507 The Flood, Ch. 20


Chapter Twenty

The door knob moved and stopped, they were trying to get in. I backed up against the other door, the one to the street, the first one they tried.

"Why are you coming after me?" I asked under my breath. 

Crack. They were breaking down the door. Dozer starts going apeshit, barking at the intruders. Princess is whining, scratching at the door to the street. I open it, with one hand, keys in the other. 

The dogs bolt, up the stairs, onto the sidewalk. Dozer is still barking, I can't see what has triggered him now. For some reason, the streetlights are out. Princess moves quickly to the stoop outside our apartment.

"Dozer, come on boy," I call. "Princess, stay with me." The dogs follow, sort of.

We're five meters away when the looters emerge onto the sidewalk. 

Dozer rushes forward. 

"Fuck!" One of the guys falls.

"What the fuck? Fuck!"

The other guy flails around, kicking at nothing in the dark. 

"Get the little fucker!" screams the other, and then, "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. Ow! Stop!"

Behind me, the sound of an old internal combustion engine sputtering to life. A squeal. I turn.

Headlights blink on. A van is speeding up the street toward us. I watch as it drives directly toward the two guys, then a third emerges onto the sidewalk. Dozer is standing between me and them, growling.

The headlights swerve, and too late, I realize, they're headed directly for me.

---

The water wakes me up.






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