*

A Hunter had killed the last animal on Earth in the year 2776. It was a gofer who had poked his head up out of a hole and bam! That head was gone.

Willington had not been outside in well over a month. But that was not unusual in the year 3004. Some people lived their whole lives inside their fortress like homes. Willington was a wealthy man who lived a life of luxury at his country estate. He had a valet and several housemaids. Willington could feed an entire household on a peasant a week. (Yes, I said peasant not pheasant.)

Willington was of the upper class. Sometimes the lower classes; the peasants, would go walking around outside their houses grubbing for food. Some of them no longer saw the necessity of wearing clothes. They were a fast dying breed of spiritualists who were vegetarians. As for the aristocracy, they were now cannibalistic.

On good days Willington set off with his mechanical hunting hounds and his horse (which was also mechanical.) Near nightfall he would return with a peasant or two thrown over his, or his best friend, Jonathan's horse.

Willington looked quite the hunter in his red hunting coat and his long black boots. His pants pouched out on the sides and he had a black metal helmet. The helmet had saved him on more than one occasion from other hunters. His red coat made him a target but that was all part of the fun.

"Bring my Plasma rifle. The one with the telescopic site."

"Yes, my lord. Will you be having your usual for breakfast sir?" said his best friend and hunting buddy Jonathan with mock seriousness.

"No, no Jonathan, I am tired of fingers. Tell miss Juggs I would like some toes for a change. How about you Jonathan? What did you have?"

"I had a rump roast sir."

"That's good, Jonathan. You need that to keep up your strength. We will be hunting today and It might be sometime before we can make a kill. I don't want you slacking like you did last time."

"Yes, my Lord. Don't worry, I was down to slender pickings at that time. I had been gnawing on a shin bone for a day or two, but now, after the roast, I am feeling quite fit."

"All right. Let's saddle up. Tell Miss Juggs to make the toes to go. " Willington put his foot out. Jonathan, his best friend and hunting buddy, hoisted him up and buckled him in. The hounds were switched on and off they went barking and baying like the early days of the twenty first century when men were men and hunting dogs were real. People could still shoot foxes and other wild game back then. Those were the days. Mused Willington. How I wish... He was stopped in mid thought. His horse stalled in the middle of the front lawn.

"Jonathan!"

Jonathan rode up beside Willington's horse and dismounted. He fiddled with the key pad on the underside of the stalled horse. Soon Willington's horse had rebooted and off they rode. At first they rode through a countryside littered with little holes where sometimes peasants took to hiding. Most of them were cheats and deceptions. Willington knew if he went poking around the deception hole a peasant might pop out of an adjacent hole and shoot him. Willington wisely passed the holes and headed for the ruined city where peasants abounded and the weren't so savvy. sometimes those city peasants would hear the baying of the hounds and actually go looking for them to find out what the noise was all about. By that time many of them had never heard the sound of an animal baying.

One such peasant was named Angelica. She came peeking around the corner of a ruined building and Willington raised his gun. Jonathan did the same. "Wait," Jonathan whispered. "I might want this one." Willington hesitated. She was so beautiful. Her breasts were just starting to form. She was naked. Both men could see that as her upper body peeked out from behind a low wall.

"You can have her if I don't want her." Willington whispered back.

He decided to wait and see what the rest of her looked like. Sure enough she emerged further from behind wall. Her bright brown body was enough to make Willington lower his rifle. He stealthily walked around the barrier. He came up behind her and spoke calmly.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

Angelica whirled around and saw two men fully clad in what she perceived as a hunting suits. They were red. Both were holding guns. Angelica froze in her tracks. Willington asked, "Can you talk?"

Angelica was silent. Willington raised his rifle and shot her through her heart. She fell immediately, shook a few times, then was still. Willington went over and prodded her body with his rifle. She was dead. Willington had Jonathan tie her to the back of his horse. Willington didn't enjoy the kill as much as he usually did. It hadn't been clean. She had cried.

*