Lucky was not entirely sure what the longpaws were thinking about. There couldn’t be any food for them to find—not after all this time. He kept a wary eye on Mickey as the longpaws advanced, disappearing into each house and reappearing with things they had found inside.

They were getting closer and closer to Mickey’s old home.

They seemed more . . . wild than ordinary longpaws. He thought about the Leashed Dogs and how they had struggled. Those who didn’t learn to survive in this strange new world would surely have starved to death. It must have been the same for the longpaws who were left behind, forgotten by those who had fled the city, just as the Leashed Dogs had been abandoned by their masters.

Mickey stood up straight, his back legs stiffening. He watched with a low growl as the longpaws stopped in front of his old home. They yapped loudly at each other, one bending forward and coughing as the other leaned against the wall.

“Mickey, it’s not safe,” Lucky said in a soft voice. “Those longpaws are dangerous. You don’t know what they might do.”

Mickey turned around sharply. “I have a duty to my longpaws’ home.” His ears twitched and he narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t understand. You were a Lone Dog before the Big Growl. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were one of the Pack these days.”

Lucky was stung, but he pressed on. “Your longpaws left a long time ago!”

“It’s still their home,” Mickey growled. “Mine, too. All my life I’ve been brought up to defend it. I have to stop these scavengers!” He turned to the longpaws and barked furiously, his ears pressed against his head. Lucky cringed, but the longpaws ignored Mickey and stood yapping in front of the house.

One of the longpaws kicked the door open and both of them disappeared inside. Mickey threw a desperate look at Lucky.

Lucky could see how much this meant to his friend. “Okay . . . follow me, and do what I do,” he instructed. He pulled back his lips, revealing his teeth. Mickey did the same. Growling, he entered the doorway as the longpaws crossed between rooms. One of them glanced at him, but they didn’t stop what they were doing.

Mickey started to bark again. “They’re ignoring us! We should charge at them!”

“Trust me,” urged Lucky. He remembered a small, wiry-haired dog with a pointy nose who he’d known in the city before the Big Growl. The little dog used to terrify passing longpaws, despite his size. He did it not by barking and hopping around but by standing perfectly still and growling. The trick was to look confident.

Longpaws don’t know what a dog is thinking. And that scares them.