NOVEMBER 3, 2015
Dawn on the third of November found the truck and crew finally back underway. Reshuffled cargo and repaired equipment complete, the medical and command cabins in the rescue trailer were now open and available for use, though the five of them still chose to ride in the truck cab as one group.
US-87 was partly snow-covered, which had almost prompted Max to urge them to turn around and take I-15 back southeast with hopes of a drier route. He'd driven in worse, though, and the other 'student' drivers - Sean was presently learning the ropes - would have no better chance to get experience. If they could drive in slush, bare pavement would be a cakewalk.
The plan was to take US-87 across the state and then down to Billings, where they would pick up I-90 and take it east, almost all the way to Chicago, and then another interstate south to Paris. As plans go, though, they were always written in wet sand, it seemed to Max.
"We should have picked up some board games," Kate said, lying in the sleeper, Angela on the bunk below her.
"We could play I Spy," Duncan quipped from his usual place in the passenger seat.
"Don't you dare," Sean and Max stereoed, smirking at one another once the words got out. The ladies laughed in turn.
"It was just a suggestion," Duncan shrugged, smiling nonetheless.
"I'd rather listen to 99 Bottles of Beer," Max said. "And that's not an invitation, Kate."
"Aww," she replied, faking disappointment.
Their travel and their banter continued for several hours until they were onto the interstate and heading southeast from Billings. They'd stopped in the city for a brief rest, resupply, and search for ponies, and to change drivers. Everything except fuel and some canned goods had been a bust, so they were underway again relatively quickly, with Kate behind the wheel this time.
Max felt little need to supervise Kate, as much experience as she already had, and with the road conditions improving as they had been ever since they reached the interstate. So he turned his attention to Sean, who was sitting on the upper bunk, above Angela, tending to his false injuries - or at least the few he was pretending to still have.
"Let's check those dressings again," Max said, playing it up. He waited for Sean to obligingly magically peel the taped gauze pads away from his hide.
"Looking good," Angela said, twisting and craning her neck to look above her bunk. "You heal pretty fast."
"You think?" Sean said, carefully, but with a casual tone that hopefully didn't sound too forced. "I hadn't noticed."
"Really?" Duncan called out from up front. "I had."
"What?" Sean and Max stereoed.
"Well, from the way you've been moving, it's clear you haven't been hurting for a while," Duncan said.
"That's right," Angela said with realization, looking up to Sean.
Max realized the only one not looking at Sean (and him) was Kate, because she was keeping her eyes on the road. "Okay, so as far as we can tell, Sean has some kind of healing ability."
"Did you know that before?" Angela asked. "The fire, I mean."
"No," Sean said, removing the other bandages, dispensing with the charade.
"He was pretty messed up when we got to him," Kate pointed out.
"That he was," Duncan said. "It definitely wasn't an immediate response." He looked at Max. "Can we trade places? I never did get a chance to look him over."
"Did 'him' give his permission?" Max asked, an eyebrow raised.
"It's fine," Sean said. "Might as well."
Max shrugged, then got up and climbed onto the center console, waiting for Duncan to vacate the seat, then squeezed past him into the seat while the white-maned professor took his place in the front of the sleeper. Max resumed his seated position - like a pony, not a human, thus not bothering with the seat belt.
"How's it going?" he asked Kate, looking to her.
She gave him a shrug. "Meh," she replied. "I'm just keepin' it between the ditches."
"Exactly," Max grinned. "Don't fall asleep on us, though."
"Bah, we could put the Club on the wheel here and let this thing go if the roads were straight enough," she said, cracking a smile in return.
"Let's not," Max said, turning to look out the windshield. "Wish we could get some weather forecasts, though."
"Yeah, we're missing the prognosticators to do that," Kate countered. "You don't think those ponies you've been texting could give us some details?"
Max shook his head. "I doubt they're in any better of a situation than we are," he said. "Besides, I don't want to seem too..."
"Too what?" Kate said a moment after Max trailed off.
"Look up ahead," he said, nodding forward.
Kate peered into the distance on the flat, expansive interstate highway. At least a couple miles away, in the opposing lanes, was a tiny dot which disrupted the level horizon. As they watched, the dot began to migrate into the center median, evidently moving to be on their side of the road.
"Slow it down," Max ordered, waving a hoof towards Kate. "Bring it to a stop. Hey, Doc, do we have any binoculars up here?"
"In my bag, in front of the seat," Duncan called forward. "What do you see?"
"Tell you in a second," Max said, bending down to pick up the satchel and open it.
"I can go for an aerial survey," Kate offered, beginning to lower the driver's window as the truck ground to a halt.
"Not until we know what's up," Max insisted.
"When was the last time we came across something bad?" Kate scoffed, though she brought the window back up again.
Max was busy sighting through the field glasses at the figure on the road. "Let's just be careful," he murmured, then spoke louder. "Okay, looks like it's a single pony."
"How can you tell their marital status from-" Duncan began to quip, but got shushed immediately.
"Wearing some kind of coat, and carrying a bag," Max said. "Running right for us. Keep the doors locked for now."
"Is this how you responded when you came across me?" Sean asked.
"No," Kate said. "We pointed the truck right at the fireball and-"
Max tried to tune them all out as he continued to assess the situation. A grass-green pony - as far as Max could tell, with the heavy cloak draped over its form - was galloping at full steam towards the truck, blond mane and tail chasing behind him.
Max set down the glasses, which were instantly snatched up by Kate. Max, in turn, grabbed a microphone from the dash, tapping a couple of buttons on the control panel before speaking. "That's far enough!" he said, and the cab vibrated lightly with his amplified voice emanating from the loudspeakers on the front bumper. "Stay where you are."
The pony seemed startled at the loudspeaker, stumbling a little and then coming to a gradual stop. He - it was obvious when he spoke - hollered out, with an unusual accent, "Hello! I need your help!"
"Stay here," Max declared to the occupants of the cab. He opened the passenger door and stepped up, so he could be seen above the doorframe. "What's your matter?" he queried.
The stallion looked frustrated and stomped in place somewhat. "I need to get to a town called Forsyth!"
"Does this look like a taxi to you?" Max said, raising an eyebrow.
"Max!" came a scolding voice from the other side of the truck. He turned to see that Kate had ignored his instructions and exited the truck, climbing onto the hood. "Where's Forsyth?"
"All I know is north of here," the pony on the ground shouted out.
"I'll check," Duncan told Kate and Max, coming forward to the passenger seat to check the GPS.
"Why are you so wary?" Angela asked Max.
"Everybody just shut up a second," Max demanded.
"Can I come closer?" the pony pleaded.
Max looked over to him. "Yeah, sure," he said. "What's in Forsyth?"
"My traveling partner," he said, and it became obvious that his accent was Australian. "I hope."
Kate fluttered down to the ground to meet him as he approached. "I'm Kate," she said, offering a hoof. "This is Max, and there are more inside the truck."
"Bryan," he said. "Listen, there's something you should know... there's a good chance she's being held captive. By, um..."
"By who?" Max asked.
"Erm, not exactly who," Bryan said. "More like 'what'."
Duncan popped his head out of the cab. "Forsyth is up on I-94, about 85 miles away. We could be there in 90 minutes."
Bryan fixed Max with a desperate gaze. "Please help me, mate. She's all I got left, after all this stuff went down."
"We're gonna help you," Kate said. "Right, Max?"
Max looked between the two of them. "Yeah," he said. "But we need to move some people around to make room."
"I'll take care of that," Duncan offered, ducking back inside the cab.
"And we need to know more about... 'what' we'll be up against," Max said, turning back to face Bryan.
"I can explain it, but I'd prefer we do it on the road," Bryan said, his voice still anxious. "Trust me, I'm not stringin' you a line."
"Do you want to drive?" Kate asked Max.
He nodded. "Help him up into the cab after Duncan has everybody else sorted out. If Duncan hasn't done so already, put a route to Forsyth into the GPS."
"On it," Kate said, hopping up and flitting back to the cab.
As it turned out, Duncan moved himself, Angela, and Sean into the rescue cabin, leaving the truck cab available for Max, Kate, and Bryan.
"Thanks," Bryan said, setting down his bag and then shedding the overcoat, revealing a pair of wings and an icon depicting a golden shield.
"Pegasus?" Kate said, fluttering her own wings. "We could fly there in probably half the time it'd take us to drive."
"Just two of us can't stand up to them," Bryan shook his head. "There were two of us before, and look where it got us."
"Is your friend a pegasus too?" Kate asked.
"How about we discuss 'what' we're facing, first?" Max cut in.
Bryan frowned. "You're not gonna bel... ah, screw it. Dogs."
"What?"
"Yeh," Bryan nodded. "I said dogs. Big ugly mothers. I'm not talkin' 'bout the kind we used to domesticate, either. I mean, like you and me." He fixed Max with a stare. "People who've turned into dogs."
Max had the truck turned around and was backtracking on northbound I-90. He glanced over at Bryan, seeing a serious expression. "I gather they're hostile," he suggested.
"Well, they didn't invite her in for tea," Bryan lashed out.
"Hey, guys," Kate said, leaning forward on the center console to look between the two of them. "Let's remember we're on the same team here."
"I'm just trying to get a feel for what we're heading into," Max said, trying to defuse the situation. His eyes flicked from the highway to Bryan's newly-exposed icon and back. "You by chance in law enforcement?"
"Yeh," Bryan said. "New South Wales Police, Rescue division."
"You're a far ways from home."
"We were on holiday, all right?"
Kate tch'ed and stepped up fully onto the center console, physically insinuating herself between the two. "Bryan, tell us more about the dogs."
He blinked and got back on focus. "Right. There were four of 'em. Two - I'm gonna say it all and you can decide how crazy it sounds after. Two looked like Doberman Pinschers. They were in charge. The other two were mutts or other breeds, I don't know."
"And they were ex-humans?" Kate asked.
"I didn't exactly sit down and get their life stories, but yeh, all signs pointed that way. They talked, at least." He paused for a moment, and then carried on. "We were camping in Yellowstone National Park, when we got ambushed. I was, shall we say, away from the campsite tending t'business, when they came in and captured Lindsey. I at first tried to rush 'em, but they..." He grimaced. "They said they'd tear her throat out right there if I didn't back off."
"Don't beat yourself up over it," Kate said softly. After a moment, she added, "What happened next?"
"They wanted all our belongings. Anything that had value. They said they'd add it to their 'stash', like they were a bunch'a hoarders or something. When we gave up what we had, they decided it wasn't enough. They were gonna do us both in, before Linds spoke up and told them ... told them about her grandfather's shop."
"In Forsyth," Max said, connecting the dots.
"Yeh," Bryan answered. "Linds's granddad runs... ran I guess nowadays... a watch'n'jewelry shop. Linds saw the gems these mutts were carting around, and figured they would let us go for that kind of haul." He sighed. "But they wouldn't take her word for it that it was there. They said they'd take her with them, as 'insurance', and I could pick her up once they got done with'er."
"And how long has it been since they headed north?" Max asked.
"A day and a half," Bryan said. "They hit us at daybreak yesterday."
"Odds are good we'll catch them, then, right?" Kate said to Max.
"Probably," Max agreed. "But I don't want to go roaring up on them, or they're likely to harm her." He turned to glare at Kate pre-emptively before she could propose her next idea. "The same goes for doing a pegasus surveillance run."
"I could get in there silently and see what's up," she insisted.
"And if they're watching the skies? It's not like you have lots of birds and aircraft to cover your approach. The moment they see anything moving, they'll know it's coming right at them. That's the way of the new world - we have no means of hiding in plain sight any more."
"Much's I wish we could get a high eye before we go in, he's right," Bryan told Kate. "They'll spot us forever away."
"We're going to stop the truck about five miles out of town, maybe a little further back," Max said. "When we move in, it'll be on foot. Er, hoof."
"I'm sorry to say I don't know a thing about the place," Bryan said. "I only met Linds a week before the incident. The big one, I mean, what did all this." He gestured to his chest with a hoof.
"So she's not from Australia like you," Kate hazarded a guess.
Bryan shook his head. "We were just camping in the same general area when it all went down. She's from 'round here somewheres."
"How'd you meet?" she asked.
Bryan looked like he wanted to protest the question, but decided there was no harm in answering it. "There was one campsite left in the campground when we got there, so the attendant let us put two tents on it if we each paid half price. Linds was on a backpacking holiday, and I was going by hire car."
"Hir-"
"Rental," Max explained before Kate could ask.
"Yeh, sorry," Bryan nodded. "Anyway, the storm what started all this drove us out of the tents and into the car-"
"The storm?" Kate queried, an eyebrow raised.
Bryan looked at them for a second, then shrugged. "I guess I assumed somethin' I shouldn't've, maybe. We had a hellacious thunderstorm over the park the night all this happened, back in May. I guess I figured one had to do with the other. I gather they didn't?"
"Probably not, but who knows," Max said. "We do know what caused this, though." He - aided by Kate - proceeded to retell the story he'd learned and told several times over already.
"Wow," Bryan understated when all was said and done. "That explains why the campground was deserted. Doesn't make it any less spooky, though. We thought we'd both gone round the bend somehow."
"Where were you heading? When you came across us," Kate said.
Bryan turned around and looked at her like she was crazy. "You been listening? Forsyth."
"No, I mean before that."
"Oh," he said after a moment when he realized her meaning. "Sorry. We were still in the park when the dogs ambushed us."
"You hadn't gone anywhere? For months?" Max asked.
"What's the point?" Bryan shot back. "We searched around the park the first few days, but there was nobody there. We took some supplies and food from other campsites and park buildings, and had plans to move in to a holiday cottage for the winter. We figured the best chance at getting found was to stay put, as big and famous a place as Yellowstone is. Or, was."
"Still is," Max said, a moment of desire to see his country's history preserved washing over him.
"True enough, then. So. You know all our story now. How about's the lot of you?"
"The pony we talked about in Illinois, the one who explained all of the 'origin story' to us? We're heading for her colony. It seemed like the best chance for survival, with the population as low as it is now."
Bryan pondered it a second, nodding approvingly after a moment. "Sounds about right," he agreed. "I don't suppose there's room for two more once you help me rescue Linds, is there?"
"I think we can work something out," Max smiled.
The truck chugged to a stop on a bridge at the last interstate exit before the city of Forsyth, according to the map.
Kate had used the walkie-talkies during the intervening drive to fill in the other passengers on what was happening. Max and Bryan stood by the rescue trailer, while the former looked through the stashed equipment.
"Did you bring anything with you?" Max asked the police pony. "I mean, a weapon we can use."
"I didn't exactly bring my kit all the way from Australia on holiday, if that's what you're asking," Bryan replied. "I carried a big stick until I came across you lot."
"Did you talk softly?" Max smirked, then continued rummaging.
"Duncan and Angela said they'll stay with the truck," Kate said as she approached, answering a concern Max had raised while they were enroute. "So it's you, me, Bryan, and Sean."
"Four on four; sounds fair," Max murmured, nodding. "If they choose to fight, fall back to the truck and we'll come up with plan B."
"No guns?" Sean asked as he arrived with the threesome.
Max looked over at him, not wanting to admit he'd misplaced where the guns he and Duncan had taken from the border station back on the Alaska-Yukon border had gotten to. "A, haven't found a need for them so far, and 2, how would we pull the trigger?"
Sean smirked and let his horn flare a little. "Some of us are more dexterous than others."
Max shook his head. He extricated a pair of body armor vests from the compartment full of junk, letting them fall to the asphalt. "This is about the best we have. I'm hoping we won't have to rely on them."
"Me too," Bryan agreed. "Frankly I don't care if they rob the whole city blind, so long as they give up Lindsey."
"Let's hope for that but prepare for the worst," Max said, picking up one of the vests and offering it to Bryan. "I know this isn't the best fit these days, but it should protect the vitals."
"Is it stab-proof?" Bryan asked, wrestling to put it on around his upper torso and forelegs. "Those dogs had some mighty sharp claws."
"Let's hope we don't find out," Max said. He looked at the other vest and then the other two ponies before him.
"Give it to somebody else," Sean said. "I can take care of myself."
"I don't plan to be flying low enough to get hit," Kate said.
Max nodded, and was about to put it on, when he got another idea. He picked it up in his teeth and carried it over to where Duncan and Angela were chatting.
"One of you keep this," he said. "If they circle around behind us and come after you, you might need it."
Duncan looked down at the vest and then back to Max. "You'll probably need it more than us."
"I don't plan to leave you unprotected," Max said. "We have one, you keep one. Simple as that."
"Just think of it as insurance," Angela suggested to Duncan. She was of a size that it wouldn't fit her, and probably didn't offer much additional protection to her tough hide anyway.
"You guys be careful," Duncan said after a moment.
"We will," Max nodded. He held up a radio. "Listen for us on channel 5. If anything bad goes down, call us on that, or run the siren up."
"You bet," Duncan said, nodding, and then patted Max on the back. "Come back in one piece."
A hundred or so paces up the road, they came across a sign telling them that the main exit for Forsyth was in 1 mile.
"Let me go up and take a peek," Kate implored from her position hovering beside the three earthbound ponies.
Max chewed on it for a moment. "Be inconspicuous," he said, trying not to think of how bright her pink mane would shine in the afternoon sky. "Stay as much out of sight as you can. If you're spotted, we may only be quick enough to recover a body."
The caution had the desired effect on her. "Got it," she said, adopting a serious expression, and then shot into the sky with a silent flap of her wings.
"Safe flight," Bryan said quietly, watching her depart.
"Let's hope she doesn't get seen," Max said. He wasn't about to admit that the first time he blinked, he virtually lost sight of her.
The three of them remaining began a slow, cautious approach to the town. They moved to the grass of the center median, to diminish the sounds of their hooves on the road. Nothing was said between the three men for several moments.
Suddenly a pink-and-white blur zipped down from the heavens amongst them. "Whew!" Kate breathed as she folded her wings. "Okay, good news. There's a coal train stalled in between us and the main part of town. We can get down beside it at the interchange and cross over it when we get close to downtown."
"Did you see anything moving?" Max wanted to know.
"Nuh-uh," she shook her head, falling into step with the trio. "But there's obvious signs of somebody having been here recently - doors kicked in, debris disturbed, and so on. And I think I found your friend's store. Only watch store in town, far as I can see."
"Was it broken into?" Bryan hurried to ask.
Kate nodded. "Door's completely gone. Like somebody not only kicked it off its hinges, but kicked the hinges out of the wall. No signs of anybody there, though - but I didn't get too close."
Bryan sighed.
"We'll find her," Sean said with determination, trying to cheer the pegasus up.
"I know," Bryan said. "It's just hard to keep my spirits up."
"We'll sort that out quick," Max contributed, leading them down the slope off the interchange towards the rail line.
The threesome followed him in single-file, keeping as quiet as possible.
"Where's the store?" Max whispered after they got to the tracks.
"'Bout another half-mile that way," Kate hissed back, pointing with a wing at about a 30 degree angle compared to the railway.
"Keep sharp," Bryan said. "They got the jump on us easy back in the park. Made no noise whatsoever."
Max kept the group off the graveled rail bed, stepping softly and slowly through the adjacent grass. His ears were pointed straight up and swiveling from side to side, searching out any signs of the abductors' presence.
After a few tense minutes of walking, they heard some noise piercing the silence. They all froze in place, with Bryan holding a hoof upraised by reflex. They shifted their eyes to one another, listening to the sound.
Indistinct voices carried across the empty town center, from someone who evidently didn't care if they were heard. Boisterous laughter occasionally punctuated the conversation, but otherwise, the chatter was indeterminate.
Max began to try to climb over the car couplers between the nearest two hopper cars, but found they were too high, and didn't want to risk the iron pieces clanking loudly if he climbed atop them. A "ssst!" noise from behind him drew his attention to Kate, who was indicating Sean and Bryan, already partway under the car, crawling between its undercarriage and the rail bed.
Max joined them, and shortly all four peeked out from under the bottom of the rail car on the town side, peering around to find the source of the talking.
Four creatures sat on cinderblocks around a bonfire inside a ruined supermarket, which put them out of view of Kate's earlier overflight. Two were lean, thin beings coated in black and dark brown fur. Both of them sat silently and appeared irritated at the volume of their colleagues. The other two appeared to be anthropomorphized versions of an English bulldog and an oversized pug.
"Are you kidding me?" Kate whispered, looking at the last two.
"Sssh," Bryan hissed. He focused on the four dog-men intensely.
"Is that them?" Max wanted to know.
Bryan gave one slow nod.
"Don't see any ponies anywhere," Sean commented. "Where's the store?"
Kate pointed, again with a wing, at one of a number of storefronts on the far side of the street. True to her description, its front was caved in, like all the other places nearby.
A shrill chuckling laugh came from the dogs, and the ponies shifted their attention towards them once more.
"Sounds like that dog from the cartoon," Sean whispered.
"What do you want to do?" Max asked Bryan. "Take them and interrogate them? Or go look for your friend in the shop?"
Bryan answered by sliding out from under the rail car like a cat on the prowl, eyes fixed on the supermarket.
Max winced and mouthed to the others, Let's go. He followed Bryan's lead, staying behind him to minimize the amount of visual disruption in the dogs' field of view.
"What do you call a cow who's a comedian?"
"I dunno, what?"
"Laughing stock!"
The pug gave a thin, high-pitched laugh again, through clenched teeth. The bulldog grinned at the reaction to his joke.
The dobermans had clenched jaws, too, and in reaction to the joke, but not in the same way as the pug. One seethed to the other, "These fools are grating on us."
"They are," the other agreed. "Maybe it's best to review our partnership."
"Aw, don't be like that!" the bulldog complained. "We make a great team! Look at all our haul!" A big meaty paw waved at several duffel bags of random treasure near the group.
The first doberman sighed and shook his head. His partner grimaced, then spoke aloud again.
"That's close enough, horsebeasts!" he snarled.
The other two dog-men looked confused, until the dobermans turned their heads - as one - to focus on the four ponies trying to enter the broken front of the store. The bulldog and pug leapt to their hind feet and bared their teeth, growling and snarling.
"Where is she?!" Bryan hollered at the dobermans.
One at a time, they peered at Bryan, eyes narrowing to slits, finally recognizing him. "Unharmed by us," one said.
"We let her go once she delivered on her promise," the other intoned.
"'Promise'?" Bryan angrily countered.
Max tried to calm Bryan down, putting a hoof on his side. "What did she promise you?" he called out to the dogs.
"All this shiny stuff!" the pug crowed, reaching down to lift up a hockey bag virtually bursting with all sorts of gold and silver and other materials.
"Sit down and be quiet, Douglas," one of the dobermans said tiredly.
"You too, Nigel," the other frowned.
Everyone paused for a moment. Kate, of course, was the first to blurt out, "Wait. Doug... Doug the pug?"
The pug shot to his feet again and began to charge at the ponies, but was stopped by his partner Nigel physically, along with a sharp bark from both the dobermans.
"Can we start over?" Max cut in, waving a hoof. "What did you mean, you let her go?"
"What we said to your friend back in Yellowstone was true," one of the dobermans said.
His partner continued: "She led us to what we asked for, which she no longer needs. When she fulfilled her role, we allowed her to take her leave."
"What she no longer needs?" Sean asked. "What're you going to do with all this jewelry?"
"Not your concern," the first doberman answered. "It's become obvious that ponies don't care for material wealth now that they are ponies."
"And we can make use of it."
Bryan grunted. "I'm gettin' real tired of Zeus and Apollo here. Keep their mates occupied while I beat Lindsey's location out of 'em."
Everyone's hackles went up except the two dobermans. One rolled his eyes and sighed again. "Why must we be so confrontational?"
"You could just ask us where she went," the other said.
Max fixed them with a stare. "So where did she go?"
"After she allowed us to relieve her family store of their excess baggage, she said she would go to her family home."
"We mean none of you any harm," the second doberman claimed. "You will see the truth when you meet up with her again."
Bryan looked like he was ready to spit. "You could be a bit more friendly then instead of being right cu-"
"Okay then," Max shouted, cutting the angry Australian pegasus off. "You've got what you want?" he asked the dobermans.
"We do," one said as they both nodded.
"We're free to go?" Max questioned.
"Are we?" the second doberman queried in response.
"Maybe after we make sure she's all right," Sean suggested.
"Where's her family's place?" Kate asked Bryan.
"I have no idea."
One of the dobermans nodded away from the main street. "She went up that road."
His partner added, "If you look closely, you might see an active chimney down that way."
"Bryan?" Kate said.
Bryan nodded and shed the ballistic vest, then unfurled his wings, taking to the sky along with Kate.
"Majestic creatures," one of the dobermans observed, watching the pegasi depart.
Max looked at the dogs, then took a step forward. The other dogs snarled, but were silenced with an upraised paw from the other doberman.
Max and Sean approached the dogs, stopping when they were within a couple body-lengths of one another.
"I'm Max," said the fire pony. "This is Sean, and Kate is with Bryan, who I presume you've already met."
"Indeed we have," one of the dobermans said.
Max paused for a moment, then said, "You got names?"
"Of course," the second doberman nodded, offering no further reply.
"...Right," Sean nodded.
"I'm Nigel," the bulldog said. "And this is Doug." He sniggered. "...The pug!"
"Hey!" Doug barked.
"I never noticed that before," Nigel laughed.
"Be careful," one of the dobermans said to Nigel. "He's not the only one without an ironic name."
"What?" he said obliviously.
A deliberately-loud flapping of wings overhead distracted all six to look to the skies, where they found Kate circling for a landing. "She's there and she's good," she told Max.
"As we assured you," a doberman commented.
"True enough," Max said. He changed tack. "What's your plans? I'm only asking because we're heading for a colony of ponies. If you want to join us, if you'll promise to not be so... hostile when coming across others, we'll bring you with us."
"We have what we need," one of the dobermans said. "We can scavenge for food and water."
"We're more inclined to join with other dogs, and form a pack," the other supplied, adding under his breath, "although that has started off poorly."
"And what about the gems and jewels?" Sean smirked.
"Still not your business," the first doberman said.
"Fair enough," Max said. "So you're not interested in joining us?"
"We will pass on your offer."
"Have a safe trip."
With answers from both of them, Max nodded. "I guess we'll be off, then. No hard feelings?" He offered a hoof to the dobermans.
One looked down at the hoof, then the other, and one at a time, they lifted a paw and shook with Max, then moved to do the same with Kate and Sean.
"Please pass on our appreciation and best wishes to the other two," one of them said.
"Will do," Max nodded.
"Bye Nigel," Kate said, cracking a grin as she couldn't help it: "Bye, Doug the pug!"