Journey's End

by Christopher Holt

  Rocky sat up, alert. “What do you mean, one last time?” he yipped.

  Gizmo trembled. “What is it?” she asked.

  Forcing his tail to wag, Max said, “The only way to sound that alarm is if we have a distraction. You two press the button, then make a mad dash for that tree by the wall, where Spots said he dug a tunnel. The coyotes and wolves will try to escape here, by the boulders. And since you’ll be hiding, any humans that come in the big trucks won’t see you. They’ll be busy chasing off the other animals, anyway.” He let his jaw hang open and his tongue dangle. “See? Easy.”

  “Where are we going to get a distraction, buddy?” Rocky asked.

  Gizmo raised her bushy brows in stunned realization. “It’s Max,” she said. “Max is going to distract them.”

  Rocky spun in a frantic circle. “No,” he yipped. “No way.”

  “Rocky…” Max said.

  Growling, Gizmo turned her back on Max and looked through the chain-link fence, back the way they’d come.

  “You said we would be together forever,” she sniffed. “You said you would never abandon us.”

  Max crawled forward and nuzzled her side, then leaned over to lick Rocky’s forehead.

  “I’m not abandoning you,” he said. “I have every intention of meeting you at that tree, alive and well.”

  Gizmo turned back to face him, her tail tucked. “It’s fourteen of them against one of you.”

  “I’ve faced worse,” Max said.

  “Not alone,” Rocky said.

  Max wagged his tail, for real this time. “Well, I’m not alone, am I? I won’t let them catch me. Because I made a promise to you that we’d be family forever, and I keep my promises.”

  Ducking his head, he added, “But if the worst does happen, get under that wall. Find Dr. Lynn. See if you can find Dots. And never leave each other’s side.”

  Roars and snarls echoed from the road. The fight had started.

  Not letting Rocky or Gizmo say anything further, Max jumped up on all fours, spun around, and raced toward the road.

  “Press the alarm!” he barked over his shoulder.

  Suppressing every instinct that told him this was an awful idea, Max barreled through the dusty ditch next to the road, trusting that his small friends had listened.

  Taking a deep breath, Max bunched his hind legs, then launched himself into the air. He leaped onto the scalding asphalt between two coyotes, who reared up, startled by the sudden appearance of a dirty, panting, yellow Labrador Retriever. Across from them, the skinny wolf Rudd snarled in surprise.

  Dolph and Bonecrush leaped at each other, connecting chest to chest. Their eyes were wild and their ears flattened, their heads darting side to side as they lunged for each other’s throats.

  “Hey!” Max barked loudly.

  Panting, the two pack leaders dropped to all fours. Fourteen pairs of beastly eyes glared at Max.

  “You,” Dolph snarled.

  “Yup,” Max said. “I’m here. Now come and get me.”

  And without waiting another second, Max turned on his heels and raced away from the angry, vicious wolves and coyotes, as fast as his legs could carry him.

  CHAPTER 21

  THE FINAL CHASE

  Max ran south, away from the road, away from the tunnel he knew lay beneath the towering metal wall, the tunnel he was meant to dig through to find his people.

  The wolves and coyotes did not hesitate to follow him.

  The wolves howled, an unearthly, vicious sound that spoke of months of repressed rage, of the long miles they’d traveled to fulfill Dolph’s quest for revenge.

  The coyotes’ calls were higher-pitched, full of righteous indignation, fury at being tricked by Max, and demands for the rabbits they were owed.

  Dolph was the only one who did not howl.

  He roared.

  The wolf leader’s cries rose over the mingled voices of both packs. He had claimed Max for his own kill, and his roars were a warning: If anyone intervened, they risked their own deaths.

  Max looked for his friends as he tore over the hot, rocky ground. He got a quick, blurry glimpse of Gizmo climbing onto Rocky’s back by the fence, reaching for the button on the red box, the button that would set off the alarm.

  It seemed slightly too high. What if they couldn’t reach it?

  But Max couldn’t think about that.

  The noise of the galloping wolves and coyotes behind him were like nothing he’d heard since the stampede of horses. Their paws dug into the dirt, kicking up a great cloud of dust that swirled into Max’s nostrils and throat. Their cries were overwhelming, hammering his ears.

  His head pounding, Max darted past a lone cactus. The stretch of desert between the chain-link fence and the massive wall seemed to go on forever, with nowhere to hide.

  He could sense his pursuers at his heels, one wolf so close that Max could smell the decay on his breath.

  He couldn’t run forever. But he had to.

  “I will catch you,” Dolph snarled from directly behind him.

  “You cannot get away, meat!” another wolf barked. Rudd.

  The coyotes joined in, yipping insults.

  “You are a pet. You were not made for this desert, not like us.”

  “The desert will claim you, pup! Then we will devour your remains!”

  “Bring us the rabbits that we were promised!” Bonecrush barked.

  Max did not waste his energy on a reply.

  The wall was a shimmering blur beside him. Every muscle in his body screamed in pain, demanding that he rest. His lungs ached, and his heart leaped in his ribs, pumping as fast as it could.

  The alarm was the only thing that could save Max now.

  But it still hadn’t sounded.

  Daring another glance back, he saw the gleaming eyes of his pursuers. The dust cloud they’d raised was like a storm of sand behind them. Their teeth were bared, their ears flattened. Saliva streamed from their fangs.

  And Dolph, the biggest of all the beasts, had pulled ahead of both packs. He was so close that with one lunge he could have snatched the tip of Max’s tail in his jaws. In the quick glimpse of the wolf leader’s eyes, Max saw a manic rage.

  A crack sounded as Max’s right front paw smashed against a rock.

  Yelping in pain, he pitched forward, losing his footing and landing on his side against the hard-packed earth.

  Adrenaline flooded his veins as, frantic, Max tried to jump to all fours and continue running.

  But when he put pressure on his paw, it felt as if a bolt of lightning had zapped it. The agony was unlike anything he’d ever felt, and he dropped to the ground once more.

  The wolves and the coyotes weren’t prepared for this. Dolph barreled right past Max, the other creatures leaping over Max’s trembling figure to continue the chase before realizing they hadn’t just jumped over some rock that was in the way.

  “He has fallen!” Prickle barked in glee.

  Notch-eared Moonrise leaped up and down. “Let us at him. Let him lead us to our rabbit feast.”

  The pack of coyotes made to lunge at Max, but Dolph’s wolves snarled and leaped at their throats, forcing them back. Rudd stalked in front of the desert canines.

  “Max is ours,” Rudd growled. “You have not earned the right to his flesh.”

  “We do not wish to eat his gamy meat,” one-eyed Sharpshard yipped. “We demand our rabbits!”

  Dolph flattened his ears and glared at the restless, panting coyotes. “You are fools. Living in the heat of this desert has burned away all your sense. Do you truly believe this domesticated mutt would eat wild meat like rabbits—or even know where to find it?”

  “He promised,” Shadow said, her tone uncertain.

  “You were tricked,” Dolph bellowed. “That is what this evil mutt does. He lies and tricks!”

  Max watched the two vicious packs face off again, his jaw clenched tight against the pain. He climbed up on his three good legs, his front paw raised, t
hrobbing in a constant rhythm that sent jolts of fire up his leg.

  His tail tucked, Max hopped backward, away from the two packs of animals who agreed only on wanting to finish off Max and his friends.

  Dolph turned his scarred snout away from the others. His black lips pulled back to reveal deadly, yellow fangs. The wolf leader approached Max slowly and purposefully, limping slightly.

  “You are done,” Dolph said, his voice low, menacing. “You are injured and cannot run.”

  Max forced himself to meet Dolph’s stare. “You don’t need to do this,” Max said. “We made peace back in the town where we fed you and your pack, and when you helped us with Belle. Can’t you let go of this idea that you need to hunt me? You are hurt, too. Don’t you want to rest?”

  “Rip his throat out, Dolph!” a gray-furred wolf barked.

  Shadow lunged at her. “Killing the pet will be the honor of my mate, not yours!”

  The she-wolf and Shadow leaped at each other as the rest of the packs watched. Only Dolph ignored them.

  “I cannot rest,” Dolph said as he paced in a circle around Max. “Every time I close my eyes, I have dreams of you defying me in front of my pack. Of you and that sausage dog trying to light me on fire.”

  Max hopped, following Dolph’s path, keeping his eyes locked on the wolf’s.

  “We didn’t start that fire at the veterinary clinic,” Max said. “You did.”

  “Lies!” Dolph roared up at the cloudless desert sky. Looking back at Max, he snarled, “You caused this when you refused us the food promised by your tiny mutt follower. Instead, you decided to fight, harming a member of my pack. You set this in motion.” Standing once more in front of the wolves and coyotes, Dolph said, “You must die.”

  Max’s ears twitched. He strained to hear some noise, some indication that even though the alarm hadn’t sounded, the humans on the other side of the wall had heard the wolves and coyotes and had sent someone to investigate.

  There was nothing.

  This was it. He’d taken a chance to lead these vile, vicious beasts away from his friends, and his risk hadn’t paid off. Any minute, Dolph would end their feud, as he’d promised long ago.

  At least Rocky and Gizmo would be safe. Somehow, they’d get through the tunnel. They’d find Dr. Lynn and Rocky’s pack leader, and after following Max through so much danger, they’d have a chance to rest.

  Still, he wished he could have seen Charlie and Emma one last time.

  Fighting a whimper, Max raised his tail and lifted his head up high. He lowered his injured paw as much as he could without pressing it against the ground.

  If he was going to die, he was going to do it standing tall and proud.

  The coyotes and wolves fell silent. They stared at Dolph and Max, watching and waiting.

  Dolph stalked forward, his teeth bared, ready to lunge, to bite, to kill.

  “You still think you can stand against me,” Dolph said, moving nearer.

  Max stood firm. “Do what you must,” he said. Anger and despair rushed through him, and he barked each word louder and louder. “Try and finish me, Dolph. But be warned—I will not go quietly!”

  And as though he had commanded it to happen, the alarms all along the fence rose into a ferocious din, their shrill noise piercing the desert.

  Panic swept over the wolves and coyotes. They yelped in surprise, leaping back and colliding with one another, flattening themselves against the ground, their eyes wide and frantic as they looked for the source of the noise.

  Even Dolph was startled. He shrank back from Max, fear flashing in his eyes. Max could smell the uncertainty wafting off him.

  Bonecrush trembled as he glared at Max. “How have you done this?” he snarled, his voice barely audible over the screeching alarms. “How have you brought this noise? Make it stop!”

  Max’s own ears throbbed, but he refused to show fear. Hopping on three legs toward the confused, huddled beasts, he barked, “You have no idea what I’m capable of. I’m NOT just some house pet who got lost.” He jumped forward again, hackles raised and teeth bared. Louder, he barked, “I have summoned blazing fires to destroy my enemies! I have made giant mountains come alive to trample those who dared to attack my friends! A cloud of bats came at my friend’s call, swarming Dolph’s pack and tossing them into a chasm. Dolph knows what I can do. When he asked for my help when he was starving, I gave it. But every time he attacks, I strike back even harder. You came after me—and now I make this noise to drive you crazy!”

  “It’s true!” howled the other gray wolf—one of the last members of Dolph’s original pack. “I was there for all of it. Max is not just a normal dog. He is not!”

  Max knew he was bending the truth, attempting to trick the beasts, as Rocky or Gizmo would have done if they’d been here. But it was all true enough that Max saw the fear in the eyes of the small wolf pack, who were clearly remembering what they’d been through in their leader’s single-minded pursuit of Max.

  Rearing back on his hind legs, Max bellowed, “You have underestimated me. Now you will find out what I’m truly capable of!”

  The alarms squealed, undulating in pitch. With their sensitive hearing, no canine could withstand the noise for long. Max himself could only bear it knowing the noise would be his salvation and not his doom. Now the coyotes and even some of the other wolves were backing away.

  “Come,” Bonecrush yipped. “We must leave this place!”

  None of his pack questioned him, not even notch-eared Moonrise, still salivating over rabbits that did not exist. Flattening their large ears in an attempt to stifle the noise, the eight coyotes raced past Max and the wolves, back toward the road and the hole that led under the chain-link fence, back to their home in the open desert.

  The female gray wolf hesitated, then darted after the coyotes. The other gray wolf tucked his tail and chased after her.

  “You cannot leave!” Dolph howled after them. “You will regret this betrayal!”

  Over the blaring alarms, the female wolf barked in reply, “I do not fear you. I fear him.”

  Dolph growled in frustration and turned his attention to the remaining members of his pack: Rudd and two other red wolves. They whimpered and lay in the dirt, their front paws over their ears, afraid of the alarm but also of their pack leader.

  “We stand fast,” Rudd said through clenched jaws.

  Max stood there, his paw raised, wishing desperately for the alarms to shut off but also hoping the remaining wolves would run away first.

  But Dolph turned back to Max, quaking with rage.

  “I do not need those traitors,” he spat, stalking forward. “I wanted them to witness my triumph, but if they are too dim to see through your trickery, they do not deserve the honor.”

  Max felt as if the desert floor had dropped out beneath him. His energy was sapped, and his body throbbed with pain. He bared his teeth in a show of defiance, but if Dolph attacked, he knew he could not defend himself.

  Then, from behind him, yipping louder than the alarms, came a defiant “Hiiii-YAH!”

  A tiny black blur soared past Max and leaped into the air.

  Rocky!

  The Dachshund, once so fearful, now flung himself at Dolph. He was all claws as he landed with his front paws on Dolph’s shoulders, his hind legs scrabbling at the exposed skin on the beast’s side.

  “Leave my friend alone!” Rocky barked as he bit down on a hunk of skin.

  Dolph howled up at the desert sky. He leaped onto his hind legs, then dropped back down with such force that Rocky’s paws slipped. But the Dachshund’s jaws held firm, refusing to let go of the skin on Dolph’s neck.

  Dolph flung his head from side to side. As he spun in a circle, faster and faster, Rocky couldn’t hold on.

  With a yelp, Max’s small friend flew off and landed hard on the rough desert dirt. He tumbled over scrubby brush until he landed against the nearby chain-link fence with a clang.

  “Rocky!” Max barked, limping to
his friend’s side. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you at the wall?”

  Rocky raised his head, swaying back and forth, woozy.

  “You didn’t really think we’d leave you behind, did you?” he asked.

  Dolph stormed at his remaining wolf pack, blood staining his light coat. “Stop cowering,” he roared over the screeching sirens. “Get to your feet. Help me destroy these mutts!”

  Rudd obeyed immediately, climbing to all fours with his tail tucked between his legs. The other two wolves were slower to oblige.

  Before Max could ask Rocky if Gizmo was all right, before he could figure out how to get away with only three working legs, the alarms stilled.

  The absence of sound was disorienting. Max’s ears still rang with the memory of the piercing noise, but it was as if the entire world had gone silent.

  Then came a new noise.

  It was a quick, horrifically loud blast that reminded Max of the sound the elephant named Mortimer had made back at the Praxis laboratories. It was like the roar of some giant beast, echoing between the great wall and the fence.

  They all looked north to the distant road. Large, boxy shadows on wheels veered off toward where the animals stood, kicking up a dust cloud ten times larger than the one the coyotes and wolves had created.

  The shadows were trucks, Max realized.

  The alarms had worked.

  The people were coming.

  CHAPTER 22

  NOWHERE TO RUN

  “Humans,” Rudd said.

  “They are back,” said one of the other red wolves. “They will hurt us!”

  The final three members of Dolph’s pack turned tail and fled. Max could see the wolves and coyotes crowded around the ditch, barking and scratching at one another as they tried to squeeze under the fence.

  One of the approaching trucks pulled away from the rest and parked next to the boulders where the desperate beasts were trying to escape. Human voices shouted, though they were so far away Max couldn’t hear what they were saying.

  A passenger in the truck raised a slender can with a horn attached to it, pressed a button, and let loose another blast of noise directly at the fleeing animals. A woman leaped from the vehicle, waving her arms and shouting, trying to shoo the beasts away from the small trench and toward the open gate. Some of the coyotes got the hint. They left their pack and tore through the gate, back out into the desert.