(November 1989)
(Jefferson City Mountains)
Another two months fly by, and Rose was no longer in the city. She was in the forest and cliff sides. She had grown accustomed to the woods by this point, fighting anything that comes her way.
She walked on a cliff, one that overlooked the forest below. Sitting down for a moment, she closed her hazel eyes and sighed. She moved her ears to listen to the things around her.
She needed a moment to relax and take a breath, try to figure out her surroundings. She doesn't need her eyes to see. The birds chirping from the trees, and in the sky. The wind blew through her black and brown fur and in her ears.
The mix-bred dog felt herself relax, soaking in the sounds around her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it started to snow. The soft, white petals slowly fell from the clouded sky, giving Rose a sense of hope.
She stood up and walked down the left side of the mountain, and trotted through the snowy woods. She kept walking until she got to a highway, which was covered with deep snow. It came up up over her paws. She stopped on the highway, which was curvy.
She looked both ways, trying to figure out where to go. She sniffed the air and found the right direction to be the left side.
"Gotta find a ride," she said softly, looking around. It didn't take her long to see an 18-wheeler hauling half of a house behind it. That was the perfect ride.
She sped up her pace to a fast gallop to the house. She reached it and jumped in the trailer house. It was a decent sized house, spacious.
Rose didn't realize that she was exhausted until she made it to the master bedroom, laying down by the back window. She laid down on her side, falling asleep instantly. The truck drove all night through the snowy countryside. It drove through Chicago, Illinois, stopping downtown.
(Chicago Illinois)
Rose woke up, feeling refreshed. She looked out of the window, seeing the were in a different city. "Might as well get a move on," she said, walking to the entrance. She hopped out and walked away from her ride.
She makes it downtown, seeing it didn't look any different from New York. Although it smelled different. It was in the middle of the day, meaning it was rush hour. Rose had missed the sounds of cars honking their horns, cars driving down the road, and people talking indistinctly.
She walked on through the city, seeing if she could get some food. As she came up towards an alleyway, she heard the sound of scuffling from the inside of it. She heard yelling of three different people.
Rose ran to the sound of the scuffling, and was shocked by what she saw. There was a homeless woman getting attacked by a couple of teen boys. The scene reminded her of when she and Dodger got their bandanas when Fagin was being attacked.
Rose felt her instincts kick in. The dog growled and showed her teeth to the thugs. This got their attention and the two of them look at the dog.
"Get that dog," one guy said, dropping the woman. Rose wasn't scared of these humans, not even a little bit. Rose charged at him, leaping on the teen. She bit down on his arm, knocking him to the ground.
The teen grunted and fell on the ground, trying to fight off the dog. "Terry, get this mutt off of me!" the teen yelled.
Terry only watched as Rose attacked his friend. "Heck no! I ain't tussling with that mutt!" He shouted, running out of the alleyway.
"You jerk!" the first teen shouted, hitting Rose on the head. Rose yelped but didn't falter. The teen hit her on the head with a knife, cutting her on the face.
Rose yelped at this, feeling blood run down her face and into her right eye. That caused her to let go and back up. The teen ran off, holding his bleeding arm.
Rose barked at him and chased the human out of the alleyway. She huffed and snorted before turning around.
The woman was shaking in fear from being jumped by those two thugs. Rose carefully walked over, dropping her ears and kept her ears down to show she was friendly.
The woman carefully reached up to pet the dog that had saved her life. Rose wagged her tail gently and began licking her hand. Rose felt the woman hug her around the neck, her fingers going through the dogs' fur.
"You saved me. Good girl," the woman said, pulling back. Rose knew right then that she couldn't leave this homeless woman. So she stayed by her side for an entire two months.
The homeless woman was named Angela. She had been on the street for a few months after getting evicted when she lost her job so she couldn't afford to pay her bills. Rose sensed the woman's sadness, which made her sad.
(January 1990)
It was now January, meaning the weather was getting cold. Luckily, Rose would keep Angela warm in the brisk cold. It started snowing, which didn't make anything better.
Angela didn't have to tie Rose up because she saw how loyal the dog was. Being with Angela reminded Rose of sleeping with Fagin and how he would her stay warm during the cold nights.
During her last week with Angela, Rose had noticed that Angela looked a little pale and she was shaking the whole time. It worried her.
"She's sick. I gotta find her some food," Rose said, ears dropping from the worry. Rose left the alleyway they stayed at and ran to get food.
Rose found food by using her thievery skills, but wasn't prepared by what she found when she returned with the food. She trotted down to the alleyway, and stopped in her tracks.
The food fell from her mouth and in front of her paws, spilling everywhere. Angela wasn't breathing, or moving... "No... no please..." she whimpered, running over to her.
Rose's heart sank when she saw that Angela was dead. She had died shortly after Rose left to get food. Rose laid down beside Angelas' corpse, feeling heart broken that Angela had died, not getting able to see her face one last time.