Syzek

6 - Balto: Fresh

I pounded my paws into the snow, pushing backwards on every hit. The most intense part of the evening storm had long passed to the West, leaving only a rather refreshing snowdrift lingering in the darkened air. The residue winds from the heart of the blizzard pierced through my fur, building up snow that turned to mushy ice between the arctic temperatures and my body heat. If this was a normal day, I'd actually enjoy the sensation of refreezing water. Over my swinging shoulder, I glanced at Syzek, whose eyes barely stayed open from sheer exhaustion, movements slurred like the way he talked to me underneath the library we busted out of not a minute before.

I'm not certain I've ever seen anyone pull out rifles on me, even after some of my more bulky food heists. Admittedly, I did get away with most of those, but because of that it never crossed my mind that the people in town would take these kinds of measures in the first place.

I'm also not certain Syzek knows he's slowly freezing to death, but it's probably a pretty bad idea to tell him right now, especially when we're busy running to stay alive to begin with. Saving the thought, I slowed down slightly, just enough to be certain he could see where I was.

With Syzek a few yards behind me, I cut hard to the right, swerving back behind the meat shop again. The window I climbed out of laid shut as before, the ceiling hanging lamps inside flickering every once in a while, struggling to maintain the light they shone through the window. The shop wasn't important at the moment, my eyes instead focusing on the fence.

The barrel stack I set up months ago was still intact, deliberately placed next to the broken fence plank and serving as an easy way to leave Nome in a snap if I ever needed to, like right now. I leaped to the top of the highest barrel in a single bound, just as I did over the months the barrels stayed untouched by the people that lived and worked nearby. Keeping my balance in the dark proved to be harder than I thought, though. My left foot slipped off the edge, dropping a significant distance before I could pull it up. The side of that barrel would be left scraped as my claws dug into the wood covering.

Footsteps chimed in from the front of the buildings, headed down the same path we took into the alley we visited for the third or fourth time today. I listened to the approaching footsteps, paying close attention to where their origin was. The soft crunches of snow suddenly became much sharper and clearer as I listened, even through the wind's howls. In a rush, I peered over the edge of the top barrel.

Syzek was still struggling to climb off the ground.

I gritted my teeth, and thought back to Boris thinking that would somehow help me. My mind began racing through what we did today, starting with latching onto Boris' head to drag him to the... championship... race... My brain drawled off as I had an idea.

I leaned backwards while lowering my head down to where Syzek was trying to pull himself upward. As soon as he pulled his head up again, I opened my mouth and clamped onto his neck, taking great care to avoid breaking his skin. Still, I needed to hold on tightly, especially with Syzek starting to flail around under my grip.

"There they are!" A familiar voice yelled through the darkness.

This would never work with a dog any heavier than he was.

I used my spine and forelegs to pull Syzek upwards off the ground as hard as I could, easily clearing the short height of fencing that reached above the barrel stack. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the butcher was back on his feet, standing next to a slightly taller man loading a brand-new rifle. Despite the stress, I arced my head backwards with Syzek barking frantically, releasing his neck and sending him flying into the built-up snow past the fence, just as the man with the rifle took aim.

I screamed, "RUN!!" as loudly and firmly as I could, blindly hoping Syzek would hear me and listen.

As Syzek flipped around uncontrollably, I dove off of the barrels half a moment before the gun fired. The round nicked the end of my tail, and punctured the wall like a rock being dropped in water. The tip of my tail burned and stung, but regardless, I was safe for the few seconds needed for that man to reload the rifle.