1.2 Going to the Dogs

You have got to be crazy, Jack! Only a crazy man would willingly throw himself to the dogs like this.

Jack Flash groaned at his inadvertent joke. From his rooftop purchase, he could see down through the warehouse’s skylight. All four members of the Dogpack’s inner circle, along with dozens of wild dogs, frolicked at the group’s Olympic size pool. It’s now or never, he thought. He took a deep breath, pulled open the skylight, and dropped down in the midst of the Dogpack.

It took only seconds for Pitbull and Bulldog to leap from their revelry in the pool straight at the sudden invader. Jack threw himself backwards to avoid the massive fist of the hirsute, pug-nosed Bulldog. He bared his teeth as he charged again at Jack, but Jack rolled away from the attack. Bulldog’s momentum took him several feet past where Jack now stood.

Jack flamed both arms on. He aimed carefully and unleashed a blast of flame straight in to the oversized degen’s posterior. Bulldog yelped as his swim trunks smoldered and burst in to flame.

Jack turned just in time to see Pitbull’s chain strike before it wrapped around his neck. Pitbull’s face showed strain even past his wild eyes as he willed the enchanted chain to pull tighter around Jack’s neck.

Jack summoned the flames around his entire being, but the chain’s magical properties protected it from melting away. He could feel himself running out of oxygen. He fell to one knee as his flames died out.

“Please,” he said with what was left of his voice. “I didn’t come here to fight you.”

The various canines in the room circled around Jack. They sat down on their haunches and studied him as he choked to death. Pitbull stood just beyond them as he willed his chain ever tighter.

“Stop!”

The chain’s grip loosened slightly as Pitbull turned to look at Chihuahua. The leader of the Dogpack stood only slightly taller than his namesake. Completely blind, he held a chain linked around the neck of the barely clad woman known only as the Bitch. She stood silently behind him and through their mental link, served Chihuahua as his eyes.

“You have sixty seconds to explain yourself, human, before I let Bulldog and Pitbull tear you to pieces. Start talking.”

“The…chain…”

Chihuahua and his consort’s gaze both turned to Pitbull. “Loosen your grip,” Chihuahua said. “Just enough to let him talk.”

Pitbull nodded. Jack instantly felt the chain loosen around his neck.

“Better, much better.”

“You have forty-five seconds now,” Chihuahua said. “Explain your business in the Marked Territory or die.”

“Yeah, right,” Jack said. “As I said, I didn’t come here to fight. As it stands I have absolutely no problem with any of you or your gang. As far as I’m concerned, the Dogpack is one of the few forces in this mixed up pile of shit we call a city that I don’t worry about. But we do have something in common; something that all of us need to worry about.

“His name is Mr. Mayor.”

Bulldog guffawed from behind Jack. “The Mayor’s gone, fool. The Questions took care of him months ago. Those bastards stole victory right out from under us.”

Jack shook his head. “I wish it was that easy. The Mayor and his Cabinet have been working for weeks. Building up their forces, securing their power center, and preparing an attack on the Q-Zone.”

Chihuahua nodded. “And an attack that large would spill out over most of the Divide. Including our unfortunately poorly placed territory. Is that what you’re trying to say, human.”

“That’s what I’m saying. And the name’s Jack Flash, if you don’t mind.”

The Bitch whispered something barely audible. Chihuahua’s oversized ears twitched as he heard every word several feet away.

“We have heard of you,” Chihuahua said. “You have many enemies, Mr. Flash. Why would you think we would help you mount an attack on the Mayor’s forces?”

“Because I know as well as you do that the only thing you hate more than the Great Question is Mr. Mayor and his Cabinet. And I know you want to see him back in power even less than I do.”

Chihuahua smiled his toothless grin. “You are wiser than I would have guessed. If what you say is true, the Dogpack will stand beside you. What is your plan?”

“I see only one chance for success,” Jack said. “We have to go in now, before they can strengthen their power base anymore. With your help, we can hit them like lightning, take out the Cabinet, and remove Mr. Mayor from this world once and for all.”

Chihuahua shook his head. “I don’t like it. It runs too many risks. It—”

“It’s our only chance. Are you with me or do I go in alone?”

Bulldog and Pitbull looked to one another then to the Bitch. They both nodded. The woman whispered again. Chihuahua smiled. “The decision is unanimous. The Dogpack stands with you, Mr. Flash. When do we attack?”

Jack smiled. “Can you get this chain off me first?”

Chihuahua laughed. The chain fell from his neck as Chihuahua and the Bitch moved in to stand beside Jack. “Come, join us, and you can give us all the details.”

Jack rubbed his neck and nodded. “We’ve got only hours to work over this plan. Let’s get to work.”