Ruff's Den
The Race
/*By the way, if the red against black gets to ya, I'd suggest copying this to a program like Word to read!*/
Chapter 1
I couldn’t believe I had finally made it. I didn’t want to run, but after all the traveling I had done – and with my goal in sight – I couldn’t help but run. For Christ’s sake, I didn’t even know. Someone may have beaten me here. There was absolutely no way to tell until I got closer. But my target had grown closer. Now I was sure, yes, no one had crossed the line yet, and there I was, after all I had been through, and after all the training – my whole life – I was going to make it!
But it was not meant to be. With an unmistakable crackle-hiss, my world turned upside down as I was tossed, quite like bad celery leaves down a garbage-disposal, toward a brick wall. My heart raced as my life’s obsession twisted out of my vision.
The walls of the buildings in this city are especially hard. Designed to withstand tsunamis, floods, and hurricanes they have to be. Their strength, unfortunately, made no exception for me as I plowed back first into one, saw an explosion of red and crumpled to the ground. My last fleeting thought that left my mind before slipping into unconsciousness was actually not only a thought, but also two words. Two words that seemed the whole world revolved around at that moment. They poured out of my mouth like thick molasses. “Oh shit.”
Then the darkness overtook my senses.
Chapter 2
I yawned, sat up, and stretched. I was not tired. How could I be? Even if it was 1:15am. Even if I had only had an hour and a half sleep for the past four days, it was all for a good cause. Right now my only worry was to get to Fergasonton Town Hall. I jumped up off the ground, scaled the wall of the den-like structure, and ran off in the direction of the famous building. Just before getting out of range of the building I had been sleeping behind, its owner saw me. I stopped walking and turned to face him. “Aww, shit” I murmured under my breath as I saw a very pissed looking cheetah strolling toward me.
He stopped in front of me, and I took a few seconds to take him in. He was fairly short, but very muscular looking. Wearing baggy blue-jean shorts, and an open light vest, his golden fur shone brightly under the moon. I leaned on a nearby tree, attempting to look cool with the situation, and crossed my front paws. Wow, I thought to myself, He looks so fragile. He looked to be in his twenties, and obviously was not pleased to have caught me in his territory. No, not in his territory, but so close to his actual dwelling. I hope he-
“It’s a good thing you didn’t run,” he growled, breaking into my thoughts.
It took me a minute to get my voice working, but I finally managed to squeak out, “Well, who runs from a cheetah?” in a voice that was much less dignified then I liked. He responded with a low grunt. I realized that I was gaping at him, and my attempt to look relaxed had failed. I quickly straightened my posture, cleared my throat, took in a breath, and then once again released it in surprise as he said, “So what were you doing?” This time I managed a clear, strait answer, although I said it a little faster then I would have liked. “I’m participating in the cross country race this year. I left j’ancivill city late due to personal business and just arrived in town about an hour ago. I wanted some rest before the race began. I didn’t mean to trespass.” Actually, this was a lie. Of course I had known that it was someone’s ‘den,’ but I had no idea that it could contain such a large… well, cheetah. And, again, he took me by surprise by stating softly, “Oh, well sorry about that then. I am actually with a news crew. I’ll be following one of the competitors, and filming their progress.”
This took me by surprise more then anything he had said so far. Although well built, the cheetah still looked far too fragile to make the 3, 800-mile trip.
“I actually was just getting up myself. I still need to go get my video equipment from the station.”
“Oh, well,” I said, then realized I didn’t know what to say, “I, umm… yeah.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s cool.” He broke into a large grin, then quickly stopped upon seeing the look on my face.
“I guess I better get going, I still need to be assigned someone to tail, get my equipment, and get some food,” here he broke shortly as I flinched, “…and get to the starting line.”
Then he turned sharply and ran off, on all fours.
“Umm, bye?” I said shortly to his back. Wow, I guess he was in a hurry. I thought to myself. I had never seen anyone run on all fours unless they were in a huge hurry, and he was a cheetah. I turned my thoughts to my pack. I realized I had been leaning on it, and quickly checked it’s two contents. Good, neither was broken. I turned and trotted off in the direction of a restaurant that I had seen on the way in. Food was not a bad Idea.
Chapter 3
I found myself standing among the many other furs that were lining up at the “starting line”. Many were showing off their brand new, high-tech equipment, and reviewing their travel plans on their DGPS’s. I dared not take out my systems. For one, I was one fur who could naturally switch dimensions at any time I wanted, so my DSS was primitive, and very fragile. At the same time, my other piece of equipment securely bundled in my pack was my own DGPS. This, on the contrary of my DSS, was a top of the line system that any fur here would likely kill me for. Seeing as I was one of the smallest ones there, I had no intention on getting it out until several days into the competition.
Overall there were about 12 furs running the race. I had noticed that about seven of the other competitors had surrounded a large, rather nasty-looking dhole. (looks like a fox, but is larger then a coyote) I slowly wandered near enough to hear what he was saying.
“Yup, it’s the newest in DSS’s. As a matter of fact, it’s a prototype. It will be going on the market in about four months. It’s been approved, and only due to my great wealth could I pick up such a large bill. However, I got it, and just in time to kick all your tails off.”
By this point in time, all of the competitors had wandered over, and I had realized I was standing by myself. The dhole, looking up from the glowing, beeping system saw me standing by myself. He stood, parted the crowd, and walked straight toward me.
“You’re Phil Maxren, aren’t you?’” he said in rather important voice, looking me up and down, all the while smirking. Your family has won this race for over 12 generations. To bad it’s not gonna happen this time! Raising one large furry paw, he brought it down quickly, directly between my eyes. Pain exploded in my nose. I had not expected this. Before I could stop myself, I had drawn a nine-inch half-serrated blade, and chucked it at his face. It was entirely luck that he didn’t end up with a knife in is skull. A mass of golden fur barreled into his side, knocking him to safety. The crowd of competitors stared in amazement as the blade whizzed off into space, and buried itself three inches into a bare brick wall. I spun around and saw the same cheetah I had seen earlier stand up from a badly scuffed dhole. The cheetah quickly flipped off the crushed dhole, and strode over to me.
“Sorry,” he said coolly, “but I couldn’t let my subject be disqualified from the competition for killing a fellow competitor.”
He flashed me another quick toothy smile, and my eyes grew wide.
“Holy Shit!” I said as what I had almost just done sunk into my dense head, “Holy… Thanks man!”
I spun around, and began walking away when the dhole began to say something.
“What is that? Are you talking to me?” I said as I felt my temper rising again.
“I said I was gonna kill you, you bastard!” replied the angry canine, showing his teeth. At this I bust out laughing, just to piss him off more. I calmed myself, then said, “hey, what’s your name?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, slowly standing and wiping blood from his lip, “you’re gonna die anyway!”
I quickly grabbed the other two blades I had strapped to my body, and tossed them. One thudded again into the wall next to his head, and the other into the ground very near his foot-paw.
“Hey,” I shouted to call his attention from the quivering blade next to his muzzle, “you wanna come over here and settle this?” I raised my paws, one covering my torso, the other near my hip in a traditional sparring stance.
Finally the authorities had shown up. One rushed forward to restrain me, and two others tackled the infuriated dhole. I let myself be haled backward and laughed at the other struggling fur as he was dragged off.
Chapter 4
It was now ten in the morning- time for the race to begin. After a brief lecture from the authorities, both the dhole and I was lined up at the starting line.
“You haven’t heard or seen the last of Ralph Huckinmire!” Shouted the dhole, at the opposite end of the line.
“Oh, so the Big Bad Wolf has a name after all!” I yelled back tauntingly.
The Cheetah that had introduced himself as Collin Peters walked up next to me, and said, “so, you ready to go?”
I replied that I had been waiting for this moment for my entire life, and that I hoped he could keep up. He then responded that he had all the equipment he needed, and that he could radio for anything he wanted at any time. We shook paws, and then I took my place. The red light had gone out, and the blue one was on. So was the countdown. 10…5…3…2…1… Orange light- time to GO!
Chapter 5
Once again I was surprised as I was dragged sideways, along with all the other competitors. There was a sucking noise, then a crackle-hiss as Ralph disappeared. I found myself on the top the heap that had been pulled together as the dhole had used his DSS to jump to another dimension. Picking myself up, I heard voice say, “Wow, I’ll bet he just jumped over about six frames! Quickly locating the Raccoon that had made the statement, and asked, “what do you mean, six frames?”
“Well, weren’t you listening?” he asked like I was the biggest idiot in the world, “That’s what his prototype does! It uses all the surrounding energy to instantly transport its user a maximum of twenty dimensional frames in one direction!”
That’s when I realized why Ralph posed such a threat.
In order to understand dimensional travel, you have to think of a bunch of panes of glass lined up vertically. As you stand there, you are looking right down the skinny edge of one pane. To the left and right there are other panes of glass. You can step through to the left or the right, but no other way. Switching dimensions, however, is not like simply walking though a door. It takes a lot of energy and concentration to transfer yourself just one pane over. That’s why most furs use a DSS, or Dimensional Switching System, to help. If you ‘mess up’ while ‘passing’, the glass will have an opposite effect of real glass, shattering you and scattering your shards into many different dimensions. For this reason, it is just stupid, no to mention impossible, to flip more the one dimension at a time. However, science had done it, and now it was possible, showing me an entirely new threat.
When I finally stopped wondering how a DSS this powerful was possible, I realized everyone else had gone.
“Oops!” I said to Collin, who happened to be the only fur around me that was not jeering with laughter at the look of stupidity stuck on my face, “guess we should get going!”
“That’s a good Idea!” He responded, “I don’t want to be here when this crowd begins to riot!”
For the first time sense I had arrived at the line that morning, I noticed the crowd. I quickly retrieved my blades, which were still imbedded in the ground and wall, and then trotted off in an eastern direction. I knew my next destination. The only place within miles that my DGPS had indicated as a safe switching point for inter-dimensional travel for a fur of my passing capability.
“Wow, maybe I should have bought a new DSS after all,” I muttered to myself.
Chapter 6
By noon that day, I had seen why the news crew had elected Collin to be my tail. He could run circles around me, even at my top speed. I was not running, but defiantly making good time. I was in much better shape then most furs due to my hard lifelong training. The Cheetah’s natural skill at keeping up was uncanny. I had always heard cheetahs were good at short sprints. I guess that it is true to say that if they are not going top speed, they have excellent stamina. And here I was, not tired yet, but defiantly having a more difficult time breathing, Collin bobbed along behind me with a camera over his shoulder, not panting, whining, or even breaking a sweat.
Around two o’clock I began getting hungry. My pal had stopped about an hour ago to eat, and had caught back up with me within fifteen minutes. Coming to a stream, I dropped my bag, increased my speed, then dived into the water headfirst - a graceful swan dive. Hunting for fish was one thing I found entirely natural. I popped up, grabbed a breath of fresh, cool air and went back down without creating even the smallest splash. Using my hind paws and tail, I quickly negotiated the stream bottom, using my front webbed paws to catch two trout. Climbing out of the water, I addressed Collin.
“Sushi?”
Chapter 7
By eight o’clock that night, I had reached my first destination. My DGPS had marked a small concrete block located in a large field as a point of passing. I checked it one more time. Good. Now it gets fun. If I were to switch dimensions correctly, I was supposed to end up on a footbridge across a small mud-hole in an oasis. Yes, an oasis, meaning I was in the desert. Luckily, from there I had only to travel about five more miles into the desert to get to my next swapping point. Then I would be in the clear to walk for several hundred miles before coming back to my own dimension. This allowed me to skip Pergitsky’s Swamps. Now instead of traveling though swamp water and mud, or going around it, I would have nice level fields for the next couple of days.
This is when I had made my first big mistake of the trip. Activating my DSS I took one step sideways. The DSS vibrated, then glowed. The landscape blurred out of recognition, then focused. I fell.
When a computer says you will land near a mud hole, you would think that’s it’s like a big puddle. However, as I had just learned, you should not assume anything while dealing with inter-dimensional travel. I must have fallen over twenty feet. I landed feet first. I was accustomed to diving, and new that at this height, hitting the water, err, mud would hurt. I held my body rigid, then felt the impact of my body hitting the mud. It made a gross sucking noise as I impacted, and could hear a crunching noise. I quickly sat up out of the mud, realizing it was only a few feet deep. Then with a wave of panic, it struck me. I had been holding my DSS, and my DGPS when I had fallen! I began searching, and soon found what I was looking for.
There was my DSS, lying several feet away, in about sixteen different pieces. I groaned. Then I saw my DGPS. It was in much better shape then the DSS. It had only broken into two pieces, and was fixable. I scooped it up in my paw, then struggled free of the mud. It was then that I noticed Collin. He was standing at the edge of the hole, the camera fixed on my distraught face.
“And here he is, crawling out of the mud,” he narrated, “I’m surprised he even survived the fall, especially after landing in that pile of branches.”
“What?” I said, spinning around, “What Branches?”
Then I saw them. A whole pile of broken logs floating in the mud. Remembering the crunching noise, realization hit me. And, thanks to that remembrance, I felt pain to begin to lance through my limbs, and up my back. I sat down, rummaged through my pack, and brought out several pills for the pain. I dry swallowed them, then began to fix my DGPS. It was as simple as one, two, three.
By the time I had fixed my DGPS, it had begun to get dark. Well, I guess that means it’s time for night-vision! I called to Collin, who was cleaning mud-splatters from his lens.
“What?” He said, putting the lens back on, “you mean to tell me that you have more stuff crammed in that tiny pack?”
“No,” I replied, “I was just joking. I can see in the dark just as well as you!”
“Oh, Is that so?” He asked curiously, “and how do you know I can see worth beans in the dark?”
“Well, you caught me, didn’t you,” I swung back at him, “and you saw well enough to get over to me too.”
“Smart Otter!” He shot back, grinning. Now I was used to it. Never in my life had I ever met a fur who smiled so much.
“What’s your next destination?” he asked, “you done with this race?”
“Well, I think I’m gonna keep heading east, and no, I’m never gonna give up!”
Chapter 8
I found myself walking east again, but this time through the endless rocky gravel that made up this wasteland. While checking my DGPS, I noticed that my next dimensional flipping point was further then I had ever expected. However, due to the throbbing throughout my body, I figured it could easily could just seem further. About 45 minutes later, I came to a set of large rocks. I knew that all of them were designated as inter-dimensional travel landmarks. I also knew that in this area, the ‘panes’ of the dimensions bent, warped, began, and ended in several points. Therefore by ‘side stepping’ to the ‘right’ at one rock will take you somewhere totally different from if you did the exact same maneuver at a different rock. I checked my DGPS once again, and realized that the last rock I would come to, that is the one furthest east, would be the one to swap at. As I approached the rock I began to gather my thoughts. I would need to block out my pain, and put full concentration into the switch. Without my DSS, the transfer would be very tricky, not to mention dangerous. Collin stepped up next to me, camera rolling, and said,
“Well, good luck Phil, I’ll bet you’ll need it,” then to the camera he stated the facts: “Phil is about to attempt to flip dimensions without a DSS. I will follow him immediately to see if he makes it. I must say that he has made a very unusual choice in travel at this point. He is now going to flip into an uncharted dimension. One that has never been visited before. We can only wish him luck.
“What do you mean, never been traveled to before?” I asked curiously, then stopped him before he could answer. “Never mind. I’m just going to wreck my concentration. I’ll see ya on the other side.”
With that, I closed my eyes, and forced that strange tingling feeling throughout my body. My fur stood on end, and I grew cold as I flipped directly into…
Chapter 9
Heat. That was the first thing I noticed as the sickness of the flip left. I opened my eyes to see a huge black plain with the sun shining over the largest dwelling I had ever seen. I had less then a second before I was on the ground. I head a high-pitched squealing noise before something large and hard rammed me from behind. I never managed to see what hit me before I plowed face first into the hard, black, unmoving soil. I smelled a strange burning smell, and realized it was my own fur mixed with that of something else. Then I blacked out to see… dark shapes… no, a strange ceiling… I was locked in a white room. I sat up confused, then was forced back to the ground as a sharp prick was issued to my thigh… wait, no, I was in a room full of very bright lights… but it was dark? I slowly sat up, and found myself sitting in a very small box. It had bars on one side, and was totally bare except for a bowl with water in it. I noticed a piece of paper around my neck and promptly tore it off. I rubbed my head, then examined my stomach where some of my fur had been shaved off. I looked at my foot paw, and noticed it was swollen and bloody. I noticed that the fur on my left leg was also gone where it had been rubbed on the hard ground. Some of the fur was singed from the friction. I gathered myself slowly, then looked out through the bars. I could only see a door, and many other cages on the other side of the room. Most of them were empty, but some of them had small animals in them. I noticed that I was in one of these cages, and that no one was in sight. My bag was gone. I decided that now was the time to act. I looked at the interior of my cage, and grabbed the water bowl. It a thick metal, but it had sharp edges. It was fairly small. I grabbed it with both paws, then sloshed the water out in the corner of the cage. When I got out, I didn’t want to have to worry about slipping in the water. Now I had to fight down panic. I rammed the bowl in between the cracks of the cage, and forced it apart. I slipped my paw through the crack I had made between bars and wall, and flipped the pin out that was holding the door shut. I was out. I stood up, and slowly made my way to the door. Just then, I heard something outside. I peeked though the window in the door and saw a very strange fur-less beast walking toward me. He saw me and yelled. Suddenly I saw several other strange creatures rush around a corner. They were yelling, and I, strangely enough, could understand what they said.
“Oh shit! Dr. Johnson! He got out!”
The response was, “How!? Are your sure!? Quickly, gather a team to help capture it!”
Upon those words, I spun around, and began to search for another way out. There! A window. I ran to it and tried to lift it. There were strange locking mechanisms on it. I grabbed the food bowl again, and thrust it though the window. Glass shattered left and right. Once piece flew out and struck my already throbbing head, causing a long bloody gash. I scrambled through the window, then felt light headed. I heard voices behind me, and glanced back to see the things jumping out the window after me. One carried a flat black box. It made a clicking noise, and I felt myself tense up, and crumple onto the ground. The men ran forward, and the clicking continued. I began shivering uncontrollably on the ground. Then they dived on me, and held me to the ground. The clicking stopped, and so did the pain. I was hoisted to my foot paws, and let back toward the building.
Chapter 10
As we approached the building, several other strange beings ran out of the building, grinning.
“Good job boys!” the one on the left shouted. He was clean-shaven, and appeared to be very excited. He held the door open as I was dragged through. I had given up fighting, I wanted to avoid any more painful shocks from the strange boxes.
Once inside the building, I was lead down a long hallway, and placed in a small dark room. The things stepped outside and closed the door. I glanced around to see if there was any way out. Of course not. They began to talk. I perked my ears to hear what they were saying.
“Well, you handled that well boys. I heard that the cops just took in the other one. They had to get the government okay first… You know, he never actually did anything wrong… anyway, he ran like hell. Heard he tried to hop a fence, and landed on a trash can funny on the other side. The government officials have him right now. We’re supposed to run this guy over—“
“Screw that!” I heard the clean-shaven one yell, “he still needs attention! Did you see his paw was bleeding again? And, we still need to take him in for another cat scan!”
“Sorry Ron, I would love to keep him as well, he’s fascinating, but… Well, let’s just say that we don’t need any media coming out here. If they do, we may be forced to close down. You don’t want that, do you?”
“No… I don’t want that…” Ron replied innocently.
“Okay, I’ll go start up the van! Peter, Vinessa, you’ll stay here. Ray, you and Craig go get ‘em. Ron, you’re coming with me.”
The figures outside the door split apart, each going their separate ways.
Two of them came into the room. I stood, and slowly walked forward. One reached for my wrist. I quickly dropped, grabbed his own wrist, and flipped him over my shoulder. The other shouted then grabbed at me. I felt his grip on my tail, and I quickly back-pawed him in the stomach. The other one was off the floor, and charging. A quick front-snap-kick sent him flying into the chair I had been sitting in. I sprinted out the door, and back to the window I had jumped out of earlier because I knew that they’d be waiting for me at the front door. I leapt out, and landed on all four paws. It was clear. There were some trees and bushes in distance. It looked like there might be a stream as well. A good way for me to travel without leaving tracks. I moved forward. At that same instant I heard a strange rumbling sound. A large boxy-thing on wheels came flying around the corner. I had just enough time to see that inside was the man who seemed to be the boss, and the clean shaven one—Ron—before I heard a familiar high pitched squealing nose. I jumped aside just in time, as that also-familiar smell of something burning met my nose. It was not mixed with the smell of my own burning fur this time, but it was there none the less.
Chapter 11
The box stopped directly next to me, and I turned to face it. I looked the being on my side in the eye. Ron just stared. I approached the side, curious at the triumphant look gleaming in it’s eyes. Then I realized why. Part of the box flew open, smashing me in the chest. Before I knew what hit me, I was back on the ground once more. He had thrown open the door, and was now restraining me. I, of course, was much stronger then him. One, being an otter, and swimming all my life, of course I was strong. Not only this, but you must also remember that I had been training for this trip all my life, and therefore I was fairly built. I placed my foot paws on his stomach, and pushed off. He flew over my head, and smashed onto the hood of the van, then promptly slid off. I was back on my paws, and I had a plan. I leapt into the vehicle, and slammed the door. I was taking a chance that Ron would not attempt anything. I spun to him, grabbed a large metal rod that, strangely enough, was lying on the ground next to the seat. Pointing it at his head, I shouted, “You try something, and I’ll knock all the rice out!” I noticed a strange look on his face, then he punched a button on the side of his door. There was a clicking noise. I noticed movement behind him, and thrust the pole into his middle. He made that “oooohhfff” sound, then straightened.
“Hey, what the hell was that? I was just locking the door!” He shouted. “Put the Club down now and move over! I’ll drive.”
“What?” I said, bewildered. “What’s that mean?”
“Make this van move!” He replied loudly.
“Oh, right,” I said dumbly.
I dropped the steering-wheel-locking device, and looked down. It was much more complicated then I had expected. There were two petals on the floor, one lever to my right, three strange sticks protruding from a wheel with three spokes, gages, and several panels that held flashing lights. I picked myself up, and attempted to scoot over the center console. However, thanks to my bulky tail, I could not fit. I looked up to see several other of the things running at the van, waving their arms angrily, and shouting.
“Screw it!” Ron shouted, pushing me back into the seat. His ‘paws’ were very shaky, and they felt cool though my fur. I plopped back into the seat, and arranged myself so I was a little more comfortable. These seats were very poorly designed. I noticed that Ron had grabbed a piece of material hanging behind him, and wrapped it around in front of himself. Then he pushed it into a small box on his other side, and it made a clicking noise. I quickly mimicked him, and attempted to equip my own seatbelt. I was clumsily shoving the piece of metal around when he snatched it from me, and neatly clicked it in. Now, it’ s all ready running, so it’s time for a quick explanation. The men were now at the van, and were beating it with everything from rocks to a nearby folding chair. He pointed at my feet.
“I’ll take care of everything I can.” He said, and released the emergency break, and threw the car into drive. “Now,” he said pointing at my rear paws, “That one makes it go, and that one stops us. See the wheel?” With this he grabbed my wrists, and placed them on the wheel, “this control which direction you’re going. Now GO!”
I slammed my left foot paw to the ground, and held on tight. Nothing happened.
“Wrong foot, genius!” I heard Ron shout. I lifted my paw, and slammed down the other. I felt a strange sensation as I caught up with the momentum of the van. Immediately, I felt the bump that could only be the being I had thrown into the van. The others had jumped out of the way. I turned the wheel back and forth, deciding it would be a good idea to get a feel for the motion of the vehicle. Wow, this was cool! I followed the road, until it came to a two-way turning point.
“Go left!” Ron said, sounding very shaken. I hauled left, and almost lost control as the van careened around the corner.
“Alright, take the next right, and step on it! We don’t want to get a tail!”
“WHAT?” I said, now thoroughly confused.
“Oh, never mind!” He said, as we pulled out onto the main road.
We drove for about five minutes, Ron looking eagerly behind us, until he told me to turn left onto a very small dirt road.
“Stop.” Ron demanded.
“This is where we will switch spots. I’m not about to let you drive on a heavily trafficked road.”
We stopped rather suddenly, and Ron got out. After some fumbling, I was able to release my own belt, and climbed out, then back in the other side. He pulled back out to the road, and we headed off.
Chapter 12
As we traveled to where ever Ron was taking me, I noticed a large noisy, and smelly truck that seemed to be following us. I decided to mention it to Ron, as it was too far behind to tell who was ‘driving’ it.
“So…” I said, “I think there’s someone following us.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ron replied weakly. Actually, they’ve been tailing us a while now. And, there’s more then one. I recognize their cars, they’re the people I work with. What bothers me is that only one of them is behind us. I know they’re going to try to road-block us. It’s just a matter of when.”
As he finished his sentence, a red Ford Probe cut the van off. Ron quickly hooked a right, and accelerated. The Probe slammed on its breaks, and slid a complete 180, going up on two wheels, narrowly missing a car, then sliding another turn, directly behind the van. The Ram was quick to follow. I looked into one of the mirrors attached to the sides of the vehicle, and notice that there was also a strange two-wheeled device, oddly balanced, that was quickly coming up on our side.
“Quick! We must our-run them!” I shouted at Ron.
“Obviously where ever you’re from doesn’t have vans!” Ron shot back, “or you’d know that this van can't even outrun that crappy little Probe, let alone a Suzuki Hayabusa!”
Just as he finished saying it, the motorcycle popped up on one wheel, and flew past the van, not slowing until it had passed. We approached a turn, and Ron faked the van left, then bared right. The motorcyclist pulled out of the left turn he was executing, just in time to go straight. We had pulled onto a dirt back road, and were now driving out into a large, flat, grassy meadow. The Probe and the Ram followed, quickly closing the gap. The Suzuki was now back on track, and coming up upon us very quickly.
“Hope this is the right road.” Ron muttered to himself as we rounded a turn. Then I saw what he meant. There was a large bridge with low guardrails crossing a quickly flowing river that was located in a deep crevice. Next to the entrance: One Lane Only. Just as we began our crossing, the Suzuki had reached us. Coming up alongside us, the driver pulled out a firearm.
“Ram him!” I heard myself shout.
“I don’t want to kill him!” came the response, now very shakily. I quickly reached over, and jerked the wheel to the left. There was a crunching noise as the carbon-fiber tailpipes were crushed against the side of the hard van, then a scream as the driver was thrown over the side of the bridge. We both tried to ignore grinding noise as we dragged the bike several hundred feet before completely running it over. Now off the bridge, I took another chance to look back at the automobiles behind us. I noticed that there were still three people following us. The third vehicle was a completely spotless black car that looked very intimidating.
“I know,” Ron said, spotting my worried look, “That’s Jacque’s Toyota MR-2. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to attempt to deal with it, but it appears our luck has run out.” Just then the MR-2 pulled over, and Jacque leapt from the door, calling into the river. The others kept coming. We rounded another turn, and were back in town. No, it was a different town. The Probe passed the Ram, and rear-ended the van. Ron temporarily lost control, and we spun wildly into an intersection. The Probe went straight into a light pole, and steam began issuing from under the hood. However, he wasn’t out yet. Swearing wildly, he threw it into reverse, and backed out. We both began going at the same time. We sped down an alleyway, then past a fast-food restaurant. Here, Ron pulled an entirely new maneuver on the Probe. Pulling into the left-hand turn lane, he began turning left. At the last second he corrected to go right, driving a complete circle midst the surrounding honking traffic. The Ford missed the turn, thanks to its bald tires, and attempted another 180. This time he was not so lucky. The Ford let out is horrible smell of burning rubber, then clipped it’s front wheel on the curb. The car left the road in a complete arc, landing in a nearby hair saloon. Then we heard it. Ron knew what it was, and began to panic.
“Shit. Pigs.”
“What?”
“I said Pigs. Police.”
“Law enforcement?” I asked, thinking of my own bad experiences with my government.
“Yes.” Ron replied. “I hate to do this, but you’re on your own!”
With this, Ron slammed on the breaks, and leapt out.
“Shit.” I said to myself, climbing out. Then I noticed the Dodge Ram, just catching up, the Toyota nipping at its heels. I sprinted across the road, to where multiple other vehicles sat. I noticed another one of the beings climbing into a speedy looking vehicle. Thinking quickly, I ran across to her, and said, “Is this an automatic?”
“Umm, yes…” she said hesitantly as she turned to look at me. Upon seeing me, she screamed, threw her bag at me, and ran. I climbed in grabbed the door and pulled it shut.
Chapter 13
It was a Subaru WRX, and it was super-charged. Quickly pulling my belt on, I glanced at the controls. It was similar, yet different. I looked for a shifter, like the one the van had had, coming out of the steering wheel, but saw none. Then, looking to my right, where one of the breaking devices was, I noticed something new: another shifter. Looking closely, I also noticed that it had similar marking on it to that in the van. I thrust if forward, hoping it was the right spot. Then I looked at my paws. Same two peddles. Good. I released the breaking device, turned the wheel, and slammed my paw down.
Unlike the van, I was rocketed back in my seat. There was that squealing noise, yet again, as suddenly the car caught traction. I yanked the wheel back to the right, straightening out in the middle of the road. I slammed my paw on the break, and looked behind myself. Both the Ram and the MR-2 were behind me, not to mention the unknown authorities. I punched the gas, and flew off at an unbelievable pace. I liked this car. Spinning the wheel, I slid a turn, and straightened just in time to miss a giant red truck. It was driving the opposite direction