The deputies charged ahead, not another word in as Rubble felt a jolt of pain surge through his body, realizing a deputy had sank his claws into his side, trying to push him down. Another deputy tried to assist, jabbing his tail into Rubble's side, sending volts into his body. Rubble felt like his body was on fire, he felt his muscles tense up almost instantly. Rubble fell over onto his stomach as he felt to two cats still clawing into him to keep him there. "Don't move!" The deputy shouted, however Rubble still tustled and scrammed get loose.
Eventually he did get free, but by the help of Tuska. Tuska was already busy battle one deputy. The two were dragging each other and by the stroke of luck Tuska managed to push the deputy off of him, knocking him onto the other two that were trying to arrest the Bulldog. Rubble didn't have time to thank and praise, Rubble stumbled back onto his feet and ran back over to the container with the explosives. "FREEZE, I MEAN IT!" Tuska and Rocky both turned around to see a frightening scene. One of the deputies pulled his gun and aimed it at the two.
Rubble and Tuska smartened up, they knew no amount of running or dodging could get them free from a bullet. "That's not a good idea, There's explosives in this room" Rubble warned.
"Be quiet, Both of you, On the ground and don't move" The feline deputy ordered, the other deputies groaned from off the floor and got to their paws, brandishing cuffs to arrest the two. Tuska and Rubble looked at each other, trying to think of a plan, but at this distance there was little that could actually work, and even less that wouldn't result in someone being shot.
The two obliged the order and lowered themselves to the ground without a word of protests, Tuska and Bulldog did look at each other as they did. Their heads still forward facing the cats as they slowly walked toward them. Tuska eyed the cat that still had his gun drawn, he seemed on the edge and nervous. His paws shook as if a sudden sound could make him accidentally fire his duty weapon. Tuska had a stroke of genius.
The deputy with the gun drawn had paced himself right behind Tuska, keeping watch on him as the other two decided to place cuffs on Rubble first. Tuska without the deputy noticing, raised his tail slowly. He angled his tail, letting a small number of end hairs stroke the deputy's back in a slow and hair raising way. The deputy's eyes widened, the sudden feeling making him think it must be a cockroach that crawled onto his back without him noticing, or even a spider.
The sudden thought made the deputy yelp with surprise, accidentally pulling the trigger on his firearm. Although the gun was pointed at Tuska, it wasn't exactly aimed directly at him, just in his general area. The bullet bounced off the ground and slammed at an angle into the wall. "Jeez Oakley, Watch the Trigger Discipline!" One of the deputy shouted at the colleague. "Sorry" The deputy said, putting away his firearm in case another embarrassing mishap happened on his part.
However, the bullet wasn't the main idea of the plan. When the deputy had fired, the shell from his gun sprang out as it usually would have. The shell of the sidearm flipped in the air before falling right into the container. The container with the explosives, the hot shell rolled around in the container before it became noticed not by sight, but by smell. Once one of the deputies were done with Rubble, firmly having him in custody, they turned their eyes to Tuska. However one stopped and stood still, his face looked puzzled as he sniffed all around the room. "Do you guys smell that?" He asked.
"Smell what?" One asked in reply.
"Smells kinda…smokey, Like something burning" He stated, Both Tuska and Rubble looked at each other. Tuska sprang to his paws with one swoop of his body, knocking over the nearest deputy and pushing away the other two. Falling over Rubble who still laid on the ground, Tuska smelled the burning too and he knew what it was. It was burning of the explosives, soon ready to go off. "Help!" Rubble pleaded.
"I know I know, Hold still!" Tuska urged, brandishing one of his claws as he pushed it down into the key hole of the cuff, Rubble trusted his past law enforcement training to get him out of this, he didn't have much time. However just then, the cuffs clicked and became loose. "RUN!" Tuska shouted, grabbing Rubble by his paw to give the bulldog bit of a running start as he sprang off the ground. The two ran as fast as they could out of the storage room and back down the old hallway. "DON'T LET THEM GET AW-" One of the deputies shouted before it came. The whole floor shook violently, lights that still operated flickered on and off before the force of the explosion shattered its internal workings.
Tuska and Rubble both felt the glass from the light bulbs fall on their fur, causing a few cuts but nothing they couldn't power through. Alarms started to follow as they blared all around them. Fire alarms being one of them, the sound was almost deafening as they looked behind them to see the blazing flame and smoke already rapidly taking ground.
Rubble and Tuska climbed back through the broken vent panel that Rubble had first climbed through to meet Tuska. As they both rushed in they could hear several smaller explosions behind them, the fire was getting too much to bear and they needed to get to safety. "You think that will do it?" Rubble asked, panting through each word as they ran as fast they could. Just as he did, the large air duct rumbled and rattled with a huge explosion like thunder. "Definitely" Tuska replied.
As Rubble and Tuska got back to the main mining area, they could see the other guards were already notified of what had just happened. All the guards had rounded up the dogs in a single large group and ordered them to stay put for further instructions. "No one is going anywhere until this is all sorted out!" One cat shouted, pushing one dog back that broke away slightly from the group.
Down below where they look they saw Chase and Rocky, Reluctantly following the cat's orders as a prisoner, before long both of them looked up to see Rubble and Tuska. They both gave a nod of understand and congratulations, knowing they were okay after the blast and the main part of the plan was done. Now came for the plan of chaos, complete discord and mayhem. Which was fairly simple to cause as all the cats looked on edge. There were certainly more dogs then cats in the main mining area. Chase barked like a rabid dog as he edged closer to the nearest cat, the deputy that was nearest to him was almost taken back the sudden bravery.
"G-Get back, Y-You mongrels!" The cat stuttered, clearly terrified as he saw the dog's saliva covered fangs and thirsty eyes for violence. This was textbook Brax intimidation, soon Rocky came to his side doing the same thing. The cats started to get uneven as they have never faced this level of ferociousness before when combating the dogs. They were so used to being afraid of what the cats could do that no dog had dared to even think what it would be like to wage a riot against them. However, the momentum picked up. More dogs came to Rocky and Chases' sides, all mimicking the same level of aggression and teeth. However apart from Rocky and Chase, these dogs had yearned for this feeling. "RIOT!" One dog shouted, which was more than enough to light the fuse of rebellion.
The dogs jumped forward, attacking the cats as each feline quickly ran for their safety. Chase and Rubble stayed still, not chasing after any cat as it had already started. "RIOT, RIOT, WE HAVE A RIOT DOWN HERE, SEND MORE UNITS, THEY'LL TEAR US TO PIECES!" One deputy screamed in panic over his radio, trying to run for his life with a wild pack of dogs chasing him. Chase and Rocky rushed over to the platform around the large mining area where Rubble and Tuska where already coming to meet them. "Great work you two!" Chase commented.
"Where is the other one, Brax?" Tuska asked, unaware of his fate just after he had left in the first phase of the plan. "He was taken by the cats, He sacrificed himself to cause a distraction so Rubble could go up to the platform without being seen" Rocky stated.
They attention was taken away as more explosions erupted from the mining facility, they could hear its roar and feel its tremor. Sooner or later they would feel its heat, then it would be almost too late to escape. "If he's taken then they've stored him somewhere and I think I might know where. But we have to hurry, this facility is old and the raging fire will making quick work of it soon" Tuska stated, running after the door only deputies were authorized to go through, however in this chaos, no one deputy would have time to notice.
"What about the other dogs?" Rubble asked, turning back to look at all the dogs. Continuing to chase down and catch as many cat deputies that they possibly could. Some spots of the mining area were already red with blood and some bodies laid there motion less, cat bodies. "FELLOW DOGS, FREEDOM IS THIS WAY, FREEDOM AT LAST!" Chase barked the highest he'd even in his life, he heard his own voice echo off the gravel and stone walls. Some dogs couldn't give a rats ass about freedom for now their vision was red with revenge for the cats. However others gave up what they were doing and ran to the small group of friends, running right into the door that was once only used by the cats. "They'll come soon enough" Tuska murmured.
Once into the hallway within the door, Tuska ran like he knew his way around. Twisting and turning his way in different hallways like he knew the place like the back of his paw. "I would sometimes see Deputies coming out one of these rooms very exhausted and pent up like they were finished beating someone up" The cat said, putting his ear close to each room to hear for any sudden sounds of Brax. All the while the alarms continued to blare of not only the raging fire in the facility, but also of the Prison Riot that was getting out of control by the second.
"Over here, I can think I can hear something in here!" Rocky shouted, his ear against a door. He heard the scrapping of metal and coughing of someone. The coughing sounded horse and painful as if they were on verge on death. Rocky got up his hind legs and tried to push and bang on the door, the hinges on the door jiggled with unease before all the other dogs joined in. The hinges on the door finally gave way and the door crashed down on the other side. Inside it was much darker for when their eyes tried to adjust suddenly, inside they saw Brax with a metal collar latched around his neck and chained to the wall. The chain wasnt long, just a few feet away from him was a bowl of dirty and murky water. Even if the most desperate dog took mouthfuls of the water, they wouldn't certainly feel great moments later. Brax was bruised and beaten by the cats, presumably when he was lead into the room.
"Brax, We're here!" Chase cried, rushing over to his side to try and unhook the chain that clamped around his neck. Brax looked up a bit unsure who he was looking at, it took him a few seconds to realize it was the dogs he had known all too well. "You shouldn't have come back for me, you're wasting your time" Brax coldly said.
"We're not leaving anyone behind, especially you Brax. You're going to see what freedom is like again" Rubble reminded, Chase used all of his brawn to get the chain to ease up, but it just wouldn't budge. Tuska took notice, gently pushing the German shepherd aside to let him work his own magic. "Work smarter, not harder buddy" He said with a cocky smile, extending out one of his sharp claws to pick the lock on Brax's collar.
Tuska got to picking the lock to free Brax, Chase now relieved began to look more so around the room. The room light was dim and barely illuminated much. It didn't help that much because of the explosion which rattled most of the lights and the wiring. Chase was about to revert his eyes back to Brax until he heard what he thought was another dog in the room with them. Chase's ears perked up as he stood on guard, there was a small section of the room that was covered by a tall slab, making it difficult to see around it.
"Hello?" Chase asked out loud, as he asked, he saw the sight of a chain slink from the other side of the slab, The cat's method of keeping the dogs at bay was to chain them, if there was another chain, there was almost certainly another dog in need of rescue. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Chase rushed over to the slab that obscured his view of the dog. "Guys, There's another dog over here, Come and-" Chase turned the corner of the slab to view the dog, It was possibly the one dog in the entire facility he dreaded to see, it was Dash.
Dash the Rhodesian ridgeback, A stale muzzle was strapped about his face, locked in with a collar that was linked hard to the wall. Chase remained silent, starring at the fierce canine just a few feet from him. "What are you looking at" The ridgeback coldly asked.
Chase didnt respond, he knew it was a poor attempt to get on his nerves one way or another, Rocky and Rubble came to Chase's side right after, seeing what he was seeing and thinking the same too. All of them stood at a distance wondering if this dog was even worthy of saving. Dash growled and barked, his jaws snapping at the pair, even if there was no chain, the muzzle completely made him incapable of biting anyone. Tuska and Brax then came to their sides, Dash glanced at Tuska with furious eyes. "You're all as worthless as that cat there, working side by side as if the world out there cares about compassion for dogs anymore" Dash muttered.
They all stood in silence, mentally debating what would be the most humane course of action to take for Dash. Either free him and take their chances with him, or leave him there and go. "I think we should go" Tuska stated without taking his eyes off of Dash.
"Tuska, You know as well as I do that we cant do that" Brax said in response, looking down at the feline from his base height. "He literally tried to kill me...over some fish" Tuska defended.
"I know, But no one deserves to be left in this prison to burn to death, or even continue living like a slave, Neither dog nor cat" Brax explained, The Bernese Mountain Dog was a wise canine indeed, his suggestions of temporarily pardoning Dash for his attack on Tuska and releasing him was a shock to the others.
"Fine" Tuska said, slowly walked up to Dash, Dash snapped at him with his vicious but contained bite. "I may be muzzle, but I can still give your a scar you'll never forget cat!" He barked with vicious eyes. "If you want to be free and get out of here, I suggest you shut your trap and keep still" Tuska replied, swiping his paw at the canine. Dash didnt retort, he huffed a blow of hot hair at the feline and turned his head, letting the keyhole of the collar face him. "Be quick then" He muttered.
Tuska advanced, doing the same work he did with Brax's collar. Within a few moments on tweaking and twisting. The collar popped with a metallic sound and sprang of Dash's neck. Slamming onto the group finally making him free, a mixed feeling came from the others hoping this was the right decision. "Now the muzzle" The ridgeback reminded Tuska, turning his head for him to get to work, however Tuska didnt brushed him off.
"I prefer to keep that one on for now, You can run and that's all you need" Tuska replied with the flick of his tail. Dash felt rage course through his veins, spreading his front paws and lowering his head, his growl was menacing how ever Tuska knew with the muzzle he had little to fear. "LYING WORTHLESS SACK OF FUR, REMOVE THIS MUZZLE OR I'LL-" Dash threatened before a rumble of the entire prison sent all of them falling to the ground. It was another explosion, Loose lights from the ceiling fell down and some went out entirely.
"Now isnt the time, We need to go, NOW" Rocky reminded, one by one each got up off the ground from the shake and ran out the door. Running down the halls of the facility as there came more rumbles of tremors. They all ran straight, they could see a door at the end of the dimly lit hallway that brandished the word 'Stairwell' at the end. They knew they were down within the facility of the prison, so going up was one of the finally stretched to get out. "There, hurry!" Brax shouted as he continued to run. They all closed the gap within seconds thanks to their fast four legs, Brax slammed into the door, making it swing wide open.
The Bernese Mountain Dog was so pumped full of adrenaline that it barely hurt, however on the other side he slide into a railing. The others slid right into Brax, pushing each of them into the railing that was on high platform. The railing felt like it was going to give way as the all dogs' weight kept it pushing over. Brax was the closest, if the railing did give in he would be the first to fall down. Brax looked down seeing a deep fall for which there would be hope for survive if he did fall, however it was not dark down below, it was illuminated with a yellow and orange glow, a glow of flames.
"Back up, Back up!" Brax pleaded as the sight of the fire and the fall was enough to send fear down into any dog's heart. The others backed themselves up and walked around Brax to look down the platform, seeing the raging fire that burnt everything in its path and climbed its way up. They could all feel the heat emitting from down below and there was no time to be wasted any longer. "Up the stairs, now!" Chase called, pointing with his paw at the stairs that lead up. They all sprang to the first step, running up with agility and speed. They could hear it in their ears, the crackling and burning of the fire from below. Their eyes started to water as the heat was just too much with withstand, afterward came another explosion.
The rumble rocked the whole stairwell, It put the fear of God into all of them as it felt like they were going to slip onto an unstable and rusted railing all plummet to their death. "HELP!" A voice called out, It was the Tuska. He had slipped from a step when the explosion happened and had drifted to the side of the step where the lower hall of his body hung downward into the deep fall in fire. His front claws wrapped around the base of a railing that didnt look too stable. The others looked in horror as the feline was so close to meeting his make through a horrible and painful death, Chase was just about the spring down to help the cat until he felt another dog zip past him.
Chase couldn't believe who it was, It was Dash. The Rhodesian ridgeback had darted to the step where Tuska had clung helplessly from, dipping his muzzle down to the cat. "Grab my muzzle!" Dash instructed, normally when a life depended on it there would be no hesitation. However judging by the dog who was doing the saving, there was a little. Tuska grappled his claws into the muzzle that locked onto Dash's face. There were large hole in it that made it almost perfect for Tuska to get a firm grip on. Dash felt his head heavier that usual now with the whole height of a cat to hoist up. However, it was no problem for a strong dog like him, he brought the cat up onto the step.
"You saved me!" Tuska was thankful as he gave praise to the ridgeback.
"I only did it so you could get this damned muzzle of me, Dont get my intentions twisted" He replied, turning right back around to race back up the stairs and right past Chase. The others were a bit surprised as the Dash saving Tuska from a deathly fall, but became usual with Dash's words ended the bitter sweet moment. Nevertheless, no words were spoke afterwards and no incident. They all reached the top of the stairwell and barged through the top door. They were almost blinded by the light, the main entrance of the prison that separated it from the outside world was open. In front of all of them, cats and dogs fought viciously.
There was one dog who fought like the devil himself, tearing through cat after cat before a single gun shot ran out, its echo made clear as the dog fell to the ground and only twitched with a slight hint of life. The cat were now desperate to keep this under control, most dogs just like down in the mining area were too blinded by rage to see the main gate of the prison was open and flee, they stayed and fought. "Daylight, Sweet Sunshine!" smiled Brax, finally seeing the sunshine after all those memories of being a prisoner. Tuska couldnt contain his emotions either, the sunshine felt abnormal to him for a few seconds, he'd been a prisoner for so long that he'd forgot what it felt like. Dash shielded himself from the great flare, twisting his head to the side to avoid its glory.
"Almost there!" Chase said, sprinting forward without warning. The others followed, dashing right past cats that tried to stop them, and dead dogs that laid on the ground motionless. "THEY'RE ESCAPING, ALL DOGS ARE KOS, DO NOT LET THEM GET DOWN THE MOUNTAIN RIDGE!" One deputy shouted, just as the group heard the order, more gunshots began to ring out. By that time, They were all outside in the open air. Chase had almost forgotten how cold it was up on the mountain high as well as everyone else, he could feel the icy grass in between his paws and the frost breathe coming out from his mouth as he ran as fast as he could along the path away from the prisoner's open hangar like gate.
"Across the bridge!" Rocky shouted, running along side with Chase as their paws sprang along the wooden planks that made the bridge somewhat stable. As Chase and Rocky made it to the end, they saw in the mist of the cold air other dog figures that were coming forward, there were dogs Chase and Rocky didnt recognize, but that was besides the point. Soon there came Rubble, and Dash, and Tuska. The German shepherd looked confused and puzzled, knowing there was one dog he had yet to see.
"Wait, Wheres Brax?" Chase asked.
"He said he was going to keep the cats off the bridges for as long as he could" He explained, Chase couldnt believe what he had heard. The Bernese Mountain Dog had caused a fake fight back in the prison for the sake of his friends, and now he volunteered himself to stay back and fight the cats so that all the dogs could make a better chance of running free. "BRAX!" Chase shouted to the other side of the bridge, Chase could make out the voice of Brax fighting for his life, guessing the cats were having their way with him.
Chase was about to run across back to the other side of the bridge to help Brax, until suddenly seeing the Mountain Dog's shape slowly walking across the bridge. However, there were certain things different about his fur. It was matted with blood and frost, he looked exhausted and on the very of passing out. "Brax, behind you!" Rocky called out, Brax turned his head to see a cat deputy right behind him, slashing his paws into Brax's backside. Brax yelped in a shriek of pain before he had raising one hind leg off the bridge to kick the feline square in the head. The cat fell over on the loose bridge, the force of kick strong, and it was hard to tell if Brax had knocked him out cold or just straight up cracked his skull and killed him.
Brax continued to walk until he finally came off the bridge and right up to the others. "Brax, Why did you stay back like that?" The bulldog asked.
"So you all...could...making it safely" Brax huffed between each statement, spitting on the ground to reveal crimson red. However, no one could expect what Brax would do next. The Mountain dog laid on his stomach suddenly in exhaustion, more so shocking were his words that came right after. "Go ahead, Go without me, We'll see each other again" Brax said.
"Brax, We cant leave you, We're so close. Just push forward"
"No, There's a jump...just at the end of the ridge. Keep going and you'll...you'll see it. At bottom is a deep lake, Jump from the ridge into the lake and you should be...be home free after you find and cross the river. I'm in no state to make that jump or even survive it, that cats will come for me and...and with any luck, they'll see I've given up and just arrest me all over again." Brax said, becoming so weak he'd just lay on his side instead, letting his mouth hang open afterwards.
"Brax please, We cant leave you, we've gotten so close" Tuska pleaded.
"I know, and it sucks, but today just isn't my day for freedom, that'll be another day. Today is your day for freedom instead, I promise you, this isn't the last time we'll see each other" Brax replied, trying to give a smile but every time he did, he felt a sharp sting of pain in his jaws and would just lay there, the only motion be his chest inhaling and exhaling. The others didnt want to leave Brax, but they had no choice. The cats were coming and they needed to go.
"We'll come back for you Brax, I promise!" Chase shouted as he began to step away from the Mountain dog. Dash, Rubble, Rocky and Tuska all nodded in agreement as they took of running. Some looked back at Brax who still laid there, eventually waiting for himself to be covered by deputies to be arrest and taken in once more.
Chase had to fight back to the incoming volley of tears that desperately wanted to form in his eyes, he wanted to weep for the safety of Brax, praying he would be okay in the long run. However he couldn't dwell on that every second, he had to think of the now. Brax was right, there was a ridge that lead off the mountain and down into a giant lake. It was huge, thinking they could very much make the jump, but not knowing if it was deep enough.
"Where are the other dogs?" Dash asked, posing a very interesting question. The other dogs that had escaped apart from the small group of themselves. "I suppose they dont know about the ridge and the lake, so they must have ran down the mountain taking the road path, I guess only Brax knew about this escape route" Tuska proposed.
"I suppose, so...who's first?" Rocky asked, looking down the ridge to see it was indeed a very steep fall, even if there was a guarantee of survival, it took great courage to make a jump like that in the first place. "When in doubt, send the cat" Dash proclaimed.
"Hey!" Tuska shouted, not knowing if the Dash joked about risking the feline's life or if he really meant it. Rubble took in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he lined himself up with the ridge to give himself a ramp like start. "Please let Brax be right about how deep the lake is!" Rubble shouted to himself as he sprinted full speed and leap with glory right off the ridge. The others looked in awe as the bulldog plummeted to the ground level of the earth right into the lake, he was a little dot that flew through the air as one by one each dog had gained their own courage to jump.
"Okay...Okay...Okay, I guess I'm going next" Tuska stabilized himself on the edge of the ridge before he was pushed suddenly and very forcefully by Dash. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Tuska's screamed faded and echoed through out the mountain, of course he was going to land in the lake and Dash knew that. "Heh, Worth it" He muttered before he flashed his tail back and forth and leapt off the ridge just like Rubble did, falling away.
Now had just remained Rocky and Chase, who both looked at each other. Rocky had more fear in his eyes as per his fear of water, but Chase reassured him they were going together. "Now's not the time for fear Rocky, We do it as one" Chase tried to calm his friend.
"Y-Yeah, Okay, I can do this. Its just water" Rocky muttered to himself to keep himself composed and clear to make the jump. Chase knew they didnt have much time before they caught up to Brax and finally caught up with them afterwards. Chase grabbed his friend by the scruff on his fur and darted forward. "WAIT WAIT WAIT" Rocky tried to get his friend to stop, but it was too late. The momentum had already built up and before they knew it, they were falling down into the great wide lake.