Lucky and Girl shared a long few minutes seated next to each other at the entrance to the driveway, watching the highway. Girl’s arm draped across Lucky’s shoulder and her head resting against him. “It’s almost time for lunch.” Girl said.

“Alright.” Lucky said softly.

“Are you coming?”

“You go ahead. I’m going to run the boundaries. Something has to be coming soon. That thing yesterday knows we are here. It knows.” His voice was tight. “Why hasn’t it used that knowledge yet? What is it waiting for? Reinforcements?” The fur on his hackles rose at that thought and a shiver ran down his spine.

“We’re safe here though, right?” She sounded uncertain.

Lucky turned his head and licked her cheek. “You’re as safe as I can make you.” He tried for comfort, but there was uncertainty in him as well. Safe as he could make her. It was true, but it wasn’t really enough.

“Don’t go patrolling alone.”

“Of course not. I’m trying to run patrols with each of the dogs. We need to figure out their strengths and get them working within the System.”

“I know Sugar, Vinny, Calypso and Lobo. At least a little. What about the others?”

“The Lost Dogs?”

“Lost dogs?” She asked.

Lucky hunched his shoulders a little. “It’s just how I think of them. Quigley and Axel were strays, but the rest of them? They lost their people that first day, when the house fell down.”

“The poor things!” She exclaimed.

“I don’t even like thinking about something like that happening.” Lucky admitted. “They seem lost a lot of the time. Even when they’re trying to be happy.” He chuffed out a breath. “I think they’re a little like me. Their lives are cut into the before and after, only instead of it being a difference in thinking, they lost their purpose.”

“They’re our dogs now though, right?” Girl asked.

Lucky’s mouth dropped open into a lolling smile. “They’re ours.” He said firmly. “Come on, let’s get Intrepid and then he and I will go on patrol.”

They rose to their feet together and Girl put her hand on Lucky’s back as they walked up the drive. By the time they reached the dooryard, only a few hours after everything had begun, much progress had already been made. Chain link fencing circled the dooryard and all of the Big House’s outbuildings. A handful of men and women were on top of the tall red barn, installing some sort of shining flat panels. Big spools of wiring stood near each building and there was a general bustle of noise and activity that filled the area.

Lucky’s paws stopped moving as it all came into view. “Wow.” It was all he could think to say.

“We may not be as brave as you and the dogs,” Girl said, scratching his neck gently, “But we’re not entirely helpless.”

The big dog’s tail wagged rapidly, sweeping far and fast enough that his entire body was swept up in the action, wriggling. “It’s amazing. They’ve done so much already.”

“There’s more too.” Girl sounded excited. “They’re going to build a watchtower here on the south edge and up north past the house. There’s going to be a fenced passage between here and the Camp with another pair of towers there. James, that’s Lobo’s owner, picked up a bunch of weapons in the city. We’re going to be able to help you guys defend the Farm. At least a little.”

“It’s perfect! You’ll be a little safer behind the fencing.”

“They’re going to build proper walls, eventually.” She said. “They wanted to get something up quickly and work on the harder bits once the towers were up. Nobody really knows what’s coming, whether it will all be like the skitterings or whether it’ll be more of those hovercrafts, or actual aliens or something, but we’re doing our best to support you and the dogs. They all know that we depend on you guys. Physically, some of the people are willing to fight, but a lot of them aren’t really fighters. They’re parents and office workers, computer programmers and electricians.” She shrugged. “Not soldiers or warriors or anything. Except James. Did you know James was a soldier?”

“Lobo’s Man?” Lucky asked and Girl nodded. “I didn’t know, but I think I knew. Gir-” He chuffed. “Isobel.” He corrected himself, ears twitching.

“It’s really okay if you call me Girl, Lucky. I don’t mind.”

Lucky was quiet for a long moment as she petted him. He couldn’t put a paw on what he was feeling, much less put words to it. He had tried to explain the harsh differences in his thinking between then and now, but he wasn’t sure she really understood. He wasn’t sure he really understood. He yawned, letting the gesture soothe through him and wash his anxiety away. “I’m going to go grab Intrepid and head out on patrol. It shouldn’t take us too long, Intrepid is a good runner.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“He’s the grey one, right?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s definitely sleek enough for it. Do you think he’d let me pet him?”

“They can all understand English now.” He said. “It’s weird though, none of them can speak it.”

“Dad says it’s really weird that you can.” She scratched gently behind his ear. “He says your mouth shouldn’t be able to make the right sounds.”

Lucky’s eyebrows waggled goofily as he looked up at her. “It’s magic.” He teased.

She laughed. The bright sound bouncing out across the dooryard and drawing attention. It was then that Lucky realized something so important he couldn’t believe he had missed it. Almost two whole days and the serious pall had laid thick over the people in the Flock. There was no real fun, even the children played quietly and almost perfunctorily, as though it were expected but not pleasurable.

Dogs knew to take joy where they could find it. To find the fun in everything they did. Life, they knew without dwelling on it, was fleeting and malleable. Lucky felt a tightness in his chest again as he realized that he had forgotten it. Forgotten. Had he lost his joy? He glanced up at Girl’s laughing face and his brows drew together in a frown. It was definitely something he would remedy. Was a joyless existence even worth preserving? Of course not. That thought struck Lucky cold in the chest, like a sharp spike through his core.

Not my Flock. He reminded himself. Not my Pack. We will thrive.

Intrepid’s fur was a soft and silvery gray, his eyes almost exactly the same shade. His long dangling ears and the shape of his face often gave him an intense, driven look. Lucky had found that Intrepid’s personality couldn’t be further from his looks. For one, he was a gangly dog with an awkward floppy gait. He had a goofy sense of humor and a sweet demeanor. Still, the most important thing that Lucky had learned about Intrepid thus far was that he was almost constantly terrified. He may have hid it from the people, he may even have hid it from some of the other dogs, but Lucky could smell the fear on him.

They had left the dooryard at an easy, loping jog. Intrepid was almost as large as Lucky, but not nearly so broad and muscular. Neither dog was breathing heavily or even pushed by the run. “How’s today going for you?” Lucky barked.

“I have had better days.” The gray dog admitted, “But I have also had much worse.”

“That’s about right.”

“How are you doing?” Intrepid returned as they crossed the creek and headed up the west side of the property.

“About the same.” He admitted. “There have been good and bad things the last few days and I keep trying to focus on the positive.” Lucky sighed. “Sometimes it’s not so easy.”

“I can sure understand that. Everything is more than a little confusing really. It feels so different. I feel so different.”

They ran in silence for a while, stopping frequently to sniff at the p-mails and leave new messages. Finally, Lucky asked, “Have you read your system messages?”

The gray dog slowed his steps until they were moving at a quick walk. “There’s a certain… tone to the system, isn’t there?”

“Tone?”

“The first trait I got was [There Is No Courage Without Fear]. Then came my skills. [Swift Retreat], [Agile Dodge] and [Backbite].”

Lucky grumbled just a bit as he mulled that over. “There is definitely a certain tone to that, isn’t there?”

Intrepid grunted in response and was quiet for a moment. “I’ve been offered a class, but only one.”

“What is it?”

“Backbiter.”

“Backbiter? What does it do?”

“It says I’ll get, ‘2% bonus damage’ when I’m attacking from behind or flanking a target. Gives me physical attributes mostly.”

“Do you want to take it?”

Again the gray dog seemed more than a little uncertain. “No.” The word was long and drawn out, almost like he was testing it, seeing how it felt.

“There’s no harm in waiting to see if you get more options for a while. It’s smarter to take our time and think things through than to jump into the first pile of leaves we see.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Of course it is.” Lucky’s tail swished quickly from one side to the other, curled over his back. “I had it.”

Intrepid gave a panting laugh and when Lucky took off at a galloping sprint, he was racing right after the fluffy multicolored dog.

The two dogs’ border patrol was a playful chase, but they were alert at every moment for anything out of the ordinary. Lucky smelled it first, the strange odor wafting past his nose and tugging his attention.

**DA-DING!! Your survival Skill Scent has increased by +1!!**

He followed the traces of the scent, his speed decreasing until he was slinking along, nose to the ground. Intrepid was a few paces behind him and off to his left, his head was up, gray eyes scanning the maple wood.

“What is it, Lucky? What do you smell?”

“You don’t smell it?”

“No. Not yet.”

Lucky sneezed his nose clear and took a deep breath through his nose, catching as much of the scent as he could. “It’s canine, I think, but not a dog.”

“Fox?”

“No, I don’t think so. I know what fox smells like after Ro.”

The big grey dog’s hackles rose and his tail sank until it was drooping straight from his rump, almost between his legs. “It’s not a wolf is it?”

Lucky made a humming noise as he sniffed again deeply. “I don’t think so, but maybe. Come on, it’s this way.”

No one would ever call Intrepid a coward. Lucky was sure he felt like one, but when Lucky asked him to follow his lead toward an unknown canine, Intrepid didn’t hesitate in the slightest. His tail was curled up under his rump and almost wrapped entirely around his right hindleg, but he trotted right along after the big multicolored dog. Lucky sniffed his way carefully through the maple wood, heading almost toward the Shack, but definitely deeper into the territory of the Farm.