As Girl approached the high wall of smashed vehicles, she looked exactly like what she was. A fourteen year old girl with a handful of dogs surrounding her. Despite the gunbelt that hung cocked on her hips, she was about the most unthreatening thing that could be imagined. After all, she was in that leggy, awkward phase that every teenager goes through. A girl with curling hair the color of some autumn leaves and eyes the color of spring leaves, dimples on her cheeks and a bright splash of freckles.
She was almost halfway to the hospital’s wall of cars when a voice boomed out, “Halt and be recognized.”
They all stopped, the dogs taking up positions easily with Sugar and Girl in the middle. Girl lifted one hand in a friendly wave, keeping both hands well away from the holsters on her hips. “My name’s Isobel, I -uh- I come in peace?” One corner of her mouth kicked up in a shameless grin.
“Isobel, what do you seek?” The booming voice asked.
“I’m -uh- an -uh- envoy? Ambassador?” She shrugged. “Whatever. I’m from an -uh- from a territory in the woods. We’re -um- offering sanctuary to other survivors and looking to establish contact with other territories if there are any.” As she continued talking, her words gained confidence. “We’re here for supplies too, whatever we can find, and information about what’s been happening.” Finally she wound down and stopped the tumble of words.
“Aren’t you a little young to be an envoy-ambassador-whatever?” The voice boomed back.
“Yes, yes I am.” She deadpanned.
There was a chuckle from the direction of the voice. “What about the dogs?”
“They’re with me. They’re special dogs.”
“Special dogs? We’ve had a lot of animal attacks since the burning. Are you working for the dogs?”
Girl laughed, she couldn’t help it. “Working for the dogs?”
“You heard me.”
“No, I’m not working for the dogs. With them, I suppose, but not for them. Can we come in and talk to your leaders?”
“We can ask. Stay where you are for now.” The voice boomed. “We’ve got eyes on you.”
Girl turned her attention toward Lucky and when she spoke again, her voice was much quieter. “They’re pretty paranoid. I wonder how much they’ve interacted with life outside the hospital since they holed up there.”
“Yeah, probably not.” Axel grumbled. “They’re not going to let us in there.”
Girl frowned, but it was Val who asked, “Why not?”
Axel tilted his head to one side, floppy ears wagging with the action. “They’re like street dogs.” He said, lowering himself gently to sit on his haunches. “They’ve got a choice haunch of meat. Whether they hunted it, stole it, or it was given to them. They have it now and they will fight any other dog that looks at it.” He lifted one paw to scratch at the side of his scarred muzzle. “We don’t want this fight. Even if they do offer to let us in, we should not go.” His brown eyes narrowed, “We shouldn’t tell them exactly where we’re from either.”
“Why not trust them?” Intrepid asked. “They’re smart and have a lot of supplies. They can probably help us.”
“They won’t help us.” Axel said, his rich earthy eyes crawling over the wall of cars. “In fact, they will probably hurt us.” His eyes narrowed.
“Aren’t you a street dog?” Intrepid asked.
“You’re right,” he muttered, “they’re worse than street dogs. They’re human.”
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The big brindle dog’s shoulders slumped and his head drooped. Girl reached out a hand toward Axel, it was almost automatic. Comfort offered to a friend. The mastiff’s upper lip lifted just as reflexively into a snarl of warning. Girl dropped her hand, an expression that Lucky couldn’t quite read flickering across her features.
He brushed his shoulder against her thigh, “You alright?”
Girl shrugged and Lucky grumbled at the lack of a direct answer. The group grew restless as the wait drug out. It was Intrepid that finally broke the silence. “Um, maybe we should go. Before he gets back. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Val snorted. “Of course you do.” She muttered. “Lucky, you got a bad feeling about this?”
Lucky hmmed thoughtfully. “I have a bad feeling, but I’m not sure it’s about this or something else. I haven’t not had a bad feeling since this mess started, really.”
“That is…” Val began, “Extremely unhelpful.”
“Tell me about it.” Lucky muttered.
“Too late now,” Sugar said, jerking her head to one side to draw their attention past her and to the wall of vehicles. Two people had climbed to the top of the vehicle wall and were looking down from on high over Girl and the dogs. One was quite tall, broad shoulders with the muscles of his torso clearly defined beneath his skin-tight white shirt. He had no hair on his head or face and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of darkly reflective sunglasses. At his side stood a man a head shorter than him. The second man was broad in a somewhat flabby way, though there was a sense of power radiating from him. The tall man familiarly boomed, “Councilman Vassar has agreed to see you. You may approach the wall.”
“Not a good idea.” Axel muttered beneath his breath.
Girl and the rest of the dogs looked at him and Girl wore a very deep frown. His lips peeled back slightly from his lips and Lucky could see the raised fur between his shoulder blades. “As much as I want to disagree,” Val said. “Axel is probably right, we shouldn’t get too close to that wall.”
Girl’s frown grew impossibly deeper, but she gave a sharp nod of her head before she turned back toward the wall. She led the dogs only half a block closer before she stopped. She looked between the two men on top of the wall. “Good afternoon,” She turned her attention to the short, broad man. “Councilman Vassar, I assume?”
“That’s right.” The man’s voice was pitched much higher than Lucky was expecting and it made his ears twitch. “Aren’t you a little young to be alone out here?”
“I’m not alone.” Girl said.
“Where are your parents then, girl?” Vassar asked.
Girl was still frowning and the fur on Lucky’s back twitched. “Not here, obviously.” She answered. “I’m here to make contact with other groups of survivors and form useful agreements and connections.”
“Big job for a little girl all alone.” He smirked.
“I told you, I’m not alone.” Girl said. “Are you interested?” She asked. “If not, I’ve got places to go.”
“We could be interested.” He drawled. “What sort of benefits are your people offering, at what cost?”
“Information sharing would be a big part of it. Supply exchange as well. There are things we don’t have that we would need. I’m sure there are ways that we could offer value in exchange. We have access to fresh foods and will eventually have a good supply of lumber. I’m guessing you have good access to medicine and such. Perhaps even a doctor of some sort. We have a number of craftsmen.”
Vassar’s eyes narrowed as she spoke and in the end he was shaking his head. “We can’t trade those goods away.”
“Right then.” Girl said, backing up a step. “We’re probably not going to come to any sort of agreement today and we’re burning daylight. Thank you for your time.”
Axel’s ears flicked suddenly forward then all the way back against his skull. One side of his mouth lifted up in a snarl and he drew in a deep breath through his nose. “We have company.” The language of dogs is both incredibly simple and elaborately complex. It’s a nuance of expression and the pitch and timbre of each sound means so much more than the sound itself. Every line of Axel’s body spoke as much as the low bass rumble that escaped him. It spoke of the scents of oil and cordite that teased his nose and the soft scuff of footsteps that he heard.
It would be wrong to say that Axel spoke to Girl, but it would be impossible to express what he did in any other way. While Girl and Vassar had spoken, others had moved from beyond the wall of cars to flank the little group. Girl hadn’t noticed their approach, but Axel was more on his guard than any of the others. After all, he had reason to know the depths of humanity.
“So soon?” Vassar asked. “Why don’t you come along inside? I’m sure you’ll find the hospital quite comfortable.”
“No, thank you.” The politeness of her words were belied by the sharpness of her tone.
Vassar’s brows drew together and his arms crossed against his chest. “I’m afraid I must insist.”
Girl turned on her heel and began a calm walk away from the hospital. Lucky could smell the anxiety as it settled over her. The dogs closed in around her, every one of them coiled as tight as a spring. Waiting for something to happen.