traffic lights were still functioning, cycling through
red-yellow-green in a slow, stately waltz. A red pickup sat in the
middle of the intersection, its tires flat. A body lay next to it,
sprawled away from the cab as though the person had opened the
door, fallen out, and died. There was a spread, tacky stain of
crimson spread around its head and lower abdomen, so Richard
inferred that this was, in fact, exactly what happened. He hurried
through the intersection, trying to give the corpse no more thought
than necessary. Samantha looked at it as they passed, her eyes
lingering longer than was strictly necessary. The dog stopped to
sniff and then nibble at it, which Richard let out a sigh of relief
at. They were edible after all.
Except, as
they made their way a few blocks west down Welland Avenue, it
became apparent that they weren’t. Richard noticed that the dog had
resumed following them by the time the first block had passed. He
noticed that it had been joined by two others as they were passing
by a small healthcare plaza with a wound care clinic that had often
intrigued Richard (although never to the point where he would go to
investigate it). He swore under his breath, and as they passed by a
small used car lot he began frantically looking around for
something to use as a weapon.
At the corner
of the car lot’s fence he noticed a brick amidst a growth of grass.
He darted for it, spun around, and hurled it at the dogs. It landed
with full force into the middle dog, the one whom had begun
following them, and caused a spray of blood and brains to splash
outward to either side. The dog dropped dead in its tracks and the
other two scattered away, yelping and yipping. Richard nodded
smugly and turned back to Samantha, who was staring at him with a
horrified expression on her face.
“ What the fuck are you doing?” she exclaimed loudly. Richard
held his hands up.
“ Keep your voice down!” he hissed, and immediately wondered why
he’d said that. There was no one around, except the dogs he’d
driven off; even if there were someone lurking around, would it
really be remiss to attract their attention? Somehow, at the base
of his brain, Richard felt that it might be. He quailed from the
idea that someone might discover them. Samantha gave him a strange
look that quickly melted back into her original disgust.
“ How could you do that?” she asked, her voice wincing. “The poor thing was just
hungry, you didn’t have to kill it”.
Richard looked
at her with disbelief.
“ What the fuck are you going on about?” he demanded, standing
in the middle of the sidewalk and stretching out his arms in
askance. “Seriously, now. Those dogs were looking for a quick meal,
and we were it. Maybe you want to be a dog’s dinner, but I’ll
fucking pass, thanks a bunch”.
She bristled
at him and seemed on the brink of exploding.
“ It’s just a dog!” she screamed. “You could have scared it off!
You didn’t have to break it’s head! It’s just some poor kid’s dog!
Everyone that used to feed it died, and it just wants a
meal!”
“ Yeah – YOU!” Richard screamed back in reply. Samantha reared
back and a second later a silver blossom of sharp pain bloomed
across the left side of his chin. He stumbled back and held his
hand to his injured face, more from indignation than from any sort
of healing help. His eyes bored into her, trying to catch her afire
with just a glance.
“ You hit me,” he said dully. She seemed slightly ashamed but
didn’t apologize. She didn’t say anything, in fact, for quite some
time. They continued walking, albeit at a forced distance from each
other, for twenty minutes. By that time they were on the edge of
the downtown, passing by run-down buildings that housed businesses
whose boards were not a paranoid precaution of fleeing owners. A
small hut stood by itself, with a sign hanging in front that
claimed it to be a hair salon. By the look of it, it hadn’t been an
actual hair salon
red-yellow-green in a slow, stately waltz. A red pickup sat in the
middle of the intersection, its tires flat. A body lay next to it,
sprawled away from the cab as though the person had opened the
door, fallen out, and died. There was a spread, tacky stain of
crimson spread around its head and lower abdomen, so Richard
inferred that this was, in fact, exactly what happened. He hurried
through the intersection, trying to give the corpse no more thought
than necessary. Samantha looked at it as they passed, her eyes
lingering longer than was strictly necessary. The dog stopped to
sniff and then nibble at it, which Richard let out a sigh of relief
at. They were edible after all.
Except, as
they made their way a few blocks west down Welland Avenue, it
became apparent that they weren’t. Richard noticed that the dog had
resumed following them by the time the first block had passed. He
noticed that it had been joined by two others as they were passing
by a small healthcare plaza with a wound care clinic that had often
intrigued Richard (although never to the point where he would go to
investigate it). He swore under his breath, and as they passed by a
small used car lot he began frantically looking around for
something to use as a weapon.
At the corner
of the car lot’s fence he noticed a brick amidst a growth of grass.
He darted for it, spun around, and hurled it at the dogs. It landed
with full force into the middle dog, the one whom had begun
following them, and caused a spray of blood and brains to splash
outward to either side. The dog dropped dead in its tracks and the
other two scattered away, yelping and yipping. Richard nodded
smugly and turned back to Samantha, who was staring at him with a
horrified expression on her face.
“ What the fuck are you doing?” she exclaimed loudly. Richard
held his hands up.
“ Keep your voice down!” he hissed, and immediately wondered why
he’d said that. There was no one around, except the dogs he’d
driven off; even if there were someone lurking around, would it
really be remiss to attract their attention? Somehow, at the base
of his brain, Richard felt that it might be. He quailed from the
idea that someone might discover them. Samantha gave him a strange
look that quickly melted back into her original disgust.
“ How could you do that?” she asked, her voice wincing. “The poor thing was just
hungry, you didn’t have to kill it”.
Richard looked
at her with disbelief.
“ What the fuck are you going on about?” he demanded, standing
in the middle of the sidewalk and stretching out his arms in
askance. “Seriously, now. Those dogs were looking for a quick meal,
and we were it. Maybe you want to be a dog’s dinner, but I’ll
fucking pass, thanks a bunch”.
She bristled
at him and seemed on the brink of exploding.
“ It’s just a dog!” she screamed. “You could have scared it off!
You didn’t have to break it’s head! It’s just some poor kid’s dog!
Everyone that used to feed it died, and it just wants a
meal!”
“ Yeah – YOU!” Richard screamed back in reply. Samantha reared
back and a second later a silver blossom of sharp pain bloomed
across the left side of his chin. He stumbled back and held his
hand to his injured face, more from indignation than from any sort
of healing help. His eyes bored into her, trying to catch her afire
with just a glance.
“ You hit me,” he said dully. She seemed slightly ashamed but
didn’t apologize. She didn’t say anything, in fact, for quite some
time. They continued walking, albeit at a forced distance from each
other, for twenty minutes. By that time they were on the edge of
the downtown, passing by run-down buildings that housed businesses
whose boards were not a paranoid precaution of fleeing owners. A
small hut stood by itself, with a sign hanging in front that
claimed it to be a hair salon. By the look of it, it hadn’t been an
actual hair salon
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