Chapter 13
The cat and hamster duo charged through the halls of the hospital.
"What is wrong with that friend of ours?"
"He's heroic. There's nothing wrong with that." Rhino argued.
Mittens and Rhino ran out into the early morning light.
"You always side with him, you know that? It's unfair."
"Well he's a hero. He's awesome. And you're just a cat who defected from the green eyed man."
Mittens rolled her eyes. She was amazed that Rhino still believed that.
Bolt limped down the street. The streets were almost completely empty this early in the morning.
Bolt would be running if not for his broken leg. But there was something else slowing him down. He hated to accept it. He was getting weaker by the minute.
He breathed hard, forcing air into his damaged lungs. He wheezed. Then he collapsed to the ground.
He was aware of a cross looking cat approaching.
"M-M-Mittens?"
"Bolt? What the hell are you doing?"
"I…I need help. P-Please help me."
"You need that surgery Bolt. You'll die without it."
Bolt breathed in hard. "I…I can go…a few more hours. That's…That's all I need Mittens."
Mittens shook her head. "No Bolt. We don't even know if it's Penny!"
"I do Mittens. I…You gotta trust me on this."
"No Bolt. I'm sorry."
"Damnitt Mittens! I...I just got these memories of Penny back. I can't...let her...die now."
Mittens sighed "What do we need to do?
"Just…Just help me get to the building."
Mittens nodded. She grabbed Bolt's collar and helped him get to his feet.
Then they all made their way towards the school.
Bolt groaned as he saw the firefighters hacking away at the wreckage that was blocking the entrance.
"Bolt…please don't do this." Mittens begged.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Rhino shouted. Mittens shot him a look.
She turned back to the wounded dog. "We had to support you the whole way here. You won't survive in there."
"It'll be just like the fire."
"Yeah, except you're already half dead." Mittens argued.
Bolt put a paw to her mouth. "Mittens, I promise you I won't die in there. I have a whole other half to burn."
Mittens opened her mouth to complain but Bolt simply shook his head.
"I just got back all these happy memories. I'm not gonna kill myself now. This'll be a piece of cake."
He turned and limped into the building. The humans couldn't get past the wreckage. But Bolt was smaller than the average human.
He crawled into a small crack in the twisted machinery.
He sensed the smoke in the air. He wheezed for more oxygen.
He stopped. He realized he couldn't rush. He needed to conserve his energy.
Mittens and Rhino watched wordlessly. Both were aching to run in and get him out. But they simply waited.
Bolt was past the wreckage. He limped through the eerily silent halls of the school.
He had been here several times. Every time he followed Penny to make sure she was safe he saw this place. Seeing it so silent and dark was unnerving.
"Penny?" Bolt called weakly.
There was, of course, no response.
Bolt scolded himself. Though he knew a lot about Penny's school, he didn't recall her homeroom number.
He decided to stop and rest. He suddenly began coughing violently.
He covered his mouth with his paw.
Then he looked at his paw. He had coughed up blood.
"That's not good."
He kept moving. The dog realized now that several hours was an optimistic estimation of how much time he had left.
"Come on. COME ON YOU BIG HEADED LOAD, MOVE!!"
He realized that he had just insulted himself. He continued, stopping at intervals to catch his breath.
He barked into each room that he found. Finally there was a response.
"B-Bolty?"
Bolt grinned and limped into the room. He gasped.
The entire roof had collapsed.
"Over here Bolt!" The faint voice called.
Bolt saw Penny under what was once a ventilation system. She looked injured.
Bolt jumped over the system, making sure to land on his good leg. Penny stared wide-eyed at her dog. "You came back? Wow. That's…"She trailed off. She was also weak.
She reached out and grabbed Bolt's collar.
Bolt pulled. She was under heavy equipment. It wouldn't budge.
He turned and rammed his body into the heavy equipment. It slid slightly. He rammed it again.
"COME ON!!" He shouted. He smashed his remaining good leg into it. It slid enough to free Penny's legs.
Bolt collapsed to the ground, panting for breath.
Bolt now had the task of pulling Penny out. And as Mittens had said, he was half dead.
He pushed, coughing at the same time.
"Come on. Come on." He limped into the hall. The exit was visible.
He smiled. He was within a few yards. He began seeing double. He felt extremely weak. He was losing muscle function. He was done.
"Come on…just…a…few…more…feet."
He reached the end of the hallway. There was still the wreckage. But the humans could now get through.
He smiled. He was gonna make it.
Then his body went limp. He fell to the ground.