(In a Dungeon)
After they arrive at the pound, dragging both dogs inside despite them resisting. Rose barked loudly in defiance and was pulling on the leash that she was being led by.
Ahead of her was Dodger, he was shaking out of his wits from fear. Rose was also scared, but she couldn't show any weakness to these humans.
There were many dogs barking and howling in their cages, which had one dog per cell. It was dark and the smell was horrible.
Rose hated the noise so much. It hurt her ears to a painful degree. She shook her head to fight off the unbearable noise, but it wasn't working. It was overwhelming.
"Put the male in cell 125 and place the female in cell 108," the first guard said. "Right away, sir," the dog catchers replied, dragging the dogs to the assigned cages.
"Dodger!" Rose barked, planting her paws firmly on the dirty concrete floor to keep herself from moving. The dog catcher drug Rose, almost choking her, to cell 108, which was further away from Dodger.
"Rose!" Dodger shouted back, barely audible from the ruckus of the other dogs. Both dogs were thrown into their cells and the doors were slammed shut after the catcher removed the leashes from around their necks.
The only light was from two dim lights that hung from the ceiling, occasionally flashing. Rose jumped at the cell door, biting at the bars while snarling.
She couldn't see Dodger, not even in her periphrial vision. "Rose? Can it be?" a familiar voice said from the right. Rose dropped down from the cell door and felt her fur prickle upwards.
To her right, was none other than her twin brother, Kaiden. "Kaiden!? You're here?" she exclaimed, walking over to the right side to get closer to her brother.
"Y-Yeah…" Kaiden said, putting a paw on the cell wall. "How long have you been in here?" Rose asked him, reciprocating the action. She noticed how malnourished he looked.
"I… I don't know… I can't remember what the outside looks like… Or if it's night or day. I want to get out of here…" Kaiden whimpered, putting his paw down.
Rose's heart broke for her dear brother. 'He's been in here for a long time…' "I'm going to get us out of here. All three of us," Rose promised.
"Three? You mean someone… was caught with you?" Kaiden asked, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah… my friend Dodger. He's way down there," Rose replied, looking in the direction that Dodger was taken.
"Oh…" Kaiden said, laying back down on the dirty concrete floor, "I hope you can get us out, Rose… I don't want to be in here any longer,"
Rose also laid down, but she didn't close her eyes to sleep. "I'll get us out of here. Even if it kills me, I'll think of something," she assured him.
She thought of Rita and the others; She wondered if they were waiting for her and Dodger at Coney Island. Rita would be upset for sure at them for not showing up.
"I'm scared… I'm so scared… These humans are evil," Kaiden whimpered. Rose tilted her head at him. "What do they do? What makes them evil?" she asked him.
"They take dogs who have no use to a back room and we never see them again," Kaiden said fearfully, remembering how he's seen many dogs in this place get taken to the back room if they are deemed too sick to be adopted.
Rose felt shivers run down her spine. If that was the case, then what would happen to her- and to Dodger?
"Your brother is right, little lady. If we're not sought out by other humans, then those ruffians put us down," a dog to Rose's left said. Rose looked over at the older mutt. He looks like a mastiff mixed with a Belgian Malinois.
He looks much older than herself. "Who are you?" she asked the older mutt. "My name's Nero, young one," he told her. He then broke out into a coughing fit.
"Are you alright, Nero, sir?" Kaiden asked the old dog. Nero cleared his throat and laid back down. "I'm alright for now, Kaiden. I'm just getting old. I'll be alright," Nero assured him, putting on a brave face.
'He's sick… He's not going to walk out of here alive…' Rose thought grimly. "Sir? How could you tell Kaiden and I are related?" Rose asked Nero.
Nero simply chuckled, "When you've been around the sun for as long as I have, you recognize siblings when you see them. You have a chance to get you, him, and your friend out of here. You two are still young and don't deserve to be in this horrible place,"
"Thank you, sir. I'm guessing you know about my friend that was brought here with me," Rose said. "Yes, I saw him. If you plan on trying to escape, then be careful. These humans are smart," Nero said seriously.
"What about you? Do you ever want to escape?" Rose asked. "I'm too old to go anywhere. This is the end of the line for me. Besides, I've led a long full life," the old dog said, seeing no point in leaving this place.
Rose needed to keep her wits about her and focus on trying to find a way out of here to get help. If anybody could do it, it would definitely be Rose.
"Get some sleep, okay? You're going to need it," Nero said, laying down too.
Rose laid down but kept close to where Kaiden was, who laid next to the cell wall to be close to his sister. How Rose managed to fall asleep in this foreign place, with the sound of other dogs barking fearfully, she'll never know.
There was little that she could do right now. She closed her eyes, imagining herself in her mess of blankets with her family. She missed them so much already.