Chapter 14: Nate
Another month passed and it seemed that for the most part Jeff was his normal self after that initial satiation of his urges. However as the next month began he began to again feel the desire to eat very raw meat. After the second day he called a meeting of the adults.
"Hey, um… I have to talk to you all again." He began with a deep sigh, "As you remember in the first few days after I was vaccinated I began to become irritable and crave raw meat. While I don't know how my temperament has been recently, but I can say that again I'm starting to feel the urge to eat raw meat."
"Do you think it might be a side effect?" Frisky asked.
"Maybe, but I think it may just be part of my requirements now. I'm wondering if the vaccine has brought out something in me, some sort of more feral instinct that needs to be fed. We know the virus caused dogs to revert to their savage ways, and perhaps as a trade off for immunity there's some element that requires that urge to be sated on occasion." Jeff continued.
"So, do you want us to thaw out some raw meat again?" Wendy asked.
"No, I think I want to hunt."
"You want to what?" Rad asked, almost in disbelief of his friend's statement.
"I want to hunt. I want to run wild and catch something with my claws and teeth and eat it…" He paused, knowing what he was saying sounded mad. "I know it's absolutely barbaric, that we haven't done that as a species for thousands of years, but I want to do it. There's an urge in me, I can't explain it, but I want to try."
"Okay." Bandit slowly nodded, "But we can't let you loose on your own. Who knows what could happen?"
"I'll go with him." Nate volunteered. "I'm naturally immune, so if anything happens we'll both be safe. And I won't be hunting, so I can keep an eye on Jeff to make sure he's okay."
Trixie and Stripe looked nervously at the boy that they'd adopted, "Are you sure?" Stripe asked.
"I'm sure dad, I promise I'll be careful."
"Okay. But be careful, and take one of the long range radios. Call us to check in, so we know you're both okay." Trixie instructed.
"I will. I promise." Nate said, nodding.
The evening passed and in the morning Jeff and Nate departed on foot. Nate had a backpack with supplies-a tent, some rations, a torch, and water-and Jeff had himself. As they left the castle and headed into the wilderness Jeff started to feel himself getting freer. He was soon using his senses like he hadn't before. His nose was twitching as he felt the smells of a hundred things all at once entering his nose. His ears perked up and he felt them darting around in different directions to hear the animals all around. After a moment of anticipation he got down onto all fours and started bounding off into the outback, heading toward something Nate couldn't see.
"Jeff! Wait up!" Nate called, chasing after the kombi. He wasn't as quick as the other dog, and by the time he caught up Jeff had already secured his prey. It had been a kangaroo. He had tore into its neck to kill it, and was now gorging himself on the raw meat. He was knelt over on all fours, blood dripping from his teeth and snout as he bit into the still warm body. His eyes were glazed over, and as Nate approached he growled slightly, his haunches raising as he sensed the other dog near.
"Woah, hey… I'll stay back." Nate raised his hands, to which Jeff nodded and continued his meal. After about fifteen minutes he had eaten his fill and had laid down next to the kill, his stomach full and his mind hazy, he fell asleep.
Jeff opened his eyes to see Nate sitting in front of a small fire, a tent pitched behind him. He was roasting some meat over an improvised spit. "Nate?" Jeff asked.
Nate smiled. "You've been out for a while. You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." He nodded.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Nate asked, curious what the experience had been like for him.
"I remember smelling so many things at the same time… it was like…" He shook his head and tapped his nose, trying to explain it. "I don't know, but it was incredible. That's about the last thing." He licked his lips and realized there was still dried blood on them.
"Don't worry, it was just a kangaroo."
"I took down a kangaroo?!" Jeff said, shocked.
"Yeah, though by the time I arrived it was already down. You were pretty hungry, but there's plenty left. I figure I'd cook some for myself and get the rest for the others when we go back tomorrow." Nate explained.
"Makes sense." Jeff said. He was briefly quiet before he spoke again, "Sorry about being like… that."
"Nothing to be sorry about, mate." Nate shook his head. "You never went for me. And you seemed, well, happy. You were on all fours running around like a little pup. It was amazing."
Jeff blushed at the discovery.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about that part." Nate said.
"Thank you."
"Now, let's get a bit of dinner then get to bed. We've got a lot of walking tomorrow."
***ST***
Three days after the two returned from their excursion the castle group had decided to convene regarding the vaccine. Frisky and Trixie had done a second test about antibody levels and had come to a conclusion they wanted to share.
"Okay, so the basic results from our testing is this: the vaccine works, and given that the antibodies are still present after a month, along with the continued regular cycle of craving, we believe that it would be safe to begin administering it wholesale to other willing members, adults first, then children. We want to make sure we figure out dosage before giving it to the kids." Trixie stated.
"We aren't going to do too many people at the same time, because if the monthly recurrence is an ongoing event then we don't want all of us suffering the same necessity at the same time, so instead we'll stagger it in smaller groups." Frisky added.
Bandit looked at the others, then at the two women. "I'll go. Jeff, thank you for volunteering as the first subject. We all appreciate your willingness to test if it worked." He inhaled, then slowly breathed out, "Seeing as I'm the leader, I need to make sure I set a good example. I'll be part of the next group."
"So will I." Rad said.
Bandit clasped his older brother's forearm, while the two had had their differences he respected his older brother, and Rad respected him.
"Don't think you two can get out of this without me." Stripe said, coming over to hold Bandit's other arm.
"Alright, we should have enough synthesized to take care of that later today. We'll call you three when we're ready." Trixie said.
"We have a group approaching!" Judo called down. She'd recently been allowed to start acting as a lookout along with Bluey, and the two ran down from the roof.
"There're some dogs approaching. They're in a long line, with lots of cars just tied together. It looks like they have a road train pulling it all." Bluey reported.
"A road train?" Bandit asked, concerned. "Thanks girls, we'll go check it out."
Bandit and Rad went up to the roof while Stripe and Chilli made sure all the others were accounted for and safe. The two brothers walked across the roof and saw that the large truck had stopped a short distance from the castle. It was pulling three cars behind it. A group of dogs got out of the tractor trailer and started heading toward the castle. They had their hands up in the air, and as far as the two men could tell they were unarmed. As they approached Rad squinted before he called out.
"Malachi? Is that you?"
"Rad!" The lab yelled, "Is that you?"
Rad turned to his brother, "I know him! He was one of my mates back in Burketown."
Bandit nodded, "Do you want to go and see what's going on?"
"Yeah, would you mind me going?"
"No, but I want to come with, along with a third, just so we can be safe." Bandit said. "We got burned by the last group who just 'showed up'."
Rad nodded, remembering Bandit's tale of the teens. "Okay, I'll get Nate and we can go down."
A few minutes later Rad, Bandit, and Nate had left through the reinforced door and greeted the group.
"Rad!" Malachi smiled as he hugged his old friend, his tail wagging in joy.
"Mal! God, I never thought I'd see you again!" Rad said, his tail wagging as well. He turned, "This is my brother Bandit, I told you about him. My other brother Stripe is inside." He motioned to Nate, "This is Stripe's boy, Nate."
"Good to meet you both." Mal nodded. "We heard about a settlement out here, and we thought it might be you all-Rad had said he was heading to Ranken, and we aren't far off." Mal turned and gestured to the trailer. "We're traders. We've got food, medical supplies, even some entertainment. My son works on old record players, managed to get a bunch of 'em working, he trades them and old records for anyone who wants them."
"Wow. That sounds awfully good." Rad said, "What are you looking to trade for?"
"Well, mainly water or livestock. But really, anything'll do, 'cept people, we live in Australia, and none of us are gonna stoop to slavery." Mal said.
"Well, let's take a look." Bandit said, "Lead the way."
Mal lead the three to the back of the trailer. The door was already open and some other dogs were working on moving boxes. "Jackie, Dean, Ethan, make sure you've got everything out. We're setting up for a trade."
"Yes dad." Another tan lab replied, Nate guessed he was Ethan.
"Yes Uncle Mal." The girl retriever replied, she was probably Jackie.
"Yes Mal." A large Saint Bernard said. He glanced at Nate and smiled, quickly looking the collie up and down before winking.
Nate blushed slightly, but coughed to hide it. Rad and Bandit hadn't noticed and were starting to go over the items to barter for. An hour later, and countless haggles, the groups had finished their exchange. Bandit had gotten a record player and a number of albums from his youth, with Rad also getting a good number. As the men talked with Mal about their favorite artists Dean walked over to Nate.
"Hey." He said, leaning against the side of the trailer.
"H-Hey…" Nate said.
"What's a spunk like you doing in a place like this?" He asked.
Nate blushed, it was the same line his old boyfriend had always used. "What is a spunk like me doing in a place like this?" He asked back. "Well, to be honest, surviving I guess."
"It's all we can do these days." The Saint Bernard shrugged. He paused a moment looking at Nate, whose expression had fallen slightly. "You alright, mate?"
"If I'm honest, no. You kind of look a lot like I guy I was with before the zeds came through." Nate admitted.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to be too forward or anything." Dean said. "If it's weird, I get it."
"No. It's cool mate. I just, it brought up some memories." Nate smiled slightly.
"Mind if I ask what his name was?" The larger dog asked, sitting down.
"Yeah, his name was Dave."
"I had a guy before as well, he was a dachshund named Clyde." Dean said. After a moment he asked, "Is your family still around?"
"Not my mum or stepbrother." He sighed, "But Stripe and Trixie, Rad's younger brother and his wife, adopted me. So I have a new family here."
"That's nice. I'm sort of the same way with Mal. I don't know what happened to my folks, but he took me in and he's sort of been taking care of me for the last year or so." Dean explained.
"Hey Nate, you ready to go?" Bandit called.
"Yeah, coming!" He shouted. He turned to Dean, "Um, it was nice to meet you. Maybe we can talk more later?"
"Yeah, I'd like that." Dean smiled.
The collie ran back to his uncles. They were concluding an earlier conversation as they carried the supplies into the castle.
"…so they'll spend the night before they move to the next stop." Rad said.
"A supply chain could be useful, especially for things we can't make here… I say we bring it up with the others and see if they support the notion." Bandit said.
"Wait, they're spending the night?" Nate asked.
Bandit looked at his nephew, "Yeah, they only travel during the day, it's safer that way."
"Oh, okay…"
"Why, have some plans for this evening?" Rad asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Nate blushed as he looked down.
Bandit slapped his brother, "If you do, don't worry, we won't tell anyone. We understand. You're young, have a good time. Just don't let anyone in, and be safe, okay?"
"Thanks." Nate said, looking up slightly as they entered the castle. He glanced back at the trailer before he steeled himself, knowing what he had to do that evening.
***Author's Note***
Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay-I had some stuff going on. But I'm back! I promise a new chapter of parenting is also in the works as well. Please comment to let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions or recommendations. Thanks again for reading!