We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Fifty-Nine

   Cora wanted to leave right away, but Matt insisted they wait. "You need to work with him first." He pointed to Aydin. "He barely listens to me, and if we get into trouble he could get us or himself killed.
He's already warming up to you, so if he learns to listen to you, we'll be a lot better off." She'd reluctantly agreed. The next morning, they got to work. Matt told her a command, and she would tell it to Aydin. The first few times he would stare at her and tilt his head, as if he was surprised that someone besides his handler was trying to order him around. But after a while he became more willing and responded quicker. Matt told her how to make him attack and how to call him off. He reminded her that he wouldn't kill anyone; the dogs were trained not to. He grabbed a couple of thick couch cushions and held them in front of him. On his command, she had Aydin attack. He was a lot less hesitant this time. Matt told her this was the dogs' favorite part of training. Aydin jumped up and grabbed onto the pillow, almost knocking Matt over and into the wall. Several times he had to give attention to Atlas and make sure she didn't go after Cora or Aydin, thinking she was protecting her handler. It was almost night again when they finished.
   "First thing tomorrow morning, we'll go to the mall. Sound good?" Matt asked, eating a can of tuna and opening a second one for Atlas.
   "Sounds great." Cora answered, throwing her now-empty can to the side. She sat down on the couch when Matt spoke up.
   "You know, you slept on the couch last night."
   "And...?"
   "I used my whole day teaching you how to work with him," he motioned to Aydin. "And I still have to sleep on the floor?"
   She smiled. "Fine, I'll just drag a mattress out of the bedroom."
   "It's got bloodstains."
   "So I'll flip it over." She said, already making her way into the bedroom. The mattress was harder to move than she'd thought, but she finally got it into the living room and laid it down on the floor. Matt and Atlas were already asleep when she got there. There was still a little bit of light outside when she laid down on the mattress and...
   The doorknob rattled. Her whole body froze, and Aydin growled next to her. Someone was trying to get in. It rattled again, and she sat up. Atlas was suddenly awake and growling at the door. This woke Matt
up. They heard muffled voices outside, and he motioned for her to hide. She got off of the extremely comfortable mattress and stood next to the doorway, so she would be behind the door when it opened. Matt shook his head at her, but Cora nodded and pointed to the kitchen, which was the next room over. When he didn't move, she whispered.
   "Hide just to the side of the door way. When they come in, you'll be in front of them and I'll be behind." He growled, matching the dogs, but walked into the kitchen, dragging a jumpy Atlas with him. She seemed more than ready to attack.
   The door opened and Cora backed up to the wall. Luckily, they didn't open it enough to the point where it would hit her. She couldn't see around the door, so she looked through the crack instead and watched as three shadows passed by. Just three people. Aydin sat deathly still beside her, but she could see that he was on high alert.
   When she heart Matt step out with Atlas, she pushed the door closed and stepped forward with Aydin by her side. She raised her gun, then lowered it slightly when she saw the three still figures in front of her.
They'd turned to face her when they heard her, and surprise covered their faces. Dropping the gun, she ran forward to hug Gavin, who was closest. Aydin followed the sudden movement and watched the group
carefully as they joined in the hug.
   "You're okay." Gavin breathed out.
   "Yeah." She looked at Jared and Paige. "So are you."
   "Are these with your group, then?" Matt asked, lowering his own gun.
   "Yeah. This is Paige, Jared, and Gavin." She pointed to each person in turn, then faced them. "This is Aydin." She rubbed his ear. "And Matt and Atlas." Atlas was still straining on her leash, trying to get a  good look, and probably smell, of Cora's friends.
   "Is it just you guys?" She asked when they were all sat in the living room.
   "Yeah." Paige replied. "We wanted to have more people, but Tom didn't want to risk having anyone out here in case they attacked."
   "Wait who's 'they'?" She leaned forward on the couch.
   "We got attacked at the gas station." Gavin answered. "We think the people who threatened you at the mall were with the same group." Matt sat quietly through all of this.
   "It's not too late to go back now." Paige suggested.
   "We could make it." Gavin agreed. "But do we wanna risk it?" Cora turned to Matt. The others did the same.
   "If there's a chance of getting there before dark, I'd say it's safer to go right now than wait 'till morning."