"Macky! Macky, wake up!" Squinting, I manage to force my heavy eyes open.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"Oh, thank goodness," Nat says. "You need to get up, we are almost there."
"Almost where?"
"Come on, you've made it so far, don't quit now. Look!" Nat lifts my head in the direction she is pointing. "When I was asleep, you found this place. You must have collapsed and fainted, then I woke up, and here we are."
"I still don't get it. Where are we?"
"Look, it's a city!"
"Is there water?" I ask.
"Let's go find some!"
Evidently, the city is in shambles, and the remaining structures are unfamiliar.
"This doesn't look like any city I know of. It's a wreck, but this architecture is very unique," I say, and Nat looks over at me, a little confused.
"How so?" she asks.
"Well, here, take a look at this, for example. Check out this pillar. The concrete is unlike normal concrete. There is some sort of extra compound, almost as if it is reinforcing the structure or maybe—" I trail off, trying to place a new feeling, something that resembles danger. Nat squats beside me.
"Yeah, that's rather odd, but we still need to find water." I nod.
"Yeah, and something just doesn't feel right," I say. "It's like we are being watched."
"But all the people would be dead by now," Nat says, trying to sound reassuring.
"Hey, look at this!" I brush away some rubble with my paws and nudge the gun in the dirt.
"It's a gun. What could we do with this?" Nat picks it up and examines the gun magazine. "It has thirteen shots."
"If there is anyone still living here, we need to find out. Fire the gun in each direction. North, east, south, and west. Then fire a shot upward." Nat does, and a few seconds later, the bullets whizz back at us from each direction. "What the heck?" I shield Nat from the projectiles, but they have just missed us. "Well, I guess there's no one here. If there were, they would have heard the shots." I let go of Nat so I can see if she is okay. She stares behind my shoulder at something, her face as white as the moon. "What is it?" Nat slowly brings her hand up to point.
"The buildings are moving!" I turn around and witness the most phenomenal thing in my entire life. Concrete buildings are rising from the dust and debris, rebuilding themselves. "What is this place?" Nat turns in all directions beside me, amazed. "This is remarkable!"
"I know," I say. "It's unlike anything I have ever seen!" Nat puts her arm around my neck and kisses my furry cheek. "I love you," I say.
"I love you too. I don't ever want to let you go." I nuzzle her cheek, and Nat makes a sound that I will remember for the rest of my life, the sound of true happiness and contentment.
We continue to stare in wonder as the towering buildings finish their construction. And then it seems as though they are bowing to the beast and the girl who stands watching them. I start to feel a tingling in the tips of my paws and then throughout my legs.
"Macky! Look at you!" I bring my hands close and see—my fingers? I turn my arms this way and that, my claws retracting into my forearms. A fully human torso emerges from where just seconds ago there was that of a beast. My snout becomes a nose, and my mouth returns to its normal size. My legs lose their fur, and my feet are human, and I am naked. Nat blushes and turns away. I look around for something to hide my midsection. A dirty piece of cloth lies on the ground beside Nat's foot. I bend down and pick it up, then tie it around my hips.
"You can look now," I say, and Nat turns around. She puts a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh.
"It works," Nat says half-heartedly, and I can't resist touching her, so I step forward and embrace Nat. She hugs me tightly for a moment, then we step back an inch and kiss.
We walk off into the sunset, with the backdrop of the city now alive, me fully human, and her a beautiful girl.