Hello all! So after another wait that was longer than I intended, here is a Christmas present from me to all of my supporters!
Enjoy!
Chase stopped as Skye and Rocky went into the Lookout ahead of him, and looked up at the sky. The sun would peak over the mountain in a couple of hours. That gave them just enough time to come up with a plan. The shepherd followed the others into the elevator and stood next to Skye. "What's the plan?" She asked.
"Are you going to use your spy drone?" Rocky asked. When Chase nodded, a wide spread across the mix breeds face. "I can help with that." He walked to the rear of the elevator and pushed a button on the back wall that the others had never noticed before. Then, instead of going up like it had always done, the elevator went down. A moment later, the back of the elevator opened into a large room filled with half made pup vehicles, pup packs and other gadgets.
The others stared in aww. "What is this place?" Skye asked.
"This," Rocky said walking into the space, "is where Ryder started the Paw Patrol. . ." He walked over to a workbench that was pup height, "and where he asked me to help him expand it." Rocky motioned to the half-finished vehicles with a paw. "Ryder built the first two vehicles on his own, Marshall's Firetruck and your Police Truck." He said to Chase. "When I came along, he and I designed and built the others together."
"Wow. . ." the shepherd said. Then he watched Rocky walk to a crate and nudge open the lid with a paw. "What's in there?"
The mix breed focused his brown eyes on the shepherd and smiled again. "Something that will help us find Dundee." He cast his eyes up, "Arf, arf, claw!" A moment later, a machine turned on, and a claw that was attached to a track in the ceiling moved over the box. "Claw, down. . ." The machine followed the command and descended down into the crate. "Claw, stop!" he spoke again. And then gave another command, "Claw, close . . . claw, stop." The mix breed checked the inside of the box. "Okay, good . . . claw, lift."
As the object came out of the crate, Chase recognized it. "It's another spy drone."
Rocky nodded. "Yep, there are six more in the crate." He smirked, "when Ryder and I got a good design made we decided to make more just in case we needed them. . . I think we need them now more than ever."
"Are you ready?" Ryder asked Jake. They were standing outside the hospital room where the doctors had brought Drake and Isis after the surgery.
"Isis should be waking up soon." The doctor had said to them in the waiting room. "It will be a few more hours before Drake is awake. . . But you can wait in the room if you want to." He gave them a small smile. He had shown them down the hallway and then stopped. "Here it is. . . You can go in whenever you're ready." He had turned. "I have to go do my rounds. . . I'll check in on you later."
Now Jake stared at the opening, almost afraid to go in. "I guess . . . I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He took a deep breath, and then glanced down at Everest. "Are you ready?"
She nodded and gave a small smile. "As ready as I'll ever be."
He gave her a small smile of his own. Finally he pushed open the door and walked inside.
The room was silent except for the chorus of beeps coming from the various medical machines that surrounded the two pups. There were three beds in the large room. Isis was in one of the beds jutting into the room from the right, and Drake was in the one at the end of the room facing the door.
Jake couldn't help but cringe at all the machines that surrounded the wolf. He knew some were helping the pup breathe, some were monitoring his heartbeat, and there were others that he wasn't sure about. But he knew they were all doing the same general thing, they were keeping Drake alive.
He slowly walked over the sleeping wolf and then gently placed a hand on Drakes coarse fur. "I'm sorry. . ." He said slowly. "I never should have let it go this far."
After a few seconds of silence, Ryder shook his head and placed a hand on Jake's shoulder. "It is what it is, and we can't change it now." The leader spoke with a firm voice. "Focus on making things right."
Jake only stared into Ryder confident brown eyes for a few moments, and then he nodded. "Okay. . . What do we need to do?" He said with confidence in his voice.
"First-" Ryder was interrupted by his pup pad ringing. "I'm going to answer my pup pad." He finished, making the others laugh. "Ryder here."
It was Chase. "Ryder sir, we've programmed all the spy drones to search for Dundee."
"Great!" Ryder answered. "Don't send them all out, though."
The shepherd cocked his head to one side, "Why not?"
"Because it will look suspicious," the leader explained. "We don't want the people holding Dundee to know we're looking for him. The more drones we send out. . ."
Chase smiled as he caught on. "The more likely it is that the bad guys will notice them." The shepherd finished. "So what do you think Ryder?"
The teen rolled his eyes up to the ceiling for a moment to think. And then, after a few seconds, he looked back at the screen. "I would send out three." Before he could continue, the shepherd came up with his own plan.
"I'll leave Skye here to monitor them while Rocky and I go search on the ground." Chase said his voice filled with confidence.
"Good plan Chase," pride filled the teen's voice. "Sounds like you've got it under control."
As he received the complement, the shepherd blushed. "Thanks, Ryder sir. . . How's everything going there? Is Drake out of surgery yet?"
His leader nodded. "The doctor said he should recover in the next few months."
Satisfied with the answer, Chase asked another question. "Is Marshall doing okay?" Ryder noticed an edge of worry enter the shepherd's voice.
Instinctively, Ryder glanced at the Dalmatian who was trying to find a comfortable position to lie down. But he wasn't having much luck, however, because his shoulder hurt too much. Ryder was dreading this moment, having to figure out how to tell Chase that his mate had been shot.
Feeling his leaders brown eyed gaze on him, Marshall stood up and met them with his own bright blue ones. "Is everything okay Ryder?" He asked.
"Ryder." Chase said now with more worry. "Did something happen to Marshall?"
Marshall must have sensed his leader's indecision, because the Dalmatian hobbled over to him and looked at the pup pad. He smiled as he saw the shepherds face. "Hey Chase."
"Marshall!" the pup on the screen breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?" Before the Dalmatian could answer, Chase asked another question. "Why is there gauze on your shoulder?" his voice now held alarm.
The Dalmatian sighed. "Someone took a shot at Everest while we were outside. . . She's fine, by the way."
"But you got shot in the shoulder." Chase said with a notable growl.
The Dalmatian nodded, and then he went on to repeat what he had told Ryder earlier. "The doctor said that the will be ready for me soon." He said when he finished. Almost on cue, the doctor gave a soft knock on the frame to the doorway making him look up. "In fact, I think he's ready now." When the doctor nodded, he focused his blue eyes back at the screen. "Don't worry Chase I'm in very good hands. . . Be careful Chase, I love you."
"I love you too Marshall" The shepherd responded in a low husky voice.
Ryder watched the Dalmatian make his way to the door with Everest following behind him. He watched them gently nuzzle each other. And then, as Marshall walked out the door, Ryder focused his eyes back at the screen. "Jake and I are on our way to The Lookout, so we can join the search." Ryder said cast his brown eyes at the man who nodded. "I'll see if Katie will come and stay with everyone here."
Again, the shepherd on the screen nodded. "See you soon Ryder, Chase is on the case!"
Ryder ended the call and looked at Jake. "Are you ready?"
Jake stood and zipped up his puffy jacket, "Let's go." He said with confidence that hadn't been in his voice for days. Then he locked his eyes on Everest. "We will get Dundee back, Everest. I promise."
Everest fixed her ice blue eyes on him, and after a moment she spoke. "Good luck."
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