"Bando, hey, come on. Maybe she'll come back." Riley told the hound walking away from him.
"I don't think so, Riley. Delilah's gone." Bando disagreed. "I'm going to go find her and bring her back."
"Look, there's a lot of bad things out there. You can't survive on your own."
"I won't be alone when I find Delilah. Goodbye, Riley."
The other dog lowered his head in defeat. "If you need any help, you're always welcome back with us, Bando. Good luck out there."
The hound gave him a long, sorrowful look before bounding away.
*X*
"Is he really gone, Riley?" Young Spike asked as the gang's leader emerged to the top floor of the abandoned warehouse.
"I'm afraid so, Spike." Riley sighed. "He's too stubborn. He won't survive more than two days out there alone."
"Why don't we go after him?" Sledge asked.
"Can't risk all of us." He replied. "There may be another red van again."
"What about just one o-o-or two of u-u-us?" Stokey stammered out as he scratched.
"One maybe." Riley thought hard. "Can't leave just two of us here."
"So, who's going to g-g-g-go?"
"Can I go?" Spike asked eagerly.
"No. I'll go. You two stay here until I get back."
"But, Riley-" Sledge protested.
"No buts, Sledge." Riley got to his feet and walked over to the stairs. "Stay here, okay? That's an order."
"What about Ashcan and P-Pete?" Stokey pointed out.
"Pete can't fight and I know I can beat Trashcan." The darker dog responded easily.
"What if Pete does fight and they double team you?" Spike asked.
"I can handle it. Just stay put." Riley began to go down the stairs. "I'll be back as soon as I find Bando."
Before the others could protest, Riley was bounding down the stairs. He had to find Bando, for the hound's own sake. Ashcan and Pete were still out there, unfriendly as ever. There could even be others that they don't know of hunting the poor dog down. His job was to protect the gang, and that was what he was going to do.
He climbed down staircase after staircase until he reached the bottom floor. Then he walked over to the opening of the warehouse, looking out carefully. Suddenly, there was a leash around his neck. He let out a loud bark and growled, trying to pull free.
"Riley!" Spike shouted down.
He heard the noise of paws scrambling down the stairs as he tried to pull free from the human holding his leash. He twisted and caught the rope in his mouth, starting to bite through it. Something hit him on top of the head in an attempt to make him let go. He didn't, but instead kept fighting to get free. He started losing the battle as the human on the other side began dragging him outside of the building. He spotted a blood red van not far away and growled menacingly. It was useless trying to bite through the rope. He stopped trying and instead jumped on the man with the leash, who shouted in surprise.
"Dumb dog!" Another voice came and he looked to see another human running at him with a metal stick of some sort.
The man whacked Riley in the side with it and he yelped in surprise. He tried to jump on him, only to be pulled back by the rope on his neck. He let out a strangled sound as his paws slammed back to the ground. The metal stick was slammed into his side again with such force that he was sent to the ground.
To Riley's luck, the gang ran out just then and surrounded the two humans, who backed up into each other. The leash was dropped and he scrambled away, trying to scratch it off of his neck. Then the other dogs attacked the humans, chasing them back to the van. They got in it and drove away.
"You okay, Riley?" Spike asked as he and the other two bounded up to him.
"Yeah, I think so." Riley responded just as he pulled out of the loop of the leash. "That's better."
"That's why you can't go alone, Riley." Sledge told him. "They almost caught you before you even left!"
"It'll be fine." He assured him. "I'll be back as soon as I talk to Bando."
"Okay, R-R-Riley." Stokey stammered. "G-g-good luck."
"See you guys soon." Riley told them, turning and bounding off, ignoring the few aches in his side from the metal pole.
I'll find him.