Self-doubt - Judy Albietz

As a dozen sets of glistening fangs completed the circle around them, Lily huddled against Sam’s warm unconscious body, which was sprawled out on the rocky soil. Lily wondered what was dripping from the dogs’ mouths. Was it saliva or blood? Whatever it was, the smell was more than disgusting. Growling in unison, the twelve dogs also shared the same furious look in their red eyes. Their heads were way bigger than the rest of their bodies, making them seem more artificial than real, whatever real that meant in this future world she had landed in. Lily thought somebody must have messed with them, pumping them up with something. Whatever … it wasn’t good.

Like swarming bees, over the last half hour, the pack of canines had moved back and forth, slowly making the noose tighter around Sam and Lily, who shut her eyes tight and hugged herself, shaking with fear. The dogs were definitely moving in for the kill, and alone, she couldn’t fight back. How could she, with these overwhelming odds? It was one thing to be brave and deal with a problem … but here, she was sure there was no way she was going to get out of this alive.

Lily forced her mind away from the impending attack. She needed to look at things in another way. Her dad had always said to think in different terms if the going gets rough. He probably didn’t have this scene in mind: killer psycho dogs on steroids. Several times in her twelve years Lily had surprised herself by getting out of one or two tight situations. And, in the last two days, Sam had saved her life several times. Now it was her turn to protect him. But how to overcome her trembling panic and go into action… how to push the self-doubt back down to where it came from?