That afternoon, Klaus walked Skye and Zuma through the commune, just giving them a short little tour of the facilities before anything else. The three stopped almost immediately in their tracks as a pack of kittens and puppies raced in between them, laughing and playing as they darted in the other direction at full speed.
"It's quite amazing here, Everyone here gets along" Skye said.
"Of course, We all got paws you know, so why can't we just love one another" Klaus replied, sharing how he felt in a very melo tone.
"I can totally vibe with that" Zuma commented. "The only problem we have around here is food and water" Klaus expressed as he turned to his side to see both Dogs and Cats, scrapping and scavenging the empty plastic bottle for any type of liquid they could hydrate themselves with. "What about the River?" Skye asked.
"People throw their junk into it farther up the river, We try to stop ourselves sometimes, but we get desperate sometimes." He said, motioning toward to the river to see only a handful of dogs and cats, their tongues being replenished by the river water for a short moment, before giving hard coughs from the bacteria that ran through it.
"As for food, Stepping foot inside the town is a risky move, The Sheriff's Department is ruthless and the citizens that are fooled by their lies are even more ruthless. So we try and grow our own food most of the time" Klaus explained.
"Most of the time?"
"Yeah, We mostly scavenge and get handouts sometimes"
"But you'we a cat, why cant you just go into town and buy the food fow the dogs?" Zuma asked, raising a pretty good question.
"Cant, The Sheriff's Department keeps a record of everyone who 'associates' themselves with dogs, Then they send it out to every business in the county, So not all cats have it easy sometimes, we choose to suffer with the dogs" The feline said.
"Klaus, Klaus!" Suddenly the three saw a cat running toward them, eager to tell some sort of news. The feline had brown and orange patches of fur around her body, all the rest was patched up with white fur as bright as snow. "All the firewood is set up for tonight's free paws bonfire like you asked" She responded with a smile.
"That's awesome. Zuma and Skye, meet Lily, She's one of the nicest and most helpful cats in this camp" Klaus boasted the works of the female feline, Lily faded her smile as she stared directly at Zuma and Skye. Squinting her eyes as if she was scanning them for details, Both the canines felt on awkward wave pass over them, all of a sudden before she was beaming with glee, now she seemed serious. "Hmmm…. Okay, Great to have you here" She suddenly perked up again, jumping forward and hugging the two canines in one.
Surprisingly stronger than she looked as Zuma and Skye felt the their inners tighten before being let go. "Welp, I'm off" She said before turning around getting ready to head off, before being stopped by Klaus. "Wait Lily, Zuma and Skye here are planning to sneak into the Impound Lot. They're new so would you mind accompanying them?" Klaus asked, Lily with her back still turned to the three. Zuma and Skye saw as she let out a silent groan, she gripped the loose dirt and grass below her with her claws before turning back around a smile.
"Oh I wouldn't mind at all, you know where to find me when you're ready" She said as she walked away. Klaus unbeknownst to him that her behaviour didn't seem all that off, except for Zuma and Skye. "I'll leave you both until nighttime, Feel free to wander around and talk to anyone you choose, mi casa su casa" He said as he bowed his head and walked off.
Skye and Zuma admired his hospitality for sure, however that wasn't what was on their minds at the time. "Did she seem…. off to you?" Zuma asked, mentioning back to Lily and her false excitement to help.
"Yeah, I don't want to start assuming but…she's hiding something. We won't let this happen to us again, when the time is right, we see what she's up to" Skye said with her paws together and a smile, the labrador giving off the same smile and energy in response.
Chase breathed heavily, he was in the back of some truck. He was blind folded and chained by his paws. Chase could hear the groaning and movement of others in the back of the truck with him, hearing the rattling of the chains by the movement of the vehicle or sometimes he would hear the others in the truck, pleading and begging to whatever God was in the sky that they would have mercy on whatever they were going to face. "R-Rocky, Are you there?" Chase asked out, hearing nothing for a few seconds before feeling a paw feel around his muzzle by his side.
"Chase, Is that you?" Rocky responded, both blind folded and unable to see Infront of them. "Yeah, Where every they're taking us, We can make it through it, I know it" Chase said, as confident as ever that he and Rocky would be able to power through whatever was thrown at them. "Chase, Rocky, So glad you guys are here with me" Rubble's voice came into play, both the German shepherd and Mixed breed were surprised to hear his voice, knowing he was with them and he was alright.
"Rubble, So glad you're okay" Rocky said.
"Me too, Never lost hope" The bulldog replied, his head turned where ever he thought his friends were within the back of the truck. "Theres no hope, just forget it" One voice spoke up, his voice was growled and tired, as if he knew there was nothing else to fight for.
"W-Where are they taking us?" Rocky asked out loud, facing any direction, not knowing where the voice came from as his vision was hindered. "The Concrete Kennel" The voice said, defeated and demotivated. "The Concrete what?" Rocky asked back before the truck had come to a sudden halt. The noises of several individuals falling down on the floor rang out as well as the constant clatter of chains against the floor as it did.
The whole back of the truck groaned before hearing the sudden sounds of something being unlocked and the hinges of something swinging open. Without any warning, Chase and Rocky had been yanked out from the truck violently. Tossed onto an Icey ground as each of their Blindfolds were untied from their eyes. Chase looked up to see his friends and the others in the truck that had been taken as well. Seeing a similarity in them all, they were all dogs.
"Gooood Afternoon Mongrels, My name is Sheriff Reno and Welcome to Hell!" A voice spoke out, looking up to see a cat with white and brown patches of fur. His green sheriff's uniform decorated with yellow stripes and golden stars along with the signature campaign hat.
"You all are worth less and you will be treated even worse than worthless. You are alive because we have granted you that kind of mercy, you will work until your bones crack and until you decay and go back to the dust where you belong!" The sheriff said with a pounding claw, his deputies right by his side looking at all the dogs that lay on the ground, some getting back up and some refusing to even attempt.
"Move it!" He shouted, as his deputies closed in toward the dogs, some got up immediately as they approached in fear of what they would do if they had stayed down and not listened. The cats grabbed their chains and yanked them forward, violently and brisk fully leading them over a narrow bridge. Chase and the rest of the dogs looked over to the bridge to see almost the entire county. They could see the town and the mass forest with a long river running right down it. "Uhh I don't do so well with heights" Rocky proclaimed as he looked down, it must have been several hundred feet down below to horrid and painful death.
"Just keep moving" One dog said, shoving Rocky ahead which made his hair stand up at the sudden movement. After moments of walking through the bridge, The deputy at the front stepped aside to a large metallic door, twice the size of an average garage door. The cat typed in some sort of code of the panel next to it, letting it beep for a few moments before metal sheet of the door started to arise upward, revealing inside.
"Welcome to your new homes Mutts, I would say don't be afraid but I prefer not to lie" Reno said with a cocky smile as he looked at all the dogs in a single file line, walking right into the large door that lead into the mountain top, hiding an entire facility. The sheriff suddenly stopped smiling as he made eye contact with a familiar dog, Chase.
Chase looked to his side to see Reno, he was looking at him distinct fully than all the rest as well as Rocky. Chase looked over to make eye contact before breaking it abruptly, knowing he didn't want to test him on what he would do. As Chase, Rocky, Rubble, and the other dogs went inside. Their eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light. There were platforms all around the walls, on them were deputies with their guns. Some had non-lethal equipment with that were neon coloured, looking as if they were bought from the nearest toy store, but none of the dogs were willing to bet their life on it.
"Everyone in!" Sheriff Reno said, stepping to the front to lead them all onto another platform. The platform's floor didn't look too promising, its support beams to the corners gave it the impression it was an actually an elevator. It was a very wide elevator, surely everyone could fit on it. Chase, Rocky and Rubble were hesitant. Looking at each other to see if anyone had an epic plan to get out. They were suddenly pushed in by the wave of other dogs that had already accepted their fate.
Within seconds, all the dogs were on the platform, Chase and his friends squeezed into the middle as if they had any room to themselves. The white and brown patched feline waved a simple good before slamming his paw onto a button on the side. All array of lights flashed on each side of the support beams before a thing metal gate sectioned the platform off, finally letting the metal platform of the elevator fall down.
The light from the top of the facility started to fade each distance they went down, it got progressively darker each moment. The only light given was the red, amber lights that flashed on the support beams. Flickering in a slow circle constantly. The elevator itself was an old one, its gears grinding, and clear rust was shown on the side. "W-We can find our way out of this, right?" Rocky asked, the security was tight, and the circumstances were tighter. It would take a full proof plan to try sneak or break out of this place.
"No, there is no escape, there is no hope" One dog said right beside Rocky, He recognized that voice. It was the same voice he heard from inside the truck when everyone was blindfolded. "Hey, you're the one from the truck, Can you tell us more about this place?" The mixed breed asked. The canine looked back at him; he was a big down. A Bernese Mountain Dog in fact. His fur was matted and stained from God knows what. "Theres no point in explaining everything, I know what you're planning, and it won't work" He replied.
"Wait that can't be true, you got to tell us more, ple-"Rocky was cut short as the elevator slammed down, every dog on the platform shook for a second before falling to the ground at the sudden shake. The metal gate slowly grinded apart from each other, on the other side were Deputies. Armoured from head to claw in Riot gear. Special helmets that covered their faces that looped around their pointy ears, however noticed a small black device attached to the end of their tails.
"Alright move it!" One of them said, whipping around his tail that emitted a small buzz of electricity from it. It was basically a cattle prod fit for tail. None of the Dogs protested and all the dogs obeyed, stepping forward slowly as they walked out of the platform of the elevator, including Rocky and the others. The walls weren't walls at all; they were just solid rock with hanging light bulbs dangling from single wires. The wires were exposed and full ran down the long walkway.
Rubble looked up to notice something familiar about the walkway they were heading down, above him he saw old wooden support means that were distinctly placed a long time ago, in no way could be recent. His head pointed upward at the same time as he thought, this placement of wooden beams he knows from somewhere, but from where was the question.
Suddenly feeling his paw strike something hard, uneven against the ground. Rubble looked back down to see a slim metal bar about a few feet long. Stuck into the ground, lying flat and facing straight down to the end of the hallway. "Huh, Weird" Rubble said as the sill continued to walk forward as the crowd did, looking back see the Feline Deputy whizzing his tail just a few inches away from the Bulldog's muzzle. "Keep moving Kibble breath" He said.
"Woah Woah Woah, Hey Stop Wait!" One dog said at the very front of the crowd. Rocky, Chase, and Rubble squeezed their way to the front to see what had happened. It was a mastiff breed, standing on his hindlegs with his paws extended apart from each other blocking any other dog from passing him, and for very good reason. The canine was just a few inches away from a great fall down a hole at the end of the walkway.
Fear was in his eyes as even his tail was tucked in between his legs. "I don't recall telling anyone to stop. Hey Tony, I don't recall telling any of these flea bags that they could stop!" The cat turned his his accomplice to his side. "I don't remember that being said either, Sometimes you just gotta give them a little….PUSH!" The other cat said as he immediately pushed ahead of him, the other cat doing the same. With their combined strength. All dogs started to move forward against their will, some screamed and pleaded but to no avail. One by one each dog fell down the dark hole, the males screamed almost as loud as the females as their voice slowly feel silent the farther they fell.
Rubble tried to push back but it was hopeless, as he fell in the hole with everyone but suddenly out of nowhere, being caught by his collar. The bulldog looked up to see his mixed breed friend. "I got you!" Rocky said as he himself held onto Chase' tail. Chase himself with his two front paws holding onto the ledge, seeing as he was the only dog left up, The german shepherd's head was poking up from above the hole and up at the deputies. "Please, you don't have to do this" Chase insisted.
"You're right, I don't have to, but I want to" He whispered before whipping his taser tail around to jab into Chase's paw. The excruciating pain cause Chase's muscles to tense for seconds upon seconds, forcing his body to let go. Letting all their of the friends fall down into the hole.