‘Kate, you smell!’

I half opened my eyes to find a drooling pink tongue hanging a few inches from my face.

It was not my sister’s.

I sat up in a hurry and looked around me. Four dogs looked back. Nosey was curled up at my feet. Zip perched on a bag above me. Puppy was cuddled against my side. Tiny was standing on top of me panting and smiling.

‘It’s a little crowded in here,’ I said. ‘And you guys seriously stink!’ I opened the door and clambered out. The dogs followed, stretching happily in the morning sun.

As I walked around to the back of our car, I stopped abruptly and gasped.

There was no more road.

Instead there was a huge hole in the ground where the road used to be. It must have been a bomb blast . . . and it had been too dark last night for me to see it.

The dogs crouched at the edge of the crater, barking into the pit. I quickly grabbed Zip to make sure he didn’t fall in.

Looking at their faces, I realised they were just as spooked as me.

After the shock had worn off, we turned and walked away from that big, empty hole of nothingness.

We had more important things to worry about, like finding food, so I grabbed two empty bags lying on the ground and headed off down the line of cars.

‘Okay you lot, who’s hungry?’

In no time, we found old sandwiches, bottles of water, a few tins of ham, stale bread and some dried meat. Lucky for the dogs.

‘Hey you lot, settle down!’

The dogs were running about everywhere, eating whatever they could find. Only Puppy stayed by my side.

‘Slow down, guys! We have to save as much food as we can until my mum and dad come back . . .’

But I had no idea when that would be. There wasn’t a sign of anyone anywhere. Not a single person.

Where had they all gone?

I knew that other people had run into the forest, so why hadn’t I seen anyone? And why was no one back here at the cars? The stillness was spooky. I was grateful to have the dogs, or I would have felt really alone.

I forced myself to continue on, opening up cars, trucks, wagons, one at a time, to check for food or water.

As I pushed on the door handle of a small truck, the door suddenly exploded outwards, knocking me to the ground. A black shape launched out of the cabin and landed on top of me with a snarl.

I was staring up at a mouth full of bared fangs, terrified.

Without a pause, Puppy sprang at the black dog, and – although she was small in comparison – her courage was enormous. She knocked him off me and the two dogs transformed into a snarling, barking, black and golden mess of legs and fur and teeth.

‘Puppy!’ I screamed. ‘Stop! Stop!’

Hearing the commotion, Tiny, Nosey and Zip ran back to us, howling hysterically.

A streak of red appeared on Puppy’s fur. I had to help her!

Looking around, I saw a big stick and, adrenaline rushing to my head, picked it up.

I raised it in the air, waiting for the right moment to swing at the black dog. As angry as I felt at the strange dog, I didn’t want to hit Puppy by mistake!

Then, before I even had a chance, Zip flashed past me and charged headlong into the fight.

Perhaps Zip’s head was hardened from running into things, because there was an almighty thump and the black dog went sprawling.

Zip quickly positioned himself in front of Puppy, like a brother protecting his younger sibling. The black dog staggered to his feet and shook himself, a bit dazed. They faced each other, growling, but neither seemed to want to attack.

‘Are you guys okay?’

Puppy ran back over to me. Her golden fur was stained red, but she seemed alright. I checked her over – there was just a small cut on her shoulder. Despite her size, she had not hesitated to protect me. I wondered what I’d done to earn this?

‘Thank you, Puppy.’

Zip and the black dog, a mastiff, continued to circle each other.

Finally, I took a step forward and the mastiff snarled.

‘Whooa, boy. It’s okay. I won’t look in your truck if you don’t want me to.’

I glanced past him into the cabin of the truck and saw that it was completely empty.

‘C’mon guys, we’ll leave this truck alone.’

As I led the dogs away from the truck the mastiff continued to stare at us menacingly.

We made our way up the line of cars and checked every single one. By late afternoon we’d walked up and down the line several times, collecting what we could, but always making sure we avoided the truck guarded by the mastiff.

There were eighty-one vehicles in total, and not a single person around except for me. Well, me and my dogs.

‘Alright, we’re going back to my car to sleep. It’s getting late.’

As we walked past the mastiff one last time, he whimpered.

‘Have you eaten anything, boy?’ I said, edging very carefully towards him as Puppy stuck hard to my side.

He didn’t look like he had. He could have found food like the other dogs, but for some reason it seemed like he didn’t want to leave the truck.

Without moving any further forward, I reached into the backpack and threw him a sandwich.

He gobbled it up eagerly.

Next, I poured some water into a pot and decided to risk getting a little closer to push it towards him.

After I’d stepped back, the mastiff tentatively approached the pot. Then, in a frenzy, he slopped it all up fast.

When he was done, something changed in his face. His eyes was softer now – not angry, maybe something more like worry? It seemed like the other dogs could sense it too, because they moved aside as he approached, allowing me to gently pat him on the head. He had a collar with a tag on it.

BRUTUS.

‘Hey, Brutus.’

His tail twitched just a little.

‘Okay, Brutus, you can come with us as long as you play fair, or you can stay here. It’s up to you.’

We walked off towards Mum and Dad’s car . . . and a few moments later, I noticed Brutus was following too.

I had adopted another dog.