Ha! I told you chapter 11 would be up fast! I'm totally ALL ABOUT this kind of crap! I'm so freakin' excited! I'm using way too many exclimation points!

Nyeegh!

Okay... okay... *deep breathes*

Okay, I'm okay. But seriously. I've already got the next chapter done! Actually, this chapter was longer, but it started getting a little too long so I decided to cut it off (which is funny, because the next chapter has about five great stopping points I could have used). But I decided it was long enough and I didn't want to have to write more than I needed. I might post again today, so stay tuned!

Nya! So FREAKIN' excited! *jittery*

I have to go on a walk... but I'll be back! I expect reviews of thankfulness!

Chapter 11

Flaky finished making the sandwiches and picked one plate up in each hand. Delivering one to Ms. Giggles, Flaky then turned her course towards Sniffles's room. She slowly stepped down the three wooden steps and knocked with her free hand. "Sniffles? Are you in there?"

The anteater's voice was faint. "Yes Flaky?"

"I brought you lunch."

"Lunch?" A pause. Flaky sighed. She imagined him looking up at his clock. "Oh, alright. Come in."

Flaky opened the door slowly and eased inside, watching for anything dangerous or expensive near the door. Sniffles's room was only half of an actual room, with the other half being completely dedicated to his studies. A mini lab, you could say, which Flaky thought was very unsafe. There were needles and beakers and test tubes and flasks and all kinds of breakable glass and expensive equipment over there. Not to mention all of the chemicals Sniffles were probably using would no doubt contaminate his room, especially if he dropped anything.

It didn't matter that Sniffles slept in the medium ward, Flaky told herself as she approached the anteater, who was sitting on his desk on the actual roomy side of his room. He spent hours down here, and when he wasn't down here conducting experiments and trying to find a cure or at least a reason for this epidemic, he was upstairs, taking tests and worrying about his friends. Flaky was beginning to worry about Sniffles, and not in her usual worrying way. The porcupine was genuinely concerned. He was overworking himself, making himself sicker, and he didn't seem to be noticing it at all.

Flaky settled the sandwich beside him and Sniffles almost immediately reached for it. His long claws still gave Flaky goosebumps, but that was only because they were so long. And curved. And thick. But she managed to remember that it was Sniffles those claws were attached to. He wouldn't hurt a fly. Maybe a few ants if he had the chance, but not a fly. Maybe.

As he began to eat, Flaky tilted her head to get a better look at his face. There were dark bags underneath his eyes, and his nose and jaw, while busy on the sandwich, seemed red, maybe even irritated. The anteater's shoulders were slumped, and the straw-like fur on his person was limp and a little smelly. When was the last time Sniffles took a shower?

"Sniffles, are you alright down here, all by yourself?" Flaky asked quietly. Even after all this time working with – or maybe it was working for – Sniffles, Flaky was still a little intimidated by him. How do you deal with one who is so smart? His intellect always made Flaky feel somewhat inferior. But then again, when didn't she feel like that around all her friends?

It was as if he sensed her change of mood. Sniffles put down the sandwich and gave Flaky a crummy smile, gently patting her shoulder with his long claws. "Don't worry about it Flaky. I'm fine. And you really are helping a lot – I'm sorry you have to do so much work by yourself." Flaky blushed at the praise and found she didn't know how to respond. Sniffles chuckled, but then groaned and rubbed his temple. "Hey, do we have any more peppermint tea?" Peppermint was Sniffles's favorite way of dealing with his frequent headaches. Flaky shook her head. "No, sorry. B-but we do have some more peppermint oil. I m-made it a few days ago." Flaky silently scolded herself. There was no need to start stuttering again. "I mean, there isn't much left, but I could poor it in some hot water and you could at least smell it. I think it might help with your nose too."

"Yeah, it has been itching; it started yesterday… morning? Or was it evening? I don't remember." Flaky couldn't resist rolling her eyes, which was something she didn't do often. She immediately felt guilty about it and quickly added, "I could fix you some chamomile tea too, if you want. It'll help you relax."

"Yeah, alright, do that. And thanks again Flaky, you've been a lot of help."

Flaky blushed and tried to hid her face. "You're welcome Sniffles. I just wish you didn't have to lock yourself in your room for so long. Maybe you should take a break…"

Flaky knew the suggestion had been a long shot, and wasn't half as disappointed as she thought she would be when Sniffles stubbornly shook his head. "I can't; I need to keep working. The faster I find the cause or the cure to this sickness, the sooner everyone will be able to get better." The anteater sighed tiredly, rubbing his eye. The dim light of the room threw shadows across the rest of his face. "I found something new in the blood, but I can't know for sure exactly what it is. I've never seen anything like it before, and yet it's like it's not even there. I know it's the cause of the illness. If I can just classify it as a known disease than I'll be able to fix everything."

Flaky nodded. Picking up Sniffles's plate and wishing the anteater good luck, she left his quarters. Flaky was actually a little angry at the anteater's unwillingness to at least get out of his room and grab some fresh air, but a part of her understood how he was feeling. Everyone was depending on him; they all had from the very start. He was the smartest friend in Happy Tree Valley, and he was the one everyone went to when they didn't know what to do. He always had the answers, the medication, the knowledge. But now he didn't have any of those things to fight against this illness – he must feel completely defenseless. As if he'd let everyone down by not knowing.

But Flaky was worried about him. His reluctance to leave the dark, his frequent headaches, his itchy nose, his slower movements caused Flaky to be concerned for him. But she knew there wasn't anything she could do but follow his orders. She would help in whatever way he saw fit, but other than that, she would have to leave him to his own devices.

It was snowing.

Flaky shivered, and it wasn't because of the tiny, sparkling snowflakes.

Flaky had never been a fan of snow. She's always hated it. Well, maybe hate is a strong word – she's always strongly disliked snow in many, many ways. It wasn't that Flaky didn't appreciate the beauty of snow. In fact, winter was one of Flaky's favorite seasons, right after fall (both literally and figuratively, Flaky realized, giggling to herself). She liked how snowflakes fell so gently in Happy Tree Valley. She liked how when it snowed, everyone seemed to be more cheerful, more friendly. Snow usually meant good cheer and happiness.

But today it didn't. Today, the snow was an omen. A bad one.

Needless to say, the weather had been steadily getting worse, and so were everyone else, Flippy most of all. Half of them couldn't stay awake for too long anymore. Rest seemed their only escape of the illness, and even then Flippy would have horrible nightmares; Nutty would dream of things he wasn't able to have; Lammy of losing her closest best friend; Petunia probably dreamed of perfect organization only to have it shattered and strewn around like yesterday's garbage. They slept, but they dreamed, and they dreamed of their illness. It followed them wherever they went.

Not only was the weather shifting for the worse, but so was the sun. It was rising slower, but flying across the sky at an alarming speed, as if the earth was spinning ten times faster. And when it was gone, the moon took over. During all of those nights Flaky had stared out of that round window, she could always see the moon, and it was horrifyingly big in her opinion. It shone like a giant disk, a glowing hole in the sky, or maybe an eye, watching the earth impassively as it massaged the tides back and forth. It had illuminated the first flakes of that night through the rolling gray clouds. Flaky was first to see them fall, and she was horrified.

And though the sun and the moon traded places, everything still felt out of wack. Flaky had long since lost count of how many days had gone by because of the strange exchange between day and night. Did one moon count for one day? Or did it count for two days passing? Maybe it took a number of 'days' to make one actual 'day' go by. Flaky couldn't keep track anymore.

Right now, it was sunny out, but Flaky had only been up for six hours and the sun was already past it's midway point. It seemed to be trying to escape Flaky's vision, as if her inquiring gaze frightened it. The thought amused her; imagine, the great big sun being afraid of a little porcupine.

But it wasn't just this that made Flaky so unfriendly with snow. No, it was because she was a calling card whenever it came about. Flaky had not once failed to die during the first three days of snow in Happy Tree Valley. With her fright red fur, it was so easy to spot her that if you were playing 'I Spy' with a friend and they said they saw something red, the other person's first choice would not be Flaky simply because she would be a stupid choice. She was too easy to spot. She was the first thing anyone's eyes were directed towards when it was snowing, and it always caused her downfall.

So Flaky stood outside with Giggles, staring ahead of her at the thin layer of snow on the ground and she shivered again, very, very unhappy with the prospect of having to walk through it.

Giggles was waiting for Flaky a few yards ahead, racing after snowflakes and trying to catch them on her tongue. Flaky cringed every time she actually got one, imagining the flake to be poisoned or something and for her friend to drop dead any second.

Flaky and Giggles were close friends, but Flaky couldn't help but be a little spiteful towards the chipmunk at the moment. She thought about how Giggles didn't have to care for half of the friends in the building, how she was, for the most part, only dealing with the light aspects of the sickness. Really, the only ones Giggles had to look after were Petunia, Lammy, her mother and herself. Flaky felt that was unfair, though she knew she was the one who wasn't being very fair.

It wasn't just the work that made Flaky a little unpleasant towards her friend. It was the whole snow thing, too. She was jealous of how Giggles just seemed to blend in with it. Even though the chipmunk was pink, she just seemed to merge into the delicate white background with ease. She wasn't even trying to do it – Giggles was running around, arms waving, a smile on her face as she chased after flakes. Her pink fur was just light enough so that it was more of a hue against the snow than a solid color.

Flaky was jealous, and she didn't mind admitting it.

"C'mon Flaky!" Giggles called, and Flaky cringed at the chipmunk's loud, bubbly voice. She'd been so used to sounds of groaning and whispering that the loud noises unnerved her. "C-coming Giggles!"

Flaky started after the chipmunk, unhappy about everything that was going on and horrified on what would be waiting beyond those trees. Everyone had been staying at the hospital-tree for at least two weeks, maybe more than that. Which meant no one had been back to town or even their own houses; Flaky was afraid of what they might find. What if crazy snow-men people had arisen from the snow and were plotting revenge?

Revenge on who? Flaky thought.

Revenge on the sun, said Flaky, and the porcupine glanced up at the fleeing ball of fire.

Why the sun?

Because every year during spring they melt because of the sun.

Flaky gasped and realized she was right. It was the snowmen who were behind it all! They'd brought an early winter so they could rise up and were trying to get rid of the sun so that spring and summer would never come again so that they would be free to walk the streets of Happy Tree Valley forever! And they probably wouldn't stop there. If they managed to get rid of the sun, snowmen from all over the world will have the opportunity to rise against their destinies of melting every season and they would ensue perpetual winter and perpetual darkness and they would end up conquering the world!

What are we going to do? Flaky asked herself. She glanced every which way, spotting Giggles far ahead of her. The chipmunk didn't seem to notice her friend's absence. She skipped steadily along the path that led towards the main part of town. The two of them had decided to go to the supermarket back in town because they were running out of food at the hospital-tree. Hopefully none of it would be too spoiled to bring back.

She's walking right into a trap! Flaky thought, halting in her steps and her head whipped around, searching for plump white figures with stick arms shifting through the shadows of the tree. Every noise caused the porcupine to flinch, and she took a few steps back. She didn't want to go any further, and she wouldn't! The snowmen would get her…

Then Flaky noticed something. Giggles had finally seen that her companien wasn't following her, and was slowly making her way back towards Flaky. And Flaky saw that the closer she came to being upon the porcupine, Giggles's way of traveling changed. She'd started out skipping, then with a bounce to her step, then running and now she was just walking, swinging her hands back and forth in their usual motion.

It was an odd thing to notice, but Flaky analyzed it in great detail, and something about it frightened her to no end. She shivered again. Again, it wasn't because of the snow.

"Flaky, are you okay?" Giggles asked, her voice still quite cheerful but also a bit quieter. Flaky nodded shakily, forcing herself to take a step forward, but then at once taking three steps back when thoughts of homicidal snowmen returned to her mind. Something about this wasn't right, something was wrong with her. She could feel it as snowflakes rested themselves in her long hair. She could smell it in the frosty air, and Flaky realized that the feeling was emptiness. Something felt empty.

It didn't make any sense.

A sound; a grunt and a crack, and Flaky let out a small scream, quickly scurrying back towards the hospital-tree and strangely feeling more and more relaxed with each step. Eventually she was far enough that she stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

Giggles was looking at something through the line of dark trees, and the chipmunk called to Flaky. Flaky didn't understand at first, but then Giggles ran into the forest, came back and shouted again. "It's Splendid and Russell! They're still alive!"