Requested by MaxJackson47
(Part 1)
There was a dark tone in the air.
Any dog could sense it coming out of their kennels, especially Skye. Being an avian dog, she was highly trained in detecting early warning signs for terrible storms.
Zuma and Skye had been pulled aside early in the morning, much to everyone's confusion. Ryder never summoned them via pup tag, so they likely weren't going on a mission, yet why were they being singled out? They merely shrugged and went on with their day, not realizing the worst was incoming fast.
The pups were enjoying a tasty lunch when Ryder's voice suddenly came through their tags.
"Paw Patrol to the Lookout!"
"Ryder needs us!" Chase jumped up and charged off,
"Seriously? Now?" Rubble could be heard, "I'm eating..."
Rocky stood up, rolling his eyes, "I'm pretty sure the food will still be here when we get back," he reassured, but then his gaze suddenly trailed upward. Looking up at the sky, the mix recoiled slightly. The sky was going grey, a sure sign of rain.
Rain. Water. Flood. Such things would hopefully only stay in Rocky's nightmares. He suffered from hydrophobia all his life, and it seemed likely it would never let him go. He hated being wet, but he was to tolerate it to not let down the team. But swimming? That was different. Rocky could not swim, just stepping a paw into the gaping void that was a lake was a death sentence. He couldn't even stare at a body of water without feeling it was waiting to grab him and pull him under, tearing it out his breath as he was dragged into an abyss.
Now, seeing the rain clouds, Rocky could already feel fear swimming in his grey body.
"Uh, Rocky?" Rubble passed him, "I thought we were moving?"
His words snapped the mix back to reality, "yeah, sorry."
Rubble's face went soft, "I'm sure it's just rain, it's probably nothing to worry about." he gave a small smile.
"Yeah, I hope."
Eventually, all the remaining dogs filed into the Lookout, dressed in uniform and in formation like any other day. Walking in, Rocky spotted Zuma standing nearby, already in uniform. The Lab had an almost disturbed expression on his face, and his eyes were narrowed. The Mix tilted his head, concerned for his friend. For years the mix had come to admire Zuma, any dog that could brave the waters the way he did made Rocky's mind go crazy. If any dog could save him from a violent ocean, it would be him. Rocky could nearly pinpoint the exact moment Chase said his line: "Ready for action, Ryder sir!" It was like clockwork.
Chase was interrupted as a crack of thunder echoed across the sky, making Rocky jump slightly. Zuma looked over at the recycle pup in response, eyes full of concern. It was almost like he knew exactly what was coming.
"Thanks for hurrying, pups," Ryder walked to the front, "we have a serious emergency,"
Chase's eyes widened, "did someone get hurt?
"I'm afraid it may be worse than a single accident," the boy explained, "Zuma, Skye, you have the floor."
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion as Zuma and Skye suddenly broke from the line, coming to the front of the room. For what seemed like the first time ever, the briefing was coming from them instead. The two of them stopped and turned, now facing the entire team in Ryder's place. Rocky found himself staring at Zuma, it was almost enticing to see the Lab take control, and he wondered what it would be like if he was the leader instead of Chase. A Paw Patrol run by a coast guard? Certainly would be interesting.
Skye took a deep breath before speaking, "a category four hurricane is coming."
The four dogs in line suddenly recoiled, either taking a step back or doing a double-take. Rocky felt his heart skip a beat, maybe three, and his breathing stopped for a full few seconds. There was no way she just said that, surely she didn't?
"What?" Rocky asked, pleading for it to be a joke,
"It's true," Zuma confirmed, voice turned serious, "I went down to the pier this morning to check the waves. The tide has grown violent, churning,"
A hundred scenarios flashed in Rocky's mind upon hearing those words, and he swore he could hear crashing waves.
"Rough tide is a direct warning side for hurricanes," Zuma continued, "and calling what I saw 'rough' is an understatement."
"Winds have picked up speed down south," Skye began, "it was strong enough to carry loose objects, I'm surprised I myself didn't get blown away," she looked down, a flash of fear in her eyes, "it's more than likely it's coming in our direction."
"What do we do?" Chase asked, his confidence falling,
"I've planned a course of action," Ryder explained, returning to the front, "thank you, Skye, Zuma."
The two dogs nodded and returned to the line, as Ryder pulled out his pup pad and brought their logos to the screen.
"Chase, Marshall," he started, "get to town and inform everyone of immediate evacuation."
"Evacuation?" Rocky's eyes widened, "they can't just stay inside?"
"Not from this," Skye responded, turning from the line, "hurricanes of this magnitude destroy buildings and cause severe devastation,"
Not the words Rocky wanted to hear today, and he felt his breathing grow heavy. He hadn't noticed his tail flee under his legs, or his ears flatten so hard you couldn't tell he even had them. No one seemed to be paying attention to him though, except for a certain Lab.
"I talked to Everest," Ryder informed, "she's contacted emergency services and they're headed to the evac site now. Chase, Marshall, meet with me before you leave so I can give you the location. The people will need to know they're going."
"Rubble," he continued, "take Chase's traffic cones and start closing off the alternate routes out of the city. They need to take the main road out, and we can't have anyone straying off."
Rubble nodded his head in understanding.
"Skye, get in the air and start watching but do not stay up there if things get dangerous. Come down immediately if you feel you're in danger."
"This pup's gonna fly," Skye said with a determined look, her voice was noticeably lacking in playfulness.
"Rocky, Zuma, stay here for now," Ryder nodded, "but be prepared to help in case we need extra paws."
Rocky could be heard releasing a massive exhale.
"Alright, Paw Patrol is on a roll," Ryder too seemed to be lacking his usual joyous tone,
The dogs all filed out, one by one, just as thunder began to sound again through the sky. Rocky seemed frozen in place, still standing in his spot as he fearfully quivered. Zuma made haste to the window and looked out, eyeing the clouds. A dark web of storm clouds had blotted out the sky, and the city outside looked much darker than usual. At that moment, the Lab feared for the people, hurricanes were not something taken lightly.
"I hope everyone gets out in time," Zuma muttered, but there was no response from his friend, "Rocky?"
Turning back to the mix, Zuma grew concerned as he walked over to him, "Rocky are you okay?"
"Hurricanes kill people," Rocky said flatly, his voice shaking,
Zuma's eyes widened, and he quickly placed his paw on Rocky's arm, "yes, they do, but not with us here," he tried to reassure, "we're going to get these people out,"
"It followed me."
"What?" the Lab asked, "who?"
"The storm,"
"Rocky, hurricanes don't 'follow' dogs."
"But what if they do?" he looked up, almost crying, "what if this one did?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Zuma asked in slight agitation, "why would you think a hurricane is following you?"
The mix merely turned his head away, "nothing, it's nothing,"
Aghast at his friend's condition, Zuma sighed, "Rocky, please. Try to be strong here, just try?"
Zuma was well aware of Rocky's hydrophobia, and while he usually didn't comment on it, he knew well enough that this storm could bring out something dreadful in his partner.
"Rocky," Zuma repeated, cupping the mix's face with his paw, "look at me,"
The recycle pup almost leaned into the touch, a flicker of peace emerging that almost calmed the waves inside him. For a brief moment, he felt safe, protected. Deep down he always wanted to cling to someone and be soothed into thinking everything was okay. He wanted to be defended, he wanted someone to hold him.
"It hurts me to see you like this,"
It was a secret between them, a revelation Zuma feared to expose to his friends. The way he felt toward Rocky was unlike anything he had ever felt toward another. Rocky was fragile and afraid, and anyone like Chase would've just ridiculed him for being a coward. Zuma wanted to hold the mix and tell him everything was going to be okay.
But he couldn't.
He couldn't because he feared what his team would do. He feared what Chase and Marshall would think, Skye, Rubble, Ryder, how would they respond? Most importantly, what would Rocky do? The recycle wanted someone to lean on, sure, but not in the way Zuma wanted. This was no time for the heart, and emotions tended to make you do stupid things. He wanted Rocky, but couldn't, and he dejectedly let his paw lift away from Rocky's face.
"I'm sorry," Rocky apologized, feeling vulnerable as Zuma's hold left him, "I'm just being stupid."
"Let's just try to hold out until Ryder needs us for anything," the Lab looked away,
"When do you think the storm gets here?"
Zuma picked his head up, remembering the data he and Skye piled together, "no more than six hours away."
"It's close,"
"Yeah, it is," Zuma confirmed, "but if we do what Ryder tells us, everything will be okay."
-.-
Rocky woke up in his kennel the next day, he tried to sleep off the anxiety but it seemed to follow him in his dreams. At first he couldn't even tell it was morning, as barely any light was coming through the front opening in his den. Standing up and yawning his drowsiness away, he quickly froze as his mind registered a pounding noise above him. Looking up at the ceiling, Rocky realized it was raining... violently.
His ears flattened, and he turned to look outside from the door. With a bludgeoning realization, Rocky streamed backward as he took in the severe rain. It was a storm of hell outside, and he was thankful that the tower was built on a large plane of concrete.
What was going on? Why did no one wake him? Where was Zuma or Ryder? Where was the team? Millions of questions buzzed through him as he shielded himself as much as possible from the outside. He felt safe in there, not as safe as with Zuma, but a degree of safe that allowed him to breathe easily.
He tapped his pup tag, checking if he could contact anyone. He frowned when the collar responded with mere static.
"Did something break our radio tower?" he wondered aloud,
A crash of thunder answered his question, and Rocky realized he was alone. Completely alone.
-.-
The wind was roaring, the rain so violent it seemed to be pounding itself into the ground. Debris was flying in every direction as windows shattered, and objects were being flung into the air.
"Proceed to route 45!" Chase shouted into his megaphone, for anyone left to hear him, "this is an immediate evacuation!"
He was completely soaked from the rain, bleeding from cuts as broken glass sliced passed him in the wind. He was standing just before the town hall, all the trees were nearly torn from their roots, benches and trash cans flung into the air.
"Proceed to route 45!" he repeated again, bracing himself as the wind nearly swept him away, "this is an immediate evacuation!"
"Chase!" Zuma shouted as loud as he could, driving up in his vehicle - which was configured in its 'jet cruiser' mode, "what the hell are you doing?!"
"We got a distress call from the town!" Chase turned, having to bark over the crashing wind, "some of the elderly wasn't able to leave, I had to come back out!"
A violent bolt of lightning streamed down from the sky, slashing through a building. Glass exploded in all directions as concrete and wood were ripped and torn to pieces. After a loud groaning, the building leaned over and crashed into the road, sending more dust and glass flying out.
"You're going to get yourself killed!" Zuma argued,
"I don't care anymore!" Chase snarled, "there are people still here! And I don't think we'll even be able to leave to begin with!"
"What?!" Zuma stepped back,
"Skye called me before the radio lines went dead! Debris and floods have blocked off every route out of here!"
"We're trapped in..." Zuma concluded, as his eyes widened, "holy shit, where are the others?!"
"I don't know where Rubble, Marshall, or Skye are, and I can't find Ryder! I have no way to contact them!" Chase cried out, wincing as another building was ripped apart, "where's Rocky?"
"He's still at the Lookout!" Zuma replied,
"Wait, you left him there?!"
"I couldn't take him out into this!" the Lab argued, "he'd be safe back there?!"
"Zuma... you left him!"
"It was a quick decision! I didn't want him getting hurt and I knew he'd break down out here!"
"Well I hate to tell you this," Chase snapped, "but he's in just as much danger as we are! Why is he so much more important to you than anyone else?!"
The dog was silenced as another massive bolt of lightning smashed into a building, the wind already beginning to dislodge it. Neither of them had the time to turn around as concrete fractured from the structure, the wind carrying them away like bullets in a typhoon.
"Get off the street!" Chase barked,
With their very lives at stake, the two dogs charged away as fast as they could the building smashed into the road, exploding into lethal projectiles the wind was quick to grab. They both charged over the sidewalk and into a nearby shop. The door had been ripped off its hinges and most of the windows were shattered, but it would do for shelter.
"We need to get Rubble!" Zuma cried, jumping as something smashed into the outside wall.
"No! I'm getting Rubble, you get Rocky!" Chase turned,
"Why Rocky? He's safe!"
"No, he isn't!" Chase stumbled as the wind rocked the building, "The Lookout is no stronger than any of the buildings in town! It'll come down on top of him you idiot!"
The Lab recoiled, his heart dropping as he realized he may have just sent the most important dog in his life into death. The mixed-breed he cared about was completely trapped and Zuma wasn't even there to help him.
"I thought he'd be safe," the Lab barely choked out, then quickly ran for the door,
"Why though?" Chase called after him, "why is he so important?!"
Zuma whipped around, "because I love him and you won't take that from me!"
He finished his proclamation by turning and racing off into the storm, leaving Chase completely stunned. The Shepherd tried to say something, but a massive impact blew open the back wall, showering him in dust and exposing the vulnerable interior of the house to the powerful wind.