The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 99

Opening the air vent entrance, Pops stuck his head out. The rest of the search party peeked their heads around behind him before following him out onto a rooftop of some random building. Warning signals went off in Tiberius's brain, telling him they weren't supposed to be here. If anything, they were supposed to be down in the sewers looking for Max. Unless they made sewers in the skies now, they were in the wrong place. Glancing at the others, the old hawk could tell that they were just as bewildered as he was. Chloe and Gidget were whispering in hushed tones while the guys were looking left and right. Norman was just plain oblivious to what was around him. All the while, Pops led them over to a row of solar panels where a gray and white tabby cat was basking in the sun.

"Lower the ramp dummy!" Pops ordered the cat, glancing over at Chloe. Tiberius guessed that the elderly basset hound had been trying to impress the fat tabby while he halted behind Norman and Sweetpea. Buddy was on his left while Gidget and Mel were on Chloe's right. Blinking his green eyes in a bored fashion, the cat on the solar panel questioned, "Who are they?" Her face brightening up, Gidget took a step forward, ready to introduce herself and the rest of the gang. However, Pops beat her to it as he answered, "This is Puffball..." Hearing that, Gidget looked at him in question while he continued, "Squash Face..."

Mel had a confused look on his face.

"Weiner Dog."

Buddy wore a deep scowl.

"Yellow Bird."

Sweetpea chirped in delight.

"Eagle Eye."

Feeling a little bit better when he heard that, Tiberius held his head high and puffed his chest out pridefully.

"And Guinea Pig Joe."

Norman giggled happily. Chloe's face turned to dread when Pops turned towards her, saying, "And of course my girlfriend Rhonda." Sighing heavily, the tabby cat grumbled, "One hundred percent wrong." The elderly basset hound chuckled softly. No emotion on his face, the cat on the solar panel replied, "Good enough." Lowering the panel he was on, he walked away while Pops strolled forward. The old dog called over his shoulder to the rest of the group, "Come on! Let's go! Move it or lose it!" At that moment, Tiberius could feel a bad feeling growing inside of his bones. His voice quiet, he muttered to Buddy and Sweetpea, "Every bird instinct I have says don't follow a dog on wheels." A glare from Gidget told the red tail that she had heard his comment. He kept his beak shut as Gidget pointed out, "Um, Mr. Pops, sir? Shouldn't we be heading to the sewers?"

"If we take the human route, getting there's gonna take days," Pops explained as he backed up along the solar panel. Looking over at the group, he went on, "You may have lots of time but for me, every breath is a cliffhanger. So... we gotta take the secret route." He smiled at them as he continued backing up. The bad feeling kept growing inside Tiberius. The old hawk knew something was about to happen but he couldn't put his talon on what.

Then all of the sudden, the search party watched in horror as Pops fell off the solar panel and out of sight...