Animal Control

Part 2 | The Onion

     The tanks sloshed, the cages rattled and all manner of little voices cried out in pitiful frustration as the truck that carried them approached the rear of the little burger joint. The driver of the strange overloaded truck, a veteran catcher, would have bet money that the Anura Hound would have been nosing around a restaurant. What he didn't expect to see however was the epic struggle it was having with a uniformed man in gloves that seemed hell bent on capturing the creature.

     "You might want to rethink your strategy there son," said the man as he hopped out of the truck, "those back legs can leave one hell of a gash if you're not-"

     "What?!" Mitch yelled over the grunting animal that had wriggled out the headlock he had got it into, "just stay back, I've got this under control."

     The man laughed and turned back to his truck, and began rummaging around in one of the large wooden boxes that flanked the rear bed of the vehicle. After a moment he returned with something in his hand, the scent or sight of which seemed to spur the animal into even greater heights of frenzy. A great kick with both legs into Mitch's chest sent him falling backward and the animal bounded off of the ground and in one quick motion snatched the offered object.

     Mitch pulled himself up from the ground panting. The man that before him was older perhaps in his sixties with little twinkling eyes set beneath curly graying brows that matched his curly graying hair. He wore a jacket similar in style to Mitch's but black instead of blue and marked with a curious governmental seal over the breast that Mitch did not recognize.

     "You've got a lot of guts to try and strong arm an Anura Hound son," the man said smiling a crooked grin and turning to observe the animal, which tore vigorously at something that looked reminiscent of a giant insect leg on the ground about fifteen feet away. "Just what were you going to do once you had it under control?"

     "That's the animal that's been hurting people," Mitch replied stepping closer, "are you with the city?" he asked gesturing toward the insignia, and then in an attempt to save his clumsy interrogation said, "the name's Mitch."

     "Nice to meet you Mitch, my name is Charles. And to answer your question, yes. Although not affiliated with an agency out here on the fringe. I'm one level in."

     "What?" Mitch replied after a moment's pause.

     "Hey it looks like he's come back around. It's a good thing that anything with a bit of Leptodactylidae in them have such short term memories,"

     The last bits of the black jointed object that the animal had been eating disappeared between its rubbery lips, and after a moment of sniffing it turned back to the men, plopping its bulbous hindquarters down on the ground as it did so, watching them with a air of contentment.

     "Lepto what? What depart- You mean that thing isn't some kind of dog?"

     "Some people think there is some Canine in it, but believe me if you ever saw one of these things fully grown you wouldn't. Been trying to figure out who's got the Brood Mother for a couple of months now. Too many of these baby ones keep popping up, or HOPPING up, get it?" Charles said, laughing at his own joke.

     Mitch made a perfunctory noise in acknowledgment of the pun, further examining the strange man before him. His skin was dark and criss crossed with faded scars, and although the man was shorter and older, stood with a confidence about him usually reserved for military officers. "There's a tag on the collar," Mitch finally said, the want to be helpful somehow edging out his confusion and curiosity in the que of questions that was building up in his head.

     "So there is, none of the others had them. Might just be the break I was hoping for," Charles said pulling a leash out of the truck and striding over to the animal who remained where it was watching the two men with its weird bulging yellow eyes.

     "I appreciate you doing the leg work on this one son, but I think it's about high time we start heading back."

     "No, wait. If that's the animal that has been hurting people then I'm going to need to report it, and you, and whatever it actually is. You said that you were or weren't affiliated with the city?"

     "Yes, that's right,"

     Charles smiled as he hooked the leash to the collar and examined the tag. "Do you want the chance to help capture this little guys mama? The one that's really been hurting people?"

     "If there are more animals like this that are loose in the city, then yeah. It's my job. But-"

     "Well then you had better ride along with me, that's where I'm headed, providing that this address on the tag is good, and I doubt you'll be able to find it on your own."

     Mitch stared blankly at the man leading the strange hopping animal to the truck, and then his eyes fell on the other animals on the vehicle. The truck was overloaded with cages and water filled tanks, mild yowling noises could be heard coming from the interior. It looked like an old fashioned pickup truck, the likes of which you might see adjacent to a roadside stand in a warmer part of the country selling fruit. Iridescent and strange looking birds fluffed up their feathers and squawked balefully in the cold while long eel-like fish flopped about in long translucent tanks of water that ran along the sides of the vehicle.

     "What are all of these animals?" Mitch asked approaching the truck to get a better look into some of the cages that were stacked high in the back. Beat up cat carriers and wooden crates with makeshift caged doors loaded against one another bound down with great bundles of bungee cords.

     "Just my latest haul. I wasn't planning on heading out here to the fringe, not exactly kosher to have these little guys cross levels, but got a tip that an Anura Hound came through the Bishop street door." Charles opened the drivers side door of the truck and encouraged the animal on the leash beside him to enter, which it did in a single jaunty bound. "The Kestrels don't like the cold so it's good that we managed to find him so quickly."

     "You said your name was Charles? I'm having a hard time here. What do you mean bishop street door? What do you mean fringe? And what kinds of birds did you say those were, Kestrels?" Mitch said exasperated, hesitating to climb up into the passenger seat next to the strange animal he until just recently was trying unsuccessfully to wrestle to the ground. "Those don't look like any falcons I've ever seen,"

     "Ah! So you know your animals do you? I knew that I liked you. I'll do my best to give you the crash course, I sometimes forget that you lot out here on the fringe don't know much about how things work."

     The engine roared to life and jolted forward, accompanied by a chorus of angry clicking and squeaking from the jostled animals in the rear.

     "I used to be like you believe it or not, an outer worlder I mean, a fringie," Charles began as he guided the truck down the vacant wind swept city streets with disregard of any kind of traffic laws. "Was in 'nam, that's where I first was exposed to critters that didn't come from the jungles and lands of the outer world. They aren't so regulated out there, in countries like that I mean, not all of the doors are mapped and things can just come through without anyone being the wiser," He pulled hard to the right and began heading towards the two towering apartment buildings that dominated the eastern edge of the city. "Anyway, to answer your questions, The Bishop street door is the local door to the next level in, this-" here he gestured to the windshield and the world outside, "is the cusp, the outermost shell of the onion. You follow me?"

     Mitch stared at the man, and then down to the animal between them. The dog-thing during the ride had turned around from facing forward and was intensely investigating a dark shape in a bucket of water that sloshed suspended on a peg just behind the two seats in the cab of the vehicle. Everything that the man was saying was nuts, he knew that, but then again all around him were the most incredible animals he had ever seen. Perhaps I'm the one going nuts, he thought. But with curiosity getting the better of him he simply figured what the hell, and held on.