Chapter 11: Bear Necessities


December the twenty first, the now snow covered San Francisco, faced a lot of problems, no transportation, suspension of flights and the worst of all, all communications are down. Meanwhile, back at the weather station, the men-in-charge tried their best to boost the signal, just to send a warning to the path the blizzard was taking.

"Any luck guys?" the head engineer asked. The men didn't say anything, they simply shook their heads, the head engineer gave out a huge sigh, he was frustrated and felt bad, who wouldn't be? He was trying his best to help people, and yet he felt so helpless and useless altogether.

Suddenly, the sound of a car engine was heard, it was nearing the weather station. the other employees rushed down through their posts, "What is that?, sir?"

The head engineer was still listening to the sound, slightly ignoring the comment of his employee, then the employee said, "David, what do you want us to do?"

David then faced him and the rest, "Open the gates, make a clear road for it to pass, If we're lucky, it could be Billy, the man I sent out before the storm. This is good news for all of us, hopefully."

"I don't understand sir, how is that good news? We're still stuck here fixing the damn arrays, without any way of communicating…..well…anywhere." Stated by one of the workers.

David simply replied, "Now that's the kind of mindset I don't need in this station."

"I'm sorry sir, didn't mean it that way, I'm just being realistic." The worker answered back.

"Well, now that you say it that way. I sent Billy out before the storm to fix some telephone lines on Station D." David said.

"What about it sir?" asked by another worker.

"Station D contains vital communication devices which are used by the air force to communicate to other stations around the world. In short, gentlemen, it contains almost all kinds of advance communication device in the whole world. I asked Billy, to ask for one, just in case some cataclysmic event like this ever happens. I just hope the kid didn't forget to ask about it though." David explained.

"Okay, that's great news sir, but how can we use it? Most devices run in electricity, which we don't have since the storm jammed our generator. " they asked.

David gave out a smile, "It's an advance device guys, it doesn't need any power source, it has its own power source, like a mini-generator within it. You all know what that means do you!?"

"We can send any message we want without the use of any relays or power sources. We can finally get through to Wyoming!"

"Exactly! What are you waiting for? Open the gates!" David instructed and his employees followed.

A few moments later, a covered Humvee arrived at the scene. As it stops, the doors open, stepping out of it, was a young boy probably aged between eighteen to twenty-four years old.

"Billy!" David yelled. Billy simply faced his boss and grinned, "I didn't know you missed me that much, sir."

"What took you so long, we've been waiting for you, well, the others forgot about it due to the blizzard striking us." David said.

"Who would be crazy enough to travel through a blizzard, I'm not Doctor Freeze for all you know." Billy replied, prompting a chuckle from David, "You always had a good sense of humor. Do you have the goods?"

Billy opened the trunk of the Humvee, revealing the prized equipment, "What do you think?"

David grinned, "Let's get to work everybody, we still have a ways to go, calibrate everything in that equipment, we have to warn the others of what's bound for them." The guys simply nodded and did as they were instructed. David thought, "God, I hope we're not too late."


(The Cody, the twentieth of December)

Jamie had just woken up after at least an hour and a half of slumber. Hope and Peter, unlike Jamie were still fast asleep in their beds, still seemingly tired. (Well, who could blame them, right?) Jamie glanced at them and smiled, "See ya when you wake up." He went straight to the living room where dinner was already served at the table, Bob and Laura were dressed to the nines.

"Uh…What's going on?" Jamie wondered. Hearing his voice prompted his parents to glance at him.

"Oh, hi honey." Laura quickly said. "Hey there champ." Bob followed through.

"We were preparing for the dinner party set by the school, for the faculty and parents. They say it's a time to bond with them, well, without discussing children's performances for the first time." Laura finished and Bob followed with a light chuckle.

"Don't worry about it Jamie, you could have fun, we ordered dinner already, just in case you woke up and we aren't already here."

"Is it good?" was all Jamie could ask.

"Never tried it yet, but from the looks of it, it seems mighty delicious." Bob replied. "Well said, honey. Now we'll be back by ten o'clock, don't stay up late, alright?" Laura said.

"Don't worry about me, I think I got it covered. Have a great time." Jamie said.

His father smiled, "You too sport, don't have that much fun without us." Then he blinked on Jamie before closing the door.

The moment the door shuts, Jamie let out a huge grin in his face, like something great was about to happen. He heard voices after a few seconds, "Are they gone?" Hope asked through a whisper, just in case.

He glanced at her and said, "What do you think?" Hope then went back into the room. A few moments later, Peter and Hope both got out, with their pets.

"Now that they're gone, we get to watch these." Peter said as he pulled out a bag.

"Whoa! These are really cool movies Peter, where did you get these?" Hope asked.

"A friend of mine lends it to a friend who lent it to me." Peter then winked at her, "So Jamie, you ready for this?"

"I've been ready since yesterday." Jamie replied.

"What should we watch first?" Peter asked. Jamie and Hope glanced at their choices, "I like to try this one." Jamie said.

"You sure? The last time we tried to watch these kinds of films, you fell asleep out of fear. You left us watching it." Hope asked.

"Hey, that's not entirely true, I was just really tired that day." Jamie countered. "Yeah, just like the other days." Peter added.

"Will you guys quit it, are we watching these thing or not?" Jamie said.

"Looks like we got ourselves a bad-ass Pete, let's give him what he wants for a change." Hope stated, to which Peter nodded in agreement.

"Jamie, get the popcorn ready." Peter ordered. Jamie headed straight to the microwave oven while Peter and Hope prepared the living room for that night, a 50-inch flat screen television with all the snacks they can eat right at their very feet.

Meanwhile, the pets are still fast asleep, after being pampered by Laura during the kids napping hours. All except for Diva and Cody. The two have been have been experiencing sleeping problems since the flight (probably because their bodies aren't used to the conditions in that place, just maybe.) Unlike Diva, Cody, did sleep a bit, but to him, it's like a a day or two has passed. As he got up, he spotted Diva, just sitting by the door.

"Hey, you're up first." Cody said. "What do you mean first? I haven't even slept yet." Diva replied.

"What? But I saw you lie down, your eyes were closed for a long time." Cody stated.

"Let's just say I'm good at acting." Diva answered. The statement simply made Cody twitch his head, either out of wonder or confusion. (We can never know)

"What are you looking at?" Cody asked. Diva replied, "I'm not sure, it seems the kids are planning to do something. I saw their parents left. I think they're alone."

"Wanna check it out?" Cody asked. "You never told me you can read minds Cody, you really are a weirdo." Diva ended with laughter.

"Hey! I'm not the weird one in this bunch." Cody answered. "Yeah, like eating bugs isn't weird enough for you."

Cody didn't answer back on this one, he knew that he wouldn't win this fight, "Let's go Codster, we'll miss whatever it is they're doing." Diva then trotted towards the humans.

"Hey Diva, wait up. What about the others?" Cody wondered. Diva faced him, "Let them rest, besides, it would be rude to wake them up." Cody nodded and followed his younger sibling as they approach the kids.

The Seaver kids have been preparing the living room for movie time, Jamie bought all the snacks while Hope made sure that everything in the area is in order. Peter then saw the two dogs approaching.

"Well, look who we got here." Peter said. "What is it?" Jamie asked.

"Well, if you wanna know, I think Diva and Cody wants to watch the films with us." Peter responded.

"That would be fine. Where did Dad put the dog food? It's the only snack we can give them." Jamie asked. Hope answered, "I think it's in the kitchen, I'll go see."

"Hurry then, I'm itching to press the play button already." Peter said.

It only took a short amount of time before Hope found the dog's kibbles, she took two bowls of them, "Well, I think it's enough for the both of them. Eat up whenever you want guys." Hope then placed the bowls in front of the two dogs.

Cody approached the bowl and started eating a little bit, Diva followed shortly, she did feel like she could use a little wee snack.

"Is everyone ready?" Peter asked. His two siblings just glanced on him, "Just play it already." They said in unison. Hearing the response, Peter just grabbed the remote and played the film, which turns out to be The Nightmare on Elm Street.

The Seaver trio seemed to enjoy the night, not only do they have the movies, they had each other as company and the snacks to keep them occupied while watching. Unfortunately, this doesn't go well for one of the pups.

"Hmm…so in order for this guy to kill or hurt them, they need to be dreaming." Cody observed. "And to beat this bad guy, one must pull him out of the dream. Seems rather odd and impossible, what do you think Diva?" When no response came from his sister he mentioned her name once again. Then he decided to face her, "Hey Diva, what's-." He paused as he saw his sister just staring at the film with cold, blank eyes. He tapped her, "Hey." She finally jinxed and snapped out of the trance she was in, "Huh…What? What is it Cody?" Diva asked suddenly.

"You tell me, you weren't answering when I was asking you some questions, Is something wrong?" Cody asked her.

Diva's thoughts were at confusion. As the film started, like any typical horror film, there is the one who gets scared and the one who scares. During the progression of the story, the antagonist (Freddy) kills his victim through a dream. The sight of death brought the image of Diva's dream right in front of her eyes. Only this time, things are a little different.


Diva was running through the bushes, as she did, the sound of a maniacal laughter is heard, followed by the statement, "You can't hide Diva! You can't run forever." Diva ran as fast as her paws could, the voices still present, "That's right little girl! Run! Run til your paws can't move anymore!" Suddenly, Diva was tripped by a tree branch. She slowly rose up, as she looked around she was in a light-filled place surrounded by bushes. She was panting heavily, she couldn't run anymore. She heard the sound of loud growls and laughter once more.

"What's the matter little girl, you tired!?" Diva began to look around her to find where the voice was coming from. She screamed out, "Who are you!? What do you want with me!?" The response she got was more laughter, followed by, "Nothing, I just want you to experience true fear, even if it means scaring you to death!" The leaves of the bushes suddenly began moving all of sudden. Diva was trembling in fear, "Show yourself! This isn't real! YOU'RE not real!"

"Oh really? Are you sure?" Then all of a sudden, a beast came out of the bushes, the same beast from Diva's dreams, same eyes, pure red and evil. Now, it has voice, which struck fear into the heart of the young Pup. Diva was silenced by the sight of the beast.

"What's the matter pup? Cat got your tongue?" The beast said with an evil grin.

"I'm not afraid of you! You're just another bad dream." Diva stated. "I wouldn't think so, can a bad dream do this!" The beast suddenly slashed a tree, which ended up getting sliced from the middle towards the roots.

"Real enough for ya? How about this!?" He dug his claws beneath the earth, with all his strength he pulled something out, a BODY.

"Recognize him?" He asked Diva. She was shocked at the sight of the lifeless body, what's worse, her father's dead body.

"Papa? No…this is…it can't-." The beast threw Chance's lifeless body in front of Diva, who, was at that moment, filled with despair, which at that point made her cry hard.

The beast simply smiled at her, "I figured you missed your daddy, so I thought why not I give him back to you!"

"You…you're a monster." Diva said while crying. "Stop telling me things I already know little girl. Now, it's time for you to be with daddy." The beast rose up high, with his sharp claws, going for the kill.


"Diva?" Cody broke the trance once more. "Oh, don't worry about it Codes, I think I'm gonna sleep now, I did tell you that I skipped the nap. Good night." Diva stated as she trotted towards the other sleeping animals.

"Oh…ok, good night." Cody replied.

So Cody was left with the kids, as they finished two more movies before finally hitting the sack. It was all quiet in the Cody the next morning. Laura and Bob seemed to have had a great time at last night's party. The kids were still asleep, after spending most of their time watching television. Long story short, it was one hell of a time for all of them.

Laura prepared a mean brunch for the family. When everyone was full, Bob moved in to make an announcement. "So kids, the school decided to have a tour at the park at around two o'clock in the afternoon, wanna come?"

"I think that's one of the main reasons we went on this trip dad." Peter said. "I speak for myself and my two brothers, we're coming with you." Hope answered.

"Glad to hear it, now-." Bob was interrupted by Jamie, "Can the animals come with us dad?"

"Oh I don't know about that son, I forgot to ask about that one." Bob said. "Please dad? I don't wanna leave them in here, they could trash this place up or worse, they might try to get out again." Jamie pleaded.

"Well, uh…let's see. I think I'm gonna ask 'em." Bob assured. Everyone waited for the decision. To their relief, the faculty allowed the Seavers to take their pets in the tour later, provided they keep a close eye on the animals, since they were told that the school would not be held accountable if anything were to happen to their pets.


(At the Radio Station)

"Are we all set gentlemen?" asked David.

"We're ready sir." They answered. "Fire her up!, send word to Wyoming, a storm is coming their way."

"God, I hope we're not too late." David thought.


(Yellowstone National Park)

The shuttles have entered the park. It was a fine day for snow activities. The children along with their families and their respective faculties arrived in good time, around ten minutes past two o'clock. The weather was fine, the skies were dimmed with clouds as white as snow, average wind speeds and snow at least four or five inches thick, based on their assumptions.

The children began to play snowballs. Some are even building snow castles and snowman, anything to keep them occupied.

"They sure are enjoying themselves," A teacher mentioned.

"I can see that clearly." Bob said. Suddenly he was hit with a snowball, "What the?" Then he glanced on the culprits, who turned out to be his kids.

"Come on dad, join us, it's fun!" Hope mentioned. Bob simply smirked, then formed a snowball, "You better be ready then kids, I still throw like a quarterback."

"Bob!? Those are your kids, you might hurt them." Laura said. Bob faced her and threw a snow ball at her and some of the faculty and staff, he then smiled and said, "Let the war begin."

The children joined, alongside their parents and teachers, who are now in an all-out war. Meanwhile the Seaver pets are having some fun on their own, Chance here won't stop digging while his pups started play fighting in the snow. Sassy began chasing Buffy, "I'm gonna get you, you little brat!"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." Buffy said while he was running.

"What's with him?" Jessie asked.

"He was digging through a huge patch of snow, then he began to play with Cody. They threw snowballs at each other, Buffy had a bad aim and he instead hit Aunt Sassy." Diva replied.

Jessie laughed hard, "I could've guessed the same thing." Now it was Diva who was laughing.

The chase was halted once Buffy went behind his parents. Of course, Aunt Sassy was being the loudmouth she always was, until she finally dropped it since she knew that there was no point arguing with Chance, she'd just end up losing.

"It's okay now son, go play with your brother and sisters." Chance motioned for his pup to go back.

Buffy quickly acknowledged his father and went along. They continued to play in the snow, it's freezing, but the pups surely don't mind, at least for a while. As they were chasing each other, they approached a dense area filled with trees, more like a forest, but near the area where the humans where. In the midst of their current activity, something caught their attention.

The sound of tree branches breaking made Cody stop at the scene, "Hey guys! Wait!" They all stopped and went back to where Cody was.

"What's up dude, why'd you stop chasing us?" Buffy asked irritatingly.

"I think I heard something from…right over there." Cody gestured. Everyone glanced at Cody's point of direction waiting for a sound, but none came.

"Well, whatever it was, I can say it's pretty much gone now." Jessie said. They were about to continue the chase, until the sound that Cody heard came once more, "There it is!" Cody shouted. Everyone faced into that direction once more, out of nowhere, a bear cub appeared.

"Hey look it's a-." Diva never got to finish, Buffy came charging at it screaming, "Bear!"

"Buffy no!" Cody screamed as he saw his older brother chase down the young cub. They all ran after him, as he was entering the woods, "Mama's gonna freak out if she found out about this!" Jessie said. As they all ran into the woods, Shadow, by chance saw what they were up too.

"Chance! The kids!" Shadow exclaimed. The rest of the adult animals faced in Shadow's direction, they all got a glimpse of who appeared to be Diva.

"Oh no." Delilah panicked. "Come on guys! Let's go after them before we all get into trouble." Chance said as he came down barreling towards the woods, following the pups trail. He was shortly followed by the rest.

"Wait up! I'm not as fast as you guys, you know that right!?" Sassy said, then she thought, "God! Why do they always make my life a living hell!?"


Meanwhile, back at the shuttles, the driver was inside listening to the radio, just passing the time. He was humming to the music being played.

"Now that's music." He said, "Let's see what else you got." He began to switch channels, until he stumbled on something. It sounded faint at first, but then got clear within seconds. "What the hell?"

"Hello, this is a message from San Francisco, a strong blizzard is about to hit Wyoming, stay indoors, don't leave the…stay safe, over and out." Then the radio turned static, "A what?" The driver was confused, then he heard from outside the shuttle, a sound of whirling wind, then he looked outside, to his dismay, a huge blizzard was indeed headed their way. "Oh my God." The driver then rushed outside the bus, he knew it was too late already, but he wanted to try and save others.

Meanwhile, the children along with the adults are still having the time of our lives, everyone haven't noticed that the winds have become stronger, except the Seaver kids, who were playing far from the others.

"Hey guys, when did the wind get stronger?" She wondered. Peter and Jamie stopped the snowball fight, they too began to notice the unusual event that's happening.

"It wasn't this strong when we got here." Jamie said. "Shadow! Come on boy, we have to go." Peter called out, but no answer came. Jamie followed, "Chance! Where are you boy? Chance!?" Hope began to call out to Sassy, but not even a purr was heard from the feline.

"Peter! Jamie! Hope!" a voice called out to the kids, it was Bob. "We gotta go! Now! We got a blizzard!"

"Where's mom dad?" Peter worriedly asked. "Don't worry about her son, she had gone with the rest, they're going back to The Cody. We gotta go! The shuttle can't stay here for long, the storm's getting stronger every minute."

"But dad, we can't find the animals anywhere!" Hope exclaimed. "Chance!" Jamie was still screaming for his pet to hear.

"Shadow! Sassy! Buffy!" Peter began calling out the pups one by one. Bob was stuck in a crossfire, whether to help his kids and to keep them safe.

"I'm sorry Hope, we just have to hope for the best, but I have to keep you guys safe! Come on!" Bob said. He called out to Peter and Jamie, Peter approached and began to follow, the wind was getting stronger, visibility was almost very low, up to the point that a Shadow couldn't even be seen in the light of day.

Jamie was still calling out to his dog, not ready to give up yet, Bob just grabbed and carried him with them, "What are you doing dad!? Let go of me! Chance is still out there!"

"I know Jamie! But it's not safe, you could die in this storm, we have to go!" Bob ordered him. Jamie was twitching and moving while he was carried towards the bus, "I don't care, I'm not leaving them there!" Jamie said with tears in his eyes, he was forcing his father to leave him, "Let me go dad!...Chance!" Bob and his kids reached the bus "What the hell took you guys? Come on!" the driver said. They all ride the bus now, the window wipers were set to the fastest speed possible.

"Hang on guys! This might get rough!" The driver said. Jamie quickly opened up his window, neglecting the fact that snow might enter the shuttle, "Chance!" Jamie cried out once more, as the bus began to move away from the place. As the bus exits the park, the only word that Jamie said was, "No." he was in tears.


(Before the Blizzard struck, Animal's point of view)

Buffy began chasing the bear cub, the cub simply kept moving, like he was being chased by a wild predator. "Buffy! Stop! You idiot!" Jessie said.

"Buffy, please stop running, we might get lost!" Cody said. Buffy stopped, when the others saw him, they hurdled each other and bumped into Buffy, forcing a dog pile.

"Why the hell where you chasing that bear!?" Jessie irritatingly asked. "Do you have any idea if it's mom find out that you were-." Jessie stopped talking, as she realized her worst case scenario was the one happening. "Oh Crap!" She said.

The mother bear let out a huge growl, enough to scare the pups, "Run!" Cody started. The rest followed, they ran as fast as their paws could, praying that the mother bear would just get tired and leave them be.

"You just have to chase the little bear, didn't you?" Jessie went on, 'I'm sorry alright?, It's not like I knew this would happen." Buffy replied.

"Yeah! You just have to make it happen." Jessie answered back. "You sound like Aunt Sassy! We're fine, it's not like we were hurt or something." Buffy said.

"Does this look fine to you?! We're lost!" Jessie replied. "Guys, stop fighting, we have to figure out a way to get out of here, if you haven't notice the wind just got stronger." Cody said. It calmed down the sibling fight for a while.

Meanwhile, Chance and the others began following the trail of the pups, "What were they thinking? Running into a place like this without us? Chance muttered.

"I just hope we find them soon Chance, I wouldn't forgive myself if anything bad happened to the kids." Delilah said. "Don't worry Delilah, we'll find them." Shadow assured. "Yeah, it's not your fault." Sassy said.

Chance barked, followed by Shadow and Delilah, to try and find the kids, who in turn could follow the sound of their barks.


(Back at the pups)

"Hey, you guys here that?" Diva asked. All of them twitched their heads at where the sound was coming from, it was a bark.

"It's Papa! He's here! Come on, let's follow the barks." Buffy said. For once, his siblings followed him. As the barks grew louder, they knew they were getting closer. "I think where near, let's bark so they can hear us too." Cody suggested. They all barked simultaneously.


(Back at Chance and the others)

"You guys here that?" Chance asked. Delilah quickly said, "It's the kids! I'm gonna follow it."

"Let me come with you." Chance said, but he was topped by his mate, "No Chance, you need to stay here, In case some wild animal attacks, you are the only one capable of defending Sassy and Shadow." Delilah said.

"But-." Chance was stooped, "No buts Chance, this isn't a game, stay here. I'll get the kids back, don't worry about me! I'm used to this." Delilah said.

Feeling defeated Chance simply nuzzled his mate, "Just be careful, alright?" Chance said. Delilah simply nodded and dashed. She began running and screaming out the name of her kids, one by one.

"Buffy! Jessie! Cody! Diva!" She screamed as she was running. Luckily, she heard something answer back, "Mama! We're right here! We're coming." She recognized Diva's voice quickly, she dashed off in that direction. She found them all, safe and sound, running towards her. She nuzzled each one of her kids, "Don't you ever do that again, you hear?" Delilah was almost in tears.

"I'm sorry mama, it was my fault." Buffy stepped up. The wind was getting stronger every second, "It doesn't matter anymore, we have to go back to your father. I don't like what's happening out here."

Delilah and the kids quickly dashed back to where Chance and the others are. The wind and snowfall have gotten stronger, visibility was low. As Delilah slowly approached their meeting spot, she began to call out for the others, "Chance! We're here!, Where are you?" She didn't receive any response, until after a few moments, "Delilah!" Shadow called out. Delilah looked at Shadow, "Follow me, Chance found a place to stay for a while, we won't be able to head back in a time like this." Delilah nodded, "Come on kids, follow uncle Shadow, I'll be right behind you." The winds grew stronger, the pups grabbed each other's tail, and the lead pup grabbed Shadow's tail. Delilah thought, "We'll be alright guys, as long as we're together."


Well, there you have it guys, sorry for the long delay, it was really hectic at school lately, plus, due to the fact that when I was making my story, I was only thinking about the plots for the middle and last parts, I haven't considered the beginning at that time, I thought no one would like the story. Anyways, hope you like this one, see you all soon...real soon :)