4338.206 · July 25, 2018 AD
Seven Bags and a Wagging Tail
Paul has built something. It's not finished, it's not pretty, but the tent skeleton stands against the sky like a declaration of intent. Then Luke's voice carries across the dust with a single word that rewrites every priority. Seven shopping bags materialise through the Portal, and Duke proves once again that dogs understand the important things — diving headfirst into provisions and emerging victorious with exactly what he came for.
The second tent is taking shape. Poles hold firm, guide ropes grip the earth, canvas stretches toward something resembling shelter. Paul's hands ache and his shoulders burn, but for one quiet moment he stands back and sees progress — actual, tangible evidence that survival might involve more than simply not dying.
Then Luke's voice shatters the satisfaction with a word that makes everything else irrelevant: food. Seven shopping bags appear through the Portal, plastic handles straining with the weight of non-perishables and hope. Luke vanishes as quickly as he came, leaving Paul to haul provisions toward shade before the Clivilius sun claims them.
Duke and Henri investigate with characteristic enthusiasm, noses deep in grocery bags, tails working overtime. And Duke — triumphant, unstoppable Duke — emerges with a packet of dog treats clenched in his jaws, darting into the tent before Paul can intercept him.
Inside, Jamie is sitting up. Awake. Alert enough to snatch the treats from Duke and distribute them with something approaching a smile. It's not healing. It's not safety. But it's a man who was bleeding and broken now propped upright, hungry, participating in life again.
