A/N: So, my chronic inability to estimate how many chapters it's going to take to finish this story strikes again with the 100th chapter of Volume II nearly upon us. I never thought it would start to rival Volume 1 in length and yet here we are. Of course, it still has a decent way to go before it reaches V1 in size, and I hope I can finish it before that happens. At the end of the day I'm just going to keep trucking along and tell the story I want to tell.
Chapter 99: The Way Out
"The veterinarian was planning on being here with us tonight, but-"
Computer stopped her. "Hold up. You never gave me your name. I'd prefer not to think of you as, well, 'Charon's wife', so..."
She closed her eyes and sighed before saying, "Charon gave me a new name on our wedding night, so I suggest you don't go blurting out my old name while you are still trapped within these walls. No matter how valuable Charon may consider you, he would have you killed for it, and he'd start to suspect that something is up too, since there is no reason why you should know my old name. You could jeopardize everything if you say the wrong thing at the wrong time."
Computer nodded in acknowledgment. "I'll be careful."
"It's Dena then. You?"
Oh, uh-" He started, rubbing the back of his head. "When it comes to me and names, it's a bit of a...situation, I suppose. Let's just say I don't have one for the time being and leave it at that. Consider me the resident, erm, glow stick?"
Bruno snorted.
Dena considered him with a sort of restrained curiosity. "You and that nurse have quite a bit in common, it seems. She won't give us her name either."
Computer huffed and crossed his arms. "I'd greatly appreciate it if you never compare me to that woman again."
Bruno snorted a second time. "Considering the face he made when she hugged 'em a few days ago, I think I understand the reason why."
"In any case," Dena went on, shaking her head and attempting to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand. "She was called away at the last second to deal with a problem, but before she left, she-" Dena turned around to look for something. "-she told me to give you this. It's gone cold by now, but she said you wouldn't-"
Before she even fully turned back around or even finished her sentence, the mug of coffee in her paws vanished in a flash.
She looked to her paw and then to Computer with an unamused expression. "She said you'd do that..."
Computer practically inhaled the mug along with the coffee.
Dena raised an eyebrow. "A-are you crying?" She asked.
"Only a little bit!"
"Dang," Bruno grunted. "That nurse really has this guy figured out. Wish she would have told me that he was going to give me one big hassle about gettin' out of that cage too."
Dena shook her head. "O-kay then. Now that we have the coffee thing taken care of, it's time to get to business. Bruno, show him."
The bulldog nodded, taking on an air of seriousness. He checked the door to make sure it was locked and turned back around. "Charon's the only one who has a key to get into this room and he's out of town tonight, so we don't have to worry about anyone barging in."
He turned his gaze toward the massive wardrobe made out of solid gold, cracked his knuckles and then tromped over to it. Even with his immense strength, he struggled to move it, but slowly and surely it began to slide.
Computer moved in closer to look at what was being revealed. Behind the near immovably heavy wardrobe was hidden a large hole in the wall. It was big enough that even Bruno could fit through, although not without it being a bit of a squeeze. The crudely dug tunnel beyond sloped sharply downward and into darkness.
"I've spent the last decade of my life quietly chipping away at the concrete and stone." Dena gently spoke. "Bruno smuggles tools in for me to use and helps me dispose of the debris. The tunnel leads into the storm drain system below. It runs underneath the entire city and goes off in many directions for many miles. It would be very easy to get lost down there if you're not careful."
"I think I'm starting to piece together what you guys are planning on doing, and I think I know exactly what you need me for now."
Bruno grunted. "Yeah, we're plannin' on getting everyone out through this tunnel. The general idea is that we're going to work with the guards that we know are on our side to bust out groups of dogs and bring 'em here. We're thinkin' maybe about five to seven at a time. All in a single night, before Charon can realize that something is wrong. Guards patrol on a very strict schedule so we will know where everyone is at all times. If need be, we may have a to kill a few of 'em that are still loyal to Charon and hide their bodies, but we're going to avoid that as much as we can. Even one body is a liability that could put this place on high alert if found."
"The escapees are going to need a guide to get them through the storm system, aren't they?" Computer asked, sensing where this was going.
"Yep," Bruno answered. "It's pitch black down there, and like Dena said, it's easy to get lost. Havin' a dog like you who, for whatever reason, creates his own light, is way better than having to smuggle in a bunch of flashlights for us to use. We're going to need you to make multiple trips and guide the dogs through those tunnels. I've been down there a few times, and I found a spot where the basement of this old, abandoned factory a few blocks from here, collapsed into part of the storm system. We're going to use that factory as a rendezvous point. Dogs will be free to leave once they get there, but a lot of them ain't exactly going to be in good health, so we're planning on setting up shop there as a place for these dogs to stay until they can get back on their feet, or heck, maybe we'll even make it into our new home."
Computer nodded. "I can do that, but what about Charon? You guys must have some sort of plan to deal with him or else he's going to have a pretty easy time figuring out where his captives went if we're only going to be holding up in a place a few blocks from here."
Dena grinned a vicious, toothy smile that mimicked Charon maybe a little too much. "Oh, we're going to deal with him alright. It's the part of the plan that I'm looking forward to the most! We're going to blow this place sky high with Charon still inside! He won't even know what hit him, and it's going to be the best fireworks display this city has ever seen!"
Bruno butted in with, "There's your reason for why we've had so many delays. I've got a guy who can make bombs out of some...interesting materials, but getting the more suspicious stuff that he needs into the warehouse undetected hasn't been easy. Plus, we need to be careful about where we're hidin' them so that they aren't discovered before they can blow. If Charon finds out, he'll escape the building before it explodes and we'll lose our chance to get rid of him. Our plan is to arm the bombs during our escape with just enough time to get everyone out."
"I meant it when I said we're going to reduce Charon and everything he's made to ash." Dena affirmed.
"We do have one big problem though." Bruno rumbled. "It's the kid."
A pit formed in Computer's stomach.
"You see," Bruno went on. "His location poses a problem for us. We were going to leave all of Charon's fighters to burn along with him since nothing can be done to bring them back from their feral madness at this point. They're just too dangerous in their current state. Their kennels are always heavily guarded, way more than any other part of the building, because those beasts can go berserk at any time and if one got out they'd rampage through the building and kill just about everyone in their way. There's no way we can get the kid out of his cage without the guards noticing. That nurse swears up and down that she has a way to get him out of there, but I ain't seein' what she's seein'."
Computer took in a deep breath and then said, "If anyone might be able to pull it off, it'd be her."
For once her strange existence and unknown abilities might actually come in handy.
"Anyway," Bruno continued. "It's time I took you down into the storm system and showed you around."
Computer nodded. "Got it, but what about-" He turned to Dena. "-you?"
She shook her head. "I need to stay here in case someone knocks. Especially if the nurse does return tonight, I'll need to be here to let her in."
"Alright," Computer replied. "Well...let's get this over with."
He peered into the hole, but even with his glow he could not see very far inside. Climbing up into it, he looked back at his two companions.
"Go on ahead." Bruno rumbled. "I'll meet ya down there, but it takes me a little while to wiggle my way through that dang tunnel. You two are lucky I ain't claustrophobic."
Dena smiled and it was the first time Computer saw her smile in a way that was not tinged with vengeance. "I told you already. I've been trying to widen it for you and your 'muscles' every chance I get. I still have a hard time believing you haven't named those things yet with how much you seem to love them."
"Hey, at least I'm not a jellybean dog with twigs for arms." He joked, waving a paw towards Computer.
"He's not the one who has to pack it in just to slide down a tunnel." She laughed.
Computer blinked in surprise. There really did seem to be a history between those two, Of course, if this really had been going on for nearly a decade, it made sense that they were friends in spite of the terrible circumstances that had caused them to start working together in the first place.
He turned and half slid, half crawled down through the tunnel. He exited out onto a concrete pathway. The storm drain system was surprisingly spacious. It was large enough that the light of his glow barely traveled far enough to illuminate his immediate surroundings. The roof of the concrete tunnel rose high enough that even someone like Bruno could stand at his full height and not have his head touch it. The pathway was wide enough that two humans could comfortably walk side by side without any issues. Beside the pathway, the concrete sloped sharply downward to make a large canal meant to move a considerable amount of water. Right now it only held a small trickle.
Computer was nearly knocked into said canal when Bruno suddenly popped out into the tunnel himself. He dusted himself off, disheveled and grunting in annoyance.
Checking his bulging muscles, he huffed, "I swear that tunnel shaves a few inches off of 'em every time."
"Maybe having twigs for arms does have its advantages." Computer quipped.
Bruno pointed into the dark void ahead of them. "That's the way we're goin'. You're gonna have to memorize my directions as soon as possible, so make sure you're actually payin' attention 'cause I ain't your school teacher."
With that, they began their trip. Computer did exactly what he was supposed to do and committed to memory their path through the storm system. Thankfully, the way to the factory was relatively straight forward with only a few turns needed on the way. Plus, the other branches of tunnels they routinely passed made it easy to count toward when one of their turns was coming up.
"There it is." Bruno announced as Computer's glow fell upon a small hill of rubble that had collapsed onto the pathway ahead of them. It would be easy enough to climb it to get into the basement above. The hole the collapsed floor had made was large enough that even Bruno would have no problem getting through it.
"You wanna go take a look up there before we head back?" The bulldog asked.
As much as Computer hated to admit it, he had become aware of a problem halfway through their 'stroll', and it had only become worse by the time they'd reached their destination.
The moment they had stopped, he'd had to place a paw against the wall to keep himself from falling over. He was trying very hard not to breath heavily, but he was undeniably exhausted.
"That walk took a lot out of you, didn't it?" Bruno commented.
"T-this could be a problem." He admitted.
It seemed that his time in the cage had done a number on the dog's muscles. How was he supposed to act as a guide for multiple groups of dogs if he couldn't even complete one trip through the storm system without keeling over in exhaustion? Perhaps he was not fit for even this one small part they needed him to play...
"Don't worry about it." Bruno replied encouragingly. "There's still plenty of time to fix this. I'll bring you to Dena whenever I can get away with it. You can walk this pathway over and over again until you've worked some strength back into those legs of yours. Ain't gonna fix them being twigs and all, but you should gain enough stamina to be able to make the trip as many times as we're going to need you to. I'm afraid you'll have to keep livin' in that cage till we're ready to execute the plan, but I should be able to bring you to Dena almost every night. Think you can deal with bein' caged for a little while longer?"
Computer nodded, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "It's not like I have much of a choice, now do I?"
Although, getting a chance to be free of that cage for a few hours nearly every night would certainly help to make it a little more bearable.
"Well, since you ain't exactly looking so good, do you want me to carry you back to Dena...little guy?" Bruno mocked in good humor.
Computer shook his head and forced himself to ignore the trembling in his limbs. "Of course not. I'm certainly not going to recover if I don't push myself."
The walk back wasn't exactly going to be fun, but they were counting on him, and he needed every opportunity he could get.
End Of Chapter