Spot and Smudge - Book One

by Robert Udulutch

  She stomped towards Doug and swiped at him with her black fingers. Doug held the chain and the gun in one hand, and kept his distance from Jerry with the bucket in his other hand. He smashed the bucket into her face when she got too close, and pulled her chain when she didn’t move fast enough. Doug guided Jerry from the side kennel, pulling her to the open space between the main kennel doorway and the van. When they came far enough for Mimi to see them she gasped and put her free hand to her mouth. Doug shuffled and navigated Jerry around the gas can, rotating her so she was facing Mimi.

  Doug made the introductions. “Mrs. Walker,” he slurred, “meet my lovely wife Jerry. Jerry, this is that fucking old hag I’ve told you so much about.”

  Jerry groaned and took a few steps towards Mimi.

  Doug said, “Oh no no no dear, we need her. I have something much more tender for you to chew on.”

  He pulled hard on the chain wrapped around Jerry’s neck and swung her backwards in an arc, pointing her at Ben. Jerry swiveled her head for a moment, searching, and then reached her arms out towards him and groaned and chomped. Doug dropped the bucket and switched the gun to his free hand. He let out some chain and Jerry took a few large steps forward. Ben moved as far away as the short rope would let him and Spot quickly slid further into the shadow under the van to avoid being seen.

  Doug planted his feet and the chain snapped tight as Jerry leaned against it, waving her arms at Ben. She made horrific sucking sounds and her pointed teeth snapped loudly as they crashed together in the center of her mouth.

  Doug said over his shoulder, “Mrs. Walker, I am afraid my wife’s not feeling well. She has a bit of a rash and is apparently a little bloated. You know, women issues I’m sure you can relate to. Or could relate to back in the day, am I right? Oh, and she likes eating live dog, and from the looks of it I’d say she would just love to take a chomp out of your fucking junior dog lover here.”

  “Let him go and I’ll sign it,” Mimi said.

  Doug looked at her and said, “Sure, that sounds like a great deal.”

  He dropped the chain.

  Jerry lunged at Ben.

  “No!” Mimi yelled.

  Spot coiled to leap.

  Jerry was two steps from Ben when Doug bent down and scooped up the chain. He reeled Jerry back a few steps and slurred, “Oops. That was close. You better just sign it now and we can talk about getting the fucking little tike back into his bed.”

  Doug noticed the tears in Mimi’s eyes and he snapped, “Don’t cry all over those! I swear if you mess them up I’ll have this boy’s ears eaten off.”

  Mimi looked at the papers in front of her and reached for the pen.

  Spot heard something and looked towards the dirt road. A moment later they all heard the crunch of gravel and saw headlights. Mimi couldn’t see the road or the gates of the kennel, but she could see that Doug and Ben were watching something.

  “Well well well,” Doug said, “If it isn’t my long lost fat fucking chink friend.” To Mimi he said, “It looks like we’ll have some more toys to play with. If you don’t fucking care about saving your little tire biter here then maybe another member of your family will get your fucking pen hand working. Oddly enough, my wife has a real appetite for young pussy when she’s feeling a little under the weather.”

  Liko’s SUV was flying down the dirt road. The lowered Cadillac scraped and sparked as it bounced along, bottoming out in the deeper potholes. It turned the last corner to the kennel and its headlights washed over the scrub bushes as it approached the gate.

  Doug reeled in some chain and pulled Jerry a few steps closer to him.

  The SUV slowed as it came through the gate. Doug raised the gun over his head and waved Liko forward impatiently. He yelled, “Come on you stupid fat fuck, you already tore the shit out of the bott—”

  He stopped when the SUV’s engine roared and its high beams came on as it cleared the gate.

  Doug shielded his eyes with his arm, trying to see over the bright oncoming headlights. He could just make out Liko’s round bulk behind the wheel and his brow bunched when he saw the cut on his partner’s nose, and the gray something wrapped around his neck. When he caught a glimpse of a man peeking his head over the dashboard on the passenger side he raised his gun but it was too late.

  The SUV veered towards him. It bounced wildly as it spit gravel and more sparks flew. As it left the rutted tracks its undercarriage banged down hard.

  It plowed into Doug, Jerry, and the gas can.

  Doug was carried several feet and then went tumbling through the main kennel doorway where he bounced off the row of cages on the far side.

  Jerry took two great hops in an attempt to attack the truck and she was pinned to the grill as it slammed into her. She hugged its front while it carried her away with her black sausage fingers leaving slick trails on the hood.

  The gas can had dented, rolled, and was shredded into pieces when the SUV ran over it. Five gallons of gas sprayed out into the kennel and up the side of the truck as it scraped over the twisted metal remains of the can. Sparks from the grinding belly of the van ignited the gas into a quickly spreading circle of flame.

  The cinderblock kennel doorway crumbled when the SUV crashed into it, splitting open Jerry’s bulbous midsection and splattering gray-black intestine and blood up to the top of the kennel door and over the hood of the SUV, covering the windshield.

  The dogs in the cages were going crazy, especially those on fire. They were biting at the cage doors. The barking and pained howling was deafening.

  Smudge had jumped out when Dan paused Liko’s van at the gate and she followed behind it into the kennel. She was preparing to leap over the fire and hunt for Doug when she saw Mimi tied to the workbench and changed direction.

  Spot untied the last rope knot from the trailer hitch and Ben jumped up. His hands were still tied behind his back as he bolted to the passenger side of the SUV.

  A moment after the crash Dan had pushed open the passenger door and fell to the ground. The airbags had gone off and left a small gash above his left eye. As Ben closed on him Dan got to his knees and caught his son in a hug.

  “Are Mom and Kels okay?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah, the coyotes are watching over them. We gotta go, buddy,” Dan said as he wiped his forehead and retrieved his glasses, and the huge silver gun from the floorboard of the SUV.

  The sprayed gas from the demolished can was fully ablaze. Several fires burned, spread over a thirty foot arc. The largest fires burned near the front of the SUV, the center support post inside the kennel, and along the cages were Doug had tumbled. The flames around the post also crept up the side of the first column of stacked barrels. The warning labels on the barrels were burning. The white enamel surface of the bottom barrels started to turn black and burn off in curling flakes, exposing the metal drum underneath. Smoke rolled up and swirled around the overhead light, casting shifting shadows throughout the kennel that danced with the light from the flames.

  Dan brought Ben to the back of the SUV. “Stay here with Spot while I get Mimi,” he said, “and be ready to run.” To Spot he said, “Untie him and make sure he gets away safe, but wait until we know that guy isn’t going to shoot at us.”

  Spot nodded, and Ben turned and crouched down so he could get to his hands. Ben said, “Be careful Dad, that Doug guy is crazy.”

  Dan nodded, and scanned the kennel with the gun raised.

  “Oh Smudge,” Mimi said as the black dog jumped up and licker her, “I thought you were away for sawdust, lass. That cagey brother of yours is here too, dearie. He’s out there with Ben and Dan.”

  Smudge nodded and looked at the leashes binding Mimi’s hand and foot. She carefully examined how they were knotted to the leg of the work table. She took a step back and shook her snout like she was wet, and pumped herself up to full muscle.

  Mimi’s eyes widened as she watched her dog’s chest and neck expand. A few short months ago this little dog had weighted l
ess than a pound and was knocking on death’s door. The proper canine hell hound wagging up at Mimi now looked like a bloody sporty footballer.

  Smudge ignored the knots. She just reared back on her hind legs like a dueling ram and shot forward, biting down hard on the wooden table leg and snapping it in half. She twisted her thick neck and yanked her head back. A large section of the splintered table leg came away with her as the board shredded. The work table tilted and the document slipped off and fluttered to the floor. Smudge spat out pieces of wood and looked up at Mimi.

  The grandmother slipped her bound hand and foot over the shattered ends of the table leg and freed them from the loops of leash. As she knotted her fingers in Smudge’s smoky, muscular neck fur she gave her a quick hug and whispered, “Good gear comes in a small bulk.”

  Flames were starting to burn up the side of the SUV. Liko was still inside, and he was still taped to the driver’s seat. He was yelling into the deflating airbag as the thick smoke darkened the SUV’s window.

  Jerry was still pinned and pounding on the front of the SUV as the fire burned her legs and crushed torso. She was biting the jagged metal of the wrecked hood. Her lamprey mouth had torn into flapping strips and her horrible wail came out in raspy huffs.

  Dan peeked out from the back of the SUV. The far side of the kennel was obscured by fire and smoke. The blood flowing into his eyes wasn’t helping his vision, but there was still no sign of Doug.

  He saw Smudge had freed Mimi. They had moved farther back into the kennel, putting the wall of odd white barrels between them and where Doug had been thrown. He saw the flammable warnings plastered all over the burning barrels and thought, The hits just keep on coming.

  Smudge was standing in front of Mimi who had taken a knee. They were both looking at Dan and he motioned for them to stay put. He pushed his bent glasses further onto his nose and chanced another look for Doug before he darted across the open to the kennel. Dan kept the gun raised as he ran and pointed it where he thought Doug might have fallen. The smoke and fire made it impossible to see clearly, and the masses of shifting animals in their cages hid any other movement. He ran into the kennel, past the row of barrels, and slid to a stop near Mimi and Smudge with his back against the cages.

  A bloated black lab filled the entire cage behind him and huffed into Dan’s ear.

  Dan kept the gun trained on the barrels as he moved Mimi behind him. They started to shuffle towards the kennel doorway together, keeping close to the cages as they moved past the burning column of barrels. Smudge took up a position in front of Dan and Mimi, scanning for Doug as she walked sideways in front of her family.

  As they neared the door a muzzle flashed in the dark from the opposite side of the kennel. The cinder block doorway near Dan’s head sparked and chips of concrete flew as the shot cracked loudly in the confines of the kennel. Dan fired two rounds from the huge dragon pistol in the direction of Doug’s muzzle flash and shoved Mimi quickly back the way they came. His shots were deafening and Mimi’s shoulders flinched with each blast.

  Smudge circled in front of them as Dan and Mimi crouched against the cages of bloated dogs. The loud shots had only shut the kennel dogs up for a moment, and when they started up again the yaps and whines were louder than before. They mixed with Jerry’s pained slurring screams and the combination was unnerving. Smudge tried to communicate with some of the dogs. She wanted the ones on the opposite side of the barrels to rat out Doug’s position but they only reacted to her barks with incoherent yaps. She was having trouble clearly thinking around so much misery. She didn’t know what to do. The flames were creeping up more of the flammable barrels and she thought about trying to save some of the dogs around her, or even using them as a decoy, but opening the cages would do no good as she doubted any of them could even walk. The poor animals were too far gone. She looked at a round ball that had once been a beagle and it stared back at her with blank, lifeless eyes.

  “Hey fucker!” Doug yelled through the barrels, “There is no fucking way you’re leaving here. How about you just toss that cannon into the open and I promise I won’t hunt down your wife and daughter when this is over.” Doug fired again and the bullet blew through one of the barrels and thumped into the dog Smudge had been staring at.

  Dan adjusted his position, standing with his back directly in front of the dead dog’s cage. He pointed his gun at the hole in the barrel and squeezed off two shots. The muzzle flashed brightly as the massive dragon gun boomed. The bullets pierced the barrel near the hole from Doug’s shot. In the orange firelight the liquid that streamed back out of the holes looked like shimmering black oil.

  “Not even close, four eyes!” Doug yelled as he wiped off some of the toxic sludge that sprayed onto his shoulder, “But some of the dogs over here are now hamburger, which is kinda funny when you think about it.” Doug stepped closer to the barrels and steadied his stance.

  Smudge moved closer to the end of the burning columns of the barrels so she could see Spot behind the SUV, they stared at each other for a moment and she signaled to her brother, Now would be a good time for a plan, genius.

  Spot nodded, and moved out from the bumper until he caught sight of Doug. He was standing with his left leg cocked at a strange angle. As Doug peered between the gap in the barrels Spot could see one of his shin bones sticking out through his pant leg.

  He watched Doug point his gun at the wall of barrels, and straighten his arms as he prepared to shoot. Spot jumped out from the back of the SUV and barked, startling Doug who swung his gun around and almost fell. Spot leapt back behind the SUV just as Doug fired and the gravel erupted behind him, barely missing his tail.

  Smudge looked at Spot and said, That was your plan? Gifted my black furry ass.

  Doug threw his arms open wide and looked at Liko. The big Chinese man’s restrained head was shaking back and forth on the headrest. Doug screamed, “Hey there, useless partner, what’s a motherfucker gotta do to kill these FUCKING DOGS?”

  Liko yelled something and Doug shook his head. He pointed the revolver at the SUV and shot at the driver’s window. It shattered and the bullet tore a hole in Liko’s neck, ripping the tape as it went through his triangle tattoo.

  Doug said, “Not helpful, you incompetent fat fuck.”

  Ben flinched as the blood from Liko’s exit wound sprayed on the remains of the shattered passenger window above his head.

  The flames now engulfed the first few columns of barrels. A dozen of the small drums were now black and their labels fell away in burning shards. The hot barrels were making popping noises, and the barrels in the bottom row started to bulge.

  Doug tried to steady himself against the hot, smoking barrels and drew his hand back. His good leg almost gave out. “Fuck fuck fucky fuck,” he said to himself as he reached down to straighten his twisted leg. He regained his stance and brought the gun up, extending and locking his arms out straight. He bobbed his head back and forth, straining to peek through the cracks between the barrels.

  Dan swept the cannon back and forth. In the dim light of the kennels, with the smoke and the flames and the dogs shifting in their cages and the blood trickling into his eye it was impossible to see where Doug was through the small gaps.

  Mimi had also noticed the caution signs on the barrels and whispered to Dan, “Best for us to be off like a prom dress, son. We need to get Ben away from here, and then you need to kill that motherfucker.”

  Dan nodded, and aimed.

  Doug aimed as well, and lowered over the sights of the pistol.

  Smudge motioned to Spot, Brother, we gotta end this, now!

  She widened her stance and prepared to jump over the flames and dart around the barrels to charge Doug.

  Spot nodded to his sister. He coiled behind the SUV, ready for a similar sprint over the flames towards Doug. They exchanged a final look and Smudge said, Let me show you the proper bloody way to strangle someone.

  Ben whistled for Spot to wait. He dropped to the ground and l
ooked under the SUV. He could see Doug was taking aim. Ben slid farther forward, almost to the front bumper. He looked past Jerry’s dripping body to study the barrels for a second.

  Spot scooted back to keep eye contact with both Ben and Smudge.

  Ben nodded, and flashed a series of hand signs to Spot and finished it with three fingers and then seven fingers.

  Spot nodded, and using his split paws relayed the message to Smudge.

  Smudge nodded and ran back to Dan and Mimi.

  She studied the wall of barrels for a second and then walked toward them. She jumped up and put a paw on the third barrel up from the bottom, the seventh column from the end. Smudge tapped the hot barrel a few times while looking back at Dan. She jumped down and backed away as Dan nodded, pushed up his glasses, and aimed.

  He pulled the trigger on the huge hand cannon. Flames leapt from the dragon’s mouth at the end of the barrel, and with each massive boom his shoulders jumped. Mimi flinched as the spent shells flew out from the top of the gun. Dan continued to fire into the same barrel until the slider clicked back and the gun was empty.

  Chapter 78

  Ben jumped to his feet and yelled, “Yes!”

  He pumped his fist in the air as a wagging Spot ran over to him. Ben gave his black dog a quick rub on the rump and said, “That’s my smart boy, Spot.”

  They ran towards the kennel and Smudge met them halfway. Ben grabbed Smudge’s head and lifted her front paws off the ground. He looked at her and said, “What a good girl, Smudge,” and kissed the top of her sooty head. Ben met Mimi and Dan as they sprinted out through the kennel doorway. Mimi gave him a quick hug as Dan tucked the big gun into his waistband, put his hands on their shoulders, and said, “We need to run.”