Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy

by Tom Jones

  Though Arcades was forced to look straight ahead at the van’s side, he could hear the voice of the policemen who came to the location. Fulgrim was the first to speak, “Alright, this is good enough, Walker. How long did they say until the next van would get here?” Walker replied after trying to remember what exactly was relayed over the radio, “Uh, I think they should be here in about five minutes.” Fulgrim said, “Alright, that sounds close enough. Just make sure you line them up beside the bus where you’ve got those three. Nicholson, go and fetch the camera for me, will you? I’ve gotta take the images for the uh-- media department.” Corporal Nicholson replied with a tad of hesitation, but there was no sense of him trying to reason with his superior, “Y-yessir.” Arcades could still not see what was happening while standing directly beside the bus, but he could hear some footsteps approaching from behind. The footsteps sounded like they came from boots, and they also lacked the metallic noise generated by shackles. Arcades was rather confident that it was not an anthro who was walking behind him. The fox briefly looked down to his left, and he could see that both of the detained anthros he was with were not wearing any footwear. Arcades did always choose to go without shoes, but he was starting to wonder if these two females were not given a choice whether or not they wanted their feet unshod. Either way, standing barefoot on hot pavement was not something that the fox had in mind. There was plenty of sand behind the road, and the fox was not sure why they were not made to stand there instead. At least having fur on your feet meant being able to manage standing on the pavement just a little bit better than not having any fur. However, the padding on the ball of the fox’s foot as well as his digits did not help in this particular scenario. The other two anthros were restrained in mostly the same fashion as he, but they were neither wearing restraint chains nor muzzles. Then again, neither of these two females were foxes, so Arcades wondered if him being a fox had something to do with the extra restraints he wore. Regardless, both of the females wore the same exact model of transport restraint the fox did, the Smith & Wesson M-1850.

  After waiting for about half a minute, Arcades heard another human, but he heard the human coming from his left instead of his right. Arcades heard Fulgrim speak, “Ah, thank you, Corporal.” The fox heard a few beeps, and he was convinced that the Sergeant was holding a camera. Though Arcades was incapable of seeing exactly what Fulgrim was doing, the Sergeant was taking some rather strange closeups of the bodies of all three anthros. Fulgrim did indeed zoom in on the buttocks of the females wearing high-cut shorts, and he then panned the camera downwards to view their bare feet locked in the cold metallic shackles. Fulgrim spent about an equal amount of time on both of the female anthros, but he seemed to spend quite a bit of time photographing the fox. Arcades could not see the camera staring at him, but he did hear the shutter of the camera sound multiple times as it captured his image. As Fulgrim aimed his camera at Arcades, he heard the human make a rather strange order, “Lift up your left foot, fox.” Arcades looked to his left since he was left in confusion from the order. Perhaps Fulgrim was asking a different fox to lift his or her left foot. As the fox looked at the other two anthros, he began to realize that there were no other foxes with him. Before Arcades could react, he heard Fulgrim raise his voice, “Eyes forward! Lift up your left foot, fox. Do it now!”

  After being yelled at yet again, the fox’s eyes began to water a bit, but he took a swallow to stave off his emotions as he raised his left foot. Trying to balance was rather difficult for the fox, so he had to lean even more up against the bus’s side to prevent him from falling over. Fulgrim commented as he snapped a few images of the fox’s bare sole, “Keep it held right there. Come on.” After taking several more pictures and moving around to take pictures from several angles, Fulgrim gave another order, “Fox, do that with your other foot.” Arcades had a feeling he had somewhat of an idea as to what was currently taking place, but he was unable to turn around and confirm his suspicions. Either way, the fox knew that he did not really have a way to opt out of Fulgrim’s photoshoot, so he was ultimately forced to play along and let the human take the photos he wanted. Arcades reluctantly sat his left sole back on the hot pavement, and he raised his right sole into the air. Fulgrim repeated the same process he went through when he photographed the fox’s left sole.

  After what felt like too long, Fulgrim could see another unmarked, white E-350 approach the scene. When the Sergeant looked to his left, he knew that he would get a few more anthros he would be able to photograph, but he doubted any of them were as cute as Kurt Hofmeier whose body resembled that of a stereotypical femboy fox. Especially given Arcades’ conduct throughout the entire encounter, Fulgrim was immensely satisfied with the fox he had captured. Fulgrim was not even too bothered that Arcades was a male instead of a female; the fox seemed to exceptionally satisfy his tastes. Fulgrim had a feeling that Arcades’ body was definitely able to pass for a woman’s body if the fox put in just a bit of effort. The Sergeant had not seen too many males with such dainty and petite bodies which rivaled the likes of Arcades. The fox did, however, have some rather large feet, but Fulgrim found that he was extremely fond of Arcades’ foot shape. The Smith & Wesson M-1900 shackles locked around those bare feet only made the entire sight even more enjoyable for the Sergeant. If the fox was wearing a pair of high-cut shorts like the women did, then perhaps Fulgrim would have to go through a few extra measures to hide his sexual excitement. While Fulgrim took one last image of Arcades’ right sole, he let the sling hold his camera as he gave an order to all three anthros, “On your knees, all of you.” The coyote was the first to kneel, and Arcades followed rather quickly to prevent another berating from Fulgrim. The last anthro to kneel was the black-backed jackal.

  Fulgrim moved over to the newly arrived van, and he watched as the anthros exited: a male cougar, a female gray wolf, a female island fox, a male maned wolf, a female black-footed cat, and a female culpeo. Arcades could hear Fulgrim ordering the females to stand to the left of the two females already detained to kneel beside the bus, and he ordered the males to kneel to Arcades’ right. Within the next half-minute, Arcades watched as the maned wolf got on his knees directly to the fox’s right. To the right of the maned wolf, the cougar knelt down. Arcades looked to his left again, and he could see that the females were beginning to kneel beside the black-backed jackal and the coyote. The fox was rather astounded by the gender ratio: There were a total of six females and only three males. Arcades was also astounded to see that he was the only anthro wearing both the muzzle as well as the restraint chain. The fox was not sure why he was made to wear such restraints, but he did not know that Fulgrim liked him better that way. All of the anthros were still wearing the same transport restraints, and none of them bothered to speak. Perhaps they learned to be quiet before they were put into the first van. The fox began to wonder as to why there was such a large group of anthros in the second van. After all, the officers carried six anthros in the second van. Arcades was all alone when he came in the first van.

  It was not long before the fox heard the sound of a camera’s shutter again, and he figured that Fulgrim was taking more photographs of the anthros’ feet. Even though Fulgrim took plenty of pictures of the female anthros with their soles facing upwards while in their kneeling positions, Arcades still heard the camera’s shutter go off directly behind him. The fox kept trying to turn his head to the right and move his eyes in such a way so that he would be able to see Fulgrim taking pictures of either the maned wolf or the cougar, but he never saw the human walk over to take the pictures. Arcades did not understand why it was only he and the women who had pictures made of their bodies and feet. Were the two male anthros on his right not good enough for the attention? The fox looked at their faces from the side, and he still wondered why they were not wearing muzzles like he was.

  Kneeling for as long as he was, Arcades was beginning to feel discomfort, yet he could still hear Fulgrim taking images while standing directly behind him. The d
iscomfort which Arcades experienced was made even worse since his feet had quite high arches. The fox was not sure how many images the human took; he never started counting the number of shutter sounds. Thankfully for the fox, he heard Fulgrim make a new order, “All of you, stand up.” Arcades was one of the first to get to his feet. Despite the fact that the ground was very hot to stand on, he was not sure how much longer he could have tolerated sitting on his knees. As the fox stood and looked down at his shackled feet, he could see the connecting chain between his wrists and ankles rock back and forth. From kneeling so long, Arcades legs were also rocking, but he was able to steady his legs after stretching a leg backwards. When the fox made the movement, he immediately heard Fulgrim speak, “Don’t move, fox.” Arcades was surprised by the sudden order out of nowhere, but he forced himself to comply with the Sergeant’s demands. After hearing a few more shutter sounds from the camera, the fox was beginning to wonder how large Fulgrim’s memory card was. He had to have taken at least a couple hundred images so far.

  “Do that with your other foot, fox,” Fulgrim spoke once more. Arcades really wanted to ask the human as to why he required so many images of a silver fox’s feet, but he would not be able to speak even if he had the courage to do so. The fox complied once more, and he held his foot back as he allowed for Fulgrim to take some more pictures of his feet. Fulgrim finally moved away from the fox, and he went to take some more images of his female captures. Arcades still held his foot outwards since he did not know if Fulgrim was done, but he finally brought it back in once he heard the camera’s shutter sounding from the other side of the lineup. Arcades had nothing to do to get his mind off of the situation, so he looked around. Arcades examined the livery on the side of the bus, and it was a fairly simple livery featuring text identifying the van as belonging to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The livery looked very similar to the regular patrol cars driven by the officers, but Arcades could not say that he had seen this specific bus before. After seeing that the side of the bus did not have too much to offer, he looked down at the ground, and he could see the restrained feet of the maned wolf to his right and the coyote’s feet to his left. After looking down the lineup, Arcades could tell that all of the anthros were indeed barefoot, and he began to believe Fulgrim’s earlier remark when he said that he would have taken the fox’s shoes if he was wearing them upon being detained. Though the fox assumed that the officers did so to humiliate and deprive the detainee of power, he also could not help but think that somebody would get intimate with the images of the anthros’ feet. Anthros did not necessarily need to wear shoes, but Arcades was aware that many humans and anthros alike enjoyed the sight of anthro feet.

  The whole situation was surreal: Everybody was quiet, and the only sound which broke the silence was the noise created from the digital camera’s shutter as it took a photograph. After what felt like forever, the fox began to hear a different sound. The sound was a beeping sound, but it was not the same as the beep before taking an image. Rather, it was the sound of Fulgrim browsing through and looking at the images which he took. The human only viewed a few of the images before he finally decided that he was done using his unconsenting models for his photoshoot, “Nicholson, go and radio the guys to get back here. We’re about ready for them to go to jail.” Nicholson talked on the radio and Fulgrim went to his squad car to stow away the camera, but the last sentence which the Sergeant spoke brought Arcades back to what was happening. The fox had almost forgotten that he was under arrest. He was starting to believe that he was just a model being used for a strange photoshoot and that he would be released after Fulgrim was finished. However, Arcades suddenly remembered that he would not be released, and he also realized that he would not be going back home anytime soon. With the reality of the situation slamming into the fox yet again, he could not help but start to weep. Now realizing he had simply been used, Arcades was truly overwhelmed by the entire situation.

  Though the photoshoot was very embarrassing for the fox, he felt that his crying only made it more embarrassing for himself. Arcades really wanted to hide himself, but there was absolutely nowhere for him to retreat to. He was locked up in chains made from carbon steel, and he knew that he was not allowed to leave the scene. Even if he disregarded the will of the policemen, he would definitely not get far before being caught by the police. After all, he was the one who was bound and gagged. Even if the police were not present, Arcades was still locked up in restraints that would not open without a key. The fox did not own a key himself, and he did not know anybody who did. Arcades did not even know how one would be able to cut any such restraints off. Besides, Arcades had no idea where he was, and he knew that he would not want to make a trek back to his home in Ozark, Alabama while locked in a muzzle and shackles. All the fox could do was obey the police and hope that they would not use him more than they already did. Arcades still had no idea how many people would come to view the images of his bound and gagged self once they were uploaded to the Internet. At the same time, Arcades looked down at the restraints yet again and definitely made a mental note to himself to purchase a set of equivalent restraints for himself. He did not know why he was feeling his strange desire, but was definitely interested by the thought of being restrained under better conditions.

  After a good bit of waiting, the driver of the bus finally showed up, and he was accompanied by a few more officers who arrived in another squad car. Apparently, Arcades overheard their conversation of going to get some food for the officers, but he was not in the best state of mind to eavesdrop on their conversation. The fox was still rather emotional by the gravity of the situation, and he just could not help but pointlessly struggle in his restraints. Arcades was not expecting to escape, but it was at least something for him to do. He did not know why such a small fox like him was required to wear so many restraints. The fox alone was absolutely no match compared to any of the officers, for all of them were at the very least double his size. Though Arcades did stand six feet in height, he was extremely skinny. The restraints he wore barely fit on his limbs, and they were tightened almost as far as they would go. Thinking about the ordeal was not helping the fox either, and he only began to weep more as a result of letting his mind analyze his helpless situation. At least the muzzle held his mouth shut; Arcades’ sobs were not that audible to the group. The humiliation of being chained up and barefoot was not helping the fox, either. Since he was made to stand for a great deal of the photoshoot, Arcades was unable to cover the soles of his feet with his tail. Even while he was kneeling, the fox did not dare cover up his soles. He was afraid that he would receive a few choice words from Fulgrim while he was taking his photos of furry feet.

  After being lost in thought yet again, the fox heard Fulgrim make an announcement, “Alright, all males sit on the right of the bus, and all females sit on the left. Go on and get in the bus!” Arcades looked to his right, and he could see that the cougar was already beginning to enter the bus through the opened door. The driver had also already entered the bus while Arcades was too invested in his own emotions to notice. With the cougar in the bus, the maned wolf followed suit. Arcades found that it was now his turn to enter the bus, and he did so after looking to his right some more to see that Fulgrim was staring directly at him. The fox also realized that he was still crying, so he began to also realize that he was only drawing more attention to himself. Arcades felt so embarrassed while crying, but he did not see that any of the other anthros looked too upset being in this predicament. However, the fox knew that he was not present to see the initial capture of any of the anthros he was with. The other anthros could have been just as emotional as he was. There was truly no way for him to know what really happened when they were initially detained.

  Stepping into the bus, Arcades was, in a way, glad that he was not standing on the hot pavement anymore. The shackles around the fox’s ankles made it somewhat difficult for him to ascend the steps, but he was beginning to get used to wearing the shackles. He
had already worn them for probably at least two hours at this point, and he was not even at the Okaloosa County Jail in Crestview yet. Arcades watched as the cougar took a seat towards the back of the bus, and he saw that the maned wolf sat in the seat directly in front of the cougar. Arcades was not sure whether he was allowed to sit next to one of the other anthros, and he was also not sure if they would want to sit next to him anyways. After all, crying was all the fox had done in terms of communication, and other anthros probably would not want to hear it up close and personal. Arcades took the seat directly in front of the maned wolf, and he moved over to sit next to the window. He did not know how long the trip would take, but he figured that he would at least get to see the beach he did not get a chance to swim at. As the fox looked down at his restraints and back outside at the water, he heard somebody move next to him. The maned wolf had moved from his seat to sit next to the fox.

  Arcades looked to his left to view the wolf, but the tears in his eyes obstructed his vision. Without the use of his hands to wipe his tears, the fox used his shoulders to wipe the tears from his eyes onto his moisture-wicking shirt. When the fox finished, he looked at the wolf, and the wolf placed his own cuffed hands on the thigh of Arcades. Since the wolf was not wearing a restraint chain locking his hands to his waist, he was able to reach out and place his hands on the fox in the hopes of calming him down. Arcades looked at the wolf’s face, and the wolf could see that Arcades was definitely both upset and frightened. After all of the female anthros boarded the bus and the rest of the officers left the bus, the driver finally closed the front door and began to drive the bus. The engine sound of the bus began to drown out the peculiar silence, and the bus finally started moving forwards. The fox looked outside of the window once more, and he could see that a considerable amount of time had passed since he initially arrived at the beach in the first place.