I opened my eyes. I wasn’t letting anyone else down. Getting to my feet, I stumbled to the cardboard box, peering inside, looking at the blind and deaf puppies. They wouldn’t be able to do anything properly for at least a week, but they were still cute, and my responsibility.
Wait. They weren’t my responsibility. They were our responsibility, and I had a plan. A plan that could come into action in about two weeks, with a lot of work and a bit of help. Tell a lie. Quite a bit of help.
“I’m sorry, can you go through this again?” Teegan asked. I sighed.
“I have an idea. How we can still move around, but with the puppies.”
“How would that work?” A worker asked me. “They’re only puppies, you can’t put them in danger.”
“I’m not going to.” I grinned.
My plan was to get some bags specially made, so that the puppies could sit in them, while we travelled around. As long as we were safe, they were safe, and everybody wins.
But first we needed the bags, and the next material shipment was going to be in weeks.
“Don’t worry, we can find something.” Courtney said, determined. “Everyone please hand in any old clothes now.”
We soon had quite a collection to work with, a female worker teaching us how to sew the bags so that the puppies would be comfortable. We lined them with the softest materials, putting the rougher ones on the outside, to make secure resting places for these little ones.
Courtney and I were both having two, strapped around our sides, while Daniella and Teegan had one each. The straps were made of some old belts, and we were grateful for everything that everyone at the Library had done for us, but, after waiting for about two weeks, so that the puppies could see and hear, we needed a trip to the pet shop. Urgently.
We all got into the Jeep, letting Molly sit in the back with Teegan and Daniella, sitting in the middle where Sophie used to sit... Sophie... No, I wasn’t going to get side-tracked. I forced myself to pick up my phone, getting Google Maps to take us to Pets at Home, a pet shop in a retail park.
Our raid went successfully, if comically. The Zombie workers occasionally gave us a fight, but there was at least a dozen leads and collars in that shop, as well as dog food, and it may have been slightly dusty, but it was better than nothing.
All of the dogs got new collars and leads, even the puppies, for when they wanted to run around and when they were old enough to come out of their special pouches.
There was even a dog biscuit Pick and Mix, but we didn’t really want to touch the biscuits in there, as they were going a bit mouldy.
Seeing them reminded us that the food in the shops wouldn’t last long, that we would soon have to rely on the Library, which was a dangerous thing to do on a Z-Day. People could turn ugly in a matter of seconds.
Just then, the problem of naming them properly arose, leading to one of the girls being called Lola, the most playful one, but she was very aggressive towards Zombies. Another female was Xena, the most competitive of all the pups, and then Aurora, who was easily the champion sleeper!
Then there was the males. Zipper, the fastest of them all, Biter, definitely the most aggressive, and Kane, the sneakiest and quietest of them all. An assassin puppy?
Our raid of Pets at Home got us many pet related items, such as food bowls, actual dog food, a bigger cage, collars, dog bags, leads and pet blankets. But once we got outside, we had a bigger problem. And no, it wasn’t the Zombies. We needed a bigger car.
Well, I say car, I mean van. A S.W.A.T van, to be precise. What? It was big, comfortable, had benches in the back, room for cages, not bad top speed, it ticked all of the boxes!
Mercifully, there was not a Zombified S.W.A.T force in the back, just the driver, who was dealt with easily. Well. I say easily, I mean with a little difficulty.
This ignited another of my theories: Zombies hang onto some of their strongest traits in their undead lives. Take a mother, for example. She will guard and protect her child, no matter what, so, naturally, she’ll do the same in her Zombified state, just slightly diluted.
The same with this driver. He had some experience with defending himself, so was instinctively better at fighting and protecting himself, giving us more trouble. But only a little, so it didn’t really affect us.
After piling into the van, I sat in the middle of the front seats, with Courtney driving and Teegan staring out of the window. Daniella was in the back, calming down the puppies and comforting the dogs, as the van swung into action. We pulled out of the retail park and onto the road, the street noticeably bumpier than it had been before. I suppose there weren’t really any Zombie workmen!
We soon arrived at the Library, parking the van around the back, next to the Jeep, and transferring all of our supplies to the back of our new S.W.A.T van.
Inside the Library, people were happy to see the puppies, especially in their new gear, and gave us advice on training them. After all, we needed to keep them under control in the middle of a Z-Day, as they weren’t quite ready to kill a full blown Zombie. Their parents, maybe, but them? No way. And we weren’t planning on putting them into any danger either.
At the time, they fitted into the bags perfectly, with little gaps of space, but, in time, they would grow to be strong willed, determined, and, most importantly, very energetic. At least we had more room for them now, in the back of the van, and more room for ourselves. Also, the van was more protected than the Jeep, being a S.W.A.T Van.
Over the next few weeks, we saw the puppies develop, grow bonds, and, for some, take down their first foes. It was all a great achievement on our part, we thought, as no one would have ever thought that four Year Seven girls could bring up six puppies in the middle of a Z-Day? No one. No one except us.