Chapter 7: Burbank
Rita, Runt, and Buttons spent the rest of the day going towards their destination, while making some pitstops along the way. They occasionally came across some buildings but tried to stay off the roads, in case Officer Sharon caught up with them again. Just for good measure, they went to areas where there was not enough room for vehicles, especially bigger ones. It was for the most part non eventful as they didn't have very many encounters with anyone, but they sure did a ton of walking.
Rita and Runt would stop by a dumpster every once in a while to see if there was any food. To their luck, they did find some food. Buttons looked at the two in disgust, as he didn't find it very professional to eat from where they typically would. However, Buttons never lived as a stray either, so he was of course not used to that.
The sun slowly began setting as the night began to slowly roll in. Rita began questioning if they were even close to Burbank, but her question was soon answered when they went over a hill. By now, the sun had almost completely set, which created a dark sky with a beautiful orange background behind both Burbank and Los Angeles. They were practically at there destination. "Home at last!" said Buttons. "We made it Rita!" said Runt proudly, "Now we just gotta find a home!" "Just a suggestion, but I recommend somewhere other than Los Angeles," said Buttons, "Or my home...again." "You could have not mentioned your home," said Rita, "We'll try somewhere else in Burbank."
Rita stared at the sunset with both Runt and Buttons. She felt like maybe there was some hope after all. Now that they have arrived, they could take a bit of a breather before searching for a home. Buttons then whispered in Rita's ear, "So Rita, how did it go with talking to him at the lake? I forgot to ask." "Before I could tell him how I really feel, that animal control van showed up," whispered Rita. Buttons then looked at Runt, who seemed as happy as could be. He then looked back at Rita, "It's not too late."
Rita then approached a very excited Runt. "Can you believe this Rita?" asked Runt, "We're finally here! Definitely here!" "I believe it Runt," Rita replied. She then got closer to him, wasn't fully sure if she should give him a kiss or tell him first about how she truly felt. Rita figured she should probably ask Runt about love or if he had some knowledge about it.
"Runt?" asked Rita, "You know what love is, right?" "Yeah, I know what it is," Runt replied. "Well, how would you feel if someone told you that they would like to be more than just friends?" "I'm not sure who would wanna do that with me, but I think it'd be fun to be more than friends! Definitely more than friends!" "What if I were to tell you that there is someone who wants to?" Runt looked at Rita a bit confused. "There is?" asked Runt. "There is," Rita replied, "What if I were to tell you that someone was-"
Before Rita could finish, a net went over her and Runt. The same exact thing happened to Buttons. It was both Officer's Sharon and Warren. "Gotcha!" Officer Sharon said. "You happy now?" asked Officer Warren, "After all the shit we went through just to get these three?" Officer Sharon ignored her partner. The 2 went to go put Rita, Runt, and Buttons into the animal control van.
"No! We were so close!" said Rita, tears slowly forming around her eyes as she looked up at the sky, "Please, not now..." Runt was trying to break the net with his teeth, but it was practically impossible. "I can't go to the pound! You officers realize what other dogs would do to a handsome dog like me?" Buttons barked, "It rhymes with grape!" Officer Sharon and Warren of course didn't hear, and it's likely they didn't understand them either.
Right as the back door was open, someone yelled, "Look out!" A skateboard rolled into Officer Warren, causing him to fall onto Officer Sharon. The nets fell, giving Rita, Runt, and Buttons the chance to escape. They ran away and down the street as quickly as possible. "Sorry dudes," said someone, "I feel off my skateboard and it rolled to you guys." "Number 1, I am no dude, I am a woman!" said Officer Sharon, as she and Officer Warren got up, "And number 2, because of you, now we have 3 animals on the run again! Take your dumb skateboard back." The skateboarder rolled his eyes, before walking away. "Harsh," he murmered.
Officer Sharon hopped into the van. "Come on Warren, we have loose animals to get!" she said. "Do you know what? No!" Officer Warren replied, "This is ridiculous! We traveled for at least 24 or more hours trying to get these 3! We should have put this in the hands of another animal control officer since we were far from where we were supposed to be! Not to mention, all the driving and sheer ridiculousness along our way! So if you wanna get those 3, get em yourself! And if I happen to get fired, then good! That's one less person I have to deal with!" There was silence for a few seconds until Officer Sharon said, "Alright, very well then." She then drove off.
Rita, Runt, and Buttons slowed down from running. They looked behind themselves, but didn't see anyone or anything. "I think we lost them," said Buttons, then saw a familiar place, "My house!" Buttons house was right down the street, alongside many other houses nearby Buttons. "Should we wait there till we are away from that animal control officer?" asked Rita. "For now," said Buttons, "Until a home can be found for you guys. It's not like Mindy or my masters are gonna be home for another day or so anyway."
Then came two headlights heading towards them from the opposite direction. "Oh for God's sake!" said Buttons in frustration. Officer Sharon came roaring down the road in the animal control van. Rita, Runt, and Buttons ran for it again.
They ran down the streets for a little bit longer, until they found a motorcycle with a sidecar. The driver and passenger were out of it, talking to a friend of theirs. Buttons knew they had to take the motorcycle, if they wanted to stay a good distance away from Officer Sharon, as she very quickly gained on them.
Buttons got into the drivers seat as Rita and Runt gave him a confused look. "What the heck?" Rita exclaimed, "What are you doing?" "We gotta get away from Officer Sharon faster somehow!" said Buttons, "Get in, quickly!" Rita and Runt got into the passenger seat. "Do you even know how to drive?" asked Rita. "You'd be surprised Rita," said Buttons as he then drove off with them. "Hey! That's our bike!" yelled the driver of the motorcycle. The animal control van zoomed past the guys and raced after the motorcycle.
"I'm really liking this!" said Runt, enjoying the ride and the wind, "Definitely liking this!" Officer Sharon very quickly came up to them from behind. "You just committed grand theft auto!" she yelled. The van gave them a bump from behind. "And you just tailboned us!" said Rita.
The chase went on through the streets and neighborhood for what felt like forever. Officer Sharon eventually drove alongside them and tried using her net to capture at least one of them, or even one at a time. This proved to be a bit dangerous as she clearly couldn't capture and drive at the same time. Things only got more risky when they were out of Burbank and heading closer to the coast. There was nothing but guard rail to protect them the closer they got. This concerned the trio, but it didn't seem to concern Officer Sharon, despite how dangerously close she came to crashing while trying to get Rita, Runt, and Buttons.
Eventually, they were approaching a cliffside along the coast with only railing to protect them. Rita, Runt, and Buttons noticed this, but Officer Sharon didn't. She was too distracted on trying to get them with her net. "Hang on guys!" said Buttons. When they reached the cliffside, Buttons took a sharp left turn, doing a drift. Driving in that direction.
Since Officer Sharon was trying to get the trio, she didn't notice the cliffside as fast as they did. When she did notice, it was too late. "AH SHIT!!!" she shouted as she tried to take a sharp left like they did. But since she was doing it far too late, the van skid straight into the rail guard. Buttons stopped the bike as he, Rita, and Runt watch the inevitable unfold. The van flipped over, before falling some distance into the ocean. The 3 got out and looked over the edge, to see the damaged van sinking, as Officer Sharon burst out of the van swimming away from the scene. "I think we should go now," said Rita. "Yeah, home awaits us!" added Runt. Buttons drove off with Rita and Runt.
Officer Sharon swam until she found a rock to sit on. There was absolutely no way she could get back up to shore on her own, since she was stuck on the cliffsides. It would be quite a distance to get back to shore on her own.
"Nothing you do ceases to amaze me!" called a voice from above, which turned out to be Officer Warren, "So, have you learned something today? Maybe you can't win em all?" "Shut up and help me up!" Officer Sharon snapped. "From this rocky incline? Your gonna need help from the coast guard to help you get back to shore," said Officer Warren, "I'm gonna have to call our boss too. But at least if I get fired, your one less annoying person I have to deal with. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find a payphone." "Wait, what?!" exclaimed Officer Sharon, "You can't just leave me here!" "Well my phone is dead, so like I said, I have to go find the nearest payphone," said Officer Warren, "And while you're stuck here, maybe you can think how much of an idiot you really are!"
Officer Warren went to go find the nearest payphone as it began to rain. Followed by thunder and lightning. Meanwhile Officer Sharon was left to think about what she's done. She didn't even say a word, all she did was frown.
To be continued in the next chapter...
(Chapter 7 published 6/21/23)
