He welcomed the sound of his car's engine, the radio had lost frequency hours ago. It was welcomed as the silence would have driven him mad by now. It had been a while since he drove down a road covered by miles and miles of trees. This forest was supposed to be a shortcut but instead turned into a very long tunnel.

It was thought of as such, the trees were so dense that they covered the skies like a blanket. It felt a little suffocating with how small the road was, good thing he wasn't claustrophobic. Though he did fear that he might end up meeting someone in the middle of this forest. The road was too narrow to allow a car to pass.

Hopefully, it would never come to such a situation.

He turned towards the clock on his dashboard, it was already seven. He would not have known that it was nighttime since the forest was practically a natural wall that grew around him. Like some sort of prison. It would be best not to think of it.

But there was a ray of hope, just on the horizon was the end. His face adopted a soft smile as he finally reached the end of this forest. He hoped to finally be free of this darkness, but sadly it wasn't just his day. The sky that was once hidden by the thick forest was now replaced by dark clouds accompanied by heavy rain.

He cursed under his breath.

At least there was a change of scenery. Hopefully, civilization would be closer than he thinks. And it would appear that he was in the middle of nowhere. Though he could not see that far thanks to the heavy rain, he could tell that he was surrounded by empty fields and tall grass. And that was not a good sign at all.

He was lost.

A groan escaped him as the thought finally set in. There were barely any road signs for him to get a grasp of his surroundings.

Before he could surrender to his frustrations, something down the road caught his eye. A lone street light was posted on the side of the road. But that was not all, under the light was a silhouette. The storm made it difficult to see who it was, but he could clearly see that this figure wore a hoodie.

They took notice of him and raised their thumb to flag him down. He was hesitant. The world isn't exactly a safe one. So it was best to simply drive past this stranger.

But he took a moment to think about it. He even looked over his shoulders and at the backseat. There were cardboard boxes everywhere, all the way to the back.

He sighed.

There was honestly nothing to protect in his car but his life. He was not that attached to his belongings. He eased up the brakes as he approached the figure. And as he did so, he reached into the glove compartment and retrieved his handgun. As mentioned before, the world isn't safe, and he dreaded the day he would use the weapon. But it was better to be prepared.

He hid the gun under his left thigh and slowly pulled over right next to the street light, where the stranger waited. As he did so, he started to regret his decision as his eyes noticed the small dirty shovel in the stranger's hand. It was covered in mud, so were their boots. Behind the figure was a broken bicycle that was in a far worse condition than the tool.

Against his better judgment, he rolled down the window of the passenger seat, but not enough for anyone to reach into his car. Then he rested his left hand close to his gun.

"Need a ride?" He asked.

They leaned close to the window. But they flinched back as he turned on the light. It was then discovered that whoever it was outside the car was not human. Even they were surprised to see him.

What stood outside was a humanoid cat, and though they looked like a domestic feline, this person had a human-like expression. It was clear that they were surprised by him as if he was the strange one between them.

They shook their head before they spoke to him. "Sorry, yeah, I need to get back to town but this rain is too much. Just down the road."

Now the surprises just don't end, for the person here was a woman. He couldn't even tell as she wore a large hoodie that concealed her identity well.

"Sure, I don't mind." He said.

"Do you have room for my bike?" She asked as she glanced at the back.

"Sorry, the car is kinda full."

"That's alright, I can just come back for it. So are you going to let me in?"

"Right," he muttered aloud as he unlocked the door on her side.

He watched her as she rushed into the car to escape the rain. Her boots and shovel brought mud inside as well.

"I'm really sorry about the mess."

He sighed. "It's fine, I'll just clean it up after I drop you off."

The woman brought down her hood. She was exactly like a cat, but still quite human. It was still odd that he would meet someone like them. She was an actual black cat that almost resembled a human in a way. She even acted human.

Is she human?

Though as much as he wanted to ask about it, he was most likely tired from the whole trip. He had been driving for about a day now. So it would be the best course of action to rest as soon as he reaches town.

With that in mind, he pressed forward just so he could look for a place to stay for the night. Perhaps maybe a motel, anything would do.

"Don't think I've ever seen an ape like you." She said, which only caused him to act strangely.

He nearly choked on his own saliva. This was strange as no one would call a fellow human an ape. Unless of course, they meant to insult them. But her? She just said it casually.

"I'm not an ape." He answered quickly so he could form a question of his own, something that could help him out with his current situation.

"Ah, so a chimp?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"No…"

"Huh, then what are you?"

He remained silent, he contemplated for a moment and wondered if her questions were even relevant at all. He must be losing his mind or something. Like a damn dream, one so lucid. No, he was awake, that was obvious. What really confused him was his current passenger.

He glanced over at the corner of his eyes, there he could see the golden piercing gaze of hers. She waited for an answer, she was patient thankfully.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned towards her. "What are you?"

He finally asked.

"I'm a cat, is that not obvious? Don't know what kind exactly, but we're all the same anyway."

He returned his eyes to the road. Her answer lingered in his mind. She was so honest, no fault in her words of any kind. Doubt she'd even lie at all.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm human…" He finally answered.

She stared at him for a second. Her gaze was like daggers sinking deep into his skin. There was judgment in those eyes.

"Of course you are," She sighed. "I mean, no offense, but you weirdos are so dedicated to all this. I gotta give it to you though, that is a nice costume."

"I'm not wearing one…"

"Really? So you basically just waxed off your fur?"

"N-no, I was born this way, I'm a human."

She still doubted him.

Suddenly the car came to a stop, she watched him carefully as he adjusted the rearview mirror towards him. He stared at it silently. He inspected his own features, he looked for his own flaws. This was surely caused by his long journey, right? There's no way that this… cat creature was in his car. He must be really losing his mind.

Stress was getting to him for sure.

How long had he been on the road? Honestly, he couldn't really tell. A day or two? All he could do of course was guess…

He didn't notice the concerned look from the cat. She realized something was wrong the moment he stopped the car just to look in the mirror.

"You okay, dude?"

This brought him out of his senses. "Ah, sorry… I was just thinking of something."

"That's alright, but can we go now?"

He said nothing, the car simply moved forward. It was clear that he was deep in his thoughts.

It wouldn't be odd if this was just some hallucination. Perhaps it was caused by his loneliness as he journeyed through the country. Maybe that's it, that's why this cat creature was here, he was just imagining things. One good sleep would surely fix the problem.

"My name is Maria, how about you?"

Once again he was pulled out of his thoughts, just as he was about to flood his mind with different theories about his current situation.

"Oh, it's Jack, Jack Kennedy."

"So, Jack, you're not some kind of serial killer, are you?"

"Don't think so," He chuckled.

"Well just in case, I have a shovel, so no funny business."

"No need to be worried, as long as we both behave, I'm sure there won't be a problem."

She smiled, he was honestly glad that she was friendly, in a way of course. Maria at least knew a joke would lighten the mood.

Especially now.

"That's good… What are you doing here anyway? Don't think you're from around here at all."

"Ah, well, I'm just heading home…"

"Far from here I guess. So you're just passing through then, there's a nice motel you can stay in on Crow Street."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Say, I'm kinda curious about what you're doing out here, with a small shovel." Jack said.

She paused, and Maria glanced out the window with a strange look. It was clear that Maria was hesitant to answer.

Jack glanced down at her hands. Bandages wrapped around them, covered in dirt and grime. It was clear as well that her injuries were recent. Jack wondered about the reason why she had them.

"I was foraging for mushrooms. For a quick cash, you know?"

"But the rain caught you, huh? That's certainly unlucky."

It was at that time he remembered his gun, Jack wondered if he should tell her about it. He might scare her off, but maybe she'd understand. No, it's best not to ruin the mood.

Funny, at first he was scared of using the gun, but now he was far more concerned about his mental health. The ride was fairly short, thankfully. The two arrived at a small town, Whispering Woods it was called. Skies were clear the moment they arrived, so Maria decided to walk the way home. Though Jack didn't like the idea, she assured him that she'd be alright. Maria knew half the town and was safe to walk alone.

As for Jack, he still had time to grab some dinner. But as he drove into town, something was amiss. Instead of seeing people like him, there were more of these animals. No matter where he looked, they were all different from him. People of all shapes and sizes.

There were more cats just like Maria, even some dogs. And much to his surprise, there were apes.

Jack stopped his car. He reasoned that he was just seeing things, that's just it and nothing more. Perhaps some food would solve this problem, and some sleep of course. Luckily he was close to a convenience store. Jack parked his car and ventured off to buy some food for the night. As he left his car, the staring started.

Though it was dark out and had recently rained, there were some people still out and about. They minded their business until Jack exited his car of course. They stared at him strangely, some looked at him with confusion. Few judged him. Jack felt uncomfortable as the center of attention.

So he focused on his goal and walked briskly into the store.

That wasn't a reaction to a new face, no, that was a reaction to an alien.

He started to lose any sense of doubt about what he was seeing. This town was filled with these animals, and the way they looked at him slowly proved the fact that they were real. No way his mind could imagine something like this under stress.

Not anywhere at a point in his life had he ever experienced hallucinations. So this whole thing was just too much for him.

He didn't like how they looked at him strangely, the children would point and ask, and the adults would eye him like hungry predators. Well, that wasn't really a good comparison. Rude, yes, but not without reason behind the words. The adults stared at him like he was some kind of threat the moment they recovered from the confusion.

He hurried into the store, which caused him to bump into someone just as he was about to walk in.

"Hey…" A soft and oddly calm voice spoke.

Jack stuttered back and quickly apologized for the mistake.

Another animal was on the ground, an owl by the looks of it. He sat on the ground with an odd look. The owl muttered something under his voice, Jack managed to hear a little snippet of his words.

"Dang, I'm starting to see things…" The owl muttered as he remained on the ground.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

"Sure am," He answered.

The two were silent, the owl did not move an inch. They stared at each other for a solid minute.

"Woah," The owl gasped. "I must be seeing things…"

Jack grew concerned. "Do you need help?"

"Oh, sure." The owl said. "Cooper."

"What?"

"Cooper, that's my name."

"Oh, I'm Jack… Do you need help there Cooper?"

"Yeah, I do."

This was taking far too long. So Jack decided to just offer his hand, to which Cooper accepted calmly. That was it… this owl was far too calm…

Then it hit Jack like a metal bat. Clearly, Cooper was under the influence of something. And by the smell of it, Jack was right with his guess.

"Thanks," Cooper said as he looked down. "Feel free to take one of the bags for helping out."

"Bags?" Jack wondered aloud as he followed Cooper's gaze. There scattered on the ground was the owl's purchase as well as his wallet it would seem. It would seem the owl was just pocketing his change before he had a run-in with Jack.

Money littered the ground along with the bags of chips.

Quickly, Jack gathered the fallen items into the plastic bag. He gave it back to Cooper who accepted it casually. As Jack went for the wallet, he noticed a single bill on the ground. What should've been a familiar face on the paper was instead replaced by an ape.

"You alright, dude?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm good." He hastened his hand and picked up the wallet and cash from the ground. "Sorry again."

"It's all good," Cooper fished out a bag of chips and motioned it to Jack. "Here dude, these are the best chips in the world, not even the mole people can deny it."

"Oh, thanks… but I don't need it-"

Jack stopped himself, he brought his attention back to Cooper's money. Jack pulled out his wallet with a bit of struggle as he was in a hurry. With fear, Jack slowly took out one banknote and prepared for the worst.

As expected, the face of his money was not like Cooper's. That's when he realized his fears were true. If he is in a strange world, and that the currency was different here. Then that meant Jack does not have a penny to his name.

He was, in fact, poor.

No money meant that he would be unable to purchase anything in the store, that would also mean that he'd go hungry tonight. Unless…

Jack accepted Cooper's offer. To which he smiled. "There we go, Jack. Gotta scram now, I think I left the oven on…"

"Oh, bye then…" Jack watched Cooper as he walked across the street.

Jack sighed as he went back to his car. He was faced with a problem that would certainly be an issue. Without money, he wouldn't survive a week. Jack needed to find a way to get some, hopefully, the opportunity would soon arise. For now, he'd enjoy his "dinner" and sleep in his car.

He'd worry about everything tomorrow. Still, though, this was certainly not what he expected when he exited that forest. A world without humans, replaced by anthropomorphic animals. He wondered if meat even exists in this world. Well maybe.

As he sat comfortably in his seat, he questioned how he even got into this reality.

There were some theories. Such as aliens, fairies, and maybe the bigfoot.

Well whatever it is that brought him into this world, hopefully, it would take him back home.