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Bear wasn’t sure where he was.
When he had decided to go looking for his people, he had been confident he could find his way home. But, then he started following someone that smelled like Small Dark (it wasn’t her) and gone all the way into unfamiliar territory. He couldn’t see anything that looked like it was near the big bright building he visited, or near New Home.
He called it New Home, but it wasn’t very new any more. Bear missed Old Home. There were much nicer chewy things there. He didn’t think he was close to there, either.
Bear walked down the road, looking and listening and smelling, but none of it was right. Some small people stopped and reached out to grab him. Normally he liked the small people, but he couldn’t get distracted again. He had to find his people, or he had to find home.
He wandered around until the sky got dark and the buildings glowed instead. A small, yappy dog chased him out of a narrow lane she had claimed. He kept walking, feeling hungry and wishing he had stayed home.
The Bespectacled Man would probably be there when he got back. He would probably get in trouble.
Bear had only left home because sometimes his people came back hurt and he might’ve been able to help if he’d come to find them. Sometimes his people didn’t come back, ever. He wasn’t sure if he was able to help them.
Bear felt a sudden twang of familiarity as he recognised all the chaotic smells from the food around where New Home lived. Barking once in delight, he broke into a run and found more and more familiar things, until he saw the way to get to home. He nosed his way into the small entrance he had exited from. It was a small cold tunnel, and he didn’t like it much.
Bear was almost back in his home when he sensed something was wrong. The air coming from the cavernous place was filled with dust that made his nose itch. He crawled further and took in the desolation for himself. The flashing powder was a strong scent in the air, and there was a big gap where the metal box should be. It usually had flashing boards on it. Sometimes it had his people on it. He began to whine.
He hurried around the desolation, sniffing and listening and barking in the hopes that he would find someone. In the scattered stone, he found the Army Man on the ground. He was quiet, and still. Bear licked his face. It was cold, and he didn’t wake up. He started barking, but the Army Man didn’t hear him. He could smell the bad metal on him. The one that meant he was hurting.
Bear kept whining.
He couldn’t find any more of his people. They weren’t here. And this time Bear knew, they weren’t coming back.
This was the Worst Thing that had happened. A lot of bad things had happened. But this was the Worst Thing. He ran in circles, unsure what to do. He was alone now. New Home wasn’t home any more. Maybe he should go back to Old Home. Maybe he could find it and chew on the hide things. But it wouldn’t be the same without Bespectacled Man and Army Man. It wouldn’t be right.
Then he heard a noise. He recognised the noise. The noise happened around Bespectacled Man and Army Man a lot. They did something to make the noise go away. Bear looked at Army Man. The noise kept trilling. Maybe Bear had to make it go away.
He trotted over to the source of the noise, the hole in the wall that Axe Lady had made. She didn’t always have an axe. Bear remembered, though. He barked at the noise. It kept trilling. He pushed himself up on his hind legs to put his paws in the hole. He could see what was making the noise. It was the same as all the other ones outside home. He pushed the box. It kept trilling. He knocked part of it to the side, and it stopped.
Bear hopped back down onto four legs, proud of himself. He’d done Army Man’s job. Army Man would have given him a treat. Where were the treats…?
Bear heard Axe Lady’s voice.
“Hey, Bear,” she said. He recognised his name. He was very happy, because he hadn’t seen the Axe Lady in a long time. He had thought she might not be coming back.
“You don’t understand what’s going on, and I’m sorry.”
He was still wagging his tail about making the noise stop and hearing Axe Lady again.
“They’re dead, Bear, all of them. They’re not coming back.”
He didn’t understand, so he stayed happy.
“I’m going to send Harper to come get you. She’s going to be looking after you now. You’ll like Harper, I think.”
Bear was not expected to give a response, and he did not.
“They didn’t get to ask me to say goodbye, but I know they won’t mind this.”
There was a pause, and then the voice Bear was hearing changed.
“Hello, boy.” It was the Bespectacled Man. Bear barked in delight, glad that he hadn’t forgotten about him. “I’m sorry you’re all alone,” Bespectacled Man continued, “and thank you for looking after us all these years. Goodbye, Bear.”
Bear began to pick up on the tone they were talking in. It wasn’t a happy tone. It wasn’t an angry tone, like he was in trouble. It was a sad tone. A tone like the ones after someone went away.
Small Dark spoke next. “Hey, buddy,” she said. “You did good, alright? And if your new owners don’t give you enough treats, I’ll rise up from hell and punch ‘em in the face. Don’t you worry.” His tail had stopped wagging.
“Bear?” The Army Man was talking. Bear looked back at his motionless, metal-soaked form. He understood what was going on. He whined louder than ever. “I’m sorry,” Army Man said. “Don’t eat all of Harold’s books while we’re gone, okay? And be nice to Harper. Good boy.”
The voices were replaced by a different noise. It was a continuous tone, not the trilling kind that he knew how to stop. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like any of this. This was all wrong.
This was the Worst Thing to ever happen.