Endgame

I watched as Farley and Paulie spoke to some of the people out of my view.  Farley had laid his pistol on the chair and was eating Cheetos from the bag.  Paulie looked done in, these last few days must have been hell on him.  I picked up the gun and said, 'Hey, Farls'.  He turned and looked at the gun pointed at his heart and then at me.  'Is that the best you can do for a story'?  Paulie looked at us both and then grabbed the fox by the neck.  'When will they get here'?  He asked, and then tightened his grip.  Throwing the fox against a wall locker, he then said, 'I need to know.  Now'.  Farley was rubbing his throat and he tried to grin but the game was up.  'Just tell us', I said, 'and we can get this over with'.  The fox replied, 'Soon.  The spike that was extracted should be in military hands by now and this place is under complete blackout.  It's finished'.  Paulie slapped his head and it bounced off the locker leaving blood on the tan metal.  'I saw Farls die at the 'Hope.  Who are you'?  He just glared at me.  Paulie slapped him again and put him on the floor.  'Bastard', the panda muttered.  I walked over and put the pistol to the fox's skull.  'Who are you, say again'?  The fox gritted bloody teeth together and said, 'Military intelligence'.  He spat out a tooth.  His mouth was red and orange, Cheetos look awful wet.  He started to say something else and I shot him under his right eye.  There was a crowd trying to get in the room and Paulie started giving orders for all and sundry to run for it.  At that moment there was an explosion, followed by automatic fire.  People were running, not in flight but to get into firing position, there was no point in trying to escape the building.  'C'mon'!  The bear yelled at me but I went and got Precious from a corner and picked her up and kissed her head.  Goodbye darling.  She ran off.   A bullet just missed my good ear and then I was being drug by a black and white bulldozer down a hall.  A group of men in battle gear appeared in front of us, I took their weapons from them as I did not have the pistol anymore.  Then I killed them and we were all still running down the hall but to where I had no idea.  'Goddamn you move fast'.  Paulie stopped in front of a shelf loaded with rifles and grabbed one and started stuffing magazines in his pockets.   Paulie threw me a rifle and I grabbed as many magazines as I could.  We came to a big room with some vehicles in it, they were on fire.  Doc Mandelbrot was lying in a pool of blood and no one was ever deader.  The far end of the room blew open and black clad soldiers leapt through the breach.  Paulie must have shot half of them by the time I jacked a round into the chamber, the rifle was unfamiliar to me.  Then I shot some of the soldiers as well.  More were tumbling over the shattered wall and I realized that this was it.  All for nothing.  I could see the big bear standing erect and blazing away with his rifle, I could also see that he had been hit many times.  I hoped my cat got out.

From the debriefing of of the prisoner, former Tech Sgt/Platoon Guide Panda, P. - Enhanced Infantry:

 

Panda-
You guys are scum and I have nothing else to say.  Fuck your mothers.

 

Intel-
The rabbit's dead.  The doctor's dead.  Be a good bear and let us know who tipped you off about this operation.  It really would be easier on you, I promise.

 

Panda-
I'm as human as you are...in fact -

It is recommended in the future that such prisoners be drugged in addition to being restrained, two officers were badly hurt when the subject snapped his manacles and attacked his interrogators, necessitating an immediate and permanent cessation of questioning.  The body was taken for autopsy per standing directive re. the Transition Project.  In view of the incredible fighting abilities of the altered soldiers, it is imperative to re-start the ENfantry program, only with added safeguards this time.

In the evening, a little cat heavily covered in blood limped down to the water's edge, tried to drink, and died.  Sometime in the night a coyote carried her away.

The End.

misterscribbles.blogspot.com/2…

The Funnies #64, Dell Publishing.  May 1942.  Andy Panda and Oswald Rabbit property of Walter Lantz.

But wait,...a bonus!

  It's been a great day, and these two have very much enjoyed their reunion.  But Paulie has a dark secret, and he is about to let his cherished rabbit friend in on it.  Billy has no memory of when or why he was committed to the horrors of the ENfantry, he was an orphan and the drug assisted surgery wiped all memories of life as a human.  Paulie, however, was an extremely tough Chicago gangster when he was given the choice between death and the almost certain death of transformation into one of the army's expendable battlefield resources.  He enjoyed being an enforcer and the money it brought him.  Normally someone like him would move up in the hierarchy but he was framed on the boss's orders for a murder he had nothing to do with, that of a little boy.  He was also a threat to the commission, this was a young man on the go.  The real murderer was the son of a very high ranking prominent politician at the apex of power.  This injustice turned a ruthless criminal into a reflective and quiet time bomb, which worked out for everyone involved on the battlefield.  Since the modified human animals were all going to be eliminated anyway it was felt that convenience and the needs of the war were equally well served.  Paulie Panda has never forgotten what happened to him and this story is far from over.  Oh, and there have been several young boys found raped and mutilated in the very shadow of the Capitol building in Washington.  But those cases were solved and the mentally backward homeless perpetrators with no family or friends got what they deserved without a time wasting trial.  American justice triumphs again!

 Richard Adams, Watership Down

Outstanding illustration by Rachel Johannes Calder

https://misterscribbles.blogspot.com/2022/03/freaks-paulie-panda-and-billy-have-not.html 

Panda with mini-gun by Banksy.