PAW Patrol: Resurgence || Book One

(S1-C8) Clinging to the Past

"Alright pups, dinner time!" Ryder called out. One by one, the pups slowly obeyed and came to eat. It had been a couple of weeks since they had lost Everest, but regardless, it still hit them like a truck. None of them seemed to have much interest in doing much, so most days were spent just laying around the lookout. Luckily, Mrs. Goodway was more than ok with them having as much time off as they needed.

"Hey, where's Marshall?" The boy asked, noticing that he wasn't with the rest. In all honesty, he wasn't really surprised that he didn't see the dally. Ever since Everest's death, he rarely left his puphouse. Even when he did, it wasn't for long. 

"He's probably in his puphouse, I'll go get him. Or at least try to." Chase replied, mumbling out the last part. He stopped eating with Skye and entered the lookout elevator as it descended, knowing full well it'd take some convincing just to get his brother out.

The shepherd walked over to Marshall's puphouse, being greeted with his muffled cries through the walls. "Hey buddy, dinners ready." He told him as he knocked on the door, trying to get his attention

"I-I'm not hungry." The dally responded quietly. Chase let out a sigh, he knew this is what would happen. For the last week, even getting Marshall to eat could be hard. It seemed like he had completely given up. 

"Listen, you didn't eat breakfast. I'm not letting you get out of this one. Plus, you know this isn't healthy. You need to come eat." The shepherd insisted. A few seconds passed before he finally saw the door open, revealing a very tired and upset dalmatian.

His watery eyes had bags under them from sleepless nights of crying. Even if he was able to fall asleep, he had awful nightmares. Ones that he refused to explain to the rest of the team, but they knew he was terrified of them. He was still wearing Everest's collar, but that was something Chase assumed wouldn't be coming off for a while. If ever.

Without a word, the two rode up the elevator into the observatory. The quiet and depressing atmosphere was still the same as he had left it. Ryder was happy to see the dally entering. He would be lying if he said he was expecting him to actually come up.

Once they were all done with their dinner, Ryder spoke up. "Hey, why don't we watch a movie tonight? It might help us take our minds off everything." He suggested, thinking it was a good idea. All of the pups agreed, and to his surprise, so did Marshall.

During the movie, Marshall noticed Chase and Skye snuggling up with each other. He almost felt jealous of the two, they looked so happy with each other. He wanted to be like that with Everest, but that was impossible now.

He tried to get his attention back to the movie, but he just couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get these stupid thoughts out of his mind. Things like, "you should've saved her" or "you're weak, you never deserved her love." Those thoughts just brought him even more guilt and despair. 

"Marshall!" Chase yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. "The movies over you know." He told him. Marshall turned his head to the tv and saw that it had been turned off. Had he really been wrapped up in his thoughts for that long?

"Oh, sorry about that. I guess I just got lost in my head." He responded truthfully.

 "It's fine, but it's time for bed. I know you don't want to Marshall, but try and get some sleep." Ryder stated, knowing that although the dally was scared of it due to his nightmares, being sleep-deprived wasn't exactly healthy.

Marshall sighed, knowing there was no point in trying to argue with his owner. He despised sleep, even if most nights he usually didn't. His nightmares didn't even feel like dreams. They were so real.