Another explosion knocks us to the ground, and the rear wall of the compound shatters in front of us.
I call to Chance, but he doesn’t respond. He’s dazed, rubbing at his ears where the pressure wave hit him. I grab the back of his shirt and pull him behind a thick tree trunk. A blue armored vehicle smashes through the bricks and advances into the yard, crushing flowers beneath its tracks. Maelstrom soldiers dressed as Animal Control officers stream into the opening in the broken wall behind it. There are dozens of them, their faces set hard, zapper weapons drawn and at the ready.
Junebug is a few feet away with Dr. Pao and her dog Maddie, the three of them crouched behind thick hedges. I raise my paw in warning, signaling them to keep quiet.
The Maelstrom soldiers stop just inside the ruined wall line, waiting for orders. All at once they extend their batons and the high-pitched tones pierce the air. I howl as the zappers discharge simultaneously. A wall of electricity floods the compound, beams crisscrossing, smashing whatever they touch. The tree shatters high above us, thick limbs falling to the ground and barely missing us. The smell of boiled chlorophyll and burnt wood fills the air. I glance over and see that Junebug and Dr. Pao are shaken but unharmed.
I look back at the Maelstrom soldiers, now advancing through the burned landscape. Whatever their orders were previously, the mission has changed. They are storming the yard like a military formation in a full-frontal assault.
“Come with me!” Dr. Pao shouts, and she motions for us to follow as she and Maddie disappear behind a bank of trees, racing toward the thicket of bushes that leads to the barn behind the house.
I get Junebug and Chance moving, and we follow the doctor into the maze, weaving around corners and ducking under bushes. I hear the Maelstrom soldiers cursing behind us, temporarily confused by the maze-like vegetation.
I think we’re home free, when a soldier pops out of the bushes up ahead, directly in front of Chance and Junebug. They stop dead in their tracks, shocked at his sudden appearance.
He looks just as surprised to see two kids in front of him, and he stares at Junebug.
“What the—What are you doing—”
Does the soldier know her?
Junebug rears back and kicks him hard in the groin, cutting off his sentence and doubling him over with a grunt of pain.
I leap forward and slam into him, knocking him into a nearby tree, where he passes out.
Chance is stunned, looking from Junebug to me and back.
“You nailed that dude,” Chance says, awestruck.
I want to ask Junebug about what just happened, but I hear the high-pitched whine of the zappers recharging behind us.
“Get down!” I scream, and we dive for the ground as the electrical beams surge over our heads, cutting through the bushes, clearing the way.
Dr. Pao jumps up and races to the barn, flinging open the door.
“Defend!!!” she shouts, and the labradoodles surge out of the barn, howling loudly as they stream into the yard, intent on protecting their mother.
Dr. Pao whirls around. “You have to get out of here. Keep the children safe.”
Without an earpiece she can no longer understand my words, but I cock my head, communicating that she should come with us.
“I’m staying to defend my home,” she says. “I’ve been waiting to get some payback against these weasels for a long time.”
I howl, urging her to be safe, and she nods her understanding.
“There’s a tunnel behind the barn,” she says. “You’ll find the entrance behind the large boulder. That’s your way out.”
I call to Chance and Junebug, telling them where to meet me.
In the yard, the labradoodles have made contact with the Maelstrom soldiers. I see dozens of fights occurring at the same time, men and dogs in close combat. The doodles may be cute, but they’re agile, and they know how to fight. They use their communication skills to coordinate so two or three doodles pounce on one soldier, incapacitating him before moving on to the next.
They’re putting up a good defense, but they’re outnumbered, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re defeated.
“One last thing,” Dr. Pao says. “Don’t let them take you back to their base, Wild. Do whatever you have to, but don’t go back.”
“What’s back there?” I ask, but the doctor can’t understand me, and there’s no time for more questions.
She runs into the burning yard behind me, as I head for the back of the barn to find Chance and Junebug.
I dive behind the boulder and find Junebug crouching in fear.
“I lost Chance!” she says. “He went to find you.”
She points back toward where I just came from.
I stare at her, wondering if I can trust her after what I thought I saw between her and the soldier.
“What should we do?” Junebug asks frantically.
Her face is etched with worry. I’ve trusted her this far, and she hasn’t let us down.
“I’ll find Chance,” I say. “You get to the car.”
She hesitates, not wanting to separate, but I urge her toward the exit tunnel Dr. Pao told me about.
“Promise you’ll protect him,” she says.
I lick her face once to reassure her, and she smiles weakly and dives into the tunnel.
Then I turn my full attention to finding Chance.
I race back around the barn, trying to locate Chance’s scent, but my nose is overwhelmed by the smoke in the air and the smell of multiple dogs and men.
I catch the barest hint of his scent nearby, and I follow as the trail gets stronger. His normal scent is mixed with sweat and fear, and I speed up, desperate to find him.
I turn the corner lightning fast and hear Chance shout.
“Watch out, Wild!”
A Maelstrom soldier has an arm around Chance’s throat, holding him tight. He also has a fully charged zapper with sparks flying from the tip.
It takes only a split second to understand what I’m seeing.
This soldier knew I’d come for Chance, and he waited for me. The moment I appear, the zapper is already rising in his hand, aimed at me, his finger on its trigger.
I see Chance looking at the weapon, struggling, terror in his eyes.
There’s no time.
In the space of a breath, the soldier presses the trigger and a beam of electricity arcs from the zapper toward me, sizzling through the air on its lethal course.
As fast as I am, there’s no way I can avoid it.
“NOOO!” Chance shouts. He’s already in motion as the shot goes off, twisting in the soldier’s grip, something glinting in his hand.
It’s his cell phone. The only link to his mother.
Chance swings his clenched fist, smashing the phone into the side of the soldier’s head. I hear the crunch of the screen breaking and a grunt of pain.
The zapper beam arcs up and away, missing me by a centimeter, singeing the fur on my head and blasting through the tree behind me.
The soldier winces, blood running from a cut near his eye. He loosens his grip around Chance’s throat.
This is my opportunity.
I leap into the air, covering the distance between us in a second. I crash into the soldier at full force, knocking him back into a tree where he drops the zapper and crumples, unconscious.
I loom over him, anger like fire in my chest. I want to tear this soldier apart for hurting Chance, rip open his uniform, and—
“Wild!”
Chance calls my name. He’s bent over, gasping for breath, hands on his knees. I growl at the soldier one last time, longing for the taste of his blood on my tongue.
Chance’s cries bring me back to my senses. I whip around, tail flying, as I forget about the soldier and run to Chance, frantically licking his face to be sure he’s okay.
“That tickles,” he says, and he laughs and pushes me back.
“You saved my life,” I tell him.
“Not really.”
“You were incredible, Chance.”
He blushes, his cheeks glowing red. But his expression quickly turns to dismay as he looks down at his cell phone. It’s strewn across the ground nearby, screen smashed, case dangling open.
He scoops up the phone in two hands and stares at it for a second.
“Oh well,” he says, and he puts the pieces into the backpack on his shoulder.
“You destroyed your phone,” I say.
“You’re my best friend, Wild. I’d do anything for you.”
I see the way he looks at me with love in his eyes, and warmth spreads across my chest and up my back.
“I’d do anything for you, too,” I say, the words spilling out, surprising me.
“I’ll find some other way to call my mom,” he says.
We’re interrupted by the sound of a car horn blaring outside the rear walls of the compound. I hear the powerful BMW engine revving and feel relieved, knowing I was right to trust her.
“Junebug’s here,” I say. “We have to go.”
“Let’s motivate!” Chance says, and he takes off running toward the barn. I turn back to the soldier passed out on the ground. I sniff at his pocket and smell something made of leather.
I tear it open and pull out a black wallet. Inside is an identification badge of some kind.
ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
AGOURA DIVISION
More soldiers come around the corner, grabbing for their weapons.
I kick the wallet under a bush and race behind the barn where Chance is waiting. I push him through the tunnel and follow close behind. A second later we emerge outside the compound walls and leap into the BMW. Junebug guns the engine, speeding us away from danger.