Chapter 10: Chase in the Desert
Along the highway back to Cairo, an entire escort was transferring the ark to the very city. The highway streams across woodlands, mountains and dunes which was a particularly rough road littered with rocks and holes, nevertheless. The lined escort pressed on with their heads on a swivel.
As they passed through a small mountain in the distance, the one dog they were looking for, sat up top of it all by him lonesome self on a motor bike. Assessing the scenario like a bandit eying his prize.
From what he saw, the escort consisted of the luxurious convertible that held his sister, Harold, and Tabby, the cargo truck carrying the ark and a group of armed cats, A couple of open roof jeeps with turrets on the back, a motorcycle of their own, two more jeeps bringing up the rear.
It wasn't going to be a cakewalk, but he was confident that he had a sure plan to finally take back the ark. With his eyes dead set on the line, the dog revs the engine and rides down the mountain, timing it perfectly to run right up behind the Cargo truck.
Up front, Scarlet is alerted by the sound of the motorcycle's engine and swings her head around. She shouts out a curse to the sky. "ROCKY?! No! Damn it! NO!"
Harold reaches for the radio in the jeep, mushing the button as he roars out. "That mongrel is here! Don't let him get on that truck! By any means, don't let him on that truck!"
The cats in the jeep behind, hear this and the driver speeds up, while the gunner cocks the weapon, aims, and fires for the mixed breed.
Rocky ducks and turns the throttle more, speeding out of sight of the gunner and getting closely beside the front of the truck. In that moment, Rocky uses the mechanical hands in his dog pack to grab the canvas on the side of the truck. Once he had a firm grip, he jumps off the bike, making it tumble back behind the truck. Unfortunately for the jeep directly behind, the driver didn't expect it and had barley anytime to react, turning hard to avoid the bike but too hard as the jeep ran right off the road and hit a divot, instantly sending the jeep side over side as the cats yowl in terror, being launched from every direction as the escort passes them by.
Rocky then starts slowly crawling up to the cab like a spider, whipping the passenger door open, and claws the unsuspecting passenger. Throwing him out like trash with a comedic yowl from the cat.
He then grabs the top of the truck with his hands and swings to the driver's seat, kicking the driver against the door and they immediately start fighting for control, causing the truck to sway left and right on the road and fluctuate in speed as the patrons in the car in front of them could only look on in front of him.
The cat inadvertently pushes on the brake, making the jeep behind the truck pound the back. The gas was then slammed, launching a poor cat out of the back and onto the hood of the jeep. (insert Wilhelm scream here)
As they fight over control, the truck swerves more and more while coming up on a construction site with scaffolding on the side of the road. Driving right through the three-layered scaffolding as people on them to quickly jump off one by one to avoid meeting an untimely fate, with one landing right on the hood of the truck and quickly rolling off.
In the midst of this, Rocky and the cat suddenly exchange a quick glance and even share a laugh before Rocky opens the driver door, and shoves the cat out of the truck, leaving him tumbling on the side of the road and Rocky in full control of the truck.
As they come up upon a bend in the road, Rocky catches sight of the car in front of him and lets his rage take him, stepping on the gas and putting it into high gear, quickly catching up with the car. The patrons in the car could only watch and brace themselves as Rocky unrelentlessly hits the back of the car, running it off the road, and straight for the cliff at the bend.
The passengers hang on for dear life as the driver fights the wheel to regain control of the car. She somehow was able to regain control, and was barley able to keep the car from running off the cliff. In turn, was back on the road and in front of the truck since Rocky had to make the hard right turn narrowly running off the cliff himself.
Eventually, one of the jeeps pulls up beside the right side of the truck as the gunner starts firing towards the cab. Rocky yanks the wheel right, sending the jeep off the road and crashing into a tree head on, lifting the back of the jeep up and launching the cats out of it.
Rocky chuckles a little at his work before focusing back on the task at hand. However, the mirror on his left reveals the motorcycle with a side car armed with a gun.
The mixed breed shakes his and merely twitches the wheel, sideswiping the bike, easily causing it to tumble on the rough road. The cats slowly get up and get back on, trying to start it back up and get back in pursuit. However, the bike doesn't start at all, meaning they were out for good.
Rocky didn't have time to rest as the last two jeeps both flank the track on each side. Aiming their guns right at the driver.
Coincidentally, they were coming up on a cliffside to the left and a rock mountain wall on the right. As soon as the three vehicles come up on the ridge, Rocky slams into the right jeep. Pushing them up against the rock wall on their right. Tearing the jeep to pieces as it eventually crashes out in a big ball of fire.
Rocky then turns his attention to the jeep on the left which was now right next to him. Ducking from the bullets, he yanks the wheel left, slamming into the jeep, hoping to push it off the cliff. The driver of the jeep furiously fought to keep from going off the side, however the cargo truck was to strong for it as soon enough, the jeep was effortlessly driven off of the cliff. The cats yowling for their lives as they fall to their dooms.
With no more distractions, Rocky shifts his focus back on the car in front of them. However, he forgets about the cats in the back of the truck as one of them gives out an order.
"It's up to us! Get to the front and regain control!" The cat orders as the others climb out of the back and cling to the sides of the truck like ants on a long, slowly moving up to the truck's cab.
Rocky spots them thanks to the mirror, seeing what looks to be three cats on each side. He groans as he had to find a way to deal with each one. Looking for any way to shoo them away, he realizes that the road is leading them into a patch of forestry, giving Rocky a break.
As soon as the truck enters the jungle, he leads the truck left and right, brushing the lingering tree branches to throw the cats off the side of the road. One of them was not prepared and tumbled off the canvas. Another was whacked in the face by multiple branches, causing him to fall off. Rocky doesn't stop as he weaves left and right, throwing off a couple more cats who comically yowl on the way down. One cat tries his darndest to hold on, but a thick tree branch hits him head on. Nearly decapitating him as he's sent tumbling on the road.
One more cat was left and he was now up to the passenger door. The cat pulls out his pistol and fires into the truck, the bullet piercing Rocky's left shoulder, making him shriek as blood splatters all over the windshield. He instinctively kicks the passenger door itself while the cat holds on, being drugged along the road.
The door swings back and the cat aims for the mixed breed again, however, Rocky kicks the door out again, dragging the cat along the road again. He holds on for dear life, trying to stay hold on to the truck, but eventually, his strength was fully spent, and he finally let go and left behind tumbling along the road with a yowl.
Rocky sighs in relief before wincing at the pain of his shoulder, which was covered in blood from the gunshot, though he shakes it off, feeling that it was all smooth driving from here on out.
Or so he thought, but there was actually still one more cat in the back of the truck with the ark. After seeing the last cat fall behind, he determined that it was now up to him. He starts making his journey to the front of the truck, but instead of climbing the sides like his predecessors, he instead opted to climb up top and scale that way to the front. Hoping to not be detected and get the drop on the hijacker.
Slowly, the dedicated cat gets up to the roof of the cab easy enough. The patrons in the car look on with hope as the cat clings to the roof as he swings right through the driver's window, kicking Rocky over to the passenger side, effectively seizing control of the truck.
The cat then spots Rocky's wound and proceeds to claw at it over and over, making Rocky howl in immense pain. The cat slams his head on the dash, then hisses at him before he throws him into the windshield. Rocky crashes right through it, sliding across the hood and falls off the front. Thankfully, his mechanical hands come out and clings on to the hood ornament, stopping him from falling off the front of the truck and getting run over. Just as soon as he grabs it though, the ornament gives to the weight, and slowly bends back as Rocky's eyes grow wide with panic. It eventually breaks off and Rocky quickly grabs the large grill of the truck by the individual rungs, though some of them broke off as soon as he grabbed them, but he eventually found some that seemed to hold, clinging on to them like a spider.
Up in front of them, Harold stands in the car, and signals the driver to speed up to try to mash Rocky between the front of the truck, and the back of the car.
The driver nods with a menacing chuckle as he puts the truck into high gear, and mashes the pedal to the floor. Speeding right up to the car to finally get rid of the stubborn cockroach for good.
Rocky had to think of something quick and the only thing he thought of was something absolutely crazy, knowing full well that his entire body will hate him for months.
Right when they were about to collide, Rocky crawls down below the front of the truck, sticks his legs under it, and lays back first under the truck with. His dog pack scraping against the road as the truck drags him across it, very thankful that it was effectively protecting his bare back. Scarlet watches in total shock as Rocky literally disappears from her sight, hanging on to the truck's underparts as it drives on. His dog pack continued its protection, but his hind legs were taking in damage now, though Rocky could barely feel it thanks to the adrenaline in him.
Rocky then starts moving back to the rear of the truck like he was climbing down a ladder. Once he gets to the rear axel of the truck, he grabs it firmly with his hands and then shoots out from under the truck, now being dragged belly first behind the truck. Feeling every rock like very sharp nails scratching his body.
Suddenly, the truck goes over a sizable pothole and Rocky hit it square in the face. Making him yelp and his hand let go of the truck. Tumbling on the road as the truck leaves him behind in the middle of the road. Up at the front, Scarlet breathes a big sigh of relief to see this as they seemed to have finally left Rocky behind.
Rocky watches the truck drive out of sight. "What?! No! No! No! NO!"
He bangs his paws on the road, flailing around like a pup throwing a massive tantrum. He jumps up on his feet, still very upset with himself for letting Harold and his sister get away with the Ark of the Covenant.
His ears then catch the distant sound of an engine getting closer. No doubt this was another jeep that had strayed off from the escort in some way. He calms himself down and takes his gun out. Aiming it straight ahead of him where he could see a now incoming jeep, knowing that this would be his last chance to get the ark.
Eventually, the jeep comes into view and Rocky stands still, ready to shoot the driver if he must to at least avoid getting run over. However, the driver slams on the brakes and stops a few feet from the dog who remained still in front of the jeep, still aiming the gun. The only thing that prevented him from pulling the trigger was finally seeing who the driver was.
"Need a ride dude?" Zuma asks, poking his head up.
"Zuma!" Rocky gasps, immediately putting away his gun before zipping to the passenger seat. "You don't know how glad I am to see you!"
"Heh heh. I think I know just how. Seems how you were about to blow my head off." Zuma chuckles before noticing the mess Rocky was at the moment. "Dude, what happened?"
"That's not important right now pal. Step on it and get after that truck!" Rocky pushes, prompting Zuma to step on it.
Back up to the now two vehicle escort, both this the patrons in the car and the truck were finally at ease after the recent scare of losing the Ark.
"See? I told you Miss Scarlet, you have nothing to worry about." Harold assures the terrier, however, Scarlet was not easily assured, as she kept looking back and forth at Harold.
"It isn't over until we're out of here."
Unbeknownst to them, most importantly, the driver of the truck, Zuma and Rocky had quickly caught up to them. As Rocky climbs over the windshield and the hood, Zuma drives up to the back of the truck.
Rocky then jumps into the back and quickly moves up to the passenger side. Scarlet spots her brother and immediately tries to warn the driver. "He's back! He's back! There!"
It was too late though. Rocky was already in position and swung right back in the cag, effectively swapping places with the stunned driver.
The mixed breed then slams the cat's head on the dash over and over before throwing through the windshield like he was before.
The cat slides across the hood and grabs the grill of the truck to hang on. But the rungs he grabbed gave almost immediately and he fell in front of the truck, leaving him unprotected from being run over. Zuma behind them had to swerve to avoid the cat and leave him to his cruel fate. "Jeez."
Much to the horror of Scarlet, Harold, Tabby and the driver, Rocky puts it into high gear and sped back up to the convertible. The patrons could only watch in terror as Rocky gets up beside their car. As soon as he did, Rocky yanks the wheel with all his might and slams into the car, running them right off the road, driving away with Zuma behind him.
The driver struggled to regain control, being forced to slam on the brakes to ovoid crashing spectacularly.
While everyone tries to gather themselves, Scarlet watches her brother disappear from their sight in pure rage.
"ehurrrrrrrnAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Scarlet roars to the sky. "IDIOTS! FUCKING IDIOTS!"
Harold was lifted by Scarlets monstrous outburst. "Scarlet! Calm yourself!"
"NO! I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN AND YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME! NOW HE HAS THE ARK!" Scarlet continues to rattle the car with just her voice, she turns over to the driver seeing nothing but red. "DON'T JUST SIT THERE! GET AFTER THEM! NOW! I REFUSE TO LOSE TO HIM!"
The driver scrambles to start the car, back up, and get back on the road to chase after them.
After a long road, Rocky and Zuma finally reach Dodger City. They drive around until they see Wheeler signaling in front of a midsized building, just wide and tall enough to fit the large cargo truck in it. Rocky drives right in while Zuma is away from the scene.
Almost immediately after he parks the truck, a large awning comes down over while at the same time, the entrance is immediately covered with fruit stands and local dogs, putting on a ruse of a market square, effectively concealing the truck.
A short time after, a convertible suddenly screams in, carrying Harold, Scarlet, and Tabby as they swing their heads around the square, having followed the truck exactly.
However, there was no truck in sight. The three all had immediate confusion as they pan around for the truck, but there was no such thing, like it never really existed.
"Wha-Wha-Wha? What? Whe-Where'd it go?" Scarlet shutters out, almost speechless as she looks for any sign of the truck.
A few dogs came up to them and held various fruit up to make a sale, only for Harold to grab one and throw it down in disgust. Scarlet was completely broken
"But-But-But. Whe-Where…but…..where did it…..but…..how…..but…..."
"Ehhhnahh!" Harold growls out. "Let's get out of here! I can't believe this! God Damn it!"
The driver wasted no time in putting it back in drive and driving away from the scene, with a clueless Scarlet, an angry Humdinger, and a carless Tabby.
When they were gone, the dogs howl in success of fooling Humdinger's goons, knowing full well that they got the Ark away from his hands.
Inside the building, Rocky slowly gets out of the truck and winces when he jumps down feeling like he could barely stand.
Zuma gets up to him and catches him before he can collapse. "Jeez dude, you're a mess."
"Yeah. I know." Rocky grunts out as Zuma helps him slump against the wall. "But we got the Ark. That's all that matters."
"Don't say that dude! Nothing is worth throwing your life away for." Zuma said in a concern as he looks over Rocky's body, or…what was left of it. Zuma then spots a large blood spot on his left shoulder. He reels back and gasps horridly. "Rocky! You've been shot!"
Rocky lethargically looks at his wound, seeing the bloody shoulder as his expression doesn't change. "Yeah….I can see that."
Zuma shakes his head. "It seems you really haven't change Rocky, and definitely not for the better."
Rocky eyes Zuma with a smile. He could easily see the concern from the lab and didn't feel it was just for the surf shop he still owed him.
"Zuma."
Zuma eyes Rocky shakingly.
"Thank you. Thank you for being there for me." Rocky solemnly thanks.
Zuma blushes a little before shrugging it off. "Yeah yeah. I couldn't just let yourself be killed by your stupid plans."
Rocky didn't respond as he stared into the lab's eyes with passion. Surprisingly catching Zuma's gaze as well.
For so long, Zuma held his animosity tight to his chest. Feeling that there was nothing that will ever make him let go of his hatred, but now Zuma was wondering if he even had any hatred at all. Seeing Rocky valiantly put his body on the line save the world, It astonishingly reminded him why he loved the mixed breed before…..and why…even after everything that's happened…he still loves him to this day.
The two stare at each other longer than they initially wanted, until they eventually felt their lips get closer like magnets…
"Hot dog! Rocky! You did it! I didn't think you would, but you did!"
Zuma pushes away from Rocky while the mixed breed subtly groans in annoyance of Rubble coming in, at the very wrong time.
Rubble walks up to them with a big smile, until he sees Rocky barely hold himself together. "Whoa Rock. You look horrible. Are you okay?"
Putting his annoyance aside, Rocky slowly nods at the bulldog as he slowly rises to his feet. "Yeah. I'm okay pal. It was all worth it to get the Ark away from them."
Rubble shakes his head. "I couldn't agree more Rocky, and on top of that, I've got stupendous news!"
"What is it Rubble?" Zuma asks curiously.
"I managed to arrange a sure passage out of here with no issues!" Rubble boasts. "Thanks to a certain friend of ours with a rather large ship."
Rocky and Zuma eye each other as they let out at the same time. "Captain Turbot?!"
What an action packed experience! I bet Rocky feels so lucky that he is somehow still alive. Though according to him, it was worth it with the Ark out of Harold's and Scarlets grasp.
Now with the help of Captain Turbot, they have to make it back home, but I doubt Harold is willing to just give up after everything. Failure isn't an option for him so I'm sure he will try to get it back. Question is, when will he strike and will Rocky and Zuma be ready for him?
Find out next time when Chapter 11 comes out!
There will be no chapter next week as the story will have a planned break but it will be back on May 3!
Please review let me know what your favorite parts are and if you have any questions about the story or anything else, leave a comment or message me and I'll get back with you as soon as I can.
This is Sean Thames of DragonsFire Entertainment signing off!