Humankind has long since perished.
But life goes on.
Nature is slowly reclaiming the planet. A fire forces a young red fox named Kip to flee her den for the first time. Now alone and left half-blind, Kip must struggle to find refuge for herself and...
Small teeth bit into Kip's tail and yanked her backward. Someone pulled Kip out of the way of the eagle's path, and the bird crashed into the ground in a heap of flying silver feathers right where she had just been standing only heartbeats before. The eagle lifted his crested head and shrieked. He spread his impressive wingspan, showing off his size and strength. The eagle's son was larger than his mother, and even more hostile. Kip had seen him and his terrible sister drop wriggling animals from the sky just for fun many times.
"Mom!" came the high voice of Vin. "You're supposed to run from the eagles, remember?"
Neer continued to yank on Kip's tail. With a gasp, the she-fox scrambled after her kits. Her ears turned backward at the sound of claws scraping the earth as the raptor chased after them. In a flash, Kip doubled-back and slammed her front paws on the eagle's head, shoving his face into the dirt, beak first. Then Kip followed her young, satisfied when she pulled more than a few feathers from the bird's proud crest.
The fox family made their escape, leaving the young eagle screaming in rage in their dust.
The parting shrieks of the harpy eagle rang in Kip's pointed ears—a warning. A threat.
The young eagle's mother, the owner of this domain, would soon know the foxes were on the move. And Kip had the feeling that the eagle wouldn't be keen on any of her subservient animals escaping her rule.
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Kip tried to hide her limp as best she could. The pain in her leg only worsened as the sun fell from the sky and cold night air stung her lungs. Crickets and other night creatures began their nocturnal concert. Her tired kits panted and whined with their little tails dragging behind them as they walked. Kip smoothed their ruffled fur with licks as best she could. The soil they padded on changed to hard, cooling asphalt and the trio followed the white painted lines in the road that lead them to the maw of a tunnel. On the train trucks above the tunnel, deteriorating train cars slumped together—the wreckage of a rail accident. Kip sniffed the stale air coming from the tunnel and pivoted her ears for any sounds. Nothing slumbered inside except for the husks of long-abandoned cars and trucks.
"What's in there?" Vin wondered, a bit too loud. Then she shrank back when her voice echoed back at her from inside the tunnel. She yipped in excitement and scurried in a circle before yelling, "Hello in there!" She giggled when the tunnel threw her own words back at her once more.
Kip was pleased that the day's events hadn't dulled her kit's spirits. She smiled and shushed her cub with some more licks. "Shush, you. We'll rest in here for the night."
Her cubs followed her into the tunnel. Kip investigated every car, sniffing around flattened, rotting tires and jumping up on dented hoods to peer into broken windshields. She rejected yet another car occupied by slumped skeletons with their skulls rolled back against headrests and their jaws hanging open. She wasn't quite keen on company.
Finally, she settled on a little rusted thing whose driver's side door had been pried open and whose interior was free of any inhabitants—living or dead.
She helped lift the tiny cubs into the car with her nose, then followed them inside. Both cubs clambered for the spacious backseat where they pounced and nipped at each other, excited by the strange new den. Kip settled next to her play-fighting cubs and groomed herself contently.
"Hey, Mom?" Vin said around a mouthful of Neer's scruff. "What are we supposed to do when we see the eagle again?"
Kips' face flushed red beneath her fur. She batted at her daughter before crossing a foreleg over the other. She repeated her lesson—the same lesson she'd taught her cubs over and over again. "We run."
Vin grinned and giggled some more. "Okay. Just making sure you remembered."
Neer shoved his sister off of him and peeked out of a window. "There sure are a lot of animals wandering around out there."
Kip's face fell. There were no other creatures that she could scent or hear. But, like Vin, Neer had a...strange imagination. "Get away from the windows, Neerling," she said gently.
The cubs snuggled against her, yawning. Vin rolled on her back and stuck all four legs in the air. "Ugh! My paws are sooo tired!" Vin said, wiggling said paws. "I think this is the most I've walked in my entire life! Are we there yet?"
"Not yet, little one."
"What will it be like without the eagle? Will we be able to play outside? Far away from the den?"
"Yes, Vinling."
Vin wagged her tail at that thought. "Oh! And can we be as loud as we want?"
Neer clapped his black paws over his ears and griped, "You already are."
"Neer, I'm going to bite you again."
Kip lay her tail over her kits. "Shush. Sleep now."
But Vin scratched at the leather seat, leaving claw marks. Despite her yawning, she was too antsy to sleep. "Tell us a story, Mom. Then we'll sleep. Promise."
The vixen sighed, but gave in. "Fine. But you promised, remember? One story, and then rest. Come here," she said. She pulled her two kits closer to herself.
"Tell us about dad!" Neer said as he snuggled into her snow-white chest fur.
Kip was silent for a few heartbeats. She sifted through her mind for a story she hadn't told before. Then she smiled. "There was one time your father and I were hunting together," she began. "Back when this territory used to belong to us. Birds would sing. Fireflies would dance. Ah. Your father loved to catch fireflies in his teeth and end up with glowing fangs. He was a kind fox, your father, but not a smart one."
"But that's why you liked him," said Vin.
"Yes, it was," Kip said with a smile.
Both her cubs laughed at that and rolled around happily in her paws.
Kip had to stop talking for a moment. In her mind, she saw Fell's warm smile and the glow of gold sunlight on silver fur. A lump swelled in her throat, but her kits were staring up at her with huge, glistening eyes. So she swallowed, smiled, and continued her story. "Anyway, we were hunting one evening, and he didn't watch where he was going. He ended up tripping over a rabbit hiding in the grass. The rabbit took off running with your father nipping at its tail. Just when he was a snap away from catching it, it kicked him right in the nose, and your father had to retreat. But the rabbit came after him with a vengeance. The entire city laughed at the sight of a fox being chased by a bunny."
Her cubs laughed in between yawns as she finished her story.
"Another story!" Vin said, tail wagging.
"No. You promised." Kip smirked. "Remember?"
"Ugh. Fine."
Both kits nuzzled into her fur and shut their eyes. Kip's heart ached for days past, and for the uncertain future.
The vixen battled her fatigue, remaining awake and vigilant through the night. The brightness of her white eye competed with the full moon outside the tunnel. But that was fine by her so long as her cubs slept soundly next to her, twitching in their dreams. They didn't even stir when some rabid animal raked its claws along the outside of the car and wailed mournfully before moving on.
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