SIXTH CHAPTER - “DAY OF THE DOGS”

Fri, 02/18/2022 - 10:45am

 

YES. I am going on with "Day of the Dogs." It's up to Chapter VI. That's "6" to all of you grammar school jocks out there. And I want this novella to keep going until I get into the cool Roman numerals like LXXVIII or MDCLXXVIII so everyone can tell how frickin' cool I really am.

Then maybe I can go back to writing little bits about how my dogs get the better of me. If you're pissed or new here, just click here for that old-school, semi-funny, short, dog-related chuckles I used to power out.

Or grab a cup of cocoa or fortified wine and click on "Day of the Dogs - VI" -by Maximus Gary Kingsbury.

A FREE sample of a whole works that is entirely free:

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Hi there! Maximus Gary here!

Did you know that this is the FIRST and ONLY novella (heist novella) written by a DOG? Specifically me! Maximus Gary!

You’re getting into this story a little bit late, but here’s an official series of links that will set you true.

VOLUME I

VOLUME II

VOLUME III

VOLUME IV

VOLUME V

 


CHAPTERS:
BEFORE BIG FAT DAWN
DEMON STORM
LEVIATHAN
MANDATE
FIENDISH FRIENDS
A TICK CRAWLING
DID YOU PEE HERE?
BREAKDOWN
COWARD AND CAVALRY
A GOOD DOG
DOGFIGHT
HOWLING SAD
THANK YOU, BUDDY
ANY HILL TO DIE ON
BLOOD IN THE SNOW
ALL THE CANINES
I WILL WAIT FOR YOU

 

 


BEFORE BIG FAT DAWN

 

Auggie sprinted to Teddy with Oshunt and Plenkt in tow and launched his jaws at Jabode’s neck. Auggie took him to the ground.

No sooner had Jabode hit the ground, did Oshunt and Plenkt pile on top of Auggie in with their jaws gnashing and tearing at his neck. Teddy vaulted on top of the two young coyotes; digging and biting frantically at their unprotected backs and heads.

Jabode and Auggie were getting the worst of it at the bottom of the pile until Teddy grabbed the pint-sized Oshunt and tossed him off the pile like a squeaky toy. Plenkt soon followed.

That left Auggie and Teddy on top of the struggling Jabode for a brief second before Oshunt and Plenkt regained themselves and counterattacked.

Teddy and Auggie quickly released themselves off Jabode. They backed up in tandem against the treeline. The three coyotes spread out and advanced at them slowly in a semi-circle. Jabode in the center, flanked by the two junior coyotes. Jabode dropped his head and moved slowly at them- keeping his eyes locked on Teddy’s

“End of the line, Lapdogs,” he said. Oshunt and Plenkt cackled nervously. They were emboldened by the veteran Jabode’s brazenness and relished his command.

“You’ll be running before dawn, Trasheater,” said Auggie with dismissive vitriol and bared teeth.

There was a moment of silence. Then Teddy started laughing. He couldn’t help it. He was thinking of these coyotes running in front of Don. Slowly at first, it built into a hysterical laughter that soon infected Auggie.

“What did I say?” asked Auggie, completely confused.

“You… hahaha!” coughed Teddy. “Hahahah!” Both dogs were laughing crazily despite their exhaustion and debilitating wounds. “Don…! Running… Before Big Fat Don… Trasheater!”

Auggie bellied over with laughter. He was completely helpless.

Oshunt and Plenkt cast nervous glances at each other and pawed the ground trepidatiously. These dogs were laughing? What dog laughed before being eviscerated? Like the previous battle, the laughter disturbed the younger coyotes, and Jabode couldn’t let these jesters unnerve his young troops any longer. He motioned them in for the attack.

Teddy stopped laughing like a rifle shot and said with seething hatred, “Maximus Gary told me I couldn’t kill you unless I had to.”

He grinned wickedly.

“Now I have to.”

Auggie – instantly sober, advanced a half-step towards the coyotes with his head down, his hackles up, and his teeth bared in an wide-eyed sneer.

“Like Grelant…”

Oshunt and Plenkt flinched. Jabode’s eyes involuntarily widened for the briefest of seconds. Teddy knew he had them now……

That was when they all heard Tohono’s terrified howl.

 


DEMON STORM

 

Under the parked cars, the bleary Ginger and Zeus caught a breath. They could hear Tohono speaking to Maximus Gary with sickening sweetness- “I’d rather have my intestines than honor…..”

Ginger wished for water. Her lungs were burning. Her eyes stung. She saw Zeus, panting and still covered in the powdery, caustic lime. He looked at her, parched and miserable.

“Let’s go,” she whispered. “Let’s get that bastard.”

Both the Demons stormed out from under the car…..

 


LEVIATHAN

 

Tohono sensed a presence stalking him just before Buddy blocked the direct glare of the floodlights from his eyes. What Tohono saw defied any explanation.

A monster black dog was coming through the parked cars. It blocked the floodlight. The dog was sucking the very light from space itself. In his jaws, the dog held The Whole World, and by his feet were fiery demons. The air behind him churned with smoky bile.

As it walked, the leviathan swung his head back and forth and sprayed lather to the ground where it steamed evilly on the melting snow. Tohono could see its eyes and they were milky and bereft. The two pale demons darted through the leviathan’s legs, attacking Tohono’s paws and sending billowing, burning smoke into his face. Some of the coyotes pinning Maximus Gary saw The Leviathan undulating rhythmically towards them and they were afraid.

He was the largest, most ferocious dog Tohono had ever seen. He was the Black Dog of Death. He was the End Days. He was The World-Eater. He was the Judge and the Executioner.

The leviathan came a step closer and dropped The Whole World on the cracked, frozen ground. He reared his head back for a mighty bellow… The demons shot out from under him and descended upon Tohono……

Tohono howled in such fright that the leviathan held his grotesque head back and maliciously regarded him.

 


MANDATE

 

After Waskin wobbled her way past Buddy, she collapsed on a driveway snowbank not too far away. She stared vacantly at the snow-covered lawn as her eyes began to cloud over. She knew she was dying and she lowered her head for what she thought was the very last time.

A Biped’s lawn – such an inglorious place to die.

It was then she heard Tohono’s horror-struck howl.

That rallied her a bit. She staggered to her feet and swayed for a moment in the cold Maine air. It was a refreshing breeze. She breathed deeply of it and revived a little more.

She thought about lying down again. That would be so sweet. To lie down and go to sleep and not wake up. No pain… No responsibilities…. So sweet.

She felt a sudden surge of energy from deep within her. Later, she would describe it as a religious mandate. She had things to do before she shuffled off to oblivion.

A feeble Waskin stumbled back up the driveway towards Tohono’s howl.

 


FIENDISH FRIENDS

 

It was a long journey, but Buddy reached its amazing end. He got The Ham from its hiding place in The Great Room and brought it to The Garden Shed for all his friends. And he did it alone. No one helped him. He was ever so proud of himself.

Where was everybody? Something smelled funny. It burned his nose and now he had to sneeze. He could hear dogs scurrying and scraping all around him. But none of his friends said anything to him. Buddy dropped The Ham and reared back for the biggest sneeze of his life.

Then he heard Tohono’s frightened scream and he was so confused he forgot to sneeze. He cocked his head back and looked to where he thought the source was, but Buddy’s cloudy eyes could only make out the vaguest of shapes in the dark. He leaned out to where he thought the scream came from and heard a bunch of dogs breathing rapidly and shallowly. Was Maximus Gary playing a joke on him? Were they hiding on him? He leaned in for a closer sniff…

Tohono smelled Buddy’s bad breath. He saw the splayed, gargoyle-like teeth through the shadowy backlight. He was more convinced than ever this was The Black Dog of Death. Its Demons attacked him relentlessly and yet he did not defend himself, as he was petrified.

Buddy wondered where Maximus Gary and the rest of his friends were. Were they playing a practical joke on Old Buddy? Why would they do that when Buddy brought them a very nice ham?

 


A TICK CRAWLING

 

Zeus and Ginger used the parked cars as cover. They swiftly ran out from under and struck their hateful bites at exposed and undefended coyote flesh in the pile. The coyotes couldn’t tell how many of the Demons there were. They appeared in one place, inflicted several vicious bites and immediately retreated under the cars, only to re-emerge at another spot to repeat the attack.

Maximus Gary felt the coyotes clotting him from above twitch and writhe under Ginger and Zeus’s nasty bites.

He didn’t know who it was, but he knew other dogs were attacking the coyotes. He knew he wasn’t alone. It was an enormous relief and it invigorated him. It was time to join the fight. He redoubled his struggles to free himself. He was able to free his rear left leg a little better.

It was then Maximus Gary heard Tohono’s terrified scream.

He stopped and listened intently. What was happening? There was no noise. The twitching coyotes above him turned into a restless, shifting pile. The weight above him was evaporating.

The coyotes were afraid of the Demons now. The bites were certainly not life-threatening in any way, but they made the coyotes uncomfortable and edgy. Like Bipeds who find a tick crawling on themselves, they will feel a thousand more.

They boiled off Maximus Gary and ran after Tohono, who appeared to be running to where Auggie and Teddy were sized up against the three coyotes.

Maximus Gary uprighted himself quickly and assessed the battlefield. He hurriedly limped after them.

 


DID YOU PEE HERE?

 

Waskin felt her way through the parked cars and sidled up next to the massive Buddy and said in his ear with a strange accent,

“Who are you?”

“I am Buddy. I have a ham.”

“I am Waskin. I am hungry.”

“You can have some ham, Waskin. Please don’t eat all of it. My best friend Maximus Gary and my other friends would like to have some. And don’t eat the shiny stuff. It hurts your teeth and makes your poop very painful.” Buddy pawed at the aluminum foil and exposed the spiral ham within.

“Thank you, Buddy!” said Waskin as she tucked greedily into the ham.

“Where is everyone?” asked Buddy. “I thought there was going to be a party.”

“A party?” asked Waskin, ripping at the succulent ham.

“Yes. We were supposed to have a party here once I brought The Ham.”

“A party?” she repeated herself.

“Yes. We stole a whole lot of food from our Bipeds and we were having a big party.” Big Buddy smiled in the dark to himself and said proudly, “I stole the ham. That was the best food the Bipeds had.”

Waskin felt her strength slowly returning with each bite.

“Did Maximus Gary invite you to the party?” asked Buddy, taking a small nibble of the ham alongside her. It would be no good at all if he ate the ham before the other dogs could enjoy it.

“No, Buddy.”

“That’s OK. You’re a nice dog. He’s a nice dog, too. I’m sure he would invite you to the party if he knew you. You’re a Good Dog.”

Lucidity had returned to Waskin and her eyes had adjusted to the diminished light of the back yard. She saw:

Jabode, Oshunt and Plenkt squared off against two big black dogs by the treeline. It looked like Tohono and the four other coyotes were moving in to reinforce them.

An injured Maximus Gary limping after the coyotes to do battle as best he could.

Two exhausted, dusty wiener dogs panting at Buddy’s feet. They eyed her every move suspiciously and were wound as tight as a watch spring. One wiener was rubbing their eye in the snow whilst keeping the other eye solidly fixed on her.

To her side was the most enormous and gentle dog she had ever seen.

A small pool of her neck blood was growing in the snow beneath her.

Buddy swallowed and looked at her.

“Did you pee here? It smells like somebody peed here,” he said, nibbling another smallish bite. “Or the Bipeds gave you a bath. I hate baths.”

This enormous, gentle, friendly, blind simpleton had just saved her life. It was time to stop this nonsense. She owed him that.


 

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