From behind the tree, Zak waited to see which side the wolf would go. It charged the left side, so Zak darted to the right. But the wolf followed him round with ease and jumped on his back.
Zak fell forward into the snow. His back was protected by the rucksack, but this also made it difficult for him to manoeuvre. The wolf had its jaws around the rucksack, but in clawing at him ripped away the lower back of his snow-suit. Zak managed to swing his right elbow, and heard a crack and a yelp. The wolf pulled itself away and ran off.
Zak rolled over and got to his feet. But to his frustration, saw that the wolf had also recovered, and was readying itself to charge again. He had to kill it. But he had no weapon.
The rucksack pulled awkwardly on his back. He thought of its contents, a spare pair of ski-jet boots. The jet was not a weapon, but it discharged a lethal flame.
The wolf trotted towards him and bared its teeth. Zak had no time to unpack the spare boots. He bent down and unclipped his left boot, then wrenched it off his foot. The wolf started its charge.
‘On!’ he shouted, as the wolf leapt towards him, jaws wide open. He held the boot up, jet facing away, and a concentrated stream of fire burst out of it and into the gaping mouth that descended on him. But Zak hadn’t thought of the other physical effects. The force of the jet flung his upper body backwards, while the right boot he was standing on fired forwards. He did a backwards somersault and kicked the wolf in the stomach, flinging it up into the air. The wolf went flying over the edge of the cliff, and Zak almost went with it.
‘Off!’ he screamed, as he completed his somersault and landed face down in the snow, somewhat dazed himself.
His first thought, having overcome this particular ordeal, was the loss of his rifle. He couldn’t go on without one, and to have to go back down to the bottom of the cliff would be particularly humiliating. He pushed himself up onto his knees, then broke into a smile. Just a couple of metres away, squashed down into the snow with the blue section submerged, was the gunge rifle.
