A Paw Behind You

The Outside World (Part 1)

What happened? Where am I?

I was inside something, something moving in a highly accelerated motion, where my butt was sitting on what seemed to be a vehicle's back seat, one to be hard, and pouring out cloth from its sutures. The windows built on the side, were showing fog-obscured windows, displaying only a jet-black scenery along with some oncoming street lights glowing a dim orange.

Frontside, I could hear different voices, all unintelligible and unfamiliar. And all of this, was accompanied by a sombre tone that radiated from the person that phoned all of these numbers.

But sooner or later, all was silent with only the sound of a junky engine huffing and puffing.

"I'm... so... so sorry..."

Those were the only comprehensive, sombre words I could hear from the driver, this time, his voice was familiar, yet not completely identifiable. Although... 

"Ugh..."

I reflexively raised both arms for immediate cover as a sudden white light blinded my surroundings. And unexpectedly, my ears could hear hundreds of voices, sinister screams and terrifying shouts.

But streaming through the violent storm, that hadn't reach breaking point. No, I felt something chilling even through my fur, skin and into my bone. I registered glass-shattering gunshots, I see silhouettes of weapon-wielding characters, with another side occupied by characters cowering from the intimidating----

*BANG*

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah!"

My eyes reflexively flickered from the sun shining on my face. Instantly, my nose was invaded by some... smell, or more like smells, to a point my nose was actually hurting from the overload as much as my back from the suddenness of everything. 

I got up achingly from what seemed to be a deflated, near-torn air mattress on a dirty cement floor. And unlucky enough, the said mattress was positioned exactly below the window frame where curtains were useless from blocking the blinding light.

Slowly standing, I dragged open the hole-filled curtains (was practically useless as a so-called 'curtain') with my fingers still shaking from before, revealing a rising sun towering over a bunch of significantly smashed up buildings that I couldn't recognize. And judging from the capability of seeing flat, mossy roofs and broken antennas, I was somewhere in an apartment block, few floors up.

Where was I?

I tried remembering, but only came up with blurry memories, and a mild headache. Looking down the non-barred windows (unlike other rooms), I could see an empty street with an ornate victorian street lamp, most likely to be similarly dead as the surrounding atmosphere here.

Looking back, the room was square-ish, an empty, near-ruined bed frame sitting right in front of me with a few battered shelves at my right. On the bedside accents at the other side, positioned some murky picture frames, which, judging by the multiple silhouettes you could still see through its glass, was a family's one. Unknown what to do then, I decided to just enter the empty door frame further on my left.

Going through it, yet another ray of sun passed through an empty bay window frame, lighting up a desolate, dust-flying living room from my left, and to a lightless, also identically deserted kitchen on my other side. Well, probably once before, because now, there was someone manning (or probably struggling with effort) a click-sounding gas stove.

"Come on... work up already..." I could hear those words mutter out from behind the recognizable orange-furred character. When I approach closer though, the thumps from the disturbed planked floor pretty much caused the fox's head to turn his rust-brown eyes to me, "Oh, good morning Sky!"