Cynophobia

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We crossed back to the other side of the valley into the tree line. We wanted to stay covered for as long as possible. I longed to see the spruce trees of Maine. I never thought I would be looking forward to trees in my life.

Suddenly, Loki dashed off. All of us grabbed our weapons and went back to back, expecting an ambush.

I stared dully as he trotted back over to us, carrying a dead rabbit. He wagged his black tail happily.

"If you ever do something sudden like that again, I will cattle prod your brain," Leader said in a rough tone.

His ears flattened and he dropped the rabbit on the ground. "Sorry."

Cairo narrowed his eyes. "We don't have any time for screwing around, we need to get across shore and into cover before dusk."

I watched as Loki's jaw seemed to unhinge like an anaconda and he ate the rabbit with a single bite. It was a little unnerving, it reminded me how many rows of razor teeth he possessed.

Leader shoved Loki forward with the handle of his axe. The Cynoid continued to trot onward to the shore. I walked beside Cairo as I stared at the city, looking for any signs of movement.

We reached the edge of the tree line. I could see the shore, a rocky bluff sheltered it from sight of the city. With any luck, the Cynoid supposedly guarding wouldn't detect us. We would have to remain quite and hope that it didn't have its thermal vision on.

I quickly scanned around, making sure we weren't followed. "I'll go first, I'll buzz the watch if its safe. You coming Loki?"

The Cynoid nodded eagerly.

Leader grabbed my shoulder just as I was about to leave. "Watch your back around the Cynoid, don't stop for anything, and be safe."

"I'll be fine," I assured. My blue eyes trailed down to Loki. "Let's go."

Me and Loki sprinted as fast as we could for the shore. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his head swiveling back and forth. His yellow irises were now red, I assumed he was using his thermal vision. Now I was really glad we recruited him.

We had about a hundred more yards to go. Loki was trying to slow down his pace for me, I knew he could keep up with a car if he tried. I could see the rocky bluffs that separated the sandy shore from the hill. "Cynoids fear water, Loki is really proving to be a vital asset to our group. I hope that Leader's suspicions are wrong and that Loki really is just trying to escape like us."

We both made it to the edge. Sand sprayed against the bluffs as I skidded to a halt. "See anything?"

Loki looked at the forest, then towards the valley, then towards the city. "I can faintly see the heat of a Cynoid. I have my body on cool-down mode, so my body heat is the same as the temperature around us. I recommend rolling in some water to get your heat down as well."

I splashed around in the waves for a few seconds before clicking the button on my watch twice. The little red bulb blinked twice, relaying the message to my friends on the other side. The three of them started running towards us.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if Cairo will let me take you with us to our destination," I said wringing some water from my shirt.

He tilted his head, not seeming to mind. "It's fine, I don't expect you to be all accepting after what my kind has done. I just need a purpose for a while, then I'll come back here and try to save Zeta. Its better if Alpha thinks I'm dead so I have the element of surprise."