Intrepid wasn’t the only one who jumped when a gust of wind caused the loose door to crash into the wall. Girl was standing on the porch of the one house that could still hold answers, her hand raised, prepared to knock, when the sound caused her to jerk and almost lose her footing. Lucky stiffened and crouched, hackles raising and his eyes were pulled from the door before him to the building next door. Across the long stretch of shaggy green lawn between one home and the next, interrupted by landscaping that the homeowners certainly didn’t maintain.

Girl gasped.

Then a number of things happened all at once. The door swung open with a bang that echoed the loosely swinging door, Intrepid yelped, and then Axel shoved himself between Girl and the door with a menacing growl. The man who stood in the doorway had seen better days and it’s likely none of them were in this century. He loomed over Girl and the dogs, standing something more than six feet tall. His face was pockmarked and greasy with a ratty unkempt beard that straggled in every direction as though it were trying to escape his face. His brows were wild and long, like two wooly caterpillars had been glued there. The eyes were a pale and rheumy color and his lashes were matted with sleep. His teeth, what few he had, when he smiled a crooked smile were yellowed stumps.

Axel’s growl deepened and he used his large stature to ease Girl away from the man. His short brindle fur bristled all along his back and his lips were peeled back from his own perfect white teeth. The man gave the big dog a dismissive flick of those pale eyes and zeroed back in on Girl. “What.” It wasn’t a question. His voice was like loose scree tumbling down a rocky hill.

Swallowing roughly and now standing near the stairs with several feet of distance between her and the man, Girl said, “Um, we’re…” She trailed off swallowing again. The next time she spoke with a firmer tone to her voice. “We’re gathering information.”

“We who?” Again his scree-filled voice tumbled down toward her.

“The dogs and I.”

He snorted. “Right. What do you know?”

“We know that the Hot Winds affected more than just one place. We know that there are machines attacking. What have you seen this week?”

Again the man snorted. He hadn’t moved past the doorway yet, but there was something about him that had Axel standing in front of Girl with his head lowered and his teeth bared. “You going to call off your dog?” His lip curled as he asked the question.

“I can’t. He’s not my dog. So, what have you seen?”

“Kid, I ain’ telling you shit. You get that dog out of here.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to. I don’t have to. An’ you’re trespassin’.”

Girl looked the man up and down, from his dusty trucker’s hat to his worn out boots. “I bet you are too.” She was quiet for a moment, reaching out a hand to cautiously place it on Axel’s back. The mastiff stiffened at the touch. “You don’t belong here. Where are the people that do?”

A smile missing most of its teeth spread slowly across the man’s face. He made no answer to Girl’s question, instead he took a long step back and slammed the door in their faces. Axel backed slowly down the stairs, crowding Girl and the other dogs before him.

“What was that about?” Girl asked Axel, her hand still resting on his bristling back.

“Couldn’t you smell it on him?” Axel’s voice wasn’t its usual smooth bass rumble, this time it seemed to dance from pitch to pitch as he spoke. “There was death all around him, violent.” The brindle dog shuddered and continued to back away from the house.

Girl kept looking from the house to Axel and back again. Then a shiver raced up her spine and she turned to walk quickly back toward the highway. “Maybe we shouldn’t investigate every house.” There was more than a little fear in her voice. “Let’s head to the center of that blast and see what we can see. We can always stop at more houses on the way back.”

“They can’t all be like that, right?” Sugar said.

Girl shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes tragedy brings out the worst in people.”

“I think it’s a chance to rise up.” Val’s voice was a murmur. “It’s the hard times that show who you really are. It’s not what you do when times are good. It’s what you do when they aren’t.”

There wasn’t much in the way of conversation as they walked the rest of the way into town. The streets were empty but for bits of paper and trash that the wind chased. There was an unnatural hush over the city. As the buildings closed in around them, a large cloud passed in front of the sun, shadowing the city. Lucky as though a heavy fist were closing around his heart, squeezing it firmly in his chest. His breathing became fast and shallow and his pale eyes searched the deep shadows, seeking something that could explain the dread that filled him.

**DA-DING!! You have gained +1 Dangersense!!**

As the sound tripped through Lucky’s mind, he stopped walking, hackles rising. “It’s [Dangersense].” The words tumbled from him without thought as he made the connection. The skill must be working all the time, teasing at the edges of his mind. As it swelled within him, he gave a sharp bark, “Surround Girl. Something is coming.”

The dogs moved without question, making a loose square around Girl and Sugar. Intrepid’s body was curled, tail tucked against him and curled around his back leg. It almost never wagged free. Lucky and Axel flanked Girl with Val at the front and Sugar and then Intrepid behind.

“What do you see?” Val asked, her amber eyes searching, ears forward and alert.

“I didn’t see anything. [Dangersense]. It gained a level.” Lucky explained, his pale eyes just as intent. “I think I can feel the [Dangersense], it’s like something tall looming over me while something else grips my heart.”

Intrepid shuddered at the very thought. “That sounds bad-bad. Should we find someplace defensible?”

“Is there anything defensible? We don’t know what’s behind any of these doors or windows. Any place we go for shelter could hold something as bad or worse than whatever Lucky is sensing.” Axel said. “We shouldn’t have left so much unexplored behind us.”

“We have to change the way we think.” Girl said, there was a tremulous note in her voice, as though it almost shook. “We are going about this like it’s before all this happened, but it’s not before, is it?”

“It certainly isn’t.” Sugar answered. “Everything is different.”

“This isn’t just any walk in the City.” Lucky said. “This is a walk into potentially dangerous territory.” He glanced over at Girl, surprised to see her holding both guns.

“Whatever it is, if your [Dangersense] is warning you about it, it’s probably something I’m going to need to shoot.” Girl said, her voice tight.

The sound was as much a scraping as a thumping as it finally skittered into view. There was no questioning what it was, or had been. Now, though, it was something unbelievable. It stood as tall as a draft horse at the shoulder, but it’s back humped up a little higher. A long, whiplike, flesh colored tail stretched longer than its body. Lucky had never liked rats, not in the least, but a rat that towered over them all sent a chill racing down his spine.

Whiskers twitching the rat’s massive, dark eyes peered down at them. It chittered, revealing yellowed teeth almost a foot long. The sound of its tail dragging over the asphalt seemed to echo in the near silence of the City street. It took a moment before Lucky realized it wasn’t an echo, there was more than one of the rats.

“How did it get so big?” There was both fear and awe in Girl’s voice.

“The System?” It wasn’t really an answer, just a guess from Val.

“System enhanced rats?” Girl shuddered.

Intrepid whimpered. “As if regular rats weren’t bad enough.” He muttered.

“There isn’t a way to retreat.” Axel pointed out.

“No, there isn’t.” Lucky agreed. “But I don’t think we should retreat. If they’re dangerous, we need to take care of them. If they’ve got the System, they’ll only get worse.”

“Worse than giant rats?” Val said.