The inside was eerily quiet. Almost like the place was stuck in time. The only sounds that were emanating throughout the place was the clock on the wall, ticking away slowly. Arthur, Braxton and Maria were all a little nervous, hiding behind Ethan. Milo didn't seem to care about what was going on though.
"H-hey Mary! You in here?" Ethan calls out to the old lady. Revealing her name to be Mary. The only sound that follows his question is the wind coming from the open door, being held up by Maria's foot in case she wants to escape.
"She might be hiding somewhere then…" He comes to that conclusion rather quickly. "Alright, c'mon you guys!" Ethan motions them to follow him.
The three of them and the dog, all reluctantly follow him. Maria didn't want to, but Braxton pulled her along by the arm anyways.
They all bundled themselves into the hallway, the first place to look was obviously the kitchen. Ethan got to the door, and peeked his head around the doorway, to see that no one was in there. The only thing he did find out was the mess of food that was just sitting there, in the middle of the kitchen.
"What happened here?!" Ethan switched his gaze over to Arthur and Braxton, who both looked extremely guilty.
They both pointed at the other one, and gasped that one of them just didn't take the blame.
Maris suddenly raised her hand and whispered: "sorry I didn't mean to…" taking the blame for the both of them for some reason. They were both shocked, their heads slowly turned to her direction, to see that she was giving them a little thumbs up from behind her.
"Alright. I'll help you clean it up after we find her…" Ethan continued down the hall.
As they went deeper and deeper in, tube hallways started to get less and less bright, and way more dirty. Ethan hadn't been through this part in months, so this was a nice change of pace for him. The other three didn't think it was as cool though. Braxton and Milo seemed to be fine with it, but Arthur and Maria were both a little scared. Milo stayed close to their legs out of obligation, saying: "Ruff, Woof! (If my owner wasn't here, I would've left you guys to fend for yourselves down here you pussies!)"
They make it a fork in the road, deep into the station. Specifically, there were four paths, all placed beside each other.
"Hmm… we should probably spit up. Marian and I could go for the left one, and Braxton and Arthur could both go through the right one!" Ethan concludes.
"What about the third door?" Braxton asks.
"Once we're done with those two" he points at the very left and right door. "If she's not somewhere though one of them, then we can both go through the middle one!" They all think about the plan, and agree to do so. it's not like they could come up with anything better.
"Ok great! See you guys in a bit then!" He takes Maria's hand, and they both go into the very left door, slamming it shut behind them. Braxton and Arthur glance at each other and both shrug, following in Ethan's footsteps, and going through the very right door. Also slamming it behind them as well. Now Milo is just left by herself, having no clue what to do. She looks at the middle door, and wonders if there could be some leftover treat stash that Ethan doesn't want her to know about. She struts up to said door, and hops at the knob, crawling at it so it would move. After about 5 seconds of doing so, she somehow managed to open the thing by jumping really high into the air. Her paw firmly touched the knob, and it turned as she fell onto her back.
"Ruff! (Fuck, yes!)" she barked in celebration, wagging her tail on the ground, and trying to get herself back up-right.
She managed herself onto her feet once more, still wagging her tail at her success. She pushed the door further open with her snout. Slowly hearing the creaking noises of a hallway that has been abandoned since the 1980's.
The smell emitting from whatever was inside was putrid for Milo's poor sensitive nose. There was no time for backing down from her, she was a strong Shiba Inu! So she powered through like her bitch of a mother would've wanted. Each step creaked immensely, which was especially surprising for her since her walking is usually silent. The walls of the hallway going down were stained with whatever kind of liquid it could possibly be. There were also some paintings that were covered in dust, hanging on for dear life so they don't smash onto the floor. "Woof! (No wonder why nobody goes down here, this place is a goddamn dump!)" Milo woofs.
As she slowly inches closer and closer forward. Inhaling the fumes without her consent. Her vision starts to catch a room conveniently at the end of the hallway that seemed to be wide open. Since the rest of the doors she'd encountered were closed, and haven't been opened in 80+ years. She thinks that she found the jackpot.
Milo picks up the pace with her strutting, making sure that every step now covers twice as much ground than before. Once she got close enough though, she heard a woman lightly sobbing, seeming to come from the opened door. Milo froze up a bit, fearing that this was like the horror movie they all watched a while ago, and that the monster was going to kill her first.
"Woof… (oh hell no… we're all gonna die in here… and I'm bouta be first…)" Milo silently barks. Making sure that whoever's in there could hear her.
Her strutting comes almost to a complete halt. Her paws feel like they're in slow motion with how fast they are moving.
Her tiny heart was pounding out of her chest with every step.
The sobbing sound was getting louder, and louder, and louder; making her try to gulp, but then she remembered that she was still a dog.
"W-woof! (A-alright! I've made it to the door. N-now to see what's going on here…)" she peeks her tiny head in to see what was happening. Once she saw what this lady was doing. It looked kind of beautiful to her…