I do not own anything in this story except my OCs and the basic plot line. Everything else belongs to DreamWorks. I do not. I am not that awesome. Not even close.

Author's note: Set-up is over, kids! The action starts here! Thanks for the read. Fave, follow and review if you like it! ~NMR

Thanks for the review, Mouseygirl1411! I'm glad you like my writing and the story. Jade is totally mean, but that's what makes her awesome lol. She's only gonna get meaner, at least for a while. I hope you enjoy my future updates and tolerate Jade's attitude haha! ~NMR

Welcome to the Danger Zone (Chapter 3)

Heather

We'd been walking through the suburbs all day, the warm sun beating down on us. It was interesting at first, but it got old quickly. Everything looked the same. If it wasn't for the map, I would have sworn we'd just been going in circles. The same neutral walls, neon green grass and fenced-in yards. It was too clean, too perfect. I wanted to run around and make a big mess, but I held myself back. That was the responsible, grown-up thing to do. I hated being responsible, and I was far from being grown-up, but my entire family was on the line in this one. I let it slide.

A loud noise caught my attention, breaking off my thoughts. I could have sworn a minute ago I'd been in the boring, empty suburbs, but it certainly didn't seem like that anymore. In front of me was a huge road, cars rushing by in both directions. The uniform structures had been traded in for run-down brick shops and old apartments. What the heck had happened? The whole thing looked like the set of those crime movies I'd watched on the old TV.

"Welcome to the Downtown!" RJ announced, pushing through the other animals. Stella glared at him, but she was ignored. He still held the map, thin paper flapping in the wind.

That managed to snap the others out of their seemingly frozen state. Most had been staring at the huge machine that towered over a burned-out apartment building. I had to admit, it was pretty mesmerizing. I don't think any of us had seen one before, let alone been right across the street from one.

Verne had stopped staring and ran (well, as fast as a turtle can run) toward RJ, who'd been tracing his hand across the map, most likely trying to figure out where to go from here.

"You call this safe? The whole place is a death trap! Cars, humans, giant metal things, everything we tried so hard to avoid! This makes our old home look safe! We are turning around right now-"

Verne stopped his rant and grabbed the corner of the map. RJ pulled back, but that only caused the old paper to rip. The map was now dancing along the sidewalk, headed straight for the highway. No one moved for a second, they were all too horrified. The map was our only chance of escaping the city unharmed. Without it, we had no way of even knowing where we were!

"Shoot!" RJ said, and ran after it, toward the mass of traffic. I saw Penny and Lou covering their kid's eyes. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. Morbid curiosity took over.

He jumped and tried to catch it, but missed by about an inch. A passing car kicked it up and it landed in the middle of the outside lane. There was a tiny break in traffic, and apparently he thought it was enough. Not even bothering to look both ways, he ran right out in the middle of the road. I could swear the ground was vibrating, but I figured it was nerves. Wrong.

Coming down the nearby hill was a city bus. One of those big, annoying ones that made awful screeching sounds when they stopped. The bus wasn't the one screeching. I looked down. There was nothing I could do at this point, and no one needed to see that. My heart pounded in my ears, and I hoped it'd be enough to cover the inevitable sound.

There was no thump, no noise to tell us what we were all fearing. I looked up. There was RJ, standing on the edge of the sidewalk. His eyes were wide and his fur puffed, but he held the now-crumpled map. No one moved for what felt like forever, we were all still in shock.

"Wow," RJ said, looking at the map, "that was a close one."

I snapped out of my stillness, as did Hammy. The squirrel ran up to him and gave him a big hug, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he nearly knocked both of them back on the road. The raccoon moved away awkwardly, and eventually Hammy realized that now was not the time for hugs.

"A close one? This is what I'm talking about! If we stay here, we'll all end up dead. None of us know how to survive in a war zone!" Verne said angrily, pointing at RJ.

The raccoon was not going to take it. "What? I just risked my life to save this," he said, shaking the map, "and we'll end up even more dead if we turn around! You know first hand how loved we were back there!"

Verne looked like he was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "You go then! No one in my family is getting run over, eaten or crushed! I am not being responsible for anyone here dying."

At the last word, my dad collapsed dramatically. Of course. Could it get any better?

"Fine! Go starve to death in peace, or get yourself exterminated. Guess it's not my problem anymore, huh?"

At that point I wouldn't be surprised if one of them had tackled the other. Luckily it never got that far. Stella shoved Tiger aside and stepped between them.

"I really don't wanna do this, but if you keep it up I will." We all knew what she meant of course.

They stepped back, still glaring at each other. No one tried to start another fight, however. Stella rolled her eyes and stomped back to where she'd been standing, muttering something I couldn't understand and probably didn't want to.

Everyone had been so distracted by the display, no one noticed what was going on around us. I'd been watching just as intently when RJ ran off with a look of horror on his face.

"Coward!" Verne spat, but Stella gave him the I'm-gonna-stink-you-if-you-don't-stop look and he shut up.

"RJ wait! Don't leave!" I yelled, but he didn't even turn around. He'd made it to the entrance of a dingy alleyway by now. I followed him, not thinking of the consequences.

It took me a moment, but I quickly saw why he'd been so panicked. There were the porcupine triplets, all gathered around a strange metal contraption. A rat trap.

I gasped in horror. Surely they knew better than to touch it...

"Kids! Leave it!" RJ yelled. They turned and looked at us, and it seemed they were safe. A second later, the trap exploded, the snap echoing through the grimy walls of the alley.

That set off quite the panic, and I watched all three of the kids run past me, screaming for their parents. Wait, all three? Obviously I was beyond happy they were safe, but what the heck had set off the trap?

I looked at RJ, but he just shrugged. In the trap was a small, glossy black object. A thin silver blade reflected the evening light, though it had been pushed down into the hilt. It was a knife, but a strangely small one.

"If they'd touched it, their guts would have been coming out of their mouths." A gruff voice said.

I jumped, and looked around. A shape stepped out of the shadows, though its face was still obscured. RJ stood in front of me, but I didn't think he'd be much of a match against whatever had said that.

"Seen it a million times. Cleaned it a million times. Wasn't about to go through that again."

The figure was now completely free of the shadows, and I could tell that she was a raccoon. She ignored both of us and bent down to retrieve her knife. She flicked the blade open and admired it for a moment before turning to face us. No one said anything.

"What are you staring at?" She asked, turning away. The knife was still in her hand, reflecting spots of silver on the damaged brick walls and boarded-up windows.

RJ was looking her up and down. Lovely. She'd nearly killed us with her knife-throwing skills, and he was checking her out. Guys were so stupid sometimes.

"Jade?" He asked skeptically. The strange raccoon froze, and then turned around.

"Long time no see, long time no say, idiot. I knew you'd come back eventually. You won't find it, the whole place is nothing but rust and memories you'll want to forget."

There was a fire in her eyes, and it was scary. Not intimidating, just plain scary. I backed up a bit.

She looked at me with cruel grey-blue eyes. The fire was gone, but she was still unnerving. "And by the way, you can do so much better than him, girl."

Three thoughts filled my brain. First was that either this Jade had had something awful happen to make her this rude, or she had major issues to deal with. Second was that she thought RJ was my boyfriend. Um, no. Sure he was cute, but just no. Third was that she could probably help us get through the city. She obviously knew what she was doing, after all. If she didn't stab us or kill us, maybe she'd be our guide. Not likely, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, at least she'd kill us quickly. If we were gonna die... No, we were not going to die. Well, maybe my dad will, but not permanently.

"Wait!" I called, and she turned around, casting the shadow of her too-thin frame on the dirty pavement. I couldn't be sure, but I though I caught a glimpse of something beneath the anger. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"What?"

Author's note part II: So, whaddaya think? Jade is pretty rude... but is there something good hiding under that darkened facade? Or is she really just a jerk? What's going to happen to our favourite possum Heather? Find out when I have free time and put down the sims! Seriously though, thanks for the read. I hope you like it. ~NMR XD