Chapter 7: 2.2 Bad Dog

  Rain had started falling while the two were away. Red is sitting just inside a box car while the fire burns to the side of the tracks. Jack heaves the ammo up into the door then climbs in. He turns back, extending a hand to Wolf. They grab each other’s forearms, nod and Wolf is heaved into the train car.

  “Thanks,” Wolf says as Jack pulls away his hand and looks over his forearm. Wolf sees the new scratches on Jack’s arm. “Sorry about that. I forget how sharp those are.”

  Jack waves off the apology. “It’s not a big deal. Was my fault.” Jack jumps as a tube hits him in the chest.

  “Put some of that on there,” Red says. “Don’t need it getting infected. There’s no telling what Wolf’s been running through.”

  Jack nods. “Thanks, Sarah.”

  Red pulls a bundle of jerky from one of the packs, then bites off a chunk. Wolf looks over and she extends one towards him.

  Wolf slides down into a seated position, looking away. “I don’t need to be fed. I’ll get my own meal when I’m hungry.”

  Red shrugs. “Suit yourself, but we don’t have regular mealtimes around here so you better eat when and where you can.”

  Jack takes some from her. “She’s not wrong, Wolf. If you’re really going to go hunting, you’ll want to do that sooner rather than later.”

  Red narrows her eyes at Wolf, then stands abruptly. “Final answer, Wolf, are you going to go out and eat before we turn in for the night?” Wolf turns his nose up, not looking or responding. “Suit yourself.” She leans back down and grabs the food bag, then gestures for Jack to grab the ammo. Jack sighs, then follows. The two hop out of the car. Wolf finally turns to look as the door begins to slide. The metal slams closed where Red drops a locking bar into place.

  “Hey!” Wolf calls, as he begins scratching at the door. “What’s the meaning of this?” He pounds on the door and continues to holler as Jack looks down at Red.

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  “Was that really necessary?” Jack asks.

  “Don’t look at me like that. You know he ate some old lady earlier today. I’m not sold on the idea that we can trust him to not eat us while we’re sleeping. He should’ve eaten something when we gave him the chance.”

  “He might have been telling the truth though.” The two of them walk to the next car, then look back as Wolf starts to howl.

  “Nah, I’m not listening to that all night.” She continues leading them down the tracks, passing several more cars before opening another door.

  “I get what you’re saying.” Jack heaves the two bags into the car, then climbs up to pull Red inside. “But, if you want him to trust you, you’ve got to start trusting him at some point too.”

  “You know what happens to your Little Red Riding Hood, Jack? He eats her. You can call me paranoid and say that I have trust issues but one thing you can’t accuse me of is being a fool.” She pauses, them both hearing Wolf’s faint howls in the background, then gestures that direction. “That would be a gamble. We don’t gamble Jack, not when lives are at stake.”

  “You’re right.” He watches as she grabs hold of a piece of bread with her teeth, then pulls ammo and magazines from the bag. “If you want to toss me a few magazines, I can help with that.”

  Her eyes glance up at him as she reaches to take hold of the bread. “Now Jack, you can’t go asking a lady to refill her mags. That’s an incredibly intimate thing and you should know better.”

  Jack snorts. “Right. I apologize for the grave offense, milady.”

  “I appreciate it, but I got it. It helps me think.” She bites the bread again returns to her task.

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