BLUE TURNED AROUND, feeling anything but victorious. Her ear was torn, and she had a piece of glass still stuck in her leg. She couldn’t hear; her ears were ringing from the explosions and gunfire.
Blue pushed on through the steel doors and down the hall to the main battle. It was chaos. Suddenly, the robots stopped and stared at each other. Their leaders howled, “Robo is dead! Retreat!”
They leaped over the SAD dogs and broken equipment, dropping into the sewers. From there, they burst outside, nipping at the human soldiers, and running into the forest. They were quickly joined by the rest of the RAD army, an injured, fierce German Shepherd with dark eyes leading the retreat. The last robot dog to leave paused briefly to flip a switch, releasing sliding doors that closed and sealed the sewer lines from the outside. The SAD armies didn’t chase them, instead breaking into cheers of celebration.
Blue stared at the fleeing dogs, her concentration only broken by Max’s voice.
“Blue! Blue, you’re alive!” Max yipped happily, as he limped toward her and nuzzled her.
Duncan walked toward Blue. “Is he really dead?” he asked her quietly.
“Yes, he’s dead,” she said, closing her eyes to block out the image.
Their happiness was short-lived. They continued to feel the explosions shaking the compound, but now there were voices of soldiers near the entrance of the complex.
“What are we going to do?” Jenny yelped.
The complex shook again with another explosion.
“Look, they’re going to blow this place up,” Rex said, quietly to Blue. “We have to get all these dogs outta here, or we’re all going to die.”
Blue nodded her head in agreement. She turned to Max, Destiny, and Duncan.
“As soon as we get out of this mountain, I want you to run to the city,” Blue told them. “Do you understand me? If I don’t return...” her voice drifted off. “Well, you have a responsibility to keep going—together, as a family.”
They grimly lowered their heads and nodded.
“Time to get going,” Blue called to them, looking for Rex.
She finally caught a glimpse of him briefly with another
Husky who looked vaguely familiar.
“Let’s do this, team. We haven’t won this battle yet,” the Husky howled through the crowd. “Everyone needs to move out. Get your pups and get going. Soldiers, prepare!”
Blue couldn’t see the Husky clearly from the distance, but she picked up a faint scent. It couldn’t be. Was it the smell of coffee?
Then the Husky—wearing an earphone and microphone— turned her graceful head, and gazed warmly at her.
“Mom?” Blue yelped. “Is it really you? How did you…?”
Her mom walked forward, tears in her own blue eyes, and nuzzled her. Everything around seemed to blur except her.
“How are you still alive?” Blue asked.
“I had cancer until recently,” her mom said gently. “The humans at the coffee house got me help and medicine. They saved my life.”
Blue stepped back. Over time, she had harbored so much anger and grief toward those at the coffee shop. “I thought they had killed you,” she said sorrowfully.
“Things are not always what they seem,” Diamond said. “Those you think could not possibly help end up being the ones who make the biggest difference.”
Rex trotted next to Diamond.
“We have got to get this started,” he said with urgency.
Blue swallowed deeply, her legs still wobbly from fatigue and injury. She narrowed her eyes, and nodded.
“Let’s do this.”
Diamond commanded platoons of large breed dogs to quickly push the rubble out of the hallways, while she prepared the others to storm out of the mountain. In the control room, Clover opened the steel doors guarding the main entrance of the complex, much to the surprise of the human soldiers who were slowly climbing through the mountain terrain.
Blue barked commands to both pack dogs and SAD forces. It was raining hard, a mixed blessing, giving an advantage to the nimble dogs that could handle the mud and rocks better than the humans.
“Which dog was it?” a sergeant yelled to his troops. He aimed his gun at a poodle. “Was it you?” he asked, his gun shaking. He swung it around at a German Shepherd. “Or maybe it was you.” He turned around again, and then leveled the gun at Max. “No, it was you.”
He slowly started squeezing the trigger, his hand still shaking. Blue sprang forward, seeing the flash of light as the gun fired. She landed right in front of Max, but felt a sharp, burning pain in her tail. She howled in pain.
Blue took a moment to absorb what had happened. She stepped toward the man. The sergeant raised his gun again.
“Why?” she yelled at him. “Why would you shoot? It’s just like humans to act first and think second.”
All the soldiers backed up. They had heard that the dogs could now talk to humans, but had yet to witness it firsthand.
The sergeant pointed the gun again.
“Step back, dog, or I’ll kill you,” he said, bracing his arm.
She stepped forward, snarling, causing the sergeant to trip backwards and land in the mud. As he prepared to aim again, Blue heard a loud snarl. She looked up to see that the humans had been completely encircled by the snow pack, led by Balta. Balta growled in his ear.
“Raise that gun again, and I’ll tear your throat out.”
With the tables turned, the human leaders commanded a retreat.
Balta then leaned down to Blue. “I think you’re going to live,” she said with a chuckle, as she checked the small bullet wound on Blue’s tail.
Balta finished getting all dogs out of the mountain, working with Clover, Jenny, and SAD. They moved the rocks back in front of the entrance.
Hours later, Blue was resting, her body patched up from the battle. Balta came to see her.
“You know, we found Buddy,” Balta said. “Tell me you didn’t kill him.”
Blue sadly looked at Balta. “Of course not. They used him to get to me.”
She shook her head—another casualty of Robo’s Dawn of the Dogs.
“I’ll let you rest here for a couple of moments, but it’s not wise to stay in this one spot. The humans will be trying to catch as many of us as possible,” Balta said.
Blue nodded. “I can travel. I just need a couple of moments.” Balta dipped her head in respect. “I’m sorry, but it’s for the good of all of us.”
Balta turned away, and trotted out.
Clover came in. Fur had been torn from his pelt, and he had a deep wound in his chest. Blue was still wincing in pain.
“Um, Blue?”
Blue looked up at him. “Yes?”
“I wanted to say thank you,” he said. “You don’t get to meet The Chosen One every day.”
Then Clover shifted his feet. “I think I’m going to leave now.”
Blue cocked her head. “Why?”
“I need to find my family. I’m worried about them. My Wolfie is out there, and I don’t want him to get hurt anymore.” Clover sighed, lifting his paw to show Robo’s symbol. “I already will have to live with this forever.”
Blue nodded. “You go find your family,” she said, then giving him the highest compliment she could: “You are a good dog.” She licked Clover’s shoulder, “Good luck.”
Clover nodded before turning away and heading toward the coast and a boat to return home.