One Step Ahead

Here's The Plan

8:45 AM

      Ashley opened his eyes, and quickly squeezed them closed again, in an attempt to ignore the shaft of sunlight playing through the small window of the room. Flinging an arm across his face, he considered going back to sleep, but then the events of the previous night flooded into his mind, and he was instantly alert. He sat up, placed his feet on the floor, and took in his surroundings, discovering that he was on a folding cot in what appeared to be a small, cluttered storage room. He was still fully clothed, except for his boots and belt, which he noticed had been placed on top of a crate near the cot, along with his wallet.

      "Wow, I guess the guy was right about that adrenaline crash," he muttered, amazed that he had actually been able to sleep at all. "Now, where the hell am I?" 

      He stood up, stepped into his boots and picked up the other items, then began making his way across the room. As he reached the door, he heard voices coming from the next room, and paused for a moment to listen more closely. He recognized one of them as Briar's, so he opened the door and stepped out, only to have someone immediately shout, "Stop! Do not move!"

      "Huh?" he blurted, completely confused. "What the hell?" But almost the instant that the words left his lips, he heard a sound that made him do exactly as he had been told: a low, guttural snarl, which quickly turned into a deep, aggressive bark. Trying to move as little as possible, he glanced to his left, and saw a fairly large dog, with its ears flat against its skull and teeth bared.

      "Toby, heel!" the voice called, and the dog dropped to its haunches, but kept its eyes steadily fixed on Ashley. He glanced around, and saw Cody hurrying through a door on the opposite side of the room, not stopping until he stood at Ashley's side. "Sorry, dude! I was gonna come wake you up when Dad gets back, and introduce you, so they'd know you're okay."

      "Well, I'm definitely awake now!" Ashley declared. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't on the list."

      Cody flashed a crooked grin, and said, "Yeah, but they kinda make people think twice about trying to come in and steal stuff, or fuck things up. You okay with dogs?"

      "I love dogs," Ashley responded. "I just like them a little more when they're not trying to have me for breakfast."

      "Yeah, I get ya. So let's fix that." Cody flicked his hand, and the dog came to its feet and approached them. As it got closer, Cody placed a hand on Ashley's arm and said, "Friend, Toby. Good boy! Now, hold out your hand."

      Ashley reached out, his hand palm up, and the dog extended its neck and sniffed his fingers, then circled around, sniffing his boots and pantlegs. It then stopped in front of him, sat down, and extended a paw. He reached out and shook it, saying, "Nice to meet you, Toby." Taking the opportunity to look the animal over more closely, he saw that it had a thick silvery-gray coat, with what almost appeared to be a black hood, large, pointed ears, and a narrow muzzle. "German Shepherd?" he inquired, and Cody shook his head.

      "He's a Belgian Tervuren. There are some similarities, but it's a totally different breed. The Turvurens and the Malinois are both used as police dogs, like the shepherds are, though."

      Cody started walking back in the direction he had come from, and motioned for Ashley to follow. As they moved toward the doorway, Ashley remarked, "Just a minute ago, you said 'they'. Does that mean there's another one like Toby out there?"

      "Fergus is out here with Briar, but he's not quite like Toby," the boy responded with another quick grin. "C'mon, you'll see."

      As they stepped into the next room, Ashley saw Briar sprawled on a sleeper sofa, wearing some of the clothes she had purchased during their shopping trip, reclining on what he thought was a large gray pillow. This idea was proven wrong when the 'pillow' moved abruptly, causing her to drop back onto the sofa cushions, and leapt to the floor. At that point, his jaw dropped in amazement as an enormous animal bounded toward him and Cody.