The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 113

Running in parts of the sewers that would eventually get pitch black, the search party continued to run. Their lives, as far as they knew, depended upon it. And they never once stopped for a few minutes. Everyone except for Sweetpea, who was flapping his wings as fast as he could, tripped at least once. Mel had tripped eight times by now. Each time, his best friend Buddy would help him up to his feet. A few times Gidget would accidentally step on Chloe's tail. However, the feline was in too much of a panic to care. All the while, Pops encouraged them to keep going, the fear evident in his voice. Taking up the back of the pack, Tiberius was the first to notice that they were no longer being chased. Panting, he called out, "Guys, we're not being chased anymore!"

"Are you sure?" Pops responded, looking over his shoulder. Unfortunately for him, he then ran into a wall. This was followed by a huge collision amongst the members of the search party. Since he was flying, one would think that Sweetpea wouldn't be apart of it. However, he had looked back and watched the whole crash. In doing so, he inadvertently flew into the same wall Pops had crashed into. Chirping, he flopped down on top of Buddy's stomach. Extracting herself from the pileup, Gidget shook the dust off her fur as she asked, "Is everyone okay?"

"Ow my chin..." Pops murmured, rubbing his chin with one paw. Mel didn't say anything, his paws covering his bleeding nose due to how many falls he had taken. Limping, Buddy mumbled, "I think I stepped on a nail..." The elderly basset hound inspect the dachshund's left forepaw while Sweetpea began chirping when he saw he was missing one or two tail feathers. Chloe was washing her tail and paws quietly. Gidget did the same with her ears. Standing off to the side, Tiberius watched the others quietly just as his vision went out of whack. Stumbling, the old hawk caught himself, leaning against a wall. Breathing heavily, he glanced down at his shoulder to see the nick the snake had gave him. It wasn't big but there was blood. Closing his eyes, he muttered, "Rats..."

"Hey, are you okay?" Gidget's voice brought Tiberius out of his thoughts, startling him in the process. His eyes snapping open, the red tailed hawk looked down at the Pomeranian. He worried that she might've found out about the snake bite. However, he then noticed that she was pointing at his foot, the one she had bitten. Shaking himself a little while he calmed down, he mumbled, "Yeah, I'm okay." Not looking convinced, Gidget replied, "Let me see." Sighing heavily, Tiberius didn't bother to argue as he lifted his left foot. It was then he noticed that there was a little blood. Inspecting it, Gidget whimpered, "I'm so sorry."

"Relax, I'm fine. Not a big deal."

"But I bit you."

"I've dealt with much worse."

"Thank you for saving me," Gidget spoke kindly, smiling up at Tiberius. Taken aback by the kindness in her voice and words, the old hawk bowed his head and mumbled, "You're welcome."

"Has anyone seen Norman?" Mel asked.