Over the Hedge: Vincent's Return

by Mike B Kittson

RJ keeps having nightmares about Vincent coming back with a vengeance. The worst part about these nightmares is that the one who ends up hurt is the one RJ cares about the most: Heather. RJxHeather. My first OTH fic. Hope it's good. Enjoy!

11. Gathering Vincent's food Pt 2

Disclaimer: This movie belongs to Dreamworks. Characters belong to T. Lewis and Michael Fry

A week and a half had gone by since the bad raid. It was now in the afternoon. Ozzie still couldn't help out with the raids, but was in better condition than before. So far the group was able to collect about ¼ of the second load. RJ looked at the stash and shook his head. "We need to work harder and faster," he said to himself. He went over to the others, who were sitting in their resting spots. "Alright," he said. "Break time's over. We only have a week and a half left, so we need to collect more food than what we've been collecting." Everyone got up and went over to the hedge. Once they spotted a house, they grabbed the wagon and ran over to the house to check it out. The house looked empty. "Okay," said RJ. "First thing: Is there an entrance?" Stella went to the front door and saw a doggy door. She ran back over. "Yep," she said. "Doggy door." "Alright," said RJ. "This time, we need to be careful around whatever kind of dog they got. I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

The group moved over to the doggy door. RJ looked inside to see if there was anyone around. No one. RJ stepped inside and gave the signal to go in. Everyone came inside. "Okay, before we do anything, I'm going to check the entire house," said RJ. "It looks deserted, but I don't want to take any chances. You guys stay right here. If you see or hear something out of the ordinary, split and head get back outside." Everyone did as RJ said while RJ traveled throughout the house. He checked the garage, every bedroom, the dining room, the kitchen, the living room, the den, and so on. The house was completely empty. RJ let out a sigh of relief. "Looks like this one's going to be easier than the last few," he said. He ran back over to the others. "Alright. Head for the kitchen." They ran to the kitchen and opened up all the cabinets and the fridge. RJ smiled. "Looks like we got enough to finish off the second load, guys," said RJ. "Hammy, wait by the window and give us a shout if you see a car pull into the driveway." "Okay RJ," said Hammy, and he immediately zipped over to the window. "Everyone else, start filling the wagon," said RJ.

Everyone grabbed some food and took it outside through the doggy door. 15 minutes passed and so far, no sign of the house owners. "You know," said Verne. "We might actually be able to get all of the food ahead of time." RJ nodded his head. "We just might, Verne," he said. "So far we've raided almost every single house on the block, so someone's bound to go shopping soon." Then RJ thought of something. "Verne, I just got an idea that could make this so much easier." "What is it?" asked Verne. "I'll tell you when we get back to the hedge," said RJ. After another 20 minutes, the house was completely cleared of food. "Alright, let's get out of here before they come back," said RJ. They all ran out the doggy door, but stopped just as a van pulled into the driveway. "Not good," said Verne. "Everyone grab the wagon and get it back to the hedge," said RJ. "I'll try to distract them." While the others carried the wagon over to the hedge, RJ ran over to the van and hid under it. As the door opened, a woman on the phone and her little boy stepped out of the van. The little boy looked over to where the others were moving the wagon. "Mommy, some animals are carrying food in a wagon," he said. RJ felt his heart skip a beat, fearful that the mother would look where her son was looking. Fortunately, the mother was too distracted by her phone conversation to notice and just said, "That's nice dear."

RJ let out a sigh of relief. The mother and son walked into the house. RJ got out from under the van and headed over to the hedge. "Well, that was easy," he said. Just as RJ was halfway there, the little boy called out, "Here, Spot!" RJ stopped dead in his tracks and looked over to the van. He saw a small dog slightly bigger than him come out and head for the house, but was stopped by the smell of raccoon. "Uh-oh," said RJ. The dog looked over at RJ and ran towards him. RJ ran around the yard until he was jumped on and pinned by the dog. RJ closed his eyes preparing for the worst as the dog got closer to his face. However, instead of feeling teeth, he felt the dog's slimy tongue all over his face. "Hey! Yuck! Stop that! Get off of me!" The dog finally got off. RJ got up and smelled his dog slobber coated fur. He flinched. "You ever heard of a breath mint?" he said to the dog. The dog started jumping around RJ. "Play! Play!" said the dog. RJ slapped his forehead. "Not again," he said. Then he saw through the window that the mother looked through her cabinets and found no food. "Uh, son," she said. "Where are these animals with the food in the wagon?" RJ's eyes went wide. "Outside in the front," replied the kid, causing RJ's eyes to widen even more. He looked over to his friends and saw that they were still a little too far away from the hedge. He turned back to the playful dog. "You want to play a game?" he asked. "Yeah!" said the dog. "Fine, let's play a little game called 'Catch the Raccoon'."

RJ started running around with the dog on his tail. When he saw the mother come out, he ran towards the front door over to her and stopped right in front of her. The mother looked down and screamed when she saw RJ. To make things even worse for her, RJ grabbed onto her and started climbing all over her, while the dog kept jumping around trying to catch RJ. Stopping on top of the mother's head, RJ looked down at the dog and said, "Hey! I'm up here!" The dog spotted RJ and jumped up, but not high enough. Instead of getting RJ at the very top, the dog ended up tackling the mother down on the ground. RJ took a little time to look over to where the others were. He was relieved to see that the back end of the wagon had just gone through to the other side. "Alright," he said. "I'm out of here." RJ ran back over to the hedge and jumped through. Just as he was all the way through, he felt something grab his tail and yank him out. Next thing he knew, the dog had him by the tail and was shaking him around. "Okay! Stop! You win! You caught me!" The dog stopped shaking RJ and dropped him. "Play! Play! Play!" RJ shook his head. "No," he said. "No more." The dog wouldn't give up. "Play! Play!" RJ slapped his forehead. "Could this be any more difficult?" he asked himself. Then he saw a stick on the ground and picked it up. He shook it in front of the dog. "You want the stick, boy? Huh, you want the stick?" The dog jumped up and down, waiting for the stick. "Then, catch!" RJ threw the stick as far away from him as possible. As one would expect, the dog went after it.

"Now that that's taken care of," said RJ. He went through the hedge and over to the log, where the others were waiting for him. "Hey guys," he said. "I'm back." "So what's this plan you're talking about?" asked Verne. "Before you tell us, I just have one question," said Hammy. "Yes, Hammy," said RJ. "Why do you smell like dog breath?"

Hey readers. Sorry I took so long. Things have been crazy with work and school, so I'm finding it harder and harder to find time to update. Not to mention the regular everyday writer's block. Here's the update. Hope you enjoy. You'll find out the plan in the next chapter.