this matter!”

Steele pressed the button on his watch, sending a shock wave through the entire facility. From all around them, a computerized voice came on through the speakers, echoing through every building of Night Fox Island.

“The self-destruct system has been manually activated. All personnel must evacuate immediately. The facility shall be destroyed in fifteen minutes and counting…”

Balto growled and picked up a piece of metal from the destroyed rail gun. As Steele smirked in self-satisfaction, Balto whacked the dog with his melee weapon, knocking the twisted sergeant to the ground, completely stunning him. Balto sighed, and then turned to Jenna.

“It’s over Jen… We’re done for… There’s no way we can get out of here in time…” he said sadly, “It’s game over… We failed…”

“No we didn’t Balto!” Jenna exclaimed quickly, “There’s a way out of here from this hangar! Over there!”

Jenna pointed to a small hallway at the back of the hangar, then ran off toward it. Grinning, Balto ran after Jenna, keeping up beside her every step of the way. The two ran down the hallway for several minutes until they came to a large metal shutter. Jenna pressed a button beside it and it slid up to reveal another paved tunnel, a couple jeeps lining the side of the tunnel.

Climbing into the driver’s side, Jenna turned the key in the ignition and started the vehicle, waiting for Balto to climb into the passenger’s seat before pulling out and tearing down the tunnel. Everything was smooth for the first for minutes of driving, but after that, gunfire riddled the sides of the jeep. Balto turned around and saw two jeeps, two guards in each one. Each passenger held an M-16, taking aim at the getaway vehicle of the two agents.

Balto pulled out his handgun and aimed at one of the armed soldiers, pulling the trigger and smirking as he watched the dog fly backwards and out of the car. He then turned to the other jeep and fired twice, piercing the front wheels of the automobile and watching it spin out, then crash into the wall of the tunnel and blow up. As he went back to the other jeep, he felt the car he and Jenna were in shake violently as his enemy’s vehicle slammed into the side of their jeep.

Growling, Balto quickly raised his firearm and fired three rounds, all of them striking the dog in his torso and sending the jeep out of the chase. Around them, the computerized female voice came on again with another warning.

“The self-destruct system has been manually activated. All personnel must evacuate immediately. The facility shall be destroyed in ten minutes and counting.”

Jenna, upon hearing this, pressed the gas pedal down as far as it would go sending the jeep speeding off down the long, long tunnel. Balto looked back for anymore enemies and sighed with relief when he didn’t see any. Sitting back down, he gave Jenna a grin as they drove for their lives.

“Great going Jenna…” Balto said gleefully, “At this rate, we’ll be out of here just in time!”

“Yeah, thanks Balto…” Jenna replied, giving him a smile. It was silent for a moment before Balto broke the silence.

“Jenna, will you-” he started, but before he could finish, two gunshots hit the back of the jeep.

Balto quickly stood up on his seat again and glanced behind them. In another jeep sat Steele, driving right behind them with one hand, his pistol clutched in his other hand. A few trails fell down Steele’s face from where Balto had hit him before and a look of absolute hatred was on his face. Balto growled and returned the two shots, missing both of them.

“BALTO!!!” Steele shouted as he got closer and closer, “YOU WON’T LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE!!!”

Balto ignored Steele’s yells and kept firing at his enemy until his gun ran dry. Ducking back down behind his seat, Balto ejected the empty magazine and loaded a new one, jumping up to fight Steele again. A bullet from Steele whizzed right by his face as he took aim at Steele and fired, missing his target. Above them, the voice came on again.

“The self-destruct system has been manually activated. All personnel must evacuate immediately. The facility shall be destroyed in five minutes and counting.”

“Damn it…” Balto murmured as he aimed and fired, hitting the windshield, but not Steele.

Steele gunned his engine and pulled up right beside Balto. He rammed the side of their jeep, trying to knock them into the wall. Balto growled and tried to shoot Steele, but the husky was a step ahead of Balto. He knocked the wolfdog’s handgun from his hands, sending it backward and onto Jenna’s lap. Balto glared at Steele and lunged for him, punching him repeatedly. Both dogs struggled as the two jeeps drove side by side.

After a minute, Steele got a powerful hit in on Balto, getting him right in his muzzle. Balto recoiled slightly, but kept his balance. Balto wiped away from the blood from his mouth and returned the punch to Steele, stunning him then hitting him again and again before slamming the dog’s head into the steering wheel and temporarily knocking him out. Grinning at his victory, Balto was about to kick Steele’s jeep away and watch the dog die until a low barrier appeared in front of them, blocking the exit of the tunnel, bright light pouring through it.

“Shit!” Balto and Jenna shouted in unison as Balto got back into his seat and grabbed the side of the car.

The two jeeps crashed into the barrier and flipped over, tumbling over the ground and spilling out into the cold outside of the Alaska dawn. Steele’s jeep rolled onto its side and skidded to a halt and stopped in the snow. Balto and Jenna’s jeep kept on tumbling until it landed upside-down and skidded a dozen feet away from Steele’s. Groaning groggily, Balto crawled out from the capsized vehicle, uneasily getting to his feet. Walking slowly around to the other side of the jeep, he knelt down and looked inside at Jenna.

“Jen? Jenna? You alright?” he asked softly, shaking her gently. Jenna groaned a response and undid her seatbelt, letting Balto pull her out from the jeep and to her feet. She was a little beaten up from the crash, but other than that she was alright.

Balto wiped away a bit of blood from Jenna’s soft face and she did the same to him. From the other totaled automobile, the sound of snow crunching under boots was heard. The two agents glanced over and saw a very wounded Steele limp into view and glare at them. His breathing came out in heavy breaths and blood streamed down his face and torso. His ice-blue eyes were narrowed into an enraged glare as he stared at Balto and Jenna.

Steele grunted and slowly lifted his right arm, his handgun still firmly gripped in his hand. Aiming it at Balto, he weakly pulled the hammer back and growled softly at the wolfdog. Pulling the trigger, the three dogs heard the click of the empty gun. Despite his knowledge that his gun was empty, Steele kept pulling the trigger, receiving a click every time. Balto sighed and stared down at the ground, spotting his handgun a few feet away. Jenna walked over, picked it up, then walked back and placed it in Balto’s hands.

Balto nodded to Jenna and raised his arm, training his sights on Steele’s face. Steele continued to pull the trigger rapidly, desperately hoping to hear a gunshot and watch Balto fall, but nothing happened and his hopes went unfulfilled. Balto sighed and shook his head with pity.

“Goodbye Steele…” Balto said, giving the husky a neutral look. Without a second though, Balto pulled the trigger and heard the life-ending bang!

Steele’s forehead gave a spray of deep red blood as Balto’s shot hit its mark. The evil husky fell backwards, his empty gun sliding to the ground from his released grip. Steele’s body hit the ground with a soft thud, his body lying limp on the snow, the white powdery substance quickly turning red beneath Steele’s body. Balto walked over to Steele’s corpse and pulled the sergeant’s dog-tags off of him, putting them in his pocket and removing Steele’s watch. It read 0:08 seconds till detonation. Balto pressed a button and the countdown stopped; the self-destruction process had been aborted.

“It’s finished Jenna…” Balto said calmly to her as he stood up, “It’s over… The facility’s fine… Steele’s dead… We did it…” Jenna smiled and walked up to Balto, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“So, how do we get out of here?” she asked softly, staring at him intently.

“Like this…” Balto said and turned his beaten up radio on, “This is Wolf here, is this thing still operational?”

“Yes Wolf, your radio’s working… What is it?”

“Husky and I have completed the objectives and the targets have been eliminated… We’re ready for evac now…”

Through the radio’s earpiece, applause and cheers could be heard. Balto chuckled softly and waited for the Colonel’s response.

“Excellent work Wolf! We’ll send your evac to your position immediately!”

“Alright, we’ll wait by the helipad… Wolf out…” Balto finished and shut the radio off, then turned to Jenna, “Well, they’re certainly happy we succeeded… The helipad’s right over there, let’s get there and wait for our evac…”

Jenna nodded and slowly, both Balto and Jenna walked to the distant helipad. Once they arrived, they sat down and waited for their means of evacuation from Night Fox Island. As they sat, Balto glanced out at the horizon, watching the sunrise in the distant East horizon. Jenna leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed softly.

“Beautiful, huh?” Balto asked softly, “I have a house up here… I loved watching the sunrise… But it’s even better with you here…”

“Thanks Balto…” Jenna replied softly, gripping onto his arm.

After a few more minutes passed, the sounds of a helicopter could be