Chapter 6

The squeaky cart came to a stop at the profitamole feet, The yellow pinata's back blocking most of Paulie's view. Hudson was surprisingly still composed, or at least as far as the pretztail could tell through the packaging. Keeping an eye out, Paulie anticipated what would happen next.

"Prewitt," El sketcho called for the profitamole's attention. The short stocky pinata turned around, hearing his name spoken by the mallowolf. "I got a package here for ya, need ya to take it to Teddington... Along with me," Marvin added the last bit as casually as he could.

"Well you caught me just in time then," Prewitt replied in his usual happy demeanor. "Uh, though why do you need to come with all of a sudden?" The profitamole asked, confused over Marvin's request. Usually Prewitt took his cargo journeys alone.

"Private matters with the head honcho over there, best not to ask questions, amigo," the mallowolf discouraged Prewitt's concerns, knowing that the information of his intentions would put the profitamole in more danger than he would be if he was blissfully unaware.

"Er… Okay then." Prewitt hesitated, his hunch telling him something was amiss, though he didn't dare to find himself on El Sketcho's bad side. "Just add your crate with the other supplies and jump in," the profitamole waved him on.

"Gladly," Mavin replied, wheeling the cart toward the open trailer train, lined with other crates. Taking a deep breath in, Marvin hauled the box up and onto the trailer, Giving it a few pats on the top before hopping in with the rest of the cargo. The two pinatas were slightly disoriented from the maneuver, but kept silent. "You're doing great guys," the mallowolf whispered silently behind the box, away from Prewitt's eyes.

"Hope you brought something to eat at least!" Prewitt called out as he ran to the head of the train, "It's gonna be a long ride!" The mallowolf already knew how long Prewitt's trips took, luckily he had developed the stomach to sustain such a trip. He wasn't so sure about the other two pinatas however.

"Let's hope they like the taste of styrofoam," El Sketcho thought with a soft chuckle. Steam hissed from the exhaust as they began to crawl into motion, eventually picking up some speed. Paule shuffled his way back to the crack in the crate, seeing Marvin sitting himself up again another box.

"Psst, El Sketcho!" Paulie signaled for the mallowolf's attention, tapping gently on the walls as well. Marvin peeked over briefly before scooting closer to the pretztail.

"What is it?" Mavin hoped to Pinator that it wasn't the start of the 'Are we there yet?' chant. If that was the case, he wouldn't hesitate to kick the box off and let them walk the rest of the way there. But such things were beyond Paulie, though Hudson on the other hand…

"You never told us exactly where we were going!" Paulie replied, hoping he didn't have to ask to get another answer. El Sketcho glared into the small hole in the box, knowing Paulie was on the other side.

"We're headin' to the northern base, up in the arctic mountains," Marvin revealed with a dark chuckle, "...Hope you guys brought something warm to wrap up with," he joked with them a little too harshly.

"Yeah, well look who's talking," Paulie countered, seeing that the mallowolf ensemble was made up of only accessories. "Good luck stayin' warm in that belt and hat of yours!" The pretztail's words hadn't stung the Mallowolf at all.

"I don't think I'll need ta' worry," El sketcho brandished a throwing knife slowly, gliding a careful paw over its sharp edges, "I might skin myself a niiice pretztail coat if I'm needin' the warmth," his cold jokes hit Paulie hard.

"Hey! We're in this together!" Paulie bashed a fist against the wooden wall, "You better not even THINK of turning your back on us!" He argued, hoping this wasn't a convoluted trap all along. However it was crazy to think that the mallowolf sacrificed his position within Tina's base just to off two pinatas out of pure boredom. They were past the point of no return, it was a stretch to believe that El Sketcho would do what he pleased with them, but it was extremely convincing at the moment.

"I'd be mighty careful if I was you," the mallowolf leaned forward towards the hole once again, peering inside with an eye. "Because I'm not the one in the box!" Marvin pulled back and jabbed the knife into the hole, missing the recoiling pretztail by a few maches. Paulie caught his breath as El Sketcho drew his knife back. "...Then again, I might just be pulling yer' leg because it's gonna be a looong uneventful trip," The mallowolf clarified, coaxing a sigh of relief from the pretztail. "-Good luck figgerin' out which!" Marvin's voice cracked into a hick tone as Paulie's eyes shot open. It was going to be a long ride indeed.

Paulie shuffled through the mess over to Hudson, who was already passed out from claustrophobia by this point. Geez, for someone who's snuck into Pinata Central, he's sure got some pretty strange fears. The pretztail shook his head in disappointment. He didn't want to get stuck dealing with El Sketcho alone, "Still, lucky son of a-" The mallowolf interrupted the pretztail's thoughts with a request.

"...Hand me some of them packing nuts would'ya?" He reached out an upwards facing paw, waving in a few times for the pretztail to pass some out through the hole in the box. It had Paulie wanting to ask more questions about the mallowolf's diet, but knew better not to, not while he was still in the box.

You can't be serious... The pretztail thought to himself, gathering up a handful of peanuts before shoving them through to the mallowolf. It was then that Paulie's stomach began to growl, reminding him he needed to eat as well. Watching the Mallowolf pop the styrofoam nuggets into his mouth didn't help either. They can't be that bad… Can they? The pretztail scooped one into his mouth with his tongue.

Letting it sit in his mouth, Paulie took in the salty flavor before chewing it up and swallowing it. Bleh! ...Eh, I've had worse. The pretztail admitted to himself, recalling the moment he attempted to eat soil from a potted plant in a rotting hut out in the arctic.

He shoved a handful into his mouth. His hunger taking over his better judgement. As hungry as the pretztail was. The peanuts weren't as satisfying as he thought they'd be. Hopefully there was something savory to spare at the arctic base.