Gabriel stood in the back of the florist truck trying to control the strays with a combination of meat from Andy’s pack and pleading. A terrier type ran through the legs of three large dogs on one side of the truck while a shepherd mix howled on the other. A Labrador-something left a steaming pile in the middle of the floor and Gabriel was trying to clean it up as best as he could with paper towels and one hand while holding the phone in the other.
Noise control was going to be the key. Luke had padded the walls of the truck with gym mats borrowed from the preschool next to his daughter’s flower shop. When they had tested the mats earlier, the padding had seemed generally effective in keeping the noise inside the truck. The problem, however, was that the padding kept the noise inside the truck. Gabriel’s head was already pounding and the truck was still at the curb.
Gabriel dialed his phone. “We’re ready to move. You ready for us?”
Greg answered at the shelter. “We’ll be waiting.”
Luke slid open the small divider between the truck cab and the back. “You set back there?” he asked.
“Just waiting for a confirmed all clear from Sid,” Gabriel said.
“I just spoke to him three minutes ago. We’re good.”
“Let’s wait a sec. I don’t want to drive right into something.”
“Starting to get hot out here. We’re out of time. I’m pulling out,” Luke told him. “You better hold on to something.” Without waiting for further protest from Gabriel, Luke pulled away from the sidewalk.
The dogs in the back initially quieted at the truck’s movement, but once the truck picked up speed, the dogs lost their momentary restraint and began to bark and howl as the truck headed toward the perimeter and the shelter.
Gabriel dialed again and reached Sid, stationed at a traffic light post three blocks from the shelter.
“I’m checking in,” Gabriel said.
“You already did.”
“I’m doing it again. Any sign of the Guard?”
“And I’m just keeping it from you?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Sidney.”
“The militia seems to be preoccupied at the perimeter for the moment.”
“That could change, and anything coming to the shelter from the perimeter would need to pass your way.”
“I know. Trust me: you’ll be the first to know if it does.”
“Don’t get distracted.”
“I won’t if you stop calling me. Are you ready?”
“I doubt it,” Gabriel said, and signed off.
Gabriel jammed his cell phone into his pocket, put out a hand against the wall to steady himself, and turned to face the dogs. “Work with me.” As if in response, a black Lab mix jumped on Gabriel and pushed him to the floor, where he narrowly missed the pile of shit.
“So did you ever hear the one about the rabbi, the priest, and the dog?”
Gabriel looked up from the floor and saw Channa leaning casually against the side of the truck, suppressing a laugh.
“Not yet. Do I need to?” he asked, slowly rising to his feet.
“You might find it of interest given your present state of mind.”
“Then by all means.”
“So this priest and this rabbi die and go to heaven.”
“Funny so far.”
Channa ignored him. “They’re waiting in line at the pearly gates to speak with God. But there’s a dog ahead of them. God appears and says to the three of them, ‘Tell me what you’ve done to make me smile.’ The priest says—”
“Of course the priest speaks first—”
“Do you want to hear it or not?”
“Sorry, go ahead,” Gabriel said.
“So the priest says, ‘I have been true to Your spirit and sought to bring comfort to everyone I met.’”
“And the rabbi?”
“I was getting to that. The rabbi says, ‘I have been true to Your heart and sought to carry out Your will on earth.’ God smiles at them and moves aside to let the three of them pass. Once they cross over, the priest says, ‘Excuse me, Heavenly Father, but what did the dog say in answer to your question?’ And God says in surprise, ‘I thought you were speaking for him.’ So the rabbi says, ‘Excuse me, Heavenly Father, but if You thought we were speaking on behalf of the dog, why did You just let us through?’ And God says, getting annoyed now, ‘I told you, I thought you were speaking for him.’”
“Thank you for the inspiration, dear,” Gabriel said. “But I would have preferred a cigarette and two fingers of Scotch.”
Gabriel reached down to remove one of the dogs humping his leg. When he glanced up, Channa was gone, as he’d expected.
Gabriel felt the truck begin to slow and then music blasted all other thoughts out of his head.
Luke was implementing his plan.
They had confirmed through about seven prior test runs that the Guard was not checking vehicles entering the perimeter for dogs. Still, the line into the quarantine area was slow because of all the rubbernecking. This was where the dog noise could hurt them the most. The gym mats were useful, but they couldn’t take any chances. Luke had promised that he had a plan. “In Jimi we trust,” he’d said.
Gabriel now understood what he had meant.
A block before the perimeter, Luke opened the windows of the truck cab, put his Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland CD into the truck’s player, found the fifteenth track—“All Along the Watchtower”—and turned the volume to the max. Jimi’s guitar and ghostly voice reverberated off the surrounding buildings.
“Hey!” Gabriel heard one Guard shout above the music. “Do we all need to hear that crap?”
Luke added his own surprisingly melodious voice to Jimi’s. They picked up speed again as Luke continued singing with the CD.
They were free of the perimeter. Or more accurately, Gabriel thought, they were now trapped inside it.