What happened? Kalki asked. It looks much better to me.

Yeah, that is what I’m talking about. The wound looks too good. She pressed my back at different places and my legs shook. I almost fell.

You are doing great, boy. She encouraged me. I just wanted her to be done already. What was taking her so long?

And she started talking again. The bleeding has stopped, the skin looks like its receiving blood, and let not talk about the boils, because I have no idea why they have completely healed in one night. This is scary, Kalki. This shouldn’t be possible.

Kalki raised her head away from my neck to see. Well, what can I say? I heard her say. Welcome to 2020, the year of miracles.

No, no. The nurse sounded panicked. I’m being serious here. Our body is good at what it does, but it’s not capable of this. This is basically a miracle. She took a pause, a very long pause. Are you hiding something? She asked next, and I felt Kalki’s heart rate increase.

She was worried about something, and I didn’t know what it was about. They had been talking about me. I couldn’t help but worry that I was the cause of her distress. That made me sad.

Kalki looked at me wide-eyed, staring and lost in thoughts. She was contemplating what to do. This was going to be a problem. But the nurse gave her a way out.

You don’t have to tell me right now. But sooner or later one of us is going to get injured or badly wounded. At that time you’ll have to tell me the secret. I won’t say anything to anyone until then.

Tell anyone what? The door swung open. A middle-aged male hu-man stood at the threshold, holding it open with one hand. He was trying to assert dominance by blocking the exit. It was the most common tactic, mostly used by the overconfident do —he was not a dog, but he smelled similarly rotten.

He was way smaller than Kanti, and even Kalki, who was at least a head shorter than him, but also way louder. He stank of grease and sweat. The red-colored dead-skin he wore was stained dark by the salty excretion.

I didn’t like the way he looked at Kalki or how loudly he spoke. What are the two of you cooking? He shouted. The dog is dying, isn’t it? But you two want to keep wasting my supplies, don’t you? That’s what this is about, isn’t it?

I did not like him, one bit; and I made sure to tell him that.

There is only one dog here. Kalki said. And we both know who that is.

Stay in your limits girl. He threateningly pointed a finger of his free hand at her. There is no police around if you know what I mean. And accidents happen.

Kalki’s grip loosened around my neck. I struggled out of her hold and took a short jump forward toward the fat squeaking rat. I gave him my meanest and grittiest growl. He felt it properly. He pulled his hand off the door in order to protect himself and gave a scream when the open half of the door swung back and smacked him right on the face. He screamed harder, this time in pain, as we heard the sound of him falling behind the doors, and that was just as loud as his fat stinky ass.

The nurse shuddered away for me, but I wasn’t going to turn on her. Kalki patted my back and I sat down in an attentive position, face forward and chest out, keeping my eyes on the door.

They started talking again.

You said too much. He might have not done anything for you talking back, but that door must have hurt. He’s going to blame you for that.

He deserved what he got. Kalki answered

So—

So?

Let me hear it one more time, the heroic tale of how you defeated the evil zombie and carried your best friend in the dark of the night.

Oh, come on, Karishma. Kalki punched her playfully in the shoulder. You are too much. What heroic tale? It was the two of us struggling to stay alive. She complained, but I could see the smile growing on her face.

Karishma pestered her until she agreed. Kalki told the story behind the explosion, while the nurse named Karishma gently rubbed a smelly, but cool ointment on my back. I was interested at first, but lay down in the middle of it and fell asleep. When I awoke the two were already packing up and getting ready to go outside. There was a new pink-colored bandage on my back. I don’t know who chose it, but I loved it.

I stood up behind Kalki and stretched my legs. My back gave me a few frights, but it was already getting better.

Can he come? Kalki asked Karishma.

The problem is not him but the others. They will know something’s up. Everyone saw how bad he looked yesterday.

But his back’s covered. So it should be fine. And the old man already saw him —well, he more than saw him. I really do not see the point in keeping him confined in here.

They stared at each other without blinking. Kalki had a few close calls, but Karishma blinked first and snorted as Kalki raised a fist in the air in triumph.

It’s up to you. She conceded.

They both looked at me.

You want to go outside, boy? Kalki asked.

I was waiting for her to ask. I charged at the door ahead of them, kicked it open with my forefeet and rushed outside as the door swung close behind me. I couldn’t run far, however, for there were more than just a few hu-mans in the large complex building. And they stared at me, attracted by the commotion I had caused. They might have looked normal, but the predatory way they stared at me gave me the same feeling as the screamers did.

Holy smokes, it’s alive! A male the age of Kalki screamed from the counter, on the other side of the complex.

—Frankenstein?

Yeah.

Cool.

The two males raised their hands and high-fived.

Besides the two, there was also a young mother who was carrying her cub —no my mistake; that was not a cub, but a doll, a toy similar to the plush tortoise that Kanti had gifted me. The only difference was that the doll spoke whenever the lady pressed its belly. She stared dagger at me when I passed a bit too close to her. She was rolling a cart through the food lanes, filling it with baby products. My tortoise didn’t eat anything, maybe her doll did.

I left her alone and made way toward the exit. There was one on the left of the counter.

The last hu-man I saw was an old man with a stick. He was sitting on a chair with his back bent forward, looking at the world outside the exit. He swung the stick at me when I was passing by, and almost hit me on the head. I got frightened and whelped when it struck the tiled floor just short of me. I gave him a wide berth and quickened my pace toward the exit.

There had been only Kalki and I till last night, and suddenly there were so many others alive! I couldn’t believe it. Cob was right. Hu-mans really were pack animals, and Kalki had found her pack. It was about time I started searching for mine, too.

We were in a large space with rows and rows of racks with things on them. There were so many smells, and not all were of food. I believe Kanti called it a shopping complex. However, it was also dark inside. The only light was coming from the front glass door. It was not a good defense. The roarer would have taken less than a second to break through it. It was only when I got closer did I see the black, crisscrossing grills of the scissor gate separating the outside world from the inside space. It was thick and didn’t move when I nudged it with my foot. It was thick and definitely stronger than the shop's shutter; I was relieved to learn that kali would be safe there.

But how was I going to go outside?

Whoa there buddy. You can’t go outside. A third man approached me from the direction of the food racks. I looked at him. He wore a cap on his head, covering his messy hair. And he smelled strongly of artificial meaningless scents. Kanti disliked the bottled scents. He believed in bathing thrice a day, which I believe was even worse than the scents.

I heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder and the man followed my action. Kalki and Karishma had found me, not that I was lost or anything.

Hey, Karishma, The man greeted and the nurse blushed red. So she already had a partner. No wonder she was in heat.

Kalki got on her knees in front me and scratched behind my ears. FINALLY!

You want to go outside, boy? She asked.

I could not respond. The scratching behind the ears was too satisfying, my face couldn’t hold shape and I melted into a puddle of cheese in her arms. The hu-mans laughed or snickered, but they didn’t know how it felt to have you spot scratched. Vehemently, she rubbed my spot. My only complaint was that she ended the session too soon. She finished it up by patting my head twice and then stood up.

You must be hungry, right?

My tail paddled from left to right.

He’s so cute. The man said. I decided to not growl at him. He was —what was the word? Ah, yes— cool.

Come on. Kalki said. Let’s get you something to eat.

But I really wanted to go outside. It had already been, how many days had it been since I had last seen Rusty and the others? I was terrified fo their wellbeing. As things stood, I could only watch the outside world from the barred exit. The sun was up and the world was bright. It was a new day. I noticed a shadow fumbling around at the far end of the street. I knew the benefits of living inside a home, but for the first time, I saw the shackles. Cob was right again.

Aren’t you coming? Kalki called from up ahead, surprised to see that I hadn’t followed her. Well, what could I say? I had my priorities. However, she tried still.

Don’t be shy. I do believe there’s a pet section here, and there will be plenty of treats. Don’t you want treats?

Well, she had my attention. Treats… she knew what made me tick. It was not a coincidence that Kanti stopped smoking soon after meeting her.

I followed her to the back of the building where there were large dogs standing guard. They didn’t bar my entrance into their territory or warned me, but I decided for myself to stay vigilant.

Kalki gave me the treats that I deserved, and not one or two pieces, but a bowl full of them. I looked at her to see if she had made a mistake, but she told me to dig in, and I did just that. I ate to my heart’s content, literally.

By the time noon came, the bandage on my back had been changed once more. I was fed and had searched the whole complex for an exit, and marked the place with my scent, but I was yet to find a way outside. There was only one upside to my stay in the mart. I learned that overfeeding filled the warmth inside my heart.

However, I found something odd while searching for an exit. A treat lay in the middle of the empty hall at the back of the building, supposedly waiting to be eaten. I happily fulfilled its last wish and moved on. But I had only walked a few steps when I found another one, which I also ate, and then another one at the corner. From there I kept founding them every few steps until I reached the end and found myself in front of an open door. There was a bowl full of those delicious treats waiting for me right outside the door.

The treats were one thing, but I had found the exit!

I had an urge to search for Kalki, but between getting locked inside and being free, I choose the latter. Kalki will be safe here. Hu-mans were pack animals, and those of a pack never hurt one of their own. I rushed out believing so, and the door smacked close behind me.