Chapter 9: Tender shed tears
Eric set me down before bidding me good night. But, tonight still felt lonely to me and I grabbed his left hand with both my paws and stared at the floor while saying to him, just above a whisper, "Stay, please? I still need you." Eric gave me a solemn look that suggested both shock and intrigue. "Still thinking about your loved ones, huh?" He asked me in a soft, smooth tone. Tears once again began streaming down my cheeks as my thoughts turned to all those who protected me and died. Eric once again knelt down and embraced me tightly, my face buried in his shoulder, muffling my sobs. I embraced him back this time trying to wrap my arms around his back but falling short, so I simply gripped at his shirt and held on tightly. I was sorry for using him as a shoulder to cry on all the time, but he never seemed to mind and when I tried to apologize to him for that, he would simply dismiss it and embrace me tighter.
When I was done bawling again, I wiped the tears form my eyes and gazed into his. The bright whitish blue reflected my image back as clear as looking in a still puddle of water. Him staring back deep into mine, almost seeming like he was looking for that one spark of innocence that wasn't tainted by the horrors I've witnessed. Our faces inched closer, our lips met, and sparks of pure bliss were set off in my head. We slowly closed our eyes as we shared a long, enchanting kiss. After around a minute, we slowly broke away from each other, hearts pounding and blood racing. My head felt like it could burst from all of the excitement flashing in there. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest and continue kissing him for me. "I've never kissed a gummi bear before." He said to me being coy. "You have a good reason, gummi bears are extinct." I said to him sarcastically and smiling softly to him. He lifted his hand and began stroking the fur on the back of my head. "Not all of them." He reminded me. Our faces were magnetized to each other once again and we shared another passionate kiss together. Life seemed to come to a standstill as the rest of our time together felt like a dream, fleeting and perfect. It all became apparent to me when I awoke the next morning in his room, and in his bed. He was sleeping peacefully on the bed's right side and facing me. Neither of us had any clothes.
I sat up in his bed recalling everything that had transpired that night, his light passionate kisses, his strong hands holding me close, and the warmth of his body. The blissful nature of the experience filled me to the soul as a smile cracked on my face while I turned my gaze to look out of his bedroom window to absorb the warmth of the sun into my furry body. I gazed around the room and located my tunic and his clothes lying on the ground over on the left side of the bed. I remembered how he carried me into the room, still gazing onto my eyes. I envisioned his caresses over my furry arms and how he gently pulled off my belt and tunic, revealing my entire furry body, fully exposed. I had become shaped more like a human female at my age ever since I hit the age of fifteen. I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling of him caressing my body with his strong hands. He sat up and removed his shirt and I was able to see his shaped broad chest and his toned abs. Suddenly, I felt a stir and snapped back to reality as Eric began shifting himself to a sitting position. "Good morning, Eric." I greeted him. He first looked at me with slight shock in his face and then softened up as he recalled last night as well. "Morning... Honey." He teased. "We should get up. We've gotta start working on the quick tunnels today." I suggested, sliding out of the bed and softly placing my feet on the wooden floor.
How long do you suppose it's going to take?" Eric asked me while watching me slip back into my tunic. "I have no idea. It may take anywhere from a few days to a few years. But the only things we need are, one tunnel that leads inside the city, a track that moves both ways and can turn around if need be, and a working quick car. Through a couple thousand years of neglect, we might actually have some tough work on our hands." I answered him. Eric then began slipping back into his clothes while he informed me, "I guess it would help to know that the city was built right on top of Dunwyn Kingdom. In fact, the center tower is known as Dunwyn Tower." I widened my eyes at that kind of news. "If that's any indication, then perhaps there is one tunnel that can help us directly into the city. I just hope it's not in too bad of shape." Once he was finished dressing himself, he walked over to a tall metal box structure with a small round dial on it. The dial had on it numbers that started at zero and increased in intervals of five all the way up to forty five. Eric spun the dial around left and right, left and right, and then pressed his ear against the box as if he was listening to something inside. After a few more times of turning the dial aimlessly, he had gotten completely frustrated. "Aarg, this seemed so much easier in the movies." He complained.
Rose walked up to the door of Eric's room to wake him up to get us to work when she noticed him fidgeting with the steel box. "Why are you trying to get in to my brother's gun case?" She asked him. "That thing has guns in it?" I asked with a combination of confusion and surprise.Still figuring out the gun safe, Eric said, "We'll need them inside the glen." Eric explained. Rose simply raised her left eyebrow in slight confusion. "Why? Everything down there is dead." "Not the rats." Eric told her. Obviously not liking the idea of running into a pack of rats, Rose walked up to the gun case, moved Eric aside while telling him to "move" and twisted the dial three times and lifted the lever. A clunking sound could be heard from the gun case when the lever was moved horizontally. Then she pulled the door of the case toward her, effectively opening the steel case. "I would have eventually figured it out." Eric pouted. It was rather cute to see him slightly flustered at something so simple. "I'm not waiting twenty years." Rose retorted sarcastically.
Inside the case were around six long barreled guns, that looked like they could be used to hunt down deer or something, and cases of bullets just waiting to be used. "How did you know the combination to your brother's gun case anyway?" Eric asked her curiously. She stared at him silently for a little while and finally said, "I plead the fifth on grounds of incrimination." She then plucked three of the guns off of the rack and something that looked like an oil canteen and a brush of sorts and then briskly walked out of the room. "What does that mean?" I asked Eric slightly confused as to what "the fifth" was. He simply shrugged his shoulders and looked back in the direction Rose left in, baffled. "What is she doing, by the way?" I asked referring to the items she took with her. "She's probably going to clean them and test them out to see if they might still work." Eric guessed. I took a better look at the contents of the case. The other three guns had engravings on the wooden back ends of them that read Remington and the number seven with two lowercased "m" letters just after it. "Obviously, Rose's brother was a die-hard deer and elk hunter." Eric deduced. I picked up one of the bullets and marveled at the length of it. The shiny brass reflected my reflection in it and warped the center to look larger that it was. "Is it really necessary to shoot the rats with this?" I asked slightly feeling sorry for the rats. Eric simply lifted his right eyebrow at me. "You saw how big those things were. Besides, we're out of nine millimeter bullets for the hand guns." He bashfully admitted.
Three minutes later, the low cracking noise of the rifle bullet leaving the barrel rang in the air, and scaring the crap out of both Eric and I. We peaked out of the window as Rose placed the first gun against an outdoor stand, picked up the second rifle and began using a screw driver to take it apart and clean out all of the mechanisms. "She's so quick with that." I exclaimed to Eric. All he could do was stare at Rose in awe and mild fright and lightly nod his head. We watched as she scrubbed the inside of the barrel, and moved on to the rest of the gun so quick we could hardly keep up with her. Granted, I know next to nothing about guns, let alone ever fired on before. She put the rifle back together, loaded a single bullet, aimed it at a far off target and pulled the trigger. The gun made a loud crack noise as the bullet left the barrel and sped across the yard, burying itself into a hay bale with a paper cut out of a large male dear in front.
She then placed that gun back on the outdoor stand and reached down for the last gun. It was slightly different than the other two as it had two barrels side by side. She even loaded different shaped bullets into it after cleaning it. "That's a shot gun!" Eric exclaimed. "I have no idea what the difference is." I stated still flabbergasted at the gun. Rose then pumped the mechanism underneath the two barrels and, just at that moment, a pair of green headed mallard ducks came flying low. She aimed at them and pulled the trigger. The gun seemed to have slightly less of a kick than the other ones as she didn't lean on her right leg as much as the ammunition exited the left barrel and toward the two ducks, spreading out more and more as they flew. The sound of the gun was much deeper in tone than the deer rifles and even had a tinge of hollowness to it. Both of the ducks flinched and fell to the ground below with a deafening "thud". Rose acted like she was surprised at herself and then quickly shrugged her shoulders before briskly walking over and picking up the two mallards. "She must have gotten lucky." Eric stated.
We heard Rose open the front door to the house and call to us, "Get moving you two. Eric, grab the twelve gauge outside before you head to the glen." Sarcastically, I called back to her, "Yes mom!" "I could easily have you pluck and clean these ducks, Sunni!" She called back, obviously not liking my retort.