More days passed, which turned into a month. The Doglefox paced back and forth, looking at a window. He could see the fresh green grass, and the tall elegant leaves blowing in the gentle wind. He wanted to be there. He turned to a group of petpets he was talking to.

"What do you think?"

There was a small silence, until one said, "You're crazy! No one ever escapes, and any that try are punished. The rest of you can follow this manic, but I'm staying right here to be safe!"

The Doglefox sighed as the other petpets followed the Mallard that had said that. For weeks he had been making an escape plan, hoping to break out. He tried to convince other fellow petpets to come with him, but everyone thought he and the plan were crazy. The Doglefox looked over the chart he had made from a small scrap of paper thrown away by a worker. The plan was to distract the pets, then somehow open an entrance. While it was true some or even many of the petpets would be caught and punished, hr thought it was worth a try.

"Don't worry Dogle. I'm still with you."

The Doglefox smiled as his friend Ten came up. The workers never named them, so they made variations on their breed name. Ten was a Tenna, who hated the so-called "game" of whirling Tennas around and then hurling them across distances. Of course if the Tennas didn't participate they were punished.

"Yeah Ten, but we need more petpets. The workers made sure we couldn't get out on our own, and- DAMMIT!"

Ten looked startled. "What is it?" he asked.

Dogle controlled the volume of his voice. "I don't even know the area outside of this hell hole, how are we supposed to survive? What if a Skieth eats us?" That shook him up. A Skieth worker just yesterday had gotten hungry and ate a Spyder. The amount the poor petpet would have been sold for was deducted out of his pay, and nothing else.

"Don't worry. Instinct Dogle, instinct."

Just then, Dogle felt a tap on his back. He turned around and saw a Hopso.

"Yeah?"

He looked around as if spies might be around. "I heard your plan and I think I can make it work."

A grin began to form on Dogle's face. "How?"

"Well, with my feet I'm sure I can hop on several areas and modes of transport until I reach the switch that controls the cages."

He thought about it. "Sounds great."

Just then a Kyrii came over. "Okay, time to go!"

They all got up, knowing what would come next. It was inspection time. All the petpets were lined up and inspected. Dogle watched as Ten was whirled around and thrown to see if he could do the game. He himself was inspected and looked over.

"This one seems fine, bring the next one!" Everything seemed to go well until a Puppyblew was determined sick. "Get rid of it," the leader said, and the inspector yanked the Puppyblew up and went inside a room. He came out without the petpet. Dogle didn't know what went on in there and he didn't want to know.

***********************

Later that night, it seemed like all the petpets were asleep. Dogle looked at the Hopso.

"Okay, now's the time!" Dogle watched as he left. Earlier that day they had damaged the lock on his cage, making sure not to let the damage show. About five minutes later, his cage door opened, slamming loudly. The other petpet cages opened, and all the petpets seemed confused.

"Come one everyone, NOW'S OUR TIME!" Dogle's voice boomed over all the noise. He didn't know if saying that woke them up completely, but everyone got out. They worked together and opened a door. By the time the workers came, most of them had left. They caught a few, but most made it. Dogle looked at Ten, then the Hopso.

"Do you mind if I call you Hop?" Hop shook his head. They ran away, far away from the horrible place. When it was daylight, the three petpets knew it was time to go their separate ways. Before they spilt up, Dogle looked at them. "Let's make a vow," he said. "We will let the world of Neopia know what goes on in that disguised hell." They shook on it, and then went their different ways. Dogle was feeling scared and sad, not knowing if he would ever see them again. He continued to travel, until he reached a city. Dogle went in, and looked around. Then he saw a sign that said,

"WELCOME TO THE CITY OF NEOPIA"

Looks like Dogle was home.

TBC...