- Lost and Found

It took me over an hour to make my way to the protective barrier on the outskirts of the settlement. The fencing structures was place out about a kilometer or so away from the main settlement to compensate for the drift fields that would be created from the lost of wind energy. As it was, my truck was plowing through the snow drifts bigger than some two story homes like a tank through a building. I could see why the model was named 'Defiant' after that night, perhaps there was some truth to the rumors I've heard. When I arrived close to my destination, I could just make out the shadowy structures against the blacken sky. Piles of white snow on the structures gave the fencing an ominous feeling that I couldn't shake even though I inspect them twice a week.

The tracker pinged as I drew closer to the location of the tag. Slowing down I turned on the added lights on the truck and started to look for signs of life. I pulled up to the fencing so my headlights shined inside the modular supports of the structure and my heart nearly sank in my chest at the sight before me. Three Togark were ripping apart what seemed to be the remains of a heavy jacket. I glared at the creatures as I reached behind me and pulled out an energy compression rifle from my gear I had in the back seat. I got out of the truck and shouldered the weapon. The Togark hasn't noticed me yet as I primed the weapon and selected my power setting.

It might seem odd to have a military rifle as part of a maintenance crew's standard gear, but when you got to deal with creatures that can rip through steal like it was tin foil on a near daily basis. Its nice to have the protection. The weapon has 5 setting, 2 stun, 2 kill and an emergency directional cutting beam. Now the lowest setting can stun a humanoid and knock them out upwards of 30 minutes or so, heavy stun can knock out a bull elephant for over 2 hours while the lower kill setting will leave a crater in unprotected flesh. The higher kill setting on the other hand...

One of the Togarks turned into a shower of red mist and gore as my shot hit its mark. The other two turned in my direction and gave off a ear piercing roar before they charged me. A second one turned into a red mist with a pull of a trigger when the two were half way to me. The third one tried to leap at me and I sent it flying back with another powerful shot. I scanned my surroundings, looking for any more Togarks that might have been wandering near by. After several long moments I felt that I was in the clear.

“Xlilith?!?" I yelled into the darkness as I trudged through the semi deep snow that had gathered underneath the structure. I kept the rifle at the ready as I used the flashlight mounted on it to see in the darkness. I made my way cautiously over to the material that the Togarks were ripping apart. Sure enough, it was the remains of the jacket that I had let her use. Searching through the snow, the only thing solid I found was my ID pin that was part of the jacket. I didn't see or feel any blood or body parts on or near the material, and the only blood that I could see was what remained of the 3 Togarks that I obliterated.

“Xlilith!" I called as I stood up, sweeping the light all along the ground. I hoped that she was still near. “Xlilith! Where are you!" I started to move around, while I did have the area semi lit up with my truck's flood lights and a powerful flashlight on my rifle, it only did so much to cut the darkness of the building size structures. “Xlilith! Please, Answer ME!" I was nearly in tears as I called out to her, my gut told me I was close but...

“XLILITH!"

Skrrreeek...

I stopped in my tracks. It was faint but it was there. It sounded like nails being dragged on a chalkboard... Or, metal.

“Xlilith?"

Skrrreeek...

The noise was coming from above, I looked up and seen the catwalk. Things clicked enough in my mind as I hurried to the ladder leading up to the different levels of catwalks suspended in the structure. The first series of catwalks were easily 12 feet in the air, with the next two a good 8 above each other. Togarks were sometimes known to climb things so the lower supports were designed to have the most minimal of structures to prevent the large beasts from climbing without sacrificing structural integrity, and with the ladders, well sometime the old fashion of safety devices works the best. I got to the ladder and shouldered the weapon as I started to climb up and into the safety tube designed to prevent falls.

When I got to the first level I could feel the increased wind against the exposed surfaces of my skin. I climbed onto the catwalk and pulled my pen light and started my search anew. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon a snow covered lump on the catwalk.

“Oh my god... Xlilith!"

I ran to her side and started to brush the snow off of her. Her body was ice cold as I uncovered her, her cloths and fur were soaked; add in the fact that the wind was blowing much stronger up here than down below. I felt her neck looking for a pulse, the fur made it a bit difficult to find but it was there. My mind raced as I thought on how I could get her down from where we were. The tube was only big enough to allow a person and maybe a little bit of gear up and down the ladder, not two people with one carrying the other. Usually we had a lift-a-loft or a rope and pulley system that we bring with us, things I didn't have at that moment.

Unfortunately, I could only think of one option at this point.

I leaned under the rails of the catwalk and did a visual once over to make sure there wasn't going to be any surprises on the ground. Slowly, I lowered my rifle till I was at the end of the strap and let it fell the remaining distance to the snowy ground. I opened my jacket as I laid next to her and pulled the cold form of Xlilith inside next to my body.

“Hold tight..." I warned her, “This is going to be rough." If she realized if I was talking to her or not she made no indication. I held onto her as I inched my self to the other edge of the catwalk. When I started to feel the edge, I started to roll. “Oh God..."

It was over in an instant, but falling off the catwalk with Xlilith in tow took the wind right out of me. I was grateful that I still had the padded work jacket on, though the padding and snow could only do so much to break the fall for two bodies, even if the one was lighter than me. It took me a few minutes to regain my composure and pick myself off the ground, I was probably going to be sore later.

I picked up Xlilth and carried her over to my truck. Laying her down as flat as I could before tearing into my work gear and pulling out the cold survival gear and quickly unwrapped the packed thermal blanket and wrapped her body in it. I resisted the impulse to maximize the heat blowing out of the vents of the Defiant and possibly cause her to have a cardiac arrest while I'm only trying to help her. The only additional time I took before I left was to reclaim my dropped rifle before climbing into the drivers seat and taking off like a bullet back to civilization.

I made my way to the settlement's hospital, occasionally slowing down to make a tight turn and to check on Xlilith. She was still unresponsive and I could just barely hear her breathing, but they were shallow and labored. Thankfully it took less time for me to get to the hospital than it was getting out to where Xlilith was, but my heart sank when I pulled up to the ER doors.

'Close due to being understaffed. Sorry for the inconvenience.'

“Oh... Son of A..." I nearly cried out as I read the sign on the door. The only conclusion was that most of the staffing had gone to the disaster in the other settlement to help. I couldn't blame them, they had jobs to do. But when you had a life on the line behind you...

I did the only thing I could think of at that point, it was a long shot but, maybe...

“Calvin? Hey, find your girl?"

“Yes, but, she's half frozen and the hospital is closed because of everyone's gone to the disaster site." There was a heavy sigh over the com line as I started out of the parking lot. “I... I'm honestly lost on what to do now. I don't want to loose her"

“Calm down, Calvin." I could hear a rustling noise in the background and soft words being said that I didn't understand. “Give me your home address and we will meet you there."

“Wait, We?"

“Yes, we."

I gave them my address and made my way home. When I got home I didn't have to wait much for Asquen and his mate to show up. In fact when I pulled into my parking spot and got out to get Xlilith, the two showed up. Stepping out of their vehicle the silvered hair Caushae walked right up to me and held a hand out in a human greeting.

“Wyvera."

“Calvin." I said as I took her hand in a light grip, she gave me a warm smile.

“Where's... Xlilith."

I opened the back door and Wyvera climbed in. Asquen walked up next to me and looked into the confines of the truck. Both of us watched as Wyvera began to check Xlilith. Some of the things that she did kind of confused me, like feeling Xilith's paw pads. After about a minute of Wyvera checking the girl over she hopped out with a grim look on her face.

“We need to get her inside, now."

I gave Asquen the means to open my apartment and grabbed Xlilith and carried her inside, followed by Wyvera and Asquen. I went to place Xlilith on my couch when Wyvera stopped me, “No, to the bathroom, do you have a shower unit or a bathtub?" The question confused me for a moment

“Uhh... A small bathtub." I said a bit dumbly. It was one of the luxuries I was afforded when I got the apartment, being someone with some authority. She motioned me to move and show her where it was. I carried Xlilith's in my arms to the bathroom and waited for Wyvera to give me more instructions. Asquen followed us with a bit of a bemused expression until his mate stopped him at the door. It was then that I noticed that the rabbit anthro was carrying a small duffle bag over his shoulders. Wyvera took the bag and motioned him back to the living room before shutting the door on him.

“ Almedhas." She said dismissively. I could only surmise it was something about their behavior that I've yet to noticed. She rolled up her sleeves as she sat the bag down. “Put her in the tub and help me undress her." I froze and stared at her disbelievingly, I could only imagine that my face turned beat red. I've never seen a girl naked in person before. “Do you want her to Die?" Wyvera's words snapped me out of my stupor and I moved as she instructed.

“Isn't this dangerous though?" I asked as I placed Xlilith in the bathtub. “Its said that using a warm bath with someone with hypothermia might cause a cardiac arrest." Wyvera blinked at me in confusion. “The direct heat of the water or a fire could cause a heart attack."

Wyvera shook her head, “I believe you humans would say, 'Well duh." She started to remove Xlilith's sweater “You put a cold body in a warm environment, of course you are going to risk things. But there's a slight difference between Humans and Caushae." She took my hand and placed it on part of Xlilith's exposed fur and had me dig in till I touch her skin. I couldn't help but to shiver feeling how cold the skin and fur was despite being in the warm thermal blanket. “Our fur is a natural insulator, keeping the cold out while keeping the warm in during the colder months, or..."

“It can keep the cold in during the warmer weather..." I finished as what she was saying sunk in. I helped Wyvera strip Xlilith though she could see some of my hesitation.

“If what you said earlier tonight was true, she won't mind." I just nodded at her words and helped her finish tripping Xlilith's remaining cloths. When we were finish I couldn't help but to look over Xlilith's body, her fur was a solid light cream color fur that covered her body. I must have been in a trance as Wyvera nearly pushed me onto the floor when she started to draw the water and shooed me out of the bathroom.