Dangerous cargo

The cargo plane soared across the twilight sky. In its cargo hold was a very dangerous payload of 10 metric tons of a compound they were only told was ‘top secret’. The plane was flying the compound to a military base for study. Onboard were 2 crewmembers; the pilot Jerry Conrad and his co-pilot Tony Jargo. The flight had been uneventful, until something went terribly wrong.

“Now flying over Lake PineOak. Destination in 128 kilometers, ETA 30 minutes. So far smooth sailing, given what were carrying, I think that’s a good thing.” Tony said. The plane was suddenly jolted heavily by what at first appeared to be turbulence.

“Looks like you spoke too soon!” Jerry said. The plane jolted again and quickly started to lose altitude.

“Did we hit something or something hit us?” Tony yelled.

“I don’t know, check the readouts!” Jerry said. Tony looked at the plane instruments while Jerry tried to regain control of the plane.

“Something’s hit the left wing!” Tony said.

“A bird?” Jerry asked just as the plane was again rocked.

“I don’t think so. It almost looks like weapons fire!” Tony said. Jerry managed to halt the planes decent, but it was starting to shake continuously.

“Weapons fire! But from where? There is nothing on radar for 50 kilometers!” Jerry said.

“I don’t know.” Tony said. A large blip suddenly appeared on the radar screen for a few seconds just as the plane was heavily rocked. Several of the instruments sparked and the plane power fluctuated before failing.

“Another plane?” Tony asked.

“I don’t know but we need to make an emergency landing now!” Jerry said. As Jerry struggled to land the plane, Tony became aware of a strange smell.

“Do you smell something?” he asked. Jerry sniffed the air and gasped in shock.

“Yes!” he responded.

“What is it?” Tony asked.

“The cargo! One of the containers must have been breached!” Jerry said.

“I’ll try to fix it” Tony said as he opened the cockpit door and ran towards the cargo hold.

“Wait! What if it’s dangerous?” Jerry asked.

“What other choice do we have?” Tony said.

“Just be careful,” Jerry said. As Tony ran into the cargo hold, Jerry picked up one of his mics to try to contact the base, but only heard static on the other end.

“Perfect!” he yelled as he slammed it down.

Tony had managed to get down to the cargo hold and could see that one of the barrels had a large gash in it and was leaking. The smell was very strong and he was starting to feel dizzy and strange. Quickly putting on a pair of gloves, he picked up the barrel to upright it. The plane was again rocked causing both him and the barrel to fall over, spilling more contents of the barrel, some of which fell onto him.

“Damn it!” Tony yelled. It was then that he saw the warning on the side of the barrel, which was the same as the warnings on the other 14 barrels.

“Warning: inhalation of the fumes generated by contents will cause partial genetic mutation. Physical contact with contents will cause complete genetic mutation. If you have inhaled or come into contact with contents seek emergency treatment.” Tony picked himself up and looked at his arms. The stuff had already been absorbed into his skin.

“Perfect just perfect!” he said. A sudden a wave of dizziness nearly overcame him. Everything in the room seemed to start spinning and he fell over. His entire body was starting to itch like mad and seconds before he passed out he heard his pants ripping and saw what looked like a fur covered tail bursting though them. He looked at his arms, which were itching like mad and saw light red fur growing on them. Just as he passed out, his thoughts were

“What is going on?”

In the cockpit of the plane Jerry was feeling very strange. He had almost managed to land the plane. He had just enough time to pull his sleeve up to see what that itching on his arms was.

“What the hell is going on!” he said when he found fur on his arm. The ground was getting closer and closer, and he realized that he was going to land right by the lake, if not in it. He held onto the control stick as best as he could to keep the plane level. The plane made contact with the ground with a thud. As it skidded to a halt it knocked down tree’s like they weren’t even there.

“Damn were gonna hit the lake!” he said as he saw the lake approaching and realized they wouldn’t slow down in enough time to avoid it. The plane hit the water with a loud splash. The area they hit was unfortunately deep and instantly the plane began to sink.

“Gotta find Tony, gotta get him outta here!” Jerry said. He ran back to the cargo hold to see a kangaroo lying unconscious on the ground close to an opened barrel of the waste. The roo was wearing Tony’s clothing, or at least a badly torn version of it. Despite the fact that his own body felt strange and that his face hurt he knew he had to get Tony out of the plane before it sank. Just as he walked over to him, the plane angled badly to the left, which caused him to fall towards the barrels. He fell right onto the damaged one causing it to spill some of its contents onto him.

“Damn it! He yelled.” He started feeling incredibly dizzy, but fought it to get to Tony. He managed to grab him, pick him up and carry to him the door of the plane. Just as the plane ‘went under’ he jumped out of the door with Tony in his arms. He managed to jump all the way to the shore. Turning around, he watched as the plane was submerged under the water.

“How did I ever jump so far?” he asked himself. He looked down at his legs and saw that they were no longer human legs but were kangaroo legs. It was then that his face began to hurt more and felt as if something were pulling on it. The feeling was too much for him and he passed out.

***

Slamming his fist onto the desk and cursing, General Davis read the news of what had happened to the plane.

“They went down around Lake PineOak. We can’t be sure but it looks like they were shot down” one of the men, Colonel Thomas who was in the room said.

“Shot down? By who?” Davis asked.

“We don’t know at this moment” Colonel Barton, who was also in the room said.

“That plane was carrying very dangerous cargo. We cannot risk it falling into enemy hands! Send a team there immediately to retrieve it!” Davis said.

“Yes sir. But what if they were shot down? Whoever did it could still be in the area,” Barton asked. Davis pulled out a small PDA and pressed several buttons on it before using his thumbprint to sign a document and handing it to Barton.

“I’m authorizing the use of whatever force is necessary to retrieve the cargo. Take whatever manpower and equipment you feel is necessary” he said.

“Yes sir” Barton and Thomas responded in unison.

They walked out of the room and down a hall that had several doors in it, each guarded by a pair of military police officers.

“Lake PineOak, I’ve heard of it. I hear that some teens use it as a ‘swimming hole’ and other people camp out there. What if they’ve been exposed to the contents of the cargo?” Thomas asked.

“Then there is nothing we can do for them,” Barton responded. They continued walking down the hall, rounding 2 corners before coming to an elevator.

“General Davis said that we have to use whatever means are necessary to retrieve the cargo. If it were to be discovered, the breech of security would be unacceptable.” Barton said.

“If anyone has been exposed to the cargo we should try to help them. Maybe if the effects on them are only partial we can help them.” Thomas said as he pressed the button on the elevator to activate the retina scan. As the scanner scanned his left eye, Barton thought of the implications of what he had said.

“There will be nothing we can do to help them. We will have to complete the effects of It.,” he said. The scan had confirmed Thomas’ identity so he stepped away while Barton has his eye scanned.

“If we do that, how will we explain any people that go missing?” Thomas asked as the elevator confirmed their ID’s and opened up. They boarded it and Barton pressed the button for the 3rd basement (where a significant amount of equipment was stored). As the elevator took them to their destination, Thomas looked at Barton.

“I have another reason to try to help them. Kangaroo’s appearing out of nowhere isn’t exactly something you can easily explain!” he said.

“It’s not as if they’re going to be telling anyone where they came from. We’ll just say we breed them,” Barton said. Thomas thought about saying something, but instead looked at Barton with a concerned look, before facing forward.

***

It was a warm day and having driven down to the lake, David parked his car. He often drove down to Lake PineOak for a swim and today was the perfect day for one. When he got out of his car, he looked around. He smiled when he saw that he was alone and would have the lake to himself. There was a small section at the end of the lake where the water was shallow. David and several of his friends often used it as a swimming hole. But today, he was alone. He made sure that no one was looking and striped before putting on his swim trunks. With the trunks on, he ran towards the water.

The water was warmer then normal and there was an odd odor in the air, but he wasn’t bothered by it. As he swam, the odor seemed to get stronger.

“What is that smell?” he asked himself. It seemed to be getting stronger. Near the center of the lake something floated to the surface. It appeared to be a container of some sort. David guessed that the smell was coming from it. He suddenly felt dizzy and his body started feeling warm and itchy! He turned to get out of the water.

“What is going on?” he asked himself. He heard a rustling in the bushes on the shore on the other side of the lake. Just as he got out of the water, 2 figures emerged from them.

“What the heck?” David asked himself when he saw two kangaroo’s each wearing what looked like torn military uniforms. He was feeling incredibly dizzy and his entire body itched like crazy. On the shore, he sat down to try to get his bearings. Warmth spread across his arms and when he looked at them he saw something that shocked him. Light red fur was growing on both of his arms!

“Fur! Why do I have fur?” he asked. The fur quickly grew thicker, until no skin could be seen under it before spreading to his hands. Short claws grew from each finger as fur grew on his hands and fingers.

“Ack!” he said. The fur began to spread beyond his arms and onto his chest and up his neck.

“No! It’s spreading!” he said. The fur quickly spread down his chest and up onto his head. His mouth and nose experienced a sharp pain and felt as if they were expanding. He reached up a now fur covered hand to feel his mouth. A growing snout met his hand. His ears started to ache and felt as it something were pulling on them. With his free hand, he felt each ear. Both ears were fur covered and were getting longer, much longer. His snout continued to grow until it was long enough that he could see it in his field of vision. When it stopped, he felt it. His nose was now at the end of it and was small and black. His ears stopped aching and he felt them. They were huge and furry. The rest of his face had been covered in fur. His noticed that his sense of hearing and smell were much better. He felt a very strange tingling near the bottom of his stomach. He had been distracted by the changes to his face and had forgotten about the fur growing down his chest. His entire torso was now covered in light red fur. His hips were getting wider and something was pushing at the back of his swim trunks. Before he could react, his hips expanded to twice their size as a large tail burst through the back of them, ripping them to shreds. The tail quickly grew; it was long and very powerful. When it finished its growth, it was nearly a meter and a half long. It had the same light red fur that the rest of his body had, with a black tip at the end. His legs seemed to be getting much more powerful and his feet ached. Right before his eyes, his feet tripled in length and his toes changed and merged such that each foot only had 3 black toes, each with a claw on the end of it. The tingling near the bottom of his stomach intensified. He felt the area and the fur on it almost felt baggy. Before he could comment, a strange opening emerged, forming a pouch.

“I have a pouch! But only female kangaroo’s have pouches” he said. It was then that a strange pulling sensation manifested itself in both of his nipples, which despite being hard to see under the fur, were still there. Both nipples suddenly protruded and began to expand. He examined both with his hands.

“Oh no! It can’t be that! Please not that!” he said. He felt an expanding feeling under each hand! Something was definitely pushing his hands forward. As he watched and felt in horror, a pair of breasts grew from his nipples. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he felt a strange tingling in his crouch.

“Oh no, not that, please not that!” he yelled. In the time it took him to look down, an intense feeling of warmth had covered and was changing everything in that area. The expanding feeling under his hands seemed to cease. The feeling of warmth in his crotch intensified and he couldn’t bear to watch. As the feeling ceased, he looked down and in horror saw that nothing ‘down there’ was familiar. Where minutes before a human male had been standing, a humanoid female kangaroo now stood.

David panicked.

“This can’t be happening! I must be hallucinating!” she said as she hopped towards her car. She made incredible time. Only then did she realize she had hopped without even thinking about it. She looked down at her legs. They had become an odd combination of human and kangaroo. They weren’t quite as long as a ‘normal’ kangaroo’s legs but they were far more powerful then human legs and were definitely built for hopping. Despite the fact that her body was fur covered, she still had nothing on and was technically naked. She reached into the car and got out her clothes. Her shirt fit okay, but her pants were definitely too small for her newly formed hips and legs.

“I guess I’ll have to make do with just the shirt,” she said. She put the shirt on and sat on the hood of the car and pondered what to do next.

***

David had been sitting on the hood of the car for several minutes. She had spent the time simply staring down at her body.

“How am I supposed to live like this?” she asked herself. She rubbed the fur on her chest under her shirt, making sure to avoid her new ‘assets’. She was almost afraid to touch them; somehow doing so didn’t seem right. They didn’t feel as if they were truly ‘hers’. Sighing, she ran a finger down her long and powerful tail.

“It’s bad enough being turned into a female, but into something that’s neither human or an animal? How am I supposed to function like this?” she asked herself. Just then, she heard the sound of someone or something hopping towards her. She quickly got off the hood of the car and turned in the direction of the sound. Right before her eyes, 2 kangaroo’s hoped up to her. They looked at her curiously and she looked at them. She was able to determine that both of them were female. The first one walked over to her and sniffed her.

“Who are you? How did you get here?” she asked, although she really didn’t expect a response. She jumped back, when the roo talked.

“My name is Jerry. This is Tony. We were flying a plane over this lake and were carrying cargo. We were told it was top secret but were given no hint it could do this. Something hit our plane and one of the containers sprung a leak, we both ended up being exposed to the contents. It seems that the containers each contain a liquid that completely turns anyone who comes into contact with it into a kangaroo. Anyone who breathes it fumes is partially turned into a kangaroo.” The roo said.

“That smell, it was fumes from it.” David said.

“And that is why this happened to you.” Jerry said.

“But why did we become females?” David asked.

“It’s seems it’s gender specific. Everyone who is exposed to that specific one will always become a female kangaroo” Tony said.

“So what do we do now?” David asked.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think this can be reversed. Tony and I may have no choice but to find a zoo to live in” Jerry said.

“But what about me? I can’t live in a zoo and I can’t exactly go back to human society like this!” David said. Tony put a comforting paw on David shoulder.

“We’ll find a way,” she said.

“In the meantime, we need to find shelter and somewhere to stay hidden. It’d be best if we weren’t discovered like this” Tony said.

***

The plane carrying Barton, Thomas and several soldiers approached the lake.

“I’m scanning the area on infrared.” Thomas said.

“Are you detecting the plane or it’s cargo?” Barton asked.

“Sir! Picking up the planes transponder, as well as several transponders from the cargo containers” one of the soldiers said.

“Where are they?” Barton asked.

“They appear to be submerged in the lake” the solider responded.

“Damn! That’s going to make things a lot harder.” Barton said.

“Oh no!” Thomas said.

“What?” Barton yelled.

“I’m seeing 3 people close to the lake, but something is wrong. The shape of their bodies, is all wrong.” Thomas said.

“Let me see!” Barton said. Barton looked at the display, and saw the images of two kangaroo’s and what looked like a human with the large legs, face and tail of a roo. Barton stepped back and rubbed his chin.

“It seems we have another duty to do,” he said.

David had retrieved his keys to the car. Jerry and Tony watched him intently.

“I think we should hide at my place. At least until we figure out what to do” David said.

“But how are we going to fit in the car?” Tony asked.

“We can figure out a way. Those clouds look pretty threatening and it could start storming any minute. Besides, if we stay here sooner or later someone is going to see us.” Jerry said. David opened the driver’s sear door, and climbed in. It was difficult, but she managed to get her tail around the seat enough that she could sit down. Just as Tony opened one of the back doors, Jerry heard a sound in the distance.

“Sounds like a plane” he said.

“Oh my god! Run!” Tony said. David got out of the car and the 3 of them hopped away from it just as what looked like a military plane sped towards the car and fired a missile at it. The second the missile impacted with the car, both erupted into a massive fireball.

“Why are they trying to kill us?” David yelled as the trio hopped away from the explosion as fast as they could.

“They must be trying to eliminate any evidence of what happened.” Tony said.

“If we hide in the bushes, there will be less chance of them seeing us!” David said.

In the large plane, Thomas looked at the flaming hulk that used to be David’s car in anger.

“We were supposed to help them not kill them!” he yelled.

“The general said to do whatever is necessary to retrieve the cargo. We cannot risk the public finding out about it” Barton said.

“But that doesn’t mean we kill them! Their innocent victims of this!” Thomas said.

“Perhaps, but they cannot be allowed to speak.” Barton said cynically. Walking towards the back of the plane, he ordered the troops there to begin parachuting down. Thomas, disgusted by Barton’s disregard for their lives, ordered the pilot to bring the plane to a landing once the troops had left it. There was a large clearing a kilometer from the lake that they could land and take off from. Barton walked back into the cockpit.

“I am going to parachute down with them. I will retrieve the cargo; you land in that clearing and deal with those 3 we saw. We’d best hurry, that storm will be here soon.” Barton said. Thomas nodded his head.

David, Jerry and Tony had hopped deep into the bushes. It had started to rain heavily and the ground was getting very muddy and slippery. They could hear the plane flying over the area.

“We can’t hide here forever! They’ll find us!” David said.

“And if we go into the open, were dead.” Jerry said. David rubbed his legs and feet, and then rubbed Jerry’s legs.

“With these legs we can hop pretty fast, if we can get to a road we should be able to get away from them.” He said.

“And when they find us, we will be sitting ducks in an open area like that.” Tony said.

“What other choice do we have?” David asked.

“Wait! Someone’s coming!” Tony said. Just then 3 heavily armed soldiers burst through the bushes, pointing their rifles at the group.

“Surrender now” the lead solider demanded. David looked at Jerry and Tony and then came up with an idea. She walked over to the lead solider and started rubbing up against him.

“Now common, you don't really want to hurt us do you?” she said. The solider stammered for a few seconds.

“I’m sorry miss but your going to have to come with us” he said.

“You know that by capturing us, you are sentencing us to death?” Tony said.

“We were told you’d be relocated, and your changes will be completed so you can join your new friends” one of the soldiers said.

“They lied to you, do you really think they’d tell you the truth about what they really wanted to do to us?” Tony asked.

“We don’t have time to debate this, our orders are to detain you and that is exactly what we are going to do.” The solider said.

“You don’t leave us with much choice then” Jerry said. She nodded towards Tony and they each jumped at one of the soldiers with their feet first. David saw this and reacted by tripping the 3rd solider. The first two soldiers fell back and into the mud, but quickly got up. Tony and Jerry each hopped towards them and used their powerful arms to punch them out. The solider that David tripped grabbed her leg as he fell, causing her to fall onto her back. Both she and the soldier got up and he drew his gun, and she reacted instinctively by punching him, which knocked him out. Jerry picked up the 3 rifles and handed one of them to David and the other to Tony.

“We’d better get out of here, it won’t be long until they come looking for them.” Jerry said. David and Tony nodded and the 3 of them quickly hopped away.

***

Despite the rain, Thomas and the pilot of the plane had managed to land safely. Together, they walked into the back of it, where an APC was waiting for them. Thomas turned to the man.

“Mr. Barton intends to kill those 3 innocent people. I cannot allow him to do so. They are innocent victims of all of this.” He said.

“But what can we do? By now they got soldiers all over the place. It might already be too late.” The young pilot said.

“I will not order you to come with me, if you wish you can stay here.” He said.

“If it’s for a good cause then I’ll come.” the young man said.

“Then lets get to it” Thomas said. The two of them ran into the back of the plane and boarded the APC, and exited the plane into the now raging storm.

***

Mr. Barton and two soldiers had dressed up in hazard suits and had taken a boat to the center of the lake to search for the cargo. The storm made the waters rough.

“Colonel, if these conditions persist, I don’t see how were going to find the cargo!” one of the soldiers said.

“We have no options Major! We cannot allow the cargo to be exposed!” Barton responded.

“Yes sir!” the men responded. The other soldier in the boat tried to contact one of the search teams and got nothing but static.

“Sir, team 15 is not responding” he said.

“They must have done something to them!” Barton responded.

“What should we do?” the man asked.

“Tell the teams they have new orders! No more capturing them. Their orders are now to shoot on sight!” Barton said.

“Sir?” the soldier asked.

“Are you questioning my orders Major?” Barton demanded.

“No sir. I’ll inform the teams of their new orders at once,” the man said.

“Good” Barton said.

***

David, Jerry and Tony could hear the soldiers closing in. They were soaking wet from the rain, and were getting cold. To top it off, their legs were covered in mud. David’s shirt was soaked, and the back of it was covered in mud.

“We can’t keep this up for much longer.” he said.

“Maybe not, but what other choice do we have?” Jerry said. David’s ears perked up.

“I hear more coming!” he said.

“The road is nearby, if were quick we should have a good shot at it” Tony said. They hopped towards the road as fast as they could. The ground was incredibly slippery and David and Jerry slipped and fell face first into the mud. Tony reached out a paw to help them up. The entire front side of David’s body was covered in mud. He wiped the mud away from his eyes and looked down at himself in embarrassment. Jerry wasn’t in any better shape.

“Don’t worry, once we get to the road, the rain will wash it off.” Tony said. David tried to wipe down his shirt as best as he could as they resumed hopping.

“This is crazy!” he said. When they got to the road, they could hear what sounded like a car approaching them. The soldiers they could hear closing in on them were getting ever closer, it seemed as though they were pinned down.

“What do we do?” David asked.

“We still have the guns! We may have no choice but to fight!” Tony said. Just then they saw the lights of an APC crossing over a hill and coming towards them. The APC drove up to them and came to a stop.

“Get it! Hurry! I can get you to safety!” Thomas said.

“Who are you?” David asked.

“I am Colonel Thomas. The man that has ordered those troops to hunt you down is Colonel Barton! I can get you to safety!” he said. David, Jerry and Tony looked at each other and realized they had little choice. They ran around to the back of the APC and got in just as the soldiers pursuing them caught up with them.

“Colonel Thomas! What are you doing?” one of the soldiers asked.

“I will not allow these innocent people to be harmed!” Thomas responded.

“Sir, we have our orders! We are ordered to shoot on sight!” the solider said.

“They are under my protection now!” Thomas said.

“Sir we are going to have to contact Colonel Barton to ask him what to do!” the solider said.

“Very well!” Thomas said. When the solider went to contact Barton Thomas drove off as fast as he could.

In the back of the APC, the young pilot helped David, Jerry and Tony to get cleaned up and dried off. He handed David a huge white towel and David did her best to get dried off. Fortunately, the APC was heated so they were able to get warmed up.

“Thank you” David said as the young man handed him the towel.

“I have some dry clothes you can all wear. I’ll give you some privacy,” He said as he walked back up to the front of the vehicle.

David took the opportunity to remove her wet and filthy shirt. David looked down at her body, ran a finger down it and shook her head in disbelief.

“I still can’t belief that it’s mine,” she said. Tony dried off his feet and rubbed her tail.

“I can’t believe this is mine either, but it is.” She said.

“So what are we going to do now?” David asked.

“It seems were stuck like this” Jerry said.

“How am I supposed to go through life looking like this?” David asked. Tony put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Somehow we will find a way,” she said. David had dried her body off as best as she could and reached into a box that contained clean clothes and picked out a nice clean shirt and handed shirts to Tony and Jerry. Finding a pair of Jeans with a waist size big enough for her hips, she put them on. She was surprised that there was a tail hole in them.

“It seems they were ready for everything.” She said.

In the front of the vehicle, Thomas and the young man pondered what to do next.

“I’m going to contact base. Tell them what has happened.” He said. The young man beside him nodded his head in agreement.

“Thomas to base, I need to speak with General Davis immediately, we have a situation here.” He said.

***

In the boat at the center of the lake, the group had retrieved all of the containers of cargo, including the broken one. Much of its contents had leaked into the lake, but nearly half of it remained.

“It’s a good thing we gave all the troops the gas masks,” one of the majors said. Barton’s received a commination.

“Colonel Barton, Colonel Thomas has taken the 3 in an APC. We don’t know his destination. Request instructions.” The voice said. Barton frowned.

“He has betrayed us. I want all available personal to find him immediately. He is to be treated the same as the 3. Have our plane locate him and take him out.” He said.

“But sir!” the voice said.

“Do as I say!” Barton said, before cutting the communication. The two majors stared at him.

“What are you looking at?” he yelled.

“Nothing sir” they responded.

“Then get us back to shore. We have what we came for,” he said.

As they arrived on shore, the man who piloted the plane that destroyed David’s car walked towards them. Barton walked up to him, ordering the two majors to wait in the clearing nearby.

“I’m glad to see you retrieved the cargo Colonel.” He said.

“My pleasure General Davis” Barton responded.

“Sir we have a problem. Thomas has found the 3, and gotten them into an APC. I can only assume he’s going to try to get back to base.” Barton said.

“Then it seems we need to stop them.” Davis said. He motioned for Barton to follow him over to the boat. In the boat were all of the containers, including the damaged one as well as a chest. Davis opened the chest, and revealed its contents, a dart gun. Davis reached into his pocket and pulled out a container with 10 darts in it.

“Each dart contains a sample of the material. 5 female and 5 male. Anyone hit with this will be completely transformed and unable to speak.” He said.

“Yes sir, who do you want me to use this on?” Barton asked.

“Use 1 female and 1 male on them” he said as he pointed to the majors, who were waiting in this distance.

“I have reason to believe that Private Terran is with Mr. Thomas. Use another male one on him.” He said.

“What about the rest of them?” Barton asked.

“I’m sure Mr. Terran is only following orders, but he can’t be allowed to talk. Use 4 of the females ones to give him 4 companions.” Davis said.

“Yes sir” Barton said, as he loaded the gun with 1 of the ‘male’ darts and one of the ‘female’ darts.

“Take the plane to intercept them” Davis said. Barton smiled and nodded.

The two major’s waited in the clearing. They saw Barton walking towards them.

“Sir?” the first one asked.

“What are your orders Sir?” the second one asked.

“I’m afraid you cannot talk to anyone about what you have seen here” Barton said.

“Of course not sir, we understand that what we have seen is confidential” they responded. Barton readied the weapon and pointed it at them.

“Sir what are you doing?” the first one asked.

“Ensuring you will not be speaking!” Barton said as he fired the gun twice, striking both of them. They both instantly started to feel strange as fur sprouted all over their bodies.

“What happening?” the first one asked. Barton simply watched them, expressionless. The two men’s faces lengthened and their hips widened, ripping their pants to shreds. Massive tails grew from the base of their spines, and their legs increased in length and strength. Barton folded his arms and watched as the two men were quickly and mercilessly turned into kangaroo’s. Once their changes had completed, they looked at their new bodies in shock. They tried to speak but only animal sounds came out.

“Enjoy your new forms” Barton said as he started to walk away. The two roo’s instincts began to assert themselves and they found themselves panicking. Having seemingly no other option, they hopped away frantically. As Barton watched them hop away, he grinned and said

“and each other”.

***

The APC carrying Thomas, David, Jerry, Tony and Private Terran sped along the rain soaked road. Thomas hung up the radio transmitter.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked.

“Something very strange is going on. General Davis isn’t there, no one knows what is going on” Thomas said. David’s ears perked up when he heard a strange sound coming from behind them.

“Something’s coming” he said. Tony and Jerry heard it as well. They heard something flying towards the APC.

“This isn’t good!” Thomas said. Suddenly, there was an explosion in front of the vehicle. Private Terran brought it to a halt right in front of the fire that resulted from it. They all heard something land behind them. A voice called out.

“Get out of the vehicle or I will open fire on it!” It said. Thomas shook his head.

“Barton” he said.

“What do we do?” David asked.

“Maybe we can fight him off,” Tony said.

“This is your last warning!” Barton said.

“No. It’s over. We have no choice but to surrender to him.” Thomas said. The others were not happy about it but they agreed. They got out via the back of the vehicle and saw Barton standing there with a plane behind him.

“I’m sorry they had to bring this down on you Paul” Barton said.

“You don’t have to kill them Steve, there innocent. Private terran was only following orders, please let him go.” Thomas said.

“Oh, I fully intent to let him go.” He said as he drew the dart rifle and fired it, it’s dart striking Private Terran.

“No!” David yelled as she jumped at Barton. He responded by striking her with the rifle, sending her flying back into Paul’s arms. David stood up and they looked at Terran. Fur had already covered his entire body. His face was lengthening and his hips were getting much wider.

“What have you done?” Thomas asked.

“Oh, I think it’s pretty clear” Barton said as he reloaded the rifle with 4 ‘female’ darts. Terrans pants were ripped to shreds as his long and powerful tail grew and as his legs and hips grew. His lengthening feet pushed off his boots. Seconds later, a male kangaroo stood before the group. He attempted to speak, but only animal sounds came out.

“He can’t talk?” Tony asked.

“That’s right. And you’re next. I’m sure Mr. Terran would love 4 mates to play with.” Barton said.

“Steve! You don’t have to do this!” Thomas said.

“What’s wrong Paul, don’t like the idea of sharing your friends fate? I think it’s time you gave him a mate.” He said, as he aimed the rifle at Thomas. Paul sighed.

“If you going to completely turn us all into animals, then we won’t be able to talk. You might as well tell us why you’re doing this.” Thomas said.

“Do you really expect me to fall for the tired old ‘get him to confess everything, then defeat him’ routine?” Barton cynically asked.

“No trick. You have the gun, think of it as a last request” Thomas said. Barton thought for a minute.

“Very well. As you know overcrowding is a series problem in many school’s and urban centers and homelessness is a serious issue.” He said.

“Yes” Thomas, said.

“This stuff can also be ingested. Think of it, a way to solve those overcrowding problems.” Barton said. Thomas looked at Barton in shock, and almost felt sick to his stomach.

“By turning people in kangaroo’s? But why kangaroo’s? Don’t you think people are going to wonder where all these people are disappearing to?” Thomas asked.

“They would be looking for humans, not roo’s” Barton said.

“And when they notice that there are kangaroo’s appearing all over the country, seemingly out of nowhere?” Thomas asked.

“I’m sure local zoo’s would be thrilled to have some new animals and as for the others, well kangaroo meat is very tasty” Barton said.

“Your insane! You have a duty to protect civilian life. This goes against everything we stand for!” Thomas said. Barton looked at him and huffed.

“But what about our plane? It’s one hell of a coincidence that it just happened to crash, and we just happened to be exposed. And how come David only partially transformed and we can still talk?” Jerry asked.

“You were only exposed by skin contact and he only inhaled the fumed from it. When it’s injected or consumed, it’s far more powerful.” Barton said.

“So what happened to us was a test?” David said.

“That’s right,” Barton said.

“You can’t seriously expect us to just stand here and let you inject all of us?” David asked.

“You don’t have a choice! Now shall we begin?” Barton asked.

Thinking quickly, Jerry hopped over to the side of the road and grabbed something from the ground.

“What do you think your doing?” Barton yelled.

“Stopping you!” Jerry yelled as she threw the object she had picked up, a medium sized rock. The rock sailed threw the air and struck the rifle, sending it falling to the ground. When it hit the ground, it went off, firing all of its 4 ‘female’ darts into Barton. As the darts struck him, he was knocked on his back.

“No!” he yelled. The force of the 4 doses of serum only accelerated his transformation. Within seconds his pants were ripped open by his new massive thighs and legs. His quickly growing feet pushed off his boots. His tail grew in as his face lengthened and as fur covered his entire body. His arms and hands quickly changed. The kangaroo picked herself up and tossed aside her torn pants and shirt and looked down at her new body in horror. She tried to speak by only animal sounds came out. When they saw her pouch, they knew for sure they she was indeed a she. Thomas looked at the new kangaroo and folded his arms, shaking his head.

“It seems the only one who’s giving Mr. Terran a mate is you,” he said. The female roo looked at him in confusion; she had no idea what he was talking about. When she saw the male roo, she immediately hopped up to him and nuzzled him. Terran looked confused as to what he should do.

“Are you still in there Private?” Thomas asked. The male kangaroo nodded his head. The female roo continued to nuzzle him.

“It seems 4 doses were enough to change more then just his body” David said.

“Common, we have to get out of here” David said.

“The recorder in the back of the APC should have recorded everything Barton said.” Thomas said.

“Then we need to get back to base and tell them.” Jerry said. The female roo continued to nuzzle up against Terran, which disturbed him greatly. He tried to get away, but she just followed him.

“What should we do with her?” David asked.

“Somehow, I think she’d cause a problem for Mr. Terran if we brought her with us. Leave her here, I’m sure someone will pick her up.” Thomas said. The female roo looked at them oddly. When they got back into the APC, she hoped towards Terran and grabbed him, as if trying to keep him with her.

“I don’t think she’s going to let him go” David said.

“Well, we can’t just leave him here.” Thomas said.

“Especially in this weather” David said. It was becoming apparent that Terran was having trouble controlling his new instincts and they knew that for his own good they couldn’t just leave him. Thomas walked up to him, and tried to offer him a verbal splash of cold water.

“You have to focus, remember she used to be Mr. Barton. We still might found a way to cure you. If you allow yourself to lose control to this body, you might never truly be able to go back” he said. That seemed to work and Terran shook his head and quickly jumped into the APC. The female roo protested by making loud sounds. The rest of the group got in as quickly as they could. Again, they dried themselves off with the towels. David looked at her hands and down at her body.

“I still don’t know how I’m going to explain this to my family.” He said. Tony put a comforting paw on her shoulder.

“Like I said, we will find a way,” she said. Thomas turned the APC back ‘on’ and they drove off towards the base.

***

The storm had finally started to clear and the sun was poking through the clouds. General Davis had not heard from Colonel Barton in hours. Having recovered the cargo, he had recalled the troops to the base and was out there alone.

He pulled a PDA out of his pocket and tried to use it to locate Barton. The PDA immediately picked the implant that each of them had inside of them in case they went missing.

“That’s weird, it says that he’s only a kilometer from here” he said. He immediately walked to the road, where a jeep was waiting for him.

“Why isn’t he responding?” he asked himself as he turned on the jeep and started driving towards Barton’s location.

When he reached the location, he saw a kangaroo standing in the road, looking at him oddly.

“Barton?” he asked. The kangaroo looked at him as if she knew what that name meant. Davis reached him his pocket and pulled out a hypospray with a vial in it. He walked over to the roo holding the vial up.

“I don’t know if you can understand me Barton but if you let me give you this injection, you’ll become your human self again.” He said. The kangaroo looked at him oddly before looking at something behind him. Davis turned around to see 2 kangaroos, a male and a female standing in the distance behind him. The Kangaroo started to hop towards them.

“Damn it Barton! You can't give in to your instincts! Do you want to be an animal forever?” David yelled. The kangaroo didn’t seem able to understand him and hopped towards the other kangaroo’s as fast as she could.

“This is strange, how can she be unable to understand me? Unless” he said, stopping himself. He again pulled out the PDA to show the location of the plane Barton had used to catch up to the group. Getting into the jeep, he drove towards it.

When he arrived, the plane was there and he saw several darts on the ground, all empty. He walked over and picked up each one, sticking each into a small component above the PDA used for reading DNA. It told him that the 4 female ones he had found had all been injected into Barton.

“Damn it!” he swore.

“No wonder she didn’t understand me. Multiple doses like this and the persons mind will be effected, their intelligence will become no higher then a kangaroo, even their thought patterns will become kangaroo. The cure wouldn’t have worked on him at all.” He said. He then realized that the group had gotten away.

“By now they must be within only a few hours of the base. I cannot allow them to inform anyone of the plan. It seems I will have to go to plan B,” he said. He got out of the jeep, and into the plane, and headed back towards where the storage tanks of the serum were.

“Enjoy your new form Mr. Barton” he said.

***

The APC arrived on the military base and parked in a hangar. They saw that the large plane carrying the troops had returned.

“We need to tell them the truth,” Thomas said.

“I think when they ask for proof, I will be proof enough” David said.

“As will we?” Tony said.

“But who are we going to talk to, if General Davis is part of the plan?” Jerry asked.

“General Tavion. She will be able to help. She is his immediate subordinate.” Thomas said.

“And how exactly are they going to react to you coming here with 3 kangaroo’s and me?” David asked.

“You stay in the hall outside of her office. I will call you in when necessary.” Thomas said.

Several minutes later he was standing in the office of the general.

“Have a seat Mr. Thomas” she said. Thomas sat down.

“Alright, lets hear it. What happened out there?” she asked.

“There was more to the cargo that plane was carrying then we were told,” he said.

“How so?” she asked.

“It was designed as a type of biological weapon. Exposure to turns a person into a kangaroo. General Davis and Colonel Barton were working together. They planned on using it in overpopulated areas” he said.

“Listen to yourself! Are you crazy? Your telling me two of our most decorated officers are planning on turning people into kangaroos!” she said.

“I know its crazy sounding. But I have proof.” He said.

“I’d like to see it” she asked.

“Okay” he said as he walked over to the doors to the office and opened them. David, Jerry, Tony and Terran all hopped in. General Tavion stood up and gasped. She walked over to Terran and touched the fur on his chest as well as on Jerry and Tony.

“You really are animals?” she asked.

“Yes” Jerry and Tony responded.

“You can talk?” she asked. Thomas explained,

“They were exposed via their skin. David was exposed to the fumes and Mr. Terran was injected with it by Mr. Barton”.

“Why would Mr. Barton do that do him?” she asked.

“He wanted to prevent us from talking.” Thomas said.

“Where is he now?” she asked.

“After he changed Mr. Barton, he was going to fully change all of us. We tried to stop him and he dropped the gun. It went off firing all 4 darts into him. It turned him into a female kangaroo, body and mind” Thomas said.

“I see. But what about Mr. Davis” she asked.

“I don’t know, we got back here as fast as we could,” he said.

“We will need to search for him, if he is doing what you say he needs to be stopped,” she said. Thomas nodded

Just then the telephone rang. The general picked it up.

“Hello?” she asked.

“What!” she said.

“Very well, deploy the troops, he has to be stopped” she said.

Outside, a large fighter plane was hovering over the entrance to the base. Under each wing, a small turret opened up. Several soldiers on the ground had taken cover and were holding rifles waiting for orders. Several tanks exited out of hangars and sped towards the bases entrance, taking up a position that surrounded it. General Tavion watched the action from her office window.

“How did he get here so fast without us noticing?” she asked.

“Our plane seemed to be shot down, we didn’t pick up anything on radar, he were just hit” Tony said.

“It seems Mr. Davis has been acquiring technology,” Tavion said.

Two other turrets dropped down from the planes wings. General Tavion spoke on a loud speaker, demanding that Davis land the plane and surrender. Davis delayed for a few seconds, before telling her

“Never!” Tavion spoke again into the loud speaker, ordering the troops to open fire.

Each of the tanks opened fire on the plane. When their shells hit it, the plane shuddered but managed to stay in the air. The troops on the ground fired on it, including several with rocket launchers, but their weapons had little effect. The plane responded by firing what appeared to be lasers from two of its turrets at the cover the troops had made and at the tanks. The laser drilled holes those both of then. Once the holes had been drilled, the other turrets fired what seemed to be darts through the holes, striking the soldiers. The plane then proceeded to fly towards the buildings on the base, as the soldiers that had been struck began sprouting fur, and as their pants were ripped open by quickly expanding hips and growing tails. Tavion watched in horror, as the tops of all of the tanks opened and panicked kangaroo’s hoped out.

“Mr. Thomas, are the roof mounted turrets functional?” she asked.

“Yes sir but I’m unsure how much effect they will have on that plane” he said.

“We have no choice, we have to try it” she said.

The plane strafed by the buildings, using its weapons to smash windows and fired the darts into them, striking people inside of them. Despite an almost constant barrage of weapons fire from other tanks, the plane was barley damaged and still fully functional. In a matter of 10 minutes, there were dozens of freaked out kangaroo’s hopping around the base. Thomas activated the turrets on top of the buildings are fired them. The bullets impacted the plane, but did little damage to it.

Thomas thought of something.

“I have an idea,” he said as he could see the plane approaching their location.

“Let’s hear it!” Tavion said.

“If I can get to his office, I may be able to find something to shut the plane down. He must have left something behind about that plane” he said. Just then the window shattered, and the plane started shooting darts into the room. One of them struck Tavion. Fortunately, David and the others were able to dodge the others. As fur started sprouting on her arms, and her face began to lengthen, Tavion looked at Thomas.

“Do it!” she said.

“We can’t just leave you here!” Thomas said. Tavions pants were ripped to shreds as her hips widened and her massive tail grew in.

“There’s nothing you can do for me, he must be stopped” she said. Thomas nodded. Tavion tried to say something, but her voice was gone, replaced with kangaroo sounds. As the group got out of the room, 4 guards ran into to check on Tavion. They didn’t expect to see a kangaroo standing in the room and their shock allowed the General to catch them off guard as he hit each of them with a dart.

As the group ran to the general’s office, they could hear weapons fire in the background.

“If we don’t stop him fast, there won’t be a human left on this base” David said. They arrived at the door to his office and Tony and Jerry used their powerful legs to kick it open.

“David, you check his desk, Ill check his computer. Tony, you and Jerry check the walls, behind the pictures, paintings, anywhere could yield clues.” Thomas said.

***

General Davis laughed like a madman. He had managed to turn almost 60 people into kangaroos. He knew there we still people left in the buildings, but he was willing to wait. He had drained almost half of 2 of the canisters of the serum in order to fuel the darts but it was worth it from his point of view. He had made an equal amount of male and female darts and was randomly turning people into each gender, he didn’t let their human gender decide their kangaroo gender.

“I wonder where my friend Mr. Thomas and his little group went?” he asked himself. As he saw yet 5 more tanks approach his position, he prepared to open fire when the plane started losing power. He was lucky it wasn’t high in the air, as he quickly lost altitude until the plane hit the ground with a thud. If he hadn’t of been strapped in as hard as he was, he would have been badly injured. Fortunately he only had bumps and bruises. He tried to access the lasers, but they had been damaged in the fall. The dart turrets were still operational but without the lasers they wouldn’t be of much use.

“It looks like I have no choice,” he said as he grabbed a rifle with multiple darts loaded and exited the plane. Standing in front of the plane, he looked at the tanks. He heard something coming towards him and turned to see David and Thomas approach. Thomas stood close and held out a control device.

“You left this behind Mr. Davis.” He said. Davis turned towards Thomas and aimed his rifle at him.

“So you found it. You may have defeated me, but I assure you that the cost of winning will be high for both of you” he said to David and Thomas.

“I don’t think you want to do that Mr. Davis” Thomas said as he looked at the tanks.

“Somehow I doubt they will fire on me.” He said as he prepared to fire the weapon.

“Enjoy being female kangaroos” he said to David and Thomas. Just as he was about to fire, Thomas pressed a button, which reactivated the plane. He looked the General in the eye and said

“you too” before pressing a button which cause the dart guns to shoot both male and female darts into Davis at an incredible rate. All Davis could say as the darts impacted him, was

“NO!” David turned to Thomas.

“What will getting hit with so many darts, both male and female do to him?” he asked.

“Looks like were about to find out” Thomas said. The Generals body changed at an incredible rate, his pants were ripped and torn as his tail and hips grew. When they cleared away they could see the result of all of those darts hitting him. He seemed to have a pouch and seemed to be female, but it didn’t end there. Pouches began growing up his chest until he had a total of 3 of them. His face grew into a roo’s face and fur covered his body, but it wasn’t orange fur, it was a strange bluish green color.

“Yikes!” David said. The changing general looked at everyone in anger and confusion before hoping over to Thomas and taking the control’s for the plane. New appendages grew just under each of his arms and new eyes grew under his normal two. As his last changes finished and he had been fully transformed he looked very angry.

“It’s time to surrender!” Thomas said. With a look of anger on his now 4 eyes, the general looked at the group and flipped everyone off with all four of his hands.

Looking right at Thomas he spoke in a monstrous sounding voice

“A valiant effort Mr. Thomas. But now it is time for me to put an end to this once and for all.”

“It doesn’t have to end like this!” Thomas said.

“Who said it’s coming to an end? Now if you’ll excuse me. I have to go!” Davis said. He walked back towards and into the plane. Thomas and David hopped away. Thomas radioed the tanks that were close by and ordered them to open fire. The tanks fired on the plane, but it took off anyway, despite the barrage. They seemed to have worn the armor it had down as it jostled quite heavily. In it’s hold, two of the containers lids came lose, exposing the serum. Sparks flew throughout the plane. Thomas could tell that it had suffered damage, but it was getting close to being out of range of the tanks ability to hit it.

“Again!” he ordered.

Davis held on tight as his plane was heavily shaken. Sparks were flying everywhere, but he seemed to be getting away.

“I win” he laughed. He walked back to the hold to check on his cargo and saw 2 of the containers without tops.

“A minor problem, the fumes won’t be able to affect me anymore, especially with this cure.” He said as pulled out the cure form his torn jacket. Just then, the final barrage hit the plane and it was shaken badly. A segment of the ceiling came lose, exposing a long a wire from a lose circuit which fell down and into one of the exposed barrels. Davis looked at the exposed barrel and knew what was coming next. His next words were

“oh crap”.

On the ground they watched as the generals plane exploded in a huge fireball that completely vaporized it and everything in it. Thomas stood there and shook his head.

“So what happens next?” David asked.

“I don’t know David, I don’t know”.

***

A week later, Barton and the two Majors that had been turned into kangaroos had been rounded up. Thomas stood in front of the field with David, Tony and Jerry. They looked at the large group of roo’s.

“There is no cure for them, or at least if there was, Davis took it with him to his grave” Thomas said.

“What will become of them, of us?” Tony asked.

“Most of them will probably end up in zoo’s. Their minds seem to intact, but it would be very difficult for them to live in human society.” He said.

“What about me? I can’t exactly live as an animal” David asked.

“We will tell them the truth about what has happened. You will be accepted, it might take time but you will” Thomas said. David looked down at his furry body.

“When this asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, this wasn’t what I had in mind. But this body isn’t actually too bad.” She said.

“After all we’ve been though, I think we need a vacation” Jerry said. David and Tony nodded.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Thomas said.

***

Tony and Jerry lay on their stomachs, relaxing on the beech, while David lay on her back. She had been very surprised that she was able to get a bikini that fit her body so well. As sipped the Pina Colta she had ordered, she took in the sunrays. She had to admit how great the sun felt on her fur. As she finished off the drink, she put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes to relax. With a smile on her face, she said,

“Maybe this won’t be so bad”.