Let Slip the Pups of War: Spot and Smudge - Book Three

by Robert Udulutch

  The double barrel pistol skidded across the floor after having been in Harley’s hand and pointed at Ben’s head a heartbeat earlier.

  In less than a blink of an eye Tian had stepped past Ben and snapped Harley into a standing palm choke. Harley’s head and one of his arms was sticking out from the loop of Tian’s powerful arms. Tian closed the circle, grabbing his own bicep and sinking the hold down tight.

  Smudge bolted towards them. She lowered to pounce and picked a bite target just below Ringo Starr on Harley’s t-shirt, right about where his liver should be.

  “No,” Tian said, catching Smudge’s eye and turning Harley’s body away from her charge as she closed on him, “I got this, get them out of here.”

  Smudge changed direction and ended up between Kelcy and Ben.

  She jumped up, and they all shared a quick hug.

  Meg started to pull the kids down the hallway, and as they passed Tian Kelcy patted his arm and said, “Don’t be long, okay?”

  Tian nodded as Harley gurgled and kicked.

  As the group disappeared into the smoke Tian started to apply just enough pressure to put his cousin to sleep.

  Harley twisted and squirmed, he sucked in enough breath to gasp, “Du…Wen.”

  Chapter 66

  Throughout the building the fires were gaining ground. Something in the ruined security office exploded and a burning spray of debris shot out across the hallway in front of Katia and Semion. They could see outlines moving in the shifting shadows beyond the gurney barricade but couldn’t find any clear targets. Harley had told them to hold, but it shouldn’t have taken him this long to bring Ben Hogan forward.

  They heard sirens in the distance and Katia said, “We need to go.”

  “Not without the boy,” Semion said.

  Behind the gurney barricade Tian loosened his grip on Harley. He kicked out his cousin’s legs and dropped him to the floor.

  Tian crouched in front of the gasping Harley and said, “Stop with the bullshit, cousin. I’m leaving. I’m heading out with this innocent family and you need to walk away from this. You need to leave them alone and forget about all of it. Our family is dead, Harley. It’s pretty clear they had it coming, and they wasted their lives doing an insane old man’s bidding. I love you, and I truly hope you don’t make the same mistake.”

  As Tian stood Harley grabbed at his pant leg. He waved for Tian to wait a moment as he drew enough breath to speak. “Tian,” he rasped, “Dalao won’t allow it. There’s an insurance policy to guarantee your cooperation in case you had a crisis of conscience.” He coughed and said, “It’s Du Wen.”

  As Tian stared down in horror Harley leaned back against the gurney. He thumbed the button for his mic and said, “They’re getting away, shoot.”

  Chapter 67

  A wagging Spot took a few steps past Blu and Comina, and nodded at his trotting sister as she led the running kids and nurse out of the smoke.

  Just before they touched noses both dogs froze, their ears pricked up and Smudge spun to look back down the hallway.

  Spot and Smudge both jumped at the same instant. Smudge shot towards the kids and Spot darted for Meg as the end of the corridor exploded in gunfire.

  Smudge was able to knock Kelcy and Ben down and drag them onto the loading dock but Meg was two steps back and Spot didn’t reach her in time.

  The running nurse rotated, falling through the hanging plastic curtain as she was hit with a stream of Katia’s insidious small rounds.

  Hamish appeared in the doorway and returned fire with Blu and Comina. With thick smoke now filling the hallway they couldn’t even see the outline of the gurney barricade and were firing totally blind.

  Ben shoved Smudge off him and got to his knees. He shouted at them, “Aim high, there’s still a friendly down there.”

  Tian dove into the treatment room as a constant stream of gunfire tore up the hallway from both directions.

  “I’m coming forward, low!” Harley yelled into his mic. He snatched up his dragon cannon and crawled around the end of the barricade.

  Kelcy raced to Meg’s side and ripped open the nurse’s bloody blouse. There were a dozen bullet holes from her waist to her neck.

  Kelcy didn’t know where to start. She leaned over Meg with shaking hands as black blood poured from her liver, air gurgled from her lungs, and she was panting out little sprays of blood.

  Comina appeared at Kelcy’s side and put an arm around her. She leaned over Meg, and after taking one look at the hopeless carnage she held the nurse’s eyes.

  Meg nodded. She reached up, grabbed Comina by the collar, and pulled her close. As Meg quickly whispered into her ear Comina listened, and nodded. A frozen, horrified Kelcy watched as little flecks of blood puffed from Meg’s lips and peppered Comina’s cheek.

  Meg finished and collapsed back onto the loading dock. Her shaking hands removed a set of keys from her pocket. She pushed them into Comina’s hand before shoving them both away. She looked at Kelcy and gasped, “Go.”

  Comina pulled Kelcy to her feet and took the girl into her arms. They looked down at Meg, and with tears running down her cheeks Kelcy mouthed, “I’m sorry. Thank you.”

  Smudge turned to Spot and Ben and signed, Get them all out of here. I’ll be right back.

  She reached behind her brother and Ben and pulled all of their foreheads together for a moment before she bolted down the hallway and disappeared into the smoke.

  Chapter 68

  Smudge gained speed as she pounded down the hallway. When the shooting from behind her stopped she let out a loud huff and Tian poked his head out from the treatment room.

  Smudge slid to a stop at the gurney barricade, jumped over it, and flipped the top one upright with a huge shove. Its wheels banged down and Tian steadied it before rolling it out of the way. Smudge lifted the second gurney back onto its wheels before she ran into the treatment room with Tian on her heels. There was a muffled scream, followed by the sound of zip ties getting tightened.

  At the end of the front hallway Semion and Katia stared as Harley crawled out of the smoke without the boy.

  Semion’s hands were slowly balling into fists.

  “Well,” Harley said as he got to his feet and dusted off his jeans, “You had a mole, and I had a rat. I think we’ll call this one a draw. I suggest we live to fight another day. The fucking family’s gone.”

  In the hallway outside the treatment room Smudge nodded to Tian and they each got behind a gurney and started to push while Marty struggled and moaned. He was gagged and zip-tied to the top of Smudge’s gurney.

  Katia watched her father’s face screw into a knot of rage. She spoke to Harley but was looking at Semion when she said, “Agreed. The authorities are getting close. We need to leave, now.”

  Semion held his daughter’s stare until his hands slowly unclenched. He shouted to Lobb and Berluti who had returned to the front of the lobby but were staying well clear of the front doors, “They’ll pull their dogs and snipers. Get the van.” They nodded as he turned back to Katia and Harley and said, “You two go collect the data cores and samples. Grab Johann and Marty if you see them.”

  Katia nodded, and let another short burst fly as she and Harley started down the dark hallway.

  At the lab doors Smudge stopped her gurney and turned it sideways. As she locked the wheels Tian maneuvered his so both of the gurneys formed a line across the hallway. They ducked as another round of gunfire pinged and sparked around them.

  Marty groaned and thrashed. A bullet had torn away the tip of one of his shoes.

  Smudge waved for Tian to leave.

  As Tian spun and prepared to run he said, “What about you?”

  Smudge pointed to her wrist, and held up her split fingers.

  “Okay,” Tian said, “but any more than two seconds and I’m coming back for you.” He patted Smudge on her bulky shoulder and ran off low and fast, hugging the wall as he disappeared into the smoke towards the loading dock.


  Smudge leapt, and pushed off on the moaning Marty as she jumped over his gurney.

  Katia and Harley walked quickly down the hallway with their guns raised. As they neared the lab door they saw the two gurneys parked end to end across the hallway, and the bound Marty thrashing on top of one of them. A piece of Katia’s bloody t-shirt had been stuffed into his mouth.

  In response to her questioning look Harley shrugged, and together they quickly leaned over the tops of the gurneys with their guns. The hallway was empty, at least as far as they could see into the smoke.

  Katia was leaning on Marty’s cracked ribs and he moaned loudly.

  “Shut up and sit tight,” she whispered to him as she noticed he was missing some toes and his leg was cocked at an odd angle, “We’ll be right back.”

  Marty struggled and moaned even louder.

  As Katia held open the lab door for Harley she looked back at the gurney barricade, and the thrashing doctor zip-tied to it. She whispered, “I just don’t understand that fucking family.”

  The lab had filled with smoke but was mostly still intact. A large hole had been blown in the outside wall but the damage appeared to be isolated to the far corner of the room. Harley moved quietly down the aisles of sequencers, checking the room with his huge pistol raised as Katia yanked the removable hard drives from the data core and grabbed the sample trays that still needed to be tested.

  “That’s it,” Katia said as she stuffed the items into her backpack and tossed it over her shoulder, “Let’s go.” She picked up her rifle and waited for Harley near the door.

  As Harley jogged past the manual sequencing unit something jumped out at him from below the desk.

  Harley instinctively leapt away and pulled the huge dragon pistol’s trigger without aiming.

  The desk next to Johann’s head splintered as two huge holes were punched in it.

  “Fuck!” he yelled as he threw his hands up, “Don’t shoot, it’s just me!” He pushed his glasses back onto his nose and crawled out from under the desk.

  Katia laughed and hauled Johann to his feet. “C’mon doc,” she said, “time to go.”

  As Harley pushed the doctor towards the lab door Marty started to yell for help from the corridor.

  Katia and Harley ran into the hallway with their weapons raised and saw Marty was still zip-tied to the gurney, but his gag had been removed and it was lying on the floor.

  Johann noticed the two gurneys blockading the corridor and Marty struggling on top of one of them. He scratched his beard and said, “Why do you think—”

  A massive bark boomed at them from the dark of the hallway. All of them jerked, and Harley and Katia crouched behind the gurneys for cover.

  Marty yelled, “It’s that fucking dog. Kill it! Shoot it! Cut me loose for Chri—”

  “Shut up Marty,” Harley said, “We can’t see it yet.”

  “Seriously, what is it with this fucking family and their damn dogs?” Katia said.

  Johann took a step towards Marty but when another huge bark shook the hallway he bolted for the front of the building.

  The bark was even louder than the first. It was too loud. In the confined space of the corridor the terrible volume punched their bodies like an explosion. It was jarring, and produced an uncontrollable flinch response.

  Marty groaned again as Katia leaned over his broken leg with her rifle. Harley was crouched over the other gurney, sweeping his cannon back and forth. They both fired when they saw a dark shape move across the corridor. Katia’s rifle burped out a stream and the hot shells covered Marty as Harley’s flaming double round blast down the corridor. The shape immediately appeared again and they saw it was just darting back and forth across the hallway, not advancing or retreating.

  Katia and Harley hadn’t noticed the door opposite the lab had been propped open with a big, red smeared rubber glove. They didn’t see the sliding glass door inside the room had been opened, or the two bulbous shapes racing towards them out of the dark.

  From the treatment room doorway Smudge let one more solid bark fly, and then she tipped her head to listen.

  She heard the Cooper’s wet, horrible cries. She heard Marty yell, but only for a moment. More screams followed, and pounding, and a loud ripping sound.

  Smudge bolted down the hall and joined Tian on the loading dock. They left the burning building, and ran together towards the waiting vehicles.

  Chapter 69

  “We’ll pick you up in a few hours,” Aila said, “Be careful.”

  “We will,” Kelcy said, “Love you guys.”

  “Love you too,” Dan said. His window slid up as the rented van pulled back onto the road and sped away.

  Hamish and the kids hiked up their new backpacks as they disappeared into the woods behind the pups.

  They walked in silence for a long while. The skies had cleared and it was a warm day for late January. Their new boots made sloppy squishing sounds on the muddy trail. Clumps of melting snow slid from the overhead branches, dropping around them with little thuds. They were north of the coyote den and it wasn’t long before the flat pine forest gave way to the familiar low hills that bordered the abandoned cranberry bogs.

  Spot led them east towards the bay and they came out on the beach a few minutes later. The brisk salty air and smells of the beach helped to push the smoke from their lungs and the metallic, oily-burnt smell of gunfire from their nose. They shared another bottle of water. Considering they had not slept, other than Kelcy and Smudge’s being tranq-ed, they all felt pretty refreshed.

  “So do you think we can risk a detour?” Ben asked.

  Hamish had figured that was coming. He quickly checked his pistol and said, “Aye, but we send the pups ahead first and no cowboy bullshit you two, I mean it. It took me an hour to get your parents to agree to let you say goodbye to the coyotes, and your Mimi would kill me for letting you leave The Bogs.”

  The children and dogs agreed, and twenty minutes later they were standing in the woods behind the remains of their house.

  It was burned almost to the foundation. There were piles of burnt debris stacked up in the front and back yards, and the snow was crisscrossed with muddy ruts and trampled with boot prints. Hamish recognized telltale signs of a gunfight in the chipped bark of the trees, and Ben pointed out where the tear gas had popped in the woods. Spot and Smudge said they could still smell it on the ground.

  They walked into the backyard. Ben and the pups stopped at a patch of muddy snow covered in a dark stain and ringed by footprints from dress shoes. They assumed they were from detectives, and maybe a coroner. Hamish recognized the look on Ben’s face. He’d seen it in Canada the day before they left. He and the pups had been standing over the place one of the men he’d shot had died.

  Hamish put an arm around Kelcy as she hugged herself and watched her brother’s brow working.

  Spot nudged Ben’s thigh. He signed, and Ben tugged on his furry ear and said, “Any time bud. You’ve done the same for me often enough. She was one tough Tzeng, I’ll give her that.”

  “When she was limping away with her missing fingers, bitten neck, and a blown away shoulder did you call her Irene?” Hamish asked.

  Ben and the pups turned around, stared for a moment, and then smiled and wagged.

  Kelcy tipped her head up and gave her great uncle a sour look that slowly turned into a smile. She shook her head.

  In the pile of scorched wood and trash in the back yard Smudge found half of the lid from the gas grill. It was mangled and the round thermometer needle was pegged past the highest temperature.

  Kelcy laughed when Ben showed it to her. He also pointed out the blackened wood pile and the singed tarp crumpled up near the woods.

  “Wish I had been here to see it,” she said, “Well, maybe not.”

  “It was pretty crazy,” Ben said as they looked at the remains of the house, “the whole second floor lifted off.” He looked down at the ashy slush at their feet and added, “And we’re probably standi
ng in bits of charred Tzeng.”

  Hamish said, “Build a Tzeng a fire and they'll be warm for a day. Set a Tzeng on fire, and they'll be warm for the rest of their life.”

  “Oh Unc, that’s horrible,” Kelcy said as she punched him on the arm, “I doubt you’d say that to Tian’s face.”

  “Too soon?” Hamish asked.

  Spot wagged, and signed.

  Ben translated, “That’s what those Tzengs get for being all up in our grill.” It took him a second to get it, and then he laughed out loud as he patted the dog and said, “Oh Spotty boy, now that’s a good one.”

  Kelcy and Smudge shook their heads and started off towards the farm. It only took a few steps before Kelcy couldn’t help herself and said, “What kind of women date charred Tzeng’s?” She looked back at Ben and Hamish and said, “Only hose.”

  Smudge signed and Ben said, “Yeah Smudge, that’s just wong.”

  The humans laughed, and the dogs wagged, and they couldn’t stop. They were still chuckling as they headed off down the trail to the farm, and they continued to giggle all the way to Mimi’s. As soon as they settled down one of them would crack up and they fell apart all over again.

  All of the laughing stopped when they reached the back of the goat pen at the farm.

  The Hogan kids had spent less than a year at the house on Morgan Road, but they’d had their first diaper change at the farm. Papa had taught them how to hammer a nail in the barn that was now just a hole in the ground. Mimi showed them how to bake cookies in the kitchen that now had no walls. Their mother had grown up in the farmhouse that was now little more than a pile of black sticks.