After The Fall

A Dogs Life

The sun was setting when she stumbled across the wild onions. She looked around and sniffed the air before cautiously putting her head down. She hungrily gobbled them up. Since the humans disappeared it's been hard going. For a little while it was good. There was garbage and scraps everywhere. After about a week these were rotten. She soon started hunting cats after seeing one of them eating human remains. Now, they too were scarce, and things have gotten much more dangerous. Sometime ago, she saw what she thought was a human. She ran up to it, barking with joy, when it turned around. All she remembers from this encounter was the evil in its yellow eyes and pain. She has a constant reminder of that day in the form of three long scars on her side.

She suddenly came to alert, ears forward and nose twitching. The sound came again, foot steps. Her eyes strained against the darkness to see what it was. A long shadow came into view and she darted away from it. Panic hit her as she hit the tall grass looking for a place to hide. The steps grew closer and she was getting desperate. The dog stopped in her tracks as a house came into view. She ran at full speed towards it and away from the foot steps. The door was open, and the darkness inside seemed more welcoming then whatever it was walking down the road. Once inside she stood on her hind legs and looked through tattered blinds to get a peak of what was out there. Up the road came something she hadn't seen in months. It was a human, a young woman. She had torn jeans, a hoodie, and a back pack. The human was familiar to her, the dog tried to remember, as she watched the humans slow sad shuffle. The dog was scared, there were to many times that she was nearly killed for thinking she found a friend. But there was something about this one....something she vaguely remembered. She watched the girl crest a hill and disappear from sight. As the sun set the dog began to pace about the house, not sure what to do. As the darkness overtook the light, she hopped up on a busted couch, and drifted off to sleep.

After a few hours of nightmare fueled sleep she jerked awake. She let her eyes adjust, and headed for the door. The moon shone bright, casting shadows along the road. Ships passed by, looking like shooting stars. The dog arrived at the top of the hill and sniffed the ground where she last saw the girl. Now that she had the sent, she set off after the girl. She held back a sense of excitement, could this be who she thinks it is? Recent experience told her no, but her instincts say yes. The dog had to change her focus, the nights were vary dangerous in the summer. It's when the things hunted, using the shadows to their advantage. In the day, they didn't hide, they just came right at you, but at least you knew they were there. In the winter though, that was a different story. The evil things were slow, almost comically. That's when she was able to get her vengeance.

She followed the scent down a narrow country road that had grass growing tall through the cracks in the black top. Corn grew tall on both sides of the road, casting erie shadows. The night breeze created a constantly rustling sound. She didn't want to go down there. But the girls sent was close, she could sense her. The dog let out a low wimper and headed down the road. She suddenly stopped and crouched low.

A taloned deep green hand reached out and parted the corn. Above that, a great lizard head peered out, tongue tasting the air. It looked side to side, tongue darting in and out, then stepped out into the road. This giant reptile had caught the sent of the human as well.

The dog was worried. This thing was after her human. She had to do something to save her. It had not noticed her yet as it was walking away from her, its massive tail snaking out of the corn. It stopped, when it heard the deep growl behind it. As it turned to face her, it drew a golden trident from its back. The dog dodged a thrust and ran off, leading the big lizard away from the human.

As the boxer ran, she thought of what to do. She had to think fast, as it was gaining. A close thrust again, that she just ducked. She then began to run in an irrational pattern, looking for anything that would help her. A forest was ahead and she ran towards it, hoping the trees would slow it down. At first she could hear snapping branches and the cracking of wood. Soon the footsteps began to fade and other noises could be heard. Birds began to gather in the forest, thousands of them. Voices whispered out of the dark, not quite human. Then silence, even the air stood still. A bestial roar of pain erupted out of the darkness, Then silence again. The dog crept back to where she last sensed the lizard man. She saw it, and she knew it wasn't dead, not yet. She growled as she got closer, it's uncaring eyes looked at her, it's tongue darted from it's mouth. The dog couldnt believer her luck, every limb was tangled in barbwire. It was harmless for the time being. Growling and snarling as she approached her enemy, ready to dart away at any threatening movement. There was a weak point to these nasty things, not covered in armor or scales, it's throat.