Overdue Check-Up (Poppy Playtime)

(Chapter 4) Part 10: The End of Cole & The Sting of Betrayal

"Preaching to the choir there, kid," Catnap breathes.

Dogday looks at his son, then sits upright, "Nearic?" he asks worriedly, making the others looks at the pup.

The boy groans as he slowly looks at his dad, "Yeah?" he asks tiredly.

Dan looks at his arm and his eye widen, "Oh my god!" he stand sup and runs to his brother, "Are you alright?!"

Nearic groans again and starts to stand up, "I hurt... all over, but I'll be okay. At least, I will be. Something tells me we're close to meeting up with one of Poppy's allies, so we should hurry, they may be able to help."

He starts to stand up, so Dan grabs his uninjured arm and hauls him up, "There we go, you sure we're close?"

Nearic nods, "Yeah, we finally got out of the Prison, we escaped Yarnaby, now unless we encounter yet another threat, I think this ally will be close and show themselves."

Dogday takes a deep breath, "I hope you're right, because I really need to rest my legs longer than 30 seconds."

Catnap chuckles breathlessly, "You and me both, I've been on my feet for the past few hours; I'm starting to get sore."

Dogday glares at the feline, "How do you think I feel, haven't used mine in months," the comment making the feline flinch look away guiltily.

Dan huffs in frustration, "Can we not start this again, after what just happened?"

Dogday turns away, "Whatever," then gets low to the ground and starts crawling into the vent, "Catnap, watch the rear," he orders.

The feline nods without vocalizing, making Nearic look at him sadly, so he scratches his uncle's lower jaw, making him relax slightly as Dan enters the vent, "Come on you two, let's move!"

Nearic takes a deep breath moves away, Catnap stretching his neck out slightly to follow his nephew's hand, "Come on uncle, we need to move."

The four leave the small room through the vent and move slowly, Catnap and Dan checking on Nearic every so often to see how he's holding up. Eventually, they get to the end, Dogday landing on all fours before moving to a crouch as he steps to the side, allowing everyone else to get out, catching his son when he hops out, and walking away when Catnap does.

Ahead of them is a small hallway, three sets of rooms blocked off by fences on their right, and a doorway to their left, filing cabinets strewn about the small area, and several shelves of cardboard boxes fill the next room over.

"Okay, Nearic, you're going to take a small break in that room," Dan points to the left, "I found two notes while we were being chased by that lion that you can read while you're in them. While you do that, Catnap and I will take a look around and see what we need to do."

Dogday crosses his arms, "I take it, I'm looking after him for the moment?"

"Yep," Dan nods, "Everyone got it?"

They all nod in agreement, so Dan hands his brother the sheets of paper and walks away, Catnap doing the same.

Dogday looks down at his son and nods to their 'Waiting Room' and says, "Come on, you should rest like he said."

Nearic rolls his eye with a small smile, "I know, I know. I heard him the first time dad."

An Odd Foreboding...

Last week, Stanley was attacked on duty. He's one of the nice ones down here. Even feels bad for those things. Tries his best to sneak candy and toys to them between shifts. He thinks most of us don't notice, but we do.