Near Death

As Dove fed the pups, Rock had already searched around the area but to no avail. He trotted on further down the alley. Rock looked in every parcel and bin but he only found a couple of crumbs of leftover bread. Rock pricked his ears at the sound of a door opening ahead. He hurriedly hid behind a barrel. Peeking out of his hiding spot, he saw a young woman disposing of some food. Rock waited for the woman to leave before retrieving the food. It was a some pieces of a cooked turkey and it was still quite fresh.
Rock quickly made his way back to Dove. By then, Dove had more or less fed all the puppies. He offered her the fresher parts of the turkey and took his share of food. Rock finished up his food in less than a moment, sharing it with some of the greedy puppies.

Dove ate hungerly, not remebering when she had a meal. Once she figured she had enough, she let the pups eat whatever they could. She laughed at them fighting over all the food.

Rock sat up, watching the puppies. He glances over at Dove, wondering if they could begin their plan from the previous day. There won't be enough food for everyone if the pups stuck with them. They were growing and probably need more food by each day.

Dove walked over to Rock, and sat beside him. "Do you know any houses who would want a dog?"

Rock kept his eyes on the puppies as he listened to Dove. He thought for a while, wondering. "There are only a few places that I can think of which is suitable. Many of the people would just go to the pet store or rescue centres to get a dog."

"Well if they wanted to Rescue a dog, wouldn't they take one of ours?" Dove asked.

Rock thought for a while. "Makes sense, but they might not take good care of them. But anyways, we'd better start moving before the humans start their day."
He took a glance at the pups and at the narrow alley which leads to the main street. How were they going to bring all the pups along? They would be unnoticeable and any pup could get lost.

"One of us has to stay and watch some." She sighed. "So you mind doing it for the first round?"

"Sure. And here's to start off. There's a couple of families down the street whom might want them. The first one you'll see is the white house, two-storeys. Check with the neighbours as well." Rock mentioned. "Try not to go the blue house. A cranky old guy lives there. Although if you really want to, make sure his wife is around. She's much more soft-hearted."
Rock gathered about ten puppies. His gaze wandered to Dove. "Could you handle these pups? You can come back for the rest later."

"I can,"Dove smiled at Rock, and gathered the puppies into a pack. She walked out of the ally.

Rock gathered the pups and made sure they followed Dove when walking out of the alley, before attending to the other pups. He shooed some of the other pups that wanted to follow, away. Before long, Dove and the pups were out of sight, when they turned at a corner.

Rock turned his attention to the other pups. About only a small portion had left. He and Dove had a lot of work to do that day. They might even have to delay it off for a few more days if the humans somehow got up earlier.

Rock started to entertain the puppies by playing with them to keep them in one area. He watched carefully, just in case one of the puppies decided to go for a run.

Dove made a stop at a small, blue house. She knew a loney old lady lived there, and also knew she wanted to adopt. She looked at the pups behind her. Picking the oldest there, she nudged him forward, and made him sit and act cute. Then, after quixk thinking, she pressed the doorbell with her nose, then ran off behind another house to make sure that the old lady took him in. She did. Smiling, Dove lead the puppies out towards antoher house.

Rock was wondering if Dove was making any progress, but he had confidence in her. She probably already got a few of the puppies in a good home.
Rock was staring at the sky. The sky was getting brighter and brighter. They'd have to each run a couple more times before finishing up for the day. Perhaps they could go out at night as well, although it would be hard to look after the pups.
Rock was aching for a run. He could not wait until Dove returned from her shift. Meanwhile, Rock began to rummage for extra snack for some of the puppies that was getting hungrier by the minute.

Dove made stops at a few more houses with families. Some took them in, some didn't. Sighing, she returned to the ally way with 4 pups left.

Rock was splitting some pieces of chicken among the puppies when he heard Dove approaching. He could hear some lighter footsteps that belonged to the puppies. Although he was slightly down about not all the puppies being adopted, he knew Dove had tried her best and already sent off a handful of them.
Rock gathered a new batch of puppies for his turn to leave. The leftover puppies with Dove would have to stay and rest before they set off again. Rock watched as Dove walked towards them. Smiling at Dove, he stood up and got ready to leave. It was almost day and they had to stop after one or two more rounds.

Dove bowed her head at Rock, watching him leave the allyway. Sighing, she looked at the pups that where left. They where younger, and she knew most familes would want a younger dog. She nuzzled the pups , and sniffed for any food.

Rock made his way to the main street, heading to the other direction. He made sure that all the pups were following. There were some of them that were very young and active, while others were slightly more mature. He wondered if he could succeed in getting the humans to adopt all of them, although he knew that there was a low possibility. Many people were just too lazy or irresponsible. Having a child would help a lot, though.

Rock arrived at the first house. He could see several children in the kitchen window rummaging for food. Trying his luck, Rock picked out two siblings, one extremely active, while the other, very quiet, placing them on the doorstep. Hopefully the family would take them both in. Rock instructed the two puppies to stay put, then pushed his weight onto his back legs, raising his front two paws onto the wall. He pressed his nose against the doorbell, almost simultaneously, leaping off the wall and chasing the other puppies into a bush nearby. Keeping absolute silence, he waited for the door to open. It took a while, probably for the children to call their parents, before a young man came to answer the door. With the children to convince him, the family eventually took them in.

The German Shepard walked out of the bush when the coast was clear, gathering the puppies to the next house.

After several homes, Rock was left with about a quarter of the dogs he had at first. He decided he would visit one more house before heading back to the alley, as it was almost day. Before long, there was going to be a busy road and someone was bound to get someone to catch the dogs.

Dove made the pups stay together as they slept cutely. She smiled and curled aroundt hem, thinking about Rock and how he was doing with the pups.

Rock quickly moved on to the last house. There were only about five puppies left in his group by then, and most of them were older than the others. The youngest was probably 6-7 months old. Rock picked out a couple of puppies that were nearly a year old. He placed them at the doorstep, going through the same procedure by ringing the doorbell and rushing off to hide.
The door immediately flung open and there stood a middle-aged man, ready to set off for work with his briefcase. At the sight of the two puppies, the man looked disgusted.
He ran back into his house, coming back in a few seconds, with a rolled up newspaper gripped tightly in his hand. As he raised it up, the puppies cowered together, cornered.
Rock instinctively flew forward, racing towards the man just when he swung his arm down. Rock knocked him to the ground, the newspaper missing the puppies by a few inches. The paper rolled onto the grass patch and the puppies darted towards the other pups hiding behind a shed.
Rock bit into the man's arm despite his thick clothing. The man shrieked loudly and started to whack the dog with his briefcase. Rock growled when a tiny, sharp object pierced into his skin. Scrambling to his feet, Rock dashed towards the puppies, gathering them and making them run back to the alley. Rock was trailing behind the puppies, glancing over to look at the man. A woman came rushing out of the house, helping the man up. He could hear the man shouting muffled words to them.
Rock herd the five puppies into the alley, slowing down to a walk. He inhaled deeply, letting out a heavy breath. Watching the puppies race back into their hideout, Rock followed slowly.

Dove looked up at Rock as he entered the allyway. She gasped. "What happened to you ?" She asked worriedly, and rushed forward. "You got blood on you and everything."

"I'll be fine. There was this guy who wanted to attack the puppies." Rock mumbled, explaining. He guessed that Dove could figure out the rest herself. "Tend to the puppies first. I can take care of myself."

As he said this, Rock wondered where he could find water to wash off the blood. Looking around, he made his way down the alley to search, limping.

Dove sighed softly, watching him go. He was a brave dog, as if she didn't see it befor. She looked at the once sleeping pups, that where now wide awake, and hungry. She sighed, and siiffed everything for some bit of food. At last, she found some cold pizza, and fed it to the pups/

Rock came across a tub of water and seeing that there were nobody around, he quickly dipped his foot in and let the water do the rest. The water soon turned red. This was bound to make the humans angry.
He hurriedly rushed off, trying not to stay for too long. On his way back, he found some leftover food - small pieces of meat and some chunks of fruits. Rock returned not long after. Realising that Dove already found food for the puppies, he passed the food he collected to her, giving her most of the share.
Rock laid down, licking his leg until it felt better before starting to dig into his food.

Dove bowed her head towqrds Rock. "Thank you." She smiled. She ate the meat first, then the fruit. It felt nice to have a meal in her stomach.

Rock didn't reply to Dove, but he just continued eating his fruits. He felt a cool breeze rushing through his fur. The sky was darker than its usual baby blue colour. Rock sensed that it was not going to be a good day. It was going to rain, yet he and Dove had no shelter. Besides that, they were taking care of a whole bunch of puppies. At least most of them are safe and cozy at their own homes. He thought.
Rock quickly finished up most of his food, giving the rest to the puppies. He stood up, feeling a light drip of water on his ear. He looked at Dove, then around them. There was no shelter in sight.