Disclaimer: The Raccoons and all associated characters are the property of Evergreen Raccoons Marketing and have been used without permission. Unless otherwise stated, any character not from the Raccoons television series is mine but may be used if requested. The following is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. This work is solely for the entertainment of the writer and his audience and no money is to be made from the below work.

The Raccoons

Trapped on Mount Vulcan

Chapter 4

The Eruption of Mount Vulcan ejected lava bombs all around the forest. The largest and heaviest ones landed the closest to the volcano's summit gouging out craters where they incinerated anything around where they landed. If Bert and Lisa had stayed in the cabin they were originally in they would both have been killed by a direct hit from a large lava bomb.

Fortunately for them they had decided to try to make their way down the mountain and had put some distance between the summit and themselves. By the midpoint of the day they had made their way down the mountain and had made it to the foothills of Mount Vulcan. The trek was all the more amazing in that there was still deadly ash falling from the sky from the morning eruption. Coarse gray ash covered everything including the two raccoons now running for their lives. Aside from the black fur around their eyes both looked like specters wandering across a ghostly landscape. With the new eruption the added danger of being hit by hot falling rock, "Lisa, we have, to take shelter, somewhere."

Underneath the Evergreen Forest was a limestone Karst topography and there were many caves and underground rivers. It was in one of these natural caverns that Bert and Lisa took shelter as all around them volcanic bombs were raining down death and destruction. Where the bombs landed fires began to break out. Smoke rose from the forest as fires began. Most burned themselves out quickly doing only limited damage but every so often one would grow larger feeding on dry brush and deadwood.

As Bert ushered Lisa into a cave the two raccoons collapsed to the floor in a coughing fit and a small amount of the ash fell off them raising a small gray cloud that settled quickly. "Bert," Lisa said from their refuge, "what is that noise and that awful smell?"

Bert pulled off the mask that was covering his mouth and nose raising yet another small cloud of dust and ash. "It's the underground rivers, they are swollen with melt water. As for the rotten egg smell that's sulfur dioxide."

"Bert did we die and this is our punishment?" Lisa wondered absently.

"If this is for last night it's worth it." Bert tried to lighten the mood though if he could pick one person to spend eternity with it was Lisa.

Lisa smiled in agreement the previous night was worth it though she was certain they were not actually dead.

***

All over Mount Vulcan small rivers were being cut through rock and ash by the melting snow. The water had also taken on a noticeable whitish tint a sign it was contaminated by sulfuric acid as a byproduct of the eruption. As the new found rivers made their way down the mountain they picked up debris such as; trees, rocks, ash and carried it down stream until the reached the main established watershed. Every so often dams made of the debris would form causing small but deadly lakes to form behind them.

When the lakes got too full they would burst the dam and continue downstream carrying with them more trees and assorted debris until they got to the railroad bridge. The trestle bridge trapped floating trees, leaves, dirt and mud and slowly a lake began to form behind the bridge.

The buildup would not affect the town directly but the main line of transportation with the outside world was the rail line and if it were cut there would be no way out except for two small roads which were already filled to overcapacity with traffic going into town and which also crossed the same river that the rail bridge crossed.

The more time passed the more debris packed behind the bridge and the higher the water level rose. The bridge groaned under this added stress. Once the makeshift dam reached the top of the bridge it gave way. The overflow washed over the bridge and it collapsed washing down the ravine towards the road bridges.

Far to the south a lone fox sat observing computer monitors controlling rail traffic throughout the western part of the province. His weekend shift was for the most part boring as rail traffic was light and he was mostly trying to keep himself from dozing off when an alert sounded.

The alert indicated that there was a breach in the Evergreen Forest section of a short mixed passenger and freight line that ran up along a series of tiny mining and lumber communities. He could not believe that the alert was accurate and tapped on the screen as if that would do anything. He picked up the phone and dialed the Evergreen station.

After about a minute with no connection being made he began to suspect something was happening. He dialed again this time to the station just north of the Evergreen Forest. This time the station master picked up. "Skunk Swamp Station," the voice of a bored station master said.

"Triple S this is the control center in Vancouver. I'm showing an anomalous reading on the Evergreen Line and I can't reach the Evergreen Forest station. Have you heard anything from the engineers?"

"Not a thing though there haven't been any trains since this morning though there are more than likely a couple sitting at the Evergreen Station due to some shindig they are throwing this weekend. Bad timing too, with Mount Vulcan erupting."

"Maybe that's the problem. Have there been any earthquakes?"

"A couple they've all been pretty small though."

"OK thanks, Have a good weekend." The fox hung up the phone then dialed again.

"This is control center can we get some men to inspect the Evergreen Line?" he paused as the the other end of the line answered then he began again, "I don't care if it is a holiday weekend someone has to be on call. Send them up." The fox hung up the phone again. He hoped that it was merely earthquakes that were messing up the sensitive equipment.

***

Soon after breaching the railroad trestle the swollen Evergreen River reached the first of two road bridges. The road bridges were constructed of reinforced concrete and steel but the river was now pushing a massive amount of debris including: tress, mud, the railroad bridge and cell phone towers. It was not long before a new dam formed behind the road bridge.

Unlike the railroad bridge there was continuous traffic on the road and the motorists were watching the river warily. A few tried calling town on their cell phones but found that the town was no longer connected to the outside world.

"Mayor Baden Baden, we have a problem." Schaeffer said to Lady Baden-Baden at the town's welcome booth.

"What now?" Lady Baden-Baden said annoyed at once again being disturbed. Her earlier failed attempt to impress the weasel and beaver couple had meet with failure but since then she had better success with later visitors and was unhappy with the disturbance.

"The railroad bridge has washed out." Schaeffer said.

"What do you mean the railroad bridge has washed out?" Lady Baden-Baden said quietly as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in. Her husband Mr. Knox and some of the town council stopped working and watched in concern as she spoke with Schaeffer.

"I mean it's gone. Apparently after the volcano erupted the melt water from the summit has made its way down the Evergreen River and washed out the bridge. Our main communication lines were on that bridge. We're cut off from the world right now."

Now Lady Baden-Baden looked shocked and the other councilmen also looked nervous. "Mayor Baden-Baden, what should we do?" they asked her.

Lady Baden-Baden as like most politicians was unequal to the task so she did what all politicians do, create a committee. "We should convene the town council." She turned to her alligator husband, "Knoxie you take care of the booth."

***

Lady Baden-Baden retreated into the mayor's office and sat behind her desk. Schaeffer, Ralph, Cedric, Professor Smedly-Smyth, George W. Bushytail and few other townspeople followed her into the office.

"Gentlemen," she began, "I don't have to tell you we have a serious predicament. Now what can we do about it?"

"We have to evacuate, Lady Baden-Baden," Ralph said breaking the naval gazing the towns leaders were reduced to.

"Can that be done?" Lady Baden-Baden asked the crew chief for the towns roads and bridges.

He shock his head no, "There is no way we can open those roads to traffic without the roads being inspected assuming they are even still there. They may be gone by now. My crews have set up road blocks on the Evergreen forest side of the river but coming from the south no one will know they are in danger."

"Why can't we call out?" Lady Baden-Baden asked.

"The telephone line was on the railroad bridge that is officially out. Cell phone towers were set up along the main roads but they were in the path of the Evergreen River and were washed away. We have short range two-way radios but no way to get in contact with anyone beyond our immediate area."

"You should have bought satellite phones that would have allowed you to call out even if the lines were severed." George W. Bushytail said.

"We couldn't afford that." Lady Baden-Baden said trying to deflect the diminutive squirrel from spilling the beans.

"You did get a grant from The Homeland Security Department for equipment and salaries for people in this sort of emergency." George W. Bushytail twitched crazily as he reminded the town leaders of their dereliction of duty."

"Wait, what grant?" Ralph asked.

"The Department of Homeland Security offered grants for anti terrorism equipment, most of which serves a, dual purpose." George W. Bushytail emphasized the second part of the sentence.

"Why didn't the town buy a satellite phone then if the feds were paying for it?" Ralph asked.

Lady Baden-Baden gulped as she tried to figure out what to say "Why don't we have a satellite phone, Schaeffer?" Lady Baden-Baden directed the question to her head of civil defense.

Now it was Schaeffer's turn to sweat, "Uh, well, we sort of spent the money for other things."

"What other things?" Ralph asked.

"Plastic sheeting and duct tape." Schaeffer said sheepishly tugging at his neck.

"You spent the entire grant on plastic sheeting and duct tape?"

"And a machine gun."

"You could have purchased emergency supplies and equipment with the grant." George W. Bushytail said.

"I don't like this guy and I just met him but he's right." Ralph said as he motioned to the frazzled squirrel, "we should have spent the grant money on emergency equipment."

"It's too late to worry about that now. We have tens of thousands of people who are now trapped with nowhere to go." Schaeffer said.

"And no way to call for help." Ralph noted.

Cedric spoke up, "The pigs have a satellite phone. They use it sometimes when they have to be out doing something for pop."

"That's a great idea Cedric, now we just have to find the pigs," Ralph said. "Does anyone know where they are?"

"Well pop wanted them to work at the factory all weekend but due to, certain efficiencies, they got done early. Maybe they are at the festival."

"Let's find the pigs. At the very least we can get some emergency crews up here to fix the roads." The meeting broke and everyone went in search of the pigs.

***

After taking shelter in a cave for a few hours Bert and Lisa resumed their way across a rock strewn wilderness they were now in some of the wildest and least traversed places in the Evergreen Forest. No one would think to look for them In this part of the forest not that anyone could look for them right now. Most of the trees had branches that had snapped due to the weight of the volcanic ash giving them a skeletal appearance. The absence of any green gave the whole area the look of a post apocalyptic moonscape.

The two raccoons moved as quickly as they could stirring up clouds of ash as they walked which had turned the masks gray around their mouths and noses. They meandered around snapped tree trunks, severed branches and the ever present dust and ash that made their escape hellish.

"Bert, when, can, we rest, again?" Lisa panted. Her voice muffled by the mask she was wearing.

"I don't, know, Lisa. There is, no where, around, here, to stop, and I, want to, put, as much, distance, between, us and, the volcano." Bert answered his voice also muffled by a mask.

Once conversation ran out the two moved silently until the ground became less difficult to traverse. The area had opened up and a stream of whitish water flowed through a small ravine. The trees were less thick in this area so they decided to catch their breath here.

"Why are we stopping, Bert?" Lisa asked not unhappy that they had stopped.

Bert pointed to the river, "That's why."

"The creek, we'll just cross it it doesn't look that deep."

"It's full of sulfuric acid. You can tell by the whitish tint. You wouldn't want that stuff in contact with your fur or skin. C'mon well have to find a place further down stream to ford." Bert began walking along the bank. Lisa followed walking in his footsteps.

***

At the fall festival a number of the tourists were becoming aware that the roads out of town were now blocked. Many of them were unhappy because they were not intending to stay overnight and there were not nearly enough hotel rooms to accommodate everyone. Attempts to call out were impossible due to communications being cut and to make matters even worse rumors were beginning to circulate that a major city had been attacked and that was why communications were now cut. Tensions were running high and Schaeffer and George W. Bushytail were sent to quell the unrest.

"What is going on? Why are we trapped here?!" A female weasel with oddly shaped square glasses asked.

Schaeffer tried to mollify the frightened crowd. "No one is trapped. Due to the volcano erupting there have been some flash floods. The railroad bridge is out and because it carried the main telephone lines they too are out. The main roads need to be inspected before we can allow traffic on them."

A male beaver who was with the with the weasel asked, "is it true Vancouver was attacked?" A rumble went through the crowd, Schaeffer had obviously not convinced them.

"No, Vancouver has not been attacked."

"What about Calgary?"

"No."

"What about Toronto?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because terrorists have better things to do. Listen folks, no one has been attacked. This is a very localized event. Please everyone be reasonable." Schaeffer knew he was losing the crowd, "Bushytail do something."

"Tell us what the terrorists look like!" Someone in the crowd demanded.

"Tell them something completely ridiculous, Bushytail. Then they won't believe you and will calm down." Schaeffer pushed the squirrel forward offering him up as a sacrifice to the crowd.

George W. Bushytail began to sweat, "Um, well, terrorists, look like... well they have pink skin and flat noses but they wear robes so usually you can only see their eyes through their sunglasses, oh and they have curly tails."

The crowd looked at the squirrel like he was nuts. Murmurs of 'thats ridiculous' and 'what a moron' could be heard and they began to calm down and disperse. Schaeffer breathed a sigh of relief, with the crowd calmed down he could concentrate on finding the pigs and communicating with the outside world for help.

Unfortunately just as the crowds started to disperse the pigs happened by wearing robes and sunglasses. "Excuse me sir, we are traveling dignitaries and wondered what the presentation was about?"

A tourist who was listening to the squirrel rolled his eyes and said, "Oh some idiot is talking about..." He turned his head to face the pigs, "terror... terror... terrorists!" The tourist shouted at the top of his lungs and pointed at the pigs causing a number of people to turn to face them.

"Oh my god, that moron was right!" a female tourist said.

"They've come to get us!"

"Not if we get them first." Now the crowd was turning hostile. The pigs started to think their disguise was not such a good idea.

"Does anyone have any rope?"

"I've got duct tape." A bearded beaver said.

The crowd was now advancing on the pigs who were backing up with their arms extended to ward off the savage beat down they were about to get.

Schaeffer saw the pigs were about to become the main attraction at a lynching, "Oh no, we need those three." He said aloud to himself. "Hey everyone!" He shouted to the crowd, "there's some terrorists over there!" he pointed in the opposite direction from the pigs.

With the crowd momentarily distracted the pigs made a break for it. The crowd, however, was not distracted for long. And soon the chase was on again.

Schaeffer pressed the button of his two way radio, "We found the pigs."

"Good, where are they?" Ralph answered back.

"Right in front of a lynch mob. I'd suggest we rescue them quickly if we want that satellite phone."

"We'll get the civil defense auxiliaries to help." Ralph said thinking of the ancient soldiers that were press ganged into service.

***

When Ralph and the town council, with the auxiliaries in tow, found the pigs they were about to be captured. "Someone has to do something!" Ralph shouted.

"I know crowd control!" The elderly german shepard barked loudly.

"Well Then start controlling that crowd!" Ralph shouted back.

A burst of machine gun fire went over the heads of the crowd and they immediately screamed and fled for cover leaving the pigs fortunately unscathed.

"Your method of crowd control was to shoot a machine gun over their heads?!" Ralph asked incredulously.

"Nein! My method of crowd control was to fire into the crowd with a machine gun!" the german shepard said back still convinced that was a good idea.

"Give me that!" Ralph wenched the old machine gun from the elderly dog before he could try again.

"Where did you learn crowd control?!" Ralph asked.

"In Flander's fields!"

One of the Canadian world war veterans spoke around his dentures, "I thought that was you."

"At least we have the pigs now." Schaeffer said. "Take them into custody. For their own safety." He said to the elderly dogs who immediately complied and arrested the terrified pigs.

To Be Continued