Animals

Chapter 7

March 19, 2018

Chicago

Redd never slept.

Well, he had tried to sometimes, but closing his eyes just made see nothing, and the compound constantly flowing through him made it so that all bodily functions were not necessary.

Sure, he still had to do other things, but he could never sleep the same way he used to. He was just glad Reynard would never have this curse.

Redd laid back in the seat of the van as Reynard slept in the back, the night sky illuminated by the lights from buildings. He had parked in a old lot, far enough away from the crime scene that no one would think that it was suspicious.

The last thing he wanted was anymore unnecessary deaths.

While the White Lion did give his orders not to tangle with Freelancer, he had still let them come at him. And he had shown his capabilities.

The younger Redd would have just disabled them, then let someone else clean them up. But orders were orders. He kept that mantra in his mind as he scratched the burn on the side of his face.

There's only so much technology can fix in this world.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed, prompted him to pick it up and answer it immediately.

"Redd here." He displayed no emotion as he answered the contact on the other side.

A robotic voice answered. "So It's done?"

Redd sighed. "Yes. But Freelancer attempted to take me down. They must have connected the dots sooner than I anticipated. They attacked and I was forced to retreat."

He waited as the voice took in his answer. Then it continued. "Will this change the current arrangement with Russo?"

"No. Nothing has changed, and Russo will not know of this. Freelancer will be busy with other... problems while I deal with Russo. You know I can handle a rat." He spoke the last word with a hint of menace.

Redd heard a set of clicks before the call ended. He sighed a sigh of relief. That could have gone worse.

"Redd?"

He jumped as he heard Reynard behind, cursed as he had hit his head on the ceiling of the car. "Do you have to be so quiet? Damn!"

Reynard had rolled his eyes. "Who was that?"

Redd looked back at the now awake adult, who was sitting down on the floor. He grumbled as he turned off the phone. "Command wanted a update. I gave to them. None of your concern."

Reynard sighed, laying back down on the cold floor of the van. "Can you tell me something?"

Redd turned back to the younger fox. "Yes?"

"Will this get us back home? This mission?"

Redd cringed as he thought of his next words. "It's complicated. But I believe this will be the last one."

Reynard huffed as he attempted to get warm. "You've always said that. The last one was supposed to be that too."

Redd sighed, turning away from Reynard. "I had thought so too. But the White Lion wants the crime bosses here out of the way. Completely. We have no choice but to go further."

Reynard didn't speak again, letting Redd think about in his thoughts before smiling a bit.

"How about since we are not able to go back home yet, I tell you a story about it. One that you haven't heard."

Reynard immediately sat back up, eager to hear what the fox had to say.

Redd smiled. "Even at 30, you still love to hear my stories. But this is a new one."

And so he began.

Once, I was born in a world called Terra. Terra was constantly at war. Mammals fought mammals. And there was no peace, no safety for even the strong predator or the weakest prey.

Until the Collaboration appeared out of the ashes. They had made the ultimate sacrifice, forced to cull the majority of the population in order to bring peace.

They made miracles out the ashes. The ability to regrow crops. Bringing back a blue sky. Creating new ways to live, to survive without hurting others.

But the most important thing was the bridge. A way to travel between worlds.

The Collaboration sent mammals out to find new worlds, new places to spread the advances that they offered.

And they found two worlds.

This one, and another.

You know of this world, where no war has destroyed everything one loved, yet mammals had not united together like we had.

And a world where only one species reigned over all, furless with desire to expand. They had similar technology to us, ready to help others.

But when the two worlds saw the advancements of Terra, and believed them to want to destroy them.

We were forced to fight, and closed the bridge forever.

And some mammals were closed off from their home. Like us.

So we still fight on to try and bring our worlds together, and bring peace to these three worlds.

Redd waited as Reynard took in the story.

"I... never heard that before. So that's why we are doing this? To go back home?"

Redd smiled. "Always. While you were born here, I had always wanted to bring you back to Terra. They had promised me that they would give us the location from where they put through suppilies and soldiers, but... they never do."

The fox put his paw on Reynard's shoulder. "Rest. By the end of this month, we will finally be home."

Reynard let himself lay back down as Redd turned forwards to the front of the van.

He let his eyes close for a second, taking in the darkness.

For the first time in a while, Redd let himself feel at peace.