hey all! what's up? thanks for the reviews!

way2cute4words- Portman and Julie are still going on, they're just not being focused on because everyone is dying of starvation.

anyway, here's chapter 8! when you're done reading, hit the review button.

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Chapter 8: The Fun Part aka But So What?

The 15 Ducks, old, new, and former, all collapsed into chairs around a big table. They finally made it to Patty's Pizza.

Sure, they had to run from the cops Ms. Watson had called after they quacked at her. So what? Sure, Guy got stuck on the barbed wire fence they had to jump over. But so what? So in the dark alley the cut through Averman ran face first into a brick wall. But so what? Ok, so Kenny fell into a huge, water filled pot hole running up the street. But so what? Alright, so the traffic light and the walk/do not walk light weren't in sync so when they stepped out into a busy intersection they nearly got nailed by a huge truck with 18 wheels. But so what? So Connie nearly killed herself by tripping down a flight of stone stairs as they ran through the park. But so what? So maybe Portman hit his head on a thick, low tree branch. But so what? Big deal that Adam got the hood of his t-shirt caught on a clothes line and nearly hanged himself before anyone was able to get him down. But so what? So Luis was nearly mauled to death by an attack dog. But so what? Sure, Charlie had nearly gotten hit with a baseball when accidentally ran into a gang fight. But so what? So Peter had stopped to catch his breath, went to sit on a stoop, missed, fell on his ass, and bruised his tailbone. But so what? So Julie got stuck in wet tar in a newly paved ditch and twisted her ankle trying to get out. But so what? Alright, so Jesse was nearly hit again by the same 18 wheel truck at a different intersection. But so what? Ok, so Fulton was nearly run down by a man on a bicycle. But so what? So maybe Russ just avoided falling into an open sewer where there was construction going on. But so what? Ok, so Goldberg lost his footing on some loose dirt that he later found out was dog poop and went tumbling down a grassy hill in the park, knocking everyone down on the way. But so what? Sure, maybe Dwayne tripped over his own feet and knocked everyone down all over again. But so what? Big deal, it started thunder storming when they still had a mile to get to the restaurant. But so what? Ok, they were soaking wet, tired, and starving. But so what?

Sure, it was a small miracle that they were all still alive.

But so what? They had finally made it to Patty's Pizza, where they'd soon be eating something, and that's what counted.

"This...just...isn't...our...night," Guy panted.

"No shit, Sherlock," said Julie angrily. She fell into the seat next to Portman, knocking him slightly when she put her head on his shoulder.

"Don't do that, Julie, the room is spinning," he said, holding his head where he had run into the tree branch.

"Are you alright, Cake-Eater?" Jesse asked Adam. Adam was still slightly discolored from when he didn't get air during his adventure with the clothes line.

"I think so, just a little shaken up," he replied.

"Shaken up?" Charlie said in a voice of disbelief. "You're lucky to be alive."

"It was great how you all just stood there looking at me stupidly before someone got the sense to cut me down," Adam snapped at them. Then, turning to Dwayne he said, "Thanks for waking up and cutting me down, Dwayne. You're not as stupid as you look."

"Any time, partner," said Dwayne, smiling, cheerfully oblivious to the fact Adam was not only thanking him but insulting him at the same time.

"Hey Con- are you alright? Why are you bleeding?" Goldberg asked sounding surprised, while wiping dog crap off his shoe with a napkin.

"Well, I only fell head over heels down a flight of stone stairs, I can't imagine why I'd be bleeding," Connie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Just then, a waitress came over. "Hey, you kids look a wreck."

"We are," said Fulton quietly.

"Are you all alright? Don't bleed on the cloth napkins, dear, blood is hard to get out. Use the paper ones," she said to Connie.

"Oh! Sorry," Connie grabbed a paper napkin.

"May I take your order?"

Everyone quieted down to look at Charlie.

"Six pitchers of coke and five large pizzas, two with pepperoni, one with mushrooms, and two plain," Charlie said, reciting his team's order that he knew by heart.

"It'll be about half hour kids, make yourselves comfortable."

"Half hour?" Luis said quietly as she left. "It's 11 already!"

"I'm tired," said Russ, yawning.

"So am I," said Kenny in a sympathetic voice.

"Did you see the look on Watson's face when we quacked at her?" said Averman, grinning.

"Yeah, it was deja-vu," said Peter, laughing.

"I hope we never have to run from cops again. That was absolute hell," said Guy, cleaning the dried blood off his leg where he was cut by the barbed wire fence.

"I agree," said Fulton. "Did you see that lunatic on the bicycle? He nearly killed me!"

"Yeah, I saw it," said Goldberg. "He was nuts."

"Then, after we finally get away from those cops, I can't believe we had to run a mile in the rain," said Jesse, trying to dry his hair with some napkins.

"Yeah, and I really appreciated how you all left me standing there in the pouring rain, with oncoming traffic, when my I lost my sneaker in the middle of that intersection," Connie said bitterly.

 "Well, at least you all weren't nearly killed with a baseball bat," said Charlie, pouring out coke, which had arrived, and passing it around.

"How did you mistake those gangs fighting with us?" Adam asked.

"Well, it's been such a terrible night that it wouldn't have surprised me if you had taken to killing each other with baseball bats," said Charlie honestly.

"Coconut toasted peanuts!" said Portman, a hazy look in his eyes.

Everyone looked at him.

"What's he talking about?" Russ asked Julie, who was sitting closest to Portman.

"Nothing, just nonsense, he really took a bad conk to the head when he ran into that tree limb. I think we ought to take him to the hospital," Julie replied.

"Well, I'm not going to the hospital until I eat my pizza!" said Guy.

"WHAT!?" Julie yelled. "YOU WOULD RATHER EAT WHEN YOUR FRIEND COULD BE SERIOUSLY HURT THAN TAKE HIM TO THE HOSPITAL!?"

"In this case, yes," said Guy flatly. "This is ridiculous. It's been 5 hours since Charlie asked us what we wanted for dinner. I'm starving, I'm tired, I want my pizza, and I'm going to eat."

Julie looked around for support, but nobody said anything to agree with her.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD ALL RATHER EAT PIZZA THAN HELP YOUR FRIEND!" she hollered at the rest of the Ducks.

"It's not that we don't want to help him, it's just that we don't want to help him right now," said Adam. Then, seeing the look on Julie's face, he added, "It's just that, in this case, the pizza is the greater good. More people benefit from eating pizza than taking Portman to the hospital at this moment."

Julie considered this and was about to protest when she heard her stomach rumble. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, sitting down.

The pizza came out, and everyone grabbed a slice, including Portman. He seemed to have been revived of semi-idiocy by the food.

Everyone was about to chow down when Dwayne yelled, "WAIT! STOP! NO!"

Everyone dropped their pizza back on to their plates, looking startled.

"We forgot to say grace," said Dwayne.

"WHAT!?" Russ yelled.

"In Texas we always say grace before a meal," said Dwayne.

"In Texas many people marry their cousins. Where do we draw the line?" said Guy.

"We'll say grace, then we'll eat," said Dwayne.

"Ugh, fine, who'll say grace?" Jesse asked. When nobody volunteered, he said, "Fine, Charlie, you do it."

"Why me?" Charlie asked.

"Because you're captain," the whole team echoed back at him.

"And if you don't like it," Luis said, grinning, "You can go hug a landmine."

Charlie muttered something where only the word "assholes" was distinguishable. Then, audibly, he said, "Fine, fine."

He put his hands together and closed his eyes as if he were praying. Everyone else followed suit.

It was at that point Charlie realized he had no idea what to say.

"Say something, Charlie," said Dwayne.

Charlie thought desperately. He wasn't a religious person, what would he say. Then he remembered something he had heard Tim Allen say in the movie 'For Richer or Poorer.' He decided it fitted the situation perfectly.

"Good food, good meat, good God, let's eat."

Everyone opened their eyes and started to laugh, except Dwayne.

"CHARLIE!" he yelled.

"Dig in, Cowboy," said Charlie, grinning devilishly, as everyone around them began to eat.

Charlie smiled to himself as everyone ate. The bad moods and the injuries were put on hold as everyone just ate gratefully and a buzz of conversations about times past took place. Connie was talking excitedly about the District 5 Championship Game to Julie. Adam, Dwayne, and Guy were telling Peter about the Junior Goodwill Games. Fulton, Portman, Luis, Russ, and Kenny were all babbling away to Jesse about their school year at Eden Hall, the Varsity team, and Coach Orion. Goldberg and Averman were deep in conversation about Bombay and what he was doing these days. Jesse and Peter then filled the older Ducks in on Terry, the Duncan kids, and Karp, and what was going on with them.

As they talked past midnight and into the early hours of the next day, Charlie had to admit, he loved these people, in spite of how much he wanted to strangle them all tonight. Actually, at the same time, he had a ton of fun. It was like being on an adventure with crazy friends…HIS crazy friends…they would always be his crazy friends. How could they not? They've been through a lot on the ice, and off it, too. They had gone through hell tonight. Averman and his vampires, Portman tripping his waiter, the 18 wheel truck they had escaped twice. But so what? Sure, they had finally gotten dinner. But so what? Coach Bombay had always said that with hockey, it was having fun that mattered, not winning. It was GETTING the dinner that was the fun part, and the fun part was all that mattered, right?

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Well, that's it. How'd you like it? A little sappy at points, but overall I don't think it was bad. Yep, this is complete. This was so much fun, I think I may write a sequel. Don't forget to hit the review button. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and like I said, I'm really considering writing a sequel. This was fun.

Until next time, keep it real, kids...keep it real, but don't forget to occasionally get lost in your thoughts and dreams…or somebody else's. Hey, ya never know, right? Peace.