Chapter 15

With Noah and Buddy, they continued to wash right down the pipe they had been sucked into. Buddy hung on tightly to Noah as the young boy tried to keep his head above the murky water. They soon came into a larger chamber within the sewers and Noah was able to grab onto a metal ladder bar. Once he had a strong enough grip, Noah pulled both Buddy and himself out of the nasty sewage waters and began to climb until they reached a cemented platform. Once they reached the top the two took a moment to catch their breath before Noah looked down at Buddy with concern.

"Are you alright Uncle Buddy?" Noah asked.

Buddy didn't answer right away as he stood up on all fours and quickly shook the sewer water out of his fur. Buddy then stood up on his back legs and gave Noah an okay sign with his fingers.

"That's good," Noah said with a smile on his face "As for me, other then being soaked to the bone, i'm pretty much fine. But that bite mark that Raccoon left on my hand really stings."

Buddy quickly climbed up onto Noah's shoulders to see the bite mark that Raccoon left on the boy's hand. Buddy winced at the red markings before turning to look at Noah, who looked right back at him.

"Don't worry Buddy, i'll be fine." Noah replied with a reassuring smile on his face. "Right now we need to get out of this sewer."

Buddy nodded in agreement before he began to look around for a moment. His eyes then landed on a ladder that led up to a manhole cover and he quickly pointed to it. Noah looked to where Buddy was pointing and saw the ladder before looking at Buddy with a smile.

"Good eyesight Uncle Buddy." Noah praised.

Buddy puffed out his chest in pride before Noah got up and made his way towards the ladder. Noah grabbed hold to the metal bars of the ladder and began to make his way up the ladder towards the manhole cover. Once they got there, Noah slowly pushed the metal cover up and peaked through the small opening that he made to see where he and Buddy were at and realized they were in a small alleyway that was close to Liberty Park.

Noah used all of his nine year old strength to push the manhole cover off and onto the side before he climbed out of the murky sewers and into the fresh clean air of the city. Noah quickly placed the cover back into place before he looked towards Liberty Park and that's when he saw Raccoon and his gang of goons walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. There were a few cats that were dragging along a cage that held Surly, Andie, Mole, Grayson and the Bruiser siblings inside.

Noah and Buddy quickly hid behind a few trash bags as they watched Raccoon and his goons walking towards the park with their prisoners in tow. Noah sat down on the ground and started to think about the situation that his animal friends were in.

"Okay, there are pretty much a lot of those cats and rats following Raccoon, along with that crazy red bird," Noah whispered to Buddy as the rat sat on the child's shoulder "And there is only me and you so that makes our odds with them completely out matched."

Buddy's ears slumped in worry as he agreed with Noah on being completely outmatched by those cats and rats. The boy and rat sat in silence for a moment as they tried to think of a way to help their friends. Suddenly, the two heard the sound of an empty bean can clicking on the pavement behind them. Buddy and Noah quickly turned towards the sound and saw their pug friend, Precious, standing there.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Precious asked as she raced up to the two boys.

"Precious!" Noah exclaimed excitedly "Boy are we glad to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Precious said with a smile before she noticed that Surly and the others weren't with them "Hey, where's Surly and the others?"

Noah and Buddy sadly looked at each other before looking back at Precious "Surly and the others have been captured by Raccoon and his army of cats and rats."

"Oh no!" Precious exclaimed fearfully before she suddenly started growling "Where are they so I can bite them?!"

"They're heading towards the park," Noah explained "But you won't be able to take on all those rats and cats by yourself."

Precious slumped at what Noah had said before she began to think about something and that was when she had an idea.

"I might know someone who can help." Precious said.

"You do?" Noah asked hopefully.

"Yeah," replied Precious "I have a friend that works for the police department. His name's Jeff and he's one of the best crime fighters in Oakton."

"Then take us to him." Noah said as he stood up with Buddy riding on his shoulders.

Precious did what Noah asked her as the pug led the human boy and rat to where her friend's home was. It took about ten minutes to find Jeff's home, but they soon came across it. The house that Jeff lived in was a two story house with a large backyard and in the backyard was a large German Shepard, who was sleeping on the wooden porch. Precious snuck through a small hole that was in the fence before letting out a quick bark that awoke the German Shepard from his sleep. The dog turned his head to where Precious was before smiling as he stood up from the porch and trotted over to her.

"Hey there Precious, long time no see," the big dog said with a wag of his tail "What brings you to my home this late at night?"

"We need your help Jeff." Precious replied quickly.

Jeff was confused with what she meant by 'we' when he spotted Noah and Buddy peaking over the fence before turning his attention back on Precious with a serious look on his face as he asked "What's the problem?"

"Well... you know that purple squirrel that I keep telling you about?" Precious asked.

"The one you became friends with?" Jeff questioned.

"That's him." Precious said with a nod "He needs help and you, along with your friends, are the only ones who can help."

"And you want my help because?" Jeff asked with a raised eyebrow.

Noah then decided to speak up "Please sir, my family is in danger. Raccoon kidnapped them and he wants to take over our park and there are too many rats backing him up for us to fight him, not to mention he has this alley cat Miguel and his cat gang fighting with him as well."

Jeff was a little surprised that Noah could understand him, but the larger dog's ears suddenly perked up when he heard the name Miguel and turned his full attention on Noah.

"Did you say, Miguel?" Jeff asked.

"Yes sir," Noah replied with a nod "Do you know him?"

"You bet I do." Jeff answered with a nod as a dark frown appeared on his face "He's one of the most notorious cats that ever lived on the street. Miguel has always been tormenting dogs and all other kinds of animals in Oakton for a long while now and I have a score to settle with him for what he did to my friend Abigail a year ago."

"Then you'll help us?" Noah asked in a hopeful voice.

"You bet," Jeff replied with a smile "I just have to gather up some of my friends around the neighborhood. Don't worry, i'll make sure to tell them not to hurt your park friends and that they should only go after Raccoon and his goons."

Noah smiled as tears of joy appeared on his face "Thank you Mr. Jeff!"

"Just call me Jeff kid," said the German Shepard with a smile.