Chapter 8

Balto marched steadily towards the south across a land covered in deep white under an equally white sky. There was no definition, no rocks, no trees, and no grass. Nothing except the shivering wolf dog covered with snow steadily moving for reference in the land.

It felt as though days had come and gone already. Shortly after Benson left him, Balto stood and turned and started back towards Nome. Balto thought about what he would tell Jenna. He thought about what he would tell Cleo. How would he tell them all of what happened? Balto didn't know. He only knew he wanted to get home where it was safe and warm. Balto began to cry and his tears froze to his face again. He just didn't know.

Steel would have missed the tracks in the snow if at that exact moment he hadn't stopped and waited for the others to catch up. They were almost buried over. Another ten minutes and no matter how careful he looked and he would have missed them. Steel carefully sniffed the tracks and judged their size. Sure enough they were wolf tracks, and sure enough they smelled of Balto.

"That wolf dogs harder to kill than cockroaches." Steel growled aloud to himself.

The others came up behind him and circled around sniffing the tracks. "Is it him?" Mayfly, an Alaskan malamute with a quick temper asked.

Steel growled as his eye's followed the tracks into the distance. "Yes."

Kodi didn't want to do it. But he felt as the leader of his friends he had to stop his mother before it got much worse. "Mom." She didn't respond, but kept walking into the wind and snow. "Mom!" Kodi yelled louder.

This time she turned and looked at him. "What?"

Kodi sat down. "We need to rest. We can't keep going in this weather. We're exhausted, and the chances that we would run into dad out here are astronomical." Dusty, Ralph, Dakota, Kirby, and Ralph all spread out next to Kodi and sat. They slouched and shivered visibly. Kodi looked at his friends in turn. "It's just too much."

Jenna studied her sons and his friends. "Alright … You rest here, I'll go on."

"Mom no!" Kodi jumped to his feet. "You can't."

Jenna smiled. "Balto wouldn't give up if it was me out there. So neither will I." She turned and started walking into the snow, vanishing almost instantly.

Kodi looked at Dakota, Dakota looked back at him. "What's she doing?" Dakota yelled over the wind.

Kodi stepped closer to his brother. "She says she won't stop until she finds dad."

Dakota's eye's went to where his mother had vanished into the storm. Without a word Dakota stood up and steadily walked into the storm after his mother.

Kodi watched his brother go, and then looked at his team. "What's going on?" Dusty yelled.

"Dusty, guys, I need to go on with my mom and brother. I don't want you to come with me. Go back to Nome, keep warm and safe." Kodi said as he turned and looked where his brother had vanished. He began walking after their quickly fading tracks.

Dusty stood and looked at Kirby and Ralph in turn. They all shook their heads at her silent query, stood, and followed.

Go on Balto, just one more step. Okay, now take another. Oh wow, you're doing so well. Breath. Are you ready? Yeah. Then let's take another. Balto's mind sounded like a parent convincing his kid to give up his teeth one at a time. Every step became a tremendous effort. He hadn't felt so exhausted since the serum run. But back then he was younger, recently in love, and not frozen solid. Now Balto was much older, and he didn't have the fresh zeal of love burning in him, only the bitter swelling of needless death.

The wind lessened as Balto grew closer to Nome, but the cold cut to the bone. He had never felt so cold. His entire body shook like death had him and was ringing him like a rag. His fur was as solid as a brass bell. "How…much…further?" He asked himself through chattering teeth. He feared the answer would be something much too far.

"So Balto."

Balto stopped cold. He turned, crunching his frozen white fur, and looked through the snow behind him. Steel stood defiant. Beside him, gradually appearing through the steadily falling flakes came the others. They all looked healthy and ready to fight.

"Bensons … dead." Balto chattered.

"I know. But that doesn't matter, because you aren't dead."

"Jenna…will…never…have…you." Balto continued.

"It doesn't matter that much. What's lost is lost. But I can still kill you." Steel took a defiant step forwards, then stopped as his eye's shifted to his left.

"You'd have to kill me as well." Jenna said coming through the snow on Balto's right side.

"Me too." Dakota said standing on Balto's left.

"As well as me." Kodi said appearing on Dakotas left.

"And us." Dusty said as she stepped to Jenna's right side, Kirby and Ralph followed suit.

The dogs all looked at each other with fire burning in their eyes. They sized each other up for the fight to come. The dogs on Steel's side growled viciously and dug their paws in for the charge Steel would command. Kirby, Ralph, Dakota, Dusty, Jenna, and Kodi began growling and baring their teeth, ready to meet Steel's advance.

Steel glared at all of them. His mind looked to be racing behind his furrowed brow. "Enough!!" Steel suddenly barked. His group of dogs all looked at him expectently. "Today you shall live Balto. But one day you won't be so lucky to have your friends by your side." Steel turned into the storm and walked, the other followed, until nothing remained but the white snow.

Balto collapsed into the snow with a grunt. Instantly Jenna leapt onto him. "Balto are you alright."

Balto looked up at her. "I'm…just…really…cold"

"Where's my father?" Jenna asked.

To this Balto began to cry.