Rude Awakening: Part One

The rain was still pounding mercilessly as the last of the straggling victors from round two appeared. The growing shadow indicated that behind the clouds the sun was beginning to descend, and an ominous chill built in the air as it did so. Beyra realized that the storm was bringing with it a drop in temperature, as winter storms were wont to do.

She knew the competitors were waiting for her to dismiss them so that they could run off to whatever hidey-holes they had taken up residence in for the duration of the tournament. Most of them were young, and no doubt not experienced enough to realize what that sting they were all feeling in their noses really meant. It had been over five years since even Beyra felt it last, but she remembered vividly what had come of it.

She exchanged a glance with one of her aids; he was nearly as old as she, and no doubt he too sensed what was coming. In a murmur too low for the competitors to hear, he addressed the champion.

"Them as staying under bushes and sleeping alone won't last the night, ma'am. Would help the population, but…"

She shook her head with a soft growl. "No. Not like this. The tournament is supposed to find the one who is strong enough to pass on his or her genes to the next generation. Fighting each other proves who the strongest is, but not one of us is stronger than this, it'll kill indiscriminately. My job is to see to it that the tourney runs smoothly, and that can't happen if half the competitors are lost overnight."

"So what do you propose?" he asked, shaking his head in a futile attempt to get the water that was still cascading from the sky out of his fur.

The mountain dog mix was silent for a long moment. Pitching her voice to carry over the storm she addressed the crowd.

"Change of plan, boys and girls. You lot are coming with me, and we're going to spend the night together someplace dry. No whining now, I can see it in your faces already. And don't try to sneak off when you think I'm not looking; this is for your own good."

To her gathered helpers she growled, "Find the idiots who can't be bothered to attend the meetings. They can't have gone too far. Make sure they come along, but don't stay out past sun down looking; if you haven't found them by then, they're on their own."

The helpers nodded, and half of them sprung away to search for the tardy competitors. Beyra galloped off down the street once more, and the remaining aids began herding those fighters who had actually come to the meeting after her. Eventually she stopped and gestured with a jerk of her head for the dogs to precede her into the building they had arrived at.

Where once massive panes of glass had stood, now there were only vast open expanses of empty wall. The helpers led their charges to the better-sheltered interior rooms, past the rotting floorboards and peeling paint of the outermost area.

To the dogs of the city, it was just one more building among many. When humans had still lived there, however, they had called it the Pripyat Gymnasium.