De lights, they’re dim here in de dungeon, but my eyes, they’re getting used to de dark, and I don’ like what I see. De
basement, it’s a big room, and in de middle there’s a square, roped off area. That area, it’s empty, but all around it there’s a
whole mess a people. Some a them I’ve seen before—some at de factory, some at de Castle—and some a them I’ve never
laid eyes on before tonight. All a them look nasty, like they’ve been waiting way too long to have a good time, and de whole
dungeon, it booms with their jabbering and their shouts and laughs. I see Red way off on de other side a de room. He’s
standing near some sorta cage, looking over at us with a stupid grin on his face and waving, like he wants to be sure we notice
him. But Red, he’s de least a my problems right now, so I ignore him. De crowd, though, I don’ like de looks a it. It scares
me. But even it’s not as bad as what I see there in de corner a de dungeon where we came in. De puppy, he sees it too, and
he’s squirming like he wants to run for cover somewhere.
#
I always kept de puppy tied to a little rope while I worked at de factory. I’d tie one end in a loop around his neck and de other
end to my belt. That was to keep him from running off and getting himself hurt, on account a there’s lotsa machines spinning
and whirring and clacking, and de puppy, he liked to poke his nose where it didn’ belong, where it might get him cut up.
One day I guess I wasn’ paying enough attention to de little guy. I always had to watch what I was doing real close there at de
factory so I wouldn’ get hurt. When de box things came along, I’d feed de wire into them, pull de other wire out de other side,
and clamp it down tight. I had to do it real fast before de next box thing came along, but if I wasn’ careful, de machine, it could
cut me bad. That’s what happened to de boy who worked my job before me. De machine, it cut off de fingers on his right hand,
so he couldn’ work it no more. That was too bad for him, but that’s how I got my job, and that’s why I was so careful. I didn’
take no chances, man. But that’s why I didn’ see when de puppy chewed through de rope. I was used to feeling de rope
tugging and jerking at my belt while he played around, but then all a sudden it stopped, and de rope, it went slack. I looked
down, and de puppy, he was gone.
My stomach, it jumped up and down in my belly, and I said, “Ah, damn it. Damn that puppy!” I looked around for him, but de
smoke in de factory, it’s thick as soup, and you can’ see far. And de roar a de machines, it’s so loud you could hardly hear
yourself scream, so you sure couldn’ hear a puppy yapping. I thought, “What de hell am I gonna do now?” Then de box thing I
shoulda worked went through without its wires in place, so I knew de shit was gonna hit de fan anyway, so I ran off to find de
puppy. I dashed around yelling, “Puppy, where de hell are you? Where de hell did you go to?” ’Course he couldn’ a heard
me. Nobody else could either, but some a de other guys working there could see me running around like a brain-wiped idiot,
and they gave me awful ugly looks.
Finally I found de puppy. He was sitting back a one a de other machines, de one that Spice and Flip work, and he was chewing
on one a de cables that runs from that machine back to de main power house in de middle a de factory. My brudder, he always
told me, “You be careful them cables, Squeak. Don’ you go trip on one a them.” So ’course I felt sick when I saw de puppy
chewing on one a them cables. That dumb shit, he was gonna get himself fried. So I ran toward him, and when de little guy
saw me coming, he dropped his head down. His brown eyes, they got this big guilty look in them, but he didn’ let go a de
cable; he just kept chewing.
I almost reached de puppy when I felt de stun-bolt hit me and knock de wind outa me. My heart, it shuddered, and my skin, it
burned like someone poured hot oil on it. I dropped to my knees and gasped for air—even that smoky shit that’s in de factory.
And I saw de man in de red jumpsuit sauntering over to me, all cocky, waving his Stunner like that’s all it took to make him “De
Man”.
Those guys in red, de Alphas’ men, we all hate them bastards. But this guy, Fist, we hated him even more than de other ones.
He was a monster-big guy with grayish skin that looked like ash. He had fat lips that curled up at de corners in a nasty smile,
like he was thinking a some sadistic thing he planned to do to you, and his nose, it was all squashed up, on account a it’d
been broke a few times too many. He was one sick bastard. He liked to shoot his Stunner at anyone he could or slash them
with his Vi-blade, just so he could watch them bleed. And here he was, walking over to me with a leer on his face. He didn’
see de puppy yet, but he was walking right toward him, and I thought de little guy and me, we were dead meat for sure.
But just then de puppy, he must a bit down hard on de cable. It sparked and crackled, and he jumped like he’d been bit by a
rat. Well, that sure got Fist’s attention, so he looked down and saw de puppy. He tried to kick him, but instead his boot caught
de cable and snapped it. Man, he lit up like one a de Alpha ships.
So that’s when de riot started. Soon as Fist went down, all de workers around him, they threw things at him from all sides—
wrenches, pipes, anything they could get their hands on. A few pieces a junk weren’ gonna hurt him any more than a billion
volts a electricity already had, but de other guards, they all came running over and started shooting into de crowd. I couldn’
believe it, but Fist, he wasn’ dead yet, and he staggered to his feet. Before he could get up though, someone beat him down
again, yanked de Stunner outa his hand, and started shooting back at de Alphas’ men. Even though we only had one gun,
there were more than a hundred a us by that time, and we put up a pretty good fight. Finally some a de Alphas, they came in
with de heavy artillery to quiet things down.
When it was all over, some a de guys in red, they asked everyone how things got started, but nobody said they knew. Maybe
they did, maybe they didn’, but nobody tells nothing to de Alphas or their men. That’s de way it is. So me and de puppy, we
were safe. But de Alphas, in their copper-colored suits, they didn’ wanna leave it at that. One a them, he said that they’d close
de factory for de rest a de day, that we wouldn’ get no food for working that day, and that they’d make an example outa one a
us. So they shot poor, old Pigeon Lady with a Wiper.
Now, most people, they think when someone gets his brain wiped, he just goes into a sorta coma. ’Least, that’s what people
wanna believe, and sometimes that’s what happens. But you never know how a Wiper’s gonna affect someone. Some
people, they foam at de mouth and go crazy like a mad dog. Other people, they get like a zombie and walk around like they’re
asleep. Those people, they die soon, ’cause they don’ care enough to eat or drink anything.
Pigeon Lady, she was like that last type, de zombie type. Her boy, Gimper, he screamed and cried something awful when he
found his mama wandering de streets. He tried to get her to eat something, to drink something, but she wouldn’. She died a
few days later.
That night while we were eating some stale bread we’d stashed away, I asked my brudder if he knew what started de riot. I
tried to sound real casual, but maybe it was de way I was hugging de puppy that made him look at me funny, like he wondered
why I was asking him this dumb ass question. But I didn’ let on anything was wrong. I just grinned and petted de puppy and
waited for him to answer. Finally he said, “Boy, what starts any a them riots? De Alphas and their men, they push us, and they
push us ’till we can’ take no more. Then we break. We’re men, not dogs. Not cattle. So we fight back. That’s just de way it
is.”
I nodded and said, “Oh.” Then I said, “Too bad about Pigeon Lady, though, huh?” My brudder, he said it was a tough break,
that he felt bad for Pigeon Lady and her boy. But then he said I should be glad it wasn’ him or me that got wiped.
When he finished eating his bread crust, he said that at least something good came outa it. When I asked him what that was,
he said that Fist finally got what he deserved. I said, “Yeah! Good thing he’s dead.” And my brudder, he smiled kinda
mysterious-like and said, “Oh, Fist, he ain’t dead. But I bet he wishes he was.”
I asked him what that meant, and he told me de Alphas, they don’ want guys who screw up, so after de riot they wiped Fist and
threw him outa de factory. He said that him and some a de guys from de Castle, they got Fist now, and they got plans for him. I
asked him, “What kinda plans?” He just smirked like he does right after he gets laid, and he told me that I’d find out soon
enough. He said that Fist might be our ticket to Easy Street. I didn’ know where this Easy Street was, but I figured it had to be
better than living here at de Castle.
#
My brudder and me, we’re looking at a big old cage like de one over there next to Red, and standing in it, buck naked, is that
bastard, Fist. There’s some drool dripping down his chin, and his eyes, they’re all glazed over, just like other people I’ve seen
who got shot with a Wiper. His face, it’s twisted up in an ugly snarl. He looks like this mad dog I saw once, and I think, “So,
this is de kinda dragon they got locked up in de dungeon.” He howls and rattles de bars a his cage, and I almost feel sorry for
de bastard.
My brudder, he turns to me and says, “Okay, Squeaky, gimme de puppy.”
My heart, it freezes up, and I say, “What? What de hell for?” and I squeeze de puppy real tight. That makes him whine a little,
but I don’ pay much attention to that, ’cause I’m too busy staring at my brudder. I don’ know why he wants de puppy, and I’m
not sure I want to find out. I just look at him. I tell him that I’ll keep hold a de little guy; I won’ let him get loose or get in de way
or nothing.
My brudder, he shakes his head kinda sad-like, and he says, “Damn! Boy, I told you. Didn’ I tell you? Didn’ I tell you, don’ you
get attach to that puppy? Didn’ I tell you that?”
I shrug and nod, so he waits for me to give him de puppy. Man, I’m not about to do that, so he starts to get mad. He doesn’
yell, but his teeth, they’re clenched real tight, and his words, they sorta spit out at me. “Gimme de goddam puppy, Squeak!” I
don’ know what to do except stand there and shiver, just like de puppy.
My brudder’s face, it gets this hard look on it like de Alphas’ men get when they’re ready to stun some poor bastard, so I start to
back up, but my brudder, he’s quicker than me. He grabs my arm and shakes me. He says, “Don’ make me hurt you, Squeak.
Just gimme de damn puppy.” I hold onto that puppy as hard as I can, and I ask my brudder why he wants de puppy now
anyway.
He lets go a my arm and looks at me like I’m de stupidest little kid he’s ever seen. He says, “You don’ know? Don’cha know
what we do with de puppies? You dumb shit. We throw them to de Glads.”
I don’ get it, and my face, it must look all blank to him. He jerks his head toward that animal, Fist, who’s slobbering in his
cage. “De Glads, man. We throw de puppies to them before de fight. They rip into them. Gets up their blood lust. Makes
them fight better. And this son a bitch, Fist, he’s de best damn Glad I ever got. He’s gonna kill that other bastard in ten
seconds. Then I’m gonna get rich off this goddam fight.”
We stand here staring at each other for a while. I can’ believe it, but there it is. Slash, my own brudder, he wants to throw my
puppy to that ugly bastard to tear apart. Just to make a few bucks. I bite my lower lip to keep from saying anything that might
get me into even bigger trouble, or maybe it’s just to keep my lip from quivering.
While I stand here, frozen like a mouse staring at a hungry cat, my brudder, he’s telling me how nice we’ll live when we get rich
from this fight, how much better off we’ll be with all that money. But I don’ see it happening. Not like this.
Finally he’s done talking, and I glance over at that beast, Fist, and I look back at my brudder, Slash. Fist, Slash. Fist, Slash.
Right now, I don’ know which one a them I hate more. I hear myself whisper, “No!” and I turn to run back to de stairs.
I don’ get more than two steps before Slash, he grabs me and spins me around with one hand and slaps me as hard as he
can with de other one. I stagger back and fall to one knee, but I don’ let go a de puppy. I wipe de blood trickling from my nose
with de back a my hand, and I shake my head to stop de ringing in my ears. Before I can even look up, Slash, he’s bending
over me. He grabs my hair and jerks back my head. He pulls out his Vi-blade and flicks it on. As he brings it close to my neck,
I can hear de damn thing hum. I can almost feel de razor-thin force blade bite my skin.
“Dammit Squeaky, don’ make me cut you,” he says. “Gimme de puppy!” Man, his voice, it hisses like a snake. It scares me. I’
ve never seen my brudder like this before—’least, not with me. I’m gasping for air in little sobs, and I see that Slash, my big
brudder, he’s crying too.
I stare into his eyes for a minute. They look wet, and I see something in them that makes me stop struggling. I see fear, just
like mine, looking back at me. “You gonna cut me, Slash?” I whisper. “I’m you’re little brudder; you gonna blood me?”
Slash, he keeps de Vi-blade close to my neck, and he shakes his head real slow. I’m not sure if that means he’s not gonna
cut me or that he’s sure sorry to have to do it. I hold my breath, and I think even my heart stops beating while I wait to see what
he’s gonna do. Finally he flicks off de Vi-blade and puts it back in de sheath strapped to his leg. He does that so slow I’m
afraid he might change his mind and pull it out again. But he doesn’.
He lets go a me, and he steps back, gives me enough room so I can stand up. I take a deep breath, and I smile at him. But
his cold eyes, they’re still as sharp as his Vi-blade, and I can feel them cut into me, cut me deep as that damn blade a his
could. Now de corners a his lips, they twitch up a little, and he says, “Okay, Squeak. Okay. You keep de puppy.” His voice, it’s
so quiet that I can hardly hear it over de din a that crowd in de other part a de dungeon. I can see a smile coming to his lips
though, so I figure everything’s gonna be okay now. I’m relieved by de smile on his lips, but I’m still a little nervous, ’cause that
smile, it hasn’ crept up to his eyes yet.
My brudder, he’s telling me he wants to show me that animal, Fist—show him to me up close—so I let him put his hand on my
shoulder and lead me over to de cage. Fist, he grabs de bars and rattles them so fierce, I think for sure he’s gonna break outa
there. As we get near his cage, he shoots his hand out to grab at us, and I stumble back a step, but my brudder, he just
laughs. He pulls out his Vi-blade, switches it on, and with a casual wrist-flick, he slices it across Fist’s bare arm, cuts a little
red gash on it. That sends Fist in a rage, and he screams and shakes de cage some more. I’m not so scared a that bastard,
Fist, anymore with my brudder there with his Vi-blade, but de puppy, he’s terrified. He’s whimpering something pitiful, so I
shush him and start to shift him over to my other arm. Man, what a mistake! While I’m moving de little guy from one arm to de
other, my grip on him loosens, and fast as lightning, Slash, he shoots out his hand. He grabs de puppy by de scruff a de neck,
and easy as you’d toss a dog a bone, he flips de puppy into de cage. It all happens so fast, it seems like de puppy, he flies
right outa my arms and into that cage.
I scream. I’d jumped into that cage after him if I could, but Slash, he still has his hand on my shoulder. His grip, it’s like an iron
vice, and I can’ move. I start to cry like a baby, ’cause that poor, little puppy, he’s gonna get ripped up for sure.
But Slash, he screwed up. He timed his move for when I wasn’ prepared, not for when that ugly old Fist was ready. So that
flying puppy, he catches Fist by surprise, too. He hits Fist square in de chest and bounces right off him. By de time Fist, he
recovers his wits—and he has damn few a them left—de puppy, he’s up and scrambling on his big puppy feet for de side a de
cage.
Slash, he sees that de puppy can slip through de bars a de cage before de lumbering brute in there can catch him, so he lets
go a me and dives for de puppy. But that puppy, he sure can jump. He rockets himself right through Slash’s hands, and
Slash, he rams smack into de bars a de cage. Man, that’s gotta hurt!
Now Fist, he grabs for Slash but only gets hold a his shirt. That slows Slash down enough though, and before he can get
himself free from that monster, me and de puppy, we’re on our way up de stairs, and we ain’t looking back.
#
De puppy and me, we’re running through de dark, deserted streets a de city. Maybe my brudder, he’s coming after us. Maybe
he has to stay down in de dungeon on account a de big fight between Fist and Red’s guy. I don’ know. Either way, he won’
catch me and de puppy, ’cause we just keep running and running. I don’ know, don’ even care, where we’re running to—just
what we’re running from.
Since it’s night, I should be scared a being picked up by one a de Alpha patrols, but I’m not. Right now I only have enough
scare left in me for Slash. I don’ see any patrols though, and I guess none a them sees me. It’s a big city, and there’s no
moon out tonight ’cause it’s foggy, and de fog, it sorta makes everything a dull gray. Anyway, I doubt that de Alphas’ men care
much about a kid with a puppy, even one who’s running like he just snitched a Stunner from one a them.
De puppy and me, we keep running until we’re both outa breath, then we stop, and I look around. We’ve ended up at de
factories. Man, it’s weird here at night, all gloomy and quiet. Not at all like it is during de day when de factories, they scream,
and de Alphas’ men, they herd crowds a people around between shifts. My brudder, he told me this Factory Zone, where him
and me work, it used to be called “Central Park”. It ain’t a Park no more, though. All de trees, they’ve been cleared away, and
far as I know, de only animals still here are wild dogs. Fact is, I can hear some a them tonight, their barking and howling
echoing out from somewhere among de huge factories. They must come here on account a all de food that gets left behind by
de people who work around here—and by de Alphas’ men, those pigs.
There’s one little bit a de Factory Zone that still looks like a park, though. That’s where there’s these weird bronze statues of a
pretty little girl, a rabbit with a broken ear who’s wearing a big coat, and a small, ugly man in a tall hat. My brudder, he told me
once that de girl’s name is Alice and that she’s from some place called “Wunnerland”, but he didn’ know why that statue was
there, and no one I asked ever knew why they weren’ leveled along with de rest a de park. I guess de Alphas missed them, on
account a they’re not all that big, or maybe they just didn’ need de space. Anyway, I like them, and I’m glad they were left here.
De puppy and me, we’re finally gonna stop to rest now that I see them drift out at us from de fog, kinda like ghosts.
So here we are, me and de puppy, along with Alice and her friends. Poor Alice, she’s wet from de fog, and it looks like little
tears are dripping off her cheeks. I sit down next to her, and de puppy, he sits next to me. He rests his chin on my knee and
looks up at me. He don’ care where we are; he’s just happy to rest for a while and happy to be with me.
I scratch him behind his ears and ask him, “What de hell am I gonna do with you?” He just licks my hand. Man, I never
shoulda got attached to this puppy. My brudder, he was right when he told me de puppy wasn’ real, but how was I supposed to
know I wouldn’ be able to keep him? I know it now though.
I guess he’ll be better off staying here with his own kind where nobody’s gonna feed him to some drooling monster-man. I get
up and tell de little guy to stay. He cocks his head at me, pretending like he’s trying to figure out what I mean, but he knows
what “stay” means. I tell him to stay again, this time shaking my finger at him, and I start to walk away. He gets up and trots
after me. We do this a few times, and I figure he thinks it’s a new game, so I’m gonna have to try something else. Squatting
down next to him, I pull de cord I use for his leash outa my pocket and tie it around his neck. That makes him whimper, so I
sing a little song to him.
“Hush li’l puppy, don’ you cry,
Squeaky’s gotta say to you, ‘Goodbye’.
Hush li’l puppy don’ you stray...
“Aw, shit. Look, Puppy,” I say, “I don’ wanna do this, but you gotta stay here. Understand?” ’Course, he don’, but that’s okay. I
tie de other end a de leash to Alice’s hand, and I walk a few feet away. When I look back, I can see him tugging on de rope. I
know it won’ take him long to chew through that cord, but I’ll be home before he gets free.
“You stay there, Puppy,” I call out to him. “Stay!” He sits down, and I start walking home real quick.
I look back, but de fog, it’s already swallowed up both him and Alice.
END
Return to page 1
basement, it’s a big room, and in de middle there’s a square, roped off area. That area, it’s empty, but all around it there’s a
whole mess a people. Some a them I’ve seen before—some at de factory, some at de Castle—and some a them I’ve never
laid eyes on before tonight. All a them look nasty, like they’ve been waiting way too long to have a good time, and de whole
dungeon, it booms with their jabbering and their shouts and laughs. I see Red way off on de other side a de room. He’s
standing near some sorta cage, looking over at us with a stupid grin on his face and waving, like he wants to be sure we notice
him. But Red, he’s de least a my problems right now, so I ignore him. De crowd, though, I don’ like de looks a it. It scares
me. But even it’s not as bad as what I see there in de corner a de dungeon where we came in. De puppy, he sees it too, and
he’s squirming like he wants to run for cover somewhere.
#
I always kept de puppy tied to a little rope while I worked at de factory. I’d tie one end in a loop around his neck and de other
end to my belt. That was to keep him from running off and getting himself hurt, on account a there’s lotsa machines spinning
and whirring and clacking, and de puppy, he liked to poke his nose where it didn’ belong, where it might get him cut up.
One day I guess I wasn’ paying enough attention to de little guy. I always had to watch what I was doing real close there at de
factory so I wouldn’ get hurt. When de box things came along, I’d feed de wire into them, pull de other wire out de other side,
and clamp it down tight. I had to do it real fast before de next box thing came along, but if I wasn’ careful, de machine, it could
cut me bad. That’s what happened to de boy who worked my job before me. De machine, it cut off de fingers on his right hand,
so he couldn’ work it no more. That was too bad for him, but that’s how I got my job, and that’s why I was so careful. I didn’
take no chances, man. But that’s why I didn’ see when de puppy chewed through de rope. I was used to feeling de rope
tugging and jerking at my belt while he played around, but then all a sudden it stopped, and de rope, it went slack. I looked
down, and de puppy, he was gone.
My stomach, it jumped up and down in my belly, and I said, “Ah, damn it. Damn that puppy!” I looked around for him, but de
smoke in de factory, it’s thick as soup, and you can’ see far. And de roar a de machines, it’s so loud you could hardly hear
yourself scream, so you sure couldn’ hear a puppy yapping. I thought, “What de hell am I gonna do now?” Then de box thing I
shoulda worked went through without its wires in place, so I knew de shit was gonna hit de fan anyway, so I ran off to find de
puppy. I dashed around yelling, “Puppy, where de hell are you? Where de hell did you go to?” ’Course he couldn’ a heard
me. Nobody else could either, but some a de other guys working there could see me running around like a brain-wiped idiot,
and they gave me awful ugly looks.
Finally I found de puppy. He was sitting back a one a de other machines, de one that Spice and Flip work, and he was chewing
on one a de cables that runs from that machine back to de main power house in de middle a de factory. My brudder, he always
told me, “You be careful them cables, Squeak. Don’ you go trip on one a them.” So ’course I felt sick when I saw de puppy
chewing on one a them cables. That dumb shit, he was gonna get himself fried. So I ran toward him, and when de little guy
saw me coming, he dropped his head down. His brown eyes, they got this big guilty look in them, but he didn’ let go a de
cable; he just kept chewing.
I almost reached de puppy when I felt de stun-bolt hit me and knock de wind outa me. My heart, it shuddered, and my skin, it
burned like someone poured hot oil on it. I dropped to my knees and gasped for air—even that smoky shit that’s in de factory.
And I saw de man in de red jumpsuit sauntering over to me, all cocky, waving his Stunner like that’s all it took to make him “De
Man”.
Those guys in red, de Alphas’ men, we all hate them bastards. But this guy, Fist, we hated him even more than de other ones.
He was a monster-big guy with grayish skin that looked like ash. He had fat lips that curled up at de corners in a nasty smile,
like he was thinking a some sadistic thing he planned to do to you, and his nose, it was all squashed up, on account a it’d
been broke a few times too many. He was one sick bastard. He liked to shoot his Stunner at anyone he could or slash them
with his Vi-blade, just so he could watch them bleed. And here he was, walking over to me with a leer on his face. He didn’
see de puppy yet, but he was walking right toward him, and I thought de little guy and me, we were dead meat for sure.
But just then de puppy, he must a bit down hard on de cable. It sparked and crackled, and he jumped like he’d been bit by a
rat. Well, that sure got Fist’s attention, so he looked down and saw de puppy. He tried to kick him, but instead his boot caught
de cable and snapped it. Man, he lit up like one a de Alpha ships.
So that’s when de riot started. Soon as Fist went down, all de workers around him, they threw things at him from all sides—
wrenches, pipes, anything they could get their hands on. A few pieces a junk weren’ gonna hurt him any more than a billion
volts a electricity already had, but de other guards, they all came running over and started shooting into de crowd. I couldn’
believe it, but Fist, he wasn’ dead yet, and he staggered to his feet. Before he could get up though, someone beat him down
again, yanked de Stunner outa his hand, and started shooting back at de Alphas’ men. Even though we only had one gun,
there were more than a hundred a us by that time, and we put up a pretty good fight. Finally some a de Alphas, they came in
with de heavy artillery to quiet things down.
When it was all over, some a de guys in red, they asked everyone how things got started, but nobody said they knew. Maybe
they did, maybe they didn’, but nobody tells nothing to de Alphas or their men. That’s de way it is. So me and de puppy, we
were safe. But de Alphas, in their copper-colored suits, they didn’ wanna leave it at that. One a them, he said that they’d close
de factory for de rest a de day, that we wouldn’ get no food for working that day, and that they’d make an example outa one a
us. So they shot poor, old Pigeon Lady with a Wiper.
Now, most people, they think when someone gets his brain wiped, he just goes into a sorta coma. ’Least, that’s what people
wanna believe, and sometimes that’s what happens. But you never know how a Wiper’s gonna affect someone. Some
people, they foam at de mouth and go crazy like a mad dog. Other people, they get like a zombie and walk around like they’re
asleep. Those people, they die soon, ’cause they don’ care enough to eat or drink anything.
Pigeon Lady, she was like that last type, de zombie type. Her boy, Gimper, he screamed and cried something awful when he
found his mama wandering de streets. He tried to get her to eat something, to drink something, but she wouldn’. She died a
few days later.
That night while we were eating some stale bread we’d stashed away, I asked my brudder if he knew what started de riot. I
tried to sound real casual, but maybe it was de way I was hugging de puppy that made him look at me funny, like he wondered
why I was asking him this dumb ass question. But I didn’ let on anything was wrong. I just grinned and petted de puppy and
waited for him to answer. Finally he said, “Boy, what starts any a them riots? De Alphas and their men, they push us, and they
push us ’till we can’ take no more. Then we break. We’re men, not dogs. Not cattle. So we fight back. That’s just de way it
is.”
I nodded and said, “Oh.” Then I said, “Too bad about Pigeon Lady, though, huh?” My brudder, he said it was a tough break,
that he felt bad for Pigeon Lady and her boy. But then he said I should be glad it wasn’ him or me that got wiped.
When he finished eating his bread crust, he said that at least something good came outa it. When I asked him what that was,
he said that Fist finally got what he deserved. I said, “Yeah! Good thing he’s dead.” And my brudder, he smiled kinda
mysterious-like and said, “Oh, Fist, he ain’t dead. But I bet he wishes he was.”
I asked him what that meant, and he told me de Alphas, they don’ want guys who screw up, so after de riot they wiped Fist and
threw him outa de factory. He said that him and some a de guys from de Castle, they got Fist now, and they got plans for him. I
asked him, “What kinda plans?” He just smirked like he does right after he gets laid, and he told me that I’d find out soon
enough. He said that Fist might be our ticket to Easy Street. I didn’ know where this Easy Street was, but I figured it had to be
better than living here at de Castle.
#
My brudder and me, we’re looking at a big old cage like de one over there next to Red, and standing in it, buck naked, is that
bastard, Fist. There’s some drool dripping down his chin, and his eyes, they’re all glazed over, just like other people I’ve seen
who got shot with a Wiper. His face, it’s twisted up in an ugly snarl. He looks like this mad dog I saw once, and I think, “So,
this is de kinda dragon they got locked up in de dungeon.” He howls and rattles de bars a his cage, and I almost feel sorry for
de bastard.
My brudder, he turns to me and says, “Okay, Squeaky, gimme de puppy.”
My heart, it freezes up, and I say, “What? What de hell for?” and I squeeze de puppy real tight. That makes him whine a little,
but I don’ pay much attention to that, ’cause I’m too busy staring at my brudder. I don’ know why he wants de puppy, and I’m
not sure I want to find out. I just look at him. I tell him that I’ll keep hold a de little guy; I won’ let him get loose or get in de way
or nothing.
My brudder, he shakes his head kinda sad-like, and he says, “Damn! Boy, I told you. Didn’ I tell you? Didn’ I tell you, don’ you
get attach to that puppy? Didn’ I tell you that?”
I shrug and nod, so he waits for me to give him de puppy. Man, I’m not about to do that, so he starts to get mad. He doesn’
yell, but his teeth, they’re clenched real tight, and his words, they sorta spit out at me. “Gimme de goddam puppy, Squeak!” I
don’ know what to do except stand there and shiver, just like de puppy.
My brudder’s face, it gets this hard look on it like de Alphas’ men get when they’re ready to stun some poor bastard, so I start to
back up, but my brudder, he’s quicker than me. He grabs my arm and shakes me. He says, “Don’ make me hurt you, Squeak.
Just gimme de damn puppy.” I hold onto that puppy as hard as I can, and I ask my brudder why he wants de puppy now
anyway.
He lets go a my arm and looks at me like I’m de stupidest little kid he’s ever seen. He says, “You don’ know? Don’cha know
what we do with de puppies? You dumb shit. We throw them to de Glads.”
I don’ get it, and my face, it must look all blank to him. He jerks his head toward that animal, Fist, who’s slobbering in his
cage. “De Glads, man. We throw de puppies to them before de fight. They rip into them. Gets up their blood lust. Makes
them fight better. And this son a bitch, Fist, he’s de best damn Glad I ever got. He’s gonna kill that other bastard in ten
seconds. Then I’m gonna get rich off this goddam fight.”
We stand here staring at each other for a while. I can’ believe it, but there it is. Slash, my own brudder, he wants to throw my
puppy to that ugly bastard to tear apart. Just to make a few bucks. I bite my lower lip to keep from saying anything that might
get me into even bigger trouble, or maybe it’s just to keep my lip from quivering.
While I stand here, frozen like a mouse staring at a hungry cat, my brudder, he’s telling me how nice we’ll live when we get rich
from this fight, how much better off we’ll be with all that money. But I don’ see it happening. Not like this.
Finally he’s done talking, and I glance over at that beast, Fist, and I look back at my brudder, Slash. Fist, Slash. Fist, Slash.
Right now, I don’ know which one a them I hate more. I hear myself whisper, “No!” and I turn to run back to de stairs.
I don’ get more than two steps before Slash, he grabs me and spins me around with one hand and slaps me as hard as he
can with de other one. I stagger back and fall to one knee, but I don’ let go a de puppy. I wipe de blood trickling from my nose
with de back a my hand, and I shake my head to stop de ringing in my ears. Before I can even look up, Slash, he’s bending
over me. He grabs my hair and jerks back my head. He pulls out his Vi-blade and flicks it on. As he brings it close to my neck,
I can hear de damn thing hum. I can almost feel de razor-thin force blade bite my skin.
“Dammit Squeaky, don’ make me cut you,” he says. “Gimme de puppy!” Man, his voice, it hisses like a snake. It scares me. I’
ve never seen my brudder like this before—’least, not with me. I’m gasping for air in little sobs, and I see that Slash, my big
brudder, he’s crying too.
I stare into his eyes for a minute. They look wet, and I see something in them that makes me stop struggling. I see fear, just
like mine, looking back at me. “You gonna cut me, Slash?” I whisper. “I’m you’re little brudder; you gonna blood me?”
Slash, he keeps de Vi-blade close to my neck, and he shakes his head real slow. I’m not sure if that means he’s not gonna
cut me or that he’s sure sorry to have to do it. I hold my breath, and I think even my heart stops beating while I wait to see what
he’s gonna do. Finally he flicks off de Vi-blade and puts it back in de sheath strapped to his leg. He does that so slow I’m
afraid he might change his mind and pull it out again. But he doesn’.
He lets go a me, and he steps back, gives me enough room so I can stand up. I take a deep breath, and I smile at him. But
his cold eyes, they’re still as sharp as his Vi-blade, and I can feel them cut into me, cut me deep as that damn blade a his
could. Now de corners a his lips, they twitch up a little, and he says, “Okay, Squeak. Okay. You keep de puppy.” His voice, it’s
so quiet that I can hardly hear it over de din a that crowd in de other part a de dungeon. I can see a smile coming to his lips
though, so I figure everything’s gonna be okay now. I’m relieved by de smile on his lips, but I’m still a little nervous, ’cause that
smile, it hasn’ crept up to his eyes yet.
My brudder, he’s telling me he wants to show me that animal, Fist—show him to me up close—so I let him put his hand on my
shoulder and lead me over to de cage. Fist, he grabs de bars and rattles them so fierce, I think for sure he’s gonna break outa
there. As we get near his cage, he shoots his hand out to grab at us, and I stumble back a step, but my brudder, he just
laughs. He pulls out his Vi-blade, switches it on, and with a casual wrist-flick, he slices it across Fist’s bare arm, cuts a little
red gash on it. That sends Fist in a rage, and he screams and shakes de cage some more. I’m not so scared a that bastard,
Fist, anymore with my brudder there with his Vi-blade, but de puppy, he’s terrified. He’s whimpering something pitiful, so I
shush him and start to shift him over to my other arm. Man, what a mistake! While I’m moving de little guy from one arm to de
other, my grip on him loosens, and fast as lightning, Slash, he shoots out his hand. He grabs de puppy by de scruff a de neck,
and easy as you’d toss a dog a bone, he flips de puppy into de cage. It all happens so fast, it seems like de puppy, he flies
right outa my arms and into that cage.
I scream. I’d jumped into that cage after him if I could, but Slash, he still has his hand on my shoulder. His grip, it’s like an iron
vice, and I can’ move. I start to cry like a baby, ’cause that poor, little puppy, he’s gonna get ripped up for sure.
But Slash, he screwed up. He timed his move for when I wasn’ prepared, not for when that ugly old Fist was ready. So that
flying puppy, he catches Fist by surprise, too. He hits Fist square in de chest and bounces right off him. By de time Fist, he
recovers his wits—and he has damn few a them left—de puppy, he’s up and scrambling on his big puppy feet for de side a de
cage.
Slash, he sees that de puppy can slip through de bars a de cage before de lumbering brute in there can catch him, so he lets
go a me and dives for de puppy. But that puppy, he sure can jump. He rockets himself right through Slash’s hands, and
Slash, he rams smack into de bars a de cage. Man, that’s gotta hurt!
Now Fist, he grabs for Slash but only gets hold a his shirt. That slows Slash down enough though, and before he can get
himself free from that monster, me and de puppy, we’re on our way up de stairs, and we ain’t looking back.
#
De puppy and me, we’re running through de dark, deserted streets a de city. Maybe my brudder, he’s coming after us. Maybe
he has to stay down in de dungeon on account a de big fight between Fist and Red’s guy. I don’ know. Either way, he won’
catch me and de puppy, ’cause we just keep running and running. I don’ know, don’ even care, where we’re running to—just
what we’re running from.
Since it’s night, I should be scared a being picked up by one a de Alpha patrols, but I’m not. Right now I only have enough
scare left in me for Slash. I don’ see any patrols though, and I guess none a them sees me. It’s a big city, and there’s no
moon out tonight ’cause it’s foggy, and de fog, it sorta makes everything a dull gray. Anyway, I doubt that de Alphas’ men care
much about a kid with a puppy, even one who’s running like he just snitched a Stunner from one a them.
De puppy and me, we keep running until we’re both outa breath, then we stop, and I look around. We’ve ended up at de
factories. Man, it’s weird here at night, all gloomy and quiet. Not at all like it is during de day when de factories, they scream,
and de Alphas’ men, they herd crowds a people around between shifts. My brudder, he told me this Factory Zone, where him
and me work, it used to be called “Central Park”. It ain’t a Park no more, though. All de trees, they’ve been cleared away, and
far as I know, de only animals still here are wild dogs. Fact is, I can hear some a them tonight, their barking and howling
echoing out from somewhere among de huge factories. They must come here on account a all de food that gets left behind by
de people who work around here—and by de Alphas’ men, those pigs.
There’s one little bit a de Factory Zone that still looks like a park, though. That’s where there’s these weird bronze statues of a
pretty little girl, a rabbit with a broken ear who’s wearing a big coat, and a small, ugly man in a tall hat. My brudder, he told me
once that de girl’s name is Alice and that she’s from some place called “Wunnerland”, but he didn’ know why that statue was
there, and no one I asked ever knew why they weren’ leveled along with de rest a de park. I guess de Alphas missed them, on
account a they’re not all that big, or maybe they just didn’ need de space. Anyway, I like them, and I’m glad they were left here.
De puppy and me, we’re finally gonna stop to rest now that I see them drift out at us from de fog, kinda like ghosts.
So here we are, me and de puppy, along with Alice and her friends. Poor Alice, she’s wet from de fog, and it looks like little
tears are dripping off her cheeks. I sit down next to her, and de puppy, he sits next to me. He rests his chin on my knee and
looks up at me. He don’ care where we are; he’s just happy to rest for a while and happy to be with me.
I scratch him behind his ears and ask him, “What de hell am I gonna do with you?” He just licks my hand. Man, I never
shoulda got attached to this puppy. My brudder, he was right when he told me de puppy wasn’ real, but how was I supposed to
know I wouldn’ be able to keep him? I know it now though.
I guess he’ll be better off staying here with his own kind where nobody’s gonna feed him to some drooling monster-man. I get
up and tell de little guy to stay. He cocks his head at me, pretending like he’s trying to figure out what I mean, but he knows
what “stay” means. I tell him to stay again, this time shaking my finger at him, and I start to walk away. He gets up and trots
after me. We do this a few times, and I figure he thinks it’s a new game, so I’m gonna have to try something else. Squatting
down next to him, I pull de cord I use for his leash outa my pocket and tie it around his neck. That makes him whimper, so I
sing a little song to him.
“Hush li’l puppy, don’ you cry,
Squeaky’s gotta say to you, ‘Goodbye’.
Hush li’l puppy don’ you stray...
“Aw, shit. Look, Puppy,” I say, “I don’ wanna do this, but you gotta stay here. Understand?” ’Course, he don’, but that’s okay. I
tie de other end a de leash to Alice’s hand, and I walk a few feet away. When I look back, I can see him tugging on de rope. I
know it won’ take him long to chew through that cord, but I’ll be home before he gets free.
“You stay there, Puppy,” I call out to him. “Stay!” He sits down, and I start walking home real quick.
I look back, but de fog, it’s already swallowed up both him and Alice.
END
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