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Another month later…

Not much had changed in Mazelina's current home. There were more bodily fluids than before, no food, and six new lives accompanied her. Mewling and making pitiful yips for food, the pups struggled for her belly and the milk she provided. Though as she watched, one pup did not rise, did not move, did not make a sound. Its fur was tattered, its body smelling of sickness. While Mazelina wished she could do something about it, she knew there was no point. She let the body stay there, watched it begin to fill with bugs and turn black. There was only a momentary sorrow for the life that had only lived a few days, but that emotion was soon drowned out by the need to keep the others alive.