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Card 15: The Devil

July became August.

Somehow, the hot summer turned even hotter. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, considering July’s near-inferno levels of heat, but, that was what happened.

One night, Gunnar and I went to a party. As evening approached, bringing with it no relief from the intense summer heat, we set out along the darkening avenue. The tall buildings of the quiet city towered around us, like giant trees in a thick forest.

The air was still and silent, as usual. The once-bustling city had gotten so very quiet since the bombings in January. There were no cars, no buses. No sirens. No music played. The large neon signs and traffic lights had gone dark, and no longer hummed. There was no crowd filling the sidewalks, the murmur of their conversations adding to the background noise.

There were a few other folks out and about. But night was coming soon, and the city was dangerous at night. Gunnar and I both assumed we’d be heading home after night fell. We’d hurry, of course, through the shadows, with our senses alert. I had a small flashlight in my pocket, if we needed light. We’d run, if we had to. Fight, if we had to.

Lucky for us, the party wasn’t very far away.

The large office on the main floor of the building had once belonged to a small real estate company. Everything was still there - maps, keys, brochures, files, desks, on and on. Everything except the chairs had been pushed up against one of the walls. The chairs were scattered throughout the space, creating seating areas. There were a few kegs, opened and ready. At a folding table, a tall Giraffe was making mixed drinks and pouring wine. There was a lot of booze, and a little bit of food. Someone had set up a generator, so the lights were on.

The office was crowded, the party was in full swing when Gunnar and I arrived. A few humans were there, but the crowd was mostly anthros, I noticed. We recognized a few folks from the neighborhood, and we made small talk, as folks do at parties. We helped ourselves to the offerings of one of the kegs, and we mingled. No music was playing. Perhaps whoever threw the party preferred the sounds of the myriad conversations that filled the air.

It was, in other words, my kind of party. Gunnar prefered parties with loud music, and dancing, and not much small talk. But he was not unhappy. Both of us had felt a need to venture out, to go someplace, to have some fun and not think about things.

Both of us had felt a strong need for a distraction.

A female Doberman introduced herself, and she immediately began flirting with Gunnar. Her name was Sara. She was tall, and friendly, and she wore a billowy summer dress. She was very slender, unlike Gunnar. My Pit Bull friend, with his stocky body and his broad shoulders, responded to the flirting with flirting of his own.

I opened my mouth to say something - anything - something about how I was going to go get a drink, or go check out the artwork on the walls. I was going to wander off, in other words, giving Gunnar a chance to be alone with Sara. Before I could speak, however, a brief look of annoyance flashed across her face.

She was staring at someone in the crowd.

“There he is again,” she said. “Damn!”

Gunnar and I both turned, in sync, looking where the Doberman was looking. She was staring at a young Dalmatian.

“Who’s that?” Gunnar asked.

“The voice of doom,” Sara replied. Half joking and half serious. The look of annoyance was gone, and she tried to appear casual, and amused.

“Yeah?”

“He broke up the last party I went to,” Sara stated. “Let’s - quick - let’s go find a corner to hide in before he talks to us.”

“I’m running to the bathroom,” I jumped in. “I’ll catch up.”

Gunnar nodded, and Sara nodded, and then the two of them went off together to find a corner.

I did not go to the bathroom. Instead, I went to get another drink. As well, curious, I watched the Dalmatian move through the crowd. He’d broken up a party? How? As I watched, all he did was talk to folks. Briefly. He’d approach, appearing friendly, he’d say something to them, then he’d leave. And move on to the next group of folks.

Suddenly, two female Cougars were in my face. Literally. They stood much closer than I was comfortable with.

“Hi there,” one of them said. “We’re getting out of here, and we’re looking for someone to have fun with. Yeah? You want to party?”

“Sorry,” I apologized.

“Not interested?”

“Gay,” I replied, explaining why I wasn’t interested.

And then the Dalmatian was there. He’d appeared silently, like a ninja.

“I’m just letting everyone know,” he said, quietly. “That it’d be best if you didn’t stay too late.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Who cares?” One of the Cougars asked the question with a pout. “We’re leaving anyway.” She eyed the Dalmatian, and he read the gaze correctly.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Males,” the Cougar snorted. She and her friend turned and left.

“What’s going on?” I asked the Dalmatian.

“Gangs,” he explained. “Well, a gang. There’s only one gang left, actually, around here. Some nights they go around looking to cause trouble. And you should know - this gang, they sure don’t like humans much.”

“Yeah?” And then I thought of something. “Is this gang led by a Bear?”

The Dalmatian looked surprised.

“Yeah,” he said. “How’d you know?”

“I’ve - um - run into him. He’s got a Beagle with him, an asshole who really does not like humans.”

“Yeah,” the Dalmatian said again. “That Beagle’s a piece of work, I can tell you.”

For a moment, he studied my face, and I wondered if I was seeing something in his gaze that wasn’t there. After all, it had been a very long time since another male had looked at me with interest, with attraction.

“I’ve never had a problem with humans,” he said, then. “So I have no problem with you. Name’s Ezekiel, but everyone calls me Zeke.”

I introduced myself, and we shook hands. Zeke looked like he was around my age. He was handsome, certainly. The fur around his eyes was black, and he had a few black dots on his chin. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and I could see that he had more black dots on his arms than he did on his long legs.

“Well,” Zeke said. “I’ve got to go warn everyone else.” He paused. “Do you live around here?” I nodded. “Cool. We’ll see each other again, yeah? Probably at another party, which I’ll be busting up.”

His smile was casual and friendly.

“Probably at another party, yeah.” I replied.

“Seems to be what I do these days.” Zeke had a gleam of amusement in his dark eyes. “Everyone around here is just trying to escape everything, and party, and have a good time. And I go around with my warnings about that gang, bringing things down. But hey. Someone has to do it, right?”

For a moment, he looked at me, and - for just a moment - he allowed his interest, his attraction, to show more clearly.

And then he was gone, into the crowd to tell more folks his grim message.

I wandered and mingled for a bit, and then Gunnar appeared at my side.

“Looks like folks are leaving,” he said. “Sara left. Her friend’s not feeling very good.”

Out on the street, we walked a block or two and then Gunnar paused to take a piss. He urinated against an ancient mailbox, and the sound of the stream hitting metal rang out into the silent night.

“Dude,” he said, as he pissed. “I haven’t been with a female since - April? May? May. Happened just before I met all of you. For me, that’s a long time.”

He sighed, finished urinating, and zipped up the zipper of his shorts.

“Just wanted to let you know. If I get, um, cranky, you’ll know why.”

“I don’t think you know how to get cranky,” I replied. “You’re always so chill.”

He laughed, and nudged my shoulder, and we continued walking.

I pushed away - or tried to - the thoughts I’d been thinking. Thoughts about the Bear, and his gang, and the Beagle who didn’t like humans.

Max. The slender Beagle with the broken nose.

He was still in our lives. Still affecting our lives.

**

After a day of discussion, and a day of planning, Nat and Ario began talking to folks who lived in our neighborhood. The two of them would walk around, and they’d start conversations with whoever was out there. Folks sitting on their stoops, drinking something cold in the hot, summer air. Folks who’d gone to Selene’s pub. Folks who were likewise out walking about.

Ario joked that he felt like an evangelist, out trying to spread the word.

He and Nat wanted to tell folks that the government had (apparently) fallen. That the future was (apparently) going to be a grim place unless everyone got together and planned out a way to survive together.

A few folks listened. Politely, they listened. None of them asked any questions. It was clear that they just wanted to be left alone. Even when faced with the news of the government, some of the folks Ario and Nat talked to just wanted to be left alone.

Other folks, however . . .

Other folks turned away completely when Ario and Nat approached them. Some walked away, a stoney kind of silence surrounding them. Some just stared at Nat and Ario, the young Fox and Wolf who’d come to tell them the news about the government. Some actually seemed hostile, but a few looked scared. Frightened by Ario and Nat, two of the friendliest folks you’d ever meet? It didn’t make sense.

Finally, someone explained to them what was going on.

In front of a boarded-up shop, the duo began talking to a Mastiff. He had gray in his muzzle, and he seemed friendly enough. Ario spoke perhaps half a sentence before the Mastiff held up a hand, a gesture asking for silence.

“Has anyone around here been willing to listen to you?” he asked.

“Just a few,” Nat replied. “Most folks won’t talk to us. Why do you ask?”

She scrutinized the wide-bodied Mastiff. He didn’t just seem friendly, he also seemed amused. He stood casually with his hands in the pockets of his shorts, the backpack slung over one shoulder bulging and full.

“Is something going on?” Ario asked.

“Well,” the Mastiff replied. “Folks around here have been told not to talk to you.”

“Huh?”

“Oh yeah.” The Mastiff explained things in greater detail. “A skinny Beagle with a crooked nose has been going around the neighborhood, telling - warning - folks not to talk to you. To any of you. He tells everyone what you look like, who all’s in your group, and he says that if they talk to you there’ll be consequences.”

“Consequences?” Nat asked, stunned. “But that’s - I mean - it sounds like something out of a movie.”

“It does, doesn’t it.” The Mastiff remained amused.

“We’re just trying to -” Ario started to say.

“I know,” the Mastiff interrupted. “I’ve heard about what you’re telling folks. The gov’ment, all of that.” He peered at Nat, then at Ario. “Do you think things are really as bad as all that?”

Nat wanted to say to him, Look around, look at this city falling apart. Are things bad? Are you kidding me?

She did not say that. Instead, she nodded.

“If the gov’ment really has fallen,” the Mastiff said, quietly, “It’ll come back. It’s what always happens, right? Someone always starts it back up again. All this time since January, I’ve been holding on to the assumption that all this chaos isn’t permanent. The power’s knocked out, yes, and the cops are all gone, and no one’s in charge or anything, and no one’s bringing in shipments of food and things. Sure. Things look bleak. I understand that. But someone always comes along and builds everything back up again.”

“What if we’re the ones who have to do that?” Nat asked.

“Us?” The Mastiff blinked, surprised. “Why would it be us?”

**

Meanwhile, Rex and Julia returned after a week away.

After just a week, they had already found and nurtured their own private jokes, their own private phrases, their own private glances. They were, apparently, a couple, their relationship firmly formed after just a week.

The day they returned, they walked into a hive of activity. Nat, Ramses, and Ario had spread maps of the city all around the kitchen.

“We need to go further than our neighborhood,” Ario explained, after greeting Rex and Julia the way you’d greet someone who’d been gone for ages. “We need to explore other parts of the city, maybe all of the city.”

“We need to talk to other folks,” Nat jumped in. Her eyes narrowed as she stared down at a map. “Mostly, we need to see how other folks are living.”

“Right,” Ario confirmed. “We know how folks are living around here. Everyone’s acting like nothing happened. No one seems worried about winter coming up in a few months. No one seems worried that the food’s gonna run out, eventually - maybe not for some time, but it will happen. Everyone around here just . . . hangs out, and talks, and goes to parties.” He glanced, briefly, at Gunnar and myself. “We have no idea what’s happening in other parts of the city, other neighborhoods. Things could be worse, or better.”

“For all we know,” Nat said, “Folks are out there, living together, growing food, getting ready for winter. Taking care of each other. For all we know, there are folks out there trying to prepare for the future. And we think -” She glanced at Ario. “We think that it’s well past time that we - and everyone else in this neighborhood - started thinking about the future.”

Nat and Ario stood in front of the kitchen island, like generals planning a campaign. They radiated energy and enthusiasm. Ramses was at their side. There were maps on the island, a few were unfolded on the counter, and a pile of maps and notebooks had been plopped on the table.

Rex and Julia leaned against the sink, quietly holding hands. They seemed further away than they actually were.

Gunnar casually lounged near the fridge, a beer in his large hand. His vibe was calm and relaxed, as it normally was. I myself was perched nearby, on a stool. I felt weird, being the only one sitting, so I stood up.

Ario had made a loaf of bread, which had not risen as much as expected. The slices were smallish. Nat took a slice and chewed, still staring at a map. The bread sat on a cutting board, on the island. Butter was something we’d run out of ages ago.

“We might find something better,” Ramses spoke up. The middle-aged Wolf looked around, at all our faces. “A better place, out there. And who knows? We might want to live there.”

“Live there?” Gunnar looked surprised. He drank some beer, burped, then gestured at the walls around us. “And give this up?”

I noticed Julia and Rex glancing at each other. Rex looked uncomfortable. Had the two of them decided to live together at her place? Or . . .

I had always wondered if Rex was going to decide, some day, to leave the city. To travel west, to try and get back home, where his parents were waiting.

“It’s not just about better,” Nat was saying. “It’s also about safer.”

“Remember the Bear?” Ario asked Rex. As though our encounters with him had happened months and months ago. “And the Beagle? It looks like there’s only one gang left in this area, and it’s run by those two assholes.”

“The Beagle’s been really active lately,” Nat said, adding to the picture. “He’s been going out at night, with his gang, harassing and stealing from anyone who’s out and about. Plus he’s been telling folks in the neighborhood to stay away from us.”

“Really?” Rex was surprised. Then he wasn’t. I could tell from the look in the Great Dane’s eyes that he was thinking about the fight I’d had with the Beagle.

“He’s still pissed off at me,” I said, “And he’s still pissed off at humans in general. No surprise there.”

“So maybe we should leave,” Ramses said, returning to that idea. “Even if we don’t find a better place. I suppose we could even build a better place, instead of looking for one. Right? Somewhere in the city.”

Nat frowned, and looked down at the smallish slices of bread.

“I think we should start with just getting out there and exploring,” she said. “Seeing who’s out there, seeing how they’re living. We should start by just talking to folks in other parts of the city.”

“So we need to figure out how we’re going to do that,” Ario added. He glanced at Nat, then he continued. “We’d like some ideas, if anyone has any.”

He looked around the room, making eye contact with all of us. His gaze lingered on my face the longest.

Ario saw me as a friend, but at that moment he was not looking at me as a friend. Nor was he looking at me as what I was. A human, among other things. Someone who was right-handed, who loved coffee, who had scars. No, at that moment, he was looking at me as someone who’d been a soldier in the military. As though that made me someone who was used to making plans, solving problems, getting things done. Keep in mind, I’d never been a leader. Never been a decision-maker, while in the army.

But I had been someone who’d gotten things done.

I felt like Ario was expecting a lot from me. And was getting only a little.

**

One day, Gunnar and I spent a few hours traveling the rooftops. Some were shingled, some were concrete slabs. Either way, the heat up there was truly impressive. We were looking for rooftop gardens. We did not find any vegetable gardens, as we’d hoped to. But we did find more than a few flower gardens, some small and some large, all of them stuffed full of the remains of flowers. All had wilted in the heat. It had not rained in some time, for one thing. As well, the owners of those gardens were - it seemed - long gone, either perished or fled. No one had been around to water, to take care of, those rooftop flower gardens.

However, we did see a vegetable garden in the backyard space behind an empty apartment building. It had run riot, without anyone to take care of it. It was leafy, lush, overgrown, full to bursting with vegetables which should have been picked and eaten long ago. Using the fire escape on the back of the building, Gunnar and I found access into one of the apartments, through an unlocked window. After verifying that the building was, indeed, empty, we brought in Selene and two of her friends. They immediately went to work on the garden, salvaging what could be salvaged.

After hours spent on the roofs, with nothing to shield us from the sun, Gunnar and I were dehydrated and covered in sweat. We returned home and discovered the place was empty. One note (left on the ‘fridge) explained that Rex and Julia had gone to her place for the night, and they’d return tomorrow. Another note (left on the counter) explained that Nat and Ario had gone to Ramses’ place.

Gunnar had recently moved his bed close to mine, because he wanted it to be near the pool. We stood by our beds, just inches from each other, and peeled off our sweat-soaked clothes. Gunnar’s light brown fur was damp. We were giddy and breathless from the heat, and the sun, and the thrill of walking along the rooftops.

Then we fell, gratefully, into the pool. We alternated between floating and sinking, for a long, long time, and after we were only capable of stretching out on deck chairs, near the pool, drinking cold beer (which added to our dehydration) and gazing at the water. Eventually, wearing only towels, we went to the kitchen. We stared at the food, which - by that point - consisted of mostly canned goods. More beer was really the only thing that sounded good.

But we did eat, and we did nap, near the pool, and when we woke evening was coming on.

“We should go to the hidden bar tonight,” Gunnar said.

It was a tiny bar which had closed years before the bombings. The front was boarded up, but there was a secret way to get inside. A young Lynx named Kaiden had taken over the space, and he threw nightly parties there.

It sounded good to me.

Nat and Ario, I reflected, seemed to be turning outwards. Towards the city, towards other folks. Towards their plans for a possible future.

While Julia and Rex were turning towards each other.

And Gunnar and I? What did we want? Where were we turning?

We wanted distractions.

We’d been going out a late lately.

We seemed to be turning inwards. Selene had asked us to look for rooftop vegetable gardens, and we’d done so, quite willingly. Aside from that, however, we seemed to be focusing on ourselves, on our needs.

No wonder Ario and Nat were growing frustrated with us.

“I told Sara about it,” Gunnar continued.

Ah. He was thinking about Sara, I realized with no surprise. Hoping she’d be there.

“Well, then . . .” I rose to a sitting position. “Let’s finish these beers, put on some clothes, and get going.”

Out on the street, Gunnar pointed to some new graffiti.

BLAME HUMANS, someone had spray-painted in large letters all across the front of an ancient brick building.

“Assholes,” Gunnar muttered.

“Guess we know who painted that,” I said. “The Beagle, or one of his gang buddies.”

Inside the hidden bar, Kaiden greeted us warmly, as he pressed cold beers into our hands. Kaiden and I made small talk, while Gunnar looked around. He seemed anxious, as he searched the interior of the hidden bar. There were just a few candles illuminating the space.

I saw her first. Sara, surrounded by her friends. They’d pushed two tables together. I wondered if we’d be intruding, but Sara saw us and waved a hand. Before we got to her, and her friends, she stood up and produced two chairs like a magician doing a trick.

All of Sara’s friends were female. Two of them, a Labrador and a Retriever, sat on either side of me. They leaned in close.

“Did you see the graffiti across the street?” the Labrador asked.

“I saw one that said ‘blame humans,’ but it wasn’t across the street.” I replied.

Her eyes opened wide.

“There’s more out there?” she asked. “The one across the street says all humans enemies.”

“I suppose it should really say, all humans are enemies,” the Retriever mused. “Or should it be - all humans are the enemies?”

“Steph!” The Labrador looked distressed. “We can’t sit here and pick apart grammar! Someone’s spray-painting nasty things about humans.”

“There’s probably a lot of it out there,” I pointed out. “And it’s probably all recent.”

The work of the Beagle, I was certain. Done either by him or by someone else on his orders.

“Jesus, there he is again,” Sara said, suddenly. “Don’t look! At the bar. It’s that Dalmatian. Every time we go to a party! And now he’s here!”

“Probably because it’s already dark outside,” the Labrador said, making an effort to not look towards the bar. “Guess he’s going to tell us all we should leave, because the gangs are out there.”

“I’ll go talk to him,” I volunteered.

At the bar, I waved at Kaiden and he brought me a fresh drink.

The Dalmatian rose from his stool and walked towards me.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m just here for a quick beer. I’m not here to break anything up. Although . . .” He glanced at the boarded-up windows. “None of us should really be here, it is dark outside.”

We sat down at the bar, side by side.

Only then did I remember his name. Ezekiel. But he preferred Zeke.

He glanced over at Gunnar, sitting surrounded by Sara and the others.

“Do you and your friend come here a lot?” Zeke asked. Then he laughed. “Sorry. That sounded like a pick-up line.”

“We don’t come here as often as we used to. Lately . . .” I shrugged. “Lately, we’ve been going out a lot, but we’ve mostly been looking for parties.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Looking for distractions, I guess. Trying to stay busy - but not by doing anything practical.” And I thought of Ario and Nat, busy with their plans. Their practical, productive plans.

We swiveled in our seats, turning until we faced each other.

“We’re all looking for distractions.” Zeke leaned in closer.

“Even you?” I asked. “Seems to me that you spend your time doing something practical - going around warning folks about the Bear and his gang.”

“Well, I’m not always focused on the practical stuff.”

As he said that, however, he glanced again at the boarded-up windows. Thinking, perhaps, about how dangerous the streets were at night.

“Not many folks are worried about practical stuff, it seems.” I said. “There are a lot more parties than there used to be. Everyone around here -”

Laughter erupted from Sara’s table. Clearly, they were having a good time.

“Yeah,” Zeke said. “Folks are looking to get drunk, have fun, party. I don’t know if it’s distractions, like what you were saying, or - hmmmm - maybe self indulgence? Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but with the city all fucked up - you know - maybe we shouldn’t be thinking about that.”

“Could be a combination of self indulgence and denial.” I drank deep, and leaned in closer.

“I think we’ve all been in denial since the bombings,” Zeke said, with a shrug. “Maybe it’s just getting worse?” He leaned in even closer.

Our knees touched, and I could feel his body heat.

“Well, yeah,” I said, “No one’s thinking about the future, everyone’s in denial about the present. Everyone’s just trying to have fun. Including me.”

“It’s the same thing with the gangs - especially the Bear and his gang,” Zeke said. “They have their own idea of what’s fun, and they’re sure not holding themselves back. Shit, they’re giving in to their darkest impulses. Right?”

Always, I thought. Always, the conversation came back around to that Bear. And his gang.

“Instead of looking for booze or sex, the gangs are looking for violence,” I said, softly. “We’re all going to extremes. Whatever it is we want, a good time or violence, we are not stopping ourselves from chasing after it.”

Zeke finished his beer, then he leaned back.

“Want to shoot some pool?” he asked. “That could be a fun time.”

“Are you any good?”

“Oh yeah,” Zeke said with a smile. “You prepared to lose?”

“Always.”

He leaned forward again, placing his hand on my leg as he did so.

I wasn’t normally comfortable with physical contact. Somehow, I had gotten to that point. And yet . . .

I ran my hand along the fur on his arm.

We stood, and because we’d been sitting so close our bodies gracefully collided. His hand moved to my hip. We were heading for the pool table (which sat in the furthest corner, in a deep shadow), or we were heading for - well - who knows where? We kissed, then, very briefly. Even though the kiss was brief, it was intense.

We kissed as though nothing had fallen.

After, we stood and looked at each other, both of us wondering where this was going.

“There you are.”

And suddenly, Gunnar was there.

“What’s up?” I asked him.

“One of Sara’s friends is throwing up,” he said. “I’m going to help all of them get home.” He glanced at Zeke, then at me. “Can you come with? Strength in numbers, and all that.”

“Of course,” I said. Zeke nodded.

Gunnar apologized to Kaiden, who was looking for the mop. Sara collected her friends. Privately, Zeke and I looked at each other and shrugged. We’d have to meet up again some other time.

Once gathered, our group huddled close together. We ventured out into the dark of the hot summer night.