Gain and Eliminate

Chapter Twelve : Search & Rescue

The dog and Noah both rocked back and forth slowly. Creaks from the rope blistered through the noise of the rushing current.

"I-I choose-" Renèe sighed and looked up to see Noah, panicking, "Noah."

And with that, the rope cut loose far towards the treetop, dropping Noah to the ground. Renèe looked as the puppy was being shaken within the trap, inching it closer to the streaming water. Renèe tried to reach out but the pup was just too far away.

SPLASH!

A loud drop into the water filled the air as a dead predator dropped onto the open pathway. It was the corpse of the man who had trapped Noah and the dog. Trailing out from in the bushes was Zane, just after he revealed himself, another splash hurriedly dropped into the water. On the water's surface, were the two bobbing heads of both Rachel and Angel. The two were fighting against the water but they began to give in.

The rampaging waters splashed off of rocks, extending suspense for the two. Angel began to panic, she began kicking her feet faster, and faster. Rachel tried to calm her down but began to panic herself. They were inching further and further away from the pup. A large tree branch slapped itself onto the rocks in the water, just in front of the girls' faces. The girls looked to their left to view Zane pushing the tree branch out further for them.

Angel began to climb on but Rachel had her doubts. Angel reached the top of the tree branch when a large gust of water hit her feet, causing her to slip and fall. The tree branch swung backwards in the pressure, hitting the two girls in the face.

The rope that held onto the pup's trap was beginning to creak. It slowly began to crack under pressure.

Renèe ran to help Zane with the branch, but ended up getting whacked accidentally by Zane. Mickey, hearing the panics, ran through the leaves and rapidly trotted over to Zane. She grabbed hold of the branch just behind Zane. Ian and Isaac began rushing too. Isaac appeared to almost be entirely stripped of his shirt and pants. Cuts and tears laced all along the edges.

Isaac ran to Mickey to help while Ian stayed back to observe. He immediately felt rushed to assist them when he noticed who was in the water. He galloped over Renèe's unconscious body and over to the branch. As all four people held onto the branch, Angel began to climb on again. She balanced and frantically moved over to land. She was shaking of both coldness and fright.

Rachel took the branch into her grasp.

Mickey held onto the branch sternly while watching Zane. Just behind her, Isaac was sternly holding the branch while watching Mickey.

Once everyone was safe on the grass and dirt, the pup's trap snapped!

Zane pretended he didn't see it happen since he figured he couldn't help, he didn't know how to.

Mickey, Isaac, and Rachel all ran down onto the branch again. Isaac dove from the branch into the rushing water towards the puppy, but the rapids worked against him. Mickey jumped in after Isaac to help him out. Eventually, they both ended up against the muddy shores. When they did, Zane pulled Mickey out, Isaac had to climb out of the mess.

Rachel remained on the branch, swerving both left and right while trying to not let her uneasy balance interfere with getting this puppy. Sodah scurried to where Rachel was. The puppy followed along helplessly in the foaming waters. The puppy then reached the branch, Sodah and Rachel looked down and both attempted to grab for the pup when the water took the pup under.

Sodah and Rachel both hectically searched around for the pup's head, they turned back to see a little soggy puffball bobbing in the water. It was the pup. Sodah and Rachel panicked as they realized the pup was out of reach. They ran off of the branch as fast as they could, which wasn't too fast, to save the pup.

Once they were on land, the looked to feel a horrible shatter and drop in their hearts. The puppy wasn't bobbing in the water anymore. A ringing sound eerily pained Rachel as Soda's thoughts vanished.

A rustle in the bushes made no difference to three of the people, Sodah, Rachel, and Renèe. Sodah had blocked out all hearing. Rachel couldn't hear over the ringing noise that fulfilled her thoughts. And Renèe, was still unconscious.

Mickey ran with Isaac, and Angel was about to run with Ian once Ian noticed Zane had gone missing. Missing or not, the shadowy figure, mixed with slow yet rapid rustles, shook the spines of everyone.

Angel and Ian squeezed their eyes shut in dread of what could happen. The suspension rose and then the rustling stopped. Largely pounding footsteps slowly made their way closer and closer to the group. Everyone, but Renèe, was snapped out of their horrid thoughts of mourn and fright when they heard a high pitched yap!

Ian and Angel slammed open their eyes, Rachel and Sodah blinked rapidly as they turned to see Zane, holding the small, soaked pup, still wagging its tail with joy.