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Chapter 9: Trapped

The next morning Zuma woke with the sun. The storm had passed overnight, leaving behind only a few scattered clouds in its wake. It was a warm and beautiful day, with a slight wind blowing through the palm leaf curtains they were using for walls. The chocolate Labrador stretched and yawned before looking around at the others. They were still sleeping, and Rubble was snoring as usual. Zuma smiled to himself as he walked out of the tent, glad they had all gotten used to the English bulldog's nightly noises at this point. Suddenly he stopped, his mouth gaping open and eyes wide in surprise and wonder. He turned around and raced back into the tent.

"Dudes! Come on! You're gonna want to see this!" He shouted into the tent, his tail wagging in excitement.

The pups started to wake up. "What is it?" asked Everest, who was also usually an early riser and had already been partially awake.

"Come and see!" Zuma responded before going back outside.

Everest looked back at the other pups who were slowly waking up. Only Rubble and Ryder remained asleep. Everest shrugged and followed the water pup outside.

Zuma was over by the beach edge, looking out across the water. But Everest didn't notice him. She gasped in amazement. "What on earth…?" She walked up to Zuma.

Without turning to look at her he said, "Marshall was right, this is definitely not the ocean." About two miles out, a mountain range of sheer cliffs towered above the water. It stretched across and around the horizon as far as they could see. "It's like we're in a crater. Cool!"

"Where are we…?" Everest wondered out loud.

The other pups minus Rubble walked outside, still somewhat sleepy.

"What's so important?" Chase asked, yawning.

"Whaaaaaa…?" Marshall gasped as he noticed the ring of rock around them.

"Wow…" Skye yawned. "But… did you really have to wake us up this early to see this…?"

Zuma winced, "Oh… Uh, sorry dudes. I just got so excited!"

"It's okay!" replied Marshall.

"Well this yet again confirms that it's not the ocean," Rocky stated. "So then where are we…?"

"I don't know, but I'm starving!" Rubble exclaimed, stomach rumbling. Apparently he had woken up and come out following the others.

"¡Vaya, vaya! Lo siento. I never found us any food," Tracker apologized in dismay.

"It's okay, we had to get Everest anyway," Chase reminded him.

"It's no problem! I found our emergency supply box in the Air Patroller last night. We should be a-okay for the next few days!" Rocky grinned.

"I should still probably look for some food," Tracker replied.

"We can all help look later today," Skye volunteered.

"I'll have to stay behind with Ryder," Marshall said. "Someone needs to take care of him. I also want to check up on you, Zuma."

"I hope he wakes up soon," Everest responded worriedly.

"He woke up last night while you were gone, and we explained the situation to him," Rocky reassured her. "He just needs rest."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go get something to eat!" Rubble said.

"Go ahead, I already rationed the supplies," Rocky informed him. "Next thing I'm working on is looking at that dart. Ruff! Claw!" As Rocky started examining the tranquilizer dart, everyone made their way back to the shelter to have breakfast. Chase stayed behind with Rocky. "Hmm…" muttered the recycling pup as he rotated the small piece of metal, "I can't find any manufacturing marks on it. It also looks like there's different chambers in it, so it can be reused. Two of them are already empty. This third one looks like it still has more toxin in it."

"So you mean that someone could get stabbed and knocked out by it?" Chase asked, nervously remembering how he had been carelessly carrying it around last night.

"No… I don't think so. It looks like it would need an impact to open up the chamber and inject the dose."

"Oh good."

"That's not to say this isn't dangerous though. If it can knock out a puma, then it could really hurt one of us. Or worse. We need to find a safe place to put it."

Chase smiled, "I have an idea."

After lunch, Marshall, Zuma, and Rubble stayed with Ryder as the other five went off to search for a more sustainable source of food. Zuma had wanted to go but Marshall insisted he stay behind for a more thorough checkup, and Rubble decided he wanted to make their temporary dwelling place a bit more stable, especially with the threat of wild predators around. Everyone who wasn't already geared up got their equipment ready, including Skye. Even though she knew her pup pack wouldn't work, she liked the comfort it brought her knowing it was on her back. Tracker was of invaluable help in identifying the different species of plants, as well as identifying tracks left by animals. With the new introduction of light to the forest, it looked like an entirely different place, and Tracker was enjoying himself despite the traumatizing events of the previous night. He was able to help identify several sources of edible vegetation growing around, and though everyone knew they would need more than just plants to sustain them, they also knew that it would help significantly.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard any wild cats around," Everest observed after about an hour of hiking.

"Pumas are usually nocturnal," Rocky informed her, "We should be okay during the daytime."

"Well that's a relief!" Everest replied.

"Shhh! ¡Escuchen!" Tracker shushed them, "I heard something creaking." Everyone paused. "There it is again!" Tracker exclaimed. "It's coming from over here."

He took a step forward. And then he tripped. But instead of falling, he found himself being lifted into the air, along with all the other pups. "Woah!" everyone shouted in shock and alarm as they were scooped off their feet by a giant net.

"Ouch! My paw!"
"Woaaaahhhh!"
"Aaaahhhh!"
"Oof!"
"Ouch!"

They were left suspended there, hanging by the creaking ropes. Chase tried to move, but was pushed flat up against the side of the net by an amalgamation of paws, legs, and tails. "Who's pup pack is in my side?" he asked.

"I think that might be the side of mine," Rocky said.

"Oy-oy-oy…" Tracker mumbled. "That was a well-hid trap."

"That hurt my paw again," Skye spoke out, the pain apparent in her voice.

"Don't worry, Skye. We'll get out of this! Somehow…" Everest said, her tone betraying a false confidence.

"I could probably untie the net with my claw," Rocky offered. "Ooh! Or I could just cut it! Ruff! Scissors!"

Rocky started blindly maneuvering the small scissors in attempts to cut the rope. Chase was able to give him general directions, but it was still slow work. The rope was thick and took a while to sever. After a bit of squirming, Tracker was able to get his pup pack free and start using his multi-tool to help as well. After about twenty minutes, the net started to come undone. They were just about free when Tracker heard something.

"Something's coming!" he called out.

"Almost… Got it… There!" Rocky exclaimed as he cut through the last rope holding the net together. It started unraveling, and they all fell to the ground. But none of them landed.

"What in the world?" Chase asked, dumbfounded, as all five of them hovered above the ground in midair. He tried moving around, but he couldn't seem to move anywhere. Everyone else was having the same problem. Rocky started spinning his arm around, letting him rotate slowly back to face the group.

"What on earth is happening? Rocky questioned in befuddlement.

"I have no clue," Everest responded.

The ground beneath them was humming a low droning tone. Through the dirt and leaves shone a dim, purple glow.

"Ay no…" Tracker said. Then he looked up as a figure stepped into the clearing.

It was a completely black dog wearing two satchels, one on either side of his back. He was small and looked to be about Rubble's or Zuma's age. Then he spoke.

"You shouldn't have come here."

This chapter was too short without the trek into the woods, but I fully thought I wouldn't have enough even with what I have now; that I would have to add more. I'm glad I was wrong! This cliffhanger was one of the ones I was really looking forward to. For those of you using Google Translate to translate Tracker's lines; this chapter has a great example of why it can't always be trusted. "¡Vaya, vaya!" is a Spanish equivalent (approximately) of "Oh dear!", but it translates literally to "Wow, wow!" or "Well, well!". Google, however, decides to take neither of these meanings and instead goes with the very confusing "Go, go!"