ONE POX, Ch. 1 End.

I had a dream of my little girl that night, now I'm lying in my bed crying and close to total despair. "Fucking dogs!" I blubber out for a reason that escapes me. I'm wishing I could take a shower, eat some breakfast and talk to my wife. I know that starting off early is paramount at this moment. I'm at a cross roads for my future; either I give up and die somewhere close and soon, or I suck it up and get going with my plan. I'm surprised to find that water still comes out of the faucet. I had expected it to dry up by now. It's cold though. The gas went out days ago. I'm washing my face and body with a rag and obsessing about a shotgun. I can't decide wether to look for the bike or the shotgun first. Then it hits me, the pawn shop! It's only a few blocks away! I'm looking through my garage and storage rooms for some tools I might need after I threw on some clothes. I walk outside wearing a piece of lugage that looks more like an oversized backpack and holding a baseball bat. I start walking right down the middle of the street trying to make as little noise as possible. The sky is clear and sunny with only a far off column of smoke marring it. I shudder to think what might be burning over there. It's very quiet; the only sounds are birds and the dry russtle of naked branches swaying in a light breeze. I'm almost halfway there and about to relax a little bit when I see a dog come out around a house to the front yard. It's trotting in an almost happy way and most definitely looking at me. I keep walking as if nothing is happening. The dog trots closer and starts to bark at me. A month ago this would have been nothing, the dog is not even that big or aggressive, but now each bark is like a ringing clang of alarm in my mind. "Shut the fuck up you stupid dog!" I cringe as I start to walk faster. The dog is following me and barking a little more aggressivley now; it's only about three meters away and gaining on me ever so slightly. I can't see the pawn shop yet; it's just over the next couple of humps in the road and one more block after that. I look back to see if the dog is keeping its distance and I see two more dogs behind it running toward us. One of them is much bigger than the others. I start to run as fast as I can with the bat in my hand. The dog immediatly behind me is biting at my heels "Instincts die hard," I think as I swing the bat clumsly behind. The bat connects with the dog's head. I hear it yelp and fall. I look back to see the other two dogs almost upon they're fallen comrade. I turn to run and look for some immediate escape. A car is hopeless; they'll just wait me out. A house is pretty much the same thing. It's no use trying anyway, by the time I open a door or a window they will have torn me to shreds. I'm terryfied and running for my life as fast as I can. I'm going up the second hill without looking back because I don't need to. I can hear the dogs' breath coming in fast and deep just behind me. They're not even barking anymore, hot in the pursuit of their prey. I'm cursing them and their insolence, how quickly have they forgoten their masters. I'm praying to the God of old "Let me have my vengeance God! Let me get to the pawn shop and I'll face them there!" Every time I swing the bat behind me I slow them down a little but it slows me down too. I haven't got a choice though, it's the only way to keep them from biting my legs. I'm getting very tired when I finally spot the pawn shop ahead. It stands alone in a small parking lot between the acces road to Highway 71 and my heighborhood. The bars on the doors and windows simultaneuosly fill me with hope and dread. The shop looks to be mostly intact but there's no way I can work myself in and stave off the dogs at the same time. As I close the distance to the shop I'm looking for a way unto the roof. I can see no easy path and I'm tired of running so I head towards a car in the parking lot and I jump on top of it. This gives the dogs pause. They stop at the car's fender and put their fore paws on top of the hood barking angrily. I bring the bat down as hard as I can on their heads and I manage to catch one of the bigger dog's paws between the bat and the edge of the hood. The dog yelps lowdly and contorts back in agony. The other dog turns scared and stares. The big dog is limping away and yelping. "I must have broken it's leg," I think leaning on my knees, trying to catch my breath. The other dog looks back at me for a moment but decides to follow it's boss. I'm thinking he won't be the boss for much longer. I'm sitting on the roof of the car waiting for my hands to stop shaking and keeping an eye on the corner of the brick building around which more dogs might probably come. After a while I look around the area. This is as far out as I have been since my last trip to the grocery store after martial law was declared. There is a body of a young boy lying face down on the grass across the street. I'm surprised there aren't any birds feeding on it. I'm glad I can't see his face. It's hard to see what's on the highway from here because it's elevated. But even then I can see there are cars piled up on part of it for a makeshift barrier. My watch says 8:00 in the morning; I'm surprised it's not later. I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to get into the pawn shop. It's obviously locked. Then I know; I look quickly to the mechanic shop across the street and a little behind me and there it is; the tow truck. I ran right past it when I was fleeing the dogs. With an unusual sense of confidence I walk over to it and try the doors. The driver's side is locked but the passenger's is open. Before going in I look in the back hoping to find a chain. Sure enough there are a few coiled in behind the hoist. I'm looking all inside of the cab but I don't find the keyes. I'm sitting inside of the shop office looking out of the smashed out window I broke to get in. The tow truck sits just outside, cold and unrelenting. I've thrown the place upside down looking for the keys but I have found nothing. "Forget it," I mumble grabbing the keys to one of the Volvos that was being worked on. I turn the engine and it come on. I look outside carefully, around and behind the car to see if any dogs came up while I was searching. I'm tying the chain to the inside of the Volvo's trunk; the other end is hooked to the bars on the pawn shop's door. I give the chain plenty of slack and coil it right behind the car. I'm having some fun as I get in the Volvo and put my seat belt on. I peel out of the parking lot and am almost out on the street before I feel the jarring jolt and hear the rendering crash of metal and glass. I turn to see a satisfying hole in the pawn shop where the door used to be. I'm turning back into the parking lot and parking the Volvo next to the old Buick I climbed to save myself from the dogs. Inside the pawn shop I find exactly what I was looking for; a locked cabinet full of weapons.