Survivors: Darkness Falls Part 2

"Keep going," he called to the others. "Over the hill-don't look down!"

He raced up the slope as it bent sharply to the right, the ground growing softer beneath his paws. Burrs dangled from low branches, and Lucky ducked under them to avoid their hooked pods becoming buried in his fur. This far up it was easier to run, his claws finding purchase in the gra.s.s and mossy soil.

Eventually the hill reached a plateau. Beyond it Lucky could see a new part of the forest, and smell the fragrant scent of thick green leaves. He turned with an excited yap. Sweet and Bella were on his tail but some of the other dogs had fallen far behind. Taking a few paces back and around the sharp bend, Lucky saw that Sunshine was skidding on the rocky outcrop. Some of the Wild Pack dogs were also struggling-smaller ones like snub-nosed Whine, and injured dogs, like Twitch with his bad leg. Lucky scrambled down the hill, pa.s.sing Alpha, who strode silently forward, his glance set ahead and his ears pressed back.

As Lucky reached Sunshine, he saw her skid backward, her small paws sc.r.a.ping against the pebbles, unable to find a grip. A large stone became dislodged near her forepaw and rolled off the edge of the hill, plummeting into the ravine below. Sunshine yelped, scrambling away from the edge. She puffed herself up and tried again, pluckily attempting to mount the hill. Lucky closed his jaws gently around Sunshine's scruff and tugged her over the worst of the rocks. As he released her, she shook her fur proudly.

"Thank you, Lucky," she murmured. "I could have done it myself, I suppose, but . . . it's kind of you to help me."

"Of course," Lucky replied. She touched his nose before dashing after the others. Lucky watched her go. She's really grown up since the Big Growl, he thought.

A flash of the eyes from Twitch warned Lucky not to try lifting him by his scruff, so instead he circled the long-eared dog and shunted him along from behind until Twitch was able to climb the rest of the hill by himself. Watching Lucky in action, Fiery set Nose down. Moon gathered the pup to her alongside his litter-sister, who watched, wide-eyed.

"What's he doing?" asked Squirm.

Moon licked her ears. "He's helping."

Fiery nudged Whine over the worst of the rocks without difficulty. The short-legged, snub-nosed dog mumbled his grat.i.tude and continued his clumsy clamber up the hill, his flanks heaving.

Fiery yapped to Lucky and returned to Nose, scooping him into his jaws before he and Moon went on with the puppies.

Lucky looked back at the dark cloud, which was spreading toward the camp below. From his vantage point, he could see that it was rising from a valley behind some low-lying trees, probably not far from the city. It hung close to the ground, not high overhead as clouds usually did. But at least they were escaping it; soon they would be far away, building a new camp.

When he turned back to the hill where the last of the dogs was disappearing, Lucky heard a howl of terror.

It was Daisy! She was at the point where the slope crooked sharply to the right. Lucky bolted toward her.

"Mickey's in trouble!" she yelped.

The black-and-white dog had lost his footing near the top of the hill and was sliding backward. One of his hind legs dangled dangerously over the edge of the ravine, his other hanging on by its hind claws.

Daisy yapped frantically. "Come on, Mickey! You can do it! Just climb back onto the hill!"

Mickey clung to the trunk of a gnarled tree with his forepaws. As he started to lose his grip, dusty earth rose from the base of the tree. It was coming loose from its roots! He turned his muzzle away, his eyes wild, but he never let go of the glove in his jaw.

Lucky reached Mickey just as the black-and-white dog's other hindpaw slipped off the edge of the hill. Dart and Spring turned to see where he was going and yelped in panic when they saw Mickey.

Lucky tried to stay calm. He locked his jaws around Mickey's collar, careful not to shunt his friend away from the hill or cause him to lose his remaining grip on the tree trunk. Using all his strength, Lucky tugged Mickey back onto the hill. For once, he was grateful that the Leashed Dog insisted on wearing his collar-he was far too big for Lucky to tug by the scruff, as he had with Sunshine. The two of them collapsed in a pile on the dusty earth as Lucky dragged him over the last sc.r.a.p of ground to safety.

Dropping the glove by his side, Mickey licked Lucky's face. "I thought that was the end of me," the Farm Dog murmured. Lucky could feel his whole body trembling.

Lucky nuzzled the Leashed Dog's neck and allowed him to catch his breath. Then he got to his feet. "Come on," he said, as though nothing unusual had happened. "Let's catch up to the others."

Arriving at the top again, Lucky saw that Snap was helping Martha loosen a burr branch from her thick black tail. It must have gotten stuck there when the water-dog had turned the sharp bend in the hill. Once free, Martha lowered her large, gentle face to lick Snap's nose before turning to hurry through the forest.

Alpha is nowhere to be seen. He must have gone ahead, Lucky thought. Why hadn't he stopped to help the other dogs?

Mickey bounded after them between the tall trees and Lucky followed, enfolded in the sweet scents of the forest. In the distance, he heard the hum of the dark cloud as it pulsed from the ground, and another sharp crack had him bolting past Mickey and beneath the trees. Lucky zigzagged between trunks until something like a path opened before him, following the scents of the other dogs. He pa.s.sed Moon and Fiery, whose pace was slower because each carried a puppy. Bella and Sweet kept level with them, looking out for hazards such as foxes and sharpclaws. Lucky paused to watch them, struck by how they appeared to have put aside their hostilities to protect the vulnerable pups.

Mickey sprang past Lucky, followed by Daisy. Most of the other dogs had pressed ahead but Lucky held back, remembering how the smaller dogs had struggled on the rocks. He had to make sure that no one had been overlooked. Retracing the path toward the entrance to the forest, he found Dart, the brown-and-white female from the Wild Pack. She was cowering beneath a tree, her eyes wild.

Lucky approached her slowly. "It's this way, Dart. Come and join the Pack."

Dart flinched, backing away from him and glancing in the direction of the strange black cloud. "The camp," she whimpered.

Lucky tried again. "There'll be another camp," he told her. "A better camp, with good air and tasty water. Trust me."

Her ears p.r.i.c.ked up. Slowly she took a step toward him. "Are you sure it's safe in the forest? I've heard things." Her wide eyes shot across the shadowy branches. "My Mother-Dog used to tell me stories about giantfurs ten times the size of dogs with claws as long as branches and as pointed as a sharpclaw's."

Lucky shuddered inside but tried to sound confident. "There's nothing like that here. You'll be safe if you follow the Pack."

Dart seemed to accept this, rising to her full height. Her tail even gave a half wag as she took a deep breath and headed back into the forest, barking as she caught up with her patrolmate Twitch.

Lucky was about to join her when he spotted Alpha's silhouette some long-strides away by a towering birch. The dog-wolf was moving chaotically, taking only a few nervous strides before he would freeze, his ears pressed back, visibly trembling. Each time he stopped, he gazed back toward the valley.

Lucky heard pawsteps behind him, and caught the scent of his litter-sister.

"I wondered where you . . ." Bella trailed off, spotting Alpha. She followed Lucky as he approached the dog-wolf. Lucky could hardly believe that the fearsome leader of the Wild Pack could have been transformed into this fretful creature. Was he in pain? What was wrong with him?

He seems so feeble. . . .

Lucky had to remind himself that this was the same merciless dog who had relegated him to Omega, and had threatened to brand him with a permanent scar.

Lucky followed Alpha's gaze to settle on the rolling black cloud that the dog-wolf was watching so intently. He stopped dead, staring in disbelief. The cloud had inflated, twisting in the air.

Am I imagining things?

Four long limbs seemed to grow from the strange dark ma.s.s, followed by a neck and a thick black tail. The neck bulged into a head with long black ears. For an instant it looked like the hideous shape of a dog forged of ash.

Alpha spoke in a low, strangled voice, almost as though to himself. "A Sky-Dog. An evil Sky-Dog . . ."

Bella drew closer, squinting in the direction of the cloud. "I thought all the Sky-Dogs were good."

"They said the same thing about the Earth-Dog," Alpha whined. "They said the Earth-Dog was kind and generous. That she would always provide for us, always look after us. But that didn't stop the Big Growl." The dog-wolf's bushy tail hung between his legs.

Alpha's helplessness had completely wrongpawed Lucky. He was at a loss for words. He looked again to the sky but the cloud had changed-it no longer resembled a dog. Once again, it looked like just a dark, floating smudge on the horizon.

"It's only a cloud," he told them. "Nothing to worry about. It doesn't mean anything. We should join the others; we have to keep-"

A loud howl rose through the forest-the cry of a dog in pain-and the three dogs spun around. Bella shot toward the sound, followed by Lucky and Alpha. A volley of high-pitched barks cut through the air. Lucky, Bella, and Alpha bounded through the trees, catching up with both Packs and running along the side of the dogs until they reached the front.

They stopped dead. Twitch was lurching in a circle in a clearing between some straight-backed pines, howling in agony. He held his deformed forepaw close to his body, whimpering as he staggered and tried to right himself. His littermate Spring was barking, but the other dogs could only watch in horrified silence.

"What happened?" asked Lucky.

Sweet approached him. "There's some marshland just ahead, soft earth that's waterlogged and hard to walk in. Twitch tried to cross it but his rear paw got trapped and he fell. He's twisted his forepaw."

Twitch's flanks were heaving and Lucky was worried that something was seriously wrong. He looked up to see Sweet still watching him, her soft ears lowered. She stepped away from the others into the shelter of a low branch, and Lucky followed.

"It's the same paw that was already damaged," Lucky observed in a low voice. "Twitch is used to managing with a bad paw. He'll be okay, won't he?"

The swift-dog cast a glance at Twitch, who was whimpering pitifully. "I don't think he's going to be okay at all. I can't be sure, but I think I heard his bone break."

As she said this, Twitch slumped onto his side, his injured paw still raised protectively. He licked it, whining, his body shuddering.

Lucky glanced back in the direction of the valley. It was concealed beyond the forest. Above the trees, the dark cloud in the sky hovered. Its body was spreading out and breaking apart, but that didn't make Lucky feel any better about its presence.

What if Alpha is right? he thought. What if the black cloud is an angry Sky-Dog? And could Twitch's injury have been the Earth-Dog's doing?

He had taken comfort in the thought that the Spirit Dogs were watching over the Packs, protecting them from harm. Now he wasn't so sure.

It was starting to feel like the Spirit Dogs were against them.

CHAPTER THREE.

The dogs padded through the forest, twigs and dead leaves crunching beneath their paws. Their pace was slower now, allowing Twitch to keep up. The injured dog limped after the others in silence, holding his paw close to his chest. His littermate Spring offered to help support him but he snapped at her-"Keep away!"-and she took a few paces back.

Drifting to the rear of the group, Lucky studied Twitch from the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure if the floppy-eared dog would make it to the new camp, or how he would survive if he did. His damaged paw had already put him at a disadvantage, and now he would struggle more than ever. Lucky's own wounds from the fight with the foxes still smarted, and pain shot through his leg if he put too much weight on it-how must Twitch be feeling?

Bella dropped back so she could walk at Lucky's side. She, too, threw a worried look toward Twitch, and Lucky knew she was thinking the same thing. The Pack advanced without talking as the Sun-Dog bounded over the sky. The overhanging branches carved shadows in the light.

Lucky peered through the gloom. He had the uneasy feeling that something was creeping, lurking behind the veil of darkness. It's this place, he thought. All these shadows make you imagine things that aren't there.

A short distance ahead, the Pack had stopped. Lucky and Bella went to investigate.

Bruno was standing at the front of the group, where the trees ended abruptly. They'd traveled around the lake and now they'd come upon the sh.o.r.e. From here, Lucky could see the land curving around the shimmering body of water. He could just make out a large rock face at the distant sh.o.r.e.

"Where to now?" asked Bruno, looking at Lucky.

Lucky felt a wave of frustration. This is the dog who helped to pin me down so that Alpha could brand me a traitor. If the black cloud hadn't appeared when it did, I would have carried a permanent scar. And now he's acting like nothing happened? Now he's asking me for help?

"What do you think, Alpha?" asked Snap.

Lucky turned to look at the dog-wolf. He was standing a short distance from the others, gazing back through the forest in the direction of the dark cloud.

"How about over there, where the water meets the big rocks?" Bella barked. She was standing by Lucky's side, the other dogs converging behind her.

Lucky could see that the rocks formed an overhang. "Yes," he agreed. "Even if the cloud comes, those rocks should give us good shelter."

"But it's so far away," whimpered Sunshine. Her long white pelt was matted and dotted with burrs, and her tail was drooping. She gnawed ineffectually at a burr that had become lodged in the fur by her paw pad. The conversation reminded Lucky of the first time they'd left the city, when he had to coax the dogs every step of the way. Not again! Not after everything that's happened.

"Can't we stop here for the night?" Whine put in. "The trees will shield us from bad weather and the black cloud won't reach us here. It's too far to the rocks."

"We can't keep going much longer. It isn't fair to Twitch," added Sunshine.

The injured dog limped toward them. "I will keep up with the Pack," he sniffed proudly.

Sweet was squinting through the trees. "I think we should keep moving. There are creatures that live in the deep forest, things that come out at night. . . . We need to be clear of this place by no-sun."

It was as though she had read Lucky's thoughts. He looked up, his hackles rising instinctively. The sky was dark blue overhead, the sun sinking low. "It will be dark soon."

Bella stepped forward. "Then we haven't a moment to lose."

The Sun-Dog was diving toward the lake when the Pack arrived at the top of the rocky overhang. Bella and Lucky bounded down the side, skidding on pebbles. The ground was damp, with grainy earth that clung to their fur in wads. Snap followed, scurrying toward the rocks. She barked encouragement at the others, still good-natured despite their long journey.

Then it was Martha's turn. With surprising grace for a dog her size, she glided down on her webbed paws as though following the course of a stream. Once at the foot of the rocks she shook her fur. The other thicker-built dogs had more trouble-although it wasn't as bad descending the rocks as it had been climbing the hill, most of them struggled to keep their balance.

Bruno half jumped, half tumbled over the pebbles, his paws scrambling on the grainy earth. Fiery almost lost his grip on Nose, leading to a torrent of anxious barks from Moon, who was waiting for them at the bottom with Squirm. She nudged the puppy away from him with her muzzle, gathering both pups to her protectively.

Lucky turned toward the lake. "The water looks fresh." He led the dogs to the bank of the lake, where they drank eagerly.

Once they were revived by the cool water, the exhausted dogs retreated to the sheltered area beneath the overhanging rocks. The Pack gathered together, their mood miserable. Lucky's neck felt stiff and his leg still throbbed, but it was good to take the weight off it at last.

Spring lapped at a gash in her tail. She cast an angry look toward Martha. "That was your work," she snarled. The water-dog dipped her head submissively and took a place next to Daisy.

While the jagged rock overhead would protect them from the worst of any wind or rain, the shelter was far from comfortable-the earth beneath it was sandy and damp. Twitch limped to the edge of their new camp and slumped to the ground, nursing his injured paw.

"It's been a difficult journey but this will do for now," said Sweet, treading over the damp ground.

Spring yelped in frustration. "It would have been easier if we weren't carrying unnecessary weight." She cast an accusing eye toward Sunshine and Whine, who stood next to each other. "Those two are too small to hunt or fight. What use are they to the Pack? We should have left them behind. They're nothing more than a burden."

"We do not leave any dogs behind!" snapped Sweet. "All dogs have a role."

Snap backed her up. "Not everyone has to hunt or fight. Sunshine and Whine can be the eyes and ears of the Pack."

"Sunshine has a wonderful nose," Mickey pointed out loyally. "She would make a good patrol dog. She can sniff out danger a mile away."

"I agree," Sweet said. "They can watch over the camp when other dogs go on patrol."

Spring narrowed her eyes. Whine glanced about fearfully, his short tail curling between his legs.

Sunshine wasn't so easily silenced. "Who are you calling a burden?" she growled, glaring at Spring. "I didn't see you fighting so courageously with the foxes. You bark and make a lot of big noise, but when it comes right down to it-"

"How dare you!" howled Spring, leaping toward Sunshine with her teeth bared.

Sweet moved to block her. "Enough! Both of you, stop it-right now!" she snarled.

Spring fell back, hackles still raised but head dipped. "Sorry, Beta," she murmured, unwilling to challenge Alpha's second-in-command. Appearing from the shadows beyond the rocks, Alpha himself sauntered toward them, staring down his nose at Spring.

"Squabbles. Pointless squabbles." He turned away with a dismissive flick of the tail.