November 22nd, 1963. At 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time in Dallas, Texas, a plot to asasinate President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was foiled when Secret Service agents spotted Lee Harvey Oswald standing at the top of a nearby building. Arrested and tried with attempted assasination, an investigation found that Oswald did not work alone: he and a small group of radical Communists had been planning the assasination for months, aided by a group of Russian spies who disagreed with Khruschev's detente with the United States. Tensions between Russia and the United States over the matter begin a conventional World War III that same year. In 1969, Kennedy's vice president Lyndon B. Johnson ran for president, and won. He died 4 years later. He was replaced by his vice president Hubert Humphrey, whose term was from 1973-1977. He died of bladder cancer in 1978.

In the twilight years of the 1970s, John F. Kennedy's former opponent for the presidency, Richard M. Nixon, was elected. During his presidency, World War III ended with an armastice signed in 1983 by both the Eastern and Western blocs. In total, World War III lasted 20 years, during which time advancements in robotics, animal intelligence, and telepathy had taken place. These endeavors resulted in a new superanimal being created: a telepathic breed of dog able to communicate with its partnered human, as well as pinpointing the exact location of supplies and ammunition alongside other humans in the vicinity. Used by the military during WWIII, these dogs were injected with dolphin spinal fluid, which passed onto their genetic offspring. In 1988, a hardline Soviet revolution took place, with a civil war lasting three years. The hardliners ended up winning, which worsened relations between Russia and America.

During this time, two more Kennedys were elected president; the first's term lasted from 1986 to 1993. The next one's lasted from 1993 to 2001, after which another Kennedy was elected into office. The year 2007 would be the last one for civilization as we knew it.

World War IV lasted five days, during which time the last of the missile silos from both sides spewed forth their destructive offspring, bathing the world in nuclear fire.

Now the year is 2024 AD, 17 years after that fateful week. The desert is inhabited by men who fight each other for the remaining resources. Food and water are the currency of the new world, but neither are as precious or more sought after as women. Nearly eradicated in the nuclear holocaust, the female gender is a rare sight aboveground, with the remainder located in downunders, large shelter-like communities meant to emulate a mockery of pre-war innocence. With the aid of the descendants of the telepathic dogs, those who are not in gangs known as roverpaks must survive on what they can and look for their next lay.

This story is about a young man and his dog as they try and survive these dog days of the apocalypse.

A BOY AND HIS DOG: DOG DAYS OF THE APOCALYPSE

BY RENEGADE THE UNICORN