Scooter barked protestations as he ran through the crumbling concrete with rumble chasing him through and over metal shards and beams. He wanted to look back at the other two dogs but he was too focused on the opening up ahead. A concrete block fell and hit his shoulder as he leapt through the collapsing hole with debris shooting out around him. As he landed on an upturned concrete block, he found himself back on the street. Lady and Duke had tumbled out of the falling building behind them. Scooter huffed a sigh of relief and nodded for the two dogs to follow him. Behind them a giant machine burst through the building with its large metal appendages flailing in the open air. The machine resembled a crab with its massive arms reaching out for them.

Scooter barked again trying to urge Lady and Duke to run faster as the crab machine tried to correct itself on the uneven plates of concrete. Buildings all around them shook with plumes of dust and smoke as the machine continued on its awkward treads. Scooter looked back and watched as Duke was grabbed by the crab and disappeared behind them. He quickly turned into another collapsed building and bit down on Lady’s collar, pulling her up to safety. The two remaining dogs pushed through the fatigue and slid down a floor that had fallen, both landing in a thin pool of water. They nuzzled each other, checking their injuries and looking back through the crevice, whimpering when Duke did not appear.

It was too late to go back. Lady, with her black fur, gazed up and sat down in the puddle. Scooter pointed his nose in the other direction but she lingered. She wouldn’t stop moaning. His paw was cold and numb from the rough edges of the demolished city. He let out a meager bark, trying to get her to come along. Duke would have to find his own way, if he managed to survive. He barked again. She lowered her head and followed.

They made their way to the far side of the building and out the other side, where another street lay in ruins. The humans were a noble race but their desire for new toys and machines had been the cause of this wreckage. His owners were kind to him and the world before was filled with food and gentleness. Now the world was dark and filled with hunger. He supposed the machines decided they were a better race. The humans were attacked, along with every other living creature in the city, leaving the remaining creatures to fend for themselves. He whimpered quietly to himself thinking of the warmth and love he once had. His only hope was that there were humans still alive somewhere and that one day things would return to normal, but deep down he knew they wouldn’t.

Lady and Scooter trotted down the street, taking their time to sniff out any food or clean water. The puddles that lay on the ground were stall and made him sick on more than one occasion. After a time, they found a place that had abandoned food scattered throughout. Lady found a bag of crispy potatoes while Scooter watched from the doorway. He would wait until she had her fill before he had his.

A series of growls and barks came from a nearby alley. He turned and faced the pack of machine-enhanced dogs. They had the symbols “K9 Unit” on their metal vests. Scooter admired their armor. His owners would never have given him an armored vest, perhaps because he didn’t need it.

The lead dog, the alpha, stood with his head high. They weren’t controlled by the roving, human-killing machines but that didn’t stop them from being cruel. The air whistled with a cold stab between them and made Scooter shiver. He stared them down but only started to growl before the K9s leapt forward and barked viciously. The alpha likely smelled a male essence that could challenge him and acted fast, biting at Scooter’s neck. The teeth digging into his fur made him yelp as the alpha shook its jaws. Scooter wrenched back and barked three times into the face of the alpha before diving at the larger dog’s legs, and drawing the alphas back leg while the others surrounded Lady.

Lady, cowering before them, backed away, whining in what must’ve been sorrow. Sorrow for what had befallen them, the struggles, the hunger, the cold, and now others who would take everything else from them. Scooter pulled at the alpha’s leg until his skin tore. The alpha yelped and growled in the same saliva-muffled bark. As they came to a ditch the alpha turned and slammed his metal vests into Scooter’s snout, forcing him over the edge. The other K9s were nipping at Lady, forcing her to yield even lower. He imagined what they would do to her, making her their collective mates or even killing and eating her.

The ditch was slippery, Scooter’s paws scraped and clawed as he was overcome by dirt. The sight of Lady and the K9s fell away from him. The alpha remained visible above as he slid further down the ditch, covered in dirt and muck. A tunnel appeared around Scooter and he fell again, going down, deep into the underground. He collided into a shallow pool of water and shivered bitterly at the thought of Lady alone with those dogs and the cold surrounding him.

Scooter heard the barks and looked longingly at the tunnel opening and gradually moved down the adjacent tunnel, knowing that he could not fight them all. Lady would need to fend for herself. He whimpered at his pain and his heartache. For several yards he limped along the underground tunnel, his head hanging low. If only the humans would return and bring with them order and kindness. He remembered the warm hands of his owners, how they petted him and provided hours of joy and freedom from uncertainty and danger. Now everything was venomous and spiteful, harsh and unbearable.

He didn’t want to hurt anymore but his journey wasn’t over yet. A crack in the tunnel had led to the interior of a building. Inside there were machines and large containers that appeared to hold humans in a state of sleep. Most of the humans inside appeared to be lifeless. He licked the glass of one of the containers, wishing he could wake them from their slumber.

He searched the machine room for warmth which led him to a room that was lit dimly by machine lights. This container, still humming with life, was smaller. When he came to the glass window there was a small human lying there, sucking its thumb. His muddy paws smeared across the window and he tried to sniff the air. He couldn’t sense any human chemicals so the child was safely harbored within. There were tubes connected to its side and arms. The child didn’t seem bothered by this.

Scooter leapt down and sniffed around the containers edges and found no way to get inside. It had been so long since he had seen a human that he started wagging his tail. The room was warm enough to survive the cold outside. He decided it was the best place to stay for the time being, nestled in the wires around the container’s base. When the child was full grown it could help bring about the end of the suffering and turmoil that the world faced. When and if the container opened the child would need help to survive the elements and he would be there to help. So, he would sit here and wait for humanity to return, for humanity would know how to put an end to this cruelty.