“Come on in, Fuzz. Typical male, wants attention, then a full stomach. Well, I still have some dog food for you. After that, I saw an ad in the newspaper last night. A vet downtown is having an open clinic—Doctor Emily Anders. So, you get to meet another lady, although she is a doctor. I just want a quick check-up by someone not trying to turn you into a working dog. How’s that sound?” Fuzz gave his signature single deep bark in response. However, Abigail knew he was more interested in breakfast than meeting new people.
She fed and watered him. Then, poured herself a glass of milk. She watched Fuzz eat, and noticed the interplay of his muscles in his body. He definitely had been an active dog. Fuzz probably outweighed her a bit, Abigail now being about a muscular one hundred forty pounds on her now five foot eight and a half frame. But he gave no indications that he had any desire to challenge her Alpha status. Rather, he seemed to be devoted to her already.
As he finished up, Abigail told him, “Fuzz, I need to shower. I’ll be in the bathroom, door open, so make yourself at home. Just don’t chew up anything. We’ll get you some chew toys or bones today.”
Fuzz’s ears perked up, so he must have recognized the words. Abigail smiled. She was going to spoil him and he knew it.
She shed her pajamas (she had several pairs now, glad that she no longer had to sleep in military issue skivvies) and looked at herself in the full length mirror. She liked the muscle definition she had developed, strong looking but definitely feminine. She had quickly learned just how attractive her body was by the way men looked at her. But she still was not ready to try what Torbin had referred to as the “dating scene”. She still tried to control some of her own hormone induced feelings, knowing that even an Avenging Angel still had a biological clock aimed toward reproducing the species. Abigail still had the belief in finding her one True Love, the “Mister Right” Aleks had mentioned. The negligée Aleks had her purchase for just that person was in a special place in her closet, as it fit perfectly—almost too perfectly. When she tried it on and looked in the mirror, a very sexual being stared back. She had quickly put it away, knowing that it had a power all its own. She was not ready for that yet.
The warm shower was, as always, divine. When she wound up in the field again, which she knew she would, this would be missed. So she enjoyed it now.
She finished washing and rinsing her hair, let it drip dry for a few moments, then stepped out.
She felt eyes on her and glanced toward the bathroom door. There was Fuzz, sitting attentively, an open mouth doggie grin on his face. She laughed. “Typical male. Can’t wait to catch a lady naked. Could you please turn around while I dry myself?” Fuzz, now knowing she was alright, turned and laid down in the hallway. Abigail could tell that she had obtained an ultimate protector. Fuzz would die for her and hers, which was an awesome responsibility she must never abuse. At the same time, in the back of her mind, she would risk death and kill for him, a canine, not a human. A bond developed over many millennia between dog and human kind was unique in the species of Earth. To think the Tschaaa thought that such a relationship could exist between them and humanity was an abomination.
She dried her body and her hair, then used the special brush set to brush her hair to a nice golden sheen. It was long, down past her shoulders now. She tied it back into a ponytail. When in uniform, she braided it into a tight style that did not interfere with her military cover. She had learned this braiding due to necessity during training in Deseret, if she wanted to keep her hair long. Now, she had it down to a science. But during her time off, she liked to let her hair down, literally. Looking at it in the mirror, she saw she should get it trimmed. Aleks would likely know of a place where she could go.
After a pair of bikini panties, socks, and a sports bra, Abigail put on a pair of almost new blue jeans, comfortable cowboy boots, and a light blue sweatshirt with a flowery design on the front. She liked blues, and would never be a pink person like some women were.
She went back to the kitchen and made herself some toast with jam. Fuzz did not beg, rather sitting at the opening of the kitchen and connected dining area. He definitely seemed to be “on duty” ever since he attached himself to Abigail. He was becoming more devoted with every passing moment. Abigail smiled as she finished her toast. She finished a glass milk as well, then washed her dishes in the kitchen sink. Fuzz stayed at the entrance way of the kitchen and dining area.
She walked out from her cleanup, knelt down and hugged Fuzz. The great dog gave a doggie open mouth grin, his tail thumping on the floor. “You big lovable beastie you. God must be smiling on me to bring a guy like you into my life. I think I might’ve fallen in love with you, Mister Fuzz T. Dog. I hope you don’t mind.” Fuzz turned his head enough to give her a large sloppy dog kiss, then followed it with another. Abigail snuffled her face into his fur, drawing in Fuzz’s scent through her nose. She would never feel alone again as long as he was around. The bonding was complete.
Abigail stood up. “Stay here, please, Fuzz. I need to contact Aleks next door, and see if she wants to go to the vet with us.” As she walked out the front door, she noticed Fuzz following her with his eyes. She left the front door slightly ajar so that Fuzz knew he could come running if he was needed. Abigail lightly knocked on the front door of their half of the duplex. It was just past eight o’clock in the morning.
“Coming,” Aleks called out. Abigail heard her mutter as she made her way to the front door. “Is that you, Abigail?”
“Yes...” The Russian spy opened up the front door, holding her large stomach. “How are you, Aleks?” Abigail greeted her.
Aleks winced. “I would be just fine if these two males I am carrying in my stomach were not so intent in using my innards as a football field. They kick and punch so hard they wake Torbin up. I told him to go back and rest since it is a day off for him. But for a pregnant woman, especially one pregnant with two little Marines, there are no days off.” Abigail knew that Aleks would much rather be working than pregnant. But, at the same time, she wanted Torbin’s children. Since he could not carry them, she would be the one stuck with them until birth.
“I am going to take Fuzz to an open clinic at a veterinarian in Great Falls. I’d like for someone to give him a quick once over. Do you want to come, or just go shopping for doggie stuff with me when I return?”
Aleks winced as one of her children gave her a noticeable kick. “I think I shall wait here until my two little trolls calm down in my stomach. Get me when you come back. Hopefully they will be calmer by then. Maybe a shot of vodka…just kidding, little sister. It probably would not faze them anyway.”
Abigail laughed. “I will see you a bit later, then. Then I will buy you lunch. A big lunch.” The modifications and nanotech with which the Tschaaa had infected the human species, was causing a rapid fetal development in the two boys Aleks was carrying. Thus, she was literally hungry all the time. Her sons would be large, and already demanded much food. Aleks would eat for four at a sitting.
Aleks smiled. “I will take you up on that, my little sister. See you when you return.”
Abigail said goodbye and went back to her place to retrieve Fuzz. She threw on a warm jacket. Late September in Montana could be nippy, especially since the Long Winter and subsequent changes in air currents and weather patterns. She locked up, and brought Fuzz to the attached garage. Abigail introduced Fuzz to the well-used but very serviceable Jeep SUV that General Reed had found for her. “An Official Representative has to have wheels to get around, especially four wheel drive in snowy weather.” Unlike many women, Abigail had been given good automotive and vehicle field maintenance training in Deseret. Torbin told her she could set up shop as a “shade tree mechanic” if she ever needed extra funds, as she seemed quite adept at fixing cars and pickups.
“You’ll make someone a fine husband someday, Abigail,” quipped Torbin, for which he received a shot to the floating rib from his beloved wife.
“You be nice to my little sister, brute,” Al
eks scolded.
Abigail opened up the back of the Jeep, folded the rear seat down, and Fuzz leapt right in with no prodding. He apparently had been through this drill before. He managed to turn his large body around twice, then laid down with a satisfied grunt. Abigail shut the hatch, smiling. She jumped in the driver’s seat, then turned her head back toward Fuzz. “Ready to go?” She heard a small ‘woof’, which she took as acknowledgement. She started the Jeep, carefully backed out, and then headed toward the main gate.
Just under a half hour later, she located the vet’s office. With the simple name on the sign of “Great Falls Large and Small Animal Clinic” to announce what was in the long building, Abigail quickly located the parking area. It was still before 9:00am, so there were only a couple of cars in the visitor’s lot. She parked with ease, grabbed the leash Sgt. Martinez had given her, and went to the back of the Jeep. She opened it, telling Fuzz to stand in Romanian so she could affix his leash. Fuzz understood both English and Romanian commands, but seemed to key on Romanian when the commands were about “working”. She attached the leash and Fuzz easily jumped down from the Jeep. He automatically heeled as the entered the clinic, and Abigail approached the receptionist desk to check in.
“Hello, I’m Abigail Young with a new dog that adopted me. I was wondering if I can get a checkup for him.”
The receptionist, a young lady probably around Abigail’s age, smiled at Abigail’s comment. “Yes, we have a lot of that around here. People think they adopt the dog, when actually it winds up the other way around. Are you from the Base?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“And your friend’s name?”
“Fuzz, Ma’am.”
At the name, the receptionist eyes went wide and stared at Fuzz, who looked back, as if to say ‘Yes?’
“Fuzz, from the Base? Ah, could you wait one moment please?” The young brunette slid off the chair and made a quick beeline into the back. Abigail looked around the reception area. There were two people with cat carriers, no one else. As she was about to sit down, a light brown haired woman with a doctor’s coat came into the reception area. She saw Fuzz, and smiled.
“So this is the infamous Fuzz, land shark extraordinaire. You look awfully calm today, Mister Fuzz.”
The woman approached Abigail, keeping an eye on the canine’s reaction. He seemed to be watching her—alert, not aggressive. She extended her hand to Abigail. “Hi there. I’m Emily Anders, the senior vet here. Actually, to tell the truth, the only full time vet here. This nice specimen of dogkind is your buddy now?”
Abigail shook the doctor’s hand. Emily was a slender, toned woman, probably in her late thirties, with longer than normal fingers that provided a firm, confident handshake. She was about Abigail’s height, with a nice full face and feminine nose. She had a warm grin on her face as she shook Abigail’s hand.
“Captain Abigail Young, Ma’am. Yes, Fuzz found me, moved right in. But I did not realize he had a…reputation off the Base. I hope it’s not going to create a problem.”
“No, of course not. There are not a lot of us veterinarians around, so we all talk when we get the chance. Dr. Shaw on Base was just talking to me the other day about the fact Fuzz kept working his way through the military working dog handlers by biting all of them, instead of putting up with being “busted”. I guess he fights and will not give up, at least to men. But with you, he seems as quiet as a mouse. May I scratch his ears?”
“Fuzz, can the doc touch you?” Fuzz looked at his mistress, then moved forward enough to snuffle Doc Ander’s hand. He gave it a quick lick, then allowed Emily to scratch his ears. He was soon grunting in pleasure.
“Yeah, I thought you’d like that. So, Abigail, what can I do for you today?”
“Can you examine him? I mean, I know the doctor on base did but, well, I just want to know if he has anything possibly wrong with him. He seems young, so if he has anything developing I’d like to treat it now.”
“Sure, we can do that. I’ll let my vet tech Wendy take you and him back to an examination room, get a weight and temperature. I have two cats I need to take care of first.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
A stocky black woman came out from the back when the Doctor called her name. Abigail was a little surprised by Wendy’s appearance, as there was not an abundance of African-Americans on Base. Even the military members having taken a high casualty rate. Fuzz snuffled her hand also, so the vet tech responded with an ear scratch.
“So, you are Fuzz. You have one heck of a reputation.” She looked at Abigail. “Are you sure this is the same Fuzz…?”
“Yes, Ma’am. He just seems… calmer around me, that’s all.”
Fuzz extended his paw of friendship to Wendy, who took it, then began to scratch his chest.
Abigail laughed. “You just put Fuzz in hog heaven.” Fuzz began to grunt a little in ecstasy. Both women were laughing now, the cat people in the waiting room looking at them like they were nuts.
“Come on, I’ll take you back to the examination room.” Fuzz let Wendy take his leash and walk him to the examination room, with Abigail in tail. In the Exam room, Wendy got a weight on Fuzz, the large canine standing perfectly still on the scale.
“This dog has been well trained,” Wendy exclaimed.
“Yes, he has,” Abigail answered. “But he still seems to really dislike men. Someone did something very nasty to him that he has not gotten over yet. But I am working on it.”
Wendy wrote down the weight. “You have a solid one hundred fifty pound canine here. Looks like he is a Dane and Shepherd mix, his parents apparently on the large size. There are bigger Great Danes, but few Shepherds his size. He seems to have gotten the best genes from both.”
As she took Fuzz’s temperature, Wendy asked, “You’re the Captain from Deseret, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Ma’am. And you?”
“Call me Wendy, please. Wendy Johnson, from Georgia; at least the former state. I made it out just before the fuck… excuse me, the Squids closed it off as part of Cattle Country. I was in a veterinarian training program when the rocks hit. I made it out. I don’t know what happened to my family. Somehow, got word that people were safe up here. So I started walking.”
Wendy looked at the thermometer. “His temperature is in the normal range. Now, Fuzz, if you do not mind, I’m going to feel and squeeze you a bit. Okay?”
Abigail looked at Fuzz. “Fuzz. Sit.” The last command was in Romanian. Fuzz sat. Then he let Wendy begin to gently squeeze and feel, manipulate joints. After a while, Wendy had Abigail order Fuzz to stand and she continued the exam.
“Hm. He seems like he is built like an athlete, all muscle. But…there are a few areas I want the doc to feel. Okay?”
“You’re the expert. I’m just a soldier.”
Wendy laughed. “That’s not what I heard. Can I ask you a question?”
Abigail’s ears turned a bit red, a bit self- conscious. “Go ahead, Wendy.”
“Did you really…castrate a Kraken biker?”
Torbin and she had written a complete After Action Report of what they had to do to get to Montana. And of course, the “exciting bits” were soon leaked to everyone. Abigail sighed.
“Yes, I did. I don’t want to brag about it. I did it because I had too.” She hesitated. “I also slit a man’s throat who tried to kill a dog I knew. That, I will brag about. People who go out of their way hurt dogs are evil.”
Wendy looked at Abigail and saw something in her eyes that told her that one did not screw with this Lady’s friends, upon penalty of great pain. She quickly changed the subject. “Were you born in Deseret?”
“No, in Washington State. My parents got me out when the Hanford Nuclear Storage Area blew up. I was sent to Deseret, my Uncle Buck got me there. My parents… didn’t make it.”
Wendy sighed. She had not found a single person who had not suffered a loss since the Tschaaa had appeared. The pall of death hung over everyone and everywhere.
“Your uncle is in Deseret?”
Abigail frowned. “No, he wanted to remain out in the Feral areas. I bumped into him on the way up here. He…prefers dogs to people, so he is headed up toward the least contaminated areas of Idaho.”
At that moment, Emily knocked on the examination room door, then entered. “So, how are things going? Sorry about the wait.”
“Well, Doctor, I’ve given a basic exam. Normal temperature, nothing serious that leaps out at me. But, could you check the bones and joints here and here?”
The Doctor knelt next to Fuzz. She prodded a couple of places. “Can you have him lie down?”
“Fuzz, down.” The large dog dropped down and, without prodding, rolled over on to his back. Emily laughed. “Yes, I will scratch your tummy. I do not know what you did to him, Abigail, but he is one changed dog. Ever thought about being a vet? You sure have a way with canines.”
Abigail shrugged. “I was trained to be a warrior. I’m good at it, so I figured this is what God Wants. At least until the Evil Ones and their minions are defeated, expelled. Then…who knows? I do love training dogs.”
“Well, give it some thought. We vets are setting up a formal school so people like Wendy can get a formal veterinarian degree and license. Keep it in mind.” Emily began to touch, gently squeeze, manipulate Fuzz’s limbs, and check his body. She got Fuzz to roll over onto his stomach and she checked his spine some more.
“Abigail, do you think you can keep him relaxed enough that I can get an x-ray or two without having to sedate him?”
Abigail frowned. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, far from it. To put it bluntly, I have found some evidence of bone injuries, calcium deposits that would point to a much older dog, one that should be nearly crippled. Yet, he acts like a young dog, close to the two years of age Doc Shaw says he is. Some of the scar tissue, bone irregularities point to extensive injuries way out of the normal activities of any dog I have ever run across. So, do you think you can help me get some good x-rays?”
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