Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a new year! It's 2019. I hope this year will be a more comforting year for me because 2018 was a pretty disaster for me. Enough about me tho.

Here's chapter 2 as I promised in January. Each chapter after this will be consecutively updated every Saturday until the last chapter which will be released on Sunday.

Marshall and Chase were sitting in the lobby floor on cushions, chatting to each other. They were both playing Guess Who, however this time without the board game and just communication as it was a much simpler method of playing.

"My turn!" Marshall exclaimed, wagging his tail playfully. They knew they needed to get their head off Ryder, Zuma and Rubble for the meantime. They would just get more concerned the more they thought about it, so Chase decided to do something creative and play a game to pass the time.

Out of all the different games Marshall could select, he decided to pick Guess Who.

Marshall thought hard, attempting to trick Chase somehow, but the more he thought over a way he could do it, less ideas came to mind and he had a blank mind. He wanted to give Chase a hard person to identify but that wouldn't really be fair he thought as they wouldn't really know each other. "You know what, I'll just say one from the top of my head!"

Chase tried to hold in the laughter with his paws as he chuckled once.

Marshall seen this. He, however wasn't amused. How could he if he didn't know in the first place? "What's so funny?" He asked, baffled at Chase's reaction.

"Just that, you try too much and the face you have is so adorable." He admitted. Seeing the Dalmation blush lightly caused himself to be embarrassed.

"S-Shut up." Marshall replied, not wanting it to be rude or anything as intentional as that. "Okay, let's see.." He began speaking when a random person or pup came to mind. He grinned. "I know." He decided to have his payback. "Go on."

"Female?"

Marshall nodded. "Okay, she's beautiful, has a big heart, always with a smile to cheer us up, and you have a crush on her." As Marshall finished, he assumed he gave Chase too much information.

Hearing Marshall's choice of words, Chase's ears perked up. "Uh.." He was out of words, but didn't let himself beaten. "Crush? I think you're still into Marshall land, buddy." He said, trying to get Marshall to give up but it wasn't happening unfortunately for him.

Marshall rolled his eyes. "I know. Ryder knows. Don't know about the others... Just admit it."

"Admit what?"

"Oh for the love of god, your crush!"

Chase seeing he stood no chance, decided to just say it and get it over with. "Fine, Skye! Okay? You happy?!"

Marshall smiled. "See, I knew it-" His eye pupils extended. "Whaaaaaaa-"

Chase was now himself confused.

"I thought you had a crush on Everest!" Marshall said, not sure what to expect next. Chase slapped his head with his paw in frustration.

"What, no? I never did." Chase replied, casually. "And I probably never will. She isn't my type."

"Thank god! I mean, uh, okay then. Heheh."

Chase was even more confused. He wondered what was going through his pal's mind.

"Soo..." Marshall stood up and walked to Chase. "Skye, huh?" He then moved his eyebrows up and down. Chase knocked Marshall down with an unexpected movement. Marshall didn't even see it coming as he was pinned down in a moment.

"You don't know anything!" Chase replied, tickling Marshall, recognizing it as one of Marshall's weaknesses. If he needed an answer, this was his best shot. He loved manipulation and being in control of situations as he was now. He was as assertive as he could be.

Marshall giggled at this. He was really ticklish and knew he had to give up soon as he couldn't resist it anymore already. "Okay, okay, you win, officer!" Chase got off him. "Fine, I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me." They both smiled but someone walked in, overhearing them.

5 Minutes Earlier...

Skye and Rocky were both doing something else. Rocky was determined to win the young scientist award so he asked Skye to challenge him with some flash cards. One side had the answer, the other the question. Simple as that, basically revision.

"Okay.."

Skye held up a set of flash cards. "You got a perfect score on ecology and plants!"

Rocky pawed the air in exclamation at his accomplished result. Skye was dumbfounded at his knowledge, wondering how he even knew so much and how much more storage his intelligent, small, and not yet fully developed brain contained.

"Next category is food and their biomolecules!" Skye said, enthusiastically. She was actually enjoying this activity. She was asking the questions, Rocky was answering.

"Name the elements in carbohydrates." She read out, making eye contact with Rocky.

Rocky, however wasn't under any pressure and immediately answered the question. "Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen!" He acknowledged, committed with his passionate answer.

"Correct." Skye said. "Next question. Name the three types of carbohydrates and an example of each type."

Rocky without even the slightest action of thinking, knew the answer. "Monosaccharides refer to glucose and fructose, disaccharides are maltose and sucrose and polysaccharides are glycogen, starch and cellulose, last term also referred to as the structure of plant cell walls."

"I didn't ask half of these things but okay." They both laughed, enjoying their company and the activity.

"Thanks for doing this with me, I really appreciate it, Skye."

Skye smiled. "No problem. That's what friends are for! And besides, we all want you to ace it!"

"Thanks again." He replied, knowing he couldn't ask for better friends. They were irreplaceable. "I'll go check what Chase and Marshall are up to. Speaking of them, I also need to get something from the interior of the lobby, be right back."

Skye nodded.

As Rocky overheard Marshall saying something about a secret, he ambled inside.

"Secret?" Rocky walked in. "I thought we weren't meant to keep secrets from each other."

"Were you eavesdroppi-"

Chase opened his mouth before Marshall could finish. "Oh, it's nothing. Just some brotherly thing! What about you? What are you and Skye doing at the moment?"

"She's helping me revise for the young scientist awards with flash cards."

"Ah. Is there anything we can help you with?" Chase asked, bored already, seeing as they concluded their game of Guess Who. Chase endeavored as much as possible to be active in physical energetic pursuits to stay fit and in shape, and to be an example to the other pups.

"Hmm, as a matter of fact there is something Ryder asked of me earlier on. Come on with me and I'll show you." They both followed him.

"Mr. Ryder, I'm afraid you'll have to be dismissed for the meantime." The doctor said passively, not wanting to apply pressure on Ryder which would result in constant concern issues.

Ryder nodded. He took a step back and smiled at the two pups who also exchanged looks. He wanted to let them know he was inevitably there for them if they required to tell him something important or serious. Not too long ago, he casually told all the pups to tell him anything at all because it would be indispensable for him to comprehend.

He left the room and sat down. He sighed. 'I've known you for so long pups, surely if there's something wrong with you I can establish a way to avoid inaccurate results in helping you in the best treatment possible. Doctor should know what's wrong, if he doesn't, there's a really low probability of me finding out the cure.' He sighed anew. "You'll be okay, pups." He said this time without talking in his mind.

20 Minutes Later...

The door opened and Doctor Wilson stepped out, looking reluctant to inform Ryder of the results.

Ryder got up and walked to him. He didn't want to ask but he had no choice. "Well?"

"Ryder, I'm afraid I've got some bad news." Those words. He wished he never heard those words. "We've analysed a diagnosis on Zuma and Rubble and it's the same result. They've got a deadly virus or infection that is rapidly reproducing identical copies of each other at an extraordinary rate."

"Yes, I can assure you, I undeniably know what a virus is." Ryder replied, crossing his arms and awaiting the rest of the news. He tended to use words like these when talking mostly to adults. However, with the pups, it would be something harder to interpret for them.

"It's something I've never seen before. Their metabolism, unfortunately, has been affected by this process."

Ryder looked at room 20 that had an oval-shaped window on it at the top. "W-What do you mean affected? It's not something that can just be influenced so rapidly within a day..."

"I know. But it's something extraordinary I've never saw before. It's an unknown virus, Ryder."

Ryder was in concept as the doctor was interpreting this thoroughly.

"What are the side effects, doc?" Ryder asked, still in thought with his hand on his elbow and the other on his chin.

"Many. Few that I can name for now, however, I will notify you of them. Lack of appetite, possibly lack of sleep which can result in chronic insomnia, anxiety, stress..." The Doctor explained this in a steady manner, even though he displayed no sign of pity or anxiety for the pups, he did have these sentiments. He knew Ryder and the pups for a long time and he was friends with them all. He was the first person that came to Ryder's mind when in need of an emergency. "It might result in spreading like wildfire if in contact with other pups."

Ryder was now baffled. "But isn't their metabolism speeding up? That means they will be much more hungrier."

"I never said it's speeding up. It's slowing down."

Ryder began taking this in. It was a lot and it was something he thought would never occur.

"Good news is it will take time. Few weeks at the least, until they become solitary and distant from the others. The effects will take place before and post." He spoke in a gentle way, wanting Ryder to process the information slowly. He knew Ryder had a big heart and big mind. He could store so much knowledge in it. "The best thing to do now is to go home and prepare a delicious meal for your pups and advise them to sleep soundly through this night. I will chat with the physicians concerning this matter. I'll be in-contact with you as soon as possible, Ryder. I'm sorry about this. I'll try my very best to heal your pups."

"I know, Doc. Thanks so much for the help. I hope you'll find a cure."

"Judging by the looks of things from that infection, it won't be easy. But that's the plan."

Ryder nodded. "Should I wait?"

The Doctor nodded.

The PAW Patroller arrived at the lookout before the night settled in. The pups were quick to respond to the vehicle and dashed towards the doors. The weather forecast predicted that a cloudy rainfall would occur overnight. It wasn't a hoax, as raindrops just started falling.

Zuma and Rubble hopped out. Then Ryder.

"Zuma, Rubble! Ryder, sir! You made it back, what did Doctor say?" Chase seemed really energetic but looked anxious too. Marshall and Skye were the same too. He was out of curiosity wanting to find the answer.

"Pups...I'm gonna have to talk to you inside, apart from Rubble and Zuma. You guys go do something productive, I'll be right back. If there's something wrong, just call me and I'll be here in a jiffy." Without being told twice, each pup obeyed and walked inside. Chase's ears perked up as Ryder was talking. He knew something was wrong. It was bad, and certainly not good.

Ryder walked in the interior of the lookout after the pups. The sliding doors shut behind them. The pups sat on the cushions and waited patiently for Ryder to address them. He hesitated a bit in the start but then he began. "Pups..I don't know how to say this but Zuma and Rubble both have a virus that isn't identified yet unfortunately. Dr. Wilson said it's dangerous and could spread like wildfire if in contact with other pups. So I'm asking you guys to stay away from Zuma and Rubble in the meantime, it will be just for a couple of days until I receive communication again from Dr. Wilson."

The pups were unhappy to perceive this news. Skye and Rocky whimpered, and Chase had a frown on his face. Marshall looked suspicious as he gulped.

"Is there something wrong, Marshall?" Marshall was amazed to know that Ryder saw the expression on his face so quick. The others looked at him in suspicion.

"Um, probably.." He replied. "Actually, no. I mean yes-"

"Marshall, buddy, you can tell us anything, you know that." Chase said, standing up from his position and smiling at him.

Marshall sighed, not wanting to bring any more worry to the pups. "I think I've also got what Zuma and Rubble have. The virus."

This is basically chapter two done. Just a heads up that each chapter will be starting from now on without an author's note in the start.

Next chapter, next Saturday. Thanks for tuning in, have a nice day!