The rain pounded against the roof and the wind rattled the windows as Girl and Lucky made their way to the top of the basement stairs. “I wonder if they even noticed we weren’t down there?” Girl asked, chuckling.

Lucky chuffed out a breath. “That’s another thing we should figure out then. Some sort of roll call when we seek shelter.”

“Ugh! It’s always something. Does anyone have a list?”

The big dog heaved a sigh and stopped at the top of the stairs. “All clear everyone!” He yelled down the stairs.

When everyone had gathered on the main floor again, overflowing the rooms. Lucky jumped up on the tall sofa table behind the sectional sofa. “The storm has settled in. I bet it’ll rain most of the night. Lightning struck a few of the trees. Nothing damaged. An elk jumped the fence. He’s resting in the barn. Keep an eye out and keep the kids out of the barn for now. He seems anxious and he’s dangerous.”

“Then why is he staying in the barn?” Rachel asked. “If he’s dangerous, especially to the kids, shouldn’t we get him out of here?”

“Something was chasing him.” Girl said. “He jumped the fence seeking safety. Should we really have turned him away?”

“Of course!” Rachel’s voice held no doubt. “We have to think of ourselves.”

Lucky’s head tilted to the side. “Is that really how you feel?”

“Of course!” She almost shouted it this time. “My son is much more important than some stupid elk. Some stupid animal. I wouldn’t hesitate to put it out to keep my son safe.”

“He’s a living thing.” Girl protested.

“Sure, sure. It’s alive. A spider’s alive, but I’ll crush one if I see it.” Rachel said. “A cow is alive, but I still eat beef. You don’t seriously expect us to become vegetarians, do you?”

His ears laid back against his skull. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He hadn’t really thought about that, at all. They had food stocked up for now, but what would they do when it was gone? He started to speak again, but couldn’t find anything to say.

It was Vinny that finally spoke up, though Lucky had to translate for him so the people would understand, “There may be things that don’t speak, don’t have the system. Maybe fish or birds or something.”

“That’s possible,” Lobo’s Man said. “We don’t really know what kinds of rules the System has. We really need to figure out what the rules are, and soon.”

“There’s a lot of things we need to figure out.” Man said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Lucky,” Vinny said, his tone drawing the big dog’s attention as much as the sound of his own name. “This isn’t working.”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

The gray pitbull chuffed out a sigh and flopped down tiredly at Lady’s feet. “I just don’ think this is going to work out.”

“Can you explain?” Lucky asked.

Vinny sighed again. “Not really. It’s just a feeling, I guess.”

When Lucky returned his attention to the people, they were still arguing heatedly over the presence of the elk in the barn. Lucky grumbled a sigh and crossed his paws, settling his head down on them. Girl sat down next to him and rested her hand on his back. She scratched gently at his fur as her eyes followed from one speaker to the next. There was discord among them and Lucky had no idea how to put that discord to rest. The discussion rolled around them, the argument turning from the elk to other topics that never seemed far from anyone’s minds. Supplies, safety, leadership. It had been less than a week and Lucky was already sick of the arguments. Couldn’t they agree on anything?

“That’s enough!” Lucky yelled, surging to his feet. His heart was racing. “This is ridiculous. You are fighting like a sack full of cats.” Lucky’s ears were laid flat against his skull and his upper lip trembled on the verge of a growl. “The elk stays in the barn,” His pale eyes were narrow as they swept over the gathered people. “He stays safe in the barn. I told him he would be safe there and you will not make a liar out of me. He could help us and we will help him.”

The dogs looked down and away from Lucky as those eyes swept them too. “We will never accomplish anything if you keep arguing this way.” He said. “The only thing we’ve made definitive choices about are the territory upgrades. Everything else has been one argument after another that just keeps circling around.” The big dog shook his head, looking over the gathered people and dogs before he snorted again. He was silent for a long while, looking from one face to the next, lingering longer on some than others, but once he had met everyone’s eyes he nodded decisively. “Man, we will figure out how to transfer control of the territory, or at least decision making, to you. Then, I am leaving. I’m going to figure out what is going on. Once and for all.”

“You can’t leave us Lucky. You and the dogs are what’s been keeping us safe.” The speaker was a young woman, one that had joined from the city, Lucky wasn’t familiar with her at all.

“We’re not all going.” Lucky said. “I’ll take a small group and we’ll see what we can find out. Clash and the coyotes will continue patrolling the borders, most of the dogs will stay.” His eyes went to Girl and met hers for a long moment. “I would like it if Girl stayed too, so I didn’t have to worry about her.”

“Not on your life, Luck-dog.” Girl protested. “Where you go, I go.”

Lucky chuffed a breath and shook his head, a very human gesture. “If I thought you would stay, I would leave you behind.”

“Good luck with that.” Girl said, crossing her arms.

“We’re leaving in the morning,” Lucky said. “The sooner started, the sooner done.”

Silence swept over the Big House as the people looked at one another. Lady reached down to Vinny and the pit bull climbed part way onto her lap, nuzzling her cheek reassuringly. There was a sense of uncertainty in the room now.

“How will any of us talk to the coyotes without you? You and the dogs have fought off every threat we’ve faced. You have the territory, you lead the pack. You’re a key figure here. You can’t just walk away from this. From us.” The Cat Lady from the council said.

Steel-Beard crossed his arms, his jaw clenching under his bushy beard as he looked over the people and dogs gathered throughout the main floor. “I don’t think he has much choice in the matter,” he said after a long moment. “I’ll go with you, if you’ll have me.”

“We’ll have to make some choices about who to take and who to leave behind,” Lucky said, “But we are going. We’re going in the morning.”

“That isn’t much warning.” Man said.

“Time isn’t something we can afford to waste.” Lobo said, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. They waited expectantly for the red husky to say more, but he closed his sky-bright eyes and laid his head down. Lucky was almost certain that the soft snores were fake.

“I feel like he does that on purpose.” The big dog muttered toward Girl and she snickered.

“We should discuss this. The council should vote.” Rachel spoke up from the corner of the living room.

Lucky snorted. “This is not open to discussion or vote. This is my decision, not yours, not ours. Mine.” He met each of the dogs’ eyes and then looked over the people, meeting their gazes and then moving on to the next. “Vinny, Quigley, Lobo, I would like you to work together to take over my place in the Pack. Vinny, I would like you and your Lady to speak for me on the council. Keep the needs of the pack in mind when decisions need to be made.”

“I can do that.” Lady said, rubbing Vinny’s ears. “We’ll take good care of your Pack while you’re gone, Lucky. You’ve always been a good dog. I don’t think you’d leave us if you didn’t really feel it was the best decision.”

Lucky’s tail wagged as she spoke. “It is the best decision” Again his eyes swept over the crowd. “I’d like Sugar, Axel, Intrepid, and Val to come with us. I’ll take the elk if he’ll go too. I feel he would be a very good ally to have. Quick,” He looked around for the squirrel and didn’t immediately spot him sitting on Girl’s shoulder, hidden by the fall of her hair. “Quick,” He said again when he spotted the squirrel. “I’d like you to come as well. You’ll make an excellent scout. Ro would be a good choice too, but she needs to stay with her kit.”

“You can’t take Sugar.” The protests were immediate from her family, all six children and both adults. “They can’t take Suga, right mama?” One of the little ones asked.

Lucky drew in a deep breath and sighed just as deeply. “Sugar has the best healing skills of anyone. She would be vital for our group.”

“She’s vital here.” Her Woman protested. “She’s important to the children and if she is a healer, she should be here to heal anyone that gets hurt defending our territory.”

“She’s my dog!” One of the children said. “You can’t take her! I won’t let you.”

Sugar herself, red-gold fur gleaming and freshly brushed, nuzzled up to the protesting youngster. “I don’t know that I can leave them.”

“It’s your choice, Sugar. I can’t and won’t make you leave them, but I hope you’ll consider it. Your abilities would be very helpful out beyond the fences.” Lucky said.

“I’ll go with you.” Val said, padding over to sit next to the coffee table and Lucky.

Axel walked over without saying anything and sat next to Val. Intrepid followed behind, head held high but tail curled around one hind leg.

“I’ll go, Lucky.” Quick said, “But I’m staying close to Girl. It’ll be safer with her.”

“That’s fine, you two seem to be getting along well.” Lucky said, “Sugar, you don’t have to decide right now. We’re leaving in the morning and if you’re coming, come. If not, I understand. Family is important.”

“Man, Lobo’s Man, if you would help Girl pack what she will need, I would appreciate it. I’m going to go out to the barn and talk with the elk to see if he will come.” Lucky jumped down from the table and he walked out of the house, people stepping out of his way as he threaded his way through the crowd. Behind him the three dogs he had called to journey with him followed him out.

It was still raining heavily and the gravel of the dooryard was interspersed with muddy puddles that Lucky avoided and Intrepid pounced in. The dim light of the stormy day only barely pierced the dark shade of the Barn. Lucky trotted up to the threshold and sat down. The others sat just behind him. “Wickett?” He called out.

“I’m here.” The resonant tones of the elk responded. It was a couple of moments before he stepped out of the shadows. “What you want, hunter?”

“Tomorrow we go. Look for answers. You come?” Lucky hoped he’d learn the elk’s language properly soon, it was hard to get his point across when his word choices were so limited.

“Why?” The elk’s antlered head tilted to one side, a universally curious expression.

“I think you’d be good help. Some humans not like you here. Maybe not safe after we go.”

“Thanks for warning. I think about it?”

“We leave morning.” Lucky said.

“I leave morning, too. Maybe go, maybe not.”

“Thanks.” Lucky said, then he got up and walked over to the machine shed. He had no desire to go back to the Big House at the moment. Instead, he pulled up his territory screen and started investigating options for handing control over to Man.