The Loss of Morals
I don’t know why it happened. The entire country went up in flames. People were fighting each other, and I didn’t know why. Eventually, we were invaded. It wasn’t home anymore. It was a destroyed battleground, occupied by European powers. I didn’t know why they did what they did. I didn’t care, I just wanted to live life.
One day, walking down a road, I was with two of my friends, Todd and Mike. We were talking about how everything went to hell. Our lives went from living menial jobs after high school to scourging to survive. It wasn’t pretty. As we walked and talked, a car rolled in from behind us.
It two anthro soldiers, but we didn’t care. We continued walking, and the subject matter changed. Now, we were discussing how the future seemed grim. It was worrying, but we were steeled in our resolve. We’d made it this far, and we’d keep pushing. Suddenly, we heard a voice behind us.
“Hey, Americans? Where are you going?” Todd was in a shitty mood that day, he lost his cigarettes, so he decided to retort.
“To wherever we can find food, dumbass.” We received no response. As we continued walking, we heard footsteps behind us. Whatever, if she was gonna scream at us, we didn’t give a shit. We were survivors of the aftermath, nothing much fazed us anymore.
“Americans! Look at me!” Turning around, Todd spat at this mouse woman following us, landing his spit right in her face.
“Fuck off! We don’t need your annoying ass following us!” Damn, Todd was taking no shit today. The mouse woman just stood, shocked, while we went back to walking. Fucking anthros couldn’t let a man live his life. “Fucking pricks, always harassing us. What the fuck did we ever do?”
The sound of footsteps started again, and it was fast. We all turned around to see the mouse woman lunge at Todd. “Enculé!” Todd stepped to the side, and the woman hit the dirt. Getting up, she swung at Todd, but she forgot something vital. We had numbers. With the combined fists of our group, we pummeled the fucking wannabe Gestapo girl to the ground.
Then, a gunshot rang out. It didn’t hit any of us, but it stopped the beating. “You motherfuckers! Get down!” All of us complied except for me and Todd. “I said get down!” Todd, the crazy motherfucker, with the most stoic face possible, said this.
“Eat shit, Eurotrash.” Another shot was fired, and Todd fell, grasping at his leg. At the moment, I thought I was next. So, grabbing the mouse girl’s rifle, I plugged the cat who shot Todd. She fell down immediately. The rest of us ran to Todd’s side. He wasn’t moving. He bled out.
“Holy fuck, he’s gone.” Mike was horrified. I was too.
“Christ, Mike, I never thought we’d lose him.” I sat next to his body. Rage filled me. These euro fuckers come into our land, attack us, and kill us? We would not take it. Standing up, I trained my rifle on the mouse girl. She looked at me with horrified eyes. “Tell me, why do you all do it? Attack innocent people?” She was too scared to answer. I was too angry to wait.
With one more gunshot, I finished this affair. Mike turned around and didn’t even care. We’d seen so much; we were completely desensitized to it all. “I’ll grab any valuable stuff, and we take the car. There’s a resistance group not too far from here.” I nodded. It was time to fight back. Looking one last time at the mouse girl’s corpse, I see the blood-soaked French flag on her uniform. She was in the wrong country.
We would fight. And if it were to be so, then we would die.
Starting the car, Mike guides us through some back roads. It was odd. We were just some guys trying to survive, and now, we were going to become resistance members. Not what I had expected to happen, but it did. Driving down a dirt path, we come across a cave that had men with guns standing outside.
“Who are you?” Mike steps out of the car and gives a wave.
“Two men finding a way to get vengeance.” I step out of the car and start grabbing whatever goods were in it. “We got some nice stuff, would it suffice as an initiation gift?”
A man walks forwards and smiles. “Holy shit, you weren’t kidding. Glad to know that we’ll have gear better than hunting equipment.” I smirk and walk into the cave, carrying some European rifles and ammunition.
“I brought a gift! First come, first serve!” A bunch of rebels run towards me, grabbing weaponry and rounds. I was the fucking insurgent Santa Claus. One man with an eyepatch walks up to me and extends his hand.
“The name’s Nick. What’s yours?” I shake his hand.
“Kurt. My friend is Mike.” Nick nods.
“So, why’d you come here, you want to join?” I frown.
“There used to be three of us. We were being peaceful, but the Euros thought otherwise. We weren’t going to take it anymore, so you could figure out how we got the gear.”
Nick smiles and pats me on the back. “Good work. We could use more people like you. Follow me, I need your help.” Walking with him, he hands me a rifle. “There’s something important I need to be done. My soldiers are loyal, but they aren’t that good. Considering that you just showed up with a bunch of equipment and a car, I’m guessing that you are more competent than them.
“I’ve killed two soldiers to get this stuff, and I survived the siege of Philadelphia. I’m confident in my ability.” Taking the rifle, I check it out. An old Springfield, 1903. Vintage. “Now, so what is it?” Nick sighs.
“Assassination. Down by the ruined town, there’s a military camp. Some officer there has been hounding us. If you can rid us of this problem, things would be going a lot easier.” I can’t say no.
“I’m on it.” Walking off, I ready myself. I never thought that I’d be doing something like this. I guess that there is a first for everything. The ruined town was a good scavenging area. If I took the shot from there, I’d look a lot less suspicious if I dropped the rifle and they found me.
As I leave the cave, I walk by Mike. “Hey, they’ve sent me off on a job, I’ll be back.” Mike gives me a thumbs up.
“Give em’ hell.” Walking into the forest, I start on my trek. The day is soon ending, and the sun is falling. A wonderful orange glow hits the top of the trees. It reminded me of when I wasn’t in this hell. Everything was fine, life was good. Why did they invade?
The sound of music is playing in the distance. The camp wasn’t far, and neither was the town. As I walk out of the treeline, I rush into the town. Concrete ruins, rubble, and broken lives. A two-story shop, with glass shards below where the windows should be. That would be the spot.
The first floor is ransacked. Nothing of value or importance. Some stairs lead to the second floor. Moving up the stairs, I find a locked door blocking my path. The damn thing won’t budge, so I improvise. A good rifle butt to its hinges and the door falls over.
The second floor is remarkably well preserved. It was the shop owner's home. Checking the place out, I find nothing of interest until I open a closet. A body lies in there, with a revolver. A hole in the corpse’s head tells me everything I need to know. Grabbing the revolver, I also pocket some rounds.
As horrible as it was, it always was the same story. Someone knows what will happen, so they took the easy way out. It was a damn shame. To others, seeing these bodies filled them with horrific sadness. For me, a wave of anger would overtake, but I suppressed it. A window provided a wonderful vantage point to my target.
Sitting down, I look at the camp. It’s a fucking mess. European bastards were throwing a party. Drunk anthros were wandering around, with some techno music blaring. The officer, some sort of dog, was drinking a fancy bottle of wine.
These fuckers. They invade our home, kill and rape our people, destroy our livelihoods, and throw a fucking party during it? No more. Aiming the rifle, I begin to line up a shot. The bitch was stumbling around but finally landed on some sandbags. She begins to vomit, and when she finishes, she looks up.
I saw the look on her face. The pain and relief of vomiting turned to pure horror. I didn’t need a different cue. The trigger was pulled, and a round went downrange. She fell back, blood pouring from her neck. It was silent, even the music stopped. The nothingness was replaced by the yelling of various languages, which I took as a sign to leave. Running downstairs, I begin my sprint from the town to the forest.
The sounds of gunshots come from behind me, but no bullets fly anywhere near me. They must think that I’m still in the building. Slowing down, I get on a road and walk back to camp. It’s uneventful, but I’m still hopped up from the rush of escaping. When I close in on the cave, it’s awfully silent. Sneaking up, I see no guards at the cave entrance.
Creepy. I wait for a bit, before deciding to move in. When I enter, the smell of blood hits me. Fuck. Running around, I see nobody here. Then, a whisper from my side alerts me. “Kurt? Is that you?” I sprint over, sliding to find Mike lying down.
“Mike, what the fuck happened?” He grimaces.
“A double agent killed the old man, and the rest got captured. I got shot, but I think I’m gonna see Todd.” No...
“Mike, stay with me, I’m going to get you out!” I receive no response. Mike wasn’t breathing, and his eyes were staring straight at the ceiling. He was gone. Standing up. I don’t know what to do. My friend was dead, my group is gone, and I’m alone. I walk around the cave, hoping for something to change, but nothing does. As I go to leave, a rock I trip over breaks open. It was fake?
It wasn’t just fake; it was holding a lot of C-4. I don’t know what I’ll do, just that I will strike back. Packing it into a backpack, I leave the cave. Nearby was a railway bridge. The Euros used it for transport runs, so I knew where to head. Walking once more into the forest, I have my mind wander. Dreams of the America I wanted, a land of liberty, peace, and prosperity. I got hell on earth instead.
The walk was long, by the time I started to get close to the bridge, it was midnight. It was time for me to get to work. Several pillars held the bridge up. Take them out, and the bridge would fall. Walking from pillar to pillar, I planted explosives. A rumbling sound crept up on the area. Running from the bridge, I hid behind some rocks. When the train just made it onto the bridge, I hit the trigger.
The explosion was deafening. The train and the bridge all fell down, a horrible crash. Fires blazed, smoke was everywhere. Of course, there were complications. Some debris had hit me, hard. My eyes were burning with pain. Whenever I opened my eyelids, I couldn’t see. Still, I walked away from the sound of fire. Making my way into the forest, I collapsed from exhaustion. If I died here, I died a martyr. My consciousness fades, and I drift away, to the sound of fire.
I awake not in a forest, but a bed. It feels damn comfy, but I still can’t see. Fuck, I was blinded. “Hello, is anybody there?” A series of footsteps comes from my side.
“He’s awake?” That sounded southern as fuck, almost stereotypical.
“Considering that I’m talking, of fucking course I am. Who are you, and where am I?”
“I can’t tell you, sorry sweetie.” The feminine voice sounded sincere, legitimately sorry. “But, you could tell me your story.” Shit, gotta think fast, don’t want to end up with sympathizers.
“I was on a hunting trip, but this huge explosion came outta nowhere. I got my eyes all fucked up. Any chance that they’ll get patched up?” The voice starts up again, with a gloved hand patting my shoulder.
“The docs are unsure. I hope not. Anyways, why were you hunting by the railway?” Oh shit.
“Good hunting grounds. Normally, I can’t get a good deer or two, but that day, they ran off. Dunno what spooked em’, but it pissed me off.” She sighs and packs my chest.
“Seems like you got some bad luck. Some people blew up that bridge. Nonetheless, you’re gonna stay here until you get fixed up, alright?” She didn’t sound European, so I couldn’t say no.
“If you were to get me something to eat, then yeah.” The woman laughs and walks off.
“No prob, hun. I’ll be back.” I was completely at the mercy of this southern sweetheart, and that wasn’t a problem. The only odd thing was her deep voice. She must be a big girl. Nonetheless, I lay my head back. I was hopefully safe, and my mission was a success.
I continued to lay on the bed, but not for long. Luckily for me, the woman walked back into the room with some wonderful smelling food. “Damn, what did you get, smells good?” She laughs.
“Well, I got you some rice and beans, the stuff's Spanish themed.” It certainly smelled like it. “Ain'tcha gonna eat it?” I sigh. “Oh shit, right... How about you let me feed you?” Nodding, I open my mouth. It makes me feel like a child, but I don’t have other options to choose from.
The food isn’t bad. It’s good enough for me, and I scarf it down. Considering that for most of my life during the invasion and occupation, food wasn’t the easiest to come across, nor the best in quality. After some time, I have to ask a question that I need to know. “Hey, what’s your name?” She doesn’t speak for a few seconds.
“It’s Elodie.” Sounds French, her family had to come from the Bayou. “What would be yours?”
“Kurt, with a K.” She laughs. “What’s so funny?”
“Doesn’t sound American with the K, but Elodie doesn’t sound particularly American either.” I nod. “Well, I should be checking up on you, but we’ll have a doc who’ll see what they can do for your eyes.”
“Shit, thanks. Never expected that anything like this would happen to me. I’ll try to pay you back.” Elodie only sighs and leaves the room. What did I do? I can’t see, so trying to follow after her would be a bad idea. I resign myself to laying down and wait. It’s boring. So goddamn boring. This sucks. I decided that laying down would damage my mind more than bumping into things could damage my body, so I sit up. Turning in place, I slowly lower myself down.
My feet hit the ground, and I stand. It’s hard to balance without eyesight. I reach out my hands to the wall and use it to steady myself while I walk. Eventually, I feel a door. Pushing it open, I stumble out of what must have been my room. I manage to somehow not fall, but rather regain my stance. As I start walking once more, I hear a voice that I know. “Kurt!” It’s old Nick.
“Nick? Holy shit, you have any idea where we are?” Nick coughs.
“No, I don’t. We were never told. I… I don’t have long. I was shot, it’s fatal. Listen, you don’t know now, but when you remember, it’ll make sense. Kurt, take this. I don’t want anybody else to have it.” He puts something odd in my hands. I’m about to ask him who saved us, but he falls to the ground. He’s dead silent. He’s dead.
“Fuck…” I back away, and bump into a wall behind me.
“Kurt? What’re you doing?” Elodie’s voice rings from my side.
“Elodie, get somebody, I think Nick just died…” She runs over, and gasps.
“My god. Alright, I’m going to bring you back into your room. Stay there, I’ll get help.” She brings me into the room, her leather-clad hand pulling on mine. Once she guides me to the bed, I sit down. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” He sprints out of the room. I can only feel the odd item in my hands. The thing feels like cloth, but it’s in an odd shape. Thinking about Nick, one thing pops into my head.
It was his eyepatch. Why would he want me to have it? Was it a legacy to carry on? Turning it around, I feel something with my fingers. It’s lettering, and hard to make out. ‘O’, tonight a world, that turned from thee, will be waiting at thy throne. ‘ It sounds familiar, but I remember nothing like it. I decided to honor his last request and put it on. It feels right.
The sound of running makes its way down the hallway. I can hear the people out there yelling at each other, but I can’t understand any of it. Maybe if the door was open, I’d have a better idea of what was going on. Eventually, they leave, the voices trailing off. The door opens, and I hear Elodie’s voice. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” Her voice is shaky. “You’re wearing his…” I wave a hand, to stop what she was going to say.
“It was his final request. I will not deny that to him.” Elodie grunts. What did she have against old Nick?
“Alright. The doctor will be here soon, and hopefully, he’ll patch up your eyes. If you need me, just call out, I’ll be waiting. The door closes, and I hear her walk away. I remain seated on the bed. Hopefully, everything would heal well. Laying onto the bed, I close my eyes. I needed rest.
I feel like I’m floating. My eyesight is back, thank the lord. The problem is that I don’t know where I am. It’s some weird building, everything is concrete. I slowly fall to the ground, and I quickly push myself up. A red light illuminates the area. Walking around, I find both Nick’s eyepatch and a handgun. I put on the eyepatch and grab the pistol. It looks heavy duty, an Automag, in .30 carbine. I trudge through the halls, finding nothing of interest. This place looks like nothing that I’ve ever seen before, but it feels like I’ve been here before.
A blast I don’t expect gives me a sudden rush of adrenaline. Some unknown figures come out from a newly created hole, and they’re armed. Crouching down behind a crate, I steady my hands. With a gentle pull of the trigger, a loud bang sounds off. One figure fall, and two remain. Whatever they are armed with is some serious shit, as a hail of lead gets slung into my direction.
It was time to act fast. Aiming at the light, I fire a round, shattering it to pieces. The red glow disappears, and the gunshots are the only light bringers in the room. When it stops, I take my chance and vault over the crate. Two fast shots bring the remaining assailants down. I start to run over to where their bodies should be, but when I make it over, they’re gone.
This isn’t good… I decide to get the fuck outta here. Running, I sprint through the darkness. The air turns cold, and a chill runs through my spine. This whole experience feels unnatural. I eventually run into a door, which swings open. As I tumble into the room, the door slams shut. A bright blue light soon coats the entire room, and it’s too bright for me to directly look at.
Standing up, I slowly walk towards the source of the illumination. Suddenly, everything goes black. A voice I don’t recognize speaks. “Well, tell me, when are you coming back?” I cannot see anything.
“Who are you?” The voice only chuckles. Well, fuck you too, prick.
“You’ll find out soon enough. It’ll be fun watching it all happen.” Huh?
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I receive no response. The chilling air becomes even colder, and my mind goes blank. I feel nothing, but I don’t know why.
I’m unsure if I’m awake or not. I can’t see, but I feel the bed under me. I reach out, stretching, and yawn. I sit up and feel sunlight hitting my skin. I turn in place, having my legs dangle off the edge of the bed. I didn’t feel like waiting for Elodie, so I drop myself down and start to walk. I barely have a few steps before the door starts to open.
“Kurt, are you awake?” I stand still. It was Elodie.
“Yeah, I am.” The door opens more, and I hear her gasp.
“What are you doing out of your bed? You could get hurt!” I laugh. What, would I die if I tripped or something?
“I’d go mad from laying down all day. At least let me move around, alright?” Elodie grabs my arm, her leather glove feeling rough against my skin. “Is that a yes or no?” Elodie pulls me to what I’m guessing is closer to her.
“You got your wish, the doc is gonna see what he can do for your eyes. I need you to promise me something.” A promise? Considering that these people not only saved your life but were trying to return your eyesight, you’d follow that promise forever.
“Anything. Just say it’ll and I’ll obey.” Elodie pulls me harder. Jesus lady, don’t rip of my fucking arm, I like having it attached.
“Ok. When you can see, just stay calm, and don’t panic. Listen to what I say, and please, don’t be scared.” I nod. Why would I be scared, these were good people. Elodie and I walk down the hall, eventually turning. A door opens, and Elodie puts a hand on my back. “Just a few steps forward, there’ll be a bed. Lay down, and the doc will do everything for you.” I follow her advice, and walk forward, with my hands outstretched to feel the bed. Once I touch it, I lay down on it.
I rest on the bed and hear Elodie call out to the doctor. She yells out ‘medicine’, but in a weird sounding way. Eventually, I hear another person enter the room. “Kurt, the doctor will give you some anesthesia. You’ll be unconscious while he fixes you up. I’ll see you when it’s over.” True to her words, I feel a prick that stabs my arm. Soon enough, I start to fade into a slumber. The feeling is good.
I don’t dream. It was an instant transmission of falling asleep, to making up. Immediately, I can tell that I can once more see, as the bright light hurts my eyes, or, I should say eye. My vision comes only from my right eye. Fuck, it wasn’t perfect, but being able to see again is a goddamn miracle. I have to lay down for some time and adjust my eyesight to the light in the room. Eventually, I can finally look around. The room looks nice, clean white walls, tile flooring, and medical instruments placed around the area.
Nobody else is in the room. I get off the bed and stand. Looking around, I see a mirror. Staring at it, I can see the sorry state I’m in. My face has burn marks all over it, and there’s a giant gash across the left side of my face. The eye is obviously unusable. The eyepatch lies on a table, and I put it on. I look kinda like a James Bond villain, or that guy from that one Asian fighting game. What was it, Triad?
Nonetheless, the rest of me isn’t the best either. I have some bandages covering parts of my body and some odd camouflage clothing. I go to leave the room when I hear the door open. I turn expecting Elodie, but it’s not her. There’s a giant raccoon anthro standing there. I fall back, grabbing a scalpel. “Stay back!” The raccoon girl grimaces.
“Kurt, please, drop it.” Wait, that was Elodie’s voice. What the fuck? No goddamn way…
“E-Elodie? Is that really you?” She extends out a hand, covered by a leather glove. It was her. I drop the scalpel and stare at her. This fucker.
“Yes. I’m sorry, please, don’t do anything rash. We just want to protect you, stay with us.” I was lied to. Fucking European trash. But, they weren’t completely evil. They patched me up, saved my life. Maybe I’ll use em’, for just a bit.
“Okay. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” I get no response. “Are you gonna start fucking talking?” Elodie’s head lowers. She isn’t proud of what she’s done.
“I’m sorry. We were all worried that you’d run off if you knew that we were anthros. But I’m also worried about your wellbeing. You aren’t in the best shape.” No shit.
“I never was in good condition. I don’t plan on running off, staying here would keep me safe. So, tell me, what’re you all going to do with me?” Elodie walks to me, her tail dragging behind her.
“We want to keep you safe, that’s it. You’ve been through a lot, we can tell. Could you stay with us?” I probably don’t have a choice, but I’ll make her feel better.
“Sure. I guess I don’t have anywhere else to go.” I walk over to Elodie. “Now, I need my belongings.” Elodie stands still, staring at me.
“You seriously think we’re just gonna give you your guns? Everything else, sure.” Fuck. I wanted my pieces, but I’d have to deal without them.
“Fine. Let’s go.” I walk into the hallway, following Elodie. “So, where the fuck am I?”
“Ah, mon amie, you are in the middle of rural Pennsylvania.” Oh great, just fucking shoot me. “What, don’t like it?”
“I’d rather be in fucking Ohio.” I said that with utmost anger. Fuck Pennsylvania, the place was nothing but bad times when I lived there.
“Damn, sounds bad.” Elodie opens a door and walks outside into the light. I follow, and I see a huge military complex. Firstly, this was bad. If they find out who I was, I’m fucked. Secondly, this could be the perfect opportunity for a sudden strike. Cars and columns of troops move all over the place. Elodie yells out in French to some anthro soldiers, and she tugs on my shirt. “Follow me.”
What the fuck else am I going to do?