There was tension in every line of the dogs’ frames, if you knew what to look for. If you didn’t, they were deceptively calm. Sugar lay on her belly, with all four paws primed beneath her for quick movement. She was at Girl’s right hand, with Intrepid sitting upright to Girl’s left with his head under her gently stroking hand. Ahead and to the left, Val was sprawled in a lazy pose, but her entire black and tan frame was tense. Her dark eyes scanned her sector of the surroundings with languid intensity. Almost directly behind Girl, was Axel. He rested gracelessly on his haunches, his big legs looking awkward. His back was toward Girl and the others, watching their flank. Lucky was ahead and to the right, watching his third as he scratched behind his flopping ear with one rapidly moving back paw.

Girl for her part, seemed focused entirely on Intrepid as she waited, gently stroking the top of his head and scratching behind his ears. The gray dog’s eyes were slitted, but he was just as watchful as the rest. It seemed to take a small eternity before a man-sized door the color of road snow cracked open. The woman who stepped out was probably close to Man in age, though nothing in her bearing showed the easygoing kindness that Man wore so easily. She carried a shotgun, its twin bores pointing low in front of her, but their empty blackness no less threatening for it. Her long finger was resting on the trigger guard and she carried the weapon with a lightness that spoke of vast experience with the weapon.

She stepped away from the door and walked forward until she stood just a few feet from the forward pair of dogs. Axel and Lucky both turned to watch her silently. “Ian said you wanted to speak to one of us.” The woman began, “I’m Aislinn. Who are you?”

Girl gave Intrepid one last stroke and then stepped forward, closing the distance until she stood just a little behind and between the two big dogs. “I’m Isobel Lachlan, but you can call me Girl.”

One of the woman’s dark brows arched upward. “Girl?”

Girl smiled and popped one shoulder up in an abrupt shrug. “I’m getting used to it.”

Aislinn’s head tilted to one side and that curious brow arched further upward. Dark curls, tightly bundled against her skull, fell loose at the gesture. “Well, Girl, it’s nice to meetcha. Are you ready to tell me what you’re looking for?”

“My family and neighbors left town when this whole thing started. We’ve got a farm a ways away from the City and we’re making a go of it out there. There’s strength and safety in numbers, so I’m out here seeking survivors who need a safe place to be.” Her leafy eyes scanned the surrounding buildings. “Something isn’t right here.” Those eyes turned back to the dark haired woman,

“You’ve sure as hell got that right. Nothing’s right in the City anymore. Ain’t been right in more’en a week.”

“I can’t promise your safety, I don’t think there’s any promise of safety anywhere in the world anymore.” Girl said. “But I think we’ve got a better chance out there than in here. Have you seen the Pit?”

“Pit?” Aislinn’s shotgun was pointed mostly toward the ground now, only minimally covering Girl and the dogs.

“There’s a Pit in the City, that way.” Girl pointed. “I think it’s where the machines are coming from.”

Aislinn tilted her head in the other direction, almost like an attentive dog. “The machines are the least of our worries.”

“What else? We’re looking for information too.” Girl prompted.

The woman sighed heavily, “The minute this mess started, this place fell apart.” Her eyes, as pale as Lucky’s, scanned their surroundings warily. “Listen, it’s not safe here on the street. Ian will cover us. We don’t use that building there, but it’s empty and we’ve secured it.” Her dark brows drew together over those pale eyes as all of the dogs looked toward the building she indicated.

Lucky rose to his feet with a lazy stretch, yawning hugely and shaking out his long multicolored fur. The others followed easily as he padded toward the building, sniffing the ground and testing the air. “There’s no one in there.” He said at last, eying the strange woman.

As soon as the words went out over the street, Aislinn’s shotgun was up against her shoulder and aimed at the dog. There was much more tension in her now. Lucky went still and Girl lifted her hands in a placating gesture. “We have information for you too.” She said, gently. “Some of it is about the System. Have you and your people figured any of it out yet?”

Aislinn’s tense shoulders didn’t relax. “Not much of it.” She admitted. “You’re willing to share that information?”

Girl, her hands still held up and open, “Absolutely. We’re looking for peace and cooperation.”

The woman’s shoulders relaxed, but only slightly. The empty eyes of the shotgun, sunk a little toward the concrete, leaving Lucky. “Let’s get off the street.” She said again. When she opened the door, Lucky and Axel slipped inside and were quick to return with the all clear.

Girl and the rest of the dogs followed Aislinn into the dimly lit warehouse. Wrapped pallets of boxes were piled in neat rows all along the long building. This time, the dogs made no attempt to appear relaxed. They sat near Girl with their varied eyes locked tightly onto the dark haired woman.

“Want to tell me about the dogs?” She asked, the gun still in her relaxed grip.

Girl’s leafy eyes searched the woman’s face for a moment before she nodded her head. “The big fluffy one is the only one that actually belongs to me.” She began, gesturing toward him. “His name is Lucky. Before this all happened, the System contacted him. It warned him that something was coming, told him to prepare for it. We knew something was coming, but not what it was going to be. He had three days.”

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“So it was here before the Hot Winds?” Aislinn asked.

“Yes. I don’t know how long before the Winds came, but it was here. We don’t know what the System is. We don’t know why it’s here. What we do know is that it can help us. When you make use of the System, it can make you stronger, give you abilities that can be useful against the enemies. The machines.”

“The machines aren’t the enemies that we’re worried about. At least not right now. The first couple of days, it was bad.” She swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment. “First there was the Wind. Some people fled the City then. A lot of people fled the City then, we think. We don’t know where they went, but the machines came then. They took more people too. It’s just that the day after the Wind, the City started to feel emptier. Then it got really scary.” There was something swirling in the depths of her icy eyes, something dark and sad. Lucky whined. “He okay?” The woman asked, shaking herself out of her

“Yeah.” Girl said with a little bit of a smile. “He’ll be alright.” She ran her fingers through her hair and drew in a deep breath before she continued. “We gathered everyone in the neighborhood that we could find and we left town not too long after the Hot Winds. We’re not really from around here, but Gran has a farm near here. Some of us went into the City for supplies and they brought back some more people. We have people, pets, and some other animals on the farm. We have a significant amount of supplies, but we’re going to gather more. We have land to grow crops. Long term, we have a good chance at survival and security.”

Aislinn’s pale eyes narrowed a bit as she studied Girl. “It’s hard to trust you.” She admitted. “There have been so many terrible people.”

“It’s only been a week.” Lucky said.

There was a deep rumbling snort from the big mastiff. “Are you really surprised?”

“That one talks too?” The woman’s voice was very faintly unsteady.

“They all do.” Girl said. “It’s something they earned through the System. You can learn all kinds of things in the system, especially once you get a class.”

“Class?”

Girl flashed a slight smile. “There’s so much to tell you.” She dropped down onto the floor and leaned against Lucky. “Okay, so first thing, have you figured out the Menus yet?”

“Menus?”

“Lady, you’ve got a lot to learn.” Girl couldn’t help but flash another grin as the woman sat down carefully across from her. The dogs settled in around the pair. “Okay, if you think about attributes, you should see a screen in front of you, the colors can vary. It will give you some details about yourself.”

Lucky watched as the stranger’s eyes focused on the screen before her that only she could see. “There’s also skills and traits. There’s a few others we’ve run into, but maybe you haven’t got them yet. Territory is one of them. I’m sure there are ones we haven’t discovered yet either.” Lucky said.

“That is so weird.” The woman said.

Girl lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “It doesn’t seem that weird to me. Maybe because I always talked to him before he could talk back. He’s been my best friend his whole life.” She put her arm around the big dog’s shoulders and pulled him tight against her side.

“It seems like the classes are sort of individual.” Girl said. “Here, let me show you mine.” After a moment of focused concentration, she reached out and pushed the screen toward Aislinn. Even though the screen wasn’t meant to be facing him, Lucky could read every word.

Wild Bulwark of the Hound

Your courageous defense of others defines you. You may be a kind and gentle person, but at your core is steel.

When you open this class, you gain the traits [Caretaker], [Polyglot], and [Defender] as well as the skills [Style: Defensive Stance], [Bulwark of the Hound], [Steady Aim], [Negotiation], and [Defuse]. Additional traits and skills may become available at later levels.

You will gain +3 Endurance, +5 Charisma, and +5 Willpower per level.

The woman made a low whistle as she read the screen. “That’s a class?”

“Yes.” Girl said. “I feel like it’s a pretty good one too.”

“Do all of you have classes?” She asked.

“At the Farm? No. Not all of us. Most of the dogs have classes, I think.” Girl said.

“They do,” Lucky said. “We’ve all done more than a little bit of fighting against the machines.”

“We’ve fought a lot too, but none of us have seen these things before.” The woman said.

“Have you heard the words when you get stronger?” Girl asked.

“Some.” The woman said, “Not often though. Most of my, um, skills, don’t seem to be very combat oriented.”

“They don’t have to be. It seems like you can get credit for doing a lot of different things, not just fighting.” Girl said. “Sugar,” She gestured toward the golden retriever, “She doesn’t really fight at all.”

“So you’re saying that the more people fight, or do whatever it is they do, the stronger they’ll get?” Aislinn asked with a shudder.

“Yeah. That’s part of the reason that we’re looking for more survivors. There’s strength in numbers.” Girl said.

“Besides, we’re not going to let this be the End. At least not the end of civilization.” Lucky said. “Surviving isn’t enough.”

“Not enough?” The woman looked puzzled.

“Not at all.” Lucky affirmed. “It’s not enough for humanity to survive as some broken bit of itself. It has to thrive.”

That seemed to give Aislinn pause as her icy eyes skipped from one dog to the next before landing and settling on Girl.

“Tell me what the people have been doing? Something isn’t right in this City and we haven’t been able to figure it out yet.” Girl asked.

“What have you seen so far? There’s lots of different groups. It’s like as soon as the Winds came, the worst elements of humanity rose to the surface.” She said, she sounded surprised.

“It’s always bubbling just beneath the surface.” Axel’s gruff voice said. “It’s always been there and it always will be.”

The woman’s pale, icy eyes softened as they roved over the big brindle dog. She was quiet for a long moment, her dark brows drawn together. “They started staking out territories, gathering up women. It started with the hospital. A bunch of skeezy lowlifes from who knows where showed up, shot up the hospital and took over. I can’t tell you exactly what happens behind those walls, but I can tell you that no one ever comes back out. They’ve been gathering up women, just women. Breaking up families.” She shook her head. “That was just the first, not the worst.”

“We ran into them.” Girl said. “We knew they were trouble, but not how much. How has the City fallen so far so fast?”

“When evil men have power, they will always drag the world down with them.” The woman said, her voice heavy.

“Then maybe we’ll just have to make sure they don’t get any more power.” Val’s voice was barely more than a growl.

“Isn’t there some kind of quote, ‘All it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing’ or something like that.” Girl said.