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"Do you remember, back in the lab in New Zealand, there was a researcher there by the name of Luca Smith?"

Einstein's question surprised Betsy and brought her over from where she had observing the ring pattern of a nearby felled tree. She walked over to where the morbidly obese shepherd sat prone, sparing the heavier canine the trouble of getting up. "I don't think so..." said Betsy, "Why do you ask?" The plump border collie wore a curious look on her face. It had been a long while since either of them had talked about the lab where they'd been raised.

"Well..." Einstein hesitated and then proceeded to rise to a sitting position, facing the smaller collie. Grunting with effort, his bulk shook as muscles deeply buried in the heavy fat filling his chest and shoulders lifted his mass off the ground. He planted his forepaws widely to either side of his gargantuan belly protruding its way forward and making the large breed slouch with the weight. Three bulging rolls piled up behind the shepherd's head as he raised his face to meet hers. "He was a pretty low level lab assistant, but he was a funny guy. I remember back before they started giving us lab animals much lee-way or free space, he was one of the first to take a liking to us. He talked to me and treated me like an equal almost from the start. Everyone called him 'Wally' cause he was always joking around."

"Oh, Wally!" said Betsy. "I remember that bloke. Kinda short, little chubby, red-blonde hair."

"That's him." Said Einstein with a grin."

"Yeah, he was a cool guy. I remember he used to sneak me a little treat when he brought in my meals. What about him?"

Einstein looked at his paws, or he would have if his enormous gut hadn't been in the way. "Whatever happened to him? All I was told was that he was transferred to another facility. I didn't even know he was leaving." Looking back at Betsy, he said, "I was wondering if you knew what happened to him."

Betsy cocked her head. "Well, they told me that he was transferred too... but I overheard in the break-room a few weeks later a few of the other lab assistants talking about him. I think he got fired." The collie cocked her head at an angle. "Why do you ask? That was a couple years ago now."

Einstein shifted his bulk uneasily, "Oh, I... I was just thinking about happier times..." That wasn't quite the truth, but the German Shepherd couldn't let his closest friend know what he was really thinking about. He couldn't let anyone know. That morning had been a revelation. Sharyenna had been right all along. He was too weak to resist the allure of Manna and there was one inevitable outcome for his ever increasing weight. And in the end, he'd end up dragging his friends down with him as the last of his independence was stripped from him. There was only one thing left that he could control, he could spare his friends his own fate. But Betsy couldn't know, she'd never understand. Einstein had to turn his head away, he could no longer look into her face.

Betsy considered her bulky friend for a moment and decided to change the subject. "Hey, let's get out of here. I know a nice shady place to nap through the day."

Given the heat of the jungle island during the day, this made a lot of sense to the corpulent canine who had, by this time reverted to the ancestral sleep cycle of being active in both the morning and the evening while napping during the day and the deep night. The shepherd dog hefted up his staggering weight and got uneasily on his feet. Already breathing heavily, he sidled clumsily up to the Border Collie. "Alright, but as long as it's not too far away."

Turning with a flourish of her silky tail in Einstein's face, Betsy led the way, breaking the trail ahead of her slower, clumsier companion. He could have followed her blindfolded, her scent attracted him so.

Einstein thought as he walked, but it was of far less happy things than the swishing of the collie's fluffy tail. He thought about how he was going to do it. "I could leave while she's sleeping..." though Einstein. But that would only work if he could sneak away silently, and he was rather clumsy nowadays. Plans formed and faded rapidly in his quick mind. Excuses, mostly, possible conversations to have with her. None seemed all that great. The major complication was the reason why he needed to leave her behind to live as best she could away from a Manna addict on this god-forsaken island: He was too fat. Too fat to move very quickly away from his old life of friends and happiness. The life that Sharyenna had promised him and yet he no longer felt he deserved.

But the shepherd was resolute in his decision. "If there is one thing that I can control in my life, it's this... at least for now. I have to make good on it before I am totally helpless like the other dogs on the beach..." In the end, he decided just to wait for an opportunity to crop up. Betsy would need to leave him at some point, for whatever reason. When she left him alone, he would have his chance to make his way south... for as long as he possibly could before he was just another causality of Manna and a terrible lack of willpower. "Betsy..." thought Einstein as he shuffled to keep up with the briskly moving collie. "I hope you can forgive me."

The two dogs settled down in a shady hollow in the jungle, not extremely far from the stream where he'd bathed. Betsy, however seemed intent to travel well away from Sharyenna's camp, however. Einstein didn't question it, he was too tired from the walk. The sun rose and the heat welled around them, making them sleepy. Even the returning birds and their racket didn't disturb the two as they slumbered, Betsy sighing with fond dreams, Einstein woofing and turning as much as his heavy bulk would allow with images and sensations of the coming loneliness and his impending fate.

Sleeping in a dark, cool, and slightly moist hollow surrounded by wide leafed ferns, the day passed quickly for the slumbering dogs as they lay close to one another on the dark soil. The walk had not been particularly long, but at the end of it, Einstein was still eager for a prolonged rest. A rest that he did not care to have interrupted even as the light under the canopy began to wane and the oppressive heat that surrounded them began to dissipate.

"Einny... Wake up Einny." Said Betsy as she stood over the snoring round mass of the German Shepherd, which at the moment, seemed as immovable as an obsidian boulder. With a sigh, she finally lost her patience with him and gave Einstein a sharp jab in the ribs, or rather the thick padding he had over them.

The big shepherd groaned and rolled over, exposing the vast tan fur of his belly. He licked his chops and yawned. "Wha's it?" he asked sleepily.

She poked him again, though she didn't really need to, and her paw sank into his generous and soft belly flesh. He flinched and rolled back the other way. "Come on, Einny. It's dusk. You ought to get some exercise in while it's cooler."

The lardy shepherd struggled to rise, his joints popping in complaint. "Ugh I feel like I'm twelve already... do we have to do this now?"

"We might as well get it out of the way." Said Betsy brightly.

Einstein sighed. "Well, can we at least do this in the stream? I'm dying of thirst."

Betsy looked across at him. Both dogs knew very well what excessive thirst meant on this island. "That's just what I had in mind." Said Betsy, leading the way.

In the dim twilight under the jungle canopy, the air cooled slightly - but only slightly - but any drop in the tropical temperature was very welcome to the encumbered canines. The walk itself wasn't so difficult, so long as the rotund shepherd didn't think about things such as the cramping in his forelegs or the way the center of his back sagged towards the ground like a worn out horse's. His quaffing of the water when they reached the stream completed the equine visage in his head. Walking was inescapably a chore, however, and Einstein had trouble keeping up despite Betsy slowing down for him. It seemed to him, as he made what seemed at the time an arduous voyage, that there was no part of his body that wasn't in motion as he moved.

His heavy sagging brisket hung so low beneath the folds of his neck that it was continually slapping against the front of his forelegs and tugging at the base of his neck as he moved. The shock of each paw as it hit the surface of the ground traveled up his shoulders and from there rippled through the whole of his torso. Einstein could feel the vibrations traveling through his skin, as if his barrel body were the surface of a pond. By virtue of these sensations, the shepherd dog was aware of the texture of the earth he was treading upon much more acutely than his paws could tell him alone; sand absorbed the vibrations, while bare rock was so strong, he could feel the slight vibrations in his thick cheeks.

Then there was his belly. That thick pendulous mass that filled the space between his hind-legs and dangled all the way down to his ankles. It was so big and heavy, it didn't actually move that much, but rather, as Einstein walked, shifted left and right. It's effect on his balance was inescapable. He'd yet to find a particularly natural feeling rhythm of motion with worked with the rocking motion of his belly - rocking which was in turn influenced by how fast he tried to move. Thus, every now and again, a hind leg would slam into the great unstoppable mass of soft connective tissue affixed to his undercarriage and he'd stumble, having to catch himself to avoid a painful, possibly disastrous fall. IT was both humiliating and frustrating to feel like he was finally working well with his hanging gut for a few minutes only to pass into a slight change of gradient in the surface of the ground and find that it was once again working against him. The trial and error learning process was exhausting because not only could he not move with any speed when he was out of rhythm with the motion of his belly, it took extra energy to walk as well, with it slapping against his hind-legs and causing him to pause in his stride. However, those times when he was agile to build into a full trot, his fatty flesh billowing around him while his legs glided effortlessly into the vacancies that were filled only a moment ago were glorious, simply glorious.

By the time they reached the jungle stream, Einstein was ready to throw himself on the ground. He waddled over to the edge of the water and dunked his whole upper body into the cool clear water, pulling it into himself like a fish. The fact that this place was about a mile downstream of the other dogs' encampment made it taste no less sweet. It was pure mountain run off and Einstein could hardly stop himself from just diving in, his gut and his fatty hindquarters feeling like an anchor as he rested half in and half out of the swift stream on the rocky bank.

Betsy watched him rush off, then saw the bubbled coming from the water above his submerged head and dashed forward as fast as her own recent increase in poundage would allow. With her nimble, modified paws, she grabbed at the fur at the back of the shepherd's head and yanked back with surprising strength.

"Hey! Ow, ow! Stoppit!" cried the smooth round mass of German Shepherd. Einstein shook his head and scattered water everywhere when Betsy released him. "What's the... big idea... grabbing my head... like that?" he puffed agitatedly and licked his chops as they streamed with cool water.

"I... er..." Stammered Besty, fidgeting and dripping water down her chest from Einstein's shower. "I thought... it looked like you were... um, drowning." She finished quietly.

Aha! The lightbulb flicked on in Einstein's mind as he imagined how the scene must have looked to her. Him all but collapsing head first in the stream perhaps unconscious or without the strength to pull his head and associated neck fat out of the water. He could have sighed, but he didn't. Instead, he said, "No, no. Just drinking." He said. Holding his round flank with a paw, he laughed, "Have to fill the tank, you know." Betsy laughed, but for Einstein it was entirely forced. He could still only half believe what he had allowed himself to do that morning despite the familiar thirst still racking his body even after ingesting nearly half a gallon of water in his brief plunge.

He'd failed. It was that simple. He was no longer the dog who'd been a valuable and well educated lab assistant in all but name back in New Zealand. He was a different, weaker dog now who couldn't set aside snacks for his own wellbeing and that of his friends. The resignation brought some measure of peace, but also a sense of looming hopelessness. How much more weight could he handle before the she-wolf's vision for him came to pass? How much longer until Sharyenna gave up on him and moved the rest of the tribe north? How much longer would it be until he brought ruin on his only friends because of their certain unwillingness to forsake the others for him? How much longer until he hurt Betsy through his careless inaction and inability to change?

Certain doom seemed to lurk on the horizon and Einstein knew what he would have to do to spare both of his friends his own fate. But tonight... He should at least have this last night with Betsy. Before parting ways permanently.

Einstein, after swallowing so much water he felt like it would soon be shooting from his ears, splashed Betsy with an enormous belly flop into the water, drenching her completely in exchange for her unwarranted rescue attempt. Betsy had the last laugh, however, as he came up for air and received a huge wave directly into his face as she dived in after him. The water was pretty shallow, but deep enough in the middle of the stream to paddle around a bit. They fought, splashing each other silly. Einstein could make bigger splashes than Betsy, but wound up tiring out long before the playful collie. Afterwards, they played Marco Polo in the gloom, shouting the ancient explorers name as the water trickled by the smooth rocks on either bank.

It was delightful being in the water. The natural boyancy of his body was such that it was possible to forget for a time that he weighed four times his original weight. Swimming felt much more natural than walking at this point, almost as if he'd been transformed into a semi-aquatic mammal in the days he'd been stranded on this island; his resemblance to a seal at this point wasn't lost on him either. Paddling was effortless, his bulk supported him completed in the water as the water in supported his great bulk. He didn't want it to end, but Betsy noticed him struggling with exhaustion and forced him to get out of the water.

One might have taken her obvious attempts at coddling with offense, but Einstein didn't. It was annoying, sure, but only that, and her objections were never without reason. Besides, it was terrifyingly easy to push his bloated body beyond its limited capabilities nowadays. Who's to say that she didn't notice something that he didn't? It was simply a part of losing one's independence.

As he lay panting and sopping wet after dragging his heavy form up the bank and into the jungle proper - he'd initially collapsed just feet from the edge of the water and might've slept there if Betsy hadn't pestered him by pulling on the big neck roll at the base of his neck with her sharp little teeth - Einstein turned his head casually at Betsy beside him in the nearly complete dark of the forest floor.

Despite the fact that the border collie was only a vaguely lumpy - lumpy! He had some nerve considering his own outline - shadow in the gloom to his eyes, his nose perceived her clearly. The scent rolled off of her constantly and the shepherd dog could track it, extract the information from it at will. Thus, in the dark, he could tell her head and shoulders apart from her more odiferous rump. He could tell approximately how far away she was - 1.2 meters - and he could tell that she wasn't nearly as exhausted as he despite the fact that he could hear her panting. If he got closer, her could tell more; what her last meal was and her diet in general; whether or not she had any gastrointestinal parasites, her age, general fitness and recent sexual activity as well as the state of her cycle.

The thought sprung into his mind to get up and go over to Betsy in an attempt to take her, if she would have him. The thought was so sudden and unexpected, Einstein lifted his head in surprise, as if looking for the one who had planted it there. Einstein knew, however, it was only something boiling up from his subconscious, from the knowledge that this night would be there last together.

Einstein settled his head on his paws and continued to stare at Betsy's shadow, continued to pull apart her complex scent. It was only natural, him being male and she female, he supposed. But their relationship had been purely platonic ever since she had been introduced to him as a still-moist puppy, him already a year and a half old. He felt like a brother to her, maybe even something like a father; hard as the researchers tried to fill the parental roles for them both. Or at least that what he'd always thought... Perhaps it was her increased affection of late. Perhaps she had an inkling of what he intended to do... No. He'd only made up his mind in that regard that morning. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that something had changed between them. Something that had crept up so subtly that he hadn't even realized the difference until his sudden urge. And that urge was with him still. Even now, there were parts of his mind trying to rationalize the bold attempt. Einstein wanted Betsy. His breath caught in his throat as he absorbed the fact.

Betsy's head lifted in the shadows and Einstein tried to even out his breathing. "I'm fine... just... a bug flew in my mouth." To his ears, his voice sounded strained, but Betsy laid her head back down and her breathing began to slow from a full pant. Einstein was just trying to keep from panting even faster! 'This is just my brain telling me that I don't want to die without this experience and Betsy just happens to be the nearest bitch available and one who I am comfortable with." He tried to rationalize desperately. But the psychological explanation didn't help, he still wanted to mount her. Jesus! He thought he was done feeling like this! He wanted to close his eyes, even the outline of Betsy was eliciting a response from him, there there was not much he could do about her smell which continued to fill his nose. 'She doesn't want you, you idiot!' Einstein yelled at himself, 'She's just been trying to make you feel better about being such a hopeless tub of lard!" his head fell down slowly, '...She's better off without... me.' The thought ended on a sour note that drained away most of the heat that had begun to flush his face. He flopped onto his side, crushing at least three thick stemmed plants under him, and drew a deep breath before continuing to pant. Right in front of his snout was a leaf which was forced away with each exhalation, causing it to constantly brush against the black leather of his nose as he breathed, but he didn't really care. He was an emotional wreck and he knew it. He closed his eyes for the last time that evening. He'd thought that everything would be easy after he'd made his decision. He was a fool. He'd always been a fool. Thinking himself wise had been the biggest foolishness of all! Betsy was asleep almost an hour before Einstein was finally able to catch his breath. Sleep was long in coming, but when it did, it brought welcome obliteration.

Betsy awoke in the small hours of the morning to the call of nature. She rose quietly so as to not disturb the large shepherd sleeping not far away. She smiled at seeing how he had rolled onto his back, his enormous dome of a belly cresting a hair's width above the height of his broad, soft chest. It was undeniable that Einstein was an enormous dog. More than just the side of his belly, he was wider and thicker as well. He was a German Shepherd, but seemed larger than a St. Bernard, twice the dog he used to be - three times if one considered his weight alone. Betsy had to force herself to tear her eyes from his sleeping form.

She stole away into the jungle a fair distance to do her business. Even as she squatted over the musky jungle soil, she could not, for some reason, keep her mind off of Einstein and his big pot belly as it slowly rose and fell. She scratch dirt over her spot as she thought about what a wonderful day she'd had after all, after spending time with Einstein. It was different from before they'd landed on the island, in the boat or even back in New Zealand. Her time with him now seemed more somehow. She took a deep breath as she realized the truth. Somehow, looking at Einstein, specifically looking at his massive figure, was not merely interesting in a sterile academic sense. She liked seeing him like that. In the same breath, she also suddenly knew why she couldn't get enough of looking at him. Looking was not enough

Betsy wanted to run her paws over his flab, to experience all that extra weight vicariously through him. She knew also that she would not mind seeing him even larger than he was already. The revelation was a shock to her system, a discovery of something that had always somehow been inside her and was only just now bubbling to the surface from the murky depths of her subconsciousness.

Oh, how she wanted to run and tell him, to tell him how everything was alright and how she understood now! But her feet faltered. Einstein hated his body, and how fat he was. He couldn't see what she saw, the artful bend of his many curves, the constant changing landscape of his bloated figure. He wouldn't rejoice with her, in fact, the best she could hope for would be that he flatly didn't believe her. He might well even find her notions repulsive. She might lose his friendship... and any chance at something more. She stopped entirely as her spirits fell. Now was not the right time.

'But maybe soon... after we've got his addition under control...' the insufferable collie thought optimistically as a plan began to form in her sharp mind. 'Yes, take things slowly. He'll come around in time.' She couldn't imagine hating oneself as a normal mode of thought. Surely he would tire of it eventually, after he'd had more time to adjust. Betsy began making her way back, fully intent of watching Einstein'd belly and examining its every detail until she fell back to sleep. Betsy felt very good about tomorrow.

The plump border collie turned her head in time to see a shape launch itself out of the darkness. Something big impacted her shoulder and then she was rolling on the ground with something bigger and heavier than herself. Teeth clamped down on her throat so tightly that she could not breathe, could not cry for help. She tucked her tail between her legs and went utterly slack, but that did not appease the wolf standing over her, or rather wolfess. The collie's lungs started to burn.

"Setacean, let the poor thing breathe. We're not here to strangle her." Came the voice of the last canine Betsy wanted to meet again on the island. She leaned in close to Betsy's face, her grey fur filling the sky above her. "You're smart enough not to call for help, aren't you? ...Not that anyone would actually come, mind."

The only thing on Betsy's mind was drawing a breath of air through her bruised windpipe. The Beta wolf over her still held her neck flesh brutally tight, however, despite loosening her grip enough to allow her breath. Betsy didn't know what the she-wolf was talking about or the reason for the sudden attack. She was still trying to cope with the ambush interrupting her line of far more pleasant thoughts.

Sharyenna continued, "You are going to get to your feet and come with us. If you stop or try to run, your soft, black and white ass with end up right where it is now and twice as fast. Understand?"

Betsy somehow managed to tilt her snout up and down.

Sharyenna nodded her chin brusquely to her companion who took her front paw from Betsy's chest and allowed her to rise. The stunned border collie did not immediately move, however, and thus earned a cuff to the back of her head from the she-wolf.

"Up." She commanded. "And quietly."

Betsy had no choice but to comply. She got drunkenly to her feet and was shoved forward immediately.

"You first." Growled the beta-wolf softly. Betsy walked numbly forward. She didn't know where she was going as she was guided by terse directions from behind. She could not even conceive of a destination, her mind still fumbling blindly over how she had come to this predicament. It was a mental road block she seemed unable to traverse, a wall cemented in place by mindless fear. Betsy hardly noticed the bloody dribbling down her chest from the small punctures in her neck. She was far away from the stream far away from Einstein when she was forced to the ground once again. This time, she was not allowed to get up.

"Enjoy the rest of your night, Betsy." Said Sharyenna before stalking on further into the jungle. The border collie quivered when she said her name.

The she-wolf left her alone with the cruel fangs of her lieuntant and Betsy didn't see anyone again until the sun found her sore and battered lying on the moist black soil. But that was not the only eye that found her that dawn. The sun was joined by the indifferent eyes of every dog and female wolf under the leadership of the she-wolf. Their stares were almost as painful as the Beta's cuffs and nips. Their glares were de-humanizing and Betsy withered under them.

Betsy was forced to lay on her back before the whole assembly. The collie still had no idea what the she-wolf's intentions were, but any hopes of her plans being foiled at the last moment were utterly lost now. These dogs were hers. Whether brought together almost literally under her wing, or simply united against Betsy by whatever lies or rumors the she-wolf had been spreading didn't matter. The outcome - whatever it might be - would be the same. No amount of reasoning or even pleading would save her from these dead eyes. She was already no longer a fellow dog in their eyes.

Betsy tried to keep still to avoid attracting anymore attention, but she could not keep her eyes from wandering frantically about. She saw, between the paws of the group of dogs in front of her, the leafy roofs of the dens not far way. It seemed that she hadn't been led far away from the stream after all, or else, they had cut across one of its curves.

Dogs beyond those standing about her and staring with open animosity towards her were moving about, preparing something. What it was, however, was impossible to tell for being upside-down and looking through a forest of legs.

It was not much longer before the she-wolf made her debut; much to the general acclaim of the three dozen or so assorted dogs and wolf bitches of the gathering. She stood silently for a long time and the noise of the crowd settled down to hushed breathing. Betsy was just relieved to have those hate-filled eyes off of her, but was also disgusted to see them turned in open admiration on the she-wolf. Was it really so easy to manipulate people?

"I'm sure that all of you already know why we are here." Started the she-wolf and it did seem true, only Betsy herself had no idea why she was here. "First, let me say that we are all here trying to build a better life for ourselves and that anyone caught trying to subvert that goal will be severely punished." The she-wolf gave Betsy a haughty glance. "... For they do harm not only to themselves but to all of us."

A cheer came up from the assembled dogs, her words were as gasoline on a fire as she fed the dogs' eager need for a scapegoat, a focus and a face for the guilty unease that had been silently consuming them until now. The she-wolf raised her paw and the rabble stilled again.

"This one..." the wolfess gestured to Betsy, still prone and on her back before the crowd, like some discarded waste, "Was caught tempting out most vulnerable member into eating those evil, unnatural white discs!" More cries came from the restless mob. And just like that, Betsy knew. That she and Einstein had been alone the previous morning. Whatever groundwork the she-wolf had been planting against her had proved to be ultimately unnecessary because Betsy, in her ignorance and compassion, had given the she-wolf the perfect weapon to destroy her. And that the she-wolf would destroy her was the only thing the collie was sure of at this point. Betsy closed her eyes and tried to tune out the she-wolf's hateful rant in which she would undoubtedly lay all of the group's troubles squarely on her head. The collie was indeed smart enough to see the speech coming, the way she worked every plump hound into a setting barely constrained rage. She only regretted that the same intelligence combined with her own naturally optimistic naivety had blinded her entirely to the currents of power in the community when she might have done something to prevent this travesty.

"...This culprit, this sneaky temptress who stole into the night to unearth that which we have forsworn of ourselves to temp the weakest of us will no longer wear away at our united strength! We are strong and her weasely attempts to bribe her way into power has failed!"

Betsy could scarcely believe that the other canines were swallowing her baseless crap even weaved as it was into excellent narrative by the she-wolf's gilded tongue. But the collie was truly shocked when the witnesses were called forth.

Not one, not two, but four dogs, all more obese than average, and all with stony, convicted eyes claimed that Betsy had come to them in the night and offered them Manna in return for various favors. The other dogs ate it up like kibble and gravy. That other domestic dogs, not friends, but certainly not enemies, would openly lie about her was startling. It was an inconceivable hurt which took the collie's breath away in real pain in her chest even as she tried in vain to quantify and analyze it. But there was no understanding betrayal.

The rest of her "trial" which lasted until the canopy to the east began to lighten above the tops of the trees, passed in a sort of dream, or rather nightmare. EAch crime lobbed against her was worse than the last. She took solace only in the fact that she was not asked to speak.

Her sentencing itself was so surreal that Betsy did not understand what was happening until cruel teeth hauled her heavy form to her feet by the scruff of her neck. Betsy was so disillusioned she didn't even protest the rough handling as her rump was nipped to make her move forward. 'I thought they were going to kill me...' she thought dejectedly as she was marched off yet again. Any kind of relief from the bites and prods would have been welcome, perhaps even obliteration to remove once and for all those seething eyes from her memory. 'What did the she-wolf say?' Betsy tried frantically to recall as it seemed suddenly important as she was led away from her place of trial and towards the stream. What the she-wolf had said just hadn't seemed to make sense at the time and the collie had credited the words to her shaken state. As Betsy was led to the pile, however, she knew that her ears had not been deceived.

"The punishment shall fit the crime!" cried the she-wolf as she presided on the scene from a half sunken boulder. The she-wolf's round belly seemed to glow in the half-light. The swell of it between her legs at once distracted Betsy and reminded her of her fate. The pudgy border collie who was once a brilliant scientist was shoved rudely forward before the enormous pile of dirt dusted Manna.

"Is that all of it?" asked the she-wolf sidelong of one of her Betas as Betsy stood paralyzed before the pile.

"Yes." Answered the female wolf from before, the once called Setacean. "We had everyone dig up what they buried since we got here..." Everything that she hadn't already gotten to that is." The last was said with a sneer and the she-wolf grinned with the shared joke.

The wolfess sat up straight on her rock. "Now what say you?" The she-wolf had a way of pointing her snout at Betsy and yet not looking at her directly; it was equal parts condescending and triumphant. "Accept my punishment or be ripped to pieces."

The hundreds of teeth in the dozens of mouths around her were a visible guarantee of the she-wolf's promise. Not only had theses dogs been whipped into a frenzy, they were all starving as well. In fact, it was a wonder that the she-wolf could keep them from attacking her at all.

Betsy looked down at the pile of over 300 disks. She didn't know what everyone was expecting, eating such a large volume was physically impossible. Or perhaps she concentrated on the impossibility of the act to avoid thinking about what eating so many Manna disks might do to her. She tried to say as much, but her throat seemed so dry it almost clamped shut. "I... can't..."

Someone behind her did not hesitate to leap forward and bite the collie's haunch, causing her to jump. She felt her blood running down her leg again and tears began to spill from her eyes. Growling came from the mob as if they shared one violent mouth, one mindless hunger. It seemed their humanity had been stripped from them, but no, even wild dogs did not ruthlessly predate on themselves in this way. This was the darkness of the humanity they had one and all been infected with when the scientists had gifted them with reason and thus robbed them of their innocence. Of course having reason and using it are entirely different things as was now painfully evident to Betsy.

It seemed for a moment those mindless hungry eyes were swoop down on her, no matter what the she-wolf had said, but the voice of the she-wolf ran out over the crowd and momentarily stilled the approaching paws. "Last chance, collie. Submit and humbly accept your fate or throw your life away. For nothing."

'That life would serve no purpose?' thought Betsy, again perplexed by the she-wolf's thinking. 'Is that what she thinks I'm afraid of?' Certainly failing to accomplish one's goals was a terrible thing, but right now, Betsy was most afraid, not for herself, but for her ideals. Her fellows had turned into fiends right out of a Stephen King novel, and apparently without any effort at all. Her world and faith that everyone was basically good and reasonable at hear rent asunder, Betsy was too numb to fear for herself; well... maybe more than a little.

And later, she knew she would have chosen death over what she did in the twilight of the new day. Betsy bent her neck forward and began to eat while the she-wolf sat on high and watched with the patience of the stone under her.

Einstein was dumped off about a mile south down the stream and two miles over to the west, inland towards the great central mountain. The Beta wolf who escorted and drove him let him be the second time his legs gave out under him. The shepherd, laying on his side and gasping for breath hardly noticed the wolfess depart. She'd been largely silent the entire time, only growling menacingly whenever he paused or slowed too much. She said only, "Don't come back." Before leaving the fatter canine for good.

The lardy German Shepherd hardly gave her a second thought. Betsy occupied his thoughts and also the devil she-wolf who had proven traitorous to her own supposed ideals in the end. There had to be a way to get Betsy free from her clutches... Only Einstein couldn't see how. He couldn't even make it from his new location deep in the jungle to the camp without stopping to rest his aching hip.

The sausage dog flinched when he saw someone emerge from the thick ferns. At first he thought it was an assasin from the she-wolf sent to do him now that he was away from the group. But no, it was a far more welcome face. "Bruce!" Einstein exclaimed, struggling to rise to his feet.

With a gesture from his head, the bloodhound motioned for the shepherd to rest as he walked towards him. With the fact that he'd showed up so soon after the wolfess departed, Einstein deduced that he'd followed him out from the camp. "Hello Einstein." He said, his face sollem. The shepherd didn't blame him for his gravity. After witnessing what they did to Betsy before their eyes and what the she-wolf had become... the situation was undeniably grim.

The first thing that came out of Einstein's mouth, however, was, "Where the hell were you?"

Bruce turned his nose towards the ground as he inclined his head. "I was in the back of the crowd. I'm not surprised you didn't see me."

Beside himself with grief and anger over Betsy's fate, Einstein growled at his friend. Despite his exhaustion, he rose up to sit on his haunches, his big belly flowing out over the ground in conflict with his revealed fangs. He snapped. "And you didn't think once to jump in? You saw what they were doing to Betsy! You and me together, we could... we could have..." And there his voice faltered and suddenly Einstein was weeping again.

Bruce walked forward and leaned against the shepherd, raising a paw to stroke his broad curving back. "There was nothing you or I could have done, Einstein."

The shepherd was hardly listening, grateful only that his last remaining friend on the island was here with him. "What they did to her Bruce... It-It's so cruel. I can't believe Sharyenna would do that, after everything she put me through."

Bruce looked him in the face, setting his paw back down. He frowned, "She's a wolf, Einstein. You must understand that she never cared about you. You, me and Betsy, we were all nothing more than tools to her. We still are."

The shepherd let the cool air pass over his hot tongue, the only real way he had to cool his enormous body. "I know." He said, "It's just that... I believed in her, you know. From the start, I thought she was trying to help me." Now his voice was tight with emotion. "I can't ever forgive her for what she's done to Betsy. We have to go back and get her!" Einstein started to rise, but Bruce effortlessly prevented him by pushing behind one his elbows, causing the foreleg to fold. The shepherd growled again, "Just what do you think you're-"

"Be still Einstein. Now is not the time to go back."

The shepherd's peach shaped brisket quivered when he cocked his head. "Not now? Bruce, don't you have any idea what that manna's doing to her? By the end of the day, she'll be too heavy to walk by herself!" The image floated through his mind, of Betsy succumbing to the fate of the dogs left on the beach, the same fate that he had resigned for himself. It wasn't fair. Betsy at least was supposed to be free.

"She's already too big to walk anymore Einstein. Sharyenna 'freed' her after you left. She told Betsy to leave the camp. She..." for the first time Bruce's voice wavered. "She got up and managed a few steps, but then she just sat down again." He paused for a long breath. "She did manage to get back to the stream so she could drink before I left."

"Betsy..." muttered Einstein with despair. He sniffed and then looked up to Bruce - he was slouching because of his weight - "What are we going to do?"

Bruce grinned down at him. Gently, he socked Einstein in his thick chest. "I already know what we are going to do."

"Explain to me again how you know this, Bruce?" Einstein complained as he once again was trudging with his great weight through the bowels of the jungle.

"I smelled her." Said the bloodhound. He broke the way forward for his lame companion, but even flat level turf would have been a challenge to the shepherd who had to struggle just to support his own weight.

"Still..." said Einstein from behind, limping with the pain in his hip as they moved further south. "Isn't it a bit of a stretch to claim that Sharyenna is hiding food? How the hell are we going to find the stuff, even if she has?" A lot of his whining was the pain talking, but what Bruce seemed to be claiming to know seemed to be taxing even his extraordinary scenting ability.

He halted and turned to the shepherd. Einstein let his massive rear fall to the ground where he say panting and hoping the cramping in his legs and joints would soon lessen. Bruce didn't seem to mind his indolence, but his face was still grimly set. "I know what I'm talking about. I got close enough to her to smell her behind."

Einstein's right ear twitched. "Really? And when did you do that?" he asked sarcastically.

To his surprise, Bruce answered, "When I told her that I'd work for her."

"When you what?!" cried the shepherd, mouth gaping and eyes wide.

Bruce sniffed and turned his nose aside. "She still wants one of us scientists, you know. She's out of her depth here on the island and she knows it. For all her power games, she's frightened of what's happening here and the fact that there are no mammals at all on this island save us."

Einstein snorted angrily. "Let her be frightened! The more miserable she is, the better."

The shepherd flinched when Bruce snapped at the air beside his snout, his teeth and floppy jowls coming too close to him for comfort. "Einstein! You're still not thinking straight!"

Einstein rocked back, adjusting his stance so he was sitting on his left haunch, his belly flowing out to the right. "You have my full attention." He said.

Bruce puffed from his large snout. "Good. Now, we don't stand a chance with Sharyenna still commanding the dogs and the wolves. But if we can at least get the other dogs to turn against her, maybe she and her betas will just decide to leave rather than fight."

"But she has them wrapped around her paw, Bruce. They hang on her every word, dog and wolf."

Bruce hummed in his throat. "They're desperate." He said, "But none of the dogs really trusts her, I mean, how can you really trust a wolf?" Einstein couldn't argue, he'd known that fact even when he was committed to what the she-wolf had been telling him. "And I know she's been hiding food from the rest of us, maybe even from the other wolf bitches."

Einstein shook his head, "Bruce, there's no food on the island! There's nothing here but Manna."

"Manna... and fish." Said Bruce slyly, touching his bulbous snout with a paw.

Einstein's ears perked up in surprise at the obvious revelation, then a wide grin spread across his face. Slowly and steadily, he got to his feet. "I take it we are going fishing?" he said conspiratorially.

Bruce hummed with his deep bass and lead the way once more. "Indeed we are." The bloodhound, using his powerful nose then led the way south, following Sharyenna's old scent trail. Eventually they found the pools near the base of the mountain, the ones before claimed by the Tigress for her own. They both gaped at the slivery shapes darting within.

Einstein's eyes began to water. "How easily this might have all been prevented..." he muttered.

Bruce knelt by the water, in up to his ankles as he studied the silver shapes. "Not entirely. There's not enough fish here to feed us all indefinitely. Even with just the dogs in the camp there's..." his eyes flashed, calculating and estimating, "A week's worth of food in here at the most, assuming each dog can get by with just one fish a day."

Einstein shambled up to Bruce. When he sat, his fatty croup got wet. They both stared for a long time at the living things swimming around in the large clear basin, the only living things besides the birds and other ship wreckers anyone had seen on the island. Why was this place so barren? Wondered Einstein as he stared into the shimmering depths.

He was moved from his reflections when some vine was tossed around his snout. Flustered, Einstein said, "What's this?"

"Fishing line." Said Bruce, "After you wind it, that is. I'm going to the beach. I can make us a few hooks out of scrap metal there."

As Einstein set about his task - it was easy considering this was the first step to getting his first real meal since landing on the island - he called after Bruce, "What are you going to do about the dogs still there?"

Bruce paused. He was silent a moment, then said, "Whatever I can..." Then he was gone.

The dogs gathered again that morning, rising from where they huddled in the three now complete dens dug into the ground near the stream; If some complained of wetness in some corners of the rough earthen dens, well that was their problem. A sense of anticipation and devilish glee in the air as Shayenna immediately sent dogs and wolves about the task of gathering the Manna which had appeared overnight. If there was some disguised longing for the tasty discs as the dogs entered yet another day without food, it was disguised well. There was also the comforting resignation that came with knowing exactly where these traitorously tasty morsels were going. Spectators gathered around the fattest dog on the island (that they were aware of). They sat on their haunches around her, waiting for the show.

"Poor bitch is already whining for the shit." Some said. "She can't get enough! Ha, serves her right." "Jesus, she's fat! How big'll you reckon she'll be tomorrow?" Due to a sheer lack of anything better to do, there was already a pool going around. The dogs bet shiny rocks, twisted bits of wood and seed casings because they had literally no other material possessions. They made marks in the silt around the doomed collie where they thought her flanks would be the next day, her flesh supplied with every dog's collected manna. They teased her ruthlessly and called her names, rarely receiving a coherent response. But they kept their teeth off of her, at dire command of Sharyenna and her lieutenants. She was a "free" dog now and had paid her debts.

Everyone knew the truth, however, she was being made an example of. The collie was a visible demonstration of what the terrible manna did to you. What it could reduce a dog to. The collie was now free to leave whenever she liked. However, the last time she tried she could only manage a few steps, and now she was even rounder than she was then. It was obvious to everyone that the bitch couldn't budge her own pork off the ground.

She smelled the manna before it was even all collected. The assembly laughed as she struggled against her own bulk to turn towards where the dogs were assembling the small pile of discs; perhaps 150 all told.

Sharyenna slid smoothly into the crowd, like a knife through butter. She went to the collie, who after several minutes effort had managed to turn herself about 150° away from the stream and a little up the bank. She was panting.

"So, it seems like you've decided to stay. I'm glad that you enjoy our company so much!" said the she-wolf, lowering her head down to the collie's level.

The collie stared back with hollow eyes and then she turned her nose towards the dogs moving the manna around, well, as much as she could against her now bulging collars of bulky neck rolls. "...Manna..." she mumbled, half coherently.

"What was that?" Sharyenna made a show of asking. "What is it you want?"

The collie swallowed. Her burning hunger was obvious for all the dogs to see. She stared fixedly at the manna handlers, both sides of her mouth watering. She swallowed. "...Manna!" she said more loudly. Tears began to run down her snout.

"Manna?" asked the she-wolf in mock-dismay. "But look at what the manna has already done to you! Are you really saying you want more?"

Everyone saw the breath catch in the fat collie's throat. Open mouthed, she panted, tears wetting the fur on both sides of her face. A little moan escaped her. Suddenly the scene was not so much funny as pathetic. The spectators watched grimly as she turned an eye to the wolf beside her. "Please... I... need it." She moaned, half yowling in despair.

Sharyenna frowned before taking in the stock of the watching crowd, judging its currents like she might taste the wind. She woofed more seriously to her beta, the grey wolf named, Setacean. "Bring the mutt her breakfast. We'll see if she chokes on it." Then, leaping spryly for a canine her size, the she-wolf jumped up onto her accustomed boulder to oversee the feeding. It was obvious that this time, the collie would need no prompting or coercion. She obviously couldn't wait for the discs to be brought to her, a frenzied light in her eyes. Disgust dissolved through the dogs, its fumes rising so that the she-wolf could almost smell them. Looking down on them, seeing the dogs merge into a cohesive whole, all sharing mingling hatred for the collie and what she represented, filled the she-wolf with joy. 'We just might pull through this...' she thought. 'If we can all just stick together, for the common good.' It was then that she decided, against the risk of being found by either the Tigress or the male wolves, and against the fact that the dens were leaking ground water, to stay another day. 'It'll be good for them to be united like this a while longer... And it might be fun to see just how big that collie can get..." The she-wold smirked to herself as the pile was swept ungracefully towards the collie's waiting mouth. If the disks were covered with dust and grime, it didn't seem to matter. Nothing mattered to her any longer save those discs. The she-wolf took some time to reflect that her fate was possible any of theirs if they did not remain vigilant. The Alpha-Female then curled on her rock to watch the show.

When the collie was about halfway through her allotment of tasty manna disks, the dogs surrounding her jeering and throwing small pebbles so they could bounce off her round, brimming flanks, a new dog walked into the camp.

Sharyenna lifted her head. It was the bloodhound. She'd been wondering if he would return. She was glad that he had decided to come back to her... just as long as he knew his place. The she-wolf stood and beckoned to him. The dogs who had been brushed the discs on the ground towards Betsy's waiting mouth paused, much to her chagrin. She strained against her weight on the ground as she attempted to crawl on her belly towards some of the closer discs.

Bruce glaced at his former companion then walked past her. Sharyenna stood on her rock, her pregnant belly showing with a natural roundness lacked by any other canine on the island. "Have you thought about my offer?" she asked.

"I have, and I already told you that I'd work for you." Said the bloodhound in his low voice.

Sharyenna turned her snout to the collie scrambling in the dirt. "What of your friend here?"

Bruce turned to look at her. The desperation flared in her eyes, seeming to say, "Just one more... Just one more..." He looked up at the she-wolf. "My friend is gone."

Sharyenna grinned, "Ah, I knew you were wise." She turned, "Come, let us speak in private."

"That won't be necessary." Said Bruce and the she-wolf turned, lifting her lips a little to expose gleaming fangs.

"And why do you think that is?" asked the she-wolf suspiciously.

"I didn't come here empty-handed. " Said Bruce. Now he spoke a little louder, so the rest of the dogs could hear. "I've been researching out in the jungle and I believe that I've found an alternate food source."

The she-wolf's eyes widened in alarm as excitement broke loose in the crowd. Dogs jostled each other to get closer. "Could it be?" They asked, "Could there be... hope?"

When Bruce's eyes rose to meet hers, she knew. "He knows!" she thought with alarm. Her heart fluttered in alarm. If she didn't handle this carefully, everything would be lost. "Really? And where, pray tell is this mystical food supply that you've found?" asked the she-wolf sarcastically. She was alarmed, however to find that more eyes were on Bruce than on her.

"Not far at all." Said Bruce. "In fact, I followed your scent right you it."

The she-wolf set her shoulders. The bloodhound obviously had no sense at all. She'd been expecting to play games with him, but not he'd gone and blown everything open. "Setacean, get him!" she growled, hackles raised.

The big wolfess charged and easily pinned the heavy dog. Bruce cried out as they rolled in the jungle dirt, him trying to keep her fangs out of his throat. "The fish! Bring out the fish!" Bruce cried.

And out of the jungle trudged, as quickly as he could, a fat and round German Shepherd. But he was not what drew the crowd's eyes so much as what was slung over his back. Wide leaves tied with jungle vine made a crude satchel on either side of the bulky dog's body. EAch of the big leaves, however was filled with over a dozen fish. Einstein managed to enter the camp and set down his burden just as Seatacean pinned Bruce down on his back, teeth at his throat.

Einstein shouted, "Sharyenna has been hiding this food from all of us, hoarding it for herself!"

"Lies!" hissed Sharyenna, "Get him! Get him now!"

To her utter shock and dismay, no body moved. Not even the other wolves. Her own lieutenant, though keeping the bloodhound pinned, looked up at her questioningly.

"She's brought you nothing but hunger and lies and power games!" said Einstein. And, having learned something of the cold dismal truth of human nature added, "I offer this food for free, and I know where we can get more. We can be free of manna and the she-wolf!"

The dogs were already nosing the bundles of fish, grabbing them one by one and making off to the back of the crowd. Two fights were starting to develop. The she-wolf's heart sank. This was not order, this was chaos! This is what that fat ass shepherd wants! Her growl rose in pitch as she jumped down off her rock and charged right at Einstein. No amount of whining or back rolling would keep her from ripping out his throat this time...

Except... before she even reached him, there formed a wall of fur surrounding her. Fur with fangs and claws. Her feet were knocked out from under her, and she landed painfully on her belly. She let out a mother's cry, fearing for the pups inside of her, and that prevented the mob from ripping her open right then and there. Then the shepherd's face was looming over her. But he wasn't looking at her. "Tie her up" he said. "And you wolves, keep over there for now..."

Some of the wolves protested, partially due to lingering respect for their Alpha, but mostly because the dogs kept the fish for themselves. However, there were only six wolves to about 28 dogs, so there was not much they could do. Einstein mollified them further with promises of sharing the pool where the fish were.

The she-wolf was tied up and muzzled. Everyone took turns smelling her exposed rear. After comparing the scent of the fish and of her anal glands, there could no longer be any doubt of her guilt. Einstein did not ask her to defend herself. Someone, however, asked the shepherd, who more and more was emerging as the de facto pack leader now, what they were going to do with her. Einstein said, "We're going to let her go of course." He needed only one look at Betsy, however to add, "After she gets a little bit of breakfast. She's eating for a litter after all..."

The crowd mobilized around the she-wolf, after that. It seemed a fitting fate for the maniacal wolf. As they set about poking and prodding her, seeing how she could be best coerced to eat, Einstein wandered a short ways away, where a large black and white form had not moved during the entire confused affair.

Betsy was staring at the ground, as if not even aware of what had been happening all around her. As Einstein waddled towards her, she released a loud belch and sniffed around in the dirt. She whined softly like a pup who couldn't find its mother's teat.

"Betsy? Bets?" Einstein said as he settled down in front of her.

It took a moment for her eyes to find him. She seemed to look through a haze as she looked at him. "E-Einny?" she mumbled.

Einstein grinned, tears welling in his eyes. German Shepherds weighed twice as much as Border Collies and Betsy was even bigger than himself! It was little wonder she couldn't move. 'And she's doomed to grow even more, from what she's already eaten.' Thought the shepherd with extreme regret. "Yeah. It's me." Said Einstein.

Before he knew what was happening, Betsy, with extreme effort, lurched forward and was licking and licking his face. "Einny!" she cried over and over.

He leaned closer to make it easier for her. He reached out with a paw and stroked her shoulder, which was rounder and fattier than his own. "I-I missed you so much, Bets. I can't even say..."

"Just shut up and kiss me." Said Betsy grinning in a way she thought she never would again.

And he did.

Things were not as fine as Einstein would have hoped after their initial loving embrace. She was desperately addicted to manna and was horrified when she found out that all of the rest of the discs had already been reluctantly devoured by the she-wolf who remained bound and thrown into one of the wetter dens she herself had ordered built. She at least retained the sense to know she was addicted, however, the pangs ripped through her and she wept with the pain of them, especially since it was all she could to do crawl back towards the stream so she could slake her extreme thirst. Einstein was with her the entire time, however, and he hoped that it was a little easier for her now.

The dogs who had, mere hours before, detested Betsy and openly jeered her, now had a sort of embarrassed shame towards her. It was obvious that she was the mate of the dog who had brought the fish, and they all went out of their ways to make reparations for the way she'd been mistreated. However, for Bruce, nothing would ever be enough, not while Betsy was incapable of so much as supporting her own bulk.

With Betsy stranded by the stream and Einstein unwilling to leave her, and also the dens making for a handy prison cell for the she-wolf, there were several reasons not to leave. However, the pools with the fresh water fish in them were several miles to the south and west. In a few hours, only a quarter of the original camp remained. Many of the starving dogs and all of the wolves having been led by Bruce down to the pools to fish. About half of the dogs who left would return, bearing food for those who had stayed at the old camp, but the rest apparently decided to bed down near their new food and water source. Einstein didn't care which way or the other. He did not want to lead anyone and as far as he was concerned, the more the dogs could disperse, the better... as long as the she-wolf was kept under close guard.

The former Alpha-Female lapped water out of the corner of the leaky den all the day long. By that evening, her flesh had expanded so that her bonds had to be loosened. She no longer looked as respectably pregnant as before, so much as simply fat like the rest of them. The next morning, Einstein carefully gathered the manna disks which had sprung into being around Betsy and himself in the night and carried them down into the she-wolf's den. There, he told her quietly that she would eat these and all the rest that was brought to her or he would jump on her belly until she miscarried. Weeping, and groaning softly with her muzzled of twine, she relented. When he untied her mouth, she ate down the disks with a wolf's hunger, and later, she consumed everyone else's manna, without all that many signs of distress.

Einstein felt low for doing this to her, but he resolved himself with the fact that he was only returning a favor. He instructed her guards to unbind her that evening and let her go where she would. Nearby, at the stream, Einstein had to console a wrathful Betsy. She was ready to claw out his eyes for "robbing" her of her manna. Betsy had grown even more during the night. She was so big and so round that her belly was lifting her slightly from the ground. Einstein winced every-time he saw her, wondering how close he came to being exactly like that.

Betsy huffed and ranted, spewing curses she didn't mean at Einstein and then alternately sobbing. Einstein waited silently through the worst of it. She huffed and panted, growing tired from the mere exertion of her rampage.

Cautiously, Einstein dropped something in front of her nose. "Here, eat this. It's good."

It was a tiny fish, about six inches long. Betsy looked at it and snorted. "I don't want that. I want manna."

"You don't mean that Bets. Go on, eat it... or don't. It would hardly hurt you now."

Betsy sobbed again, deep in her thick throat. "Why?! Why are you so mean? Why can't you just give me a few little disks? Like I did for you?"

Einstein took a deep breath, expanding his own fatty flanks, "Betsy..." he looked across at her. "I'm doing this because it was wrong of you to give me those pieces of manna." Betsy gaped. "I'm doing for you, what you should have done for me."

Rather than more wrath, Einstein was met with genuine regret from the morbidly obese collie. She was still panting, and it would be a long time before she was able to catch her breath with the weight sitting on her chest. "I'm... sorry... Einny." She managed.

Einstein sighed raggedly. "Just eat your fish, Bets. You'll feel better in a couple days."

And she did feel better. After three days, the last of the manna had worked through her system, making Betsy as round and as fat as she was going to be and lessening her craving for manna. At the end of it all, Betsy was left in excess of 350 lbs; that was nearly eight times as much as she weighed when she came to the island! As her thirst was finally slaked, she asked Einstein to move her away from the stream as she was tired of being wet and damp. However, by that time also, Betsy was so heavy and large that her knees couldn't touch the ground and her torso devoured her upper legs, making them heavy and clumsy. Her hide was plump and round and tight with her rapid gain, making a huge barrel from shoulder to hips. She was so round, and her skin was so tight, in fact, that Einstein had the crazy idea of rolling her, literally like a barrel away from the water's edge. Betsy was reluctant at first, but in the end, seeing no other choice for getting her any where, let him help her roll. And really, Betsy did a lot of the work, using her back and abdominal muscles to manipulate her torso, much like a worm would do, while Einstein pushed with his own weight against her side.

It was slow going but then Bruce lent a helping paw and they both were able to get Betsy to a far more comfortable position under the shade of a nearby tree. Einstein - or other dogs about the came when he wasn't around - brought her water and fish to eat where she lay.

Lying under the tree, trapped by the own mass of her body quickly became monotonous for Betsy. Einstein and Bruce were kept busy, what with half the dogs here and half at the pools and even some dogs returning to the beach to aid dogs who were by now even larger and fatter than she. They kept trying to make some sense out of the disorder which ruled in the wake of the she-wolf's fall, however, most everyone was just doing as they liked and really, Bruce and Einstein were as interested in preventing the rise of another power-hungry canine as trying to hold their loose knit community together for the sake of survival. All of that required mobility, even Einny's limited abilities were needed. As for Betsy... well, there really wasn't much she could do, even though people went out of their way to make her more comfortable.

Still, she only really talked with Einstein and Bruce. Sometimes another dog would try to strike up conversation with her. And she did try to talk back, but all she kept seeing in her mind was that same dog's face laughing and biting at her. It was all still painfully fresh, as well as the knowledge that, down inside each of those dogs lurked the same cruel, human beast she had witnesses just days earlier. After a few monosyllable answers, the prodding dogs usually left her, for which she was grateful.

Betsy filled many of the long hours looking at the she-wolf. She rested with her paws and chest in the water of the stream, her belly expanding widely to either side of her and pinning her to the ground. She was a shell of her former self. Albeit a shell which was larger even than Betsy herself at this point.

For three mornings, the she-wolf, aided by her last steadfast beta, had eaten every single disk of manna that had appeared in camp. It was only now, when the worst of the pangs for those crunchy disks had passed was Betsy able to appreciate the great gift that Einstein had given her. Sharyenna had been perfectly able to leave that first evening, although the pregnant wolf had had about the same mobility as Einstein by that time and still had more growing to do after consuming all of those disks. Instead of leaving, the she-wolf had plopped right there beside the stream and asked Einstein, asked him if she could have her betas back. "Any that will have you." Einstein Had replied.

Betsy had been worried for him, about his complacency, but it turned out to be a non-issue. By the next morning, Sharyenna was so large of belly that she could only manage to walk about twenty paces before sitting and she used all of those paces to collect manna, not only from her own collection but others as well. Laughing, the other dogs - whose bellies were comforted by fish after the long fast - brought her their manna to watch her eat with desperation in her eyes. Betsy was ashamed to remember herself asking - begging really - as well, even more loudly than Sharyenna, though Einstein forbid a single disk from passing her lips.

Sharyenna was actually better off than Betsy had been, seeing as half of the dogs were now residing near the pools, but still, those wolves who had returned to her during the night were disgusted with their leader's singleminded behavior. All defected, save Setacean. That second night found Sharyenna grounded by the edge of the stream as Betsy herself had been, and since then, her one remaining lieutenant has been her sole source of succor as she begs and cries for manna, often saying that her pups are hungry to any who will listen and have pity on her. Watching all of this filled Betsy with a sick sort of satisfaction of which she was unproud, but relished in nonetheless.

Betsy was drowsing in the midday heat. She rested her head on her fatty, protruding chest which half covered her forepaws. It was a convenient pillow, even if it was about 30 lbs of flesh that oughtn't have been there. After not having moved in going on four days, Betsy was beginning to feel some of the more negative effects of immobile life. Probably the worst thing was the bed sores. The ground was uneven under her because there was simply no level ground to be found. Also, the area she spread out over the ground was fairly great. The end result were the two or three red sores she'd already developed on her tight-skinned round belly. They didn't hurt so bad, except when she moved her shifted her belly across the ground; then they stung. She also had a few ant bites here and there...

Fortunately Einstein had been particularly vigilant of parasites and bugs like that, brushing her off where she couldn't reach anymore... Sometimes the lack of mobility was still a shock to her. Just a few days ago, she'd been able to lick her crotch if she needed to. But now... She could barely turn her head 90 degrees, she couldn't groom herself in the slightest. Sometimes she felt miserable and helpless. She was four and a half, and a collie. She felt the urge to run and chase things. The monotony of lying here and being literally held down by her own body was nearly as bad as what had been done to her to cause her weight gain in the first place. And she still felt the hunger for delicious white disks...

Betsy threw her head down on the grass under her. It took a full minute, but with some real effort she was able to shift her hundreds of pounds of excess bulk with her meek 45 lbs frame, enough to roll over onto her side. Her enormous gut curved down roundly from the abdomen, past her knees to her ankles. The skin was plump and tight, like a sausage. So tight in fact that it still hurt at night. Betsy imagined it would be months still before it loosened. The stretch marks on her flanks, belly and back were red, raised and livid where they could be seen through the fur. Betsy sighed, feeling her heart beat overly fast as it struggled to feed all of the extra weight on her.

She was tired of napping. She was restless yet lacked the strength to do anything constructive. She could work through some mathematical proofs if only she had some paper... Betsy had never mastered the knack of doing theorems in her head; Bruce was better at that. She wanted someone to bring her another fish... She'd eaten that morning - if you could call an 8 inch bait fish breakfast - but she was terribly bored and she wanted the manna bad. She knew just what it would taste like too... Beef porterhouse and asparagus with hollandaise sauce...

Betsy saw a bug in front of her nose and blew it away with a sharp breath. It was a funny looking ant, black with a red strip around its middle, the same kind which had been crawling around and occasionally biting her large quantities of unprotected skin. She sighed again. Now she wanted to look at the she-wolf again. She knew she'd be sucking down water and slowly growing as she was now doomed to. However, she couldn't see her from her current vantage point. She'd have to roll onto her stomach again...

Bleh. It was too much effort. Betsy decided she would just lie here a while. She wanted to look up into the canopy, but again, it would take effort to roll onto her very broad back. And anyways, she didn't like the feeling of her gut pressing down on her diaphragm. It was too heavy. Betsy blew another ant away thoughtlessly as it crept by. Then she brought her paws down on her wide, smooth tummy; hard. Unsurprisingly, it hurt and her paws just bounced back, as if they'd hit a rubber ball, so thick and dense was her fat belly. She whined in the back of her throat. She didn't like being this big! Betsy felt very guilty for wanting this for Einstein. Being so large just didn't feel very good in general and she hated not being able to get up and move place to place as well as having to think about such simple actions as rolling over, evaluating the cost/benefit of every little movement because every movement was so taxing.

With her forepaw, she ruffled the blobby neck meat under her throat, just about the only place on her where the skin was still comfortably loose. However where before there had been cute wrinkles, now there were creased, lumpy folds instead that Betsy found far less aesthetic on a female. Her paw came away with a black ant. Frowning, it put it in her mouth and bit down so that it wouldn't trouble her again. It was bitter.

Betsy struggled to lift her head against the weight and thickness of her neck. Peering out over the grass, she saw that there were quite a few of the nasty big ants moving around out there. Betsy removed two more from her chest as they were crawling up and smushed four more where she saw them on the ground before her. However, she could feel several crawling on her wide torso already, their little feet tickling the hairs. She winced as one of them bit her, a surprisingly painful bite.

"Einny? Einny!" Betsy called. With some effort she shook herself, although she was so wide now the motion was slow, sluggish. Two ants slid off of her, but quickly moved to get back aboard. She got another bite near her butt, under the overhang of her croup which was rolling over the base of her tail. Groaning, Betsy started trying to roll back over, hopefully crushing a few of the ants crawling on her belly. Where was a helpful shepherd with a leafy branch when a big girl needed one? "Einny, Please help!" Betsy called again more loudly.

However, when Betsy was again able to peer down into the camp again, she saw that she was not the only one having problems.