Chapter 5

Mittens impatiently padded around the house. Suddenly she heard a scratching sound. It was coming from the door. She curiously padded towards it.

She opened the door. Bolt was sitting on the porch. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hello Mittens."

"Oh my god. Bolt?"

Bolt embraced his friend. Mittens was still in shock.

"What happened? Where did you go?"

Bolt frowned. "Nothing. I never went anywhere."

"But…Where were you this whole time?"

Bolt frowned. "What are you talking about Mittens?"

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Bolt said. He pushed open the door.

Outside stood a man. He was dressed head to toe in barked at him.

"Bolt? Do you know this person?"

Bolt turned to respond. The man reached into his pocket. It was dark but she was pretty sure what the man had pulled out. It was a gun.

"Bolt. The man has…"

"I don't need your help Mittens. You said it yourself. I'm Bolt. I don't need help from anyone."

He turned back to the man. The man raised the gun. He pointed it at Bolt's head. Mittens cried out. There was a gunshot.

"BOLT!" Mittens screamed. She looked around. There was no man in black. There was no gun. There was no Bolt.

Mittens stopped to catch a breath. Outside, in the night, a storm was hitting. The gunshot was probably just thunder. On the other hand…

"Rhino! Wake up!"

"W-What is it cat?" Rhino yawned.

"Bolt got shot in the face!" Mittens exclaimed.

"What? Bolt? In the face?"

"Yes." Mittens said. She was crying. "Right in the beautiful face."

Rhino stared at her wide eyed. "Okay! I think you've lost it."

Mittens twitched. "What? I AM THE MOST SANE ANIMAL IN THIS HOUSE!!"

Rhino stared at her, speechless.

"Now we need to go find Bolt." Mittens said. "He's in danger."

"Finally you say something sane." Rhino grinned. "I'll get my ball."

Garcia padded down the sidewalk. Bolt trailed a considerable distance behind. A cat and a dog seen together in Philadelphia could cause a few fatalities.

Garcia was suddenly pulled into an alley. Bolt watched curiously.

He ran up to the alley.

"This ain't a good night fa you cat. You evah thought about death?"

Garcia thought it over. "Well do you mean like suicide? Or the more common…"

"Shut up." The dog snarled. "You are about to die."

Garcia nodded. "Thanks for the heads up."

The dog looked up and saw Bolt. "Who the hell are you?"

"I believe you've found my cat." Bolt said. "May I have him back?"

The dog chuckled. "You're a funny son of a bitch." He grabbed the cat by the neck. "I want to snap his neck."

Bolt showed alarm. The dog recognized it. "You friends?"

"No. He's a dirty cat. I'm a dog." Bolt had put on a fake Brooklyn accent.

Garcia rolled his eyes. "Sir? Dog? Could you kill me now. That accent makes me want to kill myself."

"Sure thing cat." The dog sneered. Bolt padded closer.

"Wait! I will break his neck for you." Bolt said. He lashed out, punching Garcia in the face. Garcia went unconscious.

The dog frowned. "What?"

Bolt shrugged, then punched the dog in the face. He fell and hit his head on the concrete ground.

Bolt chuckled. "Get up Garcia."

Garcia came to. "Did you punch me?"

Bolt turned to leave the alley. "No. Must've been someone else. Why did you bash the accent?"

Garcia laughed. "You know what accent you were doing? BROOKLYN! You know where we are? PHILADELPHIA!"

"Sorry! Considering I have no memory and have never been to Philadelphia before today, I didn't know!"

"Shut up. We can't be seen together. We need another ride."

Bolt rolled his eyes. "We had one. A nice one. And you wrecked it."

"It's okay. We have Amtrak."

"What the hell is Amtrak?"

Garcia pointed east. "There's a train station that way."

Mittens and Rhino entered the city of Hollywood. "Where would Bolt go?"

"He probably went to fight the green eyed man!" Rhino exclaimed.

Mittens glared at him. "You know something. I think we're both losing it."

Bolt snuck aboard the train. Garcia was ahead of him.

"You done this before?" Bolt asked.

"No. But I had a friend. Carroccho. He got on the train before. He's dead now."

"Ha ha. Funny." Bolt paused. "Really?"

Garcia grinned. "Let's find out."

The train sped across the tracks. Suddenly a side door opened. A dog and a cat were thrown off into the woods.

"Nice job hiding Bolt!" Garcia shouted.

"Hey! I didn't know we had to hide." Bolt explained.

"Well doesn't it occur to you? We're on a train that costs money. We are animals. We are a nuisance to humans. And most of all WE HAVE NO MONEY!!"

Bolt looked around. "Where are we?"

"Who knows? We had it all planned out. You would be on a direct train to California. I could've taken it home. Now are we ever getting there?"

"Confidence Garcia." Bolt said.

"CONFIDENCE?!! This from the dog that doesn't FREAKIN REMEMBER ANYTHING!!"

Bolt's ears flattened. "You know what? I want you to go home."

Garcia frowned. "What?"

"You heard me. Your family misses you. Go home."

Garcia sighed. "I told you I'm gonna help you get your life back. I'm not turning back now. Plus I need a vacation."

Bolt frowned. "Listen. I am a dog. You are a cat. You hate me. We are natural born enemies."

"There's no such thing as a natural born enemy." Garcia said. "There are enemies and there are friends."

"And which am I?" Bolt demanded.

Garcia was silent. Bolt nodded. "Exactly. Go home."

He turned and padded away. Garcia considered what to do.

Finally he ran after Bolt. "I didn't kill you for punching me in the face today. I think I can handle anything you throw at me."

Bolt grinned. "Brilliant. Where are we?"

Garcia looked around. "Looks like…Ohio."

Mittens had caught Bolt's scent. She followed it to a road.

"It ends here." She said. There's nothing here.

"Actually there is." Rhino announced. He pointed to the middle of the road.

There was a puddle of dried blood on the street.

"Oh god."

Bolt was lying down on the side of the road. He looked at his collar.

"Hollywood California. I wonder what it's like."

"Well I'm sure it's fine." Garcia said. "Full of more morons like you."

Bolt chuckled. "Thanks."

He drifted off to sleep.

He didn't sleep well that night. He dreamt of a black cat and a brown hamster. He dreamed of lightning bolts. He didn't know what it meant.

He was shaken awake. He opened his eyes.

"Stupid dog." He was smashed on the head.

"Oww! What the heck Garcia?"

The cat standing over him was not Garcia. "Good morning dog. Had a good sleep?"

Bolt snapped awake. "Who the hell are you?"

The cat struck him across the face again. "We hungry cats you know that?"

"What are you gonna do? Eat me?"

The cat grinned. "Sure beats eating out of a dumpster."

Garcia was still asleep. Bolt was surrounded by stray cats.

They licked their lips. "Let's feast boys." Bolt held up his paw. "Wait! We can negotiate."

The cat eyed him suspiciously. "What do you have to offer?"

Bolt frowned. "I wasn't expecting you to say yes. I got nothing."

The cat cracked his knuckles. "I'll soften him up first."

He punched Bolt in the face. Hard.

Bolt's head snapped back. He began laughing.

"What the hell are you laughing about?"

Bolt shook his head. "I don't know. It's just funny."

"What is?"

"I don't know. This is what happens when you punch a dog this hard."

The cat shrugged. "You got a point." He punched Bolt again.

Bolt stopped laughing. "That's better."

The cat eyed him. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

"No idea." Bolt replied.

"I do. I do freakin know you." The cat said. "What's your freakin name?"

"B-Bolt."

The cat stared. "You're Bolt. Bolt the superdog."

He turned to the other cats. "It's Bolt the superdog."

Bolt frowned. "Who's Bolt the superdog?"

The cat frowned. "You're Bolt the freakin superdog."

Someone cleared his throat. "You'll have to excuse the dog's behavior. He has amnesia."

The cat stared at Garcia. "Does this mean I have to explain who Bolt the superdog is?"

Garcia nodded.

The cat sighed. "Bolt is a TV show. It has lasted for five seasons. And you are the lead actor."

Bolt frowned. "I'm a TV star?"

"At least you were." The cat said. He shuddered. "I guess I shouldn't eat you. You are Bolt the superdog."

He signaled to the other cats. Then he and the cats padded away.

Bolt sat there staring of into the air.

"I have a TV show? Woah."

Garcia nodded. He looked around. "We better keep moving."

Bolt nodded. "Yeah. But...you don't think I'm one of those...narcissistic, egotistical celebrity's am I?"

Garcia shrugged. "Who knows? I just know that so far in this trip you're just a moron."