Chapter 5: Separated
"CHASE!" Skye yelled from her helicopter. What had started as a normal, everyday rescue turned into a dangerous, life-threatening situation. Chase was on the road leading to Big View Trail, but his brakes decided to stop working. Whenever the police pup put his paw on the brake pedal, it went straight to the floor. Ryder, who was notified of the danger from Skye, was equally worried and made a mental note to have Rocky fix Chase's brake lines when they got back. If we get back, he thought in the back of his mind. Shaking his head to get rid of such a nasty thought, Ryder sped on towards Chase.
Skye continued to follow Chase with her copter. She was hoping her desperate prayers for Chase to be okay would be answered. Chase, meanwhile, was panicking, trying to bring his vehicle to a halt. He looked forward and noticed that he was approaching a huge cliff. "Come on," he said through gritted teeth, doing anything he could to slow down his police cruiser. He looked up again and noticed he didn't have much time.
"Chase, you gotta bail!" Skye yelled. "Get out of there, please!" She had tears in her eyes at this point.
Chase, understanding that there was no saving his vehicle, went to unbuckle himself…only to find his seatbelt jammed. Oh crap, he really began to panic now. "My seatbelt's jammed!" he said over his pup tag, causing Ryder and Skye to gasp.
Skye watched, half blinded by tears, as Chase and his police cruiser smashed through the guardrail and disappeared off the edge of the cliff. "No," she whispered. "No, Chase, not you." She landed her copter nearby and began sprinting over as fast as her little legs could carry her. Once she reached the edge of the cliff, she peered over and let out a heartbroken cry at what she saw. Chase's police cruiser was smashed to pieces down below, completely engulfed by flames.
Skye went limp on the ground, her two front legs dangling over the edge. "No," she continued to whisper through her tears. "No. Not you Chase." She could hear Ryder's ATV arrive at the scene. The boy got up and immediately ran over to where the cockapoo was.
"No," Skye continued crying. "No, no, NOOOOOOOOO!"
"No!" Skye yelled before jumping up and hitting her head on the ceiling in her pup house. She groaned in pain as she gathered her bearings. She was in her pup house, it was dawn, her face was covered in tears, she had been dreaming this whole time. "Oh thank goodness, it was just a dream, a bad, no, terrible dream." She put her paw up to her chest and could feel her rapid heartbeat. She decided it was best to not try to fall back asleep. With nothing else to do, she walked outside and towards the Lookout.
On her way she passed by Chase's pup house and she peeked inside. The shepherd was still asleep, alive too, unlike in the cockapoo's dream, and she silently fawned at how cute he looked when he was asleep. It wasn't often when she, or any of the other pups for that matter, got to see Chase when he was asleep. Normally he was up and at 'em well before anyone else. After watching him sleep for a few seconds more, Skye walked into the Lookout, where she saw Ryder preparing the pups' breakfasts.
"Hey Skye," Ryder said, but then he did a double take upon seeing the cockapoo with bags under her eyes and dried tears on her face. "Are you okay?"
"Hi Ryder," Skye said, feigning a smile. "I'm okay, just a bad dream is all."
"Did you want to talk about it?"
Skye gulped. "No thanks," she said, looking from side to side. "I'll be okay."
"In that case, did you want to do me a favor and wake the others? Normally Chase would have already done that by now but he must be sleeping in again." It had been four days since the tornado hit Adventure Bay, three since a building collapsed on Chase, Marshall and Rubble, and the German shepherd had been sleeping in every subsequent morning.
"No problem Ryder!" Skye did a backflip before walking back outside to wake the others. She started with Chase, not only because she wanted to spend time with him, but his pup house was closest to the Lookout entrance. This didn't stop her from taking a few more seconds to fawn at the sleeping police pup.
Skye walked into Chase's pup house, which was significantly bigger than hers, and she gently placed a paw on his shoulder. "Chase," she whispered, "it's time to wake up." After a few moments the German shepherd opened his eyes to be greeted with Skye's magenta eyes and wide smile.
"S-s-skye," he said, clearly alarmed. He sat up and shook his head a few times. "G-g-good morning," he blushed.
"Good morning, sleepy head," she giggled. He's so cute when he blushes. "Ryder sent me to wake you pups up. C'mon, let's wake the others," she said as she left his pup house, her voice trailing off.
Chase tilted his head and sighed, clearly having caught the love bug extra early this morning. He soon followed her out and helped her wake the rest of the pups. Ryder brought the pups' bowls outside for breakfast, and once they finished, Chase led them to the backyard for morning yoga, where, once again, Marshall perfected what Rocky liked to call the "sleeping dog."
Once morning yoga was finished, Zuma and Marshall opted to head to Foggy Bottom to visit Rubble. Ryder was playing fetch with Skye, Rocky and Chase when his pup pad rang.
"Hello," he answered. "Ryder here."
"Hey Ryder, it's Jake."
"What's up Jake?"
"I have a small problem that needs attended to. There was a bit of a mudslide near the generator, and some of the debris broke it. I was wondering if a couple of your pups could help out?"
"Sure thing Jake," Ryder answered. "I'll send a couple of them over right now."
"Thanks Ryder!"
As Ryder hung up, Chase brought back the fetch ball, Skye and Rocky right behind him.
"I just got a call from Jake. There was a mudslide near his lodge earlier and the generator needs fixed after it was struck by some debris." He first turned to his mixed breed. "Rocky, can you help fix the generator?"
"Green means go!"
Ryder then turned to his German shepherd. "Chase, can you go up there and examine the area where the mudslide struck? It may need to be cordoned off."
"Chase is on the case!" he replied, wagging his tail.
"Ryder, can I go too?" Skye asked shyly. "I haven't seen Everest in a while and I'd like to spend time with her."
"Actually, Skye, your copter is due for some minor upgrades and I need your help with them since Rocky's fixing Jake's generator. Do you mind staying back?"
"I guess so," Skye said, lowering her head.
Ryder took notice of this and added, "Once we're done, you are more than welcome to go see Everest!" This cheered Skye up instantly as she did a backflip.
Rocky ran off to his vehicle and hopped inside it. He took off for Jake's Mountain. Chase was about to do the same before he was stopped by Skye.
"What is it Skye?" the German shepherd looked at the cockapoo, only to get lost in her beautiful magenta eyes.
"B-b-" she stuttered, trying to find the words to say. The nightmare she had was replaying in her mind as she was lost in his amber colored eyes. "Be careful, Chase," was all she could manage to say.
"Don't worry Skye," Chase said, putting a paw on her shoulder. "Chase is on the case!" He jumped into his police cruiser and sped off towards Jake's Mountain. Skye watched him disappear down the road and out of sight, completely in a trance from the interaction she just had with him.
"I thought I suspected something," Ryder said, interrupting her thoughts. Skye's eyes widened and she blushed heavily.
"Suspected what?" she asked innocently.
"You do have feelings for Chase," the boy chuckled.
"What? No I don't," Skye immediately denied her owner's accusation, but inside, she was cursing herself for acting the way she did in front of Ryder.
"Don't worry, I think it's cute that you like him," Ryder said, kneeling down and stroking her fur. "I like how you pups care for and worry about each other, whether as friends or not. Maybe when you see him next, you can tell him how you feel."
"No way, Ryder!" Skye said with fear. The last thing she wanted to do was to reveal to Chase that she has a crush on him.
Ryder simply chuckled in response. "Come on, let's get going on those upgrades for your copter."
Skye cheered up and backflipped before following Ryder to the garage.
On the way, Ryder decided to update the pups in Foggy Bottom on what was going on.
"How are you doing today, Rubble?" Zuma asked, eager to hang out with the bulldog again.
"A lot better, believe it or not," Rubble said. "Thankfully I've been binge watching Apollo the Super Pup to pass the time."
Marshall and Zuma chuckled, for it seemed like there wasn't anything that could dampen Rubble's spirits despite being stuck I the hospital for another few days. The two pups decided to watch an episode or two with the bulldog to pass some of the time.
Suddenly, all three of their pup tags lit it.
"Zuma, Marshall, Rubble?" Ryder's voice said over their pup tags.
"What is it Ryder?" Zuma said.
"Just a heads up, I've sent Rocky and Chase to Jake's Mountain. Rocky is going to fix the generator while Chase is assessing damages caused by a mudslide."
"Thanks for the heads up Ryder!" Marshall said.
"Dang, I wish I could go to Jake's," Rubble said. Any other day, Rubble would likely have been dispatched too to help Chase clear debris, but that was not the case this time.
"Don't worry Rubble," Marshall said. "Let's watch an episode of Apollo, then Zuma and I can grab lunch and bring it back for the three of us!"
"You had me at lunch," Rubble said, earning a laugh from everyone.
Up at Jake's Mountain, Rocky arrived first, having left a couple minutes before Chase. Once the police pup showed up, Rocky walked over to him.
"What took you so long?" Rocky asked. "I thought you were right behind me."
"Oh, I was just talking to Sk-Ryder," Chase answered, refusing to tell Rocky he had any sort of one-on-one interaction with Skye. Rocky, however, wasn't buying it.
"Yeah, I figured," he said under his breath before walking over towards the generator. He analyzed the damage, which was relatively minor, before barking out his tools.
Chase, meanwhile, walked off towards where the mudslide had occurred. What was once a grassy trail was now a path of dried mud and rainwater. The ground beneath his paws was still soft, an indicator that where he was standing was not on stable ground.
"Better get my cones," he said to himself as he walked back to his vehicle. As he walked by Rocky, the two heard a faint rumbling noise.
"What was that?" Rocky said, his ears perking up at the noise.
"It kinda sounded like-" Chase started before he was interrupted by the rumbling noise again. "Thunder," he finished.
The two pups looked off in the distance to see yet another thunderstorm approaching the Adventure Bay area. Rocky immediately flashed back to the storm that devastated the town four days ago. He instinctively recoiled but managed to gather his composure. He wanted to finish fixing the generator first, but he was gonna need some extra help. Hoping that they wouldn't be distracted up here, he pressed his pup tag.
"Hey Rocky!" Ryder said over the pup tag. "What's up?"
"Hey Ryder!" Rocky answered. "I'm about two-thirds of the way through fixing this generator, but I could use your help, as well as Skye's, since there's a piece of the generator stuck in a gap that's too small for my paw."
"Sure thing, Rocky! We'll be there soon. Also, tell Chase that the storm approaching is not going to be a severe one, but to be wary of the mudslide area if it does rain again."
"Over and out Ryder!" The mixed breed then turned to Chase. "Ryder and Skye are coming to help us finish up here. Also that storm that's approaching, it isn't going to be severe, but maybe whatever you coned off needs to be extended a bit more."
"I was just coming back for more cones," Chase said. He was happy that Ryder was coming to help, he was ecstatic that Skye was coming too. He hustled over to his vehicle and grabbed about a half dozen more cones. He started making the long trek back to where his other cones were laid out at. He carefully yet diligently began to space out the cones more. Soon, the sound of helicopter blades made it to his ears. He immediately, and a bit instinctively, jumped up and ran over to see Skye land her copter next to Ryder's ATV.
"Skye!" he called over. The cockapoo locked eyes with him and he smiled and waved.
"Hey Chase," she said, smiling and waving too.
"Hey Skye," said Rocky, who was still over at the generator, having been joined by Ryder. No response. "Hey Skye," he said, and again, no response. He chuckled and rolled his eyes, accepting that the cockapoo and German shepherd were too focused on each other for either one of them to acknowledge him. He and Ryder got back to work, though not without Ryder getting Skye's attention long enough for her to remove that piece of the generator Rocky was referring to.
"What's the mudslide look like?" Skye asked Chase as the two began the walk back towards where all of Chase's cones were.
"Not too bad, but I had to cone off a pretty big area," Chase said as another rumble of thunder could be heard. "If you want, you can help me finish securing the area before this storm hits."
"S-s-s-storm?" Skye squeaked. She began to tremble, and she was completely unaware of her involuntary response to that word.
"Hey, hey, hey," Chase said, "it's okay. This one isn't severe. Don't worry, I won't leave you."
"You p-promise?"
"I promise," Chase said. After calming herself down, Skye and Chase continued onward, Skye having moved closer to Chase.
Soon enough, they reached the area where the mudslide occurred. Skye, having never seen a mudslide before, was in awe of what the mess looked like. "Wow," she said. "It looks almost unrecognizable out here."
"I know," said Chase. "Mudslides can be very dangerous, so please try not to get too close."
As Chase finished setting up the cones, with Skye's help, the rain that was looming over the area for the past half hour had started. The thunder and lightning were infrequent and rather tame, especially when compared to the storm that had hit four days prior.
"I think that's everything!" Chase said proudly, stepping back to examine the work he and Skye did. "No we can get out of here." He turned and started walking back towards the cabin, Skye following close behind him. Suddenly, they heard a faint rumbling noise.
"What was that?" Skye asked, her ears perking up at the noise. "It sounds like thunder."
"Yeah," said Chase. "It kind of does, but it also kind of doesn't." The two stopped and waited to hear it again, which they did a few seconds later.
"There it is again," said Skye. Chase, now in police dog mode, lowered his ears and began inspecting the area. When the third rumbling noise came, the ground started shaking with it, causing the two pups to lose their balance.
Over at the generator, the rumbling could be heard too. "What was that?" Ryder asked, interrupting Rocky, who was putting the finishing touches on the generator.
"I don't know," said Rocky. "It sounds like it's coming from over by where Chase went."
Chase, Ryder thought, panic rising up inside him. "We have to go, now!" he yelled, running off towards where Chase went. Rocky barked away his tools and ran after his owner, oblivious to the danger ahead.
"Chase," Skye said, fear in her voice. "What's happening?" The ground was shaking more and more with each passing second.
"I don't know," Chase said. He then turned to Skye to give her further instructions. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance to do so as he was interrupted by a huge crack forming in the ground. Skye yipped and clung onto the German shepherd as the ground gave way beneath them.
Ryder and Rocky appeared just in time to see it happen. Ryder froze, but Rocky bolted forward to try to save his friends. Just before Chase and Skye fell any further Rocky dove towards the edge of the newly formed cliff and grabbed Chase's paws with his own. The police pup was very heavy for the mixed breed, not to mention the added weight of Skye clinging onto Chase's back for dear life.
"Chase!" Rocky yelled, making eye contact with the German shepherd. Chase was unable to say anything; he couldn't find his voice in that moment. Rocky noticed Chase's grip slipping. "Don't you let go!" he cried, tears starting to form in his eyes.
Rocky used all the strength he had to try to pull Chase and Skye back up onto solid ground, the roar of the ground falling away echoing over their cries. Rocky was almost able to pull them both back to safety, but his eyes widened in horror as his grip on the ground behind him slipped. Just as Ryder reached the edge, Rocky lost his footing, the weight of both Chase and Skye dragging the poor mixed breed down into the mudslide below.
The force of the combined weight between Chase and Skye pulling Rocky down caused the mixed breed to collide into them mid-air. Chase and Rocky landed on a log that was caught in the mudslide while Skye was sent in a different direction.
"SKYE?!" Chase yelled over the roar of the mudslide and thunder. "SKYE?!"
"CHASE!" he could hear her distant yell, but he couldn't see her. He went to his pup tag to contact her but noticed it was broken, as was his pup pack. He looked over at Rocky and saw that his pup pack and pup tag were broken too.
Ryder gasped in horror as he watched this natural disaster yank three of his pups away from him and carry them away to who knows where. When the pups were no longer in sight he fell back onto the seat of his pants and cried.
"Ryder!" a voice shouted from behind him. He turned around to see Jake and Everest running towards him. But they stopped upon seeing his tear-stained eyes.
"What happened?" Everest asked. "Ryder, what happened?"
"I was here with Rocky and Chase and Skye," Ryder started but couldn't bring himself to relive the trauma of seeing three of his pups get swallowed up by the mudslide. However, Jake and Everest were able to paint the picture of what the ten-year-old was getting at. They sat with Ryder and comforted him as he cried over his lost pups.
Meanwhile, at the Foggy Bottom hospital, Rubble, Marshall and Zuma were enjoying another rerun of Apollo the Super Pup when a news bulletin suddenly interrupted them.
"Hey, what gives?" Rubble asked, slightly irritated despite having seen the episode they were watching at least four other times. It had gotten to the point where he could quote some of the episodes start to finish.
"Whoa, look at that," Zuma said. "It looks like a mudslide."
"Turn up the volume," said Marshall. Rubble did so, and the three pups' fur stood up when they heard what was being said.
"If you're just joining us, what you're seeing is live footage. Another mudslide, the second one in as many days, has just occurred up at Jake's Mountain. We are unaware of if there were any civilians in the area when it struck, but we will be covering this 24/7 as more details come in."
"Wait, Jake's Mountain?"
"RYDER!" the three yelled in unison. Zuma immediately jammed his pup tag to call Ryder. After four rings, the pups were really nervous, but they sighed in relief upon hearing their owner pick up during the fifth ring.
"Ryder here."
"Ryder?" said Marshall, taken aback by his owner's defeated tone. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ryder said. "But…"
"But what?" said Rubble.
"There has been a mudslide up here while we were working, and…" Ryder was struggling to finish his sentences.
"Oh no," Zuma whispered. "Ryder had sent Chase and Rocky up there."
"Ryder, are Rocky and Chase with you?" Rubble asked.
Silence.
"Ryder, are Rocky and Chase with you?" the bulldog repeated in a more desperate tone.
"I'm so sorry pups," Ryder finally answered. "But Chase, Skye and Rocky were taken by the mudslide."