He was breathing hard, every intake felt sharp against his heaving lungs. In the distance he could hear barking and shouting. He guessed he had five minute advantage on them, but on foot and the way he was feeling he would soon lose that. He spurred himself on through the bracken, picking himself up for one last almighty effort. The branches pulled at his face and body as he struggled and wriggled through. The shouting and barking was getting closer, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He mustn't allow himself to become frightened, fear would smell even stronger to the dogs and catching him would be easier.
He broke free from the bracken, into an open field. He bounded across the field, the wet grass sapping the strength from his legs making them heavy, every stride taking a huge amount of effort. His heart was pounding in his chest and he thought that if the dogs didn’t get him then his heart would surely explode. He approached the middle of the field and felt the ground shudder, he glanced back over his shoulder, horses were soaring over the hedges and into the field, from the bracken and bushes he had emerged from came the dogs, tongues hanging out of the side of their mouths, dripping with saliva. They were barking indiscriminately and solely because the other dogs were barking.
Unless he made it to the far side of the field he’d be done for. Summoning all the energy remaining in his aching limbs he bounded forward, the edge of the field in sight, he could smell the rain on the leaves, and feel the freedom that it would offer him. The dogs were gaining all the time, their barks getting louder as they closed in.
He wanted to look over his shoulder, see how close they were, but realised that would cost him valuable seconds. The last few metres seemed to take forever, he really had nothing left in the reserve tanks. He reached the hedge and thrust his face through, there was a wire fence and he had his head caught in it. His legs and tail were sticking out and the dogs were nearly on him. He couldn’t believe it, he’d made it but then this. He continued trying to force his way through the fence, chewing at the wire, trying to force an opening so he could get through onto the road and safety.
He almost forgot about the dogs then remembered.
He felt his tail pulled sharply and yelped as teeth sunk into the gristle and bone. He could feel the cold trickle of his blood creep down his tail. He managed to hold off being torn from the hedge and guessed that from where he was only one dog could get at him. He continued gnawing at the fence with his tail being bitten and pulled at, clumps of hair were being ripped out. His eyes were popping with fear and determination. He was inches from freedom. He swung his back legs into the hedge to give him some respite from the dogs. The voices of men became audible and he could hear them cheering on the dogs who were now in a frenzy, ripping at the hedge, pushing their faces into the brambles and pulling back only when catching a thorn in the eye or nose.
Still he gnawed at the fence, he could feel it begin to weaken in his jaw but he also felt the bushes around him begin to thin as the dogs tore at them to get at him. If he didn't get through soon he be caught and ripped apart by the frenzied dogs.
With one last bite he broke the fence, he fell through and stumbled onto his stomach such was the force he had been pushing with. As he looked behind him the bush fell away and the slobbering faces of the dogs hit the fence. They were barking and searching frantically for a way through the fence, all the while their tales wagging.
The hole was too small for them to get through and he realised he was safe. Surveying the damage to his tail he winced, it was torn down the sides where clumps of hair had been ripped from the skin and where the teeth had punctured through. The blood was matted against the remaining fur and beginning to tighten where it was drying.
He turned away from the dogs and faced the road. A van sped by and sprayed him with water from the gutter as it did. He glanced over his shoulder for one last time and as he did heard the fence give way, the dogs broke through, stumbling over each other in their eagerness to catch him. Panicking he jumped backwards into the path of an oncoming car. The car smashed into his torso sending him spinning, his spine splintered. There was a screech of brakes and the smell of rubber on tarmac as the car slid in the wet. The dogs were barking but without as much bravado as they had been, they seemed somewhat confused by what they were seeing. The car eventually came to a standstill and the driver climbed out slightly shaken but looking for the animal he had hit.
The fox lay there, his tail soaked in blood and shimmering in the light, his hind legs were limp and lifeless, his back twisted. He was breathing very shallow and the last gasps of air burned into his lungs. As he slipped into unconsciousness he felt himself lifted from the tarmac and the skin in his neck puncture as the dogs recovered from their confusion to lunge at him. The driver of the car shouted in anger at the dogs and then nothing.
