Gone to the dogs

by Anonymous

Bemused, I stood up as the cast iron door with 36 nuts, 10 of which where rusty and the large patch from my 12th or 18th attempt to escape this hell hole was flung open. I bowed my head and waited, knowing that there could only be one reason for this visit, they had finally decided to free me, not from the cell but from this living daily torture. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small figure being dragged along the ground, possibly sedated, probably knocked unconscious by one of the guards. Lifting my head slightly to try and make out what was going on resolved in the normal heavy mind-numbing blow to the head. I recoiled but not in pain just with the sheer force of the blow, my jaw went numb and cracked loudly as I moved it back into place, yet still I was denied pain.

Growling slightly the guards dumped the body in the centre of the cell, the ugly one, okay they were all ugly but this was the one who hit me so he was looking uglier than the rest in my eyes spoke in rough English. "Take care of this kid or we'll take care of you..." Now that's either a command to take care of him or put him out of his misery, the latter would be kindest, just snap his neck before he woke up, then he would never have to know the maddening horror of this place. The body groaned in pain, so much for that plan. He, who or what ever he was rolled towards me. He was only a kid, no more than 16 years old, what the hell could a 16-year-old have done to deserve this? The body groaned again, looking for attention of some sort pleading for help.

I rolled my eyes away from the mass on the floor, almost forgetting that once I was like him, then a glimmer of whom I used to be shone out of the darkness and helped the kid up onto a bed. He was as I said about 16 years old with the usual golden blonde hair and peachy coloured skin, well that's what I was assuming but it had been so long since I could see any colour at all he might have had green hair and purple skin. One thing I did know was he had blue eyes, like my own. Maybe that's why he was here, a mutation in the pool would cause considerable upset in the perfect world, my perfect world.... Slowly life flooded back into the kid, he looked as if he might actually make it, poor guy. There was still some time I began thinking but it was too late already, the kid slowly opened one eye only to see what horror he had been placed in.

Harmony

The kid let out an unholy, unearthly scream that hurt more then any blow to my still ringing head could. I backed off, a slight throbbing in my head; I remembered this feeling this was pain... The pain reminded me of what things where like before, and this made me happy, something I had forgotten ever existed. The kid stopped screaming and whimpered loudly, curled up in a ball on the bed. Gently and cautiously I moved towards him, the kid instantly whimpered louder and started to cry. I smiled, or at least that's what I was aiming at, what came out must have been more like a menacing grin because the kid cried out more. I stopped moving towards him and stood still doing nothing. I stood there until my legs hurt from standing and then I sat down in the same place. My plan was that if the kid is scared of me I'll let him make the first move, or least that's what he'll think, in reality I would control the whole situation and just let him think he was doing it all. Slowly ever so slowly the kid began to calm down, since I had not done anything to try and hurt him.

The kid eventually turned around too once again look at me. With a curious and still scared look on his face he slowly moved towards me. I could have been cruel and suddenly jumped at him, but no to have company again after so long was enough for me. The kid cautiously approached me on the floor, carefully and slowly I looked up so he could see I was not going to hurt him. He looked down at me and smiled slightly before prodding me. He jumped back a bit when he found out the fur was real and that this was what I looked like and not just some form of punishment. The kid looked at me with a glint in his eyes and then started to bark loudly. "woof WOOF ruff WOOF" the kid barked. I just looked at the kid and shook my head, "Yeah kid, bark bark..." The kid suddenly stopped barking and came very close to me and whispered into my big ears, "You can speak old." He said sounding like a child that had just learned to talk for the first time. I raised an eye-brow and replied "Very impressive kid, now I think I understand why you are here." The kid look at me for a second and then nodded that he had understood. "Yes they took me away when they found I could talk." He said sounding slightly more confident. "Well kid, welcome to hell, my own personal hell." I said to him. "Erick. Erick Arthur" I smiled and offered my paw up for him to shake. The kid's face changed from acceptance to horror. "You? You are Erick Arthur??! You can't be! Erick Arthur died in the creation..." the kid said with disbelief. "What can I say kid, propaganda is a marvellous weapon..." I countered, sadistically pleased that at least those in power were nice enough to "kill" me..... "But if you are still alive why have you not undone all of this?!" The kid screamed. I sighed heavily and asked him "Do you even remember what things where like before?" The kid looked at me with contempt in his eyes, "Well no, but that's not the point..." I let my ears and tail droop at his answer, "Kid that is precisely the point, I was told to make a world of harmony and peace now what do we have?" The kid looked disgusted and replied, "Yeah sure it's harmonic and peaceful but humans are now slaves!!" "Do you think that if I knew this was going to happen I would have continued with the experiment look what it did to me!" I replied to the kid. The kid stared at me and reluctantly was forced to agree with me, "I guess not..." he said . "Beside, what do you expect me to do from in here...." I sighed sadly having a sudden and violent flashback to one of my escape attempts. Suddenly the lights out siren wailed loudly.

"WHAT'S THAT?!" The kid screamed above the noise. I waited until the noise stopped. "Light's out time kid, go to sleep, or at least pretend to....." I explained as the room was suddenly engulfed by darkness.

For the first time I could remember, definitely the first time in this place, I had a dream. Not the usual nightmares that haunted my every moment and only contributed to the living hell I had made, but a grade one peaceful dream. Well, it wasn't to start with but they never where. In the dream I had not been knocked unconscious after that fiery explosive hell in the lab and I managed to quickly realise that the DNA I was using was unstable and contaminated, acting quickly I came up with a mutagen that would neutralise the rogue DNA and stop it mutating before it did any real damage to me or the environment. I was awarded the Nobel prize for physics and peace in the same year that made me happy, the dream made me happy being human made me happy. Clinging onto the dream as if some precious metal that should not be discarded I wanted to stay asleep, stay happy forever.

But as is the nature of all dreams I awoke, looking down at my disgusting, repulsive, fur covered arm with a paw attached to it. I hit the wall hard in anger and it caved on me slightly by producing a hairline crack on the surface and something else as well, yes pain flooded back from my paw and washed over me. This time I was not so happy to have that feeling but it still reminded me that under all the fur there was at least once a human.

Dreams

The low humming of the artificial lights became unbearable, the kid who didn't have quite so sensitive ears seemed to find it a rather relaxing noise as he squirmed in the bed. The low humming faded and slowly the light returned to the cell, it was clever that how they had rigged the lights to trick the body into believing what ever they wanted.... Just now it was supposed to be morning but from one of the earliest escape attempts I remembered that they changed the hours of each day so that you were never quite aware of how long you had really been in here. A mournful klaxon sounded the start of the new day and unceremoniously two large dishes of some protein enchanted slop where shoved under the door. The dishes where old and made of plastic, one had my name on it a sort of final insult to remind me just how well I had done. I slurped up the muddy pink substance, not because of hunger but instinct. The kid stared at me from the bed. "How can you eat that stuff?!" He exclaimed. "You get used to it, beside I don't have as many taste receptors as I used to, one thing taste much like another. I just imagine it's chocolate..." I replied with a smile. I was lying of course, in fact I was lying twice to the kid. Firstly I couldn't remember what chocolate even tasted like anymore and secondly with my sensitive nose it was impossible to forget that the food was nothing more than pink gooey slop. I'd often wondered what exactly went into it and came to the conclusion it was not just slop but protein enhanced slop and not really probed any further then that. Licking the bowl clean just in case I nuzzled the bowl towards the bed and the kid, not Because I liked him or because I thought he deserved to stay in bed, no he'd taken a blow to the head and shouldn't move unless he had to. That's what I convinced myself at the time anyway. Slowly testing the slop with one finger the kid grimaced a little as it plopped back into the bowl. "You get used to this stuff???" He asked looking at me. I just cocked by head to the side and said nothing. "What's that supposed to mean?" The kid asked in a conversational tone as he slowly and carefully licked the slop off his finger. "I've got no shoulders, cocking my head like that is the closet thing I can do to shrugging." I replied honestly. "What do you think of the cooking?" I enquired not really caring but trying to keep the conversation alive and away from myself. The kid raised an eyebrow and seemed to be enjoying the slop "Taste like....chicken." He said with an evil but false smile. "Nah really I've had worse, this actually tastes like human food at least. Better then that canned meat they give us." The thought of dog food in a can actually made a small part of me feel very hungry and alone, the rest of me instantly turned on that small part of me and killed it without trial. I shook off this mini-war in my head and turned my attention towards the familiar large red button above my bed. Pouncing, something I had learned to do after being a dog for only a few weeks and found to be not only fun and good exercise but faster and more efficient then walking, onto my bed I gently pushed the large button with my pawed hand. From the wall slid a small box shaped monitor with an oversized on/off button that was just right for me. When the monitor had stopped moving outwards and stopped shaking the way it always did now a large remote control slid out from underneath the bed, it's many large buttons where obviously getting the kid interested. "They let me continue any research or anything I wanted to do from here..." I explained seeing the kid's fascination. "But how do you type? I can't imagine a key board large enough for you to use..." he said slowing down at the end as he realised he had made a mistake of pointing out what species I was, he backed off scared he might have angered me. I'd given up getting angry for being this abomination a long time ago. I was about to answer when I realised something, the kid knew about keyboards. He didn't look old enough and he'd admitted earlier that he couldn't remember what things were like before, and yet here he was bringing up an item that had long since been disbanded. "I don't need one kid." I started hoping that this was not some sort of weird trap or just another reminder of what I had done, they seemed to enjoy making me feel guilty. "I use a modified speech processor, it takes sounds and makes sense of them." I explained as sparsely as I could. "So whatcha been working on?" The kid asked openly. I could have told him lots of things, none of them true which would have either boggled the kid's mind or shown him to be the traitor I suspected. Instead I took an unusual option, I told him the truth. "I've been trying to work out how to change my DNA back to normal, that's the first step. After that I'll have a DNA mutagen that will end this hell and maybe even make things turn out how they where supposed to in the first place." The kid looked impressed at my honest and then he truly shocked me with what he said next, it was the last thing I expected. "I wish I could be a dog, like you...." He sighed with a great deal of honest and longing in his tone. I stared at him in amazement. "You would like to have to be stuck in a living hell for the rest of your life, knowing that you are only kept alive for some perverted pleasure, that your every action is a blasphemy?! Hell kid, if only you'd been in that lab instead of me..." I said somehow restraining myself from deafening the kid. I saw that he was physically upset at my out burst. "Jeees, sorry kid...." I said pouncing onto him and then ruffling his hair with my paw. "It's just well my life's been a living torture, every thing I do reminds me of the hell I've created..." I said softly. "The hell you have to live in..." "It's okay.." The kid said still a little upset, "I guess I didn't think what it would really mean, you know to BE a dog...." I could tell he was still secretly wishing that despite the pain it had obviously had caused me that he would rather be a dog then a human. Had things really become that bad outside this cell that a kid would rather spend his life trapped in fur then be a human? "I've become Frankenstien....." I mumbled. The kid looked over, his hearing was surprisingly good for a human. "Who is Frankenstien?" He asked seriously. "Doctor Frankenstien, one of the most incredible scientific minds ever, not that he really existed, He was a scientist who made a monster from dead bodies and then brought it back to life... Written by Mary Shelly, it's a great book kid, if you ever get the chance read it..." I said as part of me flashed back to watching every horror movie that had a mad scientist in it.... The kid sighed loudly, "I'd love to but I can't read. They don't teach us any more, think that it corrupts us." I bowed my head in shame, "I'm sorry kid...... I'm sorry." The lights out siren wailed loudly. "But it can't be night time, we just got up!" The kid protested. I looked at him and nodded, "Yep sure it's still daytime, if it ever was, they like to keep our body clocks out of sync so you never can tell what the time is." "I suppose you get used to that too...." The kid mumbled. "Hell no..." I quipped back seriously. Looking at the kid in the dying light of the over head strips he looked kinda cute, for a human where things really that bad outside this cell that a kid would want to be a dog. I suddenly remembered to back, before the accident when I was human, I was just like the kid just now!! The memories came flooding back to me, I actually wanted to be furry, I wanted to have a cold wet nose, sharp teeth and claws. I remembered how much I wanted, longed to be changed and now I was. Should I deny the kid the infinite pain that I had caused myself or should I let him also experience at least a touch of it, who knows the antigen may even work on him and if not, then he'd still have his wish, he'd just have to pay in full...... Working with a deadly efficiency that I had almost forgotten, I carefully pricked my paw on a sharp post under the bed, I remember trying to use it in my 11th escape attempt, or was it my 30th.... Blood boiled up to where the metal had cut me, a small droplet of red ink, just enough to do this once..... Hitting the red button with my nose so as not to drop the bloodlet and then silently pressing one of the large buttons on the controller I watched as the sampling lab slid out silently from the wall. Carefully spilling the blood into a sampling tube I watched as the sampling computer analysed the sample as best it could. I stealthily returned to the monitor and watched the display..

Sample tube #1221 Analysis | Sample : Identifying Analysis : Organic compound (Blood) 93% Identifying compound 6% Active mutagenic 1%

I smiled wryly at the display, I was thinking "Yep that's my blood...." The computer beeped loudly as it identified the two missing parts...

Sample tube #1221 Analysis | Sample : Erick Arthur's blood Analysis : Organic compound (Blood) 93% U11 6% Active mutagenic 1%

I gently hit the monitor in the hope that somehow it would identify U11, the mysterious and unidentifiable compound that has and will always be in my blood. In a whispered tone I spoke to the computer and told it what to do. Quietly it started a small Bunsen burner in the sampling lab and placed the blood sample in with a small amount of green viscous liquid, I tried to remember what it was called but gave in, there where more important things happening then trying to remember the proper name for green oil. Then I thought of one last thing, "Computer, add in the sample antigen." Maybe this time it would work.... The blood emerged at the other side in a powered form, forgetting how this was achieved I picked up the bag with the powder in my mouth and hit the red button once again. The monitor, control and sampling lab merged with the walls. The klaxon sounded for morning, or whatever time it was. Strangely I had neither dreamt nor had the nightmares, just sleep, warm comforting restful sleep. The slop dishes where once again shoved under the doorway, quickly I seized my chance, pouncing towards the dishes with the bag of precious blood in my mouth I landed right beside them, emptying the bag into the dish without my name on it I quickly gobbled down the slop that was meant for me and nuzzled the dish towards the kid; he must have thought it's just a cute dog thing I do. He ate the slop, all of it, he really did seem to like its taste. Then almost instantly the mutagenic crap in my blood took effect, the kid twisted and turned violently, silently screaming, un-endlessly screaming... Slowly he stopped, then the second stage kicked in, I remembered what it was like for me and I'd only given the kid a thousandth the dosage of mutagen that I received in the creation; little parts of my mind fought against each other, as always my disgusting humanity won; accident. Turning my back on the kid how was now starting to grow fur all over I was beginning to wish I hadn't done it, what if the antigen didn't work, could I live with yet another ruined life. But this time I hadn't ruined the kid's life, I had improved. That's what I told my conscious. Hours later the kid regained some sort of consciousness, the lights were once again out... "Heya...." I said softly touching the kid with my paw, a warm furry body replied to my paw. The kid rolled his head at me, still suffering from the transformation, "You know..." he said with a slur in his speech, "When I scrunch my eyes up you look just like a dog..." I giggled softly and let the kid work out for himself just how hard his new body was to operate, and how much of an improved curse it was...

Parenthood

"Morning!" I exclaimed looking into the kid's new brown eyes, it was exciting, like opening a present, not sure exactly what I would get.... The kid groaned heavily, "Mommy, I don't feel too good..." "I ain't yer Mom kid." I replied honestly and rather bluntly. "Oh right, it's you....." The kid started recovering some of his old senses and then I think discovering a whole bunch of new ones. "What the hell happened to me? Was the slop off??" I considered telling him something else but the truth was much more fun. "You turned into a dog, a black Labrador puppy to be precise." I said rather enjoying the cruelty of this. "A dog?" The kid asked widely and in disbelief. "I can't be I don't feel different, well apart from the itching and temperature" "That's the fur, it takes a few days to get used to but it's not so bad, just don't get it wet and you'll be fine." I explained. The kid looked at me with those incredible brown eyes and at first the look was of disbelief, then it was of happiness. "I'm....I'm...I'm a dog...." He said in delight. "Yeah kid congratulations and welcome to your new body...." I smiled slightly. "You did this? Why?" the kid asked gently. "I saw in you something of myself I guess, from when I was still human and young. Wishes like that should be allowed to happen...." I answered rather mysteriously and then was overrun by instinct, for once my humanity lost out, gently I nuzzled the kid and then smelled him. Strangely a feeling of happiness came over me rather then the disgust and mini-war that followed whenever I forgot what I truly was. The kid looked at me with a strange glare, "What are you doing??" He asked. I suddenly realised exactly what I was doing and turned to face him, "You don't wanna know..." The kid not surprisingly backed off a little, well he tried to what he actually achieved was to sprawl across the bed and end up with his legs dangling in the air. I shook my head and giggled a little. "S'not funny..." The kid complained loudly still trying to regain control of his legs and failing miserably. Smiling at this squirming beast I nuzzled him a little more, it was a strangely pleasant experience. "Just relax kid, don't try and fight it, your legs will behave soon..." The kid shot a glare at me and then smiled nicely, "You know this isn't a great as I thought." The kid admitted. "What where you expecting." I shot back. "Good point......." The kid concluded. For the next hour I thought the kid everything I'd learned in this place about being a dog, he was a fast learner, surprisingly fast. He'd only been a dog a few hours and already he had learned things that took me three weeks. I watched as the kid tried to pounce a pillow that I had leaned against the wall. The kid took a large pounce at the pillow and ended up spinning around in mid-air and crashing upside down into it. I gently picked the kid up in my mouth and by the scruff of the neck I set him down upright. The kid looked up at me and grinned gently, "Guess I need some more practice with the pounces.." He sighed. I ruffled the fur on his head with my paw and smiled back, "You're doing okay for a beginner.." I put the pillow back against the wall and was about to pounce it myself when the lights out siren wailed. The kid grimaced in pain and curled up into a ball. The lights started to dim and the siren stopped. "Come on kid, this is the fun part..." I said sadly. "It gets worse?" The kid asked still in pain. "Yeah kid, it gets worse...." I replied honestly. All that night the kid was whimpering in pain, after twenty minutes of whimpering I finally caved, heck I was tired and need to sleep. Dropping down onto the floor and then padding across the cold surface of the floor I jumped up beside the kid and gently nuzzled him to alert him of my presence. The kid still whimpering moved away from me slightly. "What's wrong?" I asked hoping that I had not hurt another person yet again. "Scared, feel sore...." The kid whimpered. I smiled slightly in relief and then lay down beside the kid, wrapping my self around him as best I could. The kid turned to look at me and said "Thanks.." As he gently hugged me with his paw. A huge war raged within me, the human side of me wanted to leave the kid now, get some sleep but the more powerful animal side wanted me to stay. I realised that the kid was part of some plan after all, intentional or otherwise. The kid had made me face an important choice, the reason that I was still in this cell lay in that choice; maybe by choosing I would be set free..... As if in some science fiction or horror movie I announced to myself the question, "Am I a man, or a beast? Human or dog?" At that second the two forces within me started to battle for the answer. The war had lasted for years but was over in no more than a second a lone dog stood on the battlefield and looked out at the destruction. So that was it, after all this time all it needed was a single hug from a kid that had been turned into a dog and was scared of the dark. After all this time I had finally accepted who and what I was. I leaned gently against the kid, feeling happy with my new found knowledge. I gently extended a claw and skritched the kid, not surprisingly he liked this a lot, who wouldn't. I fell asleep beside the kid, his warm fur against mine. In my dream I was a dog, not like the nightmares where I was a dog, no this was a good dream where I had a family and a nice owner and... A NICE OWNER?! Hang on, this wasn't my dream.... I would never become a human's pet, the very idea is just silly. The human loomed towards me, he was a very tall man wearing a simple plain shirt and jeans, he was also wearing a baseball cap the wrong way around. He had deep staring blue eyes and appeared to be quite happy to see me. I couldn't move, I wanted to run, every little essence of spirit tried to make my feet work, but I was rooted to the spot, I realised this was why I never wanted to accept that I was a dog. The man was right on top of me now, he leaned down and gently skritched me on the top of my head before ruffling the fur he had just skritched. I wagged my tail happily, enjoying this and I did, I like being looked after, so what if I was considered property, I would never have to worry again... I bolted awake, shaking these thought from my head I looked over to the kid, he was still asleep, his paws clenching tightly to my tail as if it where a security blanket. It was strange, not only had I changed the kid but he had changed me, a few days ago I was going to kill him before he woke so he wouldn't have to live with the horror, and now here was I planning an imaginary perfect life. The kid had given me hope, a belief in myself and most importantly someone to take care of other then myself.....

Destiny

When the lights came on next time I saw that already the kid was starting to lose his fur, the antigen was taking effect, he was becoming human again.... The kid woke up and looked at the lumps of fur lying on the bed, he looked depressed. "What's happening to me?" He asked sadly. "As well as my blood which had the mutagenic compounds that made you a dog, I included something I've been working on for a while, an antimutagen, it's working quite well on you...." I admitted to him. "I'm sorry but you're going to become human again." The kid looked at me in disbelief, "Frankenstien...." He muttered. I frowned but knew the kid was right, "An abomination in the eyes of god....." I mumbled. "A living testament to science...." The kid looked really sad, the fact that he had his greatest wish had been granted and then taken away by something he couldn't see and someone he didn't know. I tried to cheer the kid up by letting him enjoy his last few days as a dog by skritching, nuzzling, snugging and even licking him at one stage, it was strange I was no longer repulsed by these actions in fact they made me feel quite happy and relaxed. The kid was really upset most of the time but did not appear to hate me for stealing his dream Over the next couple of days, or what ever time unit the lighting cycles were at, the kid slowly lost his canine appearance and became more and more human. I think it was after eight days that the kid lost his tail and would officially be classed as a human again. Strangely the antigen was not doing that good a job as I had hoped, a fine fur was still all over the kid and his nose still looked wet. Outside I heard noise, it was a group of five, large guards accompanied by the warden. "We've got visitors...." I said to the kid. The kid nodded in my general direction and stood up on two legs whilst I stood beside him quadruped. The kid gently skritched the top of my head which once again did not start a war in my head. Perhaps the animal side of me had really won..... The iron door creaked inwards, three guards stayed outside blocking the door whilst two followed the warden inside. "Ah splendid to see you two getting along so well." The warden said cheerily, this was not a good sign, something was wrong. I looked up at the warden, he was a large anthropomorphic bulldog who spoke with a quite refined accent. The kid walked away from me and towards the warden and gave him a nuzzle. I began to panic. I was thinking, that the kid had struck some sort of deal with the warden maybe a nice cell somewhere or even release into a minimum grade prison. One of the guards quickly struck the kid over the head with a large baton, knocking him to the ground. I pounced towards the kid and the second blow fell somewhere along my back, Knocked to the ground my back felt as if it was on fire, tiny impulses of pain fed back to my brain... I howled in agony. The warden raised an eyebrow as I howled. Admonishing the guards rapid action with a long stare the warden crouched down to talk to me. "Why Erick Arthur, I told you we would make a dog of you......" He whispered evily at me. Still in some pain I looked towards the warden not really sure what to do or say, then I noticed it, a single tiny piece of the warden's fur fell out for no reason. I wanted to laugh but that would have lead the warden to suspect something was up instead I smiled and decided that if I could fool the warden into thinking I had totally given up ever becoming human again he might not realise what had happened.... I barked at the warden and then suddenly stopped, pretending that I had just found out I was unable to speak.... Barking at the warden some more I saw him laughing at me as he laughed more fur fell out. "Poor little doggie...." The warden said falsely ruffling my hair. I growled at the warden, not as part of my plan but out of instinct. In my mind a small group of rebel humans suddenly appeared on the battlefield and where instantly shot by a sniper, I liked being a dog now, it seemed almost right, almost as if it was supposed to be this way... The warden backed away from me laughing, "Let them go!!" He said heartily, "The kid will probably not make it and as for our creator, he is no more...." The guards filed out with the warden and somehow I dragged the kid out of the cell. I looked around, this being further then any escape attempt had taken me, the cell, my cell was situated in a solitary area of a large complex, in the general populous part of the prison hundreds of humans like the kid sprawled around fighting for no reason. The kid groaned loudly but still was badly hurt from the blow, having no better ideas I licked where the kid had been hurt. The kid doubled over in pain. "Ooooookay, that wasn't such a good idea...." I said apologetically to the kid. Fur started to appear on the kid's face and his hands slowly welded up into a paw. Licking the kid's wound some more whilst he was becoming more and more canine I realised that whatever the U11 was in my blood it was also in my saliva. In the time it took me to think this out the kid was once again a small black Labrador puppy, the only good thing about him turning back into a dog, apart from him looking much cuter, was the large gash on his head from the guard's blow had almost vanished. The kid moaned lightly and slowly opened his eyes. "What happened...." He moaned lightly to me "and why didn't that truck stop...?" "Come on, I'll explain later, just now we gotta get out of this place!!" I whispered gently into the kid's ear. The kid tried to stand up but once again his legs where uncoordinated, not as much as before but enough to make him slip every so often. "Kid you've got three choices..." I said as quietly as I could, "You can climb on my back and I will carry you out of here, I can pick you up in my mouth and carry you out of here or we can get recaptured by the guards coming towards us...." The kid looked over at the guards, each was carrying a large baton and looked very eager to use them.... Looking back at me the kid tried to scramble up onto my back but he still wasn't steady on his feet, taking another look back at the guards. I quickly grabbed the kid in my mouth and started to run as fast as I could towards the main gates, I could tell it was the main gate as it had a large sign saying "Main Gate" on it.... The guards behind me shouted incomprehensible instructions at me, I continued to run, some guards on the main gate moved in to try and close it before the kid and I went hurtling into the outside world. Summoning every ounce of strength I pounced towards the main gate and somehow, ran right into one of the guards, he was knocked to the floor and winded. Taking this incredible opportunity I placed the kid on my back and darted out the main gate. Outside there was a small forest that I charged into, losing the pursing guards by hiding in an old tree trunk. I panted deeply, exhausted and tired I lay down in the trunk. "What now?" Asked the kid. "Well firstly we get new names, then how about finding somewhere to live and after that who knows..." I said still panting. "But what about the Dogoids?" The kid asked. I sighed deeply and looked at him, "My babies? Well that warden you nuzzled will start passing the antimutagen around, who knows may even become some sort of virus and wipe all the Dogoids out, shouldn't take too long for the few humans that are untrained to take control, probably by force and slowly rebuild the world." The kid looked up and me and asked with sadness in his eyes, "Will I become human again? I don't really want to..." "I honestly don't know kid, I honestly don't know... But we'll find away around that, erm, problem when we and if we come to it..." I replied fluffing the kid's fur with my paw. The kid smiled gently and nuzzled into me. "Wow...." He said, "This is kinda nice..." He finished obviously enjoying the experience of nuzzling someone else for the first time. "Just wait 'till you learn to pounce...." I said with a smile. "So what should my name be?" The kid suddenly blurted out. "Oh, erm... What would you like to be called?" I replied not able to think of anything. "Well I think I like the name the name Barkley, but that's not a good name... Is it?" The kid asked. "Barkley..." I said loudly, "Barkley.... I like it kid..." I said with a smile. "Really?!" The kid asked. "Yep, I do, come along Barkley, we've got to find a home..." I said happily. "Okay Eric, erm do you mind if I sit on your back again, I'm really tired...." Barkley said yawning. I grinned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Hop on...." I sighed allowing Barkley to clamber onto my back "What way should we go??" Barkley asked from somewhere on my back. "I'll just follow the second star on the left and go straight on until morning.." I replied instantly. "Where's that lead?" Barkley enquired again. "Never never land, it's from J.M Barrie's Peter Pan, maybe when we find a home I'll read it to you..." I said turning my head around and smiling at Barkley. "Yeah I'd like that...." Barkley said tiredly before curling up on himself and falling asleep in my fur.

The End

Gone to the dogs copyright 1999 by Anonymous.