Underperson

 

Billy's old unit, the ENfantry.  (Enhanced Anthropomorphic Footsoldier Program, now cancelled).

That summer we were vacationing in a pleasant town on the Gulf Coast.  We stayed in a lovely two story house from which one could see the water perfectly from the second story porch.  Dad and Mom let us wander around the town, me and my sister had the time of our lives.   Dad had been working non-stop all year at the lab, we hardly ever saw him.  Mom was a teacher and was raising us almost by herself.  Then one day Dad announced he was retiring, and let's all go to the beach.  Even on vacation dad was constantly on the phone, and often he would look worried after a call and mom did her best to cheer him up.  There was one odd thing about that trip, the house in front of ours had a most unusual owner.  He was a upright, bipedal rabbit or so we thought.  We saw him daily through the live bamboo that separated the yards, and once I kicked a ball through that fence and saw that the rabbit was holding it.  He gave it back to us and when I asked dad about it he said he would explain when I got older.  I know now that he wasn't worried about our bizarre neighbor, even though everyone else on the street avoided that house.  
One day my sister became very sick and had to be taken in an ambulance into the nearest large town.  Dad asked me to stay at the house, he said he knew he could trust me but someone would be coming over to check up on me.  Mom was crying as they got into the car to follow the ambulance to the hospital.  I watched them leave and turned on the television, about an hour later there was a knock on the door.  I opened it and there stood a large orange and gray rabbit.  'Hello, young man, is everything OK?  he asked.  'Yessir' I replied,  'I'm just worried about my sister'.  He twisted his face some and later I found out he had been trying to smile.  'Of course you are'.  He then asked if I would like to have dinner with him.  Dad had told me this guy was to be trusted so I said, sure, I was hungry after all and didn't feel like trying to cook.  I locked the house and we walked across the yard and through the gate to the neighboring house.  We went inside and two cats screamed to be fed.  'My name is Billy', and I shook his hand.  He excused himself while he opened cans of cat food and I wandered around the living room looking at his bookshelves.  There was a small bedroom off to the side covered in what I later found out was stained glass equipment.  You could see the ocean through the front window and there was an old couch and television in the room.  
Dinner was burger and fries for me, Billy had some kind of sandwich and we watched TV while we ate.  After a while I couldn't contain my curiosity and asked my host why he looked like that.  He laughed and said it had to do with the last war.  I knew about that because dad worked on that program but I didn't know that any of those guys were still around.  He asked me if I liked to fish and when I said of course we got some equipment from the garage and walked down to the old wharf out front.  It was getting toward dusk when Billy told me what had happened to him, that he was as human as I was but the war needed specialized soldiers.  Cars were slowing down to look at us but Billy didn't pay any attention to them.  We didn't catch anything and then dad walked down to the water, I was glad to see him.  When I stood up I lost my balance and Billy grabbed my arm, otherwise I would have fallen into the sea.  Dad said my sister was fine and everything was all right.  He then shook Billy's hand and we went back to the house.
That was the only time I spent with Billy, a few months later I found he had been killed while trying to overthrow our government.  I was watching the news with dad and he paid very close attention, he didn't look happy.  Then he muttered 'Bullshit' and started making phone calls.   The next day two men came to our house and questioned dad and me about the day I spent fishing with our neighbor.  I told them about Billy keeping me from falling off the wharf.  They took dad aside and it looked like they were arguing, dad was pretty angry.  They tried to make him sign something but dad refused and then they left.  A few days later my face was all over the news while an announcer informed the world that the late criminal rebel had fondled a child and would have been facing life in prison had he not been killed in the rebellion.  I told dad this is not what happened and he told me never to speak of any of this again, and I didn't.  He sure looked worried.   I think this led to my parent's divorce, mom moved out and took my sister with her and I haven't seen either of them since.  Then I came home from school one day and these guys were forcing dad into a van, he looked at me and said something but I couldn't hear him.  Then I had to go with some policemen and they took me here to this place.  It looks like a motel surrounded by barbed wire and I'm not allowed to talk to anyone.  The staff here are rude when they are not ignoring me and this morning they told me I was being transferred.   They said I didn't need to pack anything and we would be leaving before dark.  I've been very anxious all day and the guy with the gun who never leaves me won't answer any of my questions.
I sure miss my family, I hope they're taking me to be with them.

https://misterscribbles.blogspot.com/2025/02/ambush-at-forlorn-hope.html

   Header picture belongs to NightCafe.