Chapter 28

"Okay well, it looks like you should be fine to leave any time you want. You just need to sign yourself out," the doctor smiled and handed Ryder a clipboard. The boy nodded a 'thanks' as he grabbed the board, then watched the woman walk out of his room. It had been a couple hours since he had a sudden phone call from his pups and was told later that he could leave. It seemed unrealistic since he was hurt pretty badly and is being released early without any prescriptions. Half of his intelligent brain was insisting that he should reassure the doctor if it was a good idea to be called out but on the other half, the more reckless side doesn't want to ruin his chances of an early freedom so he decided to keep his mouth shut. He checked the papers and signed any of the necessary information then put on his clothes that he had to hang to the side and walked out of his room. He first went up to the counter, to give his signed forms to his doctor, and left to go find his german shepherd pup.

As he walked around the hospital, he started to get a bad feeling, causing his stomach to churn uncomfortably but he didn't let it show. Ryder was looking all around the corridor trying to find something, anything, out of place. But he found nothing. The boy sighed and rubbed his face harshly, trying to get out of his uneasiness. But, like always, he decided to think rationally and push the anxiety aside then continued the search for his pup.

Two shadowy figures were seen near the police station, seeming to move items near the building. Looking closer, it read 'TNT' on each of the boxes that were placed there. One of the figures moved a box closer to the entrance, inconspicuously, then straightened his back with a grunt and a crack. "Ouch."

"Will you hurry up? We need to finish this soon before the rest of the plan commences," his partner hissed silently. The one who stopped working glared at the other, who still was moving the explosives.

"What's the rush Ray? We'll finish up here, which will take care of the other place, and the kid and pup. After that we will head over to Adventure Bay where the boss is and take over there, so what's the problem?" He shrugged, causing the other to pause briefly and glare at him, then resumed to his task.

"The problem is that the plan isn't ready yet and the boss would want us to report soon, successfully at that. And taking over a town isn't that easy. If you remember, the rest of that stupid team is still there and alive. If we want to rule there, we have to take care of them. Even if we won't be able to kill them on the spot, they won't have anywhere else to go for help," Ray explained, annoyed that he had to in the first place. "Now, Rich, if you don't want the boss to find out you were slacking off AGAIN, then I suggest that you help me finish this up!"

"Fine fine, sheesh," Rich rolled his eyes. The next silent minutes were filled with hard labor but eventually, they finished distributing the dynamite all around the station. It surprised them that no one saw the two but they didn't question it, only believing that they had good luck. Taking a quick peek through the window, Rick watched as some officers moving around the inside or just sitting at their desks, having no clue what was going to happen in the upcoming minutes. With a smirk, the man turned to his partner who was talking over a walkie talkie. After the call, they met up inside their parked minivan that was previously loaded with TNT.

"James and Zeak are finished up at the hospital," Rich reported as he started the van and silently drove off to their base. Ray nodded and pulled out his phone. "Are you going to call up the boss?"

"Yup." The next few minutes were filled with talking between him and the mysterious person, then he put the phone away to reveal a grin. "It's go time."

"Don't you think it's weird that our boss is a ten-year-old?" The driver cocked his head slightly.

"Remember that it was his father that was in charge, and after he was arrested, he put his son in charge until he got back," the passenger shrugged.

"Yeah but it's still weird." He made a face. "It's actually kind of strange that he managed to befriend the Paw Patrol themselves and figure out their weakness by all the times he was 'rescued'. I'm surprised that they didn't notice anything suspicious when he came out of the blue. I guess they're not as smart as we think."

"It doesn't matter. Let's get back to base and we can watch the next part of the plan take part." With that said, they drove off to their unknown hideout.

Zuma jumped out of his vehicle and proceed to the park bench he was one earlier. His mind was racing, anxious to see his date. He didn't want to go all out so he just wore his pup tag as usual. But as a gift, he brought a flower with him that matched her golden fur. The labrador also told his owner about the date and his response was an inspirational speech telling him to be himself, which he took to heart. Ryder also wiped a fake tear saying that he was 'growing up too fast'. So there he was, waiting for his date, on edge because he never been on one. Speaking of, none of the others on the team ever gone on a date before so it was a new experience. He also talked to Sebastian for some advice, claiming that he was a 'ladies man', and got that if he wanted to woo the pup, he needed to act tuff and awesome. Zuma didn't take that piece of advice to heart though.

So he continued to wait.

And wait.

Then waited some more.

"*sigh* I knew it was too good to be twue," Zuma shook his head dejectedly, and his voice full of disappointment. It had been a full hour and still no sign of his golden angel, as he called her. He slowly jumped off the bench, keeping his head down. It was a good thing he didn't dress up because he would have made himself a bigger fool than he already was. He was about to start heading to his vehicle until he heard a voice.

"Zuma!" His head snapped up and grinned when he saw a familiar retriever. The two pups tackled each other in pure happiness. After the reunion, they separated and sat upon the bench. "You're here early."

"I'm what?" He looked at her, confused.

"You're early. I said to meet up at three and I wanted to be early myself," she explained causing him to blush, but not noticeable enough for it to show.

"Oh...I wanted to come hewe eawly too! Yeah," he chuckled nervously. No wonder she didn't come earlier. He's such an idiot. The female pup must have noticed his lie because she gave him a smug look.

"You didn't really come early on purpose did you?"

"Nope," he sighed. She giggled, causing his heart to flutter. He remember his gift so he pulled out the flower from nowhere and gave it to her. "Hewe. I wanted to give you a gift that's wocking youw fuw colow."

"Thanks," she smiled and smelled the wite and orange carnation. "Smells lovely. So, you said before that you were going to go to work. What do you do?"

"I'm apawt of the Paw Patwol. I wowk as the watew wescue pup," he informed with her nodding.

"That's cool. You get to rescue a lot of people, like a superhero."

"Totally. What do you like to do?"

"I like surfing, believe it or not, but the beaches here in Foggy Bottom are too…" she paused, trying to think of the right word.

"Foggy," they both filled in and giggled afterward.

"I love suwfing too! It's like, totally pawsome. I love the ocean because it's so relaxing and beautiful," he said as he looked at her in the eyes. "Just like you." Their faces moved closer and closer until… Zuma's pup tag went off. He groaned and sent an apologetic look to Chloe and picked up.

"What?" He hissed.

"Zuma!" It was Sebastian. The pup heard the urgency in his voice so all irritation was put aside. "There have been explosions at the police station and the hospital. The firefighters are already dealing with both spots but they need more help."

"I'm on my way. Do you know anything about Wydew ow Chase?" He asked worriedly.

"No, but all the bodies that the rescuers are pulling out are dead," the Hispanic answered anxiously.

"Okay. See you thewe." He ended the call and turned to his date. "I have to go."

"I heard. Be careful," she warned. He nodded and raced off to his vehicle then drove off the hospital first. He didn't think anything of it just an automatic response since his family is possibly trapped in there. So, by possibly braking all of the road laws, he made it to his destination. He hopped out and met up with the teenager, who was waiting for him off to the side. "Did they find them?"

"No," he shook his head. Zuma nodded and faced his newly placed pup pack, he put it on while he drove which explained his wonky driving. He figured out that you can't change and drive at the same time.

"Arf, Arf! Scuba gear!" He barked out. As commanded, his scuba gear came out only without the water engines, which left the oxygen tank and bone mask as well as his goggles. Ignoring the protests from his friend, Zuma sprinted off to the burning building, in search of his owner first.

*only thirty minutes earlier*

Ryder finally found Chase's room, but oddly the bad feeling in his stomach didn't go away. In actuality, it only got worse. As he entered, he noticed that the pup was asleep on his medical bed, looking very uncomfortable, and his pup tag and pack to the side. Cautiously, the boy went up to the pup and sat down on a nearby chair, then started stroking the pup's fur. This caused him to stir and crack open his eyes. After blinking rapidly and adjusting his focus, Chase was able to make out the blurry figure in front of him to be none other than his owner. In pure joy, he jumped up out of his bed and tackled the boy in the seat while exclaiming, "Ryder!"

"Hey, Chase!" He giggled at the nonstop licks. He started slobber in his mouth unfortunately so he forced the pup to calm while he wiped himself with his long sleeve. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. How are you? Are you okay?" He asked back. Although he didn't know that the boy was emitted in the hospital, he sensed that his owner was hurt somehow.

"Yeah. I'm okay," he lied. When his pup jumped onto him, it hurt his ribs pretty badly but he didn't dare to show it to his second in command. "You should have been more careful on your mission by the way. I thought you knew better than to smell unknown substances that you didn't know."

"Sorry Ryder sir," he flattened his ears and whimpered. The boy's glare softened and he sighed.

"It's okay but remember that curiosity killed the cat," Ryder smiled.

"Well thank goodness I'm not a cat," Chase chuckled. "Did you, Zuma, and Sebastian catch the other two criminals?"

"Yes we did and they're off in jail." The pup nodded. Silence overcame them, but it was comfortable and not stiff. As Ryder continued to pet his pup, he felt the dog stiffen and his ears perk up. "What is it, Chase?"

"...Something doesn't feel right," he whispered. Chase's ears twitch every few seconds, trying to pinpoint any odd sounds. Then an odor filled the room causing his head to rise and sniff the air. He doesn't know how to describe it but it smelt familiar. It kind of smells like - his eyes bulged out of his head as he jumped out of the boy's arms. "There's a broken gas pipe! We need to get out of here. Now!"

"Do you know where it's coming from?" Ryder asked suddenly when they both sprinted out of the room, with pup pack and tag in hand, and warned everyone in their way but unfortunately, no one believed them, thinking it was just some kids pulling a prank.

"I think it on our flo-"

BANG! Before he could finish, they were thrown into the wall and knocked out by the impact. Screams erupted throughout the floor and more bodies dropped to the ground along with forming pools of crimson liquids.

To be continued...