Through the blinding, heavy storm, two terrifying figures emerged.
"So you were right, there is a storm and a bad one at that" the hooded skeleton glared with displeasure.
"Now we just need to find the right area" said Dark Blade.
"What!? You mean you still don't know where we're going?" questioned Death, frustrated. "Why do I keep getting involved with you?!"
"Shut up and let me think!" hissed Blade. "It's in a cave system surrounded by mountains I remember that, we just need to search, it shouldn't be that hard".
"And if we bump into anyone?" asked Death, clutching his blaster. "Shoot first?"
"You idiot, we cannot leave any evidence behind, no one must learn of our existence!" refused Blade.
"And if they see us?"
"Hm...ok then we kill them".
Jean George lashed out to his dogs with his whip, encouraging them to run faster. Of course with his two main lead dogs missing he wasn't at his usual fast pace. Luckily his dogs were picking up the scent of their leaders and were leading their master in the right direction, through the forest.
"Faster, go, move you mangy mutts!" shouted Jean, embracing the moment of danger by whipping his dogs once more. "It's too late to turn back now! Hahahahahahahaahahahaha!"
Paul's truck was having difficulties in driving through the race, a course which was never suited for heavy vehicles to travel on. The poor Russian man was tumbling all over the place as paint splashed on him and heavy tools whacked him.
"Move it, move it, your driving too slow!" complained Dr. Mitchel. "How can we go anywhere when you're driving like my grandma!?"
"You wanna drive!?" yelled Paul.
"No" answered the doctor.
"No? Then shut up!" Paul snapped.
"Fine; you're good with the wheel, you drive" Mitchel backed down.
"Could you drive more carefully?" pleaded the Russian man, as a paint can hit him.
"Did you hear something?" Paul pretended not to hear, inserting a rock'n'roll tape into the van's radio.
Paul began driving even more recklessly now, waving his hands into the air, his eyes half closed and half-wide, jamming to his song. The Russian man fell all around the back area of the truck, separated from the view of the front by a metal wall. He screamed as a tool box flew towards his face.
"The road! Watch the bloody road!" panicked Mitchel.
"Oh yeah this is my jam!" Paul continued not paying attention.
"Maybe I should drive" sighed the doctor.
The huskies ran out of the forest and were now in full view of the mountains that confronted them.
"Which way now?" asked Echo as the wind smashed against his face.
"We need to turn left and get out of this race course, then forward towards those mountains" explained Francois.
"Alpine I suggest you go back to town in case they have already" suggested Echo.
"No way, Sonya is my responsibility, I can't let anything happen to her, I'm her only family" she refused.
"The wind is getting worse!" moaned Baron.
"And it ain't getting any clearer" added Philippe.
"Perhaps we should all turn back before conditions deteriorate further" advised Anouk.
Akira barged ahead of them and eyed the mountains as if they were challenging him.
"It's too late to turn back now" he declared, unknowing that he paraphrasing Jean George. "Racing is the day we all live for! Lets do what we're good at and run!"
"Oh looks like Mr. Guilty finally has a heart" Baron rolled his eyes.
"He's right" agreed Echo, his first words to Akira since is revelation earlier.
"Ugh, it will all end in tears mark my words" grunted Philippe, before the seven continued their own trek.
Sonya and Shasta ran as fast as they could through a massive snowy canyon comprised of dozens of mountains and hills. The ground was more rougher and the snow had a greater impact considering how low this area was compared to the race course.
Shasta was a bit surprised that he had overtaken an excellent runner like Sonya, who's own vision began deteriorating in these freezing cold conditions.
"Having trouble?" he taunted at her, before turning again and realising from the expression on her face that she was actually feeling the impact of this storm. "Sonya are you ok?"
"I-I'm fine" she shivered. "It's just blurry eyesight, it'll pass".
"Are you sure?"
"Yes" she affirmed. "Now shouldn't we get a move on".
Shasta agreed, continuing running, despite feeling a lot of fear for what could happen to both Adam and Sonya out here. As they continued running, Dark Blade and Death pushed their way through the wind and hail, walking menacingly along the hills in this lowland area as well.
Suddenly, Sonya stubbed her front paw against a hard stone buried in the snow and let out an agonising cry.
"Sonya!" Shasta turned around to help his friend. He gently lifted her injured paw and examined it. It looked bruised. "Are you ok? How bad is it?"
"Shasta, I think you're gonna have to go on without me, I'll just drag you down like this" she insisted. "I'll catch up, I promise, just go on ahead. You can see the mountain from here, it's not that far". She used her free paw to point to the gigantic Mt. Amerock which was bigger than the others.
"I can't leave you out here!" refused Shasta.
"Shasta, there's no time to argue, you can't leave Adam out here in this weather either" argued the female puppy. "I'll be right behind you, I know this course well, remember? I'll..just rest in that cave over there".
"...Ok fine, be careful" Shasta finally gave in despite the massive amount of concern he had over leaving her out here in this godforsaken place.
Shasta watched Sonya walk towards the large cave to her right, lifting her injured paw, before running ahead.
Blade and Death turned right and walked along the mountain side to observe to canyon below them.
Shasta kept on running, before halting as he heard a loud bear growl, possibly the one he encountered before with Echo and the others. A great deal of regret and paranoia swept over him.
"No, I shouldn't have left her like this" he regretted, turning back.
Death looked to the large cave below.
"There?" he beckoned to Dark Blade, who he soon saw had teleported down below regardless. Death joined him.
"Possibly" replied the phantom, entering it.
Sonya carried her slightly better paw to the entrance of the cave, before seeing the shadows of two abnormal figures entering and quickly hid behind a rock. She heard the two chilling voices discuss before they left.
"Nothing!"
"Hm, no I remember it having more mountains surrounding it"
Sonya peeped her small head over the rock and looked at these two terrifying creatures.
"What are those?" she whispered to herself. She exited the cave, hiding behind another rock on the outside. "Where is that boy?" she wondered, thinking about Shasta and if these two had gotten hold of him, which was her biggest fear at the moment.
Death suddenly turned his skull and glowing red eyes forward, to see a silhouette of a small husky puppy, walking. Shasta stopped at this area, looking around for Sonya but couldn't find any trace of her. The snow and wind and hail before him blinded his vision and he couldn't see either one of the ghouls but they could see him.
"Sonya!" he called out into the air. Sonya heard him and so did the figures; she was too scared to move, although she tried not to show it.
"Look, that things spotted us!" panicked Death, stepping behind Blade. "He's making noises, he must be alerting others to him".
"Interesting" noted Blade. "Well...now we can kill".
Death took out his blaster and aimed it forward at the husky.
Sonya glared at this weapon with her wide, double-coloured eyes understanding that they intend to shoot at Shasta. She had to do something to save her friend...
"Well shoot!" ordered Blade.
Something was preventing the ghoul from doing so; something was holding him back. He looked at the small creature, his finger tip at the end of the trigger, pretending that he was wiping snow of his eyes to get a better view.
"He's a puppy, Blade"
"I don't care, fire at him! Fire; kill him; please kill him!"
...could she stand a chance against them? She didn't care, she had to save Shasta from that gunshot. But...
"Ready, aim, fir-
"I KNOW HOW TO SHOOT!" yelled Death, lifting his gun up again.
...Run.
"Hey, leave him alone!" Sonya cried, running forward.
Sonya sprinted forward, jumping and gripping hold of Death's blaster as he raised it and then jumped on his robe.
"Help, I'm being attacked by a savage beast!" he shrieked.
Shasta heard the bear growl again and decided to move on a bit.
"You got her, Death. Left, no right, right, this way!" he 'encouraged', although he wasn't helping much.
Sonya jumped on his hooded head as Death tried shaking her off.
"Shoot, you have a gun; kill her!" Blade swung his blades at him to try and get the puppy, but Death dodged all his blows thinking they were gonna hit him instead. "Left, no right, this way, lead her toward me; right; up. Use your gun you fool!"
"YOU'RE DRIVING ME NUTS!" screamed Death, before the small husky ran onto his hooded head. Blade threw a punch at her but missed and hit Death instead, making him fall to the ground. Sonya ran along him, and Blade used his foot to trample all over Death in a bid to get her. His foot eventually hit the skeleton's pelvis, making him let out another scream.
"She's getting away!" shouted Blade, giving chase.
Sonya tried running, but her bruised paw caused her to fall repeatedly. "Oh, Shasta please be ok" she quietly prayed.
Death picked up his gun from the snow, aimed at her and finally pulled the trigger.
BAM!
All the birds flew from their trees.
Blade returned to his comrade.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you stamping on me" he sarcastically said.
"Anytime, now lets move in case that other dog did call for help" ordered Blade.
Shasta followed the gunshot back to the area and saw his friend lying in the snow.
"Sonya!" he shouted, running to her. "Thank goodness, come on I'm not leaving you let's go!"
But when he ran, he heard no other legs following him. He turned again and saw her lying there.
"Come on, Sonya, there's no time for games!" he nudged her body. "Sonya?"
He then saw the bloody mark on her and his eyes turned wide.
"Did the bear do this?" he wondered. He lay down beside his friend; his only true, loyal companion who stuck with him and silently cried. "I should've never taken you, Sonya, I'm sorry".
He felt the storm becoming worse and realised that if he stayed and mourned his friend Adam would soon share her fate. He decided to put some snow over the body and leave it over by the cave, so no one would do anything to it, out of respect for his best friend.
His quaking legs turned to continue running.