A hot wind howled through the wasteland, dragging sand and dust as its fingers drifted across the empty dunes, passing by the sun bleached bones of those fortunate enough to have expired.
It sailed through empty homes, long bereft of life, and moaned mournfully until finally it encountered two living beings. The first, an obsidian furred giant, standing tall and silent among the wastes, her visage a stark contrast to her surroundings.
The second belonged to the wastes. A coyote, her expression dour as she lit the small candle in her hands. The woman knelt, shielding the candle against the wind with her free hand as she lit the candles for the memorial before her, one by one. For every candle lit, she whispered a name. Iris, Ava, Mila, Isla, Carly, Brisa, Kaila and Alani. She pictured each of them in her head, their laughter and joy long gone, replaced only with the pain of their absence.
When the last candle was lit, she stood, allowing her memories to wash over her. The short red cloak she wore around her neck danced with the wind as she stood silently. Mercifully, the silence didn't last long. Behind her, her radio began beeping insistently, demanding her attention.
Thankful for the distraction, she left the memorial behind, and returned to her bike, pieces of its frame built from the bones of her grandmother. She snatched the radio, and answered.
"Yeah? Who is-"
"Mommy?" Her daughter whimpered, before loosing a mournful howl. "Mommy!"
"Puppy? Honey don't cry, what is it?"
"It's Poochie mommy! Uncle Jacob said he found him hanging by his guts!" Puppy howled again.
"What?! Honey that can't-"
"It's what Uncle Jacob said. He said he was gonna make the Birds pay, and he took your gun!"
The Coyote's heart sank in her chest. If that was true, what little peace was left was dead. "Don't worry honey, I'll take care of everything. Go to your grandmothers and wait for me, okay?"
"Okay mommy." Puppy whimpered. The black furred giant approached, noting the Coyote's expression.
"Laika? What's wrong?"
"No time to explain Kara, just follow me." Laika said, donning her helmet and hopping atop her bike.
Kara nodded, and burst into a sprint to follow Laika as she took off.
Plumes of dust flew behind the pair as they traveled to Where The Birds Lurked. The sickly brown sand before them slowly turned blood red, and Laika felt a pit form in her gut as she saw why.
Ahead of them was Poochie, the boy's body hung in the air in a grotesque display. His belly was cut open, still weeping blood, and he was suspended between two trees, his intestines used as rope. A blood soaked swing set swayed lifelessly from one of the trees.
Laika's brakes shrieked as she came to a halt. "Fuck…"
Kara slid to a stop beside her, her mouth contorted into a scowl, equal measures anger and disgust. "Go on ahead." Kara said. "I'll get him down."
Laika tore her gaze away from Poochie. "Sure… Thanks." She said numbly as she took off down the road leading towards the old military base.
As she left Kara behind, her radio crackled again. Laika lifted it to her head and answered. "Laika? Did you find Poochie?" The withered voice belonging to Laika's mother, Maya asked.
"Yeah." Laika said.
"Is it true? What Jacob-"
"You don't wanna know." Laika said, cutting Maya off. Laika arrived at the old-world freeway leading to Where Birds Lurk.
"Make sure you kill those Birds for this, Laika." Maya said, her words dripping with venom.
"That's exactly what I don't want to do mother; We can't afford a war with the Birds." Laika said, knowing full well that's precisely what was going to happen anyway.
The radio went silent as Laika passed the withered barbed wire and burned out vehicles laid in front of the old bunker the Birds had occupied. She passed pools of fresh blood, and bird corpses as she arrived.
She came to a stop in front of the bunker, and saw more blood leading into the concrete structure. She hopped off her bike, and placed her helmet on its seat as she stared at the entrance to the underground complex.
Her hand instinctively drifted to her holster, meeting nothing but empty air. She shouldn't have left her gone at home. She cursed her own stupidity as she entered the underground complex.
The Bunker was a massive old-world structure, made even larger when the Birds moved in. Laika followed the blood trail deep into the complex, passing nearly a dozen Bird corpses, their blood squelched beneath her boots as she walked. She had to give him credit, Jacob had put up a good fight so far, but that fight might end up killing everyone back home.
Laika followed the trail through an open door, a sickly yellow light gleaming behind its frame. She found Jacob there, lying in a pool of blood against a stack of crates. When he heard her approach, he raised her gun, before realizing it was her. "Jacob, you hot-headed idiot! Do you have any idea what you've done?" Laika said angrily.
Jacob's arm fell. He was bleeding from several gunshot wounds, only managing to make it as far as he did thanks to a volatile mix of hate, anger and adrenaline. "I'm sorry Laika. I got Poochie killed... I should have been watching him... If I did... he wouldn't have left the village..." Jacob said, nearly choking on his words. "They tortured him, Laika. They beat him, ripped out his claws and shoved them in his eyes…"
Laika knelt, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Kara's taking care of him. I'm here for you."
"What kind of monster does that to a kid?" Jacob muttered numbly to himself, ignoring Laika.
"Jacob, look at me. You're dying, and we need to get you home."
He shook his head. "No, no no we can't leave yet. They built a weapon Laika, and they're going to use it to destroy Where We Live."
"Where is this weapon?"
"It's in a huge warehouse, you passed it on your way here."
Laika remembered seeing the warehouse Jacob mentioned. "I'll take care of it, but there's something you should give me first." Laika said, extending her hand.
Jacob handed Laika's revolver back, and she slid it into its holster. "I'll be back. Don't do anything else stupid."
"I'm not going anywhere." Jacob said as Laika turned to leave.
Laika retraced her steps out of the bunker, and hopped back onto her bike. A plume of dust exploded behind her as she took off towards the warehouse, her bike growling angrily.
Thankfully it was a short trip. Laika came to a stop outside the doors, taking note of a sign by the open entrance. "Stay out".
"Yeah, sure." Laika muttered to herself as she drove inside. The light inside the warehouse came solely from holes in the roof, the windows had been boarded up, evidently in an attempt to hide the building's contents.
Laika slid her revolver out of its holster as she scanned the room. The gun only held two bullets at most; exactly two more than she ever wanted to shoot again.
A sudden flash of light caught her attention, and Laika snapped her gun towards it. She could barely make out the silhouette of the vehicle the lights were attached to. It was huge, with the blade of a bulldozer mounted to its cabin.
With a mechanical roar, the bulldozer lurched forward.
Laika growled, and gunned it straight at the blade. Just before they collided, she shifted her weight back, pulling the front wheel up, turning the bulldozer's blade into a makeshift ramp.
She sailed up and over the vehicle, and as she did, she saw the top was lined with four pistons topped with bird skulls. She took aim, and fired two shots, destroying two pistons.
She shifted her weight forwards, and she landed back on the ground with a painful thud. As soon as her wheels hit the ground, she spun back to face the dozer, and reloaded.
Just in time too, it had turned around for another go. Laika pushed her bike as fast as it could go, launching her into the air yet again. She spun in the air, lining up her shots. Time seemed to slow down as she took aim, then fired, shattering the pistons.
The bulldozer careened out of control, crashing into a support pillar as Laika hit the ground in a less than perfect landing.
Pain stabbed through her leg as she pushed herself back up. She stared at the destroyed bulldozer balefully. "Fuck you." She snarled, as she drove back to the bunker.
On her way, her radio crackled again. "Laika, Puppy has something to say to you." Maya said, eliciting an annoyed grumble from Laika.
"Mommy, make those birds pay." Puppy said bitterly. Hearing those words coming from Puppy's mouth stabbed Laika in the heart.
"Stop putting those thoughts in Puppy's head, mother." Laika snarled, before switching her radio off. The only thing in this world Laika was afraid of, was Puppy growing up; but Maya couldn't wait to see that. Laika scowled. That's all she was to Maya, and the Elder: A weaopn in training, set to replace Laika, who was growing to old to be a useful pawn.
As she returned to the Bunker, she spotted two birds by the entrance. They leveled their guns, but Laika was quicker on the draw. Two shots, two less birds. She parked her bike, and stepped past their corpses wordlessly.
She moved as quickly as she could back to the room Jacob was in. When she found him, he was still alive, barely. "I destroyed that thing, now let's get out of here."
"I don't… I don't think I'm leaving…'m sorry" Jacob said, struggling to draw breath, before losing consciousness.
Laika knelt next to him. "Jacob, you idiot. You can die here if you want, but I'm still taking you home." She snarled, as she gripped both of Jacobs hands, and dragged him outside.
The sun was setting over the wasteland as Laika drove through the desolate landscape. Jacob's corpse was secured behind her, his dull, lifeless eyes staring at the plumes of dust. "I never believed you when you said you could talk to the dead. Guess hearing is believing."
"Part of the curse." Laika said. "You hot-headed idiot, why didn't you wait for me?"
"Would you have waited if it had been Puppy?"
Laika didn't respond.
"So… what happens now?" Jacob asked.
"You'll see Poochie again, for a brief while before you both pass on. After that, I don't know. You all get lucky in that way, at the end." Laika said, a hint of softness and envy in her voice.
"Now that I'm dead, you envy me?"
"Always."
Jacob was silent for a long while. "Y'know, I kinda get it. At least I'm not leaving Poochie behind in this shitty mess of a world."
Laika arrived back where she and Kara found Poochie. Kara was still there, and Laika could see Poochie's corpse was in far better shape. Kara had stuffed his guts back inside, and stitched the wound closed, and wrapped a strip of cloth around his eyes to hide what the birds did to them.
Speaking of birds, there were a few fresh corpses of theirs littering the ground, the sand greedily drinking the blood that leaked from their bodies. Laika had to try pretty hard to identify them as such.
There was blood on Kara's claws and muzzle, and when she opened her mouth to speak, Laika could see her teeth were just as messy. "Is he-"
"Dead." Laika said matter of factly. She could hear Poochie and Jacob's spirits talking to one another. She ignored them for the moment.
"How are you holding up?" Kara asked, concerned.
Laika looked at the setting sun. "Fuck me if I care." Laika switched her radio back on. "We got Poochie and Jacob back… Get a pyre ready."
"If it had been me out there, this wouldn't have happened." Maya said.
Laika growled, and switched her radio back off. "Fuck you Maya."
Laika and Kara arrived at Where We Live after the sun had set. Most of the small town had gathered to attend the funeral. Including Puppy. Laika couldn't bear to look at her daughter as she and Kara moved to place Jacob and Poochie on the funeral pyre.
The pyre was lit, and the Elder launched into a speech, thanking Jacob and Poochie for the service and love they had given to their people, and wishing them peace as they entered the spirit realm together.
Laika felt tiny fingers clutch at her hand, and she looked down to see Puppy, her eyes watering. Laika bent down, and picked her up, holding her close against her chest as her family burned.
Puppy's mouth twitched, before she looked skyward, and howled, the sound of her anguish joining the smoke as it rose into the sky.
Laika didn't cry. That well had been dry for a long time. But inside, her soul screamed right alongside Puppy.