A new world

Of all the things, it was hunger that finally woke him from his frozen slumber. The lid rose from his sub-zero time capsule, frost glistened from his fur and shelled around his nose. The German Shepard, once called Titus, got up from his cryogenic sleep pod and lazily licked his lips. He stretched his sleeping limbs and looked for any sign of life in the barren room. All he could see were pods, some empty, some filled with decayed flesh, and the rest containing more sleeping beings. Hunger, he thought with his genetically enhanced brain, he couldn't fully be as intelligent as a human but he came so close he could almost talk on a good day. Looking for an exit he spotted a rusty iron door in a far corner, leaning against it was a bare skeleton with a skull trapped in a toothy grin. Titus nudged it out of the way and it disintegrated into dust when it hit the floor. The door was easy to get open, all he did was scratch at it with his paw. It fell over with a huge crash that echoed through the empty building. Titus paused only for a second before he decided no punishing hands would show, besides, that hunger was tearing at his gut with such force that almost nothing could stop his from getting a meal. He walked through the old building looking for something, anything. Finally he came across a room far in the back of the building. Manipulating the handle with his forepaws he maneged to open it. Inside was dozens of mice and rats. Titus had a little feast.

There was no way out, no doors left to open and no holes to squeeze through. Eventually he found a shattered window in the back, only a foot off the ground. Titus got a running start and vaulted through it. The sunlight blinded him for a moment and he landed hard on his side. He lay there for a moment, waiting to see if he could feel a pain that could reveal a stuck shard or a broken rib. When he still felt nothing he got up and began to shake the tiny pieces of glass from his dusty fur coat. Looking around he saw he was in a large city, not the one he lived in but close. He walked into the street and noticed the lack of cars, people, or anything. The holograms where gone and the shops didn't make any noise. The only activity Titus saw were some strange birds fighting in the sky. Suddenly something whizzed by his head and impaled itself into the concrete beneath him. With a yelp and a small jump Titus quickly retreated into the ally behind him. The shooter continued to fire but Titus was concealed behind the twists and turns of this new world he awoke too.

He ran for a long time and saw several things while running through the empty shell of the city. He saw dead bodies. Some fresh, some rotting off of their frames, even a few skeletons. At one point he saw some people, could smell their fear and adrenalin, and hid under a car. It was a conflict between two men over a stack of food. Titus could understand what they said but couldn't interpret the meaning. They fought over food although the pile seemed large enough to sustain the both of them. Suddenly one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other. It took all of his will to not flee from the dangerous smelling man and his gun. A sour smell permeated the air as the dead mans bowels released into the street. The other man simply took the food away in a grocery cart and left the dead to rot in the street. After waiting a while he crawled out from the car and inspected the body. The man didn't smell like his master so he quickly moved on words.

Just as the sun started to set between the high towers Titus picked up the scent of his masters son. It was different with age but he still recognized the scent and began to follow it. It led him far into the city, in and out of stores, and occasionally on the rooftops of one of the many towers. At one point he came across a dead rabbit right in the middle of his trail. Just as he bit into the fresh kill his advanced brain caught sight of a hole just above the rabbits eye. It came from no natural creature, in fact he knew of only one thing that could do this, the humans weapons. Just as his thoughts clicked into place something hit him hard upside the head. The last thing that ran through his mind was that his masters son was standing over him. He blacked out.

He awoke to the sounds of humans taking quietly. He could translate the word even through the haze of pain and dizziness. “C”mon pop’s why not? you said it yourself, it didn't even have a door, how would your dog get out even if it didn't die in the chambers?”

Titus didn't recognize the voice pattern but the smell was slightly familiar to him, almost like his old master but very very faint. A new voice spoke

“Just wait until he wakes up and I'll show why he’s my dog, it may have been when i was a kid but I would remember that dog anywhere”

This voice had the scent he was following, the scent of his masers son. Titus opened his eyes and whimpered lightly. They both turned and Titus was confused, the masters son was very old and a young man stood near him that looked a lost like the master himself.

“Hey Titus, you've been asleep for a while, you remember me? its me, David.”, to show his recognition Titus gingerly licked Davids outstretched hand.

“good boy Titus, good boy” David buried his head in Titus's side and sobbed deeply. Titus sat there and licked Davids head, telling him everything would be OK without saying anything at all.

Titus walked into the shack with the cat in his maw. The kill was fresh and his new masters David and Jerome would want the meat as soon as possible. Blood still trickled from the cats mouth and its matted white fur had trails of crimson flowing down towards the ground. As soon as Titus got into the main room he knew something was off. Their was no people here, no tobacco smoke, and too many different human scents. He dropped the cat and crouched on all fours, the hair on his back rising on end, and followed the smells he picked up. Soon he didn't have to because a trail of blood was now leading the way. Behind a heavy wooden door was where the blood trail led and so Titus started to charge into it. It gave soon to the 170 pound dog. Inside where his two masters, Jerome had been stabbed several times and David had a hole in his chest. Titus moved towards them when he hears a metallic click from behind him. He sprang into the air just as the killer shot his revolver. Titus turned and ripped the killer throat out with a Savage force that he had held inside for so long. The man drowned in his own blood and still Titus stood over him, waiting for him to move. As he turned a jet of blood squirted out of the hole in his flank. It didn't matter to him, all he could think of was David. Titus leaned up against his master and felt his chest rise and fall. A hand rose from Davids side and began stroking Titus's head. They sat like that for a while, just holding each other, until David finally uttered one last shuttering breath. He moved no more. Titus just waited, knowing his wound was fatal and not caring. He only wanted to be next to his beloved master until his life was gone forever. He went to sleep in Davids dead lap, this time he wouldn't wake up.