Chapter Two

Under Fire

"Alvin! Slow down! We're about to hit that tree!"

Simon covered his eyes nervously as Alvin steered sharply away from the oncoming pine tree. The girls in the backseat squealed in terror, and gripped each other for dear life.

"What are you trying to do, get us all killed?" Brittany snapped.

In contrast to everyone else's reaction, Alvin was whooping loudly as if he was on a roller coaster. "Oh tell me this isn't the greatest ride of your life!" he exclaimed joyfully. "This has GOT to be the best birthday present EVER!"

Simon gave an exasperated sigh. "Alvin, we don't have time to play around. You realize Theodore is in trouble. If we don't save him soon, who knows what will happen to him."

"Relax, Simon. I got this all figured out," said Alvin. "We'll just fly straight to where Theodore is, rescue him, and get out of here. Simple."

"But how do we know where to find him?" Jeanette asked.

"Well obviously, he's gotta be in the Dark Tower where the Wizard lives," said Alvin. "Why do you think the game's called 'The Dark Tower'? Getting there to defeat the Wizard is the whole point."

Suddenly, the chipmunks heard a crash from behind them, and the car took a violent jerk forward, the force slamming the chipmunks against the windshield.

Brittany's fur bristled. "Alvin, would you STOP THAT?" she snarled.

"It wasn't me!" cried Alvin.

"He's right," Simon said. "We've been impacted by something in the rear." He pointed to the back, where thick black smoke was trailing from behind the car.

The car was now spiraling toward the ground at high speed. Alvin kept rolling the steering wheel and pressing buttons on the computer device, hoping to gain control of the car, but it was no use.

"Come on, COME ON!" Alvin yelled at the car anxiously. He pounded the steering wheel with his fist. "Don't fail on me!"

They were getting closer and closer to the ground. Realizing that nothing could be done, Alvin relented and dove over to Simon's side, clinging to him for security. The two brothers and the girls shut their eyes tightly, awaiting the inevitable crash and sudden passing of their lives.

It all happened so fast. The car hit the ground and exploded like a missile, all five chipmunks shooting out like cannonballs. Instead of a blazing fireball and smoke coming out of it, the car simply disassembled into pieces, and dissolved pixel by pixel like a computer graphic.

Despite hitting the ground so hard, the chipmunks came out of the crash unscathed. Feeling shell-shocked by the incident, the chipmunks stumbled back up, rubbing their heads wearily.

"So much for the direct approach," Simon said to Alvin. "I'm assuming you have a 'Plan B'?"

Alvin grinned sheepishly. "Actually…I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"YOU!" Brittany screamed, jabbing an accusing finger at Alvin. "We almost DIED, we're STUCK in the middle of nowhere with NO WAY to get out of here, and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Alvin glared back. "Hey, I didn't crash us! Didn't you hear what Simon said? We were HIT! Get your facts straight before pointing your fingers at me!"

"Well YOU were driving, so YOU hold ALL the responsibility!" Brittany said fiercely.

"Both of you stop!" Eleanor interjected. "All this fighting and blaming isn't going to solve our problem. We need to put our heads together and come up with a plan."

"She's right," Simon said. "Theodore is in dire need of our help, and every second we waste Theodore gets closer to…" Simon wasn't sure how to finish that sentence, and he didn't want to find out. He tried to push it out of his mind. "Anyway, let's set our pettiness aside and figure something out."

"Well, well, look at that. Turns out our threat is nothing but mere ground squirrels."

The five chipmunks turned in surprise to find a bearded man in a silky scarlet robe, with eyes to match. They gleamed as the man smiled sinisterly.

"Who is that supposed to be?" Simon passed a whisper to Alvin.

"How should I know?" Alvin said. "I only got this game today."

"My fire blasts should have destroyed all of you along with your strange flying device," the bearded man said as he slowly approached the chipmunks. "It appears you outsiders are a lot more durable than I realized."

Struck by realization, Alvin became furious, overconfidence clouding his judgment. He took a step toward the man. "So that was YOU who shot at us!"

The man chuckled. "That's right. As soon as I saw you flying over the forest, I knew you were headed for my master. It is my job to make sure you never make it there."

"Oh, is THAT so!" Brittany said, her temper rising. "After ALL you put me through, give me a good reason why I shouldn't HURT you right now!" She started storming toward the man, but her sisters grabbed her arms to stop her.

The man looked amused. "If I were you, I would save your energy for something more important. Like trying to survive THIS."

The man raised his arms, and both his hands ignited in flames. The chipmunks stepped back, their eyes widened with fear.

"Good luck," the man said with an evil smirk, and he hurled the fireballs in various places surrounding the chipmunks. The man engulfed himself in his own fire, and vanished in thin air.

The chipmunks stood there, paralyzed. The fire was spreading at an astounding rate throughout the forest. There seemed to be no safe place to run.

"Oh no!" cried Brittany. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Simon looked around, and spotted an unburned tree. "There!" he said, pointing. "The fire hasn't reached the treetops yet. Let's climb up that tree, and outrun the fire from above."

Heeding the bespectacled chipmunk's instruction, the group scurried on all fours up the tree until they reached the top branch. The flames were swiftly following after.

"Now jump to the next tree over!" Simon shouted.

One by one, the small rodents dashed on the branch and flew across to an adjacent tree. The crackling flames licked up the branch they were on just seconds ago.

"Just don't stop!" Simon urged. "Whatever you do, DO NOT stop running!"

The chipmunks leapt from tree to tree feeling like flying squirrels, not daring to look behind them. Simon remained in the front to lead the way, even though in all the franticness he had no idea where he was going. He took a brief glimpse behind him to make sure everyone was together. And they were, thankfully.

In the back, Jeanette was trying to keep up with the group. Suddenly, she lost her footing and slipped on a branch. She let out a shrill squeak as she felt her body drop beneath the branches, instinctively grabbing the first branch she could reach. Her glasses had flown off, so now her vision was dull and blurry. She gripped the branch tightly, though she felt her paws slipping anyway.

"H-help!" She attempted to shout, hoping her friends and sisters would hear her. "Someone help me!"

Her desperate voice reached Simon's ears, and he halted immediately to see Jeanette hanging for dear life on a branch several feet below them. The flames were not too far away from her, and they were approaching fast.

The other chipmunks ran past him, Alvin throwing a puzzled glance. "Simon, what are you doing?"

"Just keep going, I'll catch up!" Simon said. Then he hurriedly darted down many levels of branches until he landed on Jeanette's bough. Jeanette was struggling to keep her paws from slipping.

"Hang in there, Jeanette! I got you!" he said to her. "Just grab my paw!"

Jeanette turned her head toward his face, her eyes squinting. "Simon, is that you? I can barely see anything."

"Yes, it's me. Now don't panic, I'll get you back up," he assured her, and reached for her paws. With all his might, he tried to pull Jeanette up. He could practically feel the intensity of the fire's heat now. It also didn't help that he was also trying to maintain his own balance on the tree branch.

The thick smoke was now blowing in Simon's face. Even though he tried hard to repress coughs, he couldn't hold them in much longer. This caused his paws to slip away from Jeanette's, and the girl yelped in terror as she stared falling. But before she could process it, she felt herself halt in midair.

Simon was now hanging upside down on the tree branch like a monkey, gripping Jeanette's paw with both of his own. The two chipmunks were just dangling there while the fire was rushing up to them. Simon knew he wouldn't be able to hold this position much longer anyway.

Suddenly, Simon and Jeanette heard flapping of wings, and were swooped off the tree branch. Simon felt a tight grip around his torso, but he was still holding on to Jeanette for dear life. They were rising in the air faster and faster. Simon could see the burning forest in its entirety, and the dark smoke emerging from it.

Simon dared to look up at what was carrying him and Jeanette now. From what he could see, there was a body of snow white feathers and a pair of wings outstretched at a great length. Wrapped around Simon's torso were a pair of rough gray talons. Now overcome with dread, Simon realized what the creature was.

"Simon, what's happening?" Jeanette asked. "What was that sound? Where are we going?"

Simon didn't know how to answer. He wasn't sure which would be the worse way to die: to burn in a fire, or to be eaten alive by an owl.