Authors note:

Chapter 4! A lot of drama going on in this one, and this was a difficult one to write for several reasons, so make sure to let me know how you think it turned out!

Thanks to JimmyRocket, Bennikal-596 for reviewing!

PS: I'll make sure to update at least once a week from now on.

- Chapter 3: CHASING TRAINS -

"Bolt shot over the field like a white, furry lightning bolt, sprinting as fast as his four legs could carry him. The cold air burned in his throat, his pawsteps echoing in his ears as his surroundings blurred and bled like a painting around him. Adrenaline coursed through him, and before his conscious mind could percieve his change of environment, the soft grass underneath his paws was replaced by cold, hard concrete as Bolt *found* himself on a train platform.

"Mittens!? Rhino!?"

Bolt called out, but there was no response. Around him, the small concrete platform that made out the station stood abandoned. There was no humans around. There were no cats or hamsters either. In the distance, Bolt could see the transport vehicle pulling away.

I'm too late!

The white dog set after the vehicle, which was picking up speed. Bolt ran and ran, he ran so fast that the tracks he followed blurred out before him, and all he could see was the backside of the vehicle pulling away. Whenever he managed to gain on it, the vehicle accelerated away. But Mittens and Rhino was onboard. He needed to reach it, somehow. He should have never haft left. Why did he have to let that stupid Labrador distract him!

His lungs were burning and his entire body ached for him to stop and breath. Instead, he pushed himself to run faster, and almost managed to reach the fast vehicle, with his nose so close to its backside he could smell rusty undercarriage of the machine. With the last strength his body could master, he jumped, attempting to board the vehicle by clinging on to a metal bar attached to the vehicles backside. His last experience with these speedy vehicles had been painful, but he had to get onboard. If he lost the others, his chances of finding Penny would be lost with them. With his front paws locked around the bar, he tried to lift himself onboard, but instead he lost the grip and fell headfirst on the grass beside the track.

Bolt hit the ground hard, his body rolling around for what felt like a hundred times before collapsing in the grass.

He lay there, panting for a few seconds before finally building up enough strength to force his aching muscles to lift him. Blinking to clear his vision, Bolt saw to things. The first thing was water, splashing and roaring, it was crossing in streams in front of him. And below his paws was sand. He was standing on a beach, and in front of him was a river.

The second thing he saw was the hill he had just tumbled down from, and above him, the tracks he had followed had turned into a bridge over the thundering water, a tall steel structure the transport vehicle was now crossing. Soon, it would be on the other side of the river. There was no way Bolt would be able to climb up on the tall steel structure, and there was no time to run back to the hill and try to cross it that way.

The sight of the thundering water made the hairs on his back stand on end. But he had no choice. He had to get across. Someway, he would manage it. It was just a little water.

...

Benji must be a really stupid dog: Because now, rather than trying to find his way back to the dog pound, which certainly would be what a smart and sensible dog would do, he was running along a train track, in search for some crazy white dog he had just met and didn't much like to begin with. The dog pound wasn't so bad when he thought about it. It was warm, and there was probably a bowl of food waiting for him if he returned now. But he didn't. Instead he kept on running. The cold night air was freezing and the fog around him made it hard to see but at all, but he had to find Bolt. It was that strange, peculiar feeling again. Stronger than ever.

He finally reached the train station. It was a lonely concrete platform in the middle of nowhere, populated only be a few crates and a forklift. He had never been this far from home before. Only once, the day his family had taken him to the pound, never to been again. Benji didn't like this train station.

"Bolt!" he called out in the fog, but from the fog came no reply, and there was no white dog anywhere on the platform.

Suddenly, his floppy ears picked up the unmistakable sound of a train whistle. Turning his head, he could see the headlights of a train in the distance. He set off running towards the light source, and as he got closer, he was met by a peculiar sight.

An orange diesel locomotive was speeding away, and behind it was a small white dot, running quite a bit faster than Benji thought it should be possible for any dog to run. He was actually chasing the train.

The dog must be crazy!

Benji started running again, now in the direction of Bolt and the locomotive. He reached the hill with a bridge leading over a wide river. But where was Bolt? Benji looked down towards the riverside, and saw something that defied all reason. He saw the white dog jumped, headfirst, into the wavy water of the river. Almost immediately, he saw his white dog disappear under the powerful waves.

The dog IS crazy!

...

The second Bolt fell into the water, the world around him was suddenly replaced by water and bubbles. The cold was the first thing to hit him, it overloaded his senses and made it hard to even move. It was as if something inside of him short-circuited and he couldn't think in the icing wetness that was surrounding him.

Oxygen. He needed oxygen. That was the first thought that hit him. He instinctively kicked with his legs before his muzzle shot out above the surface. He opened his mouth to take a deep breath, but instead of air, he got mouthful of water as another wave crashed over him, dragging him down below the surface again. Panic grabbed him. He kicked with his legs, paws, everything, trying basically to get back to the surface, but it was like an invisible, watery hand had just grabbed him and pulled him downwards into its cold breath. Bolt had never seen so much water before, let alone swum in it, and now he feared for his life.

Focus Bolt. You're better than this. You're a superdog. You've trained for these situations all your life.

He forced his eyes open, looked around and spotted the gleaming light coming from the surface. He forced his desperate kicks into a rhythmic cycling with his paws, and he managed to move towards the surface.

Once again, he managed to get above the water around him. His wet ears were immediately met by the roaring thunder of waves upon waves surround him. He took a deep breath and looked around. He was still near the shore. He could try to make it back, but then he saw the train pulling away in the distance. He had to make it across. He started cycling his paws again, moving slowly but steadily across the wavy river towards the farthest beach, focused and with a clear goal in mind. He had to make it. He knew he could. Just a few more kicks. A few more watery half-breathes. He could see the beach closing.

Suddenly, he felt something grab him. Teeth clenched around his neck scruff, pulling him in the opposite direction. "Hold on, I got you!" a voice behind him yelled.

"No!" Bolt fried himself from the Labrador. With nothing holding him over water, he immediately lost control as another wave rolled over him, pushing him under the water. Bolt sank deep, deep into the dark depth. Around him was nothing but darkness. He kicked towards the surface, but he had lost all sense of direction, and he didn't know where the surface was. His kicks only pushed him deeper into the watery depth. The watery darkness was now total and all around him. It got inside of him, numbed him. His brain still screamed for oxygen, but he was too tired to listen. He went limp, too exhausted to, too exhausted to do anything but les his body sink deeper into the darkness. The last thing he felt was teeth around his scruff again, before the pleasant darkness befolded his senses.