Chapter 4 ⭐️ Dog Killed Badly

The Barefoot Rambler

The winds blew that dull Saturday away, but what was the point of keeping a diary? One day was the same as another, there was no working week and oh how she wished there was. There was no structure, no lazy Sunday or happy Friday where people went home early to go to the pub or out for a meal. What was the point? No one would know if she was right or wrong about an irrelevant day of the week. Why did they have names anyway? They walked along a path with high bracken sides and thrashed their way through it with sticks and branches. She watched him from behind, his strong back twisting and sweating as he forged their way through.

‘Shall we stop soon? There’s a clearing up ahead,’ she said and without answering he walked on and sit himself down on the flat of the grass. ‘No voices, no sound of human life,’ she said holding a hand to her ear.

‘We’ve lost them. With any luck they may not come out this far,’ he said. She sat by him, drinking from her flask. The sun glared down, she felt dehydrated. ‘But we haven’t lost them over there,’ his eyes looked at a distant line of trees and there behind a row of saplings were two pairs of eyes.

‘Oh, yeah,’ she said staring at two scrawny looking dogs.Her eyes became wide and fixed and she began to shake a little.

‘They were at our camp last night. They are following us for the food we have, not to attack us I suspect,’ Q said. His eyes were set on them as he decided what to do. He got up and started to call to them, he had a small piece of meat in his hand, one a male Husky tentatively stepped forward. ‘Come on, come,’ he stretched his arm out further and bent low.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ she said. He didn’t reply as the dog slowly came out two steps at a time, the other dog, a German Shepherd came forward from the cover of the trees too and sat watching. The Husky sniffed the air and looked around, ever wary, always watchful, aware there may be a trap. Two more steps forward and it was eating the meat from Q’s hand. As quick as he put his hands around its neck, half strangling it, got out a knife from his utility trousers and stabbed the dog in the chest. Yowling the dog pulled away, but Q held on to it and stabbed it again. With blood on its fur the dog bit at Q, biting his arm, he stabbed at it again and tried to strangle it as well, the German Shepherd circled baring it’s teeth.

‘For god’s sake, Q?’ The Husky slumped to the ground, it’s eyes half closed and Q stood over it, watching the German Shepherd that looked ready to pounce at him. He stood to his full height and held his knife up to it and it held its ground, not sure of what to do, then it sniffed the ground and casually sloped off. ‘What the hell have you done?’

‘I’ve killed that dog,’

‘Why the hell have you done that?’ Celine said. She came at him and pounded his chest with her fists. He stood there and took it until it became uncomfortable and he could feel the bruises. He took her by the wrists and firmly put them down.

He stared her straight into her eyes ‘Because when they get hungry they will attack. We will become the prey, not just our lunches. They need to be kept at bay,’

‘But you didn’t have to do that,’

‘It’s us or them, believe me I know and they aren't the only danger out here, that’s why people created the compounds. You can’t just wander about,’ he said realising he had raised his voice.

‘Are you telling me off?’ she said going red.

‘I guess I am, yeah,’ he said. She held her head down not looking at him. ‘You’d have been better off if I had left you in that pit,’

‘Oh, would I?’

‘Yes, at least you’d be safe,’

‘You don’t know what they do to deserters,’

‘Can’t be as bad as out here,’ he said.

‘I’ll take my chances. I’d rather be out here and die trying to get to freedom than stay in there, in that prison,’

They walked on in silence until they reached a fork in the path, there were two routes that could be taken.’I go left here,’ he said.

‘And I go right,’

‘Yes, that leads north,’

‘So this is good bye then,’ she said looking at him and away from him, trying to judge his mood.

‘Yes, I suppose it is, sadly,’

‘Good bye, Q and thanks for…thanks for everything,’ she said and reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

‘Good luck, but you’ll need more than luck. I want you to have this,’ he said and out of his bag he got a black revolver and handed it to her. It weighed heavy in her hands, she looked at it with fear and disgust.

More death and destruction she thought. ‘More death and destruction,’ she said and now she would have two guns.

‘Yes, but you saw those dogs, that dog attack. You need to have something with you,’ he said starting to get angry. But the dogs hadn’t attacked them, he had attacked the dogs.


In those moments as they stood at the fork, she drank from her flask and checked her bag, looking at him as he surveyed the horizon and scanned the area for danger or any random opportunities. If she stayed with him, if he wanted to, she knew she would survive and that's what it was all about now; Survival.

'You say there's a river up ahead,' she said turning her flask upside down. She let her thoughts run on and felt safe with him.

'Yes, it's a bit further along, not far off the path. If you're quite enough you can hear it,' he said standing stock still.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A wild and strong chapter. I liked the use of the dogs. This was the best chapter so far. I liked the feel of danger and the situation, you create. Thank you Tertia for sharing the amazing chapter.
Coyote