(THE AFTERMATH)

It was still early morning when the last of the storm finally loosened its grip on Adventure Bay.

The clouds didn't fully disappear, but the wind wasn't screaming anymore. The rain slowed to a cold drizzle, and the river—though still dangerously high—was no longer exploding over its banks.

Inside the Lookout, everything felt tense. Like the air itself was waiting to hear what happened to Ryder... and dreading the answer.

Mia had slipped out quietly before sunrise.

She didn't leave a note. She didn't say goodbye.

She couldn't.

In her mind, she was the reason Ryder was gone.

The reason he fell.

The reason the pups were about to lose the only person who had ever truly saved them all.

There was no way he survived that river... right?

At the Lookout, the pups were already awake, moving fast, not wasting a single second.

Chase stood in the control room, eyes tired, fur still damp in places. He didn't sleep. He barely blinked.

He stared at the river map on the screen like he could force it to give him answers.

"Alright," Chase said, voice low but firm. "Listen up."

The pups snapped into focus immediately.

"We can't search the river directly," Chase continued. "It's still too dangerous. The current is still moving fast, and if anyone goes in there... we might lose them too."

Zuma stepped forward, tense. "But Ryder—"

"I know," Chase cut in, softer now. "I know. That's why we're doing this smart."

He turned toward Skye. "Skye, I need you in the air. Follow the river from above and find where it empties out. Any bends, any debris, any sign of Ryder... you tell us immediately."

Skye swallowed, then nodded. "Let's take the sky," she said, but her voice didn't have its usual bounce.

Chase looked at Zuma next. "Zuma, once Skye finds the river's end, you search the coastline. You're the best water rescue pup we have. If Ryder washed up anywhere..."

Zuma nodded, eyes shining with worry. "Ready, set... get wet," he said, and even his catchphrase sounded wrong today.

Chase watched them head out, then turned and walked toward the spare room.

He still needed answers.

He still needed to talk to Mia.

When he reached the door, he pushed it open—

Empty.

The bed was untouched. The room was silent. No coat, no bag, no sign she'd ever been there at all.

Chase's jaw tightened.

"She left," he muttered, anger rising hot in his chest. "Couldn't even stay."

The girl hadn't meant to hurt Ryder... but she was still part of why Ryder was missing now.

Chase forced the feeling down, because anger didn't help.

Finding Ryder did.

He stormed back outside, jumped into his cruiser, and joined the search.

The evening of the storm...

He stormed back outside, jumped into his cruiser, and joined the search.

The evening of the storm...

Ryder looked up and saw Chase at the cliff just as the ledge beneath him began to crumble.

He tried to grab onto the rock.

His fingers slipped.

The rain made everything slick, and his body was already screaming from the crash.

Then the world dropped out from under him.

Ryder fell into the river and it swallowed him like he weighed nothing.

The current yanked him under instantly. Water filled his mouth, his nose—cold so sharp it stabbed.

Ryder kicked, thrashed, fought.

He managed to break the surface for a second—just long enough to gasp air—before the river slammed him into something hard.

Rock.

Pain exploded through his ribs.

The current dragged him again, tossing him like a ragdoll against more rocks, spinning him so violently he couldn't even tell which way was up.

Chase saw him fall.

Ryder held onto that thought like it was a rope.

Chase saw me. He knows. He'll find me.

But the river didn't care.

It carried him farther and farther, away from Adventure Bay, away from the cliff, away from everything.

By the time the current finally loosened its grip, Ryder was barely conscious.

The river spit him out into the open sea, and the waves took over.

Ryder tried to swim, but his arms felt like stone. His legs wouldn't cooperate. He was exhausted. Hurt. Freezing.

The storm was still raging.

And Ryder didn't have it in him to keep fighting.

Then he felt something brush beneath him.

Ryder panicked and flailed, expecting the worst.

But instead, something firm rose under his chest and kept him afloat.

A dolphin.

Ryder coughed, blinking rain from his eyes. "Th-thank you..." he whispered, voice shaking. "Can you... can you take me to land?"

The dolphin nudged him again, steady and strong, and began to swim.

Ryder barely stayed conscious through it.

When the water finally grew shallower, Ryder felt sand scrape his knees.

He crawled out of the sea and collapsed on the shore like his bones had turned to dust.

His last thought before everything went dark was simple.

I'm alive.

The next morning...

Ryder woke up shivering.

His clothes were stiff and damp, his skin cold, his muscles aching like he'd been beaten all over again. When he sat up, his head spun and his stomach turned.

He blinked and stared around.

Sand.

Rocks.

Trees.

No buildings. No roads. No Lookout.

"I am definitely not in Adventure Bay," he whispered.

Panic tried to rise, but Ryder shoved it down.

He couldn't afford panic.

He needed shelter. Water. A plan.

Back in the air, Skye circled again and again, following the river.

Her wings on her pup pack fought the leftover wind. Her helicopter trembled every time the clouds rumbled.

"Chase," Skye said through her pup tag, voice strained. "This river goes on forever. I can't even see the end yet."

"We have to keep trying," Chase replied instantly. "It's Ryder."

Zuma searched the coastline and the sea below, diving into the water near driftwood piles, scanning the shoreline for anything.

Nothing.

"This is frustrating," Zuma muttered. "He could be anywhere... he could be..."

He couldn't say it.

Even thinking it made his chest hurt.

At the Lookout, Rocky sat at the computer, fur sticking up from stress.

Ryder's pup pad signal was faint—weak and unstable. Water messed with everything, and the storm made it worse.

Rocky punched a button harder than necessary. "Come on... come on..."

The signal flickered.

Too weak to trace.

Katie, meanwhile, had no idea any of this had happened.

She tried calling Ryder like normal.

No answer.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

"That's strange," she said out loud, frowning. "Ryder never ignores me..."

Her worry spiked.

Katie called Chase.

The moment Chase answered, his voice sounded wrong.

"Chase here."

"Hey," Katie said quickly. "Is everything okay? I can't get through to Ryder."

Chase's chest tightened.

He didn't want to say it over the phone.

He didn't want to make it real.

But he couldn't lie to her either.

"...Katie," he said softly. "I'll be at your shop in five."

The call ended, and Katie just stood there for a second, frozen.

It's not good, she thought. If he has to tell me in person... it's not good.

When Chase arrived, he looked awful.

Katie didn't even wait. "Chase... what happened?"

Chase tried to speak, but his voice broke.

"Katie... it's not good," he said. "There was nothing I could do. The storm was too much."

"Chase," Katie whispered, fear in her eyes. "Stop. You're scaring me."

Chase swallowed hard. "Ryder went into the storm to save a girl named Mia. Lightning hit a tree, Ryder hit it... and he... he went off the cliff."

Katie's face drained of color.

"He fell into the river," Chase finished, and then he couldn't hold it in anymore. He started crying.

Katie's hands flew to her mouth.

She shook her head like the motion could undo what she'd just heard.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no..."

Back at the Lookout, Skye and Zuma returned—soaked, shaking, empty-pawed.

"There's no way to track him in that river," Skye said, tears in her eyes. "It goes on forever."

Marshall stepped forward, voice firm even though his eyes looked wet too. "We can't give up. It's Ryder. He wouldn't give up on any of us."

Chase drove back to the Lookout with Katie in silence.

Meanwhile...

Ryder staggered through the island, searching for anything that could keep him alive.

He found a small pond tucked between rocks and trees.

The water looked still. Too still.

Ryder stared at it for a long time, throat burning, lips cracked.

It might not be safe.

But he didn't have a choice.

He lowered himself and drank.

The water tasted earthy and cold. Not awful.

He drank until his stomach hurt, then leaned back, wiping his mouth.

"Okay," he whispered, forcing himself to breathe. "Now I need food."

Ryder reached into his pocket, fingers brushing something hard.

His pup pad.

Hope surged through him so fast he almost cried.

He pulled it out.

The screen was cracked. Water droplets clung to it. The casing was bent slightly like it had been crushed.

Ryder pressed the button.

Nothing.

He pressed it again, harder. "Come on..."

Still nothing.

Ryder's throat tightened. He swore under his breath, furious at himself.

"I should've waterproofed it," he muttered. "I literally thought about doing it."

He shoved it back in his pocket and forced himself to move again, stomach hollow.

He was hungry.

He was alone.

And he had no idea how long he could survive out here.