The Dog (17 page)
I don't know how long I spend in the trunk, barking and still trying desperately to find a way out, but eventually the car's engine restarts and I feel the wheels turning. Once the car is speeding along the road, I'm bumped and jolted in the trunk, but I keep barking and howling, and my paws are hurting now after scratching for hours and hours against metal.
All I know is that I have to get out of here. I have to get back to Julie and make sure she's okay.
Once the car has come to a halt, I hear the doors opening and then footsteps come around to the rear. I wait, snarling and shuddering, and finally the trunk opens.
Blinding light fills my eyes, but I immediately launch myself at Alex, only for him to smash some kind of stick against my face. Pressing the stick's end against my neck, he pushes me down in the trunk. I try desperately to get to my feet, but he presses harder and harder, grinning wildly, until finally he grabs the other end of the rope around my neck and hauls me out, kicking me in the ribs as I stumble down onto the dusty ground.
“Your fucking barking is driving us all nuts,” he says firmly. “You're lucky Thomas still thinks you might be useful.”
I turn and bark at him, but he kicks me again and I let out a faint whimper.
Turning, I see that we're even further from the camp. The strongest scent is my own blood, but I can also smell the sweat of Thomas and his friends. Looking around, I wait to see Julie, but there's no sign of her, although a moment later I pick up the scent of her blood. Turning, I realize that there's some of her blood on the sleeve of Thomas's coat, and I bark at him as he whispers something in Melissa's ear.
“At least you'll make a good guard dog,” Alex mutters, patting my flank, “so -”
Turning, I try to bite him, missing by just a few inches. He pulls back and drops the rope, and for a moment I can tell that he's scared.
“Keep that fucking dog under control!” Thomas yells.
Alex tries to grab the rope, but I pull away, still barking and snarling.
“Did you hear mar?” Thomas continues. “You're the dog wrangler here, or the dog whisperer, whatever it's fucking called. I need time to think, and to plan, so keep that monster on a tight leash.”
“He's looking pretty fierce,” Alex says cautiously.
Melissa marches over. I snarl at her, but she reaches down and grabs the rope, handing it to Alex. After that, she turns and stares at me with the same impassive expression that she's worn over the past few days. Whereas the others all have pounding hearts, she seems completely calm, and something about her seems deeply unsettling. I snarl for a moment longer, before taking a step back, and now a faint smile crosses her face.
“See?” she mutters, turning to Alex. “It's easy if you're not a pussy.”
“Watch who you're calling a pussy,” he replies, although he sounds worried.
“Did you ever kill anyone?” she asks him.
“No, but -”
“I did,” she continues. “I killed the bitch who let my boyfriend die. So I'm pretty sure I get to call you a pussy.”
She turns and heads back over to Thomas. I snarl at her, before turning and barking at Alex.
“Quiet!” he tells me, although his voice is trembling and it's clear that he's not confident at all. “Hannibal, please, be quiet!”
“I need to be able to hear myself think!” Thomas yells. “I'm trying to plan our collective future here!”
“Quiet, boy,” Alex continues, stepping closer to me. “Seriously, can you just be quiet? For me?”
He reaches down to pat my head.
“Just be -”
Instinctively I lunge at him, biting his hand. As my teeth sink into his flesh, I taste a burst of blood in my mouth, and I hear him let out a shocked yelp of pain. I let go pretty quickly, now that I've warned him off, but he drops the rope and staggers back, clutching his hand as blood dribbles down onto the dusty ground.
“He bit me!” he gasps. “The fucking bastard bit me!”
“So?” Melissa mutters. “You deserve it.”
“Fucking asshole!” Alex yells, stepping toward me with fury in his eyes.
I bark and lunge at him again, and he immediately pulls back, tripping in the process and landing hard on the rocky ground. I take another step toward him and he scrambles away, and now I can sense his fear.
“Get it away from me!” he shouts, still clutching his injured hand. “Help!”
Still barking at him, I suddenly feel the ground shuddering beneath my paws, and I realize that someone is hurrying toward us. Picking up the scent of Julie's blood, I turn just as Thomas gets to me, but he quickly grabs my collar and pulls me back. Slamming me against the ground, he clutches my throat and squeezes tight, and he refuses to let go even as I desperately snarl and try to kick him away. After a moment, he leans closer until his face is just inches from my mouth, but all I can do is growl and bare my teeth.
“You're starting to piss me off,” he says finally. “Granted, that asshole deserved to get bitten, but this is a very serious time for me. I need to make a decision about what to do next. There's a lot of pressure on me, do you understand? Pressure to lead these people. Pressure to keep us alive. Pressure to help humanity grow and evolve to the next stage of existence. This global extinction-level event is an opportunity.”
He stares into my eyes, but I continue to struggle, desperately trying to get free.
“Can you smell this?” he asks, grabbing the end of his coat and holding it up so that I can see Julie's blood drying on the fabric. “Do you know what it is? Does it scare you?”
Filled with fear, I try even harder to get away, but he's holding my throat too firmly.
“This is the blood of a casualty,” he continues. “Casualties are inevitable in any uncertain situation. There'll be more, and that's a pity, but the old world is gone now. The world where you got to curl up on a nice blanket is gone. The world where people gave you fucking snacks and treats is gone. Do you understand?”
“He's a dog,” Alex whimpers, sobbing slightly. “He doesn't understand anything. I'm sick of him, he's dangerous, let's just put a bullet in his throat and keep moving.”
“No,” Thomas replies, with his eyes still fixed on mine, “I think we can use this animal. I think it would be a crime not to.”
He pauses, before suddenly letting go of my throat, while keeping his face close to mine. I immediately freeze, waiting to see what he does next, but he simply stares at me. His eyes seem strange somehow, as if the darker parts are larger than they should be, while the whites are bloodied.
“Careful!” Alex hisses. “He'll bite you!”
“No,” Thomas says calmly, “he won't. Will you, Hannibal?”
He pauses, still looking into my eyes.
“He won't bite me,” he continues, “because he's knows I'm the boss. I've dominated him.”
He leans a little closer.
“He can feel my breath on his face. He respects strength. He wants to know his place in our hierarchy, and his place is at our side. At
my
side. Once he knows that, he'll settle right down.”
I want to bite him, but something about his stare is forcing me to hold back. He seems much more powerful than the others, and I'm scared to make him angry.
“Do it, Hannibal,” he whispers. “If you want a chunk of me, take it. Nothing's stopping you. Nothing in the whole world, bite my fucking face if that's what you think you need to do. We're all free animals here. We can all do what we want, so if you
want
to pick a fight with me, be my guest.”
There's madness in his eyes, and finally I turn away. Scrambling to my feet, I take a few steps back, but when I turn I find that Thomas is still watching me.
“And that,” he adds, turning to the others, “is how to fucking dominate a wild animal. See? He's totally in my shadow now, and he knows who's the boss.”
He comes over, and I don't dare try to stop him as he reaches down and pats the side of my face.
“He's my pet now,” he continues, running his hand onto my flank and feeling my ribs. “He's lean. That's good, it means he'll stay alert. But he fucking rides with me, do you all understand? Frankly, this animal is more useful than most of you assholes put together.”
“I still don't like it,” Alex tells him. “I vote that we -”
“Are you challenging me?” Thomas asks, stepping over to him. “If you are, do it now rather than constantly sniping.”
“I just -”
“You're not
just
doing anything,” Thomas adds, stopping and staring straight into his eyes from just a few inches away. “If you think I'm leading us in the wrong direction, let's hear what you think we should be doing instead.”
Alex pauses, before taking a step away from him and looking down at his wounded hand.
“Sorry,” he mutters, “I didn't... I wasn't... Sorry.”
Thomas stares at him for a moment longer. “Okay,” he says finally. “Then I guess that's settled.”
“I'm need to change,” Melissa mutters, heading over to the car. “Fucking boys are all the same.”
“You're gonna to stick by my side,” Thomas says firmly, turning to me again. “You're my dog now, Hannibal.”
“Wow,” Alex says suddenly, his voice filled with a sense of awe.
Realizing that they're all watching something, I turn and see that Melissa is taking her clothes off. She glances at the guys, clearly aware of their gaze, before stripping completely naked and then taking some crumpled clothes from the back seat. She takes her time getting dressed again, and it's clear that she could easily have chosen to go to the other side of the car, but after a moment I realize that I recognize her new clothes. Julie was wearing them earlier.
I start barking, but Thomas places a hand on my nose and I quickly stop. Still, I let out a faint growl as watch Melissa buttoning her new shirt. She's grinning, as if she likes the attention.
“Melissa,” Thomas says finally, “you sit with me too. I want you sticking to my side, just like...”
His voice trails off for a moment, and then suddenly he claps his hands together.
“Let's move, people! Let's hit the mother-fucking road and drive to the new future!”
By the time we reach a small town several hours later, night has begun to fall once again. Thomas forced me down into the car's foot-well, but I knew I couldn't disobey his command so I've stayed curled up, constantly jolted as the car races along dusty roads. Now that we've stopped again, however, I follow the others as they step out of the car, although naturally I keep close to Thomas since he's in charge.
My heart is racing and I'm terrified, but Thomas is my master now.
“Looks like the place fucking burned,” he mutters, heading across the street toward a large, blackened building that looks to have been on fire at some point. “Maybe they were trying to smoke out some zombies.”
He pauses, before holding his hands out and turning.
“Welcome to the ruins of human civilization. Look at what the fuckers left behind after they died. Houses as bones of a body that died.”
Turning, I spot Melissa at the rear of the car. Her attention seems to have been drawn by something suck to the trunk's lid, as I see a flicker of shock in her eyes.
“I don't like it here,” Alex says, his voice filled with fear. “We should be avoiding built-up areas in case there are more of those creatures.”
“The creatures are dying out already,” Thomas continues. “They couldn't exactly sustain themselves.”
“But -”
“Are you questioning my judgment again?” he adds, turning to Alex. “Is that what you're doing?”
Alex shakes his head. “Definitely not. I promise. Sorry.”
Thomas stares at him for a moment, as if he's not quite convinced. “Good,” he adds finally. “Listen, I don't like this fucking ghost-town any more than the rest of you, but we need supplies. Gas, alcohol, food, alcohol, water, alcohol, medicine, alcohol...” He grins. “Anything we can get our hands on. And maybe even some new cars. A truck would be fucking sweet. So I want everyone to take a look around and grab whatever they can. Don't be pussies now. Break windows if you have to, but get stuff. And meet back here in about an hour, okay? We need to decide whether to stay here or not once it's properly dark.”
As the others head off in different directions, I follow Thomas to a nearby building. I don't want to go with him, of course, but I know I have no choice. The rope is still attached to my neck, with the other end trailing on the ground. Thomas is in charge and he's made it clear that I have no right to challenge him.
“That's a good boy, Hannibal,” he says with a grin, before using a brick to smash the window of a store. “You know your place. I wish Alex and the other animals were that smart. Don't tell the others, but I honestly think you're the second smartest member of our little gang right now.”
Picking me up, he passes me through the broken window and sets me down on the other side. I immediately let out a yelp as I feel a piece of glass cutting my paw, and I pull away with blood dripping from the wound.
“You'll get used to it,” Thomas continues. “I just need you to make sure there are no nasty surprises waiting inside. Looks like this was a grocery store. There's gotta be some shit that's still good.”
Limping forward, I realize I can smell rotten food. Lots of it. There are a few other scents too, but the most overwhelming is a sense of foul meat, and when I get to the far end of the aisle I spot moldy food behind a glass partition. Hearing footsteps nearby, I turn and watch as Thomas comes over to join me, and he seems faintly disgusted by the smell.
“I think we'll stick to canned stuff,” he mutters. “Fuck, that meat stinks. And if
I
can smell it, Hannibal,
your
nose must be fucking buzzing.”
As he starts examining items on a shelf, I make my way over to a door in the far corner. Somewhere beyond the stench of rotten food, there's another smell, something human. Stopping suddenly, I realize I can hear a scratching sound from the next room, so I'm much more cautious as I head through the door, and finally I stop as soon as I see a little girl on the floor, with her head leaning against the wall. Her eyes are open, staring straight at me, but she's painfully thin and she smells bad. She's not one of those creatures, I can already tell that from how she looks and how she smells, but she seems very weak and as I take a cautious step toward her, I realize that the scratching sound is coming from her fingers as she drags them against the floorboards.
She lets out a faint gasp and her lips tremble slightly, as if she's trying to say something.
“Found anything through there, Hannibal?” Thomas calls out, kicking some bottles across the floor. “We're in luck, this place has fucking whiskey!”
I wag my tail as I step closer to the girl. Even though she smells bad, I remember being around children sometimes in the park with Jon, and they were always friendly. As I reach her, she keeps her eyes fixed on me, and I nuzzle her hand with my nose.
“Help,” she whispers, her voice barely audible at all. “Help me...”
“Fuck!”
Turning, I see that Thomas has come through to join us, and he's staring at the little girl with shock in his eyes.
“Are you okay, kid?” he asks, stepping around her. “You look like skin and bones. Have you just been starving here, with no-one to help you? Did your Mommy and Daddy die?”
The girl tries again to speak, but this time only a faint sigh emerges, disturbing the dust that has settled on her lips.
“Oh, you're too fucking far gone,” Thomas continues. “Sorry, kid, but I don't think there's anything I can do for you except...”
He looks around, before taking a knife from one of the counters.
“You don't want to be left here in pain, do you?” he asks, crouching next to her. He pauses, watching as she continues to twitch slightly. “I should do this,” he continues. “I should know how it feels to end a life, and you're clearly way past the point where you can be helped. How long have you been all alone here like this? Days at least, maybe a week or more? That's fucking awful, dude. No-one should have to endure such absolute fucking pain.” Another pause, and then he places the blade against her neck. “How old are you? Seven? Eight? Clearly too fucking young to go through this misery.”
She gasps again, and she seems a little more agitated now, as if she's scared.
“My name is Thomas,” he tells her. “Before all this shit went down, do you know what I did with my days? I worked a fucking mind-numbing job making fucking sandwiches for fucking loathsome customers in a little town. I was nothing, and I was going to end up living a worthless, meaningless life. But then when everything changed, I felt something stirring in my soul. A kind of...”
He pauses.
“Greatness,” he adds finally. “In
this
world, with conventional civilization ruined and tattered, suddenly I have something to offer. Suddenly I can lead other people to enlightenment. I see that now. I can be a prophet of the new dawn. But that's a huge responsibility, and one of the things I have to do is... I have to keep bettering myself, and proving myself, and I think God has put you here in this room specifically for me. In his infinite wisdom, God is signaling me, showing me that he has faith in me and asking me to pass this test. God wants me to help you.”
He closes his eyes.
“Give me the strength to do this,” he whispers. “I'm not talking to God now. I'm talking to my inner self, to the part of me that makes me who I really am, deep down. Give me the strength to kill this little girl and end her suffering, and to show myself that I have what it takes to lead. Give me the strength to recognize that I'm a leader, and to achieve my full potential. Let me prove myself God as he silently watches.”
He sits in silence for a moment.
The girl is still letting out a series of gasps.
Suddenly Thomas slices the knife through her throat. She shudders and gurgles, with blood spraying from the wound, and I step back to keep from getting dirty. Letting out a low whimper, I wait as the girl's body continues to shake, and it takes a few minutes before she finally falls still. Even then, Thomas stays completely still and silent for a little while longer, before sighing and tossing the knife to the ground.
“Fuck, that was intense,” he says finally, getting to his feet and turning to me with a faint, nervous smile. “I had to do it, though. I couldn't let Melissa be the only one who knows what it's like to kill. I needed to break my duck, yeah? I needed to pop my killing cherry and become a man.” He steps over the girl's corpse and crouches next to me, and after a moment he looks toward the dead girl. “It's a thing of beauty, isn't it? I feel more alive than ever. This new collapsed world really suits me, Hannibal. I never would've got to experience this feeling in the old world. You're lucky. You just witnessed my rebirth.”
I take a step back, wanting to get away from the girl and from Thomas, but he grabs my collar and hauls me closer.
“Not so fast,” he says firmly. “I didn't tell you to leave, did I? You need toughening up, my friend. I still see fear and weakness in your eyes. If you're gonna be the faithful hound at the side of a great leader, you need to look the part.”
He pauses, watching me intently, and finally I have no choice but to turn away.
Suddenly he yanks me forward and pushes my face down toward the puddle of blood. I try to turn, but he's too strong and I can't fight back as he smears my chin and the side of my face against the ground. By the time he lets go and I pull away, the girl's blood is soaked into my fur and its rich scent is filling my nostrils.
“That'll be good for you,” he says with a smile, before reaching down and dipping his fingers into the blood. “It's good both all of us.” He wipes some of the blood across his upper lip. “We have to be less scared of death now.”
Getting to his feet, he takes a few steps away before stopping with his back to me, framed against the dusty window. Slowly, he raises his arms to the sides, and I can see dust drifting between his fingers.
“I have to lead the people,” he continues after a moment, his voice filled with a sense of wonder. “I have to take them to a promised land.”
He pauses, before turning and looking down at the girl's corpse.
“I've got a fucking wicked idea!” he says suddenly, grinning wildly. “A fucking
amazing
idea!”