Rover ran. He could hear his mother's screams for him to keep going in the background. He hadn't even seen them coming. They just dropped out of the sky, like hawks catching their prey. He wondered whether his brother had escaped it. This was not the time. He told himself. This was the time to run, and not look back. Never look back. Then he heard it. A deafening crack like from a bolt of lightning. He could feel his fur burning with pain. The poison seeping into every inch of his body. He fell to the ground. It was over. He could hear them running. With their black gloves and their long strange legs. This was the end. He was going to die.
