by Tom Jones
Arcades turned, and he saw that the wolf was still sitting up on the bed. Jason had buried his face into his hands again. Arcades placed his hand on the wolf’s shoulder to comfort him again, “You don’t gotta keep sitting up. You can lie down if you want. I found your shoes too. I’ll sit them beside the bed here.” Arcades sat the boots next to the bed, and he stood back up. Johnny was brandishing his Tavor and he asked, “What did you say they called these again? Where the magazine is behind the trigger?” The fox answered the question, “Those are called bullpup designs. Some of the popular ones are the FAMAS, the Steyr AUG, the FN F2000, and the IWI Tavor. You’ve got the Tavor. It’s made by the Israeli IWI company.” Johnny then said, “I can’t remember all of that stuff.” The fox chuckled, “Heh… Ahh, don’t worry about it. It ain’t that big of deal.” Johnny then looked at his weapon again, “I suppose so.” Arcades remembered one thing he read a while back, “Oh, wanna know where the name Tavor came from?” Johnny looked up and inquired, “How’d they get that?” Arcades then said, “It’s based off of the Israeli mountain called Mount Tabor. That’s where Jesus was transfigured in front of His disciples. Whenever I see a Tavor, it makes me think of that. I find that to be a good thing. It reminds me of what’s really important. And that’s Jesus.” Johnny acknowledged, and he released his grip from the rifle so that his sling would catch it. He then sat down on a different bed, and he looked at Arcades. The dark gray fox’s white uniform was still completely clean.
Johnny then remembered what he had asked the fox earlier, “Hey boss, do you have time to explain to me why you don’t wear shoes?” Arcades looked at Johnny and he said, “Well, I reckon we have plenty of time now… I don’t wear shoes for multiple reasons. One of the main reasons is that it makes me look less intimidating.” Johnny looked puzzled, “Less intimidating? What?” The fox nodded, “Yeah. I don’t kill people, remember? When I do encounter people, I don’t want them to feel threatened by me. It especially helps when I am restrained. Being barefoot makes me appear more defenseless. It makes whoever that captured me feel less uneasy.” Johnny still kept the puzzled look on his face, “Hold up. That reminds me. What is with you and handcuffs?”
Arcades unknowingly displayed an embarrassed look on his face, “Uh.. Yeah… To tell you the truth, I really don’t mind being in them.” Johnny noticed the look on Arcades’ face, “Is that so? Is that why you asked to keep the ones that you got from Las Vegas?” The fox silently nodded; his embarrassment was not hidden at all. Johnny then remembered what the fox had said to him moments ago, “You also said there were multiple reasons. What’s the other reason for not wearing shoes?” The room went silent before Arcades said, “I-I also like the way my feet look.” Johnny took a moment to piece everything together. He finally spoke, “So, what you’re telling me is that you like being bound and barefoot?” Arcades waited for Johnny to say something else, but the human was waiting for a response. Arcades took a breath before saying, “That’s correct.” The fox turned away in embarrassment and waited for what was going to be said next. The fox heard Johnny ask, “What else?” Arcades turned back around in confusion, “What? What do you mean what else?”
Johnny elaborated, “There’s gotta be more right? That can’t be all you do.” Arcades raised an eyebrow, “Uh.. I don’t do anything else. That’s all I do.” Johnny chuckled, “Heh. I’ve seen a lot of shit back in Vegas. You’re doing more than that. I know it.” Arcades shook his head, “I really don’t.” Johnny shook his head back at the fox, “Bondage and feet can’t be your only fetishes.” Arcades’ expression went from confusion to shock, “What? How in the world did you get sex out of that? Just because someone does something like that doesn’t make it sexual. I don’t have any fetishes.” Johnny did not answer the fox’s question, “You know how that looks right? Especially to people who came from where I’m from. You shouldn’t be surprised that I think you’re full of shit.” Arcades sighed, “We live in a Fallen world where people judge based upon how things look. I do know many share similar interests, they do it for completely different reasons. If you don’t believe me, I can’t make you.” Johnny waited for a moment before saying, “Forget it. It’s not too big of a deal. Let’s just move on.” Arcades was relieved to hear that response.
The fox turned towards the wolf, who was now laying on the bed, and he dropped a couple MREs next to him. “Here, you can have these if you’re hungry.” Arcades looked out a nearby window and saw that the snowstorm was still going. However, the sun was now rising as well. “It looks to me like the storm won’t let up for a little bit. I say we wait it out here before we call for exfil. The mission is over.” Johnny raised an eyebrow as he asked, “Why is the mission over?” Arcades turned to face him and said, “We found the CDI operatives. They’re dead in the other room. And, we can’t just leave this guy in here. We’re getting him out of there.” Johnny shook his head, “I don’t think the guys in the other room are the guys we were supposed to be looking for.” Arcades sat his hand on the windowsill, “Yeah… I know they’re not. But if we bother to tell CDI, they’re going to think that we killed them ourselves.” Johnny replied, “What about the bodies in the other room? Are we just supposed to leave them there?” Arcades moved his hand underneath his muzzle, as if he was stroking a beard.
“I don’t know. I say we figure it out later. We don’t even have body bags.” The fox sat down on a nearby bed and looked at the wolf. It looked as if he had already fallen asleep. Arcades looked at the window again, “Since the snowstorm is still going, I think it would be a good time for me to catch up on some sleep. We can call for exfil after the storm dies down.” Johnny then said, “Alright, boss. I’ll go see what I can find elsewhere.” The fox smiled, “Thanks.” Johnny left the room, and Arcades laid back in the bed. After walking around in the snow all night, it did not take him long to fall asleep.
Arcades awoke and slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room and noticed that it was exactly the same as when he went to sleep. After remembering what had happened before he went to sleep, he sat up on the bed, and he looked over at the wolf. Jason was already awake, and he was finishing up one of the MREs that Arcades had given him earlier. He even had put his boots back on already. The fox looked around the room, but did not see Johnny. He did see that all of his gear was still on the counter, and he also saw that his Salient GRY was still propped up against the wall. Arcades removed the covers, and he smiled as he saw that the wolf was eating. “You need some water with that?” Arcades asked as his eyes finished adjusting. He was surprised to hear the wolf finally speak, “That would be nice.” Arcades stood up and approached his JPC on the counter. As he opened the hydration compartment of the Crye Back-Panel 2.0, he responded, “Nice to hear that you can talk.”
The fox removed the hydration pack from the plate carrier, and he brought it to the wolf. He handed it to the wolf, and he said in response, “Thanks, mate. I didn’t catch your name.” Arcades then said, “My name is Kurt -- Kurt Hofmeier. I usually go by Saint Arcades. However, most people just call me Arcades.” The wolf drank from the hydration pack before saying, “I’m Jason Barter.” Arcades raised an eyebrow as he was piecing together the wolf’s accent, “Hey, you don’t happen to be from New Zealand or Australia?” The wolf nodded after swallowing some more water, “Yeah… I’m from Australia. You’re an American right? You’re wearing American flags on your uniform right above those other emblems.” The fox replied, “Yep. I’m an American. I’m from Fox Security. We’re a small PMC company. This is our logo. I made it a while back.”
Arcades leaned forwards and showed Jason the full colored red, white, and black patch. Jason focused on the patch before asking, “What’s your other patch you got there, mate?” Arcades smiled when he turned to his right shoulder to show his other patch. It was a Multicam shield patch with a black infrared Cross in the middle. The text above the Cross read ‘BORN AGAIN’ in capital letters. Arcades always liked talking about his faith, “This is
my personal patch. I’m a Born-Again Christian. I made this patch to remember that God walked on this very earth two thousand years ago to die for our sins. From His death and resurrection, us sinners can receive salvation. When Jesus was teaching, He said that you must be born again to see the Kingdom of Heaven. What he’s saying is that when the Blood of Christ covers you, the Holy Ghost transforms your sin ridden spirit to be clean. You become a saint, and that’s why I took up the name Saint Arcades.” Jason went silent after what Arcades had to say as it was something that he would never expect to ever hear from an anthro wearing Multicam.
Not having a place to sit down near Jason, Arcades sat down on his knees in front of the wolf. Jason then remembered hearing the conversation between Arcades and Johnny before he went to sleep, but he did not want to ask Arcades about it, not right now at least. Johnny finally broke the silence, “Well, I can’t say that I’d ever expect to see an anthro working for a PMC say all that.” The fox chuckled, “There’s a first for everything, I guess. It’s a real shame that the majority of anthros do not believe in our Lord. He’s not blocking them out, like some of them think He does.” The wolf placed the hydration pack on the bed, and it was now around halfway full. Jason then said, “You don’t act like anybody else I’ve seen before working for a PMC.” The fox raised an eyebrow, “Why’s that?” He was still kneeling while keeping his hands meshed together in front of him. Jason was debating bringing up what he heard earlier, “You… You don’t act all hard like most of the people I’ve seen. Especially with you being in that position that you’re in now.” Arcades smiled and then said, “I don’t want to be intimidating. I know that during situations like these, that’s what people like to do. They want to assert their power over others. However, they’ve received their reward.”
The fox moved his tail out of his way before Jason asked, “Weren’t you picked on during training?” Arcades replied, “Never happened. I never was formally trained. I learned everything completely by myself. I read the Bible for myself, I trained myself with firearms and all kinds of tactical gear.” Jason asked another question, “Do you kill people?” The fox shook his head, “I sure don’t. Though I train with weapons, it’s more of something I do just for fun. I enjoy firing weapons, but I always try to find alternatives rather than killing people.” The wolf had another question, “But why?” Arcades smiled before responding, “Because everyone deserves to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If they don’t hear it from someone else, they’re going to hear it from me. You don’t need to literally kill people to win wars.” Jason was confused, “What war?” Arcades was happy to answer, “The spiritual war between sin and God. Jesus is the only one who can win the war.”
Jason was thinking about what to ask next. He finally asked, “Who owns Fox Security?” Arcades answered, “I do.” A look of disbelief was displayed on the wolf’s face, “Why are you doing grunt work?” The fox adjusted himself to get more comfortable, “I come to serve, and not to be served. That’s my example for my people.” Jason then remembered what Arcades said to Johnny towards the end of their conversation, “What are you going to do with me?” The fox briefly sat up on his knees before sitting back down, “We’re going to get you out of here, and we will bring you back to our base. Then, you get to decide if you want to go home or if you want to work with us.” The wolf thought about the offer. He didn’t think he would have much to return to, especially since he just lost his brother. Jason said, “I think I’d rather work for you guys. Just, when we get going, can you please… Recover my brother’s body?” Arcades’ eyes widened as he remembered the headless corpse in the command room.
He then said, “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry to hear that was your brother.” The fox sat up on his knees, and he placed his hands on Jason’s shoulders. Jason’s eyes welled up with tears, and he leaned forwards into Arcades. The fox moved his hands to pat the wolf’s back. After a couple moments, the wolf finally cried out, “PLEASE TELL ME MY BROTHER IS NOT IN HELL!” Arcades could not make any promises, “I do not make that decision. I tell you one way or another.” Jason held onto Arcades tightly as he continued to cry into his shoulder. Through his crying, the wolf said, “He didn’t even believe in God!” Arcades was unsure of what to say next. He finally responded, “A lot can happen in the moments leading up to death. You don’t know that for sure.” As Jason continued to cry, most of his tears began to land on Arcades’ Multicam Alpine shirt, and some tears landed on the fox’s soles and tail. The fox still did not let go of the wolf, and the wolf continued gripping the fox tightly.
After Jason calmed down again, Arcades held up the hydration pack, and he offered it to the wolf. “Here, drink some more of this.” The wolf grabbed the pack, and he drank from it. While he wiped the tears from his face, Arcades used his tail to wipe the tears that landed on his soles. After Jason finished drinking the water, he sat the pack down on the bed again. The fox then said, “The best advice I can give you is to repent and trust in Jesus. That’s all you need to get saved. Also, don’t fear the men who can destroy your body. Fear God because He can destroy your body and soul.” Arcades then decided he should take Jason’s mind off of his brother. “Are you still hungry? I have more food that you can have.” Jason shook his head, “No, but thanks.” The fox was feeling uncomfortable from kneeling, so he changed positions by extending his legs outwards. Jason saw that Arcades was barefoot and asked, “You like not wearing shoes?”
Arcades nodded, “Yeah. Helps me look less intimidating.” Jason had heard Arcades say the same thing to Johnny, but he did not want to say this. Jason wanted to ask Arcades about what he heard Johnny ask after his previous question, but he decided that later would be a better time. Jason decided that he had a better question to ask, “So, when would we be getting out of here?” The fox looked towards the closed door, “I’m pretty sure my guy is going to call for exfil. When they get here, we’ll move out of here.” He stood up, and he approached the speaker that was attached to his plate carrier. Arcades switched on the radio and spoke into the microphone, “Johnny, this is Arcades. Requesting ETA on exfil. Over.” Static was on the line for a moment, “Exfil is en route. ETA twenty minutes. Over.” Arcades heard the response and acknowledged, “Copy all. Out.” The fox sat down the microphone back on his plate carrier and turned to face Jason. “Did you hear that?” The fox asked. Jason nodded, “Yeah. Good thing we won’t be here too much longer.” The fox returned to the wolf, and he got back down on his knees again. The fox said, “So, we have about twenty minutes before we get out of here. Anything else you got for me?” Jason thought for a moment before asking, “Do you have a clean shirt I can wear by any chance? The fox stood up, and he went over to his equipment that was on the counter. He opened one of the flaps on the back panel, and he searched through the contents. He pulled out an olive drab short sleeved shirt. “Good thing I have a spare. I usually keep this incase my shirt happens to get wet. It sure doesn’t feel good running around all day with a plate carrier on when your shirt is soaked.” The fox handed the shirt off to the wolf, and the wolf threw the shirt over his light gray and white chest.
Arcades peeked out the window, and he could recognize an HH-60 in the now clear sky. The fox smiled, “That’ll be them. Collect whatever you need, as we’ll be leaving now.” Arcades donned his plate carrier, and he began to put his helmet on. After getting most of his gear on, he slid in the sunglasses over his eyes, and he put his Oakley gloves back on. He then grabbed his Salient GRY that was leaning on the wall, and he strapped the one-point rifle sling around his torso. He then removed the magazine from the rifle, and he pulled the charging handle back to release the round that Johnny had chambered. The fox placed the round back in his magazine, dropped the bolt, and placed the magazine back into his rifle. After he was finished, Arcades turned to Jason and asked, “Anything you need to take with you right now? Another crew will be coming in later to remove everything else from this FOB.” Jason shook his head, “No. I’m just ready to get
out of here.” After Jason stood up, Arcades grabbed the hydration pack that was laying on the bed, and he inserted it back into his plate carrier back panel. The helicopter was now audibly heard from within the base, and Arcades opened the door to the hallway. Johnny was waiting for them, “Y'all ready?” Arcades let his sling carry his rifle for him, and he placed his left hand on Jason’s right shoulder to guide him out of the base.
The two anthros followed the human as he opened the door to the outside. The Pave Hawk had already landed, and an onboard operator opened the door to let the three in. Arcades stepped on the snow, and he immediately remembered what it felt like to walk on snow. Slightly shivering, he helped Jason step aboard the helicopter, and he did not step on until after Johnny entered the helicopter. Arcades took his seat right next to Jason and he said, “It’s over. Let’s get out of here.” The fox tapped on the shoulder of the human operator inside of the helicopter, and he gave him a thumbs up. The operator then signaled to the pilot that everyone was aboard and ready to leave. The pilot gave the aircraft throttle, and the Pave Hawk lifted off of the ground. It would take a while to get back to base, as they still would have to take another flight from Alaska back to the mainland United States. Arcades sat his weapon aside, and he removed his helmet and plate carrier. He also removed his dump pouch, and he strapped it to the JPC. Once he removed all of his combat gear, the fox opened a different compartment of his back panel, and he pulled out his Bible. Arcades removed his sunglasses and placed them in the pouch on his G4 Shirt. He then closed his eyes and bowed his head while he prayed to God. Jason watched Arcades as he prayed. After the fox finished, he opened up his Bible to the Book of Acts and he began reading.
