DogForge Read Free Page B

growled and turned away. “Now go!”
    When Barley left, he walked back to the edge of the dropoff and stared into the darkness.

CHAPTER TWO
Chase
    D enali, forever the runt, chased after the future and stumbled into the past.
    She leapt over a moss covered stone and sprinted after the caribou. Her tongue lolled out to the side, a look of pure joy across her face.
    The caribou ran with an intensity that only prey can run with. It stank of fear. A froth of spittle darted along its nose. Hooves skittered on a plate of shale and it caught itself before careening down a steep slope. Plates of gray stone cascaded behind it.
    They raced down the slope and headed towards an abandoned town. Bracken and tundra scrub cropped up from the crumbling concrete in erratic patches. Once through the ruins, the wide open range of the high taiga drifted away into the horizon. The caribou lowered its head and charged forward.
    Denali danced through the shale. Her paws slipped on the loose stone. Then she was tumbling down the slope. With every landing she tried to flip and roll but the speed was too much. Finally she came to a rest and barked angrily. “Damn!”
    Her paws throttled quicker. The caribou sprinted away. She knew if it reached the taiga that it would merge back into another herd and then she’d never lay into it. All she had to do was bring a kill, and she was failing. Failing again .
    No matter how hard she tried she was never big enough, or fast enough, or burly enough. Too slow to hunt. Too weak to salvage. Too small to pull.
    I can do this. She pictured the kill in her mind. I can do this!
    The caribou halted midway through the ruins and sprang forward. The pace and distance was wearing on it. Legs slipped on the aged concrete and it bawled loudly as it gained speed. Massive antlers swung from side to side as it strained to push faster.
    Go! She willed herself faster. She knew she didn’t have the long legs or the massive mouth. All she had to do was get one tooth. One tooth! And then it would be hers. That one tooth would stop it, drag it down, then she could get it.
    The concrete walls slammed past, faster, almost in a blur. The spaces inside were stark and white with nothing left inside. But she didn’t notice any of that. Her eyes were only for the caribou and she was getting close.
    It seemed to know and threw its head back to look at Denali. Its eyes were wide, wild with fear. Hooves clattered and it made as if to stop, but didn’t know where.
    A smell hit Denali’s nose. Dog.
    Samson exploded from a doorframe and was on the caribou. His massive maw latched on and his bulk slammed the animal to the ground. It rose up once, twice, and flailed limbs about. Samson held with his eyes on Denali. He grinned through the flailing mouthful of caribou.
    Denali slowed to a trot and raised her nose. She’d not give him the satisfaction of seeing her disappointed.
    Samson dropped the corpse at his feet and ran his tongue in and out with the coarse gray hair falling off of it in clumps. “You should know better.”
    “Than to do your work for you?”
    Samson snarled and took two quick steps forward. “All you did was chise it. The kill is all that matters.”
    “Says your father.”
    “Says me,” Samson said with a snort. “Plus Sabot will back me up—won’t you, Sabot?”
    A rough bark sounded from inside of the structure. A moment later a brindle nosed dog, a twin to Samson, stepped out into the street with a corroded aluminum rod in his mouth. He dropped it with a clank and sat. Behind him lay a pile of dog skeletons, bleached beyond white and covered in moss and lichen.
    “That’s all you got?” Denali said with a slight smile. “What have you two been doing?”
    Sabot closed his mouth and lowered his nose.
    “You’re not even supposed to be here,” Samson said.
    “Neither are you,” Denali added, and walked over to the side of the caribou.
    My caribou! She stared at it with a longing in her heart. So