Sergeant James Durban stood at the entrance of the base. The sun was setting and he watched the sky turn to red, pink, purple and then finally into dark blue of twilight. The hot shifting sand of the desert stretched out before him. Next to him, his best friend, his partner, a German Shepard named Sampson, sat waiting. He knew what was about to happen. It happened every night. 2015, They been together for seven years, ever since they deployed to Iraq. James was a large man he stood at a towering 6’8’’ and a hard 350. He could have passed for a linebacker in the NFL. He was a farm boy from the start, Growing up in Montana. It was after September 11th and his 18th birthday that he knew he had to go, he had to go and fight for the USA, for freedom. He looked down at his K9 sidekick, his partner.
“Ready Sam?” The dog hopped up on all fours and gave a bark. James adjusted his M4, turned to his squad, gave them a quick once over, turned and stepped past the gate. Sampson walked locked step next to him. The ever shifting dunes their destination. James and his squad went out nightly to do patrols and sniff out IED or landmines. James walked a head, Sampson was lock step beside him. All his men were capable and compatent, but James always knew Sampson had his back, just like he had his. James loved the night shift. He felt that his senses were elevated. He felt the cool night air, well as cool as the sands of Iraq can be. He preferred it, there was less sweat.
The squad walked to the nearest town next to the base. They called it Alpha Sierra, there isn’t anything on a map of any worth. To call it a town was generous. Really it was 6 small huts and a water well. That well made it more valuable than all the gold in Sadam’s vault. Can’t drink gold… James walked up to the well, the old man sat where he always sat.
“Salam alaikum.” James greets the old man.
"Wa alaikum assalam.” The old man replies. They continue in Arabic. James learnt the language two years after he put boots on the ground. He had to, a stranger in a strange land without being able to speak to those that can save you is a fools journey.
“Grandfather, how goes the night? Good tidings to you and your family.” The old man looked around in a way that James has not seen before. They have been coming there for years, the old man always sat at the well drawing things in the sand with his stick./ He was an amazing artist, drawing art that would be worth thousands in any gallery in Europe or America. The old man began to write in Arabic, but spoke slowly
“Oh Sahib they are well, but some odd thing has happened recently, there are these strange horses that have come to the village and we are, well we don’t know what to think of them.”
“Strange Horses?”
“Yes they keep asking for…” The old man pauses and says in English, “Sketties”
“What the Hell?” James says. “That’s odd.”
“Here one comes now Sahib, but maybe you should…” The old man is interrupted by the orange fluffy with the green mane who plodded up to James and the old man. It puffs up its cheeks and stomps its little leg in an aggressive way.
“Mistah, gib skitties to fwuffy and fwuffy special fwiend neow. Gib housie or get worstest sorry poopies!!” James stared at the thing looking up at him. Sampson sniffed at it and began to growl. It looked like the thing his kid sister drew in the letters he got from his family. His men looked at the thing, none of them have ever seen anything like it.
“What the hell are you? Where did you come from?” James asked half assed, he wasn’t sure what to think of this… thing.
“Fwuffy and Fwuffy special fwiend find nummy pwace, den am now in dis pwace, Gib skitties now!” James thought back to a meeting where they discovered that food from home was lower than expected, also a large amout of shit was located when unloading. James put it together. James looked over at what the old man was drawing in the sand, his heart jumped up to his throat. In the sand the old man wrote “They are here and all around, help.” James took a deep breath. He knew that he had to play this out carfully, not only for the people of this village, but his men. He nodded to the old man and then looked at the… What did it call itself… Fwuffy…Fluffy…
“Listen, I need you and your “Herd” to come with me, we can figure this out. But we need to get back to the base.” James spoke slowly and deliberately.
“New housie?”
“Yes, new housie… but we have to go now.” James said looking at all his men. They understood that things have gotten heated, but they had to remain calm.
“Yaaa Fwuffy luv new housies, Special fwiend, new daddah hab new housie fo’ fwuffy and special fwined!” From one of the shaks came a bloated blue and pink horse thing. It was disgustingly round and waddled towards the group.
“Huff huff, soon mammah coming, Huff huff, su hawd, leggies nu wuk gud, hewp special fwiend!”
“Daddeh. Hewp special…”
“Fuck me! Rodreguz, pick up the blue one, Smith, grab this thing, we need to double time back to base, to find out what the hell these things are.” At least he hoped this would buy them time. Rodreguz picked up the blue horse pig thing.
“Yaa Gud upsies, soon mammah su happies.” the blue thing said as Rodreguz placed it in his chest bag. Smith wasn’t so nice and grabbed the thing by its scruff
“Screee, Bad upsies.” The fluffy screamed, it began to shit and piss everwhere. Smith dropped it with a gag.
Just as the shitting horse pig thing hit the ground the first bullet took out Davy, it was a head shot clean and devastating, Davy was dead before he hit the ground. The old man ducked low and ran for his hut, he was hit shortly after. James shouted for everyone to find cover. Just as he did the entire village was lit up with heavy fire.
“SCREEE SU WOUD!! FWUFFY NU WIKE, SMEWW BOOBOO JUICE!” The male screamed and covered its head with its stumpy legs. James screamed out orders trying to get his men secured and set up to defend against the sudden on slot. Sampson laid low next to his masters legs. James hugged the well, not that it mattered, the bullets grazed both sides and all around James. Sandra was hit next and she went down. Rodreguz dropped the fluffy hard on the ground as he found cover.
“SCREE, SOON MAMMAH HAB WORSTEST HURTIES! NU WIKE! OHHH TUMMY FWEEW BAD… BIG…BIGGEST POOPIES!!! The mares back end shot out blood and fluid as it began to give birth right there in the battle field. “SPECIAL FRIEND GIB MAMMAH HLEPSIES!!”
The other shitpig began to cry and move towards its mate. “Fwuffy coming, Fwuffy Smart, can hewp!!” It began to walk towards the mare as bullets whizzed by.
“Get down you idiot, you are going to get killed!” James yelled at the stupid thing.
“Hu hu, nu yeww at fwuffy! fwuffy am gud fwuffy!” The stupid shit pig crouched down covered its head and cried and cried.
The solders began to return fire, Timmy, the radio op, messaged in the SNAFU. A hand grenade landed close to the cowering fluffy.
“What dat? gasp nummies! Daddeh, take nummies and Fwuffy wiww gu help special fwiend.” The dimwitted thing grabbed the live grenade in its mouth and began to walk towards James.
“No! Stop don’t come closer!” James stuck out his left hand, the last thing he remembered was seeing Sampson jumping in front of him then the sound of a bang!
James felt consciousness slowly return to himself. He smelt clean, clean that was too clean. This wasn’t good. This can only mean one thing, that he is in a hospital. James groaned and opened his eyes… his one eye… darkness on his left, his right was blurry. He heard Timmy as he came to.
“Sarge, easy now sir, you took a nasty hit. Relax. Nurse, he is up.” James raised his hand up to his face and in that moment, he realized just how bad it was. James was told that shortly after the fire fight began, the fluffy walked towards him with the live grenade when his loyal dog Sampson jumped between him and the blast. Sampson didn’t make it, James lost his left eye and his hand in the blast. If Sampson didn’t do what he did, James would have been killed. He lost half his squad in that attack, the entire village was whipped out. The mother fluffy survived. Along with her babies. They were next to him in a basket that the nurses found. She was sitting there, singing a song,
“Mammah lub babbehs, babbehs lub mummah, dwink aww da milkies gwow up big and stwong…”
James laid there listening to that song, listing to the babies peep and cheep. He didn’t cry even after he heard of what happened to his men, to his dog, to his best friend. He didn’t cry when he got his papers. He laid there, listing to the damn thing sing its damn song. He waited till it was late at night, when it was cool, when he wouldn’t work up a sweat. James stood up and walked to the bed where the fluffy slept with her 2 babies. James reached down and picked up the babies in his one remaining hand. They began to peep, having been disturbed.
“Babbehs? Mummah hewe!”
James dropped low so the mother could look at him. He cleard his throat and began to speak.
“You breed? Huh, I suppose that means there are more of you out there. You survived. That’s good I suppose. Survival is important. I suppose you have a plan right?”
“Yes nice mistah, fwuffy wiww hewp babbehs get big and stwong.”
“A good plan I guess. A good plan. I had a plan. I was going to end my time here, retire and go home and farm, or weld, something quiet. But then I met you. You and your kind and well, I guess my plans have changed.”
Jim snapped the neck of one of the babbeh and then the other one, not breaking eye contact with the mother.
“Nuuu babbehs hab worstest huwties! Huggies make ebwithing bettwr!”
“Do you think my eye will be fixed with huggies? My hand??? No. They are gone. Much like my dreams, or should I say they were gone. You and your kind… cannot exist… I suppose I have found a new job, a new life.” James dropped the dead fluffies and picked up the mother. “I will never rest till all of you abominations are cleansed from the face of this good Earth, and I will be the one to do it.” James grabbed the mother and picked her up by the scruff.
“Nu bad upsies!!” The mare squawked and it dumped its ass and bladder.
“Yup.” James said as he slammed the fluffy mother into the end of the bed before dropping it and crawling into the same bed. “Cleansed from this good Earth.”