– 4 –

Some time later.

“Oh,” says the wolf, startling awake. Its ears swivel. “I woke up. I hadn’t expected that to happen.”

It sits up. It looks around.

Everything is devastated. Everything is an awful ruin. The sun gleams off melted window-glass. It is peaceful and still and no birds sing.

It looks around a little more.

A dusty sunbeam shows Saul. He is sleeping against the tail of the wolf. His belly is very round and he is glowing, just a bit, because he has been eating nuclear explosions.

“Oh,” says the wolf. “Oh.”

Its brain sends conflicting signals. It tries very hard to stay still. It must not lick the boy. It must not jump on the boy. It must not wag —

It cannot help it.

It wags its tail. Its tail wags itself. Circumstances wag Fenris’ tail all about. Saul bounces up and down and is flailed around.

“That is ridiculous,” says the wolf. “Saul, you look like a musician.”

Saul mumbles.

The wolf struggles around to where it can see Saul. This hurts. It winces. It goes to lick its leg.

Result: failure!

“If you gnaw those bandages off,” Saul mutters, creaking open his eyes, “I am going to put a cone on you.”

Fenris considers this. Then it sighs. It stretches out.

“You left,” Fenris says. “You left, Saul.”

“Did I?”

“You reincarnated.”

“I just changed my hat,” protests Saul, who is still pretty much asleep.

“Bah,” says Fenris sulkily. It does not have proper tear ducts. It gnaws on a nearby building. “You should have come back sooner. I got adopted by a mean family that tied me up in the basement and threw boots at me.”

“Haha,” laughs Saul.

“Haha?”

“That’s over now,” says Saul. “Now we can live happily ever after.”

The wolf is coming to eat the world. The Agency’s coming to kill the wolf.

“And never,” says Saul, “ever again, to die.”

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