Underdogs The First Stories - By Geonn Cannon Page 0,58

the barrel of her gun pressed against the soft flesh under Natalie's chin. Beck smiled. "Who is this lovely young thing? Your backup? Was she supposed to cover you with that peashooter she had in her car?" She sniffed Natalie's neck and said, "She smells like the redhead. Maybe Sadie and I weren't the only threesome you've had recently. Hand over the ledger, Ariadne."

Ari tossed the ledger she had been holding into the center of the clearing. She was inwardly cursing herself for saying the name of the landfill out loud while Natalie was in the room. "You shouldn't have followed me, Natalie."

Sadie moved forward and picked up the ledger. "Where are the others?"

"Give me Dale."

"You're negotiating for two now," Beck said. "Unless you want to take Dale home and let us take care of this little inconvenience for you. What do you say? You and Dale, mourning together? Falling madly in bed." Beck's lips split in an insane grin. "It might be kind of sweet, actually."

"Oh, my God." Pen was almost in hysterics. Tears were streaming down her face as she pointed at Natalie. "She's a dentist."

Sadie said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Laughing gas," Beck and Pen said at the same time.

Over the next few seconds, all hell broke loose.

Sadie and Beck both aimed their guns at Ari.

Natalie, freed from gunpoint, balled both hands into fists and twisted at the waist to bury her elbow in Beck's stomach.

Beck went down, firing blindly at some point between Ari and Natalie.

Natalie nearly fell but scrambled to the relative safety of one passageway between towers of trash.

Ari dropped to all fours and began to transform, while Sadie and Pen did the same.

Transforming while clothed was like trying to run inside a sleeping bag. While the cotton tried to retain the form of a typical human, the body within it was shifting, shrinking and rearranging in a violent progression. Ari kicked her jeans away with canine legs, shaking her fur in a futile attempt to get the T-shirt off. Fortunately it was big enough that it didn't impede her movement.

Pen, in full boxer form two full seconds before Ari's transformation was done, raced across the clearing. Ari twisted to face her and ducked at the last second. She scooted under the bulk of Pen's body and bucked upward, knocking Pen off her trajectory. She landed in a heap behind Ari, who was already racing across the space toward Sadie. They collided in an explosion of brown and red fur, Ari raising on her hind legs as she swiped at Sadie's face with her forepaws.

Beck came from the right and viciously bit Ari's back leg. Ari yelped and felt blood on her fur, but she just dropped her hips and kicked with both back legs. She caught Beck on the chin and knocked her aside, a part of her brain realizing that the three of them were mimicking the position they had taken the night before.

Ari's back foot had cut open part of Beck's snout, and blood darkened her muzzle as she went in for another attack. Ari closed her teeth around Sadie's throat but didn't bite down. It was just a warning, a threat of what she could do if she wanted to. Call them off.

We'll tear you and your friend both to pieces.

Ari tightened her jaw and felt the points of her teeth sinking into soft flesh.

Get back, Sadie thought loud enough that it was like a spike in Ari's brain. Pen and Beck growled as they backed away. Ari saw her blood on Beck's muzzle, mingled with her own blood from the cut next to her nose.

Dale. Dale. Dale. It was all Ari could think, and she knew the message was getting through because Sadie began to back away.

Ari stayed with her, growling as she kept her jaw closed around Sadie's throat. It forced them to move awkwardly, Ari occasionally tripping over her hind legs as she backed toward the small shack. She turned her head as much as she could and saw Beck following at a safe distance. Pen was lagging behind, her head down as she brushed her snout with her front paws and sneezed as the gas continued to affect her functions.

The gas was starting to diffuse in the open air, but Ari could still smell it. They reached the shack and Sadie bumped the door open with the top of her head. It swung open and Ari looked inside. Dale was sitting on the floor,