B22C28 - Fight Briefly

Neither of us could see the other. But I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head.

A sudden sound of movement!

He knew! He was going for the exit.

I jumped to block his path. Damp fur against damp fur, we collided. In a flash he was on me, teeth and paws tearing at my face.

<You think you can trick me?!> he shrieked.

We fell back, face-to-face, both bleeding. The pipe was on my right, on David's left. We were equally close to it. Equally far away. Both utterly blind.

<Be ready,> I told Jake grimly. <Be very, very ready. We have problems.>

David rushed at me, but this time I slid beneath his gnawing mouth, then jerked upward, throwing him off-balance.

I leaped for the exit.

Stopped!

He had my tail in his jaw. He was pulling me back. I couldn't reach him, and if I tried we'd go around in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. He'd be able to get back out of the pipe, maybe escape altogether in the sewer network.

<Have a good grip back there, Davey boy?> I said.

<You won't get away!>

<Yeah?> I twisted back, just as David hoped I would. Only I didn't attack him. Instead, ignoring the hideous pain, I chewed through my own tail.

<Aaaahhhh!> I cried in agony as the last shred of skin parted.

<Nooooo!> David screamed as he fell back, holding nothing but a few inches of tail.

I darted for the exit, and before I was halfway into it yelled, <NOW! NOW! NOW!>

The steel gate slammed down. It would have snagged my tail, if I'd still had one.

David slammed against the barrier. It was a dull thump.-

<No! NOOOOO!>