“Sturdy male with no play restrictions,” I stated.
“Well, come on. Let me show you what we have tonight.”
I followed Zack down the aisle where I’d picked Johnathan out. I even remembered his cubby, and as I looked in it at the other male pup that occupied it, I felt a terrible ache in my chest and stomach. Zack kept talking and pointing out pups. They all looked like they’d be fun, but none called to me.
I realized it was because I wasn’t ready yet.
“You know, Zack, I think I’m going to take my time this evening. I’m going to go back up to the social and come back a little later,” I lied.
“That sounds good. I’ll be here,” he said and laughed.
Before I left the pound area, I had already made my mind up that coming here tonight was a mistake. I wasn’t over Johnathan yet. As I walked up the path and mentally went over my plan to go get my bag from the room and check out, a whimper caught my attention. I slowed my pace and looked off to the right of me in the direction of some trees just before the property line.
“Mmph.”
I stopped when I heard the noise again. I squinted in the dark and spotted a human pup curled up, trying to move his arms.Was he hurt?I hurried over and looked around for it’s master.
“Hey, boy, are you okay?” I called as I approached.
His whimpers grew louder when he heard me. It sounded like he couldn’t talk but was trying to get my attention. It was pitch dark in the wooded part where he was, so I pulled out my cell phone and used the light to take a look at him.
“Jesus,” I murmured as I crouched by him.
This young man was curled up in the fetal position, his hands were tied behind his back, and barbed wire was wrapped around his body. Much of his body was bloody, no doubt from the sharp metal. His mouth was gagged, and there was a stick protruding from his ass. This was the pup that those fucking college boys were teasing.
Rage boiled my blood.
“Easy, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to help you. You don’t need to be afraid of me. I’m going to carefully take your gag off,” I explained. I leaned closer and checked to make sure there wasn’t barbed wire wrapped around his head keeping the gag in place.
When I removed his gag, he expelled a large sigh as if he’d been trying to get more air. His hood and mask were off-center of his face, so his nose would have been against the cheek portion of the mask. I slowly took his hood and mask off to reveal his bruised face and soulful brown eyes. Johnathan popped into my head as I watched the young man try to catch his breath. Each time his chest heaved, I could see a piece of the barbed wire press further into a gash in his chest.
“I need to get you some help. I’ll be right back. I’m just going to go to the path and flag someone down,” I promised him. “What’s your name?”
“Dusty,” he blurted.
“I’m Gabe. I’ll be right back, Dusty.”
“Wait. Please, before you go, can you take my gloves off?”
“Dusty, I think you should stay still. If I take your gloves off, you’re going to move around, and the wire is going to cut into you further.”
“I don’t care.” His voice cracked; maybe he was close to crying. “I need to get the stick out. I don’t want anyone else to find me like this.”
He was ashamed of what had been done to him and afraid to be seen.
“Dusty, it’s okay—”
“It’s not!”
“Do you want me to try to remove the stick?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
He grunted and whimpered when I tried to slowly remove the stick, and I was filled with sadness and rage for him. The stick was large and rough when I pulled it out and looked at it. While I was trying to comfort him and reassure him that everything would be okay, I heard people nearby on the walking path.
“Hey!” I quickly called out to whoever it was.
“Hello?” A man looked in our direction and slowly walked toward us. “Do you guys need help?”
