“Miguel! Mama! Where are you?” Riley eyes were still closed, but her neck twisted about, as if trying to see who was there. “Mama!”

[It’s the nightmare again,] I said to Zapper, who nodded in understanding. This was the third time the girl had woken up like this, crying out for people who were no longer there. She never seemed to do it when she was awake, or even remember in the morning.

Both times, she’d calmed down when Zapper snuggled up to her, which is why he’d taken to acting as her combination blanket and stuffed animal. There hadn’t been a nightmare since.

But tonight, it seemed that Zapper had been away from bed too long. From the guilty expression on his face, he was having the exact same thought.

[I guess this is why you didn’t wake me before, huh boss?] he said, loping over and hopping onto the bed. He immediately leaned against Riley, trying to calm her down. She let out another scream.

Following after him, I climbed up onto the bed and leaned against Riley’s other side. The human girl let out a sob and buried her face in my fur. From underneath I caught the occasional cry of, “Mama! Mama!”

[Do you think she’ll be okay?] Zapper asked.

I honestly didn’t have an answer. Humans were so different from dogs. We might get scared, or angry, or worried, but the emotions usually faded and were forgotten once the cause resolved itself. An owner coming home, a late dinner finally being delivered, an interloper finally leaving our territory. Simple things, with simple solutions. Humans didn’t seem to work like that.

Then again, I reminded myself that I wasn’t a dog anymore, either, not exactly. Already I’d been subjected to emotions I’d never have worried about before, been forced to dwell on matters long after they passed.

As time went on, the difference between canids and humans seemed to be growing smaller. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

For the moment, I concentrated on what I could do, which was help this tiny human get some sleep. Twisting towards her, I started licking what parts of her face weren’t completely buried in my fur. Zapper came up and did the same on the other side.

The human didn’t burst into giggles like she usually would when she was awake, but her cries did eventually stop. She muttered one last, “Miguel...”, then slumped back onto her pillow.

Zapper immediately draped himself over her, pinning her to the bed.

[Just make certain not to suffocate her, alright?] I said, half-jokingly. Then I lay down on the other side of the bed, my back to Riley’s. Between the two of us, that should be enough to keep any further nightmares at bay.

[Hey, Boss.] Zapper squirmed around until his head rested against my side. Better than being subject to his other end, I suppose. [Do you think we’ll ever find Riley’s mother? The one she keeps calling for?]

My mind instantly leapt back to the sight of Miguel right before Crunch killed him. Of how harried he’d looked, his weapon at the ready. I imagined him leading Riley carefully from ruined building to ruined building. It wasn’t a happy image.

[I don’t think so, Zapper. I don’t think her mother’s alive anymore.]

[Oh.] The little dog was silent for a moment. Then, [All the more reason to find other humans! Then we can find Riley a new mother! That’ll sure make her happy.]

[Maybe.] I didn’t give voice to my fears. That this mission was all for nothing. That the call wasn’t leading me towards humanity, but just another trick of the system. That we’d find nothing there but more monsters and misery. For us, and for Riley.

All that passed through my thoughts in a moment, and then I dismissed it. Ultimately, I could worry about tomorrow, or I could choose to face it and live with the consequences.

If given the choice I’d pick the second option, any day.

With that matter settled in my mind, I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take me at last.

----------------------------------------

Warning: Rat Rot infection rate now at (35%).

Yep. I was absolutely growing tired of seeing that chirpy little message in my vision every time I awoke. The first thing I was going to do once we got Riley back to her fellow humans was track down Prometheus, no matter what it took. Or maybe the humans would have a way to remove diseases.

Still, talk about the needed motivation to get out of bed in the morning. I leapt onto the floor and spun around. [Rise and shine, everyone! It’s time for the last leg of our journey!]

Of course, my shout was mostly wasted, as only Zapper could hear it. Still, it got the little dog stirring. [...Whuzza?]

[Wake up, Zapper, it’s time for breakfast.]

[Breakfast??? I love breakfast!] The little dog flailed about a moment trying to get free of the bed, waking Riley in the process. Mission failed successfully, I guess? While the little girl sat up and blinked, I considered her meal options.

There was a lot of canned food, but most of it was inaccessible without thumbs. Several cereal boxes, too—didn’t humans usually eat cereal for breakfast? I thought I remembered that from before. They needed something to go with it though. What was it...?

Oh, right, milk! I trotted over to the little fridge, and after a bit of gnawing at the door managed to get it open.

The sight of all those steaks inside immediately stole my attention, but I managed to look away long enough to confirm that there was a carton of milk in the door. Grabbing it gently, I trotted away, leaving the door to the fridge open. I’d be back in just a moment.

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Riley was out of bed now and at the table, surveying her cereal options. At my approach, she looked up and smiled. “Thanks, doggy!”

I released my hold on the milk carton as she grabbed it, only to discover that I apparently hadn’t been biting down as gently as I thought. Milk sprayed from a half-dozen holes in the side, splattering onto the floor. Riley shrieked in surprise.

[I’m on it! I’m on it!] Zapper was there in a flash, licking the floor with the full fury of a dog receiving an unexpected windfall. More milk cascaded down onto his head.

Lifting the carton, Riley allowed some of the milk to drain into a bowl. Then she set the carton on the floor, where the flow began to ebb and eventually came to a halt. Zapper whined. [Aw, I was just getting started!]

[Don’t worry, Zapper, I’ve got something even better for us.] Leaving the human to her cereals, I led Zapper back to the fridge.

[Oh boy, oh boy, are we gonna eat all of them???] he asked, salivating.

[Wait just a moment before digging in. There’s something I want to try first.]

Reaching out, I nosed one of the steaks and attempted to pull it into my inventory.

Error: Invalid target.

Huh. Why didn’t that work? I understood that regular items couldn’t be pulled into my inventory, but you’d think that these would qualify, given they were still CGI-generated, or whatever? But apparently that wasn’t the case.

Well, fine. If we couldn’t take the food with us, we’d just have to enjoy as much of it as we could while we were here.

Pulling all of the remaining steaks onto the floor, I cut their packaging open with a carefully placed Claw Slash. [Dig in, Zapper. Enjoy it while it’s still fresh.]

The little dog quivered, then began swallowing chunks of meat wholesale. I thought about advising him to slow down, but if my warning the previous night hadn’t been enough, then another one today wouldn’t matter much, either.

Instead, I reached for a steak myself. Or tried to.

Instead, I found myself halfway across the room. I blinked in confusion and started padding back to the meal, only for my steps to be slower and more sluggish than usual.

[Zapper! Did you... use your skill on me?] I growled at the other dog, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

[Sorry, Boss, I just saw all this food and... reflex.]

[Hmmph.] Something told me that he never would have tried that sort of move with Crunch, but I kept that comment to myself. There had been enough bad energy spent thinking about our former leader already. No need to add more fuel to the fire.

Casting one last suspicious glance at the little dog, I dug in, savoring the flavorful feast for all of the 0.2 seconds it took between the meat entering my mouth and sliding down my throat.

And yes, there was chewing involved in that time. I’m not Zapper. Sheesh.

We finished the meal about the time Riley was working her way through a second bowl of cereal. After that, she ate through a whole apple while I contemplated the merits of carrying a can or two of food in my mouth. While it would be better than wasting an MRE on lunch, it certainly would be a hassle... in the end, I left them be. I wanted my mouth free in case I needed it for less savory things.

“Good little puppy,” Riley said, feeding Zapper her apple core. The dog mashed it to paste before swallowing, proving he had the capacity to chew when it suited him. I did my best not to roll my eyes.

Riley looked from Zapper to me to the counter. “Doggy still hungry? Share cake?”

I considered the merits of letting her have cake first thing in the morning. On the one hand, it couldn’t be any worse than some of the junk she’d been eating in recent days, but on the other hand, my system-provided knowledge was screaming at me that letting a human pup have that much sugar first thing in the morning was probably not a great idea.

[Oooh, can we, Boss?] Zapper’s tail wagged furiously, which decided me. A sugared-up human was one matter, but I was not going to sacrifice today’s mission because he was too jittery to focus.

[Nope, it’s time to move out,] I said. [The city is calling, and we’ve still got a ways to go.]

So we departed Xochi The Dog, Café, and wandered into the wider world of Oakland once again. As we worked our way around several piles of rubble blocking the road, I glanced back, just able to make out the golden sphere of the safe zone. Part of me wondered what happened when the zone ended. Did everything inside simply disappear, or did it leave the food and beds and everything else behind?

Maybe someday I’d get to spend long enough inside one to find out.

----------------------------------------

Riley was maddeningly difficult to motivate today. She dragged her feet, or stopped constantly to peer through broken windows. Once, she found a nest of ice sprites, nearly dying when they burst out into the street and covered it in frost.

Fun fact: Ice sprites and Zapper’s fire boots do not mix. Boots 1, sprites 0.

Then there were the constant breaks. Her feet hurt, she said, or she was hungry, or she needed to mark her territory. Again. After just having done so ten minutes ago. I was about ready to howl with madness.

“Tiwed, doggy,” she was saying to me at that moment, her hand tugging gently on the fur along my back. While it stung, I still preferred that to holding her arm in my mouth. After the incident this morning with the milk, I was taking no chances. “I’m tiwed, dogyyyyyyy. Pwease rest?”

[I swear to dog, her speech is getting more difficult to understand,] I grumbled to no one in particular. The tugging grew more persistent.

[She says she’s tired, Boss! Maybe we should just take a break?]

[Again?!? We just stopped a half hour ago. At this rate we’ll never reach the—] A sparkle of blue caught my eye, and I left out a huff of relief. [There. We made the lake. Let’s push on to that, at least?]

Luckily, the sight of the water seemed to invigorate Riley, and suddenly I was the one getting tugged forward as her steps quickened. Seemed she just needed the right motivation.

The lake was much as I remembered, and it didn’t take long to find the path bordering the water’s edge. That, I knew, would eventually lead back to the Lake Chalet, where we could resupply and plan our next move.

I wasn’t certain where exactly our destination in the city lay, but the call was growing stronger with each step. Soon enough I’d be able to make out its location clearly.

We traversed the path in halting steps, moving quickly one moment, dead stop the next as Riley stopped to coo at some sight or another. Still, she was moving better than before, and more importantly she wasn’t complaining, either. I figured better to let her have her fun while we could.

And if need be, we could hole up in the chalet for the night.

[Hey, don’t drink that!] I barked as Riley stooped down to the water, almost pressing her lips to it. How bad were human noses that she couldn’t smell the wrongness of this place? [There’ll be fresh water up ahead, I promise!]

[Are you sure about that, Boss?] Zapper asked.

[Of course I’m sure, there’s bound to be a working sink in the Chalet somewhere—] I pulled my attention away from Riley and looked over to where the little dog was standing. His gaze was unusually solemn and locked on something in the distance.

I followed, squinting a bit, then realized what he was looking at. The Lake Chalet.

Where a slow plume of black smoke was rising.

Leaving Zapper to mind the girl, I raced on ahead. There was always a chance it was a group of humans, camping out. It wouldn’t explain why the smoke was so black, but then again, their choices of fuel were probably limited...

My hopes fell apart as the Chalet came into sight again. The doors that I had slipped through all those days ago now barely hung on their hinges, and what windows had remained to the place were gone. Most of the roof where Crunch and I had sat had caved in, and it was from the middle of this that the black smoke billowed, growing thicker with each passing minute.

[That has to be recent,] I told myself as Zapper and Riley caught back up. [This wasn’t natural. Someone set this place on fire intentionally. They’re probably still nearby.]

[What does that mean for us, Boss?] Zapper asked. I watched the fire for another minute before turning back to him.

[It means we need to find another place to sleep tonight. Come on.]