Ice-Age Chapter 10

[Guest guest]

ICE-AGE

by Andy Savage

http://www.andysav.free-online.co.uk

 

(with apologies to dog lovers everywhere!)

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

A demonic, hair-raising, snarling, half-starved, salivating dog, bigger than

a wolf, bearing its vicious teeth, was waiting for them at the bottom of the

bank. Dave's heart missed a beat. He opened his mouth but before he could

speak Linda unleashed her arrow and Dave saw it sizzle down the verge and

crack open the beast's skull, turning the snow on which it stood scarlet.

The creature rolled its head sideways, and as it crumpled to an icy death,

it let out a sickening whine, which swirled in the wind like a call for

vengeance.

" Nice shooting, Linda! " rejoiced Dave, clapping his hands and turning away

from the bloody sight.

" Dave, quickly go and get yourself a bat, " Linda urgently ordered, loading

a second arrow.

" What for? "

" Because he wasn't alone. "

" What are you talking about? "

" See for yourself. "

Dave looked down the slope again, and to his horror saw that the fallen dog

's body had become surrounded by a frenzied pack of fifty to sixty white,

growling, snapping, razor-fanged man eating hounds from hell. A haunting

chorus of howls filled the air and then, as if they had been under starter's

orders, they all at once launched a bloodthirsty charge up the hill.

Linda fired her second arrow, and then rapidly loaded a third, but the army

of dogs were already almost halfway up. Dave grabbed his base ball bat from

the sled and clenched it in his shaking hands. The baying uproar from the

manic pack was getting nearer and nearer. He stood shuddering next to Linda

and watched gravely as she chopped down a further three dogs one after the

other with her arrows. His mouth was sour and his stomach was twisted.

Upwards the deadly animals scrambled, fanning out so as to encircle their

prey, sounding desperate and homicidal. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to

hide, no option but to stand and fight. Dave raised the bat above his head,

its lethal array of three inch nails pointing downwards, and as the first

wailing dog made it to the top of the slope, he imagined it to be one of

Simon's kidnappers, " You bastard! " he roared and he drove the bat down

fatally onto its whimpering head. But no sooner was that beast felled, than

another one had reached the top, then another, and another. The pair were

besieged from all sides. Dave kept pounding them like a man possessed, his

fear forgotten in rage and adrenaline.

Linda started screaming in terror. Her bow had been torn from her grip and

bitten in half, and four or five dogs were clawing her to the ground and

dragging her down to the bottom of the verge. Her white coat was ripped and

streaked with bright, red splashes. Dave immediately rushed to her aid,

furiously shouting and fiercely swinging his bat at all and sundry. He felt

the crack of bone shudder through his wooden handle, and bits of teeth and

hairy lumps of flesh flew past his eyes up into the air. The verge was

rapidly becoming like a wall of blood. Dave fought his way down to Linda,

slogged the dogs around her and heaved her back to her feet, but now the

couple were completely enclosed by the rabid pack.

One huge bitch thudded into Dave's back like a canon ball, knocking him

down like a skittle and he rolled helplessly several feet along the ground.

Another one snapped the bat out of his hand, while another tore a hole in

his balaklava. He curled himself up into a tight ball and felt the vile

stench of a hot, wet canine mouth over his head. He cried out for Linda but

all he could hear was a barking, frenzied mob. Some dogs started to dig into

the snow around his body, while others jumped on top of him, their sharp

teeth and claws ripping into the rugged coat on his back. Each breath he

took was filled with terror. He knew there was no escape from this. He knew

he only had seconds left to live before the pack rived through all his

protective layers of clothes. He could only stay still and pray they would

finish him off quickly.

" Off! " bellowed a familiar voice from nearby, making Dave jump, and a

volley of thundering gun shots speedily followed. For a minute, as the

echoes of the blasts faded, everything went eerily quiet and still. Dave

held his breath, his tense fingertips tingling. The smell of dog urine crept

under his nose and the snow beneath his face turned yellow. Then came a

second salvo of welcome bullets. This time they brought pandemonium as the

entire yelping dog pack panicked and bolted away in all directions. " Dave,

Dave, are you ok? " shouted the voice again.

Dave knew who had just saved him. He lifted his wet, quivering face up, and

turned to look at the tall, denim clad ginger headed man standing on the

slope a few metres behind him, " Oh, Device, man, " he panted, " Do you have

good timing, or what! "

" I'm sorry. This is my fault, " said Device, looking guilty, holding a large

hand gun, " I shouldn't have left you. " He swiftly came down and helped Dave

to his feet.

" Where's Linda? " asked Dave. He couldn't see her.

" Are you OK? " replied Device, not even looking for the woman.

" I'm over here! " called Linda, emerging from a pile of snow several feet

away, her coat in tatters.

" Oh Linda! " cried Dave and he limped across to her, stepping over the

mangled, gory bodies of and dead and dying dogs, some still whining in

distress, and offered her his hand, " Here, let me help you, are you all

right? "

" I've got quite a few cuts and scratches, but nothing too serious I hope, "

said Linda, grasping Dave's arm and pulling herself up, " But what about you,

darling, you're covered in blood? "

" I don't think too much of it is mine. I'm just glad to be alive. Thank

goodness for Device! "

" Yeah, " said Linda, turning with suspicion to look at the said man's gun.

" Where the hell did they all come from? " asked Dave.

" I think we probably saw them earlier, " Linda answered, " Remember.....? "

" Oh yes, of course, you're right! The things we thought were dog sleighs. "

" I guess it was just a wild pack. "

" A bit too wild for my liking! " said Dave.

Device strolled quietly amid the massacre, picking up Dave's bat, now

embroidered with teeth marks. There was a wounded dog shivering on the

ground. Device clubbed it three times on the head. Looking up at Dave and

Linda, he said, " Ever tried fresh dog? "