Chapter 6: Kidnapped!
The next day, Snowflake and Bert were combing the village for Scamper, with some important news at hand.
"Scamper!" called Snowflake.
"Scamper, sir!" called Bert. Scamper was saying goodbye to his mother and his poisoned father. Scamper was about to leave to find a cure, when he heard the calls. He peeked his head over the hill. He motioned for the two penguins to come over, and Snowflake and Bert followed.
"What's wrong?" asked Scamper.
"There's a UAB approaching, sir!" said Bert. A UAB was an Unidentified Approaching Boat. This potentially meant danger.
"Is everybody safe in the Burrows?" asked Scamper.
"Yes, sir!" said Bert. The Burrows were the last safe hiding place for the penguins, dug by Cowboy at the request of Scamper during one of their stays. It consisted of one large main section that led to dozens of little pockets to hide in.
"Alright," said Scamper. "I'll check it out. You two help my dad into the burrows." Snowflake and Bert were helping Gilbert to the Burrows while Scamper was sneaking behind the hills, making sure their new company wouldn't be able to see them. Scamper peeked his head over the tip of the hill to try to figure out whether the UAB was a friend or foe. It wasn't like any ship he recognized. It was dark green with a bunch of men with… guns? They were definitely foe. Scamper ran back to the burrows as quickly as his webbed feet could carry him. He ducked inside the entrance, where the other penguins were waiting for an identification.
"What kind of boat is it, Scamper?" asked a worried Snowflake.
"It's a foe, I saw their guns," said Scamper. "Everybody into the pockets!" All of the penguins dashed into the pockets of the burrows. These pockets were obscured from view of the main entrance, and there were enough to accommodate all of the penguins. Gilbert was helped into his pocket by Gracie and Mr. Feather. They all waited in the cramped pockets in fear. Well, all except Walker.
"This is so COOL!" said Walker.
"SHHH!" shushed Snowflake and Louise. They weren't in the mood to get shot down by these bad men today.
"Walker, just stay calm," said Scamper.
"I'm not scared," said Walker bravely.
"But you're not [i]calm[/i], either," said Scamper. "You have to be quiet!" Just then, footsteps crunching in the snow could be heard outside. This was not good at all.
"Where do you think the bomb went?" asked Dirt Pore to Mud Pi. They were hiking around Antarctica with absolutely no idea how a bomb meant for Germany could wind up all the way here.
"I think they went this way," said Mud. "According to the readouts, the bomb is underground." The two scientists turned in the direction the needle on the device was pointing, and saw a small cave.
"How convenient," said Dirt. The two scientists crawled into the cave and found virtually nothing.
"There's nothing in here," said Dirt, on his hands and knees.
"But the readouts say that there is," said Mud, also on his hands and knees. "I still think we should check this place out."
"But what if there's a polar bear in here?" asked Dirt.
"Or maybe a flock of penguins?" suggested Mud.
"That's ridiculous: penguins don't dig burrows," said Dirt.
"But I'm looking at a few penguins right now," said Mud. Dirt turned around and saw a few penguins taking a peek at their new guests.
"The readouts say the bomb is in that pocket," said Mud. "Let's go!" The two scientists crawled inside the pocket.
Scamper and his family were all shocked to see that the men chose their pocket to look at. One of them was holding a small gun, the other one was holding a strange, large device. Snowflake was hiding behind Scamper.
"It looks like the bomb's behind this penguin," said the one with the box, referring to Scamper. He held the box at Scamper, and moved it a bit to the right, and a bit to the left. The needle pointed to the space behind Scamper.
"It [i]is[/i] behind this penguin," said the man with the box. He reached forward to push Scamper out of the way. Scamper tried to nip him on the finger, but the gloves were too thick. The man with the box just laughed.
"What's so funny about [i]this[/i], Mud?" asked the man with the gun.
"I'm fine, Dirt," said Mud. "My gloves are just too thick for the poor penguin to bite through." He pulled his hand away, pulling Scamper away as well, revealing Snowflake. Mud pulled Snowflake toward him. He looked behind her, around her, and under her, but there was no bomb.
"The tracking device just points to her," said Mud. Snowflake trembled in fear. Dirt was laughing his guts out.
"State-of-the-art technology?" he guffawed. "It must be defective, then! HAHAHA!" Mud didn't find this amusing.
"Don't you remember?" asked Mud. "We put the bomb in a fish suit. It must've fallen into the water, and this penguin swallowed it." Snowflake immediately remembered the bad-tasting fish she swallowed, and assumed that this was the bomb that they were talking about. But she had no idea what a bomb was.
"Scamper, what's a bomb?" asked a panicked Snowflake.
"I don't know," said Scamper. "Just stay calm." The men handcuffed Snowflake's foot to their wrists and picked her up and carried her away. Snowflake was desperately trying to peck through the handcuffs, nip her captors, and calling Scamper for help, but the attempts were futile. Scamper couldn't believe what was happening. These new bad men were kidnapping his best friend. Scamper ran to stop them, but Dirt pointed his gun at Scamper. Scamper immediately stopped and dashed into the nearest pocket to avoid the bullet. The two men crawled out of the burrows with Snowflake as their captive. Scamper rushed out of the burrows and ran faster than he ever ran before (And he ran pretty fast in his childhood) to catch the kidnappers. Mud and Dirt were already at their rowboat, about to row to their big boat, when Scamper came over the hill. Scamper rushed as fast as he could toward the boat, but a gunshot from Dirt hit him right in the leg. Scamper sprawled out on the snowy surface, with a pain in his leg, hearing Snowflake's cries growing fainter and fainter. He looked ahead at the little boat being pulled onto the bigger boat, and the two evil scientists bringing Snowflake onto the ship. He couldn't believe it. He lost his mate. He lost his best friend. And the rest of the penguins followed over the hill and saw Scamper sprawled out on the snow and in pain, both physically and emotionally.
"Snowflake's in trouble," said Scamper, getting up as fast as he could. "I have to go save her!"
"Forget about her," said Ice. "Find another girl. That penguin was a complete and total wimp…"
"That's my best friend you're talking about," growled Scamper, limping over to Ice. "We've been that way since we were born and I can't just let her go like that!"
"C'mon, Scamper," said Ice. "I just move on to a different girl every year. It's not like it's illegal or anything."
"Why is it not illegal?" asked Scamper. "Because everybody else does it? Because it brings you pleasure?" Ice shut up, and walked off, but not before kicking a small rift of snow in Scamper's direction.
"Scamper, sir!" said Bert. "It's going to be rough out there. You may need me to help you."
"No, Bert," said Scamper. "You have to stay here and watch after the flock."
"But, sir," said Bert. "You can't just go out there all alone!"
"I don't plan on going alone," said Scamper. "But no one here can help me." And with that, he limped off into the icy wilderness, to find an old friend he hadn't seen in a long, long time.