[$] The End [VampuricWerewolf]

[Your Missing Period]

"My database shows it is in now way related to the dog, but yes, the dog. Please place him and yourself inside. My senses are detecting a windsto--" He paused, lifting his own head as the dog barked, its tail wagging and whining even. "We have a visitor. The heat signature is there, Go inside regardless, Monoki. I'll lead our guest in. I do not want you to get lost in that sand storm, you know how it confuses the senses." But the heat signature seemed to be lowering.

That wasn't good.  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo frowned, "a guest?" he looked towards where Hal was looking, "we should hurry, Hal, be careful." he grabbed the dog's main and pulled it into the house. he wanted to look through the cracks and watch Hal, make sure he was ok, but he had to fortify the house for the sand storm as best he could with what time he had before it hit.  

[Your Missing Period]

Hal quickened his pace, the maned wolf giving another roar-bark before dragged inside.

And the android worked, taking a thought to logically reason why Momo would dig so deep, and that was obvious. He had a disdain for dead bodies. The further the dead body was the better it was, and again, the android could understand this logic.

But seven minutes into the burying, nearly finished, the sand storm blew into and shoved the android. This was a bad one, he thought, moving to bury the rest but unfortunately, the dirt was being blow away. Oh well, new dirt would probably be buried on top of it. Folding the shovel back up he looked around, hearing the dog roar and bark inside the house. Their heat signatures weren't hard to find but...

"There you are." walking against the wind he saw the child, looking beat up and sick, legs thin in the too big shorts. "I've got you."

"I hear Hal." the child murmured. He was out of it, and as Hal touched him he felt a fever.

"Let's get you inside." He lifted him and walked in the direction of the other two heat sources, quickly entering through the door and slamming it shut behind him, the wind raging outside. "Bring me some water. He has a fever." He forced his thumb into the boy's mouth, taking a DNA sample and going through the chemicals. "His toxicity levels are high. I'm going to have to clean him out."

The wolf had nearly silenced, whining and sniffing at the boy, tail wagging and ears alert.  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo stared at the child in Hal's arms, "my god-" but the request for water sent him into motion, running for the bottles. "here, clean him out, hurry! he still has a chance," so long as they were breathing, they had a chance. Momo didn't want to have to bury another body. "please be ok, little guy." he stroked the dirty hair before stepping back, giving Hal room to work.  

[Your Missing Period]

"Hold the dog back.' Hal said, pushing the furry beast away, waiting for Momo to take him before opening the boy's mouth and pinching the nose. He couldn't let any of the oxygen escape.

The small mouth was covered with the larger one, forcing the child to breathe, a hand on the crook of his elbow to check the heart-rate, trying to keep it even. In... out.... in... out....

The maned-wolf was whining, stepping forward and back impatiently, giving another roar-bark before silencing again.

Seven minutes passed before he pulled away, actually coughing. "Luckily he's small, but we should find a filter for my system just in case." He continued analyzing the boy, touching underneath the clothes for any abnormalities or broken bones. Aside from being somewhat starving, he did have a hand missing, but it looked rather smooth, like it never bothered growing in the womb. "Here, cover this," He found the rag they used to dry themselves off with. "Fresh water, place it on his head." he took the sleeping mats and unrolled them, moving the boy onto it and went to his bag to fetch the wrapped up food.

When he turned, the dog was curled against the child, the back leg over the small ones and his head just above the orange hair. he stared at them before shifting, moving his head over his chest, curled up tight.

"I'll have to check his toxicity levels once he wakes up. He's clean right now, but he's weak so they may rise again."  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo pulled the dog away as he had been asked, holding it back while Hal worked. when asked to wet the cloth, he nodded and did so, placing it over the boy's head as Hal went to get something. the dog curled up next to the boy and Momo smiled a little, "found your master, huh? good for you." he got another cloth and began to wash the boy's body, lifting his shirt to wipe under it, making sure that he was clean. "yeah, that's all we can do now, i guess. i just-i hope he wakes up." he looked at Hal, worried, wanting to do more, but knowing there was nothing he could do. "poor little guy, where's his family?" he wasn't sure he actually wanted to know, now that he thought about it.  

[Your Missing Period]

"I'm monitoring his heart rate. It's slow, but it's stable. Maybe some sleep will help him. I know this might be a lot to ask, since you are taking care of him currently, but could you maybe dab the wet cloth on and in his mouth to give him some hydration?" Hal's eyes flickered up to Momo's, seeing the worry.

Hal was worried too.

"Being that, judging by age, he can't be any older than seven, and his born disfigurement..." but nine months in any radiation was enough to give any child a malfunction of that degree. "No food. No bag. With the dog. He must have been traveling for a week at least, on his own."  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo nodded, moving to put more water on the rag and carefully squeezing a couple drops into the boy's mouth. when he saw that the boy swallowed, he did it again, giving him a little water at a time so he didn't drown him. "his hand-" he saw that, unlike himself, the boy had most of his arm, just a hand was missing, "poor little guy. must have been so hard for him." he re-wet the rag and placed it on his forehead, replacing the one he'd put there earlier. "please make it, for your dog's sake if nothing else."  

[Your Missing Period]

"Perhaps it was..." Hal murmured, sitting and watching. The wind and sand angrily beat against the shaky wood frame of the house, the sky was growing dim with the thick clouds, and after three hours it finally died, the sun, or its light at least, already starting to leave the orange sky to be replaced with dark reds and light purples.

"Perhaps he'll sleep through the night." The android looked up, "His heart rate is near normal, and I don't see any abnormalities with his lungs. He is still young. He just needs sleep."  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo nodded, "yeah, he probably will. kids are strong, a good night's sleep and they pop right back." he smiled at Hal and stood, "we should refill our water once we are sure that the water didn't get filled with dust. we will have to wait for it to settle and hope it didn't contaminate the water." he looked out of a crack, moving the cloth he'd used to block it to make sure that it was calm outside once more.  

[Your Missing Period]

Hal smiled and nodded. "We should, however there will be a lot more dust in the air than usual. We didn't waste a lot on him, we can wait until later tonight or in the morning. That's why the sky is darker. So much dirt was kicked up into it." Quietly he stood and moved behind Momo, leaning beside and over his shoulder to peek into the crack as well. "It's dark. We'll have to wait until nightfall for the least contamination. Perhaps even morning." he turned around, analyzing their little camp, "You forgot to drink your tea. I apologize. That was my fault I distracted you."  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo shook his head, "it's ok. i didn't pour the water over the leaves, so it's still good." he smiled at Hal and moved away from the crack, putting the cloth back in place. "i'll go and make it now, tea is just what i need." he moved back to the fireplace and got it going again, heating the water for his tea, "should i make some for him? in case he wakes?"  

[Your Missing Period]

Hal sat down beside the Momo, looking over at the boy again. "I think that'd be best. tea will keep him warm. It will also soothe him. But he will have to drink it slowly due to his system, so we may need to reheat it often. I am sure I can make a soup out of the meat for him, but we may need to go back and find that horse to obtain more, seeing that we grabbed so little." This child hadn't been expected at all.  

[VampuricWerewolf]

Momo nodded, "could you do that?" he asked, looking at Hal, "it might be easier for you to find our path again after the store. i'll stay with the boy and make sure he is ok." the water heated and he poured it over one mug, moving the pot close to the fire to keep it warm while his tea steeped. "i can go, though, if you would rather."  

[Your Missing Period]

The android nodded, standing up. "I will go do that right now, this time we have time to rinse off the meat of any sand and dirt it held. Though some crunchiness will be unavoidable." The android looked at where his clothes were before deciding to forgo them. He had just washed his chassis too. "I will be fine. You stay safe here. Your senses are not as finely tuned as mine. But I am memorizing the coordinates. I wil lfind my way back to you, Monoki." He smiled before walking out, giving a wave goodbye before closing the door behind himself quickly.

And anything past the porch was hard to see. Filters moved over the camera lenses, preventing any dust particles from entering before retracing his steps from earlier and starting his trek.

Oddly enough, the storm died down before Hal returned, and it was dark, meaning four hours had passed. And the android was nowhere to be found. The child, on the other hand had turned into the fur earlier, proving he was alive, and a small noise made itself known, the maned-wolf's ears raising before lifting his head. The child was next, groaning, hand coming up and rubbing his eyes before he sat up.