Chapter 68: The Midnight Train

Her black, sleek form blending into the night, Calhoun crawled alongside the train tracks for a moment, her skilled nose smelling for any humans coming close by where she and Felix were venturing. She could hear voices of a man loudly calling out that the train would be leaving in the next few minutes- but the voice came from the front of the train, far down the line where Felix and Calhoun were.

Upon not seeing -nor smelling- any other creatures at their end of the train, the sergeant crept closer the backend of the train's cherry red caboose car.

Straightening up, the doberman saw the door leading into the cabin car was wide open, the steps leading up into it beckoning her and the corgi to come aboard.

"If I'm not mistaken, this train runs clear down near Whack-A-Hole Ville," Calhoun looked down to whisper to the corgi by her front paws. "We hop on this train, get off near that town, and we'll be right near Sugar Russia."

"Perfect!" The corgi squealed softly in response, wiggling his tail end happily.

Smirking, the doberman peered one last time around the train's tail end- and quickly scrambled forward, agilely darting to stand right before the steps. With tall street lines littered on the other side of the tracks, Felix saw Calhoun jerk her head forward, silently commanding the corgi to come closer as well.

Tiptoeing to stand by her side once more, Felix watched as Calhoun cautiously yet easily raced up the steps leading up the caboose. Once on the platform the steps lead to, the doberman then turned to eye down at the smaller dog- who was quickly attempted to discreetly scamper up the steps as well.

They both quickly realized that the first step was a little too tall for the short corgi, though- and despite how much he tried to balance, jump, step, wiggle, scramble himself onto it, Felix just couldn't get onto that first rung. He even backed up a few good feet to get a running head start, attempting to launch himself up- but his short, corgi legs just weren't long enough to clear the jump, nearly causing him to ram his head into the bottom of the step.

"Last call!" The train's apparent conductor called out loudly, a quick warning for all his men far at the front end of the train to quickly climb aboard. "The train leaves in the next 30 seconds! All passengers should be on board and ready for departure!"

Looking at Calhoun wide, apologetic eyes, Felix whimpered and flattened his ears.

As embarrassing as it was to admit, there was no way the corgi to get on the train without her help.

Snarling in annoyance, Calhoun quickly got the message and rolled her eyes, quickly scampering back down the steps.

"You really need to grow a few inches there, Short Stack," she hissed as she hoped off the last step- and started pushing Felix' fluffy back end up the first rung, giving him a bit of a lift.

Right as he was flailing to get the rest of his body up onto the step, a loud train whistle erupted- causing the corgi to jump in alarm and fall right off Calhoun's nose.

Without much more of a warning, the train suddenly became mobile, slowly starting to chug down the tracks- and slowly started pulling away.

As Felix shook off his stumble, Calhoun just groaned loudly- her anxiety climbing as the locomotive started chugging forward. It was going to be extremely difficult -if not impossible- getting on now that the train was moving.

"Come on, corgi!" The doberman quickly hissed, beginning to nervously jog beside the train. "We've got to hurry or this train will completely take off without us!"

Her heavy trot quickly becoming a gallop, the doberman's long, slender legs pounded the harsh dirt ground underneath them. Quickly closing in on the steps, Calhoun was about to expertly launch herself up and climb up on the ladder- before her feet suddenly sped to a stop.

Flipping her head to look behind her, the doberman saw that her corgi companion was trying to race as fast as he could- yet still quite aways behind her. He was noticeably failing miserably to catch up to her, his large ears flapping behind him as he panted so hard it looked like he was about to kill over at any second.

His short legs were no match for catching up the moving train, the doberman quickly realized...leaving with her only one option.

Jerking her head back towards the train, she saw it was already now several hundred feet ahead of them- gaining faster and faster speed.

Deciding now was the time to act, the doberman groaned and turned to bolt back towards the now collapsed and slightly wheezing corgi. Quickly -but gently- Calhoun had no choice but to pick Felix up by the cuff of his neck, his fur tickling her nose and threateningly about to make her squeeze.

Forcing her legs to move forward and to gain pick up speed despite the plump corgi in her mouth, the police dog rushed after the train. Her paws began thundering and shaking on the ground, kicking up gravel behind her as she attempted to double her speed. Her lean, agile body shot forward like a bullet flying through the air- and within seconds, both her and Felix were near the tail end of the train.

Her strong force and incredible speed justled the small corgi around in her mouth, making Felix wince repeatedly. He balled himself up the most he could, silently hoping he wasn't too heavy her.

Closing the gap between them and the train, the doberman eyed the steps of the caboose as she ran, trying to calculate if she needed to be closer into order to jump. Deciding to take a chance, she launched into the air and gripped onto the first step, her back legs dangling dangerously too close to the train's rail wheels.

As Calhoun suddenly opened her mouth and practically spit him out, Felix stumbled forward and scrambled up the steps. Turning around to face Calhoun, he saw she was now wincing, clearly in pain for some unseen reason- and, more concerning, that she was starting to slip off the step.

The corgi gasped, his large ears flapping at the strong wind whipping them around as the train only picked up more and more speed. About to scramble down the steps in order to help pull her on the step, Felix began to panic-

When amazing, Calhoun gritted her teeth in determination and pressed her paws hard into the rung. Her gripping proving to be strong enough, she forced her long front legs to slowly pull herself safely on board.

Sighing with great relief, Felix quickly backed up so the doberman climbed up the stairs and up onto the small platform, greatly limping as she did.

Collapsing down now that she was safely on the caboose, Calhoun panted. As she continued to wince slightly, the corgi began shaking.

"Are- are you ok, Calhoun?" He asked cautiously, slowly approaching her right before the light corgi was suddenly jerked forward, caused by train as it chugged over a bump on the track. He would've crash right into Calhoun if he hadn't dug into paws into the platform as hard as he did.

"I'm peachy, Short Stack," the doberman sarcastically responded as she slowly stretched her front leg out, clenching her teeth as she did. "Almost got run over by a train is all."

Not picking up on her sarcasm, the corgi instead gasped.

"Calhoun! Your leg!" He yipped, crawling forward as the locomotive got a little bit more stable on the track. His small face crumbled as he saw that part of the doberman's leg was starting to turn a dark, dark red. "Y-you're bleeding!"

Finally eyeing down at her own front leg, Calhoun saw then too that Felix was indeed correct, her blood-soaked fur almost blending in with the rest of her pitch-black fur. As she quickly licked it for a moment, the two saw under the quickly-passing street lamps that there was a medium-sized cut on the doberman's leg, caused by the sharp, hidden edges of the stairs she had to harshly scramble up.

"Eh," Calhoun shrugged impassively, "a little blood never killed anyone."

Felix, though, couldn't help but worriedly notice as she stiffly and cautiously moved her hurt leg into a more comfortable positioned.

"Are you sure, Calhoun?" He asked in concern, sniffing her leg gently. "That looks like a pretty bad cut..."

Eyeing him, the doberman saw the unfairly adorable corgi as he cocked his head over to the side, somehow cute worry filling his face.

"I'll be A-OK after a few minutes, Short Stack. Really," she assuaged him, more for his sake than ever for hers. "Just gotta let it clot up."

Rolling her eyes at his concern, the doberman smirk...almost forgetting what it felt like for someone to be so concerned over her...

Not liking the familiar feeling starting to the surface in her heart, Calhoun abruptly looked out and onto the tracks seeming to travel behind them. The train was now moving so fast it makes the tracks almost blur before her eyes, the tall street lamps' dashing glows not helping as she tried to focus on something -anything, in fact, but the corgi still staring at her.

The now smooth, constant movement of the train was almost soothing, gently cooing the doberman's fast-beating heart into a state of calmness-

Before feeling a gentle, wet item started to brush up against her cut leg.

Jerking her head to the side, Calhoun's tough face somewhat melted to see Felix softly licking her cut, his tongue cooling and gentle against her scrap.

Her heart picking up its pace yet again, the police dog regrettably saw that the corgi's face was so soft and caring and worried as he licked.

Instantly, Calhoun found herself gulping. It felt so soft yet strangely stinging, so odd yet so familiar... so amazing yet so terrifyingly to have this care over her...

Perhaps, even his care in particular...

Suddenly pausing in his caressing, Felix raised his head, his ears laying low behind the back of his head. His face had an empathetic smile stretched across it, and his deep, deep baby blue eyes clearly revealed that he'd do something- anything, in fact, that would help her heal...

Making Calhoun's heart pound harder than before as she realized that such gentle care over her was doing just that.