Atop the hill and staring at the Dash children was a dog. At least it had once been a dog; now, like most canines, it was something entirely different, a new species. Alex grabbed the rifle from Annabelle and targeted the mammal, getting a decent look at it through the scope. This thing resembled a boxer, but larger, with mutated growths, which looked like rough tree bark, protruding from its back and hind quarters. Its features were eerily...human.

From near the overpass, the fawn issued a noise that natural fawns do not make, and the dog snapped its head in the direction the sound had come from. It looked back upon the three siblings, perhaps sizing them up for its next meal.

On impulse, Alex lowered the rifle. The sight of the thing had sent chills through his frame, causing him to lose focus. How could something so bizarre exist?

A strong desire to glance at the thing again shook Alex from the trance he had fallen into. It seemed ridiculous, but he had the distinct impression that the thing had gazed into him, anticipating his next move, his next thought.

Alex refocused and brought the rifle back up to the top of the hill, but the dog-thing was no longer there. A rush of adrenaline nearly induced full-blown panic until Alex spotted it scampering along farther down the hill, vanishing and reappearing amongst the overgrown grasses along the ridge. It appeared to have noticed the fawn that had been grazing near the overpass.

"Alex?" whispered Henry.

"Yes?"

"Is it gone?"

"Not yet. It moved away but is still too close."

"Will it come back?" asked Annabelle.

Alex was still mesmerized by the way the thing had studied him. Its face seemed to be a grotesque assemblage of animal and human elements. The eyes seemed so keen and aware.

"Alex?" insisted his sister.

"I don't know, Annabelle. Hopefully not."

"Will it eat the fawn?" asked Henry.

Alex watched the thing as it slinked through the wavy grass along the hillside. It appeared to be in full hunting posture. "Probably," said Alex.

"Oh, no," replied Annabelle. "I don't want the fawn to get eaten."

"I know, honey. But that's just the way it is. Get your helmets on, time to move."

Annabelle was standing on her tippy toes. "Go fawn. Run...."

"Now, guys. Move!"

The children did as they were told and after Alex witnessed the dog-thing pounce upon the fawn through the rifle's site, he belted the children into the sidecar. Referring to the folded map his father had given him, Alex determined that the road crossing over the interstate – the overpass - led north and that they would follow it until they came to their next destination, marked by a star – the next cache. Alex eagerly anticipated a good meal: some canned baked beans or canned beets maybe. There would likely be some sort of canned protein too.

Their father had denoted several routes which could be taken to reach the caches he had long ago established. The underground stores had been plotted over a year's time. Alex remembered driving with his father on the weekends to bury them. Those items consisted of non-perishable food supplies, water and ammunition. When he took Alex along with him – which was as often as he could – he would demonstrate exactly how and where the caches would be marked. Mr. Dash had inserted five-foot metal rods into the ground, each engraved with the letter "D."

"Twenty feet from each rod, Alex," he would say. "That's where you'll start digging. Two feet down."

Alex turned back and scanned near the overpass with the scope. The dog-thing had been watching them. Blood dripped from its jowls as it chewed on severed flesh. Never deviating its gaze, Alex believed that the thing was trying to intimidate him. For a moment Alex considered firing at it. Almost as soon as he had thought this, the dog stopped chewing and lurched its neck forward. Alex entertained the notion that it was aware of his intention and challenging him to take the shot. But after a lengthy pause, he decided that discharging the weapon was an unwise decision. To do so might alert other dogs and Alex would be forced to fight off more than he might be able to handle.

As if sensing that it was no longer in danger, the dog resumed its feast. Alex started the bike and crossed the grass median to the oncoming lanes, then veered onto the off-ramp, zooming past the sign for Sunset Bay, NJ.

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