Hey guys and welcome to another chapter of 'Pups At Chernobyl'. So, let me begin the fact that it's November. Is anyone enjoying the start of the month already.
I know I have. I took a nice trip to the west coast in England, played a well known song with my fellow classmates in college on the piano, now I'm just laughing 'n' smiling.
Well anyways, I'll save my chatter for the end and give you chapter four. Enjoy!
Chapter 4 – Ryder and Katie
Chase opened his dazzled eyes. All he noticed was the sky was less dim than the day of the explosion. But a huge black smoke still kept in place. The German Shepherd noticed that the fire was bigger and worser than before. Around him, Igor and Edmund watched the black smoke continue to rise, by their side was Ryder. Parked by Chase's side was Skye who was sat in a wheelchair. She had completely lost all feeling in her back legs and the wheelchair was her only way of getting around. Chase knew how much she loved flying, but even flying in a helicopter or gliding with her pup pack in the state she was in was dangerous enough to almost guarantee to amputate one of her legs off.
Chase tried not to let his fear or worries for the grounded Cockapoo get in the way and focus on what was going on. A formation of five helicopters approached the burning reactor. "Bird's Nest, this is Canary One. Approaching the plant now." A pilot's voice came through on Skye's radio. "Remind them about the perimeter." Igor advised.
Skye looked up, then saw her owner turn to her. Ryder gave a nod and turned back to the view. "You cannot fly directly over the fire. Maintain a minimum twenty-meter distance from the main smoke." Skye instructed on the radio. Canary One approached the fire first. Its bucket filled with Boron and sand, as the professor ordered, ready to be released over the fire. Igor watched the helicopter decrease its distance from the fire, but the distance was closer than he saw.
"They're getting too close." Igor warned. "But they're trying to put out the fire. How else are we going to put it out?" Edmund asked. With the helicopter getting closer, time was running out. Igor had no idea how many souls were onboard the vehicle. He could only presume two or four.
"The wind will have to carry it." Igor stated with fear. He then felt the sudden idea that all their eyes were directly aimed at him. Igor slowly turned around to the Chief General, then back at Skye. "Tell them they cannot fly directly over the core." Igor issued.
Skye nodded and turned her microphone on. "Canary One is too close. I repeat, too close. Increase distance now." Skye instructed on the radio.
She felt sick in her stomach that she hoped they got the message in time as static rapidly invaded the airwaves. The other helicopters' pilots tried to reach Canary One, but they only received static too from the said helicopter. The ones on the ground watched the helicopter disappear from their view; all they heard was the helicopter's blades buzzing with violence. After what seemed like blades being ejected out from the smoke, they heard a loud crash. To their realisation, Skye faced away and buried her face in Chase's fur. Ryder squeezed his eyes shut while Igor and Edmund stared in horror.
"Bird's Nest, this is Canary Three. We lost Canary One." Canary Three reported. Then the voice returned with regret and a more horrifying description. "He fell into the building whilst dropping the contents."
Ryder couldn't breathe the air anymore. He held his breath and left the rooftop. Igor saw his intention and let him be. Edmund then turned to face the professor, with one thing on his mind after witnessing a casualty.
"What do we tell them now?" He asked. Igor turned toward the Chief General. "There's no other way." Igor informed with his voice almost stolen.
Following his path, Igor decided to find the petrified leader of the Paw Patrol. Edmund saw Chase comforting Skye, completely distressed from the sight of a loss. "Tell them to approach from the West." Edmund informed whilst keeping direct eye contact with Chase. The German Shepherd nodded and reached for the microphone.
"Canary Three, this is Bird's Nest. Approach the fire from the West. I repeat, approach from the West." Chase instructed on the radio.
Upon hearing the German Shepherd's words, Igor watched as the remaining helicopters flew past in front of him whilst catching glimpses of Adventure Bay. Igor saw it in his vision. Adventure Bay would become a ghost town. The professor knew Ryder and the rest of the pups wouldn't want to leave their home, but with the radiation becoming a permanent resident, they had no choice. He pushed on.
As he came to a corridor with a long stretch of windows on the side, he found Ryder collapsed to his knees. Igor heard his breathing meters away. He slowly approached the young leader and knelt to his level. "We're going to abandon the town, aren't we?" Ryder's voice sobbed. Igor looked up at the boy. He must've thought he read his mind, even after catching a glimpse of his home town. Ryder looked up at the professor's eyes, only for Igor himself to see tears had spilt down the boy's face. "It won't just be Adventure Bay," Igor informed. "The whole of the west will be dead if this disaster isn't stopped."
Not wanting to startle the boy, Igor gently placed his hand on Ryder's shoulder. Ryder shuffled himself closer to Igor and pulled him closer for a hug. Igor could sense the pure terror emitting off the leader's heart. He managed to get Ryder back on his feet and escorted the boy back to a nearby shelter where he and the other pups rested, before they and a group of rescue teams went inside the plant to rescue individuals who might be stuck or trapped. Igor returned to Adventure Bay and rested up in the living room of Town Hall. He searched inside the cabinets for any sort of liquid. Then he stumbled upon a bottle of vodka. He reached for it and poured out a shot of the liquid and downed it in one go. Igor leaned against the wall and quickly tightened the lid back on the bottle, and put it back where he found it.
Just then, Edmund came into the room and saw Igor swiftly turning to him. The Chief General and Professor didn't utter a sound to each other, but they moved toward a couch and sat at far ends. Edmund sat straight, while Igor slouched back in the corner of the couch. The silence between the two was dead, not after what they had witnessed.
"You're probably asking the same question to yourself as well as to me." Igor spoke out, breaking the awkward silence. "Why did it explode?" Edmund replied. Edmund softly turned his head, while Igor kept his eyes down at the carpet and kept a straight face.
"Yes." He answered, whilst keeping a low tone.
Edmund then faced away from Igor and lowered his head. "I've learned how an RBMK reactor core explodes." Igor admitted. Edmund lifted his head again, but more slowly than the last. "But its way is complicated. Something that people, not even at Ryder's age, will understand." Igor added. "When I first studied how an RBMK reactor explodes, I tried so many ways to discover how it got to what it looks like now. But every single attempt, every single paragraph, every single method I tried, I always got the same answer: Nothing."
The tensed professor kept his eyes hung. He didn't want to raise them as he couldn't find the courage to do so. "But it did. So, they must have done it somehow." Edmund stated. Igor, who couldn't bear the thought of staring off into space, had enough energy to raise his eyes to his fellow ally, who was staring at him. "And I know how." He finally spoke.
Back at the power plant, there were very few soldiers all dressed in biohazard suits whilst the rest, alongside the Paw Patrol, went inside the building to search for any survivors or what was left of them. Since Ryder told Chase he can watch over Skye on her recovery, the police pup took the one time opportunity to be at the side of the pup he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The rest of the pups went on without the two and parted into three teams: Ryder, Tracker and Everest went to the turbine hall, Zuma and Marshall checked all the corridors, whilst Rocky and Rubble checked around the main reactor block.
"Do you think this is a bit haunting?" Rubble asked, feeling scared about how dark the golden corridors were.
"Very haunting. But we've got to do this. There could be people who are counting on us to find them." Rocky reassured his fellow English Bulldog friend. "I guess you're right." Rubble said.
The two kept pushing on in their suits to protect them. Although they tried to block the sound, the Geiger counters kept ticking away in warning.
"I hope Skye gets better. And Chase can't stop worrying." Rocky pointed out. Rubble gave a small sighing noise as an indication of saying 'I know, right'. Then, the pups came across a huge yellow door. Rocky approached it but Rubble was eager for the mixed breed to move on and ignore the door.
"I think we ought to search in here, just to be sure." Rocky stated with curiosity infecting his brain. Rubble gulped and went to help Rocky with the door. The two, with whatever strength they had with them, got the door open ajar and squeezed through the gap. Their Geiger counters' ticks rapidly increased their rate. Both the pups heard their grave mistake, but Rocky saw a leg sticking out of a pile of debris.
"There's someone over there!" Rocky called out. Rubble rushed over to help Rocky to clear off the debris. The leg belonged to a human, thanking the pups' relief. "I'll check further on." Rocky called out.
Rubble saw his shadow rushing off, followed by him spinning his head fast to see where the Terrier rushed off to. "Rubble. Wait!" Rubble called out. Rocky was too far ahead, then he was stopped by the sight of a huge hall. Rocky clashed into the railing that stopped him from falling over and saw a massive hole in the ground. The railing broke off and Rocky felt his body tipping over the edge. Rubble managed to pulled him back, and the two pups retreated out of the hall to help the survivor.
"Let's get him out of here." The English Bulldog stated. Rocky nodded and the two helped him and got him outside. Whilst taking a breather, Rocky turned over his paw, only to notice that it was crimson red.
"My paw looks red." Rocky pointed out. He then turned over to Rubble who didn't have his trademark yellow and white colours, instead blended with two sets of shades of crimson as well. Rocky stared in horror, and so did Rubble. Then, Ryder, Everest and Tracker came out, with two bodies. Tracker instantly saw that their faces looked completely different to how he usually remembers them.
"Whoa, Amigos. You don't look so great." The Chihuahua expressed in shock. The Bulldog and Terrier turned to face their friends. "What happened to your faces?" Everest asked.
"We don't know. We just looked like this when we came out." Rubble explained. "Well, I think we better leave the area. Our dosimeters are nearing the limit." Ryder ordered as he glanced at his dosimeter.
The pups nodded and headed to the Paw Patroller, whilst Ryder radioed Zuma and Marshall that they were leaving the power plant at once. Whilst he waited for the two pups to leave the building, he looked around the building. He went around the plant for a short while. All he wanted to do was use his time of waiting for Zuma and Marshall to wander around. He came to a stop as he got a petrifying view of the tall-towering smoke that kept on climbing to the sky. Then he looked back down at the earth and saw a small block that he thought was graphite.
Fearing he stood next to it for too long, Ryder quickly scampered back to the Paw Patroller and didn't say anything else. Luckily, Marshall and Zuma had just boarded in good time.
"Robo-dog, let's head home." Ryder instructed. Robo-dog gave a soft "Arf" and drove off. Ryder had his mind glued on not only Rubble and Rocky, but also that huge block he saw. He didn't want to take any chances of spreading radiation, so he messaged Katie that he'd be over to get decontaminated from the radiation that he feared he might have soaked up. He could only hope the counts weren't high enough.
Back in Adventure Bay, Igor came walking out of town hall and went to take a seat on the top step. He had his head held low but raised it as he saw Edmund approach him. "It was successful." Edmund stated. Igor looked up at him, giving him the indication that he had no idea what he was talking about. "The fire is out; we've recorded the temperatures. Not promising is all I know." Edmund explained further.
Igor kept his head where it was, but lowered his eyes. "Professor, you should be proud." Edmund tried to reassure his advisor.
"This is a death zone." Igor said. "Look around. All of this…will be left behind."
Edmund looked around as the Professor explained. Igor had the feeling again. Adventure Bay would turn into a ghost town. He couldn't stop thinking about those exact words since the helicopters started dropping the materials on the fire. He then saw the Paw Patroller drive by. But somehow, Igor caught a glimpse of Rocky's face. Completely red. Igor rose up, seeing images of people's faces completely red. Endless images of red faces. Then skin burning up, disintegrating. Igor started to fall, but Edmund caught him.
"Are you okay, professor? You looked like you were going to faint then." Edmund asked.
"I'm fine." Igor replied. He raised himself back up and followed the Paw Patroller to the Lookout with his eyes. "What's the English bulldog and the mix breed Terrier?" Igor asked. Edmund looked around, hoping someone would tell him the answer. Unfortunately, he had no spark in his brain to answer Igor's question. "No idea, sir, but why ask?" Edmund answered.
"Their faces. I've seen it before. I think they've stared into the core, but I can't be certain." Igor stated. "Tell Ryder that I want to see those two pups I mentioned: the Terrier and the Bulldog." Edmund nodded and started heading for one of the tents, but Igor held him back. "Ed. Don't mention why I need them; we don't want to stir up a panic amongst the Paw Patrol." Igor advised. Edmund nodded and walked off.
Meanwhile, with the Paw Patrol, Ryder let his pups go off without him while he stopped by at Katie's Parlour. The boy approached the door and made five eased knocks on the window. The girl acknowledged that it was Ryder and unlocked the door, allowing Ryder to walk in. At first notice, Katie saw that Ryder was in a complete mess and sweat pouring out like water escaping out of a soaked-up sponge.
"I just need a good clean down. Mind if I use the shower?" Ryder asked. "Sure, but how come you're using mine when you have one back at the Lookout." Katie asked being curious. She knew it wasn't like Ryder to walk on in and ask if he could use the parlour owner's bathroom. "The boiler started behaving strangely on the night before the fourth reactor exploded." Ryder explained.
Katie led him to the bathroom. Ryder locked the door behind and turned the shower on. He found a bottle of body wash and a bottle of sanitiser. Katie, on the other hand, was tidying her parlour. She then noticed a huge, folded piece of towel. She thought that the bathroom didn't have one. She grabbed it and knocked on the door.
"Are you in?" Katie asked, feeling somewhat uneased. "I'm in." Ryder called.
Katie twisted the doorknob but noted that Ryder had locked the door. One-click of the bolt later and Katie could move the door. She opened the door and saw that the shower curtain was pulled out. She put the towel on the rack that was next to the shower. Katie then headed for the door. But she made one final glance at the shower curtain before leaving the leader the room to himself. She closed the door behind her, believing that Ryder relocked the door later on.
Moments had passed and Katie was becoming increasingly worried. She was starting to think he had drowned in there. If this was truly the end for not only her, and Ryder as well, then she might as well. Katie got out of her desk chair and raced toward the bathroom. Luckily this time, the door was open but she barged in to find Ryder only in his trousers. Within a split second, she spun around and covered her eyes.
"Oh gosh, Ryder. I'm so sorry. Are you okay? But you seem to be, and looking hot, but are you okay?" Katie asked as she panicked.
"Yeah, but how come you came barging like that?" Ryder asked.
"Nothing, it's just that…" Katie spoke, then Ryder was about to speak but she cut him off. "You want to say something, don't you?" Katie asked.
Ryder felt like she was trying to get something very important out of him that he was keeping from her. In Katie's mind, she had a feeling that he loves her, but she loved him back. Feeling like he couldn't compress the pressure anymore, Ryder decided to spill the beans.
"Well, I do have something. I think you love me." Ryder admitted. Katie tried to hold back her smile for the time being. But it wasn't long until Ryder added to his sentence. "And I love you."
Inside, her smile stopped urging to show itself to Ryder. Ryder himself felt guilty about what he just confessed. He wanted to throw his top back on and leg it for the Lookout. He turned around to grab his shirt but just before he could, he felt two hands landing on his shoulders. Katie turned him around and locked her lips on to his. Ryder felt his blood racing like a Cheetah, the butterflies in his stomach grew wilder and felt his temperature rise an extra ten degrees. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. Katie gently pulled back from Ryder's lips then her eyes met his.
"I love you as well. If we don't make it out of this…" Katie whispered. "I'm sure we will." Ryder reassured her. Ryder always had feelings towards Katie, but he just didn't know when to let it out. He'd known about it since he saved Katie from the runaway train last summer.
But he wasn't the only one in the team who has a crush...
Welp, hoped you enjoy but I think this kind of looks rushed as I had an extremely busy day on Thursday.
But anyways hope you enjoyed, as I just mentioned, and I'll be back with chapter five, where Igor's suspicions are about to be answered. And one quick question: On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you for the Paw Patrol movie sequel coming out next year? It's very much confirmed by Nick Jr.'s twitter page.
But from me, I'll see you next time, We'll Meet Again, Don't know where, don't know when, But I know We'll Meet Again, Some sunny day!