A Changed World - Book I | The Howling Winds

Chapter 2: Trust the Heart

A loud crack could be heard as John kicked a door open to a fairly large house, with the small wolf pup, Aura by his side. "Looks pretty clear huh?" He asked Aura, looking down at her with a smile.

Aura trotted into the house, clearly curious to find out what's in there. John followed closely behind her, looking around very cautiously after closing the door behind him. As he looked around the house, he couldn't find anything that spelled danger.

He walked over to the kitchen and began searching around in the cabinets and chuckled a little when he found a lot of cans of dog food. "Hungry Aura?" He asked with amusement, grabbing one of the cans.

Aura was already stood right next to him after he said that. Amused, John grabbed a bowl and emptied the can into it before setting it down in front of her. She sniffed it a little, but began eating it as if she was starving.

While Aura ate, John began searching through more of the house, opening every door to see what they were dealing with here. Eventually, he had searched every room and didn't find anything eventful, but he was very happy with this house and decided it would be he and Aura's home for the foreseeable future.

A few hours had passed and it was now dark outside, starting to snow heavily. "Looks like we beat a storm Aura." John cooed as he sat on a chair and pet the wolf pup asleep on his lap. "Think we're all that's left? Maybe... we'll find people... some furs to settle in with or somethin'." He said softly, but the hope was clear in his voice. "We'll see what happens I guess..."

John rested the back of his head on the chair he was sitting in and continued to gently stroke the sleeping Aura. He began to think about Earl and Suzie... and the promise he made to himself, to find and kill their murderers... that was still near the top of his to do list... but his priority now was to possibly find more furs and help them, and if he's lucky... find a community of them that would take him and Aura in. But he knew it wasn't likely... why would the furs trust a human after all they've put them through?

He slowly closed his eyes and listened to Aura's steady, peaceful breathing among the sounds of the heavy snow outside. The sounds slowly lulled him to sleep on the chair, he and Aura's first night in their new... probably temporary home.

-

One whole month had passed and John and Aura remained in that house the entire time. John had fortified all of the windows and doors in order to keep the rabids out, he has found out how best to survive... remain silent. These Rabids seemed to be attracted to sound. But his most basic rule was to avoid them at all costs, the only real weakness he knew off right now was getting a bullet or a knife through their green eyes. Anything else, they seemed to... adapt, or evolve in a matter of seconds in order to survive... John has never seen anything like it.

Aura had grown very large during the month, which John found very unusual... she was about the size of a full grown labrador now... and she just kept getting bigger. But John had trained her well and she follows his every command.

The winter storms have started to grow worse and worse and in order to stay warm in the house, John has had to scavenge for fire wood to use in the house's fireplace. Both John and Aura were currently sitting in front of the fireplace, John was eating from a can of beans while Aura was chewing on a raw rabbit leg.

"Think we should go out and scavenge for more? We're runnin' kinda low." John asked Aura as he scooped up another clump of beans with his spoon and ate it.

A whimper could be heard from Aura as she ate... almost as if she was growing bored of the rabbits they were hunting.

John nodded. "Yeah... maybe we can hunt a deer? That ought to change things up..." he suggested.