I told Mom I didn’t want the stupid bow!” She says.
>“The bow is fine on you, Antun is just a jerk.”
>“And this dumb dress too! Why can’t I wear jeans and a T-shirt! I just wanna look normal.”
>She rips the bow off and throws the tangled fabric on the ground.
>“Putting a dress on a rat is like lipstick on a pig.” she spits out nastily.
>You let go of her for and reach down on your knees and pick up the bow.
>“I think you’re wrong.” You say plainly.
>“I think that dress is very pretty on you. But only because you’re wearing it.”
>She blinks at your response.
>She wasn’t expecting that from you.
>“Let me tie it back on.”
>Krasna lowers her head and you begin to slowly wrap it around her head.
>Her ears flicker and twitch as you brush your fingers against them.
>You think you could spend hours just doing that alone.
>Her breathing slows down as you make the final knot.
>“I’ll walk you home.”
>She merely nods as she starts to walk by your side.
>You hadn’t hit your growth spurt yet, but Krasna was still a few good inches shorter than you.
>“You don’t have to…all of the other Anthros will give you funny looks.”
>“So?”
>“And people will say you’re my boyfriend behind your back.”
>“I don’t really care what they say.”
>“But you’ll be home late. Won’t your Dad be mad?”
>“Krasna, I’m walking you home. Don’t worry about it”
>She quietly sulks alongside you as you both walk out of the playground.
>When you make the turn into the Anthro neighborhood you feel her tail brush up against your back.
>She takes your arm into hers.
>“Thank you…” she mumbles.
>You say nothing as your thumb gently rubs against her palm.

>“You’re late, boy.” You hear your Father say before you can even close the door behind you.
>Even from the kitchen his booming voice could be clearly heard
>“Sorry Dad…” you mumble “I walked Krasna home today.”
>Your Mother had died when you were very young, cancer or something like that.
>You didn’t really know the details and your Dad didn’t really like talking about it.
>“Well that’s all very good” his tone softens “But I’m sure she can walk herself home.”
>“Some other boys made fun of her, so I took her home.”
>Finally, your Dad comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands with a rag.
>Probably fixing the pipe under the sink.
>It was always leaking.
>Your Father, despite his intimidating voice and muscular frame, was actually rather short.
>He barely reached 5’7.
>But he was a pillar of the community. A real handyman. He’d help anyone in the building with whatever needed fixing.
>Didn’t hurt that he was a God-fearing man who went to Church every Sunday.
>And dragged you along as well….
>You also knew that he had been in the army a long time ago.
>Your country hadn’t been in any wars since it was founded by the Great Leader decades ago.
>But there were skirmishes up in the North between all the different ethnic groups.
>You were fairly certain your Dad had been sent in a few times to make sure everyone ‘got along’ in a sense.
>“They were making fun of her dress and made her cry.” You add in.
>“Yeah?” Your Dad asks, “What did you do?”
>You could skirt around the truth and say you told them to stop.
>But you felt no shame or regret in what you actually had done.
>“I punched one of them in the face and told him that if he did it again I would beat him up.”
>You hear an irritated sigh from your Father.
>“You can’t hit other children, Anon.”
>“They can’t make my friend cry.”
>He rubs the bridge of his nose.
>“I better not get a phone call from some angry parent.”
>“And they better not make Krasna cry.” You reaffirm defiantly
>Before you can dart away, your Father rushes towards you.
>He scoops you up in his arms and squeezes you in a bear hug.
>“Oh you’re such a big, tough guy now?”
>You laugh as his beard tickles the back of your neck.
>“Dad, stop it, put me down.”
>“You think you can beat me up?”
>“Dad….”
>“Well do you?”
>“Maybe…”
>“Only a maybe? Where did all that courage go?”
>“You’re stronger than me, Dad.”
>“That’s it?”
>“If you make Krasna cry, only then will I beat you up.”
>“Oh, then I’ll definitely make sure to keep her smiling”
>For some reason, his words fills you with a warm, bubbly feeling in the pit of your stomach.
>He kisses you on the cheek and puts you down.
>“If you finish your homework early I’ll let you watch some TV before bed.” 
>You dash away into your room.
>...before coming back out to get your schoolbag.


>“You’re a loser.”
>“No. You’re a loser.”
>“You’re a bigger loser”
>“No you.”
>It was the day before Christmas Eve.
>You decided to spend it with Krasna.
>Both of you had been playing out in the snow in the morning. 
>But now it was noon and you were both cold.
>You’re huddled in her room on the floor.
>Your backs are against each other, bored and freezing.
>“You’re like, the king of losers.”
>“If I’m the King, you’re my jester.”
>You move your hand closer to her arm.
>You’d never hold her paw.
>She’d make fun of you if you did that.
>Instead you take your pointer finger and hook it on hers.
>She leans against your back and takes a deep breath as she feels your finger.
>“I’m tired of being cold.” You whine “I want it to be Summer.”
>“You’re only saying that cuz you don’t like school.”
>“I’m not! Dad said he’d teach me how to hunt when school ends. I’m really excited.”
>You practically feel Krasna pout behind you.
>“My parents would never let me do something cool like that!”
>You chuckle.
>“It’s not all great. Tomorrow, Dad is making me going all over the neighborhood with him shoveling peoples sidewalks and helping them buy gifts”
>Now it was Krasna’s turn to giggle.
>“Isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Helping people and being kind and stuff?”
>You look down at the floor, feeling a little guilty now.
>“I guess. But what about my Christmas? I’d like to stay indoors and just sleep in. Is it so bad to just want to do something for yourself?”
>You move your arm away from Krasna’s causing her to stir slightly.
>You hug your shoulders tightly, still cold.
>You shouldn’t have spend all morning outside, your skin felt like ice.
>Krasna pulls back from you.
>She turns around to face your back.
>She wraps her arms just under your own.
>Followed by her legs and tail wrapping themselves around you.
>Finally she rests her muzzle on your shoulder.
>“How are you so warm?” You ask, startled.
>“Uh, fur? Dummy.”
>“Oh.”
>You take a deep breath as she tightens her grip around you.
>Her paws are locked together. She’ll never slide off of you.
>She nuzzles against your neck.
>“I don’t have a Christmas present for you.” She said slowly.
>“So this is the next best thing.”
>“I…don’t have anything for you.” You say ashamed.
>She rubs her nose against your cheek.
>“You came to play with me right before Christmas. That’s all I wanted.”
>“Really?” You ask uncertainly
>She thinks on this for a moment.
>“Well I also want guitar lessons, but I think Mom is getting that for me.”
>You laugh and interlock your arms with hers.
>Once again you make sure not to hold hands with her.
>Far too cheesy.
>It’s just the one finger.
>Hooked tightly on hers.
>And she returns the gesture.

>“You finished shoveling Glupan street, Anon?”
>“Yeah, there was just a bit of ice, so I slipped. Just catching my breath.”
>You wouldn’t say you were resentful of your Dad for making you go out and shovel snow throughout your neighborhood on Christmas Eve.
>Very annoyed would probably be a better description.
>And cold.
>Actually you couldn’t say that.
>The one gift he let you open on Christmas Eve was a super comfy winter coat.
>Pretty much felt warm and cozy no matter how cold it got.
>And it was probably super expensive too…
>And Dad wasn’t made of money.
>Still it did seem like a cruel joke that the one present he gave you on Christmas Eve was simply to help you shovel snow all day.
>Dad merely frowns at your response.
>“Well don’t take too long of a break, Anon. We just gotta finish Kreten street and then we can warm up inside the church.”
>Why were we heading to the church-
>Oh right, you were both working the soup kitchen.
>You sigh slightly as you nod your head.
>“Can you take the opposite side of the street?” You ask “I’ll get this side.”
>He nods as you grit your teeth and begin clearing the sidewalk (and all the steps leading up to the apartment blocks) of snow and ice.
>At the very least everyone who passed you by smiled and thanked you for shoveling.
>About an hour in, an old lady came downstairs and offered you some hot chocolate.
>With just a drop of whiskey added in.
>As you drank it she gave you a sly wink.
>Nothing Dad needed to know about after all.
>You thanked her politely and continued on.
>After hours of shoveling you were almost done with your half of the street.
>Granted, you had to run to a soup kitchen immediately afterwards.
>But it’s not like that was super labor intensive or anything.
>“Hey Anon! Great job!”
>That wasn’t your Dad.
>It sounded kinda familiar though.
>You turn and see a tall, lanky man with long hair walking towards you.
>He looked familiar
>You’re pretty certain he attended the same church as you and your Dad.
>His name was…Srecko, you think.
>“Dad’s got you busting your butt out here on Christmas Eve. Tough break, kid.”
>He gave one of those smiles that felt genuine but still left you wary.
>It was a strange feeling.
>“Uh, yeah I suppose. But it feels good to, ya know, help out the community and stuff.”
>His grin only gets even wider.
>“Well said, Anon. Ya know everyone in this city loves your Dad. Really looks out for everyone. I hope he instills that in you too, Anon.”
>You nod politely.
>“It’s important that we look out for each other.” He says “Anything can happen, and it’s always good to stay prepare-
>“ANON!”
>Your blood suddenly gets cold and it’s not from all the snow.
>Your Dad practically shrieked out your name.
>And you heard him stomping and running through the snow.
>“Uh, hey Dad.” You say as you turn to face him “I just finished my side of the-
>“That’s very good, Anon. Let’s get to the Church now.”
>You saw something in his eyes that you didn’t see very often.
>Fury.
>“Glad to see you’re raising that boy right.” Srecko says as casually as ever.
>Your Dad only offers a rude “Hmmpft” as he practically drags you away.
>His grip on you almost hurts your hand.
>“Dad? Did I do something wrong?”
>You sense his body language ease up and he loosens his hand on yours.
>“No. You’re fine, boy.”
>“Just stay away from that man.”



>Breathe.
>Just breathe slowly, like Dad showed you.
>Take aim.
>Make it a clean, quick kill.
>By the time you gently press the trigger, it all happens too fast for you to be startled.
>The Buck didn’t even react to the shot, he simply slumped over and died.
>You hear rustling from the bushes behind you as your Father emerges.
>“A good shot, you’re a natural!” He exclaimed.
>“It was just luck.” You mumble back politely “I could have missed just as easily.”
>“Oh, stop talking like that.” He says as he pats you on the back.
>Both of you begin walking over to the fallen animal.
>“Your stance was good, you had patience, took aim and got in a painless kill.”
>He grabs some rope as he begins to hogtie the deer.
>“When I was your age, my first kill was a disaster. I gave it a fatal wound but it didn’t die immediately, it spent a few minutes flailing around and shitting itself before it sort of just flopped over and died.”
>You help your Dad with the knots.
>“Doesn’t sound like a good way to die.” You say solemnly.
>“It isn’t.” He affirmed.
>When the ropes are fastened, your Dad takes the carcass and hoists it over his shoulders with little more than a grunt.
>It always intimidated you just how strong he really was.
>You grab both your rifle and your Dad’s before making the trek back to the main wilderness path.
>“It’s hard to imagine you being a bad shot.” You said to him.
>“Well, I was a kid too, you never start out good at anything.”
>“I guess so, but you were in the army right? Seems like those kind of guys would be naturally good at shooting stuff.”
>Your Father doesn’t respond and both of you quietly reach the path and make the long walk back to the truck.
>It’s only when you see the vehicle in the distance do you realize that maybe you said something out of turn.
>“S-Sorry.” You stammer “I didn’t mean-
>“It’s alright, Anon.” He says a he practically dumps the corpse in the back of the truck.
>You stand there awkwardly as your Dad fastens the ropes to the truck bed so the deer doesn’t roll around while driving.
>Once he’s done, both of you get into the truck, your head is lowered a bit.
>You’re feeling a bit ashamed at what you said earlier.
>But it seems all is forgiven when you hear the roar of the engine.
>Dad takes his free arm and puts it around your shoulder, pulling you towards him.
>As you begin to leave the park, you fiddle around with the radio to find some good tunes.
>All the channels are shit.
>Suddenly you stop when you hear a voice on the radio.
>One that you recognize somewhere.
>“All that I’m saying is that the Northern border Council doesn’t have a clue about anything!”
>“The Great Leader needs to step in and take control. I think we all know how savage they can be.
>“That’s why we all moved down south, but even we have problems, such as the local Anthro-
>Your Father takes his hand off your shoulder and quickly changes the station.
>“You’re too young to be listening to that drivel.” He says rather sternly.
>Once again you lower your head, staring into your lap.
>“I just recognized that voice somewhere.”
>He sighs.
>“It’s Srecko.”
>“I didn’t know he was on the radio!” You say, somewhat exited that you knew a minor celebrity in your city.
>Your Father obviously doesn’t share your enthusiasm.
>“He’s been spouting his crap for years, ever since he left the military. All he does is whine about everyone else.”
>“Did you…know him, in the army I mean?” you ask
>“Thank Jesus, no. He was some sort of Staff Officer, I think. Far from a grunt.”
>“He seems perfectly nice in Church.”
>“Everyone does, Anon.”
>Couldn’t argue with that.
>“Listen, boy. People all over the country got lots of reasons to be mad at each other. There’s always bad blood. That’s just how things are.”
>He once again puts his arms around your shoulder.
>But this time his grip is tighter.
>Almost like a hug, but there was something far darker about his touch this time.
>As if he didn’t hold you right then and there, he would lose you.
>“But for better or for worse, we all gotta make this work. Or we have nothing. Jackasses like Srecko do nothing but fan the flames. He brings up old grudges, keeps making people remember things they’d be better off forgetting. Urging them vaguely to ‘take action’.”
>You lean your head against him.
>“But, the Great Leader…if Srecko really is that bad. They would have shut him down long ago right?”
>Your Father grimaces, it’s a look of real worry.
>“In my day…yes. He would have been taken care of. But things…are changing. Life around here isn’t so simple anymore.”
>He ruffles your hair as you hum to the radio.
>“I don’t expect to protect you from everything. Hell, you’ll be better off if you can protect yourself. Just…don’t listen to these people. They’ll come out of nowhere and start preaching that you need to ‘protect yourselves’ and ‘keep your community safe’ or whatever lingo they come up with. Which is basically a euphemism for ‘Kill your neighbors if they aren’t your kin.’
>You blood runs cold.
>You never heard Dad talk like this before.
>It was really scary.
>You think he senses how anxious it all makes you.
>But he presses on.
>“Sometimes, killing is a lot like that buck back there. It’s quick, painless, and fairly easy.”
>“But most of the time, Anon, people are clumsy. So it’ll be like my first hunt as a boy: frightening and everyone shitting themselves. It’s degrading.”
>Why? Why was he saying all of this to you?
>Okay, he was obviously trying to prepare you for something.
>But everything was fine. Sure there was tension but no one was calling for blood in the streets.
>You went to a mixed school! All the people and Anthros got along fine.
>They played sports with each other, and ate food together.
>All their parents picked them up at the same parking lot.
>So what if some guy on the radio said something.
>No one was listening.
>What was there to be afraid of?
>“The trick they pull” Your Father continued “Is that they tell you that everyone you put down will be as easy and guilt-free as that buck you shot-
>“Dad…” you say pleadingly.
>You didn’t want to hear this anymore.
>He briefly looks at you before hugging you.
>“Sorry Anon, guess I got off topic.”
>He kisses the top of your head.
>“We’ll bring this Buck over to Bubbi’s, we’ll have enough venison all month.”
>“I want to save some for Krasna!” You say excitedly.
>He chuckles.
>“Invite her over to dinner next week and make sure it’s okay with her parents.”


>“Come on, it’s just this way!” You say, almost impatiently.
>“Why are we out this far?” Krasna asks, becoming irritated “Our parents would kill us if they found out.”
>Well that wasn’t too far from the truth.
>You were right on the southern edge of the city’s borders. 
>Here was where all the tourists stayed since they could just drive to the beach.
>All around you were hotels and expensive restaurants.
>Even in its attempts to lure foreigners here for vacations, they still couldn’t help but build everything out of concrete.
>Either way it was out of the range that your Father allowed you to travel.
>You and Krasna has to take more than a few of the public buses to get here.
>But it would be worth it.
>“Just trust me.” You say to her.
>She merely shrugs her shoulders.
>She had already come out this far, might as well see what the fuss was about.
>Soon you knew she would understand.
>On the very edge of the City was a wall.
>In fact a wall surrounded the entirety of the city.
>To get out you needed to pass through military checkpoints.
>That wasn’t exactly ideal at this moment.
>Luckily when you had explored by yourself earlier in the week you had found a way over the wall.
>Garbage.
>A large heap of garbage, left out of sight and out of mind had piled up against the wall over the years.
>Now it formed a makeshift ramp up to the top.
>Wasn’t exactly the fanciest way to get over.
>But at least it was all just cans and other recyclables.
>Krasna for a moment seemed reluctant to traverse up the trash pile.
>But she was never one to turn down an adventure.
>Plus she wasn’t wearing dresses anymore.
>Old beat up jeans and a stained T-shirt.
>Her favorite.
>You grab her arm and support her briefly as you both get used to your footing.
>You both almost fall down a few times.
>But you both catch each other every time.
>“This better be worth it” Krasna grumbles.
>You can only smirk.
>You can’t wait to see the look on her face.
>Suddenly you sprint up to the top of the ramp.
>Cans fly behind you as you high knee it up.
>You stand defiantly in front of Krasna with your hands on your hips.
>“Close your eyes.” You demand.
>“What?”
>“I said close your eyes, it’s a surprise.”
>“I’m gonna fall, Anon.”
> You huff and step down slightly, offering your hand.
>She fidgets slightly as she extends her arm and you take her wrist into you hand.
>She shuts her eyes as you gently pull her towards you.
>Then you wrap your other arm around her waist as you walk her up the rest of the way.
>You pause for a moment, looking out beyond the wall for your own enjoyment.
>“Okay. Open up.”
>When she does, you hear a high pitched gasp.
>Her eyes go wide and her tail whips back and forth, occasionally smacking you in the leg.
>Her own grip on you tightens as she looks at the view before her.
>There isn’t a trace of gray.
>It’s all a dark, beautiful green.
>It doesn’t seem real, it’s as if you both stepped into a painting.
>Far away in the distance, you can see the shimmer of the ocean.
>And standing just a few hundred meters away, in the midst of this field of grass:
>A large solitary tree. It’s branches and leaves forming an umbrella above it’s trunk.
>“Anon, I…
>You compulsively hug her and nuzzle against her cheek.
>You can feel heat start to rush to her face.
>”Do you want to go down? I have a rope in my bag.”
>Krasna blinks at you, her ears flickering rapidly.
>Those solid black eyes did more to you than the scenic view ever could.
>They looked more precious than any jewel you had seen.
>“Heck yes I wanna go down! Come one! Get the Rope out.”
>There is a metal pole sticking out of the wall that you tie the rope around.
>The walls themselves weren’t that tall, at most they were 30 feet.
>Enough to be intimidated at the thought of climbing down it.
>But not enough to actually stop you from doing it.
>Plus both you and Krasna loved doing stuff like this.
>It’s just living in a big city really limited what you could do.
>Its why you loved it when your Dad took you out to the country during the Summers.
>The same couldn’t be said for Krasna, her parents were complete city-dwellers.
>Which is why it was so important to you that you took her here.
>You both hesitantly touch the grass when you reach the bottom.
>You still were under the impression that it was really paint and it would get stuck to your shoes.
>But no. Somehow, this was all real.
>Something this gorgeous existed.
>You turn to Krasna.
>“Wanna rest under that tree?”
>She nods silently as she practically skips over to it.
>Despite the large tree just sitting there all by itself, it didn’t look lonely or out of place.
>It look majestic. It would take at least five people to fully wrap themselves around it.
>As if in this stunning world of emerald-colored grass, it was the king for now and forever.
>Krasna plops down butt first underneath the shade. The pink pads of her feet showing.
>You smile mischievously as you sit down yourself.
>Behind her.
>You stick your legs out passed her hug her from behind.
>She squeaks in surprised slightly.
>Like an actual squeak.
>Adorable.
>“H-hey. I’m the one that hugs you. Remember?”
>You chuckle.
>“Just relax, this is my gift to you.”
>“A gift?” Krasna says, puzzled.
>“Why would you give me a give? It’s not my birthday.”
>Her hands slowly slide up and grasps your wrists.
>Her one finger hooks on yours.
>You rest your head into the nook where her neck and shoulder blade connects.
>“I don’t need a reason to give you a gift. I did this because I wanted to.”
>“hmmft.” Krasna lets out in mock defiance.
>“Well either way.” She says “I don’t think this counts as a gift.”
>“Wha- You brat!” You say teasingly “Why not?”
>“This whole place... it’s too beautiful. I don’t think it’s yours to give.”
>You frown slightly at this.
>She scooches closer to you and leans into your chest.
>“This is better than a gift. It’s a place we can…
>She pauses and you feel her body shift.
>She’s having trouble coming up with the right words.
>“Like, you know how you take a really nice bath and you just wanna sit in there forever?”
>Actually you didn’t take baths, you took showers. But you understood her point well enough.
>“It’s like that. It’s the same feeling, but I’m here instead. And I’m with you. So it’s better than a bath.”
>You can feel Krasna’s chest rise as you snuggle into her fur.
>“We probably won’t be able to come here very often for the time being.” You say somberly.
>“I know.”
>“But” You continue “When we’re older. We’ll be able to come here all the time and no one will tell us we can’t! We’ll even be able to get through the checkpoints.”
>You are both silent for awhile after this.
>Krasna’s fur makes you sleepy.
>And it protects you against the wind as starts to slowly pick up.
>It’s starting to get late.
>But neither of you want to leave.
>“Anon? Is this…Is this our spot?”
>“Yes.”
>“And you promise…you promise you won’t take anyone else here?”
>“Never.”
>“If you do, I won’t forgive you.”
>You flick her ear with your nose.
>You love watching it make those rapid twitches.
>“We have to get going soon, Krasna.”
>“Yeah, I know. It sucks.”
>You attempt to get up but the Rat anthro has your wrists in a vicegrip.
>“Come on, Krasna, I need to get home before it’s dark.”
>“I think it’s amazing.” she says quietly.
>“What? This place?”
>“You have no fur at all…and yet, you’re always so warm when I hug you.”


>Normally you liked Birthdays.
>Your Dad took you out.
>You’d have a little party and invite some classmates.
>And Krasna would always give you a neat little gift.
>But this week was your 14th birthday.
>Which meant…
>The fucking Matura exams for the higher education placements.
>You were never a brilliant student. You expected-and wanted-to get into a vocational school and learn a trade like your Dad.
>But it still sucked knowing that your grades weren’t good enough to even consider a path into an academic life.
>It made you feel inferior.
>Especially since you knew Krasna would get the grades, no problem.
>You were now wondering why she was hanging out with a Dummy like you.
>Plus her parents were never the biggest fans of you, being a Human and all.
>Now they had the added ammunition that your blue collar ways would be a bad influence on their precious daughter.
>You avoided Krasna all day, after the exams.
>You didn’t want to talk to anybody.
>Because that meant talking about the exam.
>And revealing just how stupid you really were.
>You sorta wanted to save yourself from that embarrassment.
>So you walk home sulking.
>You somewhat noticed that everyone you passed was also unusually somber.
>You heard some people in the little shops crying as you passed by.
>It felt like you were in a funeral service.
>But you were too grumpy to really care.
>When you get home you close the door a little bit harder than intended.
>You expect your Dad to come out and give you a tongue lashing.
>Instead all you hear is the static of the radio.
>It’s coming from the kitchen.
>“Dad?” You say wearily as you walk in.
>He’s sitting on a chair, one arm lays limply at his side.
>The other is used to prop up his head.
>His eyes are red and puffy.
>He looks about five years older.
>And genuinely scared.
>You’ve never seen him like this before.
>“Dad…what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
>He slowly glances up at you.
>“It just popped up on the news.”
>“The Great Leader…died this morning.”


>It was like everything was put on hold for the rest of the year.
>School was still a thing you guess, but everyone was just on autopilot, especially the teachers.
>The Great Leader was our first and only…well leader.
>There wasn’t a precedent for what to do when he died.
>You suppose he was pretty old…but you just figured he’d be there forever. Watching over everyone.
>Now you listened to the news with your Dad.
>You felt like an adult…but the boring, crappy kind.
>Apparently a council of high ranking party members would take on after the Great Leader.
>“To uphold the traditions set before us by the revolution” or something along those lines.
>It gave you a small degree of comfort. Knowing everything wasn’t go to just collapse like that.
>But it was still pretty scary.
>Even the Anthro community, who were usually quite independent, were pretty shaken up.
>Krasna told you over the phone that her Mom bawled all night when she heard the news.
>You were really regretting not seeing her after the exam now.
>Because of all the uncertainty, no one was hanging out with anyone anymore.
>After work or school, everyone just…went home.
>You missed her.
>A lot.
>But other than phone calls, there was nothing that could be done.
>Now the city was planning the funeral procession.
>The Great Leader’s body was going to be brought to every major city for everyone to pay their respects.
>Your city included.
>Your Father shelled out some serious cash to buy both of you decent clothes.
>Then suddenly the city reimbursed him.
>What?
>Turns out that as the funeral car drove by, there would be a small procession of people behind the car.
>prominent members of the community chosen by the City council.
>Your Dad was chosen.
>Which meant you were tagging along for the ride.
>You didn’t really do great with crowds.
>But it wasn’t like you had much of a choice.
>Krasna was pretty jealous when you called and told her.
>“At least you get to walk!” She pouted. “I have to stand on the sidewalk for four hours in a dumb dress!”
>That didn’t seem so bad to you, when compared to having literally the entire city stare at you as you basically follow after the Great Leader’s corpse.
>That wasn’t a very flattering way to put it, but you couldn’t think of it any other way.
>Your Father probably would have slapped you if you said that out loud.

>You, your Father, and the rest of the procession waited at the gate two hours before the car would arrive.
>You recognized Srecko as part of the procession as well.
>Your Father merely huffed at this revelation and kept you close to him. 
>The pressure was really on, a single screw up would be shameful.
>Better to be hours early then a few minutes late.
>It was chilly that morning and you were still tired.
>But you didn’t dare yawn.
>Eventually the hearse gets there.
>It’s surrounded by two other cars.
>Full of armed men.
>It was a little intimidating.
>Your Father squeezes your shoulder reassuringly.
>“It’s okay.” he whispers.
>The procession steps aside as the armed guards and the hearse enter the city.
>You all slowly begin to walk behind it.
>The hearse only passes through the main streets of the city.
>But they’re packed with the entire city’s denizens standing side by side, paying their respects to the Great Leader.
>You’re pretty certain literally every citizen decided to show up.
>Not like they could afford not to.
>Wow.
>It made you realize just how small the Anthro population was.
>You swore that for every hundred humans you saw, there were maybe 3-5 Anthros.
>Considering the size of the city. That was still a lot of Anthros
>But still…you never realized…
>Just how small their community was.
>And it wasn’t spread out all over the country.
>This was it. Right here in this city.
>It made you almost instinctively nervous.
>You didn’t know why though. 
>Eventually after a few hours of walking, the hearse makes it to the other side of the city.
>The crowds start to break and begin to join you following the car as it leaves the city.
>The armed guards get back into their vehicles and drive off as well.
>Wait a minute.
>Everyone was…like here.
>And nowhere else.
>Once the hearse was out of sight you asked your Dad if you could go.
>He frowned, not exactly happy with your question.
>But he let you off nonetheless
>You start sprinting down the street.
>Well you tried to. It was so packed it was more like shuffling.
>But you were trying to get to the street that led to the Anthro Neighborhood.
>If you waited there, you’d catch Krasna and her family eventually.
>So you just bought a soda pop and sat on some random stoop.
>And waited.
>And waited some more.
>Watching Anthros of all kinds slowly meander back into their own apartments.
>Many giving you confused looks as you passed by them.
>But you just kept sipping that pop and trying to catch Krasna.
>Eventually your waiting paid off.
>You spotted her with her family and three brothers.
>She was in a dark purple dress.
>And a neat little black bow.
>She looked adorable, but you knew she hated it.
>Actually she always looked more than adorable in dresses.
>Never mind~ that wasn’t important.
>You get and and call her name out.
>She sees you and smiles, waving back at you.
>You could see the conflict on her parents faces.
>On one hand, you were firmly working class. Not good enough for their daughter.
>On the other hand, you were in the Great Leader’s funeral procession.
>Now they didn’t know what to think of you.
>“Hey Anon!” Krasna said “I haven’t seen you in awhile.”
>“Yeah…Um, would it be alright if we walked around?”
>Krasna looked to her parents. Who merely sighed and said to be back before it got dark.
>That shouldn’t be a problem.
>Once her parents were out of sight, you suddenly hugged her tight. Resting your head on top of hers.
>Even though she had pretty much finished growing, she was just barely over five feet tall.
>In fact most of her family were fairly short. Even more so than your dad.
>You nuzzle your face against her ear and feel it twitch and flap against your cheek.
>She squeaks in surprise to your embrace.
>she still ends up wrapping her arms and tail around your waist.
>“It feels like it’s been forever since we hung out.” You say.  
>“Mhhmm”
>“Let’s go to the tree, Kraz, no one will be around to see us.”
>“Are you sure?” She asked “It’ll be a bit late by the time we get back.”
>“I’ll walk you home. If your parents are sore they can just yell at me.”
>She pouts slightly at this as you take her arm and begin the walk.
>“I like your dress.” You say with a sneaky grin.
>You swear she was blushing under all that fur.
>“I hate it!” She says loudly “I hate all dresses!”
>You scratch her head lightly.
>“And I like your bow too.”
>“God you’re such a dork.”
>As you make the turn on the block, she gets closer to you.
>“Nice suit.” she says, trying to get a rise out of you.
>It won’t work on you.
>“Thanks, my Dad got it for free.” you add in with a bit of a wink.
>“Oh. So you won’t mind if I rub my fur and scent all over it?” she shoots back mischievously
>You take your arm and wrap it around her shoulder.
>You pull her even closer to you.
>“I wouldn’t mind if it smelled like you. In fact, I prefer it.”
>You think you saw her practically go cross eyed.
>“Wha-Anon you’re such a…
>She’s so flustered.
>She had gotten you to blush so many times over the years.
>It was nice to finally pay her back.
>“Why would you want to smell like a rat?” She says quietly.
>You look down at her.
>She’s wringing her paws
>“Don’t you know what they say about rats? That we go through trash and dumpsters just like feral rats?”
>“Ha Ha. Aren’t you afraid you’ll smell like garbage? Who want that?”
>She was nervous.
>You were going to wait until you got to your special spot.
>But to hell with it, you were impatient.
>“Krasna. I really like you.”
>“Anon?”
>You feel her body go tense.
>Now you were getting nervous.
>Oh shit. Was she anxious because she didn’t actually like you.
>Was she just trying to like…shift away from the conversation-
>“You’re an idiot, Anon. Why me? Rat Anthros aren’t cute. Plus there are a lot of girls you could-
>You kiss her.
>It wasn’t like one of those super deep passionate kisses.
>Just something a little bit more intensive than a peck on the lips.
>Angling your head so you didn’t just bash into her muzzle was a bit tricky.
>But hey, you winged it alright.
>Not bad for your very first kiss with a cute girl.
>But really, you didn’t plan on it being this super lovey dovey…thing.
>You just wanted to get her to stop talking for a few moments.
>“I think YOU’RE cute, Kraz. Honestly, this whole week I didn’t think at all about the funeral or anything. I just missed you.”
>You’re pretty certain she just short circuited.
>To be honest you were pretty hot in the cheeks too.
>“K-kraz?” You say tentatively.
>You cup her cheek which she instantly nuzzles into.
>“Anon. How long have we been friends?”
>“Um…since we were like…4-5 I think?
>“That’s pretty cute.”
>“I guess?”
>“It is cute! Wanna know why?”
>“Why?”
>“Because as of this moment, you’re my boyfriend.”
>Now it was your turn to tense up as she moved her tail up your thigh.
>She moves in to kiss you now.
>And it won’t be a simple peck on the cheeks.
>You feel her finger wraps tighter around yours.
>You take your free hand and place it behind her head.
>You lean into her lips.


>What an idyllic scene.
>Your Dad in his armchair, beer in one hand.
>You and Krasna snuggled up on the couch.
>She really is the perfect little spoon.
>All of you are watching TV.
>And yet this wasn’t a paradise at all.
>It was a nightmare.
>And you and Krasna weren’t cuddling for mere comfort.
>It was because you were both terrified.
>And your Father hadn’t cracked open his beer.
>Every time the reporter on the TV spoke, you hugged Krasna a little tighter.
>She was like a comfort blanket to you at this point.
>“The tribunal wishes to assure all citizens that everything is fine.”
>“The outbreak of ‘isolated violence’ within the northwestern Slovenegro province is just that, isolated.”
>“Rest assured that our military is handling the situation and shall restore order and remove the trouble makers with force if necessary”
>“It is recommended that all citizens throughout the country go about their lives.”
>“Talk with your neighbors and local councilmen.”
>“Always look out for one another.”
>“Everything is fine.”
>“Everything is fine.”
>“Everything is fine”
>Everything is fine
>everything is fin~


>Graduation was lame.
>No really, it was just a big waste of your time.
>You sat around for 5 hours until you got your vocational degree.
>This wasn’t some sort of academic degree or anything important.
>It basically just said you could weld.
>Plus at this point it wasn’t as if anyone really cared.
>It had been two years since the initial violence broke out in the north.
>Province after province had descended into chaos.
>The military was basically fighting a protracted guerrilla war.
>Ironically no one was actually revolting against the government or anything.
>They just wanted to kill each other.
>At least a dozen different ethnic groups that lived up north had armed themselves and were out fighting in the streets of their own cities.
>The army just wanted to restore peace.
>But they were failing miserably.
>And the whole conflict got just a bit closer to you everyday.
>You and Krasna could only watch with your Dad or her parents as the state news tried to desperately spin the situation.
>It seemed sometimes that she was the only comfort you had.
>Other than your Dad. But you were 18 now, you couldn’t rely on him anymore.
>You weren’t some kid.
>Even your Dad couldn’t muster up more than a halfhearted congratulations on getting your degree.
>Not that you blamed him.
>Earlier this morning a big fertilizer bomb had gone off in another city.
>Killed over 800 people.
>The truly sickening thing was that at least 4 different paramilitaries took responsibility.
>As if they were eager to take credit for the biggest body count.
>Hell that wasn’t even the worst one.
>There was the massacre about eight months ago-
>No! You didn’t want to think about this.
>This was your ‘big day’ wasn’t it?
>Well it did kinda suck.
>But you were going to make the best of it.
>You hug your Dad goodbye and head out of the city.
>That’s right, towards your little spot of paradise, right underneath the tree.
>Despite everything that was happening. It still looked just as pretty as ever.
>And this time you didn’t have to sneak over the wall.
>Nor did you have to walk there either, now that you had a cheap old junker car you bought when you were 16.
>Though the checkpoints were obviously a bit more intense.
>Far more paperwork to show and far more men with guns than there used to be.
>You hear Srecko on the radio.
>He had disappeared from public awhile ago.
>“We must take necessary precautions! The Anthro population has historically been~
>You change the station.
>You had no idea how he stayed on the air considering everything that happened.
>You heard rumors from your Dad that he had connections to the military that let him do whatever he wanted.
>Well none of that shit mattered.
>You park your car along the side of the road.
>She was already there, sitting underneath the tree.
>When you get closer, you smile as you begin to crawl on your hands and knees toward her.
>She giggles as you arch your back and raise your head up just under her muzzle.
>She begins to make those light squeaks that you love so much.
>She pulls you in towards her chocolate colored fur as you slowly kiss her face.
>Okay maybe not so slowly.
>You had been hooked on her scent long ago.
>It was like an exotic flower that only you knew about.
>You take your hands and wrap them around the base of her ears.
>They flutter helplessly at your firm but gentle touch.
>You kiss her long and deep. But still only teasing slightly with your tongue.
>You break from the smooch with a gasp.
>“I love you.” You say warmly as you nuzzle your cheek against her nose.
>“Yeah. I know” She responds, smirking.
>“You’re such a brat.”
>“I know that too. Here, scooch over Anon, I wanna sit on you.”
>Krasna crawls across your legs before planting her rump in your lap.
>Her very well shaped rump you might add.
>You cooed slightly as your felt her tail wrapping itself around your waist.
>Letting you know that you belonged to her.
>Your chin rests comfortably on top of her head as her body leans into you.
>“How was your graduation ceremony?” She asks
>“Boring. Dad looked half asleep himself. You?”
>“Same. But I got accepted into the college so I suppose I can put up with it.”
>“Yeah. You’re the first one in your family to go to college right?”
>“Mhhhm, in fact there aren’t many Anthros in general that get a higher education. My Mom won’t stop referring to me as the ‘Cream of the Crop’. “
>“Heh. I guess they must really hate who you’re dating.”
>She pushes your head back and looks up at you with concern.
>“Hey now. Don’t say that stuff. I hate it when you get insecure like that. It’s not cute at all.”
>She gives you a quick peck on the cheek.
>“Who I choose to love is nobodies business but mine.”
>“And I choose to love you, Anon.”
>You give her a tight hug as you kiss the back of her head.
>“Would it ruin the moment if I said I really wanna fuck you right now?”
>She breaks out laughing.
>“Yes. It would. But I can’t blame you. I mean, look at me.”
>“Wow, Kraz. You are going full brat mode today.”
>She gives a wide toothy as her fur begins to tickle your nose.
>“Besides, we can’t fuck here.”
>“We’re saving that for our new apartment.”
>You blink.
>“Wait. We actually got it?!” you say astounded.
>She turns around to face you, her arms straddling your shoulders.
>“Mhhhmmm”
>She’s giving you that proud look a naughty child has.
>You wipe that smirk off her face with a forceful kiss.
>It was your turn to steal the breath away from her.
>Her fingers dig into your hair as you nibble on her bottom lip.
>You slowly pull away, leaving a small trail of saliva between you two.
>“I didn’t think” You start “That we’d actually get our own place.”
>Krasna replies with an Eskimo kiss
>“We just gotta meet the commissioner tomorrow and sign the paperwork.”
>You hug her and smother your face against her fur.
>You wanted to just fall asleep with her snuggled into your embrace.
>Actually you might just do that.
>It was a nice day out.
>And you two didn’t have anywhere else to be-
BOOM
>You never thought a sound wave could physically move a person back.
>The explosion was so loud that Krasna fell off of your lap.
>You immediately get on top of her to cover her with your body.
>A terror overtook you that was so profound that in mere seconds you could feel tears welling up in your eyes.
>“Anon?”
>Her breathing is fast and her voice sounds drastically different all of a sudden.
>More haggard and tense.
>“Anon, I think it’s okay. It wasn’t close to us, it was just loud.”
>You knew she was right.
>But you didn’t want to move from this spot.
>Where everything was safe and all you could see was her face taring right back at you.
>You didn’t want to stand up to the reality of what your life was going to be now.
>“Come on, Anon. You’re squishing me.”
>Your legs are shaking as you nod and slowly begin to stand up.
>Her arm in yours.
>Your finger curled tightly around hers.
>You look around:
>A good chunk of fresh, green leaves had been blown away by the sheer force of the blast.
>Krasna puts her paw to her mouth as she stares out at the city.
>As you gaze out, it was as if you were willing your eyes to become numb to the image.
>If only to mask how utterly afraid you were.
>A large plume of black smoke floated up from the city towards the sky, polluting it.
>You could hear hundreds of sirens echo throughout.
>After years of slowly encroaching.
>War had finally arrived.


>Ring!
>Ring!
>Ring!
>Goddamn it.
>Fucking alarm.
>You grumble as you sloppily throw the blanket off.
>“Hey you jerk. I’m still sleeping.”
>You roll your eyes as you turn over to face Krasna.
>“Give me back the blanket. It’s cold.”
>You envelop her head into your arms.
>She snuggles into your chest.
>“If I’m awake that means you have to be awake.” You say in an almost childish, cheeky tone.
>“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I ever heard. You’re lucky your warm.”
>Her ears still beat like butterfly wings when you touch them.
>Even after two years of living together, you still haven’t gotten tired of teasing them.
>They were probably your favorite part of her body.
>You would never tell her that though.
>She’d interpret it the same way a girl interprets a guy saying his favorite thing is her hair or her smile.
>He’s only saying that because there is nothing else memorable.
>But there was plenty…um memorable about Krasna.
>Her ass was like the most luscious pear-shaped beauty you had ever laid eyes on.
>You swore you could have a picnic on that damn thing.
>Would rimming her technically count as a picnic-
>ANYWAY. Her chest was also good. Not too big, but you were never really a boob man.
>There was something else far greater anyway.
>A patch of pronounced fur, right above the center of her chest.
>In fact.
>You release Krasna from your embrace and slide down to rest your head on her chest.
>Not her breast, no, that extra bit of soft fur was a far better pillow.
>You hear her scoff.
>“You always go there. Never for the tits.”
>“Screw the tits. Floof is way better.”
>Krasna lightly chuckles at this as she begins to lick and groom you in her arms.
>This was a new thing she did for you only after you had moved in together.
>Needless to say you loved the attention she gave.
>You were shameless. There were times you would lay right in her lap on the couch and quietly demanded to be groomed.
>You made sure to return the favor with ‘Super Special Sunday Bath Night’.
>“Anon, you need to get ready for work.”
>You sigh as she pats your head.
>You were an apprentice for a Welder.
>A job that your Dad helped you to get.
>That reminded you that you needed to get ingredients for dinner with him next week.
>Assuming you could even find any quality meat at the store.
>The war really made everything so damn scarce.
>The North was completely gone. Multiple provinces had declared independence along ethnic lines and then went right back on to killing each other.
>Now the Government was just in control of a few southern Coastal cities like this one.
>Luckily there wasn’t outright fighting on the streets here.
>Just a few bombings every week by “rogue terrorist groups”.
>At this point, nothing you saw on the news or heard outside phased you anymore.
>It wasn’t that you or anybody else had grown numb to it.
>More like you adapted to it, it became a normal part of the day-to-day.
>Take a shower, make a pot of coffee, go to work, go out for a lunch break, hear a car bomb go off a few blocks away, clock back into work.
>It was bad to say but you could easily live like this.
>It was bad because it was a lie.
>You knew this wasn’t true living.
>You didn’t go through your childhood hearing explosions.
>And you couldn’t actually “live like this”
>Because the odds were that at some point you’d be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
>And then you would just die like that.
>Or even worse, it would happen to Krasna.
>But…you couldn’t think that.
>Even if was true that she had just as much a chance of dying as you did.
>You had to trick your mind that she was safe. It was only you who were playing chance when you went out everyday.
>You weren’t strong enough of a person to think about a future where she would be gone.
>“Anon?”
>You turn and look at her, naked outside of a pair of boyshorts.
>“Are you okay? You’re just staring at the mirror?”
>“Oh…. um yeah. Sorry, just blanked out for a second.”
>She sighs annoyingly as she begins to rise out of bed.
>“You’re gonna be late, Anon. Take a shower. I’ll heat up some coffee for you.”
>You nod as you kiss her on the cheek. She didn’t have to do any of that.
>She didn’t have classes until Noon, so she could have stayed in bed.
>“You can be a real pain, you know that?” She says, returning your kiss.
>“I’m not a morning person.”
>“Clearly. Now hop in the shower. You do kinda stink.”
>“You were licking me not five minutes ago!”
>“That’s just how much I love you.”


>“By God’s grace! Krasna this is a delicious stew!”
>“Oh thank you! Help yourself to seconds or thirds, I made plenty.”
>“Is this lamb?! Where did you get lamb in this city of all places?”
>“That’s all Anon’s doing.”
>You then proceed to tell your Dad the story of how as a favor you fixed some of the plumbing for a guy a few floors above you.
>Who just so happened to be a Butcher for the army stationed here.
>In return he gave you a good cut of quality meat.
>You remember Krasna would literally not stop squeaking from happiness all day after you brought it home.
>Your Father nods approvingly as he takes a large second serving of the stew.
>“I haven’t seen you in Church recently Anon. I’d like it if you came this week.”
>You try explaining to him that Sunday is the only day you can really sleep in.
>But you knew he wouldn’t buy it.
>He had been working six days a week for almost his entire life.
>And then going to Church on the one day he did have a day off.
>You could easily imagine that your Father had never slept passed seven in the morning ever.
>“Now son, I didn’t bring you to Church as a boy just so you could drop the damn thing when you moved out.”
>You sigh as you anticipate your Dad going on a theological rant.
>But he’s interrupted as Krasna pours a little bit more of the stew into his bowl.
>Which somehow put his fire out before it even began.
>Instead you both go through the slow burn of talking about the local politics.
>The anthros and the humans pretty much gated themselves off from each other, forming their own councils and such.
>The Community league of Communist Anthros
>The People’s council of Revolutionary Marxism
>The Trotskyist Committee of Ethnic Identity.
>All had names that sounded exactly the same to you.
>At this point, walking around certain neighborhoods was pretty much a no-go.
>You and Krasna were actually pretty limited where you could both go because of your relationship.
>If you walked around your old neighborhood with Krasna, she would probably be harassed.
>You’d probably be beaten if you showed your face in the Anthro district.
>The place you lived in right now was basically it, since everyone had to mingle around here to buy food and such.
>It was….very isolating.
>You had both considered leaving the City entirely.
>But where would you go? The other cities were literal warzones.
>And there was no way you could make it across the border.
>As shitty as it was, this was your best option to stay safe.
>Somehow the topic of Srecko came up.
>The government had had enough of him a while back.
>He had been purged of his radio station a long time ago
>Apparently he was in hiding, and maybe even responsible for some of those bombings.
>It was an odd feeling that someone you knew since your childhood was potentially a terrorist.
>After some more talking and a few beers, you Dad says it’s finally time for him to head home.
>Krasna packs him some of the leftovers to eat tomorrow. Followed by a kiss on his stubbly cheek.
>You walk your Dad out the door.
>He gives you a hug as he says goodbye.
>“Anon….” He starts.
>“Be careful, and stay safe.”
>His tone showed concerned, but also ominous.
>“This is gonna get worse before it gets better.”
>You nod quietly.
>“We’ll be fine.” You murmur “You keep your head down too.”
>He smiles as he reaches out and ruffles your hair.
>Just like he used to do when you were a kid.
>“See ya soon, boy.”
>You close the door and lean against the wall.
>You could hear Krasna humming in the kitchen as she put away the rest of the stew for tomorrow.
>It was a perfect evening.
>Than why…
>Why did you feel so anxious all of sudden?
>Like your heart was going to beat faster and faster until you keeled over and died.
>Why in this moment of all times, did you suddenly feel so afraid?


>“Thank you for stopping by. We hope you have a nice day.”
>You sigh.
>This was like the lowest quality meat you ever saw.
>It said beef, but you were almost certain it wasn’t.
>Krasna was a good cook, but she wasn’t a magician. How could she make food with this shit?
>And you had just given up on buying dairy at this point.
>You had long decided to just accept your coffee black….even though you hated it.
>At least the vegetables were fresh….somewhat.
>The spinach looked a little wilted but whatever.
>Also when the hell were they going to restock on toilet paper?
>You were on the last two rolls…
>“STUPID FUCKING DICKLESS CARPET! THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE!”   
>You turn your head with a raised brow.
>Some guy arguing with a Wolf Anthro.
>There was a small group of Anthros a little back behind the Wolf 
>People were noticing and started to form a little group of their own. Wary of the gang of Anthros
>“You always yell at others who are bigger than you?” The wolf replied threateningly.
>He had a point, the Wolf towered a good foot and a half over his human counterpart.
>“You’re just a bunch of mutts and mongrels that got no bite and are all bark!”
>“You Furs can’t even fight you gotta plant bombs everywhere and run with your tails wagging!”
>Uh oh.
>This was getting into dangerous territory.
>The wolf grits his teeth and takes a step forward.
>Everyone practically winces from his movements, anticipating the worst.
>“No bombs here furboy. You gonna take a swing, pussy?”
>“Maybe I’ll break your face in and have you shit teeth.”
>The respective gangs begin to move towards each other.
>Suddenly you hear a siren and everyone freezes.
>A Military truck with a fucking mounted machine gun drives up.
>The soldier manned on the turret aims it right at the large group.
>You hear the loudspeakers from the truck click on.
>“BACK AWAY NOW! OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!”
>No one does.
>You flinch and drop your groceries as you hear the turret fire at the ground harmlessly.
>“I SAID FUCKING WALK AWAY!”
>They started to dart away fairly quickly.
>But not before that fucking guy had to shout some more shit.
>“EVEN YOUR WOMEN DON’T FUCKING WANT YOU! ALL YOUR BITCHES DREAM OF BEING RAPED BY MEN!”
>Jesus fucking Christ.
>He looks at you.
>You can tell he recognizes you.
>Oh no…
>Don’t you fuckin-
>“WE GOT A GUY RIGHT HERE PLOWING ONE OF YOUR OWN RIGHT NOW!”
>You eyes go wide as you feel the Anthros turn and look at you.
>“HE’S PLAYING THE SMART GAME! HE GONNA FUCK-
>You punch him in the face. Knocking him to the ground.
>“Shut the fuck up!” You snarl      
>You can feel that goddamn gun aimed right at your back.
>“I SAID THE SHOW’S OVER!” The loudspeaker roared “FUCK OFF BEFORE WE DECIDE TO SHOOT!”
>You let go of the man and slowly rise with your hands up in the air.
>You walk over to your bags of groceries and slowly scoop them up.
>You want to be as small as possible as you quickly shuffle home.
>But you can sense those Anthros are still glaring at you as you turn the corner towards the apartment.


>“What about this one, Anon?”
>“It looks fine.”
>“You said that about the last one I wore!”
>“Why do you care? You’ve always hated dressed.”
>“I’m looking nice on your Dad’s birthday. And so are you for that matter!”
>You grumble out an unintelligible response.
>No one actually goes clothes shopping anymore.
>Plus you were certain you could barely afford It.
>But Krasna was insisting that you both wear something nice for you Dad.
>Didn’t help that he was insisting we spend most of his birthday at church.
>At least you got to see Krasna wear cute dresses.
>It seemed that no matter what she picked out, it would always go nicely with her dark brown fur.
>But you were still bored. You were bored and hungry and horny.
>And you just knew she was gonna make you try on a bazillion different button-up shirts.
>It did feel weird going clothes shopping of all things all things considered.
>Anything to give off some semblance of normalcy you guess.
>After what felt like hours (it was probably less than 1) she picks out a nice blue dress and a plain button-up for yourself.
>You notice the cashier is rather cold to you when she notices Krasna drape her arm over yours.
>You try your best to ignore it as you hand her the money, which she practically snatches from your hands.
>She doesn’t bother give you the “have a nice day” schtick when you walk out.
>Whatever.
>At least Krasna is still pretty chipper.
>You tighten your grip on her arm, linking your fingers with hers.
>Yup you two still did that rather than just holding hands.
>Admittingly you tried handholding once.
>It was awful.
>Arms linked with your pointer fingers hooked on each other was truly the best option.
>She giggles as you play with her finger and gives you a kiss on the cheek.
>“Hey Anon, What the hell you still doing with that slave-girl?”
>You practically give yourself whiplash from twisting your head so fast.
>What the fuck did he just say?
>It was some guy from your Father’s apartment complex with a few others behind him.
>He had such an ugly sneer.
>“You don’t gotta take one for the team, Anon. When are you gonna marry a real girl and make your Pops happy?”
>You feel Krasna tense up against your arm.
>“You don’t wanna give your old man a bunch of vermin for grandkids. Do you Anon?”
>You grit your teeth.
>“Kraz, stay behind me.” 
>“I got a cousin I could hook you up with, nice sweet gir-
>“Shut the fuck up.” You growl out.
>You say it loud enough so a soldier on a nearby patrol notices.
>Thank God, he’s walking over here.
>The guy actually looked slightly hurt.
>Like he was really expecting you to just take his advice.
>“That bitch’s got your head all scrambled. I bet she took your virginity. That’s why you’re so head-over-heels for this fucking rat. You don’t know what real pussy feels like.”
>“If you don’t shut the fuck up, the only reason I won’t kill you is because he’ll shoot me first.”
>You point to the soldier who steps on the pavement, rifle held steady.
>“That’s enough.” He says through his mask. “Move along. Don’t make me have to call for backup.”
>The man is actually seething.
>“Degenerate Rat fucker.” He murmurs venomously before he walks away with the rest of his posse.
>You’re pretty certain you lost circulation in your arm from Krasna gripping it so hard.
>Random people on the street were just staring at the both of you.
>At the fact you were a couple.
>“We’re heading home. Now.” You say as you lead Krasna away.



>“Hey Anon, over here.”
>Finally you spot her on the street.
>Krasna decided to meet up with you after you finished your shift.
>You run over and give her a quick hug
>“How was work?”
>“Long.” You reply “We have this big project we’re working on and it’s taking forever to get all the material together.”
>She nods as she nuzzles against your shoulder.
>Wow. There are a lot of Anthros on the street today.
>Usually there are hardly any.
>In fact, regardless of Anthros there is quite the crowd slowly walking around.
>“Do we still have leftovers from last night?” You ask “I’m starving.”
>She nods happily.
>Wait.
>Something’s wrong.
>You notice a lot of people have their eyes on the two of you.
>And they’re walking slowly because…
>Because they’re not actually going anywhere.
>A giant of a man steps in front of the two of you.
>You try to move around him.
>He steps once again in your way.
>He grabs you shoulders.
>You shrug him off.
>You grabs you again.
>You shove him much harder this time.
>You wrap you arm around Krasna’s shoulder as you take a few steps back.
>You bump into another group of people.
>“Anon?” You hear Krasna say.
>“It’s okay. I got you.”
>You are relieved when you see a soldier.
>You call out for help.
>He briefly looks at you.
>And stands there…doing nothing.
>Oh no.
>You feel multiple arms come between you and Krasna.
>You kick one of them in the shins and punch another one in the face.
>You keep Krasna close to you as you hold her against your chest.
>“DON’T LET GO!” you shout desperately.
>You just had to get out of this crowd and then you could book it back to the apartment.
>More arms grab your shoulders and are trying to pry you off of her.
>Thankfully they’re not actually touching her.
>Only you.
>“ANON!” you hear her scream.
>“Kraz, JUST HANG ON!”
>Out of the corner of you eye. You see a large group of Anthro mix into the human group.
>They grab Krasna’s wrists.
>“NO! LET GO OF HER! I SAID LET FUCKING GO OF HER!”
>You feel an arm come from behind you and wrap around your neck.
>You lose your hold on Krasna as she’s pulled screaming into the group of Anthros
>“KRAZ! NO! KRAZ!”
>You elbow your captor in the gut and push through a wave of arms all clawing at you.
> “ANON!” They tear her clothes trying to get her away from you.
>“I’M COMING HOLD ON, BABY! LET FUCKING GO OF ME!”
>At least a dozen people have you restrained as you stretch out your arm towards her.
>A car pulls up as she practically stuffed inside it and ferried away.
>“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” You spit through your teeth.
>You need to go after that car.
>Before it turns the corner.
>You just need to fight off these fucking people.
>Suddenly you feel another arm touch you.
>This one more gentle than the rest.
>It’s your Father.
>“Boy, it’s okay.”
>“DAD, YOU GOTTA HELP! THEY’RE FUCKING TAKING HER, I GOTTA-
>Your vision goes blank as you feel a large thwack at the back of your head.

>You wake up and immediately you’re hit with pain 
>You don’t have to touch it to feel the lump on your head.
>Where are you?
>Is this…
>Your Dad’s couch?
>Yup. That’s his armchair.
>And the TV.
>You slowly rise to your feet. Trying to process everything.
>You hear the sink on in the kitchen.
>You see your Dad, washing blood off of his hands.
>Your eyes widen as you piece together everything.
>He turns around and looks at you in the eye.
>He….
>He…
>“I managed to clean most of the blood out of your hair-
>You punch him in the face.
>You feel his nose break.
>That’s not nearly enough for you.
>You raise you knee into his gut.
>He doubles over in pain.
>You push him against the counter with both of your hands clamped to his head.
>He doesn’t fight back.
>“You fucking helped them!”
>He doesn’t say anything.
>“Did you fucking tell them where we would be?!”
>He doesn’t say anything.
>He can’t look you in the eye.
>You feel the edge of your front tooth crack you’re grinding your teeth so hard.
>“Why? Why did you do this?”
>“Was she not fucking good enough for me?”
>“I was HER man. It’s my job to protect her and you fucking back-stabbed your own son!”
>You’re on the verge of crushing his head entirely.
>You don’t care if he didn’t resist.
>You were just waiting. Waiting for his fucking excuse-
>“I know.”
>Your brain freezes at his words.
>Tears begin to swell up and pour down your cheek.
>It was less painful for him to deny and make excuses.
>Than for him to admit he was responsible for your loss.
>He doesn’t even have the willpower to raise his head up.
>“I know. I know I failed you as a Father. I know you won’t ever forgive me.”
>“But if I didn’t…someone would have snapped, and you or Krasna would have been lynched.”
>“You. My own boy, would have been slaughtered in the street. At that point, there would have been no use talking.”
>“I would have picked up a gun like everyone else and started killing.”
>You let go of him and back away, practically stumbling over the kitchen chair.
>The grief made you feel drunk.
>“So both sides approached me with a compromise. And I agreed to it….so both of you could live. Preventing outright fighting in the streets.”
>You felt sick.
>This wasn’t happening.
>This was some awful nightmare.
>You would wake up in Krasna’s embrace and hug her like never before.
>Appreciate her like you suddenly felt you hadn’t before.
>“I wanted her to be my Daughter-in-Law, Anon.”
>You bring your hands to your eyes.
>“When I went to church, I prayed that you two would get married in there. The same one I took you too as a boy, there was something…complete about that.”
>You can’t stop gasping as tears render you blind.
>“I was looking forward to all of the Grandkids.”
>You lower your hands and glare at him.
>“Shut the fuck up.” You say coldly at him.
>You never had the urge to kill before until now.
>You wanted to wrap your hands around his neck and squeeze.
>The only thing that stopped you at that point was his pathetic appearance.
>He didn’t look like the strong Father from your childhood now.
>All of his hairs were gray, and a lifetime of hard work made his skin look like worn out leather.
>His eyes didn’t have the confidence they used to have.
>He was just a tired, broken old man now.
>You wipe the tears away.
>“You’re not my Father. I don’t want you ever speaking to me again.”
>You quietly turn to leave.
>Even as blood continues to trickle down from his broken nose
>He doesn’t move an inch from where he’s standing. 


>Three years.
>It’s been three years since you were ripped away from her.
>Things have changed quite a bit since those days.
>You pretty much abandoned your old apartment.
>It reminded you too much of her.
>You also quite your welding apprenticeship because it was your Dad who got it for you.
>You made good on your promise to never speak to him again.
>Nowadays you lived in one halfway house after another, making a living through whatever oddjobs people had for you.
>Lots of times, no one wanted anything to do with you.
>You were known as “that guy”.
>Most of the time people who gave you some small errand to run did it out of pity.
>Whatever. Fuck them.
>Fuck everybody.
>And no. Destroying your future did not prevent the city from turning into a warzone. 
>That was one small, bitter victory you kept close to your heart.
>The army was losing control.
>Paramilitary groups along Human-Anthro lines were forming and getting weapons.
>Now it wasn’t just bombings anymore.
>On the city outskirts, you could hear gunfire.
>Between the Human and Anthro gangs, and the army desperately trying to stop them and keep order.
>Everything was falling apart.
>You had found it difficult to care over the years.
>It wasn’t like they had done something truly abhorrent yet.
>You had given up on reuniting with Krasna.
>Fuck. You had trouble even say-no thinking her damn name.
>The Anthro neighborhood at this point was blatantly militarized.
>At the apartment buildings which formed the borders of their neighborhood, one could see snipers in the windows, watching and patrolling.
>The same thing could be said for the Human part of the city.
>And for the first time, there was segregated services.
>Schools were practically nonexistent at this point.
>Even hospitals were separated along ethnic lines now.
>In fact that’s where you were going now.
>You had to make a delivery for some medical equipment to the Human children’s hospital.
>It was a horrifically depressing place. Full of kids who had gotten shot or lost a leg or an arm.
>And most likely their parents. 
>You were in a bad mood.
>Not because of the orphan children with the missing limbs, tragic as it was.
>You had to go through the neighborhood you lived in as a kid.
>You turn your head away as you pass through your Dad’s apartment block.
>Whatever. Just get this over with and get your cash.
>You had rent due this week.
>You pull up next to the Hospital gate.
>The guard has his gun present.
>“Names Anon.” You say boringly “I got a delivery here for a uh…Doctor Jurić”
>You had him the paperwork from your car window.
>He glosses over it.
>He pushes a button and the gate slowly opens.
>You are blinded by a light that seems to burn into your retinas.
>Only a few moments later do the sound-waves of the explosions reach you.
>It felt like one of your eardrums was ruptured.
>You hear the glass shattered and small fragments digging into your hands as you raise them to cover your face.
>Eventually the sounds of bomb blasts are replaced with something you hadn’t imagined.
>Total silence.
>You had never been up close to a bombing before, so whenever you heard one it was usually followed by immediate sirens.
>This though…
>You’re certain that whatever you learned about Hell was wrong.
>This was it, total silence and nothingness after a few brief moments of primal panic and terror.
>You kick your door open and practically roll out onto the ground.
>Your whole body felt like it fell asleep on you.
>You feel two sets of hands hoist you up by the shoulder.
>“Hey. You alright?”
>That voice, it sounded familiar.
>You open your eyes, forcing them to adjust to the world before you.
>The first face you see is the guard.
>You turn slightly.
>It’s your Dad.
>You’re too shocked at this point to be angry by the sight of him.
>He’s so…old.
>He lost a good portion of his hair, and his face just seemed to be one giant wrinkle at this point.
>Most of his muscles seemed to have left him. Reducing his once bulky frame to that of a skeleton.
>He looks down at the ground as you look at him.
>Yeah you hated his guts.
>But a hospital just blew up so…deal with it later. Whatever.
>“I’m fine.” You say curtly, but politely.
>“Let’s look for survivors.” The guard jumps in, looking at you.
>“You and me will go inside and get survivors out. Old man, can you get some people on the street to come and help?”
>Your Dad nods as he hobbles away as fast as he can.
>Fuck. He can’t even run anymore.
>He wasn’t that old was he?
>You and the guard run into the debris.
>A few nurses and stuff who were near the entrance run out.
>But as you go deeper into the burned out building, you realized just how efficient those bombs were.
>You…don’t wanna talk about what you saw.
>Burned corpses, others not so burned, just spread all over the place like a god damn jam.
>It was sickening.
>You threw up more than once.
>But after around 20 minutes of looking through corpse after corpse of child after child you grew numb to it.
>Just how sickened were you suppose to get after seeing the 3rd children’s ward which houses dozens of patients reduced to meat?
>The guard tags you as you both begin to hear the sirens and people start to crowd around the hospital entrance.
>It was time to get out of here.
>You didn’t find any children who survived.
>You step out of the hospital ruins and are greeted with a mass of people and cars crowding the entrance.
>In less than half an hour you suddenly felt a decade older. 
>You no longer had reason to walk with your back straight.
>You now wanted to just stare at the ground instead of what was in front of you.
>It felt like after what you just saw, the war finally broke you.
>It wasn’t done yet.
>You fall to the ground as you see another explosion go off in the street.
>ARE YOU KIDDING! FUCKING ANOTHER ONE?!
>Actually it was more like a series of car bombs.
>They’d set up the bomb in the hospital, then when a good group of people gathered they…
>Oh god.
>Your Dad
>You run.
>And run.
>And run
>And it seems to take forever to get to the impact.
>Your stomach doesn’t churn at the sight of broken, scattered bodies.
>Within a few seconds, they had just become paint on a canvas to you.
>Where was he?
>Where the fuck wa-
>Dad?
>Dad come on.
>Oh God please don’t go
>please don’t leave me
>Oh please God please I’m begging
>Dad
>Dad I’m sorry
>You can’t go
>Not until I say I’m sorry
>You have to hear me say it
>I don’t know
>I don’t know anything
>So you can’t go
>Please
>Oh please
>Please don’t take him away from me
>I’ll do anything
>Not now
>You can’t take him away now
>You can’t take my DAD away from me
>Give me a minute
>One fucking minute
>Just so I can say I’m sorry.
>That’s not hard
>Or even less than that
>Just open your eyes
>just ever so briefly
>please
>Please just open your eyes

>You hear a knock on your door.
>It’s the landlady
>“Anon, are you there? There is someone here who says he knows you.”
>You notice there is a tone of nervousness and fear in her voice.
>You go to open the door, expecting some catastrophe on your doorstep.
>It might have been worse actually.
>“Hello, Anon. It’s been awhile.”
>It was Srecko.
>He was dressed in military garb with a small black beret.
>His hair had seemed to grow even longer than you remember it. As if he had never once cut it.
>“Thank you ma’am” He says to your landlady “I’ll take it from here.”
>She nods as she looks at you apologetically.
>You couldn’t blame her. Men like Srecko were scary.
>He had popped up again a little while back. As an insurgent.
>You didn’t bother to keep up with anything anymore though.
>You had thought before that everything had been taken from you.
>You never understood how much more you could lose until you had lost your Dad.
>“May I come in?” Srecko asks “I came along way from my base to see you.”
>You shrug as you gesture him inside.
>You didn’t really live in an apartment.
>More like a room with a bed, a desk and a little bathroom that felt more like a cubby.
>“How long have you been living here?” Srecko asked, clearly pitying your living standards.
>“Just a few months.” You reply “I hop around from place to place.”
>“From I remember you had found a nice little place when you moved-
>Your glare stopped him from finishing his sentence.
>“Don’t go there.” You grumble lowly at him.
>He nods his head slightly and leans against the wall.
>“I’m sorry about your Father, Anon. He was a good man. Better than me.”
>He just can’t help bringing up unpleasant topics can he?
>“I won’t argue against that. He did tell me to stay away from you when I was a kid.”
>“I suppose that wasn’t the worst advice he could give you-
>“Cut the bullshit.” You snap “What do you want?”
>He taps his fingers against the wall.
>“Do you have any tea?”
>“I don’t. Now tell me why you’re here and then piss off.”
>Srecko sighs.
>“I want you to come work for me.”
>You couldn’t help but laugh.
>“Are you serious? Why would I join up with you?”
>“We’re helping to protect our community from Anthro-
>“Fuck the community!” You spit on his boots “That community took everything I loved back then!”
>Srecko doesn’t say anything at first as he moves to sit on your bed.
>He’s looking at you straight in the eyes.
>“Your Father, your school, all that stuff on TV about loving your neighbor and working together. It really is beautiful to see the world like that, Anon. Your Father did right trying to instill that in you.”
>“But it’s all a lie. And eventually your Father had to own up to that. So he did what he did to protect you.”
>You get up from your chair and open the door.
>“Get out.”
>“It was the Anthros who threatened violence first, Anon.”
>You grit your teeth as you narrow your eyes at him.
>“The fuck did you say?”
>He motions his hand to come back and sit down
>“Close the door and I’ll tell you.”
>You silently shut the door and walk back over.
>You can hear your boots make the floors creak with each step.
>The air in the room felt stuffy and uncomfortable to breathe.
>You slowly plant yourself back on the chair. Your hands on your knees.
>“Talk.” You demand.
>“Not much to say. The Anthro community weren’t tolerating your…relationship with that girl of yours. They were basically threatening to start rioting in the street because of it. So the local city councils came up with a uh..compromise and approached your Father about it.”
>You didn’t wanna hear this.
>You wanted to forget all those memories of the first 20 years of your life.
>If only so you could forget about Krasna and the pain and anger you felt.
>“That ‘community’ you don’t give a shit about weren’t co-conspirators, Anon. They were strong armed by violent radicals who threatened blood in the streets if nothing was done about it.”
>“But they still did it!” You shot back “They ruined my life to appease them!”
>“Yes. And it was a stupid thing to do. In the end the Anthros still ended up causing trouble. They were the ones who bombed that hospital ironically.”
>You say nothing at this. If only because you were becoming disgusted by Srecko’s attempts to exploit the hospital bombing for his own gain.
>“If you wanna hate them for what happened to you? Fine, but what about those kids that got killed, huh? Or kids that will get targeted in the future? Do they deserve your condemnation too?”
>“I’m not stupid, Srecko. I know what you’re trying to do.”
>“Then call me a cold, callous bastard, Anon. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I’m right.”
>He folds his hands and leans in towards you.
>“You come fight for me. And you’ll be protecting the last vestiges of decency this place has left.”
>“Why though?” You ask “I don’t have any military training or whatever.”
>“Same thing could be said for about half of my guys. You pick up on things easily enough. Plus you have good mechanic skills. I always need more tradesmen.”
>“You still didn’t have to come personally. Why recruit me?”
>Srecko smiles.
>“Everyone loved your Dad. He really was one of the most respected men in this city.”
>“And I want his son to come work for me.”
>Now you understood what his intentions were.
>You were a piece of propaganda for him.
>Your Father had been right to tell you to stay away from him.
>And yet why were you shaking his hand.
>Why did you say you’d do it?
>Was it for revenge?
>Or to protect the community like Srecko said?
>Or was it that after nearly a decade of living in this war torn country, you had decided to just embrace it after it reduced you to practically nothing?
>What did you have to lose?


>Srecko wasn’t lying when he said he would put your skills to work.
>It was quite an overwhelming experience when a tow truck dragged a big fuckoff tank into the back of the makeshift base.
>Completely blown out. Looked like it had rolled over an IED that blew up beneath it. Ripping up the insides.
>The poor fuckers inside apparently were just reduced to gore and bone fragments.
>Srecko throws an old, thick textbook at you. It’s weight nearly knocking the wind out of you when you catch it.
>It was the manual for the tank.
>“Think you can fix it?” Srecko asked.
>“I can try” You say “Don’t expect it to be like it was before. Best I can promise is a functional rustbucket”
>As you worked on wreckage you weren’t even certain you could do that.
>So many specific gears and levers were needed. You didn’t want to think about all the wiring you would have to do as well.
>Plus the amount of scrap metal you’d need to get the hull back to a respectable level would be time consuming.
>Add on the fact that you also needed to repair jeeps and cars that were brought back and you could feel weeks fly by like seconds you were so busy.
>Not that you minded, it kept you occupied, distracted from your grief and anguish of your Father’s death.
>You always noticed that when someone’s loved one died. It never hit them during the funeral, or the wake. They were too busy preparing everything, running around keeping themselves busy.
>It was only after the body was buried and everyone went home, that they were left to their thoughts with the overwhelming fact that they were alone and they would never see that person again.
>That was when in the darkness of their empty home, tears would begin to flow and the pain would really begin to settle.
>You however, were spared that.
>You didn’t have time to cry. You had to repair a transmitter or find a replacement exhaust system.
>You grinded your whole existence into your job.
>Some of the soldiers around the base recognized you as the guy who ‘railed an anthro’
>They had a sadistic respect for you. You were seen as the man who could fuck the enemy’s women into submission. Which in turn seemed to justify their own superiority in their minds.
>One guard even asked you how “fur snatch felt”.
>You threw a wretch at him to shut him up.
>Not even because he referenced Krasna. 
>But because he distracted you from your job.
>Any past enjoyments you once had you shed them completely.
>You ate, slept, and worked.
>Occasionally you gave yourself the privileged of having a shit.
>Srecko obviously was overjoyed at your work ethic.
>He eventually gave you a few men he could spare to help around with repairs.
>They were pretty useless at first, but you quickly trained them. Welding, car repairs, trying to get that fucking tank up and running.
>For better or for worse, they took a huge load off your shoulders.
>And one day, you found yourself with free time with nothing to do.
>And in those moments, the hard facts about your life came bubbling back up.
>Your lover had been ripped away from you.
>You cursed your Father. You destroyed the man who gave you everything.
>Who only did what he did to protect you, and to protect the woman you loved.
>When he died, he never got to hear your apology, despite your begging.
>He died thinking that you hated him and always would.
>There was no resolution, there would be no happy ending.
>That fact. That indescribable agony finally settled in nice and snug into your soul.
>But what was even more terrifying than that was that you didn’t react at all.
>God you wanted to. You wanted to break down and cry, bang your fists and scream.
>But that feeling of a great sob welling up in your chest never came. Not even close.
>You didn’t know that this sort of thing had a shelf life.
>It was too late now. Tears would never come and because of that you would never move beyond this pain, it would always linger and always hold you back.
>You didn’t feel like a person anymore.
>You stared at the empty wall of your dark room for what seemed like hours.
>Slowly, you begin to sense that your precious moments of hellish free time were over.
>You reached over to your desk and grabbed your notebook.
>A mad scribble of repair jobs, things to do, and list of materials you still needed along with sketches of various vehicles and tank parts.
>You begin to write down all the things that needed to be done this week.
>It felt like you were applying a new coat of paint over yourself after the anti-cathartic revelation you just endured.
>‘need to find off-road tires’
>‘More scrap metal for the hood of that 1970 Zastava’
>‘DECENT SCRAP METAL THIS TIME!!!!’ 
>‘Have to find a way to fix up those treads on the tank’
>‘military jeep is a lost cause, rip everything out that’s useful for other jobs’
>‘I miss her’
>‘I miss her’
>‘Oh dear God I miss her’
>‘I miss you so much Krasna’
>You stop, realizing what you were writing.
>And it didn’t hurt to write it down.
>It felt…good to write that, to get that out of your system.
>You couldn’t cry anymore, but you could write.
>You throw the notebook on your bed and reach into your desk drawer.
>You pull out a small pocket notebook.
>And a brand new pen, whose virgin ink would mark this new journal.
>‘My finger still twitches, anticipating and waiting for yours to curl and wrap around mine.’
>‘Did I ever tell you that you drove me mad with lust when you wrapped your tail around me?’
>‘You were the last and only person I had sex with.’
>‘I wanted you to carry my children and have them call you Mom.’
>‘Dad wanted us to give him grandchildren.’
>‘I hope you knew just how much I loved you, Krasna.’
>Your wrist twitched and jittered madly as you wrote down pages of gush.
>Every little detail you remembered about her you wrote down and repeated in new ways.
>Fucking hell you just couldn’t stop thinking about her. 
>Wrapped up in your little, isolated world with just you, her, and this little journal.
>It was addictive, even intoxicating.
>It wasn’t hard to imagine just staying in your room and starving yourself so you could write more.
>suddenly your new pastime is shattered with the sound of an alarm.
>It was a military alert, ringing throughout the whole base.
>What the fuck?
>You take your tiny journal and stick it in your breast pocket and run out.
>You’re coated in the red light of sirens as you run out into the open base.
>You find Srecko surrounded by a few of his officers.
>He smiles as he spots you.
>“Ah, just the man I wanted to see.”
>You frown “The hell is going on?”
>“One of our raids has gone very poorly. A good portion of our boys are pinned down near spremaju square. We lose them and we lose a lot of manpower. We’re planning an impromptu rescue.”
>“Well okay.” You say, confused “Why the hell do you need me though?”
>Srecko gave you a vicious grin.
>“You repaired our vehicles, you command them.”
>You froze.
>Was this nutcase serious?
>“Well…the tank is still inoperable” You say “But I have a dozen jeeps we can mount some .50 cals on.”
>Srecko laughs “That’s the fucking spirit. We’ll rip right through them.”
>He pulls out a small map of the city and points his finger towards the relevant area.
>“I’ll lead a small band towards the front. We’ll make it look like a simple reinforcement. That should cause them to push on us even harder. We’ll feint a retreat to get them out of cover. Then come in with the cavalry and mow the shits down. Hit them hard and get out quickly, there won’t be much cover for you.”
>You nod, somewhat anxiously.
>“You know I’ve never done this before, right?” You say skeptically.
>Srecko puts his hands on his hips.
>“You are also an officer under my command. You’ve spent too much time being a grease monkey. Time to go out in the big scary world, Anon.”
>You swallowed hard, you weren’t keen on the idea of getting shot at.
>“Alright fuckers!” Srecko yelled to the camp “Let’s move out.”

>“Squad Jedan in position. Has made contact.”
>“Roger that Jedan leader, can you give me deets of enemy arms?”
>“Signs of mortars earlier in fighting. None now, chances are they’ve run out of ammo. No heavy weaponry, mostly older soviet infantry weapons.
>“Copy that Jedan leader, can you make it to our boys?”
>“Negative. Need the rest of you guys. They’re pinned down behind the old fountain, right in the center of the square.”
>“Well shit. Alright, rest of the squads are moving up.”
>It truly fascinated you how military radio chatter could make things as intense as firefights and wars sound dull and mundane.
>You had a sneaking suspicion they were invented by politicians so that wars would seem boring and lame, to make it easier to sell to general populations.
>“Armored division. Are you in position.”
>You jolted out of your seat and scrambled madly for the radio.
>“Y-yes. I..We can hear the gunfire from here.”
>“Confirmed Armored Leader. Do not move until I give the go ahead. You should be in the hotzone for no more than 12 minutes. After that you must fall back to the perimeter.”
>“C-copy that.” You stammer.
>You really needed to pee.
>You had pissed three times since you got here.
>But damn it your bladder would not fucking relent.
>You switch the radio over to the local channel so only your men could hear.
>It was a strange thought, leading men into battle.
>You never thought you would join the military.
>It seemed like you were becoming more and more like your Father.
>“Check your guns, I don’t want anything to jam.” You say with a bit more confidence.
>You hear the mumbles of affirmatives from the other jeeps.
>Then you wait.
>For hours you wait.
>That was the part they never told you about the military. About fighting in wars.
>All of the fucking waiting.
>Fighting in a battle was pretty shitty.
>But sitting there endlessly waiting for one you couldn’t escape from was arguably worse.
>Like a twisted jack-in-the-box.
>You knew it was coming.
>You just didn’t know when.
>You jump, startled by the sudden radio chatter.
>“Squads dva through šest moving into position.”
>“Understood, commence operation in 30 seconds.”
>Those 30 seconds to you felt longer than the last three hours.
>Then what had originally only been a low, indifferent murmur of gunfire erupted into a barrage of bullets and men yelling so loud you could actually hear them.
>You turn the keys to the ignition, instructing everyone to get ready.
>“WE ARE OUT OF COVER! I REPEAT WE ARE OUT OF COVER! WE HAVE THE OBJECTIVE AND WE ARE MOVING BACK!”
>“Armored Division. Go Go Go!”
>You step on the gas a little too hard. The back wheels spins briefly before the jeep suddenly shoots forward down the block.
>You’re driving like madman, you can hear the other jeeps close behind you.
>You knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.
>Your eyes were wild and your mouth gaping.
>You no longer needed to pee.
>You turn the block and immediately you are blinded by the sheer amount of flashing muzzles and sparks of bullets ricocheting off your jeep.
>In the distance you could briefly spot your troopers retreating to safety.
>You then let out a ‘holy fucking shit’ when you turned your head the other way.
>Srecko was right. The Anthros had taken the bait and had decided to bumrush the retreating forces. Hoping to cut them down.
>You hadn’t seen an Anthro in what felt like years. They had isolated themselves in their communities years ago.
>Now they were running out of their abandoned apartment buildings with AKs and Makarovs.
>In your distraction you didn’t notice your jeep slam into a small goat anthro.
>You heard the poor creature squeal as your tires grinded his body into the concrete.
> “OPEN FIRE!” you scream frantically “OPEN FIRE! FUCKING SHOOT THEM”
>You slam on the brake and do a 180 drift.
>You feel your eardrums pound into your skulls as the machine gunner behind you shoots into the crowd of soldiers.
>Your small group of a dozen armored jeeps position themselves to block most of the bullets aimed for the retreating forces.
>You draw your own pistol and shoot into the mass of furred bodies, not sure you were actually hitting anything.
>But those .50 cal guns were doing some serious damage. You could see the bodies pile up.
>You would have been sickened by the sight had you not already been conditioned to far more gruesome scenes.
>The only new sensation that came to you was the smell of burned fur. Scorched by bullets.
>Jesus Christ it felt like you had been shooting for fucking ever.
>The longer you all stayed here the bigger the chance you would get killed.
>You hear chatter over your radio, but it sounded absolutely feeble compared to the gunfire going just over your skull.
>“REPEAT!” You scream into the radio “CAN NOT CONFIRM! REPEAT ORDERS”
>“Infantry is safe. Pull back Armored leader. I repeat, pull back.”
>A bullet shattered your windshield and whizzes just past your cheek, hitting your gunner in the leg.
>You shit your pants as you fumble around the radio dial and switch over the local channel.
>“FALL BACK! FALL BACK BEHIND PERIMETER NOW!”
>With the order given you step on the gas and haul out of the square. You don’t look behind you to see if the other jeeps are there.
>Fuck
>FUCK
>MOTHERFUCKER FUCK
>Forget white knuckles, you could rip the steering wheel off your jeep you were so wired up.
>You felt drunk but at the same time your senses had never been sharper.
>Was this the adrenaline?
>You barely slow down in time to pass the armed checkpoint.
>As you begin to drive into the makeshift base, two medical vans surround your little squadron.
>Vans that you specifically remember repairing.
>It felt good seeing first hand your contributions.
>Medics haul your wounded gunner and a few other men out on stretchers and pack them into the vans.
>Some wounded but no deaths. So all in all it seemed to have been a massive success.
>Which was a strange thought. Soiling yourself in battle was not conducive to victory.
>You see Srecko run up to your jeep. 
>Conscious of the shit still in your trousers, you choose to remain seated as he walks up to you.
>“A Good show. You chopped them up nicely. You might be a natural at this!”
>You found that hard to believe.
>“With a bit of luck they won’t be pulling a counter raid on us anytime soon” He adds.
>You nod quietly.
>The adrenaline was wearing off quickly.
>You could feel yourself crashing.
>Srecko gives you permission to head back to base. Telling you he’ll wrap up operations himself before the National army remnants arrive.
>You nod off as you silently drive away.
>It was only then that you noticed.
>Besides the lights from your jeep.
>The entire city was pitch dark.
>You thought of all the children, both Human and Anthro, looking out into this dark abyss of a city from their apartments and the only lights they would see were muzzle flashes from a gun.
>It was never like this when you were a kid.
>You had never expected it would ever be like this.
>It made you feel like a failure.
>It was the responsibility of everyone to make sure children had better lives than they did, even if it was only marginally.
>Instead, their standard of living collapsed so rapidly it almost had to be a joke and not for real.
>But it all was real.
>The bullets, the fighting, those dead children in the hospital, your Father and your lover, both ripped away from you in short succession.
>It was all absolute and your only real option was to wallow in its misery.
>And let the darkness of the city overtake you.


>“MOVE IN! MOVE THE FUCK IN!”
>“RUSH THE COMPLEX! DON’T GIVE THEM ANY ROOM TO BREATHE!”
>“EIGHTH FLOOR! WE GOT ANTHROS ON THE EIGHTH FLOOR!”
>“BLOCK THE GOD DAMN STAIRWELLS SO THEY CAN’T MOVE AROUND!”
>You scream a cacophony of orders as soldiers rush the bombed out apartment complex.
>The building had been a den for snipers taking pot shots at Srecko’s cargo trucks the past few months.
>The longer the war progressed the more you began to despise Anthros.
>Despite being such a small minority, it seemed that no matter how many you killed more would come back and hit with an even harder counter-attack.
>The only exception to this was Krasna.
>She was beyond ethnicity to you. The little journal you kept in your pocket where you did nothing but gush the same, tired descriptions seemed like the only thing that kept you sane sometimes.
>After last week where a driver had been killed by a lucky shot and around seven dozen crates worth of ammo were stolen, Srecko flew into a rage and demanded the building be purged.
>He ordered you and a few other officers to get the job done.
>No longer were you a greenhorn who crapped his pants during battle.
>In fact you were quite the natural at giving orders in combat.
>The men in the camp who knew your Father only respected you more.
>And more importantly, it made civilians want to join the cause, as it were.
>Srecko had been right about you, you were a walking piece of propaganda.
>And if you were killed, you would be the perfect martyr.
>Though you knew Srecko was actually quite wary of your popularity.
>He promoted you, but not as rapidly as he did others.
>He couldn’t have you overshadowing him.
>You could honestly understand his point, but it was still rather silly.
>Like in this raid for example, he could have just given full command of it to you.
>But he decided to split it equally among a small handful of officer.
>Which was a real pain.
>You weren’t eyeing for military commands.
>In fact you never really cared for this war.
>There was that sense of ‘protecting your people’ for sure.
>But usually it just felt like you were going through the motions.
>Like this was all some soulless office job.
>Except you almost got killed on a regular basis.
>Even getting close to this fucking building was hell.
>There was no clever maneuver to get closer.
>You just had to take all of your men and bum rush the building in one giant charge and hope the snipers didn’t shoot you.
>In fact you did get shot at.
>But the round hit and dented your helmet.
>Still left a massive welt on your fucking head though.
>And if you looked behind you, you could see a trail of bodies of men who weren’t so lucky.
>It didn’t matter now, you were at the entrance to the complex.
>Your ears ring when the explosion levels the doors and your literal horde floods inside.
>You grip your shotgun as you spill in yourself.
>The first five floors have no resistance.
>All of the enemy are up higher.
>Still, you hear what seems to be an almost collective whooping and hollering.
>What the fuck was going on?
>Why was everyone stalling? These other officers needed to get their men cleaning out the rest of this place before the real Army showed up.
>Your eyes widen and you begin to feel bile in the back of your throat as you hear whimpering cries of women and of wet flesh slapping against each other.
>“UUUUGHHH, FUCK! YOU HEAR THAT UP THERE YOU FUCKING FAGGOTS!”
>“YOU LIKE THE BAYONET!? YOU BITCH!”
>“GIVE ME HER KIT! GIVE ME THE FUCKING KIT!”
>“OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD THAT’S FUCKING TIGHT! HOLY SHIT!”.
>You move into an empty apartment that had the hinges of the door blown off.
>Dust from shattered concrete coated the decrepit floor.
>As broken glass cracks beneath your boots, you hear a shuffling in the bathroom.
>You keep your finger near the trigger, take a small breath and burst in.
>There is a small, muffled shriek from the tub.
>You see a feline Anthro, looked like some kind of Lynx, cradling a child.
>She presses her kitten to her bosom as she looks up at you.
>You breathe a sign of relief that it wasn’t a combatant ready to shoot at you.
>She shuffles slightly in the tub when it appears you aren’t going to hurt her.
>Your eyes widen and your grip on your gun tightens when you hear boots clumsily enter the apartment.
>Soldiers. Human soldiers.
>And you could tell from their voices that they weren’t your men.
>You couldn’t order them around.
>Drunk on lust, you could hear them wandering the apartment, looking for anyone to satisfy them.
>You look at the small kitten in the Lynx’s arms.
>Oh no.
>Your lip trembles.
>It’s a girl.
>You heard more soldiers enter the apartment.
>It sounded like 8-9 of them now.
>Both the mother and the child would be gang-raped. Then killed.
>Is there a window!? Something! God, fucking anything.
>Just get them out of here!
>You hear them getting closer.
>You can only think of one solution.
>You look at the lynx in her eyes.
>You raise your shotgun.

>You were silent on the ride back.
>There was nothing to say.
>You flushed out the building but by the time you finished the army showed up.
>You had to fight your way out.
>It was a nasty fight. Your camo was shredded by all the bullets that just barely grazed your skin.
>After today’s events, you couldn’t say you felt bad for any of the men that were lost.
>You all could have gotten out of the damn place in time had they decided not to stop and fuck anything they could get their hands on.
>You were thinking of bringing this up to Srecko.
>But you knew it was a hopeless cause.
>He was too enamoured with his movement to even think about any wrongdoings his own people were doing.
>You pull into the base.
>There was quite the buzz.
>All of Srecko’s top men were there, apparently there to discuss the next stage of conquering the city.
>It was something that had been planned well in advanced.
>The consensus was that it was time to stop raids and start taking serious territory. While also pushing back what was left of the national army.
>Frankly you couldn’t find it in yourself to give a shit.
>Christ it wasn’t even noon yet.
>All you wanted to do was get back to work on the tank and scrub your mind of what you saw.
>What you did.
>“Anon!”
>God fucking dammit
>You turn to face Srecko.
>“I heard there was a bit of trouble getting out?”
>“Other squads took too long.” You say “Army surrounded the building and we had to push our way out.”
>Srecko frowns at this as he pats your back.
>“They’ve been a real pain in the ass.” He says casually. “But we got a plan now to whip those boys up good. We’ll have this city within a year.”
>You don’t even nod at this.
>You didn’t have the fortitude to even fake enthusiasm.
>“I want you at the meeting too.” Srecko says.
>You mask a groan, but Srecko still senses your annoyance.
>“Oh don’t be like that. You’re proving to be on of my top junior officers. I’ll need you in on the details.”
>That was small comfort for you.
>“I’ll tell you what, Anon. You’ll get the rest of the day off after this is over. I’ll even throw in a hot meal as a bonus.”
>You shrug as you follow him into a large makeshift tent at the rear of the compound.
>You didn’t notice until now, but this whole base was on high alert.
>There were at least twice the amount of guards on duty than before.
>You guess that shouldn’t have been too surprising. The entire brass of Srecko’s command structure was here.
>They were usually spread out throughout the city as pockets of resistance.
>They were usually just fighting the national army.
>It was only Srecko himself that was taking the fight to the Anthro forces.
>So organizing a meeting like this took time and resources. Commanders couldn’t just leave their bases suddenly.
>As you and Srecko open the tent flap, your greeted by two dozen other commanders.
>Mostly older men, you guessed they were members of the Army that Srecko convinced to defect to him.
>Holy fuck this meeting was boring.
>In a strange, twisted way it reminded you of when your Dad used to take you to church on Sundays.
>Well at least the content was a little more interesting. But barely.
>Mostly dealing with supply routes and holding down important choke points.
>Diplomatic ties with foreign powers who for one reason or another, wanted to donate a few truckloads of weapons to us.
>This was the talk 95% of the time.
>The other 5% is what most people normally think a war room is: Battle tactics on how to beat your enemy.
>You quickly learned that tactics was a distant second to logistics.
>You rub your eyes as the procedures continue.
>Fucking hell you were tired.
>But you jolt out of your seat when you hear the sirens of the camp echo.
>Were we under attack?
>Impossible. We had too many troops for any one to dare attack us.
>Srecko himself seemed confused until a guard rushed into the tent.
>“PLANES! THERE ARE PLANES ABOVE.”
>Srecko and the rest of the brass are silent as he rushes outside and looks up.
>He doesn’t say anything for a brief moment before his eyes widen.
>He turns towards you and the rest of the officers.
>“Cover! Take Cover! It’s NATO! They’re fucking-
>He’s cut short by an explosion in the distance. Guards are in disarray as they begin to search for anywhere to find.
>Your senses seem to slow down time as each explosion come closer and closer to you like a row of dominoes.
>Unfortunately your legs seem even slower and you struggle to run away in time. Kicking up dirt.
>One final bomb seems to drop right on top of the tent.
>Your body flies up and your spine arches as you slam into a nearby concrete wall.
>The last thing you see before you lose consciousness is the tent literally vaporizing before the impact.
>You can only think of Krasna.
>Wishing desperately that she were here to comfort you as you lay there dying.

>Fortunately, you didn’t die.
>You just had a concussion from the blast.
>You feel crusty dried blood flake off your forehead as you sit up and frown.
>You rub away the blurriness out of your eyes.
>The whole base was an absolute wreck.
>Small groups of bodies scattered everywhere.
>Some burned and shriveled up, others just laid there broken and mangled from the impacts.
>Not everyone was dead, you could hear men yelling in the background.
>The siren was still going, though now it had an annoying white noise echo from most likely damaged speakers.
>You try to get up but flinch in pain.
>Your left leg is swollen and hurts to stand on.
>Feels like it’s a sprained ankle.
>Guess it was silly to expect you to survive this with no injuries.
>You slowly hobble over to wear the tent was.
>It was a gruesome scene.
>Incinerated bodies littered the ground, the fabrics of their clothes literally burned into the flesh.
>The smell was enough to make you feel nauseous.
>You turn to get away from the foul odor when your breathing spikes.
>It was Srecko.
>His body had been blown away from the explosion, like you had been.
>Upon closer inspection, it seemed he had landed on his head and broke his neck.
>Now it made sense why the fucking foreigners bombed you.
>They somehow knew about the meeting and wanted to crush everything in one final blow.
>You had a sneaking suspicion that the same thing happened to the Anthro forces as well.
>As you sit there and ponder this, more and more survivors come forward. Encircling you and Srecko’s corpse.
>They didn’t look like people, more like mannequins you’d see at a store.
>Like if they just looked as plastic as possible they could avoid the reality of the situation.
>Their leaders were dead and they had nowhere to run to.
>All of you were trapped in this city.
>Some of them looked to you for guidance.
>You were technically an officer after all.
>More and more of them started eyeing you expectantly.
>Everyone knew you. You were the man who tamed the Anthro through sex.
>Your Father was the best of the best.
>Both of you were part of the Great Leader’s funeral procession.
>Through a grim line of succession, you were now the closest thing to a community leader there was.
>You knew what would happen now.
>Those pockets of resistance throughout the city would fall without their commanders. Humans would be pushed out of their homes and raped and murdered.
>Exactly as had been done to the Anthros only this morning.
>Were they justified in their revenge? Probably.
>But that didn’t mean you could just let it happen.
>You close your eyes as your struggle to stand up with your injured ankle.
>Even with your lids shut you could sense everyone was waiting for you to give an order.
>You were scared.
>Scared of this kind of responsibility.
>You never wanted this.
>You just wanted to live your life with your woman.
>To give her lots of babies and love her until the day you died.
>You felt the weight of that notebook in your breast pocket. Still somehow there after the bombings.
>It was strange but it gave you a burst of confidence, as if Krasna was right there. Her hand on your chest. Reassuring you that you could do this.
>It was delusional thinking sure. But you didn’t care. You weren’t strong enough of a man to resist it.
>You open your eyes and look at your new army. Shattered and broken.
>“I want the majority of you guarding the entrance. Shoot anyone who comes near.” You say sternly.
>“The rest of you are with me. We’re on cleanup duty.”


>The next year was wrought with hardship.
>All of the little enclaves of resistance spread throughout the city were swallowed up.
>It was only you and what was left of Srecko’s men.
>What plan he had come up with died with him. 
>You came up with a different strategy.
>Immense centralization.
>No longer would there be pockets of resistance only nominally loyal to the central command.
>You would spread your borders out naturally. Everything you took was under your direct jurisdiction.
>It would prove to be a beacon for any survivors of the other enclaves to gravitate towards. As well as civilians who would now looked to you for safety instead of the Army remnants.
>Your numbers began to swell, which was a blessing. Before you simply wouldn’t have had the manpower to patrol the new swathes of neighborhoods you had rapidly taken.
>Some of the soldiers were uneasy about the idea of you, a former junior officer taking so much direct control of a paramilitary that before operated rather loosely.
>Your response was to line them up and have them shot.
>Women and children were now a good bulk of the people living under your protection.
>You couldn’t afford a power struggle.
>The moment infighting broke out, is when everything would be lost.
>The Anthros didn’t suffer from infighting, and they had the same leadership vacuum as you.
>That NATO bombing was probably a last ditch effort to help what was left of the government get things back under control.
>Admittingly the army had made a huge dent in things, you had been on the defense for the better part of this year.
>But they lacked the supplies and manpower to keep their holdings.
>It was a painful slog but you were slowly taking back what they had stolen.
>Until eventually you finally bordered along Anthro territory.
>They didn’t bother expanding beyond their traditional neighborhoods.
>Instead they opted to dig their heels in and dare anyone stupid enough to come after them.
>Mines, Machine gun nests, snipers, mortars, booby-trapping every building they had
>The mere thought of taking on one of their more well fortified positions was nightmare inducing.
>At this point you figured it would just be better to make a truce with them and force out the Army remnants and declare independence.
>But you knew both sides were beyond reconciliation.
>Even if you would argue for peace, no one else wanted it.
>It was kill or be killed at this point.
>Speaking of which you had come up with a new battle plan.
>You had gotten reports that there was a cache of weapons on the Anthros western border.
>Problem is that to get to it you needed to cut through the Army.
>It was risky, but if they didn’t expect it you could hit the Army hard, steal the supplies and run like hell back to safety.
>But if they responded quick enough, they could cut you off.
>And you wouldn’t be able to fight through it. Your small force would be smashed and you would be killed.
>.…
>Fuck it.
>War is the ultimate risk.
>Plus you think you had the ultimate fuck you weapon.
>You smirk.

>BOOM
>BOOM
>MOTHERFUCKING BOOM!
>You loved this fucking tank!
>Yes! You finally got it running.
>God damn was it glorious.
>You watch it rotate, only to fire at a building the Army was using to house machine gunners.
>The plan was to barrage the weak defenses with the tank, then drive on in with truck and jeeps.
>This narrow little street you crossed was your only gateway back to safety.
>If the Army reasserted themselves here, you’d be trapped.
>So you left the tank crew there. Hopefully it would buy you some time.
>But at best you had an hour before you had to fall back.
>A real run and gun tactic.
>As you zipped down the street, you looked at the civilians out the window.
>They had the same look you once had.
>Scared, bewildered, trying to look as small as possible.
>You wondered how many of them would end up like you in the future.
>Could any random guy off the street be turned into a hardened veteran?
>Or was it just a select few that were fucked up?
>Neither answer was a particularly good one.
>You quickly crossed into Anthro territory.
>Resistance was minimal, nothing but a few potshots on rooftops here and there.
>They weren’t expecting an attack from this side.
>Your troops pull up to the building in question.
>You frown.
>It was an abandoned school house.
>You ordered your troops to set up a small perimeter around the entrance.
>The tank crew pipes up over the radio.
>Small numbers of troops were encroaching upon them.
>Fuck. You didn’t expect the response time to be that quick!
>You were hoping to steal some of the cache.
>You might just have to settled with destroying them instead.
>That tank could support itself for awhile.
>But without troop support it could just get swarmed and flanked easily.
>You hadn’t spent just shy of two years repairing the fucking thing just to lose it immediately.
>God Dammit! Why were they so slow entering the building.
>It was just an empty old school-
>Your eyes widen as you push your way to the front of the soldiers.
>Oh no…
>It wasn’t abandoned at all.
>Throughout the dusty hallway, you could see the classrooms were occupied.
>By students.
>Just male Anthros by the looks of it.
>There teachers were frozen in fear as they looked at you and the armed guards behind you.
>Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
>You storm out, ordering the men to search for the weapon caches.
>You knew they were there. Your intel wasn’t wrong.
>None of the students or the teachers were dumb enough to resist.

>“COMMANDER! MORE TROOPS ARE SHOWING UP! WE’LL BE OVERRUN IN 20 MINUTES OR LESS!”
>You nod an affirmative. You tell them you’ll be on your way shortly.
>You sit in one of the trucks. You could practically feel the bags form under your eyes.
>Naturally they had found the weapons. They weren’t hidden or anything. Most were kept in an old gymnasium.
>The school was housing teenaged Anthros, ages 14-18.
>It was obvious they were giving them more than just an education.
>They were training them as future soldiers.
>You close your eyes tightly as you run the next question through your mind.
>What do you do with them?
>Soldiers counted around 200 boys in the school.
>Christ that was enough to make a serious attack on your territory.
>Weapons could be replaced. Human capital not so much….
>Were you…. were you really going to do this?
>If you gave that order. You’d never see your Father again.
>You were never going to be getting into Heaven.
>But what if?
>What if one of those boys you spared found themselves in your position one day?
>Would they spare a bunch of Human boys?
>You can hear the tank crew yell over the radio.
>“COMMANDER! WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!”
>You’d run out of time.
>You open the truck and plant your feet firmly onto the broken concrete beneath you.
>You look at your junior officers grimly.
>“You have less than five minutes.”
>“Cleanse the building. Completely.”
>You spend the next aforementioned five minutes throwing up behind a truck.


>Well, that was it.
>What was left of the old Government was gone.
>The tribunal formerly dissolved a week ago.
>The army that was stationed here literally packed up their things and left.
>You took full advantage and grabbed as much of the city as you could before things turned into anarchy.
>Naturally the Anthro leadership was doing the same.
>Except they were also pushing humans out of their homes…on a good day.
>Most of the time they would just roll into a neighborhood, kill everyone in it, then put their own people as replacements.
>In that context it was a good thing you made the right order at the school. Every casualty counted, especially if they never became soldiers in the first place.
>At least that’s what you kept telling yourself.
>The truth was that you could no longer sleep well after giving that order.
>As if your conscious was in permanent rebellion against the body it was forced to dwell in.
>After a few months of struggle, you just gave in to the self loathing.
>You had damned yourself forever, the least you could do was have some dignity and own up to it.
>After all that had happened, could you even say you really cared about your fate?
>Your life had been forfeit a long time ago. 
>You now saw yourself as a tool, a utility to be used and thrown away. Nothing more.
>You were perfectly fine with whatever punishment awaited you in death.
>So long as those that came after you could live in peace without fear of being murdered in their homes.
>But it seemed increasingly clear that you needed to do just that to your enemy.
>Do you remember when you went to school with Anthros?
>Do you remember having Anthros as your friends?
>What…what was the color of her fur?
>It was chocolate brown, right?
>Sometimes you can’t remember what she looked like.
>Only what she felt like, her fur pressed against your skin, her tongue grooming your hair.
>Your finger twitches as it longs for its mate.
>There were some days that you didn’t write in your journal.
>Instead you would flip back to the very first page and reminisce on your mad ramblings.
>Reliving those moments where you felt dead inside, and it was only through your desperate ink stains that you felt some brief moment of joy.
>That raw feeling of being on the brink of total despair only to bring yourself back to delusional euphoria was intoxicating. A pure addiction, through and through.
>You snap back to the present as you grunt at your junior officer.
>The NATO forces assigned to ‘keep the peace’ were getting frustrated.
>They would have to explain to their bosses why they got absolutely no results despite killing most of the leadership over a year ago.
>So they came up with a little scheme.
>You and the Anthros would agree to a temporary ceasefire during Christmas.
>In return they wouldn’t bomb the city again.
>Your staff were up in arms over this.
>They wanted War and nothing less.
>You had always secretly pined for a permanent peace, but that would never fly among your troops.
>But you managed to convince them that agreeing to this interim was the best course of action.
>After all, nobody likes getting bombed.
>All you had to do was meet up with the Anthro leadership and agree to the terms.
>Make it all official so the NATO flukies could pat themselves on the back and not get fired.
>You just had to hope that you and the Anthros wouldn’t start a fistfight over negotiations.


>This place was one of the few buildings left in the city that wasn’t in complete disrepair.
>That’s why it was chosen as the meeting place.
>Rules were no armed guards. In fact no one could enter the building except high leadership.
>Which currently was only you.
>You expected the Anthros had a small council or something.
>Whatever. You just wanted to get this done and over with.
>Your men stop at the entrance as you walk in.
>This place looked like it had been a huge office building before the war.
>Lots of papers scattered about in empty cubicles.
>There was supposedly a large meeting room on the third floor.
>The Anthros were entering from the other side.
>It was eerie walking through this place.
>There really wasn’t a single sign of conflict.
>It was a little piece of the city frozen in time.
>But the various tipped over chairs and flurries of paperwork discarded throughout the offices hinted at the sudden panic that must have gripped the employees as everything fell apart and they ran for their live to their families.  
>You open the door to the meeting room, which was surprisingly clean of clutter.
>It was empty at the moment.
>You sigh, guess the others hadn’t showed up yet.
>You sit down and lean back in one of the chairs casually, looking up at the water damaged ceiling.
>You briefly considered the possibility that this was a trap.
>Probably not, if the Anthros tried anything they would get nothing but hellfire by NATO.
>And NATO themselves? They wouldn’t dare.
>You were the defacto ruler of most of the city. If you died, this place would dissolve into chaos.
>And none of those fuckers would want any of that appearing on the nightly news.
>You squeeze your eyes shut as you hear the door on the opposite end open.
>Fucking hell, this was gonna suck. 
>But you had to play nice.
>You hear the footsteps stop at the doorway.
>Oh come on, don’t be like that. Sit down like an adult-
>It’s Krasna.
>You thought you had forgotten what she looked liked.
>In your head it had all been blurred out over the years of smoke and gunfire.
>But it was like a switch had turned on in your brain.
>That chocolate brown fur of hers was covered in urban camo.
>The image of her beauty obscured in military garb would have made you sad if your mind wasn’t having a meltdown from how surreal this was.
>Her expression was that of a deer caught in the headlights.
>Still having trouble composing herself. She slowly shut the door and went to sit down across from you.
>Her eyes were still quite wide with disbelief.
>You couldn’t imagine what your face looked like.
>All you knew was that it felt like your brain was being pounded with a hammer.
>And you had the sudden nervous urge to pee.
>You both say nothing for quite some time.
>Just staring at each other.
>Someone breaks the silence. You can’t honestly remember who though.
>“Hi.”
>“Hi.”
>This isn’t helping.
>You try to clear your throat.
>You sound like a cat coughing up a hairball.
>“Um…I thought..How..aren’t there more of you? There was a council wasn’t there?”
>Krasna nods slowly, her face slowly morphing from pure shock to simple numbness.
>“There were…but the bombings, uh, cut things down a bit.”
>You nod. Not really caring about this small talk, but you couldn’t even think of what else to talk about.
>Where? Where the fuck could you even begin.
>That journal in your breast pocket suddenly felt like it weighed five tons.
>“Uh, well…How did you, like…how were you an officer?”
>This is the part where Krasna would shrug her shoulders casually.
>But she was stiff as a board with a thousand yard stare.
>Straight into your eyes.
>“I was one of the few who was college educated. So I got promoted here and there.”
>“What about you?” She asks in a monotone voice.
>“Same. With the bombings I mean!” You say a little too hastily.
>“I was a chief mechanic. I sorta ended up here.”
>She makes a small little nod and a quiet “okay”.
>You could feel the tears start to form behind your eyes.
>You saw her lips quivering.
>“Well….let’s hammer this thing out…” you say awkwardly.
>She nods as both of you pull out your maps of the city.
>Over the next two hours, borders are drawn and DMZ’s are established.
>You both make it clear which choke points your forces will be stationed.
>Neither of you say much though, you mostly communicate through pointing and gestures.
>You felt like your throat would burn up if you spoke more than you had to.
>You rolled up the map after drawing the borders for the ceasefire.
>“Well, they should be happy with that.” You murmur.
>You turn and look at Krasna.
>She slowly walks around the table towards you.
>Her head reaches only up to your chest.
>“Anon” she starts, looking up at you.
>Oh God, you forgot about those beautiful black eyes.
>The color of shining jet.
>“Were you…were you the one who ordered the killings on that school?”
>You can feel your shoulders shaking.
>You can’t stop the tears rolling down your cheeks.
>Neither can she.
>“Yes.”
>She slaps you.
>You barely feel it.
>“And did you…” you ask “order the purges on those neighborhoods?”
>She can’t say it.
>She only nods.
>You softly grab her wrist and rub your thumb over the fur.
>All of your senses feel muddled.
>“We sold our souls. Didn’t we?”
>“Yeah..we did.” She squeaks.
>She pulls her wrist away from you.
>“Anon, do you hate me?” She asks, trying to sound stern.
>You just stare at her.
>“I…I had heard about that hospital…what happened to your Dad. I understand if…if you would hate me, hate us.”
>You rush to kiss her.
>She tries to push you away.
>You hold on tighter and she melts into your arms. 
>You run your hands over her head.
>You practically squeal when your feel at still familiar flicker of her ears.
>“I love you, Krasna!” You say between kisses.
>“I never stopped thinking of you.”
>You prop her up on the table.
>You might fuck her right then and there.
>Instead you bury your face against her chest.
>Not to ravage her, but to muffle your sobs.
>She pulls you closer to her and wraps her tail around you.
>“I didn’t know.” You say in between your loud gaps.
>“I didn’t know the boys would be there. I thought-I thought it was just weapons.”
>You wanted to die.
>Even the warmth of Krasna could not wash away the sin that you had committed.
>You were a husk in the confines of temporary comfort, waiting for death.
>Krasna cradles your face in her hands.
>She brings you up to her face.
>“I have no right to judge you.” She say’s tenderly.
>“We’re both bad people, Anon.”
>She takes her hand into yours.
>Yes. She wraps her index finer around yours, just like when you were children.
>But this time her whole paw is now in your hand for the first time.
>“It’s….its not fair.” You say like a trembling child.
>“All I ever wanted was to have you back. I thought you were gone forever…”
>“And now that you’re here…I can’t have you!”
>She wraps her legs around you and latches onto you.
>You stumble back from the table and find yourself pressed against the wall.
>You moan slightly as she nips and nibbles at your neck.
>“Do you love me more than your soldiers?” She asks.
>You rest your forehead against hers and sigh.
>“Yes.” You say with absolute conviction.
>“But that still doesn’t mean I can abandoned thousands of people…for one person. Even if I love her more than anyone else.”
>She gives you a somber look that breaks your heart.
>“What will happen to all the civilians?” You ask. “Who will defend them….against…”
>You can’t finish the sentence.
>“against me?” Krasna said.
>“No.” You corrected her “against your troops.”
>She plants her feet down onto the floor..
>You bite your lip, trying to hold back what tears you had left.
>You hadn’t cried once to mourn your father.
>Yet here in front of Krasna you were a blithering mess.
>As if she suddenly breathed new life into your shell of a body.
>“No one wants peace. Do they?” Krasna inquires.
>You shake your head. “Everyone just wants to kill each other. If I called for peace I’d be butchered in a coup.”
>“It’s the same on my end.” She replies “They all hate humans.”
>“I can’t say I blame them.” you assert “I killed their children.”
>You held Krasna tighter to you chest. You let her feel your chest rise and fall as you take in deep breathes and accept this new reality.
>“We’re going to have to fight each other, aren’t we?”
>Krasna smiles weakly.
>“Yes.”
>“We can’t hold anything back, can we?”
>“No.”
>You shiver as you hug Krasna and kiss her head softly.
>“If I’m killed. Don’t feel guilty. I would never blame you.”
>Krasna nods.
>You can feel her tears staining your shirt.
>“Same. Same with me.” she chokes.
>“Krasna, the day you die is the day I follow afterwards.”
>“Anon.” She begins to protest.
>“What? What will happen if I do? I’ll go to Hell?”
>She gives you a pained look.
>“It’s a bit late to be thinking about that sort of thing.” you add
>You hold each other there for awhile. Within this dilapidated building that seemed to be the perfect analogy for your life.
>“Anon.” Krasna finally begins to pull away from you.
>“We have to go.”
>You nod slowly. You didn’t want to be pulled out of the dream.
>But you didn’t have a choice in the matter.
>She holds onto your finger at the last moment before breaking away completely.
>“Have a good Christmas.” she says before turning towards the door.
>It seemed like such a silly thing to say considering the circumstances.
>But it brought you back to happier times when you spent the Holidays with her.
>A moment you would never relive again.
>But at least….
>At least you had it in the first place.
>“You too” you reply before heading out of the room yourself.
>Wait! You almost forgot!
>“Kraz. I almost forgot.”
>“Hmmm?”
>“Dad…He-he wanted you to give him grandkids?”
>“Did he really?”
>“Yeah. He adored you.”
>“That’s good to know.”
>That's good to know.


>This war dragged on for a few more years.
>Slowly but surely, the countries that rose from the ashes made peace.
>Things began to stabilize and a semblance of normalcy was restored.
>All except in your city.
>If one could even call this crumbling concrete wasteland a city.
>The denizens were stubborn and bloodthirsty.
>They couldn’t forget the crimes committed against them by the opposing side.
>So they committed atrocities themselves.
>It was a vicious cycle of never ending war.
>No matter how much NATO bombed the city, both you and Krasna refused to relent.
>Both of you represented your respective communities.
>And both sides still screamed for conflict
>Neither of you could do nothing but oblige.
>You fought on bitterly. The fighting getting more and more savage.
>There was no end goal at this point. Just more pointless warmongering.
>It would only end when one side won.
>There were no romantic notions of running away together.
>As much as this horrific place had crushed your souls, this city was all you knew.
>You couldn’t abandon it and its people to the anarchy that would emerge from your desertion.
>Besides, it wasn’t as if you could actually flee anywhere.
>Both of you were internationally wanted for war crimes.
>The only place you’d end up is the Hague, and rightfully so.
>The population of this city had been decimated by the both of you.
>Only 25% of the populace remained.
>The rest were gone. Either fled or were truly, utterly gone.
>That was the only way peace was going to happen.
>When both sides completely exhausted themselves to the point of collapse.
>And after three more years of fighting, it had come to exactly that.
>Almost all of the soldiers you had fought with originally were no longer on this earth.
>What was left? Mostly boys 16-18 and a few of the surviving veterans.
>The latter were like you: they sold their soul a long time ago.
>Krasna’s situation wasn’t much better.
>You held nothing back from her forces.
>There was even one time where you had gotten your hands on white phosphorous shells.
>The best you could do was secretly radio Krasna warning her 15 minutes before they were mortared into her borders.
>But the days of having such weaponry were long gone.
>All that was left were weapons that were well over 25 years old. They were constantly getting jammed and falling apart.
>The infrastructure, the whole system you had set-up for waging war wasn’t so much breaking down as it was simply running out of steam.
>There was nothing to trade other countries with for weapons
>You’re certain you picked this whole city clean of scrap metal.
>You had barely any gasoline to run the trucks.
>There was…nothing.
>Yet they would never surrender.
>You overlook the view of the battlefield for tomorrow.
>This was the former tourist section of the city.
>Bombed out restaurants and expensive stores littered the strip.
>In fact you had stationed what was left of your forces in one of the bigger hotels.
>Both forces wanted control of this choke point.
>Plus it guarded an exit from the city.
>Wait a minute….
>Is this?…
>You look out past the city limits.
>Good God.
>This was where…where you took Krasna when you were children.
>This was your special spot.
>There wasn’t any green grass anymore. Just a endless sea of brown.
>You scanned desperately for the tree.
>It was still there!
>It certainly didn’t look as magnificent as you remembered.
>But maybe that was just rose tinted glasses.
>You wondered if Krasna could see it from where she was.
>You wondered…

>You hobbled towards the tree, trying not to stumble in the dark.
>Yes. Hobbled.
>War had taken a severe toll on your body.
>One of your ankles had been shot up, giving you a staggered limp.
>Parts of your hair had been burned away from bullets grazing your skull, leaving behind scar tissue.
>But that wasn’t the worst of your injuries.
>A sniper round had entered through one side of your cheek and came out the other.
>Your teeth and jaw had been shattered instantly.
>It was a wonder you didn’t lose your tongue.
>Or your life.
>Your mouth to this day was now a ghoulish macabre of shredded gum tissue and sharp teeth fragments.
>Chewing wasn’t really an option for you. You had come to appreciate soft foods.
>But even more noticeable than that was the knot tied in your left sleeve where your arm should have been.
>You had lost it during a merciless round of mortar shells about two years ago.
>One had simply come too close to you and when you came back to consciousness, the first thing you saw was your left arm a few feet away from you, splintered off from the elbow.
>Your men had grabbed you before the shock set in.
>You once had looked at yourself in the mirror with all your new found wounds.
>You looked over 50.
>You weren’t even 30.
>You managed a smile of sorts when you saw Krasna leaning against the tree in the moonlight.
>She wasn’t spared injuries either.
>The most noticeable was the patches of bare, pink skin that spotted her body.
>She barely managed to escape that white phosphorus attack with her life.
>That fur would never grown back.
>She also wore an eyepatch over her right eye, which she lost from a grenade.
>And finally the most heartbreaking of her wounds.
>Her ears were basically gone. Shredded away while she was pinned by machine gun fire.
>She looks up as you approach her. Two broken, damaged people.
>What could you possibly say to her?
>You gaze at her knowingly.
>“You look beautiful. You know that?”
>She guffaws at you.
>“I look like a monster from a fairy tale” she says.
>“No.” You reaffirm “You look like the sweet girl you always were.”
>She pulls you down to her level and you stumble into her lap.
>She kisses your cheek, but you hesitate when she goes for the lips.
>You were self conscious about how your mouth looked…and probably smelled.
>She frowns as she grabs a tuft of your hair and forces a kiss out of you.
>“I always hated when you got insecure like that.” She says “It’s not cute at all.”
>She slides out from under you and scooches around, plopping herself into your lap.
>God her rump still felt so good against you.
>“Hold me.” She demands like a spoiled child.
>You oblige immediately.
>“You’re such a brat.” You tease.
>“But I love that about you.” You kiss the back of her head as she lets out a small, relieved squeak.
>“How did you sneak out?” She asks.
>“Told them anyone who disturbed my sleep was to be shot.”
>“Ha! You’re a real tyrant, Anon.”
>She nuzzles her head under your chin.
>“I’m not often that strict. But I had to make an exception here. You?”
>She shrugs.
>“Told them I was inspecting the equipment and would be gone all night.”
>“And they won’t check on you?”
>“Not really. No.”
>You’re both silent after this for a good while. Simply basking in the others warmth.
>You reach down and begin to pat her slender tummy.
>“I wanted kids.” You say quietly, so quietly Krasna can barely hear it.
>“Me too.” she says, gripping your hands in hers.
>You lean your head into the crook of her neck.
>“What do you think they would look like?” You ask.
>“They’d probably have my brown fur. But I hope they would be taller with your genes.”
>You squeeze her close to you and press your nose against her fur.
>Jesus Christ she smelled good.
>Her scent could drive you mad.
>“Your Dad would have probably wanted to take them to church.”
>“Oh definitely.” You say with a chuckle.
>“He would have his hands full though.” She says “I wanted lots of babies.”
>“You would have been a great mother.”
>You hear her body shiver against your words.
>“I can’t even say it’s not fair…” she spurts out as her eyes begin to water.
>“How many children have I rip away from their mothers? Now I’m sitting here crying because I ended up barren? That’s too shameless.”
>You pet her head where her ears used to be.
>“…who cares if it’s shameless.” You reply.
>“I know, I know I deserve nothing. I deserve my little place in Hell and that’s it.”
>“But that won’t stop me from kicking and screaming before my judges.”
>“I don’t care if it’s shameless. I don’t care if I don’t deserve it.”
>“But I won’t go. I won’t go without you by my side.”
>Krasna turns around and cups your wet cheek.
>“We’re both damned. But I will beg and cry until they grant me my wish. Sending us to Hell together.”
>Krasna slowly kisses you in between your sobs.
>“This City has been Hell enough for me.” you cry out. “I only stayed sane thinking about you!”
>Krasna presses her fingers to your lips as you begin to grow hysterical.
>“I’ll be there, Anon.” She whispers “I promise I’ll be there with you. We’ll accept our punishment together.”
>You nod slowly as you thumb your pocket for your journal.
>Krasna raises her brow at you.
>“I started writing in this, shortly after I joined.”
>“What is it?” Krasna asks, “A diary?”
>“Not really…” You admit “I usually just wrote how much I missed you when I felt sad.”
>There was a child-like innocence in the way you said that.
>Krasna could only respond by wrapping her tail around your torso.
>“Let me read it.” She demands.
>You sheepishly hand it over to her as she begins to greedily absorb the contents.
>She settles once more in your lap and spends the next hour quietly reading the small notebook.
>You slowly pet her shoulders and neck. Coming close to falling asleep.
>You are only jolted awake from your euphoric slumber when she tugs at your collar.
>She beams those beautiful black eyes back at you.
>“Do you have a pencil?” she asks.
>You pat your pockets for one.
>She winks playfully as she takes it.
>On the very last page of the notebook is one of your scrawls.
>‘I love you’
>You couldn’t count the number of times you had scribbled that down.
>Right underneath it, Krasna begins to write in her neat, little handwriting.
>‘I love you too!’
>She then signed her name.
>It was such a contrast to your messy chicken scratch.
>She slowly slides the journal back into your pocket.
>“You are beautiful person.” she says passionately.
>“And I am so proud I chose you as my man.”
>She runs her fingers through your hair as she kisses you one final time.
>You finger curls around hers as your lean into the kiss.
>You shudder and arc your back as she nibbles on your bottom lip.
>You both rise from the ground, still locked in each others embrace.
>“It’s…time to go.” she says.
>You can only nod at this.
>It’s too painful to actually say goodbye.
>Krasna gives you one last hug.
>You pet her head and she coos in response.
>You break away from her.
>“I’ll…see you around.” She says so casually that it’s almost funny.
>“Yeah…”
>With that you both walk away from the tree in opposite directions.
>The moonlight now obscured by clouds.


>“PUSH FORWARD! I SAID FUCKING PUSH FORWARD!”
>You pick up a cowering soldier, hiding in a bombed out crater, by his collar and hoist him up on his feet.
>“MOVE UP THE STREET! WE HAVE MEN GETTING KILLED OUT THERE!
>The Anthros had piled up a few junker cars down the road and were using it as a makeshift machine gun nest.
>If you could all just push towards the shopping center you had better coverage.
>You shoot haphazardly in the direction of the enemy.
>Since you had lost your arm, all you could really use was a standard pistol.
>Even with all your injuries, you still insisted on fighting on the front lines.
>You cared little for your life by now.
>You dive onto the sidewalk as machine gun bullets whiz past your head.
>And it’s only seconds afterwards that you actually hear the sound of the damn thing firing.
>“MOVE TOWARDS THE STORE! THERE IS MORE COVER! GET OFF OF THE ROAD! GET OFF OF THE FUCKING-
>A mortar shell lands a few feet next to you.
>It sends you tumbling back but the soldier it landed on just turns into a gore pile of meat, bones and cloth.
>You see the Anthro machine gun nest go up in an explosion.
>Looked like an RPG.
>You didn’t even think you had anymore of those.
>You slam back onto the ground when you see another soldier get hit with a sniper bullet.
>You look around.
>Oh right. All the damn hotels.
>Why didn’t you consider that you weren’t the only one who was going to put snipers up on those goliath buildings?
>Whatever.
>You had completely lost control of the battlefield.
>People weren’t listening to you.
>They were simply fighting for their lives.
>You slowly crawl further up the road. Trying to avoid the snipers spotting you.
>Pulling yourself forward with one arm though proved to be tricky.
>“Fuck it” you mutter and bolt to your feet.
>You immediately feel a bullet graze your cheek, cutting the skin.
>Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
>Running on instinct, you dive to the side where there is a store.
>Well, there was a store.
>The place had been bombed out so badly over the years that not even the walls remained.
>All that was left was the foundation and a few steel rods sticking out of the ground.
>You cover your head as you feel dirt kicked up from bullets hitting the ground around you.
>After what feels like eternity you slowly raise your head up.
>On the other side of the store is Krasna, staring straight at you. A shocked expression on her face.
>Were you really going to do this?
>Were you really going to fight and kill each other?
>With a bit of a struggle you stand up straight.
>You can practically feel the snipers aiming at your head.
>You don’t care.
>Krasna’s eyes go wide as you toss away your pistol.
>You run towards her.
>She understands your intentions and she sprints towards you as well.
>You grunt and bite your tongue as you feel a bullet enter your shoulder.
>But it wasn’t nearly as painful as watching the same thing happen to her.
>She gasps out as she stretches her arm towards you.
>You cough up blood but fight against the impacting bullet pushing into your stomach.
>One last time!
>You just needed to feel her one last time!
>Your finger touches hers.



It is hard for the news to catch peoples attention. It is just the news after all. Some guy talks about politics, some girl talks about the weather. Every once in awhile they mix it up a bit and get a guy and a girl to talk about the economy. Riveting. But early this morning as people walk to their jobs in cities and countries all over the world, the news actually manages to stop people in the middle of their daily grind. Yes. For once, something exciting has actually happened. The confirmed deaths of two warlords, Anon Anonymous, and Krasna Stojkovic, who were wanted by the ICC for war crimes. Their faces are displayed on TV screens all over the world. They look exactly like how someone would think these kind of people look like: rough, ugly, wild and inhumane. After that a graphic image warning is showed followed by their bodies: dirty and broken, crumpled over each other. Early reports indicating that they had broken out into fighting each other personally before they were both killed by sniper fire. This is followed by the news reporter giving context to the story, which is nothing more than a quick synopsis of a complicated conflict along ethnic lines that had been going on for years. The story finishes as quickly as it came. Less than five minutes devoted to the deaths of two mostly insignificant people and the world moves on. People struggle to even remember their names, they are just “those two that were on the news today.” At best it is decent dinner conversation, after all there is some poetic justice when two war criminals get themselves killed fighting one another. Soon after everyone goes to bed and in their dreams they purge the whole subject from their minds.


The next day it seems as if the entire world won’t shut up about Anon Anonymous and Krasna Stojkovic. The 24 hour news cycle is devoting a large amount of their time to these two figures. If people aren’t glued to the T.V. watching the story unfold they simply won’t shut up about it. Internet chat rooms across the world wide web are abuzz can’t talk about anything else. Someone who is ignorant of current affairs, maybe they’re at the office, or at school or on the train sees this whole thing as surreal. What is so damned astonishing about these two nobodies from some far away war zone? Eventually someone will let them in on the mystery:


Have you seen the news?


They found his journal.