Puppy Paws

Discovered

The rest of the tests are next. Larry has me look at different potential "dens" to see if they are suitable homes. It turns out I'm not a very good searcher. I accidentally disrupt a rabbit in his hole because I don't smell him. Oops. For the guarder test, Larry makes me stay in the den while he goes outside. You should bark when you hear me approaching are my orders.
I think I do well.
But guilt nags at the back of my head. The human experience really shook me. I have very mixed feelings about the strange creatures. And, I can't help but wonder if the human I saw told any bad humans about us dogs.
"Good job, Paws," says Larry, coming back over to me after the last test. "And hey. Don't be too hard on yourself. You're new! We all make mistakes."
"Yeah, well...Can we eat the food now? Or do we wait for dinner?"
"Dinner should be soon, so we'll wait. It'll be good for you to experience hunger."
We wait for a while in the den, talking about the dogs in the pack, especially Mama. Finally, the shadows outside lengthen, and I hear the crunching of paws in the snow. A few seconds later, the pack literally drops in. Carazo is holding a dead animal in his jaws. Mama looks tired.
"Ready for dinner?" asks Carazo.
"Yeah!" everyone choruses. Carazo breaks the animal into pieces, and Larry brings out the wonderful smelling package. We feast on what everyone tells me is Meat. It is delicious, though eating the dead thing is kind of gross. After the meal, I feel very satisfied. Then Larry speaks up.
"Paws had an encounter with a human today."
I gulp and look at him in shock. Is he trying to get me in trouble? But, the other dogs don't look at me in anger. They send me sympathetic glances instead.
"Sorry, Paws," chatters Skitter. "Wow. That's really difficult to go through on your first day wild!"
"Um...but...yeah. But...will they find us now?" I ask tentatively.
"Maybe," says Amber. "We will have to be ready. But Paws, the other times we had to move were because of one of us seeing a human too. It's not your fault." I awkwardly shift my big brown paws.
"I guess."
__________________________
The night passes by uneventfully. I cuddle next to Mama and Alice joins us.
When I wake up, snow has drifted in through the hole in the den and has gathered in a pile on the floor. I get up and stretch. Then I trot over to the snow. I giggle and stuff my head into it. It's very refreshing. The rest of the pack is still asleep, grunting and snorting in their slumber.
Alice is the first to wake. She stretches like I did and sees me.
"Hey!" she exclaims.
"Look at this snow!" I say, gesturing to the pile that is scattered a bit now because of me.
"Cool!" she squeals.
We play and romp in the white crystals. It is a wonder that the other dogs don't wake up. It is still very early, even still dark outside, but I am very alert. Also very hungry. My thirst has been quenched by the snow, but I am in the mood for something filling.  Rogo awakes. He wakes up the others by nudging them. Larry refuses to get up until Amber bites him. When he is fully conscious, I come over to him.
"So, what am I? For a job in the pack?"
Larry pauses.
"Hunter and gatherer," he finally grunts. "Sorry for not telling you at dinner yesterday. I had to sleep on it." Then he sighs and curls up again in the corner of then den, his long red ears flopping.
I yip for joy and twirl in a circle.  Anything involving action and food is good for me!
Suddenly thunder booms outside, jolting me out of my happy dance. Carazo trots over to the hole and peers up. I suddenly realize that it is not in fact so early that it's dark. It's a storm.
"Storm?" drawls Rogo to Carazo.
"Yes..." Carazo replies worriedly.
"Wow, that's rare for a storm to happen in the winter!" yips Skitter.
"Cool!" squeals Alice.
"We should stay in here," Mama declares. "Lightning could hit trees. They might fall from the wind, too."
I shiver. It's getting colder. A strong wind blowing in ruffles my soft brown coat.
All of a sudden, a ripple of a bad scent and a cold instinctual feeling pierces me. I look around at the dogs. They look up at the same time. Larry lifts his head from his nap with a knowing fear in his eyes.
"Out the back exi-" Carazo starts to say before a loud stomping outside makes him go quiet. We all wait apprehensively. I don't know what's out there but everyone else seems to.
"Humans," Amber whispers. Oh no. It's all my fault.
"I'm so sorry," I murmur. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!"
"Shhhhhhhh..." says Mama.
The stomping stops. Then a beam of light flashes on the wall opposite the hole in the roof. We all are tense, crouching and ready to run anywhere. A voice shouts outside.
"Where could those dirty mutts be?"
Another voice closer to our den replies.
"I think I've found something."
Even though I've only been with the pack for a little amount of time, I feel a strong connection with these dogs. After all, even one day for a dog is very long. I'm afraid for my free pack. Carazo whispers something. I think he is telling us to stay still. We all watch the entrance to the den in fear. I wonder if the humans can fit through. Then the smell of Meat flows into the den. It smells amazing, like nothing I've ever smelt before. My nose and ears perk up.
"Don't go..." says Skitter uncertainly.
"Here, doggie doggie!" a voice coaxes from outside. "I'm not gonna hurt ya!" The voice sounds wrong. It reeks of lies and overpowers the Meat. We all stay where we are. Finally, the smell goes away. I sigh in relief. Maybe the humans are gone.
The hole in the den shudders.
Maybe they aren't gone after all.
We all back up into the farthest reaches of the den, melting into the shadows.
Soon, something pushes through the gap. It's shiny and grey. It's being held by a human hand. A face peers through the hole after it. The face is dirty and mean looking. The eyes of the face dart around to look at all of us and the mouth grimaces. Then the hand on the grey thing shifts.

Alice yelps and looks at her chest, where a silvery bristle sticks out.

She collapses.

Mama sucks in her breath. Carazo growls and moves in front of Alice's limp body. Alice doesn't smell dead, but she doesn't smell alive either.

I'm terrified.

I look at the face, which is now smirking, with horror and anger in my eyes. Before I can do anything at all to stop it, the shiny device fires again. Amber, crouching in the corner, takes a shaky, slow breath and falls.
The human picks us off one by one with the grey thing. After Amber it's Larry who cries out and stumbles down to the ground. The human misses when it tries to fire at Skitter. He's so small that the dart zips right by him. But, there is nowhere to run in the small space. Eventually, it's just me and Mama in the corner farthest from the hole. Even Carazo, proud and mighty, has succumbed to the darts. I can tell that nothing like this has ever happened before. And this is all my fault. Maybe before, they were ready. But not this time.  The grey device points at us. I don't even have time to yelp before a dart hits me in the shoulder. I feel woozy, dizzy, the den is spinning and the bodies of my fellow free dogs are tumbling around and the human is shouting and the den is crumbling and the bad smell is back again and the storm is loud and my whole body aches and I just want to sleep...