"Oh my head..." Tattoo muttered, blinking his eyes open. Ripper and Bearded Dragon were piled up on his back. Sitting up, the lizard mumbled, "Are we in heaven?" Just then the whole van shook and there was the sound of metal groaning. Gasping, Mel shot up to all four of his paws and yelped, "What was that?!"
"Mel, stop! Don't move!" Buddy barked. The pug froze, terrified. Trembling from where he was laying on the dashboard, the dachshund explained, "You guys are on cracked glass. Too much weight and it'll shatter." Gulping nervously, Tattoo chimed in, "He's right. We'll fall right into the river below if we're not careful." Whimpering, Mel whined, "What are we going to do?"
"Try sliding across the glass slowly. I've seen polar bears do it in a documentary," Chloe spoke from somewhere up above. She and Ozone were clinging to the cage doors on the left side, the latter holding on to his wire cutters with only his tail. Still trapped in his cage, Duke barked, "Is everyone okay?" The majority vote said yes. However, Tiberius replied, "No..."
"What's wrong?" Duke asked, looking down the right side of the van. Dangling from only his trapped wing, Tiberius hissed in pain, "The door slammed down on my wing, I can't free it." Getting up to his feet, Buddy declared, "Hang on! I'll get you out!" Nodding her head, Chloe stated, "Ozone and I will get Duke out then. The rest of you down there, try to get out carefully."
"On it!" Mel and the Flushed Pets replied.
"How can we help?" Max's voice asked from outside. He and Gidget were peering through the passenger side door. Breathing a sigh of relief, Mel wagged his tail and yipped, "I'm so happy to see you guys." Smiling back, Max replied, "Same. Here, let me get in there so I can help out." Hesitating for a moment, the Jack Russell terrier hopped over into the van, where he was then followed by Gidget. Gazing up, the small dog cried, "Duke, I'm here!"
"Max! Oh thank goodness!" Duke barked, wagging his tail. Hissing, Chloe spat, "Stop moving! You'll shake the van loose! The scaffolding is the only thing keeping us alive!" Realizing the kind of danger they were all in, Max turned to the animals on the same level he was. "Everyone get out, now!" he ordered. The Flushed Pets didn't need to be told twice as they quickly bid them farewell and abandoned ship. All three got out. It was Mel's turn then but at that moment the van dropped down some more feet, causing major consequences.
"Everyone hold on!" Chloe shouted. The animals quickly grabbed the closest object. But even that wasn't enough when the van dropped. Shaken loose, Buddy plummeted towards the glass, breaking it upon impact. Max quickly jumped to the metal bar between the front windows. Mel wasn't so lucky, falling with Buddy down to the water with a splash. Chloe lost her footing and fell on Ozone, causing them both to fall through the other window. Fortunately, the two cats grabbed the windshield wiper. However, they dropped the wire cutter.
"Guys! Guys are you alright?!" Duke shouted, distressed. Pulling himself up, Max answered, "We're fine! Hang in there Duke, I'm getting you out!" The Jack Russell terrier carefully crept along the bar when the van shook again. Yelping, he hugged the bar until the shaking stopped. "Max, what are we going to do? We have no way back up to the bridge," Gidget pointed out, freeing Tiberius. Holding on to the hawk, she added, "We're sitting ducks up here."
"She's right, we can't get back up," Chloe piped up, struggling to hang on the windshield wiper with Ozone holding on to her tail. Trembling, Max thought for a moment before he stated, "Jump."
"What?!" both girls exclaimed. Sighing heavily, Max repeated, "Jump. Trust me on this, okay?" Silent for a moment, Gidget briskly nodded her head. "Okay, let's do this," she murmured, "Tiberius, I hope you can swim." His eyes widening in horror, the red tail stammered, "Wait, no, don't. I can't swim!" His sentence ended with a screech as Gidget jumped. Huffing, Chloe muttered, "I need more cat friends." Without another word, she let go off the windshield wiper, taking Ozone with her.
Max and Duke were on their own.
"Okay Duke, I'm coming up," Max spoke softly and reassuringly. Rising up on his back legs, he took delicate little hops across the metal bar. Reaching the safety of the dashboard, the Jack Russell terrier backed up away from the window. He felt something move behind him but he didn't bother checking what it did. He paid no heed to the windshield wipers as they went back and forth. Right now, he needed to get Duke out.
"Be careful Max," Duke cautioned, worry evident in his voice. The Newfoundland mix watched as the Jack Russell terrier carefully climbed up the cage bars. Slipping once or twice, Max persisted, ascending higher and higher. At last, he found himself face to face with the larger dog. "Hey Duke," the small dog greeted. Smiling briefly, Duke replied, "Hi Max. How are you going to get me out?"
"Uh... I did not think this through."
"Thought so."
Just then, there was a loud ping noise as one of the windshield wipers knocked away a metal beam supporting the van up. The next thing either of the dogs knew, they were plummeting towards the river. Both screamed at the top of their lungs moments before the van crashed into the water with a huge splash.
Watching for the shore with the others, Gidget gasped in horror and howled, "MAX!"
