Hee, another chappie for you all. Hope you are all enjoying this story. I am trying to finish it over my holidays, but somehow, I don't think I am going to accomplish that as I am being very lazy and barely typing three sentences a day.

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Chapter 10: Narrow escape?

Drum Island turned out to be a very small town. It also looked deserted when they drove in. Except for the cop car sitting across the street in front of them. Zoro ducked down in his seat, not that he needed to because the windows were tinted and no one could see in from the outside. Luffy was looking around interestedly.

"What are we going to do?" Usopp asked, shaking in his seat.

"You know, you didn't even have to come Usopp." Zoro hissed back, annoyed at the young boy's lack of bravery.

"But, I had nowhere else to go, and Luffy saved my life! No one liked me at home." Usopp replied and then looked back at the car that was coming steadily closer as they drove forward. Zoro paused a moment and then sighed.

"We need to find a way around." he said, trying to break the uneasy silence that had settled in the car.

"No duh fucktard." Sanji replied nastily, cigarette between his teeth.

"What's a fucktard?" Luffy asked, eyes wide.

"Never mind!" Zoro snapped, glaring at the blonde bastard in front of him. True, there was a seat separating them, not to mention the empty back seat in front of him, but how he wished he could just reach forward and slap the bastard around the back of the head. Luffy shrugged and then looked back out the window.

"Hey Zoro! There's that Tashigi girl!" Luffy cried, pressing a finger to the window as he pointed. Zoro groaned. Why the hell did she have to be everywhere? Why couldn't he just be left alone? "Zoro?"

"What?" Zoro asked, turning to Luffy, who blinked.

"Why don't we fight?" he inquired. Zoro paused.

"Luffy, last time we did that you got dog piled, I would rather not risk it again." he replied staring at Luffy. The boy tilted his head.

"But I wasn't hurt." he stated.

"Actually, I think we will have to fight no matter what we do." Sanji said from the front, a slightly worried eye regarding the swordsman from the rear view mirror. Zoro paused and then he heaved a deep breath.

"Fine. But we fight and then we get away as soon as we can. Fighting with the police is something we shouldn't do. It will just get us in even worse trouble." he said.

"You idiot. They aren't the police!" Nami snapped from the front. Zoro turned to her.

"…What?"

"They aren't the police. They're something else. Haven't you ever noticed how they aren't surrounding towns? How they aren't pursuing you in open daylight? The only time they have tried to catch you has been at the park and there was no one else around! Come on, think about it." Nami snapped, hand clenched on the dash board as she twisted and looked at Zoro with a stricken face.

"They tried to kill us. One held a gun to my head, and no police officer is supposed to hold a person hostage. You said when you first saw Luffy, the other policemen were going to shoot. No. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't instantly suspect an innocent kid of being associated with a wanted criminal. Not to mention, I have never heard of you before I met you." she finished. Zoro blinked.

Nami… was making sense. There was something fishy about these guys, but then, why would Tashigi be after him? She was a proper policewoman, unless someone higher up gave orders that she was to do something dishonest.

So, maybe there was a link here. Something he had to follow. What was to happen next, would shock him and prove Nami's theory.

"Stop just ahead. As soon as we stop, everyone jump out of your doors and take down the nearest guy you can find and run." Zoro instructed, clicking his white handled sword out from it's sheath and running a thumb down the side of the blade.

"But, how will we meet up again?" Usopp asked, shaking from head to foot. Luffy looked at the long nose.

"Don't worry Usopp. We'll find each other again. We're friends after all." He replied with a bright smile. Usopp stared at him for a moment and then nodded.

"Yeah. Of course." and he turned back around again, undoing his seatbelt as he did so. Sanji was puffing on his cigarette a little harder than what seemed usual, Nami was twiddling her thumbs agitatedly, Zoro was clicking his sword in and out of it's sheath, eyes shifting to find a weak spot in the circle and then going back to Tashigi, who was watching the car with a stern expression.

Luffy was sitting in his seat, as calm as could be. He didn't seem worried at all, although once he did reach up and press his hat down a little more firmly on his head. The car slowed.

"Ready?" Sanji asked.

"Let's go." Zoro said. Four side doors snapped open simultaneously and the back door snapped open as well. Luffy and Zoro jumped out, both kneeling on the warm asphalt before launching forward at their targets.

Nami ran towards a man who was aiming a gun at her. She ducked under the man's arms and slammed her knee up between his legs. He whimpered and fell back and Nami poked her tongue out as she disappeared into a dark alleyway. Usopp rolled across the ground.

"Just run, just run, just run." he said over and over again before jumping up and spinning around, accidentally slamming his elbow into the man's head and running past. He rubbed his arm as he ran and then blinked. He had escaped.

"Woohoo!" he cried as he disappeared after Nami.

Sanji jumped out of his side, landing on his hands and spinning around, catching the three men aiming at him with leather clad feet before jumping back onto his feet and stretching his legs wide, taking a long leap into a shadowed alleyway.

Zoro spun, slicing one of his swords around and cutting the 'policeman' in front of him. Luffy was beside him, slamming a fist into his target's face and then running as well. Zoro was after him.

"Roronoa Zoro! Stop!" Tashigi's voice echoed behind him. Zoro sneered. No way in hell was he gonna do that. A gunshot rang out, followed by another. The enemy must have gotten over their initial shock and were firing at the only two visible fugitives left.

There was another shot and Zoro suddenly realised something was missing. Something important. He looked to the side and saw Luffy was gone.

He skidded to a stop and looked around to see Luffy laying on his front on the road, blood blossoming up through his shirt from his shoulder. The straw hat lay in front of the boy, and men were running forward, trying to get to Luffy before Zoro did. He saw the boy's head turn towards him and then Luffy's eyes came to rest on him.

Zoro could see what Luffy was trying to tell him to do. Luffy wanted him to run, wanted him to escape and leave him behind. Zoro wasn't about to do that. That was just something he was incapable of doing at this point in time.

He ran forward, sliding his sword into it's sheath as he did so. He had to be quick about this. Without even stopping, he leaned down and grabbed the hat, and Luffy up in his arms.

Flipping the boy over his shoulder, he pulled out a sword again and sliced through the two men coming towards him, spinning between them and then running forward. Zoro could feel warm blood running down his back, going straight through his thin shirt and hitting the skin below.

Putting Luffy over his shoulder was probably not the best thing he could have done, and now, he needed to escape rather than fight. He needed to find help for Luffy.

Looking to the side and saw an alleyway. There. He could go through there. He dodged to the side and ran down the gap between the two buildings.

Shouts and shots followed him for a while and then the noise died down to just the continued slap of his feet on the cement. Deep breaths made him heave but he kept going, determined to put enough distance between himself and the fake police as he could.

"Hey, Marimo!" a voice called and he stopped to see Sanji waving at him from behind a dumpster. He ducked over and sat down, moving Luffy from his shoulder to his lap. The boy was panting, his eyes closed.

"What happened?" Sanji whispered, seeing the blood on Zoro's shirt and Luffy's ashen face.

"He was shot." Zoro replied, gently turning Luffy over so he could get a good look at the wound. The bullet seemed to have lodged in Luffy's shoulder somewhere, and Zoro winced.

"He needs help." he muttered. Sanji nodded. Luffy gave a shuddering breath and sweat was beading on his forehead. Zoro was forcing himself not to panic because if he started panicking, then Luffy would… well, he didn't want to think about it.

"How are we going to find a doctor?" Sanji asked, watching Luffy carefully. Zoro shook his head.

"I don't know."

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Nami crouched behind a large park bench. She could hear someone running towards her hiding spot and she popped her head up enough so she could see. A familiar figure came towards her.

He was running faster than you would have given him credit for as well. Nami reached out a hand as Usopp ran past and then grabbed his ankle. Usopp hit the ground face first with a hard thump.

"…ow." he commented, voice muffled by the dirt under him.

"Did you see the others?" Nami asked. Usopp sat up, rubbing his sore nose.

"Nope. I was running." the marksman responded. "But, I did get this." and he held out a gun. Nami blinked and then smiled.

"Good one." she said and Usopp smiled proudly.

"What are you two doing?" a squeaky voice asked. Nami turned to see a … reindeer? What the hell? He was no taller than just above her knee. He was standing on two legs like a human as well.

"It… t-t-t-talks!" Usopp shrieked. The reindeer jumped back, hands coming across it's face.

"Well, uh, see ya." and he began to run away but Nami reached out a hand and grabbed the little reindeer's arm… er, front leg.

"Wait, don't run." she said. The reindeer turned to look at her, small button eyes looking up at her with fear. "It's okay. Usopp was just scared of you. What's your name?"

"T-tony Tony Chopper." the reindeer replied. Usopp was still staring in shock at the little animal.

"Chopper. I know we just met, but, is there a possibility we could stay the night with you?" Nami asked. Chopper blinked and then looked around a little nervously, the sun beginning to set and the lights of the town starting to flicker into life.

"I-I guess. I live just over there." and he pointed towards a small shack on the edge of a group of larger buildings. Nami blinked and then stood, looking around nervously herself. There seemed to be no one around.

"But, what about Luffy, Zoro and Sanji?" Usopp asked. Nami shook her head.

"We can't search for them now. We'll have to wait until later." she replied as they followed Chopper, who every now and again would glance a little nervously over his shoulder at them. He led them to the house and opened the door for them.

"It's small, but, you can use the bed. I prefer sleeping in my corner anyway." the little guy said as he walked in. He seemed more comfortable inside. Chopper went over to a little corner that was piled with pillows and blankets and surrounded by various medical text books. The reindeer grabbed a large pink tattered hat off of the table in the centre of the room, and placed it on his head.

"So, who are you?" Chopper asked as he jumped into his little nest and crossed his front legs, laying down like a reindeer should.

"I'm Nami, and this is Usopp." the orange haired woman said, pulling Usopp out from behind her. "We, uh, just arrived here."

"Oh…" Chopper replied, eyeing Usopp carefully. The long nosed man still seemed to be a little afraid of him. Chopper couldn't understand why.

"So, uh, how can you talk?" Nami asked. Chopper blinked and then his eyes were shadowed by his hat as he tilted his head forward.

"I don't want to talk about it." he replied. Nami stiffened, afraid she had offended their host.

"Oh, uh, you don't have to. So, what do you do?"

"I'm a doctor!" Chopper replied brightly, over his little moment of sadness. Nami smiled.

"Cool."

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Sorry about the shortness of the chapter. It just seemed to work better here and plus, I think I gave you all a gigantic hint in here. And, you may notice the similarities between Palace Guard and this story. Sorry about that as well, but I was in a dramatic mood.