HI, EVERYONE! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in forever! I just had no inspiration. That is, until HouseCity101 came along. S/he helped me out so much that I've decided to show my gratitude by adding a little Zoinnie (ZoeVinnie) into the story. Also... there's going to be a death, maybe two, along with a sickness so great it may cause another one. Hey, with a story like this, you had to have seen this coming.

Time seemed to have slowed to a stop. As if by magic, all of Blythe's fear had disappeared. However, it came back like a bolt of lightning when she saw the horrified looks on everyone's faces. Whittany and Brittany hugged each other tightly, screaming inaudibly, Alex held Violet close to his chest, Jasper, Sue, and Youngmee hugged each other, clenching their eyes tightly, and all the pets held each other close.

The girl blinked in surprise when time started to gradually pick up in speed again, the sound of screaming and the destroyed engine veering. She, too, couldn't hold back a scream as they plummeted down towards Earth.

And then all went black.

"...ly... ...lyth... Blythe... Blythe! Blythe, wake up!"

Blythe slowly opened her eyes to the sound of Jasper's voice. Her head was throbbing terribly and figured she must've hit her head hard on the seat when the plane crashed, knocking her out. She heard the sound of water gushing in, and she sat up when she saw the plane was already halfway filled with water.

They had crashed into the ocean.

"Blythe, hurry, or you'll drown!" Jasper shouted again, snapping the teen out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Alex was already evacuating everyone out of the plane through the door.

She shook her head and grabbed her friend's hand when he handed it to her and climbed up wobbly to her feet, blinking in surprise and fear when she found the water was now up to her hips.

"Quick, you two!" Alex called out as he helped the Biskit twins out. "Get up here! Now!"

Still holding each other's hands, Blythe and Jasper worked their way up the seats and towards Alex, who had just evacuated Sue. He helped Blythe up first, and she saw the others had to jump out of the plane and into the ocean, where they would climb aboard safety rafts. She saw the humans sharing one large raft and all the pets sharing the other.

Except a certain two were missing.

"Wait! I must go back in!" Blythe heard someone wail. She looked down and saw Zoe doggy-paddling desperately back to the plane, struggling to keep her head above water despite the strong currents.

"You can't go back in, Zoe!" the teen called down, the others just watching as she miraculously communicated with the pet. "It's too dangerous!"

"But Gail! She's still in there!"

Blythe's blood turned to ice and she turned back to Alex just as he readied to help Jasper out and into the tumbling waters below. "I have to go back in."

"It's too risky," Alex simply said.

"But Zoe's sister Gail is in there! She means everything to her, and we can't risk losing anyone!"

"This may sound very cruel, Blythe..." the senior sighed. "but we can take losing the pets, not each other."

"The pets are family to me, Alex! They mean everything to me just as the rest of you do, and I can't lose them!"

"Fine, then go in and the both of you drown!" Alex snapped. Blythe was tempted to do so, but Alex pushed her out of the plane before she could move, and she crashed into the freezing waters below.

The breath was knocked out of her in contact. Fear surged through her when she found she didn't know which way was up towards the surface, but it turned into relief when a pair of hands reached in to grab her shirt collar. She was pulled to surface, and she immediately coughed up water and gasped for air, each one very shaky due to the bone-shilling water. She saw it was the Biskit twins who had grabbed her, and they hauled her up just as Jasper jumped in, and was helped by Sue and Youngmee.

"Are you, like, okay, Blythe?" Whittany asked, desperation for her 'friend' booming in her voice.

"I have to go back in..." she coughed in response. "Zoe's sister is in there... She can't lose her..."

"There's a time where everyone needs to move on, Blythe..." Violet suddenly sighed regretfully. "You and Zoe both will just have to accept that."

Blythe stayed silent for a few moments before Alex jumped into the water. She and Jasper reached forward to help him into the raft.

"No! Don't leave my sister in there!" Zoe wailed, pressing herself up against the plane window.

And almost immediately Gail banged her paws on the window on the other side. Water had filled most of the plane, so the poor dog was underwater.

"HEEEEELP!" Gail gargled in desperation and she banged her paws on the glass.

"GAIL!" Zoe practically shrieked, banging on the glass in a desperate attempt to break it, but her tiny paws wouldn't even leave a mark.

A horrifying sucking sound was heard and everyone watched as the last of the water filled the plane. The density then became too heavy for the plane to stay buoyant, and it began to sink towards the ocean floor, dragging Gail along with it.

"ZOOOOOE!" she shrieked as the plane sunk into the deep blue water and out of sight.

"GAAAAAIL!" Taking a deep breath, the dog splashed underwater and began to swim towards the sinking plane, narrowing her eyes to keep the salt water out of them to the best of her ability. She found it hard to keep her breath in, but she just kept swimming, despite her lightheaded feeling, and she didn't even care that her beret floated off her head and washed away, never to be seen again.

A tiny hand grabbed her tail and forced her towards the surface, much to Zoe's dismay, and she gasped and coughed when she reached the surface. She looked and saw it was Vinnie who had rescued her.

"I got you, Zoe!" he panted as his teeth clacked together furiously; he was the only cold-blooded character, so these cold waters wrecked havoc on his poor furless body.

"No! Let go! I must rescue her! GAAAIL!" Zoe wailed as she struggled, only to be pulled back into the raft by Penny Ling and Esteban. When she was back in the raft she hugged Vinnie tightly, sobbing many tears that felt warm yet bitter on his freezing scales. "She's gone! My little sister's gone! And it's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault, Zoe..." Vinnie shivered, hugging her tighter and brushing his hand down the back of her head in attempt to comfort her, but with little effect, if at all. "It was just bad luck..."

"Oh, Zoe... We're so, so sorry..." Pepper whimpered, walking over to hug her friend. All the pets joined in the hug, but not even the love, sympathy, and warmth they provided could mend the poor dog's broken heart.

"I know they're, like, animals and all, but..." Brittany sighed as she watched the pets on the other raft. "I can't help but feel, you know, like, sorry for them..."

"As do I, but right now what's most important is we get to land and avoid anymore apocalyptic natural causes," Alex said. He grabbed a rope and tied one end to a safety bar on the raft. "Blythe, I trust they'd know how to tie the other end of this rope to the raft?"

"Yeah. They may be animals, but they're smart. Especially Russell."

The senior nodded in understanding, then tossed the other end of the rope to the pets' raft, startling a few of them. Russell grabbed the rope and he and Penny Ling tied the end to the safety bar. Suddenly Russell sneezed.

"Bless you," Penny Ling giggled.

"Thanks," the hedgehog smiled before twitching his nose and sneezing again.

"Huh? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think I just have a cold. Nothing too bad."

Alex grabbed a pair of ores, handed one to Jasper, and the two began to paddle their way across the ocean. Luckily, it only took them forty-five minutes to reach land, and by then everyone was hungry, tired, freezing, and soaked to the bone.

"Looks like we've landed in the United Kingdom," Jasper announced. "Okay, let's go and see if we can be safe here."

Alex and Jasper helped the girls out before fishing the pets out from the other raft. Penny Ling hopped out of Alex's hands and shook herself off, and blinked in surprise when she saw Russell practically flop out of Jasper's. Tilting her head off to one side, she padded up to the hedgehog.

"Russell? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Penny," he coughed. He wobbly got to his feet and panted, as if terribly fatigued, and fell over to one side, leaving the panda to catch him.

"You obviously aren't. What's wrong?"

"Nothing... Penny... I'm fine..."

"Blythe! I think there's something wrong with Russell!"

Blythe turned around from talking to her friends and walked over to the two pets. She bent down to better observe her pet friend, and saw he was panting hard, coughing and sneezing regularly. His nose, cheeks, and ear-tips glowed red, while his forepaws appeared pale. She felt his forehead, and within seconds she snatched it away.

"He has a fever," she finally reported. "And a high one at that. Russell, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I'm... I'm fine, Blythe..." Russell moaned, leaning weakly against Penny Ling's arm and trembling.

"Alex, do you have any kind of medicine for a fever?" Blythe asked.

"Who has one?"

"Russell."

"Sorry, Blythe. And even if we did, we have to save it for those who really need it."

"Russell really needs it!" Pepper barked angrily. "How could he be so selfish?"

"Pepper's right; she said he needs it."

"We can deal with a loss of a pet, but not a loss of a human who can actually make a difference," Alex concluded.

"I can't! The pets aren't only my friends, they're family! Sunil almost fell into magma, Zoe's sister drowned, and if we don't do something about Russell's fever, he's gonna die!"

"And I'm sorry for them, but they're just animals!"

"Just animals?! You're just going to abandon them, leave them for dead, because they're just animals?!"

"Looks like you're finally catching on, Blythe!" Alex snapped, making everyone flinch. "You're lucky I even took the time to save them at all; if I had just left them in that plane to drown we would've been here about thirty minutes sooner, already warm and dried off, not to mention safe! Those pets are slowing us down, and I mean it, Blythe, if you don't do something about it, I will!"

"You wouldn't dare kill them!"

"We need to survive! They don't!"

"Of course they need to survive! I just lost my father to a tornado, and I'm not losing my best friends to a selfish jerk like you!"

"You tell 'im, Blythe!" Vinnie cheered, crying out when Pepper smacked him in the back of the head with her tail.

"Alex, don't kill them, please!" Violet begged, running up to her brother and hugging his arm. "I really like them, and they're family to Blythe! Don't kill Blythe's family, please!"

"Yeah, Alex!" Sue jumped in to defend her friend. "Family is family, no matter what shape or form they take!"

"I swear to God, you all are going to regret this decision," Alex growled, finally admitting defeat. "Those pets will just slow us down, and if we all die because of it... well, let's just say we'll know who to blame." He glared at Blythe hostilely, then turned around and began to walk further off towards land.

"Like, what a jerk," Whittany huffed, crossing her arms.

"Will Russell be okay, Blythe?" Youngmee asked, walking up to her friend and looking down at the sick pet.

"I sure hope so..." she sighed before adding in a lower tone, "He's like a brother to me..."

"Wow... You really are quite attached to them, huh?" the foreign girl sighed. She then smiled. "Don't worry, Blythe, he'll be fine, along with the others. All of us will be just fine."

"I sure do hope so..." Penny Ling whimpered, looking down at Russell as he gripped harder on her arm, trying not to let his legs give out underneath him. "For Russell's sake..."

Everyone began to follow Alex into town and relaxed a little when they saw no damage was yet done to the town. They managed to get a motel room for free when they told the manager about their travels from New York all the way to the United Kingdom, and, finally free of fleeing for the time being, they all begin to relax.

"I hope we don't have to run around the world anymore..." Sue commented as she sat down and picked up Sunil to place in her lap and stroke along his back. "It gets really tiring... I don't even remember the last time we ate."

"Well, this all started around ten in the morning," Blythe stated. "And it's now only three-forty-five in the afternoon."

"Is the world really going to end?" Violet whimpered. Sugar Sprinkles hopped up on the bed she was sitting on and rubbed her cheek against her arm in a comforting way, purring loudly.

"Don't worry, it'll all be fine, just wait and see," she meowed.

"How's Russell doing?" Youngmee asked softly.

Blythe looked at the other bed, where the sick hedgehog was laying, breathing heavily and coughing and sneezing regularly. Many of the pets were crowded around him, trying to give words of encouragement. "Not very well."

"He's not gonna die, is he?" Jasper asked. He shouted in pain when Sue punched his arm.

"I hope not..." the girl sighed, feeling the sharp pang of tears trying to surface. "I'm gonna go check on them." She stood up and walked over to the pets, then sat herself down next to them. "Russell, how are you doing?"

"I told you... I told you all... I'm fine..." he wheezed stubbornly before sneezing, causing his whole body to tremble.

"In other words, no, he's not," Pepper grunted.

"Well... Just try to hang in there," Blythe whispered, stroking Russell's quills. "We'll find a way to heal you. Just hang in there." Unknowing of what to further say, she got up and walked back towards to her human friends. However, the sight of Alex sitting near the window caught her eye. Heaving a soft sigh, she decided to talk to him and make up for their argument earlier, and walked over to the senior. "Hey, Alex."

"Huh?" He looked up and glanced at her, but immediately looked back out the window. "Oh. Hey."

"Listen, I'm sorry about fighting with you-" the teenager began.

"No, Blythe, I should be sorry," Alex interrupted, looking back at her. "You were right. Those pets are family to you, and it would be criminal and cold-hearted to get rid of them just because they slow us down. I know they aren't important to the team as far as survival goes, but they're still family to you, Blythe, and the last thing I want to do is take your pets away. Especially after what happened to Scout." He looked over at Violet, who was playing with Sugar Sprinkles with a piece of yarn. "At least Violet's been able to get over much of the heartache of losing her. I don't want to hurt her as well by getting rid of the pets. Even if one of them is sick."

Blythe was completely taken aback by Alex's sudden apology. She looked down, thinking of what to say next.

But Alex beat her to it. "Actually, I take that back." He stood up before the teenager had a chance to retaliate, taking his statement in a negative way, and walked over to the crowd of pets. He sat himself down next to them, and they watched in shock as he began to gently stroke Russell's cheek. "They are important to the team. I was never one to see animals as just as helpful as humans, but they still play an important role. They give us comfort."

Blythe could only blink and walk a little closer as he continued. "And this unique group of pets are very special; I've never seen anything like what they all have done come from any other pet, or any animal for that matter. Don't pretend I didn't notice little Russell here start up the bus in Canada when it wouldn't start, or Sunil use a legit magic trick to save you."

"That was the scariest moment I had ever experienced in my life..." Sunil whimpered, clutching his tail tightly as he remembered the tragic event.

"And after what happened to Zoe's sister... I wish I had realized this all sooner. If I did, I would've risked my own life saving her." He gently scratched behind Zoe's ears as she whimpered sadly. "I'm sorry, girl."

"Wow," Blythe whispered to herself. "I hadn't expected all this. He seems to have changed just from a sentence. Well, I definitely won't take this new change of heart for granted." Out loud she asked, "Do you think we can find any medicine for Russell?"

"Yeah, I'll see if I can find anything," he responded. He patted Russell's head a few more times before getting up and walking into the other room. Blythe took his seat and looked down at the pets.

"Wow. I was not expecting that," Pepper grunted, astonished.

"Yeah, neither was I. I guess he was just thinking about the loss of Scout."

"I still can't believe she was killed..." Minka whimpered, her pigtails falling limp along the sides of her head.

"Well... the good part about all this is those dumb disasters are finally over," Vinnie sighed. "Uh, right?"

"Alex!" Violet's voice suddenly rang out in a terrified cry as she looked out the window. "Look outside!"

Alex immediately ran over and looked out the window, then whipped his head to the rest of them. "Everyone follow me!"

"Thanks a bunch for jinxing us," Shivers growled sourly as he crosses his arms and glared at Vinnie.

"What's going on?" Sue asked as she stood up quickly.

"Just run!" The senior started shooing them all out of the motel and into the streets, where they could clearly hear a loud noise off to our right.

And they saw a huge cloud of ash headed their way!

"Will the madness never end?" Esteban exclaimed; Blythe wasn't sure if it was a cry of terror or anger.

"What do we do?" Brittany panicked, hugging Whittany in fear.

"We'll have to find an airport and flee by plane again!" Alex responded as he began to run in the opposite direction of the ash. "Come on! Hurry!"

Panic flooding them once again, they turned tail and ran after Alex, desperate to flee the ash storm heading their way. The areas the storm hit were immediately destroyed; buildings crumbled, trees uprooted, and cars crashed as the whirling winds and choking ashes surrounded them.

"Aren't we eventually going to run out of places to flee to in the world, Alex?" Jasper shouted worryingly.

"Don't think of that now!" he retorted sharply. "Just keep running!"

The sound of harsh coughing made Blythe turn around, and she saw Russell desperately trying to keep up with the others; the heavy breathing must've made his fever worse. She stopped and waited for him to catch up, then picked him up when he reached her and continued running.

"Hurry up, Blythie-Wythie!" Buttercream cried, bouncing and flailing her arms around. "We're getting closer-toaster-little-gun-holster!"

Biting back the cramping pains in her sides and legs, she pushed herself forward, Russell held securely to her chest, and looked ahead to see Buttercream was right. They were coming up to yet another airport, and Alex was already bolting towards a large plane with everyone else following.

A large explosion was heard from behind, and Blythe turned to see the ash storm was already a few miles from them. She let out a cry and ran faster, scooping up Buttercream who had stayed behind, waiting for her human friend.

"Hurry, Blythe, or that storm's gonna get you!" Violet wailed as Alex helped her into the plane.

"Everyone just get inside!" the teenager shouted over the powerful winds just miles behind her.

Alex nodded to her and began to work double-time, helping everyone into the plane. He then readied to climb in, but first turned to Blythe, who was just a few yards away, whereas the storm one mile. "Come on!"

"Can't you see I'm trying?!" she gasped, daring to turn around. When she did, however, she lost her footing and fell on her back, only to be quickly helped back up by Alex.

"Don't look back! Get in the plane!" the senior roared. He practically shoved her and Russell into the plane; he tried to save Buttercream, but the storm's winds were too strong and they swept her up off her feet and into the never-ending ashes.

"BUTTERCREAM!" Youngmee howled in despair, pressing her face against the glass window. She turned to Sue and hugged her tightly, sobbing.

Now beginning to overly panic himself, Alex climbed in and slammed the door shut, just before the ashes shrouded the plane, causing it to lift into the air. He got to the pilot's seat and struggled to fly the plane correctly.

"We're all gonna die!" Sunil screeched, hugging Penny Ling tightly, who hugged him back, sobbing loudly.

The plane rocked onto its side a little, sending everyone tumbling to one end of the plane. Zoe landed on Vinnie and gasped. "Sorry!"

"Zoe, wait!" the gecko shouted just before she could climb off, grabbing her forepaw. "Zoe, if we don't make it, I just wanna say... I love you!"

The dog stayed silent for a long while despite the chaos wreaking around them, caught dead surprise.

...Then pulled Vinnie in for a kiss on the lips.

"Uh, guys! Now's not the time to turn this tragedy into a romance!" Pepper barked in panic. "We're still gonna die, ya know!"

"Blythe!" Minka squeaked, hopping on the girl's head. "Russell doesn't look very good!"

Blythe looked to see the hedgehog was laying on his back and breathing quick, shallow breaths, tongue lagging out and face now turning from red to pale.

"He's not gonna make it!" Shivers whimpered.

"Knock on wood!" Pepper growled before rushing over to her ill friend and placing her tail on his forehead. "Oh, man... He's burning up!"

"Blythe!" Alex suddenly called. "I need you to help me!"

Now torn between staying with Russell or going with Alex, Blythe gritted her teeth in fear. She finally decided to leave Russell for the others to help and support and ran up to the cockpit, where the senior was struggling to pull up on the steering lever.

"Help me pull this up!" he commanded. Blythe nodded and rushed over to help pull the lever up, groaning and growling with the effort. Who knew steering planes would take so much work?!

Finally, after a long time of pulling, and fearing the lever would simply snap off, the plane pulled up and out of the ash storm. Alex took this opportunity to fly upward, as far away from the storm as possible, and finally leveled out the plane.

"That was a close one! A little too close!" Alex panted heavily, slightly trembling from fear. He turned to Blythe and smiled. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem, Alex," she smiled before suddenly gasping. "Russell!" She ran back into the other room and saw the pets crowding around him, not looking any better since she left him, but luckily no worse either.

"Blythe?" Penny Ling whispered sadly when the girl knelt down to their level. "Is Russell going to die?"

The teenager stayed silent for a while, then lowered her head and sighed in defeat. "I don't know, Penny Ling. I don't know."