Chapter twenty-eight: Plane Crazy Rescue!
"Marshall, what is it?" Chase asked, getting yet another awful feeling.
"Uh oh what? What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Snowflake asked, now concerned about the situation.
"Fire! We have Fire! Repeat! We have fire. Get us out of here!" The fire pup cried urgently.
"Skye, are you able to get to the copilot?!" Chase asked quickly over his megaphone, pressing something and flipping a twitch or two.
"Negative, the pilot mentioned he could potentially be seriously injured and he's still unconscious." Skye returned with her megaphone. "We shouldn't pull him out without stabilizing him completely."
"Skye's right." Marshall agreed, observing the injured man carefully. "We don't know just how hurt he could be and we can't risk making it worse.. We'll have to get a stokes basket or something."
"Do we have one?" Chase asked, barely catching what his friend was trying to shout his way.
"I have a collapsible one in my truck, it'll do the job!" Marshall shouted up to Skye, who hovered over to the large fire truck, right as Ryder was dragging the item in question out of a compartment at the back of the vehicle. Attaching the four cables that secured the central ring in place to the top, bottom and both sides of the bright yellow material, which was framed with padding and a rim of metal. He sat down inside the basket and held the ring up so Skye could hook it and fly over to the front of the plane. The boy held onto the sides so he wouldn't slip and prayed that it wouldn't start to sway or tip too much.
"Just get me close, Skye!" He called. "Marshall, what's the best way to get him out safely, without potentially causing more damage?"
"Straight backwards.." Marshall replied, peering over at the fire slowly creeping toward them. "But if the fire keeps going, we may not have much time. And it's hard to maneuver in here."
Suddenly Skye's copter blew at him, sending air back through the plane. And three spotter pups squinted up at the boy peering over the side of the suspended stokes basket, almost surprised to see Ryder in it.
"Ok, I've got a C-collar with me so we'll need to put this on before we can get him out of there.." Ryder mentioned, pulling it out to look at it briefly. "Skye, lower me down into the pilot seat. I can reach over to place the collar, then I'll try to pull him up onto the stokes basket for the ride out of here."
"Roger that, we're going in!" The aviator pup replied. Marshall jumped through the broken window, which thankfully didn't seem to have any sharp edges or retained glass shards and he joined Rocky just as Ryder was lowered carefully into where he once was. Ryder tipped the basket up slightly so the bottom edge pointed toward the ground, and when the flat part under him contacted something hard he leaned into it for stability as he eased into the seat carefully.
"That's good, hold it right there Skye, I can reach him perfectly from here." Ryder reported. "Ok, sir, let's get this on you so we can get you out of here."
"*cough*cough* w-what-.. happened?" the copilot stirred, blood and bruises streaking his face and his neck laying slightly at an odd angle, as Ryder carefully straightened it to place the C-collar in place for protection.
"You were in a crash with your pilot," Ryder told him. "You hit a cell tower when your plane developed mechanical issues and you lost consciousness in the crash. We're getting you out of here. Just hang on and hold still, you may have been severely injured."
"O-ok.." the copilot breathed, waving at him with just his hand in either a half-hearted or distracted manner.
As Snowflake watched the rescue, she observed the fire approaching and saw Skye's copter hovering. A thought occurred to her, but it would be tricky.
"Ryder, I got an idea. If Skye can position her copter blades at an angle, the wind will blow the fire back to where it's at instead of the fire coming towards you. That could buy you some time, but not much!" Snowflake called out for as many of them to hear as she could.
"It's too late!" Marshall cried, looking back at the roaring flames. "We gotta get him out now!"
"Skye, bring me up a little!" Ryder said, standing on the bottom side of the stokes basket so he could lean upright on the flat board of the basket. "Marshall, can you get back there and lay the seat back?"
"I can try!" the Dalmatian replied, hopping between the chairs and looked for the lever. Ryder leaned down to grab a hold of the copilot's shoulders, as Skye positioned him further over the copilot's chair. Keeping his bottom half pressed against the back of the stokes basket allowed him to maintain his balance. And when Marshall finally got the chair to lay all the way back, he hopped out of the way. So that Ryder was able to ease the stokes basket he was standing in down a little, to pull the copilot onto it carefully and lay him back onto himself so that they were both now laying flat on the board base of the basket.
"We're clear,-" Ryder called, trying not to feel crushed by the disoriented man's weight. "Take us out of here, Skye!"
"You got it!" The cockapoo called. "Chase, we've got the copilot. Taking him and Ryder to the ambulance that just arrived."
"Sounds good." Chase replied with his megaphone. "Everyone, clear out. That thing could blow at any moment."
Rocky turned and was about to hop off when the tremble beneath him made him pause.
"Did you feel that?" he asked Marshall, who was still in the pilot seat. The tremble vibrated again.
"Uh oh,.." he soon realized.
"It's gonna go! Let's get out of here!" Marshall cried, leaping out the side window.
Rocky took a wild leap through the small gap between the plane and the busted wall, narrowly missing either sharp edge. Chase's vehicle tires spun as the engine strained.
"Urgh.. we're losing it!" Chester groaned, trying to keep the vehicle steady.
"Team, get out of there now!" Chase cried, as if his megaphone wasn't loud enough.
"We're clear!" Marshall called, as he and Rocky finally appeared from opposite sides of the wreckage.
"The plane's too heavy,-" Chester strained. "Ih! -We're not gonna be able to save it,.. -not that there's much to save."
Chase stared hard at the burning plane at the end of their line carefully. His gaze lowered briefly then hardened.
"Abort!" He barked, rendering a near immediate response as Chester released the tow cable. And the plane slid off the crumbling edge and disappeared. The bright light from the crash was all they saw. After they'd shielded their eyes from the light and sound, Chase left the vehicle to hurry over toward the edge.
"Chase wait!" Rayla called, rushing after him.
"Be careful!" Chester called, poking his head out the window with both paws poised on the bottom edge of the window.
Chase slowed as he reached the edge, almost creeping toward it like he were on thin ice. However, he felt as he approached that the ground was stable enough that his weight would not break it any further. Taking a very careful look over the edge he barely caught a glimpse of the wreckage when he was abruptly pulled backwards and restrained away from the edge.
"-Hey!- ih- Let me go!" Chase strained, trying to get his paws under Rayla's to wriggle away from her.
"No! It's too dangerous here." Rayla refused, continuing to pull him away from the edge.
"You don't think and know that?!" Chase accused, lowering down slightly in a split second to get up under the golden lab's chest and pushing her so she was forced to let go.
"Remember Rayla, I've been a PAW Patrol pup for a lot longer than you.." he told her strongly. "And I know what I'm doing."
"If it'd been up to me, you wouldn't even be here." Rayla shot back kind of hotly. "So just be glad Ryder was willing to let you. But it doesn't excuse reckless behavior, remember your promise to Ryder?"
"Oh believe me,.." Chase emphasized dryly. "I remember." Then he remembered something else which made him perk up.
"Ryder!" He gasped, then raced off toward the flashing ambulance lights. And after a moment the others soon followed.
"Ryder! You guys ok?" Chase asked, arriving at the vehicle to search for them. "Ryder?!"
"Right here, Chase," the boy waved, still sitting in the stokes basket with the copilot still on him, but the basket was now laying on the gurney inside the ambulance ready to depart. "It's too risky moving the copilot off me here.. I'm gonna have to go with them to the hospital until they can transition him to a bed of his own safely. Take the pups home, then have Marshall hop on the Air Patroller to come get me."
"But,.. shouldn't I be the one handling that?" Chase asked.
"I need you to go home and rest, you've been through alot today." Ryder replied simply. "Plus I still need you to lead the team while I'm gone, maintain the chain of command, shall we say.."
"Which is code for, you want me to stay with all the pupsitters.." Chase replied dryly.
"Don't think of it that way.." Ryder shrugged. "But remember, you're still recovering. But,.. today might just prove that you're concussion free. At least the severe kind that is."
"But-"
"We're ready to go." A lady EMT informed them.
"Go, Chase." Ryder told the pup with a smile. "The PAW Patrol needs they're second-in-command."
"*sigh* I won't let you down." Chase sighed deeply.
"That's the spirit." Ryder smiled. Then hands picked him up and another EMT helped him down.
"I'll send Marshall as soon as we get back to the Lookout." Chase called, before the doors shut. And he just barely caught the thumbs up that Ryder gave him as the ambulance drove off.
His gaze dropped to the ground as the lights began to fade.
"Chase?" He looked up and the team was standing by, which reminded him that he was now in charge. He sighed and turned to face them once again.
"Let's pack up, there's nothing more we can do here tonight." Chase informed them."
"But what about the fire?" Marshall asked. "That thing is still burning."
Chase glanced over at the empty hole in the security wall.
"You're right.." he replied after a moment's thought. "Throw some retardant foam on it. We'll stand by till you're sure the fire is out."
"You got it." Marshall responded. "I'm fired up!.. Skye? Care to give me a lift?"
"No problem." The aviator pup replied, swooping down to hook his pup pack to take him up and over the edge.
"And then what Chase?" Rocky asked, as the German Shepherd walked back through the group toward his vehicle; rather sulkily to say the least.
"We head back to the Lookout. We'll probably come back tomorrow to clear the wreckage so it doesn't cause any more trouble out here,.. and help repair the cell tower." Chase replied flatly.
"Wait, how will Marshall know to pick up Ryder if the cell towers are down?" Snowflake asked Chase. "Also, shouldn't he have someone go with him besides Robo-dog?"
"How'd you know that?" Chase asked in confusion.
"I accidentally heard Ryder's instructions," Snowflake confessed, blushing from embarrassment.
"Oh,.." Chase blinked. "Well, we won't be calling anyone with the cell tower out. That's why we're standing by till Marshall's ready to head back with us. And since Ryder already sent the Air Patroller home, we'll just head there together so we stay together. Then I'll send Marshall after Ryder in the Air Patroller. The weather's quiet and RoboDog is perfectly capable of flying the Patroller safely. Marshall's just there to supervise in case something comes up."
"Ok, I think we're good." The Dalmatian announced, as he was lowered back onto the ground again. "We'll get a better idea of how much fuel might have been spilled tomorrow when the sun comes up."
"Great, then let's get back to the Lookout." Chase decided, hopping up to grab the bottom edge of the window to pull himself up. But soon realized the strain it was and that he didn't have the strength or leverage for it.
"Ouch,.." he hissed under his breath.
"Careful bro," Chester cautioned, strolling over to boost him up with his head. "Don't bust anything else.. you've done enough of that already."
"Let's just go." Chase sighed, settling into the passenger seat as Chester took his place behind the wheel.
"I'll get back out of here then have Snowflake and Everest help me block it off so no civilians try to go in there." Chester mentioned when he started the engine.
"Ok,.." Chase breathed, slumping in his chair to place his paws up onto the side of his vehicle to lean on it.
"You tired or something?" His brother teased lightly.
"What? No, I'm wide.. awake." Chase answered though it seemed half-hearted and a little distracted.
"Sure, whatever you say." Chester smirked.
"Ok guys, let's back up out of the crash zone!" He called out the window. "Snowflake, Everest, I'll need some help blocking off the area till we can come back to fix the damage."
"Got it!" Snowflake replied, as she carefully followed behind in her rescue van.
Chester reversed the police cruiser until it was on the path they took and then hopped his paws up onto the window again.
"I'll be right back," he told Chase before diving out the window. Chase merely opened his eyes toward his voice, before relaxing back and closing them again.
"Alright, we just gotta put up cones and caution tape, I've got both but you guys can help me span the road here and secure it till we can come back tomorrow to finish this." Chester was saying.
"Sounds like a plan." Everest agreed.
"Alright," Snowflake responded with a nod.
"Ruff! Cones!" Chester barked, turning to the giant police cruiser. Cones shot forth and he nosed one smoothly over to where it needed to be. And picked up the other one to do the same thing.
"Perfect. If I do say so myself." Chester smirked proudly.
"Now we know where Chase gets it." Rayla rolled her eyes knowingly.
"What? My mad skills? Or my fabulous charm and flare." Chester replied dramatically, like some drag queen or supermodel.
"Skills. Although, you could have learned by watching Chase and picked up on how to do the task yourself too," Snowflake answered while a thought came to her.
"Me?! Learn from Chase?!" Chester gasped. "U-pff-ck! Dude! I helped train him,.. He's good, because I'm good." The drama of his tone could be read as either jokingly offended or genuinely repulsed.
"Are you sure? You would have had to get training regardless," Snowflake commented.
"Yes! I went through the same academy we went to before he was accidentally shipped overseas." Chester explained indignantly, still somewhat jesting. "Only I graduated and Chase finished his certification with Ryder."
"Nice," Snowflakes replied with a smile.
Everest pulled the caution tape tight on the sturdy post they'd stuck down the hole of the cone, then stepped back to observe her work.
"How's that?" She asked, glancing at her two friends.
"Looks good," Chester nodded, "let's get out of here!" Bounding over to the police cruiser gave him the perfect amount of momentum to leap through the window and seamlessly start backing his way up to where he could shift into gear to follow Everest and Snowflake back toward home.
What up, my friends! We are back with another hair- I mean fur raising rescue! Honestly I wasn't sure if we were gonna get this one up tonight because of a few disruptions, but we made it! And Ta Da! Another exciting end to another crazy scenario.
I gotta tell you guys I really wasn't sure how this was going to turn out as we were writing this, but I was pleasantly surprised by this and welcomed the possibilities that came with it. But obviously don't just take my word for it, make your own determination and let us know!
Also side note, I don't know if you guys picked this up,.. But I noticed that the title for this chapter in a way is a reference to an elevator crash from a few seasons ago. The one where Marshall says "well that was plane silly.." Or maybe that's the wrong grammatical context. Idk, it was still funny and this chapter name kind references it even though that was not the intent. ;D
But anyway,.. Until next time, ya'll! Thx!
