Popping the pull tab, she peeled the tin lid off and sniffed the contents. Chicken. Plucking a bland chunk out of the can, she popped it in her mouth. She was grimacing at the rubbery taste when the sound of a plaintive whine made her halt mid-chew and glance around.
Was that a dog? She hadn’t seen a dog in three years. As food became scarce, man’s best friend moved to the top of the menu for many people. Terri squinted at the deep shadows of a wall that opened out into the street. Her breath caught and her belly twisted with nerves when nothing appeared. Was it a trick or a trap of some kind meant to lure someone out? She didn’t move as she strained to listen. Her skin prickled when, again, she heard the loud whine.
“Who’s there?” She whispered into the gaping darkness deep within the recesses of the falling-down building. Something large moved within the shadows at the sound of her voice and it took all her self-control not to bolt to her feet. The thudding of her heart echoed in her ears as she stared, her breath coming out in shaky gasps. The clear silhouette of a massive canine moved in the shadows. It darted by her, turning nervously before lying on its belly just out of sight. She slowly set her can down and leaned forward. Swallowing, she reminded herself that it was just a dog… Nothing to necessarily be afraid of. She liked dogs.
“Hey, baby. Come here,” she called out, patting her leg. The dog turned its head toward her, and she could feel it watching her as it whined once more. Poor thing was probably afraid. She air-kissed and wiggled her fingers in encouragement. Its long ears tilted toward her and it bobbed its head in response, creeping forward on its belly as she continued to make kissy noises at it. She smiled with relief as it neared the sunlit room. A small thrill shot through her at the thought of finally having a companion again. She’d been alone for far longer than what was probably healthy. She was tired of it.
“Good baby,” she crooned with excitement. She leaned forward as she attempted to get a good look at the breed. It was large—as in alarmingly, excessively large. She wondered if it was a Great Dane. She remembered the breed from books she had loved as a child. Her lips split into a wide smile as she scooted forward eagerly.
All good feelings fled from her when inky tendrils seemed to move around it in an eerie serpentine fashion. She could feel the blood receding from her face as she dropped her hand and began to scoot back. That… was not anatomically possible for a dog. As it stepped out of the shadows, she recoiled, flattening against the wall. Her heart pounded so violently in her chest that her entire world was filled with nothing but the sound of its furious beat.
That—that was definitely not a dog!
The shape of the creature was so similar to a canine that if she blurred her vision, she could almost retain the illusion and pretend that she wasn’t looking at a creature that didn’t belong anywhere on Earth. A shame that she’d never been good at self-deception. She wanted to know what was coming at her so kept her gaze focused on the animal approaching on—holy fuck!—six legs! Its paws scraped the ground as it continued to wiggle forward on its belly, sending small pebbles rolling with its forward momentum. It whimpered pitifully as she saw a face that had ridges and planes like a reptile and shiny black scales instead of fur. It had the same whip-like extensions around its head that the alien had. Though possessing some similarities, she suspected that it was some kind of companion or pet.
She exhaled in an attempt to ease her nerves. Two very long, pointed ears immediately tipped toward her and flattened as it whined again and crept forward at a quicker rate on its six legs. Terri would have backed up more if she’d had the room, but when its hindquarters came into view, she saw the double tail tucked nervously against its body. It was afraid and in pain. Down the sides of its flanks and haunches, the animal was streaked with blood.
She ached with sympathy. Poor, miserable thing.
“Nice pooch, good pup,” she whispered.
The animal suddenly sprang up, scrambling the last several feet to her side so quickly that for a second time it nearly gave her heart failure. She drew back and yet she felt her fear drain away when it buried its flattened muzzle against the crook of her arm with a pitiful whine. Her fingers twitched as she looked down at it. It wasn’t attacking her or even trying to grip her arm within its dangerously wide jaws. Instead, it let out a gusty sigh and settled into the comfort of her arms. Hesitantly, she lifted her hand. It really was ugly, like some sort of nightmarish hellhound. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to touch it. It lifted its strange pearl-colored eyes and stared up at her. That was pretty creepy, but she melted a little bit as it stared up at her wistfully.
“You poor, ugly thing,” Terri whispered with a small smile as she proceeded to stroke the animal’s head and neck. She flinched when its “hair” wrapped briefly around her fingers and wrist, though the wet glide of its tongue on her opposite hand eased her anxiety. Both of its tails thumped with pleasure, and a giggle burst out of her. The animal jerked its head up nervously as it eyed her. She kept her smile firmly fixed on her face as she flattened her hand gently against the side of its neck. Finally, it sighed and dropped its head into her lap once more. She moved her hand to stroke more of its neck and peculiarly rough ears. The textures were wrong but the happy rumble from the animal had her doubling her efforts as she scratched its scales.
It was alien, but as far as she could judge it was still a dog. She could handle that.
She not only liked dogs but trusted animals in this crazy world more than she trusted other humans. She stroked down, grazing over its ridged shoulders and chest. It jerked under her touch and she turned her head to get a better look at the area just behind its shoulder blades. She pulled her hands back as she stared down at the taser burns marring huge patches of skin on its lower torso. The Reapers had rounded up the few remaining generators from the ruins of the offices and schools that littered the city. They were the only ones in the city capable of charging anything. She had no doubt that the wounds were from a Reaper’s taser.
She winced at the burns. She didn’t have anything to treat them. The best she could do was rinse the area clean. Taking the little water left in her currently opened bottle, she poured it over its wounds. Water was precious in the desert, especially now, but she wanted to get a good idea of what she was dealing with. Gently, she wetted the entire stretch of its lower torso, dabbing at it with a cloth she recently washed. After several minutes of careful work, she was able to see the damage inflicted by the Reapers. Aside from the burns, it had lost several scales, leaving the exposed flesh angry and raw where it was split. Other areas were crusted with dried blood from where bullets apparently had grazed it, ripping off scales and leaving furrows in its hide that had already stopped bleeding.
Satisfied that it was at least clean, she leaned back against the wall and poured some water into her cupped hand, offering it. She didn’t have a bowl and the water already trickled out of her hand, but its long gray tongue lashed out to greedily lick at every drop. She repeated the process until the bottle was empty. Bringing her hand back to its head, she leisurely stroked between its long ears.
“I’ll find you a bowl tomorrow when I refill my water bottles at the spring. It’s too dangerous to stay near water around here,” she mumbled. “Though I have no doubt that you’ll protect me, won’t you?”
The animal lifted its head, regarding her intelligently before huffing at her and snuggling closer. She wasn’t sure if that was an affirmation or amusement from her new friend, but she decided to be optimistic enough to go with the former interpretation. It was possible that she was assigning too much intelligence to a creature that may not have any more reasoning ability than a Golden Retriever, but somehow, she didn’t think so. From the way that it looked at her, it had a lot more going on behind its strange eyes. She needed to believe that it would willingly protect her.
It had been a long time since she felt even remotely safe. Not since her father died trying to hide her from a Reaper raid when a routine that they’d done hundreds of times since the arrival of the gang went terribly wrong.
Terri blinked back tears and pushed back the memory as she smiled down at the beast.
“I guess every girl around here would be a lot safer if they had a monster like you to protect them,” she said. “You’re a very good beast to have around. I don’t mind sharing my food, water, and fire with you. It isn’t so scary with you here. You look bigger and meaner than the men around here, which is a plus in my book,” Terri observed as she lightly rubbed its chest. “If you’re a woman here, you can’t trust males.”
The beast gave an unnerving rattling, clicking sound and rolled on her lap as he bumped her hand to scratch at his belly, giving her an eyeful in the process. She choked back a laugh. “Sorry. Unless I’m wrong and males and females are built differently where you’re from, you would have to be the one male exception to the rule. Right now, I can’t think of anyone else I would trust my safety with.”
He raised his head and chirp-clicked at her in agreement. That was going to take some getting used to. She looked down at him in quiet contemplation as she rubbed the alien’s chest, neck and head once more until she was stroking her fingers over the scale between his eyes. They half-closed in pleasure at her touch, making her smile. Even the thin, rope-like tentacles around his head rippled sedately. Despite how unusual he was, this was… nice.
Pulling her hand away, she reached into her sack and opened another can. The sound brought his head up to investigate, the tentacles rattling in a quiet shushing sound as he watched her curiously, his nostrils expanding to sniff at the can. He chirped again and Terri laughed. The bizarre hellhound had already charmed her. With a grin, she set the can in front of him and watched him attack it with gusto as she continued to stroke his thick neck.
It almost felt like he was sent to her to be hers, and hers alone.
Her smile fell. She couldn’t ignore the fact that he wasn’t hers. He belonged to a very scary fucking alien, and no doubt desired to be reunited with it. The thought didn’t make her happy, although she couldn’t blame him. If she had anyone that cared about her who was mean and terrifying enough to keep the Reapers at bay, she wouldn’t rest until she was reunited with them either. She gave her companion a longing look. It was always possible that the alien was dead…
Terri grimaced at the selfish direction of her thoughts. Despite the world being utter shit, she had always prided herself on being reasonably compassionate, sometimes more than was wise. She sighed with self-loathing.
“I bet your big alien misses you too,” she murmured in disgust. “You’re pretty incredible. The perfect companion for something big and scary. I hope it terrorizes those assholes plenty before it comes looking for you.”
Her eyes slid closed, but she continued to stroke her new friend.