The Harvest

differential_Sloth, September 24, 2020; 04:35 / FB 58267
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The Harvest

By differential_Sloth

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After the raids on Hasbio’s facilities, it was less than a couple of months before fluffies became known to the public. Soon enough, there was hardly a person in the world unfamiliar with the colourful, dog-sized talking ponies. Strange as fluffies were, especially the pegasi, unicorn and alicorn sub-types, rumours of stranger forms started to circulate at roughly the same time. People online swore up and down they’d seen fluffies the size of guinea pigs found in urban environments. Others insisted they’d seen fluffies swimming; not terrestrial fluffies but ones that resembled, of all things, seals. Micro fluffies were confirmed within a few weeks of their large cousins, but it took nearly a year before someone managed to find and capture a seal-fluffy.

At the time of the Vermont and Kentucky raids, seal-fluffies were an experiment. More accurately, a side project by project staff without anything better to do and little oversight. While micro-fluffies were intended for release about a half year after regular fluffies, as a low-cost space-efficient alternative, no such plan existed for seal-fluffies. After the project was discovered, it was assigned the goal of exploring the outer limits of Hasbio’s genetic endangering.

Following the raids and premature release of fluffies, though, the project was liquidated along with the rest. Most seal-fluffies were purged, along with mountains of evidence at the order Hasbio’s executives, just before and even as they fled. In the chaos, however, some managed to escaped captivity or were dumped in a rush to avoid any retribution. Perhaps those responsible thought seal-fluffies wouldn’t stand a chance in the wild. But was with terrestrial fluffies, but the creatures proved their creators wrong.

Because seal-fluffies weren’t intended for commercial release, less was done to differentiate them from their template animals, a combination of seal subspecies. While they shared the colourful pelts and ability to talk with their terrestrial cousins, Seal-fluffs retained a carnivorous diet and predatory skills to match. Nowhere near an apex predator, the average seal-fluffy was, however more than able to catch and kill fish. Once they’d found their way to the sea, the creatures spread throughout the world’s oceans.

Since they were, in essence, colourful, talking seals, seal-fluffies congregated in most areas their distant ancestors did. In the years after Hasbio’s downfall, coastlines around the world turned technicolour as seal-fluffies multiplied and carved out their niche. More successful than terrestrial fluffies, seal-fluffies still faced many challenges. Sharks, killer whales, polar bears and others found seal-fluffies to be excellent prey. Then, there was competition for food and real estate.

And, like their land-dwelling cousins and most animals, seal-fluffies were in great danger from humans.

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*Splash*

An orange male seal-fluffy emerged from the waves onto the beach, a large fish gripped in his mouth. Using his flippers, the bull awkwardly crawled up the stony shore towards the large gathering further up the beach. Around him, other bulls did the same, fish of various shapes and sizes in their mouths. The group was large, nearly 140 seal-fluffies of all ages; someone used to terrestrial fluffies would think this was one herd, but they’d be wrong.

The exact reasons were a subject of intense study, but seal fluffs didn’t exhibit the same social behaviours of terrestrial fluffies. The onshore gatherings were purely for safety and convenience; among the group, there was no smarty to be found. The most significant grouping to be found were a few family groups who stuck together.

The orange bull worked his way up the shore, threading his way through the gatherings and avoiding the pups who strayed from their mothers before being herded back. Passing by a multi-generation family group, the bull came across his mate, still in the simple nest dug out of the pebbled beach. Hearing something approach, the cow opened her eyes and looked up. A wide smile crossed her face as she recognised the bull.

‘Speciaw fwend!’

The bull dropped the fish and pushed it toward the cow with his snout. ‘Fwuffy find big fishie nummies, Speciaw fwend. Gun make tummeh babbehs big an stwong.’ The bull took a sideways glance at the cow's swollen abdomen; the thick green fluff concealed the movement of the litter inside, but the cow could feel every small shift.

‘If tummeh babbehs get biggah day gun cum oud,’ she said, craning her head around.

‘Dat am otay,’ the bull said. ‘Fwuffy wan see babbehs an be daddeh!’

‘Fwuffy wan see babbehs tuu,’ the cow added. It had been some time since the pair had mated; dreamed of the day they'd meet their pups, and when they could take to the water as a family. The moment passed, and the cow turned back around to eat her meal. Reaching out with her front flippers, the seal-fluffy dragged the fish closer and closed her mouth around it.

The cow’s teeth ripped into the fish’s soft flesh with ease, pulling away a large chunk. The cow swallowed greedily, barely chewing the meat before ripping more from the fish's corpse. As his mate fed, the bull shuffled cuddled up, laying his head down on the pebble beach. For seal-fluffies, hunts were always tiring; though fast and agile enough to catch most fish, their garish colourful coats made them easy to detect. Prey almost always had advanced warning. Add to that the competition from so many others and the bull was nearly exhausted.

His muscles ached and burned from the effort of hunting the large fish the cow was halfway through eating, not to mention taking care of his own needs. It was a delicate balancing act for the creatures and only one of many troubles. Some bulls who went out hunting didn't come back; as with their prey, the seal-fluffies colours made it easy for predators to lock on. Across the expanse of the beach, cows waited patiently for mates who would never come.

After accepting the inevitable, those poor fluffies would be faced with a difficult choice to risk the waters themselves, attempted to catch fish or graze on patches of seaweed. More than a few of them would meet their end in the teeth of some aquatic predator, all but dooming any pups they left behind. The orange bull forced those thoughts from his mind as best he could and focused on the noises of the beach as he slowly drifted to sleep.

There was soft chatter from dozens of fellow seal-fluffies all around, and the higher-pitched sound of pups playing with litter mates and newly found friends. In the distance, the bull heard the soft rolling rumble of waves breaking on the beach. From above came a less calming sound, that of sea birds flying overhead. Similar to gatherings of seals, the birds gathered for the chance to pick at the fish scraps left over. Unlike standard seals, though, the birds also sought the opportunity to snatch an unwary pup wandering too far from its parents.

The seal-fluffies did their best to stop it, but a few times each day, the familiar sounds of the beach were punctuated by the high pitched squeal of a pup carried aloft by a bird. It would be followed, naturally, by the mournful cries of the parents and sibblings. It hadn’t happened that day, though. And at any rate, the sounds of his mate eating was more than enough to distract from the birds.

A few moments later, the cow finished eating and settled down, shuffling closer to the bull. Her slow, gentle breathing and the warmth of her body was calming, and almost carried the bull the last few steps to sleep. Then, a loud scream shattered the day’s routine. The bull’s eyes shot open, and he raised his head in the direction of the noise.

‘S-specaiw fwend?’ The cow asked, looking to the source. ‘Wat am dat?’

The Stallion didn’t answer, trying his best to look past the crowds around him and see what had caused the scream. As he searched, the first scream became a few, then many. Among them came panicked cries of warning, and a single chilling word. ‘Hoomins!!’ The bull felt his insides turn to ice and seconds later, he saw them.

About a dozen tall figures ran emerged over the dunes and charged the seal-fluffies; each held something in their hands. The bull couldn’t tell what they were, but he had no intention of staying to find out though. ‘Quick Speciaw fwend!!’ He urged. ‘Nee wun way! Hoomins cumin!!’ At the mention of the word, the cow followed her mate, shuffling along the beach as quickly as the added bulk of pregnancy allowed.

Across the beach, the nearly two hundred other seal fluffs did the same, digging their flippers into the pebbles and hauling themselves toward the waves. Those closest to the water enjoyed a quick escape, disappearing into the surf and transforming from awkward to sleek and agile in a heartbeat. Even heavily pregnant cows had an easy out if they made it to the waves.

Not all everyone on the beach had the simple option of escape, though. Families with pups who were still small wasted precious moments getting them on their backs to carry them to safety. Then, some families' pups were still blind and helpless. If they made it to the water, they couldn't swim away; the pups would drown just as sure as a terrestrial fluffy would. All they could do was huddle protectively around their young as they peeped and cried.

Within seconds the humans were on the retreating seal-fluffies. With a practised swing that used their momentum, the front runners hurled large nets into the air. The nets opened in flight, coming down on the seal-fluffies. ‘Screee!!!’ A few near the edge managed to slip out and continue their escape, but most got tangled and bunched up.

While the terrified creatures tried to escape from the net and each other, the trapper who’d thrown the net rushed forward. He ran around the outside of the net, staked it down with tent pegs he pulled stakes from a punch on his belt. Nearby, his fellow trappers did the same. The rest of the team ran past, hurling their nets at the seal-fluffies, trapping dozens with each throw. Under the netting, adults and pups alike writhed in terror, trying to escape from the humans and their strange traps.

‘Keep goin speciaw fwend!!’ The orange bull yelled, hauling himself across the beach. 'Nee wun way!!' The cow didn't respond; all her effort went into reaching the safety of the ocean. Tears flowed from her eyes and muscles burned, but the cow kept going. Other than fear, all she could think of was the safety of her unborn pups.

Behind them came the desperate cries of the trapped seal fluffs and screams from those just netted. Other cries and panicked yells came from all over the fleeing mass of awkward creatures. Above those were yells and shouts that filled the seal fluffs with ice-cold terror.

‘Quick, get ahead of them!!’ a trapper yelled. ‘We might not find another group this big for a while!!’

With the human's yell came the crunch of boots, rushing towards the bull and his mate. Cold fear washed over the bull, and the cow let out a strangled cry of fear. The hard crunching came closer by the second, but so was the water's edge. Through gaps in the crowd, the orange bull saw the ocean, and waves breaking on the beach.

‘Fastah Speciaw fwend! Fastah!!’ The bull urged. ‘Jus nee get tu wawa an scape!!’ It was right there, they could do it! Less than ten meters separated the pair from the relative safety of the ocean, into which dozens of seal-fluffies disappeared into by the minutes. But for the bull and his mate, it might as well have been a mile. Something faint flickered in the seal-fluffy’s vision, and he felt a slight weight settle on his back. The bull and his mate ignored it and kept going until they found they couldn't.

The seal-fluffies ahead of them got caught in the net and came to a dead stop. Those coming up behind ran into them, and within seconds the seal-fluffies were an awkward pileup.

‘Screee!!’

‘Hewp! Hewp Fwuffy!!’

‘Meanie nu see ting!!’ A bull near the edge of the net struck out with his front flippers, kicking up sprays of small rocks. Shuffling closer the bull tried to bite through the net and was joined by a few others. Not far from them, a young cow saw the edge of the net. She shuffled forwards and tried to slip her flippers under it, hoping against hope her hunch was right. It was, but before the seal-fluffy could attempt and escapee,

*Thwack* ‘Screeee!!’ The cow shuffled back, moving her flippers from the net to her face to cover the fresh facial wound.

‘Back! Get back you little fucks!’ The trapper lashed out with an old riding crop, forcing the crying seal-fluffies away from the edge of the net, driving in stakes as he went.

‘Move!! Move dummehs!!’ The orange bull forced his way forward, pushing past the others in an attempt to get to the front. ‘Move!! Fwuffies nee scape!!’

‘Speciaw fwend!! Speciaw fwend, sabe tummeh babbehs!!’ The cow cried, following close behind. The bull pushed past a pair of young seal-fluffies crying in a fearful embrace and reached the edge of the net. Before he could attempt any escape though, the trapper appeared.

*Thwack* 'Eeee!!' The bull shuffled back half a body length, but the determination to save his mate and pups overwhelmed the fear. He lunged forward again, only for the trapper to lash out. *Thwack! Thwack!!* ‘Squee!!!’

‘I said stay the fuck back!!’

‘Easy!’ The lead trapper, Joey, ran over and put a hand on the younger man’s arm. ‘Don’t damage the pelt! They won't get away if you staked the net properly!’ Before the young trapper could respond, Joey turned and jogged back up the beach. At the crest of the small hill, he met up with the operation’s supervisor, Henry. ‘Okay,’ Joey said, breathing hard. ‘That’s all we could get.’

‘I see. Good haul,’ Henry nodded past the trapper. Across the beach were eight groups of squirming, crying seal-fluffies trapped under the sturdy nets. ‘Make sure the boys keep those nets secure and don’t damage any pelts.’ He grabbed the radio from his belt. ‘I’ll call the truck in.’

‘Got it!’ Joey turned and jogged back down the beach, yelling at one of his team who hadn't noticed some seal fluffies about to escape.

‘Bring the truck in, Carl,’ Henry said into the radio. ‘We’re good to go.’

‘We’re coming, Henry’ Be there in five.’ Not long after, an off-road crane truck drove slowly down the access road and headed onto the beach. Carl stopped near the first net, and two men got out of the cab. The first went to the crane controls, and the other helped the trappers prepare the net. A few minutes later, the trappers gave the crane operator the thumbs up, and he started lifting the net. As the crane lifted, it pulled the net close like a giant drawstring bag.

‘SCREEEE!!’

‘Nu wan!! Fwuffy nu waaan!!!’

The seal-fluffies screamed and cried as they were both lifted off the ground and squashed together. The crane operator lifted the squirming multi-colour mass off the beach and moved it toward the truck's cargo bed. As the net moved, a pup managed to squirm his way out and fall to the beach. ‘Speee!!’ The male pup, less than a month old, landed awkwardly, bouncing once before it came to rest. After a moment’s stunned silence, ‘Screeee! Eeeee!!’ The pup pulled his right flipper close to his body. ‘Mummah!! Peep! Mummah, Babbeh hav huwties!!' Somewhere in the crying mass of seal-fluffies, a cow cried out for the pup, but her words disappeared into the cacophony of fearful, desperate voices.

‘Mummah! Mummah!!’ The male pup pleaded, trying in vain to nurse his broken flipper. ‘Wai nu sabe Babbeh?! Hav huwties!!’ Suddenly, the pup was plucked off the ground. ‘Squeee!!’

‘How’s it look Frank?’

The trapper called Frank turned the pup over in his hands a few times. It squealed in pain as the movement made his broken flipper move about. ‘Nah, he’s fucked.’

‘MUMMMAH!! MUMMAH SAB-’ *Pop* The pup went limp in Frank’s hand as he pulled and twisted its head, snapping the pup’s neck and separating the skull and spine. The trapper dumped the corpse on the beach unceremoniously and stepped away. Carefully, the crane operator lowered the net full of seal-fluffies onto the truck’s bed. The technicolour ball spread back out into a rough disk, seal-fluffies tumbling over one and other. Many unfortunate pups caught up in the net were crushed and suffocated in the press. The first net loaded, Carl moved the truck on to the next group.

‘Wet fwuffies oud!! Wet oud!!’ A bull screamed.

‘Pwease nice mistahs!!’ A cow looked up through the net at one of the trappers. ‘Fwuffy nu knu wat du, bud Fwuffy am sowwies! Pwease, jus wet Fwuffy go! Am soon mummah!!’ The trapper ignored her and the others, turning his back on the seal-fluffies.

‘We better get good pay for this shit,’ he said to an older member of the team.

‘Heard pelts are going for $120 a piece depending on the colour.’

‘$120? Damn!’

‘Mhm,’ The older trapper hit the ground near the net’s edge, driving back the seal-fluffy who’d tried to push past and escape. ‘Pretty much the same as seal pelts, and they come pre-dyed.’

‘And no bitching from a bunch of libtards.’

‘Pfft, give it a few years.’

‘Focus on getting them on the truck in one piece,’ Joey said as he walked past. The two men grumbled and went back to keeping the seal-fluffies in place. Meanwhile, not far from the edge of the net, the green cow cried hysterically. ‘Huuhuhuh!! *Sob* S-speciaw Fwend!! S-sabe Fwuffy! Sabe babbehs!! Waahhuhuuu!!’

‘Id am otay Speciaw Fwend!’ Her orange mate said, holding it together only a little better. ‘Fwuffy… Fwuffy find how scape!’ He looked around, desperately searching his surrounds for a way out.

‘Eeeee!!’ Nearby, a seal-fluffy shuffled back from the trappers and their riding crops. The bull looked on, spirits draining. There didn’t seem to be any way out of the net and past the humans. They walked around the perimeter, foiling any attempt the trapped seal-fluffies made. Ahead, some of them moved out of the way, giving the bull a brief glimpse of the ocean. The sight was maddening to the trapped, terrified seal-fluffy; it was right there!

Hitting on a sudden, desperate idea, the bull started to dig, forcing the pebbles away with his flippers. A burst of adrenaline banished fatigue from his muscles, and he made good progress. ‘What the fuck is that thing doing?’

‘Don’t mind him, he’s not getting anywhere’ The older trapper said, watching the truck move slowly across the beach. ‘Worst thing that happens, he spoils the net closing. But we can just dump any stragglers in the truck.’

Fastah!! Fastah!!! The bull yelled in his mind, willing himself to digger harder. He’d managed to hollow out a pit nearly big enough to settle in, but it was useless as an escape route. As the depression grew, pebbles started to fall back down the slope, refilling the pit. 'NUUU!!’ The bull screamed in terror and frustration. ‘GO WAY WOCKIES!! NEE SCAPE AN SABE TUMMEH BABBEHS!!’

Seeing the desperate gambit, other fluffies decided to try. Cows and bulls all through the trapped mass dug into the beach, shifting pebbles aside with their flippers. ‘Uh, should we do something now?’ The first trapper asked. As if to answer, Carl pulled up in the crane truck, air breaks hissing as it stopped. The crew and trappers immediately went to work, readying the net for the lift. Once he had the thumbs up, the crane operator started the lift. The bottom of the net pulled shut, running across the pebbles and under the seal-fluffies.

‘Screee!!! The orange bull yelped as the edge of the net grazed his flippers. He tried to shuffle away but found it harder to move. Looking around, the bull saw the seal-fluffies around them were being pushed closer together.

‘SPECIAW FWEND!!’ Hearing his mate's cry, the bull wrapped his flippers around her protectively and held on tight. The bull tried to fight through his fear and say comforting words, but things got worse before he had the chance. The net pulled tight, pressing the seal-fluffies closer together. Screams and cries turned harsh as the press got tighter. The bull felt seal-fluffies on either side press in tight, squeezing the air from his lungs. Next to him, the green cow thrashed and gasped in terror. Around them, others did the same, finding it harder and harder to breathe as they were pressed harder and harder together.

Carefully, the crane operator lifted the net off the beach and manured it to the cargo bed. The combined movement of a few dozen squirming seal-fluffies caused the net to shift around, a movement which carried up the cable. The crane operator worked slowly, careful not to add to the instability and tip the truck. It had happened before, though luckily not to him. Carefully, he set the net down with the overs in the cargo be. As it flattened out, seal-fluffies tumbled over one another in the press. More than a few pups were crushed to death.

‘*GASP!*’ Finally free of the press, the bull gulped in lung-fulls air like he'd come up from the depths. He looked around for his mate, having lost her in the chaos. 'Speciaw fwend!! SPECIAW FWEND!!’ He yelled over and over, loud enough to hurt. When his throat hurt too much to go on, he craned his ears, listening desperately for the green cow. But, with dozens more screams and cries to deal with, it was impossible to pick her out from the noise.

Seeing a flash of green that looked familiar, the bull tried to crawl and through the press of bodies towards it. No sooner had he started though, the truck lurched under him. ‘Eeee!’ the bull lost his balance, tumbling over another and ending up upside down. He thrashed, wildly, trying to right himself. Slapping others as he did.

‘Screee!’

‘Wai huwt fwuffy?!’

The bull barely noticed; the only thing he could focus on was finding and protecting his mate and unborn litter. Managing to right himself, the bull crawled over the seal-fluffies in his way, slapping more as he went. Back on the beach, the crew were busy lifting the last two nets onto the truck. The seventh lift went like the previous six, but things went pear-shaped on lift eight. When the net was about three feet off the beach, the ground shifted, and the truck leaned to the side.

‘STOP THE LIFT!! STOP IT!!’ Joey yelled, crossing his arms madly, though the crane operator had eased off the tension once he heard the ground shift.

‘Fuck, that was close.’

‘Too close,’ Henry said, coming over. ‘Bring her back in and put the legs down,’ he told Carl as the crane operator, and some trappers unhooked the lifting rope.

‘Got it.’ Carl gave a thumbs up and slowly backed the truck away from the unstable ground. He came back in at a new angle and put the legs down before reattempting the lift. The second attempt when off without incident, and the last net load of seal-fluffies was loaded.

‘Okay boys, we’re done here,’ Henry called. ‘We’ll meet back at the camp and sort the catch. Then it’s beers on me.’ A small cheer went up from some of the trappers as they helped Carl and the crane operator set up the truck to leave and gathered any discarded tent pegs. Once they were good to go, Carl took the truck carefully back up the beach, cargo bed full of panicked seal fluffs.

‘Screee!!’

‘Hewp Fwuffy!!’

‘Nuu!! Pud Fwuffy!! Back!!’ A cow managed to escape her net with a few others and pawed at the side of the truck bed. ‘Nu wan be hewe!! Eeeee!!’ She and others tumbled back as the truck climbed the dune. Carl eased the heavy vehicle down the reverse slope to the access road leading away from the beach. He drove as smoothly as he could, so as not to damage to the seal-fluffies and their pelts. It helped, but only barely; in the cargo bed, the seal-fluffies screamed and cried as the truck’s movement bumped and knocked them around. Though bad for the adults, the pups had things much worse. Caught between much larger adults, many had their flippers crushed and broken.

‘Screee!!’

‘Huwties!! Mummah! Mummah!!’

With their only means of keeping themselves steady gone, those injured pups could only scream as they fell into gaps between the shifting adults, or had one roll on top of them. The lucky ones died instantly; others had to suffocate slowly, sometimes with the ripping hot pain of broken ribs and other bones. They died calling out for their mothers who couldn't find their separated offspring in the seething mass. Here and there, a cow or bull managed to protect one or two of their pups.

The truck continued down the access road, rocking from side to side with bumps and ruts in the road. Behind it came the 4x4s carrying the trappers, crawling along at the same pace. After about twenty minutes of slow, careful driving, the access road finally opened onto the tarmac. It was only just two lanes wide, but an autobahn compared to the goat tack they’d left. Carl turned left, easing his heavy truck through the gears.

As he gently accelerated up the road, the 4x4s passed one by one, both to be ready at the base camp for the truck’s arrival and from impatience. A half-hour down the road, Carl pulled into a large compound dominated by a single large building. He drove around the back of the building into the empty lot behind it. The key feature of the lot was a large fenced in, covered holding pen for the catch. Next to it was a far smaller pen at the head of a long rectangular section made of solid metal fence sections.

Once the truck came to a stop, the trappers got to work. Some climbed into the cargo bed, while the rest formed two humans chains between the truck and the pen. Inside the cargo bed, trappers carefully stepped through the mass of seal-fluffies to untangle the nets. Bulls lashed out at them with their flippers; most strikes didn't connect, and those that did were absorbed by the trappers' thick boots.

One by one, the trappers retrieved untangled the seal-fluffies from the nets, folded them and passed them to others on the ground. Before the seal-fluffies could exploit their newfound freedom, the trappers started to pick them up and hand them down to their partners on the ground.

‘Eeeee!’

‘Nu wan upsies!!’

The seal-fluffies squirmed and thrashed about in the trappers' grip, some nearly falling as they were passed down the human chain. Once in the pen, the seal-fluffies fled, propelling themselves as far from the humans as their flippers could take them.

‘Nuu!!’ A cow screamed as she was lifted away from the pups she managed to save. ‘Babbehs!! Nu take Mummah way fwom babbehs!!’ She reached out with her flippers, desperate to reach her offspring.

‘Mummah!!!’ A filly tried as best she could to reach back, hampered as she was by her anatomy. ‘Nu weave!! Nu weave Babbeh!!’

‘Cum back Mummah!!’ The filly’s brother joined in. ‘Sabe Babbehs!!’

‘Screee!!’ The cow screamed like a banshee as the trapper carried her to the edge of the cargo bed. ‘Nu take fwuffy way fwom babbehs!! Day tuu wittwe!! Day nee miwkies!!’ The trapper handed her to the first man in the chain, and moments later, she was in the holding area. Unlike other seal-fluffies she stayed by the fence, beating on it with her flippers. ‘Babbehs!! BABBEHS!!!!’

Partway through unloading, Joey came by with some buckets. ‘For the pups,’ he passed them up to the trappers in the cargo bed.

‘Thanks,’ They set the buckets in a clear area and continued working. Eventually, the trappers got to the orange bull. One of them grabbed the seal-fluffy and hefted him out of the cargo bed.

‘Nu! Nu take Fwuffy way!! Nee find Speciaw fwend!!’ He struggled madly, striking out as best he could at the humans as he was passed down the line. Dumped in the holding area with a slap from the last man in the chain, the bull turned around and kept screaming. ‘Giv back Speciaw fwend!! Giv back nao!!!’ He slapped at the fence along with some others demanding the return of mates and pups.

‘Can’t wait till we bolt these little bastards,’ one of the trappers said to another in line.

‘Right there with you buddy,’ he answered, passing the green cow down the line. Seeing his mate, the orange bull propped himself up as best he could.

‘SPECIAW FWEND!!!’ The bull tried to climb up the fence panel. ‘FWUFFY AM HEWE SPECIAW FWEND!!!’ The green cow cried hysterically as she was passed to the last trapper in line, then down to the holding area. She flopped to the ground and covered her face with her flippers, bawling uncontrollably. The orange bull shuffled over and did his best to shield his mate and provide what comfort he could. ‘Id am otay Speciaw fwend! Fwuffy am hewe!! Speciaw fwend an tummeh babbehs am safe nao!’

The cow kept crying uncontrollably, unable to speak but shuffled closer to the bull. Other seal-fluffies were set down around them; the creatures promptly fled to the middle and far side, past the bull and his mate. Unloading continued until all the adults were gone from the cargo bed, leaving only the pups. ‘Mummah! Daddeh!! Wai weave Babbeh hewe!!?’

‘Huuu wai Mummah go way?! Am bad Babbeh?!’

Healthy pups crawled around calling out for their parents. Others lay curled up, trying to nurse broken flippers. Some had worse injuries that left them immobile.

‘Owwies!! Owwies!!’ A male pup lay on his side, his flipper broken in a few places. 'M-mummah!! Wai nu hewp Babbeh?! Nee huggies fow owwies!!’

‘Peep, peep.’ Not far away, a female pup lay still, her back broken. Burning pain consumed her small body, rendering her incapable of doing anything except peeping. Even those calls got weaker by the minute. ‘Peep, peep…’

Picking up the buckets, the trappers walked around the cargo bed and sorted the pups. Healthy ones went in the green buckets. Those with injuries, minor or not, *Pop* had their necks snapped and dropped in the red ones.

‘Huuuhuhu!! Owwies! Owwiess huhuhuuu!!’ The male pup cried, pain burning in his broken flipper.

‘Bwudda!’ The male pup’s sister did her best to comfort her brother, trying to hug him without touching the injured area. ‘Sissie giv huggies an make owwies go way! Den find, eee!!’

‘Screeee!!’ Both pups screamed when the trapper plucked the male off the cargo bed. ‘Screee!! Nu upsies! Hewp!!’

‘Bwudda!’ The female pup shuffled towards the trapper with all her strength. ‘Nu take Bwudda way! He nee huggies fow owwies!!’ Before she got anywhere near the human, the female pup watched the trapper put his hand over her brother's head. *Pop* She couldn’t tell what the human had done to make the strange sound, and the thought was pushed out when her brother fell into the red bucket.

‘Nuuu!! Bwudda!!’ The female pup shuffled after the worker as he stepped away, hunting for more injured pups. ‘Cum back!! Bwing Bwudda back nao!!’ She screamed as loud as her small lungs would allow. Then, ‘Screeee!!!’ The female pup squealed in terror as an unseen hand grabbed hold and lifted her into the air. ‘Nu!! NU UPSIES!!’ Flailing wildly, the filly travelled high into the air, seeing the world from a strange and terrifying viewpoint. Seconds later, she found herself in a deep green bucket, surrounded by other crying, screaming pups.

‘Nu wike dis pwace!! Mummah!!!’

‘Wai Daddeh nu sabe bestest babbeh?! Am, am bad Babbeh!? Waahhh huhuhuh!!!”

‘Peep peeep!!! Scawies!! SCAWIES!!’

Ignoring them all, the female pup crawled to the side of the bucket, clambering over more than one pup and accidentally smacking another in the face. ‘Squee!’

‘Bwudda!!’ Reaching the sheer wall of the bucket, the female pup tried in vain to crawl her way out, slapping her flippers on the smooth plastic. ‘Wai meanie ting nu wet Babbeh scape?! Wet fwuffy oud!! Nee sabe Bwudda!!!’

Within ten minutes, all the pups left on the cargo bed were picked and sorted. The trappers passed the buckets down to their coworkers on the ground. One of them looked into the green bucket he was handed; ‘Pretty shitty bait haul this time.’

'Live bait haul's always shitty,' the trapper climbed down from the cargo bed. 'Anyway who cares?' The pelts are where the money is.'

‘On that note,’ Henry said, ‘lets clear the truck away and get ready to process the catch.’

‘Aye, boss,’ Joey said and directed his trappers for the next stage. The pups, healthy and dead, were taken to the main building and Carl moved the cargo truck to the parking area. Meanwhile, crates of equipment were brought out from another shed and taken into the fenced-off area near the main holding pen. Some of the trapped seal fluffs looked on in a mixture of bewilderment and fear. None of them had a clue what the humans had planned for them, but it couldn’t be good. Other seal-fluffies, like the orange bull, weren’t wasting time.

‘Dis way Speciaw fwend, huwwy!’ The bull shepherded his still shell-shocked mate to the far side of the holding area, away from the humans. ‘Nee scape an get back tu big wawa! Nee sabe tummeh babbehs!!’ The cow’s replay was lost in her desperate sobs, but she kept going, driven by the thought of her unborn pups. Reaching the other side of the pen, the bull scrapped at the ground with his front flippers. 'Hewp Fwuffy, Speciaw fwend!’ he said as he tried to dig.

The ground was much harder and unyielding compared to the beach, and hardly anything came away. The orange bull kept going, hoping their distance from the humans would provide the time he needed to dig their way out and escape. Where to the bull didn't know, but so long as he and his mate escaped. Like their escape attempt at the beach though, it would be in vain.

‘Get sorting, boys!’ Joey yelled, and nearly a dozen trappers stepped over the fence and moved through the crowd of seal-fluffies. The creatures cried, shuffled away or hid under their flippers. Within seconds, though, shrill screams came up as pregnant cows were lifted off the ground and carried away.

‘SCREEE!!’ one of them squirmed as the trapper carried her away from her terrified and furious mate.

‘NU TAKE SPECIAW FWEND WAY!!’ The bull lurched after the trapper, using his flippers to propel himself across the ground. ‘BWING BACK NAO!!’

Similar scenes repeated all around the holding pen. The trappers worked quickly, experience helping them pick out pregnant cows at a glance. Separated from the main haul, the dams were placed in a smaller area within the main pen. The sub-pen filled quickly, finding itself home to a dozen within a few minutes. At the far side of the holding area, the orange bull heard the screams and commotion but forced himself to focus on digging. He couldn’t waste even a second-

‘SQUEEEEEE!!!’

The scream pained the bull’s ears, but that was nothing compared to the terror he felt overtake his entire body. ‘SPECIAW FWEND!!’ he turned as fast as his awkward anatomy would allow and launched himself after the trapper. ‘SPECIAW FWEND!!!!’

‘SCREEEEE!! EEEE!!!’ The cow thrashed about in the human’s grasp, flippers striking out in random, blind panic. ‘BABBEHS!! BAAABEEEHS!!’

‘Fwuffy am cumin Speciaw fwend!!!’ The bull put everything he had into the chase, ignoring the pain that burned throughout his muscles. Despite that the trapper pulled ahead with ease, enraging the bull as much as it terrified him. He bared his teeth as he went, even though the human couldn’t see. Reaching the internal holding pen, the trapper gently placed the green cow inside and stepped away, hunting for more. Moments later, the orange bull joined the many others crowded around the sub-pen. Along with the others, he beat the panels with his front flippers, desperately trying to get to their mates.

‘Speciaw fwend!! Fwuffy am hewe speciaw fwend!!’

‘Sabe tummeh babbehs!! Sabe babbehs!!’

‘Go way meanie ting!! Wet Fwuffy get tu Speciaw fwend!!’

‘Screeee!!!’ In the holding pen, one of the dams screamed, the stress of the day finally inducing labour. The cow thrashed about, her body wracked by powerful spasms. ‘Biggest poppies!!!’

‘Speciaw fwend!!!’ The cow's mate bashed against the fence panel over an over. 'WET FWUFFY IN!!' He shrieked at the top of his lungs. ‘SPECIAW FWEND AN BABBEHS NEE FWUFFY!!’

‘Screeeee!!!’ The cow strained with the effort of trying to force her first of her litter out while the pain tormented her. ‘Owwwwwieeeeesss!!!’

‘Someone get me a damn bucket already!’ A trapper called, walking to the edge of the main holding area. Grabbing a bucket from one of the others, he returned to the sub-pen and plucked the first pup from the ground behind the cow.

‘Peep peep! Peep!!’ The blind, slimy pup squirmed in the trapper’s hand, nearly slipping out. The worker placed the pup in the bucket and waited for the next to emerge.

‘Squeeee!!’ *Splort*

‘Ch-cheep, cheep!’ The second pup barely had time to comprehend being born before the trapper snatched him off the ground. ‘Peeeee!!’

‘NU TAKE BABBEHS!!!’ The pups’ father launched himself into the fence, slamming his full body weight into the metal panel. The fence section moved slightly and seeing that gave the others an idea. One, then more and more seal-fluffies did the same. Each could only manage one launch every few moments, but they were having an effect. Slowly their combined action forced the fence section back.

‘God dammit, get them away from the fence! Hey!!!’ Joey yelled from outside the main holding area. ‘Grab those fucking bulls before they knock the fence down!!’ Trappers around the pen stopped what they were doing rushed over, pulling bulls away from the fence. ‘Pull them out for processing!’ Joey added. ‘They’ll just go back otherwise!’

‘Not my first rodeo!!’ Someone shot back as he and others carried the raging bulls away. Among those was the orange bull.

‘NUUUU!!’ The seal-fluffy fought madly, doing everything he could to wriggle around and hit the human carrying him. ‘TAKE FWUFFY BACK TU SPECIAW FWEND!! NAAAO!!’ The trapper hardly responded; experience had taught him yelling at or striking the seal-fluffies didn’t shut them up. All you could do was have a pocket full of earplugs and learn to cope. The trapper handed the orange bull to a coworker, who dumped the raging creature in the processing line’s small holding-pen.

After the orange bull entered the pen, another was picked up and carried through a heavy curtain into the processing area. Once the seal-fluffy disappeared from view, it let out an ear-piercing shriek. ‘SCREEEEEE!!!’ The orange bull and others flinched at the noise, forgetting for a moment their desire to escape and return to their mates. ‘NUUUU!!! FWUFFY NU WAN FOWE-’

*PSH-TACK*

The short sharp sound cut the scream off. Some of the seal-fluffies whimpered and shuffled back, while others like the orange bull again tried to push down the fences. Not long after the fluffy disappeared behind the curtain, the human came back, grabbing a younger purple bull ‘Screeee!! Nu wan upsies!!’ The orange bull could help but turn and look, catching a glimpse of the seal-fluffy’s terrified face as he disappeared. ‘SQUEEEE!!!’ Another blood-curdling shriek followed and didn’t stop until the sound cut it short.

*PSH-TACK*

Fresh terror filled the confined seal-fluffies, as it dawned on them the short sharp sound was bad news. That, and whatever caused the fluffies who went behind the curtain to scream. The seal-fluffies again tried to push down the fences confining them, and the trappers nearby immediately sprung into action.

‘Get back!’

‘Quit fucking with the fences!!’ The trappers struck out with their crops and boots, driving the seal-fluffies back from the fence.

‘Finish what you guys have now,’ Henry said. ‘Don’t take any more more out of the main pen.’ The trappers did as he said, letting the processing line work through what they had. One by one, the seal-fluffies were picked up and taken behind the curtain; their loud screams and the strange noise the only clue to what happened.

‘Get back!’ A trapper lashed out, making sure to hit the ground in front of the seal-fluffy and not the creature itself. The cow shuffled backwards, turning her head from side to side, looking for another escape path.

‘Don’t even think about it!’ The trappers shifted around the pen, forcing the seal-fluffies back whenever they approached.

‘Go way dummehs!!’ The Orange bull yelled, defiant. ‘Wet Fwuffy oud!! Wan Speciaw fwend!!’

‘Screeee!!!’ Another seal-fluffy screamed as the worker took it behind the curtain. ‘Nu wan go tu scawy pwace!! Nu wan!! NU WAN FOW-’

*PSH-TACK*

'Eeeeee!!' A younger blue seal-fluffy rushed the fence in a blind panic and managed to get a little closer.

‘Fuck off!’ One of the trappers raised his hand to hit the bull with his crop, but the older man standing nearby grabbed his arm.

‘Easy,’ the older man said. ‘Don’t damage the pelts, especially not on him,’ he pointed at the blue seal-fluffy as it collided with the fence panel, though not hard enough to have much effect. Meanwhile, the orange bull kept trying his luck, defiantly charging at the fence after every time he was forced back. The sharp snap of crops impacting the ground was startling, but the seal-fluffy barely noticed beyond reactions he couldn’t control. This only concern was his mate and unborn pups.

‘Waaghh!!’ The orange bull dug his flippers in for another charge but didn’t get far before he was grabbed behind the flippers and hauled off the ground. ‘Nuuu!!!’ The bull struggled against the workers grasp and tried to strike out with his flippers, all to no effect. The worker was too experienced to let the seal-fluffy hit him or wriggle out of his grasp. 'SPECIAW FWEND! SPECIAW FWEEEND!!!’ The bull bellowed as he was carried toward the heavy curtain. ‘TAKE FWUFFY TU SPECIAW FWEND!!’

The worker turned to the side, shouldering aside the curtain and heading into the processing area. Once he was past the curtain, the bull froze for a brief moment, a horrid stench filling his nose. It was a scent he’d only encountered a few times, and never in good situations; the scent of blood. The worker turned around then, giving the bull a view of exactly what lay beyond the curtain.

‘SCREEEEEEEE!!!!’

It was nothing short of a horror show. Not far from the curtain was a simple stainless steel table, with a rack next to it. Hanging in the rack were two fluffies, both of who had only recently been brought in. They hung limply from hooks stuck through their back flippers. Blood dripped from open wounds in their neck to a trough underneath, forming a large crimson pool.

Beyond the initial horror was something far worse. More fluffies hanging by their tails, but instead of fluff, there was only raw pink muscle. The orange bull had the misfortune to lock eyes with one of the skinned seal-fluffies, the unblinking dead eyes searing his soul. 'SCREEEE!! MUNSTAHS!!’ The bull’s struggles reached a fever pitch, and almost managed to get out of the workers grasp. ‘WET FWUFFY GO!! NU WAN HUWTIES!!’

The worker carried the bull to the stainless steel table and placed him down. He pinned the struggling seal-fluffy with one hand behind the neck while he reached for the captive bolt gun. ‘REEEEE!! EEEEEE!!!’ The bull thrashed around, his flippers and tail smacking the surface. But the worker's grip was iron-strong.

'SQUEEEEEEEE!!!’ The worker took hold of the bolt gun, pulling it from the holder and positioning it at a spot on the seal-fluffy’s skull just behind his ears. ‘SPECIAW FWEEENND!! SPECI-’

*PSH-TACK*

In an instant, the bull’s awareness disappeared. Sight, smell, hearing, any sensations whatsoever were just gone. The seal-fluffy didn’t feel the worker drive a large hook through his back flipper, didn’t feel the worker hall him off the table and hang him on the rack. He didn’t feel the pain of his enter body hanging from the hook, or the worker make two cuts in his neck. The bull’s blood gushed from the wounds, the creature’s own heart pumping his system dry. It took less than a minute for the bull to bleed out and die. His blood, bright red and steaming slightly in the cool air, dripped into the trough with the rest.

While the orange bull dripped dry, the worker brought in another seal-fluffy to e stunned, cut and bled. As the young blue bull screamed, crying out for his mother, another worker transferred a dark yellow cow from the bleeding rack to the skinning rack. With practised hands, he made careful incisions near the tail and stripped the pelt from the body, laying it with the others. Once the pelt was put to the side, the worker went back for another seal-fluffy skiing the corpse, leaving it hanging with the others.

Other workers cut decapitated and gutted the corpses; junior members of the team transferred the bodies to an on-site cool room. They’d be ready for further butchering later. The slaughter line kept working through the day until the only adult seal-fluffies left alive were the pregnant cows. In a last bit of terror for the day, workers grabbed the crying seal-fluffies and carried them to the same shed where the living pups had been taken earlier.

‘Mummah! Whewe mummah gO?!’

‘Daddeh!! Daddeh sabe Babbeh and Sissie!!’

‘Huuuhuhu! W-wai Mummah an *sob* D-daddeh nu sabe babbeh? Huuu nu am bad babbeh!!’

The pups, grouped into a single pen lay on the floor crying their small eyes out. The scant few sibblings who’d made it through huddled with one another. Others did too, drawn to whatever scraps of comfort they could grab. As they were carried past the pups, the sadness and fear in their voices triggered the cows’ maternal instincts.

‘Giv babbehs tu Fwuffy!!’ one screamed. ‘Babbehs am scawdies! Day nee huggies fow make scawdies an saddies go way!’

‘Pwease nu cwy babbehs!’ Another called. ‘Fwuffy gun find, gun find…’ The cow trailed off as it dawned she hadn’t the slightest idea how to escape, let alone bring the pups with her. ‘I-id gun be otay’ she called out, sounding far less certain. The green cow was one of the last to enter the shed but didn’t offer any comfort to the pups or plead with the worker carrying her. The poor creature was too traumatised to do anything but cry.

The cows were each placed in their own pen, simply furnished with only a pile of shredded carpet for a bed, a water trough and a food bowl. Once each was in their temporary home, a worker came by and filled the food bowls with chum. Only a few approached the foul mixture of fish scraps, having been waiting on their mates to return when they were caught. Most shuffled to the carpet pile or, like the green cow, curled up where they were and cried.

‘Huuuhuhu! Speciaw fwend! Speciaw fweeend!!!’

#

‘Huuu, miss Mummah…’

‘Nu wan meanie housie nu mowe! Wan go tu big wawa!’

‘*Sob* H-huuuuu…’

A few days had passed since the beach haul; in that time, the pups hardly stopped crying. The few times they managed to fall asleep, their dreams were plagued by the sights and sounds of the harvest. Even crueller was the dreams where everything was back to normal, a brief flash of being safely nestled in their mother’s embrace before crashing back to reality.

‘Waahhuhu!! Wan be back wif Mummah!!’

In between outbursts, the pups lay listless, occasionally shuffling to the food and water dishes. The pen’s thick layer of wood chips made the lack of a dedicated litter box less of an issue, but the pen still reeked by the end of the first day.

‘Dis pwace nu smeww pwetty!! Nu wan wive wif poopies!’

It was hell by any measure for the pups, and more than a couple entered the wan die loop by the dawn of the second day. Great as their suffering was, though, it would be over sooner rather than later. A door at the far end of the building opened, and in walked a worker with a cardboard box. The interior was divided into two sections, coloured blue and green. The worker came up to the pen and without a word started grabbing pups.

‘Screee!!’

‘Nu! Nu upsies!!’

‘Squee! Mummah!!

The pups cried out and struggled as the worker placed them by size in the two sections; smaller and sickly looking pups went in the blue area went in the blue side, healthy ones in the green. With a dozen in each section, the worker closed up the box and carried it out front to the shop front.

‘Okay,' the worker placed the box on the counter, alongside a pair of 5-litre buckets. ‘Two buckets of chum mix, and a half and half box.’ he said, typing up the order on the register. ‘Comes to $174.’ The customer, an old grey-bearded man, called Eugene, nodded and pulled some bills out of his wallet. After handing over the wad, he popped the box under his arm and took a bucket in each hand.

‘Pleasure as always,’ Eugene said. ‘Should get some good fishing out of all this.’

‘Well, let me and the boys know how it goes.’

‘Will do,’ Eugene nodded, turned and walked out of the building. A couple of hours later, he was out on the water, heading for one of his favourite spots. Reaching the area, he slowed the boat to a halt and dropped anchor. Heading to the back deck, Eugene pulled the lid off one of the tubs, screwing his nose up a little at the scent of seal-fluffy blood. Grabbing an old coffee cup, Eugene scooped up a generous amount of the blood and cornmeal mix and hurled it away from the boat.

Eugene chummed the water around the boat, completing two full circles. While he let the chum do its work, Eugene grabbed his fishing pole from its rack and secured it in the holder located at the rear of his boat. With that done, it was time to bait the line; he returned to his equipment and grabbed the cardboard box.

‘Eeeee!’

‘Nu wan mowe!!’

Carrying the box to where his pole was set up, the Eugene set the box on an upturned bucket and opened it. The pups in the blue section filched and shuffled away as best they could, then screamed as he reached in and grabbed a small yellow pup. ‘Eeeee! Nu wan, nu wan!!’ The filly struggled in the man’s grip, but she had no hope of escape. Turning the pup belly down in his palm, the Eugene held it still as he reached for the sturdy hook on the end of his line.

‘Peep peep!! Mummah! Mummah!!’ The pup writhed about madly. 'Nu wan! Nu wan!! Babbeh wan huggieeeeee!!!' Pleas for her long-dead mother turned into a pained, high-pitch squeal as the hook pierced her skin. ‘Squeeeeee!!! Eeeeeeee!!!’ Eugene looped the hook through the scruff of the pup's neck, careful not to go too deep and hit the spine; he needed the pup to move, and move it did.

‘Muuumaaah!!! Screeeeee!!!’ The filly writhed in Eugene’s hand, agony filling her tiny body. Blood stained her fluff around the hook. ‘Huwwtieeesss!! Eeeee!!’ Grabbing his rod out of the holder, Eugene disengaged the ratchet and with an underarm toss threw the pup into the water. She squealed in pain and terror as she tumbled through the air, fishing line following behind. When the pup hit the water, Eugene reengaged the real’s ratchet mechanism and settled in to wait.

Stunned for a few seconds after impact with the water, the pup started to flap and flail about, kick-started by the pain. ‘*Haff-haff* M-mummah!! Mu-*cough*mmah!!’ She tried swimming, doing everything she could to keep her head above water. But, the pup was a weak, inexperienced swimmer and started dipping below the surface. '*Bwack!*' Forcing herself above water, the pup cried out ‘Mummah! Sabe babbeh!! Pwease!!!’ then slipped into the depths again.

The pup struggled hard, but exhaustion set in fast. Muscles burned from the effort of just staying above water and with every second her ability to keep going ebbed away. The pup was moments away from taking in a lungful of water and drowning painfully when a different end came from bellow. Attracted by the chummed water, the filly’s struggles and her blood, a large fish emerged from the depths and swallowed the pup in one gulp. The pup went from the endless expanse of the ocean to the crushing inside of the fish’s mouth.

The filly felt her bones snap and pop in countless locations, accompanied an instant later by agonising pain. The final moments of her short life were filled with indescribable agony. As for the fish, it tried to swallow the tiny meal and carry on, only to notice the hook in its mouth and a powerful force tugging it in another direction. Eugene felt the fish pull on him too and braced himself for the fight. After a decently long struggle, Eugene had the prize on-board. Once the first fish of the day was hung up, he went to grab another pup. The young seal-fluffies screamed and cried hysterically as Eugene reached down and plucked a dull green male away from the few trying to protect him.

At days end, ten seal-fluffy pups turned into six good fish. The others were ripped from the hook by fish without it embedding. Or, had it tear through their skin on the toss out. It couldn’t be helped, and six large salt-water fish were nothing to sniff at. Returning home, Eugene spent most of the afternoon gutting and boning his catch, storing most in a chest freezer and leaving aside some for his dinner.

Carrying the fresh cuts into the kitchen, he set them on the counter while he prepared the rest of the ingredients and equipment. When everything was ready, the old man went to eh garage and grabbed a towel-covered wooden box. The moment he moved it, fresh cries and pleas for rescue started up. Putting the box next to the large sink, Eugene took the towel off the top, set it aside and grabbed one of the pups.

‘Eeeee!!’ The male, stronger and healthier than the bait pups, struggled more effectively than the pups on the boat. Holding the squirming pup tail down over the sink, Eugene rubbed his thumb along the pup’s abdomen, applying firm pressure. ‘Eeee!! Nuuu!!’ The pup pushed down with his flippers, trying to squeeze out of the man’s grasp. ‘Wet Babbeh go! Wet gooo!!’ Eugene repeated the movement over and over until ‘N-nuu! Eeee!! *Pluurt!!*’ The colt emptied his bowels into the sink. After a quick wash, the colt went into a fresh box to cry and hug himself as best he could.

Eugene repeated the process, manually shitting each pup into the sink. After washing the rancid shit down the sink, he carried the pups into the kitchen and placed the box on the counter. While he was preoccupied with gathering materials and making preparations, the pups tried to climb out. A few had the bright idea to try and crawl up others to get the needed boost, but it only ended in fights. None of them got close to escape before Eugene returned and plucked a female pup out of the box.

‘Squeee!!’ The pup struggled in the old man’s grasp crying out for parents over and over as Eugene gripped the filly’s head with his free hand. ‘*Pop*’

‘SCREEE!!’

In the box, pups huddled together as far from Eugene as they could get, watching in terror as he took a knife to the pup’s limp body and had her skinned and gutted in short order. ‘NUU!! NUUUU!!!’ The male pup from earlier frantically tried to slap his way through the cardboard as Eugene’s came for him again. ‘SQUEEEE!! MUUMAAAHH!!’ He fought with all his strength, but nothing the pup did could stop the hand closing around his head. ‘MUUMA-*Pop*’ The pup went limp in Eugene’s hand, and soon he lay skinned and gutted by the first.

One after another, Eugene killed skinned and gutted the pups. Some of them fought, while a couple begged for their lives. 'P-pwease nice mistah!' a female pup said, through teary eyes as she tried to hug Eugene’s hand. ‘Nu wan fowewa sweepies! Wan-’ *Pop* It had no effect. The last pup had gone catatonic by the time Eugene got to her, and she offered hardly any resistance when he twisted the pup’s head.

With one of the harder parts behind him, Eugene spent a leisurely hour and a bit preparing the fish and seal-fluffy stew. It was a strange combination, and he hadn’t been keen on the idea when he first heard of it. Once Eugene tried it though, he had to admit the combination worked well, especially when he used pups. Stew finished, Eugene served himself a generous portion and went out to the back deck to enjoy the peaceful evening and the fruit of the day’s work.

#

‘Uuuhuhuhuu.’

‘Speciaw fwend. Wan Speciaw fwend….’

‘*Sob* huuu….’

The cows lay listless in their pens, heads down and unmoving. At first, they'd tried to escape, but it would have proved impossible even if they hadn’t been burdened by the extra weight of pregnancy. Gradually hope dwindled, and the seal-fluffies recognised the impossibility of their situation. Had it not been for their unborn litters, more would have fallen to the wan die loop. Robbed of their freedom and mates, bringing their precious offspring into the world was the only thing keeping the creatures going, especially the green cow.

'*Sob* Huuhuhuuu. Speciaw Fwend…' She lay curled on her pile of carpet shreds, mourning the loss of her mate the orange bull. Tears squeezed out from her eyelids, keeping her face permanently damp, as cow thought about her mate. Popular perception had it fluffy memory was limited, but the cow remembered vividly when the pair first met. Maybe she didn’t remember the exact beach, but she remembered the bull.

She remembered how they swam and hunted together, darting through undersea forests of kelp and seaweed in pursuit of fish. She remembered how they huddled together on beaches at night, sheltering from the harsh storms hey couldn't ride out at sea. They held on to one another for protection from the lightning and massive thunderclaps. But, the memories that stuck out the most, and not just because of how recent they were, had to do with the pair’s litter. The cow almost could still feel the orange bull nuzzling his head into her abdomen, trying to hear their pups’ heartbeats.

More tears rolled down the cow’s face at those memories and thoughts of what might have been if they'd escaped. Images of her and her mate huddled together, gently nuzzling their pups as they slept flashed though the cow’s mind. Next came images of them swimming as a family, teaching their young how to hunt and live in the wild. None of it would happen now, short of an impossible miracle. The only thing the cow had left was to make sure her pups stayed safe, for their sake and for the memory of their father.

The sound of a door opening sent a bolt of panic through the cow. Her eyes shot open, and her crying stopped, but otherwise stayed deathly still. Around her, the others did the same; after the events at the beach and outside processing area, they had reason enough to b fearful. The worker's footsteps grew louder as he approached the cow pens. The seal-fluffies held their breaths and hoped the human was there to take more pups away, though they hated themselves for that thought.

The worker came closer and closer, his footsteps on the hard concrete floor echoed around the large room and drowned out the words he muttered to himself. As he came to the first of the cow pens, the creatures braced for the worst. The worker, though, walked straight past, ignoring the seal-fluffies completely. Slowly, very slowly, the cows started to calm down. They were safe, relatively speaking, for a while longer at least. The worst that might happen now were the cries and screams of the remaining pups, as even more were taken away to an unknown fate.

Though, even that unsettling sound didn’t come as the footsteps faded to the far end of the shed. The cows relaxed a little more, each feeling a tiny spark of relief they didn’t have to listen to those heart-rending cries. The green cow closed her eyes and went back to remembering her mate. She thought again about hunting together through the kelp forests; happy memories, even if they brought fresh tears to her eyes.

Just as her trip down memory started, the cow was interrupted by movement in her abdomen. She stopped and glanced back as best she could. The cow felt another wriggle form the area and just noticed the movement. A deep feeling of love, stained as it was by sadness, welled in the cow’s chest. ‘*Sniff* N-nu be scawdies, babbehs,’ she whispered. ‘Mummah k-keep babbehs safe. Sniff*’ It was the only thing that kept her going, but the cow held on with everything she had.

The cow turned back around and laid her head down, returning once again to her memories. Only for a few moments, though. 'Eee!’ Her head shot back around at the same time, her abdomen twitched. It lasted less than a second, but cold shivers ran over the cow; even though it was her first time, she knew. ‘Eeeee!’ Another twitch, more powerful than the first, rocked the cow’s abdomen. It was followed seconds later by a more powerful contraction.

‘Owwies!’ It sent flashes of pain through the cow, though they were nothing compared to the next. ‘Screeeee!!’ She screamed at the stab of pain; fear, the visceral and urgent kind pushed out the heavy lingering dread she’d felt for days. More powerful contracts rocked her abdomen, each sending another bust of hot stabbing pain through her. ‘Biggest poopies!! BIGGEST POOPIES!!! SCREEEE!!!’

The cow writhed around on her bed, flippers knocking shreds of carpet away. ‘SQUEEEEE!!!’ Another contraction, long and powerful, racked the cow. Her abdominal muscles squeezed hard, forcing the first of her litter down the birth canal. The spasm stopped, only for another to strike immediately after, forcing the pup out. ‘SCREEEEE!!!’

*Splort* The pup, blind and fluff matted with fluid, emerged from his mother head first, dropped to the carpet bed and rolled away. ‘*k-kaff…’ The male pup coughed, clearing his mouth of abdominal fluid and breathed, filling his lungs for the first time. ‘Ch-cheep. Cheep, cheep!’ The pup’s cheeps grew stronger and more confident, but they were drowned out by his mother.

‘SCREEE!!! EEEEEEE!!!’ More contracts rocked the cow, forcing her abdomen to squeeze the pups into the world. ‘SPECIAW FWEND!! MUMMAH! MUMMAH!!’ Her need for help and the slightest comfort made her forget both her mate and mother were long gone. Painful as the contracts were, they were effective. The second pup in the litter emerged shortly after the first, tumbling away.

‘Peep peep!! Cheep, peeep!!’ The female pup’s cries were stronger than her brother’s and started faster. She called out for food and cleaning, loud enough that the green cow could just hear over her screams. It hardly had an effect on her pain, though. Screamed, at the mercy of her body as it fought to birth her litter into the world. She was so consumed by the experience, she didn’t notice approaching footsteps.

‘SCREEEEE!!!’

*Splort*

‘SQUEEEEEE!! REEEEEEE!!!’

*Splort*

The next two pups emerged quickly, one after another. The male pups, near twins, rolled and squirmed away from their mother’s thrashing tail. They added their voices to the chorus of cheeps and peeps, tormenting their mother with a powerful instinct to tend to their needs. There was still a few moments of tortuous labour to go. ‘SCREEEEEEE!!!’ The cow screamed loud and long, drowning out the panicked cheeps of one of her newborns as the worker plucked them out of the pen. Finally, after one last great effort, the cow's last pup emerged, and the cramps and contractions stopped as quickly as they’d started.

It was over.

The cow’s head fell to the bed as her entire body went limp. She breathed in short, shallow breaths, strength sapped by the effort. Darkness toyed at the edge of her vision, and there was a dull ringing in her ears. It couldn’t drown out her pups, though; they sounded cold, hungry and scared. Though she wanted to surrender to fatigue, the cow seized what little strength remained and started the arduous task of turning around. The exhaustion of giving birth unfortunately compensated for the loss of her swollen abdomen. Her muscles were sluggish and slow to react.

After a long effort that nearly made her blackout, the cow turned around to were her pups would be and found nothing. 'B-babbehs?' She looked from side to side, confusion and fear chipping away at the fatigue and lingering pain clouding her mind. ‘Whewe… Whewe babbehs? Whewe babbehs?’ As if in answer, the sound of panicked cheeps and peeps entered her mind. The cow turned in the direction of the sound, just in time to see the worker leaving, bucket in hand.

The green cow watched worker disappear from view, her pups’ cries going with him until the sound of a closing door cut them off. Then there was nothing, as if her pups had never existed. The cow lay frozen, staring into space as the full gravity of what happened settled on her. Her pups, the pups she’d carried for weeks on end, the ones she’d sung to day in day out, the ones she and her mate hunted tirelessly to sustain, the ones she promised to protect, were gone. Taken by the humans, like she and her mate, and she could do nothing. The only thing which kept her going in this hell and the last tangible link to her mate was gone, and she’d never even seen them.

Silent tears ran down the cow's face; a ball of heartbreak and utter despair grew inside her until it exploded; ‘BAAAABBEEEEHHHSSS!!! WAHHHHHHHUHUHUHUUUUUUU!!!’ The cow’s heart-broken wail filled the shed, driving the other dams to tears as well. Some told the cow to shut up, either out of fear or captivity induced harshness but she didn't notice. ‘AAIIEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEHUUUUHUHUHUU!!!’ Every shred of sadness unleashed itself n the cow’s cries, having nothing left except through herself into the abyss.

‘Would someone shut that bitch up already!!’ A worker out front screamed. With so few people on duty and busy with other jobs, it was a few moments before anyone was free to deal with the wailing cow. By the time a worker jogged down the lane with a large zip tie, though, it was no longer necessary.

‘Waaahuhuhu *sob* huuuu!’ In a short time, the cow’s cries dropped in volume, further and further until it was a meek, pained moan. ‘Huuuuhuhuuu…’ Her last pathetic cry exited her mouth, draining the breath from her lungs. In any other circumstance, the cow would have taken a ragged, gasping breath and kept going. Instead, she just gave in, blacking out seconds after she stopped making noise. An instant later, the cow's heart stopped. The worker arrived at the pen to find a dead seal-fluffy, tongue hanging out of her mouth, eyes unfocused and on their way to being glassy. Shrugging, the worker hauled the dead cow out of her pen and carried her off to be processed.

#

Henry watched the beach through his binoculars, studying the gathered seal-fluffies. From the numbers, he was fairly sure it wasn’t the same group his crew had hit last week. Though, given how seal-fluffies had far weaker group ties than terrestrial fluffies, it was hard to know for sure. In the grand scheme of things, however, that wasn’t such a problem.

What was important was taking them by surprise and not hitting the same beaches too frequently. He and his crew had a dozen and half beaches they harvested from; it didn’t take long for the seal-fluffies to get a vague idea of when and where the trappers. Making things random wasn’t too popular with the guys, who liked having a more regular plan. It upped the yields though, which marked the end of any argument.

As Henry watched the beach, another half dozen seal-fluffies came in from the surf and headed up the beach. Another half dozen came in moments later. Shifting his gaze around, Henry tried to get an idea of how many were going back out. One or two every couple of minutes it seemed, but that could change any moment. It tended to work in cycles, and the trick was finding a spot where most seal-fluffies in the gathering had come in. Just then his radio beeped; carefully, Henry lifted it to his head and pressed the talk button.

‘Yeah?’

‘How’s it looking down there?’ Joey asked. ‘We good to go?’

‘Hold on,’ Henry went back to looking. Fewer seal-fluffies were coming in, and not many were headed back out. ‘I’d say so. Tell the guys to move up, nice and easy.’

‘Don’t worry boss,’ Joey assured him. ‘We know the drill.’

Henry nodded; they did, but it was good luck to say so anyway. ‘Good. Tell me when you’re in position.’

‘Copy that.’

Henry clipped the radio back to his belt and went back to watching the gathering. There was still no sign the seal-fluffies suspected anything,, which was good. This group was larger than the previous one, and that had fetched good money. He smiled; it looked like that new truck wasn’t far away.