Spot and Smudge - Book One

by Robert Udulutch

  He stuck the scalpel into the bridge of her nose and said, “Fuck it, let’s get this done.”

  Liko turned away. Doug was creeping him out more than a little, and even though they had needed the little bitch to tell them about Dr. D Doug had taken way too much pleasure in beating everything out of her. What had started with a few slaps had quickly turned into taping her to the chair and threatening to kill the animals in the cages. After that, things went really wrong and at one point Liko had to leave the room. Turns out she didn’t know anything about Dalaja. Doug was going to kill her anyway but Liko thought she could have avoided a lot of pain by not taunting Doug as much as she did. Still, the skinny bitch did get in one impressive kick to Doug’s crotch before he opened up her throat. Liko was still laughing about that one, the look on Doug’s face as he doubled over was priceless.

  Liko ripped open the door on the fire alarm control panel and tore out the guts. He opened the access panel and turned off the water to the sprinklers. He took one of the gas cans to the front of the clinic and started to pour gas around the perimeter of the lobby. Doug grabbed the other gas can and went to the far end of the back room where rows of shelves were filled with large paper towel rolls and bags of dog and cat food.

  Spot leaned out from his hiding place behind the row of cages. He had watched Doug plunge the scalpel into Ronnie and fought the urge to strike when both of the men were in the room.

  As Doug unscrewed the cap from the gas can Spot inched forward, crept around the pool of blood and hoped up onto the surgery table.

  Doug caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and spun around, dropping the can which sent gas chugging straight up in an arc. It soaked his arm as the can bounced once and tipped over. He reached for his gun but Spot was already diving at him, extending his front legs and spreading his paws open. He closed his split paws tightly around Doug’s neck as they fell back against the rack of dog food. Doug brought his hands up to his neck as his eyes locked with Spot’s.

  His fingers searched over the paws that were clamped around his throat, and he struggled to register what was happening. One half of the dog’s paws held firm behind Doug’s ears while the other pads and claws were digging deep ruts into his windpipe. His mind screamed at him, You are being choked by a fucking dog! But Doug couldn’t make that work in his head. He was sure he was hallucinating again but this apparition was also making it very hard to suck in air.

  Doug recognized the dog. It was that old bitch’s black runt from Jerry’s fucking escapee. It was also staring at him in a way that rattled him as much as the loss of oxygen. He had logged a shit load of hours around dogs of all shapes and sizes over the past year and he’d dealt with every flavor of snarling, biting, pissed off cur. In all of those dogs he’d just seen stupid fear and simple aggression. He’d never had a dog look into him like this. He remembered seeing it in both dogs’ eyes that day at the farm. There was something too knowing in them, and as he started to gasp he realized the terrifying creatures in his day-mares had that same stare. A stare that was currently far too close, and too real. The dog’s hot breath and low growl were also much too close, and he started to panic. He twisted his head violently and tried to get free as he beat wildly at the dog’s strong forelimbs.

  Spot had never choked anything before. Well, not with his hands. Based on Doug’s bulging eyes and rasping gasps it felt like he was doing it right. As Doug’s face turned from red to blue Spot tightened his grip and growled, That’s right asshole, gurgle and fucking die.

  Liko came blasting through the door from the lobby with his huge dragon pistol drawn. He scanned the back room and stopped cold when he saw Doug. It looked like his partner was dancing with a black dog. He was hopping and slipping in the gas and the blood on the floor, and holding the dog’s paws to his neck as he crashed into the surgery table.

  “What the fuck?” Liko said.

  “Just...fuck...shoo...!” Doug gasped.

  Liko leveled his huge pistol at the dog but they were both twisting and turning too much for him to get a clear shot. The scene was so bizarre he didn’t know exactly what to do. Looking to scare the animal off Liko raised the huge gun and pulled the trigger. The blast blew out the overhead fluorescent fixture above Doug and sparks showered over him and the dog.

  The room went dark for a second and then Doug’s gas covered arm erupted in flames. The fire quickly licked down the side of his body as Spot released Doug’s neck and pushed away with his hind feet, hitting Doug in the groin as he leapt. He landed on top of the small desk.

  Batting at his burning arm, Doug doubled over from the blow to his already wounded crotch. The flames spread to his shoulder.

  There was a growing river of gas spreading towards Doug from the overturned gas can. Liko saw it and grabbed a blue surgical sheet from the shelves next to the door. He booted the glugging gas can out of the way as he tossed the sheet over Doug’s head. Burning bits of hair and jacket puffed out as Liko shoved him towards the hallway.

  The river of gas found a glowing shard and caught fire with a low howl. Orange flames roared to life and raced across the room, cutting off the lobby hallway from the back of the clinic.

  Spot shifted his feet on the desk and prepared to jump over the fire. He had picked a target on Liko’s chest for his landing, and a spot on his fat neck for his fangs. Spot didn’t think his paws would be effective against the man’s chin folds.

  The fire raced towards the gas can as it continued glugging its contents onto the floor.

  Liko saw Spot on the desk and brought his gun up, aiming just below the dog’s head. As he started to squeeze the trigger Smudge burst through the back door with Weasel One on her heels. Smudge barked loud enough to make Liko flinch. The bark was too loud for the size of the dog and Liko just stared for a second. As she sprinted towards the fire he shook his head, and then swung his cannon in her direction.

  The wild coyote paused when he saw the fire but he didn’t bolt. He saw his alphas, and he saw their attackers, and he lowered and crept into the shadows along the far wall.

  Through the flames Liko tried to follow Smudge’s zigzag path towards him with the gun. He fired twice and blew fist-sized exit holes in the autoclave and a metal medicine cabinet. Smudge felt the second bullet scream past her ear. She saw the gun, and the fire heading for the gas can, and changed course towards her brother.

  Smudge skidded to a stop on top of the small desk next to Spot as a smoldering Doug finished rubbing out the flames on his legs and threw off the blanket. He stood up next to Liko and pulled his gun. Both men took aim at the black dogs.

  Weasel One leapt from the shadows, and just as he cleared the flames and closed his mouth on Doug’s arm the gas can caught. Spot and Smudge both grabbed the edge of the metal desk and flipped it over with them as they jumped backwards.

  The concussion and fireball blasted the desk across the back room floor and slammed the pups into the recovery cages.

  Weasel One and Doug were blown backwards against Liko and they all fell into the hallway with flames rolling over them. The gas Liko had poured caught and the hallway and lobby were immediately an inferno. Liko kicked the smoking and unconscious wild dog off of him and scrambled to his knees. He pulled his jacket over his head and shuffled wildly forward through the fire towards the lobby. Doug tried to get around Liko’s bulk, and they pushed and shoved each other in a crouched panic as they struggled down the burning hallway.

  Weasel One’s back half was on fire. He snapped awake with a sharp bark, spun to his feet, and burst down the hallway towards the humans.

  Doug turned and screamed when he saw the flaming wild dog bearing down on him. He tried to run and slammed into Liko as the dog lunged and bit down on his calf. As he howled in pain Liko turned and stared at the burning animal thrashing with its teeth sunk into his partner’s leg. He shoved his huge pistol into the wild dog’s thick mane and pulled the trigger twice. Weasel One’s neck ripped apart and sprayed a trail of bloo
d up the wall. It splattered the smiling faces of the heart worm poster family.

  In the back room Smudge flipped the desk off of them with one big shove and bit down gently on her coughing brother’s neck. She dragged him around the pools of flame and blood, and through the back door of the clinic. She pulled him into the darkness of the clearing and laid him down behind a small bush.

  Doug was still pounding out the flames on his shoulder as he limped quickly past the front desk of the clinic. His long leather jacket had protected most of his body and upper arms, but his face and hands hadn’t faired so well. The hair on half of his head had burnt down to small twisted black nubs and his right eyebrow and facial hair were gone. The whole right side of his face and neck were a bright ruby.

  His hands were now all black. The newly charred black skin overlapped the already swollen black skin at his wrist.

  He made it out of the lobby ahead of Liko and hobbled quickly around the side of the clinic. He jogged down the sidewalk to the back door with his gun held out in front of him. He ducked under the smoke rolling out from the back door and ran into the red glow of the treatment room. He came out a moment later and fired his pistol wildly into the black woods behind the clinic.

  “Run!” he yelled with a lisp, “Run you black freaks. I killed your mom, I killed that old Irish fuck, and now I’m gonna kill you and your whole fucking family!”

  A wide-eyed Liko came around the corner of the clinic and flinched as Doug pointed the pistol at him. The shoulders of his huge leather jacket were still smoking. “God dammit Hoss, let’s fucking go!” he screamed as he pulled Doug back to the vehicles.

  The SUV and van tires screeched as Doug and Liko sped out of the driveway and headed south. Smudge left Spot and ran to the front of the clinic. She only made it a few steps past the entrance before the flames in the lobby pushed her back. Squinting through the heat and the smoke she barked desperately for Weasel One but got no response from the flames.

  She returned to her brother just as he getting up. They stood together with their ears following the sound of the vehicles. They could hear Doug’s van and Liko’s SUV splitting up. One continued south and the other had turned on Morgan Road and headed east.

  The dogs touched snouts one more time, then launched off in different directions. Spot headed south to Mimi’s farm and Smudge took the eastern path, towards their house. As they disappeared down the dark trails they both thought the same thing, Please get there in time.

  Chapter 69

  As Spot crossed Morgan Road and entered the woods on the north side of Mimi’s farm he shook off the pain and kicked into high gear, barely touching the ground as he shot through the familiar game trails towards the farmhouse.

  His sister had more power in a sprint but in a sustained run Spot’s lithe body was better built for continued speed. He ran like a greyhound, his spine flexing to full extension and then curling again. His front paws almost touched his cheeks when they stretched far ahead of him. They landed quickly one after the other, finding the next launching point for hind legs that were pumping together and propelling him forward. His lowered head bobbed only slightly, working in conjunction with his whipping tail to steer and pick his path through the dark, thickly overgrown trails. He narrowly missed tree trunks and branches as he slalomed through the woods at full speed, deftly brushing them with his shoulders as they flashed by.

  He was still getting used to running with his new front paws but found they steadied him, allowing him to take sharp turns while barely slowing.

  He was crewing up ground, but even flat out he still had a lot of trail to cover. The clinic was several miles from the farm by road, and the paths weren’t a straight shot as they weaved around hills and thick knots of scrub. Seconds crept by slowly and became minutes as he raced through the forest. His paws and lungs started to complain, and then they started to scream. The smoke from the fire still lingered and had him rasping as he fought to pull in enough air to feed his burning muscles. His newly healed forelimbs protested every time he pushed off a rock or careened off a log.

  He cut a corner as his narrow game trail merged with the wider bike path that would take him to the woods behind the farm’s goat pen.

  I’m close Ben, he thought between slamming heartbeats, I’m coming Mimi.

  Spot heard shots. Five shots in quick order. One of them was a shotgun blast.

  Spot ignored his burning lungs and his shrieking paws, and from somewhere deep added a last burst of speed. Several agonizing minutes later he finally cleared the woods and shot into the moonlit clearing behind the goat pen. He came to the knoll the coyotes used to stage their pen attacks and he hopped to a stop, and listened.

  Now that he was out of the woods there was nothing to hide the sounds of the farm. His ears swiveled and he turned his head side to side slowly, filtering through the night sounds. There was something. It was faint but he was certain it was Doug’s van leaving the end of Mimi’s long gravel driveway. He picked up on the van’s tires entering the pavement of the road, and the engine rev as it tore away fast to the south.

  Spot bolted again. He crossed the clearing and a few moments later came to a skidding stop at the corner of the pen.

  One Ear was lying on the ground in front of the back door. She was in the center of the pool of light from the floodlight. The wild dog had been shot through the hip. Spot had left three coyotes to protect the farm, and he noticed the sentry female crumpled against the fence of the pen. He went to her and it was clear she was dead. She had been shot through the chest.

  The lead female came limping from the shadows of the deck. Her rear leg was twisted at an odd angle and she was bleeding from her snout. They both went to One Ear’s side. The big hunter’s eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving but she was panting quietly.

  Spot smelled the ground. There was blood. Doug’s, One Ear's, and Mimi’s. He touched his forehead to One Ear’s and she opened her eyes. He gave her a lick and she wagged once, apologized, and explained what had happened. One Ear then pawed Spot’s face away, pointing it south.

  Spot nodded to the big hunter, and then sprinted around the farm house and entered the southern path that led to Doug’s, and the kennels.

  As the woods closed in around him again he heard three more shots. Loud shots. Liko’s huge gun. The shots had come from home.

  As Spot shot off down the trail he thought, Smudge, are you there yet? Max, please protect them.

  Their house was a farther run from the clinic than the farm had been, and Spot wasn’t sure how much time he’d spent with One Ear. He didn’t know if Smudge could have made it all the way home yet.

  He had to keep going. He had to get to Ben and Mimi, and he could only hope Max and the other coyotes could protect his family from that big scum bag.

  Sorry I can’t help you sister, he said as he raced toward the Dorschstein’s farm.

  Chapter 70

  Smudge heard the shots coming from the farm and skidded to a stop to listen. It was definitely Mimi’s shotgun and another, smaller gun.

  Keep them safe, brother, she thought as she bolted on again towards home.

  She was following the path along Morgan Road and it would be a few painfully long minutes before she could make the turn to the south, and to her family.

  As she got closer she heard three shots from Liko’s large gun. By the third shot she was able to accurately place the sound, and was certain they came from home.

  Smudge was pounding the ground, fully pumped up and charging down the trails with her massive muscles propelling her several yards with each bound. Her split paws ached more with each stride and her heart was pounding in her chest but she mastered running with her paws open. She was moving faster than she ever had through the familiar twists and turns.

  She was eating up the paths and spitting out puffs of gravel with her big paws, but she was still a mile away from her family.

  Chapter 71

  Darting through the southern part of M
imi’s property Spot took the river in one giant leap. He landed softly on the far bank and tore off again. He had landed on the exact spot Alpha and One Ear had collided when hunting his mother.

  He entered the clear cut of Doug’s land, and a few minutes later he crossed the clearing and paused on the knoll where he could see the kennels.

  He was exhausted and panting with the smoke still hurting his lungs as he gulped air. He flexed and shook his cramped front paws to fight away the sting.

  Smudge and Spot had sat upon this same knoll on that rainy night. The night they learned what Doug had done, and what he was planning to do.

  I should have stopped him sooner, Spot said to himself as he looked at his paws, I should have said something. Selfish. Stupid. Please don’t be too late.

  He ran off again, darting around the scrub as he approached the kennels.

  Chapter 72

  Smudge paused across the street from home where Liko’s black SUV was parked in the driveway. She ran to the back of the van and listened, pressing her ear to the back bumper as she sampled the air. There were plenty of bad smells, but it didn’t sound or smell like anyone was inside. She moved to the front walk and saw the front door of the house was open. Through the doorway she could see the hallway light was on but the house was otherwise dark and there were no signs of her family.

  She bolted up the front steps and onto the front porch where two smaller coyotes stepped from the shadows of the porch and greeted her. One of the coyotes was favoring a paw and both had streaks of blood on their snouts and fronts. As they all sniffed and licked each other they told Smudge what had happened.

  Smudge noticed the door wasn’t just open, it was lying on the hallway floor with Max lying on top of it. The door had been torn from its hinges. Most of Max’s head was missing and there was blood and bits of fur and meat running down the entry hall wall.