turn away.

Henry put a paw on Doc’s shoulder and stepped in front of him slowly, a smug smile played across his face.

“Now, you and I both know… that I would be glad to hear everything you have to say.”

“Well unfortunately, Henry, I really don’t have anything to say to you, no offense intended of course.”

“Oh, I understand completely,” Henry nodded, his features softening as he led Doc down the alley, “but see, you’re not the only dog who can understand Morse Code. And I know exactly what that dog said. But I really am ashamed of you,” he tutted, “I would have expected someone like you to be honest to good ol’ Henry. But I guess some dogs never change.” When Henry saw no real emotion enter the old dog’s face, he began to feel frustration. “Listen here you,” he growled, “if you so much as whisper what you heard from me or that dog, then you’ll be dead meat, and so will many others.”

Doc eyed him carefully. “You don’t have the nerve.”

“Wanna bet Gramps!?” he snarled.

Doc suddenly squinted his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as Henry dug a set of claws into his back leg. Henry smirked viciously.

“Now that I’ve caught you’re attention, I suggest that you listen to what I’ve told you. Now be a good doggy and behave.”

If Doc was a few years younger, he would have showed this ruffian who was in charge. But because of how dated he was, he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance now, so with a reluctance, he hobbled back towards his home.

“Oh! Meeting’s in less than an hour! Have a good evening!” Henry jeered after him cheerfully.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“Now don’t worry Sister Dear, what I ask is simple,” Hal nudged Lilith out of his little ‘home’, “all you need to do is go to that meeting, come back, and tell me all about it.”

“B-But won’t you come with me?” she asked nervously.

“Nonsense. I would only be out of place there. But I will help you stay safe, if you like..”

Lilith’s darted back and forth quickly and she stole a glance over her shoulder. She gave a feverish nod and Hal smiled crookedly. He put a gentle paw on his sister’s back and began to lead her deeper down the dark alley, loving every second that he could watch her squirm. The icicles overhead were a symphony of clatters and clanking as the biting wind whipped around them. They watched one dog lead the other around to a fenced in area behind the butcher’s home. Hal guided her over to a small pile of something powdery and black.

“Now, are you ready Sweetie?” he cooed, trying to hide the joy from his voice.

Lilith slightly nodded and she closed her eyes, just in time to avoid getting soot in her eyes. Her brother rained more soot down her white fur until she was a pitch black from tail to snout, patting down a certain few areas before stepping back and admiring her new look. She opened an eye with much hesitation and then began to slowly look herself over. Lilith bit her lip and she crossed her forelegs.

“Are you sure that this’ll keep me safe?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Hal smirked, “no one… will recognize you…” he suddenly let out a dramatic gasp and he covered his mouth with a paw, “But wait! What about Becca? I thought you didn’t want to leave them alone with me.”

Lilith closed her eyes tightly. She began to rake her brain for this name. Becca… Becca. Oh come on. She knew this… That’s right! Now she remembered.

“Well… I guess that you can watch them while I’m gone. They shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“Alright then Sister, if you say so,” Hal grinned, “now, you best get going before you’re late to that meeting.”

Lilith nodded and scratched at her collar for what seemed like the hundredth time, trying to stop that uncomfortable feeling, but it was useless. She began to walk away when Hal’s voice stopped her briefly.

“Oh, by the way, you’re girl in White Mountain, she was bitten the other day, and I heard she’s really sick. Just thought you might want to know.”

He smiled, a façade of innocence playing across his face. Lilith barely remembered the girl, but she acted hurt nonetheless. She said nothing as she stepped through the fence and into the alley. All around her, she felt the stares of thousands of eyes, and the whispering of their plans. She lowered herself to the ground submissively and tried to crawl away from all of these horrible things as fast as she could, but her mind kept her completely surrounded, trapped…

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The boiler room felt more uncomfortable than usual as an even greater amount of bodies packed in tighter than sardines in a can. The giant furnace greedily swallowed more coal and belched out flames, making the temperature rise further. The usual whispering and gossip that you would have expected was absent from the crowd of dogs. They had a feeling that this meeting, like the one’s previous since Henry had taken over, would be depressing or be just as insane as a circus gone awry. A completely black dog walked in from the snow-swept streets and took her seat behind Jenna and followed by her came the dog of the hour, their leader, Henry. He didn’t bother shaking the snow from his pelt before standing up in front of the assembly. His tail twitched as he cleared his throat, going over his speech in his head.

“Thank you for gathering here this evening. I’m sorry if I disturbed any slumber. But unfortunately, I must be the bearer of bad news once more. A few days ago, a girl was bitten in White Mountain, and it is thought that she caught the rabies virus… And today, another girl was attacked, but this time it took place in this very town.”

Now something like this did catch the attention of the onlookers, and they turned to each other, whispering quietly. Rabies? No dog had ever seen that deadly disease in action. They thought that it had long since disappeared and that it had no intentions of returning.

“This means that we have to be even more careful with who we trust than before, and no one is to leave their homes, unless I, or an associate of mine, comes and calls for you, most likely to be questioned… But this leads me to something else. The other night, one of my associates saw Balto, which means that he is in direct violation of his banishment. This made me think though. I think I found a connection. It’s very possible that Balto could be infected with this vile virus, giving reason to his recent violent actions…” Henry tried to hide a small smile,  “And this is why I am stressing the suggestion of staying home… I don’t want to see a single one of you get hurt, or worse, infected.”

Kodi, who was now fully recovered and sitting by his mother, was by now trembling with rage. “Why that dirty, lowlife,” he growled quietly.

He felt another paw on his shoulder and he turned to Denali. His brother shook his head without any expression.

“Easy. You’re lucky you were even allowed to come. If you’re thinking about crossing Henry, don’t. You’re too hotheaded to hold an argument with him.”

The dog behind them perked her ears up for a moment, before realizing she was eavesdropping. Denali watched his brother’s frustrated face and sighed.

“Fine. If you must gain pleasure from stirring trouble, at least let me do this, so you specifically, don’t tick him off.”

Denali stood up and began to push through the whispering crowd, gaining some attention.

“Excuse me, Judge, but I have a question or two for you.”

“Aww, sit’own. Can’t we just have a meeting without a argument?” called an irritated voice from the assembly.

“Pardon me,” said Denali politely, “but isn’t a meeting meant to have some debate? Anyways,” he turned towards Henry, who was giving him an interesting expression, “how are you so sure that my father is the one to have this rabies?”

Henry smirked, “It’s one of the only ways to describe his recent violent behavior and-”

“That’s just an inference from very shaky evidence and your own opinions,” he interrupted, “next, are you even so sure that this virus is indeed active?”

“Well, I heard that a girl got bitten by-”

Once again Denali cut him off. “Children are bitten all the time by dogs if they don’t learn how to treat them right. Common knowledge that any respectable dog would know. Moving on, why are my brothers and mother being locked up in their homes? Your real reason please.”

“Because they would not listen and-”

“Who could blame them? No one in their right mind would believe half of the insane logic that you spit out.”

Henry was starting to fume by now. “Listen here you, you better start listening and stop interrupting me or else-”

“You’ll what? Put me under ‘house arrest’ because you don’t like being proven wrong? Well, that seems rather logical to me.”

There was a whistle of surprise from the crowd. Dogs on either side of Denali began to push farther away from him, not wanting to get caught up. Others stared in awe and their mouths hung open at his insubordination. Henry was visibly shaking at this point, while Denali was on the opposite